REVIEW: Urban Decay Vice3 Palette

Hey everyone!

Urban Decay’s Holiday Lineup this year has been pretty amazing! If you guys don’t know, Holiday 2014 from Urban Decay includes 6 individual items, 4 of which are new (because the All-Nighter Makeup Setting Spray already existed before this even though it now comes in two). I was contemplating real hard about getting TEN, a 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set before heading to Sephora but I didn’t see it there so I guess it’s a sign not to overspend this month. Haha so yes, only got myself 2 awesome products from the holiday lineup! (This and the Full Frontal Lipstick Stash)

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1. Urban Decay Vice3 / 2. Black Magic 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set / 3. TEN 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set / 4. Full Frontal Lipstick Stash / 5. Naked Illuminated / 6. All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray Duo

And since I’ve already reviewed about the lipsticks, this post shall be dedicated to Vice 3! I believe it’s one of the most highly anticipated UD items this year after Naked 3.

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Freebies (the colour pouch below the palette) with every purchase of Vice3!

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Authenticity tag

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The palette comes with another pouch!

The palette case itself is made of very smooth and durable material like Vice 2 (thankfully not Vice 1, because the NARS-like rubbery material attracted so much dust), making it slightly heavy. The “Vice” icon is neon-green jeweled to match the highly metallized green base. The entire packaging is really sleek and gorgeous!

Like Vice 1 and 2, you’d be greeted with a huge mirror when you open the palette. There are also 20 new breathtaking yet feasible colours that you can use on a daily basis.

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*GASP* Gorgeous, isn’t it?!?

Don’t be fooled by the bright colours because most of them do not turn out to be like that.

I love this palette because it has quite a number of pinks and purples. The neutral colours are also not too bold and vibrant.

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Comes with a double-ended brush, as usual.

This palette comes with a brush which I won’t use because I’m not really a fan of Urban Decay’s brushes. They tend to be very prickly during use and sometimes my eyes would tear when I’m applying shadows on the inner corners and lower lids. I casually tested the Vice3 brush on my hand and could still feel the prick so yeah, I guess it’s still the same as before.

Note: I use Sigma brushes. They’re the best so far!

Time to swatch!

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I actually adjusted the picture’s brightness on an editing software to make them show. Before the enhancement, most of them (especially Truth, Alien, Last Sin and Bobby Dazzle) were pretty much invisible. Hope you guys can see it better now! The colours still stay true to the above pictures.

My favourite colours from this palette are Lucky, Alchemy, Downfall and Defy. Those are very nice browns! *thumbs up*

I only swatched all of them at most thrice on my hand and as you can see, most of the shades are not very pigmented (especially those in the first picture) – which can be both good and bad. If you wanted an eyeshadow palette with great colour payoff, I guess you can give this a miss. But if you’re someone who doesn’t wear heavy eyeshadow, go and get it!

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Blended some browns with pinks.

Vice3 is limited edition (or while stocks last) and they are retailing at S$88 in local Sephora stores. To avoid feeling the pinch, be sure to use your discounts (and I’ve been emphasizing this, repeating like a broken recorder in all my UD posts haha) when you pay!

Oh and I’m not sure if they are still giving out freebies with every purchase of Vice 3 palettes (bought mine more than 2 weeks ago), but this is what you should get:

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Amongst them are a mini All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray and several sample products.

I was supposed to get a Deluxe B6 Vitamin-Infused Complexion Prep Spray but stocks ran out and so I was forced to accept the All Nighter spray. That’s fine too! On top of that, if you bought at least S$100 worth of Urban Decay items, you are also entitled to a chance at their lucky dip where ONE lucky person could walk away with a Pulp Fiction palette! My luck with lucky dip has always been terrible so of course I went home without any prizes. Haha.

That’s all for this post! Oops, I’ve been bombarding my blog with too many beauty reviews! Don’t worry foodies, food reviews are coming up next!

What are your thoughts about Vice3? 🙂

Talk to you guys next time 😉

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

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!

Sephora Black Card x Private Sale Haul (Oct 2014)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I haven’t posted anything about my shopping haul because there are way too many items bought over the past 5 months (last update was in May) and I haven’t been able to find time for it. But I’ll definitely get my Carousell haul post up soon, I promise! For now, let’s settle for a mini one from Sephora, shall we? 🙂

I remember filling out the application form to be a member of Sephora’s Loyalty Programme at the Orchard ION branch in 2011 but only started using the White card more often when I got hooked onto beauty products about a year later. However, I feel that other than getting a 10% discount upon accumulating enough points, there wasn’t much exclusivity to being a member because anyone can be a White card holder. Also as a huge spender, you’d naturally want to be set apart from the casual buyers. Thus when I learned about the launch of the Black Card, I was super ecstatic! Partly because my White card is becoming a breeding ground for algae (I have no idea how it got there) and I was already planning to get a replacement (not sure if it’s allowed though).

