Review: Makeup Revolution Ultra Professional Blush Palette in Golden Sugar and Hot Spice

Makeup Revolution is still not familiar makeup brand name in Singapore. I think many would think of Sleek Makeup when asked about affordable English drugstore brand. Makeup Revolution has arrived in Singapore and it has garnered quite a following with over 25000 likes on the Makeup Revolution Singapore facebook page. 

The blush palettes that I'm reviewing today are not available in Singapore yet, but I'm quite sure the Singapore team will introduce these palettes very soon because they are BOMB DOT COM. I love these palettes so much, I need to glorify them and spread the gospel! 

I bought them from the English website and they were only £6 each. Super affordable! Shipping was more expensive than one palette (£7.50) but I had a 20% discount code so okay lah, I checked out. Googleland has plenty of coupon codes for Makeup Revolution, so be sure to google first before checking out!

I bought the Makeup Revolution Ultra Professional Blush Palette in Golden Sugar and Hot Spice. I couldn't decide between the two, so I just got both because they were so affordable. 

Packaging: Nothing too fancy and nothing to be wow-ed about. Simple and neat black packaging with a large functional mirror, so nothing to complain about either.

Golden Sugar is too gorgeous. Look at those baked highlighters, bronzers and blushes! I even used the baked gold bronzer as an eyeshadow and it was super beautiful on the eyelids.

Hot Spice focuses more on matte and shimmery shades and it only contains two baked shades. More muted than Golden Spice but still amazing!

Swatches of Golden Spice

Swatches of Hot Spice

When I received both palettes, I immediately took photos for this blog and then I applied them before going out. They are beyond incredible. I love them and I haven't used any other blushes/highlighters in my collection.

Pigmentation: When they used the words "high pay off" for the packaging, they were not kidding at all. These are highly pigmented. All my swatches were the results of just one swipe on each colour. Crazy right?! This also meant that you have to be careful during application because there's a risk of applying too much.

Application: Despite being so highly pigmented, these were surprisingly easy to blend out. Application was a breeze using my usual elf blush brush and the colours glide on smoothly. It does not stick to dry areas and cause unsightly patches (my cheeks are usually quite dry after cleansing).

Longevity: The blushes and highlighters last for a good 8-10 hours. I haven't used the bronzers on my face since I'm not into contouring, but I did use one bronzer as an eyeshadow and it lasted for around the same number of hours also.

Seriously, for 6 pounds each, these palettes are very impressive. I have NO negative points at all.

Here's a the finished makeup look after mixing 3 shades from the two Makeup Revolution Ultra Professional Blush Palettes.

Damn pretty leh, buay tahan. I LOVE THEM.

Will I buy it again? I don't think I will use them up that quickly, but if I really do run out, I will buy again!

Have a good Friday guys! :) 

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.

Review: bh cosmetics San Francisco California Makeup Palette Collection

bhcosmetics is a familiar name in the YouTube beauty world, but I have never really tried anything from them, mainly because the US-based company charges a lot of money for shipping and delivery to Singapore. Fortunately, Singsale was having a bhcosmetics deal a few months ago and I jumped at the opportunity! I heard itsjudytime rave on and on about how amazing the eyeshadow palettes and so I decided to get one! 

The bh San Francisco California Makeup Palette Collection is available online for US$8.95. 

The palette consists of 16 eyeshadows (both matte and shimmery) and 4 blushes. It's a really unique palette that combines browns and golds with blues and greens! I had high hopes for this palette and to be quite honest I was quite disappointed with some of the eyeshadow shades. 

Packaging: It's a fancy one. That's for sure. The makeup palette packaging is made mostly out of cardboard and it comes with a handy mirror. I'm not one for fancy packaging but somehow I don't detest this. It's colourful and it will catch your attention but not obnoxious or too loud. I just really hate the white strings at both sides of the blush section. Overall, a cute and decent packaging that will not bother minimalists.

The left eyeshadow section consists of more neutral and smoky shades.

