The Balm Cindy Lou Manizer

Hello everyone!!

As we are continuously being bombarded with new highlighter releases by companies almost on a daily basis, I thought I’d review an oldie but an awesome highlighter that has been in my makeup routine for atleast 2 years now! I’m talking about the Cindy Lou Manizer from the Balm, the peachy sister of the famous Mary Lou Manizer.

The Cindy Lou Manizer

First off, the packaging is cute as with most of the Balm’s packaging. The highlighter is housed in a nice sleek compact which has a big mirror too. The compact is the size of my palm and you get 8.5g of product! That is enough to last you forever in my opinion!

Cindy Lou Manizer looks dark peach in the pan

The Cindy Lou Manizer can be used as a blush topper, highlighter and even eyeshadow. I have primarily used it as a highlight and blush topper. If you already own the Mary Lou Manizer, you might find this to be more of a subtle and natural highlight with a light hand. I have yellow undertones and a medium skintone and I still find that this works well as a subtle daytime highlighter. It gives a lit from within glow especially when out in daylight.

I tend to use the tinniest amount when using this as a highlight and when using it as a blush topper I like to layer it a bit more so that the peachy tone comes through. Again, this is not a glittery highlight, it gives a lovely sheen and hence looks natural on the skin.

Swatch of the Cindy Lou Manizer

This is a very finely milled powder and very soft! You have to be careful when dipping your brush into the pan…if you try swirl your brush or stab the pan there will be a lot of powder kickup. The best way to pick up product is to gently tap your brush on the pan and voila you have picked up enough product!

Overall, I love the quality of this highlighter. I do not notice any fading throughout the day (I have dry skin) and the price point is great too (24$)! The Balm has sales quite often and if you have the patience to wait you can grab these for a steal! If you have extremely fair skin this will work more as a blush topper and if you are on the other end of the spectrum, this would be a great highlight.

Have you tried the Cindy Lou Manizer? What is your current favorite highlighter?

Until next time…ciao!!

Kiko Blush Cocoa Shock in Adorable Pink and Peach

Hello everyone!!! I am a big fan of Kiko products and so far have never been disappointed with the stuff I’ve tried from the brand. On my recent trip to Spain, I went a little crazy with the Kiko purchases …

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick in Nudist

Hello folks!!

I am not a big fan of matte liquid lipsticks because of how dry my lips are, and hence I jumped into the matte liquid lipstick bandwagon rather cautiously . I am so jealous of all those people who can rock a matte lip without their lips looking like dried prunes. After looking around a bit I decided I should venture into the world of matte liquid lippies with the Bourjois Rouge edition velvet liquid lipsticks.

The Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick in the shade Nudist

The Bourjois rouge edition lipsticks appealed to me primarily due to the great reviews I saw and also the word ‘velvet’ made it sound like these would be comfortable to wear. After using this guy for close to a year now, I can firmly say that I like the formula and would recommend it to anyone with dry lips 🙂

The shade Nudist, is a lovely everyday shade which has the right balance of pink and brown in my opinion. There are some really nice bright fun colors in the range in addition to 2 other nude like shades.

I always like to prime my lips with a lip balm before applying any lipstick and I did the same before applying this one. I love how smoothly the color glides onto your lips. I am able to achieve an opaque coverage in a single swipe! The applicator is the standard doe foot but it does a great job in spreading the lipstick without patches.

Standard doe foot applicator

Once applied on the lips, these do take a little bit of time to completely dry down to a velvet matte finish. Once dry, my lips are very comfortable and it is lightweight on the lips. I have not tried to apply a second coat since I get full coverage in a single swipe and hence do not know if the formula clumps up with layering.

Swatch of the shade Nudist

Bourjois claims that these can last 24 hours on the lips. Unfortunately, these don’t last long if you plan on eating and drinking a lot. I have found that the lipstick transfers slightly onto straws and the color fades significantly after a heavy meal. The fading occurs in a patchy way sometimes and that is my major pet peeve with this product.

Overall, I love the formula, the shade and the feel on the lips. I would give it a score of  4/5. If only the fading away of the liquid lipstick was more even! Also, I do think it is quite expensive (12~15$) for a drugstore product. Have you tried the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet matte liquid lipsticks? What do you think of the formula and staying power?

Until next time…ciao!!

 

H &M High Impact Eye color in Kobai Azalea

Hello folks!!

So the single eyeshadow in the shade Kobai Azalea is the second product I have tried so far from the H &M beauty section and I must say I am pretty impressed with the beauty line already. Currently the beauty world is quite obsessed with dark cranberry, red, magenta type eyeshadow shades and if you are on a budget and looking to try out a shade in this family range…let me introduce you to Kobai Azalea…..

H&M High impact Eye color in Kobai Azalea

The shade Kobai Azalea is a very scary intense pinky red shade in the pan. I picked this up initially thinking if I don’t like it as an eyeshadow I’ll try it out as a blush! Guess what..it works great as both an eyeshadow and a blush 😀

Look at that color! Kobai Azalea

One of the most discussed palettes in the beauty world right now is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette. Now, I do not own this palette but to me this shade looks a lot like Venetian red /Love letter in the pan and swatched.

Kobai Azalea is matte and though the texture of the shadow is not very silky, it is not very chalky either. The shadow looks lovely in the crease and blends effortlessly. I feel that I was able to use this as a blush as well all because of how easily bendable this shadow is! I did not notice any fading after wearing this shadow for around 9 hours.

