My 13 Beauty Products for 2013

Happy New Yeaar!

It's been late, yes, but this is my first post in 2014! Yippie!
.. but sadly, i can't provide good pict for this post. I'm trying, but since i'm catching a cold, i only could took one (yes, only one) good picture for this very post.

If you live in Indonesia, you'd know how bad the weather is. Everyone i knew, or at least someone in their family, has got a flu, cough or both since December. I guess now is just my turn T_____T

I saw many bloggers has made their version of 2013 favorites, so there's mine ^___^

i think i haven't reviewed all of them, yes?

Palettes

Urban Decay Naked 2

The famous one, it's my choice whenever i have no idea what shades i want to use.

My favorites are Tease, Half Baked, Snakebite and Suspect.

Too Faced Loves Sephora (15th years anniversary palette)

My favorite one from Too Faced. My only complain is the bulky packaging that i'm worried to bring on travelling. It's tin-can packaging (just like the Naked 2's packaging) with no mirror, but comes with mini TFSI and mini blush brush that i've took out from the palette because i'm afraid they'd make some dent on pans.

This palette is lovely. I know i haven't write about it but soon.

My most favorite is Who's your poppy? blush while the second and third are Sun Bunny bronzer and Jer Jer eye shadow.

Complexions

Laura Mercier Compact Tinted Moisturizer

Mine is in shade "nude". It's giving a medium coverage and the shade is just match my skintone. I found the liquid versions are not as good as this one.

Tarte Provocateur Pressed Mineral Powder SPF 8

I've raved about it here, and has been hit it's pan. Now i'm on the second pan and still loving it.

Blushes

MAC Cream Soda Powder Blush

My favorite one! Seriously, you wouldn't know until you've tried it yourself!

a perfectly perfect flush, if you know what brush for it!

i use ecotools bamboo blush brush and they're amazing together.

Read my review, swatch and comparison here.

The Balm Instain Powder Blush Houndstooth

My second favorite. It's pretty mauve-y shade that can be use sheer or build-up. It's also neutral and i found great for cold or warm weather. The staying power is good too.

Read my review, swatch and comparison here. 

Tools

Ecotools Bamboo Powder Blush

This is the perfect match for sheer blush!

Even better since it's synthetic (easier to wash, soft, and animal friendly) and cheap. Also I never found any shedding!

Real Techniques Contour Brush

Sadly this one is not available out of set. It's part of core collection set.

I found it's great for blush and contour (as the name suggest) and very soft.

For me, it's won over the blush brush one.

Eye Liner

K-Palette 24 Hours Eye Liner

Mine is in Dark Brown. I found it's very practical and easy to use than the one in pencil form. I have it since 2012 and still good. But don't wish it would stay for 24 hours (like the claim) without eye primer.

Eye Brow

Skinfood Choco Eye Brow Powder Cake 01

I'm a simple girl with eye brow. I stopped plucking my eyebrow for now, and only filling the "tail" part. Skinfood match my eye brow color nicely and i like the brush they provided.

Read my review and swatch here.

Lips

Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in Dandelion

Actually, i don't need any other lip gloss after this one. I like the texture and scent, also it has a very soft color which i like. Mine is only sample size but i dont think i've use more than half of it.

Read my review and swatch here.

Oil

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil

It's a very versatile product, you can use it eeeverywhere!

I use it for acne, moisturizing (any dry area) and for hair.

It's the one i've who always stay in my make up pouch.

Fragrance

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh

I adore many of Marc Jacobs fragrance, but this one took my heart.

It's fresh yet sweet and has refreshing effect for me. I haven't decide if i want the full size bottle (since it's so expensive) because i've used about 3/4 of my rollerball sized.

I've reviewed about it together with three others here.

