&Follow SJoin OnSugar

Posts for June 2012

Dior Fall 2012: Golden Jungle (Info)

By icyabstract · June 30, 2012 · 0 Comments ·

Hello again everyone!

While we hardly get a shift of weather or temperature around here, can we say Fall is just around the (pretty large) corner?

Though we don't get the chance to embody this season with furry boots, thick coats and all, it's good enough to get into the mood of Fall through fashion and makeup collections.

Summer, I you love - sun and all - but in truth, I would take Fall over Summer anytime of the year!

This Fall, Dior took a step towards the glitz and glam and opted for an Avant Garde, sophisticated and sensual take on leopard prints.

While treading on the wild side, Dior keeps their Golden Jungle look luxurious and sophisticated with a touch of gold, an ever-standing Dior classic. Neutrals come to life in this collection and allows the everyday-woman to embrace a feline personality without straying from her comfort.

The star of this collection is the Golden Jungle Palette (S$100).

This beauty suits the bill perfectly, representing the 'wild' side of this collection with a chic leopard print motif formed from a trio of gorgeously sophisticated colors. The gloss encased allows for you to play up your pout and complete your sophisticated yet sensual look!

5 Couleur Designer (S$98), available in 2 shades.

For the simpler and more fuss free individual, here's 3 Couleur Glow (S$70), available in 4 shades.

Diorblush Glowing Color Powder Blush (S$66), available in 2 shades.

Rouge Dior Haute Couleur Voluptous Care Lipstick (S$45), available in 2 shades.

Rouge Dior Sérum de Rouge (S$50), available in 4 shades.

Incase anyone is wondering, this is a cross between a lip treatment (lipbalm-ish) and also a lipstick because it does provide a good amount of color.

And now, here's the best for last! Well, the best in my own terms at least.

Though the Golden Jungle Palette is so wickedly gorgeous in it's own way, I was drawn towards the selection of nail colors available, the Dior Vernis (S$37)

Left to Right: Golden Jungle Duo Dior Vernis, Amazonia, Bengale

The lovely golden polish above is part of Dior's Golden Jungle Nail Art Duo which basically takes an idea from the shatter / crackle concept yet transforms it elegantly to a more animalistic print.

I know, it's about time Dior came out with a crackle / shatter styled polish. While late, it feels thought out and matching with the theme so it isn't like they are coming out with a shatter, just cause.

The shatter design looks very interesting and unique too, delicately replicating a crocodile leather effect. Here's a swatch from britishbeautyblogger because as we all know, things tend to look 'perfect' in press visuals but it's good to know the croc-shatter is easily achievable for us too!

I don't entirely understand the pricing I read but I believe the shatter polish retails for S$47 and the gold will be priced similar to the normal Dior Vernis Haute Couleurs, at S$37?

I will update again when I have it confirmed!


Fruitylashes has swatches of the Dior Vernis shades (sans shatter) along with other items within this collecion (Golden Jungle Palette!), so do check it out out if you are interested!

Thanks for reading! Do you see yourself eyeing anything from Dior's Fall 2012 release?

On My Nails (and Lips!): MAC Peachstock

By icyabstract · June 27, 2012 · 2 Comments ·

Hello, hello people!

Been pretty caught up amongst work and personal matters lately so it has gotten a wee bit tougher to squeeze blogging time out but I still try because it's a nice 'escape' from the other matters on hand. If I find the time to that is!

Regardless, I have finally painted on MAC's Peachstock nail varnish / polish!

What with me being so eager to get my hands on it but taking this long to actually swatch it.

The way I feel about the polish is the exact same way I feel about the lipstick. It's a lovely nude that is bordering dead-nude yet with just enough peach to give it some color.

Does that make sense? Either ways, it replicates the exact reason why I love Peachstock lipstick so this nail polish sure did Peachstock some justice!

Peachstock nail polish was surprisingly opaque; surprising with my personal experience with MAC polishes which tend to run a little thin. The swatches done here are with 2 coats though to break it down, it's 1 'normal' coat + a thinner one after to even some areas out.

The swatches were done without a topcoat, so you can see that the polish dries to this satin-ish finish. The lipstick is a satin finish... hmmm, deliberate?

It's not a matte, yet it's not exactly my kind of glossy either and I would prefer wearing this with a topcoat over. Though if you are going for the true mannequin nails then maybe you want to leave it as is.

For some super faux vogue-ness, I tried to replicate the idea of the press visuals with the matchy polish and lipstick. Though please excuse the shoddy image and just focus on the color.

