First Impressions: The Beautyblender

You know the Innovation Adoption Curve? When it comes to the Beautyblender, the Innovation Adoption Curve will categorise me under the "Laggards" section. I'm not exaggerating when I say almost all of the beauty Youtubers I watch love the beautyblender. So many "Get Ready With Me" videos and makeup tutorials featured this jarring pink water-drop shaped sponge. I have been intrigued for a long, long time, but the price tag deterred me from checking out my shopping cart. 

I got mine in a set that included the mini Solid Cleanser. The set costs S$37 on sephora.sg (luxola has officially become sephora.sg, how exciting!!). The beautyblender itself retails for S$30. 

From the beautyblender website:

The world’s first edgeless, non-disposable, high-definition cosmetic sponge applicator. The unique shape and exclusive material available only with beautyblender® ensures impeccable, streak-free application with minimum product waste. Use it with primers, foundations, powders, cream blushes, and any other complexion product.

beautyblender® features an open cell structure that fills with small amounts of water when wet. This allows the sponge to be “full” so that the makeup product sits on top of the sponge rather than being absorbed, allowing you to use less product every time. When wet, beautyblender® doubles in size and becomes even softer, returning to its original size when it air dries.

So... is it as amazing as what most users say?

I'm not incredibly awed, but I don't hate it. Maybe I need more trials using different complexion products.

I used it for first time this morning, and I'm not that impressed with how it blended out my concealer. I now have a habit of applying only concealer, then topping it off with loose powder. No more liquid foundation for everyday wear. I dotted the areas that needed coverage with my concealer, and then used the beautyblender (after soaking it in water and squeezing out excess water) to blend out the concealer. For areas with hyperpigmentation left by acne, the beautyblender seemed to be absorbing the concealer more than blending it out. I had to use 2 layers of concealer to get a decent coverage. If I used my fingers, one layer is more than enough.

Of course, the beautyblender is not without merit. It blended out concealer beautifully under my eyes very quickly. It also blended out my concealer with zero streaks, which was quite tough to achieve when using fingers or brushes. I'll give this another try tomorrow with liquid foundation, then concealer. Hopefully, I'll like it more! I want to, because it's S$30 for a tiny sponge man! I better LOVE it.

I'll update this page again with the outcome of my second trial and sponge cleaning process! :)

Update on 13 February 2016:

• Okay, I finally get the hype. I tried the beautyblender with all my favourite foundations and bb creams and they were all applied and blended out beautifully. So freaking fast too! Boing, boing, boing, boing and one cheek done! It's not great for concealing acne though. This will be the perfect foundation application tool if you have generally smooth and bump-free skin (which I'm slowly but surely achieving with accutane, oh yeah!). 
• The beautyblender solid cleanser worked effectively as well. It definitely removed makeup thoroughly from the beautyblender and it's so easy and fast to clean. Extremely helpful for a lazy person like me - don't need to worry about using unhygienic tools on my face again! :D 
• Overall, I'm a convert. Now I know why this tiny pink sponge is so expensive. 

Tokyo Haul 2015

I just came back from Tokyo a few days ago and the first thing I did was not to do my laundry, but to take photos of my purchases. #priorities

If you are into animes and Uniqlo, then Japan is a shopping paradise! But please also check out GU Japan - it's Uniqlo's sister company and the apparels mostly have the same quality standards as Uniqlo but the prices are much more affordable. 2 years ago, I bought a spring coat for 990yen (~S$12) at a GU outlet in Hiroshima. BARGAIN. 

I also spent way too much money at Akihabara. Not because I bought a lot of things, but because I was cheated and paid so much more for a figurine. I paid 2500yen for an Attack on Titan figurine, felt really happy about it, then walked into Softmap and saw the same item going for 1680yen. Wahlao eh. So yes, I have learnt my lesson and for future Akihabara purchases, I will buy my figurines from huge stores like Softmap and Animate and not from tiny, roadside stalls. =_=

I saved 6000yen for last minute food souvenir shopping at Haneda airport. I always give close friends and family food souvenirs from Japan because who doesn't like pretty food packaged in pretty packaging? Some more almost all of them taste damn nice. Also, they have special Kit Kat flavours at the airport! 

