Beauty Story - Luminous Primer and CC Cream

Hello gorgeous! I cannot believe that it has been 6 months in 2015. As for me, this mid year is the busiest time of the year so far. Lots of things need to be done and time seems not on my side (said the procrastinator ;p). How’s your New Year resolution so far? Crossing some of it already or still working on it? Well, no matter how many lists you have crossed; never forget to always enjoy the process, the present moment and spend quality time with your loved ones. Always be positive and be passionate in everything you do :)

This is actually a very late post and I’m realllllyyy sorry. I thought that I would make a separate post and categorize it based on face, lips, and nails. As a preview on what I’m gonna review, you can check below pictures. On this post, I will only review the face products which are Beauty Story Luminous Primer Smooth & Luminous and Beauty Story Magical CC Cream.

If you remembered a few post before, I wrote about Beauty Story, a local brand that launched few months ago. I had the chance to try some of their products and impressed with their quality, I adopted some for myself. The first one is The Beauty Story Luminous Primer Smooth & Luminous which from now, I’m just gonna call it BS Luminous. It is a base make up and works as primer, which means you use it under your foundation or your sunscreen routine. Primer helps to prep your skin, smoothen them out, so it’s ready for the next base makeup. Some primer also able to cover your pores, makes your skin look flawless. So, what is so special about BS Luminous? This primer is pearls based. It has gold, pink, and green pearl tint that could brighten your skin. 

Are you familiar with Guerlain Meteorites?  Well, this is the liquid version of it (a lot cheaper too!). BS Luminous will give you a luminous bright skin without making it Edward Cullen diamond sparkly. Its primer function also makes my skin looks smoother although not so much action in pore covering. But I think with its pearly based and the shimmer is wonderfully soft and fine, it will diffuse the light and makes the pore less visible. The oil control of BS Luminous is around 5 hours with loose powder to set your makeup base. I never not set my makeup base without loose powder, so I don’t know how long it takes until the oil will gain control on your face again. 

On the picture I tried to apply it on my hand so it will be clearly visible to you. I tried to capture it when I’m using it on my face, hopefully you can see the luminous skin that I am talking about.

You have to remember that the consistency is pretty thin, so a little comes a long way. Be careful not to squeeze too much products out. 

The next product is The Beauty Story Magical CC Cream. I bet a lot of you already know what the difference between BB Cream and CC Cream is, so I will go straight explaining about the product. I only had tried one CC Cream, which is Hera CC Cream. Hera’s CC cream texture is a bit similar to BB cream, it is pigmented and a bit thick. In the contrary, BS Magical Cream texture is moussey and light. 

Do not need to be surprised at first when you applied it to the face because the cream is white. The cream will adjust to your skin color and evens it out. On me, the cream brightened my complexion and made it look smooth too. It did not feel too sticky and easy to blend. Another wonderful part is that it contains SPF 30 PA ++. It just like the cream claimed, a multi tasking cream that not only brighten, evens out skin tone, moisturizing, and UVA UVB protection. 

This is a CC Cream; means the coverage is minimum, so you still need to add concealer if you want a flawless look. The oil control lasted for around 4 hours on me.

I love wearing this cream on the days when I don’t feel like wearing too much make up or when I just need to run errands. It gives me a simple but fresh look. 

I hope you find my review useful. Don’t forget that I will do another review on other products from Beauty Story. With a good quality product and wonderful packaging, Beauty Story is definitely a great contender coming in Indonesia’s beauty world. It is paraben free and no animal testing too! What have you tried so far? Please let me know.

Cheers,

Stef

Laneige Satin Finish Loose Powder

Laneige has been one of my favorite Korean Brand. Well, with Jeon Ji Hyun and Song Hye Kyo as their brand ambassador, they definitely had captured a lot of beauty lovers’ heart. 

I always prefer using loose powder instead of compact powder or even powder foundation because of its light texture. It feels and looks natural on my face and doesn’t cakey at all. 

Laneige Satin Finish Loose Powder is an amazing product. I love it so much and I already finished 2 jars. I’m on my 3rd jar now and I suddenly remember why I haven’t written a review about it. So here it is!

The powder is finely milled and the texture is unbelievably soft. When you pat or brush it to your skin, it will set your make up easily and will blend into your skin. The powder will sit on your pores perfectly too. It is slightly scented and for me the scent is definitely not overwhelming, I usually don’t notice it after the powder set on my face. Other thing that I love from this powder is how the powder gives me a brighter complexion but not the pale and white-ish kind of complexion. It is not a powder with shimmery or pearly effect, but somehow it manages to give me the glow that I need. 