Pigmentation: The eyeshadows on this side have decent pigmentation. The shimmery black is amazing and I especially love the matte reddish brown. They are all very smooth eyeshadows and application using eyeshadow brushes will be better than using your fingers. I swatched using my fingers and it's not as pigmented as when I used a brush.

The right eyeshadow section has more eccentric shades - lavender blue, shimmery cool white with a purple undertone and a really gorgeous sparkly forest green.

Pigmentation: This section has eyeshadows that prove to be quite problematic, especially the matte light green and matte brown. These two colours are very light even after 3-4 applications. I was quite surprised because there are so many reviews online that have photos of the amazing pigmentation! Perhaps I received a palette from a bad batch. :( The shimmery lavender blue is really pretty though, it's an extremely lovely shade for inner corner highlighting.

The 4 blushes range from a pretty peach that will do well as a highlighter to a matte coral red for extra rosy cheeks.

Pigmentation: I love these blushes. I have been using the blushes more than the eyeshadows because they are all decently pigmented and the colours are not so in-your-face. The matte coral red is a clear winner for me because it's not crazily pigmented and it's very buildable.

Application (eyeshadow): Some of the matte shades are quite powdery and chalky. The matte black is especially prone to fall-outs so be extra careful there. The shimmery shades are great and they are smooth and very easy to apply and blend using the correct brushes.

Application (blush): These blushes are a dream to apply! Very smooth and easily picked up by a blush brush. It's also quite creamy. I know it sounds weird - how can a powder blush be creamy? It's one of those textures whereby it's a powder, but when you apply and blend, it blends so well like as if it's a cream! I hope I'm making sense here haha. But long story short - GOOD BLUSHES.

Longevity (eyeshadow): Not very long-wearing. I went out of my comfort zone and applied the matte light green and shimmery forest green on my eyelids and maybe 5-6 hours later, I could barely see the matte light green.

Longevity (blush): The matte coral red is the best performing blush in terms of longevity. The 3 other shimmery ones just disappear into thin air at the end of the day.

Will I buy it (or another similar palette) again? Maybe not. I have plenty of eyeshadow palettes and they all work better than this one. As abovementioned, I'm quite shocked at how average this palette is because I have read a lot of extremely positive reviews. I can only say that I'm unlucky and perhaps I have been sent a bad one. Oh well~

Hopefully this review's useful for you! Have a good day - make it better than yesterday! 

Singsale haul: BH Cosmetics brush sets and palette

So many temptations for shopaholics! My latest craze is Singsale. I have the app on my iPhone and it is disturbing my sleeping routine because I HAVE to browse the sales before I go to bed every night! Such a terrible addiction. Yikes. 

Singsale is basically a bargain shopper's paradise. It's a members-only service (free sign-up!) and you'll be able to browse sales from various international brands. New sales start every morning and each sale goes on for typically 2 to 3 days. Singsale hosts almost all kinds of sales - beauty, apparels, household products, etc. If you love convenient online shopping (My BH Cosmetics products purchase was done entirely on my phone. GREAT!), please download the app/visit the website regularly!

Some BH Cosmetics products that I purchase for S$10 each! 

Double-Ended Travel Brush Set (original price US$17.95, now on sale on store website for US$9.95)

(Source: X)

(Source: X)

Judy (itsjudytime, itsjudyslife, itsmommyslife) was raving about the BH Malibu Eyeshadow and Blush Palette in a few of her vlogs and I wanted to try the palettes so badly! Malibu has more greens and blues so it's not really up my alley, but the San Fransisco Palette looks great! So I got them!

BH San Fransisco Eyeshadow and Blush Palette (original price US$17.95, now on sale on store website for US$8.95).

(Source: X)

(Source: X)

I'm obviously on a brushes kick. Got myself another brush set! The brushes with the purple handles are so pretty! Reviews on the website are mostly extremely positive too, so I'm excited! :D

7 Pieces Travel Essential Brush Set (original price US$18.95, now on sale on store website for US$11.95)

(Source: X)

(Source: X)

Shipping takes some time though, and I had to pay S$8 more for shipping + delivery. But then again, if I ordered from BH Cosmetics website, it would have cost me much more and would take around the same timing to reach me. So, yes, patience is a virtue. 

