REVIEW | Tarte Cosmetics - Leave Her Blushing

This review is on blushes! I did reviews on foundation, lipsticks, lip balms, eyeshadows and all so I was thinking 'It's time for something new!' Hence, this post about cheeks.

Newly added into my collection, is this stunning Tarte 'Leave Her Blushing' blush set! I have heard rave reviews regarding their products and I am absolutely delighted to have a chance to try and use their products!

'Leave Her Blushing', is a set of 3 deluxe Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blushes & Blush Brush set!

It comes in this pretty purple & gold box!

Isn't it so pretty! The gold branches makes it look so refined!

This is how the packaging inside looks!

The blushes included in this set are
Honoured - a beautiful Nudy Rose shade
Imagined - a startling Candy Pink shade
Treasured - a subtle Melon shade

This is Honoured

Like its description, it has a pinkish tint like roses, except that it leans more towards the brown side. It is a little browner in real life. The color is gradual which allows you to build on the layers, therefore allowing you to get the intensity that you want.

I normally use this when I have intense eyes or lip colors and I just want to give my cheeks a slight wash of color.

This is Imagined

It is a bright shade of pink and it really seems to make your cheeks 'pop'. This is best used when you have subtle eyes and lips. Apply this to the apple of your cheeks but as this is rather concentrated and pigmented, avoid over applying this or you'll look weird! Like you'll look like a overripe apple of sorts.

As much as I love this shade of pink, it doesn't exactly look very nice on me, because I tend to overdo it AHAHAHA!

This is Treasured

This blusher leans more towards the orange side, and I found out that it works great if you are going for a natural sun-kissed look.

For the sun-kissed look, prep your face with the basics like foundation, do your eyes if you want, and then load the brush up with this blusher, and drag it from one side of your face to another. From the apple of one side of your cheeks, over the nose bridge, and then over the apple of the other side of your cheeks. Is that confusing? xD

Tip: To make it even more natural, take a brown eyeliner pencil or eyeshadow, dot your cheeks and nose slightly and then blend it in to add depth and reality to your sun-kissed look! After all, sun-kissed leans toward the tan side as well, so you cannot just be pure orange-red! xD

This series of blushers are good in the sense that they are long lasting and they lessen your need to constantly excuse yourself to touch up your makeup! Isn't that what every girl wishes for? To not have to touch up your makeup too frequently? Because we are all mostly lazy? LOL

These blushers are made with Amazonian clay and before you go 'HUH?! CLAY?! WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT?', read this!

Amazonian Clay helps to minimize the amount of oil in and around the pores to help balance your skin and keep it matte, as well as to help keep the product in place while also helping to hydrate the skin naturally in order to restore moisture, therefore efficiently reducing the appearance of dry flaky skin! Isn't that nice? No flaky or patchy looking skin to annoy us all! :)

These blushers are also formulated without

• Parabens
• Mineral Oil
• Phthalates
• Triclosan
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Synthetic Fragrance 

I don't exactly know what these are, but since these blushers are formulated without those products, those products probably help to make your skin dry, flaky and patchy. I think. o.o

Also, these blushers are wonderful and it is great for all skin types! So you can enjoy all of these blushers without worrying that it will harm or worsen your skin condition!

For

• Oily skin: The Amazonian clay minimizes oil in and around pores to balance skin and keep the product in place so that the oil doesn't cause the blush to run or get blotchy!
• Dry skin: The Amazonian clay hydrates the skin naturally to restore and provide moisture so that your blush wears better and longer and you don't have to worry that it'll crack!
• Dull skin: The Amazonian clay helps to improve the appearance of skin clarity as well as your skin texture!
• Combination skin: The Amazonian clay is completely intuitive! It will give the skin an overall smooth and even texture!

This product can be bought from HERE through under-twenty20!!

Alternatively, you could buy Tarte cosmetic products through the official Tarte Cosmetics website but they only ship in the States! ): So Singaporeans like me simply have to make use of the Singapore based website that kindly helps to ship Tarte cosmetics in!

Enjoy and go wild Tartelettes!

