Movie Review: Contagion

Trailer



Chiharu and I just watched Contagion this evening, and our verdict? It's a pretty decent movie! Chiharu thinks it's the sort of movie you can afford to watch in DVD release (or alternatively, its illegal pirate cousin). Unlike Avatar 3D or Transformers, Contagion doesn't rely on flashy big-budget special effects and the likes, but that's what I love about this movie.

Contagion follows the spread of the virus MEV-1, starting from Beth Emhoff who dies in her home in Minnesota after returning from a trip at Hong Kong. Her son dies soon after, though her husband Mitch seems immune. Thus begins the deadly infection, and the race against time to find a vaccine before the world disintegrates into anarchy and chaos.

Matt Damon, who appears frequently in Soderberg's films, plays Mitch.

Coming from the director Steven Soderberg, who brought us Ocean Eleven (and its sequels) as well as the highly acclaimed Traffic, Contagion is Soderberg's ultrarealistic take on the 'Outbreak' genre. On the film, Soderberg says, "Everybody felt there was a place for an ultrarealistic film about this subject. Nobody hesitated. Uncharacteristically it happened very quickly, considering what the business is like for adult dramas. So it made me feel like maybe we're on to something."

Despite its lack of 'action' (No gunfights, little bloodshed, no flashy CGI effects, etc), the movie carries itself fairly well and is well-executed. The cinematography was thoughtful -- the lighting, the angles, composition, ambient music, everything. I particularly liked the panning establishing shots of the mass grave scene, as well as the use of angles in patient zero Beth Emhoff's death and autopsy scenes.

Blogger Allen, played by actor Jude Law, traversing the streets in his 'spacesuit'.

Like Babel and Pulp Fiction, Contagion has a multi-narrative that follows the perspective of different characters/ organizations. There is Mitch (Matt Damon), who is immune to the virus and whose sole operative is to keep his daughter and himself alive; the people of CDC; the scientists in their Hazmat suits; and the opportunistic blogger/journalist (as played by Jude Law) who claims to have found a cure.


The tone reminds me of the novel White Blindness by Jose Saramago, with its bird-eye perspective and somewhat detached, clinical examination. What's ultimately chilling about Contagion isn't the bruise-eyed, foam-at-the-mouth corpses. It's that the events that take place in the movie can realistically happen, and perhaps has already happened at a smaller level, as with SARS and H1N1.

But its strength is also its weakness. Contagion's realistic take on a worldwide pandemic is exactly that. At times the movie seems to lull to rein in all the ongoing narratives, though thankfully the transitions weren't jerky at all. There's not much of a climax to the show, and the most exciting thing that happens onscreen was perhaps Beth dropping to the floor convulsing, and beyond that, all the other first-contact victims dropping dead (and that in the early segment of the show).

Even the captive Orantes ends up teaching art lesson to the kids in the village.

Those expecting hardcore blood-and-gore zombie gunfight action will be underwhelmed. I recommend this to viewers who are patient, and enjoys subtle acting and thought-provoking stories. While the premise presented here is certainly not novel, it has a solid storyline and an experience ensemble of cast.

Ratings:
Plot: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (nothing new here, but no gaping plotholes and execution adds value to the storyline)
Acting: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (with an experienced cast such as this, and well-rounded characters, you can't go wrong)
Entertainment: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (not much in way of conventional entertainment, though there were a few chuckles at the autopsy scene. but I shan't spoil the punchline.)
Visuals: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (understated, but was cohesive to the entire tone and atmosphere of the movie. conservative in styling but slick enough to appeal.)
Sounds: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (wasn't a stand-out, though there are a few segments where the music shone through)
Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (the sum of all parts seems bigger than the parts themselves)

Bits of Chiharu : Spot the items!

I'VE BOUGHT A LOT OF STUFF THAT I'VE NOT SHARED ON DOMOKIE FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

Be prepared...

Feast your eyes on...