The iPhone app doesn't show you in detail your order's trail. You have to go to the Singsale website and check it under your account! I'm estimating to receive mine maybe by next Monday? *fingers crossed*

So far, shopping on Singsale has been extremely fuss-free! Do try it out you shopaholics! And if you're in Malaysia, no problem, they have Mysale. Australia? Ozsale! New Zealand? NZsale! I think there are more countries, googling time!

Yay can't wait to get my stuff! :D

Review: CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher in 05

Finally, I have reached the end of my CANMAKE reviews. The CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher in 05 is the last CANMAKE product that I bought from Japan and writing this post makes me a little little bit melancholic. Call me drama-mama, but if you know how much more CANMAKE products retail for in Singapore, you will understand my grief. I want to buy more, but I can't. :( 

GETTING BACK TO THIS REVIEW, the CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher in 05 retails for 680yen (before tax), ~S$7.50. I don't even know how much one costs in Singapore, but I'm pretty sure it's so much more. MEH. 

I chose 05 (Peach Petal) because I thought the soft coral and pastel peach colour will go so well together in creating that summer-appropriate cheeks! 

There are 4 other shades:

1. 01 Candy Flower - girlish orange + soft pink
2. 06 Antique Rose - sugar pink + coral pink
3. 07 Orange Bouquet - faintly coral-tinged orange + hot orange
4. 08 Love Trap Flower - blood orange + lovely pink

Do visit the website for more information: http://www.canmake.com/en/ebase/item_base030.html 

Packaging: I really really adore CANMAKE's product packaging. This blusher looks like a gem from far! It's so simple, but it shines gloriously!!

Claims - true or not?

1. Apparently, this blusher can create the illusion of a smaller face. There are two ways in which you can achieve this illusion and they are clearly illustrated at the back of the packaging.
2. This blusher has squalane, jojoba oil, hyaluronic acid and ectoine in its repertoire of ingredients to make your skin supple, healthy and moist. 

Personally, I can't be bothered to apply the CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher as instructed. Takes too much time! If anyone has tried the blusher as instructed, please tell me if it works or not! 

Regarding the many many beneficial ingredients, it doesn't hurt to have these ingredients right? Unless you are allergic to them! The CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher gives you healthy-looking cheeks and also moisturises - win-win situation! 

Brush: Wow. Simply WOW. It's a drugstore product with a stellar brush. It's not spiky at all and the synthetic brush feels unbelievably soft and smooth. Great work there, CANMAKE! I have been using this quite religiously for the past two weeks and I'm happy to announce that there has been no shedding. None. ZERO!

Formulation: I really appreciate the hint of shimmer. I hate it when blushers have TOO MUCH glitters/shimmers because they are really unforgiving on oily skin! Give it a couple of hours and you look like you have been dipped in oil. NOT GOOD. Hence, I prefer matte blushers or those that give a little bit of shine. The CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher is a perfect example of my ideal blusher and I really love it!

Pigmentation: It's not majorly pigmented, but to me, that's a good thing. Some blushers (*cough* Sleek cosmetics *cough*) are so pigmented that applying them gets me really nervous. I once had to remove my face makeup and start from scratch because I applied way too much blusher. Of course, you can say that that's because I'm not skillful enough, but come on, we all need user-friendly products and not one that only the pros can use! The CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher has beautiful, average pigmentation that ensures you have total control when applying. You want more, then apply more layers!

Application: Smooth and hassle-free application. It seems like the CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher can do no wrong!

Longevity: This blusher lasts a crazy long period of time. By crazy long, I mean over 12 hours. CUCKOO RIGHT?! I applied it before work at 8am, then checked it when I reached home at 930pm, AND THE COLOUR IS STILL ON MY CHEEKS. I don't get it, but I love it! The blusher actually withstands the horrifyingly humid (and hazy) weather!

