I am dying from the cuteness of this launch, guys!

Shu Uemura has once again collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld to create a brand new Christmas collection centered around Choupette, infamous feline and Karl Lagerfeld's pet, aptly named the 'Shupette' collection.

The entire collection is peppered with pawprints, illustrations of Choupette, and pretty, shimmery pink accents. I die.

I wanted to share with you my two favourites from this collection, the faboo shupette has-it-all eye & lip palette, and the insanely beautiful pam-pearl me face powder.

The shupette has-it-all eye & lip palette (henceforth just 'the palette') is a beautiful little thing, packaged along with a fluffy white clutch and a shimmery pink box. The palette has two themes - Parisienne Chic (cool silvery tones) and Tokyo Kawaii (warm golden tones).

I don't think a description of the colours will do this palette justice, so here are swatches!

I am a massive fan of the taupe and silver eyeshadows in the Parisienne Chic palette, and the warm plummy chocolate and golden highlight in the Tokyo Kawaii palette. Both sides are beautiful, but if you lean warm, you might want to run a warm brown/orange shade into your crease before using the Parisienne Chic side of the palette, to transition the colours into your skin.

The eyeshadows are lovely, pigmented and smooth to apply - no primer needed for the swatches above! I'll be creating a look or two with the palette and uploading it to my Instagram page, so if you want to see what these look like in a full makeup look, follow me there for updates.

The palette retails for RM350 at Shu Uemura counters.

Now the pam-pearl me face powder is just out of this world. It is a beautiful, shimmery pearlescent loose powder that I think is perfect for the holidays. It gives your skin a dewy glow that I went crazy for when I tried it at the event. Unfortunately I didn't get to take it home with me, so I don't have a proper swatch for you guys, but you can check it out on counters because it's already available in Malaysia, and retails for RM100.

If you're oily-skinned, use this just as a highlighter to set the areas around your eyes and on your nose, but leave the rest to your mattifying face powder.

This is the cutest collection ever, and I adore everything that's been released! Will you be getting anything from the Shupette collection?

Since I moved back to Malaysia, I've gotten a lot of questions from Malaysians and Singaporeans particularly about how to keep skin oil-free in this humid tropical weather. I myself have an interest in this issue, since I have oily-combination skin, and my makeup literally melts off my face by noon.

I won't try to solve the entirety of this question in one blogpost, but I have trialled a few powder-based products that purport to help with oily skin, and want to share with you my thoughts so you can make an informed purchase to help you combat the noontime oiliness. I've also trialled a few skincare and liquid base products, which I will post about at a later date.

For now, here are my reviews of these powder-based mattifying makeup products for oily skin and humid weather:

1. Urban Decay De-slick Mattifying Powder

This is a colourless powder, quite similar in texture and appearance to the Make Up For Ever HD Pressed powder. It comes in a pretty, sturdy purple compact, and does a pretty damned good job at keeping the oils at bay. I apply this with a fluffy powder brush most days, but when I need more heavy-duty oil absorbing, I use a slightly denser brush so I can pack on more powder, and it does work better to a certain extent. It's not 100% effective, but I would say that it does what it claims to do much better than some other products I've tried, and I'm liking the ease of use that comes with a compact powder. Note that there is no coverage with this powder, simply oil-absorbing goodness.

2. Maybelline White Superfresh Powder Foundation

This is a foundation powder, which means you can apply this straight onto your skin after skincare and sunscreen (I would never recommend going without a layer of sunscreen, even if your foundation or moisturiser contains sun protection - in this case, this powder has an SPF of 34 PA+++). It's got a medium coverage and does a great job of evening out the skin tone and hiding minor blemishes and scars. The fantastic thing about this product is that it's being marketed as a one-stop, no-touchups-needed solution, and I think it really does what it says. I apply this using my kabuki foundation brush each day, and the foundation powder stays on throughout the day without greasing up at all. An easy-to-use, lightweight compact also means that you can pop this into your makeup bag and use the packaged applicator sponge just in case you wanted to take your look well into the night (it's not a miracle worker, so you're gonna need to touch up if you're going from a full day's work to play at night).

3. Alima Pure Satin Matte Foundation

Alima Pure is a brand that sits pretty high up on the list of safe, environmentally-friendly products, which is why I love it so much. Free of practically everything on the EWG's hazardous ingredients list, this product is definitely skin-friendly. What's more, it actually works. Again, I like to apply powder foundations like this one with a kabuki brush, and use a smaller brush to pick up the same foundation and apply it as a concealer. Using this both as a foundation and concealer, most of my scars and blemishes are covered, save for particularly angry-looking ones. I feel comfortable wearing this on my skin, and it keeps it a nice, glowing sort of matte, for well over half a day. After that, a touch up is needed, which can be a little annoying with loose-powder if you're on the go. Other than that, I really enjoy using this foundation.

4. Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Powder

This doesn't actually claim to be mattifying, but I find that applying about 2 light layers of this loose powder does keep the shine at bay for about half a day or so. I like using this at night, because it looks really natural and doesn't dull the colours and textures of the products that I'm using underneath it. Out of all the products on this list, it is also the lightest and doesn't clog my skin at all.

And that about sums up my favourite powders at the moment for oily skin and humid weather! Did I miss out any of your favourites? Let me know, I'd love to try out more of these products!

By now, everyone knows of the existence of HD powders, but not a lot know why they're called HD powders, and how they're different from other finishing powders out there. I'm here to shed a tiny bit of light on this, as well as to share and compare the performance of some of the HD powders I've tried before.

What is HD powder?

High Definition powders are one of the most recent releases in makeup land, and was formulated as the solution to HD television technology, hence its name. It is mostly made of silica powder. The powder is very, very finely milled, so a little bit goes a long way when it comes to HD powder. Generally, most HD powders are colourless, but some companies have produced coloured versions of these powders, which you will see later on in this post.

What does HD powder do?

The new, high definition TVs bring stark attention to flaws in the skin, so makeup had to provide a solution to counter that effect. Enter HD makeup.

In general, finishing powders set your makeup. They keep your makeup in place, and absorb some of the excess oil in the skin. HD powders, along with all HD formulated makeup, contain light diffusing particles, which soften the focus of the cameras on the skin and create a 'soft light' effect, hiding to some extent the flaws in the skin, and giving the skin a more glowy effect. If you'd like to see HD makeup in action, here's a YouTube video where I show you how to use HD makeup.
A word of warning: a tiny bit of powder really does go a long way, and this powder is completely invisible to the naked eye. You won't know if you've used too much, unless you take a photo of yourself with flash. Make sure you apply with either a fan brush or a kabuki brush, because these products disperse the powders loosely enough so that they won't flash back on camera.

Why do I need HD powder?
If you're going to be photographed, you'll want to use HD powder to give your skin a glowy effect, as if it was lit by soft light (like candlelight). If you don't like the way makeup sits on your skin, HD makeup is very pigmented and is applied in a very thin layer on the skin, so it won't feel like you're wearing makeup. And if you like to take selfies, HD makeup is definitely for you :)

Which HD powder should I use?
Check out my reviews of the following HD powders to figure out what best fits your budget and needs :)

Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder
This is one of the most popular HD powders out there, and the pioneer brand for HD makeup. The powder comes in two forms (as of March 2014) - a loose powder version that comes in a jar with a sifter, and a compact powder version. The Make Up For Ever HD powder is 100% silica powder, and is extremely fine. Only the tiniest bit of powder is needed to set your makeup and create that 'soft focus' effect. It gives your skin the most beautiful glow in photograph and is definitely a powder that lives up to its name and fame.
One thing I don't like about the powder though, is how little you need to use in order not to get that white-powder-flashback effect. In warm climates, makeup tends to move around, and I need more powder to set certain areas in my skin, particularly my undereye area. Unfortunately, using too little doesn't set my undereye concealer, and using too much creates that flashback effect.

Covo Cosmetics HD Picturesque Loose Powder SPF10
Covo is a Malaysian brand that is gaining quite a large and loyal following, and I love that I can recommend a brand for tourists to buy when they come visiting :)
Their HD powder is one of those powders that contain colour pigment, and is less finely milled than the MUFE HD powder. It comes in a compact that contains a grinder, and grinds out loose powder as you turn the grinder. If you're someone who thinks that they need a little more coverage after foundation and concealer, then this is the powder for you. It has a medium coverage, and comes with a convenient little brush (that is actually quite usable!) that you can use on the go. This one is not 100% silica, so it's not as difficult to use as the other HD powders and you're in no danger of over-applying.

NYX HD Studio Finishing Powder
NYX is an affordable but effective brand, and I have loved almost every product that I've tried from this brand. Their HD powder is no exception. It is 100% silica and finely milled (though admittedly, it doesn't have the smooth, silky feel of the MUFE powder). This is slightly more difficult to use than the MUFE HD powder because if you over-apply, the effect is much more obvious - probably because the powder is slightly less fine compared to the MUFE powder. It still does give your skin that lovely glow if applied properly, plus it is so affordable (I got mine on eBay for $13).

elf High Definition Powder
This is another one of those affordable powders (I got mine from iherb.com), and is lovely to use. It is more or less identical to the NYX powder, except for the sifter that dispenses the powder. I absolutely love the one in the elf packaging because the holes are smaller, so that the powder doesn't all spill out at one shake. The elf powders also come in a few formulations - one shimmer, one translucent, and one yellow colour-correcting, so they're a little different from the Covo powder.

Are you a fan of HD powder? Which one do you use? :)