July 11, 2013

Ginvera Green Tea Refreshing Brighten-Up Day Cream SPF15 Review

Ginvera isn't really a well known brand within the UK, I think its more popular in Asia as I see quite a bit of people from Singapore raving about it. *Correct me if i'm wrong. xDD I'm not sure which shops sells Ginvera products, but if you live in UK Birmingham, they are available at MailBox Harvey Nicols. The Green Tea Refreshing Brighten-Up Cream retails for £22. Since they put out testers, once you open the jar and smell it, it just attracts you into buying it hahaha. Also the UK doesn't offer much green tea or skin whitening products in the market, so it was grab it quick product.

Starting on the review, Ginvera claims:

It ensures maximum protect of skin against UV rays, so skins remains naturally fair.
Non greasy formula so its easily absorbed into the skin allowing it to stay comfortably moisturised through the day

The Refreshing Brighten-Up Cream is non greasy, even though its a cream its very lightweight and absorbs very quickly into the skin. It leaves your skin feeling a little cool feeling which is meant to be the "refreshing effect" xD. I have oily skin, this doesn't make my skin like oil puddle (does that even make sense ahah?) like some creams do. It does hydrate my skin quite well, but I think those with dry skin, the hydration wont last the entire day. I love the scent of this cream, its really calming and sweet, its not overpowering as the scent is very gentle. ^^

As for the "maximum protection of skin against UV rays" I would say no haha. Since it only has SPF15, which is pretty low but better than nothing. The SPF15 will help to prevent your skin from darkening so thats good and does what it claims. If the cream also had a higher SPF or UV filters then I probably would of said yes for the "maximum protection".

Also this cream is meant to brighten up your skin, I would say it does. The ingredients itself don't help to brighten your skin, the brightening effect is due the fact the cream leaving a slight white cast on your skin (probably from the SPF or just the whiteness of the cream). The white cast will make your skin look more fair, so the cream is illuminating to brighten your skin not by whitening it. The "brightening effect" makes your skin appear more even and smooth so its a win win. ^^

Overall I would repurchase this as it does what it claims - refreshes, brightens and protects from UV rays. The scent is a bonus, as it so niceeee! The additional SPF helps to save time if your in a rush as you wont need to put extra SPF on. So I do recommend this product to people and I think its a good product for the spring-summer time. ^_^

July 09, 2013

Collection Colour Pro Intense Lip Lacquer Review & Comparision to Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer

Feels like a while ago since i've last done a make up review even though I done one last week. Today will be a review on the new Collection Colour Pro Intense Lip Lacquer in the shade No.4 Prom Queen. These are available in 4 different shades at £6.50. After the review I will be doing a comparison with the Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer, so I think this will be an interesting post hahaha. ^_^

Collection claims that:

It's colour that doesn't give up without a fight, its perfect for an all night pout
Sponge tip applicator that provides a quick, smooth, even application that glide on effortlessly.

First of all, I really love the colour range as they are all very colourful yet wearable. I chose to get the shade Prom Queen as its suitable for everyday wear and the colour is cute. The lip lacquer does have a kind of acrylic smell, not sure how to describe but I would say acrylic or plasticky smell but it isn't bad. The colour pay off is around 90% opaque, and offers a pouty glossy finish. The lip lacquer does last all day long but it will wipe off your lip while eating or drinking, as the consistency is quite thick. Due to the thick consistency it doesn't dry on your lips and pretty much just sit there. So you might need to reapply it after eating or drinking. To be honest I wouldn't repurchase this product as there are better ones on the market such as the Rimmel London Apocalips. I wouldn't really recommend this either unless your after everyday wear colours, which is the reason I brought it. Overall I would rate this product as 2.5/5.

Comparison to Rimmel London Apocalips

I know the review for the Collection Colour Pro Intense Lip Lacquer was a bit short, but my brain just automatically keeps comparing the both. The Rimmel London Apocalips is available in 8 shades, so it offers a wider range, however majority of the colours are very bold so some people may not think it's suitable for everyday wear. I would say that most suitable everyday colour is "Celestial" but like so some people may find it a bit dark/bright. Thats why I would recommend the Colour Pro Intense for everyday wear wise. The Apocalips are more opaque than the Colour Pro Intense, so Apocalips wins colour pay off wise.

The Apocalips retails for £5.99, so price wise the Apocalips is cheaper. Also I prefer the Apocalips packaging more than the Colour Pro Intense as I feel the packaging looks a bit cheap. Consistency wise, Apocalip is much thinner so It doesn't feel heavy or anything on your lips compared to the Colour Pro Intense. I much prefer the Apocalips over the Colour Pro Intense any day, as the quality is higher and cheaper.

So do you guys prefer the Colour Pro Intense or Apocalips lip lacquer? ^^

July 07, 2013

EOS G307 Gothic 3 Tone Honey Review - LensVillage.com

Recently I have brought 2 new circle lenses. I have got the Gothic 3 Tone in Honey and Green, from LensVillage.com. So today, I'll be reviewing the Honey shade. I'll get around to the Green one in another post, as I haven't taken the pictures yet.

The Gothic 3 Tone series normally retails for $22.50 (£14.11) but I got them during the Midterm sale for $13 (£8.73). Gotta LOVE SALES! One problem I had with the Gothic 3 Tone series is that theres a wide range of colours to pick from (9 colours) which is amazing but a nightmare if you're indecisive like me!

