A Sweet Post-Christmas All Bundled Up!


I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  Can you believe 2011 is just four days away!?  I spent most of Christmas all bundled up :D  This is the cozy, soft furry blanket that my dad got me~ It's so light yet warm and SO SOFT.  He bought it at Hanaro Food (yes, a grocery store) because he said he noticed I would always stop by to pet it xD  I have the best dad ^_^

Stellamor is apparently the "No. 1 blanket manufacturer in Korea. Other brands: Uno, Aroma, Safari and Stellamor." Their official website (English) shows a lot of really pretty prints (including Disney ^^), but Hanaro only had this old fashioned Oriental-rug print :P  This is an "acrylic mink blanket" and very easy to wash, much easier than a huge comforter, which is why this kind of blanket is usually used in Korea as an extra winter blanket to go between you and your comforter.   Apparently it can be used outdoors (as a picnic blanket) as well. It's a surprisingly light and thin blanket, so even a queen-size fits easily into a washing machine.  It was $39.99 for a Queen-size.


I got the blue colored blanket (it shows a red blanket on all the packages :P).  I wasn't crazy about the Oriental-carpet-ish pattern, but gosh darn - IT'S SO SOFT.    I washed it right after I opened it since it smelled like plastic from the packaging and there was absolutely no pilling and was still so soft!   Word has it that this blanket is popular since it's never supposed to pill or lose it's softness like fleece does. If you ever see this in your local market/K-town area, I so recommend getting this.  It'd be great for college students (warm, machine washable, very portable since it's thin and light) and I can literally see myself keeping this for the next several years (if not decades :D).  It's just a very high-quality blanket for a remarkably reasonable price.

Since it started snowing in VA today, I did some mini-hauling from the comfort of my home ;)   I picked up a few products from Boscia, Pretty & Cute and a few nail polishes from Ebay. Here are the sales I partook in:


1.) Boscia: A flat $10 off $30+ with free shipping with $45+.  You also get 3 free samples with any purchase (like Sephora ^_^).  I got 2 items that was exactly $45 after the discount, so that I qualified for free shipping.  Overall I was able to pick up both products for $22.50/each~ Not bad since this winter has been really dry and my sheet masks are barely keeping the flakiness at bay.  I need something intensely more hydrating so we'll see if the Intensifying Moisture Pack + does the trick :)  I got the Smooth Facial Polish as well because I can never resist exfoliating products, but this one is supposed to be very gentle - aka perfect for winter.  Ends 12/31/2010.  


2.) Pretty & Cute:  P&C has been bringing in a lot of new things from various brands lately, but I'm only interested in the new Lioele products.  It was a pretty small haul of mostly lip products and the new Lioele Princess nail polishes, which reminded me of beautiful Easter eggs ^_^  Perfect for spring I think!  I'll prolly review them quite soon since nail polishes and lip products are things that don't need to be used long to know if they're "good quality" or not. Ends 12/31/2010.


I also picked up some petit fours from Wegmans!  They came in a box of 8 with 2 of each flavor ^_^ I've always thought petit fours are the cutest thing so I couldn't resist these!  They're basically bite-sized cakes. Don't they look so cute lined up in a row like that :D?  I think the yummiest looking one is the 2nd from the left~


Green: My favorite! Green-tinted white chocolate on the outside and white cake with apricot and a buttercream filling. It's quite sweet but it tastes exactly as a petit four should I think!

Chocolate: It's coated in dark chocolate with chocolate cake and a "white icing" filling. It's good, not too sweet, but rather 'typical' tasting.


Lemon: Vanilla and lemon flavored coating with some kind of fruit filling, raspberry I think. I didn't like this one very much. I think the artificial color and flavor of the pink filling kind of threw me off...it's tart but not...satisfying. It's a weird clash of tastes, lemon and something tart. My least favorite.

Another Chocolate: Dark chocolate coat with yellow cake and a raspberry filling and rum I think. There was definitely some kind of alcohol in it cause it made my throat warm. I wasn't crazy about this one either because I don't like rum in my sweets.  While rum does add a certain complexity to the flavor of chocolate, it just wasn't subtle or pleasing here.


Sweet Pumpkin Pocky, a cute little spin off the classic Pocky I'd say~ I think it's was a seasonal flavor for Fall (Halloween).


Adorable packaging huh ^_^?


