Makeup Empties: Eyeshadow, Eyeliner, Lipstick, Liptint, Powder

In addition to the skincare empties that I blogged about, I've also actually emptied some makeup! I'm particularly happy about my makeup empties, because it typically takes me longer to use up a makeup item than a skincare item. Anyway,

Makeup empties accumulated over the past few months!

This time round I've got some staples - like my Coastal Scents loose powders - as well as some new appearances! Most of these are products I love and would totally use again, and as we go through each of these items, I'll explain why.


Makeup empties: Lipstick, liptint, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and powder!
Without further ado, let's get started!

Bounce Up Pacts and Pore Putty: Chosungah22, Ver 88, Stila, Peter Thomas Roth: Do They Work?

One of the trending things in the beauty scene now, particularly the Asian beauty scene, is Bounce Up Pacts, as they are called by Asian brands, or Pore Putty as they are called by Western brands. For those who may not have heard, this is basically a base makeup, akin to foundation, and functions quite similarly, in that it comes in a variety of skin-like shades, and is meant to provide coverage and a smooth finish to the skin.

Bounce Up Pact, Pore Putty: New and trending here!

What's different and new about these Bounce Up Pacts/Pore Putties, though, is the texture. These have a hybrid texture that's sort of similar to a dough, or Play-Doh, which you can roll up, ball around, squish, and so on. You can depress your finger into the pact, and like Play-Doh, your finger will leave a print on the surface, but you can smooth it out. So these are sort of like, not as liquid as traditional cream foundation, but not as dry as a powder, and the "Putty" or "Bounce Up" name is a reference to how malleable the products are. On Youtube, you can find all sorts of videos demonstrating the more interesting properties of this product, as you can see below.

A Play-Doh, putty-like texture gives a feeling of novelty to the product (Source)

Interestingly though, this new generation of products aren't actually the first to use the phrase "pore putty". Back in the early-to-mid-2000s, Japanse brand Sana came out with a range of products called "Pore Putty", although none of them had a malleable, dough-like texture. Rather, the range's name was indicative of the supposed claims of the products - to hide your pores - and came in a range of liquids, powders, and creams, with BB creams, mineral powders, makeup bases, concealers and so on.

I guess this Bounce Up Pact/Pore Putty thing must be pretty huge right now, because I received two real-life queries from friends about this class of product, as well as one online request via Twitter. So I figured, why not? Most of the questions I got were centred around 1) whether the Bounce Up Pacts/Pore Putties were really novel, new or groundbreaking, as well as 2) what are the ingredients that give the product its interesting texture? So we'll attempt to look at these two questions in this post!

hello, @musicalhouses :) would you like to do ingredients analysis to Ver. 88 Bounce-Up Pact? It has been hot item these days.

— a (@justletterA) December 14, 2015

The best way to get blogpost ideas: Reader suggestions! Thank you for the idea!
If you know my blog, you know what I'm going to say next - we're going to look at ingredients lists! It was quite hard to find the ingredients lists for some of the Asian brand Bounce Up Pacts, but after searching the internets and asking other bloggers, I managed to get the ingredients lists for 4 products: the Chosungah22 Bounce Up Pact Master, Ver 88 Bounce Up Pact SPF 50/PA+++, Stila Perfectly Poreless Putty Perfector, and the Peter Thomas Roth Pore Putty. With two "Western" Pore Putties, and two "Asian" Bounce Up Pacts, this should give us plenty of material to work with! So let's get started!

Empties Galore Part 2: Makeup I've Used Up!

Alright, you've seen my skincare empties in the previous post, and now, we're moving on to the makeup items that I've used up in the past 6 months or so! (There's also a skincare item that I forgot about for the previous post - oops - but otherwise, all the other items are makeup!) I'm pretty excited to talk about some of the items here, because some of these items are really my makeup staples, and although I don't often talk about them on my blog, they are some of the day-to-day backbone-of-my-routine type products.

Makeup and skincare empties that I can finally say I've used up in 2015!

On reflection, it's pretty appropriate that this post is going live on the last day of the year, because it really has that "out with the old, in with the new" vibe. And while I'm excited for the new products that I will be buying this upcoming year, it's also weirdly satisfying to see that I managed to use up some of my older products, too.

All the skincare and makeup empties I've accumulated over the past half a year or so

So, without further ado, let's get started!

Stuff I've Used Up: Lots of Empties and Pans!

It's been a few months since my last empties post, so here's a check in on what I've been using! I'm happy to add, I have a lot of empties to show you! I don't know about you, but since I'm a beauty hoarder (one of the problems of being a beauty addict, I suppose!), I have way more product than I can ever use up in my entire life (that might not, by the way, be an exaggeration), so I get overly excited whenever I do actually use up something!