Pardon the duck face, this was NOT my intended pose okay. HAHAHA. 

I really love the CANMAKE Cheek & Cheek Blusher and I wish I can get more! Who's going to Japan?? Please help me get more CANMAKE blushers!!! :D 

Review: essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush in 01

A recent visit to JEM's Watsons proved to be quite fruitful. I really like JEM in general! For those who don't reside in Singapore, JEM is the newest shopping centre in the west Singapore and it's mega awesome because it houses a lot of brands that are usually only available in town! So we have stores like H&M, Sephora, Topshop and many many more in the west now! YAY!

Anyway, we visited Watsons and woah the Watsons at JEM is MARVELOUS. Spacious and everything's not cramped. The store's very brightly lit too. I felt really cheery browsing the store. Definitely going back to JEM's Watsons! :D

 

I stocked up on toiletries at Watsons and while browsing around, I saw that essence launched a new line of products - Oz: The Great and Powerful collection! I am always intrigued by essence's new collections and so I grabbed a couple of things to try. Another reason why I purchased them was because of their cheeky names!

 

The essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush in 01 Beware the Wicked Witch retails for S$5.90.

 

I always look out for cream blushes because if you find the right one that suits your skin, it can act as a terrific base for your favourite powder blushes! This combination will ensure that you have pretty, flushed cheeks all day long!

 

Packaging: The product comes in a tube with a pump dispenser. The design on the tube is simple and the only thing that catches your eye is the GORGEOUS shade of the cream blush. And maybe the cheeky name if you look closer. The pump dispenser is an A+. It is not one of those filmsy dispensers that dispense too much product with a slight pump. This pump dispenser is firm and solid enough, and yet it dispenses the product easily. It allows you to control how much product you want to use and that's always a plus in my books. Also, plus points for the cheeky name, LOVE IT! :)

Colour: 01 Beware the Wicked Witch is a glorious mixture of coral and shimmery gold. It has a coral orange base and the addition of gold shimmers creates this beautiful sheen under the sunlight. This colour will definitely suit women of all skin colour, but it will especially suit those with fair-medium skin because it gives that extra radiance to your face.

Swatch taken with camera flash

Swatch taken with camera flash

Pigmentation: The essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush has that highly sough after "just-nice" pigmentation. It's not so lightly pigmented that you don't know what you are paying for, and it's also not so heavily pigmented that application becomes a nightmare. This cream blush looks highly intimidating when you first pumped it out of the tube, but the colour spreads evenly to create this wonderful glow, as seen from the swatches above! Since it's not crazily pigmented, you have more control in deciding how much you want on your cheeks. Want more colour, then apply a second layer!

Application: A dream to work with. The essence Oz: The Great and Powerful Cream Blush does not dry that quickly so you have time to spread it evenly on your cheeks. It also has a pleasant cooling sensation when applied.

I don't recommend those with combination-oily skin to only have this product on your cheeks though. Even though it gives a really beautiful look on its own, the combination of the skin oiliness and the horrid humid Singapore weather will kill its magical effect after a few hours. I tried it on its own and it turned really ugly. Yikes. My cheeks became really shiny and you can actually see streaks of product. I can't really blame the cream blush though because the majority of the mess was caused by my oily skin and by the fact that I had to walk under sunny (and terribly hazy) condition.

My suggestion will be to use this cream blush as a base, and then apply your favourite coral powder blush on top. Not too much though because you would still want the cream blush to shine through!

Longevity: A complete failure when worn on its own. Not blaming the product though because of abovementioned reasons. However, when coupled with a powder blush, it goes on for an entire day, give and take around 10 hours or so with no touch-ups. Quite impressive right?

Will I buy it again? This is a limited edition product, so I assume even if I want to get a back-up in the future, it'll be quite difficult. However, if essence were to launch other cream blushes, I may get them! :D

Hope this post is helpful and have a great Thursday guys! :)

Review: Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 in Lace (Thank you Luxola SG!)

