Make A Eye Catching Splash!

I heard alot about LA Splash which is a brand manufactured in the USA, mostly about raves of their liquid eyeliners and loose pigments. I don't own any of their liners because I think I have enough in my collection at this point of time. Hence today, I will be swatching for you the loose pigment eye shadows I have. They are purchased (both locally and overseas) over a period of time, not in a single haul just in case you are curious.

I de-potted them into stackable jars previously as the pigments seeped into the screw-track of the cap. It was messy business, however it seem to be rectified for the newer jars I bought. From the picture below, you can see that there are some jars still in their original package. These are the ones that I bought just yesterday at Northpoint, where they were have a Sasa sale. They were going for SGD 10 for 2 jars so I happily grabbed 4.

Top to bottom:
LA Splash Splash Proof Sealer (Eyeshadow Sealer/ Base)
Previous purchase of LA Splash Eye Sparkle
Latest purchase of LA Splash Eye Sparkle in their old packaging
LA Splash Diamond Dust Mineral Eyeshadow in their new packaging

A: LA Splash Splash Proof Sealer (Eyeshadow Sealer/ Base)
1,2,5 and 6: Previous purchase of LA Splash Eye Sparkle
3,4, 7 and 8: Latest purchase of LA Splash Eye Sparkle
9 and 10: LA Splash Diamond Dust Mineral Eyeshadow

Close-up picture 1

Close-up picture 2



Close-up picture 3

I strongly recommend using these with a eyeshadow primer unless you like just a light wash of color or subtle shimmer for your eye looks. You will be able to see the difference in the swatches below on why I emphasis on this, and yes, they do fade as the day pass if used without a primer. Overall, they are fine and soft, gives great pigmentation (if used with primer), very shimmery to metallic and if you can get it on sale, it's quite affordable. One thing great about buying pigments is that you can share it with a friend or two as I personally have not (until this point) hit pan on any full size pigments I have. You can't split and share a compressed eyeshadow if you get what I mean.

However, if you want general comparison between these and the MAC pigments... these are blendable powders on skin when applied, MAC ones feel more like blendable creme. It all depends on personal preferences and the primer you use. So, here are the swatches (Click on photos to enlarge).

Photo taken under sunlight without flash
#1: Starfish Peach
#2: Sunburn Bronze
#5: Seashell Pink
#6: Sandy Beaches

Tilted at an angle



Photo taken under sunlight without flash
#3: Neptune's Mine
#4: Purple Heart
#7: Submarine
#8: Hurricane



Tilted at an angle

 

Photo taken under sunlight without flash
#9: Dragon Dust ( I love this to bits)
#10: Hidden



Tilted at an angle

Under direct sunlight, the true beauty of the sparkle is more than twice that I
managed to capture on this picture.

I find the Diamond Dust series quite chalky and not suited for application with no primer. The primer I'll recommend for these pigments is the one that appeared in a few of the above photos, which is the brand's own LA Splash Eyeshadow Sealer/ Base. It's a translucent white liquid, dries clear and leaves a slightly tacky film.

I love my LA Splash pigments but do take note the method of application. A little tip beforehand, I will always flip any loose powder product container upside down, turn right side up again and give a gentle tap before opening. This is to deposit enough pigment on the cap itself where I will actually take my product from with a brush. Firstly, you will not get to contaminate the whole jar of product and secondly, you have minimal tendency to pick up too much product, making a mess while you go "tap tap tap" off the excess.

For subtle looks, use a dry fluffy brush to apply in with little "wind-swipper" motions and blend. That's all, simple. For pigment intense looks, you may either use a base (one that leaves a slight tackiness works best with these) or wet your brush (however fading will still occur through the day with this method) before applying the pigments. Use a firm flat brush to pick up the shadow and "pat" it onto the eyelid, do not swipe if you want to achieve the intensity as shown in the swatches of my photos. Blending can be done at the edges where you applied the pigments with another clean blending brush at the end.

I hope this is helpful, have a great time experimenting something new everyday! Until then, stay Radiant and Happy!

My Fanta-Bulous Weekend Part Three!

It's a Sunday, beautiful Sunday! Well, it only means Monday's peeking right over my shoulder, thus I planned to take it easy. The best option was to go shopping and a nice meal in the mall nearest to my place! Yeah, shopping again!

One of my first stop was Watsons, which I'm starting to love again, with must control nowadays. Once again Jade Jade, who completely took after my love for make up, started "exploring" the testers of Majolica Majorca's display counter.

Caught in action...

I must admit, she seem to be immensely enjoying herself

"Oh, which one's nicer..."

