Etude House Play 101 Stick Contour Duo Review | tashamichaela

Hey guys! Welcome back. ♡

This post is going to be a review about about the second product from my mini haul! You can check the photo of the haul a few posts back if you'd like. For now, let's get started on the review!

Etude House Play 101 Stick Contour Duo

ABOUT THE PRODUCT 

The product is a creamy contour duo that's used in shading and highlighting the face to give it a more dimensional look. It's one of the sticks in the Play 101 line that came out not too long ago.

PACKAGING 

It comes in a simple duo stick form with the name of the product in the center.

This is the shading or contouring end...

...and this is the highlighting end.

SWATCH

As you can see, the highlighting shade is white with only a hint of shimmer. The shading/contouring shade is a brown color with the slightest orange tone. It didn't really look as warm-toned as I thought it would be once it was all blended out. 

APPLICATION

Directions: Apply the highlighting color on T-zone, cheekbones and the shade color on sides of nose and below the jaw line.

Personally, I'm not much of a fan of the western way of highlighting/contouring since I'm not sure if it looks good on me. I try not to contour too heavily either since a natural look is what I usually go for.

I focused on shading my jaw down before placing the contour shade at the sides of my nose. I also placed the contour on my hairline to see how it'll work. With the highlighting shade, I placed it on some of the high parts of my face.

I look crazy but that's okay. 

The profile view. 

You can tell which features the Korean style of contouring wants to emphasize. It's minimal and strives to be very natural looking.

The one thing you should note about this product is that it's so creamy. You'll notice that it slides onto your skin like butter. With it being that creamy, one can easily use the product up quickly since it seems to melt away onto your face.

I used my brush from The Saem to blend it all out.

 Actually, I had to go back in with another layer of contour for my jaw and the lower part of my nose because it was such a humid day so the product slipped around a lot. With this, I realized that the contour stick might perform better in colder weathers. If you're living in humid areas such as myself, it would be best to place a light layer of powder-type bronzer on top of this product. 

I believe that the contour stick helped in giving an illusion of a slightly slimmer face and a smaller nose. Since it's really easy to blend out and buff into the skin, the outcome is very natural looking. It's as if you're not actually wearing any contour or highlight. 

MY THOUGHTS 

This product would be great for those who are just starting out in contouring and highlighting. There's very little room for mistakes or harsh looking lines because of the fact that it's so easy to blend. It's sad though that there isn't much product. It's so creamy that it's quickly used up. Where I live, they sell this for a bit more than they do in Korea so that's kind of a bummer.

PROS 

– easy to use

 – easy to blend
- great for shading and highlighting beginners

– build-able shading and highlighting
- 

 CONS 

– not a lot of product

 – product slips around when humid

RATING (4/5 STARS) ★★★★☆

RECOMMENDATION

To contouring beginners, this is probably one of the safest cream contouring and highlighting products you'll use! Of course, experts can also opt for this product to achieve a very natural contoured look.

PS. I wish this would come with more product. There isn't that much left after I used it, ㅠㅠ

♥ 

Tasha

SEOUL TRIP 2015 | tashamichaela

BACK TO SEOUL

This trip was my third return to Seoul and I don't think I'll ever get enough of this magical place. I only traveled here with my mom and sister the first few trips but this time around, my dad came along with us. The trip was to celebrate my sister's 18th birthday with the whole family. Who doesn't want to go see oppa's country for your birthday, right?

Just a warning! This post will be very photo heavy.

This was taken by my mom at the airport just before we left. That day, the airport felt like a church because it was so quiet and barely anyone was at our boarding gate area. It was honestly a first. Airports are usually crowded with people when I travel.

It was pretty late in the evening when we got to Skypark hotel. We had a quick dinner before calling it a night.

I wanted to show my dad the N Seoul Tower and we chose to take the bus to get there. For me, it's much cheaper than the cable car but if you're in it for the experience, go for it. 

Here we are waiting for our ride. 

If you want to know how to get to N Seoul Tower via. bus, you can contact me and I'll help you out! I know how difficult it can be to find your way around unfamiliar places. This was honestly the first time I ever tried taking the bus in Seoul so it was a pretty confusing experience. Nevertheless, we got there!

Ah, the famous love locks.

It was a very bright and sunny day. The perfect weather to go walking up towards the tower. 

Please don't be like me. Wear comfortable walking shoes. I honestly don't know what I was thinking wearing platform sandals.

Once we headed down from the tower area, we had lunch then left for Garosu-gil. I've never been to this particular street before so I thank the internet for fueling my adventurous needs.
This street is lined with pretty cafes and stores as well. Everything appears so 'instagram worthy'  if I do say so myself. 

A+ for visually appealing establishments.

There was a Line store with a HUGE teddy bear inside! So cute~

We were so hungry when we got back to Myeong-dong from Garosu-gil! We took this opportunity to munch down on some Korean street food. My personal favorite? The egg bread also known as gyeran bbang.

The next day was shopping day! This is seriously one of my favorite things to do in Korea especially during the sale seasons. We head off to Ewha Women's University first.

This is one of my mom's favorite stores. She particularly likes the quality of the clothes they sell here.

We kind of get a little crazy when shopping around these parts so we bring a small luggage bag with us. We don't have to carry the shopping bags from our purchases. Instead, we stuff them into the luggage and roll it around. It's much easier that way! Pro tip for ya.

Lots and lots of cute socks.

Walking down the streets of Edae. 

