Kocostar Lemon Slice Mask Sheet Review

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

You don’t have to keep on slicing those fruits you have at home because you can get the same amount of goodness with Kocostar’s Slice Mask Sheet! This is the perfect overnight solution to uneven skin tone. Lemon is a natural brightening ingredient which helps reduce the appearance of dark spots and other skin discolorations. This unique mask sheet also allows you to place the patches onto the areas you need more help with. Results are visibly instant after just one use.

Also available in 2 other varieties:
Cucumber - provides moisture and nourishment
Tomato - helps brighten up dull and exhausted skin

My Top 5 Winter Lipsticks (Non-Drugstore)

Winter is the time for darker, bolder colors so I wanted to show you more of my current favorite lipsticks that are not from the drugstore.

My Top 5 Winter Lipsticks (Drugstore)

I've been into darker lip colors this fall and winter which is rather unusual for me. There's something about a bold lip that can brighten up your complexion and dress up your look in an instant. Here are five of my favorite winter lip products from the drugstore.

Dr. Jart+ Dermask Water Jet Soothing Hydra Solution Review

Product Description
A cellulose sheet mask that hydrates, soothes, and calms the sensitive irritation of the dehydrated skin.With its lightweight fiber mask material, this mask effectively delivers essential nutrients and moisture to the pores for an ultimate hydration therapy.This mask provides instant hydration to relieve the skin from dryness and diminish skin flaking. It features Aloe Vera and Phytoncides which are both exceptional ingredients in terms of healing and moisturizing. It contains natural anti-inflammatory properties which will help the skin to stay calm and avoid further irritation. This mask does not contain parabens, sulfates and phthalates which makes it safe for sensitive skin.

Memebox Fifty Shades of Sheet Masks Box

Last week Memebox released a masks box similar to the Year of Masks Vault Box that I went crazy over during the Black Friday weekend. That box is the Fifty Shades of Sheet Masks and is, surprisingly, still available on the site. Either Memebox stocked up on their inventory this time or the box isn't doing too well in the sales department. Whatever the reason is, I'm happy I was able to grab a box.

Tester Korea Haul Part 2

Here's the second part to my Tester Korea haul. If you haven't read part 1, click here to see what I purchased. As I stated in part 1 haul shipping has been much faster than I expected with registered air mail, the cheapest and slowest shipping option. I ordered everything on Nov. 29, received a shipping confirmation email on Dec. 4, and had the package in my hands by Dec. 15.

December 2015 Birchbox

Birchbox is a monthly subscription box ($10 plus tax) of personalized beauty, grooming, and lifestyle deluxe sized samples tailored to your profile. You can accumulate points with each box and redeem those points at the Birchbox shop. If you review all your products in each monthly box, you can accumulate 50 points which is equivalent to $5 and half the value of the box.

theBalm In theBalm of Your Hand Palette Review

The sleeve arrived with a gash through it!

I've always been attracted to theBalm products and their retro packaging. Currently the only product I own and have tried from the brand is the Nude 'tude palette. You can read my review of it here if you're interested. (Oh wait, I have that tiny sample of Bahama Mama from Birchbox that's the size of my fingernail.)  I really wanted to purchase the In theBalm of Your Hand Palette Greatest Hits Vol. 1 when I saw it was released for the holidays. I contacted theBalm and they confirmed my suspicions...The palette IS a limited edition product so grab it NOW if it's calling your name!

Tester Korea Haul Part 1

Everything was packed securely in bubble wrap.

I haven't been shopping at Tester Korea because Memebox has more or less been my jam lately.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Memebox but the company seems to be focused more on their own brand of makeup rather than curated boxes from different Korean brands. Anyway, Tester had a Black Friday event offering a discount on certain brands like Innisfree, Too Cool For School, and Etude House. Not everything I picked up was part of the event but I find their pricing to be lower in comparison to other sites. I made two orders with Tester as a birthday present to myself. I'm still waiting for the second order which is why I've split up the haul into parts 1 and 2.

Memebox A Year of Masks Black Friday Vault Box

Memebox launched three Black Friday Vault Boxes this year. There was a Skincare and Makeup Vault for $149 with a value of $363, a Makeup Vault for $79 with a value of $195, and A Year of Masks for $79 with a value of $302 containing 100 of Memebox best selling sheet masks. Yup, I was gunning for A Year of Masks, as was everyone else it seemed.

DD'ell All About Nature Gold Kiwi Mask Review

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Formulated with mineral rich deep ocean water and vitamin rich gold kiwi extracts, this Moisture Facial Mask delivers instant moisture relief while soothing, detoxifying, and treating skin pigmentation for a much brighter, youthful complexion.
There are 4 other masks in this line:
Snow Brightening Essence Mask
Aqua Collagen Moisture Facial Mask
All About Nature Manuka Honey Mask
All About Nature Tea Tree Mask

HOW TO USE
Place the sheet mask over clean face. Remove after 15-20 minutes. Pat in the remaining mask essence for full absorption.

