The K-Beauty Cult Beauty Haul

You’ve probably seen good ol’ Lauren pop up in my posts as the photographer and editor for most of the pictures around these parts these days because she’s completely d’bomb at it and my photo editing skills stretch to inching up the exposure in iPhoto and calling it a day. Well while she’s round here snapping away, she’s also convincing me to buy things. She’s a super enabler; although I’m sure she’ll argue that it works in the opposite way too.

Aside from the colour blue and vegan brownie recipes, one of her other passions is K-beauty and she’s been trying to convert me for months now. She’s decanted me a face mask that she highly recommends, has left her favourite K-beauty blogs open on tabs on my laptop and practically wrote me a shopping list, so one day whilst I was feeling particularly spendy on Cult Beauty, I took the plunge and bought a bit of everything from face splashes to blush cushions. Now I can’t lie and say that I didn’t dip my finger in everything immediately (because I did), but I had yet to apply anything to my face and so I thought I’d mix a mini haul up with a first impressions at the same time. Now on the day of filming this video I was about to head off to the gym (great timing, I know), so I couldn’t really do a fair review with a cushion foundation melting off my face during the warm-up, so instead I’ve popped a few musings down below. Have a watch of this to get the gist of things and then scroll down for my final thoughts…

Blithe Energy Yellow Citrus & Honey Patting Water Pack – I really, really like this. Sure the delivery system is a bit bizarre and takes a bit of getting used to, but I’ve been finding it a great pick-me-up on days when my skin resembles the look and texture of a well-loved pair of leather shoes. I used it in the shower by adding a capful into my hand and splashing it onto my face under the water before patting it in. Now I know it sounds like it will all end up down the plug hole and none of it on your face, but it gives a slight tingle to your complexion so you know that some of it made it on there and it’s doing something. Afterwards my skin looks a little brighter and feels softer. Thumbs up.

3CE x Barbapapa Fitting Cushion Foundation in #001 – Although this brings some serious coverage to the table and with a finish that’s difficult to detect on the skin, I wouldn’t say that the wear on it is the best. After an hour I found it to bunch up and crease in lines around my eyes and nose and then halfway throughout the day I realised that my big red nose was shining through Rudolph-style. Now I haven’t been powdering with it, because I prefer to keep my complexion powder-free during the day, but maybe that’s what it needs? Any tips or tricks are welcomed. Overall, it’s not as fab as I first thought.

3CE Back to Baby BB Cream – Despite this looking extremely pale on the back of my hand in the video I can confirm that it warms up slightly when blended into the skin, though it’s probably only doing to work if you’re paler than around a MAC NW/NC/20, which kinda sucks balls. I like this actually much more than the Fitting Cushion Foundation. It doesn’t have half as much coverage, but it’s enough to make the skin look uniform, it doesn’t feel tacky and it gives the skin a nice amount of glow without looking greasy. Basically it does everything that you want a BB cream to do. I like it best blended in with fingers and then patted over with a damp BeautyBlender to make sure that it’s really blended in. I’m adding this to my everyday makeup box pronto.

3CE x Barbapapa Blush Cushion in #Peach – I can’t say this was the product that I was most excited to try out of everything, but with a bit of repeat testing this actually comes out pretty high in the list. I’ve found that it works best with a buffing brush like the Clinique one dipped in and blended out on the cheeks as the cushion it comes with is just a bit dinky and makes it tough to move around. It’s pretty long-lasting for a liquid-based product and is a good buy for those who aren’t that into blush. Those who like to go in a little heavier with the cheek colour, steer clear.

Tonymoly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Peach – This is my favourite buy from the whole bunch and is definitely something that will slot easily into my everyday routine. It’s a rosy peach that’s got just the right amount of pigment to gloss ratio for it to fall into the ‘no makeup, makeup’ category. It’s not the most mind-blowing lip product I’ve ever used, but it’s pretty and practical and so gosh darn cute.

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