Thursday 11 September 2008

Paul & Joe Pouches

I finally received my copies of the October issues of Spring and Biteki magazines which came with Paul & Joe pouches. The Spring pouch turned out to be surprisingly roomy and well-constructed with slots for brushes under the lid. The material is also pretty decent, not too thin and flimsy as is typical of magazine freebies. This was actually designed in collaboration with Paul & Joe Sister, which is the secondary clothing line by P&J. Paul & Joe Sister debuted in Japan in early September.



As you can see from the pic, the pouch can fit quite a number of makeup items, definitely enough to store all the makeup you need for one day or for touch-ups on the go.



The Biteki silky pouch is cute too, but the material is thinner and looks like it may snag easily if one is not careful. But it's also quite roomy and can fit a number of small makeup items. Biteki also included a 1g sample of the new Creamy Powder Compact Foundation SPF15 PA+ (5250yen) in shade #30 and two sachets of the Moisturising Foundation Primer (3675yen, 30ml) in #1 and #3.




There is also a small booklet showing how to apply the foundation and primer for a flawless, glowy finish, featuring model Maya, who frequently models for Japanese beauty magazines.






The Creamy Powder Compact Foundation is a cream to powder foundation with a creamy soft texture similar to that of raw chocolate. With silicon powders coated in emollients for deep moisturising benefits, it is meant for dry skin types or use in fall/winter when skin dryness is a common problem. It is supposed to give the look of healthy, bare skin with an inner glow thanks to the inclusion of champagne gold pearl in the formula.

I tried it out today and as I expected, cream-to-powder foundations are just not suitable for oily, acne-prone skintypes like mine. The foundation applied quite smoothly, with good coverage and blended easily to a natural finish without streaking. The problem was that after just one hour, my skin was already desperately in need of blotting. It also did not reduce the appearance of my pores, which for me is an important aspect of any good foundation. So I'll be sticking to powder foundations in the future but this may still be a good option to consider if you have dry skin and are not prone to acne. My worry with cream foundations is always the fear that they will clog my pores due to the heavier texture. I suspect that cream foundations tend to look good only on people with near perfect skin, who probably don't need foundation in the first place!

The Moisturising Foundation Primer has greater moisturising power compared to the previous version with #1 meant for making skin appear lighter toned, #2 for a healthy glow and #3 for a more translucent finish. I tried #3 today as well but it did nothing special for me. The primer has a light texture that absorbs easily without feeling sticky but it does not provide any coverage so if you have skin imperfections, you'll need a separate concealer or a foundation with medium to heavy coverage to use with this .

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I love reading your blog.

I was in despair when I returned from my first trip to Japan late last year coz I tot no one in Singapore will be so interested in the Jap cosmetics & skincare that I saw in Tokyo.

But I'm so glad I found your blog. You even help to translate the Jap magazines, I don't mind telling you that I decide which Jap magazines to buy from Kino after I read your posts.

Please, please, please, don't stop.

I also want to start a beauty blog of my own, but the flesh is weak. :)

Just 1 question: What do you do with the tonnes of MU or skincare that you buy each time? I see your posts about what you buy and feel tempted too, but I have no space! As it is, I have WAY too much MU & skincare that I don't use.

Anonymous said...

Hihi, you tempted me to make a reservation at kinokuniya to purchase biteki!I wonder if spring still has stock...

Haru said...

Hi Jing,

There was still a stack of Spring mags at Kino on Tuesday afternoon (that came in the sea shipment on Monday) but Biteki was completely gone already. You can always call them to see if they still have Spring. After I missed out on the two mags in the earlier air shipment, I ordered them from Amazon Japan just to make sure that I would get them! Good luck!

Hey Jules,

Thanks for stopping by! Glad that this blog is of help to you. It does take quite a bit of time to upkeep and I'm always looking around for new stuff to post, which can be difficult as unlike many of the beauty blogs that focus on Western brands, I don't have the advantage of PR persons sending me all the latest press releases. But it's still fun nonetheless.

