Recent Empties #1 (It's been a long time!)

It's been a long time since I've written a post! Work has been very busy, and I had returned to school. I'm finally on summer break, and it feels good to write again. I know it's just cosmetics, but I find it de-stressing to review :)  

I've stopped photographing a lot of new products I have been using, somehow haven't felt that excited to share. I have however maintained my photographing of empties, so have almost a years worth to share! This is the first batch... I will share some brief thoughts about the products that stand out, good or not (if I don't mention it then it means it was "meh" either way). 

The Murad vitamin C daily moisturizer was really good! Not too oily-looking, though wasn't quite enough for the tough winter months...

The Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water... feels amaaaazing, and though very expensive, feels better on my skin than Bioderma. Too bad it's all out of stock for the Sephora sale :(

The two Benefit products were complete duds...I'm glad they were only deluxe samples and I didn't shell out money for them.

The Velour eyelash glue was also a complete dud (I posted awhile back about it exploding). I have tried to use it a few times after and it just performs poorly. I do not recommend!

The Balm Apples Cheek & Lip cream was not good for the lips but awesome on the cheeks! It blended out so nicely with a duo-fibre brush (though less good with fingers for some reason). 

MUFE mascara, great balance between length and volume and held curl for me.

The Freshstart dry shampoo was useless except for infusing its perfumey smell to my hair. It didn't rid the oil at all and somehow made my hair look more more limp. I don't recommend at all!

Oh YSL Tint-in-Oil... I had so much high hopes for you I bought 3...It was so slippery and watery and an awful taste kept seeping into my mouth (despite being very careful not to apply it too close to the inner part of my lips). It looks ok only, not worth the gross taste. 

Lancome Bi-Facil, hands down best remover. Have gone through many bottles.

Dr. Dennis Gross daily peel. This was a deluxe sample, and even though it was the gentle version it still stung. My face is just too sensitive for any peels or acids I think. It's got great reviews though so if you're not sensitive give it a try!

That's it for now, I got a couple of other batches to post soon... :)

My 1st MAC purchase (what?!) - Huggable Lipcolor in Commotion and Mineralize Skinfinish in Other Earthly

That's right, I've never bought any MAC products up until now... crazy right? I mostly buy makeup from Sephora and department stores, and never ventured into MAC stores. Since The Bay now carries MAC, and recently had some items on 30% off, I thought this was a good time to check things out!

Had to go for a lipstick right :)  The Huggable Lipcolors had mixed reviews when I looked up other blogs, so I went with a raspberry-plum shade that I know likely will work on me. It's called "Commotion".

The texture is really interesting. If I try to swipe it on my lips like any other lipstick, the bullet is "sticky" and tugs on my lips quite uncomfortably. So I found the best way to apply this is by dabbing rather than swiping. The result is a sheer glossy (for a lipstick) finish that fills in lines and makes my lips look plump and healthy. It lasts until I eat but leaves a light stain. 

I swatched it amongst some of my other raspberry-plums. Temptalia calls this shade "highly dupable", which is true, however the finish is unique!

Left to right: Burberry Kisses Bright Plum (slightly more pigmented and creamy with less sheen)

MAC Huggable Commotion (the glossiest and most tacky in feel)

Marc Jacobs Boy Gorgeous (the most pigmented and matte of these)

Tom Ford Violet Fatale (the most comfortable and lightweight of all these)

Next I chose one of the Mineralize Skinfinish which I also hear a lot about. 

I was very disappointed by the shipping, as it had unfortunately been knocked around and there was chunky glitter everywhere (had even escaped to the box). I was concerned this was going to end up a chunky glittery-highlighter, and I was partially right. 

Presentation is gorgeous, and the sections are large enough I can use the shades separately, however I discovered that is not the best way to use this...

When swatched, I was not impressed...the silver and gold-bronze were super glittery and chunky, and the middle rosy shade was chalky. When I put them on my cheek separately, the 2 glittery ones looked terrible, they were hard to blend out and stuck as chunky glitter on my face. The middle shade just didn`t show on my cheeks. I was about to sigh and give up until I read from others that they like this best blended altogether. So I took a dense synthetic brush and swirled it all around. The result was...well... kind of out of this world! It`s hard to describe, altogether it looks like a rosy highlighter that is sparkly rather than glittery (sparkly in a nice way!). It isn`t subtle, but also doesn`t scream glitter like when the shades go on individually. I love it! 

Overall, this has been a good first foray into MAC and I`ll definitely be picking up some more from the 30% off sale!

Share with me your favorite products from MAC!

Shu Uemura KYE Collectioon: Brow Palette in Cappuccino/Dark Rose

This the last of my KYE haul, and unfortunately is the biggest disappointment for me. I was so excited about this product, and felt like it would be a slightly-edgy-but-not-so-out-there thing to do to have dark rosy brows. The packaging is still cute, and feels nice and hefty in my hands, but that's about as far as it goes.

