Tag: NZ

Beauty, Makeup, product reviews, Sithru's corner

MORPHE|Jaclyn Hill Palette

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I am so stoked to finally get my hands on the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill collaboration. this palette a few weeks ago. It was a little hard to get hold of it on the Morphe website because, you know, they sell out really quick. The first release was gone within hours (I actually woke up at 3 am NZT to buy this but when I finally made it to the payment page, it was sold out). So when it went live again, I just gave up and thought well, I don’t want to wake up at 3am again just to be disappointed, so I don’t want it. But Once I woke up around 10 am, the inner makeup junkie in me said ‘why not see if it is still there’ and it WAS!!! So I finally bought it.

On the Morphe website (not sold anywhere else yet), the price was USD38 (≈NZD 56) and shipping was another USD30 (≈NZD 45) (I KNOW!!!).

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 Swatches 

The palette has a mix of vibrant colours, neutrals as well as dark shades. It is also a mix of mattes, shimmers and duochromes. Since I suck at swatches, I am using the amazing swatches from ANALESE REDMAN of @annybeeutee. 

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First and second rows (Image by ANALESE REDMAN @annybeeutee)
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third and fourth rows (Image by ANALESE REDMAN @annybeeutee)
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Fifth row (Image by ANALESE REDMAN @annybeeutee)

Shade names

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Image from Morphe brushes

 

 What do I think

If you are familiar Morphe eyeshadows, they are pigmented and feels creamy. In my personal opinion, this palette is a tad bit better than the other Morphe palettes formula-wise. These shades feel like butter, hence so soft to touch. They go on really well (I did not have to use any fixed+ to apply these) and blends even better. The matte shades do not swatch as nicely as the shimmers but then again, not many matte formulas do. But they apply on the eye perfectly and performs the same way as the shimmers. According to Jaclyn, using a natural fibre brush gives you the best application. I used natural fibre for mattes and synthetic fibre for shimmers.

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My eyelids get pretty oily throughout the day. So the chances of any eyeshadow surviving beyond 2-3 hours are pretty unlikely always and I do not use any special primer on my eyelids apart from applying a little concealer to neutralise the pigmentation.

But to my utmost surprise, these shadows lasted for about five hours on my eyes. The picture above was taken after the five to six hours wear time (I have used a filter just to smoothen my skin out otherwise the picture is unedited). As you can see the eyelids are shiny but the shadows still peak through and visible (I promise to be more organised next time and click a pic as soon I apply makeup too).

If you have normal eyelids or use an eyeshadow base or an eye primer on the eyelids, these would last even longer. So, I am IMPRESSED! I always try to keep my reviews balanced, but this palette has nothing wrong to say apart from the white casing which gets dirty really quick.

Some of my favourite shades

Left – Central park; Right – Soda pop
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Sissy
Top left – Royalty; Right- Twerk/ Bottom left – Pool party; Righ – Jada

 

This palette is currently out of stock but is scheduled to return both via Morphe site (P.S. Note: 19th September 8am PST ≈ 20th September at 3am NZ time) as well as retailers (as far as I know and we’ll know which ones later). So if you can afford it, do grab it. It is a wonderful collection of shades for every occasion, time and place. You can find enough coupon codes on youtube, to get some money off your purchase if buying via Morphe site.

If you are a beginner, this may be the only palette you need in your collection at the beginning. For hoarders like me, well, you know you need this.

Let me know what you think of this palette if you have it already.

Until my next,

Cheers…

Sithru

Disclaimer: This article has no affiliate links in it. This post is not sponsored.  
Beauty, Makeup, product reviews, Sithru's corner

WET ‘N WILD| Treasures from the drug store

The day I heard that Wet ‘ n Wild (WNW) is coming to Farmers, New Zealand (it was available before via online retailers like La Femme Beauty, but Farmers has a full display and affordable prices), I had to check them out at my nearest Farmers store.

