🎉2016 MAC ONLINE 'HAUL' and FIRST IMPRESSION OF MAC's ELLIE GOULDING LINE (long time no see)

LONG TIME NO SEE! 

Oh goodness, it's been months since I've done a proper review but trust me, I have reasonable reasons. I was bombarded with school work and had exams (that were pretty stressful) and I momentarily forgot about my blog. I thought it was so stupid of me to start it RIGHT BEFORE MY EXAMS... but I've decided to come back. I feel that writing often will help not only my English but help me actually 'say what I want to say'. I always try to rephrase my words to make the situation sound not as bad as it actually is, but I hate this 'sweet talk' so in 2016 I'm going to voice all my opinions, starting from this small blog, sharing my opinions on different products and then hopefully broaden the topics to everything about life!

Now that's enough about me and LET ME GET STARTED...

I ordered all of these online by myself. I'm not famous enough to be sponsored yet haha xD...

Here we go!

As you might know online the Ellie Goulding MAC products are available. They aren't available in stores yet in my country (I think) so I ordered. PLUS it was around Christmas so there was free second day shipping. Now you might be wondering - how do I get items that are only available in the US to my home in Asia?

I use a shipping service called comgateway.com to ship items from the US to my home. When you sign up (for free), you will be given an address. You use this address at the checkout on the website you are shopping from and your items will be shipped to that address. Following that, once the items reach the address, comgateway will let you know and they will ship it to your home! Of course you'll need to pay the shipping fee but I feel comgateway has the cheapest and most reasonable shipping prices unlike myus or vPost!

So THAT happened and voila! I just received these this morning:

YEAYYYYYYYY!

 So let's just go through what I purchased...

1. Nail Varnish in Silver Dew
2. Nail Varnish in Skin
3. 316 Lip Brush (the silver thing)
4. Cremesheen Lipstick in Without your Love (Ellie Goulding line)
5. Patentpolish Lip pencil in Revved (Ellie Goulding line)
6. Plushglass Lipgloss in Goodness Gracious (Ellie Goulding line)

Not bad right? I will do a first impression review of the Ellie Goulding products and just skim through the other three (because they are famous enough)!

 Here's the lipstick in Without your Love.

- The colour is not to loud nor too soft (which is what I prefer) and very versatile.

- I can see myself wearing this as a go-to or daily pink lipstick

- It is a cremesheen so people complain that it's too sheer etc. but personally I love it because it is moisturising and not 'opaque' (you know what I'm talking about.

- However it does transfer when you eat/drink just like any cremesheen lipstick. I don't mind reapplying it anyway.

- When you have flaking lips the lipstick does highlight the flaking skin so exfoliate your lips before wearing it!

This is how it looks like on my lips! See how it's slightly pinkish?

Left: Revved//Right: Without your Love
Notice how Revved is more coral-y than
Without your Love!

Now for the Patentpolish Lip Pencil in 'Revved' ~

-The colour is slightly warmer and darker than the 'Without your Love' lipstick. It's also less creamy since it's a 'lip pencil' 

-It feels lighter on the lips than the lipstick and your lips become really smooth, there is no need to put lip balm over it (for those who have dry lips).

-This brightens my complexion PERFECTLY, it's also a good everyday look and would go with any kind of makeup. 

-For longevity, it does last pretty long (3hrs+) but once it 'dries' it leaves a slight stain on your lips which is helpful when there is no time to touch up!

 

Revved on my lips! Sorry about my crappy camera, I can't get it to focus!
It has a warm finish to it but it doesn't show it here! The swatch on my arm is accurate!

The same as above but with Goodness
Gracious next to Without your Love!
It matches Revved so well!

And finally, the Plushgloss in Goodness Gracious!

-I haven't tried any plush gloss from MAC so this my first (disclaimer)

-I noticed the coral-like colour matches 'Revved' (look on the photo on the left). There aren't any gold specks or anything it it, its pretty plain with very very slight shimmer!

