Showing posts with label Swatch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swatch. Show all posts

Review + Swatch | Anastasia Beverly Hills | Liquid Lipstick in Craft


Hi guys! 

I know I have long been away.

Firstly, I had my exams. Then my exams ended and... my laptop charger broke. -_-" 
The replacement part just came in so here I am blogging!

So anyway, I recently gave in to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick hype.

I've avoided it for so long because;
- I tend to be skeptical on products that are overly hyped on social media
- ABH products aren't the easiest to get a hold of (I had trouble ordering mine)
- The shades available from the initial release didn't really toot my horn so... Yeah.

When I saw their Summer Collection however,
Credit: anastasiabeverlyhills.com
 I heard it call my name :O



For today, I'm only touching on the NEW Liquid Lipstick in Craft.

She's a stunner.



I love it so much that I wore it for consecutive days!


It's a deep mauve that I feel is extremely flattering on tan skin tones like mine.
(Did I just compliment myself? Hahahaha.)


It isn't loud but it still makes a statement. And it wears beautifully.
What more could I want right?

Texture: 5/5
Craft has a smooth, creamy consistency on the thicker side without being lumpy. Once the liquid lipstick sets, it has a smooth, non tacky texture on the lips. Smacking of lips does not pull the lipstick apart. 

Application: 5/5
The applicator included is a non-flexible, sponge tip, doe-foot applicator. On me, one dip sufficiently applied one layer, there was no need to go back for more. Despite the liquid being on the thicker side, it spreads out extremely well and is easy to control for precise application. It dries down within 2 minutes .

Pigmentation: 5/5
Considering the fact that I have dark brown lips, one layer is all I needed to get an opaque, even coverage. 

Longevity: 4.5/5
It lasted a whole work day, with meals, without drying my lips out and crumbling. Amazing! Although it does transfer when you blot after a meal, it doesn't affect the opacity on the lips. A little bit of colour does come off, depending on what you eat but for the most part, it stays put. Without eating, it is absolutely transfer proof. How it does that, I'm not entirely sure. Just know that this is awesomeeeeeee.:D



Note: My review is based on only one layer of application, as that was all that I needed. However, I did put on another layer to experiment and I found that it won't dry completely and is not transfer proof, even without eating. You see the edges of the swatch above? You can see that it didn't completely dry despite 10 minutes having passed. Those bits will smudge upon contact. It also gets drying after the second layer. Hope that helps!

Just a little bonus,

here's a lip swatch of Craft topped with Inglot | AMC Eye Pigment in #111

Perfect for Hari Raya, yes?

Hehe.

Although I do need to perfect the application on this lip look. I kinda overdid the glitter and had to cover it with more lipstick and you know what I said about multiple layers heh.
So forgive me if the above was imperfect :B

This shade left such a good impression that I'm contemplating getting the soon to be released shades!

Are you going to pic up any?

On a side note, I'm selling away my BRAND NEW Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Unicorn at S$32. No low balling okay guys, factoring in exchange rate and shipping cost to Singapore and you won't get it near as cheap as I'm offering, even if you bought it yourself.



Why am I selling? I realised that the shade wasn't for me. So for my readers in Singapore who want it, either drop me an email or check out my Carousell account here (User: SheenaShares). Even if you're not interested, who knows, you might want something that I don't. :B

Thanks guys!

♥ Sheena V


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Swatch | MAC | Mac Is Beauty | Reel Sexy + Make Me Gorgeous + Diva-ish + Silly

Mac Is Beauty
Available 24 April (SG)
 Oh hello!

Today's post will just be a short one because I really wanted to publish my swatches of the shades I have despite not being able to test them out fully yet. You know, in case my fellow brown biscuits were wondering which shades would look good ;P

This girl has been cooped up at home studying to be testing lipsticks instead. But that ain't stopping me from shopping online! Nyehehehehe.

"Mac is Beauty" launched, I believe, on March 30 in the United States. Hence home girl here was camped in front of her computer to add these to her cart before the ones she wanted sold out. Nothing new. Heh.

