ZOEVA

Monthly Favorites!

February 5, 2017

Just a quick post on the weekend rounding up some of my favorite products over the past few months. Some have already been reviewed, and some are recently acquired that I fell in love with.

Clockwise:

1. Dior DreamSkin Perfect Cushion Foundation – Out of all the cushion foundations I have, this one is my top HG as it just enhances the skin to perfection! Not quite a foundation, more of a skin perfector – Reviewed here.

2. Suqqu Dual Ended foundation brush – This is the latest brush released by Suqqu, and you will never go wrong with them!

3. Zovea Nude Eye Shadow Palette – Been reaching out to this affordable palette a lot for an array of beautiful neutral shades in different finishes, and it is especially great for travel. Reviewed here.

4. Chanel Le Rouge Lip Crayon – Best formulas for lip crayons ever! Reviewed here.

5. Cle De Peau Radiant Fluid Foundation – It gives a beautiful natural radiant second-skin finish that lasts the whole day. Review to come soon.

6. Sisley Double Tenseur Moisturizing Gel – My HG daytime skincare lotion as well as a makeup primer that hydrates and lifts the skin instantly. Reviewed here.

7. SK-II Genopitcs Aura Essence – A hydrating and brightening serum that gives the skin a beautiful radiance and glow. It truly works overnight as well as over the long run. Review to come soon.

8. Baby Quasar MD Plus – Can’t live without this tool and even got my mum hooked on to it. It is expensive but it’s the best beauty investment I have ever made for anti-aging treatment at home. It’s easy to use and gives a pro-salon result over a short time. Review to soon.

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Labels: BABY QUASAR • Beauty Tools • BRUSHES • CLE DE PEAU • DIOR • My Favorites • SISLEY • SKII • SKINCARE • SUQQU • ZOEVA

ZOEVA Nude Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette Review, Swatch and FOTD

September 19, 2016

Zoeva is one emerging brand that has got me really interested. Despite their most popular and affordable brushes, their palettes are also phenomenal. The ZOEVA Nude Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette (available here in Australia) is literally all you need for makeup, being a neutral eye shadow lover, I gasped at how beautiful and flattering these neutral and hues are, and they will get me through day and night on a daily basis. For such a big palette, I am surprised that there is not a single shade that I don’t like.

The palette retails for AUD$75, which is equivalent to $5 per eye shadow! The palette is housed in a slim black paper notebook-like case with a frosted feel. It is very modern and sleek, and feels very well made. There is a range of matte, satin, and intense satin (almost bordering metallic) eye shadows in the palette. All of the shades are buttery and silky smooth to apply, and they are so easy to blend (even for the matte shades) without fallout. All shades have good color payoff, with some shades having exceptional intense pigment.

The top and bottom rows each have 2 mattes and 3 shimmers, and the middle row has 1 matte, and 4 shimmers.

The top row has more earthy and subtle sandy shades in different variations.

The middle row has mainly champagne, taupe and bronze.

The bottom row has colors leaning more gold and copper.

I won’t describe each shade in words as there are too many. As usual I make sure my swatch looks like what I see in real life, so hopefully they will give you a better idea. All pictures were taken under neutral day light (not directly in the sun).

Swatch for the top row

Swatch for the second row

Swatch for the third row

Here are some FOTDs I created with this Nude Spectrum Palette. I have been gushing about how much I love brown lips, so I’d thought I’d do a proper FOTD wearing one of my favorites lately – MAC Whirl.

Eye makeup: I used the matte taupe color (3rd color in the first row) in the crease, then layered with peachy champagne color (second color in the second row), and applied the golden shimmer (second color in the third row) along the lash line. The matte ivory (1st eye shadow in the first row) was used on the brow bone.

