Reviews: E.L.F Studio Brushes Part 2

I can't sleep.

On to part 2 of the review for E.L.F Studio Brushes. (Oh my god, E.L.F studio has new stuff again. :( )

Kabuki Face Brush



The E.L.F studio kabuki is quite big and fat. The bristles are really soft to the touch. It's not dense but still well packed. Love the brush on the face because it's just so soft. Had been using it for quite a while and I really like it. Would prefer it for buffing finishing powder instead of powder foundation cos the coverage it gives is on the sheer side since it's not dense enough.

Blush Brush



I totally adore this brush now. Didn't try it for the longest while since I was hooked to the Powder Brush for blush application. Wished I did so earlier soI could order more. The E.L.F Studio blush brush is quite a tiny brush (for a blush brush). It's really small with a rounded head. It's a flat brush. This brush is really good for precise blush application, when you just want the blush to go on the apples on your cheeks etc. I tested it with mineral blushes and pigmented blushes and it picks up just the right amount without making the face overdone. Love it to bits. However I don't like to use the brush for blending. You might want to use any brush to blend out the brush as it gets it done faster. Have yet to use this brush for applying contour. I should be trying soon.

Contour Brush



This brush is really soft. I really like the touch of it and how cute the head looks. The head is dome-shaped. Ok, as a contour brush, I find it's only all right. The bristles are too short if you want to use it for defined crease application. The ferrel, on the other hand, is too wide and circular for the bristles so they protrude out a little more. When applying eyeshadow in the crease, the ferrel can be kind of scratchy, especially if you are planning to dig the brush in deep to the socket and blend.. It's not very pleasant. If you want to use it blending, it doesn't do as good a job as the E.L.F blending brush from their regular US$1 line. The feeling of it brushing to and fro feels spongy.

However, I think it works well as a pencil brush. It's good for applying eyeshadows precisely in corners, on the lid, or under the lash line. Light blending is all right, just not when you need to blend at the crease line to get a defined crease. They should change the name of it.


Read Part 1 here.

Review: NYX The Caribbean Collection - I Dream of Barbados

It's been a while. I'm back to blog.

Am reviewing NYX The Caribbean Collection 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette - I Dream of Barbados.



The palette is really gorgeous. Kindly refer to the original photo taken by NYX as colour shows up more true.

Anyway, I picked up this palette from mscuppycakes.com before they jacked up their shipping rates -pouts- (now I can't get small NYX hauls fast anymore). This palette is love. Totally adore it.

Like the other NYX eyeshadow palettes, it comes with a cardboard packaging. This palette is longer and slimmer than the 10 color eyeshadow palettes which I picked up earlier. Comes with a long mirror and it has 2 eyeshadow applicators instead of only one.

I'm really amazed by the quality of NYX's Caribbean collection "I Dream of Barbados" palette. The texture of the eyeshadow is really fine and creamy and blends beautifully. The 10 color eyeshadow palettes have a good amount of pigmentation but some of the colours just don't work. Some are too glittery and some can be too chalky. So maybe out of 10 colours, you'll only like half or more. Whereas for this palette, I seriously like all 5 colours.

Colours from left to right:
1. ████████ Light muted lavender shade with slight shimmer frost.
2. ████████ Charcoal black with shimmers.
3. ████████ Cool toned pastel pink.
4. ████████ Light silver grey with slight shimmers.
5. ████████ Medium purple with slight shimmer frost.

The purples in the palette are quite muted. Not very loud if you are worried they turn up really garish on the eyes. The colours look matte and the shimmers/frost are really subtle. The black is really easy to work with. It's super dark and blends wonderfully. The cool toned pink brings a pop of colour to the eye though I don't really use it.

Overall I really like this palette. Was able to create smokey look with this. Made my eyes look bigger. Totally adore the texture of the eyeshadows.

If you haven't tried this, go and get one as soon as possible. For the same price, you can pick up either the NYX 10 colors eyeshadow palette or this Caribbean collection 5 colors eyeshadow palette. If you really want a lot of colours to work with, you can pick up the 10 colors eyeshadow palette for variety. However, if you already have a preference of colours you want, for instance you just want a grey smokey or a taupe/brown smokey palette, maybe you can pick up the Caribbean palette instead. I think it offers better quality for lesser amount of eyeshadows (though I only bought one). The 10 colors palette may have 10 colours but I don't see the need to get 3 different kinds of blacks and maybe 5 different greys in one palette. (I need to change my "Lemmings" list. )

It's so good for makeup from day to night. You can use the 3 colours for day and the other 2 colours to darken the eye makeup for night. Really love how compact it is. And yes, I'm planning to get more the next time I buy from NYX again.

Review: E.L.F Studio Single Eyeshadows

Sorry ladies. I've been lazy. I haven't been buying makeup lately because I'm on a makeup ban. But I got myself hooked on buying clothes instead. Left me quite broke. :P

An E.L.F haul/review that I've been forgetting to post.

Oh my god, I sneaked a peek at E.L.F website and they have new items again. :( I want the lip stains. >.< Here's the Single Eyeshadows I bought from the E.L.F Studio line. These come in small packagings. I bought them all except maybe 3 colours.

From bottom left (in clockwise direction):

Coffee Bean, Wild Wheat, Butter Cream, Pebble, Amethyst, Mystic Moss, Charcoal

The colours in the picture above are not true. Refer to the website. It's almost true for all colours except Mystic Moss (which just looks like charcoal grey in the pan).

These eyeshadows are relatively pigmented. Not the best pigmentation but good enough to be used. I tested everything with an eyeshadow primer (L'oreal De-Crease).

Butter Cream: A rather unique shade. It's almost a gold but seems like a creamy yellow shade. Shimmery.
Wild Wheat: A soft brown. Almost like Milo (a chocolate drink). Doesn't really appear on me but great as a all over lid colour.
Coffee Bean: A dark brown with shimmers in it. My favourite. Gorgeous brown as a crease colour.
Pebble: A dark taupe shade with maybe some plums in it. A queer shade. It's too dark of a taupe and too weird for me. :(
Amethyst: Not really a purple. Maybe a plum. Definitely not what it looks like in pictures. It made my eyes look bruised (it might work better if I use a better eyeshadow primer since L'oreal De-crease doesn't really bring out the colours in Amethyst).
Mystic Moss: Supposedly a mossy green but it looks like grey in the pan. Very close to Charcoal except it has some hints of green. I supposed I like it since it's more unique compared to Charcoal.
Charcoal: A dark charcoal grey. Sheer and needs piling. Wouldn't give you that super intense dark grey you would want it to be.

All the eyeshadows have at least a little bit of shimmers in it except for Pebble, which seems matte. I think they are fairly decent eyeshadows. Not fabulous but for the price I paid, I wouldn't mind buying.

Overall, I think they are worth trying out if you like earth toned, more muted eyeshadows. Don't expect vibrant eyeshadows because they really are not. They are really on the dull/muted side but at least they have shimmers. Suitable for work. I would recommend just picking up a few shades to try if you are keen.