A soft and fluff puff comes along with the powder. The puff is softer and puffer than my Shu Uemura Loose Powder puff and I like how it feels on my skin. I rarely use brush in applying my loose powder because I like to pat the puff on my face to really set my base makeup. 

On the picture, you could see the powder when it is not blend and when it’s blended. It goes smoothly on the skin and remember when I told you about the brightening effect? 

It will usually hold my makeup for around 5-6 hours without blotting. For you who have oily skin, you might need a better oil control powder than this, because the powder is very light, so I don’t think it will be able to hold longer than 4-5 hours for you. A little tip, you might want to try to tap some translucent silica powder to some parts of your face that will shine easily or slap on some primer with a good oil control before you put on your foundation etc. I hope that ought to give you some extra hours more. 

Hope you enjoy reading the review and have a fabulous day! 

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IG : stefaniecarolina

Cheers,

Stef

Garnier Light Complete White Speed - Review

With it’s tagline “1 week to shine”, Garnier promises to give an instant result within 1 week to get brighter skin tone. The launching of Light Complete White Speed series promotes freedom to create and boosting women’s confidence to be the best in every aspect of their life. Garnier believes that by having a good skin, it will increase women’s confidence in their daily life, hence helping them achieving their success. It is supported by their Brand Ambassador, Chelsea Islan, a multi talented young Indonesian actress, that said always give the best effort in everything that she does.  
 

I had spent one week to try The Garnier Light Complete White Speed series. There are 4 products that I had tried:

• Garnier Light Complete White Speed Scrub

• Garnier Light Complete White Day Cream

• Garnier Light Complete White Day Cream with Extra SPF

• Garnier Light Complete Night Restore

I am a believer in using products under the same range to get maximum performance of the products. That is why I decided to try all of them.

Let’s start with the scrub. It is said that the scrub is safe for daily use, but I only use it for 3 times in a week because I think scrubbing my face 3 times a week is more than enough. I am not a fan of the scrub because it is basically a facial wash with micro beads that I found not scrubbing my face really well. I also dislike the tightness feeling on my skin after I rinse my face dry. Remember the squeaky clean like a dishwasher commercial that I mentioned before on my previous blog post about my skincare regime? That was what I felt after I use the scrub. The scent is refreshing though. 

Next, I tried the day cream (the one in the tube packaging). I was curious because it is said it will not make your face oily and greasy for the whole day. I love day cream that can deliver that. But unfortunately, this was also not my cup of tea. I understand that this product is for normal to oily skin, so maybe that is why it did not fit me. My skin is a bit complicated, easily get dehydrated but can be oily sometimes on the T-zone. The texture of the cream is thick and when I applied it to my skin, it felt starchy and it created streaky white marks on my face. I have to really rub my skin to spread it all evenly. It did not make my face shiny for about 6-7 hours, but when I touched my face it felt a bit sticky. I just don’t like the texture and how it sits on my face. I tried to top this cream for 3 days with different face base. I tried tinted moisturizer, CC cream, and BB cream. But none of them give a good result. So I gave up and move to the other product, the day cream with extra SPF. 

The Day Cream Extra turned out to be better than its sibling. The texture is not that thick and it glides on my skin well. I have no problem in applying the cream and also topping it with my makeup. All went well with this one.. Hurrahhh!! The shine control duration is a little bit shorter which I noticed only last for 5-6 hours until I have to blot. But at least this one did not give me sticky feeling on my skin. My skin was kept moist the whole day and I like it.

Another favorite from this line is the Night Restore. This cream texture is runnier than the Day Cream Extra, but its fine by me because this cream also glides easily on my skin. It moistured my skin well and when I wake up in the morning my face did not feel sticky or dry but just the right feeling of moisturized and bright. This cream is a keeper and I will use it whenever I need that instant brightener boost for my skin.

All of the products have wonderful scent. It smells fresh and clean, suitable with its look and packaging. Below is my before and after picture within one week of Garnier Light Complete White Speed series (please pardon the eye bags and dark circles). All pictures taken in bare face without any makeup on. It did not really give significant skin tone result on me because my skin tone is already light. But, you can see that the redness in my face is reduced and my skin looks brighter. The dullness is gone and the skin feels smoother. I also relieved that these products did not give me breakouts because sometimes it happens when I change my skincare. 

