Yuberactive Review : Rimmel Mono Eyeshadow in Siren

I have high hopes for the Rimmel Mono Eyeshadows because I've just had a really good encounter with the Rimmel True Match foundation (mentioned here). I was so excited when I found out that Yuberactive said that I could review the mono eyeshadow FOR FREE. I was so excited...

When I received the package, I found out that I got Siren, and I was a little crestfallen. I was *really* hoping not to get the pink eyeshadow because I think that it is hard to create "looks" with pink eyeshadow. I NEVER wear pink eyeshadow! However, I rose to the challenge and used it for 3 different looks, just to see how I can get more out from this small eyeshadow palette. I'm pleased to announce that it's in fact a very wearable shade, and I'm starting to think that it's a must have in any girl's make-up arsenal!

Firstly, the color is described as "pink", but I find it more fuschia (having purple undertones). If I lightly brush on the color, it looks light pink, but if I layer it on, it definitely takes on a more fuschia quality. I think this duality is something that you can't find it other pink eyeshadows on the market.

The color is also long lasting - from morning til night, and I got smooth application and the colors are easy to blend. Here are more photos of the eyeshadow :

Swatch (you can see it is definitely more fuschia here!) :

I know that there are plenty of blogs which will show you some highly technical and fancy eye make-up you can do with pink eyeshadow, but since I'm an amateur, I'll just share how I used my eyeshadow.

(1) The first and most simple one, is to use it as a single color on my eyelids, with simple eyeliner. It's a totally easy, yet funky look thanks to the very funky color :

On the way to my mother's birthday celebration

Close up of the pinkish-purplishness. Do forgive the crooked eyeliner... I was in a rush. :p

(2) For work, I made the Rimmel Siren mono eyeshadow the star color, blended with some neutral browns. I quite like this look! When I wore this at the office, my friends instantly asked me what was the occasion as I looked "glamorous". ;P

Proof that it was really for the office! Hahaha... I might re-do this look for a FOTD to explain what products were used. :)

(3) Lastly, since this palette looked SO much like a blush (I was really wondering if it IS a blusher), I decided to see if I could use it as a blusher. Carefully using my kabuki brush, I lightly brushed it against my cheeks. What do you think? ;) To be honest, I don't really recommend it since they didn't actually say you can do that. :P But since it was so easy to blend, I really got a good, healthy, pink flush from the eyeshadow...


Conclusion? If you like intense pigments and happy colors, this should be a good one for you. At RM14.90 per palette, it's also cheaper than most out there. Plus - cute packaging is always a plus in my books. ;) Hey, you can tell yourself that you're actually getting a two-in-one eyeshadow + blusher!

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Getting Ready For Dinner

Another make-up post! This time, it's me getting ready to celebrate my paternal grandmother's birthday. I wanted a fun look that was suitable for night, but not too crazy as all my relatives are going to be there. :P At the same time, wanted to try out new make-up that I've bought, and also use up some old make-up that I might have not gotten the chance to show you all before. :)

Transforming from :

To this :

Starting off with a clean palette - clean face, I proceed to moisturise. I'm sick of seeing the Hada Labo moisturiser on my blog, so here's my second go-to moisturiser --- Hazeline Snow! :)

Just dip into the jar and swipe it on... after the liquid-y ease of applying Hada Labo, this does seem like more work, lol. But it's super moisturising and I love the way it feels on my skin.

Next step, full body moisturiser. My boyfriend loves this brand - Vaseline's Aloe Cool & Fresh light moisturising lotion. I think it's ok, but not the MOST fantastic I've ever used. He keeps saying that this is suitable for our weather. To be honest, the only reason he bought HIS moisturiser was because it was going cheap in Watsons, and because he wanted something to soothe his hands after he accidentally brushed against some fibreglass. Random or what?! :

Hehehe... full body application!! You know how generous I am when slathering on lotion? One full long pump for each limb.

Johnson's Baby Powder "Cooling" for daytime. It's only at night that I use the "sleep better" one. :)

Ooh! Let me show you my new purchase. Got this because I wanted to enter a contest, and even then, I was standing in front of the show case for a very very long time. It is Rimmel's Match Perfection Ultra Creamy Compact Powder in "Ivory". It was selling for RM46, but there was an in-house discount of about 30%, so I got it for about RM32.

Why I wasn't impressed enough to buy it straightaway? Firstly, I didn't know about the discount, so price was a bit daunting (yes, I'm stingy). -___-" Secondly, I didn't like how they only had 3 shades - Ivory (the one I got) and two others. On the website it has 16 shades! I don't know if they only stocked 3 shades in the Guardian that I went to, or what.. but it seemed like it was typically slotting it into "Malay / Chinese / Indian" shades and that was annoying. I was so worried that Ivory would be too fair for me, but the beige shade would be too dark. I went with Ivory anyway (because at least it was still a flesh-colored shade. You know, sometimes the really light shades seem to be white?!? Thirdly, am not a fan of Zooey Deschanel or Rimmel products. Had bad encounter with the latter. Hahaha.

I quite like the packaging, after opening it up...


While putting it on, I felt that this was NOT "ultra creamy"... in fact I had quite a hard time applying it as it didn't blend easily. On a good note, it was a perfect match for my skin tone. This, I really liked! Take note, I'm darker than average for a chinese, so if you're fair, this is probably not the shade for you? Also, when I went out later that day, when I was sweating (dang this weather), and I dabbed at my face with tissue, I noticed that my foundation wasn't stained on the tissue! This, I was really amazed! With my mineral foundation, I can 101% guarantee that the foundation would be transferred onto the tissue.

Good stuff, this one. Quite love it already. *heart*

I had to put on quite a few layers and take a while to blend (maybe cos I'm no longer so used to pan foundations, after using mineral foundations for so long), but when I'm done, the coverage is good and it doesn't make the face feel "clogged". Thumbs up!

Skipped the eyes and went to blusher after that. This is a darker shade of blush in matte called "Sunday Brunch" from Everyday Minerals.

Brush it on with my kabuki brush :

Decided to use my L'oreal HiP (high intensity pigments) Bright Shadow Duo in Reckless. Bought this when I was in US. It's super cheap there, but a bit pricier when I saw it in some drugstores in Singapore. Might pick it up cos I want the blue shades! =p Very easy to use, and lasts a long time. And yes, the pigments are quite bright and intense... I find this product very value for money. Who needs M.A.C... hmph (this is just me being jealous). Anyway, thought it was a good choice as I was wearing lots of grey that night, and this, plus my sparkly hairband would set off the monotones and add a bit of youthfulness to my outfit. :)

The base is a sparkly bit of light purple. Sometimes I just wear this alone, but that would be too plain. I always need to shade it in to develop a more "3d" kind of look... hahhaa.

Let me show you my favorite lipgloss! I was actually introduced to it by Michelle Phan, I used to watch all her videos when she was still a Xanga blogger. After she went Youtube, her stuff got more and more sponsored and expensive. Hahaha. I couldn't afford to keep up with her recommendations any more. Anyway, it is Boots No. 7 lipgloss in Flirt. Bought it in US too!

Completed lips:
And then it's eyeliner... my "faithful" gel eyeliner from Maybelline that you've heard so much about by now...

Finished look, once again :

But there's still two more things I need to do. 1 - put on some anti-frizz hair product. Love the Free & Free Damage Aid spray that Pauline got for me from Bangkok! Love the smell, love how it works!

Rub it into the ends of your hair...


2 - spray on some perfume! I got this dirt cheap when I was in Singapore! It's "Love" from the Sex & The City perfume range. Dirt cheap because it's a parallel import, but I think something must be wrong with the goods because the cap of the perfume bottle broke so easily. Hahhaa. But the perfume itself smells nice and is rather long lasting.

Dear mom, now you know why I take so long to get ready!! XOXO.

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Face Of The Day : Morning Make-Up

Decided to do a make-up post because MOST of my make-up can be considered as drug store make-up. I'm not an expert, so please excuse if my style is not professional. I'm just someone who likes experimenting with different brands and sharing my finds with you. ^^

Anyway, today I had a bit of time, so I managed to catch some snaps for this post. Usually I'm in a rush / my boyfriend is already waiting for me outside my house, so I have to dash. This make-up was suitable for a daytime look, as we were going to meet up with his best friend's wife who just came back from America. Was wearing my 3/4 "londeh" pants from Kitschen and a t-shirt. I wanted a fuss-free look which was not TOO simple...

I need to put my fringe up to do my make-up. My RM3 hairband from Aeon pharmacy is a blessing at times like this. ^^ And after I put my hair up, you can clearly see my pimples and such. Sigh...!


1) MOISTURISE!
After cleansing the face and putting the hair up, my first step is to moisturise. Here, I'm using my gradually depleting bottle of Hada Labo face moisturiser. Just need 2-3 drops. Rub it between your hands to spread it out, and then pat on to your face. Wait a while for the product to get absorbed before proceeding to the next step.

I look like I'm in great pain here. Whoever said that watching a woman do her make-up is sexy is severely mistaken. This is SERIOUSBUSINESS!

And then we're done! Good? Good.

2) MEDICATE
As mentioned, I have a few pimples at the moment. It's not that serious (making my face look like crater of the moon), but it's quite apparent (cannot hide it with fringe). I want to continue to treat the pimples even though I'll be wearing foundation, so I always wear the pimple medication FIRST, then layer the foundation on top. I still use my Oxy Cover because it's flesh tone, it hides under the foundation better.

Target and destroy!!

3) BUILDING UP A BASE...
Time for mineral foundation! I love mineral foundation, especially Everyday Minerals, but I've run out of mineral powder from that brand. Instead, I'm now using my very last bits of Boots No. 7 mineral powder that I bought when I was in Thailand in "Buff" shade. Actually it's a little bit TOO dark for me, so I mix it with some samples I got from Everyday Minerals last time. My true EM shade is "Light Olive", but just for samples, I got some which were too fair for my skintone. So when I mix it with the Boots "Buff" shade, I got something pretty good! This is why I like mineral foundation... you can mix and match if you don't get the perfect shade. Can't say the same about normal foundation, right?

