Empties 2012

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone had a good new year's celebration! Mine was nice and peaceful! I've been MIA for quite some time, but I'm here now! 

This is a post I want to do first because I've been accumulating all these things and I'm quick running out of space and I need to do a spring clean pretty soon. So here are my empties of 2012 or actually, since I decided that I wanted to do an empties post, so it's actually only a few months of 2012

First off, perfumes. I... have varied tastes in perfume. From L-R: Charme by La Perla, Chance by Chanel and Paris Hilton by Paris Hilton. Please don't judge me for using Paris Hilton.

Charme: This was love at first smell. I had to get it. Didn't help that it wasn't too expensive as well. Can't seem to find it anywhere now though! Will repurchase if I chance upon it again.

Chance: I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. I've been hinting to everyone in my family to get it for me at the airport (this perfume was first passed to me by Mom) and everyone has been steadfastly ignoring me. Too pricey for me to afford at this moment in time T_T But I will definitely get it when I can finally afford it.

Paris Hilton: Was somewhere in the US of A in a perfume shop and asked if they had anything similar to DKNY apple. This was recommended and cheap to boot so I got it. Grew on me after a while and it's really quite fresh and not too sweet smelling (I'm no smell connoisseur). Not sure if I will repurchase. If the price is right I guess.

The trend here seems to be that I'm a cheapo....

 

Makeup items that I've finished. I find it extremely extremely hard to finish anything. So here's the item that I use the most, that is, eyeliners! I have also finished a Shu Uemura foundation but I happily threw that bottle away. That foundation holds the record for the first make up anything that I've finished. Anyway, L-R: H&M Liquid Eyeliner, L'oreal Super Liner, K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner 24hr and Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eyeliner.

H&M Liquid Eyeliner: Decent liner for the price but there are better ones out there. I've also realised that the ink turns grey(?) when it's running out.

L'oreal Super Liner: This was a free gift with purchase. Pretty decent, does flake but minimally. I used this till the felt tip went soft and it felt icky to apply. I've recently purchased a similar product - L'oreal Superliner Black Laquer and the brush was soft so I'm not sure if the brush was supposed to be hard or soft in the first place :S

K-Palette: Read my rave review linked above. Tends to be hard to apply when the ink is running out though. Will repurchase but only after I've tried similar products.

Rimmel: This has been by go to pencil liner for quite a few years and I actually bought a backup. It was great all through the first pencil, very minimal smudging and transfer, I loved it. Now I'm on my 2nd pencil and it smudges everywhere so I really don't know what to think ): Will not repurchase anymore. 

Makeup removers L-R: Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Make-up Remover and Mandom Bright Up Cleansing Lotion. I have also finished the Bifesta Cleansing Express but lost the bottle. 

Hada Labo/Bifesta Cleansing Express: Water-based remover, though it was quite heavy, almost like an oil. Stung my eyes but removed make up well without drying out the skin. 

Bifesta Cleansing Lotion: I really do like this cleansing lotion range because I can remove my make up in my room. For the cleansers that require me to wash my face I tend to be lazy and remove my make up prior to showering. The only bad thing about this lotion is that I finish it so fast and I use up my cotton pads really fast too which I don't find sustainable. I will definitely keep a bottle of this concurrent with an oil/oil-feel-but-water-based type of cleanser for lazy days.

The only thing about these cleansers that annoy me is their price point. At nearly $15 or >$15 each, they are extremely expensive and more than twice the price of the Kracie one I'm trying out now. I do really like them though. Such a dilemma *twiddle thumbs*. 

Acne saving products from L-R: Mario Badescu Silver Powder, Benzac AC 10, Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner. Please don't judge me from the sad sad sad state of my products.

Mario Badescu Silver Powder: What I like about this powder is that it is entirely natural with only 3 ingredients so it doesn't irritate the face other than drying it out. It really does work wonders when used after a hot bath and before a pore pack (it really pulls all the shit to the surface of the face!). Used over time, my face did feel less clogged and smoother. The ONE big nuisance about this powder is that when it dries, it flies off my face and before I know it my entire table top/pjs is covered in fine white powder. Other than that, A+ for this product and I'm on my back up now. 

