Shu Uemura whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil

Shu Uemura whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil........ Honestly, this name is a mouthful for me and I will just remember it is Shu's cleansing oil in the purple bottle with whitening function, haha. This post is not exactly a review post but more of an initial feel of the product since it was a sample bottle of 20ml which last me about 1.5 weeks with about 10 usage.

I received a 20ml Shu Uemura whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil as 1 of the items from BellaBox few months ago and never got to use it. I have been using Shu Uemura fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil (pink bottle) for a number of years and I love how light it is in terms of texture and yet is a fuss-free cleansing oil which I can remove face, eye and lip makeup at 1 go. For this post, I will make most comparison against fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil just to give you a rough idea of how whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil is.

Functions
Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil contains combination of Mito-White Complex and Vitamin C to help prevent the accumulation of melanin deep within and is very much suited for ladies who hates their dull complexion and wish for a product that can remove melanin-filled dead cells and reveil a brighter skin. Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil, on the other hand is more suited for ladies with combination or oily skin and would like a lightweight cleansing oil that effectively remove makeup, dirt and sebum.

Texture
Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil has a slightly more watery texture than Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil.

Fragrance
Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil has a slightly floral scent which I kind of enjoy whereas Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil is almost fragrance free.

Effectiveness in removing makeup and waterproof eye makeup
Both oils are on par in terms of the removing normal and waterproof makeup without irritating the eys or causing discomfort (such as tightness to the skin after cleansing).

Do I feel my skin looks brighter after using Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil? Honestly, NO. Perhaps you need to use a full bottle to get the effect, I'm not sure. However, I am still going to be sticking to my trusted Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil for now. :)

Giorgio Armani ETK 25 Rusted Gold

My love for Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill has only increased and not decreased especially after I find it so so so fuss free and easy to use if I want a quick way to put on some colours and head out for a date.

In the recent Aqua Collection Summer 2012, 2 ETKs caught my eyes and they are 25 Rusted Gold and 28 Red Platine. I troubled Juju to order through Nordstrom for me not knowing if this collection will reach our shore and I'm glad that they did.

Just like how the name is, it looks like a pot of rusty gold with mixture of black and gold in a pot. However, it looks more complex than just black and gold as it looks khaki as well when swatched. This was what make me took and plunge and bought it as I am a fan of khaki shade.

For the look below, I did a simple 5 mins ETK eye look by applying 25 Rusted Gold onto my crease and tap in 8 champagne lightly in the inner corner of my eyes. All done with my ring finger and pinkie and nothing wise which explains why I only need about 5 mins. Given the fine powdery texture of ETK, blending is not a problem even using your fingers as long as you don't tug and sweep the colour too hard. I do not experience any fallouts during application and even without putting on any eyeshadow primer, it last very well on me for more than 6 hours in the hot and humid weather here.

For the movie date yesterday, below are the gears I used:-

I have to say, I love Burberry Light Glow Blush in Tangerine...... !!!

Eyes To Kill 21 Obsidian Grey

In the recent play date with Jacq and Jolyn, Eyes To Kill in 21 Obsidian Grey was one of the haul items I purchased. I made a pact with Jacq that we will use it within a week of purchase and I sticked to my promise. :)

Obsidian Grey look very much like a dark intense grey with teal shimmers in the pot but when swatched, the colour came out more vibrant and beautiful. There are comparisons made between Obsidian Grey and Pulp Fiction given that both are grey shades and I made a comparison for myself to see if they are really different.

From the swatches (pardon the lousy pic), Obsidian Grey came out looking like teal-grey which looks cooler compared to Pulp Fiction which has pink undertones and looking warmer. Do u need both? I say they are different in their unique ways but I'm glad I had both of them.

Finally, the movie 'The Dark Knight Rises' is here!!!! BC and I purchased the tickets in advance and the show is awesome. Even though the movie was close to 3 hours, every single details of the show just make you glued to the movie. By the way, in case you are intending to watch it and also intend to wait till the credits are rolled to see any scenes of a potential sequel, don't waste your time. There are none, haha.

For our movie date, these are the stuffs I used:-

1) YSL glossy stain in 7 Corail Aquatique
2) Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation (sample courtesy of Jacq)
3) Benefit Sugarbomb
4) Canmake Agebuto mascara
5) ETKs in 21 Obsidian Grey and 8 Champagne
6) Shu Uemura eyebrow pencil

I hope you guys have a good week ahead. I am already hoping that it will end soon.

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill 1 Blast of Blue

It's a movie date with BC today and I was in a 'vain' mode to dress up my face a little and thus decided to use my Giorgio Armani ETK in 1 Blast of Blue for the first time.


