Inglot's AMC Liquid Blush

Wow! I am still buzzing from how much I am enjoying all the products I purchased from Inglot! I have been brave and used some of the bright colors in my Freedom System Palette - if you read my past post here, you would know that I picked out a few bold colors namely:- 362 (bright pink), 331 (medium green), 370 (bright yellow),371 (bright blue),372 (green with slight blue undertone), 441 (purple). I would love to put up some of the looks I have done hopefully in a future post - I am not diligent enough sometimes to take pictures of every look I do but I will make more of an effort so I can show you how these beautiful colors look on my skin.

Another item I purchased which I am quite in love with is the AMC blush in the auspicious number of 88! The lovely deep berry shade caught my eye and I knew it would work well on deeper skin tones. I have never tried a liquid blush before and was quite looking forward to the challenge of applying this. Besides for 15ml's of this at RM62 - I thought it was a steal! Not only that, the blush is very, very pigmented (as with their eye shadows) and a tiny amount goes a very long way. The other thing I love about it is the fact that it comes in a pump bottle which if pumped gently, will give you the smallest amount necessary to do both cheeks. Also, its hygienic because the pump means your fingers never come into contact with the product.

Being a novice at using liquid blushers.....I tried the pump cautiously the first time and dispensed way too much but using pump dispensers is a 'feel' thing right - you need to get a feel of how much pressure to assert on the pump and test it a few times before you get it right. Thats why in the picture below you see two blobs of the blush on the back of my hand. I just spent a few good seconds looking at the color and admiring it.

Here I rubbed the color in a circular motion to test how it would turn out and I was amazed at the incredicly pigmented color. I was afraid of it when I saw this as I thought, it was way too dark for me but I perservered and as you can see from the picture further below.

In the picture on your left, I continued to buff the color and it became quite sheer but I continued to buff the edges and gently work it in.....what you see on the right is the color that I felt really happy with (very very slight difference)!

Subsequently, I used this on my cheeks one morning and again used my fingers. This time I used much less than the first time and put a few dots of it on either side of my cheek. I then tapped on the color to disperse it all over the cheek bones to diffuse the color. This time, it came out very sheer and lighter than what you saw on the back of my hand. Overall, I loved it and noted that the color did not fade the whole day. I did use a light buffing of powder to 'set' the color in place.

At the price of RM 62, if you used a teeny tiny amount.....this product could last forever!! I saw many other colors when I was at the store and sadly I did not have enough time to swatch all the colors......but if you have any of the other colors, do share your thoughts on it.

Sephora's SUPREME Cleansing Foam - Darling or Dud?

In earlier post, I talked about my trip to Sephora and how much I enjoyed it. Here is another product I purchased and this is from the in-house brand. Having been on a mission to find a good cleanser, (I may have found a HG cleanser (diferent brand)!! More in a future post) I bought this one because I liked the fact that it was a foam cleanser.

On the bottle you can see that it is called the 'Supreme' Cleansing Foam and claims to be an all in one cleanser which is able to remove even waterproof make-up and tones at the same time. Quite lofty claims aren't they?

The first thing that hit me when I pumped this product on to my fingers is the smell. It smelt very strongly of chemicals and was quite off putting. Now, I am usually quite tolerant of smells seeing it as an integral part of the whole aesthetics of the product but smell is something quite arbitrary because something that smells good to one person may have an opposite effect on another. This one was a clear no-no to me. Not at all pleasant.

The first time I used it, I did not use a make-up remover prior to washing with this foam. As expected my make up was not removed as thoroughly as I thought it would. When I came out of the shower and looked at my face in the mirror, I was amazed that my eye make up (shadow in the inner corner, waterproof liner and under eye concealer) were still hanging on for dear life. Well, I persisted, thinking it was not fair of me to put the cleanser through such a stringent test! I tried the next day after work and this time removed most of my makeup with a remover, then used the cleanser. I checked my face in the mirror. This time my face looked clean, but did not 'feel' very clean. I then used a little bit of toner on a cotton pad and to my horror, there was still bits of foundation around the hairline and around my nose.