Flavor-wise I don't have much to say...it's not pumpkin per se, maybe a sweet pumpkin pie.  The wheat cracker stick is the same as all the other Pocky and the coating is a vanilla-pumpkin pie-esque flavor. The coating is very thin so the taste is quite subtle.  It's yummy, but nothing to write home about.  So if you don't get to try this, rest assured you are not missing out on much.  I just get a craving for Pocky every once in awhile so this fulfilled it :)

And that's all for now!  

UPDATE: And oh yes, today is Boxing Day!  This day is traditionally when people distribute gifts to the needy and public service people; and while everyone should knock themselves out hauling, don't forget to set aside a little something for your mailman/post office or drop off something at the Salvation Army~   I for one, know that my mail peeps deserve a little something....lord knows they lug up enough packages to my doorstep from Hong Kong/Japan/Korea ^_^

Christmas Eve today and Christmas tomorrow! ZOMG :D!!


Hiiii my peeps!  I've been a-thinkin about Christmas and wanted to do a quick post to revel in the merriment of the holidays! I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow!!  We didn't get a tree this year so I ran out and cut off a branch of the pine tree next to our house.  Well, technically the tree on our neighbors property *cough* but the branch was hanging over our lawn so....the branch belongs to us right?!  Hmmm....how to justify that to Santa.... But I just wanted to share some of the ornaments and other Christmas-y things around the house right now ^_^  We could only hang handmade/light ornaments this year because the branches on the...branch....were so thin eheheh ^^


And of course the finishing touch to a Christmas tree is...presents eheh ^_^


I couldn't shake the feeling that this is a not-so-subtle way of asking for gifts >< so I wanted till Christmas Eve to post this so my family (who reads my blog *cringe* >0<) wouldn't see it till it's too late mwahhaha!!   While it's nice to remember that stuff isn't what makes life really good, material goods are always a fun, easy way to motivate myself to work harder, so I'm gonna try to use this list as a semi-goals list ;)


The video quality is pretty crisp and while I'm not crazy about the picture quality (though anything is going to be better than the piece o crap I have right now) but it seems to be a nice balance between video and picture quality, which is the main sell for me.  I'll need to confirm whether I can hook this puppy up with Macs while I'm recording though b/c there is no way I can record without watching myself xD I tried to do this and ended up recording with half my face cut off :(


A chromakey green screen 
What better way to make video making even more fun :D?!


 A proper lip brush

But this is really up to me b/c I want a very specific kind that I'll prolly have to pick out myself ehehe My ideal lip brush would be flat, dense, come with a cap for portability, and have slight point for precision work.



Darn Petrilude got me hooked on these. The colors look so rich and pigmented but I'm already drowning in eyeshadows and let's be honest, where can I wear such luscious colors?


But the greatest gift I could receive and the one I want the most is:
That my family has a wonderful, stress-free, happy Christmas and a wonderful 2011.
Without them everything would be meaningless.

Have a Merry Christmas/Hanakah/Kawanza etc everyone!   We be baking some cookies downstairs (chocolate chip + toffee) so it's really feeling (and smelling!) like the holidays~

Etsy Holiday 2010 Edition, Part 3: Miscellaneous

Part 1: Intro + Skincare/Bath Products
Part 2: Jewelry

Here's the last part of this year's Etsy Holiday 2010 Edition Mini-series!  I planned on getting all these up before Christmas, but as usual, I'm cutting it a little close ^_^  If you order from any of these shops, they sadly will not arrive in time for Christmas, but at least you'll know about these amazing shops for when the next gift-giving occasion comes up! This post will be a real mashup of various things, from pillows to macarons....so enjoy!


Etsy: VintageJamie

Yes, pillows. I love pillows. I own too many of them :\ The ironic thing is that I don't even sleep with a pillow >< I just really like them.  VintageJamie is known for her Map pillows but I personally like her Orientalism pillows, which are inspired by hanboks and kimonos.    She also makes pillows with pouches and little cross designs.  Overall, I like the simplicity and classiness of her designs.  Her fabrics are understated but sophisticated and hit the fine line between being beautiful yet not "uncomfortable" looking. You can actually use these pillows and there's nothing better than something that is both functional and pretty :)


I ordered the most embarrassingly Korean pillow ever for my dad for Christmas last year (it's pretty much ended up as mine though eheh) xD  And the fabric quality and stitching was perfect.  Every seam is precise and tight.  No loose threads, no holes, no stains.  The fabric quality was weighty and the pattern edges were perfectly aligned.  The zipper on the side (so you can wash the cover), is practically invisible.  Simply superb craftsmanship.  The pillow I got was 18x18in.  It's a very good sized, perfect for display and use.  I would love to decorate my whole house with her pretty pillows.  Her large 24x24in pillows would particularly make great lounging pillows - when I own my own house I'm going to be hauling at least two of them. She "models" a few of her pillows with her kids to give a size reference and they just look so at home.

