Review: Ciate Shell Manicure

A while ago, a saw these Ciate Shell Manicure sets at Sephora.
They didn't have testers, but I was so intrigued and I had to buy one to try.

I had actually gone with the white pearly color called Wish Upon a Starfish, but I'll talk about that later.

So here's the mauve color called Mermaid You Look:

Here's what the paint pot polish in the kit looks like on the nails.

The color is so nice by itself that I'm sure you can wear it alone. It's nice and shiny and coats evenly.

I decided to only put the Crushed Shells on just my thumb and ring finger as accents, and I loved how the manicure looked!

The application was very easy. And I think it was so considerate of them to include a little funnel so it makes putting the left-over crushed shells back in the bottle no hassle at all.

It makes a really big difference after I put on the top coat. Without a top coat, the crushed shells looked really chalky, but after a thin layer of top coat, they were so pretty! I wouldn't put too much polish on top of the crushed shells, though, because you may take away that lovely texture. But since I haven't tried putting a very thick coat of clear polish on the shells myself, maybe you can leave a comment and tell me if it actually turns out really great =)

So my verdict:

• The application was so easy
• Very easy clean-up
• The polish stays on really well (hardly chipped at all and I had worn it for over 2 weeks before taking the polish off)
• Love the color and textures
• Definitely recommended for nail-art lovers ;)

So what about that other white pearly color?

Here was the kit. I had initially picked this kit because I thought I could use the white crushed shells on other polish colors so it would be more versatile.

Unfortunately... This was what it looked like:

It looks almost like a bed of dried up skin cells/flakes LOL. I was pretty disgusted and I had to take it off right away.

Hope this review helps.
Maybe I just sucked at applying the crushed shells the first time so the pearly color turned out so bad. I'm sure some other people will have better skills and may love the white pearly color much more than the purple one.

Review: Face Q Ocean + Aloe Mask

I got to try this ocean + aloe mask from Face Q, which (after reading some info on the brand) apparently is from the company who also makes My Beauty Diary.

Here is what the front of the cute mask package looks like:

And the back:

I was quite excited to try this because I am a fan of My Beauty Diary (MBD) products, + my skin has been a little dry lately because of the cold weather, so aloe must be good for it, right?
So, here's my review on this product...

Scent:
This smelled really nice - like a fresh "watery" scent. Nothing too overwhelming and it's one of those scents where probably everyone is okay with having stuck under your nose for the 20 minutes you have this mask on.

Mask:
Size - The size of the mask is much bigger than the masks from the MBD line. Because I have a small face, this mask was huge on me... I had about an inch on the sides just hanging out because I didn't want to get the serum onto my hair, and the extra length on could cover the entire underside of my chin til where my chin meets my neck.
Serum - The serum is quite thin and watery-feeling compared to any other masks I've used. Usually, I feel like I am patting my face for what seems like forever to get my skin to absorb the rest of the serum after I pull off my masks, but the serum either got absorbed or evaporated very quickly with this product.

Effects:
What it claims to do - "Face Q Ocean + Aloe Mask marine collagen mask full of water allows you have instant access to the moisture to achieve a supple and smooth skin. Enriched with aloe vera gel, its carefully woven fiber essence bears more moisture and nourishment to skin, immediate improves the texture of your skin, and creates skin clarity and translucency!"

What I thought it did - My skin felt moisturized. This mask really  helped with the dryness during this cold weather. My skin did also feel a bit smoother after applying the mask, but I don't think it did much for creating skin clarity and/or translucency.

Verdict:
The FaceQ masks are quite affordable, and from this experience, I'm likely to try out the other masks from this brand =]

Review: Laneige Snow Crystal Dual Base SPF22 PA+

I have been busy ever since school started again and I haven't been out much, so I'm going to do a review post today!

Here is the Laneige Snow Crystal Dual Base SPF22 PA+:

That is not the normal retail size for this product. However, I got a few of these tester bottles as gifts from buying Laneige products a while back, so I just used the tester bottles.

And this product comes in three colors: (10) shimmer white, (40) skin pink, and (60) light green - which is the color I tried.

The bottle has a pump that dispenses the base.

