Rachel K Mineral Color Correction CC Balm

I got a sample of the Rachel K Mineral Color Correction CC Balm in my Watsons x Vanity Trove collaboration. I was pretty pleased because I've heard about her launch of cosmetics wayyyy back, and at that time, it was only being sold in Singapore. Now, she's launching it in Malaysia too, so if you're interested, you could check it out. In Singaporean beauty forums, most people said that it was really expensive. I am really interested in mineral make-up, hence seeing her incorporate that into her cosmetics line was really cool. There's not many people who like using mineral foundation (cos it's messy), but to me it really helps my skin, is breathable and has nice coverage without clogging my pores. Plus, Rachel Kum is so pretty, it makes you think, "Maybe if I use what she does..."

In case you don't know who Rachel Kum is, she is Miss Singapore Universe 2009, and she looks like this :

Okay, don't let her boobs distract you. Her skin is damn flawless right? By the way, I also remember reading that her PRO skincare tip is .... try not to touch your fingers to your face as much as possible (unless you are washing your face...). Meaning, don't rest your palms on your face, don't randomly rub your eyes or nose or cheek or whatever, don't touch it! Your fingers are teeming with germs and you do not want them to get in touch with your face.

So what is a "CC Balm" and is it like a BB cream at all? Apparently it's an IMPROVED version of all the BB creams that you hear about on the market. From the sachet, it states that it can safely protect your skin from UV rays and contains natural mineral ingredients that do not damage or irritate the skin, because of its moisturising base that is made from white tea extracts, aloe leaf, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, lecithin, hyaluronic acid and vitamin E and C. All of which are nutritional for your skin.

There is no "shade" for a CC Balm. The Rachel K collection comes in only two - Original (Black tube) and Neutral (pink/red tube).  The black one is for cool tones or pinkish undertone. The neutral one is for warm tones such as yellow, peach and red undertones. Perhaps, neutral is more suitable for me! But what to do, I only got the sample for "Original".

I decided to use my precious sachet of Rachel K Mineral Color Correction CC Balm when I was in Bangkok last month. Everyone in Bangkok always makes-up so nicely, and I was really motivated! Plus, I had the beginnings of a pimple and I really wanted to conceal it. Cos when you're on holiday you want to camwhore more, am I right?

Start with a dry, clean face. And you can use either your fingers to apply (but Ms Rachel K would probably frown on that, lol) or a sponge. The texture of the cream is really thick and heavy, so I didn't need to put a lot.

 

And this is the after effect : Generally, I feel that it was quite easy to blend, and it gives decent coverage (not fantastic, just decent). However, the whole thing felt very heavy on my face. Maybe my skin just doesn't like cream-based coverage generally. I had a similar experience with the Benefit's "You Rebel Lite"

 

 

There are some people who claim that this is good on its own, and I love hearing that. I love hearing about products that just need one-bloody-step and not, oh, you apply this, then you need to apply foundation, and then you need to put loose powder, bla-bla-bla. Cut the crap, I'm lazy - so sue me! I need to get out of the house quick each morning, I don't need extra time to do meddle with 10 products when I only need 1.

On the other hand, I've also read about people who can't stress enough that the CC balm is NOT meant to be used on its own. It's supposed to be a primer, to do COLOR CORRECTION, and that's it. The coverage is too minimal, they cry. I suppose it is up to you - if you've got great skin and all you need is color correction, go ahead and just use CC Balm on it's own. If you've got ways lots more to correct than just your tone, feel free to proceed with concealer and face powder after that.

As I was quite pleased AT FIRST, I camwhored a bit. I definitely looked fairer than normal... in fact, the "color correction" seemed to me to be correcting my yellow skin to be that of a geisha's...

If you think that that is really, really good... let me tell you something. Girls taking photos of themselves without flash makes anything look good, including a CC Balm that actually looks like this under bright lights:

 

Don't you think that it actually looks SUPER UN-NATURAL!!!?!?! I really feel more and more geisha like looking at this picture! Just compare the difference between my face and my neck, Goddamnit! On the other hand, you have to admit that it really evened out the skintone and lessened the redness, especially around my budding pimple. Sigh... I also don't get reviews saying that it's a matte finish. I can seriously feel the oiliness pouring out after 15 minutes of wearing this. And yes, I did NOT go overboard with the CC Balm. I had a quite a bit left over, probably enough for another 1-2 days usage (and yes, just from that small sachet!), but I threw it away. 

After that night out in Bangkok, I came back and saw my pimples had grown bigger. Sigh, was hoping all that natural nourishment things would have helped healed it. Maybe the pimple has powers beyond CC balm's help. 

In conclusion :  not a repurchase. Suspect it's not suitable for me due to heavy feeling on face, oily finish (compared to "matte" finish described by many others), seems to clog pores (making my pimple worse), unnatural skin color.

Only good parts is : easy to blend, only need a little bit for each use and really does the color correction, lol (correct you til you look like you're white!). I really suggest you get a sample (check out RachelKMalaysia on Facebook) before you spring the RM45.90 for 30g of product.

