IPSY GLAM BAG ✨JULY 2018✨

IPSY GLAM BAG 

✨JULY 2018✨

First off! Isn’t the Glam bag right there gorgeous?! I love the mermaid look, the shifting holographic shimmer against the blue bag. Even the five products in the bag boasts wonderful glowing effects. 

Wander beauty Glowtion lotion illuminatrice Mini size.

Wander beauty is a vegan friendly and gluten free brand. The full size of this product actually consists of another part which is the highlighter located at the tip of the tube. I received the glowtion mini, which is a hydrating radiance primer (similar to mac’s skin base visage). 

The glowtion has a bronze tint to it and is shimmery like a liquid highlighter. However once blended into the facial area, the shimmer dilutes and is not as blinding as a highlighter would be, leaving your face with a balanced glow. At first i was afraid the tint would be too dark for me as i am light skintone, but once blended and smoothed over it is not obvious at all. 

I tested the product for a whole day and wore it before my primer, it creates a smooth base for makeup application and usually where lotions make my face greasy to the touch, this one doesn’t. I also realised that this product is very similar to MAC’s skin base visage (the one with the glowy tint too). 

ella EDEN cosmetics Compact eyeshadow in Harmony.

This is the first time that I’m hearing of the brand Ella eden (spelled ella EDEN) cosmetics. Its an eco friendly brand that’s against animal testing, cruelty free, uses finest natural ingredients and also respects the environment. 

Harmony is a shimmery peachy orange shade with a subtle glow, this is a full size item in the bag at $14usd retail price. Personally this eyeshadow shade is a bit strong for me as i rarely wear bright orange to peachy shades, but it seems to be a nice glow for the cheeks. It has strong pigmentation too and is easily blended based on hand swatches. (See swatch below with concealer)

Smashbox Studio Skin Concealer.

The claims of this concealer is that it is 24hour long wearing, oil-free and waterproof. It is also a medium to full coverage concealer which claims to be able to cover up tattoos. 

I received the shade light which is a light neutral beige. The concealer matches my actual skintone but usually i prefer one shade lighter for concealers because it helps in highlighting the under eyes, nose and forehead. 

I find this concealer to be a bit on the fast drying side and it also oxidises super fast, barely 5 minutes after i test swatch it was already turning darker as seen in the pics. 

I also did a wear test and substituted this concealer in place of my favourite colourpop no filter concealer and wore it out for a good 6 hours. It covered up my minor dark under eyes well initially and though i had to work fast, it was also blendable. But at the end of the day, the concealer looks so dry out on my very face that its causing wrinkle lines to appear under my eyes. I’m 24 yo, i aint got no bad wrinkles underneath my eyes, just some eye bags from lack of sleep my baby has been giving me. 

So in the end, although i wanted so badly to like this product because it is from smashbox, I couldn’t get myself to like it. This concealer did not work for me. Perhaps i will put it to some use for spot concealing pimples or spots to match my skin colour, maybe it might help dry my pimples out? 

Callyssee Caffeine rush nourishing facial sheet mask (2pcs).

With the main ingredient being caffeine, i instantly think of coffee and my first reaction was that I won’t be able to handle the stank (Not a coffee person). But to my surprise upon opening a sheet up, it has the most delicious scent ever snd nothing at all like burnt coffee. 

The main ingredients is Organic Coffea Arabica Seed extract, but there are also other nutrient packed goods like Argan kernal oil and Soybean seed extract. Claims to have impact on cell renewal and soothing to the skin, this mask sounds like a sweet treat.

The texture of the mask is good, neither too thin and flimsy nor thick and uneven. It has the right soft mask texture that lets the mask sit on the face instead of slipping off. The contours of the mask is great too and has a good fitting at the eyes and mouth area. Generous amount of serum drenched in the sheet mask too.

Upon removal, i tapped in all the excess i could get into the skin and then pressed a soft layer of tissue on top to absorb whats too much on the face. I find that doing so doesn’t make my face produce too much oil to counter back the serum blockage. Otherwise if i leave too much on, my skin tends to over create oils and it turns into a greasy mess on my face. I like that it makes my skin soft and cool, right before i apply my makeup so it gives a fresh feel and smooth base. This is one of the few sheet masks that i like and will be using the other packet too. 

