MISSHA Magic Cushion

I like cushion foundations. I just like the concept of the product, and I am so in love with the cushion foundation from Laneige that I already repurchased it more than 3 times! However, I usually apply cushion foundation as a sheer base before the 'actual' foundation. 

Recently, a lot of Korean make up brands release some thematic cushion foundations. e.g. Beyond feat Alice in Wonderland, A'pieu feat Doraemon , The Skin Food feat Snoopy and Tony Moly feat Astro Boy. They are all look so cute and collectible that I ended up ordering one each xD ( please don't judge me. LOL. They are all on the way to me woohoo ). 

I've tried Missha famous BB Cream and it was one of my favorite BB Creams ever. I no longer have it though, but I had high expectation for the Magic Cushion Foundation. 

I picked up the shade number 21 which is the second lightest shade in the range. I usually opt for the second lightest shade whenever I am buying asian brands base makeup. They usually go very light, so second lightest shade seems like a safer option for my complexion. Glady, number 21 is a good match. It has slightly yellow undertone which I prefer to counter the redness on my cheeks and to brighten up the whole complexion. 

The Magic Cushion has a lightweight texture, it is more 'wet' compare to the Laneige one. The coverage is surprisingly good that I don't need to layer it with actual foundation. It provides a solid medium coverage which is what I usually go for everyday. I've tried applying the foundation using beauty blender or the given sponge and both work well. I no longer use stippling or buffing brush to apply my foundation though ever since I tried the original beauty blender. There is no turning back for me. lol.

The Magic Cushion applies smoothly, it evens out the complexion really well but appears a bit ashy upon application. Don't worry though because once it's set, the ashy-ness disappears. It has a nice dewy finish which is not too much, but I do need to set it with loose translucent powder to tone down the dewiness a bit. If you have dry to normal skin, you won't have to set it with powder. But on my combination skin, a lightweight translucent powder is a must because the finish is a tad too dewy for my liking. 

Talking about staying power, this Missha Magic Cushion wore a good 7-8 hour on me without any primer. My T-zone started to get shiny after 3 hour mark but nothing a good touch up powder can't solve.

I bought mine for ca. €13 and it comes with a 15gr refill. 

Love,

Pam

Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Powder Duo Moodlight

I had never had to put myself on a waiting list for anything beauty related, until this highlighter duo from Tom Ford 'forced' me to do it. 

There were rumours at the beginning that this duo supposed to be limited, so when I missed the first batch , I was so gutted and almost bought one for unreasonable mark up price. Luckily , I read from fellow bloggers that this duo is part of the standard range so I saved myself some money and decided to wait until the duo made it to the permanent range. As simple as it sounds, it was not the case at all. The only Tom Ford counter in Berlin sold the first 2 batches of the duo out within 3 days , and it was sold out online too. So, I had to put myself on a waiting list and after ca.2 months waiting, I finally got a call and was able to pick up mine. 

First of all, I was mesmerised the first time I opened the case. It is so stunning. Even more stunning in real life. I was never big on highlighter, but within the past 8-10 months, my highlighter collection has been growing so fast. I used to think highlighters would only emphasise my pores and highlight the greasy area on my face. But, I just hadn't found the right one. Once I started buying better quality highlighters and using better application technique, I just fell in love with them.

Back to Tom Ford Moodlight, the duo comes in 2 different shades. I can use both shades as highlighter. The lighter and darker shades are both great for my NC 20 complexion. If you are lighter, you might find the darker shade too dark and if you're darker , you might find the darker shade just perfect. 

The highlighters are finely milled, soft and silky to touch. However, I have to say that mine is pressed slightly too hard. I needed to scrap the surface lightly for my brush to be able to pick up the product. I have no idea whether it's the case for it in general or I just happened to get an off product. It doesn't bother me that much though because the product still works just fine.

Moodlight ( Daylight ) is a very pale gold ( almost white IMO ) with subtle sheen. It is very subtle and need to be layered for it to be visible on my complexion. 

Moodlight ( Candlelight ) is a soft rose gold shade. It is very well pigmented and richer compare to Daylight. I use this shade more often because it shows up better on my skin. It is warm and leans browner once applied. The finish is stronger but it is not harsh. 

