kiss

Charlotte Tilbury Eyeshadow Quad Review, Swatches and FOTD – The Dolce Vita

September 2, 2014

Charlotte Tilbury has been officially launched in the US as they are now available at Nordstrom online! I know that many beauty enthusiasts are eager to dip their toes into the new makeup line, so I thought I’ll share my review for one of the best products from her line which is the Luxury Eye Shadow Palette in Dolce Vita. It’s absolutely stunning and I have been wearing it every single day since I had it!

If you have seen this post, you would know that I have ranted about the packaging of some of her products. Fortunately, this eyeshadow palette is quite weighty and feels sturdy in the hand. What’s missing from the palette is the mini size applicators! I don’t mind not having them, but it just means that I will not carry this palette with me in my makeup pouch for retouch as I don’t like to bring an extra set of eyeshadow brushes/applicators.

On to the stunning eye shadows themselves. Dolce Vita is a very bold and rich eye shadow palette – they are neutral colors yet quite unique and edgy that make you instantly drawn to them. The texture is silky smooth (except for the copper glitter shade) so it applies evenly and easy to blend, and the pigmentation is ultra rich which reminded me of those ultra pigmented Nars eye shadows. A very gentle dip into the eye shadow is enough to do the whole eye for a natural look.

The colors look different depending on the angles you are looking at

The colors are versatile all year around. The bronze and coppery colors are perfect for the warm weather, and they also have a hint of burgundy and olive undertones which makes them great for fall as well. I didn’t think this would be an everyday palette for me, until I had them on and for some magic reason the colors just make my eyes appear brighter and more sparkly, and they look really flattering against my complexion.

Color Description:

Top Left – Pinky beige champagne color (soft shimmer) that you can never have too many of.

Top Right – Copper with a burgundy undertone with silver shimmer in satin finish.

Bottom Left – Warm gold with visible glitters in a sparkly and metallic finish. This is my favorite shade as it is ‘dramatic’ but wearable. It feels quite creamy and dense for a glittery shade and it applies with no fall-out. I like to dab a little bit of this on to the center of the lid, and the metallic sheen of this shade is to just die for.

Bottom Right – Medium khaki brown with gold shimmer. It’s very pigmented so I like to use this shade on the outer-v gently as well as lining the lash line.

At a different angle that shows how beautiful the gold shade is!

In my FOTD, I am wearing the champagne color as a base color, then blend the burgundy shade from the lash line in to the crease. The gold shade is added over the burgundy color for a pop of sparkle, and the khaki shade is added to the outer-v and along the lower lash line.

Other products used in the FOTD include

– YSL Youth Liberator Serum Foundation (review coming soon)

– Giorgio Armani Cheek Fabric 502 SKIN (reviewed here)

– Chanel Le Volume Mascara

– Guerlain KISSKISS Lip Colour 325 Rouge Kiss (reviewed here) – need to get more colors from this range, absolutely love it!

Bottom Line: If you want to try out the Charlotte Tilbury line, I highly recommend this beautiful eye shadow palette. You can find her new beauty line at Nordstrom online in the US, Selfridges in the UK, and Net-A-Porter world wide.

{ 13 comments }

Labels: Charlotte Tilbury • EYESHADOW • FOTD

Dior Summer 2013 Collection – Diorskin Nude Tan Paradise Duo 002 Coral Glow Review, Swatch and FOTD

May 10, 2013

The summer 2013 makeup collection has started rolling out across major department stores in Australia. I really wanted to check out the products in person so I made an effort to go to the store and waddled along each counter. After a major debating of “Do I really need this blue/green color”, I only got one product in the end which is the beautiful and wearable Diorskin Nude Tan Paradise Duo 002 Coral Glow from its Summer 2013 collection. I probably will pass on the rest of the Dior and Chanel collections as the color theme of this year is not so appealing to me though they are beautiful to look at.

