Coffret D'or Fast Beauty Foundation UV BB

I guess the BB cream rave isn't quite over yet. While I was planning to get Jill Stuart's limited edition blusher from my favorite seller, she had quite a few new items such as this Coffret D'or BB cream.

Coffret D'or makes one of my favorite eyeshadow from the stash-Jewelicious Eyes and I have been eager to try their base product. Since I score it at a great deal this time, why not give it a try?

At 30g, it comes with SPF 33 PA++, which a decent SPF number in most Asian bases these days, and I believe they come in 3 shades:

01 Bright Tone

02 Natural Tone

03 Healthy Tone

I picked up the 02 color this time. I purchased mine at $180hkd and Adambeauty has them for $220hkd here.

Ingredients in Japanese... but I noticed this product does contain Parabens "パラベン" at one of the last ingredients:

More pictures of the bb cream tube:

The packaging of this tube is very simple and it's just a normal toothpaste like squeeze tube with a twisting cap closure:

Swatches. The consistency is rather creamy, but not as thick as Korean BB cream by Missha that I owned:

Spreading it apart, it's rather easy, but I noticed small frecks of shimmer in this BB cream

Fully blended out. Coverage is rather light, just like any BB cream, which makes it ideal for a light make up day.

Comparing this Japanese BB with another brand I own, the Hado Labo BB cream, which is at 45g and $130hkd at Adambeauty, Coffret D'or BB cream is a higher price per unit. However, I think I like the Hada Labo BB cream more not only because of it's cheaper price (beauty on a budget, yay!), but also I think Hada Labo is better at oil control in summer months. Given the same amount of time I wear these BB cream, the Coffret D'or one melts on me by midday while the Hado Labo one will last me till late afternoon before I get oily on my T-zone areas.

B12 Vitacreme

I have been eyeing on this B12 Vitacreme for quite sometime and since I found sort of a deal for it ($5 off, total cost is $20, shipping included) online, so I just snatched it.

The B12 Vitacreme is extremely popular in Japan and other Asian countries because of Japanese Sex-Bomb, Norika Fujiwara when she featured the product in her book, saying it's her secret weapon for having young and beautiful skin. It made a remarkable sales volume in Korea where in only 6 months, 100 000 tubes were sold! 

Though B12 is extremely popular in Japan, it's actually a Swiss product:

I was planning to use this B12 in the winter months when my skin a lot drier. I have read from reviews that this cream tends to be a little oily and a little pea size is enough for the entire face. However, since I had my rashes and irritations on my face, my skin became drier than usual for this humid weather, which is quite strange...

So, I decided to give this a try!

My brand new tube of B12. The tip of this tube is still sealed, that's why the tip of the cap is used to puncture the virgin seal:

The B12 Vitacreme is actually pink, which is quite surprising to me. I was expecting a white paste. This pink cream has a faint scent to it, which reminds me of some baby powder:

That cream that I applied on the back my hand is actually too much for testing. It's enough for my entire face and neck!

Spreading the cream out. It's very moisturizing and my hand feel supple and soft. My face feels the same after I use this cream as the final step of my nightly skin care regime, and before the night jelly.

I can see why people said only 1 pea size is enough. If applied too much I think I will end up as a grease ball and it may result in break outs!


I have been using this cream for a steady 2 months now. I have had issues with sudden break out around the jaw line and when that happened, I stopped using this cream for a while on the affected area. But after using this cream, my cheeks are so smooth and I do believe that this cream is effective in "regenerating skin cells"... so far  it has been evening out my skintone and I noticed my acne scars are definitely fading....


And regarding to the one and only fine line around my eye area, I think this cream has been easing the condition (also I have been studious on applying eye serum and eye cream as well!)


Overall, I am very happy that my face is so smooth after using the B12 vitacreme for 2 months, and I can foresee I will like it even more when dry winter months is around the corner. I will definitely repurchase!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Semi Precious collection

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish semi precious collection has been very popular here in the US and sometime I just don't get the hype. When I decided that I wanted to get some of their blushers, my local MAC has sold out most of the colors, and I have to get 2 of them from the MAC counters in Nordstrom (well one of the Nordstrom is already out of all colors)... yes why the hype?

