Fresh-Faced Makeup Look: Fresh Start For 2018

Fresh-Faced Makeup Look: Fresh Start For 2018

YSL Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, January 14, 2018

I had a very good first-half of 2017. Then, halfway through, Dad got bitten by a snake, and I was hospitalised with a severe case of anaphylaxis. Dad's doing better now, but then Gramps fell ill. I have allergy tests scheduled for next week.
So I hope 2018 is a lot better. To signify a fresh start for this year, I decided to do a fresh-faced makeup look. Dewy and soft, with very sheer foundation. Some mild peripheral warmth - no great contour. Soft neutral daytime-smoky eyes, and a gorgeously dusty-rose lipstick with coral undertones.

Scroll down for a wearable, fresh-faced makeup look tutorial, to make a fresh start for 2018! 

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Best of Beauty 2017: Favourite Lipsticks

Best of Beauty 2017: Favourite Lipsticks

Reviews Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, December 31, 2017

Here's my penultimate post of the year (yes, there's one more left, and no, it isn't "Happy New Year", haha). This is the last installment of the Best of Beauty 2017 trilogy. It features my favourite lip products. Not just lipsticks - I've included my favourite bullet and liquid lipsticks, lip liners, toppers, balm, and glosses. Should probably have added a scrub - but nothing much wowed me this year, and it turns out that my favourite Lush Bubblegum breaks me out around my mouth. Pretty much all Lush products have been breaking me out badly - I wonder why!
Anyway, favourite lipsticks.

Scroll down to check out my favourite lip products for 2017 - including lipsticks, lip glosses, lip liners, balms, and more. 

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Mid-2017 Makeup Haul, Including 10 Lipsticks!

Mid-2017 Makeup Haul, Including 10 Lipsticks!

YSL Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, August 15, 2017

I usually go on two makeup shopping-sprees in a year - the first one is around June-July, and the second one is around Christmas/Boxing Day, to take advantage of the sales.
This year, my haul was mostly from Harvey Nichols (I missed a gorgeous GWP by one day; can you believe it?), Selfridges, and Debenhams. The haul included 10 lipsticks, but just the two eye palettes. But why am I talking about it? You can see my haul for yourself further below.

Scroll down to see my mid-2017 makeup haul from Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, and Debenhams.

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Makeup Look With 2016 Favourites

Makeup Look With 2016 Favourites

Palette Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, December 05, 2016

It has been a while since I did an FOTD post; I have been taking photos of several makeup looks, though I haven't got around to sharing them. This one features some of my favourite makeup products discovered in 2016.
My favourite makeup discovery is Kevyn Aucoin's Sensual Skin Enhancer. I bought it on Norah Salazar's recommendation, as a concealer. However, in this look, I ended up "taking out" too much product, and have had to use it all over, as a foundation.

Scroll down to view my FOTD with Kevyn Aucoin SSE, Lancome Auda[City] in London, and By Terry Terrybly Velvet Rouge.

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Makeup And Skincare Favourites: November 2016

Makeup And Skincare Favourites: November 2016

Winter Cosmetopia Digest   Friday, December 02, 2016

Twenty-four days to go. Have you decorated your Christmas tree and done your shopping yet? I'm in the middle of gift-wrapping and card-writing. It looks like I'm going to be travelling soon, so I have a week or so to get everything sorted. I'm also accompanying Gramps on hospital visits - he has been diagnosed with osteo-arthritis and severe anaemia. The latter is supposed to be the side-effect of ongoing treatment for cancer.
Meanwhile, I'll tell you about the beauty products I've been loving recently.

Scroll down to see my makeup and skincare favourites for November 2016.

