Most people opt to go with BB Cream whenever they don’t feel like having much makeup on, but not me. I would either go with all or nothing at all . BB Cream (especially Korean brand) is my least favourite base makeup as they are too oily for my skin. It’s not a secret that I’m all about matte skin. Having said that, I actually kinda like Western version of BB Cream. They suit my skin and preference so well. And when I said Western BB Cream, that includes this NEW L’Occitane Immortelle Precious BB Cream SPF 30.

Funny thing is, I was all hyped up on L’Occitane Pivoine Sublime Skin Tone Perfecting Cream as CC Cream is my absolute favourite so when I started using this Immortelle Precious BB Cream, I was speechless. It’s unlike those BB Cream that I hate and I think I just smack myself for declaring my love for CC Cream loudly last week because I like this BB Cream too! Oh boy . I should have known better Western BB Cream NEVER fail. On me at least

This Immortelle Precious BB Cream comes in 3 shades – 01 Fair, 02 Light and 03 Medium. The shade that I have and tested is 02 Light, which is a spot on shade for me. BB Cream stands for blemish balm, blemish base or beblesh balm. Yes, all the weird name people put on initials . However in the Western market, BB is widely known as beauty balm. To me it doesn’t really matter what you call it. We would ended up calling it BB Cream anyway. BB cream was originally created in Germany by dermatologist Dr. Christine Schrammek to protect her patients’ skin after facial peels and surgery. So BB Cream in general is an all-in-one product to replace serum, moisturizer, primer, foundation and sunblock.

Adapting to the concept, this Immortelle Precious BB Cream is also a multi-purpose formula product that works in 3 different ways:

• Evening out uneven skin tone by concealing and brighten dull skin.
• Smoothening and soften any signs of fatigue or stress and fatigue.
• Protect skin against damaging effects of photo-aging.

I love the dense and slim tube. It comes with a pointy nozzle tip for precise dispensing so it is less messy working with the product. I find that tube with huge dispense hole tend to leak and so messy during application. Imagine doing your makeup in a rush

02 Light is meant for fair skin with yellow undertone. I suppose 01 Fair is for fair skin with pink undertone. 03 Medium on the other hand is more for medium to dark skin or for those who are into the healthy sunkissed glow . So choosing the right shade is pretty easy. I have yellow undertone so if I use 01 Fair, I might end up with a gray cast on my skin. I think you get the drill.

The coverage is amazing. It is buildable from sheer to medium or even to full coverage, depending on the amount of product you use. I like medium to full coverage so I would layer the product on until I get the desired coverage. It has a rather strong floral scent to it. I found out that the BB Cream formula is enriched with organic immortelle essential oil, which is rich in active molecules that offers unique anti-aging results. The scent does goes away after a while but while you are working on the application, you will have to bear with the scent. As for me, I like scented product so I am fine with it

Below is the Before and After comparison with just one layer of product. It is light on the skin and sheer. So keep layering until you get your desired coverage. What I REALLY LOVE is that the BB Cream finishes off MATTE! A matte BB Cream! Now, that is rare. You get it now why I like it right?

I told a few people I met last week that I am just wearing L’Occitane Immortelle Precious BB Cream and set it with a translucent powder as my base makeup. Their reaction was like “no way”. That is because no one can really tell that I had BB Cream on as the coverage is just as good as foundation, provided you layer it on until full coverage like I do ya. Don’t just put on a thin layer and expect miracle . I won’t deny that it does takes an effort to keep layering on product but I can assure you the result is amazing and smooth. I bet you can’t even tell I had BB Cream on. Of course the brightening effect gave it away. However you will still need a separate concealer for spot concealing on darker spots.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it is a BB Cream or CC Cream. What matter is that the product delivers and your skin loves it. It’s a bonus when you look good with it. I had a great first experience trying L’Occitane BB Cream and CC Cream. I was more surprised with how my skin and I react to the BB Cream. I didn’t thought I would like it and I did. Never say never

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

The post L’Occitane Immortelle Precious BB Cream SPF 30: I gave my heart away to this Western everlasting flower-infused BB Cream in 1, 2, 3 appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

