✧ Review: Huda Beauty Liquid Matte ✧

If you're an avid user of lip products, or specifically liquid lipsticks, I am sure you would have heard of Huda Beauty's form of liquid lipsticks, called liquid matte. These sold out like hot cakes the minute they are displayed online and in-stores, and most probably still selling out as I am typing this now.

When I was on my two-week long holiday at the U.K., I made it a plan to go down to Harrods and get myself some of Huda's liquid mattes. The first time around, I only bought Gossip Gurl and Trophy Wife. I tried them on the next few days while travelling and decided to go to Harrods once again before I left the U.K., and got myself Trendsetter and Icon. I had to queue for about fifteen minutes to half an hour because there were so many people lining up, too. My cousin was recently on her trip to the U.K. too so I asked her to help me get two more shades: Spice Girl and Bombshell. These liquid mattes cost £18 each, approximately BND32.

You can buy them on Cult Beauty for £15 (even cheaper!) too, and Cult Beauty ships to Brunei at a rate of £6.95 and for free for purchases above £50.

↭ Scent

These liquid mattes have a vanilla scent to them. The smell could be a little empowering upon application but it fades after awhile and does not linger for long.

↭ Formula/Consistency

They are thin, light-weight and a tad runny. However, they are very pigmented. I find it amazing how the formula is so light-weight but is pigmented at the same time. That was the reason why I decided to get more shades.

Since the formula is a tad runny, it'll be a little wet upon application. They dry down completely matte after awhile. For me, it took about ten to fifteen seconds (yes I counted lmao).

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↯ Pictures! ↯

Top to Bottom:

↬ Bombshell - a slight pinkish nude shade

↬ Trendsetter - a brown, nude shade.

↬ Icon - a dark reddish peach shade.

↬ Gossip Gurl - a medium, Barbie pink shade.

↬ Trophy Wife - a rosy, purplish plum shade.

↬ Spice Girl - a brown, mauve shade.

↖ Bombshell ↗

↖ Trendsetter ↗

↖ Gossip Gurl ↗

↖ Icon ↗

↖ Trophy Wife ↗

↖ Spice Girl ↗

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 ☃ A little round up.. ☃

If you're looking for a high quality liquid lipstick, I highly recommend Huda Beauty's liquid matte. A lot of local Instagram sellers carry these at a slightly jacked up price. Or you can always order online from Cult Beauty, as aforementioned.

I hope this blogpost is useful! Thanks so much for reading and please feel free to leave a comment or question down below if you have any! :D

Gladyator signin' out.

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✧ Review: Juvia's Place Nubian 2 eyeshadow palette ✧

Let me start this blogpost by saying a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017! May this year bring you greater memories, joy and filled-up storages of makeup 😁. 2016 flew by so quickly that I actually can't believe that the first week of January 2017 is almost over! I can't wait for Chinese New Year, all the food it brings and the festivities.

I've been seeing a lot of hype on Juvia's Place's eyeshadow palettes, especially having watched Stephanie Nicole's video on it. But unfortunately, JP's official website does not ship to Brunei and I have been looking out for local Instagram sellers that carry this brand. A friend purchased JP's Nubian (green) palette and was saying how good the palette is! So I then contacted the seller that carries JP, the seller is GG.bwn (click here for her IG page!). I got The Nubian 2 (yellow) palette for BND55. She delivered it to my house the next day after I placed my order, and she was also kind enough to send me an Ofra Cosmetics long-lasting liquid lipstick to try! Thank you GG.bwn!

I took some pictures and made some swatches today. Enjoy the pictures!

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↯ Juvia's Place The Nubian 2 eyeshadow palette! ↯

▶︎ Top to bottom ◀︎

↬ Morocco - a burnt orange shade in a matte finish.
↬ Madagascar - a medium sandy shade in a matte finish.

↬ Sheba - a light-toned bronzy shade in a metallic finish.

