Benefit Benetint – rose tinted lip & cheek stain.

Hello Beauties :)

Here is the second installment of my Benefit week series~ I’m getting really excited about my upcoming Benefit House Party!

Today I have the popular Benetint, a gorgeous rose lip and cheek stain. I’ve heard so many good things about this lip & cheek stain, so I was very happy that my friends and I get to try it out :)

Benetint comes in a nail polish–like bottle, with a brush applicator. It’s quite easy and convenient at home, but it might be a little messy trying to apply it while you’re out and about. As it’s a stain, you don’t need to reapply it too often though. Such a timesaver! I don’t usually reapply blush throughout the day, so I like a good long lasting cheek stain.

The texture is quite runny and easily spreadable on the skin. Just be careful it doesn’t drip! It smells faintly of roses but has a slightly bitter taste, so I don’t recommend licking your lips if you use this as a lip stain.
I dipped the brush in and swatched over my skin twice.

Without flash:

With flash:

This stain gives a buildable flush of colour, so you can be as subtle or dramatic as you like. You have to smooth it out and rub it onto your cheeks/lips in a timely manner, because it dries quickly, and once it dries it will not budge. I noticed a bit of darker staining around the edges of the swatch, so you have to make sure you blend it really well to get rid of any harsher lines.

The tint didn’t come off with rubbing, but I washed it with warm water and it faded. It didn’t completely disappear, however.

I really like the fresh, rosy colour this tint gives. Lip & cheek stains are great for when you want a sheer wash of colour that will last all day. It’s very versatile and I can see myself wearing it through the different seasons. It can be applied lightly for a natural look, or more heavily for full colour.

Have you tried Benetint or any other lip/cheek stains?

Manicure Monday: 4th of July edition

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers :) Hope you’re having a great long weekend! We have a lot of BBQing in store for today.

I didn’t have much time to do my nails last night, but I wanted to do a simple but pretty 4th of July inspired mani.

These are the polishes I used:

Unnamed Color Club blue polish, OPI Met On The Internet, Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

Manicure Monday & Where fore art thou battery charger???

Hey Beauties!

I'm sorry for the long absence, but I have lost my camera battery charger so I've been unable to take any photos lately :( I don't really want to take review & swatch pictures with my Galaxy S because the quality just isn't the same. HOPEFULLY the charger is just in a weird random place that my kids found and thought it would be funny to stash Mama's things in.

I've been learning a lot about Photoshop lately, so I may do a few posts on that in the next week!

Today I wanted to change the look of my nails without spending too much time on them. I've been wearing Sinful Colors Social Ladder, which is a frosty nude white with a hint of pink. I wanted to cover up the few chips and tipwear, but I didn't have time to do a full mani, so I pulled out the trusty glitter.

Glitter nail polish is great for covering up chips, mistakes or tipwear and to give your 3 day old manicure a fresh new look without doing too much to them. I'm using Milani Gems from the Jewel FX collection, which is an almost exact dupe of deborah lipmann Happy Birthday.

EDIT: Added more pics because I was super lazy yesterday and only put up two!

Review: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

Morning Beauties :)

I’m a lover of vibrant colours (who isn’t?), but for some reason most of my eyeshadows are on the sheer side. I guess I like the softness of it, but I do wish some of them had a bit more colour payoff.

Enter the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil.

$4.50 – From NYX Cosmetics

A radiant eye liner that also doubles as an eye shadow. Made with a blend of mineral oil and powder, our creamy Jumbo Eye Pencils glide on effortlessly—no pulling, tugging or fading—and come in a rainbow of vivid hues. Some call her chubby. We say voluptuous. Available in 28 shades.

INGREDIENTS: Bees Wax, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba)wax, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla)wax, Ceresin, Microcrystalline Wax, Polyethylene, Octyldodeanol, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isostearyl Isostearate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Tocopheryl Acetate, B.H.A., Isopropylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben. MAY CONTAIN: Mica (CI77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Iron Oxide Red (CI77491), Iron Oxide Yellow (CI77492), Carmine (CI75470), Chromium Oxide Green (CI77288), Ultramarine Blue (CI77007), Ferric Ferrocyanid (CI77510), FD&C Blue No.1 Aluminum Lake (CI42090), D&C Red No.6 (CI15850), D&C Red No.7 Ca Lake (CI15850), D&C Red No.27 Al Lack (CI45410:1).

L - R: French Fries, Strawberry Milk, Milk.

Review: tokidoki Gelato Lip Balm Stain in Pink Martini

Hey Beauties!

