BBB's Best of 2013 - Makeup

Welcome to BirkinBagBeauty's Best of 2013!

I'll be starting off with all pretty and functional 'paint': the warpaint, peacepaint, coverpaint, enhance-paint and the funpaint of makeup.

"eyes are the mirror of the soul" (and a dent in my wallet)

I have been rekindled in my love for makeup in 2013 and the eyes were the focus. I was one of the 1st to get Le Metier de Metier Bauhaus (see here) and I still love the boldness & versality of the palette.

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 I refound an older love too: Coffret d'Or Shine Accent Eyes in 01 Orange Spring I bought here.

It is like a more subtle version of my latest Charlotte Tilbury palette in Golden Goddess, and has peeeeeaaach in it.

“Lips are the fingerprints of love.” 

~Tyler Shields

Lipstick:

Givenchy Le Rouge in Rose Boudoir is the one I reach for the most: often after experimenting with newer colours/textures in the shops. It is velvety without being too matte; it doesn't compete with a strong eyeshadow, but isn't too boringly neutral either. Overal, a nice pop of flush for the lips in that sublime Givenchy texture.

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Lipgloss:

I loved YSL Rouge Pur Couture before most-famous-face-of-'13 Cara became face of that brand too: actually seeing a tomboy-type glam up with the right lipgloss is a good salepoint for me. I really like how the lipgloss glows without going into tacky territory; how it last long enough without feeling obtrusive; and the way it fades into a pretty stain. As for the colour: This reddish pink is vibrantly present when I want to have a stronger definition on the lips and a softer focus on the eyes.

“As beautiful as woman's blush, as evanescent too.”   

 ~Letitia Landon

This has been a difficult vote, as my infatuations in blush is as evanescent as described in the quote above. Good thing I could nominate the different textures...

Blush/Bronzer hybrid Michael Kors Bronzer Powder in Flush 02 has already gotten my stamp of approval in December (here) and it has gotten the top vote for this category. Runner up is Rouge Bunny Rouge at Goldcombe Bay for a contouring bronzer hue without blushtones.

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For days that I love to have everything organic, I vote for Josie Maran Cosmetics Color Stick in Petal Pink: it is slightly shimmery and in a rosy hue. It blends quite nice and the scent is delightful.

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I haven't forgotten about my early 2013 blush-infatuation Kose Addiction Cheek Polish in Tadzio 06 (review here). It is a fresh & cooler pink that lightens up the face and I love it when all other features (lips/eyes) take a step back.

Yes, and a special mention for cheek/lip multitasker 

 

Rouge Bunny Rouge Decadent Duo in Rumba Cubana:

This one has been my purse-favourite. The blush-side is always the right colour with a multitude of lipcolours and wonderful for the mid-day perking up. The lipgloss has the quality to plump lips without too much drama, and feels like a dream. The above Rumba/Cubana is as good as empty and I have a backup for future uses ♥ 

"The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural"

~Calvin Klein

Full Cover: Rouge Bunny Rouge Time Defying Foundation in Wheatgrass

I'm a complicated person about my base foundation: I'm often too sensitive for the likes of Chanel or YSL (hello fragance), I have to cope with winter-patches and I want to look younger. Enter RBR latest foundation: scentless, with plenty of goody ingredients and I get "your skin looks good"-compliments when wearing it. My only pet-peeve is the colour: it looks dark in the swatch but applies quite light: But it's a good match when not on selftan.

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Light Cover: Koh Ren Do Maifanshi in 123

Revieved here: a perfect colour and dewy complexion. Now if it only was sold at more places than Barneys.

“Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”   

~Aaron Levenstein  

yes, that's the Game of Thrones actress (the one with the white wig)

So we're not talking bikini's yet, the ones in Australia and Brazil probably are, but a good concealer should be as invisible as it wizardy strengths to what it has to conceal. So the same story about my skin, [problematic], and I get the occasional pimple between what we  the lovingly can call 'living lines'.

Eyes:

Givenchy Mr. Light in Mr. Toast 03  is as buttery as you need for under your eyes. It diffuses dark circles in a wonderful way without getting topsy-turvy panda look. It photographes nicely too, without flashback. It doesn't settle in the lines and it is wonderful for shadows around the nose, and that bit of extra light to optically plump lips.

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Organic:

I discovered NVEY Eco Foundation thanks to blogger Emma. I love organic products on days when I want to detox from the non-organic stuff I put on my face. It is somewhat similar as RMS uncover, only without the heavy/pasty feeling RMS has. Peach 875 is actually a bit too light for me, but it works wonderfully on red/flaky patches as the creamy consistency smoothes without irritating.

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Pimples & Eyes

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla is my multitasker for eyes/pimples. I think you've encountered several raves and I can only say that I love it as well.

That is my Best of '13...Makeup-list for now: I could extend by listing the pencils etc, but I wanted to focus on the ones that really stood out for me in 2013, not the whatever rotation ones.

So, what have been your faves and why?

Using, Used, Gonna Use ft. Rodial Bumlift

In the trend of Cannes I thought I would give it a filmic title by featuring something.

Or actually I am really surprised I bought something called Bumlift.

USING:
1. Rodial Bumlift:
I almost finished a whole tube of this product. Rodial is quite expensive and it was the name and the hype that made me bought this. Actually, it was my grafity-obeying Gluteus Maximus : I prefer grafity-defying body and face parts so I thought it was time to bring in some revolt against my drooping glutes.

Ingredients:

So did this prep my glutes and thighs for the luring bikini season?

I was already quite satisfied with Vichy Aqua Destock but curiosity killed gravity so I splurged two times the price of the Vichy on Rodial. I'm not quite sure if it is worth it: my legs and behind are looking slightly perkier since using it, but I do not consider it to be worth more than my Vichy variety.

2. Duri Rejuvacote:
This is my second bottle. I loved it on my first bottle as it FINALLY gotten my nails strong and longer. When I stopped I gotten into nail-breakage Limbo again. Hence, it has its limits but I continue to use it as it gets me natural lenght for the time I am faithful to it.

USED:
3. Organix Repairing Awapuhi Ginger Mask
Oh dear, another hairmask! Yes, I found good reviews on this line at makeupalley and it's available in a brick-and-mortar shop close to me. It works really good in smoothing flyaways and is not too expensive.

Gonna Use (kind of using now but needed this category to be filled)
4. Kanebo Coffret D'Or Rouge Essence RS-276
I bought this one to replace my beloved and almost finished Shine Drape Rouge. I'm slightly dissapointed that it is not the moisturizing quality as before: it is slightly waxier on the lips but I love the pinkish colour for it's neutral polishness. I'm surprised it is on the pinker side as I normally receive something rosier when I order a RS colour. Still, it's a pretty pink.
However, I think I will stick to the Chanel Coco Rouge Shine instead for the feel that is similar to my previous Shine Drape Rouge.

Reaching Tube...

I am about to finish up a lipstick! 

♥ my beloved Coffret D'or Shine Drape Rouge in RS 251 ♥

 For eyeshadows we would use the words "hitting pan" but there's no pan so I'm "reaching inner tube".

Unfortunately this 2009 edition is not available anymore...

I often pick softer colours for my lips: I am not a real lip-person but I like them looking dewy and young. Also, this one is so easy to apply without a mirror.

Oh, parting is such sweet sorrow, or being careful with my bit of Coffret d'Or

I bought this Coffret D'or lipstick based on Lotuspalace's review when she was still around. 

I kinda miss her: beautyblogs have triplyfied/quaduplified and there so many good reviewers going on, and still I miss some of the older 'hangout-places' for reviews & swatches.

I think I will try the newer version of their range soon.

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!