Pale Products and More

This review is a bit old, as I reviewed it when I first got it to post on r/Asianbeauty and haven't touched it since. I saw swatches of this online and felt I could have potentially found a match! Alas, that's what I always think...

The VDL Metal cushion retails for 29.08 on ibuybeauty.com, which I wasn't too keen on shelling out for a product I wasn't sure about. Buttttttt I did it anyways.

VDL on top vs Missha Perfect Cover no.13

I wore it for five hour without setting, priming, or spraying anything.

Here's a review on an item from my Jolse haul! When I heard about the Holika Holika collab with Gudetama, I knew I had to have at least one of the products. I really wanted a cushion but they didn't even have it in no.13, so alas I stuck with a blush and a peeling mask.

This blush retails for 13.48 on Jolse and comes in two shades, Plum Pink and Grapefruit Jelly; the latter being a coral/orangey blush, I opted for the pink one. I was under the impression this was a cushion blush (not quite sure why, to be honest, probably because of the cushion looking packaging) but its not, its a cream blush that comes with a puff to apply it.

The compact feels extremely light and cheap, if I'm being honest. But it is adorable soooo

The color is a nice cool toned pink, although it doesn't seem to be very plummy, which I was hoping for.

top is applied with the puff, bottom is a finger swatch

The wear time is decent, it seems to have faded a bit after only a couple of hours, but the color is still visible; and I do apply only a slight amount of blush anyways.

It didn't apply very evenly, I had to do a couple layers to get it all the same depth. But the color is very flattering on my skin.

Its hard to keep the puff in the compact without it getting lots of the blush on it, therefore its hard to only apply a little amount onto your cheeks, which is frustrating.

Overall I'd give this a 5/10. Its a decent blush. I really only bought it for packaging so I'm happy with the results. If it lasted longer, was easier to apply, and applied more evenly, it would have gotten a higher score.

Hope this was helpful :-)

EDIT: after continued use of this product my opinion has changed. I now keep the plastic that came with it in between the puff and product which keeps too much product from getting onto the applicator. I dont find the product applies patchy anymore, and I actually use this daily. My new rating is 9/10.

So I hauled from Jolse.com, my favorite online store to purchase Asian Beauty products from. Thought I'd share what products I hauled and my initial thoughts on them! (its a mix of makeup and skincare!) And fyi, no this isn't sponsored and no the products were not sent to me!

Starting with skincare, the first product I got is the Corsx Low pH Goodmorning Cleanser. It smells of tea tree and has a light consistency that foams up really nicely.

The Face Shop Herb Day 365 Cleansing Cream is up next. It has a fruity scent and a slick oily creamy feel to it.

Holika Holika gudetama Lazy&easy smooth egg skin peeling gel is the next product I got. As soon as I found out Holika Holika was collabing with Gudetama, I had to have this. It has a light fresh scent and a thin consistency.

Then I got the It's Skin Green Tea Watery Serum, since I love the cleansing oil so much! It has the same pleasant green tea smell and a watery consistency.

Next is the Holika Holika gudetama Lazy&easy Jelly Dough Blusher in plum pink. Again, Gudetama, how could I say no. The color isn't excatly a plum pink, more of a cool toned pink, pink.

The last product I got is the The Face Shop Flash Pink Powder Beam. This product seems to be disappointing as it seems more glittery than glowy, but I'll still use it! When I applied it, it was a beautiful pink glow, not shimmery at all!

Reviews to follow soon!

Today I'll be reviewing a foundation that I have a love hate relationship with. The Kat Von D Lock It Tattoo foundation in 42 is a cool toned fair, full coverage foundation that is ever so slightly too dark on me.

This foundation retails for $35 at Sephora. Not crazy pricey but definitely not cheap either.

I wore this foundation for 9 hours with the Saem Pore Porefecting primer underneath and the Loreal setting spray on top, since I wear this combo almost every day.

The coverage is very heavy and full, definitely giving you the "I'm wearing makeup" look, just like the Remarcable foundation. This too looks a bit cakey, but not if you moisturize a ton beforehand. It settles into my fine lines and around my nose, sadly. It has a matte finish, which I'm not a fan of.




After 3 hours, it looks okay. It has oxidized a bit to be darker than my skintone (which it already was to begin with). So the wear time isn't anything great, but its not horrible.

Overall I would give it a 5/10 because it is a very light shade which almost matches and does give good coverage. But its so cakey and unnatural looking I don't find myself reaching for it often.

