Review & Swatches: Makeup Revolution Reloaded Palette in Division

I was originally so excited for the Makeup Revolution Reloaded Palette in Division because people were talking about how it's similar in shades to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture Palette. With this palette being only $7, I decided to take the risk. Division contains 15 shades for a total of 0.58 ounces and can be purchased through the links below - 

• Makeup Revolution
• Ulta

As a side note, I've also seen this palette referenced as the Iconic Division Palette too.

Review & Swatches: L'oreal Colour Riche Paradise Enchanted Eyeshadow Palette

It's actually been some time since I was excited about a drugstore eyeshadow palette. There's many wonderful and amazing budget beauty products out there, but I haven't had the greatest luck with mainstream drugstore eyeshadow palettes. I'm not even sure why I was so drawn to this palette, but the colors looked beautiful and fit the trend of rose gold / red / warm palettes that have been so popular lately. The L'oreal Colour Riche Paradise Enchanted Eyeshadow Palette contains 0.25 ounces of product and retails for around $15 through the links below -

• L'oreal
• Ulta
• Amazon
• Walmart 

Review & Swatches: Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Légèreté et Expérience

Chanel released a new palette on Black Friday and it's a beautiful matte quad reminiscent of my favorite Chanel Palette - Candeur et Expérience. I even wrote a review of it about a year ago here! Personally, I feel like Légèreté et Expérience is the lighter sister of Candeur et Expérience but it's mostly because there are two light base shades instead of an almost even gradient of three browns and a red. The Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Légèreté et Expérience is a limited edition palette that retails for $61 and as of today (12/8/2018), is only available on the Chanel website here.

Swatches | Dipping into Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomades

I've been using the Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow on and off since its launch, but I never really thought about writing a post about it until now. I remember not liking this product when it first came out, but I'm pretty sure it's because I was using way too much.

If you're one of my blog followers, it's been awhile. Hi! I've essentially moved over to mostly doing eye / makeup looks on Instagram and I've found that the DipBrow is one of my preferred products to use. In real life, I heavily rely on tinted brow gels like the Glossier Boy Brow though since they're easier and quicker to use.

Review & Swatches: Esqido Gel Eyeliner Pencils in Black and Brown

I definitely fell off of blogging. My bad.

Anyway, the Esqido team very kindly reached out to send me the Gel Eyeliners in Black and Brown* for free so that I could use and review them. If you're a long time follower, you might've noticed that the Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayons are some of my HG liners. I have watery and somehow also dry eyes and the MJ liners stayed amazing and awesome through all of my eye issues. Even so, I'm always on the search for good eye liners and gel eye pencils have stayed my preferred choice.

The Esqido Gel Eyeliner Pencils retail for $16  for 0.5 grams of product and as of 10/28/2018, they're on sale for $12 each as a special launching price. There's also currently only two colors - Black and Brown. Esido's claims include intense color payoff, ultra-smooth glide, and waterproof, long lasting lightweight formula.

Bronzed & Glowy with Liquid Bronzers

Just like liquid blushes, liquid bronzers have become another obsession. While cream products are still my jam, liquid products can feel thinner and are sometimes easier to use. There aren't that many brands that carry liquid bronzers, but I think I've found some amazing picks from drugstore to luxury price points.

Makeup Look: Constance Wu & Molly Greenwald for Harper's Bazaar Singapore | #ArtistAppreciation

In the past year or two, I've started to follow a lot more professional makeup artists and their work. With makeup artists on social media like Instagram, their product lists and general advice have become more accessible to me and I love it! I think because of that, I've started to really pay more attention to "professional" work vs. just "Instagram" makeup. No offense to Instagram makeup especially since I also love it, but I don't know how to explain it. There's something about the work and skill of makeup being applied on other people that is awe-inspiring. I can only apply makeup to myself and so I love seeing, reading, and learning about what professional makeup artists do. 

But long story short, I'm starting a new series involving recreating makeup looks that have inspired me.

The first one I'll be showcasing is the makeup look done on Constance Wu for Harper's Bazaar Singapore by Molly Greenwald. I actually didn't realize that some of the makeup products were listed on the magazine's website here. I usually stalk the makeup artist's social media to find out and didn't think about Googling the magazine until after I recreated the look. 

Also going to say right now that I did put a beauty mark on my chin to copy Constance Wu's beauty mark. I also had a lingering acne mark there and so it worked out to accentuate it. 

