MAC Lustering lipstick > My staple hot pink

I got this lipstick not too long ago, but I had bought/received a few others around that time as well, so this one kind of just fell into the background.  But recently I was on a bright lip kick and this lipstick lived in my makeup bag.

Lustering is a lustre finish and is a bright, hot pink colour.  I think it falls pretty darn close to the middle between a yellow toned and blue toned pink, but leans just a touch more into the blue zone.  Many hot pinks tend to lean too far into the blue toned spectrum which washes me out, but Lustering does not.  This is probably as far into blue toned pinks as I can go with my skin tone.


This is such a versatile lipstick.  You can put one swipe of it and get a nice gentle shot of colour.  Layer it on and you can get quite a punchy bright lip.

 bare lips 
one layer 
layered up  Since it's a lustre, it is sheerer and has a glossy look.  It's sheerness makes it a very wearable bright colour, not too in your face and no need to fuss around with a lipliner.  I also just love that juicy look that lustres tend to achieve.  It feels smooth, doesn't dry out your lips and doesn't emphasise all those dry flakey bits for those who have dry lips.

I love this colour and highly recommend it.

Cutex Long Wear Top Coat - Review

This top coat is pretty cheap, leaves a nice glossy finish, helps your nail polish last a fraction longer but that's where the good things stop.

Firstly, I do not like the brush. I find the bristles to be too hard and scratchy. So after slaving over your nails and making sure your nail polish goes on perfectly smooth, you go in with this top coat and it rubs it off! Where you apply only one coat of polish, you are sometimes left with lines of your bare nail peaking through due to the roughness of the brush.

A few days after applying the top coat, I find that these weird kind of cracks/wrinkles start appearing on the tips of my nails. It's hard to describe, but it just makes your nails look terrible.

Lastly, I find that it takes so long to dry. When I first starting using this top coat, it took a decent time to dry, no biggie. But as the bottle got older and I used it more, the consistency of the top coat was fine (it didn't go thick and gluggy) but the drying time was ridiculous! I would finish doing my nails, wait 1-2 hours, go to bed and in the morning they're all dented and uneven! It just made painting my nails such a chore because I would have to plan when I wanted to do my nails and sit around for hours, waiting for it to dry.

Definitely not repurchasing.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick - Coral Berry - Review & Swatches

As far as I know, Coral Berry is one of the newer shades within the Revlon Super Lustrous range. I had been pondering over whether I should buy it. My best friend went out and bought it for me (thank you!).


This is actually my first ever lipstick from their classic, permanent Super Lustrous line. Funnily, I have been a Revlon lipstick fan for ages and have bought lipsticks from their Matte line, Colorburst line and even their Renewist and Beyond Natural lines which were discontinued ages ago, but never bought one from their Super Lustrous line.

Anyway, Coral Berry is a really pretty pinky coral. I was concerned that it would turn out too orange which wasn't what I was looking for. I hoped it would have some pink tones to it which it does. I like to apply it quite lightly (pictured below) and that way the pink tones to it are more obvious. It's not a full coverage lipstick, it has a medium level of pigmentation. The more you build it up, the more coral and full coverage it appears. There is a tiny bit of really really fine subtle gold shimmer. I didn't even realise there was any shimmer until I held the lipstick in the light. On, it's barely noticeable at all.


A great colour to try as the weather is heating up for summer =)

Mini Update

I have been so tired and busy over the past month or so. I am in the middle exams at the moment, only one more to go until freedom (well at least until next semester starts lol). I've also been kind of getting a start on my career ("career" - such a scary word isn't it? when you start looking at your career you know you're growing up lol). Anyway so I've been attending programs and things like that. I'm behind in a lot of posts as always. I've done a fair bit of shopping lately so I want to share my purchases. As you guys would have noticed, usually I take pictures of the clothes on me so you can get a better idea of what the pieces look like, but I'm finding it a bit time consuming so I might just take pictures of them on the hanger. Tell me your opinion if you have one about that.

Anyway, have a great week!

Review: Australis - Ready Set Go Finishing Powder

Over the past year or so, Australis, has been revamping their products and image and they've come out with a bunch of new things, one of which being their Ready Set Go Finishing Powder. It costs $12.95 at Priceline but you can definitely get it for cheaper if you wait for a sale (which is what I always do lol).


The Product

It is a fine white loose powder which goes on translucent. It feels super smooth, kind of...velvet-y? Satin-y? Not sure how to describe it but it feels like primer but on top of your makeup. It helps to mattify your skin and also makes your skin appear smoother. You really only need the tiniest bit even when applying it to your whole face.


How I use it - Why I like it


The main purpose I use this powder is to prevent my mascara from smudging. It doesn't matter what mascara I use, I will get some level of smudging, even if it's waterproof. I like to use my finger to apply it under my eyes and it really helps with my smudging situation. Sometimes I just use regular face powder, but packing that on can look a bit cakey or make your undereye area look dark. So I love it for this purpose.

