NARS Matte Multiple in Exumas; Feels Like in the Bahamas

Meet the newest item in my collection;

the NARS Matte Multiple in Exumas as part of NARS matte multiple family. Price wise? You know NARS. Satisfaction level: maximum. I can say that I am so in love with this newbie.

NARS Matte Multiple comes in 3 brown shades for contouring and 4 pop shades for blush and lip tint. What I love about NARS is because they always named their products with a very interesting geographical names, either world's cities, lakes, name of countries, gulf, cape and even those pervert names such as Sex Machine or Deep Throat (sorry, this is so age-restricted post :D) Since my fave school's subject was geography, so I can exactly guess what's behind each of NARS' product name and found it very attractive. 

Thanks to Cafe Make Up, for giving us the pretty swatches. Above is the complete NARS Matte Multiple collections and below is the swatches from the four pop shades; Anguilla, Exumas, Laos and Siam. Very pretty names, aren't they?

I initially wanted to try on Laos, because the rosy shade looks really tempting. However, I remember that I already owned two rosy shades (MAC Autoerotique and Sleek Rose Gold) and lack of peachy shades. I eventually picked Exumas, which name was taken from the group of islands in the Bahamas. I thought the name reminds me of summer, exactly similar with our season right now (minus the beaches in Jakarta).

I purchased at Strawberrynet.com when they had a promo and good deal. It is sold at USD 39 at NARS website. It consists of 7,5gr of product, quite small for a blush (and I wish I wouldn't finish it too soon). The color looks two times darker in the stick, yet very subtle when applied. Here is the swatch on the back of my hand, before and after blended.

The color is corally peach, not too pink nor orange. The result is amazing, I wear this from morning 7am and I can still see my cheeks glow at 3pm! I feel like being in the beach in the hot sunny Jakarta.

I can't believe that I am really impressed with this tiny product. The texture is easy to blend, and it's matte, so it fits my super oily skin and doesn't make me oilier at all! It doesn't accentuate my large pores and the most important thing is the fact that it doesn't have shimmer and glitters, but glow! The more hours you wear this, the more natural it looks.

This photo is taken at 1pm in the hot and sunny afternoon and after having outdoor activities, and moreover I applied this blush at 7am in the morning! My face looks dewy, and I am sure that I will use this blush until te last swipe, too, likey other NARS products.

How about you? Which shade is your favorite from the NARS Matte Multiple range?

See you in my next post ~xoxo

[Review] Sleek Blush On in Rose Gold: Who Needs NARS Orgasm Anyway?

Hola, hello!

I am back. Yes, successfully back to write another post since I have been absent for...2 months???!! Don't ask me what kind of blogger I am, but my activities were just unbearably super tight. I mean super tight that I couldn't even breath and relax.

I visited three cities in Japan in October for holiday with my hubby and little daughter, sold my apartment and managed to buy an indent house. I left my job and moving to another project which, thankfully, still under the same roof. However, the new project is an ongoing project so I had to catch everything up very soon and within the first month I had to go somewhere for business trip. Time flies and so here is December.

Before moving forward, I'll post some of our pictures during autumn in Japan :)

Eikando Shrine, Kyoto

Universal Studio Japan, Osaka

Shibuya Square, Tokyo

Ah, forget it. I have been officially back into reality X)

Okay, so the first item came up in my mind after a long break is my current favorite blush on from Sleek Cosmetics.

You might have heard a lot about Sleek Cosmetics since it is famous for the iDivine eye shadow palette. They have been well known as the gorgeous, good UK brand with reasonable price and decent quality. The eye palette itself, I have none. Not because I didn't like them, but I have been searching and waiting for its Arabian Night Collection to be re-launched. Or maybe they are not going to make this as permanent range, too bad :(

Courtesy of http://lipdrama.blogspot.com/2014/07/sleek-makeups-arabian-nights-i-divine.html

I mean, look at this palette. How could I not love the jewel-toned, bold and beautiful palette like this?