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Lancome Auda[City] in London Eyeshadow Palette Review, Swatches, vs Audacity in Paris Comparison

Lancome Auda[City] in London Eyeshadow Palette Review, Swatches, vs Audacity in Paris Comparison

Swatches Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, November 14, 2016

If I had to pick just the one eyeshadow palette to use for the rest of my life, it would be either Lancome Auda[City] in Paris, reviewed here, or Julie Hewett's Breathless Palette, reviewed here. Both of these contain soft shades I wear on a daily basis.
This year, Lancome has come out with another 16-shadow, soft-shade eyeshadow palette - Auda[City] in London, the brainchild of Lisa Eldridge, as was the first one. 
Because I loved the first one so much, I decided to buy the Lancome Auda[City] in London Eyeshadow Palette after seeing swatches on ReallyRee, despite a few misgivings about cool tones and silvery shades, and duplication with the Paris palette.

Scroll down for review and swatches of the Lancome Auda[City] in London Eyeshadow Palette, and comparisons with the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette.

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Autumn Makeup Look With Bourjois Cosmetics

Autumn Makeup Look With Bourjois Cosmetics

Makeup Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, September 12, 2016

Bourjois has always been my favourite drugstore makeup brand. The quality of their foundations, eyeliners, blushes, bronzers, lipsticks and mascaras is as good as department store brands. The only thing I don't love about Bourjois is their eyeshadows - the pigmentation isn't awesome, and they don't have the kind of large palettes I prefer anyway.
Feelunique has 3-for-2 on Bourjois right now, and they ship worldwide, so I've just been Bourjois-hauling!
With all the Bourjois love going on, I decided to do a Fall makeup look with six Bourjois makeup products - and other brands as well. Warning: This isn't my usual look; I'm wearing dark lipstick!

Scroll down for an Autumn makeup look with six products from Bourjois Cosmetics.

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2015 Favourites: 10 Best Eyeshadow Palettes

2015 Favourites: 10 Best Eyeshadow Palettes

Urban Decay Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New Year's Eve! I am staying indoors for the first time in years because the breakout I thought was acne is actually an infection I caught after travelling to flood-infested areas three weeks ago. My GP did a swab and culture - I'm running a temperature and have withdrawn from public life for the next three weeks.
This was one of the most difficult posts of 2015 for me - narrowing down my favourite eyeshadow palettes of the year to just 10. I had to leave out some favourite staples such as Cargo Cosmetics Summer in the City and MUA Spring Break.

Scroll down for the list of my 10 favourite eyeshadow palettes for 2015.

Disclaimer: Favourites lists are entirely subjective. What may be an awesome product to one person may not work at all for another.

Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Eyeshadow Palette Review, Swatches, EOTDs

Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Eyeshadow Palette Review, Swatches, EOTDs

Swatches Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Lancome Auda[City] in Paris is one of the two eyeshadow palettes I am loving this Autumn. The other is the IT Cosmetics Romantics palette, reviewed here. If you read that review, and then scroll down this page to see the photos of Auda[City], you will notice that both have soft shades. Neutrals, but soft, pretty, wearable colours.
I fell for the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris eyeshadow palette as soon as I saw the photos. Such pretty shades! Plus, the packaging is gorgeous. Who does not love the stilettos over Paris's most famous skyline? This palette combines fashion with good taste. I wanted it all the more because it was designed by Lisa Eldridge herself. Formula and pigmentation, you ask? Read on.

Review and swatches of the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Eyeshadow Palette are further below.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara review, photos

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara review, photos

Urban Decay Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, October 09, 2014

I know that mascaras work differently on different people. In my case, most mascaras do make a difference to my non-existent eyelashes, but very few give me extraordinary, "wow" results, combining length, separation, volume and curl. So far, only Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mascara, reviewed here, had made the fuzz on my eyelids look like well-defined eyelashes, giving length, volume, separation and a bit of curl without using a primer or torture device curler.
But I have a habit of looking for backups. What if they discontinued the product suddenly, or availability stopped for some reason? I tried a dozen mascaras from drugstore to high-end, but nothing gave me the oomph that Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes did. Nonetheless, I have persisted. And, the latest to come under the scanner is Urban Decay Perversion, which created quite a bit of hype when it launched a few months ago. I haven't tried any of the other products from the Perversion range so I did not have many expectations.