It has been long since I updated this space. I'm so sorry to all my readers! I have so many things due this week and I have been procrastinating (like always) and so everything just piled up. =_= Lesson for all university students - never procrastinate, or just try not to procrastinate so much. 

ANYWAYYY, I bought myself some Sleek goodies from Luxola.com! 

The Sleek Makeup blushes have been raved again and again by beauty bloggers everywhere and so of course I was intrigued! I purchased one last year, but it shattered to pieces and I'm now too heartbroken to use it because every single time I open it, more blush powder will be wasted. :( I know I should fix it soon, but as you have already noticed, I'm a procrastinator. So yes, I'd rather get a new Sleek blush. :S

First of all, before we go into the review of the Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 in Lace proper, I would like to comment on Luxola.com as a whole. My shopping experience with them was thoroughly enjoyable and a breeze. Even shipping was quick and my purchase was hand-delivered to me within 3 days for free! Amazing amazing experience! So thank you Luxola.com!!

So yes, I bought the Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 in Lace for only S$17! Currently there's a promotion going on for various credit card holders. More details at the end of this post! :) 

Packaging: Sleek Makeup has sleep packaging. Such an expected description and I'm not ashamed of it because it is really sleek! No busy and colourful designs, just a simple black, semi-matte packaging with the brand logo emblazoned on it. The packaging just makes the brand looks more expensive than it really is!

Pardon the eeky hair on the carpet. YIKES! 

The three colours included in this blush palette are:

1. Crochet - a bright orange with minimal shimmer. I think the formulation is quite matte. 
2. Guipure - a gorgeous pinkish-red with ultra-fine gold shimmers. 
3. Chantilly - a bright coral red with minimal shimmer. 

I'm such a predictable person. From the way I describe the colours, it's obvious that my favourite shade is Guipure. :D

Swatches taken with camera flash

Pigmentation: Ohmygosh, let's talk about how pigmented these babies are. They are so pigmented, you need a light hand to avoid looking like a clown. I prefer to see it as a positive thing because it means you are definitely getting your money's worth! The intense pigmentation can prove to be a challenge for those just starting out with makeup but hey, you learn from your mistakes! All three colours are beyond beautiful but Guipure does it for me. The ultra-fine golden shimmer is so breathtaking. It's one of those shade whereby under sunlight it looks like a normal blush shade, but with flash photography, you look like a bronzed and blushed goddess. AMAZING! <3 a="" always="" and="" brush.="" brush="" build="" can="" colour="" do="" easier="" ensure="" excess="" hand="" have="" i="" is="" it="" light="" ll="" minimal="" much="" my="" nbsp="" off="" on="" once="" or="" p="" product="" remember="" remove="" s="" swirl="" tap="" that="" the="" then="" these="" this="" to="" too="" twice.="" twice="" up="" use="" way="" what="" when="" with="" you="">

The amazing Guipure. 

Blush formula: The Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 in Lace has a powder formulation that can rival high-end brands. I'm dead serious. It's not powdery at all and it applies beautifully with a cheap or an expensive brush. After the blush is applied on the cheeks, it does not look like you have powder blush on, instead it looks more like it has a velvety texture, which is odd, but a very much welcomed odd. 

Longevity: The blush stayed on my cheeks for an entire day, like an entire 13-hour day. The colour did not fade at all, which is mind-boggling to me because I have more expensive alternatives to this set, but they don't last as long! Great job, Sleek Makeup! 

Will I buy it again? I will not buy Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 in Lace again, but I will buy it in other colours!!! My mind is telling me that I should collect these blushes because of how good the quality is! 

And yes, here's the information to the current credit card promotion that Luxola.com is having! My Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 in Lace was initially S$20, but I got S$3 off because of the promotion, so yay! :) 

Thanks for reading and I hope you have an amazing shopping experience with Luxola.com too (and no, I'm not sponsored or anything, I'm just impressed by them and hence I must share the love).

Have a good week everyone! :)