AMOYAMO x Eyemazing

Kind of like part two of the Eyemazing x Zipper collaboration line, Eyemazing's latest collaboration looks exciting! Released in February, the collection is called Eyemazing x AMOYAMO, and the lashes are produced by Zipper models AMO and AYAMO. 

The two Zipper models teamed up with Eyemazing to produce 5 types of lashes each, for a total of 10 types. Since sometime last year Eyemazing upgraded to provide 5 pairs per pack instead of 3, so these retail in packs of 5 pairs, at 1,260yen per pack.

No surprises that I love the AMO collection! All the lashes are light brown, ranging from pink brown to olive brown with mixes and hints of accent colors. No. 811-815 are produced by AMO, and they have such sweet, adorable names inspired by tea-time snacks (except Poison Sugar?!?) that kind of remind me of Alice in Wonderland! And the packaging is colorful and pastel~ ♥

No. 811 - STRAWBERRY TEA (full)  

Color: Pink brown
The longest strands are 15mm long.
Description: Natural bunches at the outer corners for a sweet lolita look.

 No. 812 - STRAWBERRY TEA (half)

Color: Pink brown
These are partial lash version of No. 811, longest strands are also 15mm.
Description: As sweet as strawberry tea, for a gentle look. Recommended for first-time users of brown lashes, the half-design makes them easy to adjust to.

 No. 813 - ROSE CHOCOLAT 

Color: Pink brown x Antique beige
Description: Sweet and clear, for eyes brimming with a young girl's innocence.

No. 814 - CINNAMON COOKIE

Color: Olive brown x Olive gold
Description: A look that's tender but not too sweet; for ephemeral eyes that look like they're about to melt.

 No. 815 - POISON SUGAR

Color: Olive brown x Olive gold, with lavender accents at the outer corners.

Description: A sweet and tender look, lavender accents give eyes like Alice.

The AYAMO collection, no. 816-820, features edgier black and dark brown lashes, with names are inspired by dressing styles. To be honest the first two seem kind of common, though the last three seem promising~

 No. 816 - PUNK

Color: Night black
Description: Voluminous, bold outer corners for a strong cat's eye.

 No. 817 - POP ROCK

Color: Night black
Description: Random bunches to easily blend with your own lashes, for a big-eye effect.

 No. 818 - AMERICAN CASUAL

Color: Wood brown
Description: In a wood brown color that complements your skin, for a casual look.

 No. 819 - STREET

Color: Sunset brown
Description: Voluminous orange brown lashes for active and cool eyes.

No. 820 - ROCABILLY 

Color: Vintage brown with cherry red accents at the corners.

Description: Cherry red outer corner accents make an impact.

I really loved AMO's 801 and 802 from the previous Zipper collection, and all her lashes from this range look wonderful too! I love brown lashes, they're hard to find but really look amazing ♥ Sometimes thick black lashes can look too harsh (^^) 

WISHTrend + ElishaCoy Always Nuddy CC Cream Review

Just got the ElishaCoy Always Nuddy CC Cream from WISHTrend~♬ Yepp that's right, move over BB cream, now comes the CC cream craze! After an over-saturation of BB creams in the market, many Korean cosmetics companies have moved on to coming up with their version of CC creams (Etude House, Innisfree, Tony Moly, Banila Co, to name a few). Even Western brands have some too! (Lancome, Chanel, smashbox, Clinique, etc). I personally don't think CC cream is a substitute for BB cream, but instead it's a complement to BB cream, you'll see why later. First, I'll introduce WISHTrend, and you can watch their super easy-to-understand video introducing CC creams vs BB creams!

If you've read one of my Gmarket Tips from a looong time ago, local Korean cosmetics brands are divided into several categories like roadshow, word-of-mouth, brands under larger companies etc. WISHTrend.com is an online portal selling Korean cosmetics, stocking mostly word-of-mouth brands like ElishaCoy, Skin79, Tosowoong, Skinsmo, Ciracle, etc; and Korean makeup artist-produced brands like Liz K and Seo Su Jin Palette. Basically, brands that are difficult to get outside of Korea.

Some of the brands available on WISHTrend.

Their mission is to "Help you become more beautiful." Believing that all women desire to be better and more beautiful, WISHTrend aims to be a place where you can find the best solution for being a better you. Though located in Gangnam, Seoul, WISHtrend ships worldwide and provides free shipping with orders over US$70. Though they're a Korean company, the site's entirely in English! They give freebies/samples with every order, right now they're offering a USD3 voucher to all new and existing users, just use the code "RFXLSCOZ" at checkout (minimum USD20 order).

