Beauty! Product reviews & new purchase

Recently, I've hardly written any beauty related posts, because, lets face it, I am in China, life is a little different right now, and, really, I haven't really tried anything new product-wise since I've been living here! Actually, I am still living out of the same suitcase I was living out of since the end of March! Still haven't received my household goods... I'm quickly running out of must-haves and am crossing my fingers we will get our shipment any day now!

As far as fashion goes, I keep meaning to make sure to have my camera with me, that way you can see why I haven't felt the need to run out and go shopping.. LOL! China has been good on the wallet in that respect.;) The 80s is alive & well here! Full body denim jumpsuits, crazy pattern matching, short jean shorts with thigh high socks and stilettos, shirts with English sayings that we can't quite figure out the meaning of (Chinglish at its best perhaps!). Its interesting to say the least. But, don't get me wrong, you still have Chinese girls that step out of cars and you can't help but look because they are dressed so well and look so glamorous! And then you have the 60 year old man I pass everyday on my way home from class, wearing the same green glittered shirt everyday, with the same message "Nobody seems to know how to shine the knob." Note to self: take more pictures.

But, really, there are some seriously adorable boutiques nearby that look very promising & I can't wait to visit.

Anyway, I DO have a couple of reviews for you.

First review is about MD Skincare's Correct and Perfect Spot Treatment.


I bought this at Ulta before I left for China. I was really looking for a spot treatment for the occasional breakout/blemish that did not use salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid does nothing for me, and the problem with BP is that I recently discovered I was (suddenly) by all appearances allergic to it. I decided to purchase MD Skincare's Correct and Perfect Spot Treatment because it is sulfur based and does not use SA or BP. I have discovered that sulfur treatments are much less drying and more gentle on skin than BP or SA treatments.

While I am not blown away by this product, I do feel that it does something - reduces blemishes as well as the amount of time a breakout will last. Compared to DDF's Benzoyl Peroxide Gel with Tea Tree Oil (which as far as I am concerned is completely amazing even though I am now allergic to it and can no longer use it), I think the DDF is a much more effective treatment, but believe that the MD Skincare Perfect & Correct Spot Treatment is a viable alternative especially if you are allergic to either BP or SA or those treatments are too harsh for you or otherwise just don't work. This sulfur treatment is very gentle on my skin, has not dried me out at all, and works, albeit not as fast or as well as the DDF BP Gel.

If you are not allergic to benzoyl peroxide and have problems with breakouts, whether it is occasional or more often, I personally found DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel with Tea Tree Oil as well as DDF Acne Pumice Scrub (also with BP) to be extremely effective in clearing up skin & maintaining clear skin. You do have to moisturize well and make sure to wear sunscreen when using products with BP.



I think you can be more sensitive to certain things at certain times in life, so as soon as my shipment arrives from the U.S. I am definitely going to re-try the DDF products I just recommended - I loved them that much, they were definitely clear-skin holy grail products for me, and I am hoping the allergy was just a passing sensitivity because of all the stress I had going on!

Pretty early on when I had first started blogging, I made a post raving about La Roche Posay Anthelios SX Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15, available at CVS. I had started using it a couple months before I blogged about it, and I just want to come back and say that I still believe everything I said in that review, & this daily moisturizer is still what I use everyday. Also, I am still on the SAME bottle I first bought - I have yet to run out despite using it everyday since January-ish.


If you are looking for a daily moisturizer with SPF, this one is amazing. I used it on a very sunny day while hiking the Great Wall for hours, and didn't turn the slightest bit pink.

And finally, my newest purchase. Before I left for China I bought the Foley + Corinna Disco City Clutch.

I thought it would be the perfect cross-body bag for traveling. While I love the bag, after a few weeks living in China I realized its just not big enough for everyday use. Its an awesome purse, totally adorable, but much better suited to a night out than for travel. It barely holds sunglasses, a cell phone, a couple lip glosses and a very small wallet if you are lucky.


I quickly realized that it wasn't well suited for the type of travel situations I wanted it for, so I began searching for another cross-body bag. I ended up purchasing a bag made by The Sak. It was the first time I had ever purchased this brand, generally speaking, its not really my style but for what I want the bag for, I think I made the right decision!

The Sak Silverlake Leather Flap ....yes, I have shorts on, which I BTW totally love, on sale right now for $30 at J.Crew.com - the 3 inch chinos, so much cuter than chino shorts I bought from there last year!


Back to the bag... quickly: I love it. The leather is really nice, very soft, comfy & not heavy, the bag is the perfect size, roomy but not too large, is well organized inside with a zippered pocket as well as two separate areas for other items, the outside has two pockets, and the flap itself has zippered pocket. If you are looking for a cross body bag for travel, this is an awesome bag!

OK now that I got those reviews out of the way, I can get started on my post about being scammed!

Hopefully some of this info is helpful to one of you!

Steph

Benefit's "Legally Bronze" Review, New Mac Eyeshadows, & some fun J. Crew purchases!

A couple weeks ago I told you guys about how I purchased Benefit's Legally Bronze kit.

Its all sold out at Sephora now, but there are some new ones on Ebay if you are interested. Its a really great deal & I am happy I bought it, because I seriously love the Hoola Bronzer & Highbeam! The Gilded highlighter is also very pretty, the only thing I am not crazy about is the Bad Gal Lash Mascara. I think the Mascara is really sticky-feeling! I've never felt such sticky mascara - not a huge fan, not the worst mascara I've ever used, but I won't be purchasing that again.

