No-frills Makeup

Mascaras are called the magic wand because they can really open up your eyes, not only making them look more attractive, but fresh and attentive as well. Overdoing it, though (with major clumping!), may make your eyes look heavy or sometimes even inappropriate for work. For me, mascara is the second most important thing next to eyeliner as a form of 'basic makeup'.

And my fave drugstore mascara?

Maybelline Magnum Volume Express ($18.90). I bought the brown waterproof version this time. My HG drugstore mascara has always been L'oreal Collagene mascara ($22.90), but I find that costly to keep restocking each time. But Magnum is just as good, and I daresay slightly better in fact!

I picked brown cos I wanted a softer, less stark look. Same idea with choosing a brown eyeliner over black.

I have long lashes, but they hardly have any curl so I love that Magnum's best quality is its ability to hold. And a tip for longer lasting curl? Follow these steps!

1)  Eye makeup done. No mascara yet.

2) Curl your bare lashes starting from the base, middle then end, holding for 3 secs each time.

3) Apply a thin coat of mascara. Just one swipe so that it dries immediately.

4) Now curl your lashes again following the same base, mid, end method.

5) Apply a thicker second coat in a zig-zag upward motion.

6) Done! You can carry on adding more coats to your preference. But Magnum is volumizing enough so two coats is sufficient for me.

7) If you find that your eyes are now top-heavy, go on, apply on your lower lashes too! They need some attention too ;) Start with horizontal downward swipes.

8) Then, vertical downward swipes to reach the invididual lashes.

9) Now, you're really done! Strut along like you've had a full 8 hours of sleep, but actually it was only 4 hours! Make sure you conceal your dark rings sufficiently beforehand and you're good to go.

I absolutely love that the Magnum mascara gives the wispy lashes effect, rather than a clumpy effect. The holding power is a winner too! My lashes stay curled till the end of the day. The slight V-shape of the wand also helps to lift the lashes better :)

Nothing bad I have to say about this mascara, except that I wish the non-waterproof version offers this much hold! Waterproof versions naturally have better holding power than non-waterproof ones because of its high wax and oil content which hardens and helps retain shape. I am always too lazy to painstakingly remove every trace of mascara off with a proper makeup remover!

Thanks for reading. So what's YOUR favourite drugstore mascara?

Sasa is having their sale again, this time at Northpoint's main lobby. Products are going at 20-70% off. I believe the sale is on till this Sunday, 1st May. Their sales are quite frequent. I suspect that they are clearing stocks before the products expire (not all though). So you might wanna check the expire dates first to see if you're okay with them.

So the bonus question is, what did I buy?

Haha, nothing much really. Still saving up for my Korea trip.

Maybelline Long Extreme Stiletto Mascara  $11.30 (UP: $18.90)

Quick lash swatch!

Left side: With Stiletto mascara, Right: Without

It isn't the greatest mascara, but I was amazed at it's lengthening power. Separates well and not clumpy at all.The mascara is super dark too, which makes my lashes look moist. Bonus! 

Not much volumizing seen. But the mascara only promises lengthening, so. It's waterproof, so an oil-based makeup remover is a must. No doubt, it removes easily, but I've never been a fan of waterproof mascara. It's a hassle to me, but that's just me!

P/s: This mascara from the sale expires July 2011.

Got these too!

Sasatinnie polishes 2 for $5 (UP: $5 each).

I'm always drawn to navy hues! Looks a little watery though. I haven't done a nail swatch yet cos I still feel like having OPI's Done Out in Deco on my nails :) 

That's all for now! Hope everybody's TGIF mood is even perkier this week cos' the Grow & Share fund is in! :D 

♥ ♥ ♥

went on an accessory rampage today :)

I will almost always have stuff hanging on my wrists that seeing my naked wrists is a rarity. but I have a habit of misplacing my bracelets that I resorted to using the same one (the rest are either missing or I got bored of them) for the past weeks.

