L'OREAL true match roller foundation Review & Giveaway!

L'OREAL

PARIS

true match Roller

Perfecting Roll On Makeup

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY!

Here is a review of my latest foundation purchase which is L'OREAL true match roller foundation. And I'm giving away a brand new L'OREAL true match roller foundation in warm 5-6 sand beige (which I think is suitable for some who wears NC 37? or maybe anyone NC 35 or darker, it's warm tone so I thnk it would be suitable for olive or yellow skintone but to be sure I would suggest dropping by a drugstore to make sure that "warm5-6 sand beige" suits you. I wear MAC NC 30-35 and "warm 4 natural beige" in this L'oreal true match roller foundation suits me well)

REVIEW:

I bought this foundation because of the funny looking applicator. I love trying new and different products so when I saw this cream foundation with a roller applicator that kind of looking like a mini version of those sponge roller for paints, I couldn't pass up on trying it out! I bought warm4 and warm4-5; I tried warm4 and the color suits me well so I'm giving away the warm4-5 which is slightly darker than warm4. L'oreal offers different undertone and several different choicces within the differnt undertones. I picked warm since I'm Korean therefore yellow/olive undertone.

The packaging is very poor; it's made with very cheap and light plastic. There is no mirror even though it's in a compact form and the packaging feels very flimsy overall. There are holes at the bottom of the compact where the applicator is kept so it will prevent bacteria from forming which is always a good bonus when you're buying a compact:)

The applicator is the most unique part of this product. To be honest I really didn't have high hopes for this applicator. C'mon, a flat sponge roller for your face?lol How will it possibly get into all the curves of your face? But to my surprise, the sponge roller applicator is what I like the most about this product! It's a perfect way to apply your foundation without getting any foundation on your hands. The sponge roller feels very soft and like a mini massage when you roll it around your face. It's small enough that you can roll it righ up and underneath your eyes. It is a little difficult to get to the sides of your upper nose, inner side your the eyes. You can easily build up the coverage by going over the same place with the roller. And the roller applicator really helps to prevent using too much foundation because it only picks up a certain amount of foundation when you roll it on th product. Overall it's a very fun and unique way to apply foundation once you get the hang of it =D

As for the quality of the actual foundation product, it gives a soft and matt finish. Coverage is pretty decent and it's buildable. It's an oil free and matt product so I didn't feel the need for finishing powder, especially during winter when my skin gets dry and I like to wear cream blush (cream blush on powder finished face feels funny). The lasting power is pretty decent, it's defnitely better than some of the liquid foundations out there. One bad thing is the scent; it smells like chemical drenched rubber..lol. Meh...it's pretty hard to find a nice smelling foundation so the smell doesn't bother me too much easpecially since it can't really be smelled once it's on your face!

NOW ON TO MY GIVEAWAY...

1. You must be a follower of my blog.

2. comment on this posting and let me know why you want it (it can be as simple as "i want to try it" or "it's my color" etc...)

3. winner will be announced by Jan 31 2010.

FTC disclaimer: I purchased both foundation products and I am not being compensated for this review. I am not associated or affiliated with L'Oreal and my views and opinions expressed in this post/blog are my own.

My newest nail polish color additions:
SEPHORA by O.P.I.

How Cute is That
BYOBoy






After being disappointed by yet another MAC nail polish color pay off, I went into Sephora to check out their OPI collection in hopes to find a similar color as the MAC Coconut Ice from the MAC In Lillyland collection. Coconut Ice is such a beautiful color; I would would have definitely bought it if it wasn't so difficult to get the color to apply evenly. The closest color I can find to MAC's Coconut Ice is Sephora OPI's How Cute is That which is just as pretty as the MAC one except that it's not a satin finish. How Cute is That has very fine shimmers, so fine that it's more of a sheen than shimmers. This sheen isn't so visible in the pictures
but definitely apparant on the nail. I think I would have preferred this color to be a satin finish like MAC's Coconut Ice but Sephora OPI's How Cute is That still applys much better.








The second Sephora OPI color I found was so random but it actually applys much better than How Cute is That. BYOBoy is satin finish. It's creamy and thick and applys with ease. You only need one coat to get the same color as you see in the bottle! Now, that's what I call a great nail polish! Applys easily and evenly, one coat needed, beautiful color in the bottle as well as on the nail; what more can you ask for in a nail polish? =D I would be wearing BYOBoy right now if it wasn't that I'm trying to give my nails some break from nail polishes <3

MAC In Lillyland
Lipgelee in shift to pink

This lipgelee is absolutely gorgeous!

