Collective Haul: Holika Holika x Gudetama Collection
For the past few months, I've been foraging almost everything in the Holika Holika x Gudetama collection. For those of you who don't know, Korean beauty brands love to do a collaboration with various different characters, designers, and beauty vloggers (e.g., Unpretty Rap Star x SSIN, A'pieu x Rilakkuma, The Face Shop x Disney, 3CE x Lily Maymac, Missha x Line Friends, Tony Moly x Pokemon, and so many more it's hard to catch up with the trend). In summer 2016, my favorite cruelty-free Korean brand, Holika Holika, released its first collaboration with the most adorable character Sanrio has ever created: Gudetama, the lazy egg. The first Gudetama collection was called Lazy & Easy, and it consisted of cushions, powder, blush, lipsticks, nail polish, mask sheets, peeling gel, serum, cleansing oil, pore packs, and dry shampoo. I didn't obtain much from the first collab aside from a cushion, peeling gel, powder puffs, powder pact, and a lipstick. Then much to my surprise, they released an entirely new Gudetama collection in Fall, as a part of their F/W line, named Lazy & Joy. This time the packaging and the products were upgraded and got even cuter: 3 new cushion cases, re-formulated bb cushion, white base cushion, hand creams, beauty puffs, lip tints, lip oil, facial foams, face cream, new blushes, another dry shampoo, another nail kits, and 2 eyeshadow quads. The release was also coincidentally around the same time as my first trip to Seoul, so I was able to purchase most of the products when I was in town (which I've written about in my previous post here). Beside that, I also got my self another products through various local online shops because seriously, I was kind of addicted to the collection, I wanted them all! Well, I didn't get every single item, but I got most of them. Thus, I've decided to share with you my thoughts on the products while I'm on a roll.
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| Holika Holika x Gudetama Lazy & Easy Credit: Holika Holika Official Instagram (@holikaholika_official) |
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| Part of the Holika Holika x Gudetama Lazy & Joy collection credit: Holika Holika Official Instagram (@holikaholika_official) |
I pondered for some time how to organize this review since there would be so many products to cover. In the end I decided to do the review by functions, starting from the very first thing I do in my daily make up routine, mixing both the first and second collection.
1. Face cleanser, peeling gel, and cream
1. Face cleanser, peeling gel, and cream
Let's start from the very first thing you do to your face - cleansing. From this particular line, I only grabbed the lazy & joy white mousse foam, and I haven't even used it, so I can't say anything much. It comes in an aerosol bottle and pumping it will create instant lather and bubble rather than the cream itself. I'll update this post as soon as I try the foam.
[Update 22/1: I've been using the white mousse foam for some time now, and one thing sticks out the most: the strong flowery fragrance. I'm not the type to be repulsed by smell on cosmetics, but I gotta admit the smell is pretty heavy on this one. It's also a little drying on the skin, so I have to quickly spritz some toner afterwards. Other than that, it cleans my face effectively and leaves it smooth without any irritation.]
I also got the lazy & easy smooth egg peeling gel which I love very much. It's a non-abrasive peeling gel for your face to exfoliate and take away the dead skin cells on your skin, leaving your skin super clean and smooth afterwards. It has quite strong floral smell, so some people may find it disturbing, but I'm fine with it. The smell doesn't linger anyway. Have I mentioned it comes in an actual egg shape with gudetama face on it? It's so cute I'm gonna die!
[Update 22/1: I've been using the white mousse foam for some time now, and one thing sticks out the most: the strong flowery fragrance. I'm not the type to be repulsed by smell on cosmetics, but I gotta admit the smell is pretty heavy on this one. It's also a little drying on the skin, so I have to quickly spritz some toner afterwards. Other than that, it cleans my face effectively and leaves it smooth without any irritation.]
I also got the lazy & easy smooth egg peeling gel which I love very much. It's a non-abrasive peeling gel for your face to exfoliate and take away the dead skin cells on your skin, leaving your skin super clean and smooth afterwards. It has quite strong floral smell, so some people may find it disturbing, but I'm fine with it. The smell doesn't linger anyway. Have I mentioned it comes in an actual egg shape with gudetama face on it? It's so cute I'm gonna die!
