Majolica Majorca Romantic Night Mascara & Eyeliner Set

Majolica Majorca Romantic Night Mascara & Eyeliner Set  1,800yen

I had been looking for a good navy eyeliner and mascara since the end of summer. But unfortunately, most of them I came across did't have the right shade -to my liking. They were either too dark or too bluey. So when I saw this limited set at Aintz-Tulpe, my favourite drugstore in Harajuku (other branches are pretty small, go to the one in Harajuku if you are interested) I did not even hesitate to take it to the till.

This set comes with their best-selling mascara called Lash Expander Edge Meister and eyeliner called Perfect Automatic Liner, both in the limited shade 'Romantic Night'. They also launched other limited products at the same time: body lotion that smells heavenly, lip stain / gloss, eyeshadow palette and nail-caviar thing that was very popular a couple of years ago.

The liquid eyeliner has this pretty design on the body -which somehow reminds me of Sailor Moon. It's the type of eyeliner that you twist the end part to dispense the ink. At first it would tend to dispense too much ink at once which I wiped excess on the back of my hand, but it started working fine after using it for a couple of times.

I twist the end of the eyeliner once, and apply it on both eyes. The amount of the ink it dispense by one twist is absolutely perfect. The shade "Romantic Night' is such a lovely midnight blue. It's shimmery which makes it even more appropriate for the coming holiday season. It dries very quickly, meaning you have little time to apply it without making the eyeliner look messy, but once you're used to it you won't find any problems.

As you can see, it looks absolutely gorgeous on the eyes!! The metallic finish is very pretty and trendy, yet it's not too in-your-face at all. It definitely defines the eyes like a black eyeliner does, but definitely makes the whole look softer and more natural. It also makes my eyes look brighter for some reason, which is another plus point in my opinion.

The mascara is even more gorgeous than the eyeliner, as it contains bigger glitter particles that look absolutely amazing on the lashes. The brush looks rather odd, and I didn't think it would work on my lashes at first. I assumed that it would make them stick together and look clumpy. But I admit it did not do any of those -it separates the lashes and holds the curl for hours and hours.

It's got loads of fibres which I usually hate because they make my lashes look wonky, but for some reason this mascara does not do that much. I just comb my lashes with a clean spooli right after applying the mascara, and all the excess fibres come out.

In this photo, I only applied the mascara on my bottom lashes as I didn't want to look too much with the blue eyeliner and mascara on. You can if you want, but I just wanted to tone it down. You can see the bottom lashes look sparkly, but it's not too bluey at all.

When applied on both top and bottom lashes, it makes the whole look kind of mysterious -which I LOVE!! I tend to pair it with a black pencil eyeliner to balance out the look. It goes well with olive green eyeshadow -my favourite is Eyes to Mesmerise Cream Eyeshadow in Veruschka by Charlotte Tilbury- as well as taupe, silver and purple eyeshadows.

I have been wearing them 3-4 times a week since I got them. Especially the eyeliner is suitable for a daily use as they are quite subtle. The mascara is perfect for a special occasion, like a night-out or a special event. It's a shame they are limited, as I would repurchase them if they were permanent. They are sold out online already, but I have spotted them in some local drugstores recently. Grab them if you've seen them, as I promise you that you won't regret it!

Limited sets for this holiday season! Coffret D'or Party Coffret

Coffret D'or Party Coffret / EX-1  5,000yen
Just like any other countries, Christmas Coffret' is huge around this time of the year in Japan. Most of the beauty brands come up with limited sets that look pretty and gorgeous that you cannot resist. I usually do not buy Christmas Coffret but this year I was given a wonderful opportunity to try out Coffret D'or Party Coffret to review for GLAM. They have 4 different sets that you can choose depending on your liking, and I was given EX-1 which comes with a bright pink makeup bag that kind of represents the colour theme of this set.

EX-1 contains Soft Glamorous Eyes Eyeshadow Palette in Rose, Premium Stay Rouge in PK- 293 and a nail oil. Pink is not what I usually wear when it comes to makeup, as I do not dress 'kawaii' and 'cute' like Japanese uni students do, and I always feel like pink makeup doesn't go well with my style. But this set completely changed my point of view!

Soft Glamorous Eyes Eyeshadow Palette in Rose is such a lovely palette for grown women. Just like most of Japanese eyeshadow palettes, there is no matte shade to define the crease in this palette which is the only downside I can think of. It's got a very pale baby pink, dusty mauve, brown cream shadow, brownish burgundy and glittery gold eyeshadows which create such a beautiful look when they are used in conjunction with each other.

As you can see, all of the powder eyeshadows are super shimmery. The pigmentation isn't the best in the world, but the shades are very pretty.

Don't you think it looks pretty on the eyes? Even though I did not use an eyeliner, the cream eyeshadow worked as eyeliner and defined my lash line perfectly. It is definitely pink, but it's not a 'kawaii' type of pink, it's more mature and classy.

Premium Stay Rouge in PK- 293 is a lovely pink which I usually avoid, but this one looks quite nice on my lips as it's sheer. The nail oil didn't excite me to be honest as I have much better one which is spilt-free and smells amazing.

