A Couple of Announcements

Last night was the night that Mai and I drew the names for our Birthday Celebration Giveaway. Actually, I was trying to get Hime chan to draw the names but she was acting Hime Style (Hime = Princess) and refused to cooperate and pull the names. It's always when I don't want her bothering me that she grabs my papers and runs away.

Anyway, thank you to the followers that played along with answering the bonus point questions and those who participated by commenting as well. We tallied up all of the points, wrote each name down on separate papers (1 point = 1 paper), shook them around in a bag, threw them up in the air, shuffled them around on the ground and...

The winners are:

thesungirl (Brianna) and keikei! Mai pulled Brianna's name and I pulled keikei's name. Congratulations to the winners! I will be contacting you via email to get your mailing address.

There was only one person who got the maximum number of points and that was Blair. We decided to prepare a small prize for this feat.

On another note, I'm sorry that I haven't been around as much, not from lack of trying.This past week was my birthday so I've been busy with various dinner celebrations. Tuesday night was with my family, yesterday (pretty much all day) was with Mai and tonight will be with my Mom and brother. I've also been having computer problems for months now and it finally was the last straw. I was able to get online and click onto blogs to read but after 30 seconds I would get kicked out. The husband (who is totally computer illiterate and rarely goes on the computer) was getting frustrated the few times he would go and and told me to go and buy a new computer. My computer is only a year or so old but hey, I LOVE technology and wasn't going to refuse. I bought a new computer and will be trying to set it up tomorrow. BTW, I managed to fix the problem on Thursday night on my computer--everything stemmed from the wireless router--but we won't tell the hubby. I'll be back when I'm up and running again on a new computer with Windows 7! (Absolutely did not like Vista.)  I have some reviews that I need to write so hopefully I won't be busy with computer set up things for long.

Happy Halloween to everyone!

*Kat*

Review: Missha BB Creams--M Signature Real Complete and M Perfect Cover, Pic Heavy

A week or so ago, I received some items from a couple of people as part of a trade. It just so happens that for both of the trades, I received Korean items. A couple of the items were duplicates of things that I had received earlier and already reviewed. While all of the things that I received were awesome and things that I really, really like, two of them were highly anticipated by me. Thank you to my friend who agreed to work out a trade with me. You know who you are and you are truly wonderful!

Awhile ago I had received a sample packet of Missha M Signature Real Complete BB Cream and liked it so I wanted to purchase a tube. Apparently, it is cheaper outside of the U.S. My wonderful friend found out from the Missha SA that the M Perfect Cover is also a highly liked product with great coverage so she got both BB creams for me. Both come in several different shades, which is great for those with darker skin tones than the usual light colors that the BB creams normally are available in. (I'm using shade No. 23.)

Since both are the same color, I decided to do side-by-side comparisons, which made it easier to compare versus using one on one day and the other the next day.

I prep and prime my face as usual--I used Dior Capture Totale Multi-Perfection Radiance Enhancer as my primer.

Here I have swatched the two colors on a white cardstock. For future reference in the pictures, M Perfect Cover will be noted as MPC and M Signature Real Complete will be noted as MSRC.

First up is M Signature Real Complete BB Cream. I applied it to one half of my face. The color match is quite good and I get good coverage with this BB cream. In an earlier review of this BB cream, I was impressed with the coverage that I am comfortable using just the BB cream and no foundation if I'm in a rush or lazy.

Next is M Perfect Cover BB Cream. When I went to the Missha U.S. website and took a look at their BB Cream section here, this BB Cream was listed at #1. I'm not sure if the listing there is in order of popularity but I think that it is. (The M Signature Real Complete was listed at #2). You can also read the product details there. Since this color was the same as M Signature Real Complete, the color match is the same. I think that the coverage is the same as well so, I get great coverage and can use just the BB cream without any foundation.

Here is my finished face, using Noevir foundation, Noevir powder foundation on bottom half of face, Canmake Cover and Stretch Concealer and a powder blush, which I think was Lunasol. I love the coverage of both of the BB creams and both are nicely hydrating. Since I didn't fully powder my face, it's not a matte finish at all. On really humid days, I would lightly apply powder though because it will probably melt a bit.

The real test for me is seeing how well it lasts as I am a serious task master when it comes to the wearability of my makeup. I often will wear it for 12 hours or longer without doing any touch ups unless absolutely necessary.

And here I am at the 12 hour mark, with absolutely no touching up during the day. Everything lasted very nicely, didn't really oxidize and didn't settle into fine lines. It stayed decently hydrated and I really didn't notice any fading. I also didn't notice much difference between the two BB creams.