I’ve been secretly using the full range of the NEW Estée Lauder Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening for months now. I’ve also secretly wean off from using acne mark gel and a few other skin care brand/range to the basic anti-aging and brightening skin care regime. Recently I received lots of compliment that I have good skin although personally I hated the large pores and acne marks. I was told by a BA during a makeover session that good skin to them is all about the skin texture refinement, radiance and healthy skin. According to them, I have plump, bouncy skin, glowing complexion and I don’t have pimples or wrinkles. I was secretly giggling because I was using a brand that is not theirs

Last year I trial CyberWhite HD range and it gave me fantastic result. You can click on this link for the review. This year, Estée Lauder came out with a whole new Crescent White and I get to try the whole range!

Despite my professed love for CyberWhite HD and how it totally changed my brightening skin care routine, there are many who doesn’t quite like the range as much as I do due to the slippery texture and scent. I personally have no issue with that and I managed to work around it but for those who are not happy with those issues, well good news! Estée Lauder heard you and your feedback because I find that this new Crescent White is the improvised formulation of CyberWhite HD, if not better. Whatever you complaint before are rectified through this Crescent White range.

Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening Cleanser (RM145) comes in a huge, sleek tube. It’s so huge that I’ve been using it day and night for a good few months and it’s still half full. Basically you only need a tiny bit of the cleanser, add some water and it will create this creamy foam. Usually whitening or brightening product especially the cleanser tend to be a little drying but not this one. This one here is hydrating enough for my dehydrated skin without turning my face into an oil slick.

The Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening Moisture Treatment Lotion (RM190) *what a mouthful!* is probably the only product I used generously among the lot and it’s about to finish soon. I tried to slow down with the usage so that I have some left for the review lol! Sometimes I sneakily skip my lotion after cleansing but ever since I got this, I never skip this step. I like how the scent and texture go hand in hand with the cleanser. So why skip right? Believe it or not, this Lotion is actually the key to maximizes the entire Crescent White range. So remember to get this if you want to get any of the Crescent White products.

As I’m typing this out, I’m probably about a few pumps away from finishing the Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening Spot Correcting Essence (RM380). I seriously cannot live without brightening essence any day of my life. This essence is so precious and powerful that one pump is enough for the whole face. On some occasion I did go all out and apply two pumps. Doubling the amount doesn’t give me greasy face at all. That is why I like it. I remember someone told me before that my forehead is darker than the bottom half of my face so I make sure I apply this essence evenly on the whole face and it works. No more dark forehead . Among the whole range, this essence smells the best and heavenly although all of them smells the same. The texture is very light and absorbed into the skin in no time.

I remember many complaint about the slippery and heavy texture of CyberWhite HD Advanced Brightening Moisture Creme previously. You will be glad to know that Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening Moisture Créme (RM265) is the improvised version. The texture now is no longer gel-cream but a true cream, only lighter. It doesn’t leave any sticky residue and with just a few strokes of massage, the cream is absorbed into the skin like magic. I mainly use this cream at night however I also use it before on day time before work. You know, just to see if it withstand the heat, dirt, makeup and sweat . While the previous CyberWhite HD makes my foundation slipped just a little bit on the jawline, this new version doesn’t do that to me. When I used it at night, I woke up with bouncy, bright complexion.

Generally, I’m not a BB Cream fan. Having said that, I still get excited whenever I spot a new BB Cream. I secretly buy them to secretly test them out . I still remember my very first Estée Lauder BB Creme, which is probably the first western BB Cream I ever like previously. The new Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening BB Créme SPF50/PA++++ and Brightening Balm (RM185) is kind of similar (to me) but with an exception. It comes with a handy dandy brightener hidden on the cap.

Weirdly, I find that the BB Creme is superb on my first time trying. However on subsequent application, I find that the coverage is sheerer and it gave me a glowy complexion. I also find that Estée Lauder BB Creme tend to lean more towards the pinkish shade. Now, you have to take note on this if you have yellowish complexion like I do because it might turn grey towards the mid day. I did experience that with the previous BB Creme. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t turn grey this time. In fact the pinkish base gave me a healthy glow. I set the BB Creme with lots and lots of powder because BB Creme in general tend to make my skin extra oily.

