Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in RD311

I have seen many ladies laying gloss over lipstick in order to achieve the intense lip colour and yet have that shiny glossy pout but to me, it was just plain troublesome. Furthermore, I always have concern about dirtying the doe foot application of the gloss when it sweep pass the lip colour of the lipstick. I know I am being paranoid but that's just me. As most lip glosses are sheerer in colour intensity, lacquer rouge are what ladies should look out for to achieve the 2 in 1 colour and gloss look. Today I am posting about the new Shiseido Lacquer Rouge that I purchased while I was feeling down and crappy with a bad bad flu.

Shiseido Lacquer Rouge is housed in a chic black plastic tube and comes with a doe foot applicator. Although I hardly was able to finish any lip product, I would prefer the case to come with a small window so that I am able to see the amount of product left in the tube (similar to YSL Glossy Stain).

Size-wise, it is slightly longer than Chanel Coco Rouge Shine.

I think I have mentioned several times that I have naturally darker lips and thus finding the most suitable  shade that is 'lighter than my lips and yet not making making me look ghostly' is pretty challenging. However, when I saw the swatch on Sophie's post I am immediately drawn to shade RD311 which is reddish beige shade. In fact, when I went to the counter at Clementi BHG, that was the only shade I swatched, tried and finally paid. The shade came out exactly like I wanted.... slightly lighter than my natural lip colour and yet looking natural. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

The texture is amazing. Smooth and colour is thick and glossy, without the stickiness of MAC lipglosses (which is seriously a pain in the a**). Comparing Shiseido Lacquer Rouge to YSL Glossy Stain, the latter is lighter in texture and sheerer in terms of colour intensity. Having said that, I would not say I prefer one over the other, both are in a league of it's own.

Although this haul was an impulsive one (especially with the effect of the flu medication, haha), but it certainly was a GOOD one. :)

Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colour SV 810 Tin

One of my undeclared hauls for the longest time is Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colour in SV810. After reading and seeing the swatches on various beauty blogs previously, I literally rushed to get my hands on them when these cream shadows were launched. One of the colours that I was dying to get is SV 810 Tin.

I like blue eyeshadows but it's really tricky to use them especially on my monolids that I just do not have the confidence at all. SV810 Tin is however a greyish blue which looks like a pretty safe blue for me to give this a try. According to the SA, I recalled this is one of the more popular colours that were quickly snapped up.

Honestly, I do not find this cream eyeshadow easy to blend using my fingers. I'm not sure if the issue is my finger or the formula but I personally find it hard to control the application of this shadow. Instead, I used Sephora I.T brush 235 for cream shadow to apply and blend. It works fine but time is required to build up the colour intensity and blend as well. I have no complaints about this method but it is definitely not something I would do when I am rushing for work.

So far, I did not use a primer prior to Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colour but it does last approximately 6 hours for me. After which, the colour does look slightly faded but without creasing. No complaints here :)

Here is another EOTD which I did today. Given I am in a lazy mode, I only used SV810 Tin on my lids and did a gradation which doesn't look very obvious, haha. What do you think?

Review: Shiseido Perfect Foundation Brush

I have always prefer my trusted FINGERS when applying liquid foundation but after a while, I realised that most of the products end up on my finger than my face. Then I turned to makeup sponges because they are just plain cheap and affordable. Imagine a whole big bag of makeup sponges at Daiso that only cost $2, how affordable is that? BUT....... just like the definition of sponge, it soak up most of the foundation as well and I ended using more foundation than usual.

So I turned to foundation brush and my very 1st foundation brush was a travel-size Bobbi Brown foundation brush which I got for free because I purchased above a certain amount. Sad to say that as much as I love its liquid foundation, I hate this brush. Streaks and streaks of foundation appears on my face and I look awful. And one day many months ago, I was surfing the beauty blogsphere like how I usually was and I saw wonderful review of Shiseido Perfect Foundation Brush on Cafe Makeup, I knew I had to get it! After surfing the local blogsphere, the pleasant surprise was this brush is actually quite affordable at $40, honestly not too bad!

As you can see from the picture above, the brush is packed densely with synthetic bristles. BUT it is very very soft. In fact, when I first touched it at the Shiseido counter at Clementi BHG, the SA said she has yet to sell it but she knows from other counters that it is a very popular brush with super soft bristles. The tip is slanted so that it is easier to reach areas like the corner of our nose, under the eyes and other contour of our face.

I have tried the usual way of applying foundation with this brush, which is the normal flat brush way of applying (imagining painting the wall??) and I find it quite good. NO MORE STREAKS! Then I realised the correct way of using this brush to achieve the flawless, airbrushed effect is by dapping the brush with foundation over the areas of our face (paying more attention by dapping more on the areas that you would like more coverage) and then using light strokes to smooth it out. The effect is wonderful...... Smooth, streakless and airbrushed natural coverage.

I have washed this brush a few times considering I have been using it for more than 4 - 5 months and the fallout of bristles was really minimal (in fact almost none except for a few).

There are blogs that raved about this brush even when they are applying compact foundation but my personal opinion when I tried it was I dislike it. I still prefer the conventional way of applying compact foundation with a sponge as I get to smooth out the powder more easily than using the brush and dap dap dap. I ended up spending more time applying compact foundation than liquid foundation, which totally defeated the whole purpose of applying compact powder when I am pressed for time!

I have really said enough, this brush is wonderful, everyone should just get one! In fact, I was sooo tempted to get a backup of it!

