Hello everyone~

For a while now I've had a sneaky suspicion that I was drawn to certain colors in my makeup. I suppose we all are, but have you ever unconsciously gravitated toward a shade so much so that you start to own several things in the practically the same shade?  

I noticed all my eyeshadows were near identical, a few years on, I noticed the color fixation has migrated from the eyes to the lips. Because, ladies and gentlemen, I have not one, not two, but six rosey nude lip products.

VDL Tint Bar Triple Shot in #502 Triple Burgundy

I had to get myself a new one because my old one had melted. The consistency is so balmy and light and it never feels heavy and high maintenance. I love this thing and if I were to be perfectly honest, it's more of a raspberry than a rose, but it is included in this group because the tint it leaves blends into my natural lip color and it ends up looking like its rosey-in-the-tin cousins. If this ever melted, I'd go out and get a new one again.

Clinique Chubby Stick in #04 Mega Melon

This is a new one in my collection and was given to me by an aunt when she found out this was the sort of color I was drawn to. This one is a little peachier than the others, color-wise. I suppose the best part about it is that it's a gigantic twist up pencil. I like taking it with me when I'm traveling because I don't have to worry about it getting damaged somehow in my bag even if it is a twist up. Great on-the-go product.

 

Lanc ome Rouge A Leveres Attraction in #319 Rose Impulsion

Oldie but a goodie, this one is. It's almost sheer if not for the tinge of pink and the light gold lustre it leaves behind. Quite moisturizing for a lipstick and despite how classy I feel when I use it (hi Lancome and your gorgeous packaging and upscale branding) it's a lazy-day lipstick. It's more on the baby pink side, but without the solid white base that leaves you looking too much like a Bratz doll.

Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien

This lovely mini was one of two in the Sephora birthday gift set I picked up. It's great as an all over color or just for lining the lips when I use the Kate Moss lipstick in this group. I am really starting to fall in love with the formula and how nicely it sits on my lips. My only real problem is that I do not own a Nars lip pencil sharpener or any sharpener that is this fat. I wish it was a twist up instead because it is tinycandy and sharpening it will make it even tiniercandy. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss in #08

 On big important days when you have to worry about the paperwork you brought with you, how you're getting to where you're going, answering well and looking good, knowing that your lipstick will stay on and will look gorgeous is a godsend. Okay maybe that's exaggerating, but ticking lipstick off your long list is still a great thing. A true dusky rose, I feel like this shade has worked on everyone who has borrowed it from me for events, pictures, and interviews.

Kiko Intensely Lavish Lipstick in #01 Lusty Peony

This lipstick is one of those dream-come-true type things. I had it on my wishlist last year and it just so happened that Kiko opened a store here in Hong Kong so I got this with a great deal. Icing on the cake? It is an amazing lipstick. Satin finish with great pigmentation and opacity. Wears well for up to five hours without fading or feathering. It's creamy and is fairly moisturizing. On top of which, it was incredibly good value but looks and feels very premium on your lips and in the bullet. I could write a whole paragraph on that packaging. I love this, let's leave it at that.

Side by side, the differences between the shades are quite visible. It's a little like how in high school I would notice details like the color of someone's earings or the slightest change in skirt length when all of us in uniforms were supposed to look, well, uniform. On their own, however, these shades are nigh undistinguishable on my lips. Which brings forward the question, why the heck do I keep them all instead of picking a favorite and dumping the rest? 

I really couldn't tell you why. I feel like as soon as I get rid of one of them, I'll probably get my hands on another lip product just like it. I'd love to wax poetic and convince you that each one makes me feel different when I wear one, but it really isn't the case. It's more like, on some days I'll chose one or the other. Other days I go with the one that happens to be in my makeup bag. I wish I knew why I keep choosing these colors, but I suppose we're all allowed quirky mysteries. I'll let you know if I amass any more dusky roses. 'Til then~ 

 

Hello everybody! The makeup bag I got to dig through this month belongs to the ever so lovely, Pauline of Catpacking! I thought it was high time I did a feature of her since I never fail to include her in my posts. I mean seriously, there are very very few posts on this blog where I do not make even the slightest mention of Makeup Queen Poreen. Our taste in makeup in terms of colors and consistencies is very similar and I find it very difficult not to want the things she raves about (and I am told the same is true of her haha!) Really excited to get started so here we go!