There are so much shimmers and glitters in this lipgelee! If you are not a fan of shimmers or glitters or anything sparkly, then this is definitely not for you! The shimmers and glitters in this lipgelee is very finely milled; it's almost like the entire lipgelee consists of these shimmers. It feels very creamy and thick when applied yet it's not sticky. There are four more colors of lipgelees in MAC In Lillyland collection but I feel shift to pink is the prettiest color; it's a very shimmery bright fuschia like pink. I think that the extent of shimmers in this lipgelee is a little too much for daytime but definitely a gorgeous color to wear alone or on top of lipstick (or jus on the center of your lips on top of lipstick) for a night out!

My newly started MAC palette!

My newly started MAC palette!

When I turned 18 I started buying MAC eyeshadows in pan forms to collect them in a palette. I just had one palette because I tend to buy special edition eyeshadow pots or quads from MAC which don't come in pan forms... I finished filling up that palette within a year of starting one and had that same palette for almost 10 years! Eww..haha..I know, I know, I should have replaced it long ago but I did spray the eyshadow with alcohol spray once in a while and since they are powder eyeshadows I really didn't "feel" the need to replace them. 


I saw on a T.V. show that ways to tell if powder eyeshadows are no good is if the colors aren't pigmented as they once used to be and/or if they don't apply or blend as they used to, and that powder eyeshadows are typically good for 2-3 years with regular use. As for bacteria build up, spraying alcohol spray is a good way to kill bacteria and keep them from forming. And even if a cosmetic product forms bacteria, if you stop using it and leave it alone for several days, the bacteria will die out by itself because bacteria requires a living host to survive and grow. Same theory applies to other cosmetic products like mascara; if you don't use it for over a week, whatever bacteria it may had would die out=)

Anyhow....I lost my precious MAC palette! Not to bacteria but rather due to my clumziness! I completely forgot that I brought my palette on my trip to Vegas last year. I got so sick on that trip that I didn't have much chance to wear makeup and I only realized that I didn't have my palette when I got back home!! I'm thinking that it must have been left behind while I changed hotel suites but other than that I don't have a clue as to what happened to it :(

I wasn't all that upset when I realized that I lost my MAC palette...oh no, I'm lying...lol...I was upset!lol But not as much as I thought I would be...mostly because I've been meaning to start a new palette and also I knew I should replace some of the shadows that I've had for way too long.

So in November 2009, I started a new palette with some familiar colors such as expensive pink, blanc type, humid, sumptuous olive, beauty marked, and embarked (the colored that are in the palette in the picture above). And yesterday while I was at MAC to check out the MAC In Lillyland Lipgelees, I bought few more familiar colors: satellite dreams, smut, shimmermoss (the center three shadows that are still in packages). And I also added couple of colors that I've been wanting to get for years: creme de violet and electric eel. These two colors are so pigmented and gorgeous! I can't wait to wear them! Especially electric eel; I saw a really pretty bright blue shadow look, it looked like just a wash of one bright blue color across the 2/3rd of the eyelids. Eversince I saw that look I've been wanting to get a bright blue shadow with no shimmers and MAC's electric eel seems perfect! If anyone knows of another beautiful bright blue eyeshadow (pressed powder eyeshadow) that has no shimmers or glitters but still feels creamy and blends well that has great pigmentation pay off, please do let me know =D

MAC In Lillyland!

this is a very"quiet" and neutral eyeshadow look I created with the MAC In Lillyland Pearlmatt eyeshadow...