I'd say color wise, I have no complains and the polish seems to represents Peachstock true and true.

If you are wondering, the polish does dry a smidget darker than what you see in the bottle so if you are apprehensive about how orange it seems in there, fear not!

So that wraps up my tiding-this-over entry, thanks for reading this quick mid-week post to keep this space updated and alive!

What do you have on your nails now? Do you like the idea of matchy lips and tips?

Haul: Favorite Lash Glue (of the moment)

By icyabstract · June 24, 2012 · 5 Comments ·

Sunday! I always have mixed emotions about this day because on one hand you're so glad it's still a day off and on the other, the thought of work creeping back up just sits at the corner of your mind.

Regardless, I had a mind to sit down and post up some entries though errands ended up stealing me away and one of the errands involved stocking up on toiletries.

So what you get after a long tiring Sunday is this quick summary haul entry. Oops!

As the title goes, I dropped by Watsons today and amidst my toiletries, I also picked up my favorite lash glue of the moment.

Actually, saying this is my favorite is a wee bit off but previously I had purchased the clear version of this (because it was the only one available) and really liked how it worked.

Though after having used dark lash glue before, I much prefer it over the clear ones and simply had to pick up the dark variant of it once I saw it was available.

Plus it has a purple polka dot cover! Frivolous fun but such a cute combination.

With my previous purchase I paid no heed to the fact that apparently this contains rose and fruit extract to care for the sensitive skin on your eyelids.

What I like about this is the wand-applicator that it comes with because I almost always cause a mess using the squeeze tubes. Even if I manage to come out of a false lash application mess-free with those, they do take a lot of time and effort to 'aim and squeeze on'.

Thus, wand applicators are the way to go!

In my experience with this (both clear and one use of the dark one), these are like an inbetween of a former lash glue I used and the Shu Uemura one.

The Shu Uemura is really heavy duty, I find, and it's certainly something you don't have to worry about 'peeling' or falling off if applied right. Yet you can't just lazily peel it off at the end of the day too. Some have found it to be so adhesive it could cause some irritation to the lids with prolonged regular wear but that's just what I heard.

My former one was okay, usuable and similar to DUO in my experience but it does lift at the edges or sometimes in the middle after a long day. Nothing that threatens to make the lash fall but it does make you feel insecure.

So long story short, I find this really sticks and holds on yet you can choose to peel it off lazily at the end of the day too. You can feel it's adhesion but it's not so tight that it is uncomfortable.

Phew! What a long essay about lash glue comparisons and I'm hardly the right person to ask!

Forgot to mention, Dollywink's lash glue is S$18.95, if I remember correctly.


Aside from picking up this new love, here are the other toiletries I stocked up on at Watsons (my favorite place for toiletry shopping).

So.. just because I am curious...

What is your favorite eyelash glue to use? Do you prefer clear or dark?

Thanks for reading and hope everyone has a great work or school week ahead!

Haul: From Guerlain's Pucci Collection

By icyabstract · June 21, 2012 · 4 Comments ·

At long last, I have some Guerlain in my stash!

This is a mildly belated mention because I picked this up a little while back but... better late than never! I believe anyone eyeing this collection would have snagged waht they wanted already.

When I first laid eyes on the Guerlain by Emilio Pucci collection, I was hypnotized by the geometric designs and suckered into the collection.

Apart from being a sucker for the packaging, I have long wanted or had a mind to pick up the famed Guerlain Meteorites (just because it's nice to finally own one) and there's no better time to pick it up than now!

The gorgeous Meteorites Perles d'Azur!

From my knowledge, their earlier versions come in a sturdy cardboard box so I was glad to learn that Perles d'Azur comes within a metal(ish) tin!

Given their fame, I can probably skip describing what Meteorites are but in a nutshell they are an illuminating face powder. The Meteorites Perles d'Azur contains 5 different shades - pearl, golden-beige, orange, pink and blue.

Visually, the blue balls are a lovely mix but (thankfully?) they don't deposit straight-out blue pigments on your skin. Unless you are thinking of grabbing the balls and drawing them on but, why would you do that?

The mix of colors are meant to midly correct your skintone, with blue canceling orange-ness, while illuminating and giving your skin a nice flush.

It did cross my mind to do a swirled swatch but I figured it would be hard to capture it well since Meteorites are meant to give a soft illuminating effect. Thus, I grabbed the balls individually and 'drew' them on.

The Perles d'Azur has a small amount of shimmer in it and while I don't have earlier variants to compare it to, I heard it's slightly more shimmery than previous offerings?

