My Current Favourite Eye Makeup Routine

To avoid a mad rush in the mornings, I have tried to pare down my makeup routine to the basics. I tend to spend the longest time on my eyes and needed a routine that was quick yet effective. I have been practicing with eyeliners and am quite chuffed that I am getting better.

Paul & Joe Eye Primer

• This is not the best primer as my lids will get oily and eyeshadows have a tendency to crease even with this primer on. It performs all right with a single wash of eyeshadow colour as the creasing is not as noticeable. I use the doe-foot applicator to apply the primer allover my lids and pat it in with my fingers. It dries down very quickly.

Paul & Joe Eyeshadow in 045

ª This is a very sheer and light shade. It's a sparkly pale mint blue that looks very pretty as a wash of colour.

Maybelline Gel Liner in Brown

• This liner has a little bit of shimmer, especially when freshly applied. It's lovely for the day time.

Lancome Hypnose Mascara in Noir

• I don't generally like Lancome mascaras and Hypnose is probably the only one I can use. I bought a couple when they were having a promotion some time back. I just opened this tube not very long ago and am trying to use it up to avoid wastage.

Shiseido Eyelash Curler

• I have both versions. The one that is currently sold at Shiseido counters is the newer version and the metal is darker, almost black. I prefer the silver metal curler (shown in photo) because I find that it fits my eye better and grips more lashes.

Inglot Bent Eyeliner Brush

• I got this on my recent visit to the first Inglot store in Malaysia. It makes gel or liquid liner application easier than the regular straight brushes because you can see your eye better due to its bent edge.

All of this takes less than 5 minutes. I sometimes apply a brow pencil but I do forget to fill in my brows quite often. The liner stays on better with a primer below but it still fades over a long day, especially around the inner corner of my eye.

This is my current go-to look for the day and I am really liking it because it's quick and yet enhances my eyes without too much effort.

So, what is your favourite eye look these days?

Introductory Post | FOTD and Review: Revlon - Beyond Natural Liptint SPF 15

Why, hello! I'm a new blogger here on Beautycab. I'm a fellow beauty product/makeup junkie. It all started with a Maybelline Watershine Diamonds lipstick that my sister (the blogowner) purchased for me when i was 11. And it was from then on, i was hooked. :)

I've recently fallen for nude faces lately, and the following fotd was inspired by that look.

I applied Loreal's True Match foundation followed by Maybelline's Clear Smooth Minerals powder foundation to set it. Overall, it evened out my skin and covered any redness on it. On the cheeks, i applied a very light sweep of Mac's blusher in Pink Swoon to avoid looking too washed out. My current favourite product that i used above is Revlon's Beyond Natural Liptint (reviewed below).

The liptint comes in a metallic plastic packaging. Upon opening it, it has a distinct but light cherry smell, which i really like. The shade above is in rosy, which looks like a peach-hued red.

This liptint was really moisturising without being too oily, glossy or shiny. Two coats of this stuff and your lips will look (and smell) that much 'yummier'. It is not very long-lasting or pigmented, though, if that's what you're looking for. I had to reapply after dinner but i usually reapply lippy after dinner so it does not really matter anyway.

However, the liptint has been discontinued. The Beyond Natural line is still ongoing so i will definitely check that out. I highly recommend this product for anyone who adores tinted lip balms without it being too buttery.

Stay beautiful!

-Avvie.

playing with honey brown

The weekends are so precious these days. After slogging through some major insanity at work, I cannot wait until the weekend rolls around again and to recuperate. Not to mention I get to play with some makeup looks for a bit. I am still experimenting with new techniques, especially on my eyes. I need the practice because I suck at so many levels.

Today, I decided to whip out the free Lumiere mineral eyeshadow sample I received with my purchase from lovingminerals.com. By the way, this is my first foray into loose mineral eyeshadow. On it's own, it looks like a shimmery bark brown shade. To my surprise, it went on a little orange. Well, it is called Honey Brown and real honey does contain golden tones after all. I tried to lessen the orange-ness with a shimmery pink shade from MAC. I don't think I like the outcome though.

It looks better with flash. Believe it or not, I had brown eyeliner on but my application was so terrible that I had to smudge it out, which is why the crease colour is browner and darker.

fotd : a smokey failure

I'm really into the smokey eye look these days and have been looking out for palettes that I can create this look from. I came across a Bloom eyeshadow trio at Shins the other day and thought the colours were really nice and perfect for a pair of smokey eyes. It was sold at a discounted price too.

I'm a sucker for cute packaging but let's see what's inside, shall we?

colours from left : platinum, slate, ash

Honestly, I was rather disappointed with the colours although they seemed promising. The texture was not very smooth and went on quite messily. But I have a suspicion the Clarins eyeshadow base had something to do with the shadows being rather draggy. Perhaps they will work better with a different base or primer.

You can see that they don't blend very well and sort of sank between the crease, creating a rather weird line. This picture was taken when they were freshly applied too! I tried to blend and blend but gave up after a while and resorted to just smudging the darker shade (Slate) in a rather sloppy fashion. I need to try them with another base (or without) to see if they go on any differently.

I was not a very happy camper but had to leave for lunch with my eyes looking that way because my husband was getting hungry and impatient.

This was my first time using Bloom eyeshadows. What are your experiences with them?

fotd : first look of the day

I am usually very hesitant about having my photo taken as I'd rather be behind the camera than in front of it. And I tend to look rather dorky when taking self portraits. However, I have been reading so many beauty blogs recently and truly admire the gorgeous ladies who share their "looks" that I decided to take the leap and do my own Face of the Day and Eye of the Day although they are rather amateurish in comparison.