Lancome Blanc Expert GN-White Spot Eraser vs Shiseido White Lucent Spot Targeting Serum

What I'm wearing in this video:

Eyes: Benefit Lemon Aid primer, right side color of NARS Sugarland E/S Duo, NARS E/S Single in Strada, right side color of NARS Brousse E/S Duo, Two Faced Lava Liner, Benefit Magic Liquid Liner, Diorshow 360 Mascara

Cheeks/Face: Benefit boxed powder in 10 and Dandelion and Thrrrob

Lips: I was wearing Benefit L/S in Lady's Choice, Benefit Gloss in Life on A List but by the time I made this video most of my lip products long rubbed off and so my lips in this video are pretty much bare.

Nails: NARS Polish in Pokerface

Lancome Blanc Expert GN-White Spot Eraser CANADA

Lancome Blanc Expert GN-White Spot Eraser USA

Ingredients: Aqua / Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isononyl Isononanoate, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopheryl, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Stearic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Stearyl Alcohol, PEG-100 Stearate, Fagus Sylvatica Extract / Fagus Sylvatica Bud Extract,Ethylparaben, Triethanolamine, Ellagic Acid, Polyacrylamide, Salicylic Acid, Poloxamer 184, Xanthan Gum, Benzyl Salicylate, Ginko Biloba / Ginko Biloba Leaf Extract, Linalool, Mentha Peperita / Peppermint Leaf Extract, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Myristyl Alcohol, Rosa Centifolia / Rosa Centifolia Flower Extract, Cetyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Tetrasodium EDTA, Butylphenyl Methylpropuinal, Laureth-7, Glyceryl Stearate, Glycine Soja / Soybean Oil, Glycyrrhiza Glabra / Licorice Root Extract, Parfum / Fragrance.

Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum

Active Ingredients: 

4MSK, M-Tranexamic Acid, and Multi-Target Vitamin C: Target spots at every process of melanin formation for clear, even-toned skin.

-Natural Yomogi Extract: Helps eliminate of pigmentation.

Makeup Forever Concealers: Full Cover, High Definition, 5 Camouflage Cream Palette

Here is a You Tube video review of MUFE concealers that I've tried

Makeup products I'm wearing in this video:

Eyes: Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer, Tokidoki Adieu Cromatico Palette, Smashbox single Eyeshadow in Vanilla, Benefit Magic Liquid Liner, MUFE Aqua Eyes Liner, Anastasia Lifting Mascara

Cheeks: Smashbox O-Glow Intuitive Cheek Color, MAC Powder Blush in Dame

Lips: Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick in #03 Secret

These MUFE concealers can be purchased from Make Up For Ever counters at department stores or from Sephora.com by clicking on individual products links below:


MAKE UP FOR EVER Full Cover Concealer

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Concealer

MAKE UP FOR EVER 5 Camouflage Cream Palette

Sigma Beauty Synthetic Face Kit (Sigma HD Brushes F80, F82, F84) Review

I bought the Synthetic Face Kit from Sigmabeauty.com for $42 USD (plus shipping). This kit included 2 Sigma HD brushes in F80, F82, and F84. These brushes are for cream, liquid, as well as powder products. 

Below is my full review video of Sigma Synthetic Face Kit:

Get the current 10% off coupon code HERE

Boscia Luminizing Black Mask Giveaway Result

The winning entry is:

Oaks said...

I really like the way this mask looks! I cant believe this face mask pulls off so perfectly! Where do you find all these products?I have just recently started watching your videos on youtube and they are wonderful and very informative!
YT:DarkTroubador 

january 15, 2011 11:03 pm 

Congrats to YT ID: DarkTroubador!  

The winner must claim the prize by emailing me shipping information before the end of Feb 2011.

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask

About two years ago I tried the Triple Oxygen Treatment from the famous Bliss Spa in Soho NYC. I remember having to pay around $200 (including taxes & tips) to receive the famous skin reviving treatment (took 75MINS). The results were instant! My skin felt refreshed and energized. My skin prior to the treatment was really dull and tired looking especially since I just got off a flight the day before and haven't had proper sleep. But after the Triple Oxygen Treatment, my skin looked brighter and was glowing: it was as if I was wearing a primer when my skin was in fact bare!