18 BOXES OF SHEET MASKS. (I have also bought a back up of the MBD Earl Grey, MBD Choco Truffle, Lovemore white magic and black magic mask that are not featured in this shot. There was also a MBD tea time set!)

I had this friend who studied for a period of time in Taiwan so I had her help me ship a monstrous amount of masks to Singapore! All bought directly from the retailing store in Taiwan so there's no worry about authenticity!

After collecting my Taiwan haul, I headed down to the Eternity Inter-trade SG's sale! It was a pretty bad decision because the masks were heavy enough. As you can see, I hauled once again~

Ichikami Hair Mask
Ichikami Hair Serum
Fuwarie Airy Curl Keeper (New packaging)
JUJU Cosmetics Whitening Mist (Peach Flavor)
JUJU Aquamoist Firm & Moist Eye Cream
JUJU Aquamoist Hyaluronic Essence
JUJU Aquamoist Toner

Prices? No no no, you have to head down to the sale to check out the prices because these are seriously worth the price!!!

The problem with me is that once I spot something cheap + good, I buy lotsa them. Then I end up with a bunch of stuff with nowhere to keep em -.- Oh and if you can spot it, there's a steam cream! I finally gave in and pestered my boy to get me one :D Did you know that I got my steam cream from Watsons? Finally! There is not a single BHG outlet near me and if I can't find it in Watsons, I am sure as hell not going down to a far far away place to get a cream =/

Signing off for today to hang out with Ringo later!

Love,

Chiharu ❤

A Ringo A Day: Tegaki E

Getting back to Tegaki for some quick doodles once again. For the uninitiated, it's 'a blog where entries and comments are handwritten'. Sadly I've been neglecting my account for far too long it's gathered cobwebs in the meantime.

So here's a couple (2 to be exact) doodles I've made in tegaki (and then brought over to PS to polish up). I ought to find some time to brush the dust mites off my sketches and scan them. Before the silverfish or sunlight gets to them.






Been busy these couple of weeks doing various things. Went for Figure Drawing class (is 'class' even the right word?) at TISCH; attended the usual STGCC, Cosfest, etc; and will be taking up a sculpting class starting next month.

So expect more art-related posts from me in the future. Plus DIY tutorials if I manage to get some alone time. On the side note, I'm putting skincare/ cosmetic reviews on hiatus for the time being. More on that later, I ought to turn in now before the sandman catches up.

Product Review : Fuwarie Airy Curl Keeper

If you've liked Domokie's FB page, you'd know that we actually promised to do a review of the Fuwarie Airy Curl Keeper quite some time ago. It never happened though. Because I'm a simple, average, girl-next-door kinda person. How do I explain it. I don't do fancy hairstyles because I'm someone who's comfortable with my own hair. Just fluff it up a little, a slightly messy look and I'm good to go. So I wasn't sure if anyone wanted a review with a very blah and normal hairstyle.

After deliberating for obviously a super long period of time, I realized that most of us, whether working or studying do not have a lot of time to do our hair. Let's face it, this is Singapore and we'd be happy enough to even get 8 hours of sleep. Majority of the Singaporeans I know would never ever wake up hours earlier just to do their hair. Which is why I've finally decided to put this post up.

Months ago, I bought the...

Fuwarie Airy Curl Keeper! I rarely review any styling products because it's a pain in the ass to wash em off. Ringo uses wax but I find wax an absolute horror. Maybe I'm OCD or something but I do not like to touch wax or hair clay. Anything sticky and icky is a nono.

This one's a hair spray! Means no real need to touchy touchy with my fingers.

Here's how you use it!

And of course, the ingredients list. 

Now... I'm about to show you my hair and how I use it. Firstly, I'd like to clarify that of course this can be used to set braids / buns still but it's kinda pointless to use it on those hairstyles since this is a volumizing spray!

It's so long ago that I've not dyed my hair in this picture =/ My hair is curled, so it doesn't look as long as it is. However when fully straightened, it reaches my waist. Okay it's near my butt actually. My point is, with such long and thick hair, it's quite impossible to have fluffy hair naturally. The weight of your hair will just be pulled down with the aid of gravity and you'll get that picture above, pretty dead and limp.