Not just another store, WISHTrend also has a YouTube channel (WISHTrendTV), where they regularly upload videos featuring Korean cosmetic trends. Best of all, their videos are in English~ Check out their introduction to/ comparison of  CC creams from Banila Co, Tonly Moly and ElishaCoy:

The current host, Tay, is such a joy to watch~! ♥
The previous host, Liah, was adorable too ♡

Anyway, onto the ElishaCoy Always Nuddy CC Cream review. A noticeable difference in CC cream is that while BB cream is skin-colored, CC cream is usually white. But the micro-encapsulated color spheres in the white CC cream are activated by the warmth of your skin to change and blend into your skin naturally.

Another main difference is that BB creams offer coverage, building on the concept of foundation with skincare benefits; whereas CC creams focus more on the skincare benefits part, like hydration/ moisturization. Hence, most CC creams offer minimal coverage.

Description and benefits of the CC cream.
The ElishaCoy Always Nuddy CC Cream has a 10-in-1 formula that claims to have the functions of:
★ Whitening
★ Anti-wrinkle
★ UV Protection
★ Hydration
★ Correcting skin texture
★ Correcting skin tone
★ Covering imperfections
★ Long-lasting
★ Excellent application
★ Making skin look instantly refreshed

Consistency test: It's quite runny, not very thick, and extremely easy to spread.

Left to right: [1] Out of tube, [2] Spread, [3] Blended.

As you can see, it totally matches my skin tone after blending, and has a soft sheen. It's also very moisturizing and hydrating, so if you're gonna be in an air-conditioned place most of the day, this is great. However it  might be too rich if you're not, especially since Singapore's humid weather is such a bane...T_T The CC cream provides SPF30 PA++ sun protection, which is fairly decent, though I would still use sunscreen with higher SPF/ PA.

When I wiped the back of my hand with a tissue, the product that got wiped of was skin-colored. So you can see that within just a matter of seconds, the color of the CC cream changed from white to a color that totally matched my skin.

For me, this CC cream works great as a base/primer, and with BB cream over it the BB cream applies smoother and lasts longer, for a more flawless finish. I wouldn't use the CC cream on its own, because it has very little coverage, and I need coverage for redness...Overall, I think the ElishaCoy CC cream is good as a primer/base/moisturizer, but is definitely not a substitute for BB cream unless you have really good, even-toned skin or don't require coverage.

This is the first CC cream I've tried, so I've got nothing to compare it with at the moment. However I will be getting the new Innisfree Real Skin CC cream from a friend soon, so I'll update and compare when I try that ♥

Anyway, I was browsing through WISHTrend and came across a couple of other items of interest:

ElishaCoy 3D Spin Cleaner 

A rotating, vibrating facial cleaner that's kind of like a Clarisonic Mia. And it's pink! 

The bristles look really soft and finer than that of the Clarisonia Mia, 

and it comes with two power settings, low and high.

Looks awesome doesn't it! Definitely want to try ♥

Skin79 BB Facer 
A vibrating puff  to help spread foundation on more evenly. 
Hanskin has one of these too, saw it when I was in Seoul last year!
Worth a try as well~ (^^)

O.S.T Original Pure Vitamin C20 Serum
A serum containing 20% pure Vitamin C,
it first started selling at Shinsegae (department store in Korea),
and sold so well that it's commonly just called "신세계 빨간병", or "Shinsegae red bottle".

Ciracle Pimple Solution CC Powder
(Ciracle = Ciramisu + miracle? Hahaha, just kidding!)
A concealer + treatment to cover up blemishes whist treating them.
A mixture of liquid + powder, looks promising~

If you live in Singapore, WISHTrend also has a Qoo10/Gmarket shop to cater to Singaporeans. They've narrowed the selection to their more popular items, so not everything on the WISHTrend website will be there. But they often have promotions and special deals, so the prices come up less than the main site prices.

Check out their Facebook pages for your region:

Wishtrend Global/ Korea || Wishtrend Singapore ||  Wishtrend Thailand || Wishtrend France 

Wishtrend Japan || Wishtrend Taiwan || Wishtrend UK

Too Cool For School Blending BB Series

A little overdue, but here's a mini review/introduction to Too Cool For School's Blending BB Series. Part of my Too Cool For School haul from Seoul last year, I've previously introduced the Too Cool For School lip products, and now it's onto this wonderful Blending BB Series! Their BB cream is one of my absolute favorites! 

 

The three items in the Blending BB Series: Mineral Jinju Ball Blending Powder, Blending Cake BB and Blending Cream BB. Too Cool For School also has other BB creams, but my friend recommended the Blending Cream BB, so I tried hers and loved it, and ended up buying rest in the series. (By the way, Too Cool for School sticks a yellow sticker saying "all mine!" at the counter when you buy it, it's like their "Paid" sticker, so cute! ^^)

Too Cool For School Blending Cream BB

This is one of my absolute favorite buys from Too Cool For School. It looks cute in the bottle, with alternating swirls of essence and cream~  ♬ The scent is really pleasant, kind of floral but not sweet. Perhaps due to the almond oil and macadamia oil? The BB cream also contains aloe vera to sooth the skin.

