Banila Co. Glam in the Dark F/W 2010 (2nd collection) eyeshadow palette

Gosh, what an enormous title that I have to write down to describe this product, and I haven't even written down 'review/swatches' yet.

Oh, hi again. Last week I had not blogged anything because I could not find anything to blog on that was blogworthy or had not been blogged about before. For the Banila co. eyeshadow palettes I always make an exception, because I often like their palettes a lot.  

Their second Fall/Winter 2010 collection has more than the palette I picked up: a couple of eyeliners, two lipsticks and a lipgloss and a mascara. The Mineral Baking Pact is probably a repromotion of the same product, only in a beautiful sparkly eggplant case.

I found the blush to be incredibly hard to resist as well, but you can understand with an uncountable collection of those cheek-perkifyers I just could not justify on splurging on another one.

Don't mind the Korean spelling...kind of funny name pun: a products that Blurs-her (it blurs her into looking beautiful).

I am happy with the palette only. The holographic letters are embossed on the eggplant purple case, which give it a winter-luxury feeling.

The colour composition is based on rather earthy colours. So I would not call it a festive period palette but more suitable for daytime looks.

The composition is of 3 shimmery colours and 3 matte colours.

The first three on the left: A shimmery mauve brown. A matte purple brown colour and a matte cream colour.

The right part of the palette. A matte camel colour, a shimmery taupe brown and a semi-shimmery deeper brown colour.

I really wanted the palette for the Camel colour only, because the A/W fashion scene is filled with camel coloured clothes and now I have a matching eyeshadow to pair up with.

Swatches with Too Faced Eye Insurance as a primer:

 

With this selection of colours, finishes and textures I noticed a couple of differences.
First, the shimmery colours have the best texture that I am used to of Banila Co.'s palettes. However, the difference between the mauve brown and taupe brown are not that big. It might be difficult for the untrained eye to see a difference.

The darkest brown on the right is ok, but has not the best velvety texture ever.

I absolutely like the matte colours for shading and highlighting, and the cream colour is wonderful for that unnoticably bit of highlight. As for my favourite colour, camel, I found it a bit hard to swatch. I hope this will be better on the eyes. However, matte eyeshadows often are a bit more difficult to use.

The only matte I really appreciate texture-wise are Becca colours. Not that I have tried a lot of matte colours, but I prefer Becca matte eyeshadows over MAC, for example.

There are some awesome swatches on this Korean blog as well, so check them out if you want to see them (here)

Overall, it is a lovely palette with a lot of potential for people who are into neutral type of colours. It does not really scream 'festive season' or 'glitterparty' but that is absolutely ok. I mean, some days you just want to have a neutral and toned-down healthy look in between all of the debauchery of the festivities.

I bought this palette on gmarket.co.kr over here for ￦25,000 ($ 22.42- excluding shipping). I did not get the gift, but I cannot read Korean so there must be a special cause that spells out what to do for a gift.

Brow-sing Etude House goodies: Etude House Color My Brows in Rich Brown

I have to be a tiny bit strict on myself for showing my readers my latest Eude House haul, and absolutely not reviewing my favourite product of the bunch. Ok, I will be mellow on myself, because I had to test it for a couple of days to see if it really is...(to use a 1990s expression)...all that.

By the way, I love the nineties, especially the music...that eighties stuff was just a pre-warmer for the nineties. I liked the grunge, the new ravers, Friends..and Clueless ofcourse...

Oh, and the nineties had the natural brow look going on...Somehow this strong brow is coming back.

 

Etude Color My Brows comes in a paper foldable packaging.  If you are a person who likes to keep the packaging with their products, then the packaging will not really be so handy to you. Simply, because a box is easier to carry around.

Gladly, the instructions are clearly illustrated with animation pictures. I might miss an instruction because I cannot read Korean at all, but the animated instructions are clear.

1. Brush in the product in the opposite direction of the growth of your eyebrows, probably to get the colour evenly distributed around the hairs.
2. brush and style your eyebrows in the right direction.

The backside has some information in English as well:

Description of the colour I picked, and an alternative description than the one that was shown on the picture before.

Color My Brows has a mascara wand type of form. It is a relatively small tube with 4.5 g of content.

The brush is in a form that is wider in the middle and smaller on the ends.

Do we call that a cone-shape?

The colour is a neutral mid brown with a tiny hint of warmth in it. It does not contain obvious reddish tones, but it has a tiny bit of lustre and sparkle in a golden undertone. I like this a lot, because I have tried some ashy, cooler browns and they do not match my slightly warm brunette hair at all. I would still qualify it more of a neutral than a warm.