The M Signature Real Complete BB Cream doesn't really have any scent to it but the M Perfect Cover BB Cream does. It has a decently strong scent, which has tones of musk in it. I do not like musk at all! The scent the first couple of days, seemed to linger for at least an hour. Maybe I've gotten immune to it but the last several days, it seemed to be present only for a very short while after I have applied it.

M Signature Real Complete feels like it's a thicker cream than the M Perfect Cover when you're applying it. The M Perfect Cream seems feels more liquid when you're applying it so perhaps that makes it feel like it glides on. The interesting thing though is that when I swatched it on the white cardstock and stood it upright, the M Signature Real Complete is the one that slowly started to move down, while the M Perfect Cream just stayed put.

The price of the M Signature Real Complete BB Cream is significantly higher than the M Perfect Cover. I think that more technology has gone into creating the M Signature Real Complete. At this point in time, I can't say for sure which BB cream I would repurchase since they both seem to work the same for me. Do I want to go with price point or with the higher technology one? I like the properties that the M Signature Real Complete has. One thing that I do know is that it'll be a long time before I have to worry about it since I don't use much BB cream for each application. I'm glad that I was able to obtain these BB creams since I really like them.

I hope that this was helpful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me either by comment here or privately by email. Congratulations if you read through this whole long post!

*Kat*

Another Book of Shadows III EOTD

Recently I got an email asking me a further opinion on the Book of Shadows III. It made me realize that I really hadn't done much with that palette other than that one EOTD that I did. That EOTD was what I would call a safe one as I basically used the standard colors that I always use. I decided to go out on a limb and use colors that I really don't use.

Products used:

UDPP in Sin
Urban Decay NAKED Palette
Urban Decay Book of Shadows III
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Canmake Gokubuto and Gokunobi Mascara

I primed my eyelids using Sin. From the NAKED Palette, Sidecar was used on outer half of upper eyelid from creaseline up into brow bone area. Naked was used on inner half of upper eyelid from creaseline up into brow bone area. Buck was applied mid eye area to blend together the two other colors.

 Kush is used on inner 1/3 of eyelid from lashline to creaseline. Money is applied in mid 1/3 of eyelid from lashline to creaseline and blended upward and inward to blend all colors. Loaded is applied on outer 1/3 of eyelid from lashline to creaseline and blended upward and inward. I also used a clean MAC 224 brush to gently blend all of the colors together. Loaded is again applied to outer corners of upper eyelid in "V" shape and also lines the outer half of lower lashline. Kush is used to line inner half of lower lashline. Upper lashline and outer 1/3 of lower lashline is lined with K-Palette eyeliner. Applied gokubuto mascara to volumize and somewhat curl lashes. Gokunobi mascara is applied over that to lengthen lashes.

I liked being adventurous and using colors that I would normally not wear. It doesn't look that dark in the pictures but it was actually darker than it should have been for going to work.

*Kat*

Review: Cle de Peau Anti-Age Spot Serum

As I had mentioned in a previous post here, I had tried a sample of Cle de Peau Anti-Age Spot Serum and wanted to buy a full-sized product. I scored a brand new bottle of this on ebay for approximately $42.00 USD including shipping and this is less than half the suggested retail price. I received it on Thursday, which was a really quick turn around time.

The seal is still intact on bottle so you can tell it is a brand new item.

Instructions

Ingredient list

This product is supposed to help to lighten the appearance dark spots and prevent the future formation of them. It is a brightening serum that is supposed to give you even-toned clarity. I have been using the sample that I received for several weeks but haven't noticed any lightening or appearance of lightening of the one ugly spot that I have on my right cheek. I had managed to use a sample of this product for 3 weeks because I was using it only in that targeted area. While it hasn't lightened that ugly spot, I did find the serum to be lightweight, lightly but pleasantly scented, with a smooth finish to it. I have started using it on my entire face and so far, it's been a good experience. I haven't noticed any ground shattering improvements but it has worked as well as the other serums that I have used and it hasn't caused any breakouts.

Since it is pretty much similar to the other serums that I have used, I will only repurchase this again if I can score another good deal on it. Otherwise, it's not worth paying the full retail price on it, in my opinion.

*Kat*

ELLE Beauty Editor Live Chat

EDIT

I got notification that there's been a change. The date has been changed to Wednesday, November 3.


Hi Everyone! Sorry, I've been really busy so just a quick post for now.

