Best Brightener and Whitener

As many of you who have struggled with hyperpigmentation or post acne scars know what a pain it is to wait for it to ago. As I get older, I feel like my acne scars NEVER go away. Of course I'm exaggerating.. but it takes an awful long time. I've tried peels (only at home) and AHA and lightning products such as Origins' Brightener and Murad's Lightner.

($55)

($60)

They obviously don't work miracles but are products I use to put my mind at ease because I feel like I'm doing something to fight the endless battle against dark spots. However, these products are not cheap and they come in such a small bottle. I found a better solution that works just as well if not better and is cheap!! The answer to our prayer ladies was hiding in the fruit aisle all summer long!!

That's right! It's watermelon!! This delicious, nutritious, vitamin and antioxidant rich snack is not only good to eat but good for your skin. There are skin benefits from consuming the watermelon but what do you do with the rinds? If you were like me, you just threw them away. However, now I discovered the wonders of the rind!!! 

The next time you eat watermelon, don't throw these puppies away!! Instead, get a potato peeler and skin the inside of the rinds into thin long rectangular pieces. Do as many as you need to cover your face. Put them in a bowl or plate. Afterwards, wash your face and leave it bare.. no moisturizer or toner or anything. Bare skin. Get a napkin or tissue and a handheld mirror and lie down. You might want to cover a pillow with a towel or something just in case watermelon juice falls down. In a lying position, use the mirror to place slices of the rind on your face. Cover your entire face excepts eyes and mouth of course. Use the napkin/tissue to wipe any droplets of juice running into your hair and ear. It shouldn't be too liquidy but you'll feel a few droplets. Leave the rind on for 30 min and take it off. Rinse your face with just water.. no cleansers and pat dry. Voila! Your skin should feel supple and bright. After drying your face, you can continue your normal skincare routine such as moisturizers, sun screen, eye cream, etc. I like to do this at night before I go to bed so I just put on my night moisturizer, eye cream, acne medicine, and lip balm.

I learned this from my aunt in Korea. When my parents came back from a trip to Korea, their skin was glowing. I asked what they did and they said they did this watermelon mask frequently. My mom did it to me and I was sold. My only concern is that watermelons are seasonal so I won't be able to do it as much during the cold months. 

FYI- don't try to use the red part of the watermelon for this mask. I tried it and it was very itchy and irritating. It might be due to the sugary aspects of the actual watermelon but it didn't go well with my skin. So learn from my mistake and stick to the rinds. :)  Also, will this mask magically make your hyperpigmentation disappear? Of course not! But I think it beats all those high priced brightening/whitening skincare products. An additive bonus to this mask is that it whitens too. Many Asians are obsessed with having porcelain-like skin and this mask will help you achieve that.

As I was looking for pics for this post, I came across Nanarabu's blog about the benefits of watermelon and its many skincare uses. Check it out! 

Give it a try and see how it works out for you! <3 

FAKE Lioele Product!! BEWARE!

After seeing fuzkittie's video on this product, I decided to give it a try.  I've been on a BB cream craze lately and I too prefer the glowy look rather than the matte look.  Since you can't buy Lioele products directly from Lioele here in the states (from what I know so far), I bought one off of ebay.  I bought my Missha Perfect Cover BB cream off of ebay and it was fine so I did the same for Lioele.  I bought the Lioele Beyond the Solution BB cream and the Lioele Silky Highlighter BB cream (from two different sellers).  The Beyond the Solution BB cream was authentic.  However, the Silky Highlighter was not.

How can you tell if it is not real?  The most important factor was the fact that the product was in Japanese!  WtF?!?!?  Lioele is a Korean company and the product was shipped from Korea so why does the product have Japanese on it?  It just doesn't make sense.  It wasn't just a little Japanese like some products have explanations of the product in multiple languages.  This one was entirely Japanese on the back of this product.

So I gave the seller (kgoodshop) a bad review saying the product was not authentic (he's lucky I didn't ask for my money back!).  The seller actually emailed me asking me to change my review and said he sells only authentic products and that the product is in Korean... totally making it seem like I'm an idiot and can't differentiate between Korean and Japanese.  Ass!  So I emailed him these pics to prove my point and his response was.. "That's weird.  Lioele Silky Highlighter doesn't have SPF"  Apparently the real one doesn't have SPF while this fake one says SPF 27 on the back.  This makes sense because my Lioele Beyond the Solution doesn't have SPF either.  After that.. no more emails.

However, what confuses me is that when I looked at fuzkittie's video closely, her highlighter is in Japanese as well and she got her's from prettyandcute.com.  Does that mean prettyandcute.com is also selling products that aren't authentic or are all the Lioele highlighters in Japanese???  I don't know.. you make the decision.

I think sellers like the one I bought mine from are preying on the non-Asians who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the languages.  Since this BB cream craze is translating to many makeup gurus who aren't Asian, they are exploiting that fact.  The seller even had me (A KOREAN) second-guessing myself on my own language.  Ass!  So non-Asians and even some Asians.. BEWARE.  There are people in this world who will take advantage of your trusting nature.  :(

As for a review on the product... after being duped, that just left a bad taste in my mouth.  I don't like it.  First off I don't like the brush that is attached to it.  It's hard to gauge how much product is coming out especially if you don't use the brush to apply it.  When too much product comes out, I'll only transfer a small amount onto the back of my hand and the rest will just sit in the brush (eek!).  Then the next time I use it, I feel like it's unsanitary because there are remnants of cream from my previous use.

All in all.. DO NOT LIKE.

Hello~ Blogging WORLD!!!

Hello World! 

I've finally started a blog.  Yes, I know.. I'm a little behind.  Believe it or not, I'm still stuck in the Xanga world.  It was "the thing" in college.  Now it's "blogging" although it probably isn't anymore. :/  Either way, I've decided to start a blog to share my obsessions: BOOKS and MAKEUP!  I've been OBSESSED with watching makeup tutorials and reviews on youtube and even contemplated making my own videos on reviews and other stuff.... but... I didn't want to post videos showing myself for future employment purposes...  So, I figured I would just blog my thoughts on products as well as my reviews on the books that I have read.  :) 

My hopes for this blog is to encourage reading and share my makeup craaaaaaze. :D