OPI Nail Lacquer in Double Decker Red Review

Happy July 4th everybody. I have a July 4th nail idea that I want to share with everybody :)

Our city was suppose to hold our annual July 4th firework on friday, but due to hurricane Arthur, they decided to move the fireworks up a day. I decided to stay up late and finish my nail art for July 4th.

I will be reviewing OPI's Double Decker Red which is used to create my fourth of July nail.

OPI's Double Decker Red is a creme in a dark fire engine red. The color actually isn't as bright red as seen in the picture but about a shade darker. The lacquer is watery, so applies thinly, which I like because that allows it to dry quickly in about a minute. By the time I finish applying the first coat to my right hand, my left hand is already dried and I can apply a second coat. I only needed two coat to achieve opacity. However, I am disappointed at the finish. Most of OPI's color has such nice shine that I don't need to apply a top coat to it. The finish of Double Decker is shiny, but looks dull and I wasn't getting that freshly minted feeling. On my pinky, it looks shiny but on my second and third finger, it looked dull. Despite that, I would still recommend Double Decker Red if this is the color you like. The color lasted 5 days before chipping.


Summary:

PROS: 

• Dries Quickly
• opaque with 2 coats

CONS:

• Finish is not as shiny as I would have liked

(from left to right) Sally Hansen's Twinkle Twinkle, Orly's In The Navy, Orly's White Tips,  OPI's Double Decker Red

Other colors that I used to create this look is Orly's french tip nail lacquer in White Tips, Orly's In the Navy (which I reviewed here), Sally Hansen's Hard as Nail Extreme Wear in Twinkle Twinkle for the glitter accent, and I finished it off with Borghese's Brilliante base and top coat.

I put two coats of the base color before applying designs to the nails. On the ring finger, I used a toothpick to position the glitter. I find that it's easier to apply the glitter polish on to a piece of paper in order to fish out the glitter and place it on the nail.

On the thumb I dotted the circles with a Q-tip, let the color dry before putting on another color. I have a dot tool for nail art from Sally Hansen, but the circles came out too small so I switched to using Q-tips.

thanks for reading

What red nail polish do you use? Any great nail polish that you can recommend me? Please comment below :)

Happy Fourth of July,

VanillaDreamCream

Get It Beauty eyeshadow palette blind test 2014 edition

There is a korean beauty show, Get It Beauty, that I haven't been able to get my hands on and FINALLY its second season is subbed in English!!!

It's second season is hosted by a beautiful actress and a favorite of mine… Yoo In Na!!! <3 p="">

A popular segment of the show is their blind testing, where they blind test beauty products and reveals their ranking of their top chosen beauty product. I just wanted to compile a list of their ranking for those that don't get to watch the episode.

In their second episode, Get It Beauty had their 2014 edition blind testing for eyeshadow palettes.

Their blind testing consists of 10 beauty experts that anaylzed the product according to their field of expertise. They revealed the top 5 palettes that were voted by critics and online experts. On the show they only revealed the first letter of the brand and didn't tell us the full name. For example, for Chanel they would say C brand. I wrote in the name of the brand with the best of my ability based on what the packaging looks like. The brands stated in the post may not be the correct one, therefore I also included pictures in case you think the brand I guessed is different than the actual brand. Their ratings factors in opinions of beauty professionals, online critics, and audience (which the show calls Better Girls). The first section shows the ratings from beauty professions and second section shows ratings from online critics and the audience. Now without further ado, to the ratings…

These are the top 5 palettes for Get It Beauty's 2014 eyeshadow palette blind testing:

In first place: Nars ( $120 for 15 g)

The ratings from the 10 beauty experts are as follows:

It's chosen as 4th place by doctors (aka dermatologist)

3rd place by beauty editors

1st place by makeup artist

pros: variety of textures and colors

cons: lacks transportability

online critics and experts rates it as follows:

Online:3.5 stars

experts: 4 stars

better girls (audience): 3.5 stars

the host commented that it has something that everyone wants to try since it has 15 eyeshadows

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Second Place : Estee Lauder ($60 for 7.5g)

2nd by doctors

1st by beauty editors

2nd by makeup artist

pros: unique and trendy color

cons:might be hard for beginners

Online: 5 stars

experts: 1 stars

better girls (audience): 3.5 stars

Host comments: the spring collection from this brand has beige and pink color for bases, perfect for spring

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Third Place: MAC ($60 for 2 grams)

