Asian Face Powders Haul: Ponds Magic Powder and Bhaesaj Teen Powder

Everywhere I go, I'm always discovering new beauty products and tips. And thanks to friends who travel and are nice enough to buy stuff back for me, from time to time, I get to lay my hands on some of makeup tips, tricks and hot items from other countries!

My friend, Lynn, recently went to Thailand, and bought back these two Asian face powders for me, the Ponds Magic Powder, as well as the Thailand-based brand's Bhaesaj Teen Powder, both of which are extremely popular in Thailand, and have garnered a following in Asia as well.



These face powders look like body powders, but they're actually used as face powders in Asia. Pretty neat, eh? I've actually reviewed the Johnson's Face Powder previously, so these powders are in the same vein as the one.

Here's a photo of my face powders, including the Johnson's one previously reviewed.



I'm so excited to have hauled this, even if in proxy through a friend, LOL! I can't wait to start using and reviewing these!

FOTD/Review Using an Asian Makeup Tip: Johnson's Powder Pure Essentials All Day Pink

One of the things I've noticed in my travels and experiences living abroad is that beauty tips are highly idiosyncratic, and I never fail to pick up beauty tips everywhere. I found out about using Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel as a primer from my awesome USA girls (although I was too chicken to try that out), and I learnt about the awesomeness of Sleek and Barry M from the lovely UK bloggers. And now that I'm in Asia, I've learnt another little tip that I thought I'd share with you.

I've been seeing a lot of Asian girls using a Johnson's body powder for their face. The full (and very long) name of this product is Johnson's Powder Pure Essentials All Day Pink. I don't know what it is with Asian products, but it seems like the longer the product name, the better. You know, like an eyeshadow isn't just an eyeshadow over here; it has to be XXX Brand Luminous Shiny Eyes Ultra Light Eye Powder With Pearl Reflector or something like that in order to sell :P



I get my bottle imported for awesomely cheap from Thailand, hence the Thai wording on the bottle. The lady who sold it to me swore that it was TEH AWESOMEZ as a face powder, even if it wasn't made as such. I was very dubious about it's qualities as a face powder, until I googled it and it seemed like she wasn't the only one using that Pure Essentials powder on her face.

The powder itself seemed adaptable for use as a face powder. The ingredients are simple and few - there are, in fact, a grand total of five ingredients (Talc, Dimethicone, Titanium Dioxide, Perfume, Iron Oxide) and all of them are found quite commonly in makeup items anyway, and nothing in the ingredients list seemed pore-clogging or irritating.



The powder itself is also pretty decent. It's finely-milled, and had a good texture. Maybe not as smooth as it could have been, but it wasn't a major issue with me. The only thing I was worried about was the colour. It was a shade of light pink, which could look potentially quite odd on my skin. However, the good thing about this is that because it's not actually meant as a face powder, the pink tinge in the powder doesn't really show up.

Here's a swatch of the powder on my skin. You can see that you need to really apply a lot before you get any major pink showing up. I do feel like this could still look ashy on more tanned girls, however. But for relatively fair girls (NC/NW20 and lighter, perhaps?), I think this would be fine.



And of course, the review wouldn't be complete without an FOTD showing how the powder looks on my face, so here's a shot of my face with the powder. Here, I mixed the Johnson's Pure Essential Powder with some of my own silica powder to give the powder better mattifying and oil-controlling properties, since the Johnson's All Day Pink Powder wasn't very mattifying on its own.



This is just concealer and powder on my face. Here's the breakdown for anyone interested:
MAC Select Cover Up Concealer (spot applied on face)
MAC Studio Finish Concealer (spot applied on undereye area)
Johnson's Pure Essential All Day Pink mixed with Coastal Scents Silica Powder

I actually thought it looked pretty decent. Firstly, I was worried about the pink tinge in the powder, but when it was mixed with another transparent powder (the silica powder, in my case), it didn't leave a pink cast. I suspect that even if I had used it alone, it wouldn't have left a pink tinge either, since it was quite sheer colour-wise. Which brings me to my second point - don't expect this powder to provide any coverage or any skin-transforming properties. It's good as a basic powder, and that's it. I think this will be good for setting makeup or for people who don't need too much coverage.

So, if you're looking for a cheap, cheery basic powder that doesn't offer too much coverage, this is worth a go. If you're worried about the pink tinge, mixing with a clear powder, as well as a light hand, will help prevent the powder from appearing ashy on your face.

theBalm Blushes, Bronzer and Face Powder Swatches!

Today is another swatch post, and this time we're swatching more theBalm products! I'm starting to quite like this brand, as they have some pretty good quality stuff. Last time we talked about theBalm, we saw swatches of their pencil eyeliners (cutely named Pick Up Liners) and their lipsticks (which I thought had a nice decent range of colours). Today, we're looking at the blushes and other powder products in their range, which are the stars of their line.

These have been getting a lot of raves, and I can see why. They come in some very beautiful colours - in fact, some of them are near-dupes for some famous colours in more expensive brands. They're also nicely pigmented, yet not too pigmented, and have a very nice texture and application - these are some of the nicest ones I've seen. And they come in the cutest packaging, too, with pictures of pin-up girls adorning the cover of each blush. Unfortunately, it's also made of paper, so you wouldn't want to be too rough with it.

Here are swatches:



L - R: Down Boy, Cabana Boy, Hot Mama, Bahama Mama, Sexy Mama

Down Boy is a very pretty neutral pink. I know usually I get really bored by neutral pinks, but this isn't your typical pastey pastel neutral pink. There's something about it that makes it more than the sum of it's parts. It's very pretty, and pretty much as universal as a blush can get. It's beautiful. I know the swatches make it look grainy and powdery, but it's not. It's got a good application. I've noticed that my swatches tend to make things look really grainy and powdery, because I pile the product on and don't bother to dust off the excess. Oops.

Cabana Boy reminds me of NARS Sin, and is my favourite of the bunch. This one caused a big hoo-ha when it first came out, because it was apparently hard to find (the commotion has since died down and it's easily available now). It's a beautiful pinky-plummy colour, and unlike NARS Sin, it's not shimmery. I'm so tempted by this. I think I need it. Like NEEEEEED it (Oh, who am I kidding. I don't need anymore makeup...But still...)

Hot Mama is an orgasm lookalike, and although I'm not sure if it's a 100% dupe, because it's been awhile since I last had it, it certainly does look similar. This one also has a shimmery finish, like Nars Orgasm, although it doesn't have glitter bits that are as big. I may be wrong, of course, but I do believe the finish on this one is finer as the glitter bits are smaller...It's more like fine shimmer than big glitter. I do think that it could potentially get a little frosty if layered though, but it's still one lovely colour.

Bahama Mama is a bronzer, and although I don't use bronzers or contouring powders, I think this is one of the best I've seen so far. Most bronzers make the mistake of being either too shimmery, or too orange, so that you either look like Data from Star Trek got a tan, or an Oompa Loompa, or both.

You know, think a cross between this shininess:

Image from Wikipedia

and this orange-ness:

Image from notsuchayummymummy.wordpress.com

Anyway, the good thing about Bahama Mama is that it's NOT orange based, and it's NOT shiny. Which means cool-toned people can use, and people who wish to contour with it (as opposed to putting it on the high points of their face) can use it. I personally think it's great, even if I'm inflicted with the "must-be-fair" Asian skin preference.

Lastly, Sexy Mama is a transluscent powder. It's not 100% transluscent though, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone too dark. It does show up a little if built up, but you'd have to use a lot (like I did when swatching heavily). But for most people, I think this would definitely get the job done.

I really like these, so if you're lemming any of them, just get them already!