♡ Very Mini Haul: YSL Lipsticks!

When my parents went overseas a few weeks ago, I told them that I wanted some YSL lipsticks because I’ve always been a huge fan of them but considering that they are almost double the price here in Australia, I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for them to pick some up while they were overseas! Originally they asked if I wanted the YSL Rouge Pur Glossy Lip Stain trio that is sold in Duty Free Airlines exclusively but because you don’t get to pick the colours, they decided to purchase these lipsticks individually! =)

The packaging of the lipsticks themselves is just absolutely gorgeous. It looks luxurious because of the gold casing and I love the detailing in the middle. It has got to be one of my most favourite packagings ever! The shades I got seem the same in the tube but they are very, very different as you can see in the swatches!

R o u g e  V o l u p t e  S h i n e  ( 8  P i n k  I n  C o n f i d e n c e )

The first lipstick is in the ‘shine’ formulation so it is a lot sheerer and has a beautiful glossy finish to it. It feels really moisturising on the lips and the colour looks very natural on me. =) It’s the kind of shade that I would classify as a natural my lips but better. It’s an easy colour to wear for everyday and it pairs well with absolutely any eye makeup. It doesn’t last all day but it is easy to reapply!

R o u g e  V o l u p t e  S i l k y – S e n s u a l  R a d i a n t  ( 9  R o s e  C a r e s s e )

The second lipstick has the standard creamy formulation and it has amazing pigmentation. I love using this shade as a stain for everyday wear and only a little bit of product is needed to achieve a soft look. I like to apply it to the centre of my lips then use a lip brush to blend it out. The texture is so buttery and is completely comfortable to wear. The colour is so flattering and I find myself reaching for it a lot when I want a pop of colour on the lips, but it isn’t too out there at the same time!

Overall, I am beyond pleased with these lipsticks and I have been using them so much. In the future, I will do FOTDs so you can see how they look on my lips but the swatches are very true to colour! I would love to know if you have tried YSL lipsticks before and which ones are your favourite! ♡

Review: Missha Jewel Star Eyes in 05 Pecan Pie & 06 Lovely Chocolate

I have been absolutely loving cream eyeshadows lately and I thought I would do a review on these ones by Missha! =) The packaging is quite standard. They come in a glass container with a black screw top lip. Each come with 25 grams of product, which is a large amount considering how little is needed to achieve great pigmentation. The texture is quite interesting, they’re quite hard but are soft to the touch at the same time. They do not feel creamy at all though!

Left: 05 Pecan Pie; Right: 06 Lovely Chocolate

Both of the shades swatch beautifully and are highly pigmented. They also both have a significant amount of glitter in them so if you don’t enjoy glittery eyeshadows then these would not be for you! Pecan Pie is a medium golden brown with gold glitter and Lovely Chocolate is a deep chocolate with silver glitter.

Applied 06 Lovely Chocolate all over the lids as a simple one eyeshadow look

Lovely Chocolate applies really evenly and easily. I just use my fingers to apply these! The colour is buildable and layers really well. However, I find that Pecan Pie just leaves glitter on the eyelids. It doesn’t appear on your eyes as it does in the hand swatch. It is still pretty (considering I do like glitter) but I know that it is a shade a lot of people would be disappointed with. They also do not last the entire day but this might be because I have oily lids so it’s difficult to come across products that don’t crease on me without a primer!

Overall, these can be a hit or miss in terms of performance. I haven’t tried the other shades but considering that the two I have perform quite differently, I can only assume that the other shades would be inconsistent as well. I will continue to use these as a base because they do work well for that purpose! However, they do not last all day by themselves. If you do have drier eyelids then I do not think you will have an issue with these. =)

♡ Great colour payoff

♡ Large amount of product

♡ Works great as an eyeshadow base

♡ Does not last all day

♡ Application of colours inconsistent

Review: Rimmel Apocalips in Nova

Today I will be reviewing Rimmel Apocalips in the shade Nova! According to Rimmel, they are supposed to be “intense rich colour of a lipstick, enhanced by a satin smooth shine“. I own a more brighter shade from the range but it’s a colour I don’t reach for often because it is a little too intense so I wanted to try out a more wearable shade. I really dislike the scent of this, it has the classic strong lipstick smell to it! It doesn’t linger all day though so I’m able to deal with it. =)

Left: Bare lips; Right: Regular application

The colour is actually a tad bit brighter than it is coming off across in the photos. I personally find it to be a really wearable medium pink shade! It’s definitely not a ‘natural’ shade like it appears in the picture but it is a great colour to wear for everyday if you enjoy wearing pink on your lips. =) I find that it accentuates any patchiness on the lips so you do have to make sure your lips are smooth and exfoliated before applying it.

