Holika Holika x Gudetama - Lazy & Joy Jelly Dough Blusher

I am back with my love for Gudetama~~ I just can't stay away from that eggy goodness. Hehehe. This time it's the Holika Holika x Gudetama Lazy & Joy Jelly Dough Blusher!

Source

As you can see, the cushion blusher comes in 4 shades. 

Source

I got OR01, which I think is apricot. Or at least I am calling it apricot. It was the lightest out of the four and more natural looking to me. 

Look how cute he is as a pudding!! 😍😍

I think I have a thing for cushions. They just make carrying cosmetics around so much easier. I can touch up my makeup any time, anywhere. 

This is a cushion blusher, so it is very similar to a BB cushion. It is much smaller but it still have the same components. The mirror, puff (it's Gude's face!), housing for the puff, and the blush cushion. 

Bwahahahaha!!! Look at that butt heading into the apricot! I love it! I also really enjoy the the fact that they turned this traditionally white housing into a clear one with printed picture. It really adds to the cuteness factor! 

The actual cushion part is where it differs from a traditional BB cushion. The traditional BB cushion is replaceable in that you can pop it out of the casing and replace it with a refill. The blush cushion on the other hand is not replaceable. It is a pan stuck in the bottom of the casing with the blush. 

I am not sure how to describe the texture of the cushion. In pictures it looks to be like a pressed powder blush, but it has a sponge-like texture in that you can squish it around. But the actual blush doesn't feel very wet to the touch, it actually feel and look powdery on skin. So it's a quite confusing texture. 

The cushion puff is white, so you can see how much product is picked up with each application. The instructions given on websites that sell it is to use small amounts and slowly build on it. So I tried to follow instructions and was careful to only apply a small amount. I was disappointed to see that it was not noticeable at all. 

In the end, I found that I often need at least two applications before I can even see it on my skin. So if you like to use a heavy hand with blush, this shade may not work for you. =__=

I can kind of see the blush on the after picture, but I have a little bit of a hard time seeing it. Maybe I should have colour corrected all the redness in my cheek before applying it. 

I bought this for the cuteness factor, and it definitely delivered in that area. The colour payoff is meh, and the texture is kind of weird. So I don't think I will buy another one from this set. But! If you are interested in buying this, you can find it at Jolse with free shipping or TK but with shipping cost. 

NYX Colour Correcting Concealer Palette

Today I am going to talk about Western makeup for once.. *Gasp! 😱 * My skincare routine and makeup are almost exclusively Asian brands, as I found them to be more suited for me. But today I am going to talk about the NYX Colour Correcting Concealer.

I have been considering getting some concealers as the bags under my eyes has gotten darker and I would like to cover them up. I tried Etude House's concealer, but that didn't quite work. I felt that it actually drew attention to the bags and made it so much more prominent. So I turned to good ol' Google, and found out that I should trying colour correcting concealers. Me being me, I initially purchased the A'Pieu version of a colour correcting concealer through TesterKorea. That was back in November... It's now February.. I STILL DON"T HAVE IT! p( Ò ‸ Ó)q Stupid Canadian customs and Canada Post....

Anyways, I have to wear my contacts as they are about to expire.. (Yikes, that's an ongoing trend with me eh?) So I decided to look around. I seen NYX being tossed around as a popular colour correcting palette. I also seen Pony use it in one of her videos so I decided to look it in stores as I remember seeing NYX products before. But stupid me, I should've used the NYX store locator as all the store I hit did not carry it. Luckily, the Downtown Shoppers Drug Mart carry it and I headed down during lunch to grab it. This was a little over C$15, which make it close to C$17 after taxes. But on the NYX website, it's only C$14, with free shipping over $45. So if you are a fan of NYX, maybe get it from their website instead.

Unfortunately, the website nor the palette itself indicate what each of the shades are supposed to be for. But thank goodness for Google!

Image Source

Boo on this only having 12 months shelf life after opening! And whoa, it's made in Taiwan...

As you can see, I basically only use the mint & the peach pots. The rest are kind of useless to me. Maybe next time I will only buy these two colours instead.

The concealers all felt a little waxy to me, so it definitely need to be warmed up before it becomes spreadable. I prefer the dab method, but I have seen Pony put it on the back of her hand and coat her concealer brush with it. So the method is up to you.

Peach Concealer

As I have said before, the primary concern were the eye bags under my eyes. They are huge and dark and I need to cover it up. Unfortunately, I didn't think of taking a picture until I already dabbed some concealer on. ^__^;; But I do think it did lighten the dark circles though.

