Monday, October 29, 2012

Vidi Vici Eyeshadow Shimmer Cream Texture 02 Glam Bisque and Pearly Texture 223 Dark Chocolate



Quite sometime ago,  I have ordered Vidi Vici directly from Korea (link here) because I have seen Beauty QQ raved about it on her youtube channel.

I have lemmings over the lunchbox duo case after seeing it on Beauty QQ's video, thinking it is so sleek and compact, so I have ordered the shimmer cream texture eyeshadow in 02 Glam Bisque and pearly texture eyeshadow in 223 Dark Chocolate.

However 02 Glam Bisque was back ordered. Initially I was told that it will take a few weeks for me to receive it, but weeks turned into months. It was not until recently that Vidi Vici Korea has informed me that they have received the shipment from their Japanese manufacturer (yay, after so many months!!)

So viola, here it is!

Vidi Vici's single eyeshadow came in as a refill like packaging inside a clear plastic resealable bag and a plastic case (similar to that of the older Shu Uemura's single eyeshadow packaging)




02 Glam Bisque is Made in Japan while 223 Dark Chocolate is Made in Korea. Interesting that in the same line of eyeshadow from the same brand, they are made in different countries.


packaging for shimmer cream texture eyeshadow in 02 Glam Bisque


Eye Shadow Shimmer Cream Texture 2g
Gives your eyes a chic and luxurious look through the infusion of fine shimmer and sparkle.
Has a creamy texture even though it's a powder.
Its soft-blended formula goes onto your skin softly, leaving it looking velvety smooth.
02 Glam Bisque is a lovely champagne based shimmery color that is perfect for the center of the eyelids for a pop of glitter and 3D look on the eyes. The silver and champagne glitter is extremely fine and there isn't any fall out (unlike other eyeshadows I own where the glitter will fall everywhere!


packaging for pearly texture eyeshadow in 223 dark chocolate

Eye Shadow Pearly Texture 2.5g 
Provides a tonal effect from color that is barely there to color with intense, bright drama. 
Provides even color distribution and is easy to blend.
Offered in a multitude of stunning colors and shades.
223 Dark Chocolate is a color just like its name. It has minimal pink and bronze glitters (very subtle) that is hardly noticeable, and the chocolate color is a warm kind of brown that is very pigmented, and the color you saw on my hand is only 1 swatch.

Take a look at the single eyeshadows in their pans!




Image taken at a different angle to show the micro-fine shimmers:




The base of the luncbox duo has a small magnet to snap the back of the metal pan of the single eyeshadows so they stay nice and tight there, without the use of any glue or such (the glue that some singles came with can be quite messy to deal with!!!):


back of the pan has a circle to indicate where it snaps with the case


the circle in the center of the empty case is the magnet that hold it together
both pans are securely held down by the magnet, no wiggling movement!



It’s a heavy weight(hefty!!) and solid palette. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance to own one, it feels more substantial than the Dior Blue Tie palette.





You also get a little mirror under each lid! It's a rather brilliant design because each compartment is separate (with its own lid and mirror) which means if you did choose to mix cream with powder products, they would be completely separated so there is no issue with the mixing of products!


There is even a compartment for putting is eyeshadow applicators (or Q-tip/toothpick as Beauty QQ suggested in her videos):



The only downside is with a 4 pan, its weighty and quite big. If I really wanted to carry it around, I would, but it’s not as lightweight as a regular palette to carry around. Shiny palettes is almost like a mirror in itself, though, remember, always get grease/fingerprint marks on them easily.
A single swipe on my fingers. These eyeshadows are one of the higher quality eyeshadows I have ever experienced (basically I cannot find a word to describe this heavenly feeling), finely milled and creamy (hence their name shimmer cream texture!) There is no chalkiness and no fall out whatsoever!




It does look chalky in the picture but when applying to my skin, texture is like whipped cream and feels very luxurious to touch. Absolutely no fall out. It's a different kind of luxurious feeling to touch it, compared to SUQQU, both are very very high quality eyeshadow products!

Swatches at the back of my hand, very pigmented and the shimmers are very fine and pretty. 



under sun

under shade, slightly blurred to show the shimmers in 02 Glam Bisque
with flash



















Overall, I am very happy with my Vidi Vici experience. I will definitely pick up more colors as these 2 colors totally wowed me. I am looking into getting 3 of their other eyeshadow series in classic texture, sparkly texture, and jewel texture...  but since it’s not cheap (I think the eyeshadows are $30USD each) it won’t be for a while!

