FAB & FAV: MAKEUP

Welcome to the 2nd installment of FAB & FAV series :^)
It took me longer to actually find time to just sit down & write away... that's the life of a grad student, no? I'll dive in right away!

Many people think that I don't wear makeup or that I barely wear makeup, but it's not true! I actually wear a lot of makeup. Let me clarify; I wear makeup that look like I'm not wearing any. I mean, I sometimes genuinely like the makeup-y look: wing eye liner, smokey eye (although rarity in my makeup looks), bold lip, etc... To be frank, on a day to day basis, I prefer to enhance my facial features simply because I don't have time to spend 15 minutes trying to perfect my wing liner. You know what I'm talking about. The pictures in this post show what I use as part of my "daily makeup." Sometimes, I incorporate more of the products, and other days, I just use my concealer & call it a day. Makeup is very much dependent on what am I in the mood for on that day.


These four are seriously what I use every.single.day, regardless of what I feel like. (Other items heavily depend on my mood.)

Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer in Light Neutral:

I use this everyday. Where & how much I apply it on my face varies depending on the coverage I want, but the rule of thumb is at least to cover my dark circles... I need it! (I think it deserves its own review post, but I don't know when....) There are so many reviews about this one in the internet world, so you'll find more comprehensive reviews out there.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Powder (original review here):

I've been using Chanel's Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder SPF 15 in No. 20 ever since I've purchased it that I forgot how much I used to love Giorgio Armani's powder... I recently found that Chanel's powder didn't sit quite well with my face (maybe because I changed my concealer to UD), so I took out the luminous silk powder, and man, this stuff is amazing! This became the staple in my makeup routine. It sets my makeup & lasts all day. Now that the weather is warming up in Seoul, my T zone's been getting shinier throughout the day, but this powder locks it in.

Holika Holika Wonder Drawing Skinny Eyebrow in 01 Ash Black:

I always draw my brows because I find that it structures my face in better proportions. Holika's skinny eyebrow pencil is thought to be a dupe for Anastasia Beverly Hills' Brow Wiz, which also has a very fine nib. I haven't had the chance to use Anastasia's to compare the two, but I'm pretty happy with the Holika version. I love the fine nib on it so much so that I started "hating" the triangle-shaped ones... It's just so much easier to control & be precise, which is key to drawing eye brows. I highly recommend!

A'pieu Skinny Brow Fixer (Doraemon edition):

With the brow pencil, brow fixer is also a must for me because my eye brows want whatever shape they want that they need a bit of fixing... I've tried brow fixers from several other Korean drugstore brands, but I always found that the brow mascara wand was a bit too big or too chunky. After being unhappy for a while, I decided to search down the brow fixer that I've wanted, and as the name suggests, A'pieu's skinny brow fixer fits perfectly into my liking. The wand (pictured below) is very thin, which allows control & deposits no excess product. Too much product, and my eye brows will be bundled together. They position my eye brows with a gentle hold, and my eye brows don't feel crunchy (if you know what I'm talking about from very strong fixers).

From my Z palette (the black one in the first picture), I use 2 eye shadows from Paula's Choice limited edition matte eye shadow palette. It's been long since I've depotted them from the actual palette, so I'm sorry that I couldn't label the names of individual shadow, but I mainly use the warm, matte softer brown ones. I usually pick these shades to contour my eyes, sort of like how you would contour your face, but with your eyes. This is called 음영 in Korean, which literally means shadow. For this purpose, the eye shadows tend to be softer in tone. You're not trying to smoke out these colours, but rather, you just want a hint of colour to contour your eyes.

Moving on to the deep navy colour in the middle. This one is called "Rich Navy" from Bobbi Brown's single matte eye shadows. I've purchased the shade to use it as my eye liner because I really like the softer effect of it compared to the true black. I do sometimes like the stark black liner, but I normally just wing out slightly using the navy eye shadow; it has less chance of smudging since it's powder instead of pencil or gel liners.

For blush & highlight, I use the 2 shades from the right on the above swatch. The blush is from Etude House called "Peach Parfait," and it gives again subtle hues to my cheeks. It's peachy pink, leaning more to the pink side. Ever since I've purchased Unpretty Rapstar cosmetic's Smooth Whipping Lip & Cheek Cream though, I've been using the Coral Cream shade non-stop (swatched below). When I feel lazy, I'll apply the coral shade on my eyes & cheeks & lips to do my entire makeup. It best performs as a cream blush (weirdly, it doesn't really dry down as powder, but as cream), but I like it on my eyes as a base & on my lips to give a hint of colour. These colours are straight from the tube; they have amazing pigment to them.

Back to the highlight... The one & only highlighter in my makeup collection is Dior's discontinued (sorry) Diorskin Shimmer Powder in 002 Amber Diamond. Anyone remember this??? It had its own rave reviews throughout blogs & vids back in 2012? I'm so satisfied & happy with this one that I've never looked away. I've constantly used this highlighter rain or snow. I've talked about it numerous FAB & FAV posts featuring it & its review post here; the swatch looks so pathetic that I've updated the swatch on this post. It's shimmering in such a subtle, glowing way, nothing like a disco ball. There's even a strobing makeup trend at the moment, but I don't like obvious makeup (because I feel that it's too much for my liking).

Chanel is an iconic brand, but I don't think their cosmetic line is of good quality-based, but more to do with colour-based. This is also the case for Le Crayon Khôl in 69 Clair. I'm sure that there are longer lasting skin-colour eye liners than Chanel, but from what was available to me, Chanel's colour best matched my eyes... It's a tragedy because Chanel doesn't last all day, but I do get the effect that I want from skin-colour eye liner: look awake.

Unpretty Rapstar (the korean TV show) launched its own cosmetic line, and what drew me instantly was the Crazy Deep Lip Paint in 02 Tango Red. I love & believe that blood-red colour is the true red because it will suit you as it's a natural colour in your own body. When I swatched the colour in store, I immediately fell in love; I didn't care if it performed well as a lip stain, but after trying to remove the swatch on my hand, I realized that this is some serious lip stain. The bottom swatch above, the swatch is after rigorous "removal" with an oil-based makeup remover. This one is a keeper because it will last you even the day after you've first applied it on, through your meals & drinks.

I skipped the mascara bits pictured from the very first picture, but these two are also very popular products that they need very little attention... I think. Etude House's Dr. Mascara Fixer Volume Up Curl Fix Coating Fix has a cult following now, at least in Korea because it performs so well. It literally fixes the curl on your eye lashes without budging even a little bit. If you struggle with droopy lashes, try Dr. Mascara Fixer for volume, you'll no longer experience it regardless of what mascara you use. I still stick to waterproof mascaras just to be on the safe side, and for this, I use Maybelline's The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof version. I don't even know how many tubes I've went through, and so far, I always come back to this one after trying others.

Whoa, another lengthy post happened... I hope it was useful reading to you, and please try the products that I've recommended if it looks like you can benefit from. They really work for me that I've used them on a daily basis.

:^)

P.S. Next up, the final post of FAB & FAV series will be on BRUSHES! Due to the amount of brushes I own & the usual length of post-wise, it'll most likely be split into 2 parts, focusing on one brand per post. Until then!