Week 4: Concealing dark circles

I am one of the many people who suffers from dark eye circles (although not hereditary) but depending on the quality of sleep I get, it can be a light brownish purple or worst a deep blue-purple. Therefore, hunting down a great concealer for me is important. Here are a few concealers I have that was purchased for this purpose and in most cases did excellent, except for the one factor, it doesn't tend to last.

from left to right: first two swatches are form the Nars duo one is Vanilla and the other is Honey. then it's Kat Von D in Light 18, K-palette in 03 Orange Beige, YSL in 2 Nude Beige and Benefit's Boi-ing in Light.

Monday: Nars Concealer duo in Vanilla and Honey

• The packaging for this is the typical Nars sleek, textured compact with a big mirror on the inside which is great for application and convenient to bring around. I love the fact that there is two colours in one compact, vanilla is the perfect shade for brightening and honey is a more orangey shade that is great at correcting/neutralizing problem areas (ie dark circles.) In most cases, my skintone is in between shades, so purchasing a single product that contains a lighter and darker shade is awesome. Overall, the formula is lightweight and works well when the area is moisturized and primed (this is true for any concealer I use). I found that it does migrate over time. This product is however discontinued and even though I enjoyed it, I'm not sure it would be worth it at full price. 

Tuesday: Kat Von D Lock-it Tattoo concealer in Light 18

• I like tubed products in general because I find them more hygienic than the pot pan ones, which was the reason why I picked this. This product provides full coverage, is creamy and applies well with a brush, however, because of my oily skin it does not last very long and shifting begins as early as 2-3 hours. When I set it with a powder, this product looks cakey. Overall not too impressed with this product and I should probably have returned it to Sephora had I not been so determined to make it work. 

Wednesday: K-palette Zero Kuma Cover Control Concealer in 03 Orange Beige

• Long name for a concealer that does not last very long... it started to disappear on me a few hours after application even with primer. I had read quite a few reviews that raved about this product and thought I should give it a try. Honestly, I am not a big fan of this product, I don't think I enjoy using this liquid concealer because I feel I have a lot less control. 

Thursday: YSL Anti-Cernes Multi-action concealer in 2 Nude Beige

• This is the most expensive concealer I've purchased to date and luckily, not one I regretted. I love this silky, creamy concealer stick. It glides smoothly over my undereye and with two swipes completely conceals the dark circle. The product blends out nicely however, if not careful, can be completely swiped away. I find that the easiest way to blend out this product is just to lightly pat it. One of the reasons why I enjoy this so much, is also the fact that it matches my current skintone perfectly. :) My only complaint about this concealer is.... its beautiful packaging attracts way too much fingerprints! 

Friday: Benefit Cosmetic Boi-ing in 01 Light (which is actually for fair skin tone)

• I actually got this concealer in a shade too light for my skintone. It looks okay as long as I wear glasses on top, however without them, it's too obvious that I have concealer on. As far as concealing, this provides a full coverage, the formula is a bit drying and if not applied properly can look cakey. I find that warming up the product can help with application, but it is hard to work with on morning that you are in a rush. Definitely not a on the go!

A few things I want to note with regards to using concealers. I find that people with oily eyelids such as myself have a pretty hard time keeping concealers in their place. With that being said, putting on a primer under the concealer as well as setting it with a powder is crucial to longer lasting concealing. 

Next week, eyeliners :)

Week 1: Lippies

I looked at my makeup collection one day and realized that a large majority of my collection remained unloved, so, as a reminder to myself I will post on a weekly basis, 5 different products from one category that I use between Monday to Friday and see how long I can keep this up.

For the first week, I chose to start off with lipsticks. Here are the products that I used:

Left to right with flash: Tarte's Hope and Laura Mercier's Baby Doll, YSL Sweet Fig, Dior Beige Casual, Dior Red Carpet, Lancome Rose Pitimini

no flash

Monday - Tarte LipSurgence Natural Matte Lip Tint in Hope and Laura Mercier Lip Glacé in Baby Doll

• It's always a merp day Monday, so I decide to put a little bit more effort on my lips and used a lip tint and gloss combo. I find Tarte's Matte lip tint too drying so I added the Laura Mercier gloss on top to give it a bit more shine. I'm not a big fan of the minty scent of the lip tint but it eventually goes away~ 

Tuesday - YSL Volupté Sheer Candy #7 Sweet Fig

• Love the smell of this lipstick as well as the neutral colour. I would never have guessed that the colour of this lipstick would be so sheer. 

Wednesday - Dior Addict Lipstick #222 Beige Casual

• I decided to wear darker eye makeup, so this nude colour was perfect for the eyes :) 

Thursday - Dior Addict Lipstick #963 Red Carpet

• Love this bold blue-red, too bad the bright colour does not last long, as I had to reapply frequently to get the vivid colour. I do want to mention I drank lots of liquid this week because of a stubborn cold that just won't go away. I do want to mention that this lipstick does stain so even though it fades quickly, there is always a hint of the violet red on your lips.