Have a happy 2014, and always be awesome!

cheers,

The Balm Jovi Rockstar Palette, Review & Swatch

June and July means Holiday. Some blogger that i followed has wrote about "travel essential", "make up for holiday", "how to pack make up for holiday" and so on. I have no plan for this holiday, because my bro will be graduated next month and my parents are going there to attend the ceremony. I'm the one who left home -___________-"

But it doesn't stop me to provide a make up for travelling information for you. Yes, we're talking about a very versatile palette for travelling :D

The Balm is the rising star in Make Up Land right now. They have lots of good quality product with a good price. I especially loving their instain powder blush! This Rockstar Palette is ROCK too!

I thought the design is weird : a guitar with red lippie and crazy hair. No, i dont think i'd get this palette by the design. I browse about it just for curiosity, and suddenly i fell in love with "Lead Zeppelin" (though it's not like i was thought). Long story short, i got it.

It's not as big as i think it is. It's only 17 x 11 x 0.5 cm, very travel friendly.

The packaging is made from cardboard (so The Balm) but it's sturdy and firm.

In behind, there's the insider and ingredients list.

Their eye shadow has talc, unlike their blush and highlighter.

The Balm Jovi Rockstar Palette has 12 eye shadow, 1 highlighter, 1 blush and 2 lip/cheek cream.

No need to worry, because they've separate the powder and cream part.

As it has a rockstar theme, the product inside are named with rockstar thing. I dont think it's everyones cup of tea, but you can always forget about the name thing-y.

I found that magnet closure for cream product is stronger than the one for powder form. Makes it even safetier for travelling.

Now into the Swatch ..

Part 1 : Eye Shadows

There are three section for eye shadows : heavy metal, classic and alternative. They made a lovely combination of finish : metallics, matte and any other finish in between. They're not very neutral nor colorful but seems like it has all colors that you'll love, or at least, you'll find something to adore.

I experienced, without primer, these eye shadow could stay for 10 hours. It's faded a little yes, but still amazing. I'm sure you can left your primer home if you bring this palette for travelling ^^

First - Heavy Metal

Metal-ica : silvery-white with metallic finish. It's soft and has a good pigmentation.

Iron Maid-in : yellow based gold with metallic finish. It's also soft and good pigmentation thought it's not as opaque as metal-ica but it's definately more opaque than the balm Snobby.

Lead Zeppelin : dirty black based green with gold shimmer and metallic finish. It's kind of duo chrome. Though it's smooth in texture, and seems like opaque when i swatch it on my arm, it's seems so bad on my eyes. It's not as dense as picture above, and very powdery.

Alice Copper : wine red with brown undertone and has metallic finish. It's definately my favorite among these four. Very rich in pigmentation, soft and no fall out.

Second - Classic

Adagio : a matte, pale neutral beige. It's smooth and not powdery. For me, it's work as base shade.

Allegro : a matte, medium warm brown. It's my favorite of the bunch, the most used color. It helps me to blend and make a nice crease shade because it's so smooth and not powdery at all.

Moderato : a matte, purple burgundy. Unlike two shades before, it's a little bit in dry side and has lower pigmentation.

Presto : a matte, warm dark brown with purple undertone. It's also dry and has lower pigmentation.

When i'm in hurry, i mixed presto and moderato to make an eye brow powder. Not the best one, but it's kinda works.

Third - Alternative

Blink 1982 :  muted pale burgundy with golden shimmer. It's not really opaque and somewhat dry.

The Stroke : dark navy blue with satin finish. It's the second worst shade (after lead zeppelin) because it's dry and low in pigmentation though it's buildable.

Rem : medium purple with golden sheen. It's kinda duo chrome and very pretty. As another plus, it's soft and has a good pigmentation.

Third eye blinded : warm soft peach with frosty finish. It's soft and easy to blend though it's hard to get it shown on me.

Part 2 : Cheeks

Only 2 pans in this part, a blush and a highlighter. If you're a The Balm fanatics, then you'll be very familiar with these two. They're basically a Frat boy blush and Mary Lou highlighter, with some different texture. I dont have any of them so i can't compare in person.

