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: CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes in 04

Finally back on track with these posts! I've been back from Japan for over a month and I have yet to review all the beauty products that I got. I am a terrible blogger, I know. I procrastinate way too much. My normal routine is to upload all the photos onto blogger first and save the drafts. However, after that, it all boils down to my laziness. If I'm way too nua (which usually happens during weekends), I will just forget about blogging. GAH. I need to get rid of this horrible habit!! 

ANYWAY, 

This post will be all about the CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes in 04. CANMAKE is a cosmetic brand that I was exposed to at a very young age (together with FASIO). I love the brand and CANMAKE has some amazing products but they are way overpriced in Singapore. I know, I know, all the taxes and stuff make them expensive but halo, who wants overpriced products?? 

The CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes retails for 780yen (before tax), around S$8.50, in Japan, and in Singapore, one palette costs more than S$15 (!!!!). 

Packaging: Always pretty, always princess-like, always...pink. HAHA. I appreciate the compact transparent packaging and it's sturdy enough so I'm not complaining.

Colour: All the shades available (5 in total) are in the neutral colour zone. I guess the point was to provide a variety of neutral shades for different natural looks. Personally, I think the colour variety is disappointing. When I was choosing on one palette to purchase, I initially could not differentiate the 5 palettes. All of them looked roughly the same!! After scrutinising, I realised the biggest difference among all the palettes came from the top right shade, and so I chose 04 because the top right shade was a gorgeous coral. In all, I'm pleased with the colours provided in the palette because I can certainly create a beautiful natural look and then intensify it for a fun night out, but aiyoh, choosing one palette out of 5 can be a nightmare.

Brush: The double-ended brush included in the palette was of surprisingly great quality. The sponge tip applicator doesn't look filmsy and I'm deeply grateful for the superior quality. I prefer to apply eyeshadows using a sponge-tip applicator because it minimises the fall-outs. However, some of the "included" sponge-tip applicators tend to fall apart after a few usages and that PISSES ME OFF. The CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes palette scores major positive points for the great quality brush!

Swatch taken with natural light

Swatch taken with camera flash

Pigmentation: As with all Japanese eyeshadow palettes, pigmentation is not key. I treat this as a cosmetic cardinal rule - Japanese brand eyeshadows will have average pigmentations. The pigmentation of the CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes is not thaaaattt bad, but applying the lighter shades can be quite troublesome. The darker shades are easier to work with. The lighter shades, on the other hand, need more building up before you can actually see the colour on your eyelids.

Another cosmetic cardinal rule is Japanese brand eyeshadows usually have shitloads of shimmer or glitter. The CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes definitely live up to expectations then. This palette is definitely not for those who prefer matte shades and for those with sensitive eyes (because the shimmer will fall into your eyes no matter how little you apply. I personally experienced it and wahlao very painful!).

Application: I use the sponge-tip applicator to apply the eyeshadows and it was easy-peasy. Shimmer/glitter fall-outs are obviously going to happen so I'm not going to complain about that. One trick I usually use is to always apply eyeshadows first and dust some loose powder on the under-eye area. Then after application, I will brush away the loose powder and start on my face makeup! Works like a charm every single time! Also, I learnt this from The Tyra Banks Show. HAHAHA.

Longevity: The CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes eyeshadows didn't do very well in terms of longevity. The shimmers get everywhere (including IN your eyes) after a few hours. The darker colours performed better!

Will I buy it again? Maybe not. As lovely as it is, the CANMAKE Perfect Stylist Eyes eyeshadows irritate my sensitive eyes and I don't see a reason why I should purchase something that makes my eyes uncomfortable. Pity though because the colours are really really nice. Oh well, this means, more palettes to try!

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

Review: CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum (Holy Grail)

Lipsticks and lip glosses are never my thing simply because I have super dry lips! The first application would look amazing, but after a couple of hours, the application would look like a terrible mess. I don't know how else I can rectify this problem of mine other than constantly looking for the best lip balm!

I think I may have found the best lip balm for my annoyingly dry lips! It's the CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum! It retails for 380yen (before tax) or around S$5, and it is available in Singapore. The problem is this costs a hefty S$15.90. 

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY LAH! 

But whatever, luckily I got it in Japan for one-third the price. =___= If you have friends going over to Japan, or if you are in Japan now, I suggest you get some of this because it is AMAZING for those with dry lips! 

The CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum is not only a lip balm, it's a gloss and a serum as well! 

Since everything is in Japanese, I visited the CANMAKE website (http://www.canmake.com/en/elip/item_lip020.html) and according to the page, the CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum:

• is silicon-free
• is packed with plant and food derived agents
• is free from synthetic colourings
• has a non-sticky texture
• can result in plump, pillowy lips (WOWOWOW)
• can be used as a lip mask after you're done removing your makeup at night (can also be worn to sleep! AW YEAH! Now I understand why they used a photo of a sleeping baby haha)

Packaging: A delicately-coloured packaging! I really like the pale pink shade which has a beautiful gold sheen when it catches the light! The CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum comes in a squeeze-tube packaging and personally I'm not a fan. If you directly apply the lip serum on your lips from the tube, there's a high chance you're going to apply too much. I normally squeeze a little bit of the product on my middle finger and then use my finger to apply the lip serum on my lip. Much easier to gauge the amount that you are going to use!