This collection is made up of;
- 16 x Pro Longwear Fluidline
- 4 x Eyeshadow
- 1 x Eye Kohl
- 4 x Cremesheen Glass
- 2 x Beauty Powder
- 3 x Studio Nail Lacquer 
- 3 x Brushes
- 12 x Lipsticks

Of the 12 lipsticks, there was 1 Matte, 3 Amplifieds & 8 Lustres.

Lustres, in my opinion, look unflattering on textured lips. As lustres are very sheer with an uneven distribution in colour, pigment tends to pool up in the cracks and wrinkles on the lips. You'll end up with lines of colour on your lips, which in my opinion, isn't very flattering. So something to take note of if your lips aren't smooth like butter.

Hence I obviously stayed far, far away from the Lustres and stuck with the Matte and Amplifieds.

Even then, I'm not the biggest fan of the Amplified Finish. 

Reason being, Amplifieds in general have a thinner consistency which I don't favour. If you're someone with naturally dark lips, say brown like mine, your natural lip colour will show through. The lighter the shade, the more contrast there is (see Reel Sexy swatch later). So depending on what kind of coverage you are into, you may or may not like this finish.

On with what I picked out;


When first opened each individual tubes, I was like, "Wait, did I buy repeats?!"

At one glance, Diva-ish looked similar to Silly and Make Me Gorgeous to Reel Sexy.

But of course they weren't. Duh.

Once I placed them side by side, the difference was more apparent.


And swatched, they were strangers!



Note: For each shade, left swatch = 1 swipe & right swatch = 3 swipes

Now on to the lip swatches.

Click to enlarge
(Forgive my dehydrated skin)
If you've clicked to enlarge, you will find that Reel Sexy (Amplified) is the least forgiving on my lips as my lip colour and the lipstick shade are like on the opposite ends of the colour spectrum.

In addition, out of the 3 Amplified, I found Reel Sexy to have the thinnest consistency. I'm not saying it's bad, it still glided on well. It's just not very forgiving. However, the shade itself I love. I think it is very flattering on my skin tone.

Heck. I think all 4 shades look pretty darn good on me ;P

One thing to note though, all 3 Amplifieds does catch on to dry skin. To prevent the crumblies, remember to exfoliate!

Well, I hope the swatches and my little commentary has been helpful. Heh.

If there's any questions, feel free to leave them below!

I also bought the beauty powder in Pearl Blossom, such a stunning highlight! I urge you guys to give it a swatch when you can. Swatches are on my Instagram. It's a repromote from the Barbie Collection. Alpha Girl was surprisingly nice too (I rarely have luck with Mac blushes) but I left it behind as I recently bought a similar shade from a different brand. Plus, you gotta trust Barbie! :B

That's it guys!

Again, word on the grapevine is that these will be out in Singapore 24 April. One of the beauty assistants informed me that these will be available at ALL counters. The lipstick will probably be priced at $30 each since they're in the regular black packaging. It's already out in Malaysia so if you happen to be in JB, check out the MAC outlet at JBCC Komtar, it's right beside City Square. Remember to say Hi to Xin Ye for me!

♥ Sheena V

PS: Would you guys still be interested if I posted up swatches from the Julia Petit and Philip Treacy collection? I know it's been out awhile but I saw that the shades were still available spread across Tangs Orchard, Mac NAC and Mac Ion when I was out few days back.  Let me know down below (:

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Review + Swatch | Colourpop Cosmetics | Lippie Stix in Frida, Lumiere & Button


Hey guys!

If you follow me on instagram @SheenaShares, you'd know that I promised these swatches a while back. So this post is actually a long time coming. And I'm only gonna give you half of what I promised. Terribly sorry about that.

Apologies aside, let's do a recap on the shades I got.


The 6 shades I got were Dalia, LBB, Brink, Frida, Lumiere and Button.


However, today, I'll be sharing my thoughts on only the 3 lightest shades i.e. Button, Lumiere and Frida.

Just a quick overview, these lippie stix are very creamy across the board. The extent on how creamy the lippie stix depends on the finish (satin being creamier than the mattes) but still creamy nonetheless. The scent I get on this is reminiscent of Maybelline lipticks ("play dough"-ish) though on a fainter scale. Therefore I doubt these would offend anyone's nostrils.

[NOTE: The lighting of each picture differs slightly because I shoot using natural light. I have adjusted the properties accordingly, such that the true colour of the lipstick is shown (as much as possible) although the true colour of my skin is not. Hahaha. In addition, no lipliner or balm was used so excuse the less than precise application (: ]

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LIPPIE STIX | BUTTON

LIPPIE STIX | Button | Lip Swatch
BUTTON is described as a mid tone warm nude shade with a satin finish. On my lips, it looked lighter than a medium pink with a peachy undertone. I would advise those with a skintone of NC40 and above to stay clear from this shade to avoid looking pasty. 

TEXTURE: 5/5
The texture is very smooth and creamy. In comparison to Mac lipsticks, I would say that the texture is more a kin to cremesheen rather than satin. 

APPLICATION: 4.5/5
The formula made for smooth application. However, 0.5 mark deducted because you do have to be careful not to twist up too much or risk breaking it. This shade in particular seemed more fragile than the rest. 

PIGMENTATION: 5/5
Despite it being a light shade, pigmentation was on point as it even covered the outer edges of my lips, which are pigmented dark brown.

LONGEVITY: 4/5
It remained more or less the same after 6 hours of no eating or drinking at home. It was neither drying nor hydrating. Hadn't put it through the eating test because I never use this colour out (too pasty for public). But I would imagine reapplication is much recommended with it being a light shade.

LIPPIE STIX | Lumiere

LIPPIE STIX | Lumiere | Lip Swatch
LUMIERE is described as a dusty mauve pink with a matte finish. In person, it has a bit of a white undertone to is which may not work for my skin tone or darker. I personally do not like this shade on me. I love mauves but for some reason, it makes me look pale. For reference, I'm a 173 in MUFE HD Foundation.

I also feel the need to add this because many people expect it to look the same on the lips as it does swatched on the back on the hand. The back of our hand tends to be more neutral because it rarely comes directly under the sun. Unless your lips are a true pink, it is unlikely that it will show up as a true mauve on the lips. If you want that look, get both the pencil and the lippie stix. 
  
TEXTURE: 4.5/5
This formula, or rather the matte formula in general, does not drag but it is less emollient/creamy than the satins.

APPLICATION: 4/5
As this formula is less creamy, more attention is need when applying. Put too much pressure and these would break. In addition, this particular shade is not buildable. In the close up, you can still see my lip colour peeking through. This was despite trying to create a more opaque layer. Layering actually caused some of the cream to move around a bit. 

PIGMENTATION: 4/5
From the close up, you can definitely see the other edges of my lip. In addition, you may or may not tell but my inner lip colour can actually still be seen, just that not so obvious because my inner lip colour is similar. However, if I were to look in a mirror, I can definitely tell which parts of my lips a 'exposed'.

LONGEVITY: 3.5
It remained more or less the same after 6 hours of no eating or drinking but by the end, it got slightly drying. On me, these didn't last me through a meal. It went extremely patchy after a meal. Not transfer proof.

LIPPIE STIX | Frida
LIPPIE STIX | Frida | Lip Swatch
FRIDA, funnily, is described as a warm mid tone nude pink, which is a similar description to Button. Reason being, I found Button to be more pink than Frida. Frida is similar to Button but has a tinge more orange to it. Frida is a satin finish. I personally think this a a great nude for me (lighting is making my skin tone look fairer than it actually is, in reality, there isn't that much contrast.)

TEXTURE: 5/5
Similar to Button, texture is very smooth and creamy. In comparison to Mac lipsticks, this is similar to a cremesheen finish.

APPLICATION: 4.5/5
The formula made for smooth application. However, 0.5 mark deducted because you do have to be careful not to twist up too much or risk breaking it, although not as fragile as Button.

PIGMENTATION: 4.5/5
My inner lip colour is fully covered, only the edges of my lips lay exposed hence the 0.5 mark deduction.

LONGEVITY: 4.5/5
It remained more or less the same after 6 hours of no eating or drinking. It was neither drying nor hydrating. It didn't become patchy after a meal but it didn't exactly last me through a meal as well. One could go on without reapplying but for me, reapplication was a better choice. Not transfer proof.

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That's it guys.

'Til the next post!

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Review + Swatch | Mac | Red Red Red Collection Lipstick in Toxic Tale

MAC | Red Red Red | Toxic Tale
Hope this finds you well!

Forgive the lack of  updates, prelims and finals are coming so hadn't had the time to write much. Please bear with my sparse updates until those end.

I have tons of product reviews I want to share with you after, in the mean time, follow me on Instagram @sheenashares to get a sneak of reviews that might come your way.

However, I did want to share with you a lipstick that Mac Cosmetics released as part of their Red Red Red Collection. Since it would only be officially launched on our shores this Feb, I wanted to give you guys the heads up because this one lipstick is sooooo good.

Toxic Tale (Satin)
A bright coral, this shade piqued my interest as this coral seemed to lean more towards pink than orange which was exactly what I wanted (although it does seem more orange off the lips, but on, it's definitely more pink). I somewhat bought this blindly because I didn't even get to swatch it in person because it was my aunt who helped me purchase it (at 20% off, no less) as she won a pass to the preview launch. I forwent the other shades in the collection because this was the only opaque shade of the lot. I personally would rather spend $30 on a opaque lipstick than a "tinted lip balm" but that's just my opinion.

TEXTURE: 5/5
It had a smooth, creamy and thick texture. There was no lumps and bumps. Creamy such that there was no chaffing of lips once on. The consistency wasn't so thick that it would slide of the boundaries but not thin enough that a mere rubbing of lips would lead to colour disappearing.

APPLICATION: 4.5/5
It's stellar texture allowed for smooth application. There was no dragging across the lips however because it is of slightly thicker consistency, it won't exactly slide across the lips either. It does take a wee more muscle power but I can't complain because the non slip allows for more control on application. For intense shade, control is much welcomed. In addition, the formula for this allows building up for a more intense colour without patchiness.

PIGMENTATION: 5/5
What I really love about this shade is the ability to control intensity without compromising much on the opacity. My lips are pigmented dark pink with brown edges. Therefore, even most opaque lipsticks are unable to cover the edges of my lips. However, 2-3 layers coats my lips quite nicely without any brown peeking through. Heck, even a single layer (shown below) manages to coat my lips pretty damn well.

LONGEVITY: 4.5/5
I had this on through a soupy and oily meal and it was still visible. My lips did not look oily albeit it did look slightly duller / less neon. However, there was no pressing need to touch up after the meal thus making it a fuss-free lipstick. There was also slight fading in the inner lip but if your lips are pigmented pink, it's barely noticeable since Toxic Tale leans more towards pink. It was neither hydrating nor drying.




ONE layer applied for a softer look


To sum it up, I highly recommend picking Toxic Tale! Don't let the the it daunt you. In the tube and swatched on the hand, it does look a bit "whoa nelly!" but as seen above, a single light layer gives a soft but vibrant look that brightens up the face (:

♥ Sheena V
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Review + Swatch | L.A. Girl | Glazed Lip Paints in Pin Up & Blushing

L.A. GIRL | Glazed Lip Paints

Hi guys, I'm baacckkkkk.

L.A. GIRL initially released 6 shades of Glazed Lip Paints some time back. There was enough demand for it that they released an additional 12 colours!

L.A. GIRL | Glazed Lip Paints
I chose to order the shade Blushing and Pin up off drugstore.com as I had other items to purchase as well. Unfortunately, at the moment, drugstore.com only carries the 6 original shades so I was limited in choices.

It retails for US$3.49 a piece, which is also mysteriously cheaper than ordering from lagirlusa.com (US$4). Go figure. 

Read here to find out why I, as an international customer, prefer to shop on drugstore.com rather than the official site.

So on with the review!

Ingredients list found at the back
Despite it being a drugstore brand, these Glazed Lip Paints came with a protective wrap, which I appreciate. It's always a sigh of relief knowing it's not contaminated. But I digress.

REVIEW

SCENT
If you place the opened tube right under your nose, you're probably gonna pick a whiff of peppermint. Any further and nothing, it's that faint. Hence on the lips, I could not pick up any scent. Which says a lot because I personally think I have a strong sense of smell.

TASTE
On my lips, I felt as though I had Wrigley's Peppermint Gum laying there. This goes for both shades. There was a slight minty sensation on my lips, though no tingling like how lip plumpers provide. Only a feeling of freshness on my lips which I actually enjoyed very much. 

TEXTURE: 4.5/5
Both shades I picked neither emphasized nor disguised the lines on my lips. Do note that this might vary with across shades. As the name suggests, these lip products are by no means matte. These provide a pure intense wash of colour. No shimmer, glitter or whatsoever. They however, have a slightly glossy finish although more subtle than an actual lip gloss. Moreover, unlike a gloss which usually has a thicker consistency, these lip paints had a thin, somewhat watery consistency, similar to slightly watered down paint.

In all, the name "Glazed Lip Paints" is actually a very apt description for the product. Haha.

APPLICATION: 4.5/5
From the first picture above, we can see that the product comes with a plastic slanted tip applicator. This helped the application of this product to have more control, despite the thin consistency. I must mention, it depends largely on personal preference on whether the applicator provided was sufficient. Some might prefer using a lip brush. I personally find it easy enough to apply. The trick is to squeeze out product bit by bit. Once done, I clean up the edges with a cotton tip, like how I do with most of my lip products anyway. Therefore there is no added hassle for me. I deducted 0.5 because I definitely had to pay attention on how much product I squeezed out. Once, I squeezed out too much and it was sort of a mess. Note: Do not store it cap-down to prevent a sudden burst of product during application.

SWATCHES

L.A. GIRL | Glazed Lip Paint in BLUSHING
PIGMENTATION: 4.5/5 
The only reason why this didn't score full marks is that the outer edges of my lips, where it's darkest, still showed through.

This product cannot be continuously built up due to the natural slip of the product therefore there is an extent to how opaque it can appear on your lips. It will never look as opaque as it does straight out of the tube. Of course, if your lips are less pigmented than mine, there would probably be no issues on opacity regardless.

WEAR: 4/5
I was on shift and this managed to stay on for 6 hours looking exactly the same. Therefore if you're in a working environment like retail whereby you go through hours straight without eating and only minimal drinking, this is God sent for you. Wiping it off after left a stain.

On a separate occasion, it went through the "meal test" and found that although the lipstick for the most part was still there, it was not as intense or "glazed". In addition, it did feather, just the slightest bit. Nothing someone could tell from afar.

L.A. GIRL | Glazed Lip Paint in BLUSHING

L.A. GIRL | Glazed Lip Paint in PIN UP

L.A. GIRL | Glazed Lip Paint in PIN UP
PIGMENTATION: 5/5
As mentioned in Blushing, this product cannot be continuously built up. That being said, Pin Up allowed me to obtain full opacity thus deserving full marks.

WEAR: 3.5/5
Similar to Blushing, this managed to stay on for 6 hours looking exactly the same, provided there was no eating and only minimal drinking. However I must note that Pin Up tends to transfer onto my teeth, hence 0.5 point less than Blushing. It could be because I have a slight overbite but I did not have this problem with the other colour nor did I apply it any differently. Hence this is something to keep in mind when wearing out.

Similarly to blushing, after a meal test, it did feather ever so slightly and it lost a little of its "glaze".

VERDICT

Putting price aside, I find this product to perform very well, for what it claims to be. It gives off a glazed finish, as stated. Obviously if you're into matte lips and matte lips alone, this is not for you. 

What made me very impressed is the intensity of the shade. There is only very slight variation on and off the lips. So if you're someone who really likes a bold, intense lip, this one is for you. I personally enjoy lip products that translates on the lips exactly how it looks like on the tube. I mean, when shopping be it online or in stores, you pick a shade based on how it looks like on the screen or in the tube right? 

The only 'make it or break it' factor I feel is that it has a faint peppermint smell and slight sensation to the lips. Someone who has an adverse dislike to it may want to give this a skip. I must reiterate the fact that it is very faint and slight though.

Now factoring the price of US$3.49 / S$4.8 it wouldn't hurt the pocket to give this a go if it interests you. Not to mention, drugstore.com often has 15-20% off sales. wink wink.

With that, I hope you enjoyed my review.

Till my next one!

♥ Sheena V
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Review + Swatch | Maybelline | Colour Sensational Creamy Matte Lip Colour in Daringly Nude

MAYBELLINE | Colour Sensational Creammy Matte Lip Colour in Daringly Nude
Hi!

Maybelline has released a new line of Colour Sensational lip sticks and this time, it's all mattes. 

I saw swatches floating around the web and was interested in a few colours actually. Just my luck that the ones I was interested in were out of stock. Well, except for Daringly Nude.

In the tube VS Swatched

As you can see above, how it looks in the tube and how it looks swatched is quite different.

In the tube it's definitely a brown tone nude whereas swatched, it has a pink undertone to it. 

In the following photo, you can see that it looks quite different on the lips too.



On the first swipe, I was like "Oh crap. I look lifeless.".

As I continued applying, my heart sank deeper.

SCENT
It has a rather overpowering scent which reminds me of play dough (to me). Somewhat like the scent NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams give off but stronger. The scent lingered for a good 15 minutes before it started to fade away. I personally dislike strong scents and this made me want to wipe it off my lips immediately.

PIGMENTATION: 4/5
It managed to conceal the colour of my lips for the most part. However, it did not manage to conceal the outer edges of my lips with are a darker brown. I could not build it up enough to do so as at a certain point, it would start to drag the existing product off the lips.

TEXTURE: 4.5/5
The lipstick has a creamy texture, similar to Mac's Cremesheen formula. It is definitely matte with no sheen whatsoever. Although it is slightly more creamy than what a conventional matte texture would be, there is no tendency of it feathering. However, it will transfer as the creamy texture does not dry down completely. 

APPLICATION: 4/5
Application was smooth. If you have uneven pigmented lips like mine, a lip liner is highly recommended to give it more definition as it does have a slip to it. Otherwise it can come across as sloppy (like above). Up close, you can tell that it has settled into the lines, making my lips look extremely aged.  Which surprised me somewhat as I would have expected that such a creamy product would fill in and cover the lines instead. 

WEAR: 3/5
Touch up is necessary as it wears off easily and completely after a meal. Removal is also simple, a wet wipe is sufficient. 

VERDICT
If scent is something that does not bother you, I would say give this a go. On the other hand, it's not a product that I would initiate a purchase for. It's more of, "Oh. Since I'm already buying stuff on the site, I might as well give it a go" kind of situation. I also recommend staying away from the nudes because those are tricky especially since you have to buy these online. I personally won't be picking up more as the scent is too much for me. :/

As usual, I hope this was helpful!

♥ Sheena V
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Review + Swatch | Nars | Pure Matte Lipstick in Amsterdam

Putting Nars Pure Matte Lipstick to the test!
A few days back, Q and I went out for a seafood dinner at Newton.

So I thought, what better opportunity than to test out my new lipstick right? Hahaha.

Before I get on to how the lipstick fared, here are the swatches;

NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Amsterdam
 I would describe the colour as a deep, blue-toned red with a hint of brown. A plus point for those struggling with stained teeth (me).

Application: 5 out of 5 Noting that the tip of the lipstick is round, unlike the usually tear drop shape, it is surprisingly easy to colour within the lines with precision.

Pigmentation: 4 out of 5 Swiped once, the colour is fairly opaque. I also found this lipstick to be buildable, to create a deeper red.

Texture: 5 out of 5 Perfect texture for a matte lipstick. The formula was neither drying nor hydrating. It had a touch of creaminess to allow the lipstick to glide on smoothly but it still dried down to a matte finish. Once applied and set, the lipstick did not move around.

*No foundation, only mascara, eye liner and the lipstick.
NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Amsterdam

So now, how did it fare the eating test?

Just so you know, I had a lot of sauce based dishes;



I had applied the lipstick, without a lip liner, an hour before the picture on the left.

As you can clearly tell, from a normal distance, the colour remained the same after the meal. It did not bleed, which is always a good thing. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Under closer inspection, right in front of a mirror, I could see that bits of it did come off but nothing too obvious. It did help that I have pigmented lips so for those who do not, it might pose a little bit of a problem for you. Although I would say its a negligible problem as it was presentable enough for one to get to the toilet and reapply. 

I definitely suggest wiping off the rest of the remaining lipstick before reapplying because sauces tend to adhere to the lips. Afterall, you just ate and some pieces of food might have adhered to the lips.

Highly Recommended, especially for those wanting a fuss free red lip that will last throughout a meal. Very important factor if you're at an important function or special occasion. 

As always, hope this was helpful!

♥ Sheena V

Disclaimer: The lipstick was gifted to me by Nars SG for winning a contest. No, I wasn't paid to review it. 
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Swatch | Sephora | IT Palette in Smoky

SEPHORA IT PALETTE - SMOKY

Some of you may know that I was one of the lucky five to receive this palette during the opening of Sephora's Tampines 1 outlet. This set wasn't set aside specifically for me, it just so happened that the Vanity Case we picked up included it.
More on that here.

I have previously encountered this palette on my many trips to Sephora but have never had the desire to purchase it.

Why?
1) It didn't swatch great in store.
2) For something that didn't swatch great, it had a hefty S$49 price tag.


This palette includes;
- 12 x 0.033 oz Eyeshadow
- 01 x 0.039 oz Eyeliner Pencil in Black
- 01 x double ended brush: Eyeliner Brush + All-over Shadow Brush


It also came with a (unhelpful) insert, shown above.


Moving on to the product close-ups and swatches; 

Note: All shadows are layered twice in order for it to turn up on camera, which says something :/

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1 & 2: Almost identical but 1 was much patchier. Barely any pigment
3: Glided on relatively smoothly but needed two swipes to build up the intensity.


4: Excess needs to be shaken off else you will get the powder bits as seen on the top edge of the swatch above. Worth noting that this colour is extremely similar to Mac's Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner in Black Line



5 & 6: Glided on relatively smooth with good pigment.


7: Extremely powdery with larger chunks, more so than 4. It was also chalky.
8: Appears barney purple in the pan but actually a black base with purple glitter when swatched.



9: Difficult to build up.


10: Extremely chalky but the insert did label it as an eyeliner, though it did not feel like one.

11: Barely anything showed up. A chalky black base with sparse blue glitter. 

12: Barely anything showed up, though slightly better than 11. Black base with sparse silver glitter.



The black was not an intense black, more to a blackish gray.



Liner also smudges easily. Only had to run my finger over lightly for it to smudge.


The saving grace of this kit? The double ended brush!

The All-Over Shadow Brush was soft and non-scratchy. Not too dense and not too sparse.

The Eyeliner Brush was soft yet sturdy. I'd imagine it's be good for gel liners.
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Overall, I'd say only 5 out of 12 shadows (3, 4, 5, 6, 9) are worth your time. The liner for me was also a miss because not only is it not intense, it's smudges at the slightest friction! The brushes felt really well made but those alone aren't enough to justify the S$49 price tag.

ALTERNATIVES

Sleek Palette - Vintage Romace
Source
If you're out for something similar, check out the Sleek palettes. One of their palettes, Vintage Romance, contains shades that are Matte, Metallic and Satin finishes. Those are S$22 or even S$15 if you can catch them on sale. Not the best in the market but better than the IT Palette, in my opinion. Sleek palettes also comes with a sponge applicator. The money saved can be used to buy a good eye liner. You'd probably have money leftover as well. 

Urban Decay - Shadow Box
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Otherwise, another metallic paletter to consider would be Urban Decay's Shadow Box. Retailing at S$52, it is only S$3 more expensive than the IT Palette. Though it contains less product per eyeshadow at 0.01 oz, the quality makes up for it. Plus when was the last time you used up an eyeshadow?

Hope my brief opinions were helpful!

♥ Sheena V

Sephora IT Palette - Smoky, available here. 
Use code ZBAPC2h to get 15% off your first purchase. 
Sleek Palettes available here.
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