Weekly Favourites #12

Does anyone else have the problem of blogger auto contrasting and sharpening their uploaded photos? Blogger seems to be doing that to me and I don't know how to stop it! -Tears hair out- I swear, my photos are much softer than seen on this blog ):

Anyway, TGIF friends! It's been a rather stressful week, and the Nip + Fab Pistachio Sundae Dry Skin Fix Body Butter (that's a mouthful) has been my sleep scent this week. This is such a wonderful, homely and comforting scent and really helps me to sleep happy. Some might find the scent extremely strong and artificial because no kidding, this is one heck of a strong overwhelming scent, but I find the scent to dry down to a yummy scent, and I take whiffs of it whenever I can. The consistency is not too heavy like the Bodyshop body butters and my dry legs thank this.

On my face, I've found myself rationing the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in shade 07 for just undereyes and have been reaching for the MUFE Full Cover Concealer for my spots and acne scarring instead. It's as the name says, full cover indeed. It's also quite tacky and dry, so it doesn't shift or fade too much through the day. If you know me, then you  know I'm always looking for ways to shorten the time I spend getting ready and this concealer covers fast.

I've also taken to using the Everyday Minerals Multi-Tasking Concealer to set my undereye concealer, to use as a eyeshadow to brighten up my eyelids, and as a highlighter for the bridge of my nose. Talk about multi-tasking, anyone? Really finely milled and subtly brightens.

Speaking of brightening, my go to blush (for when I'm not reaching for the bronzer trio) has been the NYX Blush in Angel and I use this right under my eyes for a flush of colour. This is light enough to almost not look like blush, and has a pearly sheen to it that adds to the brightening effect that I'm after. Slightly chalky to the touch in the pan, but brilliant on the cheeks!

And to round it all off, tweezing has never been so fun with those uber cute geisha tweezers that my mom picked up for me. I have no idea where she got them, but a quick Amazon search has found them here.

Do we share the same favourites? Let me know!

Disappointing Products

It's not often that I hoard products that I don't like. The hoarder's complex is just not forgiving on products I don't like and more often than not, they are thrown out of my stash. To be fair though, not all these products are bad, but I did have higher expectations from them because of the hype that surrounded them.

I love the NYX blush range but this his NYX Blush in Taupe is simply terrible! I don't know whether it's because I'm too dark, but Taupe simply does.not.show.up! It is the strangest thing ever because NYX blushes are known for their pigmentation. When I rub my finger over Taupe, I can actually see product collecting on my finger, but when I swipe said finger onto my hand, the result is like a subtle highlight. It is baffling, just baffling. There is literally next to no pigmentation on this blush, and will only work for extremely fair tones. I'm hoping I just got a dud because I really love the NYX blushers.

The next terrible product is also from NYX. It's the NYX Felt Tip Liner in Dark Brown and I bought this because I had heard Jen from Fromheadtotoe mention it in her videos and raving about it. IT SUCKS. I only got one good use on it and I was very impressed the first time I drew my line. It was a very deep brown, very well pigmented and went on smoothly with just enough ink. Then it went downhill from there. The moment I sprayed my fixing spray, this eyeliner started to dissolve. Like streaked down my eyes dissolve. The next time I attempted to use the eyeliner, it was almost as if someone had sprayed a sealant layer on top of the nib - no ink came out of the tip!!! This nib can't draw over anything other than an extremely clean eyelid or not only will no ink come out of the nib, it drags all other product off the lid as well. Don't even talk about going over the line for a darker line, it just takes the first line right off. The strangest thing is that it's only the tip of the nib that dies out, the middle/base of the nib has plenty of ink. This is really a fail of a product.

The ELF highlighter in Gotta Glow, raved about as a dupe for Nars Albatross was also disappointing. Just about any impact on this highlighter causes it to crumble and break. It is just so darn chalky and rough to the touch. When put on the cheeks, the nightmare begins. It is definitely golden in colour, so kudos to the pigmentation I guess. I don't mind a golden sheen, but that sheen is definitely coming from not-so-finely-milled golden glitter. Which gets into pores and exposes them. Which migrates all over the face. Which is all that's left after the powder fades away. Nightmare in a product.

L.A. Girl Pro. Conceal is a product touted as a dupe for the MUFE Full Cover. I have the MUFE and this is in no way a dupe. For one, the finish is completely different. L.A. Girl is quite dewy, and MUFE is quite drying. This concealer actually swatches really nicely on my arm and looks just like skin but better. On my face, it exposes any dry patches and sits very awkwardly on the skin. I think it's because of the fine hairs on my face that causes this. I also don't find the coverage to be as great as raved, neither is the lasting power. Though I would still use this when I don't have too much to cover and when my face is threaded. Moral of the story: you need decent, smooth hairless skin to be able to like this concealer.

I am in a rant funk aren't I. The L'oreal Shine Caresse is actually a gloss that I really like. I like the finish, I like the way it feels on the lips and how long it lasts. My bone to pick with it is that the colour visible in the tube, is never the colour it is on the lips. When this gloss sets, it's always many shades darker than the shade in the tube! The shade I have is Venus, which is already one of the lighter colours in the collection. Venus dries down to quite a dark pink which is not a colour I'm too fond of. Also the scent. It's like grandmothers having a party spritzing their perfume in their mouth. You know when you accidentally get soap in your mouth and taste it? Having this gloss on is exactly like that, just worse because yknow, grandmothers perfume.