Mellow Cosmetics Creamy matte lipstick in Candy Floss.

Taken from their website;

“Mellow Matte Lipsticks are highly pigmented, richly formulated and long-wearing. The formula glides on smoothly, leaving a velvety-smooth, moisturising finish. Our products are Cruelty Free, Paraben Free and Vegan!”

In the ipsy description i think everyone is receiving the same shade and there is no shade variant this month for this particular lipstick. So to my knowledge everyone received the shade candy floss which is a bright hot fuschia pink. I cannot wear this, its not that i am not an adventurous person, heck I’d take a deep blue or cool green anytime but im just not a fan of bold pink like a grandma loves. So i didnt take the seal of this one and I’ll be giving it away probably to my grandma, she loves pink. 

So that is all the five products, i did realize however that although the two brands mentioned (ella EDEN & Mellow) are said to be cruelty free and against animal testing, they are manufactured in China which to my knowledge is quite infamous for their rules where products made or sold there needs to be tested. So unless those rules have changed, im not that sure that they are 100% totally bunny cruelty free. There are also a few other brands with the same theory so if it is a game changer for you then do bear that in mind. Otherwise, I find this month the Ipsy bag is not a hit for me because i only genuinely loved the sheet mask. 

Bonnie Choice Makeup From Born Pretty Store Review

Bonnie Choice Makeup

 Born Pretty Store Review

BONNIE CHOICE

About the brand: 

A quick google search will reveal that this brand is only readily available on Born pretty store or on Aliexpress. So there really isn’t much info that you can get about the company and brand. And there is no direct website with Bonnie choice brand. 

Packaging: 

The liquid lipstick comes in a sleek black unicarton with the logo and some glossy lines against the matte box. However, It is quite clear that the origin is from China as written on the product’s packaging. The tube itself is clear so you can easily see the shades inside, with glossy black cap and gold tube mouth. The shade name is not written underneath the tube, only the shade number is shown. They also have a standard doe foot applicator shape. Overall, the packaging looks professional and not at all cheap. 

Ingredient list (liquid lipstick):

Silica dimethyl silylate, butylene/ethylene/styrene copolymer, hydrogenated castor oil, disteardimonium hectorite, butyrospermum parkii(shea butter), propylparaben (<=0.1), phenyl propyltrimethicone, isohexadecane, polymethyl methacrylate, tocopherol, simmondsia chinensis(jojoba)seed oil, hydrogenated coconut coil, squalane, bht  (<=0.1), isododecane (CI 77891/CI 77491/CI 77492/CI 77499/AKA201/AKA104(1)/A01)

They are the same across all the 3 shades that i have.

Batch/expiry dates:

I also noticed that at the back of the box there is a printed batch number and expiry date. Now, it is common for most lipsticks to have the batch number and the period-after-opening guide(24months after opened), but its pretty rare that i see an expiry date printed too.

-Shade #1(best actress) batch is 180329, expiry is 28/03/2021.

-Shade #8(vampire blood) batch is 180515, expiry is 14/05/2021.

-Shade #7(screen siren) batch is 180329, expiry is 28/03/2021.

Its great that it has the expiry date so in the case that you forgot how long you already had those lipsticks, you’ll know by when you have to throw it out.

Now that all the boring part is over, lets get to the swatching part and how the lipsticks performs for myself! (*Disclaimer:I am not paid to do this review, products were sent to me for my honest opinion.) 

>I was sent 3 shades of the Bonnie choice matte liquid lipstick (Bonnie choice Matte liquid lipstick) to review. 

>And also the Bonnie choice double ended eyebrow brush (Bonnie Choice double ended eyebrow brush ).

Shade #1 Best Actress

(ID code#42604-1)

Best actress is a nude beige lip colour with a pink base. I find that this type of pinky beige lips looks good on very light fair skintone, but not as much on olive or tan skintone. I am asian with light olive skin so i prefer my nudes to have a warmer undertone instead. 