I love the gold and the blue in this pot that gives it such unique look. When applied on my lids, BC commented that it gives a bronzey blue tone. I am pretty lazy and just want to have a quick and fast way to do up my face so I just sweep the colour on my lids and gently blend up towards my crease. That's it, simple one tone eye colour which is super convenient!


Looking at the pic, I think I could have applied more colour near the lashline so pardon the lousy eye makeup here but I seriously like how fuss-free this is. Below are the stuffs I used today and the focus is SPEED with 2-way foundation, simple pink blush and lip gloss. :)

Shu uemura, Chanel and SUQQU haul!!

Tangs Vivocity is having a 12% rebate for Citibank or Tangs Lifestyle Cardholder today and this gives me a good chance or excuse (??) to replenish some of the usual items that I have completed or going to complete.

I was very focused, I only need 2 items:-

1) Shu uemura fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil which I am almost done with the current 450ml bottle
2) A refill for my HG 2 way foundation, Chanel Mat Lumiere Extreme (see post here)

So eventually, have I been a good girl.... well........ I would say 80% good, lol

Yes, I purchased my cleansing oil and yes, I also bought my Chanel 2 way foundation refill but YES..... I also bought a blusher from Shu uemura........ Ok ok, the cleansing oil is already $138 and I'm just $22 away from receiving the gift with purchase which consist of cleansing beauty oil premium A/O advanced formula (with green tea extract and helps in anti ageing), a travel size toner and moisturiser so I thought why not look for a beige pink blusher that I have always been thinking, hehe. Excuses, I know...... but hey, who doesn't need another extra blusher, haha! So here I ended up with blusher in M Soft Pink 326.

Seriously, do you know that the blusher refill itself cost $33 and the case is $14 which comes up to a total of $47? Honestly, thinking back, it is a bit expensive isn't it? Especially when the blush refill is only 4g whereas MAC blush of 6g cost around $30+ and it comes with a case? But well, Shu uemura are known for their pigmented shades so I am paying for quality right?? :) The SA from Shu also gave me a sample of their new cleansing oil which is called Ultime8 Cleansing Oil which helps to protect the skin delicate moisture balance, sounds good...... shall give this a try and review later.

So on a separate note.... I finally got my hands on my very 1st SUQQU Blend Eyeshadow palette! I have only heard good things about this palette and thus even with a hefty price of at least $100+ per palette, most beauty gurus or bloggers will still find a way to have them. Unfortunately for me who stay in Singapore, it is not available over the counters and SUQQU is only available in Japan, Bangkok and UK. So a fellow colleague of mine who is a beauty junkie helped me got it from Japan through her best friend who is there on holiday, so nice of her right???? My choice of SUQQU palette is shade 10 Kozuecha.

Thanks to drivel about frivol who has an impressive collection of SUQQU Blend eyeshadow palettes, it helped me to decide to get Kozuecha. Honestly, I was torn between Kozuecha and Himesango but the latter looks more pinkish with tones of plum from the online swatches so I decided to opt for something more brownish and neutral (BORING!!!!) as my first palette. I have not started swatching and using this yet as I would still like to admire it in it's brand new form for a while so I will post my feel and review of this palette soon.

A date to Harry Potter Exhibition at ArtScience Musuem

Hey peeps!! I'm back from Bintan and is excited to be visiting the Harry Potter Exhibition at ArtScience Musuem. Not only am I excited to visit this exhibition, can you believe it is also my first time heading to Marina Bay Sands? Lol, call me a mountain tortoise Singaporean but I have never stepped into MBS since the opening. It has been a while since I has gone out with BC for a place nicer than our neighbourhood so it's a great chance to put on some makeup!!

I have to rave once again that DiorSnow BB cream exceeded my expectation for a BB cream. Simply love the high SPF protection and decent coverage. Most importantly, I can skip the steps of applying sunblock, makeup base and foundation and only apply 1 BB cream.

ETK in Champagne and Gold Blitz need no introduction and I am impressed with the lasting power of them despite me not using a primer today. Given the hot humid weather in Singapore this time of the year, they have lasted through the sweat and oil field coming from my face :)

MAC blushers have always been my love. Their colour selection is extensive and I would be surprised if someone can't find a blusher from MAC that they like. MAC mineralized blush in Warm Soul has been my go to blush recently and today is no exception.

How have your weekend been so far? Hope it has been great for you as it is for me and I'll be sharing with you the Harry Potter exhibition tomorrow. You guys have to go visit it, it's AWESOME!!

