Holika Holika

Holika Holika recently sent me three of their star products to review.

The Fairy Bakery Muffin Shadow #3 (S$25) is a baked eyeshadow duo of a midnight blue paired with a swirled silver/lavender/greyish black half. The midnight blue shade takes quite a bit of layering to achieve a more intense finish. Even applied with a wet brush, the finish is a tad muted and not what I would term metallic. The swirled half is more shimmery but it is also messier as it tends to kick up a lot of shimmery bits (as you can see in the pic below). It applies as a slightly dusky silver.

For this look, I basically applied the blue shade from the upper lashline to the crease and the silvery shade as a wash over the browbone area and more intensely in the crease area. Used over a good primer, the eyeshadows lasted well through more than 8 hours of wear without significant creasing or fallout on the under eye area.

The Enamel Magic Melomovie Special Set (S$32.50) contains the Enamel Magic Melomovie Mascara and its own biphase remover. The waterproof mascara contains silk protein and pearl powder to create dramatic, gorgeous lashes with a "glossy coating base".

The tube packaging looks similar to Majolica Majorca's mascaras but that's pretty much where the resemblance ends. I found that the curvy S-shaped brush works very well with my sparse, thin lashes. The formula is quite slick and applies very smoothly. It does not contain fibres, which is a plus for me as fibre-based mascaras tend to irritate my eyes.

The mascara is good at lengthening the lashes and giving them greater definition without clumping. The volumising effect is not that significant but I liked how the mascara doesn't clump no matter how many times I brush it through my lashes. It doesn't flake or smudge at all throughout the day. It also removes easily with the Biore Makeup Remover for Eye & lip. Lotus Palace has reviewed the mascara here.

The Merry Holika All Over Face (S$50) is a face highlighting powder that also doubles up as a blush (using the pink half of the kitty).

It is sprinkled through with a very fine shimmer. Even after a couple of uses, the shimmer is still visible but not to worry as it does not show up as obvious glitter particles when applied.

Below are swatches of the 6 individual shades done on bare skin without any primer. Swirled together, the powder gives a subtle glowy finish. The pink shade works well on its own as a blush as it has good colour payoff.

It comes with its own powder brush in a plastic sleeve. The brush is nicely dense and feels as soft as a similar brush that I have from RMK.

Here's the look that I did with all three products.

The perennial gripe among Singaporean ladies about South Korean beauty brands is that the prices in Singapore are significantly higher than the prices in South Korea. In that respect, I think Holika Holika could have done better in making the prices more competitive, compared to say Gmarket. Nevertheless, it does have a diverse range of both makeup and skincare products that are worth checking out.

The Holika Holika store is located at level B1 of Wisma Atria. You can check out the Holika Holika Facebook page and Twitter for news on promotions and lucky draws.