This gives a wonderful dewy, glowing finish. The only downside is that it has no SPF, so you definitely need to use sunscreen under this. Other than that, it's really amazing! I used it everyday for about 6 months...see the difference in amount of product! I'll be finishing soon...  (*´д`*)

The tube comes with a handy, hygienic pump, and on the swatch I believe you can tell which half has the blended BB cream on! The finish is really natural, giving a brightening effect; the coverage is light-medium, but enough to cover redness. The Blending Cream BB comes in 2 colors, #21 Light Beige and #23 Natural Beige, and costs 20,000won.

Too Cool For School Blending Cake BB

Haven't used this yet, though I'm planning to move onto it after I finish the Blending Cream BB. It's basically a cream pact version of the cream, and the pact has a unique twist-lock cover as opposed to regular snap-lock ones. Comes with a puff that sits on an attached inner cover that closes over the cream. Hygienic and convenient!

The BB contains mango seed butter, shea butter and argan oil to keep skin moist. And the outer casing of the pact has a cute graphic of a girl~ The Blending Cake BB comes in 2 colors, #21 Light Beige and #23 Natural Beige, and costs 20,000won.

 Too Cool For School Mineral Jinju Ball Blending Powder

"Jinju" means "pearl", and this product is kind of like Guerlain Meteorites, but skin-toned. For use after the BB cream, it has slight shimmers to further give a glowing look. Each ball is made up of a mix of two colors (see the ones at bottom of the jar, the ones on top are overexposed!). The balls contain pearl powder for highlighting, and avocado extract for moisturizing the skin.

Too Cool For School is an amazing brand, and I adore the quirky adorable packaging they have for their products, their store concept/layout and their fun products! Their Twin Color Eye Crayons are another favorite of mine! If you're ever in Seoul, you should definitely check it out~ They have two stores in Myeongdong, one in Ehwa, one in Insadong, one in Sinsa...and those are just the ones I visited^^ Plus they're very generous with their samples, and the staff are really friendly.

Majolica Majorca Moonlight Virgin ★ Summer 2013

Majolica Majorca's summer 2013 release, "Moonlight Virgin". 

The collection's theme takes inspiration from the beauty of the swan, like in "Swan Lake". 

Everything in the collection is limited edition, with white and lovely blue summer hues! I look forward to summer each year, because aqua/turquoise is one of my favorite colors. I have way too much turquoise clothes and accessories. Anyway, the four main make up items start selling tomorrow in Japan~

The star of the collection: The Little Humming Book II, the second "book" palette in their series celebrating their 10th anniversary.

Like the Little Humming Book I, it features one cream base, two powder shadows and a lip gloss. The cream base is a creamy brown called "Earth Land". The two powder shadows are sky blue "Water Mirror", and ivory "Night Dress". The gloss is a muted coral called "Swan Bill". Retails for 1575yen with tax.

Shiny Ray Liner, can function as an eyeliner or lip liner, and the feather is adorable! 1365yen with tax. For the eyes, it can be used on the inner corners, water line or right below the iris to make the eyes look bigger. For the lips, it can be used on top of the cupid's bow or below the lower lip to give the illusion of bigger lips. I love pencil eyeliners like these, finishing my Dolly Wink one soon, will try this when it gets released in Singapore!

Majolica Majorca is well-known for its mascaras, which are really smudge-proof, sweat-proof and water-proof. Sometimes they release limited edition colors like blue and red! This time it's brown~ Great for natural looking lashes. Lash Expander Edge Meister in a limited edition brown, BR666, 1260yen with tax. 

 

Shiny Highlight, can be a face color or eyeshadow. 997yen with tax.

Like the Cream de Cheek blushes released last year, this comes in a little glass bottle that makes it look like nail polish! In a liquid form, you dab it little and spread to blend.

Aqua Fizz Shower, a hair and body lotion, will be released on May 21st, retailing at 997yen with tax. A spray containing raspberry extract, it gives moisture to the hair and skin.  It has the same sweet and romantic smell of the "Majoromanticora" fragrance.

Picture credits to their mixi page. Majolica Majorca has always been one of my favorite drugstore brands, I love how they release their collections in "Chapters", each with a different theme. And they were using the same image model for so many years, so it was quite amazing to see how one person can change their look with each chapter released. Plus, they're friendly on the pockets and are of great quality (made by Shiseido). Majomajo was one of the first make-up brands I really got into, when I was 16! Back then it wasn't available in Singapore, so I got it from yahoo auctions and random blog sellers. This year is their 10th anniversary~ ♥♡ Hope they'll be around in another 10 years!