I bought these at a shop in Northpoint called Scarlet - my fave place to get accessories when I'm around that area. some of their designs are similar to Diva's, but costs 3-4 times cheaper :) these three bracelets I got averages $5-6 each.

my fave is the one with the flower and the bling! super unique :) I like that it can look casual, yet formal at the same time.

maybe I should start venturing into other colours for accessories. I'm always subconsciously opting for blacks, browns, silvers or neutrals!

bracelets aside, I bought these too :)

yes, in my last post I was just talking about these Maybelline blushers, I couldn't resist! the Pure Mineral blusher on the left (in Gentle Pink) was bought a few days ago, I just put it back in its box to take this group shot :p

I wore Gentle Pink today. the colour doesn't look as bright as it looks on the packaging though. gentle and rosy, rather true to its name. I was hoping for it to be brighter and vibrant actually.

now I'm one shy of the whole set! but I'm not planning to get the mauve tone one.

I've no idea what I'm gonna do with the kabuki brushes, will probably just store them away.

anyway, I found a dupe for Essie's Mint Candy Apple. The Face Shop GR503 on the left. this has more greenish tones as compared to Essie's which comes off bluish green.

not that I have any Essie nail polishes, but I love reading Sophia's site when it comes to nail polishes so I kinda know a lot from all her hauls and reviews. and like Sophia said, a lot of other nail polish brands have been bringing in a lot of pastel colours and I couldn't agree more! 

if u're wondering why my thumbnail looks funky in the pic above, haha this is why!

this is how my nails will look like each time I step into TFS - swatching battlefield!

on a side note, I spied NYX eyeshadow and concealer brushes and Orly's nail polishes at Northpoint's Guardian. the latter only has the nail nutrition / base coat / top coat series though - no coloured ones.

thanks for reading all :)

omg third entry of the day, but the first of review!

this I've got to say, for me, Revlon's compact powder is way better than Maybelline's by tenfolds! remember I was raving about the Maybelline Angelfit 2-way cake in this entry? I've been using it for a little over 2 months now and I find that it does clog up my pores unlike what its packaging says. I don't have sensitive or difficult skin, so the fact that it clogs up my pores leads me to believe that it may clog up the pores of most people too.

first of all, I feel that the powder does not set on my face naturally. to counter that, I tried using it with a wet sponge, but it made my face look cakey instead. so it's a neither-here-nor-there thing with this product. it also makes my pores and dry skin around my nose area more visible when the powder is applied. I actually didn't realise how bad it was till I switched to revlon's pressed powder which I bought last week.

it's only a pressed powder ($19.90) but it already does so much wonders as compared to the costlier Maybelline Angelfit 2-way cake ($25.90). it conceals my pores and after frequent use, it actually does help to minimise the appearance of pores even without the powder on. I bought mine in Medium (there are 3 tones to pick from) and the tone really blends with my natural skin tone. it also helps to keep the skin looking and feeling matte without it looking unflatteringly cakey.

but to each her own, if you prefer more natural looks with the powder setting on ur face like a second skin, go for revlon! I'm not saying that the other Maybelline foundations aren't good, but the Angelfit 2-way cake is a definite no-second-buy for me. the Pore Zero Base is still my fave item from Maybelline that is a must, must get :)

I have the Revlon Pressed Powder on in this picture. I didn't apply any makeup base underneath at all, just Hazeline snow moisturizer and E.l.f Tinted Moisturizer. the combo works wonders! it left my skin matte all day :)

and the bf makes his appearance here, haha sorry if it's distracting but it will look weird if I crop my face and have an arm sticking out of my cheek :p

my first Face of the Day entry! didn't really wanna do a Look of the Day cos my hair was undone and I haven't decided what to wear so I was in some random pullover.

did a soft lilac subtle eyeshadow look today with the 88 palette. I am totally loving the colours and can't wait to experiment more! I actually have a literal notepad to jot down my favourite colour combis just so I'll remember them the next time I want to duplicate the same look ;)

in natural lighting

with flash

Face:

Angelfit Pore Zero Base

ZA Concealer Perfection in 02

Angelfit Affinity Foundation in Light Pink Ochre

E.l.f Bronzing Powder in Luminance (as face highlighter)

Eyes:

Silkygirl Perfect Cover Concealer in Medium (as eye primer)

