PREVIEW: Luxola x Alcina Launch in Singapore

MEDIA INVITE

Hey ladies!

Singapore-based online beauty store Luxola is no stranger to many beauty fanatics here. Since it first started in 2011, it has brought countless popular and niche beauty brands from all over the world to the Singapore e-market. Some examples are Sigma Beauty (I was eyeing on their brushes for the longest time), Real Techniques, Sleek MakeUP, Wet n Wild and 3CE which, as far as I know, are not available in any brick and mortar stores. This, no doubt, saves us shoppers a lot of shipping and agent fees because with Luxola, we don’t really need to purchase products by the aforementioned brands overseas anymore! 🙂 (Hmm.. perhaps they should consider bringing Lorac over as well?)

A few days ago, I received an invitation to attend a beauty cafe (or simply put, a pre-launch event with lotsa awesome food) for Luxola’s latest brand partner Alcina. Alcina is a makeup and skincare brand from Bielefeld, Germany. It was established around mid 20th century (If I’m not wrong it was somewhere in the 1970s) aimed to provide skin care for all ages. Prior to its existence here, this brand was pretty much targeted at some parts of Europe, having garnered a huge following in Germany and Russia especially. The launch here marks Alcina’s first step to going global and Singapore is in fact the very first Asian country chosen to stock the brand. *honoured* The products will go live on luxola.com on 11 May 2015.

(Please allow me to interrupt this post with some mouth-watering pictures of the irresistible hors d’oeuvres I had at Club Street Social where the event was held. Sorry, just couldn’t resist!)

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The fruit carving on the right is madness!

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At the event, we had makeup artist Frouka from Germany demonstrate how she did her makeup with Alcina products and I also had the opportunity to test out and swatch some of them.

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Here’s a sneak peek at some Alcina products that will be debuting on Luxola later, beginning with the products from their skincare range. Descriptions are lifted from Alcina.com.

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The premium cleansing foam of the Alcina Cleansing Mousse Nº1 stands for ultimate indulgence and with its mild tenside system and moisturising complexes it ensures deep-down, thorough facial cleansing which is nevertheless gentle. The foamy, creamy cleansing mousse also nourishes your facial skin as part of your daily cleansing ritual.

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Cleansing Mousse N°1 – Premium foam for gentle yet thorough cleansing

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Hyaluron Gel 2.0 for a firmer complexion. This helps to fill out small wrinkles by giving the skin moisture for combating fine lines, leaving the skin looking significantly more vital and smooth.

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Nourishing Capsules with natural ceramides, vitamins A and E and jojoba oil help the skin to store oil and moisture more effectively. They strengthen the skin’s barrier for silky smooth skin straightaway. The light, oily concentrate of these energy-rich capsules leaves damaged skin feeling wonderfully smooth without a greasy sheen.

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Nourishing Capsules provide facial care for a silky smooth skin sensation. To use this, simply twist or cut off the neck of the capsule and press out the oil and apply on cleansed facial skin.

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Facial Cream N°1 is a moisturising cream which provides intensive care to dry facial skin, relieves any uncomfortable sense of tautness and restores the skin’s elasticity and fresh look. Thanks to the carefully combined ingredients in Facial Cream N°1, including urea and the essential amino acid arginine, the skin is nourished and provided with long-lasting moisture. For beautiful-looking, pampered and relaxed skin – 24 hours a day.

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Eye Cream N°1 provides optimal protection for the skin against harmful environmental factors and ensures beautifully bright eyes. This eye cream increases the skin’s moisture content and reduces fine lines and small wrinkles around the eyes. If used regularly, Alcina Eye Cream N°1 helps to prevent the formation of wrinkles and skin aging caused by light.

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Eye Cream N°1 has a tip for easy application. Use this to increase the skin’s moisture content.

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The Alcina Eye and Lip Cream boasts a dual function: it makes the skin around the eyes smoother and also ensures beautiful lips. The linoleic acid in this cream moisturises the extremely dry eye and lip areas. The rich cream can reduce new wrinkles around the eyes and gently soothe lip wrinkles, both caused by dryness, and make stressed lips soft and smooth again.

