[Review] Revlon Age Defying Foundation

• This product was sent to me by Revlon for review purpose. However, this is my honest opinion.
• While trying this, I am currently on Accutane. This means, I my skin is very dry at the moment and the verdict of the review might be bias. I usually write my review based on my oily-combination skin, so the performance might be different. Once I’m done with my treatment and I notice a different result of the product, I will update this review

Hi guys!

So here's another review of Revlon latest collection. I'm sure you've seen this foundation in their counter lately. It's their Age Defying with DNA Advantage Cream Makeup. This foundation claims to combine makeup and anti aging skincare to help protect skin's DNA to fight the signs of aging.

At the moment, I don't really have aging problems that I need to deal with. Yes, I know that it is important to prevent rather than to fix the problem. But right now I'm too busy fixing my breakout, instead of aging signs. Besides, if the product claims to fix aging signs by providing UV-rays protection, I  might as well write about sunscreen. I always say that I don't care about skincare effect in my makeup and always treat makeup as it is, which is makeup and not skincare.

Revlon Age Defying Foundation comes in a transparent plastic bottle mimicking the shape of DNA strands. Nice touch. It also comes with a pump and everybody loves foundation that comes with a pump! Spare us from messy makeup application.

This is a cream foundation. It has a light buttery texture that spreads easily. I don't understand why Revlon keeps infusing all of their complexion products with shimmer, especially for a foundation that's targeted for mature skin. Just like the infamous Photoready, this, too, has shimmer. BUT at least the shimmer is more obscure. It gives the skin just enough dewy radiant look, minus the vampire-shine. As much I enjoy blending the buttery texture, this foundation slips and melts easily. My skin is currently very dry so I can still get away with this foundation without powdering it. However, in general, it is recommended to set this with powder. Piece of advice., though, don't set it using dry translucent powder (like HD powder) as the dry finish only accentuates the shimmer. Happened to me.

Due to the buttery texture, I prefer to apply this with dense brush to help set the foundation on my skin. I use Sigma F80 or Real Techniques Expert Face brush. I tried damped sponge but it just wiped away the foundation from my face. And the regular paddle foundation brush only left me with streaky finish. I didn't try applying it using my stippling brush because my skin is really flaky right now, the brush will only enhance the flakiness. I use patting motion when applying this foundation.

How the foundation looks like before powder.

The coverage is light and can be built to medium-light coverage. As you can see, my acne scars is pretty noticeable underneath it. I actually love how light this foundation feels on my skin. I thought this foundation would be a great option for daily foundation. Unfortunately it falls short in terms longevity. It melts easily. Right now I could eliminate oil as the culprit, but this foundation easily melts when contact with sweat. And when I try to pat the sweat, the foundation transferred and left me with patchy looking complexion. That's too bad.

My shade is Medium Beige (25) and it matches me perfectly. But then again, the coverage makes the shade selection quite forgivable. Medium Beige is medium dark with warm undertone, and for all I know is the darkest shade available. By the way, this might be a sponsored review, but Revlon sent me Fresh Ivory (05) which, ironically, is the lightest shade available. So, in order to to come up with this review, I decided to purchase the right shade on my own. There are five shades available for this foundation.

Left: Medium Beige; Right: Fresh Ivory

Overall, I've been wearing this foundation a lot lately just for the sake of the lightweight feeling. Mostly to places where I know I won't be sweating a lot, which is not so hard considering I'm exposed to air conditioner almost 24 hours a day. I have compact powder ready to handle the melting issue in the middle of the day. When my skin is dry, like now, this foundation is okay. However I don't see myself wearing this once I'm done with Accutane and back to my usual oily combination skin.

Revlon Age Defying Foundation is available at Revlon counters and retails for IDR 145k.