1st by doctors

5th by  beauty editors

4th by makeup artist

pros: shimmer is pretty and elegant

cons: the monotonous texture was disappointing

Online: 4.5 stars

experts: 3.5 stars

better girls (audience): 3.5 stars

Host comments: its nude colors are perfect for spring. It uses lots of minerals so it goes on smoothly without flaking

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Fourth Place: Bobbi Brown ($70 for 8.5g)

3rd by doctors

1st by beauty editor

5th by makeup artist

pros:variety of textures and usefulness

cons: colors can be dull

online 4 stars

experts 4 starts

better girls 3 stars

Host comments: colors make it great for daily use

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Fifth Place: Chanel (2g for $80)

5th by doctors

4th by beauty editors

3rd by makeup artist

pros: trendy colors

cons: doesn't apply well

online: 4 stars

experts: 3.5 stars

better girls (audience): 2.5 stars

Host comments: the more you apply the more saturated it becomes. It goes on smoothly but clumps if you apply more.  It does not flake a lot.

If you want to watch the show, here's the link to Dramacool

Thanks for reading :)

VanillaDreamCream

Please comment if you would like me to post more of the blind testing results from Get It Beauty. Also do you guys like the way I arranged the rankings. Is it too picture heavy? Any feedback iid appreciated.

Kose Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil Review- a cheap alternative

So I just finished using up my first cleansing oil and decided it's best to do my review of it now before I forget about it.

It's called Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil by Kose which is a japanese brand that produces a whole spectrum of different beauty products that ranges from high end to drugstore brand. This is one of those more affordable options that you can pick up at drugstores. There are many different variations-whitening, speedy, and deep. Reasons that I choose deep is because one, I can't seem to believe a simple cleanser can whitening my skin and two I only used the cleansing oil when I want to deep clean my pores and remove makeup so I didn't want it to be a speedy thing. So I am left with deep and decided to choose that one.

When I first heard about cleansing oil it was of course the infamous shu uemura cleansing oil. I was pretty skeptical since I have always had oily skin and it doesn't seem right to be adding more oil. However beauty reviewers were saying that it takes like to bind to like and it does make sense since water and oil will never mix, so how will water effectively remove the oil from my face. After seeing youtube videos of how remarkable its cleansing ability compared to normal makeup remover was I decided to try it- but not on the $50 shu uemura bottle. I wanted an affordable alternative. My all time favorite beauty blogger musingsofmuse suggested the Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil.


How to use:

1. You are supposed to apply a good amount to DRY skin and massage your face for about a minute or two. ( If you forget and wet your face, you will need to dry your hands and face before proceeding which is why I usually do this before taking a shower. What I mean as a good amount is that you're able to massage your face and feel your hand glide over your face but not so much that your face is drenched and dripping with oil. I usually use about two pumps, a little at a time. I like to work in sections. I like to start from my chin, massage in vertical motions, making my way up to my forehead, skipping the eye area. Then I add a little bit more and gently massage my eye area. After, I work my way down from my forehead back down to my chin in circular motion. I like to massage my face this way but you could do it anyway you want. It does take longer than the traditional foam cleansing but I feel that I am deeply cleansing my skin.
2. Wet your hand with water and massage your face again- you should see it emulsify and the oil turning white once in contact with water.
3. Finally rinse off everything off with water.

Now off to my review. The texture is a bit thicker than water and will still drip if you're not careful when putting it on your face. I don't get any oily smell from it but it definitely feels oily. What I like about this cleanser the most is that it can be used to remove all my waterproof eye makeup without having to switch to a different cleanser for my face and eyes. However it does blur my vision for a little bit when it gets in my eye but its fine after washing. It definitely cleans well. While massaging, you can feel the clogged pores, unclog itself, and feel the the plugs on your face while massaging. I did break out after using this but I don't know if its due to this product entirely because I switched to this cleanser after my biore ice fighting cleanser was used up and didn't add another form of salicylic acid medication in my regimen.

I would still recommend this because of its price, its excellence at removing makeup and its feeling that I am deep cleansing my skin. I would definitely repurchase but since there are so many other cleansing oils out in the market, I want to try other ones out there.

I actually forgot to take a picture of it before throwing away the bottle but I got this pic off amazon just to let you know how it would like.

 I bought mines from SASA.com during its flash sale for about $12 but later realized it's sold at my local asian supermarket for $15. I just checked right now on SASA and its actually cheaper at $10.50. If you can't find this anywhere I do feel that SASA gives sales once in a while but you do need to hit the $75 purchase in order to get free shipping.

I am not paid in anyway by anybody. Purchased this with my own money.