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Lip and Eye Cream

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The Alcina Day & Night Facial Fluid with allantoin, liquorice and bisabolol balances out excess sebum production on the face and stabilises moisture levels. If used regularly the Alcina Day & Night Facial Fluid ensures a matt and balanced complexion.

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The Alcina Herbal Mask helps to clear impure skin. The combination of the active ingredients kaolin, sage and lavender oil ensures that excess sebum is absorbed and that the facial pores are visibly reduced.

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Herbal Mask: The colour does look very “herbal” to me!

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SOS Stick has an antibacterial effect which dries out spots and impurities more quickly. It’s so small and portable, great for combating pimples before you go for an event!

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SOS Stick comes with a roller ball. I’m planning to get this when it goes live later!

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AHA Facial Fluid 10% nourishes and smoothes stressed skin and is particularly ideal for mature skin subject to natural or light-induced skin aging.

Let me just say that most of the skincare products above smell REALLY good. But fret not, these products are fragrance-free and non-toxic so it’s perfectly safe to apply on your skin.

Moving on to their makeup products. Alcina specialises in skincare products but they believe that makeup can be used to enhance and develop one’s own style of beauty. Thus, that propelled them to launch a makeup line as well!

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Alcina Perfect Cover Make-up offers long-lasting coverage to give your skin a flawless look and semi-matt finish. The soft texture gives it an ultralight and comfortable feel when applied. It provides full coverage for pigmented spots, redness, impurities or an uneven complexion to achieve a perfect finish.

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Alcina Perfect Cover Make-up Swatch! These are the 3 chosen shades (there’s also a Dark shade but it’s not available on Luxola) for the Singapore consumers.

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Silky Matt Make-up leaves your skin feeling silky-smooth. The skin’s pores appear smaller and a powdery light, matt finish is achieved all day long thanks to the light and equalising coverage. Also comes in Medium shade (not in picture).

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Cover Coat Concealer hides shadows under the eyes to give a wide-awake and fresh appearance. The pleasant texture makes minor skin imperfections, pores and lines less visible thanks to its seamless coverage which can be increased as necessary.

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Cover Coat Concealer only comes in light and medium shades.

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Cover Coat Concealer swatch

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Matt Sensation Powder is an innovative wet & dry powder which gives your skin a matt and naturally beautiful complexion which lasts all day long. The novel powder technology leaves the skin feeling wonderfully soft and also fixes your make-up perfectly in place. Apply using a moist sponge, can also be used as a powder. Perfect for minor make-up corrections. Only available in Light and Medium.

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Matt Sensation Powder swatch (hope it’s visible on your end!)

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Sun Kiss Powder gives your skin a summer glow. Light-reflecting shimmering pigments make your skin look fresher, smoother and altogether flawless. As if kissed by the sun. In layman’s term, this is a bronzer. Hehe.

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Sun Kiss Powder swatch! Three different shades in one 🙂 How value-for-money.

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The standard packaging for most of the make-up (powder) products.

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Brilliant Blush adds gentle contours to your face and gives you a fresher-looking complexion straightaway. The multi-shade powder impresses thanks to optimal shade brilliance and creates vivid highlights, from delicate through to intensive. Advanced micropigments guarantee a radiant finish. Comes in two shades.

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Brilliant Blush in Triple Rose 010

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Brilliant Blush in Triple Peach 020

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Perfect Eyebrow Powder intensifies the colour of your eyebrows and makes them appear thicker. The quick and easy way to the perfect eyebrow shape for a finish ranging from natural to striking. Great hold and can be simply and professionally applied using the oblique brush. Comes in Lightbrown and Greybrown.

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Perfect Eyebrow Powder swatch

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Wanna make a guess what these are?

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Pretty eye shadow! The bronze (foreground) is so captivating *_*

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Miracle Eye Shadow adds fascinating colour brilliance to your eyelids for a sensational colour result. This smooth and luxurious eye shadow with its innovative texture is particularly rich in colour pigments and guarantees a perfect hold. It can be used both wet and dry for an individual look – from subtle to expressive. It combines the very best of baked, powder and cream eye shadows. Comes in 6 amazing shades!

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Miracle Eye Shadow swatch. Missing Mocca 070 here.