INGREDIENTS
Main Ingredient: Contains Kiwi Fruit Extract 1000ppm
Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Betaine, PEG-32, PEG/PEG-17/6 Copolymer, Panthenol, Allantoin, Dipotassium Glycyrrihizate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Sodium Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Arginine, Kiwi Fruit Extract, Sea Water, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Fragrance

PRICE
I received the Gold Kiwi mask in a 2014 Christmas Collection Memebox. You can purchase the mask at Spicy Avenue for $3 with a retail value of $7. Spicy Avenue sells two other masks besides the Gold Kiwi. One is in Manuka for dry skin and the other is in Tea Tree for soothing and skin troubles. I have tried the Tea Tree mask and thought it was just okay. All the masks are priced on the high side at $7.

SCENT
OMG this is the best smelling mask I've tried so far! Personally I love anything with a fruity scent and do not really gravitate towards straight up floral scents. I can really smell the kiwi in the mask. I'm not exactly sure how much 1000ppm is but I believe that kiwi is the main ingredient after opening up the pouch. As soon as I opened up the pouch, I got this delicious wave of kiwi/other fruits wafted towards my face. There is a very slight floral scent but it's predominantly fruity. I didn't think I was going to write so much about the scent but, clearly, I love the smell of this mask!

FIT
This is one of the widest masks I've ever used. I'm always complaining about sheet masks never fitting the lower sides of my face. Let me tell you, this covered those areas plus the sides of my neck. If you have an unusually wide face, you'll like the fit of DD'ell masks. There is a huge gap at the sides of the nose which is a common issue but it's a bigger gap than usual. I don't mind the gaps in the nose area as I'm more concerned with covering the sides of my face. There are eye flaps so you can choose to cover your eyes while wearing the mask or move the flaps out of the way.

MY THOUGHTS
Just for reference my skin type is oily, although it does get a little drier in the middle of winter. Some years it will change to combination in the winter but it can also stay oily. It really just depends on how rough winters are in NYC. I also struggle with hormonal cystic acne particularly on the lower half of my face and deal with major acne scarring and hyperpigmentation. Sometimes my skin can also be sensitive depending on how bad my breakouts are. The things I look for in a sheet mask are soothing and brightening effects and sebum control.
The majority of essence in the pouch is soaked up in the mask so there isn't too much leftover essence to use at a later time. I did manage to get two more uses with the essence but I was really digging and scraping it out of the pouch. The sheet itself is fairly durable and is easy to open and place on the face. I thought there would be essence dripping everywhere but, once I placed the mask on my face, there was no dripping or sliding happening with the mask. The mask is cooling and I really enjoyed wearing the mask because of the scent. I removed the mask after 20 minutes and the remaining essence absorbed nicely into my skin after 5 minutes or so.
I didn't have too many expectations for the Gold Kiwi mask since I wasn't all that impressed by the Tea Tree one. However, the next morning I swear the redness in my acne scars were significantly better and some of the cystic acne on my jawline had calmed down. My skin did seem brighter as well. I also didn't experience major oiliness in my T-zone area which can be an issue with some sheet masks. This particular sheet mask would be great for all skin types.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I thoroughly approve of this mask and would purchase it in the future. The question is...is it worth $7??? While I really did like this mask, it's not a miracle worker. I probably wouldn't pay $7 for this particular line of masks since there are so many great, cheaper alternatives out there. The good thing is you can find the DD'ell masks for $3 and I'm completely satisfied with that price.

I'm hosting a giveaway through Dec. 18 so enter here.
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Thanks for stopping by,
Jennifer

XO Memebox I'm Lip Tint, Tint Balm, and Lip Crayon Review

Not too long ago, I hauled a few lip products from the XO Memebox collection. Here are my thoughts about the I'm Lip Tint, I'm Tint Balm, and the recently repackaged I'm Lip Crayon.

XMAS GIVEAWAY!

'Tis the season to give!
Please read all the rules below carefully before entering. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will be open from now until Friday, Dec. 18 in order for the winner to receive the prize by Xmas.

November 2015 Favorites

I skipped a favorites post for October because I spent a lot of time alternating between products I wanted to review and products I was trying to use up. I didn't really have a chance to use anything consistently enough to consider it a favorite. But, I'm back for a favorites for the month of November since there were quite a few products I used every day.

Memebox Pony Shine Easy Glam Eyeshadow 1 Palette Review

Pony is a self-taught makeup artist who has been gaining quite a bit of attention recently as CL's (from the group 2NE1) makeup artist. She has a large following on both Instagram and YouTube. She personally selected 8 must have shades for a Korean eye makeup style in her first collaboration product with Memebox. Pony, in conjunction with Memebox, has released a new 2.0 version of the Shine Easy Glam Eyeshadow Palette with an improved formula and better packaging. Unfortunately, I did not purchase the first version of the palette so I will not be able to make comparisons or contrasts between the two palettes. This is a review of version 2.0.