I also like to dust it over my whole face after applying makeup. Especially when I'm using mineral makeup because I find that I get oilier faster. This helps to keep it matte for longer. But doesn't completely prevent it since I have really oily skin.

When using cream blushes, you can use this to set the blush if you don't want to use a powder blush on top.

Why you may not like it

Despite it being "translucent," I think on darker skin tones it could give off a white-ish tinge to your skin. Also, in photos it can also give a white tinge. As I found out recently, since I like to pack a fair amount under my eyes, that area turns white in flash photography lol. But if you only apply a little bit, like a dusting all over your face, (you don't need much anyway), it looks fine.

I wish the sifter had one of those sliding covers that you can slide over the holes after each use, like the Everyday Minerals products.

Concluding thoughts

Overall, I really enjoy using this product, I use it on a daily basis at least for my undereyes. I don't think I'll be needing to repurchase this any time soon because there is so much product in one container and I use very little each time.

Red Cherry Lashes Haul

I know my last few posts have been very picture heavy...but here's another one lol.

Lately my best friend and I have been going to a fair few events and special occasions, and of course they go hand in hand with false lashes lol. So we ordered a bunch of Red Cherry lashes off Ebay. This was my first time trying this brand and I'm pretty impressed with the quality and the cheap price.

I ordered 5 pairs: #1, #82, #107, #118 and #510. Some of them were a bit of a miss for me but I'll go through in detail below.



#82
I was annoyed when I received these as you can see from first picture, my pair were faulty as a few of the lashes had been cut short, but luckily it's not very noticeable on. Anyway, I really like this pair. They are very fluttery and full. They are an even length the whole way across, just slightly shorter in the inner corner. They add great volume and length. But they can make your eye look a little heavy due to the evenness of the lashes the whole way across so be wary if you have smaller eyes.



#1
This pair is probably my favourite of the 5, a little ahead of the #82. It's a little more natural looking than the #82 since it's more sparse at the ends as opposed to being full from root to tip. These add plenty of volume since they're really full at the roots, and also make your eyes look more open as the longer/spikey lashes draw a line outwards.

* * *

Let me just preface the next 3 pairs with I'm not a huge fan of them because they are farrr too long for me. I do really like them in terms of their cut and shape. They all look very similar, kind of like super long versions of the #82. I probably won't wear any of them unless I trim them down.



#510
These are the shortest out of #510, #107 and #118. These might work for me...but that would be the absolute maximum length I would go. These would work better if you have larger eyes/longer lashes.



#107
These are a bit longer than the #510.



#118
These are the longest pair I bought. They really are crazy long. I would not be able to pull these off, they would be too disproportionate with my face lol. You can see just how long they are compared to #82 and #82 have very decent length. Note the #118 curls up a lot more too so they are even longer than what they appear in the photo below.

So a bit of a mixed bag, but that's what comes with ordering online. My best friend and I ordered 10 pairs between us and it came to about $2.60 a pair (including shipping), which is fantastic. If you wanted to buy a pair of similar quality here in stores, you would be looking at spending $10-15. I highly recommend #1 and #82.

Hope you're all having a great day.

Inglot Freedom System Eyeshadows - Review & Swatches - the beginning of a new love...

First of all...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hope you all had fun welcoming in the new year and good luck for 2011.

Anyway, in some of my older blog posts, I mentioned my Inglot eyeshadow palettes but I haven't had the time to take photos and review them. Argh...I am so behind in blog posts (and yes I know I've said that a million times lol).

So this is the first Inglot Freedom System palette I purchased.


With the eyeshadow palettes, you can purchase 2,3,4,5,6,8 and 10 colour palettes. The eyeshadows also come in circular pans which are a bit cheaper because they have less volume. The palettes aren't traditional flip-top palette's. Instead the lid is magnetised and is completely removed when you open it and can be stuck onto the bottom.

Inglot shadows don't have names, instead they go by numbers. The shades in my palette are:

30

A shimmery cream colour. Great highlight shade.

402

Metallic taupey colour. Very similar to NYX Iced Mocha, but this one is a tinge more purple.

360

Matte medium brown.

378

Matte very dark brown.
In stores they purely refer to the shade numbers, but on the bottoms of the pans, along with the number, there are also words reflecting the finish of the shadow which I have added on the photos above.




I am head-over-heels in love with Inglot shadows. These are so pigmented and ridiculously blendable. 30 isn't as pigmented in my opinion compared to the others but it is still a great highlight. My favourites are the 2 matte browns. They are silky smooth and just amazing. These still crease on me, but not as quickly as other shadows, but I have very very oily lids.

I only have 1 MAC eyeshadow, Twinks (I have a review on it), so I don't know how accurate my comparison of the two brands is, but at the moment I think Inglot shadows beat MAC shadows any day lol. These rectangular pan shadows are 2.7g compared to MAC's which are 1.5g. Plus Inglot products are far cheaper than MAC. The Inglot palette I got cost me $40AUD (that includes the palette itself and the shadows). Their individual eyeshadow I believe cost about $24AUD (I find these individual eyeshadows inferior to the freedom system ones). Individual MAC shadows here costs $32AUD.