↬ Yaa - a copper shade in a metallic finish.
↬ Jezebel - a pinkish, purple shade in a matte finish.

↬ Zuri - an off-white shade in a metallic finish (this will look beautiful as a highlight!).

↬ Cleopatra - a BEAUTIFUL medium-toned blue shade in a metallic finish. 
↬ Nefertiti - a yellowy, orange shade in a metallic finish.
↬ Nairobi - a medium-toned yellowy gold shade in a metallic finish.

↬ Leyla - a deep eggplant shade with slight sparkle and shimmer.
↬ Kenya - a purplish grey shade in a matte finish.

↬ Egypt - a BEAUTIFUL forest green shade in a metallic finish.

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↯ Ofra Cosmetics long-lasting liquid lipstick in the shade Mocha ↯

▶︎ Me wearing Mocha ◀︎

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 ☃ A little round up.. ☃

First off, the payoff of the eyeshadows for The Nubian 2 is amazing. I only finger-swatched once and it was without any eye primer! Not only that, the eyeshadow pans are quite big. All in all, I am impressed with the quality of this eyeshadow palette! I now need to get my hands on The Nubian palette..

As for the liquid lipstick from Ofra Cosmetics, it has one of the best formula for liquid lipsticks that I have tried. It's lightweight, pigmented and glides on smoothly and effortlessly. And most importantly, it is not drying on the lips.

I hope this blogpost has helped you in a way or two. Thank you so much for reading!

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✧ Online Haul: Anastasia Beverly Hills ✧

Happy Monday, errbadeh!

The past week has been a tad hectic. I had my graduation last two Saturdays and I'm officially a Masters holder yay *throws confetti*.  To "prepare" myself for the event, I decided to get some stuff from ABH. I saw that they were releasing their new Master Palette by Mario as well as a new liquid lipstick in the shade Allison. So... I went on and did a little damage by purchasing those two products and a liquid lipstick in the shade Veronica. Guilty not guilty!

I already own a few liquid lipsticks  (shades: Kathryn, Dusty Rose, Catnip, Ashton) from ABH from an online haul a few months back. So for this blogpost, I will combine both hauls. Here are some pictures I took!

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↯ What I got! ↯

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↯ Master Palette by Mario eyeshadow palette ↯

▶︎ (L-R) ◀︎

↬ Hollywood - a medium-toned gold shade with a slight shimmer.
↬ NYC - a reddish, bronze shade with a pearly sheen finish.

↬ Kim - a medium-toned brown shade with a tad of orange undertone and has a slight sheen finish.

↬ Muse - a medium-toned copper shade with a metallic sheen finish.
↬ Marina - a slight peachy, medium-toned champagne shade with a metallic finish.

↬ Claudia - a grayish blue metallic shade.

↬ Lula - a muted taupe matte shade. 
↬ Isabel - an orangey, terracotta shade with a matte finish.
↬ Violeta - a darker reddish brown shade with a matte finish.

↬ 5th Ave - a medium gold shade with a metallic finish,
↬ Bronx - a olive green shade with a metallic finish.

↬ Paris - a brownish, bronze shade with a frosted finish.

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↯ Liquid lipsticks↯

▶︎ (Top to bottom) ◀︎

↬ Ashton - a medium-toned brown shade.
↬ Dusty Rose - a muted, purplish pink shade.

↬ Catnip - a medium-toned purplish plum shade.

↬ Kathryn - a red shade with a pink undertone.
↬ Allison - a pinky, brown shade (which I think can pass as a darker version of Dusty Rose!).

↬ Veronica - a muted, plum-ish mauve shade.

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 ☃ A little round up.. ☃

I really, really like the liquid lipsticks. On me, they aren't drying at all and they last a looong time. I once wore Kathryn to Jerudong Park, which included me having really good (and oily) food and still, the lipstick held up until the end of the night with only a tad of feathering on the outer corners of my lips. I've worn all six shades above and I like all of them. Here are some pictures of me using them! (L-R, top to bottom: Ashton, Dusty Rose, Catnip, Allison, Veronica, Kathryn)

 

 

 

As for the Mario eyeshadow palette, the payoff is AMAZING. I used it (in the last two pictures above) when I had rehearsals for my graduation and on the actual day of the event too. My makeup held up the entire day, despite sweating a lot throughout the day.

The eyeshadow palette is USD45 and each liquid lipstick is USD20. The shipping fee to Brunei costs approximately USD18 but the courier is UPS so your parcel is shipped directly to your house. And that only means no queuing up at the post office and getting taxed! That also means, no queuing up at the post office and getting taxed for your parcel (YAY!)!

I personally don't mind paying for the shipping fee because it is really convenient. If it's too hefty, you can always find friends who are interested in ordering so the shipping fee can be divided accordingly.

I hope this blogpost has helped you in a way or two. Please don't hesitate to leave any comments or questions down below if you have any. Thank you for reading and have a great week ahead of you!

Gladyator signin' out.

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✧ Mini haul: Lash stuff & Rosehip Oil ✧

Hi everyone!

I'm flying off this weekend so I thought I might squeeze in a blogpost before I leave. The long-awaited trip is finally around the corner and I can't wait to see how our Airbnb listings will look like in real life. Before I get too excited, I should probably focus on the main objective of this blogpost, which is to share with you some stuff that I've bought for my holiday.

I am not one to use fake lashes because I have always felt that they are heavy on my eyes and I don't fancy the feeling of having my eyes weighed down. I think I have only used fake eyelashes twice ever since I started playing with makeup. One day, I came across a local Instagram seller called Shoppers Droppers (link here!) and saw that they were carrying some Ardell products. I came to know about the brand Ardell when I watched a few of Jaclyn Hill's videos and saw her liking towards Ardell's falsies, typically those in the Demi Wispies style.

So I thought to myself that I should probably try using falsies for once and what better way to get into that than by getting myself some Demi Wispies!? So I sent Shoppers Droppers an Instagram direct message and was responded very promptly, which I highly appreciated. I ended up getting Ardell's lash applicator and their LashGrip black eyelash adhesive. I also saw that Shoppers Droppers had some rosehip oil in their in-stocks and since I had read on the internet about how good RHO is, I decided to add the rosehip oil into my purchase list as well.

In addition to my purchase order, Shoppers Droppers was kind enough to send two additional Jouer products to me to review. I was not paid or sponsored in any way so my thoughts and comments are 100% honest.

Here are some pictures I took today!

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↯ My order items! ↯

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↯ Lash stuff! ↯

▶︎ Ardell Demi Wispies ◀︎

▶︎ Ardell Demi Wispies ◀︎

▶︎ Ardell eyelash applicator and LashGrip black adhesive ◀︎

▶︎ Ardell eyelash applicator and LashGrip black adhesive ◀︎

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↯ Rosehip oil ↯

▶︎ Life-flo pure rosehip seed oil ◀︎

▶︎ Life-flo pure rosehip seed oil ◀︎

I have been using rosehip oil for about a week now, incorporating it into my daily skincare routine and I love it! It keeps my skin really hydrated because I have combination of dry and oily skin. Whenever I use my Laneige BB cushion, my skin tends to be really dry with patchiness here and there. But when I used it yesterday, my skin surprisingly did not feel dry at all! There were no dry patches like there usually would be. I was thoroughly surprised.

I will continue using rose hip oil for a longer period of time and update whenever necessary! But so far, I really do like how it has been beneficial to my skin.

