Swatch-Fest! Urban Decay Holiday 2014 Eyeshadow Palettes

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Thought I should do this quickly before I went off on my vacation the last 2 weeks of October. (Traveling to SF and LA actually!)

The new Urban Decay Vice 3 palette, Naked 2 Basics, as well as the Shadow Box will be launched in Sephoras island-wide (Singapore) on 30 November, so this might give you an idea about which ones you’re going to save up for.

I can tell you Urban Decay’s shadows are all consistently high-quality. Not a 100% hit-rate but there are always very few duds.

Vice 3

A lot of people have been waiting impatiently for this one.

And it’s not a disappointment. For those who are new to colors, Vice 1 and 2 can be a bit intimidating. This one may seem so at first, but I’ll give you a quick trick. Just look at each column as a 4-shade palette. There are actually 3 neutral palettes in there, and 2 color palettes. All in the usual smooth pigmented formula. VERY worth the investment if you think about the fact that you get 20 new colors (each weigh a little more than half a MAC shadow at 0.8g). 

That’s 10 full size shadows. 

If that’s a little too overwhelming for you, or you just want something more compact and portable, you might want to check out The Shadow Box.

Shadow Box

This is 2014’s successor to the classic Ammo Palette. In it are 12 of UD’s regular shades. I do have to point out one dud in the collection; the matte black called Blackout isn’t the smoothest or most pigmented, but then the other 11 shades are gorgeous. 

This is a small cardboard package with 12 x 0.5g of product, which is 4 full-size MAC shadows (sorry - MAC shadows are the easiest reference cos most people more or less know their size and value).

Naked 2 Basics

Ahh… one for the neutral lovers.

Let’s face it. Matte shadows are tricky. But UD does a brilliant job at creating matte shadows that are very silky and blendable.

I love the Naked 2 Basics a heck of a lot more than the first Naked Basics which - I’ll be honest and say - has too many pale beige shades, whereas this has a better and more flattering mix of light to deep in different undertones. In my opinion anyway.

Great for beginners and those who are looking for a hard-working neutral palette or just love the velvety texture and finish of matte shadows in general.

Are you eyeing any of these in particular?

Waxy Obsession: Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy Candles

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You might not know if you’re not following me on Dayre, but I’m a fragrance freak. And that includes home fragrance, as well as regular fragrance.

I love candles, and more recently I’ve discovered wickless wax melts, because not all candles smell good when burnt. These you can just pop in a tealight burner and they melt and release scent without touching the flame. Also, often here in Asia, you can sometimes feel like you are squeezing water out of stone trying to find any good bakery scents.

So the only option is buying from online vendors, mostly from the US. There are a handful that I really like, and I can’t claim that these are all the BEST vendors around cos I haven’t tried them all and many don’t ship internationally, but they meet the below criteria:

1. They ship internationally. Duh.
2. They are open most of the time. Some vendors are open intermittently, and you have to really stalk their sites and Facebook pages for months to order anything.
3. They have ready to ship (RTS) items. Many vendors can take weeks or months to process your order. You don’t know when you will receive your order. 
4. They are responsive and give great customer service. 
5. They choose good fragrance oils that are compatible with and don’t distort in their wax base. Some oils don’t work well in certain waxes, and you get a metallic or plastic note, or the “bakery” scents take on a weird musky chemical smell.
6. They have a lot of good original blends in their scent list instead of only selling the generic fragrance oil blends every other vendor has.

Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy Candles fits all the above criteria, and I haven’t met a bad scent from them yet. It’s not that I like all their scents of course. (There are always some scents we don’t like no matter who makes them.) But I find her wax consistently high-quality and true to their scent names.

Shanna Voss, the owner, is a member of the Veteran Candle Makers Association and has always been very helpful and responsive to questions, and super kind. Her tarts throw well and are concentrated, but she doesn’t overload her wax to the point where the oils seep out and make a mess.

I melt these in my work room and sometimes the dining area or bedroom, but I’ve always been able to get away with a 1/4 of the tart. They always smell really good. Throwing the whole thing in the warmer in my apartment will probably be scent overload.

The scents I’ve tried from her all smell clean and true to my noise. Clean in the sense the wax doesn’t have an after-smell that changes or interferes with the fragrance. And true in the sense that if she says it’s an apple, it smells like a fresh apple, not apple juice. If she says it’s marshmallow, it smells like marshmallow, not a generic vanilla. If she says lemon, it doesn’t smell like lemon cleaning liquid.

Plus, she’s generous with her samples and it’s always fun getting mystery tarts and guessing what scents are mixed in the cups.

