0 MAC Archie girls haul part I - Cheek products

Hey, I know I'm kinda late to the party but it's better late than never. To be honest, I didn't expect to end up HAULING 15 items from Archie girls. In fact, when I first learnt that MAC was to collaborate with Archie comics to come out with a collection, I was like eh? Isn't that gonna be cheesy, but I shot myself in the foot and ended up getting quite a number of items. So next time never say never :X 

I decided to split the reviews of my haul up into three parts, cheek, eyes and lips, otherwise this is gonna be a super long post. Being a blush/cheek products addict, I got myself the two blushers and two pearlmatte powders from this collection. I'm especially digging the hearts in the pearlmatte powders - but this also makes me think twice about using them. 

Here is the picture of the packaging:

Both pearlmatte powders come with Archie, betty and veronica and the two blushers each have Betty (Cream soda blush) and Veronica (Prom princess blush) printed on them

Prom princess is a pretty magenta pink blush that works on all skintone from fair to dark. But for ladies with fair skin, it is advisable to use it with a very light hand or a strippling brush like the 187 to give that nice healthy rosy red flush on the cheeks, becoz it is very easy to overdo this Prom princess blush.

Here's comparison swatches of Prom Princess blush (Satin finish) as compared to other similar MAC blushers in my existing stash:

As for cream soda, the first time I saw it, it reminded me a lot of MAC immortal flower blush (I didn't buy Immortal flower coz it was too light on me to be seen). And the weird thing about this blush is that it looks LIGHT in the pan and when swatched, but when applied on my NC20 cheeks, oh boy, it turns practically ORANGE, Nowhere like how it looks in the pan. Had to a pink blush to tone the orange down, or use it with a very light hand. 

Cream soda blush looks very similar to MAC Legendary blush (LE from MAC marilyn monroe) but it is totally different. The strange thing is that both of these blushers are SATIN, but Cream soda looks more powdery matte than satin. I can't even see the sheen in Cream Soda... BTW Cream soda and legendary, I prefer legendary as it has that wee bit of pink in it.

And last but not least, the pearlmatte powders. Pearlmatte powders are not exactly blushers, but depending on the level of pigmentation they can either be used as blushers or highlighers on the face. IMHO, both pearlmatte powders in Archie girls are pretty sheer to be worn as blushers alone especially Veronica's blush. Even when I tried to mixed it with the darker hearts, I could only see the pink sheen on my face. So I will be using Veronica's blush pearlmatte solely as a highlighting powder with my pink blushers. As for Flatter me pearlmatte, it is just slightly a bit more pigmented than Veronica's blush. I can still get away with using this as a light wash of cheek color on my cheeks but nothing too pigmented. 

0 Origins Youthopia Skin firming cream with Rhodiola

It is ages since I last updated my blog. I've always wanted to review this firming cum moisturising cream from Origins. I really really love it loads. Upon first usage, the scent might smell a bit strong, but after a while I really like this herbal scent of this firming cream. The consistency is quite creamy and slightly sticky, so I only use this in the night before going to sleep. The next day I wake up, my skin feels very supple and smooth. I've been using this with my YSL youth forever liberator serum and in combination of both products, I've noticed that the laugh lines around my mouth area are not as pronounced as before. I love the herbal smell of this cream (The herbal smell is quite strong though, so some pple may nt get used to it on the first usuage), it sort of helps me to relax before i sleep. 

Key ingredients (taken from the packaging)

- Rhodiola helps skin to rebound from damaging stress and reduce the look of lines and wrinkles

- Sunflower & barley extract helps in rebuilding skin's moisture barrier

- Plant pepticides and vitamin C help enhance skin's natural collagen production

- Buckbean extract helps firm and lift the appearance of slack contours

To add on, it is formulated without parabens, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance and animal ingredients. So if any of u are allergic to parabens or mineral oil, U can use this XD

Would buy this again and again!

Stay tuned to my next update on MAC's archie girls haul and review....

