DIY's of the Week

I am constantly looking online for things to buy or things to make. DIY's are my favorite. If I could quit my day jobs and DIY all day I would! LOL! (One day....one day!) My goal is to share DIY's with you every week. I would like to make all of these. Yet again, if this was my full time job I would, but alas, tis not!

Here are some fun DIY's I found this week!

ABM Book Purse from "A Beautiful Mess"

I love Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess. They always make life look so grand. Pretty much anything that they post is amazing! This old book turned into a clutch purse is so cute! I must do this! I need to pull out our old sewing machine first....

DIY Dip Dye Placemats by "Design Love Fest" 

Out of all the blogs I follow I'm pretty sure I check A Beautiful Mess and Design Love Fest everyday! This DIY Placemat is so pretty. It's a simple DIY to do with beautiful results. 

DIY No Sew Clutch by "Brit + Co"

Who doesn't love a easy no sew clutch?! I do! I love  Brit + CO! Brit + CO got me interested in blogs and blogging. These might need to be made for people for Christmas.

Rose Hibiscus Whipped Body Butter by "Poppytalk"

Body butter is the best, especially when it's homemade. This Rose Hibiscus Body Butter looks heavenly. I'm sure it smells and feels even better. I'm convinced that this is the perfect remedy for thirsty skin.

DIY Ombre Calendar by "Homemade by Carmona"

I have this weird obsession with pens, stickers, greeting cards and planners/calendars. This DIY Ombre Calendar would fit in perfectly with all of the pens, stickers and greeting cards that I've hoarded. 

Let me know if you try any of these DIY's in the comments below. Until next time...

XOXO Iquo

Memebox COSRX Box Review

Hey guys! I know that it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted anything. Life has been pretty busy. Our family had a wedding this past week and I’ve been working like crazy at both of my jobs. Memebox has sent me different products to review and I would love to share them with you guys!

I was recently sent a box full of Cosrx Products to review. Cosrx stands for Cosmetics + RX. It’s becoming more and more popular in Korea. Cosrx is known for having AHA & BHA in their products. What does AHA & BHA mean or stand for you say? AHA stands for alpha hydroxy acid and BHA stands for beta hydroxy acid. Well know AHA’s are glycolic acid and lactic acid. A well known BHA is salicylic acid. I know that’s a lot so to put it in easier terms these are chemical exfoliants. Chemical always sounds bad. You think chemical, you think dryness or burning sensations. Not true. Exfoliating is actually good for your skin. If you have dead skin on the surface (we all do) AHA comes to play in that area. It will exfoliate the surface of the skin removing that dead skin we all want to get rid of. If you want to get rid of acne, blackheads or whiteheads or clean out your pores, BHA’s come in handy. It penetrates deeper to clean out all of the unwanted gunk we all loathe. 

Sorry for that skin care lesson but it’s good to know what’s in certain products before actually using them. Like I was saying Memebox send me a box of Cosrx products. Five products to be exact. Let’s get started then shall we?

COSRX Salicylic Acid Exfoliating Cleanser (150ml, $6)

Memebox Description: This creamy cleanser removes impurities and prevents future breakouts. It gently exfoliates the skin and removes white and black heads. It is formulated with salicylic acid and has tea tree to exfoliate and promote cell turnover rate and target inflammation. 

This is one of the products that has BHA’s in it, the salicylic acid in it. This is great for acne prone skin or for unclogging pores. 

What I Think Of The Product: 

When I opened this cleanser and tested it out while taking pictures, the first thing I noticed with this product was the smell. It is very fragrant. You can definitely smell the tea tree in it. It is very creamy. They weren’t lying about that. It foams up very nicely. 

How It Worked On My Skin:

Whenever I think of tea tree I think of deep cleansing or purifying. Tea Tree mixed with Salicylic Acid, I was sure it was going to be over drying to the skin. Surprisingly it was not too drying. It left my skin feeling super clean. Like squeaky clean. The tea tree is very strong though so if you are sensitive to smells you may want to skip this cleanser. I probably wouldn't use this everyday because using it everyday would probably dry my skin out but for people with oily skin, this cleanser would be perfect for them. 

COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner (150ml $12)

Memebox Description: This toner reveals smoother skin and targets uneven skin texture. Formulated with vitamins and mineral water, it’s meant to nourish the skin. The lightweight moisturizing formula promotes optimal skin absorption. 

This toner has 0.1% Glycolic Acid and 0.1% Bentaine Salicylate in it. Bentaine is a mixture of Bentaine and Salicylic Acid. It’s more gentle than Salicylic Acid so that’s why you can use this toner everyday if you chose to.

What I Think Of The Product: 

This toner has a slight smell to it. It’s nowhere near the smell of the cleanser though which is good. That would have been too may smells going on.

How It Worked On My Skin:

I used this toner with my Shiseido Facial Cotton. I didn't find that it was drying. At first I thought it was but it turns out it just left my face feeling very clean. Squeaky clean. It is very cool and refreshing on my skin. I ran out of a toner recently so it’s nice to try out a new toner.

COSRX BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum (100ml $13)

Memebox Description:A balancing serum that keeps sebum production at healthy levels. It’s formulated with White Willow Bark Water and it is gentle enough for all skin types. It contains naturally exfoliating ingredients that will improve the appearance of the skin. 