So if you can get yourself to an Inglot store, pick up a Freedom System palette of eyeshadows! You will not regret it! Since this one, I've bought a 5-colour palette and I've received a 6-colour palette as part of a Christmas present. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

MAC Viva Glam Cyndi review & swatches

This was SUCH an impulse buy for me. I rarely purchase high end makeup at all, and when I do it often involves a lot of testing, thinking and planning because it is a lot of money after all. Especially with the ridiculously high prices on makeup here.

Anyway, so I had a $10 voucher to spend in Myer's fragrance and cosmetic department. Initially I was just going to spend it on something random and cheap, around $10, so I would basically be getting a little somethin' for free. But then I thought "how often do I get a $10 discount on any makeup I want?" Eventually I decided I would grab a MAC lippy. I had no idea what shade I was going for or what look I wanted so I was kinda just grabbing shades willy nilly lol. Then my eyes came across Viva Glam Cyndi and I remembered all the videos and blogs I had read ranting and raving about this baby. It didn't look particularly spectacular in the store, it was just ok, but I grabbed it anyway. Here, MAC lipsticks cost $35AUD.


When I got home I tried it on again properly and I fell in LOVE! MAC's site says that it is a "light coral-red" however I find it more like a pinkish red. It doesn't have any shimmer. The colour isn't that unique, but I find the smooth, slightly sheer, lustre finish is what makes it so amazing. The more you apply, the more red it appears, so you can control the intensity. I like to apply a few good swipes to get a kind of 'natural red lip,' if that makes sense.


I've read that this baby will be discontinued in February next year! It's a real shame that I decided to try this out so late, I know like every blogger was going nuts about Viva Glam Cyndi and Gaga quite a while back. Now I know how much I've been missing lol. I think this lipstick is definitely worth trying, especially for those who want to start venturing into the world of red lips but are still a bit scared about going all out.

I can't believe the two MAC lipsticks I have are limited edition lipsticks, hence are/will be discontinued. I really need to get onto the permanent lines lol.

Latest additions to my NYX Single Eyeshadow family

I got these two NYX Single Eyeshadows to add to my little collection a couple of months back. To see the photos and swatches of the other shades in my collection, click here.


Pure Gold
I love this eyeshadow. It's a kind of bronzey colour. I wouldn't say it's a gold. It's very very pigmented and shimmery/metallic. My camera wouldn't take a good photo of it as you can see above. For some reason it decided to make the edges dark and the middle light. The actual shadow is in between those two extremes. Definitely recommend this. I used this religiously for a while. Very pretty and glowy, great for Spring.


Dark Gray
This one was a bit disappointing. It's a medium matte grey colour. But the pigmentation is poor. No where near as pigmented as the Pure Gold.



Please ignore the bluish skin lol. My camera and lighting were not working for me. But I tried my hardest to edit the photos so that the swatches themselves were as true to colour as possible, even if that meant turning my skin blue lol.

First MAC eyeshadow - Twinks - Review

I was pretty excited when I got this due to all the ranting a raving about MAC shadows. My friend ordered this eyeshadow a little while back for me from Strawberrynet for about $16.50AUD which was a pretty awesome deal given they cost $32 here.

Twinks is a shimmery brown shadow with a hint of burgundy. It appears darker in the pan than it does on, which was a bit disappointing for me because I was looking for a deeper shade. It is pretty pigmented but I wasn't totally blown away, again because I wanted it to be stronger and deeper and instead it was just a more medium tone. It is very smooth and blends easily.

Overall it's a good eyeshadow and I use it as much as I do my other shadows, it's a pretty colour, but I think I feel a tad disappointed due to all the hype. I was expecting to be absolutely blown away. Plus my friend had just introduced me to the Inglot Freedom System shadows which blew my mind and are cheaper than MAC shadows. I will be reviewing my Inglot palette soon.

Estee Lauder Pure Color Gloss in Passion Fruit - Review & Swatches

I got this gloss (full size!) as a gift with the purchase of Marie Claire magazine. This was only available in Australia and it was quite a while ago so this issue won't be available anymore =( At the time these glosses were only just released so the gift was obviously to promote the product and get people to try it.

On with the review...Estee Lauder's Pure Color Gloss in Passion Fruit has a shimmer finish (this collection comes in 3 different finishes: shine, shimmer and sparkle).


I adore the colour of this gloss, it's a vibrant red-y pink shade with pink and gold shimmer. It has a sheer-medium coverage, so the colour does show up while allowing your natural lip colour to show through. I would definitely prefer if it was more pigmented. If you have very pigmented lips, this would probably be a bit too sheer for you.

Bare lips:

With gloss:

Overall, I really really enjoy this gloss, it adds a nice bit of colour to your bare lips. I like using it on top of bright pink lipsticks such as NYX Round Lipstick in Rose. I think that this gloss is very fitting now that it is Spring.