Adore Beauty Haul plus a prize!

So earlier this week Adore Beauty had their 13th Birthday and they had a discount on their full price products. Anyway I decided to buy something and I went and bought a Tweezerman slant tweezers. I have heard good things about these tweezers....and the current tweezers I use aren't that great.
After purchasing I entered the competition that Adore Beauty was holding as part of their birthday. It was called Pass-the-parcel competition.

I found out a couple of days later that I had won something (through the beautiful Coconal on Beauty Heaven forum) and that my name was on Adore Beauty's facebook page.

I was so excited and the prize that I got was the NP Set Day to Night Palette. Adore Beauty said this prize was going to be included in my order.

Yesterday I received a package from Adore Beauty and I got my Day to Night Palette with a couple of samples and a Tim Tam! But my actual order was not there... However I called them today and they said it was getting shipped separately and I was glad when I came home to find another package from Adore Beauty. Of course it was my order and included was 2 samples and a secret Deluxe sample that was included in my order.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my purchase from Adore Beauty. They ship really quickly and their shipping fee was only $5.95. I was a bit disappointed with the "Deluxe" sample since I thought it would be slightly bigger but I guess that's just me.

I'm really excited to try out the palette that I won. The palette has 8 eyeshadows, 4 for day time look and 4 for night time look. It also comes with 2 blushes nude and pink, although I think the nude blush looks more like a bronzer. The eyeshadows in the palette looks gorgeous and great for everyday look.

Then below is the tweezers that I purchased. It's a limited edition zebra print Tweezerman slant tweezers. This is the full size tweezers. And yes, I know at $30 it is a very high price to pay for tweezers but I have been thinking about getting these for a while since I have heard people raving about them. I guess I will just have to try them out and I will see if they live up to the raves.

 So that's my haul from Adore Beauty! I will use the palette next weekend when I am going out for a party and will give a review then.

EOTD #11 Neutral eye makeup look with purple eyeliner

Last week I got a Clinique eyeshadow duo and blush which was a Gift with purchase (GWP) that a friend gave me. The 2 eyeshadows in the GWP was Clinique Colour Surge in Lucky Penny (a shimmery champagne with pink tones) and a shade from the Black Honey quad (a dark brown with red /burgundy tones). I love these eyeshadows. The colours are neutral but gorgeous and is perfect for everyday makeup look.

For this look I used the 2 eyeshadows I mentioned above but I wanted to add a pop of colour so instead of lining my eyes with a black eyeliner I used a purple liner. I think adding the purple using the liner gives a more subtle pop of colour.

To recreate this look:

1. I started by applying a base all over the lid and up slightly towards the brow bone. The base I used was Chanel Illusion d'Ombre eyeshadow in Emerveille. 
2. Then I applied the lighter shade in the Duo palette which was Lucky Penny all over the lid.
3. On the outer third of the eyes I pat the the darker shadow from the Duo (which was the dark reddish brown colour) and then with a fluffy brush start blending it towards the crease.
4. Pick up more of the dark reddish brown eyeshadow with the fluffy brush and blend it on the crease. 
5. I tightlined my upper lash line using MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack. This gives the illusion that the lashes are thicker.
6. I then lined the upper lash line with SEPHORA Flashy Liner Waterproof eyeliner in the colour Flashy Violet. 
7. I also lined the lower lash line with the same purple liner.
8. I finished off by curling my lash and applying mascara. The mascara I used was Australis Killer Curves mascara.

Products used for the eye makeup

I really like this look. I think the purple liner just add that subtle pop of colour without going over the top. You can easily take this look to a night time look by intensifying the darker eyeshadow and also intensifying the purple liner by setting it with a bright violet eyeshadow.

For the face I used Lancome Teint Visionnaire foundation, MAC Peachtwist blush and MUA Bronzed Perfection Bronzer.  And for the lips I used Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip balm stain in Adore.

And that's it! This was a pretty quick makeup look great for an everyday look. 

Review: Lancôme Teint Visionnaire Foundation

So I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a part of Beauty Heaven's trial team for the new Lanc ôme Teint Visionnaire Skin Perfecting Makeup Duo Foundation.

The Teint Visionnaire combines 2 products into one: a foundation and a matching concealer.
The foundation contains [LR 2412] which is the star molecule of Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector serum.  Lanc ôme claims the [LR 2412] works day after day to smooth wrinkles and refine pores and reduce the appearance of imperfections. The Teint Visionnaire contains 2% of the [LR 2412] molecule while the Visionnaire skin perfecting serum contains 4%.
The concealer/corrector is a high coverage corrector which claims to immediately reduce the appearance of dark spots, dark circles and imperfections.

I was very excited when I got chosen to try out this foundation because this is the first expensive/high-end foundation I've tried.

First of all the packaging of the foundation is quite unique and different to others I've seen. It does look a bit bulky but I don't tend to carry foundation in my handbag so I don't mind the look of the bottle at all.
I really do love that this is a 2-in-1 product. I love how the concealer is built into the bottle. It is located on the top of the lid off the bottle. You just flip the cap lid open and there's a small mirror inside which is quite handy.

The instructions says that you first apply the high coverage corrector then follow by applying the foundation. I did not follow this as I like to apply concealer after I apply foundation since I find that the concealer moves around if you apply it under the foundation.

The consistency of the foundation is thin but not too runny and it applies smoothly on the skin. The coverage of the foundation is light to medium. I like to apply it with a light coverage but you definitely can build it up to a medium coverage. The foundation nicely evens out my skin tone and gives me a natural finish. In addition I found that this foundation works really well with my dry skin. It's not drying at all, it doesn't make my skin look cakey and it feels very lightweight on my skin.

The foundation has an SPF factor of 20 which is higher than any other foundations I have used before.

Now the corrector formula feels very thick and heavy. I found that I need to warm it up with my fingers before I can apply it onto my skin. The corrector is definitely high coverage as I only needed to use a tiny bit to cover any imperfections. I don't have much imperfections on my skin but I have a few redness and scars from pimples and the corrector covers it perfectly. I also applied a tiny bit of the corrector under my eyes and even though it is a high coverage corrector I didn't find it looking cakey. The colour of the corrector is a perfect match with the foundation colour.

The shade that I received was 04 Beige Nature. Just to let you know the skin tone on my face and neck is lighter than my décolletage area and arms so I tend to use a foundation that is slightly darker so it blends in nicely all over. When I had to choose the shade for the foundation I went to David Jones and swatched the other range of Lanc ôme Foundation and the sales assistant matched me to 04 Beige Nature in Teint Idole. When I got the foundation I thought that it looked quite dark. However it does not look as dark after blending it with my fingers into the skin. When I apply the foundation onto my face I found that it worked better applying it with my fingers as it warms the product up and blended it nicely. If I apply it with a brush I found that it is a little bit too dark.

So does this product live up to its claims of skin benefits? Well, I have been using this foundation everyday for nearly a month now and in terms of skin benefits I can see that my pores look a bit more refined and my skin looks even and feels smooth. However other than that I haven't seen any other skin improvements as yet. I will definitely keep using this and hopefully in another month I can see the benefits that it claims to have.

Overall I really do like this foundation. It is lightweight and looks natural on the skin. The only downside was the colour was a bit hard to match. I did go to the store and tried on the lighter shades and I found they were too light so I think I was in between shades. I do find that I can get away with it if I blend it in really well into the skin and use a lighter colour face powder to set it.

EOTD #10 - Dramatic Arabic Smokey Eye Inspired Look

Sorry I haven't posted an EOTD in a while. I have just recently sold my compact camera since I want to get a new one. I do have an SLR but it is a bit hard to take self portraits with but I have managed to do it.

This EOTD was inspired by MissChievous video tutorial on Exotic Arab Smokey eye look. You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bpu6BWG7pg.

This look is quite dramatic and definitely not an everyday look. I did a double winged eyeliner in this look just to add a bit more drama to the look. And I also

Here are some steps on how to create this look:

1. First I applied a base all over my eyelid. I used Makeup Forever Aqua Cream in no 16 Pink Beige.
2. I then applied a pink eyeshadow all over my lid. I used MAC Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Young Venus
3. I patted a Urban Decay Gunmetal from the Naked Palette (a bluish metallic grey) on the outer third of the eye and then using a blending brush I blended it up to the crease. I keep adding the colour and blending it on the crease until I get the desired effect.
4. I applied Urban Decay Creep from the Naked Palette (black eyeshadow with shimmer) on the outer v and blended it in with the previous grey eyeshadow applied on the crease.
5. I applied Urban Decay Virgin on the brow bone and Sin on the inner corner of the eyes.
6. I tightlined my upper and lower lash line with MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack and also lined my upper lash line and winged it out. 
7. I also lined my lower lash lined and created a wing parallel to the upper lash line. 
8. I then applied Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eyeliner in Pure white in the area between the upper and lower winged line.
9. I finished off by curling my lashes and applying MAC Haute & Naughty mascara. And lastly because it is such a dramatic eye makeup I used false lashes just to make the lashes look full and long. I used Manicare Glam Eyes Alicia lashes. 

Tip: to get that clean winged eyeshadow look I placed a scotch tape on the corner of my eyes so it created a clean winged look.

Because this eye makeup is so dramatic, I left the face and lips quite subtle. 

For the lips I used Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey. 

And for the face I used the following products:

• Lancôme Teint Visionnaire foundation in 04 Beige Nature
• Makeup Academy (MUA) Bronzed Perfection Bronzer
• MAC Peachtwist blush
• Revlon Age Defying Spa Concealer in 002

Hope you like this look!

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