Cons are that she is expensive if you just want a regular pillow.  I paid $35 for both the cover and the pillow fluff (18x18), this price included shipping.  I personally didn't regret it but it is certainly one of the more frivolous purchases I've made.  For a decorative pillow, however, I think the cost is very fair. If you go to places like Bath & Beyond, you'll see that large decorative pillows generally run over $20 - and many of those can't be unzipped and washed.  Also, in my opinion these kinds of pillows tend to be made from really impractical, uncomfortable materials (gauze, glitters, tassels etc) making them downright nothing but decorative. VintageJamie's pillows hit the balance between decorative yet functional.   I think these would make a great housewarming gift actually ^_^

Jamie ships from Seoul, Korea and even though it's a pillow, she shipped the damn thing in a box filled with peanuts and wrapped in bubblewrap O_O She also included a large, beautiful handmade Christmas card.  She did not sign it so *ahem* I actually used it again since it was too good to waste ^_^;;


Etsy: Kukubee
Official website: www.kukubee.com

Patikym of HerroHachi (home of many-a quirky, snarky T-shirt) introduced me to this Etsy shop and I'm so glad she did! I was totally enamored with their very unique, slightly off-kilter yet incredibly charming printed designs.  Sadly, Kukubee just closed their Etsy shop for the holidays - right before I was going to order a sushi pouch too :(!  Not many pouch styles are available, they only offer pencil and coin pouches.   Call me crazy but I would so buy a makeup pouch with the sushi design.  Or a laptop pouch.  Omg, a padded laptop pouch would just kill me (and yes, I'm one of those people that lugs around her MacBook wrapped in a sweatshirt hoping not to drop it).  The prices are all very reasonable indeed, $12 for pencil pouches and $8 for coin pouches.  Since I have not purchased from this shop before, I can't comment on their services and packaging but I will say I'm going to snagging one of their sushi pencil cases as soon as they open after the holidays!


Etsy: Lunatiger

Known for her beautiful origami rose bouquets but she also makes a lot of adorable Swarovski charms. I have not purchased from her yet but I exchanged a lot of emails with her last year because I was thinking of purchasing a bouquet for Mother's Day.  A few reviews stated that the bouquets are a lot smaller than expected, but I suppose that's to be expected considering that these are origami.  Anyway, her bouquets look like they would just make wonderful Mother's Day or Valentine's Day gifts :)  I also know they do a ton of bridal bouquets, which I think is a great idea since you would be left with a beautiful memento :)


Etsy: Sparkles Kitchen

Lisa introduced me to this site and omg, I've been drooling over them ever since!  They look SO good and I have never seen such perfectly shaped macarons before.  This shop only sells macarons - a telltale sign of confidence in their product - and the 199/200 positive ratings pretty much speaks for itself.  They offer a lot of different intriguing flavors and it kind of pisses me off that they make if hard (ir not impossible), to try one of each all at once.  I have not purchased from this shop, but Lisa vouches for their deliciousness and being that Lisa is something a macaron-maker herself, I'm sure these little puppies are worth trying~

And on that note~
I hope you enjoyed this year's Etsy Holiday/Shopping Guide mini-series!  I've already come across quite a few more Etsy shops that I am lemming over, but I will introduce them to you another time :)

Review: FaceQ Red Pomegranate + CoQ10 Mask


Purchased at: Sasa

Cost: $12.60/10 pieces = $1.26/mask.

FaceQ masks are a lot cheaper than Silk Whitia masks, which are normally $3.58/mask, though with the current BOGO promotion, they are $1.79/mask.  If I am not mistaken, FaceQ is manufactured by the same people who make the famous My Beauty Diary Masks.  MBD go for ~$12.10/box of 10 while FaceQ masks for for ~12.60/box of 10 on Sasa, so FaceQ masks are ever-so-slightly more expensive.

