Oct/Nov 2016: New Beauty Products [MUFE, Urban Decay, Clinique…]

Hi hi!!  Get ready for a long rambly post ahead!  I will be loosely dividing this post into a few ‘chapters’ – each with a cluster of products which I am currently playing with, and share with you my thoughts on them.  There are so many new products lately, holiday collections, fall collections, is it that time of the year already??

Anyway, let’s start with new products from Urban Decay – palettes! Here, we have the Naked Illuminating Trio, I think this retails for about SG$60 and it contains 3 shades of sparkly highlighters and a dual ended brush.

I find the packaging excessive in this trio.. they could have done with the packaging of their Flush palettes – more compact, and prolly more product too.  The powder is dome shaped (are they baked powders?) and all three swatched almost the same on my skintone.. and the colours or the sheeen did not show up very well in swatches.  There are visible sparkly bits, especially in the middle shade, oasis.  I didn’t have high hopes when I applied it onto my cheeks later on.  But they perform better when applied onto the actual skin on my face, as you can see in the close up shots of my cheeks.  I used a Morphe fluffy blending brush to apply the product instead of the brush that is included (which seems too synthetic to pick up this type of powder but maybe quite good for contouring/ sculpting instead).

As far as highlighters are concerned, these are not the best in terms of quality… the price point is okay.. but I think I would rather pay about the same for a good single highlighter from Becca or Hourglass. Or if you want to stay in the Urban Decay family, stick with their existing Afterglow Highlighters (only SG$39 each) – Sin is a dupe for Becca’s Moonstone/ Mary Louminizer.

Next chapter – I shall discuss the Urban Decay Ultimate Basics eyeshadow palette.  It is amazing how they keep coming up with new releases of crowd favourites.  I must say I prefer the Basics 1 rather than Basics 2 palette which seems a tad too cool toned for my liking.  But the Basic palettes contain really good smooth matte eyeshadows which I enjoyed, and I even used them for my eyebrows for a long time (I think I have an old blog entry on using the BASIC palette for my brows).   This palette retails for SG$83 and contains 12 mostly matte eyeshadows (actually only ONE shade has a pearl sheen to it – called Blow, the rest are all smooth & matte).  Mimimal fallout, easy to apply, easy to blend.  This is an outstanding matte eyeshadow palette.  I personally can do with only the lower row of shades, the top row seem all too cool and too similar.  My personal fave shade is BITTERSWEET, that orangey brown just jumps out at me in the whole palette, so I had to use it all over my eyes in this LOTD shown.  I also did another look with only the top row colours, ending up with a very lightly defined look.

Packaging for this palette is also on point, I really like the solid feel of the palette and the huge mirror inside is a bonus.

Bottomline – I highly recommend this Urban Decay palette.  If you have to get something from their new collections.. this is it.

All products used in this warm smokey look:

face – By Terry Colorless Hydra-Filler, NARS All Day Weightless Radiance Foundation (Light 4), set with NARS Translucent Loose Powder

concealer – NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

brows – ABH Brow Promade Dark Brown, filled in any gap with Shu Uemura brow powder duo (seal brown)

lashes – Huda Beauty Gisele #13

no eyeliner

eyeshadows as used and stated in the pic above

bronzer/ contour – NARS Olympia

blush – TARTE sensual blush

highlight – Urban Decay Illuminating Trio

lipstick – Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in 714 (mega matte finish)

All products used in this everyday ‘no makeup’ look:

face – MUFE Ultra HD Liquid foundation, set with NARS Translucent Loose powder

concealer – NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

brows – MUFE Brow palette (used the waxy base, followed by ABH brow promade in Dark Brown), filled in any gap with MUFE brow palette

lashes – NARS falsies from the Sarah Moon collection #09

lipstick – Urban Decay VICE Lipstick in Naked

eyeshadow – as stated in the picture below

no eyeliner

contour / bronzer – Cle de Peau bronzing powder duo 01, Kevyn Aucoin sculpting powder in Medium

blush – NARS Ukriane (LE)

highlighter – Urban Decay Illuminating Trio

One last Urban Decay offering I have here to share – the VICE palette – this retails for SGD$68 and contains 12 shades of Vice Lipsticks. I have never been a fan of lipstick palettes – I find the texture to be nothing like the original lipsticks in a tube.. For $68 you can buy almost 3 full sized VICE lipsticks, and you can pick the exact shades that you would actually wear.  This palette contains a lot of fun colours, but who is going to wear the purple or green lipstick, even if they are going to be your lipstick topper…chances are those would not be used  much at all.

One thing tho, I like the packaging, the extra cover is really neat and keeps everything sanitary.  I would like to see a more colour themed VICE lipstick palette though.. for example, and all NAKED lippie palette, all RED palette.. instead of this varied offering.

I won’t be swatching this palette… it is a bit pointless as you can google for the swatches of the individual shades online.. I might give this palette away to someone who would love it more than me.

Next, let’s move to another brand, Clinique has released new additions to their POP LIP collection, with the POP LIQUID MATTE, and POP MATTE.  I think these retail for under SGD$30, or early $30+.