Maybelline Shadow Liner in White

88 Palette (cream, soft purple, dark purple)

TFS Glamax Liquid Eyeliner in Black

Silkygirl Lash Prism in Blackest Black

Cheeks:

TFS Illuminating Cushion Blusher in Pink

Lips:

Maybelline Watershine in PR31

Note: TFS refers to The Face Shop. bee tee double yew, I am insanely in love with the lip colour and I predict that it's gonna be one of my most regularly used lippies! :)

anyway, I went spectacle shopping with my brother just now. finally found a frame that I really like! butttt, my eye degree is crazy, I WAS FLABBERGASTED. my brown plastic frames will be ready by saturday so I'll save this bit for later ;)

I vow for this to be my last haul for the week. I should go on a makeup ban for a while.

or at least a lippie-shopping ban. I think I bought 5 lipsticks in the month of march itself -- and it's only mid-way thru the month. so yes, last lippie till the end of the month at least.

1) Maybelline Watershine Pure in PR31

I think I don't really have to mention my lipstick brands anymore right, when almost all are from the Maybelline range! I seriously am in love with the Watershine pinks and  nudes, to the point that I feel like grabbing the entire collection!

the PR31 (I wonder why they don't give proper names. I suppose PR refers to Pink) is a beauty on its own. I don't really know how to describe it... but this kinda vibrant hue will stay on ur lips even after u've wiped it off with a kleenex or after drinking from a cup/bottle or licked ur lips and leaves a natural dewy and rosy tint on ur lips. I dunno if u've experimented with these kinda wonderful pinks, but I hope u get what I mean!

PR31 is a vibrant bright pink colour that is rosy and instantly adds youth to ur look. it is totally not subtle, so it's perfect if u wanna make ur lips stand out the most.

I do have to say though that the colour turnout will appear differently on different natural lip shades. my natural lips are rather pale so the colour of the lipsticks are almost always the same tone as seen on the lipstick itself. for those with darker or naturally-coloured lips, u can try wearing a lip concealer first to nude out ur lips first so that the colour will appear more similar to the tone seen on the lipstick itself.

I think this will look totally pretty on fair-skinned girls with dark hair :)

2) Maybelline 2-in-1 Impact Shadow Liner by EyeStudio in White

this is super creamy and glides on like a baby's bottom! haha, awkward description. it's not a total off-white, but has a somewhat iridescent silvery sheen to it (refer to swatch below). I can't comment much on it's staying power becos I haven't tried it out for a day. perhaps I'll do a proper review of this if I have a few things to say about it. I can't remember how much this cost... probably in its $fourteens?

3) Silkygirl Natural Brow Pencil in 02 Dark Brown

and the swatches... u can't really see the iridescent quality of the white eye pencil here. but when u wipe it off, u can clearly see the sheen. the one on the right is the eyebrow pencil in brown.

initially, the pencil mark appears coarse and my skin didn't pick up the colour well. and it appears a LIGHT brown! I was like, OH NOO. but when applied to my brows, it actually glides on well! probably due to the extra moisture on our face. and the brown doesn't appear like a scary off-brown. in fact, without flash, it doesn't even look the least bit brown, but a nice natural shade. this picture is with flash, so it picks up on the brown tones. this goes at $9.90 per stick. only comes in Natural Black and Natural Dark Brown.

just a tip: if u have an oily t-zone (like me) u may want to specifically apply powdered foundation over ur brows before drawing to make the eyebrow pencil last longer. oiliness can cause the pencil line to be rubbed off. u don't want botak brows in the middle of a day out ;p

oh remember I mentioned the natural rosy tint after wiping off the PR31? u can see it in this picture! that is totally not my natural lip colour, but remnants of the lippie. such an amazing colour right!

4) Lifebuoy Hand Sanitizer

haha! this is just a stock up, but I wanna mention that Lifebuoy smells nicer than dettol! I've been using the dettol one, I didn't know they have this! it leaves a nice soapy smell, not the usual anti-bacterial, hospital smell. claims to have moisturizing properties and Vitamin E too. this is just a miniature 55ml bottle, it's not as huge as it looks in the picture. $1.95 per bottle!