0 Amazing Cosmetics concealer

After finishing my previous concealer from covermark (it was a cream foundation but the coverage was good enough to be a concealer for me), I decided to give the concealer from Amazing cosmetics a try as I've heard some good reviews about it from a freelance make up artist friend of mine. Here's what I have to say about the concealer:

Pros:

1. Excellent coverage for my horrible undereye circles (This would work well for concealing acne scars as well)

2. Long lasting, does not require touch ups

Cons:

1. Texture is quite sticky, need a bit of time getting used to it

2. Can only use a little bit otherwise it will cake on the undereye.

3. Price is on the high side, but I don't mind paying if it works for me (They have both the small and bigger tube. I bought the bigger one which is about 15ml

I bought mine in light golden. Even though it looks darker on my hand, but as my under eye circles is really dark, I have to use a shade slightly darker than my original skintone to correct the dark circles.

This concealer provides maximum coverage so less is more for this. And would advise using a loose powder over this concealer instead of a pressed or compact powder for a more natural look.

For those people with sensitive skin, here's the key ingredients of the concealer, so if u are sensitive to any of the ingredients listed here, u might want to avoid this concealer even though it works pretty well for me.

Key ingredients:

Mineral Oil, Lanolin oil, Cucumber Fruit extract, Vitamin E, Silica, Titanium dioxide

 

0 YSL Effet Faux cils (Mascara volume)

I used to swear off mascaras coz I've tried a whole lot of mascaras from drugstore to high end and they didn't work on my super stubborn lashes.And ended up wearing only false lashes. Now my ex colleagues also had very stubborn lashes and she said this one worked on her. I trusted her (BTW she is quite hard to please when it comes to make up products) and headed down to the YSL counter to get one.

And I am very pleased to say that I have now found my Holy Grail mascara. It's kinda exp (well it's a luxury brand), but I don't mind paying for it coz it works for me.

Pros:

1. It CURRLS my lashes without me using an eyelash curler

2. It helps my lashes to stay curled the WHOLE day (the previous mascaras jus weighed my lashes down after a while even though I didn't apply too thick).

3. Gives very good volumizing and lengthening effect that I have people thinking that I'm wearing false lashes.

Cons:

1. Can get a bit clumpy, need to apply in zig zag motion and use a seperate brush to seperate the lashes

2. It is so waterproof that I have to put in quite a bit of effort to get it off but it's all worth it.

Would buy this mascara again and again. Lovin this!

0 Kiehl's Midnight recovery concentrate

I can't describe how much I loveee this serum, it may be expensive (well at least to me about SGD$90) BUT it works for me.

Key ingredients of this product:

1. Evening primose oil

2. Lavendar essential oil

3. Squalene

4. Rich in omega 6 fatty acids

I used to be skeptical about putting OILS  on my face to sleep and worried that this would clog my pores and break me out, but this has proved me wrong. I put this on at night (only 2 to 3 drops is needed for the entire face, anything more would be too much) and wake up with very smooth and supple skin with no feeling of greasiness on the skin. I have combination - dry skin for information. So if u have oily skin, I would recommend to limit the amt used to max 2 drops. It may seem little BUT it's essential oil..so 2 drops is actually more than enough esp if u have oily skin

Another pro about this product is that even though it's a rich blend of essential oils, it gets absorbed into my skin quite fast. It is recommended to use this only at night when our skin is more receptive in repairing itself.

As this product is pretty rich, I skip my moisturiser (I am using this in combination with my YSL youth liberator face serum and Kiehls Clearly Corrective dark spot solution). And i loveee the smell of (Lavendar is one of it's key ingredients) this. The lavendar smell has a soothing and calming effect on me. 

I would buy this again and again if my wallet allows me too. I love this product so much. Very seldom do I swear by a skincare product. But I swear by this.

0 YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation

After getting a sample of this to try from the store, I fell in love totally with this foundation and ended up going back to the store to buy the full size bottle of this foundation. 

