I love trying Asian beauty products, but I don’t get to try Asian products as much as I want due to lack of Asian beauty stores in Canada. I also hate waiting for products to ship, and rather have the instant gratification of buying in person! Luckily, Maki loves to purchase Asian products and I was able to try this product out as a gift.
Etude House is pretty much a staple in Asia. Although it is Korean, you can find it in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, pretty much in any big Asian metropolis. Think of Etude House as the Covergirl or Maybelline equivalent, in terms of availability and price-wise.
Initially, when I first heard of lip masks, I wasn’t sure what the point of them was. I mean, don’t lip balms pretty much do the same thing? But after reading a few reviews on lip masks, I was curious to try them out.
On this particular day, I had just returned home from a weekend getaway in Victoria, where I sadly caught a nasty cold. Whenever I get sick, my lips get really dry and cracked because I have to breathe through my mouth. Even my normally trusty ol’ Burt’s Bees lip balm wasn’t helping! It was the perfect opportunity to try out this lip mask.
Etude House is so popular that even though it is a Korean brand, they have English for their non-Korean customers. There are instructions on the back that were quite easy to follow, along with a cute picture!
I tried the cherry flavour, which had a pleasant and nice scent to it. Even though it is a lip product, I didn’t want to exactly taste or eat the product to taste whether there was a cherry taste LOL. But, the scent was definitely there!
The mask is a gel texture and moderately soaked in product. Compared to face masks where the product juices are known to spill out and drip everywhere, the lip gel mask was definitely a LOT cleaner to use. Because it was a gel texture, it also had a bit of a cooling effect!
I found that the mask did not stick well to my skin, so I ended up lying down when using it. Part of the reason is because the mouth sticks out from your face and isn’t a flat surface, so it’s harder for the mask to cling on to (I suck at explaining but hope that made sense!).
I would also recommend that your lips be slightly opened, so that more product can be absorbed.
I also mentioned above that the reason why I decided to try this out was because I was sick with a cold, and my lips were very cracked and dry. Well, I should have thought of this idea more thoroughly because it was so hard to breathe! Actually, scratch that- I couldn’t breathe due to my stuffed nose. I ended up poking a hole in the middle of the mask for air LOL!
After taking off the mask, my lips were noticeably a lot softer and smoother. Because I was sick, the softness only lasted about 3 hours. But, I have full confidence that it would have lasted longer should I not had to breathe through my mouth and lips.
- Mess free, product does not drip everywhere
- Has a nice scent
- Leaves lips soft and smooth
- Hard for mask to stick on your lips unless you lie down
- If you’re sick with a stuffed nose like I was, make sure you poke a hole in the middle so you can breathe LOL!
Yay!
Product received as a gift.
In September, I attended the Estee Lauder media preview and was exposed to many different Estee Lauder foundations. There was also a super pretty foundation bar that showcased many of their foundations!
What it says (Taken from Sephora):
Application: I was a bit wary of the bottle packaging ever since trying the Covergirl Clean Foundation, which also comes in a glass jar.
Wear: Throughout the day, I was expecting the foundation to smudge off. But, I was really surprised at how flawless it was even after 7-8 hours! It did not require a touch up, and my skin gets pretty oily. I removed the foundation at night after ten hours of wear, and it still looked pretty good!
The product is pretty straightforward and easy to use. It dispenses in a pump, and is green. Green helps cover up redness, which I tend to have.
To give this primer the ultimate test, I wore it to Whytecliff Park on a super hot, 30 degree day. The sun was shining directly on me, no shade at all, and the perfect weather to climb the huge boulder (about a 10 minute steep trek up the boulder).
Here is another picture with the primer, with no filter or photo editing. I am also wearing the 
Paul & Joe never fails to impress me with their product designs. Like seriously, who designs their packaging because it is seriously amazing. This season, Paul & Joe have partnered up with Looney Tunes to launch a limited collection set of themed products!
These were too cute not to include. Apart from the lipsticks, they also have blush and shadow compacts with the limited edition Looney Tunes sets. Which one is your favourite design?
Remember the cat lipsticks I talked about last year? Well, Paul & Joe has launched a new cat blush this season. The cats here are also blush beads. But with a product so cute, I would be really reluctant to use it up.
Cargo is a brand that I’ve seen here and there, but I was able to learn more about it at the event. I am a big fan of palettes, so I am pretty excited to try and test their palettes out!
I raved about my 
This star light, star bright highlighting trio is part of Stila’s holiday collection. Just like their putty foundation that I reviewed last year, the highlighters also have a nice bounce to it.
Some liquid lipsticks from Stila! These come in sets of three, but I just put them all together so you can see what colours they offer.
Nail polishes from Seche & Ceramic Glaze. Both are companies that I can vouch for. Once I discovered the 
Fusion is a smaller brand that I haven’t tried that much of yet, but so far, I’ve been really liking the browfusion. It is a double ended brow pencil and gel. I love how angled the pencil is, and how easy it is to get a nice shape!
Last but not least, new products from St. Tropez. Self tanning seems pretty intimidating to me, I’ve heard many horror stories of people trying this at home and coming out looking like an orange. Perhaps one day I’ll give it a shot!
To use the foundation, you simply press lightly on the center plate. Product will come out afterwards in a neat circle, which makes it sanitary as well.
Since the bottle is opaque and you’re unable to see the shade, there is a ‘window’ on the side of the bottle in which you can see the shade.
My first impression of the foundation was that I really liked it. I loved the medium coverage and the slightly dewy and sheen finish as you can see in the photo above. Although, the description says it is a matte finish, it was on the dewy side for me. The foundation really smoothed out my skin tone and it still looks pretty natural.