Daylight and Candlelight apply beautifully and give my cheekbones a subtle glow, not too much, not too little. Just the right amount. The glow is youthful and so pretty I wish my skin was glowing naturally like that. xD They don't emphasise my pores and in fact, kind of blur them out. 

Both shades wore really well. I got a solid 8-9 hour wear. 

Overall, despite of the steep price tag, I don't regret the splurge as it is one excellent product. 

Love,

Pam

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation

This is one long overdue post. I bought this foundation during my internship time in Jakarta, ca. June 2015. A good friend of mine recommended this foundation for me and it looked really nice on her skin so I was tempted to give it a go. 

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation is another serum infused foundation which was a trend in 2015. The texture is indeed similar to other skin care infused foundation I've tried ( YSL Youth Liberator and DIOR Nude Air Foundation ). The foundation has thin, runny consistency. It spreads and blends easily and has a silicone texture similar to GA Luminous Silk or GA Maestro Foundation. 

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation provides a sheer to medium coverage. The finish is creamy and very dewy- almost bordering greasy on my combination skin. However, I find it hard to make it look natural. The finish is very 'done' and make up like. I don't mind a polished finish, but this foundation is a bit too much for my liking. It also tends to set in to lines ( you can see on the picture below how it accentuates the curve on my nose rather badly ). 

I tried to apply it using different techniques from make up brushes to beauty blender and I found beauty blender works best. The foundation also required longer setting time. It is wet and tacky upon application so I needed to wait a good 5-10 minutes before being able to set it lightly with powder.

Due to its very dewy finish, it doesn't have a good staying power. I needed to blot every 2-3 hour otherwise I'd end up looking greasy. Unfortunately, this is the kind of foundation you can't top with powder because it will look cakey. So it's difficult to wear.

After ca. 3-4 hour wear

Another bummer is the packaging. It is housed in a heavy glass bottle with a pipette dropper. The bottle is black so you can't tell how much is left inside. The dropper didn't work well, so I ended up having to pour the foundation.

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation retails for around 55€ / 30ml which is hefty. Too bad it didn't work out for me.

Love,

Pam

H&M Beauty High Impact Eye Colour

I went to explore H&M beauty department again some time ago and went home with two of their single eye shadows. They have a huge range and selection of colours, ranging from matte-satin-shimmery-glittery-and metallic finish. I predictably ended up with 2 reddish-plummy shades xD.

H&M Beauty High Impact Eye Colour comes in a simple ivory plastic case with transparent lid rimmed with gold edges. The packaging is simple but doesn't look cheap. The case has a good weight to it. 

I picked up 2 similar shades, Wild Sable and Sahara Dawn. I didn't realise they were so similar until I swatched them under better lighting at home, but if you know me, it's no surprise that I ended up with these 2 beautiful plummy shades. lol.

Wild Sable is a purplish plum shade with satin-sheen finish. Sahara Dawn is a burgundy shade. Both shades don't contain any shimmers nor glitters. 

Texture wise, both eye shadows have smooth-velvety texture. They apply beautifully and blend effortlessly. The pigmentation is great but not too much ( I don't really like overly pigmented products as they are usually more difficult to work with ) and they don't really need eye shadow primer because they stay on pretty well and the colour pop up even without any help from eye shadow primer. I didn't experience any noticeable fallouts which is great for something that costs only €5,99. 

Overall, I've been enjoying these mono eye shadows a lot lately. The shades are both winter appropriate and easy to work with. Despite of the rather 'bold' hue, they are still perfect for every day use and you can either tone it down or build up the intensity for bolder look. I'll definitely look at other shades available because these two are impressive.

Have you tried anything from H&M beauty line?

Love,

Pam

Catrice Golden Grace

Part of my last year's resolution was to pay more attention to quality instead of quantity. I used to buy bunch of drugstore make up that ended up unused , just because they were 'cheap' and I felt less guilty splurging in bunch of drugstore make up compare to buying one or two higher end make up. I managed to stick to my last year's resolution and bought less impulsive 'cheap' make up. I rarely bought random drugstore products and only purchased what I really liked. But, sometimes drugstores do have hidden gems and this limited edition highlighter from Catrice is one good example.