[Review] Revlon ColorStay™ Crème Gel Liner

ColorStay™ Crème Gel Eye Liner is one of Revlon latest collection and for all I know is Revlon’s first cream eyeliner. Revlon claims this liner to be

• Easily glides to create delicate to dramatic lines
• Waterproof.
• Smudge proof
• Last for 24 hours
• Bold and pigmented color

All rational claims for eyeliner, except the last-for-24-hours part. But then again, why would anyone want to wear eyeliner for 24 hours, I can hardly understand. Before I start, allow me to note something,

• I didn’t test this eyeliner for 24 hours. Then again, I don’t need my eyeliner to last for 24 hours.
• This product was sent to me by Revlon for review purpose. However, this is my honest opinion.
• While trying this, I am currently on Accutane. This means, I my skin is very dry at the moment and the verdict of the review might be bias. I usually write my review based on my oily-combination skin, so the performance might be different. Once I’m done with my treatment and I notice a different result of the product, I will update this review

This eyeliner comes in a glass pot with lid that reminds me of chess pawn. It’s apparently an attached brush applicator. Okay, that’s one point for being practical. All these times, one thing that holds me from wearing gel eyeliner is the fact that I have to buy and keep the applicator separately. But with this packaging, you can carry the applicator along with the liner and keep it clean. It's very easy to use as well. Just attach the base of the applicator and you get an ergonomically appropriate applicator.

 I'm glad that Revlon really put some thought to the applicator. It really works! Not just some crappy applicator that usually comes with beauty product. It's flat with wide surface and it also has enough density. I can easily create thin or thick line, and no tugging required. Impressive! Just a reminder though, this might be just an attached applicator but do treat it like your individual brush. And by that, I mean, don't forget to wash the applicator regularly. You don't want to accumulate bacterias and then use it to apply product on your eyes.

The color I got is Brown. I'd describe it as neutral brown with silver flecks. I think brown eyeliner is appropriate on daily basis. I love how the brown color turns out on me. It blends very well with my skintone. Unlike black that can look too harsh so I have to apply eyeliner in between my lashes, with brown I can settle with just single line on my lashes and the result looks very natural. Again, appropriate on daily basis, especially in a rush.

This product claims to give bold and pigmented color and I couldn't agree more. The color shows up easily in just a single stroke yet you can easily build the color. The soft texture makes it easy to blend and once you're done, it won't budge. For staying power, I wore this from morning to evening and the color didn't smudge and the shimmer stayed intact. But once again I remind you, my skin is currently dry. So it might gives different result on oily lid.

In  the mean time, I have to say that Revlon ColorStay™ Crème Gel Liner impressed me. And totally change my opinion that gel liner equals impractical. Right now this eyeliner is available in every Revlon Revlon counters. There are four color available, and they are Black, Brown, Charcoal, Plum. And it retails for IDR 75k.

[Review] Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter

First time doing video review!!!! Definitely not at all easier than blogging.

Anyway, I finally came up with my thought and review about Revlon Lip Butter. Although, in a nutshell I'm just gonna say that I love this!

• Gel formula to keep lips stays soft and moisturized
• Mango butter, shea butter and coconut butter to boost the hydrating effect on the lips
• Medium coverage with shiny finish
• Vanilla scented
• 20 shades available
• Available at Revlon counters for IDR 75k

So what are you waiting for? Coat your lips in butter - without risk to your waistline!

Launching of Revlon Lip Butter (Picture Heavy!!)

The latest most awaited product from Revlon is finally here. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, if you think it’s Colorburst Lip Butter, it is! And to celebrate the launching of the product, Revlon Indonesia together with Cosmopolitan Magazine threw an event for Beauty and Fashion Bloggers. The event was held last Thursday at Poste Kitchen and Bar, Kuningan. In conjunction with the colorful Lip Butter and yummy mouth-watering names of the shade, the dress code for the night was 'Candylicious'. I was excited about the event since it's been so long since the last blogger event and I missed hanging out with my blogger buddies.

