Surratt Lipslique in Perfectioniste

Everything lipstick is always permitted in love & war

Or for my 2nd Surratt I picked a lipstick with the quintessential name Perfectioniste:

It has been described as a 'Pinky Rose' which is an easy 'me'-colour. Or, it has been for a couple of years. Lately I venture i
on newer lipshades that are different from the inoffensiveness of rosy nude. For oldtime sake, and the heck of comparing it with my other rosy ones, I took this one:

I cannot think of any product-hoarding, newbie-curious beautyblogger who is not slightly a perfectionist at heart. A beautiful Dior lipstick: so nice, but that latest edition of Chanel might be better for that specific occasion.

My lastest precious lipstick falls into the thin & portable form.

We've seen a black tube before, but a closer look shows a graduation between a matte and a slightly glimmery surface. It twists up at the bottom.


The colour of my new lipstick did not dissapoint.

Though it looks like your average peachy pink, it has a vividy blue-pink dimension that shows in the swatches.

The formula feels a bit waxy. Now I'm spoiled to bits with cushiony lipsticks. In this case, comparing will do too:

I'll keep it a bit more specific and bring in the names & numbers (& repeat swatches later):

1. Christian Dior Serum De Rouge - No. 740 Rosewood Serum
2.  Mac Slimshine Lipstick Intimidate
3. Lavshuca Moist Melting Rouge RS 2
4. Shiseido Maquillage moisture rouge rs305

5.  Marc Jacobs Beauty 110 Role Play

6. Chanel Rouge Coco Shine 52 Fetiche

7. Lavshuca Moist Melting Rouge PK 6

8. Benefit lipstick Um Um Uh

9. Giorgio Armani sheer transparant lipstick 10

 

 So let's do the swatches again:

1. Dior 740 is a different hue (brownish rose) but I put it in to show a different opacity compared to Surratt: Dior feels creamier instead of waxy and covers the lip better.
2. MAC Intimate is a hint cooler than Surrat, also with a dewier look.
3. Lavshuca rs 2 is rosier and is my favourite formula of all lipsticks featured.
4. Maquillage has a more nude/rosy tone.
5. Marc Jacobs RolePlay is the sheerest one and feels light but not too moisturizing.

5. Marc Jacobs Roleplay, as before with a sidenote of it looking less pink and more mauvy/nude.
6. Chanel Fetiche has more of a mauve/rosy undertone.
7. Lavshuca PK6 is a rosy nude with no real pink notes
8. Benefit is another mauvy/rosy MLLB
9. Armani 10 is a brownish rosy with a sheer untertone.

What makes Surratt Perfectioniste so cool is the way it lights up pink in certain light, and looks like the demure MLBB in other light:

Airplane view!

Conclusion: Sweet & different enough with that cheeky pink glow.
 

Talking about lipstick & war (more here):

I just love these glossy posters

Eye Prime me up: Kanebo Kate Lash Maximizer Black vs Diorshow Maximizer lash Plumping Serum

Out with the new, in with the newer! 

 That might sum up the review I will bring about on 3 eyelash primers. There's actually an old one too, but it performs similarly as the newer, only in a different colour.

For reviewing sake let me introduce: Kanebo Kate Mascara Base, Kanebo Kate Lash Maximizer Black & Dior Diorshow Lash Plumping Serum.

Starting with 'old': Kanebo Kate Eyelash Base. It has been on the market for more than 6 years. Eyelash primers have only taken a more prominent role on the Western market recently but they have been favourite tools among Asian lash-afficionados for a longer time. I only know it for about 6 years but it has been a miracle tool for keeping my curl and having made-up lashes.

Recently Kate introduced a newer version of the lashbase that I reviewed here. I picked the white version that I used up quite efficiently. Afterwards I went for the rave-reviewed Western Diorshow Lash Maximizer.

Though lovingly moisturizing for my lashes, it did not keep my eyelashcurler-primed lashes into a decent curl.