I hope I don't sound like a drugstore brochure. hahaha! I am not, in any way, promoting any products. I am not even affiliated with anything at all! what I say are my honest opinions from a true-blue makeup addict and I try to be as neutral as possible whenever I can :) thanks for reading!

as mentioned in the the earlier entry, I bought more lipsticks. I'm not exactly a Maybelline junkie. I dunno why, but it just so happens that I get so mighty attracted to the colours that they have, drugstore-wise. Especially the new Moisture Extreme range. I find other drugstore brands like Revlon's or Loreal's lipstick range doesn't quite have much that appeal to me. yes, I am aware that Revlon has pretty pinks, but nothing jumps out at me. or can u recommend any? :)

left: Maybelline Moisture Extreme in Empire Rouge
right: Maybelline Watershine Pure in B24

excuse my chipped nails :p

Empire Rouge is a sultry, deep red colour. it's not like a wham-in-ur-face kinda youthful red. the Moisture Extreme range has a lot of reds and one of the reasons I picked this was its ultra hip name! haha. Empire Rouge~ and for most part, I love the deep red colour that makes the lips more defined. one thing I learnt is that, red lipsticks help to make u have shapelier lips -- especially when used with a lip brush! give it a try!

I just used the lipstick on its own though without brush, just to do a quick lip swatch.

B42 is a sweet, pale pink which is highly glossy. would look perfect with dramatic, sultry eye makeup.

to compare, I prefer the Moisture Extreme range than this Watershine range in terms of moisturizing prowess. although the Watershine looks extremely glossy, it wears out faster and leaves ur lips feeling dry. both, however, bleeds a lot. so it gets pretty messy if u drink from a cup/bottle and might stain ur teeth too!

revlon has more lasting quality, but too badddd they don't have colours that I like! :(

moving on, I got the Artistry 8pc Brush Set last week from Magical Tannsu.

the pen is there just for size comparison's sake :) the bristles are said to be from real animal hair, didn't mention what though -- I think it's either goat's or horse.

from left to right: spoolie, sponge applicator, angled brush, concealer brush, 2 eyeshadow brushes, angled blush/contour brush and total face brush. the blings on the right side of the faux leather case is my doing :p

these are my fave brushes from the set:

from left to right:

spoolie -- my first spoolie ever so I can't help but favourite it! and it does it's job to separate my lashes after mascara application.

angled brush -- picks up colour real well.

face brush -- the bristles are super soft and springy. doesn't scratch at all. but the downside is that the bristles shed! not to the point of balding, but yeah, they shed. but it doesn't bother me.

angled blush/contour brush -- bristles are soft too! though I wish it's denser so that I have more control when applying blush. this sheds too.

the two big brushes comes with a plastic protector too so u can safely put them in ur makeup pouch. I don't really like the other four brushes. retails at $21.90 per set.

and last but not least, I finally (after much procrastination) got my 88 original eyeshadow palette. from Magical Tannsu as well, retailing at $29.90. even cheaper than from ebay!

I suppose I don't have to review on this one. there's a lot of raves about this product -- how vibrant, how blendable and how pigmented the colours are. just youtube on this "88 palette" and wham, u can see a lot of raves :) and I'm sure most of u, if not all, have seen/heard of this palette before. coastal scents are the original makers of these. I believe most 88 palettes are dupes and the one I got is also a dupe, but reviews say they are equally good and there's no tell-tale signs of any differences. except that there's customer satisfaction gurantee if u buy from Coastal Scents. I think.

not gonna review on this. but one thing I realised it that the matte colours are a bit chalky when u first pat on.

notice how the blue is chalky as compared to the two shimmery brown-toned colours? but it is okay after blending. so u might wanna pat first, then blend to avoid massive fallout. I'm really loving the sheen and glittery colours! even though the 88 palette original is labelled as "matte", not all are matte... some has sheens and shimmers.

