Mini Haul of Herbacin Products from Watsons SG

Herbacin is from Germany, and all the products have become known for tradition and experience of natural cosmetics.

I happened to see it in Watson @ Anchor Point SG last week. I believe it's just newly launched in Singapore. I'm aware about this brand few years ago, but there was no retail in Singapore. Finally I have chance to try out their famous hand cream and lip balm, so I chose one each from the different series.

 

This lip balm is from the "wuta kamille green line" series. It stated in the official website as below:

"Herbacin lip balm with natural ingredients

Effective protection and gentle care for sensitive lips
Herbacin lip balm contains valuable pure vegetable oils and active ingredients of organically grown camomile. Makes lips noticeably soft and smooth, provides reliable protection and helps prevent dehydration. The moisturizing ingredients ensure lips are taken care of naturally." 

Makeup brush review: Hakuhodo collection

If you are a brush fan, you MUST have at least one hakuhodo brush.

 - beauty on the way

We started to collect Hakuho-do brushes since 2009..We ordered the first batch from Hakuho-do's Japan official website, and received them 2 weeks later. 

Before we placed order, the price almost stopped us, but we were so attracted by the gorgeous vermilion handles and decided to go for some popular ones.  After we received them, then we know what we are paying for, the brushes are absolutely stunning! The workmanship is brilliant in terms of the quality of the brush hair, the color and painting of the handle, as well as the 24K gold coated ferrule.

Official website:

Japan: hakuho-do brush

USA: hakuhodo USA

Great news: you can order brushes from its US website, which provides flat international shipping.  

The S-series brushes are made of natural hair which is very soft but dense and firm, such that they can get the appropriate amount of powder and distribute the products evenly. The handle is made of wood and colored in beautiful vermilion, a traditional Japanese color.

Swatches and EOTD of Cle De Peau Eye Color Quad #19

Thanks to cc that we can get those information of all sales around Singapore. I got this CDP eye color quad #9 from shiseido sale last week; we've reviewed another palette #21 (here).

 

The texture of these e/s is supreme. The colors are not outstanding if compare to Lunasol or Nars e/s, but the texture is much better than the other two. Both palettes we got (#19 & #21) are very pretty for daily natural look.

Haul from Shiseido Sale 2010

Shiseido local distributor holds their bi-yearly sales again. It's so weird that people just queuing and squeezing like crazy in their conference room of the main office. Lucky we reached there early yesterday, it was not too crowed yet, but after we came out, the queue for entrance was already like 10 meters away. 

Her are our loots from the sales:

EOTD: Urban Decay Deluxe shadow box - Honey & Fishnet

Urban Decay Deluxe shadow box is a very colorful palette, which you can create many different EOTDs with different color combination.

We did a EOTD with two blue colors: Ransom and peace (here).

Enaj requested for an EOTD with combination of two colors "Honey" and "Fishnet", she would like to see how these two colors (golden and purple) could turn out if use them together. I'm curious too. :D

OPI Nail Polish E41 Barefoot in Barcelona

Just received 3 bottles of OPI nail polish last week, they are R55 Vodka & Caviar, B34 Pink Before You Leap and E41 Barefoot in Barcelona.

E41 Barefoot in Barcelona is from the Espana (Spain) collection in 2009.

Below pictures were taken at night, indoor, without flash:

Two layers with top coat:

Lunasol Geminate Eyes Ruby vs. Blooming Eyes Pink Gradation

Before reading the article below, can you tell which palette was used on which eye, ruby or pink gradation?  Which one you prefer, right eye or left eye?

It's interesting and also necessary to do comparisons for similar eyeshadow palettes, in terms of swatches or EOTD. It will be easier to visualize the differences between similar palettes and also convenient for gals who are mind-struggling with choosing them.

There always a pink palette for most of the Lunasol collection. Her we are going to compare two pink tone eyeshadow palette Geminate eye 05 Ruby and Blooming eye 01 pink gradation. 

Review of Nars Eyeshadow DUO - Kuala Lumpur (Swatches)

I received three palettes of Nars eyeshadow last weekend. Till when I wrote down the names of these three eyeshadows, I just realized they are all named by a city from different country in the world.

• Kuala Lumpur
• Tokyo
• Bali

Kuala Lumpur DUO

Left:  Iridescent rose-golden 

Right: Dark burgundy purple with sparkling gold glitter

Lunasol 2010 Limited Edition: Toff & Loadstone Collection Kit

(Images from: http://www.kanebo-cosmetics.jp/lunasol/collection_10.html)

Lunasol is going to release their 2010 limited "Toff & Loadstone" Collection Kit on 11 June 2010.  (about USD113)

 
This collection kit includes:

• Eyeshadow quad EX01 (Sheer Gold Collection)Eyeliner EX02 (Gold Brown)

• Lip gloss  N EX14 (Sheer Beige)

• Lipstick G EX03 (Neutral Beige)

• A pouch designed by "Toff and Lodestone"

April: 8 Finished Skin Care Products

 

I finished above 8 skin care products before end of April, from left to right, they are:

1, Estee Lauder Optimizer, Pore Minimizing Boosting Lotion (30ml sample)

Smell: I love the fresh smell of this lotion, it contains purified black bamboo extract,which is to keep skin calm and hydrated.

Texture: Milky viscous liquid lotion, between water and gel.  

Pros: Feels very slippery smooth on skin, and better hydrated my skin than normal water toner/lotion. It's more like a light weight serum so I skipped serum in the morning sometimes.

Cons: Although I love the smell of this lotion, but since my skin is sensitive I still prefer fragrance-free lotion.
Pores size was observed smaller because of good moisturizing effect, but returned to the same once stop using it.

Repurchase: Yes, I have already bought a full size bottle from duty free shop last month.

2&3, Cellex-C Sensitive Serum Two Step Starter Kit

I did a review of this starter kit HERE two weeks after I started to use them. And now I love them more than before.

Pros: 15ml was just nice for two months' usage, because you just need 1-2 drops  for every application. I found my skin condition was very stable recently, no breakouts, less shinny T-zone as well as skin radish was relieved.

Cons: It's a bit pricey, 94USD for the set. Also not easy to buy, have to order online.

Repurchase: Yes, but I will wait and order them during online promotion next time.

4, Spawater Cream (Above left) 

I also did a review of this interesting amazing spawater cream before, HERE. I used this cream after the Cellex-C serum starter kit.

Pros: This is the cream with best moisturizing effect I've ever used. After gently massage the cream on the face, it turns into spa water, and pad gently until it's fully absorbed. My skin was so soft and hydrated. Also this is a fragrance-free moisturizer, almost couldn't smell anything.

Cons: I can't find any drawback of this product.

Repurchase: I don't think I'm able to find it again, unless someone I know who go to Hokkaido and stay in the Sounkyo (层云峡) hot spring hotel, since that's the only retailer. I heard it can be found at some Japanese website, but they do not provide international shipping service, so I have to say goodbye to it, I miss it so much.

5, By Terry Intensive Multi-Active Moisturizer (Above right) USD90 

Original look:

EOTD- Majolica Majorca Trick on Powder Eyeshadow GR750

Majolica Majorca introduced it’s Trick On Palettes in Spring 2008. They extended the line to include two new colors for the Fall 2008, GR750 and BR751. 

Shade
Top Left: pale pinky beige with subtle pearly shimmer
Top Right: medium-toned khaki green with iridescent shimmer
Bottom Left: dark inky blue with fine shimmer
Bottom Right: ivory with micro-fine glitter

Coastal Scents 88 Eyeshadow Palette Haul

I just received my first two Coastal Scents 88 eyeshadow palettes since people have been discussing about it for more than 1 year. There are tons of reviews on mua, blogs, forums and youtube... I'm impressed with the variety of the colors, 88 each palette, such that I have 176 different colors now.. :D

I ordered 2 palettes from the official website.

- The 88 color eye shadow palette, and

- The 88 warm palette

The black plastic casing is quite nice and does not look cheap at all, there is a mirror  attached inside, but the whole palette is just too big and heavy to carry out except professional usage I guess.

Review: Givenchy Loose Powder #75 Poetique Orchid

 
I can't wait to try out my Givenchy loose powder today, which I got from recent prestige sales.

#75 Poetique Orchid is limited edition of year 2009, the four shades of powder clockwise from upper left are apricot, light pink, light green and light yellow. Three out of four are mat except light green. There is subtle shimmer inside and suppose to make your skin look glow.

There is a sponge attached inside the box, you just need to flip over the box and shake a bit, then you can see the four Givenchy logo on the sponge. Although it's a very creative design, it's a bit difficult to get the powder out as the holes are very small.