Here's the after picture. I was trying really hair to capture my hair size but the picture still did not do it justice.

Can you see it's slightly more poofy?

What I do is that I'll just spray my hair with my head upside down and scrunch it with my fingers. Then I flip my hair over and continue scrunching it. Once again, I'm quite anal about getting too much product in my hair so this look was done with a light spritz all over. If you want an even bigger hair, add more, back comb and scrunch!

My favorite way to use this is with a ponytail. When I wear my *cough cough* straw hat out, I like to tie a side ponytail or two. It's definitely not nice if it's too neat and limp so this spray's perfect. It's easier to scrunch a ponytail in my honest opinion.

Now about this spray, it does not smell like the "fruity fragrance" that most people have described. Remember, Domokie's 100% honest regardless of whether the product is sponsored or not. This smells just like your average plastic hair spray kinda smell. It has that slight fruity tinge to it but it's really slight. The typical hair spray scent is still there =/ It does not really bother me because it doesn't linger after using. 

This is also not your extra hard hair spray. It does harden your hair a little and adds texture to give it that hold. My hair dies down after a few hours though but I'm guessing that's due to my superbly extra long and heavy hair. You can bring this out for touch ups though, the can is cute and pretty light so it's quite portable to me.

This spray is available from Watsons for just $9.90 and I say yes, this is definitely worth your price if you're looking for a hair spray! They have another kind of spray meant for odango(big bun) hair! So choose according to your needs :)

Hold: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Lasting Power: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Scent:  ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Love,

Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : I bought this to review for my lovelies!

Product Review: Smooth E Extra Sensitive Cleansing Gel for Sensitive and Acne-Prone Skin

I received this from Chiharu, courtesy of Confirm Trading. For those unfamiliar with the name, Confirm Trading is a Singapore-based company specializing in importing Health and Beauty products, such as Dr Jart+ and the Kinohimitsu beauty and health drinks. They also have a facebook page as well, located here, where they update on product launches, promotions, and giveaways!

front

The brand in particular is well-known throughout Thailand, especially for their whitening series. Smooth E Babyface gel is a gentle cleanser for extra sensitive and acne-prone skin. It's hypoallergenic formula claims to reduce acne and fine lines, leaving the skin baby soft.

More notably, it's a formulation that is bubble-free, meaning it doesn't produce as much suds as your conventional foam cleanser. Hopefully, this means it's low in SLS, but I couldn't find a proper ingredients list on this thing.

Smooth E Babyface Gel is available exclusively in Guardian at $16.90.

back

The ingredients list (a departure from your usual list of chemicals) include NIS, OMC, Hypoallergenic Formula and Natural Vitamin E. Although descriptive, I still have no particular idea what NIS and OMC are. Putting aside my initial apprehension, I decided to give it a try anyway.

The gel is a viscous colorless liquid that smelled faintly of baby powder. It doesn't foam much at all, much as I tried.

Most of the suds disappear almost immediately after they form, as above. Lathering aside, it actually cleanses quite efficiently. It left my face feeling clean and tight, but not overly dry. It doesn't irritate my face either, and my face was slower in becoming oily afterwards (though not by much). Sustained usage seemed to leave my face drier than before though, as opposed to my regular facial wash.

It's certainly more gentle than some of the cleansers I've tried (Scrubs and oil-rich facial cleansers are for me a huge no-no), but at $16.90 and with no ingredients list, I'm not so sure if it's worth the investment. If you have sensitive and acne-prone skin which has thus far not responded well to other facial washes, perhaps you could give this a try.

Ratings:
Effectiveness: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (doesn't irritate skin, but i'd say there's not much improvement on skin condition either)
Texture: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (doesn't foam much if any at all, kinda different to get used to.)
Cleansing-ness: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (cleanses effectively, but may be a little drying on drier skin.)
Scent: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (smells like baby powder. kinda weird but not off-putting)
Overall: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (overall i'm pretty ambivalent about this product. it's not a bad product per se but not an amazing one. average, i'd say.)