Above was my FOTD for the event. I took the picture while I was in parking lot, waiting for Stella (stellalee.net). We decided to go together since we had to cross 3in1 area to reach the venue. So after god-knows-how-many-hours we were sailing through Jakarta's infamous traffic jam, we finally arrived ON TIME! At Poste there were Priscilla (priscillaclara.com), Anisa (nisachan-nisachan.blogspot.com) and mbak Dessy (livingdaisy.blogspot.com) arrived early. I was so happy to meet them again. Some of the bloggers who I met for the first time that night were Carryn (carrynapratiwi.blogspot.com) and Catra (shinelikeastarr-beauty.blogspot.com). Even Mada (cantiktanpabangkrut.blogspot.com), beauty blogger from Bandung, showed up that night! Other bloggers I met were Putri (putrikansil.blogspot.com) and Leni (cominica.net) though we didn't get to chat too much. There were so many beauty bloggers whose face are familiar through blogosphere, I was overwhelmed. It is always fun to meet new blogger friends!

Meanwhile, the venue was decorated according to the theme. It was like stepping into a Candyland! The decoration was so cute filled with lollipops.

Looked like Revlon made sure that the venue didn't just look cute, but also sweet and sugary enough. How could it not be? There were lollipops and cupcakes! By the way, do you think my outfit was Candylicious enough? Well, when they said 'candy' I immediately thought colors. So yeah, I didn't even know what kind of candy I was.. but maybe caramel candy? Oh well..

The dinner was served. And while we were enjoying dinner, we were introduced to the product that was launched that night, Colorburst Lip Butter. The idea behind the product is a mixture between lipstick and lipbalm. Enriched with mango butter, shea butter and coconut butter to boost the moisturizing effect. There are 20 colors available and we were offered to try whichever we liked. So I changed my lip color.


And that night, us bloggers were wearing Lip Butter on our lips. I didn't get to snap pictures of everybody. But here's some.

Nisa wearing Sweet Tart. Me wearing Tutti Frutti.

I tried Tutti Frutti at the counter before the event and fell in love instantly. I have really been into coral lately and this Tutti Frutti fits the category. I was thinking about purchasing it but decided to postpone at least until after the launching.

The event was hosted by Iwet Ramadhan and Ari Kirana. And to start the event, Santi Turino, Brand Manager of Revlon Indonesia, gave an opening speech and introduced us to Lip Butter with the beautiful Emma Stone as the face of the product. Because Revlon Indonesia hits the highest selling rate in South East Asia, it was arranged that the launching of Lip Butter is not so far behind the launching in USA so Indonesian customers can try the product immediately. And this is the first launching of Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in South East Asia region. We also watched behind the scene of Revlon Lip Butter commercial, starring Emma Stone.

Next was a talk show about latest fashion trend with Dewi Utari (dewiutari.blogspot.com), Fashion Editor of Harper's Bazaar Indonesia, together with Nina Nikicio (nikicio.com), CEO of the Fashion label Nikicio. And of course since it was an event for fashion and beauty bloggers, it wouldn't be complete without makeup talk. Makeup talk that evening was with makeup artist Hendro Revco and the beautiful Revlon Local Brand Ambassador, Carissa Putri.

Makeup artist for Carissa Putri and Ary Kirana for the evening was Hendro Revco. Carissa Putri looked absolutely stunning. Of course she was wearing Lip Butter and her shade was Cupcake. Carissa said she prefers soft makeup and the lip color really completed the whole look. For the eyes, instead of black, she opted for teal color from CustomEyes palette in Party Pops to line her lower lashline.

Hendro Revco gave out some tips about Lip Butter. He mentioned that Lip Butter is unique in a way that the colors appear differently on different people. So it is very important to try out the products directly on the lips instead of just sweeping it on the hand. Also, it is important to wear moisturizing lip products like Revlon Lip Butter. Not only it protects your lips from dryness, the products could also help remove dead skin on the surface of the lips along when you remove the lipstick.

After some games, door prize and all, the event finally came to an end. All the bloggers took pictures together but unfortunately I had to get home as soon as I can since it was getting late so I missed it. But I did take picture with the host that night, Ary Kirana, who of course wore Lip Butter. Hers was in shade Lollipop. I also managed to snap a picture with Carissa Putri.