Thus out with the new...in with the newer:

Comparing the different brushes & colour of the primer:

My oldest version of Kanebo Kate Lash Base comes with a straight but soft-haired brush. The formula is supposed to be totally white, but sometimes I transfer the black of the tightliner into the tube again. I do clean up my brush after priming by removing everything with a tissue, but sometimes a tiny bit of black eyepencil stays on and it turns into a greyish mass. That's also a reason I replace eyeprimers oftenly, for hygienic reason.

As said in the earlier review: I love how it performs. Length & keeps the curl in it's form. The only thing is that you have to coat every lash with mascara afterwards to stop the white base from appearing. 

That's when the newer version Kate Lash Maximizer in Black makes such a fantastic primer: you can either plump up your lashes with extra mascara or keep the coat for as it is.

Kate Lash Maximizer Black has a sparse amount of fibres included. They are fewer than in the white version of the Lash Maximizer's series. That might be a relief for people not liking over-fibre-ish bases.

As for the black colour: it appears rather glossy on the eyelashes. Perhaps not the blackest of black but I do think it appears in the truest colour most mascara brands would market they colour 'black'. Only few brands like Hourglass Film Noir make an inky black glossy version that almost glistens from your eyelashes; the rest somewhat varies in colour and gloss factor.

The brush is a classic, slightly bend one with synthetic but bendable hairs. The formula holds up really long: I'd say it hold like a waterproof version. At least, the base survives a shower whereas the 'topping' mascara on top lovingly merges on my cheeks. So I suggest a good waterproof mascara cleanser for removing every trace.

Which brings me why Diorshow was not really into my alley: I already mentioned the formula not lenghtening my lashes enough, nor keeping my curl in place. Then there's the brush:

Brushes are a matter of taste and perhaps of the type of eyelashes you have. I never really liked the plastic brushes with their short but stiff ends. That is precisely the type of brush on the Diorshow Lash serum.

On the positive side: it removes a lot easier than Kate's formula. I guess that makes it perfect for lashes that are easier to be curled/already curly. 

I cannot say too much about the lash-serum effect. I've used it too sporadically to notice a difference.

Conclusion: I prefer the cheaper & more effective Kanebo Kate and love the new black version of it.

Colour Coordinating Corals

Summertime! Coral-time!

There is something about corals looking better in summer: they have this uncomplicated air that goes as light as your summerdress.

Still there's something about summer that gets me into a complicated mode: the ingenious structure of coordinating layering will fall away (like the layers); thus, I colour-coralinate!

 

So let's do the clique-ing...Summer also means more cliques in groups of friends, etc. I've been grouping up my corals based on compatibility...It's almost like the tables of a summerwedding:

Group 1: the Flushed Corals

The conversation starter is my precious Jadilla J My Ball Cubical Face blusher in Shinny Peach 2 -> and no, these spelling errors don't come from  Rosé-inspired blogwriting but they are adorable Koreanglish. So why do I have to giggle with 'my ball'? This Cheeky fellow is NOBB [NARS Orgasm but Better]. There is the perfect mixture of peach & pink, but the glitterfest has been left out. (original review here). 

I hope I've nailed the setting by adding Essie Plaza Sweet to this group. It's slightly a deeper pink than Jadilla but they have the glowy gold sparkle into them.

An eye for detail, MeowCosmetics is a mineral makeup company who're easy to sample: Paddle Pink absolutely matches. I hope it won't be too boring with so much compatibility!

Group 2: the Everything's Peachy's

 I want to keep it dusky by starting with MeowCosmetics Clawset Case: it's the mysterious one...Essie Anniversary Gala is the equivalent of the bubbly girl: She is perfect on her own but will add a sparkle to another. My latest rediscovery has been Lunasol Creamy cheeks in ex 4 Tender Pink Glow. It's like a cheekbone filler & glow-i-fying peel in a bottle, with the right hint of tender pink (review here).

Group 3: Dusky Corals

I like to think of this group as the mature ones: but not the mature in the Ikea-kind-of-way...These ones have travelled the world and had a couple of drinks too many. They are a sultry bunch and prefer to spend their money on another holiday than botox...They have stories to tell.