MAC In Lillyland

(Pearlmatt Face Powder, Pearlmatt Eye Shadow, Florida Cremeblend Blush)

Pearlmatt Face Powder

This product (as well as the below pearlmatt eyeshadow) has flower pattern engravings that's just too adorable to pass up! Also, the idea of "pearl-matt" also caught my attention; the finish of the powder is neither matt or pearl but something in between. It's perfect to wear daytime, to work/school, or just whenever you don't want to be all shimmery or glittery but also don't want the pastey-ness of matt finish. This powder has four different colors which you can use separately (light brown-as bronzer or for contouring, peach-as blush or bronzer, light yellow-as highlight, pink-as blush) or you can mix all four colors and use it to warm up your face (for lighter skin tones, the mix of all four can still produce a nice blush color). The mix of the light yellow and the pink makes a really pretty light pink blush and the mix of the peach and the pink makes a lovely blush color also. The light brown, which is the largest of the four colors, is the most pearly but not still not as "pearly" as an actual pearl finish products. It'll be a shame when the flower pattern disappears with use but the uniquenesss of the "pearl-matt" finish will probably make this one of my MAC faves!

Pearlmatt Eye Shadow

The colors of this eyeshaow is not as pigmented as I would have liked them to be (the swatches on my hand are 3-4 swipes of each color) but with a good base underneath, colors do show up as seen in the case. Just as I said above about the Pearlmatt face powder, I really like the idae of "pearl-matt" finish, even more so for the eyeshadow. Some of MAC's matt finish eyeshadows are hard and paste-y which makes it difficult to blend. I don't know if it's the "pearl" part of this eyeshadow, but it does blend pretty decently and feels soft (almost creamy) to touch. The finish doesn't have enough pearl to be frosty/pearly but it has enough of it to give a slight sheen to the otherwise matt finish.

Cremeblend Blush in Florida

When I first saw this blush I didn't think I would end up buying it but after I tried swatching/blending it, I completely fell in love with this color! As can be seen by the above swatches, you can sheer out this blush to make it as sheer/light as you want or build up the color to produce the same color as seen in the case. I heared people comparing this color to MAC Dollymix blush; I don't own the dollymix blush but if it looks like this one, then it must be gorgeous! (makes me wish I HAD the Dollymix blush!lol) This product looks beautiful as blush but also as lip color:) You can match this it with a lighter color lipgloss on top to tone down the pink and make it more suitable for daytime or pair it with a clear lipgloss and enjoy the full potential of this pretty hot pink!! I used this product as eyeshadow base (just around the outer corner) for the eyeshadow look shown on the top of this post:)

I passed on the Lipgelees but after seeing one of the pink (the lavender-ish pink one) lipgelee on my friend I'm very tempted to drop by MAC and buy at least one lipgelee! Hmm...should I?? I kind of wanted to hold on buying anymore lip colors from MAC until the spring color collections...

MAC shadesticks from the Warm & Cozy Color Collection:

I absolultely hate them! i tried and tried and tried to like them...I really wanted to like them...like at least one of em...but no, I hate all of them:( it's super hard to blend on eyelids..it's a little easier to blend on my hand :P but it dries up way too fast and gets all clumped up before I have the chance to blend it out. NYX Jumbo eyeshadow sticks are so much better and a lot cheaper! These MAC shadesticks costs $20 cdn per stick! I ended up returning all four... What a disappointment!!

HENREY BENDEL

How is it possible that I've missed Henry Bendel in all these years of shopping!? I first discovered (thanks to my good friend and best shopping partner ever, Rita) Henrey Bendel while shopping in Troy, MI during Black Friday in 2009; that's where I got the set of three rings with colorful crystals (below).

But the best of Henry Bendel is definitely at its home location in New York city! I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked to at the Henry Bendel location on the 5th Ave.; just enough time to grab couple of bracelets (which are very very similar in appearance, quality, and price to Coach ones) and a very sparkly hair claw clip!

I didn't get to check out the entire store, but from what I've seen there are enough for me to spend at least a good hour or two. There are various brand name cosmetics including MAC and other more pricier brands but what interests me the most are their collection of unique accessories! Rings, necklaces, bracelets, scarves etc... I saw a lot of pretty and unique looking hair accessories. Almost got a gold leather flower headband but it was one of those things I would buy and never end up wearing it out :P Items at Henry Bendel are definitely of fine quality and appealing to fashion statement seekers. However, as with most other things, with fine quality comes the "fine" price tag..lol. Well, the prices aren't that bad, especially compared to some of the other stores on 5th Ave.! Price point is pretty similar to Coach from what I can tell.

FTC disclaimer: all items mentioned in this blog were purchased by me, unless otherwise stated within the posting. All views and opinions expressed in my blog posts are my own and are not in any way influenced by products companies or producers as I am not associated or affliated with them.