Motives Pressed Blush in Dreamsicle

Further to the review of Motives Mineral Blush in Empress previously, today I will be reviewing another blush from Motives. It is none other than Motives Pressed Blush in Dreamsicle.

Motives Pressed Blush in Dreamsicle is a warm toned peach blush that comes with a satin finish. I personally like orange and peach tone blush because my cheeks get flushed very easily so I always find pink toned blush just makes my cheeks look redder.

The pigmentation of the blush is impressive as I just need a gentle tap of my brush on the product and I can already see pigments being pick up on the brush. So I suggest for you ladies who are keen to try this product to go easy on the application and build up the pigmentation to your desired state.

So, as usual, I like to compare swatches of this new product to my existing stash and also take a look at how different the swatch of Dreamsicle looks like as compared to other products. I managed to dig out other blushes that I think look close enough to be compared and they are:-

1) Dior My Lady 007
2) THREE 24 Into The Ather
3) Benefit Sugarbomb
4) MAC Springsheen
5) Motives Dreamsicle

From the swatches above, you can tell how the blushes look different when swatched. During swatching, I found THREE to be the blush that is most difficult to pick up the pigment and this is no surprise considering Japanese cosmetics tend to lean on the 'natural and almost non existent shade'. Benefit and MAC has the same satin finish as Motives Dreamsicle but the pigment look lighter. Dior, on the other hand is a matte finish blush but would look closer in terms of the colour.

Retailing at $29 for 4g of product, you will get a blush that is paraben, fragrance and oil free. It's currently retailing at www.allyourfamilyneeds.sg (residing in Singapore), or www.allyourfamilyneeds.com (any countries other than Singapore).

Motives Collagen Core Lipstick in Motivated

What do you do if you often has chapped lips that makes you afraid to put on lipstick because your lips just kept flaking? I have this problem and will always need to apply lip balm before putting on my lipstick. If you ladies have this same problem as me, you need to look at the lipstick that I am sharing with you now. It's Motives Collagen Core Lipstick in Motivated.

The main benefit of Motives Collagen Core Lipstick is that it doubles up as a lip treatment in addition to being a lipstick. With hydrolysed collagen in the collagen core, it works with elastin in the skin to diminish fine lines and wrinkles. It also aids in the binding and retaining of water, which helps to moisturised and plump the lips. With Motives Collagen Core Lipstick, my lips feel comfortable even though I did not apply my usual lip balm before application. I also do not experience any flaking on my lips during the day.

Motivated is a mauve plum shade which I love very much. Do not be afraid to look goth after applying this shade because I can assure you that it doesn't. It gives my lips a tinge of plum pinkish tone that helps to brighten up my look.

Looking through my stash of lipsticks, here I am trying to find comparisons of swatches against Motives Collagen Core Lipstick in Motivated. The closest swatch looks to be Burberry Lip Mist in OxBlood with more brown tone in it.

Motives Collagen Core Lipstick is retailing for SGD39 at www.allyourfamilyneeds.sg and I hope this posting has been helpful to you. :)

Motives Mineral Pressed Blush in Empress

What make up items do you ladies not live without? For me, it would be base (primer, foundation), blush and lipstick. The reason is because I usually do not have the time to do much eye make up when I rush out for work so I just want very basic products to even out the uneven skin tone on my face and then brighten it up so that I do not look tired or 'dead'. Blushes and lipsticks are especially easier to pick up because they are usually affordable and small. We can always come up with 100001 excuses why we need that extra blush or lipstick. Today, I would like to share my new blush love. It's none other than Motives Mineral Pressed Blush in Empress.

The packaging is basic and no frill. Housed in a plastic round case with clear plastic cover, the packaging is as simple as it can be. (Sorry for the sorry state of the blush but you can see how much I have been using it just by looking at the picture).

Motives Mineral Pressed Blush in Empress is a nice warm pink shade with gold shimmers. I totally love it. A little goes a long way as this blush is pretty pigmented and the pigments get picked up very easily by the brush.