Mint Concealer

Another issue I have is that I have quite a bit of redness going on, so this where the mint concealer comes into play.

As you can see, I use a light hand with the dabbing, as I don't want to put on too much and have trouble blending it. But even with a light hand, the redness has been greatly reduced.

I feel like this picture is more noticeable for the mint concealer. The chin area was primarily red, but after applying the mint concealer, the redness is greatly reduced.

Here is a before and after picture, but I feel like because of the lighting, the before picture looks WAY better than the after picture.. Oops.. Folks, that's a what not to do with before and after pictures..         ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ But if you look closely, the under eye area looks less tired in the after picture.

Overall, I have to say I quite like the palette, I can apply a thin layer to cover up the concerning areas. Once it is blended out, I often don't need to apply a BB cushion on top. Which I like as the less make up I got on, the happier I am.  I am a bit annoyed that I am primarily going to use only 2/6 pots in the palette, so in the future, I am definitely going to buy only the peach & mint colour correcting concealers.

Masks #14... Masks I find sticky.

I hoard masks, that's not a secret. But I am making progress in reducing my stash of close to expiration/expired masks. As I am making progress through my stash, I will be adding more mask reviews ^_^

Purederm Pearl Essence Mask

The sticker says $3, but I purchased this from Daiso at 2 for $3 CAD. So it's only $1.50 each. I think I gave the other mask to my friend when we did a masking night that night. That being said, this is a brand that is slowly emerging in western stores, because I think I have seen a large variety of it at Walmart.

 Ingredients: As per the package. 

Water (Aqua), Glycerin, PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer, Pearl Extract, natto Gum, PEG-14M, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol, Illcium Verum (Anise) Fruit Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Water, Disodium ETA, Allantoin, Erythritol, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum)

Back to the mask, it's got a tangy smell, kind of reminds me of artificial lychee smells with a hint of tang added. I quite like it! *thumbs up!*

This has the eye flaps that allows your eyes to get some love too. However, my nose piece broke off when I took it out of the package and I just didn't want to bother with the mess that is now my mask.

I used it for about 25 minutes, when the upper lip area started to dry out. However, there was still a lot of essence leftover on my skin. It didn't feel tacky to the touch and was absorbed by my skin fast. However, it also made my skin feel a bit tight/itchy. 😔😒

The mask is supposed to help tone and rejuvenate complexion. While I did find my complexion has cleared up a little bit after the mask, the fact that it made my skin feel tight and itchy is a big no. So this mask will be a no repurchase for me.

A'Pieu Tangle Jelly Mask in Mango 

 I got this in mango flavour which is whitening. But honestly, I got this because it's mango not for its supposedly whitening effect. I was very intrigued by what this mask was. What do you mean tangle jelly mask?? What is it?! I had to get it to see it for myself. I got it from RoseRoseShop's eBay storefront for the cheaper shipping rate and utilizing the flash coupon from eBay.

Turns out, this is a this cellulose mask that is soaked in this thick jelly like essence.

 Ingredients: In Korean, not gonna translate, sorry. 

 The mask comes in two pieces, the mask itself, and a mesh like backing an aqua seal sheet. The mask itself is a thin cellulose mask that adheres to my face very well, even over my little nose. However, it doesn't reach near the ears but that's like all of the masks.

 The aqua seal sheet, which is stated on the package itself and I mistook as a backing, is supposed to be on top of the mask to prevent the essence from evaporating as fast. I will have to try it together next time. 

It comes with a thick gel/jelly like essence, which is where the jelly comes in. At first, it didn't appear to be gel but once I squeezed the extra essence out of the package, it is indeed gel. The essence itself smells like artificial peach but without the tang, so I guess that's what the artificial mango supposed to smell like.

I had the mask on for only 20 minutes despite having a thicker essence on the mask. This was due to the fact that the upper lip are was dry and the edges were starting to dry out as well. This probably would have been prevented by using my Daiso silicone mask cover the aqua seal sheet like it's intended 😅😅.

Anyways, there was still a lot of essence left on my face and on the mask itself. I rubbed the extra essence on the mask onto the rest of my body and tried to rub in the essence on my face, but it still took a while to sink in.

I feel like it did okay for a mask that I had on for 20 minutes. I didn't notice any visible brightening effect and I didn't quite like how it took so long to sink in. I will give it another try with the aqua seal sheet on top and revise my opinion should it change. However, I don't find this worth the $2 price tag. Don't get me wrong, it is an interesting mask and I liked it. But the stickiness and time it took to fully sink into my skin made it a no repurchase for me.