Description: Face Q Red Pomegranate + CoQ10 Mask is made from 100% wood pulp with silk, it fit your facial contour twice as best as normal paper mask and rapidly infiltrate nourishment for your skin. Red pomegranate and Anthocyanin are two powerful anti-oxidant ingredients. It fights against dullness and dehydration. Chamomile extracts is also added to avoid further dark pigment formulation, helping skin to restore its natural glow. After application your skin will become supple, smooth. Its mild and gentle nature makes it suitable even after sun bathing, it will soothe and calm the redness due to long sun exposure.


Ingredients
  • Red Pomegranate extract: Improve dehydrated, wrinkled, dull and inflexible skin. Revitalize and helps skin regain luster.
  • White willow bark extract: natural exfoliating BHA with conditioning, excellent whitening effect.
  • Catechin: Fight against water retention and edema.
  • Camellia Sinesis: a natural antioxidant. Its content of White Tea Extract its two to three times more than green tea,
  • Morus alba extract: a whitening effect inhibition of pigment and melanin formation
  • CoQ10: anti-aging co-enzyme.  It is naturally present in every cell in the human body, but is reduced by aging and stress.  This reduction causes damage and wrinkles. More info.
Suitable for: All skin type / dry and delicate skin


Experience: The first thing that I immediately noticed was the fantastic adjust-ability of this mask.  The mask claims that since it's 100% wood pulp the mask will fit" your facial contour twice as best as normal paper mask."  I doubt it it's the wood pulp as much as the helpful little slits all around the edges of this mask though.  Regardless of the reason, this mask perfectly contoured itself to my face and my mother's, who has wider cheekbones.


The mask itself is thin, much thinner than Silk Whitia.  I prefer the thicker Silk Whitia, but I am sure that's just a matter of preference.  Like the Silk Whitia, this mask also comes with a lot of excess serum.  Some people have commented "too much" serum is annoying because it'll drip everywhere (I don't mind this at all), so if you're one of those people, then you will probably prefer the FaceQ masks to Silk Whitia (which is DRENCHED).   Since the mask is thinner, it "dried" a lot faster than Silk Whitia.  I also applied the excess serum all over my neck; the serum is more "liquid-y" than the more gel-like serum of Silk Whitia.

Overall:
Fit: Excellent.  Far superior to the Silk Whitia mask in terms of adjustability.

Scent: Smelled like tart red apple.  I guess that's b/c pomegranates as a fruit don't have much of a scent ^_^ The scent was a little "tangy" and strong for my taste, but it's not a bad scent.
Texture: Paper-like, very thin.  I prefer Silk Whitia's thicker texture since it seems to retain more serum. However, it's not so thin that it tears easily.

Excess serum:  Plenty of liquid-y serum to use on neck.  Dries without crust, but leaves ever-so-slightly sticky residue.  I prefer the FaceQ in this respect, I was very disappointed how the Silk Whitia Soy Milk Whitening mask left a dried crust on my neck (not on my face tho, oddly enough) that had to be washed off.

Claims:
Anti-oxidant ingredients fight against dullness and dehydration. Chamomile extracts is also added to avoid further dark pigment formulation, helping skin to restore its natural glow.  I did feel more hydrated but I can't comment on preventing dark pigmentation. I feel that such claims are useless since you'd probably have to use these masks everyday.

After application your skin will become supple, smooth. Yes, it did.
 
Claims to be mild and gentle nature makes it suitable even after sun bathing, it will soothe and calm the redness due to long sun exposure. It's supposed to be for delicate (sensitive?) skin but I don't think it is since it was definitely a bit irritating and not soothing.
Results: Not so good for me.   I do not recommend this to those with sensitive skin. It did not break me out but it was definitely a little bit irritating.  My face tingled uncomfortably with the mask on and when I took it off, there was no reduction in redness.  Therefore, I personally will never be using this mask again. The serum I smeared on my neck dried slightly sticky but left no crust like the Silk Whitia Soy Milk Whitening mask did.