I know warm pink shades are usually my go-to blush shade so I decide to compare it against my long time favourite, MAC blush in Springsheen. So glad to see that the colours are no where close. Springsheen is more peachy than pink and the gold tone in Springsheen is also stronger than Empress.

From left to right: Motives Mineral Blush Empress, MAC Blush Springsheen

From left to right: Motives Mineral Blush Empress, MAC Blush Springsheen

At only S$28 for 4gram of product, I say Motives Mineral Pressed Blush in Empress is a good buy, not only in terms of price but also quality. For ladies concerned with ingredients in the products that they are using, you will be glad to know this blush is paraben and talc free.

In case you wonder where and how you can purchase Motives products, you can purchase Motives products at www.allyourfamilyneeds.sg (residing in Singapore) or www.allyourfamilyneeds.com (any countries other than Singapore).

Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick in 343 and 367

After more than a month break away from blogging, I am back once again! As I have been away for 2 back-to-back business trip in Australia and Shanghai, I have not been able to golf as I should. But I promise I will blog about my extension trip in Melbourne because I absolutely love that place!

Today I am sharing my views on Guerlain KissKiss lipsticks in 343 and 367 which I managed to haul from Shanghai duty-free on my way back home.

I have to admit that the classy glossy black and gold case really attracts me so! I had a hard time deciding the shades I wanted because the formula is just sooooo smooth. Thank goodness I checked in earlier so time is indeed on my side. Eventually, I decided on a sweet bright shade of 343 and a super safe and neutral shade of 367.

Guerlain KissKiss in 343

 Guerlain KissKiss in 367

343 is my favourite between the 2 shades I purchased and it even receive compliments from my man (he hardly comment much about my makeup, haha). Guerlain KissKiss lipsticks is so creamy and it doesn't cause dryness to my lips, which is a super plus for me. Soooo glad I managed to haul it!

Guerlain KissKiss in 343 and 367

From top to bottom: Bare lips (ugly ugly), Guerlain KissKiss 343, 367

Guerlain KissKiss lipsticks are retailing at SGD49 locally and I paid RMB200 each at Shanghai duty-free. Do check them out! There are 25 shades in this range so there is definitely one shade for u.

Burberry Lip Glow Balm in Orange Poppy

It has been a long while since Burberry Beauty came up with something new and interesting. Finally Burberry Beauty launch the Summer Collection that has 3 sets of coordinating lip, cheek and nail products. The sets come in shade of orange, pink and plum and needless to say, I have to get the orangey Lip Glow Balm and Fresh Glow Blush in Orange Poppy. Let's be patient and shall we just review Lip Glow Balm first?

Housed in the signature gunmetal magnetic lipstick case, the only difference between the Lip Glow Balm and their lipstick is the shade of the product. It looks more flat and less angular as compared to normal lipstick. However, you definitely cannot miss out the Burberry signature checkered design.

Orange Poppy, as the name indicate is a bright orange shade but swatches so sheer due to it's balmy texture. You don't feel like you are wearing a lipstick at all. It gives a 'almost your lips but better lips' with the glossy sheen but pigmentation is definitely on the downside considering it is a balm than lipstick. I can't help but compare Burberry Lip Glow Balm to Chanel Rouge Coco Shine and YSL Rouge Volupte Shine.

Top: Bare lips, Bottom: With Burberry Lip Glow Balm in Orange Poppy

Ranking in terms of pigmentation:-
1 - YSL Rouge Volupte Shine
2 - Chanel Rouge Coco Shine
3 - Burberry Lip Glow Balm

Ranking in terms of glossy sheen:-
All 3 are comparables

Ranking in terms of moisturising effect:-
1 - Burberry Lip Glow Balm
2 - YSL Rouge Volupte Shine and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine are comparable

I would say Burberry Lip Glow Balm is more suitable for that 'barely make up day' so if you are someone who prefers stronger lip colour, it will be good news for your wallet.