I was emailed by ELLE and asked to post this information. ELLE's Beauty Editor, Emily Doughery will be answering beauty and skincare questions live on ELLE's Facebook page. Here's the details:

Live Facebook Chat with Emily Dougherty on ELLE’s Facebook page and ELLE.com

Wednesday, 10/27
1PM
Main discussion points will be about skin care and related (beauty) topics

I am assuming that this is Eastern Standard Time but it wasn't stated as being so.

This sounds like it will be interesting.

I hope that everyone's having a wonderful weekend!

*Kat*

The Clover Beauty Inn Giveaway

Ashura of The Clover Beauty Inn is sponsering a giveaway! Please go and take a look at her post about it here. I'm planning on joining and hope that I have some good luck at winning this. Good luck to those of you who do enter.

BTW, she has an awesome blog, with great tutorials. She is also very sweet and cute. make sure to check out her blog and not just the giveaway post.

*Kat*

EDIT: It is now closed

Product Review: Parado Glossy Gel Nail Top Coat

I first learned of this product from Yumeko of A Dream of Tokyo. It sounded so interesting that I needed to try it for myself and couldn't wait until December when my son would be coming home from Japan for a visit. Yumeko had mentioned that we could order this through her friend, which is what I ended up doing.

This is basically a top coat which creates the look of gel nails without using UV lights. Use a base coat, your nail polish color of your choice and finish with Parado as your top coat. I tried this out on my naked nail and like Seche Vite, it needs a base coat/color to be able to grab onto. It eventually peel off in one layer.

I think that this works out really nicely. It finishes my manicure with a nice glossy look and it dries quite quickly. The longevity of this is average...on par with other top coats that I have used. I am really hard on my hands and nails so anything that doesn't chip in two days, is really good for me. The brush is thicker than other nail polishes that I use and I like that. I have really small nails so I can actually use one swipe on my baby finger and it gets covered. I like it a lot and have already asked my son to bring back more of this for me.

At the same time that I tried this out, I happened to try out Seche Vite for the first time. I like Seche Vite as it finishes your manicure nicely and dries quickly. I would dare say that the these two top coats are very, very similar. For you Japan girls who are wanting to try Seche Vite but don't want to pay the exhorbitant price that it is in Japan, buy Parado because I think that it is a good dupe for Seche Vite. This is found only in 7-11 stores in Japan.

For those outside of Japan who may be interested in trying this, I bought my Parado from Fumiko Kitagawa at her blog. Scroll down to the bottom as this is the last product listed. I believe that she is traveling or will be traveling very soon so if she doesn't respond right away, please be patient.

*Kat*

Review: Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Pack

This was given to me by my friends who went to Korea. This wasn't with the gift pack that they had originally given me so it wasn't included in that picture.

Ingredient list for those who are interested

The last line says that it is recommended to keep this product refrigerated during the summer

I have recently been using My Beauty Diary masks where the product is on an actual paper type of cutout mask. This strawberry yogurt pack reminds me of the masks that I am familiar with where you apply it on and let it sit on your skin.

Directions: Apply after cleansing and toning. Evenly spread quarter-sized amount on your face. Massage it in until the little red particles dissipate. Leave it on your skin for 5 to 10 minutes and then rinse it off with warm water. Use it once or twice a week. It is best to store it in a ventilated, cool place.

It is very pleasantly strawberry scented which isn't strong or over powering. It feels really nice, smooth and cool on your skin. Unlike old-fashioned masks, it isn't thick and opaque at all. It's actually quite sheer so it's not so startling to family members if you are sitting around with it on. After rinising it off, my skin felt very smooth and hydrated. I actually used it in the morning and did my makeup afterwards. Even after I washed my face off that night, some 15 hours later, my skin still felt really nice and smooth. I really like this face mask. This will probably be on my Korea wish list for when my friends travel to Korea again. (They actually just came back yesterday but I didn't have a wish list for them this time.)

*Kat*

Stilla, Cle de Peau and Lancome Reviews

I've decided to do a review of several items from different lines at one time today.

I was in Sephora the other day picking up my Book of Shadows III and was shown Stilla's new primer, One Step Correct Primer.

Picture from Sephora website

I was told that this primer does everything with one product. If you notice, there are all the different colors in the bottle. It primes, color corrects, brightens and nourishes the skin. It also improves the skintone, evens out your complexion and smoothes fine lines and wrinkles.

It looks a bit disgusting in this picture but this is the sample container we got.

