Givenchy Le Rouge A Porter Swatches and Quick Impressions

Givenchy's Le Rouge A Porter Lipstick range has just launched in Singapore earlier this week, and of course I had to swatch them for you! These are a different range from Givenchy's current Le Rouge lipsticks, although Le Rouge A Porter is also clad in ultra-luxe leather. The main differences between Le Rouge and Le Rouge A Porter is that Le Rouge is more pigmented, has a more matte finish, and the tube itself is shorter and chubbier. Le Rouge A Porter, on the other hand, has sheer pigmentation (although you can build it up somewhat), has a shiny, glossy finish, and the tube is very slim and sleek.

Givenchy Le Rouge A Porter: 16 shades of the new lipstick range

The Le Rouge A Porter lipsticks are supposed to also be moisturizing and hydrating to lips - at the event the lipstick was described to me as being a cross between a lipstick and a lipbalm. I was also told that you don't need any lip primer with this product, as it doesn't sink into fine lines or seep out of lip lines. There are 16 shades of Le Rouge A Porter.

Givenchy Le Rouge A Porter: The actual lipstick bullet, encased in genuine leather

If you're wondering, the testers at the display sets are somewhat different from the actual lipstick tube. For one, the actual lipstick itself is encased in leather, with silver metal trim. The testers are encased in plastic (made to look texturized like leather) and have red plastic trim. For those curious, above is a shot of an actual lipstick.

Anyway, enough with the preamble. Without further ado, here are the swatches!

BonjourHK Haul and Mini-Reviews: DHC, Hada Labo, Dr Bauer and More!

I'm always discovering new ways to buy more makeup and beauty products from, and recently I was introduced to BonjourHK's onlince website! I'm actually somewhat familiar with Bonjour, as it is a chain of stores across Hong Kong selling beauty products at accessible prices, much like Ulta (if you're in the US), Watsons, Guardian or Sasa (if you're in Asia). When I visited Hong Kong 3 years back, I stepped into quite a few Bonjour shops, although I didn't buy anything (I ended up with the smallest haul ever - sigh!). But the thing I liked about Bonjour is the eclectic mix of brands and products - there's everything from mainstream brands to niche Asian beauty brands I've never heard of before.

My BonjourHK Haul: A whole bunch of skincare and makeup items from various Asian brands

I actually never realized that Bonjour had an online website, but they do! And the website has pretty cheap shipping (which is free if you buy above a certain dollar amount threshold), and they ship internationally, too. And of course, the range of brands and types of products are just as varied as ever - there's everything from skincare to makeup to skin devices, and the brands range from fairly mainstream Asian brands (like DHC and Hada Labo) to more niche ones (like Choosy and Yu Mei). I was super excited when the package arrived, right on time within the 7-21 days window stated on the website.


My BonjourHK Haul: Includes brands both fairly well-known, as well as some undiscovered gems
The mass of products above, as well as the fact that I actually want to do a mini-review for each product rather than just run through the haul, means that this post is going to be pretty long (and photo heavy). So if you're going to read onwards, don't forget to buckle up before you go! And if you're all ready, let's just head straight into my product-by-product quick review!

Etude House Dreaming Swan Swatches and First Impressions

Etude House's Dreaming Swan collection just launched here in Singapore, and like most Etude House makeup collections, it's as cute as can be, with a very girly ballerina theme, too! I saw it, and I knew I just had to swatch it for you guys. After all, you can't look at a limited edition collection (yes, it is limited edition) without swatching a few things!

Etude House Dreaming Swan Eye and Cheek duo blush and eyeshadow

The collection is not a large one - there are 5 shades of Dreaming Swan Dear My Wish Lips Talk Lipstick, 5 shades of Dreaming Swan Eye and Cheek, which are products that double both as a blush and eyeshadow, and 1 shade of Dreaming Swan Veiling Pact, which is basically compact powder. There are also 5 limited edition Any Cushion cases, which are cases for the Etude House Any Cushion range of BB cushions. The cases are empty, and you pop a refill for their BB cushion into the case. The collection is also seriously pretty, packaging-wise. I mean, look at the Dreaming Swan Eye and Cheek Blush/Shadow and the Dear My Wish Lips Talk Lipsticks!


Etude House Dreaming Swan Dear My Wish Lips Talk Lipsticks
Anyway, enough of me blabbering about the packaging. Let's move on to swatches! These were taken indoors at Etude House's new store at Vivocity, which has the collection, so the lighting isn't that great, but I think it's good enough to get a sense of the individual shades.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop's Vitamin E collection has launched, and one of the items in the collection is the Vitamin E Eyes Cube. When I posted about this product on Instagram, I got a lot of questions and curious comments about it on Instagram and Facebook, so I figured that a review on it was in good order! After all, it's not everyday that you encounter a solid eye product!

The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube: Part of the Vitamin E collection

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Eyes Cube, is, as the product name suggests, an "eyes cube" - basically an eye cream, but instead of cream form, it's in stick form, like lipbalm. The Body Shop, on its website, claims that "the Vitamin E Eyes Cube is our new ingenious anti-fatigue eye stick. In one gentle sweep, it instantly revives and refreshes the eye area to fight signs of tiredness caused by dryness". The site also claims, "Enriched with wheatgerm oil, one of the highest natural sources of vitamin E, the Eyes Cube protects the eye area with moisture". So yes - moisture for your eyes, in a stick!


The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube: Probably the first eye cream I've seen in a stick form
First, let's take a look at whether the Vitamin E Eyes Cube really does live up to its claims, and how it works, when it's in a stick form, before we move on to the aesthetics of the product. And of course, our first stop would be none other than the ingredients list!

Too Faced Cat Eyes Eyeshadow Palette Swatches and Review

I've always been eyeing some of the lovely Too Faced products, and recently actually bought some of their lip products, as seen on my Instagram). In addition to those two lip products I bought, I also finally got one of their famed eyeshadow palettes - the Cat Eyes Eyeshadow Palette!

Too Faced Cat Eyes Eyeshadow Palette: Finally got my hands on one of these pretties!

I got the Too Faced Cat Eyes Eyeshadow Palette from Beauty Bridge, an online retailer that is based in the US, but ships overseas. They have a ton of products, from niche brands to mainstream ones, and from skincare to makeup to fragrance. I'm glad to say my package arrived on time, and that nothing was broken, which is good (shipping eyeshadows overseas always makes me a little worried). So yay for well-packed international parcels!


Too Faced Cat Eyes Eyeshadow Palette: I received mine from BeautyBridge
Anyway, now that I've gotten my hands on the palette, I figured it's a good time for me to give you guys a review of the palette!

The Face Shop Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng Whitening Emulsion Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Face Shop's Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng range has launched in Singapore, and as the name suggests, the range contains "Korean herbal extract" and "heaven grade ginseng", and is supposed to draw on traditional Korean knowledge to help improve the skin's condition. The Face Shop's English site claims that there are "brightening ingredients in white ginseng extract help to improve dull skin and brighten your skin tone", and also that it uses "traditional herbs grown in Korea". So I guess for all the Korea-philes (what with the popularity of K-pop and K-drama nowadays), this would be pretty intriguing!

The Face Shop Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng Whitening Emulsion: With "Korean herbal extract"

The product I got from the range was The Face Shop Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng Whitening Emulsion, which, again as the name suggests, is an emulsion - a light moisturizer - with whitening properties that also contains the heaven grade ginseng. Interestingly, Myeonghan Miindo supposedly means "land of the beauties", which I guess adds to the traditional feel of the product, along with the very classical-looking bottle. The price range for the Myeonghan Miindo range varies from $12.90 for the sheet mask to $75.90 for the eye cream or moisture cream, so depending on what you buy, the impact on your wallet can vary quite a lot! This particular product, the Whitening Emulsion, costs $46.90.


The Face Shop Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng Whitening Emulsion: Part of the Myeonghan Miindo range, with multiple products from eye creams to face masks
Of course, for this review, we're also going to take a look at whether the Myeonghan Miindo Heaven Grade Ginseng Whitening Emulsion really lives up to its claims of whitening. And to do that, we'll start right at the ingredients list!

MUFE AquaMatic Swatches And First Impressions: Plus New Summer 2015 Shades

MUFE's Summer 2015 collection includes new additions to its AquaMatic line of waterproof eyeshadow crayons, in a total of 5 shades in addition to the current 10, as well as 2 additions to its Aqua Rouge line, which already has 16 shades. The new shades will launch this month, and they're pretty exciting! And MUFE's summer shades are also gorgeous. Look at all of those bright rainbow colours, perfect for hot weather and summer!

MUFE's AquaMatic isn't a new product, and as you may know, it's essentially an eyeshadow crayon, but waterproof. There are 5 finishes of AquaMatic shades - Diamond (where the colour names start with D), Matte (names start with M), Iridescent (start with I), Satin (start with S), and Metallic (names start with ME). Diamond finishes tend to be sparkly and have visible glitter, Metallic finishes have a very obvious shimmery metallic finish, that look almost foiled, while Iridescent and Satin have more of a sheen rather than a shimmer. Between the S-shades and I-shades, I feel like the Satin shades have more shimmer than the Iridescent shades.



The AquaMatic crayons come with a retractable crayon tip (shown here is colour I-30):



The AquaMatic crayons also come with a sharpener embedded into the end of the product, in case you want to sharpen the tip.



Anyway, you didn't come to see photos of the product, you came to see swatches, so without further ado, let's move on to the business at hand!

Vichy Ideal White Review: Essence and Emulsion (with lots of Ingredients Analysis!)

Vichy's Ideal White range of skincare is quite possibly the brand's biggest launch this year, and, as the name "Ideal White" suggests, this is a range that aims to brighten and even out the skintone. Vichy claims that Ideal White is a "holistic whitening range with exclusive whitening complex to correct melanin dysfunction for spotless skin with healthy rosy glow", and the range is indeed holistic - they do have an impressive array of products, from sunscreens, to essences, emulsions, eye creams, and spot products. So whether you're looking for something targeted, or whether you want to build your entire regime out of a single range, I guess there's something for everyone!

Vichy Ideal White Essence and Emulsion: The brand's biggest launch this year

Vichy's Ideal White range apparently also comes with some novel technology behind it that gives the product its whitening and brightening properties. The featured ingredients in the range are resourcinol, which I'm told is supposed to be more effective than Vitamin C at whitening, Ellagic acid for exfoliating, and Adenosine for anti-wrinkle properties. I'm told that you would need about 1-2 months to show some effect on the skin. That does sound pretty exciting, doesn't it?


Vichy Ideal White Essence and Emulsion: With Ellagic Acid, Resourcinnol and Adenosine
I've got the Ideal White Meta Whitening Essence and Meta Whitening Emulsion to review, and of course we'll start off with the ingredients list for both products! Vichy has also been very kind to answer some of my burning questions about the formulation and the ingredients of the products, so for those looking for a more in-depth exploration of the product, I hope this post will be what you are looking for!

Clinique Pop Lip Colour + Primer Swatches and First Impressions

Clinique's Pop Lip Colour + Primer is the latest lipstick launch from Clinique, and these are marketed as a hybrid lipstick and primer, that doesn't shift or fade, and has a moisturizing sheen. I was told that the lipstick contains flexible polymers that bind together to ensure that the lipstick remains fresh and stays in place, and the ingredients include Shea butter and some other plant oils.

Clinique Pop Lip Colour + Primer: A hybrid lipstick and primer that is Clinique's latest launch

These were launched last month over here at $33 a pop, so I'm a little bit late, but better late than never right? They seemed pretty nice overall, and not ridiculously expensive, either. Anyway, without further ado, let's move on to the swatches! I've swatched them by the same categories they're sold in - Tawnies, Nudes, Pinks, and Violets.

Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel Review and Ingredients Analysis

Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel is Benefit's latest eyecare product - an "instant eye gel to help smooth the look of undereye puffies", according to Benefit Cosmetics' website. The website also says that "the custom “ironing” tip instantly helps smooth the look of undereye puffies & fine lines", and you can literally "iron away for a smoother day!" Their adds are also pretty interesting and quite quirky and memorable in this respect - they reinforce the "ironing" concept, featuring a girl and a guy, with the girl telling the guy to "puff off" when he asks her to press his shirt! One of the things I've always enjoyed about Benefit's products is their really fun, quirky sense of humour, and gorgeous packaging. Who doesn't love a person (or a brand) with a sense of fun?

Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel: An "instant eye gel to help smooth the look of undereye puffies"

This definitely made me sit up and take notice. I mean, while I'm not particularly picky about eye creams, I'm always looking for a way to help alleviate my pesky undereye circles and bags. And the tip certainly looks interesting too - a little cooling metal tip like an iron? That's definitely worth checking out in my book!


Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel: Claims to smooth out skin and minimize fine lines
For this review, as always I'll start off with a look at what's inside the Puff Off Eye Gel, and how it works, and of course, the first stop for this analysis will be the ingredients list as always!