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Basic Makeup Palettes for Work

I've got a LOT of eyeshadows, but there are only 6 palettes that I keep returning to for office looks. Occasionally I would take a walk on the "colorful" side by incorporating weekend colors in (only on Fridays!), but these are my staples :

Close-ups of the palettes :

Clarins Palette Quatuor in Les Oceanes. I got this free in some Clarins contest. :) It came in a nice red velvety bag too! Plus points for packaging. The whole palette looks very sleek and posh, with a metallic cover, and a mirror inside. The colors don't seem very "ocean like" imho, but very nice shades nonetheless - dark grey, lavender, light grey and a barely-there pink for highlighter.

Kate - Contrasting Eyes ... I can't find what shades these are. I just took it because I REALLY loved the dark, shimmery brown color, which really looks as good as it does on the palette. I rarely touch the weird turquoise, and the pale yellow makes for a nice base. This was one palette that I bought just because my friend said that Kate products are really good. I have no complaints on the product itself either, but then again this is the ONLY product I have from the range. ;)

My ultimate go-to eyeshadow for work (when I don't want to think too much) is my L'oreal HIP duo. This one is called Dynamic, and I think it's the only eyeshadow I ever have that managed to touch the pan! Hahaha... it's really awesome - strong pigments, and I love the shimmery light gold, which contrasts with the deep chocolate to create a slight smokey office eye look. :)

I think I won this as well, cos I don't remember buying it. Oh well, it's a Maybelline expert eyes in Plums. The dark plum shade is really not as dark or as glittery in the picture. You need to use a LOT of it in order for the colors to show. And the highlighter is slightly pinkish. I don't use this one as often because it has a lot of fallout, which irritates my eyes. However, since it's barely used, I feel like it's such a waste. Photographed it to remind myself to USE THIS. :P


Quite regret buying this... was at a stage where I wanted MORE neutrals / nude shades, so I got this ZA Eyes Vibrante in E2. All 3 shades are very light and shimmery, not much pigmentation. It would be great if the colors came out as how they look like on the palette.

This is my second go-to palette every morning, and it's a gift from my sister! Ain't it great to have a sister that DOESN'T like wearing make-up? :) And I don't know why, she keeps getting free make-up, so I have a few items from her. :) This one is Clinique's Color Surge Eye Shadow in "Strawberry Fudge". I just love it! The shimmery pink eye shadow goes so well with the shimmery brown. Not toooooo glittery that it becomes inappropriate for work, and the colors are surprisingly pigmented. Suitable for a more feminine look, I occasionally wear this on the weekends as well cos it's so awesome. :)

I just realised that I have zero brand loyalty! Hahaha. Oh well, variety is the spice of life! :)

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Everyday Minerals Haul

As I've mentioned before, I bought Everyday Minerals make-up when I saw RiceBunny talk about it back on her Xanga days. Oh RiceBunny... she's probably the best 18 year old sales person of her day. ;) Thanks to her, I bought
-- Boots No. 7 lipgloss in "Flirt"
-- a Lancome Designer eyeshadow in Metallic that I use for the smokey eye look (just like what she recommended...)
-- Everyday Minerals (a tonne of stuff, even stuff she didn't recommend)
-- aspirin... and became a devout user of the aspirin mask
-- L'oreal H.I.P duos in Dynamic, Flashy and Reckless (Will blog about them another day)

But after a while I stopped because most of the stuff could only be gotten in America, or were from websites that only shipped within the US. Also, because after I used Everyday Minerals and liked it a lot, she did a turnaround and then said it wasn't as good as _____ brand. I was like... huh? Suddenly EM is NOT good? But I wasn't rich enough to rush off and buy the new brand, and I was pleased with the results I got from EM, so I continued using it.

I started using Everyday Minerals before mineral make-up became a big thing in Malaysia and you could get mineral make-up from the bigger brands like Maybelline, Revlon, etc. (Now I can't seem to find it anymore as the "in" thing now is BB Cream.) However, had to order it online, and they only shipped within the US, so I've not been shopping there recently. It's a shame because I really like the stuff there. They've also severely revamped the website til I don't know what's going on. I also used to like the "sets" that they had. It made the things there affordable. Now you can't get sets anymore and you have to singularly buy the stuff there. Kinda meh for me. I also don't really like their packaging because it is prone to spillage. There was once when I opened my package and there was fine powder all over the package. Found out one of the powder blushes had leaked. Sigh...


Having said all the negative stuff, the make-up itself is really good though. Based on what I've tried there, here are my opinions :

(1) EM brushes are AWESOME. Especially the kabuki brushes. They are easy to clean, and they feel so soft on your face. Other brushes that I've used don't even come close. (I once had a Maybelline kabuki brush that felt more like coconut bristles... and the Boots one, though soft, is not as soft as EM's one).