Benzac AC: This worked for me for quite a while, then my skin became quite sensitive so I only used it on huge pimples. It works best on large pimples and can get them flat overnight. I have switched to the 5% one now but my skin is still too sensitive so again, only large pimples but even then, my skin does get red in areas that I've applied it. The only exception to that is my forehead where I'm currently using it in a thin layer. Will not repurchase after I finish the tube.

Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner: Blogged about this before, it's ace. It refines pores, cleanses the face spotless, and even removes make up. I have repurchased this and will continue doing so.

Cute little tubs of skincare from L-R: Laneige Sleeping Pack, Hada Labo Moisturing Cream, My Beauty Diary Rose and White Peony Sleep Concentrate.

Laneige Sleeping Pack: I have 4 of these simply because they are sample packs and came in 4s to match the retail size. Bought from gmarket. I quite like these and my face feels nice and refreshed and plump when I use it. My face isn't too oily in the morning either. Does take a while to sink into the skin though. I also like it as a thin layer as morning moisturizer. I will repurchase this when I run out. 

Hado Labo Moisturizer: This product is quite blah. Though it is moisturizing, it's also sticky and I don't like that on my face. For people who don't mind night products that are sticky, it does work quite well, especially for a water based product, in keeping the face hydrated. I won't repurchase this because I really don't like sticky things that sit on my face.

My Beauty Diary: This product claims to deeply hydrate and brighten. I really really like the texture of this sleeping pack. It soaks into the skin so fast, no matter how thick a layer I put. My skin loved it. It also smells heavenly. For people who don't like fragrance, too bad! I did find that my skin did look brighter when I used this mask, but moisture-wise, this wasn't that great. It also can't be used in the morning under make-up because it flakes off/rolls off in tiny pieces. I found that this mask is great to rejuvenate the skin in the day, then wiped off with toner. I would repurchase it if it wasn't like $20... just because I go through it so fast. Buy it in Hong Kong (I assume) or Taiwan where it's really cheap, like under $10 cheap.

Miscellaneous skincare clockwise L-R: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream, Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, Aqualabel Brightening White EX, Hada Labo Retinol Essence

Estee Lauder Eye Cream: I love this, it is all I could ask for in an eye cream (apart from helping with dark circles mine can't be saved) I would buy it if I can afford it but I can only afford it during extreme sales. 'Nuff said. 

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair: I like the texture of this but could not really tell from such a small bottle. Very moisturizing so it was good for dry/oily combo skin like mine. It's something that I would buy when I'm tired of layering skincare and want to whittle my routine down to like, 2 or 3 products. Not yet though...not yet. 

Aqualable Brightening White EX: I finished 2 bottles of this. It's so refreshing on the face it's addictive. Need to use for an extended period of time before brightening results/fading of scars can be seen though. I've decided it's not effective enough to buy a 3rd bottle. 

Hada Labo Retinol Essence: Bought this because I feared wrinkles and I have an *ahem* matured face and was hoping to slow that down so I can look young for longer. I don't have wrinkles so I cannot tell whether this product worked -.- . Texture is nice but sticky. Will not repurchase... yet. I hope I don't get wrinkles for at least 3 decades more (cross fingers). 

So that rounds off the empties reviews I hope it helps some people in striking off some items in their WANT list and hopefully not add too many to that list. Feel free to ask me to elaborate as I've tried to keep each "review" short (though I tend to ramble, I know), or let me know what you think of the products too, maybe? 

Have a good start of year everybutty! <3

Shu Uemura X Karl Lagerfeld

Just a small other thing to share with my Singaporean readers; just yesterday I was at ion and decided to treat myself to an atas (highend) eyelash curler and went into Shu Uemura to ask how much it was. It turned out they were having a x'mas promotion for the Karl Lagerfeld collection eyelash curler and you can get it for $28 vs $32 for the normal curler and they are the exact same curler. The Karl Lagerfeld collection even has a really cute keychain and red curling pads.

I think they might possibly be cheaper if you buy dutyfree at the airport but... thought I should spread the love anyway!

