Etude House Aloha V-Line Slim Maker

Happy New Year, everyone!! May 2014 be a wonderful year! As mentioned in the post yesterday, here’s another review of a bronzer.

Etude House Aloha V-Line Slim Maker

It comes in a box with a free brush but there is no compartment in the compact to hold the brush. They could have just made it cheaper by not including the brush. Just saying.

Actually the Etude House Aloha V-Line Slim Maker is a contour and highlighter compact, but I use the contour colour as a bronzer.

The one on the right side.

As you can see, I’ve used up quite a bit of the contour so the prints are barely discernible.

I bought No. 2 which has Cherry Wood (contour) and Sun Pink (highlighter). Again, I only vaguely remember the price because it was bought months ago. If my memory serves me right, it should be around $24. It was an impulsive buy, to be honest, that’s why I was willing to shell out $24 for an Etude House product. Not to say that they are not good, but I’d feel like a sucker after knowing the actual retail price in Korea.

When I was choosing between No. 1 and No. 2, I had a very hard time trying to decide because they paired the warmer contour with the cooler tone highlighter, and the cooler contour with a warmer highlighter. Does that make sense to you?

No. 1 has Wood Brown (contour) which is lighter than No. 2’s Cherry Wood (contour) so No. 2 suited my skin better. However, No. 1 has Sun Gold (highlighter) which is a subtle gold and great for warm skin tones but No. 2 has Sun Pink (highlighter) which really looks like pearly white that I’ve no use for.

In the end, I chose No. 2 for the contour because I needed a bronzer badly and I already have a lot of gold champagne highlighter.

Swatches of Cherry Wood (contour) and Sun Pink (highlighter)

I am mighty pleased with the contour. It has no shimmer in it, very warm and looks natural. It works really well and I would recommend it to everyone if it were not for the highlighter beside it.

The highlighter looked too much like a beam on my cheekbones. Not quite the subtle natural makeup look I’d envisioned.

Worse of all, it’s just next to the contour so I can’t use a big brush without picking up some of the highlighter.

I wish they had just the contour colour in a compact. Will not repurchase unless they change the highlighter colour.

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder

The review today and tomorrow will be about two of the bronzers that I’m currently using. I originally intended to do a comparison and review them together but they both have their pros and cons, and I want to elaborate more, hence the two different entries.

This is what I’m going to review today, The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder.

The compact cover is gorgeous. It is tessellated with hexagons. Tilting the cover slightly to show them better.

I am truly in love with the design of the whole compact, including the powder which is also imprinted with hexagons to mimic the shape of honeycombs.

It’s a pity really, that the colour is kinda shitty.

Truly, I was shocked when I first tried it on my face. It was too orangey and does not last for the whole day. It sort of “floats” on top of the skin by midday. I honestly have nothing good to say about this bronzer.

Swatched on my hand.

Just for comparison’s sake, I swatched my other bronzer below.

As you can see, the colour is a lot more orangey than the other bronzer. I wanted to look slightly more sunkissed, not turn into an Oompa Loompa.

Before I bought it, I did my homework and researched online. Makeupalley.com gave it a 4.2 out of 5. =_= And just to be sure that I won’t get the wrong shade, I went up to the sales person to get my colour matched and she recommended me shade no. 03.

Maybe she made a mistake, I don’t know because just based on how non-lasting the powder is, I’m not going to buy another one to try.

It cost me $19.90 and I bought it at a The Body Shop warehouse sale. I’m sure it is a lot cheaper in other countries considering how much of a ripoff The Body Shop Singapore is. Mind-boggling how this can still cost $19.90 in a warehouse sale. Sigh. Don’t buy it if you don’t like orange based bronzers. If you’ve dry skin and likes the colour of an orange, by all means, go for it.

Etude House Line Nuance Duo

I’ve been having loads of fun, especially since Christmas Eve, spending time with my family and friends. It’s December, my favourite month of the year, and it is always full of cheer and love and joy. Hopefully it’s the same for everyone as well!!

Without further ado, here’s another review of a makeup product. Two actually, but they are both the same thing in different colours.

Line Nuance Duo from Etude House

I bought them in a sale a few months back and have used them quite a few times. They were slightly over $4 during the 50% sale, if I remember correctly but my friend thinks that it was $12. I wouldn’t buy two if they were over $10 each. Anyways, I bought a light champagne colour for highlighting and a dark metallic bronzy brown for smokey look.

This is in the colour no. 1, the champagne gold eyeshadow with pearly white eyeliner.

Swatches of no. 1

As you can see, the colours are very pigmented. I’m very pleased with the eyeshadow as the powder is very fine and shimmers without chunky glitters. However, I don’t like the eyeliner as it is a pearly white colour. It would have been more useable if it were in beige or just plain white. Pearly white is a little too shiny to be used on the lower waterline but it’s just a personal preference. I’m sure there’ll be people who like pearly white.

This is in the colour no. 4, the metallic bronzy brown eyeshadow with dark metallic olive green eyeliner.