I have a huge order that I’m shipping to my hotel when I get to the States and there are a lot I haven’t tried but my current faves from her are:

1. Ghost Munch - caramel apple and  candy corn mostly, with some creamy bready notes

2. Marshmallow Fireside (a BBW dupe) - a sweet and smoky blend of ashy wood and sugary marshmallow

3. Macintosh Apple - exactly what it says; super fresh

4. Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cake - I received this as a sample and didn’t think I’d like it but OMG, it is good

5. Latte and Sugar Cookies - are you kidding? How can creamy latte and sugar cookies not smell good together?

6. Grapefruit and Mangosteen - fresh and mouthwatering… 

7. Red Velvet Cake - she has one of the better Red Velvets I’ve tried. It’s a nice moist buttery red velvet with a buttercream; not plastic, not fake, not too heavy on the buttercream

Some other good ones I am planning to try cos I’ve heard great stuff:

1. Zucchini Bread

2. Vanilla Sugar Waffle Cone

3. Blue Ribbon Cookies

4. Amazing Grace (a Philosophy dupe)

5. Peppermint Noel 

She isn’t the cheapest vendor around but better a slightly more expensive tart than one that smells like cheap dollar-store candles. When you get around to ordering larger bags her prices are competitive. 

My recommendation is to buy the 1.5oz tart cups first (I just checked her site and seems she’s sold out of ready-to-ship tarts at the moment) and then when you find a favorite, order the $16 tart crumbles in the 16oz bakers’ bags (they’re really chunks not little crumbles). Those last for a long time.

Shiseido Future Solution LX Total Radiance foundation and powder

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If you’re into prestige skincare, then you are probably no stranger to Shiseido’s Future Solution LX. This is the most expensive line bearing the Shiseido brand (not counting sub-brands like Cle de Peau Beaute of course), and since serum foundations have been all the range in recent years, they’ve finally brought out their own version of one.

Traditionally, foundation is treated as a necessary evil. We are told it clogs pores and causes breakouts, and some people even sell us primers claiming they are made to “protect” our skin from direct contact with foundations.

(That’s complete BS by the way. Primers add extra “slip” to the surface of your skin so your foundations blend and smooth on better instead of grabbing in areas, or they balance out your skin so that your makeup adheres to your skin surface a little better. Some add a bit of mattifying properties, some add hydration. But they mostly contain emollients and silicones; exactly the same things in your foundation - minus the pigments.) 

Well, the new generation of serum foundations are a step up from BB creams. They often contain active ingredients found in skincare ranges, so they have a small ability to treat and protect your skin. And unlike BB creams and tinted moisturizers, they mostly have very decent coverage.

Future Solution LX Total Radiance foundation (S$122) is interesting because unlike other serum foundations, it goes on and sets to a velvety matte finish without taking away any of the radiance of your skin. In fact, the pigments are designed to diffuse light so you look more even, and you have a glow - but not a shine.

Coverage:

The coverage is VERY good. Medium and buildable. Comparable to Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme makeup - but much lighter feeling on the skin. As you rub it in, the silky emollients sink in and the solvents evaporate, leaving only pigments on the surface, and no feel of makeup on the skin. 

I had no problems building up more coverage where I needed it. If you are lazy to use a separate concealer, just dab a bit more on with your fingers where you need to hide dark circles, etc. 

It’s not high coverage enough to hide a large spot completely though. Just stick with a concealer for that.

Performance:

I saw no oxidation, and the foundation stayed on whole 12-hour days, although I can’t speak for its lasting power on oily skins of course. I would assume it doesn’t last quite as well, although I do believe it would be quite decent. If you have normal, dry or combination skins, this would work pretty well. It’s interesting because for something that looks quite matte, it has so far been able to provide hydration on my dry skin without feeling dewy or smearing off.

Cons:

Price is one thing that would be a problem. It’s not surprising that it’s $122 in Singapore, considering the price of the Future Solution LX skincare range. But this means it’s not really something I’d recommend for every single person.

Another is the jar comes with a seal over the foundation. But once the seal is gone, the foundation is fluid enough that tipping the jar means you will get foundation all under the cap, which can be messy when you uncap it. A plastic inner lid would have been helpful for this formula.

Total Radiance Powder ($102) is another interest product. It’s feathery light and ultra-fine, with no visible texture or color on the skin (the powder itself is a soft beige), but the technology used in the formula promises to balance out the skin visually.

It doesn’t contain the skincare ingredients of the foundation of course, but it has its own bag of tricks.

On dry and dull areas, it reflects light and adds a flattering smoothing effect. On oily areas, it diffuses and redistributes the oil so you “glow” instead of “shine”. This is not one of those ultra-matte powders. It adds a natural looking radiance without any pearl or shimmer. If you want something that is very matte, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

I do recommend using this with a soft face brush or a velour puff rather than the furry puff provided, as those have a tendency to load on too much powder. 

Verdict

Overall, I am very VERY impressed by these 2 products, and I do think they are worth checking out if you have the budget. I don’t usually like matte finish foundations because my skin is dry, but this one is really impressive because it feels SO light and gives such good coverage, without looking like makeup even when you look close-up.

It gives a more perfected finish that Dior Star, and is lighter and more undetectable up-close than Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide, (which doesn’t do quite as well when you try to build up more coverage). But it IS more of a luxury than either of those, so definitely get a sample if you’re interested, and don’t just shell out without testing it. 

