Let's begin with base makeup.

We're half way into 2016 and @cosme has came up with their best new cosmetics for the first half of this year!

These products are all newly released, or at least, considered to be newer products and hence is different from the annual best cosmetics awards. Only the newer products are taken into consideration for this ranking.

Without further ado, I present to you the winners. (Translated from @cosme website)

OVERALL WINNER

RMK | LIP JELLY GLOSS

"The cool and sophisticated colour draws endless attention, while the shiny formula sculpts your lips and gives it dimension."

BEST MAKEUP BASE

1. MAQUILLAGE | DRAMATIC SKIN SENSOR BASE UV

"Offers moisture and sebum control, skin feels increasingly beautiful throughout the day."

2. DIOR | SNOW BLOOM PERFECT CUSHION

3. COFFRET DOR | AURA KEEP BASE UV

BEST POWDER FOUNDATION

1. COFFRET DOR | BEAUTY AURA PACT UV

"Surprisingly lightweight and glowy! Breathes an aura of life onto skin."

2. IPSA | POWDER FOUNDATION

3. CLINIQUE | EVEN BETTER POWDER MAKEUP WATER VEIL

BEST LIQUID FOUNDATION

1. NARS | VELVET MATTE SKIN TINT

"An excellent tint that can create a perfect three dimensional face."

2. CHANEL | LES BEIGES HEALTHY GLOW FOUNDATION

3. MAYBELLINE NEW YORK | DREAM WHIP SMOOTH LIQUID

BEST CREAM FOUNDATION

1. REVLON | COLORSTAY TWO IN ONE COMPACT MAKEUP + CONCEALER

"Comes with integrated concealer, it has amazing coverage and a silky finish."

BEST CUSHION FOUNDATION

1. LANCOME | BLANC EXPERT CUSHION COMPACT

"Super lightweight for a tight fit on skin, goes on evenly to impart a natural glow."

2. FLOW FUSHI | ION DE CUSHION

3. YSL BEAUTY | ENCRE DE PEAU LE CUSHION

BEST CONCEALER

1. SUHADA KINENBI | FAKE NUDE CONCEALER

"Natural lightweight look, covers the skin while being able to merge with bare skin skillfully."

2. BENEFIQUE | LIQUID CONCEALER (AURA VEIL)

3. CHANEL | LE BLANC STICK CONCEALER

BEST SETTING POWDER

1. CEZANNE | UV CLEAR FACE POWDER

"Like wearing a transparent veil, the powder gives a smooth and delicate finish."

2. JILL STUART | CRYSTAL LUCENT FACE POWDER

3. BENEFIQUE | PRESSED POWDER (LUMINIZING)

BEST CC CREAM

1. SEKKISEI | WHITE CC CREAM

"Protects you against the strong summer UV light! Look minimally made up while enjoying whitening benefits at the same time."

2. ETTUSAIS | PREMIUM CC AMINO CREAM

3. NUDY COUTURE | MINERAL CC CREAM

BEST BB CREAM

1. LA ROCHE POSAY | UVIDEA XL PROTECTION BB

"UV protection on 'roids (SPF50)! Dries down to a smooth finish."

2. MAIKO HAN | BB CREAM

3. ATTENIR | BB CREAM

It was hard to pick just 5.

I'm almost running out of ideas on what I can possibly share at the moment because I haven't been using a lot of skin care lately due to the state of my skin. Also, my belief of skin care and whatever I use on my skin is starting to shift towards the natural side lately, so it's only appropriate to share the affordable and awesome products I found on iHerb with you all.

I have been a loyal iHerb shopper for several years because of their unbeatable low prices and their huge variety of supplements. Their prices are really competitive compared to local Singaporean stores, and shipping to Singapore is usually free (for orders more than USD40), it's really a no brainer for me to shop from iHerb.

On top of supplements and healthy foods, they also carry a huge selection of skin care, as well as bath and beauty products. I like that most of the products products IHerb carries are closer to nature, aka, organic and natural.

Here are 5 tried and tested products that I love.