I love Coffee Bean a lot. It's my favourite brown. :)

Review: L'Oreal De-Crease Eye Shadow Base

I have been using L'Oreal De-Crease Eye Shadow Base for quite a long while. It's my first eyeshadow primer.

L'Oreal De-Crease Eye Shadow Base comes with a doe-foot wand applicator. It comes in only one shade which is said to be suitable for all skin tones. It retails for about US$8.48 (price taken from drugstore.com).

This primer looks similiar to L'oreal True Match Concealer, which I also own (in picture below).



L'oreal True Match Concealer has a liquid consistency while L'oreal De-crease has a slightly thicker consistency. The colour of L'oreal De-crease primer is a light beige shade. When applied, it blends out into a light beige colour over your eyelids making your eyes appear more awake since all the darkness on the lids is concealed. I like to just use this alone on the eyelids when I'm running out of time. I don't think it would work as well for darker skintones as the light beige appears really obvious on the lids so wouldn't really advise darker skintone ladies to just use this primer alone.

I'm really not a fan of this primer. It works really well for me initially and I totally adore how it makes me look so awake when used alone. However, gradually I realised the consistency of it just isn't perfect. There are times when it goes on smoothly and blends to a smooth finish. On unlucky days, it blends out to a blotchy finish, the kind of finish you get when you keep rubbing your concealer and it starts to flake. The primer dries fast and just doesn't blend to an even finish so you get patches of super obvious light beige here and there on the lids.

I hated it. But then of course, being me, I would give it another try again and again. So this review is written after I tried it for maybe 100+ times and still, it's the same. -gives face-

In terms of function, this works all right. It's just.....average. It works in making your eyeshadows appear on your eyelids. However, the colour doesn't intensify. You don't get your shadows as bright as they look in the pans. It lasted a couple of hours for me but I wouldn't recommend it for long wearing or heavy eye makeup.

(I think I'm losing touch with blogging. Just can't seem to find the right words or passion to blog. Or maybe I just hate this product. -lol-)

I'm still using it though. It actually works well for me with brands like Silky Girl (also known as Wet N Wild) eyeshadows, which have pretty and vibrant colours but for some reason, they don't appear all that pigmented for me. Else I'll just use it in the following way:

Primer -> Cream base (thin layer) -> Eyeshadow

You have to use the cream base after a primer else it will just crease like crazy. This works the best for all eyeshadows. At least for me so how the primer works doesn't really matter to me anymore.

I would advise you to save your money and invest in a better eye primer like Urban Decay Primer Potion or Two Faced Shadow Insurance (both retailing for about US$22) if your requirements in a primer is to make the eyeshadows pop, minimize creasing and make it last all day. L'oreal De-crease is really average to me and would be only a good alternative for short durations.

An even cheaper alternative worth considering is E.L.F Mineral Eye Primer (US$3). :)

New Haul: Daiso

Look what I found in Daiso (a Japanese store that sells products for $2)!


An Anna Sui inspired earring stand. So cute! How could I resist it. There's a little butterfly and maybe dragonfly engraving at the bottom of the stand.



I have no idea though whether Anna Sui really sells or produces this item. But it's so adorable. It's quite small though, a little bigger than the size of your hand. But I thought it would be good enough to store a few earrings I always wear and air them (after sterilizing) before I keep them. :)




A blurred picture of how it looks like with earrings on.



Found this acrylic holder too. Am so glad I found it again. I used to buy all the acrylic cups and holders Daiso used to carry because they are pretty good for storing all my lip products and concealers and stuff. But the whole range disappeared. :( I had one of these and needed another. I definitely recommend you to get this holder if you have a lot of lippies and pencil liners/bases/concealers. :) So much easier to find and carry about.






And I finally found these! The bottle on the right is a sponge/brush cleanser. Read reviews that it works and have been wanting to try. I finally found it. :)

The tool on the left is used to prevent mascara from getting onto your eyelids during application. Can't wait to try the both of them. :)

New Haul: L'oreal Sale at Raffles City

Here's what I picked up at the L'Oreal Sale last week.

Maybelline EyeStudio Quad in GR-1 Matcha Mousse Cake and Mx-4 Venice Carnaval
Maybelline Angelfit Brighten-Up Blush in Velvet Apricot and Peachy Sweetie
Maybelline EyeStudio Gel Liners in Black and Brown
Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipstick in 914 Iced Peach Tree and 938 Honey Ginger
Maybelline Watershine 3D Collagen in 425

From top left to right: Angelfit Brighten-Up Blush in Velvet Apricot and Peachy Sweetie
EyeStudio Quad in Mx-4 Venice Carnaval and GR-1 Matcha Mousse Cake

I love these eyeshadow quads a lot. They are not the most fantastic drugstore eyeshadows but I love them anyway. I think it's because this range is formulated for Asians so I find the colours suit me well. I have 3 other quads but I find these 2 (more shimmery) which I just bought have a tendency to fall out and get all over the face. Venice Carnaval (silver/gold/black quad) is rather gritty. Not recommended if you hate making a mess.

The blushes were a pleasant surprise. I've been wanting Velvet Apricot ever since it came out. Am so glad I bought it. It reminds me of the Maybelline Dream Mousse blush in Peach Satin which I bought earlier in the previous sale. Very nice peachy(orange) glow. Peachy Sweetie is a bubblegum pink blush. A little too pink for me but still really nice.

From left: Maybelline EyeStudio Gel Liners in Brown and Black

And of course the famous Maybelline EyeStudio Gel Liners. They were selling at $10 each so I got both. It comes with a brush each. The brush was all right. Reminds me of the small precision brush. The brush is thin enough to give a really fine line. The jar is just like a normal 5g sample jar, just that they added a thick base to the bottom of jar to make it look bigger.

Am loving the gel liner in Black. Managed to draw a thin line that was super natural looking. Was not too fond of the brown because it doesn't look like a straight brown to me. It seems like a purplish brown with shimmers. Overall I still like these. They don't smudge on me. :)

The only thing I'm probably not fond of is the lipsticks I bought. Was quite excited about these. Had wanted to grab a few more Maybelline Moisture Extreme lipsticks because I really like how smooth it glides on the lips. I had been contemplating to get 914 Iced Peach Tree for the longest time after swatching it. It seemed like a nice light nude peach when I swatched the testers. But after trying it on, it's a bright orange coral colour. ARgh. And I bought two. Got 938 Honey Ginger after reading a review that it's a nice nude colour. It was a straight brown on me. So imagine my disappointment when I realised the nude colours which I bought were so bold on me. Maybelline Watershine 3D Collagen in 425 was nice though, a sweet rosy pink.

So yup, that's it. My entire haul was all Maybelline. Still quite pleased that I like most of it. -Can't stop grinning- I think Maybelline is getting better and better!

