IPSY 🦋APRIL 2018🦋

IPSY GLAM BAG

APRIL 2018

Ipsy’s April inspiration is all fluttery butterflies with the theme being social butterfly (something i truly am not). 5 items inside the glam bag as usual, this time there is one of each for haircare, body and face.

1.Ouai haircare Finishing creme.

This would be a second time i receive this product, another was from Allure beauty box(they almost always have haircare products.) The brand is pretty popular however i really do have to give it away as i cant use it. 

2.Purlisse beauty Coconut oil + coffee sugar body scrub.

I’m excited for a sugar body scrub but unfortunately what i cannot take is the smell of coffee. I can probably stick around if its a light faux coffee scent, but this is really an in your face strong coffee bean smell that i really cannot fathom smelling like the entire day after shower. So i am giving this away. Make it chocolate or vanilla and i will gladly slather it on continuously. 😂

3.Ciate Starstruck double ended stamp and liquid liner.

I bet everyone thought the star stamper wouldn’t work! Well surprisingly it stamps out a very clear star shape and the liquid liner has precision and is sharp enough for a good cat eye. I do love a good eyeliner and this delivers. Only thing is it is not waterproof and comes off easily when scrubbed with water. Not so festival friendly when you’re sweating it all out.

4.Ruby eyeshadow blending brush. 

I love getting a good brush, and eye brushes are the best to receive as you can never have enough with the multiple shadow palettes you’re sporting. Also if you’re anything like me and don’t clean out your brushes often enough, the more brushes the merrier. This blending brush has a tapered dome shape to blend the crease and outer ‘v’ with precision.

5.Paula dorf cosmetics Bronzer in shade Bora bora.

This would be my first hearing of the brand Paula dorf, the bronzer comes in the shade Bora bora is a mid tone matte brown. I have a light (slightly olive) asian skintone and this bronzer seems to be a just nice colour that does not steer too light. (As seen on swatch below.) Formula is not chalky, glides smooth and pigmentation is buildable. 

Swatches:

Some misses in April’s glam bag, mainly the sugar scrub due to the coffee, i really do wish i could tolerate it. Best highlight of this bag would be the Ciate Starstruck eyeliner, i love the cute star stamper! Also excited for the bronzer and brush. 

BOXYCHARM 🌺 MARCH 2018 🌺

BOXYCHARM 

MARCH 2018

1.Make them blush by Pretty Vulgar in Hush blush.

I love the aesthetic of this brand, the idea is to have a vintage kind of style laced with cuteness with the little birdy logo. This is the second time the brand is appearing in boxycharm, the first being the metallic liquid lip sent in January’s box if im not wrong. Hush blush is in a nude rosey shade that i know will definitely find its way into my everyday blush. Very pigmented and easy to apply with a blush brush. 

2.Butter London Double decker mascara.

(Get 25% off your next $50 purchase on butterlondon.com with code CHARM25 at checkout, valid till 1st July 2018.)

This might be the most huge mascara I’ve ever seen, with an exception to Dior’s diorshow XXL brush, this mascara takes the cake for a big ass tube/box/brush everything. But is the formula as good? Well its basically a black mascara with huge bristles that helps pack on the formula to your lashes, buildable and does not clump on each coat.

3.The vintage cosmetic company Smokey eye brush set.

Now i rarely do smokey eyes, but i can find great use for each of this brushes. They are full size and theres 3 different brushes;

-Shadow brush for packing colour on the lid all over.

-Angled shadow brush for blending the creaseline and outer v.

-Smudger brush for smudging out liner on the outer eye or under eye, or you could also use this to pack highlight under browbone.

Very handy set for travelling.

4.South mane eye gel pack 3pcs.

These are gel pads for the undereye aimed to reduce puffiness, reduce dark circles & moisturizes eye area. With a 4 week old baby in tow, i think i have eyebags to match the weight of my newborn child. Nada sleep at night and waking up far too early in the morning. I really do need to depuff my eye situation so these are really handy for emergency use!

5.Boxycharm X PÜR eyeshadow palette.

An eyeshadow palette that is not plain boring or bland and is also exclusive to boxycharm!! This palette contains 2 matte, 4 satin (with specks of shimmer), 6 metallic shades. There are also mixtures of neutral and bolder colours to play with. 

