My Makeup Story: Dupes VS Fakes... What's the difference?!

The ever famous palette that started it all.

Hey there guys, it seems like my post about fake makeup from China have picked up a lot of readers. Hopefully it was informative enough for all of you. If you haven't read it yet, you can click this link to check it out:

My Makeup Story: A Fake Start

I'm going to talk about dupes first. Dupes are products that are similar, or in rare cases, completely identical to a certain popular brand's makeup line or single items. The 2 most obvious explanations of this are:

A. Riding on the bandwagon = Remember UD's Naked line? A lot of makeup companies have come up with their own versions of the Naked/Nude look because it was so popular. It's going to be cheaper, not an exact copy and might not be as long lasting but it gets the job done well enough and looks good while doing it.

and

B. Unintentional similarity = For example, someone bought a lipstick that reminded her of MAC's so she tells someone who owns one or uses the one she owns to compare, find the outcome is close enough, and VOILA! The cheaper one is a dupe of the branded one. This one is a very common occurrence in MUAs, makeup fans and makeup bloggers who intentionally hunt down cheaper options of certain products to use as substitutes. These products could have been produced years before or after their pricier counterparts and may have been manufactured in different countries, and may not have anything in common with those brands besides the resemblance to that item.

The NAKED palette dupe.

Fakes are a totally different story, 100% of the time they are created with the intent to deceive people into buying it, wittingly or unwittingly, instead of their original counterparts. They are straight up copies of popular brands, and badly made ones at that. Fakes are absolutely not OK at all. Not only do they steal customers but they also pose a legitimate threat to the buyers' health.

All of these workers are not paid well at all.

Fakes are created with no regard for health standards and proper procedures. More often than not, they contain illegal chemicals that harm the body and can cause life threatening diseases, allergies and cancer. The factories are unregulated so it's common for human feces, urine and other things to be accidentally or intentionally included in the mix.

The more people buy fakes, the faster they spread.

It is very important to note that if you find your favorite branded makeup being sold online or in bazaars at low prices that are too good to be true, all of the time they aren't. There are no such things as "factory rejects", "Singapore Made", "Class A" or other funny labels they put on those in an attempt to sell their crap. Never EVER buy fake makeup. Buying from such people only strengthens the illegal trade and brings harm to unwitting victims.

So there you have it, folks. The difference between "dupes" and fakes. I hope this was useful enough for all of you.

Have you ever tried any dupes for certain makeup brands/items? Which one is your favorite?
If you haven't used any dupes before then which product would you like to have a dupe for?
Please comment below and I'll try my best to answer and give you suggestions for dupes of your favorite makeup brands.


Sorry for the long post. Have a picture of my baby:

Such Majestic! Much Wowe!

Levi Husky Park

I'm back! Just came back here in Finland a couple of weeks ago and I'm currently on a 90 day Schengen visa so I'll be here for most of the winter season.

First White Christmas! Hell Yeah!

I've always wanted a Siberian Husky as  a pet since I first saw one on film. I've told my boyfriend about this and have gone from just innocently talking about my dream of owning one to passive aggressively planting a seed in his head. (LOL! Sorry "L"! :))
Last summer, he surprised me during our roadtrip to Nordkapp aka North Cape by taking me to the "Levi Husky Park" to meet Siberian Huskies, tundra wolves and legitimate "wolf dog" hybrids. (Most were 25-40% wolf)

Sorry for the Facebook quality. The original file is at home.

Needless to say I was thrilled and it served as one of the best- if not the best- moments of our trip. The dogs were beautiful. Really, really, really, really beautiful! I wanted to scoop them up in my arms and take them home with me. These dogs were just so majestic with their piercing eyes and regal stances.

Gaze into the eyes of the wolf and you might see your soul reflected within.

The breeder, Reijo Jääskeläinen, explained the breeding process and the temperament of the dogs and hybrids in his park. He chooses which dogs to breed based on their intelligence, discipline, temperament and strength. He omits the aggressive and weaker dogs from the breeding process to ensure only the best puppies coming out to secure better lines in the future. Everything is meticulously planned and executed in this park, from training, to special food and even breeding schedules. He explains that puppies born in winter are the best because they grow slower compared to ones born in different times of the year. There's more room for development I believe. You could find no fault in the training once you see how well behaved and intelligent the dogs are. My current favorite is this one:

"I want to be the star!" *bumps into butt*

According to Mr. Reijo, Wolf + Siberian Husky hybrids are easier to train and are more obedient than their purebreed counterparts. Mr. Reijo has more than 40 years of breeding and training experience under his belt including starring and cameo roles for his huskies and hybrids in documentaries and local to foreign movies.

A female tundra wolf

Yay! Treats!