I purchased the Burberry Lip Glow balm over Nordstrom at USD28. You will be glad to know they are available over our Singapore counters, so do check out in person and decide for yourself if you should grab them. :)

Dior Summer 2014 (Transat Edition) eyeshadow in Pavillon

I have to admit that I can be sometimes retarded in recognising a gem in sight. Honestly, I cannot believe how long I took to fall in love with Dior Summer 2014 (Transat Edition) eyeshadow in Pavillon.

Lately I have been going 'naked' on my eye makeup due to the morning rush so if I intend to do any eye makeup, my preference is to go simple with just a shade of eyeshadow and eyeliner. Pavillon came at a good time when I am looking for a nice, peach golden shade.

The intertwined tweed pattern on the pan looks so pretty that I can't bear to destroy it.

Ain't the shade gorgeous? Pavillon carries the right amount of peach tone that does makes my monolids puffy and the metallic golden tone looks so safe and subtle without looking too dramatic. If you like your shade to stand out stronger, just apply Pavillon with a wet brush. Texture is smooth and making it a breeze to pick up and apply the pigment on the lids.

Dior Summer mono eyeshadow does not come cheap at $50 for only 2.2oz of product but the quality and shade of Pavillon eyeshadow more than justify the price tag.

Charlottle Tilbury Luxury Palette in The Uptown Girl

Other than Charlotte Tilbury Golden Goddess which I picked up, I also purchased The Uptown Girl in the same order. It is seriously difficult to just stick to 1 palette from this beauty line!

The Uptown Girl is a beige-grey combination palette which is almost as versatile as a neutral palette. I always felt it 's impossible to go wrong with this combination.

Similar to Golden Goddess that I reviewed earlier, the 4 shades are classified under 'Prime', 'Enhance', 'Pop' and 'Smoke'. My favourite has to be 'Prime' and 'Enhance' as they felt smoother than the other 2 shades.

From left  to right: Prime, Enhance, Pop, Smoke

I would say comparing Golden Goddess and The Uptown Girl, I would prefer Golden Goddess better as the shades in Uptown Girl is more frosty in comparison. Nonetheless, it is still a beautiful palette that one can use for both day and night.

Surratt Beauty.... just gorgeous

Thanks to online shopping again, I managed to score some items from Surratt Beauty from Barneys New York. You might be wondering what is this brand, and who is the founder so I googled it and found an interesting link on the founder, Troy Surratt.

Similar to brands like Addiction, Bobbi Brown, Inglot, Surratt Beauty allows you to create your own palette with the concept of mix and match. For those who are not willing to spend for the extra casing to house your eyeshadows and blushes, don't worry. The individual eyeshadow or blush comes with a plastic sliding cover which is pretty sturdy.

This is how my case looks like with 4 eyeshadow pans and 1 blush, perfect for travelling! One thing to note is that you have to stick double sided tape at the bottom of each pan so that it sticks to the case, as the pans are not magnets.

So what did I got for myself? I got blush in Ponceau and eyeshadows in Dore Rose, Ombre, Tyrian and Patine.

Ponceau (blush): Matte coral orangey
Dore Rose (eyeshadow): My favourite! Shimmery champagne gold
Ombre (eyeshaodow): Matte brownish taupe
Tyrian (eyeshadow): Satin finish in plum purple
Patine (eyeshadow): Shimmery dark taupe

I have to say the texture of Surratt blush and eyeshadow is very very GOOD. The blush is smooth and pigmented and I have been using Hakuhodo Yachiyo brush with it. Application of the eyeshadows is also a breeze because it is so easy to pick up the colour from the pan. It is almost as buttery as Burberry Beauty, Shu Uemura or SUQQU.

Price at USD 32 for a blush and  USD20 for an eyeshadow, the killer comes due to the extra shipping cost that has to be incurred to ship to Singapore. My suggestion is to pick this up if you happen to go to the States or if you have a few friends whom you can collate and share on the shipping cost.