I noticed my face was firmer and looked poreless, but I was a bit red and my face tingled even after I removed the mask.  Also my face felt very tight (not supple) and stiff.  My face was hydrated but not amazingly so.  Overall, was not impressed.  Although the Silk Whitia Soy Milk Whitening mask leaves an unfortunate crust, I prefer it far more.  However, my mother likes this mask very much.  She has some wrinkles, mature skin with large pores. Whereas I have small pores, textured facial scarring, and very sensitive combo (mostly oily) skin.  Since we have very different skin types, I think it is telling that my mom likes this a lot more than I do.  She says this really brightens her skin, makes her pores feel tighter, and makes her face feel clean.   Therefore, I recommend this mask for people with mature skin, large pores and wrinkles, especially since CoQ10 is an anti-aging ingredient.

My ideal sheet mask would give me results like the Silk Whitia mask without leaving the crusty excess.  In other words, I'm still on the hunt for my favorite sheet mask ^_^! 

Review: Concealer Comparison


I finally finished editing this video!  I think all the text is what made me take so long getting this up :P  And I don't know why but I forgot to sit off to the side so I didn't have a lot of room to put the text :(


I thought about posting swatches of these concealers but I decided not to because ultimately, how well a concealer works is particularly dependent on your individual skin color and tone.  Not to mention your skin condition (oily/dry/combo), what kind of foundation you use over it, what kind of scars you're trying to cover etc all come into play.  So, I thought it would be best just to write the most objective observations I can in terms of texture and blendability, which doesn't vary too much between different people.

NYX Concealer In A Jar (Green)
Purchased at: Cherry Culture ($5)

I was not impressed.  It had the notorious gray overcast and while it did neutralize redness, it just did not hide my scars and zits.  I have almost nothing good to say about this except that it was quite cheap so I don't feel too bad about throwing this away.  I tested this out on very "typical" sized zits (smooth but red, about 3-4 mm in width) and this does not cover those.  Blending the edges without fading the green color is next to impossible and causes caking if you use a powder foundation.  I have heard that some people have had good results with this but their acne must be very light.  Overall, I find that this was too difficult to work with.  I would rather spend a bit more for a better concealer and I don't recommend this, especially for makeup noobs like myself :P

L'Oreal True Match Super-Blendable Concealer
Purchased at: Walmart ($7-8)

I commented that I find this setup unhygienic but it really isn't any less unhygienic than the jar set up, so I don't know why I said that :P  I think I was thinking about mascara and how bacteria grows inside the tube if you don't remove the brush in a twisting motion...I dunno.  Anyway, although 9 shades sounds like a lot of colors to pick from, I couldn't find my match.  There are 3 warm, neutral, and cool colors each.  I personally tried Fair/Light Cool 1-2-3, Light/Med Cool 4-5 (the one in the video), and Fair/Light Neutral 1-2-3.   None of them worked for me very well for one reason or another.  I bought the Light/Med C4-5 in August, so when I was tanner, the color wasn't "that" off but as I've gotten quite pale for winter, this concealer has become a spectacularly bad color match.

The coverage is rather good I think, much better than what the NYX Concealer in A Jar resulted in.  It's also blendable, doesn't cake much, quite creamy, and decently long lasting.  However, the tendency to oxidize and the bad color match killed it for me.  I don't really recommend this unless you're on a tight budget, willing to test out a lot of colors, and don't need to wear a lot of concealer (aka you only need to cover redness around your nose and a zit or two).  Otherwise, the oxidation isn't worth the trouble.

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer (Medium 02) 
Purchased at: Sephora ($18)

I like to fancy myself as someone who favors drugstore brands over higher ends most of the time, but in this case I have to admit, I'm willing to dish out more money for the higher end.  Mara recommended I try this and I don't regret it because the texture, coverage, lightness, and blendabilty were far superior to the NYX and L'Oreal concealers. I picked this up during Sephora's annual 20% off Friends & Family sale and it was definitely the best thing I hauled.  Don't get fooled by how NYX concealer jars have .23 oz ($5) and the Boi-ing has only .1 oz ($18) because this pot is going to last you awhile.  You just need a dab of the this to pat on your face, I can honestly see this lasting at least a year for me.  The texture is silky smooth and it just sticks to your face somehow, so it doesn't fade as you put foundation over it.  Needless to say the staying power is great and it does not oxidize.  The one thing about this concealer is you need to "warm it up" with your fingers to maximize blendability; this is a common characteristic for most creamy concealers so this is not a negative.