The wear time on this is quite good! The glossiness fades and it leaves a nice light stain on the lips. I can only imagine how great the stain will be with the darker shades! However, the issue I have is that because the glossiness wears off, any dry patches get accentuated even more! Because of this, it does feel uncomfortable and drying after a few hours.

♡ Fantastic pigmentation

♡ Great colour range

♡ Affordable price

♡ Great as a stain

♡ Accentuates dry and flaky lips

♡ Application can be a bit messy

♡ Scent isn’t good

Review: CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in Watermelon Twist

Please excuse the state of my gloss balm. As I stated in my haul, I accidentally opened the lid too roughly and it completely tore it off. =(

Watermelon twist is a bright pinky red shade that is so perfect for the spring and summer in my opinion. Even though it’s autumn here, I still like to wear my fun pink lip shades! I think it is very easy to pull off and would suit everyone.

The lip colour does last a long time if you don’t eat any oily foods but it’s not a colour you can expect to last the entire day because it’s just a gloss balm. As you can see, it leaves a decent pink stain but it just gets rid of the glossiness and at this point, it does feel a little bit drying!

Overall, I do like this gloss balm if I’m looking for something quick and easy to apply. However, it is not extremely moisturising as I was expecting so it is not a must have in my opinion. However, they have some pretty colours in the range and it is not overly priced so I think it is still a nice lip product to add to your collection! =)

♡ Easy to apply

♡ Great colour payoff

♡ Natural, glossy finish

♡ Long lasting (without eating oily food)

♡ Really soft so can break easily

♡ Starts to feel drying after balminess wears off

Review: L’Oreal Paris Colour Riche Kajal Eyeliner in 501 Oriental Black

Today I will be reviewing this huge eyeliner from L’Oreal! =P This eyeliner was also a part of the same trial team package that came with the L’Oreal Miss Manga Mascaras by Beautyheaven. What really shocked me the most was that the pencil was a lot more larger than a typical pencil eyeliner.

This eyeliner is advertised as being “highly pigmented” and being designed to “create easy smokey eyes“. It has a “unique cone-shaped tip for easy application” and an “ultra-creamy formula for an effortless glide“. The liner is claimed to be “smudge, crease and fade resistant” and contains a “high concentration of ultra-black pigments for a deep shade of black“.

I really enjoy the shape of the pencil. It is very large but tapered to a perfect sized point to precisely line your upper eyelids as well as pack on colour onto the waterline. I like to use the pencil on its side to gradually build up the eyeliner and it provides a lot more precision.

 

The eyeliner is highly pigmented but because it is very creamy, it tends to smudge. If you have oily lids, be prepared for it to transfer especially if you have hooded eyelids!

Applied just as an eyeliner on both the upper lash line and waterline

This eyeliner really is very creamy and easy to apply on the waterline. It literally takes no effort at all for it to deliver as a highly pigmented black liner. I also think that it can be used quite nicely as a base for a smokey eye if blended out with a pencil brush but I think it would look better with some eyeshadows applied on top.

♡ Very creamy

♡ Easy to apply on the waterline

♡ Cone-shaped tip makes for very easy application

♡ Great pigmentation

♡ Requires sharpening

♡ Can sometimes apply unevenly on the eyelids

♡ Not smudge proof (especially on oily eyelids)

Review: Holika Holika Soda Pore BB Deep Cleansing Foam

Holika Holika is a brand I only recently started looking into and during my search, I saw that this specific cleanser was reviewed as being quite nice. I was in the market for a new cleanser but I wasn’t completely sure on which one or type I should pick up but this particular one caught my eye. It isn’t a product that is very widespread in the beauty blogging community so I wanted to share my experience with it! =)

The cleanser’s active ingredients and their purposes include:

① Soda bead and sparking water – removes BB cream and skin wastes, deeply cleanses pores
② Baking powder – helps remove sebum and black heads
③ Witch hazel and tea tree – tightens pores, removes sebum and skin wastes
④ Harrogate sparkling water – supplies abundant minerals to the skin

The cleanser itself is a very thick and white cream with small blue exfoliating beads distributed throughout. The scent of this cleanser is amazing. It smells just like lemonade! =)

The cleanser comes in standard squeeze tube packaging

The cleanser lathers beautifully on the skin. It requires no effort for the cream to transform into a foam when the skin is slightly damp. As with all cleansers, I use my Clarisonic Mia 2 to deeply work the product into my skin. My skin does not feel dry or stripped of any facial oils afterwards (but keep in mind that my skin is not sensitive)! My skin appears a lot brighter and is not extremely red like it normally is when I use other cleansers.