Disclaimer: Product was given courtesy of Confirm Trading, and does not affect the validity of the review in any way.

Bits of Chiharu : Fat women, losers?!

Ya all know I've only been to one slimming center in my entire life, because of the "free session" I supposedly won from some Facebook game. Ya'all have seen my honest review and how disgusted I was at such a service. Even till today, there are people who FB messaged me / comment on my post and about that slimming center.

Gradually, I forgot about them since they're not a significant part of my life.

And then, I saw this on my TV.

Initially, I thought it was some kinda drama. Or perhaps something to battle depression. Till the weight part came in. I was absolutely disgusted. Fine, we all live in the cold cruel reality but does it really have to go to this extent? My mother who is a fitness freak didn't like this advertisement as well. If you go to the direct link for this video, you can see the number of dislikes for it.

You can say maybe it's because I'm a girl. But the worst part to me was the husband. If going along with the concept of this video, fat = okay to be yelled at by husband. I have a lot of opinions on this but I thought it was pointless since I can't really barge into LWM and tell them my opinions and blah.

So once again, I forgot about it.

But someone showed me this thread : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=3412799

Which is why I'm here writing this post. I can't seem to find the original because it's deleted already if I'm not wrong. And I don't blame the author, after all who wants a lawsuit? I think everyone should head over there and see what people have discussed, of course there are still trolls over there. Supporters, haters, everything. The important thing is the essence of the message.

I'm not the sexiest woman or slimmest person on earth. In fact I think I'm kinda chubby. Or feel free to call me fat if you're mean. But I don't stand up for such stuff. If my future husband ever dare to do that to me after I've carried his baby for 9 months AND delivered it, I'll *insert your imagination here*.

If you're fat / overweight / chubby / obese and reading this, don't give up on yourself. Don't succumb to whatever marketing gimmicks / slimming pills out there. I'm a lazy bum but I'm telling you, exercise, eat fit and move around. Instead of the elevator, take the stairs. Hell if your boss fires you and his reason is that you're fat, go to MOM or something. FAT WOMEN ARE NOT LOSERS.

In fact, all fat people are not losers. I've seen happy fat people, popular fat people and in my opinion, they're really cute and friendly most of the time. Certainly not depressed, suicidal or bullied. I think this blog post is really random because it was sparked by outrage and disgust. Read the thread to find out more and stay motivated!

NEVER EVER JUDGE PEOPLE BY THEIR LOOKS.

Love,
Chiharu ❤

A Ringo A Day: Johnny English Reborn

Trailer:



This isn't so much a review than a plug, really. Johnny English returns with a sequel almost a decade after its first title in 2003. Rowan Atkinson, once with a full head of black hair (as we remembered him from Mr. Bean), now sports salt-and-pepper hair. Atkinson's reprisal of the role of Johnny English is more subdued and mellow, as befitting his age, but full-blown facial gymnastics still abound (so fear not). The funny dance at the later half ought to be entered into the Ministry of Silly Walks.

There isn't much intricacy to the plot - the film is composed mainly of visual and slapstick humor. In fact, my friend and I missed the first ten minutes of the film but got through the movie without missing much plot-wise. Perhaps it might have been better if the jokes were a little more cerebral or better written (the 'cleaner assassin' bit had been reused a couple more times than it should have). But Atkinson's acting is a full-proof laugh trigger. (But I grew up with him on my screen so I'm a bit partial.)

For those looking for a simple movie to unwind, Johnny English is a decent choice, I think.

Bits of Chiharu : Nando's!

Okay. You can call me a mountain tortoise, a frog in a well, whatever you'd prefer but yes, I've never eaten Nando's before till recently. In fact, I never knew it exists! I'm the kinda girl who likes to chillax at areas near me and Nando's is nowhere near where I stay!

At the age of 20, I finally got my pudgy hands on it!