Peace! >D

REVIEW | Sleek Makeup - Pout Polish SPF 15 Tinted Lip Conditioner

A while back, I purchased the Sleek MakeUp Pout Polish that I had been eyeing for quite a while. It normally costs $13, but due to the fact that I bought it when Luxola was having a 25% off sale, I got it for around $9.75. What a steal :D

The thing that first caught my attention when I stumbled upon the webpage, were the colors that the pout polish was available in. I had a such a surprise when it came xD I thought that it would be small and round, when in actual fact, it was flat and sleek. The Pout Polish/Tinted Lip Conditioner, was set in a palm sized looking pot and it just looked so endearing to me. It didn't look bulky like my Body Shop's lip balms, but instead, it looked really sleek like its name suggests!

The Pout Polish comes in various colors.

Perfect Plum

Pink Cadillac

Electro Peach

Chocolate Kiss

Peach Perfection

and,

Powder Pink

I am not sure if everyone feels the same way, but the various shades of pink makes me go all 'AWWW!! WANT WANT WANT!!!' while the other colors make me go 'Er...okay?' LOL

I bought the pout polish in Peach Perfection! It took me quite a while to decide which color to get. I was torn between Pink Cadillac, Peach Perfection and Powder Pink. It was a really difficult decision! ): They all looked so good! My friend Sarah, had to intervene because I was really taking a very long time to decide. She convinced me that Pink Cadillac wasn't my color because it was dark pink and it would only serve to darken my lips, while Powder Pink was too pale a pink and it would only serve to make me look sick and queer. So Peach Perfection it was! Pink with an orange tint/undertone.

When it arrived, I was really happy and excited to try it out. Some things that I like about this product is that it is

• Highly pigmented
• Built in with SPF15
• A host of moisturizing oils
• Able to stain your lips deeper than most glosses
• Long lasting

Don't you just hate it when your lip products don't last long? You have to constantly excuse yourself to reapply it! So troublesome! D<

The product came exactly how I imagined it. Sweet, endearing, sleek and compact, along with the smell of Vanilla. Such a sweet smelling product. 

With flash

Without flash :)

A few things that I noticed when using this product

• It takes on the form of a cream
• It is really smooth when you touch it
• Glides onto lips smoothly
• Not sticky to the touch
• Nice pigmentation
• Lasts for a fair bit (About 3-6 hours, depending on what you do)
• If you do not rid your lips of dead skin before applying this product, you will end up with patchy and splotchy lips with flaky skin. YUCKS.
• Lip balm is advised before usage of this product.
• Lips have a slight tingly sensation 
• The scent of Vanilla can get pretty overbearing

Well, overall, I am semi satisfied with this product. Though I don't feel extremely compelled to use this unlike when I first saw it.

I would rate this around a 7.5/10, because the fact that I have to use lip balm before I use this product. WHAT IF I AM IN A RUSH D< WHAT IF I RAN OUT OF LIP BALM AND LIP STICK AND I NEEDED TO USE THIS DESPERATELY HUH! The tingly sensation sort of gets to me as well. It doesn't cause my lips to itch or anything, but it just bugs me. You would too if your lips felt weird. The vanilla scent was probably the one that pulled my rating of 8.5 to a 7.5. I understand that you want your products to smell good, but I think you really went overboard with the scent for this. It can get pretty nauseating if you have to smell it constantly. The saving grace for this is probably the fact that it lasts long and you don't have to keep opening the container and smell that sweet scent. Is it just my pot being so sweet smelling? Anyone else has this problem too?

This product can be bought from HERE through Luxola! Enjoy shopping!

Thank you for reading! Have a happy day! :)

Cheers!

ELLE BEAUTY SCHOOL - MAKEUP Cheeks

Hello! Have you all been enjoying the posts regarding ELLE'S BEAUTY SCHOOL? xD Did those posts benefit you? It sure did for me! My foundation has been looking more natural recently! If you have your own little tips and tricks, do share! :)

By the way, this is more of a recommendation post xD

'Blush pretty with rose, peach and pink hues.'

