Author: Fiona Seah

REVIEW: Tarte Pin Up Girl Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush Palette

/ Fiona Seah / 4 Comments

Hey ladies! *waves*

I am finally back from my birthday staycation and am all set to blog again! And as mentioned on my previous post, I’ll be talking about a new blush palette that was launched not too long ago. Yup, it’s the latest blush palette by Tarte!

I’m a HUGE fan of Tarte’s Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush line. I own at least 4 (kinda lost count, haha) different blush from that series because I really love how the colour turn out so naturally on my cheeks. However, as much as I love collecting their powder blushes, being a student meant that I wouldn’t be able to afford all 12 (the last time I counted the number of blush under Tarte at Sephora) of them. Furthermore, one Tarte blush can burn a friggin’ huge hole in my pocket because each costs S$45!!! That’s equivalent to one Urban Decay Basics palette 😥

So imagine my excitement when I read about the launch of the new 5-in-1 blush palette by Tarte! And it only costs S$59! WHOOP.

Yeah, the pan for each blush is definitely smaller but who uses up all their makeup anyway? Hehe.

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So princess-y!

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It looks like a normal clutch ’til you open it…

Oh by the way, those two vertical stuff are actually hair pins which can be detached from the case! Yay me now haz free hair pins!! So, is that why this blush palette is called Pin Up Girl? 😀

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Press down the “Tarte” button to unveil the blush!

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Deng deng deng deng!!

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Closeup: Presenting to you FIVE limited edition shades!

There’s a layer of transparent sheet indicating the name of each blush on top of them, in case you can’t really tell. If you lose that sheet, the only way to know their names is by scrutinising the fine print behind the case.

Also, please pardon the over-exposure in some pictures because the natural lighting at 2pm was obviously too harsh for photo-taking!

Let’s now swatch them all! Sorry no “modelled” pictures for this because I had my foundation on and I didn’t want to keep reapplying it after wearing each of them 😯

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Breathless is a pinky beige.

Breathless is probably the most faint among the five because my finger had to go over the pan many times before the colour showed up. It’s a pretty matte shade, ideal for people with slightly oily complexion! But I doubt it can be seen very well on your face since it’s skin-colour.

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Embraced is a plummy rose.

This metallic shade is slightly shimmery but it’s still on the matte side. It’s definitely one of the nicer shades from this palette 🙂

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Whimsy is a light pink.

I felt Whimsy was very powdery and matte. A lot of product came out with just one swipe so be really careful not to overdo your blush if you’re opting for this shade! This works well for people with really fair skin I think because I cannot imagine my cheeks with this cool toned pink. 😦

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Bashful is a rosy peach.

This is going to be one of my go-to shades from this palette because I love blush with warm undertone, just like the existing Tarte blushes I own (Achiote and Blissful). Bashful is very pigmented and I feel that this works best on Asian skin tone 🙂

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Irreplaceable is a mauve rose.

The darkest shade in the palette, this reminded me of Natural Beauty which has the same medium-dark pink tone. I wore this for my UD Full Frontal Lipstick Stash review and I remember how dark it (with just one dab on the pan, mind you) appeared on my cheeks the first time I wore it. I could see the outline of the blush and it was still apparent no matter how hard I try to blend it out. I panicked for a moment as I was heading out after that and I couldn’t possibly step out of the house looking like an Chinese opera singer. But thankfully I managed to resolve it in the end.

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With Irreplaceable on though you can’t really see it since I had already blended it out.

Tip: To soften the blush on your cheeks (make it appear less harsh), blend it out with your foundation (or unused) brush.

Once again, this amazing limited edition palette is only S$59! And that does not include discounts like your UOB Visa rebates and relevant Sephora discounts. I only paid about S$51 after all the deductions. Hehe.

Ladies, which is your favourite shade? 😀

Stay tuned for more reviews!

REVIEW: Urban Decay Full Frontal Lipstick Stash

/ Fiona Seah / 6 Comments

Hey ladies!

I’m on an Urban Decay rampage as you can see, so please pardon me! But I guess with pretty pictures (of the swatches, not of me of course 😀 ) in place, no one would make a fuss right? That’s unless you’re not a lipstick fan but fret not, I have a blush review coming up!

So Sephora finally launched my long-awaited Urban Decay Full Frontal Lipstick Stash last week! I’ve been yearning so darn long for it and I thought they were not going to release it in Singapore but I guess many people had been requesting for it on their Facebook page so they decided to bring it over anyway! I was so stoked!

