Make Up Galore: 2011

0 Obsession with blushers...

One of my new yr resolution is to try and stop buyin cheek products... coz I have too much for myself already...

Below are pics of the current MAC blushers n cheek products that I own. I have no time to take pics of blushers from other brands, but if I should add them in, I would have at least about 80 more blushers in the pics :X :X :X By the way, I never buy backups of blush colors...so the below are all different colors. No repeats.

No more BLUSHERs for me!!!!

MAC mineralized blushers

MAC powder blushers

MAC miscellaneous cheek products

MAC msfs

MAC cream cheek products

0 Kiehls Powerful-Strength Line Reducing Concentrate

I am so glad that for last mth I manage to curb expenditure on make up by only buying one chromographic pencil. Although I have to admit that for this month I am very highly tempted to buy MAC's metal X cream shadow :X :X :X

Anyway instead of buying make up for this month, I bought one skincare from Kiehl's in the Powerful strength line reducing concentrate. According to the consultant, this is one of their best selling products and contains 10.5% pure vitamin C to help brighten skin and for radiance. I decided to give it a shot ... (Since I don't own any serum and any anti-ageing products).

Directions for use:

1. To use after cleansing and toning and before moisturiser.

2. Can be used for day and night

Comments on product:

It gives a really soft feel on the skin (somewhat of those kinda soft feel when u apply silica products on the face ya)and helps to plump up the skin. It's non greasy so it's suitable for oily skin as well. It does help to brighten the face and give slight radiance and the smooth feel helps me to apply my make up more smoothly onto the face. Only downside is the price is quite pricey for a small bottle... up to date, this is the most expensive skincare that i own. And i'm usually won't spend on skincare..... I can't say much about the line reducing effects as i still don't have much lines on my face. But i do like how it feels on my face - hydrated, soft and smooth.

0 Best of 2011 - Face and cheek products

My favourites for the yr 2011...some of which are HG products which I have been using for years and will always be my favourites.

Base make up

1. Best primer: MAC prep plus prime skin base visage (It's silica base and I love the smooth finish it gives on my skin)

2. Best concealer: Covermark basic formula cream foundation

3. Best Liquid foundation: Giorgo Armani face fabric foundation (Helps to minimise the look of my open pores and feels super silky smooth on my face and has a pretty light weight blendable texture)

4. Best pressed powder: MAC msf natural And MAC studio careblend (I like both a lot and I can't decide between the two :X )

5. Best powder foundation: MAC lightful foundation SPF 25 (This is a brightening foundation and from what I know is asia exclusive)

I don't really use loose powder that much so I don't have any particular favourites

Cheek products

1. Best powder blush: MAC Joyous beauty powder blush - LE (I've found myself reaching for this blush almost everyday and this is says a lot considering that I have more than 200 blushers :X :X)

2. Best contour powder for fair skin ladies: MAC equilibrium blush (Is a brown base blush which helps to lightly scupt the face without being over the top)

3. Best highlighting powder: MAC Lightscapade msf - LE (This is HG material. Have been using this for the past 2 yrs...)

4. Best cream blush: MAC something special cremeblend blush (A very natural flush of peachy pink, works best on ladies with fairer skintones. Ladies with medium to tan skintone may wanna try Posey creme blend blush instead)

0 Best of 2011 - Eye products

So the year 2011 is coming to an end.... it's time to sum up my favourite products for the year (Both Limited edition and Regular...) ..... I will be starting with eye products...

Pressed e/s

1. Best yellow e/s: MAC pro long wear e/s in Sunny outlook e/s - New perm product

2. Best green e/s: MAC pro long wear e/s in Fresh flare - New perm product

3. Best base e/s: MAC ricepaper e/s (Multi purpose can be used for highlighting parts of the face as well)

4. Best brown e/s: A tie between MAC mulch and MAC embark e/s. I can't decide which one I like better :X

5. Best Turqoise e/s: MAC Parrot e/s - LE

6. Best purple e/s: MUFE #92 e/s

7. Best blue e/s: MAC Freshwater e/s

8. Best bronze e/s: MAC amber lights / casino (these 2 look really similar, so If u have one, U do not need the other)

9. Best LAZY day e/s: MAC naked lunch e/s

10. Best white e/s: MAC crystal avalanche e/s

11. Best Black e/s: UD Black dog e/s from UD's black palette

Best eye palette

1. Lazy day e/s palette: UD naked palette

2. Colored palette: MAC tempting eye quad - LE from Cult of cherry which was donkey yrs back :X

Eyeliners & Mascara

1. Best pencil eyeliner - Nil...all pencil liners smudge on my lower lash line..still on the hunt one that doesn't smudge on my lower lash line