Some of you might worry if these products are safe to use because its instant result. Worry not, their active ingredients already declared safe by the dermatologist to use. Their serum cream technology also helps the product to be absorbed better by the skin so you can feel the effect immediately.

I already tried them.. Now, its your turn to try! 

For more information about Garnier, you can check here:

Website : www.garnier.co.id

Facebook : www.facebook.com/GarnierIndonesia

Twitter : @GarnierID

Instagram : garnierindonesia

Cheers,

Stef

L’occitane Almond Delicious Hands Cream

Hellooo gorgeus!! Today I would like to do a quick sharing about L’occitane Almond Delicious Hands Cream. Actually, I would love to do more review on lipsticks and some stuff from Beauty Story like I promised before. Fear not, I WILL do those reviews soon! 

Everybody needs a good hand cream. L’occitane has been my favorite for hand cream, because their product works great on my hands. I have tried the Shea Butter hand cream and it definitely hydrates my dry hands instantly. Made them soft and moist, especially important when you spend most of your time in AC room. But it does feel too rich for daytime use when I don’t really like my hands to be too moist or sticky. In that case, I need to choose other hand cream that is suitable for daytime use.

The Almond range from L’occitane has also been my favorite from the brand. It smells divine and lovely, but the price tag is a bit steep. So, to indulge in their body lotion, etc. is something I have not dared to do. I am so happy that they have the hand cream so at least I can indulge myself a little bit with their amazing scent. The Almond Hand Cream is enriched with almond milk and almond oil. 

Almond oil contains high amounts of Vitamin E, a potent antioxidant that protects the skin from further sun damage and helps to decrease the signs of lines and wrinkles. It also contains Vitamin A, an important nutrient for skin and nail health, as well as Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B6. Almond oil is a perfect moisturizer for hands too because it is less greasy than other oils. It also contains zinc which could help in smoothen the chapped skin on the hands. 

Did you know that a hand model (yes, it's a real career) uses almond oil to take a good care of her 5M Poundsterlings insured hands? It shows what goodness almond oil can give you. Her name is Gemma Howorth, google her after you read my review if you wanted hahaha..

The cream was not as thick as the shea ones, so it didn’t feel too thick for my hands too. Even though it’s not as thick, but it still gave my hand good moisture. My hands felt moist and soft after I slathered it with the cream. The after feel was not waxy or sticky nor greasy, and it absorbed well to my hands. And of course, don’t forget the scent! So lovely! I use it whenever I also need a pick me up scent at daytime because it will leave me feel fresh instantly by smelling it. 

You can also see the difference it made on my hands before and after I put on the cream. The hand in the after picture looks more refresh and has supple skin than on the before picture. The skin looks moistured but not greasy. The wrinkles also reduced. 

I always carry one in my makeup pouch, so whenever I feel my hands dry, I could easily moisten them immediately. I almost finished mine now and definitely will replenish it soon. What is your favorite hand cream? Please share with me.

Cheers,

Stef

Unboxing - Garnier Light Complete White Speed

Hello gorgeous!! Been a while since the last entry in this blog. Really really sorry that I have not update the blog. Life happens with all its whirlwind. Been busy with the house project and the other stuffs. Got sick twice within 2 months (I really did not know what happened to my body). So writing was not on my top priorities lately. But right now, it is really good to be able to write again and share things with you.

I got the beauty hamper from Garnier around a week ago, but I was down with Dengue fever last week, so I just got the chance to unbox these beauties and share it on the blog now. Loving the clean look of the box with Garnier colors, green and yellow. Inside there was 4 whitening products from Garnier, one beautiful white frame, and a jar of mini macaroons.

Enjoy the pictures first before I went on a little bit about the products.

Whitening products is essential for today's beauty needs. Speed is seems what a lot of people want lately. A speedy internet connection, a speedy computer processor, a speedy traffic (I want this more than anything), etc. I figured that is what women out there also want when it comes to their skincare results. When you need a brighter and clearer complexion, you wish it can show results immediately. Now, Garnier is trying to answer that for you by launching its new product, Garnier Light Complete White Speed. It claims to give you a brighter and lighter complexion within 1 week of time. Your complexion will not look dull and it can even boost up your complexion up to 3 tones lighter. It targets the dullness, acne marks, and dark spots. As you can see, those 4 products complement each other. I assumed if you use it simultaneously, you will get better results. I am going to try these products for one week and will give my honest review on it.

So, are you looking for brighter and lighter complexion? Are you addicted to speed? Are you up to the challenge? If yes, then you might want to stay tune and read the review next week :)

Cheers,
Stef