Pops of Colour in my MAC palette

I wanted to add some variety to my MAC palette besides just browns lol so tadaa! 

 From top to bottom: Sketch, Satin Taupe, Twinks, All that Glitters

I wanted some colour, but still needed them to be more wearable and suitable for everyday occasions. Thus, I chose those that were more toned down and not as loud. I already have tons of pink shades thanks to my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, so I didn't bother looking for any others. From my experimentation with the NYX palette (yes, I haven't forgotten about it), I found that orange, pinks, and purples look good on me, rather than say, greens and blues.

Sketch (Velvet) is dark purple with a semi-matte texture, and matches perfectly with Satin Taupe. It is perfect on it's own as a liner shade, or as a base for my Clio Gelpresso Pencil Eyeliner in Bloody Devil.

Satin Taupe (Veluxe Pearl) is just so freaking pretty. It is a purple-taupe with gorgeous shimmer. I never knew I'd love this so much. It is super flattering, and just makes my eyes stand out. Sometimes when I'm wearing monotone ensembles, I really want colour in my accessories and my face to look more...interesting? The quality is superb as well; smooth and buttery in a way that reminds me of Urban Decay eyeshadows.

Twinks (Veluxe Pearl) is a shimmery reddish brown with slight micro-glitter in it that's barely noticeable. I have used it in the outer corner to complement All that Glitters and Arena. Something to note: even though it's a Veluxe Pearl like Satin Taupe, it's not as smooth.

All that Glitters (Veluxe Pearl) is a gorgeous peachy-orange with shimmer and golden micro-glitter. It is really similar to Arena, just its shinier and less orange cousin I guess lol. This was a shade I lusted for while swatching MAC shadows in preparation for this trip. It's a great wash of luxury all over the lids, seemingly creating an insta-glam effect. I would compare the effect of this shadow to that of Trick in my Urban Decay Naked 3, just that Trick is more pinkish.

Shimmery Lid Colours in my MAC Palette

Whoops, Satin Taupe should be here as well, since I usually use it on my lids too but I forgot to include it! Here are my favourite lid shades (Top-Bottom): Grain, Arena, and Era. 

I wear Era the most often, with Mystery as my liner shade. Era is a light beige-brown-taupe. LOL. It's perfect for me. I considered Soba (a light golden brown) to serve the same function of a shimmery light brown in my MAC palette, but Soba made me look sick when I tested it on my eyelids in the store.

Grain is a light peachy-beige great for adding a pop of brightness in the centre of my lid when I'm done with the rest of my eye makeup, as well as on my inner bottom corner. 

Arena is a peachy-gold that surprisingly flatters my lid, and is perfect for a natural makeup look since it's so subtle.

NYX Butter Glosses review

The NYX Butter Glosses have really impressed me! It smells so sweet and doesn't taste weird at all. The colours I bought are all really pigmented and long-lasting as well. They even leave a slight stain when rubbed off with a tissue after meals. Best of all for my dry lips, they are uber moisturising! My lips tend to crack/peel sometimes when it get super dry, but these somehow leave my lips feeling plump and full of moisture even without any lip balm as a base.

I bought 4 shades (from left to right): Apple Strudel, Peaches and Cream, Cherry Cheescake, Peach Cobbler.

In the swatches below, the order is reversed such that Peach Cobbler is the topmost swatch and so on.

L photo: one swipe of the doe-foot applicator.







R photo: blended out.









To boot, these are SO cheap! Bought 2 in the US for $5 each, with a 50% off 2nd purchase, so it was US$7 in total. The other two I bought in Canada for CA$8 each.

I really went lip-crazy this trip, so I have a lot more lip products to blog about hehehehhehe.

Matte Neutrals in my MAC palette

From left to right: mystery, concrete, wedge, omega, blanc type

Mystery (satin) is a cool dark brown, perfect for lining the eyes with a pencil brush. I chose Mystery over Brun, which is almost identical to Mystery, but inferior in pigmentation and texture.

Concrete (satin) is really similar to mystery, but has greyish tones. I use this for my eyebrows mainly, but it looks good when matched with the cooler toned eyeshadows in my palette too.

Wedge (satin) is a warm medium brown. Unexpectedly, it looks okay on me. I initially thought it would be too orange, but it is a great blending colour for when I use warmer eyeshadow shades such as All That Glitters and Twinks.

Omega (matte) is cool light brown, with a very slight greyish tinge. It's the perfect all-over-lid shade for when I'm lazy! I love this colour so much. So far, I've used it to blend out Satin Taupe and Sketch, it works very well this way as well.

Blanc Type (matte2) is VERY impressive; so creamy, smooth and pigmented that you only need to touch it lightly with a brush to pick up colour. It's a slightly pinkish beige, perfect for highlighting and blending when I mess up. 

MAC 15-pan eyeshadow palette

I WENT CRAZY.

