Search This Blog

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Review & Recommendation: Deconstructing Eden (5 Fall '15 + 1 GC Scent)

My Deconstructing Eden (DE) order arrived and I'm so freaking excited! I ordered a sample set of all 12 of their Fall scents and got a free sample!


If you read my previous reviews (click here or on the tag on the right), you'll know how much I love the quality of these scents. I really should stop ordering samples because I keep finding more and more scents I want full sizes in, but I still have this fear or missing out and want to try out DE's entire catalogue. DE is really great at making scents I'm in love with, and great at making me fall in love with notes I usually hate, so I really can't cull my list of scents I want to try...I still have 60+ more scents to try out.

Btw, I'm also amazed by how fast these arrived. No idea what shipping gods were with me, but here's the TAT:

Ordered: Sep 6
Shipped: Sep 9
Arrived: Sep 21

I'm used to waiting 3+ weeks for things to arrive, so I was surprised by how fast these arrived in Indonesia.

For this review, I'll review the 1 non-Fall line scent, Theodora, and 5 of the Fall scents. Thanks to DE's amazing throw and longevity, I can only review 2 scents/day at the most, so the review's going slow.

______________________________________



Review Notes


As always, reviews are done blind until the TL;DRs are written. If any of the notes surprise me, I write an overview. I've also started adding a "Final Verdict" section to help me keep track of my perfumes and figure out what to destash, since my perfume collection is starting to get messy. Here are the categories I came up with for my "Final Verdict":


  • Love: Most awesome perfume ever. Need endless supplies of it and will swap my first born child for the last drops of it if it's limited edition. 
  • Like: I like it and may buy a full size of it, but it's not urgent. 
  • Interesting: I don't really like it or I don't think I  can wear it in public, but I appreciate the artistry of the scent. It's like a beautiful but unwearable runway piece you won't buy on your own, but don't mind owning.
  • Ok: It's okay. I like it enough, but may destash for a good price to keep my collection manageable. 
  • Destash: Kill it with fire.
  • Age it: Maybe it will smell good one day. One day. Just wait.


______________________________________





Theodora 

"Bulgarian rose absolute, Indian jasmine absolute, sandalwood, dragon's blood, frankincense, purple plums, Madagascar ginger, and precious spices."

On first whiff, I'm not liking this. It smells like old, sour fruits. After it calms down a bit, I'm wondering if this is a tea note going wrong on me. There's definitely that astringent, sour smell that's similar to a black tea note going wrong on me, only this is a cross between Chinese preserved orange peels and old, yellowing books.

When I sniff closer, I get purple chewable Flinstones vitamins, and this cool florals that I love. Purple Flinstones vitamins always make me gag so I'm having a hard time reviewing this. The floral bit has a floral bitterness to it, it's either jasmines, lilies or orchids. I'm liking the cool floral bit, but I'm not a fan of the rest.

After about 30 min, the florals morphed on me and it smells more like velvety, fresh roses and the purple Flinstones vitamins part calmed down a bit. When I say calmed down, I mean that the it now smells like purple Flinstones vitamins dissolved in water. The astringent bit smells more like old paper now, so now I'm thinking more of those old lady scented floral stationery with juiced purple Flinstones vitamins. Still not a fan.

TL;DR: Old lady scented floral stationery with juiced purple Flinstones vitamins.

Overview: I have this theory that anything listed as "purple" has to be avoided like the plague.

Final Verdict: Destash. Destash. Destash.


______________________________________

Fall 2015

______________________________________



Autumn ’15 (the gourmand version)

"Warm Autumn spices, a hint of cider, saffron, leather, tolu balsam, dark amber, cedar, maple leaves, moss and a drop of patchouli."

Ooooh....the notes that first float up are these sweet, spicy sort of apple cider scent. It has more spices than the usual apple cider though. When I lean in closer for a sniff, I get a more complex scent. There's something smoky that reminds me of the charred wood, and that roasted nuts scent I got from Darling Clandestine's Carny Wedding. It's smoky, yet delicious too. There's also hints of something icy that barely registered in my head for a while, but kept making me think of snow. The scent makes me think of waking up to the remains of a campfire you've used to roast peanuts, on a snowy morning.

