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Saturday, October 28, 2017

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 ♡ Review, Wear Test + Swatches

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017

Kylie Cosmetics launched The Birthday Collection in August to celebrate Kylie Jenner's 20th birthday and this year's theme is pink, glittery and girly, which is something that I am obsessed with!

Surprisingly some of the products from this collection is still available as I am writing this post; part of me is glad that I am not reviewing these products too late as you can still buy them on the Kylie Cosmetics website, but another part of me no longer believes in "Limited Editions" because it's all BS (lol sorry for swearing, but I really cannot find a better way to describe this).

The Birthday Collection is filled with goodies such as an eyeshadow palette, makeup brushes, mini liquid lipstick sets, shimmery powders, lip glosses and a rhinestone lip kit. As much as I want everything from this collection, I managed to control myself and only purchased the three items that I really really wanted to try and they are the Twenty Lip Kit, King Ultra Glow and Queen Ultra Glow.

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - Twenty Lip Kit

Kylie Cosmetics' liquid lipstick formula is my number one favourite matte lips formula out there, the colours are very pigmented, the formula is liquid to matte but not drying, they wear for long hours and if you have been following me on my social medias, you may have heard me talk about these many many times.

Their lip liners are my least favourites, or should I say they are the worst that I have ever tried. I find that the formula is too creamy, although it glides on smoothly, I can never line my lips perfectly with their lip liners. Also, I dislike that the actual product slides in and out as I apply, it just makes me feel like the product is not made properly.

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - Twenty Lip Kit
Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - Twenty Lip Kit

Twenty Lip Kit is described as a mid-tone rose brown, it's a beautiful colour and I love that the shade doesn't dry to a darker colour as the other lip kits I own. I did a 11 hour wear test and I wasn't impressed nor disappointed, I think they could improve the formula if they are to bring back the colour as a permanent shade (which we all know that will happen in some stage), but I really like it as an overall matte lip product.

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - Twenty Lip Kit
Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - Twenty Lip Kit
Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - Twenty Lip Kit wear test

Kylie Cosmetics Twenty Lip Kit 11 hour wear test:


 7.30 AM  first application, I didn't take a photo because I was in a rush, but I still managed to line my lips with the lip liner and applied the liquid lipstick perfectly. 

The photo of me above shown what the liquid lipstick looks like when freshly applied, that photo was taken in door, with a good camera (the wear test photos were taken with an iPhone front camera, the quality is still good, but it can no way compare to the camera quality).

 1.04 PM  lunch time, thought I would check myself in the mirror before I go out and grab some lunch. It's been five and ½ hours since first application, I didn't eat anything nor drink anything messy during this period, I basically just had a few sip of water and I see this weird pink stain on my inner lips. So the product has faded during the five hours and I literally did nothing that morning. 

Anyway, I touch-up the inner lips and I like that the second application applies smoothly and it doesn't dry out my lips.

 5.11 PM  finished work, checked to see that everything looks good before I hop on the bus. It's been approximately ten hours since first application and four hours since the touch-up during lunch. I had a coffee and a muffin for lunch that day, it wasn't anything oily but I was expecting the colour to fade as shown in the 1.04pm photo. Surprisingly I went back and checked around 2 o'clock and my lips looks the same as after the touch-up.

Arrived home at around  6.30 PM , checked in the mirror before removing my makeup. I didn't take a photo because there's no major changes since the last check up. I am not sure if it's the formula or the colour, this liquid lipstick wears off easily around the inner lips. 

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - King & Queen Ultra Glow
Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - King & Queen Ultra Glow

Kylie Cosmetics Ultra Glow Highlighter is described as a loose powder highlighter, I believe these were firstly introduced in the Vacation Collection that was launched in June this year.

Since I missed out on the ones from the Vacation Collection and I really really wanted to try these, I bought both shades from The Birthday Collection and they are called King and Queen.

These highlighters are so beautiful and they can give you that "wet-look sheen". Queen is like a shimmery icy pink and King is like a shimmery gold. I love the names and I love the packaging, but I think these are not practical. If I have to be very honest with you, I hate these and I regret my purchase... can I get a refund Kylie?

Although the colours are so gorgeous and the powder is so fine, these highlighters makes me chock every time I apply and they just don't stick to your skin. I tried applying with a brush and I tried applying with my fingers, I just felt like I had to pack on a lot of products to get that wet sheen. Also, if I look closely after application, these are not shimmers, they are literally glitters, so when I look closely in the mirror, there's glitters all over my cheeks and if I exaggerate a bit, you're welcome to ask me why my face looks like a disco ball.

I am just wondering if I am applying these wrong? Do I have to use them wet? Or how can I make these work? I bought these based on the great reviews from the Vacation Collection, almost all the YouTubers that has reviewed this product loves it and I am just curious as to why it doesn't work for me?! I have tried both King and Queen last week and as always, when I test out products, I normally give them a full-day wear and the "wet-look sheen" only stayed on for two hours on me.

Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - King & Queen Ultra Glow
Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - King & Queen Ultra Glow
Kylie Cosmetics The Birthday Collection 2017 - King & Queen Ultra Glow

Overall, I love the theme and the packaging of Kylie Cosmetics' 2017 Birthday Collection, everything is well designed and the colour selections are beautiful. I am not so impressed with the formula of the Ultra Glow Highlighters, but I love the Twenty Lip Kit.

As mentioned, some of these products are still available to purchase (as at today, 28 October 2017), the Twenty Lip Kit can be purchased here and the Queen Ultra Glow can be purchased only if you buy the birthday bundle.

Monday, October 23, 2017

KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush ♡ Review + Swatches

KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush

Tonight I am sharing with you my review and swatches of the contour, highlighter and blush from the KPOP x Australis Collection. I spot these in Farmers the other day and the cute pink heart-shaped tin cases was what made me fell in love with the collection.

If I remember it correctly, the last time that I have used an Australis product was back when their Velourlips was a thing. I am not a huge fan of this brand because majority of their products don't work well on me, so I have always avoid buying this brand even when they have launched products that everyone loves.

I decided to buy the contour, highlighter and the blush because upon swatching the shades in store, the texture, the pigmentation and the colours were so impressive. I have been using these for a week, there's pro and there's con, but overall I love these!

KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush

The KPOP x Australis Collection contains various products such as an illuminating cushion, lip tints, mascara, contour powder, highlighter, blush and an eyeliner. There is absolutely no information of this collection found online, nor in store, therefore, I cannot make up information to share with you on what inspired Australis to create this collection etc; but I will say that KPOP and Korean beauty trends has been the thing in 2017.

KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush

The KPOP x Australis contour, highlighter and blush are made in Taiwan and each product comes packaged in a cute little tin case that is shaped like a heart. The actual product is tiny and it feels like a sample sized or a regular eyeshadow pan, but the sizing and how much product it contains doesn't really bother me. These are NZD $9.99 each and I have depot them into a Z Palette to save time in the morning.

KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Highlight
KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Highlight

KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Highlight is such a beautiful highlighter and it wears up to seven hours on me before fading away. I love that it applies with a subtle glow without being too blinding, but the highlight only shows up on skin when applied with fingers. I have tried this highlighter a couple of times with different types of brushes and non could pick up the colours. I also find that the highlighting powder is very fine and powdery.

KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Blush
KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Blush

KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Blush is pigmented upon swatching on hand, but when applied with a blush brush, it delivers a subtle flush. I have tried applying the blush with my fingers and it just doesn't work at all as it doesn't blend well. The blush is powdery, but it's not as bad as the highlighter and the bronzer and it can wear for up to ten hours on me.

KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Contour
KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Contour

KPOP x Australis Heart Tin Contour is my favourite out of all three products reviewed tonight. I love that the contour has a creamy, soft and blendable texture that is buildable. The shade is more on a warmer side, but it has the perfect undertone, for me. It just looks absolutely gorgeous and I love it! The contour is the most powdery out of all three and it can wear up to eight hours on me.

KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush arm swatches indoor
KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush arm swatches outdoor

Overall, I am glad that I have purchased these products to try as they are really amazing, but to be honest with you, non of these products scream KOREAN BEAUTY / KPOP to me.

What do you think?

KPOP x Australis Contour, Highlight, Blush

Monday, October 9, 2017

Halloween 2017 ♡ Snow White Inspired Makeup & Costume

Tonight I am sharing with you a makeup look that I have created inspired by Snow White and the costume shown here is what I will be wearing this Halloween, I am so excited! 

Just incase that you are wondering, I bought this Snow White costume from Taobao and in my previous post here I have explained how I shop on Taobao from New Zealand. Unfortunately NZ Post has announced they will no longer send parcels from China after this October, so I am gonna have to find another good mail forwarding company to ship any future purchases here.

Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume
 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume
 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

♥︎ PRODUCTS USED ♥︎

There are so many versions of Snow White on the internet, but in my head she has this flawless porcelain like skin. Since I don't own a foundation that is very light in colour with a full coverage, the closest one I can find in my collection is the MAYBELLINE Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation (not shown in photos) and the shade I used is #120 Classic Ivory. I find that this foundation works the best without primer, it has a matte finish and it makes my pores looks invisible, but the foundation is not long-wearing and my face turned oily fairly quickly.

 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

I have mostly natural looking false eyelashes in my collection, but since this is a Halloween inspired makeup look and I wanted something as dramatic as I could get, I end up using the HUDA BEAUTY Classic Lash in #9 Carmen. These falsies are so sexy, they are thick, long and they give you that full volume look. The only thing I dislike is that the eyelash band is very thick and it took me forever to apply them.