Shade 02 Medium is little dark for me right now but it has a peachy yellow undertone so it blends passably enough without leaving an orange or ashy shadow.  Like I said in the video, Shade 01 would probably be best for me but I am so lazy I just never got around to returning the one I have *sigh*  But I really have no complaints about this.  $18 is an excellent investment for a good concealer but since everyone's skin is a little different, I highly recommend poking your head into a Sephora one day and trying it first.  This way you can be sure you aren't allergic and are pleased with the results before buying a full-sized jar.

Concealing Tips
1.) Less is more, particularly with concealers.   Even the Boi-ing will start caking if you add too much.  Just start super light and don't try to completely cover blemishes with the concealer because remember you are probably adding foundation over it.  You need to just blend out about 40-60% of the blemish's redness and your regular application of foundation/BBcream will do the rest.

2.) If a concealer/foundation looks ashy/grey/dirty, it means the color is too light.  Most people can tell when things are too dark ^_^  Asians tend to do best with peachy concealers with a hint of yellow for spot-concealing, but ultimately, you need to go by your own individual skincolor/tone.

3.) Concealing spots and concealing undereyes are two different things and may require two different concealers.  The concealers I reviewed today were for spot-concealing.  I never tested any of them on my undereyes and fyi, I do not cover my undereyes because I like to fancy myself as someone who doesn't really have too.

4.) Concealers/makeup in general should never have orange undertones, it just means it's oxidizing and has a bad formula. Also I don't think orange undertones are flattering on anybody :\

Overall
It's pretty clear that the only concealer I recommend in this video is the Benefit Boi-ing.   I probably will not be reviewing anymore concealers till I run out of the Boi-ing since I am very pleased with it.  The next concealer I'll probably try is the Kevin Beautymaker BB Mineral Concealing Cream.  In the meantime, please do leave your thoughts/experience with these concealers if you've tried any of these :)

Braid to Side Ponytail

I started the french braid at the left top side of her head and braided sideways until it got to the opposite ear.

                                          Once the french braid is complete secure it with an elastic.
                                          Take a small amount of hair and wrap it around the ponytail.
                                               Below is the top view of all her hair.


December 2010 Top 5 Favorites + Review: SkinFood Red Ginseng Repairing Toner


Omg 5 days till Christmas!  Time for mistletoe kisses, wrapping presents, writing cards, and a monthly  Top 5 favorites video!  I was a little schizophrenic between just "going over" products and "reviewing" products.  The concept of just talking about a product without reviewing it confuses me a little....


Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel
Purchased at: Sephora

I feel that it's gentle yet very effective at cleaning off my face makeup (not eye makeup).  I wear BBcream, sometimes concealer, and some kind of setting powder everyday and this gets everything off without me having to scrub at my face.  I wet my face with warm water, massage one pump all over my face, brush my teeth (I do this b/c I feel like it gives the cleanser time to soak in), then rinse with cold water.  This is a makeup remover and cleanser so it saves me the trouble of doing a two-step process (makeup remover wash then cleanser).  I like that it leaves no residue, seems very gentle, yet leaves my skin feeling clean.  No breakouts.   Bottle is pretty small though....ok, I need to stop, I'll cover the rest later.

Will do an in-depth review later.

Boscia Luminizing Black Mask
Purchased at: Sephora

I picked this up b/c Fuzkittie loves this mask xD   However, she recently said that it's not supposed to remove black/whiteheads, just refine and luminize skin.   However, for me, this does remove whiteheads...I will post pics of this on my in-depth review later.  Personally, this mask removes almost all of my whiteheads and many blackheads as well.  It is a very powerful mask though and you should not use this if you have open sores/lesions or popped/healing acne on your face.   I feel that this mask really helps my skin turnover and I will definitely agree that this mask refines and luminizes your face.  The texture of my skin has really improved in the 5 weeks I've been using this (have used 4x so far).   You must moisturize like a mofo afterwards though, especially since it's winter, or else you'll end up as dry as the Sahara.

Will do an in-depth review later.

Skinfood Red Ginseng Repairing Toner


Purchased at: Sasa

Description: Skin Food Red Ginseng Repairing Toner is enriched with nutrients from red ginseng and royal jelly extract. This toner with oriental medicine moisturizes and nourishes skin, making it moist and smooth.

Beneficial Ingredients (from video):
Ginseng
- Revitalizes skin cells.
- Helps skin circulation = reduces fine lines and makes skin firmer.
- Adaptogen: helps the skin adjust to stress.