Single Swipe brush swatch of Kobai Azalea

The shadow is very build able although I have not tried packing this color to its maximum intensity  on my lids..primarily since I am not a colorful eye shadow girl most of the time 🙂 For me this is a great crease shade and I can see myself reaching for this more in the coming fall months.

Overall, this is another great beauty product find for me from H&M. The eyeshadow has great staying power, is blendable and pigmented! The packaging is quite okay as well.

I plan to pick up more items H&M beauty soon! Tell me… what are your favorite items from the line?

Until next time, ciao!!

Tarina Tarantino Jewel Shadow Palette in Dreamy

Hello folks!

Tarina Tarantino is a famous jewelry designer who had a few years ago partnered with Sephora and bought out her own line of makeup. Sadly, they are no longer available at Sephora but on the bright side, they can be still purchased on her website and also on Hautelook.

Sometime last year I picked up the Jewel Shadow palette in Dreamy when her products were on Hautelook. I had also picked up her lipstick which I reviewed HERE a while back!  I will let the cat out of the bag right now itself..these shadows have one of the best formulas I have tried 🙂

Tarina Tarantino Jewel Shadow Palette

The packaging is very luxe. The gun metal compact has a nice weight to it and the design is so sleek and stylish, I would never think twice about whipping this out of my bag in public to touch up 😀 The brown hologram is also a nice touch. I really like the outer box of the compact too which is why I still have it with me!

Eyeshadow palette in Dreamy

The palette houses 5 beautiful shades. I would describe this palette as being a neutral palette with a pop of color. 4 out of the 5 shadows are satin shimmer shades, with the dark brown shadow at the bottom of the quad being more of a glitter shadow. If you are a lover of matte shadows, this quad sadly may not be for you. The standout shadow in this palette is of course the beautiful burnt orange copper shade!

Single swipe brush swatches

The shadows are smooth and glide on the skin like butter! They are extremely pigmented too! Above are swatches of the 5 shadows in this palette obtained with just 1 swipe of a brush. The glitter shade has some fallout but not so much so that it is a deal breaker. I have used these shadows with and without a primer and they have excellent longevity. They look really fresh even at the end of a 12 hour day when used with a primer. I have used these shadows once without a primer and they did not fade even after 8 to 10 hours of wear!

Overall, I love everything about this palette – colors, the texture, the performance, pigmentation, packaging..everything!!

The only con/negative about this palette is that it is not very easily available. I like to wait till they come up on hautelook to get them at really great prices 🙂

Have you tried anything from the Tarina Tarantino line?

Until next time…ciao!!

Want a metallic liquid lipstick finish?….Try these classic drugstore lipsticks instead!

Hello folks!

If you are active on social media, you would have noticed that metallic finish liquid lipsticks are the current rage. However, the intense metallic finish and the dryness associated with liquid lipsticks might not be everyone’s cup of tea (including me). I have never really been a fan of lipsticks with glitter or shimmer in them but I do have 3 drugstore lipsticks which when worn are super comfortable but have a slight metallic sheen when it catches the light.

I thought I’d share those with you guys today, incase someone is on the hunt for a drugstore lip stick that gives a muted metallic shine 🙂

Pearl finish drugstore lipsticks!

The 3 lipsticks I have in my collection are the Revlon super lustrous lipsticks in pearl finish and a Maybelline colorsensational lipstick. The formula on both these lines is excellent. The 2 Revlon lipsticks are Iced Amethyst and Wine with everything, both as mentioned before are pearl finishes. The Maybelline one which can look metallic on the lips is Ruby Star. I believe Revlon has a few more shades in the pearl finish which can give a metallic shine on the lips.

Swatches from left to right: Iced Amethyst, Ruby Star, Wine with everything

As you can see from the swatches above, the 3 lipsticks do have a muted metallic shine. I recently rediscovered these and have been enjoying the muted metallic effect on my lips. These are comfortable and they do not highlight the lines of your lips.

Have you tried these? What do you think of the metallic liquid lipstick trend?

Until next time..ciao!!!

 

Rimmel Exaggerate Water Proof Eye Definer in Noir

Hello everyone!! Hope you all are having a great weekend! I am generally careful of the eyeliners I use on my waterline, simply because I am terrified of irritating my eyes! I came across reviews that said the Rimmel Exaggerate waterproof eye definer is a great drugstore option for sensitive eyes and so decided to try it out. I have been using this for a while and good news!…it doesn’t irritate my eyes.

Rimmel Exaggerate waterproof Eye definer

I have this in the shade Noir, which to be honest is not the blackest black I have seen. The eye definer is a skinny twist up pencil, which means no sharpening..yay! At the end of the skinny pencil, there is a smudger which can be pulled out and below the smudger is a sharpener..super cool!

The shade noir

The pencil glides on smoothly, with no tugging. Once applied, if you would like to smudge the line, you need to act fast since it sets pretty quickly and once it sets it is pretty smudge proof. I find that this pencil works best for the waterline as opposed to the top lashline. The color fades and starts to smudge when I use this on my lashline. However, this stays pretty well on the waterline much to my surprise!

Swatch

As you can see from the swatch above, this is not the most intense black liner out there. In fact, when I was trying to take a picture of the swatch, it looked more brown that black on my camera screen!

Overall, I do find this a good eyeliner for the price! My only major issue with this liner is that it is not black enough. I think it is a great drugstore option if you have sensitive eyes and you are looking for an eyeliner for the waterline.

Until next time…ciao!!