Getting paid to shop online? // A Sephora haul ft. ShopBack

Ok ok, I get it. You must now be thinking,

“Shopping confirm drop money one, what are you talking about?”

I’m serious. Ever since I’ve discovered ShopBack, shopping online has never been friendlier to my wallet than ever. So before I reveal more about this new sorcery that I’ve found out quite some time ago, let me first share my recent Sephora haul with you makeup junkies out there. Also I’m actually really excited to write about this haul because I actually have a mixture of new products as well as some all-time repurchased over and over old favourites included! <3 If you’re interested to know how you can save while shopping online like me, make sure to read till the end! :D 

On the top left to right we have:

1. SK-II Auractivator CC Cream

2. Benefit's "that gal" brightening face primer

3. Benefit's Roller Lash mascara

4. Benefit's POREfessional primer

5. Benefit's Ka-Brow Eye brow gel

On the bottom left to right:

6. Sephora Rouge Cream R23

7. Sephora Rouge Brilliance N57 Drunk in Love

8. Sephora Rouge Cream R58 Heartbreaker

Now time for some mini thoughts on these purchases. If you’re interested to see a full in-depth review on any of these products from this haul, do leave me a comment on which product review you’d like to see!

SK-II Auractivator CC Cream: This isn’t something I use often but I thought I’d throw it in here since I did use this whenever I felt like I wanted more than just concealer on my face before I got myself my IOPE BB Cushion plus, this CC Cream was actually introduced by my aunt. This is a light-medium coverage CC Cream with SPF 50+ & PA++++ giving it protection against UVB & UVA rays. It is formulated with Day Soft Aura White and Cellumination Aura Essence which helps brightening the appearance of your skin. 

The instructions for this product is to apply 1-2 pumps of cream all over your face after moisturizing your face. By the way, cheers for a pump because who doesn’t like that extra hygiene factor right? Typically 1 pump is enough for my face so I’d say a little does go a long way as it does give a light-medium coverage. I remember hating BB/CC creams because of that dull gray-toned finish it gives but this one’s different since it does give my skin a nice glow thanks to the iridescent micro pearl pigments. I’d say the downside of this product is that I personally feel that this product isn’t so suitable for people with dry skin as it does get flaky on my skin at times when my skin is lacking moisture also this product does come with quite a hefty price tag of RM338 for 30g.

Roller Lash Mascara: This is Benefit Cosmetic’s latest mascara. This product claims that it can be used without an eyelash curler and that it’s also easy to remove. It also contains lash-conditioning Vitamin B5 and serine. I personally find this mascara quite volumizing and it does help slightly with lengthening as well. Personally I like how this product really does save your lashes. It really does curl your lashes as it claims though I wouldn’t say that it’s easy to remove. So far of all the mascaras I’ve tried, I have still yet to come across one that is easily removable. If you know one, do let me know in the comments okie! This is retailing for RM105 for 0.3oz. 

Ka Brow Cream Gel Brow Color: This is from Benefit Cosmetic’s newest range of brow products. Before I get on with the product, can we take a moment to appreciate how pretty these colours go with each other on the packaging? Alright back to the product. For RM110 you get 0.1 oz of product and I think this would last you for a good couple of months as you really only need a very tiny bit of product because it is pretty pigmented. This product is cream gel brow that will easily fill, sculpt & define your brows. It also comes with a custom built-in-brush. From the looks of the three eyes on the box, you can also tell that this brow gel gives you the ability to control how dramatic you want your brows to look. In other words, the colour is buildable. There are 6 different shades on Sephora’s website and the one I have here is in 3. Medium. 

Benefit’s POREfessional & “That gal” brightening face primer:

These two are actually my holy grail primers of all time. If I did not recall wrongly, I believe this is my 3^rd bottle of “That Gal” and 6^th tube of POREfessional. (including two 44ml ones) As to why I have two holy grail primers is because I use both of them together. Personally, I find mixing both of these primers creates the best base for my skin’s liking. It will glide onto your skin so smoothly, matte, and moisturizing as well! There was actually a period of time when I ran out of “That Gal” and didn’t feel like repurchasing because of the price and how it runs out so soon. At that period of time I have been substituting it with like moisturizers/sleeping mask etc but the effect was still lacking.

