NoTS Silk Glow Stick Foundation No. 21 [Review]

Ever since I discovered the convenience of cushion foundations, I haven't really felt the need to try other types. However, as I do like stick foundations for their small size and I'm still searching for one I'm happy with, I ended up with Silk Glow Stick Foundation by NoTS.

Smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation and Camera Ready BB Cream

I'd previous read raving reviews on Smashbox on Sephora but for some reason never tried their (paraben free, yay!) products. Didn't realise that they were available in the UK until I happened to walk past one of their counters last week.

I ended up with:
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Dark Spot Correcting
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Light
Smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation 1
Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in Fair
Smashbox Artificial Light Luminizing Lotion in Diffuse
Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Pout

Having tried the BB cream and foundation for a few days, I'll be reviewing these first.

Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35
The shade I have is Fair, the lightest, and it's a neutral shade that works very well with my skin - not quite as good a match as Naturaglace Foundation Puree YE1 though.

Touted as a "5-in1 BB cream", it claims to "prime, perfect, protect, hydrate and control oil in one step to create a flawless face in a flash".

I generally don't rate Western BB creams - they tend to be glorified tinted moisturisers rather than an all-in-one skin product like their Korean counterparts - but this is the most impressive Western BB I've tried to date. Fairly lightweight, it doesn't feel cakey or heavy on my skin.

Coverage can be built from light to medium to make freckles (bane of my life) less visible and blur out imperfections so my skin looks more even. Providing better coverage than a tinted moisturiser, it's moisturising and gives a fresh looking dewy finish that I always look to achieve with base products.

A concealer is still needed if you wanted to completely cover up spots/freckles, whereas a lot of Korean BB creams can also be used for spot concealing. 

Although the SPF 35 is a nice bonus, I wouldn't feel adequately protected from UV rays if I wore this alone; the small amount of BB cream used simply won't provide enough sun protection. If anything this gives a false sense of security in that you won't need to use a separate sun block.

Smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation SPF 15
Shade 1 is described as "natural vanilla for fair complexions". Unfortunately, it's a little on the pink side and looks slightly ashy on my skin. It's lighter in texture than the BB cream.

With buildable coverage up to medium, the silky, luminous finish really does give the skin an airbrushed look. So lightweight, it feels like I'm not wearing anything on my skin. Just a shame that the shade is a bit off. I'm going to try shade 2 (warm vanilla for fair/light complexions) tomorrow and see if it's a better match. Really want this foundation to work for me!

As for the SPF 15, it's negligible; I've always preferred no SPF in foundations as opposed to such a low level, because it's always too useless on its own and it would be better to have more antioxidants instead. Not a deal breaker though, I always wear at least SPF 30 on top of my day moisturiser.

What I really love about both Camera Ready BB Cream and Liquid Halo HD Foundation, is that they need no touching up whatsoever, and happily stay on my skin for 8 hours.

Comparison swatches to show the colour difference between Camera Ready BB Cream Fair and Liquid Halo HD Foundation 1

Both foundations swatched with Naturaglace Foundation Puree YE1

Natural Japanese make up brand Naturaglace reviews

Once upon a time, I was obsessed with any and all Japanese brand makeup/skincare products and subsequently hauled them all, until I decided to go down the natural route and realised a lot of the brands I used contained parabens, mineral oils and a whole bunch of synthetic ingredients.

While I may tolerate some synethetic ingredients in small amounts for an outstanding product, parabens for me is a big no no - I've since thrown out a lot of products containing the offending ingredient.

As I generally prefer Japanese base products (why does SUQQU have to contain parabens??) I started searching for natural Japanese makeup brands. Aided by good old Google Translate, I eventually stumbled upon Naturaglace - their products contain 100% natural ingredients and are free from parabens, mineral oils, synethetic fragrances, etc, yay!

Naturaglace's official site is in Japanese, though there are a lot of pictures to help you find what you're looking for. They currently have a decent selection of base + point makeup.

A few photos from the Naturaglace brochure I received with one of my orders:

 

I like to get Naturaglace items from their Rakuten store via FromJapan - FJ periodically runs a 10% off Rakuten items promo, so I always take the opportunity to stock up or try out new items.

Brief introduction over, on to the reviews!


Naturaglace Foundation Puree SPF 20 PA++

Available in 3 shades - YE1, YE2 & YE3. I initially took a wild guess and went for YE1 which is the lightest shade.

