SHINE, SHIMMER & SPARKLE

Hellooo!

This all started because of Ms Iris and Ms Mag - all the oohing and ahhing over TOPSHOP's new makeup collection, SANDSTORM and all their swatch-shots brought me to TOPSHOP not once, but 3 times! Of course, the first trip, I managed to psycho Amy (Purplio) to go with me (and buy!!!)

Ok, let's see my socks first? :P I MUST wear socks to sleep (Ok, SOOOO GLAM right?) because I'm a super fidgety sleeper and I have like 500 soft toys + a giant bolster on my bed so half the time my comforter is half-crumpled on the floor. And I sleep in cold aircon - so when I get a muscle pull in your calf in the middle of the night .... excruciating excruciating EXCRUCIATING!!!! I find that wearing socks prevents such muscle pulls.

And since I'm going to wear socks, might as well get something whimsy looking right? Topshop has loads of cute, whimsical designs, all at SGD$9 each (there was a "Buy 2 at 20% off" promo at that time) and the quality is really pretty good - not something that slips off your ankles in the middle of the night.

The bunny wabbit .. rabbit I mean, is printed such that the rabbit face is on your toes! I like the carrots and the cheery yellow

You know that song that goes "SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS" by the Eurythmics? LOL! That was exactly what was playing in my mind when I spotted this!

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And on to the makeup!!! Some of these were purchased during a "Buy One, 2nd Item at 40% off" promotion, while some others were purchased during the recent Double F3 Points promotion.

TUNDRA Cream Eyeshadow - Amazing golden taupe cream eyeshadow base with a tonne of gold sparkles. The sparkles just make shimmery, glittery eyeshadows look even more sparkly. Which means, "I LIKE" :P

Case in point: look at how lovely the Bourjois Little Round Pot Baked Eyeshadow in #11 looks over Tundra?

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Then, I picked up ZEPHYR Eye Crayon

Super smooth shimmery deep gunmetal - the silver shimmer is so fine, I don't even feel it. It reminded me a little of another Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil I almost bought earlier in MERCURY; though ZEPHYR might be a little darker. Its tenacious once set - doesn't quite budge.

The beauty of such shades, it enhances even coloured eyeshadows so you need not restrict yourself in using it only with blacks, greys, etc.  Case in point, Urban Decay Vert Eyeshadow:

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And because I'm a little in love with dark, blackish, sparkly eyeshadow bases, I caved and finally picked up DARKNESS Cream Eyeshadow which I had been eyeing for a loooong time. This is from the permanent collection

Ok, before anyone asks - yes, 3 of my recent cream eyeshadow acquisitions are all blackish and sparkly! :P Here is a comparison shot with some thoughts:

• BARRACUDA - is the most glittery of the 3 - it has chunkier silver glitter; the base colour is a medium-deep charcoal and the texture is a little drier than the other 2 (more like a crayon)

• ZEPHYR - is NOT black actually but more of a silvery gunmental shade; it glides on but sets pretty fast so if you're going to be blending, you might need to work a little fast

• DARKNESS - is the creamiest and wettest of the 3 and also has the deepest base shade, which is practically black. The silver glitter is not super-fine but it's not gritty and enhances glittery eyeshadows.  You also need very little.

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I love mineralised, baked eyeshadows and a smokey duo? Yes pls!

As I expected, both shades in SOLAR CELL are super smooth and are laced with very fine micro-shimmer that gives off more of a glimmer, rather than sparkle. And the formulation itself is great - smooth, pigmented, easily applied / blended. When swatched dry, they're ok but over a base or with a wet brush, they look fantastic! In the shot below, I swatched SOLAR CELL over Darkness Cream Eyeshadow - look at how the light reflects almost a golden tone in the grey-blue shade

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Impressed by Darkness Cream Eyeshadow, I decided to pick up another shade - this time, in SNOW STORM (complete opposite!) Ok, I confess - I almost picked up a Lunasol Shining Ocean Eyes (water-based cream eyeshadow) at Metro recently but put it back given the price-tag. I convinced myself to make do with this instead since it was SGD$13 :P

And here it is in action - the first shot shows a couple of glittery shades from the Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland palette - troublesome eyeshadows where the glitter just ends up almost invisible on the eye; the second shot shows the same shades layered over SNOW STORM. The difference is rather pretty!

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Then I decided to toss my existing pink cream blush, Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Pink Raspberry which I've had for way toooooo long and the logical, affordable alternative was the Topshop Cream Blush in PINCH! Not too blue-based, not too purplish - just nice bright pink

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And finally, a Coloured Mascara in BLAST ... MY WEAKNESSSSS!!!

