Beauty

I have a love and hate relationship with nude lipsticks. I don’t have the complexion or attitude to pull the color off –  some are too beige;  some are too cool toned;  some make me look 10 years older and some make me look like I have lip liners around it.   Does it stop me from buying them – Nope! I am still actively looking for The One and I believe YSL ROUGE PUR COUTURE in number 6 has ticked all my requirements.

My requirements are:

– moisturizing! doesn’t dry out my lips and accentuating my lip lines

– it is a few shades lighter than my natural lip color but doesn’t wash me out

– not too opaque, not too sheer

– not streaky, goes on evenly and no blending is required when applying

Rouge Pur Couture is a new line of lipsticks by YSL, the number 6 shade ‘Rose Bergamasque’  is part of their Spring 2011 Collection.

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I personally love the gold packaging by YSL, it is sturdy and looks elegant, the only downside is it leaves finger print marks.

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Some little details like the YSL embossing justifies the high price tag.

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Swatches of YSL Rouge Pur Couture in 6  in daylight. It is a very wearable nude pink color on my naturally pigmented lips.  If I want the color to look more beige I just need to conceal my lips with foundation. It goes on buttery smooth and even – no lip balm underneath is required. I can just apply and go. It feels soft and lightweight on my lips, and has a subtle sheen to its finish, making my lips look more plumped.

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Have you tired YSL Rouge Pur Couture yet? What is your favorite nude lipstick? I am very interested to hear your recommendations.

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Today I have something really exciting to show you – it is the Les Tendres De Chanel in Les Roses.  As far as I know, it is limited edition and is only exclusive to Hong Kong for now. It really has got my pulse racing when I first saw it at the counter – a highlighter and a beautiful pink blush combined into one product by Chanel is just a dream product for me!

chanel-les-tendres-de-chanel-les-roses-1The box

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A close-up shot, it has the same 4 band design as the Soleil Tan de Chanel 4 Facettes Bronzers (from Chanel Spring 2011 collection). The only difference is the brush is made of soft white goat hair instead of black.

chanel-les-tendres-de-chanel-les-roses-2Swatched from top to bottom,

– the top 2 shades  being the face highlighters

– the bottom 2 shades being the blushes

– all colors mixed together is  swatched on the far right

chanel-les-tendres-de-chanel-les-roses-swatchThis is how it looks on me – I applied with all the colors mixed together on my cheeks, and then applied the white shade across my cheekbones as highlighter. The texture is soft and pigmented enough to show up as a visible highlighter or blush with one swipe with the brush.

When applied swirled together, it delivers a beautiful soft pink glow to my face with luminosity and dimension. I was a little wary of the white shade to be mixed in or used as a highlighter at the start, as it looked quite frosty when swatched on my arm. I was wrong, the effect is  soft and glowy against my skin tone when applied light handed, without making my face look shiny or frosty.

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I have quite an extensive collection of blushes, this one definitely tops my favorite. I can’t remember how much exactly it was in Hong Kong Dollars, think it was roughly around  AUD$55, almost half the price of how much it would be in Australia!

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I have a lot of unopened make-ups, the Chantecaille Sea Turtle palette is one of them. I bought this one from Mecca a while ago but never had the heart to spoil the embossing because it is just too beautiful to look at. It is time for me to use it as I have way too many makeups to be reviewed in the near future.

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From a makeup collector point of view, Chantecaille limited edition palettes are pieces of art. Their palettes look and feel like true luxury. Unlike other brands, Chantecaille only release a few palettes a year, the quality has always been consistently superior. What I love the most is the color coordination of their palettes. I rarely come across a face or eye shadow palette where I like every single shade. Chantecaille is an exception – it only comes with the most refined and elegant neutral shades that are designed to enhance your natural beauty.

This palette contains 3 eye shades and 1 cheek shade, all inspired by the beauty of the sea turtles and their nesting grounds.

These shadows are buttery soft and easy to blend. Pigmentation wise they are on the moderately sheer side as they are designed to leave a sheer veil of color on the skin with a subtle glowing effect.

chantecaille-sea-turtle-palette-swatchI created a smokey look using this palette – using the champagne color all over my lid, the brown shade over the crease and the dark teal color along my lash line and on the outer v.

chantecaille-sea-turtle-palette-swatch-eotdBlush swatched on my cheeks, it is a beautiful peachy pink with really fine shimmers and lasted all day on me.

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Overall look:

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Other products I used:

Primer: Nars

Foundation: Dior Natural Glowing Hydrating

Highlighter: Giorgio Armani Sheer Shimmer in no. 1

Eye Primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Falsies

Brow: Shu Uemura

Lips: YSL Rouge Volupte in no. 30

Chantecaille Sea Turtle palette retails for $120 in Australia, 5% of proceeds will be donated to help WIDECAST ensure the survival of sea turtles.

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Holiday Haul – Beauty

April 28, 2011

I am back! Feeling a little down (don’t want to go back to work..) and still jet lagging. This is just going to be a quick post showing you how many makeups I was capable of buying in 6 days time in Hong Kong and Taiwan:-P I am quite proud of myself this time around because everything I bought was on my wish list, did not buy anything on impulse 😉

I LUURV everything I bought, they are hard to find  as a lot of them are Asia Exclusive. I can’t wait to blog about them with better pictures and proper reviews.