-The gloss itself has a nice fragrance but it's pretty 'thick' on the lips. However it doesn't look like I'm piling too many things on my lips!

-It can serve as a 'lip balm' if you need one by applying it on your lips. Or if you want to wear it on top of Revved, just put it in the centre if your lips! It's the same as any other gloss!

This with only the gloss on the lips! The colour isn't as rich as
Revved, however it will be a great top coat for Revved!

MY FINAL FIRST IMPRESSION OF THE ELLIE GOULDING LIP LINE

Packaging: 5/5

I must say MAC has put in a lot of effort into the packaging. The boxes all have the triangle Ellie Goulding logo and even INSIDE the box is coloured this pretty metallic pink (look here). The lipsticks have the logo engrained on it as well!

Quality of products: 4/5

The quality of products were more or less equivalent to regular MAC products. These could pass off as normal MAC products. I was kinda expecting slightly more from these that differentiates these from normal MAC products. 

Overall: 4.5/5 

Regardless, this is the first time I can find suitable MAC lip shades for someone with a yellowy asian skin tone. The special packaging makes it super chic as well. PLUS THEY ARE ALL BACK 2 MAC! 

Now, I'll do a little 'first impression' on the nail varnish and 316 brush:

MAC's Nail Varnish

-MAC's nail polish has been known to be really good and is rated the top 10 nail polishes of 2015. They are QUALITY polishes

-The colour 'skin' matches my skin so it's a perfect 'camouflage'. A lot comes in the bottle so I'm happy this will last long!

-'Silver Dew' is a somewhat translucent silver shimmery nail polish with silver circle specks. It's SO PRETTY on my nails! You can definitely top this on top of other polished as a 'glitter' coat. 

-The brushes are relatively short and wide so it can easily cover the nails in just a few strokes!

-The problem I have with these polishes are that the have the very strong 'nail polish' smell. We all know the odour is bad for our lungs so I'll have to wear a N96 mask when I do my nails with these polishes.

-Nonetheless, I love these polishes and I can see myself using them often!

 MAC 316 Brush:

-It definitely serves it's purpose as a lip brush (it's normal!)

-I LOVE the fact that it comes with a cap (look at the picture below). It didn't show on the website with the cap on it but the cap is surely helpful so that you can put it in your makeup pouch without it getting dirty!

-It is also very slick & thin which saves space in your makeup pouch.

-You can cap the cap on the back of the lip brush if you want to (pic on left).

-Overall, I am SUPER happy with it. YEAY

So that's it! I hope there was enough information here. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at clothesattkh@gmail.com or leave a comment below! CIAOOOOOO~~~~

Lip Tints 101: Review/Swatch of PeriPera Peri's Tint No. 5 Strawberry Juice

MY FIRST EVER REVIEW~ YAY!

Hey sisters,

I've decided that my first review shall be regarding: LIP TINTS! If you don't know what lip tints are: they are basically lip products that tint your lips and leave a colour on your lips. The thing that is so special is that they tint your lips such that you don't necessarily need to reapply your lip product after eating/long hours; just like markers. They stain papers!

Lip tints can come in many forms: water tints, gloss tints, lipstick tints, lip balm tints, marker-type tints etc. and I'm sure that there are many more out there on the market! Korean cosmetic brands have the BEST and CHEAPEST lip tints on the market, it's impossible to miss out when you visit these stores! When I first learnt about these I purged the internet for reviews but there weren't many, so I shall bring these tints into the light!

The lip tint I'll be reviewing today is... PERIPERA's PERI's TINT in no.5 Strawberry Juice!

Just look at how ADORABLE the packaging is! 8)

Now, the packaging is a plastic twist off cap and a glass bottom holds the lip tint!
It is pretty big in diameter (about 2cm) and the whole bottle is about 24cm!

