My foundation shades

When I read other people's blog, or watch them on Youtube, I always wonder if the exact shade they are using will match me, so in case anyone is interested, here are my foundations and my shades~ :)

Bourjois 10hr Sleep Effect foundation in 73 Beige clair
Chanel Vitalumière Aqua in 20 Beige
Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Stay-in-Place Makeup in Intensity 2.0 light to medium creamy beige
Guerlain Lingerie de Peau in 02 Beige Clair
MAC Studio Fix Fluid SFP15 in NW20
TheBalm Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer in Light

Would you like swatches?

Week 3: Colouring Cheeks

My late post on blushes I used last week :) 

no flash, from left to right: Tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Exposed, TheBalm Down Boy blush/shadow, MAC Sheertone blush in Tenderling, Missha M show powder blusher in Heidi and Smashbox blush in Aperture

Monday: Tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Exposed

• I decided to try this blush because Jen frmheadtotoe had rave so much about it. I have to admit that when I first saw it in the pan I was hesistant. It looked so brown that I thought I had either the wrong colour, or that it was suppose to be a bronzer, however, once swatched, you see this lovely desert rose colour. I heart it very much, and was glad that this was one product I didn't miss out on.

Tuesday: The Balm Down Boy blush/shadow

• I purchased this blush because it was on sale on Hautelook without seeing any swatches or trying them out at the store. So I was pretty surprised at how light it looked in the pan and how bright it is when swatched. This is a very girly pink but when applied lightly is pretty lovely... I find that you can wear any bright blushes as long as you use a light hand...

Wednesday: MAC Sheertone blush in Tenderling

• This is a lovely flush of colour that reminds me of Tarte's exposed but lighter. I like it's sheerness for the simple fact that it is pretty hard to mess up because the colour is so light. I think it's a lovely everyday shade for office wear or if you want a more natural look, though I find that if you were darker skintone it wouldn't show as well. A side note, small rant: I got this from Beyond the Rack sale a while back and I don't think I'd ever order from them again! It turns out to be a much smaller 'bargain/discount' and it took forever to ship even though it is based in Canada, coming from Montreal! Does anyone else have this problem? Also, they ruined my packaging by put tape all over them~ UGH~ sticky stuff on packages = pet peeve!!

Thursday: Missha M show powder blusher in Heidi

• This blush is extremely sheer with small glitter that kind of bothered me because I know they are there. I bought it, thinking that maybe when my face is pasty white it'd show but it requires a lot of work, and at the end I wondered if the colour is coming from my face being rubbed so hard with the sponge applicator it came with. It was novel and now I just felt like I wasted money. Colour barely showed up on my arm. Does anyone know the trick to using this blush? I tried tapping it on my cheek too... didn't work XD

Friday: Smashbox blush in Apperture

• Being the geek that I am, I purchased this blush because the name reminded me of a game I played with my husband a few years back. I love this peach/tangy orange blush on my cheeks because it gives a lovely glow on my face. It's a bit scary on pan and in swatch, but this blush isn't as orange as you might think. It was another pleasant find for me :)

Even though I'm addicted to blushes, I don't really have much to say about them... I find that many of the colours I own is similar, the quality of the blushes also seems to be the same, I also haven't really notice a difference in lasting power.

Anyhoot, onto next week's category... Being the MU junkie that I am, I have a tiny obsession with concealers, so I hope you look forward to seeing some of them featured next week. Until then, tata!

Meet Matt(e) Nude palette spotted!

Just wanted to share this, I was on Hautelook and noticed that the recently launched theBalm Meet Matt(e) Nude palette is available for half the price!! :D get it get it!!

image from theBalm website

In case you want to use my link to join Hautelook here it is: http://www.hautelook.com/short/31eAB (clicking the link on top will give me as reference too)

BalmShelter tinted moisturizer SPF18

I've only use foundations and BB cream before but I have never tried out tinted moisturizers... So seeing that this product was on Hautelook for $12.50 I thought, why not? 

I tried squeezing the product out for a while until I realized this...

Ingredients listed on the back

Looks thick but feels quite light and easy to apply

Description from theBalm website:
"weightless, silky smooth tinted moisturizer SPF 18 offers lasting moisture and helps to improve the tone and texture of your skin, leaving you with a polished complexion."

Pros:

• very photogenic (just look at the picture below)
• no fragrance (maybe just a tad of sunscreen smell)
• has SPF 18
• not greasy
• smooth and blends very well
• did not (yet) break me out
• not tested on animals

Cons:

• did not even skin tone 
• was not very moisturizing

My 2 cents:

I really enjoy wearing this TM on days I don't want to wear foundation either because I am too lazy or if my face was acting funny (ie dry patches on cheek). It looks very natural and I love the matte finish (no grease pool!) One down side is the lack of coverage (it really is minimal, if any), another thing is that it alone is not moisturizing enough. However, if you don't mind layering this on top of your regular skincare routine plus dab on a little bit of concealer on troubled areas, then this is great! 

Overall Rating *** / 5 (1 = worst 5 = best)  

Price ***/5 (1 = soooo cheap! 5 = pricey!) Regular at $25

Packaging Quality ***/5 (1 = worst 5 = best) I think the opening is a big bit, therefore a little hard to control how much product comes out, although you do need more than just a pea size of this product to cover the face and neck (more than a BB cream, yet less coverage)

Scent? I keep getting products that smells like sunscreen... 

Would you buy this product again? Yes, if it on sale :) 

Pictures are always so deceiving. I took this picture with flash and it makes my face look pretty even out, except it's not. There is still quite a bit of redness and blemishes showing. So, I would like to apologize for the washed out look. 

Hautelook haul from 2011 (Stila, UD and the Balm)

Before I knew I was going to put a limit on my makeup shopping (of course...), I made all these purchases on Hautelook~ None were things I really needed, but the price were too good to resist... so here goes!

From UD I got the Cowboy Junkie set ($24) and two 24-7 glide-on eye pencil in Dime and Baked ($2 each).

From the Balm, I got blushes in Down boy and Cabana boy ($10.50 each)~

And finally during the Stila sale, I got the Artist palette ($10), an eyeshadow pan in 14 karat ($7), and two smudgestick eyeliner in Koi and Silver Dollar ($8 each)~

was extremely excited to get this so that I can add to my Unii palette :)

When I saw this palette I knew it had to be depotted... first off, I could not close the cardboard flap thing after I took it out. Second the gaps between the palettes really bothered me... and so... this happened.

I'm so happy that I am getting use out of the Unii palettes ^_^