I wish...

Have you ever felt sad that a big part of your makeup collections would not be used up and your favorite products might be wasted? How often do you use up a single powder, and compare to how many you have? Sigh...I wish, If just no makeup would ever expire...

Monday, February 20, 2012

Do You Know...?

L'Oreal owns

Garnier, L'Oreal Paris, Maybelline New York, Softsheen-Carson, L'Oreal Professional, Kerastase, Matrix, Mizani, Redken, Lancome, Shu Uemura Art of Hair (not the whole beauty category), Biotherm, Yves Saint Laurent Beaute, Kiehl's Since 1851, La Roche-Posay, Inneov, Skinceuticals, Vichy, Sanoflore
L'Oreal is the world's Largest cosmetics producer by revenue.

Estee Lauder owns more than 20 skin care and makeup brans as well as a variety of fragrance brands.
Its core cosmetics brands include:

Estee Lauder, Clinique, Prescriptives, Origins, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Darphin, La Mer, and Tom Ford.

Estee Lauder also owns global licenses to market fragrances under brand names such as:

Tommy Hillfiger, Donna Karan Cosmetics, Sean John Cosmetics, and Aramis.

Some of you might have already known these, some might not. I was really surprised to know that L'Oreal owns so many big and well-known brands. Also, Estee Lauder owns MAC, Bobbi Brown, Clinique... Who would ever thought about they were from the same company!!

Anyway, I thought I could share this info with you. Very random, but beauty related though. ^0^

In my head, I was thinking:"so were the L'Oreal lipsticks manufactured in the same factory as YSL...? They don't look or feel the same at all. The PRICEs even have bigger differences!!!! I wish I could use the price of L'Oreal products to buy YSL, Shu Uemura, etc. Sigh..."

Saturday, February 18, 2012

MAC Tendertone Lip Balms VS. ELF Conditioning Lip Balms

MAC's newest collections: Shop MAC & Cook MAC, are so popular that many beauty gurus on Youtube have been raving about the products from the two collections. The hottest one in the collections is no doubt the Tendertone Lip Balms.

The Tendertone Lip Balms are basically strawberry-kiwi flavored tinted lip balms that condition your lips, and gives you a lip gloss effect at the same time. I think there are enough people talking about the details, so I will skip the general intro of them.

I like MAC's products, but I was not a crazy follower of there ridiculously-quickly-updated collections. I personally don't have the energy to catch up with those and certainly don't have that much money to buy all the collections either. The reason I bought the Tendertone Lip Balms from the Cook MAC collection is that a lot of people kept telling me how good they were and it made me very curious.

Here I am, bought three out of the four. Aren't they supposed to be "tinted" lip balms? If all the colors look the same on my lips, what's the point of tinted... I should have just bought one... Well, I don't blame the products, my natural lip color is very pigmented so it's hard to have the colors show up on my lips. Other than that, the moisturizing effect is very good as a lip balm. The formula is similar to MAC's LipGlasses, glossy and sticky; the texture is creamy and glide on lips easily.

To be honest, I am not amazed by them. They are great quality products for sure, maybe just not my thing, or I had such a high expectation before I purchased them and was disappointed after. Anyway, when I put them back to the drawer with other lip products I had, I saw the ELF Conditioning Lip Balms are in the same drawer. I took the ELF Conditioning Lip Balms out and compared with the MAC Tendertone Lip Balms. Surprisingly, I think the ELF ones were not any worse than the MAC ones.

Here are what I got:


Both MAC and ELF swatches on my arm have very good color payoffs. I can barely see the difference on my lips when I use the MAC ones (the HUSH HUSH has better color payoffs on my lips, not much though), but the ELF ones showed up quite well as a lip balm. If you don't mind the colors and you just like the glossy looking lip balms, go with the MAC Tendertone. Even though the ELF Conditioning Lip Balms are not as shiny glossy as MAC Tendertone, it moisturized my lip the same as MAC.  If you think the MAC Tendertone is too much shine, and you want more colors show on your lips, you may like the ELF Conditioning Lip Balms better.

I know the Revlon Lip butters have been everywhere. All the lip butters have some shimmers in them, but the ELF Conditioning Lip Balms don't. I would even pick ELF  over the Revlon Lip Butters because I like the finish and colors ELF gives.

