Rising Sun - Fashion & Beauty: September 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Mini Beauty & Fashion Haul

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder in Beige

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Wipes

Leggings from Witchery

Top from Rusty at Planet Surf

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Spot Treatment Gel and Clearing Moisturiser

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A Review: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

Finally, I am doing the review of Nars Sheer Glow Foundation, my shade is in Punjab. I'm sorry this took me forever but I finally realised that it didn't need to be a perfect review. The foundation that I am displaying has the pump which I separately bought but I will talk about that later. In Australia, this retails for $68 from Mecca Cosmetica, I know it is very steep but it's much better since the price drop of Nars stuff at Mecca, it use to be around I think $108!

Also, first I just want to give a buying tip just in case you didn't know this already, because when I first started out, I stupidly didn't think about this because I was too embarrassed, but don't buy something purely based on a review or what a blogger/beauty guru thinks, even if the product is raved, if it is possible, try it out at the counter and use your own judgement. But of course, reviews can be a good guideline to help you find a product you might like.

First of all I love the packaging (except for the opening). I love how sleek the glass bottle is and how minimalist it is with just the essential information on it, no added marketing or whatever, it makes it seem really fuss free and easy to use. You are only getting 30mL which doesn't seem like that much but you don't need too much product to get decent coverage. It's also good how it claims to last for 24 months, for example with me, I don't use higher coverage foundations all the time, usually for nicer occasions or if I'm feeling it haha.

First of all, I don't find the foundation to be that sheer. I understand how it can feel sheer for those people who usually wear really full coverage foundations but I personally like to use extremely lightweight foundations, and to me this doesn't feel that sheer, although I do find it feels lighter than other even medium coverage foundations and I like that about this. The foundation gives a medium to full coverage.

It doesn't glow too crazy but gives a more nice natural, borderline dewy look but I didn't notice it being too dewy. If you're worried about this making your skin look oily if you have oily skin, don't! I found that this worked very well with the oilier parts of my face but the problem is that it highlighted the drier parts of my face, so I wouldn't recommend it for people with really dry skin, but make sure you try it yourself at the counter first. I've also read in other reviews with people who have dry skin that it didn't seem to suit their skin so well, therefore, despite the name, I feel that this actually works better on people who have oily skin.

This foundation has no SPF which is a downside if you wear it in the day time a lot but I don't mind wearing a sunscreen underneath or using a powder that has SPF in it, no SPF also makes it good for photography and you don't get that white cast.

I find that this foundation wears quite well, and with a primer it lasted all night at my formal. Although without a primer, I find this wears very well as well!

A downside of this is the lid packaging, I hate foundations that you have to pour out from a glass bottle, I find it very temperamental and frustrating because you can never get the perfect amount and it makes me so nervous when I'm pouring it out. This may also be because of my lack of experience with these types of foundations as this was the first foundation I've ever used that I had to pour out of a glass bottle, I've always used pump or squeeze tube foundations. The pouring out also made the opening really dirty which annoyed me, so I decided to buy the separate pump.

The separate pump retails at $10 at Mecca Cosmetica and I personally find it worth it! The pump lid has a turn lock system so there's no unnecessary accidental pumping. It also makes the foundation smaller and now it fits upright in my little drawer!

Below is the screw top lid that comes with the foundation:

I've noticed that some people have different types of lids, such as the big black lid can be taken off without opening the bottle and there's a separate smaller lid but mine is just all one whole lid. I find the lid to be quite chunky and an unnecessary use of space, that's another reason why I wanted to switch to the pump.

The consistency is of a liquid but it isn't runny. Just the same consistency as most liquid foundations.

This colour does match me pretty well but I feel that it's on the warm side. It still looks totally find on my skin and matches at glance, but I'm really pedantic about this stuff, and it is on the warm side. But it's not too big of a deal.

I find that this foundation generally applies well with any tools, from sponge to brushes to fingers, but my favourite methods are with the Sigma Sigmax brushes, specifically the F80 Flat Top Kabuki, for a fuller coverage but also flawless finish and with the Beauty Blender for a more natural, sheerer finish.

If you want to see the foundation in action, watch my Semi-Formal Natural Smokes Makeup Tutorial or this FOTD post.

Overall I do like this foundation very much, although I'm not sure whether it's necessary for me to repurchase, it's kind of battling it out with my Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation for the 'repurchase' foundation spot. If there are any other questions about the foundation, leave them below and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Have any of you tried this foundation? What are your thoughts?
Amy

I was not sponsored for this review in any way, I bought this foundation myself.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Spring Fashion: 1 top, 7 bottoms

For me and tons of other people in the world, spring is here! To celebrate this awesome warm weather, I'm going to do a Spring Fashion post and I have some more coming. Basically, the Spring Fashion themed posts will feature some of my favourite spring fashion outfits or pieces or ways to incorporate colour or flowers or any spring themed trend into your wardrobe, even if you're venturing out into colours for the first time or always wear floral pieces, I will try my best to show you how I would like to style the items.

This post is going to show you how to style a fun crop top to be worn with 7 different type of bottoms. This post incorporates more basic outfits for the beginners as well as fun colour on colour combos and also variations in shorts and pants for different weather conditions.

I'm going to show you how a top can be worn with matching colours/patterns for a cute ensemble but at the same time with pieces that work in harmony to create a balanced outfit.

The top that I am featuring is from Workshop in Top Shop and I bought it in Singapore. I love these kind of crop tops (but not too short, I don't want to bare all haha) because they're loose and comfortable, good for hot weather but they also cover your shoulders so they give more sun protection than tank tops.

But it is not easy to find a patterned/coloured top that matches with many different bottoms other than your basic blue denim jeans, my tips would be to find a top that has colours that match your patterned or coloured bottoms. For example this top has pink, purple and floral on it therefore it can match with green, purple, floral and your basic blue, and those are the coloured bottoms that I own. I also have black jeans but I feel that they're a bit too dark for spring and I personally don't really wear them anyway.

With Pastel Green Scallop Cut Shorts

This outfit is the top with pastel green scallop cut shorts. Apparently the scallop trend is in which I did not know about when I bought these shorts last year. The casual top balances the more dressy shorts from Ladakah.

With White Micro-Floral Shorts

This outfit pairs the top with a pair of white shorts with blue micro flowers on them from Dotti. The reason these two patterns can be paired, despite being both flowers and can be dangerously too matching, is because the size of the flowers is balanced. The top features big flowers where as the shorts feature small micro flowers, in turn making the flowers not look over the top.

With Basic Blue Denim Shorts

And this is in my opinion the least ambitious pair of shorts to pair the top with. I feel that basic blue shorts are an outfit's best friend the same way jeans work, shorts are just better in the summer and an easy way to create a casual and comfortable look. The dark colour of the jeans also balances out the light pink but pairs nicely with the darker colours on the top. These denim shorts are from Witchery.

With Basic Light Blue Denim Shorts

This is the funner, lighter, I would say younger alternative to the basic denim shorts. They are more matching with the top yet the dark purple of the top contrasts nicely. I feel that the lighter coloured shorts are always more appropriate for those fun days at the beach. These shorts are from Rusty.

With Lavender Jeans

Now moving into the jeans, this outfit shoes how the top can be paired with coloured jeans. These purple jeans are from Gap and it matches with the dark purple as well as the pastel pink in the top. The girly purple matches well with the girly colours in the top making this a pretty pastel coloured ensemble.

With Green Jeans

Another outfit with coloured jeans. The green colour is more contrasting to the colours in the top but it still goes well with the pink. I think the grey undertones of the jeans also balance out the girly colours in the top, making the look a tinsy bit more edgy and street as opposed to all girly. These green jeans are from Uniqlo.

With Basic Jeans

The last outfit is with the basic jeans. I'm actually wearing Jean Leggings from Gap in this outfit because I find them more comfortable but normal jeans work fine. This pretty much gives the same effect as the basic denim shorts outfit except it is more suitable for cooler weather. Again, the dark colours balance out the light pink as well as matching with the darker purple in the top and makes the outfit look casual and comfortable, nothing too out there.

I hope you found this somewhat helpful and/or interesting and tell me what you think of these Spring Fashion themed posts.

Monday, September 24, 2012

A Review: Revlon Colorstay Smoky Shadow Stick in Atomic

So today I'm going to be doing a review of the Revlon Colorstay Smoky Shadow Stick in the shade Atomic. It features a gold colour and an olive green darker colour. I bought this mainly for the gold colour but I actually regret buying this now.

First of all, I find the pigmentation to be average. The darker colour is more pigmented than the lighter one, which does show up too much on the eyes and looks more like some golden shimmer than really bothers me.

Secondly, I feel that generally stick eyeshadow bases just don't work as effectively as cream shadows. I initially thought I would like this because it is more hygienic in a sense and you don't have to use your fingers but stick eyeshadow bases just aren't as creamy as cream bases. I know that sounds kind of obvious but it's just honestly kind of painful to have to drag the stick over the eyelid over and over for more pigmentation. Although, I do have to mention that I personally feel that the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils are an exception because it's just so creamy!

I also just find this product quite difficult to work with, the gold doesn't show up much and you don't want to put the dark colour over the whole eyelid if you're looking for a natural look and blending out is a pain as it's a little annoying to blend, I feel that it takes a bit of effort.

On the bright side, it does stay on quite well, although I need an eye primer. However, I need an eye primer with every eyeshadow and cream shadow and this product stayed on and didn't crease a lot longer than some other bases without a primer.

Swatches

This is how it looks on my eyes. I blended the darker colour our a lot on the outer corner because I found that the two colours didn't look thaaaaaat great together. Also, I put the gold one on my lid A LOT and it looks like it barely comes up.

And then the bad news:
MINE WAS BROKEN! I'm pretty sure it was broken before I bought it because when I was looking at it it seemed really close to the lid, even touching it but I never thought much of it. This happened when I was twisting up the darker colour and it seemed a little reluctant in retracting back and it felt a little loose, then I just tipped it over a tiny bit and didn't exert any extra effort and it just fell out! That is just so frustrating, and it also shows that you definitely don't get that much product, especially compared to cream shadows in a pot.

And this is again a downside of stick shadow bases that are retractable in that they could easily break,

So that was my review, I hope it helped somehow and I was not sent this for reviewing and I paid for it with my own money.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Mini Priceline Haul & Other

I just went to the shops today to pick up some stuff and I rewarded myself with the Revlon Smoky Shadow Stick in Atomic which I actually came with an unfortunate surprise which I will talk about in an upcoming review. I also bought another Batiste Dry Shampoo Fresh because I'm almost out of the one I have now. I love this Dry Shampoo and it's probably the 3rd or 4th can that I've bought.

Then I bought the September issue of Teen Vogue and some star patterned fabric from Lincraft to use as a costume for a party soon.