MASCARA

October Favorites – Drugstore Products Edition

October 31, 2011

I haven’t done a monthly favorite for a while. Reason being I use way too many products throughout a month that is impossible for me to consolidate a list of things into a short post. So I have decided to resume my favorite posts as of this month but will focus on one particular category. For the month of October I would like to do a Drugstore Products Edition! Surprise?! I just feel like I always talk about high end products, but in the mean time there are some really wonderful and affordable products that deserve a shout out!

Western Brands:

PANTENE AQUA LIGHT Lightweight Nourishing Shampoo, Conditioner and Treatment:

These are absolutely amazing!!! I have been neglecting my high end shampoos and conditioners ever since I had them. They have made my hair feel soft, smooth, tangle free and most importantly as light as feather. The first few times I used them I literally could not stop swinging my hair (like the girl in the shampoo ad but in a clumsy way). It is the same feel as if you just had a hair cut – the hair just feels so healthy, manageable and light. I need to re-iterate, these are amazing 🙂

OPI NAIL ENVY

I wear nail polish everyday as a result my nail becomes yellow and dull. This product has completely rescued my nails and serves as a good base for nail polishes.

Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof Mascara

An oldie but a goodie. It separates, volumises, holds the curl and doesn’t budge. May not be the best mascara in the market but definitely best value for money!

SLEEK Blush in Rose Gold

Gifted by my sweet beauty pal Joyce! She always raves about it and I totally understand why she loves it more than the Nars 0rgasm blush the minute I opened it. The color is gorgeous. I will do a comparison post later in the future, for now please check out Joyce from Atelier Beauty’s review here.

Asian Brands:

LAVSHUCA Eyeshadow Palette

Newbies to Japanese drugstore brands? Lavshuca is the brand to go! It is a affordable line of Kanebo. Though the packaging may not look as elegant Lunasol quads, the actual eye shadows are just as good – smooth, finely milled and great color payoff with a soft shimmery finish. If I only had 10 dollars as my budget for eyeshadow this will be the one.

K-Palette Liquid Eyebrow Pen

Big fan of liquid eyebrow pens because they last 24 hours on me. If you love the Suqqu liquid eyebrow pen, you would love this one. Actually they are pretty identical to me and K-palette is only a fraction of the cost.

Etude House Cream blush

They are housed in a sterdy glass jar with an adorable packaging. These are very pigmented, cool tone pink blushes. They have a perfect texture of cream blush that is not too creamy nor too dry, and give a dewy finish that lasts all day. What more can I ask for?!

From LTR:

Dolly Wink 02 Sweet Girly: super long and dramatic, wore them in this post.

Dolly Wink 04 Feminine Style: these are cute corner lashes, very natural and suitable for daytime wear. Wore them in this post.

Dolly Wink 01 Sweet Dolly: the perfect style for a sweet and dolly looking eyes. Wore them in this post.

Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Feline Extravaganza Waterproof Mascara (AUD$48)

Okay I am cheating… this is not a drugstore brand. I am just loving this one too much that I have to include it in this month’s favorite! HR Lash Queen Feline Extravaganza WP Mascara is my Holy Grail Mascara. I have tried tons and tons but nothing else beats this one! I always get a few backups whenever I get a chance to shop at DFS Galleria.

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Labels: BLUSH • DOLLYWINK • Etude House • FALSE LASHES • HAIRCARE • Helena Rubinstein • KANEBO • MASCARA • My Favorites • OPI

Majolica Majorca Lash Enamel Glamour Review

July 18, 2011

I did an overview on some of my favorite Japanese drugstore mascaras a long time ago which I promised I will do a review for them. However I got sidetracked by other mascaras and new makeup hence the late review 😛 Today I want to talk about the legendary mascara by Majolica Majorca Lash Enamel Glamour – it is an oldie but a goodie. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it! If you are new to Japanese drugstore brands, this is a Must Have!!

It has a plastic comb applicator

Smudge proof

Very waterproof

Glossy black

To begin with I have typical Asian lashes – deadly straight; sparse and medium length. For a daytime look I prefer a mascara that defines my lashes and more importantly holds my curl for the whole day without smudging and flaking. This mascara does a fantastic job in terms of what I need. Not only does it hold the curl until you wash it off..the comb wand allows me to easily get to the roots of the lashes and lift the lashes to the maximum extent. It lengthens and thickens the lashes moderately which is good for daytime looks. If you are after a more dramatic look you can always add a few coats of volumising mascara on top of it, as this one is excellent when used as a base to hold the shape.