MAC's description of this collection of MSF:

A luxurious velvet-soft powder with a high-frost metallic finish. Smoothes on: adds buffed-up highlights to cheeks for an overall ultra-deluxe polish.

• By M·A·C.

I picked out 3 colors from the collection: Rose Quartz, Pearl, and Crystal Pink (Swatches from L to R):

indoor lighting

under sunlight

 Rose Quartz is a lovely rose colored blush that in my opinion looks very alike with Chanel's blusher, but the center "nipple" makes this blush a lot shimmery than Chanel's... I think Rose Quartz is not the most pigmented, but this is exactly why I like this semi translucent natural glow on my cheeks.




MAC Mineralize Skinfinish semi precious in Pearl:

I think Pearl is one of the most popular colors as it is the first colors to be sold out on MAC's store and website. Pearl to me is not a blusher but more like a bronzer kind of color that give my face a nice natural glow... a good departure from the usual red/rosy toned blushers...

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish semi precious in Crystal Pink:

I like this the most out of the 3 MAC MSF I got this time. Its color is the blend between a subtle bronzer and a warm toned blushers, not too sheer but a nice subtle glow that work very well with my skintone. I picture myself using this the most for everyday look, rather than Rose Quartz which is a bit more dramatic for everyday look...

My blogger pal Elaine has also blogged about Rose Quartz and Crystal Pink in her blog here, please go to her blog and check out her reviews!

MAC Surf, Baby! Cheek Powder

Eversince I got the bronzer from MAC Surf, Baby! collection....

I admit that I still cannot forget the cute Hawaiian Hibiscus flower on MAC's limited edition Surf, Baby! Cheek powder, so for weeks I have been deciding if I should get it from Ebay because I have seen this blush listed anywhere from $38-$50 before... and voila, there we go! I actually paid a few bucks over retail price ($31 inclusive of shipping), which is not that bad...

See how summery the entire packaging looks? White casing with a transparent cover, the cute hibiscus logo on the cover:

I am totally in love with the gold spray on hibiscus pattern, and according to some blogger's review, this gold spray on will eventually deflower as you swirl the gold with the blush together...

Swatches:

From L to R, just the blusher on its own > gold spray on > and everything swirled together.

I love how warm peachy the blusher looks. To some people that have fairer skintone, this blush may appear too orange-y and may find it hard to work with. For reference, I am a NC-30 and I find this peach tone blusher working very well for me. It reminds me of the Canmake cream cheeks in 05 Sweet Apricot

which I have been using a lot (and have hit the pan long ago)

Now, one thing off my wishlist... haha!

AMPM C12 Line Reducing set

As I am running low on my existing Naruko Appleseed serum, I was looking for the next skincare item for replacement: AMPM's C12 Line Reducing set.

I remembered that Fuzkittie didn't like this product as much because it balls up on her. But regardless, i want to give it a try.

Ingredients and product description on the packaging:

Similar with the day cream I am using from the Naruko line, this set comes in 2 toothpaste like squeeze tube with clear indication of step 1 and 2:

Step 1 is the C12 ultimate line reducer, 30ml.

Description:

The product is a yellow colored gel like texture that actually smells quite citrus like (lemons?)

It's a tad greasy but it can be easily spread around and easily absorbed. When applied to my face, it is absorbed into my skin within minutes:

Step 2 is the vitamin C serum enhancer, 30ml:

Description:

This cream has a slightly paler yellow color and thicker consistency, still I can smell some lemon-y scent to it:

It's not greasy at all compared to its Step 1 counterpart, quite easy to spread around and no balling up.

So far I have only started this C12 Line Reducing set for only a couple days. As far as the line reducing effect goes, I can't tell the difference as I don't really have any fine lines on my face, and the only fine line is around my eye area... But I will keep trying to see if this stuff will work on my one and only fine line... but as everyone knows, treating fine lines is a life-long battle and a lot of patience and hard work is required on my end.

