Korean foundation series - Reviewing Secret Key Miracle Fit Essence Foundation

I'm back with another blog post reviewing various foundations from different Korean beauty brands.

With this being the third one I have tried, you can expect two more blog posts on the Korean foundation series after this.

Like any foundation I try out, as long as it's not super bad on my first try I do try and wear the foundation for at least a week to get a really good test out of the product and I do try to wear the product for a minimum of six hours each day.

So the recent foundation I've been trying out has been the Miracle Fit Essence Foundation by Secret Key. It comes in a glass bottle and looks like this

You get your standard 30ml of product. Just to be aware there are only two shade ranges available for this foundation. I picked up the shade 'Light Beige' and the other shade available is 'Natural Beige' with NB being the darkest one out of the two.

They do have a concealer that goes with this and unfortunately I did not pick this product up but as this is more a foundation review I am not too bothered by this. But for your information you can pick the concealer up as well.

So as expected with this being a really limited shade range, the shade I got is slightly too dark for me. Here is what a swatch looks like

It is quite yellowy orange on my skin but isn't that bad when I apply it onto my face.  I definitely did though have to blend down into my neck and I did tend to favour higher neck tops for the week.

So the foundation does come with a pump,

which is good because apparently some foundations don't and you have to pay for them separately (Looking at you Estee Lauder double wear) which is just wow in my opinion.

I'm not a huge fan of the pump on this foundation because I just find you don't have much control of how much product comes out. It's quite stiff so when you give it a good squeeze you get a fair bit of product.

The foundation itself is really thin in consistency but seems to blend thicker when it's on the face. I have no idea if that even makes sense.

It's also definitely a buildable foundation because when I applied a second layer it did a better job at concealing scars and spots.

It's got, what I think, to be a nice smell to it. It reminds me somewhat of any Mac foundation but with a slight floral smell as well. I know not everybody likes these kind of foundation smells.

I haven't broken out since using this foundation which I should mention just because Korean foundations can tend to break out people with certain skin types.

I did use a primer and setting spray as always and honestly there was no difference in using these products or not so I ended up putting them aside after day three.

The first few days the foundation really caked up on my face, especially in areas like my chin and by my nose, and a little on my forehead.

I usually only exfoliate twice, maybe three times a week but I was doing it every night when using this foundation and did find the foundation was starting to look better towards the end of the week. I definitely recommend you exfoliate well when using this foundation if you have dry or dehydrated skin.

For the first two hours the foundation stayed on beautifully and made my skin look so flawless. Around the four hour mark it did start to cake in certain areas and fade away on my cheeks as well. It also clung really bad to any current spots I had.

From a distance my skin looked great but up close it was definitely becoming a mess.

I felt by about four hours this foundation was going from bloody great to somewhat disastrous.

I did take a brush and go over the cakey areas to try and improve my look which didn't really help.

I definitely loved this foundation. I loved how flawless it made my skin look for the first few hours. I liked how nice and easy it was to blend and that you could build it up.

As always, the shade range available isn't great. I was sad how it got really cakey quickly and there wasn't much to be done from that point on.

I wasn't a fan of the pump either. I did love the packaging and the smell.

I probably wouldn't use this just because of how cakey it went. This really was the biggest let down because I absolutely loved how it looked on before that problem started.

I try to be as honest as I can with my reviews but I don't tend to say no to recommending stuff just because what may not suit me could be absolutely fantastic for another person.

But for the above reasons I probably would not reach for this any time soon.

Glossybox unboxing - February 2018 UK box

I'm finally here with my post on February's Glossybox unboxing.

It feels a lot later this month but I did only receive this box on the 10th and I swear I was receiving the previous boxes a lot earlier.

Anyway, this month is another themed box called 'Galentines' which, by the way, I didn't even know what that meant until I looked up the meaning today.

So this is what the box looks like.

It's got a really cute design showing lips, rainbows, lipsticks, etc. And the box is dark pink instead of their usual baby pink colour. 

The previous boxes I have received have always been five products, with four being full sized. 

This months box has been different to the others with only three products being full sized so I don't know if this is just because it's a special edition box or there really can be a change now and then depending on what's in the box.

As usual you get an information card in your box listing all the products you should receive with some information and an Rrp price too. 