Revlon did not let us go home empty handed. We received a goody bag filled with everything sweet. There were lollipops, cupcakes, cotton candy, and the sweetest of all, two Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters. Did I mention I postponed purchasing the color Tutti Frutti? Smart move! Because that's the shade I got, together with Sugar Plum.

By the way, because I worked with Revlon before to review their products, I was asked to do a small interview with O Channel to give my opinion about the event and the product. I was so excited yet nervous at the same time. I believe I just made a fool of myself although they said they will edit the scene first before airing it. So stay tune on O Channel this Sunday at 06.30pm if you wanna watch me embarrassed myself!

Courtesy of Revlon Indonesia. Watch the video here.

On the other hand, big thank you for Revlon Indonesia and Cosmopolitan Magazine for the invitation. It was fun and of course, we want more! ;)

Current Eyebrows Routine

Hi guys! This is going to be about my current eyebrows routine. Thought I'll share it with you all.

First of all, let me stress out the importance of shaping your eyebrows! Even if you don't wear a lot of makeup or not interested at all, please take time to shape of your brows. Or maybe trim it, at least. I'm not gonna talk about how eyebrows could change how your face shape looks like, because most of time it's not a very convincing reason and not everybody cares about it. My reason is, well groomed eyebrows gives you a neat appearance. That's all. Who would want to carry around a bunch of bushes above of their eyes? I used to neglect my eyebrows as well. But since I was introduced to threading, that's when the addiction started. I love neat shaped eyebrows and I can't help staring at people's eyebrows first, especially girls with makeup on.

My natural eyebrows shape. Mostly straight.

Eyebrows is one of my makeup basic. Whenever I'm in a hurry, I'd gladly ditch my eyeshadows, eyeliner and even lipstick. But I'll do my foundation, eyebrows and a pinch of blush. My eyebrows routine includes threading, obviously. Waxing is my second option and I almost never shave it. My favorite threading place is Narsih, which is a famous affordable waxing and threading salon in South Jakarta. I love the place because it always gives the best result but I hate that the place is super crowded and I have to queue about thirty minutes almost everytime I visit the place. Anyone know other place to thread eyebrows, please let me know. When I moved for a year to Semarang, I learned to thread my own eyebrows from youtube. I still have professional do my brows but being able to thread my own brows helps A LOT in so many emergency situations. Shape wise, I prefer high-arched eyebrows shape which has nothing to do with my face shape (although it is the right shape for my round face), I just want more space to apply highlight on my browbone. Haha!

I didn't immediately do my makeup routine after my first threading experience. Back then, I thought, having shaped eyebrows means I didn't have to do my brows anymore. Boy how wrong was I?! I didn't realize how washed out my brows looked like back then. I even almost didn't fill my brows when I did my own makeup on my graduation. Thank God my mom told me to! Otherwise I'll have a no-brows look in my graduation pictures.

When I first started to do my brows, I used just eyebrow pencil. I raved about Viva eyebrow pencil before. But the more I was introduced to other products, the more options I had. So now I already picked my favorite products for my routine. And here they are.

Mac 'Cork' satin eyeshadow
Revlon Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown
Revlon slanted brush. This is actually not for sale. I got this as GWP. But any slanted brush will do. My point is, it doesn't have to be an expensive brush!
MUFE Khol Pencil in 2K, which is optional.

I prefer MAC Cork and Revlon eyebrow pencil because the color is more neutral and doesn't look too brown when applied. I don't even know how to describe the color on my brows. Not brown, not taupe, definitely not grey! Just enhancing my brows!

Here's the step by step.