Empties! So many empties, including skincare and makeup items of all sorts!

This time round, I have a lot more empties than normal because I decided to consciously use up some of the products that were starting to run low, especially for colour makeup, which I don't always do. I actually set a blush that looked like I could hit pan on it to be my "everyday" blush until it actually got used up, and I couldn't be prouder of myself, haha.


All my empties! Look at how much stuff I actually use up!
Anyway, let's start taking a look at these empties! Empties this time include both makeup (eyeshadow, blush, foundation, lipstick, and more), and skincare (moisturizers, pimple products, eye cream, sunscreen), so there is a lot to cover! Most of these are products I like, probably because I wouldn't even use up products I hate. So I think that the fact that I used all these products up says something!

Stuff I Actually Used Up: Skincare and Makeup Empties!

Yes, I did it! I have pan porn and empties to show you guys! And because my last empties post was sometime back in September last year, and because I've been diligently consistently using products until they were all gone, I do have a good amount of finished products to show you this time, and I'm so excited about it! It's been six months, and I've accumulated all this pan!

So proud of my many empties!

Look at all that! Look at all that makeup and skincare that I managed to pan! While it might seem odd to non-beauty junkies, the sheer amount of makeup I have means that using up something is always an acheivement - I take it to mean that 1) I'm not as much of a hoarder as I think I am, and 2) Why yes, I could indeed buy another lipstick to replace the one I just used up! (Nevermind the fact that I already have many other lipsticks...*ahem* incriminating Instagram evidence here.) But I guess if you just have a lot of makeup, it's always a good feeling to actually use something up!

So, without further ado, let's take a closer look at what I've managed to use up in the past half year!

Pantone Colour of the Year 2015 Marsala: Shopping My Makeup Stash

Marsala is Pantone's Colour of the Year 2015, and unlike some previous years' Colour of the Years, I'm actually pretty excited for this, because as a makeup junkie, I feel like Marsala is pretty versatile on lips and cheeks. (I wouldn't be keen to wear it on my eyes, though.) Naturally, you can expect lots of commercialization with the Colour of the Year - like the Sephora X Pantone collections, and to be honest, the whole "Colour of the Year" thing always feels a bit enforced/commercialized to me - for one, the colour of the year is a decision that is made a year in advance by a small number of people in the industry, as Wiki helpfully points out: "Twice a year the company hosts...a secret meeting of representatives from various nations' color standards groups. After two days of presentations and debate, they choose a color for the following year...the color for summer 2013 was chosen in London in the spring of 2012." So yes, for some reason, people we don't know choose a colour for us a year in advance, and deem it the "Colour of the Year". It sounds arbitrary and a tad bizarre to me, but there it is.

My Marsala-ish coloured makeup stash!

At least, this year's Colour of the Year looks pretty good to me. Unliek 2013's Emerald, which I found a tad unwearable makeup-wise (emerald eyes just aren't my thing, let alone lips or cheeks, although I did rock an Emerald eye look in 2013!), and 2014's Radiant Orchid, which I liked personally but can imagine how some people with warmer skintones might find unwearable, Marsala looks pretty universally flattering, and actually wearable when it comes to makeup.

The closest things I have to Pantone's 2015 Colour of the Year

I'm definitely eyeing some of the items in the Sephora X Pantone collection this year, but I thought, as an excercise in frugality (don't look at me like you're not convinced - I said frugality, not futility!), I should attempt to dig through my makeup stash to see what Marsala-coloured products I already have in my stash, to see whether I am already all up to my eyes in Marsala products, or whether I still have room for a few more!

Travel-Friendly Makeup and Skincare: What I Brought for my Holiday

If you've been following me on Instagram or on Twitter, you'll know that I recently went to the north part of Vietnam for a holiday! And I figure that perhaps some of you may want to know what beauty items did I pack along with me for my week-long holiday?

Travel-Friendly Makeup and Skincare: Here's what I packed!

The weather in Vietnam was good, ranging from just above 10 degrees Celsius in the mountainous areas at night, to a good mid-20s degrees Celsius in the city areas during the day. We expected it to rain when we were in the hilly paddy areas of Sa Pa at some point, but it didn't, so that was great! The next thing you know, though, it started snowing (a rare occurrence for that area) once we left the area, so there you go, the weather can be unpredicatable. But for the most part I brought along my usual staples when it came to skincare. And for makeup, it was a mix of usual staples, as well a "cheap stuff that I won't cry over if it gets lost/gets broken/get banged up and that does not suck". So without further ado, here you go!

