Illamasqua says: The professional cream formula helps create a flawless, shine-free base, and contains UVA and UVB filter. Use under foundation or on its own.

I threw this in my basket in my Illamasqua haul after reading mostly good reviews about it. Since all items were 20% off, that was a good opportunity to try it. 
(Read: Shopaholics say anything to justify their purchases.)

 

The light plastic tube is very travel friendly. Squeeze tube enables hygienic dispensing of the product, though I foresee some difficulty in getting the last bits out when one is finishing the primer.

The texture is not thick that it is difficult to spread, neither is it too watery and thin. One can easily spread and blend the liquid onto the face. And no, it doesn't leave a white cast on the face. The photos above are taken immediately after I spread the primer on my hand to show consistency of the liquid so you can see an obvious white patch. This totally disappears after 30 seconds.

This primer is scented with vanilla so it will not be suitable for beauties who prefer scent-free products.

 

My thoughts

My nose shines after 2 hours under normal circumstances. With this primer, I am amazed that my nose is shine-free for 5-6 hours. I am loving this SOLELY for the mattifying property. Because of this, my foundation wears well and longer. On days when I am feeling lazy, I can make this tube lasts longer by applying it only on my T-zone to control shine. I am surprised that this brand from the UK, a wintry low humidity place, comes up with such an amazing matt primer totally suitable for hot and humid climate like Singapore where I am living.

It is stated that it contains UVA and UVB filter so I do not know whether it has SPF. No biggie since I can use this over my sunscreen or under foundations with SPF.

Hope this review is useful.:)

 

Sometime ago, there was a 20% discount on all Illamasqua products on the website before the official launch of Toxic Collection. Good discounts are always a safe bet to lure weak-willed spendaholics. Like me.

 

The brochure that came along with the items. Night time makeup for your alter ego. I covet Illamasqua because there's just something very interesting about the whole brief. Their recent toxic collection concept is so interesting, a unique and bizarre take on spring/summer makeup instead of the usual floral, sunny story.

 

I ordered mostly cream and powder blushers. When I received the box, I realised I ordered 2 cream blushers (Promise) and 2 powder blushers (Katie).  Thankfully, I managed to find a good home (thanks Amy!) for the extra set of blushers. :)

Lesson learnt: never do wine while internet shopping in the middle of the night.

 

Happy group shot.

 

The descriptions that follows are brief introduction of the products and any sentiments are based on first impression from swatches. I feel that each and every one of them deserves a proper and detailed review which I will be doing in upcoming posts.

The Powder Blushers

 

Panic is a happy, deep cherry red. Very crimson, sexy and fiery colour.

Disobey is described as biscuit colour which is ideal for contouring.

Katie is a soft candy cotton pink, very very pink. I've read other reviews on Katie and most concluded that it is a lighter pink than MAC lightest pink blush - Well-Dressed.

Intrigue is a white highlighter. I wanted to get Tremble, described as soft lilac pink on the site, but that was out of stock. Initial impression of Intrigue - plain white powder that looks and feels like those white highlighter that is part of most eyeshadow palettes.

 

The Cream Blushers

 

Promise is a warm candy pink while Sob is cool candy pink. I ordered Promise and Sob because I wanted both cool and warm candy pink, being curious how they will look on my skintone.

Laid is a bight rose pink. It look very very similar to Promise but rosier.

Brazen is described as bright blood red on the site, which got me very interested and curious. I 'googled' for a swatch but couldn't find any. This colour reminds me of MAC Movie Star Red CCB (cream colour base, not vulgarity okay?) but having not owned it, I do not know which is more tomato, which is more bloody --- why do I feel like I'm swearing?Anyway, I am particularly curious why I can't find any Brazen swatch online. It seems like an incredible colour that can double up as a lip stain.

 

Rest of the items

I am loving the matt primer so much I'm naming it my holy grail primer. A full review will be done for this primer to do it justice.

That's it for my Illamasqua haul and I quote Rick from Casablanca: I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. :)

 

Sometime ago, I came across a blogsale by Icefrost and got NARS Nico.

This has got to be the most under-raved product.

 

NARS classifies Nico as a blush. I say this is more like a highlighter or beauty powder depending on your skintone. The colour's an eggshell nude and it blends right into my skintone (I'm NC20-25). At some angles, I can see a subtle shine from the pan.

I use Nico to set my liquid foundation with a large fluffy brush or after 3 hours of foundation when I will be expecting some oil on my face. I know how some likened Nico to be an overpriced pressed powder but to me, it is like a satin powder. Unlike pressed powder, Nico does not look stark or powdery on my face when I touch up.

Nico gives my face a subtle, satin sheen and that's precisely what I love about it. Not in-your-face stark white or shimmery sparkly highlight that might make one look overly made up.

For fairer ladies this is a perfect beauty powder. Use a large fluffy brush and sweep the powder all over your face for a satin finish and healthy glow. Nico is a perfect highlighter on cheeks for beauties of NC/NW35 and above.

I also use Nico to tone down an over-enthusiastically applied blusher for a natural glow.

Hope you find this review useful.

The poster did a wonderful job in selling me the product.

