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My Mascara Soul Mate: Lioele Blooming Volume & Curling Mascara

May 18, 2013 by Bun Bun 7 Comments

We may have been in a relationship with several people in our lives, but truly loved only one or two. That one being in the entire universe who gets all your lame jokes, humors you, plays with you, laughs and cries with you and thinks of your socially awkward nuances as special.

Finding the perfect mascara is like meeting your soul mate. I may have gone through more tubes of mascaras than I have of fingers and toes, but have truly only loved two.

BAHAHAHAHA!!! What’s with all these analogies about soul mates and whatnots! Feeling particularly emotive on this cheery Saturday morning coz it’s Mode day! =P *whistles a happy song*

One of the two was the Lancome Oscillation Mascara, and the other, the subject of review for today – Lioele Volume & Curling Mascara.

How then, does one conclude that a particular mascara is destiny?

LOL! Okie okie, I’ll stop with all these cliched but nonetheless romantic finding-your-soul-mate talk.

Hello, soul mate.

If I had to choose between eyeshadow and mascara, I’d take mascara anytime. Mascara opens up your peepers, darkens your lashes, and depending on type, does marvellous things such as volumizing, lengthening, curling, lash-separation ~~and the confidence to flirt your eyes out~~.

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Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows Review: As Eyeshadow Base, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner! (PLUS Plenty Of Eye Makeup Tips!)

April 8, 2013 by Bun Bun 14 Comments

Why it took me ages to finally try to the Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows is beyond me. How could they be so awesome, yet stayed in my Doll To Doll Cosmetics inventory without me feeling the exploding urge to try them out despite ALL THE RAVING on the internet about them?

Seriously, when these babies came into the market, everyone from beauty professionals to girls with the slightest interest in makeup were talking about how these cream eyeshadows work like magic. Like they stayed on for hours, were creamy, blended gorgeously, extremely pigmented…….

Let me tell you. ALL THOSE ARE TRUE.

Staying true to my nature of being attracted to bright colors, I chose 4 of the brightest out of the 10 shades avaible – Tenacious Teal, Pomegranate Punk, Fierce & Tangy, and Edgy Emerald. And I love them all.

It’s like I have 4 kids and my love isn’t divided into quarters, rather, my ability to love is multipled four folds. HAHAHA! This analogy is weird. But you get what I mean, yea?

Plenty Of Product In A Hard Glass Container

I love that you can quickly see the shade without having to open each of the pots, much like how my Z Palettes allow me to see at one glance all the eyeshadows I’ve depotted into them. On the cap though, it’s quite a challenge to find among all the white words against the black background the shade name (see first picture).

There is so much product in each pot I could use it for three lifetimes. 4g of product is too much, in my opinion.

My Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner contains 3g, Inglot Eyeliner Gel 5.5g, Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner 3g, Kate Gel Eyeliner 2.5g, and I have never hit near bottom for any of these.

The glass container (acrylic, maybe?) makes the whole thing heavy and I probably wouldn’t bring it for travel, and also because I can’t depot it without worrying that it might dry out faster than if it were left in its original glass environment.

Creamy, Blendable, Pigmented

What they say is true. It’s hard not to fall in love with these Maybelline Color Tattoos for their texture and pigmentation. Getting to the level of intensity you desire is a piece of cake too. Sometimes I’ll go with just one layer for a simple touch of color, sometimes I’ll build up to four, five layers to get a really concentrated coat.

Here are pictures, swatches and descriptions:

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Make Up Store Brush Cleaning Soap Review – So You Can Free Yourself Up To Do Other More Important Things

March 10, 2013 by Bun Bun 8 Comments

It’s not that I find deep cleaning my makeup brushes to rid them of built-up grime and bacteria unimportant – I cannot stress enough the importance of having clean brushes for a better application finish and prevention of dirty skin – but there’s just so much a busy-until-I-keep-snacking-because-I’m-so-freaking-stressed person can tolerate for standing at the sink scrubbing and rinsing and scrubbing and rinsing makeup brushes when I can be blogging or working on the business.

I don’t own as many brushes as a professional makeup artist, but have enough to make me sigh in resentment as I reluctantly lug my brushes to the sink, along with the Daiso Detergent, oil-based makeup remover, shampoo and conditioner. Troublesome, much?

The Daiso Detergent was what I was using previously to very effectively clean my brushes, so I was unconvinced I needed the Make Up Store Brush Cleaning Soap, especially when it came with a hefty price tag of SGD21.00.

I could buy TEN bottles of the Daiso Detergent and still have a dollar left to buy 3 packets of tissue paper. Lol.

Evonne’s elation to find this Brush Cleaning Soap back in store when we attended Make Up Store’s launch of a new collection sent little trembles to my little heart. She and the store manager were chatting away happily, about how this was in such huge demand.

OKIE!!! MUST BUY THEN! So finally, good money was traded in exchange for a bar of soap to appease my overwhelming curiosity.

Well, who said curiosity killed the cat?