I did an eye look today to test the shadows and i was quite surprised at the good pigmentation it has. There are some shades that have fall outs when hand swatching and some shades that seems to be chalky (all shown in the swatch pic below) but overall they have good color payoff.

Not to mention the shadows picks up well on brushes too. (I used the vintage cosmetics brushes received in the box.)

Purfect(matte) is slightly chalky, Charmer(metallic) has fall outs from pan to swatch, Duet(satin) swatches nicely.

Nakey(matte) is slightly chalky, Alliance(metallic) has slight fall outs, MIA(metallic) swatches smoothly.

Belle(matte) slightly chalky, Bae(satin) slight fall outs, BFF(matte) slightly patchy when swatched.

Squad(satin) slight fall outs, ATL(metallic) slight fall outs but smooth formula, Boxy black(satin) very pigmented black with gold specks of shimmer.

This past few months i feel like Boxycharm has been the only beauty box to really hit the spot for me and its fun to receive full size rather than tiny sample sizes sometimes. This month’s box is an absolute wonder, i love everything in it! Its very rare for me to love everything as majority of the boxes has hair products which i loathe. Hopefully next month’s box is bigger and better to top off this month. 😁

SEPHORA PLAY BOX 💎 MARCH 2018 💎

SEPHORA PLAY BOX

MARCH 2018

Entering the month of hipster festivals (lookin at chu coachella) nevermind that there really are great music playing, I’m halfway across the world. March’s play box baggie tho, fell in love with it IMMEDIATELY!! Its a super pretty smokey blue grey tie dye design and it says “Beauty is my spirit animal” and the bag is super soft too like its not a stiff dyed product. Enough about the bag tho, let’s not forget the products inside too.

Try the quiz! Im apparently a ‘choosy connoisseur’

1.Bobbi Brown extra illuminating moisture balm.

This balm has light reflecting pearls that helps to give the skin a good glow. It gives a subtle sheen and nothing too bright. I applied this before makeup and skip the moisturizer as it has hydrating and moisturising properties too.

2.Supergoop defense refresh setting mist.

This setting mist contains SPF 50 to protect you daily from the harmful sun rays and smells strongly of mint to keep your face refreshed as well. Spritz this on over your makeup to keep yourself refreshed during the hot sweaty festival shenanigans. Or if you’re just walking down the pavement to the foodcourt here in Singapore and you’re already sweaty. 

3.Stila stay all day eyeliner in black.

A waterproof eyeliner that will get you through anything, even in this half rainstorm and half sunny weather. However, i do notice when swatching that the liner bleeds into my arm crease a lil bit as compared to other liquid liners that do not do so. 

4.Korres greek yoghurt foaming cream cleanser.

Imagine cleansing your face with berry yoghurt, that’s exactly what this cleanser smells like! Don’t let the simple packaging fool you, Korres almost always have matching scent to what ingredients their products use. Builds up to a foamy lather and leaves skin soft without drying up your face and stripping off the natural oils. 

5.IGK mistress hydrating hair balm.

This product has a gooey gel like texture which changes slightly to an oily balm when rubbed together, smells like coconut and helps to detangle unruly curly hair. If you have dry hair this balm will help hydrate and leave a coat of soft sheen armour. 

Swatches:

6.Amika soulfood nourishing hair mask.

I wished this was a facial mask instead of a hair mask. Unfortunately for this mask, im unable to test it out on my toddler. This is an extra bonus item that claims to deep condition and repair damage. 

Fun bag design and fun quiz chart to play around with, but the bag content feels slightly boring since its mostly skincare products. The products given seems to be selected for non makeup wearing humans who have perfect blemish free skin where just waterproof eyeliner is enough to look pretty and au natural. Which is never gonna work for the other 99% of girls at the festival.

IPSY ✍🏼MARCH 2018 ✍🏿

IPSY GLAM BAG

MARCH 2018

This month, Ipsy is letting our inner creativity run the show for the glam bag by colouring it in with the neon markers given. 

Along with the markers, there’s 5 products waiting to be tested too!

1.Doucce Freematic eyeshadow in Ariana.

Including this shade, i have a growing total of 6 of these tiny eyeshadow pods of Doucce freematic shadow. Since the quad palette that i have is full, i depotted this and was gonna place it in my ofra magnetic palette but lo and behold, this one isnt magnetic. (Pretty weird considering the rest are.) Ariana is a shimmery golden brown shade. Swatches nicely on the fingers. (Swatches below)

2.Tarte sex kitten eyeliner.

