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Cure Natural Aqua Gel + Cure Water Treatment* Review & Giveaway

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I’ve spoken about Cure Natural Aqua Gel* in a previous post (Post-Sunburn: Body Stuff) and though it initially left me a little unimpressed, I really paid attention to how to use it properly and tried again. It’s been an excellent addition to my skin care routine.

The Cure Natural Aqua Gel* is “Japan’s No. 1 Exfoliator,” dealing with a myriad of skin issues like pigmentation, pimples, wrinkles, and dull skin, but doing so in a gentle way. Used 2 times a week, it can make a big difference for your skin. I especially noticed that it was effective when I burned myself stupidly in the summer sun. My skin had been peeling from a sunburn, something that hasn’t happened to me before, and Cure was one of the things I added into my routine, as regular exfoliation would have been too rough for my damaged skin.

Cure Natural Aqua Gel is 90% water, with several ingredients to target specific problems such as gingko biloba (provides hydration + prevents freckles and age spots), rosemary leaf extract (anti inflammatory & anti bacterial, combats acne), glycerin (moisturizer), among others. If you want to learn more about it, click the image below:
Cure Brochure

The Cure Water Treatment Skin Cream* hasn’t left my desk since I received it. A lightweight moisturizing cream, the Cure Water Treatment was originally developed for TOYO Life’s staff when they experienced excessive drying of the hands from opening cardboard boxes delivered to them every day. The consistency is similar to several Korean skin care products I’ve received in the past, where the cream breaks down into water droplets and dries down almost instantly (e.g. Amaranth Ultra-Hydrating Cream*, Sorabee Balancing Aqua Cream*). This is ideal for the working girl, when you need to inject your hands with a little bit of moisture, but also need to get back to work right away.

Starting May 2015, Beauty Box Corp. is bringing in the Cure Water Treatment Skin Cream as a GWP. It’s such an effective and ideal hand cream since it dries down so quickly, keeps your hands moisturized, and does not have a scent. Yay! If these two products sound good to you, check out this giveaway that Beauty Box Corp. has kindly arranged with me.

Carina Hi-res

Win a set of the Cure Natural Aqua Gel + Cure Water Treatment

Just click here to enter. All steps are mandatory, and listed down below for your reference:

  1. Follow @curephil on Instagram
  2. Repost the square image above on Instagram with caption:
    “I want to win Cure Natural Aqua Gel & Cure Water Treatment! @curephil @presidents #CarinaxCureGiveaway”
  3. Follow Cure on FB
  4. Follow @curephil on Twitter
  5. Provide home address

The giveaway runs from April 10-24, 2015. One winner will be chosen and announced by the Beauty Box Corp. team on April 27, 2015.

Please comment below if you have any questions. 🙂 Click on the image below for more information about the Cure Water Treatment Skin Cream:
CWT leaflet

* Products and prizes were provided by Beauty Box Corp. for review and giveaway. I was not compensated for this post, required to write the reviews, or involved in devising the giveaway mechanics.

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Lipstick Menu: April 2015

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Sometimes I feel like my compulsion to shop is just that: a compulsion. I don’t need any other makeup thing, to tell you the truth. After I’ve filled my virtual cart with the things I think I need, I click out of the window and look through my stuff. I have a six-slot lipstick holder on my desk and I’ve taken to switching out lipsticks from my considerably bigger case in my big drawer to these slots so I can concentrate on my chosen ones. For April, these are the lipsticks that I’ve chosen. Read More

Make That Face Monday: My Go-To Urban Decay Naked 3 Look

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I’ve been putting off this video for a really long time—like, unspeakably long—but now here it is! It’s a sped-up sort of GRWM with a voice-over that has a typical full-face routine. I’ve tried all of the 12-pan Naked palettes by Urban Decay, and I think that the Naked 3 is my favorite. I don’t think you get a lot of variety from it as it’s a pretty full-on rose obsession, but the looks I get with it are just always SO PRETTY.

In the end, the face looks like this:
Urban Decay Naked 3 Makeup Look Go-To

I just realized that this video may have exposed my really shitty brow job, lol. It’s all good, though, because I don’t carve out my brows that much. I just follow the regular, “groomed~” shape and call it a day. I don’t think anyone in my immediate vicinity cares about eyebrows all that much anyway. I sure don’t.

Products + Tools Used:

— NARS Sheer Glow Foundation (Punjab)
— NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Ginger)
— Sigma F86 Tapered Kabuki Brush**
— Nature Republic By Flower Auto Eyebrow (2)
— MAC Paint Pot (Painterly)
— Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette
— Hakuhodo Kokutan Eyeshadow Brush T (crease/lid work)
— MAC 236 (lower lash line)
— K-Palette Rose Scented Liquid Liner*
— shu uemura Eyelash Curler
— Le Métier de Beauté Anamorphic Lash Mascara (Midnight)
— Kjaer Weis Cream Blush (Abundance)
— Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
— Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette
— Hakuhodo G5519BkSL Powder Brush (all over face)
— MAC Matte Lipstick (Mehr)

Anyway, like I said, I am usually never disappointed with the looks I get with this palette. Do I think that some of the shades are redundant? Sure. I’m sure there could have been a bit more variety here. But, having mostly used this palette on a 6-week trip, I have to say that it absolutely didn’t leave me wanting. I love the looks you can achieve with this palette, no matter how limited it may seem. The darkest shades do add some variety, but I can see how it can leave a bit of a gap with your makeup needs.

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.
** Affiliate link.

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FOTD: Carinae + Gloss

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I did a desk clear-out of my vanity area and fished out some of the under-appreciated items from the depths of my drawers. Everything I love is lost in drawers, as the song goes. Except Matt Berninger probably didn’t mean makeup. Ahem. Read More

March Favorites: 2015

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A quick post to highlight some of my favorites this month! As you might have probably noticed, I had a “beauty slump” in the past few weeks. I’m getting back into it now, but I was pretty into having a routine this month. I’ve got a few makeup bits here, but most of it is some type of skin and body care. Read More

Ellis Faas - Identity Revealed

Ellis Faas: On the Edge of Beauty

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I received the best email ever, a few days ago! Ellis Faas made a book. I’ve always been interested in “learning the basics” from beauty book staples by artists like Bobbi Brown and Kevyn Aucoin, but this is just on a whole other level of excitement for me. I’ve been such a big fan of Ellis Faas products—love at first swipe!—but I’m even moreso in love with her approach to makeup, and the progression of her story, coming from a photography background.

Ellis Faas: On the Edge of Beauty

unnamed“it is typical of the art of ellis faas to question and destabilise the rules and expectations of the beauty industry, to explore definitions and push boundaries of beauty.

while adopting traditional tools and techniques of the trade, she attempts to transcend the industry’s restrictions, the idealised sense of perfection and the tendency towards global uniformity.

to this end she makes use, in turn, of visual exaggeration, irony, surrealism, distortion and fantasy. by investigating the relationship between the everyday and the extraordinary, she creates her own spectacular vision that casts a new light on the familiar, established aesthetics.

the 64-page book on the edge of beauty presents an example of ellis faas’ multifaceted work as a make up expert and artist; an audacious and imaginative visual adventure, that challenges the status quo, sparks creativity, and provides inspiration on the daring and innovative world of beauty.”

Book Information

ellis faas – on the edge of beauty
makeup and photography ellis faas
64 pages – copyright © 2009-2015
official launch date: march 28 at the makeup show los angeles
rest of the world: march 29
retails at € 17.50 / US$ 20.00 / £ 13.00

I’m not sure where to get this just yet, but I emailed to ask and I’ll update you once I know. Can you imagine wearing these looks in real life?! I want to believe in that kind of world, but I can’t haha. Thankfully, we can live vicariously through books!

Update: Ordering Information

On the Edge of Beauty is available on EllisFaas.com. I’ve ordered off their website previously with no issues re: shipping and transacting. 🙂

Also at The Makeup Show in LA is a beauty exhibition of Ellis’ work. Here’s an awesome interview from Vogue France:

Do you continue to practice the art of the selfie?
I still sometimes take self-portraits, but only for press or to illustrate articles, I’m bored of my face. Selfies are all over the place and I find it very narcissistic. If I take one, then it is with the people I love and for my own memories, not to be shared with the world.

Again, more here.

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Project Pan 2015: Update No. 1

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Hey all! Just a short Project Pan 2015 update, after the first quarter of the year. I think I’ve done quite a bit of progress, finishing up some items (yay!), so now I’m going to replace them with other stuff I want to finish up, even though they’re not necessarily in the same category.

January 1 2015

Project Pan 2015
(sunscreen not pictured)

March 31 2015

Project Pan 2015 - Batch 1 - Finished

Finished: Faith in Face Truly Waterly Cleanser* (replaced with Bifesta*), DHC Lip Cream, NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eye Base, LUSH Cream Eyeshadow in Sophisticated, Le Métier de Beauté Anamorphic Lash Mascara in Midnight
TOTAL: 5

New Project Pan Batch: March 31 2015

Project Pan 2015 - Batch 2

Old: NARS x Andy Warhol Larger Than Life Lipgloss in Viva, Kosé Suncut Water in UV Protect Essence SPF 50+ PA++++, NARS Sheer Lipstick in Vendanges, BECCA Resurfacing Primer, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger

I’ll be honest: I just straight up stopped using primers and the NARS lipstick and concealer. The concealer, I just kind of dreaded to use when my face was dry and peel-y (we’re OK now), and the lipstick—I for some reason, wanted to keep saving. I’m nuts, I tells ya! I gave myself a talking-to, though, so hopefully I’ll be done with this next quarter!

New: For the items to replace the ones I’ve finished up, I have ALL makeup items! Yay. Let’s face it; the cleansing water and lip balm were kind of a cheat, lol.

  • Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Nude — I don’t always line my waterline with nude, but I do like it when I do. Because I’m trying to de-stash and use up my eyeliners, I’m going to start with the one that I can always use—a nude one!
  • K-Palette Real Lasting 2Way Eyebrow Liner in G101* — This is actually kind of on its last legs, so I’m tempted not to count it. The marker end has dried up, so I’ve just been using the powder end. I still like it, but it’s really kind of on its way to being dead.
  • Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum — One of my earliest purchases. I still like it, so I’m going to try to wear it a lot so I can also get rid of it already.
  • BECCA Eye Tint in Baroque — This eye tint is the equivalent of a “moot point.” I don’t know what the point of wearing this is because it’s too sheer for my skin tone. I use it as a base, it works out well enough.
  • ILIA Mascara in Shadow of a Doubt — It’s just time I used this up, you guys. It’s just time.

And that’s it! It’s pretty slow-going, as you can probably tell. I haven’t been wearing a lot of makeup lately, if you can believe that, but I’ve been missing it, so I’m optimistic. Anyone else doing a PP for 2015? I’d love to know your progress!

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.

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