Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 7 The Starlet (204) Plush Eyeshadow ~ 3 Looks & Review

The Marc Jacobs Beauty line finally arrived in Singapore just in time for the long-weekend and I decided to stop by Sephora Ion to have a look at it given the buzz it's been receiving.

If there's anything that I am sucker of, it is definitely eyeshadow palettes and let's just say I came home with a huge dent in my wallet because of one particular palette -  The Style Eye-Con No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow in The Starlet No. 204.

So why this palette instead of the infamous Lolita one? The first and foremost reason is because by Fri afternoon, there were no more Lolita palettes left in stock :( The Starlet palette itself is the last 3 they had. Now I'm not sure if this is a blessing in disguise since, honestly speaking, I do not need another neutral palette. The Starlet gives more breadth of colour since it has a mix of neutral and bright colours all in shimmery finish thus giving me the best of both world. The second reason is because Temptalia herself also gives this particular palette an A grade.

The palette comes in a sleek black box and a pouch containing the eyeshadow palette as well as a mini eyeshadow applicator which I most probably will not use (brushes, in my opinion, always apply shadows better compare to sponge applicators)



The palette consist of a huge mirror and 7 colours all in a metallic shimmer finish. From left to right:
Colour #1 - a taupe with a hint of metallic sheen
Colour #2 - a pink champagne shimmery colour
Colour #3 - a shimmery dark brown colour
Colour #4 - a shimmery coppery orange with warm undertone
Colour #5 - a yellow gold-ish metallic finish
Colour #6 - a silvery grey metallic colour
Colour #7 - a dark grey metallic colour

Below are some swatches in natural lighting:

1st row from left: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5. 2nd row from left :#6, #7

My video:

  

First impression:
I am a huge fan of the packaging - it's lightweight, sleek and easy to clean. This is definitely one of most good looking palettes I've seen :) The Starlet sure has a mix of everyday kind of colour as well as more daring colours.

Application wise:
All the colours have very good consistency - it is buttery, easy to apply and easy to blend. The colour payoff is also very good. What you see in the palette is what you get when you blend the colours on your lid. The only downside is the shimmer fallout, especially for the Colour #2 and Colour #5. I would suggest you either put a tape/tissue below your eyes while applying the shadows and do your face makeup afterwards to prevent lots of touch up for your face.

Some looks I've played around (check the video above on how the products and colours used):
Look 1

Look 2

 

Look 3

 

Overall review:
The things that I like from this palette is definitely the packaging and the colour consistency. The palette definitely is of superior quality and has that luxury feel to it which explains its price tag. The colours in my opinion are pretty flattering and easy to use/blend.

On the downside, I have to honestly say that I am not a huge fan of the price tag. I will not recommend this palette if you're looking for a value-for-money kind of palette. This Marc Jacobs palette retails for S$90 and comes with 7 shadows and a small sponge applicator; compare this to Urban Decay's Naked palettes which retails for S$83 and comes with 12 colours and a dual-brush.

Another downside is specifically linked to The Starlet palette. Given all the colours fall under the shimmer and metallic finish, I do feel the need to supplement this palette with matte colours, transition colours as well as highlighting ones. Although it's a compact and lightweight palette, I can foresee this will not be the palette I'll bring when I travel :( maybe I'll have a different story to tell if this is the Lolita palette...

All in all, whether this palette is a worthy purchase depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a value-for-money palette, I suggest you skip this (maybe until there's a sale coming up) but if you're a sucker for packaging, a fan of Marc Jacobs or has tons of neutral palettes on hand, then The Starlet palette can be an alternative to consider beside The Lolita eyeshadow palette.

Sephora Mini Palette (Sephora White Card Member Birthday Gift) Product Review

One of the perks of being a member of Sephora on your birthday month is the free gift which you can redeem in store without any purchase required (yeah, I sound like a cheapo but let's be honest here - anything free is awesome don't you think so? haha)

So last week I decided to redeem my gift and I would like to share with you what I got - a Sephora Mini Palette.

