BASE
As mentioned in my previous post, my skin has changed from dry to combination in the past year or two, and it was my mission to find products that make my makeup stay put all day!
E.L.F. Cosmetics Makeup Mist & Set
I originally wanted to try the setting spray from Urban Decay, but as they don't ship to Japan, I tried out this affordable alternative from E.L.F. And it was surprisingly good! It helps my makeup stay put all day, and the best thing is that my eyebrows would stay as they were in the morning until 11pm. As I am extending quite a bit of the end of my eyebrows with my eyebrow pencil, I tend to end up with shorter brows without the ends at the end of the day especially in summer. But one or two spritz of this spray sets them completely and they never go away.
CANMAKE Lasting Multi Eyebase Waterproof
A very good eyeshadow primer which is only 500yen. This tiny tube lasts for more than 6 months which is also a good thing. I don't see a need to invest in an expensive primer!
Kiehl's Micro Blur Skin Perfector
Such an amazing primer!! It really does blur the pores on my cheeks, and makes my foundation goes on smoothly on top. My first tube was kind of defective and separated inside of the bottle, it ended up squirting weird liquid every time I tried to use it. My second tube has been great and NO liquid comes out at all. They said it tends to separate a little bit, but when you squeeze the tube and only water comes out, that is definitely defective. You should contact the customer service if you come across that kind of issue. Anyway, it smells amazing, it felt like burning my skin at the beginning but that was because it has 'a lot of nutrients are concentrated into this formula' as the shop assistant explained. After my skin has been repaired completely, it doesn't irritate my skin at all.
Diorskin Star Fluid Foundation
The shade #20 Light Beige is too orangy to my skin unfortunately, so I am mixing it with my LUNASOL Cream foundation which is a tad too light for my skin. I like to apply this foundation with Dior Star Fluid Sponge which looks like a black egg, as it goes on semi-matte when applied with this particular sponge, and it coves the pores really well. It's medium coverage and semi-matte, yet it still reflects the light and makes your skin look healthy. It's suitable for oily to combination skin as well, for those who do not want a dewy finish yet want to avoid a completely matte skin.
EYES and CHEEKS
For eyes, I enjoyed coloured eyeliners last year, though I was a 'black liquid eyeliner kind of girl' for more than a decade! For cheeks, I found amazing products that I am completely in love with.
L'Oréal Paris La Palette
I cannot live without this palette. The quality of each eyeshadow is amazing, and the shades are perfect for people who love taupe like I do. I haven't worn any other eyeshadow since I got it from lovely Danniella from Famous in Japan.
MAC Alluring Aquatic Collection Extra Dimension Eyeshadow
Definitely the best packaging of the year! I love this shade 'Soul Serenade' which is a very deep taupe which is perfect for a simple smoky look.
Visee Color Impact Gel Liner
In Japan, coloured eyeliners were on trend towards the mid-end of the year. I LOVE these pencil eyeliners from Visee, as they glide on so smoothly, easy to blend, and never budge after being set completely. I love the burgundy shade and the taupe shade called Winter Orchid, which was limited (you still can purchase it on my website HERE).
No7 Stay Perfect Shade And Define
I LOVE this kind of cream eyeshadow in a stick form. I love this shade Cool Mink, such a beautiful and subtle taupe that is perfect for a daily use. It helps eyeshadow on top to stay put as well, and you can of course wear it on its own. I want other shades such as coffee bean, too!
Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in Dark Brown
I don't think I've worn a black liquid eyeliner to work for months now. This is such a gorgeous brown liquid eyeliner, which is easy to apply and the colour is perfect. It's not too warm, and pretty pigmented. The brush is thin and does not dry out. I would repurchase it over and over again!
Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush
My shade Blissful is such a pretty peachy pink which is perfect to wear on daily basis. What I like about it the most is because it's not too pigmented. Drugstore blushes tend to be TOO pigmented that you need to be really, really careful to apply otherwise you will end up with super red cheeks like apples. But this is is subtle, elegant and very beautiful on the cheeks. Also the staying power is amazing for a powder blush.
Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek in Cherry Mix
I didn't expect to love this blush this much, but I DO!! The marble patterned blush gives a beautiful and natural flash on the cheeks within seconds.The puff is so fluffy (with a cute ribbon on top), and the effect the marble blush gives is just amazing. You need to have this blush in your life. I'm 100% not saying that just because I sell it on my website (HERE), I sell it because I love it this much. I'm not trying to make profits here, I wanted as many people as possible to enjoy the product, and help them in a country where Majo / Majo isn't available to purchase. You can read an in-depth review HERE.
LIPS
...and a sneaky eye product ;)
Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara Waterproof
Well, I forgot to include in into the eye makeup category but I love this mascara without a doubt! Japanese mascaras tend to stick your lashes together to make them 'thicker' which makes you look like you only have 5 lashes, but this one doesn't do that at all. It separates and lengthens without clumps.
L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire
I am in love with this shade Nude Ballet.I purchased Rose Melody but it's too pinky to my liking. It's more like a lip gloss, but the pigmentation is beyond an ordinary lip gloss formula. It smells fruity (not the typical L'Oreal scent) which I like. I love how glossy and plumped it makes my lips look.
OPERA Sheer Lip Color
A lip gloss in a lipstick form? How handy! It literally looks like I'm wearing a lip gloss, but much less sticky and greasy. My shade Salmon Pink is such a pretty peachy pink which I wore a lot during summer. It's so tiny that fits into my smallest purse.
Carmex Ultra Moisturising Lip Balm
I literally cannot live without Carmex!!! These are the only lip balms that work during winter. I love the lime one the best, and am keen on trying out the vanilla one someday.
Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy
The shade Innocent is such a wearable shade, and it stays for hours and hours on the lips. If you don't have time to reapply a lipstick, this is the one you should apply in the morning. You just need to apply a lip gloss or lip balm on top throughout the day for an instant update.
It's become the longest post ever!!! Thanks for reading x
It was a short but pretty hot summer we had in Japan this year. I am so sad that it's autumn now and it definitely is getting colder day by day. I hate winter, I just hate everything about winter, and I'm getting so depressed as writing this thinking about winter...BUT I am excited about autumn / winter makeup. I'm all about coral cheeks and coral lips in summer, but I tend to gravitate towards darker lips in colder seasons like everyone else.
The problem is, I don't look good with dark or bright lips although I'm dying to wear rosy or berry toned lips. And I came up with this idea to mix the lipsticks I own already to create new shades rather than to look for the perfect autumnal shade.
Rimmel London Kate Matte Lipstick / 107 × Moisture Renew Lipstick / Nude Delight
I didn't know that when I bought it but 107 seems to be a very popular shade. On my lips it looks too bright and pinky, so I tone it down with Nude Delight, which is one of my favourite shades of the entire lippie collection.
This is how it looks when both of them are on the lips. They are both matte formula, which creates this beautiful velvet kind of texture which is perfect for autumn.
REVLON Lip Butter / Berrï½™ Smoothie
×Maybelline Baby Lips / Peach Kiss
It's been ages since I stopped wearing Lip Butter although I was pretty obsessed with it when it came out. There is no particular reason why I stopped wearing it, but now I remember how pretty it looked on my lips! Having said that, it's still too bright on its own. So I applied Peach Kiss from Maybelline on top, and voi-la!
It has the right amount of pinkness but not too bright. Baby Lips give a little bit of shine and I kind of like that.
Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Shine / Surreal Sun
× LUNASOL Full Glamour Liquid Lips/ 03
This combo is what I've been loving since summer. Surreal Sun is a very bright orange that I cannot wear on its own. I dab Surreal Sun on my lips and blend with my finger, then add LUNASOL lip gloss on top. This shade 03 is no longer available apparently, but it's such a useful shade added on top of any kind of shades. I love how it feels on the lips.
I LOVE this shade!! I don't know what to do when I run out of this lip gloss, as it looks totally different when the lip gloss isn't added on top. This lip shade makes the whole look more sophisticated, and goes really well with autumnal eye makeup.
Bourjois Effet 3D MAX Lipgloss / #68 × CANMAKE Stay on Balm Rouge / 04
This lip gloss from Bourjois is awesome. It smells awful like rose petals burnt with vinyl or something like that...which is pretty gross. But how gorgeous it looks is unbelievable. It has this rosy undertone to it, which makes my lips look beautiful. It has glitter particles which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. I paired it with CANMAKE Stay on Balm Rouge in 04, which is a very natural beige.
