I recently came back from a trip to Stockholm to help my mom get ready for an apartment move. And at the same time I turned one year older and decided to treat myself to a few new findings! It’s mostly K-beauty stuff from Sephora, but I also got some things at & Other Stories.

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& Other Stories

Chamrey Micellar Water + Miami Muse Hand Cream

I must say that my fascination with micellar waters has escalated a bit, as I now own about 7 different kinds, 3 of which at least are travel sized!

My reason for wanting the Chamrey micellar water has to do with it being formulated with Cornflower water – which I did a post on not so long ago! It also has chamomile flower water that’s an excellent skin soother. However, it does contain perfume, but it is very mildly fragranced. So together with the soothing floral waters I feel as this is a very good micellar water for normal to slightly sensitive skin.

I did not try it with water-proof makeup but haven’t noticed it being any less effective than the other 6 ones I’ve tried… It’s only con is that it can feel a bit tacky on the skin, and isn’t that type of micellar water that I’d feel comfortable leaving on. But for the most part I do use micellar waters in-conjunction with a double cleanse, so it’s not a huge problem.

I bought the travel size just to try it out before getting too invested, and could see myself buying it again in the full size. I also saw that & Other Stories carried an anti-stress serum and moisturizer; who’s ingredient lists seems impressive for sensitive skin if it wouldn’t have been for the added fragrance. But most of their skin care line were mildly fragrance, unlike their body care…

Hand Cream

I mainly bought the hand cream as I suffered terribly dry hands (and lips!) during my time in Stockholm. And having this little mini hand cream in my purse relived my hands from looking 60 years old.
I do like the scent but it’s on the verge of being slightly overpowering, and can cause headache before it fades. Nonetheless, it has a similar impressive ingredient list with a bunch of natural oils and butter – Shea butter being one of the first things on the list! It sinks in well and feels hydrating without feeling tacky. But I wouldn’t buy it again simply because of the strong scent.

I do feel that & Other Stories deserves a mention as it’s one of those brands you wouldn’t have thought contained so many green ingredients or that their products would be any good. At least I haven’t come across a green beauty blogger talking about them? I do know that there’s probably more to green beauty than just using natural ingredients, but we shouldn’t dismiss this brand because of it.

If we gave them more attention I think their beauty line could expand for the better! But I agree, it’s so very typical for a store like this to add perfume into almost everything, which is quite annoying. & Other Stories seems to want to target an older audience than its sister H&M, but it doesn’t feel very grown up when almost all their makeup and skincare contain perfume! But with that said, most of their makeup is fragrance-free! And I’ll definitely go back and discover their beauty line a little bit more, like their:
Luminising Palette | Radiance Cream | Lipsticks

Erborian

CC Créme + Glow Créme

I actually bought the CC Créme at & Other Stories, in-store they carry and spotlight a few other rare brands than their own. Later, when going into Sephora, I found the rest of Erborian products and decided to add in the Glow Créme.

CC Créme

What pulled me was that it magically adjusted to your skin tone and that it felt light and natural. I bought the travel/deluxe sample as I was afraid that the lighting in the store might may play tricks on me. As well as to see how my skin would like it, it would be a shame if it broke me out. So I didn’t want to invest in the full size product just yet without testing it out first. And I must say that I appreciate these little travel sizes so so much! 

This CC cream truly adjusts to your skin tone, but doesn’t necessarily get it perfectly right. It disappeared and matched my mom’s skin shade melting right in. However on me, it weirdly goes into a somewhat one shade darker than my current skin tone, and goes more towards beige than yellow. However, it somehow works on the skin, giving me a healthy glow/tan without looking ridiculous. But I can understand that they’ve later come out with a second shade, Clair, to suit lighter skin tones. Needless to say, I prefer looking slightly healthy tanned than pale.

The Erborian CC Créme covers redness, a few spots, and evens out your skin tone really well without feeling heavy. It’s got that luminous finish too that I like. Because it melt in with the skin so well the coverage looks very natural.

It’s got SPF 25 too that consists of  Octinoxate 6.00%, Octisalate 2%, Titanium dioxide 4.97% and  Zinc oxide 1.92%. It does contain perfume but nothing overpowering or even noticeable to be honest; The Glow Créme smells more. I know there’s a BB cream too, and would love to try that one too. But at the moment of purchase, Sephora in Stockholm did not have it in stock.

Glow Créme

I got the the Glow Créme as it was very similar to the new BECCA First Light Priming Filter; referring to that they both have a lavender shade base. But the Glow Créme from Erborian is more subtle than the BECCA primer, which is very shiny!
The lavender sheen gives you that holographic highlight-look that’s very “in” right now. The effect makes your skin glow and look hydrated and healthy. It gives you almost the same effect as when applying Paula’s Choice Barrier Repair cream on a clean face (love that stuff!). Only the fresh dewiness stays even after it has dried and sunken in.

The Glow Créme can work alone or as an illuminating primer base before foundation. Though it doesn’t have a strong blurring property, I use it for both purposes. It’s especially good to bring back luminosity when using matte bases, like a matte sunscreen. Matte finishes isn’t my cup of tea as they tend to make you look old and bland. So the Glow Créme has been a God sent!