I shall not ramble further. Lai, photos time!!

This was so good!!! A very very good buy. Japan really knows how to make delicious and pretty food. 

An assortment of snacks for Kengyang's family. I don't know what's inside but this was the last pack on the counter, so okay lor, I take. 

This is for my brother! But I already kop-ed one serving and it was a legit bowl of ramen. Tasted like a S$20++ bowl of ramen, but it was ~S$11.50 for 3 servings!! The next time I go to Japan, I will definitely buy more of their instant ramens. 

Sakura Matcha KitKat, Red Bean KitKat and Japanese Chilli Powder Kit Kat

Goodies for the office!

I can only describe the chocolates as "all gone in one sitting". Also, random calf reliever plaster because somewhat same colour family and similarly boxy.

Tea purchases! Some are for chayteng!
Also, I realised some of them expire in July 2015. I better drink tea 3 times a day from now on. 

Finally some beauty products purchases. Confirm have one. :D
We have Bifesta in Singapore but I have never seen the Acne Care bottle, so I was intrigued. I tried it last night and it's amazing. I need more!
Also, this pack of liese hair wipes is very cool. If you have oily hair in the morning and you don't want to wash your hair, this is a great solution! I tried this a couple of times in Tokyo and wow it's really like as if I just washed my hair?! Just blow dry a bit after wiping and your hair will be damn pong pong (Eng: fluffy) and oil-free! 

3 mascaras for my one pair of eyes. :P

CANMAKE lipsticks and and Eye Brow Gel. The eye brow gels works wonderfully. It's now a staple item!
The CANMAKE lipsticks are very moisturising - excellent for the dry and cold Tokyo weather. However, I think they a bit too shiny for my liking. BAH. 

SPIRITED AWAY cup. SO KAWAII. How can I leave this behind without buying?? 

Attack on Titan figurines! Most people I know love the human characters (Eren lah, Mikasa lah), but I prefer the titans leh. 

Lol random cardcaptor sakura bookmark. 

POKEMON!
I was quite disappointed this time round. No nice iPhone cases at all! :(

But they have these nanoblocks. I couldn't decide which to buy (Dragonair or Snorlax) so I bought both.

More Ghibli finger puppets to my collection. I have 14 now! 13 of those 14 are nicely blu tack-ed on my work computer screen, but I LOST TOTORO. OHMYGOSH WHAT A DISASTER. I genuinely felt despair when I realised I lost it. :( 

Lastly, here's a cheeky purchase from Changi Airport before we boarded our flight. My first Jo Malone! Definitely not my last leh, alamak. 

Tokyo photo spam coming soon!! :D

Going crazy for Korean cosmetics

This photo is a lie. 

I have 3 more products coming from Korea, so the entire haulage is way bigger. Oops.

I just find some Korean cosmetics way more advanced than some Western brands. Traditional is almost always good, but good innovation can make traditional more convenient and more captivating. For one, the BB Cushion is an excellent revolution - even Lancôme is coming out with their own BB Cushion (which under-performed when compared to those from Korean brands, according to some online reviews)!

Fortunately Qoo10 has plenty of listings for Korean cosmetic products from sellers based in South Korea. That means prices are somewhat similar to those in South Korea (additional a few bucks for shipping lah). This is very excellent because as most Singapore dwellers will know, prices are marked up considerably in the local stores. I got the Innisfree Long Wear Cushion for less than S$20 on Qoo10 and it's retailing for more than S$30 at local Innisfree stores! Very excellent indeed, this Qoo10.

This also means I need to rethink and reorganise my makeup cupboard. Time to throw away things to make space for new things! Just in time for CNY cleaning!

Sleek Makeup Haul (Surprisingly cheap shipping?!)