What do you think of these shadows?

Monday, October 22, 2012

My Chanel makeup collection, featuring Joues Contraste Blushers


I was never a Chanel makeup kind of girl, but since last X'mas where my lovely beauty pals from Singapore sent me a lovely Joues Contraste blush in 56 Tea Rose as my late birthday/X'mas gift, that started the "fire" and it kept burning....

To date I have 5 Chanel Joues Constraste blushers, a bronzer, and 2 nail polishes. I still have to work on trying their eyeshadow. I guess my collection will keep expanding (and my wallet is crying at the same time??)

For this blog post I am featuring Chanel's JC blusher:


From left to right:
65 Espiegle
56 Tea Rose
69 Fleur de Lotus
67 Rose Tourbillon
Rouge
Lucky Stripes Iridescent Powders for Eyes and Cheeks

An interesting thing is I noticed that "Rouge" came with a black plastic cap over the blush dome as it is part of a limited collection while the rest has transparent plastic cap.... but my 56 Tea Rose comes with 2 plastic caps!! What a weird bunch I own!

All of these JC blushers comes with a distinctive floral/rose scent. To some people that cannot take fragrances in their makeup, this is not a blush for those, but it does not bother me at all.

Close up of 65 Espiegle (left) and 56 Tea Rose (right):



65 Espiègle is being described as a soft luminous light peach with gold shimmer and the slightest hint of pink. It would look lovely on paler skintones, but sadly it barely show up on my cheeks at all :( I would give me 2 out of 5 (being Chanel does bring in some points but been too sheer, I can't really use it at all!)

56 Tea Rose is a pretty pink with a slight tint of peachiness to it, and it's a bit on the sheer/matte side, however, this is a fool-proof subtle side I can use on a non dramatic everyday look for me. This is a 5 out of 5 for me!

Close up of 69 Fleur de Lotus (left) and 67 Rose Tourbillon (right):


69 Fleur de Lotus is an Asia Exclusive limited as part of the Spring 2012 Le Blanc Fleur de Lotus makeup collection. It is described as intense warm pink/coral color with a shimmery finish (but not too over). It appears to be much softer when swatched (please scroll down to see swatches) I would give it 6 out of 5 (yes, I love it that much!)

67 Rose Tourbillon is a Nordstrom Anniversary 2011color that is a candy pink confection of a blush.  It is a fresh pink tending to the cooler pink side, also it has a refined texture, and there is a beautiful glowing and natural quality when applied. I rarely go for cooler pink blushes as warm peachy pinks look more flattering on my NC-25 skin. I would give it 4 out of 5 (just mainly because cool pink is not my kind of color)

Close up of Rouge:


Rouge is from Chanel Byzance collection back in . It is a very, very intense darkened scarlet red with a satin sheen, it appears as a true bright red with pink shimmers in the pan, but on the skin the shimmer is less noticeable. You will need a VERY light hand with this blush, or you will risk yourself becoming a clown's face, or in my terms, a monkey's butt. I am still trying to find the best way to apply Rouge, but I just like getting bitten on both sides of my cheeks... very hard to achieve a natural look with this blush. I will give it a 3 out of 5 because it's hard to give a nice application due to its intensity.

Close up of Lucky Stripes Iridescent Powders for Eyes and Cheeks:


Lucky Stripes Iridescent Powders for Eyes and Cheeks is part of the 2012 Spring Las Vegas de Chanel collection. According to Temptalia, Lucky Stripes "($95.00 for 0.53 oz.) is described as a highlighter for both cheeks and eyes. It’s part of the online exclusive (and at select boutiques) Las Vegas de Chanel collection and easily the pricest piece of the launch! It has six stripes of color, though the medium orange and gold shades seem to have been done twice, which resulted in four unique shades."

Of course I cannot justify spending a whopping $95+tax for a purely collection item, but my eyes were set on those pretty pressed star patterns.... As many of my beauty pals know I have a thing for special pressed pattern or spray-on... so most likely this will be one of those collection piece for admiration :)

I don't have any swatches for this palette, but those interested can refer to Temptalia's review on her blog for more swatches:



The orange colors is a close dupe to the Esprique eyeshadow:



Finally to the most exicting part of this blog post, swatches!

Under natural light in my study room:



And changing lighting angle by the window:



As you can see, 65 Espiègle and 56 Tea Rose are on the light side, and in particular 65 Espiègle is barely noticeable on my NC-25 skintone. Out of these 5 JC blushes, I love 69 Fleur de Lotus the most, it's such a lovely peach color that show up nicely on me, followed up 56 Tea Rose for a subtle blushed look.

