Year: 2013

Drugstore Finds: NYX Powder Blush Collection

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I’ve never been a blush fiend. I never got it to show up on my face the way I envisioned a certain color to. However, I’d been bitten by a blush bug quite recently and I’ve acquired quite the spectrum. If you’re a bit hesitant to build your blush collection (since some are so pricey), you could start with NYX! Here is my NYX Powder Blush Collection, so far. I have the ff. shades: Bourgeois Pig Desert Rose Cocoa Raisin Taupe I have my reasons for picking up each shade. Bourgeois Pig, just because it felt so defiantly un-me that I had to try it. I got Desert Rose because I’m a sucker for rose in general and it seemed like a nice, wearable and safe option. The last three, Cocoa, Raisin, and Taupe, I wanted to try contouring with. I know. Crazy, right? Here are some swatches on my hand: In terms of pigmentation, the pinks have the power. Cocoa was a bit too red to contour with. I didn’t expect Raisin to be …

Depotting My Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

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Or, who ever thought this genie bottle packaging is any good for anything, ever? The Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer was my first eye primer. It’s been with me for about a year, and I love using it. If I can get the product out, anyway. It’s shaped like a vase, and the applicator is a doe-foot sponge (like a lipgloss’) and I just can’t be bothered to contort the wand through the opening and maybe scrape a thin layer of product. If I’m lucky. Often, I’m not so I use my Benefit Lemon Aid or NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base (whew!). Anyway, I read this post by Neon Rock Rose eons ago and decided to do it myself. Once I found a glass pot to put the product in, I set right out to work. That and a really, really sharp blade is literally all you need. You just cut it across like so, but be very, very careful. Cutting stuff’s usually not a problem for me. I do a lot of that …

Playlist: Lena Dunham in i-D Magazine

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I’ve had this post in my drafts since November 29 (!) but I only managed to try it out today. I tried recreating the look on Lena Dunham for her i-D magazine cover, but I don’t think I was all that successful. In any case, here’s my interpretation, along with uneven eyeliner and a “dead in the eyes” look: For foundation, I used Benefit’s Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow in Cheers to Me Champagne. All my foundations are quite yellow, except for my shu uemura UV base, which in turn is kind of cakey on me. Did not set with powder as I won’t be wearing this look out anyway, but I would have used bareMinerals Mineral Veil. For eyes, I used Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette for Eyes: Vanilla Nuts on the browbone, Café Au Lait on the entire lid, with Coffee Ground on the crease and outer corner. I softly defined the upper and lower lashline with Rich Coffee, using a pointed eyeshadow brush (a revelation that I will talk about in another post). I …

REVIEW: Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation

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The people have asked, and now I am answering. If you recall my Skin Care Routine video, I mentioned not wearing foundation, face bases, etc. anymore as they tend to break me out. However, I couldn’t get rid of the scare of no SPF on my face. And so the hunt for a light foundation began. I like my foundation the same way that I like most things—uncomplicated. Here’s a mental checklist that I’ve devised for myself: Light to Medium Coverage — I don’t really have breakouts (just minor spots here and there) or patchy coloring (occasional redness) so I don’t need a super thick foundation Yellow-toned, not pink-toned — obviously Doesn’t require a lot of tools/can be applied with fingers Has SPF Pretty easy, if I do say so myself. So, I scoured the internet for the perfect match and I stumbled upon the Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation. Let’s start with Benefit’s claims: Hello…it’s flawless time! Our new oil-free brightening liquid foundation builds from light to medium coverage for a natural …

Mail Time: Too Cool for School Haul

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Hello! Here’s another haul. I bought these items about three weeks ago and now they have come into my possession. Off the bat, I am very pleased with my purchases. I have some (color!) items that I have my eye on (again), but I’m holding off purchases right now. Anyway, I bought these products from Korea Depart, and they are a pleasure to do business with! As you may have read in my last post, I found out about Too Cool For School from Wiji of Dandelion Whiskers. I searched high and low for a retailer of this product and found Korea Depart! They carry a lot of Korean brands, too, and have reasonable shipping fees so go take a look. What I got for myself, L-R: Angel Hand Cream in Grapefruit, Dinoplatz Pearl Bay Invasion in Mother of Pearl (this is a luminizer), a Marshmallow Puff (a pretty good Beauty Blender dupe!), and Break Time Lip Tint Balm in Rose Dream. I especially like the Dinoplatz line because of the design and illustrations. Agh, …

This or That: YSL Glossy Stain vs. L’Oreal Shine Caresse

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Introducing This or That, a new series in which I make beauty products contend with each other, after which I will declare a winner. They’re not necessarily going to be drugstore vs. high end, but this first one is. I’m obviously not the first one to bring up the comparisons between both products, but I thought I’d experiment and compare on my own as well. Today, I’ll be comparing the YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain and the L’Oreal Shine Caresse. I have exactly one shade of each (they are fairly different shades), so it won’t be a “dupe” comparison. I’ll be reviewing the formulation, the smell, et al. So, let’s get started. YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain in N° 24 (Fuschia Intemporel) “A revolutionary new lip product! Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain combines the texture and shine of a gloss with the long-wear of a stain for a truly innovative lip product. A lightweight texture that immediately melts onto lips. Rouge Pur Couture Vernis …

On Beauty Blogging: Thoughts & some of my new local favorites

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Okay, this isn’t technically about beauty blogging. And if it were, I don’t know if I have anything of value to say on the matter, or if people would really care about my opinion on it. Yet, anyway. I do have a post on why I’ve ventured into the world of beauty blogging, which I wrote about two weeks into it. I started this blog in late October, after a weird new love for makeup. I say “weird” because it’s really not something that people, including myself, expected me to get into. I liked photography, books, art, and music. Which isn’t to say that you’re not allowed to like beauty and makeup, if you like those things. It also doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to like those things if you are into beauty and makeup. In fact, most of the people I talk to about these “girly” things are some of the most intelligent people I know. I’m not trying to prove a point of the direct correlation type; what I’m trying to say …