Etude House CMB in 01 Rich Warm: golden shimmers and a neutral mid brown tone

 The wear of this product is delightfully light. Still, it is able to tame slightly stubborn eyebrows in a more manageable form, without feeling that you have put some heavy gel-like product on it. 

It colours the hairs of your eyebrows. In my case, they turn a notch darker than they were before. So, it is quite Caucasian friendly (that sounds weird, but I have light skin with light eyes so I cannot do dramatically dark brows). I think it would suit a variety of complexions/skintones of people who dye their hair a bit lighter, because I do think the pigmentation of the colour is strong enough to lighten up the original colour of the brow.

I believe it will look quite natural on blonde caucasians or redheads too. I say that because most eyebrow wands often look too dark on me, and this one looks natural when applied with a light hand. However, they have a lighter shade in 2, light brown, which might even suit natural redheads and blondes even better. It just depends on how you would like to see your eyebrows, stronger and deep or naturally defined.

I often come across as a bit of a glitter and glimmer phobe, and that is often the case when I want to wear natural makeup. Anyhow, the glimmers are not visible as glimmers when wearing this on the eyebrows. It is simply that bit of lustre that you might see.

Who will like this product? 

Well, me! In general it will be suitable for when you want a bit of definition on your eyebrows, but do not want/need/or have time to use a eyebrow pencil to pencil in the shape of your eyebrows. Or, you can add the eyebrow wand as an extra fix of colour (and fixation) after you pencilled in your eyebrows. It suits people who want to have a relatively lighter eyebrow with a neutral undertone. It is also a quick way of fixing the brows, so it is time-efficient.

I bought my Etude House Color My Brows in Rich Brown on gmarket (here) for ￦6,000 ($ 5.57). I have also spotted it on ebay but the seller has a low positive feedback rate, so I will not give you that link. (still, it is your risk to take so feel free to look it up).

The infamous mr/ms kittyhead

After months of doing the "should I, or shouldn't I" debate I finally ended up with the infamous Kittyhead lipstick of Paul & Joe.

That is Clair de Lune, the mauve based nudish lipstick.

I thought it was too wonderfully weird to pass it up.

It was finally available on ASOS, and ooopsss...it somehow got added to the rest of my cart. Isn't that strange how these things just jump in your cart? ;p

The good thing about waiting for such a while is that you will be able to read plenty of reviews on it. I have to agree with most of them, that it is a really sheer lipstick, even for my liking.

Doesn't matter, the oddity factor makes it fun.

I will use that lip brush a lot with it, avoiding it to loose its head...(pun intended).

Pouting nudely: Etude House LucidDarling Lipstick in 11 Barely Beige.

In my last Gmarket haul I was reasonably taking some advantage of the Etude sale that was going on. And when it comes to Etude, the LucidDarling lipsticks have been one of my favourite items. Ofcourse, when the colour is right, and I am quite picky when it comes to lipstick shades.

The latest release that was added to their already existing LucidDarling range was colour no. 11 in Barely Beige. I browsed the internet and the Etude House Korean site for some swatches. I found some (although I cannot link directly to them) and I was in the middle if it would suit me or not. Well, with that sale going on, why shouldn't I try it?

I love the nude lip-look! For example, the next picture.

She reminds me of 90s supermodel Helena Christensen, btw.

Now I disgress! Well, what I want to say is that a nude lip is something I normally do not reach for a lot, even though I love the look.

Reason: you either have to be utterly naturally gorgeous (example above), have a volumous pout or have that fantastically good base makeup with a dramatic eye-look.

I am normally too lazy to layer on a heavy dose of makeup. Oh, I am not a natural beauty either and lacking a bit of pout. Nude lips can make them look invisible. Noooooo do for me! I need that bit of pout to stay visible...

You probably know how the LucidDarling's packaging looks like. I have been blogging too much about this, so I continue to the colour.

The colour is a brownish beige. The close up shows the colour a bit better.

Aww, where did that tiny smudgy came from? Well, I already spoiled it virginal state by swatching it for the blog and testing it on my pucker, but I would love to have it flawless for the blog picture. (pouts my nude pukker).

The swatch on my pale arm. (vampire alert...gosh, I'm a pale person)

One of the things I love about this lipstick is that the pigmentation is so strong without leaving out that lovely sheen. Sometimes those heavily pigmented babies can come across like these matte and sheenless products. This is not glossy, but a glowy lipstick.