NARS Blush in Desire

Another NARS product which I picked up together with the Tropical Princess eyeshadow palette is none other than the blush in Desire. For the longest time,my heart always go to coral blush (and it's still so true now) but this shade is really stirring up my desire for it.

Honestly, Desire is one scary looking blush in the pan. The bright cool intense pink shade really looks so strong!!

Desire is a matte shade so for ladies who hate shimmers in their blush, you will be glad to know this. Considering the pigmentation of this blush, I have been using Hakuhodo Yachiyo brush to apply instead of my usual MAC Blush Brush.

Given the humid weather lately, Desire lasted at least 6 hours on my combination skin, which I think is pretty impressive. For a NC30 complexion, it shows it nice and pink without looking dramatic. For ladies who are fairer, just remember to go very light handed at the beginning.

Guerlain Rouge G 864 Rose Grenat

I have fallen in love with Guerlain Rouge G lipstick since scoring Madam Reve so I have been checking out Guerlain counters for more shades. I actually missed the boat of getting Guerlain Rouge G Rose Grenat over the counters in Singapore so I decided to just get it over Nordstrom since I am getting other online purchases too.

Similar to other Rouge G, Rose Grenat comes in the heavy magnetic case with a mirror in it. The specialty is deep fuchsia lacquered case instead of the usual shiny silver case.

Rose Grenat is a cool deep fuchsia reddish pink that look almost similar to it's lacquer case.

I did a comparison against some of my existing lipstick stash and here are the swatches.

As you can see from the swatches above, the pigmentation of Rose Grenat is the strongest and none of my lipsticks here is a complete dupe to it. To demonstrate how pigmented Rose Grenat is, check out the picture below. It left a stain even after I removed the swatch with Bioderma Cleansing Water. So be sure to use a good makeup remover while wearing this shade.

The texture of Rouge G is impressively smooth but I would still recommend wearing a lip balm before applying Rouge G to protect your lips since the staining power is pretty strong.

Not sure how much is Rose Grenat retailing over the counters in Singapore but it was USD54 on Nordstrom, USD3 higher than normal Rouge G.

NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Lodhi

NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Lodhi is one item that has been in and out of my wish list for the longest time. At times, I desperately need it and sometimes it becomes a pure lustful want. Eventually, I decided to just get it one day and add it to my shopping cart.

NARS Satin Lip Pencil is no stranger here since I had already owned 2: Hyde Park and Rikugien and I just love the formula and pigmentation. Lodhi is a warm orangey shade which is something new to my lip product stash.

I tried to find a lip product in my stash that I can make a close comparison and here is Rouge Dior in Rose Cirnoline.

From left to right: NARS Lodhi, Dior Rose Cirnoline

NARS Lodhi definitely is more pigmented than Dior Rose Cirnoline, Rose Cirnoline also has stronger beige tone while Lodhi is more orangey.

I'm not sure if I am going to pick up more NARS Satin Lip Pencil after this as the existing shades are not calling out to me (Thank God for that!). But I will certainly be waiting for more exciting shades to be launch under this range of lip product.

NARS Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Duo

The eyeshadow duo that I will be introducing today is one which I never imagine picking up, you will see why later. This is none other than NARS Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Duo.

NARS Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Dup is part of NARS Adult Swim Collection for Summer 2014 and is a limited edition shade. Initially I thought I would be drawn towards the other eyeshadow duo, Lost Coast but when I checked out the counter in person, I went for Tropical Princess instead.

Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Duo is made up of a neon green shade and icy lavender shade. Honestly, these 2 shades are not part of my usual 'eyeshadow wardrobe' but I was sooo impressed by the shade and especially texture when I swatched it at the counter.

As you can see from the swatch below, for 2 light looking shades, it looks pretty pigmented. And here is what blown me away, the TEXTURE. It is sooooooo smooth and soft. It is almost impossible to not pick up any pigment from this palette.

