Haul: The object of my Desire......

Yes,yes... this is the object of my DESIRE ever since i first laid my eyes on it.

The NARS Hanamichi Eyeshadow Palette, and yes it is a Limited Edition.

Please forgive me for not having the heart to swatch it yet. Do give me more time to look at it longingly every day, whispher sweetnothings to it softly and until then i will swatch it. 

 The Hanamichi Eyeshadow palette by NARS.

 The Eyeshadow palette is the size of my whole palm.

 The mini kabuki-like brush attached to the set.

 The signature rubber compact.

 A hefty 12.0g or 0.42oz worth of Eyeshadow.

 Behold the beauty.

 Can't get enough of it.

 Not enough.

Yes, never enough.

Grab yours if this stirs your heart like it mine and of course, if you can.

Review: RMK Sheer Powder Cheek Blush in EX-02

This has to be the most expensive blushing beauty i ever had in my stash to date..... and who am i refering to?

My splurge item from my latest haul - RMK's Sheer Powder Cheek blush in EX-02 from the Dusty Bright Colours Collection.

There are 3 limited edition blusher shades in the collection, namely EX-01 Beige Pink, EX-02 Orange and EX-03 Rose Brown, i am not really into Pink and Plum like blushers, EX-02 Orange caught my eyes instantly even from a distant.

Although it caught my eye instantly, the decision to purchase it was not an impulse, it was in fact after having tried it on and some careful swatching plus examining that i finally decided to snag one home.

Why?

For the reason that it seems to resemble NARS's Taj Mahal which i already owned and love to the bits.... and partly due to the shimmer that i see in the pan (i have visible pores and so shimmer on the pores is not such a good idea), and most importantly the price tag of the blusher... if it wasn't for the discount i would not have bought it to be honest.

It was a tough decision to make, a decision that i am glad i made the correct one- i brought it home with me.

 The highly reflective surface and huge fingerprints magnet.

EX-03 Orange-2.0g.

 A closer look.

The brush applicator that comes with it.

Rather soft and of better quality than the average ones you get.

Swatches L-R: heavy swatch and blended nicely.

 NARS Taj Mahal.

 Taj Mahal- 4.8g.

 Taj Mahal Blusher.

Swatches Top to Bottom: NARS's Taj Mahal and RMK's EX-02 Orange.

I do not like the packaging of the RMK's EX-02. Imagine after having applied your primer, foundation, eyeshadows and whatnots, my fingers would not be as clean as i hope they would be and these are the same fingers i use to pry open the casing to get to the product. Yes, of course you will see all my fingerprints on the cover, fingerprints so complete that CSIs would be overjoyed to collect them. Plus, its plastic .... i have nothing against plastic just that if i am paying at the price point of S$65.00 for a mere 2.0g of product, please give me something of better quality (sturdier and no fingerprints magnet please).

In terms of texture, i would say RMK's EX-02 is really very soft, to the extend that its too soft to be powder. The softest textured blusher i have in my stash currently. I am very happy with the pigmentation and the result of the application... my worries of having excessive shimmer showing in my big pores were unfound as true to the claim of the Beauty advisor, the shimmer is there to make the blusher stands out and will not be noticeable.

EX-02 looks good on my tan skin (i am a RMK 104, MAC 35 or 37 if i recall correctly), a little goes a long way, so just a few light sweep with my brush and i am good to go (i very much prefer to use my own brush than the one that comes with the compact unless i am left with no choice), the colouring looks natural and fresh.

That is a totally different feel whenever i am putting on Taj Mahal, i always felt that Taj Mahal deserves a more dramatic eye makeup to go with it or to be worn when i am able to do better eye makeup. Its more luxuriously and rich in terms of colour payoff and intensity.

Remember i said it reminded me of NARS Taj Mahal... well, i was wrong......

Taj Mahal is a golden burnt orange with golden sheen, whereas EX-02 is a bright fresh orange with shimmer. Both belongs to the same family and yet very different.

Like it?

Yes... yes... especially at a good price.

