My Beauty Picks #2⎪August


Life has been pretty busy. But, I made time to feature some of my current favorites. I tried to keep them away from the usually featured products, but there are some products that have been able to weasel themselves into this month's favorites!

Watch the video! :)


So here they are: [Click on each to see the individual reviews]

MAC Extra Dimension Blush


I featured this blush in my MAC haul video a few months back. Since then, I've been working myself slowly through the bunch of new blushes I had purchased that time around. Recently, I have been unable to stop wearing this blush. Once I get hooked on a certain blush, it takes me a lot of mind control to put it down and take on another blush. But hey, why the rush? I might just take my time with this love until I get sick and tired of it!


I'm talking about MAC's Extra Dimension Blush. It's a limited edition and when I bought this blush, it had just come up. A truly "new arrival" line because I got to this stand when the MAC ladies were bringing the boxes out and putting them on display. Happily, I took the pleasure of swatching all of the perfectly new blushes at the stand!


I ended up with the shade Blazing Haute which is a medium-light orange. The thing about the Extra Dimension Blushes is that they have pigment but they also have a highlighting effect. I find that when I use this blush I don't have to wear a highlighter. Just like their name, they give extra dimension to the face, catching the light to your natural contour. I found that some of their shades were literally just highlighters because the colors were so slight or so close to one's actual skin color.


The shade Blazing Haute is such a pretty shade. I find that when I use a darker orange, or a true vivid orange, I end up looking quite tan. For those who like that look, I guess it's fine. But since I like to look more fresh than tan, I found that this orange was just that right shade for that fresh yet contoured look. I highly recommend this blush.


One downfall though. Why do MAC products create these small oil dots? I don't know if you can see it in the pictures, but those little bubbles were made with a fresh clean brush, even before that brush touched my face. Just swirling a brush makes that blush catch and make these oil rolly balls! Yuck. Does anyone else have that problem?


Oh, and by the way this blush came with such a beautiful swirl and MAC imprints all over the blush! Too bad I've used almost all of them up.

Natural Eyes. BENEFIT It's Complicated EYESHADOW


I have been returning to the simple liquid black eyeliner look. Basically, zero to minimal eyeshadow and all emphasis on the eyeliner and/or just a black mascara. There has been a certain eyeshadow I have been wearing for this zero-minimal eyeshadow eye-look and it's Benefit's Long-Weaer Shadow in the shade It's Complicated. I have been eyeing this shade for such a long time, but because it is so neutral to my skin, I felt I didn't "need" it. But, for months I have been loving that sheen and gleam across the eyelid that is just one shade brighter than your skin tone. It catches the light in such a pretty way, and helps the eyeliner and/or the mascara pop out. It also keeps the eye-makeup fresh!




I never tried Benefit's eyeshadows but they seemed quite nice. Now that I've used it for awhile, I can say that they are very creamy and nicely pigmented. The Longwear Powder Shadow is long-wearing but it will crease if you have oily lids. With an eye-primer, something like the Nars Pro Prime it can definitely last all day. I'm all for wearing eye primer no matter what!

The shade is lovely. It's a bit orange/yellow compared to say the all-famous MAC All that Glitters eyeshadow. I know a lot of pink-toned gals like that for the "all-over-the-lid" shade. Unfortunately for me, that shade is a bit too pink and a bit too bright! This shade "It's Complicated" is the perfect shade for the light/medium yellow skin-toned! It doesn't look like you have any eyeshadow on, but in the sun or in a certain light, it catches just the right amount of sparkle! I love it that it also brightens the eyelids a bit. I also like to apply it in the inner corners and a bit down on the waterline, near the inner-corners so that it gives that slight brightening effect!


Side note: When I first saw this shade it looked so much more orange than when I had swatched it. A Sephora lady kindly explained that the testers are oxidized because they are left open and so the color looks different from say the new ones, but that on the lid, the colors will be what I expect them to be. Surely, it was so just in case you are worried about the shade in the package, don't worry! It will that lovely yellow-tan-gold-peach shade!

Liquid Lipsticks: Hourglass & Giorgio Armani



I recently purchased the Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick on a whim. It wasn't much planned, but when I read about it on a few beauty blogs and swatched it at the Sephora Hourglass counter, I thought, hey this must be good. 


Because I already have the Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro in the shade 504, which is a vibrant bright red, I thought I'd go for something a bit more wearable than that. I opted for Hourglass shade in "Muse". It seemed a softer yet still vibrant coral-red. The darker skin toned you are, this shade will probably pop out more. On me, it looks very bright and more red than a soft coral. 

After using it for a few days and discovering so many pros about it, I thought I'd do a little comparison between the Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro and the Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick. In some essence, they are of the same concept. They are more lipsticks than lip glosses that come in gloss-like packaging. They are both intensely pigmented and super creamy on the lips. The glide on like whip cream and give this subtle ground between matte and natural-gloss. They don't make your lips powdery matte, but then again, it doesn't bring out some false gloss to the lips either. They give that wonderful middle ground.

Both are super long-lasting. As long as you aren't eating and drinking with this on, they can probably last up to 10 hours. By that time, it might even tint your lips in that shade. I find however, that the Giorgio Armani lip maestro tints the lips more than the Hourglass Opaque Rouge.

Both also have similar applications. The wand has a little felt tip that makes applying easier. In terms of packaging, I must say that the Giorgio Armani lip maestro looks quite the luxury, but even with the small tube packaging, the Hourglass Opaque Rouge carries chic with it too! Being that there is much more in the Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro, it costs for more... price of $32. The Hourglass Opaque Rouge costs $28.



The more important difference I found between the two was that I found the Hourglass Opaque Rouge much less drying on the lips. The Giorgio Armani lip maestro can get quite drying. I often find that I have put Elizabeth Arden 8hr Cream on, before or after the lipstick application. However, the Hourglass Opaque Rouge doesn't dry out the lips even after you've smacked and puckered up your lips several times. I can't say that they are anything as hydrating as say the Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited or the Burberry Lip Mists but then again, they are of different formulation!


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