NOW FOODS | ORGANIC JOJOBA OIL | 118 ML | USD 9.93

There is also a non organic version, but they cost the same and I prefer having a peace of mind that I'm lowering the toxic exposure to pesticides and chemicals. This jojoba oil is absorbed relatively quickly into my skin as it has a similar chemical structure as human sebum. It's very nourishing in my memory, and doesn't turn rancid easily. What matters to me is that it doesn't leave my clothes with an oily stench like some other oils do. I use this as a base for my essential oils.

NOW FOODS | SWEET ALMOND OIL | 473 ML | USD 9.93

As you may have noticed, the price of the 118ml organic jojoba oil is the same as a 473ml sweet almond oil. Since I use these oils for my body, I could use the extra volume and savings! I have tried the apricot kernel oil too, but found that to turn rancid quickly even though it's a pretty lightweight oil. It left my clothes with a stench over time that I'm not fond of. The sweet almond oil on the other hand doesn't have this problem :) Absorbs pretty quickly too, and is light weight in general. I use this all over my skin!

NOW FOODS | ORGANIC LAVENDER ESSENTIAL OIL | 30ML | USD 17.58

There is also a non organic version that cost a fraction of price, but I have this idea that essential oils are the essence of the flower, any herbicide or pesticide used will also be concentrated within the oils extracted. I'm not sure how true this is, but I rather play safe.

I'm also not sure if lavender oil is supposed to smell like this, it's soothing when diluted but it has a funky smell when I take a whiff straight from the bottle. I use this for anti microbial and anti inflammatory properties. Also it just smells nice :)

I also use their organic tea tree oil and peppermint oil, both of which smells legit. The peppermint oil is amazing because it has a cooling sensation on my skin! Perfect for soothing an itch!

LIFE FLO | PURE ROSEHIP SEED OIL | 30ML | USD 5.96

I've mentioned this many times before in my videos! It's a golden oil with a nutty scent, very rich and nourishing. Absorbs within 10-15 minutes. I love using it before I sleep! I just "gently" massage it onto my face and neck and let my skin soak up the goodness (if you saw my GRWM video, you'll know that I'm not really gentle at all hahaha). People tend to use this for aging skin as it's high in retinoic acid? I didn't notice any spot fading or anti aging effects (but I don't have them at the moment so.. :P). Many have commented that it's exactly the same as the Trilogy Rosehip Seed Oil, but at a fraction of its price. This product really won my heart for the unbeatable price and good quality.

AVEENO BABY | ECZEMA THERAPY MOISTURIZING CREAM | 141G | USD 11.50

Other than oils, this cream has been a saviour for my super dry skin. Aveeno products is infused with oatmeal extract, which has a soothing property on itchy and dry skin. This particular one is formulated with ceramide, so it feels extra moisturizing than their daily moisturizer. It decreases the appearance of dry skin pretty well, which is part of the reason why I enjoy using it on extremely dry spots. A little goes a long way as it's very spreadable. I tend to use this on particularly dry spots as a spot treatment.

If you're interested in trying some of the products, AND if you're new to iHerb, using the code SUG844 will give you $5 off your first purchase!!! That means the Life Flo rosehip seed oil is almost free!

So here are my top 5 skin care products I found on iHerb. Let me know if you found something you like! I always love sharing a good deal!

Were the marketing team hungry? Chiffon.. Cake?

Etude House recently released a new line of lipsticks! They are a mix between cream and matte finish. I have no idea what "chiffon" has got anything to do with the finish. In my mind I imagine it to have a bouncy finish (my mind is clearly thinking about the chiffon cake, what a glutton!), which speaks nothing about the finish.

Stripping the marketing thing aside, it's a semi-matte lipstick that promises more moisture than a traditional matte lipstick.

DEAR MY BLOOMING LIPS TALK CHIFFON | USD 12.40

The lipstick has a brand new packaging - eyelet trim decorating one side of the lipstick. With the cap off it looks like a capital letter B. The first time I saw this lipstick I only saw an image of it with its cap off, it made me wonder why a letter B on the packaging :P

Comes in 12 whopping shades, including the rarer brownish and nude shades. Case in point, brown shades are pretty rare in Asian lipsticks.


Click to enlarge!


At a glance.

