[HEALAVIE] - Soft Cover Waterdrop Sun Gel

I must admit, I really don't like using sunscreen. I am lazy, and the usage of sunscreen requires a double, sometimes triple, cleanse. If I am not careful in removing everything, I end up with large painful breakouts all over my face. It is just a pain in the ass for me and not worth the trouble. But as I learn more about skincare, I have been educated over and over again about how important sun protection is. So I have set out to find a lightweight sunscreen that doesn't leave a whitecast (Seriously, I am pale enough as it is, I don't need to look like a ghost!).

[PR Sample] - Benton Papaya-D Sun Cream SPF38/PA+++

Benton was asking for reviewers for its new sun cream on Instagram so I went and applied. I was surprised I got in as I also qualified for the Cacao cream but yay! New products to test out!

Just a random blurb, but I was surprised when they shipped it via DHL! Such an expensive shipping option for PR samples! Unfortunately, with the way our customs and postal service is working, DHL is necessary if you want the reviewers to receive it in time. Seriously, I am not even kidding. I haven't received the cacao cream they sent out via registered mail, and a product I won from Jolse back in March just arrived at the end of June.. =__= Oh the joy that is called Canada Post.😠😟

But I digress. The Benton Papaya-D Sun Cream SPF38/PA+++ the very first sun cream made by Benton, which includes both physical and chemical sunscreen agents. It contains papaya water and papaya fruit extract which contains various vitamins and nutrients, purportedly will keep the skin moist and vibrant. Looking at the ingredients list, there is also niacinamide and adenosine, which is great in achieving a brighter and smoother complexion.

Here is the full ingredients list:
Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Water(55%), Titanium Dioxide, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Isoamyl p-Methoxycinnamate, Glycerin, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, Pentylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Glyceryl Stearate, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Aluminum Hydroxide, Panthenol, Carica Papaya Seed Oil(5000ppm), Glyceryl Caprylate, Stearic Acid, Water, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Xanthan Gum, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract(750ppm),Tocopherol, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Xylitylglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Xylitol, Papain(100ppm), Propanediol, Adenosine, Sodium Gluconate, Disodium Adenosine Triphosphate, Algin, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Bud Extract, Glucose, Juniperus Communis Fruit Oil, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Oil

CosDNA

They even have a verification sticker on the top of the box! 

On the literature sent with the sun cream, Benton noted that the sun cream is a sunscreen with a minimal white cast that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. So we will see how it performs shall we?

First thought. THAT SMELL!! Urg. It is very sharp. When I first tried it on the back of my hand, it was very sharp, reminding me of paint. It also never went away. -_- But I realized it's probably the papaya that is causing the sharp smell. I then tried it on my face, and was pleasantly surprised that after the initial assault to the nose, the smell dissipates and I become noseblind to it. The smell was not bothering me at all for the whole day. But you will get that initial shock of scent each time you put it on. But once it's on, the scent does dissipate. So don't be put off by the initial smell! It will go away I promise!

The cream comes out of the tube easily, and it is an opaque white colour. A little goes a long way, I only need about a dime sized for my chubby face. It spreads easily and leaves my skin feeling moisturized hours afterwards. So Benton did not lie that it is a moisturizing sunscreen!

I didn't find any reactions from using the cream for a few days in a row. My skin is not very reactive, so if I don't have any breakouts within a couple of days, then it's all good. But, as everyone has different skin types, it may be different for you.

Now, what everyone really cares about. Is there white cast? Benton says it's minimal, but I beg to differ. There is definitely a white cast, pretty noticeable on the back of my hands and on my face.

Using the back of my hands as an example, you can tell where I have applied the sunscreen. That portion has a shine to it whenever light hits it. Even in indirect light, I can tell that area is lighter.

Natural lighting coming from above my hand, office lighting and flash

Natural lighting coming from right hand side

Now onto my face. You can see, I don't need much to cover half of my chubby face. It's actually too much and I had to spread some to the other side. 😆

There is definitely a shine to the cream. It makes my skin look shiny! *sings* I am so....shiny!  I love the music from Moana if you couldn't tell from that reference 😝

No sun cream vs sun cream

Look at that shine from the light coming in the window.. 