I was at mustafa with the bf today and I bought Vaseline. haha totally no idea what this is for. I just know it's good, but I dunno for what reason. always good to keep something that u might need :p I will google on 'What is Vaseline for?' soon or perhaps someone wants to help enlighten me? :)

and to end off, I'll give a random fact.

my E.L.F blusher has hit pan! and in under a month too! wait, I think it's just three weeks ago -- I wrote a haul entry on it here. I've been using it everyday. and it doesn't help that the pigments crumble under my brush. so I wasted a lot of blusher, which can't be helped. becos I think as pretty as E.L.F blushers are, the compact is loose and a lot of the powder will crumble more than u need.

phew, what a long entry. thanks for reading!

I got these yesterday at woodlands' john little :)

Couleur Inc Nail Polish in Purity (pink) and Furud (green)

I was so attracted by their array of pastel colours. wanted to get a pastel baby blue, but I've been buying too many blues so maybe I'll skip them for a while. picked up the natural-looking pastel pink instead. came home and realized that I have already have one of that same shade, but not of this brand. my best friend pointed out that I always tend to buy nail polishes of this range of colour - natural pinks, brown pinks, nude pinks etc. haha! but not hot pink la, that's HER colour :p

the consistency of the Couleur Inc polishes looks  a little watery though. I hope it's not too diluted when I apply it. will probably need a few coats to get the colour out. will let you know when I've tried it :) retails at $4 something per bottle.

Maybelline Color Sensational Moisture Extreme Lipcolor lippies

left: Pink Peach, right: Toffee Cream

retails at $15.90 each.

Angel Rose is the one I bought about a month ago. you can see the lip swatch here.

I prefer Pink Peach to Angel Rose because the pink hue is more vibrant and pops out against my skin. I find that Angel Rose washes my face out because of its pale pink tone. but I think this will suit fair-skinned girls really well.

Toffee Cream is the first brown-coloured lipstick that I own! for me, it is really not as brown as the swatch seen above. the colour is more of a honey orange-brown, yet nude at the same time. I'm guessing it's because the brown hues in the lipstick matches the browns of my natural skin tone, thereby appearing subtler. this might look odd on fair-skinned girls. I love that it gives me a healthy bronze glow when applied together with a brown blusher. haha yes, I am so into browns at the mo.

last item came from the mailbox.

e.l.f Blending Eye Brush. got this from ebay at $3.99.

for a super affordable brush, the bristles are super soft! blends eyeshadow pigments really well as well, diminishing harsh lines.

alright, I'm gonna dinner now and play sims afterwards. can I like shut off my brain for just one night? this week has been too much to handle. alright, thanks for reading!

HAPPY HAPPY! becos I got my....

Angelfit Pore Zero Base in Natural Pink -- $19.90
Angelfit Flawless Affinity Foundation in Light Pink Ochre P01 -- $25.90

YES, february wishlist fulfilled :D

I dunno if the Light Pink Ochre will be too light for my skin tone, haven't had the chance to try it on my face yet. but it looks fine to me. and it has a pinkish hue! I am currently so into a radiant complexion more than anything else! I hope this two will help to minimize my clogged, opened pores :(

I used the Pore Zero Base for the first time today and felz actually noticed something different without me asking. yes, he whom barely notices the ever-changing makeup I have on. he said my face looked brighter/radiant. so I guess it does work? haha! what I love about it is that I can just wear it without any foundation and I'd feel comfortable enough to leave the house without anything else (ok fine, probably with mascara too). it leaves a healthy glow to the skin and helps conceal any unevenness of ur skin tone. and no one can tell that I'm actually wearing makeup like that! hah! well, it isn't makeup actually anyway -- just a makeup base.

count me a fan already and hop on the bandwagon with me ;)

after a whole day out (8 hours plus to be precise) with minimal touch up -- come to think of it, I just reapplied my lippie and powdered my nose on-the-go like 5 times? that's all. not even a blusher touch up!

and this is me. being irritating. haha!

LOL. AND I BLINGED THE CASE.

loveee it! I'd give it full marks, but I only used it for a day. can't judge fully yet :p but I think it'll be my new soulmate. haha! I'll review the Angelfit Flawless Affinity Foundation soon, so keep reading :)