Monday, November 21, 2011

Update on Nails Inc.Trafalgar Square

I applied the magnetic polish last Wednesday at around 2-3 pm. To my surprise, it did not start chipping until Sunday morning. Normally, nail polishes do not last more than 3 days on me without chipping so this polish definitely lasted longer than usual. The effect of the magnetic polish did not fade at all in the 4.5 days of wear due to the top coat that I've applied. Without the top coat however, the magnetic effect kind of fades in about 4 days.

Overall this is a great nail polish and it gives such a "special" effect. Nothing I've seen any other company do. I've had my nails commented on constantly while wearing this nail polish and I do believe it is money well spent.  Even though it is quite expensive (at $18 CAD a bottle), the effects are truly different and the nail polish quality is up to par with other higher end polishes.


MakeUpAddictLa

Nail of the Day: OPI Simmer & Shimmer

Today I've decided to paint a glitter polish on my nails. I applied three coats of base coat (Butter London Nail Foundation) before applying the glitter. I hope this would make the glitter come off easier. 




Simmer & Shimmer is a very gorgeous shimmer polish with specks of silver, pink, and turquoise glitter. The colour is opaque with just one to two coat. In the pictures I've applied two coats to each nail followed by a fast drying top coat. I will update later on how this wears!

MakeUpAddictLa

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Nail of the Day: Nails Inc.Trafalgar Square

This is the new nails inc. magnetic polish from Sephora. The idea is that the magnet on the top of the lid will create a design for you. Here is how it looks!




The design looks a little more crisp in person than in the photos. I actually quite like the way it turned out! Application wise, it was very easy to apply and create the magnetic effect. One thing you have to watch out for is not to touch your nails while having the magnet over it. If you mess up, dont worry, just apply another coat and do it again! The steps in applying this polish are:

(1) clean nails and apply a base coat - I used the Butter London Nail Foundation
(2) apply a thin coat of the magnetic polish to all of you nails
(3) one at a time, apply a generous coat of the magnetic polish to each nail
(4) immediately put the magnet over the nail and swing it left and right a little just to make sure you get all the corners.
(5) do that to all nails
(6) apply a top coat and you are done!

It was simple and easy to do. I really like how it gave my nails such a nice design in such a short time. You can find this nail polish in you local Sephora or on the Sephora website. It costs $18 CAD or $16 USD which is quite expensive for a nail polish but again, it is something new and funky. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions feel free to leave them below.

MakeUpAddictLa

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Nail of the Day: OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue! and Last Friday Night

Two nights ago I decided to pair these two nail polish together and see if it would look good. What do you guys think?






I personally really like the effect the combination gives me. Last Friday Night is a very sheer glitter polish. I found it very hard to wear on its own. For that reason, I have never actually worn it since I purchased it with the collection. This combination gives me the chance to utilize this glitter polish. I think the combination looks like midnight sky with lots of stars! Very pretty and fall/winter appropriate!


MakeUpAddictLa

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Update on Butter London's Nail Foundation

As you might have seen in my Nail Of the Day, I wore the nail foundation alone as a nail colour about a week ago. I have to say, I was quite disappointed with the staying power of the product. The polish started chipping on the second day and by the end of the third day, it was so horribly chipped that I had to remove it.

Even though it is a gorgeous colour on, the lack of durability makes me hesitant on wearing it alone again. I really hope the foundation performs better underneath other products or I will regret the purchase!


MakeUpAddictLa

Nail of the Day: Spa Ritual Looking Glass + OPI Black Shatter!

Since today was my day off, I decided to do something a little different with my nails. Instead of painting it just one boring colour, I layered two polishes together: Spa Ritual's Looking Glass and the infamous OPI Black Shatter. I am actually quite fond of the final look!






As always, I topped my nail polishes with the Seche Vite dry fast top coat. It makes my nails super glossy and of course, dry instantly! I can't say enough good things about that top coat!

Doesn't my nails look exactly like the cap on the Black shatter? Black and silver definitely goes very well together =) Let me know what you think!

MakeUpAddictLa

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Review: Skin79 Super+ Beblesh Balm Triple Function (Hot Pink)

While I'm at it, I might as well post another review post that I have been meaning to for a long time. =) Yay for more posts? Yes?