109 brands in Osaka

Other than having lots of great food, Osaka is also a great place to shop~ Good news for people who aren't visiting Tokyo when they visit Kansai is that lots of the Shibuya 109 brands can also be found in Osaka! But because they can be quite pricey, the best two times of they year to buy stuff from 109 stores are winter and summer. Winter for fukubukuros which are crazy cheap for the amount of items you get, though you won't know what items you'll end up getting. Good news is that most brands are free-size, so usually the dresses/skirts are stretchy. During summer, they have sales~ Most of these were taken at HEP 5, Shinsaibashi or Shibuya 109 Abeno.

 Laguna Moon

Lots of lovely, feminine clothes.

Universal Citywalk Takoyaki Museum ♥

What food comes to mind when you think of Osaka? Well, for me it's definitely takoyaki (octopus balls)! Osaka is famous for takoyaki, so much that they even have a Takoyaki Museum~ It's not really a museum with history and all, but more like a food court consisting of a collection of takoyaki stores, so you can try all different kinds of takoyaki from around the region ♥ The Osaka Takoyaki Museum is located at Universal City Walk, which is right next to USJ (Universal Studios Japan). 

I really really wanted to go to USJ (who doesn't love theme parks!), but I was traveling alone and it's not really fun to go to theme parks alone :( But, I took a picture with Elmo~ And his cute pink friend whose name I don't know^^ And went all the way to the entrance to take a pic with the revolving globe hehehe. Actually, I've never even been to USS (Universal Studios Singapore) yet! Though I will soon! The yellow mascot with the big eyes is supposed to be a takoyaki ball ^^ ...and yes he's got a stick poking through him.

Takoyaki time~ They're cooked fresh! Not at big as Gindaco's takoyaki, but the outside "skin" was super crisp and the inside was soft and slightly gooey. Plus the octopus bits were nice and big! I got a plate of 12 (3 different types, 4 pieces each type) plus a drink, and that was about 700yen. 12 pieces is really very filling! The top left one had some kind of meat bits in it rather than regular octopus. It tasted different but still not bad!

Can't have a museum without a gift store and souvenirs! Takoyaki-head CHOPPER!! Takoyaki fridge magnets and cell phone straps. And super cute red octopuses. And a whole wall of Kansai Gotochi Chopper keychains! I love going through Japanese gift stores, they always have an large assortment of adorable souvenirs that makes you want to buy more!

I ended up getting an octopus (only ~700yen!) and a mini octopus (367yen)! There was also another size, can't remember if it was larger or smaller than the bigger octopus I got^^.

Lots of Hello Kitty items in the gift stores too! Hello Kitty x Glico T-shirt, cos the Glico Man is a famous landmark of Osaka. The biscuit tin one was in the USJ gift store.

I love takoyaki, but I love okonomiyaki even more, which Osaka also had plenty of~ ♥ They don't have a museum for it, but there are stores everywhere!

Diamond Eyelash Essence

Diamond Beauty is well-known and well-loved for their Diamond Lashes, and lately they've been expanding their range of "eye" products to include lash glue, mascara, eyeliner, double eyelid fiber...and now eyelash essence!

The Diamond Eyelash Essence comes in a white 3ml tube with the Diamond fairy, and features a soft brush that's easy to paint with. It claims that you just need to use it once a day before you sleep, on the roots of your eyelashes, and you will get thicker, stronger, longer lashes! (*´ω`*)♪

Having the "Made in Japan" notice is very reassuring, because I for one am very careful when it comes to the things I put on my face, and more importantly if it concerns the eyes. Japan has very strict laws governing the production of makeup and skincare, so I'm very, very reassured if a product is "Made in Japan"~!

In addition, it's also free from many additives ♪

①Animal origin-free

②Paraben-free

③Mineral oil-free

④Artificial coloring-free

⑤Artificial fragrance-free

⑥Silicon-free

⑦Oil-free

The "soft touch" brush is gentle to both the eyelashes and eyelids.

Diamond Eyelash Essence comes in 3ml and retails for 1,050yen.

I'd really like to try this out if I can get my hands on it! Like all the other Diamond Beauty products in the "eye" range, they're not available here :( Though Diamond Blush, brow mascara and nose powder is sold here, the star item - lashes - isn't...and neither are the lash glue, mascara, eyeliner or eyelid fiber. I'm down to my last pair of Celeb Eye, my favorite types of lashes. Think I've gone through 4 boxes? I wear lashes everyday, and can wear each pair for about 3 weeks. That's how great Diamond Lashes are~! (♥´౪`♥)