DHC Moisture Care Liquid Lip Color PK04 & RD-01

DHC really makes some great cosmetics, I really enjoy their makeup bases, eyeshadow and blusher palettes... and the Q10 Eye Zone Concealer is one of my daily staples, I think I am on my 3rd pen now.
 
I found these new Moisture Care Liquid Lip Colors on eBay recently when browsing my favorite store (alphabeautyuk) and thought I had to pick up couple of colors to try this product...knowing DHC I expected them to be great!

The Moisture Care Liquid Lip Colors come in really pretty tubes (look at the cute flower details on the silver-pink cap) with a high-quality applicator (sort of flat, long and fuzzy). The texture is creamy but not sticky and the colors are pigmented enough to actually show up pretty well. The finish is glossy but not a mirror-shine.

In my opinion these lipsticks/glosses wear very well, feel moisturizing and fade evenly which is a good thing to me.

These are not scented or flavored so if you are sensitive to fragrance in your makeup this is a good product.

PK-04 is a shimmery beige pink which gives such nice dimension to my lips. This is definitely my favorite color and it´s so gorgeous I wore it several days in a row this week =)

RD-01 is a slightly bright medium pink-red with fine shimmer. A great face-brightener all in all.

Overall I love these lippies and hope to find more colors soon! Alphabeauty is listing a beige and an orangey shade...I might eventually get the beige one but haven´t made up my mind yet.

Rating 5/5

Bubble face wash showdown... who´s the winner?

I have accumulated quite a bunch of bubble face washes (those that come out of the pump as foam) and found them all quite different so I thought of doing a little comparison between them. I haven´t done a product comparison for long time now (except for mentioning similar products in general reviews and comparing them with each other) and I thought it would be fun to compare the foam face washes.


The contestants are:
(1) Kosé Softymo Airy Whip


(2) Juju Aquamoist HA Bubble Face Wash


(3) Kao Bioré Marshmallow Face Wash


(4) DHC Moisture Fruit Foaming Wash


(5) Sana Konuka Bubble Face Wash


1. Packaging/Size/Price (what I paid):

(1) Cute Pink metal can, 180g, US$7.60 (Sasa)
(2) White/blue plastic pump bottle with lots of Japanese writings, 150g, US$9.70 (Sasa)
(3) Pretty white/pink bottle, 160ml, US$13.50 (Adambeauty)
(4) Cute pink bottle, 100ml, US$15.40 (Sasa)
(5) Very large white bottle with Japanese writings (looks nice and somehow traditional), 150ml, US$7.50 (Sasa)
Please note that some of the washes might have a lower or higher Japanese retail price.
Best packaging: DHC, because it´s the cutest bottle =)
Best size: Airy Whip and Kao Bioré offer the largest quantities
Price: The best value for money is definitely Airy Whip, Sana Konuka is 2nd!

2. Scent/Texture:

(1) Very light floral scent with a hint of hair-mousse smell (I think the gas they use for the can). Actually it´s not really fair to compare this to the other washes as this is a mousse and not really a normal foaming wash. The mousse is super soft and dense!


(2) Unscented (slight no-scent-smell though, you know this slightly chemical one). Nice fluffy and rich texture


(3) Light floral scent, very dense and fluffy foam.


(4) Light grapefruit scent (in my opinion yucky), the foam is dense but not as fine as the other ones as you see some larger air bubbles


(5) Unscented (slight chemical smell) and nice fluffy dense texture.


Best scent: Airy Whip, then Bioré. I also like the unfragranced ones (Juju and Sana Konuka)
Best texture: Airy Whip by far, then Bioré and Juju.

3. Cleansing Power/Result:

I should add that I didn´t use any of these to remove makeup, I always use a cleansing oil, then the face wash and I use the face wash alone in the morning. So cleansing power means cleansing my face without makeup.
(1) Leaves my face very clean but nicely soft and doesn´t dry my skin out at all!
(2) This leaves my skin skin very clean, too. This is also mild and not too drying but not as mild as Airy Whip and Bioré.
(3) Again very good cleansing power and not drying at all.
(4) I only used this once and it left my face clean however I reacted to it so the result was a desaster.
(5) Leaves my face very clean however this is quite drying as my skin feels tight and uncomfortable after rinsing this off.
Best cleansing power: I can´t really notice a difference, all cleanse well
Best result: Airy Whip followed by Bioré and Juju.

Overall result:

1. Kosé Softymo Airy Whip is my winner!
2. Kao Bioré Marshmallow Face Wash is 2nd, I really love this one a lot!
3. Juju Aquamoist HA Bubble Face Wash is a great pick, too!
4. Sana Konuka Bubble Face Wash is just too drying for me so I set this aside, will mostly use it up as a body or hand wash
5. DHC Moisture Fruit Foaming Wash just didn´t work for me despite the cute bottle! A real pity! Also this is very espensive considering it only contains 100ml but costs about twice as much as Airy Whip!