2. Best liquid eyeliner: MAC liquidlasts (Alas, they are dc-ing the whole range of colors except the black :( )

3. Best gel eyeliner: MAC Chromographic gel liner in Marine Ultra (I love love love this shade of royal blue eyeliner)

4. Best lengthening and curling mascara: MAC Opulash optimimum Black (It helps to slightly curl my stubborn poker straight lashes and lengthen it)

Cream eye products

1. Best eye primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance (prefer this texture to UDPP, a creamier texture but still helps my eye make up to stay on the eyelid maintainin the color intensity through out the day with little fading)

2. Best cream e/s: MAC bare study paintpot

0 OPI nail polish in Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

I can't say much about the texture of this nail polish, although the color is quite nice - a silverish gunmetal grey. But I kinda find the texture of this nail polish to be a teeny bit too liquidy or watery for my liking. One coat is definitely not enough for this color. The first coat applies on very unevenly n sheer and I need to layer on another 2 coats after waitin for the 1st and 2nd coat to dry. I personally prefer polishes which goes on opaque with just maximum 1 or 2 coats.. I find that I have to be very patient with this color coz I need to build it up by layering and I don't have the luxury of time to wait unless I am doin my nails on my off day and I don't wanna buy those kinda fans jus for drying the nails....

I like this color, but not the texture of this polish.... may or may not repurchase this again. Too much work for me in layering up the color. The color that u see in my nail swatch is after 3 layers... Once again apologies for the lousy nail painting skill....

0 OPI nail polish in Cajun Shrimp

Another of my favourite nail polish color from OPI. Well, I do think the name Cajun shrimp is very apt for this polish color - a hot coral on the nails. It's a pretty summery color. But I am one of those who don't believe in wearing colos associated with the season. U can wear Coral lip or nails whole yr round. Who gives a darn about what is the latest color in trend for the season as long as u love the color, be it on face, nails or clothes.I love Cajun shrimp and I would wear this the whole year round!

Sorry forthe poor nail painting skills. I suc at nail painting I know that :X :X :X

0 Dr Jart BB cream - Black Label

Received this as a gift from a friend quite sometime back..... To be honest, I don't get what the hype is over this BB cream craze in asia. Some (like this one I have) claims to have whitening and anti-ageing effects while others claim to moisturise the skin and etc etc. I still see no difference between these BB creams and foundations.... Just that some have lighter coverage and some have heavier coverage. BB cream to me is just a more fancy name for foundations.

This Dr Jart BB cream claims to give whitening and anti-ageing effects. But I have not seen any much changes to my skin after using this. I don't look any whiter nor do I have less lines on my face (not that i am THAT old). So thumbs down for its claims.

Texture wise: It's quite thick and paste like. So a little goes a long way, It feels more thick n heavy than some of my liquid foundations and gives medium coverage. It is long lasting and has average oil control. It has a pink-beige undertone, so it helps to tone down my yellow undertones in my skin when I'm wearing it

All in All, I wouldn't repurchase this again as I find this texture to be a bit thick to be worn on a daily basis and besides, I don't see any of the whitening or anti ageing properties that it claims to give. I rather use a color corrector of a thinner texture to correct the color of my skin undertone rather than this BB cream.

0 OPI nailpolish in DS magic

Love love love OPI nailpolish in DS Magic.... it's a dark royal blue with subtle blue shimmers (not glitter. I hate glitters in nail polishes... They are a pain to remove). Do note that this polish need at least 3 layers for the nail color to be opaque.... This is definitely one of my favourite nail polishes from OPI on top of Catch Me in your Net. And to begin with, I am not a nail polish person, but I really love this color...

0 MAC Ice Parade - Festive Frost face kit

Bought 2 of the holiday face kits from Ice parade in Festive Frost and Wintercool. I personally think they are pretty value for money as u get:

1. 4 eyeshadow colors

2. 1 blush color

3. 1 Full size stick

4. 1 Full sized lipglass

5. 3 Travel size brushes in #129, #275 and #266

6. Transparent plastic cosmetic pouch

For this post, I would be reviewing the Festive Frost face kit which is my favourite between the 2 face kits I bought. Pls click for enlarged pics.

