A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
I’ve been wearing Fire Lust Skin Illuminator (repackaged in Tom Ford’s summer 2014 collection, but previously available) a lot lately with my BECCA Matte Foundation, sometimes on top of the foundation, and other times mixed in with it and applied to the skin.
A super subtle and shimmery peachy pink, I think Fire Lust is just OK by itself, but I think it can be great with other products, where it adds just a hint of a summery glow…
It’s available now at Tom Ford counters ($65) and also online.
Shout-out to the Mayans, yo! The feathered serpents, jaguars, pyramids and gold rings — you know, the usual Sephora fare.
I feel like the 7-piece Santigolden Age collection is about two years late, but hey, I’m not complaining at all. I’m glad that last doomsday prediction was off. 🙂
New for summer from Smashbox, the release, a collaboration with American singer/songwriter Santigold, sort of has a Mayan apocalyptic theme. It features two eyeshadow palettes, which Smashbox refers to as Eye Collages; two double-ended eye liners; two lip glosses; and a lipstick…inside a ring!
I hadn’t heard of Santigold before this collection, so I looked her up on YouTube…
Some pretty catchy stuff! Kind of reminds me a li’l of M.I.A.
At first I thought the colors in the limited edition launch seemed all over the place, but upon closer inspection, I think I see how the pieces fit.
There are a bunch of bright-ish colors — blues, greens, oranges and yellowish golds — held together by neutrals (brown, black and beige).
I think it’s definitely a collection for girls/guys who have a “no fear!” outlook on wearing color.
Hello, classic. 🙂
This shimmery peachy pink deserves a place in the history books.
You can find it and the rest of the recently reformulated 30-piece NARS Lip Gloss line now wherever NARS is sold.
I’m curious… Of the NARS Lip Glosses we’ve looked at so far, which ones have been your faves?
I was originally going to wear basic neutrals and black liner on my lids today because it was deceptively chilly this morning, but that didn’t last long. It was 80 degrees by 9!
After shutting all the windows, drapes and blinds (much to Tabs’ chagrin, because it obstructs his view of the bird feeder outside), I felt like summery makeup was in order — something like the new NARS Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Duo from the Adult Swim summer 2014 collection.
Today Rowena of the delicious Cosmetic Candy Blog takes us Far East with five of her favorite Japanese makeup primers.
The moment I made the transition from makeup enthusiast to junkie was the moment I discovered affordable Japanese cosmetics.
I was already in love with Hello Kitty and friendly with Kerokerokeroppi, so buying Japanese makeup seemed like a natural thing to do.
And now, a few years in, I can say that around 75% of my cosmetics collection is of Japanese origin or of brands sold primarily in Japan.
For me personally, I love the scope, the variety, the efficiency and the sheer sparkly goodness of Japanese cosmetics. I can br-br-br-break it down like this:
Japanese packaging for Maquillage, for example, can be cute or elegant or just gadget heaven. Some brands will keep their basic packaging permanent like many Western brands do, but others will play around with the cases and lipstick tubes every couple seasons or so, keeping a fresh look and concept (Kate and Lavshuca do this often).
And I am genuinely impressed when companies think of new ways for us to apply our lipgloss other than plain sponge applicators!
You know what they say about Japanese engineering and attention to detail, right? It’s the same for the makeup. Only when I started playing with Shu Uemura did I finally find a mascara that didn’t run (and it wouldn’t come off without a fight either — “doh!”); only when I tried Shiseido Hydro Powder cream eyeshadows did I find a base that didn’t budge; and only when kitty punched me with her paw (we don’t talk about that day anymore):
I love the variety of textures available from Japanese makeup brands, especially the lipsticks and cream/liquid-based eyeshadows.
I’ve reviewed a number of cream colors on my blog here and here. These aren’t just the same old creamy textures we’ve seen so many times before. Some are water based, or light creams, thick creams, mousses, firm jellies, soft jellies…Phew!