From the Vault (aka Really Ancient Things): Stila Cool Holiday Trio 2005

I'm getting old. Yes, I am. And, I have this horrible habit of acquiring new things, and then not using them (or using them very little). Yes, I do. This has led me to realize that some of the stuff I collected in the past is now foreign to these young whippersnappers just getting into makeup. So I figure, I must be officially old enough (and hoarding makeup long enough) to do a "From the Vault" series of posts (which will have a frequency depending on my mood). So the first candidate from my vault: The Stila Holiday Seasonal Eye Shadow Trio Shimmer Shadows 2005 Cool.



I think this is what they are anyway. I honestly have had these for forever, and all I know is that they probably came out around 2005, possibly for Holiday season, and this trio was designated a "Cool" Trio (which means there was probably a Warm trio out there too). But if my creaky memory serves me right, then these have been around since 200-freaking-5. OMG, I know. (I actually still remember the Y2K scare). But nevertheless, this is SOOOO PRETTY.


It actually kinda makes me sad, because back in the day when Stila was still under Jeanine Lobell, the brand was notable, among other things, for the quality of its eyeshadows. They were pigmented, with a huge array of colours, and very wearable yet unique shades. Back in my day on Makeupalley (my favourite time-wasting website),Stila had its little cult of followers who appreciated classy, unique quality with a hint of quirk. Now, the brand just seems to have lost its direction - the image changes are many and inconsistent (to use Stila Girls or models?), the product range is confused (low-end $10 palettes one season, expensive $75 palettes the next), and nothing from them feels truly innovative, only gimmicky (like the Stila Makeup Player?). I guess this is what's bound to happen when a brand has been around for awhile - it's a challenge reinventing yourself without losing the original spirit. Here's a snapshot of what I'm talking about when I say old vs new Stila:


And as a consumer, it's not just the image change that jars me, although I do feel like New Stila's image is a tad tackier than Old Stila's. (Classic, classy Stila Girls replaced with conventional models, check. Owner's face plastered on ads, check. Strange, gimmicky items like "makeup player" that don't fit with the brand's image, check.) It's also the fact that product quality seems to have slipped somewhat. All the new Stila shadows I've bought cannot match up to the older shades like this, quality-wise. The newer shadows are just not quite as soft, and definitely not as pigmented. Which is why my vintage Stila stuff from back in the day is so precious to me. Money can't buy it now. Nothing quite like treasuring what you have once it's gone...


And who can forget the inspirational quotes inside the paper lids? Loves it. I do miss the "old" Stila stuff - the cool packaging, with the lovely Stila Girl illustrations, on paper packaging. (Apparently I read in an interview that Stila started off with paper packaging because it was cheaper than conventinal packaging, as it didn't require the use of moulds.)


The trio itself is just three shades of purple - pastel lilac, a mid-tone purple, and a deeper violet. I don't even think the shades are particularly special, but what makes this trio outstanding is the quality. The shadows are silky soft, smooth, and very well-pigmented, even the lighter shades. I kid you not. Looking at the swatches below, this is quite apparent.


And of course, to round off my old lady rant blogpost, I leave you with an EOTD using just this eyeshadow trio. Nothing much in the way of bells or whistles (come on guys, this trio was from 2005!) but it is a very pretty eye look.


So there you have it! Here's something pretty old from my stash of makeup items! What cool items do you guys have in your stash? Let me know!

Illamasqua Sophie-I Eye Look on my Asian Eye

I've been hearing all the recent buzz about Illamasqua's Sophie-I, an eye look specially created by Illamasqua for their S.O.P.H.I.E charity initiative. This time, they're partnering with one of the most awesomest nail bloggers on the planet, Scrangie, to raise awareness of S.O.P.H.I.E. ("Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere"), named for Sophie Lancaster, a British girl who was beaten to death together with her boyfriend for looking different.

I'm always very supportive of S.O.P.H.I.E.'s cause. The effects of prejudice, intolerance and hatred are more commonplace than ever these days, especially now the internet has opened new aveneues of cyber-bullying, which wouldn't have been available just over two decades ago. Who would have thought that with the advent of the internet, kids would bully other kids til they were driven to the point of suicide? As a blogger (and on occasion also subject to fortunately much milder forms of online bullying as a result - you know, mean tweets, comments, etc), this deeply resonates with me.

Source: Scrangie

So, with that said, I thought to join in on the S.O.P.H.I.E. awareness-raising and commemoration, I thought I'd do a post featuring the Sophie-I look (seen in the above promo photo), as worn by me. The eye look was kind of difficult for me to do, becuase I don't really have that kind of lid space or eye contours to play with (blame that on my tiny puny Asian eyes), but I tried to sort of adapt it, with mixed results. Here's how the Illamasqua Sophie-I looked on me:

To make this look, I didn't use any Illamasqua products - I mean, you really only need black eyeliner and black eyeshadow. I used Stila Ebony for the eyeshadow, and for the eyeliner pencil, I just a random Wet n' Wild i-Shimmer one I had lying around. Turned out, (as you may have guessed from the name), the Wet n' Wild eyeliner had glitter, which made the entire look shimmery black, instead of matte black as I intended. Oops. For the skintone eyeshadow, I used Stila Chinois, a matte eggshell shade.