Firstly I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has entered the giveaway! It's so exciting for me :) I love reading all your comments and am looking forward to drawing the winner on the 13th!





Anyway, onto the review!

tokidoki’s Gelato Lip Balm Stain is a beautifully packaged lip balm/lip gloss/lip stain hybrid that I am absolutely in love with!

Review: LORAC Box Office Hit palette & FOTD Friday

Happy Friday Beauties!

I've been so uninspired to take photos lately :( I think I need to get out of the house and do makeup photoshoots in the great outdoors or something. I had been meaning to do this palette for ages, but I just didn't feel like taking photos for some reason.

This is the last of my LORAC haul posts. Every time I think about how cheap the high end make up I bought on HauteLook was, I get happy :D If only they had sales like that all the time.

This was released around Christmas last year, as a limited edition exclusive at Ulta. It is such a cute little palette, the wine coloured faux croc skin oozes chic. It's a good size to pop into your purse and not have to worry about taking any other products (except brushes.. this palette really could have used some brushes!).

The colours are all really wearable, so I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it. The powders all have a slight shimmer, the more neutral shades have barely any but the darker shades have quite a bit.

The powder is quite soft, so you have to be a bit careful not to get too much on the brush or you will get fallout. I am far from being an expert with eyeshadow, so I usually like to keep it simple and these colours are just right for that. They are super-blendable and sheer, but can be used wet for more opacity. The lip shades are also pretty sheer, and go on smoothly. They don’t dry out and leave your lips feeling pretty hydrated, more like a tinted gloss than a lipstick. The soft shades are good for spring and perfect for work or school, or anywhere you want to be a bit more neutral/conservative (Grandma's house maybe? Meeting your boyfriend's parents?). The only really pigmented shade is the pink blush, but it goes on sheer and can be built up to a bright pink pop.

PROS:

• Pretty, soft shades
• Good for neutral looks, work/school/shopping/beach etc
• All in one palette, easy to take on trips
• Great quality, long lasting formula

CONS:

• Not for someone who prefers very pigmented colour
• Soft powder can leave some fallout
• No brushes

TIMESAVER:

Yes, it’s great because you could take it to work or on a weekend trip and you basically have everything you need to create a few different looks. Just remember to take along a few brushes

MONEYSAVER:

Yes. I got this from HauteLook for $15.

WANT/NEED/NO THANKS:

This is a NEED for me. I have used it more since I bought it than most of my other eyeshadows, blushes etc. The neutral look is good for me, since I have the kids.. don’t want to look like I’m going to a nightclub!

This is a really simple FOTD using some of the colours from the palette.

Face

• Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 31
• Avon Smooth Minerals Powder in Shell
• Pink Blush from the LORAC Box Office Hit palette

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
• Highlighter shade, first column, second row from the palette
• Lid shade, second column, third row from the palette
• Crease shade, second column, second row from the palette
• Brown eyeliner from the palette
• LORAC Lashes Volumizing and Thickening Mascara in Brown

Lips

• Natural rosy pink shade, top row, third across in the palette

Do you like to invest in palettes or prefer individual products? Neutral vs showstopping?

Ishah xx

...wow... looking at that photo for a while... I think I need botox in my forehead ;_;

Ok, I feel silly.... plus a new handbag!

Morning Beauties :)

So I log onto Blogger today after a busy weekend out and about, and I realise that I had accidentally scheduled a Silent Sunday post... that was the EXACT SAME picture I posted last week!  How did this happen? Well, I had posted a different picture last week... and then got a comment on it that made me feel unsure about it and so I changed the pic to the one I had planned to post this week. Without changing my scheduled post. Moral of the story? Don't let other people make you feel insecure about your photos and posts!

Onto today's post! I want to share with you the new handbag I bought recently. I am also trying out a new style for my reviews, something a little more organised ;)

I used to have a bag in every different colour, changing bags when I changed outfits. Now that I have two crazy energetic toddler boys it's like.. WHY would I put myself through the extra time and effort to change bags all the time? I already have enough to do when we get ready to go out, I don't need to add to my to-do list.

I was at Ross the other day and saw this Nine West bag in Greige.

DDF Skincare product info session @ Sephora

Is it Tuesday already Beauties?? Where did the weekend go?

On Saturday I had the opportunity to go to a product information session by a line called DDF (which stands for Doctor's Dermatologic Formula). I found out about it through the OCMomActivities Facebook page. She posted a status giving three people the opportunity to be a part of the session, which included a skincare analysis. After a few emails back and forth with Eve, the promoter of the event, filling out a survey and checking out the DDF website, I was all set and ready to go! At 10.20am I arrived at Sephora in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, shortly followed by the two other participants, Charlene and Lisa. Eve was there to greet us and give us a cute little goodie bag filled with healthy snack products.