Nature Republic Real Nature Mask Sheet in Shea Butter

I got this from Skin18 a few years back as part of their free masks program where I get to pick and choose the masks and only pay for shipping. I think I was supposed to do a review on it, and I obviously took my sweet time. 😅😅 I thought these has been repackaged but don't quote me on it as sites such as Jolse still has the same packaging listed. So maybe I am imagining things. 😕

 Ingredients: As per the package. 

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate. Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Citrus Paradis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Dimethicone, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Hydroxide, Sophora Angustifolia Root Extrat, Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Prunus Persica (Peach) Leaf Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance. 

The mask is a thick cotton mask that is soaked in a thick lotion type of essence such that it was not dripping when I took it out of the package. The essence itself has a very powdery smell to it, which is what I like to refer to as the "old lady smell". Yah, I am not a big fan of that smell.=__= It kept on wafting in and out of my nose as I had it on, but it wasn't intolerable. On the plus side, the mask itself is quite big! It actually almost touches my ears and reaches far down my chin. 👍

I had the mask on for only 20 minutes. The mask was still moist but I just didn't have the patience to have it on any longer. There was still lots of essence on my skin, which took its sweet time sinking in and left my skin feeling tacky.

Due to the fact that it has a powdery smell that I dislike and it made my skin feel tacky, it's a no for me for future repurchases. I am glad I did get to try it out though!

Mirum Fresh Fruit Honey Real Nature Mask Pack

I also got this from Skin18 and yup, I waited forever to try it. Oops...

 Ingredients: In Korean, not gonna translate, sorry. Skin18 has it on their website though! 

This is a moist mask that is soaked in a thick clear gel like essence. The essence itself has a very sweet smell to it, almost like honey but a little off. As for the mask itself, it fits my face well. A perfect fit for my nose, and almost reaches my ears. Yay for big masks!

However, despite being soaked in a thick gel, it felt quite dry upon putting it on my face. It actually felt like it was going to suck all of the moisture off of my face and fall off immediately. Due to this fact, I only had it on for 10 minutes before taking it off. It is meant to be 15 to 20 minutes, but honestly, it really felt like it was going to fall off. Oddly enough, there was lots of essence on my face and the mask was still moist. I guess it must been my imagination. I tried to pat in the extra essence into my skin but my skin still felt tacky to the touch. However, it does look and feel more hydrated.

Once again, this is a mask I probably wouldn't repurchase because it made my skin feel sticky and it's not an easy to find brand.

BONUS:

Mamonde 7 Days Project- Moisturizing 

This is a pack of masks that you are supposed to be using for 7 days straight. I obviously had it for a long time as it is now discontinued. This expired in mid December and I tried to use it right after it expired. However... This was definitely a lesson for me.

The mask is rolled up and soaked in a lotion type essence. The essence has a slight tangy smell which is what I assume to be the strawberry. I thought it was going to be a serum type of essence as rose and strawberry kind of screams serum to me. But considering it is supposed to be moisturizing masks, I guess a lotion type makes more sense.

The mask is so big that I can put it on without using the mirror. It is also big enough that it almost reached my ears. (I just found another common theme for these masks! Masks that are so big they almost reach my ears!)

Downside to the mask is that due to the way the mask was packed, I feel that the essence was not distributed equally on the mask. Some parts felt drier than other parts. The mask dried out rather quickly, with the upper area feeling dry and uncomfortable within 5 minutes. The cheeks and jawline started to dry out and ready to fall off after 5 minutes as well. The forehead remained moist but it wasn't too far off. I ended up taking it off after 10 minutes because the whole mask felt dry and ready to come off by itself. Despite the feeling of a dry mask, I still had plenty of essence on my face, which was absorbed quickly.

Now the lesson. I kept using this mask for 3 days straight, but I started to get these small painful breakouts all over my face. I don't usually get those kind of breakouts so I immediately thought it may have caused by these masks. I stopped using them and surely enough the breakouts went away after a few days. After it was gone, I thought I would give it another try. But nope, the breakouts came back after one use. I had to throw the remaining 3 masks.

So the lesson I learned is that, USE YOUR MASKS IN TIME! Because these masks were expired, I can't pinpoint whether it was certain ingredients that my skin did not like or the fact that these ingredients were expired. Experience with these masks has made me re-evaluate if it was worth it to continue using expired masks or throw them out. I ultimately decided to throw out my expired masks as my skin is worth more than a few dollars worth of masks.