Okay, back to topic. I bought the Sleek Blush On in Rose Gold back in late October, as I had been using The Balm Cindy Lou Manizer as my daily blush+highlighter. But somehow I feel like I didn't need to use highlighter everyday (although Cindy Lou is very versatile and doesn't have those chunky glitters not even gritty sparkles. At that time I needed to be a little bit rational since I have spent a lot in Japan, and I have been wanting to try NARS Orgasm because I am now liking the barely-seen-blush style on my face. After did some research, I saw that this Sleek blush is totally the same with Orgasm. Wanna see?

NARS Orgasm - Courtesy of beautylish.com

Sleek Blush On - Rose Gold

What's good?

:: The color! It's peachy pink that looks pinkier than NARS Orgasm on the pan. Yes, it's a bit pinkier but only a slight little. That wouldn't make any difference on your cheek.
:: The golden sheen is very, very nice! It's like putting the blush and highlighter at the same time, saving a lot of your time, everywhere.
:: Packaging is as SLEEK as its name. It won't consume space in my daily make up kit.
:: It has a quite large mirror in it. Even though the packaging is small, but the size of the mirror is as big as the blush.
:: Price. I really think that nobody would need to buy NARS Orgasm if they could have the same thing at 1/4 price.

What's missing?

* Though I know it is the consequence of having a sleek packaging, I still wish that it comes with brush :D
* Staying power is...not that long. It stays for 6-8 hours on me. But I think NARS would do the same on my face (based on my previous experience with NARS Angelika). My face is way too oily. The only blush that stays until 12 hours is only Lover by Illamasqua :)

See the golden sheen? I am no longer using my messy highlighter for daily.

Well, I am totally happy with this item and I think I will stick to this until I hit the pan in the next couple of months. Usually I am not easy to be pleased by blushers, but if I love one blush, I would finish it to the last swipe.

See you on my next post!

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

Natural Plum Make Up: TheBalm Pinstripe & NARS Tonkin Review

Hello, Missy!

Duh, mau blogging tapi kok lagi gak mood nulis bahasa Inggris, jadi mari yuk kita review produk kali ini dengan bahasa Indonesia aja (walaupun berasanya jadi aneh tapi marilah kita coba).
Jadi hari ini judulnya aku mau share pengalaman aku yang paling seneng sama warna ungu, pake baju nuansa ungu, dan ber-make up pun hobi banget sama warna yang satu ini. Nah, berhubung kulitku ini gelap (hey, I'm proud of having tanned skin loh!), jadi mesti rada hati2 juga milih warna ungu, karena gak semua ungu cocok untuk kulit gelap.

Lavender mood

Lavender looks good on Natalie's Portman skin!

Jenis ungu yang menyerupai warna lavender atau ungu muda akan lebih bagus kalau diaplikasikan di kulit cenderung terang. Selain warnanya akan lebih kelihatan, warna ini juga akan menonjolkan kelembutan di wajah. Dan buat yang bosen sama warna abadi yang namanya 'pink', warna lavender bisa jadi alternatif yang paling oke selain peach/coral. So, princess-y look is no longer boring :)

Glam plum

Untuk kulit yang mendium-tan alias lebih gelap, warna ungu yang bisa dipilih adalah warna ungu cenderung plum, magenta atau berry. Kalau saya pribadi prefer plum atau magenta, karena berry akan kelihatan lebih cocok untuk kulit yang warnanya olive (seperti orang Latin atau Italiano).

Plum does match the darker skin tone

Warna plum di atas bisa kelihatan sangat glamor kalau diaplikasikan dengan tepat dan sesuai proporsi. Maksudnya, antara mata, pipi atau bibir, kita harus milih dua diantara tiga yang bisa dipakaikan warna plum. Yang satunya harus dibiarkan nude/polos. Biar nggak kayak nge-lenong ya Ciin :p

Nah, untuk urusan make up plum, aku serahkan sama blush on favoritku yang satu ini: TheBalm Instain Blush Pinstripe. Seperti yang para bloggers udah tau, Instain ini punya 6 shades warna yang cantik-cantik, yaitu Swissdot (orange/peach), Houndstooth (mauvey pink), Toile (strawberry/red), Lace (bright/barbie pink), Argyle (petal pink) dan Pinstripe (plum). Pinstripe bisa dibilang warna paling gelap dari keenam shades yang ada. Alasan kenapa saya pilih ini karena jarang sekali ada blush on merk lain yang warnanya menyerupai Pinstripe.