The Dior Paradise Duo Coral Glow is a stunner as well as it makes a very practical bronzer/blush duo for everyday use. There are 2 colors to choose from and I picked the coral color (instead of pink) as I always love the healthy look of a hint of bronzer with coral cheeks for a sun-kissed look. It comes with an uber cute mini kabuki brush which is very soft and fluffy for its size. The texture is absolutely superb – buttery soft and richly pigmented. Compared to the blush duo from Dior’s Spring Cherie Bow Collection, I much prefer this one as the texture is softer and smoother. I liked the Cherie Bow blush initially (when it was brand new), but I found there was a change in the texture after it was opened for some time, and now it has become chalky and dry which was disappointing! Anyhow, the quality of this is fantastic and I believe it will stay good for a very long time.

The color of the bronzing powder is very wearable for my NC15-20 skin tone. It doesn’t look completely matte in the pan, but when it is applied it blends into my skin naturally without making me look too tanned or orange. It can be used either as a contour product if applied sheer, or as a bronzer for a touch of sun-kissed look. The color of the blush is pink coral with a hint of watermelon undertone. I absolutely adore this color, as it instantly adds a pop of fresh and summery color with a youthful glow to the face. I have been reaching for it everyday and it lasts on me the whole day.

Left and right mixed

ON ME: Applied the bronzing powder underneath the cheekbones, as well as along the jaw lines. And applied the blush slightly above the apple of the cheeks.

Bottom Line: One of the must have blush/bronzer product to have amongst all the summer 2013 collections! I bought the Dior Paradise Duo for $82 in Australia. It is available on here or here in the US, or on Harrods with international shipping available with 20% off VAT deductions at the checkout.

{ 26 comments }

Labels: BLUSH • DIOR • FOTD

Loving Right Now

November 10, 2012

Hi everyone, happy weekend! You may have noticed that I’ve been really into doing ‘instagram-inspired’ posts lately. They are fun to do and allow me to share more frivolous things!

1. MOSCHINO Teddy Bear iPhone Case (bought here): It is the cutest iPhone case I have ever seen!! I wanted it so much when it was first released which was before the release of iPhone 5, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to upgrade my phone. I have now decided to keep my iPhone 4s so…bear with me 😉 By the way Shopbop has started its latest SALE with up to 70% off days ago, and I just placed a massive order which I am so excited about!

2. St Tropez Instant Glow Body Lotion (bought here): It transforms my pale light reflective legs into sun-kissed color – instantly!

3&4. Everyday hair styling: I have been asked about how I style my hair, so these two pictures pretty much show how I style my hair every morning. The large hair rollers are by Denman (bought here), and I blast them with hot air for a few seconds before putting them on my hair. They make my deadly straight hair more bouncy, and gives a nice smooth wave. I then lightly spray my hair with the Oribe dry texture spray for some texture.

{ 12 comments }

Labels: HAIRCARE • SHOP • St Tropez

Becca Endless Summer 2012 Collection – Ultimate Color Gloss Malibu Punch Review and FOTD

October 13, 2012

I really appreciate the way Becca release their makeup collections. They are one of the very few beauty houses (or perhaps the only) that schedule releases depending on the season of the country. The Becca Endless Summer 2012 Makeup Collection is just out in Australia. Whilst I find myself inevitably drawn to the dark and plummy shades from the current fall collection, it is refreshing to see the bright, tropical and summery hues.

Allow me to say – the Endless Summer Collection is the best collection Becca has ever done. Every shade is well edited for spring and summer, and the texture is superb. I had a very hard time limiting myself to a few products. After fiddling at the counter for 30 minutes, I settled with the Becca Ultimate Color Gloss Malibu Punch and their famous Beach Tint in Lychee. There were other products such as their Mineral Blushes that I was that close to buying, and even now I just can’t seem to get them out of my mind!