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Wonder Volume Mascara gives your eyelashes maximum volume, a thicker eyelash base and stunning length. The exceptional microbrush coats and shapes every single lash. For seductive and voluminous eyelashes.

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(My favourite part of the event) Luxola launches two types of Alcina lipsticksShiny and Intense. This picture does not (obviously) show the full collection.

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There will be 8 Intense Lipsticks and 7 Shiny Lipsticks. Intense lipsticks leaves an intensely rich and perfectly opaque colour while Shiny gives a seductive shine.

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What were available at the talk! Scarlet is the only Shiny lipstick here.

The lipsticks (both types) don’t really provide full, opaque coverage as you can see from the swatch above.

In general, the products felt amazing and high-end. Most importantly, the prices would be relatively affordable.

I didn’t get to really try most of these products so I can’t do a proper review for each of them (that’d be crazy I know but yes, I love pushing boundaries!). But I got to take home some of the products featured above 🙂 Shall do a quick review on those that I’ve used.

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Shiny Lipstick in Scarlet 010

I love the lipstick! It has a very nice sheen (though I don’t really find it seductive haha) and it feels really emollient! It gives off a nice stain effect and glides on really smoothly on my lips. It’s slightly sheer and not really pigmented so you’d need to apply multiple times for the colour to really show.

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I like how the Sun Kiss Powder has three different shades in it! They blend to form a really nice gradual tan.

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Sun Kiss Powder comes with a brush!

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With Sun Kiss Powder and Shiny Lipstick in Scarlet on

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Lips close-up

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Contoured my face with Sun Kiss Powder. Turns out great!

And that’s all from me! How do you find the products? Do you use Alcina if it’s available in your country? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

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Thanks for having me Luxola!

And thanks for reading! 🙂 Stay tuned for more posts coming up!

Alcina will be launched on Luxola.com on 11 May 2015.

Enjoy a Fuss-Free Travel with Laneige Perfect Renew Travel Set

SPONSORED

Hey everyone!

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With the mid-year school holidays (our version of summer break) just around the corner, many of us would already have plans for a getaway trip out of Singapore. My internship will come to a complete halt this coming June and I may be taking a short break before my next school term commences in August. I don’t have a particular place to go in mind yet but it’s possibly going to be somewhere not too far away as I’d prefer to set aside more funds for my year-end vacation instead.

My shortlisted destinations are Bali, Bintan Island and Bangkok. Perhaps a staycation at a boutique hotel doesn’t seem like a bad idea too!

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Bali (cr: freeimages.com)

Villas in Bali are available for booking on The Luxe Nomad!
Click here to find out more.

But regardless of the destination, packing is the integral step to the journey. Packing light is pivotal to creating an effortless and stress-free trip, but it also takes an experienced and adventurous person to do it well. I used to fail miserably in this aspect of travel planning because I am overly-cautious and averse to risks. I would end up bringing all my full-sized beauty products and other redundant stuff because of my “just in case” mentality, eventually only leaving a meagre amount of weight and space for my holiday loots.

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Fuss-free travelling tip #1: collect small pouches (which are usually free with purchase of related products) to store small items like makeup and toiletries, and buy small containers to store your shampoo and shower gel (that is, if you have rather sensitive skin like me and can only use certain products, just to be safe)

It also never ceased to amaze me how flight attendants report to work with only a small baggage in tow, and even more so when they are flying to farther destinations like Europe and USA. But according to my air stewardess friend, it’s not difficult as it seems. When it comes to toiletries and cosmetics (which are what occupy the most space in my luggage), they pack minimally (since most hotels have the bathroom essentials) and throw in only travel-sized items. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But many a time the brands I use, especially for facial products, don’t come in travel sizes.

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Fuss-free travelling tip #2: save those samples you obtained from Sephora (or anywhere else) for your travels! A 20-cent coin placed there for you to compare the size (my LipIce sample so cute and miniature right?!)

So I started exploring other products which also exist in deluxe sizes – Laneige in particular, which was brought to my attention by Luxola Singapore.