It provides SPF 25 with some UVA/UVB protection; foundations with sun protection always get bonus points from me even though I'd usually use a separate sun block.

Despite being "YE" which one would assume to be yellow toned, it's more of a peachy shade which luckily, matches my skin almost perfectly. It gives dewy brightening effect without making me look like a ghost, and evens out my complexion making it look fresh & even.

As the coverage is so light, it's pretty rubbish at covering imperfections. Doesn't really bother me though, since I've always favoured light to medium coverage foundations - I prefer to spot conceal where needed rather than plaster my entire face with heavy foundation.

Swatch:

Its consistency is somewhere between an average runny liquid foundation and a cream foundation. Easily spread and doesn't clog up my pores. One to two pumps is enough to cover the entire face; I like to dab it around before blending.

The only downside is that it feels ever so slightly sticky immediately after application, but fixes itself after a few minutes, or you can use a finishing powder to get rid of this issue.

A foundation that's long lasting, evens out my skin tone, is natural & paraben free, with beautiful consistency, plus makes my skin look even and dewy - I really couldn't ask for more (move over SUQQU!) At ¥3390 for 20ml it's also more reasonably priced than SUQQU foundations.


Naturaglace Make Up Cream SPF30 PA++
This is a very slightly tinted, almost transparent, all-in-one cream that's only available in one shade. Suitable for pretty much all skin tones, it can be worn either on its own, or as a primer under foundation depending on the desired finish.

I generally prefer to wear it alone and while it's not enough to cover up any imperfections, it makes my skin appear just that little bit more radiant, even toned, and my pores a tiny bit smaller, so it looks like I've been blessed with great skin (if only) as opposed to good makeup.



When worn under foundation, it provides additional moisture for the skin as well as a little extra coverage.

Apparently, this Make Up Cream is so popular in Japan that it's won Monde Selection Gold Awards (for high quality products) for three years running!

I've been using Naturaglace's Foundation Puree and Make Up Cream almost exclusively for the past two years as I simply haven't found better alternatives.

Retails at ¥2940 for 25ml


Naturaglace Honey Rouge
I picked this lip gloss in PK2, which is a natural looking nude pink. Honestly, I'm on the fence about this shade because I generally don't go for nude pinks, but it feels moisturising and comfortable enough on the lips that I'm happy to continue using it.

It has super fine shimmer that's not at all obvious from a distance. While the colour is pretty, it's not pink enough for me and doesn't really show up on my lips either.

Like the Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss, it comes with a flat spongy applicator that I really like. Unfortunately, it's not as long lasting as Hourglass, which also narrowly trumps it in comfort and longevity.

Retails at ¥2940 - I really don't think I'm impressed enough to try this in a different shade...

Naturaglace Lip Gelee
Available in PK1 and PK2 - on the official site PK1 looks like a shimmery baby pink and PK2 is a pale peach shade, naturally I chose the former.

Although this gloss has extremely fine pink shimmer particles (shown in swatch below), on the lips it looks like a clear lip gloss. It seems that Naturaglace make up products are on the sheer side.

Quite moisturising and not too sticky, it looks rather pretty when layered on top of a more pigmented lip gloss. Otherwise for ¥1890, you'd be better off purchasing a cheaper clear gloss because the difference is so subtle.

The size doesn't seem to be written anywhere, but it's smaller than a 10ml Juicy Tubes, I'd guess maybe around 8ml.


Naturaglace Eyebrow Chocolat
A more recent addition to my stash, this Eyebrow Chocolat is a refillable double ended eyebrow pencil with a brush attachment. It's comes in BR1 Brown and BR2 Light Brown - since I have dark hair, I went for BR1.

Though it doesn't appear to hold much actual product, the twist mechanism means nothing gets wasted unlike sharpening a regular brow pencil. The brush on the other end is handy for taming unruly brows.



While nice to have, this Eyebrow Chocolat isn't an essential item in my opinion. But as I already have it, once I run out I might as well get a refill.

Swatch:

Retails at ¥2940 and the refill on its own is ¥1890.


Naturaglace Eyeliner Creme Chocolat

I'm very picky when it comes to eyeliner; I'm not a fan of harsh, crisp eye lines and find most liners too harsh. This liner is creamy soft, doesn't drag the skin around my eyes and stays put for several hours without needing an eyelid primer. Perfect!