Estee Lauder “Modern Muse” Inspired Tutorial

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I love the makeup in the campaign visuals for Estee Lauder’s Modern Muse perfume. 

So I did my own version of the smoky winged eye look. It’s a smoky look where the eye color is concentrated within the lid area and gently smoked out into a short wings at the outer corners. It’s very quick to do and when you don’t have time, you can use a single dark brown shadow to fill in the lids, define with black liner, and be out the door in 10 minutes. 

In fact that’s what I wore for the latter part of my 2-week trip to the US. 

This gives a slightly cleaner and more girly look; a bit Brigitte Bardot-esque. 

I used:

1. Dior Diorskin Nude Makeup 021
2. L’oreal Visible Lift Blur Concealer - I really like this for quick under-eye brightening; there’s not enough coverage for blemishes but it’s great at evening out the skin
3. Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics palette
4. Urban Decay Zero liner
5. Maybelline Great Lash Real Impact mascara
6. NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette - Deep Throat blush and Laguna bronzer for contouring
7. Cle de Peau Beauté Extra Rich lipstick in 106 - a tawny rose beige that’s rosier than a true nude

A closer look at the NARS Cheek Palette in tomorrow’s post!

NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette 

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Those of you on Instagram probably know I’m just back from the US and of course I did a lot of major hauling. And one of the things I’m loving most of all is my Virtual Domination palette from NARS, which contains 4 blush/highlight colors and 1 bronzer.

1. Miss Liberty: A peach-pink-beige shimmery highlight; not my fave in this palette because I prefer highlighters that give a subtle sheen, not a sparkle.
2. Sex Fantasy: A pale blue-based matte pink that might be a little odd on darker skins, but if you pair it with the bronzer and use it on the high points of your cheeks, it’s a great way to sculpt your face without adding a load of shimmer.
3. Deep Throat: Peach with a soft gold sheen. I don’t need to say too much about this classic bestseller. It’s Orgasm’s more classy, subtly-flattering younger sister.
4. Final Cut: Matte coral. Looks beautiful paired with all warm toned lippies and with peach-based nudes and true nudes. 
5. Laguna: A classic bronzer and a cult favorite from NARS. This goes on very silky and sheer and can be built up so it doesn’t look like a muddy or dirty streak on your face unless you are quite heavy-handed. But if you are very pale, go easy on it and use a very soft brush or it can be too brown.

This costs USD68 (before tax), and contains 28g of product so it’s actually reasonable value. The typical MAC blush contains 6g. I’m not certain about international release/availability currently, as I’ve only seen it in the US. I know they might have released a similar palette some time ago, but it was not available in Singapore. 

The colors are fine-grained and neither too sheer nor too pigmented (by my standards anyway). And it’s just great to be able to carry one palette when you’re traveling and have different tones for different looks.

I know some people don’t like the fact that there is more bronzer (10g) than blush shades (4.5g each), but it’s meant as a contouring or sculpting powder that you’d use a bit of each day in the hollows of your cheeks, while you switch between different blush colors on your apples. It only makes sense for there to be more Laguna in this case.

Hoping this one gets released worldwide as I know there are TONS of people who would love to get their hands on a nifty palette like this!

Too Faced Cosmetics La Belle Carousel Review and Swatches

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Every year or two, there is a holiday gift set that is so jaw-droppingly good that you just HAVE to buy it. 

This year, my pick is Too Faced La Belle Carousel, an uber-cute kit shaped like one of those cardboard candy-boxes, filled with 6 detachable panels containing:

3 eyeshadow quads

2 blush and bronzer duos, and

a small tube of Better Than Sex mascara

First off, it’s fantastic value. It’s USD49 at Sephora. You get 12 full-size shadows (I say full size but at 1.6g each, you’re getting MORE in each pan than a full-size MAC shadow), 2 x 8g of blush and 2 x 4g of bronzer. 

That’s incredible value in most cases, but when you consider the fact that Too Faced has some of the best pressed powder cosmetics in the business (ultra smooth, pigmented shadows and silky bronzers and blushes), it’s downright mind-boggling. 

But I’ll just let the swatches speak for themselves. 

There were only a couple of shades which were so-so. Santa’s Boots is a glittery black but the glitters don’t show up or stay well even though the matte black is smooth enough. And Sugar Plum Fairy is quite crumbly and needs a good base to stay on nicely even though it’s beautiful once on.

The best thing? It’s an impressive gift for someone special (or yourself), OR you can split it into 6 little gifts for 6 of your gal pals. Versatile!

Straight-Edge Liner and Hot Pink Lips (Iggy Azalea Inspired Makeup)

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Iggy’s one of my recent girl crushes, and I love her minimalist but strong makeup with very thick black liner, dewy fresh skin, sculpted cheeks, and lips that go from nude to retro red to incredible fuchsias and hot pinks.

Her eyes are quite small so the way she extends her liner thickly straight out and up is actually flattering for anyone who has similarly small eyes or eyes that are close-set.