Taiko, the star of the 2014 Christmas calendar

'sup?

There are also arctic foxes and a single reindeer who loves attention and hand feeding like every other husky there. 

For more information about Levi Husky Park please check out the following links below:

Official Website

News article

Review: Godzilla 2014 (minor spoilers)

Just finished watching the movie and trying to type all of my feelings down. This will be the first draft and could be scattered or raving at times. Please bear with me.

My Makeup Story: Han Ryu and the Korean Makeup Hauls

Late post!!!!


I recently bought new makeup from my dearly loved, Han Ryu's latest sale and I have to note that the competition is very fierce as a lot of other girls wait for her sale to start! Long story short, her the items in her sale are being posted for dirt cheap and within a few minutes of her opening you can see comments under the products declaring the ownership of the item in question popping out like mushrooms everywhere.

It's a bloody battlefield out there. You've been warned

Why I'll never go back to Vietnam again

Last year I was in Hanoi with my boyfriend when we had our first run in with xenophobes and scammers. Warning: this is a long re-cap of my trip and bad experiences and might seem like a rabid rant at some parts.

Before any Vietnamese readers get mad at me and start hurling insults because I didn't like my experience there, please understand that while I know that every now and then it is expected that you run into unsavory characters when travelling abroad it doesn't make the experience of being conned or insulted any less unpleasant.

Hotel Review: Lebua at State Tower (picture heavy!)

Hiiii!!!

It's been almost forever since I've updated this blog! I got busy, uninspired and was in Europe for 3 months so I never really got the chance to update this one. I've noticed that I have a LOT of travel photos in my PC courtesy of Dropbox which has been eating up a lot of space so I'll be making a series of posts, reviews and rants about my travels in no particular order. Enjoy!



Last year my boyfriend and I went on a 3 month vacation in Asia (Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Philippines). Our first stop was in Bangkok, Thailand. After a week in Bangkok he told me he had a surprise in store for me and with that, we checked out of our current suite at Omni Towers and tried to flag down a taxi. When we arrived at our destination, I realized that it was none other than the Lebua hotel. The very same one featured in the movie: Hangover 2. My boyfriend wanted to try it out since it looked good and he was keen to visit the places featured in the said movie.. Sure enough as we stepped into the familiar lobby we saw a poster of it. Our room was located on the 54th floor and had a balcony which supplied us with a great view of the city. The staff are very helpful and polite, service was great and the room was very satisfactory. The breakfast buffet was a dream come true with all the Asian and European food selection. They even give you your own Nutella mini jar!!!

No self-control was had that day. Thank you nutella mini-jar!

Review: Eskinol Gluta-Milk Whitening Facial Toner

It's been a while since I've last posted here because I was busy and I've been travelling and procrastinating. I should really post more and upload things here since I should have a lot to to talk about.. BUT!!! My main problem is my brain derps too much and I cant find a good intro most of the time so I end up dilly-dallying.

This post's item review would be for this product:

DESCRIPTION: 

Glutathione Complex, purifies with a combination of 4 powerful antioxidants (Glutathione, Vitamin E,C and B3) to clear away impurities and reduce melanin formation for visibly whiter skin. Milk Essentials, norishes to soften and smoothen skin. 

I've never been the one to stick to skincare and things that require frequent and scheduled usage but since my skin have been crying out for attention I decided to stick to a routine and deal with the dark spots and enlarged pores on my face. I've heard that toners are a very important part of a good skincare routine so I randomly took a bottle of Eskinol Gluta-Milk Whitening Facial Toner from the department store.

After washing my face I'd use this one right after to remove the dirt that I've missed and so far it's proven to be a good follow up as it can really clean up what a facial wash can miss. The alcohol content is quite high but I didn't really mind because I have really oily skin and I kinda like the drying effect (it only lasts for barely 30 mins though). After using it my skin feels plump and a bit itchy but being stubborn and not being sure whether it was my new facial wash, I decided to stick with it a bit longer. BIG mistake! After a day or two, huge pimples started popping up and my face felt swollen and itchy. I still went on to use it for about a week and a half but the pimples wont let up so I had no choice but to conclude that it was the toner's fault and had to stop. I passed this on to my mother but she didn't like it either and I decided to throw it out since it's basically useless for us.

Pros:

Cheap

Smells good

Cleans up dirt well

Can be bought at department stores

Cons:

Has Alcohol

Doesn't deliver what it promises

High chances of giving breakouts

Rating:

1/5

Final Thoughts:

If you have sensitive skin or just don't want to risk a breakout in general then I WONT recommend this product. It does absolutely does nothing on lightening dark spots and based on other people's experiences; gives breakouts to almost everyone.