For actual swatches, check out this korean blog.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
The nude shades (BE109 and BE110) really appeal to me. The almost neon pink PK027, which it's quite common amongst Korean brands still stands out to me. RD315 looks like a beautiful wine red! I might actually hunt these down some time in the future.. :) I don't have a lot of nude lipsticks, YET.

Image credit: Etude House

Official swatches included!

I love the colourful visuals Etude House creates whenever they launch something new!

Following the release of the peachy toned Play Color Eyes Juice Bar, Etude House wants you to have ice cream shades on your eyes this summer with their release of the Play Color Eyes Ice Van.



It's no coincidence that the promo photos are ice cream themed - the pastel shades look just like the delicious ice cream flavours! It's a pity my Korean language isn't efficient enough to translate the names of the different shades, but I'm pretty sure they are dessert themed. Just a guess.

The palette contains 10 shades, some of them are new. It retails for USD26.40 on the Etude House online store.

click to enlarge!

On the left are swatches on the arm, placed next to the respective eye shadow from the palette for easy reference.

click to enlarge!

Swatched on the eyes. Check number for respective shades. I can't translate the names as they are too complicated this time round!

Ending note:
From the swatches it looks like a fun palette to have, but the colour payoff seems mediocre for the more daring shades. With that said, low pigmentation can also be spun as a "natural effect", right? So it really depends on what you're going for.

I'm just happy seeing addition of new colours, such as the hot pink (shade 5) and mint green (shade 8)!

Image credits: Etude House

Let summer be LIT!!!

Let's take a look at what Majolica Majorca has to offer this season!

Judging by the items released, bright and light makeup is still very much in trend, and it only seems appropriate as it's summer time! We usually associate summer with lighter makeup, so this collection is simply lovely for this time of the year.


Think of bright shimmery eyes that's framed with dark and luscious eyelashes. So clean.

MAJOLOOK (ILLUMINATOR) | 1400 YEN

An eyeshadow trio with a cream eyeshadow base that intensifies the powder eyeshadow. Get summer ready with the luminous finish.

LASH EXPANDER LONG LONG LONG | 1200 YEN

It can catch even the shortest eyelashes on the inner corner of the eyes and lengthen it, giving it a falsie effect.

LASH ESTHETICIAN | 1200 YEN

Add fluff and volume to your lashes. Formulated with nourishing ingredients to reduce damage to lashes.

BROW CUSTOMIZE (SWORD CUT) CASE + PENCIL | 650 YEN + 550 YEN

Conveniently packaged with a spoolie, the eyebrow pencil has a powder touch formula that ensure easy blending for natural looking eyebrows.

Pencil and pencil holder sold separately.

GEL LIQUID LINER | 950 YEN

It hugs your skin snugly like a gel, and is sweat and sebum resistant. Use on the outer half of the eyeliner as an accent colour.

Editor's thought:
I really like how peach is gaining traction lately! The orange gel liquid liner, and the slight orange-y eyeshadow palette is really appealing to me. Pair them with clean and long (or voluminous, your choice) lashes, you can create a fresh look for summer. Too bad most of the items are limited edition!

Japanese brands usually reformulate their products annually (or they just change up the packaging and re-market the products?), it's the first time I'm seeing the lash esthetician, but I think it's just a voluminous mascara to add to their complicated line of mascaras.

In all honesty, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Translated from MAQUIA.

Get ready for summer!

New product releases always excites me a little. Just a little! Because I already own so much products, I'm more like a spectator than an actively participating customer.

Plus, Visee isn't available in Singapore.

This is a small release as there are only 3 items, 2 of which are eyebrow products. Even though we often associate waterproof and sweat resistant products to summer time, I might have taken that quality for granted because I thought that is a minimum requirement for a product to be useful. Maybe it's just me!

It's great Visee introduced a waterproof eye crayon, as I think that would be extra useful for hot summer days! Or for days when your first date brings you swimming :P

COLORING EYEBROW MASCARA | 7G | 850 YEN

Change your eyebrow colour easily with the blendable and quick dry eyebrow mascara. Formulated with hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid and mineral oil, it is also easily removeable with warm water. It has the film formula (similar to film mascara) so yes, it's oil and sweat resistant.