As you can see, in the end I repurchased haha. “that gal” brightening primer is retailing at RM135 for 11ml & the POREfessional primer is retailing at RM135 for 22ml. Same price but double the amount you get from “that gal”. But if you have the extra funds, I really do recommend getting both and try it. However if I were to pick one, I’d definitely pick the POREfessional primer as this primer gives me a matte finish and also minimizes my pores. Though do take note that if you’re planning to use the POREfessional primer, do make sure your skin is well hydrated as it is quite drying at times for me.

Sephora’s Rouge Shine Lipstick & Rouge Cream Lipstick – This is actually my first time getting something from the Sephora brand itself. I’d say from this entire haul, this three are the only products I have not tried out yet. The only one I’ve tried out would be the darkest maroon shade (R23) In fact the first time I had it on, I went to a pasar malam and on the second time I wore that to an exam because I was feeling so off about that paper and just simply felt like a rebel. Surprisingly, I scored an A. Super shocked and proud, I know. Also let me know if you wanna see swatches of these ok? Oh right, I nearly forgot, each of these lipsticks are sold for RM55. 

Alright now you must be dying to know how to save money while shopping online riiiiggghhhtttt? Ok, first things first, you’ll need this cool thing called a ShopBack account. What’s ShopBack? ShopBack is the top cashback and savings site. If you don’t have an account yet, register through my referral link ok! Then I can shop more and review more for you beauties out there haha! 

Registered? Oki, cool! Now all you have to do is shop from the 500+ online shopping sites partnered with ShopBack and wait for the cash back to come into your ShopBack account. After that, you can withdraw the amount back into your bank account. Then repeat. Easy right? Also another great thing I love about them is that you can actually get cash back ON TOP of discount codes. Normally it’s like you can only pick one right? From time to time you can even find discount codes on ShopBack’s website itself. If you’re interested to find Sephora Malaysia discounts do drop by this link.

 In case you don’t know, by shopping at Sephora Online via ShopBack, you get 2-8% cash back + your usual Sephora points. If you have a discount code, you can use it as well and still get the cash back! If you’d ask me, I’d say it’s a win win situation lo. So like my haul, I spent a total of RM988, with 8% cash back, that means I’d be getting RM79.04 back! Cool right ;) What’re you waiting for, hurry up, sign up now and get the best beauty dealsonline!

Thanks for reading and you can thank me later <3 Don’t forget to comment which products you’d like to see a full review on too! 

Rubi lipsticks first impressions review: Risky red, Horizon Blue, and Rum & Raisin

I remember telling my friends that I've just purchased a few lipsticks from Rubi and they went

 "Huh?? Rubi got sell lipsticks meh?" 

It was my exact reaction too when I stumbled across these lipsticks while shopping at Cotton-On, Suntec City during my recent-yet-not-so-recent Singapore trip. A little shameless self-promoting, in case you haven't watched my SG travelogue, do watch it below and don't forget to subscribe to my channel!

Now back to Rubi's lipsticks...

 When I was at the store, they only had these shades available so I grabbed all of it lol. Though if I'm not mistaken, they had 12 different shades. I threw away the packaging but I believe that each lipstick was retailed at 6$+ But I was there during sale season and got all three of the lipsticks above for a 3 for 10$ deal ♡ Now continue reading to see swatches, closeup of the product tested on me as well as my thoughts on these lipsticks :)

I got 3 shades - Horizon Blue, Rum & Raisin, and Risky Red.

Swatches of all three shades with and without flash.

Prior to trying these new lipsticks, I've made sure to use a sugar lip scrub then apply some of my favourite Burt's Bees lip balm to prepare my lips for battle haha!

Out of the three, I'd say this was the shade I was most eager to try out. Personally I don't own many fancy lip colours, so yes, this Horizon Blue lipstick was probably my most 'omg lipstick colour' in my collection...so far.

Here I am having second thoughts about my plan on doing a whole 'fun makeup look with this' lol

I'm sorry, this is a very scary photo. I apologize x100000 times but sometimes you need to do what you need to do. 

