Review – Urban Decay Naked Skin

Today’s review is a new foundation from Urban Decay – the Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup. This is the first foundation i’ve tried with a HD formula. Retailing at S$62 (30ml), I took the opportunity to buy this during the recent Sephora member’s sale with 20% discount.

I was matched to Shade 4.0, which is a medium-light shade, with golden olive undertones. (If you need an equivalent, i’m a MAC NC25)

The packaging is simple and aesthetically pleasing. It comes with an attractive metallic chrome cap, but it is definitely a fingerprint magnet. It also has mixing balls inside the bottle, and you can hear them when you shake the bottle (which is recommended before usage).

With a pump dispenser, it’s extremely easy to dispense the liquid foundation and control the amount needed.

From the swatch above, you can see that it has a watery, and very lightweight texture. It provides a light to medium, yet buildable coverage.  If you prefer a sheer, semi-matte satin finish, you will like this.

The finish looks pretty good after application, though it doesn’t quite give me that brightened complexion as with the Shu Uemura Face Architect Smooth Fit Fluid Foundation. In terms of sebum control, its performance is so-so. I’d definitely recommend setting powder for this foundation. After about 4 to 5 hours, you don’t see that smooth satin finish and a touch-up is needed especially if you tend to get oily around the T-zone areas.

I tend to avoid using this during the weekdays for work, simply because it isn’t long-wearing and i hate to have to touch-up during the day. I do enjoy wearing this on the weekend for an afternoon out though. It is weightless and feels comfortable on my skin.

Here’s a FOTD featuring the Naked Skin foundation and a EOTD using the Sleek Glory Palette. Thanks for looking!

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are my own, and have not been influenced by PR companies or advertisers. Products featured/reviewed are purchased with my own money, unless otherwise stated.

Haul – Sephora Member Sale

I absolutely couldn’t miss out on this one… even though i told myself i have too much. 20% storewide sale, and i mean everything was on sale. No siree, definitely couldn’t miss out on this fantastic bargain at Sephora.

I must commend myself on my self-control. It’d be too easy to go crazy and buy everything in sight. I thought long and hard about each purchase (except for the Mac Blush actually, it’s very reasonably priced so i thought what the hell). For those of you who haven’t gone down to take a look, tomorrow (5 Nov) is the LAST day!! It’d be a good opportunity to do some X’mas shopping even if you don’t need anything for yourself. I really feel like going AGAIN ;p

Very excited about trying out my new Urban Decay foundation. Will share reviews soon

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are my own, and have not been influenced by PR companies or advertisers. Products featured/reviewed are purchased with my own money, unless otherwise stated.

Review – Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream #15

This was a totally indulgent purchase in my case. I blame you Sephora, yes i do. So the story is that I received an email saying i only had to spend S$40 more to claim my S$40 voucher. Anyway, my excuse was that i didn’t have a cream eyeshadow in my stash and i really wanted needed one! So off i went in search for the HG of all cream eyeshadows.

I innocently approached the Make Up For Ever (MUFE) shelf display at Sephora (Vivocity) and was attracted by the myriad of colors available in the aqua cream range. I fell in love with this color (#15) as soon as i swatched it. To be honest, i fell in love with many other colors from the range. But i was thinking that if i could only buy one color, i’d probably get the most mileage from this shade because it is a neutral warm shade that is versatile and one can typically use it to create different eye looks for different occasions.

Here’s what it looks like. This small jar with a glossy black plastic screw cap, contains 6g of product that is made in Belgium. Upon inspection, it looks quite ‘harmless‘, a normal warm, taupe-like shade. I was wondering what the color payoff would be like and how it would perform upon application.

Product contains:
- Volatile Oil
- Fimogen Polymer
- High concentration of specially selected iridescent pearls & pigments
- Synthetic ester
It is paraben-free, dermatologist-tested and ophthalmologist-tested.

(extracted from MUFE website)

I swatched it pretty heavily here, to give you an idea of how intense the color can be. As you can see, it is a dark bronze-y, taupe-y shade that is quite metallic, and has one heck of a sheen.

My thoughts:
- I was told that i didn’t have to use a eyelid primer if i was using this as a base. But i did anyway.
- I realized many people use their fingers to apply cream eyeshadow in the tutorials that i watched. Personally for me, it was much easier to control the amount of product picked up and the color intensity when i use a small brush to apply the aqua cream all over my lid. It’s better to apply little by little blending it in, rather than applying more product to achieve the same intensity.
- The aqua cream dries off quite quickly to a smooth powder finish, so you need to be fast and blend quickly before it sets. Another reason why i feel using a brush is easier.
- Color payoff is excellent and it really doesn’t budge (and i have oily eyelids!), smudge or crease much at all! I’m super impressed! Worth every cent of S$39!
- I want more shades in my stash please!!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Here are 2 Face-of-The-Days:
1) Layered with a dark green eyeshadow from my SLEEK eyeshadow palette &
2) Layered with ‘Gunmetal’ from my Naked palette to create a more intense, smoky eye look.

First Look

Second Look

Thanks for looking!