EYESHADOW

Tom Ford Eyeshadow Quad Honeymoon Review, Swatch and FOTD

July 7, 2016

Tom Ford Eyeshadow Quad Honeymoon takes the reign of the most wanted eye shadow palette of the year. I pursued really hard for it, and was beyond thrilled when I finally got my hands on it. The delayed review was partly because I did not want to spoil such a beautiful palette while it was brand new! There is no fancy design to this palette apart from the signature Tom Ford packaging, but the combination of four gorgeous neutral colors with a twist speaks for itself.

The quality, texture and pigmentation are in line with the other quads from Tom Ford. I have covered my thoughts in the past reviews many times (review for Disco Dust). In summary, they are the most luxurious eye shadows with premium quality that glide on silky smooth in a single swipe with no fallout, and they blend and set beautifully on the eyes without looking cakey and heavy. It is expensive for eye shadows but all the powder is very densely packed so a little goes a long way, and this palette will last you years even with daily use! If you are a makeup lover who indulges in beautiful packaging, Tom Ford will always make you feel super pampered.

All fours colours in Honeymoon have shimmers varying to different degrees – some are shimmery with a wet sheen, and some are very subtle with a soft gleam . This palette is great for creating a natural look but also buildable for a more smokey and bold look. It has an interesting mix of colors – the warm coppery bronze with rosey and plummy browns, and they wear beautifully together. It’s winter, so I like to pack more plummy colors for a fall look. In hotter days the bronze shades will be more useful.

Color Description (clockwise):

1. Peachy golden color with gold shimmer.

2. Coppery light bronze with gold shimmer

3. Dark plummy chocolate brown with silver shimmer. Applies to a semi-matte finish with a hint of sheen.

4. Rusty rosy brown with magenta shimmer. Applies to a satin finish in high sheen.

Swatch

Wearing Tom Ford Honeymoon only on my eyes in the FOTDs

The Tom Ford Honeymoon Quad is available at the following stores:

– Nordstrom in the US.

– Selfridges with international shipping

– You can purchase Tom Ford makeup at David Jones Online in Australia, but unfortunately Honeymoon is still out of stock.

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Labels: EYESHADOW • Tom Ford

Hooray to New SUQQU! Blend Colour Eyeshadow EX31 and Creamy Glow Lipstick EX21 Review and Swatch

May 29, 2016

This summer Suqqu has released an exclusive collection for Selfridges UK only. I was thrilled to receive the limited edition blend Colour Eyeshadow EX31 and the gorgeous Creamy Glow Lipstick EX21. Long time readers would know how much I am obsessed with Suqqu, and they are my most loved and treasured makeup collection.

As with most summer makeup collections, the Suqqu Blend Colour Eye Shadow EX31 is a more colorful palette than the usual color themes from other seasons. First thought of the palette was that the burst of orange eye shadow was definitely not in my comfort zone. However after playing with the palette for a few weeks, my worry was eased as the rest of the 3 neutral colors were extremely easy to work with, and they helped to ‘soften’ the pop of orange and make it more flattering. I am not the most creative person with colorful bright eye shadows, so I googled for orange matte eye shadow inspirations, and I found some really great looks that I thought I’d share. It is actually getting more fun to wear this palette, and my preferred application is to softly apply the orange shade over the crease area, then apply and blend the golden shade over all the lid (similar to look 1).

The quality of this palette is consistent with the permanent line. It contains 3 matte and 1 shimmer shades. Suqqu’s matte eye shadow is the best of the best – they are very smooth and even to apply and blend like a dream. Their shimmer eye shadow is also no exceptions – silky buttery smooth with a beautiful satin sheen. All the shades in this palette are very highly pigmented, so a little goes a long way.

Color Description (clockwise)

soft shimmer gold

matte off white

matte dark chocolate brown

matte burnt orange

Swatch

On to the Creamy Glow EX21 Lipstick, which is my holy grail lipstick out of all the brands I have (more review here). Suqqu’s lipsticks have the most nourishing, hydrating formula, and it has a lightweight, creamy and silky consistency without being overly slippery. It gives the most plumping, and hydrating effect to the lips immediately after application, and keeps the lips moist for hours. EX-21 is an ultra pigmented bright raspberry pink with a hint of plummy undertone in full coat. The color becomes more of a soft rosy pink for a sheer coat, and it looks more soft and girly.

