Rouge Cabaret

My obsession with reddish toned eye shadows is no longer a secret, am I right? I just can't leave it every time I see reddish toned eye shadow no matter how many of them I have had in my collection :P. This Lancome Hypnose Dazzling cream eye shadow in Rouge Cabaret was part of Lancome Christmas 2014 collection, and in February 2015 I spotted a lot of them discounted at 60% at  my local Lancome counter , how to say no?

Rouge Cabaret comes in a glass pot similar to the packaging of other high end cream eye shadow ( e.g. Chanel Illusion d'ombre or Dior cream eye shadow ) . The packaging is high end and well made. The shade Rouge Cabaret itself is a warm burgundy brown shade with duo chrome gold and silver micro glitters. The shade is very similar to Chanel Ebloui and Etude House Fairy Glitter in Evening Party.  Ebloui is more shimmery and the glitters are multi color so it appears more intricate while Evening Party is more brownish and the glitters are the least fine. Among the 3 shades, Rouge Cabaret is the least shimmering and appears the most red on the lids. 

The texture of this eye shadow is similar to the other 2 sisters. It is bouncy and spongy ( imagine Maybelline Bouncy blush as eye shadow ) . I'd say it is a bit more wet and less dry than its 2 sisters though. The pigmentation is sheer medium but you can layer it easily to reach intensity you desire. Rouge Cabaret is the kind of eye shadow that performs very well on its own. You don't need any other shade to compliment this one as it looks very nice solo. It applies smoothly and doesn't crease  or smudge or migrate on my lids. It comes with a mini brush but I prefer to apply it using my fingers then blend it using blending brush. I like the fact that it doesn't set very quick so it gives you enough time to blend and play around on the lids, but it is never too wet either. The consistency is just right.

This wear for 10 hours on me without eye primer ( I haven't got the chance to wear it more than 10 hours though ) which means that it has great staying power. 

I am in love with Rouge Cabaret and it is certainly not my last reddish eye shadow ^^

Love,

Pam

Mary Lou Manizer

I believe I've said it often enough that I am not really keen on shimmery highlighter. But, again and again I was intrigued because I saw them looking so gorgeous on so many people that I finally decided to get one of the most famous shimmery highlighter ever ; The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer. 

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer is a golden champagne shimmery highlighter. The shimmer is indeed very intense! The pigmentation is very bold so a little goes a long way. You need to be very light handed on application though, unless you like intense shimmer on the cheeks. The highlighter is very smooth and buttery but, you have to beware of fallout .
The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer comes in a cute solid plastic case with retro print. The case comes with a big built in mirror inside. I personally like the design and packaging from The Balm.

The highlighter has yellow undertone and is the most intense highlighter I own. But unfortunately, it has tendency to emphasize pores when applied too much. It looks very nice on picture though and especially where the light hits the face.  I usually apply it with small -not so dense -powder brush, to make the application more subtle. On my combination skin, this highlighter doesn't add up greasiness or doesn't make my face more oily since I only apply it on the hightest point of my cheeks and on the cupid's bow. If you have oily Tzone, don't apply it on the bridge of your nose unless you want to end up looking like a grease ball.

Finding the right highlighter is not an easy task for me as they all tend to looks too shiny-unnatural and too pore emphasizing on my skin. Fortunately this one is not the case as long as it is applied subtly. The staying power is great as well.

I usually apply this on a night out because on a day out, my face is shiny enough it doesn't need any highlighter LOL.

What is your favorite highlighter?
Love,
Pam

MAC Studio Fix Fluid

I managed to get this MAC foundation from a local blogsale ( hence the missing cap ) for only 10€ which is a deal considering it was still at least 70% full.

Some of you might have known my not so good relationship with MAC, but as a foundation junkie and the fact that so many professional MUAs use MAC foundation for their works, I just had to give it a try. Surprisingly , I ended up really liking it.

The foundation is housed in a solid glass bottle ( based on my online research, this foundation doesn't come with pump spender so you need to buy the pump separately ). I personally would be annoyed to buy the pump separately at €6,50 especially for a foundation that retails for €28,95. But on the other hand, I like the fact that we can open the pump so it will be easier to really use up the product as some glass bottled foundations can't be opened at all and usually there is still so many products left inside. I am usually NC 20 , but based on swatches online, I thought NC 15 would do the job just fine and it does with a bit help from bronzer and powder. 

MAC Studio Fix Fluid provides a full coverage. It has liquid and thin texture that blends easily and evenly.  I've read reviews online that people find it too heavy and dull, but I find it  relatively lightweight and comfortable for a full coverage foundation. I prefer to apply it with beauty blender though , to sheer it up a little bit and to avoid cakey-ness. I tried to apply it using RT buffing brush and it worked fine but appeared a bit streaky on the cheek area, that's why I prefer beauty blender as it also provides a more natural finish. The foundation has matte finish which could appear a bit flat and mask like if you apply too much product. Fortunately it doesn't accentuate my dry patches , but instead blurs it out. Some people said that it tends to accentuate facial hair, but as I don't have much, I don't notice anything according to facial hair issue. 

I can understand why a lot of MUAs like this foundation because it creates a flawless finish and covers up blemishes and imperfections very well. I can go away without concealer when wearing this foundation. 

The staying power is definitely a winner here. My teint stayed flawless for 7-8 hour without the need to blot. With occasional blotting, the foundation even stayed up to max 12 hour ( the longest I've tried with this foundation ) !  I usually don't set this foundation with powder as the finish is matte enough, but on longer days, I do set my Tzone with translucent powder. 

Overall, I am really happy with this foundation and it has been my 1st option when I'm going to have  a long day. On low key days, I prefer to wear sheer-medium foundation for more dewy and natural finish. But there are some days when we girls need our make up to stay on point, right? This is the foundation I'm going for those kind of days. I haven't tried it out in warm climate but I can imagine it will perform well and I will def bring this on my next trip to Jakarta in May.

Have you tried any foundation from MAC?

Love,

Pam

Sleek blush BY 3 - CALIFORN.I.A

I received this blush trio from a fellow blogger ; Jing-Jing from Shizurawr ( thank you Jing-Jing! ) and I must say that I really really like it!

OC - The Surf - Newport Peach

I have few powder blushes from Sleek and they are all very good esp with the affordable price tag. I was a bit surprised to see this trio contains all 3 cream blushes, and since I had not tried cream blushes from Sleek before, I was really excited.

Sleek blush by 3 comes in a trademark Sleek black matte case. The case is small though, not much bigger than the regular Sleek blush. I appreciate the built in mirror and the simple packaging. 

The trio consists of 3 pink-coral shades. #OC is pink coral shade with creamy finish , #THE SURF is a sheer peach champagne shade with subtle golden shimmer that will make a nice subtle blush slash highlighter and #NEWPORT PEACH is a peach apricot shade with creamy finish. I love all 3 shades but #NEWPORT PEACH is my favorite. 

The blushes are all creamy and emollient but not slippery. They don't have cream to powder finish but instead just creamy-dewy finish which I really like. The formula is lightweight and not sticky. The consistency and texture and finish remind me of my favorite cream blush ever - the Stila Convertible cream color. The pigmentation is great but it blends effortlessly and kind of melts into the skin which results in a natural and dewy flushed cheeks. 

Sleek blush by 3 has good solid wear time - I got 7-8 hour wear with it. 

In a nutshell, Sleek blush by 3 California is a solid trio of cream blushes with a good spring mood shades and perfect for all coral lovers out there. The formula is impressive and they are by far the best drugstore and budget friendly cream blushes I've tried.

Have you tried any blush from Sleek?

Love,

Pam

The Would You Rather TAG

Hi guys!

