Vacations, food, and our most-loved beauty items in August, from a rather obscure Japanese brand to Deciem’s best-selling product, from a cushion foundation for pale princesses and a highlighter palette for bronze-toned beauties.
Dorit’s Beauty Favourites in August
Sneakily, products from my recent trips to Hongkong and Singapore have managed to worm their way into my heart. Two of them are from Japanese brand Three. I couldn’t actually decide which one I like more, so I decided to pop them both into my favourites.
Three Shimmering Colour Veil – She’s the Reason
The first one is their Shimmering Colour Veil (aka pigment) in She’s the Reason, a very pretty light silvery, gigh-shine gold with a hint of taupe thrown in. (You know me, can’t resist a good taupe!) When I swatched them at the counter, I initially thought their texture would be akin to L’Oreal Infallible pressed pigments, or the Armani Eyes to Kill ones. Imagine my surprise when I opened my little (very chic) pot and I saw a loose pigment! Apparently, from incessant swatching, the loose powder had somehow developed the consistency of a pressed pigment. Anyway, it is the prettiest one wash/throw it on and call it a day colour, and, with a tacky base, astonishingly unfussy. Also very elegant – no chunky glitter in here!
It’s not cheap, though – Three is rather a high-end brand. I love it, although I’m sure you could get something similar for less. Also, outside Asia quite difficult to find – one of the reasons I decided to spring for it was my enthusiasm upon finding the counter of a much heard of brand.
Mesmerizing Performance Eyeliner Pencil – The Art of Noise
Second item I got is the Mesmerizing Performance Eyeliner Pencil in The Art of Noise. Allow me to swoon over it for a second – aaahhhh! This has everything I want in a pencil eyeliner. First, the colour is both stunning and versatile. It’s a very brown taupe (or greyed brown) with small glitters that reflect blue, silver, gold and purple. I like to wear it on my lower lashline, because it’s rather neutral but with a pop of something extra.
The formula is something else – it holds up incredibly well no matter what happens but applies very smoothly. The pencil has a brush for smudging, but while I appreciate the thought, you’ve to be very quick to blend, because once it sets, it sets. It has become my go-to pencil, because it goes with nearly any look, and I’m very, very happy I got it – not at least because its colour is quite unique in my stash! Three is available in some Asian countries, and if you have the opportunity, I can’t urge you enough to check them out!
Lightful C Quick Finish Compact
In Singapore I got MAC’s Lightful C cushion foundation with the case from the limited edition they did with Korean designers Steve J & Yoni P. I love the quirky packaging and thought it would be a good idea for me to try the cushion foundation. You can get it in Asia and Australia as far as I know and it hasn’t released (yet) in the US and Europe. (You should, MAC, you really should.) Because this is a very, very good cushion foundation! It comes in five shades (jeez! MAC!) and I chose Light that’s actually (oh the irony) a tad too light for me right now. (I used the Clarins self-tanning drops a while ago and slightly miscalculated the amount. Ahem. And then I spent a few days solely at the pool. So.) I had some problems to put the refill into the compact, but my other half solved that for me.
So this promises “radiant skin … never heavy or cakey … satin finish” and I can confirm that. On my combination skin it gives a nice even finish without settling into pores and fine lines. Coverage is medium and I wouldn’t personally try to build it up after that, especially as the puff is a bit stiff. I’d be concerned to smudge the layer you already build up. It also contains SPF50/PA++++ from a mix of mineral and physical sunscreen agents. I’ve never used the Lightful C series that this cushion is based on, but it’s mainly used for brightening the skintone, and this cushion has some interesting ingredients for that, like Tocopherol, Caffeine, some fruit extract and even some fermented ingredients. Good one on every front. Now let’s hope that this makes an appearance internationally and in a wider range for more skintones!
Favourite sweets?
Liquorice in every form. It is difficult to get here, so I stock up whenever I get the opportunity. I don’t know, the taste just reminds me of home!
Astrid’s Beauty Favourites in August
In August, we had a short vacation to Munich, it’s such a nice city with really great traditional German food! I’m not usually one for meaty dishes, but the Bavarians really knows what they are doing! Plus their country landscapes are just so beautiful!
My favorite products in August are the ones that has been tested through all day wear in summer (well, summer in Germany that is, with temps ranging from max 30 degrees C (86F) to a mere max of 13 degrees C (55.4 F), very dry weather to a super rainy day).
Labiotte Flash Tint Balm in OR01 Tangerine Tango
Dorit managed to get me this product from her latest trip to Korea. I picked this product on a whim, just because the shape of it is interesting. A click to dispense lip color? Also in a triangle shape? A promise of a great moisturizing property?
Turned out it’s a YES! YES! YES! In the beginning I dispensed way too much color, using it like a normal lipstick. Turned out that’s not the optimal way of wearing it. One click is definitely what you need from this product. Dab it on your lip, a thin layer is all you need. It is hella pigmented, it is moisturizing, and it looks lightweight.
Total winner! Now if I could only get them easily here in Germany…
(Dorit: Well, you could always ordering them online – here for example for about 11$!)
Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette
This is one promising palette, and as usual I always have a soft spot when the spokesperson is a person of color with a skintone closer to me. Moreover, my favorite beauty bloggers seemed to have this product in high regards: Karen from Makeupandbeautyblog here and Eleni from RougenApples.
It’s just such an easy face/cheek palette to wear. All the colors are basically there, and you just need to apply them. No brainer whatsoever. Two highlighters (Beach Nectar and Rose Gold) one bronzer (Malibu Soleil), and a coral blush (Hibiscus Bloom) in one limited edition palette for 46$ – and the pans aren’t tiny either! Available at Sephora.
Deciem Hylamide HA Blur
Deemed as best beauty product of the year, Deciem had it 50% off to celebrate it (seriously, how awesome is that, and how could you not take advantage of it?). I missed out the first time, but they honored their promise and offered the discount again when they got the product in stock.
Dorit was skeptical with this product after her experience with the The Ordinary primer [here], but I thought for 9.80EUR (promo price), I will give it a try!
Boy oh boy, it does what it said. It blurs your skin, like you put a blurring filter on it. It sort of absorb the shine, and basically make the skin looks more polish. My foundations (Armani LSF + MAC Waterweight + IT Cosmetics) played well with it, I could easily get away without putting any foundations as well.
Also, it is lightweight, you don’t feel like you put any extra layers. This is the primer that I actually would love to wear and will wear anytime under my foundation! Available at Deciem.
Sweets: Akesson Bali Sukrama Farms 45 % Milk Chocolate with Fleur de Sel
I like to buy chocolates, but I rarely could finish them up (first world problem!). Except this one. Maybe it’s a mix between it being Indonesian chocolate beans (although not produced in Indonesia), with coconut blossom sugar (adds a really nice flavor and kinda felt like it’s not too sweet). Plus it has some salt in it. So it’s sweet without being overly sweet. LOVE.
PS: For more thorough report on the chocolate (and other Indonesian chocolates, for that matter) go read Yasmina’s blog at The Weekend Kitchen.