Next we had lunch...

At Sake Sushi

I'm not one of those "paranoid extremist" who refuse to eat sushi after the recent, but saddening, tsunami incident in Japan (that brings me to recall a person I once knew that made a fuss and insisted that the doctor gave him the vaccination shot, which were reserved for the pregnant and children at the time of the Bird Flu, because he was not well with a common cold. Come on, you were a 24 year old healthy male, can't believe how you went through your National Service without any guts...)

Some of the dishes: Agedashi Tofu, 揚げ出し豆腐 (left) & Soft-shell Crab Temaki, 手巻

Jade Jade trying to learn how to use the chopsticks

Lobster Temaki

My favourite Beef Kimchi Kaminabe which I've blogged before

Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) for Jade Jade

Dragon Roll Sushi

Chicken Katsu Cheese Yaki

Potato koroke (croquette)



Okonomiyaki

Jade Jade finding after-meal entertainment with my Ipad

We continued walking around after lunch before heading to the supermarket for our grocery and headed home. To wrap this entry up, the below is the haul I've done, enjoy!

Guess what I bought...

They are very prettly, it was love at first sight

I have a slight fetish for "owl" stuff

See the detailing, this cost me only SGD 14.

Some other stuff I bought randomly: Travel-size Contact Lense Solution (for my office) and Mentos Mint (for Jade Jade)

My haul from Watsons

Eyeshadows: Kate Blendzone in BR-2 (left) and Majolica Marjolica Trick on Powder in BR-752 (right)

I think I have too many nuetrals...

Then I discovered a new shop, which is not really "new" as I have not been shopping for months. It's call Magic Shop. The sales consultant told me that they empahsize on water-based product and is a Taiwan brand that I mistook for Korean. That's something new, without doing any research beforehand, I grabbed a number to their stuff to try out.


The shop's carrier bag



Nail polish at SGD 3.90 each (it was buy 4 get 1 free)



They are not named but numbered (from left to right): #23, #54, #63



#71 (left), #94 (right)



Swatch of #54, 2 coats with Sech Vite Top Coat.



Topped with Daiso's Light Color Nail Enamel #8 by Minmax@New York to add interest.
Reminds me of the starry sky on a clear night.

Magic Shop Luxurious Lip Gloss: It's colorless in the tube but turns
 into a healthy pink stain once in contact with your lips. Comes in one
shade (Chameleon Pink) at SGD 24.

 

Ingredient List

I have used 2 of the nail polish shades that I bought (#54 & #63). They are quite pigmented, 2 coats will give the color as the bottle. However, I notice that they started chipping much faster that the rest of other brands that I use. It normal last about 2 to 3 days before the first chip appear. You may like to know, I type but not alot at work, I don't do lots of household chores and I used Sech Vite Quick Dry as my top coat. Hope that clarifies. Therefore I'm not really impress with their polishes.

On the other hand, I love the Luxurious Lip Gloss, which is a lip stain. It's watery in texture, gives a slightly cooling sensation once applied and you can witness your lips turn pinker within the minute. Do note that it does have a soft rose-scent as well, which I love. I've used it for a whole week & still loving it. I'm not "glowy" recently so the pop of lovely rosy hue on my lips gave my face some "life" and I'm lazy, I only have to reapply around 4 to 6 hours later (depending on how much you talk and if you are drinking or eating). So hassle free and it does not dry out my lips.

I'll definitely step in again if I pass by the shop. I hope it open a few more branches so the girls who do not stay around my area can get to try out this new brand at their convinence as well.

That's all for this three-parter. Until next time, take great care!



Kanebo Kate Dual Carat Eyeshadow 2.3g

My Humble Rating: YYYYY


My hot, hot, hot favorite eye shadow! However, those who detest shimmer, please avoid this at all means. I just love the range so much that I collect them (retailing at approximately SGD17) from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan since they are tragically not available in Singapore. Each compact comes with 2 colors, one darker than the other. There is one single-tip sponge applicator but no mirror provided. The cover of the compact has this octagonal see-through portion for convenience to differentiate one compact from another at one glance.

Coming to the most important point, the eye shadow's texture is smooth, color's not over-powering, shimmer's very fine (minute specks of glitter). If applied using a brush, one can create a light shimmery film on your eye lids. For a more intensive effect, use the sponge applicator to layer on pigment (Perfect for creating the mysterious smoky-eye look). I love the sheen it gives when I use the darker tone pigment to line my lower lash line.

Overall, one has to kill me to say anything bad about this product because I'm totally bewitched by the diamond-sparkles. If I have to state one, it'll be: Why is this great product not in Singapore?!