Anyways, I also tried putting on some BB cushion on top of it to see how it reacts with makeup. Um... Let's start with the good? Because it is so moisturizing, the makeup goes on SMOOTHLY. I always found that when I put on makeup, it kind of looks caked on even with one layer. That is because my skin is so dry. With this sun cream on, I can put on more than one layer of BB cream and it looks like I got nothing on! Yay! What's even better? I have NO skincare underneath. Just clean skin and the sun cream. So yes, this is one moisturizing sun cream!

Seriously! This is two layers of BB cream and it looks like I have nothing on..What?!

Now the bad.. Um... I am still so.. SHINY~~ (Go listen to that song again!) Despite the two layers, I still got that shine. The shine is extremely prominent on my nose and cheeks. It looks like I got highlighter on but seriously, it's just the sun cream and the BB cream!😂 So use this if you want that highlighter look. 😅 Oh and for those wondering, yes the shine last ALL day! I had it on around 11AM and went out to do Canada Day events and came back after 5PM. The shine was STILL present. 😅

You can tell I got makeup on since my complexion got better. But that shine never went away!

Overall, I really like the fact that the sun cream is so moisturizing. But I am not a fan how shiny it makes me look. This girl doesn't need to look like she's sweaty throughout the summer. My moisturizers already gave me that sweaty/greasy look, I don't need to add to it. I think I will give it another try by putting some powder on top and see if it helps. If it doesn't then I'll probably use it on my decolletage as I always forget that area and it needs some protection from the sun.

With the price tag of roughly $20USD, I don't think I'll repurchase. But I am really appreciative that Benton sent it to me to review!

**This product was sent to me for free for review purposes from Benton, but all opinions are 100% mine.

Etude House - Sun Blind Cushion

My apologies!!! It looks like I have abandoned this blog but I haven't!!! Life just got in the way!  I had school then my laptop broke and I lost all the pictures I had taken and transferred over... Then school started again... (ఠ్ఠ ˓̭ ఠ్ఠ) Sorry for not posting for so long!!!

Enough with the sob story...

Today I am doing a post on Etude's Sun Blind Cushion. Etude House Global had a contest on Facebook and I was one of the lucky winners!! I chose the Sun Blind Cushion as I don't wear makeup too often and needed sunscreen. ೕ(•̀ᴗ•́) They sent the package via EMS and I got it within a week or so.. (Given how Canada Post is with the strike talk and the mentioning of people's EMS packages being lost on reddit, I am surprised I got it this fast.) I was also surprised that I got a Play 101 pencil and a new 0.2mm mask!

A photo posted by @addictedtocrafts12 on Aug 12, 2016 at 2:03pm PDT

SUN BLIND CUSHION

One of the reasons I chose the Sun Blind Cushion is because it's a sunscreen in a cushion form! I don't know why but that appeals to me so much! ¡¡¡( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و!!! Another reason is because it has a nautical theme to it.. I am a sucker for those.. ^__^

The box is so colourful! 

I don't know if you can see, but it states there is only 14g of product in the cushion. This is only 0.5g more than the A'Pieu Air-Fit cushion.

 Ingredients: As per the package. 

Water, Zinc Oxide (CI 7947), Cyclopentasloxane, Ethylhexyl, Methoxyonnamate, Prpoanediol, Titanium Oxide (a 7789), Phenyl Trimethicone, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Cyclohexasloxane, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Cicaprate, Lauryl PEG-9 Polydimethylsloxyethyl dimethicone, Nacinamide, Vinyl Dimethicone/methicone Slsesquoxane Crosspolymer, Trisloxane, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Hamameus Virginana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Anthemis Nobius FLower Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Lechitin, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Cholride, Stearic Acid, Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrlate/Dimethicone Methacryleate Copolymer, Aluminum Hydroxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isostearic Acid, Ispropyl Palmitate, Trethoxycaprylyslane, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricnoleate, Polyhydronxystearic Acid, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

**Apologies for any misspelling.. but OMG those are some SQUISHED UP letters!!! ⁀⊙﹏☉⁀ My eyes hurt from just trying to read it. 