So after being satisfied with the Bliss Triple Oxygen Treatment but at the same time not willing to pay $200 every time I want an energizing facial (and also the fact that there is no Bliss spa where I live!), I kept a look out for other types of "oxygen facials" that are more affordable. I wasn't very successful at finding in-spa oxygen treatments at affordable prices so when I came across the Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask 3.4 oz being sold at Sephora for $52USD/$57CAD, I bought it right away!

I bought the Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask 3.4 oz about a year ago. On average, I used the mask 2-3 times each month and although due to the container of the product being non-transparent I can't be certain  exactly how much product is still left, there is definitely still enough of the product left for me to use it for  another month or more! Which means for less than $60, you can get 36+ treatments!

A frothy mask that releases oxygen into the skin, so your complexion is instantly brighter, fresher, and younger-looking.

Instantly delivers a shot of oxygen, a powerhouse form of vitamin C, time-released antioxidants, and a moisture fix, to spiff up your complexion when it's looking and feeling lackluster.

Inspired by Bliss Spa's most-famous facial, which gives skin the energy it needs for everyday metabolism, collagen synthesis, and detoxifying action.

Let me make one thing clear, I'm in no way implying that the Triple Oxygen Treatment I received at the Bliss Spa is similar in result or quality to the Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask 3.4 oz. Because it is not! C'mon, do you really expect a $60 at home treatment (that takes 5 mins) to compare in quality and result of a professional treatment that takes more than 2 hours using products and machines that costs thousands of dollars??

Before I get into my personal experience with the Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask, what's all the hype about oxygen facials/skin care? Is oxygen actually beneficial for skin? Unfortunately, I don't have the answers as I haven't come across any solid research findings for or against it. However, I did read several articles about oxygen facials. It seems the hype of oxygen facials sky-rocketed when Madonna expressed in a beauty magazine interview that she adores her oxygen facials so much that in fact she ended up having oxygen machines at all her homes! There are scientific researches that clearly explain how oxygen treatments can stimulate new collagen growth and in turn benefit the skin. But as with most scientific researches, everything is just in theory with no actual proven facts. I'm not going get into the actual science and theory behind oxygen treatments but if you like to find out more just Google search "oxygen facial treatments" and you should find tonnes of articles relating to the topic. Just be sure your reading articles or papers written and published by credible and reputable sources!

As for my own experience, I found the Triple Oxygen Treatment from the Bliss Spa very effective (as I already expressed in the beginning of this post). When I purchased Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask 3.4 oz, I was excited to try it out but at the same time I wasn't expecting much. At the most, I was hoping that this product will help my skin feel energized.

I started with a freshly cleansed face and sprayed my face with Evian water spry to make my skin damp (you can wet you face with regular tap water also), and I pumped out some product from the Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask and quickly massaged a generous layer of the product all over my face and neck (avoiding the eye area). The product soon started to foam up. There was no tingly feeling or uncomfortableness at all. By the end of the 5 minutes, most the the frothy foam disappeared. I proceeded to rinse off with water. Without the foam, the product felt like slimy gel on my skin. It took few rinses to get off everything.

The result wasn't extraordinary or remarkable and it definitely didn't compare to the Triple Oxygen Treatment from Bliss spa. However, my skin felt super soft and appeared brightened and clear. Whereas the results of the Triple Oxygen Treatment from the Bliss spa lasted for weeks after, the effect of Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask was short lived; about half a day.

Do I think Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask is worth a try? As the name suggests, this mask does offer instant results. After 5 minutes, your dull skin is revived. And for less than $60 you get 36+ uses. Therefore, as long people have realistic expectations, I don't think many people would be disappointed with this mask.

Do keep in mind that this is a quick fix for dull and tired skin. It will not produce any long term and/or anit-aging results. This would be an ideal product for someone who recently got an at-spa oxygen facial and want to keep up the results or for someone that that travels often therefore suffer from dull skin that jet lag or flying can often give. It a good product for quick reviving of dull skin so if your skin isn't really dull or tired to begin with you probably won't see much difference!

Click here to buy Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask from Sephora

Christian Dior DIORSHOW 360 Mascara

Diorshow 360 is Christian Dior's newest mascara (as of Feb 2011). This is a 3 in 1 (volume, length, curl) mascara with a spinning wand. The mechanics of the spinning wand caught my attention and lead me to dish out $36USD/$39CAD to experience it. I've tried vibrating mascaras like Lancome Oscillation and Maybeline Pulse Perfection but a mascara with a wand that rotates 360 is something new. So is it worth the price?