I couldn’t be happier with this unassuming round-shaped soap. While it’s always easy to clean brushes used for powder products, brushes with denser bristles like my beloved Sigma F80, and/or those used for cream products require hardier treatment.

The Daiso Detergent did the job, but it took longer with all that swishing and washing with shampoo and conditioner after.

Experiment: Natural Hair Brushes

First up for experimentation – Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush. << My review says it all; this is my ever-favorite foundation brush, really.

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When Does Makeup Expire And For How Long Should You Keep Them?

February 8, 2013 by Bun Bun 8 Comments

In the spirit of Chinese New Year and the accompanying customary (and mundane) act of spring cleaning, I decided to start a new year on a clean slate by firstly, throwing out makeup products that have too ancient of a purchase date.

Actually, I cannot remember the date of purchase for ANY of my products. When I initially started on my little makeup escapade – that would later culminate into this crazy obsession – I resolved to writing the date of purchase on each and every product. With constant contact, the ink smudged – permanent ink or not – and sometimes it was really hard to find a spot to write on.

Then I changed to writing on white stickers but that made the product look really ugly. So I tried writing clear tape with permanent marker. That was the stupidest idea as the ink faded and all that was left was the clear tape. Maybe I used lousy tape, or lousy marker. Lol.

From then on, I simply relied on memory, which essentially means nothing at all since I have so many products it’s impossible to keep track. While the occasional clean-up to get rid of old products helps in ensuring you don’t use products for longer than you ought to, here are some ‘rules of thumb’ that we can all find useful in getting the most out of our products.

Period-After-Opening Symbol

You know that little jar with a number and an ‘M’? 6M means 6 months, and it indicates the recommended duration of use after you’ve first opened it.

Use The Look-Smell-Feel Approach

If the product doesn’t have a Period-After-Opening symbol, exercise the look-smell-free approach. It is high time to throw it out when there’s a change in color or texture, smells funny or different from before, or feels drier or oilier on the skin.

Mascara

Mascara should be the easiest to gauge whether it has gone bad. Once it starts to dry up or flakes more than it did when it was at its prime, I toss it out. I once used a mascara for longer than was safe and it irritated my eyes so much I count my blessings for not getting any serious infection.

Then again, I honestly don’t follow the general rule of ‘throw out mascara after 3 months of opening’ rule. I mean, who throws out a mascara every 3 months!? That’s not only really wasteful and costly, I believe a mascara can function just as well even after 6 months. Just don’t go beyond a year. >.<”

It is best to exercise the look-smell-feel approach. If it smells funny or looks really weird in texture (maybe it became watery or looks murky), trust your instincts and give it up. And of course, if it causes any negative reaction, throw it away immediately.

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Tutorial: Does Using Heat To Revive Your Dried Up Gel Eyeliner Really Work?

December 12, 2012 by Bun Bun 26 Comments

We’ve heard it all.

Tricks of the Makeup Trade on how to make your gel eyeliner last longer:

Store your pot upside down
Keep it away from harsh lights
Cap it tightly after every use, no, cap it after each dip. Meaning open – dip – close – apply – open – dip – close – apply – repeat
Use a clean brush
Don’t add water with the intention to moisten it

Do all of the above, and still have your gel liner dry up right before your very eyes, even before you hit half of the pot. And we’re talking about a gel liner pot that is used daily. You can probably slow down the aging process with these tricks, but not prevent totally gel liner from drying out.

You know it doesn’t behave quite the same as before anymore, not as buttery and soft, application takes more effort and you see dried flakes on the undereye area. At first you think they’re flakes from your mascara until one day you decided to go mascara-less and yet still end up with them ugly dark spots. Not even the kawaii kind of freckles. @_@”

I’ve gone through MAC Blacktrack, Kate gel liners, Maybelline gel liners, Coastal Scents gel giners, Inglot gel giners, Lioele gel liner and Bobbi Brown Black Ink. A good mix of high end, mid-range and drugstore brands there, and they all perished in the same way.

So no matter what class of branding your beloved gel liner belongs to nor does the universe care whether you perform the Tricks of the Trade with as much diligence as Monarch Butterflies migrating during fall, gel liners will eventually end up looking like dried mud.

Sad, I know, but true.

You can see how cakey and dry it appears when applied to the skin.

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My Mascara Soul Mate: Lioele Blooming Volume & Curling Mascara

Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows Review: As Eyeshadow Base, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner! (PLUS Plenty Of Eye Makeup Tips!)

Plenty Of Product In A Hard Glass Container

Creamy, Blendable, Pigmented

Make Up Store Brush Cleaning Soap Review – So You Can Free Yourself Up To Do Other More Important Things

Experiment: Natural Hair Brushes

When Does Makeup Expire And For How Long Should You Keep Them?

Period-After-Opening Symbol

Use The Look-Smell-Feel Approach

Mascara

Tutorial: Does Using Heat To Revive Your Dried Up Gel Eyeliner Really Work?

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