TheBalm Instain in Pinstripe

Vintage design, lovin' it!

The bold plum looks much softer on my skin

TheBalm sekarang ini jadi brand make up favorit aku. Selain packaging-nya yang super vintage dan cantik, kualitasnya juga worth it sama harganya. Oiya, kalau beli Instain baiknya sih di online shop, karena mereka biasanya beli saat TheBalm lagi diskon besar di negara asalnya USA sana, kalau beli di counter-nya (Debenhams Senayan City, misalnya), harganya sudah hampir dua kali lipat. Overall rating untuk blusher ini 4.0/5.0

Kalau untuk bibir, aku prefer warna plummy nude alias lipstik yang judulnya nude tapi punya hint coklat keunguan sehingga kalau diaplikasikan ke bibir jatuhnya plum. Bulan lalu, aku nitip salah satu temanku yang business trip ke USA karena aku penasaran sama lipstick NARS. Harga lipstick ini kalau pre-order di online shop berkisar di angka 380 ribuan. Wow, it's so pricey! Harga aslinya di Sephora adalah usd 26 plus pajak, jadilah aku beli NARS Pure Matte Lipstick ini 'cuma' seharga 320 ribu. Tetep mahal, dan officially jadi lipstick termahal dari semua koleksi, tapi it's definitely recommended for matte & nude lip lovers!

Kenapa?

Look how small NARS lipstick is!

Plummy nude colour

• NARS Pure Matte Lipstick ini gak bikin bibir terasa kering. 
• Konsistensinya bagus, kelihatan banget kalau ini barang high-end
• Opaque dan pigmented
• Tahan lama, kalau gak pakai makan (hanya minum) warnanya bakalan stay di bibir sampai 6 jam
• Gak gampang faded 
• Review lebih lengkap ada di sini

It's plummy but natural

Kalau ada pro, pasti tetap ada cons ya. Aku gak suka banget sama kemasannya yang walaupun sturdy, tapi KECIL! Saking kecilnya, lipstick ini baru aku pakai 3 minggu dan sudah habis hampir sepertiga walaupun cuma apply 2x sehari.

Courtesy of Karlasugar

Tonkin sendiri dideskripsikan oleh webiste Sephora sebagai "Cinnamon Plum", dan buatku warnanya memang jadi plum di bibir dan bukan beige seperti swatch di atas. Overall rating 4.0/5.0 untuk lipstik ini.

Finally, FOTD! Till the next review... <3

My Version of "7 Deadly Sins of Beauty"

GREED: What is your most inexpensive beauty item? What is your most expensive?

My most expensive beauty item is the NARS Love Yourself Set Blush & Bronzing Combo with Lip Gloss! I was just so curious to try out one of the NARS' blushers to find out why people are raving so much about them. Since the single blush costs so damn expensive (online shops in Indonesia usually sell it for around idr 350,000-400,000), I found a good deal at id.strawberrynet.com with extra discount so I 'only' had to pay for idr 396,000 for this combo (NARS Blush Angelika, Nars Bronzer Laguna and NARS Lip Gloss is Angelika, too). I eventually sold it to a friend because the pink color wasn't like what I expected. And in terms of longevity, I found that Illamasqua Powder Blush is slightly better.

My most inexpensive one is the Silky Girl Eye Brow Pencil. As I am not a brow-person, bought it accidentally at the drugstore while waiting for my daughter's medicine to be processed when she was sick. It only costs idr 18,000 :)

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WRATH: What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with? What product has been the hardest to get? 

 

It's the VOV Cover Foundation that I've used as concealer. As an acne-prone, my skin is always suffered from acne scars, and this cover foundation could cover it well (if used as concealer, not as foundation because it'll look too heavy). I love the creamy but stiff texture, easy to blend, and the most important thing that they're quite long lasting! So, love it! But, because the color is Dark Brown (lighter colors wouldn't be able to cover the scars on my medium-tan skin), I found that it makes my foundation look more beige-y than its original shade, and it oxidizes too! It makes my skin 1 shade darker (beige-r) at the end of the day :( Rethinking to repurchase it because I almost finish the whole jar (and it took a pretty long time: 1,5 years) because the price is also a bit high for a concealer (around idr 150,000)

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GLUTTONY: What are your most delicious beauty products?