I have tried using this product with every make-up combination possible, no primers, light mascara, just foundation and some lipstick and eye make-up (I don't use a make-up remover prior to cleansing when I don't have primers on) and the results are still the same. There is still plenty of residual make-up left after cleansing with this foam.

Even though this cleanser claims to remove waterproof make-up, things like liners and mascara also are not removed well. I will go as far as to say that my waterproof mascara hardly came off with this cleanser and as a result I needed to use a little bit of cleansing oil on a cotton round to remove this AFTER I had cleansed! I hate how heavy waterproof mascara feels if it is not thoroughly removed after washing.....

As for it's claims to tone skin, I did not at all feel this and I noticed no difference in my face as evidence of this. To be fair, I only used one bottle and this could not have been enough to produce the toning effect perhaps. I could not wait to finish all 150ml's of this product and was really happy the day I threw the empty bottle out! This will not be a repurchase for me and I will be quite cautious when I pick out the cleansers in the Sephora line of products.

If you have tried this, I hope you had a better experience that I did.......

Loreal De-Maq Expert - Ultra Make Up Remover

My make up routine has changed so much in the last year, especially so with the addition of primers and I find that I now am more thorough with my cleansing at the end of the day to ensure that I get all the product off my face. I can bet that you too, dear readers, now use primers as part of your make up routine? 

For me primers really help keep my make-up looking fresh for a longer time - and we all work long hours right and want to make sure that our make-up does not melt off by midday especially so in the heat of Malaysia. For me, having combination skin makes keeping my make-up on and looking fresh a challenge but with primers on my eyelids and as a base now has revolutionized the staying power of my make-up.   

On a recent trip with the family up north a few hours to Ipoh, I came across this curiously named item at the mall. It's called the "De-Maq Expert" which is an ultra concentrated make-up remover - I can picture someone sitting by a window with their brow furrowed, trying to come up with something fancier than, say, "Make Up Remover"!

I already own and religiously use several different brands of make-up removers so I was keen to try out something different.

This product comes in a 100ml tube with a pop cap which makes for convenient dispensing of this gel like, ever so lightly yellow tinted substance. It has a light, sort of grassy smell which I found to be quite pleasant. Because the slightly oily, gel like substance is not runny, it's easy to dispense a small blob of this and work into the face. No need to first wet the face, just put a small amount on your fingers and work it into your skin. You will be surprised to see how well the products on your face sort of melt off!

Be sure to keep this away from your eyes until you are ready to wash this off because if the product gets into your eyes, there will be a few minutes of cloudiness experienced. I did not feel a sting, rather a slight irritation caused by the clouding in my eyes.

I start on my cheeks and work my way around the nose area, on my lips, along the hairline and my forehead before closing my eyes and massaging around the eyes concentrating on the inner corner of the eyes and the lashes. Be sure to keep your eyes tightly closed at this point. After you are done, take a little water and work it into the face to emulsify the gel which then turns into a milky substance. Rinse off well with water. I follow up with a cleanser to remove the product completely.

To be honest, there is one item that I stay away from because of the difficulty involved in removing them well, and that is waterproof mascara. I love them and have a few brands that make my lashes look very lush but hate the amount of work that goes into removing them properly. But since I have purchased this, I have been bringing out all my waterproof mascara's and having a blast with them as they come off easily with this product!  

I must say that I am very happy with this product! Other oil based removers I use, are effective but oily and I have to make sure I follow up with a good cleanser afterward. With this, I do use a cleanser, but at least I am not fumbling with opening it because of my oily hands and then getting the sink all oily.....too much work!

A decent amount of this gel is all that is needed to effectively remove all my make-up. If you see these pictures, you can see how the product has turned brown as my foundation is removed.

All my eye make-up off, concealer under the eye, has virtually melted after a gentle rub of the gel....no vigorous rubbing necessary.

Below is a list of the ingredients:- I don't see any parabens in the ingredients list which is a good thing. The product claims to be suitable for sensitive skin too. I did not break out in spots after using this. As with every product I use, I am very cautious in the beginning and I use new products every other day in the first week. If I do not break out in spots, then I know this product is suitable....I have used this for close to a month now with no breakouts. Each skin reacts differently to different products so please be careful when you try something new.