I have such a strong dislike to this lipstick I had to think twice whether or not to even do this entire review but hey, I paid 3$ for this, I'm gonna share my thoughts on it. Now I do admit, I have dry lips but because I've already exfoliated my lips, the patchiness of this lipstick is just way too much. Prior to buying this, I did swatch a tester on my hand and the blue was actually quite sheer so I don't know what is going on with this pigmentation here. If you have this and you love it, do let me know how to make it work. But for my final thoughts, it's 3$ la so haih okay lo, I'll just close an eye and forget about this ba. T_T

Next up is the colour Rum & Raisin. This is more of a plum colour. Like the Horizon Blue earlier, I did not quite like this as well but it was far more tolerable than the blue one.

I tried pretty hard to fix it's patchiness issue, though I guess there's only so much you can do to make a lipstick work. Though I do believe that I would give this lipstick another go once I get a matching lip liner. However, since I'm not exactly rajin with sharpening my pencil liners, I'll say the future of this lipstick is still undetermined.

Now this is a passing colour. Out of all three colours, this was the safest and definitely the best of all haha. I did read somewhere that the formulation of red/pink/nude lipsticks are easier to manufacture in comparison to fancy/darker colours. 

This colour here is Risky Red. I would say that this shade does have a little bit of orange tint to it. As you can see, my lips does peek through slightly over here as well. Which is probably one of the main reasons the other two shades didn't quite work out. 

So Risky Red? 3 SGD? Can la.

♡ Final thoughts time ♡

Packaging: 3/5

It's simple, it's fun. I do think having this mirror-like packaging does make a good makeshift mirror. I do like how we're able to see the shade of the product from the bottom of the lipstick. And am actually really happy that the colour is actually the literal colour of the product itself. (if that makes any sense) Cause I've seen lipsticks with like some plastic/sticker at the bottom to show what colour but c'mon, you know you've purchased a lipstick according to that 'colour' on the bottom of the lipstick and find out that it doesn't look like the real thing.

Formula: 2.5/5

Yes, it's creamy and pretty moisturizing. Though the formulation really makes certain colours look really bad without a lip liner. All three lipsticks do look pretty patchy on the lips, except for Risky Red because since my skin does look pinkish already, it does minimize the patchiness from afar. 

Ease of application: 3/5

Depending on the colour, you might need to use a lip liner as well as a lip brush for better application

Price: 3/5

3$ is actually pretty cheap for a lipstick seeing that Cotton-On is still a middle-price-range fashion brand. Would I have purchased it for anything more than 3$? Sorry, I don't think. Although Risky Red turned out okay, I wasn't super hyped over the results either. :/ But for a RM10 red lipstick, I have to say it is pretty good?

What I like

the colour for Risky Red

Packaging

What I disliked

The formula

Super patchy on the lips

Would I repurchase?

nope, sorry :(

Thanks for reading, stay tune for my next blog update! I know I have been pretty slow with my updates, so please bear with me! I've been hauling so many products I can't wait to share what I love and dislike with you guys! 

See you guys soon!! ♡

My first BB Cushion experience: IOPE 4th Gen Air Cushion

From the title of my post you can already tell that this is a long-missed makeup review post. So for about a year plus few years now, BB Cushions have been the 'IT' thing on makeup island right? More and more people are being introduced to Korean makeup too. I'm personally not that adventurous when it comes to face makeup, though after seeing the hype from my friends as well, I thought why not give it a go and get one for myself. Furthermore, while I was deciding on which brand to buy, Althea was really kind to give me RM150 to spend on their site during their 1st Anniversary online celebration! ♡ Now before I get sidetracked, let me share with you guys my A-Z thoughts on my very first bb cushion from IOPE!

Welcoming to my makeup family is IOPE's 4th Generation Air Cushion (Natural Glow). I got the shade #N21 - Natural Beige. The BB Cushion comes in this pretty sapphire blue box along with a refill pack and is retailing at Althea for RM130. (30g / 15g*2) Now prior to making my purchase, I've been doing all sorts of research in terms of price, brand, popularity, coverage, how it wears etc and in the end I've decided to give IOPE a try.

Here's how the BB Cushion looks like and the refill pack. Because Althea ships their products directly from Korea to your doorstep, everything in the packaging was in Korean. The BB Cushion itself is actually really compact as it's only the size of my palm. Plus if you were to bring this out for touch ups, you wont have to bring a compact mirror out anymore since it does come with one. I personally find the packaging really pretty because it has this very fine glitter/ pearl-like finish to it. On the back is a sticker indicating the shade as well as the shelf life of the BB Cushion. (and other information written in Korean)

01. This BB Cushion has SPF 50+ 
02. It contains bio water to provide moisture control & nutrition that hydrates the skin. 
03. Lightweight and the coverage is build-able. 
04. Available in five shades C13 (Cool Ivory), N21 (Natural Beige), and N23 (Natural Sand), W21 (warm beige), W23 (warm sand). Do take note that W21 & W23 aren't available on Althea.
05. Faint perfume scent (I like it though)
06. Mild cooling feel to the skin
07. Saves time & very convenient!