Mai and I got sample containers of it on Saturday night. When Mai applied it on to her face, I noticed an immediate difference. She said that it felt nice on. I tried it out this morning and I didn't notice any difference in my my skintone or texture. It does feel nice on and I will need to try it out more to see how it works with other BB creams and foundations that I use. I may buy this primer when I am done using my current Dior primer if it seems to work out well.

We also went to the Lancome counter in Macys and I finally was able to get a sample of the new Teint Miracle Foundation. This foundation has been 10 years in the making and has 7 international patents pending. It is supposed to recreate the true natural light of perfect skin. Your complexion is supposed to appear lit from within which is beautifully bare and flawless. The coverage on this foundation is light to medium light. It is enriched with rose extract which helps to provide 18 hours of hydration. It is oil free, non-comedogenic and has SPF 15. Again, I tried this last night over the Stilla primer and it has way too light coverage for my liking. I tried it this morning after prepping my face with the Stilla primer and using Lioele BB cream. I liked the end result! I will play around with my sample a bit more because I need to be sure of some things but I think that I may end up getting this foundation, suprising to me because it is such a light coverage foundation.

It has been really hot and humid here the past few weeks and I noticed that by mid afternoon, my foundation and BB cream makes my face have a melted look to it. I thought that perhaps I should change my BB cream from the Revlon back to Lioele since Lioele is probably the least hydrating of the 3 BB creams that I currently own and like. Unfortunately, that didn't help so I decided that I might need to use powder to set my makeup. I haven't been using powder in a year or so because it settles into my fine lines and really draws them out.

A few weeks ago I wrote about going to the Cle de Peau counter to pick up my sample of eye cream and to test out the award winning concealer. At that time, I wasn't impressed by the concealer at all. The SA/MUA also applied some powder onto my face, which I wasn't too happy with but ended up being surprised by the result of it not settling into my fine lines. I decided to go back and check out the powder again.

Image from Cle de Peau website

This translucent face powder is very finely milled and is so light. It is supposed help with oil control and yet hydrate at the same time. The transparent loose powder, case (with a sifter screen) and puff was around $105.00 but the refill, which is just the bottom part of the case is only $75.00. Since I don't use the puff, I decided to save money and go with the refill.

I have a Bare Mineral compact which I filled with the Cle de Peau powder. It works out very well.

Face with Lioele BB Cream only

Lancome Teint Miracle Foundation in Bisque 1N

Cle de Peau translucent powder over Lioele

I also asked for a sample of the concealer, which I used today. At first it seems to go on rather nicely but it didn't last on me and after several hours, it seemed to cake up on me. Definitely will stick with the Canmake concealer. I also had been given and using for several weeks, Cle de Peau Anti-Age Spot Serum. I was hoping that it would help to lighten the one dark spot on my cheek but I haven't noticed any difference. However, the serum feels really nice and I thought that I might like to try using it for a longer period of time. It's quite expensive at $155.00 but I was able to score it on ebay for about $42.00, including shipping. I hope to receive it in a week or two.

*Kat*

UD Book of Shadows III Review and EOTD

As soon as I had seen the various announcements of Urban Decay's Book of Shadows III that was to be released, I knew that I wanted it. I put my name on the waiting list at Sephora before even the SA knew what it was--approximately 1 1/2 months ago. I guess that I was first on the list. I got a phone call on Thursday that my palette was in and I picked it up yesterday.

The colors in the palette are so pretty. I know that most of you have already seen the palette's packaging so I didn't take any pictures of it. The theme of it is New York and the top portion of it does pop up when you open the lid and the NY Silhouette lights up. My lid doesn't stay open and I think that it's because they didn't give enough leeway on the ribbon that is supposed to keep the lid up. I don't really care about that though since I'm not interested in that part of the palette. It is actually quite heavy with this design and I would have been happier to have just the makeup part of it in perhaps a nicer, smaller case. If you still want to see pictures of it, please email me to let me know and I'll do another post with just the design portion of the palette.

For today's EOTD, I decided to test out this set.

Products used:

UDPP Eden
From Book of Shadows III--Suspect, Smog, Last Call, Rockstar, Perversion. Bordello and Maui Wowie
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Canmake Gokubuto and Gokunobi mascara

After prepping my eye with UDPP in Eden, I applied Suspect from creaseline to browbone as a base. Last Call is applied from lashline to creaseline. Rockstar is applied from lashline to creaseline on outer half of eyelid. Smog is used just above creaseline at mid eye and blended toward inner and outer eye. Perversion is applied to outer corner of upper eyelid in "v" shape. Rockstar is applied to outer half of lower lashline and Maui Wowie is applied to inner half of lower lashline. Bordello is lightly applied to brow bone. I curled my eyelashes and usually when I do curl them, I also apply a mascara base to keep them nicely curled but I forgot this morning. K-Palette eyeliner on upper lashline and outer half of lower lashline. Gokubuto mascara is applied on upper lashes and then layered with Gokunobi mascara. Gokunobi mascara is also used on lower lashes.

