beauty product: foundation

Here's the continuation of last post...

Foundation is the most important makeup in my beauty case... It basically evens out your skin tone, can cover up redness/imperfection and also can provide basic sunscreen protection (providing your foundation has spf).

So before putting on makeup, wear base/primer. Primer/Base is basically providing a base for your foundation. Your foundation/Makeup would glide easily. Also, it could shrink your pores so that you could achieve that flawless skin.

1)Body Shop Matte It Primer RM49.90 @ Body Shop for 30ml. This Primer provides matte finish, absorbs excess oil and leaves you with matte look. In my opinion, this one is like clinique pore minimizing gel - only cheaper. If you want a dewy glowy look, skip this primer.
2) Sephora Primer - I am super loving this primer.. Bought in in Sephora @S'pore for $19.00. It's dewy and has a little bit of shimmer. The texture is creamy. You could mix this with your matte foundation to achieve the dewy/glowing look or wear it under foundation. I bought this because it provides the same function as mac strobe cream.
For foundation, I prefer liquid foundation because it glides easily and doesn't give me that cakey look- but this is just me. It's so important to find the right shades for your skin to look natural, otherwise you're just gonna look like wearing a mask. The trick is to just put on makeup on your chin, and compare to your neck. If it blends with your skintone, then it is the right color. Otherwise choose darker/lighter color. Pls don't try it on the back of your hand, the color is different there.

I usually splurge on foundation. Why? I couldn't really find my shades in the drugstore that doesn't my face loooking grey-ish. Plus, foundation lasts me 1-2 years, so I'm guessing it's worth it.

1)Maquiliquide UV Infinité Liquid FoundationBought this @ Parkson RM126. This is a water based foundation so as you might guess it's very lightweight ( as opposed to creamy). It provides sheer to medium foundation but definitely builadable. Bear in mind, the finish is not matte, it's gonna give you a slightly dewy look (as it's water based, so the makeup could easily be oxidized). Top up this foundation with powder if you want a matte look.

2) Studio Fix Fluid Foundation
Got this at mac for RM105 recently . The texture is creamy yet as it was claimed this is oil-free. The coverage is medium to full.. I was matched to NW35 ( I was NC35 before). If I want a matte look, I just wear this on it's own , while if I want a bit dewy look, I just mix this with my primer ( so it's gonna be a bit sheer and dewy). The good thing about this foundation, you don't have to put on powder afterwards, as it last quite long plus the matte effect. So far I've been using this foundation, no major breakouts yet.. The only thing I hate about this foundation is it doesn't have a pump, so I couldn't control the amount of foundation I want to dispense.

3) Mac Mineralize SkinFinish

Got this at mac for rm105 last year ( this was last year's price. Have no idea what's the price now). I kinda have a love/hate feeling with this foundation. It's a sheer foundation with a bit of shimmer to it. Basically it will gives you that dewy/glowy look, but.... there's a but.. sometimes after wearing it forawhile you could end up looking very greasy. So the solution is, to just powder on top of foundation. I think this could work if you want to wear for a short time, but if you want to have a long-lasting makeup, dont wear this as it could easily be gone by half of the day. Will I buy this again: probably not.

Those are the foundations that I've used and am using. How do i put on my foundation>
1) Finger - this works as your finger could warm up the foundation and will make the makeup glides easily.
2) Foundation brush - I have body shop foundation brush, and I don't really fancy it much. Using foundation brush basically you have to paint your face, and really blends it. If not properly blended, you could end up with streaks and patches on your face
3) Sponges - I am not a sponge person, as I think using sponge could waste products since the products basically will be absorbed in the sponge.
4) Stipple Brush - this is my new love! Okay fine, I dont a mac 187 brush to show off. But, I got a lumiere stipple brush which is i think serves as the same function as 187. This cuts down half the time and blends my foundation perfectly.

Okay.. until next products :D

Beauty Product 1

I know... I know.. it's been gazillion years since I last blog... I was lazy or maybe I was simply doesn't have anything to say...