The Becca Ultimate Color Gloss in Malibu Punch is a very intense and bright tangerine shade. This shade is worn by the model in their promotion campaign (here), and it looked absolutely stunning on her so it became their best selling shade from this range. Although it’s called a gloss, it almost feels like a liquid lipstick as the pigmentation is so intense, and delivers the ultimate bold color with a high glossy shine whilst feeling weightless on the lips. The lasting power is also phenomenal, as there is still a stain left on my lips after 4 to 5 hours of wear. Compared to the much raved YSL Glossy Stain, the Becca Ultimate Color Gloss truly deserves more credit, if not better.

I did my makeup differently in my FOTD today. To accentuate the bold lip color, I applied more-than-usual amount of bronzer in Nars Laguna along the cheeks and the jawline for a touch of sun-kissed warmth. Nars Luster is applied along the hollow of my cheekbones for a more defined look. My eye makeup using Burberry Midnight Brown (reviewed here) is also more smoky hence it looks more dramatic than what I would normally wear. The overall result – romantic but with sharpness.

Other products used: Suqqu Moisturizing Cream Foundation( LOVE it!) and Shu Uemura Hard Formula Eyebrow Pencil in 6.

The Becca Ultimate Color Gloss retails for USD$24 and the entire Becca Line is available at Sephora now! I bought mine at David Jones for AUD$42.

{ 14 comments }

Labels: BECCA • FOTD • LIPGLOSS • NARS • SUQQU

Chanel Fall 2012 – Ombre Essentielle Single Eyeshadow COMPLICE and Joues Contraste ROSE INITIALE Review and Swatches

September 23, 2012

I bought some makeup from the Chanel Fall 2012 Collection months ago including the Ombre Essentielle Single Eyeshadow in 93 COMPLICE and the Joues Contraste in 72 ROSE INITIALE and I finally got the time to play around with them. A bit of a delay..but with a somewhat busy work schedule, I have not been very prompt with reviewing the new makeup collections lately. I hope I will be more productive in the coming months.

The Chanel Ombre Essentielle Single Eyeshadow in 93 COMPLICE is a beautiful neutral eye shadow. It is a universally flattering champagne color with high shine micro shimmer. The luxurious Chanel packaging and the texture justifies the high price tag for a single eyeshadow – buttery soft, smooth and very finely milled. There are more budget friendly dupes in the market such as Stila Kitten, or MAC Naked Lunch. I can easily enlist at least 20 different brands that make the same shade, and yes I have them all! But I can never resist a timeless champagne colored eyeshadow that I can use everyday, especially since it is embossed with the legendary interlock C!

On Me:

The Chanel Joues Contraste in 72 ROSE INITIALE is a beautiful rosey pink blush with a neutral undertone. Mine is in the US version so as you all know – the texture is softer and more pigmented. It has a satin finish and it has a great lasting power on my combination skin. I would call this a grown-up pink that would complement any makeup look, and the subtle rosey hue appears to make my complexion look more energized.

Lastly, I wanted to give a special mention to my lip color! I suddenly developed an odd obsession for vampy lip color (which is totally not me) since I missed the Chanel PROVOCANTE. And I found this abandoned Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick in Rose Malicieux (bought here) lying in the corner of my drawer (bought it by mistake due to the incorrect online swatch) which I have not even opened. Then I topped it with Stila Lip Glaze in Majesty (another forgotten makeup item…). And voila..I got a nice deep rosey plummy color..though it’s not quite the vampy color. The moral of the story is..don’t throw out your old makeup unless they are expired 🙂 You never know when you will rekindle the love with them!

The Chanel 2012 Fall Makeup Collection can be purchased here in the US. International order is available here.

{ 20 comments }

Labels: BLUSH • CHANEL • EYESHADOW • FOTD • GUERLAIN • Stila

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain 12 Corail Fauve Review and Swatch

April 2, 2012

Most brands are releasing a range of long lasting lip wear this season. If I could only pick one product to buy, it’s gotta be the YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain. The swatch pictures of them have been floating around the blogsphere for a while. At first I wasn’t really intrigued as all the colors looked very bright and saturated, which is a little out of my comfort zone to wear everyday. Little did I know that as soon as I tried one on I became totally obsessed with the formulation. I bought not only one, but 4 of these..and I still can’t get enough of them!