After about 10 min, I noticed that the delicious roasted peanut bit is the first to fade. Now the apple cider is the most prominent, but you still get the rest of the scent. As the scent fades, the red apple tartness lasts the longest on me, followed by the smoky charred wood scent.

I finally have the chance to show off this pic! This is the most awesome picture of embers ever.
Amazing shot by Josh Tsen


TL;DR: Drinking apple cider after waking up to the remains of a campfire you've used to roast peanuts, on a snowy morning.

Overview: I think the smokiness may be coming from the patchouli. After trying out more scents, I wonder if the roasted peanuts part comes from the dark amber. It's the same roasted nuts scent I got from Cinnamon Girl, and that contains "deep amber".

Final Verdict: Interesting


______________________________________



Autumn ’15 (the fougère version)

"A walk in a sleeping forest, cool air, damp earth, falling leaves and a whisper of leather"

Oh. My. God. This is soooo hot. I think this smells better on dudes, and my bf likes it so much, he let me spray it all over him. There's definitely leather, and it's mingled with hints of DE's signature powdery musk, and the sharpness of that note that's often referred to as concrete/stone/asphalt/etc. (other perfumes that have it: Smelly Yeti's Hey, McFly!Alkemia's Prairie 66Blooddrop's Moonstone, and Black Violet's Apparition & Komorebi). I normally don't really like that concrete/stone/asphalt note since it reminds me too much of Baygon, a popular Indonesian insecticide, but in DE's blend, it's so subtle and complements the other notes so well, that I don't get insecticide at all. The scent just makes me think of a guy I want to get grope-y with.

After about 5 min, the leather bit becomes that watery scent some leather notes morph into on me, and I'm getting hints of earth. The effect is that I'm thinking of water washing over dark grey stones...with a hot dude frolicking shirtless nearby, obviously. It makes me think more of summer than autumn, actually. Definitely heavier on the rocks than the water bit.

This scent is definitely a deeper, more mature sort of scent. Not old though. Definitely not old. I see it perfect for a guy in his late 20s to early 30s, though I can see this on suave, sophisticated older gentlemen older than that age range. It's a scent I can see on a guy who can spend the week in a suit, moving fast up the corporate ladder, but still have a rebellious, bad boy streak that's so irresistibly hot. I can see this scent being perfect for a guy who looks like this:

I actually want a picture of a hot, shirtless dude lounging on wet rocks because that'll be the perfect ad for this perfume...turns out, it's almost impossible to go that specific when you're looking for pictures of male models. Female models though? Do you want white, black, or grey rocks? What size and shape do you want the rocks to be? What do you want her to wear? A ball gown? A little black dress? Stockings only? Nothing at all? No problem! Guess no one cares about male models :P
Stunning shot by Manny Herreria

TL;DR: A hot, shirtless dude lounging on wet, dark rocks.

Final Verdict: Love


______________________________________





Burning Leaves

"Dry autumnal leaves burning on a base of agarwood CO2."

I see the name and I got the feeling that I'm going to regret trying this scent. Sure enough, I get a burning smell as soon as I sprayed it on. Crap...I'm going to hate this right?

Underneath, there's this really, really hot, deep, masculine green scent that makes me think of dark, green trees. I'm so in lust with the masculine green part, I'm really hoping the burning part goes away soon. I'm also getting a very dry, dark wood. I'm not talking about a romanticized wood scent, I'm talking about actual wood. Like the scent you'd get in a woodworking workshop, wood resin and all.

Luckily for me, the burning scent is pretty fleeting and fades fast after the initial, overwhelming burst.  Once the scent settles, it makes me think of dark, mahogany tables in a luxurious study with a recently used fireplace, that has deep, dark leather seats, and a smoulderingly hot dude. Like this dude:


We can work allllll day.
Hot photo by Denis Ploskirev



This is definitely one of those scents you either love or hate, but I LOVE it. I don't think I can wear it out, and I'm pretty sure my bf would kill me if I tried to spray it on him, but holy crap I still LOVE it.

TL;DR: Dark, luxurious study and a hot dude.

Final Verdict: Love/Interesting


______________________________________



Burnt Flowers Fallen

"Discarded love notes and dried bouquets, a whisper of leather and the fire that consumed it all."