This months box really did confuse me because the card listed eight products in total and I had only received five. Apparently this confused a lot of other people too who received their box as the card didn't specify how many products you would actually receive and Glossybox confirmed there was eight different things of which five you could receive. To be honest I found it quite misleading. 

I was quite excited to see an eyeshadow palette by the brand Sleek. I have tried other products from them before and have been wanting to try out their eyeshadows. 

There are a mixture of shimmers and mattes and the palette I received was 'Vintage Romance' 

I also received a nail Polish by Cianté. It says they are PETA certified and vegan friendly. 

The third product I received was a 'Makeup Mist Glow-Plexion by Studio10 Beauty. It says the mist instantly primes, refreshes and hydrates lacklustre skin. They say it can apparently be used as a setting spray too.

The fourth product was a '24-hour Aqua Repair Facial Serum' by Skin Chemists London. It is suitable for all skin types and minimises redness and delivers deep hydration.

And the last product I received was a 'Nude Pop Lip Tint' by Steve Laurant. The packaging is absolutely gorgeous. 

1. Sleek Makeup eyeshadow Palette. Divine eyeshadow palette. Various colours. (I got Vintage Romance) £8.99 - Full Size.

2. Cianté London. Geology & Paint Pots Various colours. (I got What the shell) £9 for full size. - £6 for mini size  - Mini size. 

3. Studio10 Beauty. Makeup Mist Glow-Plexion £26 - Mini Size (£14 travel size) - Mini size.

4. Skin Chemists London. 24-hour Aqua Repair Facial Serum £64 - Full Size.

5. Steve Laurant. Nude Pop Lip Tint  £17 - Full size. 

So I absolutely loved the products in this months box. I'm really looking forward to trying out the products and felt there was a good selection. I'm just really unhappy with only having three full sized products and felt Glossybox really did mess up on their information card. They could have definitely worded the information better. I don't think there would have been so many complaints otherwise.

I have only been receiving Glossybox since last November and this is the first box I've received where I haven't been entirely happy so I'm not too fazed. As, like I said, the products are great.  The marketing not so much.

If you got this months box let me know what you think of it. 

Korean foundation series - Reviewing Etude House Play 101 foundation stick

I'm back with another Korean foundation review. This week I've been trying out the Play 101 foundation stick by Etude House.

You can get this foundation directly off the Etude House website. They do only have four shades of this stick foundation. Fair, Beige, Sand, and Vanilla. The foundation is 7.5g and it comes in a stick form as by the name.

So I got the shade 'Fair' for myself and have done a swatch to show you what it looks like.

It is slightly pink for me but is really barely noticeable. I mean I didn't feel like I couldn't go out wearing this foundation.

So the foundation comes in a box and looks like this out of the packaging.

It's secured with a lid and you just twist the bottom to bring the product up (Basically like a lipstick)

And this is what the product actually looks like

I used two different face brushes when trying the foundation out. Both of the tools being by Etude House as well.

The foundation brush is available on the website under 'My beauty tool brush 120' and the soft oval brush is under 'My beauty tool secret brush 121' just for your information.

I didn't like the foundation brush at all. I didn't find it applied the foundation as well as the oval brush did and found it to be slightly scratchy on my skin. I absolutely loved the little oval brush though. Lovely and soft and seemed to be the perfect tool to use for this foundation.

The foundation is soft and creamy when applying and feels the same when blending. It felt quit lightweight on so definitely isn't heavy or feels like you're wearing foundation. The foundation I would say is medium to full coverage. I did find I got a good coverage when I applied a second layer so it's definitely a buildable foundation.

As I mention in most if not all of my posts my skin isn't the greatest. I have a lot of scarring from old breakouts and still break out quite a lot at the moment due to stress in my life. My skin has also been really dehydrated lately and I'm experiencing some dryness in places on my face.

I found the foundation did well at covering my scarring but not so good at the recent breakouts I've been having. I don't think it did all that good at minimising my pores either.

As any foundation I try out I did leave this on for a minimum of 6 hours on any given day. I did prime and use a setting spray as well like I do whenever I apply any foundation.

How well did it last? Well not that bad actually. It looked good hours later and didn't really seem to budge that much. But saying that, it did cling so bad to my dry patches so I definitely don't think this foundation is really all that suitable for those of you who suffer from dry skin and I definitely recommend that you exfoliate well each time before you use this foundation.

