How to Contour Cheeks with Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher in Santal

Hello beauties,

Late night, no football match, I had a quick sleep and awake when my hubby came home after he was caught in traffic for 3,5 hours. Right now I lost my appetite to go back to sleep (hell, unlikely). So, let's begin the review of my new baby. New baby that I just bought last week and I am so in love with it!

Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher comes in many shades. These baked blush are so pigmented and provide long lasting finish. I had one before in shade Tomette, a beautiful terracotta shade that compliments my medium warm skin. When considering buying this baby, I was looking for a blush for contouring purpose, as I feel a little bit chubbier lately (don't ask me whether I am gaining more weight or not, I have no guts to walk into the scale, seriously). I need something that can magically slimming down my face. I eventually picked Santal, in English it means Sandalwood.

As you can see in the picture above, this little round pot blusher is quite pricey (around USD 13), but, I never had any doubt on the quality and how cute and sturdy the packaging is, Plus, there's a brush and mirror inside. The brush is small, but the bristle is short and dense. It is just perfect to create a contour under the cheekbones. The color is soooo versatile. You can see in my swatch below that even it looks a little bit dark in the pan, it will give a nice glowing bronze-y flush on my cheeks.

My take on this product:

• Sturdy and all-in-one packaging. Mess-free.
• Pigmentation is great
• Good staying power up to 12 hours
• It has shimmer but barely seen in application. What you see is only subtle glowing flush.
• It comes with many shades that will suit from light to darker skin
• The price is a little pricey for a drugstore product
• It has rosy scent. For those who are allergic to scented make up probably would not like it. But I don't mind at all :)

My overall score of this product is 4.4/5.0

FOTD

Product used:

Eyes: Sariayu Borneo-03 Tikar Badai, Mizzu Pen Eyeliner Black, TonyMoly Party Lover Eyebrow Kit in Black Brown

Base: Lancome Mat Miracle 04, Bourjois Healthy Balance Unifying Powder in Light Beige

Cheeks: Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher in Santal

Lips: thin layer of NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Tonkin

MAC Studio Finish Concealer and My Eye's Prodigy

When I was given a IDR 400,000 MAP voucher from my Dad last week, there was nothing else in my mind except hunting for a concealer :D

Yes, I have been sort of like a zombie in these past few months. My daughter's extremely active and never fell asleep before midnight. Apparently, I am one of unlucky commuters in eastern part of Jakarta who has to wake up so early not to get caught in the bloody traffic jam. Thus, I can't tell you exactly how the free radicals' giving contribution to create the large dark circles under my eyes. Laaarge, I really mean it.

So far, for the rest of my life, I have never keen enough to buy an expensive concealer, as I was pretty happy with my VOV Cover Foundation in pot which I used as concealer after putting base and before applying powder. Too bad, my skin is tad lighter now and the VOV only comes in two shades -- the one that I had was very dark, and the other one is way too pink which I think would clash to my original skin tone. Moreover, the dark circles under eye are better to get eliminated by a salmon-like color. Speaking about color selections, my choice always goes to MAC. Their color range is just heavenly completed and matches to any skin tone.

So, here's my MAC Stucio Finish concealer. I initially wanted to buy the Pro Longwear Liquid Concealer because I demand for a long-lasting one. But, the shade that I am looking for; NC 35, was not available and I ended up buying the Studio Finish that comes in a small pot.

I am sorry for my grainy picture, as I was taking this under room low light :( 

NC35 in MAC is suitable for medium skin with yellow undertone. It's a lot different with NC30, even though it has a close numbering. NC35 appears a lot darker and more neutral. The color matches me perfectly, especially to cover my puffy eyes without looking too bright. It looks so natural.

The texture of this concealer is quite creamy. At least, if I compare with Laura Mercier Undercover Concealer, MAC is easier to blend. It provides a good coverage, I say medium and build-able. It doesn't cake or fade easily, but I have to be careful not to rub this off whenever I wash my face with water before praying. The price is quite expensive for a concealer, but a little goes along the way.

My overall score is 4.0/5.0

Here you see how good it covers my dark circles and fine lines under my eyes:

I love this product and will definitely finish this until the last swipe. Oh, MAC, how could you never failed on me? :)

My panda eyes disappeared easily. But, this only lasts for maximum 6 hours. After that, I need to retouch a little to keep my eyes look fresh.

