LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blushes, Powder and Light Bronzer

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Sorry for another non-Asian makeup post =) I am just so excited about my Physicians Formula stuff that I can´t stop posting hehe =D

I first stumbled across the Happy Booster products on Rouge Deluxe which is still my favorite blog to read =)
There are blushes, powders and bronzers in the Happy Booster range so I picked up both blushes (Natural and Rose), the powder in Translucent and the Light Bronzer.
All products come in cute pink metallic pink compacts with a clear flip-top cover and a brush and mirror stored below the blush pan. The blush cases are smaller than the powder and bronzers and also are a bit cheaper.
The brush looks quite cute (pink and red bristles!) however the quality is quite low, these will do in a rush though!

All products smell supposedly like violet but to me it´s more of a rose blend... The scent is not that strong but it´s there so if you dislike scent in your makeup you might not be fond of these blushes.
All 4 products have a silky and fineily milled texture and are nicely pigmented (except for the powder).

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blusher in Natural and Rose:


Certainly the blushes attracted me first with their super cute heart patterns and their beautiful slightly glowy finish.


These are quite pigmented and blend very well to a natural finish. These look shimmery at first but in fact these aren´t, they offer a pretty ethereal kinda glow but without shimmer, more of a pearl finish. Very pretty!

Natural is a reddish peach shade

Rose is a nice hot pink shade

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent:

At first I thought this would be only suitable as a highlighter however this is actually a really nice finishing powder for all over the face. It looks as cute as the other products with all the hearts, there is even a pink heart which can be used as a blush (it´s pigmented enough to show up for sure).


This gives a softly glowy finish without glitter...it doesn´t exactly make me look dewy but really glowy.

Gorgeous stuff just like the blushes, has become a daily staple.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Bronzer in Light Bronzer:

I am not much of a bronzer person even though I am so super pale. I like myself pale so I am not into faking a tan I naturally can´t achieve (I am only turning red if I don´t put on enough sun protection).

I got the bronzer mainly to use this as a contouring powder and since PF has lighter bronzers suitable for fair skin I thought I am going to try this one from the Happy Booster range because it´s so cute with the hearts design.
The Light Bronzer works great as a contouring powder as it´s subtle but still does the job well. I am not sure how it performs all over the face as I haven´t used it that way.

This has a pink heart just like the powder which can be used as a blusher.
This product has the same silky pearly finish like the other Happy Booster items.

Overall I totally love these 4 products, they are so pretty, give a gorgeous glowy finish and are affordable (I think I paid around €6.50/each for the blushes and €8-something for the powder/bronzer on drugstore.com).

Possible cons for some might be the scent and the crappy brushes but I don´t care for either.

Rating 5/5

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls Blush in Natural Pearl and Rose Pearl

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As I mentioned before one of the very few non-Asian brands I really like is Physicians Formula, a US drugstore brand. I used to collect a lot of their stuff around 6-7 years ago and have recently fallen in love again with their beautiful new offerings (like all the Shimmer Strips stuff!).

I got the Mineral Glow Pearls Blushes in Natural Pearl and Rose Pearl recently with my drugstore.com haul as they looked very pretty in swatches and youtube reviews.

These are the virtues of these pretty blushes:

These Mineral Glow Pearls are silky and pigmented and blend nicely while lasting very well (even here in Egypt where I sweat a lot).
The finish of these is a gorgeous candlelit glow, in bright sunlight you can see shimmer though (not huge glitter anyways).

The compacts these come in are quite bulky and tend to get scratched easily and the included brush is definitely craptastic (like pretty much all PF brushes, they should just leave them out to be honest) however I still like this kind of packaging for some weird reason...the included mirror is also a nice touch =)

These blushes are unscented and don´t irritate my skin at all.

Natural Pearl: A very pretty lighter peachy pink

Rose Pearl: A cool hot pink

Overall I absolutely adore these blushes and have been using them a lot in the past weeks. I am not sure about their retail price, on drugstore.com I paid €6.51/each plus shipping.

Rating 4.5/5

Jelly Pong Pong Jelly Flush soft, jelly-textured cheek stain

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Jelly Pong Pong provided me with yet another cute product: The Jelly Flush Cheek Stain. It´s a jelly-like blush stick with a translucent finish.

This comes in a push-up stick, please make sure to remove the clear plastic cap covering the top of the jelly which is a bit hard to remove.

The Jelly Flush is nicely scented with a fruity fragrance and is a red translucent stick with a very "melty" texture and a glowy but not shimmery finish...to me it´s not really a jelly though but more of a solid.

The stain is really sheer but can be layered and it blends well on my cheeks. I like the translucent red finish as it´s quite natural that way.
What I don´t like so much is that the stick leaves small pieces as the texture doesn´t spread so easily at first but those can be just crushed with the fingers and blended out and the stain feels a little sticky at first.
The cheek stain lasts all day long on me and doesn´t irritate my skin.

Overall this is actually a really nice cheek stain and in a very flatterng color. It shows up well on my fair skin but since it´s very sheer I cannot say how well it would work for ladies who are more tan.

For those interested you can check the cheek stain and order it here.

Rating 3.5/5

Inexpensive Beauty Find: Canmake Cheek & Cheek in 02 Rose Tiara

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I found a Canmake "counter" or rather stand (but with a Canmake sales person to assist in picking out products) in the Harbour Plaza Mall (in a big Japanese department store but can´t remember the name =X) and hauled some products (I even got a free hair care oil as I purchased stuff worth over HK$500), among them the new Cheek & Cheek blush in 02 Rose Tiara.

