Matte Lipstick Madness #1: Australis Velourlips in Doo-Bai

I feel ashamed when I saw the last update I made to this blog was December 2014.

Yes, pardon me for not being a consistent beauty blogger and probably the laziest in town. However, during my absence, don't ask me how many stuff I tried and bought to discover my make up journey. Tons of new shades of foundation (and ended up reselling items that didn't suit me), a few powders, and a couple of matte lipsticks slash lip cream. 

These matte lipsticks are now really in the hype. Two-three years ago, I started to fall in love with Make Up Forever Aqua Rouge Lip Cream even though the price was more expensive than even the regular MAC best-selling lipsticks. Yet, nowadays, the matte lip creams come in hundreds color: from nudes to bolds, from neutrals to pops. It comes in a fair price to the doesn't-make-any-sense one. It's like 2015 trend, and begun with Lime Crime Velvetines series that were launched mid last year, which according to me, very disappointing and doesn't live up to the hype at all.

And my effort to discover the matte lip creams continued. One of my colleagues, when having a business trip to Sydney, successfully bought me this gem; Australis Velourlips Matte Lip Cream. I heard that this brand only available in Australia, and I was curious to try one of its shades. I initially wanted to try on Buda-Pash (yes their names were inspired from exotic cities in all over the world but with 'slang' spelling) the dark red that recently being loved by all women in the universe, but, consider its wearability, I ended up picking Doo-Bai instead. I found it's a really pretty shade, which is not real red but not too wine nor cherry. 

It just looks like an ordinary dark red in the tube. But wait until I swatch it on the back of my hand. These Velourlips come in fabulous shades such as Tok-io (bright purple), Pa-Ree (nude beige), Bar-Tha-Lo-Na (bright pink-based red), Shang-Hi (bright fuchsia), Ro-Ma (baby pink) which really compliments the fair skinned girls, and many more.

Now you can see how different Doo-Bai when swatched and in the tube. You can see the touch of wine there, not purple, not pink. I just super loooove this. I am really bored with pink-based red, the most common red shades sold in Indonesia. The color payoff is good, and buildable. Here I only swatched 1 layer, and it can be deep red if I swatch some more layers. Like this:

That's exactly how it looks on lips, with two layers. It makes my lips look fuller and plumper. With the price of around AUD 10 (around IDR 100,000), this is the best matte lip cream I have ever worn. The formula is super soft, application is easy and not patchy, though you must be careful to fill up your lips with this kind of color, because once it goes out of the lip line, you have to prepare your oil-baded remover to vanish the stain! On the other side, that means the staying power is incredible. And it's not smudging and fading like I experienced with Lime Crime.  It doesnt' dry out my lips, too, which is awesome considering its low price. In Indonesia, you can get it at several online stores at around IDR 175.000-IDR 200.000.

  

My complete look wearing this shade. Details are: NARS single eye shadow in fez and ABh dipbrow pomade in dark brown for eyes, MUFE hd foundation no. 160 and Bobbi Brown sheer pressed powder in warm natural as base, NARS matte multiple in exumas for cheeks and Australis velourlips in doo-bai on lips. And I am ready-set-go for this weekend!

Please leave your comments and follow my account for upcoming reviews. I will be posting this Matte Lip Cream Madness series for two or three more from other brands. Stay tune! -xoxo-

NYX Love in Rio [En Fuego] Swatches + FOTD

Dear beauties,

First review of the month. How are you guys doing? Still in summer holiday, I guess. In Indonesia, we started our Ramadhan (fasting month) on 29th June 2014. So, instead of doing nothing at this lunch time, let me review my current-fave eyeshadows trio from NYX.

NYX Eye Shadows

NYX has launched many kind of palettes / eye shadows in recent years. I am not a big fan of NYX, actually. In my opinion, the Soft Matte Lip Cream from NYX is the winner. I have tried its concealer but it smudged pretty easily. I once bought the two way cake in Stay Matte but Not Flat range, but the 'Nude' shade turned out greyish on my face. Despite its disability to control oil to be consistent with its name. Crap. Even though the price is moderate, but so far I've never tempted to buy its blushers or foundations. However, my friend was asking me to buy her a powder pact from Korean products based on my recommendation. So I bumped to Chic Princessa one day and accidentally saw the Nyx Love in Rio palettes. And my first thought was: ooh my Gosh, these are so pretty!

Besides Love in Rio, I noticed that NYX also has Love in Paris and Love in Florence. Love in Paris consists of 9 eyeshadows which I think has really good combination in one palette. The one that I like most in Paris range is the Ces't La Vie because it looks glamorous for a night look, and for the Florence I don't have any preference. In my liking, Love in Florence colors are not so lively, but you probably would love this Ciao Bella, the nude beige-y colors.

Love in Paris 'Ces't La Vie'

Love in Florence 'Ciao Bella'

NYX Love in Rio - En Fuego

For me, all concepts are very good and attractive. But for Love in Rio, I was really speechless to see this shade. It's LIR08 - En Fuego. Even though in Spanish, En Fuego means Fire, but the colors are pretty cool mauve-y tones and looks great for smokey-eyes.

You can see the pictures above, as for me this shade is just perfect for my daily signature look. If you are following this blog and read my previous posts, you would see how much I love mauve and purple shades. Moreover, with three contrasting colors in one palette, this item is more than enough.












No.1 is the greyish black that leaning to charcoal. It's super pigmented but sadly a bit difficult to blend. It has no shimmer but it's not super matte as well.
No. 2 is the deep mauve-y burgundy that really attracted me from the very first sight. The color is so nice, yet you need primer before applying this, as the color wouldn't show up that much without primer.
No. 3 is the frosty silver that aims to be used as highlight. This also needs primer otherwise the color would be difficult to spread. 