Article: Treating Eczema

Six Ways to Treat Eczema Naturally

If you suffer from red, scaly, dry patches of skin that are extremely itchy, you may have eczema. Also known as atopic dermatitis, eczema is an allergy-related skin condition common in young adults, children and infants. Simple measures can often help to minimize symptoms and provide relief. Instead of turning to the topical steroids often prescribed for eczema, which I believe suppress the problem and may worsen it over time, try the six suggestions below and see if they work for you.

1. Eliminate cows' milk and all cows' milk products from your diet, as well as foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (often found in snack foods and baked goods) and trans-fatty acids (margarine, vegetable shortening).
2. Take 500 milligrams of black currant oil or evening primrose oil twice a day (half that dose for children younger than 12). These are sources of gamma-linolenic aid (GLA), an essential omega-6 fatty acid that promotes healthy growth of skin, hair and nails. You should begin to notice positive changes in six to eight weeks.
3. Apply aloe vera gel (from a fresh plant or buy lotions or moisturizers containing aloe) or calendula cream to the affected areas of your arm.
4. Experiment with lotions and salves containing chaparral (Larrea divaricata), a desert plant used topically in Mexican folk medicine for skin conditions.
5. Bathe or shower as quickly as possible, and use a non-perfumed moisturizing soap. Apply a thick moisturizing cream immediately after patting yourself dry - don't rub your skin when you towel dry your body.
6. Practice visualization and hypnotherapy. They can have a significant positive impact on allergy-related skin conditions. And try to relax - stress can make the condition worse. Explore relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises and yoga.

Source: link

Blogshopping Woes

Am a little hooked to shopping online blogshops again.

Just saw this. Really made me laugh.

I can imagine it's made by someone equally frustrated that the items from popular online blogshops like BonitoChico, Agneselle, Her Velvet Vase always sell out pretty fast. LOL...

Free Stuff: Seventeen Magazine

Click here for FREE 2 months subscription of Seventeen Magazine.

This registration is open to all Singapore residents and PRs (non-SPH workers) aged between 11 to 25. Registration starts on the 11th of September, 2009, and is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Grab while stocks last.

Free Stuff: Sunsilk Hair Kit

This is a little late so I'm not 100% sure if it works.

You can get a free Sunsilk Hair Kit at SunSilk Website if you are based in Singapore.

Just sign up at the link on the bottom right on the site.

In the 10-Day Guarantee Damaged Hair Reconstruction Program kit, you get 4 super fat looking (LOL) sachets of shampoo, nourishing conditioner, 3-minute intensive treatment and control leave-on.



Worth grabbing.

New Hauls: The Body Shop Limited Edition Precious Pearlescents Collection

I'm back. Am a little reluctant to update actually. Just been feeling so restless lately. :(

Anyway, have you checked out the latest Limited Edition Precious Pearlescents Collection by The Body Shop?

(Drats. As I'm feeling restless, I can't be bothered to find a picture of the entire collection to upload. :( Sorry.)

If you haven't, be sure to drop by your nearest The Body Shop store. Cos this collection is so drool-worthy.

I ran to the nearest store to pick it up after seeing it on Cozycot forum. I picked up the Blush Trio in 01 Cool Dusk and the Eyeshadow Trio in 01 Moonlight Lustre.


From left: Eyeshadow Trio in 01 Moonlight Lustre, Blush Trio in 01 Cool Dusk

These are baked eyeshadow/blush but they are not mineralized like maybe MAC's. They are super gorgeous in real life. I have to admit, these are really just impulse buys because they are too pretty to resist. I picked out Cool Dusk first, but got another $10 rebate voucher so I splurged it on the eyeshadow. :P

Blush Trio in 01 Cool Dusk comes in 3 shades: a light shimmery pink, a medium bright dolly pink, a lilac pink (which just seems like light pink to me). I can't remember how it looks like when it's mixed together but basically this is a very pink blush (which makes me ponder why I bought it as I'm more of a peach girl). The blush looks shimmery in swatches but on the face, it's not. The finish would be like a frosty/pearl finish with a nice sheen. It gives the cheeks a nice glow. The colour is buildable as this blush trio is more sheer as compared to the other in 02 Warm Sunset. The lighter shades work as a very nice highlighter. As for the bright dolly pink shade , it doesn't really work well on my yellow skin. :( But still, I think I can get it to work since it can applied on sheer.

Eyeshadow Trio in 01 Moonlight Lustre comes in 3 shades: a metallic green, a metallic bluish gray, a metallic light purple (almost lilac) shade. These colours are very metallic and quite shimmery. I don't find them to be super pigmented if I use it without any base. They do go on well but the colour doesn't stand up. Would definitely recommend using a cream base or using them wet to get better payoff. Personally, I really like this trio. They are actually quite wearable on a daily basis. They may be shimmery but it's not so overbearing. I actually like that they are metallic colours. Very pretty trio that you can use from day to night to create many looks.

I can't decide which one I like more.
I'm actually considering getting the other blush and eyeshadow trio in the collection. Ahh... Lemming for them. But I do find them quite pricey. :( The blush is SGD $36.90 and the eyeshadow trio is SGD$28.90. I wouldn't recommend getting them unless you can get them at a good discount or have vouchers to use.

The new collection also consists of 5 eyeliners and a new range of lipsticks which seem really creamy.

If you need more information or better swatches of this collection, just look it up on Youtube. A bunch of Youtube gurus actually got the whole collection for free just to review. Am so jealous.

Also you can watch this video for creating looks.

New Hauls: Fyrinnae Eyeshadows, Glow Blushes and Lip Lustres

Here's my Fyrinnae haul I got a few weeks back.
** note: Fyrinnae is not exactly a mineral makeup line. They are a vegan makeup company. :P

Anyway, I bought 6 sample eyeshadows, 2 sample blushes (or glows) and 2 full-sized Lip Lustres. They gave me a free eyeshadow. :) I was so excited about my haul when I got these because everything is just so vibrant in real life. The pictures definitely don't do justice.



Their samples are really generous.

From Left: Digital Faerie, Anemone, We're All Mad Here

Digital Faerie was really vibrant and pretty blue which seems a little teal.
Anemone was a little sheer compared to the rest and is a light green blue.
We're All Mad Here is somewhat of a kiwi colour - yellow green.

From Left: Nijiro, Koala, Polar Bear (Freebie)

Nijiro is just a cream colour with different coloured sparkles in it.
Koala is supposed to be a rosy taupe but it seems very plumish to me in the jar. :\
Polar Bear (the freebie) is a gorgeous light gold shade.

From Left: Hypnotize(Glow Blush), Rapunzel Had Extensions, Enchant (Glow Blush)

Rapunzel Had Extensions is a beautiful peach shade. When applied on the eyes, it goes on a little sheer and the gold shimmers get really obvious.
Hypnotize looks mauve in the jar but I think it gives a very natural peach glow on the cheeks.
Enchant is this super bright (almost neon) bright coral blush (looks almost orange). It's super pigmented and gives the face a really nice glow. I use a little bit only but still make the face look overdone so you really have to be super light handed when using this.