I hope you liked my little showdown =) At least it was a colorful post =P

DHC Mild Touch Cleansing Oil

I noticed that this (relatively) new cleansing oil from DHC is getting rather mixed reviews online so I couldn´t resist trying it out myself.
I was intrigued by the cute bottle as soon as I spotted this product online. DHC is really coming up with pretty stuff the previous period, I hope they will continue this way! I just love cute products more than their usual boring simple packaging style.


The Mild Touch Cleansing Oil comes in a sweet baby pink bottle with pretty ornaments printed on. I like how there is nothing written on the front of the bottle except the band and product names.

This cleansing oil is one of the thickest I tried so far. It reminds me a bit of FANCL but is probably even thicker so it´s almost like a oil-gel. It´s not a clear oil as it has a slight milkiness to it. I suggest taking 2 pumps per application and then just massage your face with the oil. The cleansing oil has a very pleasant non-greasy texture and lifts my makeup and other dirt very easily. According to Sasa you can even use this with wet hands in the shower and it will not affect the cleansing power. I haven´t tried that though as I always use dry hands when I use cleansing oil.


It has a light herbal lavender scent which I really love as it smells like real lavender (the Mild Touch Cleansing Oil includes lavender oil)!
What I like most about this oil is how it leaves my skin clean but moisturized. Normally cleansing oil leaves my skin feeling normal to slightly dry so I always follow up quickly with moisturizer but the DHC oil doesn´t give me that feeling. If I use the oil and don´t slap on a cream after 5 minutes I am still fine! I would say this is the most moisturizing cleansing oil i tried to date (please note: moisturizing doesn´t mean greasy at all as the oil doesn´t leave an oily or greasy film at all!).


You can get this on Sasa for US$16.50. I think dhccare.com (the US website) lists this for about US$14. I got mine for US$12 on eBay but paid shipping in addition.
The bottle contains 150ml so price-wise this is just around the majorty of other cleansing oils. It´s a bit cheaper than FANCL but a little more expensive than say Kanebo Kracie Naive or Kose Softymo.

Here is the ingredients list. It seem there are neither parabens nor mineral oil in the formula and all in all it doesn´t have too many ingredients which is a plus for me!


All in all I highly recommend this stuff and will definitely considering a repurchase (I have about 4 or 5 other unopened cleansing oils here though so have to try and use those first!)

DHC Moisture Fruit Foaming Wash

The small Moisture Fruit series from DHC was released not too long ago and is targeted towards younger skin (think teenages or early twens maybe).
The 3 products contain extracts of 5 fruits (kiwi, raspberry, apple, peach and grapefruit) and contain no artificial perfume. In addition there are botanical amino acids added to the products. According to Sasa this is a non-irritating wash (with which I have to disagree as you can read below).


Normally any skincare with "fruit" in the name makes me a bit wary as fruit often means fruit acids which my skin doesn´t stand at all. However I was suckered into buying this Moisture Fruit Foaming Wash as I just thought the bottle it comes in is too adorable!

Generally I love those cleansers that come out of the pump already as foam as they tend to be gentle and not too drying.

Unfortunately the Moisture Fruit Foaming Wash is a big no-go for me! First off I thought the smell is yucky. A very sharp citrus smell but not a refreshing nice one but a rather yucky one. When I smelt this I thought it might be a bit too harsh for me but gave it a try nonetheless.


My skin got red rashes and spots right away after using this. Even applying my trusted Freeplus skincare after using the Foaming Wash stung and burned and it took about 2 makeup-free days for my skin to calm down and settle back to a somewhat normal state.
I think normal or oily skin can handle this wash but for my sensitive delicate skin this was just a bit too much.

The bottle contains 100ml and retails for about US$15. I have seen this on eBay and Sasa (where it is out of stock right now). The Moisture Fruit series also contains a Lotion (toner) and a Gel Cream.

DHC Perfect Pro Eyeshadow Palette in BE03 & PK01

Until a few weeks ago I only owned one of the older DHC eyeshadow palettes (click for pics and short review here).
Recently DHC revamped its Perfect Pro line and released seriously cute eyeshadow palettes, blushes and glosses.

I couldn´t resist the cute compact cases of the new Perfect Pro Eyeshadow Palettes so I ordered 2 as I was curious how the shadows would perform.


The compacts are similar to the blush case (blush review here) but they´re in pink not light gold.


The eyeshadows are shimmery with a silky smooth texture and a good dose of pigment in the darker colors and a more translucent finish in the lighter colors.
The quality is really surprisingly nice for the affordable price of these palettes (I got them from Mihokoshop for less than US20/each so their retail price is definitely some $$ below that).


I got 2 palettes, both on the neutral-slightly warmer side. The lack of colors would be my only minor rant. There are only 6 palettes available and I´d say 5 of them are on the warmer side. The only one that looks really cool is the purple quad I will pick up eventually.
Anyway, I still like the pink combo I picked as it can create a nice natural eye makeup. I haven´t made up my mind about the beige quad as it´s really warmer than I normally like.

BE03 is a golden-toned brown palette for a neutral-warm look. The colors are ivory, light yellow gold, medium golden brown and chocolate. In the palette the colors look much more neutral so possibly that my skin-tone makes them appear warmer than they might look on others.