It has a doe-foot applicator but there's no stopper on the glass bottle opening
so if it's not twisted properly it may leak!

Now your impression of this is that it's super hot pink and a huge
nono for natural looks (what I'm after haha) but just you wait and see!

Consistency: Very watery. As this is a water tint, it's runny, just like water.
It looks scarily pigmented but... (scroll down)

As you blend it out, it fades into a softer, rosier type of colour  as shown
on my hand! Now here's the real deal: 

My lips are quite pigmented themselves so once I applied this
FULL LIP, it turned out to be a burning hot pink.

Usually, these types of highly pigmented tints are meant to be used  for gradation purposes (where the colour is concentrated inside of the lip rather than the whole lip). As such, the tint used on the entire lip looks very vibrant! If you can't picture that, don't worry as I shall be getting into a 'Gradation Lip Tutorial' soon!

RATING OF PRODUCT AND SHADE

   Packaging: 3/5 - The doe-foot applicator makes it easy to apply but it can be bulky and inconvenient to carry around.

                                  The fact that the lip tint is in a glass bottle means it's fragile and could easily break/tilt over. (and you                         know what happens next...)

Pigmentation & Shade: 4/5 - The pigmentation is great and it stains my lips really well, just like how it was shown on the website. The shade is one of the most natural shades amongst the other shades. I would use this lip tint more for graduation purposes though. A little does go a long way. It does brighten my complexion really well on the morning when I'm looking a little pale! It's even good enough to use as a blush as it stains your cheeks really naturally!

Longevity: 4/5 - AMAZING longevity! I didn't have to retouch up for up to 6+ hours! However I noticed when I

eat oily foods it comes off in small patches as oil 'dissolves' makeup. It's only noticeable to me though!

CONS:  *Be sure to wear lip balm before or after as your lips could get dry!*

*It dries really fast so you have to blend the product really fast!

OVERALL: 4/5

Being a person who likes to keep a natural look, this tint is the 'point' of my makeup look and focus! It gives my face it's colour and I feel really good as I don't feel like I'm wearing anything! Awesome for the hot and humid weather in Singapore - runny lip glosses aren't the best! :( 

This tint is raved my so many people and since this is their new Peri Tint's line, no one has really done a review on this shade! Hope that was good enough coverage for a review like this! I shall return soon with another review soon! For now, TOODLES~

About Me & My Story - Welcome!

Wow, it's so surreal being able to write a post and have a blog - I feel like I'm some super star ready to debut! (Please excuse my awkward self~)

Hello everyone!

I'm your ordinary teenager, 100% full bred Singaporean and STILL in school. You're probably thinking why a student like me is writing a blog instead of studying, so here's a little background about me and why I have created this blog. I feel that in order for you to get the best out of this blog, a few facts of me need to be released to you so here we go!  ^_^

My love for Beauty

I started ballet at the tender age of 4; my mother wanted me to get some sort of exercise and ballet seemed to do the trick. I had a burning passion for it - unlike other 4 year olds, I never cried for 'mummy' or ever said 'I don't want to go to ballet class'. This burning passion continued to burn as I grew older, eventually into adolescence. After joining a ballet school intended to train children to be able to join professional companies, I decided to go for ballet competing around the world. My first international competition was when I was 10 in the USA. Since then till I was 14 I repeatedly went for various competitions, international and local. During this period, we had to do our own makeup, tie our own hair and get ready all by ourselves. With my curious mind, I hopped onto YouTube and watched countless beauty gurus do their makeup, teach beauty hacks and tips. As I watched, I was so fascinated by how makeup can make someone look so awake, fresh and even a totally different person. Immediately, I ran to my mother's make up table and tried to do what these beauty gurus did. I knew it - I love makeup. I love doing my hair. I loved the self-confidence it gave me.