Hauls from HK (while I am still in Sin)

Yes, you saw the title right.... the hauls were from HK but I was in Singapore because the shopping was not done by me but by my close colleague who went HK and Taiwan for holiday. I am very conscious about troubling my friends to help me get stuffs from overseas as they should be enjoying their holiday and not doing my shopping but I am really blessed to meet really nice friends who always offer to help get my stuffs. Thank you Levon!!

 

Shu Uemura eyeshadows ME850, 700, Laura Mercier loose setting powder, NARS eyeshadow duo in Tzarine, MAC eyeshadows in Gleam, Satin Taupe

NARS is the only brand which I hauled that is not available in Singapore. I know their blushers are also highly raved by various beauty forums and bloggers, but I am not quite adventurous in terms of blushers (in fact, I am hardly adventurous in terms of eyeshadows also, haha) so anyway, I chose this eyeshadow duo mainly because it's not the usual neutrals that I have always been using and yet the colour is not too strong. It's a palette of shimmery beige and shimmery cool toned grey (looking a bit navy blue at some angle) which is just lovely.

Laura Mercier loose setting powder needs no introduction. It is like the holy grail of loose powder, just do a google on this and you will find list of sites raving about this powder. Fortunately for us in Singapore, Laura Mercier is available in True Colours situated at Takashimaya Shopping Centre (basement 1). But unfortunately for us as well, the sales people in True Colours SUCKS. They are always stalking you like some gold carrot and insist that their house brand IZU is better. I went in last year wanting to get the loose powder and they had to convince and convince that their IZU loose powder is better. And stupid me, actually tried and ended up buying their house brand. But alas, it was not good! Even though, it claims to be translucent, I look like a ghost applying it. I only used it 2 - 3 times and it is now left at the corner of my cosmetic drawer. Total waste of money!

The remaining 4 eyeshadows are permanent products which are easily available in Singapore obviously but I have heard that Shu Uemura is much cheaper in HK (it costs $32 per eyeshadow in Singapore!) I wanted to get ME 700 (the metallic purple shade) sometime back and it was out of stock! Damn popular colour, can???

Hauling is always something happy, don't you think? Just looking at them brings a smile to my face, haha. I have only started using MAC Satin Taupe and the rest are still looking good and brand new! :)

My favourite eyeshadows (for now....)

I am not very adventurous when it comes to eyeshadows for a few reasons:-
1) For obvious reasons, my eye makeup skills is still pretty amateur-ish
2) I have the typical asian mono lids eyes which I find using too strong colours will make me look like a panda(or perhaps I have yet to master the skills to apply strong colours to my advantage)
3) I work in an environment whereby most ladies HARDLY put on any makeup, thus I do not want to look like the odd ball

Below shows the eyeshadows which I have been using pretty often and this labelled as my eyeshadows for now..... As you may notice, they consist of mainly neutrals or light and safe colours.

From left to right: Urban Decay Naked Palette, MAC eyeshadow Silver Ring, Shu Uemura P Purple 715, Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eyes RD 784, Lunasol Aurorize Eyes 02 Light Variation

Urban Decay Naked Palette needs no introduction....... I have previously blogged about it here. And all I can say is the texture, pigmentation and lasting power of this palette is impressive. Thus, it is no surprise that it is always out of stock at Sephora.

I like to pair Shu Uemura P Purple 715 and MAC Silver Ring together to create a light subtle, slightly smoky look usually on a Friday when the atmosphere at work is more relaxed and cheerful. As I apply MAC silver ring with MAC 217 (a fluffy blending brush), the intensity of the colour of this grey eyeshadow comes up softer and not as strong. Shu Uemura P Purple 715 was purchased like donkey years ago which I can't remember when but the pigmentation of Shu's eyeshadow are amazing that despite the neglect all these years, the colour can still stay on my oily lids for hours coupled with a eyeshadow primer.

Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eyes RD 784 and Lunasol Aurorize Eyes 02 Light Variation has very similar colour shades but I would say MM Jeweling Eyes RD784 leaned towards peachy coral whereas Lunasol Aurorize Eyes 02 Light Variation is a shimmery pink neutral palette. The lighter between the 2 palettes would be Lunasol, given the shimmery texture.

You may have noticed that 3 out of the 5 favourite eyeshadows of mine are palettes as I find mixing and matching of the colour shades are all in the same pot, pretty idiot proof, and not to mention they are travel friendly. :)

If anyone of you knows of any nice, adventurous colours that might suit my mono lids, do share with me! I do not want to stay neutral all the time!!!