Revlon ColorStay Creme Eye Shadow and Exactify Liquid Liner Review

28 February 2018

I don’t usually associate Revlon with eye make-up products, but I recently tried out their new ColorStay Creme Eyeshadows and the Exactify Liquid Liners and I was super impressed! Here’s my review and some swatches of the products…

Revlon ColorStay Creme Eyeshadow Review

Revlon’s ColorStay Creme Eyeshadows ($14.95 AUD for 5.2 g) are little glass cream pots reminiscent of Maybelline’s Color Tattoos that I reviewed before.

I have super oily eyelids, so it’s almost impossible for a cream eyeshadow to stay uncreased on them after about an hour of wear – Maybelline’s Color Tattoos creased after a while, even after setting with translucent powder. But surprisingly, Revlon’s ColorStay Creme Eyeshadows have managed it! These last a whole day on my eyelids without budging once they’re dried, and they don’t even need powder. They also come off very easily with a two-phase eye make-up remover.

Rimmel The Only 1 Matte Lipstick: Swatches and Review

8 August 201717 February 2017

Here’s the sequel to Rimmel’s The Only 1 lipsticks which I loved: Rimmel The Only 1 Matte. Much like the original, they mix intense colour, easy application, and excellent staying power, and even feel moisturising… almost (let’s face it, matte lipsticks never truly feel moisturising!). There are 9 shades available, and all 9 shades are coming to Australia. Here they are:

Trendsetter (7oo) – warm pinkish brown nude
Salute (200) – nude pink
High Flyer (610) – dusty mauve
Leader of the Pink (110) – medium pink

NYX Butter Gloss and Intense Butter Gloss Swatches and Review

3 October 201615 July 2016

I’m currently in love with NYX’s Butter Glosses. I know I’m a little slow to get on this bandwagon, but I’ve never been a fan of sticky glosses and these have the syrupy, stringy texture of honey so I was hesitant to try them. The delicious vanilla scent eventually won me over though!

NYX Butter Gloss Swatches and Review

NYX Butter Glosses are lightly tinted glosses that leave a natural finish on your lips. They come in a clear screw-top tube with a doe foot applicator, and NYX have done an amazing job matching the colour of the plastic on the caps with the colour of the actual product so it looks a lot like opaque packaging when new.

The Butter Glosses have a pretty stringy and sticky texture which worried me a bit, but after application, the texture is a lot less sticky and shiny. They remind me a bit of a tinted lip balm, like Revlon’s discontinued Lip Butters that I loved. They also have the moisturising power and low maintenance of a lip balm, but on the flip side they also have the staying power of a relatively long-lasting lip balm (a few hours without eating and with minimal drinking). I’ve found them very handy for layering on top of drying matte lipsticks halfway through the day, when your lip skin decides to leave the nest in highly unsexy flakes that only get worse when you try to apply more lipstick.

Paula’s Choice Blush It On Palette and Flawless Finish Powder review

23 May 2016

I love Paula’s Choice products, but I hadn’t used any of their makeup products until I tried the Blush It On Contour palette and the Resist Flawless Finish powder recently.

The Blush It On palette ($55 AUD/$36 USD from Paula’s Choice or Amazon) has a set of 4 blushes, a champagne highlighter and a taupe contour powder (all 3 g) in cardboard packaging. It includes a mirror that’s wide enough for both cheeks to be visible which is handy! The shades are (left to right):

Pearl – a champagne highlighter with fine shimmer
Bronze – a slightly warm taupe contouring shade
Delicate Coral – a slightly pastel orange coral shade
Dusty Rose – peachy pink
Peony – warm pink
Soft Mauve – a cool, deeper pink

Burt’s Bees Lipstick Swatches and Review

21 November 201820 April 2016

Burt’s Bees have launched a new line of lipsticks. I’ve never had much luck with “natural” lipsticks – the ones I’ve tried don’t glide on well and end up patchy, or have poor pigmentation, or some other issue – but these are surprisingly nice!

Burt’s Bees Lipstick Swatches

There are 14 shades available – I tried 7 of them:

Nile Nude – pale caramel nude
Blush Basin – light dusty rose
Tulip Tide – pastel lilac
Fuchsia Flood – rose pink
Scarlet Soaked – deep bright red
Juniper Water – plum
Russet River – maroon

There’s also Sunset Cruise (orange-rose), Iced Iris (pale warm pink), Suede Splash (caramel brown), Lily Lake (purple-toned pink), Magenta Rush (magenta pink), Brimming Berry (berry pink) and Ruby Ripple (dark red).

They all have a glossy lip balm-like finish.

Ingredients: Diheptyl Succinate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Candelilla Cera (Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax), Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Behenyl Alcohol, Oleic/Linoleic/Linolenic Polyglycerides, C12-18 Acid Triglyceride, Lanolin, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Cera Carnauba (Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax), Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil, Sorbitan Tristearate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Aroma (Flavor), Tocopherol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Lauroyl Lysine, Citric Acid, Linalool. May Contain [+/-]: Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77491/CI 77492/CI 77499 (Iron Oxides)

What I liked about Burt’s Bees Lipsticks

Face of Australia Precision Brow Pencil review

20 March 2016

Having undyed East Asian hair means your brow pencils need a strong grey tone to make sure your brows don’t look like face paint. I’ve been using The Face Shop’s Love ME:EX Design My Eyebrow pencil exclusively because it’s next to impossible to find a brown brow pencil in-store in Australia that’s affordable and doesn’t pull red (Korean brands have some affordable and nicely coloured brow pencils, but shipping takes a while). I was super excited when Face of Australia launched their new Precision Brow Pencils, which are are based on a similar concept to The Face Shop’s version.

These are wind-up pencils with firm triangular tips that you can angle to draw thin lines, or fill in large areas quickly. They also have a spoolie on the other end which lets you groom your brows, rub out mistakes, soften dark parts and blend out harsh lines.

There are two shades available – Blonde (left) and Taupe (right).

I was most excited about the taupe shade, which was a brown colour that didn’t pull too red. Here’s a comparison with some Asian “Gray Brown” brow pencils:

Rimmel The Only 1 Lipstick swatches and review

14 February 20176 March 2016

Here’s what I’ve been testing on my lips lately – Rimmel The Only 1 Lipstick, newly available in stores in Australia for $15.95 each. Here’s my review and swatches of 8 of the shades. Rimmel The Only 1 Lipsticks are all-in-one lipsticks that combine intense colour, smooth application, solid moisturisation and excellent staying power, and I have to say they …

Why Make-Up Flashback Happens and How to Avoid It

5 September 201816 February 2016

Ah, the dreaded make-up flashback! Celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Miley Cyrus aren’t immune to it, even with their hordes of make-up artists:

Embed from Getty Images

Here’s the science behind make-up flashback, and how to avoid it.

What causes make-up flashback?

The harsh white markings are caused by silica, an ingredient in many translucent powders, particularly those labelled as “HD”. (Note: silica is not the same as silicon and silicone!) The silica used in makeup is fumed silica, a type of amorphous silica which has been processed to give it a large surface area. This means that it’s great as a microscopic sponge for soaking up oil (kind of like activated charcoal but colourless).

It’s also fantastic for diffusing light – all the tiny surfaces scatter light at different angles, giving a blurry, matte texture, making your skin look flawless on HD video (hence the HD label).

But not when direct flash comes out!