Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencil Swatches: All 25 Shades!

Etude House's Play 101 Blending Pencils were launched some weeks back, and I've finally gotten around to swatching them for you! For those who are familiar with Etude House, you'll remember that two years ago the brand had launched their Play 101 Pencils, which I had reviewed at the time. The Play 101 Blending Pencils are a different product, and an extension to the Play 101 line.

Etude House Play 101 Blending Pencils: A new addition to the Play 101 line

Like the original Play 101 Pencils, the Play 101 Blending Pencils are also little pencil-form sticks of makeup that are multi-purpose - you can use them on your eyes, lips, or cheeks. But the difference is that the Play 101 Blending Pencils are thicker and chubbier than the Play 101 Pencils, and are more like lip/cheek pencils in size, than eyeliner pencils (which is what the Play 101 Pencils looked like). Also, the formula and texture of the Play 101 Blending Pencils on the whole seems to be more emollient, making them much more blendable, and more suitable for lip and cheek use.

I've finally gotten around to swatching all 25 shades above, so without further ado, let's get started!

Skincare Empties Part 2: Essences, Serums, Acne Products, Masks, and Eye Creams

After the last empties post part 1, here's part 2, where we look at the rest of the skincare products that I've managed to use up over the past few months!

All my skincare empties accumulated over the past few months!

In the last post, we looked at makeup removers, cleansers, sunscreens, lotions, toners, and moisturizers. In this post we'll be looking at essences, serums, eye creams, acne products, and a Vitamin C powder, which is very interesting.


What we'll be looking at today! Serums, essences, acne products, masks, eye creams and the like
Some of these empties were products that I really liked, and some were products that were kind of eh-okay, but ended up getting used up for whatever reasons. As we run through the list, you'll figure out which is which. So, let's get started!

Etude House True Relief Review: Moist Cream, Mist Toner, Emulsion, and Ingredients Analysis

Etude House's True Relief skincare line consists of 3 products - the Moist Mist Toner, Moist Emulsion, and Moist Cream. As the line indicates, this is supposed to offer "true relief" for sensitive skin, without irritation. This certainly is pretty unusual as compared to Etude House's typical skincare range, which tends to be geared for a pretty young age group, as it seems geared towards a broader age range. So this is actually a fairly unusual step as far as Etude House skincare goes, and I'll be taking a look at how this fares!

Etude House True Relief Skincare Range: Meant for dry and sensitive skin

If you've read some of my Etude House reviews, you'll probably know that while I do love their makeup products in general, their skincare tends to be something I'm more ambivalent with - in fact, my last Etude House skincare product review wasn't exactly a positive one. This is perhaps because at nearly 30, I'm slightly older than the typical Etude House customer, and a lot of their skincare products are really best for very thick and oily skin. So, I was kind of interested to see if finally, there was a skincare range from the brand that made more sense for my skin type.


Etude House True Relief Moist Toner, Emulsion, and Cream: Slightly different from the typical Etude House skincare products
And as usual, for each of the products - the True Relief Moist Mist TOner, Moist Emulsion, and Moist Cream, we'll start off the review with a look at the ingredients list! We have three products here, so it might be a tad (just a tad, don't worry) longer than the average review, but I'll try and keep it as short and sweet as I can!

Reader Question: Elizavecca Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask Ingredients Analysis

As some of you may know, I do feature reader questions on my blog from time to time, especially when they provide inspiration for science-y posts, like this post on parabens and safety, and this other post on talc and safety. Recently I received a reader question on the Elizavecca Bubble Clay Mask, and it's an ingredients analysis type of question - exactly the sort of questions I love to take a stab at!

Elizabeth asks:
Do you think you could evaluate the "Elizavecca Bubble Clay Mask"? I bought it but I'm not sure if it actually works...it does make my skin feel smooth and soft right after but I'm not sure about any long term effects. I'm afraid this product might be mostly skintertainment because of the bubbles.

Elizavecca Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask: A niche product that has gained a little bit of a cult following (Source)

The Elizavecca Bubble Clay Mask is something of a niche cult product that has gained popularity among some kbeauty fans over the past couple of years or so, along with other bubble masks. Elizavecca is a fairly niche Korean beauty brand, and their Bubble Clay Mask seems to have gotten popular in part due to the novelty factor. Basically, the Bubble Clay Mask goes on like a normal clay mask, but once applied, quickly foams up with lots of little bubbles when you apply it, like so:

Elizavecca Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask: A large part of the novelty is the bubble and foaming effect (Image source)

I'm pretty sure a part of the reason why they're so popular is because the foam gives rise to all sorts of really cute, funny, or weird (sometimes all at once!) selfies, like this. I mean, imagine applying a mask and then having it foam and bubble up right on your face! That's pretty fun, isn't it?

Elizavecca Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask: Possibly the most fun ever when masking (Image source)

That said, bubble masks, despite the novelty value, aren't actually anything super groundbreaking, and masks of this format have existed for awhile. In fact, waaaay back in 2011, I reviewed just one such bubble mask from another Kbeauty brand, The Nature Lab Oxygen Shield Bubble Mask. And more recently in 2014, I reviewed a sort-of-similar product from a Western brand, the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Boosting 5-Minute Facial, a 2-part skincare product where the first part also consists of a foaming mask. So while the Elizavecca one is more popular, it certainly isn't the first of its kind.

Anyway, since this is a reader question, let's get back to the question, and then we'll talk a bit more about bubble masks in general. What's inside the Elizavecca Bubble Mask, and what makes it bubble? Does this bubbling really help skin? Do bubble masks in general really bring any skincare benefit beyond being novel or entertaining? Let's take a look, starting with the ingredients list!

Albion Elegance Powder Review, Swatches, Ingredients Analysis

Albion's Elegance Face Powder A Poudre Haute Naunce launched a couple of months back, and I was pretty excited about this, because it's just so pretty, and also because this is officially my first Albion makeup product! Albion is a luxe Japanese brand, better known for its skincare, in particular its lotions, but it also has a line of makeup products.

Albion Elegance Face Powder: A pressed face powder from luxury line Albion

The Albion Elegance Face Powder is basically a pressed face powder with different coloured sections, much like the Guerlain Pressed Meteorites. The Elegance Powder claims to help brigthen the skin, cover pores, and also last on the skin. are three shades of Elegance Powders here: No. 1 (Elegance), No. 4 (Clear), No. 5 (Gorgeous), and No. 6 (Airy). The shade I have is No. 1. All the powders are pretty sheer, however, quite sheer (as we shall see in my swatches), so for the most part, there isn't too much of a great difference between shades to the untrained eye.


Albion Elegance Face Powder: Several different shades of powder combine to form one shade of finishing powder
So without further ado, I'll be reviewing my Albion Elegance Face Powder in shade No. 1, and of course, with most reviews I'll start with the ingredients list!