*Cookiie; Lime Crime Opaque Lipsticks in 'Retrofuturist' & 'Glamour 101'

Product description: Say goodbye to sliding, fading and sheer-ness with our best-selling opaque lipsticks. Loaded to the brim with pigment for maximum impact, these beauties offer unparalleled coverage in a rainbow of statement-making shades. Cruelty-free/vegan formula is smooth, non-drying and lasts for hours. Each lipstick comes encased in the signature purple tube adorned with a sparkling unicorn.

Retail price: $15.99 (Ordered at LimeCrimeMakeup.com)

The packaging

I actually wanted to rave about the packaging thoroughly, because it is simply brilliant. Even the parcel box that came with it was completely in LimeCrime's style, making the whole unboxing experience a lot more fun. However, I already have too many pictures to show so I'm skipping this part. Besides, now I won't spoil you the experience when you order it yourself. As for the lipstick packaging itself, the quality is quite good. The outside is made out of sturdy plastic and the inside from metal, making the lipstick fairly heavy. The weight is actually something I prefer, because it makes the lipstick feel more sturdy and less "cheap" (does that make sense?).


Retrofuturist
The product

Honestly, I don't have much to complain about the product. It is very similar to the Tom Ford lipstick I have, which is one of my favourites. It is very moisturizing, making it possible to use it without a lipbalm. However, because it is so moisturizing and creamy (even creamier than Tom Ford's), it will slide around very easily when you do apply lipbalm beforehand. I personally don't find it much of a problem, but not wearing lipbalm at all times is some sort of pet peeve of mine so it's just something that I noticed.


Glamour 101

Ingredients: Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Diisostearyl Malate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Trioctyldodecyl Citrate, Castor Isostearate Succinate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Octyldodecanol, Ozokerite, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Polyethylene, Microcrystalline Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Vanillin, Capryl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Vegetable Oil, BHT. [+/-] Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Yellow 5 Lake (CI19140), Red #7 Lake (CI45410, CI15850), D&C Red #6 (CI15850), Blue #1 Lake (CI42090), Yellow #6 Lake (CI15985).

The pigmentation

Again, I find it similar to Tom Ford's lipstick. The pigmentation is great and the product will also stain your lips, making the fading less noticeable when the product strips off.


However, the colours show up slightly different compared to when I swatch it on my hand. The colours look a bit lighter, making it more vibrant but also pinker. This occurs more to 'Glamour 101' than 'Retrofuturust, whereas the latter one looks more true red in person than on the picture below. 'Glamour 101' turns out to be more like a rose/cherry red than a dark wine shade. The lip swatch picture below shows an even lighter shade than the hand swatch picture; this is mostly because of the lipbalm I applied beforehand. It does turn out darker when I skip the lipbalm, but it will still show up slightly lighter.


Bare lips, applied lipbalm.


Lime Crime Lipstick in 'Retrofuturist' applied.


Lime Crime Lipstick in 'Glamour 101' applied.


Full face pictures. The quality isn't great, but I didn't have time to take them properly.
The verdict

Pretty good. Not as good as my favourite Tom Ford lippie (As it should, that baby costed me a whole lot more! Or am I just biased?), but the colours are really nice and they're very moisturizing for lipsticks. I'd definitely recommend these lipsticks to anyone who's looking for some good reds or are in for some even more daring colours, as Lime Crime is known for their bold and vibrant colours in general.

Rating: 4.5/5

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*Milk; Etude House Nymph Aura Volumer in #2 (review)

Product description: Makeup Multi-Cream maximizing the radiance and dewy glow on skin, completing flawless skin with plumped up moisture

Direction of use:
Apply evenly on skin with 1:3 mix of BB cream or foundation.
Use foundation brush or BB brush to get perfect blending.
When used for highlighting, apply on the nose, forehead and cheekbones with the Volumer alone.

The product

The Etude House 'Nymph Aura Volumer' comes in two shades, #1 Pure Honey, a peach toned honey shade and #2 Brilliant Nymph Aura, an opalescent light pink.

When I purchased the product on eBay, I did not know what to expect since the product was newly released and there were not many reviews on the internet. The 'Nymph Aura Volumer' is surprisingly similar to the Benefit 'Highbeam'. It is thinner in texture, but both products are light pink liquids that provide a pearly sheen. The Etude House 'Nymph Aura Volumer' has a pink lilac sheen whereas the Benefit 'Highbeam' is light pink with ultra fine silver shimmer.



The 'Nymph Aura Volumer' seems to blend better with foundation and BB cream due to its light texture and it tends to look more natural as the 'Highbeam' can look slightly 'metallic' because of the silver shimmer.


When swatched side-by-side: Nymph Aura Volumer (left), Highbeam (right)

The verdict

When mixed with foundation, the 'Nymph Aura Volumer' gives a soft sheen to the face which is great for dry skin. It really does make your skin look more moisturized. The liquid is pearly rather than shimmer, so there won't be any shimmer particles which can sometimes accentuate large pores. When mixed with BB cream, it enhances the dewy effect and can look borderline oily.

The only downside to this product is that it is very, very, very (!!!) heavily scented. I could even smell it on the inside of my arm while I was taking photos of the swatches. This is also the reason why I do not wear it on a daily basis because I do feel that it causes a bit of irritation on the skin. I only wear this when I have special occasions. I do not notice the scent after 5 - 10 minutes after application, but I am not completely sure if the scent fades away or if it is simply because I get used to the scent after a while.

This is a nice product to have for those who want to get a healthy, glowing complexion, but it is not as unique as I thought it would be. It can easily be substituted by MAC 'Strobe liquid' or any kind of liquid highlighter.

Rating:

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*Cookiie; A Summer Like Autumn (OOTD)

Like I promised, here's the quick OOTD post. I shot this last week when the whole week just had beautiful weather. It did give me some troubles trying to capture myself without too much sun exposure, but at least there's no grainy drama going on. :D



Sheer blouse - Gmarket • Denim shorts - Gmarket • Ring - Primark • Leather Satchel Bag - Waterlooplein Market • Studded Wedges - Desire Clothing

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*Cookiie; Small Gmarket Haul

A short while ago, a friend of mine in Australia wanted to purchase some beanies. He didn't know where he could get some affordable ones, so I recommended Gmarket. All the Gmarket buyers who are reading this, know how incredibly hard it can get to navigate through Gmarket; so I helped him to order. He didn't mind to do a joint spree, so I figured I could get something myself as well! I never order Gmarket directly from Holland, since the taxes would make it so not worth it. But yeah..this wasn't entirely cheaper either, so I got to find another way. Enough jibberjabbering, onto the haul!

So I didn't actually purchase a lot, since it all needed to fit into an bubble wrap envelope. I basically took this as a chance to finally repurchase the Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint in '03 Peach'. I lost mine a long time ago probably in London, so there was no chance in finding it back. But since I got all three again, I can finally do my review on it! To be continued... Oh btw, all the other products in the background are samples. Crazy generous!


Since I'm a stereotype Chinese cheaptard, I filled the extra shipping weight with random stuff. I got me some black socks (god knows why I picked black while I could pick more interesting colours) and a pair of adooorable cookie shaped earring studs. The blue gem studs and extra ear nuts were also random gifts.


Last but not least, shorts! Both Ella and I have finally passed our jeans-with-tees-fase and have gone kind of obsessed with shorts. You can wear them with nearly anything, at any time of the year if you combine it properly. The yellow/beige pair of shorts was actually a mistake, as I was planning to get navy blue ones. I failed to read the Korean names properly, so you can tell I felt really sad when they arrived. Blue navy shorts, I shall get you someday! *shake fist*

That's all~ I'll be posting up an OOTD with Gmarket clothing within a few days, including the denim shorts I purchased this time. Until then!

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