Review Tuesday | Makeup Forever Artist Shadow

Having oily, small eyelids and hooded-eyes, eyeshadow is really tricky for me. I need my eyeshadow to be matte and stay put throughout the day, plus, vibrant enough to show up on little space on my eyes. There was a point in which I ‘gave up’ eyeshadow, thinking it wasn’t for me, but then I bought myself Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette, and ended up discovering the fun of eyeshadow. For a while, it was the only eyeshadow I used, then, hundreds of youtube tutorials later, I thought; hey, let’s get myself another matte color!

There are so many brands to choose from, and so many palettes, too. But I wasn’t too keen on the idea of palette at the time, so single eyeshadow then. My final options fell to MAC and Makeup Forever, but researches led me to Makeup Forever Artist Shadow.

While Makeup Forever foundation and base product is often talked about, I feel like fewer spotlights have been given to their eyeshadow ranges. The Makeup Forever Artist Shadow comes in huge color range; around 210 shades with 5 different finishes. Price wise, it’s pricier than MAC but comes with more product (MAC is 1.5 g, MUFE is 2.2 g), which was quiet a deciding factor for me.

I picked three matte colors; Pink Brown (M-600), Chesnut (M-656), and Espresso (M-618). I use Pink Brown and Chesnut on the crease, while Espresso as eyeliner and outer corner of my eyes. MUFE claim high color pay-off, which I found to be true, they show uup well and true to color on my eyeslids, which color is somewhat darker than the rest of my face. Compared to my Too Faced eyeshadow, they last so much longer on my oily lids, around 4 hours before creasing. For matte eyeshadow, they’re exceptionally creamy and non-chalky, plus really blend-able. They do kick a little dust but since the pan is huge, you wouldn’t notice them even making a mess. In short, they perform like a dream.

What do you think of Makeup Forever Artist Shadow?

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Jill Stuart Beauty Talk #02 Layer Blush Compact in Old Rose Review

Welcome back to the 2nd installment of Jill Stuart Beauty Talk! The second part of this series will be about their highly coveted and best selling product ever; Layer Blush Compact. Mine is in shade 06 Old Rose. It's the darkest and deepest out of 6 shades, which I think will be perfect for my medium-dark complexion.

The color looks like dusky-pink with hint of mauve, on my skin, it shows up as bright pink with no mauve at all. The blush has very fine, undetectable gold shimmer that makes the finish of this blush slightly frosty but without chalky. The pigmentation is sheer to medium, and since this shows up on my medium skin, I think on fairer skin this can comes up more vibrant. Definitely on buildable, and even if you put on too much layer, they still won't come up looking 'fake' or turns you into disco-ball.

The blush comes in the most gorgeous-looking packaging ever that is actually more light-weight than it looks like, which honestly makes it feel a tad 'cheap' but overtime, you will get used to it, and it will still be the most elegant looking thing in your drawer. It also has detachable and retractable brush with it, and I find that the blush applied best when using this one instead of another brush as it's quiet dense so it picks up the product easily. A little tip is to make sure you hold the brush-stopper or you'll end up scratching the surface like I did.

The only downside of this blush is it's perfumed, like any other Jill Stuart products. Personally, this is not an issue for me, but if you're not fan of it, you might want to stay clear from this blush. Aaand of course it's not readily available other than in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

What do you think of this blush? Will you pick any blush from Jill Stuart?

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Review | Beyond Alice in Wonderland Eyeshadow in Signature Alice

I sincerely wish I’m not the only person who failed her shopping ban #bloggerproblem, because that’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I happened to stumble upon Beyond Indonesia’s instagram account and found out the Alice Collaboration Collection (which was actually released last summer) is finally available in Indonesia. I swear I tried to resist but then I saw this beautiful eyeshadow in turqoise color. Remeber my addiction to Alice in Wonderland and my turqoise May project. Combined these two together, and it was enough force to make me literally threw my resistance out the window; I need to have this babe, right now.

Beyond, a Korean skincare and makeup brand, collaborated with Alice in Wonderland/Disney to bring this dreamy and whimsical collection. This limited edition collection have BB Cushion, cream blush, lip tint, cream eyeshadow, hand cream, and nail polishes. I was gifted the hand cream on my birthday last year, and honestly, I was not that interested with the other products (on lipstick ban, cream blush does not work well on me, just purchased BB Cushion), but the eyeshadow caught my attention purely for the color alone. Quick research on internet told me that this cream eyeshadow is more pressed pigment/glitter than rich, mouse-like cream eyeshadow.

