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

If you see this post on another site than lotuspalace.blogspot.com it has been stolen and used without my permission. I only allow reposts with proper credits for my work (please contact me first!)!
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

Summer 2009: Sonia Rykiel Sparkling Face Powder & more from my Egypt trip

I had been lusting over the new Sonia Rykiel Sparkling Face Powder (esp. the blue-pastel version) for some time now but I just didn´t think the price (somewhere around US$50) was that right. While I would shell out that amount on Lunasol or Jill Stuart Sonia Rykiel often just doesn´t perform too well so I never buy their stuff at full price (though recently I got some items I really like...also cheaper on ebay hehe)... anyway I got the powder for less than half the retail price so I was quite pleased to score it on eBay for such a good price!


The Sparkling Face Powder comes in a gorgeous metallic aqua compact (so summery!) and consists of 6 strips of powder in various colors. For your face you´ll have to swirl your brush across the whole compact but you could possible use the individual colors as sheer shadows. The powder looks baked to me as it has this typical baked feel/texture/finish.


The look you´ll achieve with this is like a glazed bronze, almost metallic so for me it´s rather OTT as a bronzer to use on your whole face (maybe except for evening wear). Also the color is a bit too dark on me so a light hand is needed.
It´s lightly scented like all SR products.


While I took the Lunasol bronzer (reviewed very recently) with me and use it nearly daily I left this at home because it´s too dramatic for my taste.

I thought of also posting some pics of our trip to the Egyptian North Coast (Marina). We spent 2 days there in my dad in law´s beach house. There are 2 great pools (1 is shown, my son is on the very right hehe).


On the first day we only went swimming in the pool for the whole afternoon and then went at night to Marina to eat in Chili´s restaurant there (yup, my first food porn coming up now lol).


I got the Texas Fries (but only ate half as it was so filling, they´re so delicious but HEFTY! I read somewhere one of these portions contains 2100 calories and 160g of fat! OMG!)


Our desert was this most yummy Molten Chocolate Cake (shared by all of us). I tell you this stuff is pure evil!


In a toys shop I found this hilarious fake! It says "Bod the Builder" lol! Oh and I should take some pics of the funny cosmetic fakes they sell here!


The 2nd day we went swimming again and then met friends to take us for a ride on their boat =D We found this beautiful golden mosque on the way there =D


Today we´re attending my brother in law´s engagement party (and more family stuff coming up the next days so we´re always kept busy! =X)

Summer 2009: Lunasol Shining Face Color EX03

This year's summer collection from Lunasol didn't catch my eye really. The 2 palettes are colors I can't pull off and the lippies and glosses are nice but not outstanding.
However one item peeked my interest right away: the Shining Face Color in EX03. I have the other 2 Shining Face Colors (an ivory/golden one came in the holiday coffret of 2007 and the other lavender/pale pink one was an LE for spring 2009)... and I like them as they are pretty good highlighters.


The new Shining Face Color is a soft bronzer if you're light-skinned or a subtle highlighter if you're more tan. It's interesting to see Lunasol coming out with this as bronzers are a rare thing to find in Japanese brands (rather many items are for whitening not getting more tan!)

The Shining Face Color comes in a sleek compact in Lunasol's signature color (a choclatey bronze metallic). Unlike the cheek colors or face powder the compact and brush are included. The top layer contains the brush whereas powder and mirror are stored below.


I dig the brush! It's buttery soft, wide and slim and picks up just a little color so I can't overdo... I am a bronzer-phobic so anything that packs too much color on and could make me look too dark is a no-go for me.


The powder itself consists of 4 shimmery colors:
The main color is a neutral soft light-medium bronze brown, the smaller strips of color are a light ivory gold (great as a highlighter), a deeper bronze (top right corner) and a beautiful rosy brown on the right which balances out the browns very well.
Even though this is shimmery it's not dramatical so it manages to look polished when I use a light dusting all over my face.
I usually swirl my brush across the whole thing to mix the colors and then apply in swirly motions. I use a bit of the light golden highlighter shade on top of my forehead, my nose, below my eyes on my chin.
I can achieve a healthy very lightly sun-kissed look so I a very happy with this product!


This is only lightly pigmented so I am sure everyone from very fair to tan will find a good use for this powder.

All in all I recommend this item! I got mine from Adambeauty for HK$350 (about US$50). It's definitely not cheap but will last for a long while!

This is only the 3rd bronzer that finds its way to my Japanese beauty stash! The other 2 I like are from Shu Uemura (the lighter one from 2 years ago, I think it's Glorious Sunrise or so) and the LE one Maquillage released 2 years ago (the summer my youngest was born hehe).

I am waiting for a bronzer from Sonia Rykiel which I scored for cheap on eBay... I am curious how this will compare!

Skin79 BB Diamond Collection

From today on I am the proud owner of diamonds. Well, I have diamonds but none that I can smear on my face.

I got the pretty Diamond Collection from Skin79 from Gmarket as I noted below and I'm very pleased that a week after ordering the kit I am able to review it.


My main worry was that the BB cream and other items would be too dark and/or orange-toned. I read in other places that Skin79 BB creams are the darkest on the market and not suitable for light skin-tones.
Honestly the ones I have tried as of today are all some of the palest BB creams and among the least yellow-toned so they're perfect for me.
You'll soon find me doing another BB cream comparison as I acquired quite a few more since my last BB Cream post.