Although I have been enjoying this cleanser, it hasn’t helped my acne or acne scarring so this means I will not repurchase it immediately and try some other cleansers. However, it does leave my skin feeling very clean and that is what it claims to do so I wouldn’t say I am disappointed. I normally do not just use a cleanser to remove my makeup because I feel that it is inefficient and I take off a majority of it during the shower anyway. If you wear lighter makeup then this cleanser will help remove most of it but I would still recommend either using a makeup remover beforehand or following up with a toner afterwards just to remove any excess!

Also big FYI, it does burn if it gets in your eyes so please be careful! I was tearing up so badly when I was washing too close to my eyes (silly mistake on my part though =P)!

♡ Lathers very nicely

♡ Only need a pea-sized amount

♡ Cleanses skin well

♡ Inexpensive

♡ Smells good (exactly like lemonade!)

♡ Does not dramatically change skin in terms of acne or scarring

Review: TonyMoly Crystal Jelly Cheek Pot in 01 Angel Peach

YAY! =3 It’s my official two month blogging anniversary today! Thank you all for the amazing support you have given me since I first started up my blog! You guys are the loveliest bunch of people and I will also continue to always support all of you too. ♡

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve done a review. I’m sorry it’s been so long but I still hope you all have been enjoying my other blog posts. Today I’ll be reviewing a blush by TonyMoly. I picked this up from YesStyle at the beginning of last year because it was on clearance and at the time, I didn’t have many blushes in my collection let alone a more peachy-orange toned shade! I was also just very intrigued as to what ‘Crystal Jelly’ meant! =O

I really love the feeling of this blush. It feels very soft and almost creamy like but it’s definitely a powder. It feels spongy like a cushion, which completely explains why it has ‘jelly’ in the product name. The packaging itself is also lightweight and easy to travel with. It’s just a standard clear and compact case!

The colour looks quite out there in the swatch because it looks like a true pastel peach shade (under natural indoor lighting it definitely comes across as being more orange than in the picture above, which was taken under sunlight) but if you look at the picture of it on my skin right below, you can see that it doesn’t translate that harshly at all because of the pigmentation of the blush.

The blush itself is sheer and requires multiple layers for it to show up on my personal skin tone. It would look beautiful on people with paler skin tones but on me, I really have to build up the blush for it to show up. The end result is very natural and gives a peachy flush on the cheeks.

Overall, I’m not extremely impressed and I wouldn’t say it’s necessary for you to buy this product. It’s definitely just an average blush but the only thing is that it has an interesting texture that is fun to play around with! Even when it comes to my most natural makeup looks, I want a blush that is more pigmented so it can add enough colour on my face. When I have more colour on my cheeks, I don’t feel the need to wear more eye makeup or wear a brighter lip shade!

♡  Fun and unique colour

♡ Interesting soft and bouncy texture

♡ Natural finish

♡ Simple, durable packaging

♡ Not highly pigmented so requires layering

♡ Limited shade range (only has two other shades)

Review: L’Oreal Paris Brow Artist Plumper in Dark Brunette

There have been a lot more brow mascaras reaching the shelves in drugstores and I couldn’t be more excited! L’Oreal was one of the brands to do so, coming out with the Brow Artist Plumper. They don’t have a wide range of colour selections, which I find to be quite disappointing but I’m hoping that they will bring out more. Dark Brunette is more of a true brown. I have read many times that people are always searching for brow mascaras that have an ashy tone to them so if you are one of those people, then this brow mascara is not for you unfortunately! =(

The brush wand is perfect for the brows because it is not too large to the point where you have no control of where the product will apply but it’s not too small that it takes a long time to use. It is the perfect shape to quickly do your brows and I’ve found that it has been fantastic for me to use everyday when I’m in a rush.

My brows are already naturally quite full but the brow mascara does a great job at evening them out and setting them in place for the whole day. It does sort of make them feel a little stiff when you touch them but it’s not stiff enough that it feels uncomfortable or looks unnatural.

The brow mascara is very expensive (~$19) but in comparison to others such as the Benefit Gimme Brow, which is $35, it is not too bad. It also has a lot more product inside! I would definitely recommend this brow mascara for people who have been curious to try one but the colour range is quite limited, which I think is the main negative point of this product.

♡ Adds fullness to the brows

♡ Darkens/tints the brows

♡ Does not smudge

♡ Makes the brows feel stiff

♡ Expensive

♡ Limited shade range (missing ashier tones)

Disclaimer: Although I did not purchase the product myself, all my reviews regardless of how I received them are 100% honest and genuine!

