Haul and Review: Face Shop Nail colour dupe for MAC Disney Venomous Villains Formidable?

For those out there who are not fast enough to snag Formidable from the MAC Disney Venomous Villains Collection, you might be able to find a close dupe in Face Shop's BK901.

I happen to come across this possible dupe on my way to Lido with my deers for X-men first class and stopped by Face Shop at Wisma since we have some time before the movie starts.

You can imagine my excitement when i saw it and immediately Formidable came to my mind plus my BFF agreed with me that it is indeed a close dupe to Formidable.

Face it from Face Shop BK901.
Look at the shimmer in the bottle.

2 coats of it.

MAC's Formidable.

See the shimmer reflected against the light.

3 coats of Formidable.

In the bottle, both looks very similar, but Face SHop's BK901 seems to have a tinge of Bluish tone to it whereas MAC's Formidable seems to lean more towards purple, both seems to sport the same kind of shimmer or glitter.

Application wise, BK901 requires 2 coats to attain the opaque effect while Formidable requires 3 coats, the consistency of the nail polish is thicker for BK901. Both dries up rather quickly, so there isn't much of a down time here.

When the nail polish coats dried iup completely, Formidable has a slightly rougher texture compared to BK901 and the difference in the sheen is a little more obvious. BK 901 has a slightly blue sheen whereas Formidable has a purpish sheen.

Nevertheless, both are very similar in my books

Size wise, there are no label stating the amount of ml BK901 contains but it shouldn't be much of a difference from Formidable.

In terms of pricing, BK901 is very much affordable at S$7.90 per bottle (much so since Face shop is having 20% off purchases more than S$10.00), Formidable retails at S$19.00 (but it is a limited edition, so expect to pay way much more if you were to get it from ebay).

In my personal opinion, BK901 is not a 100% dupe for Formidable but a close 80% cousin.

BK901: Priced at S$7.90, available at Face Shop (Wisma Atria).

Review: OPI My Private Jet and Black Shatter, Chanel's Black Satin and Givenchy Elegant Pearl

Every now and then, i will tidy up my makeup and skincare stuffs which i do feel therapeutic and that's when i realised i actually have enough nail polishes to group them into colour groups (although my nail polish stash might seem to be small compared to the others out there).

This post is about the Blacks and the Silver that i have currently in my nail polish stash (which is evergrowing as days went by, depending on what interest me. : ) )

Without further introduction, i present the Blacks and the Silver to you......

L to R: Givenchy Elegant Pearl, Chanel Black Satin, OPI My Private Jet and OPI Black Shatter.

Givenchy Elegant Pearl from 2009 Holiday collection.

167 Elegant Pearl - 5.5ml.

Chanel 219 Black Satin- 11ml.

OPI My Private Jet.

NL B59 My Private Jet-15ml. OPI Katy Perry Collection Black Shatter NL E59 Black Shatter- 15ml
L to R: Chanel Black Satin, OPI My Private Jet, OPI Black Shatter on top of MAC Originality and Givenchy Elegant Pearl.



L to R: Givenchy Elegant Pearl, OPI Black Shatter over MAC Originality and Chanel Black Satin.

My favourite of this lot is Chanel's Black Satin (permanent item), it applies smoothly and evenly for me, i just need 1 coat for the colour to show plus the glossy finishing is something that makes the black pop for me. There are some blogs that compared Chanel's Black Satin with Zoya's Raven as well as OPI's Black Onyx.

However, i am unable to lay my hands on Zoya's Raven at the moment (they are not available in Singapore if i am not wrong) and i do not have OPI's Black Onyx in the stash to do a direct comparison. Perhaps when i am able to lay my hands on both polishes, i will do another review : ) Currently, it is still my favourite out of the lot (though i can't wear this colour to work : ( ), i will still grab every chance i can to put it on.

OPI's My Private Jet (permanent item) is sort of a "legendary" favourite among many nail polish fanatics and i can see why when i first swatched it. To call it a black is misleading because it isn't a black nail polish, but a steel gray with tiny silver shimmer in it. Nevertheless, just as expected from OPI, My Private Jet swatch beautifully with just 1 coat and that's all i need for application. A unique colour, i would say.

I happen to come across Givenchy' Elegant Pearl by chance (got it during a sale) and was immediately attracted to it. Some may have compared it to Chanel's Steel (though i did swatch it at Chanel Counter), i do find that they are 2 very different nail polishes. Elegant Pearl is a lighter steel gray with a little shimmer in it whereas Steel is a dark steel, almost black polish with shimmer. I would say Elegant Pearl and My Private Jet are rather similar in colour (in the bottle), but when they are swatched the difference is more promiment. 1 coat is sufficient to obtain a decent opaque swatch.

Now, for OPI's Black Shatter from the Katy Perry Collection....... this is the nail polish that i had trouble hunting it down (having to go to quite a number of places to hunt for it, its even out of stock for a long time on certain spree website for the entire collection! ).

My perseverance did pay off as i spotted it in Metro during the 20% storewide sale, i knew i had to grab it and so i did. Well, this is indeed a interesting item to add into my collection. As you can see in the swatches above, the polish "cracked" into pieces which resembles leopard prints to me (perhaps due to MAC's Originality which i used as a base colour to show the "crack").

When the crack dried it is actually a matte black and it is quite fragile (it rubs off easily even when completely dried). What i did was to apply a top coat to give it some shine and to "seal" the cracks. Definitely a must have if you are seeking for something outside the norm or to spice up your collection.

A word of caution for application of Black Shatter, you must wait patiently for the base colour coat to dry completely before applying the Black Shatter plus Black Shatter dries very fast and easily so one has to be quick in the application otherwise the polish on the brush can become lumpy in no time.

For the Black Shatter fans, there are news that OPI is going to introduce more "shatter" polishes but i am not too sure of the colours that will be available... that's something to look forward to : )

OPI nail polishes

Priced at S$23.500 for 15ml at Metro Paragon and S$23.50 at Sephora (wonder why the S$0.05 difference ? ). Much cheaper if you plan to go on a spree with friends.

Chanel nail polishes

Priced at S$35.00 for 11ml, available at all Chanel counters.

Givenchy nail polishes

Price unavailable for 5.5ml ( i bought mine at a sale, so its only S$10.00)

Review: MAC Disney Venomous Villians Collection - Maleficient Duo Eyeshadows and Nail polishes

It's here at last!

I am talking about the collaboration between the 2 giants in their own rights - MAC and Disney.

After weeks of blogging by various prominent bloggers worldwide and salivating over some gorgeous items from the collection, the much anticipated collaboration has finally hit our tiny shores on the 7th of October (Tangs) and 8th of October (for the rest of the MAC stores islandwide).

Rumours has it that there was a queue lined up way before Tangs opening hours and the MAC staffs were stuffed with listings and listings of items to be bought, in conclusion- chaotic.

I do not have enough faith that i will win the wrestle for the much converted products with other enthusiastic makeup lovers, i would have missed the Venomous Villians collection entirely if not for a very dear friend, JL who managed to snag the Maleficent Duo Eyeshadows for me. I am not that greedy, so i am a happy deer galloping in the concrete forest with the precious duos in my hands.

Without further delay, i presents the Maleficent Duo Eyeshadows - My Dark Magic and She Who Dares.

The 4 Villians- Dr. Facilier, The Evil Queen, Maleficent and Cruella.

Dr. Facilier.

The Evil Queen.

Maleficent.

Cruella.

Top: My Dark Magic and She Who dares. Bottom: Formidable, Green & Mean and Bad Fairy.

The 2 precious Duos.

My Dark Magic.

She Who Dares.

Top view side by side: She Who Dares and My Dark Magic.

Dry Swatches with flash: Violet/Dark Pink (My Dark Magic), Green/Blue (She Who Dares).

Dry Swatches without flash: Violet/Dark Pink (My Dark Magic), Green/Blue (She Who Dares).

Green & Mean.

Bad Fairy.

Formidable.

Not part of the Disney Venomous Villians collection, only for comparison purposes.

Originality from the Pret-a-Papier collection.

L-R(with flash): Mean & Green, Bad Fairy, Formidable and Originality.

Mean & Green (without flash).

Bad Fairy (without flash).

Formidable (without flash).

Originality (Pret-a-Papier) without flash.

L-R: Originality, Formidable, Bad Fairy and Mean & Green (Without flash).

Review of the eyeshadow duos:

Frankly speaking, i would expect alot of fallouts (but lemming them for the wickedly gorgeous colours), but surprisingly application-wise is smooth and the colour payout is intense plus its a rather generous 3.5g (the usual MAC single eyeshadow is 1.3g). As for the description of colours, i think one can easily see in the photos above, so no need for the long story.

There are some glitters in the colour itself but shouldn't pose too much of a problem, it simply means that the colours are not really appropriate for office wear (obviously, unless you are in the fashion related industry, perhaps then). JL suggested that i can try to shake out the glitters on the brush so perhaps it will be more wearable for office. Hm...... will try to see if it will work that way.

In conclusion, wickedly gorgeous colours, uniquely seductive combination- love it to the core. : )

Review of the Nail Polishes (Mean & Green, Bad Fairy and Formidable):

The nail polishes are lent to me by the courtesy of JL (Thank you : )). Application wise, as one can see there are tiny glitters in the polishes, so in terms of application it is not as smooth as cream polishes.

The colours are in a word- beautiful and matches the theme totally, but I am rather disappointed in the sense that all 3 takes 3 coats to show the colours opaque beautifully. This is not what i had expected as Originality (Pret-a-Papier collection) takes only 2 coats to show its colour nicely opaque. Maybe the formula is different.

Out of the 3, i would say Bad Fairy is the most unique of all and if i have to pay an exorbitant price for it in Evil Bay, i would gladly do so (that is if i would kill for it). Other than that, Mean & Green is nice but doesn't really capture my heart and Formidable is nothing its name says.

Hope my 2 cents worth are useful here.

Priced at S$35.00 each for the Eyeshadow duo (3.5g) and S$19.00 each for the nail polishes (10ml).

Status: Totally soldout everywhere, Evil Bay is the last resort.

MAC In the Groove Collection Haul!!! - Stereo Rose, Petticoat and By Candlelight

Yes! Yes! Yes! This is the collection i have been waiting for...

I know i am supposed to be on a "Blushers and Highlighters" ban as imposed to me by my dear koibito.. just exactly how many blushers or highlighters do you need? I just can't bring myself to answer her with a justified and well-reasoned answer, except for the... you know.. 1 for a rosy look, 1 for a sunkissed look...

I have been behaving myself, until when i knew that the "In the Groove" collection is going to re-release quite a few much raved about and coverted items such as the urban legend of all...Stereo Rose.

After the Marine life duo blush episode, where i am just simply flabbergasted that its sold out in the whole of Singapore in a mere 2 hours within the opening of all MAC stores islandwide. This time, i just let fate takes its course.. if i managed to snag either Stereo Rose, By Candlelight or Petticoat, i would be satisfied and be a happy deer for the rest of the month.

However, as chance would have it, i managed to get all 3! Yes yes, the trios burnt a hole in my pocket but they are well-worthed the hole in my books. Its really fate, i tell you, as i just walked in a MAC store near my workplace and asked the MUA casually- Do you still have the stocks for Stereo Rose, By Candlelight and Petticoat?

When she answered yes, and not just 1 last Stereo Rose but a few... you simply can't imagine how elated i was... wow... somebody up there must have liked me. Haha....

Enough of my rambling, here's pics of my haul that fateful afternoon......

Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish (A much anticipated re-release)

A warm coral with a hint of golden brown sheen. The copper veining in mine is not so obvious.

By CandleLight Mineralize Skinfinish (A re-release from Warm and Cosy)

A soft pinkish beige sheer finish with a subtle sheen of pink.

Petticoat Mineralize Skinfinish

A Gorgeous deep dark pink-copper veining with a finish that is very much pinkish.

Swatches of Petticoat, By Candlelight and Stereo Rose.

All in all, i love love love the trios... so, i broke the ban for them, what's a girl got to do? They are so gorgeous in their own rights!

Priced at S$46.00 for 10g (except By Candlelight which is 9g) at all MAC stores (snag them if you can, these won't be in stock for long).

Update: Stereo Rose is officially sold out islandwide as of 9th July (Friday), which is the day i got mine.