Review- Luscious Face Contour kit

The whole makeup industry is on a highlight/contour kick right now with tons of companies coming out with their versions of highlight and contour palettes. The luscious face contour kit that you guys see here was recently launched and features four shades-two contour and two highlighting powders.
I do like the bronze metallic case that it comes in and you get a guide inside showing techniques for highlighting and contouring different face shapes. The powders have a soft texture and are decently pigmented. In the pan the contour powders look cool toned however upon swatching the dark contour leans more towards warm side but thankfully it doesn't appear orangey on my skin tone (Im NC25 for reference) I use the dark contour to carve out my cheek bones and jawline and for my nose and sides of forehead I reach for the medium shade. 

The highlighter, however, turned out better than what I had in mind. I'm very picky when it comes to highlighters because I have a few skin bumps right above my cheekbones so the last thing I want is to highlight those. But this one is quite subtle and gives a nice glow to my face rather than making it look like a disco ball. As for the white illuminator, I'm not a very big fan of this shade. It has a beautiful sheen and is supposed to be used on your under eye area for a lift but I felt like on my complexion it kind of turned my concealer grey. Even though it's not full on white and blends away but having strong yellow undertones, my skin couldn't keep up with this shade. This might look gorgeous on lighter skintones but it will probably put off darker complexions.

I have to say I'm not a huge contour person I mean I love watching contouring videos (bless you instagram) but in person I'd only contour my face for special events and that's why I never invested in big palettes like Anastasia baverly hills or the smashbox trio so for me, this palette does the job wonderfully. The only shade I'm missing here is a banana shade which looks beautiful under eyes. So the banana shade in place of the white illuminator would've made this palette a huge hit. But nonetheless I'm happy with rest of the shades and for a person like me whose not into putting too much effort for contouring, this is actually a pretty good palette.
The luscious Face contour kit is available online on the luscious cosmetics website as well as drugstores nationwide and is priced at 2250Pkr.

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Review+Swatch- L'Oreal Color Riche Les Blancs Nail Polish

Inspired by SS runway collection and the colors of macaroons, L'oreal introduced this new range of nail polishes which includes a vareity of pastels. The one I have is in the shade 859 Gourmandise.

My Experience:

This is the first time I'm trying out pastel lilac on my nails and I love how it looks.The color screams summer and instantly draws attention to my nails. The formula is a little streaky on the first application so I had to apply 2 coats to achieve an opaque color however I like the applicator, its flat and ensures an easy application. I'm a sucker for good packaging and I'd just go ahead and get anything that will look good on my vanity. If you go through the whole color riche range by L'oreal you'll notice the incorporation of gold in each of their product and so does the packaging of this nail polish range. The gold cap looks amazing. 

Overall it's a nice collection and anyone who likes pastels for nails will fall in love with this collection for sure. I personally like how lilac stands out on my nails.

Where To Buy: Leading Stores nationwide

Price: 699Pkr

Have you guys tried it? Which color do you love for summer?

Do let me know

xx

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Summer Beauty Haul 2014

I love sharing hauls with you guys and usually I find picturing and sharing all of the stuff together in one post rather than small haul updates so here I am with my haul for summer of 2014 which actually was quite busy but I, somehow, always manage to find time and buy beauty related products.

Face Products:

L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Serum--Pkr 3200

Milani Rose Powder Blush in Romantic Rose--Pkr 1550

Stageline Ultra fluid Foundation--Pkr 1200

Stageline Matt Mousse Foundation--Pkr 1800

Stageline Cover Down concealer--Pkr 999

Rimmel Stay Blushed Liquid Blush in Sunkissed Cherry--Pkr 695

Essence Coverstick Concealer-- Pkr 420

Lip Products:

Revlon Lip Butters in Peach Parfait and Sugar Plum-- Pkr 1200 (each)

Wet n Wild Mega Last Lipstick in "In the Flesh"--Pkr 395

L'Oreal Color Riche lipstains in Eternally Nude, Rose on & on and Pink Resistance.--Pkr 1650 (each)