Here is a comparison between MAC Tendertone and ELF Conditioning lip Balms:

MAC Tendertone Lip Balms and ELF Conditioning Lip Balms are both really nice lip balms and both very moisturizing, It just depends on your preferences. If you want your tinted lip balms to be more "tinted". and not as shiny finish, go with ELF; otherwise, go with MAC. 
Don't forget you pay $3 dollars for each ELF Conditioning Lip Balms, which also have slightly higher SPF. (1 tendertone=5 ELFs...-_-) Also, you don't have to run to the store to get the products due to the limited quantity offered.

Everything I said above is my personal opinion. I understand there are many many of you think differently and I give my full respect to. I just want to share what I feel and what I know, so someone could benefit from the information.

Wish everyone a great weekend~~

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day Makeup--Laura Mercier, Estee Lauder, MAC,MUFE, Illamasqua, NARS, Clinique, and Maybelline

I bought mine at a CCO for $24.50. I was just lucky that there was a color fit my color pretty well, since they only carried 4 or 5 shades total. I have combination skin, drier with oily t-zone in the winter. If I don’t have dry patches on my face, this foundation wears the whole day; If i want to use it to cover the dry patches, it will make the areas look really caked on with heavy foundation.
it’s not a completely mat finish foundation, i can still see a slight luminous effect, not much though. One thin layer can give a medium coverage. if build up to two layers, it will be a full coverage.
this is a very long lasting foundation with a spf 10. I have worn it in the morning, and there was very minor wear-off on my face, not noticeable, before i remove my whole makeup at night.
The same problem i had with my nars sheer glow and neutrogena healthy skin foundations, the estee lauder one does not come with a pump either. i just find it is more difficult to control the amount of usage without a pump. 
overall, estee lauder double wear is a great foundation. it would be perfect for someone who has oily skin or comb skin in the summer.


1. NARS Concealer
NARS has expensive makeup lines, but I have to say that most of the products I have used from NARS actually have great qualities. This concealer is one of them.
I mainly use this as a blemish concealer to cover up my acne scars, some discolorations, or temporary rednesses. It covers them very well. The texture is very creamy, and it won't dry up too quickly so that you still have time to blend the edges of the concealed areas. Either your fingers, a small blending brush, or a beauty blender should be fine to use for blending.
I don't like to use it under my eyes because I don't like the look (a little cakey, does not help with fine lines much).  Normally I don' t like to do blemish concealing every time I do makeups. When there is one or two big pimples (popped, most of the times) and even my foundation cannot coverup. then I will use this concealer. I conceal the blemishes after I put on my foundation, because my foundation might be able to coverup the imperfections already.
It is long-lasting if set with powders. if use it alone for couple hours should be okay. I prefer to use a setting powder on top of the concealer, just in case.
I am not sure if 0.07oz is a big size or small size compare to other stick concealers. However, it is big enough for me to use for a long time.
The NARS concealer is a great product but not the best. It might work as a wonder on someone else since we all have different skin types. 



2. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment (50 Neutralizer OR 60 Brightener)

The Neutralizer has a neutral color but also with a little bit yellow tone in it.  The other skin-color shades are either too light or too dark for my under-eye area. The Neutralizer's color is a slightly lighter shade than my actual skin color, which works perfectly under my eyes. Remember I said that "brighten" was the key of looking awake. Here comes the Brightener. The Brightener has more peachy tone than the other shades, it is supposed to cancel out the "darkness", That is exactly what I need it for.

The Formula is very creamy for both the Neutralizer and the Brightener. It works so well that really "erased" my dark circle. I don't think they make me feel heavy or greasy throughout the day. The lasting power is not a problem for me after set it with a powder. For the price, can't beat it.