So I purchased this BB cream about a year ago and started using it around April. Since late June, I have been religiously using this product EVERY SINGLE DAY as my base makeup (foundation) and I absolutely LOVE it. I purchased the smaller size product from Asia so instead of 30 mL it only has 15 mL. 15mL of this product lasted me 3 full months plus two - three months of on and off wear. I'd say that's pretty good for the price!

It claims to have a lot of skin benefits as well as SPF. Since I did wear this over the entire summer, I can definitely say that the SPF in the product prevented my face from any sort of sun damage from day to day. Obviously if I would be spending hours exposed to sun light I would wear extra SPF but for normal day to day, this product is an all-in-one for me. Even thought I did not see any visible improvement in my skin tone after using this product but I can safely say that it definitely did not harm my skin at all. The BB cream feels super light weight on the face and controls oil very well. This product holds up very well in the humid climate (I travelled to China where the daily temperature was between 40-46 degrees C).

I absolutely love the wear and the finish on this foundation. It applies smoothly, sets semi-matte, and wears beautifully. Now I understand that most BB creams only come in one shade and this one is not exception. I am between an NC 20-25 in MAC and this BB cream suits my skin tone perfectly. So perhaps you can use that as sort of a guide line. When you squeeze the product out of the packaging, it appears to be sort of a grey-ish colour, do not be alarmed, it oxidizes to your natural skin tone! The only caution I would say is that you should apply it 10-15 minutes before leaving the house so your face doesn't look grey.

This product is worth every single penny and all the hype. Definitely one of my all time favourite foundations!


Overall Impression?
Quality: 10/10 Um... AMAZING!!
Price: 10/10 I purchased this in Asia so it costed me around $5-6 CAD for the small size bottle
Packaging: 10/10 Vary easy to use and sanitary pump. One pump is the perfect amount
Overall: 10/10!! A perfect score!

MakeUpAddictLa

Nail of the Day: Butter London Nail Foundation



Sorry for being away for so long. To be honest, the only reason why I haven't posted in such a long time is because I lost the SD card for my camera so I couldn't upload any pictures =( But yay for new SD cards!!

Here's what's on my nails right now. I painted it yesterday afternoon.



I know it's not meant to be a nail colour but it does say on the back of the bottle that it can be wore alone! It is SUCH a gorgeous nude polish with a semi-matte finish. Funny enough this is actually my favourite "nude" polish of all time!

The sad thing about this is that even though I just applied it yesterday, it has already started chipping. I'm NOT impressed, especially for how much this cost ($21.00 CAD). I have not worn this as a nail colour base yet so I cannot yet comment on whether or not I think it's worth the price but I will definitely do a review very soon. So look out for that!


MakeUpAddictLa

Friday, June 17, 2011

Nail of the Day: OPI Do You Lilac It?

One of the colors I picked up early spring thinking it would be a good spring/summer color.




It took me two coats to achieve this opaqueness which is not bad at all. However, I find the colour a little too dark for spring and summer, not pastel enough? I don't think this color suits my skin tone as well as Panda-monium pink (last NOTD post).


MakeUpAddictLa

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Review: Peter Thomas Roth Sulfur Cooling Masque

This is one of the acne masks I tried during my breakout months. Definitely on the pricier end (about $55-60 CAD)but really worth the money! Here's the packaging:


It's just a light mint green mask that smells very strongly of sulfur. If you can't stand the smell, do not purchase this as the smell tends to linger on the skin for a few hours. As you can see, I've used quite a bit of this product.


Just applies like any other typical mask.



As it dries, it starts to crack, leaving a very tight feeling on the skin.


This mask definitely works. It claims it's an "aromatic medication masque with eucalyptus, sulfur and purified clay designed to exofoliate dead skin cells. Cleanses oily, t-zone, clogged pores. Dries and clears blemishes and helps prevent their return. "

The packaging says to not leave it on for more than 10 minutes for those with dry skin, since I do not have dry skin (mine is on the oily side), I tend to leave it on for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. I can say, without a doubt, that this mask works almost instantly. As soon as I wash off the mask, there was noticeable difference in the size of my acne. It definitely makes my skin look much better the next day.

I have had my tub for a little more than half a year now and I'm just about half done with it. This is definitely worth the money as it can last me at least one year. While my skin was breaking out, I used this almost every other day. Now that my skin calmed down (thank God!) I only use it once every one to two weeks and on the days where I need some pick-me-up. This mask saved my skin from severe breakouts!

