[Review] Nature Republic Skin Smoothing 3-Step Pore Strip

This is by far my favorite pore strip ever, I've tried a lot of regular pore strips, and 3-steps but the Nature Republic 3-step pore strip works the best for me.

Directions
Step 1: White head clear sheet, leave on 15~20 minutes
Step 2: Blackhead clear sheet, 10~15 minutes
Step 3: Pore tightening sheet, 5~10 minutes (I usually leave it on longer, it feels so soothing after pulling out all the gunk)

Product

The first step is a thin cotton pad that is the shape of a pore strip. I'm not sure what "white head clear sheet" is suppose to mean... From my experience it opens up your pores, and usually after 20 minutes or so I see a bunch of white heads on the surface of my nose. When using this my nose feels tingly as well.

Second step is a regular nose strip, nothing special about that. Leave it on 10 to 15 minutes then take it off.

After removing the strip there is SO MUCH blackheads, honestly there's more then what I see on my nose which is amazes me about this strip.

The third step is a gel type. It's suppose to tighten your pores so additional dirt doesn't get into your pores after cleaning it. I can't say for sure if it really does, but it's really soothing to your pores especially after harshly pulling out all the white and black heads!

Price

$2.90 (Hawaii branch) each

Scent

Not much of a scent, a hit of floral (contains chamomile extract)

Pros:

        - Works the best

        - Worth the price

Cons:

         - It's a long process

Recommendations

- Might not work for everyone, everyone has different skin type

Overall, repurchase?

> Yes, I always restock up on these as soon as I run out!

Good luck and have fun lovelies.

- Ashley

[Review] Nature Republic Botanical Crystal Shadow #2 Ruby Pink

Hello Cuties~ Sorry I have not been uploading for awhile, but today I am back with a cosmetic makeup review. Today I will review Nature Republic's Botanical Crystal Shadow #2 in Ruby Pink. I am a big fan of shimmery eye shadows, since they make my eyelids pop with color. Recently I have been trying the shimmery eye shadow, which came in a cute little tube. I am glad that it came with a sponge brush as an applicator, this makes applying much easier. Below I did a swatch of the eye shadow on my hand, it looks very smooth and pigmented. 

PRO:

• It had a brush for easy application.
• The amount that it come with would last for months.
• The color is pigmented, so if you apply a light layer, it would have a very natural shimmer.

CON:

• The glittery texture does not stick to my eyelids for a very long time, I advise you guys to use a primer beforehand.
• I would not use this daily, but occasionally when I want to put some colors on my eyelids.

COST:

• About $5-6 

PHOENIX \m/ UPDATES:

After School Red's Into the Night Sky (Dance Cover)

Secret's Poison (Dance Cover)

Thank you for reading Cuties~!

-Stephanie 

[Review] Tony Moly Gold Black Sugar Mask

Oh my gods! I am totally in love with Tony Moly's Gold Black Sugar Mask. For someone who has dry skin over winter, this is one of the absolute best things you can use. 

"Provide enough nutrition and moisture"

Honestly, I am head over heels over how amazing this sugar mask feels on my face. Since Hawaii is usually warm or quite warm, any drop in the temperature would make me shiver. Especially in winter, my skin can act up. I occasionally have dry and flaky skin but with the Tony Moly's sugar mask, most of my problems are gone. 

Honestly, I do not find this product any different from a sugar scrub. For the most part, I just treated this product as a sugar scrub. Right before my shower, I would smear the sugar mask on my face and massage my skin. After that I would leave the scrub on my skin for a couple minutes. Although the instructors are all in Korean, I did a little bit of research. The recommended time for leaving this mask on is 5-10 minutes. Apparently the sugar mask contains black sugar, honey extracts, and gold (which I cannot tell by looking at it). 

This sugar mask feels tingly on my skin (kind of a slight warm sensation). After I wash it off, my skin feels super soft and moisturized - which might I add, I am super thrilled about. Overall, I feel that this product exfoliates the skin very gently and does not damage my skin. Alongside that, it makes my skin softer and smoother - improving the health of my skin. I feel like this product does what it advertises and I will definitely be going back to Tony Moly for more.  

