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Like I’ve said in the previous post, I am not a fan of lipgloss/lipsticks. I guess, that’s the reason as to why I rarely feature any lipstick/lipgloss into my posts. However, since I was given the opportunity to try Balm Shell lipgloss, I’ve to feature it!

Balm Shell squad gave me a bunch of goodies, which I’ll show you in the pictures below. I was particularly interested in the lipgloss (they carry cheek stains as well) since it seems that the lipgloss was the only product that they carry in the beginning. So, they gave each one of us 1 lipgloss and 1 cheek stain of our choice. I chose “you give me fever” because it’s a very pretty colour..lol..and it has a nice scent to it.

Anyhow, check the pictures below for what they’ve gave me and swatches and review of the lipgloss

Verdict on the gloss:

Pretty colour, not as sticky as other brands, nice sweet smell, very moisturizing to my surprise, last pretty long. I’m very happy to say this is becoming one of my favorite lipgloss to wear on a daily basis. The fact that it’s NOT STICKY and VERY MOISTURIZING is very important for me. I hate wearing lipgloss because they’re sticky, but not this one! It has more pluses too, since it’s paraben and petroleum jelly free! <3

Thanks to BalmShell for giving me their products!

Again, this is my personal opinion and experience only! I am not paid by them to feature their products.

Filed under: makeup tutorials, Product Reviews Tagged: balm shell you give me fever lipgloss review, balmshell cheek stain review, balmshell lipgloss review, balmshell smear campaign review, balmshell you give me fever lipgloss, lipgloss that’s not sticky, non-sticky lipgloss, paraben free lipgloss, petroleum jelly free lipgloss

Today’s tutorial is using Maybelline EyeStudio quad palette in Sapphire. I thought it’d be a nice look for the “Alice” request. It’ll be a darker version of it. I think the inspiration comes from the soundtrack “Tea Party” by Keri. In her music video, she used blue smoky eyeshadow. I’ve done a few other blue smoky look, so definitely check those out on the search bar on the right hand side.

Anyways, I actually am impressed with the quality of the eyeshadows. They’re very pigmented. I know, probably you won’t be able to see the white/silver based as much due to the reflection from the flash (white reflects light), but I can assure you, it’s very pigmented.

I’ve prepped my face with foundation and set it with powder (incl. the eyelids). Click on each pics for description

Products used:

Foundation – MAC Studio Stick foundation

Powder – MAC Blot powder

Eyes – Maybelline EyeStudio in Sapphire

Mascara – Maybelline XXL Curl Power

Eyeliner – Maybelline gel eyeliner in black

Blush – MAC Fleur Power

Lipstick – Revlon Nude Attitude

Filed under: makeup tutorials Tagged: alice in wonderland inspired look, blue, eyestudio, maybelline eyestudio blue, maybelline eyestudio sapphire, silver

This is another requested look, and I thought I’ll combine it with the Eyestudio collection. BTW, I forgot to mention. All of these looks that I posted (and will continue posting), if it is under Maybelline EyeStudio, I’m entering it for a contest.

If you guys can PLEASE HELP ME BY VOTING FOR MY TUTORIALS HERE http://www.facebook.com/maybellinenewyork?ref=ts#!/maybellinenewyork?v=app_400454985567&ref=ts I’ll really2 appreciate it! IF I WIN, I’LL BE GIVING AWAY THE EYESHADOWS TO 3 LUCKY WINNERS ( 3 eyeshadows/person)

So, please please please VOTE FOR ME!

Anyhow, to get the tutorial started, I’ve prepped my face with foundation and set it with powder. I used only the “Green with Envy” quad palette from the EyeStudio collection. Next time, I’ll post tutorials where I’ll use more than just 1 palette. But I think this tutorial and the previous one will be good if you’re only interested in having just 1 palette.

Because, the description of each photo will not show up in Maybelline NY Canada fb page, I’ll write it out below the pictures.

1) Apply champagne colour eyeshadow to the inner half of the lower and upper lid, and the light green to the outer half of the upper lid. Blend just where the 2 colours meet with a clean blending brush

2) Apply the dark green eyeshadow to the crease with a clean blending brush. Then, apply the bronze eyeshadow to the lower lid.