Either ways, I have worn it once thus far (using and admiring this preciously) and it doesn't look disco-esque. I shall snap a LOTD or little feature entry soon!

Next up, I have been dying to get my hands on a bronzer from Guerlain - a bronzer, any bronzer. And well, what do you know... there was a beautiful one with the Pucci collection.

The Terra Azzurra!

Plus it comes with a beautiful pouch with the Pucci by Guerlain geometric motifs.

The Terra Azzurra also ended up being a lot bigger than I had thought. It's not huuuuge but I figured it would be a regular (my kind of regular) bronzer size, yet it's bigger than that. Hence the pouch isn't very small and is a good size for maybe 1 or 2 lipsticks, and coins of course.

Is this not beautiful?

Terra Azzurra contains 4 colored portions, a large tan bronzing one followed by thinner strips of coral, pink and a pale pink-white.

While they look matte from afar, the shades actually have very fine flecks of... I don't want to say shimmer yet there's no other word for it.

The flecks are too subtle and soft to be given a term like shimmer but yet they do have light-reflecting and sheen-like qualities though very mild and definitely not over the top.

Because it is a bronzer, I would have expected the coral and pink to swatch without much pigmentation however they do actually impart quite a bit of color!

Here they are individually swatched, taken with flash to showcase the sheen they give.

And here it is swirled together:

I suppose it could actually be used as a bronzing blush shade when you swirl and cover the pink and coral strips. Though if you wanted to use it solely as a bronzer all over, perhaps you want to lightly graze the pink and coral instead.

I think I will be using this mostly as a bronzing blush to give that nice summery tan look!

Now, don't let the flash shots above scare you into thinking it's so 'sheen-ish' because without a harsh flash light, it's a whole lot more natural on. The shimmer flecks are hardly even detectable!

Now, I've rambled on for long enough with a simple haul entry perhaps because I am just really stoked to have these in my collection.


Currently I am in the midst of setting up a new makeup space with a proper vanity counter so... I can finally display pretty little darlings like the Perles d'Azur on my counter-top! But more of that in future, when I have my setup all done up.

Did the Pucci collection catch your eye? Hauled anything?

Thanks for reading!

On My Nails: French Tips with (For) Audrey

By icyabstract · June 19, 2012 · 5 Comments ·

Crazy is probably an understated word to describe what the weekend had been. Have you ever came out of a weekend feeling more tired than ever as opposed to feeling recharged?

Well that's what this was though amidst all that, it was fun times and somehow I managed to squeeze in some time to have some fun with my nails!

I wanted to try my hand at a fun-colored french manicure and here's what I ended up with!

I dug out China Glaze's For Audrey (love this color on my toes) and applied that after using a coat for OPI's Fair Dinkum Pinkum.

I initially left it as that but felt the manicure wasn't 'defined' enough and so I added that black trim with Etude House's Nail Art Pen.

For the fun of, I drew a simple bow on my thumb!

The lines definitely aren't perfect and I wish I was able to do a sleeker line but it was fun doing this up! It's interesting having nude-ish nails yet with a bright rim of color and a contrasting black line.

To 'live out' the effort, I would have wanted to wear this manicure for a longer period of time but I broke a nail on my right hand so... I shall see how long I can go tolerating that nick till I have to remove it all and trim everything short.

Thanks for reading!

What are some fun little manicures you like to do?


p.s. in other news.... I passed my Driving Practical today! Holla if you see me on the road, or maybe not...

Luxola's Deborah Lippmann Gift With Purchase!

By icyabstract · June 18, 2012 · 0 Comments ·

Well, I had no other clue on how to name this quick entry but basically, from now till the 24th of June, with every S$50 spent at Luxola.com you will receive a FREE bottle of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday.

This is a really nifty deal since Happy Birthday retails at S$35 on Luxola.com and honestly it's not exactly difficult to spend S$50 in one transaction on there. Oh the distractions!

Aside from just painting this on, like below, Luxola had also shared some DIY manicures you can try for yourself if you have your hands on this bottle. Check that out here.

Luxola was kind enough to send a bottle my way and I had very briefly swatched this on my toes since my fingernails were already painted (more about that in a bit!). I would have never thought to flash my toes on my blog because I am super conscious about them but... just for the sake of this,

Here it is, Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday over Topshop's Cylone, tightly cropped so it's not so creepy.

Okay, pardon me for flashing my toes on here, you may look away now!


So hop on over to Luxola and start shopping!

Perhaps it isn't your birthday but there's nothing like glitter polish to make everything seem happy and bright (except when it comes time to remove it!).

Thanks for reading!

MAC's Heavenly Creature Has Got My Heart...

By icyabstract · June 15, 2012 · 7 Comments ·

I was just swooning about this over twitter and felt I needed to divert this swoon somewhere else, on to my blog perhaps.

While I am sure that information about this collection will flood the webs or probably has already flood the webs, I need to swoon. A little.. just a bit.

MAC's MSFs and Mineralized Blushes have long been my biggest weakness because for some reason, I just like collecting them. Though over time I have developed an immunity to getting psyched with every Mineralized release and can even skip ones that may look gorgeous yet swatch similar to something I have or seem unimpressive (to me).

Though, with their new Summer release, Heavenly Creatures, I can only say.... take my money, take it all!

I don't know what is so different about these and I don't even know what their texture will be like so perhaps all that will change once reviews and swatches surface but for now....

let's bask in the beauty of these Mineralized 'Creatures'.


Mineralized Skin Finish

  • Earthshine – Tarnished bronze with gold pearlized pigments and pink reflects
  • Light Year – Peachy pink with gold shimmer
  • Star Wonder – Plumy pink with multi-dimensional pearlized pigments
  • Center of the Universe – Coral with gold shimmer


Mineralized Blushes

  • Solar Ray – Peach and gold melange
  • Ring of Saturn – Terracotta and gold melange
  • Stratus – Amethyst and golden brown melange
  • Supernova – Magenta and burnt gold melange


Mineralized Eyeshadows

  • Aurora – Peach, green, and brown melange (Frost)
  • Magnetic Attraction – Orange, pink and gold melange (Frost)
  • Neo Nebula – Cream, warm amethyst and warm pink melange (Frost)
  • Universal Appeal – Gold, bronze and violet melange (Frost)
  • Invincible Light – Icy white, lavender and warm gold melange (Frost)
  • Earthly – Beige, peach and cool brown melange (Frost)
  • Water – Yellow, lime green and blue melange (Frost)
  • Bright Moon – Grey, silver and icy green melange (Frost)
  • Sky – Green gold, turquoise and cobalt melange (Frost)

I have some Mineralized Eyeshadows but generally am not too huge about them (as compared to MSFs and Mineralized Blush) but these look gorgeous.

This collection also sees the return of Volcanic Ash Exfoliator!

I can just feel some people dancing around and while I am not an addict or consider this my Holy Grail, I do enjoy using this (yes, dirt smell and all) and will likely stock up on a couple of tubes.

Something about it's Earthy, dirty yet clean feel is just so refreshing to use. It does stink but so does Chinese medicine which is suppose to do good for you.... same logic, yes?

Regardless, there are a couple more gems to this collection like Lipsticks, Creamsheen Glass and more.

Find out more info (and see more pictures) on ChicProfile!

(information and pictures here is credited to that site too)

Thanks for reading!

Do you have your sights set on anything from this collection?

Haul: Finally, from DFS

By icyabstract · June 15, 2012 · 0 Comments ·

Finally!

In context #1, I finally have time to draft up a mention of these items and in context #2, I FINALLY got my hands on these products!

I have only dropped by the newly revamped DFS space twice of late. Once for the tour and Beauty Concierge service and another time when I was in the area with Eliza (and totally enabled each other). Both trips have been fruitful in a modest way and I haven't been able to leave DFS empty-handed.

Sadly now I can hardly even find time to head to Orchard, much less that part of town.

But lets not dwell on the sad reality of life and lets take a look at these items!

Needless to say, the Giorgio Armani counter was wiped out and while I had a mini list of items I wanted, most (if not all) were out of stock in my shade / preference. Talk about in-demand!

Initially I was interested in the Designer Lift Liquid Foundation, and I still am, but I hardly wear liquid foundation these days so I held off on that. Instead, I picked up their popular Eyes to Kill in the shade 10.

This looks gorgeous in the pot with flecks of silver, pale-gold and of course the eye-catching shots of teal.

I had seen photos of this online and fell in love with it, bookmarking it as one of the shades I must check out in person. In truth, this doesn't swatch too unique but yet is a simple shade and captivating in it's own soft way.

Glistening mostly silver, it does lean icy blue in certain angles and light.

There were other bolder shades, like this lovely blue shot through with gold (#1) but I figured I should start with something I would be likely to reach for more.


The next item I picked up was something I was first introduced to by Sarah Chaudhry. I remember her professing her love for Helena Rubinstein mascaras in a blog entry awhile ago and that just stuck with me ever since.