Black Card holders get to enjoy:

  • VIP access to private sales
  • 10% off on next visit with every 250 points earned in 3 countries (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand)
  • Pretty birthday surprises
  • Receive exclusive invites to events and workshops

To be a Black Card member, you have to accumulate 250 points.

The privileges are not much difference from the White card I guess. But black is a nicer colour, so yeah.

Just so you know, Sephora USA has a similar loyalty programme called the Beauty Insider but it is waaay cooler because it has 3 ranks – Beauty Insider, VIB and VIB Rouge. Of course, the more you spend, the higher you climb the ladder. Why can’t Sephora Singapore implement the same system? 😦

Anyway, these are what I got from the private sale for Black Card members. It’s not a lot though because I already have most of the stuff I wanted. But I would’ve definitely spent more if Urban Decay Vice 3 was available.

Everything at Sephora was 20% off 😀

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2 of my purchases are rather new products which I hadn’t tried.

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Benefit Boi-ing in 02 (S$27.20, UP S$34) & Clarisonic Brush Head for Sensitive Skin (S$28, UP S$35)

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Benefit They’re Real Push-up Liner (S$30.40, UP S$38), Fresh Soy Face Cleanser (S$18.40, UP S$23) & MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Etcetera (S$28, UP S$35)

The cleanser and brush head are items I’d get on a regular basis because I use them pretty often. I’m about to empty my current tube so this sale was actually very timely. 😀

I’ll take this chance to do a quick review of the wearable products if case some of you’re interested.

Let’s begin with my all-time favourite concealer. Are you ready to see my naked face?

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Woke up with a few new tiny zits. (pardon my messy hair)

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NO FILTER: With Boi-ing on top of POREfessional. Only concealed certain areas.

Finally a shade that is a perfect match to my skin tone! I was using 03 previously because I thought I had grown tanner but no, it was so dark on me. It’s strange because 02 used to be too light on me. Well, my skin could’ve returned to its original shade after jogging under shady trees lol.

The award-winning industrial strength concealer camouflages 98% of my flaws. It is by far the best concealer I’ve ever used because the creamy and thick cream doesn’t really get rubbed off even when I apply my foundation over it (yes, my routine is conceal first then apply foundation). It covers even the reddest pimple.

Moving on…

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From The Matte Lip collection: MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Etcetera (UP S$35)

Yes, another product from The Matte Lip! Love this collection a lot. Every lipstick, except for Damn Glamorous, was sold out at Sephora ION outlet. I believe it’s the same for most branches in Singapore.

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Etcetera is a creamy beige.

I got Etcetera after swatching almost every lip pencil (from this collection) on my hand. The other shade I was contemplating about was Staunchly Stylish I think. But of course, being a darker shade, it was outright rejected by Bf who was with me at Sephora. -_-

Something must have distracted me because I had forgotten to wipe off the pencil marks on my wrist. But guess what? They were still there in their original shape after almost 4 hours of constant rubbing against my bracelets and watch. Wow! Full marks for longevity. But removal can be a chore!

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Lip pencils tend to be more on the dry side hence they will not go well as lipsticks on flaky and chapped lips! You are going to have a hard and painful time applying and removing it. But it also does its job well as a lip liner 🙂

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Wore this out to Madame Tussauds last Sunday!

Knowing that it has a long lasting effect, I used this in place of lipstick on my lips. And true enough, it stayed on for the entire day. One of my biggest issues with lipsticks is that I leave behind stains everywhere my lips come into contact with – on straws, spoons, cups, etc. But with MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil? Rarely. It stays on until you attack it with a makeup removal wipe.

But of course, I still prefer my lipsticks because they are less time-consuming and dry, and are more vibrant? I’ll just use the lip pencil to line my lips.

Check out my review on lipsticks from MAC The Matte Lip collection!

And finally, for the eyes…

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Benefit They’re Real Push-up Liner. New ones come with an orange plug/stopper at the tip.

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Didn’t manage to capture the process, so here’s the result! (plz ignore those unsightly tiny bumps)

It works almost like any twist up eyeliners but this comes with an Accuflex Tip for easy application. Just twist the base around until a teeny weeny bit of the gel is delivered to the top. You don’t want to dispense too much of the gel because they’d break and clump together like a ball. Trust me, you wouldn’t want your face speckled with fallouts.

My verdict: I’m probably going to use this very often because it’s proven to be budge-proof and it’s relatively easy to apply. Plus I didn’t have to do much to cover the tiny space between my lash line and my lids. The eyeliner automatically fills in the gap for me (thus “lash-hugging”). It’s gonna save me a lot of time on days I oversleep.

However, removal would take a little more time. It shouldn’t be a problem if you’re using a good-quality removal wipe (for the record, I’m using Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes).

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FANTASTICO 🙂

That’s all for this haul post! Do share with me your thoughts about any of the mentioned products 🙂

Thanks for reading lovelies ❤