Yeap, apparently they are famous for their flame grilled Peri-peri chicken and their Peri-peri sauce. Not sure if I got it right!

Their sauces ain't no joke. It's fiery burning hot! I can't take the heat but I just like the excitement of something spicy. It just tingles your taste buds! If you're someone who can't really take the heat, you might want to take it easy on your first try.

Ordered the hot flame grilled Peri-peri chicken! I chose the drum side because to me, that's the most tender part of a chicken. I'm not really a healthy girl :/ I generally hate chicken breasts because it's really dry but Nando's proved me wrong. Theirs was surprisingly tender! Initially I thought the chicken would be hard and dry too because a lot of places cook that kinda chicken that I don't like.

Ordered Peri-peri chips just because the boy recommended it. Pretty okay fries, but yea they're just fries.

Their potato salad is my absolute favorite! Instead of chunky monkey big potatoes, they give you small baby potatoes! Call me crazy but I think small baby potatoes are adorable. You can just pop the entire thing into your mouth :D

I had to order a drink. I really had to. Otherwise I'd have melted from the heat and further evaporate~ This apple soda thingy is a really cool drink that just refreshes your taste buds :D And I love apple, they have little chewy bits in the drink to add texture.

This isn't really a food review, I'm just sharing what I thought. I hope the pictures are well taken enough to make you hungry :D And once I master my super easy to cook Cha Soba and Tsuyu sauce, I'll be posting it up here so all of ya can enjoy too~

Love,
Chiharu ❤

Product Review : My Beauty Diary Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub (我的美丽日记香草泡泡去角质舒芙蕾)

Ya know, I've always watched the Taiwan's very famous and popular beauty show, 女人我最大. One fine day, they happened to be talking about this My Beauty Diary Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub and it got me interested. I mean, vanilla souffle and scrub. How does that not sound tasty and intriguing?!

I also did a quick google search to find more reviews on this product. Surprisingly, there were only yays for this product, so I went ahead and got it.

Mine is the mini bottle, not the retail sized one. This My Beauty Diary Vanilla Souffle Face Scrub is otherwise known as the 我的美丽日记香草泡泡去角质舒芙蕾 in Chinese. What a handful isn't it!

This came along with a Chinese description, type of skin that this is suited for and how to use. It did not come with an ingredients list so there will be none. The way you should use this is just like your Cure or your Meishoku jelly! Dry your hands and spread all over dry skin before gently massaging to remove dead skin.

The nozzle is easy to control and you can easily get a small blob of mousse!

Just like how a hair mousse would look like, you can make this ultra fluffy and huge depending on how much you dispense. It's a nicely whipped texture and would not lose its peaks till you mush it.

After rubbing it gently into your skin, some of the bubbles fizz away and it's really super creamy. Slowly, white bits of your dead skin will start to appear. It feels like a really gentle scrub, on my hand.

My verdict? I HATE THIS. Yes, the very first My Beauty Diary Product that I HATE. Why so? Yes it's a super gentle scrub on your hand because your hand isn't really sensitive. When I used this on my face, there's a whole lot to complain about.

I don't know what kinda stuff they added into this scrub but I'm 100% sure that one of the major ingredients is ALCOHOL. It was SO STRONG that when I squirted it out, I could smell alcohol immediately. It was really strong and overpowering my entire bathroom! I made a really big mistake then, I assumed that the alcohol scent was strong because it was just dispensed.

SO I APPLIED IT ON MY FACE. I could still smell the alcohol and it made me want to hurl. However, in order to do this review, I pushed through with it. THEN IT STARTED BURNING. It was friggin stinging my poor face. I still tried to be a hero and carry on but I didn't think my face could take it. Also I did not want to emerge from the bathroom looking like a lobster. So I rinsed it off.

The next day, I sprouted pimples :) That is how horrible it is. But me being me, after reading all the good reviews only, I had to try again to see if it's really that terrible. I tested it on my hand and yes, the smell was stinging my nose.

