Face of the Day

I went out for a hair cut today. So this was what I wore. I chose a light purple look to match my black camisole and plum skirt.

Face:

RMK Creamy Polished Base

GA Lasting UV Fondation

YSL Touche Eclat

GA Loose Powder

Cheeks:

Shiseido Accenutating Color Stick in Peach Flush

MAC Beauty Powder in Eversun

MAC Pearlizer in Apripeach

MAC Lustredrops in Sundrops as a highlighter

Eyes:

Shiseido Hydropowder in Rose Tulle and Violet Visions

UD 24/7 Eyeliner in 1999

Shiseido The Mascara Base

YSL Everlong Waterproof Mascara

Shu Uemura Seal Brown Brow pencil (yay I fixed my eye brows!)

Lips:

Burt's Bees Promegranate Lip Balm

MAC Ginger root lip liner

Shiseido Maquillage RD 354

As you can see I have many brown spots under my eyes. That's due to all that sun exposure without the proper sun block in my early years. I now religiously apply sun block when I go out. I'm looking for something that can help effectively lighten my sun spots. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

RMK Creamy Polished Base 02 Review

I received RMK's Creamy Polished Base in 02 and 00 as samples through this month's issue of Her World.

I love samples. You get to try something you otherwise wouldn't have bothered and sometimes you find gems.

This is one of RMK's face primers.

Taken from the website:

Made with a blend of three powder particles in different sizes and shapes to cover all kinds of unevenness of the skin's surface. Its creamy texture an even and moisturizing veil, leaving your skin supple within with a polished half matt touch on the surface. Choose from 00 to filter for a perfect translucency and 01 and 02 helps to brighten the complexion.

02 is more suitable for medium toned ladies. I doubt that darker tone ladies will find this suitable. May make you look ashy.

It has a creamy texture, unlike the usual face primer textures I'm used to. I used my fingers to blend it around my face. I felt that it didn't apply as smoothly or as easily as my favourite MAC and GA primers. Perhaps it is because I like the slippery silicon texture of silicone primers. It applied sheer and did not affect my skin tone. I would have hated it if it made my face lighter. I allowed a few seconds for it to dry and applied my HG GA Lasting Silk UV foundation with my foundation brush. My foundation applied easily and the overall look was comparable to what I expect from my MAC and GA primers. It covered my pores fairly well but nowadays I don't get huge pores so it wasn't very obvious to me.

I wore it for about 3 hours, my face was not oily or shiny. No foundation slippage. I'm not really sure how it will fare for long hours.

If you prefer creamy face primers, I guess this would be a great primer to try. It didn't wow me but it did a decent job.

Ratings: 3 lipsticks

Benefit California Kissin' Review

My friend was very kind to pass me this free gloss even though I bought only one item from Benefit. I cannot resist free samples. This was a blue shade which I do not have. I'm very curious to see how it looks on my lips.

It has a slanted applicator which makes it really easy to apply. I like that it is non sticky and applies evenly with or without lip balm. It has the nicest minty taste and smell. Quite heavenly! It is also very easy to reapply. My lips were moisturised and smooth, no flaking or peeling.


Well the blue is sheer. I used my Stila lip liner in a nude pink shade to line my lips first. California Kissin' turns it slightly mauve pink with hints of pretty subtle silver glitter. On my lips, it is a lovely nude pink colour, very subtle and natural looking. I don't think it makes my teeth any whiter though as the website claims it would.

Overall, I like this lip gloss, I am glad to get it for free. This would go so well with my current love for smokey eyes. Would I buy it again? I'm not sure, I don't ever buy the same lip gloss twice, I love trying out new stuff too much.

Ratings: 4 lipsticks

Benefit Coralista Review

I love my coral blushers more than my pink ones. I'm obsessed with coral blushers.

I think Benefit released Coralista last year, well after reading the review and seeing the swatches, I knew I had to try it out for myself.

Benefit is ridiculously expensive in Singapore. I believe makeup fanatics worth their salt order online as it is much cheaper. Sometimes it can be almost SGD $20 cheaper. As in this case. I haven't been compelled to haul from Benefit although I hear that their Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow / Liner are good. The other Benefit products I own are Benetint, Posietint and Dandelion. So even though I have been wanting to get Coralista I just wasn't compelled.

About a month ago, another online shopping addict pal of mine wanted to order some things from Benefit and so Coralista is now in my possession. I even got a free gloss which I will review later for free. Yippee! I paid only $41 for it, to think it cost almost $60 here in Singapore!