I was tagged by Sharlynn from Theblackmentosbeautybox to do this fun tag. So as I have quite a lot of free time at the moment, why not do this fun tag? :D

Btw, a little life update. I am back in Berlin since 9th March but will be flying back home again by the end of April and won't be back to Berlin until the 1st week of August ( I will do my obligatory final internship in Jakarta ). And I am so happy as my study is coming to the end. I just got a professor who would want to be my final thesis counselor as it is obligatory here to find a professor as your counselor for your final thesis and it is not easy to find one, so I was so relieved and happy that my first candidate professor directly said yes xD. I am going to start writing it in October so I will be finished by February 2016. As some of you might have known, I was struggling so much with university and was even thinking to give it up. But, I am glad I managed to hold on until the end :D.

Due to my final internship, I needed to resign from my previous part time job which I did for almost 3 years. It was a tough decision as the job was a really good one for a student and also was very well paid. But, It's time to move on and I am excited and looking forward to my  upcoming internship.  And I just can't wait to be home again very soon woohoo!

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1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows?

• I'd rather lose all my palettes and eye shadows since I still can do eye make up using eyeliners and mascaras .

Well, even though the thought of losing all of these just makes me saaaaaaad :-''(

2. Would you rather chop all of your hair off or never be able to cut it again? 

• Whoa this is so cruel!! If I really have to pick one, then it would be to chop all of my hair then wear weave or wig :P.. I mean, never be able to cut my hair will result in it being so long and so thick and it will surely cause headache and imagine having to wash it!! so much work. lol.

3.Would you rather have coral cheek or pink cheek?

• This is easy :) I'll have coral cheek. I love coral as it is flattering color on my skin tone. As much as I love pink, I need to be careful as some pink shades tend to look too harsh against my skin.

4. If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or make up?

• Can I choose handbag? :P.. well I'd rather buy clothes as I am quite stingy in that area. I buy a lot of mass retail clothes from Primark, H&M, Mango or NewLook but very very stingy to splurge on nicer brands like Topshop, Ted Baker or DVF or other higher end clothing brands. So if I had $1000 I'd spend it to buy nicer clothes as I have enough make up ( for now :p ). 

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

• Hmmmm this is one tricky question. I think eyeliner will taste bad on the lips, so I'd rather apply lipstick as eyeliner using eyeliner brush.. But then it will surely budge, so errr maybe it is not a good idea at all...

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

• Sephora 100%. I am not really a fan of MAC. I like some of their products but I am not crazy over it. But Sephora?? Hell yes!

My Sephora wishlist 

7. Would you rather only use one eye-shadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?

• I'd rather use one eye shadow color for the rest of my life as I think people will not really notice if I can change the lip colors. I'd choose bronzy shade that is appropriate for day and night.

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

• Definitely summer clothes in winter. As long as I am allowed to wear coat over it, it'd be okay. 

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

• Bright nails all year round!

10. Would you rather give up your favorite lip colour or favorite eye product?

• My fave eye product is black pen eye liner and I just can't give it up. So I'd rather give up my favorite lip color ( which I don't really have - to be honest-  since I have so many lip colours I like ).

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

• Neither, as I am very insecure with my hair being held up. I most of the time just let my hair hanging loose.

Hair Goals

12. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lip gloss?

• I'd rather never use lip gloss as there are enough alternative lip products out there like lip balm, lip stain, lipsticks etc to substitute lip gloss. But never be able to paint my nails??? No thanks!

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?

• Oh no! Having no eyebrows at all and not being able to draw it- is worst I guess. So I'd rather sharpie them in everyday - very subtly.. xD

No.... not like this!

14. Would you rather live without make up or nail polish?

• I'd rather live without nail polish.. Live without make up is just unimaginable for me. I look a mess without make up , so to live without it at all is a nightmare. lol.

I tag everyone who wants to do this TAG :)

Love,
Pam

Lunasol Smoothing Make Up Base

I am a fan of muted glow skin a.k.a glowing skin without shimmering highlighter and it is not easy to achieve without any help from photo editing filter :P. But I guess I have found a magic product that helps me to achieve that so called muted glow. 

