shu uemura face architect illuminating moisture fluid foundation 564

I've finally found foundation swatches (sorry friends I couldn't use your arms for comparison purposes because of lighting reasons) so I can finally do a foundation review! 

This foundation wins longest foundation name ever. It is the Shu Uemura Face Architect Illuminating Moisture Fluid Foundation. This is my first ever "expensive" foundation, having used drugstore foundations like l'oreal and revlon before this. I really like this foundation, and this is my 2nd bottle. I originally wanted to get the Shu Uemura Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation (also long name T_T) because I had read all the rave reviews, but the SA convinced me that this would be better. According to her, the Moisture Fluid Foundation was more moisturizing and offered better coverage than the Smoothing Fluid Foundation. Hence it was better for my dry skin (caused by accutane) and scarring. Upon trying both out at the counter, the Moisture Fluid Foundation felt thicker and creamier than the Smoothing Fluid. 

Retails for SGD73 or 75 at Takashimaya. Slightly cheaper on ebay.

The 2 foundations look exactly alike and come in a nice glass bottle with a plastic screw-on pump. Glass seems quite sturdy and resistant to travel. It is very easy to control, ie. half pumps can be made. The transparent bottle also makes it easy to see how much product is left. It's sanitary and leaves very little mess, product does tend to gather on the nozzle though (as seen in picture)if not cleaned. 

I use shade 564 medium sand. The numbering system is disgustingly brilliant, as most japanese products are. The first digit represents how cool, neutral or warm your skin is. 1 = coolest, 5 = neutral, 9 = yellowest. 2nd digit represents how light or dark the foundation is, 0 = lightest, 9 = darkest. 3rd digit represents what undertone the foundation is, ranging from blue to violet. But erm, that's quite beyond me. 

credits: http://karlasugar.net/2009/07/mac-studio-sculpt-foundation/

Here's a swatch in comparison with some MAC studio sculpt foundation swatches that I found. I have tweaked the original swatches slightly to match the lighting of my own photo. Both were taken under normal sunlight. Mac foundations tend to be yellower than I am, as seen. The Moisture Fluid Foundation seems to be in between a NC30-35, and actually lighter than my original skin tone. However, I find that this brightens up my face quite a bit and I love the effect. 

Texture is a creamy liquid that is easy to blend into the skin. My favourite way of applying is to buff it in with a elf powder brush sprayed with a fixing spray. The foundation doesn't seem to sheer out when wet which is amazing. 2nd favourite way would be with my fingers.

 Original face vs foundation face. I do not know why my face looks slimmer after foundation, it's all in the angles. Also, pardon the shitty hair, I had my fringe cut a little too short. Okay, there is nothing on my face except the foundation. No concealer was used in these shots so that the power of coverage of this foundation can be seen. Awesome, no?

The foundation dries to a dewy, quite natural finish which worked really well for my dry skin. I didn't even set with powder. Until i weaned off my medication did I begin to look oilier through the day. But really, no harm done, just set with powder and it lasts just fine. Foundation lasts a full day for me with no blotting, at least 8 hours, but it does not look as fresh of course. Also because I don't set my foundation with powder, it does transfer if I happen to accidentally press my face on a shirt.

It does look quite natural on, as with all the makeup I've tried, it still looks like make up. Granted, it's not very cakey, but it does not look like skin skin. It also clings to dry skin flakes (like you can see on my nose), so exfoliate, moisturize and prime skin (optional) before using.

All in all, top foundation for easy and natural usage!


Summary:

Pros:

• medium to full coverage
• buildable coverage without getting too cakey
• moisturizing and does not dry skin out
• dewy finish
• easy to apply
• natural looking
• lasts decently long
• many many many shades to perfectly match skin especially asian skin!

Cons:

• oil control lacking (granted, this is meant for dry skin)
• accentuates dry skin flakes
• does transfer

Maybelline Great Lash BIG and L'oreal Ultra-Volume Collagene Mascara Review

I found out a while ago that I have a friend that has kept her mascara for almost a decade and to my horror has actually used it recently. She claimed that it was just the white part, and it didn't smell funky or was in any way bad. Mascaras...scary things.

Anyway, before the times of the great invention made public - the false eyelashes, there was mascara. For the women who don't like going through the hassle of sticking falsies on, or just don't know how, here are 2 mascaras that I quite like. I haven't found one that I love so....

They are Maybelline's Great Lash BIG Mascara, in Blackest Black and L'oreal Ultra-Volume Collagene Mascara in what I also assume to be simply, just Black. 

Maybelline Great Lash has a couple of formula's like the original Great Lash, and the waterproof one. The one I have claims to give bigger lashes (duh), and I think just has a larger/different wand than the original Great Lash. This is not the waterproof formula. I apologise for the flaking condition the tube is in. This is why companies should print not stick. Apart from that, I do like the strawberry themed colouring of the tube. The neon green cap makes it extremely easy to spot in a mass/mess of tubes.

L'oreal Ultra-Volume Collagen Mascara, which I shall henceforth call LUVCM,  is enriched with Hydra-Collagene, supposedly known for its volumising  properties, and claims to plump lashes up to 12x. *coughbullshitcough*. No more elaboration on marketing. I bought this because I thought it was waterproof, but it's actually not, so it was a mistake buy. Nonetheless, it has gorgeous packaging, a glossy plastic that almost looks like glass. It has a black tube in a transparent outer casing. Very nice, but also attracts fingerprints. Reminds me of Lancome at any rate. 