 

Chanel says:

Chanel reveals the next generation of lipgloss – with colour so rich and shine so intense, it could only be inspired by the iconic lipstick, ROUGE ALLURE. Bold colour combines with the smoothest, silkiest gel texture for luxurious wear and deeply dramatic effect. Lips feel comfortable – never sticky or tacky – and look luminous, full and sensuous for hours. The double-sided, flocked applicator is beveled to deliver ultra-precise definition.

I say:

Love it! The one that I have is Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Insolence (as featured in poster) and it's a cool soft pink. The packaging is luxe in sleek black tube that feels really solid. I can totally see a socialite whipping this out from her Hermes purse to touch up her makeup while a commoner (like me) fumbles to apply gloss from a cheap plastic tube. That said, I prefer my gloss in clear tubes as I need constant updates on the content.

 

I love the applicator. It doesn't pick up too much gloss so there's minimal product wastage. I need to go back into the tube at least 3-4 times to get the appropriate amount on my lips.

The pigmented colour gives full coverage so one can wear the gloss on bare lips. I find the formula amazing because my lips look glossy but the gloss doesn't feel sticky. This pink's not loud but rather, it gives a polished finish and makes my lips look healthy. (as in the cliche - in the pink of health, duh!) I often wear this on my bare lips because the colour's so pigmented, I do not need lipstick.

I hope the brilliance of the gloss draws your attention away from my oily face.

 

If I were to expect any visitors in the afternoon, I planned it around my son's sleeping schedule. Any parent knows what will happen when baby's sleeping schedule is disturbed, they will either not sleep till 1am or sleep real early like 7pm and wake up at 2am wanting to play.

So one fine day, an agent had to collect a cheque at my place at 2.30pm in the midst of my son's nap. I planned this grand scheme, that I would slip out and meet him at basement carpark (my 2 dogs would bark if he were to come to my door) while my helper keep an eye on the sleeping baby.

The plan bombed. The guardhouse buzz the intercom to my home before the plan had a chance to take off and the baby woke up.

 

So today, I made an appointment with the aircon service man to come at 4-5pm when my son would have woken up already. Feeling smart, I turned on my laptop and was just enjoying a little me-time when barely 3pm, the intercom buzzed.

Barely 3pm~!, after I spent 30 minutes trying to put him to bed, he woke up after 15 minutes!

Furious, I called the aircon servicing office and was told the man intended to come up to my place only at 4pm, as it was raining and he didn't want to be late so came early to wait at my carpark. The guardhouse happily buzzed me when he drove in. When I called the guardhouse to tell them not to buzz me again, the security advised me to write in to the management office.

My letter.

The blood boiling reply:

How I read the letter:

You are but only 1 occupant in that 1 unit out of the 530 units so we can't be bothered with your request. Suck that because I AM THE MANAGEMENT. WE WILL COME BACK TO YOU. (so don't bother me anymore)

 

How about 'I am sorry to inform that we cannot accede to your request because......' and perhaps end with 'I thank you for your kind understanding..'?
Then I gladly do what you 'advise' me to do in your second paragraph (which I ALREADY said I will do in my initial letter to her!). And I will definitely be a kind and understanding owner.

I have never in my life, gotten a brush-off with this particular remark: ESPECIALLY we have 1 million other customers in Starhub, ESPECIALLY we have 1234556778 other depositors with the bank, ESPECIALLY we have 2 million other customers with Singapore Power, etc.

I decided to put her in her place with this reply:

I chanced upon these babies recently online. The seller wrapped them so nicely in a little box that I felt like I was getting a birthday present.

Benefit Blusher in CORALista and bella bamba. The bad girl lash is a free gift. How sweet!

 

Benefit CORALista and Benefit bella bamba

 

Benefit CORALista: Benefit website describes this blusher as 'a warm coral-pink cheek powder that is your "coral blush for a tropical flush"! '

 

Benefit bella bama: A 'watermelon' blush, with such a cool description, it's hard not to get suckered into wanting to try it. There are gold shimmery undertones that one will be reminded of NARS Orgasm.

 

Swatches with comparison with other iconic blushes.

Benefit CORALista is a cool coral-pink blush and it's more pink than it's named. The pan looks very deceptive, coral but swatches pinky. It swatches like NARS Orgasm, both coral pinks but surprisingly, I find CORALista looking more pink than Orgasm. Maybe that's because Orgasm has more golden shimmer that makes it appear more peachy. That said, they are close dupe. Well, close, but not dupe.

Benefit bella bamba is exactly like what it is described in Benefit's website, a 'watermelon' blush. It's a cool red and how I will best describe it is this: bella bamba's like a hot-flush-in-a-hot-weather kinda blush than a pink-flush-on-face-after-'exercise' kinda blush.

Hope to do couple of LOTD's over the weekend with these two babies.

One fine day, Kas sent me a message asking if I wanted to buy her Bohemian Sleek Palette. Never had a Sleek Palette before so I thought that was an opportunity to try the product. Totally fell in love with it and now I have a happy family of Sleek Palettes.

They remind me of water-colour paints in my primary school art class.