It contains Cappuccino, a light grey-mauve tone, and Dark Rose, which looks so beautiful in the pan. 

 

The instructions here to use Cappuccino to draw and Dark Rose to blend, makes no sense to me. As it turns out, Cappuccino is so lacking in pigmentation that I could not get it to show up on my brows at all.  Even on my arm, it look a lot of layers to even show any kind of shadow! 

Dark Rose is more pigmented, so it make more sense to actually use that to "draw" my brows and then go over it with Cappuccino to blend. I really was so excited and wanting to love this, but once I finished my look, I realized the shade is exactly like those eyebrow tattoos the Asian aunties used to have, that same reddish-brown..ugh! (Sorry you might have to be Asian to understand what I'm referring to). It just made me feel old, not cool at all.

This likely will work for you if you have reddish-brown hair though!

I'm ending on a down note I guess, but by far the best of the KYE collection so far for me was the cushion blush, second is the tinted lip balm. I'm only glad I got this brow palette on sale and didn't pay the full $55 CDN for it, eeks. The KYE collection does have a indigo-blue shade in the brow sword, which I might try (no "auntie" look there) but not sure if I will end up going for it as it may be a waste of money on something I may not end up using a lot of... we will see =P

What has been your most recent product disappointment?

Shu Uemura KYE Collection: Sheer Color Balm - melt in orange

If I for some out-of-this-world reason, I would have to only live with one single type of makeup item, I would choose tinted lip balms. They're easy to use to brighten my lips and complexion, moisturizing, and require no effort to blend. So of course I had to pick up one of the tinted lip balms from the Shu x KYE collection!

 

Normally I choose "safe" colors like peach and pink, this time I thought I'd brand out a bit and try the orange. It does look shockingly orange in the tube, however I was a bit disappointed it just turned into regular peach-pink on me (both on my skin and on my lips).

Despite my disappointment in this not being a very "out there" shade, I'm happy with the formula. It's thin and moisturizing, and on the glossier side. The formula reminds me most of the YSL Candy balms, which continue to be my favorite tinted lip balm line.

Also, how cute is the packaging?! Not "fancy" like YSL, but makes my eyes happy when I pull it out to use :) The cap is also fairly tight so I'm not concerned about it coming off in my purse.

Overall, this is a solid buy in the luxury tinted balms world, for $36 CDN. If you love tinted balms like I do, this is a great add to your collection! If tinted balms aren't your thing, skip this :)

Shu Uemura KYE Collection: Fresh Cushion Blush - hibiscus orange

I'm starting off this KYE series review with my favorite product thus far. This is my first cushion blush product ever, and have to say this now my favorite form of blush!

 I love applying cushion BB creams, like my IOPE Air Cushion, but this is even better!

 

 Cute packaging aside, it's a traditional cushion packaging with a soft sponge. This is smaller than a BB cushion of course, so only 2 fingers fit on this sponge rather than 3.

 

 The sponge is very saturated with product, and initially I thought I was going to apply way too much. 

I needn't have been concerned though, as this blush is very sheer, but buildable. I dab the sponge in the cushion then lightly tap it around my cheeks. It blends like a dream!

 On the left is a big unblended splotch of the product, and on the right is blended out. It's subtle and very natural, of a demi-matte, non-shiny sheen. It doesn't look artificially orange, but rather warms up my cheeks almost like bronzer, though without the "tan" look. It's beautiful though I had trouble capturing my cheeks on photo with this showing up so hopefully you can trust my words and go try this out yourself! It looks even more gorgeous if you add a golden highlighter on top!

Have you tried a cushion blush before? It feels like a pampering spa experience for my cheeks!

Shu Uemura F&F Sale - KYE haul

Shu Uemura recently had a sale, 25% off for spending over $125, which an amazing deal as Sephora's recent sad VIB sale was only 15% off. I picked up 3 pieces from the new KYE collection, collaborated with Kathleen Kye, a Korean streetwear designer. The boxes were super cute! I picked up the following:

- cushion blush 

- brow palette

- sheer color balm

Individual reviews will be posted shortly!

Why it's bad to buy too many new products at once...

2014 was a stressful year that resulted in a lot of stress shopping. I recently just discovered I completely forgot to open up this beauty from the Lancome x Jason Wu collection from 2014! I remember being excited to buy this but completely forgot about it amongst the pile of other stuff I bought. 

 

Sadly, despite much shaking, this formula is toast. It's consistency is unlike that of other artliners I've used in the past, and the pigmentation is patchy and impossible to even out despite my best efforts. I recall seeing gorgeous photos of this back in 2014, so my only conclusions is that I missed out on it's good days and it must have now gone "off". Sigh... oh how I wish I used and enjoyed this in 2014 when it was meant to be enjoyed!!

 

Do you ever forget about things you buy? Or do you always open up what you buy right away? If you're the latter I'm going to try to be more like you from now on! Or maybe I should just buy less...hm... =)