1. This is my bare eyebrows. I prefer to do my eyebrows after I apply my foundation.
2. Using slanted brush, I fill the beginning of my brows, all the way to the tip of my arch with MAC Cork eyeshadow. I don't fill the tail of my brows with eyeshadows because the tail is too thin.
3. Using Revlon eyebrow pencil, I line the lower part of my eyebrows. It helps a lot if the pencil was sharp. I start from the beginning all the way to the tail. This is where I determine how long my eyebrow tail should be.
4. To shape the arch, I use my brush with eyeshadow left on the bristle to blend the eyeshadow on my arch all the way to the tail. (see the difference in pictures no.3 and no.4). Basically, on daily basis or if you're in a hurry, you can stop at this step. But if you want more definition, continue to the next step.
5. Frame the brows with white eyeliner. I use MUFE Khol Pencil in 2K. And then blend the liner, heading out from your brows. Don't blend into the brows otherwise you'll ruined the color you've applied earlier. This step is to give highlight to your eyebrows.
   
6. Done!
   

So that's my current eyebrows routine. I know it seems like a lot and takes a lot of time. But I love the result and I don't always do the whole steps, anyway. Hope this helps.

Possible Dupe for MAC Parisian Skies?

Hi guys! Remember MAC Bloggers Obsession Collection? The collection came out on May 2011 where MAC did a collaboration with 8 famous bloggers to create a line of eyeshadows and lipglasses. I purchased two products from that collection. They are Parisian Skies eyeshadow by Lesley Ellen from Lipstick Powder N Paint and Hocus Pocus eyeshadow by Lianne from The Makeup Girl.

Those two were the only products that caught my attention. I wasn't really into Hocus Pocus at first, but when I saw a closer swatch of this eyeshadow, I fell in love right away. Parisian Skies is also another beautiful color from this collection. It's an grey-ish blue with blue shimmer. So pretty! I thought it's an original color since I've never seen color like that before nor that I had any color like that in my collection.

Last month I visited Revlon counter and purchased Revlon Satin eyeshadow in Peacock Lustre. I didn't realize, but when I got home and browsing through my makeup, I looked at Parisian Skies and somehow I thought Parisian Skies and Peacock Lustre look quite similar in the pan. So I started to do comparison on both eyeshadows. Basically, these two have the same idea of color, which is greyish blue. And both are satin finish. Peacock Lustre has silver shimmer while Parisian Skies has blue shimmer which is why the blue tone is stronger.

Unfortunately, when swatched, these two are not exactly the same. Parisian Skies looks darker. So it's safe to say that these two are not 100% dupe of each other. Here's the swatch of both eyeshadows.

I think the way to describe it is, Peacock Lustre is a lighter version of Parisian Skies. However if you missed Bloggers Obsession and Parisian Skies eyeshadow, and you like the color, Peacock Lustre could be an alternative. I personally like this color. Still, I think it's unique color and even my warm skintone can pull it off. Would be great for smoky eyes as well. It's also a cheaper alternative. I own some Revlon single eyeshadows from their Matte, Perle and Satin eyeshadows, and so far I'm satisfied with the quality.

If you're interested, Revlon Satin Peacock Lustre and other Revlon single eyeshadows are available at Revlon counter and retails for IDR 40k for 2,4 grams of product. As comparison, MAC eyeshadow retails for IDR 220k for 1,5 grams of product.

FOTD: Kim Kardashian Inspired Makeup

I was browsing around my laptop and found this look I did a couple months back. It's the look that I submitted for looxperiments makeup challenge, which is Kim Kardashian Inspired makeup look. Here's the look that I use for my inspiration.

It's Kim's makeup, done by Troy Jensen. I think it's one of her remarkable looks, with her fuchsia lips using NARS Schiap lipstick. If you google, "Kim Kardashian fuchsia lips" then you'll find this picture on the very top. I, for one, don't have NARS Schiap or any products Kim uses for the look. *Troy Jensen uses mostly NARS for the look* So I just used whatever I have.

And here it is.

And here's the close up look of the eyes

For the smoky eyes, I only used Stila Smoky Eye Talking Palette. I wanted to copy Kim's super-long lashes. Unfortunately, my false lashes are long enough but not bold enough so it's unnoticeable in the picture. Oh well.. As for my lips, I used Revlon Colorburst lipstick in 'Fuchsia' and top it with Stila Lipglaze in 'Plum Fairy'.

That's all guys. Hope you enjoy.