For the makeup lovers, WNW needs no introduction. It is one of the most affordable beauty brands in the world, yet has not compromised in quality products.

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While I apologise for not taking pictures before I use them (For some reason I am very impatient with new makeup :D; have to dig in as soon as possible), I actually found some treasures in the WNW line and one dud so far. I bought these from Farmers, Love My Makeup as well as from Beautyjoint.com.

Eye shadow palettes

These eye shadow palettes are at the top of my favourites. They feel buttery and go on like a dream. The shadows are so pigmented that you need to use a really light hand to apply them. The colour selection is amazing too. I know that I have chosen quite similar colours, but the Bare and Beautiful palette is a collection of mattes and shimmers while the Comfort Zone is a collection of shimmers. The packaging is quite flimsy and fragile, but I am not really concerned about. They are lightweight and great to travel with because of the size. These two palettes have everything you need to transform yourself from a daytime look to a wearable smokey or a shimmery night-out look. I will post some swatches in the Instagram, so keep an eye on it.

WNW Photofocus Foundation and Concealer

IMG_20170827_151235Hands down one of the best foundations ever! It stands true to what it claims – a truly photo-ready look.

It sinks right into the skin to give you that airbrushed look which looks amazing in photos.

Unfortunately, it does not last very long. The maximum wear time I had with this foundation is around the 4-hour mark. After that, it just starts to break apart and look really oily and shiny (Having an oily T-zone does not help!). I could extend it a little bit with the Urban Decay All nighter spray, but the maximum is about 5 hours.

Powdering and touch ups do not really help after the foundation starts to get oily and breakup. But I have to say, I’ve worn this for 8-9 hours some days (just because I was working), and even though it starts to break after 5 hours, you don’t look entirely unpresentable at 8 hours.

The concealer is pretty much similar in performance. The consistency in on the thicker side and it dries down quite fast. I recommend working in sections and blending out before moving to the next application to get the maximum out of this product (e.g. one eye at a time, or one spot at a time).

Lipsticks

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I bought three Megalast lipsticks and one Mega Lip colour SPF15.

The Mega-last range is matte and is truly long lasting. They are pigmented too. About 3 minutes after the initial application you won’t even feel it on your lips. I’ve worn it on my lips for about 8 hours without touching up, and it stayed on quite well. Some fading was visible towards the inside the lips, but in their defence, I had some oily noodle stir fry just before.

The Mega lip colour has SPF 15 for sun-protection and goes on sheer. So, the colour payoff is not as rich as the Megalast line, but very comfortable and moisturising on the lips. Even though they do not last long, reapplying does not cake up the lipstick.

Again, keep an eye on my Instagram for swatches 🙂

Megaliner eyeliner – Fail! 

The megaliner liquid eyeliner claims to dry fast, stay-put, long-lasting, smudge-proof.

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I will agree with ‘dry-fast’ but none of the rest! It is not long-lasting at all and smudged quite easily than some of my other non-waterproof liners.

On the plus side though, it does come with an easy-to-use brush applicator. This is a wonderful applicator for the eyeliner-amateurs like me to get a nice and controlled wing.

The formula is thick and highly pigmented too.

I loved applying it, but it was streaking down my face (embarrassing!!!) in the first instance my eye started watering. I don’t understand how my upper lid liner gets washed off with tears – never happened before with any liner.

The brow mascara was nothing phenomenal. It was an okay product. I always prefer a clear gel to set my brows, so this was a nice option.

That is the round up of my thoughts on the WNW products I tried so far. If I am to pick my top 3 from the brand, I would highly recommend the Photofocus foundation, Eye shadow palettes and the Megalast lipsticks.

Let me know if you tried any of these and what you thought about them…

Cheers,

Sithru

 

Beauty, Hair, product reviews, Sithru's corner

GARNIER | Oily Roots Dry Ends

I went on a mad hunt last weekend to find the best shampoo for my oily hair with dry ends (combination hair). Believe it or not, there are not many shampoos in the supermarkets in NZ – Pak n’ Save, Countdown, New world or even in Farmers (I did not try the high-end shops like shampoo n’ things) – for oily hair, let alone finding the best!

When I say not many options, I meant, not many brands label their products explicitly for oily hair. But interestingly, every brand had shampoo for dry, dull, damaged hair 😒 clearly indicated. Anyway, I found one product that had the exact label I was looking for. So I went for it!

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First impression

Since I have used the Garnier Fructis Oily Roots Dry Ends shampoo only once, I can only give you a first impression at this moment. But as you can imagine, there were significant observations that prompted me to write this post.

First, during the shower, I noticed a significant lessening of hair loss. When I say significant, I meant SIGNIFICANT! Usually, I lose a lot of hair when washing it (I feel like, my hair spends more time in drains and on carpets than it spent on my scalp). This shampoo reduced the hair loss in the first wash.

Secondly, I felt ‘squeaky clean’ (in a good way) after the shower. My hair was not dry, it was soft and slightly silky with a little bit of volume.

Thirdly and most importantly, I don’t see any flakes in my scalp anymore. I am on my third day after washing my hair and usually by this time, I have dandruff back even if I used an anti-dandruff shampoo.

I used my regular post-wash hair care routine with the shampoo. In other words, I only changed the shampoo; the rest was the same including conditioners, oils and elixirs. (Please excuse the bad lighting. My apparatus was not coping with me today!).

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I will let you know if things changed with continuous use.

This shampoo is available in pretty much any supermarket in NZ. I bought mine from New World.

If you have any other product recommendations for oily hair, please let me know in the comment section below. Most importantly please mentioned where you bought them from too :).

See you in my next!

Cheers,

Sithru

Beauty, Makeup, product reviews, Sithru's corner

Coty | Airspun Loose Powder

I first heard of Coty Airspun loose powder from Tati. Since she raved about it so much, I had to try it. Unfortunately, then NZ did not have this powder to purchase in-store or online. So I searched eBay and found one for about NZ $15 with free shipping.

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The powder is finely milled, soft and ‘cloudlike’. Because it is so fine and soft, Coty Airspun powder is said to be able to hide the tiny lines, wrinkles, and blemishes you may have to give a flawless finish. It is claimed to be designed with tints that are spread throughout and to lay flat and evenly on the skin. This loose powder also can be used as a foundation, to bake, or to set your makeup in place.

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It seems like magic isn’t it? Well… not entirely untrue. There are at least eight shades available in this powder range. I use the translucent extra coverage. So, technically, I should not expect any coverage because it is translucent; but it does have a little bit of coverage. Not too much to give you cake-face, though.

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However, the powder is really soft and finely milled. It does not leave a white cast that is prominent (on my skin it shows a little bit because of my skin colour), but there is a little bit of flashback, so be cautious if you have to do flash photography.

 

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I used Coty Airspun powder to set my under-eyes.  (Pls ignore the frizzy hair :D)

In the picture, I used natural lighting to take the picture. So, you don’t see the flashback. (Note: This was shot using a phone camera and is edited to reduce image noise and adjust lighting).

But as you can see, it gives the skin a natural looking finish; Most importantly, you cannot see my under-eye lines either. You don’t see a lot of brightness under-eyes only because I am not a fan of that technique. For me, this powder is ideal in that sense because it gives a smooth and natural finish without lightening the skin unnecessarily even if I bake.

In other words, it enhances the look of your base – if you used a brightening concealer, the look at the end will be brighter, smoother and flawless.

I give this powder a 4.5/5. 

Where to buy this: (Please check if the shades you are after are available before purchasing).

NZ & AU;

In US;

 

If you know more places to buy this from, please comment below. Also let me know if you tried the powder, whether you liked it or not and why.

See you in my next!

Cheers,

Sithru