Holika Holika Pore Cover Mousse BB Balm Review

I couldn't wait to whip out my Holika Holika Mousse BB Balm during the warmer weather. Right now (well not right now because the sky is kind of grey and yicky) - this week, the weather was FANTASTIC! 70ish degrees and sunny... spring is definitely on her way!

So naturally, I whipped this baby out to use her up! I have previously tried the BB Mousse during the wintertime, but my skin during the cooler months is so incredibly dry, my skin can only handle using tinted moisturizers or extremely 'wet' face products.  So here is what the product looks like:

This is a great product for my skin during the warm weather. I honestly love the way it feels on my skin, how it looks on my skin and the overall effect it has throughout the day.

The first picture is first application. It seems more of a cream texture as it is stiffer than a mousse.
The second picture is blended a bit. It feels creamy and almost seems 'wet' looking.
In the third picture, once you spread it more evenly, the product transforms into a nice powdery, matte finish.

Here is my breakdown for you all: 

Texture: The texture claims to be a mousse product, but this to me was more of a cream type product with a mousse -ish texture. As you can see with the picture above, the product can easily stand up with ease. When I think of mousse, I think of like a spray can type product (like the revlon mousse foundation) It's quite hard to the touch (compared to mousses), so I would recommend either using the sponge provided or using a spatula. Its a very nice, soft, almost dry/powdery texture when applied. It glides on easily, almost like it's a primer.

Coverage: I would definitely say this is light - medium coverage. It is definitely buildable, but I say that with hesitation because in order to build some coverage, it does take a lot of finagling around and practice to get the product the way you would like it (although it is definitely possible!)

Application: This took a bit of me playing around to get it right. I am very used to just "throwing" on bb cream or foundation on my face, using my hands, in a hurry because at the end of the day, I dont really need foundation, and use it just because sometimes my forehead is way darker than the rest of my face.

I used my fingers, which was fine, but then when I looked close up, I had little patches of product all throughout my face (I looked a fool). It did a bit of clinging to some dry patches so I was like EW! haha! I just had to use my finger to lightly pat the product and it was fine though. Below is a picture of the product smoothed out with my fingers.

Then the next couple of times I applied, I decided to use the sponge that it came with and pat & rolled the product on my face and it came out perfect!! It did a great job of giving the perfect layer of product.  It was so nice on my face - really silky smooth and it didn't cling to any of the imperfections on my face. And now the application process is much easier ;D Below is a picture of how I smoothed the product out with a sponge! Flawless! : )

Finish: The finish for me is more of a powdery, matte finish. For me its a great finish because it doesn't slide off my face, but with the sort of silky (almost silica based feeling) texture, I could imagine this may become oily for those friends that have more oily skin... but don't quote me on it!

Color: This comes in two shades: Light Beige and Natural Beige. I have Light Beige (#1) and it is probably around an NC20ish as it is a bit light on my skin, but matches okay right now, but I think in the warmer days I may need to use Natural Beige (although I am unsure of the color match for it).

Smell: I LOVE the smell of this. it smells sweet and yummy. Maybe in my mind because there is a picture of a strawberry on it, I think it smells that way, but to me it kinda smells like strawberries and cream! haha

Lasting Ability: Alone, it definitely does a great job of lasting throughout the day. BUT. with makeup, it REALLY lasts throughout the day. Remember how I said it had this sort of silky feel like a primer? Well it definitely delivered as one too!

Extra goodies: Says on the box "Pore Cover" aka it'll minimize the appearance of pores. Um yes please! HAHA My pores are gross around my nose area and on occasion, around my nose the pores get kinda larger.. but yes! It does help with covering up my pores - when I looked in the mirror, my nose was noticeably nicer. I was like 'woot woot' - haha! I love when products make imperfections look better!

Conclusion: This is a really nice product. I would say this is suitable for those of you that want light-medium matte coverage. If you have dry, normal, or combo skin, this would work great for the warmer weather, and if you have normal, combo or oily skin this would work for the cooler weather. It is also suitable for those of you who have nasty pores that need some fake covering (like me lol).

COUPON CODE!!! I also had to get this review up because I had to share this with you!!! Currently there is an AWESOME promotion going on. (LIKE SERIOUSLY AWESOME)... You can get 20% off ALL HOLIKAHOLIKA products until March 20, 2012 using the code HH4ME.