Unboxing - NMNL February Box

I like mystery boxes, which is why I loved Memebox when they used to ship internationally. I haven't found boxes that interested me ever since. But when I first heard about Kira Kira crate, which is supposed to be Japanese skincare and makeup items, I was intrigued enough to subscribe. However, I was unimpressed with the first box, it was filled with what I called filler items like $1 masks, soaps and bath tablets.. The curation of the box was kind of meh with no congruence.

A photo posted by @addictedtocrafts12 on Nov 15, 2016 at 4:58pm PST

The contents were: a pack of false eyelashes, a tube of face wash, a bath tablet, a soap, a face mask, a lip mask and two eye masks. I didn't mind the content much but I wasn't too happy to receive a $0.50 soap and two Pure Smile/Choosy masks in a box that cost US$30. The Naive face wash was the most expensive item in the box if I recall correctly. So no, I wasn't too happy with the content of the box in terms of value. I tried the two eye masks and wasn't too impressed. I was pretty bummed by the content that I didn't feel like putting together a unboxing post to further depress myself. 

I have to admit, I am still not impressed with Kira Kira box despite their constant requests for curation inputs on social media. Based on all the unboxings and spoilers, they are STILL putting quite a bit of Pure Smile/Choosy products in each boxes. November had 2, December had 1, January has 2, and February has at least 1 3 items (5LANC is a sub brand from Pure Smile/Choosy). (Update: I just saw people's unboxing for February's box, and there is 1 Pure Smile mask, 1 Choosy lip mask and the 5LANC toner/lotion.. ＼（〇_ｏ）／ Seriously?!) That's TOO much occurrence for one brand within 5 months. Just saying.😓 

Another thing that bugged me about Kira Kira crate is that they had an unboxing picture/video with a vlogger, with a box that is filled with cute items that are not in an actual box. 😑 Misleading advertising much? 

On the plus side, I quite like box! It's sturdy and it's quite deep. Good job on the box design! 

Fast forward to January and I find out there is the No Make No Life box which is from Tokyotreat. I decided to give them a try based on the contents on their other boxes like Yumetwins, which is a more cute plush kind of box. I was lucky enough to receive an early shipment of the very first box. Most of the subscribers are supposed to have their boxes shipped and received by the end of February. I had mine shipped out by mid January and received it by the beginning of February.

Prior to receiving my box, I have seen the full spoiler to the box and was kind of meh about it. But upon receiving it, I find that the curation is actually not that bad!

A photo posted by @addictedtocrafts12 on Feb 1, 2017 at 5:43pm PST

I'll go into each item below. 😊

Sailor Moon Crystal Eyelash Prism Series Set 2

Most of the spoilers I saw had Sailor Mercury, which is my favourite scout so I was a little bummed about receiving Sailor Venus. But meh, I like her enough. I mean my first manga was the Sailor V so she does hold a special place in my heart. These supposed to retail around 1,200 yen, which is about US$12/C$15, depending on the exchange rate. 

The set comes with 2 sets of lashes and a little case for your lashes and a mini eyelash glue, which obviously doesn't come with the kit. 

The neat thing about the lashes is that it has a bit of the sailor scout's colour on the outer lashes. So for Venus, her colour is orange and blue. I was actually kind of surprised to see the blue because when I first opened it, it was dark out so I didn't see the blue and thought it was just black and orange! 😅 

I was a bit worried that the orange would a bit too dramatic but I quite like it! But.. I do need to work on my eyelash gluing skills. 😆 I had trouble sticking it to my lash line and one side started to pop off as I was taking photos. 

Dolly Wink Eyelash Glue

Well, how can you include falsies without including eyelash glue... Good thing NMNL thought of that and included an eyelash glue from Dolly Wink. Dolly Wink is a pretty well known brand started by model Tsubasa. I tried one of the mascaras from the brand and it is decent. I found a similar product on the brand's official site and it looks to be around 972 yen, or US$9.72/C$13.14, depending on the exchange rate. 

I quite like the applicator, it is very thin so it allows for precise application. The glue goes on white so you can tell where the glue is, and dries clear so no one can see the glue once it is on your eyelid. Just a word of advice, don't hold the open tube in your hand while trying to apply glue on the lashes. I tried that and failed to realize how liquid the glue is. I managed to dump a big dollop from the tube onto lashes in the tray.. Oops 😅.. So don't hold it in your hands while applying the glue. 

Beauty World Tint heart nail cocktail

There appears to be a variation on this item among the various unboxings. Some has received the nail trio like I did, while others received hand creams with animal packaging. I was disappointed by the fact that I received the nail polishes as I wanted the cute hand creams. But I have to say I don't mind getting these nail polishes now. 