For a price of RM27.90, I think this is well worth it - there is no need to use much as the product is concentrated enough to make a small amount go a very long way.  I have also tried just using this product and then rinsing it off without following up with a cleanser, but my skin did not feel truly comfortable. Also, instead of washing off the product, I have used a facial wipe - this worked for me but again, I am the sort who likes a 'clean feel' face at the end of the day so its an individual thing.

Soap & Glory "CLEAN ON ME" Clarifying Shower Gel

In an earlier post I spoke about my trip to Sephora and I came away with some goodies that day which I will be sharing with you. One of these is this jumbo jewel from Soap and Glory. I love the brand for their retro styled packaging and 50's vibe.

I had purchased a few items from this brand when I was at a Boots drugstore in Bangkok some time back and was excited to see them again at Sephora! So, in a nostalgic mood, I picked this up - oh the drama my dear readers!! I literally swooned and needed to hold on to something when I opened a bottle and got a whiff of this. I am indeed a sucker for sweet smells. That alone sold me on the product! Not a very conscientious shopper at all that day,I know... But the fragrance was so lovely and works like a little pick me up during shower time. This shower gel contains extracts of mandarin peel and I belive that this is the ingredient that provided that fresh factor. The smell reminds me of perfumes from Annick Goutal and I belive the notes do have some layers of similar scents - very feminine indeed. I like that the scent lingers for a very long time - I do not put on any other perfume when I shower with this gel in the mornings. 

The price was the next thing I looked at and I must say that it was affordable seeing that I paid  a fair price of RM29.90 for a 500ml bottle - this will probably last me at least 4 to 5 months, I am sure. Also, the shower gel comes jam packed with body lotion which leaves you without the need to add another step of moisturizing to your bath routine. For this reason, my skin does not feel parched and in need of additional moisturizing when I step out of the shower. The body lotion in this does not leave a greasy film on the body which is great and nothing beats soft skin after a good shower.

Bath time also becomes so much fun when you read the quirky quotes on the side of the bottle....this one says "Cleanliness is Essential when Godliness is Improbable"! So very cute, is it not? The addition of 50's style photo's is very cool, and adds to the retro-ness of the packaging. Its a straightforward,  big bottle with a pump which dispenses enough with a few pumps. You can either pump this on to your palms and work up a lather or go for it straight on to your sponge and work from there. There is no spillage or wastage and fiddling with covers in the morning, which is quite essential for the girl on the go.

  

For me, the only downside to this bottle of delight is the stuff that goes into the making of it. It does contain parabens, so for the purists and those who have gone totally natural and organic, please turn your eyes now coz its gonna get nastay!

So, dear readers, have you been for a quick look see at Sephora yet? Their second outlet at KLCC has recently opened too, and if you are in the area, why not pop by?

Inglot - I Want To Break Free!

Everybody greeted the news that Inglot had opened its flagship store in Sunway Pyramid not too long ago with excitement. I must admit, I was intrigued because I had seen so many videos and heard so much about their products.

Inglot is a Polish company which has been in business for over 25 years was established by Wojtek Inglot. He was revolutionary in wanting to produce high quality products at reasonable prices – all this while using only the best possible ingredients and raw materials from the most reputable suppliers. The man is still directly involved in the formulation and design process of all new Inglot products.

This company, in my opinion, is on the cutting edge of creating intuitive cosmetics for women. You must check out their world’s first ever Breathable Nail Enamel ensuring better health care for nails whilst enhancing their beauty. Another winner is their AMC lip gloss which is beautifully pigmented in a funky rainbow of color and paraben free. The gloss is housed in a square tube and applies smoothly with a doe foot applicator.