Pros: exfoliates lightly, moisturizes and nourishes the skin

Cons: can get messy

Rating: 9.5/10

Occasionally, the Tony Moly branch in Hawaii has sales on their products. I purchased this when it was on a 20% sale. The original price is about $9. This is by far my favorite Tony Moly product of all time.

Thanks for tuning in my pretties and see you soon!

- Jessica

[Review] The Face Shop Face It Extreme Brush Pen Eyeliner #2 Brown

Hey Cuties~! how have you been? School have started for most of you and me too. It is time to try a new eyeliner for a natural definition of the eye. Today I will be posting about The Face Shop's Face It Extreme Brush Eyeliner Pen. I have been experiencing with different types of eyeliners before, but I find eyeliners with a thin brush to be easier to use. Recently I have been using brown eyeliners instead of black because it has a natural tone to it, and find black eyeliners to be a little harsh, which is good for going out and partying. I have been using this eyeliner for a while, and I am in love! Here is a picture of the eyeliner and how thin it is on my eyelids! I think it is perfect for everyday eyeliner!

PROS;

• It is a liquid brush eyeliner for easy application.
• It is thin, so you can control the length of the eyeliner.
• It is long lasting.

CONS:

• It might smudge a little.
• Sometimes when I apply, the ink does not come out as well, so I have to go over a few coats.

COST:
Around $10 in Hawaii

Thank you so much for reading Cuties~! Have a nice day!

-Stephanie

Your Skin and You: Brightening vs. Whitening

Brightening
Brightening is the nature process (at least in terms of Korean skin care products) of creating a fairer or more translucent appearance. With that in mind, it is not the bleaching of the skin tone but rather making the skin tone lighter through the use of different ingredients that can include niacinamide or vitamin C. Usually products that help brighten the skin tone would be worded "to make skin clear and transparent" or something like that.


Whitening
Whitening is an unnatural process of "whitening" the skin which many people know it as "bleaching" the skin. This is when there are chemicals involved that unnaturally lightens the skin's pigments. By bleaching the skin, your skin will become whiter - which can look unnatural. 

In Asia, many people call brightening, whitening (it sometimes gets lost in translation). However, with both whitening and brightening products, it is best to use sun screen if you are planning to go outside. For brightening products, the products will not work as well if you do not use sun screen. 

Well that's all for today! See you soon my pretties!

- Jessica

[Review] Nature Republic By Flower Auto Eyebrow #2 Brown

Hey Cuties! Today I am going to review Nature Republic's By Flower Auto Eyebrow #2 in Brown. Since My eyebrows are naturally hairless, I wanted to use something to fill them in to look nice and neat. I want to give them definition without making them look fake. I like this eyebrow pencil because I do not have to sharpen it and just twist it to get more. 

Pros:

• Very nice texture, which is very smooth.
• It comes with a brush so you can comb through your eyebrows.
• It is an auto-eyebrow pencil so no sharpener involved!
• The length of the color pencil is very long, so it will last you through a long time.

Cons:

• The tip of the pencil is sharp at the start, once you use more, it becomes less sharp.
• Not waterproof!

COST:

• Cost around $3.90 in Hawai'i

PHOENIX \m/ UPDATES:

AOA's Miniskirt Dance Cover

Thank you very much for reading today's review Cuties~!

-Stephanie

[Review] Nature Republic Bee Vemon Essence

Bee Vemon is ideal for people who have sensitive skin and/or people who break out.

The essence comes in a small bottle that has a cap with along with a pump with is convenient for use, so it's easier to pump out a lot or product or even a little. Depending on how much you want to use. (I normally use 1 pump)

Description
"This essence is for skin that gets easily irritated and suffers from redness."

Price
Around $10-$15 dollars in Hawaii

Size
30 ml / 1.01 fl. oz.

Product

Essence itself seems like an emulsion but it's not. Essence is more concentrated so there's technically no moisture so the product can go "deep into the pores".