Blush in Rose Gold
I-Divine in Garden of Eden
I-Divine in Vintage Romance

Late night itchy internet-browsing fingers always lead to surprises. I was curious how much shipping fee would be charged if I order from Sleek Makeup, so I loaded my cart with products that I would definitely purchase if the shipping fee was unexpectedly low. It was only 1.67 pound shipping to Singapore via Standard Mail? What?!

I checked out immediately.

Some more I had a 10% off coupon ("welcome10"), so the blush was 3.74 pounds and the eyeshadow palettes were 6.66 pounds each. I paid slightly over S$35 in total for these three items. WHAT?! Please ah, one eyeshadow palette from local online shops already costs more than S$20 hor.

Sometimes, anyhow curious then check things also good.

BLOGMAS Day 16: Quick Review - Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black

This week has been mad! I started work way too early from Monday-Thursday and I only 15-20 minutes for lunch this week. We're really busy now that we have a huge client onboard and one of my researcher colleague was on vacation, hence it was a crazy factory lah. Churning out so many fixes and new features, handling so many projects (both Asian and European) and answering panicky phone calls. Fortunately, the week has come to an end and I can't wait for the weekend to start!

That also means I can continue on my BLOGMAS posts. I have been stuck on Day 15 and that's no bueno. So I'm determined to write 4 posts tonight! I'm going to adjust the posting date to suit the BLOGMAS day though, so that it seems like I posted once every day. :P

This post is all about my other favourite eyeliner - the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black. My all time favourite eyeliner is the Kiss Me Heroine Make Smooth Liquid Eyeliner. It's my go-to eyeliner for those days when I pressed the snooze button too many times because of how easily it applies. The Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner is reserved for those days when I have more time doing my makeup (hence more brain cells allocated for concentration).

You can get the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner at Watsons easily or if you want to get them online, Luxola sells them for S$22.90.

Ingredients list

The brush that came bundled with the eyeliner is actually quite decent. I use it to apply the eyeliner and it's a well-designed brush, great for picking up the product and then applying it smoothly and consistently. The brush is also designed to allow drawing of a thicker line or a thinner line - whichever you fancy. Just turn the brush to the correct side - thinner line require the thinner side of the brush, thicker line means using the wider side of the brush. Nice!

The Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner is packaged in a way that it's 60% packaging and 40% product. Look at how thick thick the glass part of the packaging is?!

But it's fine though - many high end brands also design their gel lines this way and they cost way, way more. Also, if you use gel liner often, you will realise that the more product you have does not mean you get more use out of it. Gel liners dry up very quickly, especially if you use it daily. You keep opening and closing the cover and you expose the product to the air more often, hence it dries up much quicker. Therefore, if you have more product, you have the tendency to waste more.

So yes, this is one of the few scenarios in which getting less product can have a positive outcome.

The Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner applies beautifully and one brush stroke can give you an uninterrupted line on your eyelids. Very impressive!

Every time I apply this gel liner, I don't have the problem of it drying too quickly and then flaking when I use apply a second line on top. Very irritating you know when that happens - you get strange black flakes on the upper cheeks and some may get inside your eyes. This one is awesome and none of that happened.

This gel liner lasts a long long long time without smudging or moving around from the oily lids. The longest I had this eyeliner on was perhaps for more than 20 hours?! I was staying over at a friend's house and we didn't sleep at all. I was shocked when this eyeliner stayed put the next morning. 

See how precise you can be with the brush in the photo below? I love this eyeliner a lot. The only downside will be that I need more time whenever I use the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner. Need to focus man, if not confirm look like a mess. 

Such a good eyeliner from a drug store brand. I have tried the Bobby Brown gel liner before and I can confirm that this one is as good! Great job, Maybelline!!

BLOGMAS Day 5: Singsale Goodies - Brushes, Toner and Footwear!