There’s not a whole lot to her makeup look, but it makes big impact.

Main products used:

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction palette

Bobbi Brown Ink Liner (I accidentally reversed the label with that of the NARS pencil in the image above)

NARS Rue Bonaparte pencil (she almost always has a pale matte liner along her lower lash line to open up her eyes)

Givenchy Rouge Couture in 209 (you can swop this with red or nude; she wears those shades too)

Laneige Sparkling Party Holiday Set

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If you’re looking for a nice gift for a BFF or someone who is into Asian/Korean beauty brands, check out Laneige’s Xmas 2014 collection. 

One of the nice mid-range priced items is this neat little kit, the Sparkling Party Holiday Set, which retails for $45 in Singapore, and is filled with 2 sparkle shadows that you can use on their own, or over existing shadows as an over-coat. (I love the pink one.)

There are also 2 Water Drops Lip Tints in 2 of my favorite shades, Neon Pink and Raspberry Pink (which I own in the full-size, but wish came in these cute metallic tubes instead).

Then there’s also something rarer. 2 glitter polishes, Pink Wine (holographic translucent glitter) and Golden Bubble (gold micro-glitter with larger pink and fuchsia flecks).

Like the shadows, you can build these up and wear them on their own or apply them over other polishes. I had expected to like Golden Bubble more but I was VERY pleasantly surprised by Pink Wine and just how much glitter it could apply in a single coat! You can get by with 1-2 coats of Pink Wine while Golden Bubble takes about 3 coats unless you apply a gold shimmer polish as a base first.

There are many other gift sets in the range, including a limited edition pearl gold BB cushion case with gold rose rims which I am very tempted to get (even though I have 4 regular cases already)…

Make Up For Ever Studio Eye Case

This year for the holiday season, Make Up For Ever has launched a few kits guaranteed to wow. From a neat beauty kit (SGD54) filled with 5 of their bestsellers, to a travel brush set (SGD110), and a humongous makeup station (SGD439) filled to the brim with MUFE essentials for the budding makeup pro, there’s something for pretty much every category of makeup enthusiast.

MY personal pick though, was the Studio Case (SGD99) which is a super-cute black makeup case that latches shut and opens to reveal a deluxe sized cruelty-free flat eye brush and 12 of MUFE’s super-smooth shadows in mini-sizes. 

I’ll let the swatches speak for themselves as always. The colors are all grouped in trios and split into 4 sets, which are labeled at the top of the columns. Aside from the “Natural” trio, which is quite subtle, the others are really strong and high pigmented.

If you have ever tried the brand’s eyeshadows, you’ll know they’re incredibly smooth and blendable for the most part, even the mattes. In fact, the only thing that stops me from buying a whole load of them is the fact that each pan always contains a lot of product and they aren’t the cheapest shadows around. 

Neither are their brushes. And their new synthetic range is just beautiful. Here you get a deluxe size that’s not only more travel friendly, but is as far as I can tell, the same quality as the regular size brushes. It’s not that brilliant at blending/fading colors out since it’s a flat synthetic brush, but that’s not a big problem for me since I have tons of other brushes anyway.

But instead of a just a few colors in large pans that you can’t finish for ages (unless you’re a makeup artist), what if you can get 12 gorgeous shades in a more manageable size, housed in a sturdy little black reusable case along with a free brush?

Ideal for the makeup freak who wants tons of options and looks in one neat little kit that’s not too large to be portable, and doesn’t want to compromise on color options, quality, OR presentation.

Dark Dramatic Plum Lips, Soft Plum Eyes

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Did this look last week using an expensive Dior palette but I decided to recreate a pictorial for it using something that’s a bit more accessible AND (more importantly) not limited edition, so more of you can try it!

Dark plum lips are actually flattering for most people and most skintones as long as you stick with the reddish/violet plums. Avoid the brown-plums because those are much trickier to pull off and can just make your face look dull and dirty.

For this soft silky eye look (which complements but won’t overpower that dark glossy lip) you just need the Urban Decay Shadow Box. I’ve marked out the shades used in the image above. 

An optional step is applying cluster lashes. I wanted fluttery fullness but not the darkness and harshness of black mascara and liner. But if you need, just skip it and apply regular mascara. 

For the cheeks, I used a discontinued mauve blush from YSL, but just use any neutral or cool-toned pink blush. Skip the super-shimmery ones. You want your cheeks to be very muted so that it’s not fighting for attention with your lips and eyes.

As for that dark glittery glossy lip, it’s all about layering. I used MAC Fashion Revival and coated it generously with Lime Crime’s Carousel Lip Gloss in Present.

Neither dark lipstick nor dark gloss will be as intense and dramatic on their own. But if you can layer, you get opaque color AND a lacquer like shine. (You can use a dark plum lip liner in place of lipstick too; that lasts longer. But it’s just easier to find a dark plum lipstick for most people. And I’d recommend looking for a matte texture so it doesn’t bleed the way a cream lipstick will once the gloss goes on.)

