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!

L.A. Girl Creme Lipstick in True Love

Unlike most girls (I judge this from the blogs I read, my Mom and my sisters), I'm at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to lip products. I.e. I'm really uncomfortable with colour on my lips. I have a tendency to lick my lips quite a bit (must be hungry huh), and have a bad habit of running my finger over my lips, and a default position of elbow-on-table, chin-on-palm and fingers-playing-with-lips. Unhygienic, I know. This results in lipstick disappearing at flash speed or getting all over - rather undesirable. I do however, go through phases where i just want to have a lipstick. It is a terrible obsessive-compulsive thing. My practical brain opposes my frenzied brain, knowing that I seldom wear lip products and therefore refuses to let me purchase expensive lip products. That's how I came across the L.A. Girl Creme Lipstick. 

My frenzied brain obviously went for the most unpractical colour ever, something that I cannot ever see myself wearing on a daily basis - True Love. True Love is a rather gorgeous fuschia colour if I may say so myself. It goes on extremely pigmented (that swatch is a single swipe of lipstick) and very, very emollient on the lips. It feels great on dry lips and doesn't accentuate dryness. It has a slight glossy finish that I feel eliminates the need for an extra lip gloss, though a deep red gloss on top of it does look gorgeous. 

The downside of the extreme pigment is that this is sooooo crazy hard to apply. I recommend a lip brush instead of trying to apply it out of the tube. I had to use both a lipliner and concealer to get a good shape. When I used fingers to swipe off the lipstick that's gone off the lip, it caused a smear and (the horror!) a stain. Absolutely horrifying to fix! The odd part is that I find the lipstick to stain the skin but not so much on the lips. The lipstick fades evenly and quickly - about 2-3 hours and disappears completely if you have a meal. 

This lipstick also has a rather chemical smell, and a strong one at that. The practical brain ruled price over smell. At  SGD$10, it is quite hard to find similar pigmentation. (Commence moaning over why lipsticks are so overpriced in Singapore because I'm pretty sure this can be found at dollar store item in the US of A)

Practical brain also ruled over the horrendously cheap looking packaging. I cannot even bring myself to talk about how aesthetically unappealing the packaging is. On the bright side, it's still functional and seems hardy enough.  

A full face photo to show how True Love works with my nc30 skintone. Since I'm mostly a balm girl, I can't really decide if it looks good. What do you think?

Rest of face:

Foundation: The Balm Time Balm Foundation in Medium

Concealer: The Balm Time Balm Foundation in Medium

Undereye Concealer: Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener in Light to Medium Peach

Blush: Famous Shimmer Brick in Golden Rose

Eyes: Mac Paintpot in Nubile, Lakme Eye Colour Quartet in Desert Rose (pink shade), L'oreal Super Liner Black Lacquer, Majolica Majorca Lash King

Eyebrows: The Faceshop Faceit Designing Eyebrow Cake

Summary:

Pros: 

• Very Pigmented Indeed
• Goes on smoothly
• Does not accentuate dry lips nor dry lips out
• Wears off evenly

Cons:

• Messy and difficult to apply for non-pros
• Stains skin but does not seem to stain lips
• Not long wearing
• Ridiculously cheap looking packaging
• Horrible smell

Verdict:

This is not a lipstick that I would wear often (balm girl through and through) but would be good for occasions that do not require much eating. This gets a B- from me. 

10 under 10

Good Monday girls! If you don't know, I'm now a student again and school has officially started. Not too sure if that's a good thing, but what I know for sure is that going from a sizeable pay cheque each month to an allowance again is not fun. I definitely had to cut back my spending, and that includes makeup too.

As fellow Singaporeans know, the price of makeup in Singapore is definitely not on the cheap side - a drugstore foundation like l'oreal or maybelline can easily set us back S$30 or more. I have compiled a list of products (that I've used and quite like/don't hate) which fall under the S$10 category which hopefully might help some people start out. All the products here can pretty much achieve a simple everyday makeup look.

Psst I did cheat - there're 11 products!

Elf Studio Line Powder Brush ($6, found at smoochiezz's warehouse/sales or at watson's tradeshows for slightly more expensive)
I use the this every single time I do my make up. It is the only item in my makeup collection I can truly refer to as a holy grail item and I have 3 of these brushes (1 I've thrown away). This brush can do everything! It buffs in liquid and creams like a dream, when stippled gives beautifully blended high coverage. Can be used with mineral foundations, even powder blushes and loose powder when used with a loose hand. If you could only buy one brush, buy this brush. My only complaint is that water tends to loosen the handle so be careful when washing.

