REVIEW: RAVIEL Acerola Dark Spot & Blemish Care Ampoule

RAVIEL Acerola Dark Spot & Blemish Care Ampoule

This was a find off of Amazon that I took a chance on. I had actually come across this particular item a few times but always skipped it or ignored it because I kept misreading acerola to be another word... lol. Apparently acerola is a berry that is rich in vitamin C, and it's also one of the top ten ingredients for this ampoule. 

It comes in a 30ml bottle and claims to be beneficial for blemish care, hydrating and a calming solution and meant for all skin types. The instructions just say to apply an appropriate amount evenly on the face and then gently pat it to aid absorption. The bottle itself is a dropper, which I find both convenient and very hygienic. 

The fluid itself is a milky nude color that blends clear and quickly absorbs into the skin. There's no scent or any noticeable fragrance. The fluid feels very cooling to the skin when it's first applied but that isn't a lasting feeling. I did not really need to pat it to help dry/absorb, it dried off on the skin pretty quickly and leaves the skin feeling soft. 

My skin has been going through a dry spell lately with some super dry patches, the kind of dry where it hurts and stings when a moisturizer is spread on top. With this ampoule though, the fluid does actually calm those super dry patches and it feels good and moisturizing rather than painful. Just for that fact alone I would give it 5 stars. After it's absorbed, the skin is soft and smooth again and the dry patches are gone. I have layered this with other serums and creams on top as well as make up and it does not interact with other products at all. I've been using this for the past week and my dry patches are pretty much gone now so I'm happy. I did have a red spot from a pimple that healed, I do think the ampoule has helped fade it a little bit, but I think it's the hydration and calming that makes this product shine.

List of ingredients for anyone who wants to know. 

REVIEW: Etude House Play 101 Stick Contour Duo #1 Highlighter & Shading

Etude House Play 101 Stick Contour Duo #1 Highlighter & Shading

I finally broke down and bought the contour duo stick from Etude House. I have been meaning to buy a highlighter/contour duo package for awhile now but I was thinking of getting one in a pressed powder format instead. However, after seeing quite a few good youtube reviews of this product, I decided to try the cream product instead. 

 

The stick is quite compact, holding 1.7g x 2 of product. I was a little unsure of the colour once I actually opened it as the shading colour looks quite dark and the highlighter looked white. The lids snap on and the product twists up, quite user friendly.

Below is a picture of the highlighter fully twisted up. The amount of product there is just a little bit longer than my thumb nail. The size of the contour shade is exactly the same. It's not a product that would last very long if used often. The product is super soft and creamy! It literally just melted onto my skin with one gentle swipe, like butter.

Swatches of the colours in natural lighting. I have to admit, I found the highlighter colour to be... completely NOT what I expected it to be. With the word "highlighter" I was thinking of something more glowy, shimmery or... high lighty? Instead, it looks and blends very much like a concealer. After being blended out, there's a little bit of sparkle, if you squint real hard.

The highlighter blends out very nicely. The shading colour on the other hand was a little hard to blend. I rubbed pretty hard and you can still see the original shape of the unblended swatch in the picture below. The shading colour has no shimmer, by the way.

Overall, I'm not sure how I feel about this contour duo. It is definitely not a face contour stick since the crayon parts are small and I imagine it would be quite frustrating to not be able to blend out the darker colour. I think this is a good choice for nose contouring, but I don't think I will use it on my cheeks or jawline. I also don't think I'll get much use on the highlighter end either. 

REVIEW: Etude House Blend for 4 eyes eyeshadow #03 Pink Up!

Etude House Blend for 4 eyes eyeshadow quad in #03 Pink Up!

I was really excited to try out this eye shadow since it would be the first Korean eye shadow that I've tried. According to what I've seen online, Etude House eye shadows are quite popular and the single color shadows seem to have some pretty good pigment. I didn't want to purchase a bunch of individual colours, and seeing the Blend For 4 Eyes had some good reviews, I decided to go for it! 

I chose #03 Pink Up! because I've been wanting a peachy, coral color in my collection and it didn't seem as shimmery as the others. The case is nice and sturdy, the hinge part seems strong too, so I'm not afraid of the lid falling apart as these types of plastic shadow containers tend to. I do like how the cover is clear, so it's easy to pick it out from storage if you have a whole bunch of shadows.

There are four colours, starting from the upper left is a shimmery orange. To the right is a velvet coral pink and in the bottom we have a matte taupe and another shimmery, copper brown shade. The shadows are each around the size of a quarter, and soft. I've only experienced fall out from the shimmery copper brown colour, so be sure to tap the brush before using. I'm kind of sad there's no sponge tip applicator supplied with the quad. I know they are kind of useless but it would be nice to throw this into a purse on it's own and be able to touch up here and there when needed throughout the day. 

Here's a snap of the back of the quad for another interested. I can't read it, but perhaps each shade actually has a name since there's a legend included. Also a how to for applying it that I don't follow, lol.

Swatches on my bare arm. From top to bottom: the shimmery copper brown is first, then the matte taupe, then the coral pink and on the bottom is the shimmery orange. 

I have to admit, pigmentation isn't that strong. For the swatches above I smudged the colours a few times with my fingers for it to show. When I used a brush to apply it on my lids the colours were definitely fainter. The shimmery orange shade looked so vibrant in the pan but it's quite faint on the skin. The coral pink is more peachy coral than pink, but I don't mind. The matte taupe is awesome for contouring the eyes and nose, so I considered this a worthwhile buy.

These colours are definitely okay for daily wear since they appear so soft and they all blend well with each other. I've worn it the last few days to work and it lasted well on my oily lids without primer. I wouldn't re-purchase if I ran out, and I definitely have shadows with more pigmentation... but the colours are so soft and easy to use for any outfit that I find myself reaching for this quad that my previous daily neutral palette. So, I guess I like it.