I mistaken the brightening balm as an under eye brightener aka concealers so all these while I had the balm applied under my eye lol. It was an honest mistake because it works so well as an under eye concealer and brightener. Thank goodness it doesn’t do anything crazy to my eyes hehe. It looks a tad bit satiny finish which kinda glows and brighten. It’s my most favourite of all! I didn’t notice any additional creasing on my under eye so it was all good

Here is the Before and After . Yeap! I no longer look pale and unlively. I like how refined my skin texture is now, my skin is more brighten, skin tone is more even and all the previous marks on the apples of the cheeks are visibly reduced especially my right cheek. I did not experience any breakout, same as all my previous experience with Estée Lauder brightening products. The result will be even better when pair with Micro Essence and Advanced Night Repair. I woke up with even more wow factor . And I even went shopping bare face many times without scaring anyone haha!

Not saying this because I was given the range for review but honestly Estée Lauder came up with really good brightening range and it always work wonders on me without fail. Everytime I finished the range, I notice that my skin is back to normal but when I go back to it, my skin lifted up. The results on me is noticeable and I don’t even have to say anything. Picture says a thousand words they say

What say you?

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

The post Estée Lauder Crescent White Full Cycle Brightening: Say goodbye to dull skin and hello brighter even-toned skin! appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

I have to admit. I’m not a fan of BB Cream. Whenever someone told me that she only use nothing but BB Cream, I gave them a yuck look. It’s funny when I think of it. It’s the Korean that first came out with BB Cream and it was also the product that was made famous by the Korean. Somehow I feel that Korean BB Cream just doesn’t work well on me. I do have a favourite Korean BB Cream mind you but I would prefer Western version of BB Cream anytime.

It is not a secret that I’m a fan of the brand Guerlain. Back in April 2013 I posted up a sneak peek on Guerlain’s upcoming BB Cream release – Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster. It’s about time I share with you what I think after using the BB Cream for a good few months. Can this Western BB Cream change my mind on BB Cream overall? Will this Western BB Cream be any better than Korean BB Cream? We’ll see

Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster packing is really luxe. The tube is tall, slim, and comes with well-made cap and dispensing nozzle. I like that the Beauty Booster comes with a pump nozzle, not screw-cap type of packaging. With the pump nozzle I can control the amount I needed to pump out so there is no wastage here and I can even pump out bit by bit to top up as needed during application. So convenient

This Beauty Booster comes in just two shades – 01 Light and 03 Medium. I wonder what happen to 02 eh? Below swatch is for Light which is perfect for my skin tone. I believe this is leaning more towards yellow undertone as the swatch is quite obviously shown that it is more beige and also the fact that it doesn’t have any pink tone to it. However the shade suits all skin tone so don’t worry about it :D. The trick here is to have the Beauty Booster on but looks like you are not wearing any.

The secret to flawless skin with Beauty Booster lies in the Bio-Fusion micro-mesh, an unprecedented combination of smoothing and shaping stretch fibres and natural linen and silk fibres in complete affinity with the skin. However I do still feel that I had something on my face and not feeling that the Beauty Booster is the second skin because it’s a tad bit tacky after application. The consistency is certainly thick, almost like a liquid foundation. There is a distinctive floral scent in the Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster. It’s not very nose clogging to me as I don’t really mind that my skin care and makeup are scented. The scent doesn’t linger on but if you do mind on the scent, do take a sniff over the counter prior before purchasing.

Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster comes with a combination of five actions – protection, hydration, radiance, color correction and even skin tone. I do agree on the protection, hydration and even skin tone claim but that depends on the way I apply my Beauty Booster. Whenever I had more skin care on and apply this Beauty Booster with fingers, the coverage is more sheer and it’s more oilier. By this way it is also easier to spread but the downside would be that I will have oiler face after just two hours. And if I put on lesser skin care and apply this Beauty Booster with either fingers or brush, the coverage is more thicker and slightly matte at the same time. Matte means it’s harder to spread the product out but definitely no issue for me as I would prefer a matte coverage. The downside is the mattifying effect only lasted 2-3 hours. The coverage is buildable and quite easy to do so. I don’t have a serious case of eyebags and Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster still are unable to cover the imperfection properly. On the first few days I have smeared makeup on my chin especially if I smile or laugh a lot. What happen to me was “breakage” of base makeup. It’s definitely one ugly scene lol. Remember to take note of your finishing powder :). I usually apply this Beauty Booster with a brush, blot with a laid-flat tissue to lift away the excess oil on the surface and perfected the application with fingers. This Beauty Booster will be much better with buffing in the product. A Sigma F80 or Real Technique brush will do the trick.

