Pixi H2O Skintint, Bronzebeam Endless Silky Eye Pen and Shea Butter Lip Balm

During BeautyBay's recent 15% off sale, I purchased the new Pixi H2O Skintint (£21, 35ml), Endless Silky Eye Pen in BronzeBeam (£11) and Shea Butter Lip Balm (£8) in Ripe Raspberry from the Spring 2014 collection.

The H2O Skintint is a water-based tinted face gel that is supposed to be hydrating, long-lasting and water-resistant with a semi-matte finish that lasts all day. Aside from being paraben-free and fragrance-free, it contains antioxidant-rich green tea, moisturising rose water, soothing english chamomile and relaxing lavender. I was surprised to see that it is made in Korea.

The lightest shade No. 1 Cream was a good match for my MAC NC20 skintone. The pump dispenser is easy to control and the plastic tube packaging makes this convenient for travel as there is no fear of breakage. The texture is a very light cream that feels cool upon application. I had rather mixed results with this as depending on the skincare that I used prior to applying it, there were variances in the finish. When I used Paula's Choice Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution, the H20 Skintint applied patchily with a tendency to pool in my pores and dry patches also appeared on my cheeks. It applied much more smoothly when I prepped my skin with Shiseido Ibuki Refining Moisturiser instead.

Being a tinted moisturiser, I did not expect this to offer much coverage. Indeed, the level of coverage is pretty light and does not cover blemishes well although it does even out some of the redness in my skin. It also takes quite a bit of blending to achieve a smooth, streak-less finish. Although titanium dioxide is listed as the third ingredient, there is no SPF level stated on the packaging which is disappointing as it means you can't rely on this alone for sun protection. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the H20 Skintint as I was hoping that it could be a fuss-free all-in-one product for those days when I do not have time for applying foundation.

List of ingredients is below.

The Shea Butter Lip Balm has a nice creamy texture. It does not feel as balmy as Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatments but it does keep my lips hydrated without any peeling thereafter. Ripe Raspberry is a sweet pink that shows up nicely with just a couple of swipes.

Being a longtime fan of Pixi's Endless Silky Eye Pens, I always pick up any new shade that they release. Bronze Beam (center in the pic below) is a medium brown with a bit of a glimmer. It's not as muddily flat as Black Cocoa (left) and lighter and cooler than Copper Glow (right) which is more chocolate. I find Bronze Beam a bit too light for the upper lashline but it's nice for adding some depth along the lower lashline.

Swatched from left to right: Black Cocoa, Bronze Beam and Copper Glow.


In the pics below, I used Bronze Beam on both the upper and lower lashlines.


Below is the look that I did using all three products, along with the Metallic Magic Eye Alchemy palette from their Holiday 2013 collection.



BeautyBay is currently offering 20% off all Pixi products until 17 March to celebrate St Patrick's Day, with free international shipping, but they do not have the H20 Skintint in stock while they only have a few of the eyeliner pencil shades available (excluding Bronze Beam). I received my order in just under two weeks. The Skintint is also available on ASOS.

Suqqu Blend Color Eyeshadow 16 Hanashoubu & 17 Yomogiiro

Thanks to Bellyhead of Wondegondigo alerting that Selfridges had the new Suqqu eyeshadow quads for spring in stock, I swiftly placed an order on 12 February and it arrived by DHL on 19 February. Shopping online at Selfridges has become dangerously easy since they lowered their shipping cost for Switzerland from £25 to £15. As Selfridges also deducts the VAT for non-EU countries, I paid only £37.50 for each Suqqu palette, instead of the UK retail price of £45. This basically means that the amount I saved on VAT paid for the shipping cost. I also ordered some pieces from the RMK and Armani spring collections but I haven't had time yet to play with them. The RMK Kaleidoscope Nuance Powder was just £26.67 (about S$57) after VAT deduction versus S$79 in Singapore and 5040yen (about S$62.50) in Japan.

Of the three new quads, I purchased #16 Hanashoubu and #17 Yomogiiro, giving #15 Mitsucha a pass as it's a pretty basic brown and pale yellow combination. Unlike the past few seasonal collections, these quads are all permanent. Selfridges does not have them listed at the moment, but my guess based on past experience is that they should come back in stock at some point although that could take weeks, if not months.

The central theme running through this collection is elegant browns that are easily wearable. They are even touted as helping to conceal signs of aging such as wrinkles and skin dullness without the need for any special techniques. Unlike previous Suqqu palettes which usually contain a white matte base shade, all the shades in Hanashoubu and Yomogiiro feature some pearl shimmer. These look wonderfully lustrous in the pan while on the skin, they are more subdued and subtle, offering just a hint of a glow. The bottom right shade is supposed to be a "moisture wet powder" that corrects skin unevenness and gives moisture care while bringing you a natural luster.

My apologies in advance for not doing swatches, which you can find on Color Me Loud and Erica's blog.

Below is the look that I did with Hanashoubu, with the purple shade along the upper lashline and the brown shade in the outer crease. The pale yellow shade was used as the base while the light pink shade was used over the browbone area and along the lower lashline.

The combination has a gentle glimmer and zero frostiness. I find the texture to be more flattering and forgiving compared to Sleek's metallic shades. There was no shower of glitter bits descending on the under-eye area and cheeks, although there was a bit of powdery kick-up with the two pale shades when touched with the included brush applicator.

I also used Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Iridescent Iris to line the upper lashline.


Like Hanashoubu, Yomogiiro is very easy to wear even if you are not used to green eyeshadows.



