MUA Pearl Eye Shadow Monos

I have some MUA eye shadow palettes and I've been enjoying them so far. They are affordable and good quality. But sometimes there are some shades in a palette that I barely touch because you can't just love every single shade in the palette, right? That's when mono eye shadows come to the rescue.

MUA mono eye shadows are amazing, they are only £1 each!!!  Like how can they be so cheap yet so good??  All the mono eye shadows come in a plastic case and they come with 2gr of products which is a lot ( for comparison MAC eye shadows are 1,5gr and they cost around €12-€17 each ). The packaging is nothing special, it is plastic but not flimsy. I don't know whether you could depot them like MAC ones.

One downside, the monos don't have names, they only come in numbers, so here are 3 monos I ordered :

-#28 is a rusty pink shade with rosegold shimmers. It is such a pretty shade and it makes a good 'topper'. I love to apply it as a topper for a plumy-burgundy base. It is also pretty on itself, but the pigmentation is a bit sheer, I need to layer a bit to the color pop.

-#12 is a muddy bronze shade with gold shimmers. It might look ordinary on swatch but it is not just your 'bronze next door' because it has a tiny bit hint of red which you know - my favorite kind of eye shadow!

-#24 is my favorite out of the 3. It is a rusty amber-copper tone. It looks so beautiful on the eyes. love love it!

All of the monos I ordered have pearl finish. So they're all shimmery but not glittery which I like. The pigmentation is great. They have great texture, smooth and soft and almost no fall out! I have some MUA palettes and some eyeshadows on the palette can be quite dusty but the monos are different. I am so impressed!

For only £1 each, it is almost unbelievable how they could be so good. 

Have you tried the MUA monos?

Love,

Pam

My dream came in red

If you read my christmas wish list post here, you might have known I'd been lusting over the 3.1 Phillip Lim Medium Pashli bag. Handbags are my weakness. I am not a shoe girl, but I am a handbag girl inside out. So after a period of saving money, reading reviews on the internet and countless nights where I couldn't really sleep in peace ( exaggerating me, I know.. :p ) I finally dug inside my pocket and bought this medium pashli, in red. 

 

I actually wanted to get this in dark navy but it was sold out, and since I already have too many bags in black, I opted for the red. The bag comes in a sturdy wrinkled leather, or Phillip Lim called it shark  embossed. I love how the leather is actually wrinkled and pebbled so it is less sensitive, more structured and scratch proof. I am not very careful with my stuffs so I need to have durable and sturdy bags. 

The bag has one push lock at the front which is honestly quite annoying. It is not very easy to close, I'd prefer magnetic closure.. There are also 2 zipper applications at the front which can be zipped close or open for wider look flaps ( read : celine trapeze inspired ). It also comes with adjustable and removable strap which is long enough for cross body but too long for the shoulder (unless you're taller than me) so I added more holes on the strap. 

The bag is actually very roomy, it fits my 11" macbook air perfectly ( not in the picture ) and it doesn't go shaggy when I carry a lot of things. It has one zip pocket inside with no extra compartments outside which bothers me a bit.

Here are some pictures how the bag looks on me. I like the fact that it can be worn on the shoulder, cross body, or on hand. The bag has a mix of feminine look and yet a bit of edgy and effortless look. 

I am so far very happy with my bag. It is such a good bag for every day use because it gives you option to be hands free with the strap yet allows you to look 'elegant' and more 'lady like' when it's carried on hand. Price-wise it is also still on the 'reasonable' side at €780,- or $850,- in comparison to other it bags like celine trapeze-luggage-phantom, prada saffiano, mulberry alexa-bayswater or  balenciaga . 

Are you a bag person as well? what is your all time biggest splurge on handbags? or are there any bags you've been lusting over?

Love,

Pam

Crème Brûlée

If you read my post here about my Laura Mercier perfumes, I was surprised how good they actually are. They are really long lasting and smell exquisite and not sickly sweet even though they supposed to smell like dessert. Their most famous scent on the line is the creme brûlée which smells soooooo good. I've been wanting to get the creme brûlée perfume but it is always sold out at the counter. So when I saw it available at ludwigbeck.de I directly put an order , also for the hand creme.

Creme Brûlée the perfume doesn't smell directly like creme brûlée. The first time you spray it, it smells more like vanilla - sweet and warm and a bit musky. But after awhile, it starts to smell a bit like caramel and to my surprise ; coconut. If you don't like sweet smell, this is definitely not something for you. Creme Brûlée has some richness to it and it won't make you smell like food, more like sweet dessert ( well okay, dessert is food as well ... ) . I rarely get compliments about perfume that I wear but I have been receiving a lot of compliments from random strangers every time I wear the Laura Mercier eu Gourmande perfumes. But I must say that almost all of the perfumes on the range ( I have vanilla, fresh fig , almond coconut and creme brûlée ) kind of smell similar, warm and sweet, only the fresh fig is totally different to my nose. 

The hand creme in other hand, smells very foody. It really smells like creme brûlée, very strong but delicious. I love the smell very much it is almost therapeutic. It feels like entering a bakery in the morning when they just put the first trays of breads and cakes fresh from the oven. A lot of people may have problem with it because it might be too dominant for hand cream, but I love love it. 