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I was in the shopping mood for more lipsticks today so I made a trip to my favorite department stores, fully tested out the latest sheer lipsticks that seem to be the IT lipstick of the moment- including the revamped Dior Addict Lipsticks; Mac Sheen Supreme Lipsticks ; Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Crystal Lipsticks. In the end I still went back to Chanel and picked up a few more Chanel Rouge Coco Shine! I just think they are the best sheer lipsticks in the market – the formulation is just unbeatable.  For a sheer lipstick, the color payoff is excellent after a few swipes. The finish is moist; juicy and watery in a subtle and elegant way, not as wet as lipglosses.

I have previously reviewed and swatched Chanel Rouge Coco  Shine in

– Boy; Chance and Evasion here

– Liberte and Aventure here

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The 2 newest addition to my Rouge Coco Shine Family are:

– 42 BIARRITZ

– 50 RIVAGE

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If  I could only wear one shade of lipsticks for the rest of my life – it would be the “my-lips-but-better” shade. Rouge Coco Shine in 50 RIVAGE meets all my requirements – a muted pink shade that brightens up my complexion,  makes me look more healthy; energetic and youthful.

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chanel-coco-rouge-shine-50-rivage-swatchChanel Rouge Coco in Biarritz is my first “fall lipstick” for this year. It looks more brown in the tube than how it translates on to my lips.The sheer formulation gives a soft caramel brown finish. I have a feeling I will reach for this lipstick the most in the next few months.

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FOTD – Rosy Cheeks

April 9, 2011

I have a birthday dinner to go tonight, I made an effort to do my makeup hours before so I can take some time to do a few snaps for FOTD.  My makeup for tonight is quite natural. Main focus is the rosy cheeks (When I think of Autumn I think of rosy cheek) –  eyes and lips are kept neutral as I don’t like to have too much makeup on since my friends usually only wear minimum makeup.

Closeups shots of my eyes

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Eye Products:

Too face shadow insurance

Chanel eyeshadow Quad in Spice

Stila smudge pot in Kitten

Lancome eyeliner in brown

Kiss Me Active Girl Mascara in Black on lower lashes

Ardell false eyelashes in Babies Black on upper lashes

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Overall look:

Face and Lip Products

Dior Radiant Base along my cheekbones

Dior Nude Natural Glow Hydrating foundation

Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer to highlight my under eye areas

Stila blush in Rose

Rimmel Lipstick in Nude Delight

Chanel Glossimer in Volage

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What is your favorite makeup look for Autumn? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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April Weekly Haul

April 7, 2011

I want to do more product reviews or FOTDs, but I have been working extremely long hours lately, by the time I get home my face is left with nothing but stress and  dust haha. Since I shop almost every week, I think I might as well show you what I have bought lately.

No matter how tired I get, I always have some energy left to shop!  I managed to stock up some of my all time favorite products as well as some new products I have been lemming for a while.

Here you go, a group picture.

frontrowbeauty-haulI love Inglot makeups, can’t rave enough about it! I picked up some beautiful pigments, a gel lipstick and a super moisturizing lip crayon.

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Two products from Mecca. My all time favorite world’s best cleanser by Eve Lom – this is my third pot. I am still using other cleansers but I don’t feel secure without this one.

eve-lom-cleanserI have never tried the Living Proof haircare line,  it sounds really enticing on Mecca’s ads.

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Guerlain Radiance concentrate with Pure Gold Makeup Base. What?!! Another primer! I have always been wanting to try out this product, heard so many good things about it.

guerlain-radiance-concentrate-with-pure-gold-makeup-baseReviews and swatches for these products are coming soon 🙂

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After a long day of stressful work, when I am still in the mood to take a picture of myself smiling genuinely..that means I am in lurvvv..with SKII Cellumination Mask-IN Lotion.

It all began from last week, I was flicking through the latest issue of Marie Claire. This product featured in their beauty section just totally caught my attention.

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Their description:

GET GLOWING – gives the intense radiance benefits of a face mask, minus the fuss. Simply smooth it on under your moisturizer daily for an instant pick-me-up.

If you ask any makeup artists, I am sure 9 out 10  would suggest you to use the SKII treatment mask before the big events to prep the skin– it just makes a huge difference to your makeup. Pat McGrath always uses the SKII treatment masks on models at every fashion show she does. They are extremely pricey though, $125 for 5 sheets! This product – SKII Cellumination Mask-IN Lotion, seems like a cheaper alternative that allows me to achieve a similar result.

There is no better time to test this product than now. Lately, my skin is getting dryer as the weather is getting cooler. I noticed my makeup appears to be sitting on top of my skin regardless of what products I use. I have been using this product religiously every morning before my toner, and it has totally addressed my skin concerns.. It gives me a radiant complexion by taking away the dullness, dryness and flakiness. I find any moisturizer I use afterwards absorbs into my skin better, and any foundation I use blends in beautifully like my second skin – exactly the same effect as if I just had a mask.

Just for your information, this product retails for $120 in Australia, about the same price as a box of SKII Treatment Masks but you can get much more use out of it.

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