Make Up Academy Liquid Eyeliner in 4

I’m always up for a good budgeproof eyeliners! Since MUA promises bright colors and long lasting wear with this one… I definitely will try!

First, the packaging… it is simple and made of light plastic. With the price, I cant complaint for this minor thing. It is the content that is of importance. Just one thing… it doesn’t close properly. As the shape of the tube is square, you can easily see if the corners are not aligned properly.  And that’s what happened… just aesthetics… but I find it a little annoying.

The applicator is made of stiff brush. I find it a little too stiff or my taste. But also, thanks to the stiffness, I can draw super fine line with this one.

(L: MUA gel liner, R: MUA liquid liner in 4)

Moving on to the color… I picked color number 4. Interesting that they don’t give name to shades as most of other brands are doing now… anyway… number 4 is metallic gunmetal that doesn’t disappoint! Super metallic, super sparkly, just how I wanted my gunmetal eyeliners to be!

And yes, it is long lasting too! I swatched it on the back of my hands and then do my usual household chores, which includes lots and lots of washings and cleanings. To my surprise, the color stays put. It does faded a little but it stays put in general. On my oily lids, however, it becomes dry and flaky. With a little rubbing, the color just flakes off. It doesn’t make it past lunch time.

Bottomline,

Pretty color, unfortunately it flakes on my oily lids, and pretty much removed itself before lunchtime…

Make Up Academy The Artiste Collection Palette

When I am trying a new brand, I just have to try their palette. I guess it is just my lazy bones telling me that I need more palettes to carry when I’m travelling. All in one… shadows, blush, highlighter… BUY NOW… hahaa…

Okay… now, the Artiste… just like other products from MUA, it is housed in light, simple plastic casing. It offers eye shadows, blushes, bronzer and highlighter too! sounds like heaven to me…

You can count me disappointed in the first three colors… the pearly mint, pearly ivory and satin sky blue. It is not easy to pick enough pigment to get it to appear on my skin. The rest of the shadows… are different story… the deep purple with hint of shimmer is truly wonderful. The color just pops and it is pigmented! Ditto with the sparkly bronze and satin brown. These three colors make it worth it to purchase in my opinion.

(2 blushes 2nd color in pan then left most color in pan, 6 eye shadows, bronzer & highlighter swatches)

The blushes is another disappointment… their color is certainly pretty… fresh rosy pink and fresh rosy coral. But the pigmentation is just blah. Which is a pity…. The colors are super easy for daily use and totally bring fresh to otherwise muted face.

The bronzer is pigmented too… but may be a little too deep for my skin tone. The highlighter is ivory colored and it is wonderful. I can see myself wearing this a lot.

Bottomline…

It is okay for the price. First three shadows and the blushes are disappointment, but the rest are wonderful. 

Make Up Academy Shimmer Kisses Blusher in Pink Shimmer Kisses

I have heard about Make Up Academy for ages now. Been lurking and contemplating at their products for a while too. I was initially curious about their fluffy effect nail art (which I will review later). But for today, I’m going to share with you the blush.

MUA is a British beauty in a budget brand. But I heard their quality is pretty good! Shimmer kisses is available only in Pink when I placed my order. It is made of 4 squares of colors, meant to be mixed with your brush and applied.  You can also pick the lighter color only and use it as highlighter.

As you can see, the packaging is simple black square with clear cover. slim and functional. it is made of plastic and feels light. 

I was expecting a shimmer bomb when I ordered this, considering the name of the product… “shimmer kisses”. It is far from shimmer bomb I expected it to be… in a good way. In fact, they are more pearlish then shimmery. The top left (darkest color) and bottom right squares are actually matte satin while the other two is subtle pearl.

(all colors mixed, then individual squares starting from top left darkest color)

Pigmentation wise, it is pretty sheer, even the darkest doesn’t really show up when I applied on my cheeks with brush… I don’t think I will use this as blush, but more as highlighter or just to give a hint of fresh colors on my chin and forehead when im feeling particularly pale.

The blush is firm and didn’t get disintegrated easily. The texture is nice and finely milled.

Bottomline,

The color combo appears pretty and natural on pan, but it doesn’t translate to my cheeks much. The pigmentation is lacking. This will be more suitable to be used as highlighter than blush. 

Innisfree Shadow Pencil in 6 Sour Citrus Fruit

Im not a big fan of pencil shadow… I found most pencil shadow crease on me by lunchtime. Unless… you have an adorable cockatoo like this one promoting the pencil like this one… too bad, she only comes as a seal sticker between the pencil and cap... gotta peel her off to use the pencil ....