Shade #7 Screen Siren

(ID code#42604-7)

A cool toned smoky red shade to raise the alarm. This shade was the smoothest to apply as compared to the other two shades. Product applies evenly without patchiness and also set dry quite quickly. 

Shade #8 Vampire Blood 

(ID code#42604-8.)

This Deep burgundy red is such a beautiful shade and very fitting with the Vampiric name. However, this was the most patchy when lip swatched, as you can see there are some areas where its darker than the other areas. But this is quite common for deep and darker shades, i have faced this issue even with brands like Tarte. 

As for the feel, these liquid lipsticks reminds me of the menow lipsticks which was super cheap and popular a few years back. Due to the formula, you cannot smack your lips together directly after applying the lippies as they will stick to each other and tend to pull the lipstick off of both lips. So its safe to leave them unsmacked for about a minute till it fully dries. 

While the lipsticks are not draggy on application, it is a bit on the sticky side. Eventhough i left my mouth opened to keep them dry, there was still a sticky residue that i could feel clearly on my lips. 

This lippies are also budgeproof once they have set on the lips, since they are waterproof, oil based removers does the job of removing them. Also if you have a greasy meal, the lipstick will fade off slightly. 

Bonnie choice double ended eyebrow brush: 

(ID code#42515)

The last item, the double ended eyebrow brush has a soft angled brush at one end to pick up wax or pomade products with and the other end has a spoolie to evenly disperse products for a much more natural look. This is definitely a useful tool to have, most eyebrow kits come with the teeny weeny angled brushes which are super hard to get a grip on, i love this version of the double ended eyebrow brush and spoolie duo.

COUPON CODE FOR BORNPRETTYSTORE.COM 

>GET 10% OFF WITH CODE : MANARK31 

Colourpop Ultra Blotted Lips Paradise City Trio Bundle

COLOURPOP 

Ultra Blotted Lips

‘Paradise City’

Ocean Ave

Ocean Ave is described as a hot orange-red. Its almost neon-like when swatched, and if layered, the colour really does pop out.

Soda Pop

Soda pop is described as a plummy rose. This shade reminds me alot of the shade Darling from the ultra satin lips but lighter toned. With deeper shades like this, i find that blotting the lips and layering to get the darker colour works better. 

Vitamin Sea

This orange terracotta shade is super wearable and out of this bundle, i really liked this shade the most. Mostly because terracotta suits my skin tone better. Colourpop did released alot of terracotta shades in their ultra satin and ulta matte series, so in terms of uniqueness, this shade was a repeat in my opinion. 

Below are the swatches for all 3 shades!

FACETORY 👑 MAY 2018 👑 FOUR EVER FRESH KIT

FACETORY 👑 MAY 2018 👑 FOUR EVER FRESH KIT 

“You’re a sheet mask Queen” in celebration of mother’s day, the month of May has a queen theme for all the strong mommies out there. (As a mother of two myself, I love this empowering message.)

I’m real gira mask (Rose) by Beauty chuck.

Rose essence is a popular ingredient used in masks and is believed to have therapeutic benefits that relaxes the body and mind. This mask has a light powdery rose scent (smells a bit like talc), it is not too concentrated or overpowering. 

The mask is thin and white and saturated with a lot of serum. Its also one of the softest sheet mask I’ve tried before, it was flimsy and took some time for me to unfold it. By the time I managed to unfold the flaps, both my hands were drenched in the serum (i usually rub my hands and elbows with the excess.)

After 15minutes, i removed the mask and pat the remaining essence in. There was quite a thick layer that was leftover hence i dabbed some tissue on it. I have to dab to remove the serum because i realised that sometimes leaving them to dry on their own makes my skin greasy afterwards and very uncomfortable. The after effects gave me smooth cooling skin and feels refreshed too. 

Dearpacker Rice mask sheet by Real nature.

This rice mask sheet claims to have brightening effects to the skin. The mask has a thicker texture than the usual mask sheet that i use and the serum is quite thick. But it dries faster than the average mask hence it doesn’t adhere well to the lower portion of my face and keeps drooping off after a while. 