3) Apply winged liner with Maybelline Gel Liner and an angled brush, then using whatever is left on the brush apply it to the outer half of the lower lashline and waterline. Apply Maybelline Curl Power mascara on the upper and lower lashes.

4) Apply Bodyshop rose blush on the cheeks. For the lips, I applied Laura Mercier cream blush in Apricot and top it off with MAC Partial to Pink lipgloss

Filed under: makeup tutorials Tagged: bronze, champagne, eyestudio, green, green with envy eyestudio, maybellin eyestudio green with envy, maybelline eyestudio green, pixie inspired look, tinker bell inspired look

I don’t know if any of you noticed a broken quad palette amongst the others…It’s like the ugly duckling! I can’t helped but fixing it! I can’t stand broken eyeshadows…lol..Anyway, the tutorial will be helpful if you have broken eyeshadow/blush

What you need:

1) Spatula or anything that you can use to scoop the broken eyeshadow

2) 99% alcohol in a spray bottle – you can get 99% alcohol at shopper’s

3) Tissue (or Kleenex, as the Canadians called it..=P)

How to fix it:

1) Scoop all the broken pieces back to its container – try to scoop as mucha s possible

2) Flatten them if they are soft enough

3) Spray alcohol at it until it’s wet enough for you to make a paste or damped enough for the shadow to turn into a semi-liquid – not in the powdery form anymore

4) Flatten with spatula

5) Grab a tissue/kleenex and place on top of the broken eyeshadow

6) Press on it until most of the alcohol is absorbed

7) Leave it overnight

No description under each photo since I already explained it step-by-step above..:)

Filed under: Makeup Tips Tagged: broken blush, broken eyeshadow, how to fix broken blush, how to fix broken eyeshadow

A little while ago the winners were drawn for the Return to Osaka Giveaway. They are uneautre and Janet!

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who entered; there were more than twice the entries of my first giveaway!

Filed under: Giveaways Tagged: Aromaleigh, EOTD, Eye of the Day, Giveaways

I decided to give Sephora one last chance to respond before firing off a disappointed letter/email to someone higher up on their corporate ladder. The following is the email I sent last night, from the email address I had used for my third email.

Once again I am requesting an ingredient list for the Sephora Collection Nano Eyeliner Pencils. I have requested this information previously on March 1st, 20th, and 26th, but somehow did not receive any response yet. Thank you.

Today, I finally got a response…from a robot?

Dear [Shatteredshards],

Thank you for contacting Sephora.com.

We would love to answer your questions about Sephora Collection Nano Eyeliner.

Ingredients:
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), Candelilla Cera (Euphorbia Cerifera Wax), Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Glyceryl Ricinoleate, CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), Cera Alba (Beeswax), Cera Carnauba (Copernicia Cerifera Wax), Cetyl Alcohol, Myristyl Myristate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Unsaponifiables, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Ammonium Glycyrrhizate, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Talc.

To find what’s new in Brand Boutiques, brands, products and beauty, visit our Beauty Central section of our website.

If we can assist you further please feel free to contact us at www.sephora.com.

Sincerely,

[name removed]
Sephora.com Client Services

They couldn’t aknowledge they had ignored my other emails, or apologize for the lack of communication? Even if they’re not really sorry, they couldn’t just pretend to be for 3 seconds?

It’s too bad; turns out I can actually use those eyeliners, but since it took me 6 weeks to find out the ingredients so I could be sure, I won’t be buying any, or anything else from Sephora.

Filed under: Review Tagged: Review, Sephora

I am extending a challenge. Your mission? To create an EOTD/LOTD inspired by this image:

photo credit: John Soong

I know what I would do with it, but I want to know what you would!

Filed under: Inspiration Tagged: Inspiration

This mad fun look is especially made for the Easter time. I’ve noticed that I skipped this topic before because it doesn’t appear in my repertoire. Do you know that I wanted to become a children’s book illustrator in my school days, by the way? I guess, that one can deduce this fact after having seen [...]

It’s time to say farewell to two other residents of my make up rest home. I’m very sad about the loss of Signor Fabiani, who was a wonderful shimmery white e/s pen. He worked great as a base for many of my fun looks. Thanks so much for your loyal services!

Unfortunately, I can’t cry about Ma’am [...]