Scent
I'm not sure how I would describe this but the whole BV line has the same scent so I'm going to assume it's BV mixed with something else

Pros:
         - Good for sensitive skin
         - Very light
         - Helps break outs
Cons:
         - It's the same price as the BV emulsion but it's small. (Because the ingredients are concentrated but still)

Recommendations
- If you're oily skin you can use this and not emulsion
- Good for sensitive skin, and/or people who break out
- If you break out a lot but are sensitive at the same time this skincare line is a starter skincare routine, this skincare helps your skin get stronger so when you're done using this you can go with something stronger such as the tea tree itself (That is what I did).
- Helps with redness

Overall, Repurchase?
>If I could I would, but from what I heard they will be discontinuing the essence so I guess I'll have to go with the emulsion instead. I don't normally break out now so I only use this on times I need an extra boost in my skincare to stop the break outs

Good luck and have fun lovelies.

- Ashley

[Review] Nature Republic Provence 3 Magic Step Eyes #4 Plum Burgundy

Hi my pretties! Today I am going to review one of my favorite eye shadow palettes from Nature Republic. 

Outside

The eye shadow palette I'm going to review is from the Provence 3 Magic Step Eyes line. Ashley reviewed a different palette, #7 Spring Step - which is a girlier palette in comparison to this Plum Burgundy color. I am a big fan of dark colors especially the purples and plums so this palette is my absolute favorite. 

Three Different Colors (also Includes a Mirror not shown in the picture)

This palette has a more mature color and it contains my favorite colors. As you can tell from the way the palette looks, the most used color was the lightest one. But with these three colors, you can create a lot of different looks. I forgot the price of these eye shadows since I had them for a while but it was priced around $12 - $16 in Hawaii. The eye shadows are a set and are sold that way. You can't change any of the colors inside the palette.

the three different colors

Lightest Color: very light pink/shimmery white; color does not stay on eyelid very long; some times the shimmers fall onto my cheeks; overall a very pretty color

Middle Color: very deep pink color; a little too pink for my taste

Darkest Color: very deep purple pink color; nice contrast to the light pink

I love using the lightest and darkest color of this palette. The only thing about the lightest color is the tendency for some of the sparkles to falls off. I have a hard time trying to keep the skin clear of the eye shadow "residue" or the shimmers that fall off. Alongside that, the middle color (pink) is hard for me to use. The middle color is very strong - a bit too much for my tastes.

Here are some ways I use the palette:  

Look 1: With the Darkest and Lightest Colors

Inner Corner of Eyelid: Lightest Color
Middle to Edge of Eyelid & Lower Lash line: Darkest Color

Look 2: With all Three Colors

Inner Corner of Eyelid: Lightest Color
Middle of Eyelid: Middle Color
Outer End of Eyelid: Darkest Color

Pros: nice pigmentation; beautiful colors; multiple ways to use; great for Autumn 
Cons: some of the sparkles from the eye shadow falls onto the cheeks; the middle color is harder to use (for me)
Rating: 8.5/10

That's it for today. see you soon my pretties!

- Jessica

[Review] Nature Republic EXO M Lip Balm Set

Alohaaaaaa~ Cuties! How was your New Years? If you are a big EXO fan, you will love my review today! I am sure many of you had heard of EXO's lip balm. When they started selling them at Nature Republic, I am one of the first ones to grab a box. It was a great deal because, as an EXO fan myself I get to have other goodies that came with it. The box of lip balm came in a nice little package including a folder, a catalog, all twelve figurines, and other merchandise depending on where you buy it from. For those of you who have not heard of EXO, here is one of their music video to get you started! oh! EXO have two groups EXO-M and EXO-K, double the better!:

EXO-M (Growl)

EXO-K (Growl)

On to the lip balm review~! Below shows a picture of the box of lip balm and the merchandises it came with. There are two sets of lip balm, but I got the EXO-M set. The set includes (2) rose, (2) peach, and (2) lemon. Total there is (6) lip balm for all the members of EXO-M. Below I had opened one rose lip balm and found member Kris! The lip balm is Clear so you can see the member's face, however, when you rub it on your hand or lips, it turns into pink. The more you rub the balm on your lips the darker the color it gets. 

