Etude House Wonder Fun Park Collection Review, Swatches, LOTD.

Sponsored

Soft pastels, shinny glitters, sweet vibrant colours - sounds like your kind of thing? Then you're in for a treat! Etude House Singapore newly launched their Spring 2017 beauty collection:

Wonder Fun Park. 

Recently I had the pleasure to attend Etude House Popup Store bloggers' makeup event and tested out the items from the Wonder Fun Park range. This fun collection is so pretty that it drives every beauty fanatic into a complete frenzy with their whimsical, dreamy, gorgeous makeup & tools! With everything from eyeshadow palettes to mascaras, glitter pigment, candy-coloured blushers, highlighters, lip colors, fragrances and beauty tools, this is the sweetest dream-come-true for any self-proclaimed Unicorn!

I do not own the entire (huge) collection, but I'd be happy to share my first impressions with what I have at the moment, which includes:

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Colour Eyes

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Candy Cheek

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Candy Highlighter

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Dear Darling Soda Tint

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Dear My Blooming Lips Talk Chiffon

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Nails Kit

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Brushes

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park My Beauty Tool Eyelashes

ETUDE HOUSE Wonder Fun Park Hair Perfume Mist

SS Shiny Hair Curler Korea Review : Are those Qoo10 cheap hair curlers worth your time?

Ever thought of owning a hair gadget that can help you manage your flat, limp hair better (but at a more affordable price)? I suspect with the humidity levels in Singapore, half of you my lovely readers here will be answering a resounding "YES"!

We all dream of beautiful flowy tresses - some of us wished we look half as beautiful as those Korean actresses we see in drama with natural big waves or cute chic curls.

For example...

Song Hye Kyo

If you think Korean celebrities are all born with natural beautiful wavy locks, then I am sorry to burst your bubble - you're freaking wrong. Most if not all, of them have a personal hairstylist who takes care of their hair and style them into perfection every single time they go for a shoot.

As normal people, we probably don't have such luxury of a 24-hour personal human hairstylist on standby. The best alternative to this will be a good electronic hair gadget to assist us in this matter.

I have owned several straightening irons & hair curling tongs throughout my life of vanity. (Haha!) And in my opinion, a good hairstyler must be:

1. Easy to Use

2. Handy & Convenient (I travel a lot, and the last thing I need is something bulky to take up luggage space.)

3. Versatile in creating various hairstyles

4. Affordable or at least, value-for-money.

With these criteria in mind, I had never stopped my quest for the next better hairstyling tool... and I unexpectedly came across something interesting on Qoo.10 while shopping online for household items...

SS Shiny SMART QUEEN Hair Curler Korea 

(NEW Wireless 2017 Version)

My hand is there for you to have a rough gauge of the size of this hair curler. It measures about 27cm long and weighs 170g, which is pretty handy & tiny for my hands actually.

It comes in a box, a low quality white pouch (which I threw away upon receiving it), a charger and charging cable. The cable is just a normal cable that we use to charge your Samsung phones & tablets. The charger is two-pin and requires an international adapter for it to plug into our Singapore socket.

For more product information, please click HERE.

It has three selections for level of heat, as well as a battery level indicator. It claims to be made of gold diamond ceramic coating. Gold-in-colour yes, ceramic...yes, diamond, I have no idea. Seriously, it cost me merely a total of SGD 57.00 including shipping fees, so I don't expect to see real diamonds you know. 

Anyway, let us explore some of the hairstyles I successfully created with the gadget!

Sweet Typical Korean C-Curl Hairstyle

This takes about 15 minutes or less, and needs minimal skills (Just keep brushing your hair inwards). I was very thorough with the curling - I sectioned my hair into 4 levels and further divided them into few more handfuls before I started to curl each handful. 100% battery was used up to recreate this hairstyle.

Sexy Big Curls

Forget sexy. "Sexy" and Faith hardly roll together. 

This is my feeble attempt to curl my hair outwards to produce a more voluminous "big hair" kinda waves. I don't know how you feel about this hairstyle, but seriously, I don't like it enough. And to top it off, I spent 20 minutes of my life on something that didn't last beyond the 3rd hour.

