DHC Perfect Pro Makeup Face Color Palette RS03 & Moisture Care Gloss EX in PK06

DHC seems to have revamped its Perfect Pro Makeup range recently (or longer ago and I didn´t pay attention?) and I have to say the things look now really really pretty and cute! Before it had this kind of boring white plastic appeal (I always liked their blushes and eyeshadows though!) but now you get dreamy shimmery sleek cases with cute butterflies, hummingbirds and flowers printed on!


I spotted the DHC makeup line on Mihokoshop so I placed an order for 2 eyeshadow palettes, a blusher and a gloss as the prices were really affordable (between US$12-19 per item if I remember right)

-Perfect Pro Makeup Face Color Palette RS03:
This blusher comes in a cute shimmery pale golden yellow case with pretty ornaments printed on in white.
The case opens to reveal a mirror, 3 blush colors and a quite soft but small blusher brush.


The texture is fine and silky and the pigment is decent (sheer-medium and buildable so probably suitable for fair-medium skin-tones). All colors have a soft shimmer which gives a pretty glowy finish on my cheeks.


The color RS03 is a gorgeous cool pink palette. I just swirl my brush across all 3 colors as swiping the rather narrow color strips individually is quite hard in my opinion (well, it would work with the tiny included brush but I prefer my usual full-sized brush anyway.


I am using this blush frequently because I really like it!

-Perfect Pro Makeup Moisture Care Gloss EX PK06:
Seems I am getting more and more fond of squeeze-tube glosses =P.
I liked the color swatch for this gloss so I included this with my order, too!
The gloss comes in a nicely sized squeeze tube with slanted applicator.


The gloss is quite thick and sticky with great staying power and a good does of glossy shine. If you prefer slick glosses then this is not your first choice I dare say!
The color PK06 shows up but is surely translucent. It´s a fresh healthy pink with lots of fine shimmer.


This is not scented or flavored and comes in a lot of other colors, too!

All in all DHC impressed me with their cute makeup line. I also like the eyeshadows I picked up so I will be reviewing them soon, too!

Sana Esteny Salt(y) Wash R Spicy (Grapefruit)

I have seen this Esteny Salt Wash from Sana for some time listed on Adambeauty but somehow pretty much ignored it.
When I was browsing last time I noticed it again and placed the one in Grapefruit in my cart.

Sana says about this item: "Just wash! A captivating tight body for you. Massage & Polish Esthetic-Wash. The smoothing scrub massage with condensed salt brings out the taut, glowing body, like a Latin beauty! With Ruby Grapefruit scent."


The Salt Wash comes in a bag with screw-on cap just like you might be used to from shampoo and body wash refills.
I think this way of packaging was chosen due to the texture of the Salt Wash as it´s very thick with salt crystals throughout so it would possibly be hard to squeeze this out of a bottle or tube. They could have filled this in a tub but the bag is more convenient and protects also the contents from water entering during application.
So it´s not the prettiest packaging but convenient at least.


The Salt Wash R has a very thick texture and a grainy feel as it´s basically a thick light orange paste made of salt and some other ingredients. I think there must be oil in this as the Salt Wash feels smooth and when washed off my skin is extraordinarily soft and feels like I applied body oil.
This makes a really fabulous body scrub as the salt crystals slough away dead skin leaving my skin (especially elbows, feet, knees etc.) super smooth and soft. But it doesn´t get dry or tight at all as I said above it seems to contain oil which in the same time moisturizes well. This is seriously one of the best and most effective body scrubs I used so far.
When you rub this on your wet skin it does lather up very lightly, too!


The scent is really yummy! In my opinion grapefruit scents are a bit on the tricky side as they can get a sour or very harsh bitter smell. The Esteny Salt Wash R smells a bit sweet but fresh so I really enjoy this!


I purchased mine from Adambeauty and paid about US$15 incl. shipping (as always add US$2 for registered mail per order). Retail price is 1000 Yen for 250g.
The other kinds available are the Salt Wash B (blueberry scent) which probably has a grainier texture if I understand Sana correctly.
The Salt Wash (regular type I think?) contains 350g and has a fresh floral smell.

Inexpensive Beauty Find: Cosmetex Roland Moisture Skin Care Cream

I am always on the hunt for nice affordable Japanese products and when browsing my various favorite online shops I usually stumble across little treasures from time to time.


Cosmetex Roland is a smaller Japanese brand but they do have a nice variety of stuff and a website where you can read about the company and the products in English, yay! (Click here).
You can get quite a variety of Cosmetex Roland items on Sasa (where I bought this cool face serum with real gold flecks in it for like US$14?) but Adambeauty carries 3 of the Moisture Skin Care Creams, too, so I ordered one (so far). You can get the Moisture Skin Care Creams on Sasa, too (where they cost only US$4.50 plus shipping but since shipping is high unless I order really a lot from Sasa I opted for Adambeauty instead).
Sasa´s variety is here! Whenever I place my next big order with them I will include some more Cosmetex stuff for sure as then it will be really worthwhile.