I will NEVER buy this again EVER. It's the first scrub that made me hurt and breakout. NO MORE. I trashed this after my second try.


Texture : ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (Well, it has a nice texture but it's prolly formulated with not nice ingredients.)

Scent : ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (Alcohol stinks.)

Effectiveness : ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (It's supposedly gentle because not a lot.)

Overall : ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (Exfoliates, but stinks, stings and breaks me out!!!)

Cheers,

Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : I bought this with my own money!

Product Review: Maybelline Hello Kitty x Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara

Got this as part of Maybelline's HyperCouture Fashion Show last month, and it presided in its little baggie since then, till at length yesterday I decided to take it out and break it in.

But you can probably see why, can't you? I'm not that much of a Hello Kitty fan but even I gotta admit that the packaging is gorgeous. Like many Hello Kitty collaborations, this one is limited edition as well. I'm pretty ambivalent about LE stuff -- on one hand there's the exclusivity, but on the other hand this means if you actually love the product, it wouldn't be readily available! The kicker? It's only available in Asia, so readers from other parts of the world would have to scour Ebay in order to find it. : C

That aside, the packaging is almost entirely in Japanese as well, but this volume-boosting mascara claims to create up to 5x more volume with a sky-high curl, even without using an eyelash curler. Its Curl-Lock Technology also helps lashes stay curly for as long as 18 hours.

Luckily for us, at least the ingredients list is in English.

And on to the mascara itself.

The mascara wand is a comb-type applicator common to a lot of lengthening mascaras. Personally I thought the applicator didn't really work that well with the formulation. Like most volumizing mascaras, the formulation tends to clump, and a comb-type applicator isn't well-suited to applying thicker mascara evenly.

The formulation itself is thick and dry, which does well at volumizing individual lashes, but inevitably clump on the second coat onwards. It is decidedly smudge-proof and waterproof on the lashes though, good news for those who routinely rub their eyes out or get caught in torrential rains.

It stayed on the entire day for me, though trying to remove it as gently as possible was rather a pain. But nevertheless, a small trade-off for its lasting power.

Before and after application, respectively. Pardon the messiness (I was barely awake).

Side and bottom view.

I prefer a softer look so this isn't my favorite mascara, but it's certainly a decent one. Clearly though, its main selling point is its feline mascot, the actual effectiveness of the product itself is almost secondary.

Ratings:
Volumizing effect: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (does volumize a little, but there are better ones in Maybelline's range)
Lasting power: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (hold its own)
Ability to hold curls: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Overall: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Disclaimer: Product given as part of Maybelline's Hypercoulture Fashion Show 2011.

Product Review : Mandom Fusain Facial Wash

Hello my dearest Domokies! Apologies for the long-time-no-update! I was sick yesterday so my world was spinning! Thus no update! Then the day before that, I had to do stuff for my potential dream job! It's like super close now. Inches away from it, simply awaiting confirmation~

I've promised someone quite a long time ago to do a scrub recommendation. Here's one, my absolute favorite.

I don't think a lot of people know about this. This was a super random buy by my mother one day while she was out shopping. Mandomcorp has a line of make up removers too if I'm not wrong, the anti aging one, oil control blah blah. This however was hidden away at little beauty shops in the neighborhood!

Here's the description, take note of the special features because they work!!!

Honestly, I don't know half the stuff on the list but what I know is, my mom like Ringo, has super sensitive skin. She absolutely adored it. So most people should be fine with this facial wash/scrub unless you're really allergic to any of the ingredients?

Here's a blob of the product! It's greyish black and a little strange looking.

Can you spot those little black + white beads? If you squint even further, there are really even smaller greyish beads in the facial wash!

Foams up pretty beautifully. Not sure if you can tell but the foam's not all pure white, it's actually a really light shade of grey too.

I'm not sure how many of you have used this but my family <3 this! We've used like at least 10 tubes of this :) The scrubbing beads, though of different sizes, are really small so it really doesn't hurt at all on your face! At the same time while this is on your face, you'll be feeling a cool minty sensation that I find awesome in the mornings.