The BB Diamond Collection contains 8 products and I also got 1 full-sized and one trial-sized gifts with it. The kit costs 69000 Won (around US$70) which is the same price as on the official Skin79 website.

The individual retail prices seem to be very high (like over 50000 Won for the BB cream etc.) but some of the products in the kit are discounted on the website right now. However the kit still saves some €€ and I believe it's a fantasic value for he price (the value of the 8 Diamond products is almost 300000 Won so around US$300 which is an outrageous price!)

1: Sun Protection Balm Moist SPF50+ PA+++:



This is an interesting product. The box claims that this sun protection balm is stronger than other sunscreens and that it has a double effect against UV rays. It's a thick light purple solid balm that you apply with the enclosed sponge after your skincare.


This goes on really smoothly and feels smooth and light. It goes on clear, I haven't noticed any white cast when wearing this.
20g

2: The Prestige Beblesh Balm:


I've seen this on eBay in regular pink squeeze tubes but the one in the kit comes in a very elegant pink bottle.
The 3 benefits of this product are:
-Wrinkle Improvement
-Whitening
-UV Protection SPF25 PA++ (UV-A and UV-B)

It contains Adenosine, Arbutin, Diamond Powder, Jewel Complex Powder of Ruby, Amethyst and Pearl and some plant and other ingredients (I see Caviar, Aloe, Camellia and some other stuff listed on the box)


This is a really light-toned BB cream that leaves a dewy shine. The coverage is sheer-medium so if you have real skin troubles this will not suffice to cover it well.
40g

3: Perfect Cover Beblesh Balm:


This is a concealer with more coverage than the BB cream. The box says it's for covering blemish parts, freckles etc.
I was astonished about the odd color of this. It's a strange orange-yellow rather dark cream. The even weirder thing is that it applies rather light and just slightly peachy on my skin so I can actually use it. It blends in well into my natural skin-tone.


The concealing strength of this is good but I didn't apply too much as I don't want the yellow tones to get obvious.
10g

4: Luminous Pearl Beblesh Balm:


The box says that this is a trendy pearl BB Cream that has a light and moist feeling and brilliant pearl to make skin appear luminous.
It comes filled in a big brush with push button on the bottom. It's like the Silky Highlighter BB Touch from Lioele but the Skin79 version is lighter and sheerer so it's a better color match for me.



It's a shimmery pearl cream you apply on the forehead, nose bridge, cheeks and chin for highlighting effects.
20ml

5: UV Screen Pact SPF22 PA++:


On the box it claims that the powder pact effectively protects against UV-A and UV-B rays and that Diamond Powder, Jewel Complex (Ruby, Amethyst and Pearl) give a radiant finish.


A pressed powder compact to use as last step. In my opinion a powder is needed if you use all the other items I described above as otherwise you'll end up looking greasy.
The UV Screen BB Pact is a medium-coverage powder but it's a tad bit yellow. Ir blends into my skin-tone but it's not the best powder pact I tried. Also the puff that comes with it smells like fish (yes, fish). It's just the material it's made of but it's a yucky smell so I applied this with a brush.
The result is satiny skin with a very light yellow undertone. Due to the slightly yellow tint this is my least favorite item of the lot.
This got cakey after some hours of wear so it's definitely not the best powder out there.
13g

6: Star Glow Cheek:


This is a really cute blush compact consisting of white, beige, pinky peach and orangey peach. The overall result is a soft shimmery peach which is really pretty and flattering.


The box states that this consists of natural pink and orange to express a 3D effect with fine pearl to create glossiness and shimmer. It supposedly gives more radiance and vitality as a finishing touch for facial makeup.


Like all the products this contains diamond powder and the Jewel Complex.
10g

7: Star Glow Ball Powder:


This is a highlighter that is pressed into little pastel-colored beads like Guerlain Meteorites or other similar products released by many companies.


According to the box this makes your skin look bright, shining, mysterious and attractive. It gives a translucent effect and corrects facial contours.


All in all this is a nice basic shimmery highlighter that applies as a translucent white on me. It's a pretty addition to the kit and a good finishing touch after applying the other items.
14g

8: Luminous Body Bronz Balm:
This is a soft shimmery bronzing gel for the body, especially the arms, legs and shoulders.


Contains caviar extract and Q10 to moisturize and nourish the skin.
The color of this is a light peachy bronze, it looks really pretty when applied.
45g


One of the gifts in my kit was the Intense Classic Balm UV SPF20 PA++ which is a basic BB cream.
It has the benefits of UV Protection, Calming and Concealing.
On the box it says it is perfect for covering acne, couperose, vitiligo, age spots, sun spots and dark circles.
It's not pore-clogging and soothes irritated skin and furthermore it fights against free radicals.


This has a very fine herbal scent and comes in a rather light pinkish color, similar to the other Skin79 BB creams I tried from Skin79.
From swatching it I'd say it gives medium coverage but I have to try it on my face to confirm that.
43.5g


The other gift was a miniature Super+ BB Triple Function SPF25 PA++ in the Hot Pink version (which I just ordered and received today, too).
I love the Korean companies for giving us cute sample tubes in useful sizes even with a small string to attach it to your mobile phone, key bunch or purse. I have now 2 BB creams, a sun cream and 2 lip glosses to attach to whatever I want hehe.


All in all I am really thrilled with the beautiful kit and know that I will get good use out of it.

Of course I haven't tried these items on the long run so I can't say if they will irritate my skin or not (as it's quite sensitive). Someone told me that she got red bumps from using Skin79 products so sure it depends on your skin-type.