Givenchy Teint Couture Metal Cushion - Mini Review and Comparisons

When Sephora was having a VIB/VIB Rouge member sale, I decided to take the plunge and purchase the Givenchy Teint Couture Portable Fluid Foundation (official label-I will just refer to it as their metal cushion). I've liked Givenchy foundations in the past and when I tried the testers for this one in the store; the product did feel very light and moisturizing while giving a really nice finish. 

Sleek compact

Includes a puff that sits right on the metal plate

Push down on the plate and the foundation comes up

 So this item isn't my first metal cushion. The first one I tried was by the Korean brand VDL. It stood out in the sea of cushions because of the metal plate which felt more hygienic than the foam cushion and it does give a pleasant cooling effect when you apply the product. The second version that I tried was by another Korean brand SU:M37 which I purchased mainly because the casing was really pretty.

VDL x Kakao Friends case

SU:M37 x Bahk Seon Ghi

Right: SU:M37 Air Rising Glow Cover, Left: VDL Beauty Metal Cushion

Now how does the Givenchy compare to these metal cushions? Structurally the compacts are pretty much the same even though the Givenchy one is made in France while the other 2 are made in Korea. A relevant note on cushion compacts (metal or foam): the inner cushion part are usually meant to pop out and be replaced after a certain period of time. Korean cushions often come with a filled case and an additional refill. The Givenchy even with the high price tag - does not come with a refill and none are available for sale. However, the cushion does pop out and does fit in the other metal cushion casings and vice versa. 

Inner metal cushion part separated from the case (you just have to push on the center bottom)

Givenchy metal cushion in the SU:M37 case

As much as I liked the finish and feel of the Givenchy cushion foundation I ended up returning it because none of the 6 shade offerings seem to work for me. I picked up 4 Fresh Beige which ended up being quite pink once I applied it to my face. No. 3 Fresh Sand seemed to be a bit more yellow/neutral but too light and 5 Fresh Honey was definitely too deep. For comparison, here is the Givenchy swatched against the Korean cushions which are also limited in how well they match my skintone but I work with it.  Once I had done these swatches; I didn't realize before now deep the Givenchy shade appeared to be especially against the other shades - Sephora does seem to have tricky lighting....

Indoor; natural lighting

Indoor; direct window lighting

Overall, I was disappointed that the shades for the Givenchy Teint Couture Cushion didn't work for me (although wallet was happy) even though the formula seem really nice. It did give a lovely blurring effect and natural finish. The Korean cushions may not have as appealing formula and texture (the foundations are a bit thicker and do have a dewier finish) but for half the price and twice as much product - they are pretty good. I hope that Givenchy will eventually expand their shade offerings and provide the opportunity to purchase just refills then this product will definitely have the appeal for me to throw my money at it once again.

Missha x Line Friends - Tension Blusher Cushion, Jelly Tint, Tint Remover and Dual Blending Cushion Eyeshadow

The other adorable collection that caught my eye is the Missha x Line Friends collaboration. Line is another mobile communications app with popular sticker characters that have popped on on a variety of merchandise. Missha came out with a collection earlier this year but as much as I liked the packaging; I didn't think I would use the items much. Last month, the product line was expanded and I decided to get my hands on some goods.

 

I purchased the Tension Blusher in CR02 Rose Dress, Jelly Tint in Maple Latte, Dual Blending Cushion Eyeshadow in London Trip and the Lip Tint Remover. The mug pictured was an add on item with my purchase for a small price.

In the earlier releases, there were face cushions released with a similar Brown (name of the character) case. I figured the shades would be too light for me so I resisted ordering. So I was glad to see the Tension blushers released since the compact is so cute. It looks very similar to a standard face cushion however it is smaller and the inside has a mesh that goes over the product so you dab the puff on that instead of direct contact with a sponge. I'm guessing it's a means of keeping the product contained since the blush is a thin liquid. CR02 Rose Dress is a natural looking deep pink that give a nice flush.

Inner lid and puff

Mesh overlay

The next new addition to this collaboration is the Jelly Tint. It's a pretty opaque liquid tint. I was mainly interested in the Maple Latte color because it wasn't the standard red, pink, orange shades that are usually released. It's a lovely muted dark rose color. The tint remover is a clear liquid gel that comes in a pump bottle. I did one pump, applied the gel and wiped off the product. It did seem to work well without drying my lips.

Cony!

The last item I ordered was the Dual Blending Cushion Eye shadow. The shade London Trip has a light bronze color on one end and a dark shimmery brown on the other end. The product goes on smoothly and last well with a primer.

London Trip

Swatches l -> r: London Trip, Rose Dress and Maple Latte

That was my Missha haul! Going to try the curb the lure of the other cute items that may be coming out soon but I hope you found the post helpful.

