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One Day Naked 2: Day 3

OW - Naked 2 - 3 - Face 1

Day 3 of the Naked 2 Challenge, and unlike my week with the original Naked, I don’t feel like I’m stifled by this palette as much. Even though today’s look is super simple (I didn’t even curl my lashes or line my eyes), I really like it!

OW - Naked 2 - 3 - Eyes 3

I just have Verve in the inner half of my mobile lid, fading into Busted on the outer half, with the outer corner very slightly deepened by Blackout. For the lower lash line, I have Half Baked smudged all the way through with a bit of Chopper on top of Half Baked on the outer half of the lower lash line. I attempted to line my waterline with Blackout.

OW - Naked 2 - 3 - Eyes 2

I wish I took better pictures but I had an avalanche of work-related mishaps, so I couldn’t really take more time to preen in front of a camera, lol.

OW - Naked 2 - 3 - Eyes 1

OW - Naked 2 - 3 - Face 2

Face: Nature Republic Aqua Super Aqua Max Combination Watery Cream*
Cheeks: Shiseido Luminizing Satin Face Color in RS302
Eyebrows: Inglot Brow Powder in 569
Lips: Verikos Choc Choc Tint in Amanda Pink*

In other news, I am BREAKING OUT. I woke up to several face spots this morning. It was distressing.

Hope you’re having an awesome day so far! Check out Natalie’s look for Day 3 of the Naked 2 Challenge. 🙂

* PR Sample

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Brilliant loveheart Lip Essence*

Brilliant loveheart - Product

Brilliant Loveheart Lip Essence - Applicator

Brilliant Loveheart Lip Essence

The Brilliant loveheart Lip Essence* is part of a 3 Step Lip Care System, starring as its last, lavish step. The other steps are a lip mask and a lip gel patch. This Lip Essence is described as such:

  • High moisture energizing lip essence
  • With various vitamins the essence provides nutrients and a liveliness as if you have applied a colored tint.

It’s fairly moisturizing upon application but it doesn’t completely moisturize the lips. I do have some dry patches left after the essence wears off. I think that’s pretty understandable as it’s not designed to be used alone (see here). The first two steps are for exfoliation and moisture, which makes me think that the effects of this product is mainly superficial.

It’s for “the appearance of rejuvenated lips,” so I don’t think it was meant to provide deep hydration for the lips. Rather, it’s for touch-ups throughout the day. The lip essence has a slight pinky tinge to it that kind of perks up the lips, and the packaging is a squeezy tube with a slanty applicator that’s perfect for hygienic on-the-go application. 🙂 It’s super cute, too!

I love it for what it is, but I definitely wouldn’t be relying on it to heal my cracked lips or provide maximum moisture for them.

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* This item was provided for review. All opinions are my own.

BRTC Bubble Refining Cleanser*

Over the next few days, I’ll be reviewing a bunch of items from the recent beauty box I received from BNT News. In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I am part of a group of bloggers called the BNT Girls, and we each review a couple of products a month for a Korean news outlet, BNT News. For all things South Korean—be it pop news or beauty trends—check them out.

BRTC Bubble Refining Cleanser

The first item in the box that I have is the BRTC Bubble Refining Cleanser. I think this is the third BRTC product I’ve tried, thanks to these BNT Girls boxes, and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them so far.

Product Description: Bubble Refining Cleanser produces rich and fine bubbles that run into pores to clear impurities and dead skin cells. Pores are therefore unclogged. What’s more, it helps controls sebum secretion, detoxifies and purifies skin. Skin’s capacity for moisture and nutrients is therefore optimized, revealing translucent white and flawless.”

Here’s an information sheet that I found online:

brtc_098_01

The symbols at the bottom mean: Remove Oily Residue, Astringing Pore, ?, Sebum Control, and Balance Care. These are the main claims made by BRTC regarding the product. This oarticular line of BRTC contains “Na-COMPLEX.”

“Na-COMPLEX derives an effect from a botanical prescription hypoallergenic to skin through botanical ingredients such as Neem, Sophora Flavescens root and grapefruit which help preventing skin triubles, controlling sebum and sothing acne so as to protect the skin against troubles and quickly recover damaged skin.”

BRTC Bubble Refining Cleanser - Product

The product is a tinted gel that you apply to your dry face after cleansing. The foam will lather up, regardless of moisture. You only need a small amount. On my hand is too much, which is probably about two pumps.

BRTC Foam

It works up to a very rich lather, kind of like shaving cream. I really enjoyed this cleanser—it was minty!—and the rinse-off didn’t make my face feel too taut. It made my face feel very clean and fresh. However, I was so sad when I read that it should only be used 1-2 times a week, as a deep cleanser to be used after your regular cleanser. I’m not sure why, but I’m just guessing it’s a similar reason as to why you should only exfoliate around 1-2 times a week, too, even if you love your skin after a scrub. I suspect it’s so you don’t keep stripping off new layers of skin.

I’m so pleased I got to try this product. Fellow BNT Girl, Alene, gave it a good review, too. I found this review as well that likes it but notes some skin irritants in the ingredients. Personally, it worked really well.

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Visit BNTNews for the latest Korean news and trends:
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* This item was provided for review. All opinions are my own.

Swatchfest and First Impressions: Oslo Cosmetics

Oslo Haul 2

No joke. Every time I see a new purchase I receive in the mail, The National plays in my head: “Oh you’ve done it again, Virginia…” Except my name is Carina but I think I get the point. Anyway. This is a second order I placed for Oslo Cosmetics mid-December. It got shipped out on the 31st and I only got it today. Welcome to International Shipping!

This time, my order is much smaller. I got 5 eyeshadows, a lip slick, an eye primer thing, and a blush sampler. I got a sample of a blush for free.

Here us everything, swatched, but of course, I’ll talk a bit about each thing I bought. As you can see, I am the world champion at sucking at swatches.

Oslo Haul 2 - Swatches
Swatched, L-R: Voltanis, Winter is Coming, Lux, Andromeda, Asterism eyeshadows, Hibiscus Lip Slick, Sextens, Equillus, Caille, Indi, Gemini, and Pictor blushes.

Oslo Haul 2 - Voltanis

Voltanis is a kind of a patina’d gold that’s pretty frosty as a finish. It’s described as a “Smoldering, metallic, deep primal gold.” It’s quite pretty and arrived to me the clumpiest.

Oslo Cosmetics - Winter is Coming

Winter is Coming looks like a super cool blackened blue. Oslo described it as “A duochrome blue violet with blue sparkles.” I can definitely see the violet shift and I can’t wait to wear it.

Oslo Cosmetics - Lux

Lux is a neutral brown that’s super pretty as a lid color for everyday. It’s described as a “Soft, shimmery, satin taupe-brown.”

Oslo Cosmetics - Andromeda

Andromeda is a very warm chocolate-y brown, with a matte brown base and some warm red sparks. Oslo describes it as a “Shimmery, chocolately brown, with duochrome red shift, and orange duochrome glitter.”

Oslo Cosmetics - Asterism

Asterism looks super similar to Asterism, but this shade is less red and more frosty. It is described as “Sparkly warm brown, with red shift and orange glitter.”

Oslo Haul 2 - Half Swatch 1
Swatched, L-R: Voltanis, Winter is Coming, Lux, Andromeda, Asterism, Hibiscus, Sextens, Equilus, Caille

Oslo - Hibiscus

Swatched right beside the shadows is Hibiscus, a pale warm pinky peach Lip Slick. It’s described as a “Peachy coral-pink creme.” There are no shimmers and it has decent slide and pigmentation. I have yet to try it on my lips.

Oslo Haul - Blush Sampler Set

Next, I ordered a blush sampler set since I wanted to try more indie blushes after my positive experience with “Carina.” I didn’t want to order full sizes just yet, so I decided to get five shades in baggies. Joyce from Oslo threw in another shade.

Oslo Haul 2 - Messy

My package was so messy because of the baggies, though. I was thinking something spilled or got punctured, but everything was sealed tight. I think these were from the residue from them putting the blushes in the baggies.

Oslo Haul 2 - Half Swatch 2
Swatched, L-R: Andromeda, Asterism, Hibiscus, Sextens, Equilus, Caille, Indi (super skinny swatch), Gemini, Pictor

Sextens is a dusky rose matte blush, described as a “beautiful, deep, matte red-berry blush.” Equilus is a warm deep coral matte blush, described as a “Glowy, mid toned matte, red-pink blush.” Caille is another bright one—a highlighter pink described as a “Bright, cosmic matte light pink.” It’s the only blush here that’s not part of the Arc Collection. Indi is a pinkish lavender matte described as a “Light, matte lavender-pink blush.” Gemini is a pale violet matte, similar to Indi but less pinky, more purple and is described as a “Matte purple-lavender-pink blush.” Lastly, Pictor, the free blush, is a pale pink with high intensity golden glitter/shimmer. It is described as a “Radiant, shimmery gold, light pink blush/highlighter.” The shimmer here is very heavy and gets everywhere.