Overall, I really like the eyeshadows. They are vibrant, beautiful and just.. hard to explain. When I play with Fyrinnae eyeshadows, I get totally blown away. You will understand what the owners of Fyrinnae meant about their shadows being " complex and "layered"". I get so fascinated how the shadows look whenever I play with these colours.

I actually owned a few more sample eyeshadows that I ordered before this haul and those were the reason I decided to order from them again. Breath-taking colours. You just really have to try them.

As for the glow blushes, I think they really do leave a nice "glow". But it can be quite a hassle to work with super pigmented blushes like these. I look drunk when I overapplied Enchant. :P

And here's the 2 Lip Lusters I got.

From top: Flavor of the Day, Meloncholy

Flavor of The Day is this semi-sheer peachy shade with gold shimmers.
Meloncholy is a lot brighter that in the picture. It's really...coral orange.

The lip lustres are supposed to work more like lip tints than lip glosses. They come with wand-like applicators and are scented in different flavours but I only remember a butter smell.

They are a little too runny for my liking. They are almost liquid and when rubbed on the lips, there's this slippery feeling that I didn't like. Flavor of the day was not very distinctly visible on the lips but it gives a metallic finish on the lips that I like. I don't see a huge difference between the 2 except Meloncholy was brighter and more orange.

I doubt I will buy the Lip Lustres in full sizes again. They have really nice colours and packaging but don't seem to last on me. Maybe applying lip glosses will work better.

If you are interested, definitely check out their site. You get free shipping for USD$20 of orders. Shipping time may take very long as they are famous for taking their time. I did get my haul faster than I expected so maybe they are better now. Be prepared to wait though. Usually they will update how fast their processing is on the website.

One more thing! Sometimes you just can't log in their website. It's most annoying so have a little patience. I had lots of hiccups getting in my orders that I almost gave up but I'm so so glad I did order these in the end.

My First MAC Blush

I finally got my first MAC item. Couldn't resist the 25% sale a few months ago. This came in late because it was specially air-flown over by a darling angel. -coughs- -wide grins-

I bought 2 items but the MSF I wanted was out of stock. It was all right because I ended up spending on something else instead. So anyway, here's the MAC blush in Style that I got.



Style is described as "Coral-peach with gold pearl (Frost)" on MAC website. First impression was it really looks that unimpressive as the picture I posted. It looks like a boring orange peach. It doesn't really look like a coral to me.

I would describe Style as a sheer coral-toned peach with gold shimmers (or frost) in it. The frosty finish is rather hard to describe. It's a mixture of a shimmery and satin finish where you see the shimmers but they are muted and not loud, giving it a nice subtle sheen on the face. I don't find it very pigmented on my NC25-30 yellow toned skin. I piled on quite a bit and really don't find it as pigmented as some have reviewed it to be on MakeupAlley.com. I guess it works differently on different people. It goes on like a subtle peachy glow, very natural. I just put this on and it makes my face look so fresh and awake. It's super gorgeous. Really am loving it.

I'm kind of glad I chose this over Peaches (true matte peach) which I really wanted to get. Think coral blushes suit me better than peach blushes. I love the glow that Style gives.

Is this the start of a MAC blush addiction? Heh. :p

Review: E.L.F Studio Complexion Perfection and Bronzers

Here's some goodies I got from the E.L.F 50% sale. Couldn't resist getting more from the E.L.F Studio range. :P





The ELF Complexion Perfection compact contains 4 corrector colours:

• Yellow (for correcting purple eye circles)
• Blue (for highlighting or correcting orange bruises)
• Green (for correcting any redness and neutralising red acne scars)
• Pink (for correcting green veins or eye circles and providing complexion with a radiant glow)

You can actually get more colours by mixing. For instance, you can get purple by mixing blue with pink. Purple can be used as a highlighter and dusted all over to make the face look less sallow.

The powder is very fine and sheer. They don't give much colour when swatched. The yellow shade is too sheer for correcting my dark eye circles. Would probably use it to dust over the area after using another concealer/corrector. I couldn't really find a use for the blue shade so didn't try that. (Think I'll try the purple trick next time.) The pink shade gave a mild radiant glow which was all right. I was however, surprised by the green shade. The green is very sheer so it needs a bit of piling before it works on the redness from my acne that I was trying to get rid of. I packed it on with an eyeshadow brush and it blends beautifully. It did not give me full coverage but the redness was neutralised by at least half without leaving an ugly green patch, which most green correctors usually do. I actually really like it and think I would use it the most.

If you blend all the 4 colours together, you get an almost white powder that can be used all over the face. It helps to neutralise colours that shouldn't be there and make your face look more radiant. I tested it on the face without any makeup on. It goes on sheer without much coverage. The finish was nice, somewhat satin-ish. I did notice my face look a little bit brighter and healthier.

Overall, I'm think I might repurchase this product. It's not superbly good but it's still fun to have. The green shade did come in handy for me but I'm not sure it's going to work for those who have plenty of redness in their skin since it's sheer. If you feel you have a lot of correcting (of redness or for correcting dark eye circles) to be done, you might be better off looking for another alternative compact/concealer that provides better coverage. However, if you just want to try out what a corrector compact (or complexion perfection compact as named by E.L.F) is like or you would like your correctors and loose powder to be in one compact for convenience, this could be what you are looking for.


From Left: Warm Bronzer, Golden Bronzer

The ELF Studio Bronzers are so pretty. I really like these (a lot) but I actually don't have that much to say about these. They are very shimmery and pigmented. I've swatched them side by side for comparison's sake but I don't see a huge difference in colours between them except the Warm Bronzer is a little darker than the Golden Bronzer. ( The Golden Bronzer doesn't look as dull in real life as in the photo I posted. My camera washes it out. It's still pretty with shades of gold and browns.)

I really like these but I think they are too shimmery to contour the face. They are however, very nice to use as highlighters/bronzers to dust on your cheekbones or all over to give it a sunkissed glow. They are shimmery when swatched but when on the face, it gives it a nice glow (with the shine but without the shimmer bits). I prefer Golden Bronzer as it's the lighter of the two and suits my skintone better. Warm Bronzer would probably suit you if you are slightly darker with more of a medium to dark skintone.

For more photos/swatches of these, you can check out this link. I know the blush in the Warm Bronzer looks really peachy in the swatches photos in the link but mine's not really the same. Mine's more shimmery than pigmented.

And oh, if they don't work as a bronzer for you, you can use them as eyeshadows too. I've tried. They don't go on as smooth as real eyeshadows but with a sticky base, it shouldn't be a problem. ^.^ (I love multi-functional products.)

SN Mix #02

SN Mix #02

2 scoops of premix (Yellow corrector + Buttery Yellow + Medium Ivory)
1 scoop of Buttery Yellow base
0.5 scoop of Glow
4 scoops of Medium Coverage Ivory

Review: NYX Concealer in A Jar

Here's a review for NYX Concealer in a Jar. I have been using these for months so I think it's time for a review!

Got the picture from Google Images.

 Previous hotlinked images to NYX were removed several times.