Available in 5 shades.

COLORING EYEBROW POWDER | 3g | 1200 YEN

With 4 shades available, you can now mix your own personal colour to suit your hair perfectly! You're guaranteed a natural look thanks to its "slide coating powder", which increases blendability. Finally, pink eyebrows to go along with your pink hair!

Available in 3 shades.

BR-1 YELLOW BROWN

BR-2 CASSIS BROWN

BR-3 OLIVE BROWN

CRAYON EYE COLOUR | 1200 YEN

A super blendable eye crayon that promises long lasting and vibrant colours, it can also double up as an eye liner. Formulated to be tug-free, expect it to glide on your delicate eyelids without damaging it. Did I mention it's also waterproof and sweat resistant? You probably already knew that when you saw "long lasting" colours in the first line :P

Available in 6 shades.

EDITOR'S NOTE
I think Visee is going in the right direction in terms of colour selection. They are doing something other brands aren't - releasing products in quirky colours that are rare among drugstore brands. In hindsight, they have been doing that with their eyeshadows, especially the glossy rich series.

Look. eyebrow mascaras aren't new in the market, but having a greyish brown shade is definitely a game changer since most of the other drugstore brands only produce yellowish brown eyebrow mascara.

The same goes for eyebrow powder, aren't they a genius for adding one more shade within the usual 3 colour eyebrow powder palette so that those with fancy hair colours (especially since pink hair is  more common these days) can finally get a conveniently packaged product that suit their needs, instead of bringing around a usual brow powder palette PLUS a pink eyeshadow?

At first glance, I thought the eyebrow palettes are eyeshadow palettes. Which by the way, you can totally use it that way!

Eye crayons are a good product to have during the summer because they adhere to the skin better, thus reduces the chances of creasing or meltdown. They also work well as an eyeshadow base to make powder eyeshadows pop! What's not to love about them? I hope they smell pleasant though, because my past experience with eye crayons were ruined by the putrid crayon smell. It does smell like crayola, and it's not nice in my opinion.

What would you pick up if you're in Japan right now?

Nothing makes me more excited than the word "Japanese drugstore".

Japan has always been a holiday destination I would love to visit, not just for the beautiful sakura, mount fuji, or mouth watering ramen and sushi.. But mainly because it's the land that produces most of my favourite Asian drugstore beauty products.

I dream of the day I enter the drugstore and get overwhelmed by the thousands of brands available within the shop. In case you're not as enthusiastic about being drowned by all the different brands, here are 5 brands you should totally focus your attention on if you find yourself in a drugstore. Well, because you spare your remnant attention (if you still have any remaining!) to other brands, I mean :P

As a bonus, I also threw in several popular items that have good reviews, in case the brands offer too many products you simply don't know where to begin looking :P

1. CEZANNE

Probably the most affordable brand in Japan that I know of. Cezanne has quality products housed in simple no frills packaging. Meant to be an everyday makeup brand, their products are geared towards natural finish - sheer and healthy looking instead of being super pigmented. Their most popular product is the UV foundation EX plus. You can't beat that price, seriously.

UV FOUNDATION EX PLUS | 500 YEN

I've seen plenty of reviews saying how it's superb in absorbing sebum and staying put all day!

AIRY TOUCH EYESHADOW | 680 YEN

The name suggest to me it's a very sheer eyeshadow. What do you think? :P

POWDER EYEBROW | 450 YEN

A pretty no frill eyebrow powder! Canmake has something similar I think?

NATURAL CHEEK N | 360 YEN

"Natural" probably mean sheer. You hear it from me first ;) So don't expect crazy colour pay off!

2. CANMAKE

If you prefer cute packaging, spend a few hundred more yen and invest in Canmake. Canmake is very popular amongst Japanese students because of their extremely cute packaging and super affordable price. But don't let that price tag fool you into thinking it's low quality, because it's the direct opposite! Some of their products have topped the @cosme ranking for consecutive years.

CREAM CHEEK | 580 YEN

Affordable, awesome pigment, just get them! This is definitely a cult favourite, because of the amazing price to cost ratio.

QUICK LASH CURLER | 680 YEN

This apparently curls your lashes without having you to curl it before hand.