Anyway, enough blabla, the whole pot of Moisture Skin Care Cream still only set me back US$9.50 which includes shipping for this hefty 220g jar. Not bad in my opinion!


There are 3 or 4 variations of this cream available. I was pondering between Urea and Coenzyme Q10 but finally settled on Q10 as for some reason everything with Q10 is downright attractive for me =)

The Moisture Skin Care Cream comes in a huge yellow tub with a flip-top cover. More practical than a normal screw-on cover but a normal squeeze tube is more convenient and hygienic in my opinion. However there is something lush to dig my hands into a big pot of body lotion and slather it on lol (whereas for my face creams I always use a spatula!)!

The cream is quite rich but not sticky or greasy and absorbs really quickly. I really like it because this way I can apply the cream allover my body and then get dressed quite quickly. My skin becomes super soft and supple and the effect is quite long-lasting.
This cream is not scented but it has this no-scent smell (a little chemical). When it comes to face care I prefer unscented stuff but I generally like if my bodycare smells nice. Anyway, the cream is great and won´t clash with any perfume you might want to wear.


You can apply this on your face (yes, face!), body, hands and feet (well, they´re part of your body anyway haha). Especially for my hands this stuff is really nice! They´re quite dry despite constant moisturization and the Q10 Moisture Skin Care Cream really helps in that department!
I would say anyone with normal-dry skin would enjoy using this. If you have severely dry skin or very oily skin I am not sure how the cream would work with your skin-type.

I also got the Q10 Eye Treatment Cream from Cosmetex which I will review soon, too.

The other types Adam and Sasa carry are Urea and Aloe. I will most definitely pick up a pot of Urea soon.

Sana Black Witch Beauty Secret Bath Salt Soy Bean Cacao

Just thought of doing a quick review of these new bath powders/salts I got a few days ago.

This is made by Sana and comes in single-dose sachets like most other bathing powders from Japanese brands.


The Black Witch Beauty Secret Bath Salt tints your water a deep brown color with lots of fine golden glitters throughout. Looks quite nice!
Also I think this made my skin considerably soft however I found the smell quite icky. It didn´t smell like yummy chocolate but rather like rancid chocolate that got smoked in some chimney or so...yuck!


Good that I only got 2 of these so I won´t be stuck with more of these on the longer run =P
I got mine from Alphabeautyuk on Ebay.

Kao Prettia Bubble Hair Color in Cassis Berry

So I did it! Yay! Today I dyed my hair again as my roots looked off and I was just in the mood for something brighter.

So I dyed my hair with the Prettia Cassis Berry color.


I love the color however I hoped it would be even a bit more vibrant! The overall result is not that different from Antique Rose. This time around I didn´t feel any tingling feeling on my scalp and the smell didn´t bother me as much as when I used Antique Rose.


Here is the before (as you see the red tones from my Antique Rose hair dye I did 3 weeks ago have quite vanished by now. That´s after about 18 washes or so):


And here the after:


And this is the new hair color in natural light on a dreary snowy Austrian winter day. Actually it looks like a strawberry tone. Likey!

Spring 2010: Maquillage Eyes Creator (3D) in BE763

I actually can´t tell you want made me order this eyeshadow palette specifically but something was just terribly appealing about this collection of blah neutrals =)

I am admittedly a fan of Maquillage´s Eye Creator (3D) palettes as they have an outstandingly smooth and pigmented texture with usually a great luminous finish.


This spring season the clean nude eye look seems to be popular among Japanese brands (Kosé´s brands Visee and Beauté de Kosé went for the same theme).
Now I really don´t have a lack of nude beiges, golds and other neutrals in my stash but still something in my head told me to order this palette (you know, that little makeup devil that likes to talk to me A LOT).


Whateva, I got the palette (BE763) this week and eagerly tried it out. I ordered from Ichibankao this time.
I am disappointed and delighted in the same time...read on why! =)

What disappoints me is that the nude shades are all very sheer and one shade is really glittery which is something not found that often in Maquillage nowadays. So I´d say if you have no nude shadows this is a good palette to get 3 different ones at once but I think many have such shades in their beauty arsenal so the palette can safely be skipped.


On the other hand the overall look (while really easily dupable) is really fresh and clean without making my eyes look tired or too small (as pastel colors makes them look a lot smaller).
What I also like about the palette is that the cream base is good and keeps the shadows in place. Also the cream liner stays put and doesn´t smudge at all however it is a bit sheer and not really smooth.


The color are an eggshell pink, pale beige and pale gold. The base is white and the eyeliner is a pretty stone gray which makes a nice soft liner shade.

The whole palette has a sand-dune feeling to me as the powder shadows have wavy imprints and the 2 cream shades have cute shells printed on (they disappear though as soon as you wipe them).

Overall a pretty fool-proof palette but not a must-have. I am sure you will find a more interesting color combo among Maquillage´s palette.

