Author: yukino

Beauty

Weekly Treat: Lip Monthly December ’14.

Post author By yukino
Post date 01/20/2015

Thought I’d combine this week’s Weekly Treat post with Lip Monthly arrival, because receiving the bag is enough of a treat on its own. It arrived last week, and brought a bit of joy to an otherwise crappy day.

First, the bag: My favourite design so far, but unfortunately mine came with a bit of a faulty zipper. It closes well, but hasn’t been sewn on properly, so there’s a bit of a gap at one end. Regardless, this is my next designated work makeup bag.

Here’s the list of products:

Magnolia Makeup Lipstick with Applicator in Matador
Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch
LA Girl Endless Automatic Liner in Mauvelous
NYC Lipstick in Mocha

Let’s get the last one out of the way first — I haven’t opened it yet, because I might just give it away to someone. I’m not sure if I’d ever be able to wear this colour, even if I had suddenly decided on a complete and total 90s revival. You never know, but for now it stays closed.

I’ve never had anything from Milani, so I enjoyed it if only for the novelty factor. I like the applicator — it’s flexible, and due to its shape it picks up enough product without the need to dip the wand back into the tube several times, thus making it that bit more hygienic. It really does have a brilliant shine, and lasts rather well on the lips. The scent is vanilla-ish, which is pretty standard for glosses. Beware, though, it’s sticky as hell. It doesn’t bother me much, because that’s just how lip glosses work, but I know it might put off some people.

The LA Girl lipliner is a subdued wine hue — the colour is called Mauvelous, and it’s rather fitting. It positions itself as semi-permanent which is, of course, bollocks. It does last a long time, however. Can’t exactly say how long, because as of now I’ve only worn it for about four hours before voluntarily removing. I have several lipsticks that match the tone of this pencil, so it will be seeing a lot of wear around these lands. Formula-wise, it’s a bit on the dry side, so if you’re like me and prefer to fill in your lips with pencil as well as outline, take care to moisturise beforehand.

Last but not least, Magnolia Matador. I’ve seen this get a bit of a bad rap in several Lip Monthly reviews, but I happen to disagree. This is a brilliant product if applied properly. Sure, the packaging looks a bit dodgy, but the product inside is great.

First, you don’t need a lot. Like, at all. If you’ve ever worked with OCC Lip Tars, let them be your guide. I think it’s also a bit similar to Lip Ink in terms of application — it needs to be applied to dry lips, and if you want a more sheer or more vibrant shade, you need to blot the wand, not the lips, then apply in several layers, letting them fully dry inbetween.

It dries to a gorgeous velvet/ powdery completely matte shade. It lasts well on the lips, but unlike some other long-lasting lip products, it is very easy to remove using an oil-based makeup remover.

The downsides of this product are: it’s runny and therefore messy — not on-the-go kind of lipstick; it feathers, so definitely use a clear/ matching lip liner with this one; due to its matte/ powdery nature, it will highlight every single imperfection you might have on your lips, so scrubbing and conditioning your lips is a must. Just don’t use a balm directly under the product, otherwise it wouldn’t work.

It sounds so complicated, but once you figure out how this works, it’s a breeze. I really enjoy using this.

Left to right: Magnolia Matador, LA Girl Mauvelous, Milani Nude Touch.

Are you subscribed to Lip Monthly? What are your thoughts on these products?

(This post contains an affiliate link.)

Tags la girl, lip monthly, lipstick, magnolia, makeup, milani, nyc, weekly treat

Beauty

FOTD #1: nude lips, grey lids.

Post author By yukino
Post date 01/19/2015

The FOTD in the title is a lie – I wore this on Saturday, when I wanted to look a bit laid back, but still put together enough.