Swatches of no. 4

Again, very pleased with the colour payoff. Rich pigmentation in both eyeshadow and eyeliner. The eyeliner does not last for people with oily skin, like me =\ but the texture is great for smoking out the edges for a soft liner look. I prime my eyelids with Urban Decay Primer Potion before using the liner and it stays on well. Just doesn’t work that well on the waterline though.

All in all, they are only worth it during a sale, considering how jacked up the prices are in the Etude House stores in Singapore. If they sell only the eyeshadows in individual pots, I’ll definitely buy them, but in this case, because they are duo headed, I find it a waste that I only have use for the eyeshadows and less for the eyeliners so I won’t be repurchasing again.

47 Ronin

Okay, so I just came home from watching 47 Ronin and my hair is wet from showering so while waiting for it to dry, I’ve time to write a mini review here.

Keanu Reeves has been in some pretty good movies and a lot of lousy ones. That’s the same for Rinko Kikuchi. All of you may remember her from the super awesome Pacific Rim but I also recall her role in Babel and it was not very pleasant. So I’d walked into the movie theatre with very very low expectations.

And, I was surprised that it wasn’t all bad. It is the American’s interpretation of a Japanese version of a Chinese period drama movie. Phew. That was a mouthful. The plot and costumes are interesting and the animation is good. Rinko Kikuchi is outstanding, her character reminded me of a Japanese version of Helena Bonham Carter.

However, I can see how some people might not like it. If you’re looking for an action movie, you might be disappointed.

If you are a fan of chinese period drama movies, then there’s still a chance that you may not like it. The costumes may look good but from a critical eye, they are not as lavish and detailed as Chinese period dramas. The Americans just do not have an eye for details. As I said, I went in with low expectations and the movie was good, not great.

Notre Dame de Paris Singapore

My friend, Chibi san, had tickets to Notre Dame de Paris and invited us to watch it. Hence on Tuesday evening, I went with my sister and her boyfriend. It’s a very popular musical so I was pretty excited. However, even before we went into the theatre, I had to overcome a very personal hurdle. How exactly is “Notre dame de Paris” pronounced?!

According to Dictionary.com, it’s “noh-truh deym” or “noh-truh dahm“. And here I was reading it mentally as “Not reh dam”. =_=

Thankfully, I was spared the embarrassment when I saw Chibi san at the counter. (Doubly grateful to her for that. Haha.)

Pretty stars on the tickets.

Managed to take a photo of the stage before the show started.

To be completely honest, I’ve mixed feelings about the show. The costumes are great and the choreography is outstanding. The lyrics seemed a bit off, understandable considering that it was originally in French, and truly, I am grateful that I was invited to watch something so popular that it’s translated into so many different languages.

BUT (it’s a huge but) several issues kept bugging me so much that I couldn’t overlook them. First of all, some of the performers couldn’t reach some of the high notes. (Opening night jitters maybe?)

And the sound system was all over the place. By that, I meant that the music just went out with a loud popping sound in the middle of one of the scenes (kudos to the performers for carrying on, especially the actor in the role of Phoebus. His mic went completely soundless and he carried on without missing a beat.)

Even when the sound was fixed, some of the higher pitches sounded too harsh on the ears. I’m no expert in this area but it was unpleasant during some of the chorus. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt though, that it was a technical glitch and they did the best that they could, considering that it was the opening night and there would be kinks to smoothen out.

As mentioned above, I love the choreography. However, to put it as nicely as possible, I wanna break the ankle of one of the performers.

In one of the most anticipated and visually stunning scene “The Bells”, the performers sit on huge bells and swing back and forth.

(Photo taken from official video, click here for the video from Base Entertainment Asia)

The performer on the right has a loose ankle. Her (could be a guy, I don’t know) ankle was just dangling there when it was supposed to be curled. If there were not two other bell ringers, she would not have stuck out like a sore thumb but there she was, with her loose ankle, when everybody else had theirs tightly curled. It was practically screaming at me, and I just wanted to climb onstage and slap her ankle.

It is such a pity, especially when she is a stronger dancer than the performer in the middle (subjective once you consider the loose ankle). The middle bell ringer is just one or two beats slower, no biggie, unless it’s a world famous musical and she is performing in the middle of the stage.

Oh my god, at that point, all I was thinking of was that they could’ve just rehearsed more and none of this could have happened.

It could be opening night jitters, or my expectations were too high. From what I saw on Twitter, many of the other audience seemed to love the show. (Just search #notredamedeparis or #notredamedeparissg on Twitter) As I said, I’ve mixed feelings.

The story is a classic and I love the inner torment portrayed by the characters. My favourite character is probably Father Frollo. He was torn by his forbidden desire for Esmeralda and who he thought he should be. Basically a creep and pedophile rolled into one.

Matt Laurent, actor playing the character of Quasimodo, has a lovely lovely voice, and I enjoyed his rendition of God you made the world all wrong and Dance my Esmeralda.

I managed to snuck a few photos during the curtain call. Again, I stress that I would never take photos during a performance unless it is allowed.