Sometimes I use both colors together, sometimes I only use the brightener. This is how I apply both of them:


I first use the Brightener under my eye, then use a concealer brush (Sigma synthetic precision brushes) to lightly blend the edge into the rest of my skin. Next, I apply the Neutralizer over the Brightener, and again use a concealer brush lightly blend the edge. I would not suggest someone who have fine lines or wrinkles under the eyes to use a concealer brush, one alternative is to use a beautyblender dab...dab...dab the area with concealer, blend just as well as the brush. By using a beautyblender, you can fill in the fine lines and wrinkles with concealer rather than swipe over (if it makes sense to you...), and make the under-eye area very smooth.
I always apply my foundation after the under-eye concealer step (not the blemish concealing), and this will better blend the concealer to match the other areas on my face. You don't want to have two "white cast" under your eyes!
Definitely use a setting powder over the concealer. I don' t think the lasting power is that good if you use it alone.
The sponge tip is where the product will be squeezed out of after you twist the top. it is very soft and I don't have any problem with it, even though cleaning the sponge tip can be a problem.
In most part, I love this concealer.

3. Clinique Airbrush Concealer (04 Neutral Fair)
I also use this one for my under-eye areas only when I want some extra highlighted look.


This concealer has a brush tip where the product comes out of, and you brush directly on the areas you want. Although the brush is soft, I would suggest to use it for application not blending purposes. Similar to the Maybelline concealer, you can blend out the product by using a beauty blender, a small blending brush, or your fingers.
Clinique calls it a "concealer", but the coverage is not good enough to conceal major blemishes, at least for me. The illuminating effect is awesome. The formula is more liquid-y than the NARS concealer and the Maybelline concealer. It doesn't feel heavy at all, airbrushed feeling no doubt. I use it after I powder my face often, I don't find it to be difficult to blend over powder. It gives a natural finish if blends well. I don't set it with powder again, maybe special occasions, and the lasting power on me is between medium to long with no powder over it.
The Clinique Airbrush Concealer overall is a nice quality product. It is considered high end brand, so it's not a cheap one. I think it worth the price.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Inglot Lip colors Freedom System Palette

Inglot has been one of my favorite brands since the first time I purchased. The products I heard the most from others are eyeshadows, gel eyeliners, and blushes. I have to say that the quality, color payoff, color variabilities, and even the price are one of the top brands in the market.
Freedom System Customized Palettes are very popular from Inglot. You can customize face powders, blushes, eyeshadows, brow powders/waxes, and lipstick colors. So I am going to do a short review on the Lipstick colors palette I own.

 There are 90 colors to choose from for the customized lipstick palette. You can have sizes of 5, 10, and 20 pans palettes. I ordered my palette online since there was not any retail store close by, so I could not swatch the colors. It was a little bit risky to order it online when I did not know how the product was going to be like. Luckily, when I tried the product out, I was very pleased with the quality.

The lipstick comes in a small round pan, smaller than the size of MAC's customized eyeshadow pans. It feels very similar to MAC's cream-sheen formula--creamy without drying up your lips. The pigmentation is as good as MAC's lipsticks if not better. The only issue is that you can either use your finger or a lip brush to apply them. I found fingers can pat more colors on the lips, but may get a little messy on the edge. It takes longer to build up the colors if use a lip brush, but sure can have better control over the application.




























The swatches are from #08 to #52 in orders, from the bottom up, I accidentally put the palette the other way around, sorry about the confusion, but the numbers are still the same accordingly to the swatches.

I also put the colors on my lips to show you the difference on actual lips. My natural lip color is very pigmented, so if the color payoffs are not good enough, they would not show up on my lips. You can see that all of the colors showed up very well.

I prepared my lips with Burt's Bees Honey Lip balm and use my fingers to pat the color on my lips.

























08--light nude/coral color
12--light pink, with a slight hint of coral
13--light Neutral/nude peach color
14--barbie pink
23--neutral/peach coral color
24--light/pale nude color
36--light pink with a hint of purple
48--coral pink
51--medium coral color
52--warm light pink

Because my lips are so pigmented, normal lipsticks always look lighter on my lips than on others'.

I think if you like lipsticks as much as I do, and you want to have all different colors to choose from without having tons of individual packages, you should try Inglot's freedom system and have your lipstick colors customized in a palette. It's also a good way to try out all colors without paying too much. It only costs $4.00 for each lip color and $10, $14, $20 for sizes of 5, 10, 20 palettes (empty).

Hopefully the pictures can help somehow...