Just remember to apply concealer or foundation around the rim of your lips to even out the color, and make sure you also conceal any unevenness around your face because dark lipstick tends to emphasize those.

Innisfree Green Christmas 2014: A quick look at some products I love!

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Innisfree, Korea’s ultra popular eco-friendly budget-beauty brand is known for their skincare and makeup, but for Xmas this year, they’ve launched some products that had a fragrance freak like me cooing.

Candles (SGD25) and Reed Diffusers ($36), as well as special scented hand creams (a trio for $17)!

There are 3 main fragrance lines for Christmas:

Red Berry - sweet, tart berries and apple

Cream White - luxurious, soft musk and talcum powder

Mint Chocolate - yummy rich chocolate and mint

All 3 scents are available in soy candle, diffuser, and hand cream form. The products that I received for review were the Mint Chocolate candle and diffuser, and the hand cream trio.

I’m probably going to go grab some of the Cream White products as well as that smells really nice and clean, but not too generic.

Knit Sleeves

Yes you saw right! Each home fragrance product comes with a reusable knit sleeve (different designs for each scent) which you can pop onto your mugs and glasses. 

If you love a scent and buy quite a few of them, you can simply remove the sleeves after Xmas and they look just as sleek and beautiful sitting in your house.

Collaboration with Childrens’ Cancer Foundation

For the first time, Innisfree is working with CCF to raise funds during the holiday season. If you purchase any of the holiday products, you can also purchase a cute little knit kit for $2 that you can use to create cross-stiched discs as gifts or to hang up around your house as decor (see top image). 

Proceeds go to charity. If you aren’t buying any products but want to contribute as well, you can buy the knit kit alone for $10.

Budget Holiday Swatch Fest: Sigma Fall Softly Collection (plus a Black Friday sale code!)

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With all the glitzy tempting holiday kits out at department stores and Sephora, it can be hard thinking of what nice beauty gifts you can buy someone when you’re on a tight budget. Online stores tend to be where some of the more budget-friendly options are, but for those outside of the US, international shipping can be a pain cos a small package can cost $20-30.

Well, hop on over to Sigma Beauty during their annual Black Friday sale (November 27 at 12AM PST (around 4PM 27th Nov in Singapore) til November 28 at 11:59 PM PST). Enter the promotion code BF2014, and international shipping is FREE.

Yes. Free.

Now we’ve got that out there, I’m going to talk about the dreamy stuff you see above. The Fall Softly collection launched end-October and is currently available for sale. 

I’ve got all the swatches up there for you to see, but I’ll tell you my number one love from among all these products are the Fall Softly 12-color eye shadow palette (US$39) and the new Lip Bases, which are sorta like matte chunky pencils (US$12 each) and meant to be used as a base all over. 

Fall Softly Palette

You get 12 very smooth shades with a ton of matte options for those of you who like subtle textures. The whole palette is filled with a mix of neutrals, many pink-hued shades, and a row of cool-tones at the bottom.

The whole thing makes me think of marshmallows and cloudy candy for some reason. 

Lip Base

Lip Bases are a newer release by the company, and it’s a really simple but versatile concept - for a really good price. They work like lip liners for other lipsticks. And as matte lipsticks on their own. And as lip bases for gloss. 

Go Dutch is a great salmon-toned nude; very “Spring runway”, but I know there are many of you who would be able to rock that pale pink Lovesick shade. (If you pop Tender Lip Vex over it, you get that kitteny cool-pink glossy lip.) My favorite everyday shade is Indulgent though. It’s a My Lips But Better sort of hue for light to medium skins. 

There are only 3 shades right now, but hopefully they’ll add more because I can just imagine these in neon pink and scarlet and violet.

The blushes ($12) are pretty nice too. I really like the mix of tones in the collection. From soft pink and soft tawny neutral to hot pink and a warmer rosy tan shade. All in nice soft matte tones that aren’t chalky and won’t make you look like a clown.

The only products I find just “ok” are the Lip Vex ($10) shades. I was expecting to like the paler shades but they lose out in the versatility department because they look good over lipliners or lipsticks, but can sink into lines and look uneven on their own, which is common for pale glosses. All Heart is the surprise winner of the 3 for me, because it actually made the lips look quite healthy and pretty, and I can imagine it working for most skin tones. 

Have any of you checked out the new collection or are you waiting for Black Friday? 

Simple Sparkly Black Smoky Eye

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Quick one for you guys.
Smoky black shadow and subtle nude-and-pink ombre lips.

Products Used

Base: Dior Diorskin Nude Foundation

Concealer: MAC Matchmaster Concealer 2

Powder: Hourglass Ambient Lighting in Ethereal Light

Face and Inner Corner Highlights: Laura Mercier Highlight 02

Brows: Shu Uemura Hard Formula 9 in Seal Brown

Blush: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Whimsy (Pin-up Girl Palette)

Eye base: Shahnaz Hussain Kajal (bought off of Ebay)

Black sparkly shadow: Make Up Store Microshadow in Jubilee

Liquid Liner: Bobbi Brown Ink Liner in Blackest Black

Mascara: Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion mascara

Nude lipstick: MAC Blankety

Pink lipstick: MAC Pink Nouveau

Urban Decay Naked On The Run kit

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For all those who can never have enough Naked products, Urban Decay is launching Naked On The Run, the first kit which combines eye, cheek, AND lip products all in one. 