See you in the next review! ~xoxo~

Review: Fresh Look ColorBlends in Green

WARNING - My first review on cosmetic soft lenses. Beware of the scary-looking reddish eyes :D

2006, that was the last time I wore the cosmetic soft lenses. Such a long time ago. Moreover, I am not suffered from any minus eyes so I've never worn any glasses before. When I started working in that year, I had to cut all my unnecessary expenses, as my first salary was just enough to cover transport, meals and phone bills (hello freshgrad, what did you expect?). No kidding. Since I started working, I decided to close the additional credit card account from my parents and tried to build my life from the beginning (my God, how could I be so wise back then?).

Recently, after being a beauty blogger for about 6 months, I am really wondering how will I look if I am using soft lenses, and how nice it will compliment my EOTD and eye make up even though I feel so amateur :D Previously my fave color was grey, I bought X2 (when Krisdayanti was still being the brand ambassador -- eh, have you born yet?) and so much satisfied with it. If possible, I would find one of my old pictures in my old PC at my parents' house later. I remember that I owned 3 soft lenses in Turquoise, Grey and Hazel. My least favorite was the hazel, as it didn't look stand out on me, since originally I have very black eyes, so the hazel colors only blurred the black to a little bit brownish.

Last week, I ordered two sets of soft lenses through Lensza. I found that the purchasing process was really fast and easy, plus the price are slightly cheaper than most of other online shops. I bought Exoticon ICE No. 8 Nude Eyes in Grey and X2 Gold. When I opened the box, I was so excited that Lensza gave me one sets bonus; the Freshlook ColorBlends in Green. Let's see how it looks on me :)

FreshLook ColorBlends in Green

FreshLook ColorBlends in Green

How it looks on me

My take for this product:

• The color is green but so natural. Especially if you have super black eyes, the green will appear dark, more like a forest green. It is suitable for daily, though I haven't tried to wear this under sunlight, but I am sure that this color is wearable at any ocassions
• The ingredients said that it has 55% of water so it feels pretty comfortable. Mind my reddish eyes, I was so shocked when I tried this out after years. My eyes surely need time to adjust
• Very soft texture
• Easy to find
• Quite expensive compare to other brands
• Only recommended to use for a month, so it's not so long lasting 
• Overall score 3.8/5.0

With FreshLook Colorblends in Green under room light

My EOTD. Products used: Estee Lauder Duo Eye Shadow in Enchanted Forest, Sephora Debut Pret a Porter Palette in Pink, Mizzu Pen Eyeliner in Black, TheBalm Mary Lou for browbone highlight

What do you think about this color? Please share your thoughts :)

~xoxo~

Kid's Birthday Party and Elsa Inspired Look

15 June 2014, my daughter was turning three. I was drowned in the preps for the whole week, that's why I haven't posted anything on my blog lately. For the birthday theme, she chose Frozen over Minions and other Disney's Princesses. She's so into Let-It-Go euphoria :D

To match with her wardrobe and the blue-themed decoration, I was suddenly inspired by Queen Elsa's look. Yes, that pale-skinned, light smokey eyes, and the wine-y lips. Before we start, let's take a look how Queen Elsa looks alike in the movie. Though I guess, many ladies here have already created Elsa's make up before, when joining a MUC, complete with the blonde wig and her braided-hair.

Queen Elsa of Arandelle

The look that I want to show here is super minimalist, as I only had 10 minutes time to prepare myself (and spending the rest to prepare my 'princess'). My daughter likes Anna more than Elsa, because Anna is cute and sassy, so I think she's easier to be remembered by kids.

Here's the quick 10 minutes look:

The cold never bothered me anyway

For the first time in forever

Do you wanna build a snowman?

 Product I used:

- Tony Moly Dear Me Petite BB Cream #1 Cotton Beige

- Ben Nye Neutral Set Powder

- Tony Moly Party Lover Brow Kit in Brown

- Sariayu Inspirasi Borneo Trio Eyeshadow in Manik Banuaka

- MUA Powder Blush shade #1

- Mizzu Eyeliner Pen in Black

- Wet 'n Wild Megalast Lipstick in Cherry Bomb

- TheBalm Mary Loumanizer for highlight 

Thankfully, the party went well. Even though it's school holiday, 3/4 of her friends were coming to celebrate. Thanks all for the wishes.

Happy 3rd birthday my dearest Andhara <3

Birthday balloons

How much are you inspired by this current most-favorite Disney movie? 

I am a lot! :*

Thanks for visiting my blog, see you in my next post ~xoxo~

EOTD: Going Indigo with urban Decay Dangerous Palette

Hello beauties!

A short post today, I just would like to show you my EOTD by using two out of six shades in the Urban Decay Dangerous Palette, my most favorite palette of all time.