Review: Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream No. 23

Happy Sunday, Beauties! I'm running late with this post because I am all out of sync with the clock. Who had to turn their clocks forward an hour today? I don't know about you, but I dislike daylight savings :( It just seems unnecessary to me. Anyway, onto the BB Cream!

I didn't know anything about BB Creams until just recently, when I saw a tutorial on youtube and the girl applied Missha Perfect Cover Bb Cream. It made her skin look really smooth and flawless, so I started looking into the different types of BB creams. For those of you that don't know what BB Creams are, here is some general info.

General Product Features and Benefits
* Produces a very natural, "no makeup look"

* Provides perfect coverage like a foundation would but since it's not as thick, it doesn't clog the pores

* Works pretty much like a tinted moisturizer

* Conceals all types of pigmentation, discoloration, acne and other blemishes

* Has healing properties that soften, smoothen and refine skin

* Encourages skin regeneration to create and maintain youthful skin

* Contains UV Protection for healthy skin (SPF levels differ for each brand/product)

* Anti-wrinkle and skin-lightening benefits (available for some variants)



What I like about Missha is that they have a bigger variety of shades than the other brands. Since BB Creams were developed in Korea and used mostly in asian countries, the shades tend to be on the lighter yellow toned side. This might work on Caucasian skintones, but for us darker south east asians (Thai, Malay, Indonesian, Filipino etc) it would just look too pale and mask-like. The shade I have is No. 23, although I think I might be in between 23 and 31. I am planning to get 31 as well and see if I can mix them to my perfect shade.

You can take a look at the different shades at the Missha US website.

I apply this with my fingers and blend. It goes on looking a bit grey and chalky, but it soon oxidizes to match your skin tone. It blends really well into the skin, leaving it looking smooth and polished. It's been described as a heavyweight tinted moisturiser and it is that, and more. What I love about it is while it's more natural looking than most liquid foundations, it covers my dark undereye circles and has excellent staying power. I find that it will last all day without needing any touch ups. As this is not my perfect shade, but a little light, I usually put some bronzing powder over it in certain places just to give it a more natural look.

I LOVE that this is an all in one product. It is a moisturiser, sunscreen, primer and foundation in one. You can basically (if you have the right shade) put this on and go. It lasts, so there's no time consuming touch ups and it looks natural.

I feel that it has helped refine my skin texture and smooth it a little, but haven't really noticed any whitening or anti aging benefits as yet. I've only been using it for about a month, so maybe those come with time.

I'm wearing my Circle Lenses in this pic! The give such a shiny glisten to the eyes :)

Overall, I would recommend this if you want medium, natural looking coverage that lasts without having to use a lot of different products. The only drawback is the limited shades... Hopefully the western market will catch on to this awesome product and start creating their own versions.

Do you like the convenience of a BB Cream? Would you try them or have you tried them before?

Ishah xx

Fast Drying Top Coats - reward vs risk?

Hey Beauties!

I've recently started getting into nail polish and nail art. I've always loved to get a manicure; gel, acrylic or natural (depending on the condition of my nails!) and from time to time have gotten a little flower painted on, but I never really do it myself. There are two reasons for this; 1. I have no time and 2. I never seem to be able to get it looking nice.

Does this sound familiar? - You just finish your nails and are waiting for them to dry when your kids come running in, climbing all over you and asking you to do something for them which invariably destroys all your careful hard work. Or, you wait until they're in bed and do your nails at night.. but because you're so tired, you fall asleep waiting for it to dry and end up with sheet marks all over your manicure.

That happens to me ALL the time. I tried a few '60 second' nail polishes, namely Rimmel, with little results. They would dry to the touch in about 5 minutes or so, but they wouldn't be completely dry for an hour and didn't go on very smoothly. Then I started doing a bit of research into fast drying top coats.

InStyler by Tre Milano

Hey Beauty Mamas!

I have naturally curly hair, so most people assume that it's thick. It's not. My hair is very fine and as a result, I have always had difficulty finding a good straightening method. Blowdryers seem to create more frizz than shine, and flat irons end up making my hair just that. Flat. Not to mention the burnt hair smell, limp dry looking locks and inevitable fly aways and breakage. Even my US$225 GHD did a barely satisfactory job. As a mother, I also want something that's going to be quick and easy since I don't have much time to spend on beauty routines.

Recently I saw this ad on tv for the InStyler: