Review:Kanebo Kate Powder Foundation SPF 20 PA++

(Photo credit to Adambeauty.com)


This is an older version of Kanebo Kate Powder foundation. I know newer version was released early this year. I also have mineral pressed powder foundation from Kate. Will review it later.

It's a powder foundation stored in a dark case. Kate is Media's sister, they both are from Kanebo. Personally I prefer Kanebo's powder foundation over Shiseido. Sadly there's no Kanebo counter in Canada, but nowadays we can always get almost everything online.

The quality of Kanebo's drugstore brand products are high enough to please people who prefer to use higher end products. If I do blind testing on some of Kanebo's drugstore brand products, I may not be able to tell if they are from department stores or drugstores.

This powder foundation is a little bit dryer than Media's powder foundation. It's better for summer use. The coverage is slightly higher than Media's powder foundation. I have no complain about the staying power. It never transfers.

I am not sure if it controls oil because I do not have oily skin. But if it's a summer powder foundation, it is supposed to be able to do oil control. People with combination to oily skin may need some  touch- ups on t-zone in very warm summer days. Though I am ok with no touch ups.

However the price is highter than Media's powder foundation. The refill (11.5 g)its own is around $14 USD.

It works better than Kanebo's Freshel powder foundation but no too much difference between Kate powder foundation and Media.

Review: Kanebo Media Treament Pact AIII Spf 20 Pa++

(Photo credit to adambeauty.com http://www.adambeauty.com/showitem.php?itemtype=detail&itemid=me-tpact&brandid=22&language=EN&agentid=2&productid=1&brandSubid=&groupid=1&catid=22)


Kanebo Media always offers high quality products with very very affordable prices. I have foundations and eyeshadows from the Media line. It says the blushes are great as well.

The Pact cost $13 USD (refill+case), the refill is 11.5 g.

The powder is stored in an elegant blue case. Very small and portable. It reminds me of Shiseido's high end line, Cle de peau, which has the similar blue case for powder foundation.

The powder foundation is very creamy. It's with great coverage as well. Good for dry skin. It's a powder foundation with good performance in coverage, pretection and staying power. It does not cause break out. The only disadvantage is that I hit the pan in around a month. I do not know if it's because the powder is more buttery than others. But I like the performance and the reasonable price. Would recommend to those who with budget and first time powder foundation users.

What is the best product for very dry skin?

Last past weeks I have been experiencing hard time on my skin. I got light eczema on hands and small dry patches on my face. My lips were extremely dry.

I do not know the reason which causes eczema. I suppose it's the weather and climate change. Some days are extremely dry and cold with snow (yes, April snow in Toronto) and some days are warm.

I tried the following products in extreme skin condition and have some brief thoughts on them.

1. Fresh Rose Mask:  (Photo credit to Sephora.com)

I got the sample as one of the  freebies from sephora. I like the rose scent. It's not artificial. I think it's best for normal to dry skin, but not for extremely dry skin. I feel slightly burning stinging when apply it on my very dry skin. But it does not break me out. Good products for normal to dry skin, but not hydrating enough on extremly dry skin.

2.Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum:
(Photo credit to The Bay.com)

I have 3 small samples from gwps. I have been collecting them for sometime lol. The serum is very hydrating. What I like it the most is it has no overpowering scent at all. But I have to use large quantity of it because of my extreme skin condition. I can use up whole deluxe sample bottle at once (for your reference, the bottle was 7ml). I feel ok wihout cream after it. But I  have to use so much in order to feel hydrated. Good serum, but cost too much.
Wish to find a dupe.

3.Lancome Tonique Confort:
(Photo credit to Thebay.com)

I bought it weeks ago. I know I cannot expect a toner to work as good as a hydrating cream or a serum. But there are so many good review on it and I hope to give it a try. It's a good hydrating toner with thick consistency which I like. It also has nice honey scent. It works good when my skin is in normal condition. But I feel slightly stinging if my skin is very dry.

4. Shiseido Benefiance Nutriperfect Pro-fortifying Softener:



(Photo credit to Thebay.com)

This softener has the same consistency as Lancome Tonique Confort. It's with slight scent. It works like hydrating serum. When my skin is normal I can apply 2 to 3 layers of it without cream afterwards. It's slightly more hydrating than Lancome Tonique Confort but a little bit less hydrating than Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair Serum. I can use it as a very light serum and toner. Good value.

5. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturing Lotion( Dry to Very Dry Formula): (Photo credit to Thebay.com)

Very good basic moisturing lotion. It works on my dry lips. No scent which I really appreciate!

6. Shiseido Bio-Performance Advanced Super Restoring Cream:

(photo credit to thebay.com)

It's more thick formula than the revitalizing cream. Bio performance products are always famous for being hydrating and emollient. However the cream does not work wonder on me even on my normal skin, let alone my skin in extremely dry period. I dislike the scent of it. The cream is very expensive in Canada, it costs $140 plus tax. I do not think it's worth the money and I will not buy it again.

7. Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Night Cream: (photo credit to The bay.com)

This is a much cheaper and better night cream than bio performance. The scent is also better than the bio performance one. It's quite emollient. Works good on me. But it's not hydrating enough without adding toner and serum before using it.

8. Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Night Emulsion: (Photo credit to The bay.com)

To my surprise, it works better than the cream ! It's hydrating enough by using its own. When I feel extremly dry on my skin with some special condition, I use it and top with the WrinkleResist24 Night Cream. They together work wonders! Good emulsion!

Reveiew: Kanebo Freshel powder foundation spf 30

There are two types of (pressed) powder foundation in Kanebo Freshel's line. One is the brightening one with spf 30, pa +++, while the other is the moisturizing one with spf 25, pa++.

This product has been released for many years. It's a drugstore brand with very affordable price. Personally I do not believe in any brightening effect in cosmetics, but I like the high spf in it.

Japanese and Korean powder foundations are famous for their high spfs. I do hope western brands can do more variety of powder foundation products with spf.

The powder has very high coverage with somewhat thick consistency. I am not sure if it's the right way of describing powder. But this powder is quite heavy. Even if I use brush to apply it lightly, I can feel its thick coverage.

If I put very emollient cream such as Clinique moisture surge underneath, it can make the makeup look a lot heavier. It looks like I top this powder with  many layers of cream foundation underneath.

I do not know if any person like this type of heavy makeup look nowadays. Like I said I prefer high coverage powder. I appreciate the medium to full coverage the powder offeres. But I do not want to look I have many makeup on but actually I have only a layer of powder foundation.

I think the powder foundation looks the best to apply on its own without too much skincare or sunscreen under it. It can actually work as sunscreen, cream foundation, concealer stick and powder --all in one in a powder.

It's a nice powder when I am in a hurry, without even 1 minute to apply sunscreen before it. But I still prefer to apply sunscreen before going out. The powder can also be good alternative makeup for those who are allergic to any type of liquid sunscreen and foundation.

With the very reasonable price (around $12 USDfor the refill) and large size (11g), and great coverage with high spf, Freshel powder foundation can be the best choice for anyone.

Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Eclat de Chanel compact makeup

This compact is probably my second most expensive powder foundation. It retails around $85 something plus tax. I got it almost free at murale, since I had some shoppers’ points to redeem.

The compact comes with a sponge, a nice brush and a nice peachy scent. However I usually do not use the included sponge and brush to apply for my makeup.

The whole powder compact weighs at 13 gram, which is a lot for a powder compact. Normally powder compact comes with approximately 10 grams.

Despite the eye catching packaging and the accessories comes with, I am not fan of this powder compact.

The compact, like all Chanel’s powder products, has very finely milled powders in it. The texture is close to Diorskin flawless compact, but not as creamy as Diorskin though.

I like the fact that it’s very hydrating. It does not accentuate any dry areas on my skin. But that is the only benefit to me. The coverage is sheer, much worse than mat lumiere powder compact.

The lightest shade they offer here in Canada, B20, is too orange and dark for me. I know there are lighter shades such as BO10 and B10 available in some other countries. I hope they can bring more shades here in the future.

In a nutshell, it’s a high quality powder compact which does not suit me. Nevertheless if you are looking for a low coverage powder with decent hydration, and if you love Chanel, it’s your best choice.

 

Review: Chanel Mat Lumiere Luminous Powder Makeup Spf 10

Chanel products are famous for the quality and the high price. The case of this powder foundation is with a simple black design, yet very classy and identical.

 

The powders are super finely milled. The texture is smooth and silky. There’s no scent to it.

The powder foundation is slightly dry for me in the winter time. The finish is towards to matte side when you just finish applying the makeup. But if you look into your skin closely, you can feel there's somewhat luminous effect to it. Just like its name—mat lumiere luminous powder.

The coverage is medium to the most. It can even out the skin tone, it can conceal around 80% of dark circles-- if you try to build the coverage up hard enough.

In my view, Chanel mat lumiere powder is more like a setting powder than a foundation. I never use any liquid foundation or bb cream underneath it, but I am sure it will do the job very well as a setting powder.

All in all, this mat lumiere luminous powder should be used as a setting powder, rather than being used as a foundation by its own. If you are looking for a great setting powder with some spf, it’s the best choice.

Review: Shiseido The Makeup Perfect Smoothing Compact Foundation

It seems that this item had been discontinued here in Canada in 2012. But it is still available on the US website. The US version has Spf 15 in it while Canadian version has none.

I feel the smoothing compact foundation is the mixture of Clinique almost powder makeup and Dior flawless compact. It has the glitter in the pan like Clinique and the same buttery and creamy texture as Dior.

Among all the shades, Shade O20 seems to be the best match to my skin tone while I20 looks a little bit darker and more pink than O20. Both shades look a little bit darker than my skin tone when first applied on. Nonetheless, this illusion does not last long. After an hour or so, the powder beautifully melts into my skin, and both shades look very natural on my face.

The smoothing compact has as high coverage as Cle de Peau’s powder foundation. It actually performs very similar to (maybe even better than) Cle de Peau. It does not dry my skin and the lasting power is superb. In my view, it’s a hydrating powder for normal to dry skin.

The finish is matte in the first few hours, after 4 hours of applying, my skin looks glowy (but not oily at all) as if I have highlighted my skin.

The refill cost around $38 CAD plus tax. The price is almost one-third cheaper than CdP. If you prefer the finish of CdP’s powder foundation and do not want to spend that much, the smoothing compact could be a dupe for it—they are born to the same mother Shiseido, after all.