SO this blog is supposed to be fun and vain.. Rather than writing about political issues or world agenda, I'd rather blog about something fun like makeup :D

So here is my makeup counter:
So the big vase actually holds face products and the small vase holds eye products... While the box organizer holds foundation, brushes and lipstick...

While some people actually born with perfect flawless skin, unfortunately I aint one of them... I guess I'm one of those young at hearts who still get breakouts even at my age... who says only teens get breakouts? those people are lying... So the goal is to wear makeup but looks like not wearing makeup at all... tricky eh? but actually you neeed mooooore products to actually looks like not wearing makeup..

So what is your makeup routine? I usually spend 10-15 minutes for makeup routine every morning including toning and mosturizing... So here is the normal makeup routine

1) Tone and mosturize
(always mosturize, so that your foundation will glide easily> No matter how oily the face is, you need hydration. I realize when I skipped moisturizer, my face could get dry spots by midday)
2) Foundation using lumiere duo fiber brush
(I found that applying foundation using stippling brush is easier and cuts down the time it takes to apply foundation. plus it's so much easier to blend the foundation compared to using foundation brush/fingers)
3)Concealer
(Undereye is a must! how to get rid of eyebag??? also, blemishes if necessary)
4)Powder
(Loose powder to set foundation. I found that water based foundation could easily slipped off the face, so setting it by powder will make it last longer)
5) Blush
6) Optional
- White eyeliner on inner corner of eye
- Eyeliner ( I use gel eye liner ! I found it more water resistant than pencil kind. Plus, it doesn't smudge by mid-day)
-Eye shadow
-Lipstick/Lipgloss

I'm all set!!!

So next time maybe I'll write down about the makeup products I've been using ...

Enjoy the rest of your sunday!

makeup & skincare

Today's entry is for girls only... warning: product review!

I am trying Clinique 3-steps... Let's see if I'm rajin enough to follow the regime when I come home late at night. I'd probably just wash my face and go to sleep straight, and say forget-it to toner&mosturizer. Some says the combinations of 3-steps can be drying on certain skin. For me, the last time I tried the facial soap(bar), it was certainly drying on my skin. So to avoid flaky skin, I choose the mildest of all, facial wash extra mild and toner#2 for dry/combination skin, then followed with dramatically mosturizing gel (oil-free) courtesy of mel who bought it from faraway.

I so like makeup of jlo... Very natural, glowy healthy skin!
Basic makeup:-

Mineralize satinfinish: light coverage, dewy-looking(not matte) and it has SPF15. But... as I said, it's pretty light coverage, and doesn't last as long as studio fix, so sometimes skin can look oily esp on a hot day.


My fav concealer:Studiofinish perfect to hide blemishes/dark circles. The best part of it, I only need very little amount of this, so this one small little pot can last quite awhile.Select Sheer Compact: Hmmm, other than the color is perfect for my skin-tone, I don't think there's anything special with it. I encountered few powders which can look-whitish/greyish on skins (wrong color!), so this is perfect for me. I think I might try body-shop one next time...
I don't really do the perfect-matte-full-makeup, so my foundation which I bought in march last year is still not-finished. Even my concealer still not 1/4 finished.... So, I guess you know how ugly un-polished I look most days.

Advice to girls: i think foundation is the most important makeup, so picking the right color is important. Your foundation is like your face pallete. So, if you have a perfect blemish-free skin, you are truly blessed. To draw colors (eg eye shadows, blushers) on a clean pallate is much better right? So, to choose, we want a color that blends with our skin-tone (read: definitely not lighter or else gonna look like a mask)... Frugal tips: If you find a (cosmetic counter)'s foundation that suits you, maybe you can bring leftovers of foundation and look for the same shade in drugstore. The same goes with compact powder.

Sure, makeup is fun, the blending, the brushing, the mixing and matching... But the worst part of all is removing every little trace of makeup at the end of the day. Don't even mention if putting on eyeliner/mascara, it takes many-many cotton balls with (gentle) eye-makeup remover to get rid of em. I guess that's the reason, I don't even care putting those two on. I truly salute those yang never without makeup, meaning those who take-off makeup for prayer at noon, then put on makeup again after that, then take off again in the evening. That's plentttyyy of work!

So, girls.. have fun with your makeup!