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Beauty essentials. I love small pouches like this. Always come in handy when I travel 🙂

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Laneige Perfect Renew Travel Set consists of 1x Multi Cleanser 30ml, 1x Perfect Renew Skin Refiner_EX 50ml, 1x Perfect Renew Emulsion_EX 50ml, 1x Perfect Renew Essence_EX 15ml & 1x Perfect Renew Cream_EX 20ml

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Basically, all the products needed in your daily skincare routine in a pouch! How convenient is that?

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Each of them smaller than the size of my palm

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Laneige Perfect Renew Skin Refinger_EX is a gel-type skin refiner that makes skin texture smooth with boosting effect.

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Laneige Perfect Renew Emulsion_EX delivers moisture balance with soothing effect.

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Laneige Perfect Renew Essence_EX prevents premature aging with helping face contour firming effect.

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Laneige Multi Cleanser mildly and thoroughly cleanses for a clear and brighter skin.

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The facial wash gave my skin a sticky feel which went away after applying the cream below

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Laneige Perfect Renew Cream_EX enhances elasticity and moisture barrier with repairing effect.

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#nomakeup

I have been using them for the past few nights (even though I’m not on a holiday) and I must say I see significant improvements in my skin texture. I felt instantly refreshed after washing my face with the cleanser. My face appears to be smoother and more dewy (I seriously think I look a few months younger) the next morning too.

Most importantly, these products are light and portable. C’est Magnifique! They are absolutely perfect for travel. And I will definitely bring them along when I go on my year-end vacation to protect me from the dry climate.

If you’re not intending to get one for yourself, why not make this a gift for your Mom this coming Mother’s Day? 🙂

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This product is available on Luxola for S$65.
Quote “BLX-FIONASEAH” at checkout to enjoy 15% off on all first time orders by 29 May 2015. This offer is not valid on non-discountable brands as found in the FAQpage.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

REVIEW: MAC is Beauty Lipsticks – Highlights, Call the Hairdresser!, Real Redhead, Make Me Gorgeous, Diva-ish & Reel Sexy

Whoop, what a title ^^’

Hey everyone! As promised across all my social media platforms, I’ll be reviewing six of the 12 MAC lipsticks that are slated to be released in Singapore this coming Friday. It took me a while to prep this post because of the colossal amount of new shades this time, although I only bought half the number. But trust me, I would have gotten every single one if my funds allowed it because I’m always very hyped up at the thought of owning new lipstick shades 😀

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This mega collection includes 12 lipsticks, 16 Pro Longwear Fluidline (all Permanent), 4 Eye Shadows (in Yogurt, Preening, Wow Factor & Bouffant), 1 Eye Kohl in I Get No Kick, 4 Cremesheen Glass (in On the Scene, Fashion Scoop, Star Quality & Japanese Spring), 2 Beauty Powder (in Alpha Girl & Pearl Blossom), 3 Studio Nail Lacquer (in French Tipped, To Dye For & Doll Me Up) and 3 LE brushes ( 137 Long Blending, 221 Mini Tapered Blending & 267 Curved Angle)

Unlike the past few launches, MAC is Beauty is truly a Spring-themed collection centering around bright pastel colours which can be a bit of a hit-and-miss for me. On top of that, majority of the lipsticks (8) would be in Lustre finish which I believe isn’t the most popular finish in the MAC community, let alone mine. Thus, I wasn’t very thrilled about the launch when I first saw the product shots although the colours are supposed to be vibrant and fun like springtime. The shades were all too light and bright for my skin tone (sucks to be on the tanner side) and most of them would probably vanish on my lips like my other Lustre lipsticks anyway.

But I’m all about giving second (or third.. kinda lost count) chances. Well, actually… I just had the urge to splurge knowing that there wouldn’t be another new lipstick launch after this for the next month. So yes, gonna let loose a bit and make a bigger haul this time teehee.

Avoiding the lighter pinks and peaches, I picked the ones I felt would have stronger colour payoff – except for Highlights. I got that because I was intrigued by the uniqueness of the colour.

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Official swatch

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My swatch 🙂 Yay or nay?

My first impression about the chosen six was somewhat positive because the colours didn’t immediately remind me of what I already have. That’s a great start! I have 3 Amplifieds and 3 Lustres here. Can you guess which are the Lustres without me telling you? Duh, of course you can.

