Last Saturday, I was invited to a quaint little makeup workshop, held at Muse by Watsons, by the latest brand to grace their shelves - Mary Quant cosmetics.

The brand is inspired by fashionista Mary Quant from London, and features loads of colours and textures, aimed at 'bringing fashion to faces'.

We were treated to a makeup demonstration by Mary Quant's senior makeup artist, and then given the opportunity to play around with the products. In particular, Mary Quant's Action Lashings mascara and Eye Gloss stood out to me - more on that later if I get the opportunity to trial these products. In the meantime, I have a couple of products that I did receive to trial, and here are my thoughts on the brand.


Mary Quant Malaysia have 20 shades of Moisture Rich Lipsticks, ranging from the light to the very bright. I was lucky enough to receive a shade of lipstick that I definitely enjoy wearing - this is the P-05 lipstick, and it is a soft, rosy pink shade. It has a slight mauve-y undertone to it which makes it the perfect soft pink for warm skin tones, and is sheer enough so that a tiny bit of your natural lip colour shows through. These lipsticks are very moisturising and easy to wear, but make sure that you don't have little flakes on your lips (check out my lip tutorial here to find out how to rid your lips of flakes before applying lipstick) or this lipstick will catch on those flakes and create unsightly lines on your lips.


I also received a beautiful peach blush, shot through with extremely fine gold shimmer - the Blush Baby in #11. Think of a toned down, very natural version of NARS Orgasm. The colour is an absolute beauty, and would match so many different kinds of skin tones. Don't worry about the shimmer because it does not show up in even the harshest of lighting. Mary Quant have perfected the glowing skin effect without the need to use harsh shimmer or glitter. It also layers well for extra pigment and colour. If you're looking for a natural blush that will take you from day to night, this is it!


I also received two eyeshadows - the FP-07, pictured in the palette with the blush above, and the M-07, pictured here. Both eyeshadows are beautiful and smooth, and I am particularly impressed with the pigment and the smoothness in the matte brown eyeshadow (FP-07) - good matte eyeshadows are so difficult to find, and this one passes all tests! There is not a bit of chalkiness in this matte, and it blends and applies beautifully.
But my absolute favourite among the products I received, by far, is the gorgeous M-07 - a opalescent silver with an amazing amount of iridescence. This gives the most beautiful sheen of silvery colour to your lids, and can easily be used as a higlighter in the inner corners of your eyes, on the tops of your cheekbones, and in your cupid's bow. Again, this is nowhere near as harsh as a stark silver, and has a tiny bit of lavender shot through it. This makes the colour more wearable on warm skin tones.

Here are all the products swatched side by side:



The brand's logo is a black daisy, which you will find incorporated into all their packaging. I love most of the packaging, but was quite disappointed with the fact that all their eyeshadows and blushes come with slimy, sticky goo on the bottom (presumably so they stick to the palettes), because for their price range (between Inglot and MAC for single eyeshadows) I think they should be able to stick some magnets in there somewhere.

Overall though, the product formulations truly impressed me, because the colours are beautiful and soft, yet can be layered for more colour or coverage. Their eyeshadows are smooth and buttery, and so are their blushes. There are a large range of colours across the board, from lipsticks to eyeliners to eyeshadow. If you're looking for quality colour options with colours that are formulated specifically to match a wide range of skin tones, then this is where you should look!

Mary Quant is available at Muse by Watsons outlets and is out on counters now.

1. A mirror/camera (I find that cameras work best because you can look at the pictures side by side to compare them.
2. Bright natural light
3. A white towel or shirt
4. A hair tie
5. Two pieces of paper with the following prints:

As you can see in the picture above, my face overall looks more healthy and glowing in the second picture, indicating a warm undertone.

This isn't conclusive, because you still want to find how warm-toned you are, because that will then tell you what kinds of makeup colours will suit your face the best.

Now, use the gold and silver pieces of foil.



As you can see in the pictures above, my face doesn't show any difference in overall health and radiance, no matter which foil I hold up against my face.

This means that my skin has an overall warm undertone, but leaning towards a neutral undertone. This means that I can wear cool-toned makeup (but not overly cool! Think high-shimmer pastels) as well as warm-toned makeup.

Foundation and Concealer
It is very important to choose a foundation that matches your undertone, because a mismatching foundation can look extremely weird on the skin. Concealer is a different story altogether, because depending on what you are trying to conceal, you might need different colours to offset your flaws.