I did the EOTD as recommended on the box:

Spring 2010: Kiss Cosmetics Lip Chocolat Treatment UV & Pure Bloom Cheeks C

Kiss´ collections are usually really tiny consisting just of a few items. This spring it´s no different =) The collection consists of 2 items: Lip Chocolat Treatment UV and Pure Bloom Cheeks C in 01. Both items are a limited edition and will only be here while stock lasts.


I picked up both because I love last year´s Lip Chocolat Treatment and the Pure Bloom Cheeks are pretty much some of the best blushes out there (especially as they are affordably priced). I love the Kiss blushes so much that I only took those to my 1 month holiday in Egypt and both colors worked with all the lippies I brought with me (reviews are here and here).

The Lip Chocolat Treatment UV contains a measly SPF 10 PA+ which isn´t that much but better than nothing anyway =) You wouldn´t go to the beach or skiing with this I think though!


Admittedly lat year´s tube was a bit cuter (pink and some more colors) but this year´s has a better applicator (just a slanted one anyway).
The tube contains 8g and costs 1000 Yen. There is a little pouch included (this also comes with the blush) which is downright flimsy and cheap. I don´t see really the purpose for this and I would have preferred a cute box like last year.


The Lip Chocolat Treatment UV has the same delicious strawberry chocolate scent and a very light sweet flavour, too. It´s really yummy and not gross like some other chocolate flavors tend to be!
The texture is similar to last year´s, too. It´s a rather slick very glossy balm that looks great worn alone or makes a nice base for lipstick when blotted a bit. I think it´s pretty nicely moisturizing but I don´t have dry lips at all (I think this comes from contant lipstick-gloss-balm wearing) but I think slathering this on dry lips would feel nice and soothing.


The Pure Bloom Blush comes in a deep brown case instead of the usual tacky gold. Still the compact looks cheap but the imprint on the blushes is really cute (like quilted with hearts). Like the other Pure Bloom blushes each compact contains 2 colors, a lighter and a darker one but the lighter is not light enough to be a highlighter (for me at least).


The texture is silky smooth and the finish is this kind of pretty glow I love so much! The blush has decent pigment and can be layered.
The color of this limited edition blush is a very nice neutral pink beige which looks just gorgeous! I really love this as the color is so flattering and in the same time natural.


The blush retails for 1400 Yen and contains 3.4g. I got mine from Ichibankao. Might be that Adambeauty will stock this soon, too (he carries Kiss and got the last collections in, too).


So overall this is a pretty nice spring release and highly recommended!

Spring 2010: Majolica Majorca Lash Bone Black Fiber In & Lash Enamel Glamour Volume On (or how to mess up a perfect mascara!)

Arggggh!! I hate you, Shiseido! Why, oh why, did you decide it was time to f**k up my holy grail mascara? Why did you think it´s way cool to throw in fibers and make a dupe of your Lash Expander when you already have the Lash Expander in your range??


Thanks to Adambeauty I have another 5 tubes of my holy grail Lash Enamel Glamour NEO on the way to me but how long will they last me? A year or so? =(
I am really pissed, angry, annoyed, devastated and seriously mad at Majolica Majorca! But they keep doing that anyway, no matter what I write. My beloved 24hr Powder Fantasia was replaced with the very mediocre Pore Cover thingy, too!


Ok well, the revamped mascara itself is not bad but it´s no way a VOLUMIZING mascara! Also I hate fibers in my mascara unless I am opting especially for a lengthening formula (which I nearly never do so I rarely use my Lash Expander Frame Plus). Ok, the mascara itself is bad indeed =(


I want to add that the new comb sucks, too! Yep, it sucks! The old one is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. So I said it, thank you Shiseido for your wonderful new LENGTHENING mascara!


The older version Lash Enamel Glamour NEO is just perfection for me: it´s volumizing, keeps a curl like no other mascara, is deep black, has a great comb that lets me reach the very roots of my lashes and is quite easy to remove (it is waterproof so I surely need an eyemakeup remover). But the new one? Pffffffft. No volume and fibers (but to be fair it does hold a curl and it doesn´t need a lot of force to remove it) =(


So if you like a lengthening mascara you might like this mascara in fact. But for me =( =( =(

Ok, enough whining. On to the base. I always use a mascara base, my faves are from Kate, Coffret D´or and Majolica Majorca.


The new one is "improved" as it contains some black fibers in addition (they seem to love fibers these days!). Well, I don´t mind the fibers in mascara bases though.
I honestly think this is a good base but not much different from the previous version. I can´t really notice the black fibers on my lashes, they still look grayish/whitish when applied. The mascara adds a bit of length and volume and makes a good curl-keeping base.


Nooooo, I am not suffering from some gross hair-growth! These are the fibers in the base =P


All in all I am still in shock about the new mascara and might have to see a therapist soon =X


I got the mascara and base from Ichibankao who offered a perfect fast service as always!