Again I find the twist mechanism brilliant, since I dislike having to sharpen eye pencils which always leaves debris flying everywhere.

The spongy tip on the other end is convenient for smudging the liner to soften it or for a smoky look.



Like the Eyebrow Chocolat, I don't think this would qualify as a must have for most people. However, given how picky I am and how convenient it is, it's highly likely I'll purchase a refill.

The Eyeliner Creme Chocolat and its refill are priced the same as the Eyebrow Chocolat (above).

All in all I'm a huge fan of Naturaglace! As far as prices go, you don't get a lot of product for your $ - it seems that Naturaglace isn't that generous with the amount of product you get That said, the quality is most definitely there. I'd be happy to keep buying the base products as well as continue to expand my current growing collection.

There are a few more Naturaglace products I'll be reviewing, which will follow shortly (promise!)

Plus... I'm expecting my absolute biggest ever FromJapan package (containing 1 item, 4.5kgs) next week - I'll be sure to post as soon as that arrives too!

CandyDoll Liquid Foundation, Concealer & Makeup Base SPF30

A couple of posts ago I wrote about my recent purchase of some CandyDoll products. I've since been using them almost daily, except for the Powder Foundation and Mineral Powder as I was in the mood for a lighter coverage.

The problem I have with most western foundation brands is that even given the correct shade depth, the foundation undertones are either too yellow or too pink. My previous favorite foundation was by SUQQU, but it contains parabens so that's now a no go.

For references purposes the last MAC foundation I owned was Mineralize Satinfinish in NC15, but it's been over a year since I've used the brand (booted out for containing parabens). When I purchased it I remembered the MAC MA using NC15 and NC20 on either side of my face, both shades blended in but NC20 made my skin look slightly duller so we agreed I should go for NC15.

Now on to the CandyDoll products!

CandyDoll Liquid Foundation
Currently available in shades 01 and 03, with 02 to be released soon. 03 looked quite a bit darker than 01 so I chose the latter.

It comes in a little 30g tube and retails at ¥2310 (≈$28)

Coverage wise wise it's quite light, somewhat buildable and between tinted moisturizer & foundation. It evens out my skin but doesn't cover up any noticeable blemishes, which is where the concealer comes in. I would have preferred some sort of SPF but it's not a big deal.

Foundation swatch

It looks rather dark swatched on my arm but after spreading it out a lot it's a good match, albeit a little too dark. However I do like its matte and slightly glowy finish, how it doesn't settle into pores and that it's long lasting. Not my HG foundation, but a good substitute.

CandyDoll Makeup Base SPF30

Comes in a 30g squeeze tube and is only available in shade 01 right now.

Swatch of the Makeup Base

It contains super fine shimmer particles to brighten the skin either under foundation or when worn on its own. Makes my skin look brighter, smoother and gives it a dewy boost when used under CandyDoll Foundation, plus it minimizes pores. The SPF30 is also a nice addition, makes me feel safer about being in daylight :P

It's difficult to take a photo of but as you can see below it brightens my skin.

It's very light (almost watery), not at all sticky and so sheer that I think it's suitable for all skintones. Very happy with this purchase!

It retails at ¥1890 (≈$23)

CandyDoll Concealer
I picked 01 out of the two available shades 01 & 02. I wanted a concealer that completely covered up blemishes, and it must be creamy enough so it won't flake - surprisingly most concealers I've tried did not fulfill these simple requirements.

But fortunately for me, the CandyDoll Concealer does meet my standards! It is very moisturizing without being oily and the convenient doe foot applicator makes it easy to apply.

I only need to dab on the tiniest amount on individual blemishes, pat a little, and job done. I don't get dark circles so can't comment on how well it conceals them.

Concealer swatch

A few layers of the concealer will even cover up freckles. As I'm quite pale the few freckles I have are super obvious (at least to me) so on my makeup days I like to use some of this on the freckles =P

There's no indication of how much product is in a tube, the container is a little shorter than regular lip balm (4.25g) but approximately the same diameter, so I'm estimating just over 3ml which at a price of ¥1260 (≈$15) is very reasonable in my opinion.

Next to tube of lip balm

Review of the powder foundation and mineral powder to follow!