I'm suddenly on a Singsale craze again. Initially, I only wanted to take a quick look because it was announced that NYX would have a sale on that day, but there was no time frame given, so I accessed the website in the morning, and kept refreshing. So boring right? Okay, I browsed the website and ohmygosh so many things on sale! I even wanted to get a bed sheet set just because it was discounted and pretty. In the end I had three things in my cart that were NOT from NYX (the sale sucked by the way, it was mostly old stuff) and because my pay was in the day before, I just checked out. 

I was so excited, then after a few days, I realised why I stopped browsing Singsale a few months back - the shipping/delivery is going to take ages! I ordered on 27 November and as of now only two out of three items have been shipped out. One (the Michael Todd toner) just arrived in their warehouse and it will only be shipped out earliest 7 December. So for everything to reach me, I will estimate maybe end of the year? The last time I shopped on Singsale, my items arrived 1.5 months later. 

I guess cannot really blame them because the three things that I purchased were from three different companies from different parts of the world, so getting the items to arrive at their warehouse really depends on when the companies mail the items out. Looking at how I barely can remember things these days, I'd probably forget about all these purchases and be pleasantly surprised when they arrive. "Wah! I got buy this meh??" - this happens way too often. 

I got myself a 24-piece brush set from Bella Brush, my 4th bottle of Michael Todd toner and Therapy & Because sandals. There was also some promotion going on, so I had discounts on top of discounts. I love it when you can stack vouchers! :D 

I don't need more brushes, but I'm lazy to wash all my brushes, so when these come, I may throw some of my old brushes away. I also googled and reviews were not bad!

No need to explain more about this because I raved about it in one of my older posts. This is my 4th bottle!!

This pair was only S$9! WHAT?!

20 more days to Christmas! YAY!

Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set & Travel Bag

Just one visit to Sephora is enough to make me go into a frenzy. I was handed a basket from the enthusiastic salesperson and my struggle commenced. I had SO many gift sets in my basket - the Urban Decay BLACK MAGIC 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set, the Urban Decay VICE3 Eyeshadow Palette, many cute Burt's Bees gift sets and finally the Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set & Travel Bag. In the end, after close to 30 minutes of talking to myself, I got the Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set & Travel Bag because it was TOO GOOD A DEAL. 

You get 20 Amazonian clay eye shadows, a deluxe-sized lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara, a limited-edition deluxe cheek stain in Muse, a LipSurgence lip gloss in Visionary, a LipSurgence lip tint in Romantic, a deluxe-sized maracuja oil, a deluxe-sized smooth operator Amazonian clay finishing powder and a DAMN CHIO limited-edition collector’s travel bag for only S$79. HALO?? Of course buy! 

Photo from (x)

How royally gorgeous is this travel bag??!?! I definitely will not be putting this in my luggage when I'm travelling, this will be in my carry-on luggage. Imagine the boost my ego will get every single time I take out this beautiful bag out of my carry-on luggage on the plane. "Yes, my travel bag is chioer than yours, oh yeah" - yes, good buy right? I will try to squeeze my book, wallet, phone, charger, earphone, handcream, toothbrush, toothpaste, aiyah this shall be my only carry-on luggage lah!

Photo from (x)

There are so many reviews of this Tarte set online, so I won't be doing an in-depth review for each of the products. Temptalia has an amazing review on this (just like all her other reviews), do click to read her review!

Look at these 20 eyeshadows!! I like how Tarte mixes things up with lots of mattes and satins, instead of just focusing on shimmers. Always good to have shimmers and glitters for the Christmas season, but I want to use this palette after Christmas too! Also, that dark navy colour is FABULOUS.

Photo from (x)

Terrific value right!?

Struggling to avoid Sephora now. I actually want to go again today. *cue monkey see no evil emoji*

Review: Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix

I have extremely oily skin, and the oiliness is quite rampant on the T-zone area, the cheeks and the eyelids. Basically the only not-so-oily parts are my temples and jawline. What a nightmare. 