Friday - Lancome Rouge in Love #353M Rose Pitimini

• This colour lasted me a good 4 hours before reapplication is needed. The formula is a bit drying but it's nothing a lip balm base can't fix. I still love the rockets popsicle smell of this lippy.

yay! 6 different products used this week~ I guess this is more like a rotation of the week post. :) Let hope I can keep this up. Next week... Eyeshadows!

So, quick question, do you want to see swatches of these products on the lip? If so, please let me know :)

Swatched: OCC lip tars and YSL Sheer Candy gloss

I picked up these lovely lippies during the VIB sale, just thought I should swatch them and show you the colours. For the OCC lip tars I wanted to show you how little products is needed to get the opaque colour as shown on the swatch. They were not joking when they say the tiniest drop... There was still quite a bit of products left on my fingers after. I'm pretty sure these lip tars really will last me forever...

no flash, from left: OCC Memento, OCC Grandma, YSL Sweet Fig

with flash

no flash: OCC Memento, OCC Grandma, YSL Sweet Fig

with flash

On the Sephora website, Memento is described as midtone pink plum, Grandma is a classic coral and Sweet Fig is a sheer brick red.

Have you tried these products before? Are there any colours you'd recommend I check out or avoid? Share!

Sephora V.I.B. Haul 2012

If there's a sale... I'm there :)

During the Sephora VIB sale I picked up a few things I wanted to try and only 1 necessity can you guess which?

Haul with samples~

What I bought...

Yeps, it was the Claisonic head, 2 pack for $45, at 20% off they cost me 36$ plus tax , not that much of a steal, but it beats paying full price!

I've been dying to try OCC lip tars, and I'm really enjoying them! Kind of surprise at how pigmented they are, since a little dot goes a LONG way and they are extremely opaque and bright. Will swatch when I get a chance. I got them in Memento and Grandma ( the BRIGHT orangey coral on the right)

I don't remember when I first wanted to try out this brand, but I know that after hoping to receive them in my Luxebox and not getting them I decided I must try. So I got this travel size set for $19 plus 20% off. Happy I didn't get them in full size because the eyeliner smudged on me and there was transfer (aka raccoon eyes) within 3 hours... I enjoy the application of the mascara but I'm iffy about the eyeliner. Unlike the eyeliner, the mascara didn't smudge... Should I return the set and just get the mascara? I also find that the eyeliner dries out quickly...

I saw this on Sandra's video and knew I had to try it out. I got the Volupté Sheer Candy glossy balm in 7 Sweet Fig. It's such a lovely red tint! Feels, smell and looks awesome on the lips :) wait for swatches!

 The last item I picked up in the sale was the YSL Anti-Cernes Multi-action concealer in 2 Nude Beige... I purchased only one, but decided I liked both angles so I posted them both up ^_^ I'm on day 2 of this concealer. I enjoy the creamy texture of this concealer, as it does not emphasize fine lines. This product still needs some through testing!

Anyhow that's my Sephora haul~~ What did you get? :)

Swatches of my current Lippies : YSL, Lancome and Anna Sui

Hello pretties~~

Just thought I'd do a quick post sharing swatches of my current lippies... Including the clear Vaseline on the right ^_^

with flash

no flash

From left to right :) Lush Lip Tint - It started with a kiss, YSL Roughe Pur Couture Glossy Stain in 11 Rouge Gouache, Lancome Rouge In Love High Potency Color Featherlight Wear in 353M Rose Pitimini, Anna Sui Dolly Girl Lip Stick in 003, and plain old Vaseline!

I didn't realize that the first three colours were so similar until I swatched them on my arm. The YSL and Lancome are almost identical. Meh~~ the YSL lip stain is quite nice to wear, but I found not quite as glossy... I love the colour of the Lush lip tint, I just wish the scent wasn't so strong...

Okies... no more rambling ~~ Let me know if a detailed comparison is needed regarding texture, lasting power, etc... :)

Mini Haul: Makeup + lipbalm + skincare

I was on my best behavior this weekend when it came to shopping... This was all I purchased from a 2 day shopping spree. I would have spent less if I didn't get the Lancome Génifique concentrate while I was at Sephora. 

So how well did I do? $155USD (that's saving about $90). Here's my haul ~\

So happy I got the tangerine flavor EOS lipbalm!!!!!!!

YSL Gloss Volupté in 6 Vanilla Pink, this lip gloss smells like watermelon and has a lovely  light pink tint to it. Gorgeous gloss :)

YSL Blush Variation in #2 Pink Bloom

MAC Digi Pops Green - Both Shroom and Club are on my MAC e/s want list and at the the price of $26USD I get Steamy and Sunny Spot as bonuses. It's a Win-Win :)

Wet N Wild Blue Had Me At Hello

Wet N Wild Comfort Zone, I have been looking all over for this palette ever since I saw it on  Jen's YT vid... but they were either out of stock or the rare one that I found were broken~ I hope it's worth it! 

A pretty bracelet from Banana Republic

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Update: 24/11/11

It appears I brought the same colour twice! Meet Club from MAC and this beautiful shade from my Wet N' Wild Palette! From the pan they look almost identical, but the colour in the WNW palette has a bit more bluish green sparkles in it... Will do swatches when I finally use either palettes! :)