It is a live musical and I’m sure it is impossible to be pitch perfect and every movement synchronised for all the shows. Seeing a show on different days could be an entirely different experience because of the different ways the performers feel and perform on that day. That’s the beauty of watching it live rather than buying the cd.

For people who are interested in the show, go to Sistic to book your tickets. The show will be in Singapore till the 5th of January next year.

Screenshot of the ticket prices taken from Sistic. There are probably some card discounts.

I think it’d be great to gift someone with tickets for the holiday season, especially since the show will be carrying on even on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Spending quality time together, away from the kids and talk about thoughts of the musical afterwards. I know I had fun.

P.s. In no way did I obtain any benefits from this blog post. Nobody paid me to write this. (Though I wish someone would.) Haha. It’s an honest review based on what I’ve seen because I’ve the time to write here and I wanted to share.

A paid review would be all praises, don’t you think?

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

A few days ago, I instagrammed a photo of my new Urban Decay Naked 3 eyeshadow palette and since that day, I’ve used the palette quite a few times, enough times to do a short review here before Christmas. I’ll probably write more about it when I have time to be adventurous with the colours.

I’m sure any girl who is into makeup will be ecstatic to receive a Naked 3 as a gift. In fact, my Naked 3 is a birthday gift from my friends and I love it.

Here’s a photo of mine though googling will definitely lead you to larger, clearer photos of the palette.

There is a great mixture of lighter shades for everyday look and darker shades for the sultry smokey eye look. Even for someone like me that seldom put on eyeshadow, I still find the light shades very wearable.

Some of the colours I normally use would be: Strange for a base colour. Nooner or Factory for crease colour and Dust or Trick for the middle of the lids.

I have yet to try Darkside or Blackheart, the two darkest colour. Any suggestions on how to use them? I’m not a fan of the smokey eye.

This is perfect for a gift, but I’m not sure I’ll repurchase as I’m sure that there are many other palettes out there to try and this one will probably last me for a long time. It cost $83 at Sephora Singapore.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain No. 10

This is the time of the year when people read blogs and watch videos in search for gift inspiration on what to get for their loved ones. Hopefully, my reviews and opinions here helps out. I’ve filed everything under Gift ideas in the Categories by the side of the blog.

Here’s a review of the YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain No. 10.

According to the label I stuck on the tube, I bought the YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain No. 10 in July this year. That was five months ago and I only got into it recently.

Swatched on my hand

It smells like cherries.

Anyways, as you can see, the colour is really red and glossy. It’s good if you like the glossy look without the hassle of actually applying lip gloss, but it’s not my preference. I bought it because Benetint wasn’t giving me the matt rosy tinted lips that I wanted. Maybe I’m using Benetint wrong? (That’s for another post though.)

Most days I just slightly blot my lips immediately after applying, just to remove the glossy look.

Surprisingly, it stains better than Benetint and the colour left behind is a rosy pinkish red. The stain lasts for hours and I’m currently very into it.

The colour after blotting.

Two words: Loves it!!

Even the applicator is perfectly angled so that it’s easy to use. There’s nothing bad to say about it really, except that it’s a bit on the pricey side. Before you compare it with the other drugstore brands (e.g. L’Oreal or Maybelline) liquid lipstick, swatch them and you’ll find that it’s not the same. I think it’s more pigmented (even the nudes) and has more variety of colours so they’re not really comparable.

I just think that spending so much on a lipstick colour is a splurge that I won’t make again unless the product wowed me. And wowed me it did. So I’ll definitely repurchase and if you’ve the extra $43 (I think? Can’t really remember) do try it out.

I would recommend getting the redder colours as they can be used for a glamorous look when applied generously to the lips, yet still as gorgeous when used as lip tints for a natural but more conservative look.

P.s. A disclaimer here. I paid for the product. If I didn’t, I will state so. Again, I’ve to say, I wish that people are giving me free things to try but look at the number of visitors I get here and you can tell. Even if things were for free, everything written here will still be my honest opinion. Integrity is worth more than freebies. Kthxbye~

Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat “Fuzz-Sea” 500

Bought this a little while ago and only used it once.

Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat in No. 500 Fuzz-Sea

The bottle contains tiny strips of blue and yellow bits in clear nail polish. It looks good as topping on pale pastel colours.

However, this is essentially glitter strips without the bling. Like all glitter nail polish, it is really hard to remove. If you’ve tried those chunky glitter nail polishes, you’ll know what I mean. They’re very lasting, so lasting that when you try to remove them, some filing, peeling and hair pulling action short of plucking your entire nails off is required.

And that’s why I don’t like it. Not worth the effort.

Etude House Don’t Worry Hand Cream

This is my new hand lotion from Etude House. It’s a Don’t Worry Hand Cream in the scent “Floral Fruity Woody Fragrance”.

Isn’t it adorable? I love the inspirational “Good Luck You Are The Best” written on the tube. And I especially love the legs which makes opening the tube easier (plus the shoes are removable!!) AND it smells like freshly laundered clothes!! Love love love the scent!!

A tad expensive at $9.90 per tube, but I love it so much, I’ll probably repurchase. ^_^