In defense of myself, the equivalent of what I got (12 shadows and the pan itself) would have cost ~sgd$30 more if I had bought it in Singapore. hehehe.

From left to right, 

1st row: Grain, Arena, All That Glitters, Twinks

2nd row: Era, Wedge, Satin Taupe, Sketch

3rd row: Blanc Type, Omega, Concrete, Mystery

Random swatches before I get to blogging about the shadows separately: (concrete is missing, since I bought it after this)

Tarte Smooth Operator™ Amazonian Clay Pressed Finishing Powder Review

Edit: It lasted from 11am till 10pm for me today, and I was out in the hot sun the entire time! My makeup still looked flawless and fresh by the end of the day, and there was absolutely no creasing at all too. I am in lurrrveeee!!

This is the best finishing/setting powder I've tried so far! It mattifies my skin without making me look powdery. It's certainly not visible at all. When applying it, I only saw my skin become matte, without actually seeing traces of the powder. Amazing. It also does not disturb my makeup, but maybe I'd have to credit my Real Techniques Setting brush for that. The staying power is incredible: the powder helped the concealer on my nose stay put even when i rubbed against it.

I focused on pressed variants of setting powder because of bad prior experience with loose powder. Loose powder is just so messy! The only exception is the Tarte Airbrush Foundation I've blogged about before, cus of the unique delivery system. Otherwise, I really just can't be bothered.





The picture below isn't as clear as I would have liked it to be. There is actually some (VERY LITTLE) sparkle in the powder, due to Mica being in the formulation, which translates to a very subtle glow. This effect is very similar to what the Tarte airbrush foundation does for my skin.

As for the packaging, it actually comes with a flat brush that doesn't actually fit into the compact. In any case, it's not very good. I love the mirror inside, it's just so convenient!

KEY INFORMATION:

Formulated without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, gluten.

Full ingredients list: Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Silica, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Glycerin, Kaolin, Xantham Gum, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glcol, Phenoxyethanol.





This is part of Tarte's Summer 2014 collection, which means it only came out around mid-April. So, I couldn't find much reviews of it online. Even more reason to buy it to try for myself! :P

Due to Canadian Sephora's generous exchange and return policy, I had the opportunity to really test out products in the market before I really commit to one. Hehehhehe. This trip to Vancouver, I bought the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light and the MUFE HD pressed powder and tried these two on my face as well.

I wanted to like the Hourglass one because of all the hype online, but NO. It doesn't do anything worth $52 -__- I did not notice a "glow" or a "soft-focus" look at all, just microglitter all over my face. Granted, the glitter is quite understated compared to others. But still. NOPE. As for the MUFE, it does work, but paying $41 for 100% silica.... well. NYX has a HD setting powder that's 100% pure silica too and is equally finely milled for a quarter of the price.

I also considered the Marc Jacobs one since it had double the volume (around 14g) of others, including those mentioned above. But there were bad reviews online about the staying power. I don't know.... it looked really pretty too. But since the Tarte one amazed me so much, I didn't feel as inclined to try this one out anymore.

p.s. all prices listed in Canadian dollars, since I'm in Vancouver right now.

Inglot Freedom System 5-pan and MAC 4-pan

This is just part of my Seattle haul wahaha!! I've been waiting to get these palettes for so freaking long OMG. They're both customised: 

In the MAC palette, I have (L-R, clockwise): Grain, Era, Wedge, All that Glitters.

In the Inglot palette, I assembled (L-R): 330 matte, 397 pearl, 154 AMC shine, 390 matte, 360 matte.

For both of them, I was aiming for light spectrum neutrals, and wanted to get some matte ones in there since they're absent/not very good in most palettes. They are so perfect for light nudey eye looks! I love all of them equally, since ahem, I did do a lot of research before getting each of them.

I love all of them?? especially Grain and Era I think, these are so subtle (not to say that they are not pigmented, but just that they are not flashy colours) and go so well together!

For comparison: Inglot swatches on the left and MAC on the right.

 The Inglot colours are so pretty!!! In order from top-bottom, 360 is a dupe for MAC Charcoal Brown (so perfect for the crease in a heaver look, and good as a liner colour as the base for actual eyeliner!), 390 is a great contouring shade, and soooo natural looking. I would say it's a warmer tone dupe for MAC Omega? Comparing MAC Omega and 390, omega almost seems greenish. 154 is for when I want a more shiny, glittery look, 397 is a dupe for MAC Naked Lunch that is of better pigmentation and quality I feel. It is a pinkish-beige. Lastly, 330 almost faded into my skin lol because well, I got it as a simple base colour for all over the lid. Love the peachy-beige tones!

Overall, the Inglot palette is cheaper and much better for value, but well, the MAC palette's worth a shot as well! I feel that MAC colours are not entirely reliable and have varying quality; you really need to swatch and decide which ones are of better quality, rather than just looking at the colours. BUT ON THE WHOLE, I LOVE MY NEW PALETTES HEEHEEHEE!!!