Browny beige with a hint of rose is such a perfect shade for the colder season. And the glitters make it suitable for the holiday season as well!
It's so much fun paring lipsticks and lipglosses because sometimes it creates a completely different shade. And I can save money by not purchasing a bunch of new lipsticks!
CANMAKE Lasting Multi Eyebase 500yen
I was pretty satisfied by the eyeshadow primer from Rimmel that I got from ASOS. Once I'd used it up, I immediately started searching for a replacement as I didn't want to order the primer from ASOS again just because the pound was like 175yen at that time, and also ASOS changed the delivery term and now you need to spend more than 15 pound to get free delivery. Ridiculous. So I was hoping to get something in Japan. Then I remember, this primer from CANMAKE had been hyped up. So I decided to give it a go.
It's a typical silicone-base primer that smooths out the skin and creates the perfect base for anything applied on top. It's not tinted but strangely it feels like it evens out the skin tone too -it could be only in my mind-.
In the morning, I apply this eyeshadow primer after applying the normal makeup primer all over my face. I take a tiny bit on my fingertips and apply it on my eyelids, brow bones and under the eyes. It prevents the eyeshadow from getting creased, and also makes them last much longer. I wear makeup more than 14 hours on weekdays, and any eyeshadow goes away after like 8 hours in this heat. But with this eyeshadow primer, I still can tell the colour of my eyeshadow at the end of the day, which is impressive!
Also it makes concealers go smoothly too, and they never get cakey and dry with this primer on underneath. I cannot rave about it enough, especially considering the fact it's only 500 yen.
Yes it's tiny, but it lasts for at least 3 months. I would say 6 months, probably. It is definitely one of the best products that you can get from a drugstore. It's waterproof which makes it wearable at the beach, too. I cannot put my makeup on without it, and have been using it none-stop since I got it a couple of months ago. It's a must-buy if you have a chance to come to Japan. I guarantee you!
CANMAKE Dual Eyebrow Stick 600yen
Wow, it's been more than a month since I wrote my last post here. I apologise for the absence, it was just overwhelming to juggle 3 blogs, my job and dealing with the family issue that I'm currently having. I'm not going to write about my life stuff here but it's been tough and I didn't feel like writing in English -obviously because it's much harder for me than writing in Japanese. I'm kind of back on track now (hopefully) and decided to start blogging again!
Today I'm introducing you my current favourite eyebrow pencil. It's a new item from my favourite drugstore brand CANMAKE, which came out in June I believe. The idea behind this thick eyebrow pencil is that it has two shades in one. 01 has beige brown and dark brown, and 02, the one I've got, has orange beige and ashy brown. So for example you can draw an outline with the darker shade, and fill in the small gaps with the lighter shade. Or simply mix them together as you wish.
You can see that the left half is the ashy brown, and the right half is the orange beige. I have to be honest, it's really hard to draw an outline with this pencil simply because it's too thick, and I tried to use the edge to draw the end of the eyebrow which I ended up making it look so messy. I use KATE eyebrow pencil in BR-2 to draw an outline, including the ends, and fill in the gaps with this pencil mixing both shades. It creates thick eyebrows that have been in style in Japan for a while. Thin eyebrows are kind of old fashioned now in Japan, everyone wants thicker and lighter brows rather than bold and dark brows.
This pencil is perfect for creating such trendy eyebrows. The top swatch is the darker shade, the middle is the lighter shade, and the bottom one is when they both are mixed together. It looks like powder on the eyebrows, giving such a soft-focus-effect. I thought it was a little too hard when I tried at the drugstore on the back of my hand, but when used on my eyebrows it glides on perfectly. I haven't used my eyebrow powder since I got this pencil because it stays longer on my brows and works kind of better than the powder in my opinion, as it sticks to the skin rather than sitting on top of the brows if that makes sense! It's a must-have item if you are aiming for thicker and softer-looking eyebrows.
Well done CANMAKE for another great product with an affordable price tag!