Loreal Color Caress Lipstick in Sunset Angora-- Pkr 1450

Loreal Color Riche Lip Balm in Heavenly Berry--Pkr 1450

Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me--Pkr 350

Tools + Eye Products

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush--Pkr 1650

Coastal scents pro blending brush--Pkr 450
Coastal scents pointed blending brush--Pkr 300
Coastal scents Hot pot single eyeshadows in Sundance and Pumpkin Pie--Pkr 270 each
Urban Decay Single Eyeshadows in Smog and Twice Baked--Pkr 2600 each
Wet n Wild Gel eyeliner--Pkr 630

Essence Home Sweet Home Nail Polish in Hot Fruit Punch--Pkr 280

Colorstudio Haute Nail Polish in Temptress--Pkr 250

Maybelline Instant Anti Age Face Primer--Pkr 800

So here's everything beauty related I bought this summer. As you can see I went ahead and tried out some new brands. Some of them were disappointing, some turned out massive hits but just as a quick overview I'll talk about things that I either loved or hated. The first brand I wanna talk about is stageline, I was really excited to try out its products because they looked professional and as much as I love the matt mousse foundation, the liquid products are just terrible. The formula is weird and sticky and I don't know how to work with it. I've already tossed up the ultra fluid foundation so I wouldn't recommend their liquid face products.

As far as wet n wild is concerned I LOVE the mega last lipstick. Its a perfect matte formula and the color looks amazing on my skin.  The eyeliner is good too except for the fact that it dried out too quickly in the pot.

I also love the whole Color Riche lip range from L'Oreal but I'm not really sure about the texture perfector serum. It's been a while since I started using it but I don't see any difference in the appearance of my pores or the texture of my skin in general.
I bought a lot of the stuff mentioned above online from U.s Cosmetics&Jewelry, Just4Girls.pk, Beauty Arena and Simplifycosmetics store.
So that's it for the haul and quick details. Have you guys tried anything mentioned above? What have you been loving? Do let me know xx

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Review- Avon Color Trend Pressed Powder

Last summer I picked up some products from Avon just to get familiar with the brand. Color Trend powder was one of them. Read on for a full review

My Experience:

Color trend pressed powder was more of a random purchase since it came with a really low price tag. I had never tried Avon products before so thought this would be a nice product to start with. 

The packaging is simple but the orange sponge adds a bright pop of color and looks really nice. The shade selection was limited to light medium and dark. I went ahead and picked up medium but I feel its a tad darker for my skin tone. The powder is very smooth and finely milled. In fact its the smoothest of all the powders I have in my stash right now. As far as the oil controlling power is concerned, I'd say its average. My skin is super oily and It's the kind of powder I wouldn't wear if I am to stay out for long during this time of year. It's more of a spring/fall powder for me when I'm not really worried about the oil glands on my face going crazy. 

It would work great for those with normal skin but oilies may need to look out for a better option. Nonetheless if you just want a budget friendly powder to set your makeup this may be a good choice.

Where To Buy: Your nearest Avon representative. I got mine from Dhanak.

Price: 395pkr 

Have you guys tried it?

Which powder is your favourite?

Do let me know.

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What's In My Bag- Featuring Grey Peacock Bag From Platinum.pk

I love watching others "what's in my bag" videos and posts so today I decided to do one of my own. This is particularly the stuff that secured a permanent place in my bag during this winter season. The summer version will be up soon. 

1. My Cellphone 
2. Sunglasses
3. Wallet
4. Random bracelet 
5. Victoria's Secret Bombshell Mist ( travel size )
6. Dial Hand sanitizer in Mango (it smells divine)
7. Forever21 Apricot Body Cream
8. Maybelline Fit Me concealer
9. Sweet Touch Kohl Pencil
10. Color Studio Pure Matte Lipstick in Missionary
11. Rimmel's Lash Accelerator mascara
12. Urban Decay Glide on Cheek Tint in Bang
13. The Body Shop Born Lippy Lipbalm
14. Travel size mineralissima face powder
15. Mints
16. Pain Killer

Lets move on towards the bag now. I got this grey peacocks bag a couple of weeks back from platinum.pk, have a look.

The material of the bag is suede-like. Sorry my camera doesnt do justice to the color, but the bag is actually grey. 

Capacity wise, this bag is quite spacious and successfully holds my books as well as all the stuff mentioned above. I checked all the sides of the bag to make sure the stitching was proper and stiff and while most of it was fine, I did notice the a small part of the long strap detaching from the base. But as a whole, the bag was nice to carry around and looks great with just about any outfit that I wish to wear.

Platinum.pk's service was actually pretty good. I got my order the very next day which came out as a surprise since usually it takes about 2-4 days for any order to reach my city. I had my eyes on this dorothy perkins leopard handbag but unfortunately it went out of stock so I went ahead and ordered this one. 

Over All I like the bag and really appreciate the quick delivery and customer service of Platinum.pk. Join their Facebook page, Twitter and website for more updates. They have an amazing sale going on right now too.

So that was it for my what's in my bag post. Hope you guys liked it. I can't wait to do more posts like this in future.

So what do you carry in your everyday handbag? Do let me know.

xx

The bag was provided for review purposes however the review is purely based on my opinion.

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Review- L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Foundation

After taking a break from blogging for a few months, I finally decided to jump back in the business. For this post, I've picked L'oreal's much loved True match foundation. Read on for a full review.

L'oreal true match foundation in W2

My Experience:

L'Oreal's true match foundation is unknown to none. It's probably the most famous foundation L'oreal has ever introduced. The one I have here is the U.S version which comes in a small glass bottle without a pump(boo). The U.K version (also available in Pakistan) comes in a comparatively big bottle and has a pump attached. Having tried both the versions, I felt that the two have slight differences in texture and consistency. 

Starting off with the shade, I got myself the shade W2 thinking that it would suit my NC20 skin-tone since it was placed under the warm undertone category. However it turned out really light. It's a completely pale shade with no hints of yellow. Not a match for my skin but when I blend it out with fingers, it tends to adapt to my skin a little but this, in no way, is the answer to the mismatch. I'm probably gonna get myself W4 in near future in a hope to find a match for my skin by mixing the two shades. 

As I said, the U.S version (mentioned above) of this foundation is different from the U.K version. This one is slightly more runny in consistency and feels a lot lighter on skin. Other than that, it also has a very smooth texture specially when you blend it in with your fingers. I've noticed that when applied lightly, it pretty much imitates the skin. That's particularly what I love about this foundation. My face doesn't look cakey even if I wear it in layers and my skin can actually breath. This feature was absent in the U.K version of this foundation. 

The coverage it delivers is light to medium depending on the method of application. For daily use, I prefer applying it with my fingers as I get a natural finish this way. When I want to go a little heavy on the coverage, I like to use a blending brush, real techniques' expert face brush particularly. 

I'd say you get a satin finish with this foundation. It's not completely matte but not dewy either. Girls with oily skin like me will definitely need to set it with powder. The staying power is also pretty impressive. On average, It stays on my face for around 7-8 hours. However this time period is expected to shorten during summer when my skin gets super oily.  

Overall I love this foundation. It successfully made it to my best foundations list because of the reasons mentioned above. Until I find a better foundation for daily use, I'm going to keep repurchasing it.The best part is that you have 33 shades to choose from so they're serious when they say "true match" here.  

Have you guys tried this foundation? What do you think about it?

Do let me know

xx

Price: $9.99. It cost me 2200pkr including national and international shipping.
Where to buy: Your Local Drug-stores. If you're in Pakistan you can order it from a variety of facebook pages like Wishlist, Beauty Hub, Beauty Broadway, Beauty in Budget4U, Rouge and the list goes on.

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Review+Swatches- Essie Nail Polish

One of the biggest highlights of 2013, for me, was the launch of Essie polishes in Pakistan. I finally got to try 2 shades from the brand. Read on for swatches and review.