I have this in full size from the Tarte holiday collection treasure box. The full size has a little eraser bud at the end while the travel size one doesn’t, but the eyeliner stick is the same. This twist up liner tends to wear down to a stump and is hard to actually get a sharp precise line, it is however great for the under eye and also for smudging a smokey eye out. (Swatches below)

3.SLmissglam SL41 Blusher brush.

It’s hot pink. While i will not be travelling around with this eye grabbing brush, the diamonds and hot pink is abit dramatic isn’t it. But i do love getting more blush brushes. Because im far too lazy to keep washing my brushes all the time, plus i have alot of blushes i rotate with, the more blush brushes the merrier and easier i can rotate with. As usual, slmissglam has super soft synthetic bristles. 

4.Rodial glamobrow in Dark ash brown.

I have been seeing this brand more often especially their eyeliners, this brow pencil is new to me. The glamobrow is a classic twist up brow stick on one end and a spoolie on the other end. On first swatch, the stick was abit dry and pigmentation wasn’t showing that well, i pressed harder and the tip of the stick broke and a tiny chunk came off. But after the top part broke, it actually swatched better, perhaps the outer stick was abit dried out. It does not wash off easily under water either. (Swatches below)

5.Trufora triple action exfoliator.

This triple action exfoliator has a itty bitty gritty exfoliating beads in the cream and seems almost invisible on the naked eye, but upon applying on the face you can definitely feel the exfoliating action. The texture is not rough, its almost like Dr brandt’s exfoliator. This can be scrubbed after leaving it on the face for 5 minutes to let the product sink in the pores before scrubbing away the dead stuck in between. It is also free of irritating scents.

Swatches:

March is a simple and easy bag, simple idea with a motivating push to create. So if you’ve been wanting to do something like spring clean your vanity table (like i did), de stash your makeup collection, or simply finish an art piece, let this be the month to push yourself! (Much like the baby that I’ve pushed out into the world and delay my spring cleaning process.) 

ALLURE 🌿 MARCH 2018 🌿

ALLURE BEAUTY BOX

MARCH 2018

The march box has a total of 7 deluxe products to sample, usually it contains 5-6 products. This month the ‘Simple Micellar make up remover eye pads’ is an extra product and comes in another variation too in the box which is the ‘Simple Water boost hydrating gel cream’.

1.Laneige water sleeping mask.

This is a product that i have tried before previously and i like that this sleeping mask can be left on overnight and you can leave it to wash the next morning. Kind of like what sheet masks promises because I’m far too lazy to wash it off in the bathroom at night. It looks like any typical clear gel, to be used once or twice a week. I usually apply only a small amount as i do not like to clog my pores by slathering too much product on my face. After wear, this helps hydrate my face, and in the morn it does not feel greasy to the touch.

2.Makeup for ever Artist rouge creme in Rosewood.

I have the liquid lipstick version of this shade and both are pretty similar in the colour where they are both rosy mauve. But the formula is different and it affects the end colour slightly. The liquid matte version pulls abit more purple on my lips but for the creme version pulls more rosy. I still like both and now for days when my lips are super dry and cracking i can use the creme version to save my poor lips. (Swatch below)

3.La roche posay Anthelios 60 Ultra light sunscreen fluid.

At first i thought this would be a regular sunscreen with a fancy name. (I do love the la roche posay thermal mist) Turns out this is a much more fluid and watery version of a sunscreen (absorbs faster) but still carries the same properties. Its also water resistant for 80mins, and has antioxidant protection. Fragrance free for he sensitive people and is super handy for a day at the beach or for daily wear under your moisturiser.

4.Simple micellar makeup remover eye pads.

I currently use the cream makeup remover from the same brand and i usually pump it out onto a cotton pad to wipe off eye and lip makeup. With the makeup remover infused into the pads, its so much easier to quickly wipe everything off. The pads also have tiny squares for friction to better remove the leftover residues. I might be making a change to this pads instead after i clear the bottle of makeup remover i have right now. 

5.Makeup for ever Ultra HD invisible cover foundation shade Y225 - Marble.