This serum has Willow Bark in it which has anti-inflammatory and anti-septic properties in it. The Bentatine Salicylate will help purify and balance excess sebum. The Sodium Hyaluronate helps bring back fullness and volume to your skin. 

What I Think Of The Product: 

I was surprised to see a serum that’s so watery. It reminds me of a toner, that’s how watery it is. I’m used to all of my serums being so thick. I wanna say this is more like a treatment. You have to shake the bottle to separate the formula. It doesn’t really have a smell at all which is good, especially for those who are sensitive to smells.

How It Worked On My Skin: 

Like I was saying earlier, I've never seen a serum like this before. It was different. It feels like a toner. I didn't use my facial cottons with it because I didn't want the facial cotton to soak up all the product. I just used my hands. Like the other products it left my skin feeling super clean. I was sad that it's not very hydrating though. I prefer my serums to be more hydrating. 

COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence (100ml, $17)

Memebox Description: This power essence is made with 96% all natural snail mucin extract that will transform your skin by moisturizing and transforming damaged skin. 

I know people are always so weirded out about snail mucin or anything that has to do with putting snail residue on your face. It’s a craze that’s happening in Asia and in Europe (Not so much in America though) It is meant to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. 

What I Think Of The Product:

There is snail mucin in this essence so I assume that’s why this essence is sooooo sticky. It doesn’t have a distinct spell to it. It did make my skin tingle just a bit. In a good way!

How It Worked On My Skin:

This essence is more like a serum. It has snail mucin in it and I am telling you, you will notice it right AWAY! It is so stringy and slimy. It is more hydrating than the other products though. Again like the other products, it left my skin feeling squeaky clean.

COSRX Blackhead Silk Fingerball (12pc, $4.58)

Memebox Description: A fingerball made of 100% natural silk. Used to massage and gently exfoliate the skin to reveal healthy, youthful skin. 

So, is it sad that I was most excited to do use these?! I had heard about them and seen them online but never got around to buying them. Once you soak these for about 2-5 minutes You can use these. It’s meant for clearing up black heads and cleaning out your pores. 

What I Think Of The Product: 

I think the product is pretty cool. At one point in time those were out in nature and here we are put it on our faces. I think it’s so cool how they work.

How It Worked On My Skin:

This little ball has does wonders on my skin. I’m really self conscious about my pores and I swear rubbing it on my pores made them look smaller. I rubbed this on my skin and so much dirt came off. It was crazy. I need to use one again ASAP! 

Eww! Look at all that dirt! This is AFTER I washed my face too! Crazy huh?!

My pores don't look nearly as big as they were before I used the Silk Fingerball. YAH!

So guys, this box is pretty good. I think out of all of the products, I like the Silk Fingerballs the most. They're so unique. You can't find products like this in the states. If I could rate this box I would give it a 4.5 out of 5. Why 4.5 out of 5? If this box had a moisturizer in it, it would be a perfect box. It's got facial wash, toner, serum, essence and pore and blackhead treatment (the silkballs) The only thing that's missing is a moisturizer. Other than that, it's a great box!

You can't buy the box anymore but you can buy each product online at Memebox.com

Have you tried any of COSRX's products yet? Is this your first time hearing about it? If it is, let me know. Thanks to Memebox for sending me these products to review and to try. Until next time guys!

XOXO Iquo

Soothing Sista x Memebox Eyeshadow Quad Review

Hey guys! It's been awhile since I did a Memebox review. It's amazing how much Memebox has changed and evolved over the past couple of months. There are so many new boxes. There are so many Original Memebox products like the lipsticks, eyeshadows and the blushes. There are also collaborations with different bloggers and beauty gurus. This is one of them!

Soothingsista AKA Stephanie is a YouTuber and makeup expert. All of her videos have tens to hundreds of thousands of views. It makes sense that Memebox wanted to collaborate with her. In the past Memebox has had collaboration boxes with people but just recently Memebox has been making collaboration products. In Korea, they've been doing a lot of collab products with bloggers like Pony but I'm pretty sure this was the first collab product in the US. It's pretty exciting.

This SoothingSista product is a four palette eyeshadow. It's pretty cool because it's small and compact. Perfect for having in your purse for touch ups. 

I love the names of these shadows. Sultra and Valencia are matte shadows and Candy Rain and Bae Area are shimmer shadows. These colors are rose neutral colors. Stephanie picked these colors because they're versatile and for the most part neutral colors work on everyone.

I took two pictures of the shadows because the camera didn't focus in on every color. The shadow starting from the left is Bae Area, Valencia, Candy Rain and last Sultra. It's best to use a primer with this eyeshadow. If not the colors really don't show up, especially on darker skin tones. 

This palette comes with a small eyeshadow brush too. I usually use my own brushes but this is always good to have to use for touch ups during the day. 

I did my best to try to blend all four colors together. I think it's a pretty nice neutral look.  I also used Kat Von D Tattoo liner and Dior Iconic Overcurl Mascara. I know there is a lot you can do with this palette because I've seen what other people have done with the colors on Instagram. 

This is cute palette. Perfect for an everyday look. I love all the products that Memebox has to offer. I also love that they collaborate with people who are making a name for themselves in the beauty and makeup community. You can buy this eyeshadow palette on Memebox's website. You can follow Stephanie on Youtube, Twitter and Instagram. 

You can also follow Memebox on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram.

Thank you to Memebox for sending me this awesome product to review. What do you guys think of this palette? Do you have it? If so, do you like it? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time,

XOXO Iquo