If you like the concept of Naked palettes but find there are just too many shades, and would rather have the convenience of having everything altogether, then Naked On The Run is perfect for you. 

You get:

6 shades of original shadows (5050 is a highlight shade, but I like it as a cheek highlight as well, so I swatched it with the blush and bronzer)

a bronzer

a blusher

Perversion mascara

Stag 24-7 pencil (black-brown) - love it that they didn’t give us just one more black liner; brown is fab for neutral looks

Sesso lipgloss - a gorgeous “my lips but better” shade

I used all the products on my face in the look above, and while I do have to point out that it won’t give you any dramatic night-time looks or that much of a variance (no matter how you combine the colors, you get a more or less soft, medium-toned neutral look). 

The good thing though is that no matter how you combine them, the colors look great together. This is a perfect foolproof daily-makeup kit for people who don’t want to fuss with too many options, or if you’re traveling and need something that gives you a complete look.

The surprise hit for me is the lipgloss, which looks pink but has nice reddish micro-pigments that just go on and give you pretty “flushed lips”. Can’t imagine it not looking good on pretty much everyone.

The Naked On The Run kit retails for SGD85 in Singapore, and will be available from 5 Dec.

P.S. First 2 in line to purchase it at Sephora ION on 5th Dec at 6PM will receive a Naked Vault kit worth $550, inclusive of - a lifetime supply of Naked products LOL - Naked 1, Naked 2, Naked 3, all 3 Naked Flushed cheek palettes, 3 Naked lipglosses, and 3 dual-ended 24-7 pencils. (Yes, it’s a ridiculously good!)

Working with Cream Shadows: A Few Tips

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I don’t often work with cream shadows in my tutorials, because most of the time I want to let the shadows speak for themselves. But there are times as well when you need a cream base to really take the intensity up a notch.

Above is a very quick tutorial for a metallic silvery-minty party look, as well as lots of swatches plus a couple of before-after shots to show you how I like to layer creams and powders.

1.There are 4 types of cream shadows in general

• Old-school creamy - MAC Cream Color Bases and elf Cream Shadow Duos are the creamy kind that don’t really set. I usually give this a miss on the lids as they will crease in 5 minutes.
• Solid pots and sticks - Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks, Maybelline Color Tattoos, MAC Paint Pots, Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams all belong in this category. They are hard at room temperature but will melt slightly on contact. These are the most common, but also problematic because many of them dry out after awhile and become impossible to use.
• Bouncy creams - Chanel came out with the first ones in their Illusion d’Ombre range, and then Dior had Fushion Monos which are equally beautiful in texture and color. Lancome came up with limited edition Hypnose Drama Eyes creams but the textures are a little more hit and miss. But overall, these jelly- and mousse-like textures are the latest generation cream shadows and combine smooth intensity, incredibly dimensional multi-pigmented colors AND long-wear. Even when they start to dry out, they don’t go all hard and are still usable for a long time. By far my favorite texture but they tend to only come from more expensive houses.
• Liquids/Creams - These easy to use creams come in tubes with doe-foot applicators or squeeze tubes and many are available in drugstore ranges. They set and stay on fairly well, but the textures tend to be quite sheer once blended out, although they are also easiest to work with for beginners who want subtlety.

2. Pick complementary tones for a quick win. 

If you’re working with neutral brown toned shades, pick a brown cream shadow. If you are doing a blue-toned look, try a blue toned shadow.There are no rules, but just remember that applying cool toned shades over clashing warm toned bases and vice versa and neutralize colors and make everything look muddy or just sludgy and grey. (On the other hand, if you have a shadow that is too brassy and orange or yellow for your taste, a silvery base can help to cut the yellow-ness.)

Beige and black goes with anything so it depends whether you want a smoky look or a soft look. 

3. There are different textures/finishes. 

• Matte and Satin - and I include beige eye primers along with this group cos they work the same way; these allow shadows to stay true to their original textures
• Metallic/Pearl - usually the most popular and commonly available finish; these can help intensify the shine of shimmery shadows and help them look even more metallic.
• Sparkly - a lot of the bouncy mousse-like shadows tend to be in the sparkly category where you see a ton of little flecks and sparkles when you look close. Often, the little sparkles show up through a layer of shadow, so if you want to jazz up a regular powder shadow, a sparkle shade works.

4. Play with duochrome shadows and pigments.

Often, the same color will look completely different when applied over different bases. (See the last image above; Winter Veld mica from Coastal Scents is a beige pink pigment with an icy blue shift when it hits the light.) This means you can combine different creams and powders and come up with completely different looks. 