(Liquid) Blushed Beauty

I've never been a blush wearer and could count the number of times I would wear blush in any given month on one hand. I could never figure out placement and I always felt like it looked like too much on my face. After only wearing the Etude House Ginger Cookie Blusher* (review here) and NARS Blush in Luster for years, I decided to take a chance on the NARS Liquid Blush in Luster. Such an adventurous choice!!!! /s

I didn't like the color of the liquid version of Luster on me or the packaging, but it opened my eyes to a different formula type that might be better for me. Around the same time, I also got the Glossier Cloud Paints and they instantly became a favorite that helped me become more comfortable with wearing and applying blush. 

Besides the EH Ginger Cookie Blusher and NARS Blush in Luster, I only wear liquid blushes now and I'll be talking about the ones I've picked up throughout my journey in this post. Something to keep in mind is that I like to only have a hint of color for blush. I love sheer or sheer buildable formulas and so a non-novice blush user may have different opinions than me for the products I'm going to talk about. 

Cream Depotting Adventure & Favorites

I'm a huge cream product lover and over time, I've collected way too much. Awhile ago, I saw an Instagram story from PaleCanvas involving some depotted some cream color sticks and it inspired me to also depot some of my cream products. Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of premade face palettes but the idea of all of my favorite cream products in one palette really intrigued me. While there are some favorites in my palette, I didn't depot all of them. Some of my well loved cream products are too loved and so I didn't have enough to fill a spot and keep some in the original packaging for traveling. 

There's actually a little blob of foundation in the upper left which is the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Stick Foundation and that's way too expensive for me to fill up. I couldn't put it back into the stick and so I left it there to use as actual foundation, concealer, or to help clean up any makeup mishaps.  

This post is going to be very long and so instead of doing a mini review of each product, I'm mostly going to touch on how the products "reacted" to being depotted.

For this palette, I bought the MAC Pro Palette Large (here) and 12 Pan Insert (here).

Flutter Away w/ The ESQIDO Peaches & Cream False Lashes

ESQIDO recently reached out to me to see if I wanted to try out one of their false lashes and I very happily agreed! I've started to experiment more with false lashes and so it was perfect timing. I ended up choosing the Peaches & Cream style from the Unisyn Lashes range for my free pair to test out and they also sent me the Companion Lash Glue. 

I first heard about ESQIDO's  False Eyelashes a couple of years ago when Mink Lashes were all the rage and ESQIDO was often mentioned for having gorgeous Mink Lashes. Since then, they added the Unisyn Lashes which are all synthetic but still have that very natural tapered lash like Mink Lashes. The style I will be reviewing is Peaches & Cream and they retail for $22 here. The Companion Eyelash Glue retails for $10 here and is latex free. 

Mascara Madness ft. Glossier, Milk Makeup, Kiss Me Heorine Make, and Lancome

My current Holy Grail mascara is the Maybelline Falsies Push Up Angel Waterproof Mascara, but I'm always interested in trying out a new mascara. I ended up picking up a couple of new mascaras lately since I just finished up a tube of the Maybelline Mascara. Some of them are new to the market, but I also picked up an older mascara since it's pretty popular in the #stubbonstraightlashes community. Hopefully this post will help you either find a new favorite or learn what to avoid!

March 2018 Monthly Recap

I recently started to focus on new makeup again and ended up trying a lot of stuff during March! Some of my birthday month purchases trickled into March as well and so it was a pretty fun testing month for me.

Nailed it! ft Sage / Muted Green Nail Polish Shades

I have a thing for teal / mint shades in general but it's not often I find more muted sage shades. They're usually more blue based or maybe just a mint green with a fancy new name, but I've found two recent releases that I couldn't be more happy about. One is a more high end and the other is more affordable, but they're close enough that I would've been happy with just getting one. More is sometimes more though and I'm glad that I have both 😄

Eyes on Nars Cosmetics ft. the Wanted and Danger Control Palettes

Ever since I bought the NARS Glass Tears Palette (review here), I've been really into getting more of their eyeshadow palettes. Unluckily for my wallet, NARS released two more palettes that seemed to be right up my alley. 

Review & Swatches: Glossier Lidstars in Moon, Slip, Cub, and Herb

I guess I'm on a liquid eyeshadow roll since here's another post that will be featuring the recently released Glossier Lidstars! These shadows are supposed to be a "one-step eye enhancement" with a "wash of soft, glistening color that lasts all day." When the promo shots were released, I saw a lot of people worrying about these being outside of Glossier's norm of minimal/barely there makeup but I would say that they're still on brand and fit the "long-wearing eye glow" Glossier describes them to be. In this post, I'll be reviewing and swatching Moon, Slip, Cub, and Herb.

Each tube contains 0.15 oz / 4.5 mL of product and retails for $18, but there's also a duo option for $30. The links are below! Disclaimer - I am a Glossier Rep and if you choose to purchase through my affiliate link, I do get a small percentage of the sale. 