Thanks to a husband that understands my love for cosmetics, we made our way to Inglot at Sunway sometime back. My first impression of the store was its neat and spartan design. What a visual treat! It was not ‘in your face’ and surprisingly inviting. Everything was laid out on tables or neatly stacked on the wall. There was even a big sofa in a corner for husbands, friends, children etc to sit on and just chill while we are shopping! Thankfully, even though it had only opened the day before, there were only about 7 people besides myself browsing the goodies. I dislike crowds.

But on to delicious things! I was mighty interested in the Freedom System and the idea of creating a palette with the colors that I liked really appealed to me. This is what you see on the display tables....all the possible color combinations and possibilities.

The Freedom System consists of strong magnetized palettes that you can use to store some of the products that you pick and choose from a wide variety of shades. There are eyeshadow singles and brow colors or lip colors which you can choose to customize your palette. How cool is that? The system comes with a choice of square or round palettes which gives you yet another choice. However, the square palettes are just for eye shadows and the round palette allows you to create a whole look from brow colors, eyes, concealer and lip colors. That is a breakthrough in itself. You can also choose a two compartment palette, 3 compartments, 4 compartments, 10, 20 and the latest, a mega palette with 40 compartments for you to slot your single colors in. This means you can buy the empty palette and collect single colors as quickly as your budget allows!

Below is what the palette looks like – I love the design which is super sleek and very well constructed with some strong magnetic action going on to keep everything in place and virtually immovable. The frosted lid you see has an imprint of the Inglot brand all over it and allows you to see what colors you have in the palette without having to rummage about, if you have more than one of these babies in your drawer! There have been mixed reviews on how to remove the individual pans from their magnetized compartments. One way is to use the actual frosted glass cover to lift up the corner of the color you want to take out. I found this hard to do and it may or may not come off even after several tries. Some have reported using a pin or sharp object to prise it out which I am not in favour of as it can potentially damage your product. What I have found to be most useful is to use a strong magnet  (stronger than the one on the frosted glass cover) to lift up your pan. Most of us would have a magnet(s) at home, usually found in your sewing kit or box to keep all your pins together (mine was given to me by my children and I believe it came from one of their toys!!) The stronger magnet lifts up the pan easily without damaging your color.

A quick tip shared by the lovely SA I spoke to – rather than trying to pull off the lid which could damage the precious colors inside, slide the lid sideways and it comes off easily.

I was like a child in a candy store the moment I stepped in. As I was wondering how on earth I was going to "create" my freedom system, a lovely SA came my way and taught me what to do. As you enter there are several wide and long tables on your left and right and centre. The table on your left houses all the colors available to create your personalized system. On your right are other products which you can browse and play with too. The table in the middle has foundation, concealers, powders, and the famed liquid blushers. For ladies with dusky skintones, go ahead and rush to the store because there will be a foundation shade for you! Yaay!

At the store, I decided that I wanted to purchase the 10 color square palette for eyeshadows. I was given a black magnetic board (similar to a clip board you use in the office) and told to choose the colors that I wanted, I was then to pick the color out of its place and put it on the magnetic board. The magnet on the board allowed me to pick out the colors and lay them out as well as move them about until I was happy with my choices. I picked a few extra colors and brought them to the counter, I then browsed around more until I was ready to decide which 10 went in my pallete.

The only down side to this system was if someone else had picked the colors you wanted, there would just be an empty spot on the counter and you'd have to either have the number of the color you chose or wait until the colors were returned to its original container as you can see in the picture below. There was a young girl who must have been obsessed with blues as she picked at least 6 shades of blue and brought it to the SA who taught her how to apply these shades to her eyes! I was ok with that as I was not interested in the shades she chose but still....

The shadows come in several finishes :

• Matte finish which has a, well, matte finish!

• Pearl finish which has a frosty but satiny finish;

• DS or double sparkle, which are semi-matte and has very fine glitter (not the sort that gets all  over your face)

• AMC (Advanced Makeup Component) these finishes resist sweat and does not contain talc but has a healthy dose of vitamin E. This one is a matte finish with fine glitter;
• AMC 'Shine' - this one is similar to the one above but has slightly more shine and sparkle;

When you are done choosing the colors you like, the SA will pull out a new pan of that colors and you can either purchase it like that and fill the palette yourself or get the SA to fill your palette. They will be more than happy to help you fill it at no additional charge.

