I took advantage of the Becca Friends & Family 20% discount code earlier this month to place an order for their holiday collection. I had the package shipped via Borderlinx.
This was my second order through Borderlinx and the process was just amazingly hassle-free and fast. I placed the order on 17 December; Becca shipped the order on 19 December by FedEx; the parcel arrived at Borderlinx in Ohio on 23 December; and DHL delivered it to me this morning (29 December)! The 20% code more than covered the cost of shipping as I saved US$29.20 on my order and paid US$6.28 (FedEx) + US$12.18 (DHL) =US$18.46 for shipping. There was a cheaper option for shipping by USPS on Becca's website but I decided FedEx was the safer option as it had online tracking, which was handy given the heavy mail traffic in the Christmas season.
I got the new limited edition Aurora palette (US$65), Beach Tint in Watermelon (US$25), Eye Tint in Baroque (US$24) and Soft Touch Blush in Songbird (US$32). The prices were much cheaper compared to Sephora in Singapore where the Beach Tint is S$55 (US$38).
I was quite worried about the Aurora palette as after I placed the order, photos of how it looked in real life started surfacing on Makeupalley. Most of the reviews were that it was a disappointment and worse, that it looked nothing like the picture on Becca's website.
Here's the picture from Becca's website.
And here's the palette in real life! It contains an Eye Colour Wash in Madras (bronzy plum), a Compact Eyeliner in Aubergine (eggplant), a Crème Blush in Terracotta (neutral apricot), a Crème Eye Colour in Ametrine (smoky mauve bronze) and a Nude Lip Gloss in Hibiscus Tea (neutral rosy nude), plus a dual-ended brush. The Latin-inspired palette features the vibrant tones of Peruvian and Spanish Colonial textiles and pottery.
The Aubergine Compact Eyeliner is described as an eggplant shade but to me, it is a muted dusky pink. Haven't the folks at Becca seen an eggplant before? It's deep dark purple, not pink! The most misleading pic is that of the Madras Eye Color Wash (extreme left) which looks like a vivid magenta in the promo pic but instead turns out to be more of a plum-toned brown with some sparkles. How did Becca's photographer get it so wrong?
Similarly for Songbird blush which looks like a bright coral peach on the website but turns out to be a semi-matte deep coral.
Baroque Eye Tint was the most disappointing item as I had been hoping for a nice metallic shade but this turned out to be a boring creamy tan with some shimmer. The Watermelon Beach Tint is one of Becca's bestsellers and winner of many magazine polls so I have high hopes for this.
I haven't tried any of the products yet so I can't give a full review. The misleading promo pics aside, the Aurora palette actually turned out to be nicer than I was expecting and I can probably make the blush work too. The shades look easily wearable, if not the most exciting.
Sorry for the lack of product reviews recently as most days, I'm just exhausted at the end of the day and do not really have the energy to do detailed reviews with photos that take a long time to get right and edit. Anyway, I thought I would review Tarte the Vanity which I've been using pretty much every day for the past couple of weeks.
The Vanity is touted as having a US$494 value versus its retail price of US$52. It is a great value for money as you get 16 full size eyeshadows, 16 lipglosses, a mini mascara, bronzer, luminiser, four blushes and two eyeshadow brushes. I had enjoyed using last year's We Wish You Wealth palette very much so I had been looking very much forward to trying out The Vanity.
Top right corner of the eyeshadow layer. I love the metallic copper peach shade in the top right corner, which I usually use in the crease area for a nice pop of colour. The brilliant jade shade next to it is another favourite that I find myself using very often.
Top right corner: the intense shimmery rich brown shade in the top right corner is one of my favourites in the palette as it is very pigmented and smooth. The pink shade is kind of blah, not very interesting at all, while the metallic olive shade is quite pretty and easy to wear.
Bottom left corner: the shimmery deep black shade with gold flecks is unique and perfect for creating a smokey eye look while the dark eggplant is another gorgeous rich metallic shade.