I recommend using this once a day because even though the beads are gentle, you don't want to over exfoliate the skin! Personally, I like this in the mornings because after the slight exfoliation, the skin will be slightly brighter and more prepped for make up! Everything will go on smoother, even skincare~ So that means? Yes, really clean feeling skin! Fresh, invigorating sensation check! If I'm not wrong, my skin was pretty acne free while using this too ^________^

This smells awesome to me despite the fact that it's not fruity or flowery. It's a menthol kinda scent, more manly than girly but it pleases me. Very calming yet fresh! Best of all, this scrub costs ONLY $4.50 at Watsons! Yea they finally brought it in! If you want it even cheaper, the neighborhood beauty shops sometimes sell these for $4 ONLY!!! Like mega cheap much? You only need a little to foam up so one tube, $4/$4.50 goes a superbly long way.

I say? AWESOME MUST GET.

The ratings? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★!!! For sure, you don't need to know more. FIVE GOLDEN STARS from me!

Love,
Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : I bought this myself and I LOVE IT!!!! Review based on my own experience and results may vary with individuals!

Product Review : CandyDoll Liquid Foundation in #1

Hooray for CandyDoll! Awhile ago, CandyDoll came out with a new liquid foundation that comes in 3 shades. Being a huge CandyDoll fan, I had to lay my fatty hands on the product!

Got it in shade 1!

The back! Okay I'm not going to be gushing about packaging anymore because we all already know how kawaii CandyDoll products are!

Do not be fooled by the shade of the foundation here. The bottle makes it look a little wonky!

No ingredients list... Sorry about that!

Instead of your usual squeeze tube/pump, this one comes with a dropper like opening. So I advise one to drip about 6 drops and go back for more if it isn't sufficient.

This foundation is one with very strong yellow undertones. It is ever so slightly too yellow for me but that can be corrected with a lil bit of purple loose powder!

That's the swatch! In reality it's a little more yellow than orange.

L - Before / R - After

Coverage test! Okay if you're not happy with the coverage of this, scroll down a little further.

L - Before / R - After

Please ignore the difference in lighting, the after picture was taken when it was about to rain already so it's somewhat darker and less warm. I had a few zits and redness that day because it was nearing that time of the month. Can you see the vast difference?!

Initially when I saw that the foundation had a really watery / runny texture, my expectations fell. I thought it would be a really sheer foundation. To my greatest pleasure, this performed like my Lancome Teint Miracle! Lightweight, perfect coverage and beautiful finish. This finishes semi matte so you don't look like some plastic mannequin. In fact though all my pimples/scars/undereye circles are covered nearly completely, I feel nothing on my skin! I also did not detect any scent.

Oil control wise, I'd say my face starts to shine in about 3 hours so I recommend setting this with your favorite oil control powder! I do have to say, because this foundation doesn't contain shimmers like the Lancome Teint Miracle, it will emphasize dry skin. So you have to make sure your skin's nicely pampered and moisturized before applying this.

In short, I will DEFINITELY buy this again once I've run out. This costs $38.90 and is a lot cheaper than my other favorite foundation that costs about $60-70. And I swear, Japanese stuff are really of great quality. I love this as much as my other CandyDoll face stuff and all of them are my absolute favorites!

You can get this from BlingAlways for only$38.90 and a bottle will last you a really long time. Also if you want to sheer this out, you can always just add a lil moisturizer to it and mix it up! I get my eyeliners, face powders, blushers and stuff from BlingAlways and I've loved them all :) She was an absolute dear to deliver this to my home!


Texture: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Super lightweight~)
Coverage: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (It's a miracle in a bottle too!)
Oil Control: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (Average for most people, below average for those with EXTREMELY oily skin.)
Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (Definitely repurchasing! One of my only two favorite foundations!)

Cheers,
Chiharu ❤

Disclaimer : This product was sent to me for reviewing purposes. This does not affect the honesty of my review in any way. Review is based on my own personal experience with the product and may vary with individuals!