Below are the colors that I finally decided on and swatches of them on my arm as well as on a piece of paper with the numbers of the colors. Please note that the colors on my arm and on the paper are the closest and truest to the original, somehow the colors in the pan look a little off :-

I must admit that I had watched so many videos by the time the store opened that I had a list of some of the colors I wanted. It so happened that I had a note on my phone of the numbers of the shadows but my phone died in the shop. I was quite upset that this happened at such a bad time but I happened to be carrying my charger with me and asked the SA if I could quickly charge the phone to give it enough juice to retrieve the numbers I wanted and they were more than happy to do that for me. So a quick trip behind the counter to sort that out and I was free to look at the other goodies for a while.

This is when I fell in love with the AMC lipgloss and how beautiful the colors were and what depth it added to my lips. The funny thing is I thought I had broken the doe foot of the gloss when I opened it to find the doe foot missing! But the SA said that they were taken off for hygiene reasons. I was glad they did that because I would never have put the product on my lips to test it otherwise. She proceeded to give me a disposable applicator and I helped myself by taking a little of the product and applying it to my lips. It just made whatever color I had on more vibrant and luscious. AND there were so many products I had my eye on that I had to leave the gloss there for another time!

As for the blushes, I was so intrigued by the liquid one and tried a few before settling on one that was beautiful on my skin. I also picked out some brushes to add to my collection. Those are reviews that will be coming soon, readers!

 

To answer your questions on the quality of the shadows.....YES they are incredibly pigmented. This is especially so for the matte shades where one swipe of the brush produces enough pigment to be worked onto your lids. One more tip I can share with you is not to swipe your shadow brush across the pan which will produce dusty particles of the shadow and then fallout when you apply but rather press gently but firmly on to the color and pat onto eyelids - you will get enough product this way. In the picture below, I have written the numbers of the individual colors on the front of the palette so I did not need to keep taking the pans out to check. For this I was inspired by Many Faces of Beauty on Youtube and did the numbering with a gold felt tip pen. These are cheap and easy to find at a stationery store near you. I found it a little odd that there were no names but rather numbers for all their products - names are easier to remember and associate with a color rather than a number, but I am not complaining!

 

I want to say a big thank you to these 4 ladies from the store who all helped make my experience there a truly memorable one! Here they are posing with my purchases in the bag! You can see on the counter where they were assembling my freedom system!

My First Sephora Visit!

Friends, I made it to Sephora!

I loved the layout of the place and got really excited at some of the stuff there. I also came away with a few things and cannot wait for more brands to make their way here.

First of all, I must say that the SA's were not too sticky....i.e they did not shadow me around but gave me some space and were near enough for me to call when I needed assistance. One in particular, Eunice who manned the MUFE counter was very professional and spoke very good English. Best of all, she allowed me to help myself to some of the application wands and spoolies on the counter for customers to use while testing products. I took a dual tipped sponge applicator, a brush, a spoolie and a lip gloss applicator. These are so useful for when you travel as the size is just right and she had no qualms about me taking one of each.....so sweet! I also spoke with another SA, Isaac and he was great too, explaining everything to me and taking me round the shop to show me all the goodies. There were two more which I could not get the name of, who were just as patient and helpful.

At the chekout, as I was paying for my products, I got two samples - one was Urban Decays Eyeshadow Primer in Eden and a day cream by Ole Henriksen.

Have you been to Sephora yet folks? If you do go, feast your eyes on the Sephora brand of goodies and most of the stuff on the right of the shop is stuff that we did not previously get in Malaysia.....hope you see something you like there! Happy shopping.

By the way, Sephora OFFICIALLY opened yesterday (4th May 2011).

***NEWSFLASH***

Peeps, Sephora Malaysia officially opened its doors at 12:30pm this afternoon!!!!!! Of course, even though my office is just round the corner, I could not make it for the opening....bleh!

Makeup junkies, arise and make your way to Starhill Gallery a.s.a.p!

Remember you heard it first here!!!!!