Drugstore Skincare - Yay and Nay!

I had a sudden realization that my stash is devoid of drugstore skincare products. Main reason is because for the past few years, I have been sticking to only what works for my acne-prone, sensitive combination skin, i.e. the products I purchase regularly from my dermatologist. And then I switched to Creme Simon, which is still working very well till this point. Partly also because I am an avid fan of Korean beauty products, so I always hang out at Korean beauty stores/counters or Qoo10, instead of my local pharmacy & supply chain stores.

Last month, I decided to try out some highly raved drugstore products for the face! I purchased all of them at Watson's Singapore. It is more like a collective haul over a span of 1-2 months.

So in this post, I selected four of them that I want to give quick reviews and to briefly tell you my impressions of them.

1. Hada Labo AHA + BHA Foam Wash

This product contains fruit acids that claims to exfoliate your skin to dissolve blackheads, whiteheads, dullness, dirt and impurities. Fitted with a hygienic pump, each pump gives a dollop of soft, dense foam that saves the trouble of foaming with your fingers.

MY THOUGHTS

The amount of salicylic acid and glycolic acid is too low to leave a significant exfoliating effect on its first wash. Having been a regular patron of acid peels, this is apparently too mild for me as an exfoliant, but it does work as a good basic cleanser that cleanses well enough. I wouldn't recommend regular use, especially for sensitive skin, even if the acids' levels are low.

For its affordability and availability at our local shores, I still like it a lot as a basic, no-frills cleanser that does it job. It controls oil quite well too, and has a faint acidic scent which is considered pleasant and not overpowering whatsoever.

Rating:

MAY '15 Makeup Favourites + Review of Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar

Hi Faithy Lovelies!

Yes, I am referring to YOU... my faithful, lovely readers of Faithy Vanity Table. Thank you so much for being here with me! :)

This blog post spins a new series, Monthly Favourites, in place of the Monthly Faithy Haul posts I had been doing. So it is more like a two-in-one post where I feature selected products I purchased in the month and those I've been loving in that same month. I will still be spontaneously posting my purchases on my social media, so follow me on - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter for future haul updates! (Official hashtag: #faithyhaul) if you're interested in my latest purchases or for those quick reviews/first impressions.

Without further ado, let's get started!

MAY '15 Makeup Favourites

Products Featured

1. Guerlain Météorites Rainbow Pearls (2015 Limited Edition)
2. Tarte Amazonian Clay Pressed Finishing Powder
3. Sephora Kiss Me lip balm
4. Estée Lauder Pure Colour Envy Sculpting Lipstick in 280 Ambitious Pink
5. Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar

---

Guerlain Météorites Rainbow Pearls 2015 Limited Edition

This is a must-get edition for Guerlain Météorites collectors! Just look at the pretty pastel-coloured pearls and the stunning white & gold packaging! Sweetness overload!! Especially when paired with the Guerlain face brush meant for the Météorites... the entire package is absolute grade A #makeupporn. LOL. Functional-wise, the brush is nothing to shout out for. It is very mediocre and feels rather rough for its high-end price.

Although swatches of highlighting powder usually do not turn up accurately in pictures, I think there is no harm giving it a try. So please check out my below swatch.

April 2015 Makeup Haul

Before unboxing

May is here! Time to look back my into April beauty buys (as per my usual habit). I always aim to leave my beauty shopping loots to the last day of the month to unbox, but I ALWAYS FAIL. My curiosity and impatience always get the better of me, and I ended up unboxing those items that excite me the most! Therefore, you may have already seen some of the following purchases throughout the month in my Instagram feed. #faithyHaul

After unboxing!

The month's haul mainly consists of babies from Sephora and Bella Box. (For the benefit of my international readers, Bella Box Singaore is an online beauty box subscription service where we place a monthly order of a box of unknown beauty product trial kits by different brands, as an attempt to play Santa to ourselves.) Bella Box has a 60%-off closing down sale last week so I just had to find something to buy! Anyway, below is a list of stuff that I got from....