I am not a fan of cutely-packaged Korean make up, since the color range is NOT SO ME, so I prefer US brands with more variety shades. And as you know, none of the US products smells as fresh as fruits or whatsoever. So, my most delicious beauty product so far is...probably Oriflame Very Me Peach Me Perfect Skin Glow. I was deeply in love with its peachy scent! This is by far the best make up product from Oriflame and I am not kidding you (I was an agent one time). Though the texture is runny, but it has good coverage and successfully evened out skin tone very well. So wearable for daily office hours, especially if you mostly spend a day indoor. They called it tinted moisturizer, so as predicted, it doesn't provide good longevity and it could make your oily skin more oily in mid-day. Nevertheless, I spent 3 tubes of Very Me in 2011 because I loveeeed the smell!

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SLOTH: What beauty products do you neglect due to laziness?

Mascara. Haha, while most of beauty junkies love mascara and tend to have high-end products, me not. I don't know why but I am always too lazy to play with my thin eyelashes. I hate it, and I need a little help from mascara to make it better. BUT, still, putting the mascara at the end of make up routine is not something I cherish -.-

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PRIDE: What beauty product gives you the most self confidence?

I can't live without eyeliner, I mean anykind of eyeliner. My eyes will be looked so small and unattractive without the eyeliner. Either eyeliner itself or combined with smokey eyes, I prefer the latter. The eyeliner plays important role in creating a polished look. My recent favorite, since the gel eyeliner has been invented, is the Revlon Colorstay Gel Liner in Charcoal. I don't really like black eyeliner because it usually applies unevenly and smudged. I prefer the dark grey one or dark brown.

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LUST: What products do you lust after?

I am craving more and more for a lipstick with lip cream texture but matte finish. I am literally a fan of matte lipstick, but i found that Make Up Forever Aqua Rouge Lipstick in Chesnut as my all-time favorite. I wanted to repurchase but because it's pricey, I am searching for a cheaper version of it. Currently I just bought the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics' Lip Tar, and can't wait to try the whole 4 Lip Tar minis and review it soon!

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ENVY: What items would you most like to receive as a gift?

I always look for a perfect foundation, and never bored to experiment with them. So, some higher-end foundies will be my preference. At the moment I am thinking to try TheBalm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer, Urban Decay Naked Foundation, and last but I am craving the most,, is the Hourglass Illusion Tinted Moisturizer. That's my HG!  I got its sample once after had a big shop at Sephora. It's pricey (55 usd), and only available at Sephora US. 

Those are my version 7 Deadly Sins, you can make yours by copy-pasteing my post. See you again! ~xoxo~

Cindy-Lou and Mary-Lou; the Great Luminizer Combo from TheBalm

Beauties,

Let me introduce you to the most wanted girls named Mary-Lou and Cindy-Lou. They are the highlighters from TheBalm. I have to tell you that I am deeply and totally in love with them BOTH!

I was introduced to Mary-Lou from one of my cousins (actually I saw it already at TheBalm counter in Plaza Senayan yet I was being so ignorant about highlighters). I thought, how would I need a highlighters on my face. Doesn't it just accentuate my gigantic pores and imperfections?

The answer is NO. These highlighters are just very pigmented. They make you glow but not glittery. They do not accentuate large pores, even somehow could diffuse the texture of your skin and make it look polished. Just a tiny amount, and you're all set. Are they that magical?

MARY-LOU

Mary-Loumanizer is exactly reflects its name as luminizer. It has champagne, subtle gold color that will be great to be applied in your upper cheek bone and brow bone. It gives you something to get everyone's attention, if you use it in the right amount. Mary-Lou can be wearable during the day, but it looks better to wear at night. Works better if combined with bronzer, and of course, suitable from the lighter skin (they can use it on eyelid as well to create no-makeup eye make up) to darker skin. I've never seen a highlighter that is so subtle and blendable like this before in my life!