Today I will only be reviewing the shade 12 Corail Fauve, which is a beautiful coral shade with a pinkish red undertone.

YSL Glossy Stain is a hybrid of lip gloss and stain. The texture almost feels watery-like upon application, and it takes about 30 seconds for the product to settle. Corail Fauve may look quite bright and bold in the swatch (as with most other shades of the line), but rest assured that the liquid formulation does give you a good control over the application. It dries down to a subtle natural pinkish red lip stain with a soft sheen as the first layer. Then as a second layer (in my pictures I dab a little more on the center of my bottom lips as a second layer), it intensifies the color and instantly adds this translucent watery shine to the lips, and it makes the lips appear so moist and kissable.

The lasting power of it is phenomenal. It can last up to 4 -5 hours on my lips without much fading if I don’t eat/drink anything, and it still leaves a remnant after I eat.

The YSl Glossy Stain retails for $50 in Australia. I bought mine at David Jones. They are also available here and here in US.

{ 26 comments }

Labels: LIPGLOSS • YSL

My Picks for the Best Eye Makeup 2011

January 13, 2012

It is Friday night! I usually don’t blog on Friday night as it is my “happy hour” time, but I wanted to lose a couple of pounds after the festive season so I decided to stay home and just vegetate, and in the meantime killing my time off blogging…This post is about my picks for the best eye makeup year 2011! The same with my previous post – I picked one or two of my favorite and most used items from every eye makeup category.

Best Eye Shadow Primer – Nars Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base

Best Liquid Eye Liner: Dolly Wink Liquid Eye Liner in Jet Black, reviewed here.

Best Gel Eye Liner: Bobbi Brown Gel Eye Liner – an oldie but a goodie!

Best Eye Liner Pencil: Dior Crayon Eyeliner Waterproof – I use an eye liner pencil to define the outer third of my lower lash line, and I like the Dior as it is soft and pigmented so doesn’t tug my skin, and it stays put for a whole day without any smudge.

Best Eye Brow products: I get asked all the time what eye brow products I used in my FOTD. They are always by my holy grail combination – The K-Palette Real Lasting Liquid Eye Brow Pen in dark brown, followed by the Laura Mercier Brow Powder Duo in Deep Blonde

The Laura Mercier Brow Powder Duo in Deep Blonde has a light brown ashy color which works really well with my complexion. I use the dark shade to define my eye brow and the lighter shade to contour the bridge of my nose.Best Eye Brow Tint: MAC Brow Set in Girl Boy. If I go for a very soft and fresh makeup look, I tend to tint my eyebrow slightly lighter and I really love the color of MAC Girl Boy.

Best Cream Eye Shadow: Chanel illusion d’ombre long wear luminous eye shadow, I like the weightless texture and the shimmery semi-translucent finish.

Best Pigment: Inglot Pigments

Best Single Eye Shadow: Le Metier de Beaute True Color Eye Shadow. I haven’t used them long enough to do a proper review yet, but I was impressed and they win for their exclusiveness!

Runner Up: Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eye Shadow. Chanel offers a beautiful and wearable selection of single eye shadows. I have collected quite many of them and both the texture and the colors never let me down.

Best Eye Shadow Palette in general: Without a doubt that it’s my Suqqu Blend Color Eye Shadow, the entire range is easy to wear on a daily basis.

Best Cool Neutral Eye Shadow Palette: Other than Suqqu I have also included a few of my all time favorite neutral eye shadow palettes in this post. For the cool neutrals, Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow in Prelude wins my heart. Do you know Chanel les 4 Ombres has also won the 2011 Japanese Cosme best eye shadow award?!