The cute little Cheek & Cheek blush consists of 2 colors encased in a clear plastic compact, including a quite soft but tiny blush brush.
This product contains jojoba oil, squalane, hyaluronic acid, cranberry extract, bilberry extract and rosemary leaf extract. Read about the virtues on Canmake´s website here!

This blush seems really finely milled and quite pigmented, especially for such an afforable item (RRP 680 Yen in Japan)! It applies smoothly and evenly and stays on well all day long (as long as my makeup doesn´t melt off in this unbearable heat hehe).
The finish this product creates is a softly shimmery but not too shiny or glittery look.

02 Rose Tiara is a pretty hot pink/light candy pink combo. I like either mixing the colors or use the lighter one like a highlighter. As mentioned it shows up well on my fair skin but can´t comment how it would perform on deeper skin-tones.


Overall a really nice blush with good color pay-off, good lasting power and a pretty glowy finish.

Rating 5/5

Shu Uemura The Art of Travel Make-Up Palette

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Here I am reviewing one of my favorite acquisitions from my Hong Kong trip! Actually this Shu Uemura The Art of Travel Make-Up Palette was the last product I purchased on my trip, a few minutes before midnight when the Duty Free Shop in Hong Kong airport was just about to close.

The Art of Travel Make-Up Palette is a heavy and chunky black and clear plexiglass palette, like the previous Xmas and spring palettes.
The palette contains 4 powder shadows, 2 cream eyeliners and a blusher shade, all in neutral tones for a perfectly polished office/business/day makeup look.

The eyeshadows are very soft and super pigmented (except for the lightest shade) with a gorgeous metallic appearance. The shadows blend like a dream and look very brilliant when applied however like most metallic Shu Uemura shadows they tend to crease a little on me after some hours of wear and creasing is not a problem I usually face with other brands, even metallic and pigmented ones.
The colors are a creamy off-white, muted dusty pink, pink-toned taupe and deep black with some sparkles.


The cream liner/eyeshadows are fine, I definitely like the golden white one for its glistening finish and as it´s a great highlighter for the inner corners of my eyes however the deep brown liner is a bit sticky and doesn´t apply smoothly so it can look uneven and can fade after some time.

The Glow On blush is very pretty as it´s a versatile matte peachy pink. It´s a little sheer though so might not show up so well on everyone.


The includes applicators are of good quality and can work in a rush however for me they can´t replace proper tools.
Overall even though this palette has its small flaws I really like it and the overall look I can achieve with it.

I don´t remember the price, around US$50 or so maybe?
This palette is made in Korea.

Rating 4/5

Summer 2011: Esprique Blend Dimensional Eyes A-4 & A-5, Melty Fix Cheeks RO600 and Aqua Drape Rouge RO670

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Esprique Precious got a revamp and has been renamed in Esprique starting with this summer collection.
The new packaging is a bit more mature than the previous style and reminds me now a bit of how Visée used to look like. I like it anyway and most Japanese brands change their looks quite frequently so Esprique will definitely undergo some changes in the future.

I got couple of eyeshadow palettes, a gloss and one of the new blush sticks during my Hong Kong trip. I don´t remember the prices exactly but I remember compared to the Japanese retail prices it was like 25-30% less.

The new eyeshadow quads are called Blend Dimensional Eyes and consist of 4 powder shadows, 3 of them grouped together in 1 pan and one separately.

The shadows have a silky, pigmented and fine texture with a gorgeous metallic glazed shine and a great blending quality. The shadows have a little fall-out when applied with a brush so as always I recommend doing the eye makeup before the face...or maybe use the included applicators as they seem to be great quality.

Lasting power is excellent, all the colors stay pretty fresh and crease-free for most of the day.

A-4 is a gorgeous neutral taupe-beige quad. The colors are all light and neutral however the metallic shine gives them a more interesting finish.



A-5 is a mermaid-y emerald/seafoam and beige combo.  My favorite shades are the beige (it has such a nice glazed finish) and the emerald.



Overall these are wonderful eyeshadow palettes and I really love them.
Small deduction only for the fall-out:

Rating 4.5/5

The Melty Fix Cheeks is a new series of cream blush sticks, something quite rare among Japanese brands in my opinion.

The black twist-up stick is quite heavy and big and the formula is creamy but not greasy, overly slick or soft.

The blush is pigmented and blends beautifully, I like applying it with a wide foundation brush (got one from Sigma brushes which is really great, will review these brushes, soon!).

This is not scented (like the other Esprique products) and doesn´t irritate my skin at all, furthermore it stays on well topped with a sheer layer of face powder.

RO600 is a gorgeous cool candy pink with minimal shimmer.

Rating 5/5

Last but not least I got one of the Aqua Drape Rouge lipglosses/liquid lipsticks.


I like the quite chunky tube with the nicely shaped and soft applicator. This is a slightly thicker and long-lasting gloss with a very lustrous finish and good lasting power. The particular color I got is quite pigmented but not sure about the other colors.

Overall this is a great well-lasting beautiful lipcolor which is not scented and doesn´t feel drying at all. I think I might pick up a few more colors later on!

RO670 is really beautiful, a golden-tinged rose pink.


The haul incl. freebies from the Kosé counter in Hong Kong:

Rating 5/5