First of all, look at those stars!!! Aren't they pretty? I'd buy it just because of the look anyway, but the swatch I did on the spot was pretty good as well.

Catrice Golden Grace highlighter was part of the Treasure Trove collection from Catrice. I don't really buy limited edition from drugstore anymore, but this highlighter is just too pretty to resist. Golden Grace comes in a Catrice's signature transparent case. The case is made out of plastic, but has a good weight to it. It doesn't come off cheap or flimsy. 

The highlighter has a smooth and silky texture. It is well pigmented too. As seen on swatch picture above, you can see that it looks very similar to Opal from BECCA. Golden Grace is a pretty golden champagne shade. BECCA Opal is more intense and more shimmery though. Golden Grace could be a nice tone down alternative for Opal which could be too glam for some people. I personally like Opal too especially for a night out or whenever I need to look glam up. But, Golden Grace is more versatile and 'safe' for daily use as it is not as intense as Opal.

Golden Grace applies nicely and is easy to blend. I usually apply it using a fan brush on the highest point of the cheeks, and on the cupid's bow. It is a tad powdery and dry, very different to the creamy and rich BECCA Opal. But it does its job nicely for the price class. It gives a very nice and natural glow on the skin. If you're looking for a intense highlighter, you'd like to look somewhere else as this one is really subtle.
I had a hard time to capture the glow and finish from the highlighter using my digital camera, so I used the front camera of my Iphone and hopefully you can see the finish on the picture. It is really subtle but therefore good for daily use.

For €4,99 Golden Grace is a success purchase,
Love,
Pam

SUQQU Frame Fix Cream Foundation

During my recent visit to London, I visited the SUQQU counter at Selfridges for the first time. The beauty advisor / MUA was really friendly and helpful. I purchased the eye shadow trio and I asked for a foundation sample which he generously depotted to the small container I brought with me. The foundation is a whooping £ 62 so I didn't want to blind buy it and gladly the sample given to me lasted me a good week which ended up in me falling in love with the foundation.

SUQQU Frame Fix Cream Foundation comes in a glass jar packaging which is understandable due to its super thick and rich texture. It would be difficult to use pump spender I guess, and jar packaging means I can use up the product thoroughly. It also comes with a spatula which is good for hygienic reason so I don't have to dip my fingers into the jar. 

Texture wise, it reminds me of Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation, only this one from SUQQU is creamier, denser and richer in texture. Despite of the thick texture, it is easy to blend and melts effortlessly in to the skin. One thing to remember though, you don't want to put too much product because it will be difficult to blend and turn out cakey. A little goes a long way with this foundation. I usually start with a thin layer and put another layer whenever I desire more coverage. I need two thin layers to cover the imperfections, redness and all the bumps on my face. I don't particularly need concealer, but still apply a thin layer under my eye area on most days. 

SUQQU Frame Fix Cream Foundation provides a solid medium to full coverage. I have to be honest that this one doesn't feel lightweight. It is a full coverage foundation, so it does feel like you're wearing make up. It also feels slightly tacky on the skin. But, I really like the flawless - radiant finish. It gives my skin a polished look and I can see myself wearing it on special occasions e.g. party or a night out. When I tried it for the first time, I spent the whole day being outside under London's pouring rain, and when I checked it out at the end of the day, the foundation still looked intake. The finish is not dull, and it has a slight lustre. The website suggests you not to wear primer or not to set it with powder, I however always lightly set with translucent powder due to its dewy finish. 

The foundation comes with SPF30++ but I don't notice any white cast which is good. My shade #002 has a distinct yellow undertone. It is a wee wee bit yellowish for my skin tone, but once it's set, the shade is a good match for my complexion. 

SUQQU Frame Fix Cream Foundation is one long wearing base. It can easily go to 8-9 hour mark on my combination skin. 

As mentioned above, this foundation is freakin' expensive. It is £62 for 25ml. But, it is stellar.

What is your current favourite foundation?

Love,

Pam