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The packaging

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The shades + proof of authenticity!

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6 miniature Urban Decay lipsticks!

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4 are new shades while the other 2 (Liar & F-Bomb) are from the permanent series!

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About 3/4 of a full-size Revolution Lipstick – great for travels!

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From left: Ladyflower, Crush, Gash, Illicit, Liar, F-Bomb

The bullet is so tiny (about 2 cm) and cute, and it’s probably the perfect size for me because I can hardly finish a lipstick.

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Also comes with Urban Decay’s best selling clear-shade lip pencil, Ozone!

The lip pencil is one amazing tool to hold your colour in place! I lined my lips with Ozone before I put on the first lipstick from the stash and it really appeared neater than the rest (which I failed to line because I was tight on time). At the same time, it also evidently prevented feathering because the lipstick didn’t bleed out despite sweat dripping down from my cupid’s bow. On top of that, Urban Decay claims that the pencil fixes mistakes which I failed to experiment because I only read about it after I’m done with the photo-taking. Haha, maybe next time!

Plus, I really appreciate that it’s clear-shade because the downside of coloured lip liners are that they stay (which ironically is one attribute I seek in all lip products). After a few hours on days I pig out, the lipstick that filled the lips would wear off, leaving behind an unsightly line around the lips. And then I’d be force to touch up my lipstick every now and then :\ So thank God for Ozone, I think I have found a better alternative!

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Full swatch. Layered Ozone multiple times but it’s still pretty invisible! What is your favourite shade from this stash?

As you can see, this collection offers a variety of shades from sheer to light to dark and vivid colours to cater to different moods and occasions. The lipsticks are all very pigmented and bold (with the exception of Illicit and nude-shade Liar). Their creamy texture glides on smoothly in one application.

Now, let’s do an individual review for every lipstick!

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Ladyflower is a bright rose-pink shade.

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OK my face looks friggin’ puffy in this post because I binged a lot the past few days. Gotta get back to shape!

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Ladyflower looks like the perfect pink shade on my hand but when applied on my lips, it appears differently and seems to be more on the purple side.

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Crush is a hot pink shade. (whoops sorry for the poor quality!)

Crush is the ultimate hot pink, I tell ya. Just look at the bullet. It has this gold sheen in it which makes people want to reach out for it the first thing they uncap all the lipsticks in this stash. But strangely, there isn’t any sheen when applied! I wish it did though. I bet it’d look super gorgeous.

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No sheen no sheen! Just a flat colour 😦

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But it actually looks quite nice! Me likey.

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Here’s a comparison swatch against other similar shades from the regular-size Revolution Lipstick collection! Anarchy is really close, just a little darker than Crush.

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Gash is a deep red with tonal shimmer (gah sorry for the poor quality again)

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My favourite shade from this stash! And I’m probably the only one who thinks this way because everyone seems to be raving about Crush and Ladyflower. Why not Gash? It’s so pretty with the sexy red wine colour.

If Shame is too dark for you, this should be perfect!

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Illicit is a sheer baby pink shade

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I honestly didn’t expect a sheer lipstick to be part of an Urban Decay lipstick collection since they are known for their bold and highly pigmented shades! I felt that it needed a lot of layering for the baby pink to show (otherwise it’d make no difference to my lips). Thus this is my least favourite among the 6 in the stash.

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Liar is a pinky-brown nude shade

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I’ve always wanted to get Liar but it’s always sold out at the Sephora outlet I patronise so I’m really glad that it’s included in this collection! It appears to be dark (made me elated for a moment) but when applied on my lips, it kinda blended into my natural lip colour. It also felt more matte than the rest (but still glossy nonetheless).

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Comparing against other nude shades from the Revolution Lipstick series!

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F-Bomb is a classic red shade

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I already own the full-size version of this so I know that this is the go-to red lipstick. It’s a very attractive and sultry red. Unlike MAC, this is more hydrating and it stays on the entire day even after a heavy meal (just need minimal touch up). So if you’re a red lipstick lover, this is a must-buy! Or if you wanna try it out first, perhaps you should get the Full Frontal Lipstick Stash 😀

All in all, it was money well-spent! I now have one less bulky item to bring along when I travel (and I’m definitely taking Gash with me hehe). Plus, Christmas is around the corner right? This makes the PERFECT Christmas gift for your girlfriends!