Hi sweeties! How are you? I pretend to be serious again after the ironic post about my used up stuff. But believe me, it’s too hard now. I’ve seen my younger cousin yesterday and we had lots of fun. We always foolish around when we meet. Yep, I’m very happy today and I can say that [...]

This is a collaboration between me and Shino. Shino is a dear friend of mine, a fashionista and a lovely young man. He’s a fashion blogger and he have an amaaazing blog that covers runways and stuffs related to fashion. Today, we’re collaborating an inspired look based on the Proenza Shoulder Spring 2010 rtw. Check his part out right HERE or at shinosjournal.com/

For makeup, the look is very fresh, very dewy and youthful. Face is clean and skin is showing through, not much going on, very subtle and neutral. Some have stronger eyes than others, some have just a wash of colours on the eyes, some have stronger brows, others have bleached brows, some have no lipstick, some have nude others have a little bit of gloss

I’m doing an inspired look, not trying to copy the look exactly.

The look is pretty dewy, so those of you who’re interested, you can mix MAC Strobe cream with your foundation. I don’t know where I put my strobe cream..lol..prolly in my makeup kit.

Descriptions under each photo

Products used:

Foundation – MAC Mineralized cream foundation

Eyeshadow Primer – MAC Bare Study Paint pot

Eyeshadows – MAC Ricepaper, MAC Bronze

Highlighter – MAC Mineralized skinfinish duo

Blush – Benefit Dallas

Mascara- Dior Iconic

Eyebrows – Anastasia brow wiz

Other products: MAC Fix Spray

Filed under: Makeup Trends, makeup tutorials, Runway inspired Look, Spring Tagged: bronze, proenza runway look 2010, proenza spring 2010, spring makeup

Hey there,

Okay, so after Tamara became obsessed with the Shu Uemura eyelash curler, I decided to go out and buy one myself (click on the space nk link  in the box on the left->).

I thought that i should do a review of the curlers too – a second opinion can’t hurt…

Oh my lord – it is hard to describe the true amazingness of these eyelash curlers. My eyelashes practically reach my eyebrows and thats without mascara. Today i had 7 compliments about the length of my eyelashes and all i had on them was 1 layer of collection 2000 mascara. The curl also holds for hours – I curled my lashes at 7am and was still getting compliments at 5pm.

I really do swear that these curlers are miracle workers, but with any eyelash curler people ALWAYS end up with an obvious line where the curling happened and this extremelly annoyed me so I made it my task to find away of not getting this crimp mark.

Now I know that it’s less obvious you’ve used a curler (and you get longer lashes) the closer to your eyelid but your lashes to change shape so the line will be obvious somewhere.

When you curl your eyelashes instead of just holding them still, (shu umera ones need 5ish) you should open and close the curlers repeatedly for about double the time. Okay, so it may take just a few seconds longer but the results really are visible. Your lashes will look more natural yet still sky-high at the same time.  This technique is used by the best makeup artists too, and is one of my favourite tips.

Here’s a link where you can buy them online at Space.NK : Shu Uemura Curlers

Subscribe for more reviews, tips and tricks of the trade!

Charlotte

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Hey there,

Thought i’d do a random post on a new brand – Space.NK are teaming up with ‘Lime Crime‘, a fun and unique U.S. makeup brand! ’So Bright, It’s Illegal!’ is their tagline, and i couldn’t agree more. One look at the homepage of the website, and i knew i was in for a crazy ride.

At the moment, all that’s for sale on the online store are lipsticks and glitter pigments but, you can see a fuller range of products if you pop into Space.NK in April, which is when they’re being launched. I’ll do a mini post when it’s officially launched as soon as i know

Now, the website raves about how highly pigmented their products are, and in the ‘makeup tips’ section, they say most of the reason why some eyeshadows don’t look good on and why they crease is because they’re low quality, as opposed to their high quality pigments/eyeshadows which is completely true!

From what i can see on the ‘Lime Crime‘ site, the eyeshadows are called ‘magic dust‘ and with each colour comes a enchanted/fairy themed name and story to go with it.