Here's a look at the wands. Nothing out of the ordinary.

LUVCM applies a rich matte black. It both volumizes and lengthens quite drastically, and is overall still quite a natural looking mascara. When I first bought this mascara, it applied like a dream. It didn't clump, even when layering. It has since dried out and clumps a bit when I try to apply it. So ladies, remember to cap this baby tightly if you have it!

I would suggest layering this mascara while it's wet and to stop applying the moment it starts to dry up because it WILL clump. I would also not put more than 2 coats of this. I guess clumps could always be managed by an old mascara wand or a comb but we all know we're in search of the mascara that does not need that.

I don't usually curl my lashes, so the lengthening effect is not obvious, but look closely at the closed eyes and you'll see that my lashes have grown quite a bit by the 2nd coat.

This is not waterproof so don't expect it to hold up. It smudges a bit on my undereye after a few hours, but that could be because I didn't curl my lashes. At any rate, I find that I only need to clean my undereye once if I'm out the entire day.

My eyes are not symmetrical, neither are my eyelashes. This eye of mine seems to have sparser, less evenly spread, but longer eyelashes.

Maybelline Great Lash BIG (MGLB) is favourite mascara to date for a natural look. Reviews online have said make up artists rave about this product but in their opinion it does shit. I do not agree!

MGLB is not the blackest of mascaras in the market, even though the colour I have says blackest black. But our lashes are not incredibly black either anyway. It Does darken lashes, but not in a HEY LOOK AT ME! way.

It's lengthening properties are perhaps more visible than its volumizing, but I feel it does both very well. The brush catches every lash and coats them evenly. This mascara rarely clumps. Unless of course, you're an idiot who puts like 10 coats of mascara. 2 coats work well for me because I'm lazy. On lazy days, I only coat my bottom lashes because they lengthen my lower lashes but nobody can tell I have mascara on. It's awesome!

As again, I like to layer this when my mascara is still wet and stop when it's dry, but this mascara can be layered when dry. The photos above are layered when dry, as I had to pause to take the photo then add a layer.

MGLB is not a waterproof formula, so yes it will smudge. I had this with me when I was in the cold climate of Sweden and I found it didn't smudge when I was out of the heat and humidity of Singapore. Yay!


Summary:

Pros (LUVCM):

• Intense matte black
• drastically lengthens and voluminizes with just 1 or 2 layers

Cons (LUVCM):

• Smudges on the undereye
• clumps when layered too much
• seems to be drying out too fast

Pros (MGLB):

• Super natural looking
• Lengthens very well
• Can be layered quite a bit and still not clump and still look natural

Cons (MGLB):

• Smudges on the undereye
• Needs at least 2 layers to build up to desired length
• Does not voluminize that well

blush collection

I apologize for the lack of updates, it's been a really busy week and continuing into the next one.

Just a sneak peak at my blush collection, and a list of my top few blushes. I forgot about the maybelline mineral blush, but since I've already blogged about that....

So here are most of my blushes, I took this pictures quite quickly so I didn't manage to dig out some of my blushes, but this is most of them. As you can see... I have a broken blush. That is not the only one, sadly. I tend to drop my blushes T_T. Owell, I will get around to fixing them (resolution haha).

So anyway, maybe if anyone wants a review on any blush in particular, just let me know! To list the brands present, they are:

• too faced
• nyx cream
• nyx mosaic
• nyx powder
• bourjois
• collection 2000 (bought in uk)
• the balm liquid tint/stain
• majolica majorca
• maybelline mineral blush
• barry m (bought in uk)
• mac
• mark & spencer (bought in uk)
• famous (bought in uk)

These are my top 5 in no particular order. As you can see I tend to favour peachy/coral colours more than true pinks.

• too faced in papa don't peach
• topshop cream blush in neon rose
• nyx cream blush in natural
• nyx powder blush in natural
• m&s lip and cheek tint in peach

M&S lip and cheek tint - peach

Coral cream blush. True cream, leaves a very dewy finish. I love it for days I pretend I don't wear blush. Needs to be layered quite a bit for a more obvious cheek. 

NYX powder blush - natural

True pink powder blush. Excellent pigmentation. Suitable for the very fair. Also for days when I don't want blush too be too obvious. Can be used with a heavy hand and still not be too obvious. 

NYX cream blush - natural

More peach in the cream blush than powder blush even though they're named the same colour. Lovely cream when used with a stippling brush or fingers. Dewy finish with high pigmentation. Use sparingly. Like the colour states, it's very natural on.

Too faced - papa don't peach

Peachy powder blush with shimmers, excellent excellent colour payoff. Gives gorgeous glowy cheeks! Only blush I brought with me and used for 5 months in Sweden. I LOVE THIS. THIS IS MY MOST USED BLUSH. MUCH BETTER THAN MAC IMO.

Topshop cream blush - neon rouge

Coral cream to powder blush. Looks scary in the pan but natural on the cheeks. Matte finish. 

Hope this tiny condensed review helps. Will do better reviews on each later on. Oh, I got my Too Faced blush from www.smoochiezz.com for $20 only! I think it's sold at SASA but it's definitely cheaper online.