Facial Cleansers + Foundation

These days I hardly wear any makeup. And even if I do, it's really only foundation. I used to do a lot of heavy eye make-up back in the day because my eyes are so damn small -__- but these days, I've been letting my eyes breathe a little bit. I think it's paid off to be honest! :D I don't have the puff under my eyes anymore and that's probably because I'm not rubbing the shit out of my eyes every night taking off eye makeup. Nowadays, the only time I really put my FACE on is if I'm going to an event of some sort that differs from the ordinary. Instead, I've been directing all my attention to skin care!

I'm a total sucker for packaging by the way. I guess if you know any graphic designer friends, they'd probably tell you the same thing. We tend to buy things just because of the packaging and that's just the damn truth. But beyond packaging, I really wanted products that would work well for my unbelievably stubborn skin. And by "stubborn" I mean like, my skin is oily, dry, and sometimes combination products don't do anything for me! It's weird but combination skin products tend to either dry out my skin too much or they end up being oily anyway. What's up with that? Anyone else born with this terrible skin issue?
I think that's what got me into researching skin care products. I've been looking for ingredients more than anything, trying to see if certain ingredients are *active in making your skin oily or dry or whateverthefuq.

Anyway, I bought a couple of new products that I would like to share!

(From left to right) Rimmel primer | Rimmel liquid foundation | Aveeno skin brightening scrub | Neutrogena make-up remover and cleanser | Biore Marshmellow foam cleanser

So this is basically a primer for your foundation. It's supposed to go on smooth before you put on your foundation so that your pores are less visible and leave your foundation on your face longer.

When you squeeze the contents out, it looks a bit orangey but it actually blends into your skin so don't need to worry about. And like most primers, the feel is kinda oily and thick, but it's intended for small usage. I just dab a little bit on my fore finger and start rubbing it around areas that get red and my cheeks since my pores are visible.

The reason I got this was because I've been hearing a lot of girls use primer before foundation and it helps a lot. To be honest, I never really cared much for it because I thought my foundations lasted pretty long. I used to have a Laura Mercier mineral foundation primer and that was the only one I really liked because it was so light and actually worked really well without making my face feel oily. But that was like $35 or so. It does do the job and it's a drug store brand retailing at around $7-$10, which is not too bad if you feel like you need a little extra to make your skin feel smooth. (Sorry I don't have example pictures right now, I already washed my face lol. But when I do my Park Bom look, I'll probably use it. :)

Next is the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation. 
Now, call me pricey for a poor college student, but I actually repel against drug store foundation most of the time. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I have some stubborn ass skin and I found that a lot of drug foundations are kinda cheap on my skin and therefore I've resorted to buying the more expensive stuff from Sephora or M.A.C.  My main foundations right now are BareMinerals and my Smashbox picture perfect foundation. Both are pretty pricey (around $30-50) but I find that those are the ones that work for my skin without breaking me out. I have used a CoverGirl liquid foundation before and that was okay so since I'm running out of foundation, I figured I'd give the drug store foundations another try to save me money.

The color I chose was Ivory 120. I'm typical American Asian skin color, meaning I'm a warm undertone, light foundation color. Usually go for the third shade lightest from most typical American foundations. This isn't the best photograph but the foundation blends into my hand pretty nicely! Even though the lighting may seem like it's hindering from what it actually looks like, it actually blends in very well.

The 'Smart Tone' technology is supposed to promote a foundation that can eventually blend into your true skin tone. There are already foundations that promise such thing but I never really believed it. Although I have to say, this Rimmel foundation is pretty impressive so far.
The only Cons to this would be that it's a bit thick. I found the foundation rubbing off after only about 4-5 hours of wear. But if you're looking for a cheap, good looking foundation, this is not a bad option. I'd bring a powder compact if you're going to some kind of engagement though because as I said, it may wear off pretty quickly. (Then again, it was pretty hot today in L.A.)
Retails at most stores for around $10

This retails for around $7-10 at most stores.

To put it short and simply, I don't know if this is actually 'BRIGHTENING' my skin because I can't really tell to be honest.....but it does make my skin feel really supple. It does have microbeads but they aren't big. In fact they are almost not really noticeable. You can feel a little roughness when you wash your face though so you know it's there but I like it. It feels good. Some of the products with micro beads make my face feel like sandpaper so I like the subtle feeling in this one.

I do notice that my face isn't AS red when I get out of the shower but as I said, don't really know if it's actually brightening my skin. And I'm not like, pale Asian, so I'd know.

I think I'm in between like, pale Korean chicks and Californian filipino chicks. LOL. Meaning, my skin is in between being light and being Medium toned if that makes any sense at all.

Retails for around $12 at most stores.

All I can say is, it takes my make-up off and it feels nice on my face. So I'm guessing it works? lol. Now is it worth the price when there are so many other American cleansers on the market for around $5 or 6 bucks? Maybe? But again, I opt for the more expensive stuff because my skin is crazy. And I'm a believer in "you get when you paid for" so..I just tried my luck. Besides I've tried all the really cheap stuff and they usually dry my skin out to death.

I mean this kinda dries out my skin a bit too but I usually pair whatever cleanser I'm using with my Olay active hydrating lotion. It works like a mothereffing charm! Love that stuff.
;D

The last two items I bought I haven't actually tried yet, so I'll review that later. The Biore Marshmellow foam cleanser seemed interesting because it's foam and I've yet to try a foam cleanser. I know a lot of people say that foam cleansers are actually cheaper because it's just FOAM, but I heard good reviews about this product. The foam is supposed to be very thick and not like your ordinary bubbly foam. That's why it's called 'Marshmellow' lol. IDK. I'll see for myself. I got this because I'm still on the hunt for a cleanser that WON'T dry out my skin, but who knows if that will ever happen. This was only about $12 so I thought I'd give it a try. Hey, it's still cheaper than Lancome or Clinique cleansers okay.

I bought the Koji Eye talk (double eyelid glue) for the purpose of my upcoming Park Bom look. I want it to look REALLY similar, so me with my super monolids needed some help. The problem is that I've never really used eye glue or tape though so I'm kinda just like herpaderpin right now with them. I just can't seem to use it correctly! GRR. I know people say it just takes practice but it's seriously irritating. Hopefully I'll get used to it soon.

And let's face it, Japan has the best packaging ever. I mean, they can make generic bath soap look cute. So yes, I'm a huge fan of packaging in Asia but Japan tops them all. Minimal, clean, and aesthetically appealing. I need to work over there! D:

As you can see, my photos are super fancy like. I'm going to try and make it a habit to take quality photos when I'm posting pictures of anything. I have this camera I paid a grand for and most of the time it's just collecting dust! Poor guy.

Here's a bonus photo. I was trying to be artsy okay! :3

Until next time~

+Lo+