 

 

The palette comes with 4 shadows, 2 lip gloss and 1 blush.

From top left to bottom right, below are all the colours:

1. Catherine NO3 - I guess I can describe this as a cool undertone grey metallic colour

2. Must Have MO4 - This is a rich black colour

3. Creme Caramel MO8 - Like it said it is a cream colour very close to my skin colour. I have the most problem with this colour since it never shows up on my eyelids.

4. Coffee Brown NO8 - This is a shimmery dark brown colour with a hint of red undertone

5. Rouge Shine 30 - A very pigmented shocking pink colour which you can either build up to a bright pink or use just a hint to give a stained lip look

5. Rouge Shine 05 - A pinkish clear lipgloss colour with shimmers

6. Exclusive Blush - A pinkish coral blush with no shimmer




First impression: I really like how compact this palette is and how it can fit 4 eyeshadows and 1 blush. Realise i didn't mentioned the 2 lip colours? This is because I do not like lip and powder products to be inside one palette because the powder most of the time will transfer into the lip products and stick there. 

 Application wise: 
I am not a huge fan of the pigmentation. For the eyeshadows, I am hugely disappointed by the cream colour as it does not shows up on my eyelids no matter how much I packed them on. The brown colour is also not as pigmented as how it is shown in the palette. The blush also takes quite a few pack on to really build the colour. The pigmentations I like comes from the black eyeshadow as well as the shocking pink lip gloss.

Overall review:

I will recommend you to get this palette only if it is free because I think you can get way better palettes than this if you're willing to splurge. If you're getting this palette for free like me, then get it (You gotta admit that any free palette from Sephora is something you should take ;))

The powder and lips in 1 palette thing again does not work for me here. The fact that brush is about the size or bigger than the colour pan surface really makes the powder fly around to the glosses. The brown one particularly goes inside the pink gloss pan and it's kinda gross (I think this is just a matter of preference, if you're cool with this, I'm glad to hear that :)) The pigmentation on most of the products are also a letdown.

If you'd like to see more details on the products as well as tutorials, do take a look at the link below:

Thanks for reading (and watching)!

How to: Build Your Basic Makeup Stash

I'm not a makeup a guru nor am I planning to but I did have a period where I became obsessed with makeup and start buying makeup like crazy (thinking that it's important to have 'em all) only to regret it later. Well I don't exactly have a closet full of makeup, I do have quite a collection and from these, I learnt what are the "good-to-have" and the "ok-to-have-but-not-really-necessary."

So here are some of my tips.

The "good-to-have":

1. A good foundation or BB cream - if it's for everyday, I'd recommend a BB cream as it has SPF and other benefits. The only time you may need a foundation is when you need heavier makeup (for evening parties, etc) or when you need to take lots of photos (in which SPF is not really your best friend). I apply my foundation and BB cream using my fingers and find it good enough =)

2. Concealer - skip this if you have a very nice skin that only needs BB cream/foundation to even out your skin tone. For me, concealer is a necessity for my under eye area and breakouts (during the time of the month). I apply this with my fingers too.

3. Powder - to set the BB cream and concealer. I applied it using powder brush to avoid looking cakey but using the sponge that comes with your powder is more than sufficient =)

When I'm in a rush or just plain lazy of putting on makeup, I usually only use these 3 products. Otherwise, I'll also use the stuff below:

4. Eye primer - skip this if you do not have oily eyelids. This is very important for me since 1. I have an almost monolid eyelids, 2. I live in a humid country, and 3. I have the oiliest eyelids ever.

5. A good neutral eye makeup palette - Any neutral eye palette will do! Owning one can basically help you create neutral look for any occasions. And face it, we do not really wear bright colors most of the time. I usually just sweep one color all over my lids for the sake of having some powder to prolong my eyeliner from smudging all over my lids. Alternatively, I'll add darker color on my outer corner to define my eyes a bit more.

