1 minute review - Korean cosmetics Étude House " My castle sweet cookie" hand cream

Working in a office with nasty cheap soap ( sorry but it's true!) my hands get very dry and I need a lot of hand cream. I fancied trying something a bit different and stumbled across this by "Étude House" on EBay. 

 

Ana and Marshmellow don't come with, but they do sit on my desk pc monitor with the hand cream so I thought why not?!  They have different varieties of the "My castle" hand creams, but I choose "Sweet cookie" as I like baking scents. 

Firstly cutest packaging ever. It the "roof" if you like spins off to access the hand cream. 

The hand cream itself is thick and luxurious almost like a face cream. It's very hydrating and a little goes a long way, you can feel it on your hands for a while after application but it isn't slimy like some thick creams can be. It does wash off completely when you wash your hands so it is not water resistant. Funnily enough, it doesn't smell like cookies and smells more like butter with a hint of coconut. It's pleasant and light, but still noticeable ( I use this at work so have a tester audience if you like scent wise! Unlike me they have no choice mwahha. Still, I have had no complaints as it is generally very inoffensive) 

I paid a very random £4.63 with free shipping from a eBay seller, and it took around 10 days to arrive which isn't bad. 

Would I repurchase?

 Well I enjoy testing out things like this so might buy something different next time, or maybe just try one of the other variations ( The "Frozen" one is intriguing me and would go nicely with Ana and Marshmellow) So yes. It does the job and is cute. What's not to like? 

Here's a random cute snippit I found on the "Étude house" website which I liked. 

What's your favourite sweet smelling hand cream? 

1 minute review - Loreal infallible 24hr matte primer and foundation

My favourite foundation that I have found in my 25 years on this earth is Estée Lauder Double Wear. . I bought mine from a cosmetics company outlet so it could be a shade lighter, but apart from that it's perfect. Heavy coverage, can be set to matte and extremely long lasting. This stuff isn't cheap so if anything comes into the drugstore market promising any of these things I'm interested. 

Sadly, this time I was disappointed. You win some, you loose some. (Friendly reminder, what doesn't work for me, may work for you... This is my experience with the products) 

These were on introductory offer at boots (I think) for £5.99 each and it was 3 for 2 so I splurged. They are meant to be used together and have nifty instructions on the back for the best way to apply. 

The primer? Who knows. I'm not sure if any of them do what they say they do... Except porefessional which DOES reduce the visable pores on my face anyway.. This one does not claim to fill/blur your pores and thank god because it seriously doesn't! Does it make my makeup last longer? Guess I'll have to try it with a different foundation before I really know. 

The foundation. Sad face.Now I don't know if my skin just rejects this stuff (combination sensitive) , or if it doesn't agree with my moisturiser or what, but it just would not blend properly on applicaton. Like from far away it looked like it blended but up close it was forming into weird patches that are hard to explain. People who wear glasses; you know how the foundation sits on your nose weird and sort of rubs off where you glasses are over the course of the day? Like that only in multiple places. When I try to blend it, it just rubs off!! 

This gets worse during the day. It's medium coverage but my pores are on full display by lunch time, with random patches missing/ redness showing through. Waa. Not happy. 

So hard to show in a photo! Plus from far away it's fineish, it's just up close that's the real problem. 

It's such a shame as for me the colour was near perfect. I'm a NC15 in MAC and got the shade "porcelain" which is the lightest that they offer. 

It's left me wondering, what does everyone else think? 

Collection concealers - worth the hype?

Collection is known for their affordability, but I still labeled this a "worth the hype?" post because these concealers get a lot of attention from Youtubers and beauty bloggers alike. 

The "origional" if you like, is this one here 

(Image belongs to collection cosmetics)

I'm a huge fan of this stuff. For a long time I was being a makeup snob about it and decided that being so cheap, there was no way it could be as good as some of the high end ones I own. I finally tried it last year and I LOVE it. 

It's very high coverage ( a little goes a long way) thick and the best part? It comes in a super pale shade. I'm a NC15 in MAC for reference, and trying to find concealers or foundations that are light enough is very difficult. This one fits the bill and covers my dark circles as well as slightly highlighting the under eye area. It doesn't crease for me personally either. 

When I heard that there was a new "highlighting" concealer out by Collection I knew I had to try it. The packaging is different, unfortunately in my opinion looks cheaper, however the applicator is one of those twist ones and is quite nice.. The tip is similar to the cult YSL touché éclat 

( Image belongs to Collection cosmetics)

Here are the swatches of the two, side by side ( New " Illuminating touch"  concealer is actually the one swatched on top!) 

My first impression of the new concealer ( swatched nearest my fingers) was HELL NO. It's SO much darker than the other one!!  Both are in the lightest shades and the new one looked positively orange next to the old one. However, I have since used it and under the eyes it does a good job and doesn't look dark at all. Weirdly enough I feel like the new "Illuminating touch" concealer is more of a concealer concealer, and the "Lasting perfection" is better at highlighting! Whatever, my writing skills suck today but basically they should just swap the names of the two in my opinion! 

Will I continue to use and repurchase? 

Yes definately. I generally buy mine from Boots when they're a 3 for 2 offer on (there is right now for anyone interested) so it works out even cheaper, and for the price and the quality of the product they are both a steal. They have already become a staple in my morning routine! 

What's your favourite affordable concealer?