The list of products:

Foundation – Giordani Gold Mineral Therapy Foundation in Porcelain 25376
Concealer – Artdeco Mineral Fluid Concealer in 04
Eyeshadow Primer – Artdeco pure minerals Mineral Eyeshadow Base Sensitive
Face Powder – Relouis Dolly in 007
Lipstick 1 – J.Cats Beauty Fantabulous Lipstick in FL107 Honeycrisp
Lipstick 2 – GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 134 Darling (doh)
Lipgloss – Milani Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss in 11 Nude Touch
Eyeshadow – Oriflame The One Colour Match Eye Shadow Duo in Grey 30971
Mascara – Maybelline The Falsies Volum’ Express Flared Mascara

Either of the two nude lipsticks used on their own looks a bit off on me. The J.Cats Honeycrisp is too yellow, whilst the GOSH Darling is too pink. When used together, though, they make the perfect tone. Lip gloss on top evens out any rough patches that nude lipsticks just love to highlight.

I am a little bit dissatisfied with the shadow primer, but will wait until issuing any kind of verdict and try using it with different shadows.

Tags fotd, makeup

Beauty

Nail File #1: AVON, Elanor.

Post author By yukino
Post date 01/12/2015

AVON Speed Dry+ nail enamel in rebel rose

I kept raving about this nail polish on my old blog, and I’ll continue to do so here. The brush is perhaps nothing special, but it works well. It’s large, not too flat — a generic brush with improvements, I’d say. The formula is amazing – it applies like a dream, and for a quick job on short nails even one coat is sufficient. Despite its bright colour, which is great, it doesn’t stain, so if you’re in a real hurry, you can forgo the base coat. It compliments my skin tone, too. Dries in seconds — at the very least, your nails will be completely dry in under five minutes. The only problem with it, besides this particular colour being discontinued a few years ago? It chips fast. This is my second day hand, and as you can see it’s chipped on at least three fingers. Two days is actually a long time for this polish. Usually it shows serious signs of wear in under 24 hours.

Elanor nail enamel in 572

This brand of polishes is displayed in huge boxes at the local Grand Bazaar. It’s cheap — in currency equivalent, it’s way under £1. I’ve had it for a while now. It was one of the first grey shades to appear on the market around here. Considering its age, it performed well. The brush is generic, but works without trouble. The formula is a little on the runny side – two coats here, and it can definitely benefit from a third one. It doesn’t so much streak, as it … pools, I guess, perhaps due to its thinness. The drying time is OK — not fast, but not outrageously long either. I painted my nails about an hour or two before bed, and got minimal duvet prints. It did bunch up a bit on the edges of my thumb nails, though.

The picture shows fourth day of wear, and as you can see it lasted. This polish doesn’t so much chip as it gradually rubs off. I think if I hadn’t started rigorously cleaning the kitchen, it would’ve stayed at least one more day.

Tags avon, elanor, manicure, nail enamel, nail file, nail polish, nail varnish, nails, notd

Beauty

Lip Monthly: November ’14.

Lip Monthly usually ships faster, but living outside their usual zones of delivery coupled with busy winter holiday times meant that I received my November bag only recently, during the last days of December.

As usual, Lip Monthly shipped in a make-up bag. They come up with a new design every month, and I really like this month’s. They became a staple work make-up bag for me, as they’re pretty durable, and don’t get beaten up in my rucksack, where I tend to shove a bag of groceries and some catfood on my way home.

Let’s look at the contents!

First up are Hikari Lipstick in cabernet, NYC Expert Last Lipstick in 443 Purple Crush, and City Color Cosmetics White Gold Shadow & Highlight Mousse.

I’m wearing Hikari as I’m writing this post, and so far I really like it. It’s long lasting (lasted me through a portion of spaghetti, a glass of juice, and two cups of tea, as well as a lot of talking), and while I can’t call it moisturising, it’s not drying either. I’m currently going through a spell of annoying dry lips, and it didn’t make them feel any more uncomfortable than they already are. Also, despite their flakiness, the lipstick applied well, and the colour looked very smooth. The finish is somewhere between matte and satin.

I haven’t tried the NYC lipstick yet, but it looks like it’s got a bit of a frost in it. Not particularly a bad thing, but if it’s eaten easily, it might end up looking a touch too messy during the day. But as I said, I haven’t tried it yet, so no verdicts.

The City Color Cosmetics shadow/ highlighter I found impressive. Once I read that it was a mousse (ergo, a cream) shadow, I literally groaned, because cream shadows don’t last on my eyelids at all. I’ve got several that don’t even manage to stay long enough for me to finish the rest of my makeup. However, this seems considerably more long-lasting. Once you apply it on the lid, you’ve got a short amount of time to blend it how you want it, because after about 30 seconds it doesn’t seem to budge. The colour is gorgeous, but it’s also quite festive, so I don’t think I’ll be using this as an everyday look.

Next up are Ofra Lipliner in Silk and Crown Lip Brush. I haven’t tried the brush yet, but you can never have too many brushes! I’m short on the lip ones, too. The handle is a smooth matte black, and it almost feels like an artist’s brush, rather than a makeup one.

The Ofra lip pencil works great with my VeryMe lip gloss. I line my lips, then fill them in, and after that apply a layer of gloss. They look great together, and are perfect for day wear. I’m also happy that this is a pencil that requires a sharpener. For some reason I’m so nostalgic for them lately. They feel much better than the mechanic ones, and also allow for a more precise application.

You can subscribe to Lip Monthly here. Use the code “HOLIDAY299” to get your first bag for only $2.99 on 4 Month Subscriptions. Lip Monthly ships internationally! I can’t say that their service is perfect, but so far I’ve been pleased with their selections, and eagerly await my next bag. No plans to cancel the subscription.

(Above post contains affiliate link. Subscription paid for with my own money.)

Tags brush, city color cosmetics, crown, eye shadow, highlighter, hikari, lip liner, lip monthly, lips, lipstick, nyc, ofra, subscription box

Beauty

Oriflame LE Kajals.

Post author By yukino
Post date 01/02/2015

Oriflame often releases seasonal and otherwise themed collections of makeup and other beauty products. For some reason I haven’t a single kajal from their main line, but have six from various limited edition releases.

Pretty sure that these are about the same quality as others, though perhaps longevity and pigmentation could differ from colour to colour.

The shades I own are, in order pictured:

Savannah Sky 17083
Deep Green 26528
Green Jungle 17084
Magic Ivory 26527
Medina Brown 23435
Mystic Purple 26529

And here they are swatched, in the same order, left to right, top to bottom:

Some of these were very quick to dry out and fall out of their tubes. It’s easy to put them back in, thankfully, but not as easy to draw a precise line with, since they’ve become shaky. Once you insert them back not using the grooves they hold a little better, but not for long. It’s still possible to use them as a shadow or as a thick eyeliner.

The longevity of these is practically non-existent. Depending on the condition of my skin, sometimes they don’t last long enough for me to even finish my makeup. They crease in minutes and never fully dry, so if you plan to use this as an eyeliner, know that it will leave a mark under your brown whenever you blink.

Keep in mind, though, that I’ve got oily skin, so this might be a contributor too.

I haven’t used these much as you can see by the state of them. The purple is the one I’ve used the most so far. It goes well with my purple shadow palette. Like mentioned above, though, they don’t hold well, so I restrict their use for short trips out of the house.

The ivory one looks like a good shade to use in the inner eye corner for brightening. It could also be used on the waterline for a similar purpose, but since it’s got a bit of a fine glitter in it, I wouldn’t recommend using it that way.

As you can see in the photo below, the decoration on the packaging, especially the ivory coloured ones, rubbed off very fast. The plastic the packaging is made from overall feels rather cheap and flimsy. I think if I carried these around with me, they’d break fast.

The pigmentation and colour payoff of these is great, though. They also blend relatively well, especially for a cream shadow/ liner. These kajals are affordable, too, so if your goal is to experiment with different kinds of kajal colour, then these will work. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend them for longevity and staying power. This is the only reason I haven’t been using them as often as I would like.

Tags eye shadow, eyeliner, kajal, oriflame