Let's talk: Brushes!

                                             My babies!! 

Let's talk about brushes today. Makeup brushes, of course. Do you invest in makeup brushes to apply your makeup, or do you just make do with those applicators that come with the makeup you've bought? I know some who use their fingers to apply everything, from foundation to blush, to eyeshadow. Over the years, I have evolved from using those applicators, to using fingers as my tools, and today I almost exclusively use my makeup brushes to apply every single bit of makeup on my face. 

My first MAC brush ever is about 13 years old now. I can't remember its exact number (the black coating on the handle has cracked), but it is very similar to the MAC #239 shader brush and it came with an eyeshadow palette that I bought in either 1999 or 2000. Still, its bristles are pretty soft and the brush is definitely fully usable. I have a variety of makeup brushes from MAC, Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, Stage, and one of those stalls selling makeup brushes in Sg Wang Plaza. 

My two-cents worth on brushes:

1- Don't just stay loyal to one brand when it comes to makeup brushes (unless of course, you have some endorsement deal haha): Shop around, scout around, play around with the brushes, read/watch loads of reviews, and take your time when choosing your brushes. 

2- Take good care of your brushes: Some use baby shampoo, some use detergent and olive oil, but personally, my favourite brush cleanser is the Bobbi Brown Conditioning Brush Cleanser. I've been using it for years now, and it has kept my brushes in fabulous condition. I wash my brushes weekly or fortnightly at most. I also use a daily spray cleanser to remove foundation and other makeup residue from my brushes to make their weekly/fortnightly wash a breeze. Aside from keeping your brushes in good condition, regular cleansing also helps keep bacteria buildup to a minimum: your skin stays healthy! 

                                        Love this!

Guerlain Holiday 2013: I didn't think I would, but I DID!

I had a moment of weakness last Friday. Some of my fellow makeup addicts had already proudly displayed their purchases on Instagram over the past few weeks, yet I was still contemplating whether to get the Crazy Meteorites. It didn't help that when I had gone to survey the products earlier, the counters in Isetan and Parkson KLCC didn't have testers. I never buy anything without testing them on my face, especially when it comes to base makeup products. 

So last Friday, I was at Sogo to purchase an Esteè Lauder palette (which I will review in another post), and decided to drop by the Guerlain counter. I knew they were having a Christmas promotion because the counter manager had texted me about it about 10 days earlier when I had asked when the holiday collection was coming in. So they had testers, and of course, I just HAD to test them. Needless to say I was sold. The Crazy Meteorites pearls just gave me the most glorious, rosy, soft-focus glow! I could omit wearing blusher if I was too lazy to apply it. 

The pic doesn't do justice. Haha. Obviously sold, I was. I added the pressed Meteorites to my purchase because I had wanted it for some time. At RM118, the Crazy Meteorites pearls were just too good to resist. The pressed ones were RM224. A steal, if you ask me. 

I love my Meteorites. I always say I won't buy anymore, but I always do. I love them. 

P/s. I know it's been almost a year since my last post. It's horrible that I keep putting off things I ought to be doing (we know that as PROCRASTINATING), but I have a made a resolution to write more often.  So write, I must. 

Review: NYX Butt "Naked" Eyes Palette

Hi there! How has the week been for everyone? Just one more day to go til the weekend. I am sure we're all looking forward to that. 

Anyway, today I'm gonna review a palette that I bought at Sephora sometime before Christmas. Everyone knows that Christmas is the absolute best time of the year to go shopping for palettes and gift sets. Since I had lost almost all of my makeup collection due to an unfortunate event in September, it was just opportune that Christmas was around the corner so I wouldn't have to spend too much to replace my stuff. 

I was introduced to the NYX brand early in 2012 when my youngest brother's girlfriend came back from the US and brought back a lot of NYX stuff. She is as much a makeup junkie as I am and was raving about their products. I think Sephora brought NYX in somewhere in October 2012 and I was extremely eager to see what the hype was all about. 

At first, I was all starry-eyed, much like a kid in a candy store when I was in Sephora early December 2012 because they had all the Christmas palettes out and I really didn't know which one to buy! Finally I decided that I wanted neutrals that I could wear daily, day or night. Even then it was a tough choice but the NYX Butt "Naked" Eyes Palette won because of its value for money. 15 neutral matte and shimmery shades, 4 blushers, 2 cheek illuminators and a bronzer in a double layer, pull-out case all for only RM 99!! One could not ask for more. Do note that it isn't a limited edition Christmas palette but actually one of their many palettes actually. So you can still find it in Sephora right now. 