Hoola Bronzer and Highbeam, on the other hand... I can see these becoming holy grail.



The Hoola bronzer is matte, it doesn't have any shimmer or sparkle to it, and it provides a truly natural looking bronzed look to your face. I love it! The color is perfect, not orange or muddy or dirty looking. For a comparison, I have NARS Laguna Bronzer, and I highly prefer Hoola.

As for the Highbeam - its the first time I've ever used a liquidy-sort of highlight on my face, but its surprisingly easy to apply. I just dot it where I want it and then make sure to blend it well. I feel like this stuff provides a really pretty glow that looks like it comes from within, and not just from some product sitting on top of your face. I guess they call it "supermodel in a bottle" for a reason! I read a review that said it may be too icy looking for those with yellow undertones - I have yellow undertones and it works really well on me. Like I said - its extremely pretty, and Benefit knew what they were doing when they put these products together because they work beautifully together, very natural.

Next up, some MAC Eyeshadows. I know a couple people posted their top 15 eyeshadows, so I totally took notes then FORGOT them when I went to purchase! I still really like the shadows I bought.. I think you'll notice a trend... I love browns, bronzes, and other natural shades.



The knight divine is a little outside of my box, because darker colors scare me, as in I tend to be afraid that I won't be able to work with them.. BUT... I'm really glad I bought the knight divine - its a really nice color and easy to use, blending is key of course. I like to use it with naked lunch all over from lid to brown bone, patina and/or woodwinked on the lid, and knight divine mainly on the outer corner and into the crease - and naked lunch again used on the inner corner to brighten. Wish I had a pic for you guys but I cannot get these pics to come out for the life of me! I think the hubby is going to have to help if I ever want to do it.

I've also been using naked lunch, woodwinked, amber lights and antiqued together. Amber lights is a really pretty, peachy sort of bronzey color.

I have yet to use the Indianwood paintpot but I will say it has SERIOUS staying power!! Its a very rich color and will be great base, also will help the shadow to stay longer. All I know is I put the swatch on my arm, used soap and water and it still didn't totally come off.

I know you can barely see the Vex on that swatch... but its a nice color to use with knight divine - thats the only way I've used it so far.

And finally - I took advantage of J. Crew's 20% off by purchasing two more dresses... they very appropriately said in the e-mail its their "perfect excuse to buy both colors" sale... so I did. I bought two different dresses that I already own in 2 different colors! You know what? The price was right and dresses are a must for walking around the city in the heat.

I bought this dress from my OOTD the other day, this time in a dark pewter color (the one in the picture is lighter than it looks in that picture):


And I already own this dress in navy, but bought it in this heather grey color:


That's about it! It rained and made the air quality improve a LOT so we are going out today to explore!

If you own any of these MAC Shadows - what other colors do you typically pair them with? Whats your favorite way to wear them? Any tips for using my first paintpot?

When you find something you love, do you buy it in more than one color, especially if the price is right? I try not to because I feel like its so boring, but these are really perfect for here!

Talk soon!!

Steph

My Zara Purchases

These two items are actually my first ever purchases from Zara... what can I say, I've never lived by a Zara before! Luckily Beijing has several, because I really liked this store. It has really affordable clothes, I am guessing the quality is about the same as the best quality item at H&M? Either way, I was really impressed with the cute styles they had in the store.

I tried on a ton of stuff and I liked a lot, but I only left with these two items.

The first is this really cute tunic/top... omg, love this top!! Earlier that day I went to Anthropologie and the sales girl at Anthro was actually wearing this top. As soon as I saw her in it I knew I had to have it! so I asked her if it was from Anthro and she told me she bought it at Zara. I was surprised that they are allowed to wear items from other stores! but, to me it looked like something you could find at Anthro, so maybe thats why.

Even though I've been told not to bring white to Beijing... I couldn't resist this top! Its just too cute.


The pretty eyelet trims the sleeves as well as the bottom hem.


Here it is on me, I took this at the last minute to give you some idea of the fit... its very gauzy, somewhat sheer, I'll wear a cami underneath when I wear it out. I love the light guazy material! Its so summery! It can also double as a cute bathing suit cover up.


Also, the sleeves have a tie and it sort of ruches them up a little bit - cute detail. The bottom has a tie also so you can wear it more tunic like, or more blousey if you like, longer or shorter.. etc. I love it! I can't wait to wear it.

My second Zara purchase is an adorable dress.

The dress I chose is made of a silky-feeling material... I think its actually rayon... it feels very silky, smooth, and is very light and comfortable. I love the ruffles! And even though there are ruffles on the sleeves (I tend to avoid that), they actually don't draw attention to my shoulders at all (I have broad shoulders and I tend to get self-conscious about them). It is also smocked at the waist... its just a flattering detail that adds a little to the dress! My husband loves me in this shade of green... our circle of friends always make Marine jokes (because its Marine Corps green!) and joke about how his favorite color is this shade of green.


And a detail shot... pretty!


Zara has a ton of really cute summery dresses right now! It was hard to choose just one! Some were as cheap as $30 and were super cute. If you are looking for affordable cotton-y-ish dresses for summer, definitely stop by Zara.

Once this CT/NY weather warms up a little bit... (what the HECK Connecticut!!! all my cold weather clothes are packed...) you will be seeing these items in an outfit of the day.

What's the weather like where you are? I checked the forecast for Beijing and its looking good! An average of 70 degrees & mostly sunny for the next 10 days (hmm, I wonder if that takes into account the pollution!)

Anyway, I stopped in J. Crew today... check back tomorrow for what I found!

Steph