A quick look at her blog and you'll see immediately that more than anything else, Pauline is all about skin. She talks a lot about having the right products for cleansing and nourishing her skin and all her primers and the bases she's tried. It then comes as no surprise just how many of these products she has in her makeup bag as you will see later on.

"I've had (the NARS Translucent Crystal Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder) forever. I've already hit pan, but it's still usable and there doesn't seem to be an end to it." It's a great powder if you don't want to alter the color of your base and great for setting makeup as well. It isn't so great if you're looking for oil control though. "It's better for drier skin. So it's nice, but not something I'd repurchase."

The NYX Powder Blush in Pinched has been lauded as one of the top Nars Orgasm dupes in the drugstore. Pauline says though that it is "not as shimmery as orgasm; there's more color than shimmer." This color is also a very big deal since she normally isn't one for coral tones. "I like this though the color is uplifting." I feel that a review of this coming soon on her blog so watch out for that! 

Pauline absolutely love, love, loves the Koh Gen Doh Aqua Foundation. I see her talk about it all the time. "I have a lot of bumps and textured skin so I need a smoothening thing." She spends quite a bit of time on her base makeup (often up to 25 minutes!) She used to use a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to buff this in or her Too Cool For School sponge, but recently she's been using this method to apply it.

The Fairydrops Platinum Mascara is something she and I both love. She posted a review of the Waterproof one recently and I did one for the Film Type one sometime last year. We both agree that, "it’s an all-in one: lift, volume, length, curl, and without any flaking." However, it is getting harder and harder to find these anywhere. "It's magic. What am I going to do without it?" What indeed :(

"I first saw this on Jen of frmheadtotoe. Everything she uses is so good." The Lioele Automatic Eyebrow Pencil is what Pauline has been using since she recently got into brows and says that, "it's nice for beginners." The shade she uses is quite dark, a grey-brown as a lot of the lighter ones tend to be too reddy-browns which just make brows look orange. 

This lipstick is a fairly new addition to her collection and is in fact her first MAC product. She initially stayed away from MAC lipsticks because "they dry your lips and turn it into a desert." This isn't the story with MAC's See Sheer as it is a Lustre so the finish is more moisturizing than the others. "The official color description is a grapefruit pink, but I think it's a muted warm coral." 

Fai"

The Maybelline FaceStudio Master Conceal is also very new to her collection as she had bought it the day before we met up. Her first impressions of it were along the lines of how light it was and how it was "liquid enough for undereye concealing, but not too slippy for spot concealing." She also says that it's quite pigmented and a little of this goes a long way. 

"It smells nice!" Pauline is really cute sometimes :)) She says EOS Lipbalm in Strawberry Sorbet is better than her Kiehl's Lip Balm #1 in Mango during the day, but she combines the two at night for when she's going to bed. She also says that the EOS is great under lipstick, but not so good for touch ups because it will stain the the lip balm.

Pauline didn't used to be a fan of the Benefit Porefessional, but this has since changed when she discovered that the trick was to apply the smallest amount so it wouldn't look patchy under makeup. "I don't know if it's a security blanket or if I really need it, but I cannot go out without it. It just feels wrong. My makeup lasts longer with it so why stop a good thing."

"I don't do powder highlighters. It's either a lot of shimmer or a lot of glitter." So she uses the Benefit Watt's Up. It's a cream formula that is better for blending into the skin. Plus it comes in a stick which is always good. Other highlighters also tend to be more white or gold colored and when they do get warmer the shade takes on a more pink tone. "It’s a golden champagne highlighter it look more natural on my warm skin than a pink highlighter."

Pauline has quite a few skin concerns so really addressing those with her makeup and skincare is very important to her. "I am a person with acne prone skin who wants to pretend I don’t have acne prone skin and does not want to aggravate it." She also feels like something is off when she puts on makeup and doesn't do the primer + concealer + base + powder formula. So when I asked her what she would call her makeup bag (I jokingly suggested "All Your Base Are Belong To Us") we came up with Cover All Your Bases. Because with five out of ten items in her makeup bag devoted to skin, Pauline's makeup priorities are very clear indeed.

P.S. Poreen and I snapchat each other a lot 

Just