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector 10ml ($2, found at selected watsons)
Okay, I cheated again, this is a travel sized item. I suspect these were leftover stock from beauty boxes. Well, for $2, no harm trying. I don't love this nor hate this item, but it has SPF26 (better than nothing), and is a good yellow-tone for majority of the chinese in Singapore. Also does a decent job at evening out skin tone, though in my case it is just a tad too fair.

Essence Match 2 Cover Cream Concealer ($4.50, found at selected watsons)
I've raved about this insanely here. I don't think I need to rave more. If you're worried about undereye circles, use this and be happy.

NYX Concealer in a Jar ($7, smoochiezz's warehouse/sales or watsons's tradeshows for more expensive)
This concealer is supposed to be a dupe for MAC's Studio Fix Concealer. I don't think it's as high coverage, but I do like that it's has high enough coverage and enough tackiness to cover blemishes and not shift during the day. I used to use it quite a bit, if I wasn't the concealer whore I am I think I would still be using it today. If I'm not wrong the formula has been updated to be slightly creamier but I do have the updated formula in another colour and it works fine.

Elf HD Powder ($10, smoochiezz's warehouse/sales or watsons' tradeshows for more expensive)
I hope this doesn't constitute cheating because it is technically $10 if you know where to find it. Decent setting powder, really does seem to blur out imperfections and really mattifies the skin. Said to be a dupe for the MUFE HD Powder (which I don't have). Don't use it if indulging in flash photography though (google - silica powder flash photography). You have been warned.

Alobon Blush ($5-7, Mustafa)
I usually chicken out from buying facial products from places that sell makeup that's slightly dubious in origin and content, but I did fair amount of research and it seemed alright. I really like this blush, I do. It reminds me so much of the MAC MSFs and is just so pretty and marbled I would buy it just to look at it. And it's just so cheap. It is also incredibly pigmented, some are incredibly sparkly (can be avoided by using a stippling blush) and can double up as highlighter. It has also never broken me out.

Mizon Blooming Tint ($6, Venus at Clementi)
If you're not one to put dubious makeup on your face, then try this Mizon Blooming Tint. The concept is similar to Benefit's Benetint in that it can be used both on the cheeks and lips. I found this to be a thick liquidy texture that is not highly pigmented. For my skintone, it is barely visible on the cheeks, but for fairer people it will be a really nice natural flush of colour though it does take a while to build up. I like it more on the lips as the result is really a rosier, pinker version of my lip colour. It also fills up the fine lines and has a subtle glossiness. Very much love it for its subtlety.

L.A Girl Lipstick ($10, selected guardians)
Extremely pigmented and creamy lipstick in a very large array of colours. Packaging looks cheap, but all the lipsticks from the drugstore brands (aside from Essence) are at almost double the price or more. This works.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Liner ($8.75, found here)
I don't know if this can be found in Singapore yet, but regardless, it's cheaper online. I seem to have misplaced my black version, but this eyeliner is nicely pigmented, creamy and really does last a decent while. I picked a pencil liner over a liquid liner because they're just more versatile in the sense that I can use a pencil liner to tightline, do a cateye, or smudge it out for a smokey eye. Have your pick.

Silky Girl Big Eye Collagen Waterproof Mascara ($14.90, usually on sale at watsons/guardian)
Okay, I really am a big cheat, but this mascara is always on sale when I visit the drugstore. I think I got mine for $8. The only cheaper mascaras would be those in daiso (no way I'm letting a $2 product go near my eyes) and the Essence mascaras (the range is INSANE I don't dare to start testing). It may be astonishing, but this is the only mascara I have found that does not smudge on me. I have tried mascaras from l'oreal, maybelline, majolica majorca, estee lauder, dior, mac and they've all transferred to my under eye without fail. Lord knows why of all brands, Silky Girl would work out. Anyway, this is really quite good, slightly wet formula that coats lashes evenly without clumping. It lengthens the lashes considerable, and volumizes them strand by strand rather than as a clump. No thin spidery lashes for this mascara. I do quite love it.

Maybelline Eyebrow Pencil by Eyestudio ($6.90, selected watsons)
No face can do without brows, you need a brow pencil. This has one of the most neutral brown grays I've seen and would match black hair, brown hair, heck even blond if you like intense brows. Easy to use, doesn't go on too dark, I even use it to line my eyes sometimes. It does tug a little bit if I do my eyes, but it works for a lightly defined eye. Simple and good.

Hopefully that wasn't too long ore tedious a read. What are your top 10 under 10 - Singapore version? I would love to know!



Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated to any of the brands featured, nor were any of the products sponsored. All products featured were paid for by myself.