This palette was released by UD a couple years ago and I managed to buy this in Sephora US through an American friend who visited me in May 2013.

The full review of this palette can be accessed here.

Why I love it -> pigmented, great color payoff, never crease and smudge all day (with primer underneath)
What I am wearing -> I applied Gravity (electric purple) lightly to all over my lid, then put Evidence (dark blue jeans) on the upper lash line to create smokey line effect. Mix it altogether with brush. Add highlighters on the brow bone.

 

 
EOTD:

Brow: Tony Moly Party Lover Eye Brow Kit #1 Brown Black; Eyeliner: Make Over Liquid Eye Liner in Black; Lash: L'oreal Telescopic Mascara in Black; Highlight: TheBalm Mary-Loumanizer

Until my next post ~xoxo~

Trend Warna Sariayu 2014 - Inspirasi Borneo: Swatches & Review

When a pretty green box came to my door this week, I was totally excited. It was in April when I posted and reviewed two pinkish lipsticks from Sariayu (see my review here), but this time I attempted to try all four lipsticks from Inspirasi Borneo, its latest 2014 Color Trend, collection. Moreover, I also could see-touch-wear the newly-invented mousse foundation from Sariayu for the first time, which reminds me a lot to my favorite Maybelline's. Didn't skip even for 24 hours to try these cuties out!

Eco-inspired green box

As you already knew that Sariayu, one of our biggest cosmetic companies in Indonesia who has exported the products to some of our neighbor countries, releases the Color Trend each year. This year, the colors are inspired from Borneo, ancient name of Kalimantan island. Dayak is the major tribe who lives there.

Slight information: Dayak tribe is a tribe that had great respect for nature. they are always protecting the environment. Dayak tribe always protect the forest wealth in the form of plants and animals as well as possible.Dayak tribe has a very beautiful traditional clothes. Pattern typical Dayak tribes who formed an array of colorful beads adorn the sharp contrast of black cloth, which used as a base for traditional clothes Dayak. So that shows the meaning of the Dayak tribe with the wise use of nature in everyday life.

Insipirasi Borneo full range: Mousse Foundation, Lipstick, Eyeshadow Trio, Marshmallow Blush-On

By looking at the range that they provided, Sariayu has successfully interpreted the Dayak into its color selections. You can see from the three eyeshadows trio that they have below.

Eyeshadow Trio:

(left to right: Borneo-03, Borneo-02, Borneo-01)

Borneo-01 Coelogyne Marthae consists of dark purple, coral and lime green.

Borneo-02 Manik Banuaka consists of baby pink, electric blue and yellow.

Borneo-03 Tikar Badai consists of light beige, brown and brownish black

I used to be a fan of smokey eyeshadows so based on my preference, i would obviously pick Borneo-03 as my most favorite. But this time, the one that attracted me most is Borneo-01. Why? Because it was said that the colors are taken from Coelogyne Marthae, an orchid species found in Sarwak Borneo on lower tree trunks in flooded heath forests at elevations of 50 to 300 meters.

So beautiful, isn't it?

Sariayu's interpretation on Coelogyne Marthae

Inspired from above picture, I was really keen to apply those products on my own. I applied the purple on eyelid, bold and deep, so that I didn't need to use eyeliner anymore. I applied the second layer above with the coral one, then the green lightly for highlight at the upper lid. Here's the result:

I am using Borneo-01

The pigmentation is holy great! One swipe each and you get the color. For this trial, I used Bare Minerals Prime Time Eye Primer as base. This primer is not really good compare to Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but the color still showed up :) With the low price tag, you would never go wrong to purchase these eyeshadows. The only one downside is the packaging. No matter how I love the design with beautiful printed cultural attributes that representing Borneo, the plastic packaging makes me feel worried and extra careful not to drop this because it will be easily broken.

Pigmentation: A

Color selections: B+

Packaging: B-

Price: $

(Overall rating: 3.9/5.0)

Mousse Foundation:

Hello, Maybelline. This one is potential to be your rival! The mousse foundation looks like Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, but smaller and a lot lighter since the packaging made by plastic that makes this easy to carry and travel-friendly. Unlike Maybelline, this mousse foundation only comes in 2 shades: Light and Natural. Don't get caught by the color in the pan, it looks so dark that even I thought I would be suitable wearing Light. But, when I applied to my face, Light is true to its name. It's too light for my medium skin. For you whose skin is in the range of NC20-NC30, this one is perfect color for you. This also has a very strong yellow undertone, like any other regular foundation and powder products of Sariayu (which understandable because most of Indonesian women are having yellowish skin tone)