It's SOOOO CUTE!!!!

As soon as I saw the box I knew it is a much thinner cushion than a regular cushion. I have it next to my Isa Knox cushion. (I was going to do a post about it until I lost all the photos.. I will eventually do up one. But let's just say it's a pretty good one!) You can see that it's just slightly wider than the Isa Knox and about half the height as Isa Knox. I kind of like how thin it is. It doesn't feel like a cushion at all. 

Oh one thing! It doesn't have a spring to open the cushion, which is what most of the cushions have. Instead, it's like a mirror, you have to physically pry it open. I find that the easiest way to open it is to have my finger nail under the lip and push up. 

However, the inside is same as any other cushion. Puff, housing for the puff and housing for the cushion itself. The cushion part does pop out from the case so you can replace it with a fresh one. 

The sunscreen itself... Hmmm.. (^～^;)ゞ Well, a little dab gets a lot of sunscreen... It looks thick but it spreads nicely. It goes on kind of matte so there's no worry about having a shiny face and it blends nicely... There is no whitecast, none that I can see anyways. I can't even tell where I have swatched the sunscreen until I touch it and feel it is slightly more moisturized than the other areas. 

I swatched some sunscreen on here too, but like I said, I really can't tell where it is since it blends in nicely. 

But........ It's.. VERY STRONGLY fragranced. Fragrance is listed as the last ingredient but it's SO strong. If it's a nice fresh citrus scent, maybe I'll put up with it. But it's a very strong sweet powdery smell, that just reminds me of baby powder mixed with something. I tried really hard to overcome the smell and put it on my face. But I put just a little bit on my neck and the smell overwhelmed my nose so I refuse to put it on my face. Though the scent does fade as I went out in the sun and sweat, so I tried slowly introducing it to my face by putting a little bit on my chin and see if I can tolerate it for hours... It's only been 5 minutes and I want to chop off my chin in order to get away from the smell...So it seems like I will be utilizing it as a body sunscreen instead of for my face.... ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚ I am sorry Etude... I love your products but that smell is just so strong I can't grow nose blind to it at all... 

PLAY 101 PENCIL #77

This was a surprise item in the package! This is my first Play 101 pencil! I actually really like the colour of this pencil. It's a really nice shimmery bronze colour. When I am swatching it, it glides on smoothly and well pigmented in my opinion. If I let it dry, it does not budget at all. 

Top is me trying to "blend/smudge" it before it's dried, and bottom is letting it dry without touching it. 

I quite like this. Can't wait to try it on my hooded eye and see how it  stands up against oil from my eyelids. I am tempted to buy the Play 101 in black and a shimmery white. o(^▽^)o

0.2MM MASK 

I can't tell what "flavour" this mask is supposed to be but IT"S SO CUTE!!!! It's got Etti the cat!!! From the colour, I am guessing it's Hyaluronic Acid. I actually for the full range of the 0.2mm masks when it was on sale so I will be reviewing those masks.. Soon... I hope... (⌒_⌒;)

A photo posted by @addictedtocrafts12 on Jun 20, 2016 at 8:44pm PDT

Thanks again Etude House Global for sending the products!  

Korean Beauty Starter Set - #Sampler Kit

 What the hell Memebox?! That's not cool!! There was no info card in the box and you deleted the set from your website! How am I supposed to figure out what each of the items are and how to use them all?! I don't have photographic memory!!! Urg!

Luckily, Unboxing Beauty managed to find a picture of all the items so I was able to grab all the product descriptions.

Aside from the lack of info card, this was a very good box! It was $15 including shipping for all of these samples.

Memebox Special #48 Rose Edition

I saved the best box for the last! I received the Rose Edition quite a while ago but I decided to save it as it is my absolute favourite box. It would be the best way to end my Memebox collection. I don't have any more boxes coming in. 

The Rose Edition is a box that I have been drooling over ever since the unboxing photos started to show up. I really like the items and I managed to snag one during the Black Friday restocks! I am super happy about it! Because it is the last box post in a while, there will be special appearances by a special guest. ^__-