Thursday, February 18, 2010

new: Kose Visee eyeshadow palette

After seeing the 2009 cosmetics ranking in JELLY (see here translated by me!) I decided to get my first Kose Visee eye shadow palette, it made 3rd place! ☆ I wanted one for a long time now, but somehow never bought it. Since I like JELLY, I decided to get the exact same shade they listed, A-2 from Brilliance Forming Eyes series. ^^* I already have the KATE palette in BR-1 (1st place with BR-3) and I really like it, and my sister also has the KATE Reflect Mirror Eyes palette (2nd place, only ours is pink) and it`s way to glittery for my taste and has little pigmentation. I don`t really know if I even want to get MAC eye shadows (4th place), they are expensive and I already have similar colors in palettes~ And Bourjois (5th place), for some reason that palette does not appeal to me at all... I know they have good products, but most of them smell like "your mom`s perfume" kind of way... maybe it`s just me? (O_o`)
But anyway, want to see photos and hear what I think about my new baby?

Visee Brilliance Forming Eyes A-2 (brown系) by KOSE


What surprised me most about this was the adorable crocodile skin pattern on the box! :D I expected it to be flat and was pleasantly surprised, it`s shiny and cute!



The colors in the palette are simple and usable, but let me get into each of them.♪ Bottom-left is the cream base, it`s very glittery, but when you put other shadows on it, it just looks really pretty and gives depth to your makeup, it doesn`t look circus kind of glittery. 笑 Top-left is a highlight color, very very sheer looking light golden-beige, I put it under my brow and in inner corner of the eye, but it`s so delicate it hardly shows, but I think it still does the job of brightening the eye, it`s just very subtle. Top-right is a really nice golden-ish and a bit orage-ish medium brown! It looks really pretty applied all over the moving part of the eyelid. *^^* It is sparkly! (I guess if you want matte finish don`t buy this palette.) Bottom-right looks really deep and nice applied above eyeliner and under bottom lashes, I think I like this color best, a bit shimmery medium brown with no orange in it, like brown mixed with ash, really lovely!
There`s also a chip to apply the eyeshadows, but I never use it, except for when I draw eyeliner like lines witht he darkest shadow - for thin lines a thin chip is better than a brush, because the shadow won`t fall off to your cheeks from a chip. (You could also use a very short brush, which I sometimes do, but both methods are good really.)


From left to right: bottom-right, top-right, top-left, bottom-left

example of makeup, I actually used just a little eyeshadow, wanted to emphasize fake fashes :D
lashes from ebay on top, customized (layered 2 pairs) and decorative eyelash on bottom :3

Re-uploaded swatch photo. ^^* See, the base color and the highlighter hardly show! (And that`s not because of my photo, they are like this in real life too).

There is a lot of product in the palette, the packaging is cute and simple (no mirror, and who uses mirrors in eyeshadow palettes anyway), 4 colors that go well together and are shimmery/glittery and quite pigmented. I would definitely love to try more Visee eyeshadows!
Do you have anything from Visee?


PS. I added a mp3 player application to this blog, so check out my favourite songs! \(^_^*)/ I love Towa Tei, m-flo and Shinichi Osawa ♡ 

Monday, February 15, 2010

☆ About me!  ☆

I added a mp3 playing application to this blog, so check out my favourite songs!
So, this is my blog about cosmetics, not about me, but I thought it would be only good manners to introduce myself to everyone who comes here to read my ramblings and follows this blog (thank you so much!). So here is a not really flattering pic of me from yesterday (the top one) and then some others:


went grocery shopping and look rather neck-less xDD

 
me about 20y ago, and my new hair curled with a 19mm curling iron :D

me (on the left) and my sister and friend clubbing in Seoul, summer 2009, I QUIT SMOKING btw :D

 
visiting Jesus Diamante in Umeda and my true dorky nature I guess xD

I don`t know what you`d want to know about me, so ask in comments if you want to. Here are some basics: 
I live in Poland, my name is Magdalena (nickname Mada), I am 25yo! I have traveled a bit around Europe, and also went to NYC, Holland, Korea and Japan, where I actually lived for 1 year as well (scholarship, I studied japanese studies @ Uni). I really like japanese and korean cosmetics as result of all this. xD I love travelling and experiencing other cultures! I like gyaru fashion and magazines, and japanese magazines are my drug of choice, but I wouldn`t really classify myself as gyaru or anything else, I`m just me. I get inspiration from many things. ☆ I can speak Polish, English, Japanese and some Korean. Right now I`m still kind of studying xD I`d like to be a translator some day.

Recently I cut my hair from very long (you can see in some photos) to a bob inspired by Mori Maya. (first and third photo^^*) I love it!

Oh, and I buy everything I review here myself and I am NOT sponsored and all the things I write here are my honest opinions. Of course it`s all my personal experience, so the cosmetics might work differently for you, don`t trust blindly everything I say, but give some things I write about a try! :) My skin type is dry (before it was mixed type), and I`m pretty light skinned (but not as light as the picture, it`s because of all the snow making me look so white), but I`m not super pale, just light natural I guess. My natural hair color is light brown or very dark blonde, it had a reddish shine in sunlight and currently I color it natural honey blonde.

I guess that`s it. I hope you enjoy my blog! ♡ All the comment and followers make me happy and give me motivation to write more, and I feel like someone is reading my blog, thank you! 
And this post is everything I will post about myself here, so rest assured, so me-me-me spamming on this blog. xDD

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Skin care advice from Frey-ja Barker! (via Pixiwoo)

Here are very interesting and informative videos, uploaded by Pixiwoo youtube chanel. Enjoy!
I want to try that Shu Uemura cleansing oil! I`m no pro, but I couldn`t agree more, cleansing and moisturizing are the most important for good skin, even for makeup, because if you have beautiful skin your makeup will also look better obviously. I try to get better all the time, no pain no gain, huh?







Too bad the cosmetics she recommends are crazy expensive, but ih well, still good advice. ;)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Laura Mercier foundation primer ・ hydrating ☆

With all the natural makeup hype everywhere I ran into new (new to me) brands! (and if you are over 20+ and done experimenting with founations that cover everything up, lol, it just looks better to look super natural, right?!) Recently the brand that I got really interested in is Laura Mercier. I want to try brands that advertise as natural makeup companies, like Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown and bb creams are also a part of the natural trend (but only for light skin unfortunately). I already have foundation, so I decided to try Laura Mercier foundation primer in hydrating version.


I don`t remember for how much I got it, but sth around 35usd. It has 50ml (or 1.70 fl. oz)in a cute simple tube and the primer itself is light pink and has a smell, but it`s not too strong and I don`t mind it. (Usually I prefer non scented cosmetics, but if they have some medicine scent of sth, I don`t mind.) The package says "Perfect for all skin types, laura mercier hydrating foundation primer creates a smooth and invisible layer to prepare and protect the skin. Your foundation will stay fresh all day. Smooth on Hydrating Primer by gently massaging into the surface of your skin. Can be applied over moisturizer or on a clean face before concealer of foundation."


Shelf life 6 months... short! D: Got to use it use quickly ;3
Like the description says, it is smooth and invisible, but feels soooo nice massaged into skin, and spreads so well! Honestly it feels more like a moisturizing lotion cream, than makeup! After I apply it to my face there is no difference in the way it looks, but make up does go on smoother and I think the best thing about it is, it really does feel hydrating, like it locks all the skin care I put on before makeup in my skin. Make up stays all day long and I think it looks a bit smoother than without laura mercier primer. I also think I can see brightening from under my foundation (bb cream). It`s a bit pricey, but I definitely like it a lot and want to get either tinted moisturizer (for summer) or Silk Creme foundation next!



So, to sum up.
Things I like about it:
★ I feel it`s indeed hydrating, my skin feels more relaxed! ★ makeup looks smooth and it stays on fine ★ it looks very natural, there is no fakeish matte, like with heavily silicone based primers ★ feels great when I apply it :D ★ it makes skin look brighter and you can see a delicate brightening up effect from under foundation :o ★ I lovethe packaging and the primer is pink xD
Things I don`t like about it:
☆ it`s expensive! ☆ wth, there is no Laura Mercier store in my country, so I have to order online and it`s harder to choose tight color if buying color cosmetics D: ☆ I wonder if I`ll be able to squeeze out all the product from the tube in the end?
If my review is not enough for you, there`s this kind of hilarious review on youtube: click ;DDD

Overall, I really really like it. It feels so good on my skin and I definitely want to try more Laura Mercier :D 7.5/10 ★★★★★★★⋆☆☆  Do you use any Laura Mercier products?! If you do please share opinions! :D




PS. I placed an order for the mysterious Vitacreme B12 cream! :O I hope it comes fast! (BTW, the prices for it are CRAZY, it actually is more economic for me to order from Japan! WTH!

Friday, February 12, 2010

MAC nudy lipstick: Creme Cup (and Myth and Siss)

I got paid yesterday and went i do a little shopping! ☆ I got MAC Creme Cup lipstick!

Since last summer, I started getting nudy lipsticks from MAC, because I saw them on gyaru all the time, and since my (now cured) addiction to 小悪魔Ageha said MAC lippies are good I went and bought Myth! Actually, it`s a funny story, I convinced my sister to get me Myth as a present, when we were in Seoul, Korea. Then I bought myself Siss in Kyoto, Japan. And yesterday I got Creme Cup from MAC in Warsaw, Poland. xD What international lipstick collection! xD Anyway, here are my nudy lipsticks from MAC:


from left Myth, Creme Cup, Siss

from left Creme Cup, Myth, Siss

Myth is pretty much almost my skin color, with a bit of very light powdery pink-beige color, if you are going for a very strong eye makeup, it works best, with a sparkling gloss over it (sth like dazzleglass from MAC) it looks great! ♡ Siss is a darker nudy beige, I use it when I want to wear natural brown/beige tones on my eyes and lips and I use orange-ish blush with it, it looks really nice and kind of "grown up" IMO. And then Creme Cup is a super cute baby pink color! :D It would look lovely with pretty much any makeup, also with natural style. For gyaru makeup it would create a cute baby face like this. Well, maybe... xD

MAC lipsticks so far have been great for me! Actually I only used gloss `till I stumbled upon those, and they made me change my mind! The quality is great, there are many different kinds of finish to try. I only tried Satin - Myth, Siss and Cremesheen - Creme Cup, Satin is a full coverage matte finish and Cremesheen is also full coverage, but more creamy and has a bit of gloss to it, really cute and moisturising. ^^* All MAC lipsticks smell like vanilla, and I don`t even like vanilla scent, but those lipsticks are OK for me! Also, MAC lipsticks are 3 g / 0.1 oz and retails for 14usd in USA! (Of course they are more expensive where I live, around 25usd... `OTL)

Anyway, get a MAC lipstick! You will not regret it! v(*^o^*)/

Coming up shopping from MAC? Definitely Viva Glam lipsticks (swatches from temptalia)! Colabo between MAC and Cindi Lauper and Lady Gaga! I want them both! :DDDD And the campaign it promotes is a good one too, safe sex and beautiful lipsticks, there`s only happiness in that mix :)
(Oh, btw, I cured my addiction to Ageha, but now I got addicted to JELLY *fail*)