RMK: Priced at S$65.00 for 2.0g available at Isetan Scotts (Takashimaya is already out of stocks for it).

NARS: Priced at US$28.00 for 4.8g (Available at http://www.narscosmetics.com/)



Haul: When the going gets tough......

Yes, yes... when you are feeling depressed and feels that the going gets way tough for you to handle and you are a certified makeup addict... so what do you do?

What else?

A Haul!

These are my haul for the past 2 weeks......

The newbies in the family.


A must since i don't really like to use shampoo or soap on my brushes.

Chanel? What could it be? : )

Woo... another Nars...

Maquillage casing.. love the pretty design on the sides.

RMK Loose Powder.

Something from The Bodyshop... a review on it coming up.

My first bronzer.. believe it or not....

Another lippy to join the family.

My essential.

More lipbalms to protect my dry lips.

Ha....i feel so much better now... have been rotating between stress at work and getting sick...

Sigh... i am currently into my 6th month for coughing ...yes that LONG and the specialists all couldn't come up with an explanation for my super duper persistant long cough...

Reviews coming up as soon as i feel much better... i am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be soon. : )

Haul and Review: NARS Oasis and Taj Mahal

Finally!

I get the chance to lay my greedy paws on my very first NARS......

It all started with my generous BFF initiating a online spree and thus i ended up with these 2 lovelies.

Introducing the very first of my NARS, Oasis and Taj Mahal blushers......

The 2 NARS blushers in their signature cardboard packaging.

The niffty rubbery compact in my hand.

4020 Taj Mahal.

4028 Oasis.

Taj Mahal with the thin flim of plastic.

The golden orange beauty in the pan.

Oasis with the thin plastic film protecting it.

Oasis, the pretty berry beauty in the pan.

Swatches of Taj Mahal.

Swatches of Oasis.

To speak the truth, i have been contemplating on getting anything from NARS for quite a while and i was rather put off by the "cult status"kind of thing, which is what the Orgasm Blusher has attained in the beauty world. I try my best not to be caught in the frenzy of "oh, that is a must have because it is much raved about" and be sucked into the vicious trap of buying for the sake of buying.

Thus, i have decided and is dead against buying Orgasm as i have quite a few coral like blushers in my stash, though they might not be perfect dupes for Orgasm but i am really unable to justify buying another blusher in that colour range, instead Oasis and Taj Mahal caught my eyes.

Honestly, i have nothing quite like it in my stash for Taj Mahal, i was doing my usual "researching"online and came upon Temptalia's blog, the swatches captivated my heart instantly (even though i have Givenchy's Maharani Orange, it swatches totally different from Taj Mahal). Maharani is more of a highlighter as it swatches very sheer and personally i think Taj Mahal is perhaps what Maharani wanted to be in the first place.

In terms of texture and pigmentation, i would say NARS Taj Mahal applies smoothly with ease and is very pigmented, the colour payoff is true to the pan and a little goes a long way especially for Taj Mahal.

It is a bold colour for a blusher but I do not see it difficult to wear as i am quite tan and i absolutely love the subtle golden sheen in the orange which adds another dimension upon application.

It is LOVE at First Sight. Trust me.

As for Oasis, i was a little skeptical initially as my skintone does not carry off blushers with berry tone well, but i was attracted to the golden specks in the pan and since i do not have such a colour in my stash, i thought it was reason enough to try it.

I am relieve that i go with my gut instinct and went on to ask my BFF to put through the order for me. As it turns out, Oasis is a nice berry pink with golden shimmer that is not over the top at all, in the pan it looks pretty at certain angles when the golden shimmer caught on the light. Now, the really beautiful part is when it is being applied onto the skin which i think is universally flattering on most skin tones. Its a pity my camera is unable to capture the beauty of it properly, it is really beautiful as i am looking at it now.

Just like Taj Mahal, Oasis is very pigmented and a wee bit is sufficient for application.

All in all, i love these 2 lovelies to the core.

I am just a wee worried that this might spell the beginning of a NARS collection and the doom of my blusher ban...

Love it? That's a silly question to ask.

I say, try it if you can lay your hands on them.