Here's the snowglobe kinda packaging

I personally kinda like the packaging, but my only concern is that one cannot be too butter fingers with this as if u drop this, I cannot tell whether the plastic would break and all the liquid in the globe and glitter would fall out or not. Otherwise I love the snowglobe packagin though some pple find it tacky.

And here's the kit with the 4 e/s colors and blush and swatches

Once upon a time *LE: Smooth blendable finish. Nice as a base and a brow highlight

Expensive Pink : A e/s color in the permanent collection. I wanted to buy this but haven't got about to doing soon. Glad that I didn't buy as it appeared in this kit. A nice golden peach pink with a golden sheen. It's a veluxe pearl finish but feels n looks for frost imho.

Below Zero *LE: A red toned brown that looks very red in in the pan but not as red when swatched or applied on the eyes. I personally prefer red toned browns to grey toned browns as they complement my warm skin tone better. Texture and color payoff is pretty good

Embark: I heard this is a perm color in the US, but unfortunately my country don't carry this color alone by itself. Love love love this color. A dark matte brown that I love using it on the outer corner of my eyes and unlike many of MAC's matte e/s, this one doesn't feel chalky at all and is easy to blend

All in all the 4 e/s colors complement each other really well and this is a face kit which is very versatile - u can transform a day look to a night look using just this face kit alone.

Buff blush: A perm color in the US but also not carried in my country. It looks really dull and dark in the pan, but when applied on my NC20 skin tone, it appears more as a rosy peach which i really like.

Now for the lipstick and lipgloss... both are LE and exclusive to this set.

Imagine this (Amplified finish): By itself, it tends to look a bit dark on my NC20 skintone, but I love how it looks when I pair it with Tra LA LA lipglass from this kit. It is the perfect neutral/nude color for darker skintones though. Ladies with fairer skintones just need to use a tiny bit of this on the lips... but i do love this color with tra la la lipglass. Feels very creamy and moisturising on the lips with decent color payoff

Tra La La lipglass: Oops, sorry, haven got about to taking pic of this alone on my lipstick. It looks really brown and dark in the tube, but once applied on the lips, it actually reflects more of the gold sheen in it rather than the brown when worn alone. I love this color a lot...Suits ALL skintones.

0 MAC select sheer pressed, Studio careblend, MSF natural

Most of the times we tend to review LE products, but neglect the regular items especially for base products. So this post is dedicated to reviewing the 3 MAC pressed powders that I currently own.

My personal preference is leaning towards Liquid foundation n pressed powders for setting/touch ups as I don't like the feel of powder foundations on my face EVEN if i use a brush to apply. They still feel powdery on my face.

Select sheer pressed

- For all skin types (But i feel this would suit combination or oily skin pple better)

- Delivers a natural matte finish

- helps to control oil

- Sheer to sheer med coverage depending on the type of applcation u use

General comment: It's Ok for me but I don't love it....does control oil on my T-zone for me. But on dryer areas, it can get a bit dryin n powdery. And I always use a powder brush for this. Will not repurchase this again as I very much prefer the MSF natural and studio careblend pressed

Studio careblend pressed

- Contains MAC careblend essential oils

- More geared towards people with normal to dry skin, (not much oil control)

- Delivers a natural finish, not as matte as the Select sheer pressed, but doesn't give a satin finish like the msf natural. I would describe this as in between the 2.

- Sheer coverage

General comment: Quite like this powder, it's pretty silky smooth and blends into my skin better than the Select sheer pressed. Would repurchase this again.

Mineralized skinfinish natural

- Contains 77 trace minerals

- Sheer to medium coverage

- Gives a natural satin finish (If u swatch this on ur hand, u will notice that there is very slight sheen / shimmer in it)

General comment: Love love love this. It always make my skin look super smooth even on days when i'm not wearing any liquid foundation below this. Although powder may feel a bit coarse when swiped on the hand (as compared to the other 2 pressed powders which feel more silky smooth on my hand), but it does not feel that way on the skin. It gives a very natural subtle glow to the skin n blends in nicely. If u want a natural matte finish though, I would still recommend u the select sheer pressed as the MSF definitely does not give a matte finish. But I love this n would repurchase this again.

0 MAC Posh Paradise Paintpots

I missed the old old collection of LE colored paintpots, and prior to this, all the paintpots I had were only neutral shades such as Bare study, Rubenesque, Vintage Selection and Chilled on Ice. The only colored paintpot I had was Dangerous curvee from Cham Pale. So when I saw MAC was coming up with new LE paintpot shades that are NOT neutrals with posh Paradise, I decided to get all except Nubile ( which is a neutral).