SUQQU Powder Foundation Glow

I had an awesome beauty experience at the SUQQU counter at Selfridges, where I was fortunate enough to be greeted by the loveliest sales assistant I have ever spoken to. She was very thorough in the consultation (I didn't even make an appointment!) and gave such knowledgeable application & product advice that I left super happy and impressed with the result.

I was recommended the Powder Foundation Glow in shade 15, which is one of SUQQU's lightest foundation shades. Shade 10 also looked like a good match on me but it's slightly pink toned so I decided to go for 15 after my previous disaster with pink shades.

This is probably the most expensive foundation I've purchased to date, but I think it's a genuinely a superior product and therefore totally worth it; when I've had foundation matches/makeovers I was happy with in store in the past, once I'd taken the product(s) home I couldn't recreate the same finish or the colour match was totally off. With SUQQU Powder Foundation, it looks exactly the same on me now as it did in store, making my skin look fresh, radiant and effortlessly flawless. I don't normally use a primer and don't need a concealer afterwards either as the coverage is so perfect.

Packaging is very sleek, but annoyingly the case picks up every single little fingerprint. It comes with a protective velvet sleeve to store the case in. I wish the foundation had a higher SPF though - at only SPF16 PA++ it's not enough so I wear at least SPF35 underneath.

The foundation compact is sold separately

Even after 10+ hours the foundation still looks as freshly applied as when I first put it on, which is miles better than any foundation or BB cream I have ever used as I don't need to touch up at all. The sponge is velvety soft and I love the finish provided by its comforting soft strokes. Powder Foundation Glow comes in a smooth powder form, but feels lightweight and almost moist at the same time. The finish is very natural - not flakey/cakey/powdery and I don't notice any dry patches whatsoever. It evens out my skintone, makes me look poreless and my skin super smooth to touch.

As far as colour match goes, 15 is actually a bit too dark & yellow for me under natural light, whereas under shop light it looked like a perfect match (yes I should have walked out to double check first). However if I blend furiously and apply my favourite powder (Majolica Majorca Pressed Fantasia 24h) on top, it brightens the foundation so it looks like a perfect match unless I inspect really closely with a mirror.


Is it worth £40? Absolutely. Will I purchase again? I'm certain I will, though possibly a different type of powder/liquid foundation if they better suit my skin type, or even a different shade (10 maybe?), but either way unless I find something better SUQQU Powder Foundation Glow is officially my favourite.

Next time I revist SUQQU I will definitely go back to the same SA - I honestly cannot rave about her enough and I'll actually phone in advance to make sure she's there

Etude House Moistfull Collagen Balm SPF36

When Etude House released their new Moistfull Collagen range of mostly skincare products, this balm especially stood out because its name made it sound like an all in one skin perfecting product with sun protection thrown in. The swirly pattern & compact it comes in looked cute too, so without much hesitation into my cart it went.

The box it comes in is rather big, but it holds the mirrored pact, a handy replacement sponge and a 10ml sample size of Moistfull Collagen Cream. The packaging of the compact is in a fat pearly peach coloured plastic casing with a semi reflective shiny plastic thing on the top; it does absolutely nothing so I guess it's there for decorational purposes.


Inside the compact there's another sponge on a holder which separates it from the actual balm - a rather nice feature in my opinion. The swirly balm looked so pretty that I almost couldn't bear to use and smudge it up.

Dark swirls are foundation, white swirls are moisture cream.

According to the promotional pics you can use the sponge for different areas of the face depending on how much of the sponge you use, but I find it much easier using fingers because the included sponge gives a somewhat blotchy finish. The balm texture is creamy, smooth and very easy to spread.

I really wanted to like this pretty balm, but it's pink toned and looks unnatural on me (usually NC15 sometimes NC20 in MAC) in that it's very easy to tell I'm wearing foundation. You can see the obvious mismatch even when swatched on my arm. Coverage is medium and a little cakey unless applied with a light hand.


There's also a white cast (it does say "whitening" on the box but powdery white is not a good look) when I first apply it, although this does go away after a while. Also this balm really highlights any dry patches on my face - so much for moisturizing, heh. I tried patting it on gently with the sponge, and using my fingers but both yielded pretty much the same powdery result.

All in all I'm pretty disappointed with this, so I'm sending it to my makeup drawer to gather dust.

Mine was purchased from Gmarket for 16,500KRW (around $14).