Dont You Want Me? : a matte, warm peachy coral pink. It's pack a good pigmentation and super smooth. I like the color but seems like it's very easy to gone with a soft finger swipe.

Solid Gold : a pale warm gold with shimmery finish. This color wont shown on my face, but it made a lovely highlight with light swipe. As plus, it's not easily gone like it's sister.

Part 3 : Lip / Cheek

What lip shade do you need on travelling? Red? Nude? Anything else?

:)

Both of them are not drying my lips, and doesn't emphasize dry part.

Milly : pale pink with neutral undertone.It's made and quite opaque. I can't make it shown on my lips with finger swipe, but lip brush would do this job for me. It's not my lips but better shade, it's a my muted lip shade. It's stay for 2-3 hours and not easily transfer to anything.

Vanilly : bright red with almost matte finish. It's silky and packed with good color pay off. I can swipe it with my finger to get a fresh look and build the color with lip brush to make it more opaque. It's stay for 3-4 hours on me.

Vanilly on my lips.

Milly on my lips

_______________________________________________________________

Overall, it's a very versatile palette, in good price. It's very recommended for day and night use. It's retailed for $39.5 in the Balm site (and in my blog sale if you're interested) but it's limited edition so get your hand quickly if you want to.

Another story to share with you is.. I used to in love with Nars heart New York set ($75, including palette, lip gloss and nail polish) but when i read in temptalia, i found that most of the eye shadow, blush and highlighter's dupe is also available in my rockstar palette! crazy! I wouldn't get it, and will loving my rockstar palette more ^______________^

The Balm Instain Powder Blush in Houndstooth (Review, Swatch, Comparison)

Hi Pretty ~

i'm finally back with another instain powder blush review, in the shade "Houndstooth" which is (according to the balm) suit for spring. I know we doesn't have spring in Indonesia, but i think it's suit this day's weather, when it's hot-but sometimes can be cloudy-or raining.

Houndstooth has a half side of a pretty elegant woman wearing lovely purple hat on it's cover.

And it's designed like magazine's cover, with some magazine feature around the face.

Personally, i like Houndstooth's woman than Toile's. The half-side face seems more lady-like for me （*/∇＼*）

Like another blushes from the Balm, Houndstooth doesn't have Talc, Fragrance and Parabens in the ingredients.

Houndstooth is about the same size with The Balm Sexy Mama you might has familiar with.

It's about 7.5 x 5.3 cm and contains of 0.2 oz or 5.5g of product.

As the name suggested, Houndstooth has houndstooth pattern bordering the pan.

The words above it's mirror are the same with another Instains.

If you're curious, the blush is just like that when i received it. It's a lil bit hard to remove, but it doesn't affected the quality in my opinion.

Now into swatch ..

I swatch it over Revlon Colorstay Foundation in "Sand Beige", so you can clearly see how it would look like over foundation.

The Balm described Houndstooth as "mauve", and according to web swatch, it supposed to be more brown. 

On my skin, it's turn pinker and has quite lavender undertone, while it's still being mauve.

Bad description, i guess?

Oh well, my pic can speak more than million words ┐('～`；)┌ 

Houndstooth is quite easy to blend, compared to Toile. The under side is it's also doesn't stay as long as Toile. While toile could stay for eight hours on my skin, Houndstooth is only able to stay about six hours on my skin before it's start to faded. In my opinion, houndstooth is as staining as toile does.

Houndstooth is neutral enough to be use daily, with heavy eye make up or alone. Below i pick some blush to compare with my new baby houndstooth :

on the far left, there's tarte amazonian clay blush in exposed (my review about it is here) and i'm happily seing the pattern is almost gone,

in the middle there's the balm instain houndstooth

and on the far right, there's the famous benefit box o powder hervana which i haven't write a review about (；¬д¬)

UPDATE : I've reviewed benefit hervana here :

http://sweetvanillascent.blogspot.com/2013/06/benefit-box-opowder-hervana-review-and.html

Tarte Exposed is a nude, a neutral plum with hint of pink. It's all matte and most pigmented among the three.  It could last up to 8 hours on my skin. Talking about price, Exposed is retailed for $25 for 0.20 oz or 5.6g.