Full coat

Sheer coat – applied with a lip brush

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Labels: EYESHADOW • LIPSTICK • SUQQU

NARS Spring 2016 Duo Eyeshadow HAMMAMET and Duo Intensity Eyeshadow KARI Review and Swatch

March 28, 2016

The new NARS Spring Color eye shadows HAMMAMET Duo and Dual Intensity KARI from the Spring 2016 Collection thankfully reminded me of how much I used to be obsessed with Nars years back. (yes Nars was the brand that made me into a makeup addict hence the blog!) Over the past two years my obsession had slowed down, and I became very selective with the colors they released. My goal is to only collect the everyday colors that will get lots of use, rather than the unique bold colors (which Nars tend to do) that will end up collecting dust. Hammamet and Kari are beautiful neutrals again that I just can’t take my eyes off – love the soft dusty rosy tone to them!

pictured clockwise: Nars Duo eyeshadow Hammamet; Nars Duo Intensity Kari and Nars Audacious Lipstick Natalie (one of my all time favorite lip colors – reviewed here)

The Nars HAMMAMET duo is a must-have for me. I always thought it was the duo eye shadows and the blushes that has put Nars where he is now. The quality of the duo is always consistent, as the eye shadows are silky and creamy to the touch, and they are ultra pigmented but easy to apply and blend without any fallout. One compact will last you forever and the powder quality stays the same over a long period of time without drying out like the MAC singles.

Shade description:

Left : a matte medium sandy beige color that is perfect for shading/contouring. As a matte color it feels buttery soft and it glides on smooth and evenly.

Right: coppery bronzey shimmer with a hint of dusty rose undertone. Stunning color with ultra pigmented micro fine shimmer.

The Nars KARI is another beautiful soft neutral color that just can’t be missed. It’s a soft dusty sandy taupe color with a hint of mauve undertone in satin finish. Texture is firm and silky smooth, and it can be applied wet or dry with a more intense finish when applied wet. If you think HAMMAMET might pull too warm on you, then KARI is more neutral and softer.

Swatches

You can find the Nars Spring 2016 collection at Nordstrom Online, and they are currently offering Gift with Purchase with Nars.

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Labels: EYESHADOW • NARS • Spring 2016 Collection

Tom Ford Cream Color For Eyes Review and Swatch – Opale, Platinum and Sphinx

March 22, 2016

Today’s review is for the gorgeous Tom Ford Cream Color For Eyes from the Spring 2016 collection (available online here in Australia). There are a total of 8 colors released this season, with some colors being rereleased, and some new colors added to the line. I picked up Opale, Platinum (both are highly popular colors from past seasons) and Sphinx (new). All of them are simply irresistible from a neutral eye shadow lover perspective, and I always have a flair for cream eye shadows as they are easier to use and I like the fact that they can also be doubled up as a colored eye primer for an anti-crease purpose.

As usual, Tom Ford’s makeup is always on the premium luxurious end from the packaging to formula, and the cream eye colors are no exception. All three colors have pretty consistent texture – like a hybrid of gel and cream consistency and stay crease free for up to 8 hours on me. Upon touch it feels slightly wet so it has a higher water content than the conventional cream eye colors. It glides on very smooth and is easy to blend with a brush. I would say this is a much better formula to be used on mature eyes as it does not look powdery and cakey on the eyelid due to the slight moist feel. All 3 colors I picked have the right amount of shimmer – they are not too shimmery nor metallic/sparkly, just a subtle and elegant sheen that makes your eyes pop.

In terms of application, the Tom Ford is the easiest to work with out of all the cream eye shadows I have, particularly with brushes. The colors glide on seamlessly if you prefer to apply with fingers for an effortless finish. I prefer to use the MAC 217 blending brush as it blends the color out for a sheer wash. If you want to pack more pigments for an opaque finish, then it’s best to use a flat brush such as MAC 242 shader brush or just your fingers to pat more product on.

Opale is a universally flattering ivory champagne shimmer. I am sure we all know this is the most staple color to own in your makeup kit, and you can never have too many of them!

Platinum is another highly raved color. It’s a shimmery taupe brown color that makes a perfect shading/contour color.