The only downside I can think of is that it is quite difficult to remove if your eyemakeup remover is water based such as Bioderma H2O (sorry it won’t work for Majolica Mascara..) I don’t have problem removing this mascara if I use a dual phase remover or Shu’s cleansing oil.

Here are some pictures of me wearing 2 coats of Majolica Majorca Lash Enamel Glamour . Please note: I don’t have much lashes to play with hence the result may not be that impressive. For those of you who are blessed with long and thick lashes, I am sure this mascara will make your lashes look like falsies!

I bought this one from my last trip to Hong Kong in Sasa at around $10.

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Labels: MAJOLICA • MASCARA

Best Japanese Mascaras

May 10, 2011

Japanese drugstore mascaras are simply amazing, they outperform most of the high end mascaras I have used (and trust me I have had my fair share of all the expensive mascaras) at a fraction of the price. The highlight of my recent trip to Asia was that I was able to get all the Japanese drugstore mascaras on my wish list. Some of them were really hard to find but devotion conquers all 🙂

A snap shot of all the mascaras I bought *blushing* – some are my staples and some are new to me.

I have previously mentioned that the Heroine Make Kiss Me Volume and Curl is my absolute holy grail mascara. They have recently introduced a new version of it called Heroine Make Impact Frame and Curl Mascara and is supposed to be even better. Is it possible?

Majolica mascaras have become my staples since I started wearing them, people always ask me ‘are my lashes real?’.

Kate Mascara Base lifts my dead straight lashes up to the air! I am already up to my 3rd tube.

Brow Lash Ex Mascara by Sony CP – I was determined to get this mascara at all cost since my favorite youtube guru and blogger beautyQQ raves about it. It took me days to find it and I know I paid too much for it.

Sasatinnie Super Dolly Powerful Mascara – I wasn’t planning to buy this, but I gave in after I was told by the shop girl this is best selling mascara in Sasa and I was blown away by the dramatic effect after I tried the tester.

Fairy Drops Volumising Mascara – All the good reviews amongst the Asian beauty bloggers have me really wanting to try this out! I just started using it recently, review is coming up this week.

FYI I paid less than AUD $10 for the above mascara,s except for the brow lash Ex.

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Labels: Heroine Make • Japanese Makeup • MAJOLICA • MASCARA

Dior Diorshow Mascaras

February 27, 2011

My makeup is never complete without applying mascara on both the upper and lower lashes; it just instantly opens up my eyes in a way that no other make ups can do. It seems there is a newer, “better” and more innovative mascara that is released every month, as a gullible consumer like me, I always make sure I am kept up to date with the newest mascaras, in case I miss out on the perfect one which I have yet to find.

Today I am just going to talk about Dior mascaras. At the moment I am rotating between these four:

– Diorshow waterproof

– Diorshow Blackout waterproof

– Diorshow Iconic

– Diorshow Extase

Brushes comparisons:

dior-diorshow-blackout-iconic-extase-mascaras-1

From top to bottom: Diorshow Blackout; Diorshow Regular; Diorshow Extase; Diorshow Iconic

Let’s start from the Diorshow regular, as this is their best selling mascara. Diorshow has always been one of my Holy Grails. No matter how many I own, I always like to keep a Diorshow with me. It has everything that I need from a mascara.

– thickens, buildable without clumps

– lengthens

– holds the curl, which is the most important factor for my stick straight lashes

– waterproof, doesn’t smudge

– brush is big enough to grab all the lashes

There is nothing I don’t like about Diorshow regular, on the other hand it doesn’t really wow me, there is room for improvement.

Diorshow Blackout, is the more intense black version of Diorshow. When it was released, I had high hope on this mascara as this is exactly what the regular diorshow is missing. To my disappointment, it is my least favorite. It doesn’t define but clumps my lashes, and worst of all, it dries into a very stiff and brittle spider leg finish…eww..

Diorshow Iconic, another mediocre mascara. According to dior, it’s supposed to give you a lash curling effect without curling your lashes. It might work on genetically blessed Barbie eyes, but definitely not on asian eyes. It has this similar plastic brush to some Chanel mascaras – I am not a fan of it, the finish is always too natural for my liking. It just doesn’t provide the thickness and length I am after. I quickly lost interest in this one after a few uses.

Diorshow Extase, this mascara would be perfect if it holds the curl! It does a better job in terms of thickening due to the unique design of the brush than any other Diorshow mascara, and it has an intense black finish on the lashes. On the bad side, it weighs my lashes down no matter what I do. I even used my holy grail Kanebo Kate eyelash primer underneath, then apply Extase over it. It still instantly straightens the lashes. I love using it on my low lashes though it totally makes my lower lashes look fake. I would love to try the waterproof version of this one!

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Labels: DIOR • MASCARA

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