Innisfree is promoting this line of pencil shadows and eye liners for summer 2013. All cheerful colors and waterproof too! Designed for quick, easy make up with creamy texture.

Of the colorful and neutrals offering, I picked apricot colored shadow in 6 Sour Citrus Fruit. The shadow is almost metallic pastel apricot. If you blend it too much, it will appear as shimmer… kinda reminds me of Nars Orgasm, but much more metallic and more warm.

The chubby pencil is not that smooshy, yet still easy to work with. Single swipe will give you sufficient pigment. The shadow is creamy enough for easy breezy blending before it sets. It takes quite a while to set, providing ample time to mix colors.

(Innisfree Shadow Pencil & Etude House Eyeliner swatches)

As for the longevity… well… nothing can beat my favorite Urban Decay Shadow Pencil… the color begins to fade after lunch. I find it last longer when I set it with similar colored powder shadow… but this is totally beside the aim of being quick, easy make up.

Bottomline…

Good range of colors, lovely & easy to use texture. Too bad it faded too easily on my oily lids. 

Etude House Color Pop Drawing Show Creamy Pencil in GR 701

Not that i need another green eyeliner... But, looking at the whole color collection from Etude's 2013 summer launch, i just have to own this one!

Just look at the whole Color POP eyeliner color selection! Seems like that pretty bright yellow, nice purple and wonderful coral are calling me too!

Just like many pencil eye liners today, this liner is not made of wood... i am loving plastic eyeliners for their simplicity and safety during sharpening (wood splinter anyone...)

GR 701 is pastel bright mint green. To my surprise, this baby is matte! There's super tiny, almost invisible shimmer in it, but when applied, it is pretty much glowing matte. The fact that it is matte, makes the color pops more when i am wearing it.

Innisfree Shadow Pencil (L) and Etude House Color POP Drawing Show Creamy Pencil in GR 701 (R)

The texture is creamy an easy to apply. No tugging and pulling. It is opaque and strong in one swipe.

Once it sets, this baby stays put. The color didn't fade or move with the day. All in all, this is beyond my expectation! It stays put on my oily lids. after a long day, it is easily removed with simple facial wash. however, in dryer skin area (when i played with it on the back of my hand), it is not as easily removed with simple soap.

Bottomline, 

Waterproof and laden with pigment, this is the perfect eye liner for colorful, humid summer!  

Skinfood Summer 2013 – Jungle Fruits

Seems like things are getting interesting in Korea cosmetics industry this summer… everyone seems to launch their own delectable summer collections… from Etude’s Bling in the Sea, Innisfree ultra cute cockatoo eye linersand shadows and … Skinfood’s Jungle Fruits! Yums…

Let’s start with one trend at a time… multitasking product: Jungle Fruits Real Fresh Multi Juice. Cheek stain, lip tint and eye shadow at once!

Jungle Fruits Real Fresh Tint Juice is also in trend item: glossy stain!

Of course summer calls for waterproof, if possible bulletproof, colorful eyeliners… for both upper lid and waterline! Jungle Fruits Seaweed Waterproof Auto Eyeliner

What’s the use of waterproof liner if your mascara is giving you panda eyes? Comes Jungle Fruits Seaweed Waterproof Mascara for long, curly lashes

Now the important base make up… Vita Whitening Swirl Pact. Don’t forget to enhance your facial features with Jungle Fruits All Over Muffin Cake Bronzer.

Glam Face with dull skin? No way… add a little oomph and shimmer with Jungle Fruits Lime Secret Sparkling Body Balm

Of course nails have to be colorful too! enter Jungle Fruit Nail:

For some serious looking nail art, Skinfood also offers Jungle Fruits Easy Look Sticker. Jungle themed nails for that hot sweltering summer parties… these babies got you covered!

pictures from theskinfood.co.kr

Etude House Dear My Color Pop Lips Talk in OR 214

Another poppy lipstick from Etude House Color POP pre summer2013! I guess they have so many collections they have to started adding ‘pre’ in front of the season….

Anyway… previously, I tried on Color POP Shine Tint here. I know I am not an orange person, the color just don’t love my skin, but when I saw the swatches in Etude’s website, I cant say no to OR 214.

Just like other Dear My lipsticks, the lippie is supposed to deliver vivid color and moist shine.

Ah the polkadot box… so cute! And I always adore their Dear My tube design. This time, the ribbon is poppy orange plastic, reminiscent of neon hues from the 80s!

Now, the color… OR 214 is creamy apricot with a hint of pink. This color works better on me than the Shiny Tint Sunny Pop I tried before. It actually makes my lips stand out and make my face more cheerful looking!

The formula is creamy creamy creamy… it is not as easy to apply, as I find that I have to spread the product evenly to make sure my liplines are properly and evenly covered. I don’t consider it as high shine lipstick. It is more of a satin finish lipstick.

As usual, no flavor, but there’s a hint of tangerine fragrance if I bury my nose to the bullet. The lippie itself is not drying, but… it has the bad habit of highlighting flaky lips. Do make sure you prep your lip properly before applying this! And… it tend to settle in my liplines… not pretty…

Bottomline…

Pretty poppy color with a hint of pink, making it more wearable. But the creaminess of the lipstick makes it require a little blending during application. It also has a bad habit of highlighting flaky lips and settling in liplines. 

Etude House Color POP Shine Tint Sunny Pop in #02 Sunny Pop

Poppy colors from Etude House! I cant resist from getting myself one of these babies the moment I saw it popped in Etude House Website! This one is, of course, from pre Summer 2013 Color Pop.

etude.co.kr

It comes in 5 color variants … all pretty hues of orange! I picked 02 Sunny Pop.

As usual, Etude House excels in package design. Cheery bright orange with that comic book feel. The tube is made of plastic that’s light but still feel sturdy. Now now… look at that wand… doesn’t it remind you of L’oreal Shine Caresse Dazzling Shine Fresh Moisture Light-Weight Lip Color or… even its predecessor… equally mouthful YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis À Lèvres Glossy Stain. Similar with YSL and L’oreal, these babies are supposed to deliver long lasting color, with vibrancy of lipstick and also a pump of gloss!

Upon application, however, it feels different from YSL or L’oreal version. This is definitely heavier than YSL or L’oreal version, but still lighter than most lipstick/gloss. It is definitely glossy, but not jelly-ish glossy… and it definitely deliver the color. 02 Sunny Pop is birght tangerine on me… reminds me of Sephora’s Pantone collection from 2012 and Clarins Corail Hawaii to a certain extent…

(Etude Shine Tint Sunny Pop wand, Sephora Pantone 2012 Lipstick skin swatch, Clarins Joli Rouge Corail Hawaii skin swatch, Etude Shine Tint Sunny Pop skin swatch, Etude Dear My Lips Talk Color Pop OR 214)

Too bad for me… this color just doesn’t work out on my yellow-toned skin. It just make my skin more yellow and my teeth also! Grrr….

Unlike YSL and, to some extent, L’oreal… Shine Tint does transfer to my teacup rim. Wonderful thing is, it is not drying or sticky!

With YSL or even L’oreal, I can expect staining action. And the color tends to develop to deeper hue as time pass by. With Shine Tint, I didn’t see the color developing to deeper hue… it just fade away…  it does leave a nice stain behind after I wiped the tint off my lips.

The stain stays for quite a long time… in the lip swatch picture, the bottom picture is to show you how the color stain look like after I wiped up the shiny tint. It pretty much stays all day long, until I remove it with oil make up remover and followed by facial wash.

Bottomline,

If bright tangerine is your cup of tea, Sunny Pop is for you! The stain really stained. I am enjoying the light texture and glossy finish, albeit not as light as YSL Glossy Stain! This baby also scores high for longevity!

Innisfree Summer 2013 Launch

Innisfree is one of those nature inspired Korean brand. But true to their Korean roots, Innisfree still has the cute vibe as compared with western brands.

I haven’t paid Innisfree much attention, until I see the cute cockatoo illustration in their eye pencils… 

The chubby pencils promises creamy texture and …look at those color choices! Tempting indeed!

Along with the chubby eye shadow pencil, Innisfree also launched pencil shaped Gel Liner. Innisfree recommended lighter colors for under eye and the poppy ones for upper lid.

Not enough with pencil liners, they also introduced Waterproof Color Pop Liner. Looks like my favorite MAC line.... I shall give them a try!

Still in pencil format, there’s the all popular chubby Juicy Gloss Pencils… Some of them are color changing! Gimmicky yet I am loving it…

These lippies also caught my attention. Innisfree offers multitasking creamy lippies. 

Gotta admit, the color selection of this lippies is diverse and not as 'tame' as most Asian brands... Thumbs up for you, Innisfree!

There’s tutorial to create the lip looks and how to make it for your very own cream blush!

There’s also 98% natural balm. Interesting that they put 98%... Only in 2 colors...

Neon colors are on the rage in korea… a collection is incomplete with out one! Innisfree Neon Colors in 4 poppy colours! They are multitasking as blush too!

Everyone is having their own Tint gloss now… including Innisfree!

Little creamy shadow with cute cockatoo…. Come to me... 

(pictures from innisfree.co.kr)