A Love and a Shrug #1 (ft. Liole and Em-Cosmetics)

May has been a great month for me in terms of beauty products as I've discovered quite a few new favourites, one of which is the Liole Triple the Solution BB Cream. This product is really one of the best Asian BB creams out there and is everything you would hope for a base product to be: high coverage, lightweight, and natural looking. One coat of this BB cream is basically full coverage for me. It smooths over all the redness and hyperpigmentation in my skin, all while looking very natural and skin-like. The finish is sort of a plump, dewy look. I have normal/combination skin and find that I can get away without powdering, but those with oily skin might want to powder down the t-zone. Although full coverage, this product does not feel heavy on my skin. Honestly I barely feel it there at all. The only downside of this is the limited colour selection, which is a common problem to BB creams. There is only one colour available, which matches my fair-light complexion with peach undertones pretty well. I think the product may be able to adjust to skin tones slightly paler or darker than my own, but still offers a very, very limited colour range. Unlike other BB creams, this product does not look ashy at all on the skin, just really perfected and healthy. 

A product that I was less than impressed this month was the Em Cosmetics Waterline in Ro's Gold. Like many others, my makeup story started with watching Michelle Phan's makeup tutorials on Youtube, and it wasn't until much later that I began looking to other Youtubers and bloggers for beauty knowledge. I admire Michelle's success in the business world and the name she has built for herself, although there are messages in her videos that I don't agree with as much (eg. the very over-played "girl waiting for prince charming" storyline in some of her short film/tutorial hybrid videos). In any case, I was excited when Michelle launched Em Cosmetics and have been itching to try some of her products ever since. First of all, at $18 for an eyeliner, this is not exactly a cheap product, but I am ok with splurging as long as the quality is there. It comes with a liner at one end and a smudger tool at the other end. While the packaging is definitely rose gold, the product itself is more of a red-bronze to me. When swatched on the back of my hand and allowed to dry, the product was definitely long lasting and didn't budge no matter how much I rubbed it. However, on the waterline - which is what it is intended for - I found it very difficult to get adequate colour payoff. This eyeliner was definitely not as creamy as I hoped, and didn't exactly glide on in any easy fashion. After swiping it back and forth several times in the waterline, the product was still virtually undetectable. 

The last straw for me was the fact that the eyeliner was broken when I received it and all of the product slid out into my hand. I almost dropped the entire piece onto the floor before I could even swatch it on my hand. For an eyeliner that's quite pricey, I was really hoping for better quality, and this just did not deliver.