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↯ Lip stuff! ↯

▶︎ Jouer long-wear lip crème liquid lipstick and one from their limited edition mermaid collection ◀︎

▶︎ Top to bottom ◀︎

Long-wear lip crème liquid lipstick in the shade pêche

Mermaid long-wear lip crème liquid lipstick in the shade in the shade daiquiri

↬ Pêche- a light peach shade with a pink undertone in a matte finish.
↬ Daiquiri - a medium-toned peachy, coral shade in a metallic matte finish.

Both lip products have a sweet, vanilla scent and they swatch beautifully and effortlessly. Looking at how beautiful the swatches are, I decided to apply them on my lips. To my surprise, it was rather difficult to apply Pêche and it was quite streaky. I had some trouble layering Pêche and trying to make it work but I could not. On my skin tone, Pêche was a little light and made me look washed out. But these aforementioned problems are quite common with lighter shades from any brand. I'm certain that the darker tones from Jouer's liquid lipstick line will be much better, considering they actually do swatch veryyyy easily and effortlessly. 

I moved on to try out the mermaid limited edition one in the shade Daiquiri and Daiquiri applied much better than Pêche did. It's a beautiful shade, and I think it will look really good paired with brown smokey eyes!

▶︎ Daiquri feat. my bare, post-workout face ◀︎

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 ☃ A little round up.. ☃

I can't wait to try and use Ardell's lash products for my trip! The Ardell Demi Wispies falsies are BND22, lash applicator and adhesive are BND10 each. As for the rosehip oil, it's priced at BND12. The Jouer lip products are BND30 each. Give Shoppers Droppers a holla if you're interested in getting these items! They also carry other products such as Milani and Rimmel, and they have Huda Beauty's liquid lipsticks on the way so head over there if you're looking to get yourself some of those goodies!

Thank you so much for reading and making it down this far. I hope you have a great week ahead of you! Gladyator signing out.

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Lip products from indie brands!

I think most of us makeup enthusiasts in Brunei know more or less on well-known makeup brands such as ColourPop, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Benefit, MAC, Tarte, Jeffree Star, Kat Von D and the likes. So, naturally, most local Instagram sellers carry those brands.

A local seller, O.D.D. Da Bn (Instagram link here!) was kind enough to send me and let me try a few lip products from brands that she carries, brands that I have never heard of! I was not paid or sponsored in any way to write up this blogpost. As usual, my thoughts and opinions are 100% what I honestly believe in.

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↯ The Lip Bar liquid matte lipsticks ↯

The packaging on these are unique! I really like the cap of the product. To those who are into vegan products, The Lip Bar products are vegan.


From top to bottom:

↬ Boy Trouble - a medium orange shade.

↬ Drama Queen - a plum shade.

↬ Bawse Lady - a classic red shade.

Both Boy Trouble and Bawse Lady apply beautifully, even with only a coat. Drama Queen, however, applies rather patchy and was quite difficult to work with. These are BND16 each on O.D.D. Da Bn.

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▶︎ (Top to Bottom) ◀︎

Lonely Planet Cosmetics liquid lipstick BND35

↬ Lexington - a medium brown shade with a slight orange undertone with a matte finish.

Coloured Raine lip lacquer BND35

↬ Single - a mauve-y, dusty rose shade with a semi-matte finish.

Milani Amore MATTalics lip creme BND25

↬ Matte About You - a peach shade with a pink undertone in a metallic finish.

Glam Box Cosmetics lipsticks BND20

↬ Press On - a medium red shade with a satin finish.

↬ High Tail - a fuchsia shade with a satin finish.

Both Lonely Planet and Milani products smell quite alike Kylie Cosmetics' liquid lipsticks. They share a sweet scent which some people might find uncomfortable to wear but it does go away after a while. One thing I noticed about Coloured Raine's lip lacquer is that it's a little runny and the lid around the tube can get quite messy because of the consistency of the product. The world has undoubtedly been taken over by the rise in popularity of liquid lipsticks so it's cool that Glam Box's traditional lipsticks are not entirely matte but rather has a satin finish, which is much less drying compared to other formulas.