Sphinx is definitely a new must have color to own from the line. It is a peachy golden color with pink shimmer, and once it is applied it translates to a golden color with rose gold sheen in a duo-chrome effect. It is a tad more shimmery than the other colors, and the formula is slightly more runny.

Swatches

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Labels: EYESHADOW • Spring 2016 Collection • Tom Ford

Tom Ford Eye Shadow Quad Disco Dust Review and Swatch – Spring 2016 Collection

February 18, 2016

Today’s review is for the Tom Ford Eye Shadow Quad Disco Dust from the Spring 2016 collection. It was definitely one of the highlights of my shopping spree when I was in Hawaii. After seeing the pictures of Tom Ford’s new collection online for a while, my heart just fluttered when I saw them in real life at my favorite store Neiman Marcus. Disco Dust is beyond gorgeous, more than I imagined for a neutral lover like myself. Another color that I highly recommend is the Honeymoon, and unfortunately it was all sold out in the store while I was there.

I have done many reviews for the Tom Ford eye shadow palettes in the past so I won’t repeat my thoughts for them as they are all consistent in terms of texture and quality. Disco Dust contains one sparkly shade which is the lightest shade, and the other 3 shades have very fine shimmer and apply to a silky satin finish. All of the shades are a dream to apply, and are all highly pigmented.

I have included lots of pictures in this post as I wanted to show you how gorgeous the colors are. Overall this palette leans slightly warm with a dominant undertone of rosey copper (as you would see in my comparison pictures below). It is the warmest comparing to the other highly popular neutral quads from Tom Ford such as Golden Mink and Nude Dip, and the finish is the least shimmery.

Shade Description:

Top left: Silvery white with a hint of silvery taupe undertone (sparkly)

Top right: Medium golden brown (shimmer)

Bottom left: Rusty coppery brown with a rose gold undertone (shimmer)

Bottom right: Charcoal with purple shimmer

Some close ups of Disco Dust

Swatches

Comparison swatches with Golden Mink (pictured middle and reviewed here)) and Nude Dip (pictured right and reviewed here)

Swatches

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Labels: EYESHADOW • Spring 2016 Collection • Tom Ford

Urban Decay UD Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatch

February 7, 2016

Today’s review is for the highly raved limited edition Urban Decay UD Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette (bought here in Australia). I am a big monochrome fan, and the minute I spotted Gwen’s UD palette in a black and white funky polka dot design, it just clicked with me. I can see that it was designed with 100% input from her – it is very wearable with mostly flattering neutral shades, yet there is this ‘unique Gwen’s’ playful and rock-n-roll edge to it which makes the palette interesting and a stand out from the brand’s other releases.

What is great about this palette is that there are 12 new shades out of 15 that are exclusive to this palette, so this won’t be a repeat of what you have already owned from Urban Decay.

Urban Decay is known for their affordable and supreme eye shadow quality, and the same goes for this palette. This is my first palette from them, and I am just so intrigued by how great they are. Every shade is ultra pigmented, and buttery soft. The shimmery shades are extremely finely milled so they feel silky smooth to apply and deliver an elegant satiny sheen. The matte shades are even more superior as they are probably the most soft and easy to blend mattes I have ever used. Also the color payoff is intense so little goes a long way.

Closer look at these stunning eye shadows:

Swatch

Top Row:

Blonde (pale beige/pink iridescent shift), Bathwater (pale beige with gold pearl), Skimp (pale nude satin), Steady (medium rose/metallic gold shift), Punk (reddish brown matte)

Middle Row:

Baby (cool metallic rose), Anaheim (light taupe-brown matte), Stark (nude-pink matte), Zone (medium brown matte), Serious (smoky gray with iridescent floating pearl)

Bottom Row:

Pop (pale coral with iridescent sparkle), Harajuku (metallic blue-pink/iridescent micro-shimmer), Danger (deep metallic royal blue/blue micro-sparkle), 1987 (bright metallic yellow-gold), Blackout (blackest black matte)

The Urban Decay UD Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette is available online at Nordstrom and Sephora in the US. I bought mine here in Australia.