I just noticed that the exposure levels were a tiny bit too strong in this photo but the top of the BB Cushion puff is actually some sort of leather material with the IOPE word printed on the band.

The puff feels pretty squishy but I'm not sure whether it's me or not but I feel like I really had to press the puff into the cushion to really get the product.

Lifting up the lid under your puff, you'll see this seal to keep your BB Cushion clean. After removing this seal, I actually lined it on top of the lid so the puff wont stain the lid too much haha. 

Here's the Before & After two layers of bb cushion. These photos were taken during my 4th time trying out this product. Do correct me if I'm wrong but there are people that has previously told me that the reason they're in love with bb cushions is because they could skip primer and powder?

However for this product to work for my personal liking, I had to apply a primer as a base and top it off with a translucent powder. The first time I tried this, I had it on my bare face, and I didn't quite like the visibility of my pores + how it doesn't seem to dry? The second time I wore this, I had on a base and powder, everything looked great so I gave it a try for a few days and I've concluded that it's pretty good though even after powder, it does 'disappear a little' throughout the day and my face does get a little oily.

However I think this actually varies from a day to day basis. On days where my skin's not being mean to me, one even layer of this bb cushion along with my usual primer + powder is really all I need. Also I noticed that if it's just one layer of bb cushion, it does dry down to a more satin finish and that's fine if you're going for a more dewy finish. I just prefer setting it with powder.

♡ Why natural glow? ♡

The 4th Generation IOPE Air Cushion comes in 4 series - Natural glow, Lasting moisture, Matte Longwear, and Intense Cover. Why I have chosen Natural glow is because, having combination skin and the fear of purchasing the wrong shade, I wanted to pick the one with moisture, light weight + light-medium coverage, and less oily. Natural Glow fits best, plus I really didn't mind doing the primer + powder. In fact I think because I'm so used to powdering my face after applying any face makeup, I'd probably feel weird not applying powder even when using a mattifying foundation haha

 Ratings + Final thoughts

♡ FEEL ON SKIN ♡
♡♡♡♡
It's lightweight as it claims so yes I'm actually gonna use this way more often than I'll ever use my foundation. 


♡ COVERAGE ♡
♡♡
I'd say it's more of a light-medium coverage. If you're looking for a flawless finish, you'll need concealer

♡ PRICE ♡
♡♡♡
RM130(after discount) for the BB Cushion + a refill pack seems pretty reasonable to me 


♡ SHADES ♡
♡♡♡
There are only 3 shades available :(((( I really hope they'd release more shades.  

Thanks ShuShu for correcting me :D There's 5 shades available for all the BB Cushions in the 4th Generation. Though the differences are mainly whether you're more suitable for cooler/warmer tone. Meaning the range is still catered to people with fair-medium skin tones. I'd say if I were to apply one even coat, the shade I've picked up is perfect because it's still quite sheer. However if I were to go for two layers for more coverage, it did seem a little bit too light for me. 


♡ PACKAGING ♡
♡♡♡♡
Simple yet pretty. Nothing much I'd comment on this as it does fit in my bag nicely


♡ REPURCHASE?? ♡

I'd say a 50/50 as I do want to try out other brands like Laneige, April Skin, Lancome & Hera as well. Though I must say is that for a more natural daily look, this BB Cushion has really up-ed my makeup game. Because I can't stand how thick foundation goes on my skin, the max I'd wear on my face during a normal day would be primer, concealer and powder. Ever since I've gotten this, I do find myself reaching out to it way more than I ever have with my liquid foundation. Furthermore, I don't need to get a brush for it! I am skeptical with it's hygiene factor but because it's so convenient, I'll just close an eye for now and start researching on the proper method to clean my cushion puff because my foundation routine has never been this fast!

*The product is partly sponsored by Althea, however this product is handpicked by myself and this review is my honest opinion*