This is the entrance to the university. I feel like I'd go flat broke if I studied here. There's just so much temptation waiting for me outside. 

We took to Hongdae for even more shopping. There were a quite a lot of people that day.

Take time to appreciate the pretty murals too!



My parents felt a little tired from walking around so they stayed at this small ice cream store.



My sister got a pair of graded colored contact lenses from a store at Hongdae as well.



My dad owns a Yakitori place so he wanted to try the Korean street food version.



It was getting dark when we got back. We had a change of clothes and went out to get street food. Yep. More street food.



While my parents rested, I went out for some more shopping and found this amazing store. I'm seriously coming back here when I return to Korea this July.



One of the last few things we did was to visit the Hello Kitty Cafe in Myeong-dong.



You've got to admit... these are pretty dang cute.



Pink. Pink everywhere.



Well my mom seemed to like it.



It was sad that we had to leave the next day. This was our last meal at Myeong-dong before taking off to the airport.



I consoled myself with some fries and quesadilla at the airport.



Here we are back at Manila's airport. After a fun but also exhausting journey, we headed straight home to rest.

Basically those were the highlights of my 2015 trip! Not too long ago, I booked another flight to Korea... but this time, I'm going with a bunch of friends. I can't wait to come back again!
♥
Tasha

Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer Review | tashamichaela

Before we get started I just wanted to let you guys know that this is one of the reviews I will be doing of my mini haul. These products were bought from @seoulfindsmnl on instagram so if you see something you want to purchase, just head over to their account. I'm going to be reviewing each of these products starting with the Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer in Peach Pink. Keep posted for the rest!

Etude House Big Cover Cushion Concealer

ABOUT THE PRODUCT 

I have this in the shade Peach Pink which is supposed to help cover up dark circles and possibly brighten up that area. Dark circles and puffy under eyes are some of my dilemmas so I thought I'd get the product in this shade. According to Etude House, the Cushion Concealer is a creamy, liquid concealer that includes a finger cushion puff to cover flaws naturally anytime, anywhere with customized correcting color for complete, flawless skin.

The product also claims that it make the skin healthy and shiny, cover pimples, dark circles and other visible blemishes on the skin. 

HOW TO USE 

1. Press the back part of the button 1-2 times, apply the side of a finger cushion puff onto the desired area, and rub it in lightly along skin texture to promote absorption.
2. Use the front side of the finger cushion and tap lightly to blend, avoiding the lines.

Pressing the back part of the button 1-2 times didn't get the product to the tip for me. I actually overdid the pressing and dispensed more of the concealer than I needed so I advise that you just be careful with that.  

.

COLORS

As mentioned earlier, I have the shade Peach Pink. There are six other colors in this line of Cushion Concealers. Three of which function as color correctors and the other three are mainly for the purpose of coverage.
 Pictures of the various colors below ↓

PACKAGING 

The product comes in a simple pink box with the name of the product in the front. 

It looks like a pen at first glance especially because of the clicky-clicky button at the end of it. The packaging is pretty simple with a feminine touch because of the pink shade. Although, the different shades of the product come in their respective colors. 

The soft sponge tip applicator reminds me a lot of Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind concealer. This photo was taken during the time I dispensed way too much product... as you can tell.

SWATCH

As you can see, there is a slight pink tint to the concealer. This tint will help brighten up the under eyes as well as cover dark circles.

APPLICATION

The first thing I notice when I tried this on was that there was a very faint glue-ish scent. It honestly didn't bother me much but you might want to know that if you're someone who takes product scents into consideration.

 Since the product was a bit thick, it was a little hard to blend and pat into my skin. The application became a lot easier once I used some mist on my beauty blender. I also tried using my fingers and felt how sticky the product actually was. I found this to be a good thing since it adhered to the skin better and the product didn't slip and slide everywhere because of this.

If you're wondering why my complexion turned a bit brighter, it's because I brought the product to my upper eye area and also to the side of my nose to see if it would even out the darkness around those parts as well... and it looks like it did!

I'm wore this concealer under my eyes for today. This was taken just before I left for dance practice which is why I'm only wearing some light make-up. My hair is also kinda... you get it. Aha. The concealer helped even out my skin tone and cover up the dark areas under my eyes. Thumbs up.

MY THOUGHTS 

After trying the product out  I thought it did a great job in brightening up the whole area of my eyes, not just the dark circles. It also had enough coverage to even out my skin tone especially around the darkened areas. It didn't do much for the puffiness or the lines under my eyes though, but I didn't expect it to anyway. A different product should be used for that. It would be better if it didn't have that glue-ish smell... but maybe it's just me? Also, it would be better if the product was easier to blend. A creamier formula without sacrificing the slight stickyness of it  would be good.

PROS 

– brightens up the eyes

 – the pink tint helps in correcting the darkness in the eye area

– good, buildable coverage

 CONS 

– slightly difficult to blend into the skin

 – odd scent

 – doesn't help with under eye puffiness or lines

RATING (3/5 STARS) ★★★☆☆

RECOMMENDATION

I would recommend this to those who suffer from darkness in the eye area.
Upper eye area, under eye area... I feel you. Although, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to those who have problems with under eye puffiness and the lines that are caused by this. The product would mostly benefit those who just want to give their eyes a brightened and more awake look rather than remedy problems other than darkness of the skin. 

Have you tried this product and its other shades? Let me know what you thought of them!

♥ 

Tasha