It comes in the standard box. It is made of sturdy cardboard but I always worry when I bring it to the bathroom for touch ups. I'm a klutz and I sometimes drop my stuff into the sink. I would hate for the box to be wet. The name Coralista on the packaging is a sticker that is stuck to the box. I don't like that, I think it will eventually peel off. I like the brush though. You can use the ends to get at the product at the hard to reach corners. It is quite stiff, for this colour just the right stiffness to help apply Coralista nicely.

This is a single swatch. As you can see, it is a pink coral with fine shimmer. It is quite light in color and I realise that I need to layer it on top of another to bring out the color. When applied it gives a glowly look. My friend who bought it as well says that she spots silver shimmer and it emphasizes her open pores. I do agree with her that it emphasizes open pores. I love the slight fragrance in this powder though.

On this swatch, I layered Coralista over Becca Beach Tint in Peach on the right side. It looks darker and more pigmented now. I read on the website that I could use Posietint under it for long lasting wear. I'll be trying that out to see how different it compares with the above swatch.

Taken in the sunlight

I dug out all my coral blushers for a comparison. From left to right, Coralista, NARS Orgasm, MAC Springsheen and MAC Eversun beauty powder. Honestly, NARS Orgasm beats the rest hands down.

I don't know why, maybe it is my coloring, Coralista looks cool on me. I like NARS better because it is more pigmented, one swipe gives me enough colour and the gold shimmers add warmth. I think Coralista would look awesome on fairer ladies but medium to dark tone ladies may choose to skip this.

Taken in sunlight

Ratings: 3 lipsticks

My Sephora Haul List

I do honestly swear if this order goes through I will not be buying anymore makeup for this year. Honestly. :)

My Sephora list is getting bigger and bigger. I can't help it. These are the stuff I am planning to get.

My staples:

Clinique's Take The Day Off Makeup Remover For Lids, Lashes & Lips (Was $17.50 Now $14)

Murad's Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 (Was $39.50 Now $31.60)

Stuff I want to try out:

Glitz & Glam Shimmer and Shine Deluxe Sampler ($113 Value) (Was $38 Now $30.40)

This set contains:-

0.27 oz Tarte Celebutante Dry Oil Shimmer Spray

0.3 oz Smashbox Artificial Light Luminizing Lotion in Flash (iridescent pink)

0.17 oz Tarte Glam Gams - 0.4 oz Tarte Lock & Roll in Bronze (shimmering true bronze)

0.28 oz Guerlain Meteorites Powder Pearls for the Face in Beige Chic (golden glow)

0.17 oz Tarte Cheek Stain in Eco-Cheek (coral with a touch of shimmer)

0.23 oz Sephora Super Shimmer in Desert Gold (rosy tan with pink and gold shimmer)

0.06 oz Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten in Sunswept (bronze, coral, and rose)

0.59 oz Smashbox Eyeshadow in 24K (true gold shimmer)

0.1 oz Laura Geller Lip Shiner in City Lights (pink and gold flecked glimmer)

NAR's Multiple Coffret (Was $40 Now $32)

This set contains:- Orgasm (peachy pink shimmer)- South Beach (shimmering apricot)- Copacabana (glistening pearl)

Stuff I want to get for my girlfriends as Christmas Gifts:

Stila's Lip Glaze Collection (Was $25 Now $20)

This set contains four bestsellers:-

Starfruit (neutral pink with subtle white pearl) - Kitten (caramel with golden pearl) - Cranberry (deep red)- Blackberry (deep warm red brown)four brand new:- Marmalade (sheer peach with pink and white pearl )- Pinkle Twinkle (sheer pink with pink and multicolor sparkle)- Plum Fairy (sheer plum with pink pearl)- Candy (sheer pinky coral with subtle rainbow sparkle)

I am so keeping Kitten!

Kat Von D's True Romance Palette in Metal Orchestra

That is all for now. I'm waiting for another two gal pals to give me their orders. I hope my list doesn't change by tomorrow. :)

Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer 10 Golden Beige Review

With my Giorgio Armani haul, I got to choose two samples. I wanted to try a fluid sheer because I hear that it is really good. I wasn't sure whether 4 Rouge would be too red for me so I decided on a safer bet 10 which is a Golden Beige colour.

There are a total of 10 shades each for various uses such a highlighting, blush and bronzer.

0 Porcelain

1 Golden Sand

2 Shimmering Beige

7 Pale Shimmering Rose

These look good for highlighting.

