[REVIEW] Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna Palette

Girls,

I am back with a review (plus EOTD) of the new released Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna Palette!

Following the previous Amrezy and Maya Mia palette, Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) launched the third palette, Tamanna, as inspired by the famous instagram darling and beauty blogger Tamanna Roashan (@DressYourFace).

@amrezy

@maya_mia_y

@DressYourFace

I asked my friend who lives in US to buy me at ULTA, and one thing that caught me most from Tamanna was the color selections that look like Sleek Oh-So-Special, dominantly consist of chocolate, coral and broze with combination of shimmer, matte and satin.

See the packaging. It reminds me a lot of middle east slash indian pattern. It looks so exotic, with maroon color and gold. I simply love the box that reminiscing me of TheBalm product, it has magnetic closure and made of thick paper but doesn't look cheap at all. The size is not small but still handy and can fit my make up case. It's rather sleek and lighweight. It includes a mirror and a dual-ended brush.

The colors? For me it's such a perfect combination. It's more like the Maya Mia than Amrezy, as Amrezy has the bright purple and emerald green outside of the basic colors. Maya Mia looks pretty similar, but I think it has more mattes than the shimmers. Maya Mia also consists of blue (Aqua), and unlike Aqua which is matte, Tamanna has the shimmering blue named Venezia.

The color payoff is brilliant. You can see from the swatches of the 10 colors above. The first line is without any base, and the bottom line is with NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil Milk underneath. The difference is not so significant, although the color will look as bright as it looks on the pan if we are using base. Especially the blue one.

The palette consists of 10 colors, they are:

Fresh: light beige (matte)

Blush: frosty light pink (shimmer)

Venezia: blue turquoise (shimmer)

Gilded: bronze (shimmer)

Custom: light taupe (shimmer)

Sangria: plum based red (shimmer)

Bengal: muted orange (satin)

Chocolate: dark chocolate (satin)

China Rose: light coral (shimmer)

Noir: black (matte)

It has 2 matte colors, 2 satin and the rest are shimmery. My favorite is Sangria and China Rose, but Custom and Glided are very pretty for inner lid and base. Bengal is quite unique, but I think it would compliment fairer skin more as it looks clashed to my skin tone.

EOTD:

- I wore Venezia on my inner lid

- Applied Noir to create crease

- I put Chocolate on my outer waterline

- Applied China Rose on the inner waterline

- Highlight the inner corner with Custom

- Tidy up the lower eyebrow line with Fresh

Voila! And this is my FOTD. Even the China Rose can be worn as blush and Chocolate can be used for contouring!

Clinique Stay Matte Oil Free in Honey for base, Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown, NYX Matte Lipstick in Sierra

I simply love this palette, as I think all colors are versatile and no redundant to one another. The pigmentation goes well and it doesn't really fallout. With base, it stays from morning to after lunch, then it starts getting faded a little bit by bit. The price is USD 29 (+ tax) and I found it's worthy. It's almost half of UD Naked, anyway, but the quality wouldn't disappoint you.

Do you have either Maya Mia or Amrezy palette? Would you mind sharing the review to me?

See you on my next post! ~xoxo~

World Cup 2014 Argentina Inspired Make Up

Hola, senoritas!

Today I am going to show you my make up inspired by Tango team Argentina in World Cup 2014, since I saw the Brazil and Netherlands Inspired Make Up here and I was so excited to prepare my make up look that inspired from my favorite team; Argentina.

I have been supporting Argentina football team since I watched football firstly in 1994, when the World Cup was held in USA. My favorite player was the super striker Batistuta. He retired in 2005 at the age of 36. He has been one of the key players in Tango team with 56 international goals in 78 caps. Too bad that during his performance, Argentina wasn't able to reach the World Cup trophy. Now, almost 10 years after and who would have not known Lionel Messi? He's one of the world's rising stars yet very down to earth and humble in personality. Right now I am still supporting Argentina and for you who didn't follow the World Cup recently, I am proudly telling you that Argentina went into semi-final round against Netherlands.

-pictures courtesy from several different sources-

The major colors of Argentina national football team exactly looks like the flag, the light blue and the white. In international tournament, every team has first uniform and second uniform, or as we call it home and away uniform. While Argentina's first uniform reflects its flag; the blue-white vertical stripped with white pants (actually I prefer their previous uniform with black pants), their second uniform is darker blue with some white stripes on the chest and shoulder. This combination that would inspire me to create my make up look today.