My take on this product:

Pros +
Great pigmentation and long lasting
Good color combination
The price is relatively cheap (if you shop online)
Packaging is sturdy and compact
I don't experience any fallout
Easy to get

Cons -
Needs primer to make the color pop (i wasn't using primer on photos below)
A bit chalky and not too easy to blend
The brush is too thin and small, and it has no mirror, unfortunately

Simple tutorial on NYX Love in Rio - En Fuego

Overall I give this score 3.8/5.0

Kudos to the pigmentation, but I don't like the texture. Overall, if you are looking for eyeshadow for daily smokey eyes, this one is still a good deal. See you on my upcoming review ~xoxo~

Voila! I am ready to go to office. TGIF!

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

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~

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~

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

Dream Comes True with Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse

"I once dreamed, that in my wallet, there would be no blotting paper anymore"

Anybody with super oily skin like mine, please raise your hands up!!!

The most annoying part of having that super oily skin is no matter how good our make up one second after applied, it will just disappear within two hours. Or three, if you're lucky. Then we will busy preparing for some blotting papers, either green or blue, to absorb the excess oil on our face during the humid days, that we regularly buy at monthly grocery shopping.

Gosh, how I wish I never have to blot my paper again. But that's impossible. Even when I use an oil-free foundation, with mineral oil control loose powder, there's nothing that could keep the shines at bay. The longest I survived is just until lunch time, after that, do not ever ask how mess my make up was.

But miracle does happen though.

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Natural Beige. I am on my second jar already!

Actually I heard this product so long time ago, around 10 years perhaps, when I was still in college. At that time, I didn't use foundation daily and the only one I had was only the Maybelline Clear Smooth Foundation after its first launch in Indonesia. Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, suddenly it comes again with new and improved formula. I read some good reviews of this product and decided to try. Just a lucky try, considering that the price is not so expensive at IDR 95,000.

I bought the Medium 2,5 shade, which is Natural Beige. It suits my skin SO WELL like it's melted without any trace.

A tiny amount

After blend. You can see how perfect it suits to my skintone

This foundation has a soft mousse texture that a little goes along the way. The coverage is medium to full, that for my blemished skin like mine, I don't even need to use the concealer. YEAY! Even a heavy powder is no longer necessary (a setting powder for finishing is enough) because it leaves matte and powdery feel on skin. It covers redness and acne marks incredibly, as long as you found the right shade for your skin. The oil control is oh-so-great! I barely see any shine on my face during the day, but, if we wear this without primer, it will easily fade out. So, prime your face first before putting this on. At least, a day cream from your regular routine. As for me, I use The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion as day moisturizer and primer. This combination never fail to keep my face matte all day long.

Even a single thin tissue would easily fade the foundation out if without primer

In USA, this foundation come in a wide range of color selection, but here in Indonesia, it's only available in 4 shades. Medium 2,5 is suitable for medium-tan skin tone with strong yellow undertone. Although my undertone is more yellowish neutral, but I do like having my face turns to be more yellow than pink. I feel more like an Asian :D

My rate on this product is 4.3/5.0. Also check out my review at Make Up Alley here.


However, the Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse could be a nightmare for you who have dry skin. Though it covers pores and fine lines well, but it would accentuate the dry parts of the skin and that makes it look flaky. This foundation will work good for oily skin only, as in combination skin, you must be careful to not apply this on dry areas. ~xoxo~

Left: one layer of Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse. Right: bareface

FOTD

On above picture, I am wearing:

• Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in 'Natural Beige'
• Urban Decay Dangerous Eye Palette in 'Loaded'
• Revlon Colorstay Creme Gel Eyeliner in 'Brown'
• NARS Bronzer in 'Laguna'
• Make Up Forever Aqua Rouge in 'Brown Beige'

Revlon Nail Enamel in Really Rosy

Hello!

As a make up addict, I think it’s a bit odd to start my review with a nail polish. Correction: a cheap ordinary nail polish. I must say I agree that this one is cheap, but don’t worry, I think Revlon is enough proving that its nail enamel collections are not as ordinary as people could imagine.

Yesterday I was looking for a brighter nail polish to be worn this month. I searched into several online shops and, as usual, couldn’t take my eyes off from OPI Holland Collection. I love one of its colour; Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, which is terracotta with subtle (very subtle) gold shimmer. Due to I had to pay my Air Asia tickets for next year trip with my husband and daughter, well, I think I don’t have much money left in my pocket afterwards. I was wondering, why don’t I look for some cheap alternatives? I came to Revlon counter and this color had my love at the first sight.

Revlon Nail Enamel #110 Really Rosy

I brought this home after paid IDR 37,000 and felt inguilty because I didn’t have to spend around IDR 120,000 for OPI. I tried it right away and fell in love. Really Rosy is a real beautiful color, a dusky medium rose pink color that doesn’t look too bright in my NC37 skin. Just perfect pink. The texture is runny but opaque, no shimmer but glossy enough to easy showing off your nails to everyone.

With two or three coats, the color can lead to soft fuchsia, but I am satisfed with just one coat so that you can get the ‘rosy’ hint.

My rate is 3.5/5.0

 The downside that this nail enamel will probably not last long, because Revlon also has its Colorstay range for the nail collection. But, while I aware that OPI colors are irreplaceable, I think buying this shade with almost 1/4 price of OPI is definitely worth it. ~xoxo~

Opaque with one swipe

Suits to light and medium-tan skin