I found that this palette of eyeshadows isn't as soft as the NAKED palette, which works out much better for me as I tend to pick up too much eyeshadow with the NAKED palette and get a lot of fallout. I didn't get any fallout using these shadows today. I was worried that Last Call would me look like my eyelids were red with an irritation because it seems to be a warm-toned color but I think that I managed to balance it out with the other colors. I've also read that many people complain about Maui Wowie being a "glitter bomb" and I was a bit worried about that too but decided to try it out anyway. I think that it worked out okay for me since I used it very lightly to line my lower lashline. I am not a big fan of glitter but I don't seem to have had any major glitter fallout, luckily.

I like the colors that I used today. Mai said that it looks nicely muted, which is definitely not me, so it's unusual that I'm liking this EOTD. I'm looking forward to trying out the other colors.

*Kat*

Review: Canmake Maxi Volume Rouge

Sorry that I've been a way for a few days but I got tied up with a last minute, rush job for work. This meant working both at my office and at home but I managed to finish everything up with time to spare.

Recently I did a trade with thesungirl of The Sungirl Says. Please check out her blog as she blogs about an interesting array of things, including beauty and events in Japan. We both had items that we each wanted and figured out comparable values and agreed on the trade. She also included some extra goodies and was far more generous than she needed to be. I had to share one of the goodies that she sent. In a recent post, she wrote about visiting Tokyo Disney Sea. I'm assuming that she picked up this goodie there because it is Tokyo Disney Resort Halloween 2010 bag of marshmallows.

I have noticed that there are different character types of marshmallow candy in the stores locally like Hello Kitty, for one. The marshmallow looks like the regular puff marshmallow except that it's flat--like it was smashed down.

Anyway, since I didn't really read the packaging thoroughly (or as thoroughly as my limited Japanese allows me to) I was surprised when I ate it that it had a chocolate cream center! When I looked at the package more carefully, I did see that it mentions that there's chocolate in it.

This is seriously THE BEST marshmallow that I have ever had!

On to the review...

One of the items that I had requested was Canmake's Maxi Volume Rouge.  

It comes in an all silver tube, nothing fancy about it. I got it in 02 Pink Berry, which is sort of a bright pink color. The color goes on sheer so I needed to layer it on a couple of times but the color did seem to intensify a bit after it sat on my lip for a while. It goes on very smoothly and is quite moisturizing for me. It's not sticky at all, just feels moisturizing. The color lasted for several hours until I ate something. The moisturizing effect did seem to diminish over time too but didn't completely disappear. There is no scent or taste to it. (I tested this on lips with no lipbalm on because I wanted to see how it well it lasts and moisturizes without the lipbalm. In my pictures below though, I am using a lipbalm.)

Lips prepped with clear lipbalm only

Wearing 02 Pink Berry

Overall, I think that this is a nice lipstick for a Japanese drugstore brand. I would definitely consider repurchasing it again.

Thank you thesungirl for a wonderful trade! I've been truly blessed to have "met" so many wonderful people in the beauty blogging community.

*Kat*

NOTD: Pink Gradient Nails

Another post for today! I was actually supposed to post the previous one last night but wasn't feeling well so I posted it early this morning.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

When I saw this entry by Jenn of From Head To Toe of a purple gradient nail art tutorial, I just knew that I had to try it. She makes it looks so simple and fast. She has a great blog and is just so cute.

Since I had already decided that for the month of October I'd wear pink nail polish in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, I went for a pink gradient look.

Products used:

Lippman Hard Rock
Konad R11 Light Pink Regular Polish
Color Club 875 Hot Couture (Pink Glitter Polish)
Orly Sterling Silver Rose
NYX NGP167 (Glitter Polish)
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

I had originally wanted to shop my stash and use what I already have but I really don't have that great a collection of nail polishes. I think that I mostly have konad polishes. I had also recently purchased the Orly polish and the NYX polish. The only reason why I picked up the NYX polish last week was because it was on sale for only 99 cents. For that price, I was willing to give it a try. Knowing that I wanted to try this technique, I had to find a pink glitter polish, and I found it by Color Club in the same color tone as the Orly. I also bought Seche Vite at the same time, which was on Saturday.