For this EOTD, I am using:
Sephora Pret-a-Porter palette in blue nuance (they have other 5 palettes in green, pink, brown, black and purple). In this individual palette, it consists of 4 eyeshadows, 2 lipglosses and 1 blush on. The blue palette has the colors that I wanted to make this look. I used primer underneath to make the color more intense. I applied the white color all over my lid, applied the turquoise blue on the inner corner to the middle, and create a crease cut with the dark blue. Blend it well. For the outer water line, I used the medium blue, along with TheBalm Mary Lou on the inner corner. I couldn't find my silvery white eye pencil (my daughter must have played with it and lost it) thus I was using the Mary Lou as back up.

For eyeliner, I currently fall in love with Mizzu. It's cheap, easy to use, super pigmented and long lasting without smudging and budging. Go to Lazada to get it with free delivery!
For cheeks, I also fall in love with MUA Blusher Shade No. 1. It is a very soft, cool toned pinky blush that will make your cheeks flush so natural. Like the pinkish tone that appears when you pinch your cheeks. It looks healthy, gives dewy finish but with no shimmer or glitter. This one's also cheap, even the cheapest blusher that I own so far. If you are interested, I bought it here. In this picture, I was using Wet 'n Wild Megalast Lipstick in Rose Bud, for the coral-ish pink that will suit to my white-blue uniform. I was wearing unbranded falsies and X2 Ice No. 8 Nude Eyes in Grey.

So, what do you think of this look? Do you have favorite team in World Cup? ~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!

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~

Make Over Le Secret Fantaisie Launching Event Report (EOTD with the Freebies)

On Tuesday, 20 May 2014, I was attending the Make Over event when they launched the Spring/Summer Make Up Collection called "Le Secret Fantaisie" at the Le Meridien Hotel, Jakarta.

No less than 40 beauty bloggers came (I was too lazy to count exactly :p), and as this was my second event after self-claiming as one of Indonesian beauty bloggers, I was so happy since I met new friends to share the same passion with me. I wasn't being to aggressive since I was quite a newbie, I paid attention to what they're doing and adapting myself (as much as I have to) as they're mostly at they're early twenties or even younger (well, I know how OLD I am now, though they surprisingly thought that I was 22 *play Taylor Swift's song immediately* *bitch-slapped*)

First of all, I loved how Make Over decorated the room and table arrangement. It was very detailed, with a glass jar of lollipops (or candies) with each of our name tag, showing us where to sit. Other words, they were giving us opportunity to get-to-know-stranger, rather than sitting with the-person-that-you-already-know :) The event started with the launching of Spring/Summer make up collection labelled Le Secret Fantaisie, along with the short video that showing the 4 variants of Make Over Trivia Eye Shadow, including 1 lip color. They are (see picture below, from left to right):

Dolly Crush "The Doll" : Feminine pretty charming lovely chic playful adorable dainty

Magical Fairy Tale "The Flamboyant" : Lively fresh whimsical vivid feisty warm vibrant fascinating.

Enchanting Nude Spell "The Lady" : Natural classy elegant simple enchanting ladylike classic sophisticated.

Love At First Sight "The Bombshell" : Glamorous irresistible seductive exquisite mysterious stunning daring bold.

In this event, Make Over also invited Mr. Wilson Eng, a prominent MUA from Singapore. He demonstrated the tutorial using this collection on model.

The result was very sheer soft eye make up but pretty, especially because the model has pale skin. As for me or many Indonesians, it will be a bit hard to apply this kind of look. We should add some more bold colors to make our eyes stand out.

Make Over also held the make up competition and selfie competition to be upload in their Instagram account (@makeoverid) and twitter. I tried to do some experiments during the show, but I am still amateur on eye make up, so the result was disappointing so-so :)

The picture above shows me eye make up using Enchanting Nude Spell "The Lady", the one that most suitable for daily look. Apparently I found that the brown color isn't too intense to fulfill my liking. So, for this shade, I'll pass. This one was included in the freebies that I got after the event.

Yesterday, when I was attending a relative's wedding reception, I tried the other palette that I got from the goodie bag. It is the Magical Fairy Tale "The Flamboyant". I personally hesitate to pick the blue eyeshadow, as I thought it would be contrast with my skin color. But, I found that the 'blue' in this palette is rather pretty and matches to any skin tone. 

Last but not least, I enjoyed the event and thanked Make Over for the invitation. Besides bringing home some good new stuff from Make Over, there was also a photo booth so I got 3 pictures with other beauty bloggers. Hey, I feel young! :D

   See you soon on the next post ~xoxo~

 

TheBalm Voyage Make Up Competition: Earthy-Turkey Look

Ladies!

I am going to submit my make up look to participate in the Balm Voyage Make Up Competition, held by the lovely Ms. Chell Sanjaya and Lotte Shopping Avenue.