I got a burst of this amazing sweet & tart scent when I first sprayed this scent on, but it's shortly followed by this off smell that makes me think of gasoline.....fortunately, the gasoline bit stays close to my skin. When the scent settles on my skin about 3 min later, I'm still getting that gasoline scent with a scent that makes me think of cool, purple and yellow flowers. I really, really love the floral bit, but I really can't stand the gasoline bit. Why. Why.

I kept telling myself to keep this scent on because maybe, just maybe, the gasoline would fade first and leave behind the amazing cool, purple & yellow flowers part. But of course, the gasoline stayed on my skin the longest and the only scent left on me when the scent dries down. Screw you, gasoline note! A rational part of me is telling me to destash this, but the floral bit is so beautiful, I can't let go of this. I'm going to age it, hoping the gasoline bit goes away.

TL;DR: Gasoline & cool, purple & yellow flowers.

Final Verdict: Age it



______________________________________



Cinnamon Girl

"Deep amber, candied peaches, Jasmine Sambac and lots and lots of cinnamon."

Something cloying hit me when I sprayed this on, but luckily it dissipated fast. I'm getting something nutty, a cool, watery scent and warm spices. It's a really interesting mix. It smells like a delicious, nutty spiced candy bar, in a room with fresh white florals floating on a bowl of water. It smells like going to an elegant lady's expensive home and being served freshly baked, organic cinnamon nut granola bars.

By about 10 min, the floral bit is more dominant on me, but I still get the same impression. Definitely an elegant home decorated in all white and cream, because this lady's children will be well-behaved robot children who will never, ever dirty the place. The kind of home that looks like this:

Not suitable for actual children...who'll destroy the place within 5 min.
Image courtesy of honnews.blogspot.com


TL;DR: Homemade, freshly baked cinnamon nut granola bars, served in a home so pristine, you dare not even  sit down in case you mess up the cushions.

Overview: Huh...I can't really identify the peaches, but maybe it's because it's drowned out by the cinnamon and jasmines on my skin. I mentioned this before, but I think DE's amber turns nutty on me. It's the same nutty scent I got in Autumn ’15 (the gourmand version), which also contains amber.

Final Verdict: Like



Tuesday, September 15, 2015

EOTD: Bright & Colourful!



DIY Cosmetics: How to Create Lip Products (review TKB base)

If you're like me and tend to feel crafty when it comes to cosmetics, one thing I like to do is create lip products using my existing lip-safe eyeshadows or micas. You have several options for creating lip products and I'll go through them here. First and foremost though...

Please remember to sterilize everything, even when you're making this for personal use. It's much cleaner that way, and you reduce the risk of funky stuff growing on your lip products.

Now, on to making your lip products.

Tinting a Balm


For this, you can either buy a lip balm base or simply use an existing lip balm. Here's what you have to do:



1. Depot the lip balm
2. Melt it in a microwave. Microwaving it in no more than 10 sec bursts gets me the best results.
3. Mix in the loose powder/mica/pigment of your choice. The more loose powder/mica/pigment you add, the more pigmented it'll be.
4. Let it cool and set.


If you want to buy a lip balm base, here are a couple of places that sell them (feel free to let me know if you want to add another store in):


Creating A Lipstick With A Lipstick Base

Follow the same steps as "Tinting a Balm", only you'll be using a lipstick base and adding a higher concentration of mica. The more mica you add, the more pigmented but less creamy it gets, so feel free to experiment with different concentrations to find the combination you're most comfortable with. Some lipstick bases will require different steps, so it's best you follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Here are some places selling lipstick bases and the prices for the minimum amount you can buy (feel free to let me know if you want to add another store in):




By the way, Making Cosmetics has a gif file on how to make lipsticks where the person is not wearing any gloves. Please don't imitate that. Even if they're for personal use, please use gloves to avoid smearing germs all over your lip products.

I have only tried TKB's lipstick base, so that's the only one I can review. I find it really comforta



Making A Lip Product From Scratch


If you're feeling, REALLY, really crafty, several sites provide recipes on making lip products from scratch for free. Here they are:


  • DIY Cosmetics (glossy lipsticks, matte lipstick, solid lip gloss, liquid lip gloss, eyeliner, brow pencils)


Thursday, September 10, 2015

Review & Recommendation: Dame Perfumery

I purchased 2 7ml trial sizes from Dame Perfumery some time ago and finally got to reviewing them. The 2 scents I got were Black Flower Mexican Vanilla and Peach Blossom, Violet & Vanilla, and got 3 additional free samples.