Sephora:

1. Too Face Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar

2. Too Faced Natural Eyes

3. Benefit Bronze 'n' Dandy Set

4. Make Up For Ever Step 1 Smoothing Primer

5. NYX Lip Butter in Lollies

6. NYX Lip Butter in Hot Tamale

7. Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop Hunny Bunny

8. Sephora Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner

9. Sephora Kiss Me Balm in Cotton Candy

10. Burt's Bee Replenishing Lip Balm With Pomegranate Oil 

And from Bella Box:

1. Sleek MakeUp Dip It Duo Liner Mascara in Jet Black
2. ModelCo Designer Brow Kit
3. bellabox Pout Pencil in Pinky Promise

 

I also bought two Catrice eyeshadow brushes from Guardian Singapore, which will be shown later.

 

Here comes the Unboxing Photo Fest!

All the eyeshadow you ever need in your daily makeup look!

Review this soon, yay or nay?

Incredible, cute miniatures at a great price! Great for travel!

Swatches of all the lipsticks/lipbalms from this haul. No swatches of the two lipgloss though, sorry!

How Not To Debt For Beauty

Ever since I started Instagramming my monthly beauty hauls, 

I get questions like these all the time:

Did you buy all this?

Where did you get your money from?

How do you manage to not burn a hole in your pocket?

 

Photo credits: sheniko.blogspot.sg

Let's face it. Women spend tons of their hard-earned money on beauty & fashion. For at least once in our lives, we resorted to eating plain bread at the end of the month, because we don't have money left after shopping! Of course we need to have that latest shade of Chanel lipstick and that tenth bottle of brightening serum, even when have not opened the previous tube of lipstick we bought last week. Exactly. We need it.

On the other hand, there are a handful of oblivious people(these folks usually have no idea where their money went to) who have a misconception that beauty products don't cost much, but have you REALLY sit down to total up your monthly spending on beauty, hair, body products & services? I am sure these set you back at least a few hundreds to a few grands (God forbid!) per month.

Allow me to share some ideas to you beauty junkies out there, how to stay sane and not to get into debt coz of shopping!

Charlotte Tilbury and Tom Ford Eyeshadow Quad Review

By now, if you have been following me for a while, you will know I am a sucker for eyeshadow palettes, especially neutral ones. Palettes are just lovely, aren't they? They have all you need in one pretty box. But..how much are you willing to spend on one little eyeshadow quad?

As my March haul and other buys suggest, I don't have much restrictions on budget for eyeshadows. It's not that I am rich; I am NOT, I have a budget (and I will write more about that, as well as the fun financial-related stuff on my next post. Haha! Did I just say FUN?) but when it comes to eyeshadow, I find myself more laid-back about my moolah.

Last month, I was gifted two eyeshadow quads by my family, on my requests. I feel exhilarated to finally be able to show you some swatches and pen my thoughts about these two products...

(Left) Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad Cocoa Mirage, SGD105 

(Right) Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palatte Dolce Vita, £38.00

 

 

Both are very wearable neutrals. Both shades are rather similar too. The key differences are textures- matte (TF) versus glitter/shimmer (CT); prices, quality of powder and the slightly warmer tones of CT palette. 

Swatches will tell the full story...

Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage

Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita

 My Thoughts on Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage

Get this look with Tom Ford eyeshadow quad! Read my Makeup Tutorial.

The first touch of this palette screams of luxury in capital L. From the shiny paper box, soft velvet pouch, palette exterior finishing, exquisite brushes - everything feels super luxurious! The feel of the exceptionally smooth powder drives every makeup junkie to instant orgasm. LOL. No kidding.

PROS:

• Powder is so finely milled, I dare say there is no other brand who can beat its quality, as of time of writing.
• Colours suit almost everyone, but may not be as obvious on dark skin.
• Everyday matte neutral colors that brighten up the eyes without being over made-up.
• SUPER easy to apply - perpertually GLIDES on quickly like a plane in the sky
• Pigmented and blendable (what a perfect combi!)
• The luxurious packaging and good amount of product makes this investment worth its buck.