 

I love the way they look, but I like to have a special mention towards Julie Hewett's Thandi lipstick.  It's named after Thandi Newton and has a similar subdued beauty & intelligence over it: the right amount of coral without getting too ditzy & a good amount of burning terracotta without venturing on the middle age territory. The Radiance blush is a highlighter, but I love this one when lips and nails get more sultry

4. The Young-n-Beautiful Sheers

I have Lana Del Rey in mind...the young & beautiful crowd. Untarnished, hopeful and sheer.

Group 5: The Happy Oranges

There's something comic about orange. Perhaps not for the ones who watch 'Orange is the new Black' or my fellow comrades from Holland who saw the championship Soccer gone right through their fingers...awwww. Burberry Lipglow in Coral 22 is a colour I got last year (see here) and it returned for summer again. The Bourjois is older...no idea how old. But it makes a perfect match for Burberry. As for Tongue in Cheek, how to resist such a name and such a rusty glow to fake flaunt a bit of sunburn on a summer night?

And to conclude, these two resisted the cliques and made their own little togetherness:

Coral pants gets the girls on the fence

Cuteee!

Products with extra UV Protection

Ha ha, the dodgy title of today's post is not the most catching and inspiring one. Still, after another week of being an OL (office Lady) I just had to write something on my dear blog, even though I do not have any exiting new news to bring.

I still want to show you one of my latest sets I am really curious about. I have read so much on Diorsnow from the famous beautybloggers online (Oh..Pretty and Fuzkitty are quite enthousiastic about it) that I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a trial set on sasa.com. I still want to try it first before I splurge on a new product, if possible.

It contains a tonic-kind lotion, a serum, a sunscreen and a powder foundation in a really matching colour.

All of these products have a high level of UV protection against the ageing sunrays...

The next powder compact with UV protection is from VOV: VOV White UV cover pact SPF 50+ in 23.

One of my commentors asked to make a mini-review of it when I posted a picture of it in this post. And yes, it fall under my title that it has UV protection, and a lot of it, according to the description: SPF 50 ++ and PA +++



It has the size of a larger mobile phone. It has a beautifully pearly white exterior. I think it looks both rather sophisticated and still fresh.


The compact has a double layer when opening. The top part contains a powder puff, so you can store your puff rather conveniently in the top part.


The lower part has the powder foundation. It looks much paler on this picture than in real life.

Colour:
I picked colour no 23, which was the darkest colour of the selection (here). I found it to be the right dept of colour, however, I also find it to be a bit too yellow, as I am a neutral to cool toned Caucasian woman. Still, I like the yellowness in the foundation during the cold winter I encountered, because I had lots of redness in my face, and around the nose, so the yellowness cancelled out the redness efficiently

My colouring:
I am a rather pale Caucasian woman, or, it sometimes seems that I am paler than the rest when I walk in the cosmetic store in the Netherlands, and most foundations offered always seem too dark for me.
In Great Britain I seem to have more luck when I browse the cosmetic departments, as I often find that they cater for lighter skintones as well. I even find lots of foundations offered to be too light. In the Netherlands, in contrast, they only seem to cater for the slightly tanned women.

Scent:
The compact has a light to medium old-fashioned powder scent, which wears off after wearing it for 5 minutes.

Texture:
One of the benefits of the texture of the powder is that it zaps up the oiliness that I have in my t-zone. It also blurred out the unflattering view of larger pores. It lasted for an average period. I had to reapply after approximately 3 a 4 hours (the t-zones).

Coverage:
The coverage is rather light. I would not wear this as a foundation product on its own, because it does not have the strenght to cancel out my irregularities. Still, as a blotting powder for an combined skin and to reduce the redness of the nose it is quite efficient. Thus, it is absolutely suitable to carry around.

Sun protective powers:
I am not quite sure yet, because the feeble winter rays have not been sufficient enough to make a judgement. However, I would not take the chance to use a foundation alone as a sun protector, even if it says it really has a high protection. I prefer to use a real sunblock underneath and still have some extra protection from the foundation. So I cannot say that much about its UV protection.