Bottom right corner: Another two excellent shimmery dark liner shades, a gunmetal grey with silver flecks and a shimmery cobalt. The emerald with gold sheen looks pretty in the pan but can be a bit difficult to pull off. I haven't figured out what to do with the silvery white shade!
Top left corner of the lipgloss layer.
Top right corner
Bottom left corner
Bottom right corner
Here are some side-by-side comparisons of each layer of The Vanity versus the We Wish You Wealth palette. As you can see, there are several similar eyeshadow shades between the two palettes such as the light shimmery beige, shimmery peach, gunmetal grey, bronzey brown, and light silver shades. We Wish You Wealth has too many pale highlighter/base shades but the Vanity has no nice base/highlighter shades as I find its light beige to be somewhat frosty and the white shade too whitish to be a neutral or natural base. Nevertheless, I prefer the more colorful combination in The Vanity, in particular the very impressive dark smokey shades which are quite complex and unusual instead of the standard charcoal black and chocolate brown.
As for the lip colors, I felt that both palettes were equally impressive in terms of the diversity of shades offered, the emollient texture which was moisturising and lasted well (unless you eat/drink) with impressive color payoff for the more intense shades. I especially liked some of the bright red and dark red shades. As you might be able to see from the pic, I used the top row of intense red lipglosses in the We Wish You Wealth palette the most frequently as I like a bright/dramatic lip. Pinks just don't really do it for me. The Vanity has fewer bright red/dark red shades but the range is still fun to play around with.
As for the bottom layer, I was glad that Tarte had done away with the gel eyeliners which were terrible in quality and lasting power. Except for the gel blushes, I had not touched any of the other items in the bottom layer of We Wish You Wealth, not even the lipsticks. As for The Vanity, the bottom layer is again the most disappointing layer. The blushes have barely decent color payoff and are matte whereas I tend to prefer shimmery blushes for a more glowy look. I would have preferred it if they had put in gel blushes instead even though those are more messy to use.
I don't use bronzer at all so that was useless to me. The luminizer seems alright, but not really outstanding. The mascara gives good length and definition but the formula is a bit dry, which made application tricky at times with a slight tendency to clump but this was usually easily rectified. I didn't use the brushes in We Wish You Wealth and same for the Vanity, as I prefer smaller sized brushes.
To summarise, here's what I liked and disliked about the Vanity.
Pros:
1. The eyeshadow quality is excellent with a good range of flattering, interesting and easy-to-wear shades.
2. The amount of product in the palette is generous and will last a long time. It has almost everything needed for a complete makeup look (lacks brow powder, face powder and concealer though).
3. I love the lipglosses and like having so many shades to choose from and mix to my heart's content.
4. The products are free of parabens (except for the mascara), phthalate, sulfate, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, fragrance and mineral oil.
Cons:
1. The awkward flip-out design with the flimsy plastic sheets on each layer. Ugh, can't Tarte think of something that's more consumer friendly?
2. Everything in the palette, except the mascara is made in China. With all the product safety scandals from China these days, it would give me much greater peace of mind if Tarte made its products in the US instead.
3. The blushes and brushes could have been much better. For Asians with small eyes like me, I need a smaller eyeshadow brush for shading, blending and lining.
Overall, I would give The Vanity 7 stars out of 10. What would have made it a perfect 10? One, if the palette had been made in the US instead of China. Two, if the blushes were more shimmery with better color payoff. Three, if the mascara had a wetter, glossier consistency. If you already own the We Wish You Wealth palette from last Christmas, I would say The Vanity is not a must-have but it's still nice to have, especially if you're a Tarte devotee.
Here are some close-up pics of the eyeshadows in the We Wish You Wealth palette. As you can see, it features a more muted palette compared to The Vanity with a couple of matte shades in muddy brown and beige.
Too bad we have to wait another year to see if Tarte will put out another blockbuster palette... I sure hope they do!
Stila Japan will release two eyeshadow palettes each paired with a cosmetic pouch on 12 January. These will retail for 8190yen each.
Winter Wonderland Cool Palette Set: includes eyeshadow duos Dragonfly & Vieux Carre, Heather eyeshadow and Cream blush.