Let me now what you think and comment if you know another good oil cleanser that doesn't cost a fortune since I just ran out.

Thanks for reading,

VanillaDreamCream <3 p="">

Running Man… Run Don't Walk

Need something to brighten up your day? Watch Runningman right now!!

Running Man is hands down my favorite korean variety show. Running Man is classified as an “urban action variety”. It was the first of it kind to have the members and guests complete mission on urban landmarks, as opposed to inside a studio or in the countryside, to win the race. 

When I am having a bad day, watching the members and guests put in 100% of their effort to betray, beguile, and work together, making jokes along the way, in order to complete the mission relaxes me. 

Add caption

The cast members started with Yoo Jae-suk, Ji Suk-jin, Kim Jong-kook, Haha, Lee Kwang-soo, Song Joong-ki, and Gary. It had a couple changes with the addition of Song Ji-hyo and Lizzy but now Lizzy and Song Joong-ki has left the show due to other obligations. Because this is a variety show and because of they way they film them, it feels very real-not like they are hiding behind a fake mask. As you watch the show, you get to know more and more about each member's personality and character like they are your best friend. 

Before watching the show,  I didn't know much about korean actors and actresses. Through the show, you will discover more korean entertainers and see your favorite celebrities' in a different light outside of their images when acting or when performing their song on music shows.

I think what makes runningman especially enticing is that you feel like you're right beside them, taking in all the action. When one member is being chased, the background music along with the movement of the video makes me feel the excitement and nervousness that the member is feeling- like I am the one being chased. 

Below are some of the crazy task they have to complete- bungee jumping, diving, jump roping, crossing a bridge within 10minutes

Even my sister who doesn't watch asian entertainment said she would actually like to watch running man. That's why I definitely recommend watching Runningman!!!

So far they already have ~190 something episode. It looks like a lot but you would get addicted and can't stop watching. I would start watching from episode 1 because their friendship, character and skills change over time. When this first started airing back in 2010, kwangsoo was a newbie and rarely talked. Now, you see him playing jokes on others and even attempting to rip off other people name tags.

Even if you think it's boring and that they like to inflict pain on each other at first, trust me continue watching. By episode 11-25 where they start the hide and seek race, this variety show should get your heart racing and you addicted.

P.S. For those who are tired of watching runningman and need some new excitement try episode 133. This episode amazed me. The ending had me squealing with delight. I definitely did not expect that ending. I have to say that the beginning of the episode was slow but trust me. Follow the story until the end and you will be amazed :)
 I'm not going to do a recap on it because I don't want to spoil it for you. If you're a recap type person, you can go to drama beans to read their recaps.

Join me on the adventure of korean entertainment.

Have fun watching!!!

Image courtesy of [suryasoo/DeviantArt.com]
Sites to watch running man in english subtitles. ( in order of preference)
youtube- may not have all episodes but are easily accessible from any device
dramacool- has full episodes beginning with ep 86
kshowonline-  should have all episodes
dramafever- has HD episodes but lots of ads

Roseroseshop.com and sephora mini haul

During the month of december, I got lot of internet discount codes. With my skin being extremely blemishy and spotty I went on a splurge convincing myself I am saving money.

I have had Skin79 gold label for over 2 years now. Its about time to purchase a new one. Since Missha was a highly rated brand I decided to purchase that and a couple other highly rated items. Will be reviewing these as soon as I can.

Items from roseroseshop.com. 

The prices from roseroseshop is a bit cheaper than other online site. However their shipping prices are like ~$7 for each items and varies depending on the weight of the items. After  factoring shipping prices my whole purchase was ~1 cheaper than if I would buy from ebay or sasa.

Products that I purchased

• Missha perfect cover BB cream in no 23 (just let you know I did not like it) if there is another bb cream that you guys can recommend please let me know.
• TonyMoly Tomatox- supposed to be very brightening- haven't tried it yet
• Innisfree bija anti-facial foam-its ok
• Innisfree Apple Juicy lip and eye remover- haven't tried it but supposed to be amazing

The sephora haul was part of the christmas sale where you spend $50 you get $15 off.  How could I resist.

I purchased 2 items:

• Murad clarifying mask- $37
• Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask to Clear Pores $24
• (now that I am looking at the price i am thinking- how could I bear to shell out that much money for just 2 masks?)
  
  
  From the black friday haul I purchased:

• The Josie Maran argan hand healer set -The Josie Maran one wasn't much of steal but it was good to try it since it contains the highly rated whipped argan oil intensive hand cream.
• Lorac fan favorite duo ( get an eyeliner in onyx and an eyeshadow in  pewter) which was $10 only!!! what a steal 
• Ren the fab 4 tester kit- I eventually returned since it cost ~$28 for that kit and the samples were tiny- felt it would be better if I bought the full size of one product instead.