Apieu on top with Missha Perfect cover no.13 for comparison

Today's FOTD is focused on "wild" brows and subtle white eyeliner! Its a very simple yet slightly ~alternative~ look.

Products used:

• Nyx Green primer
• Kat Von D 42
• Maybeline contour palette contour and blush
• Etude House secret beam 
• Nyx HD Primer
• elf long lasting lustrious eyeshadow in gala 
• Lorac pro 2 coca
• Maybelline clump crusher
• Nyx milk
• elf brow duo in dark
• Nyx brow mascara black
• Nyx lip primer
• Bareminerals moxie buttercream in moody berry

Now GRWM's are usually in video form, but I wanted to do one for this blog anyways! I'll be taking you step by step through me getting ready and doing a purple halo eye!

Here's me barefaced, moisturized and sunscreened up and ready to go!

First I rub Nyx green primer all over my face then I apply my concealer (Nyx HD Lavender).


Alllll blended out and ready to go


Brows on!


Add some blush and highlight


First I applied Nightcrawler from the Kat Von D Innerstellar palette to my crease, then Lunacy onto the inner and outer corners


Then I added Astrological onto the middle to create the halo and Lunacy under the eye and mascara


And lastly I added Kat Von D's Studded Kiss lipstick in Coven, I was feeling very purple today, lmao.

And tada I'm all done and ready to go to work (minus the lipstick, I think Panera would kill me if I showed up with that lipstick).

So I've been lusting after the Marc Jacobs Remarcable foundation ever since I saw Thataylaa review it. Finally got to a Sephora that has Marc Jacobs (mine doesnt, its only a JCP one :-( ) and got a sample of it inthe shade 10, the lightest shade.

side without foundation

side with foundation

It retails for $55, a hefty price tag for foundation, so I was hoping it would perform as highly. Unfortunately, I don't find that it does. It is full coverage, therefore you definitely get the "I'm wearing foundation" look. But not only that, it applies rather cakey, and settles into fine lines like my smile lines. My nose is currently very dry due to BHA, and this foundation does nothing for it except emphasize it even more.

awkward picture, lmao

As far as the color, I'm also disappointed in that. Its a cool toned foundation, which I thought was good, but its one of those cool toned foundations that just looks orange. Its very hard to tell in pictures, but it slightly too orange and dark for my skintone, which was extremely disappointing considering it was too pale on Thataylaa, so I had high hopes. That being said this is still a very pale foundation and will probably work for a lot of pale people.

you can see how it appears very textured around my nose

After only 2 hours I was looking pretty janky




You can see where my glasses touch my cheeks the foundation is being rubbed away and the overall cakiness. So wear time doesn't seem to be too good.

Overall I'd give this foundation a 3/10. It was a huge let down for me and I couldn't image ever paying the full price for this baby. But I do encourage you to get a sample if you can, to see how it works for your skin!

So today I'm going to be sharing my.....face, lmao. I did a really simple look today after trying two other looks that came out terrible; don't you hate those days ????? I'm not completely happy with the wings, as my eye shape doesn't allow for very even wings, but hey I tried! I know this isn't a super impressive look, but I like to document most of my looks to see my progression! I plan on doing more FOTDs to showcase my looks, which are usually more elaborate than this!

Products used:

• Skin79 Green bb cream
• Maybelline Master Contour pallete contour and blush
• essence snowflake eye shadow as highlight
• Anastasia dipbrow in ash brown
• Physician's Formula Eye Booster ultra black
• Nyx Hot Singles eye shadow in STFU 
• Benefits They're Real
• Bareminerals Moxie Buttercream Lipgloss in Sassy Sorbet

So like I've said before, and you know if you're pale, products that work on the majority of people can sometimes looks jarring on our skin. I've put together a little HG list of products I think are a must have for someone with skin like mine!

First is definitely the Nyx HD Concealer in Lavender. I've never been able to find a concealer light enough for my under eye area, be it drugstore or high end. That is, until I picked up this baby on a whim. I was like, what could I possibly use lavender for??? but then it hit me. I use this almost every day to conceal my under eye area, down the bridge of my nose, middle of my forehead, and my chin. My only problem with it is that if I set it with powder it becomes cakey, but otherwise its perfect.

Next is Physician's Formula Translucent Color Correcting setting powder. I don't use this as often anymore, since I don't like to set my foundations that often, but when I did I used this every day. Something about color correcting translucent powders when you swirl them together, they make the most beautiful almost white shade. I've always had a problem finding powders that have a slight amount of color but aren't too dark, and tada finally found it.

