Year: 2013

Draw on a pretty pout with Addiction’s Lip Crayon in Day Trip

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I originally had my eye on three lip crayons. Aside from Day Trip, I wanted to get Spy Pink and Endlessly, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get more than one Lip Crayon (like a dumb ass) so I ended up with what I think is a happy medium. Day Trip is a muted coral beige (in my opinion). It’s a light brown, but very warm with a tiny bit coral. I swatched this together with Spy Pink, which is a pale pink, and Endlessly, which is a pretty straight-up nude. This felt like it would suit my skin tone better, so I went with this. These remind me a lot of the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, but they did away with the hassle of sharpening. Addiction Lip Crayons come in a plastic, twist-up tube for easy application. My experience with both have been similar, in that they are not drying on the lips at the time of application. I find that NARS VMLPs tend to dry up a bit while you …

My Personal Cruelty-Free Pledge, Or a Step Towards It

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I have been a regular makeup user only for about six months, but I’ve been burdened by the issue of animal testing and what it means to me as a consumer and—what I’d like to think—me as a responsible human being. I know it happens outside of the beauty industry as well, but I think a large part of why I feel bad is because beauty products are, at the root of it, pretty unnecessary to the general public. We beauty lovers use products because it is enjoyable and it makes us happy. It’s not necessarily a necessity, though I’m sure there are special cases, so I can’t be at peace knowing that a bunny or a hamster suffered so I could be itch- and allergy-free, wearing a lipstick or a foundation. Because of this burden, I have assessed my current collection and divided the brands into several categories, which you can see here. If I can amend anything on the list, please feel free to let me know. 🙂 A large part of why …

A Spectrum of Flush: Illamasqua Blusher Duo in Lover/Hussy

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A few weeks ago, I went on an ASOS Illamasqua binge because I couldn’t get my hands on the Speckled Nail Varnish, since they are hard to send over, cross country for some reason (I wanted Freckle or Scarce). “I just want my nails to look like Easter eggs, dammit!” I thought. In a fit of rage and a whirlwind of poor decisions, I ended up ordering a couple of things of Illamasqua, one of them being this powder duo blusher in Lover/Hussy. (You can see the rest of the haul here.) I kind of already reviewed it there already, but I wanted to be a little bit more in-depth because this powder blusher duo honestly deserves a few more words of praise. To recap, I thought it was huge. As you can see, it is. This duo is what I wanted to bring on the trip to Japan, since I could have two blushers in one. Alas, the packaging was a huge (literally) deterrent. The Illamasqua Powder Blusher Duo I got came with Lover, …

Quickie: A Love Affair with shu uemura Eyeshadow in ME medium brown 885

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Okay. Where do I begin? I’m sure this appears to be just an unassuming shimmery, medium brown eyeshadow, but of course, it is actually pretty magical. I bought this while looking for things to check out in Japan. Glossed in Translation featured a look that had this gorgeous color on her eyes. I bought it right away because I am impulsive and you can’t really go wrong with browns/neutrals anyway. I waited about a week before I popped this baby open (because I needed to take a pristine~ picture before using it) and holy cow, is it buttery. I find that shu uemura eyeshadows have the rare ability to make me roll my eyes up in pleasure when I touch them. It’s quite disgusting to think about and is really quite sad, but they are truly marvelous things. Swatch: shu uemura eyeshadow in ME medium brown 885 “ME” refers to the finish, which is metallic, which I don’t normally like or gravitate towards, but this is a beautiful exception. As you can see, it has …

Addiction by Ayako Lipstick in Lady of the Lake

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The last lipstick I got from Addiction is one that nearly got away. It’s called Lady of the Lake, and it’s from the “C” or Color range. I managed to get one per line (sheer, pearl & color), by happy accident, so I can’t wait to use them more and make comparisons as to their longevity, etc. This was going to be “the lipstick that got away.” I already had my eye on Gold Fish and Super Woman, but the lady at the counter saw me swatching the darker shades (that were apparently in the sheer range) and suggested this shade. I asked if I could try this on because I was on the fence about it, and let me tell ya—it was a long process. I think the Japanese have such a high regard for hygiene. They sat me down in front of a mirror, and scraped a bit of lipstick on a spatula. Then, she prepped my lips (which I wish I had gotten) and carefully drew on the super creamy, super pigmented …

Make-Up Inventory: Bronzers

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I am revolting… …against the people and companies who want to make us white. This weekend, I was hit by the horrible truth that most Filipinos are suckered into wanting to be whiter. More on that on a previous post I wrote: A Cult(ure) of White. Growing up, I wasn’t really ever into whitening my skin. I mean, I had other “problems” to worry about, like my underbite and braces or my uneven eyes or the overgrown forest on my legs, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyway. I never wanted to whiten my skin and I would rejoice every time I went to the beach because I would go home with a pretty tan and a golden glow. 🙂 For the times when I can’t go to the beach, though, there’s always bronzer. I’ve discovered the wonders of bronzer quite recently, so I don’t have very many, but I really wanted to highlight the golden hues of summer so here are a few products to try if you want to fake a little tan …

Addiction by Ayako Lipstick in Super Woman

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Next up from Addiction is another lipstick (as you can see, I reused the packaging picture I took of Gold Fish’s) called Super Woman. This is part of their “S” or sheer range. Super Woman looks like a scary, intimidating red in the tube. I am shit at determining whether a red is blue-toned or yellow-toned. I used to think I could but there have been way too many times where I go “that’s obviously a blue-toned red” and then some (more learned) jerk says it’s actually yellow-toned. But there. It’s red. That much I know. This is a very heavy swatch of Super Woman. As can be expected from a sheer lipstick, this goes on quite lightly but can be built up to the color that you see on this swatch. When I swatched this at the Addiction counter, my eyes grew wide in delight and I knew I had to get it. I don’t find very many wearable reds, and they usually lean towards purple or plum, so this was sort of a …