Just sprinkle it out onto the cover, and then put on your face with a kabuki brush. Don't forget your neck!

4) MAKE YOUR EYES POP
Well, technically, my small eyes will never be able to "pop", but instead of letting them stay dull and unattractive, a spot of eyeliner and eyeshadow never hurt anyone. I only break out my Nyx palette during the weekends. The strong pigments are just too colorful for the office!

Today I'm using my 10 Eye Color palette from Nyx - The Runway Collection...

I'll be using the yellow for the base, and the plum to mix with it. That might sound very weird (yellow + purple?!), but actually it's not glaring if you blend it all in. The plum is not a deep purple, but a light shimmery one, so most people might even think it's a beige shade after blending it out, hahaha. Anyway, you can see from the mirrored reflection on my eyeshadow palette that I have a lot of bottles in the foreground! Hahaha, I'm a skincare freak! :P

One eye is done! See? Very light base...

4) MAKE YOUR EYES POP II
It's not enough to just put on some color... for small eyed freaks like me, we need some eyeliner too. I'm forced to use my Maybelline Gel Eyeliner... and I say "forced" because at the moment the gel seems to be.... hardened. It's harder to draw when previously it used to just slide on. But it's pretty pricey and I don't want to buy a new eyeliner when there's still 80% left of this one. I did stop using the gel eyeliner at one point because I bought 2 In2It liquid eyeliners. In2It liquid eyeliners were good AT FIRST, but then I realised they are not very long lasting, and have a tendency to FLAKE OFF when it dries. The flakes will get into my eyes and irritate them to no end.

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner is really good - long lasting and lasts through tears (from yawning too much wtf), but the main gripe I have about this (which led to me buying the liquid eyeliners from In2It) is that you HAVE to clean the brush out after every application, which is just so bothersome. If you don't clean it out, it WILL harden and make every application after that PAINFUL as it's SCRAPING a brush on your eyelid. Anyway, I'm wondering how I can revive my gel eyeliner, as I remember it being silky smooth the first time I bought it. I read somewhere I can heat it up and it'll be all better. Will update how that goes!

How I look like when only one eye is done... can see the difference? I admit it's not a HUGEEEE difference because I didn't put fake eyelashes or put more dramatic eye makeup, with highlights and stuff:

5) COLOR IN YOUR LIPS
Meeting boyfriend = no lipgloss day. Used to be a lipgloss collector, I promise you, I have more than 10 tubes of lipgloss. They have not seen the day whenever I meet up with Tron because he hates the feeling of stickiness on his face when I kiss him. Hahahaha! :X So since it's lipstick day, I use my go-to color. I like this shade from Maybelline - Cosy Tangerine from their Color Senstational Moisture Extreme range. It's good for the office or on days when you don't want your lips to be the main attention. Coral shades are also more suitable for my skintone...

After! Woo... nearly there now:
You can see that my lips don't look so pinkish right now. Heck, if you compare with the first pic on this page, it's like I was dead and then I became alive! -__-

6) MAKE YOURSELF BLUSH
Usually, I don't use this step unless I'm wearing foundation (yes, there are times I go out without foundation, days when I know I'm only stepping out for a while, or when I know that I'll be out a LONG LONG TIME and wasting my precious remainding mineral foundation ain't worth it. ;P). If I don't wear blusher when I'm wearing foundation, the face looks a little "flat". To add dimension, highlight the cheekbones!

Today I'm using Dandelion from Benefit. It's a very light pink blusher shade that I got for free from some contest that I won. *shrugs* It's good for light day make-up, nothing very dramatic. Just gives you a healthy pink glow. By the way, I don't subscribe to the whole "smile really big and put blush on the apples of your cheeks" method anymore. I do the "brush upwards and highlight your cheekbones" method as a make-up artist once said that when you grow older, the more you smile when applying blusher, when you DON'T smile, it looks like everything is sagging! This is so true, you have to try it for yourself.

If you are still using the "apples of the cheeks" method, try the cheekbone highlighting method and see what a difference it makes! It made a difference for me!

Er... though you are NOT smiling, you don't have to be frowning like I am, hahahaha. I'm just being very SERIOUSBUSINESS about everything. :)

7) ADD A TAD MORE DRAMA
Okay, to be honest, I usually skip this step too, because I don't usually need it. Whether I use this or not, it doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm talking about MASCARA. Those who use fake lashes will be blasphemed at what I say, but although it looks a TAD better with mascara, I generally don't see the difference. Or should I say, the difference is not even worth the 30 seconds it takes me to put this on. =p I'm currently using Boot's No.7 Dream Lash mascara that came as a free gift.

It does its job, I suppose... actually, I can't see a difference. Hahahaha!

8) HEAD ON OUT

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