The Makeup Box

The makeup blog with your daily dose of beauty inspirations, makeup tutorials, product reviews and shopping deals!

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MAC Spring 2013 Apres Chic Collection

(**indicates the items I’m personally interested in checking out or purchasing!)

The items I’m mostly likely going to get are the Porcelain Pink Mineralize Skinfinish (PERFECT luminous pink cheekbone highlight for people like me who don’t like a stark yellow or white shimmer), and maybe one or two of the Mineralize lip balms. I’m hoping they aren’t sticky like Lipglasses but feel the same as the usual MAC Lipbalms.

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My Bright Summer Pink Lip of the Moment: NYX Xtreme Lip Cream in 01 Dolly Girl

Last year, Soft Matte Lip Creams were all the rage in the NYX line. I do like matte finishes, but sometimes there’s nothing like a creamy texture to bring out all the ripe, glossy glory of a bright, hot, shade.

For me, NYX Xtreme Lip Creams go on thick and opaque like liquid lipsticks and are not sticky the way lip glosses are, but don’t expect them to be super long-wearing. The finish is good though (in my opinion); like a very creamy and opaque lipstick that you apply with a doe-foot applicator.

Since the Summer fashion season for me usually means a return to stronger, brighter lips, I feel a need to highlight the shade 01 Dolly Girl. It’s bright and very blue-based but deep enough to be flattering on many skin tones and to not look neon.

NYX Xtreme Lip Creams are cruelty-free and available for about $6 (or under) depending where you purchase them from.

3 Reasons To Get The Too Faced Eye Shadow Insurance Policy Collection
Who says splurges need to cost an arm and a leg?
This is by no means a new product or collection. It’s a staple in Too Faced’s range, and for good reason. If you get it from beflurt.com, I can’t describe it as anything other than a REALLY good deal, and if you need me to spell it out for you, here’s why.
—

1. You get 6 high-quality, high-impact shadow shades spanning a pretty good color spectrum. 
If you’re just building up your color collection and want a little of everything, this palette gives you 2 of each family; from neutrals like Glamazon (sparkly ash-beige) and Full Frontal (rich chocolate), to warm tones like Boy Toy (candy-pink) and Socialite (coppery-russet), and cooler tones like Lucky Charms (deep emerald green) and Skinny Dip (satiny navy).
I’ve been a long-time fan of Too Faced shadows because they are finely-grained and very pigmented so you don’t need to really load it onto your brush to get good color pay-off. This means you use less. At the same time, they aren’t so soft and crumbly that you need to worry about tons of fallout on your cheeks.
The only thing is that these do not come in any matte shades so if you don’t like metallic/pearl finishes, this will not be for you.

Shade-wise, I love Glamazon and Socialite.
Lucky Charms is a dupe of the much-coveted and long-discontinued MAC Pigment “Green”.
Skinny Dip is the least pigmented of the bunch but pretty nonetheless.
—
2. It comes with a full-size Eye Shadow Insurance, which retails for US$18.
This is one of the most popular eye primers in the world, so if you’re in the market to invest in a good quality product that doesn’t change the texture or color of your shadows, and can help them to go on stronger and stay on longer, you’ll be happy to know it’s included in this set.
—
3. It’s incredible value for money. 
A MAC shadow costs $15 for 1.5g of product. Too Faced Single shadows cost $16 each.
In this palette, it might not look like it, but you’re actually getting 6 full-sized pans of shadow (1.8g of each shade; more than a MAC pan) PLUS a full-size primer for $38, which works out to about $5.40 per product. 
Throw in the beflurt discount on top of that, and you just got 6 full-sized high-end shadows and primer for under $3.90 each.
That’s for products that cost $16-18 individually.
—
P.S. You get an additional 10% off when you enter MAKEUPBOX in the coupon code box during checkout. Whether you’re looking for a birthday gift or just a splurge for yourself, you don’t need to look further.
Need I say more?
Note: Too Faced products are “tested on celebrities, not animals”.

3 Reasons To Get The Too Faced Eye Shadow Insurance Policy Collection

Who says splurges need to cost an arm and a leg?

This is by no means a new product or collection. It’s a staple in Too Faced’s range, and for good reason. If you get it from beflurt.com, I can’t describe it as anything other than a REALLY good deal, and if you need me to spell it out for you, here’s why.

1. You get 6 high-quality, high-impact shadow shades spanning a pretty good color spectrum. 

If you’re just building up your color collection and want a little of everything, this palette gives you 2 of each family; from neutrals like Glamazon (sparkly ash-beige) and Full Frontal (rich chocolate), to warm tones like Boy Toy (candy-pink) and Socialite (coppery-russet), and cooler tones like Lucky Charms (deep emerald green) and Skinny Dip (satiny navy).

I’ve been a long-time fan of Too Faced shadows because they are finely-grained and very pigmented so you don’t need to really load it onto your brush to get good color pay-off. This means you use less. At the same time, they aren’t so soft and crumbly that you need to worry about tons of fallout on your cheeks.

The only thing is that these do not come in any matte shades so if you don’t like metallic/pearl finishes, this will not be for you.

Shade-wise, I love Glamazon and Socialite.

Lucky Charms is a dupe of the much-coveted and long-discontinued MAC Pigment “Green”.

Skinny Dip is the least pigmented of the bunch but pretty nonetheless.

2. It comes with a full-size Eye Shadow Insurance, which retails for US$18.

This is one of the most popular eye primers in the world, so if you’re in the market to invest in a good quality product that doesn’t change the texture or color of your shadows, and can help them to go on stronger and stay on longer, you’ll be happy to know it’s included in this set.

3. It’s incredible value for money. 

A MAC shadow costs $15 for 1.5g of product. Too Faced Single shadows cost $16 each.

In this palette, it might not look like it, but you’re actually getting 6 full-sized pans of shadow (1.8g of each shade; more than a MAC pan) PLUS a full-size primer for $38, which works out to about $5.40 per product. 

Throw in the beflurt discount on top of that, and you just got 6 full-sized high-end shadows and primer for under $3.90 each.

That’s for products that cost $16-18 individually.

P.S. You get an additional 10% off when you enter MAKEUPBOX in the coupon code box during checkout. Whether you’re looking for a birthday gift or just a splurge for yourself, you don’t need to look further.

Need I say more?

Note: Too Faced products are “tested on celebrities, not animals”.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Varnis a Levres Glossy Stains (Swatches, Review)
—-
With Chanel’s Rouge Allure Laque being out of stock globally, this seemed like the next best thing, especially as it’s a rather innovative formula designed to be transfer-resistant.
Long-wearing glosses tend to be stickier, thicker and generally more uncomfortable to wear than regular glosses. Plus, they do still kiss off on anything and everything, so I never really got the point aside from the fact that some formulas marry high pigmentation with shine.
YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stains are a new breed of glosses that promise to be something different, and I must admit a line of lightweight, pigmented glosses that actually stay on and feel comfortable on the lips sounded a bit too good to be true.
So on my recent trip to the States, I picked up a couple of shades at Sephora.
—-
Verdict? 
These are great, and I would pick these over Chanel Laques (or ANY other high-end gloss currently on the market) in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, YSL Beaute is not readily available in many countries.
The texture is very interesting because it’s like jello; extremely light and cool to the touch when applied. If you’ve ever used Make Up For Ever Face and Body foundation, you’ll know what I mean about a gel-like  product that thins out into a watery texture during application. 
The best thing is how comfortable it is to wear. I don’t get gloopy bits congealing in the corners of my mouth, and it doesn’t feel heavy.
This product will “set” after application, but NOT completely, so while the color and shine can survive a full meal and drinks quite well, you can still wipe everything off with a tissue and some pressure. The color does seep into lines a little, so I don’t suggest applying more than 2 coats or it will start to get very patchy and uneven-looking.
 
The pigmentation is medium, so you’re not going to get opaque coverage but the color will definitely be strong.
I’ve been able to wear this for half a day without any touch-ups until after a big meal, so while this is really expensive, I expect one tube will last you quite awhile unless you keep reapplying.
—-

The 2 shades I bought were the two medium pinks; 15 Rose Vinyl (warm petal-pink) and 17 Encre Rose (light mauve-pink). All available shades are non-shimmery.
One note when you’re shopping in the stores though; the colors do stain your lips a little, so the product will wear a tone or two deeper than they look straight from the tube. 

The packaging is pretty lightweight as it’s actually plastic, but the window helps you identify shades quickly, and watch your product levels. The only problem is they’re a little square and bulky if you want to stuff them into a slim little pouch to bring around.
These go for US$32 and are available in select Sephoras and DFS’s around the world.
—-
P.S. Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hr Gloss Stains are NOT the same thing though they sound like they might be. The color range and performance is very different, although they are both gloss stains. If you are on a tight budget and like non-sticky glosses, those are ok to pick up, but you won’t find lighter, creamier colors (they all go on quite deep) and they also don’t stay on very well compared to these.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Varnis a Levres Glossy Stains (Swatches, Review)

—-

With Chanel’s Rouge Allure Laque being out of stock globally, this seemed like the next best thing, especially as it’s a rather innovative formula designed to be transfer-resistant.

Long-wearing glosses tend to be stickier, thicker and generally more uncomfortable to wear than regular glosses. Plus, they do still kiss off on anything and everything, so I never really got the point aside from the fact that some formulas marry high pigmentation with shine.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stains are a new breed of glosses that promise to be something different, and I must admit a line of lightweight, pigmented glosses that actually stay on and feel comfortable on the lips sounded a bit too good to be true.

So on my recent trip to the States, I picked up a couple of shades at Sephora.

—-

Verdict? 

These are great, and I would pick these over Chanel Laques (or ANY other high-end gloss currently on the market) in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, YSL Beaute is not readily available in many countries.

The texture is very interesting because it’s like jello; extremely light and cool to the touch when applied. If you’ve ever used Make Up For Ever Face and Body foundation, you’ll know what I mean about a gel-like  product that thins out into a watery texture during application. 

The best thing is how comfortable it is to wear. I don’t get gloopy bits congealing in the corners of my mouth, and it doesn’t feel heavy.

This product will “set” after application, but NOT completely, so while the color and shine can survive a full meal and drinks quite well, you can still wipe everything off with a tissue and some pressure. The color does seep into lines a little, so I don’t suggest applying more than 2 coats or it will start to get very patchy and uneven-looking.

 

The pigmentation is medium, so you’re not going to get opaque coverage but the color will definitely be strong.

I’ve been able to wear this for half a day without any touch-ups until after a big meal, so while this is really expensive, I expect one tube will last you quite awhile unless you keep reapplying.

—-

The 2 shades I bought were the two medium pinks; 15 Rose Vinyl (warm petal-pink) and 17 Encre Rose (light mauve-pink). All available shades are non-shimmery.

One note when you’re shopping in the stores though; the colors do stain your lips a little, so the product will wear a tone or two deeper than they look straight from the tube. 

The packaging is pretty lightweight as it’s actually plastic, but the window helps you identify shades quickly, and watch your product levels. The only problem is they’re a little square and bulky if you want to stuff them into a slim little pouch to bring around.

These go for US$32 and are available in select Sephoras and DFS’s around the world.

—-

P.S. Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hr Gloss Stains are NOT the same thing though they sound like they might be. The color range and performance is very different, although they are both gloss stains. If you are on a tight budget and like non-sticky glosses, those are ok to pick up, but you won’t find lighter, creamier colors (they all go on quite deep) and they also don’t stay on very well compared to these.

MAC Quick Sizzle Matte Lipstick Dupes!

—-

Quick Sizzle is the sell-out shade in the limited edition Shop MAC, Cook MAC collection. It’s just been released in Asia, and the first shop I hit was already out of this shade.

Don’t you just hate it when the gorgeous colors are all limited edition???

In any case, I managed to pick one up, and immediately thought “Hmm, this looks familiar.” I probably had a couple of shades very similar to it. But I knew it would be sold out the next day, so I just couldn’t bear the thought of missing out. (Let me hear you say it; “S-U-C-K-E-R….” Thank you.)

Well let’s get to the point of this post;

If you missed out on the shade and can’t get hold of it, PLEASE don’t trawl through  eBay trying to buy it at exorbitant prices. There are 2 shades that are REALLY similar. BOTH are cheaper. Unless you’re a MAC collector, you really don’t need to get Quick Sizzle.

In the tubes, they look different.

Swatched, the difference in shades is visible but minimal.

On the lips - believe me - NOBODY else will really know the difference.

  1. NYX Matte Lipstick in Sweet Pink: US$5.50 on beflurt.com (don’t forget the Coupon Code MAKEUPBOX for a 10% discount!)
  2. Sephora Rouge Cream Lipstick in R11 Love Test: US$12 at Sephora stores 

NYX Sweet Pink:

  • 95% color match (a tad more muted/cool-toned than Quick Sizzle)
  • 100% texture match

Sephora Love Test:

  • 98% color match (these go on extremely similar; Love Test is slightly more magenta, but the difference is almost indiscernible on the lips)
  • 70% texture match (this is a creme lipstick, so if you don’t like mattes, this is perfect)

Quick Sizzle has a hint more red/warmth than the other 2 lipsticks, but they’re the same sort of flattering, rosy fuchsia pink that doesn’t look neon, doesn’t look red, can be worn on a weekend OR for work, and goes with SOOO many skin tones. 

"What Makeup or Beauty product are you Lemming for right now?"

For me, it is Chanel Rouge Allure Laque # 75 Dragon. I’m slow to the game, I know… but oh my gawd, I’m obsessed with it right now.

Things I’ve tried to tell myself:

  • I don’t like gloss.
  • Rouge Allure Laque is just a less sticky type of gloss.
  • The color looks very much like MAC Russian Red.
  • Russian Red is half the price.
  • I already own Russian Red.
  • I do not need one more deep red lipstick.
  • It is going to be high-maintenance (smears, touching up, etc).
  • It is SGD45 here.
  • That is USD36 here.
  • I need to buy work clothes more than I need makeup.
  • I’ve got too many lipsticks.
  • I’ve got too many lip products.
  • I’ve got too much makeup.
  • I dislike a lot of Chanel’s packaging. I don’t care that it’s “Classic” and a status symbol. It’s always felt like the Emperor’s New Clothes to me. (Ugh, but the Rouge Allure Laques look gorgeous!)
  • This obsession is going to pass. Eventually.

I don’t think it’s working.

What items are YOU lemming right now?

Update @ camijoi: I know of one online seller, strawberrynet.com but they seem to be out of Dragon as well. :(

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