The Pop Liquid Matte lipsticks have a rather large doe-foot applicator which I find a bit hard to get into the corners of my lips.  I am curious to see how the more  natural MLBB shades work in this collection, as the samples I received are both quite bold. The formula is quite creamy and comfortable to wear.  They take a while to set before looking matte, and I personally prefer 02 Flame Pop as a true red.  These don’t feel dry like most other Liquid Matte lippies, but they don’t have the smooth velvety feel of the Chanel Rouge Ink or NARS Velvet lip glides- the creamy matte formula is something quite nice, especially if you tend to have dry lips.

The Pop Matte lipsticks are more matte than the liquid ones… no dry down, they appear matte immediately.  I like how the colours in the tube have a true colour payoff when applied on the lips.  They are creamy and matte, again the formula is very nice, and easy to use.  05 Graffiti Pop is my top pick from these three, it has a very pretty raspberry red, flattering on most skintones.  Bonus – the frosted bottle design is a winner.

Bottomline – if you like the Clinique Pop Lipsticks, you will like these too.  I enjoyed the original Pop lipsticks when they launch, the formula is creamy and non-drying and the colours are all quite wearable.  Again, I am curious to check out the MLBB shades in person.

Next, we have some new products from MUFE – I have several other products from MUFE, but I might feature them sometime later. Here we have the Artist Rouge lipsticks, in several finished, and a myriad of colours.  I was sent a selection of colours, one of which is a wicked blue shade that I showed on my Instagram a while ago, but I have since gifted it away to someone who would rock it way better than I would ever do.

These retail for SGD$35 each, quite reasonable!  The packaging is industrial chic, very weighted cap, and the lipstick bullet has a very sharp tip.. give you lots of precision when it comes to application.

I find these lipsticks to have a true colour payoff – what you see is what you get.  There is no hint of white in the bright shades I have to share here, and the formula is quite comfortable and glides onto my lips effortlessly.  I personally prefer the matte shades compared to the creme ones which I find a tad slippery, and streaky.

Bottomline – every brand is coming up with new lipsticks (and I haven’t even start on the MAC liptensity ones!) and I think it is easy to get lost in everything.  For me, the reds in this range stand out, and my personal pick is the hot pink M202 – it looks almost neon without that white base, and still manages to look really opaque.  I am impressed.  It is what I think NARS Schiapp should be like, M401 is gorgeous and really classy. C304 is a true orange, and way better than MAC Morange – again, too white too stark.  C304 is a super in your face true bright orange, almost blindingly bright.

I could probably wear the black a bit better, such as blotting and re applying, but it does take some work.  It is a true black without any blue or green tinge.  Great for Halloween eh?

Lastly, we have the MUFE pro sculpting brow palette – this is in shade 1, which is a tad light on me, so I only use it to fill in gaps in my brows after using my usual brow promade.  I go through phases with my brow routine, and for the past couple of years, I usually only reach for the gels/ creams, and using a powder to fill in any gaps etc…I like the waxy base in this palette though.  I just rub my spoolie brush into the wax, and brush it through my brow hairs before I use my brow gel/ cream/ powder.  The wax sort of pressed my brow hairs down, and provides a base for the gel/ cream/ powder to hold on to.  I am enjoying this little step… and it makes my brows look quite 3D ish (refer to the ‘natural LOTD’ in this entry for a close up of my brows).

This retails for SGD$76 (pricey!!) and comes in 2 shades (01 and 02).  I think the darker one might suit me better though.  If they sell the waxy thing alone, I would totally just buy that only!  It is a fab base before I fill in my brows.

Almost at 2000 words already!! I hope you are still reading!!  Do people still even read blogs these days?  The stats on my blog seem ‘healthy’ on a daily basis, but everyone seems to be all about snapchatting, posting stories, posting pretty flatlays.. do people actually care about reading long entries like this?  Even I am guilty and get caught up in this vicious cycle, new products arrived at my desk, post the obligatory IG pic, put everything away, unopened, unused…(opps!!! yes, I am guilty!).   Event launches are organised around the whole Instagram aesthetics these days too, with lots of props and trinklets for participants to artfully arrange them.  I stopped attending such events.  But that’s another story altogether, and I guess you already know my views.  Some people don’t like what I have to say on this, to each her/their own.

I guess there is still a point for my blog… if not where else can I ramble about stuff that I have actually opened and used?  Even if they aren’t that new anymore, I would like to think someone out there might find it interesting to read and maybe try out something new.  I personally find it therapeutic to write and blog, and have been for years and years…so even if the whole ‘influencer’ thing is dead for me, if people stop inviting me to events or stop sending me new stuff, I would still have my own content my own stories my own experience to share.  That’s how it has always been for me, even before ‘influencer’ or ‘blogger’ became a thing.

Not sure if I would be able to post more before the end of Nov.. the month is shaping up to be pretty nightmarish and hectic so far.. and I am leaving early Dec for my year end holiday.  Sometimes I am mentally composing rambly topics in my mind… I am tempted to post another skincare round-up, and also posting current faves entry/ stuff that I am using up lately…my current makeup routine is very simple.. I just have a long-lasting base, brows on… blush, and hardly any lippie.  Very boring.. but sometimes I still like to slap on a full face of makeup.

Anyway, I hope this entry has been helpful as always, and do let me know if you have any questions.. or suggestions for new posts in the comments below!

Thank you so much for reading.