True to that, Beyond Alice in Wonderland Cream Eyeshadow in 08 Signature Alice feels dry and crumbly to the touch compared to other cream eyeshadow I’ve tried, thankfully, it’s not patchy. The color is sky-blue with green glitter, resulting in the most flattering, multi-dimensional turqoise color ever! I love swatching this on the back of my hand and watches the light changes the color around, it’s unbelieveably pretty! One swipe gives me a sheer wash of color, I usually pack around two or three layer, just to make the color more pop and vivid. Despite it’s dry texture, I do not experience fall-out whatsoever.

I apply this using my finger because my zoeva brush cannot pick this up. Since I’ve only worn this alone – with my finger at that – with no other eyeshadow, I cannot vouch for it’s blend-ability but I suspect this is not an eyeshadow to blend, but rather to pack on like glitter/pigment. So far, I am loving this cream eyeshadow and am helplessly in love. I never face any problem with this one, but if you love your cream shadow to be on blendable and creamy side, this might not be the one for you.

Have you tried any Beyond Product? What’s your favorite colorful eyeshadow?

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Review | Laneige Deep Pore Cleansing Foam

In my journey to up my skincare game, I picked Laneige Deep Pore Cleansing Foam last March. You can read all the claims and official descriptions here,  And I will say that yes, most of them are true. I found that the only claim that never actually work is 'making your pore smaller' or anything like that, but this cleansing foam, targeted to oil-pore troubled skin, does not claim as such (maybe because this is a cleanser, hmm). 

This cleansing foam comes in thick, white paste. Even though, like any other cleanser on the market, instructed to add water after dispensing this out, I usually do not add extra water but squirted them out on my wet palm and lather them so they maintain their creaminess (too much water can make them too runny). Used with foaming net, this can bubble up into thick, whipped cream-like texture but nowhere as dense as Shiseido Perfect Whip's consistency.

Admittedly, this makes my skin feel a little bit tight after use but only for a second or couple, not to the point of discomfort. BUT! The main point is this does its job well, my skin feel refreshed and clean after usage and my sebum is not as wild as it was previously. Laneige Pore Cleansing foam also doesn't break me out. I noticed that since I changed my routine, the only time I got new pimple was only around my period (hormone!) so it's obviously not my skincare's fault AND sign that my skincare regime is working. 

Have you tried Laneige's cleansing product? What's your favorite cleanser at the moment?

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Review | Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control

Laneige Pore BB Cushion, or any BB cream/cushion in general didn't interest me until lately when Amez bought IOPE cushion and upon my visit for Laneige Skincare, the SA convinced my mom to get their cushion. A couple of week later; boom, I got the cushion with me. I did mention that I stay away from BB cream even if the first base makeup I own was a BB Cream (SHINee Star BB Cream from Etude), but this one really changed my mind about BB Cream.

Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control is one of Laneige's three BB Cushion range that targets people with pore and sebum problem. It comes in six shades, mine is brown beige (No 31) and like any other BB cream, it's armed with sun protection (SPF 50+ PA+++). The good thing is this lacks the grey tint that seems to 'possess' many BB cream, looks natural enough without giving me ghost like appearance or grey cast.

I always use powder to lock my base in place, plus keeping oil at bay, but I found with this one I don't really need it at all. The finish is close to satin with decent oil control (my face becomes 'unbearable' to look at around lunch time which is about 4-5 hours since I apply it), also, the pore around my nose area is blurred, giving illusion of smooth nose and cheeks. Touching up with this is really easy as well, you don't need to extract the product from the cushion because some of them are still left on the puff, just press them on the area of need (or so the SA told me). Texture-wise, this is light weight and non-heavy at all. Although people said BB cream breaks out people with oily skin and clog pores, this doesn't seem to be the case (at least with me because people's skin reacts differently). But ever paranoid, I always make sure to clean my skin more rigorously compared to when I'm using foundation.

Overall, I'm really loving this foundation at the moment. Simple and practical is my mindset when it comes to makeup (I mean, I love putting on makeup but let's be realistic, with my schedule when I only have about five to ten minutes to put makeup among all thing, I don't have that much time to put primer before concealer before foundation) and Laneige BB Cushion fulfills that requirment fabulously.

Have you tried any BB Cushion? Is there any Laneige Product that piqued your interest?