It's rather rare to see such brands around here because the most commonly carried ones are as aforementioned in the beginning of this post. Hats off to sellers like O.D.D Da Bn who take the plunge into bringing indie brands to us!

Please feel free to leave a comment down below if you have questions! Thank so much for reading and have a fantastic week ahead of you.

Gladyator signing out.

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Review: Matte & Metal Matte Lip Kits by Kylie Cosmetics℠.

Happy Monday errbadeh!

Kylie Cosmetics℠ lip products, to me, are like hot cakes. They sell like hot cakes! One minute they're in stock, and the next, they are most probably (and usually) sold out! They're usually restocked in the wee hours in Brunei (GMT) time and it really is a hassle trying to wake up (or stay awake for the night-owlers!).

Also, I've read on the Internet that some people have trouble with their orders. Either their packages get lost in transit and never reaching their supposed destination or their package comes into their hands empty. So I decided to place a few orders from TwixBN because they offer the most affordable price for Kylie Cosmetics℠ products. Kylie Matte Lip Kits are BND55 and Metal Matte Lip Kits are BND35. In addition to that, there is no deposit required and you can always pay up for your order when it has successfully arrived Brunei or when payday has graced all of us. Sometimes it's a hassle when deposit is required before your order can be processed, because who knows? Packages might get lost or get tampered in transit, and then you'd have to be refunded your deposit. But of course, I do understand from the standpoint of sellers because requiring deposit for orders are safer for themselves to prevent customers from backing out and say "Sorry sis, me nada jadi bali ah" when their stuff have arrived. Such actions might negatively impact the seller. As a customer and a consumer, I think it's cool that certain sellers like TwixBN protects their customers not requiring payment of deposit. Naturally, we cannot take advantage of this and we all have to be ethical and good customers.

Hookay! Enough ranting. Here are some pictures I took for my orders!

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⬇︎ Matte Lip Kits ⬇︎

⬇︎ Each of these lip kits contain one matte liquid lipstick and one lip liner ⬇︎

▶︎ (L-R) Koko K, Dolce K and Posie K ◀︎

⬇︎ Matte liquid lipsticks ⬇︎

▶︎ (L-R) Koko K, Dolce K and Posie K ◀︎

⬇︎ Lip liners ⬇︎

▶︎ (L-R) Koko K, Dolce K and Posie K ◀︎

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 ⬇︎ Swatches of the matte liquid lipsticks ⬇︎

⬇︎ Swatches of the lip liners⬇︎

Both liquid lipsticks and lip liners are of the same colour.

↬ Koko K - a light, peachy nude shade that's suitable for everyday wear!
↬ Dolce K - a medium, brown nude.
↬ Posie K  - slightly dark, dusty rose shade.

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⬇︎ Metal Matte Lipsticks ⬇︎
▶︎ (L-R) Heir and Reign ◀︎

As the product name suggests, these metal matte lipsticks dry matte and have a metallic finish.

↬ Heir - a light, peachy shade with pink undertone.
↬ Reign - a deep bronze, copper shade. I think that this will go so beautifully with just a simple winged eyeliner because this shade will definitely stand out.

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 ☃ A little round up.. ☃

First of all, these smell like cake icing! If you're not a fan of sweet smell, it might put you off a little. The lipliners are very creamy and applies easily. One thing though, I think they might run out fast. The matte liquid lipsticks run quite watery than I'd hoped because I thought that they would have a more mousse-y texture. However, they are rather opaque and pigmented. The metal matte lipsticks are also as pigmented. The above swatches only show a single swipe!

These Kylie Cosmetics℠ are rather expensive and you can always find dupes on the Internet. I've read that ColourPop makes some. They have a massive range of shades, you're undoubtedly bound to see some dupes here and there.

This is where I'll end this blog post! I hope it has helped you in a way or another. Thank you so much for reading. Have a great week ahead of you!

Gladyator signing' out.

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