I like how the bristles on the brush manage to get in-between the lashes to coat them nicely and I found there was minimal clumping.  I also liked how the blue didn't dry down to a terribly dark navy - there was still some brightness left.

*****************************************************

And here is a look using some of the products from this haul:

BASE: SHU UEMURA UV UNDER BASE MOUSSE in PINK

FACE: MAC STUDIO FINISH CONCEALER in NC45; BOBBI BROWN CORRECTOR in DARK PEACH (under eyes); ESTEE LAUDER DOUBLE-WEAR FOUNDATION in WARM BRONZE; ANNA SUI PROTECTIVE LOOSE POWDER

CHEEKS: NARS POWDER BLUSH in AMOUR

EYESHADOW: TOPSHOP CREAM EYESHADOW in DARKNESS; TOPSHOP BAKED EYESHADOW DUO in SOLAR CELL (deep gunmetal on lids; grey-blue on crease and beyond); I NUOVI METALLOGY EYESHADOW in GOLD (highlight)

EYELINER: KISS ME HEAVY ROTATION LIQUID EYELINER (upper lashline); MILANI LIQUIF EYE PENCIL EYELINER in BLACK (waterline)

MASCARA: TOPSHOP COLOURED MASCARA in BLAST

LIPS: DIOR ADDICT SHINE in ARTY

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Thanks for stopping by! Have a good week!

*******************************************************************

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated to TOPSHOP; all products featured were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.

Hellooo!

This all started because of Ms Iris and Ms Mag - all the oohing and ahhing over TOPSHOP's new makeup collection, SANDSTORM and all their swatch-shots brought me to TOPSHOP not once, but 3 times! Of course, the first trip, I managed to psycho Amy (Purplio) to go with me (and buy!!!)

Ok, let's see my socks first? :P I MUST wear socks to sleep (Ok, SOOOO GLAM right?) because I'm a super fidgety sleeper and I have like 500 soft toys + a giant bolster on my bed so half the time my comforter is half-crumpled on the floor. And I sleep in cold aircon - so when I get a muscle pull in your calf in the middle of the night .... excruciating excruciating EXCRUCIATING!!!! I find that wearing socks prevents such muscle pulls.

And since I'm going to wear socks, might as well get something whimsy looking right? Topshop has loads of cute, whimsical designs, all at SGD$9 each (there was a "Buy 2 at 20% off" promo at that time) and the quality is really pretty good - not something that slips off your ankles in the middle of the night.

The bunny wabbit .. rabbit I mean, is printed such that the rabbit face is on your toes! I like the carrots and the cheery yellow

You know that song that goes "SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS" by the Eurythmics? LOL! That was exactly what was playing in my mind when I spotted this!

*****************************************************

And on to the makeup!!! Some of these were purchased during a "Buy One, 2nd Item at 40% off" promotion, while some others were purchased during the recent Double F3 Points promotion.

TUNDRA Cream Eyeshadow - Amazing golden taupe cream eyeshadow base with a tonne of gold sparkles. The sparkles just make shimmery, glittery eyeshadows look even more sparkly. Which means, "I LIKE" :P

Case in point: look at how lovely the Bourjois Little Round Pot Baked Eyeshadow in #11 looks over Tundra?

************************************************************************

Then, I picked up ZEPHYR Eye Crayon

Super smooth shimmery deep gunmetal - the silver shimmer is so fine, I don't even feel it. It reminded me a little of another Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil I almost bought earlier in MERCURY; though ZEPHYR might be a little darker. Its tenacious once set - doesn't quite budge.

The beauty of such shades, it enhances even coloured eyeshadows so you need not restrict yourself in using it only with blacks, greys, etc.  Case in point, Urban Decay Vert Eyeshadow:

********************************************************

And because I'm a little in love with dark, blackish, sparkly eyeshadow bases, I caved and finally picked up DARKNESS Cream Eyeshadow which I had been eyeing for a loooong time. This is from the permanent collection

Ok, before anyone asks - yes, 3 of my recent cream eyeshadow acquisitions are all blackish and sparkly! :P Here is a comparison shot with some thoughts:

• BARRACUDA - is the most glittery of the 3 - it has chunkier silver glitter; the base colour is a medium-deep charcoal and the texture is a little drier than the other 2 (more like a crayon)

• ZEPHYR - is NOT black actually but more of a silvery gunmental shade; it glides on but sets pretty fast so if you're going to be blending, you might need to work a little fast

• DARKNESS - is the creamiest and wettest of the 3 and also has the deepest base shade, which is practically black. The silver glitter is not super-fine but it's not gritty and enhances glittery eyeshadows.  You also need very little.