It all started when I searched a frantic search for the perfect undereye concealer. I figured all my other liquid/stick drugstore concealers weren't really doing anything for me. So I decided to find a creamy concealer which would ensure better coverage for my dark eye circles. And so I found NYX!

NYX Concealer in A Jar has a total of 9 concealer shades (that's a huge variety). They also have 3 colour correctors shades, namely Yellow, Green and Lavender. These concealers/correctors come in a glass jar. It's almost a 5g sample jar size except the glass is extremely thick, making it look bigger.

Currently, I'm using Beige for my undereye circles. I also have 2 correctors: Yellow and Green.

Beige is a slightly darker match for my NC25-30 skin. I prefer using a slightly darker undereye concealer shade as I think it works better in terms of coverage. I hate it when I was pushed to buy lighter concealer shades by sales assistants and ended up making my dark eye circles look ashy instead. Would describe Beige as a medium beige concealer with lots of yellow in it. (The picture I posted was not taken by me but it certainly looks like Beige in that picture.) It was perfect for me to use for concealing. The consistency is very creamy (not dry creamy but smooth creamy) and very easy to blend. Of course it would still cake and show off your fine lines if you pile on a lot so you just got to use it moderately. I really like that it's buildable and gives good amount of coverage.

I must say I really love it!

I've tried it for concealing acne and such but I don't think it's as good as compared to using it to conceal. It doesn't last as long for me. Moreover, this concealer contains mineral oil. I wouldn't really advise it for using it to conceal pimples as it might just irritate it instead if your skin is very sensitive towards mineral oil.

The correctors, however, were a disappointment for me. They are not bad but not what I expected. I wished they were a little deeper in colour.

Yellow is meant for correcting dark eye rings. It's a bright pastel yellow shade. When applied, it sheers out but on my eye circles, it comes off as a whitish patch. It doesn't really does much for me nor neutralises the purples tones in my eye circles. It certainly goes the job of brightening the eye area but I wouldn't use it alone. I think it would be better for those with fairer skintones as the "whitish patch" wouldn't be as obvious.

Green was a recent purchase. It is meant for neutralising redness in the face. It's a minty green shade. I used this on my acne just to see if it helps in reducing redness. My verdict is you really need to use just a minimal amount or the greenness would be obvious on the face. I'm not a fan after using it as I find it too much of a hassle. And maybe I shouldn't be using something with mineral oil on my acne (I'm sensitive to it.). But I think this would be great for those with rosacea problems and really want to neutralise all the redness on their face.

That's about it. Overall, I still like these concealers. Mineral oil bugs me at times but for the price, it's really worth it. I can't remember the price but I believe it's 5 USD or even less during sales. If you are really in need of a concealer, this product is definitely worth a try.

For swatches of the NYX concealers, try looking through youtube. :)

New Hauls: NYX Eyeshadow Palettes

So here's the little surprise I just got a few days ago. The new NYX palettes! I only ordered 3. Am wondering if it's enough so whether I should get more. :D hee.

So far I've been excited over these.

I got NYX Runway Collection in Champagne & Caviar, Versus and NYX For Your Eyes Only in For Eye Colour Brown.

The palettes came with a cardboard box packaging. It's pretty neat as the colours are coded at the sides so it's still easier for you to find them even you store them in those cardboard boxes. The compact is in black shiny plastic, not like the matte plastic the NYX trios come in. It's definitely very sleek looking. These palettes were smaller than I imagined to be or from what the photos I've seen online. But it's a pretty handy size for putting into your handbag and purses.

NYX Runway Collection: Champagne & Caviar



NYX Runway Collection: Versus



NYX For Your Eyes Collection: For Eye Colour Brown



Have played with these palettes and they are definitely pigmented and very easy to blend. They show up even without using a primer or cream base. But I would still advise using one to make the colours show even more. Very pleased with them.

Most of the colours work for me except one or two which didn't work or come off right. I do feel that some colours belong to NYX's single eyeshadow colours. So if you already own a lot of their single/trio eyeshadows, you might want to compare whether you have same colours in your stash. Overall, I think they are really good buys for their prices. :D

I'll probably do a detailed review another day. There are quite a few details which need me to focus like colour description (oh...big headache) and I really can't focus now.

In case you are wondering about the size again, here's a comparison made between NYX trio eyeshadow, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil and the palette. It's about the length of the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil.



For locals Singaporeans who don't know how long a Jumbo Eye Pencil is, it's about the size of the famous ZA 2-way foundation blue compact. :) Just a weeny smaller and slimmer. :)



Help that helps.

Added:

Link to swatches here. I swear you would want everything after going through i.

Happiness is....

Got my NYX package and another surprise waiting for me in my mailbox. So happy today! :D

Review: E.L.F Studio Brushes

I've gotten a couple of the E.L.F Studio brushes and I've tried my best to take pictures. As they are black, it's really extremely hard to capture any details. I'm skipping photos for these. I think they show up better on E.L.F site. :(

Overall, I really like these brushes. They are made of taklon and I think they're really neat and not poorly made. They're worth every penny paid. (Oh my god, I just realised they have new brushes again! -.-) So if you have a chance to pick them up, don't hesitate. At least pick up the first two brushes mentioned below. The Complexion brush and Powder brush are must-gets. They are so cheap and so useful.

Powder Brush
This is a flat-top brush that's slightly flared out. It's very soft and dense. It's very good for applying mineral foundation and very easy to buff it out on the face. Also good for anything that needs blending. I find it similiar to Everyday Minerals Flat Top brush just that EDM's brush is more dense and it isn't flared. Personally I prefer ELF's version as EDM's flat top brush has been irritating my skin. This has taken over as my favourite flat top brush after using it.

Complexion Brush
Oh. This is one of my favourites too. It's a dome shaped fluffy brush. It's not a rounded brush if you look at it from the top. It's just a flat brush (from the sides) like The Body Shop blush brush, but more fluffy at the top. It's super soft on the face and I love it. I find it good for when you need a light dusting of loose powder all over the face or when applying blush or bronzer. I like using this, especially for pigmented mineral blushes (mineral blush that comes in loose powder form which can be a pain to work with if I use the TBS blush brush, as the brush is slightly flatter and would cause all the blush powder to stick together). It'll go onevenly on the brush and go on light-handed on the face like a sheer blush. Perfect!

Concealer Brush

The ELF Studio Concealer Brush is just flat and dense. I find it really good for applying and blending creamy concealers.

Small Angled Brush
This brush head is really small. I think it's half the size or maybe two-third of the size of a normal small angled brush. It worked decently in applying gel-liners or for using it to apply eyebrow powder to the brows. It can also be used to line eyeshadow along the corners or along the lower lids. I really like it for applying gel-liners. What I hate about this is the handle is really long so it's a hassle to keep.


I still have a couple more brushes which I haven't tried. Will get to it and continue with part 2. ;)

Tips: Application for Different Eye Shapes

I've been experimenting with the "defining your crease" method on my eyes.
It was all right. It worked for some colours but when I go a little darker on the colours, it got messy. Still trying hard to grasp it.

