Innisfree: No Sebum Mineral Powder & No Sebum Mineral Pact ♥︎

I don't know what's taken me so long to review this product especially since this is like the best thing out there. In fact, I'm sure most of you have already heard of this product or have this product in your makeup collection already.

It's a really popular product that was recommended by many beauty youtubers. Back then, I didn't apply powder after my foundation but since this product was highly recommended by so many people, I thought I'd give it a try when I went to Korea in 2014.

To me, these products are almost the same other than their names and pricing therefore I decided to review them together. I got the Mineral Powder in Korea and got the Mineral Pact later on when my dad visited Korea.

Here's the description for the products taken from the Innisfree website:

A replacement for oil control paper that leaves the skin soft and matte
1. The double sebum-control system controls the secretion of sebum to keep the skin soft and fresh all day long.
2. Jeju minerals and mint control skin oil and moisture to keep skin healthy.

Thoughts

As mentioned, I got the Mineral Powder first. There's 5g of product and I think I paid around ₩6,000 for it. I liked it's small packaging as it was easy to carry around unlike some other brands where mineral powders would come in big round tubs that aren't travel friendly.

The Mineral Pact comes with 8.5g of product and since my dad got it for me, I'm unsure of the price although I think it costs around SGD $16 at the local Innisfree stores.

Comparing the two products, I would say the Mineral Powder seems to works better as it is a loose powder so you are able to get more product on your face in a shorter amount of time. However, the problem with loose powders is that you do end up wasting some product in the process since you have to tap it into the cap and swirl it around with your brush.

The Mineral Pact is definitely convenient for touch ups especially if you're outside, no worry of accidentally spilling powder all over the toilet. When I'm at home, I like using the puff to pat powder over my face before using a powder brush to blend it.

I've tried using this product on my hair too. Yes, hair. Last year I had bangs and in the humid weather they always get oily. Whenever they start to show signs of oil, I would dab a bit of this product on my hair. It will absorb the oil and my bangs will be shine free. Pretty awesome right?

Verdict

This product is really like one of my daily go-to products. I definitely have to use this to end my makeup routine. The makeup isn't complete without this product. I guess due to the humid climate here, I rely on this product a lot to keep my face shine free. Even if you don't come from a humid country, this product works great as a setting powder and it feels so light and natural on the skin.

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Hope that this review was useful although I'm quite sure that most people would have heard of this product before. Nonetheless hope it provided extra information for those who haven't decided if they should purchase this product. 

Jukebox #68 Everytime ♥︎

This week's song review is a special one! It's not taken from the usual twitter poll. This week's post features a song from Descendants of the Sun OST. It's a deut Everytime by Chen and Punch.

I actually chanced upon this MV before deciding to watch the drama. I wasn't planning on watching this drama till much later considering I'm someone who's always late to the party. However, after watching this MV and some clips posted on Facebook. I decided to watch the drama. Have I regretted it? I don't think so. 

I really like it when this song appears during the drama as it really livens the mood of the somewhat serious plot of the drama. I don't know what captivated me but this song has been a earworm for a few days now. Whenever I get a earworm, it's really quite bad. The only way to cure it is to listen to that particular song on repeat until I get bored of it. So far, according to the count on my iTunes, I have listened to this song 97 times over. 

Probably the tune is what stood out to me. Plus of course, good vocals 👍🏻 Chen's voice does tend to stand out. I really like the intro and since it's also a repeating chorus, it's difficult to not get hooked onto it. I'm like humming the tune throughout the day. This earworm is really bad. Otherwise, I really would encourage you to check this song and the drama out!

It's a pretty quick song review. Especially for this song, I feel like you'll need to hear it to understand what I mean and hope that it doesn't become an earworm for you too. 

Also, there'll be a break and the jukebox song review posts will resume after a few weeks. I hope that you'll continue to keep a look out for other schedule posts during the week and hope you'll continue to look forward to new jukebox posts after a short break. 

Drama Discussion: Descendants of the Sun ;1st Impression ♥︎

This must be the most talked about drama right now. Probably trending all over the world. It's none other than KBS's 태양의 후예 Descendants of the Sun.

I actually wrote a rough first impression post on my Dayre which you can read here but it's probably not very coherent. Normally my drama reviews are written some time later when the feels have died down and my thoughts are not all over the place. Not to worry, I'll try to organise whatever thoughts I have on the drama and compile them into this post. 

It's probably going to be quite heavy reading though. Do be warned.

Note: This post will contain spoilers so those who have not watched the drama, you may not want to continue reading.

