Year: 2013

Quickie: Le Métier de Beauté Colour Core Moisture Stain Lipstick in Miami

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Introducing my second-ever LMdB Lipstick… Miami! I would have honestly purchased more of these if I could (the formula is great), but the online pictures on the sites do not show up “true to pan,” so to speak. I did not expect it to be so frosty! Also, I wasn’t expecting this light of a color, but it worked out OK in the end, because I liked it enough. Miami is sort of like a bright, nude pink, if that makes sense. I suppose it’s because of all the frost! I didn’t expect to be able to wear this, but I think I pulled it off okay here: I think it’s one of those Lyte Frosty Ones that I can actually pull off, given my coloring and skin’s color temperature. Of course, it’s drawing a line that is very, very easy to cross, so I have to be careful with the other things I wear on my face when I do end up wearing this. You can read more about the formula, packaging, et al. …

RealTechniques Duo Fiber Brush Collection

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I only have a small collection of Real Techniques, even though I truthfully want them all. Even though I love my travel set and my Expert Face brush, I wanted to get one more set and I thought that this set would give me the most mileage. I have here the RealTechniques Duo Fiber Brush Collection, which has three brushes: the face brush, the contour brush, and the eye brush. I wanted to get the Core Collection, but I am a sucker for all-in-one type of sets. I don’t know why, but that’s how I ended up with this instead of the Core Collection. The RealTechniques Duo Fiber Brush Collection is a limited edition collection that’s going to be sold all throughout the year, if I’m not mistaken. It is comprised of three duo-fiber brushes for buildable color and texture. What sets these apart from most brushes is their being “true multitaskers.” Duo Fiber brushes work well with cream, powder, and liquid products, making these kind of all-around products. RealTechniques brushes are also made of …

Quickie: BECCA Beach Tint in Guava

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I recently acquired the BECCA Beach Tint in Guava from my Tita Betchay who lives in Sydney. The BECCA Beach Tint is a multi-purpose, water-resistant color for your cheeks and lips. For a more in-depth look at the Beach Tints, check out my review on it in the shade Raspberry here. Guava is a brighter, more summery color that gives your cheeks a subtle wash of color. It’s a bright coral pink that brightens up the face and adds just the right amount of color for a flush without a dramatic pop. Raspberry is a deep berry pink that adds a cool flush, while Guava is a pinky coral that warms up the face. I don’t know if geography has anything to do with it (the Raspberry pic was taken in cold Japan in the springtime, while the Guava one was taken in Manila post-summer), but I do feel like grabbing Guava more often in the coming days. I also would like to point out that these are pretty much indispensable these days, especially for …

LUSH Ultrabland Facial Cleanser

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If you recall my Going Cruelty-Free post on facial cleansers, I had mentioned I needed to find a good makeup remover replacement since the one I’d been using wasn’t and I was nearly out of it (i.e. Laneige Eye & Lip Waterproof Remover, which is pretty much amazing). I want to thank everyone who left a suggestion. Many of them, I wanted to try but can’t get a hold of here. One of the ones I could get was LUSH’s Ultrabland. Ultrabland is essentially a facial cleanser, though one that is vastly different from the first one I tried, Aqua Marina. Instead of coming from a spongy loaf, like some of their cleansers, Ultrablend is a creamy product that has a nondescript (though a little unpleasant) smell. You take a bit of it and slather it all over your face. I rub away heavier makeup like mascara with the gunk still on my face. Then, instead of washing it off, you take a damp flannel cloth or cotton pad and then wipe the cream—and all …

Covet: MAKE Cosmetics

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A few weeks (months?) ago, I posted a list of beauty things that I’d been eyeing over at & Other Stories, a brand that I can’t get here in Manila. Here is another brand that is sadly out of reach: MAKE. MAKE is: “a cosmetic brand that finds beauty in inspiration. Its mission is to encourage self-expression through color by fostering contemporary collaborations between makeup artists and creatives worldwide. MAKE is the first for-benefit beauty brand on We See Beauty and is Made in New York.” You can read more about MAKE here. So, I looked through their shop (which, by the way, has very interesting moving campaigns and pictures, when you scroll all the way down) and these are my picks: Matte Eyeshadow in Purple Sage ($18) • Matte Eyeshadow in Poppy ($18) Satin Eyeshadow in Great Lakes ($18) • Satin Eyeshadow in Santa Fe ($18) Satin Eyeshadow in Yellow Brick Road ($18) • Custom Effects Pigment in Reykjavik ($18) Molten Eyeshadow in Metallic Bronze ($18) • Gel Eyeliner Pencil in Very Brown ($14) …

Live in Layers with Le Métier de Beauté’s Lip Crèmes

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Alliteration forever! Obviously. So. These things. These things are amazing. The Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crèmes are lipstick/gloss hybrids, which means that they are a little thicker than glosses and pretty much have the pigmentation of lipsticks, but they come in a liquid formula. I think that’s sort of similar to the concept of liquid lipsticks, although these come in a different finish and formula than those that I’ve tried (i.e. Revlon ColorStay Liquid Lipstick, Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait). These are also quite unique because they’re meant to be mixed together or layered over each other or other lop products. Which, when you think about it, is kind of like their eyeshadow technique, the couches de couleur, made popular by their Kaleidoscope Eye Kits. I have three lip crèmes, two of which are fairly recent acquisitions. Here are the swatches: Swatches, L-R: Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crèmes in Fraise Crème, Café Crème, and Crème Caramel These come in many other different colors, so it’s kind of hard to pick, but you can always …

Softly Special: My Top Five Favorite Eye Palettes

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I know I did Lipstick Week not too long ago, but the truthiest truth out there is that I’m an eyeshadow lady. I fricken love the stuff. I think that’s really where it all went downhill. I can remember the first eye product I purchased that changed everything and how I looked at eye makeup (i.e. bareMinerals’ READY 2.0 in The Scenic Route). And then I was doomed to a life of swatching. I don’t know if I want to make a whole week’s worth of celebration out of this, because eye swatches are much, much harder to do than lipstick swatches, but I’ll begin by outing my favorite eye palettes for all of you. What I basically look for in eyeshadow palettes is versatility, which I feel like entails a good variety of tone, texture, and shade. With that little checklist in mind, I looked at my palette collection and picked out a few favorites. Here goes nothing! Honorable Mention: Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs in Turandot (Review) This was the first high-end palette I …