Haven’t had to test these out, but I am quite excited! 🙂 The sample baggies are extremely messy, but I don’t know yet if I want to depot them into little pots.

I haven’t tried the eye primer yet, so I’ll give an update on that in the future. I will say, though, that the consistency is very liquid-y and weird.

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this look at more Oslo colors, in case you were thinking of getting stuff for yourself. In case you want to see more, I swatched my first Oslo order here.

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One Week Naked 2: Day 2

Hey all! Just a quick post right now. I’m actually about to get to work but I’m doing this challenge/series with Natalie and we both agreed to get our posts out at 12 noon everyday… so here I am, trying hard to do that.

As you can see, my hair is still wet.

OW - Naked 2 - 2 - Face 3

For today, I just wanted something simple and warm-ish, so I used Suspect all over the lid, blended out with Tease at the crease. For outer corner depth, I added a bit of Snakebite, which I brought down to the outer half of my lower lash line as well.

OW - Naked 2 - 2 - Eyes 2

You guys seem to like it when I line my eyes, so I used a little bit of Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Twice Baked on my upper lash line and lower waterline (outer half). I curled my lashes and was done. 😀

OW - Naked 2 - 2 - Eyes 1a

Super easy, super simple, and maybe a little boring. I’ve got to say I’m pretty happy “rediscovering” how great a lid wash Suspect is. 🙂

OW - Naked 2 - 2 - Face 1a

Face: AHAVA Essential Day Moisturizer, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Ginger), Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder (Refresh)
(Wonky) Eyebrows: The Body Shop Brow & Liner Kit (02)
Cheeks: Tom Ford Cheek Colour (Wicked)
Lips: Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie (Summer Fling)

OW - Naked 2 - 2 - Face 2

Hope you have a wonderful day! Don’t forget to check out Natalie’s look for the day. 🙂

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One Week Naked 2: Day 1

Yay! My Urban Decay Naked One Week Series wrapped up the other day. 🙂 If you’re new, the One Week Series as I’ve dubbed it is a week-long series with looks using a single palette. I don’t know how long I’ll be doing this, as I have a lot of LE palettes, but let’s see!

Urban Decay - Naked 2 - Pans

Anyway, for the meantime, I thought I’d carry over the series to another less-utilized palette in my possession: the Urban Decay Naked 2. I’ve said quite a lot of times that I prefer the Naked 2, but I thought I’d show you some looks with this palette, to kind of demonstrate why I feel like it’s much more versatile than the original Naked palette.

I think Natalie is doing this along with me. 🙂 Be sure to check out her blog sometime today or this week!

OW - Naked 2 - Face 4

This is a pretty simple eye look! I really like it, even though I just made it up for this post. I’ve got Bootycall all over the lid over a MAC Paint Pot (Painterly), with Tease in the outer corner and outer crease. Then I deepened up the look with the tiniest bit of Blackout in the outer corner.

OW - Naked 2 - 1 - Eyes 1

On the lower lashline, I have Blackout and Tease. Curled ze lashes and put on mascara.

OW - Naked 2 - 1 - Eyes 2

I did a little wing with a liquid liner. I love how it makes my eyes look more elongated and girlier.

OW - Naked 2 - Face 2

Face base: NARS Sheer Glow Foundation (Punjab), Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth-Boosting Powder (Matte Translucent), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (Mood Light)
Eyebrows: The Body Shop Brow & Liner Kit (02)
Cheeks: MAC Mineralize Skin Finish (Lightscapade), Shiseido Luminizing Satin Face Color (RS302), Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Waterproof Matte Bronzer (Park Avenue Princess)
Lips: MAC Amplified Lipstick (Impassioned)

And that’s it! Stay tuned this week for more looks using the Naked 2 Palette. 🙂

Urban Decay is cruelty-free.

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NARS Sheer Glow Liquid Foundation in Punjab

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation - Punjab - Bottle

I’ve been wanting the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation (Php 2,550) for the longest time and I finally bit the bullet and bought it about a week ago. I was shade-matched to Punjab or the “Medium 1” shade of the range, which by the way has an impressive array of skin tones and colors. Read More