Etude House : Dear My Blooming Special Gift Set

Hi, dears!

I've been meaning to review this super special, pretty and pinky set from Etude House eons ago, i took pictures of them since February actually but of course, it got shoved to the back of the files and (almost) forgotten, but i don't forget things (just procrastinate :P) so here it is, at last!

Image taken from Google

I bought this quite a while ago (and began using them on Valentine's Day this year), knowing Etude House and their penchant on re-package and re-launch their products every few months, i am not even sure if this set's still available. This could be last year's Valentine's Day special set, i don't even know. But i know that Dear My Blooming lippies are still available (is it their permanent line? The one with the metallic pink bow? I dunno, i cannot keep up!) everywhere, and i also saw the set still in stock in some of Etude House's Surabaya counters- but even if they are no longer available i think i'd still review them anyway-i think they tend to bring out similar shades and formulations though with different packaging, so i think if you're thinking of buying their other (similar) lippies of whatsoever you can still benefit by reading this (i hope) hehe.

I actually bought it for quite a cheap price (of course, not as cheap as it'd be if i bought it directly from Korea...), IDR 195.000 if i'm not mistaken, from an old online shop that i frequented (sadly it's no longer operating, i used to buy a LOT of stuffs from this seller. The owner was fast, the stocks were quite complete and the price's quite low), but on the counter i saw them selling for about IDR 325.000 WTF. Yes, cheap Korean brands became quite mid-level brands once they arrived in Indonesia, what with the crazy taxes and all.

The perfume came with a separate pump that i already put on in this pic that's why there's an empty space in the box

It consisted of : Dear My Blooming Nail in #3 Breathtaking Pink, Dear My Blooming Lips in PK 004 also called Breathtaking Pink and a small Eau de Toilette with no specific name, they only stated : Fruity Floral Fragrance *LOL*.

I was madly attracted to its pinky, hearty package, obviously. You know i can never resist cute packaging! Most of the time i don't even care what color i am getting inside for i usually can work any color to match my super pale complexion somehow, as long as they came in a kawaii case, i'd buy them. In bulk. Yep, FML. The ultimate consumerism victim. With a capital V.

But i am happy to say... Nothing in this set disappoint me (but then again you know how easily pleased i am! LOL. I am almost always a happy customer, just treat me nicely i'd be grateful already!)

Let's take a look of the items one by one :

Dear My Blooming Nails #3 Breathtaking Pink (10ml)

Breathtaking Pink translates into a milky hot/bright pink in Etude House's book. As how i found most of Etude House's nail polishes, it was easy to apply, lasts quite long (about 5 days to a week without chipping, with base and top coats though) and they color's quite opaque even from the very first coat.

Sorry for my messy application, this is 1 coat of Revlon's Top Speed Base/Top Coat followed with 1 coat of Breathtaking Pink

1 Coat of base coat+2 coats of Breathtaking Pink

1 Coat of base coat, 2 coats of Breathtaking Pink and 1 coat of the same top coat

Final result after i showered and the excess paints peeled off by itself from my skin :

Yep, this was my Valentine's Day nails haha

I don't have any complaints for this nail polish, i do love it quite a lot!

Next's the lipstick!

Dear My Blooming Lips PK 004 Breathtaking Pink (3.4g)

This kind of pretty embossing can drive me INSANE! SO CUTE!!!

The color is quite similar with the nail polish (hence the same name!), slightly milky bright pink. It is slightly smaller than your typical lipstick bullet but i don't mind, i can never finish a lipstick as it is i think i'd be happy if most lipstick comes in smaller sizes (and maybe lower prices? LOLOLOL) so i can buy tonnes of them and not feel too guilty about it HAHAHA. 

As you might already know, i only started to use bright colors on my lips earlier this year (yes yes, super late bloomer, tell me something i don't already know). I used to wear lip glosses all the time and only sometimes would touch my (crazy amount of) lipstick collection-and even so i'd only use the bright colored ones as a lip tint. And so in the beginning i'd only use this as a lip tint as well.

I always always always put on lip balms (and nowadays, petroleum jelly when i first put on my make up but touch up with different kind of lip balms once i go out) before i put on any lippies (so it won't look dry and also because i heard all kinds of horror stories on how lippies can turn your lips darker, and i so don't want that!), so at first i would only use this on top of petroleum jelly.

Let's see how it looked like.

Bare lips+Petroleum Jelly (a bit whitish because it was mixed with foundie from my fingers)

One swipe of Breathtaking Pink on top of Petroleum Jelly

Like most lipstick, it'd be quite hard to show its true color if used on top of such a slippery base so the color seemed not very bright at all (but it's brighter IRL, i always have hard time capturing how bright most of the make ups look with my stupid camera zzz but it was brighter than this okay!). And even though i already used a glossy-looking lip base, i don't like the creamy result, i am a mega gloss kind of girl haha, so i topped it off with a clear gloss.