 All other items you see in the picture were samples. One of the benefits from buying online is that when you buy over $50 you get free shipping and there are also limited time discount codes. I got the 12 samples in a makeup bag. The samples came in a cute plastic makeup bag but the bag was rather flimsy. I feel like if I placed a sharp pencil inside it would poke a hole in the makeup back since it is so thin. But its good enough to hold samples in.

I will be reviewing these in the near future.

talk to you later and thanks for reading,

VanillaDreamCream

Sweet and simple holiday sparkle nail idea and review of Golden Rule by SallyHansen

Hello Everybody!!!

It's Christmas today and New Years is just around the corner.

I relaxed all day at home and decided to upload this nail idea.

Normally I just put on OPI's heartthrob and call it a day but for the holidays I decided to add a bit of sparkle. I decided to add glitter to my fourth nail. The one I chose Golden rule by SallyHansen from the complete salon manicure line. I had to apply 4 layers to get the full on glitter effect but its worth it. The glitter has a light gold tint to it and looks refined so it would still be appropriate but office work.

SallyHansen in Golden Rule

The nail color to make this look was perfect however I am a bit disappointed with the nail polish. The SallyHansen complete salon manicure line is supposed to be a high quality nail polish however the formula clotted up after a couple uses and goes on blobby. I don't know if this is because it's a glitter nail polish but if this was a flat color, I would be disappointed.

Overall, Golden Rule is a pretty nail polish that gives a golden tint of glitter just the way I like it.

Thanks for reading and MeRrY cHrIsTmAs !!!!

note: I purchased everything myself and all opinions are mine

Lypsyl lip balm *new look* best overall lip balm

Hello readers!!!

Its currently in the middle of winter and my lips have become chapped and dry like sand paper. No matter how much water I drink, my lips still feel dry-the only thing that relieves the dryness is ….. lip balm.

I had done a more in-depth review of lypsyl lip balm here.
So when I went to pick up the lip balm at my local drug store I realized that something looked different.

Lypsyl had updated their look and added a new flavor- vanilla plum. They called their original one original mint. Although I am not a major fan of vanilla i purchased it in case I wanted to try it out later.

new look of Lypsyl lip balm

this is how long it is when lip balm is pushed all the way to top- in my opinion- not a lot

So they updated their look but I wouldn't say it looks more appealing compared to their original look and I felt that their original container seems more sturdy than the new one. Not that the new one is flimsy, just that the plastic seems harder and sturdier.

So they claimed that they haven't changed their formula and the original mint had the same formula but for some reason I felt it was different. My sister felt the same way too so it's not just me. I can't pinpoint what the difference is but it seems to be a bit less moisturizing. Nonetheless I still highly recommend Lypsyl as I still go back to it every night at bedtime. It feels natural. I like that it actually penetrates into my lips and not just sits on top of my lips.

Moisture level I would still say an 8 out of 10.  It's moisturizing but it not too heavy or to light. The only difference from vanilla plum and original mint is vanilla plum contains spf 15 and the flavor. As I said, I only use it at bedtime so I don't care if it has spf or not. For day I usually have on lip gloss or a different tinted lip balm.

Also I realized that the old packaging has an expiration date on the tube however on the new tube, the expiration date cannot be found.

The company seemed to have added new tag line "bee smooth" which I feel is trying to compete against *cough cough* eos lip balm's claim of smooth. Frankly I think Lypsyl wins hands down in terms of moisture level and smoothness. In fact it is way smoother than Eos lip balm. Lypsyl was launched before EOS was launched and when I tried  EOS, I always thought it was funny for it to market itself as smooth when there were other products in the market that was even smoother.

Anyhow,  if you are looking for  a lip balm for winter chapped lips, I would say give Lypsyl a try. I have repeatedly come back to using this every night and it works. For me this is my number one lip balm and is  a must buy.

this is the back of the vanilla plum flavor

this is the back of the original mint flavor

I do want to mention it has menthol mint feeling so if you don't like that icy feeling original mint would not be for you. However even though I don't like minty feeling, the strong mint that I get from Lypsyl doesn't bother me as much as lip gloss from maybelline volume seduction. I think that lip gloss numbed my lips.

Thanks for reading!!!

I am not in any way paid or sponsored by Lypsyl lip balm. Everything I write comes from my personal thoughts.