Although some Japanese brands are ridiculously, eye wateringly expensive, my favourite ones are mid-priced to affordable (equivalent to drugstore brands). Even the brands that are sold in drugstores are extremely high quality, and in my opinion match many of the high-end Western brands in terms of pigmentation and finish.
I find the many of the Japanese brands go for quite a shimmery, but natural look overall. This doesn’t mean that the products aren’t pigmented, but that many of them do suit being worn in quite a natural-glow-I-didn’t-even-try-hard way.
Japanese lipsticks are the best when it comes to creating a water based glossy finish, full of iridescent sparkles and glow and are never drying.
So without further ado, here are 5 brands which I think are lovely and you should try!
Jill Stuart may be better known for her fashion line, but her makeup and skincare range (exclusive to Japan) is just as good. The range stands out because its drop-dead gorgeous princessy silver packaging wins me over all the time.
Unfortunately, it’s fairly pricey at around $65 for a powder foundation and $45 for an eyeshadow quad (prices can vary a little).
Must try items: Jelly Eye color, the quads, fruit lip balm and lip lusters.
Kate is a drugstore-level brand made by Kanebo. It’s a funky, punky but pretty look, and the packaging is black and fairly basic, although they always find nice ways to present the shadow pans in the palettes. They have plenty of eyeshadow palettes, normally with 5 colours in each to play with, as well as a set of Gel eyeshadows I think are fab because they really last.
Must try items: Glam Trick Eyes palettes, Gel Eyeshadows, Gel Mascara.
MAQUillag is a medium-end makeup brand made by Shiseido, aimed at a slightly older market than Kate. MAQUillage for me oozes class and quality, and I’m very rarely disappointed by a product they make. You can buy separate pans of cream and powder eyeshadows too to put together your own palette extravaganza!
Must try items: All the lip sticks and glosses (yep, all of them!), the eye creator palette (contains 2 cream shadows and 3 powders), and I personally love the Climax Moisture Foundation Compact.
I’ve always had a weird fascination with those personalized name tchotckes — like the little license plates, key chains, bottle openers and refrigerator magnets you always see at the airport on display in front of the periodicles stores.
I don’t know why, but I just love those little things, and the spinning kiosks, too. You twirl them around, looking for your name, and then voila! — there it is! Hopefully.
I’ve always gotten a big kick out of that… 🙂
Imagine my delight when I came across this new line of Full-On Lip Polish lipglosses ($19 each) from Buxom on all its spinning display glory at Sephora yesterday.
Of course I had to stop.
“For kisses that’ll keep them coming back for more, try this sheer, high-shine lip polish. It creates the look of fuller, more voluptuous lips with a refreshing tingling sensation and gentle plumping effect. Vitamins A and E help keep lips soft, supple, and protected, ensuring your smoothest moves ever.”
Each of the glosses has her own name, so you can walk up to the display, twirl it around, and look for the gloss that matches your name.
How cute is that?!
The sheer, shimmering, glistening $19 Buxom Full-On Lip Polishes have been around for a while, but the brand just recently expanded the collection up to 100 shades (!).
Yes, I did find one called Karen, and I may or may not have giggled fiendishly when I saw that she’s a sparkling pink.
Quick look at the new Brow Pow Eyebrow Powder by theBalm, available in Blonde, Light Brown and Dark Brown.
POW!
Coming soon to theBalm counters and theBalm.com…
The packaging kind of reminds me of Benefit. I’m a sucker for anything comic-bookish or superhero-related.
Like the Eurythmics sang, “Sweet dreams are made of this…” shimmery pink grapefruit gloss. 🙂
I love the sparkles in this shade. NARS mixed in the tiniest pieces of pink, silver and gold glitter, which give Sweet Dreams a little extra somethin’-somethin’.
I wear this one when I want a glimmering nude pink lip that isn’t overly sparkly. It draws attention to yo’ pout but isn’t so overwhelming shimmery that people have to shield their eyes, ya know?
And it’s available right meow for $26 with the rest of the 30 shades in the new NARS Lip Gloss line.