The Face Shop x Kakao Friends - Sun Cushion, Photogenic Sun Blur, Melting Color Lip Creamers and Sheet Masks

The Face Shop recently released a Kakao friends collaboration that had some super cute items. In case you're wondering - Kakao is a South Korean Internet company that offers a variety of services. The most popular being Kakao talk - a free messaging service. The Kakao friends are characters in the app and help to liven up your messages. Each one has a different personality, which you can read about here. The most prominent one in this collaboration is Muzi- a radish dressed up as a bunny. I love bunnies so I couldn't resist getting a few pieces.

Baby Sun Cushion and Photogenic Sun Blur.

A big focus for this collection is suncare. The baby sun cushion has SPF34 PA++ and ingredients that are gentle enough for a baby's skin including organic Sunflower Sprout Extract and a Mineral UV filter. It can also be washed off with water. I primarily got this for the adorable case which is matte and the design is printed on (not a sticker). It is re-fillable once the sunscreen runs out and I discovered that it is compatible with iope cushion refills. 

The puff is so cute; the white tray lifts to reveal the cushion.

 The other suncare item I ordered was the photogenic sun blur which has SPF50+ PA+++ and promises to brighten your skintone and give a soft-focus effect. I was looking to see if this would be a suitable primer under foundations and it seems to work. It does deliver a brightening/smoothing effect. One negative is that it does have a fairly heavy scent - reminds me of a shampoo - maybe pert plus?

Top: right out of the tube; Bottom: blended

There were also some Melting Color Lip Creamer (what a name) shades released. I picked 10 Fresh Muzi (bright orange) and 12 Cute Frodo (peach). They are pretty pigmented and have a hydrating lip balm texture and contains sugar so it will "melt" on your lips.

Cute packaging

Caps twist off. Right: Muzi, left: Frodo, about 3 swipes?

The last item I got from this collection were the sheet masks. They are sold individually or in a box of five (one of each character). I got the box of five and these masks are a bit scary because they do have the character faces printed on the sheet. I had received 2 bonus masks - Frodo (Olive - Moisturizing) and Neo (Blueberry - Resilience) and tested both out. They were ok masks but they were more novelty than anything else.

R-> L: Frodo (Olive - Moisturizing), Neo (Blueberry - Resilience), Muzi (Apple - Soothing), Tube (Cotton seed - Brightening), Apeach (Hyaluronic acid - Hydrating)

It's a cute collection and I think all the products are pretty solid. I do wonder if this was a one-off collab or it will be expanded in future seasons. It would be nice to see a regular cushion or other lip products (personal fave is the ink lipquids). Other types of items in this current collection are concealers, eye shadow palettes and purfume. Hope you liked this post; it's been ages since my last entry but I wanted to share some pics/info on these since they are still pretty new and my next post will be about another cute collaboration that was released last month as well- stay tuned!

Glambot Selling Experience

What to do when you're a former? retired? beauty blogger with way too many items and not enough time to manage selling items through your own blogsale? You try to see what options are available online. You come upon a site that will take in make up items, give you an offer in cash or store credit (with a bonus amount) and you think that it's exactly what you need to purge and clean up/out your collection.

The first time I used glambot to get rid of my items. I got a pretty great offer (over $300) for my lot of probably close to 50 items of mostly high range items (Chanel, Dior etc.). My next offer was around $250 - ok, I thought it was probably because I sent a lot with more mid range items (Mac, Lorac etc.). Subsequently, my next offer was even lower. It took forever for my parcel to be processed (over a month and a half). I was being patient since it was getting close to holiday time) but it was hard to get a response from customer service to check the status. Another instance, when I finally received an offer, I was told xyz brand was not accepted even though I found items from those brand available for purchase and text that cited they would take any brand with items being sold through their website. I was able to receive a slightly better revised offer with some pushing.

My most recent experiences will probably be my last since the offers have been very meh but hey, I need to more space in my apt and items need a better home (hopefully) so I've accepted them instead of dealing with having items returned (which you will have to pay back shipping for). I have read stories of equally low balled amounts for items so I feel better know others have been in the same boat.

Glambot has been faster in their processing so I will give them that credit but I definitely question their fairness in deciding what offer will be given. I've asked them for more feedback and clarification in the past to understand my low(er) offers and have been brushed off. It would be nice to know if only x out of y items were accepted or something concrete like that to base the offers on. I was told that "desirability" was one of the main factors in establishing the offer amounts which leads to a lot of grey for them to use. Maybe, they've gotten more popular so they don't "desire" the items I'm sending since they have items from other people? It's also a bummer that on the site, if you are a buyer - you only see a stock photo rather than the actual item you are purchasing. I think in the beginning it use to be an actual picture. No purchasing from me, but that is another point that makes me wary with this company. So that's been my experience. I'm glad I was able to downsize my collection but moving forward, I will find other sites to use or will try to go back to posting on my own page.