I bought:

Pure Creation - A satiny blue (Love blues, this will be the perfect base for all my blue based e/s)

Hyper violet - A matte brownish plum (hmm, It will be tricky to wear this shade, but i will work this out ..)

Imaginary - A satin dark Bluish purple (Good as a base for dark purple shadows which I have difficulty in making them appear)

Treasure Hunt - A metallic gold (To be used sparingly for this as due to the texture n finish, I can foresee if I over apply this, it be a bit cakey on the lid. More yellow gold than Rubenesque which is more of a peachy gold. Kinda reminds me of MAC's LE gold dusk pigment but in Paintpot form)

Idyllic - A bronzey Brown ( Perfect with Treasure Hunt paintpot or other gold based e/s, won't wear it all over the eyelid on its own though...)

Half Wild - a matte Purple (Kinda reminds me of MUFE's purple aquacream in #19 the dark purple... another good base for purple smokey eyes)

Genuine Treasure - Glittery blue - brown (Kinda reminds me of MAC's blue brown pigment. This was one of the first to be sold out @ our local MAC counters. I can see why, cause it makes such a gorgeous party color. Glitters is kinda chunky in it though. So use sparingly for everyday. I do like to layer this a bit over e/s like Sumptious olive or greensmoke just to add slightly more glitter)

And without further ado... pics and swatches of the products... Pls click for enlarged pics

0 Topshop blushers

Bought another 2 cream to powder blushers from Topshop (Pinch and High Five) and also a powder one in Pop

Pinch and High 5 are cream to powder blushers - and blends out very easily. They don't look as bright and scary as they look like in the pan after blending out the face. People with oily can skin can use these... It doesn't feel nor look oily at all. In fact the overall effect, if blended out well is pretty natural on the skin.

The only down side to Pinch and High 5 is that when I applied both on my face to compare the color with each other, they look almost identical to each other - pinkish red flush. So I would suggest that if u get pinch don't get high 5, and if u get high 5, don't get pinch cause they look almost the same on the face when applied.

Lasting power of Pinch n High 5

Is average when used by themselves..... hafta touch up after a few hours. Best used as a base for other blushers.

I love Pop powder blush. It's a coral pink blush and i like to layer this over Topshop's cream blush in Neon orange to make it last longer. I always haf a soft spot for coral / orangey blushers. I find that they make me look more fresh as opposed to pinks. I'm Asian and NC20 for reference.

0 Urban Decay Naked Palette

Nuff said of this palette. I believe many of u have already own this palette or if not are going to get this palette. I am slow in getting it cause initially I wasn't intending to get this palette as firstly, it was always Out of stock at our local Sephora, and secondly, I was at that time not so into neutrals so I kinda found this palette blah at that pt of time when it was first launched.

Anyway, recently I've been in the neutral phrase (lazy day mood) and find myself always reaching for neutral e/s more so than the brights and colorful ones which i love. And it just happened that I was at Sephora the other day and saw the Naked Palette in stock, So i decided to get one for myself and see what the hype is all about. Pls click for enlarged pics

Firstly this palette is good for:

1. Lazy days (when u just want a sheer wash of color all over the eyes)

2. Beginners to make up (U can never go wrong with the lighter shades in this palette especially the first 6 colors of the palette)

3. It includes some darker shades which means u can transform ur day make up into night makeup instantly jus by adding on the darker e/s on your existing eye make up

4. More travel friendly than the Book of shadows which I find are too bulky for me to bring for travellin

Of course, Many people would wan to compare the colors in this palette to MAC colors... so here are swatches from me (not exactly similar, but the closest i can find in my existing MAC e/s that look similar to the colors in the Naked palette). However there are certain MAC colors which i don't own which i feel look similar to the colors in the Naked palette..

MAC Dupes

Virgin - Looks like the more frosty version of MAC's vanilla (oops i swatched naked lunch by mistake)

Sin - Looks like MAC's Jest e/s

Naked - Looks like MAC's wedge e/s (I don't own Wedge, but i've seen it and swatched it before and these 2 colors look pretty close)

Sidecar - MAC's all that glitters, but Side car is definitely a hint lighter than All that glitters

Buck - Either MAC's soba e/s or MAC's cork e/s (I don't own cork e/s)

Half baked - MAC's elite e/s (which was a LE e/s btw), just that Half baked is of a lighter shade. Amber lights or casino is too orangey to be compared to Half baked

Smog - MAC's romp e/s (these 2 look pretty close in terms of color)

Click for enlarged pic

Darkhorse - I don't have or know of any MAC dupes for this color in my collection

Toasted - Has red undertones to it, a lighter version of MAC's sable e/s

Hustle - Looks a bit purplish brown in the pan but when swatched, it's not as greyish brown as MAC's satin taupe

Creep - I don't have MAC print e/s. But I feel that Creep looks awfully alot like MAC print e/s

Gunmetal - MAC's knight divine. Both are gunmetal grey in color.