• Affiliate Rep Link for 20% off your first purchase
• Single listing (non affiliate)
• Duo listing (non affiliate)

Review & Swatches: Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzer in Bronzer, Sunkissed Bronzer, and Deep Bronzer

The Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzers are one of the most hyped up drugstore bronzers I've heard about in awhile. I haven't been as interested in drugstore face products from some time besides maybe foundations and highlighters but I feel like the last super hyped up bronzer I remember was the NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Powder. When the Butter Bronzers first came out, there were only two shades - Light Bronzer and Bronzer. In late December, PF released two darker shades - Sunkissed Bronzer and Deep Bronzer. In this post, I'll be reviewing and compare Bronzer, Sunkissed Bronzer, and Deep Bronzer. Each shade contains 0.38 ounces of product and retails for about $12-$15 depending on where you're buying it from.

Shimmering & Glowing with the Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eye Shadows

I apparently forget about all of my product reviews and rediscovered these photos last week 😅 By the way, Stila splits up eye and shadow but I usually spell it as eyeshadow so you'll see me switch between the two in this post. 

The Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadows were one of my favorite products from 2017 and I was so excited for the Shimmer & Glow version. The Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eye Shadows are a long-wearing high shimmer liquid eye shadow and while they might swatch fully pigmented, there's supposed to be a translucent base that's packed with a "pearl" sheen so that they still have a sheen even when sheered out. Each shade contains 0.153 ounces of product and retails for $24 through the retailers below -

• Stila Cosmetics
• Sephora
• Ulta
• Beautylish

Review & Swatches: Marc Jacobs Beauty Shameless Youthful-Look 24H Foundation SPF 25 in Medium Y320

I received this foundation as a PR Sample / for free from Influenster and Marc Jacobs Beauty.

The Marc Jacobs Beauty Shameless Youthful-Look 24H Foundation SPF 25 in Medium Y320* is the newest complexion product from Marc Jacobs! It's supposed to be a self setting natural finish foundation that gives you a youthful and health appearance for 24 hours. It retails for $46 dollars here and contains 1.08 ounces / 32 mL or product.

February 2018 Monthly Recap

I'm going to be changing up my monthly favorites post a bit by doing monthly recaps instead. I haven't been wearing as much makeup compared to previous years and so I don't really have that many new favorites. I also don't want to be too repetitive and so I wanted to incorporate my "Meh" products in which I do like, but don't love, and "Dislikes."

Makeup Bag Makeover #4 ft. Etude House, Physicians Formula, and Life's Entropy

I actually did the two week usage for this post about a month ago, but then I got caught up with my non-blogging life to finish the post. I mentioned doing a drugstore or affordable beauty Makeup Bag Makeover in my previous post in this series, but I wasn't intending it to be this one. I have been buying more affordable brands though and wanted to fully test them out before doing my Affordable Beauty week on my blog and Instagram.

Review & Swatches: Bobbi Brown All Over Glow in Sole

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics has certainly caught my eye lately! I recently purchased the Bobbi Brown All Over Glow in Sole during the pre-sale but I believe it's now officially launched. According to their website, the All Over Glow has a Squalane infused luxurious skin-illuminating formula that helps smooth away the look of fine, dry lines and leaves the skin soft to the touch. Currently, the All Over Glow in Sole is available on the Bobbi Brown website here for $39.00 and contains 0.41 fl oz / 12 mL of product. 

A Splash of Moisture ft. Glow Recipe and Son & Park

Last year, I heard so much about the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask and Son & Park Beauty Water. Recently, Glow Recipe brought out the Pink Juice Moisturizer and Son & Park brought out the Beauty Filter Cream Glow as follow up products. 

Both are supposed to be moisturizers but I've found that they're not hydrating enough for me just by themselves. As a reference, I have combination skin with an oily t-zone and dry cheeks. I mostly focus on purchasing glowy and dewy skincare products to keep my face looking bouncy and youthful. I'll just be doing a mini-review on both items as well as some comparisons in this post. As a disclaimer, I'm not well versed in skincare. Most of my feelings are based on how my skin ends up looking and feeling versus the ingredients in the product. 

2018 Empties & Reverse Rouge Update # 1

This year, I'm attempting to really acknowledge and be aware of my spending habits. I've started visiting /r/MakeupRehab and /r/PanPorn on Reddit and logging my empties on a spreadsheet so that I can track my "Reverse Rouge" progress. I found about Reverse Rouge through Reddit and it's basically using up $1000 worth of product. There weren't really strict rules, but I took inspiration out of this and tweaked it to my preferences. Everyone's situation is different and so I really wanted to tailor this to what I wanted it to be especially since I knew if there were too many rules or strict, I would 100% give up after a few weeks. I'm also tracking my spending on the same spreadsheet but on a different tab, but that's a bit harder since I usually lose my receipts before I can add the items I've purchased.

