Lakme Eye Color Quartet (Desert Rose) Review

I recently made a trip down to Mustafa Centre in one of my impromptu bored moods, and came across this palette. I don't trust dubious brands, but I have read about this brand in particular - Lakme, which is quite widely used by Indian women. 

I figured that since Indian women have beautiful eyes that any eye product of a trusted brand of theirs should be pretty decent, and I was proved right. I chose the most neutral of palettes to try, which was the Lakme Eye Color Quartet in Desert Rose. 

For SGD$11.50, it is quite a solid feeling case. The covers hinge is stiff and does not flop back down when open. The case is a little hard to open without nails because it's quite hard to grip, but with nails it's easy to edge the nail into the slot to wedge the case open.

The quartet consists of a nice pale gold and pink, a copper and a plum (which comes out a dark copper when swatched). None are matte. I picked this set because I felt that the highlight colours could also perform quite nicely on my face.

The formulation of the powders are very smooth, highly pigmented and easy to blend. They work fine with fingers for me. They are not as pigmented as the Sleek eyeshadows but seem to go on smoother. There is also no fallout of powder or glitter when used. The above swatch was made without primer. The least pigmented shade would probably be the pink shade, a light swatch would look more silver than pink.

The copper and plum shades do look quite similar in colour when swatched, with plum being slightly darker. It would've been nice if the plum was true to pan. I also don't particularly like the copper and plum shades as I don't feel they're dark enough for me nor suit my skin tone that well, but they would be quite outstanding on someone fairer in my opinion.

A dark brown would have perfected this palette for me as my only qualm is that there are no shades that can double up as an eyeliner shade.

Nevertheless, the colours perform well together and alone as a light wash of colour across the lids. I like it better for a soft look. Just in case anyone thinks that my eye picture looks weird, I did edit my eyebrows out of the picture as they were peeking in at the corner being distracting.

The eyeshadows last about 6 hours on my oily lids (without primer) without creasing. With primer I don't even have to worry about it, so that's pretty awesome!


Summary:

Pros:

• Pigmented, smooth and easy to blend
• highlighter shades can be used on the face
• long lasting
• Value for money

Cons:

• Darker colours in the pan do not really suit me
• No eyeliner shade

L'oreal Youth Code Pre Essence Review

I wanted to do this now because this is currently retailing for SGD$29.90 in Guardian. Usual price is SGD$39.90. It's the L'oreal Youth Code Pre Essence.

It's night time and this is a skin care product so I don't feel that the need for photos is that great. Packaging is a quite a sturdy glass bottle, with a metal cap. Within this metal cap, there is a glass dropper attached. Because this product is mostly glass, I tend to be rather paranoid with it as it might just drop and shatter. 

The glass dropper is a pain in the ass. It is hard to maneuver without my palm touching the dropper as the grip is quite awkward. See that tiny button on the top of that bottle? Yes, that is a button which you press to get product into the dropper. See what I mean by the grip being awkward? You gotta hold the cap and move one finger up to press the button (which is quite hard to press) at the same time. Also, the amount of product dispensed in one buttonpress is not enough for my entire face, I need 2 presses. Considering how large that dropper is, you would've thought it could suck up more product. 

That aside, this is a delicious liquid! It is apparently a dupe of the way more expensive Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate and claims to give more radiant, more refined and ultimately rejuvenated skin by helping the skin regenerate 5x as fast. 

It is supposed to work by helping the skincare used after this essence to penetrate the skin way more than usual. Something like how Hada Labo Lotion works I guess. However, this essence also has active ingredients that help in repairing photo-damaged skin (Salicyloyl Phytospingosine), promotes healing and rejuvenation (Palmitoyl Oligopeptide & Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7), and has hydrating properties (hyaluronic acid). 

Alcohol Denat. is the 4th major ingredient, so those who are sensitive should stay away from this product. For more information, go here . 

I have been using this for 2-3 weeks and I can barely contain my excitement. My skin tingles refreshingly when I put this on, and I can almost feel my pores shrinking. No kidding! I've used this with SKII and Aqualabel Bright White Essence at night, and my scars have faded quite visibly. My skin also feels smoother and in better condition. My skin is still quite dry, but that's possibly because I've been skipping the moisturizer at night to see how well the SKII can work (it's a miracle water what....wanted to see if it really worked). 

Rather than spending hundreds of $$$ on skincare, I would suggest to spend this $30 to improve how all your current skincare is working! I highly recommend!

