NYX Blushes: Cafe and Mocha

Having to be on the paler side of the asian skin tone, I never really had color in my face and a lot of bronzers I've bought always turn out orange on my face and most of the blushes I thought would just give me a light glow actually never ended up showing up on my face! So I decided to take a risk and go for bolder colors that would actually show up. I do not own a lot of mac products and the main reason to that is because NYX products provide such a quality of makeup that could easily overpower top branded makeup out there. The pigmentation of NYX products are just so superb that sometimes I feel it's so underrated because of the brands that are already in the market.. ESPECIALLY in Canada. Finding NYX products in Canada is a pain and even if you do find them.. they are sold at really high prices. I've bought NYX products online before from the U.S. and have noticed the great price difference between buying the products from U.S. and Canada.. even shipping the products from U.S. to Canada was way cheaper than buying the products here. Enough with the rambling, so recently I decided to splurge and purchase 2 blushes; 'Mocha' and 'Cafe'.. I was aiming at finding Taupe and Angel but they didn't have those 2 colors, so I decided to get 2 colors which were around the same color range and a bit more daring. Something I learned from watching tutorials were that blushes which look really pigmented from the pan isn't really so IN YOUR FACE when you apply them with a light hand.

Cafe , Mocha

Cafe , Mocha (without flash)

Cafe , Mocha (with flash)

Rating: 10/10

- NYX pigmentation just never fail to impress me.. ONE light dab in the blush provides a whole LOT of color (a litte goes a longgg way), and the smooth texture of the blushes are a plus!

- Mocha is a great blush tone that gives your cheeks a light flush of raspberry tint that really blends well to the paleness of my skin with a light application

- Cafe is a sort of light taupe color with a small tint of purple and gray. It really adds dimensions to your face when used for contouring.

Maybelline Sensational Lipstick: Born with it

So after having a bad experience with Pink Please.. well not totally hating on it.. but I was expecting a lighter shade of pink. I couldn't just let go of Maybelline Sensational Lipsticks.. so I gave it one last chance with the shade "Born with it".. and thankfully this time I found the shade I was looking for! Pink Please would have looked better on someone with naturally light colored lips.. but for people who have red lips to begin with, 'born with it' will make your lips to a settled neutral pink color.




Rating: 10/10

Maybelline's Pink Please VS Mac's Way to Love

Now.. a lot of people see the resemblance between Maybelline's pink please and Mac's way to love and since I had both of them I thought I would put them to the test myself.

Pink Please, Way To Love

Review: I won't exactly call them dupes.. more like sisters. They have the same family tint of pink but not the same shade. The difference in colors show more in pictures with no flash. The effect of them are very similar though. Mac's 'way to love' appears sheer and you should NOT expect it show up on your lips the way it appears in it's packaging unless you have pale lips to begin with. If you have pigmented lips, I would recommend getting Pink Please as it has better pigmentation yet not look extremely pink on your lips. As shown in the pics,Pink Please has a darker shade than Way to Love. I must admit they both look similar on the lips as they don't show up much on my pigmented lips unless you layer it on. But I honestly like pink please more because it just seems more moisturizing and it's more noticeable on my lips than way to love.

Rating (Pink Please) - 9

Rating (Way to Love) - 7

- these lipsticks would look good if you want punch of pink that does not over power nor take away from your natural lip color.

Favorite Summer Nail Color

China Glaze - Agent Lavendar
- One coat gives off the effect of 3-4 coats! It's opacity is simply amazing.
- China glaze is an amazing nail polish brand that can't be missed! Try them if you haven't yet because they are really affordable for their quality.

 

Crest Whitestrips - Pro Effects

After hearing such good reviews on youtube about the Crest Whitestrips.. I thought it would be the greatest time to test them out since they were on sale the same week I was getting my braces removed after 2 dreadful years. To be honest, I never really smiled with my teeth much in pictures before I got braces.. I just never felt confident about my teeth ever since I was a little child. Ever since my grade 3 school picture, all my school pictures of me had my lips glued shut. But ever since I used the Crest Whitestrips.. I've been smiling nonstop in pictures and in person. Okay well.. maybe because my teeth finally look align for once in my life but the Crest Whitestrips has really boosted up the appearance of my teeth and the brightness of my smile. Here's the proof:

Day 1 (1st use): The day I got my braces removed. I did 2 uses, 1 hour (3o mins each)

Day 2 and Day 3 almost looks the same but trust me! It got slightly whiter.. It's just I rather not upload the larger size of the picture to avoid having my teeth right up next to your face =P I kind of slacked and did 1 use (30 min) each day.

Day 4 (1 use): I think I might stop using the whitestrips now.. My teeth looks really white in pictures and I don't want to make them TOO white.

Review: These whitestrips are not as easy to use as it sounds. I've heard many reviews of slipping, foaming, and sensitivity (which I was most scared of). Thankfully my teeth didn't turn sensitive on me after using this, however, it was completely hard to keep my lower teeth's strip on my teeth as it repetitively slipped off. I have heard the Advanced Seal version didn't slip as much but Pro Effects was of a higher quality in whitening, so I rather sit there without moving my mouth in any way for 30 minutes to avoid any slipping. The foaming was a bit disgusting.. but was expected. As you remove the whitestrips, the gel leaves this really gross sticky residue.. sorta makes it feel like you're trying to remove gum from your teeth. But no worries, after peeling off the strips, just rinse with water thoroughly and it'll all go away. Simple. Not completely time consuming. Most of all.. it whitened my teeth dramatically (definitely saw difference after the first day).

Rating: 10/10

Stila Bronzing Powder - Shade 01

If you're looking for a bronzer that would definitely show but not overpower your face and looks natural, this bronzer would definitely look gorgeous on you. This bronzer gives a really nice color to your face if you have light skin tone and this has really good pigmentation (a little goes a long way). The texture feels extremely smooth to the touch, leaving your skin feel smooth as well.

What's really good is it has spf 15, which not many bronzers out there have.
However, if you want to use this for contour, it may not be the best color.

Overall, not a MUST have as there's probably a drugstore dupe (NYC) out there somewhere, but the pigmentation and natural look has won me over.

Rating: 8/10

For Audrey

For too long I've been hearing people talk about this nail polish. Yes.. it's the one and only China Glaze's "For Audrey". (The color in the picture doesn't really justify it's true color.. it's less pale and more bold in real life) I've been wanting this nail polish since.. FOREVER and finally had the chance to try it out. It was waiting on the shelf patiently for me to finally find it and purchase it! I live in Canada.. so this nail polish was a pain in the behind to find. The color is amazing in the container and I must say that it's offly similar to Tiffany & Co.'s boxes.. basically identical! It's just a very pretty color. However, once I applied it on my fingers.. although it was really pigmented and looked like it's true color with one coat.. maybe I'm not use to bright colors but it didn't exactly fit .. "me". Has anyone felt that this color just wasn't their color? I mean.. I'll probably love this color as time passes as my obsession with blue will probably kick in.. but for my initial thought.. it just seems a bit off when trying to find an outfit to match this color without making it look TOO bold.. like I mean.. a white tee would look good with them but it's summer ! i need to wear colors ! the colors just clashes with my nails. Well I guess it's a love and hate relationship with this product for now.. =P

Update: so it's been 20 days or so.. and I've grown to really like this color. Although at times it may not match your outfit colors.. it's not that apparent and i mean.. who really cares right? The color on its own is really too beautiful to dislike. And i know.. you must be asking.. "why on earth do you still have this nail polish on even after 20 days?!".. well that's because it's still rather in a "okay" condition.. okay well.. maybe i was just too lazy to go through the whole removing and re-applying process. The staying power of these nail polishes are just superb.. although it grew away from the nail base and had my nails cut.. it hasn't chipped!.. well maybe just a bit ^.^