Having lived with overactive sebum glands for more than 5 years now, I have come to accept the fact that my foundation and concealer will never stay matte for more than 3 hours. Blotting and touching up has become a habit and so I'm not very concerned with my oily T-zone and cheeks. Actually, come to think of it, I used to have combination skin with manageable sebum production. But once I hit my twenties, my hormones went lunatic. Boohoo, what to do but suck it up? 

However, there's one thing I absolutely hate about my oily skin and that's my extremely oily eyelids. Blotting and touching up foundation is easy peasy, but the case is doubly hard when it comes to creasing eyeshadow on very oily lids. I abhor oily eyelids with a vengeance. This is why I'm always on the lookout for amazing eyeshadow primers that can minimise the oily mess. So far, the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion and the Lorac Behind The Scenes Eye Primer have been excellent and truly gifts sent from above for those with oily lids. However, they are not very cheap, and I finally have found a perfect dupe for the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It's only S$11 from Luxola! Cheap leh, very cheap!! 

The Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix retails for S$11 for a 7.5ml tube, while the Urban Decay one retails for S$33 for a 11ml tube. Lazy to do math now, but yes the Zoeva one is definitely more bang for the buck, especially when it's as good as the Urban Decay's. 

Paraben-free and fragrance-free! Excellent for those with sensitive eyelids.

Ingredients list

Packaging: The Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix has an economical packaging. It's packaged in a squeeze tube with a long and precise needle tip. You can dispense the exact amount of product that you want every single time and you can finish up the entire 7.5ml easily. Some primers have very stupid packaging where a doe-foot applicator is pumped in to get some product out. You will never use the entire tube this way! So this packaging is great. Also, it's entirely semi-matte black with grey lettering. Looks fancy but quite inexpensive.



Texture and application: The Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix has a semi-thick consistency that's extremely silky to the touch. It blends and spreads very easily and evenly. Once applied, you don't notice any product on your eyelids because it blends well with your natural eyelid colour. Application is easy-peasy and fast because of how blendable the product is. A little of this goes a long way. I especially love the product description on Luxola - "It’s concentrated: the size of a raindrop from the needle nose squeeze-tube covers the entire lid." Definitely agree with that!

Effectiveness: I truly believe that this is one of the best performing eye primers in the market, especially if you have oily eyelids. The Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix does help to make eyeshadows a little bit more vibrant than if applied on naked eyelids, but there are other primers that do a much better job at this component. However, in terms of keeping oily eyelids matte, the Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix is quite competent and impressive. For those looking for an eye primer to make your eyeshadows pop more, I wouldn't suggest this one, but the Lorac one is great at that! 

Longevity: My eyeshadow stayed in place - no creasing, no smudging - for more than 10 hours. How freaking insane is that?! 'Nuff said. 

Will I buy it again? YES!! But it's out of stock now, NOOOOOOOO!! I shall add myself to the waitlist. BAH... 

Have a good Saturday guys! Such a glorious day with nice rainy weather. :D 

Review: MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette

Finally back on the product reviewing track. I was looking through my old posts and ohmy my last product review more than a month ago?! It's getting harder and harder to write my reviews nowadays. Usually I write my blogposts at work during lunch but these days, work has taken up even my lunch time (not complaining though because I'm actually enjoying what I'm doing). Once I reach home, I'm so tired I don't feel like stimulating my brain cells - just want to do brainless things like exercise/eat/sleep. Weekends lagi worse, my bed is my best friend and I just sleep the entire day away. HAHA yes I have become a sloth. Why ah, tell me why! I always just sleep my Saturdays away and most of the time I refuse to go out. WHY LIKE THIS!! 

So yes, here's a blog review for one of my current favourite eyeshadow palette. These days, I've been reaching out for this palette more than my Lorac Pro or Naked palettes! And it's much much cheaper as compared to the latter two. 

The MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette is the amalgamation of 12 gorgeous neutral shades in one very spectacular palette. To those who feel the pinch and do not want to spend more than S$70 on renowned neutral palettes, this is the palette for you. I bought mine from Carousell (such an evil app this one, my wallet is crying haha) for only S$18. The palette's obviously much cheaper online (4 pounds only!!), but I think you have to buy a certain amount to qualify for free international shipping. I'm not sure if the brand is available in any local stores. Do comment if you know where to find this brand in Singapore, and I'll update the blog post! :) 

First of all, the MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette is a second installation for this range of eyeshadow palettes. The first one is the MUA Undressed Palette and that is supposed to be the dupe for the cult-favourite Naked palette. The MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette is, expectedly, a dupe for the also hugely popular Naked2 palette. Since I didn't have the Naked2, I got this palette instead of the original Undressed Palette. 

Packaging: The MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette has quite similar packaging to Sleek Cosmetics' eyeshadow palettes. Of course, the main difference is this packaging is entirely in white and there's a transparent panel on the cover. This transparent panel is very useful, especially if you have way too many eyeshadow palettes that may last you several lifetimes. For those late-for-work mornings, the transparent panel is an excellent feature. Without opening the cover, you know what shades you're going to use already. You save those precious seconds!

Eyeshadow brush: The dual-ended sponge-tip applicator is not as bad as I would have expected them to be, especially coming from a drugstore brand. The sponge tips are dense and very sturdy - none of those filmsy, thin sponge layers that will disintegrate within 2-3 applications. The denseness also allows for easier application - you can compact more pigments, hence only one application is needed and you already get vibrant shades on your eyelids, and you get less fallouts. Not bad...not bad at all!

From left to right: Naked, Devotion, Tranquil, Exposed

From left to right: Shy, Fiery, Reveal, Wink

From left to right: Lavish, Dreamy, Obsessed, Corrupt

Shades: The MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette compacts 12 beautiful neutral and timeless shades, ranging from pearlescent flesh-toned finishes, to metallic bronze hues, to darker contour tones. In all, a very well-thought-out palette that's able to deliver everyday minimalist looks and sultry smokey looks. My favourite shade is Fiery. It's a perfect rose gold and it freshens up your entire face. I'm a true rose-gold eyeshadows convert! I always thought the orange in the shade will make my face look yellower, but nope I was wrong! I LOVE ROSE GOLD!

Pigmentation: Ah. This palette scores full marks in terms of pigmentation. How can a 4-pound palette produce such pigmented and vibrant shades on first swatch?! I don't get it, but I love it. This truly brings some high-end palettes to shame. The main difference between this and Sleek Cosmetics palettes (which I also love) is that there are less fallouts when using the MUA eyeshadows. The formulation of these eyeshadows is more compact hence you get tidier application.

Application: The only shade that bothers me during application is Corrupt, but that is expected from a darker shade - more fallouts. The other 11 shades applies beautifully and I dare say that some of them applies and blends out more easily than the more expensive eyeshadows that I own. Naked has a very pleasant buttery finish and and the extremely metallic shades (Devotion, Fiery and Dreamy) blends out like a dream with a normal blending brush. An utterly must-buy palette!

Longevity: I have really put this palette to the extreme test. I brought this palette along with me to Hong Kong and if you have read my previous posts, you will know that Hong Kong was terribly unforgiving in terms of weather. More humid and more hot than Singapore. If this palette can withstand such crazy conditions, it will definitely work in Singapore. And yes, the eyeshadows performed above my expectations even in such outrageous conditions. There was no melting scenarios, there was no fading and after a full 12 hours, the eyeshadow still looked fresh. Amazing right?! Of course, a good eyeshadow primer will definitely help to extend its life span.

Will I buy it again? Most definitely! I'm hoping MUA will come out with a third installation so that I don't have to purchase the Naked3. I'm extremely impressed by this palette and I'd highly recommend this to everyone. Even if you are a palette hoarder, you will still have space for this lah.

Hope this has been a useful read. Have a great weekend guys! :)