✧ Mini haul: Tarte Cosmetics. ✧

Hi errbadeh!

No, this blogpost will not be about another Sephora Favourites set. But instead, it will be about Tarte Cosmetics! You can probably tell by the title of this post already haha. Roughly two and a half months ago, I'd only found out that Tarte (website HERE!) actually ships to Brunei!

Shipping fee to Brunei is approximately USD24 (≈ BND32). However, shipping fee to Brunei is free if you spend above BND169 and that was what I did. If there are certain products that you want from Tarte but their prices do not add up to BND169 and if you're unwilling to pay the BND32 shipping fee for just a few products, you can ask your friends whether or not they are interested in purchasing from Tarte. This way, the entire purchase can add up to BND169 and you are then entitled to free shipping. 

I ordered a few goodies on the 10th of March and the package arrived around a month, which is usually the timeframe for international packages to reach Brunei. I shall list below what I ordered and the price of each item!

↪︎ water foundation (SPF 15) in shade light-medium honey ↝ BND54

↪︎ so fine micro liner in black ↝ BND26

↪︎ tarteist™ creamy matte lip paint in shade tbt ↝ BND22.50

↪︎ tarteist™ lip crayon in shade latergram ↝ BND21 BND

↪︎ double duty beauty™ limited-edition eye & cheek palette  in classic courage ↝ BND41.50

↪︎ double duty beauty™ limited-edition eye & cheek palette in sultry starpower ↝ BND28

So altogether, my order costed BND193, which I think is okay. Reason being, I actually am paying the base amount from the official website itself. Yes, there are a few sellers on IG who sell Tarte too. But why should you pay for their marked up prices when you can get the actual, proper price from the website itself? The sellers may absorb the shipping fee and you need not pay for it, but instead pay for the (sometimes unreasonably) jacked up prices. But you can always gather a few friends to make a single purchase off the website and share the shipping fee, additional bonus if it's free! Certain websites like Tarte offer free shipping if an amount and above is spent, but those websites that do not offer such free shipping, they often offer flat shipping rate, which also can be divided among you and your friends accordingly!

BH Cosmetics is one of cosmetics brands that ships to Brunei. Anastasia Beverly Hills and even Sigma Beauty, too! I tend to see IG sellers mark up their prices by a lot of %. Why not give purchasing yourself a whirl before purchasing from your local IG sellers? You can simply just visit the brands' official websites and try adding certain products to your cart, select Brunei as the destination, see the total amount of entire purchase (including shipping fee) and compare it to what you have to pay when you purchase from a local IG seller. By doing these few clicks and filling in some entries, you may be able to actually save some moolah for future purchases!

Okay, I should probably get back to blogging about my mini haul 🤓. Pictures toime!

⇧ Brown box containing all items ⇧

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⇧ water foundation in shade light-medium honey ⇧

⇧ The applicator is a dropper tool (which reminds me of my Chemistry two-hour long practicals..😶) ⇧

⇧ water foundation ↦ hydrating, light weight ⇧

⇧ SPF 15 sunscreen ⇧

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 ⇧ so fine micro liner in black ⇧

↬ You can get a thin line or a thicker line with this eyeliner!

↬ Thin ↝ Hold the liner where the tip is pointed directly to eyelids.

↬ Thin ↝ Hold the liner where it lays more horizontally to eyelids, rather than having only the tip coming into contact with eyelids.

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⇧ tarteist™ creamy matte lip paint in shade tbt ⇧

⇧ tarteist™ lip crayon in shade latergram ⇧

↬ Both tbt and latergram are mauve, deeper dusty rose shades.

↬ Both are super pigmented and creamy!!

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⇧ double duty beauty™ limited-edition eye & cheek palette ⇧

⤥ classic courage 

⤥ sultry starpower

⇧ classic courage ⇧

✶ May the starlight be your spotlight ✶

Swatches from top to bottom:

↬ stiletto (eyeshadow) ⇉ a matte, black shade.

↬ twilight (eyeshadow) ⇉ a medium, taupe and chocolate shade with a slight sheen.

↬ sparks fly (eyeshadow) ⇉ a medium, brown shade.

↬ ladies night (eyeshadow) ⇉ a matte, light taupe shade which can be used as a transitioning shade or as a base.

↬ glimmer (eyeshadow) ⇉ a light shimmery, champagne shade (perfect for highlighting the inner corners!)

↬ star power (blush) ⇉ a slightly shimmery, light dusty rose shade.

⇧ sultry starpower ⇧

✿ She dreamed, she believed & she succeeded ✿

Swatches from top to bottom:

↬ trailblazer (eyeshadow) ⇉ a matte, medium brown shade.

↬ lucky penny (eyeshadow) ⇉ a shimmery, bronze-y rose gold shade.

↬ smile on (eyeshadow) ⇉ a shimmery, bronze shade.

↬ rosy outlook (eyeshadow) ⇉ a shimmery, light peach shade with a hint of gold.

↬ rise & shine (eyeshadow) ⇉ a cream, off-white shade, which can act as a base for your subsequent eyeshadows.

↬ courage (blush) ⇉ a matte, medium peach shade.

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What can I say about the packaging of these palettes? Lawa brabis. The entire packaging is very compact, has a mirror in it, consists of five creamy eyeshadows and a blush! Even before opening up the palette and use it, you already feel positive inside because of the words written on the front of the palette.

I've yet to put these products to use and have only just taken them out of its packages for the first time today. I'm excited to though! Will be taking them along on my Singapore trip and put them to the test.

I guess this is all for today's mini haul! I hope you've enjoyed reading and that it's of help to you in any way possible. Thanks for making it this far ☺️. Please leave a comment down below if you have any questions!

Gladyator signing out!

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Sleek Makeup Haul.

Hi errbadeh!! I don't know about you, but I often sign up to receive newsletters from websites (especially those that sell makeup) in order to get some inside scoop about discounts or sales! In October, there was a 25% discount provided on Sleek's website.....and that only means one thing: online shopping!

My order date for five items was made on the 22nd of October. The subtotal was USD68.95 and with the discount code applied, it was reduced to USD51.70! Might I also mention that the shipping to Brunei was free! So it was definitely a good deal! My packaged arrived nicely packed in a black box and with the items bubble-wrapped. Without further ado, here are ze pictures!

↑ New Skin Revive foundation in White Rose, USD11.99

↑ Eye & Cheek palette in Dancing Til Dusk, USD14.99

↑ Eye & Cheek palette in See You At Midnight, USD14.99

↑ I-Divine palette in Arabian Nights, USD11.99

↑ Precious Metals Highlighting palette, USD14.99

I can't wait to try them out! I feel that Sleek is one of the most affordable makeup brands that offer high quality. Blogposts on each of the aforementioned product will be up soon, along with more pictures and swatches! I actually have four other eyeshadow palettes which were bought last time. I should probably blog about them too yes? :D

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below if you have any! As always, thank you so much for reading!

Gladyator signing out.

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Paddle Pop.

Hello pretty earthlings!! Last night, my family and I threw a surprise birthday dinner for my great-aunt as it was her 80th birthday. According to Chinese tradition, when someone turns 80 years old, it calls for a grand celebration. Same goes when a baby turns exactly one month old.

So for the dinner, I decided to bust out my BH Cosmetics' Eyes On The 80's palette (since great-aunt turned 80..geddit geddit?) and use it for the very first time. I had no idea which shades to use because there are just so many to choose from, but I did end up with some pink and purple, and a speck of gold.

Without further ado, here are the products I used!

Base/Face:

• Essence All About Matt! primer/base
• Makeup Forever HD foundation
• Tarte Maracuja Creaseless concealer
• Catrice Cosmetics Prime And Fine "mattifying" powder

• Take shade '3' first and apply on the outer V of eyelid. Slowly add and build intensity to map out the shape of the entire eye-look prior to applying other eyeshadows on entire eyelid. As opposed to applying the darkest shade last, applying it first can save you the hassle of applying everything again from the beginning if you mess up (like getting a weird "tail" of the look). I find this helpful!
• Upon achieving the desired shape, proceed to add shade '2' to the centre of eyelid. Blend it to shade '3' to ensure that there are no obvious, harsh lines.
• Dab with your ring finger on shade '1' and slightly apply it on the inner most corner of eyelid. This particular shade is very pigmented so applying with fingers will make it appear to be more vibrant. Also, this shade acts as a highlighting shade as the previous two shades lean towards the darker side.
• Apply '1', '2' and '3' on lower lash line to balance out the entire eye-look, so it won't look too top-heavy.