So i kept the mask on for only 10minutes and then removed it, it left a sticky feel to my skin and i left it that way overnight. The next morn i felt slightly greasy on the nose and there was two tiny zits on my chin. I really wanted to like this mask but i broke me out instead. 

Daily fresh garden mask sheet (Pomegranate) by Skin planet.

This mask is lovely! The pomegranate is very refreshing and has many benefits and is a good anti oxidant. Sheet mask is thin and easily spread on the contours of the face. The mask sticks well to my face and does not easily fall off like the previous mask. The serum is also very cooling even after removal. This leaves my skin smooth afterwards and refreshed.

Jeju green tea intensive whitening face mask by Only jeju.

Jeju green tea is well known for their high antioxidant content and there are also claims that it helps to relieve and soothe skin while providing moisture. Hence this is why most korean skincare uses those ingredients in their daily routine.

The texture of the mask is medium thickness, it is not as thin as the pomegranate mask nor is it too thick like the rice mask. The contours of the mask is better then the rice mask so it holds better around the nose and mouth area. 

The serum smells clean and leafy (not like real green tea) but its fairly pleasant and not at all over powering. Serum feels cooling to the face whilst wearing, upon removal, you can still feel the cool after effect. I had a gigantic pimple that just popped beside my nose and it was still red and raw, afterwards it appears to be smaller in size and not as angry looking. 

It took me a bit longer to finish the 4 sheet mask packs and review for the month of May’s Four ever fresh kit as i had a few masks piled up in the ‘to try’ stack. Hope it gave some insight for the May kit. Once again Facetory included different mask types for different situations needed. 

SEPHORA PLAY BOX 🌴💦 JUNE 2018

SEPHORA PLAY BOX

🌴💦 JUNE 2018

June’s play box theme is all about the sizzling hot summertime. But if you’re from somewhere near the equator like myself (Singapore), it’s basically summer all the time. This month there are 6 deluxe sample sized products. Let’s get into it:

Too faced Melted matte in Queen B.

This product is something I’m already familiar with, I’ve purchased the shade “sell out” before so I’m curious to see if the consistency is the same. 

Queen B is a soft mauve pink shade that is a pretty close dupe to Coloured Raine Classy, Dose of colours Stone & Nyx lip lingerie embellishment. 

The formula is the same, applies liquid then dries down to matte. It is a bit drying so its safe to exfoliate your dry lips first and apply balm underneath. If not, it might aggravate your dry lips further. But it’s great for the pool or beach because it’s waterproof. 

Clinique makeup remover.

This remover is oil based and is meant for lids, lashes & lips. It does a great job at removing waterproof lipstick and stubborn eyeliners. Since it is oil based, it does leave an oily residue behind so you can’t skip the whole cleansing routine after. 

It also makes it hard for you to retouch something you’ve just erased. For example, if you used a q-tip dipped in the oil to remove a misaligned wing liner, it breaks down the new line that you’re about to draw due to the oily residue left behind on the eye. So thats one of the drawbacks.

Living proof nourishing style cream.

By now, everyone should already know Living proof as a brand, they have many hair products that work well for hair in humid dry weather. Like this nourishing style cream, it smells awesome, refreshing and fruity.

I have dry hair due to being recently removed from their dreadlocks, it tends to get dry and frizz at the end. This styling cream helps to tame the flyaways and nourish at the same time. Not to mention the wonderful scent wafting through your hair. Its a handy product that i might consider to purchase a full size product of.

Sol De Janeiro Bum bum cream.

A while back i received this exact same product from Ipsy(October’s halloween bag last year), and i finished through a whole tube of it. Then this month in June’s Boxycharm they also included this exact same item and i love that i now have 2 deluxe tub container size of this. 

Read >Sol de Janeiro< review from June’s Boxycharm. 

Cover Fx perfect setting powder in Translucent light.

This setting powder retails for USD$35 for the 10g full size product while the mini size is USD$14 for 4g of product. The sample size comes in a box that confuses me on how to fold and close it back, so i chucked it away as soon as its opened. 