Weirdly, it looks a bit pinker on my arm and on the picture than it does in real life. You might even wonder why I describe it as a nude?

And you are right. I think it might be a less nudy colour on someone else than me. I have that bit of flush on my mouth, so everything that hints toward beige will go nude coloured on me.

For example, the wonderfully acclaimed MAC Hug me! That is a YLBB (Your Lips But Better) on lots of girls, but a NLAW (Nude Lips and Worse) on me.

So, do I like this colour. Oh, I am not really sure. As I said, I have that flushed lip state, so when the lipstick wears a bit off on the sides, or I open my mouth, the contrast between my natural state and the paleness of the nude looks a bit too much.

That makes a nude lip colour even more high-maintainance to me than, ohhh lets say, a sassy red or a vampy maroon shade.

But I know that the LucidDarling is quite lastproof, so that will diminish the constantly looking in the mirror and applicating new lipstick process.

I bought mine on gmarket (over here). It retails for 9000 won or $8.24 at the time of writing.

Birkie got mail

I finally got some interesting mail today....

Fellow fans will probably recognize this box by a blink of the eye. Yes, it is Gmarket!

How could I have been enthousiastically blogging about an Etude House sale without indulging a l.ittle bit myself? Well, I have to do my blog duty in order to shop something form the sale as well...that is only fair to my readers....;p.

Since I never tried anything from their nail polish line, and I was craving some new hues, I had to buy their latest colour in G 011.

This is an incredibly complex colour: Think a Khaki brown with hologram glitters.... I certainly have nothing like this in my collection, and believe me...I stopped counting since I reached a 100 bottles of nailpolish.

Look at the close up of the bottle...that is sparkling rainbowy goodness inside! It is the perfect combination of a autumn murky colour with a splash of happy colour inside!

A novelty item: the latest eyebrow definer!

I picked up a new colour from an old favourite of mine: LUCIDdarling lipstick.

I went for something I see on lots of fellow bloggers, but normally skip myself: False lashes!

I picked the clear line from the Wonder Volume collection. Etude House falsies have been receiving some good reviews online. Well, I normally do not wear falsies but they probably come in handy on when I want to drama-it-up during clubbing!

Ok, and they had a good deal: so I could not skip upon a new palette of eyeshadow colours!

This is from their LUCIDarling Fantastic Gradation Eyes collection. I picked no. 5. That is a new colour for fall. Still, it would be new for me anyhow, because I have never tried their LUCIDarling eyeshadow palette range.

Etude House made no promises about goodies or extras, but I received this wonderfully big package of cotton pads.

I also received a sheet mask...

I do not have any reviews for you yet. Well, I have to say that the nailpolish is too gorgeous for words. I haven't been this delighted about a nailpolish in ages!

Newly Arrived: Illamasqua Art of Darkness 4-Colour Liquid Metal Palette 02

It's alter ego time

Yes, I have been indulging modestly in some of the collections released for this autumn. The modesty part has not been too easy,  however, I decided to pick out some newer things from the fall items released instead of constantly repeating buying similar products and colours.

Well, Illamasqua often has a way of making novelty colours and items.There has always been an element in their brand that I found to be quite innovating and attractive. The whole idea of linking to that dramatic 1930s era of decadence and drama. The idea of skipping the whole 'natural-but-not-really-natural' makeup look, which I often like for daytime purposes (and many people with me), but actually can be quite uninspiring when you really want to dazzle.

Weirdly, I had been skipping their Autumn 2009 release based on their name: Distopia. I kind of like my utopias, even if they would stay only a dream of bliss. Unlike that, I was quite drawn to the 2010  'Art of Darkness' description...Darkness is alluring...a tad dangerous but also a period of new interpretation of things. 

Further on, I really like the colour scheme that Illamasqua composed for their Art of Darkness collection.

One of the products that was top on my lust-have list was the 4-colour Liquid Metal Palette in 02. It was not directly released with the other items from the collection, so I had to wait eagerly for a couple of days before ordering it.

When it arrived I was slightly amused by the black, curly snippets in the box. It resembled a bird nest of a bird of prey, or a kind of prehistorical/sci-fi future birdlike figure that flies around in the art of darkness.  So, my first picture I wanted to place the palette in that birdness as a sort of egg...

Illamasqua Art of Darkness in its nest

 I love the packaging because of its green overglow on the black packaging. I do not want to throw it away, even though it has no use in storing it.