PROS:

• It moisturizes really well, since I have dry lips.
• Gives off a little tint of pink so my lips doesn't look naked.
• Smells really good on my lips.
• The color last all day.
• Have EXO faces on them <3

CONS:

• I bought the whole box so it will take me a while to use them all, but buying single is also available.
• Needs to atleast apply twice a-day if you have really dry lips.
• Since it is a tint, it will be a little harder to take off the color.
• TIP: Since I don't want to stain my fingers while applying it, I use a lip brush so it doesn't get all messy. I am used to the stick lip balms.
• It is only available in certain areas, like they have it in Hawai'i etc.

COSTS:

• In Hawai'i about $51~ for the whole box
• or $8.90 individually 

Phoenix \m/ UPDATE:

EXID's Every Night Dance Cover

Miss A's Over U Dance Cover

Thanks for reading Cuties~! see you later!

-Stephanie

[Review] Nature Republic Tea Tree Blemish Zero Emulsion

For today's review I'll be talking about Nature Republic's Tea Tree Blemish Zero Emulsion

Description
"A refreshing emulsion for blemished skin that contains tea tree oil."
In Korean it says that it contains 20 ppm of tea tree oil.

 This product doesn't come with a pump, so you have to pour the product out yourself. Which can get extremely inconvenient since sometimes you pour too much or too little. Then when you start reaching the bottom it will get more difficult to pour the product out at all.

Price
$10.90 in Hawaii

Size
160ml / 5.40 fl. oz.

Product

The product itself is just a regular emulsion. I have combination sometimes oily but to me when I use this during the day it doesn't seem as moisturizing so sometimes I apply this at least two times. 
It does contain tea tree so in general tea tree isn't moisturizing.

Scent
I'm not sure if it's just me but to me the scent smells like vanilla with tea tree mixed, which isn't so bad. I honestly makes me want to eat this.

Pros:
          - Helps with break outs
Cons: 
          - The way you dispense the product is a bit difficult

Recommendations:
- For people who break out

Overall, repurchase?
>Yes, ever since I started using this I don't break out as often unless two scenarios I don't wash my face, or during my time of month, but during TOM I do break out less.
The point of this product is to help with break outs so it does what it's suppose to do, nothing much I can say.

Good luck and have fun lovelies.

- Ashley

[Review] Tony Moly Egg Pore Nose Pack

Hi my pretties!
We have a special review today. I am going to do a review on a product and it's renewal. Today item is going to be Tony Moly' Egg Pore Nose Pack.

Although the packaging has changed, both the pore strips worked the same. This is actually one of my favorite nose strips as it is super gentle to the skin and removes quite a lot of whiteheads and blackheads. I think I like this even more than the Faceshop's nose strips. 

The renewed version of the pore strips looks exactly the same as the old version. It seems that the only difference is the change in packaging. The picture above shows both the old and new pore strips and how much they removed. You can see the blackheads and whiteheads better with the old pore strips due to the angle I took the picture with but in reality both of them have the same effect and results. As for the pore strips themselves, I feel that the pore strips removed the whiteheads and blackheads quite efficiently. Also when I removed the pore strip from my nose, it was almost painless. There are some pore strips that hurt when you remove it from your nose but this one doesn't.

Both the new package and the old package were sold in sets. At the Tony Moly in Hawaii, they don't currently sell the individual pieces of the new packaging. I don't believe it's possible to get the older packaging anymore - as the new one replaced it. The new packaging set contains seven (7) nose strips for about $6 but occasionally they have sales. I bought this during the Christmas sale where the pore strips were 10% off.

Pros: gentle on the skin, effectively removes blackheads and whiteheads

Cons: results are harder to see

Rating: 9/10

Thanks for tuning in and see you soon my pretties!

- Jessica