Or if you don’t believe in spending a lot of money on Christmas presents, get one for yourself! For 6 gorgeous lipsticks, you only need to pay S$60 in local Sephora stores (US$39 on Urban Decay) and the price could even be lower if you pay using your UOB Visa Card (3% rebate) on top of your 10% discount (for accumulating 250 points)!  I only had to pay S$52 in the end 😀 That’s $8 off!

Also once again, this stash is limited edition! So if you miss it, you’re probably gonna miss out on a great deal!

Haha okay enough of the aggressive promotion (because I really love the product!). That’s all for this post!

Thanks for reading ❤

REVIEW: Urban Decay Electric Palette

/ Fiona Seah / 6 Comments

Hello again!

I’m updating more than usual because it’s my study break now! And my first paper is two weeks away thus giving me plenty of time to catch my breath. But before I head back to the books, let’s talk about one of Urban Decay’s newest products – the Electric Palette!

I know it was launched a million years ago but better late than never! And all the more so since it’s a permanent product so people would still have the opportunity to buy it many months down the road. Plus I only got this recently because I was kinda hesitant to try bright and bold colours and I didn’t really wanna pay the full price (S$72) for something I only wanted to experiment with.

So one day I decided to do a search on Carousell to see if it was up for sale and true enough, someone was selling it (a brand new piece) at a way lower price.. at S$50? The last time I checked, there aren’t any imitations for this so I was very sure it was authentic. Both of us were busy during that period so I only managed to collect the item from her about a month later. That was in early October.

And I only tried it today. Haha. I’m sucha procrastinator.

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Beautiful packaging! I’m a sucker for colourful designs.

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Neutrals lovers would be very terrified to see this. But I’m always open to new experiences!

Truth be told, I don’t really need this palette because I don’t see myself wearing this often. In a conservative country like Singapore, you can hardly see anyone wearing dark lipsticks on the streets, let alone bright eyeshadow. But the colours are so intriguing, I couldn’t control myself.

I also had this worry that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off because I have pretty poor colour coordination (haha). I was so afraid that I would mess it up!

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Swatches!

The above picture depicts how pigmented the shadows truly are (with a maximum 3 swipes with an Urban Decay Good Karma Shadow Brush). They are not as heavily pigmented (with the exception of Chaos and maybe Urban) as how some beauty bloggers portrayed, especially Revolt because you can hardly see a thing there. I also have no idea how they managed to get such pigmented swatches too. I hope they didn’t leave huge dips in the pans while doing so. 😳

But having said so, I really like that they’re not too pigmented. It’d be very frightening for a makeup rookie like myself (in terms of using extremely bold colours on the eyes) if they come off too strong. So phew!

Anyway, out of all the colours, I love Thrash the most, followed by Fringe. These two colours, especially Thrash, saved my Electric eye makeup. I felt that the palette should have one or two more shades of yellow. There are just too many blues in here (which tempted me to use them all and then almost ruined the look lol).

If you’re apprehensive about using bold colours like my previous self, here’s a guide done up by yours truly after doing lots of trial and error:

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Each style has different sets of colour. Revolt acts as a highlighter on the brow bone (and can also be used on the inner corner of the eyes)

Style 1 is more bluish in general, kinda like the colour of twilight if done correctly. I attempted this today and really liked it. It looked like a compressed Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting on my lids but then I inadvertently destroyed it with purple shades -_-

Style 2 places more emphasis on Thrash and Slowburn, and gives a sunburst effect. If you love yellow hues, this is perfect for you.

Style 3 is another blue-dominated set of colours for you blue/violet lovers out there.

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A quick tutorial on how to apply, using my favourite style 1 as an example. Remember to always have a base colour (in this case, I used Thrash) or the end-result would be disastrous.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to snap any pictures of style 1 in real life before I destroyed it with the rest of the colours on the palette.

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Attempted to incorporate all the colours lol.

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Style 1 is gone on the upper lid so I tried to apply it on the lower lid. Can you tell? (btw lipstick here is Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Catfight)

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Werkin it yooo

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Ok final shot before I remove my makeup

That’s all for this post! Do you have an Electric palette? What kinds of look can you create with it?

Oh I (finally) bought Vice 3 today and will review it soon!

Thanks for reading guys ❤