Backside has the fantastical description behind Art of Darkness. Oh, I see that they discuss the mythical things (ha ha, there are those bird-like figures I mentioned) and Elixir of Life....Ohh, Elixir of Life...

Illamasqua Art of Darkness 4-colour liquid palette: "do not use on lips"

 So, what has come out of the eggs?

These are absolutely the type of metals that appeal to me. It has a darkened teal, a rusty gold, a beautiful maroon and a cobalt-blue shade.

Illamasqua Art of Darkness 4-Colour Liquid Metal Palette 02: inside

Up close my still virgin-like palette
.
The cobalt-blue:

 The rusty gold:

 The reddish maroon:

 My favourite one: the darkened teal

 The swatches:

swatches

I have no review to write about the palette yet, as it has just arrived and I haven't been able to test its endurance (etc).

Illamasqua 4-colour liquid Metal Palette 02 is available on their website, and it will probably be released at the other distributors such as ASOS.com and beautybay.com soon.

5 new things I would like to have...

Writing a beauty blog means that I try more cosmetic products than the average person around. There is just something about the lure of a product that has HG potential (holy grail), even though you are perfectly satisfied with the things you already have.

Although I can be lured easily in buying something that I fancy, I still have certain wishlists around for things that look quite interesting, but are

1. quite expensive or are financially not the best thing to do
2. unneccesary (most of my buys are unnecessary, so that excuse does not really work, although some products are even less necessary than others).
3. require difficult strategies to order 
4. am not certain about if my skin would tolerate/like, or if it would flatter me...etc.
5. have a waiting list...
6. has gotten mixed reviews
7. are from a brand I haven't had any success with in the past...

Still, they are interesting enough to remain on my wishlist.

1. Kose Addiction Autumn 2010 blush in Gorgeous

Yes Factor:
I have had good experiences with Kose Addiction before (posts here). And after seeing the online colour picture of Gorgeous, I think I am smitten: it is that certain mauve/rosy colour that could suit my complexion perfectly.

I am also enticed by the blush in Good Girl. Oh lord, I think I want all the eyeshadows as well! For the Lady Gaga lovers there is even a colour named Bad Romance in a shockingly matte purple. Still, I think I would skip the Bad Romance and go for the smoky Twig.

And this time I am not too critical over the promotion picture. The collection is London-themed, so it actually makes a bit of sense they put a rock-chick kind of girl on the promo picture. Although, one of my favourite bloggers, old cow from worshipblues, is a Londoner as well and she would make an awesome rock-chic too. And it makes sense, fashion bloggers are having a larger say in the collections of the grande fashion house and get bags named after them, so why not putting our favourite beauty bloggers as the faces of cosmetic products?

No or maybe factor:
Price: This blush is Expensive with a capital E. And what if there are chunky glitters in it, or the colour is not what I expected it to be. Oh, and don't I already have a thousand of these colours yet?

2. Tigi Catwalk Sleek Mystique Straight Collection.

yes factor:
I have straight hair. So depending on my need I want to pretend it is either curly or wavy, or even get that extra-straight look that was fashionable a couple a years ago (straightening irons, anyone?). It would be blissfull to create that poker-straight look that girl is sporting on the promo-picture without those damaging thongs...

no or maybe factor:
Gosh, how many hair products can a girl have? I need to finish at least one product in order to excuse myself from making another hair-product purchase. And which product to take? All of them? And what if it is a craptastic product again?

3. Edward Bess eyeshadows (or actually the whole line)

Yes factor:
One of the more Niche brands that has been popping up at the beauty blogosphere lately. The eyeshadows are available in six neutral colours, that I like. The swatches online look fantastic and covet-worthy.I have read that they are extremely suitable for the ladies that aren't in their twenties anymore, so a flattering eyeshadow is something covet-worth

no or maybe factor:
 The price. The lack of colours and the dupe-ability of the colours. I am also afraid they will not show up on my eyes. It's perhaps a bit too niche for me. Or worse, I might love it so much that I want to buy the whole collection, something my wallet would not really recommend.

4. Madara tinted Moisturizer

Yes Factor:
You can see it on the promo-picture: it has that whole meadow-type of wholesome-ness. I actually want to be that natural-looking girl with her flawless skin and dance in the summery meadow with her probably perfectly handsome and flawless boyfriend.

And the ingredients:
 Baltic St.John's-wort, plantain, chamomile, algae and rose water, as well as cocoa and jojoba.
 Wow, St. John's worth is a natural form of prozac, so I might even get chirpy by wearing the moisturizer!

