LP - The USA edition: Plump Potion Needle-Free Plumping Lipstick in Pink Nude Potion, Rose Pink Potion and Mauveberry Potion

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And another part of my Physicians Formula haul =) I got 3 of the lipsticks as the colors looked beautiful online and the price wasn´t high either (€5.92/each)... I am not much into plumping lip products as many of them are somewhat painful but I wanted these lippies nonetheless =)

The packaging is simple but quite fine looking in my opinion.. the lipsticks are a bit clunky but I actually like that as since they feel heavy they don´t have that cheap appearance.

The formula is actually very nice which I didn´t expect at all for some reason! The lipsticks are very soft and creamy and feel moisturizing and comfortable to wear. These lipsticks are actually so soft that 2 of them broke at the base after some time, maybe due to having them in my bag when I went out into the hot Egyptian weather....

These lipsticks have a slightly minty taste and feel slightly cool and tingly within 1-3 minutes after application. The feeling doesn´t last long and isn´t very strong to start with so it doesn´t bother me at all, on the contrary I like the slightly cooling feel =)
I can´t say if these lippies actually plump my lips but the shiny finish makes my lips look full anyways.

PF also lists this as "redefining your lip contour" and hydrating (e.g. it includes hyaluronic acid). You can read more about it here!

Pink Nude Potion: I totally detest this color. It´s a white with a pink tinge and looks totally gross on me =X

Rose Pink Potion: this on the other hand is an absolutely gorgeous gilded peach pink with a very nice almost metallic finish.

Mauveberry Potion: a deeper creamy pink with a glossy finish. Love this one, too!

Overall these are good lipsticks and totally unexpectedly a nice find at a very cheap price (I can get like 4-5 of these for the price of e.g. a Coffret d´Or lipstick). I may have some other Japanese lipsticks that are better but the PF ones are definitely worth getting!

Rating 4.5/5

LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liner palettes part 1

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Until now I collected almost all of the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips eyeshadow palettes (Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liner) and will find the last few colors in my mailbox when I return to Austria next week =D

There were 5 collections, each containing 4 palettes for brown, hazel, blue and green eyes so until today there were 20 palettes released. So each palette is targeted to enhance a certain eye color but surely that can´t prevent me from trying all the colors hehe. 
The collection were the classic one, smoky, pop, eye candy and bronzed. You can see the colors here.


Unfortunately when I received the palettes (in several batches) I took the pics mixed so I am not going to review them by collection which was to be perfect but instead you will find different collections mixed in each part. Sorry about that!

Western drugstore eyeshadows usually are of lower quality with a lack of pigment (at least that´s my experience) or maybe I should say used to be as the general quality seems to slowly improve. That being said not all Japanese drugstore brands are great, some are quite inconsistent like Kate (as they have good and really bad shadows)...

My friend Iris seemed to like her Shimmer Strips palettes in she used in this post so I felt assured I would like the palettes so I went ahead and placed my drugstore.com order =)

The Shimmer Strips palettes come in lucent bulky plastic cases that can scratch rather easily so I handle mine with a bit more care than some other palettes. Each palette has a sponge-tip applicator that´s not very useful for me and there is no mirror.
Packaging-wise these are rather simple but I still like them anyway =)
Each palette contains 9 eye shadows arranged in trios for 3 different looks: Natural, playful and dramatic. So usually the top 3 colors are the softest, the 2nd trio is the most colorful and the 3rd has the most dramatic/dark shades. The 3rd shadow in each trio is smaller as it´s supposed to be the liner shade thus should be used least. I mix and match the colors anyway so I usually ignore that trio-scheme but it might be useful for makeup beginners or in a rush or something.

As the name suggests all shadows are shimmery, though in various degrees of intensity. Some colors lean towards frosty, some to a softer slightly shimmery satin finish with the majority being quite shimmery. However none of the colors seems to contain any sort of rougher glitter like some Japanese brands so that´s really awesome for me =) I love shimmery/metallic shadows but don´t really care for glitter!

The amount of pigment varies among the palettes however no color is a dud as all show up on me when using my regular eye makeup brushes. Some colors are super pigmented, some are a bit sheer but as I said, all show up well on me.... which is actually something I didn´t expect from such inexpensive palettes.
The Shimmer Strips palettes blend very well and wear all day long over my Etude House Proof 10 base even here in the sweaty hot Egyptian weather which is always the best condition for me to test out the wearing power of makeup! (I am in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast so humidity is rather high here, too!). I didn´t experience ANY kind of creasing or fading so I am absolutely impressed (the Proof 10 base is really good though!).

These shadows don´t irritate my eyes either and they are hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers and fragrance free.

Overall I am very impressed with these little palettes and think they are really value for money (RRP somewhere around US$11 but I know that many US drugstores offer rebates, sales etc.). I got them from drugstore.com for 20% off (so I paid around €6.50/each).

Rating 5/5

Here are the first some palettes, I will review all the other ones later on in part 2 (and possibly a part 3 as well).

-Smoky Green Eyes:

A nice combination of greens, grays, silvers etc.


-Classic Green Eyes:

The original palette for green eyes. Contains soft greens and plums. This palette is a bit sheerer than most others.


-Pop Green Eyes:

A very colorful and funny palette containing aquas, bright greens and purples.

-Green Eye Candy:

An array of purples (one side leaning towards pink, one towards a cool grape tone) and a fun bright lime green in the middle!


-Hazel Eye Candy:

One of my top fave palettes as it´s a taupey/pink combo.


-Classic Hazel Eyes:

A soft taupe/brown/dusty pink palette. This is one of the most neutral office-appropriate palettes, also the shimmer is more subdued in this particular palette.

-Classic Brown Eyes:

A very wearable purple/brown/peach palette.


-Smoky Brown Eyes:

This is one of the most pigmented palettes in my opinion. A pretty variety of silvers, browns and purple. The lighter silver shade is really metallic so I use it lightly =)


More palettes to be reviewed in part 2 soon =)
These palettes pair really nicely with the Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Liners I reviewed here and here!

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