For reference, If you wear Cover FX Shades 0-60, select Light (Translucent) & If you wear Cover FX Shades 70-125, select Deep (Translucent). First off i like that there are light and deep shades instead of being one universal white powder which isn’t ideal for darker skin tone as it looks ashy. 

I like to set my face with powder even when i already have my foundation on because my combo skin tends to turn the T-zone into an oily warzone. And i like the all over matte look that powders give, which is exactly what i get from this light diffusing powder. It also blurs out my obvious pores especially near the cheek to nose areas. Its formulated without talc and has a lightweight non chalky feel. This works very well with the cover fx blurring primer and I also set with my favourite setting spray of all, the cover fx illuminating setting spray. 

P.s the sample jar has a convenient cap to keep the powders from spilling everywhere before you screw the lid on. Plus point!

Marajo haircare; Nourishing cleansing creme & Deep treatment butter. 

What better way to tame the hair on this humid weather than with nourishing products that promises healthy luxurious hair. 

I have recently bleached my natural black dark brown hair to lighten up the colour and as you know, bleaching strips away the natural pigments in your hair and makes it porous. Hence if not conditioned and strengthen, it can get very very damaged. 

I applied this two sachets respectively, two days after I bleached my hair. The first sachet applied is the Nourishing cleansing creme. This shampoo cream is quite thick in the consistency and foams up nicely, one sachet is enough for medium chin to shoulder length hair. Once washed, my hair felt a little bit heavier but not drying at all. 

Next, i applied the Deep treatment butter and left it on for 5minutes. It has a buttery consistency and It really does look like real butter. Upon washing off, my hair felt much softer and also seems to feel like its not as fragile as when i had just bleached. 

I like what both sachets did for my hair and probably because i had just done some bleaching so it helped do some nourishing. However i do wished that the sample came in a travel sized bottle instead of sachet form as the quantity is only enough for a one time use which might not help to show the difference for haircare. 

I think for this month, the June sephora play box has a good variety and mix of products. There are good makeup samples like the Too faced melted matte and Cover Fx setting powder. Throw in a lil something for the body like the bumbum cream (altho i have received this before i really love it!) And the Clinique oil based remover to complete the removal of your liquid matte lipsticks. Finishing with two haircare products, cult favourite brand Living proof and marajo haircare sachets. I realised that this is my first month that i did not receive a perfume sample. But I’m not bothered by it at all. 

Colourpop no filter foundation comparison swatch

Colourpop no filter foundation comparison swatch

Everyone who’s on youtube nowadays may have noticed that the mass is going crazy for colourpop when they released their no filter foundation shades. If you have been watching youtube gurus reviewing their PR packages, you may be going “damn! Wish they would swatch all the shades because i sure as hell can’t swatch it for myself when i order things online.” (I’m not from US.) 

About 5 youtubers that i watched only swatched the 3 main colours that was in the bigger bottle curated closest to what their shade is. Until finally i found thatgirlshaexo who was the first and only youtuber I’ve seen so far that actually swatched out all the shades she received even in the small tiny jars. She even went out of the way to swatch the medium to dark shades on her fiance who is indian and happens to be the perfect comparison for darker skin people. 

So from the swatches that i saw, i narrowed down 3 shades that i thought would be good. Light 60, light 65 & light 70. (Also following the rough guide of colourpop’s concealer to foundation conversion it gave me concealer light 18 : foundation light 70.) However i felt that light 70 (which has golden yellow undertones for light medium skin tone) is much too yellow for my face. Light 65 has golden yellow undertones for light skin tones & Light 60 is a neutral foundation with peachy undertones for light skin tones. I didn’t want to go too light from what was suggested on Colourpop’s conversion so i opted for light 65 instead. 

I often feel like i can go for both neutral or yellow toned foundation because my face is a different colour than the rest of my body, so the range of foundations that i have previously, all range from neutral to yellow tone. Here are some swatches to help out the next person looking for references to the colourpop foundations. 