Anyway, if you want to follow the instructions Illamasqua has to re-create the Sophie-I look, they're up on Scrangie'ssite. There's a link to a video tutorial, as well as a step-by-step picture tutorial too, although this tutorial was taken from Source: Nihrida, who also has her version of the look up (and it's hawt on her).

Source: Nihrida

I kind of wish I had defined the cut crease a little bit more, but in my eagerness to remove any harsh lines, I think I may have overblended. Also, in the instructions, they recommended that the eyeliner be flicked up, which looked a little over-crowded on my already tiny eyes, so I rubbed it off.



Another thing I noticed was that although the instructions given by Illamasqua didn't mention eyeliner on the lower lashline, the model is actually having black eyeliner that's flicked out at the inner corner of the eye. I didn't do this, because it would have been a tad too unwearable for me, but I like how it really looks like in the promo pic. For me, I just smudged some black eyeshadow along my lower lashline, and called it a day.



My own apprehensiveness aside, I actually quite liked this look. Sure, it's daring, and I don't think I'd actually dare to wear it out, but it has this certain high fashion, runway-like feel about it. It's the kind of eye look I could imagine models wearing down a runway. It looks very striking, if nothing else, due to the stark definition created by the black eyeshadow against a pale base. I do quite like the look, it's bold and unique, a very dare-to-be-different look.

So anyway, that's my version of the Illamasqua Sophie-I look. RIP Sophie. A life may end, but a strong soul will never be forgotten.

Soft Blue Eye Look: Stila Striking in South Beach Palette

I don't normally wear blue eyeshadow - I mean, not that I don't like blue, it just isn't quite like me. But with the Stila Striking in South Beach Palette, I was presented with a set of soft, subtly smokey blues, so I thought - why not? These look like blues for the girl who is scared of blue shades! And look what I came up with:

Here is a look at the shades I used. I really liked the soft, smokiness of the shades, although the pigmentation was a little weak, and the texture was a little hard and dry. Still, though, not impossible to work with, and a great combination of shades.



I used the lightest grey as a highlight shade, and applied a little in the inner corner as well (although I don't think you can really see it), the medium blue-purple shade on the lid, and the dark navy shade in the contour area. I didn't use the black in this look, because well - black is just black, right? Also, I was going for a softer, subtler look, that didn't scream "OMG BLUE EYESHADOW!" I hope this made it!



Here's a look at the eye, from another angle so you can see the shimmer of the shades and take a closer look at the blending. I quite like this. As you can see in the photo, the blue has a very interesting glowy sheen to it - it glows and shimmers, but it isn't duochrome or anything. It just glows very subtly. All the shades are shimmery, but nothing here stands out as being too much. I actually like it!



All in all, I quite like this palette. If you're going for a full-on, dark dramatic bue eye, the Striking in South Beach Palette won't be for you, but if you want a more wearable version of the same eye look, and a subtle version perfect for both day and night, this is the look for you!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Stila Striking in South Beach Palette: Bringing South Beach to Asia!

Stila releases their Striking in South Beach Palette in Singapore in August, thus bringing Summer at the beach right here to Asia! The paette contains four eyeshadows in shades of blue and grey, as well as a blush in pink, and a bronzer. All the colours look very well put together, and the palette looks gorgeous!

The cover of the palette features an illustration of the classic Stila girl, tall, lean, and skating! This is a great throwback to the Stila packaging of old - the cute drawings of the Stila girls, the paper cardboard packaging, the pretty, whimsical design. As one of the girls who collected Stila eyeshadows and hoarded them back in the day when those eyeshadows came in the silvery paper cardboard packages, this brings forth a bout of nostalgia.



Here's the layout of the palette. The entire palette can fit into your clutch or bag, and is quite small and slim. However, if you are travelling around with this, I recommend that you bind the entire palette with a rubber band or something, since it will probably open up. The colours are laid out quite nicely, and look pretty coordinated.



The eyeshadows consist of a light, shimmery grey, a medium blue-purple (or blurple, if you read nail blogs), a shimmery dark navy, and a shimmery soft black. All the shades are shimmery, but not overly so. No big bits of glitter or anything that is too OTT.



There is also a blush, a cool-leaning pink, as well as a bronzer which is a reddened brown. It actually looks like another blush colour to me actually, since there's quite a lot of pink in it. I think it would make a great summer blush shade!



And the palette even has cute instructions on the inside of the palette cover! How cute is that?