I can't comment on the turnaround time since I shipped it to my brother and he doesn't notice when things arrive, and I didn't need to contact their customer service for anything.

Dame Perfumery only sells their scents in 7ml trial sizes or 50ml full sizes, so they definitely require more of a commitment. The trial sizes are $8.50 or 10.00, and the full sizes are $65 each. Shipping's free so that's a bonus. Unfortunately, they do not sell outside the US.

It's kinda sad for us non-US based perfume lovers since these perfumes are great quality.

If you're in the US though, they have this fun deal where they'll send you a free sample if you send them a postcard from where you live. I know they don't send the samples internationally, but I'm tempted to send them something from Indonesia just to add to their postcard collection!



______________________________



Perfumes General Review


There are really well-crafted, great quality scents even though I personally didn't find any scent that really worked for me. All 5 scents I got somehow ended up being scents that I see more suited on older women. They're definitely great and I can see them in high end department stores, but I do find the scent a bit too old for me. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat to my mom's friends though (and they have very expensive tastes since they're Indonesian ladies...).

The throw and longevity is definitely great. I can smell it wafting around as I type when I apply it on my wrist, but I do have to go almost as close as faux whispering distance to get the full body of the scent. The scents generally stay at this scent for 1.5-2h, before fading to about kissing distance. I lose track of how long it stays within kissing distance, because even after 7h, it's still at that strength. Usually I end up accidentally washing my hands/showering before I can figure out just how long the scent would last before it fades on its own.



______________________________



Review Notes


As always, reviews are done blind until the TL;DRs are written. If any of the notes surprise me, I write an overview. I've also started adding a "Final Verdict" section to help me keep track of my perfumes and figure out what to destash, since my perfume collection is starting to get messy. Here are the categories I came up with for my "Final Verdict":


  • Love: Most awesome perfume ever. Need endless supplies of it and will swap my first born child for the last drops of it if it's limited edition. 
  • Like: I like it and may buy a full size of it, but it's not urgent. 
  • Interesting: I don't really like it or I don't think I  can wear it in public, but I appreciate the artistry of the scent. It's like a beautiful but unwearable runway piece you won't buy on your own, but don't mind owning.
  • Ok: It's okay. I like it enough, but may destash for a good price to keep my collection manageable. 
  • Destash: Kill it with fire.
  • Age it: Maybe it will smell good one day. One day. Just wait.



______________________________




Black Flower Mexican Vanilla

"The composition is vanilla absolute with touches of lemon, grapefruit, caramel, nutmeg, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, musk and tonka - but the ingredient list is less important than the final blend."

This is one of those heavier, powdery sort of scents. There's definitely a floral scent here that has a similar bitter bite to it as Deconstructing Eden's Black No. 1, but the heavy, powdery bit gives me a headache and reminds me of old ladies. There's also a slight tartness that may be a caramel note gone wrong.  

After 5-8 min, the bitterness I love went away and I'm getting delicious caramel, with a bright, clean sweetness...unfortunately the heavy powderiness is still there. It still smells like a scent for older women.

After about 30 min in, the scent kind of reminds me of a more powdery and slightly heavier version of a mainstream perfume Brown Sugar Vanilla perfume I've tried before (can't remember the brand). That scent was leaning towards too heavy for Indonesian weather for me, so it's not for me. I can see this being perfect for winter though!

TL;DR: A more heavy, mature version of a Brown Sugar Vanilla-type scent.

Final Verdict: Destash




______________________________



Dark Horse

"The composition is a blend of bergamot, lemon, cinnamon, jasmine, carnation, rose, clove, guaiac wood, vetiver, vanilla and musk."

Oh this is gorgeous. I get the best perfumed version of vanilla caramel. The vanilla caramel is rich, decadent and smell so delicious, but it has this musky perfumed touch to it that it smells more like perfume than dessert. Again, it's on the heavier side and makes me think of a more mature woman. I see this as the perfect scent for someone in her 40s who want an age appropriate vanilla scent.