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Labels: EYESHADOW • URBAN DECAY

SUQQU 2015 Christmas Makeup Collection Kit A and B Review and Swatches

December 6, 2015

I have a weakness for the limited edition holiday makeup sets, particularly from Suqqu. Thanks to Selfridges who made access to Suqqu much easier world wide, I got hold of the two LE Suqqu Christmas Makeup Kit A & B 2015 as soon as they became available online. Each set contains a trio eye shadow palette, a deep blue gel eyeliner (Ex02) that applies almost black on me, an eye makeup remover and a well-made tweed makeup pouch. This review is for the two eye shadow palettes only.

Every time I tell myself I don’t need anymore eye shadows, here it comes another release of some irresistible new eye shadows that I may or may not have in my stash. This time around I totally fell in love with the unique design of these palettes – love the color combinations, and can’t get over how beautiful they look in the marbled tweed texture. The quality of these eye shadows are on the same premium level as the other Suqqu eye shadows. Buttery soft to the touch, smooth to apply with no fallout and the pigmentation is actually quite intense (more than Dior and Chanel quads) by Japanese standards.

Kit A contains the Suqqu Eye Color Palette in EX-03 Aosaori that is my favorite of the two. The shades lean more neutral, and the colors are versatile enough to use for either a daytime look or smokey eye makeup. Though this palette is designed for layering all 3 colors together, I personally find that they can look too warm and a little muddy on me when layering all 3 shades. My preferred way of application for a soft look is just to apply a wash of the bronze color over the lid, and gently tap the gold shade above the crease, or in the center, then line the eyes with the darkest shade.

Shade description

Top: sparkly gold with an extremely finely milled texture and feels creamy and silky to the touch.

Middle: shimmery warm bronze color with a gold undertone

Bottom: shimmery dark midnight blue with a hint of purple

Swatch

Kit B contains the Suqqu Eye Color Palette Ex-04 Shisouori which is a combination of shimmery pink and purples. The colors are obviously more feminine and girly and would look stand out on blue and green eyes. On me I need to make the color appear more smokey (almost like a dusty rosey plummy pink) to make it work. These are not my everyday go-to colors, but they are unique to my stash, and are fun to use as I need to be more creative, and experiment with new ways of applying these colors for different looks that are different to the neutrals.Shade description

Top: Sparkly icy pink

Middle: shimmery lavender pink

Bottom: shimmery dark plummy color

Swatch:

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Labels: EYESHADOW • Holiday 2015 Collection • SUQQU

Suqqu Eye Colour Palette Bordeaux EX01 Review, Swatch and FOTD

October 26, 2015

I have been frequently reaching for my Suqqu Eye Colour Palette Bordeaux EX01 lately so I thought I’d write up a review and FOTD post for it. I love the color combination of this palette. They are different to the usual neutral earthy palettes that I normally gravitate towards. The colors are relatively more vibrant outside of my comfort zone, but somehow I find them to be very wearable yet fresh looking, with the signature Suqqu’s subdued elegance to it.

The Suqqu eye shadow is among the most superior eye shadows you can find. The quality of the newer 3 eye shadow palette feels quite similar to their regular quad. I have done many reviews for them in other posts, and overall the texture of Suqqu is slightly different to the western brands. The powder feels more creamy and moist to the touch, and they glide on weightless, silky smooth and evenly without looking powdery that would really work well on dry skin. The color payoff is also great for this palette – one to two swipes will show the true color as you see in the pan.

Shade Description

Top : Icy white color, slightly sparkly

Middle: Shimmery coppery golden peach.

Bottom: Wine color with a purple undertone in semi satin finish. It contains multi colored glitters but they don’t show up once applied unless you look at it very closely at a certain angle.

Swatch with one swipe

FOTD:

Other products used in the FOTD

Face:

Shiseido Pore Smoothing Corrector

Shu Uemura UV Underbase Mousse – totally obsessed!

Tom Ford Powder Compact Foundation (reviewed here)

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

Eyes & Brows

Tom Ford Brow Sculpting Kit (new, review coming soon)

MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Set in Toasted Blonde

Dior Addict It Liner (reviewed here)

Lancome Mascara

Lips (my current favorite combo!)

– MAC Lip Pencil Rosy Rim (reviewed here)

– MAC LipStick Please Me

The Suqqu Eye Shadow Palette can be purchased here with international shipping available (TAX will be automatically deducted at the checkout), and more colors are also available at Selfridges.

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Labels: EYESHADOW • FOTD • HOURGLASS • MAC • SHISEIDO • Shu Uemura • SUQQU • Tom Ford

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