I still remember the first huge makeup haul I bought (well my mother bought) from my first visit at Sephora ION. The tremendous array of makeup and nail polish caught me dumbfounded; I grabbed nearly everything that was under the budget my mother gave me and I remember being the happiest girl alive. I did my face at least once a day to practice and try new looks. I even wore a super natural makeup to school because it made me feel confident. (in secondary school - HAHAHA REBEL ALERT) Soon enough with tremendous amount of practice (countless makeup/hair rehearsals, performances and competitions), I became the 'makeup artist' and the 'hair stylist' amongst my dance mates. They'd ask me to tie their hair for them, draw their eyeliner or stick on false lashes; I remember feeling so useful and brimming with self-confidence. Makeup and beauty had become part of who I was. 

The Hiccup

You know when you grow older and hormones begin to take over your body? Well, acne began to blotch my face and I put on weight - all the reason I need to use makeup right? My ballet teacher told me if I wanted to continue going to competitions, I needed to lose weight to ___ kg so that I won't be penalised by judges. I began to starve myself and spent 24/7 at the dance studio, somehow juggling my academics at the same time. I went to school with makeup for A WHOLE YEAR, just to cover up my blemishes and 'imperfections'. I lost more and more weight until I became a walking lifeless soul. It came to a point where I couldn't lose more or I would be entering the 'hell zone' and become underweight for my height. My face lost it's colour and became even more damaged with acne due to the makeup I used, my hair & nails became brittle but I didn't care. My ballet teacher indoctrinated me into thinking I'm too fat and I need to be skinny. Skinny skinny skinny. Pretty pretty pretty. Perfect perfect perfect. Eventually, it came to a point where my body couldn't take the torture my mind's tricks were playing at. My face was full of blemishes from the makeup used to hide my 'imperfections', my body was breaking down and most importantly, I was psychologically damaged. I took up the courage to break away from this dangerous cycle - the thing that has been driving my self-confidence and my LIFE for 15 years. I remember writing a letter to them to confront them of the disorder that I may have and countless nights of crying myself to sleep. Luckily, as understanding as my parents were they sent me to a psychologist. She diagnosed me with anorexia nervosa and social anxiety. Though I didn't have to go inpatient, I was in the beginning stages of the disorder and she was glad I was willing to get it cured quickly. 

Realisation & Recovery (TODAY)

Through therapy sessions weekly, I learnt that beauty is not what's on the outside. It's what's on the inside. Inner beauty. I never believed in this phrase but this whole experience proved me so. There is no need to beautify myself just so that I can look presentable. People care more about your personality rather than looks. They don't laugh at you for having a blemish or dark circles, do they?As I began to realise these, I stopped having an abusive relationship (thats what I consider) with makeup - wearing makeup to school - and took slow steps to fight my fear of food. I learnt to accept myself for who I am and what my body and face is like. At the same, I began to look at makeup in a different perspective. I relived the memories I had as a 11 year old - going to Sephora for the first time and drooling over the array of makeup products. I look to makeup now as a way to show my personality, to express myself and I made it become a form of 'manners' (whenever I go to a gathering/party/out on the weekends, I'll wear it then). It doesn't hide my imperfections anymore, it is another platform to show my inner self to others. Every time I do it, it's different and I do it depending on how I'm feeling on that day. Despite still going for therapy sessions and some struggles here and there, I wish do my part in the beauty industry and promote inner beauty. On this blog, I will be reviewing products (mostly Asian beauty products), makeup tutorials, life tutorials and supporting anyone who has gone through a similar experience or struggling to make ends meet. I hope that you'll enjoy this blog and as you read, you'll be reminded that beauty starts from the inside and not outside and that BEAUTY is never perfection. 

Last but not least, WELCOME! I will be working a posting schedule and how I should go about organising things - I'll get back to it later!

Yours sincerely,

Kathleen T.K.H <3

(aka. your big sister)

(I CREDIT AND SALUTE THOSE WHO ARE READING THIS NOW - THANK YOU FOR READING! IT MEANS A LOT! ^_^)