It contains Titanium Dioxide 3.55%, chemical Oxybenzone 1.00% and Octinoxate 3.74% in the ingredient which helps to prevent skin from sunburn. The SPF30 PA+++ is a plus point but still, you will need to apply a separate sunscreen. Reason being is that your SPF15 in skin care will not add up to Beauty Booster’s SPF30 aight?

And here’s the final look after all makeup is done. I finished it off with RMK Pressed Powder N which explains the healthy glow on my face. I wouldn’t recommend this pressed powder as finishing powder because oily skin user will have oilier face in no time with this Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster. This would be THE PERFECT BB Cream for normal to dry skin user but oily skin user might need to figure out how to mattify the skin better. If you must get this, just layer on lesser skin care prior before applying this Beauty Booster or apply any oil-free skin care and smoothing makeup base on to prolong the makeup.

Was there any oxidisation? Surprisingly it don’t oxidise on my oily skin at all.

Here are the ingredient list

Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster proved to me once again that Western BB Cream are way better than Korean BB Cream and it definitely suits my skin better in so many ways. BB Cream usually doesn’t come in more than one shade. This Guerlain one comes in two shades which makes shade matching much more easier.

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.

The post Review: Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Beauty Booster, A BB Cream That Goes On and Finishes Like a Foundation appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

My Facebook timelines had been flooded with reviews on Etude House’s version of Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion recently and I thought why not I do the other way round? I have taken pictures of this Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion since a few months ago but didn’t come around to post up a review. I have no idea why :D. Since I’m on BB Cream and CC Cream chronology lately, I thought it’s a good timing for me to share with you my thought on this product.

How I buy this BB Cushion (that’s how I’m going to call it) is quite spontaneous. It was when Laneige relaunch the product back in May 2013 and there is a Facebook offer for this for RM120 that comes with a refill pack. Coincidently I needed to utilize my Bonuslink points as they are expiring so I redeemed RM100 worth of Parkson cash voucher, drove to Setia Alam mall and bought one!

In the box there is a white casing, a refill that is pre-attached to the casing and a sealed refill pack. The retail price for all this is RM145. Each BB Cushion contain 15g of product. You get an extra refill so which means for RM145 you get a 30g of product. That equivalent to a normal BB Cream tube

When it was first launched a year or two ago? Can’t remember when but I’m not interested at all. So expensive! However if you think of the fact that it comes with a free refill pack then it might sound more worthy but then it still is expensive for a BB Cream that is soaked in a sponge. Sorry. That’s just me :D. If it’s not because of the promo price of RM120 and the fact that I have RM100 cash voucher…I would have not bought it. Sorry again.

The case itself is a bulky one because of the thick light blue plastic separator for the puff. In a way the separator is there for a good reason. It actually close down quite tightly to prevent the BB Cream on the cushion from drying out faster than normal. It is also to preserve the active ingredients and their functionality.

The puff is different from the usual sponge that you get from other powder palette. I read that the puff is a dual structure puff that are processed with a special technology that helps to hold nine times more than water. It is made from ruby cell and poly-urethane. I asked the BA how to wash the puff since it’s with special texture and she replied back saying “actually you don’t need to wash the puff since you are not sharing it with anyone”. Hello? What?? How can you not wash it with all the germs? Eeewwww!

Lift the blue separator up and you will find a seal. You need to use the BB Cushion after removing the seal. If you don’t intend to use that soon, do not take it off if possible. Not even a peek. I never throw this seal away till now. Everytime after I use it I will put back the seal. Double layer of protection is better than nothing right?

This is how the BB Cushion looked like. It is actually the usual BB Cream soaked in a sponge/cushion heh! Intriguing? Yes because it’s something new and different. Laneige is the first brand that came out with this new-concept cushion-type BB that comes with five active ingredients for Whitening + Sunscreen + Sweat-proof + Soothing + Makeup, contained in the cushion to maximize the refreshing and soothing sensation. Every time you touch it, the air pump in the cushion contains air bubbles for thin and skin-friendly makeup.

I bought mine from Setia Alam mall. I went up the Laneige counter asking for shade matching help from the BA. She matched me with No. 23 Sand Beige which is a medium shade despite telling her that I’ve tried No. 21 Natural Beige and it oxidize on me. I wonder if she listen to me or not. She told me that I’m quite fair. Here’s the thing. If I’m quite fair to the BA, why would she match me with a darker shade? Furthermore I told her base makeup oxidize on me since I have oily skin. I requested for a shade match on my face directly. I told her to put it on my neck near my jawline and then I stand at a brighter place and check on the mirror. She then agree No. 21 Natural Beige is my shade *facepalm*. Sometimes I wonder if she’s the BA or I’m the BA lol!

To be frank I don’t use this quite often. For the first week after I bought it I did use it everyday to test the hype out. Then it sort of stay in my drawer un-notice. If I do remember this palette I will use it otherwise it remain un-notice.\

Let’s be honest here. On the first usage, I was wow-ed. My base makeup was done in just a few second. And I don’t need a lot to cover up everything. What I like is the cooling sensation that was left on my face. It is heavily scented. Yes HEAVILY. It doesn’t bother me much as it smell quite pleasant but not liking that the scent doesn’t disappear in the first hour and more. I can still smell myself smelling like the BB Cushion. On certain days like the days when I had migraine or the days where my menstrual cycle is near, I can’t take the scent. It made me dizzy and nauseas. This is the reason why I seldom use it. Too fragrant even for myself that are into fragrant makeup.

Second usage was a blah. It’s different from the first and I wonder why. Must be the puff. New puff is always the best. Once it is already soaked with product, it doesn’t perform as good as the first time. I notice the BB Cream on the cushion started to dries up a bit. Means the product is actually not a lot.

The below picture is taken after third usage. Can you see 3/4 of it had dries up? Yeap. No more BB Cream on top. Subsequent usage is a nightmare. I need to press down hard to get BB Cream on my puff. I tried stuffing my fingers down to turn the sponger over but it’s worse. Bottom is heavily soaked with BB Cream. If I turn it over means my puff will be in contact with too much of BB Cream. So in the end I decided not to turn it over. I am trying to press down hard to get the BB Cream on my puff at the moment until I no longer can do so, then only I will turn the cushion over.

Hmmm thinking back about Laneige BA telling that there is no need to wash the puff.

Here is the Before and After picture. The coverage was alright but doesn’t cover all acne marks completely. It definitely brighten the face, that’s for sure. This BB Cushion would need some time for it to set and dries down a bit before setting with finishing powder otherwise it will be a bit tacky.

There is something that I couldn’t figure out about Korean BB Cream. Whenever I had Korean BB Cream on, my face is itchy especially when in contact with car air-cond. The itchiness will disappear after an hour. This situation doesn’t happen to me if I’m using other UK version of BB Cream. Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion gave me the most itch of all BB cream.

Does this melts and move on me? Yes it does. By mid day the base makeup on my cheek and jawline sort of melted and become patchy. I would need to use my fingers to smooth everything out. Same goes to my upper lip area. I have white mustache!

Now, the refill pack. How do you change the refill? Simple. Turn the casing over with the back facing you. See the “Push” word? Just push and the center part will dismantle. Put in the new refill and you are ready to go.

Laneige claim that this BB Cushion is sweat proof but it doesn’t work for me. I like the cooling effect it gave me as I was applying this on but I still think the scent is too heavy especially if it doesn’t goes off immediately. It certainly can make someone nauseas.

This is not a good oil control type of BB Cream. In fact my face oil up on a faster rate than usual. Bummer.

I am not even done with the first pan so I doubt I’ll repurchase anytime soon. Actually I don’t think so I’ll repurchase this. It is just not as good as raved for me.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review. I bought the product on my own.

The post Review: Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion SPF 50+ PA+++ (No. 21 Natural Beige), The New Way of Applying BB Cream appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona