Sigma Bare Palette

Last but not least from the latest Sigma eyeshadow palettes is Bare.

Sigma Bare Palette (Sleeve and Palette)

Sigma Bare Palette (Opened)

Bare is the neutral palette of the three and comes with the E30 (pencil brush) and E25 (blending) double ended brush.  I'm actually glad that this palette came with these brushes as I find them to be excellent for a good variation of looks.

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils

Urban Decay has come out with a lot of products to celebrate it's 15th year anniversary this year.  Among those was the limited edition boxed set of 15 shades of their famous 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils.  Having tried samples of their Zero pencil that came with some of their palettes, I already knew that I love the formulation of these pencils.  True to their name, it really does glide on when applied and for me at least, it was long lasting.

Needless to say I wasted no time to jump at the chance of grabbing one of these collector editions which retails for US$92.  These are full sized pencils at only a little over US$6 each compared to its individual retail price of US$18 each.  That's approximately 66% off and it includes 6 brand new shades plus a free sharpener.

Sigma Dare Palette

Now for another post for the new line of Sigma eyeshadow palettes, this time featuring the Dare palette.

Dare Palette (sleeve and palette)

Dare Palette (opened)

This palette also comes in the same type of packaging as the Flare palette, 8 warm shade selection and a double ended brush (E20 Short Shader Brush and the E45 Small Tapered Blending Brush).

Click here to read on my previous post for the Flare Palette

Sleek iDivine Bad Girl Palette: Photos, Swatches and First Impression

For my second Sleek order, I also picked up the iDivine Bad Girl palette.

Sleek iDivine Bad Girl Palette (Box packaging)

Sleek iDivine Bad Girl Palette (Opened)

As with the other iDivine eye shadow palettes, Bad Girl comes in the same packaging with the full sized mirror on the inner lid and a double ended sponge tip applicator.

Sleek iDivine Primer Palette: Photos, Swatches and First Impressions

This palette arrived a little over a month ago but I haven't been able to give it a try yet (but I'm excited to). After my first 2 palettes, I felt like getting more.

Click here to check out product photos, swatches and first impression of

the Original and Storm eye shadow palettes here

One of the things in my second purchase is the Sleek iDivine Primer Palette:

Sleek iDivine The Primer Palette (box packaging)

Sleek iDivine The Primer Palette (opened palette)

PRODUCT INFO

The palette comes with 12 creamy colors and a double ended brush in a sleek black plastic case which includes a mirror on the inner lid. Each pan offers 1.1g/0.03oz of product.  This product is specially designed to complement the eye shadows in their iDivine palettes for added intensity and longer wear.

I'm not a big fan of the flimsy loose plastic film with the color names though.  I felt that they could've done a much better job at that by either having the names printed on the palette itself above the top row and below the bottom row or have a diagram at the back of the case with the names printed.  Not too keen on the brush included either.  The bristles are of poor quality and badly cut too.  Definitely use your own brush or a clean finger to apply.

Sigma Flare Palette

Finally!  I'm so excited to be able to start posting about the Sigma eye shadow palettes.  I received mine a month ago and despite having taken some product photos, I thought it best to do some a little test first and try to conjure up a look to go with the palette.  Plus, I think I've been doing too many Sigma posts back to back in this space I felt I should break it up a bit.

Each palette is priced at US$35 and is available for purchase on the Sigma website.  Assuming a brush value of US$9 (the full size brush retails at US$9/each), each eye shadow is only US$3.25 (less than RM10/each)! Click on the image above to purchase and receive a free gift with your order.

Anyways, there are 3 palettes altogether: Flare, Dare and Bare.  The package came with a little leaflet (Sigma's signature) that talks more about the palettes as well as a sample look for each.

Palette Leaflet

I was quite surprised at the actual size of the palette.  It's approximately +3/4in in length, +1/3in depth and height compared to the Urban Decay Naked Palette.

