Midsummer Newbies

Summer is still blooming around...perhaps it is more drying to skin than you anticipated. Or, when going city-tripping you can find your pores going congested like nothing else.

• For the occasional bout of dryness I gotten myself this cute Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin pill mask. I've been sheetmasking before K-beauty gotten mainstream and it's fun they have gotten easier available. 
• I've already gotten the Boscia Detoxing Black Cleanser in a sample size, and absolutely loved the warming effect on the skin. I love this liquid form of charcoal cleansing and I noticed it really helped getting to those pesky blackheads. Something not many products are effective off with my skin.

I also went on the bandwagon with Son & Park's Beauty water...

Ohh, I really love how the air in the water is looking in the bottle.

I had to decorate it with my Luxdivine (etsy) armband and the scarf is D&G summer collection.

I rediscovered cheeks with NARS Nars-issist Dual intensity blush palette.

 It is certainly a fantastic blending blush texture...I'm smitten. My cheeks glowwwww...

I have been upping up my foundation game with an oldie and a newbie:

• Mac Face & Body is and oldie but still high in the ranks of makeupartists. I've picked a darker colour for my body as I have some white spots that I need to even out.
• Nars Velvet Matte Skin tint is new on the market. I was not enterely sure as the colours tend to look a bit too yellow for my colouring, but they look velvety and real on (self-)tan skin. I still think the gap between Cusco and Annapurna is too large in colour dept.

One of the Sephora Beauty reward boxes contained Alterna. I love their Caviar Protein line but feel (and can see) that my hair might be healthy enough to alternate with moisture. So bring on the moisture with the CaviarAnti Ageing Replenishing Moisture line.

Ok, I say I'm team Alterna but I also have team Christophe Robin and I've been enjoying some other shampoos lately as well. But in the end Alterna would be my desert island brand!

Last but not least, nails. Since everybody and their grandma have been into nailart, gellnails everything etc, I have been neglecting my mani with a simple coat of strenghtener. Very sheer, kinda blah.

• I thought some Chanel could bring back my colour game: Turban looks bright enough for summer and classic enough for always.

• Another pretty one is the Damask Rose from & Other Stories. It looks so foiled on nails, incredible.

These have been some of my midsummer hauls. I'm already eyeing up some of the Autumn lines. Kose Addiction by Ayako has released these amazing new eyeshadows with names like Dancer in the Dark, Hazy Night, Volcano & Modern Nostalgia. The colours are as awesome to boot with their names and instagram is not holding too many secrets when recently renewed (just browse on the Japanese names). 

As for skincare, I think I will hold on on some new finds that I will review soon for it. I'm kinda behind my reviews: being stuck into the instagram picturing mode makes me kind of lazy on the writing front...It does make me attempt to make prettier photos : )

Back to Kate with Kanebo Kate Forming Edge Eyes in GD-1

Hiya Kate Kanebo, 

I've missed you...

I started Birkinbagbeauty with a strong interest in Asian Makeup. Through the years I have developed new interests like organic beauty and other. My love for a well-balanced eye-palette from Japanese crafship has never died... 

In current times when more is absolutely too much in makeup (My own opinion), where contouring has gone to slightly "Prisilla, Queen of the Desert" proportions, lips are plump and matte and eyes are never seen without falsies, I started to long for a fresh face with a cute bit of blush and a delightfully soft but sparkly eye.

That does not mean I compromise on quality: just look at the photo above and see that perfectly pressed state of eyeshadow-ness.

I picked the golden and warmer toned palette: There's something typically summery about a golden hue on the eyes.

 

For the subtle fun, some microshimmer:

I am both impressed of the soft and buttery quality. However, for becoming more and more spoiled with strong and vivid pigments, I do find this palette a tad sheer. The mixture of a slightly bronzy gold, nice neutral brown and a buttery cream makes it easier for me to go eyeshadow again.

The effect on eyes is similar as the promotion photo:

I'm glad to have reunited with Kanebo Kate again. Although we never left (think Mascara primer), I've gone too neutral on the eyes lately with just a bit of pencil. A small palette like this makes eyeshadow not intimidating, but a fun way of bringing the eyes into focus again....