For example, a gorgeous coppery-orangey magic dust called ‘cleopatra‘ has this story to go with it:

Eighteen year old Cleopatra is banished from Egypt. To sneak back into her castle, she devises a brilliant plan. She is rolled inside a golden rug – a supposed gift for visiting Caesar – and smuggled inside by her faithful servant. Once in Caesar’s quarters, servant unrolls the rug to reveal the stunning Cleopatra. Caesar is impressed; not only is Cleopatra bold and cunning, but also undeniably beautiful – much more so than the rug she arrived in. By morning, Caesar pronounces Cleopatra the Queen of Egypt, and the couple begins their scandalous affair which will change history forever.

The one i’ve set my eyes on is ‘fairy wings’ magic dust. The story goes something like this…

Fiona was ashamed of them. She hid them under her shirt, tucked them behind a bra, and even tried to bind them against her body. If anyone else had them, they weren’t this big. Such were her thoughts when she heard plaintive cries of a kitten and horrified gasps coming from a crowd. The house was engulfed in flames with the kitten perched on a pipe on the third floor, as the helpless owners stood beneath. As the neighborhood looked on, Fiona unfurled her wings for the first time. As she descended with the rescued kitten in her arms, she knew there was no shame in being a fairy.

The ‘magic dusts’ retail at $12, so i’m guessing they’ll be around £8-£9 here. And the lipstick – don’t get me started on them! They retail at $16, so i think they’ll be around £11-£12. Ranging from bright blue to lilac to pastel pink to striking red, there isn’t a crazy colour you can’t find here! My favourite so far is ‘Centrifuchsia’ (pictured to the right) with this lil’ story:

She sighed and scribbled more notes in her lab book. Calina was absolutely determined to find the answers hidden in these samples. Modern scientific advancements had accomplished many glorious things– bioluminescent lanterns lit the town in an array of gorgeous hues, hologram clothing and jewelry provided anyone and everyone with the most glamourous means of self-expression, and unicorns danced gleefully through meadows and city parks. Yes, with a fragment of DNA recovered from a sample preserved in a glittering glacier, scientists had reintroduced unicorns to the world! But now they were suffering from a mysterious genetic anomaly. She fired up the shiny Centrifuchsia 3000 (even the lab equipment was aesthetically pleasing these days) and got back to work….

Overall, i’m fascinated by this wonderfully unique brand, and i’ll definitely by buying and trying it at Space.NK this April!

Until then, check out their website at : http://www.limecrimemakeup.com/

And you can also check out the Space.NK website at : http://www.spacenk.co.uk/

Subscribe for more reviews, tips and tricks of the trade.

Tamara

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When a smaller, indie company treats us poorly, we tend to avoid doing business with that company, even after just one bad experience. Why is it that when a large company doesn’t value our business, we keep running back?

I have had bad experience after bad experience with Sephora over the years, mostly amounting to complete lack of customer service at my local store (there’s nothing like being completely ignored by all employees on the floor when the store is virtually empty), but it was so easy to walk in and browse when I was already at the mall. Only recently did I start having a more positive experience after I explained, in detail, how poor the customer service is at my local store via the standard online after-purchase survey. I thought things were turning around, and I was feeling better about shopping there.

At my last visit, I came across some eyeliner pencils I hadn’t seen before, the Sephora Nano pencils. They’re smaller, like the mini Urban Decay 24/7s that come in sets, come in quite a few colors (greens and blues, yay!), and are a relatively small investment at $5 each. They seemed just perfect for someone like me, someone who loves playing with color but doesn’t get to wear makeup often and probably won’t ever use up a full-size green eyeliner pencil.

One problem: there were no ingredient listings on the pencils.

Or the display.

Or sephora.com when a couple employees went looking for me.

With my petroleum allergy it is extremely important I confirm I’m not painting mineral oil around my eyes before I find out the hard way – via burning hives and blistering. So I thought I’d contact their customer service via the website contact form. The page states they will respond “within 24-48 hours,” so I figured, why not? And on March 1st, I fired off an email.

Two days came and went. Two weeks came and went.

I searched my inbox, my spam folders, everywhere. I was still getting Beauty Insider emails though, so maybe it was something else. I wondered if I had typed the wrong email address.

On March 20th, I visited the contact page, intent on sending another email. My email address auto-filled from Firefox thanks to my previous visit to the contact page, and it came up correct, to my concern; that meant that my first email had been ignored. I sent another message.