That's enough negativity for the day, I hope I've managed to save you guys some $! What products do you guys not like or have not lived up to their hype? Let me know!

September 2013 Favourites

Gosh, the months of this year are really flying away! It's so hard to believe it's October already, seemed like just yesterday it was July and we were so proud of ourselves for planning in advance for Halloween! It's really been a busy month, and I've seen myself using these products religiously!

Skincare wise, my skin has been absolutely loving the Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque. I haven't had that oily skin for quite a while now, but this mask has not dried my skin out one bit. I love the refreshing feeling of slapping this mask on, and it really does the job in clearing out the excess sebum and gunk from the skin. My skin feels so soft when I wash this off too. In terms of performance over monetary value, this is definitely holy grail material.

I've also been mentioning the Kitoko Kalani  Super Aqua Gel to no end this month, so it's no surprise it's ended up in my monthly favourites. If you haven't read my past posts, this gel comes out a.. gel (wow big surprise) but upon spreading out on the skin, it turns into water droplets which are then absorbed by the skin. It's super moisturizing despite feeling like water (not even a serum!) and dries down to a nice matte finish. Skin is also smooth after because it does have a tiny amount of silicon in it (not obvious to feel though) and I find that it does calm skin down. I also like to use it on itchy areas of my body.

When I purchased the Kitoko Kalani Gel, the SA also recommended the Tsaio Herb Too Double Scrub Cleanser. I'm not the kind to stick religiously to any single cleanser because I haven't found the one yet, but I might've just found it in this cleanser. The scent is heavenly. It's probably just perfume, but I'm so addicted to the smell I actually look forward to using my cleanser day and night and after taking off my makeup. I've never smelt any other scent like this so I can't pinpoint what it smells like, but it's clean and herby and slightly citrusy. This cleanser is creamy with little pink spheres in it that gently scrub the skin. It's definitely a very gentle scrub and suitable for use everyday. After massaging it into the skin, upon adding more water, this cleanser foams up into micro-bubbles and washes off to leave the skin feeling ever so soft, yet not squeaky nor dry and taut. I can also vouch for its cleansing ability because my industrial strength toner doesn't remove any remnants after using this cleanser.

The Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Essence is something I don't use nightly as the name suggest, but I like to smother my face in this once in a while as a mask. It's not very strong, but I do find skin to feel substantially smoother and look brighter after washing it off.

My last skincare item is not really skincare, but it's this rather unique Chrisyl hairband that can be found only in Takashimaya. It's by no means cheap at SGD$10, but it's just about the most comfortable and secure hairband that I've ever used. When I use this hair band on my bangs, my bangs get a curl that is usually only achievable with tongs or blow drying with a round brush! Super useful for a lazy person like me. The Boy also liked this so much that he purchased one for himself because the teeth of the hairband leave a really nice effect on the hair when worn.

L-R: MAC Wonder-Woman Mineralize Skinfinish in Golden Lariat, MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Tea Ceremony, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard, K-Palette 24Hr Real Lasting Eyeliner in Black

Make up wise, my routine has been simplifying itself as I just don't feel like too much makeup is appropriate for a school look. The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard hasn't been with me for a whole month, but it's definitely sticking around. I've been using this in place of any base and it's the best all rounder concealer I've had. It's got high coverage, is not too dry for the undereyes (MUFE Full Cover I'm looking at cha') yet not too hydrating to slip off blemishes. Major heart eyes for this concealer.

I used to think that the MAC Wonder-Woman Mineralize Skinfinish broke me out, but I recently pulled it out of hiding to give it another shot and my skin has not reacted. I think it's because I've gotten slightly fairer that this trio is working so well with my skin. I've been wearing the bronzer mixed with the blush on my cheeks everyday and absolutely loving how it's working with my skin tone now! I also use the highlighter and blush as an eyeshadow when I feel like getting a little more dressy.

Another surprise for me was that I'd been reaching for the MAC Sheen Supreme lipstick in Tea Ceremony as an everyday lipstick. This lipstick is a pinky brown colour and actually almost exactly the same colour as my lips. In fact, it has a little more brown in it than my lips. It doesn't sound great but it photographs quite a peachy brown and just pulls off any look with a bit more polish without being over the top. The vanilla scent of the MAC lipsticks is also irresistible!

I'm definitely an eyeliner girl, and I've ditched eyeliner in favour of mascaras but ever since getting my fringe cut, I've felt like my eyes needed more definition. I had thought that the K-Palette 24Hr Real Lasting Eyeliner I had was running out of ink, but after not using it for a month the ink seems to have come back in full force! This is the easiest eyeliner to work with, having a flexible brush tip. It's also very long lasting and my 2 sisters and I all can profess our love for this eyeliner. To complement the eyeliner with natural lashes, I've been opting for Majolica Majorca Lash King. My formula has dried since I first had it, but it's less clumpy than ever and adds so much length to my lashes that I cannot resist using it. No smudging or flaking and super long lashes, I couldn't ask for anything more!

So there's my lengthy monthly round up - what are your monthly favourites? I'm looking for a chemical exfoliant other than the Paula's Choice ones, any recommendations?