Click for enlarged pic

Textures and color payoff

Smooth, creamy and very blendable. Some of the e/s contain some glitter or shimmer, but i'm fine with them as they are not the chunky ones like Midnight cowboy rides again. All swatches swatched on my hand are without the UDPP as base by the way..... so the colors by themselves do have pretty decent color payoff....

Value for money

I would say just with the rest of the BOS UD has released, this is definitely value for money. On top of 12 e/s color, u also get a brush (previously it was the 24/7 pencil) and also a UDPP.

One downside is,I do hope UD stop repeating a few common colors in all their palettes like SMOG. with this palette I have now 3 SMOG e/s from my previous UD Palettes :X :X I mean it's nice, but it appears like in 80% of the palettes they make...what m i goin to do with all these SMOGs..and I have now 2 Toasteds........

0 Crabtree and Evelyn Jojoba oil body lotion

Was never a bath n body person.... until recently when my ecezma kept giving me problems on the back the joints of my 2 knees. So I did some googling, and found out that to relieve and help soothe ecezmas problems, I ought to keep the affected area moisturized and dryness will only worsen the condition (which is very true, I rarely slab on body lotion on myself prior to this outbreak of ecezma on the back of my knee joints).

So I popped into a crabree and evelyn store and told the sales person that I had very sensitive dry skin and was suffering from ecezma and needed something to moisturize my body. So she recommended me the jojoba oil moisturising body lotion. I bought it on the spot.

I've been using it for a few days now, and I've to say this lotion really helps a lot. My skin is not so dry now.. and the ecezma areas feel way much better now - not as dry and flaky as before.

What I like most about this lotion is that unlike some other body lotions I have tried... this body lotion is very lightweight and gets absorbed into the skin quickly and does not feel sticky nor greasy at as some body lotions do. And I also like it that there's very little fragrance to this product so it does not get overpowering as some body products which lots of fragrance does to me

I googled the benefits of Jojoba oil and this is what I found: **

- It's non comoedogenic and non allergenic - it will not clog pores nor cause any allergic reactions.. (Yeah...very good for people with ecezma like me..)

- It does not cause a greasy feeling like other oils does (Maybe that's why the lotion feels so lightweight on my skin yeah?)

- It is anti-bacteria

- High content of vitamin E

**Source: www.thejojobaoil.com

Would recommend this to people who have sensitive skin like mine....I would repurchase this again when I finish this lotion. It's pretty effective on me.

0 Lunasol autumn 2011 haul

I love collecting Lunasol eye palettes as some of you who have previously followed my blog might know. Most of the times, I'm guilty of hoarding up these beautiful palettes and NOT using them. Cause they look so perfect, clean n pristine in the untouched state that I dun bear to use them....

Actually, I only planned on gettin maybe about 3 of the eye palettes from Lunasol's autumn collection, but when i went to the counter (as we all know how it is, we usually end up with more than what we actually planned to), and after swatching... I couldn't decide which to get as I liked all. So i ended up getting all.... 01 Neutral Beige, 02 Soft Beige, 03 Mysterious Beige, 04 Cool Beige and 05 Deep Beige. And i also ended up with a Full glamour liquid lips in 11 Natural light Beige. I kind of like the color of this gloss... It's nude but not too nude as to wash me out completely, and it's non sticky. As with most glosses, I need to touch this up after eating.

As for the eye palette textures, when I swatched them at the counter, they are definitely leaning towards shimmery (typical of Lunasol...Lunasol is known for their high shine eye palettes) and each palette has 2 matte shades for users to mix with the shimmer colors in the palettes. I find that the shimmery side, has more color payoff than the matte side of the palettes though. No swatches for the eye palettes yet, as I haven got about to using them yet...nor do i bear to swatch them yet. But when i'm ready to, I'll post swatches up. Sighs...I'm really such a HOARDER.... Pls click for enlarged images.