Colour: The lip serum looks really orange when squeezed out of the tube. However, when you apply it on your lips, the colour fades away, leaving you with natural-looking and healthy lips!

Texture: I was quite apprehensive when I first squeezed some CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum on my hand. It looked really really sticky and glistening. To be quite honest, the lip serum is quite sticky when you apply it. However, after ten minutes or so, the product will get absorbed by your lips and the stickiness will get more bearable. The impressive thing is when I walked out of the house, my hair didn't stick to my lips despite the crazy wind! AWESOME.

Swatch taken with camera flash

Swatch taken with camera flash

Application: I cannot deny that this lip serum will take some getting used to, especially the sensation that you get after your first application. I don't understand how the chemicals work, but your lips will feel this strange tingly sensation. So, don't apply too much at first!! I'm not sure why my lips felt this sensation because my lips definitely did not look plumper or fuller after a few days of usage (some plumping lip products do give your lips that weird tingling sensation!). After the first application, I didn't feel it anymore and all's well! No allergic reactions or anything (I feared for this!).

Does it work? Holy cow YES. The first time I used it was in the day, so I didn't really see huge difference; maybe my lips didn't crack as much, but that was it. Then, I realised I could use it at night as a sleeping lip mask! So I tried and OHMYGOSH when I woke up the next morning, my lips didn't feel sticky but my lips were SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SMOOTH!! CANMAKE is not joking with the claim "pillowy lips" because my lips definitely felt pillowy after that mask session!

I thought it was going to be a temporary thing, but no, my lips felt awesome THE ENTIRE DAY. Simply amazing.

Will I buy it again? HECK YEAH. I'm gonna recommend this to everyone I know because it simply is an amazing product that delivers whatever it promises. I hope someone I know goes to Japan soon because I need to stock up on this amazing CANMAKE Day & Night Lip Serum! CANMAKE Singapore, why you give this product such a crazy pricetag (relative to Japan's pricing)? :(

Review: CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base

CANMAKE is so readily available in Japan (practically every drug store has CANMAKE!) and I couldn't resist the affordable prices! It irritates how much more expensive CANMAKE is in Singapore. Bummer. :( They actually have really nice eyeshadows but really too overpriced in Singapore!

I bought the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base because I was running out of my NYX one. It was 500yen (before tax) and that's around S$6.25? Really good prices!!

Packaging: Since it's not very expensive, it's only logical that CANMAKE decided to forget about all the fancy packaging and just presented the product simply. It's a really tiny product and the fancy-less packaging makes it easy to fit into the smallest makeup bags. 

Colour: The CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base has a nude-beige colour, perfect for your eyelid because it has almost the same colour as everyone's eyelids.

Consistency: It's very oily. The eyeshadow base looked like it had thicker consistency in the packaging but when I used my finger to swirl a little bit of the product, it's really slimy and oily. Definitely not the consistency that I was expecting. However, the consistency is not unbearable and it applies and spreads well on your eyelids.

Application: Easy to apply and very easy to spread because of its oily consistency.

Here is a couple of photos to illustrate how well the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base works on eyeshadows. I used a CANMAKE eyeshadow for this comparison! That review will be coming up soon because I love the palette so much! :)

Swatches taken with cloudy day settings (this Singapore everyday so cloudy?! HAI)

Swatches taken with camera flash

As you can see from the above photos, the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base really does make the eyeshadow "pop"! The eyeshadow pigmentation is more pronounced and it looks more shimmery that it normally is. I'm impressed at how the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base delivers despite its low price.

Longevity: It does not fare very well in terms of how long it makes my eyeshadow stay put on my eyelids. I think one reason why is because of its oiliness. It's great during application but after a few hours your eyelids become an oily mess. I recommend that you use a better eyeshadow base for smoky-eye looks because this will ruin them. Even with neutral shades, I could see a line of oil filled with my eyeshadow shade when I looked down. It's not very flattering and hence I'm quite disappointed. It does so well in bringing out the colour of the eyeshadows but why so oily?! For those with oily eyelids, just steer away from the CANMAKE Eyeshadow Base.

Will I buy it again? No. I have oily eyelids and I don't want to ruin my painstakingly applied eyeshadow at the end of the day. Imagine if you apply this in the morning before work, everything looks fine and you look awesomepossum. Then you spend an entire day in the office, and when it's time to go home, you realise your eyeshadow is a hot mess. Not an awesome feeling because usually when it's time to go, you still want to meet your friends or partners. Seriously not glam loh. :(