And at the top of the cap, it has a "brightening balm" that is supposed to act as a tool for highlighting your skin:

My blurb:
I used this as sunscreen, and the base is very light and it doesn't feel like I've clogged my skin up after applying it, and it doesn't make your skin look greasy despite having SPF - unlike many sunscreens haha. It also has a very light scent that smells really nice. The base goes on green, but blends very easily and will not make you look green lol. In fact, it is effective in taking away some of the extra redness on my face (areas like around my nose and my forehead). I have tried applying make-up on top of this and it doesn't cause my make-up to blend any worse =]
The brightening balm, though, did not really do much for me. It had a slight shimmering effect on areas where you apply it, but I won't say that it is an effective tool for highlighting skin/face. Other than that, I didn't find anything bad about this product.

Since I had quite a positive experience with this product, I want to try Laneige Skin Veil Base SPF 26 PA+, since it claims to act as a primer too (plus, I don't need the extra brightening balm that comes with the Snow Crystal Dual Base anyway).

Review: Oscar Blandi Dry Shampoo

Product: Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo

Price: $25

Long Story:
This was a cute little can of dry shampoo from Sephora. This dry shampoo was quite pricey for the size, but it claims to give your hair volume and that it sprays on clear. After trying on the last dry shampoo (from Bath and Body), the first thing I looked for was the scent. This had a very light "salon" smell. Not overwhelming at all. However, it sprays on quite wet... almost like water. I had to rub the dry shampoo for a much longer time than I expected before it got absorbed (or maybe it just dried up without getting absorbed lol). The plus side is that it really did spray on clear, so no white powdery stuff on my roots. However, the dry shampoo didn't really take away any of my hair's grease, nor did it volumize my hair. In fact, I felt that my hair felt heavier after I applied the shampoo. I'm not sure if the fact that my hair is very thin has anything to do with the results of this dry shampoo, but it clearly did not work out for me. I'm glad they had the tester out so I could try it before buying it because I would be hella disappointed if I had bought this. If you are looking into buying this, I'd advice you to go try the tester first.

Short Story:
Pros:

Sprays on clear.
Good size for travelling.
No overwhelming scent.

Cons:

Did not really take away oil.
Takes a lot of rubbing to get it absorbed.
Did not add volume to hair (as claimed).
Made my hair feel heavy.

Verdict:
Maybe this product just did not work for me, but it may work for you since everyone is different. If you ask me, though, I would definitely tell you to not waste your money on this.

Review: True Blue Shea Cashmere Dry Shampoo

Product: True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Dry Shampoo (from Bath and Body Works)

Price: $15

Long Story:
Let me just start off by saying that I am (and never was) fond of scents that belong to the very sweet vanilla, cupcake, cake categories... but they didn't have dry shampoos in any other scents.
This True Blue Spa line had a buy 2 get 1 free deal going on, so I thought that if I bought 3, this would be a really great cheap dry shampoo. I purposely went to the store with one-day old hair so I could try this product. There wasn't much left in the tester bottle so I could only try on a little bit. This dry shampoo has a vanilla scent. Because I couldn't really test it out properly in the store due to the minimal amount left in the tester can, I decided to buy it and try it at home. I quickly regretted my decision... The scent is way too strong! I sprayed some on my roots and the whole bathroom smelled like the shampoo. Wherever I walked, I could smell the strong scent as if a donut has melted in my hair X_X. Other people around me also thought the scent was too strong as my hair quickly filled the entire room with this over-powering sweet scent.
As for the actual practical result of this dry shampoo... I would say it works alright. It does its job and it did help take away grease from my hair without leaving any white, powdery residue, but I also find that it dries up my hair a bit too much. My hair almost feels like hay after applying this. I guess if you don't mind sweet melted donut on your head, this would be a great buy.

Short Story:
Pros:

Takes away grease.
Easy application.
No white, powdery residue.

Cons:

Scent is TOO strong. Only comes in this one scent.
Dries up my hair too much.

Verdict:
If you can stand the smell, this is a great budget dry shampoo to use if you do the buy 2 get 1 free deal. However, I'd advice you to use this only if you will be outdoors or in a very open area, otherwise the smell will linger around in your rooms. Or... wait until they come out with another more pleasant scent lol.