Showing posts with label lipsticks. Show all posts

Makeup for Work⎪LIPSTICKS

1:49 PM

It might be helpful for some of you out there to know what makeup to wear to interviews. I definitely have a set of products I use when I go for interviews. Unless you are going into the fashion or beauty industry, makeup for interviews might have to be toned down just a little. For me, I definitely make sure to tone done my makeup so that I look professional, ready, and awake.

So, today I want to share with you some of the lip products I use for my "interview makeup". I've got there here on the topshelf today, but I forgot one more to add. I'll mention it down below.

Basically, I've chosen the "MY LIPS BUT BETTER" shades -- going from plum-nude, pink-nude, to beige-nude shades. A lipstick that I've been loving to pieces has been the MAC "Syrup" lipstick. Oh boy, this shade is really one of a kind. It has a plum tone to it, but it isn't over the top. It's an everyday shade with a pop of something pretty and different.

Another natural shade is one by Tom Ford in the shade "Spanish Pink". I recently blogged about this one, but it really is a natural pink shade. It goes with any look, and it isn't too pink nor too nude. It's really lovely! And Tom Ford lipsticks are really long-lasting, so that's a plus since you won't have time to keep reapplying before or during an interview!

Lastly, my cult-fave is by Burberry. The shade "Copper" deserves an award. At times it looks pink, at times it looks orange-biege, and at other times, it looks like a natural rose. Whatever it changes to under different lights, it always looks lovely. The consistency is lovely. Really moisturizing! It almost acts like a balm with color in it. When in doubt and I don't know what to wear, I always go for this shade. In occasions where I want to look ready-set-go... this is the one to go to.

Now the lipstick I forgot to add to my topshelf is the one by Lord and Berry. It is the shade "Rose Nu". Read about this here.

Do any of you have particular lipsticks that you wear for interviews or other professional settings? Let me know :) x

Leave a Comment burberry, lipsticks, lord and berry, MAC, rose, spanish pink, syrup, tom ford, topshelf

REVIEW. Josie Maran Argan Love Your Lips Hydrating Lipsticks

11:30 AM

I would sometimes dwindle around the Josie Maran counters at Sephora but nothing had really triggered me for some reason. That was, until the past few months when I tried out their Argan Love your Lips Hydrating Lipsticks. I, both fortunately and unfortunately, work next to a Sephora and that means popping into that store every chance I get. It must have been both the professional setting and the dry office air that made me want to pick these lipsticks up, because soon, I found myself picking out two of these lipstick shades. One in "Happy Honey" and the other in "Playful Pink". Quite the simple names I must say!

I originally wanted to go for only the nude, but I found that the pink was also a very nice everyday kind of pink. Pricing at $22, I was spilt between whether these sheer lipsticks were worth it or whether they were a bit too sheer and high maintanence. They felt really hydrating, and the color was really nice, but they were really quite sheer. You have to rub these against your lips for a good five or more times to get color on your lips. But when you did, the color was quite sheer and it just gave you a nice flush of the color of the lipstick. Sometimes, you need that sheer shade for places you don't want to make obvious something is on your lips!

The color of the lipstick is surrounded by the signature Josie Maran argan oil balm. It hydrates your lips all over, and it really does feel great. However, what I did find was that, perhaps because it was argan oil based, the oil did evaporate very quickly leaving with just the color on the lips and less of that shine you first get when you apply it on. If you love lip tints, this one is for you.

I did find that I had to reapply it a bit often because one, I found that I liked that creaminess of the argan balm on my lips, and two, because I found that I am more of a definite color lipstick-gal than a sheer-tint-of-color kind of gal.

I can't say these lipsticks are my fave yet, but if you do love a balmy lipstick with a tint of pretty colors for an everyday kind of thing, you might love this. It really is hydrating, and I'd imagine makeup beginners or the not-so-huge makeup wearers would enjoy these very much. I especially love the "Happy Honey" shade since I find it to be such a nice nude shade.

Leave a Comment argan oil, josie maran, lipsticks

My Cult NARS Lipsticks

6:32 PM

I was organizing my lipstick collection when I was looking through my Nars lipsticks and thought I don't really talk about them, and felt I should have a blogpost dedicating it to my cult faves from their lipstick collection. I don't have a lot of shades, but I do have one of each kind of color (a nude, a pink, a cherry, and violet)-- and I feel that really is enough. I love the shades I have, and I've repurchased them loads. And even though I love them, you know how they've become so normal for you that you find you forget to feature them in blogposts and videos? Well, that's the case with these lipsticks. I genuinely love them!

The four shades I want to share with you are: Full Frontal , Honolulu Honey , Funny Face , Roman Holiday.