I don't think it really suits all Asians' eyes (-gives face-).

But if you are interested, here's a pretty good read on it..


Bookmarked from here!

There are 6 basic eyeshapes:

1. Almond/average Deep Set
2. Prominent
3. Wide Set
4. Close set
5. Hooded

Then i feel there are a couple more to add that i feel are also pretty basic that i will also throw in:

• Small
• Asian
• Down set

Identification: Looking straight ahead with head straight forward (not tilted up or down) the classifications are as follows.

Almond/Average eyes: this also known in the beauty world as the "perfect eye shape". Basically the proportions of your eye are the ideal quantity of 1/3 lid and 2/3 brow area. So in the mirror if the amount of lid seen is 1/3 of the rest of the eye area above the crease you have almond eyes. Also there is little drooping of the upper or lower lid... like the shape of an almond!

Deep set eyes: with this type of eye, you commonly see that the eye is set back farther into the socket and the brow is extended farther out away from the face. The crease is deep set and often times when you close one eye the crease can still be seen.

Prominent eyes: Many text books call this shape "bulging" eyes but i greatly dislike that term... so i just like to say that with this shape your eyes are the most prominent feature of your face! Usually the eyes protrude from the socket slightly more than most eyes... a great way to determine if you have this eye shape is to place a pencil or brush vertically across your eyebrow and letting it rest on your cheek... if your eye can touch it (or in my case i cant even get the pencil to rest on my cheek without my eye being in the way) you have prominent eyes. In the same sense if your eye doesn't come close to touching the pencil (or your eyelashes bat it) then you have deep set eyes!

Wide set and close set eyes: Basically everyone is a little wide set or close set... no one has perfectly spaced eyes... but the way you determine whether you are a little wide set or close set is to see if you can fit the length of one of your eyes in between your eyes. Odd sounding i know but take your pinky finger and hold it horizontally under your eye... it should be the same legnth from the tip of your pinky finger to the middle knuckle (not the one closest to your nail or the one closest to your hand) as your eye! then set that across your nose. Line up with the pink of one eye. If your knuckle overlaps the other eye, you are slightly close set, if you have space to spare you have wide set eyes!

Hooded eyes: Unfortunately we all need to know how to apply makeup to this shape generally because it's the shape of mature eyes... in other words as you get older your eyes will start to have this shape. This eye shape is classified as having a fold of eye skin that usually hides the crease diminishing the lid (when looking forward) or all together hides the lid and touches the lash line.

Other types:
Small eyes: usually the eye appears smaller in comparison to the proportions of the face... Usually these eye shapes have little to no crease.
Asian eyes: Not to be confused with small eyes. Asian eyes still have a crease however the lid area is half the size or width of almond eye shapes.
Down set eyes: Also known as "droopy" eyes, the outer corners usually tilt upward for most eye shapes, however with this eye shape the outer corners of the eyes slant downward in a "droopy" fashion... but never fear, this is one of the easiest and most dramatic of fixes!




Application Techniques:

Remember the one rule of thumb- lighter colors bring features forward and into focus, while dark colors push features back and diminish lines.

Almond: This eye shape can pull off any look however the most flattering look for this shape would be a smudged smokey look. Eyeliner on top and bottom smudged to blur and neutral medium shadows for the lid.

Deep set: This eye shape needs little contouring... so though you shouldn't wear too dark of shadows or go heavy with the liner, you can however pull off almost any color! For these ladies i'd suggest liners in many shades like gold, silver, blues and greens. Try to avoid a lot of blacks and dark browns. If you just can't part from the dark liner, be sure to only apply a very thin line to the lashes or just stick to the waterline. Remember the darker colors will only make deep set eyes look even more recessed than they are... light colors will bring them forward and balanced.

Prominent eyes: This eye shadow technique is all about making the lid more diminished. Darker eyesahdows are your friend and will minimize the "bulging-ness" of the eye. However use caution. NEVER go above the natural crease or you will end up with deep set eyes. Also with most prominent eye shapes, the under eye area can cast a shadow making it appear as though you have under eye cirlces, so be sure to stick close to the lash line.

Wide set eyes: with wide set eyes you want to create the illusion that your eyes are closer by creating a crease and liner that widens as it gets closer to the eye. So you want to stay away from cat eye looks and keep the crease color to a minimum at the outer edges of the eye.

Close set eyes: Application is just the opposite! Liner and crease should widen as you reach the outer corners of the eye. Cat eye looks are the perfect answer for this!

Hooded eyes: for many women the technique may seem daunting but as long as you keep to the rule, application will be a breeze! Keep lighter shades at the lash line and under the brow. Medium shades at the inner 1/3 of the lid... and forget the natural crease... apply darker crease colors only on the skin that seems to "hood" over the rest of your lid and blend well... this dramatically diminishes the part of the eye that seems to sag over your lid.

Small eyes: soft looks are the best when it comes to small eyes... dark colors just close the eye area and often lead to making the eyes look even smaller. Use brighter colors and contour with soft shades above the natural crease... this gives the illusion of open bright eyes.

Asian eyes: Liner is your friend! Just make sure its thinner in the center and widens at the outer and inner edges. Keep the colors bright and apply neutral shade for contour at the inner corners of the lid add dimension.

Down set eyes: Lift outer corners by applying shadows and liners that move in upward motion away from the downward edge of the eye... make liner much thicker at the ends and blend crease color into what would be a cat eye on most other eye shapes. add balance by contouring the inner corner of the lid with a darker shadow effect (unless eyes are also close set)



ETA: Now deep set eyes and hooded eyes most likely won't touch the pencil on the pencil method, however the main difference is determined on if the lid becomes covered by the skin above the crease... More often than not hooded eyes will cover 1/3 to over half of the lid when looking forward.

And remember ladies this all just a guideline! All eye shapes are beautiful and when make up is applied right every eye shape can be enhanced!


Other entries:
1. Tips: Eyeliner and Eyeshadow for Different Eye Shapes

Review: E.L.F Studio Blush & Bronzer Compact

Another E.L.F haul. Finally got it. So happy with it.

I bought a couple more brushes but I keep forgetting to take pictures of those. I'll try to do a post on E.L.F STUDIO brushes as soon as I can. :D

And I finally got the USD$1 Eyeshadow Blending brush. It is amazingly soft. I used to blend with those normal eyeshadow brush and would get irritated over it cos it seemed to scratch my eyelids so much. I was starting to worry about saggy eyelids. Worry no more. I can use this. It actually looked better than I saw in pictures. I wonder if they change the way it's made.

And I also bought E.L.F STUDIO Blush and Bronzer Compact, the Translucent Matt Powder and the Eyebrow Kit in Dark.



