Hello!
I don’t believe I’ve ever really done this type of entry before (maybe eons ago) and I’ve revamped a lot of my makeup (and color palette too!) and this new cute makeup bag I picked up was just screaming this entry. Let’s take a look!
I was standing in the queue for the cashier at Forever 21 and the graphic pink and black really got my attention – there is a white and black version too. The hashtag concept is so “now” and while I’m not an avid hashtagger, these are so befitting a makeup pouch. It helped that the pouch is very roomy, well-made and wallet-friendly at S$11.
To be honest, it is rather big to toss into a handbag and it’s been a really long time since I used such a large makeup pouch – I was using a small drawstring pouch that was a gift from a friend but that has gone into the laundry; with the drawstring pouch, I had to keep my blotting powder and brush separately in another compartment in my handbag whereas this is a tad more convenient.
I know this is really a lot of stuff! But friends who know me will recognize this scene – I always carry almost this many lipcolours with me – they are all the colours I’m using in rotation right now and I just keep them all in my makeup pouch instead of packing my makeup pouch everytime I head out. Let’s take a look at everything in more detail. The only thing that I didn’t photograph in more detail is the Essence Gel Eye Pencil in Black which I just keep for emergency touch-ups (I don’t quite need eyeliner touchups since I started using the MUFE Aqua Black – review HERE) and the white tube with the golden cap – that is the white liquid kumkum that I use to make the little white dot under my bindi like in the photo below.
Here are the base touch-up products I carry with me. I try not to touch-up the base too much because I worry about it looking patchy and cakey but sometimes, touch-ups are inevitable with the long hours and the change of temperatures in aircon and out in the open. That said, good products and tools and a light hand are a boon when it comes to touch-ups.
1. Hakuhodo Retractable Brush – I picked this up last year and this has been the main brush I use for touch-ups. I like how it picks up a little bit of powder and helps diffuse it all over skin rather than a heavy (and consequently patchy) application
2. Make Up For Ever Professional Makeup Brush in 154 – I LOVE using this brush to even out foundation or concealer. With my dry-combination skin now, I sometimes peel quite badly on my nose and I need to wipe off my foundation and touch up a little. I discovered (out of sheer desperation one day actually) that using this brush to pick up a teeeeeensy amount of the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concelear and blending it over areas where I’m peeling or need a re-application works wonders. The brush helps blend the product seamlessly into skin. I now realize this brush and another MUFE brush I use for creme blush need a separate review!
3. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer in SC-6 – I’ve been using this concealer duo since Laura Mercier launched in Singapore. I first used SC-7 but SC-6 is now more suitable for my skin. The 2 shades allow me to custom blend a shade or use them separately according to what I need. I like the flat compact that clicks shut tightly – I can use the concealer right down to the last bits in the pan and it still has a blendable consistency. This is a great product to have.
4. Make Up For Ever HD Pressed Powder – I JUST only discovered how good a product this is (despite receiving it a long time ago!). It is very finely milled and just a little is enough to help refresh makeup after a long day. I use the Hakuhodo Retractable brush with this.
5. Guerlain Les Voilettes Translucent Compact Powder Mattifying Veil in #04 Dore – I bought this after reading a rave review of it on Temptalia. 2 lovely things about this powder – it has a beautiful scent and it has a lovely texture that is semi-translucent making it superb as a finishing or touch-up powder. I alternate between this or the MUFE HD Powder depending on what I need. I use the Hakuhodo Retractable Brush or the powder puff that comes with this powder too. I just don’t like the packaging too much – it’s somehow rather slippery and I’ve dropped it twice already (thank goodness the powder was unharmed)
I used to use the Jack Black Lipbalms but now Sephora has discontinued bringing them in – tried a couple of others which I didn’t like and finally discovered these 2 which really work for me. The YSL Top Secrets Re-Plumping Concentrate was a very impulsive, extravagant buy but I don’t regret it at all – it really sinks into lips and doesn’t float on skin like a layer of grease (I get that feeling with the Burts Bees or the Ettusais Lip Essence – others love them but they don’t work for me sadly). The Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Tulip is from the Holiday 2014 set I picked up – Tulip is a lovely pink that boosts nude and matte lipsticks.
Bobbi Brown Slopes – This lip pencil shade is one that I’ve been using for ages – it’s a very versatile shade to have as it works with both deep neutrals and rosewood (pink-browns) shades. The texture is also lovely – a little creamy so that it doesn’t tug on lips but sets to a long-lasting finish.
Make Up Store Something Borrowed – This shade is perfect for all the neutral shades. It has enough pink in it that keeps neutral lipsticks from looking dead and brown. Texture is just right – not too dry and not too creamy so it is easy to apply.
Make Up Store Hot Pink – The best hot pink lip pencil I’ve found so far; not candy pink, not purplish, just plain hot pink. It goes with all my hot pink and fuchsia lipsticks perfectly. Great texture.
And here are the lipcolours and the corresponding swatches.
Shu Uemura M PK 376 – Gangnam Pink was sitting in my drawer brand new for a very long time before I started using it at the beginning of this year. This is one fuchshia every pink-loving girl should own or try – it lasts the WHOLE DAY and is a beautiful shade.
MUFE Rouge Artist Intense 35 – My favorite pink lipstick (this is my 2nd tube!). It’s a medium pink that goes with everything (my mom loves this shade and always asks what color I’m wearing!)
MUFE Rouge Artist Intense Mat 3 – This matte looks very blah and brown in the tube but it translates into a great deep rosewood-neutral on skin.
Illamasqua Glamore Minx – This was one of my last purchases of 2014 – Illamasqua was running a promotion and I picked up a couple of their lipsticks, with Minx being on my wishlist a long long time. The Glamore texture is very creamy and pigmented and Minx is a great everyday “serious” color for me (like if I’m going for a meeting on campus, I’d pick Minx for my lipcolour) – sedate and yet bright.
MAC Flat Out Fabulous and All Fired Up – 2 Retro Matte shades I stalked all the MAC counters for when it first launched (they were initially Limited Edition). The formula is a little drying so lipbalm prep is a must. This is where the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Tulip comes handy – sometimes, I apply Tulip OVER these lip colours to refresh the color and hydrate my lips at the same time.
MAC Half N Half and Kinda Sexy – These 2 are the newest lipsticks I just Back-To-MAC. My friend, makeup artist Joanna Koh of Indigo Artisans, created a beautiful liplook on a bride and one of the lipcolours she used was MAC Kinda Sexy (which is a MAC lipcolour that gets a lot of attention). When I went to the MAC counter, the BA also recommended Half N Half which is beautiful on its own but mixed with Kinda Sexy is even better.
NARS Tolede – I discovered NARS Tolede after the brouhaha of NARS Last Tango Cinematic Lipstick (painfully Limited Edition) – I was trying to find a similar shade to Last Tango and ended up with Tolede. Funny thing is, after all that frenzy and a backup of Last Tango, I actually love Tolede more. Tolede is another rosewood shade, a notch brighter and warmer than Illamasqua Minx, which is another of my “serious” lipcolours.