  CONS:

• Hefty price tag of SGD105 (which can buy you 26 plates of chicken rice in Singapore)
• No shimmer in any of the shades, which means it produces an understated kind of look that won't make your eyes stand out (if you're hoping to) 
• Lasting power is so-so, not something worth mentioning about.

 OVERALL PRODUCT RATING:

With this price, I can't bring myself to give it a 5-kisses as I am concerned about the pockets of the everyday woman. I do LOVE this product very much because of the high quality and the colours can never go wrong on anyone. In fact, I will repurchase in other colours in future!

 My Thoughts on Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita

I applied CT eyeshadow with a VERY light hand. I used all 4 colours.

I was considering between this or Vintage Vamp. Eventually got my hubby to buy Dolce Vita as it is of a warmer tone and I thought the gold shimmer shade is just so sexy. Now I kinda regret it! (I have too many similar colours.)

PROS:

• Colours are very pigmented and dark - great for smoky eye look
• Unique inclusion of gold glitter (not the fine type) - good for evenings/parties
• All shades have shimmers in them - your eyes are sure to sparkle!
• Price is lower than Tom Ford's (approximately SGD80 after currency conversion)
• Sophisticated high quality packaging like TF.

 CONS:

• No brushes! No pouch.
• A little bit of fallouts from the gold glitter 
• Colours do not complement well. (IMO, I think they should change the fourth shade to something darker, sans the grayish hue)
• Not exactly cheap if compared to mid-range eyeshadows which deliver similar results.
• Not available in Singapore retail market yet. Need to ship from CT website. Shipping costs has to be factored in.

  OVERALL PRODUCT RATING:

Wanted to rate it better but perhaps I've set too high expectations of this product and even needed to trouble my hubby to hunt this down in London for me - all these factors played a part of this overall rating. If you happen to be in the UK and have not tried CT products before, and if you do not own similar colours, I guess SGD80 is still justifiable for the purchase, just for novelty sake.

IF THESE TWO PALETTES WERE IN A PAGEANT, WHO GETS THE CROWN?

Photo credits: about-face.org

Since I am the sole judge here, I will bestow the title to.....

Etude House Color in Liquid Lips Review

In the month of March, Etude House released its new line of lip products in Singapore for Spring 2015.

Introducing Etude House Color in Liquid Lips...

Priced at SGD 17.90 each, Etude House Color in Liquid Lips is a marriage between lip gloss and lipstick. It also feels like lip tint when you're applying it on and doing the Korean gradation lips. To be more exact, it is a liquefied lipstick that makes use of a cushion applicator. It works to give you an intense lip colour in one smooth application.

With a total of 20 shades to choose from, Etude House fans are now spoilt for choice!

Many of these colours are poppy bright, so if you're into the undying Korean trend of bright lip colours, then this product is for you.

I am a sucker for bright lips as well as Etude House adorable sweet packaging. That's why I took less than 5 minutes to purchase five tubes in different colours!

I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that with a purchase of SGD90 and above, I can receive free gifts of my choice. I also received double points as a member in my birthday month.

As shown above, apart from the five lipsticks and one neck firming sheet mask, the rest are ALL FREEBIES from Etude House! Super love the pink mirror! It says "All of You Are Born As A Princess." I can't help but nod my head in agreement! :)

A closer look at the cushion applicator.

Unboxing March '15 Makeup Haul!

March has always been my favourite month, coz it's my birthday month! :)

Every year around this time, I give myself treats and this year I found a great excuse to buy myself more makeup! I justify that since I started this blog, I need more makeup to review for you my lovely readers, right? YES, I am right. LOL.

I am thankful my friends & family pampered me with some of these these babies and now, I am going to unbox and show them to you guys! (Actually I have already unboxed some. Can't wait till end March. Heh.)