What I like about this foundation is that it is lightweight (I hate foundations that feel heavy on my skin), and for once I actually quite like the light scent of this foundation (the scent kinda reminds me of the scent of watermelon XD ). Being a lightweight foundation, the coverage it gives is towards to sheer side (slightly more coverage than the average tinted moisturizer but less than other foundations)

It also gives a nice dewy finish without looking too oily or shiny. It evens out my skin way much better than the MAC mineralized satinfinish foundation which also has a dewy finish (but I find myself turning shiny much faster when I use the mineralized satin as compared to YSL le teint touche elcat foundation). I am totally loving the finish it gives my skin - a dewy, flawless finish while evening out my skin @ the same time without turning patchy or cakey. And it does not oxidise on me.

I am an NC20, but I chose BR30 (which is a pink undertone) coz I wanted the pink tones in the foundation to neutralized my yellow tone in my skin and it works pretty well. BR30 (BR30 stands for Beige Rose btw) may look dark in the bottle, but it blends into my skin perfectly. Will be buying this foundation again and again. This is Holy grail status for me. I LOVE this more than the other foundations I tried. 

Do note that this does not have much oil control though, so if u have oily skin, but still wanna try this foundation, do use an oil control primer prior to this.

And btw... I am late butt... Merry Belated Xmas!

0 Tom Ford blush in #3 Flush

Got myself a Tom ford blush recently in #3 Flush, in the pan it looks very similar to MAC's foolish me (both being coral orangey blushers), however upon swatching, the TF blush in #3 Flush has more pink tones to it whereas MAC Foolish Me is more orange. Both blushers have similar textures with slight shimmers in it.

Lasting power : Lasted 8 hrs on me with some slight fading

Color pay off: Buildable

Suits most skintone colors from fair to very tanned. 

It's a nice color to have, but downside is that the price is pretty expensive for jus a blush. Buy only if u have spare cash or don't have similar colors to it in your stash. 

0 YSL 5 Color Harmony for eyes palette in #3

Quite sometime back, I bought an eye palette from YSL but didn't get around to using it until recently. The palette I bought belonged to the range called  ombres 5 Lumieres (Color harmony for eyes) which could be used dry only. (The other range of eye palettes which YSL carried was the Pure chromatics which could be used both Wet and Dry.)

I was attracted to #3 because I have a soft spot for bronze, orange and brown eye palettes. They just look so good in the palette together and these colors are so wearable for everyday.

In terms of texture and color payoff, 3 of the colors in the palette are towards the sheer side and (as shown in the swatch pic - the 3 middle colors) and require a base for them to appear more intense. I am in love with the first- a strong bronze orange and the the last - a dark reddish brown. These two colors have pretty good texture and color payoff is excellent and blendable. If they didn't include these two colors in this palette, I probably would not have bought this palette. These eyeshadows have a sheen to them, but nothing too glittery. 

Packaging wise as with all high end brands, it comes with 2 small eyeshadow applicators (which I don't use as I use my good ol MAC eyeshadow brushes to apply) and in a sleek luxe metallic gold compact - the signature packaging of YSL.

Overall review: 7/10 

Overall this is a pretty decent palette as all the colors can easily be worn. Only downside is the sheerness of 3 of the colors in the palette, But tht can be easily corrected by wearing an eye primer below.

0 MAC Guilty Passions Haul - Crushed metal pigments

I swear this yr's Holiday collection has to be the biggest holiday MAC haul that i've ever hauled. I find it quite confusing that MAC has divided up the holiday collection in to two parts - Fabulousness (Face kits, brush kits, Eye bags, Lip bags) and Guilty passions (which consist of the crushed metal pigments & lipgloss sets) . Eh why can't they just launch everything in just one big collection XD...