Acid Palette

My first word when I opened the palette, 'Wow'. The bright neon colours hits you right on visually. Red, Yellow, Blue and Green, Purple, Orange and White, it should be named the Rainbow Palette.

The metallic blues and grey swatch on beautifully but the bright neons like yellow, orange and green are chalky. I couldnt get the bright green swatch on (fourth on botton row), the picture below shows how chalky the eyeshadow is on my finger. I have a good amount of powder on my finger but only manage to get a faint colour on my arm. Perhaps the colour will show better if I wet the eyeshadow? I will get round to trying that and report here.

 

Bohemian Palette (Limited Edition)

3 of the shadows are metallic and the rest are matte. This palette is a winner, all shadows are very pigmented, not chalky and I am blown away by the intensity of each colour on my lids. My favourite shade here is bright yellow as it brightens the eyes immediately. Unlike the yellow in the Acid palette, this one goes on smoothly on my lids. I wish this palette is in black instead of white, as powder fallout stains the palette so it looks rather dirty. Overall, I like the formula Sleek uses for this palette.

I am so glad this palette was not hidden and forgotten in some drawer in Kas' room.

Sunset Palette (Permanent)

If you want to buy just one Sleek palette only, this will be the one to go for. All the colours are friendly neutral shades. What I do with the Orange is after I'm done with the makeup on my eye in neutral shades, I dab a little Orange on the centre of my lids to brighten the lid. Again, the colours swatch well, none of them are chalky. I like the warm tones of this palette and I'm glad this is part of the permanent collection.

Sparkles Palette (Limited Edition)

I came across this palette on sg_beauty and pounced on it. This is limited edition, released as part of the 2010 Holiday Collection. The colours are intense, very party-disco colours. I do experience a wee bit of glitter fallouts but as the eyeshadows are not very packed with glitters, my face doesn't look like glitter bomb just exploded on it. The two plum shades are beautiful and one can dab a little of that red shadow on the plums for brightening effect.

Hope the swatches have been helpful. I am definitely on the prowl for more Limited Edition Sleek Palettes. They are very handy for travelling, 'sleek' and palm-sized. With 12 colours in a palette for about $20+, they are great value for money.

I am clearing my stash, rehoming them because I have terribly neglected them. They are lovely products but I have tons of stuff, ALL brand new in box, in my drawer that have yet seen daylight.

Terms and Condition:

Please leave a comment the item you want and your email. Prices are in Singapore dollars and do not include postage.

You are strongly encouraged to opt for registered post. I am not responsible for lost of item once item is mailed out via normal mail.

Meetup welcomed in the West/Central area.

All prices in Singapore dollars.

Happy shopping and may these products come in handy for the coming festive holidays!

 

All lipsticks used. Photo shows condition of lipsticks.

Left to Right:

Chanel Lipstick in Rose Comete $25

Estee Lauder Lipstick in Sugar Honey $10

MAC Lipstick in Empowered $10

MAC Lipstick in Jubilee $10

MAC Lipstick in HoneyLove $15

NARS Lipstick in Honolulu Honey $15

Bare Escentuals Mineral Loose Powder Brand New Without Box $25

Amazing Concealer in Fair, BNIB $30 (usual price $40) selling my backup.

 

Sana Pore Putty Make Up Base Brand New $10

Covergirl LashBlast Length in Very Black BNIB $10

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Portion, swatched 1x. $30 (retail $40)

Guerlain Lingerie De Peau Foundation in 03 Beige Naturel. Used 3x
Suitable for NC25-30. $55 (retail $80).
Love this foundation but I got the wrong shade, I'm NC20-25.
Will throw in 3 brushes from Ecotools (see insert)

Chanel Mat Lumiere Foundation in 20 Clair BNIB $55

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Deauville used 3x $35

Etude House Duo Fiber Brush BNIB $15

Etude House Eye Liner Brush (Pink Handle) BNIB $5

Sigma Tapered Face F25 Contour Brush used. washed 1x. $20

 

 

NARS eyeshadow in Night Rider. Used, condition as in photo. $15

MAC Coral Crepe paintpot used. Condition as in photo. $15

MAC Mineralised Eyeshadow In the Groove $25

MAC Mineralised Eyeshadow Fresh and Easy $25

MAC Mineralised Blusher A Little Bit of Sunshine $35

All used less than 5 times.

 

Is anyone not down with the flu, cough, sore throat or fever?

I was sick the last couple of days with the flu and sore throat. Must have caught it from Twitter, everybody's on it it are sick one way or another.

A LOTD with NARS Sheer Glow Foundation and Cleo Duo Eyeshadow.

Trust me, my passport photo looks nothing like this.

I ordered NARS Cleo Duo Eyeshadow solely based on swatches online and it didn't disappoint me when I got to play with it. NARS seldom goes wrong with the eyeshadow formula and this shadow duo works perfectly well. The lighter colour of the duo is a light seafoam greean while the darker one is a ocean teal. Both shadows are silky to touch, pigmented and easy to work with. One swipe of the powder on the brush and all you have to do is blend blend blend.

Thanks for looking and have a happy weekend.