Previously sephora playbox gave me the same product in the shade Y245. This time Allure gave the option to choose but this shade was the closest to what i have previously tried that was available to choose from, Y225. Y225(marble) is in the light category for yellow undertones, Y245(soft sand) is also under the same category but is not as pale as marble and is more beige. When swatched on hand and face both of them seamlessly blend into my natural shade, but i still prefer Y245 because everything balances out after I’ve blend in my concealer and baked the area. Texture of the foundation is lightweight and creamy, coverage is medium but buildable with every layer without being cakey. (Swatch below)

6.Eyeko london eye do eyeliner.

Finally!! We got a liquid pen liner!! That i badly need because my usual liner is drying up & almost gone. This is a carbon black liquid liner, with a felt tip pen, much easier to use than a pencil as it has both pigmentation and precision. Also this does not bleed or smudge & is waterproof. (Swatch below)

Swatches:

7.Oribe Free styler working hairspray.

Another hair product, this might be the only thing that I don’t like from this box because I can’t use it.

I really do like this month’s box, the extra samples and the products. March’s box proves to be more than what the previous months were. And apart from the hair product, everything else in the box is a treat to sample. Think it would be abit hard to beat March’s box next month. 

BOXYCHARM 🎸JANUARY 2018 🎸

BOXYCHARM 

JANUARY 2018

How else would you rock 2018’s socks off other than with these babies that Boxycharm has sent for January’s box!! These are the perf ingredients for rocking a gig or concert and starting the year with a bang (or maybe you’re more of a club gal, whatever rocks your boat. 😉)

1.PÜR Bronze & Brighten palette.

The dreamer cheek palette consisting of 3 shades inside. Blushing glow, afterglow & mineral glow. Blushing glow is a coral shimmering shade for the blush and is super pigmented and bright, kindly use a light hand when tapping into this one. Afterglow, a highlight shade that will flatter all skin tone regardless of shade. And mineral glow, a dark brown bronzer, this one is a bit too dark for my liking as I’d prefer my bronzers to be a lighter milky chocolate shade otherwise if its too dark it gets muddy easily. 

2.Girlactik Beauty Matte lip paint in Demure.

This shade is described as a rosy terracotta. As soon as i swatched it, I realised it looks very similar to (colourpop ultra satin frick n frack) It was my favourite go to shade for work and everyday wear as the mid shade works well for a natural look without making you look like a corpse. This lipstick also has a vanilla cupcake scent to it. Unlike Frick & Frack’s formula, Demure has a creamy texture and dries matte after. (Swatch below)

3.It cosmetics brow power in Universal taupe.

Universal taupe is a greyish brown that supposedly will suit most hair/skin color to match the brow. The formula of the product is not the best and is difficult to get a decent swatch. On swiping the first few lines, nothing comes off the stick, and it needs more pressure to appear. This causes chalkiness and fall outs as seen on the swatch, it’s also patchy and inconsistent. 

Imagine pressing too hard or going over your brow multiple times with pressure just to draw a line. I wouldn’t recommend nor repurchase this because there are other softer and pigmented brow sticks that are far cheaper than this product and works better. (Swatch below)

4.Dr brandt Pores no more Luminizer primer.

I am beginning to love Dr brandt’s products from their skincare to makeup. This luminizer primer is in a shimmering beige nude colour, blends like a dream and does not have a very thick silicone texture like most primers do (silicon breaks me out). The shimmer reflects light and makes your skin appear luminous, and my makeup application always apply smoother with this primer underneath. 

5.Glam metals Palette by Crown Pro.

If you’re looking for a palette to rock on to a concert, this might be it! (Don’t forget the eyeliner tho) There are 9 shades inside and only one is matte while the rest are metallics and satins. 

First row: 

-Punk is a metallic silver grey.

-Wild thing is a satin warm brown.

-Black metal is a matte black. (Not very pigmented, but buildable for a smokey eye.)

Second row:

-Rock on is a dark metallic gold.

-Rebel is a bright metallic copper.

-Heavy metal is a metallic gun mental grey.

Third row:

-The wicked is a satin plummy brown.

-Glam rock is a metallic bronze.

-Pop rock is a metallic liquid white gold.

This month’s box is definitely gonna help you rock the year, it basically has everything for a full face with the exception of a foundation/powder shade and of course EYELINER. They totally forgot that, what’s more rock n rolla than eyeliner/guyliner?! 🤭