As you can see it's sheer and has tiny glitter particles that make my lips look plumped and juicy! The shade is a little too bright for my liking but it doesn't look childish at all which I like.

The makeup bag is also very useful -the size and the material is very nice and it holds so much stuff!! If you are into pink, this set is a must-buy. And for those who usually don't gravitate towards pink makeup, it's still worth checking out.

My current base makeup routine

Every morning before I go to work, I spend about 20-25 minutes to do my makeup. I wonder why it takes so long although I don't go too crazy with it when I have work, because 20-25 minutes seemed too long for the result. But then I realised, I was taking about 10 minutes or more for my base. To me, base is the most important part of the makeup, so no wonder why!

So here are the base makeup items that I use on daily basis....

Primer: Benefit POREfessional
Work day foundation: Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation
Weekend foundation: L'Oreal Infallible 24hours Matte Foundation

I bought Benefit POREfessional at Heathrow Airport when I went to England this summer. I wanted it so bad that I thought of purchasing it from Boots so that I could use it during the stay, but I ended up purchasing it from Duty Free to save some money. The texture is similar to Micro-blur Skin Perfecter from Kiehl's -even better actually. I loved the one from Kiehl's but it separated a couple of weeks after I started using and it was a big mess. Whereas POREfessional never separates, and the texture is thicker which stays on the skin better.

When I go to work, I use Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation which I purchased from Duty Free at Haneda Airport before flying to England. I ended up using this foundation only during my stay, because I became obsessed! I had used this foundation before to write an article, and I instantly fell in love. I wanted to buy one immediately but the price tag put me off -it's about 8,000yen I believe. Duty free didn't make a huge difference but I took the opportunity. My shade is Sand 02, which could be a little bit lighter than my skin tone if I apply too much, but it's quite a good match I must say. With SPF40, it's a perfect foundation to wear when I have plans outside of my house.

On my day off, I use L'Oreal Infallible 24hours Matte Foundation which I bought from Boots. I was at Westfield and they didn't have all the shades, and the testers were all messy and dirty. I should have waited to go to another branch but I wanted to buy 3 items from the brand to get the offer. So without matching my skin, I picked up the shade Sand 20 -which doesn't match my skin AT ALL. It's too dark and I cannot use it on its own, so I mix it with a foundation that is too light for my skin tone. It's a shame because this foundation is absolutely amazing that I wish I could use it without mixing with any other foundations! As L'Oreal cannot be shipped to Japan, I have to wait until I come to the UK again to get the right shade.

POREfessional blurs out my pores completely. I apply a tiny bit on the cheeks and nose, and it keeps my skin matte and smooth all day. I love the pleasant scent too. I am not sure when I will use up the tube as I only need a little bit per use, but I will definitely repurchase it once used up.

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation looks super yellowy in the photo above but it looks beautiful on my neutral-toned skin which isn't too yellow but definitely not pink. The reason why I'm obsessed with this foundation is because it gives a natural glow to my skin without making it look shiny. I have combination skin and quite large pores on the cheeks, so I always avoid glowy finish when it comes to a base product. But this one gives the most natural glow as if I am bare-skinned. It covers up the pores and dark spots without being heavy. Also the lavender scent is just amazing.

You can see L'Oreal Infallible 24hours Matte Foundation is too dark and pinky...especially when applied next to the one from Bobbi Brown, it looks ridiculously dark! I heard they don't have yellow-toned shade, I hope they would expand the shade range soon because I love the finish! It doesn't look too matte, but definitely not glowy. It makes my skin look soft and smooth, and plumped. I love how natural it looks on the skin. It's definitely worth the hype.

Evens out the skin tone: LANAREY Prism Concealer
Dark Circles: Calypso Magic Concealer
Dark Circles and highlight: Za Cosmetics Perfect Fit Concealer

To conceal dark spots and blemishes, I use LANAREY Prism Concealer that I got to review. It's an OK concealer in my opinion, I don't think it's worth the price (3456yen!) but it works as a concealer for sure. I apply it under the eyebrows too, to evens out the skin tone and conceal pores and baby hair.

My hideous dark circles can't be concealed by ANY concealer in my experience, but this combo works well. I first apply this orange concealer from Calypso, blend in only on the dark circles.  Then apply lighter concealer from Za Cosmetics which sadly is discontinued, to brighten them up. They both are creamy and not drying at all which is important when you choose a concealer for under eyes.

I have the shade 02 Natural of LANAREY Prism Concealer and it's quite a good match to my skin tone. I just click the end of the pen twice, apply it under the brows, on blemishes and dark spots, as well as around the nose, and blend with a sponge. I carry it around in my makeup bag when I have a pimple that I want to cover up so that I can touch up during the day.

You can see Magic Concealer from Calypso is pretty orangy on my skin, whereas Perfect Fit Concealer from Za Cosmetics is much brighter. I LOVE this concealer from Za because it kind of melts on the skin when applied, and it never looks cakey or drying. The only downside is that it's hard to control how much to dispense because of the tube, I sometimes dispense way too much. The shade is perfect to brightens up the skin without looking too bright. I also like the fact it's not pinky at all.

Phew, it became a much longer post than I expected. I sometimes switch my foundation to BB or CC cream, but these are the products I use on daily basis. Let me know what your favourite base products are!