 For a ROSY FLUSH, the suggested blushes are

Nars Blush in Orgasm, $50

Diorblush in 676 Coral Cruise, $69

Giorgio Armani Sheer Blush in 02, $53

For an ALL OVER GLOW, the suggested blushes are

Chanel Powder Blush in 78 Delice, $67

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette, $48

Benefit Fine-One-One, $47

I have heard rave reviews regarding the NARS Orgasm blush and I really want to try it out! Along with Benefit's Fine-One-One! I really need to start saving up! >.< Christmas present anyone? xD

All ideas and tips come from ELLE BEAUTY BOOK 2013 and I claim no credit for them though I may have rephrased some sentences! :)

Cheers.

ELLE BEAUTY SCHOOL - MAKEUP Eyes

It seems that the trending colours are Blue, Mint and Green! =)

'Forget boring nudes. Eyes get wide-eyed with colour and definition.'

Tip#01 - STOP COLOUR MIGRATION.
To prevent eyeliner from smudging, especially if you're using a crayon or a gel, pat on a bit of eyeshadow above the line to help set the colour. Alternatively, use an eyeshadow primer - primers that have a bit of shimmer and shine are good as they can double as an eyeshadow base, before colour application to help colour and liner stay budge-proof all day.

 Tip#02 - GO FOR GOLD.
Want your boring eye makeup to pop? With your ring finger or eye applicator, pat on some gold shimmer shadow onto the middle of the eye, on top of your usual eye makeup for a 3D effect. The iridescent hue of this top eyeshadow enhances the eyes, giving them the illusion of depth as you turn your head. Other subtle shimmer hues that also work well include silver, light grey and pearl.

Tip#03 - AVOID LINING YOUR EYES ALL AROUND
While lining the eyes can define peepers and open them up, do not line the eyes all the way around. This will make your eyes appear smaller, and not as bright-eyed as you had hoped. If you must line the bottom, start the line from the outer edge and stop just a third of the way in. You can also extend this bottom line upwards to meet the upper line in a subtle flick.

The suggested eyeshadows to try out are,

 Diorshow Mono Eyeshadow in 230 Cruise

 Yves Saint Laurent Pure Chromatics in Shade 1 (top left), $88

Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Colour Trio in GR412 Lido, $51

Lancome Hpynose Eye Palette Doll Eyes in 03 Menthe a l'O, $90

The suggested eyeliners in the different forms are

In GEL form,

 Clio Gelpresso Waterproof Pencil Gel Liner in Chic Navy, $21.90

In CRAYON form,

Laura Mercier Eye Pencil in Stone Grey, $31

In FELT-TIP form,

Diorshow Art Pen, $48

In LIQUID form,

Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Radium (4th from the left), $30

Add a pop of colour to your eyes with a bright eyeliner. Happy hues of mint, turquoise and violet, layered on top of a black liner is loved for a modern '60s twist.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post! :)

All ideas and tips come from ELLE Beauty Book 2013 and I claim no credit for them though I may have rephrased some sentences! :)

Until next time! :)

ELLE BEAUTY SCHOOL - MAKEUP Brows & Lashes

Many woman tend to neglect their brows while doing their makeup and I, myself, am guilty of that fact. I always thought 'Why care for brows! The eyes and lips and cheeks and lashes are the most important!' That way of thinking is only partially true. BROWS CAN EITHER MAKE OR BREAK YOUR FACE.

'Full brows and lashes complete any eye look.'

Tip #01 - ADD COLOUR.
 Coloured mascaras are all the rage. We've seen them on the runways and over the counter. But to make the colour truly pop, apply a coat of black mascara - a lengthening mascara is preferred for doll-like lashes - before applying your favourite coloured mascara. For the best results, apply the coloured mascara just to the tips to make lashes truly flutter-worthy.

Tip#02 - WAIT A WHILE.
To intentionally get that clumpy-mascara finish that seems to be everywhere right now, the key is to wait for each coat of mascara application to dry before applying the next. And of course, the more coats - three to four coats is good- the better. But do go slow, because you don't want too much, which can result in droopy lashes. Also, don't wipe the wand. Instead, apply it straight from the tube.