Current favourite skincare

A friend of mine asked me some time back to do a post showing my skincare regime so I thought of posting this to show the products that I am in love with and cannot do without.

My skintype is combination, sensitive skin which turns red very easy under heat or after using products that are too strong. Thus I am quite careful on the kind of products that I pile on my face.

Fancl's mild cleansing oil has been my favourite makeup remover of all times. Being someone very lazy, the hassle of using a separate eye makeup remover for my eye makeup with waterproof mascara and eyeliner only puts me off. Having tried various brands of makeup remover, Fancl mild cleansing oil is the ONLY makeup remover that allows me to remove eye and face makeup all at the same time! I have heard of friends who claim that this cleansing oil broke them out but *touch wood* I have no issue with it so far and it cleanses the makeup so thoroughly and yet not harsh to my skin at all.

The picture above shows some of the stuffs which I am using on a daily basis now. Some of which I have been using it for a few years and some are recent loves.

1) Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser

Bought this cleanser during a 20% Metro sales (to enjoy the direct discount & utilise the voucher from other purchases). To be honest, I hate this cleanser when I first started using it. The texture and smell is totally different from the Gentle Foaming Cleanser which I used years ago (this is some new formula). I felt the texture is abit too 'buttery' for my liking in the 1st week of usage. But after a week of using it day and night, I fell in love with it all over again as I realised what was the problem. After using Shiseido White Lucent Foaming cleanser, it has became a habit of mine to squeeze approximately 2cm worth of foaming cleanser from the tube to work up a thick lather (by instruction of the SA). However, when I squeeze the similar amount of Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser, it became too thick that I was not able to foam up and create the thick lather. By reducing to only 1cm foaming cleanser for my wash, the lather is thick and foamy and my face felt clean and fresh after wash. Most importantly, I do not have the tight and dry sensation on my skin after wash.

2) SK II Facial Treatment Essence

This baby needs no introduction as we are constantly bombarded by TV, poster and magazine advertisements. I know most ladies would pour the essence into their palms and pat into their skin, however, I personally do not like this method as I find most of the essence were absorbed into my palms instead. My preferred method of application is rather to pour the essence onto facial pad and using the wet pad to pat the essence onto my face. At time when I have pimples, after patting the essence onto my face, I will place the wet pad over the pimple for about 10 - 15 sec, it always help to sooth and calm down my pimples. I know this way means that I use more essence each time, but personally, it work best for me. :)

3) Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targetting Serum

I only use this serum after toner at night (just like I use SK II essence after toner during day time only). By rotating this serum with the SK II essence day and night, I am ensuring that I do not overload too much nutrients to my face at the same time (causing breakouts) and yet enjoying the benefits of these products. I only apply this serum over my freckles and I do see slight lightening of them. This will be a slow process since I am only using it once a day versus the instructions of twice a day but it's ok with me since I still saw some improvements.

4) SK II Skin Refining Treatment

This is a night moisturiser containing BHA which is able to minimise pores. One tip I learnt from my friend, L is that when you notice a pimple coming out, apply this night moisturiser over the area and it definitely help to calm the pimple down and even prevent it from popping out! I have tried this method many times and it works without fail!

5) Niks Aroma Acne Gel

I have been using this acne gel for years, I think coming to 5 - 7 years? What I love about this acne gel is that it is extremely effective and it is not too strong like Oxy whereby the area of application will sting, peel and become dry. So you can be assured this is mild and yet effective!

After identifying my love list, I have also identify a product which I need to use more consistently....... which is....... Clarins Shaping Facial Lift!!! 

What is deterring me from using this product day and night is that I need approximately 30 seconds to do the 5 steps of shaping and lifting and I do not have this 30 seconds in the morning!!! (such irony right? when I can easily spent 20 minutes in applying my makeup -_-, haha). However, I have consistently been using this for the past few nights and I hope to see a sharper face soon!! :)

Thanks for reading this lengthy post and do share with me your favourite skincare products too!

Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum

As far as I can remember, I always have freckles on my cheek bones and hear-say has been that it is hereditary. But in the recent years, perhaps due to age, it seems that I am getting more and more of such freckles and pigmentation. I use sunblock consistently (SPF50 somemore!) and I still do not understand how am I getting more and more pigmentations. To add to my unhappiness, my acne scars are still around...... what the hell........

I have tried cheap whitening essence like Olay, mid range like Ettusais whitening serum but all just seems to be useless. Olay gives me breakouts and Ettusais doesn't seem to help as I do not see any difference. I battled with myself for the longest time and wonder it is true that we cannot save on skincare and the more expensive ones works better (this is what my sis tells me, 一分钱，一分货) and said to say, this is really the case for my skin. I always get breakouts, dull or rough skin when I used drugstore brands like Olay and Hada Labo. But my skin seems to brighten up when I used salon brands like Adonis, or higher range like Shiseido and SK II. Much as I love to save money on skincare, it just doesn't work for me. I have switched away from Shiseido products for about 3 months to try drugstore brand and my skin deteroriated with roughness and breakouts and it's time for me to splurge on skincare once again to save my skin!

Serious help is really needed for my dull skin and pigmentation and I decided to switch from the normal Skincare range to the White Lucent range. It's generally $10 - $15 more expensive per product but I only purchased the softener and whitening serum first. The intensive spot targetting serum is supposedly the star product and target freckles, age spots, acne scars, EXACTLY WHAT I WANT!!!

Shall give this a try and see whether I can see any results.............