All that for RM 99!

Can you see 7 colour swatches?

Gorgeous mattes & shimmers!

Rosy cheek colours

This is indeed one of the best palettes I've bought in a very long time. For something so reasonably-priced, NYX delivered exactly what it promised: professional quality makeup. The eyeshadows have a lovely, fine powder texture and are very pigmented. You can make them as light or as intense as you want, with none or minimal fallout. I've never really been into nude nor matte eyeshadows, but Butt "Naked" Eyes made me change my mind! 

I created so many day to night looks with the 15 colours. The 4 blushers are lovely too! Just a little bit on my makeup brushes goes a long way (obviously I chucked out the 2 eyeshadow applicators that came with the palette :P). I must say the cheek illuminators gave my Guerlain Meteorites Perles du Dragon quite a bit of a challenge! ;) I don't usually use bronzer except around my hairline and sometimes to contour my nose but I definitely had no complaints about the one in this palette. 

I chose to demonstrate a smoky day look for this review. 

Eyes up close

With my favourite eye primer, the eyeshadows last a whole day without creasing or combining into an oily mess! And my job constantly requires me to be outdoors quite a bit, sometimes getting really sweaty. You could say I use the Butt "Naked" Eyes palette maybe 4 to 5 out of 7 days a week. I have a few palettes in my collection but if I absolutely had to chose 1 palette to live with for the rest of my life it would definitely be this one! 

Have you tried anything from NYX before? 

Review: Diorskin Nude Skin-Glowing Makeup SPF 15

Hi everyone! How has 2013 been so far? Anyway, I've been meaning to review the Diorskin Nude foundation for some time now.

Started my hunt for a new bottle of liquid foundation some months back as the previous one I was using was about to finish. Read so many reviews and finally narrowed my choices down to Diorskin Nude, Chanel's Vitalumiére Aqua as I was looking for something sheer and light that I could wear every day. Diorskin Nude won based on how the sales assistant/beauty advisor responded to me. As they didn't seem too eager to sell me a bottle of foundation in Chanel (made me try the foundation on the back of my hand instead of my face), I decided to give my business to Dior. The moment the Dior BA learned that I was interested in trying the foundation, she sat me down and off we went. Needless to say, I went home with a bottle of Diorskin Nude. So good customer service DOES matter!

And so I have been using this almost every day for about 6 weeks now. Which I think is fairly long enough to warrant a review. 

I am using Diorskin Nude in 030. It is a beige with pink undertones and is a perfect match to my skintone. Dior has many shades available for this range so it shouldn't be a problem for most Asian women.

One pump on the back of my hand

Its texture reminds me somewhat of tinted moisturiser- light and creamy. It has just a hint of fragrance, which didn't put me off  (since I do love having scented makeup and skincare). One pump is just right for my face, for my usual daytime makeup, if I am applying it with my fingers. With a brush I find that I need 2 pumps. Sometimes I feel like brushes swallow my foundation! 

Spread out

I feel that it works and looks best when applied with my fingers rather than a brush. I apply it onto my face as I would a moisturiser, only after I'm done with my skincare (obviously!) and have applied a makeup base.

Done!

As you can see, it gives a sheer coverage on the back of my hand. Once I'm done with my barely-there daytime makeup, here's how it looks on my face: 

In the nude!!

I usually finish it off with a dusting of Sephora Mattifying Foundation Powder, Diorskin Nude Compact Powder or my beloved Guerlain Meteorites. You could walk around all day without feeling that you have foundation on. The only problem is, in less than 4 hours, I do get a 'glow', but on my T-zone!!! Aaaargh! 

I do like this foundation, only I don't like it enough to repurchase it, simply for the fact that maybe it's a little too oily for my skin. I think it would suit skins that are slightly on the drier side, or if you are perpetually in an air-conditioned room. If you are constantly on the go like me, you might have to constantly have a pack of oil-control blotters on hand to undo or minimise the unwanted 'glow' it gives you. 

It retails for RM 145 at all Dior counters. 

What's your take on this? 

Review: Guerlain Blanc de Perle Lightening UV Base Brightening Pearl Perfection

Wow, only 4 days left in 2012. I hope it was a great year for everyone. It was a very challenging year for me, in almost every way. Am praying for a great 2013! :)

Well, today I shall review the Guerlain Blanc de Perle Lightening UV Base Brightening Pearl Perfection SPF 30. I have used this for about 6 weeks now and I absolutely LOVE it! 