Then I waited. A week. And received nothing. Again.

I sent this message on March 26th around 9:10pm (GMT-5), with a different email provider for my contact information:

I am requesting a copy of the ingredients lists for the Sephora Nano Eyeliner Pencils. I have requested the ingredients previously, but I unsure if they were filtered out by my spam filter as I have not received a response. Thank you.

Unfortunately, listening to someone prattle off a number of chemicals over the phone eliminates the possibility of using Sephora’s 1-877 number, and calling said number to ask someone to email me seems redundant.

Also unfortunate: it’s March 31st and I still haven’t received any response.

Filed under: Miscellaneous Tagged: Review, Sephora

So so so..Spring is almost here..lol..almost, because it’s Canada..one day warm, the next day cold..Anyways..I’ve a bunch of requests coming in and I don’t know which 1 to do first. So, I thought this post might benefit a few people who are attending wedding party in summer. As the guests, we, obviously do not want to steal the bride’s thunder by looking prettier than she is..(jz kidding)..lol..

Anyways..so, the makeup should be kept light and bright so we look as lively as possible. I like using the colours in this tutorial because it’s neutral and it matches any dresses colour, or even the wedding colour theme (if they have any). The look is not over the top, very subtle, refreshing and youthful, good for day and night. There’s a little bit more blush in this tutorial than usual, just cause I think the blush makes a difference in the look. If applied correctly, the blush can lift up the face and makes it look youthful

Products used:

Foundation – CoverFx liquid foundation

Powder – MAC mineralized powder

Eye primer – MAC Paint Pot Bare Study

Eyeshadows – MAC Honey Lust, MAC Woodwinked

Highlight – MAC Brule

Eyeliner – MAC chromaline in black black

Mascara – Dior Iconic

Blush – NARS Orgasm

Lipgloss – Clinique “mango”

Filed under: makeup tutorials Tagged: bronze, day makeup, gold, light makeup, makeup for party, makeup for prom, makeup for wedding, neutral

So! I’ve received this question sooo many times from models, mostly, and from clients as well. This is like the number one concern that I always hear:

“I can never find a good foundation that doesn’t make me break out” – model (she shall remain anon for nw..lol)

My answer to that is: CoverFx foundation

Reason why I’m using CoverFx in my bag for everything: it was originally made for people with skin problems. I’m not talking just acne, but also rosacea, sun damage, tattoo, melasma and vitiligo. The coverage is amazing

I’ve never heard of anyone complaining about breakouts/sensitivity whenever I used CoverFx on set or during a makeup job.

Now, I know that the mineral foundation is also making a huge thing. To be honest, I’ve never tried any mineral foundation except for MAC Mineralized cream foundation. The coverage is good, the foundation is very creamy, it blends nicely. I have yet to try it on other people. so I don’t know how their skin reacts to that. I know lots of people use bare minerals or body shop mineral powder, but I don’t find coverage on that foundation so I didn’t even bother buying it.

CoverFx also offers mineral foundation, FYI. I’ve never used it, but I know my best friend who was on Accutane and she used it. She loved it.

go to www.coverfx.com for more info on their products and prices

If you’re in Canada, you can find CoverFx at Shopper’s Drug Mart or Sephora

Here’s my previous post on CoverFx liquid foundation review – http://kireimakeup.com/2009/11/25/product-review-cover-fx-liquid-foundation/

I am NOT being paid/endorsed to advertise CoverFx. This is my personal experience and opinion using CoverFx.

Filed under: Makeup Tips, Product Reviews Tagged: coverfx foundation review, foundation for acne, foundation for rosacea, foundation makes me break out, foundation to cover tattoo, makeup for sensitive skin, sensitive skin foundation

Hey there,

I recently bought ‘Absolutely Alice’ by O.P.I, which is a sparkly blue nail polish.

I was really struggling to get it off, when my mum gave me a great tip: put another nail polish on top of the one you can’t get off, and it should come straight off! So, I tried it, and it really worked! There’s no trace of it on my nails, and it was much easier than scrubbing it off with nail polish remover.

Do you have any tips for us? Feel free to comment below…

Subscribe for more reviews, tips and tricks of the trade.

Tamara

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