Favorites: January 2018!

I thought I would be more tired of Favorites, but I ended up using some amazing products during January. I also bought so many new things near the end of 2017 and I'm slowly making through those newer purchases. I've been lazy on work days to do anything more than a wash of color on my lids using a cream eyeshadow, but I've really focused on my base. 

Eye On Luxury ft. Burberry, Tom Ford, Charlotte Tilbury, and Marc Jacobs

I forgot that natural lighting can make things look so pretty. 

Over the years, I've started to get more and more luxury items especially in the eyes and lips categories. I used to go for more unique shades because I thought if I was going to drop that many bills down, I should get something really special! Now that some years have passed, I've started to think the opposite. I now feel like if I'm going to invest in something, it should be something I would love to use everyday.

With that changed mindset, I'm going to be talking about some really expensive products that are 100% dupeable but still gorgeous and amazing in formula. If you want to spend some money for something fancy, I would consider some of these picks!

Re(a)d My Lips with YSL Beauty

One of the things I really enjoy is personalized items. Since my name isn't a standard Western name and my english name isn't the standard spelling (Hanna vs Hannah), I'm always looking for things that I can put my name on. When I found out that YSL does free engravings for their lipsticks, I immediately bought some lip products! It was definitely a splurge since YSL lip products are pricey in general, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's my early birthday gift to myself. 

Red lip products are pretty much my nude / every day color and so I chose some red shades from formulas I've tried and enjoyed before from YSL Beauty. 

I purchased the products below directly from the YSL Beauty website -

Volupté Tint-In-Oil in 15 Red My Lips

Tatouage Couture Liquid Matte Lip Stain in 09 Grenat No Rules

Volupté Tint-In-Balm in Touch Me Red

Makeup Bag Makeover #3 ft. Dose of Colors, Charlotte Tilbury, Fenty Beauty, and Lilah b

I'm going to tweak Makeup Bag Monday to be Makeup Bag Makeover instead since I don't really want to change up my posting schedule yet. I'm playing with posting three times a week again, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with that amount of content. Let me know your thoughts though and if you have any blog post suggestions too!

For this Makeup Bag Makeover, it's more focused on what new products I just purchased during the end of 2017. I bought so many things in a small time frame that I really wanted to set aside some time to focus on a small handful of products at a time. I chose to make it more base focused and got something simple for the eyes.

Review & Swatches: Bite Beauty Multistick in Almond

I actually forgot that I never posted my review of the Bite Beauty Multistick in Almond. I've mentioned it here and there and wear it pretty often and so I thought my review was already up. The Multistick can be used on the cheeks, lips, and eyes and Almond was one of the shades I knew I would wear in all three places. With mid range / high end products, I want to feel like I'm getting the most of my dollar and so this formula seems to match that criteria. There is 0.17 ounces / 4.75 grams of product and it retails for $24 at Sephora.

Review & Swatches: Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation in 5, 6, & 7

I stopped by a Nordstroms that had a Charlotte Tilbury counter recently and couldn't help myself from picking up the Light Wonder Foundation. I'm a huge fan of dewy foundation and I heard that this is one of the best foundations in that category. The Light Wonder Foundation is targeted towards those with dry or normal skin and the claims include minimizing the appearance of pores while giving you the look of smooth and illuminated skin. This foundation will also help keep your face feeling hydrated for up to 18 hours. When I was first color matched, I was told that #7 would work the best for me but I ended up purchasing #6 online instead. 

The Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation contains 40 mL / 1.4 fl. ounces of product and can be purchased through the links below for $46 -

• Charlotte Tilbury
• Nordstrom
• Beautylish
• Bergdorf Goodman
• Bloomingdale's

2017 Favorites: Lip Products

Lipsticks are pretty much my weakness and I've found some true winners during 2017. I've taken a huge step away from matte liquid lipsticks ever since my weird lip allergy and found more moisturizing (but probably still matte) lip products. Like all of my other 2017 Favorite posts, I'm going to be wordy and so I'll just jump right in!

2017 Favorites: Face Products

2017 was the year of dewy skin and natural glow for me. I put away a lot of the high shine / metallic products and instead opted for glossy and natural sheen. I also discovered some powders to help control the shine I would get from being oily while still keeping that natural looking glow. 

2017 Favorites: Eyes & Brows Products

I've finally had some time to sit down and start writing down my favorites. Besides lipsticks, I also have a million eye products and so it was pretty hard for me to narrow down what I loved during 2017. I didn't include some all time favorites like the Charlotte Tilbury Color Chameleon Color Morphing Eyeshadow Pencils or the Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliners, but I still have a pretty large list of products for this post.