Left: Light; Right: Natural

Meanwhile, the Natural seems too dark and scary in the pan. It looks like darkest beige leaning to brown. But again, don't judge the color from outside. Because after I applied, the color wasn't that brown on skin. This one will suit you who have NC40 skin or above, or NW35 skin and above. Yes, this has neutral undertone which both NC and NW type can use. Including me. I am NW30/NC35 at the moment and I ended up combining these two shades into one to get the most-suited color on my face. And what my take on the product? Although it's not as 'mousse' as Maybelline's texture, but it's still easy to blend. The coverage is superb, it's medium to full. It hides redness, dark circles and heavy acne marks. Another miracle in life when applying foundation only could make me survive without concealer :)

Left: bare face; Right: with Light and Natural combined

Coverage: A

Texture: B

Longevity: B

Packaging: B

Price: $$ 

(Overall rating: 3.6/5.0)

Finally:
Lipsticks!

This one is my favorite part because I always happy to try out lipsticks! And Sariayu, I think they made huge improvement on their lipsticks nowadays. Besides the wide range of color selections in each of its Color Trend, they also enhanced the quality of the product by adding UV shield as protection and natural moisturizer to prevent lips from dryness.

Let's see how it goes...

(left-right: Borneo-04, Borneo-03, Borneo-02 and Borneo-01)

Borneo-01 (yellow-based medium coral pink)

Borneo-02 (yellow-based bright red)

Borneo-03 (neutral-based light fuchsia)

Borneo-04 (neutral based brownish nude pink)

Color selection:B+

Texture:B+

Longevity: B-

Packaging: B

Price: $ 

(Overall rating: 3.8/5.0)

Which one is your favorite? As a nude lips extreme, I definitely would pick Borneo-04. But, since I haven't bought any coral pink color for so long, I think my favorite this time is Borneo-01. The color is bright but not too much to wear at the office. My least favorite is Borneo-03, as I often found this kind of color in many other Sariayu lispticks (from previous Color Trends). But overall, for the price around IDR 30k, having 4 lipsticks at the same time is definitely not a sin :)

See you at my next review! ~xoxo~

PS. This is a sponsored review, but review was made based on my trusted opinion. Thanks for Sariayu for sending me the complete range of Inspirasi Borneo. 
I loved it so much <3 <3

Wet 'n Wild Megalast Lip Colour in Cherry Bomb: Because the Dark Lipstick is 'In'

Since last month I feel like going out from my comfort zone: 

it's my mattened-nude-beige-lips.

I saw a lot of MUA, beauty bloggers (inside and outside) who are promoting the dark vampy lips. Admit that I am so tempted to try. In my younger times, I never touch this kind of lipstick (neither the bright pink neon one), because dark lips make me look too mature. But life is changing now.

At first I was thinking to buy Lime Crime Velvetines Liquid Lip in shade Wicked, as the color is so bold burgundy red and it provides super matte finish. It has a doe-foot applicator and so far I found that it's perfect to evenly apply a liquid lipstick. But, I am almost broke had a tight budget here! This month, I have bought couple of cosmetics (and apparently dissatisfied with two out of six items, but yeah, life goes on) so I need to fasten my belt a little bit. This month, my daughter will be celebrating her 3rd birthday at school so you can imagine how much money that I will spend :D

Hmm..let's find a dupe then. If not, let's find a drugstore cheap lipstick to fulfill this desire.

I was googling hard and bumped into this Wet n Wild Megalast series. Well, at first I wasn't so sure that the color payoff and the intensity would look great, but I thought I would not go wrong with idr 55,000 lipstick, and I found that Mimo is selling them at the lowest price.

My take on the product:

Wet 'n Wild Megalast Lipstick comes in a wide variety of shades. I remember that I owned this already in shade Rosebud. I underestimated this lipstick but I was totally wrong. It's color payoff, consistency and level of comfort on lips are similar with Nyx Matte Lipstick. And Nyx's costs 1,5 times higher that Wet 'n Wild.

This shade's called Cherry Bomb. It's a truly cherry red but slight pinkier, leaning to burgundy red. What I did not expect from this lipstick is the intensity. It's nearly perfect. It's matte, doesn't smudge on lips at all (even in some MAC Matte's, they smudge!). Staying power is superb, for 6 hours without eating, and will leave a pretty dark red stain after eating, which still looks okay.

For the packaging, you will got what you pay. It comes with black plastic tube with clear cap. Looks so cheap, huh? Haha...I actually don't really mind with that, but one thing that I concern is the packaging makes it difficult for us to avoid messiness, as the cap will easily scratch the lipstick because half of it is outside the tube.  