Characters

First and foremost, Yoo Si Jin, played by Song Joong Ki ♥ Hmm I can't really say much about his character yet cos I'm sure there are still some secrets to be revealed. But just like a true soldier, he is quite a gung-ho, not afraid of risks. He has to be to be a brave right? I think he's also a character that feels things in his gut like his feelings for our female lead. Up till through episode 8, he hasn't given up on his feelings for the doctor despite her constant rejections. But seriously, whoever casted Song Joong Ki for the role. That person should be given an award. Like seriously.

Our pretty female lead Kang Mo Yeon, played by Song Hye Gyo, isn't your usual Korean drama female lead. Although she does have one or two damsel in distress moments, like Yoo Si Jin, she also has quite the character. She's rather direct and straightforward about her feelings which once again isn't a typical trait of usual Korean drama female leads 👍🏻  probably this is why this drama is quite popular. Everyone likes confident girls these days. She seems to be very certain of herself and stands by her decisions, like her constant decision to reject Yoo Si Jin's confession 😭 

But I'm sure everyone is envious of her role. She gets to work with a bunch of hot army dudes. Raise your hand if you want to be a doctor too! 

Then we have our secondary couple, Yoon Myeong Ju and Seo Dae Young, played by Kim Ji Won and Jin Goo. She's a military doctor and he's a soldier. The whole rank thing confuses me but apparently Dae Young is of a lower rank than Myeong Ju cos Myeong Ju is a military doctor so she's of a high rank? Or did she work her way there? I don't think it was clearly mentioned but anyway this secondary couple has a complicated love line just like our primary couple. Nonetheless, I think this couple looks good together too. Dae Young is another hot soldier and when he appears in a scene with Yoo Si Jin... Whoa 😍

There are many other supporting actors like Onew as Lee Chi Hoon. Totally worthy of mentioning him cos he really proved himself. He hasn't appeared in many drama productions but I think he has really proven himself. At times I thought it was quite awkward but he proved himself with his crying scenes. Totally believable. Plus, with such a plot, it would be easy to feel and look awkward but I think he really did well. Another acting-dol in the making.

Aside from him there are many more so like it led me to think this is a crazy high budget production. I mean they went to Greece to film?! Not only that, they incorporated quite a lot of CG and seemed like they had a lot of props as well. I would be surprised if this show didn't do well. Thankfully it's gained a crazy amount of popularity. Song Joong Ki's first production since he got discharged from military service and he's soaring to fame.

Plot

I can't really tell or see the full picture of the plot yet. (If that makes sense.) I do get that there are bad guys so I'm sure they'll make an appearance somewhere in the show like threatening Si Jin's life or something. Probably something like King 2 Hearts? I sure hope that nobody dies. It'll be too sad 😭 If they kill off any character I'll be so upset.

As of episode 6, I'm not sure where they're heading yet. I have the feeling they'll probably lay out the love lines properly before developing other areas. We do catch glimpses of the bad guys so I'm sure something big will happen towards the end but now I think they're just focusing on the two love lines and have viewers familiarize themselves with the various jobs.

Judging from episode 8, I think they might really develop the love lines a little more before introducing another problem. Though from episode 9's preview, they might slowly introduce the problem, but it's expected too as there aren't many episodes left.

Sounding like a pro drama watcher right? I guess watching dramas aren't fun unless you analyze it and predict what's to come. If it's too predictable it isn't good either. I like guessing. And it's unusual for Korean dramas to be this unpredictable.

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This brings us to the end of the quick first impression post. It's pretty similar to the first impression post I've written on Dayre but I've added more thoughts here and there. Plus, I've fixed some grammatical issues 😛

Hope that this first impression post was useful to those who are decided whether they want to start watching this drama. I'll seriously say this...

Watch it now! This is probably the best drama of 2016.

Jukebox #67 Love More ♥︎

This week's song review is a little special. Considering it's not really a Kpop song. It's a little bit of a mix? If you read on you'll find out why. This week's song review will be featuring Bii's Love More. For those who are familiar with Bii you'll probably know what I'm talking about.

Since this isn't a mainstream Kpop song, the poll didn't garner as much attention, gaining about 11 votes in total and this song lost with 27% of votes.

Without further ado, let's begin with this song review!

As mentioned above, Bii isn't your mainstream Kpop singer. However, he is half Korean, born to a Korean mum and Taiwanese dad. That would explain why he includes both Mandarin and Korean lyrics in his songs, which to me is pretty cool. It's like it's his own style and he gets to stay true to his roots.