And when blending these swatches out, this is how it looks on me:


65 Espiègle and 56 Tea Rose just totally disappear on me. I still love 69 Fleur de Lotus, it's definitely the champion within my JC blusher collection!

I hope you will be finding this post interesting, thank you for reading!

Monday, September 3, 2012

My current SUQQU collection


I still remember last summer I was having a difficult time deciding between the 2 eyeshadows, 03 Matsukasa and 05 Sakurakaba... and in a matter of a year, my collection ballooned into 8 quads, 2 blushes, 1 face powder and 1 foundation (pact)

I still house my precious little SUQQU's in their original pouches and boxes (I do like the idea of a "complete" set) and when laying them out, they are indeed quite a view:




As part of my collection, I like those limited edition releases from X'mas coffret sets, as they have special patterns apart from the normal glossy piano like casing material:





For a review of specific products shown above, please check them out by clicking the following links:

EX-06 Maiyuki
03 Matsukasa
04 Keshizumi
05 Sakurakaba
07 Komorebi
08 Mizuaoi
EX-06 Usuchaori
11 Himesango
EX-01 Face Color Palette
EX-03 Akanemizu

This concludes my current SUQQU collection review. I hope my collection will keep going on and SUQQU will continue to release impressive make up items!

Monday, August 27, 2012

SUQQU Face Color Palette EX-01



SUQQU Face Color Palette in EX-01 is part of SUQQU Fall 2011 collection and it was a limited edition. This palette has 12.4g of products and consists both a face contour pressed powder and blush.

When I heard about this release I have asked my friend Momo-chan to grab one of this gem for me from Hankyu Department Store in Uemeda. However it took quite a while to reach me since my friend got very busy with her volunteering job at her kids' school (PTA committee).

The size of this face palette is a little smaller than the regular eyeshadow quad, but a bit thick than the usual duo blush because it has 2 levels of compartments.



The top compartment is used for housing 2 very top notch quality face and blush brush:



These brushes are made of very high quality horse hair and are very soft to the touch. Somehow I wished these are a bit bigger for easier application, but hey, maybe it's their strategy to lure customers to buy their full size brushes?? (But I cannot justify myself to spend $168 GBP (~US$260) for their full sized face powder brush??)



Second level house 3 strips of face powder to the left and 2 strips of blush powder to the right:




Back of the case, with details of the product, image courtesy of the black panties:



A closer look at Face Powder Palette EX-01:


under diffused sun by the window

under shade

Now, moving on to swatches:




[Face color]
A: A nudy face color color that may show up better with skintone of NC-20 or lighter. It barely show up with my NC-25 skintone, however the powder is very fine and smooth to touch.

B: A matte highlighter color that I think is similar to the base product included in every SUQQU eyeshadow quad. I can see myself using it to highlight my C-curve area but I doubt if it will even show up on me, but regardless of that, the I can use this finely milled textured powder as a base for my blush or even brown bone area.

C: A pearly highlighter with a slight sheen to it. Perfect to highlight the nose bridge area for a 3D effect. When compared to another highlight powder I own (Guerlain Meteorites) this is far superior and looks more natural on me, and the powder is much finer and the lasting power is far superior.

[Cheek color]
D: The narrower blush strip with a cool tone fushica pink kind of blush color with noticeable shimmers, but with a very buttery texture to it.

E: Matte warmer pink color that is very flattering to most skintone of NC-25 or lighter. Non-cakey or powdery at all.

(note: because I am using my own blush brush that is much larger, it is hard to selectively pick up blush color D or E for application. See FOTD in the end for a mixed 


slightly blurred to enhance the shimmers in color B, C and D

under sun
slightly under shade


Finally, ending with a FOTD (heehee, my very first attempt with a full face FOTD!):


Eyes: SUQQU Blend Color Eyeshadow 05 Sakurakaba
Brows: B&C Labo Browlash EX Eyebrow pencil and liquid (grayish brown)
Face: Sofina Primavista Long Keep Base UV, SUQQU Frame Fix Foundation
Cheeks: SUQQU Face Color Palette EX-01
Lips: Coffret D'or Bright Up Rouge Creamy Long Lasting lipstick BE-201

This blog basically concludes my SUQQU collection up until this point in the summer of 2012. Please stay tuned for an updated blog post about my current SUQQU collection as of summer 2012!!