Royal Jelly
- Healing, moisturizing.
- Antibacterial: effective for eczema, neurodermatitis, & impetigo.
- Restores proper pH balance.
- Contains amino acid (collagen building block) helps eliminate age spots and wrinkles.
I ended up pretty much reviewing this in the video so I guess this will be my official review of this toner :\  That said, I really like this toner!   Unlike the Skinfood Peach Sake Toner, which is infinitely more popular (no doubt because of its delectable scent), this one actually seems to work!   To quickly summarize, here's my pros/cons list from the video:
Good:
- Skin seems much healthier, plumper.
- Does not dry my skin out.
- No oily or sticky residue.
- A little goes a long way.
- Absorbs quickly.
- Very reasonable cost.

Bad:
- Honey-like consistency makes toner hard to get out of bottle.
- Herbal ginseng scent may be very off-putting (I got used to it).
Royal jelly and ginseng has always traditionally been known to be great for skin, but I've always associated both with *ahem* old ladies because the ginseng smell is so herbal and lots of older ladies in Korea use royal jelly.   But I picked this up anyway since it said this is a "repairing" toner and I am always on the hunt for something to help my scars and the texture of my skin.   I haven't been using this long enough to comment on whether it helps heal old scars, but my skin has definitely gotten plumper and seems healthier somehow. I am going to say I've recently been using a lot of face masks too, so they definitely aided the effect.  Regardless, I haven't broken out at all from this toner and my face really took to this like a fish to water.  I used it for a week before I started using sheet masks regularly and I felt like my skin was plumping out ever so slightly and it just felt refreshed - like my face could breathe all of sudden.   Also, toners are notoriously drying but this one is not at all.  It's not moisturizing per se but it definitely is not as drying as witchhazel or the Peach Sake toner.  Perhaps because of the honey-like consistency?

Like I said, this toner is a real pain in the ass to get out of the bottle; I've tried prying the plastic top off, but haven't been able to manage.  I guess that's alright though since too much would come out at once then, I only need 3-4 drop to cover my whole face anyway.  I don't use a cotton ball for toners btw, I just shake the bottle over my face and spread the droplets that land.  I feel like using a cotton ball soaks up too much toner and wipes off rather than applies :\  The scent is ginseng and pretty strong.  I found it very off-putting at first but I've gotten used to it really fast.  One you put it on your face, there's no scent anyway.  I put this toner on right after I wash my face or after a sheet mask.

I would highly recommend this to people with sensitive skin who have always found toners either too harsh, drying, or completely ineffective.   This is truly a rather unusual toner and at $10.10, it wouldn't hurt to try.  And if you like it, this bottle is gonna last you awhile. I've been using this toner for several weeks and it still looks like I haven't used any :} The fact that it's hard to get out of the bottle probably helps me limit how much I'm using at once too ^_^  Also while the scent is quite herbal, I promise that it doesn't linger on your face and you will get used to it surprisingly quickly.  

R&R Contrived Blush in X-rated
Purchased at: Official R&R website (how to order)

There are about a million swatches of this so I'm not going to bother.  Overall, it's just a luscious matte berry with cool fuchsia undertones - perfect for a holiday look.   I've seriously been using this blush everyday since the day I got it.  X-rated and Foreplay are hands down the best fall/winter blush colors ever.

NYX Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie
Purchased at: Cherry Culture

Although my initial review of this color was lukewarm, I have really fallen in love with this color.  It's my second favorite NYX color after Circe.  I never thought an orange-tinted l/s would work on me but...damn.  This color is understated, yet not quite a nude lip, and markedly trendy since it has a rather unusual orange-rose hue.  The texture is creamy and leaves a glossy sheen.  Goes well with both dramatic and simple eye looks.

My favorite look these days are understated e/s with a semi-dramatic wing, berry-colored cheeks, and Pumpkin Pie on the lips.  I feel that it's holiday-ish without being the typical bronze/gold eyes + pink cheeks + berry lips look.   It looks more natural, is easier to put on, and it looks like your cheeks are flushed from playing in the snow ^_^ Downside is that it wears off pretty quickly since it's creamy :P But it's moisturizing, which is vital for the winter months :D!

I still want to try NYX Orange Soda (still OOS on CC), which I hear is a lighter version of Pumpkin Pie though :)
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