3 Golden Bronze
4 Rouge
8 Sienna
10 Golden Beige
11 Amber
14 Apricot

Look like great bronzers and blush colours.

Taken from the website:

Fluid sheer dresses skin in an illuminating veil of radiance. This unique, translucent formula is available in a range of versatile hues including makeup base shades, correcting shades, and radiance boosting shades. Blend your favorite fluid sheer with foundation to add radiance, polish and sculpting definition to your complexion. Or use it alone as a makeup base. All skin types.
Perfects, sculpts and illuminates skin. Complete and versatile shade range. Doubles as eye shadow base, blush or bronzer.

Sheer, lightweight texture and coverage application techniques:

Apply with the blender brush to wear alone or mixed with foundation for a boost of radiance and color.

Use on top of foundation for added highlighting and contouring.

Well I have been loving my MAC Lustredrops since I bought it. Well MAC you have a contender. I love how easily this blends out. It gives my cheek bones a subtle radiance and I can see myself wearing this almost everyday. I am beginning to love the glowy skin look. Even though it is touted as a bronzer for my NC35 skintone it is more of a highlighter.

I just need to squeeze a little drop out and dab it onto the tops of my cheeks. I wouldn't mix it with my foundation though, I want my 5 ml sample to last.

Taken in the sunlight.

When blended out.

The two pictures below are my MAC Lustredrop swatches. GA is a more yellow gold whereas MAC is a warmer darker gold.

I have read rants about the product packaging though. The normal sized version comes with a pump. The major rant is that the bottle pumps out way too much product for one use and thus causes wastage. For 58 USD I would definitely want to make each drop count.

I'm not really sure if I would buy a big bottle myself. I'm just getting into highlighters and I think I'd rather finish up my Lustredrops first. But I guess for those who missed out on the Lustredrops, GA is a good albeit expensive alternative.

Karlasugar has beautiful arm swatches, check them out here.

Ratings: 3 lipsticks

Beauty Sales

Hi there, are you as excited about the 20% discount at the Sephora website? Just use the discount code below

FF2009

Shop here for Sephora

The big trouble is Sephora does not accept International Credit Cards but there is a way to get around the problem. I'll be using Com Gateway which will buy the things on my behalf and my items get sent to a US address then it can be sent anywhere in the world. Of course there is a fee but since I'm sharing my costs with 2 other ladies, it is still worth shipping.

I'm am going to pick up some staples and some things to try. I'll share with you my list soon.

Besides Sephora, beautycrunch is an excellent place to get your beauty fix at a discounted price. It sells past season collections of some beauty brands. Stila is your best bet, some palettes are going for less than $15 USD. Use this code to get a free Boys Love Sugar lip palette when you order more than $50 USD worth of products.

CRUNCHER

Start hauling today!

Face of the Day

Okay I'm going out on a limb here, I hate taking closeups of my face. I look odd and it is hard work. I can't take pictures of nuts and although my camera is great at taking closeups of my cosmetics, it sucks at taking good pictures of me.

This whole thing took me about 30 minutes of clicking and deleting. By the end of the whole thing I was sweating. (No kidding.) It is hard not shaking when you take pictures! I was taking pictures everywhere to try and get good lighting. I had to do this alone at home so my hubby and son wouldn't laugh at me and say mommy is acting silly again. :)

Anyway, just to prove why I shouldn't put my pictures up, here goes. Please be kind.

Hey Mary, you wanted pictures of me using my new Giorgio Armani quad. Here it is. The colours look very washed out in the picture. I honestly swear that look much nicer is real life.

Face:

GA Lasting Silk UV Liquid Foundation

YSL Touche Eclat

Giorgio Armani Loose Powder

Cheeks:

Benefit Benetint
GA Sheer blush

Eyes:

UDPP

MAC Paint Pot in Soft Orche

GA Maestro Quad

MAC Penultimate Eye Liner (I added this after taking the pictures, anyways I'm too embarrassed to take pictures with my eye liner, then you will know how bad I am at drawing lines!)

Shiseido The Mascara Base

YSL Everlong Waterproof Mascara

Shu Uemura Brown Pencil Seal Brown (Yes I need to fix my eye brows!)

Lips:

MAC Lip liner in Dervish

Benefit California Kissin'

Tada! Jeez I look like I have no makeup on. What happened???

So ladies, should I take more pictures or should I just stick to taking pictures of my cosmetics?