The pink spot on the tube denotes that it is the pink toned-version. They also have a beige-toned one, but because my skin has pink undertones and I love having a rosy, glowy look, I went with the pink-toned base (which was also recommended by the beauty advisor (BA) at the Guerlain counter). Initially I wanted to get the Blanc de Perle UV Shield Brightening Pearl Perfection SPF 50 as I felt that SPF 30 might be a little inadequate for our tropical sun. But after consultation with the BA, I decided to try the SPF 30 first and only move on to SPF 50 if I felt that I still needed it. 

I only started using this a few days after I bought it because I wanted to finish off the remnants of my previous tube of sunscreen/base. Of course I had tried it at the Guerlain counter before purchasing it, but I have had some products which felt so nice at the counter, but disappointed me after a few weeks of usage. This was definitely NOT the case with this UV base!!

The moment I squeezed a tiny amount out of the tube, I was in love with it. It is this lovely, light-textured emulsion with an iridescent pink tone. It has this light powdery, floral fragrance that may turn some people off as I know not too many people are fond of fragrance in skincare. I adore the scent though. Makes me feel pretty... hahaha...

                              (pardon the tanned hand!)                                               

When applied evenly onto my skin....

                                   Doesn't it look lovely?                                                             

                                                               

I must say that the pics really don't do justice to the product. 

At first I was afraid that it would end up looking like an oily mess on my face after a few hours (tends to happen to me with many European brands), but under Guerlain's Lingerie de Peau foundation and a dusting of Meteorites Perles D'Azur, it still stayed nice, rosy and glowy, and my skin remained dewy. The BA mentioned that I needn't use any foundation over this, but me being me, I never leave the house without a little bit of foundation. 

After 6 weeks, it has kept my freckles the same (I LOVE my freckles, don't get me wrong, I just don't like them getting bigger or darker), so I really didn't have to worry about SPF 30 not being adequate. :P

The verdict: A DEFINITE REPURCHASE!

The only downside I can think of to this is that, if bought on its own, it costs RM193, which is a heck of a lot of dough to spend on a UV base. But now and then Guerlain has some best buy sets and I bought both this AND the Blanc de Perle essence (RM410) for only RM455. So at RM45? Definitely a steal! :D

Has anyone else tried this one before? 

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

My First Makeup Review: Sephora Le Waterproof Extreme Resistance Mascara

Bought this in September from Sephora KLCC.  It came in a set, a mini 11ml tube together with a 50ml bottle of Sephora Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover for RM69 (if I remember correctly). After 3 months of using it, thought it was time for a review. 

I love mascara. It's something I use on a daily basis, and I've gone through many, many tubes of various brands, and so many different types within each brand. So given the rather reasonable price of Sephora's house-brand cosmetics as compared to the rest, I decided to give this a shot. 

The first time I used Le Waterproof, I felt it was a pretty average, nothing-out-of-the-ordinary mascara. It has no fragrance and is slightly thick in texture (which gets a bit clumpy after a while). It comes with a brush wand that is slightly tapered at the end. I have naturally long and curly lashes so it doesn't take much to accentuate them. This mascara just basically made my lashes more visible. Did not have any extra curl effect nor did it lengthen them. 

But oh my, they really weren't kidding when they said 'Extreme Resistance'!

Each time I wanted to remove this, I had to soak a cotton pad with eye makeup remover (yes, I used the one that came in the set), and then  press the cotton pad on my eyelashes and leave it to work on them for about a minute or so before the mascara would come off! And even then, it would take an eyelash or two along with it! :( The only other time this used to happen was when I tried one of the waterproof Avon mascaras some time back. Sigh. 

After 3 months, Le Waterproof is still useable, but I honestly feel like tossing it out already, no thanks to the amount of eyelashes it took off, and that it is already getting clumpy and I have to keep using an eyelash comb to get rid of the clumps of mascara after each application. 

So well, if you are looking for a mascara that will stay on for a whole day, or while you go for a swim, this certainly makes the cut.  If you don't mind removing your eyelashes along with it at the end of the day, that is. 

Has anyone else tried this? What do you think of it?

Vroom

The last few days have been pretty interesting. But this will only be a short entry cos I have to get ready to catch a flight later. 

Been thinking about my car a lot. I miss her a lot, obviously. She's still work in progress but God-willing she should be back with me in a few weeks. 

Yesterday had a new client referred to me. One of them high-profiled ones. As I walked into her driveway, I was drooling at the cars parked there. Makes me wanna dream... 

Ok ok gotta go.