Best Warm Neutral Eye Shadow Palette: the legendary Lunasol Beige Beige – perfect for a “no makeup” makeup look.

Best Sparkly Neutral Eye Shadow Palette: Tom Ford Eye Color Quad in Golden Mink (reviewed here)

Best Collectible Eye Shadow Palette: Shiseido Maquillage Eye Creator by Alexander Wang (limited edition). This is my most precious makeup as I am huge fan of Alexander Wang’s modern and edgy design. I was lucky enough to snatch up some products from his first makeup collection in collaboration with Maquillage.

Best Drugstore Eye Shadow Palette: Kanebo Lavshuca Melting Eyes – as the name suggests, the eye shadows are so fined milled that they almost felt they were melting into the skin.

Best Mascara: The Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Mascaras. I have both the original lash queen and the feline extravaganza lash queen. The feline adds more volume to the lashes but the original defines the lashes better and gives a soft and feathery finish. Absolutely adore this range!

Runner Up: Fresh Supernova Mascara – it gives super thick and dramatic lashes (almost doll like). The only downside is it doesn’t hold the curl well so I have to use another mascara or a primer underneath.

Best Drugstore Mascara: Kiss Me Heroine Make Volumising Mascara

Best False Eye Lashes: It’s a tie between the Princess Lee criss cross 7 in light black and the DUP Eyelashes. They are the most natural looking falsies I have used so far – soft and feathery and the human hair blend into your own lashes. I get a panic attack if I don’t have multiple backups of them. Just a note to those of you wanting to buy the Princess Lee lashes, be aware that there are so many counterfeit on the internet as Princess Lee lashes are extremely exclusive.

What a long post! If you have made it to here, well done! Hope you all have a good weekend 🙂

{ 22 comments }

Labels: CHANEL • DIOR • Eyebrow Pen • EYELINER • EYESHADOW • FALSE LASHES • FRESH • Helena Rubinstein • Heroine Make • INGLOT • Laura Mercier • Le Metier De Beaute • LUNASOL • MAC • Maquillage by Shiseido • MASCARA • NARS • SUQQU • Tom Ford

Lunasol Three-Dimensional Eyes 03 Mysterious Beige Review, Swatch and FOTD

October 24, 2011

Lunasol is known for their neutrals, and this fall Lunasol has taken it up a notch and delivered a set of new eye shadows – the Three-Dimensional Eyes, that lets you to manipulate light and shadow more effectively to add depth to your eyes. The star feature of this collection has to be the graduation of the neutral colors, as in each palette the Highlight Color and the Shade Color consists of three different textures and levels of luster. Being an Asian who doesn’t have deep set of eyes, this concept is really intriguing.

Under the influence of my beauty pal Elaine who is a purple-holic, I went for 03 Mysterious Beige which has a purple color (the old me would have gone for the neutral beige but I decided to venture out…)

The highlight color which is a pinkish ivory comes in three different textures – 2 shimmery’s with slight variations in undertone (however on the eyes I don’t see much difference), and 1 sparkly shade.

The purple leans lavender and is very similar to the purple shade in Nars Nouveau Monde, but a softer version.

The shade color is brown with a hint of charcoal undertone – it comes with 2 shimmery shades in variant undertones, and a sparkly shade.

A safe shimmery peachy beige, very similar to Stila Kitten.

Group Swatches: All shades are very smooth and easy to blend.

How I wear this palette:

I firstly applied the shimmery highlight colors all over the eye lid up to the brow bone, then applied the purple shade all over the eye socket area and added the peachy beige into the socket line only. Applied the shimmery shadow colors along the lash line up to the outer v and patted the sparkly shadow over.

On the lower lash line, the sparky highlight color was added to the inner corner and the sparkly shadow color was added to the outer corner. Blend the edge using the peachy beige color.

Finished with a set of quite dramatic lashes, so if you want your eyes to appear 10 times bigger this is the style to go for! (picture can be found in this post)