Quick Review: Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Powder VS Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

Applying finishing powder is a must in my everyday makeup routine because of my excessively oily skin. The oiliness of my skin has somewhat improved because I have been going for freezing non-ablative laser sessions so it's okay for me to lay off the finishing powder application. However, if I don't do that, I feel INCOMPLETTTEEEEE~~ (please adjust the tune to Backstreet Boys' song. Sorry, this song just played on my spotify so....) 

I have two favourites at the moment and I really cannot decide which is the better one if I don't consider the price point. Both are my holy grail products for the finishing powder category. On some days I feel like the Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Powder is doing a better job, but on other days I'm on Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder's team. Very confusing, so I have decided to love both. 

Here are some product specs and claims:

Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Powder

• Cost: less than S$10 (I got it for S$8.50 on Qoo10 with free shipping) for 5g of product
• Highlighted ingredients: Jeju mineral powder, Jeju green tea and mint
• Claims: Double-sebum control system controls sebum secretion so well that you can forget about using oil control paper/oil blotting sheets.
• Other uses: Dry shampoo, eye primer

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

• Cost: S$48 for around 8.5g of product (available at Sephora)
• Highlighted ingredients: Amazonian clay
• Claims: Keeps makeup looking fresh without being chalky and can diffuse imperfections
• Other uses: can be used alone as treatment to reap benefits of Amazonian clay

So at first glance, the Innisfree one is definitely a much cheaper alternative - it's more than 5 times cheaper than Tarte. The reason why I cannot judge based on price right now is because I got the Tarte one in deluxe sample size free when I bought the Christmas special set. The deluxe sample has around 2g of product and so it's around S$11.50 worth of product. 

Even though both finishing powders seem to be for the same purpose (control oil, mattify skin etc), both are strangely different when it comes to application outcome. 

Here's a summarised breakdown of what I think about these finishing powders:

Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Powder

• Slightly more refreshing scent due to inclusion of mint.
• Intensity is doubled when you use the puff - you may look way too white - so I will suggest using a soft all-over face brush instead.
• Controls oil decently. My face looks put together and relatively oil-free for a longer period of time than if I exclude this from my makeup routine. 
• After 10 hours of wear, skin may look a little bit patchy around the nose area. Not sure if it's my foundation or if it's this product.
• Please do not use it as dry shampoo. My hair roots looked....dusty. O_O
• Longevity: 9-10 hours
• Great to use if you have no acne scarrings and are only concerned with oily skin. This will stick to the acne scars and make the dry skin in that area more obvious. 

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

• No standout scent. Great if you don't like fragrances in your products.
• No given puff, so I used only my face brush and application was delightful. Skin feels smooth after application.
• Controls oil decently as well. Not much difference from Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Powder.
• Longevity: 9-10 hours
• This finishing powder can be used even when you have blemishes. It will just settle nicely on top of the blemishes and it will not emphasize the dry areas. 

I used both the Innisfree one and the Tarte one interchangeably. If I feel like I have way too many blemishes on my skin, then I will use the Tarte one. If everything's looking okay, I will use the Innisfree one. So, it's great to have both! 

But of course, taking the price point into consideration, the Innisfree No-Sebum Mineral Powder is much more superior because it does almost the same thing as the Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder. It's a great dupe! 

So which one do you think is a better finishing powder? 

Quick Review: tarte Smooth Operator™ Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

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It's another quick review and this time it's for the tarte Smooth Operator™ Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder. This has been my go-to finishing powder for the past couple of months and it's definitely one of the more promising finishing powders for those with very oily skin.

tarte has an entire collection of products with Amazonian Clay in them and I used to be a terrible Debbie Downer whenever a friend/acquaintance talked about it. I always asked them if they were not scared of putting clay on their skin for so long and risked clogging their pores. Of course, I was incredibly uneducated in this territory but I didn't want to appear so (lol this ego really must throw out the window). Now....I'm a complete convert.

The tarte Smooth Operator™ Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder does everything a finishing powder should do and more. It's a great closure to your daily makeup routine because you know your foundation would not budge for a long time. I have excessively (and frustratingly) oily skin and this finishing powder helped to prolong the longevity of my foundation. Usually, I give my foundation 2-3 hours before it starts to budge and move around. I don't blame the foundation because my skin's oiliness factor is way beyond the average line. With this finishing powder, my makeup looks fresh for a good 6-7 hours. It's really amazing. The foundation stays matte longer and I don't need to blot as much.

Also, the tarte Smooth Operator™ Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder makes my skin look extra smooth and clear. It's an almost-perfect fit for those with minor acne scarring. Whenever I brush this powder on my face, it really feels like (super cliche to say this) silk. Cannot stop touching my cheeks one! But yes must stop, later more pimples!!

I absolutely recommend this finishing powder to those with oily skin. It keeps your skin looking fresh longer, it keeps your foundation matte longer and it makes your skin feel like silk. Winning formula!