Other products used in the FOTD

Face: Bobbi Brown Face Base / YSL Serum Foundation (reviewed) / YSL Touch Eclat Compact (reviewed)

Cheeks: Marc Jacobs Beauty Contour Powder 20 (reviewed) / Giorgio Armani Blush 306 (reviewed)

Brows: Tom Ford Brow Kit (also used for nose contouring, reviewed) / BBROWBAR Brow Pen

Lips: MAC Whirl

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Labels: EYESHADOW • FOTD • Giorgio Armani • MAC • YSL • ZOEVA

My 6 Best Eye Shadow Blending Brushes

September 11, 2016

I love doing top 5 (or more) picks posts, and today I am sharing some of my ultimate favorite eye shadow blending brushes. If you ask me to pick only a few favorite lip colors, it will be nearly mission impossible, but with brushes it’s a relative easy job as I tend to reach out for these brushes all the time, and I just know that my makeup routine will not be the same without them! They are suitable for all budgets, ranging from the most premium high end such as Suqqu, to the very affordable brand from the rising star Zoeva.

From left to right:

Suqqu M, Chanel Large Tapered Brush #19, Tom Ford Blend Brush, MAC 217, ZOEVA 227, Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush

All of these brushes are of very high quality, even though they are priced differently because of the type and source of bristles, where they were made and the packaging along with the brand name. However in terms of usability, they all stand the test of time and will last you at least 10 years of use. I have had each of them for a very long time, and none of them shed hair, change shape or fall apart.

MAC 217 – Using the MAC 217 as the standard blending brush. Needless for me to say how useful this brush is for eye shadow application, and you can find my detailed review for MAC brushes in this post.

ZOEVA 227 Soft Definer – If you love the MAC 217, you will love this ZOEVA brush made with goat hair which pretty much feels and works the same. The hair softness is similar, with an oval shape, but a tad more flat than 217 which is great for working the color into the crease. I love ZOEVA brushes in general which I have hauled a lot lately – they are affordable with a big selection, and I find that the quality is on par with MAC. Each brush comes in an individual zip bag.

Edwass Bess Luxury Eye Brush (available here in Australia) – This is the star product from his line. I have had this brush for more than 5 years. It boasts the same dome shape as the MAC 217, but slightly larger and feels softer and more dense against the skin. It is a powerful blending brush that gives lots of resilience so it blends eye shadow effortlessly. I normally like to use this brush for applying a neutral color over the entire eye crease area, and it only takes 1 to 2 strokes for the color to distribute evenly and seamlessly.

Tom Ford Eyeshadow Blend Brush (bought here in Australia) – The ultimate luxury eye shadow blending brush you could ever find, as the packaging and the handle feels so luxurious and precious that makes you not want to ever use it! Once you overcome the ‘obstacle’, you will find this is such a practical blending brush. The bristle is made of premium super soft goat hair, and it is all hand made in Japan. It is about the same size as MAC217, but the head is more tapered for a more precise application. It’s particularly great for blending the color just along the crease, and blending multiple colors.

Chanel Large Tapered Blending Brush (exclusive to Chanel.com only) This is best-seller out of the entire Chanel brushes collection. I was actually on the wait list for a while until it became available again. All Chanel brushes have black bristles, except for this exclusive edition with white bristles which makes me adore it even more! It’s made of goat hair, and is made in France. It’s a cute and ‘chubby’ blending brush compared to the MAC 217. The brush head is more rounder and dense with shorter hair, and it picks up lots of pigments which works perfectly with eye shadows that do not have intense color payoff. If you always want a brush that is tad smaller than MAC217, then this is the one to look out for.

SUQQU Brush M – Last but not least, leaving the best at the end. The Suqqu is the crème de la crème, as it has the softest squirrel hair that feels non scratchy even on the most sensitive skin. It is a smaller blending brush (same size as the Chanel) with a tapered end. The ultra fine and silky soft bristles deposit the pigments softly on the skin, so it is the best for applying dark colored eye shadows to create perfect shade gradation, as well as allowing for precise application around the eye corners. I have a post for the entire Suqqu brushes.

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Labels: Beauty Tools • BRUSHES • EDWARD BESS • MAC • My Favorites • SUQQU • Tom Ford • ZOEVA