MÜLE (뮬) - Sparkling Star Palette (스파클링 스타 팔레트)

Since it had been awhile since I had seen any new products from Mule, I did a quick search on eBay and spotted a listing for a palette but I thought the price was a bit high. I did a search on Gmarket and found much more reasonable prices so I decided to get over my Gmarket hesitations and placed an order.

The palette was larger than I expected; each pan is about the same as the Mac Pro Longwear eyeshadow pans. There are 2 rows of powder eyeshadows and one row of lip/cheek cream colors.

A tube of Chanel Coco Rouge for size reference

There was a leaflet included that had 2 looks and color names.

 Swatches were done indoors on bare skin with natural lighting, no flash. 

Shade names are based on google translate results.

 First row: Sugar Lily (Lavender), New York Yellow (Gold), Apple Green (Lime green), Shot Black (Charcoal Grey), Talk Pink (Beige Pink)

 Second row: Honey Brown (Taupe), Deep Blue (Violet), Strawberry Macaroon (Bright Matte Pink), Luminous White (White with gold sheen), Deep Purple (Brown Purple)

  Third row: Holiday Red (Warm Red), New York Pink (Pastel Pink), Holiday Orange (Bright Tangerine), Nude Beige, Splendid Pink (Fuchsia)

The eyeshadows have a nice soft texture and go on fairly smooth although there is a bit of kick up when dabbing with a brush. When applied over primer, the colors last close to a full day with just minimal fading. I've only used the lip/cheek colors on the lips and they have nice pigmentation. They aren't the most moisturizing so I would suggest using a lip balm underneath. To see the palette in action, here are 2 looks from Jung Saem Mool's channel - Look 1, Look 2; I do believe that these are the same looks that are shown in the leaflet.

MÜLE(뮬): Make Your Own Rule Theme 1 Make Up

I thought I had posted about this make-up collection but quickly realized that I had dropped the beauty blogging ball on this topic. So *cough* these items were purchased last year. MÜLE is the beauty brand from Jung Saem Mool, a popular Korean make-up artist. I had discovered her youtube channel and liked the tutorials that were posted but I had not realized she had released a make-up line till a few other bloggers were tweeting about some of the items. I visited the channel to see what they were talking about and the items piqued my interest. I was still fearful of using gmarket at the time so I ordered a set from evil-bay that included the Artist Essential Primer, Artist Correcealer Balm in Shade 02, Artist Curve Brush & Puff and Moist Fixing Powder.

 Boxed items and a pamphlet that was included (along with an intruding cat)

Items unboxed

Artist Essential Primer

 

A dual phase liquid that consists of 7 plant based essential oils.

 Artist Correcealer Balm in Shade 02

 

Compact includes a fingerprint sponge. There is a mirror under the tips sheet on top.

 

On the right, there is a removable screen. 

 

Shade 02 has a peach face color and a foundation shade (I'm guessing suitable to about NC30). The foundation has a consistency similar to Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua but has a heavier feel to it. I found the foundation balm to be a bit light for my skin tone and the undertone was a bit off. I can wear this shade during winter months but the color match is so so.  I will try to update with a swatch.

Upon opening the lid, the screen is to help remove excess when using the Artist Essential brush and the surface next to the screen is for use with the fingerprint puff.

Artist Curve Brush and Puff

 The brushes were the most anticipated items from the set. The brush is very soft and dense and works well with liquid and cream foundations. The puff is nice with cream blushes and I like the option of not having to apply blush with my fingers. 

I've washed the brushes a few times and they've both have held up well - no shedding or distortion.

Moist Fixing Powder

A setting powder with pearl particles. Gives a nice soft finish when applied. The puff is designed to emulate a fingertip and you apply the powder in dabbing motions to the face. The top does crew off so you can use a brush if you prefer. This powder reminded me of the Mac Magically Cool Liquid Powder from the Disney Villains Collection.

Here's a video showing all the products in action. This brand is a bit hard to purchase outside of Korea but gmarket is a decent option if you are interested.

Insta nails

I've been a bad blogger but I've been trying to be active and share through instagram...Here are a few polish related pics~

 Base is L'oreal Tea and Crumpets. Stamping with a BM plate and topshop polish.

 Hare polish in Pegasus and King of Caratflowers

 Cirque polish in Galinda and XX

 Hungry Asian polish

 New Revlon polishes: Eclectic, Enchanting, Urban and Girly

Revlon Girly vs. nails inc. Topping Lane vs. Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop

I used Revlon Eclectic and Enchanting, along with theFaceShop BL601