Diorshow Extase Mascara Review

While having some quality mother-daughter bonding time in the +66, I asked my mom what mascara she used. Some background about my mom - she doesn't wear eyeliner so a quality mascara is extremely important to her. Then I remembered that she had passed me this sample of the Dior Extase Mascara to let me try because she had bought loads to hoard.

Yes, this is the only mascara my mom has settled on to use pretty much for the rest of her life and has no intention of switching loyalties. Such fantastic attitude!

The mini tube is pretty much the exact same packaging and brush (sans the dior monogram print all over the tube) as the full sized and I actually prefer small sizes because let's face it - 3 months to completely use up a mascara is pretty much mission impossible.

The brush is a large bristley type brush, just the type I like. I don't like the plastic wands (like the covergirl lashblast) because I always seem to poke my eyes with them (and it hurts) but not with the bristle type wands. If you look closely, the wand is knobbly, like beads on a bar. I'm no professional so I have no idea what the different types/shapes of wands do.

What I really appreciate about this wand is that it has teeny tiny bristles on the very tip of the wand that allow me to coat my inner eye lashes using the wand vertically. This is very useful especially if you're like me and are not able to flip the wand around and still handle it well. Also useful for very short bottom lashes.

Curled lashes | One coat | Two coats | Thee coats

On to the only thing that matters. Performance. This mascara is not waterproof, but it's very definitely smudgeproof on me. Take that oily eye area! This lasts and lasts without migrating or flaking, even better than the waterproof and insanely hard to remove japanese mascaras I've tried. And it comes off easily with a water based remover or warm water. Consider me extremely impressed.

It delivers on both length and volume, though as you can see it tends to get rather clumpy by the time I've hit the third layer. Two layers is the bomb diggity. As I have decently long but uneven and sparse lashes, I really appreciate how the Dior Extase Mascara really amps up the volume, especially on the my outer lashes.

This is also one of those formulas that are not overly wet and get all over the place because you've blinked before the formula has dried. It also goes on the lashes in a very lash-like manner. By that I mean that unlike some formulas where it coats the lash and each lash comes out looking like a stick, the Dior Extase manages to coat the lash evenly so that it tapers and still looks like lashes.

One more point that I'm pretty sure bugs only me. You know how some formulas dry on the lashes like they've been on the lash for the entire day? I don't quite know how to describe this well, but I call them old looking lashes - it's almost like the formula turned powdery and just slightly ashy or grey. I absolutely hate those. Not with the Dior Extase Mascara! This formula stays black and fresh all day long. That alone gives me heart eyes.

The only downer about this mascara is that even though I've curled my lashes, upon application of this mascara it almost straightens out my curl. I consider this very strange because the formulation is not heavy or wet at all. Just a mystery I'll never solve I guess!

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Pros:

• Not waterproof but extremely smudgeproof even on oily lids
• Lasts all day
• Looks freshly applied and black all day long
• Comes off easily with water-based makeup remover/warm water
• Big on volume and length
• Formula keeps lashes still looking like lashes (tapers out towards tip of lash)
• Has bristles on tip of brush for easier application on inner lashes/bottom lashes

Cons:

• Straightens out my curl
• Not waterproof (not for wet eyes/sad days/sad movies)
• Does clump ever so slightly (and on the third coat)

Conclusion: A all the way! 

Sweet Lips - NYC 16H Smoochproof Lip Stain & GOSH Long Lasting Lip Marker

These are the mainstay products I have for a daily makeup routine. Let me go through it step by step.

Face base: The Hada Labo BB Cream has rather decent coverage on its on and with SPF30 is great for a base that protects, hydrates and evens out skintone. Remember concealer face? I've managed to whittle it down to just the MAC Pro Longwear Concealer and I'm really excited about it because that means that my acne scarring is toning down! 

Cheeks: I did a really stupid thing the other night. I tried to epilate my face myself. (hides away in a dungeon of shame). Confession - I have a rather hairy face which I am not proud of but I haven't been to to get my face threaded for a rather long while. My hairs are not that visible but they bug me anyway ): Anyway, long story short, I am considerably less hairy but I managed to irritate the tops of my cheekbones and they've turned red, like a sunburn. Now I have to try to blend it in with my blush, that's why my blush seems so high. I used the Natural Collection Blush in Pink Cloud on the cheeks under my eyes to draw the blush down. I really like this blush as it's matte and the colour is so subtle it looks like natural skin.

Eyebrows: I stick to pencils when I'm rushing for time as it's just that much easier to control. This Maybelline Eyestudio Brow Pencil is the perfect grey-brown for soft brows. 

Eyes: Raved about the Essence Liquid Ink Eyeliner before here. It's such an intense black and works really well whether drawing a fine small line or an obvious cateye like I've done. The Diorshow Extase Mascara is my choice of mascara for really long, defined separated eyelashes that still look natural. Did I mention long? These make lashes so long.

Lips: Mentioned the NYC 16H Smoochproof Lip Stain and the GOSH Long Lasting Lip Marker in this week's favourites and thought I should showcase them. I used them in this look for a subtle ombre look and I quite like how they work together. 

Both are felt tip markers and leave a stain on the lips. The NYC is in Persistent Pink, looks really neon but comes out much more subtle on the lips. It probably would not show on more pigmented lips but on mine, it ups the pink factor of the lips. The GOSH stain I have is in Berry which is a berry red (excellent description eh!) that looks exactly like a cherry stain. 

NYC has a faint scent that smells like cherries and apples (and chemicals) mixed together and GOSH has a very strong cherry smell which I love. Both taste sweet on the lips which is so amazing! I know I should not be ingesting my chemical lip products but I cannot help it. Wearing these feels like I rubbed cherries on my lips and left the juice all over. Yummy!

Bigass picture of my crackly lips to show the ombre. I used the NYC Persistent Pink all over with GOSH's Berry in the centre. As you can see, Persistent Pink does not really show up on the browner edges of my top lip. Since I'm not a fan of lipsticks, my favourite part about the lip markers are that they don't change the natural texture/finish of the lips. Though they might be drying, I'd much rather top up with a balm than use a lipstick.

Obviously, these last a very short time on me because I lick my lips like crazy when I have this on (I might just have an addiction) but even so, I don't think the lasting power is that great. They could probably last you through a drink but not a full blown meal.



Summary:

Pros:

• Tastes like sugar heaven!
• Smells like fruit heaven!
• Doesn't change lip finish - only stains lips to a nicer colour
• Marker like and very easy to use

Cons:

• Ingesting the chemicals due to excessive lip-licking probably isn't too good
• Stain does not last too long
• Can be drying

These get an A from me as a lipstick noob. What do you guys think? Are stains the way to go or do you still prefer lipsticks? Have an awesome weekend lovelies! 

Weekly Favourites #1

Hello hello my happies! It's a great day as it's the first week that I have after officially concluding my working life and restarting my life as a full time student. I technically should have more than enough time to do at least weekly updates so get ready to see more of me on this blog.

My new project is to do at least a weekly favourites, though honestly, don't expect them to vary too much as I'm not that fickle a person. But I'll definitely try to change my items up.

Moving on ->

/edit. I think this post is rather long, I will cut down the number of items in my future weeklies. /edit.

I found this vintage (I use this word very loosely) clutch during one of my site visits for my dissertation. Honestly, you can find the best deals in HDB estates *wink. To cut a long story short, I saw it when I started my site look-a-round, lusted after it for about 2 hours, and then bought it for myself as a reward after I completed my visit. What sweetened the deal was the discount the auntie gave me. Been carrying this around ever since even though clutches are a ton more irritating than a sling bag. Fits all my shit too! It can fit my bigass long wallet, my iphone, an umbrella/waterbottle....love it!

This Kate Moss Velvet Hour perfume is another all time favourite of mine. I got it after I finished my La Perla and Chanel Chance and Paris Hilton (sense my desperation for a new perfume?) and I got it because I like my signature scent to be...uncommon. Velvet Hour takes some getting used to, and I find it a rather complex scent (I hope, my nose is rather unsophisticated). It starts of rather peppery spicy but that smell wears off into a rather awesome floral musk. This is definitely gonna be a repurchase of mine. I find the scent matches the clutch too. Bonus!

California Baby Aloe Vera Cream was a desperate purchase of mine when my forehead broke out insanely in comedones (I swear it was ALL OVER I must've had more than 50 on my forehead) and was crazy dry and flaking at the same time. I was going so mad over it because I felt so helpless. My forehead has been loving this - one application and it stopped all the crazy flaking! I was sold! Though there has been some controversy over the brand reformulating its ingredients, the formula doesn't seem to irritate my skin. It kinda also has been working wonders on the lines under my eyes...This whipped cream is like a cool soft, waxy balm that applies matte on the face. It's leaves a little of a waxy/oily thin protective layer which does not interfere with make up.

My one and only Revlon lip butter when I succumbed to the craze is in Tutti Frutti . I'm not a big fan of lip products as I just don't want that much make up on my face. I already smother enough make up on my face for my complexion. Recently though, I've been rather loving the ombre lip look and have been using this to stain the insides of my lips. The colour is a gorgeous coral and is not too extreme. It's gone by the first meal but honestly I don't really care.

Natural Collection Blush in Pink Cloud has been my go to blush for about half a year now and I've hardly made a dent. It's just the sweetest, subtle-lest, matte pink blush to put on the apples of the cheeks. It's not a unique colour, I'm sure, but the formulation has just the right amount of pigment and is not powdery or chalky and it's pretty darn cheap too at 3 pounds (if I recall correctly). It's the perfect hint of flushed are you not wearing blush colour for me.

My mom really likes the Dior Diorshow Extase Mascara and gifted me a sample to stop me from wearing too much eyeliner. She really likes it. This really coats my lashes and makes them fuller and longer without making them look fake like most drugstore mascaras do on my thin chinese lashes. The only downside is that I don't think this is a waterproof formula, rather a smudgeproof formula. For my oily eyes, it does transfer to my lower eyes sometimes so I cannot wear it on my lower lashes.

Lastly and finally, I've had this Estee Lauder CyberWhite Brilliant Cells BB Cream for quite a while but only recently dug it out. This pinky toned BB cream has pretty much no coverage but does a brilliant job at perking up skin tone. This BB cream really makes me aspire for perfect skin so that I can wear it on its own ): I like to apply this on the center of my face just as a nice brightening base. Then I don't apply foundation on my T zone. Sounds weird I know, but it does the job.

Have a great week ahead and let me know your favourites! <3