This trio comes from the brand Beauty World, which appears to primarily focus on nail products. The trio retails for 680 yen, which is US$6.80/C$9.19, depending on exchange rate. I quite like the size of these polishes as I don't use polishes often and these sizes are enough to last me a long time. 

Shade A: This is a nice cherry red that has a slight transparency to it. The above picture has only one coat and it's not streaky at all! So far so good!

Shade B: This is a more pink with fuchsia glitter. It can be worn on its own or on top of shade A. But I prefer it on its own, as you can't really tell when it is on top of shade A. 

Shade C: This is a clear polish with chunky white glitter(?). 

Just a word of advice, follow the recommendation that is inside the package. The picture clearly instructed to dab the glitter onto a surface and transfer it onto your nail. Let me tell you, follow it!😠 I didn't because I was lazy and ended up regretting it. The two other shades dried quickly but oh my goodness does shade C take FOREVER to dry! 😱I am not kidding! I had nails that were still tacky and movable after an hour! Yes! An hour! 60 minutes! 3,600 seconds! So listen to directions peeps,  transfer onto your nails instead of brushing it on. 

Please excuse my gross fingers & hang nails. I obviously don't take good care of my hands. Anyways, I just wanted to show how the colours look. From the left, it is shade B+C, shade A+B+C, and shade A+C. Like I mentioned above, you can't really tell shade B when it is added on top of shade A. 

These nail polishes has really surprised me. They have a very good colour payoff in that I just need one layer of polish for either colours. They have good staying power too! I usually have trouble with nail polishes as they tend to chip on me after a day or two. I have it on for two days now and not a chip! 

Zawachin x NOYL eyeshadow Palette

This was the very first spoiler for the box. I didn't know who Zawachin was until I saw her profile picture. She's pretty famous in Japan for recreating looks to look like certain celebrities, but her quirk is that her nose and mouth is covered with a mask. It makes sense for her to release an eye shadow palette seeing how her makeup primarily focuses on the eyes. 

The palette looked pretty nice and I wasn't expecting the 450 yen price tag. This is roughly US$4.50/C$6.08, depending on the exchange rate. 

To be honest, I don't like the colours in this palette as it is shades I wouldn't use. But I am not that adventurous with makeup so it's not NMNL's fault. But when I reconsidered it, the shades in here matches my falsies!! The shades of orange and blue is total Sailor Venus' colour! OOOhh! I see what you did here NMNL! 😉👍

Japan Gals Hello kitty sakura facial mask

I am not a big fan of Hello Kitty but this packaging got me going 😍😍😍. The style of drawing, the kimono and the background. It's just so pretty! 

This package contains 8 cotton sheet masks in the sakura "flavour". Unfortunately, the masks are just plain masks with eye flaps. Oh well.

I can only find this to be retailed in a boxed set with two additional masks that has Hello Kitty printed on them. The set retails for 1,000 yen for 10 masks, so I am going to assume this costs 800 yen. That is US$8.00/C$10.81 for 8 masks, which isn't too bad. 

I am quite curious if NMNL managed to acquire only the package of 8 sheets of masks, or they acquired the set and has taken out the 2 printed masks for a future box.😶 Guess we will find out soon enough. 

Soapmax Sakura Facial Bar Soap

This is what I call a filler item. It's a facial soap that is aimed at dry skinned folks as it is supposed to be moisturizing. It's got that distinct sakura smell to it. And boy was it hard to find information on it. It retails for 150 yen, or US$1.50/C$2.03. It's not bad for a facial soap but I am not a fan of bar soap so this will be passed to my brother. 

Overall Thoughts

The first NMNL box has a total value of 4,252 yen, US$42.52/ C$57.46, depending on exchange rates. This is not bad considering I got the box for $19 USD including shipping. While my first impression of the box was meh at best, the more I look at it the more I like its content and the thoughts that went into the curation. I like how there is a variety of skincare and makeup products and it includes both well known and unknown brands. 

But at the regular price of US$30 per month (it's $29.99 but come on...), and the poor exchange rate, I don't foresee myself subscribing to another box unless the spoiler items really intrigue me. Or I do something stupid....Read below... 😆

March's box has a theme of sakura, which I am interested to see what will be inside the box, considering this box already contains two sakura items. If you would like to get the March box, be sure to use the code "SAKURA" for $5 off your first box. This is only applicable for first time subscribers! I was dumb and tried to use it, and it obviously didn't work and I ended up subscribing to March's box instead. 😅😅 Good thing I like the theme.