The packaging is really nice. These come in cardboard boxes and when you open it, you'll see a piece of black cardboard paper keeping the compacts in place. The compacts are very smooth and sleek. However, they are a pain to open. They are not made like those drugstore 2-way foundation compacts where a push in the button will unlock the clasp and the compact will open easily. For these compacts, you have to exert some force to "force" it open. :\

The mirror for the bigger compacts is a good size. However, I was a little disappointed with the size of the pans in the compacts. They look a lot bigger in the cardboard boxes above or other photos posted online. They are actually smaller than the size of the pans for drugstore 2-way foundation(think ZA, L'Oreal, Maybelline). The blush and bronzer duo is still all right for the size (I guess). But no wonder people feel cheated when they bought the translucent matt powder (since the size of it looks like it wouldn't last long).



The Contouring blush and bronzer powder in Blushed/Bronzed is gorgeous. It looks darker in real life. It looks like a peach blush but I don't think it really is. Have tested both and the blush is really really gorgeous. I think maybe it is a coral peach with gold shimmers that are not over the top. Very natural for everyday. It's pigmented and yet I didn't overdo it with my The Body Shop blush brush (I always overdo it if I use it on pigmented blushes). I don't have NARS blushes so I don't know how this compares to them. However I have a few NARS Orgasm's dupes like Majolica Majorca Blush in RD255 (which is my favourite blush!) and The Body Shop Cheek Blush in 04 Golden Pink (which I bought because of this review but it didn't turn up well on my cheeks). I did a swatch with the 3 of them but photos didn't turn up well. (sighs) Basically they look like they come from the family with the same amount of golden shimmers in the following order from lightest to darkest: TBS blush in 04, Majolica Majorca in RD255, ELF Studio Blush duo.

04 Golden Pink didn't turn up much with one swipe that's why it's the lightest. :P

A significant difference between Majolica Majorca Blush in RD255 and ELF Studio Blush duo is the former is more peachy while ELF Studio Blush is darker and obviously more reddish.

Majolica Majorca Blush in RD255 used to be my favourite blush ever since I got it because it's so wearable everyday. But what I don't like about it is that it does not give me enough of a glow. Now my favourite is ELF Studio Blush! Holy Grail!

If you are not interested in reddish blush, you might want to consider Milani Blush in Luminous, another NARS dupe which I heard is more pinkish. :) I have not bought it yet, not yet. ;P

As for the bronzer, it is really quite a dark shade. It's super pigmented. I think it's more suitable for those with skintone NC30 and above. I'm between NC25-NC30 and it's super obvious on my face. But I think I still might be able to use it if I'm super light-handed. I would recommend getting the E.L.F STUDIO Complexion Brush for bronzer as it's pretty good for applying pigmented blushes or bronzers and making them appear more sheer. I haven't tried it on the bronzer yet but it works pretty well for my pigmented blushes.

Overall I think this is a pretty good buy. Get it if you are interested! I think it should be a flattering shade for most ladies. It might not work as well for those who are too fair (since it's darker than in the photo I posted).

Reviews of the other 2 compacts will be done when I've tried it.

And I just realised E.L.F Studio released new products on their site again -bangs wall-

New on Shelves: NYX Eyeshadow Palettes

NYX has new items up on shelves. And they are eyeshadow palettes (There are new single eyeshadow shades, lippies and pigments but I'm not really interested at the moment. lol.). Pretty palettes with 5-10 shades in it. And at a very good price.


The Carribbean Collection - 5 Color Palette



The Runway Collection & For Your Eyes Only - 10 Color Palette




I'm wanting these so bad. The prices look so tempting.

I've strayed to look for other sites selling NYX at better prices since there was feedback that MsCuppycakes.com is currently taking longer to sending out packages as they are experiencing higher business traffic flow.

Prices on this site really looks good. (Click banner for site)

NYX Runway Collection (removed link)

NYX Eyeshadow For Your Eyes Only (removed link)


NYX Eyeshadow Carribean Collection (removed link)

I've not tried ordering from that site yet but prices for some of the items I'm interested in are cheaper than Cherry Culture or MsCuppyCakes. Well, it looks good until you hit the "checkout" button and click "shipping to Singapore". Then you'll start wondering how the shipping rates are generated. That's the part where I got bummed whether or not to order.

If you are based in USA, you are in for a treat for there's free shipping for orders above USD$50. -sulks-

If you are not, like me, what should I do?

I need a solution. :(

Free stuff: Kao Laurier F. Sample Pack

If you are interested to try it, you can redeem it here. It's free! :)

Can't review it lah because I don't think anyone is interested in a sanitary pad review. :P

Review: Jason Natural Vitamin E Oil 5000IU

I purchased this product after reading endless raves about it on Everyday Minerals forum.



It's supposedly all organic, containing 5 different types of oil.

Ingredients:
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, and/or Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil*, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Natural Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Triticum vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Lecithin, Essential Oil Blend. *Certified Organic

You can read this for more information.




This product doesn't look like an oil. It seems really watery in the bottle. The cap is terribly frustrating to work with. It's those cap where you just press one edge and the other edge will pop up for you to pour it out. However, the oil doesn't come out that smoothly. And when it does, it overflows and gets the cap oily.

It smells really good. It smells of sweet almond oil, a really nice sweet scent. When I used it, I just pour a drop or two, rub it in my palms and pat it gently all over my face. And because we're in Singapore, I was advised to spritz some toner before using any form of oil. So I spritzed a lot and used the oil on my cleansed face.

It goes on really well, oily but you wouldn't feel your face is greasy to the touch. I do feel the skin is plumped. I used it on and off for a while now and my verdict is....

It is overrated.

Although this Vitamin E oil works all right as a moisturiser, it doesn't seem to improve my complexion. I don't feel any different. Definitely not as miraculous as the other ladies raving about it in the forum. And I did end up with breakouts. I haven't gotten new acne in a while and this Vitamin E oil left me with a new pimple after each use. :(

I headed back to the forum to look at the thread again and suddenly I saw a few other ladies having the same problem. There was a discussion regarding the ingredients and apparently wheat germ oil is rated as HIGHLY comodogenic and rated a 5 out of 5 (List of acne causing ingredients).

I wanted to scream :( at myself for not doing my homework.

I had wanted to try this Vitamin E oil to see whether it was really that miraculous and it disappointed me greatly. I had wanted to see whether it would help with fading scars but I don't see any improvement.

So the answer is clear. Do not get it.

This has probably worked for ladies in cold dry climates but I've given it enough chances. Getting your pores clogged is not fun. I can't deny I love the feeling of it on the face but I'm never going to try it on the face anymore. I've even tried dabbing it under my eyes to see whether it helps to "reduce fine lines" as claimed. I ended up with milla seeds about to surface. :(

Think it would be banish it into Cold Palace. Or probably just use it on my neck or body. I'll update again if anything miraculous happen.

New Hauls: The Body Shop Atrium Sale

Went to The Body Shop Atrium Sale and picked these up.



Wanted to stock up my Tea Tree Oil Facial Wash as it's running low. Luckily they have it. It's a full size. I think it can last me a while.