The Balm Houndstooth is a mauve and has slightly sheen finish. Compared to tarte exposed and benefit hervana, Houndstooth has medium pigmentation which could last about 6 hours on my skin. It's retailed for $22 for 0.2 oz or 5.5g.

Benefit Hervana is described as "soft orchid blossom flush" but because it's made from four individual shade, the color appear might slightly different from swatch to swatch. But in average, they created a soft warm pink with subtle peach undertone and has satiny shimmer sheen (according to temptalia).

They doesn't carry lots of pigmentation alone, so do when they're together.

While Hervana wins in term of buttery texture (houndstooth is the hardest while exposed is not as buttery as hervana), it lost in pigmentation and staying power. Hervana could only stay on my skin about 4-5 hours.

Retailed for the most expensive price among the three, hervana contains of more product  (0.28 oz) and it's the only one that has brush included in.

i guess i've write a lot about hervana here, didn't i? (o*･ω･)

If there's a question, if i have tarte exposed and or benefit hervana, do i need houndstooth?

I'd say yes.

This lady-like blush is a love.

my other review of the balm's blushes :

the balm powder blush in down boy

the balm instain powder blush in toile (review, swatch and comparison)

instagram @taniaasvs

selling beauty stuff and everything in between @Primafacie_Corner

The Balm Instain "Toile" (Review, Swatch & Comparison)

Hi Lovely Ladies,
i'm finally back with another product review ~

You know, i'm a crazy blush-holic (i dont know how many are they now ( ･_･))
My collection are vary from natural nude to ultra pigmented blush, but i never ever have a "Strawberry" blush like Toile from the Balm! This is my first option to get .. ♥ﾐ

Instain Blush is a new concept from The Balm. They described it as "Long wearing powder staining blush". Staining? Sounds really good! I imagine it could stay all day long, no fading issue! 

Let's take a look!

It reminds me of a magazine, doesnt it? :)

Like the blushes from Boy's family, Instain have no Talc and Paraben in their ingredient list.

Note the size

(and i love the shade name written on the side, looks like real books name!)

All instain blushes has a pattern like their name.

In this case, toile (strawberry) has a strawberry pattern inside the packaging.

This swatch are made in hurry .. You can see better picture below ..

Shade :

The shade is really unique.. Somewhat strawberry makes me think of coral-pink .. This one is leans more pink than coral, warm and a lil bit plummy ..

(what am i saying? gzz. It's unique)

Texture :

Toile has a buttery texture, even it's would be a lil bit powdery in pan, but on face, it wouldn't.

Like it suppose to be, it's staining. It's better to use with stipping brush or light handed.

Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush would also help! it's blend like a dream ~ ♥

Scent :

Sadly, Toile is lightly scented, but it's not a strawberry scent (can you get the scent? sniff and sniff girls!).

It would be a nice add, Balm .. really.

Staying Power :

Toile stay on my skin about 8 hours before it's starts to faded.

Now for comparisons ..

here i have :

sleek blush by three in Lace (from Pumpkin palette, my review & swatch here)

benefit Bella Bamba

the balm instain Toile

Lace in Sleek Pumpkin palette is the far left one. No, i'm not comparing it to squash (the one in center). Squash is a bright pink shade, have no plum or warmest Toile has (in my humble opinion).

pic taken with flash

pic taken without flash

Sleek Lace is more orange, in picture seems like has no pink or red at all (in real life, it's a lil bit coral so it has pink touch like i've said above).

But you can see how staining it is.. Perhaps, it's more staining than Instain.

Benefit Bella Bamba is nice watermelon shade. Less deep and have more glitter than Toile.

Toile is a strawberry shade. Sometimes it's confusing how strawberry and watermelon seems alike. Toile in my opinion is strawberry in summer, very bright and cheerful.