When the scent dries down on me, I get a more powdery floral sort of vanilla. I actually like the dry down much better since it's lighter and feels younger.

TL;DR: The perfect vanilla for someone in her 40s.

Overview: I checked the description and apparently this scent is unisex. I did not expect it at all, since I find it too powdery and floral for a men's scent.

Final Verdict: Ok..or may age it until I'm in my 40s.



______________________________



Desert Rose

"The composition is a blend of Turkish rose otto and Damascenia Rose with touches of peach, Sicilian lemon, Egyptian jasmine, geranium, carnation, heliotrope, sandalwood, musk, amber and vanilla."

Oh wow, this is the first relatively light scent I got from Dame. It smells like a light, lotiony candied rose. There's a slight tartness that lightens up the scent even more, though the rose does weigh the scent down a bit. By close to 30 min, the tartness just smells off on me and I can't really figure out why.

The scent makes me think of those really sour rose-hibiscus sort of floral teas that smells kind of like potpourri. The kind that looks really pretty but taste so sour and dusty, you're wondering if it's meant to be potpourri instead but by now, you're too afraid to ask. I still like the quality and I think this is a wonderful scent, just not for me.


This tea is called Sweet Melody and you can buy it from theteaspot.com


When it dries down, it's so beautiful. It smells like a burst of powdery little flowers, mingled with fresh, light white florals. I really, really love the dry down!

TL;DR: Lotiony candied roses, turning into sour rose-hibiscus tea, turning into clean, fresh florals.

Overview: Carnation often smells tea-like to me, the lemon is definitely behind the sourness, and I'm guessing the sandalwood is behind the dusty scent. I was trying to figure out how heliotrope smells like and found this description from Fragantica:
Garden heliotrope has been a constant feature since at least the Victorian times, thanks to its delicious scent that oscillates between marzipan, vanilla, cherry pie and almond (hence its alternative name "cherry pie flower"). 
I'm guessing that's creating that candied scent.


Final Verdict: Like


______________________________




Pear, Waterlily & Amber

"Top notes are pear, mandarin orange and lemon; middle notes are water lily, cherry blossom, honeysuckle and jasmine; base notes are amber, sandalwood, musk and vanilla."

Again, this is a heavier scent. There's this clean, crisp floral, but underneath is this heavier velvety scent that makes me. The velvety part is kind of powdery, and has that cottony baby oil note that's sometimes called Egyptian musk by some perfumers. It started off a bit too heavy for me, but after about 10 min, everything blends together beautifully to make this, clean, blue, powdery sort of scent that's extremely elegant and serene.

It makes me think of the kind of woman who can still smile graciously and remain an amazing hostess, even as the police breaks into her mansion to arrest her husband for running a Ponzi scheme.


Wondering whether it's more polite to serve the police tea before or after they've dragged your husband to jail...
Gorgeous photography by Joanna Kustra


I was going to say that this scent is slightly too old for me and more of a late 20s sort of scent....until I realized I'm qualifying for late 20s soon. Crap. I definitely love it, but I still think it's for someone with a more classically elegant personality.

As the scent dries down, it gets more powdery on me and it makes me think of stately, blue drawing rooms for some reason.

TL;DR: An impeccably elegant lady.

Final Verdict: Like


______________________________




Peach Blossom, Violet & Vanilla

"Top notes are peach blossom, red berries, hyacinth and bergamot; middle notes are parma violet, jasmine and rose; base notes are tahitian vanilla, driftwood and musk."

This starts of extremely sweet, with a freshness that smells almost like room spray at first. I didn't need to worry though, since Dame's perfumes are top notch. The scent calms down to this elegant, clean sort of scent. I want to say that it makes me think of white linen, only I'm hesitating since white linen tends to make people think of dryer sheets sort of scents. This is a more upscale version of a white linen scent –it's the white linen from luxury hotels that are so upscale, they'd be offended to be called a 5-star hotel. It's really wearable though, and smells more like perfume than a room scent.

Unfortunately, underneath, there's this musky, heavy sort of scent that again makes me think of more mature women. While it complements the scent perfectly and makes it smell like languorously lounging on white, silken sheets, it smells too old for me.

After about 50 min, the scent gets really soapy on me. The kind of soapiness that makes you practically taste the soapsuds in your mouth. It's still a top-notch sort of soapiness though!

TL;DR: An older woman languorously lounging on white, silken sheets.

Final Verdict: Destash

EOTD & FOTD: Taking Out My Old Make Ups Store Eyeliners


Make Ups Store, eyeliner, Sparkling Beach, Old Moss

Make Ups Store, eyeliner, Sparkling Beach, Old Moss

The blue & green liner at the bottom is Make Up Store's Sparkling Beach & Old Moss!

Make Ups Store, eyeliner, Sparkling Beach, Old Moss

Monday, September 7, 2015

EOTD: Pink & Teal!


The colour on my lids is a single colour, it changes from pink to plum depending on the lighting! If you want the recipe to make this colour, head here!

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Review & Swatches: 12 Colours from Pigment of My Imaginations Cosmetics

A new indie store, Pigment of My Imagination Cosmetics (POMI), just opened and I was sent all 12 of their colours for swatching and review.



I can't really comment on the turnaround time since I got these as press samples, but I just have to share this with you guys. I have no idea what mail gods were at work, but I got these within 12 days. This never happens. Mail takes at least 3 weeks to get to Indonesia. Holy crap.

Anyway, I'm pretty impressed with the formula –they're smooth and really easy to blend, with very little fall out. I did find that the colours tend to sheer out too much for my liking when blended over primer only, but that's something that can be fixed by using a white eyeshadow base underneath. I also found some colours a bit hard to build up, but that's a common issue I've had with a lot of indie eyeshadows.

The formula of the matte shades are honestly one of my favourite indie matte formulas. They're very smooth, blendable and pigmented, even on bare skin. In fact, I prefer them over bare skin. I accidentally discovered that the formula seem to clash with UDPP's formula, and over UDPP, they end up caking and streaking. I didn't have this problem over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer though, and they go perfectly smooth and neat.


_____________________________________________


Swatches & Detailed Reviews

Macro Shots

Morgan, Meagan, Katrina, Lucy, Kelly, Linda, Tori, Ripley, Marcia, Chamomile, Clementine, Brooke
Under natural light, over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy for the non-mattes, over bare skin for the mattes

Yup, I picked the bare skin swatches for the matte eyeshadows' macro shots. I had to show off how great they looked over bare skin!


Morgan, Meagan, Katrina, Lucy, Kelly, Linda, Tori, Ripley, Marcia, Chamomile, Clementine, Brooke
Under natural light
From left to right: Over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy, Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer, Over bare skin, Foiled with water over bare skin

Morgan, Meagan, Katrina, Lucy, Kelly, Linda, Tori, Ripley, Marcia, Chamomile, Clementine, Brooke
Under yellow-toned artificial light
From left to right: Over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy, Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer, Over bare skin, Foiled with water over bare skin
To avoid repeating myself too much in the detailed reviews, all colours are easy to blend and applies smoothly with minimal fall out unless stated otherwise. I'm only doing detailed reviews for colours that stand out in any way.

Morgan is slightly sheer and pigmented at the same time. It sounds confusing, but what I mean is that it's pretty light and sheer, but once you build it up or layer it over another colour, it really shines. I used this in the middle for a halo-eye look I did (pics below) and the effect was stunning.

Katrina has strong blue highlights that show up even when the colour is patted over another eyeshadow instead of over primer or glitter glue. I'm definitely impressed with this colour!

Tori looks like a Candied Apple dupe (I don't own Candied Apple so this is just based on swatches). The shift shows up vibrantly over glitter glue and subtly over primer, but I find that blending erases all of it.

Ripley does not build up that well and ends up too sheer when you're applying it over another eyeshadow. It does really well on it's own though, and makes a great liner.


Morgan, Meagan, Katrina, Lucy, Kelly, Linda, Tori, Ripley, Marcia, Chamomile, Clementine, Brooke
Under natural light
Left: Bare skin
Right: Over Urban Decay's Primer Potion
For the matte swatches, I only did it over bare skin and primer under natural light, since there's no shift to show off. Here's the cake-y swatches I was talking about. This is only because something in these eyeshadows don't agree with UDPP. I have had 0 problems with these eyeshadows over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer and over bare skin.