I've mentioned this next product before in my Nyx Lip Products post, but I think its worth mentioning again. The Nyx Lingerie Lippie in Corset is my favorite non pink non beige non anything nude. Its a very cool toned nude that almost gives you the slightly dead look, but in a good way. I've never found a true nude that wasn't too pink or too orange or what have you until this product came along.

Now we have a three in one product that is perfect for pale skin! Its the Maybelline Facestudio Master Contour palette in light to medium. The contour shade is beautiful, it looks a little warm in the pan but perfectly cool on the face (this coming from someone who couldn't use Nyx Taupe to contour as it came out straight up orange on me). The blush is also to die for. Its a lovely neutral soft pink color that gives you a perfect flush without being like HEY I'M WEARING BLUSH. And the highlight, which I thought I wasn't going to like, has become a staple for me. I reviewed it in my Highlighter post. This whole palette is so usable and I wear it literally every day for work.

Now another lip product is Lorac Alter Ego Lipstick in Duchess. On their website they call it a rosy nude, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it a nude, and if I did its a very pigmented nude. Still, its very neutral and can go very nicely with soft eyes and a light face, without overpowering it and drawing too much attention to the lips; which is something a lot of  "nudes" do on pale skin.

And those are my pale HG products!

Today I'm going to be reviewing the Lime Crime Venus palette. It was gifted to me by a friend though I don't boycott the brand, since I believe there is no ethical consumption under capitalism anyways.

So I decided to branch out a bit from skincare and makeup and include some fashion on this blog as well! So today will be my first ootd.

• Shirt: Forever 21
• Skirt: some storenvy shop
• socks: Forever 21
• Shoes: Nike
• Purse: Urban Outfitters 
• Choker: some etsy shop
• Earrings: Claires

I want to talk about skincare for a bit. I love love love skincare. I wasn't really into it until about a year ago, but now, I'm into it. And I think everyone should be! Personally, I'm into Korean and Japanese skincare, but to each their own. I'm going to give you a run down of each product I use with a short description/review of it!

AM Routine

1. Toner: In the morning I don't cleanse, as it tends to dry my skin. Instead I use a toner and wipe away any dirt and oil from the night. For this I currently use The Face Shop Blanclouding Toner. I pump some foam out onto a cotton pad and wipe away! I find this product effectively removes all dirt and oil, I feel refreshed after I use it.
2. Hydrating Toner: This toner step is used as a first layer of hydration. I use Hada Labo Gokujyun Toner, which I find provides a perfect light amount of moisture. It doesn't leave me feel sticky or anything like that, either.
3. Moisturizer: For this second step of moisture, I switch between The Face Shop Chia Seed lotion and Innisfree Green Tea lotion. I like the chia seed one better, as I think it provides better moisture, but I do like the consistency of the green tea one better, as its more milky. 
4. Sunscreen: This step is SO IMPORTANT. We don't think about it, but we get sun exposure nearly every day, and we need to be protecting ourselves! I use Biore Watery Essence for this. I love this sunscreen. It Japanese, so cosmetically its so much nicer than Western sunscreens. It has a milky consistency that sinks into the skin after the twenty minutes youre supposed to wait before applying anything else. It also smells really nice!

Today I'm going to be talking about my absolute favorite makeup product: highlighters. I'll admit I have a slight obsession with highlighting, I just love to glow. I have 8 highlighter's I'm going to be swatching and reviewing today.

Loreal True Match Ice Physician's Formula Glow Pearls Essence Snowflake Benefit High Beam Etude House Secret Beam Maybelline Contour palette Bh Cosmetics Nyx Illuminating Base

I'll start with Loreal True Match Highlighter in Ice. I like this highlighter but its only okay. Its a tad too sparkly for my taste. It wears well though, lasts all day and goes on smooth. It does stick to any dry patches or bumps though.

Physician's Formula Glow Pearls in Translucent are a nice highlight. They can be built up to pretty intense, and last throughout the day.

Essence Snowflake eye shadow technically isn't a highlighter but I use it as one. It gives a crazy intense highlight which I love, and lasts throughout the day. It doesn't really accentuate and dry patches or anything either.

Benefit High beam is a nice liquid highlighter. It can be subtle or intense, but if you really want intense its best paired under a powder. It wears off throughout the day as well, and accentuates pores.

Etude house Secret Beam is one of my faves. It suer super intense and lasts all day.

Maybelline Contour palette highlight impressed me. Its a bit golden, which I don't normally like, but it shows up beautifully on my skin. It shines really brightly and lasts throughout the day, whats not to love.

The white shade from the Bh Cosmetics Neutral Eyes palette was a fluke. I bought the palette on a whim at Marshalls, and since then this eye shadow has been one of my favorite really intense highlighters. It does accentuate pores though.

Nyx Illuminating Base isn't techinically a highlighter though I do use it as a base for powders sometimes. It accentuates pores if you don't use a pore filling primer, and isn't much when worn alone.

And that's all I've got to talk about for highlighters!

Today the spotlight is on Too Faced,specifically the Melted Lipsticks since those are the only lip products I own by them.

Melted Fig Melted Chihuahua Melted Berry Melted Metallic Peony Melted Metallic Macaron

My absolute favorite Melted is Fig. Its a purpley rose shade and its to die for. It will dry down matte if you apply a thin layer and blot, but will also remain satin if you don't; I love the versatility.

Melted Chihuahua is next. Its a peachy brown shade with a satin finish. It may dry matte throughout the day.

Melted Berry is a red toned berry shade with a bit of a glossy finish. It wears well through the the day and lasts a long time.

Then I have the Melted Metallics. First up is Metallic Melted Peony, which is a cool toned pink with a gold shine to it. It doesn't wear as well as the regular melteds do. And it doesn't last as long.

Melted Metallic Macaron is the next shade. Its a warm bright pink which isn't so flattering on my skin tone. It also doesn't wear as well as the normal ones.

And that's its for my Too Faced lipsticks!

So blushes, a product that can be difficult when you're pale or dark, or hell, even in between. I'e built up a very modest and small collection of blushes in my time, so I wanted to share! All of these blushes look beautiful on my NW05 skin.

Urban Decay Bittersweet is a cool purple blush that shows up a bit darker than lavender when blended out. It wears for the 8 hours its claims, and only fades a tiny bit!

Hikari Tango is a beautiful pinky orange blush, It looks intimidating in pan, not gonna lie. I'm not a fan of anything orange on my face other than eye shadow, but I gave this a try and boy am I glad I did. It blends out more pink than orange on my skin and leaves a beautiful glow. It does fade some throughout the day,

Benefit Benetint is a great liquid blush. You have to blend fast, as it dries quick! Its a nice even red tone that leaves a really pretty flush. It does not fade on me.

Benefit Posietint is also a nice liquid blush. Again, blend fast! Its a really nice bright pink shade that also does not fade.

Benefit Coralista was the first "Big Girl" blush I ever got. I then abandoned makeup for a few years and when I pulled it back out again I was surprised the Sephora consultant had given me a coral blush what with my skin tone. But I tried it and lo and behold, it looks great! Gives the most natural blushed look out of all the blushes I own. Lasts really well as well.

Lorac Infared is my honorary mention of the post. This blush is PIGMENTED. So much in fact that its almost hard to use on my skin tone. But if I just ta the verrrrrry tip of my brush into it, I can make it work. Its a really nice. It definitely lasts allllll day.

So I decided to start a little series titled My Collection. In this series I'll be categorizing my collection by brand and product type, and reviewing specific products of that specific brand. First up is one of my favorite brands: Nyx! Swatches included :-)

Sydney Stockholm Cannes Dubai

First I'll be starting with lip products. Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Sydney is a cool toned pink lip cream that dried to a semi matte to completely matte finish. It applies very evenly and dries down completely matte if a thin layer is applied, semi matte if a thicker layer is applied. Its a perfect Spring time pink!

Moving onto another SMLC we have the color Stockholm. This is a peachy beige pink. Its not all that flattering on my cool, pale skin, to be honest, but sometimes I can make it work. It applies like a dream and dries down completely matte if applied in a thin layer, like Sydney.

Still in the SMLCs there's Cannes, an orangey mauve. Again, not the most flattering on me, but doable. It applies the same as the other too.

The final SMCL is Dubai, a medium cool brown. It applies slightly patchy, but other than that its the same as the others.

Embellishment Corset Beauty Mark Honeymoon

Now moving to the Lip Lingeries. The first one I have is Embellishment. It is a cool brownish purple with a matte finish, as they all are matte. Its a lovely tone that looks flattering on such a wide range of skin colors. It can be a little drying and emphasize lines on the lips, and its prone to getting the inner lip line if you don't stay extremely hydrated, and applies slightly patchy, but only very slightly. Overall I really do like it.