How I have been applying this eyeshadow duo was using the graduation method with the neon green nearer to the eyelashes and icy lavender above it. The trick is to go easy with the pigment and slowly build up. Without eyeshadow primer, Tropical Princess last a reasonable 5 - 6 hours on my oily lids which is fairly reasonable. I love how the neon green gives my mono hooded lids a nice wake up look.

I know many have been really unhappy with the rubbery case of NARS that looks disgusting after some time. I usually store NARS product in the box that it comes with and they haven't gave me any problem. This could be a tip that might be helpful. :)

Have you check out NARS Adult Swim Collection? Do share with me your haul. :)

Diorskin Nude Shimmer Illuminating Powder in Rose

How has everyone’s weekend been? Mine was relaxing enough but truly not long enough!! Why is weekend only 2 days and not more? Haha. I am already looking forward to the coming weekend because it’s movie date night with hubby and X-men!!! Before that, let’s get distracted with Diorskin Nude Shimmer Illuminating Powder in Rose (001).

Diorskin Nude Shimmer Illuminating Powder comes in 2 shade: Rose (001) and Amber (002) and is supposedly to replace Diamond Skin Shimmer which I know is a favourite highlighter among many. I have not tried Diamond Skin Shimmer so I will not be making any comparison against it.

Similar to the Diorskin Nude Tan Paradise Duo launched last summer, the palette comes in the same silver packaging with 2 shades in opposing quadrant. The 2 shades look light pink and coppery-pink. To me, the distinction of shades in the pan works more like a design without any functional use as I do not think I would use just 1 shade (unless I am using an eyeshadow brush) and would more likely swirl my brush across the whole pan to pick up the pigments for application.

Below are the swatches of the light pink, coppery pink and mixed shade of Diorskin Nude Shimmer Illuminating Powder in Rose. Even though the shades does not stand out as strong as a normal blush, I love how subtle the shades are to give that kissable cheeks look. The texture of Diorskin Nude Shimmer Illuminating Powder is smooth and not dry at all and I do not experience difficulties in using my MAC brush to pick up the powders.

From left to right: Light pink, coppery pink, mixed

Diorskin Nude Shimmer Illuminating Powder come in a velvet pouch and a small kabuki brush (which I did not use). Despite the cute factor of the kabuki brush, I prefer my MAC or Hakuhodo brush for application.

Happy Monday people! Hang in there, the weekend is near, lol!

Marc Jacobs Beauty Love Marc Lip Gel in 114 Understudy

Following the review of Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon Eyeliner in the previous post, here I am to review the other Marc Jacobs item that I picked up at Sephora, Love Marc Lip Gel in 114 Understudy.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Love Marc Lip Gel is interestingly called a 'lip gel' instead of lipstick as it is different from the traditional waxy lipstick and comes with a gellified formula that is creamy and glossy. The Lip Gel is housed in a magnetic black case which weighs slightly heavier than a normal lipstick.

I couldn't make up my mind which shade to get while swatching over the Sephora counter and the SA recommended 114 Understudy after understanding from me that I would like some neutral shade.

114 Understudy looks reddish brown in the tube and seems like a wise choice to get. Swatching it on my hand, the swatch come out true to its shade.

I decided to do a comparison against the reddish brown lipsticks that I have in my stash and here are the lipsticks I am comparing against:-

- Lunasol lipstick in 40 Red Beige
- Burberry Beauty Lip Cover in 23 English Rose
- Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle
- NARS Sheer lipstick in Dolce Vita

From the swatches below, I felt 114 Understudy is closer to Lunasol lipstick in 40 Red Beige but stronger in pigmentation. The other 3 shades have more brown or pink tones in them.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Love Marc Lip Gel in 114 Understudy has a very comfortable texture that is very forgiving to my dry lips, I love it. It had a very faint vanilla scent but this doesn't bothers me at all.

I cannot remember the price that I paid but I do vaguely recall it to be $42. I certainly hope for Marc Jacobs to launch more new shades of this lip gels than the current 16 shades. :)