Tea Tree Oil Facial Wash - $16.90 with 30% off
Wild Cherry & Passion Fruit Shower Gel - 2 for $14.90

Guess it's a pretty good deal. I almost bought it off their stores at 20% off instead. :P

Oh, and Wild Cherry smells wonderful. I thought Passion Fruit was nice but Wild Cherry is way better. Can't wait to use it. I don't find their shower gels particularly moisturizing or whatever. I just love the scent. Currently using the Strawberry Shower Gel, which just keeps me happy everyday.

And I miscalculated so my purchases weren't over $30 so I didn't get the stamp. Boo.

If you are a The Body Shop member, you would know why you get obsessed with their products. Their membership and "collecting stamps" system makes you addicted to buying them whenever you see a sale.

I'm lemming for something from their Hot Brights Summer collection. Waiting for a discount in stores or a voucher to drop my way.

Review: Joppa Minerals Lip Twist in Melon Crush

Had a swop with a forumer for this tinted lip balm - Joppa Minerals Lip Twist in Melon Crush. (And she gave me a bunch of stuff too. :) Thank you. :P)





The ingredient list alone makes it sound yummylicious.

Ingredients: Caster Oil, Iron Oxide, Mica, Bees Wax, Candelia Wax, Avacado Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Jojoba Oil, Titantium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Carnuba Wax, Cranberry Seed Oil, Olive Squaline Oil, Liquid Silk, Vitamin E, Essential Oil Blend, Grapefruit Seed Extract

As you can see from the packaging, it's very much a homemade lip balm. Like someone just poured heated lip balm in it and let it cool. I've checked the whole tube and found a dent in the balm, so don't expect it to be perfectly made as there's bound to be errors (or bubbles trapped) when they cool the balm in the tube.

Upon opening the cap, I cringed. This Lip Twist doesn't smell all that good to me. It has this "wood"-ish smell. Something like perhaps how musk fragrances smell. Or maybe not. It annoys me quite a bit because I've never dealt with lip balms smelling like that. I've checked the ingredient list several times but still couldn't figure out why it smells that way. Wish they could change the smell of it. I think the evem the Joppa Minerals Tinted Concealer Base smelt better. (That one smells like shea butter.)

This Lip Twist goes on really smoothly for me. The colour looks dark but on my lips, it's like a muted rosey shade. There's this blue-toned pink iridescence in this lip twist which initially I was annoyed about. But after wearing it for minutes, I fell in love with the colour. The iridescence was visible on the lips but it didn't make it look that bad. It gives my lips a really nice shine. It wasn't loud and is very natural like I've got healthy plumped lips. Plus the lip twist is very moisturising and goes on really well. It's almost like a lipstick and lip balm. :D

Overall, I loved it despite the "wood"-ish smell. I can bear with the smell since it doesn't linger too long. I would purchase it again if there are nicer colours. Melon Crush was like the neutral lip colour among the rest. If you want something more visible, opt for the darker shades. I find the price of it at USD $7 steep. Sit out and wait for Joppa sales before grabbing this. :)

Review: NYX Blushes

These are some of the NYX blushes I bought during 50% NYX sale and what I owned before that. Yes I bought all 3 types of blushes they have: - Mosaic Powder, Powder Blush and Rouge Cream Blush. I'm loving all of them. Can't decide which I like more. One thing's for sure. I'm not done. I still want more. :P


From left: NYX Mosaic Powder in Dare and Rosey

Dare is a coral shade. It's very pretty with some shimmery browns/bronze along with the coral shade in it. Very pigmented and gives a very pretty glow on my face.

Rosey is a medium pink shade. There's a light pink, rosey pink, purple shades in the compact. The overall turnout is really just a vibrant rosey pink shade, which I find it a bit hard to wear. It can turn out to be quite loud when you overdo it. Would probably try using the colours separately as blush. You would need a smaller brush as the compact looks big in the picture but in real life, you would find it to be smaller and harder to just dab on single shade.

For the two mosaic blushes above, they will just turnout like the top rightmost shades.



From left: NYX Mosaic Blush in Peachy and Highlighter

Peachy contains shades like a beige, peach, brown, bronze as illustrated in the photo. The turnout is just a natural flush on the face, which I would say is good for everyday when you don't feel like wearing pink/peach/red cheeks.

Highlighter contains shades like a yellow, pink, purple, white. It is a highlighter for the face, not really a blush. The turnout is really nice, giving a soft focus to where you dust it. It's not really translucent as you can see a little bit of whiteness. Probably would not recommended for darker tone girls. I really like this a lot. :)

Overall, the NYX Mosaic Powders did not disappoint. The blushes look smaller in real life as compared to pictures you see online. I'm not sure why. It could be the mosaic prints playing tricks on the eyes. These are pigmented, but they are also very powdery so it can be a mess after swirling to get a good mix. Some people find it chalky but I don't really think so. Like I've said earlier, you can try using a smaller blush brush to use the shades separately. Haven't really done that so I can't review.

The mosaic powders can be used as eyeshadows too. I've tried it with Dare and it works well. Definitely pigmented enough to be used this way. Pinks and oranges blushes might not work that well as eyeshadows because I doubt most people can carry them off as eyeshadow shades. You can consider getting the brown shades in the Mosaic Blush collection to double as bronzer and eyeshadows. I'm not really interested in the browns in this range so I can't review those. :P


From left: NYX Powder Blush in Pinky and Peach

Pinky is this bright hot fuchsia pink. I feel it is too cool-toned pink for me. It did not work for my yellow toned skin. Looks really off. I have tried it very light hand but it doesn't work. Not recommended for very yellow toned girls. It doesn't go well with yellow. :\

Peach is a very pretty peachy pink. I read it off another blog that it is recommended for Asian ladies so I had to get it. It is such a pretty colour. It's like the most perfect peachy pink I've seen. I like this a lot for it really gives me a nice glow.

Overall, the NYX powder blushes did not disappoint too. They are very pigmented and also very powdery. They are definitely not chalky compared to the NYX Mosaic blushes. As I don't like my blush to show up very obviously, I don't really need to use a lot. I love both colours in the compacts although only Peach suited me better. They look really gorgeous. I'm lemming for more shades from this range.


NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Rose Petal

I bought this with the intention of using this as a cream blush base to make my powder blushes stay longer. Haven't tried it that way yet. NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Rose Petal is the lightest shade in the range so I picked it up. I thought it would be a soft earthy pink, like a rose petal shade. But when swatched, it's just pink. The shade wasn't that bad but it was not what I pictured. When applied on the cheeks, it's very easy to blend and colour is buildable. That's a plus point for me for it's so easy to use. It's something that wouldn't go wrong since you can pile it sheer and build it up another layer if you want a more intense colour. Super easy to use.

I'm lemming for more NYX Rouge Cream blushes too but as cream blushes have a shorter shelf life compared to powder blushes, I don't suggest going excessively crazy over it since they expire faster. Would probably just get one more next time and that's it. :P

If you haven't tried these blushes, what are you waiting for? For their pigmentation level and the price you pay, it's very value for money. Get these if you are ok with powdery blushes that might be a mess.

For swatches of the NYX Powder Blushes, you can check this site.