Here are swatches of the entire palette, so you can see the colour coordination of the palette. All the colours can definitely be used together, there aren't any weird colour combinations here.



Here are closer swatches of the eyeshadow. I kind of feel like the photo turned out a little more blue than it looked in person, but blue eyeshadows tend to be hard to photograph. Pigmentation of the eyeshadows is very light - these aren't the most pigmented eyeshadows around, but they are buildable. Texture is also smooth, but a little on the dry side.



Here are swatches of the blush and the bronzer. As you can see in the swatches below, the bronzer actually looks to me to be more of a rusty red blush than a proper bronzer, which shouldn't have much red in it. And I think I actually like it better as a blush than as a bronzer. The pigmentation of the blush and the bronzer are pretty good.



All in all, I rather like this palette, and the look it gives is not a dramatic dark blue smokey eye, but more of a subtle smokey blue look. I do think that this look would give you more of a rosy cheeked look, with a little bit of a pop of blue on the eyes, which is so much more appropriate for the heat of summer, rather than a nude-cheeks-and-dramatic-smokey-eyes kind of look. If that's the look you're going for, this palette is definitely worth checking out.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Dupe Search: Taupe Eyeshadow Comparison Swatches!

Woohoo! Don't you love it when I ransack my stash and do comparison swatches? What's more, these are swatches of taupes, glorious taupes! Now to be fair, these are just some of my taupes, definitely not all of them. It started when I reviewed the new Edward Bess eyeshadow single in Storm, and I thought - don't I already have these colours? So I looked through my stash, and dug out the colours that I thought would be most similar to Storm. So in other words, what you're looking at is just those of my taupe eyeshadows that I thought might have some semblance to Storm.



Here are the shades we're comparing today, in order:

1: NARS Belissima II (darker shade)
2: L'Orea HIP Electrified I (lighter shade)
3: MEMEME Beautifully You Eyeshadow Cafe 7
4: First Light Cosmetics Storm Grey
5: Bourjois Stretch Eyeshadow Brun Nylon 09
6: GOSH Glamorous Eyeshadow Grey Brown 7
7: Edward Bess Storm 07
8: Stila Cloud

Isn't it funny how many taupe eyeshadows that are numbered are given the number 7? And on another note, gosh, it's embarrassing how many taupe eyeshadows I've bought over the years of being a makeup fanatic. Anyway, here are swatches of all of them, in that order, with my thoughts on each of them below. By the way, the eyesahdow labelled L'Oreal Sassy is wrong. The duo is actually Electrified:



NARS Belissima II (darker shade) is the only true matte in the bunch, as the rest all have some sort of shimmer. This is a cool-toned grey-brown with hints of purple. Texture is decent, pigmentation is sheer but buildable.

L'Orea HIP Electrified I (lighter shade) is absolutely rockin'! Don't be fooled by the cheap plastic packaging or the drugstore brand - this is awesome taupe goodness. As you can see, it just stands out among my swatches. Its texture and pigmentation are also excellent, and it has a frosty finish that, depending on your preference, can be a good or a bad thing. I've actually reviewed the Electrified duo before and have even previously compared Electrified to a much more expensive Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve eyeshadow.

MEMEME Beautifully You Eyeshadow Cafe 7 is also another cheapy-but-goody. This is cheap, but good, and I really need to get around to reviewing this sometime. It's a brown-based taupe, and thus would be very wearable for warm-toned girls who find a lot of taupes pull purple or greyish on them. It also has slight shimmer, that for some reason isn't showing up in the photo.

First Light Cosmetics Storm Grey is another underrated gorgeous colour. Like Edward Bess's Storm and MEMEME's Cafe, it's a light brown-based taupe, only that it has more shimmer than either. Pigmentation and texture are also pretty good. An EOTD (Eye of the Day) with Storm Grey is available if you'd like to see more of this pretty little thing.

Bourjois Stretch Eyeshadow Brun Nylon 09 is not as similar to Edward Bess's Storm as I initially thought it would be. For one, it's less brown-beige-y and slightly more purple and grey on. They did look quite similar in the pan, however. Texture is good, and pigmentation is sheer but buildable. I've previously swatched Bourjois Brun Nylon before, and also once did an FOTD with it. My, that FOTD was just a year and a half ago, but I think I actually looked visibly younger then. And my photography skills back then sucked.

GOSH Glamorous Eyeshadow Grey Brown 7 is one of those I keep meaning to review, but never get around to it. No fault of the shadow, though. This one has the texture of baked eyeshadows (it comes in a round, hard dome), and pigmentation is sheer but buildable. It leans more grey than most of the other taupes featured here, and also has some sparkles in the eyeshadow.

Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Eyeshadow Storm 7 is a brown-based taupe. Honestly, compared to the rest of the taupes on my arm, it looks a little blah. But since it leans brown, it's less likely to pull purple or grey on warm-toned girls. Pigmentation was sheer, and not the best, but still buildable. Texture was also decent. I'm not going to say too much about this since I just reviewed it in the last post.

Stila Cloud is a taupe that pulls purple and grey, and has a frosty finish that makes it look silver, like how the L'Oreal Electrified taupe looks silver due to the frost finish. I actually should feature this sometime, I have had this eyeshadow since I first became a makeup junkie years ago and it's still with me...Brings back all the nostalgic times when Stila eyeshadows came in little paper pots, and when collecting Stila eyeshadows was the "in" thing of the day. Anyway, this one is cooler-toned that some of the other taupes, and is more purply-grey than some of the other more brown-based ones. It also has frosty shimmer, which some may like and some may not.

So here you go, eight of my lighter-coloured taupes! As a taupe junkie, I love all of these shades and I think they are all different enough to own all, although I'm sure not everyone would agree with me. They're almost like my babies! I hope this post was useful for some of you who wanted a comparison between some taupe eyeshadows.

Soft and Feminine Dior Spring Inspired Eye: Get the Look for Cheap

Spring makeup always features a range of soft, feminine and girly looks, and while I'm not exactly a soft, feminine, girly kind of person, I can still appreciate the beauty in such looks. In particular, Dior's Spring 2011 Collection is one of those which has caught my fancy. The eyeshadows are all pinks and greys, which is such a pretty combination of colours. While I was drooling buckets over the pretty pictures, a thought struck me: Surely I already have at least a few pinks and greys in the abundance that is my makeup stash?


(Image from pleasureflush.blogspot.com)

Thus, began my quest to dupe the Dior Spring 2011 eye look. After all, not every girl can afford US$58 eyeshadow quints, right? So, I told myself while pulling my eyes away from those pictures, there had to be a cheaper way to dupe the look, or at least come up with something similar.

Here's a simple outcome using just two colours:



For the pink eyeshadow, I used Stila Fleur all over the lid, and then I applied MAC Knight Divine in the contour area, and applied a smidgen of it on the lashline as a liner.

Stila Fleur is a gorgeous baby pastel pink which I had from waaay back when, when Stila was still headed by Jeanine Lobell. I'm not even sure if they still make this colour. It's a gorgeous shell pink shade, although it is a little on the shimmery side. MAC's Knight Divine is a colour that is a more recent purchase, and currently available as a permanent shade in MAC's collection. It's a blue-based gunmetal grey shade wish silver shimmer. Very cool, almost like knight's armour. Both are fantastic shades, in terms of application and staying power.



So if you're a cheapskate like me, or just have too much makeup and don't want too many similar colours in your collection, duping the look might be a good idea. This is especially so if the look just uses simple basic colours, as in the case of this pink and grey Dior look. Have you ever tried duping a look before? Do you routinely dupe looks, or are you of the opinion that looks are difficult to dupe without the right colours?

Rock and Republic Spank vs Stila Bud Blush: Dupes or Not?

While plumbing the depths of my makeup stash, I noticed that two of my blushes looked eerily familiar. One was a blush I've raved about before, Rock and Republic's Spank, and the other was Stila's Bud blush, which I had and liked at one point in time, but forgot I had over the years. Oops.

Both appear identical in the pan, and to be sure, they are from the same colour family - both are muted, everyday, go-with-everything neutral pinks.



L-R: Rock and Republic Spank, Stila Bud

I was curious to see if they were actually dupes or not, so I swatched them side by side. I think they're pretty close, although they're not absolute dupes. But they are close, though, so very close.



L-R: Stila Bud, Rock and Republic Spank

They're pretty much the same, but Spank is a little bit brighter than Bud, and also perhaps a little bit more cool-toned. But they are both muted neutral light pinks, so the similarity is pretty slight. I guess when you actually wear the colours on your cheeks, they're not going to look too different.

Quality-wise, both were good, although the Rock and Republic was more pigmented than the Stila, and also had a smoother texture. I'm not saying the Stila isn't good though, because it is, but Rock and Republic is better.

So which should you get, if you can only get one? Well, given that both colours are relatively close, I'm going to frame this as a quality vs price thing. Rock and Republic has the better quality, but Stila has the cheaper price. Both are good though, so at the end of the day, your choice could end up being decided by your budget.

Gel Eyeliner Swatches and Review! Bobbi Brown, MAC, Stila, Etude House

Today's swatches are also featuring my stash! Yay! Some time ago I did a post on my stash pics (which you can read about here), and it had a measly number of gel eyeliners. Well, since then, I've acquired a couple more, and now I can show them all off!