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Jill Stuart Review Ribbon Couture Eyes

Dear Jill Stuart, please trust me when I said I love you, because truly, I do, and for such reason too I will be objective when it comes to you. I was really estatic when you surprised me by the excelent quality of Velvet Eyeshadow and it was with same expectation that I picked another eyeshadow from you which is the ribbon couture eyes. Such lovely and pleasant color for a blue-lover like me, but why, oh why you have to do this to me?

Ribbon Couture Eyes used to be Jill Stuart's newest eyeshadow line until the new one came out in the beginning of the year. This one promises shimmery, high in color eyeshadow, and even if the color selection, like the other Jill Stuart eyeshadow, is dominated by variations of brown, this line actually released some popping color like this one in 'Indigo Tweed', a part of their Summer 2015 releases. I picked this up last May when I was in Japan but didn't use it until about five months later because I didn't have a heart to ruin the beautiful ribbon embosssing. Housed in a luxurious-looking package that feels as luxurious on hands, presentation-wise, there's nothing to fault from this product. That was only until you try it on.

I don't know if it's the fault lies in my way of applying them or in the tools or in the product itself. Since this eyeshadow is on the sheer side, I need to pack them on so the color is vibrant enough. The thing is, whenever I add more product, the ones already on my lids just move around so it's almost impossible to pack them and get intense, vivid result. I tried putting them over primer and they perform better on top of Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadow in Bone, but not without difficulties. That being said, they actually stay true to their shade on my deeper-toned lids instead of turning into same dirty hues of grey (something I experienced with local brand blue palette), so in a way this product is not entirely bad either. I tried doing blue-smokey eyes look with this and they were actually stunning!

My favorite shades of the bunch are the turqoise-mint shade and the deep royal-blue shade. They're a little bit crumbly but has minimum fall-out. The shimmer, as you can see on the above photos, are so finely milled, they also give the eyeshadow a nice dimension that makes it sophisticated when each shade is worn alone. Still, with how hard it is to work this eyeshadow, I won't say I love it but I don't hate it either. If you're a fan of high shimmer eyeshadow (and pretty, luxurious packaging), this eyeshadow might be the one for you.

Have you tried any Jill Stuart Eyeshadow? What's you favorite shimmer eyeshadow?

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The Only Blush I will Ever Need

I have a confession to make; I only wear 1 blush since March 2015 to now, April 2016. Nope, I'm not lying nor exagerrating. If you follow me on instagram you might notice that I basically only feature one blush which is Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar. I purchased this back in January 2015 for graduation and started wearing it regularly in March after I hit pan on Candy Doll Blush. A year later of wearing this practically every single day, I am yet to hit the pan. Funny thing is, because I was so obsessed on hitting the pan on this one, I didn't feel even a teenie weenie bit urge of purchasing new blush. Seriously. 

Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar is described on BB's site as 'pink coral silky powder blush that glides on smoothly and offers a matte finish with long-lasting wear'. I vouch to you that all claims of this blush being silky and smooth, plus matte and long-lasting are true! But I want to add that this blush is not completely matte, rather, this actually gives my cheek glow, a really healthy glow as if they're glowing from within. The texture is very fine and smooth, I always apply them using Bobbi Brown Sheer Powder Brush and it kicks very little powder but not to the point of utter messiness (looking at my Too Faced Eyeshadow Palette).

As for lasting powder, this totally last a whole day. I generally apply this around 6 in the morning and when I returned home around 8, my cheeks are still blushing pink even if my base and eyeshadow is as good as melting away. Pigmentation wise, it's so pigmented! I usually tap my brush lightly once but it's enough for each cheek to last through the day. Of course you can build this up for more intensity.

The best part about this blush is probably its versatility, appropriate from every occasion from office to party. There is literally no part of this blush that I can fault for. Really, I've been staying loyal to this pretty little thing for a year now, do I need to convince you with another long paragraph of how much I've been smitten?

Have you tried any Bobbi Brown Blush? What's your most favoritest blush ever?

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Jill Stuart Review Lip Jewel and Lip Blossom

Jill Stuart's Lip Blossom (lipstick) and Lip Jewel (lipgloss) had been under my radar for a while. Being a paranoid turtle I am, I was reluctant to buy it online in fear of purchasing wrong color. Well, I still ended up buying (somewhat) wrong color despite not buying it online but at least I didn't spend extra bits for shipping fee. Beware; this is going to be a photo heavy post for a reason you'll understand once you see these gorgeous products.