I don't think the picture came out true to color. That's the thing about lipsticks. Sometimes, they are hard to capture their true shades. And again, colors look different for each skin color.

Full Frontal - seriously, NARS has some names for these lipsticks. Anyway, these limited edition lipstick is such a beautiful purple/violet lipstick. It is really purple -- not fuchsia or cherry-toned, or any of that. It is a true purple violet and I find it so flattering and different from other lipstick shades that attempt at a purple but fail by making them too pastel, too red, too pale, or too dark. I find this to be a perfect blend, and I do hope they make this a permanent collection!

Honolulu Honey - yellow-toned girls, this one is for you. A beautiful nude shade that blends like cream with your skin tone. It is more natural than say MAC's "Shy Girl". It's a gorgeous nude that is hydrating and easy to use.

Funny Face - this is the kind of fuchsia you want. As I was saying before, this is that blend of cherry-red and blue-toned purple. The color is very complex I have to say. In the pictures, it may look pretty red but it really has more dimension than that. I would think that different tones of the lipstick shade would shine through under different lightings. If you look close at the lipstick, you'll see the pearly blue-toned purple! This is on the more intensely-pigmented side of their lipsticks. It is super, super pigmented and it literally tattoos the lips.

Roman Holiday - guys, really. I've bought this lipstick four times. FOUR TIMES. And, that's after using each lipstick to the very very bottom. Can you tell how much I love this lipstick. It is a pink that Audrey Hepburn would wear. Something feminine, something soft, something classic, and something PINK. It is a light pink, but it's not too pale that it'd wash you out. I love it so, and the formulation is similar to Honolulu Honey. Creamy, hydrating, and pigmented (but not as intense as Funny Face).

Leave a Comment fuchsia, full frontal, funny face, honolulu honey, lipsticks, Nars, nars lips, nude, roman holiday

COLORS OF MAKEUP #1⎪FUCHSIA & PLUM Lips

6:18 AM

I'm going to start a series of posts that kind of bundle up a few of my makeup products into similar color categories. Of course, there are those midi-colors that are hard to put into one definite category, so if you think they overlap a bit, I hope you'll understand!

Today's post is going to be on one of my favorite lipstick colors. Fuchsia+Plum. So, let's begin with a definition of what the color of fuchsia is: a vivid purplish-red color like that of the sepals of a typical fuchsia flower. (Google)

Here are my top picks! Run your mouse over each product to see the individual in-depth review.

I don't actually think I have an official review of the NARS Funny Face, but in swatches you will see that it is quite similar to the Bobbi Brown Cosmic Raspberry! What attracted me most to the NARS lipstick was that even in the tube, you can detect this really vivid blue undertone, which makes it look more purpley than the Bobbi Brown. Take a look at the pictures down below. You may not see it so much in the swatches, but in the actual picture of the lipstick, you can see the hues I am talking about!

And of course, here are the Swatches:

And after all that, I remembered that I had my Clinique Chubby Stick in Pudgy Peony that I also really love!

Please be advised that under different light, these colors can look sometimes darker, redder, purpley, and even pinker. I tried to reflect the different hues it gives off, but because the color fuchsia itself is a mixture of purples and reds, you can imagine how complexly it can develop!

Which is your favorite? I'd love to know! x

2 comments cherry, clinique, color series, colors of makeup, fuchsia, lipsticks, MAC, Nars, plum, purple, red, tom ford

Cosmic Raspberry by Bobbi Brown

6:14 AM

After this post, you'll immediately see a post regarding FUCHSIA colored lipsticks. I'm going to be starting a whole blogpost series of COLOR-matching makeup products. Some of the colors I'll be talking about are: oranges/corals, reds, pinks, and fuchsia/plum. The first one up will be the fuchsia/plum category.

One in particular that I want to talk about is, as the heading tells all, is the newest to my fuchsia/plum collection. It is the Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color in "Cosmic Raspberry". I was on a hunt for this lipstick ever since I saw a certain actress wear it. She looked so darn good in this lip color, and so I began to search for what the exact lipstick she was wearing. Ends up, I wasn't the only one on the hunt to find her shade. With a few google clicks here and there, I found out that it was this very shade.

I can't say too much about this lipstick as in terms of its quality, NOT because it isn't good but because like so many high-end luxury lipsticks, they kind of blend into that one similar category of being all really highly pigmented, long-lasting, and hydrating. Like most of my top luxe lipsticks, the pigmentation is superb. It isn't as creamy as my YSL lipstick where a bunch of products comes with a single glide. It gives a good amount of control with how much product transfers onto the lips. In terms of hydration, it is great as well but I'd say not as moisturizing as my Shu Uemura or Burberry lip mists. It isn't of any one extreme, but I bought this for the color so it has just the perfect medium, you know?