As these 2 creams have high concentration of vitamin C, it will also help brighten and even out skintone. So far I have noticed my skin has brighten up a little with my acne scars lightened up a bit after a few day's use. So far I am happy with the results and I will continue to use it until I run out. For its slightly greasy formula, I guess I am ok with it as I generally put a layer of Ettusais powder to seal in the moisture so it doesn't bother me much. In fact, I find this not as greasy as the AMPM day time cream "Indoor Ecological Defense Cream" that I use daily when I am indoors in an AC environment. I may hold on to the Defense Cream until winter time is here and switch temporarily to the C12 set after my skin has adapted to the new treatment. The instructions mentioned that after 2 weeks of use, you can apply the C12 treatment both day and night time.

Hope it helps!

Nicole... SPOTTED! - Nicole by OPI

It all began with Ulta's summer exclusive OPI launch "Shimmer into Summer."

The day it was launched I was tied up with my gig so I just couldn't spare time to pay Ulta a visit, and plus Ulta had a buy 2 OPI, get a free base/top coat or any of the "Shimmer into Summer" collection, so this collection sell out FAST...

You can view the 4 shades from "Shimmer into Summer" at the polish ahol's blog.

The color that I really wanted to get was "Sparkle Teal Sunrise" which is a nice aqua with plently of shimmers. A photo from the polish ahol:

As with most OPI's chunky sparkly shades, Sparkle Teal Sunrise is no exception with a thick consistency and being very sheer. (3 coats for the picture above from the polish ahol)

But sadly after a few trips to Ulta, there were no restock.

Just when I about to give up with the search, I found a dupe of Sparkle Teal Sunrise and that is Nicole... Spotted made by Nicole by OPI.

You can read more about this dupe alert here at the trace face philes:

Very similar right?

I found this bottle of Nicole by OPI sitting at a corner at the clearance section. I thought I was going to pay full price for this, but when I took this to the check out, the total came out to be $1.99 only! And plus an additional 20% off coupon I had! WOA, now that is a beauty deal...

(Speaking of the original OPI Sparkle Teal Sunrise, I have seen it for sale for $40+ on Ebay... total madness!)

A total of 4 colors are used for this gradation look:

Nicole by OPI: Nicole... Spotted!
OPI: I'm an Aqua-holic (the deep navy), Coney Island Cotton Candy (nude base), and I Juggle... Men (shimmery top overcoat)

AUBE marble dome cheek Beige

Most of my blushers are in the orange or reddish-pink range, and I have always wanted something in the beige range for a more natural look.

I came across this AUBE marble dome cheek in Beige. I believe it's from their earlier collection.

Interestingly, the shape of this blusher just look like a mushroom:

And it also reminded me of a giant pacifier candy back in those days:

When you unscrew the cap, you can apply this cream blush on your apples and then blend, blend, and blend"

One swipe at the back of my hand:

Then blend, blend, and blend:

The colors come out very natural and the texture of this creamer blush is very airy, I love it!

Comparing to my Canmake cream cheek blushers, I think this AUBE cream blusher is definitely better and last much longer that the Canmake one! But since this item has been discountinued, I will treasure this blusher while it lasts...

I also found these helpful reviews of the product....

"It looks like a strange mushroom - but this is one of the best blushes I have tried. It is a true mousse-cream to powder that sets really naturally. Will definitely repurchase"

AND

"This is a fantastic mousse/powder blush that is a dream to apply & wears beautifully all day & the best thing is that it is different to Nars, Stila and all other blushes I've tried in that it gives the wearer a gorgeously luminous glow- no extra products required!
The packaging is quite clever, the packaged product looks like a ... mushroom! The product is in the 'head' of the mushroom, making application very easy as the user can either hold the stalk in one hand and easily rub fingers into the product on top, or hold the stalk and rub the head of the mushroom gently over cheeks.
The product itself is really very good. I find that I prefer applying it straight from the product (and using my fingers to blend) Once applied the product dries powder-light so it feels like I've got no makeup on- so we get the look of makeup without the weight or feel. But again love the glow that this product gives!