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| not sure if you can see the orange specks in the cream, but they're there |
The second in line is the ceramide capsule cream, also from the latter collection. It has slight fresh and sweet tangerine smell that goes away instantly when applied on the face. The texture is quite thick and it has micro orange spots (I suppose they're the ceramide capsules) for extra hydration. I don't use the cream regularly, but every time I use it my skin is instantly rehydrated and feels supple without adding extra oil to my skin. It's absorbed to the skin quickly leaving no sticky feeling.
2. Base Make up (cushion foundation, face puffs)
2. Base Make up (cushion foundation, face puffs)
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| the left one is clearly isn't as grey as the right one |
Next up is the cushions which are so far the cutest designs among all of them.
From the lazy & easy collection, I only got one case design, as Holika Holika only sold the cushions in set (1 case, 2 refills) and I didn't want to have multiple unused refills. For the lazy & joy, on the other hand, Holika Holika decided to sell the case and refills separately, thus enabling me to grab 2 cases and 2 refills. Both editions of the face 2 change photo ready bb cushion come only in 2 shades, 21 light beige & 23 natural beige. Of course I picked the darkest shade. There isn't much difference between the first and second release when it comes to the performance. The photo ready bb cushion has light to medium coverage and slightly dewy finish. It doesn't oxidize and stays put for at least 8 hours on my skin, considering I work in an air-conditioned room all day. There is, however, a difference in the shade between the two releases. The first edition of gudetama cushion has obvious gray undertones which, depending on your skin tone, may make your skin appears dull, while the second lazy & joy edition doesn't have that gray undertones anymore and is now more on the pink side. So, if you decide to pick this cute cushion, go for the lazy & joy edition. Besides, the case designs are prettier in my opinion!
While we're on the face section, I also want to talk about the egg bun puff. It's like a beauty blender that can grow twice as big when it's wet, but it's not as bouncy. It has a gudetama face stamped on it and it works pretty well to blend out your foundation or concealer. At first I thought it was a little too stiff to my liking (I'm used to the light, airy texture of RT miracle complexion sponge), but the more I use it the more I like this cute-looking puff. It doesn't soak as much product as my favorite RT sponge, and it performs just as well. The only downside is that the puff isn't very durable. I've only used mine for a month, but the more I wash it, the more I find some wear and tear, and I might have to replace it soon enough. It may be because I wash it harshly or something, but I never have the same issue with my RT sponge. Other than that, the puff is worth your money (it's only 8000 won). That's why I picked up not just one or two, but four puffs!
Similar to puffs, Holika Holika also released a set of cushion puffs from the lazy & easy collection called the chap chap cushion puff, containing 4 puffs with different gudetama faces. I initially bought it to replace my other ragged and worn out cushion puffs, but they're too lovely to be used; I ended up putting them in my drawers till unforeseeable future.
3. Eyes Make up
Now let's talk about eyes. From the lazy & joy collection, Holika Holika released two eye shadow quads, 01 red velvet and 02 tiramisu, and I got them both. Just as the name implies, red velvet has reddish shades and tiramisu has various brown shades. They are all a good mix of shimmer, matte, and glitter shadows, and are surprisingly pigmented and blendable. It has quite an excess of kick-off powder, but not to the point where you'll find glitter and shadows all over your face when you apply them. The shadows also doesn't crease even without any primer on and last for at least 6 hours before fading. Overall, the eyeshadows are definitely recommended!
4. Cheeks
Going down to the cheeks, Holika Holika has the gudetama jelly dough blushers that remind me of colourpop super shock cheek. They have the same bouncy, mousse-like texture - not quite a cream, but not a powder. They're somewhat in between; they go on creamy but also powdery when applied. From the lazy & easy, there are only 2 jelly dough blusher shades, plum and peach. Both are very wearable and pigmented. They come with a puff to apply but with no divider what so ever, so I have to keep the plastic separator in tact. On the second collection, Holika Holika said they had upgraded the formula and added 4 new shades (or rather only 2 new shades, since the other 2 are basically the same color as the previous ones from lazy & easy, only with the new and better packaging). I ended up buying the other two entirely new shades, RD01 red and OR01 light peach. From what I've experienced, there's very little to no difference in the texture or formula between the 2 releases. They're still as pigmented, and the lasting power is the same, around 4 hours before it fades. The second version is slightly better since now it has a separator so the puff and the actual product don't get mixed up. I think these blushes are perfect for those who like naturally flushed effect on their cheeks, or people who normally don't like powder blushes which can sometimes emphasize the skin texture and look less natural than cream blushes. My tips of application: tap the product on the puff instead of swiping it to get less amount of pigment, and definitely pat it onto your cheeks - don't try to swipe it over. It doesn't work that way. You can also use your hands for a more precise, controlled application, but it's less hygienic.