Petroleum Jelly+Breathtaking Pink+Clear Gloss

Here are some pictures of me using it Breathtaking Pink with this method, it became more of a lip tint though.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3, when i actually took lip close ups above

I must repeat, it was so much brighter IRL, dunno why it looked so subtle in the pictures! Then one day i was like, if i want to do this review correctly i must use it without any base at all once. So i did :

Breath Taking Pink without base, sorry for blurry pic! And those two dots on the side of my mouth are moles lah, i am getting them removed sometimes soon because people often mistake them as pimples/blackheads and that's super annoying! And those two moles only grew recently, about two years ago or something, i hate them!

I tried using them without anything else on top for a while, and i dunno if it's because i'm not used to (more like, never before), it felt quite drying on me. So maybe it's better to use a lip balm beforehand lah, but if you want the color to be as vivid as in the bullet, choose a less glossy finish lip balms. I am not into creamy/matte lip, so i had to top it up with clear gloss later.

Breathtaking Pink+Clear Gloss, still more vibrant than first method, yes?

Some people complains about Korean lippies being not very pigmented, but for me it is very pigmented, one swipe would result in a very vibrant bright lip (maybe also because my natural lip color's soft pink and my complexion's fair) that it scares me a bit. I don't find the need to swipe it more than once! I do love the color, it brighten my face up so i don't look so pale! And it's not scented, i'd much prefer non-scented than yucky scented lippies (like some of my Revlon lippies that smells and tastes like soap. YUCK!)

As for staying power, i don't think i am the right person to answer this. Any kind of lippies tends to stay FOREVER on my lips. They'd only really go away after i wipe my lips. Even after i eat or drink usually there'd still be a trace of (strong) colors on my lips (except if i wear only lip gloss, obviously), and it's also the case with this one. I'd say the staying power is normal, similar with most lipsticks out there.

Sadly, the plastic tube, cute as it was, wasn't very sturdy at all. It seems to be on the verge of falling apart at all times *LOL*, the inner case (that holds the bullet) would sometimes detached itself from its outer, pink case *LOL*. And i tend to chuck one lipstick in my make up pouch to go and use it for a long period of time (because i am too lazy to switch them, therefore my hundreds of other lippes sat sadly in my drawers, waiting for their turn to glory days), and i did it with this one until one day i realized, the super cute pink metallic bow already started to chipped off, after a month or two :(... Totally broke my heart. 

But all and all, quite satisfied with this lippie. Vibrant, comes in a cute packaging, pretty color that compliments my complexion, that's more than enough to make me happy with a lipstick!

Last and not least item, the eau de toilette :

Fruity Floral Fragrance (according to Etude House haha), 10 ml

The only complain i have for this perfume? That it comes in such a small bottle and how they do not have a bigger size available on its own! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this perfume! It's probably my favorite item out of this set!

I am horrible when it comes to describing smells, and the box didn't help because it only stated fruity floral fragrance! I'd say it'd light, girly, feminine, not cloyingly sweet and it embodies the cute, pinky packaging/color to a T! I am sniffing the perfume as i type this but it still doesn't help me to find the words to describe it! I am just that bad when it comes to smells! It does reminds me of some other (more popular) perfume, so it might be inspired by some designer perfume, i can't be sure.

I love it so much that i don't dare to wear it often (only been using it two or three times!), coz it's only 10ml! If i wear it daily it'd be gone in two weeks at most! It has a pretty good staying power, when i go out i'd still be able to smell it on myself late at night, when i got go to bed, so it lasts more than 5-6 hours (in air conditioned room, fragrances tends to dissapear much faster when you're outdoor and even worse, when you sweat!). 

If anyone knows what this fragrance smells like, please let me know! I'd love to find other perfumes that smells like this and buy a big sized bottle of it!

In conclusion, i love every single item on this set! I do have a very soft spot for Etude House and their crazily cute packaged items, but i think every products performed nicely too, so i don't think i am being too biased! As a set, i'd very recommend it as a gift for yourself or someone that's girly, loves pink and feminine. Individually i'd also recommend getting them (except the perfume because it's not available by itself!) if you like cute, good performing nail polish and lipstick with a pretty decent price (buy it online though, it's just not worth getting it in their Indonesian counters!). 

I'd myself buy different colors from this line if i don't already own hundreds of other stuffs, and the fact that they come in cuter packaging all the time!

I hope the review helps if you're thinking of getting something similar from Etude House, in the meantime, have you joined our mini giveaway? Be a dear and join it (make our days, dear!), i can't wait to send the prizes to the winners! 

They are still waiting for their rightful (future) owner, it could be YOU!

Good luck, dears!

#Pink

(who's writing this on a Saturday night at home, didn't feel like going out since we get back from Taiwan, i guess i am still recuperating from all those walking, trying to get over my flu-the super painful and heavy period didn't help! Hope you had a better/more fun weekend than moi!)

PS : We got our first HATER! LOL! I definitely didn't see this day coming, i'm so going to blog about this! And for that particular anonymous hater : LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! Am i annoying you yet? No? I can go on all day long!