Initially i had wanted to pass on completely Guilty Passions, But when i saw the crushed metal pigments, I fell in love instantly with the colors and ended up buying the Tenderly warm crushed metal pigment set (Gold / Brown) and the Sweetly Smokey set (Purple/Pink). So far I've only used the Tenderly warm pigment set and I'm loving it, especially Ever elegant (the dark brown color). It is a perfect combo with Silk stocking (Gold) from the same set The other colors in the set kinda looks similar to some other colors from other crushed metal pigment sets which I own previously. 

Without further ado here are pics and swatches of the products. 

I feel that the star color for the Tenderly warm crushed metal pigment set has to be Ever elegant. Even though it's still quite chunky, but as compared to the rest of the colors in this set, It's not as glittery and has very good color pay off and blends very smoothly. To be honest, the main reason why I bought this set was because of Ever elegant.

As for the Sweetly smokey set, my  colors has to be Feminity. Feminity kinda reminds me of MAC Stars N rocket e/s but it's like a more sheer and frosted version of it. I really like the blue undertone in Feminity. It is also very pretty when u apply a bit of it on the lips when wearing other pink or fuschia or purple lippies. Feminity pairs very well with Dusty Desire giving a purplish bluish kinda smokey eyes. 

Tips for applying the crushed metal pigments:

1. Apply excess loose powder under the eyes before applying the pigments, so that if there's any fall out, the loose powder is able to catch the fallout and u can easily dust it away after completing the eye make up

2. Use either fingers or a synthetic brush like the #242 to PACK / press on colors. Blend out softly and gently. Don't blend too hard as it may cause excess fall out of eye

3. Can be used wet for a stronger color intensit.

4. Eye primer is higher recommended to use with the crushed metal pigments so that it can adhere to the eyes better

And last but not least I won't suggest using more than 3 colors of  the crushed metal pigments together on the eyes as it may be a bit too glittery or frosted. 

0 Clinique Derma White Bright C Stick Make up Spf 15

Received this as a super early xmas gift from one of my dear close friends. (THnx very much babe XD ). I have never used a stick foundation before (I prefer liquid foundations) as I have always thought that most of the stick foundations on the market would be too thick for my liking. But this stick foundation from Clinique proved me wrong. It applied quite lightweight on my skin without feeling heavy @ all. And having a combination-dry skin, I find this foundation quite moisturisng on my skin and does not cake up like some cream foundatios do. 

Advantages of this product:

- Cream stick foundation that has whitening properties

- Contains a high concentration of Vit C and Vit E @ the centre of the stick (the white portion) to help brighten and soothe skin

- Helps to reduce shine immediate ly resistant to hot and humid water

- Gives sheer to medium coverage (depending on how much u layer)

What I like about this product:

- Gives some coverage without looking too thick or cakey on the face

- Moisturising on my combination-dry skin

- Lasts quite well in the humid weather over in my country with some loose powder dusted over it. In air condition room, I can even skip the powder on the drier parts of my face

- Glides on smoothly onto the face, Easy to blend

- Does help to brighten the skin after applying and after 2 weeks of using this foundation I can see my face look slightly brighter than before (perhaps due to the Vit C and Vit E in this product)

- Packaging is very compact. Easy for on the go, if I travel

What I dislike:

Basically I can't fault much about this product coz I do honestly quite like this foundation.

Rating: 9/10

0 Laurer Mercier Illuminating tinted moisturiser

Got my friend to order this online from their website (LM is about 20% more expensive in my country) as I wanted to try out their tinted moisturizer. 

All I can say is that eh erm.. I should have ordered the non-illuminating tinted moisturizer. I have pretty dry skin on my face (except the T-zone which is oily) and I still find that IF i over apply on my cheek areas, it makes me look WAY TOO GLOWY lol... Not very flattering. A little goes a long way for this product for me. It's nice when I use it in small amt though.

Definitely won't recommend this to people with oily skin, coz it will even make u more GLOWY... which is the last thing u want if u have oily skin. And it does not have any oil control. I will use this only for my cheek areas which are more dry, as for my T-zone, I would use other product as I find that it's jus too glowy for my T-zone lol! But I like the glow it gives on my cheeks. So I may use this to mix with my regular foundie for a subtle glow.