 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume
 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

To be honest I had no idea how my eye makeup turned into what is shown in these photos. I originally planned something more natural with loads of shimmer because Snow White is more natural on the eyes and bold on the lips.

Firstly I used the TOO FACED Shadow Insurance (not shown in photos) as the eye shadow primer, then I used the shade Ginger Cream from the TOO FACED Gingerbread Cookie Palette all over my eyelid, from the same palette I applied Maple Syrup on the crease and outer corner, then I applied Winter Dream on the lid. To finish off the eye look, I used the KYLIE COSMETICS Eyeliner (not shown in photos) in the shade black to line my upper and lower lash lines. Can you see that I attempted to do a wing and it turned out not that bad.

 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume
 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

GUERLAIN Meteorites Pearls is literally THE BEST EVER if you are looking for something that makes your face looks absolutely flawless!

 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

As mentioned, Snow White has flawless skin, natural eye makeup and a bold lip, and let's not forget she has the most gorgeous flushed red cheeks! I used the ETUDE HOUSE Berry Delicious Cream Blush in shade RD301 in this inspired makeup look, the blush is a bright reddish coral in the pan and it's very pigmented, but you can choose to go light-handed for a naturally flushed look or you can build up the shade for a vibrant look. I love this blush and it has been my favourite since my purchase last year.

 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume
 Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

Last but not least, TOO FACED Melted Matte Liquid Lipstick in shade Lady Balls is the perfect red shade use for this inspired makeup look. I love everything from its' colour to its' formula, it dries completely matte, but it's not drying on the lips and it wears for long hours!

Snow White Inspired Makeup Look & Costume

Sunday, October 1, 2017

TAOBAO Haul ♡ ft. Kawaii Tees & Girly Bows Heels

**UPDATE AS OF WEDNESDAY 04/10/17**
I received an email from NZ Post stating that YouShop China will no longer be available to ship parcels from China to New Zealand after 31 October 2017... boohoo! Just when I finally find an affordable trustworthy service to use and recommend, they stop operating! Grrr ~ 

It's been a long time since I last shared with you a fashion post and I thought right now it's the perfect timing to share with you some cute cartoon tees and girly high heels because I have recently purchased a bunch of clothing and accessories from TaoBao! 

Just incase that you have never heard of TaoBao, it's pretty much like Aliexpress, but in a Chinese version. Awhile ago they have introduced global shipping, but I've always had trouble with it because the shipping price to New Zealand is just too expensive. I have tried a couple of mail forwarding companies, but I have never been happy with their fees and assisted shopping is always a hassle. I end up using YouShop China and majority of my transactions has been successful. The only time YouShop China is difficult to deal with is when I buy cosmetics, either liquid or solid products, they will always mark it as prohibited and trust me, all those emails back and forth with NZ post is a waste of time, even when I tried to argue that the items I purchased aren't listed in the prohibited items list, they will always make an excuse to say that they cannot send that parcel, because they are stubborn.

Apart from the cosmetics issue with YouShop China, I actually quite enjoy using the overall service. There is no hassle of going through an assisted shopper, you can use your own TaoBao account to shop and review items. The shipping prices to New Zealand is charged by weight, but you can get discount if you send a few parcels at the same time. It takes approximately two weeks from when you pay for the shipping cost to your parcels arriving at your doorstep. I pay for my item on TaoBao with Alipay and most of the stores on TaoBao offers free shipping to the YouShop China warehouse.

♥︎ KAWAII TEES ♥︎

shop here14.90 each = approx NZD $3.12 | shipping to NZ $31.50 for 13 tees
all tees shown are in size M and I normally wear NZ size S/M or 8-10










♥︎ GIRLY BOWS HEELS ♥︎

shop here77.56 each = approx NZD $16.25 | shipping to NZ $45.75

I have small feet and I normally wear size 35 / UK 3 / US 5 shoes; so buying the perfect pair of high heels in NZ has always been a struggle because majority of the stores I visited only carries size 6s' as the smallest sizing. Therefore, I had to shop online for the perfect pair of shoes.

TaoBao has a lot of cute girly high heels that really fits my personality, they also have classy ones that is suitable for office wear. Most importantly, the stores carries many smaller sizes because Chinese girls has the typical small feet (hopefully none of you is offended by this, but it's a true fact). 











I hope you enjoyed this post and if you have further questions regarding TaoBao, feel free to ask me and I will try my best to help you!

I also have a couple more parcel from TaoBao which I will blog about them in separate posts (I have a total of 9 parcels as I am writing this) and just incase you're wondering, I wasn't paid to post about this nor was I sponsored by TaoBao or YouShop China (I wish though, they should pay me advertisement fees haha). I share these simply because I am a shopping addict who is trying to cut down on the spending, but obviously cannot keep to my own promise because I love shopping, plus a few people has asked about where I bought all these cute clothes and sharing is caring, right?!