The Faceshop Make Me Star Waterproof Gel Liner

Good Sunday folks! I'm back with the eyeliner I raved about... 2 weeks ago. I know, I'm extremely late. Sorry to keep you waiting! Seems to be a bad habit of mine ):

Anyway, I have bought more of the liners to test out their consistency so here we go. I first stumbled upon the Faceshop Make Me Star Waterproof Gel Liner when I wandered into their store during a sale. It was a 20% sale then so I got the turquoise liner for just under SGD$10? This liner stayed in storage for quite a while because I couldn't bring myself to wear coloured eyeliner to work (scared of shocking my boss haha) but one day I got bored and finally did and I was so impressed!!!

Since I pass by a Faceshop outlet on the way home, I popped back in to swatch more colours and ended up getting the bronze and a lovely peach pink. These are definitely more expensive(almost double the price) in the Singapore Faceshop outlets than say buying them online from qoo10.com.sg so I would recommend testing them out in the outlet then purchasing them online if you can afford to wait. There's this lovely lovely olive colour but I felt the pinch...

Here's how they look like uncapped. As you can see, my poor turquoise is still hardly getting any love as it's not even sharpened. Though that is no indication of how well it performs since it's just what colours I wear on a daily basis.



All the colours also come with this smudger on the back end of the liner. It's for smudging out the liner before it sets for that "smokey eye look". I guess it does work though I prefer not to use it as the line is soft enough when drawn.

The reason why this collection is called Make Me Star is because all the liners come with sparkles/glitter. I guess if you read past the terrible english, these liners are supposed to sparkle like stars. They have a black liner in the collection which I did not like at all because of the glitter particles. I think blacks should be nice and deep and matte.

The brown on the other hand is this lovely intense rich brown with more of a metallic sheen than glitter particles. I fell in love with it the moment I swatched it. It is so much more than a normal matte brown because of it's intensity. It's the kind of brown that upon first glance looks matte but then you realise that there's more to it. Goes on so creamy and does not tug at eyelids at all. For those who love gel eyeliners for their consistency, this is even creamier than gel liners, and draws on soft without harsh lines. Only people who like liquid liners for their clean lines will not like this.

The turquoise is also of a metallic variety. It also does have very minute turquoise glitter particles in it as well but it's not that obvious. This also goes on extremely creamy and intense. The colour just pops. I imagine this would be for the more adventurous or party looks. Or could be a great summer look for just a pop of colour to the eyes.

Finally the peach. This liner is meant for the inner corner of the eyes to brighten them up. When I swatched this colour in the store I really really did like it and as I didn't have any liners that were of this variety I bought it immediately.  But when I came home and started to use it, I realised that this peach had irridescent glitter particles in it that are visible. For young skin, I imagine it to be fine but I have fine lines around my eyes and the glitter just gets caught in them. Another problem is that the peach pigment does not draw as intensely as the other 2 colours and does come off in patches. So in order to get a nice even colour I have to go over it quite a few times which is not too ideal as too much glitter gets on the skin.

This is a picture after I let the liner set (takes about 10-15seconds or so) and rubbed a finger very hard across all the liners. The brown and turquoise are true to their name of waterproof gel liner. These liners are hardcore man. I have gone to the gym, rubbed my eyes and they don't budge. No smudging, no transferring to under my eyes, stays on my waterline, these are godlike. Even using my favourite Bifesta Cleansing Express remover, the liner is hard to remove. Only people with extremely extremely oily lids will find that these do not stay on. I have oily lids for reference. 

The peach colour though is a very different story. I did have to colour on quite a large amount in order to get the colour of the liner to show so maybe that's why the smudging is so intense in the picture. On my eyes, the peach pigments tend to fade through the day, but the glitter particles remain!!! That really pisses me off. Though I'm glad that the glitter particles adhere to my skin so well and do not transfer, it looks very weird when there's only glitter on my eyes and no colour at all!

Peach on inner corner of eyes. It does catch light extremely well, no doubt good for photography. 

My all time favourite liner for the past 2 months. I've even ditched the K-palette 24h  liquid liner.

For a perk me up. I find that the turquoise does bring out the brown in my eyes... Not that anyone can tell haha.

These are all the colours available and I highly recommend these liners even if you're a matte colour lover, especially in the deeper colours and ESPECIALLLY the bronze. Get the more metallic shades (bronze, turquoise, olive; maybe the navy). They are a cinch to use and last all day. The only colours I would not recommend getting are the silver and the peach because I suspect they probably have the same formulation.
Get them!!!!