Left: Steel-ing The Scene

Right: Swept Off My Feet

Steel-ing The Scene

 Swept Off My Feet

Steel-ing The Scene

 Swept Off My Feet

My Experience:

Steel-ing the scene is pure metallic silver with minute shimmer which is unnoticeable when viewed from a distance. I see it as more of a nail art color since I'm obsessed with silver lines and polka dots but it looks stunning on it's own too. Swept Off my Feet is a rose-berry color and looks absolutely gorgeous on Asian skin-tones. Both the colors are sheer and need two coats in order to achieve full opacity. The applicator of these polishes is a little narrow for my liking though. It doesn't cover up my whole nail in one swipe so I have to make sure the color reaches both sides of my nails.
Overall I really like these polishes. I love how Essie offers an enormous range of colors and each one of them has a unique name. Those who are obsessed with painting nails will love the whole range.

Where To Buy: Right now Essie is a salon only product in Pakistan. You'll have to go to your nearest salon to get an essie manicure. Click Here to find out the salons in your city that carry the brand. I do wish they bring it out in stores soon.
For more updates about Essie Pakistan, visit their Facebook page

Have you guys tried Essie? Which shade is your favorite?
Do let me know
xx


Pr Sample

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Summer Favourites 2013

So we're halfway through summer and I can't believe how quickly time passed. I mean I just feel like it was a week back when I was excited about summer holidays coming up and now they're almost gone! So depressing. Anyway I'm sharing first "favorites" post with you guys today and these are my Summer favorites to be exact. It includes all the products I've been using this summer which made it to my "like list".

Liole Triple the solution BB Cream: I wore this BB cream for all my trips to the shopping mall during Ramadan. It's light weight, gives a decent amount of coverage, has an SPF and stays on my face for a good period of time. 

L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base: I reviewed this primer in the post just before this one. I love it. Makes my skin nice,smooth and blurs out pores. 

Color Studio Invincible Powder Compact: I've almost hit pan on this powder. It keeps my face shine free along with providing a teeny weeny amount of coverage.

NYX Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer in Yellow: I wish this had more yellow tint but nonetheless works great for my under eye circles.

SixPlus Buffing Brush: It's small, dense and blends in foundation/powder well

SixPlus Precision Buffing Brush: I love it for blending concealer under my eyes.

Makeup Blending Sponge: For a natural and even coverage, this is by far my favorite tool.

Urban Decay Single Eyeshadow In Half Baked: This is my first UD eyehsadow and I've officially fallen in love with it. It has a soft and buttery texture along with amazing pigmentation. Not to mention the color is gorgeous. I'll be buying more shades in future.

Maybelline Color Whisper in Rose Of Attraction: The one product I'll keep on repurchasing until I find something better. The shade is a perfect pink for my skin tone.

ColorStudio Pure Matte Lipstick in Missionary: I'm a sucker for peaches and this one's my favorite. It's matte and stays on for a long time.

e.l.f Makeup Mist and set: This one actually turned out better then what I had in mind. Locks in makeup for a decent amount of time.

Rimmel Lash Accelerator endless Mascara: I've reviewed this one too. Gives very natural looking lengthy lashes. 

Colorstudio Neon Devil: My favourite pink nail polish this summer. Matches most of my outfits.

So that's it for my summer favorites. What products do you love during summer ?

Do let me know

xx

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Review- L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base

It's been almost 2 years since my skin underwent some transformations which majorly included my pores getting huge and even more oily. L'oreal magic perfecting base came with the claim of minimizing pores and smoothing the skin so I went ahead and bought it. Keep reading to find out my thoughts about this product.

My Experience:
I'd literally go ahead and try out every product that claims to minimize pores or smooth skin but unfortunately I couldn't find any primer within my budget that focused on blurring pores or evening out the skin texture. I was particularly looking for silicone based primer so I searched and read some reviews after which I decided to give this one a try.