Lunasol make up base + Anna Sui liquid foundation

Lunasol Make up base + Lunasol Skin Modeling water cream foundation

The Lunasol Smoothing Make Up Base is a make up primer / base. I firstly received a sample of this primer after purchasing the Lunasol Skin Modelling water cream foundation ( review coming soon ) and I liked it so much I went to buy it right after I finished the sample. 

Lunasol describes this primer as a creamy texture make up base that fills pores and uneven surfaces and creates an even film over the skin to leave it silky smooth. The primer also supposed to absorb perspiration and sebum and to prolong the wear of foundation. I must say that this primer lives up to all the claims and it is even better. 

Lunasol Smoothing Make Up Base comes in a squeeze tube packaging that I really like because it is travel friendly, hygienic and economist because you can always use it up til the last drop. It also comes with SPF 27 PA++ which is not bad, but might not be the best for photo as it does give a slight white cast ( I don't really mind though because it gives more brightening effect to the skin ). 

The primer has creamy texture and I prefer to apply it using my fingertips just like applying my daily moisturizer. The primer spreads smoothly and evenly. It has a very very sheer pigmentation, similar to the Sunday Riley Effortless Breathable Tinted Primer , but the coverage is enough to even out the skin tone and prepare my bare skin for the other make up routine.
It feels hydrating and and provide a glowing base that is when combined with good foundation will create the so called muted glow I really like. It is like your skin looks 'creamy' and glowing from within.

I notice that my foundation spreads easily and more even over this base and it just sticks on better. The texture is emollient and a pleasant to apply. Major love.

It retails for ca. 20€ which is a pretty decent price for the good quality. If you have access to Lunasol, do give it a try.

Love,
Pam

Giorgio Armani Eye Tint

I like liquid or cream eye shadows because they tend to last longer on my oily lids. They are also mostly easier to apply and less hassle for traveling or touch up because you don't need to carry eye shadow brushes with you. 

The Giorgio Armani Eye Tints have been receiving a lot of positive reviews from fellow beauty enthusiasts so I finally caved in. 

The packaging looks like lip gloss or lip cream on a glimpse and doesn't look like any eye shadow I've seen. But I like the sleek design.

I picked up the shade number 10 ; Senso. Sense is a medium brown shade with very subtle golden shimmer. The shimmer is very subtle though ( look at the comparison with other similar shades ). I like the fact that even though it has shimmer, it doesn't contain any glitter particles ( or nothing that I could see ) . Based on swatches I found on internet, I thought Senso was going to be reddish and warm toned while in fact, at least against my skin tone, I think Senso is more cool toned and a tad bit ashy. As reddish toned eye shadow fan, I did hope it was a bit warmer.

According to the GA beauty advisor, the eye tints supposed to be like the Maestro foundation - smooth and 'effortless'. I kinda agree because the texture is very lightweight, airy, and feels a wee bit silicone-y just like the Maestro foundation. The eye tint feels wet upon application and sets and dries down pretty quick, but it gives just enough time for you to play with it. The pigmentation is build able but the first layer is surprisingly sheer. I applied ca 3-4 layers to achieve the opacity on the pictures below. Once it's set, it transformed into silky powdery touch with beautiful sheen finish. The finish looks complex and not dull that allows you to wear it as single eye shadow but still give you the illusion of wearing more shades. It can also work as base for powder eye shadow to intensify the color and prolong the staying power. 

GA promised 16 hour staying power which I haven't tested yet. But I must say it does stay on pretty well, I had it for 12 hour at the longest and it didn't budge, smudge nor crease. 

In a nutshell, GA eye tint is a great product and I have been using it very often. The shade Senso is very easy and low maintenance that I can always grab whenever I am in hurry. 

Would you give the eye tints a try? What is your current favorite eye shadow ?

Love,

Pam

Lorac Oil Free Wet / Dry Powder

On my recent trip to Jakarta, I forgot to bring any face powder so I needed to get a new one. My sister's friend has an online shop selling make up mostly from the US, and she was having this particular powder from Lorac for such a good price ( ca. €10 ) so I purchased it with no hesitation xD!