Overall Impression?
Quality: 10/10
Price: 8/10
Packaging: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

MakeUpAddictLa

Nail of the Day: OPI Panda-Monium Pink

This is one of the newest additions to my nail polish collection. I decided to go for a mani and pedi yesterday and brought this for the Manicurist to put on my nails.






Such a gorgeous summer colour. It's a pastel pink/purple colour. I can see myself wearing this a lot in this summer! It took the manicurist two coats to get this finish and I am definitely impressed by the pigmentation.


MakeUpAddictLa

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Nail of the Day: OPI Teenage Dream + Black Shatter!

So I decided tonight to put my OPI black shatter nail polish top coat over the teenage dream already on my nails since the glitter polish was already starting to chip! Here's the final result:

I REALLY like the effect the black shatter gives my nails! The application process is a like a dream. The only thing you need to look out for is to apply a pretty even layer of the shatter. The thicker you apply it, the less it shatters. I like to apply an even thin layer to get the best shatter effect. The shatter top coat dries pretty fast but it kind of has a semi-matte finish to it. Personally I like my nails to look very glossy so I also applied my Seche Vite top coat on top of it.

Like mentioned, the application is super easy with the wide brush and it dries very fast too! Overall I really like the black shatter and I would say definitely get it if you have the chance. OPI is releasing another shatter collection later on this year so if you missed your chance with the black shatter, definitely check out the new shatter collection. I believe it comes in more than one colour!

MakeUpAddictLa

Friday, April 1, 2011

Nail of the Day: OPI Teenage Dream

Today I decided to put on the new nail polish I got from the Katy Perry OPI collection.



This is such a gorgeous glittery pink nail polish. It took me three coats to get the coverage shown in the pictures above. To my surprise, the polish actually dries a lot faster than regular creme formulas which is always a plus especially since I had to put on three coats. It dried completely within 5-10 minutes of applying the last coat.

I can't comment on the wear yet but the application process is definitely impressive. It has the famous wide OPI brush and it dries fast! Definitely check out her collection if you still can!

MakeUpAddictLa

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Review: DollyWink Liquid Eyeliner

This is the infamous Dollywink liquid eyeliner that everyone in the YouTube beauty community has been raving about. Due to the rave reviews all over the internet, I decided to hunt this down when I was in Asia in January. The packaging is super adorable- pink with purple poke-dots and bows. Here's a image of the eyeliner:


The tip is extremely fine and pointed, yet it's also sturdy which provides very precise lining when needed.


The ink is just regular plain black. It dries semi-matte without a glossy look but also not too matte to a point where it's obvious that you're wearing eyeliner. I quite like the finishL


The most amazing thing about this liner is not it's color, although it is a very pigmented black, but the staying power. This is truly a long wearing eyeliner that is smudge proof and water proof. Previous to taking the above photo, I had been smudging the liner on my hand, hoping to give you a before and after photo but to my surprise, the ink just did not budge AT ALL.

On those lazy mornings I would just slap on some of this liner and head out the door without priming my eyes. It lasts a descent 6-7 hours before it starts fading without any form of primer. With a primer, this thing lasts on my lid for 12+ hours. I have not experienced any smudging or flaking with this liner, it literally just stays put until you're ready to take it off. The liner comes off very easily with an eye makeup remover. I just gently put a cotton pad with remover over my eyes and the liner dissolves right away. No need to tug or rub your eyes. Here is a picture of my eye makeup with the liner after 13 hours of wear (applied at 9:00 am in the morning and photo taken at around 10:00 pm with no touch ups):

Please excuse my red eyes, they have been teary from allergies. In this photo I had on the MAC bare study paintpot as base, wash of naked lunch eyeshadow and the Dollywink eyeliner just quickly on the outer corner (very quick school makeup).

As you can see, although the liner is not as intense as it was when I applied in the morning, I have no complains considering this photo was taken after 13 hours. The eyeliner is definitely still visible and has not smudged at all on my lids.

This pencil is super easy to apply and gives a very crisp defined line. You do not need to be a makeup expert to apply this nicely. Very easy to work with and gives great results!

All in all, I absolutely LOVE this liquid liner. I bought it for about $8.50 CAD in Asia but I know people sell this online for slightly more. I personally think it's worth every penny and this is definitely one of the best eyeliners I've ever used. Highly recommend checking this out if you get a chance!