Overall, Toile is a nice added to everyone's collection. Especially if you have benefit's bella bamba but doesn't like it's glitter ~

Have a great sunday Ladies, see you ~ 

ﾄﾞｷﾄﾞｷ((o(‾◡◝*)(* ◜◡‾)o))ﾜｸﾜｸ

ps. i know i'm BAD for writing this. But i HATE seeing MY picture somewhere out of my blog, or if i'm not the one who post that. I knew even Christine from temptalia can't stop everyone taking her picture for online shop, and who am i trying to stop the stealer. But please, appreciate my work. At least put credit to my blog link, not just taking and crop my pic. THANKS!

Wanna check my other review for the Balm?

the Balm Down Boy

the Balm Nude Tude

The Balm Nude 'Tude Eye Shadow Palette

Hello again!

The Balm is so booming these days, since they finally have a counter in Indonesia. Still in Jakarta though, but at least they're here. My favorite from The Balm is their eye shadow, no offense but i don't think their blush work on me..

i wish their blush will work on me someday!

The Balm Nude 'Tude available on their website for usd 36 (i don't know how much does it cost in their counter in Jakarta), contains of 12 neutral (nude) eye shadows and dual ended eye brush. Cute things, The Balm has 2 type of packaging for Nude 'Tude. Feeling Nice has a room design while Feeling Naughty has naughty girls. They both have the same eye shadow though. Mine is feeling naughty, so i got 6 nudey girls inside..

top : the palette

bottom : palette's cover

Nude 'Tude palette made from cardboard, sleek and lightweight. Very travel friendly.

Behind the packaging, there's a picture of anything inside (except mirror) and ingredients.

The Balm is product of USA and it doesn't contains of paraben.

top :

sassy - stubborn - selfish - sophisticated - sexy - serious

bottom :

snobby - stand offish - sultry - seductive - silly - sleek

the nudey girls with the eye shadows

One side of Nude 'Tude's brush is eyeliner brush.

I've tried to swatch using that brush and above is the result.

Shades

Sassy - frosted white, good pigmentation and smooth in texture.

Snobby - shimmery soft gold with leans to yellow, less pigmented, soft in texture.

Stubborn - light medium peach with frosted finish, seems pinker in pan than it really is.

Stand Offish - very soft pink with soft golden shimmer. It's not really opaque but has soft texture.

Selfish - frosted taupe, good opaqueness and is one of my favorite shades in Nude 'Tude.

Sultry - matte warm medium brown. Good color payoff, smooth and is my another favorite.

Sophisticated - shimmery dark brown with subtle warm undertone, like another shades in Nude 'Tude, has noticeable gold shimmer.

Seductive - warm soft brown with soft pearly finish. If you're a neutral lover, it would attract you so much.

Sexy - matte, red-brown shade. Looks red-er in pan than it really does.

Silly - red-brown shade with gold shimmer. Has better pigmentation than "Sexy".

Serious - matte black, not really opaque but buildable.

Sleek - matte dark brown leans to black, more intense than serious.

Score

packaging : 5/5

shades : 4/5

texture : 4.5/5

Overall : Love

The packaging is simple but safe, and it does have a full size mirror. Very helpful. Wide color range also lovely, you can create so many looks with the shades.

btw, have you check my blog-shop? items will be update simultaneously ;)

Beauty Favorites in February

I've mentioned in previous post that i might skip February Favorites, but today i have plenty time for taking picture and blogging.. So there it is :D

It doesn't much, just enough for simple make up look. And of course, Sunscreen to save my precious unchangable skin ｡◕‿◕｡

They're :

Sunplay Skin Aqua SPF 50 PA++

The Balm Nude Tude Palette

Benefit Box O' Powder in Hervana

Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Powder (inside is a mix between innisfree no sebum mineral powder and Skinfood Buckwheat Loose Powder)

Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed

i haven't review most of them, i hope i can do it soon.. My list is getting longer and longer （*/∇＼*）