Read on for my review of Urban Decay Perversion mascara.

Beauty products used up in September 2014

Beauty products used up in September 2014

Skin care Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, October 02, 2014

You know a month is almost over when the little bag on the shower door handle is almost full. That is where I toss in my empties during the month. Once I take pictures of the containers and packets inside, the bag is trashed - as are its former contents - and replaced with a new, empty one. At some point, I want to work on cleaning the empties up at least before I take pictures. However, this is not a glossy magazine, but an ordinary blog run by a harum-scarum person who wishes there were 50 hours in a day, 100 days in a month and 25 months in a year, so all she does is points shoots and leaves. Both omission of punctuation and pun intended.
I have not had a very consistent skin care regimen in September and only managed to use up one face mask. I did try to soften up my dry frizzy hair, though. There is a fortune awaiting whoever invents a haircare product that hydrates without oiling up and de-flakes without drying up.

Scroll to read about the beauty products I used up in September 2014 and my quick thoughts on each.

Lancome Advanced Genefique Concentrate review, vs Visionnaire serum

Lancome Advanced Genefique Concentrate review, vs Visionnaire serum

Skin care Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, September 10, 2014

It took me almost two years to find my favourite face serum. There have been epic fails on the way, and some that worked okay and gave me good results. But nothing else that I have actually repurchased. Nothing else that made people say my skin had actually improved.
I ended up trying out Lancome Advanced Genefique purely by chance. Having tried out Lancome Genefique before, with nothing to show for it, I was reluctant to try out what looked like another version, even though I had liked using Lancome Genefique Yeux Light Pearl on the eye area. But the SA managed to palm off two samples on me. Even so, they lay forgotten in my travel bag until a short sojourn at my Gramps's place, where I found myself without moisturiser, but with flakes around my breakouts. I reached for the samples and the rest is the cliched history.

Read on for my review of Lancome Advanced Genefique Youth Activating Concentrate.

Beauty products used up in April 2014

Beauty products used up in April 2014

Soaps Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, May 05, 2014

Last month, I did not use sheet masks or sachets. Usually, I go through at least two sheet masks in a month, but I stuck to the GlamGlow YouthMud Tinglexfoliate Treatment pack in April whenever my skin needed a pick-me-up.
Apart from just four products, I did not really like any of my empties for April 2014. In fact, I went through some of them over the span of a few months as they were such a pain to finish. But you will know all those details as you read on.

Here are the beauty products I used up in April 2014 and really quick reviews of each.

Manicure: Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Tweedy nail polish over Lancome Vernis In Love 220M

Manicure: Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Tweedy nail polish over Lancome Vernis In Love 220M

Swatches Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, March 03, 2014

So I saw my dentist and things are looking good; everything is healing nicely. I celebrated by painting my nails with Lancome Vernis In Love 220M or Jolis Matins and Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat nail polish in Tweedy.
I've swatched the Vernis in Love first. Jolis Matins is a light, milky-neutral shade with peachy tones that can be worn to work. Streaky with one coat, you can get better coverage with two coats, and even so, you can see faint outlines of tips. The polish is easy to apply and dries reasonably well. I have tried a couple of Vernis in Love polishes now and I will not be buying more - I think O.P.I., Zoya, China Glaze and Ciate are far better value for money and have the better formula. Still, I wouldn't have known if I hadn't tried. This is in natural light. I can't wear plain neutral polishes without wanting to add something else, and I was bored within hours and decided to apply another nail polish above this.
Now for the best part of this manicure - Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat nail polish in Tweedy.