5. Finishing/Setting Powders
We've got cushion as our base, and blush for our cheeks, and now it's time to set the entire face. That's where the gudetama sweet cotton pore cover powder and sweet cotton sebum clear pact come in handy. They both work to cut and maintain the amount of sebum on your face. Hence, they're best suited for oily skin, like mine. Aside from the different texture (one is loose and the other is a pact), the two products work just as well to keep my oil at bay for hours before having to blot. Other notable thing is the smell. Honestly, I think Holika Holika is fond of sweet scents because that's what these powders smell like. Some people might prefer their powders unscented, I included, but I don't find the smell overpowering, so that's that. These powders came out late in the lazy & easy collection, just like an extra hmph after Holika Holika realized their Gudetama collection was a hit. Basically all they did was just slapping their old cotton powder packaging with some adorable gudetama graphics and they got the sale going. Well, the strategy worked because I bought both powders though I have my RCMA powder to finish. Unlike RCMA, the cotton powder actually performs well for oily skin, on par with the infamous Innisfree no sebum powder, only gudetama comes with better physical appearance.
6. Lips
Moving on to the lips. Lazy & easy collection carries one type of lip product: the melting lip button which comes in two colors, red and orange. I picked up the orange shade, and I have to say it's a bright orange with red undertones. It's extremely pigmented and veery creamy (it literally melts), definitely not matte, and not drying at all. My only problem with this lipstick is the mechanism of the product. To get the lipstick out, you don't twist it like normal lipsticks, but click on the button like you'll do on a mechanical pencil. You cannot, unfortunately, put the stick back down once you click it up, so you gotta be careful of how much product you dispense. The lip button also tend to bleed due to its melting consistency, so make sure to line your lips well before applying it.
Lazy & joy series has its own lip products - lip tints and a lip oil. The all night tint comes in 4 different shades, but I only have 2, PK03 preppy pink and RD04 drop the cherry. PK03 is your normal reddish pink tint, and RD04 is a dark burgundy cherry red. The lip tints are pigmented, especially the darker vampy shade (it stains your lips like crazy and is pretty hard to remove), but I don't find the lasting power of the pink shade as good as the dark one. At least it doesn't taste bitter like the Etude House cherry tint - not that I want to eat it or anything. lol. Anyway, the all night tint surely doesn't last all night, and the wear time varies from shade to shade, but it wears comfortably on my lips and not drying, plus the packaging is just super cute (how many times do I use the word cute in this post? Millions). Aside from lip tints, there is also the lip oil, which works as a treatment and smells incredibly delicious and sweet like honey. I normally use it at night as an overnight lip treatment, but it is kinda a flop. The first time I used it, I was hoping that it would moisturize my lips overnight but it didn't quite do that. By morning all the oil had gone and my lips were on the same condition as the previous night. I guess it moisturizes my lips, but only temporarily. Well, if it doesn't work for you as a lip treatment, you can always use it as a lip gloss! ;)
7. Hand Creams
Just when you thought this post couldn't get any longer, I still have one last item to mention: the dessert hand creams with three variants, i.e., custard, sherbet, and cream cheese. You can buy them separately or as a pack of three. Guess which one I got? Yep, all of them. I didn't intend to buy any hand creams since I rarely use them, but the BA in the store of course did a good job in upselling, so yeah, I bought the set. All of the hand creams smell like cake, sweet and well, too sweet, actually. I'm not sure whether I want my hands to smell like cheesecake, but Gudetama can do no wrong. After all, they still work just as well as normal hand creams in the market. :P
8. Nose strips
You know what, there's actually one thing left: the gudetama pig nose clear blackhead 3 step kit, launched together with the cotton powder. I bought one and used it while I was in Seoul, so I don't have one anymore, but I'll talk about it for a bit. The pore strip is the same as the normal pig nose pack Holika Holika is famous for, only with different packaging. Different from the normal pore strips out there, the holika holika one has 3 different strips for 3 different purposes. Step 1: moisturize and open your pores, step 2: pull out blackheads and whiteheads, step 3: close and soothe your pores. I think the first and third step are pretty much gimmicky, as I felt no significant difference when I used them, but the second step worked quite okay to get rid of my blackheads though not as powerful as my normal biore pore pack. Again, the packaging is the salvation. I guess Holika Holika could label all their products with some Gudetama cuteness, and I'd buy them all like some crazy fanatics - thank God there's no third installment of this Gudetama wave from the brand, at least not that I know of.
Finally, I can wrap this long review up. Out of all Gudetama products I own, I love the cushion, the blushes, and the powders the most. The all night tints are also lovely. If you don't own one, go grab some! :)
While we're on the face section, I also want to talk about the egg bun puff. It's like a beauty blender that can grow twice as big when it's wet, but it's not as bouncy. It has a gudetama face stamped on it and it works pretty well to blend out your foundation or concealer. At first I thought it was a little too stiff to my liking (I'm used to the light, airy texture of RT miracle complexion sponge), but the more I use it the more I like this cute-looking puff. It doesn't soak as much product as my favorite RT sponge, and it performs just as well. The only downside is that the puff isn't very durable. I've only used mine for a month, but the more I wash it, the more I find some wear and tear, and I might have to replace it soon enough. It may be because I wash it harshly or something, but I never have the same issue with my RT sponge. Other than that, the puff is worth your money (it's only 8000 won). That's why I picked up not just one or two, but four puffs!
Similar to puffs, Holika Holika also released a set of cushion puffs from the lazy & easy collection called the chap chap cushion puff, containing 4 puffs with different gudetama faces. I initially bought it to replace my other ragged and worn out cushion puffs, but they're too lovely to be used; I ended up putting them in my drawers till unforeseeable future.
3. Eyes Make up
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| swatches of both quads |
Now let's talk about eyes. From the lazy & joy collection, Holika Holika released two eye shadow quads, 01 red velvet and 02 tiramisu, and I got them both. Just as the name implies, red velvet has reddish shades and tiramisu has various brown shades. They are all a good mix of shimmer, matte, and glitter shadows, and are surprisingly pigmented and blendable. It has quite an excess of kick-off powder, but not to the point where you'll find glitter and shadows all over your face when you apply them. The shadows also doesn't crease even without any primer on and last for at least 6 hours before fading. Overall, the eyeshadows are definitely recommended!
4. Cheeks
Going down to the cheeks, Holika Holika has the gudetama jelly dough blushers that remind me of colourpop super shock cheek. They have the same bouncy, mousse-like texture - not quite a cream, but not a powder. They're somewhat in between; they go on creamy but also powdery when applied. From the lazy & easy, there are only 2 jelly dough blusher shades, plum and peach. Both are very wearable and pigmented. They come with a puff to apply but with no divider what so ever, so I have to keep the plastic separator in tact. On the second collection, Holika Holika said they had upgraded the formula and added 4 new shades (or rather only 2 new shades, since the other 2 are basically the same color as the previous ones from lazy & easy, only with the new and better packaging). I ended up buying the other two entirely new shades, RD01 red and OR01 light peach. From what I've experienced, there's very little to no difference in the texture or formula between the 2 releases. They're still as pigmented, and the lasting power is the same, around 4 hours before it fades. The second version is slightly better since now it has a separator so the puff and the actual product don't get mixed up. I think these blushes are perfect for those who like naturally flushed effect on their cheeks, or people who normally don't like powder blushes which can sometimes emphasize the skin texture and look less natural than cream blushes. My tips of application: tap the product on the puff instead of swiping it to get less amount of pigment, and definitely pat it onto your cheeks - don't try to swipe it over. It doesn't work that way. You can also use your hands for a more precise, controlled application, but it's less hygienic.