I bought mine as one of my self birthday present on January. I love, super love, that it has a large mirror in the packaging, the mirror is even better than my MAC compact powder. One night when my daughter had tantrum (you may have to check what tantrum is on google, if you're still single, it's hard to explain :p), she kicked everything around her and voila, my one-month-baby Mary-Lou was dropped onto floor and broken into pieces. Seriously.

So I found that the packaging, though it looks sturdy, but fragile :( One minus, I guess. I moved it to the small jar, at least, instead of bringing the broken one because it would be so messy. I am so sad, yet suddenly I saw this newest baby on.

My score is 4.1 out of 5.0 for Mary-Lou :)

CINDY-LOU

It comes as a surprise, when I was really disappointed because my Mary-Lou compact must be rest in peace at home, I found the other version of Mary-Lou, named Cindy-Loumanizer. And it's corally dusty pink. At first minute, I was thinking that buying this could relieve my broken Mary-Lou :)

And it turns out to be my new favorite, as I can use it as BLUSH ON instead of just a highlighter. Perfect! Even if I use it on my cheeks, it's barely noticeable, only a slight pinky peach flush with subtle glow. Wearable in office hours, I guarantee :)

My score for Cindy-Lou is 4.0 out of 5.0

Below I compare my look with Cindy-Lou and Mary-Lou:

With Cindy-Lou on both cheeks. See the glowing pink flush?

With Mary-Lou as highlighter, on top of MAC Blush in Aquaerotique

If I had to choose, I would definitely choose BOTH!

The Definitely A-Must-Have Sleek Blush by 3

Hello beauties!

Today I am going to review a very compact and versatile blushes from Sleek makeup, it is called Blush by 3.

There was a huge discount at www.luxola.com in late 2013 so I decided to give a try to this. I heard some great reviews from others regarding Sleek makeup, particularly on the i-Divine Eye Shadow palette and the Blush by 3. 

There are 5 choices on Blush by 3 as you can see in the picture above. I took it from Sleek’s official website.

I picked Pumpkin, because in one palette I could get 3 different colours; Orange, Pink and Red (Coral), while the others are more monotones by theme: either it's all corally, all bronzy, all mauvey, with different color intensities for each blush.

Pumpkin is different.

It consists of Lantern, Squash and P Pie. The names are weird, aren't they? :D

Lantern in the most pigmented of all. In the pan, the color seems frightening, but trust me, if it is well blended on skin, this will give you a very gorgeous color. It's a deep coral rose with hint of pink. However, it is most suitable for medium-dark skin.

Squash is a medium pink with warm undertones. It is also very pigmented but it looks much softer after blending on cheeks. It gives you a beautiful natural flush pink.

P Pie should have been my favorite. This attracts me most when I first saw the Blush by 3 collections. The color reminds me of NARS Taj Mahal which I hesitate to buy because it's extremely pricey. This is the real orang-y color rather than just peachy or apricot. The color pay-off is incredible, too. But, I found that amongst three, P Pie is the most difficult to blend. When a super pigmented blush is hard to be blended out, it could make you look clown-y. The big minus that makes me love Lantern more on this palette.

Blush by 3 - PUMPKIN

(top-bottom) P Pie, Squash, Lantern. Looks scary at the first sight

Less scary when you apply these lightly on your cheeks

Gorgeous after blended well

My rate for this product is 4.1 out of 5.0

I love this product because it's really compact and thin. As sleek as its name. The black packaging also looks expensive, yet I prefer glossy texture rather than doff because it collects dust easily. The large mirror inside is a plus, because I really need a big mirror when I apply make up in the car every morning. 

The colors' pay off is superb, the longevity is also great. It stays on my super oily face for at least 8 hours. The price? It only cost around USD 16 (last time I bought, I got 30% discount at Luxola, so stay tuned for their seasonal sale!), though i had to combine with other products until IDR 350,000 so that I could be qualified for free shipping. Well, it wasn't such a big deal though :)) Above all, it's a must-have if you like to do the make up experiment, because by bringing 1 compact blush with three different colors, it will match your outfit like ANYTIME. ~ xoxo

I am wearing a tiny amount of Lantern, blended with angled brush