*****************************************************************

I love mineralised, baked eyeshadows and a smokey duo? Yes pls!

As I expected, both shades in SOLAR CELL are super smooth and are laced with very fine micro-shimmer that gives off more of a glimmer, rather than sparkle. And the formulation itself is great - smooth, pigmented, easily applied / blended. When swatched dry, they're ok but over a base or with a wet brush, they look fantastic! In the shot below, I swatched SOLAR CELL over Darkness Cream Eyeshadow - look at how the light reflects almost a golden tone in the grey-blue shade

*******************************************************

Impressed by Darkness Cream Eyeshadow, I decided to pick up another shade - this time, in SNOW STORM (complete opposite!) Ok, I confess - I almost picked up a Lunasol Shining Ocean Eyes (water-based cream eyeshadow) at Metro recently but put it back given the price-tag. I convinced myself to make do with this instead since it was SGD$13 :P

And here it is in action - the first shot shows a couple of glittery shades from the Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland palette - troublesome eyeshadows where the glitter just ends up almost invisible on the eye; the second shot shows the same shades layered over SNOW STORM. The difference is rather pretty!

**********************************************************************

Then I decided to toss my existing pink cream blush, Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Pink Raspberry which I've had for way toooooo long and the logical, affordable alternative was the Topshop Cream Blush in PINCH! Not too blue-based, not too purplish - just nice bright pink

*********************************************************************

And finally, a Coloured Mascara in BLAST ... MY WEAKNESSSSS!!!

I like how the bristles on the brush manage to get in-between the lashes to coat them nicely and I found there was minimal clumping.  I also liked how the blue didn't dry down to a terribly dark navy - there was still some brightness left.

*****************************************************

And here is a look using some of the products from this haul:

BASE: SHU UEMURA UV UNDER BASE MOUSSE in PINK

FACE: MAC STUDIO FINISH CONCEALER in NC45; BOBBI BROWN CORRECTOR in DARK PEACH (under eyes); ESTEE LAUDER DOUBLE-WEAR FOUNDATION in WARM BRONZE; ANNA SUI PROTECTIVE LOOSE POWDER

CHEEKS: NARS POWDER BLUSH in AMOUR

EYESHADOW: TOPSHOP CREAM EYESHADOW in DARKNESS; TOPSHOP BAKED EYESHADOW DUO in SOLAR CELL (deep gunmetal on lids; grey-blue on crease and beyond); I NUOVI METALLOGY EYESHADOW in GOLD (highlight)

EYELINER: KISS ME HEAVY ROTATION LIQUID EYELINER (upper lashline); MILANI LIQUIF EYE PENCIL EYELINER in BLACK (waterline)

MASCARA: TOPSHOP COLOURED MASCARA in BLAST

LIPS: DIOR ADDICT SHINE in ARTY

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Thanks for stopping by! Have a good week!

*******************************************************************

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated to TOPSHOP; all products featured were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.

Heylo!

So, another item on my recent WISHLIST has been fulfilled!

GUERLAIN LES ORS HOLIDAY 2010

Iris (Rougedeluxe) and I were both keen on picking up the PERLES D'OR Meteorites and she miraculously scored this at GBP$30.45 at the Heathrow Airport. It worked out to be about SGD$64.50) - the Meteorites usually retail at just above SGD$80 at our local Guerlain counters.  The best part? She went ahead and got me one too, knowing I would definitely want it (and that I would hop around the place in joy!) -  I was soooo pleasantly surprised when she told me!  Funnily enough, when I was at Tangs Orchard on Fri, I popped by the Guerlain counter to enquire when their Holiday collection would be available for sale - the BAs mentioned they were guesstimating the release to be in mid to end Nov 2010, as there were some shipment delays (although sometimes this can be unpredictable). 

And here's how the Meteorites balls look like this year - a combination of iridescent white, rose pink, shimmering violet and gold - a little stronger in colour than my MIDNIGHT BUTTERFLY Meteorites.  I might be wrong but I feel that the fragrance in this year's Meteorites might be a little stronger? I'm not complaining cos I quite love the scent! I was a little disappointed that the PERLES D'OR was only 30gm (as the normal Meteorites are), as the MIDNIGHT BUTTERFLY range was 60gm (for about the same price if I remember correctly) - apparently that was a once-off occurence.  Then again, the Meteorites do take quite a while to finish :D 

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TOPSHOP HEAVY DUTY FALL/WINTER 2010

These are from TOPSHOP's HEAVY DUTY Collection, recently released in the UK (Fall/Winter collection) - the last we checked, its not yet available in our local Topshop counters. The packaging for the products is actually rather nice - heavy metal, frosted glass as opposed to the plastic compacts in the current makeup range - all the 3 products I have are all made in Italy.   Here are shots of the products and swatches

SOLID EYELINER in RAVINE - Ravine is a blackened forest green shade that reminds me of my Urban Decay eyeshadow in MONEY (from the UD NYC BOS III Palette).  It goes on smoothly and rather opaque but I doubt I would be using the teeny brush included - I had trouble controlling it since it was soo teeny and I couldn't get the brush to produce a more defined line (I have a couple of other eyeliner brushes that work for me). I have recently taken to lining my lower lashline (underneath the lashes) with gel liners and whooopeee to another colour to add to the current deep brown and black I'm using!  The liner is supposedly "long-wearing" and "water-resistant" - I'll try this out and see if it lives up to its claims!

EYESHADOW DUO in THUNDER - A rather deceivingly beautiful eyeshadow duo.  I initially thought it was a deep peacock / teal and smokey grey duo.  It turns out that the peacock shade is actually a deep, glimmering teal green with similar coloured micro-sparkles (it pulls more teal bluey in all the shots of the pans). The smokey grey is a deep 'cement or putty' shade that is chockfull of multicoloured micro-sparkles (purple, green, silver, etc). 

The thing is this - the real beauty of the 2 eyeshadows were sort of hidden - they didn't swatch too prettily when dry, but when I attacked them with a moistened sponge-tip applicator, I almost fell off my chair! (ok, I exaggerate a little ... but really, look at how the glimmer, shimmer and sparkle!!!)

Check out how the same swatches (medium swatches, no base) look like in different angles and lighting! The deep smokey grey is actually rather complex - it looks cement-like in the pan, looks purplish grey in some angles, shows off bluish sparkles in another angle and then does this disco-ball impersonation in others! I think the tealish-green shade will look a little more teal when applied over a teal base!

BOLD LINER in GRAPHITE - Iris was sweet enough to gift me this! Its a chunky crayon pencil in an awesome shade. It looks pewter but it has a lot of gold in it - when sheered out (in bottom left quadrant), the gold is more prominent; when heavily applied, it takes on a more taupey, pewter shade.  It's not entirely budge-proof but it seems to require some hard rubbing to smear / smudge once set. 

From UK, with love! One part of me regrets not picking up the nail polishes in this collection (have you seen the blue and iridescent purple in Iris's entry HERE? They look awesome! *but kas, you have enough nail polishes!* LOL!

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CLARINS

And while I was out early this afternoon, I popped by the Clarins counter in Tangs.  As part of the Clarins skincare haul I indulged in on Sat, in all that frenzy, I mistakenly purchased something when I had wanted the PORE MINIMISING SERUM.  So I popped by to make the exchange and relevant top-up.  (FYI, I decided to exchange the Instant Eye Makeup Remover since discovering I had a backup of eye makeup remover at home that night - I decided I really wanted to try the Pore Minimising Serum first!)

(CLICK HERE to see the rest of the CLARINS HAUL + details on CLARINS SKIN TIME sessions!)

PORE MINIMISING SERUM - I've actually tried this several times when I used to go for facials at Institut Clarins sometime back (why do packages run out? :/) and it slipped my mind yesterday in all that activity, that I actually wanted to purchase the full-size product and only remembered last night as I was thumbing through my product catalogue. 

• Continous usage of the PORE MINIMISING SERUM is supposed to refine the skin and the complexion is supposed to be smooth and radiant. 

• Natural ingredients include ALPINE WILLOW HERB (anti-inflammatory);  DEAD WHITE NETTLE;  WHEAT PROTEINS (purifies and leaves skin matte);  CHRYSIN (slows down production of sebocytes);  LANTANA (leaves skin matte);  HIBISCUS FLOWER ACID (firming);  LINDEN (soothing). 

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Are any of the TOPSHOP HEAVY DUTY Collection items in your current wishlist?

That's all for now - a couple of entries this week, but I really have to hit the books more intensely; my Comprehensive Exams are in end-Nov 2010 so I need to pull up my socks and shine my shoes! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

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DISCLAIMER: All products featured were purchased with my own money (except otherwise mentioned as gifts).  I am not affiliated to CLARINS.  All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.