5. Finishing/Setting Powders
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| I just wish the color was yellow instead of blue and mint green. credit: instagram @holikaholika_official |
We've got cushion as our base, and blush for our cheeks, and now it's time to set the entire face. That's where the gudetama sweet cotton pore cover powder and sweet cotton sebum clear pact come in handy. They both work to cut and maintain the amount of sebum on your face. Hence, they're best suited for oily skin, like mine. Aside from the different texture (one is loose and the other is a pact), the two products work just as well to keep my oil at bay for hours before having to blot. Other notable thing is the smell. Honestly, I think Holika Holika is fond of sweet scents because that's what these powders smell like. Some people might prefer their powders unscented, I included, but I don't find the smell overpowering, so that's that. These powders came out late in the lazy & easy collection, just like an extra hmph after Holika Holika realized their Gudetama collection was a hit. Basically all they did was just slapping their old cotton powder packaging with some adorable gudetama graphics and they got the sale going. Well, the strategy worked because I bought both powders though I have my RCMA powder to finish. Unlike RCMA, the cotton powder actually performs well for oily skin, on par with the infamous Innisfree no sebum powder, only gudetama comes with better physical appearance.
6. Lips
Moving on to the lips. Lazy & easy collection carries one type of lip product: the melting lip button which comes in two colors, red and orange. I picked up the orange shade, and I have to say it's a bright orange with red undertones. It's extremely pigmented and veery creamy (it literally melts), definitely not matte, and not drying at all. My only problem with this lipstick is the mechanism of the product. To get the lipstick out, you don't twist it like normal lipsticks, but click on the button like you'll do on a mechanical pencil. You cannot, unfortunately, put the stick back down once you click it up, so you gotta be careful of how much product you dispense. The lip button also tend to bleed due to its melting consistency, so make sure to line your lips well before applying it.
Lazy & joy series has its own lip products - lip tints and a lip oil. The all night tint comes in 4 different shades, but I only have 2, PK03 preppy pink and RD04 drop the cherry. PK03 is your normal reddish pink tint, and RD04 is a dark burgundy cherry red. The lip tints are pigmented, especially the darker vampy shade (it stains your lips like crazy and is pretty hard to remove), but I don't find the lasting power of the pink shade as good as the dark one. At least it doesn't taste bitter like the Etude House cherry tint - not that I want to eat it or anything. lol. Anyway, the all night tint surely doesn't last all night, and the wear time varies from shade to shade, but it wears comfortably on my lips and not drying, plus the packaging is just super cute (how many times do I use the word cute in this post? Millions). Aside from lip tints, there is also the lip oil, which works as a treatment and smells incredibly delicious and sweet like honey. I normally use it at night as an overnight lip treatment, but it is kinda a flop. The first time I used it, I was hoping that it would moisturize my lips overnight but it didn't quite do that. By morning all the oil had gone and my lips were on the same condition as the previous night. I guess it moisturizes my lips, but only temporarily. Well, if it doesn't work for you as a lip treatment, you can always use it as a lip gloss! ;)
7. Hand Creams
Just when you thought this post couldn't get any longer, I still have one last item to mention: the dessert hand creams with three variants, i.e., custard, sherbet, and cream cheese. You can buy them separately or as a pack of three. Guess which one I got? Yep, all of them. I didn't intend to buy any hand creams since I rarely use them, but the BA in the store of course did a good job in upselling, so yeah, I bought the set. All of the hand creams smell like cake, sweet and well, too sweet, actually. I'm not sure whether I want my hands to smell like cheesecake, but Gudetama can do no wrong. After all, they still work just as well as normal hand creams in the market. :P
8. Nose strips
You know what, there's actually one thing left: the gudetama pig nose clear blackhead 3 step kit, launched together with the cotton powder. I bought one and used it while I was in Seoul, so I don't have one anymore, but I'll talk about it for a bit. The pore strip is the same as the normal pig nose pack Holika Holika is famous for, only with different packaging. Different from the normal pore strips out there, the holika holika one has 3 different strips for 3 different purposes. Step 1: moisturize and open your pores, step 2: pull out blackheads and whiteheads, step 3: close and soothe your pores. I think the first and third step are pretty much gimmicky, as I felt no significant difference when I used them, but the second step worked quite okay to get rid of my blackheads though not as powerful as my normal biore pore pack. Again, the packaging is the salvation. I guess Holika Holika could label all their products with some Gudetama cuteness, and I'd buy them all like some crazy fanatics - thank God there's no third installment of this Gudetama wave from the brand, at least not that I know of.
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| Did I mention my Jin Goo oppa is the ambassador for the brand? :* |
Have you picked anything from the Holika Holika x Gudetama collection? What's your favorite and what do you think of it? Leave some comments down below. Until next time!
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