I am a big fan of TheBalm Cosmetics quite recently. IMHO, they are unique. I love the packaging (sooo vintage!) and the products are mostly great, at least so far I have tried its luminizer combo; Mary Lou and Cindy Lou, the Plump Your Plucker lip gloss (I am not a lipgloss person but I can tell that this lipgloss is quite nice because it has fruity scent and tingling sensation) and I have also ordered that plummy Instain Blush in Pinstripe. can't wait to try it on and make a review!

Last night, I was surprised because my daughter slept so early at 9 (yes, 9 is so early, because she used to go to bed at 11-12), thus I had a free time to create the make up look. For those who've never heard about TheBalm Voyage or even TheBalm Cosmetic, just go to this link to see how pretty their products are.

Balm Voyage - cover

Balm Voyage - color selections

Balm Voyage

Holiday Face Palette

Girls, for you who love travelling… you must really have this best holiday palette from theBalm, Balm Voyage. This travel friendly palette has unique packaging that contains 16 jet setting shadow paired with 3 lip and cheek cream, very practical, complete and easy to carry anywhere. Have high color pigmentation with an excellent level of visibility and long-wearing. So, you do not need to frequently look at the mirror to make sure your makeup, because the colors will always stay to beautify your face no matter how long you are out enjoying your days. In addition, it has many choices of colors; it’s easy for you to create any looks based on your desire.

Hey, that thing really suits me! I DO love traveling. Of course I wouldn't ignore this competition because its theme is rather interesting. After a tough deliberation (as if this is America's Next Top Model's show), I initially thinking to create the Australian look or Manila, as I am pretty much sure that people would prefer Ameirca and Italy. But finally I decided to pick Istanbul look, because I love to make an earthy make up and I thought the Istanbul will be good to represent the look.

ISTANBUL is the largest city of Turkey, a country that is located both in Asia and Europe. Common people usually misled to think that Istanbul is the Turkey's capital, yet the real capital city is Ankara. The biggest event in Turkey's history was the Ottoman Empire that held the power for more than 6 centuries (1200ish-1900ish), before it was collapsed at the end of World War I. Turkey is widely known as a country that consists of big Muslim community that upholds secularism. Speaking of Turkish women, they are naturally beautiful, because they have combination between Caucasian, Arabic and Persian. They used to wear Hijab/scarf with style, that's what I like from them, like the picture below. Oh, I am so inspired now!

Courtesy of www.raihaneh.com

Now let's go to the tutorial. Firstly, prime+prep your face to create a good canvas with primer and if you have dry skin, you can add moisturizer. Apply your favorite foundation afterwards, use brush for a more airbrushed finish. Put some finishing powder if you have oily skin, to keep your face fresh longer.

I always found that the eye make up as the most challenging task. Not only because I have a typical Asian small eyes, but I also have a narrow lid which really limits me  to be creative with thousand shades of eye shadows out there.
Step 1: Apply rich brown shadow on lower lid.
Step 2: Apply thinly grey taupe shadow from crease to the upper lid.

Step 3: Apply lime green shade on the outer corner of the lid. Blend seamlessly.

Step 4:  Apply TheBalm Cindy Loumanizer at the inner corner of the lid to highlight.

Step 5: Apply Revlon Grow Luscious Lash Liner in Emerald at the outer corner of lower lash line to add some sparkles.

Step 6: Apply the brown/black eye liner

Step 7: Apply mascara and eyebrow to make your eyebrow thicker and neat.

After your eyes are set, the next thing to do is to contour the cheek. Because I was making an earthy look, so I was consistent to pick warmer tones for contouring (orangy brown) and blush (dusty warm rose). At the end, I put a terracotta lipstick to complete the look.

Don't forget to add scarf as an accessories, then voila, I magically turned into a Turkish woman (well at least I tried, though my Asian eyes can't lie) :D

EYES: 

• Bourjouis Ombre a Paupieres #74 in Brun Somptueux (Rich Brown) 
• Urban Decay Dangerous Palette in Mushrooms 
• Too Faced Glamour to Go Palette in Lime Green
•  TheBalm Cindy Loumanizer
•  Revlon Grow Luscious Lash Liner in Emerald
• Silky Girl Gel Eyeliner in Brown
• Mavala Waterproof Mascara in Black
• Revlon Eye Brow Pencil in Brown

BASE:

• BareMinerals Prime Time Primer
• Revlon Airbrush Photoready Mousse Make Up in Medium Beige

CHEEKS:

• Bourjois Blush in Tomette
• MAC Extra Dimensional Blush in Autoerotique

LIPS:

• MAC Matte in Chili
• Make Up Forever Aqua Rouge in Brown Beige
  

Are you ready to fly to Istanbul with me? ~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