A cheap source for duochrome shades is mineral makeup sellers online. Often, these loose pigment shadows aren’t formulated with enough or the right type of binders (it’s easier to get the formulation right with pressed shadows) and don’t stick to the lids very well, so pairing them with cream shadows is perfect. 

Ultimately, you CAN just pop a cream shadow on your lids when you have 2 minutes but I find many colors tend to look patchy and uneven on their own, and they’re really at their best as intensifiers and transformers for powder shadows.

If you’ve never tried interference pigments, go check out elf’s Eyeshadow Transformer palette and pop each of the shades over a dark cream shadow.

My favorite sources for pigments are coastalscents.com and tkbtrading.com. Not every color is great for use directly on the lids (these are almost pure color pigments and supposed to be mixed with fillers and binders), and I’d stick with the shimmers and metallics unless you’re a pro and DIY blending and formulation.

Just make sure you get the sample sizes because you can get a ton of colors for just $20. Invest in the full 1 oz packs/jars only if you’re a makeup artist and need to use truckloads of pigments on a regular basis.

Coming Soon: Smoldering Copper Tutorial!

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Just a preview and place-holder to let you guys know I’ve got one more tutorial lined up. It’s party/holiday season so pretty much all the tutorials I’m doing (except for specific product reviews) will be around more dramatic and glitzy looks.  

This one here was done with Maybelline’s Chai Latte quad (I bought this when I was in California and this is only available in the US and maybe a few other territories I’m afraid, BUT this type of neutral and copper color-grouping is not that hard to find from most brands), and MAC pigment in Copper Sparkle.

If you have grey, blue and blue-green eyes this is a color theme you should definitely keep in mind for maximum contrast. For everyone else, it still works fine. It wouldn’t bring out your eye color that much, but that’s about it.

That said, remember - not every eye look has to bring out your eye color. If a look brings out your skin tone, your eye shape or complements your hair or outfit, go for it.

Surratt Makeup - An Overview!

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Surratt makeup is still something of a niche brand for many (in the US, it’s available at Barneys), but after playing with his makeup here in Asia where he’s launched his namesake line at Takashimaya S.C.’s Beautique (Level 3), the textures feel very very familiar.

Why?

Everything from the packaging to the incredible sculptural brushes, to the precision-engineered lash curler - was formulated, built, designed, manufactured in Japan.

I spent a little bit of time when he was in Singapore promoting his line, and quizzed him on Japan, and what he considered his must-try products. 

Why Japan?

"The same way you go for French bags and Italian shoes, some of the best makeup in the world comes from Japan. But not a lot of people know that yet."

After years as a makeup artist, working with products, and hearing from clients, Japanese formulations, designs, and the cultural obsession with precision and perfection just stood out to him. 

Textures:

His eyeshadows and blushes feel like silk veils. They are ultra-smooth and fine-grained; there is zero-chalkiness or powderiness on the skin, but they go on quite subtle and sheer, and you need to build them up for more intensity. You will not get the type of intensity you’d get from Urban Decay or Make Up For Ever, but it’s also hard to make mistakes if you’re not an absolute pro.

That’s why I specifically picked a contour and highlight from Surratt. If any 2 products can benefit from this type of silky, translucent formulation, it’s contour and highlight powder. I hate heavy powdery-looking textures that sit on top of the skin, or colors that look unnatural and muddy. 

Colors:

Surratt colors are mostly quite subdued and designed to be flattering. While the packaging and presentation is more “Shu Uemura / Addiction edgy”, the colors are very much more grown-up “Shiseido / Cle de Peau luxe”. You will not see loud metallics and sparkly glitter. Even the iridescent shades are quite subdued and subtle, so they’re flattering even if you have mature skin.

Most of the shadows are shimmery, and the blush shades go from very light to an intense deep red tone for darker skins, but they all go on sheer and allow you the option to build them up. 

The packaging is very slick and clean and lightweight. And I appreciate that they do not use heavy magnets - just simple double-sided tape - to stick the blush and shadow pans in their custom palettes. The presentation reminds me a LOT of Japanese cult brand Addiction, but other than formulation and packaging, the resemblance ends because Addiction features a lot of over-the-top metallics and dramatic glittery sheeny shades.

I asked Troy to name the top 3 things he would recommend we check out first:

1. Eyelash curler - his matte black curlers are designed by the descendant of the artisan who made the legendary Shu Uemura curlers
2. Smoky Eye Batons - I used one of these dual-ended creamy pencil and sponge-tip shadows in the demo above; they are so smooth and pigmented and make that sexy smoky eye SO easy to create. One of MY personal recommendations as well.
3. Custom Eye/Cheek Palettes - Surratt shadows and blushes are not made the old-fashioned way (pressing or baking). They’re made in a thick slushie formula (it’s a uniquely Japanese way of doing it) and poured into molds to set, so they feel almost like dry creams to the touch.

My other recommendation is to check out the Lip Sliques. I’m not a fan of sheer lipsticks usually, because I never quite see the point. But I tried 2 of the paler shades in the line and I’ll just tell you - if you ever get annoyed when pale beiges and pinks look patchy and uneven or settle into lines on your lips, you HAVE to try the Lip Sliques because they don’t.