Before Unboxing

After Unboxing! (short of one item, because I left it at my second home)

Products featured in the After Unboxing pic above:

1. NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation in Medium 1, SGD75.00
2. NARS Soft Velvet Loose Powder in Eden, SGD60.00
3. NARS Night Series Eyeliner in Night Bird, SGD36.00
4. Daiso Eyeshadow, SGD2.00
5. Tom Ford Cheek Colour Flush, SGD87.00
6. Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray, SGD48.00
7. Benefit Roller Lash Mascara, SGD 33.30
8. Real Techniques Bold Metals Collection 200 Oval Eyeshadow Brush, £15.00
9. Real Techniques Blush Brush £9.99
10. Real Techniques Silicon Eyeliner Brush SGD16.00
11. Lancome Cushion Compact Case & Refill in O-01, SGD20+55= SGD75.00
12. Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad Cocoa Mirage, SGD 105
13. Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palatte Dolce Vita, £38.00
14. Lancome Le Crayon Khol in 01 Noir (sample size)
15. Clinique Even Better Makeup in 62 Fresh Beige (sample size)
16. Laneige Two Tone Lip Bar no. 2 Red Blossom, SGD34

Products featured in Before Unboxing but NOT in After Unboxing pic:

• NARSissist Lip, Blush and Contour Palette. (My mistake, this is Feb haul, not Mar. Review up HERE.)
• Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint and Precision Pencil, £10.00 (Please check out my makeup tutorial HERE for closeup shots.)

Let's check out the products one-by-one now!

P.S: Please note that I am not going to picture swatches of all the products mentioned. Selected products will be reviewed in-depth on my other posts next month. Do let me know your requests which particular product you want me to review!

NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation in Medium 1, SGD75.00

NARS Soft Velvet Loose Powder in Eden, SGD60.00

This is my exact shade, but I am used to using a shade lighter. :(

NARS Night Series Eyeliner in Night Bird, SGD36.00

This is a dark shimmery blue colour. 

 Daiso Eyeshadow, SGD 2.00

I am just so freaking awed by how pigmented and smooth the application went! Need to swatch for you guys!
What a steal at S$2!!

Tom Ford Cheek Colour Flush, SGD87.00

Buildable intensity. Super finely-milled powder. Feels very luxurious.
Looks exceptionally bright in the pan, but not so when swatched.
With a light dusting, the blush glides on my cheeks with just the right intensity. Really high quality blusher!

Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray, SGD48.00

This is a surprise birthday present from a sweet friend! 

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara, SGD 33.30

The only mascara that does what it claims - curl lashes without a curler!
Hook and roll - A technology that actually works!!
I'm impressed!

Real Techniques Bold Metals Collection 200 Oval Eyeshadow Brush, £15.00

Was so looking forward to this since it is not available in Singapore yet. Got my hubby to get it when he was in London for a business trip. I end up being quite disappointed by its size and quality of the bristles.

Real Techniques Blush Brush, £9.99

Real Techniques Silicon Eyeliner Brush SGD16.00

Giving you a comparison of sizes so you roughly know how big the Oval Eyeshadow brush is. It is a tad too huge for my Asian small eyelids.

Lancome BB Cushion Case & Refill in O-01, SGD20+55= SGD75.00

I am going to review this in a separate post. Check it out HERE.

Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad Cocoa Mirage, SGD 105

By far the finest eyeshadow powder I have come across! A little bit goes a looong wayyy...
I think I may take 10 years to finish this pan. LOL.

Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palatte Dolce Vita, £38.00

This is still under my list of 'Untouchables' till now! It's been 3 weeks! But I will soon need to touch it, because I am going to do a comparison review of this with the Tom Ford one! Stay tuned for my reviews & swatches next month!

Lancome Le Crayon Khol  in 01 Noir(sample size)

Clinique Even Better Makeup in 62 Fresh Beige (sample size)

Fun-sized bits! I love tiny stuff like that, do you? They are great for sampling or for travel.

Laneige Two Tone Lip Bar in no. 2 Red Blossom, SGD34

This hero makes gradient/ombre lips super easy to achieve! Now I only need 10 seconds to do my Korean style lips instead of the usual 5 minutes!

Me in Laneige Two Tone Lip Bar No. 2 Red Blossom!
(My photo in the Laneige #RenewMySparkle Photo Contest.)

Thank you for reading! Hope you like this post! Comment below if there are any products mentioned here that catches your eye, and you'd like me to review.