Sleek Eyeshadow Palette in Storm

I don't normally wear eyeshadow unless there's an event. It's too leychey (tiresome) to put on everyday. But here's one palette that I really like, that provides colours for both a neutral everyday look as well as a more intense night time look. It's the Sleek Eyeshadow Palette in Storm.

It's a beautiful sleek (haha pun) palette measuring 14 x 7.3 x 1cm (machiam handphone dimensions). Each colour measures about 2cm in diameter, which is a decent size. The palette snaps shut securely, and doesn't feel like it's made of super cheap plastic despite its super cheap price of SGD$20. (not affiliated, but you can get it here.)  That's like $1.70 per colour!!!! (On a side note, it's only GBP6 so we're already paying a premium and it's still cheap) I feel super auntie with all this price details but SUPER GOOD VALUE YO. It also comes with a full sized mirror where even if you have a big face like me, confirm can see entire face, as well as a pretty good quality applicator which I quite like using.

Above are colour swatches on paper (indoor light) ,in pan (sunlight) and on skin (indoor light with no primer). I tried to show how reflective some of the colours are on the paper, hence some do seem quite bright. The formulations are super smooth and buttery and pigmented. Only the matte shades (3, 11, 12) lack pigmentation. Another good swatch would be below, showing the reflective qualities of this palette in most awesome lighting.

credits: http://avainwoman.blogspot.com/2010/09/sleek-storm-i-divine-eyeshadow-palette.html

1: Antique gold colour with tiny tiny tiny glitters. Satin finish. Colour is true to pan. I super super super super love this shade.

2. Champagne gold colour, almost comes off white. Super reflective. Awesome for highlighting face, or the inner corner of the eyes.

3. Matte milk coffee shade. Rather blah as it's lighter/same colour as my skin tone. Fairer skins will like this as a neutral base colour.

4. True gold. Applies to almost a foil effect because it's soooo reflective. Another one of my favourites in this palette.

5. Golden pink colour. Super smooth shimmery satin finish.

6. Deep maroon colour. Satin finish. Comes off on skin almost like a red tinged copper shade, but when packed on, the purplish hues emerge and is quite lovely.

7. Super intense dark copper/ brown with a satin finish. 5,6,7 almost seem like a nice gradient of intensifying colour. I think this shade would be great for outer corner shades or even as an eyeliner.

8. Greyish dark ice blue is probably the best description I can give this colour. I love how it looks like in the pan. On skin, the base colour is the greyish dark blue, but the sheen is silver. So intense. Slightly crumbly formulation.

9. Dark ivy green. In pan, this colour looks like a really intense deep deep green. I had high hopes for this colour. However when swatched, it comes out almost like a greyish kind of black with a satin finish. The green is barely visible. Still very pigmented though. Formula is also crumbly.

10. Dark electric blue with tiny blue, purple and silver glitters. Fans of blue or brighter colours will like this one. It is quite an awesome and killer shade, but I prefer neutrals and haven't really figured out how to wear this one yet. Formula is crumbly.

11. Matte dark chocolate brown. Not very pigmented but can be layered for intensity. Pretty normal. Can be used for eyebrows.

12. Matte black. Also not very pigmented. Can be worked into some of the other colours to tone/darken them however.


My overall thoughts on this palette:

Pros:

• Packaging is very sleek, sturdy and compact. I really like the mirror and applicator.
• Value for money
• Glitter shades are phenomenal. Super super pigmented, not frosty or chalky, and I love how reflective yet subtle on the eyes these shades are.
• Formulation is soft and smooth
• Good mixture of neutral, light and dark shades to play with
• Colours last on me

Cons:

• Matte shades could be more pigmented, the ones included are good colour choices, but still quite meh
• Only 3 matte shades
• not locally available in stores to try
• shades 8,9,10 are crumbly (if I were nitpicking)

2 looks that I did, 1 neutral and 1 smokey eye (?). 

2 champange gold colour : all over eyelid, as well as inner corner of eye

4 true gold colour : concentrated under the double eyelid line

6 deep maroon colour : concentrated at the outer corner to give depth

5 golden pink colour : to blend 2 and 4 together, also to reflect light and add dimension

1 antique gold colour : all over eyelid
2 champagne gold colour : inner corner of eye
9 dark ivy green : concentrated under double eyelid line
7 intense dark copper : drawn in a > shape into the crease line to give the fold more depth.. blend this shape really well.

I hope this review is comprehensive enough! I apologise in advance for not doing a look for monolids, but that's because I don't have monolids (just uneven eyelids) and thus do not know how to!