The Makeup Box

What’s in YOUR Trainca.se? (Introducing a fun new beauty networking site, AND an interview with The Makeup Box!)

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If you haven’t heard of Trainca.se yet, you should get yourself there!

This new site is a social network and a review site all rolled into one, where you can see what all your friends like and dislike, and make recommendations for each other.  And if there is any product that isn’t available yet, you can always hit “Feedback” to suggest the team add it to the site!

You can link up your Facebook account automatically or sign up for a new one here: http://trainca.se

More importantly:

Friend me! I’ll follow right back so that I can see what products you recommend. (Click below.)

My page on Trainca.se: 

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P.S. Trainca.se interviews The Makeup Box

Claire Vo of Trainca.se sent me some questions about my makeup philosophy, the things I enjoy blogging about most, and of course, products I love. Read the full article here!

MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 Amplified Lipstick: Swatches and Mini-Review

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Color:

This is a chalky, dusty lavender-toned creme lipstick that’s little more cool and grey than Saint Germain.

As you can see in the comparative swatches above, it’s not as much of a true-purple as the 2 Lime Crime purples, but it’s also not a true pink either.
On the lip, it has a tendency to look much chalkier and more lavender than it does in the tube, so this is not a color for the faint-hearted. There is nothing natural looking about it. It’s much lighter than my lips, even on my light NC25 skin.

Read More

Coastal Scents Blue-Red Chrome Mica: MAC Cornflower Pigment Dupe?

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As you can see from the swatches, not really. BUT if you’ve ever wished that MAC’s Cornflower was a little stronger, finer-grained, and looked as duochrome on the lid as it does in the bottle, then this actually performs better for a whole lot less money. ($1 per sample bag to be exact.)

The only thing you need to watch out for is to wear a good base or primer on your lids, because pure micas don’t stick very well and can fade or dust off quickly. This shade is no different.

Here’s a close-up of the 2 swatches over a clear base. (Both pigments don’t stick all that well.) As you can see, MAC Cornflower goes on blue with just the faintest trace of violet overtone, but once it’s swatched next to Blue-Red Chrome, it looks flat-out periwinkle blue. Blue-Red Chrome on the other hand, shifts very beautifully between blue and a mauve-violet. Over a dark base, the reddened violet tones come out stronger. Over skin tones, the smoky blue is more apparent.

For about $1 a sample baggie which will fill up a 5g jar easily, I would definitely recommend you pick this OVER the MAC pigment any day.

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Step 1: I applied a dark blue pencil (MAC Blooz Kohl) along the lash line and diagonally up across the upper lid almost like a wing, but not extending much past the outer corners. This will serve as a dark base, which is ALWAYS a great way to bring out duochrome colors.

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Step 2: Use your fingers to just lightly smudge and smoke the outer edges.

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Step 3: Using a flat shadow brush so I can minimize fallout, I packed the pigment over the entire lid, from inner to outer corners, up to the socket line. Then I ran the brush along the lower lash line as well.

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Step 4: Just curl lashes and apply mascara to finish!

Product Highlight: Coastal Scents Paradise Rose Sky Mica

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Pure Micas don’t tend to work as well as some pressed shadows and pigments from brands like MAC, because they don’t adhere very well to the skin. Under most circumstances, I wouldn’t recommend buying micas for use straight-up as a shadow since they don’t perform that well.

BUT - that said - Coastal Scents’ Paradise micas are actually blended with cetyl dimethicone and metals to give them that incredible sheen and intensity on the skin, similar to pigments like MAC’s Tan. (Although you should still wear a primer on your lid to minimize fallout and fading.)

The shade I’m featuring today is Paradise Rose Sky (a generous sample costs only $1), a gorgeous burnished wine-red. If you apply it wet, it goes on a burgundy. If you blend it out, it takes on a warmer, more coppery heat. This would contrast very well with blue and green eyes, but as I always remind everyone, don’t limit your shade choices based on your eye color because eye makeup is NOT JUST about having max contrast with your eyes shade.

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Step 1: For definition and that cat-eyed wing, I’m using a plum colored pencil first. To create the shape I did, you just run the pencil from the center of the lower lid outwards along the lash line, and then extend straight up at the same angle.

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Step 2: Draw a line from the outer end of the line you drew earlier, and pull it diagonally in and down, until it touches the inner corners of our eye. As you draw the line, it will be quite straight. It just appears curved in the image due to the contour of my eyes.

Finish by coloring in the space within the wing.

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Step 3: Using a flat brush, I packed Paradise Rose Sky pigment onto the lid from outside in, first filling in the mobile lid area, within the socket line (hollow curve arching above your eye ball).

I colored higher than the upper edge of the penciled wing earlier and only covered the upper portions of the purple pencil. This is to give the color a slight gradient effect, from defined plum below to smoky red at the top. 

Leave the inner corner of the lids bare.

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Step 4: To lighten up the look a little, I packed a softer peach-pink (L’oreal Infallible in Forever Pink) onto the inner corners of the lid, smoothing into the coppery-red.

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Step 5: Finish with black mascara!

Gold-Dust, Gold-Lust: Chanel Illusion D’Ombre in 89 Vision

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[**Update] I bought this at a Chanel counter, and realised it doesn’t seem to be available online at the moment. Do give your local Chanel counter a call to find out when they might have this in!

If there is just one item that I will recommend from the high-end collections (if you’re in the market to splurge on something this Summer season), it is Chanel’s Illusion D’Ombre in 89 Vision. 

And, yes - let me first say outright that this is ridiculously expensive and, YES - you can live without it.

BUT - if you want a translucent sparkle in a convenient gel/cream format that is MUCH better than the equivalent from Shu Uemura, AND you don’t mind the price (US$36, S$52), this is a lust-inducing option to consider.

As you can see from the swatches above, this is literally a pot of the most glorious sparkling gold flecks in a completely translucent base. If gold has always been too yellow for you to wear, you will not encounter that problem here because you’re not going to get a wash of solid yellow-gold.

This is a veil of fine but intense fairy dust that is going to stay on your lids rather than dust right off onto your cheeks. The silky, almost-dry texture also means that you can smooth this on over existing shadows or powders.

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This is probably the shortest tutorial I have.

Step 1: Smooth on with finger all the way from lash line up to the brow bone.

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Step 2: Apply black liner (I used Milani Liquif’ Eye) along the water line and extend into a short flick to add sultriness to the gold-laden look.

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Step 3: Apply black mascara to finish.

And that is literally all you need for a traffic-stopping eye look that takes 5 minutes to create.

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Tip: This is best applied with your fingers.

Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color (Crush and Lovechild swatches and Review)

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I was recently gifted two of the new Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Colors by some wonderful friends at work, and I’ve got to say - these are so fun. 

They picked out the only two that did not contain frost or sparkles (good choice, J), along with some other things I’ll write about soon. 

• Lovechild - Muted mauve that’s almost an MLBB (My Lips But Better) shade. I hear it’s already sold out at some Sephoras in Singapore.
• Crush - Traffic-stopping, saturated hot pink creme

Format / Packaging

These lipsticks come in chubby-stick form, like fat pencils, and contain 2.8g (0.10 oz)of product each, which is slightly less than a typical lipstick (0.12 - 0.13 oz usually).

They aren’t twist-up, so you will have to sharpen them once the nubs are worn down.

Texture

Lightweight compared to most lipsticks and very much like lip balms. These aren’t as soft and smushy as I would have expected. They’re firm like regular lipsticks and easy to apply, and there isn’t much of a scent that I can detect or notice after application.

In fact, they are quite similar in consistency to MAC Casual Color Lip and Cheek Colors, but in pencil form so you can slip them into a bag or a pocket and not worry about things melting or breaking easily. 

Appearance / Consistency

These go on medium-sheer, but you can build up the color very easily for more opacity. Many chubby-sticks look like weak, tinted balms, but these definitely don’t. It might be a bit of a stretch to call them “super-saturated” despite the name though. They aren’t all that saturated compared to most lipsticks.

Shine-wise, don’t be too surprised or disappointed if they don’t look shiny when just applied. The formula causes the product to stay firm at room temperature. A minute or so after application, the heat of your lips will melt it and bring out a soft, glossy sheen.

Wear / Tenacity

Quite good. I could wear these for 3-4 hours without touching up. The problem is that these are so light and balm-like that I tended to forget I had anything on my lips at all, and just chewed/licked/smeared everything off within 1-2 hours. 

They definitely keep their original appearance better than tints or stains, which either fade or lose their sheen quickly, but because it’s quite creamy, you can’t expect them to stay on like matte or long-wearing glosses and lipsticks.

Price

Honestly, not cheap at US$19. Especially if you consider that these contain less product than the typical lipstick, and that you will always lose some product when you shave them with a sharpener. 

One thing UD can do to improve these would be to make them in a twist-up format so there is minimal waste. (Then again, if they do that, I expect they will just pass the extra cost to the consumers by charging us more for each stick.)

Verdict?

If you love the texture and finishes of MAC Casual Color pots, but don’t like dipping your fingers in or bringing a lip brush around, then these would be a good alternative. 

I have not tried any of the Revlon Balm Stains (the local drugstores need to bring these things in faster!) so I can’t do a comparison, but from what I’ve seen, the UD Lip Colors will be much more opaque and intense, and won’t provide that stain effect. 

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Note: Urban Decay cosmetics are vegan and cruelty-free.