Chamomile is a yellow-toned cream shade that's perfect as a base colour to blend your eyeshadows over if you have a lighter skin-toned. I've ended up using Chamomile & Clementine daily as a base shade, and they just make every colour blend so beautifully. They're both so smooth and so easy to use, even on bare skin. One of them will definitely be my HG base eyeshadow once I finish my current one!

Clementine performs exactly like Chamomile. It's more pink-toned, but somehow it blends seamlessly into my skin too. I think I'm just lucky I'm yellow-toned with some pink undertones. I really hope POMI comes up with more matte base shades so people with darker shades can have their perfect match too!

Brooke performs as beautifully as the other mattes. I personally love the colour most over bare skin.


_____________________________________________


Actual Application

All the looks I did below are either over primer or bare skin. I've been too lazy to put in the extra work to use glitter glue lately, especially since I think primer should be more than enough to make an eyeshadow look good if the formula's great. As you can see below, the results are good!

The mattes over bare skin...

The light is crap, but you can see how great it is.
Chamomile was the all over lid colour. Clementine is on my inner corners, but it kind of blends into Chamomile since the difference is to subtle to pick up under this lighting. Brook is the smoked out purple.

Sorry for the crappy shot, I was traveling and had to take this shot in a hurry in a bathroom at 5am. This was the only shot that was in focus. I love how well these perform over bare skin! The only downside of skimping on primer is that it fades by the end of the day, but I'll happily trade longevity for convenience.


The blues...
Pigment of My Imagination, cosmetics, POMI
Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer only
Kelly is the main colour on the lid, and Linda is blended on top of it. Marcia is blended into the outer half. The bottom lashline is lined with Lucy. Either Chamomile or Clementine was the base eyeshadow colour.

Pigment of My Imagination, cosmetics, POMI


Halo eyes...
Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer only
 This is Tori, Ripley, Morgan and Meagan all blended into this halo look. This is what I'm talking about when I mentioned that Morgan is surprisingly sheer and pigmented at the same time. The purple tones of Meagan still peeks through, but holy crap Morgan really glows. The white part in the middle of my lower lashline is Morgan foiled with water.



A subtle cut-crease...
Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer only
The purple blended out is Brooke, as you can see, it blends so easily with 0 caking. Initially, I used Chamomile as the lid shade, but it blended so much with my skin, it looked like a negative space cut-crease. I ended up blending Katrina on top and that's the colour I got. I was so impressed the blue highlights stayed, even though I was blending the eyeshadow over another shadow instead of over primer/glitter glue.

Australis, Shang-hi
Lips is Australis' Velourlips in Shang-Hi


Look how they blend!
Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer only
I wanted to show how well the colours blend, so I blended Ripley & Lucy together. Unfortunately, they got a bit too sheered out thanks to my overenthusiastic blending. I had a hard time building the colour up again once it's this sheered out. The liner is Marcia foiled with water.





Review: Clio's Twisturn Liners

I got Clio's Twisturn Eyeliner in Night Purple & Star Silver during a trip to Singapore and finally got around to reviewing them. The TL;DR is that I'm not a fan of these.

I'm a huge fan of Clio's Kill Black liner, so I was really excited for these. Unfortunately, they're a totally different formula with a whole different packaging. As the name suggests, you twist these liners to get the colour out. Unfortunately, the colour bursts out unevenly and you get spills like this:


I still don't know how to get them to come out with an even consistency. What I normally do to get around this is that I wipe the blob of colour off the brush on my arm, then dip the now clean brush into the blob and apply the colour on.

Unlike the Kill line of liners, the brush is thicker and isn't that precise either. It's prone to splitting this way:


As you can guess, this makes precise application much harder. Sometimes, I just use my own liner brush.

The formula is much thicker and goopier than the Kill line's formula, and it's prone to gunking together. It takes longer to dry, and when it does, it tends to crack.

Swatches


This is seriously my best attempt at creating a swirl with the liner. As you can see, they're not the easiest to work with.


On My Eyes


Night Purple

monolid, make up

It's prone to smudging under my eyes since it takes a long time to dry. Over here, you can see the liner starting to crack as it dries.


Star Silver
monolid, make up

Getting an even line is definitely hard with this formula. Think working with goopy nail polish. Experts can do it, but noobs like me can't. Here's the full face for this look:

monolid, make up