Funny thing is, everytime I go by the airport I always forget to check out and browse the HR shelves and so it's only now that I manage to get my hands on it!

I haven't tried it out (for myself) but the Makeup Artist did use it during my make-over session and it looked promising on. She applied a thinner coat than I usually do for myself, with a different technique so it took on a more lenghtening effect but I have seen some 'eyelash-swatches' and it looks rather volumizing too.

My Dollywink Volume Mascara is currently on it's last leg so I shall wait for that to completely die out before I open this one!

Soon. I shall try this out real soon!

A simple entry and I apologize for the lack if this space has been a little dull of late! Well, as always I say soon but it really has been one busy hell of a week, as you may have seen from my twitter complaints. Oops.

Thanks for sticking around and I'll be back to share more as soon as I am over this hump of busy. Have a good weekend everyone!

Have you dropped by DFS and hauled anything?

Lancôme Contest: Share Your Moments in Love!

By icyabstract · June 14, 2012 · 0 Comments ·

From now till the 1st of July, Lancôme wants you to share your Moments in Love.

Like the theme of Rouge in Love, Lancôme wants to know what makes you fall in love with Morning, Sunday and Tonight. All you have to do is share those captured moments via Instagram (more info to come) and stand to win a hamper worth more than S$500!

The only catch to this is that you will need to be able to download Instagram on your mobile device (it's free for iPhones and Androids!) or have a way to create an Instagram account.

Here's an adorable step by step run-down of how to take part!

(click to enlarge)

Or if you are lazy to click and view in full, summing it up...

Step 1: Download Instagram and create an account

Step 2: Upload an image of your Moment in Love

Step 3: Depending, tag it with #inlovewithmorning, #inlovewithsundown or #inlovewithtonight - The tag is VERY important because if it is misspelt it will not be 'entered'!

Step 4: Get your friends to 'like' your image on Lancôme's Moments in Love webpage!

There will be 1 winner chosen from each moment (3 winners total) and the winners are decided based on the number of likes. Now before any confusion, likes on instagram does not count! Only likes via lancomesg.com/momentsinlove counts!

To vote, your friends will have to select which category your image is under, find your picture and click on the little heart at the bottom-left of your image.

You can also choose to share your image on Facebook if you are afraid your friends cannot find it.

If you are not in it for the competition, I think it is still fun to share the moments that you love from Morning, Sundown and Tonight and make this a giant visual compilation. It would be such fun to browse this and see what moments people are in love with and perhaps (friends or not) vote for some that you love too!

If you are an active instagrammer, what's there to lose and if you have abandoned your Instagram for awhile, now's a good time to get back to it!

Thanks for reading and good luck everyone, can't wait to see all your moments!

On My Nails: 'Upgrading' Butter London Muggins

By icyabstract · June 13, 2012 · 6 Comments ·

So much for me wanting to change up my manicure since.... a week ago?

I got a little lazy mixed with a bit of busy and ended up having Butter London's Muggins on for a much longer time than intended.

After weeks of wear, it was starting to edge off at the sides and while cleaning it all off and painting something else over would have been so much faster and easier, no... I wanted to get experimental.

I gave myself another shot at the whole tape manicure and.... voila!

It's a fairly anti-climax combination and I say that only because both are pastels of a similar 'tone' which makes neither really stand out. But yet, I like it!

I like the soft and 'not overpowering' mix of the 2 pastels together even though a grey-purple and teal (not sure why it photographs so blue!) could be an odd pair.

The teal used is Laqa & Co's Nail Polish Pen in Squidink, which I had also coincidentally received from ArglyDuckling

I did a swatch of Laqa & Co's Toff in another time and it swatched rather opaque so I didn't expect Squidink to actually be of a runny and sheer consistency. 1 coat is defintely a no-go with it being mildly streaky but 3 thin coats does bring it to a nice opaque teal, free of streaks.

I have had this 'add-on' manicure for a good while and I think I really need to change my nail color now. Though it's odd how I just don't seem to get bored of having Muggins on my nails. Love that shade!

Do you have a go-to nail polish shade that you can't seem to get tired of?

Thanks for reading!

Share this:

Find me on...




 

Other sites:

BlogTV | Pinterest

bloglovin

Categories

Archive

Archives

June 2013
SMTWTFS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 

Tags

Counter

since 02 July '09

 

All images and content is copyrighted by Icyabstract Makeup, unless otherwise-stated. Notify and credit back if any content/image has been used. Please do not reproduce commercially without my consent, thank you.