The pressed powder comes in a thick round black case. The case is quite deep as it is divided in 2 layers, 1 to store the sponge and 1 for the powder pan. As this powder can dual function as wet and dry powder, the lowest layer has little holes on the bottom to let the sponge dry after it's been used wet. The case also comes with a built in mirror which is always great for touch up.

Talking about the powder, I picked up the shade number WD 2-Light. The shade is actually a bit too light for my complexion due to my slight tan from the holiday, but they didn't have the WD3 shade so I just went with the WD2.  The powder has silky and smooth texture. It is not dusty which I really appreciate and the powder is finely milled. I applied it wet on the picture above and I must say, I was rather surprised to see the good coverage. It gives a satin-powdery finish that is not dull nor flat and not too matte. The coverage is better when it is applied wet, but if you like sheer coverage, you can wear it dry and don't worry despite of the solid coverage when it's wet, it doesn't interrupt your base make up when it's applied dry or for touch up ( weirdly, on Lorac website, it advised you to wear it wet for sheer coverage and dry for full coverage. I find it the other way around though ). 

Most powder foundations tend to be heavy duty and drying, but I must say this one is quite lightweight and I don't feel that it is drying even though it is not the most hydrating foundation either. The formula is oil free and fragrance free  which is good if you have sensitive skin. 

After testing it for some days, I must say the staying power is great. It lasted on my skin for a good 7 hour without the need to touch up. My T-zone stayed pretty matte for a good 5 hour. It doesn't cling on to dry patches and doesn't cake up. It's been inside my bag since the first day I purchased it as it also works very well for touch up. I certainly didn't regret this purchase.

What is your recent favorite powder foundation?

Love,

Pam

Shu : Palette

During my recent trip to Jakarta, I was able to get this newly launched limited edition Shu:Palette from Shu Uemura. I follow some Singaporean beauty bloggers and was swoon over the pictures and swatches they posted on blog and instagram. So I didn't hesitate to get this palette once it became available even though the price hurt :P. 

The palette comes in a thin-matte black case. The case also has a big built in mirror inside. I personally like the simple and thin case plus the big built in mirror, but the eye shadow pans are a bit too loosely sticked on to the palette. The pans are a bit 'woobly' that they move a bit when I swipe my eye shadow brush over them. For the price that I paid, I do think they should have put a bit more effort on sticking the pans on to the palette correctly. 

But anyway, aside of the minor issue on the packaging, I must say the palette is a good investment. The palette contains 6 matte shades, 1 glitter shade, and 5 other shimmering shades ( divided in pearl, metallic, iridescent and shimmer ). The matte shades  are smooth and velvety they barely have any fallout. The pigmentation varies though, depends on the shade. The flesh toned shades have better pigmentation compare to the deeper ones. The dark brown and matte black apply a bit patchy and need to be layered to reach full opacity. The glitter shade is one of the best glitter eye shadow I've tried, it is not dusty at all and apply smoothly, the finish is just so pretty so iridescent, it is one of my favorite shade in this palette. The other shimmering shades have great pigmentation and apply smoothly as well. The shimmering shade has duo chrome finish and look so beautiful without looking too frosty. Major love. 

I paid around €110 for this palette that contains 16 full size eye shadows + 1 dual ended brush. The brush is stiff and the bristles are hard. I don't like the brush at all and find the brushes that comes with UD naked palettes are way better. Economically speaking, €110 is a good deal since one single eye shadow retails for ca.€15 ( converted from Singapore Dollar at SGD22 each full size eye shadow pan ) that means the palette ( minus the cost of the brush and palette itself ) has €272 worth so I basically saved €162 by buying this palette ( yes that's my self justification :p ).

Overall, I am happy I decided to get this palette even though it might be the least thing I needed :p. The colors are not something I haven't had in my stash but the quality is excellent and let me admit, it is just nice to have xD. Gladly it performs well and the quality justified the price. 

Love,

Pam