Starting on the lens review: When I first took them out of the little glass jar they come in, I was kind of disappointed because the lenses looked orange rather than a light brown/honey colour. (You can see the orangy-ness in the 1st picture below) But once the lenses are on your eyes, they blend in very nicely with your eye colour, giving it a natural look and you cant see the orange anymore. Which is good. =3 I really love how natural the Gothic 3 Tone lens series look, the lenses are vibrant yet natural looking. ^_^ One thing I have noticed with the colours is that a some of the colours do look very similar once they are worn. For example "Honey" is only slightly slightly lighter than "Brown" and is very similar. "Blue" and "Sapphire" are also very similar.

The lenses have a diameter of 14.5m so they do enlarge the eyes a little. Which is perfectttt! It is recommend that you wear circle lenses no longer than 8 hours but I wear them for longer. 8 hours isn't enough for meee! Anyway they don't dry up my eyes or cause any problems even after 8 hours+ of wear and they are very comfortable. The lenses have a lifespan of 1 year so for the price, its inexpensive and affordable.

These have now become one of my favourite and go to lenses so I do recommend the Gothic 3 Tone "Honey" if you want a natural noticeable change. Only downside and same with most circle lenses is that you need to wear make up with it to balance it out. If you wear make up everyday it's no biggie.

A little disappointment with the order, as I asked for a purple case but they gave me a blue. I don't know if purple was out of stock or if they got the order mixed up.

Anyway, what do you think of these lenses and would you purchase them? ^_^

July 05, 2013

Kpop Diets #1 - Secret & Weight Profile

Honestly guys it's really not surprising why the Secret members all have nice body figures, if you've seen how strict their diet is! Even though it's strict, it's deffo worth it at the end if you want that slim Kpop body.

Okay starting with how much the members weight. (I think I have a obsession with knowing how much people weight)

Hyosung: 47kg
Jieun: 45kg
Sunhwa: 45kg
Zinger: 45kg

Secret's Diet - 1 week

Monday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 apple, 1 sweet potato
             : Lunch - chicken breast salad
             : Dinner - 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 cucumber

Tuesday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 apple, 1 glass of low fat milk
             : Lunch - 1 sweet potato
             : Dinner - 8 strawberries, 5 cherry tomatoes

Wednesday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 cup of low fat milk
: Lunch - 1 sweet potato, 5 cherry tomatoes

: Dinner - 5 strawberries, 1 cucumber

Thursday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 apple, 1 glass of low fat milk
             : Lunch - chicken breast salad, 8 strawberries
             : Dinner - 5 cherry tomatoes, 1 cucumber

Friday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 apple
          : Lunch - 3 eggs, 1 cucumber, 5 cherry tomatoes
          : Dinner - 10 strawberries, 1 cucumber

Saturday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 glass of low fat milk

: Lunch - 1 sweet potato

: Dinner - 1 tofu, 3 cherry tomatoes

Sunday: Breakfast - 1 slice of toast, 1 apple, 1 glass of low fat milk
: Lunch - 1 sweet potato
: Dinner - 1 cucumber

A pretty strict diet huh? I will give this a try at one point but first I need to get my motivation hahahah because i'll miss my food to much! >< Have any of your guys tried this diet and how much weight did you lose? O.o If not, what you do you think of this diet? ^_^

Other KPop diets:
Nine Muses' Paper Cup Diet
Ga In, Hyosung, Soyu - One Meal Diet

July 02, 2013

SOSKIN Stop Imperfection Serum Review

Im not sure if much people have heard of this brand SOSKIN Paris, it might be popular in France but i'm not sure since I don't leave there. The Stop Imperfection Serum ranges from $20-30. One thing I like about SOSKIN is that they use pure active ingredients, so that their products promote better stability and penetrate efficiently. This product caught my attention by the name itself, since it's not often you comes across serums that target imperfections, which I have plenty of! So I decided to try it.

This product claims to:

Stimulate cell regeneration to reduce imperfections.
Light fluid serum reduces redness and provides clearer complexion from first application.
Enriched with Tea Tree Essential Oil, Salicylic and Latic Acid, this treatment cleanses, mattify and rebalances the seburn secretion.
The skin thus purified, recovers comfort and radiance all day long.

To start off, I LOVE this serum! When they say it provides a clearer complexion from first application, they weren't joking. I thought it would be like most products where they claim you see results on first application and you see nothing or not much change. On my first use, I did notice my skin felt smoothed, the redness reduced and it gave my skin a matte yet radiant look. Overall making my skin look healthy. ^^

The product is very lightweight, it has a thin water like consistency, so it absorbs into the skin quickly. It also has like unique scent, which I cant really describe, it has a mixture of lavender, tea tree but kinda herball-y like? Does that even make sense haha. *Note it doesn't smell bad, my describing word is just really bad when it comes to scents. xDDD I love the main ingredients they've chosen for this serum - Salicylic Acid, Latic Acid and Tea Tree Essential Oil. As I feel that these ingredient work really well at controlling acne and reducing imperfections. After using this serum for a month, it really has made a difference to my skin. My skin has more radiance, the redness reduced and i've noticed my acne scars have faded slightly, even my friends have noticed my complexion looks healthier and better! ^_^

Overall I am ultra happy with this product. I would really recommend people that want to reduce imperfections and have healthier looking radiant skin to try this. You know it's a good product, if even your friend notice a improvement. I only have 2 cons to say about this product 1) the price and 2) its quite hard to get your hands on the product. It may be a bit expensive for some people as it is a high end brand. You get 40ml which could last around 2months, personally I do think it's worth the price as it works fantastically! Second, SOSKIN products in general aren't widely available. I had to ask my friend to help purchase it for me during her trip to in France. I would happy repurchase this product and rate it 4.9/5.