Reel Sexy

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Reel Sexy is a bright coral with Amplified finish. (US$16 / S$30)

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Three lipstick shades from this collection are repromotes and Reel Sexy is one of them, having previously released back in Spring 2012. It’s a bright peachy-coral that’s mostly opaque and surprisingly doesn’t wash me out. It tends to be a little clumpy and it’s quite obvious where it does since it’s light so do remember to exfoliate your lips before application. Other than that, it’s a lovely colour 🙂 The closest shade to this I could find in my stash is Ravishing.

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Ravishing, one of my go-to nude shades, is a little lighter whereas Kinda Sexy is darker and more matte.

Call the Hairdresser!

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Call the Hairdresser! is a rosey mauve with Lustre finish (US$16 / S$30)

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I don’t expect to see any remarkable difference for Lustre shades in my before and after pictures because they have been a letdown in terms of consistency and pigmentation so far. But Call the Hairdresser! seems to prove otherwise. It’s such a pretty shade of pink with a subtle sheen that complements my skin tone perfectly. Finally something praise-worthy from the Lustre range. Pity this finish typically doesn’t last long. This definitely deserves a better finish like Satin or Retro Matte.

Real Redhead

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Real Redhead is a mauve nude with Lustre finish. (US$16 / S$30)

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My poor overworked lips lol

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I expected it to be somewhat identical to Call the Hairdresser! since they look really similar on the official swatch but they turn out to be worlds apart in reality. Real Redhead is waaaaay lighter but still visible on the lips. Nevertheless, I kinda like how the lustre is spread evenly across my lips and doesn’t really settle into my fine lip lines. This makes a great MLBB shade if you ask me 🙂

Check out how Call the Hairdresser!, Real Redhead and Reel Sexy compare with other similar shades:

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Highlights

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Highlights is a very pale creamy peach with Lustre finish. (US$16 / S$30)

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This has got to be my least favourite purchase and also the most underperforming one to date. It was one of the first items I added to my cart because the gorgeous peachy-gold swatch on the website instantly caught my attention (it was even sold out at one point). Furthermore, I also had the impression that it was going to be like the orangey-yellow lipstick worn by the model on the foreground of the promo picture above. But it swatched out to be a completely different colour from the bullet itself and everything else I had thought out to be.

It’s basically a complete mess with the shimmers settling straight into all my lip lines and accentuating every unsightly detail of my lips. The more I attempted to even them out, the more they combined to form clusters of chunky sparkle which in my opinion reminded me of biscuit crumbs around my lips like I had forgotten to wipe my mouth after tea break. Extremely awful and not to mention an utter disappointment for something I was looking forward so much to 😦

Adding to my woes, the bullet – which already felt slightly melted when I applied it on my lips – broke when I was swatching it on my hand. *sigh* I would gladly trade this for Silly which I didn’t realise was Matte until recently.

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Bottom line: poor pigmentation, no lasting power, messy and terrible quality

Make Me Gorgeous

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Make Me Gorgeous is an intense coral pink with Amplified finish. (US$16 / S$30)

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Love the colour and how it makes me look unusually *innocent* haha

This lipstick is perfect with excellent pigmentation and coverage. It’s also creamy and it glides over the contours of my lips evenly, concealing all the lines and delivering a lasting vibrant colour with a subtle sheen.

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Swatch comparison

Diva-ish

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Diva-ish is an intense fuchsia with Amplified finish. (US$16 / S$30)

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My favourite purchase from this haul because I’m so in love with this shade of fuchsia. It doesn’t scream for attention like how most bright fuchsias do and most importantly, I actually think I look good in it *chuckles* It is mostly opaque and has great pigmentation and shine, coupled with a nice creamy texture like Make Me Gorgeous which doesn’t dry out my lips. It’s a pretty colour which I see myself wearing often to work! 🙂

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I guess its’s also a rather unique colour? I don’t really have a dupe for it 🙂

And that’s all from me! Doing a detailed review on 6 shades consecutively is no joke (on the lips as well) especially when you have no time like me to do it separately. I wonder how other beauty bloggers do it with all 12 :-S Really hats off to them hahaha.

 

Are you satisfied with your purchase? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

MAC is Beauty is now available on MACCosmetics.com [Lips] [Eyes] and will be launched in Singapore on 24 April 2015.

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