Review: L’Oreal Paris Mega Volume Miss Manga Mascara in All Black & Pop Turquoise

As a member of the Beautyheaven Trial Team, I was sent a few items from L’Oreal to write reviews on their website. Two of the items were these mascaras that I’m going to be reviewing today! =) I was really excited because I always like trying out new mascaras and this was the first time I’ve ever used a coloured mascara! I was so shocked at how bright the colour was when I opened the tube and I was even more excited to try it out to see how it would look on the eyelashes!

The claims of the mascara are that it “volumises to give lashes a doll eyed effect“, “adds volume to upper and lower lashes” and the brush is designed be “ultra-flexible to cover lashes from root to tip“.

The mascara really does have a really unique brush wand. I’ve never quite seen anything like it. It’s tapered and the very tip has barely any plastic bristles. It also is definitely flexible so it’s easy to manoeuvre the brush and coat every lash. I’ve found that because the tip has no bristles, it really picks up a lot of product so you can’t use the technique where you use the tip of the mascara to grab harder to reach and shorter lashes because it just places a clump of product onto them.

Top: No mascara; Middle: Mascara on the right eye only; Bottom: Mascara on both eyes (using All Black)

I quite like this mascara. It adds enough length to my lashes to make them stand out and they give great volume but I think manga-like lashes is an overstatement. I had higher expectations due to the name (especially for my upper lashes, I’m very satisfied with my lower lashes) but at the same time, it did not perform horribly and I will continue to use it! I think that if you’re interested in trying out coloured mascaras, Pop Turquoise is a fantastic choice! It is such a fun way to add some colour to your makeup look without being too out there or bold. It is also very buildable in comparison to the black and doesn’t clump up! They also have two other shades in Electric Blue and Tropical Violet, which I am also intrigued to try!

In case you were curious on what the Pop Turquoise looks like! (I’m wearing All Black on my upper lashes too). It definitely adds a little something but it doesn’t have to be over the top depending on how many coats you apply.

The reason why I can’t give the product a full rating is because it’s still not what I imagine to be the “perfect mascara”. I definitely think it is a great one to try because I know that everyone has had a great experience with it but like I said, I’m still looking for the perfect mascara that exceeds my highest expectations! =P

♡ Lengthens and thickens lashes

♡ Adds great volume

♡ Holds curl

♡ Does not smudge

♡ Separates lashes with one coat

♡ Very pigmented (both the black and turquoise!)

♡ Clumps when more than one layer is applied (for the black)

➳ Disclaimer: Although I did not purchase the products myself, all my reviews regardless of how I received them are 100% honest and genuine!

Review: Majolica Majorca Honey Plump Neo Gloss in RS456

Today’s review is on another Japanese cosmetic product, Majolica Majorca’s Plump Neo Gloss in RS456! This lipgloss does not get talked about much. In fact, I’ve only heard of Majolica Majorca for their fantastic mascaras! While researching the facts about this lipgloss, I discovered that it won the 2012 Yahoo! Beauty Best Cosmetics Award in the lipstick and lipgloss department! That’s really something major!

The tube itself is really small so it’s great to carry around in your purse on-the-go! =) There is nothing to complain about in terms of its packaging because it’s just a regular squeeze tube!

Left: Squeeze tube packaging; Right: Sheer application of the lipgloss

The gloss itself feels really moisturising and lightweight! As you can see, over bare lips it’s quite sheer but it adds so much gloss and shininess. It applies really easily and just glides over your lips and makes them look really juicy and pouty. This particular shade looks really natural, it sort of just naturally enhances the lip colour and has a slight plumping effect. In my opinion, it’s a little bit on the sticky side because when you smack your lips together, there is some very slight tackiness and your hair can get stuck into it but it’s not messy. However, stickier lip glosses mean longer lasting power so it is something I don’t mind dealing with! =) I find that it has decent wear time, but only without eating! It doesn’t really come off unless I eat something and I need to wipe my lips.

Overall, it is an alright lipgloss! I’m generally not a lipgloss girl in general so I probably will not repurchase but I find that this is nice if I want to add some glossiness to my lips! It makes them look naturally plump and shiny without being extremely sticky. However, since it is a little difficult to find and purchase, I wouldn’t recommend you go through all the trouble to try and find it! >< But if you’re lucky enough to visit or live in Japan, then I say why not? It’s only about 480 yen, which is around $5! =)

Natural makeup day!

♡ Super glossy

♡ Smells good

♡ Decent lasting power (without eating)

♡ Natural plumping effect

♡ Slight tackiness

♡ Sheer colour

♡ Expensive (only to purchase it outside of Japan)