Now I would probably insert my referral code for 10% off Lioele using code jessicalee422 or receive a free surprise item when you write jessicalee422 in the comment box at check out, but there is no need, because use the 20% off code for HolikaHolika! It's so much better!! HHAHAH

Let me know if you purchase anything! I love when people share their hauls with me ;D

FTC: I am a p&c blogger, therefore i received this product for free, but do not get compensated in any way.. and as always, I always share my honest opinions. 

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Pretty & Cute Guru/Blogger :D

I have been a die hard pretty and cute fan for a LONG time. I've probably been purchasing their products for about a good year now! I still remember my first purchase because I made a video on it! They are one of my favorite asian beauty online stores because of their amazing customer service, products and fast shipping!!!

I recently received a message from Janie, the pretty&cute owner, asking if i wanted to be a p&c guru/blogger! I nearly fell to the floor because I was so shocked she would ask me! I kept checking the email to make sure it was me, but yes! It did say Jessica! Haha! So I'm super excited to share with you guys that I will be joining the P&C band wagon and doing tutorials on their new youtube channel once in a while and blogging on their blog :D Be sure to check them out....

and check out my very first post! I review some of my FAVORITE glosses: the Lioele Blooming Glosses :D

Big thanks to p&c for this opportunity and to the wonderful janie for being a fabulous you :)

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Pretty and Cute Haul

Pretty and Cute is having their 15% off sale... so I decided to take advantage of that! :) Here are the things that I got from them!

Amazing :) I was so excited to receive this and it certainly did not disappoint me!!! I believe I ordered this package about a week ago. So it arrived in about a week... that's including the holidays and a huge blizzard! lol!

I've ordered from P&C many times and I absolutely adore their staff because they are wonderful, responsive and so accommodating... plus the owner, Janie, is flippin' soo adorable and is one of the sweetest, most down to earth girlies ever! They have incredibly fast shipping and if there is ever a problem or inquiry, the Pretty and Cute team are quick to help you out. so thumbs up you guys! Oh Right... onto my haul :)

The main point of my purchase was because I was dying to try the IPKN lip glosses (doesn't this look like a typo). This is a korean brand and I've been hearing numerous *OMG* they are soooo awesome!!! so of course... I want to try it! I got PK52 which is some baby pinkie color. The lipgloss is HUGEEEEEE.. like honestly, when I saw it, I couldn't believe it. In addition to that, it comes with this baby lip gloss (not pictured) that is like a cute keychain so you can keep that with you on the go (so cute!!) It's not too sticky-- but is more sticky than the lioele blooming gloss for sure. It is a beautiful milky pink color and has kind of an old lady floral scent (similar to the lioele donut balm, but with a bit more of a fruity note). It lasts longer than the L. blooming gloss as well, but it might be because it is stickier. It's 18.99, which is pricy, but its huge and will last a long time!

Next I've been dying to buy clip in bangs since i've always wanted them but i have a slight widow's peak hairline, so i dont have much hair to make into bangs. HAHAHAH omg. i look ridonk because its SO much bangs, but I've been playing around with it to make it work and its so fun! HAHAH I can't wait to show u pics of that, I'm trying to make everyone I know try them on. I will definitely blog about it. The hair is incredibly soft. I have the Black color and its extremely shiny (shinier than my own hair) LOL. but I love them! they are so fun and only 12.50, so you can't really go wrong!

I also picked up the Lioele A.C Control Trouble Patch for 7.29. InsideOutElle RAVES about it. I always trust her judgment because she always has really wonderful thorough reviews (not to mention she's adorable!!). She also did a great experiment on this product with two pimples next to each other and it really does a great job!! Although I don't get too many pimples, I get the occasional one, so this might be useful in the future! :)

Next, with the code frmheadtotoe and a purchase over 35 dollars, I got a P&C foundation brush. This normally retails for about $17, so it's a great deal to get it for free! I actually already got one from a previous order, but it is such an amazing brush- so dense and soft, it is so exciting to get another one!

Lastly, I got a sample of the Lioele Pore Rich Balm, Janie raved about it when she was talking about it in her youtube videos, so I decided to give it a try. Their samples are awesome because when you check out because now you get to CHOOSE which product you want to sample! whoohoo!

Overall, this was a great purchase. I love Pretty and Cute - so if you want to order from them, definitely do it soon to take advantage of their 15% off deal before the new year!! :) xoxo

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