Month: July 2016

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Beauty

Giordani Gold Jewel Lipstick in Pink Secret – Review and Dupe

giordani gold pink secret

Giordani Gold is the luxury brand of the Oriflame family. Giordani Gold is the most expensive line the company makes. The colours in the collection are usually classic, as well as the packaging.

giordani gold packaging

The packaging is made in glossy black and gold tones, with minimal design. The Jewel Lipstick line comes in gold tubes, which I do believe are made from metal. They feel heavy and cold to the touch. Gold is not my favourite metal, but I have to admit that this lipstick looks expensive – if just a little too gaudy for my black, black, all black everything everywhere black taste.

The formula of the product is creamy and on the sheer side. It’s difficult to build up colour with this one, but if you try hard enough, then maybe you would reach medium coverage. The colour I have it in – Pink Secret – is very easy to work with. Given its sheerness, it’s as effortless as a balm.

giordani gold pink secret swatch

The colour doesn’t feather but might just get a little outside of the lip line, mostly in the corners. Doesn’t tug on the lips when you apply it.

Although creamy, the lipstick is a little bit drying.

I remember the good old days when Giordani Gold lipsticks were scentless. Oh, how I loved them then. The formula of some old ones was also much more opaque. I remember my mum finding them drying, but I adored them. I’ve kept one of the tubes way past its expiration date. It was this dark cranberry/ wine shade.

OK, enough with the nostalgia lane.

The longevity of these is very moderate. It applies like a balm, and it wears off like one. The good side to that is that it wears off nicely and gradually, leaving the slightest amount of sheen in its wake.

giordani gold pink secret dupe

Top: Giordani Gold Pink Secret. Bottom: Oriflame Pure Colour Soft Coral.

If you’ve been thinking of giving Pink Secret a go, but aren’t sure if the colour would suit you (as effortless as it is, I find that it looks just a touch off with my complexion), then you can easily dupe it… within the Oriflame brand, ironically enough. Their Pure Colour Lipstick line, the least expensive one they offer, has a lipstick in Soft Coral. As you can see from the swatch above, they’re almost identical, with the Pure Colour perhaps being a bit more sheer and a slightest touch cooler.

You can read more about Oriflame Pure Colour Lipstick range here.

(I’m an Oriflame consultant. I received this lipstick as an incentive for good sales. Go me.)

Categories
Beauty

Nail Polish: Oriflame Very Me Eternal Pink

oriflame veryme eternal pink nail polish

This is a polish from a Very Me collection named Spring Tenderness. The collection itself consists of three shades: a mint green, a very light orange, and this one. I tried really hard not to buy the entire collection, only buying the mint green at first, but in the end I just couldn’t resist.

Damn, I’m really bad with this nail polish thing, aren’t I? If I could, I’d just buy entire ranges of everything without even thinking.

Not sorry.

The formula of this was okay, if a little bit on the thick side. An even application of this is difficult, but not impossible. I applied it a little streaky, but due to its colour and finish, it’s almost unnoticeable. The drying time was okay, but could be better. (FYI, anything that takes longer than a minute falls under the ‘could be better’ label in my world. Patience is not my manicure virtue.) The brush was so-so. Better than the former main Oriflame line (now replaced with The One), but still a little wonky. The colour is a pretty tender pink, which goes with just about anything. I love the idea of it, but I don’t think it looks good against my skin tone.

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Beauty

Today’s Scent: Oriflame Cocktails & The City Party Queen.

oriflame cocktails and the city party queen

There was a time in my life in which I have, for whatever reason, decided it a brilliant idea to take pictures of products against a notebook with lined sheets. Let us not speak about this tragic period of my existence in detail.

… Though truth be told, I kinda like it.

Anyway, the scent.

To me, this is pretty much honey and lemon in a bottle, and I bloody love it. Everything about it – from packaging to scent – suggests otherwise, but it’s easily one of the favourites out of my rather vast collection of perfumes.

I know it’s cheap. It probably even smells cheap to many. Most people who sniff it, make a bit of a face.

I know it doesn’t last long.

I know the packaging is nothing to write home about, and the design is more that of a deodorant than an eau de toilette.

But I don’t care.