A volume-boosting, lengthening, and curling mascara with a spinning wand.

This professional mascara mimics a makeup artist's application technique for a perfect 360-degree lash-styling effect. Featuring a patented double-helix brush with extra-smooth fibers and a sculptable wax formula, this mascara features a spinning brush that rotates in both directions to adapt to every need, whether you're left- or right-handed or you want to pump up upper or lower lashes.

Christian Dior Diorshow 360 came in a rectangle silver box big enough to fit at least 3 typical Diorshow mascara boxes. Inside was a mascara tube and applicator wand laying fitted in a black velvety case. It also came with instructions. The applicator handle has a luxurious looking metal band with Dior imprint designs. It took me just couple of seconds to realize that the metal band is the "switch" to turn the spinning wand on (all without reading the instructions!lol)

I bought my Diorshow 360 in 090 Black. I'm not sure if there are other colors, but at the time of my purchase only 090 Black was available. This mascara comes with 10ml-0.33 FL.OZ of product which is about the standard amount for most Dior mascaras. 

The double helix design of the brush can be clearly seen on the wand before it's dipped into the mascara tube. The formula felt very similar to Diorshow Extase; very thick in texture and becomes quite hard when it dries. It does get clumpy after the second coat just as the Diorshow Extase does and because it get hard when it dries, it's not a good idea to apply more coats once it's dry. Good news is that it doesn't get flaky nor does it smudge; the lasting power is pretty decent. The color, however, could have been blacker; it's black but not super black. Diorshow Black Out mascara is blacker.

The mechanics of the spinning wand seems ingenious in theory but the actual usefulness is somewhat questionable. You can turn the metal band on the applicator handle to start the wand spinning. The wand rotates both ways: you can turn up the metal band to make the wand rotate one and and turn it down to make it rotate the opposite to insure that wand it rotating the correct direction for upper and lower lashes. The rotating of both directions can be also useful if you like to apply the mascara from the top (for upper lashes) rather than from the bottom (which is the typical way of applying mascara).

First off, I had a lot of fun using this mascara. I feel like I've never had so much fun using a mascara! However, it took me twice as long to fully apply the mascara when I used the spinning wand..lol Yes it was fun but the spinning wand didn't apply the mascara any better than I could manually. And because it was spinning slowly it took a while to allow all the spinning to reach all of my lashes evenly.

I feel like this mascara with its spinning wand is better suited for my lower lashes. Perhaps it's due to the fact that lower lashes are shorter there for the wand was able to reach all the lower lashes evenly faster. But for upper lashes I had to keep placing the wand at different places and wait (what like like forever) for all the spinning to reach all the lashes...

Perhaps it would be bit better if the spinning wand had different speed (faster speed that is!). If you want to try out Dior DiorShow 360 Mascara Black yourself you can buy it from your local Sephora or Sephora Online or at Christian Dior cosmetics counter.


Click HERE or the picture below to buy this mascara from Sephora.

This was definitely a fun toy to try out but I don't think it's worth dishing out $36USD/$39CAD especially if you are not a big fan of Diorshow Extase mascara formula. If you want to try a Diorshow mascara that doesn't clump try out DiorShow Iconic Mascara ($27USD) or if you want the blackest Diorshow mascara do try the DiorShow Black Out Mascara Kohl Black 099 ($24.50USD) and if you want the effect of Diorshow 360 but without the rotating wand, try DiorShow Extase Mascara Black ($28USD).

Hello Kitty Say Hello Palette in Happy Fun & Super Fun Colors

I'm not a HUGE Hello Kitty fan but I definitely still a fan. I can't deny it when I already own things like Hello Kitty earrings, car perfume, slippers among few other things... Also, I remember I was quite taken by the idea of Hello Kitty makeup brush roll and was on a hunt to find one online last year (although I didn't end up getting it).

And so when I saw that Sephora had a line of Hello Kitty products I couldn't resist buying couple of things. The Sephora Hello Kitty Collection is limited edition and Sephora Beauty Insider members were allowed a sneak peak before its mid January 2011 release. I was actually led to believe that this collection would be exclusive to Sephora online and as someone who isn't a hardcore Hello Kitty fan I wasn't planning to order online, however, when I was at my local Sephora (last week of January 2011) I saw the collection being sold at the store! This collection has variety of beauty products such as makeup brush set, makeup bags, mirrors, perfumes, nail polishes, lipglosses, eyeliners, and etc. The brush set and the eyeshadow and lipgloss palettes caught my attention the most. I decided to buy the palettes and not the brush set because as cute as the little brushes with Hello Kitty container looked, it just didn't look practical. The brushes were travel size and weren't very good quality. The container was so adorable but overall it just didn't seem like it's worth $49 USD/ $64 CDN. 

I did purchase both of the Hello Kitty Say Hello Palettes: Happy Fun Colors and Super Fun Colors. The palette containers are identical except for a slight difference in the opalescent sheen of Hello Kitty's head: Happy fun Colors palette has green-ish sheen and Super fun Colors has purple-ish sheen. The bow on Hello Kitty's ear on both palettes is metallic silver.

 Each of the two palettes has two tiers, with four eyeshadows on the first tier, and four lipglosses on the second tier.

The Happy Fun palette includes:
- Ice Cream (pearl white) eyeshadow (frost)

- Airplane (taupe) eyeshadow (frost)

- Chocolate Milk (brown) eyeshadow (matte)

- Peppermint (sage green) eyeshadow (frost)

- Baby Pink (pink) lip gloss

- Peach Pudding (peach) lip gloss 

- Strawberry Jam (dark pink) lip gloss (no shimmer)

- Springtime (apricot) lip gloss 

The Super Fun palette includes:

- Raindrop (gray) eyeshadow (frosty sheen)

- Sugar Plum (pale lilac) eyeshadow (frosty sheen)

- Sweet Plum (purple) eyeshadow (shimmery)

- Goodnight Dreams (black) eyeshadow (shimmery)

- Sweet Plum (purple) lip gloss

- Pink Confetti (pink) lip gloss

- Strawberry Cookies (brownish pink) lip gloss (no shimmers)

- Snowflake (white) lip gloss 

These Hello Kitty products contain powerful extracts of strawberry, apple, and grape seed to hydrate and soften skin. They are also packed with powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals and improve skin conditions. However, as with most eyeshadows, I don't expect to gain much skin improvements as I'm most likely to wear them on top of primer so my skin won't have much direct contact with the actual eyeshadows. I suppose the lip products will benefit from the good ingredients more so than the eyeshadows...

The eyeshadows are decently pigmented. A bit chalky with some inevitable fall outs, especially the matte finish colors, but overall decent quality. But not so "silky" as Sephora claimed. With added use of eyeshadow primer (I tried with Urban Decay and NARS primers) the pigmentations become more intense with less fall outs along with other benefits of primer.

The lipglosses smell amazing; very fruity. I also appreciated how non-sticky they are but the poor pigmentations, or shall I say the sheer-ness of them, was a definite let down.

Below pictures are swatches of Super Fun Colors palette:

 Below pictures are swatches of Happy Fun Colors palette:

 Eyeshadows were swatched on my bare skin with no primer. Lipglosses were swatched really thick to show the colors and I managed to make the colors show on my skin but realistically, on my lips, all the colors appeared similar. I like the glosses because they are moisturizing and smell nice. They made my lips look really shiny, especially the ones with shimmers but with no obvious color.

So are these Say Hello Palettes more of collectors items or actual useable makeup products? Half and half in my opinion; at $35 USD/ $46 CDN per palette you get four mediocre quality eyeshadows that supposedly have skin beneficial ingredients which doesn't really matter since you would most likely use primer for better color pay off and longer lasting power therefore won't get much direct contact of the product on your skin... and you get 4 glosses which may appear pretty in the compact but when you apply them on your lips all four colors appear the same (except one of the color has no shimmers). Yes the glosses smell good and are moisturizing on the lips but... Ok, so far I would give these palettes 3 out of 5 stars... and with the added cuteness of the packaging I would give em 4 out of 5 stars. So, collectors item? Yes! But the actual products inside are alright too ;)

If i had to choose one palette I would definitely go with Happy Fun Colors palette; these eyeshadow colors are more suitable for everyday wear and I know I would get much more use out of this one than the Super Fun Colors palette.

Click this link to get your Hello Kitty Say Hello Palette - Happy Fun Happy Fun or to get Hello Kitty Say Hello Palette - Super Fun Super Fun.

Some stuff I want to get from this collection are: