Monday, June 27, 2016

Shu Uemura Eyeshadow Swatches, First Impressions: New Shades! Part 1

Shu Uemura is launching 41 new eyeshadow shades as part of their "Colour Atelier" campaign in July. Yes, you heard it right, 41! This will give a total of almost 100 shades of eyeshadow for you to choose from, depending on your location - I believe Singapore gets 41 out of 43 new shades, to give a total of just under 100, but other countries may get the full 100 shades. Of course, Shu Uemura's eyeshadows are something of a makeup cult product, so this is pretty exciting news. Even back when I first got into beauty, they were already touted as one of the brands of eyeshadow that were a must-try for their great pigmentation, multiple finishes, and smooth textures. So, with that in mind, I knew I absolutely had to swatch the new shades being launched!


So, being the obsessive swatcher I am, I basically spent two hours swatching all the 41 shades that were launching here in Singapore, both for myself, as well as for you guys! (You might have seen some of this on my snapchat - I'm musicalhouses there too.) I'm told the eyeshadows are reformulated as well, although to be honest during the swatching session, I couldn't really tell that much of a difference. Which is just as well, because the old textures were already great as they were.


I'm swatching the first 3 rows of the shades laid out above, and the last 3 rows will be in part 2. So, if you're into bright shades, these are all swatched in this post! I swatched these in indoor lighting, and I've done my best to get them as colour-accurate as can be, and I do think the swatches turned out decently! Anyway, without further ado, let's get down to swatching!

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

You Ask, I Answer: Under Eye Puffiness, Eye Creams, and Undertones

Reader questions aren't a new thing on this blog, obviously - I've featured a bunch of them on my blog over time, and sometimes they are the inspiration for entire (sometimes pretty long) posts, especially when it pertains to the science-y part of things, like this post on parabens and safety, and this other post on talc and safety.


You Ask, I Answer: Today's reader questions talk about undereye puffiness, eye creams, and undertones

I love it when readers send me questions (if not I wouldn't be blogging!), and I love responding to them. Because a lot of my readers are pretty interested in skincare and ingredients, I get a lot of questions that require some time to research and reply to, so I often am unable to respond immediately, although I try my best! Through the years, I've also noticed that some questions are repeated as well. So, to better answer questions at a faster pace and eliminate repetition, I decided to compile a few similar questions and answer them all at once, and put them up on my blog! Hopefully it will also serve as a useful reference to anyone else having similar questions too!

Today's questions deal with undertones and skincare, specifically eye creams for undereye puffiness. All questions are printed "as is" in order to remain faithful to the original reader's words. I do basic editing for spelling and simple grammar where possible, however. So, without further ado, let's start!

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Serum Review and Ingredients Analysis

Sulwhasoo's Snowise Brightening Serum was launched earlier this year as an addition to Sulwhasoo's already very successful Snowise skincare range, which is a whitening range (as you might guess from the name). Sulwhasoo is a niche, high-end skincare brand that hails from Korea, with a focus on "holistic beauty" that is "inspired by Asian philosophy", which in their skincare line, means the use of plant extractsa nd ingredients that are traditionally used in Asian cultures.


Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Serum: A new addition to Sulwhasoo's Snowise whitening range

If Sulwhasoo's Snowise Brightening Serum sounds slightly familiar, it's because previous iterations of the same product have been released. This version, according to parent company AmorePacific, is the "advanced eighth-generation" version, with "enhanced white ginseng extract, moist and smooth finish and a new packaging design". A whitening serum, punched up one level - what's not to like?

Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Serum Review Kbeauty
Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Serum: The 8th genertion version of the serum was released earlier this year

Sulwhasoo opened a store in Singapore last year, and since then it's been getting quite a lot of buzz. Furthermore, the kbeauty trend is still a pretty hot one right now, and so I was quite keen to review this product. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the ingredients list, and begin our review!

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Givenchy Rouge Interdit Vinyl Lipstick Swatches and First Impressions

Givenchy's Rouge Interdit Vinyl Colour Enhancing Lipstick was just recently launched in Singapore, and of course, I had to get swatches of as many of the shades as I could for you! The Rouge Interdit Vinyl is supposed to be a lipstick with high shine, medium colour, and also moisturizing to the lips, with black rose oil. There are 16 shades in all, from nudes to reds to brights to vampy shades, so there is something for everyone here.


Givenchy Rouge Interdit Lipstick: Medium pigmentation, with a moisturizing, shiny finish

Anyway, I have to say, I'm super proud of myself for producing these swatches in less-than-optimal lighting. You see the photo above? Yup, that's basically the lighting conditions I had. But, I think the swatches did turn out pretty nicely given the lighting conditions, and I managed to get most of the shades, so without further ado, let's start on the swatches, together with my commentary on them!

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Etude House Real Powder Cushion Review, Swatches, FOTD and Ingredients Analysis

Etude House's Real Powder Cushion SPF50+ PA+++ was launched just a few weeks back, and this isn't your typical BB cushion - instead of being all liquid-y and dewy like most BB cushions, what's interesting about this is that it claims to dry down to a powder. So essentially, it is a cream-to-powder cushion, which is pretty unique. Certainly there are existing matte cushions out in the market, but as far as Etude House products go, I do believe this is the brand's first attempt at putting out a matte cushion. I'm happy about that - I always love more options.


Etude House Real Powder Cushion: The first matte finish cushion from Etude House

I've been getting quite a bit of interest in this product, so I thought I should hurry up and do a review on it. Here in Singapore, we have 2 shades, Light Beige, which is the lighter shade, and Natural Beige, which is the darker shade. Online though, I've seen a third shade, Honey Beige, which would be darker than Natural Beige.

Etude House Real Powder Cushion Review BB
Etude House Real Powder Cushion: Starts off liquid, dries to a power

So let's get started with the review. We'll do my favourite thing first and look at the ingredients in the product, and then move on to the swatches and review proper!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Shu Uemura Anti/Oxi+ Cleansing Oil Review and Ingredients Analysis

Shu Uemura's Anti/Oxi Cleansing Oil is the latest oil cleanser from Shu Uemura, and was launched in Singapore today. It's advertised as being a cleansing oil with anti-oxidant benefits (hence the Anti/Oxi name), as well as an efficient yet gentle makeup remover. It's even safe for lash extensions - I'm told this can remove all eye makeup without disturbing any extensions you might have. Lash extensions have been getting more popular here over the past few years (or at least, among my immediate circle of friends and acquaintances), so I'm not surprised to see makeup removers accommodating them.

Shu Uemura Anti/Oxi Cleansing Oil: An oil cleanser with anti-oxidant benefits

Of course, unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that Shu Uemura's cleansing oils are something of cult products. They're routinely found in "best-of" lists, and there is a huge fanbase behind them. I'm told that Shu Uemura is the #1 cleansing oil brand on the market, with 1 bottle of cleansing oil sold ever 7 seconds! So of course, I wanted to check out the hype for myself, and see whether it really lived up to expectations.

Shu Uemura Anti Oxi Cleansing OIl Review Refining Anti Dullness
Shu Uemura Anti/Oxi Cleansing Oil: A lightweight, but efficient oil cleanser

Fortunately, this is indeed a very nice cleansing oil (although I didn't get to tet it on lash extensions as I don't have them), so I wasn't let down. And there are some before-and-after photos that show this, but of course, let's start our review by looking at the ingredients list first!