And because I'm having a problem lately with dry skin the makeup did seem to be slightly cakey around the dry areas, like my nose and my chin.

It also is one of those foundations that rubs off super easy so you know you're going to get foundation on your top when you remove it and on your fingers if you're somebody who touches their face quite a lot (Me. It's a problem)

The primer I used was by Evelyn Iona Cosmetics.

And the setting spray was the 'Pro fix spray' by Makeup Revolution.

I did prime on half of my face just to see if there was a difference which I couldn't see. I also found the setting spray helped with the foundation not sticking so bad to my dry patches but not with the cakeyness and I found on one of the days I didn't use the setting spray the cakeyness was reduced and the foundation stuck way worse to dry patches so meh really.

I should also mention that a lot of people say Etude House products can really break you out and aren't usually the best for those who are prone to breakouts. I have tried products from the brand that seem to do that but I was really happy to find this foundation didn't cause me to breakout.

So I loved this foundation but at the moment I just wouldn't reach for this because of how dry my skin is but I would definitely recommend it for those who don't suffer from dry skin. It could be a really good foundation for you, bearing in mind they do have a limited shade range.

Let me know if you've tried this foundation before and what you think of it and if you've tried other products from the brand Etude House.

Korean foundation series - Reviewing Skinfood white grape fresh foundation

I don't know if foundation series is the right wording but that's what I'm going to be blogging about for the next couple of weeks anyway. I have five foundations to try out from different Korean brands and will review them for a period of over a week so I hope to have one blog post up a week on each of the foundations.

I'm so excited to be finally onto blogging about these as I've had them for a few weeks now and was mad impatient to get onto testing them out. I absolutely love trying out new foundations and it's also one of my favourite things to watch from beauty gurus too.

Plus, I absolutely love Korean makeup and skin care products. There's so much stuff to try and it's super affordable as well so you can expect to see quite a few posts off me reviewing products from Korean brands.

Anyway, so the first foundation I tried out was the white grape fresh foundation from Skinfood. And this is what the packaging looks like.

The bottle does feel slightly cheap but I do like the look of the packaging itself. The bottom spins but I don't know what that's about. It also comes with a pump.

About the product - There is a really limited shade range (Like three) so it really doesn't cater for many people. The three shades available are 'Light beige' 'Skin beige' and 'Natural beige' You get your standard 30ml and it is meant to be suitable for all skin types.

I got the shade Light beige and it is slightly too dark.

It says it's a light weight foundation which I can attest to. It's definitely sheer. It feels really nice on. It honestly felt like I didn't have any product on my face. And from testing after by touching my face it felt the same way too.

So with it being light weight and sheer I don't think it's that kind of foundation that's meant to give a really good coverage. I have a lot of scarring and have recently been breaking out quite a lot. The foundation didn't do an amazing job at concealing my spots and helping to reduce the appearance of my scars but it did a damn good job at giving me a nice even complexion and did do a bang tidy job at reducing the appearance of my pores.

The foundation comes out of the pump nicely. Sometimes I find you don't have much control of how much product can come out. The foundation does have a strong perfume smell when first applying  (Almost floral) but does wear away pretty quickly.

As for how long it lasts? Well I did leave the foundation on for at least six hours. After about four hours of it being on I could see that in some places the foundation hadn't stayed in place that well. Mainly around my chin and around my jawline but then I do have a big problem with leaning my face into my hand a lot so this was probably a big factor into why.

I applied the foundation with a buffing brush from Real Techniques and found it worked perfectly fine. I didn't compare it against a sponge so I can't really say how it would have worked. On one of the days I did prime only one half of my face (Using the illuminating primer by Makeup Revolution) and I did find it looked better on with the primed side.

I also used a setting spray and found this did definitely help the foundation stay on better.

My opinion. I do really like this foundation. I loved how it felt on. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it reduced the appearance of my pores. I liked how well it did at giving me an even complexion. It didn't do a good job at concealing my scarring and spots but then I don't think this is the type of foundation for that kind of thing. It's not really for those of us who have a lot of acne. It would have also been great to see a better shade range as well.

Honestly, this is a great foundation for someone who doesn't really suffer from breakouts or have a huge amount of blemishes. If you're looking for a light weight foundation that provides a natural look then I do recommend giving this product a try.