Lasting power is so-so, require touch up of powder after about 4hrs plus. 

It comes in a pretty big tube of 50ml, and with the small amt needed, I can see this lasting me for ages...

Recommend this to people who like the glowy finish and with normal to dry skin. Ladies with oily skin and large pores, stay away from this as the sheen in this may emphasize the imperfections in the skin :X  

My rating: 6/10

0 MAC Divine Desire full face kit - Paramour Pink

As promised, here's pics and a short review of the other face kit which I bought from MAC 2012 holiday sets in Paramour Pink. Packaging exactly the same with the Quite coral full face kit so shan't say anything more about the packaging.

This kit consist of 5 items

129SH brush

Warm embrace lipglass (a light pinksh lipgloss - I personally quite like this color alone as a soft wash of colors on the lips on light make up days)

Heart to Heart lipstick ( it looks more red to me rather than pink. Kinda reminds me of a more toned down version of MAC's speak louder lipstick. It's a cremesheen finish and does not emphasize the dryness and the fine lines on my lips like the Satins and Mattes do and has more color pay off than the Lustre finish)

Divine Desire blush (a reddish pink blush with a frost finish - warning, do not overload on this blush...it may be too frosty if over applied. Best used with a strippling brush)

Purple Daze technakohl - Regular item in the permanent line.

@ Our local counters, this was the first set to sell out and I can see why as this set can be worn by women of all skintone colors as compared to the other 2 sets which can quite pale on certian skintones. Would recommend this to people of all skintones as compared to the Quite coral set.

I am still thinking whether to buy the sinfully chic face kit to complete my full face kit sets... sighs...

Warm embrace lipglass

0 MAC Divine Desire full face kit - Quite Coral review

Phew, I am really quite broke from MAC's holiday season, what with the 6 items I bought from Glamourdaze and another 4 items from the holiday sets, I am done shopping for the rest of the month.  

So one of the items I hauled was the Divine Desire full face kit in Quite Coral. Price is quite a killer for me over in my country :X :X as compared to the US, But I was drawn to the pretty satiny clutch packaging. UNFORTUNATELY, while taking swatch pics for this blog entry, one of my lipstick toppled over and stained my clutch. :( I am still trying to find a way to remove the lipstick stain from this clutch. So word of caution, if u do purchase the satin packaging sets from this collection, do be very very careful not to get any stains on them esp lipstick or liquid stuff, otherwise u might end up like me, having a hard time trying to remove the stain :(

So basically each of the full face kit contains of: 129SH brush, a Lipstick, a Lipglass, a small blush (the size about a Pro longwear e/s) and a regular shade of technakohl liner. The lipstick, lipglass and blusher are all LE colors, only sold in the sets.

Well enough of talkin here are pics of packaging of the face kit.

There is a small pouch/ compartment for the 129SH Brush that this set comes along with. And U can lift up the Divider, which has a mirror on the other side of it.

To convert this clutch into a jewellery case or case for storing other bits and pieces, u can actually remove the plastic pc that is holding all the products and it will look like this

Now for close up pics and swatches of the products....

I find that the blushers from the face kits have a slight frost finish to them, so it's not advisable to layer on too much of the color on the face if not it might get slightly too frosty, Otherwise I m loving this peachy corally blush from this set. As for the Lipglass, It looks pigmented in the tube, but it goes on quite sheer on my lips and I love this lipglass color as well

Am loving In a Heart Beat lipstick. It's a cremesheen formula so it's really moisturising for my lips which can be dry and chappy @ times. And I always like coral and peachy lipsticks so I love this shade as well.  And below are comparison swatchs of some other coral lippies from MAC which I own. Wanted to add in Ravishing, but I CANT seem to find it :( :( 

Stay tuned for my next update on the other face kit which I bought in Paramour Pink =) HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all