6. A long lasting liquid eyeliner - it may be easier to work with pencil or gel liner but these do not stay well on my eyelids. Liquid liner may be intimidating but with new designs such as felt-tip pen like or 3-dotted tip, it's definitely easier to use them nowadays.

I'll stop until these 6 products unless I want some more color on my skin, which I will add:

7. Blush - It is very tempting to collect as many blush colors from various color ranges. After learning from my mistakes, I find that as long as you have a neutral pink (and optionally a coral one), you can survive =)

8. Bronzer - I have chubby cheeks so I need this to contour my face though I rarely use it since I'm kind of lazy >.<

9. Lipbalm - I only make this a necessary when my lips are very dry. But beyond that, I rarely wear any lip products

What about brushes? There are only 3 brushes I used for the 9 products above - 1. powder brush, 2. blush brush (double for bronzer too), and 3. eye blending brush.

Basically, that's the 9 products plus 3 brushes that I find as "good-to-have."

What about the "ok-to-have-but-not-really-necessary"?
1. Face primer - only when you need your makeup to last super long
2. Brow powder - this is pretty debatable, I have a pretty dark eyebrow so I don't really find the need to fill in my brows all the time. If you have sparse eyebrows, you might consider moving this to the "good-to-have"list
3. Cream eye base - besides my eye primer, I still use cream eye base to further ensure that my eye makeup stays put
4. Eyelash curler - I'm Asian and I have straight lash so this is important whenever I'm wearing mascara
5. Mascara - I rarely wear mascara because I just haven't find the one that stays on well on me (by the end of the day, I usually have racoon eyes). And I kinda like the just eyeliner with no mascara look.
6. Lipgloss/Lipstick - I guess it's because I have a pinkish red lips to start with so I don't really find the necessity to use one.

Any additional brushes? Well, if you're using a brow powder, you will need a small angled brush for it =)

That's basically my suggestions. Do feel free to comment on the list above! Thanks for reading =)

Etude House Drawing Show Dot Liner Review

I bought this product during my trip to Korea and was really excited to try this out. I heard that using 3-dotted tip is much more easier when it comes to applying eyeliner compare to the usual felt-tip. Plus, with a price of 9000 won, it's a steal from the Too Faced 3-Way Lash Lining Tool.

The product comes in a pink box Etude house style and the eyeliner itself comes in a matte-black tube. As mentioned, it has a 3-dotted tip. 

 

I tried so hard to like this product but honestly for someone who has an oily eyelid, this product is a HUGE LETDOWN =( One of the most disappointing eye product I've ever tried.

The eyeliner SMUDGES LIKE CRAZY. The first time I used this, I tried it with the Urban Decay's Eden eye primer, I came back with the liner all over my lid =( Then today I tried it again with my trusted NARS Eyeshadow Base and guess what? In 15 minutes the eyeliner smudges everywhere and I mean, everywhere (I should have taken photos of this -.-) It smudges to the bottom of my eye and to my eyelids. It's as if I just cried black tears =(

Another problem that I have is with the 3-dotted tip itself but I guess this one is just a matter of getting used to. Since the tip is wider to the sides, I kept getting dots all over my eyelid. I guess it's because I have this habit of angling my eyeliner slightly upwards when applying.

Top: when lined gently, bottom: when lined with more pressure

I was really really hoping that this liner will work out =( I really like how when I dotted the liner, I can get very close to my eyelashes and gives this effect of fuller lash. The color payoff is also really good. It's really really black. But the stay power of the product just really makes this product a huge disappointment.

Overall, I will definitely not recommend this product, especially for those who have oily eyelids like I do or for those who needs long lasting eyeliner.

If there's anyone who has a different experience with this liner or finds a way to make this liner last longer, do let me know. Really hoping for a better review.