The L'oreal magic perfecting base comes in a small 15ml glass jar, definitely a lot smaller than what I had in my mind. It has a very smooth thick matte texture and feels velvety once blended into the skin.
The packaging suggest using the product in circular motions all over you face. However I have a slightly different approach. I take a very small amount and apply it on my cheeks and t-zone except the open pores on my cheeks. Then I take a little more and dab on my pores. This time I do not rub it in. I just dab until it sinks into my skin. I leave for about 30 seconds and start my foundation application.
I have to say this primer really impressed me. It does exactly what it says, makes my skin smooth but above all, blurs my pores. The minimizing/smoothing effect comes from silica which is one of it's ingredients. The rest of my face feels smooth too so it provides a nice texture for me to apply my regular foundation.
However for days when I'm using foundations with slightly dewy/natural finish, I have to dab the primer again at the end on my pores to make them blurry/matte. The blurred out effect is not very long lasting though. Unless I've sealed it up under powder and setting spray, it vanishes after a few hours.
One thing I want to make clear here is that this is not your basic primer with properties to make your foundation last long. In fact it will absolutely do nothing for elongating the life of makeup on your face. Just because it's not meant to do so. I'm happy that L'oreal didn't make any false claims here. It's supposed to make your skin smooth and blurred, it does that pretty well. It's as simple as that.

Overall I really like this primer. It does what it claims. Makes my skin really smooth and blurs out my pores and fine lines. However it will not help your foundation last long so you might wanna pair it up with a primer that make your makeup stay. Secondly I think it's a little overpriced for the amount you get.
A day back I went makeup shopping and I tried the bourjois skin smoothing primer at the counter. I realized that it gave almost the same result as this one. So when I'm out of this jar, I'll definitely give that one try.

Where To Buy: I had mine ordered from target but Pakistani girls can order it from Wishlist or Beauty in Budget4u.
Price: $12.99

Have you guys tried this? Which primer is your favorite?
Do let me know
xx

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Review+Swatches- Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers

It's not a lipstick, it's not a lipgloss. It's something you'd call "In between". Rimmel Apocalips have gained a lot of attention ever since they were released. Read on to find out what I think about them.

Rimmel Apocalips in Nova (Top)

and Luna (Bottom)

Rimmel Apocalips In Nova

Rimmel Apocalips in Luna

Left: Luna

Right: Nova

My Experience:

The moment I saw the label "lip lacquers", I knew they were something to look out for. Rimmel Apocalips come in 8 different shades and I feel that the collection leans more towards pinks. I've got Luna and Nova.

Luna is a beautiful peachy nude shade and as much as I loved it at first sight (I'm a sucker for peaches/nudes), it was not the right kind of nude peach for my skintone (for the record, I'm NC25). It will, however, look gorgeous on lighter skins. I usually wear it over a darker lipstick just so that it tones down a little and I don't look too washed out. Nova is a bright pink that looks kind of fuchsia on my lips.This will suit most of the skin tones.

The texture of these lip lacquers is very creamy and glides on smoothly across my lips. It also keeps lips moisturized as long as it stays on. Now I see why it's being loved by so many girls out there, the pigmentation is amazing. It's really rich and opaque and you get a good amount of color just by a single stroke of the brush. 

Since the product is a hybrid between lipstick and lipgloss, the staying power is somewhat in between too. It's much better then lipgloss, but not like a lipstick. But for a liquidy lip product, it lingers on well. I have a really bad lip biting/eating habit so I've to be extra careful with these on. Out of both, Nova (being a darker color) holds on better on my lips and leaves a tint behind as well.

The applicator comes with a small "dent", so when you take it out of the tube, it has enough amount of product accumulated in there to cover your lips so you don't have to dip the applicator back and forth.

Like most of Rimmel's lip products, these come with a scent too. To me, they smell exactly like their Color show off and kate moss matte lipsticks. It's a citrusy cherry kind of scent and I personally really like it.

I think these lip lacquers are definitely worth a try because of the texture and pigmentation. The color payoff is amazing and it's perfect for both day and night depending on the color you choose.

Where To Buy: BeautyArena, Just4girls.pk or Your Local Super/Drug Stores

Price: 975Pkr

Have you guys tried these? What do you think about them?

Do let me know

xx

Pr Sample

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