For the first look, I applied the brown shade from the upper lashline to the crease and the green shade in the outer half of the crease. The light yellow shade was used as the base and also dusted on top of the green and brown shades, while the light pink shade was applied over the browbone area and along the lower lashline.


For the second look, I swopped the placement of the brown and green shades, with the green shade along the upper lashline and the brown in the crease. Both the brown and green shades are nicely pigmented and glide onto the skin with ease, requiring very littler layering.


Both Hanashoubu and Yomogiiro wore very well on me without fading or creasing for more than eight hours, using Too Faced Shadow Insurance as the primer. They would make good solid additions to any working woman's makeup wardrobe as the shades are so easy to work with and require very little blending and layering. I'm glad that Suqqu has done away with the matte base shades as those usually just disappear into my skin and were pretty much a waste of space for me.

L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Foundation and Sleek Lagoon i-Divine Palette

L'Oreal's latest liquid foundation, Magic Nude Liquid Powder, is often described as being a dupe for Giorgio Armani's Maestro so naturally I was curious to try it. The American version was released earlier in June this year with 12 shades available while the European version (made in France) has just launched in the UK where it comes in only six shades, with different shade numbers.

I purchased the lightest shade 100 Porcelain from FeelUnique.com where it is £9.99 for 20ml (with free international shipping). Boots.com has it on introductory offer for just £6.99 at the moment. The name in Europe is also slight different - Nude Magique Eau de Teint. Both the US and European versions have SPF18 but the US version contains slightly more product (27ml). In Switzerland, the lightest shade available is 140.

List of ingredients below.

Described as L'Oreal's lightest foundation formula ever, Magic Nude has a watery texture that feels ultra lightweight on the skin. Given the dominance of silicones on the ingredient list, it is not surprising that the foundation transforms to a slightly slippery feel on the skin without feeling overly powdery. It is recommended to apply this with one's fingertips, and not a brush or sponge. It takes some effort to blend in to ensure that it does not pool in the pores.


100 Porcelain turned out to be a good match for my MAC NC20 skintone.

Despite being so watery, I was surprised to find that it does offer some light coverage and helps to even out my skintone. A separate concealer is still needed for darker spots and under eye circles though. I think this would be more suitable for the hot summer months, when one does not feel like wearing heavy makeup but still wants some coverage. Pic below taken under indoor lighting

Pic below taken near window in natural daylight

One flaw of Magic Nude was that it brought out dry patches on my cheeks and nose which were not visible before I applied it. It is definitely much more suitable for normal to oily skintypes and not ladies with dry skin. This was similar to the experience I had with a sample of Armani Maestro. You can see the dry patches in the close-up shot below. Strangely though, the foundation looked better after a few hours and the dry patches became much less obvious. I had to blot my T-zone after 3 hours, while my cheeks remained relatively shine-free, which was pretty good by my standards. There was also no caking or oxidisation after several hours of wear. Overall, I did like the light texture although it does not provide the most flawless finish. The affordable price tag certainly helps too if Maestro is out of your budget.

For this look, I used Sleek Lagoon i-Divine palette which was released as part of the Aqua collection back in March. Although it was limited edition, it can still be found easily on Ebay.

Lagoon contains mainly shimmery shades with a couple of mattes thrown in. Nothing super unique if you already have a huge stash of i-Divine palettes, but it's still a fun palette to play around with for creating colorful looks.

Jason Wu for Lancome Violet Streak Color Design Palette

It seems like fashion designers are all jumping on the makeup bandwagon with Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Michael Kors all venturing into the crowded arena this year. Jason Wu collaborated with Lancome for his first makeup collection, released exclusively at Nordstrom in the US in September. The Color Design palettes included a rich Yves Klein blue shade that is one of Wu's favourite accent hues.

Being a fan of the US version of the Color Design quints, I couldn't resist ordering #403 Violet Streak. The compact is a dull grey that looks distinctly less glamorous than Lancome's usual lacquered black. Wu said in an interview that he felt that the grey would stand out on the beauty floor as no one else was using it for their packaging. Well, it's not exactly eye-catching, is it? Elle.com has an interview with Wu on the collection here.



The clear plastic sheet is helpfully marked with the recommended placement for each shade. There are two sponge applicators, which I do use as they do a good job of laying down the shades. For the beige all-over-base shade, I usually use a fluffy brush for a more subtle, diffuse finish.

Like most of the Color Design palettes, Violet Streak is a shimmerfest. All the shades have good color payoff with a soft velvety texture. When applied, these have a refined glimmer, without any chunky glitter bits or brash frostiness.


The suggested day and night looks that can be created with Violet Streak.

Below is a comparison shot with some of my other Color Design palettes in Vert Tendresse (extreme left), Teal Fury (top centre) and Mint Jolie (right). Violet Streak did not contain any dupes from the other three.

For this look, I applied the grey shade along the upper lashline, the violet blue in the middle of the upper lid and outer half of the lower lid, the light blue at the inner corners and crease, the beige shade over the browbone area and the gold along the inner half of the lower lashline. I finished by lining the upper lid with Dollywink's liquid liner and applying Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Edge Meister F mascara.

The eyeshadows last pretty well throughout more than eight hours of wear when layered over a primer like Too Faced Shadow Insurance. However, the violet blue shade loses some of its lustre and seems to darken over time.

I'm also wearing Armani Lasting Silk Foundation #4, of which I received a sample sachet recently. I used to own this in #5 but #4 is definitely a much better match for my skintone. It worked out much better for me in Switzerland's weather than Singapore. There was shine on my T-zone after about 2-3 hours but other than that, it held up nicely throughout more than 6 hours of wear.