Now I'm rather looking forward to trying out the other complexion products from the tarte Amazonian Clay range, especially the Amazonian clay 12-hour full coverage foundation SPF 15 and the Amazonian clay full coverage airbrush foundation.

Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set & Travel Bag

Just one visit to Sephora is enough to make me go into a frenzy. I was handed a basket from the enthusiastic salesperson and my struggle commenced. I had SO many gift sets in my basket - the Urban Decay BLACK MAGIC 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set, the Urban Decay VICE3 Eyeshadow Palette, many cute Burt's Bees gift sets and finally the Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set & Travel Bag. In the end, after close to 30 minutes of talking to myself, I got the Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set & Travel Bag because it was TOO GOOD A DEAL. 

You get 20 Amazonian clay eye shadows, a deluxe-sized lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara, a limited-edition deluxe cheek stain in Muse, a LipSurgence lip gloss in Visionary, a LipSurgence lip tint in Romantic, a deluxe-sized maracuja oil, a deluxe-sized smooth operator Amazonian clay finishing powder and a DAMN CHIO limited-edition collector’s travel bag for only S$79. HALO?? Of course buy! 

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How royally gorgeous is this travel bag??!?! I definitely will not be putting this in my luggage when I'm travelling, this will be in my carry-on luggage. Imagine the boost my ego will get every single time I take out this beautiful bag out of my carry-on luggage on the plane. "Yes, my travel bag is chioer than yours, oh yeah" - yes, good buy right? I will try to squeeze my book, wallet, phone, charger, earphone, handcream, toothbrush, toothpaste, aiyah this shall be my only carry-on luggage lah!

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There are so many reviews of this Tarte set online, so I won't be doing an in-depth review for each of the products. Temptalia has an amazing review on this (just like all her other reviews), do click to read her review!

Look at these 20 eyeshadows!! I like how Tarte mixes things up with lots of mattes and satins, instead of just focusing on shimmers. Always good to have shimmers and glitters for the Christmas season, but I want to use this palette after Christmas too! Also, that dark navy colour is FABULOUS.

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Terrific value right!?

Struggling to avoid Sephora now. I actually want to go again today. *cue monkey see no evil emoji*

Review: Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes! Natural Waterproof Mascara

The Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes! Natural Waterproof Mascara has such a catchy name! I was so silly when I got it in the Sephora Summer Set, and I went all "Lights...Camera...SPLASHES!" in my bedroom. My sister very timely came into the room and we both burst out laughing. So silly. HAHA. 

A nice addition to the Sephora Summer Set - I was planning to try non-Japanese and non-Korean mascaras for a change because those mascaras are so difficult to remove! I always end up using one of trustable Maybelline mascaras. 

What I have here is a mini trial version of the mascara. The actual mascara is SO GORGEOUS. Please visit Sephora.com or Tarte Cosmetics Website to see the photo of the actual product - SIMPLY GORGEOUS. 

The full sized product retails for US$19 on the Sephora website! 

Packaging: Just based on this sampler alone, I'm satisfied. It's in that pleasant dark eggplant shade which is oh-so-pretty when you combine it with tiny tiny silver shimmers. You can't really see it in photos, but under sunlight, the packaging rocks my socks. :)

Brush: Nothing special about the brush. It's the typical mascara brush, with a tapered design. This brush is a stiff one and not those filmsy plasticky type which can bend around. I like stiff brushes, I find them more sturdy than the latter types of brushes. The thing about this brush is it's not easy to apply, especially if you have shorter lashes. It just doesn't get much product on your inner lashes! Kind of messy when I tried to do so.

Formula: This has a rather watery formula. But it's rather unique because despite it being watery, it dries quite fast and that means building up the layers is quite easy! Rather surprised that I like the formula of this mascara because usually I detest mascaras that have an almost liquid consistency.

Does it do its job?
Tarte calls this the "4-in-1" mascara and claims that it will "lengthen, curl, volumize and condition" your lashes.

• Lengthening: it definitely adds some length to my lashes. Not extremely lengthening but it's alright. 
• Curling: this mascara holds curls like a dream. I curled my lashes before I used it (one of those rare times haha) and it held the curls for the entire day! Even when I was about to remove my makeup, I noticed that the curls were still existent! Amazing!
• Volumizing: I don't think so because it clumps really bad. I would not recommend more than 2 coats for this mascara because after that you will need a good lash separator to get them lashes back into good shape. 
• Conditioning: I can't really comment on this because I don't use the mascara that often. However, it's always good knowing a mascara is good for your lashes, eh?

Will I buy it again? I'm a mascara collector (or more like a hoarder), so I don't think I will get it when I run out of it. But it's a good mascara if you have the extra moolahs to spend! :) 

Thanks for reading and hope this has been EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!! :D