Hi August. I feel like I begin every monthly favourites post with my disbelief on how fast time flies. But it really does, doesn’t it? Also, I know I am pretty late, but better than never I say. Besides, I really want to share some of the makeup items I have been loving lately. July went pretty well for me, and it was the time that I started to play around with all the makeup that I had purchased when I was in Europe for the last 2 weeks of June.
A few made this list, and I apologise in advance if it isn’t readily available to you here in Singapore. But, on the bright side, you should definitely add these to your list when you travel!
Makeup Revolution Ultra Pro Glow Palette
This highlighter palette is absolute love. I adore this so much and I have to say, this was my best purchase throughout my Europe trip. This palette was only £8 ( I got mine from Superdrug but you can get these online on Tam Beauty and they do ship worldwide!) and it comes with 8 different shades and 20g of product. These highlighters provide such a lovely sheen and glow onto skin (no glitter!). They blend like a dream and they are extremely easy to work with. As I am steering away from glittery highlighters, these shades are perfect. These can be subtle and intense, depending on your brush and if you layer, but they do not give you a disco ball effect when sunlight hits you. Absolutely perfect and I really highly recommend it.
Alverde Cosmetics Eyebrow Gel
This eyebrow gel does a lovely job of holding my hairs in place without giving it that “crispy” and hard finish. I like to brush this through the brows after filling them in with an eyebrow pencil and I am loving how natural yet defined my eyebrows are looking! I got this for 3.95 Euros in the DM drugstore in Berlin!
Rival De Loop Natural Touch Concealer
I bought this on a whim but am glad that I did! This concealer provides light to medium coverage and can be built up slightly without being cakey. It looks extremely natural on the skin and its formulation is extremely lightweight and blends easily on the skin as well. I do use this under the eyes and around the nose and it does a good job of giving the coverage I need on a daily basis. As my dark circles are genetically nasty, I do go in with a peach corrector first like I always do. This concealer alone may not be sufficient to cover my dark circles. It doesn’t settle into my fine lines or hang on to my dry patches so I am really enjoying this! I got mine in the shade 03 and it a good match for a slight highlight for my NC 30 skin. I forgot to jolt down how much this was, but it was less than 4 Euros!
Klara Cosmetics Kiss Proof Lipstick in #7 Sienna Nude
I am not a huge fan of liquid lips as I always found them to be drying and uncomfortable to wear. However, I was send over these Klara Cosmetics Lipsticks so I thought I would give them ago. I would say that these are the only matte ones that I can handle wearing on its own. Many times, I would put on a matte liquid lip and put a gloss over as my lips would feel so dry and uncomfortable. This Kiss Proof Lipstick does dry matte, but it doesn’t feel like it is sucking out all the moisture from my lips. I do like these quite a bit and am a really huge fan of the shade #7! Such a gorgeous warm coral. These go for SGD 29.90 and you can check these out here. If you would like to, you can use the code SARAHXBC20K for 20% off from 14-31 August 2017!
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + ECGC
Travelling and jet lag made my eye bags glaringly obvious. They become extremely puffy and I am not a fan of how tired they make me look. I found that the Ordinary Caffeine Eye Solution really helped to reduce the size of the bags under my eyes! Caffeine helps to constrict the blood vessels beneath the skin, and this helps to reduce the puffiness under the eyes. ECGC is apparently from green tea leave and on the website, it states that there are independent studies that have shown that topical use of each of caffeine and EGCG can help reduce looks of puffiness and of dark circles in the eye contour. I use this every morning and am really enjoying the results. I doubt it can help my dark circles as I am pretty sure mine are genetic, but for puffiness, it’s a yes from me. I got mine off BeautyBay at around SGD 10.
Essence Cosmetics Camouflage 2 in 1 Powder and Makeup
I have been pretty lazy with my makeup routine recently so I find myself opting for a powder foundation rather than a liquid one. I saw this when I was browsing the drugstore in Berlin but I am not too sure if Essence brought this into Singapore! Will check and update here if I do see it. This powder is said to be high coverage, instant matte and long-lasting. I do find that this powder does provide with me with decent medium coverage with one layer on the skin. I rarely do find the need to build it up as the coverage it gives with a layer is definitely good enough for me. It evens out my skintone and conceals the smaller acne scars. Of course, some of the larger and darker scars do still peek through, but they do so even with my Estee Lauder Double Wear. I would not say this is a total matte finish at all. This gives the skin a lovely natural radiance to it. Not dewy or shiny in any way but when I first used this and I stared at the mirror, it was as though I have applied a diffusing powder like Hourglass’ Diffused Light all over my face! It really gives my skin a healthy glow and I am extremely in love. This lasts a good time too, about 6 -7 hours on me before it gets a tad patchy around my nose. I got mine in the shade 30 Vanilla Beige and it does match my NC 30 skin in my opinion, with a little bronzing. I highly recommend for you to pick it up and try it out! I can’t remember how much I paid for this, but it was definitely less than 4 Euros.
Ebelin Makeup Blender
I got this from the German drugstore, DM. I was actually on the hunt for their other sponge which is a supposed dupe for the beauty blender but it was all sold out despite me heading to multiple outlets. So I thought I would just try this Makeup Blender out instead and boy, I’m glad I did. This sponge is more porous than most beauty sponges and not as squishy, but it isn’t hard or rough on the skin at all. It also expands when dampened (unlike some sponges which feel like a rock!). The unique shape of this sponge helps me to get into the crevices of the face and applies undereye concealer really well. This is definitely not a bad makeup sponge at all! This was only 2.95 Euros!
I really do miss the drugstores in London and Germany! Hopefully, our local drugstores would start bringing in more brands too. Hope your August is going lovely so far!
Do you have any recommendations from the drugstores? Please do share with me!
Till then,