Unfortunately, I'm not much of a bright colours person when it comes to eyeliner (or for that matter, makeup in general), but I swear, although they're almost all neutrals, they're all different!

Most of these that I've shown here are pretty awesome - as everyone knows, Bobbi Brown is pretty much the queen of gel eyeliners, and MAC is her little more tempremental daughter, and Stila is the court jester who spouts out golden gems in between bit of rubbish. That's my opinion of it, anyway. But I do love them so, and all of these are pretty good, although some are better than others, and I'll go into more detail when I discuss each individual colour. In general though, the Bobbi Brown ones have the best texture, consistency and pigmentation, although the rest are pretty good too. That being said, there's a difference between the different types of Bobbi Brown gel liners too - some are better than others, and rumour has it that the "newer ones" in the clear glass jar aren't as nice as the "older" ones in the frosted glas jar, although whether the eyeliners were reformulated or merely repackaged is still a mystery. Still, there aren't any duds in this stash, because, you know, its MY stash. Duh. :P

Also, most of you would probably already know this, but it's always a great idea to store your gel eyeliners upside down. This allows you to not only see the labels on the bottom of the pots (and thus save yourself the trouble of looking through your stash to find that one pot), but it also prevent the gel eyeliners from drying up so fast. I'm not sure how exactly, but it does seem to work for me.

Anyway, here are swatches to start off:



L - R: MAC Ostentatious, Bobbi Brown Black Mauve, Etude House Orgel Light Gel Eyeliner 04, Bobbi Brown Violet, Bobbi Brown Indigo, Stila Jade Smudgepot

MAC Ostentatious is a neutral taupey brown that's not too cool-toned for warm-toned people. I actually expected this to be more grey, but it's more brown than anything else. It's not a brassy, bronzed, orangey brown though, it's a greyed out brown, the kind that I love. This one is really very work safe, and it doesn't have a hint of shimmer at all. I didn't like this as much as I should have - the pigmentation is not as good as the Bobbi Browns or the Stila, so with this particular colour you do have to go over the line a couple of times. It does last for awhile, but it does tend to get a little smudgy towards the end of the day - just a bit.

Bobbi Brown Black Mauve is a purply-grey-brown, another one of those colours that I could have a million of and still love. It has just a hint of shimmer that disappears once on your skin. I was disappointed by the case of the disappearing shimmer though, it was the shimmer that really got me excited. This one looks less interesting on skin than in the pot, unfortunately. The texture is also great, but the one I have is the "newer" repackaged gel eyeliners, in the clear glass jars rather than in the frosted glass jars, and it doesn't seem as nice as the other Bobbi Browns I have. It does have good staying power though - I've no problems with this.

Etude House Orgel Light Gel Eyeliner 04 (what is it with Asian brands giving their products ridiculously long names!?) is a beautiful, captivating colour - the kind you look at and just HAVE to have. It's a cross between a purple and a grey, with a really cool pink flash/duochrome to it. I LOVE THIS. It's neutral but interesting, and it's really glowly. Unfortunately, the texture of this is the driest out of all the gel eyeliners I have, and I attribute this to the terrible lousy packaging of Etude House. When I first got thi gel eyeliner, it was a little harder than my Bobbi Browns and MAC, but after a couple of uses it just slowly hardened. Now whenever I use it I have to dig my brush into it. Although the packaging doesn't keep the gel eyeliners moist, it does look really cute. I've included a few photos further down in this post, just so, you know, we can ooh and aah over the innate ability of Asian brands to be kawaii :P LOL OK I'm kidding, but the packaging is really very pretty, which is always a plus. Also the pigmentation on this is a little bit skippy, so you do have to go over your work again to really build up the colour. The good thing about it though, is that it stays forever on your skin. This colour is the most unique neutral I've ever seen in awhile, so I feel sad that it just had to be ruined by quality problems. I think it was also possibly limited edition, although I'm not certain.

Bobbi Brown Violet is very very pretty, it's a muted deep purple violet with shimmer, and it doesn't lose any of it's oomph even when it's on your skin. And it' incredibly pigmented, and glides on like butter. It also stays on for a really long time without smudging. The one I have is in the older packaging though, and I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

Bobbi Brown Indigo is blue, but it's not a screaming neon blue. It's a beautiful matte deep blue, more navy than indigo actually, since indigo implies that there is some purple to the colour, but this one has no purple at all. I'd have called it Navy instead, but I'm not Bobbi. Anyway, This one is also awesomely pigmented - you really only need to touch your brush to the surface - and also very smooth, and also really long lasting.

