Naturaglace UV Base Milk SPF 43 PA++ Review

As previously mentioned, I've been very impressed by Naturaglace's makeup range made of 100% natural ingredients. Their UV Base Milk SPF 43 PA++ is no exception!

This cute little blue bottle contains 30ml of primer with UV protection.

Comes out as a white milky liquid, it completely disappears once rubbed into the skin, leaving it more moisturised. It isn't oily or sticky, doesn't flake, and doesn't have a silicone feel. Makes my skin look smoother, brighter looking and foundation sits better as a result.

I also like to wear this on its own as sun protection on a lazy day when I don't want any foundation.

At this rate, I can really see my makeup stash being taken over by Naturaglace; they make super quality products that I can't seem to get enough of!

The Naturaglace UV Base Milk retails for ¥2940, 35ml.

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!

banila co Eye Love Eye Primer

banila co offers two editions of Eye Love Eye Primer duos; these are 01 Purity (lemon/skin beige) and 02 Temptation (white/pink). Typical of me I went for the pretty white/pink combo - figured I could maybe use the pink as a highlighter too.

I love most of banila co packaging and this primer duo is no exception. It is very compact (7cm x 5cm x 1cm) and comes with a convenient mirror, however the shiny metallic case is a magnet for fingerprints (grr!).


It's split into 2 compartments with 4.7g and 4g of white & pink respectively. The white part is the actual primer whereas the pink is used to brighten the eye area as well as highlight - it reminds me of Benefit Eye Bright, which I also happen to have and will compare with.


The primer itself is totally clear so I won't post a swatch; it's a little hard in the pan at first but once warmed up (I rubbed it a few times) it spreads like a dream, and provided a velvety smooth base to make eyeshadow application considerably easier. This primer intensifies eyeshadows, makes colours go on more evenly and easier to blend - I use it straight after my eye cream and I find it mattifies my eyelids somewhat. I haven't experienced any creasing or colour fading throughout the day either. Great stuff!

Eye Love Eye Primer (pink) vs Eye Bright
The pink part of the Eye Primer looks almost identical to Benefit Eye Bright; both make a versatile eye brightener/highlighter but the Benefit pencil is a lot more difficult to spread and has chalky/dry texture whereas banila co's is creamy and requires very little effort to spread.

When I draw a line or dab with Eye Bright, unless I rub vigorously I can always see a faint trace of it. With Eye Primer I just need to gently pat on the pink brightener until it blends in perfectly to make me look more awake. Obviously I prefer banila co because I don't need to tug at the skin around my eyes as much.

They both look almost identical when on but I think the quality of Eye Primer is superior. It was difficult to swatch them since they don't really show up.

Benefit left, banila co right

Eye Primer duo retails at 15,000KRW ($12/£7) for a total of 8.7g.
Eye Bright retails for $20 in the US, £13.50 in the UK and you only get 1.7g. The pencil needs to be sharpened too, which causes product wastage, plus you need to carry a separate mirror unlike Eye Primer where there's already one built in.

I don't see any reason to use my Benefit pencil from now when the banila co stuff is miles better in every single way.