Winter Wonderland Warm Palette Set: includes eyeshadow duos Fandango and Mara Simba, Launey eyeshadow and Delicate blush.
I arrived in Tokyo yesterday and as always, it felt like coming home. Weather was chilly but not so cold that it's painful. After a good night's sleep, I hit the shops today and checked out all my favourite makeup stores like Plaza Style, Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Ainz Tulpe, Seibu department store and the Loft. This trip for me is really just to chill out rather than run around sightseeing. The only things on my agenda are shopping and eating :-)
It turned out to be a good time as several big Japanese brands have just launched their Spring '09 collections and there are also still all the Christmas collections on display.
Esprique Precious Xmas coffret
Esprique Precious True Impact Eyes. These actually look quite attractive in person and I would pick these over the Coffret D'Or spring palettes in a heartbeat. The texture is quite soft and velvety without being too powdery. The finish is a smooth pearl finish, which seems to be the trend among Japanese drugstore brands these days instead of the more metallic or intensely sparkly finish like Testimo or Aube Jewellery Shower Eyes.
Coffret D'Or Xmas palettes display
Coffret D'Or Shine Accent Eyes and the rest of the spring '09 collection just arrived in the drugstores. I swatched the new palettes and the texture is decent with a pearly shimmer rather than the bling-bling metallic finish of T'estimo eyeshadows. The metallic gel liners are terrible although they look very appealing and shiny in the palette. It proved to be almost impossible to get any payoff with these when I tried to swatch them with my finger but perhaps the result may be different with a liner brush.
The new palettes packaged with a free brush set (usually poor quality) and a Coffret D'Or mirror compact.
Coffret D'Or's new mascaras packaged with some freebies.
Gransenbon blushes
I'd been looking forward to checking out Gran Blush #14 Maple Nuts. This is a super pigmented orangish brown shade that would be great on medium to dark skin tones. If you go too heavy on this, it looks too orange but with a light hand, it gives a nice coral flush of color. Definitely the most pigmented shade out of all the Gransenbon blushes.
Gransenbon Gel Stay Liner
Gransenbon Premium Pore Cover Powder and High Tension Curl Mascara which are available exclusively at Plaza Style.
Rimmel Xmas collection display.
I was especially impressed by the gold Glitter On Cream Shadow which had a nice smooth texture that was not too greasy with just enough slip for easy application and dries down nicely to a powder finish. It has a gorgeous shimmery bright gold finish without chunky glitter like the NYX glitter cream palettes. And it cost only 630yen!
Kiss Xmas collection display. Both the Body Milk and highlight powder turned out to be lovely in person so I'm definitely getting these too!
Susie NY Xmas collection display. The Jewel On Multi Powder was just blah.
K-Palette limited edition Shiny Start Eyes #5 (purple), a lovely palette of smokey purples. This has also been added to my shopping list!
Excel Xmas collection display with the new pink eyelash curler.
NYX display of glitter cream palettes.
Loose face powder in a Tinkerbell case.
Bourjois display of the four new baked eyeshadows.
These were a total disappointment as the texture was rough and very dry to touch. I could get hardly any color payoff when swatching with my finger. Perhaps it is easier to apply with a wet brush but it's just not worth the effort when there are so many other better options at the store!
Lavshuca Xmas collection display and eyeshadow duos
Visee display. I was surprised to find that the Aqua Shining Eyes had been discontinued!
Majolica Majorca holiday collection display
Majolooks display
The Ainz Tulpe drugstore in Harajuku is a great place for buying prestige fragrances as it often has fragrances from brands such as Ferragamo, J. Lo, Elizabeth Arden etc discounted around 40% or more. This Lanvin Eclat D'Arpege (30ml) was only 1974yen (about S$32) and the 50ml size was about 2600yen!
Bihada Ichizoku masks and lipgloss set. I'm definitely getting a couple of these!
Crystal-encrusted mirror compacts at Plaza Style.
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Gorgeous selection of Xmas cards at the Loft.
Huge display of Chupa Chups (as in the famour lollipops) Bath Balls at the Loft!