Overall Impression?
Quality: 10/10
Price: 9/10 (can get a little expensive trying to buy it in North America)
Packaging: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
!!!


MakeUpAddict.

Review: Biotherm Biopur Intensive Pore-Reducing Concentrate

I'm here for another review of an acne-type product. I'm actually just finishing my second tube of this and I've been using it for about three years now. Here's what the tube looks like:


The product itself is a semi-white cream that blends translucently into the skin.


On the Biotherm website, it says that: "Saponine water, with purifying properties similar to a natural soap, oil-regulating Copper and Zinc, and micro-ionized mineral powder with absorbent, ultra-mattifying properties are combined in an ultra-refreshing concentrate to reduce the appearance of visible pores instantly for an effect that lasts all day long"

I wouldn't say this product reduces the appearance of pores instantly, it sort of works over time. I started noticing a difference with my visible pore size after about 3-4 weeks of using it. Like its claim, this concentrate mattifies my skin throughout the day and it feels very nice and refreshing on the face. Definitely not heavy at all.

I used to use it just on my cheeks and nose as that's where I have the largest visible pores. During my breakout days however, I've noticed that those areas tend to not breakout as bad and realized that this product actually controls acne too. It makes sense that a product that purifies pores and reduces oil would also control acne. I've started using this all over my face, just a thin layer underneath my acne treatment and moisturizers and I really like the result. I think this product made great contributions to helping me clear out my skin.

This product retails for $40.00 CAD and contains 30mLs. On average, one tube of this lasts me about a year and I use it morning and night EVERY single day. I would say it's worth the price.


Overall Impression?
Quality: 8/10
Price: 7/10
Packaging: 8/10
Overall: 8/10


MakeUpAddict.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Nail of the Day - SpaRitual Looking Glass

This is actually not the nail color I have on currently but the one I had on during Christmas week.


I got this polish in a skincare store for only $5.00 CAD which is not bad at all. It is supposed to be all natural and good for your nails.

Gorgeous true silver nail polish. Personally I really liked how it looked. Definitely has a lot of holiday feel to it. I am however, aware that it kind of looked like I had tin foil on my nails. The wear is pretty good, lasted a solid 3-4 days before chipping. Very good silver nail polish!

MakeUpAddict

Sephora Haul!

This is what I bought from Sephora a while ago during their 20% off sale. There isn't much left since I have returned some products including the Makeup For Ever HD Foundation, Kat Von D Eyeshadow Palette in True Love, and Philosophy Hope in a Jar. This is what I have kept!


Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser. This is actually my skincare challenge reward which I'm really happy about since the current one I'm using is almost all done. Really nice gentle face cleanser.


Benefit Powderflage. I'm still not too sure how I feel about this product. It does set my under eye concealer and makes it feel smooth but I don't notice any difference in how my concealer wears. I also didn't see much brightening effect from this product. Not too thrilled about it but I'll keep trying and eventually review it.


The product itself is just a light pink powder with a little hint of shimmer.


Clinique Acne Solutions foundation. This product I LOVE. As mentioned earlier, my face has been suffering from breakouts for almost 4 months now. This foundation really saved my life. There will be a review coming up!


I'm in number 03. Just as reference, I'm about a mac NC 20-25.


Clinique almost lipstick in Black Honey. This product was so hyped about I just thought I would give it a try given the 20% off. After a few wears, I'm not too crazy about it but it is a nice lipstick especially for the winter. Just not all that special.


The lipstick looks almost black in the tube but applies super sheer. It's just a very wearable berry color on my lips.


Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel. I haven't tried this product yet so I can't really comment. Reviews to come!


As for the products I've returned, I'm just going to quickly talk about them.

Make Up For Ever HD: Did not work well with my oily skin which is really odd since I did use this almost a year ago and really liked it. Since it is not a matte foundation, it made my face really shiny after just 2 hours of wearing it. It does look good in photos but I did not like the way this felt on my skin.

Kat Von D True Love Eyeshadow Palette: The cream color dried out so I returned it. This is the case with many of her palettes. The cream always dry out relatively quickly. Otherwise, really gorgeous palette with great pigmentation.

Philosophy Hope in a Jar: I absolutely could not stand the smell of this thing! Make sure you smell it in the store before purchasing this. I'm sure it's a fine moisturizer but it made me feel sick smelling it =(


MakeUpAddict