REVIEW: Obagi-C RX Night Cream and Serum

This is a review of the night cream and serum only. I used these in conjunction with toner, Neocutis Hyalis serum, and another cream over to hydrate. I love/hate this combo. It is so true that there is a breaking in period for Obagi. I have dry skin with hyper pigmentation mostly on my cheeks and nose. I rarely break out unless I have a bad reaction to products or if I touch my face with dirty hands. For the first month I had the worst break outs ever! Not pimples but just raised bumps and it was so drying especially around my nose BUT... it worked. My freckles seemed lighter and without making my whole face white if that makes sense. Like 6 months later and I'm only now finishing the product. I did take some breaks from it when I just couldn't stand the dryness anymore. Overall I have to say Obagi works. It is some strong stuff in best and worst way possible. I won't be continuing with it because I already have my whole Sulwhasoo regimen ready. I'm such a dork that that excites me. Haha. On a side note, usually you need to go to a medi spa or derms office. I bought mines off of www.premierlook.com. I've had a really good experience buying from them.  All the products were fresh and they also give you samples and discount codes.  

Pros:
Lightens hyper pigmentation
Moisturizing enough if you don't have dry skin

Cons:
Expensive 
Drying
Beginning break in period

Rating:
6 of out 10

REVIEW: Shiseido Eudermine and SKii Facial Treatment Essence

Now I know these two products are not quite the same but for myself I tend to group them together since they're used in the same after cleanser, before toner/essence slot in my routine. Since I started using Obagi late last year I noticed that my skin was looking and feeling dry. I just spent all this money on this medispa stuff so instead of chucking it I decided to add another step. :P I have to say the Shiseido Eudermine did help a little. It's consistency is watery but with a little slip and my face felt nice after using it. I'm sure I would be more impressed with it if I didn't use such harsh, strong products after it. It seems like Eastern and Western skincare products don't really mix. Overall a good product.  I've enjoyed it and am almost done with the bottle. That being said although it's lovely, I hate this bottle. It's tall and skinny which makes it prone to toppling over and the cap is not even screwed on. Not very travel friendly and the small hole on the top makes it so hard to pour out the exact amount needed.  It was $52 for 4.2oz. Pretty pricey but cheap compared to SKII.

Pros:
Lightly moisturizing
Soften skin
Smells nice

Cons:
Bottle is ridiculous

Rating:
8 out or 10

Sigh. SK-ii , why can't I love you...  After reading a billion reviews I caved and bought this essence. Eudermine was somewhat helping my dryness so I thought this would be even better. Wrong. This is even thinner then the Shiseido and even when using a lot (like a whole palm-ful)my skin drinks this in and still feels parched. I even tried this with my Sulwhasoo line and the First Care Serum did a way better job of moisturizing and readying my face for the next steps. The last straw was using it with the SK-ii Cellumination line. I got a 5 day sample of the Aurabright essence and cream from Nordstroms and used them all together. Sad to say I was really disappointed in that line. I can't speak of the brightening effect since I only used it for a few days but there's no way I could handle the dryness.  My makeup didn't go on as smoothly and I don't even want to talk about the under eye wrinkles. Ugh. And for that price there's no justifying buying a second cream to go on top of it all. The Aurabright Essence and Cream are $160 each, the Facial Treatment Essence is $105 for 2.5oz.  I might just use up the bottle because I'd feel bad returning it but then I'm on to the Sulwhasoo First Care Serum for sure.

Pros:
Sinks into skin right away
Possible long term brightening effects

Cons:
Smells a bit weird
Not moisturizing enough even for a "toner"
Price

Rating: 6 out of 10

REVIEW: AmorePacific CC Cushion Compact - Tan Gold 204

I just got my AmorePacific CC cushion from Sephora this week. So far I'm loving it and couldn't be happier with this purchase. I was hesitant because I just bought the Sulwhasoo Evenfair cushion with high hopes and it sort of let me down. But this one is prefect and exactly what I was looking for. The tan gold color is a prefect match for my C4/NC35 skin. It's dewy without being greasy. Blends easily and doesn't accentuate dry spot or wrinkles. It's medium coverage so I still wear concealer underneath .  I find putting my concealer on first look more natural. I have dry skin so I don't have to powder but a little dusting of my Laura Mercier mineral powder sets it nicely. All in all I'm very pleased. It won't replace my MUFE HD for more high coverage/special events but I can see using this everyday. 