Eyeshadow
As far as eyeshadows go, I don't believe that there are any rules as to what colours you should or shouldn't wear. However, sometimes eyeshadow that is too cool-toned can make warm-toned skin look washed out and vice versa, so a great way to counteract that is to run a warm or cool-toned brown eyeshadow (warm if you're warm-toned, and cool if you're cool-toned) into your crease. This ties the whole eye look together and helps the makeup blend into your skin.

Blush
There are no rules when it comes to blush either, but I have to say that a good blush can do wonders for your skin! Jennifer Aniston is the perfect example of the perfect blush!


Jennifer Aniston is warm-toned. Her blush always has dark, plum/mauve undertones, or terracotta/coral undertones to suit her skin, and it always complements her skin and makes her face look absolutely radiant.
If you are cool-toned, look for blushes with bluish pink undertones, or cool lavender undertones.

Lipstick
I think with lipstick, it is important to use a lipstick that complements your natural undertone when you are at extreme ends of the spectrum. When choosing red/dark lipsticks, follow your undertone. Cool undertones should choose lipsticks that have a blue/purple undertone, and warm undertones should pick red lipsticks with more of an orange/coral hue. The same goes with choosing nude lipsticks. Here are some very rough examples of warm vs. cool lipstick colours:


Medium shades are usually pretty easy to wear no matter what the undertone, so again, it is just a matter of preference and experimenting. Don't be afraid to try out diffferent colours and break the 'rules'.

There are no strict rules when it comes to makeup, but choosing the right colours can help complement your skintone and boost your radiance. But always, always keep in mind that you are meant to have fun with makeup! There are to strict rules and sometimes the 'wrong' colour could look absolutely amazing on you!

I received a few Clinique products a few weeks ago, and you may have seen them in my Purple Smoky Eyes for Asians video. I wanted to also give you guys a more detailed review of those products, just in case you were interested in purchasing them for yourself.


Clinique Colour Surge Eyeshadow Quad in 110 Plum Seduction
Clinique Fresh Bloom Allover Colour in 02 Posy

Bobbi Brown: Nothing lights up the face like a bit of shimmer. One season, with just minutes to go before the runway lights went up, a fashion designer asked Bobbi to give all the models a lit-from-within look. So she took a shimmery eye shadow and dusted it on everyone’s cheeks—and that’s how the idea for Shimmer Brick was born.
Each of Bobbi’s iconic Shimmer Brick Compacts are handmade in Italy via a manufacturing process that involves pressing five different shades of ultra-luxe pure pearl pigments into one pan and double baking them.
To create a shimmering glow, swirl the Face Blender Brush across all the shades, and then lightly dust cheeks and forehead, or brush one shade on the eyes for subtle shimmer. (Tip: When it comes to shimmer, moderation is key. Apply shimmer to just one or two features at a time).

And finally, here is a shot of the Shimmer brick swatched with all the colours mixed in:


If you like glowing, glamorous, healthy-looking skin, this is the product for you. It is subtle enough to be worn in the day, and when layered on, makes for a fantastic product for a night out. I highly, highly recommend this stunning product!

This beauty will retail for AUD 85 at Bobbi Brown counters starting May 20th 2012, as part of the Rose Gold Collection. Look out for it in stores!

This product was provided for review and consideration in accordance with this site's Disclosure Policy.

Hi guys! How are you all today? I just have a quick review and swatches of another two products from the amazing Sisley Mystic Harmony Fall Collection 2012.


These are the Sisley Phyto Blush Eclat in Duo Peach and the Sisley Phyto Kohl Star Glittering Eyeliner in Dark Amethyst.

Both these products are amazingly beautiful and such a dream to apply!

Packaging
Both products come in velvet slip pouches. The blush comes in a plastic compact, and the eyeliner, this stunning matte/metallic material.

Performance
The blush is quite sheer, but is also very buildable. The colour comes out gorgeous and peachy. It's not quite matte, but it doesn't have that flat feel to it, either. Instead, it kind of gives you a soft glow. It is a beautiful product, and I highly recommend it!



The eyeliner is very pigmented, and is a pure work of genius! There are chunks of glitter in the pencil, but the glitter does not fall down or move when you blend the pencil out. It glides on smoothly, without tugging on the eye. Another great release from Sisley - I have had such brilliant fun playing around with their products and I can safely say that these are some quality releases!