This is the picture of the kabuki brush that I have, from the website. Forgot to take a picture of my brush, now lazy to upload. :p

(2) The foundation series with four different formulas, great for every occassion. I've only tried 3 out of the 4, but here's my take on what I did try :
a. Original Glo - very light coverage, great for those who have flawless skin to give light complexion coverage and highlights, and a dewy, glowy, look. However, I am not such a fan of it because in Malaysian weather, this tends to look oily rather than dewy after a few hours. When I was in US, it looked great though because I barely sweat there. It's a really good foundation to perk up dull skin.

b. Semi-Matte - alright coverage which doesn't clog pores. No "sparkliness" like Original Glo, but we are going for more coverage here, not dewiness. I like Semi-Matte and I think it's suitable for our country.

c. Matte - super "full" coverage which I use sparingly, or mixed with original glo because I feel like it might be too "heavy" for my skin.

d. Intensive - the website says that this formula is "oil absorbing, perfectly matte and used for heavier coverage in humid climates. It is for those with oily complexions who want the look of matte." This would sound like it's perfect for Malaysian weather, but since I felt that matte was already so "intensive" for me, I was glad that I didn't get it. However, in the spirit of trying all things out, I do plan to get this in the future. ;P

(3) The blushers and eyeshadows come in some pretty amazing shades and there's so much of it in each full-size pot that it's hard to finish. I love the shimmery, sleek finish of the ones that I got - Spin Cycle, Pressed Olive and Movie Night! All 3 colors are suitable for casual outings or for work.

Spin Cycle - a very light shimmery lilac.

Pressed Olive - a light shimmery green color.

Movie Night - a barely-there nude shade. I don't think it's very "movie night" as that name spells glamor to me, but I think it's more like a "let's go and watch a flick in the cinema" type of casual date "movie night".


For blushers --- I don't think I'm ever going to be able to finish my three full-size pots - Apple, Sunday Brunch and B&B. Apple looks like a light pink color, but it comes on darker and is suitable for a sexy look, suitable for night events. This, despite the website saying that it is a "light and rosy" shade. Maybe I'm a little too heavy handed!


Meanwhile, Sunday Brunch looks darker, but when applied, looks earthier, giving a suntanned type of look. I actually use Sunday Brunch more often than Apple, because it's a more suitable daytime look. By the way, this is a discontinued shade, you can't find it anymore on Everyday Minerals.


As you can see from B&B, this is a super coral shade, with lots of shimmer! Better for bronzing and shading actually. When I wear this, it's super orangey, and I'm not used to it! But I'll try to make this work, must not let it go to waste!


Oh, I also got a black powder eyeliner shade from them, but have not used it as I'm not sure HOW to do so. Hahahhaa. *lame*


(4) The free gifts! I try to make my purchases when they have free giveaways (you can find out by clicking on "Try Me Free" and then "Promos". At the moment, they are giving away Kaolin Powder Sunlight, Natural, Pearl Beige and Pink Ribbon Blush for all purchases over $18). During my last purchase, I got 2 free eyeshadow shades from their Christmas collection specials. During festive seasons, they have new shades that can't normally be bought off-season. I got a glittery-gold-green shade called Tinsel Time and a dark green shade called Mistletoe.


When I first saw Mistletoe, I was pretty aghasted. When could I EVER wear such a glittery dark green shade? I'm pleased to say that this shade actually works quite well for a smokey eye look with a difference!


(5) The free samples! To lure you into buying full-size ones in the future? You get to choose a free "Try Me" kit with every purchase, and it's a mixture of foundation colors and blushers (I think, I can't really remember). I got a few foundation shades to try out, but in the end Olive Fair was the shade for me and there was no doubt about it. I also tried Sunkissed Fair (Olive Fair is a better match, though this was not too bad) and Sunlight (too light for me).

Thanks to the free samples, I also got All Smiles, which is a matte blusher in a very light, rosy pink. It's not too bad, but because it's in a tiny sample kit bottle, I have to transfer it to a bigger pot to use, and that can be annoying. Color-wise, I find it similar to my Dandelion powder from Benefit, except Benefit is more shimmery.

Oh, I didn't talk about this (cos I rarely use it - regret buying the full size), but I also got the multitasking concealer & finishing dust. It's alright when I want to go all "heavy duty" with my make-up...


I plan to replenish my base foundation, but Everyday Minerals *still* does not ship to Malaysia. This would be ok for me, as now they have stuff like VPOST to do the re-directing to your home country. The trouble is, my BILLING address also can't be Malaysian. This sucks! :( I really wanted to get the following stuff :

-- Olive Fair for original glo, semi-matte, matte & intensive
-- Chamomile eyeshadow - a light yellow shade with sparkles!

-- Oasis eyeshadow - a shimmery copper shade!

-- The Imagination Kit which consists of 4 eyeshadows (Floating Feathers, Lip Lock, Prettier in Pink and Samba Lessons), 1 lipstick (Enough Talk, Kiss Me) and 1 blusher (SoCo), comes in a drawstring bag.

P.S : if you're wondering how I managed to get my stuff LAST time, I used to know someone who was willing to lend me their credit card number. ;p

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