The compact is beautiful. 

Tan Gold

Pros:

Lightweight

Medium buildable coverage

Reapply without cakey look or feel

High spf

Good color match for my skin

Cute/travel friendly packaging

Con:

Not as long lasting as a MUFE HD(or any long lasting foundation) without powder

Rating: 10 out of 10

Update:  After using for 2 weeks straight I love this stuff.  I've been wearing it everyday with a light dusting of my Laura Mercier mineral foundation powder.  It really lives up to the claims that you can retouch throughout the day without buildup.  I usually don't touch up but it has been extremely hot in Hawaii and I've also been swimming a lot.  It doesn't accentuate my pores like the Sulwhasoo cushion did and I've been loving the applicator sponge.  My hands are kept clean and no need to wash extra brushes.  Overall I'm very impressed with this product.  The cushion seemed gimicky at first but after getting used to tapping my foundation on I love how even and light it feels and amazed that the applicator sponge doesn't absorb anything so there's really no waste. 

 

 

The Face Shop Haul

Here are some things I purchased from The Face Shop today. There were a couple of things I wanted to try like the rice water cleanser, velvet primer and concealer. I already like the eyebrow pencil and just needed a spare. It's the only light brown pencil I could find that matches me since I went blond/ombré. Nail polishes were also buy one get one free! The nail art pens have a really fine tip and seem to go on really smooth so I'm excited. The total was about $80 and included samples. I'll definitely do a review on the new products soon.

Rice water cleansing foam $24
Face it velvet skin primer $24
Face it radiance concealer $18
Lovely me:ex style my eyebrow $3
Face it essence in gloss $10
Nail dot pens $4
Yogurt nail polish $4

<3, Angie

REVIEW: SkinMiso Pore Treatment

The one word that comes to mind when describing SkinMiso is amazeBalls! I don't even say that word in real life but that's what it is.  I have so many products waiting to be reviewed but this is the one that I'm the most in love with right now. There are so many great reviews and pics of how this product works and they're all true. I have no idea how it gets the gross stuff in your prose to turn white and magically rise to the surface but it does that. One tip I have though is to use the comedone extractor instead of the qtip. You'll get so much more stuff out if you apply some pressure to the pores versus just wiping it off. I also like to do this treatment after a hot shower just to open the pores up as much as possible. I can't say enough great things about this. It really helped me out with these stubborn black heads I got from layering on too many skincare items (I've been trying to use up my Obagi stuff so I can move on to my new Sulwhasoo products). I was torturing my nose with the extractor by itself and I suddenly remembered I had some SkinMiso left hidden in my drawer and vowed to do it the next day. Anyways this is a great product that I would recommend to anyone. I bought mines from Wish Trend. http://www.wishtrend.com/sol-kit/670--pore-kit-nose-pack-comedo-remover-t-zone-serum.html

Pros:
Really removes black/white heads easily
Step 2 helps reduce pore size after all the gunk has come out
Step 3 smooths and helps keep pores clean
Cheaper than getting a professional facial

Cons:
Takes about 20-30 min to complete the process

Rating: 10 out of 10

New beginnings...

To say that I've been away is an understatement. Umm hello last post on 2011... Oh well, here's to new beginnings. Now that my son is almost two and usually goes to bed at a reasonable time I think I can dedicate a night or two to write about some new products or recipes I've tried.  I have to warn you now that I've been on a huge korean cosmetics bender so that may be all you'll hear about for awhile.  Anyways, this is just my intro into blogging again. Will leave my old posts up for laughs. :)
<3,
Angie