I am asian with light skin tone and can wear neutral to yellow tone foundation. The foundation that best suits me would be Make up forever Hd foundation in Y225(marble). *Side note: Mac studio fix fluid in NC20 was a bit too dark for me.

Here are the comparison swatches:

Now good luck at finding your shades! (: 

BOXYCHARM 🌴 JUNE 2018 🌴

BOXYCHARM 

🌴 JUNE 2018 🌴

June’s box came with a total of 6 full size item (1 is actually deluxe sized) and is the most anticipated box ever due to the palette being new too. There are some familiar brands like Luxie brushes & Sol de Janeiro. So lets get into the goodies!

1.Monroe 3D silk Lashes by Battington lashes.

(RTP $28USD)

Very pretty storage packaging that has a magnetic closure. Unlike most lash containers that comes in a box in a plastic card and needs to be slide out etc this are easily accessible. Altho I don’t wear false lashes but this makes me want to try them on. They are abit more on the glam side instead of natural so i will probably only use it for special occasions. But it does not come with the glue (for the pricing i would have expected them to throw in free glue too tho).

2.Bum bum cream by Sol de Janeiro.

(RTP $10USD)

A familiar product, this has been sampled before in (Ipsy’s october 2017 halloween glam bag) in a tube form. I absolutely love the product, the scent, everything about it and i have already gone through the whole tube so this is a nice qty to receive. (I also got this in my June sephora play box) This Brazilian cream has a secret ingredient: guaraná and a formula that helps your body look and feel its smoothest and tightest.

3.Charcoal waterproof eyeliner pencil by Jonteblu.

(RTP $5USD)

I believe this is another brand that I’ve received before from other past beauty boxes. I’m not a fan of pencil liners so this will probably be one of the products that I won’t reach out for. And the shade charcoal is a black that isn’t even that pigmented. (See swatch below)

4.Verona Long lasting liquid lipstick by OFRA.

(RTP $21USD)

OFRA’s Long lasting liquid lipstick are one of the ots when it comes to the liquid to matte lipsticks.  I’ve always wanted to try ofra out but for the simple packaging and overall brand outlook i feel like the original price point is not as worth it. 

Verona is a mocha nude brown shade (very similar to Nyx liquid suede in soft spoken.) it gives off a grungy 90s vibe, and it is subtle enough for a natural look. Formula is non drying, matte but upon drinking it does transfers on straws. 

5.Three piece flawless complexion brushes by Luxie.

(RTP $42USD)

This set consists of 3 brushes that will complete your makeup routine for a flawless complexion.

516 - Duo fibre powder brush

660 - Precision foundation brush

522 - Tapered highlighter brush

They are all full sized brushes made of synthetic bristles. Luxie is quite popular with beauty boxes and they’re no stranger to Boxycharm. I always love getting brushes from them and i like their signature pink handles to easily differentiate among the other brushes in my collection.

6.Reina Del Caribe palette by Alamar cosmetics.

(RTP $28USD)

Alamar cosmetics is a relatively new brand and the Reina Del Caribe eyeshadow palette is inspired by the Caribbeans. There are 8 shades in the palette, 4 warm mattes and 4 cool metallics. There is a sun symbol beside the names of the matte which symbolises using them dry. And beside the metallic names is a droplet symbol which means it can be used wet for ultimate foiling pigment. 

The formula of the metallics are pretty much the same, they swatch smooth & uber pigmented. For the matte shades I realise that only the brown shade (Cafecito) requires a heavier hand than the rest as they are not as pigmented. My favourite shade would be Guantanamera, a beautiful brick red shade, super pigmented and blends easily too. 

June has a total box value of $134USD. This feels like the best box that I’ve gotten so far in terms of value. I love the brushes, palette, bum bum cream & ofra lipstick. I wouldn’t wear the lashes often, and probably won’t use the pencil liner too. So i might be giving those away.

Boxycharm is USD$21 per month, and they are always filled with full sized items, which makes it the most value worthy box.

If you are keen in subscribing to boxycharm, here’s a link to the site https://www.boxycharm.com/refer/Adlin-YKGQZHSS (i earn a bit from you using my link*).