I personally haven’t noticed any breakouts from using these two products.
And I’m very impressed by them!

Dr. Jart+

Water Drop Moisturizer + Premium Beauty Balm + Micro Water

I almost jumped of excitement when I saw that they stocked Dr Jart+!
I went with the K-Beauty A BB C’s-kit as it contained two very sought out products: the BB cream and micellar water.
I’ve been weighing in on purchasing the BB cream many times when ordering from iHerb. But with it only being offered in only one shade (on iHerb I believe you can only get it in Medium/Deep) has got me scared to try it, as it’s not a cheap product. So when I saw the Premium Beauty Balm together with the Micro Water (which I’ve been wanting to try out ever since I started using micellar waters) in a travel size-kit, I couldn’t leave Sephora without it!

Water Drop Hydrating Moisturizer

So the first step in this kit includes another of Dr. Jart’s best sellers, a hydrating moisturizer. It’s described as a lightweight, refreshing moisturizer that bursts into tiny water droplets when applied. This moistruizer reminds me a lot of Clinique Moisture Surge. It comes out like a water blob that turns into a wet gel-like fluid that looks very hydrating, but sinks right in.

It is also supposed to take care of uneven skin tone and brighten it. The gel has a silicon-base, but it’s active ingredients are Arbutin (skin brightener), Hyaluronic Acid (hydrator), Green Tea Leaf extract (skin soothing + antioxidant), Gotu Kola Extract (skin soothing and healing + antioxidant), Argireline (Skin-restoring), and does even contain Vitamin C in the form of Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (MAP)!

I’m still making my mind up about this one. I’d say it suits all skin types, but may not be fully enough for really dry skin. I’m also not sold on how it makes my skin feel; When it comes to hydration, there’s a few other moisturizers that I like better. But just looking up the price of the full size (100ml for $36), you get a lot for your money for this type of moisturizer!

Premium Beauty Balm SPF45

Just like the moisturizer, their Beauty Balm also delivers skin brightening ingredients but with added sun protection! First of all, it’s highly approved and recommend at Beautypedia and fragrance-free! Second, its high sun protection consists of  Titanium Dioxide (9.015%) and Zinc Oxide (6.035%) – no chemical sunscreens! But I guess you can’t have everything in life, as it does contain a few (but highly stable) preservatives in the form of parabens. While I’ve stopped avoiding them, I know that some of you still would like a heads up.

Any worries about not matching the shade right felt very embarrassing as this BB cream blends right into my skin! It makes you look really lovely, and has a luminous finish. Comparing it to the Erborian CC cream, they are very much alike. But I almost like this one better because when I take it off it’s like the ingredients in it has worked to better my skin… However, it is slightly on the more moisturizing end. Meaning, I would not recommend it for oily skin types. But for that Dr. Jart+ has the BB Dis-a-pore Beauty Balm.

Because I’m trying to find a tinted sunscreen for my boyfriend who hates the look of ghost-face, I made him test it out. And he felt that – compared to W3LL People’s Bio Tint – this one had a much more natural finish to the point that he wouldn’t be embarrassed wearing it at work. And I agreed; it blended in nicely, smoothed out his big pores and took away his redness and made him look more awake and polished.

I feel weird for saying this, but he suddenly looked more handsome/polished with a corrective complexion! In other words: I like my boyfriend with makeup. And not to say that his skin is bad! Absolutely not, I always envy his skin. But let’s just say that the foundation suddenly pointed out a few things that could be easily corrected. He jokingly said “you’re giving me complexions!” But at the same time he admitted that it looked good to the point that it gave him more confidence. So now this boy knows why we women wear makeup, even if it’s just a tiny bit of concealer!

I also really like it, but I’d definitely like to see it in a wider range of shades. While neautral beige can work with my skin and many others, it also isn’t that perfect match to make it look perfect.
But despite me feeling that way, I’d consider repurchasing it based on the formula alone. Not only does it make you look like a better version of yourself, its ingredients will in time make your own skin look better. And maybe in a short time, you’ll embrace that naked skin of yours more and more!

I love this idea of the new hybrid skincare-foundations that treats and protects. And though it conceals, it works on improving your skin and restoring your self-esteem. That someday you won’t notice if you’re wearing foundation or not!

Dermaclear Micro Water

I’ve been eyeing this ever since I did the post about micellar waters!

The 50ml isn’t exactly generous but is enough for a full experience.
So I told you that I’ve so far tested about 7 different micellar waters. And to be honest, after a while they all seem to blend together, being equally effective to the point that I don’t have a solid favorite. I still haven’t come across one that was truly awful.

However, the Micro Water has me feeling something different. Like this isn’t just another micellar water. My experience with this one is that it simply picks up much more product (if not almost everything!) at first use than many of the others. Yes, even Bioderma’s Sensibo; which I have to agree with the masses is a really good and gentle micellar water.

My only concern with it is that it does contain citrus oil, but like I said, I usually wash off micellar waters anyway. It’s got a mild fresh fragrance, but seems to otherwise be fragrance-free. I’d still would have to test it out further and for a longer extent of time to comment on the other skin beneficial ingredients that it contains. But overall the take down from this is that I’ve been thinking about buying the full size!

Have you tried these products or are any on your wishlist?
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