Price:
It comes quite cheap when ordering on gmarket: It only costs $10.59 AND you will get a gorgeously scented lipgloss of your choice (out of 4 colours) with it. Well, that is a better deal than I would get in the local drugstore. Still, gmarket is not cheap with shipping, so it only makes a good deal when you already have some things to order from gmarket, and you can add this as an extra.

Overall:
It is absolutely a good deal when you have NC 25 kind of undertone, or lighter when you pick colour no 21. It is efficient enough to blot the oiliness away, and it is absolutely not irritating. The downside is that you order it by gmarket, which can be a bit of a hassle for some.

Spring anticipation: my first purchases from spring collections

One of the great thing about the change of seasons is...actually...change itself! I love change, especially positive change, and I cannot think of a more positive season as the lovely spring waiting to stick its head behind Winter's grumpy head.

Spring is light, spring is hopeful, Spring is the Obama of the seasons...

I also love the change in clothing and makeup. Actually, I even prefer makeup, because you can put on a spring-loving face even if winter is still forcing you to stay in your confortable sweater and tights.

My very first spring item I purchased has been the Coffret d'Or Shine Accent Eyes in 01 Orange Spring. I did not buy this based on the reviews this time, because I had read (on Rouge Deluxe) that they were not very pigmented at all. It was a bit of a gut feeling and a longing for lightness that I was drawn to the iridescence of the palette. As for the colours...I love the way how a tinge of peachness brings out the green in my eyes, so I picked the palette with a peachy colour and a golden glittery colour.

Okay, it is showtime....It has been waiting for two weeks now and my dear Coffret d'Or needs to show its beautiful face right now.

I like the colours. I consider the peachy colour on the left and the brownish colour on the right to be my favourites. Both are shimmery and very soft.

The White colour on top is almost matte with a few sparkles: I know that Japanese palettes often include a white highlighter like this, but it is not my fave.

The glittery gold in the centre is a cream-like formula. I am not sure about this yet...I need to test it a bit further.

Same colours, different angle.

I consider this palette to be a neutral with a twist. I think it will make a lovely look on the days when I go to University to follow some of my new courses (soon, which is another thing I am looking forward to).

In addition, I felt the need to buy a lipgloss today...and so I did. I was slightly influenced (actually heavily) by several pictures of Fuzkitty and her love for Dior.

I was happy to notice that my favourite shop had their Spring collection of Christian Dior in store. Sometimes it takes ages for our country to stock up on seasonal collections: I see swatches posted on several blogs months before I can finally see and buy it myself, but this time they are not late at all.

I already saw swatches of the Dior Spring edition on Karlasugar's super swatch blog. Karlasugar makes amazing swatches on her arm...I always wonder how the salespersons look at her when she walks out the store with complete collections drawn on her arm....or she might actually be a salesperson on a cosmetic floor and walks out in her break to make pictures. Anyway, back to me...LOL, and my Dior lipgloss.

Ok, I saw Karlasugar's swatches and was completely convinced that 657 Pink Satin would become my new love...my ultimate My Lips But Better Nude lipgloss. Oh boy oh boy, was I right! It is a pinky nude with reddish glimmers inside....

But first, the box...I love the Blue tinge of the Dior box...

I like to tote around several Japanese, aka unknown to this region, kind of lip products...very niche. Now I have a completely recognizable lipgloss in my purse. By the way, it is my first full-size Dior lipgloss.

Most people are quite familiar with Dior, but I still want to show you what I like about this gloss. The aplicator is a brush instead of a felt tip: I love this system for applying lipgloss. A spongy applicator can sometimes be a pain for applying a large dose (you have to keep on scooping in your tube).

Glossy, non-sticky, a reddish nude with reddish and gold glimmer particles inside. Yes, it is pigmented which is a good thing for my very pigmented red lips...It tones them down a notch and looks more...harmonic...

Last picture...all of the swatches of my new Spring products together. Great for a pulled-together neutral look!