For me, this is the darkest color I have purchased. Previously I have tried OCC Liptar in Black Dahlia (it's a lot darker and winier than this), but the difficult application of OCC Liptar compeletely turned me off! It wasn't reflect the money spent as it was quite expensive (originally sold for around 20 usd). I eventually sold it to someone else. 

My rate for this product is 4.5/5.0

I just can't believe that Wet 'n Wild Cherry Bomb possesses some qualities that the high-end lipsticks have. Admit that I don't feel luxurious when wearing this, but as a starter, I am giving this the highest rate of the history since I began to write a beauty blog. I am so in love with it.

For those who wanna see the full variety of Wet n' Wild products, you can visit here.

See you on my nest post. Sneak peek: the BB cream & pact from Tony Moly, my most favorite Korean make up brand. Stay tuned. ~xoxo~

Kiehl's Rare Earth Daily Pore Cleanser: Scrubbing Never Felt This Good

WARNING: Those who has problem with blackheads, whiteheads and the gigantic pores overall, you must like this product from Kiehls.

Trust me, I have experienced the messiness of having blackheads since I was in junior high school. Unluckily I inherit the super oily & acne-prone skin from my Dad, because my Mom has a quite dry-sensitive skin for the rest of her life. Oily skin gives a lot of trouble; discoloration, large pores, especially the appearance of acne that comes almost everytime or when we are too lazy to clean up and rinse off make up and dirt from our face. Needless to say that going to bed with extra clean face is mandatory.

So, is cleaning our face just with facial foam is enough?

It depends on what you wear for daily. As I never going out from home without base (can be foundation,, TM or BB cream), of course it isn't. My cleaning routine starts from milk cleanser, though milk cleanser is not supposed to be given to oily face, but in my case, milk cleanser is only the first step. Afterwards, I still rinse off its residue with light facial foam and toner. That's the toner which works for the oily skin most, because it will balance out the sebum secretion and the moisture level of the skin. But, for some people, toner which usually contains alcohol, is too harsh.

Well, a daily scrub then can be an alternative.

But what kind of scrub do we need actually?

I've been trying the daily scrubs outhere and many of them feel irritating and not safe to use twice or once a day. Moreover, it also will worsen the growing acnes, that's why dermatologist never recommend using scrub to blemished skin.

Until one day, a friend of mine introduced me to this product. Meanwhile, I also have heard that this is one of the winners from Kiehl's. I went to Kiehl's after trying out this product as my friend gave me sample in the small plastic jar. When I first tried this, I was in love.

This scrub has a creamy texture and subtle scrub. I mean, the scrub, you will not notice because it's barely there. But once you applied to your face, after rubbing your palm with a little water, you will feel that the scrub is working. Rinse it off with lukewarm water and it left your face soft and supple. Not dehydrated like most scrub give you as finish. Only a soft, supple and balanced skin.

Kiehls describes this as:

Exfoliates and detoxifies. Formulated specifically for normal to oily skin types to purify and thoroughly cleanse, this non-stripping foaming formula contains Amazonian white clay particles to gently remove surface debris, toxins and oils which can enlarge the appearance of pores. With ingredients sourced from the Marajo Island at the mouth of the Amazon River, this unique formula is rich in minerals and helps detoxify by eliminating surface toxins from the skin. Deeply cleanses to help reduce the appearance of enlarged pores for fresh and healthy-looking skin. 

Is it safe to use daily?

• If my skin is breaking out like crazy, I will only apply this to my nose, the area where I found most of the blackheads and whiteheads. I apply in circle motion gently, for around 5 minutes, and wipe off with tissue first before rinse with water. I love to see that the blackheads successfully come out in a clean white tissue. It's 2 times more effective than using pore pack. And it feels 3 times cleaner! 
• However, in good condition, I used to apply this twice a day -- morning and night-- to replace my regular facial foam (I am still religiously using The Body Shop Tea Tree facial wash). 
• If you have sensitive skin, you are recommended to use 2 times in a week.

Overall, I give this score 4.2/5.0

For a product that deserves a thumb up, the downside is always be the price. It's quite costly at IDR 285,000. But since the tube contains of a lot of product (150ml), it can last for 6 months. For me, this is the best scrub product in the market. It also has a subtle nice clay smell which I love.

Since using this, I could say farewell to my clogged pores. My T-zone area, though yes it's still oily especially in these hot humid days, I now can feel it's well exfoliated. ~xoxo~