I'm starting off with the Flare palette so here we go.

the Balm Shady Lady Vol. 2 Palette Swatches & Comparison

I'm not sure if I've mentioned previously but I've been trying to get my hands on the Balm's Shady Lady Vol. 2 palette and was somewhat regretting not picking it up when there was still quite a lot in stock retailing for RM120 (in the US it is available at $39.50).  I was at Sasa recently and these seems to be back in stock for the time being due to high demand according to the sales girl.  Here are some photos and swatches plus what I thought of the palette:

Sleek iDivine Eyeshadow Palette - Original & Storm

I purchased these two Sleek eyeshadow palettes some time back from Crush Cosmetics.  I've heard a lot of hype about these palettes and could have knocked myself on the head for passing up the opportunity to pick 'em up while I was on vacation in London last year.  I distinctly remembered seeing it and not even swatching the colors.  Anyways, I've managed to get them now and here they are:

The palettes come in a slim matte black hard plastic case which feels quite durable and perfect for travelling.  You get 12 eyeshadow shades in each palette and there are definitely a variety of palette themes to choose from.  If you're more interested in limited edition versions however, I'd suggest searching on eBay (some sellers ship internationally).  Sleek Makeup is a London based company and is available at selected stores in the UK, France and Africa.

Lip Swatches for MAC's Kissable Me Lipcolours (Peacocky Collection)

As promised, here are the lip swatches of the Kissable Lipcolours I purchased from the MAC Peacocky Collection.

Click Here For The Previous Post & Mega Metal Shadow Swatches

Shade: Strut Your Stuff

Now that I've done lip swatches, I can say this for certain, I love love love this color!  This super bright red totally pops and you can wear it alone without much make up.  Unlike MAC's other lip products, this didn't smell of vanilla but had more of a cookie scent to it.

MAC Peacocky Collection

The MAC Peacocky Collection reached our shores just recently (last Thursday here in KK to be exact) and as expected, a lot of items were sold out without a couple of days.  Fortunately I managed to pick up some of the items from my wishlist:

MAC Holiday 2010: Tartan Tale

I'm really sorry this post came so late.  I just realized I'd already uploaded the photos some time ago but never got around to do a blog post.  I've added a few swatches and comparisons with other products I own so if you missed out on this collection, hopefully you could still get hold of some possible dupes or alternatives.

theBalm Shady Lady Shadow and Batter Up Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow

Previously, the only things I'd gotten from theBalm were their Time Balm Concealer and the Batter Up Creaseless Cream Shadow in Base Hit Kit and I was quite happy with those purchases.  Recently, I'd gotten intrigued with their eye shadows as well and decided to pick up a few from Sasa.  Good timing too because Sasa is currently having their CNY promotions until February 17th.

The in-store promo included purchasing the Batter Up Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow and a Shady Lady Single Eyeshadow for only RM68 (35% savings) and 50% off two of their Shady Lady Single Eyeshadow in shades All About Alex and Just This Once Jamie.

Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish - Blue My Mind

Here's one of my fave brands of nail polishes so far, Rimmel London's 60 Seconds Nail Polish.

The color pictured above is Blue My Mind and is more of an indigo blue rather than a royal blue but vibrant none-the-less.

What I love most of this particular nail polish line is their Xpress Brush (TM) which claims to make application a breeze (1 sec) and it really does.  The brush is wide and flat and more of ten than not, on smaller nails it only requires one swipe.  However, I've noticed that there are still bottles of the nail polishes in this line with the regular polish brush sold at the counters.

The formula is of a good consistency, not too watery and not too thick.  Generally I only need 1-2 coats to achieve the color in seen in the bottle but for this particular shade, I needed a minimum of 3 coats which was disappointing.

As far as wear, it lasted for at least a week for me without any signs of peeling or cracking.  There were only minor tip wear which I think is normal especially since I do a lot of typing.

Quick Review: elf Nail Polish in Innocent

Some time back I'd purchased a whole bunch or elf products during their 60% off sale.  Here's a look at one of the nail polishes that I purchased, Innocent (which costs US$0.40 after discount!):

elf Essential Nail Polish (Innocent)

Net Weight: 0.35 fl oz

Price: US$1.00 each

Availability: eyeslipsface.com

I like the color, a nude polish with hints of pink undertones.  It's a nice classic color and one that would take sometime before I get bored of.  Personally I think this is a very demure feminine shade that works well with those with light and medium skintones if you want that nude nails effect.  As you can see from the photo above, it's the perfect nude shade for me.