Initially how I got to know of Bii was quite funny. My friend introduced his song to me just because Bii resembled Luhan and I do think he looks like Luhan. However, I didn't really pay attention to him until I started watching the Taiwanese drama, 'Bromance', that he acted in. I fell in love with his voice that was featured in the OST. It's pretty unique! It totally doesn't suit his face. He has a gentle face but his voice is quite gruff.

I was thinking that Bii could probably make it in Korea too as a Kpop star if he wanted too but then it'll probably kill his originality and he probably won't be able to write songs like what he's doing now. So I hope that you'll take some time to check Bii out and listen to his songs!

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Regular readers of these Jukebox posts... Unfortunately, I'll be going on a holiday and thus will be taking a short break from writing these posts, I initially was planning to write the posts in advance but I think I won't have time to do that before I leave. However, do stay tuned for other pre written posts that will be scheduled.

Jukebox #66 Shy Boy ♥︎

This song we have Secret's Shy Boy. Surprisingly this song lost the poll with only 14% of the votes. I guess it's not fair to put a boy group versus a girl group. Boy groups always end up winning the votes.

For some time, this song was constantly stuck in my head. It's really a song that just sticks in your mind due to its catchy tune and lyrics.

Some weeks, my bff actually told me that she liked this Korean song I let her listen to years ago but she didn't know the song title. Was letting her listen to many Korean songs but none of it was the song. Finally she mentioned they wore colourful skirts and it was a cutesy song. We then identified this song. Haha. Took us quite some time there. Even for non Kpop fans, this song leaves an impression.

I think what made this song so successful would be how the whole concept and the song fit well together. Apparently the MV features a 60s 'Swing dance concept' which actually really suits the song well. Plus, the bright colours just makes everything stand out more.

Seriously, everything about this song will just make listeners fall in love with Secret and Shy Boy. Doo ri bab doo bab~ So do take some time to check this lively song out!

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By the time you're reading this it'll probably be past the weekend. Apologies for the late post, just have had so many other things to write. Do stay tuned for next weekend's post and the polls too!

Tony Moly: Easy Touch Gel Eyeliner ;1st Impression ♥︎

Normally I don't write such posts but there's a first time for everything. So basically I purchased this product online without doing extensive research on it. I'll share my thoughts on the product after using it today!

Tony Moly
Easy Touch Gel Eyeliner
#1 Black

I saw some youtubers mentioning this product as a part of their monthly favourites, Hoversjelly and LiahYoo, if I'm not wrong. I'm so used to seeing the gel liner with the brush attached so I went to do some research. I wanted to know if it was a repackaged product or a new one. Turns out it was a different product altogether. Heres a description of the product from the Tony Moly website:

Waterproof gel type eyeliner for natural line with fascinating eye shape

Thoughts

I got this product on qoo10 for about SGD $8 and it comes with 4g of product. I've been quite impressed with the Backstage Gel Liner from this brand which I got back in 2012. It lasted me a year and I was expecting nothing less of this product especially since it was recommended by youtubers too.

I personally liked the packaging compared to the one with the brush as it's a little bulky with the brush sticking out. This packaging is kind of flat, like most gel liners around and thus easy to carry around in a makeup bag!

So far it seems the packaging is quite air tight as well. Previously, I bought a gel liner that didn't have an air tight container and it dried up really quickly. What a waste ☹ Reminder never to buy something just because it has a cute packaging.

Moving on to the texture and how the product holds up. I really like how the product applies really smoothly. Some eyeliners are quite clumpy and sticky so it's not easy to draw a crisp eyeline on the first try. Although it glides on easily, it isn't super black but that alright as you can just go over it again with more product.

I tried it for two days before writing this first impression post. On both days I used the same eyeliner brush and set the eyeliner with powder. The first day I wore it for about half a day, just till around lunch, and the second day I wore it a full day at work. It's probably not a very fair comparison as I'm out in the sun a lot during work but I guess it does show how this eyeliner lasts.

With the name like easy touch, I had the impression that it might not last long and smudge all over my eyes. Thankfully it held up pretty well even during work. It only smudged around mid afternoon just below the eyes. I guess it isn't something I can as the weather here is really humid and my eyelids tend to get oily. After wiping off the smudged areas and patting off the oil, the eyeliner lasted pretty well.

The Verdict

I'm surprised how this product turned out. I bought it expecting it to be worse than the oh so popular backstage gel liner. I would recommend it for those who are looking for a daily wear eyeliner and want something easy to work with. However, I wouldn't recommend this for those who prefer a really black and dark eyeliner, the backstage gel liner might work better for that.

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That's all I have for this quick first impression post. Hope it was useful for those looking to try out this fairly new product.