Here are a couple of pictures and a link to my latest tutorial on YouTube, using these products:




Sisley's Gift with Purchase, mentioned here, is ending soon, so if you're interested in getting these products, don't miss out!

This product was provided for review and consideration in accordance with this site's Disclosure Policy.

Hey guys!

Just for fun, I thought today I might share a couple of items that I recently hauled. I am constantly purchasing makeup, and I haven't had the time to photograph everything, so I'm just posting a few that I was really excited about receiving.

NARS Rajasthan Duo

First up is the NARS Rajasthan duo. I've been a NARS virgin all the way up until I bought this duo a couple of weeks ago, so I'm really excited about this!


The eyeshadows were everything everyone has made them out to be - pigmented and buttery and smooth! Check out the swatches below! Aren't they just absolutely swoon-worthy?!

I won't be posting a review of these eyeshadows, because they've probably been done to death, since this is a pretty old eyeshadow duo. I just wanted to show the swatches - so pretty!


Illamasqua Seduce Cream Blush

Next up, I also recently purchased my first ever Illamasqua cream blusher. I bought the colour Seduce, and I am really liking it!


This is a very slightly plummy, dark pink colour. I am pretty happy with the wear time I get with this blush, and its pigmentation.


I am very impressed, and definitely keen on getting more colours! Has anyone else tried the Illamasqua cream blushes? Do you have any colours to recommend?


Beautè Cosmetics Luminous Volume Lipgloss in Girlie Show and Liqui-gel Stain in Fluoron
Finally, I saved the best for last. I recently splurged a little and got a couple of items from the Beautè Cosmetics range. I am so excited to have finally received them! The packaging is beautiful, and so luxe, and so are the products themselves! I will be posting a full review of these in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

For now I just wanted to show you some photos of the products, and the packaging I received them in!



Here are swatches of both lip products:


I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!

TGIF, guys! I hope the weekend is flying towards you at hyper speed :)

I'm posting today about my makeup routine. This is my everyday makeup and the products I wear to ensure a long-lasting, oil-resistant face throughout the day.


Some of these products are actually pretty new to my everyday routine, but already they've proven themselves worthy as great products to ensure long lasting makeup that works for me.


So these are the products:

Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Foundation spf 15

I know a lot of people say that mineral foundation gives off a weird, fake finish. But I love the coverage, and more importantly, the oil control that this foundation gives me. I am a little sunblock-crazy, so before I put on my face everyday, I apply a nice, thick, gooey layer of sunblock to my face. Of course, this makes my face oily and really gross to look at. So far, this is the only foundation I have or know of that sits on top of that layer of sunblock well, and absorbs the oil continuously throughout the day so I have a shine-free face.


Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner in True Black

This liner is brand new to my makeup routine. I've only worn this out twice, but both have been for extremely long periods of time. My first time wearing it, I had it on for 12 hours straight - no touch ups at all. At the end of the day it was still exactly where I left it, as black as ever, and not at all dry or flaky, or oily and melted, for that matter. WIN.


Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus

A total b**ch to remove, but it lasts a heck of a long time. Double-sided comb - one for separating and defining, and the other for volumnising. A true black colour. Can't go wrong with this one. (Okay, except for that hard to remove part)


MAC Mineralise Blush in Gentle

Those of you who read my blog will probably have seen this blush appear in one too many of my FOTD/Tutorial posts. I love the nice flush of pink this blush gives me. The colour is a beautiful, natural rosy pink, with a slight hint of shimmer. Lasts all day too. And for someone with an annoying tendency to rest her head in her hands (all manners, all angles), that is saying a lot.


Red Earth Eyeshadow in Burnt Caramel

There's just something about this colour. It's a gorgeous, coppery, bronzy brown colour. It shines just right. It blends out really nicely, too. I use this to add a little dimension to my slightly hooded lids. I'm happy I found this colour. And on sale for $2, too :)


Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer

This conceals beautifully, doesn't cake, and lasts and lasts for as long as I want it to, as long as I set it with a little pressed powder (I can't be bothered with loose powder when I do my everyday makeup). I use this on the area under my eye too. It might look a little ashy on some people, but works great with my skin and undereye colour. I bought this baby as a last minute desperate resort before a night out. Best. Decision. EVER.


I hope you found this post of some use! What about you? Do you have any makeup staples? Any hidden secrets you wouldn't mind sharing? :)