I had to layer 3 coats of this formula to achieve a decent degree of opacity.  As far as consistencies go, I would describe it to be midway between being too runny and too thick.  It applies pretty streaky for me though but it wasn't something I would complain too much about considering how inexpensive the product was.

The painted color isn't quite true to the shade you see in the bottle or the swatch on the elf website (however, the actual color in the bottle and the online swatch looks fairly close.

Swatch from the elf website.

The formula is said to be free of the following ingredients/components:

• Toluene
• Formaldehyde
• Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Product claims:

• Chip resistant and long lasting with high shine
•  Aerodynamic bristles that glide on flawlessly
• Quick dry

At the moment I can't vouch for their first claim but I'll update on my findings at a later date.  As for the bristles, I didn't find it difficult to apply the polish and I would say it was quite easy to use despite being a bit streaky.  I wouldn't say that the formula is entirely as quick drying as they'd like us to believe but it didn't take long to wait to apply the 2nd and 3rd coat in my case.  The formula is also infused with Vitamin E which is a great moisturizing ingredient so hopefully I won't be experiencing any dry nails after taking this off.

NOTE: This polish was applied with a coat of Rimmel Stronger Try Harder Base Coat and a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat.

Looks and Nails of the Week

Just a quick little post on my Look of the Week:

Face
Revlon New Complexion One Step Make Up (03 - Sand Beige)
MAC Mineralized Blush (Pet Me) [LE]
ELF Blush & Contouring (contour color only)


Eyes
Urban Decay Naked Palette (Sin - inner half, Toasted - outer half, Hustle - outer upper lash line)
Stila Multi-Effects Mascara (Black) - 1st coat
Maybelline Full 'N Soft WP Mascara (Very Black) - 2nd coat
in2it Waterproof Brow Powder (Darkest shade)

Lips
MAC Cremesheen Lipstick (Fanfare)

And for Nails of the Week:

Base Coat: Rimmel Stronger Try Harder
1st Coat: Revlon Copperglaze Platinum
Tips: Revlon Black Lingerie
Strip: Sally Hansen French Manicure (Natural White)
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 second Top Coat

Needless to say I'm better at make up than I am with nails but it's fun to experiment.

Til next post! *hugs*

Haul: Sephora, ULTA, ACW

A couple of months ago I went on a US online shopping spree of my own and picked up some things that I've had my eye on for awhile and then some.

So I was definitely super excited to get my packages.  Don't be fooled.  The boxes may be big but it was 90% padding except the package from ULTA which was quite nicely packed without the need of way too much padding.

Haul: MAC In The Groove

OK I know this is rather late and the collection has probably sold out already.  So I was browsing my SD card transferring photos to my laptop when I stumbled on these photos that I'd taken the day I bought the products.

Anyways, I only picked up 2 of the 5 or 6 that I'd originally wanted to get.

Haul: All Cosmetics Wholesale

I made a couple of purchases from All Cosmetics Wholesale in the past few months (April and July) and oddly enough, I received both packages in August.  The first package was shipped via USPS International Priority Mail ($24) in mid April and was released by Malaysian Customs end of April.  The package was marked received by my local post office end of June and the pick up note was sent to me early August.  I'd already lost hope and accepted that that package would never reach me (but was delighted it did).  The second package I got shipped via USPS International Express Mail ($29) and got to me in a more timely manner.  The website sells a host of brands and ships internationally as well.

Anyways, let's get to the products and swatches:

Package #1

Package #2

MAC To The Beach Collection

The MAC To The Beach collection was one of the most hyped about collections so far and the speed at which items from the collection sold out lay testament to this.  The collection had already launched much earlier (by a week or two) in the US and elsewhere.  In fact I believe it launched earlier in KL than it did in KK.  The collection took off here a couple of days ago (Thursday) and when I got there yesterday (Friday) after having known it to have arrived (finally!) a lot of the items were already sold out or selling out fast.

Here's what I managed to grab:

MAC To The Beach Collection