• Anastasia BH Dipbrow pomade in Ebony
• Anastasia BH tinted brow gel in Chocolate
• Catrice Cosmetics liquid liner in Dating Joe Black (thank you Nikkie!)
• Yves Saint Laurent Babydoll mascara
• NYX soft matte lip cream in Addis Ababa

Taken using Canon Powershot, without flash, only LED light.

Taken using iPhone 5S.

(which looks more flattering as Chrome, my default filter, really does bring out the colors!)

((which goes to show that this look is awesome because selfies using a phone is the way to go))

I guess that's it! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop me a message below. I hope everyone has had a great weekend, because I certainly did! I've finally graduated from UBD on Saturday *throws confetti*. But wait, here comes Masters *picks up confetti, one by one*.

Have a great week ahead of you and as always, thank you for reading!

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Tartelette!

I've officially become a Tartelette last month because of their Amazonian clay full coverage foundation. It is nothing short of amazing on my skin! I have oily skin but it has gotten much better since I amped up my skincare regime since June. A friend (also my makeup mule) helped me bring back the Tarte foundation along with their maracuja creaseless concealer. And they both work so well together. Best $99 ever spent ($60 for the foundation and $39 for the concealer at Sephora Singapore).

Last week was the beginning of Raya so I thought, what better time to open up new products and use? After my everyday skincare routine, I used a little of Benefit's POREfessional as a base and then applied the Tarte foundation using a damp Real Techniques' Miracle Complexion sponge and it is a (much cheaper) dupe to the original Beauty Blender. The foundation is really easy to blend and it is build-able, so you can layer or pack on if you like a fuller coverage. I only applied one layer because 1) I wanted to see how one layer holds up and 2) I wanted a more natural look because it was day-time. After applying the foundation, I dabbed a little bit of the maracuja creaseless concealer on my under-eye circles and I kid you not, you only need the tiniest bit because a little goes a long way and it has a thick consistency. I decided not to use any powder because again, I wanted it to be light.

I started wearing the foundation at about four in the afternoon and actually had a pretty long night (inclusive of sweating like mad at a basketball match with many people sweating like mad too). When I got home around midnight, the foundation still looked good. And that was when I decided that the foundation is. amazing. 

Tarte's Amazonian clay full coverage foundation

Tarte's Maracuja Creaseless concealer

Benefit's They're Real! push-up liner

Revlon's Lash Potion mascara

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

NYX soft matte lip cream in Prague on my lips

I just realised I don't usually use any false eyelashes or blushes. I should probably start investing in some (any reason to shop for more makeup...)!

Anyway, thank you for reading and have a great weekend ahead of you!!

Gladyator signing out.

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Review: Sleek Makeup's Bare Skin Foundation

Harrow pretty earthlings!

A few weeks ago I ordered some goodies from Sleek Makeup and one of the products was their new Bare Skin Foundation (link here!). The shade that I picked was Bamboo as it looked like the perfect shade for me as seen from the website. The foundation is said to:

• Provide light to medium, buildable coverage
• Conceal blemishes and imperfections Innovative formula evens out skin tone
• Have advanced moisturising properties help to keep skin nourished
• Be light base feels weightless, allowing skin to breathe
• Instantly enhance and illuminate skin

When I first got it, I was little bumped out because the foundation looked a little darker in real life than it is displayed digitally from the website. But then again, sometimes products do look different from time to time. Below are two swatches of the foundation which look quite different from the website.

Swatch taken from the website

My swatch without white light

My swatch with white light

Tonight, I'm going out for a dinner so I decided to give the foundation a try, though I thought it would be a little too dark for me. I opted for a light look and here are the products that I used.

• Sleek Makeup Bare Skin Foundation
• Garnier BB eye roll-on (to brighten under-eye circles)
• Revlon The Lash Potion mascara
• Real Techniques miracle complexion sponge (to apply both Bare Skin Foundation and BB eye roll-on)

I decided not to further use any products because I wanted to see how the foundation holds up. Surprisingly it matches my skin pretty well (despite from it looking a bit too dark from the bottle)! I really love the finish of it and it sure does feel very light-weight! Also, I do have normal to oily skin. Here's a picture of the foundation, without any powder-finishes or any filters.

Overall, I think the foundation lives up to what it's stated to deliver. And for only £8.99 at that! Definitely a good buy for a good price.

Hope this has helped! Gladyator signing out.

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