Prior to 2015 Summer, Jill Stuart only had one lipstick line in their collection; Lip Blossom. The claim is this lipstick is supposed to give your lips a gentle color (like flower) with lustrous finish. Lip Jewel itself is described as a gloss that will give your the vividness and shine of jewel. Lip Blossom has 18 color selections in total while Lip Jewel has wider range with 22 colors. Generally, there're two type of finish of each products; with no glitter and with glitter.

The packaging of these lippies, as you can see, are gorgeous. Lip Blossom comes with these amazing engravings and the top can be flipped open to reveal a very small mirror. The mirror is supposed to help you when applying lipstick but frankly speaking, it's not that functional. The tip of the lipstick has a beautiful diamond cut that's gone the moment you swipe it (MAJOR SOBS). Lip Jewel has a clear diamond cut plastic tube instead of the usual, boring cylindrical or cubic tube. Both products are topped with pink crystal with swarovski element in it.

Lip Blossom in 05 Amaryllis Poetry is a bright pink lipstick with purple undertone. The coverage of this lipstick is sheer to medium, building up the product gives you more opaque color. It has glossy finish and quiet high amount of shine but without making your lips look oily. The texture is very creamy and it glides on like butter with no tugging at all. If you're struggling with constantly dry lips, this is a good lipstick for you.

Lip Jewel in 09 Coral Kiss is a nude coral gloss with fine golden glitter. If you're scared of glitter ) on your lips, worry not because the glitter particles are so fine I can barely feel it at all. The coverage is on the sheer end, I find that layering them increases the glossiness but not the opaqueness. This is good worn alone but I usually use it to top my Brave Red lipstick, it gives me the most beautiful red and juicy lips.

The major downside of these lippies are their lack of longevity. They only last for 2 hours (3 hours at best). I won't say Amaryllis Poetry looks good on me but it's not bad either since it doesn't make me look sick or anything relatively bad. Also, Lip Jewel sometimes leave a weird film on my lips, and when my lips are too dry, it flaked them horribly. I tried wearing them together once and I immediately took them off because the combination of these two doesn't work on me. I reckon these work best for someone with fair or cool-toned skin.

Overall, Jill Stuart Lip Blossom and Lip Jewel are good product. I wasn't expecting them to have smack-dab pigmentation like MAC or Burberry to begin with and I was also aware that they're going to be very glossy/shiny, so they didn't betray my expectation per se. They did what they claimed to do, which in my opinion, is better than product that failed its claim. Still, I wish they could fix their lasting powers and do something about that weird film. I usually whip them out for casual family outing of the day I don't want to appear too dressy.

If you are into glossy and moisturizing lipstick and doesn't mind minimum coverage, Jill Stuart Lip Blossom and Lip Jewel might be perfect for you! Have you tried any Jill Stuart's Lip Product?

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Review: Bobbi Brown Long Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15

Journey to find right foundation can be a hard one, but I'm lucky enough that my 4th attempt led me to the right one for me. Meet Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation SPF 15! I don't think I will ever try any other foundation after this, that's how much in love I am with this product.

There are so many things I love about this foundation. Bobbi Brown is known for the yellow undertone in her base makeup, and I couldn't ask for more. Mine comes in shade 4.5 Natural Tan which is a great match for my skin. With buildable medium to full coverage, this foundation is incredibly lightweight, I do not feel like I'm wearing anything at all on my skin. It feels like second skin.

Geared toward people with oily skin who has trouble finding a foundation that last long, this one promised a 12 hours of wear. Now, I usually put this on around 6 in the morning, go to the office and leave it around 6 in the afternoon. When I check myself in the mirror 2 hours later when I arrived home, my face is still looking fresh! However, I cannot really vouch if this foundation really last that long without blotting and touch-up in between (I do both at least twice a day). But, considering my super oily skin condition, I think on people with normal skin, this could really stay for 12 hours.

Another thing that I love about this foundation is its finish. It's not exactly glowy or dewy, and it's not matte either. The closest term will be demi-matte. The best way I could come up to explain its finish is; your face with the right amount of moisture. It makes your face looks healthy.

With above factors put into consideration, I'm not sure I can move on from Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation. Its only downside is the hefty price tag it comes with. However, I do not really mind considering the quality I'm getting. This truly diminish my urge to try another foundation.

Have you ever tried any base product from Bobbi Brown? What is your favorite?

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