Here is me loving it very much indeed!

First off, I love fuchsia. On the lips, I like them even better. Before I bought this shade, I thought it would be more purple than it actually was. It came out to be a bit of purple, fuchsia, and cherry red. It's pretty confusing. Under some light, it gives off that purple that I was really looking for. But in other lights, it looks more cherry than purple. Either way, I absolutely love the color, although to achieve the color that I saw on the actress, it would require perhaps a purple lipgloss on top?

Credits to my sister for modeling this lipstick :)

I have to be honest though. While in Sephora I checked lipsticks that had similar if not exact shades as this and found quite a few. There is definitely one in Laura Mercier that I thought was exactly the same shade. I found two similar ones from YSL and lastly, NARS "Funny Face" is also quite similar. If you are curious to see the comparison to other fuchsia/plum/cherry shades of lipsticks, check out the next blogpost where I show you a few swatches!

2 comments bobbi brown, cherry, fuchsia, lipsticks, michael kors, raspberry, red

Liquid Lipsticks: Hourglass & Giorgio Armani

8:46 PM

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!

1 comment burberry, catbird, catbirdnyc, elizabeth arden, giorgio armani, hourglass, lip maestro, lipsticks, liquid lipstick, opaque rouge, red, rouge, shu uemura

Random Drugstore Haul

7:36 PM

I never thought of buying makeup products at any drugstores. I've always thought, I'd save my money and buy the good quality luxury items. And, I always have. Until recently, I've been watching a lot of Youtube beauty bloggers and the good things they say about some of them have really gotten me to consider purchasing and trying out some of their products... without pressure!

One of the most talked about drugstore brand is Revlon. I hear it so much, people raving about their lipsticks and other products. Of course there is the cost of cheap packaging and not the same content as high-end products out there-- but the point is, considering the price, it's a good deal.

So, basically no one has to go out of their ways to purposely get something "cheap". But if you're on a budget, it really doesn't hurt to try!

On my usual stocking of cotton pads and wax, I decided to give some beauty/makeup products a go. Unlike Sephora or other beauty counters, you can't try the products at the store. It's more like you like what you see, you buy it. If you like it, that's good. If not, oh well... you missed out on five dollars.

I bought two lipsticks from Revlon. "Gentlemen prefer Pink" (no. 450) and "Softsilver Rose" (no. 430). I often find that when you are buying cheaper lipsticks, it's good to be safe. I feel buying neutral everyday colors will give you the most payback with these lipsticks. Sometimes going a bit exotic on the colors might prove the lack of quality these products may have.

That being said, these two colors were very pretty. The 450 is a really pretty satin-finish pick. The 430 is a bit more red but very wearable. It's just brightens the lips with a soft pink-red, and it also has a satin like finish. They are decently pigments and are quite creamy so it won't necessarily dry out your lips. I do find that after awhile, if you were to rub your lips a little, your skin might start peeling. So not entirely hydrating or good for the lips, but I think you get what you get.

Next, I bought a Rimmel lipsticks. Now, I never even heard of Rimmel until my obsession with UK beauty bloggers. Then I started thinking, hey maybe I'd try if I ever found one around me. Well, I did! Packaging was pretty, and I especially bought the one from the line that was collaborated with Kate Moss. Supposedly, it's her "shades", the ones that would best represent her.

Loved the cute packaging and the colors were decent. There was about five shades. I got the shade 08, and it's a mauve brown. It's actually browner than I thought it would be, and I'm not sure I could pull it off. But with the right kind of makeup, I think it'll be a chic lip color to wear. It does have a slightly model-esque feel to the mauve lipstick!

Then I went and picked up two Essie nail polishes. I prefer buying mine on Amazon as I find them so much cheaper. It's literally $3 online! But I wanted to try them out asap, and I've realized that the cost of buying it so cheap online is that sometimes, they can be sending the ones from the older edition where the applicator isn't so great as the ones that have come out now. So, I thought-- why not?

I got "Cute as a Button" and "Fiji". Fiji seems to be some kind of hype and I thought I'd give it a try. I am currently wearing "Neo Whimsical" which I find to give that really pretty bridal pink color. But it does have a purple pastel undertone, unlike the Fiji which is a white-based pink. It is quite pretty. "Cute as a Button" is a bright neon pink/purple. I'm horrible at describing this, but one of my favorite Youtubers, Tanya Burr, wore this color several times in her video. And I loved it so much and thought it was pretty cute!

I ran out of some top coats and I find the Sally Hansen dual action really works best and has the best applicator. So, I got that.

And other miscellaneous things! But I thought I'd share :)

xx