Last, but not least, Stila Jade Smudgepot. Now the Smudgepots are a bit of a hit-and-miss affair - some are really awesome, and some not so much. Fortunately, Jade is one of their better colours - very creamy, very pigmented, and really long lasting. I really like this a lot. It's also got gold shimmer in it which really amps up the colour. Beautiful. They call it Jade, but Jade to me conjures up images of minty green colours, no thanks to the ongoing Chanel Jade craze. Still, true Jade is indeed not really mint green but a bit deeper than that. I'd say this one is sort of a jade green with some emerald in it, because it really has that vibrancy of colour.

Anyway, that was a really lengthly review, wasn't it? But I'm not done yet! I said I would show you the cute Etude House packaging right?





Is that cute or what?! Cute pink plastic top (and they even put shimmer in the pink plastic! Talk about attention to detail!) with nice girly swirls and design...Unfortunately the pretty packaging doesn't do much to prevent drying up of the eyeliners - and I stored them upside down too! I'm so disappointed.

Anyway, here's an EOTD I did awhile back with the Etude House eyeliner. Unfortunately the lighting wasn't very good, and the pink flash seems to have disappeared, but here you go:



Wow, my eyes are really small and hooded, aren't they :X

And, that concludes this real looong post for today, finally! :)

Iman Wicked and Stila Diamond Lil: Are they Dupes?

If you've been a beauty lover for as long as I have, you'll probably have an opinion on dupes - you know, two eyeshadows that are supposed to be exactly alike, or two nail polishes that are exactly alike. Some people love them, because they allow them to get unique colours at cheaper prices, but some others don't buy into the concept, maintaining that true dupes are hard to find, and skintone dependant. As for me, I'm somewhere in between - but as a makeup lover, hoarder, and compusive addict, I can tell you that it's increasingly harder for companies to produce something truly unique. Often a 100% exact dupe is hard to come by, of course, but you get pretty close colours most of the time, and for much cheaper.

Case in point is today's comparison swatch post: Stila, who has acheived fame for their cult eyeshadows, and the much humbler Iman, which is only found in drugstores in the USA. Stila's Diamond Lil, the much acclaimed (and according to some, superior) dupe to MAC's discontinued Smoke and Diamonds, with a softer texture, is pitted against Iman's Luxury Eye Definint Powder in Wicked.

There are differences between the two from the outset. For one, the Iman is a loose eyeshadow, while the Stila is pressed. (I know that alone is going to help some of you ladies out there make your decision already!) And for another, the Iman is a lot cheaper.

But of course, dupes are all about colour and quality. So colour-wise, how did they fare?

Here are swatches:



L - R: Iman Wicked, Stila Diamond Lil

And because I'm all about gratituous photo-taking, here's another shot.



L - R: Iman Wicked, Stila Diamond Lil

So they're not 100% dupes, and if you are a true taupe lover (like yours truly), then you will NEED and absolutely MUST have both. But for the rest of us on a budget or who are just 'meh' about taupes, how do you choose between the two? Well, the Iman's Wicked is definitely less green than Stila's Diamond Lil, and as the photos show, it's a lot more brown. So a big factor colour-wise would be how brown or green your want your taupes to lean. It is in my experience that colours like these tend to pull greenish on warm-toned ladies, so if you're warm-toned, and you don't want too much of a green tinge to your taupe, go for the Iman. If you're cool-toned, you can essentially take your pick of the two since they're both pretty neutral anyway, but if you're so cool-toned that most browns look orangey on you, it might be better to head for the Stila. The Stila's also more frosty than the Iman, so for people who don't like frosty eyeshadows, the Iman might be a better bet.

Quality-wise, though, how did the two compare? I really like the Stila for its awesome blendability, and it has it's place of honour in my special Stila 6-pan palette reserved for my favourite Stilas (which also include Cloud and Rain...Ahhhh), and it does stay on all day, with minimal creasing. The Iman is a little trickier to use as it's in loose powder form, and goodness knows how clumsy I am, but it has pretty good pigmentation - I was impressed - and good lasting power too.

And one last thing to note, which is sheerness vs opacity. The Stila is sheerer than the Iman, sort of, kind of, in a way. Well, it isn't sheer per se, but it's more buildable. Because of how most Stila shadows are formulated, in my experience they tend to start off sheer but are very beautifully buidable to full opacity, kind of like Chantecaille. And Diamond Lil does the same thing. It's a little sheer at the very first brushstroke, but it definitely builds up well (as you can see from my swatches). The Iman gives off more pigment at first stroke. Of course, pigmentation is also a very personal preference, so if you prefer sheerer eyeshadows, go for the Stila. If you want greater opacity, the Iman might be better. The difference in opacity isn't very great though - I'm kind of splitting hairs for the sake of this comparison post. As I always do when it comes to great taupes. I swear that my 2342353 taupes are all different from each other. Really!

And that's it for today! I hope you guys have liked this comparison!