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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer

Maracuja Creaseless Concealer (Medium)

I've read good reviews on the Maracuja Creaseless Concealer but I wasn't hoping much as my eyes just hate creamy concealers. These type of concealers causes my eyeliner to transfer from top lashes to my undereye area. Why, because the oil in it melts every bit of make-up. So when I wink, it transfers. I've always thought the eyeliners I use are no good. Later I realized concealer is the culprit. Since then, it's goodbye to Bobbi Brown corrector and concealer. I've been using liquid concealers like MUFE Lift and Lancome Effercernes for a while. Both are nice and doesn't cause my eyeliner to smear. However, the staying power is a little limited and I often find dark circles reappearing in the middle of the day. Then, comes my ever trusty Time Balm concealer. The coverage is great and doesn't melt my eyeliner! Best of all, it matches my skin tone perfectly. It's been indispensable since I bought it. I should do a separate review on Time Balm sometime soon.

Anyhow, that's just a brief history of my struggles with concealers. With my HG Time Balm on hand, I wasn't really too excited about the Maracuja Creaseless Concealer. I thought I would try it but not gonna expect anything amazing since it's creamy. Oh boy, I was wrong. This stuff is amazing! Despite the thick texture (imagine toothpaste), I find that it applies smoothly especially when using a finger to pat the product on the skin. It's very opaque so only little product is needed, therefore no cakey look. When applied, it has a slightly dewy finish which gives the eyes a bit of glow. No need for brightening concealers! Now, to the challenging part. Does it melt the eyeliner? Uh ah... not a single bit!!! Does it last and stay creaseless? That's a big YES!!! I have to say, it stays even longer than Time Balm on me. 12 hours after application, not a single sign of budging. And because of the Maracuja oil, my undereye area doesn't dry out like other concealers do after long hours of wear. I would say this is the best item in the kit!

Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous - Swatches

I got the shade in Medium (after several attempts of changing shade back and forth) which is perfect for my NC25-30 skin tone. It's definitely got some pink to it so I wouldn't use too much to cover my freckles and spots. I still prefer Time Balm for other parts of the face. This stuff is slowing knocking Time Balm off the HG status :)

Summary
* Pros:
- smooth application
- dewy finish
- long lasting
- doesn't dry out the undereye area so fine lines are not accentuated
- comes with the Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous set which is really a steal
- very opaque so a tube should last a really long time
- does not melt eyeliners so my undereye area stays clean (yey!!!!)

* Cons:
- I personally prefer the shade to be slightly more yellow so I could layer more to cover my freckles.

Rating (1-5 hearts): ♥♥♥♥♥

Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous - Sneak Peak

I was suppose to receive my QVC package today as stated in the expected delivery date of my order. I'm glad the wait time was cut down a week shorter. As usual, excitement was killing me! :)

The products in this set are tucked neatly in Tarte's purple and gold makeup bag.  This bag is really very compact yet spacious.  I can see myself using this to store makeup and brushes when travelling.
Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

Cute Tarte engraving on the zipper...
Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

It's even smaller than an I-pad... (not that I own one hehe...)
Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

Here's how the bag looks when opened. See the goodies? 11 products all in!
Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

Here's a snapshot of the collection goodies...
Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous Set (QVC)

I will review the products individually in future posts :) Stay tuned!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Panda Nails

Since I started my adventure with nail art, I can't seem to wear my nails with just plain polish. Hubby would always complain how I stay up late to just paint my nails.. LOL... something only girls can understand :)

Here's what I have on for this week which was inspired by a tutorial done by cutepolish on youtube.  My lil monkey said it's "koko panda" (that's how he says kung-fu panda LOL) haha...  I used Zoya's Dulcinea as base color. Now I understand why it was on clearance when I got it at Trade Secrets... the color is just meh... applies nicely though.  Panda design was done with Sally Hansen Extreme Nails in White On and Black Out.  Highly recommend this line for nail designs as they're so opaque!  And of course, I used my ever trusty ball point pen as dotting tool :)

Panda Nails

Panda Nails

If you notice, the panda faces on some nails are ... err... crooked.  It's hard to center the white dots on the black eyes.  And it's really difficult to make consistent designs on all ten fingernails! Anyhoo... just blabbing :)

That's it for now!

P.S.  I got my QVC package yesterday! Loving the Tarte Glow Your Way to Gorgeous set! Stay tuned for a post on this baby :)