Korean | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Jun 9, 2010

Hello Kitty For Etude House!

June 9, 2010 By Carleenp 2 Comments

This is a must have! Hailing from South Korea, Etude House is one of my favorite, but fairly hard to get cosmetic brands. Well, they now have a line of mini Hello Kitty items and, being a fan of Sanrio and all things cute, I must have them! I am definitely getting a balm, gloss, and a mascara. I might also get the Walnut hand cream.

Fortunately, I also discovered that YesStyle, one of my all time favorite online stores for Asian brands, has them! Below are shopping links for the Hello Kitty Etude House items. But while you are there, look around Yes Style in general. They have some great stuff that is usually quite affordable. I particularly like them for handbags. You can get unique styles and not worry that everyone and their dog will be carrying the same bag around.

Disclosure: This post uses affiliate links. for more, please see the disclosure page.

Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

Filed Under: Bath and Body, Hand Cream, Lip Products, Makeup, Mascara Tagged With: Etude House, Fashion Tech, Korean, Yesstyle

Jan 28, 2009

Etude House BB Magic Cream SPF 30 and Foundation Review

January 28, 2009 By Carleenp 27 Comments

Update! Look for Etude House, especially the BB Magic Cream at YesStyle.com or on COSME-DE.COM. YesStyle is my preferred source for Asian items. It is a great online store!

Etude House is a South Korean cosmetics brand that sells out of stores fashioned as adorable princess type houses. If you are able to get it at regular price, the Etude House line is one of the best bets out there for very affordable quality.

I recently gave a number of Etude House items a try. Today’s review looks at the popular Etude House BB Magic Cream and their foundation.

Etude House Magic Cream is essentially a makeup primer. The BB in Magic Cream stands for blemish balm, which is meant as a soothing treatment balm that also covers redness and blemishes, but it is not really an acne treatment. The Blemish Balm is lightly tinted so as to provide a bit of coverage and evening of the skin tone, but it also provides a good base for foundation. Overall, this is one of the better and more interesting makeup primers that I have used. I provides a nice base, and I particularly find that it works well as a light primer for mineral makeup or powder foundations. Between the tint in the blemish balm and that in the makeup, it covers my areas of redness and melasma very well without making me look way too overly made up.

Etude House’s regular Blemish Balm formulation is a bit on the oily side. I have had no problems with it breaking me out, but if you have oily skin, you might prefer one of their formulations for that skin type. The added SPF 30 to the product is a big bonus, and actually is what I think makes it seem initially oily because the oily feeling goes away after it absorbs.

There are a couple of downsides to the Etude House Magic Cream. First, it has a pump tube, which I really don’t care for all that much. Those tend to either break or they leave too much unused product when the tube gets low. Second, although labeled as a blemish balm, Magic Cream doesn’t really conceal quite enough to be used alone. It is better as an overall tinted base for foundation or powder unless you want particularly sheer coverage. Etude House does make a heavier blemish balm though that covers more.

Etude House Dream On Foundation is wonderful stuff and is my new favorite in the area of liquid foundations. Etude House foundation has a moisturizing feel to it, but it is not at all oily. I wear it just fine on my currently oily skin. It sits on the skin quite well, without sinking into pores, which makes me wonder if it has some silicone in it—something that I love in a foundation. Because they are in Korean, I can’t read the ingredients to tell, but it feels like it does. Coverage is sheer-medium. Use the blemish balm under it, or a mineral powder over it for a bit more coverage. Use it alone for the most natural look if you are lucky (I’m not so lucky) and don’t have pigmentation to cover.

I will be reviewing more Etude House makeup items in the future as I purchased quite a bit in order to maximize on shipping costs. So far, I love everything that I have ordered!

Shop for Etude House Cosmetics

Filed Under: Face Products, Foundation, Makeup, Makeup Primer Tagged With: Blemish Balm, Etude House, Foundation, Korean, Primer

Jul 21, 2008

Callas Light Up Makeup Base

July 21, 2008 By Carleenp 2 Comments

Callas Cosmetics is a French Company that has cosmetics designed in Japan and France, but made in Korea. I gave a bunch of their products a try and was quite impressed.

Callas Light Up Makeup Base is a rather interesting item because it can work both as a foundation or as a primer. The Callas base provides moisture and UV skin protection and is available in a couple of color correcting shades, plus in the shade Milk, which is a light natural tint. The base feels great and when used as a primer, works quite well as a base for further makeup.

But the milk shade of the base also gives decent light coverage--similar to a sheer tinted moisturizer. So while it can be worn as a primer, I found that it also was perfect alone for some moisturizing, sheer coverage. My favorite use has been as a foundation on my upper face, and as a base for mineral makeup on my lower face where I have some redness and pigmentation.

I linked to the order page from Amazon.com, but I actually ordered mine from Yesstyle, which is my favorite Japanese and Korean fashion, beauty, and accessories site. You can also view Callas items at Callas.com.

For more on Callas Cosmetics and YesStyle see my previous Callas eye shadow post.