As for what do I do with all the stuff I buy, well the simple answer is that I use them! Of course, I have more stuff than what I actually need and it can be tough to actually finish up stuff, whether it's skincare or makeup. But I persevere and try my best to use most of what I buy. With makeup, I try to rotate through different items every week. I put on makeup every day for work, so I do get a lot of use out of my stash. But of course there are some items that go bad before I use them up. Or sometimes if the products don't work for me, I just stop using them. It is a waste but I see this as a hobby, which means, as with most hobbies, I am buying what I want, not what I need. And oftentimes it's difficult to know if something will work for you without buying it and trying it out. If I was buying only what I need, my makeup stash would fit into one small pouch!

Anonymous said...

Hi, may I know how much did it cost you for both the magazines when you got them from Amazon? Did you use vpostjapan or something? thanks :)

Haru said...

Hi,

I paid the Japanese retail price of 550yen for Biteki and 500yen for Spring, and got them shipped to a friend who lives in Japan. Postage within Japan was free as my total order was more than 1500yen. My friend then helped forward them to me. I didn't use VPost.

カロリイン said...

Hi Iris,
Agree with you. This pouch is very handy and it can really contain the regular makeup items. I got it from Kino during their air shipment. I wonder if your have check out Oct issue of Steady and Sweet. Steady is giving away, a Little Twin Stars camera pouch and Sweet is giving away a vanity case too. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, I totally get what you mean by the "it's difficult to know if something will work for you without buying it and trying it out".

I am also torn between trying new skincare stuff vs "what if it makes my skin breakout, better not use".

There's a Malaysia blogger who also blogs abt Jap beauty products (but of coz with Malaysian prices & etc). Not sure if the Jap brands send her PR stuff coz apparently, Malaysia has more Jap brands than we do in Singapore. Don't want to advertise her blog add here, I see if I can email you on Cozycot if you're interested. What's your nick on Cozycot?

Haru said...

Hey Jules,

My nick on Cozycot is burkle. I used to be 'haru' there but got locked out of my account when they overhauled the website and I couldn't remember my password. Thanks!

Hey Carolyn,

I saw the Steady and Sweet GWPs on the TKJ website but decided to skip those since I spend too much on mags each month as it is! I'd rather save the money for makeup ;-) I just had to throw away a whole bunch of mags recently when I moved house...ouch.

Anonymous said...

Hi Iris! I am waiting for my Kino receive Spring so that I can get my hands on the pouch! It really looks like a good sized pouch!

I tried P&K compact fdn sample but the color was very off (ewww!!) so I ended up havign to clean my face & re-do my make-up! I have tried Lunasol's compact fdn samples and it's soooooooooooooooo smooth and provides a very nice light coverage. Unfortunately, there is no oil control properties. I have combi skin so I look like an oil slick an hour later :/

I am very wary of compact fdn as well, with the same concern as you i.e. pore clogging but I am also very curious as to how it is so popular amongst Japanese ladies. Don't they have the same concern?

Haru said...

Hey Michelle,

I read some of the reviews on Cosme.net for the P&J Creamy Powder Compact Foundation and some of the ladies do complain that their skin gets oily after awhile . But I think a higher proportion of Japanese ladies have dry skin compared to other Asian ladies who live in tropical, humid climates, and so the Creamy Powder Compact Foundation would work for these ladies.

I haven't had that much luck with Lunasol powder foundations though. I also tried some samples but they just doesn't look as good on me as Revue Essence In or Still Pact, which unfortunately has been discontinued. But sometimes I wonder if it's because the sponge included in the samples is quite flimsy and probably not as good in terms of applying the foundation smoothly.

Unknown said...

Dear Haru

I am such a Paul and Joe fan! I stopped hualing as I used to but still cannot help myself when it comes to this brand!!