LIP TINT SYRUP | 650 YEN

Well, Korean brands do lip tints better and in a wider variety, but hey, you're supposedly in Japan now, and this is very popular!

MARSHMALLOW FINISH POWDER | 940 YEN

For those of you who like super matte face, this makes your face feel like a smooth marshmallow.

3. KATE

Targeted at girls who are rebels at heart (just look at their url, nomorerules.net!?), their simple and cool black packaging sets the brand apart from others. I'm a self professed fan of the brand and have amassed a huge collection of their eye shadows over the years, they're personally the best thing they make. But I only featured one eyeshadow here because they're more or less the same - similar thing thrown into different packaging so they can keep coming up with something "new". Oh! Their eyebrow products are also a hit among the Japanese ladies!

DESIGNING EYEBROW N | 1200 YEN

Personal favourite! It has a cult following, probably because it was the first brand to release such a product. Long lasting and multi functional. Nuff' said.

LASH MAXIMISER | 1200 YEN

Eyelash primer for longer lashes! Works well with waterproof mascara since this is a waterproof formula.

EYEBROW COLOR N | 850 YEN

Also among the first brands to release a brow mascara (which is so necessary in a nation where a huge percentage of ladies dye their hair brown), they have since been immortalized even though other brands released similar products.

BROWN SHADE EYES | 1600 YEN

I'd feature the colorcious diamond eyeshadow, but that is probably going to be discontinued soon. The brown shade eyes has an extremely buttery formula, a lot of people said its texture rival high end brands. Plus this comes with a matte brown shade for you to do nose contouring (or you can use it as a transition colour). Japanese palettes don't usually come with matte shades, so this is refreshing and very versatile!

4. VISEE

After a brand face lift, visee went from cute to glamorous. Yes, this brand is glamorous. You like fancy lace embossed onto the black packaging? They seem to do a little something to me. Targeted at the young adults who appreciate the finer things in life (at an affordable price), visee might just be the brand for you.

GLOSSY RICH EYES | 1200 YEN

According to reviews, this palette is unbelievably pigmented. It's not usual among Japanese drugstore brands!

NUDY RICH EYES | 1400 YEN

For 200 yen more, you get and additional shade. But this palette is the opposite of the glossy rich eyes above, this is the sheer and natural looking palette. Perfect for office ladies who just need a little something for their eyes. Would totally get this palette for the brush that comes with it! Awesome for blending!

LIP AND CHEEK CREAM | 1000 YEN

This was such a hit when it was first released. A 2 in 1 product, house in a pretty case.

CC WATERY FOUNDATION | 1600 YEN

Probably the first drugstore brand to release a watery foundation since the go to effect for most Japanese lady is the powdered and matte finish. A foundation with a lighter finish is refreshing!

5. EXCEL

If you are sophisticated and likes gold, excel has stuff you'd like to check out. Describing their own style as "Tokyo rich casual", they focus on quality products and simple packaging. Their powder and pencil eyebrow EX won best cosmetics award a while back. Really gotta give it to them for coming up with a 3 in 1 product! I love the gold, but gold plastic just doesn't float my boat. Maybe it'll float yours?

SKINNY RICH SHADOW | 1500 YEN

A simple eyeshadow that's been colour coordinated to give you the perfect colour gradation on your eyes.

POWDER AND PENCIL EYEBROW EX | 1450 YEN

This is what I call good product design - you get an eyebrow pencil, eyebrow powder, AND spoolie in one pencil housing!!! How convenient is that!?

SHINY POWDER N | 1800 YEN

A finishing powder that has a slight shimmer because you secretly want to be a Cullen. Hahaha I'm just kidding. Can be used as a subtle highlighter, or all over if you want more dimension on your face. Makes me wonder if it's anything like MAC's mineralized skin finish!

EDITOR'S THOUGHT
These are just a few of the crowd pleaser from each brand. There are a ton more drugstore brands that I may not have heard of before. Apparently, Japanese are notorious for keeping the best stuff for themselves. Until I visit Japan, I will not be able to find the best products out there. But for now, accumulate online reviews will have to do!

image credits: @cosme