Shiseido Majolica Majorca Skin Lingerie Pore Cover

Review of a make up base which I received from Japanstore.

Product description: A makeup base that thoroughly covers pores for porcelain doll skin.

This make up base contains moisturising glycerin, skin smoothing silicones, silica to absorb sebum and combination of mica and tin oxide to lighten up the skin. The product also contain SPF - Octinoxate and Titanium Dioxide. You can find full loiste of the ingredients [HERE] and the ingredients analysis [HERE].

 The product is packed in soft, squezzy tube with capacity of 25g, so it's small and handy. It's unscented. After unpacking the product the first thing I liked about it was the pigment - I like coloured make up bases, they make my acne prone skin look much better. This one has a yellowish-beige colour, which helps to even out the skin tone and reduces redness. You can actually use this product on it's own to even out your skin - after application the skin looks bare, but smoother.

From the product's name and the description on the official website we can conclude, that the main role of this product is pore coverage and I must admit, that it's fulfilling this role very well. It creates the effect of perfect, smooth skin, it covers both enlarged pores and ice-pick type of scars. It creates fantastic duo with Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB cream. The product is suitable for oily skin, even though the tin oxide is supposed to lighten up, I find it to be actually slightly mattifying. It does not control sebum production, but also doesn't make skin more oily.  As for the SPF ingredients - there are at the very end of the ingredients list and we also don't apply the base in amounts large enough to offer any real UV protection. To cover whole face I need to use about twice the amount of the picture, so sadly the small tube won't be very long lasting.

Skin Lingerie has one significant downside - it doesn't help out the make up as a whole. A lot of BB creams after some time seems to just disappear from the face and I usually make up base slows this down. In this case, Skin Lingerie maybe makes the BB cream to stay on a little bit longer, but at the same time it causes make up to be more cakey. During the first couple of hours the make up looks nice and smooth, then even the BB cream that itself was very good in staying put, suddenly starts to roll up in wrinkles. It created a very bad duo with my recent favourite, Innisfree Long Wear Cushion.

Price: around £12 on e-Bay, $18 in Japanstore.

Pros:
+ covers up the pores nicely
+ thanks to the pigment evens out the skin tone
+ mattyfies
+ no perfume, no parabens

Cons:
- doesn't help make up to last longer
- rolls up in wrinkles
- considering small capacity - a bit expensive

Summary
It's my first Japanese make up product, so I'm glad I had opportunity to try it out. It's a decent product, on a skin without wrinkles in which it could roll, it would be very good. It's definitely worth recommending  for people struggling with enlarged pores, as it really covers them up nicely. I will use up this tube till the end with pleasure, however I won't be re-purchasing - the search of perfect make up base continues :)

Shiseido Anessa Whitening UV Protector A+ SPF50+ PA++++ Review

UV rays are not good for our skin, so we should use UV filters to protect ourselves. We know that, yet still many of us decides to ignore this knowledge and just rely on low SPF included in moisturisers or make up products. I was like that myself and for a very long time I was relaying on BB Cream's SPF only, but the ugly truth is that we simply don't put enough of BB/CC Cream on our skin to make the SPF work properly. I knew that, but I still resisted the idea of using separate sunscreen, as I got oily skin and I was afraid of putting an extra product on it. Especially that sunscreen brings to my mind greasy lotions that my mum used to slash over me on the beach when I was a kid... but some reviews on Asian skincare blogs proved me wrong. Thanks to one of the Polish skincare blogs, Green Tea Love I decided to cure myself from ignorance and buy my first UV-blocker. It was meant to be Hada Labo UV Whitening Emulsion, but before I managed to order it, the owner of My Asian Skincare Story blog started a little jumble sale - selling of products that she didn't like or had too many of. That's where I spotted Anessa UV protector. The blog owner described it as a suitable for oily skin and it includes my favourite skincare promise of whitening... so there was no other way, I had to have it!

Product description: Sunscreen 2in1 milk that protects skin from signs of ageing and dark spots and acts as make up base. It contains Shisheido-developed M-Tranexamic Acid which suppresses melanin production and prevents freckles and dark spots. Milky formula leaves skin soft and smooth, ready for make up application. Resistant to sweat and sebum, removable with face wash.

The main UV blockers in this product are chemical:  Bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, also known as Tinosorb S and Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, also known as Octinoxate or Octyl methoxycinnamate. At the very end of ingredients list we will also find physical blocker: Zinc Oxide.

Product also contains moisturising hyaluronic acid, anti-inflammatory and cleansing thyme extract and turmeric root extract, which has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and skin brightening properties.

Ingredients: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Alcohol, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, Hydrated Silica, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Glycerin, PPG-17, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Isostearic Acid, Dimethylacrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Crosspolymer, Sorbitan Sesquiisostearate, Succinoglycan, Citric Acid, Aminopropyl Dimethicone, BHT, Disodium EDTA, Silica, Ethyl Ascrobic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Dipotassium Glycerrhizate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Extract, Soluble Collagen, Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract, Fragrance, Zinc Oxide Ingredients Analysis [HERE]

Product is in a plastic 60ml bottle. The bottle is sleek white opalescent pink - my favourite colour combination ^^ The milk has a pleasant scent, overall product leaves very good first impression of simplicity and neatness.

The milk has lightweight texture. After application I can still feel in on my face for a while, it needs a moment to absorb into skin. Once it gets absorbed my skin feels great - slightly moisturised, smooth and not shiny (I heard a lot of complaints about different sunscreens that they leave skin shiny). Anessa is giving almost matte finish to the skin - it's not a full matt, but slightly satin-like, very natural looking. It doesn't leave white cast on skin.

Now the best part - Annesa offers quite decent sebum control. As I said above, I was afraid to use UV blockers, because I thought they would increase my skin skin oiliness - however this product was a very pleasant surprise. The sebum control is not mind blowing, but enough to make me feel difference and because I didn't expect any sebum control it really impressed me.
Now for the doubling up as a make up base - well, it won't cover enlarged pores, but thanks to the sebum control, make up is able to look well on my skin for longer. However you must be careful with product choice, as not every BB Cream goes well with the sunscreen - for example Holika Holika Petit Clearing BB is oxidising terribly applied on top of anything. Fortunately ma favourite Tony Moly Petite Cotton BB creates a nice duo with Anessa, Maybelline Satin Liquid Foundation also performs well. Unfortunately I cannot use one of my favourite BB's Lioele Dollish Veil Vita on top of the sunscreen. Because it contains pigment capsules, it requires rubbing skin during application to achieve the right colour. However bear in mind that if you apply anything on top of your filter you shouldn't rub, just gently pat, otherwise you may rub your protection off!

Price: Product is available on Rakuten from 24$ and Amazon from £35.

Pros:
+ lightweight texture
+ sebum control
+ doesn't leave white cast
+ gives satin, almost matte finish
+ noncomedogenic

Cons:
- a bit pricey
- unavailable on e-Bay

Summing up: I feel really lucky that I could start my adventure with sun blocks with such a good product. It definitely encouraged me to try other Asian sun blocks and if any new sunscreen fails me, I will have that one to come back too. Highly recommended product :)

If you plan to buy it, pay attention to bottle's appearance and product description - my version is the newest one, formula has changed in 2014. The older version has pink bottle and lover protection - SPF32 PA+++.

Anessa has couple of different sun blocks to choose from - if you search for "Anessa" on Amazon or Rakuten you may see both bottles and tubes. The main difference is that products in bottles have milky texture, while products in tubes are gels.

Waterproof milk for face and body

Waterproof gel for face and body

Tinted UV blocker available in two shades