Hair-mail

I feel kinda 'America's Next Top Model' by announcing in that skinny-perky way: "Tyra Mail". A slight alteration on this theme is that it's "hair-mail".

"Hello Hair" is a handy, portable treatment based on coconut-oils. The difference is in the fact it is creamy instead of solid and a slightly lighter consistency. 

I feel it rinses out easier: pure coconut oil needs several sessions to really be clean whereas this one is clean in one wash. I still think it penetrates as effectively as pure coconut oil. Moreover, it smells nice (either neutral or a scent of your choice) instead of cooking. I cook a lot in coconut oil so I often feel like a hot dish when going for the pure version treatment.

I also love the portable size. This is the perfect treatment to carry around during beachy holidays. I can see myself carrying around on the beach to protect my hair before swimming. Or in the evening as a potent treatment.

The only con will be a higher price compared to pure coconut oil, but the Aussie $ is favorable right now. Or perhaps the wait, but actually I just love the idea of old-fashion mail from Down Under country. Especially in perky turquoise envelopes. 

I bought it from HelloHair.com.au and it has a lot more than just coconut oil with added Almond, Argan, Castor oils and more. And sometimes a lot of effective oils is what a dry mop of hair needs.

Tom Ford Lipstick to Boys Luciano, Michael, Cooper & Pablo

Ohhh, I've gotten giddy today for receiving my Tom Ford Lipstick to Boys. 

Finally I could buy something unswatched and slightly dangerous for not really knowing what to get. Normally you can see/read about all beauty with the elite/always-gettin'it-first likes of Temptalia and Wayne Goss. Temptalia still got it first but not like 10 months before. Seems Tom Ford has been democratic about his lippies!

Weather has been more than horrible today, so my apologies for the lack of light and goosebumps. I photoshopped a bit but I did not want to alter the original colour, so some might be not so light.

I picked four brights based on my earlier Tom Ford lipxperience. I adore Violet Fatale. I like my Spanish Pink as well but I think Tom Ford does the brights a bit better.

 * Violets to Orchids Pablo

 

Tom Ford Pablo looks like a pure colder Purple. I immediately thought of Bite Beauty Violet.

Also, my 1st Tom Ford Violet Fatale from the regular line & YSL Glossy Stain Violine Out of Control:

Tom Ford Violet Fatale looks so demure next to Pablo! It is a softer pinker hue compared to the blueness of Pablo. Bite Beauty Violet is even a more shocking Blue pink. TF Pablo is slightly sheerer than the other TF lipsticks, hence it wears beautifully sophisticated with the right kind of edge.

* REDS, Luciano

I figured Luciano would be a close sibling to Cherry Lush. In fact, they are family: Luciano is a hint more muted and rosier.

 

I added YSL Glossy Stain in Rose Tempura 13 for another reference. Rose Tempura is a deeper pinker hue. All of them are in the group of Rosy Reds.

* Fushia to Magentas: Cooper

  I have absolutely no dupe of this colour but Dior addict lipstick show 778 is slightly close. Cooper has more red in it and is more opaque.

Multifaceted flecks

TF Cooper: the lushious finish from another angle

 * Pop Pinks to Roses: Michael

 

Michael looks deceptively demure in murky daylight but wait until you swatch him with some other poppy peachy/pinks:

I've been comparing it with NARS Audacious Kelly, Guerlain Chamade (164) Rouge Automatique, Chanel Scintillantes 124 , Deliplus Mate 01 

Picture 1 shows how poppy pink Michael can look, and picture 2 shows his peachier side. I have no close due but Deliplus Mate 01, a Spanish supermarket brand, comes closest.

Conclusion: I love them all and they are all such originals in my stash. 

Ps: I've skipped the background story with the Tom Ford promotion about the fantasy about the threesome...I agree Tom Ford picked some handsome guys online to pose with the girls: if only they came with the lipstick! As for fantasies, a guy once wanted to include a girl but I guess the only threesome for me would me be pushing the other girl away, and perhaps hurting him too for suggesting. But a suggestive promo never hurt any cosmetic brand, right?