It gets even worse: this blogger is so enthousiastic about the tinted moisturizer that it is almost impossible to resist. And darn, the reviewer is a model as well, so she must get offered or made up by lot of products so she must know something about all types of foundations and tinted moisturizers.

No or maybe factor:
Price, ofcourse. And something I mentioned before in previous posts: I think the review I mentioned before is absolutely fantastic, but honestly, that girl would look good with her face covered in the cheapest and most unflattering makeup ever. They would even make such a look trendy when she is wearing it. I like to know if it looks good on real girls with flaws (which makes it a yes factor again, to buy it in order to find out/review for the blog).

5.  Burberry Cape trench jacket.

Yes Factor:
Capes...getting in touch with my superheroine side that must be somewhere. And Burberry, what is the epithome of style by owning a Burberry jacket. It is also Fashionable with a capital F.

No or maybe factor:
This jacket has DREAM ON written on it. I won't even mention the p-word again...it is the ultimate expensive item that I cave, and so impossibly obtainable that I placed it on the end of my wishlist. I might mention my blog birkinbagbeauty, but I haven't even got a midge of Jane Birkin's financial means or the wardrobe she probably has acquired over the years...
He he, a girl can dream, can't she?

Well, what are your wishlist items for this autumn? And why have you been slightly hesitant of buying them?

Banila Co Autumn 2010 Love Affair palette in F07

After showing you some of the lip-products of Banila Co Love Affair line last weekend, I can finally move to the Pièce de résistance of the collection. What else to be incredibly excited about than the gorgeously laced palette.

I have been a huge fan of Banila's palettes since my first buy. One of the things I love about the eyeshadows in the palette is their buttery texture, which makes it glide over your eyelids. It is vibrant after application, even without a base, and makes it fuzz free for carrying around.

For non-Korean readers, the back of the pallette is probably not really informative. Most information is written down in Korean.

Now honestly, I often skip the promotion information written on the back and I rarely look at the ingredients of makeup either, because I trust the bigger makeup companies for not letting me put on any toxins on my face.

Still, with any penetrative product, such as creams/lotions/serums/ect, I DO read the ingredient list, because my dear old skin is really picky and often reacts quickly on lots of chemical and even natural elements. And although I probably do not react on Parabens, I often get that icky feeling when parabens are included in a cream.

The packaging of the palette is really gorgeous and is absolutely suitable to carry around and for making your girlfriends a bit envious. The pinky bronze surface with that beautifully deep bronze lace motive, it is absolutely delightful!

However, the content has to match up its exterior. And as I said earlier, I have been liking Banila's texture of eyeshadows in the palettes, so I would probably not be dissapointed in this purchase.

(Although, sometimes a company decides to 'make over' their products and meddles too much with an already suitable products, so it actually dissapoints compared to the earlier version).

Although I have been happy with Banila's quality of eyeshadow, I often have found some colours not really suitable for my colouring or I could not find it to be age-appropriate (obvious glitters? No no no)

But the rave continues, because I am absolutely delighted with the composition of colours in the palette.

I have made some close up pictures, which is in the same order as the palette.

First, A dark mauvy brown laced with gold shimmers....Next to that one, a softer and lighter lilac mauve.

In the middle: a beige shimmer that probably works as a highlighter on any browbone (or other places you would like to highlight). And a whiter, more matte, vanilla shade that is the more subtle kind of highlighter for that "Look-I'm-naturally-pretty-and-I-do-not-wear-any-makeup-at-al"-look.

At the right: the smokey ladies. They do not really match up with the warmer side of the left and the middle, but they are fantastic for making that quick and sultry smokey eye that you often like to create for a date or night out.

Now to the swatches:

It seems like the left side of the palette starts of as suitable for persons who like their shades warm, the middle are quite neutral and light, and the right side are silvery and smokey.


I am intrigued how the silvery colour (no 5) has that green undertone, that makes it more interesting. I find this colour the most unique in the palette, and I believe I do not have such a shade yet.

Pigmentation-wise, they did not dissapoint (gladfully). Although the 4 shade in the Vanilla colour is not as pigmented as the other ones. That is something I encounter in most palettes, that one or more of the colours seem to lack pigmentation.

Perhaps you can even find more representative swatches on the same side I have linked before: here.   Click on the small 'Love Affair' label, and then you will get on a page with the title 'event'.

This is a winner palette for me! And even though my real life is lacking any love Affair of importance, I can continue to stay enamorated with the beautiful colours and the gorgeous packaging of the palette.

I bought this palette on Gmarket over here.