PK01 is the combo I like more than BE03 because it´s more neutral. The colors are white, light pink, neutral medium brown and deep taupeish brown.


I think I will like PU01 which looks like a nice cool lavender quad. I might let go BE03 soon though as I am not sure if I´d wear it often enough to make it worth keeping it.

DHC Base Makeup Q10 Moisture Care Color Base SPF 22 PA++ in pink

DHC has quite a nice range of face makeup items up for grabs. Among them the Q10 makeup line. I reviewed the foundation which I quite like here!
I am definitely interested to get the pressed powder, too!

I think the Q10 Moisture Care Color Base has been out for some time now but I just saw it recently listed on eBay (alphabeautyuk as usual) so I picked up the pink one.


This makeup base comes in a squeeze tube containing 30g and comes with SPF 22 PA++.


This description is taken from eBay seller Alphabeautyuk:

"It just like an essence! With long lasting moisture care.

"Makeup + Skinare" - Concept

This Q10 liquid foundation contains rich beauty essence contents, and it can be described as an "essence". It gives you a moisture rich, smooth, elastic skin with long lasting performance.

Features

1. Q10 anti-aging & moisture care

• with the highest possible concentration of co-enzyme Q10 content allowed in local Japan, works with super hyaluronic acid, it gives you an advanced moisture care via makeup. While the natural oceanic collagen helps improve the elasticity of skin layer, leaving your skin smooth & supple.
  
• the natural olive essence oil acts as an effective agents against dryness & harmful UV rays.
  
• contains the same ingredient levels as the DHC skincare products

2. Aqua Moisture Veil

• it forms a virtual moisture mask veil cover your skin, the included beauty essence & moisture work together to keep your skin supple & moisture rich, avoid dryness and moisture loss via evaporation

3. Coverage for Fine Lines

• like covering a thin veil over the face, it covers fine lines & uneveness, and making your skin look youthful

4. Sunscreen Support

• with SPF22 PA++ sunscreen support against harmful UV rays.

No fragrance. No preservatives. For all skin types.

The shades available are:

Light Pink
- good coverage, increase skin translucency, and give a light & healthy pink finish

Shiny Beige
- cover skin uneveness, brighten up, and give a natural skin finish

Clear Ivory -cover over-redness, increase skin translucency, and create dimension for the nose part

Natural Beige
- cover skin uneveness, and give a natural skin finish

Cool Green
- cover over-redness and create dimension for the nose part"

I first didn´t know if I should get light pink or green but settled on pink eventually as I just got the green Freeplus base in the same time.


The base is a nice smooth cream but it´s not a very moisturizing or slick formula (but not drying either). Actually at least on me it´s more on the mattifying side but it makes a great base for foudation which clings to the base very well.

The light pink color really evens out my skin nicely covering slight imperfections neatly


This isn´t scented and doen´t irritate my skin at all.

I have to say that overall DHC is growing more and more on me. They released some really fabulous items in the past months, among them my holy grail eye concealer (the Q10 one in Light Beige I reviewed some time ago). Their color cosmetics are really good and cute, too!

I just started using the Moisture Fruit Foaming Face Wash after I ran out of my Juju Aquamoist HA Bubble Face Wash and will also try the Soft Touch Cleansing Oil soon =D
The DHC eyeshadow review will also be up soon (within the next few days).

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!

DHC Platinum White Lasting White Color Base & Cream Foundation

While browsing one of my favorite eBay stores where I like to pick up skin care, body stuff and sometimes makeup I stumled across some interesting makeup from DHC. I actually visited his shop because I wanted to order one of my beloved Q10 Eye Treatment Concealer in Light Beige (I reviewed it here on my blog and used it up on my trip to Egypt!)
Anyways, back to the stuff I spotted =) The whitening makeup series from DHC contains platinum which sounded pretty interesting thus worth trying out.


I purchased the Lasting White Color Base SPF35 PA++ in Ivory and the Lasting White Cream Foundation SP37 PA+++ in OC-00.

The Color Base comes in 5 colors out of which I picked the ivory one. The others are pink, shiny beige, natural beige and cool green.
It comes in a bottle with a strangely shaped cap and you need to shake it before application.


The base is a lightweight milky emulsion with a pale yellowish beige light tint so it evens out my skin a little. I find it creates a smooth canvas for the foundation, too.

This has a relatively strong chemical smell in my opinion which annoys me a little.


All in all a good base but not super special in my opinion. Priced somewhere around US$15 for (only!) 25ml.

The Cream Foundation comes in a simple squeeze tube containing 30g. There are 6 colors of which I picked the one I assumed to be the lightest one (OC-00). I had relatively good luck with DHC foundations so far so I thought it would fit.


The foundation has a really nice creamy texture and goes on smoothly without looking blotchy. The coverage is quite good, about medium I'd say and the finish is slightly dewy.


Sounds great but it has one big problem: the color is waaaaaaaaay too yellow and about 2 shades too dark. Really a pity!
(If anyone is interested email me, I'd let this go for US$14 incl. shipping, tested only 1x).
I paid about US$22 for this +shipping.

All in all a bit of a disappointment as I really like the texture and finish of the foundation but just won't find a color suitable for me!