Tip#03 - GET FULLER LASHES AND BROWS AT THE SAME TIME.
Forget skinny brows as fuller bushes are preferred. Have naturally skinny or short brows? Use a lash growth-enhancing serum on your brows to help your brow hairs grow. Yes, it works there too! And for an easy quick-fix for unruly brows, spritz hairspray onto a clean mascara wand and brush.

Here are the suggested mascaras for the individual looks!

For INTENSE VOLUME,

Le Volume de Chanel, $50

For ALL-IN-ONE,

M.A.C In Extreme Dimension Lash, $34

For CURL,

Lancome Hypnose Star Waterproof Mascara, $50

For SHINE,

Shu Uemura Tokyo Lash Mascara, $50

For brows, the suggested items in the different forms are,

In MASCARA form,

Benefit Speed Brow, $26

In CRAYON form,

Estee Lauder Automatic Brow Pencil Duo in Soft Brown/Dark Brown, $44

In FELT-TIP form,

M.A.C Penultimate Brow Marker, $31

In POWDER form,

Bobbi Brown Brow Kit in Cement/Birch (left), $75

For the most NATURAL-LOOKING brows, shape with a brow powder and then tidy up with a pencil or brow gel so that your brows frame the eyes better.

I hope that you have learnt something new! I certainly did! I never thought to use black mascara as a base to make coloured mascara pop. I always thought that the black will ruin everything o.o

All ideas and tips come from ELLE Beauty Book 2013 and I claim no credit for them though I may have rephrased some sentences! :)

Peace.

ELLE BEAUTY SCHOOL - MAKEUP BB vs CC Creams

I hoped that you have enjoyed the previous post! :)

Here is a post regarding BB creams and CC creams for those women who just want to get their makeup on their faces quickly! xD

'The lowdown on the latest makeup-skincare trend around. The perfect, fuss-free companion for women on the go.'

 Tip #01 - PRIME THE SKIN FIRST.
To help your BB or CC cream last longer, you should still use a primer or makeup base beforehand - we prefer radiance-enhancing bases for that glow. Plus, a primer or base helps smoothen out the complexion for an even, flawless finish. Skip the powder because the whole idea of a BB or CC cream is to have a natural finish and subtle radiance.

Tip #02 - PICK ACCORDING TO YOUR NEEDS.
If your skin is almost blemish-free, a BB cream will work perfectly. But if you're after a more even skin tone and want more skin-loving ingredients in your product, a CC cream is your best bet! Also, if you're tan and/or have a darker skin tone, try a BB cream first - because brands have heard your cry and have started introducing more shade options for BB creams. CC creams are still relatively new, and so brands tend to have just one or two shades per product.

Tip #03 - MOISTURIZING IS STILL A MUST.
While many BB and CC creams have hydrating properties, it's still important to complete your usual skincare regiment - cleanse, tone and moisturize before application. From all that we've tried, these creams just aren't moisturizing enough for our climate, especially since most of us work in air-conditioned offices.

The suggested BB creams are

Clarins UV Plus HP BB Cream SPF 40/PA++, $74

Kiehl's Dermatologist Solutions Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream SPF 50/PA+++, $68

The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB Cream, $26.90

Yves Saint Laurent Top Secret All in One BB Cream SPF 25/PA++, $69

The suggested CC creams are

Chanel CC Cream Complete Correction SPF 30/PA+++, $82

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream Hydrating Colour, $53

The Face Shop Face It Smart Capsule Color Control Cream SPF 40/PA++, $45.90

Lancôme Renergie CC Multi-Lift, $100

Not sure why a CC cream trumps a BB cream? Just remember this easy equation: AA + BB = CC.

In short, you get anti-ageing properties plus the coverage of a beauty balm in the skin-loving CC cream.

Hope you learnt something! Though I am not a huge fan of BB creams and all, I am sorely tempted to try all of the creams out after this article! xD

All ideas and tips come from ELLE Beauty Book 2013 and I claim no credit for them though I may have rephrased some sentences! :)

Peace.