Both products have great staying power and the hand cream is moisturizing but not sticky. The packaging is very simple and clean cut but well made.

I am very pleased with this combo but I am not sure whether I would spend €65 on the body soufflés. I just think they are a bit too overpriced. 

Have you tried Laura Mercier eu gourmande body care range?

Love,

Pam

Roaring Red

It's been awhile since the last time I bought something from drugstore limited edition's collection. But the latest collection from "Catrice Feathers and Pearls" caught my attention. Despite of the fact how many red lippies I have already had on my stash, I still picked one. ( because cool toned red-warm toned red-matte red-glossy red-ruby woo red-russian red red, they're all different, aren't they? ;P )

The packaging is typical Catrice lipsticks, only this one has some prints on the bullet. I like the packaging of Catrice lipsticks because they look elegant, well made and sturdy for such a fraction of price, ca. €4.

 

Roaring red is actually more orange in real life. It is not completely matte, more a satin-velvet finish. I actually prefer that kind of finish because truly matte is too drying and accentuates the lip lines. The pigmentation is amazing, one swipe is enough to cover it all. The texture is nice as well, it feels creamy but not overly creamy. 

I tried my best to capture its true color but still it appears less orange on pictures. Roaring red is such a beautiful shade of red, and it will be flattering on a lot of skin complexions. It feels comfortable on the lips and not overly drying. Lip balm underneath is a must since it is not very hydrating but still way better than MAC matte lippies. This lipstick doesn't bleed so lip liner is not a must as long as you apply it carefully around the lip line. 

Are you red lippie freak like I am? what is your go-to red lipstick?

Love,

Pam

The Perfect Palette TAG

A lot of my favorite fellow beauty bloggers and some youtubers have been doing this TAG lately. I've been wanting to do it as well but since nobody tagged me, I'd just pretend that I shamelessly tagged myself :p. The lovely sleepandwater just did this TAG as well recently. 

• Best Packaging
• I have to go with Burberry Eyeshadow Palette in Plum Pink. Their heavy gunmetal case is very well made and looks high end. The eye shadow stripes are also well embossed with Burberry's checks print that still visible even after a lot of use. It is also the perfect size, not too big or too bulky and fits perfectly inside (almost) any handbags. 

• Best Colour Payoff
• This award goes to Wet n Wild eye shadow trios. They are amazing in pigmentation, which is wonderful for a drugstore brand with only a fraction of price.. Not only the darker shades but the lighter shades are also great in pigmentation.

• Most Versatile
• This category is difficult to choose, there were few candidates that I thought would 'win' on this catergory but I had to go with Kanebo Kate little Palette. It has one cream highlighter and 4 powder eye shadows. It has 1 shimmery peachy pink shade, 1 shimmery champagne shade ,1 satin plumy taupe and 1 satin charcoal brown so you can create very minimal look with the pink and champagne shade, or go smokey with the plum-taupe and charcoal brown. All shades perform good solo, as they have all either shimmery or satin-sheen finish. The cream highlighter is not very useful but it makes good highlighter base for the inner corners. 

• Best for Travel
• I can't decide between these two because I usually have these 2 for travelling. My INGLOT palette which consists of 3 matte shadows ( I use them for my eye brows ) and 2 duo-chrome shadows. The INGLOT very sturdy packaging is also safe for travelling. The Burberry Plum Pink has been my dearest friend since I purchased it. I can always rely on it because it has 4 gorgeous shades, great quality and also sturdy case that is travel friendly.

• Biggest Regret(s)
• No doubt my Shu Uemura Karl Lagerfeld palette and Sonia Rykiel Eye shadow duo ( okay it is not really a palette, but still.. ). I bought both of them mainly because of the packaging and the curiosity since they are both not really widely available here in Germany esp the Sonia Rykiel one. They're not bad in terms of quality but I expected them to be wayyyyy better. The Shu Uemura is too glittery imo and the pigmentation is not very good ( which is mostly the case with asian brands I guess.. ) and the Sonia Rykiel one is too dry in texture and also very glittery.. Unfortunately they're also not very cheap so the disappointment is bigger.

• Best Colour Names
• I had to go with Urban Decay NAKED 2 as it is really the only eye shadow palette I own that has different names for each shade. The other palettes that I have don't have separate names for each shades.

• Least Used
• It's not that I don't like this Dolce&Gabbana eye shadow quad, but I just don't use it often enough as I thought I would. Maybe the 'difficult' color selection is the main problem. All the shades are not very daily appropriate so I don't reach for it as often as I'd love to. The quad is beautiful and something different on my stash so I like it but I wish I reached for it more often..

• Most Used, Most Loved
• You can def see from the picture how well used the palette is. MUA Undressed Me Palette is just so easy to wear because it contains basically every shades you need to create a day or night look. The far right shade on the 1st line is almost used up and I hit pan already on the 3rd shade on the 2nd line. They are my most favorite eye shadows to wear alone on the lids, perfect for busy days. I also love the 2 matte shades in this palette because they are amazing for blending. 

Have you done this TAG? I'll tag everyone who wants to do this TAG :)

Love,

Pam