Then there's Corset, my perfect, corpsey looking nude. Finding a nude for pale skin can be a struggle, but I sure found it in this shade. It is the same as Embellishment as far as wear and looks. It does not apply patchy.

Next is Beauty Mark, which is a deep chocolately brown that applies slightly patchy. Wear time is good, but again, be aware of the dreaded inner line on the lips.

Last is Honeymoon which is a grey beigey brown. I really am a fan of this color, however a lot of people aren't when I wear it as it has a weird almost greenish tone to it? It looks kinda swampy and I dig it. Inner line will happen with this one as well.

Risque Cold Hearted Wrath

Now we have the Wicked Lippies. These lipsticks do not dry matte, but have a metallic finish that will smudge very easily. First is Riqsue which is a metallic greeny teal color. I used to have my hair that color and would get tons compliments on matching when I wore it. Its a really cool color but wear time isn't great.

Then theres Cold Hearted, a metallic grey with silver. It wears the same as Risque.

Lastly there's Wrath, the perfect autumn coppery orange. I LOVE this shade in autumn I just feel like it suits the weather so well. It wears the same as the other two, but smudges less than Risque.

Minx Honeymoon

Now we have the Matte Lipsticks, a personal favorite of mine. First up is Minx, a grey taupe. Its a very dirty shade which I absolutely love. Dries matte but not smudge or kiss proof, wear time is unusually long for a bullet lipstick.

And then Honeymoon which is a mauvey pink. It wears the same as Minx.

Sway Soft Spoken Stone Fox Tea And Cookies

Then we have the Suede Liquid Lippies, another favorite of mine. The color payoff is great! Sway is a really pretty lavender color. Theses don't dry completely matte, but that way they aren't drying at all.

Soft Spoken is a reddish mauve. I love love love this shade. They all wear the same.

Stone Fox is A grey blue which smudges super easily. Its also hard to apply with crisp lines.

Tea and Cookies is a tea rose pink, appropriately. Its a perfect Spring time pink lip color.

Peaches and Cream Meringue Strawberry Parfait Sugar Cookie

Finally we have the Butter Glosses. These are the second best glosses I've tried, only next in line because the Bareminerals Marvelous Moxie Buttercreams take the cake. Peaches and Cream is a pinky coral. It applies semi opaue and lasts for a long time.

Meringue is a pink lilac that wears and applies the same as Peaches and Cream.

Strawberry parfait is a bright pink that also applies and wears the same.

And Sugar Cookie is a bright fuchsia that wears and applies the same.


And whew, thats it for Nyx lip products! Hope this was helpful to someone and you guys enjoyed it :-)

So all month and the month before that) I've basically been collecting my garbage to share with you guys. If you don't know what I mean by empties, its basically where I review any products I emptied out and finished during the month! I have some makeup items and some skincare to review as well.

First up is the It's Skin Green Tea Calming Cleansing Oil. This oil is my HG for the first cleasning to remove makeup. It has a lightweight feel and doesn't leave any oily residue once rinsed off.

Then we have the L'oreal Infallible Makeup Extender Spray. Another HG, this setting spray sets makeup with such a lovely dewy finish, that I can use up any matte foundations I have without looking so..flat. I'm not sure if it truly extends the life of makeup though.

I had two mini bottles of the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray which I liked, but asn' crazy over. They didn't seem to do any better of a job than the L'oreal spray, so I'll keep on saving money on setting spray.

And yet another setting spray, the Nyx Matte Finish Long Lasting setting spray. I was a fan of this back when I liked matte skin, but I definitely wouldn't repurchase. It does give a nice matte finish and keep your makeup lasting through the day though.

I had a mini tube of Urban Decay Primer Potion which I realy do like, I'm just not a fan of the price tag. I will not be repurchasing this honestly because I don't think its that great for the price. I much prefer the Nyx HD primer. It does prevent shadow from creasing throughout the whole day though.

The last empty I have is Crest 3D White toothpaste. This is my HG toothpaste that I always use. The flavor is great, but I'm not sure about any actual whitening effects. Regardless I'll continue to repurchase due to great flavor.

And that's all!Hope you enjoyed this empties there will be more to come!

If you're pale you know the struggle of finding a foundation light enough. I've tried my fair share of foundations and bb creams, so today I'll be sharing them with you!