Check out:

Hevyn - a perfect My Lips But Better shade

Ritzy - a creamy pale salmon pink (worn in my makeup look above)

Pricing

Well, let’s just say it’s very much in keeping with any premium line manufactured in Japan. They’re not cheap. A tube of Lip Slique will set you back $34 in the US, and SGD50 in Singapore. This is not a line I would necessarily recommend for the younger crowd and those looking for tons of experimental colors.

It IS very much a line I would recommend for working women (and men) who want a combination of sleek, minimalist packaging, great quality flattering textures, and who need colors that are quite foolproof, chic, and easy to wear.

Final note:

This brings me to the final point that Surratt might be currently better known for having worked under the legend Kevyn Aucoin, and for working on celebs like J-Lo. But I left this point to the last, because I think it’s time to step beyond that.

I’m more interested in what else he has to offer in his line than in who he worked with before. But that’s just me!

#TomFord’s limited edition Lips and Boys collection features a whopping 50 - yes, 50 - shades of lipstick in nudes, corals, reds, pinks/violets, etc in smaller “clutch-sized” black and gold tubes at $50 each.
Get 3 shades (who can pick just 1) and your luxe trio will come in that gorgeous embossed TF keepsake box to dress up your vanity. I’ll have all 50 swatches up on the blog soon!

In Sg, the collection will be available only from 2 Jan to end-Feb 2015.
Shades shown: Cooper (Fuchsia) and Leonardo (dark metallic red)

#beautynews #makeup #luxe #tomford #tf #cosmetics #lipstick #pink #red #bblogger #sg

A Quick Look: Shiseido Sparkling Party Palette 2014

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For those who love all-in-one face palettes, Shiseido has launched a party-season option filled with glitter speckled jewel-tones, from sapphire to diamond to topaz to ruby. 

The textures are - as you would expect from a premium Japanese brand - super silky and translucent, but despite how blingy it looks in the palette, the colors are surprisingly wearable and flattering.

Subtle Look

I did a subtle face using JUST the white pearl base on the entire lids, and the red tint on cheeks and lips. 

I’ll say you must be prepared for a soft, lived-in look because the pearl base is NOT crease-proof. It’s more like MAC Cream Color Bases, which stay creamy. The good thing is it gives a lovely dewy sheen. The bad news is if you have oily lids, you can’t wear it just like this without powder on top.

The lip and cheek tint was surprisingly flattering and wearable considering it looked like a deep tomato red (not my favorite color in the world) in the palette. 

Party Look

For the full-on palette look, I simply applied the yellow gold shadow to the inner half of lids (it can look quite strong depending how much you apply), and the warm brown to the outer half. The navy glitter cream liner is not a very intense one. It’s just there to accent the eye and to act as a contrast for the gold tones. You will need your own liner brush to get a defined look.

As for the cheek powder, it’s not light enough to act as a highlight. And it’s not deep enough to look like a blush unless you’re very pale. What it does is it goes over the red cheek tint and gives you that sheeny Nars Orgasm effect.

Quite a nifty palette although I had my doubts when I first saw it!

Clé de Peau Beauté Collection Beauté Céleste Makeup Coffret

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One of the most luxurious gift sets you can buy this season is Clé de Peau Beauté’s Collection Beauté Céleste Makeup Coffret. 

This celestial-themed kit contains a gorgeous eye and cheek palette filled with soft luminous warm eye colors, and 2 delicate matte blushes. The kit also contains a deluxe-sized Perfect Lash mascara and a mini Extra Lipstick in shade No 2. 

I’ll say first - this is not the kind of palette that will allow you to create half a dozen different look. You get maybe a couple of looks depending which colors you apply, but the colors are drop-dead gorgeous.

The Look

Clé de Peau Beauté’s look for the Season is soft “plum-blonde” eyes, neutral cheeks, and rich rose-colored lips.

Textures

The eyeshadows are a soft iridescent texture; very smooth and incredibly blendable. You will not get any patchiness or harsh lines with these shades. 

The blushes are matte but not powdery or chalky. The colors are soft but very buildable, and don’t get muddy even on paler skins. My favorite way of applying them is to simply blend more shades together. 

Extra Rich Lipstick No 2 is a satin-textured dark red that looks noir in the tube, but applies more of a deep rose red. I love the shade so much I wish they sold it in a full-size. Unfortunately, not in Singapore. Right now it seems No2 is only available in the kit for most of is!

The Catch

Now, what with all the raving about the colors and textures, there HAS to be a con. And as with all things Clé de Peau, it is the price.

The Beauté Céleste Makeup Coffret costs SGD260. No small sum, but for fans who gladly spend $80 per tube of lipstick, or a grand for a jar of cream, I suspect this sum will not be that much of a deterrent.

The Collection Beauté Céleste is available during the 2014 holiday season at all Clé de Peau counters.