Following Jenn's technique, I did a base coat using Lippman Hard Rock (sorry I forgot to put it into the picture). It dries pretty quickly so I was able to do a single coat with Konad Light Pink pretty much right away. This color is quite sheer so it appears like my own nail color. It also dried quite quickly. I then used Color Club Hot Couture and was actually a bit disappointed that it is so sheer. Even after layering it, the pink color barely comes through. I decided to deviate a bit from Jenn's technique and and started over again. This time though I did my first layer of Hot Couture, then I applied Orly Sterling Silver Rose at the mid point between the end of the layer of Hot Couture all the way to the tip of my nail. After it dried, I then went over Orly with Konad Light Pink to lighten the tone of Sterling Silver Rose. I then applied Hot Couture starting from the mid point between the first layer of Hot Couture and the beginning of the layered Sterling Silver Rose. The next layer with Hot Couture started at just above Sterling Silver Rose. After it dried a bit, I applied Sterling Silver Rose again. Finished off the entire nail with NYX glitter polish and then Seche Vite.

Now I know why many of the bloggers who do NOTD use Seche Vite. That thing is amazing! I couldn't believe how quickly it helped my manicure to kind of set and dry. Of course with all of the layers, the underneath isn't fully dried. I forgot about that since the top was nice and dry and ended up ruining a nail so I had to redo it. I will be using Seche Vite  whenever I do my nails now. The NYX glitter polish is really nice since the gliltters are iridescent. There are some larger pieces of glitter in there that is star shaped, which is cute too. The only one that I'm a little disappointed in is the Color Club Hot Couture. It is way sheerer than I thought it would be. The bottle of polish also became very goopy and thick in just this one use. I don't know if there is a way to thin it out a bit. Any suggestions?

All in all, I am super happy with the way it turned out. It doesn't look as nicely gradient as Jenn's nails do but it works for me. I'm not good at doing manicures anyway. (Still have to master konad. No, not even master, at least make it work decently.)

*Kat*

Review: Nature Republic Shower Gel and The Unknown Item

Back in September I had written about my friends going to Korea and bringing me back a bunch of goodies. Amongst them were products from Nature Republic. I hadn't heard of Nature Republic before so I was really curious. According to the Nature Republic Singapore site, Nature Republic is based on Mother Nature's law, creating their products by combining both state-of-the-art technology as well as natural substances of the utmost quality. They integrate ancient nature with modern sense to deliver natural prescriptions to you for a healthier and beautiful lifestyle. It includes various medical plants, flowers and seawater from around the world, the natural prescriptions from ancient times.I finally started to use the Peach Shower Gel. I wish that I could read the product contents since I'd like to see just how natural this product is, but then again, they do say that it's combined with state-of-the-art technology.

I actually really like the Peach Shower Gel. When you first put it onto your towel, the scent is very much like fresh peaches. The gel isn't too thick but it's not runny either. When you start to lather up the gel on your body, the scent definitely gets a lot stronger and it starts to smell artificial. I would compare the strength of the scent along the lines of Bath and Body Works products. It isn't overpowering but it definitely doesn't stay lightly, natural fruit scented. It doesn't last for very long though and before you're done lathering up your body, the scent tones down quite a bit. I love the fact that this gel doesn't make your body feel slimey or slick when you're rinsing off and toweling yourself dry. Your skin isn't squeaky clean but it's nicely moisturized and the scent doesn't linger. This is good for people who do not like lingering scents. I am hoping to get more of this when my friends go back to Korea.

In my original post, I had written that they had brought back a couple of mystery items. My friend had no idea what it was but thought that they were cute so she bought it. My guess was that they were lip balms/glosses.

I finally opened it up and...

It's a clear lip balm/gloss. It has a slight fruity scent, no flavor and feels really nice on. However, there is a surprise.

It is clear but I think that it is body heat activated because I was surprised to find that my lips looked pink after I applied it on! I decided to test it out on my finger and sure enough, it turns pink. The color lasts a decently long period of time on the lips since I think that in the process it acts more as a lip stain than a lip gloss.

By the way, since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I decided that if I paint my nails, I would use pink this month. I started off on October 1st (yes, that's when I originally started taking pictures for this entry), by painting my nails using Orly's Sterling Silver Rose. It's the first time that I've used an Orly brand polish and it's okay. I don't think that the lasting power is all that great as my nails started to have tip wear after a couple of days and chip after 4 days but I do love this color.

*Kat*