As with many other Oriflame scents, the top notes disappear pretty quickly, and you’re left with the middle ones – honey in this case. I like honey, but I’d never thought I would enjoy it in a fragrance, probably because my usual fare has always been something ‘milk-and-honey’ themed.

As unsophisticated as Oriflame Cocktails & the City Party Queen is, to me this fragrance is pure happiness in a bottle, much akin to Victoria’s Secret Love Spell. They’re nothing alike scent-wise (Love Spell is all peach), but they both share a lack of complexity and both are equally successful in putting a smile on my face.

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Beauty

HIKARI Cosmetics Lipsticks

hikari cosmetics lipsticks in crush and cranberry

Like OFRA Cosmetics lipsticks I wrote about last week, my acquaintance with HIKARI Cosmetics began via my Lip Monthly subscription.

The first one I received was Cabernet.

True to its name, this HIKARI lipstick is dark red wine colour. The finish is matte. I have no problem applying it evenly from the tube. It doesn’t streak, but it does tug a little. The formula is not drying, and if you’re not planning a feast, it would stay on your lips for 3-4 hours without any need to touch up. It doesn’t feather and is very easy to wear without a lip pencil.

Once you eat, it will wear off, usually from the centre, leaving your lips lined with a red wine colour.

hikari lipsticks

Crush I received a little later. It’s a hot pink (many of the lip products I received from Lip Monthly were of a hot pink/ purple/ fuchsia variety). The formula is akin to HIKARI Cosmetics Cabernet lipstick above, but the coverage is just a bit less opaque. No streaking, matte with a slightest sheen finish, not drying, applies evenly from the tube. Doesn’t feather, stays put unless you eat something heavy.

hikari lipsticks packaging

The packaging of both of these is a square glossy black bullet with the company’s logo imprinted on one side of the tube. I love such minimalist packaging.

hikari cosmetics lipstick swatches

Swatched, left to right: Hikari Cosmetics lipstick in Crush, Hikari Cosmetics lipstick in Cabernet.

Overall, HIKARI Cosmetics lipsticks stay true to what is said about them on the company’s website: Long lasting vivid colour. If you’re tired of the liquid lipsticks and want a matte finish that doesn’t look papery on the lips, then these are your friend.

If you haven’t yet given HIKARI lipsticks a go, consider doing it. I’m happy with both of these shades, and if I weren’t already buried under the avalanche of lipsticks in my personal collection, I’d buy a few more like, today. Melon and Scarlet look very, very tempting. They’re available from HIKARI Cosmetics website for $13 each.

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Beauty

Love/ Hate: ARTDECO Pure Minerals Pore Refining Primer

artdeco pore refining face primer

Let’s premise this by saying that it’s quite possible that my tube is just hella old. When I used it for the first time, the liquid coming out of it was clear, and during the second use it started showing some colour, which means that the product is separating. When left untouched for a couple of days, it does the same thing.

Unfortunately, one can never be too sure of the age and the quality – and in some cases origins as well – of products bought through local retailers.

The texture and the feel of the skin with this primer are bloody amazing. It doesn’t alter the skin’s appearance on its own, but I can’t remember the last time my skin felt as smooth as it feels after applying this primer.

I’d also go as far as to say that Pure Minerals improves skin quality with continuous use. It really is hydrating.

It applies evenly and doesn’t require a lot of product for one application. Both the downside and the plus are, it’s transparent. So I can never be too sure if I covered all parts of the face with it.

The packaging is a squeeze tube with a thin nozzle. It’s more or less convenient when there’s a lot of product left to go through, but it will be a bit of a pain further down the road. I’ve already started to store it vertically.

While not scentless, ARTDECO Pure Minerals Pore Refining Primer has a very light scent that reminds me a bit of L’Eau par Kenzo.

Seeing as it smooths out the skin, the foundation application with it is a breeze, including my nose, where I really struggle to apply foundation evenly due to pores.

So with all the good points of this primer, why doth thou hateth it, Alex?

Well.

It doesn’t prolong the life of my make-up one single bit. My foundation starts to wear off about three hours after I apply it – much like it would without a primer.

I have oily skin, but if yours is on the dry side, I think you will love this product.