Lancome Blush In Love review, swatches, photos of both shades

Lancome Blush In Love review, swatches, photos of both shades

Swatches Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, January 21, 2014

I am not a blush person and I have only ever bought two blushes in my life, despite owning eight, including Elizabeth Arden and Lancome Blush Subtil (gifts and/or beauty boxes). I always feel blush brings out the pores on my face and bronzer looks better - or just can't be bothered in the mornings. Anyway, the two blushes I spent on hooked me with their packaging and subtlety.
I fell in love with both the Lancome Blush In Love blushes - Peche Joue Joue and Pommettes d'Amour - the moment I saw them. It was a little difficult to get my hands on Peche Joue Joue as it was always out of stock, but I finally managed to get one in December. And they've made me take blush seriously.

Here's the review and swatches of both shades of Lancome Blush In Love blushes.

Nail polish haul and swatches: O.P.I., Ciate, Models Own, Barry M. and Lancome

Nail polish haul and swatches: O.P.I., Ciate, Models Own, Barry M. and Lancome

Videos Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, January 08, 2014

I wanted this to be a nail polish and nail art blog. But somewhere along the line, my love of other products seeped in. If I had to choose between a polish and a palette, I'd go for the nails each time.
Twenty-six. That's the number of nail polishes I hauled on my December holiday. Across brands. And I'm not counting nail art pens, nail wheels, buffs and other tools. I picked some beauties from O.P.I., Ciate, Models Own, Barry M. and Lancôme. 

Here are the nail polishes and the swatches.

Makeup and skin care haul from Sephora Middle East: Part I

Makeup and skin care haul from Sephora Middle East: Part I

Urban Decay Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, January 05, 2014

You're thinking, "That is all she bought, after all her claims?" This is the first of the makeup and skin care hauls made over the Holiday season from Sephora Middle East. I've got separate haul posts for lipsticks, nail polishes, Soap & Glory, Benefit and Boots No7. Detailed reviews and swatches will be posted later. And yes, I did buy 25 nail polishes and quite a few lipsticks, but this post will become longer than The Iliad unless I split up my haul!
There are eight countries in the Persian Gulf with Sephora stores, with eight Sephora outlets in the UAE alone. You can sign up for the Sephora White Card, which is the Middle East's equivalent of the Beauty Insider loyalty card programme and earn points and get gifts. And once you have 2,000 points like I do now, you can trade it in for a black card. I'm now going to show you the palettes, eye creams, blush and brushes I hauled across brands from Sephora.

Lancome Absolu Voyage travel palette review, swatches and photos

Lancome Absolu Voyage travel palette review, swatches and photos

Travel Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, December 16, 2013

Having decided not to pack the Clarins Bright White Travel Palette reviewed here, I decided to take another look at the Lancome Absolu Voyage Travel Palette, which I had picked up alongside from the airport en route to Lisbon. I had fallen hook, line and sinker for this stunning palette for the packaging alone, and I use the contents more often than I use the Clarins palette.
Travel palettes are an easy way of taking along some 5-6 eyeshadows, a couple of lip products, basic eyeliner and mascara, concealer and a couple of face products - powder and blush, at least - without filling up half your suitcase. And the Lancome Absolu Voyage ticks all those boxes, especially for everyday looks.

Beauty haul: Sephora, EOS, Sleek, Lancome, elf and lots of samples

Beauty haul: Sephora, EOS, Sleek, Lancome, elf and lots of samples

Sleek Cosmetopia Digest   Saturday, November 16, 2013

Sephora. EOS. Lancome. Sleek. e.l.f. They're all in this box that arrived today. Along with fabulous samples from Murad, Josie Maran, Philosophy, Lancome, Marc Jacobs, Sephora, OCC, Nars, Kat von D, Elemis and so on. Okay, so only three products in this haul are for me!

September 2013 empties

September 2013 empties

Soap and Glory Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, October 01, 2013

I managed to use up a full-sized body butter for the first time ever, thanks to full-body moisturising! Here are the products I finished in September 2013: