amp up the vamp!: barry m black cherry

hi.
im nais but im such a bad blog mommy.
prettynais my blog baby turned 1month old a few days ago and i forgot all about it (｡-_-｡)

i was busy looking, buying and playing with makeup that i forgot.
i'll get a cupcake later and stuff my face with it to celebrate.

never too late to celebrate
never too late for a cupcake.

can't believe it has been a month this baby has been up and running.
from being clueless, uncertain and a little fearful of what 2013 will bring to me now writing my 13th post on prettynais.

things are gaining speed and a little more clarity but seriously im just happy to blog about the seemingly frivolous (but beautiful) things i like.

to you who have been reading this nondescript blog, thank you and please continue to check in here and then.
if u like, we can be friends too
the world can do with more friends than ___________
(fill in your own blank)

so please do leave your comments and your love *\(^o^)/*

okk! back to the beauty!

today's baby is a vamp
barry m moisturising lip paint in black cherry





i just love how sexxxy these deep dark vamp lipstick bullets look.
totally seductive.

swatched on my hand


barry m black cherry is a dark berry shade with red under tones.

i wore black cherry three ways.

on its own


here i applied black cherry heavily straight from the tube with no lip balm underneath or lip liner.

you can def see the red in black cherry here.
just wearing black cherry with eyes lined to wing tips makes me look made up already without much effort.

but if you want to look more vamp and brooding, then by all means, do the full works with heavily made eyes, pale powdered face and contoured cheeks.

as a lip stain


this look is simply achieved by blotting my lips with tissue.

as a lip stain, black cherry is easier to maintain.
eat& drink all you want without worrying if your lip colour is feathering, smudging or fading.

worn with neutral made up eyes and dewy skin, black cherry as a lip stain can make you look understatedly chic.

i like how black cherry looks as a lip stain. very pretty...

with some shine


all i did here is to dab some lip balm on the middle of my lips (after blotting them).

for more juicy lips, you can opt for lip gloss instead
(or mac clear lip glass)

sadly black cherry looks less dramatic and vamp now but if you are afraid of dark dramatic lips, lightening the said colour by blotting and adding shine helps to make the shade more wearable.

i would wear this lip look with matte skin to draw focus to my lips.

overall thoughts
i would say barry m black cherry is an entry level vamp.
wished it was slightly more blackened.

although this is barry m's moisturising version of her lip paints, it does not feel that slippery. when i apply black cherry on my lips, i feel some grip (hope you get what i mean).

it is just considered more moisturising than the original lip paints.

as always with such vamp and dark shades, it is best to exfoliate your lips first.

black cherry is still a good addition to my vamp makeup collection.
it helps that the lipstick casing is pink. pink!

now on to the next lipstick on my wish list!
barry m lip paint in shocking pink!

yeah it's either very dark or very bright with me.
winter or summer.

if barry m is a steal (about sg$10), my next vamp lipstick review is a splurge.

till then loves!
xoxo,
nais.

review: stila merry & bright holiday 2012 palette and lip glaze set

hi loves.
earlier today i dressed up to the nines ie., full make up (using colours from this palette), nice dress, colour tights et al but the thing was i only went to the food court...

not the club, not a hipster joint.

just a non air-conditioned food court (maxwell market).
lotsa yum yums there...

but who cares?
i just felt like dressing up today to match my makeup.
why must i dress sloppily just becos im going to the food court and not some establishment??

i hope more people (especially my countrymen infamous for their t-shirt, shorts & slippers) will be more inspired to dress up for themselves.

not just to please anyone but yourself.

anyways, darlings.
today i have this baby to review


stila holiday 2012 merry & bright collectible palette and lip glaze set

what a mouthful. but yeah
open up the palette and you'll see





the palette up close...

the palette contains a mirror (above the instructions, not pictured), simple makeup instructions, six eyeshadows and one convertible color at the bottom.

swatches of the eyeshadows


six altogether.

from the top:-
chill (disappeared into my skin)/ glisten/ joyful/ ebony/ butterscotch/ molasses

chill: skin beige, matte

glisten: light pinkish brown shimmer

joyful: soft apricot brown shimmer with a tinge of copper

ebony: black, matte

butterscotch: medium nude brown, matte

molasses: soft chocolate brown shimmer

makeup instructions


as in the pic, the instructions:-
1. apply chill from lash line to brow bone

2. apply molasses onto lid

3. blend butterscotch into crease

4. diffuse ebony or molasses
under lower lash line to create a sultry eye

5. apply joyful to inner corner of the eye

6. apply lillium (the convertible color) to cheeks and lips to complete the look

okk... i followed these steps and improvised a little and ended up with...








i improvised by applying ebony along my lash line and glisten to highlight my brow bone.

you get 3 mattes and 3 shimmers and their quality is good enough.
it's best to use a brush than fingers to pick up product and apply onto your lids for better shade definition, layering and blending.

colours need to be built up but not with too much effort.
ebony and molasses are pigmented.
the lighter shades def need layering.

swatch of lillium


applied heavily on the left
blended on the right

lillium is the main reason i got this palette.
it is such a great colour that flatters alot of skintones, i believe.

lillium is a medium nude pinkish brown that when applied, makes you radiant and flushing naturally but go easy with lillium first.

apply with a light hand and build up from there. i didn't know better and ended up with clown cheeks.

plus points for lillium for being very creamy, pigmented and blendable.

lillium lasted about 4 hours on me with obvious fading but im still very happy with it.
on my lips, lillium turned into a light nude pink that acts like a lip concealer...

swatch of kitten lip glaze


kitten is a metallic warm pink bronze with micro fine glitter.
it feels a little sticky but i can bear it.

i have a feeling kitten will look better on top of other lipsticks.

overall thoughts
merry & bright is not a must have, i have to say, even though this palette is my first from stila.
my first stila product is the ever famous kitten eyeshadow.

but. but... as my first stila palette im kinda won over becos each product in this palette does its job ok to give me a pulled together look whenever i do not want to think too much about what colours to match on my face and it's also perfect for travel (so compact!).

totally lovin lillium.
im glad merry & bright introduced me to this wonder girl and i might get a full size when i finish this and my canmake cream blushers.

for collectors of stila makeup palettes, i don't think this palette will garner a standing ovation but for me, a practical girl (*snort*), this does fine.

and sometimes fine is swell.
xoxo,
ah nais.

edit!:
ok i take it back, all is not that 'swell'. i found something im not too pleased with this palette.

even though i use a brush to pick up and apply the shadows, there is still fall out and this becomes an issue when flecks of ebony (black, the darkest in the palette and directly above lillium) get on top of my dear lillium and as a result the colour gets muddied.

so if you have this palette, please keep the plastic film cover.
it will come in handy, yes siree.
use it to cover and protect lillium from any fall out when you pick up the shadows.

review: maybelline 24hr color tattoo edgy emerald eyeshadow

it was 3plus in the morning and im up playing with makeup.

it could be due to a few reasons such as:-
- just bought a new makeup item and too eager to test it out
- it's therapeutic and im stressed
- im worrying over something& i can't get to sleep

in this case it's more likely to be the last reason. since i can't get to sleep lemme occupy myself by sprawling on the toilet floor, slapping eyeshadow on my lids repeatedly and snapping photos at all angles.

&since i can't add another hour to me life by worrying lets bust out the makeup case &get to work!

here's the product im gonna review


maybelline 24hr color tattoo cream eyeshadow in #50 edgy emerald

I got this at the supermarket (yes there) last week at a discount at $12.70 and since (why am i using 'since' so many times today!) emerald is pantone colour of 2013, in it goes into the basket next to my pretentious healthy food.

i find edgy emerald to be a medium green with hints of aqua blue. not that bright a shade but is shimmery.

on the display it states that color tattoo can be used in 3ways:-
1. as a liner
2. as it is
3. as a base for other shadows

so i have done all 3 for this review.

as a liner


i dabbed benefit lemon aid on entire eye lid as primer, lined my eyes with black liquid eyeliner and then followed with edgy emerald using mac se266 brush.

i find it best to not drag the shadow along the lash line but to paint it in short strokes.
dragging the product in one long stroke left me with bald spots (and tugs my lid too much) so its best to intensify colour and prevent bald spots by lining it in short strokes til you get your desired length and shape.

here's another pic


the colour is more true in the first pic though...

i can't tell you about how long it lasts as a liner but i can tell you it dries in average time and the colour is buildable.

as it is


once again i dabbed lemon aid on the entire lid. this time I used my index finger to swipe a good amount of product from the pot and start to blend from the middle of my lid then to the outer and inner corners of my eyes.

same tip as the earlier one on lining the eyes but this time, dab and blend in shorter strokes to build colour. you can swipe the colour on in one stroke but you won't get full coverage and intense colour (which im aiming for).

i like how edgy emerald looks more aqua and prominent when used alone.

extra points for edgy emerald for being very blendable due to its creamy texture.

lastly,
as a base for other eyeshadows


so i picked off from the previous look of using it as it is all over the lid but now i added some other colours on it.

the other colours i used are all from mac. mac humid (forest green with shimmer), goldspice metal x cream eyeshadow, word of mouth mineralise eyeshadow (used 2 out of the 3 shades - the bronze metallic shimmer with glitter and the charcoal grey shimmer) and nylon eyeshadow.

swatches of the above mentioned


top to bottom:
- edgy emerald swiped heavily
- edgy emerald lined with se266
- goldspice metal x
- word of mouth bronze
- word of mouth charcoal grey

above goldspice& bronze shade
- nylon

(oops i forgot to swatch humid but it's a dark forest green metallic shimmer which i adore to bits)


for this look i dabbed n blended humid over edgy emerald, used goldspice on top of humid on my crease and down to the outer corner, forming a small v at the outer corner, dabbed some bronze from word of mouth over the small v for more definition as it is more warmer and darker than goldspice. then i lined and blended the charcoal grey along my lash line, on top of my eyeliner.
lastly nylon is used to highlight my browbone.


clockwise from left:
nylon/ goldspice/ word of mouth

overall thoughts
i really like cream eyeshadows becos i really am inspired by old sci fi futuristic 60s fashion n it is still a desire to have my eyelids dripping and radiating in molten silver........ i literally want to look as if i have metallic foil covering my eyes!

so a few good years ago when mac rolled out metal x i was delighted and then disappointed.
therefore im always on the hunt for a good creamy eyeshadow. brownie points if its metallic and highly glossy!! *drools*

for a drugstore brand with such pricing i say 24hr color tattoo did its darnedest to please and it scored fairly well.

but i really don't think it can last for ahem, 24 hours. i say about 10 hours cos i had edgy emerald on with color infallible goldmine dabbed on the crease and middle of the lid on sunday and after i came bk home i discovered the colour to b very weak and faded.
even though i have a primer on...

i swatched tenacious teal (with silver glitter) at watsons and once dried it did not budge.

i agree with other online reviews saying that its texture and performance is akin to mac paint pots. and for the price there's nothing much to nit pick but i wish maybelline would roll out a color tattoo dupe for painterly!

out of the 3 uses i say it works best as a base. and lemme tell you why i adore cream eyeshadow. it is the lazy, easy and effortless way to put on eyeshadow when your in a rush. and the results would always turn out well when you know how to blend with...... just your fingertips!

so...... with that out of my chest, i may get another color tattoo eyeshadow to add to my cream eyeshadow collection.

till then, im just gonna read and re-read other bloggers' reviews of giorgio armani eyes to kill and bang the table with my fist intermittently.

xoxo,
nais.

review: urban decay vice eyeshadow palette

i can't recreate the hyperventilation and yelps i did when i was presented with this baby in pictures.

but anyways...


look how it's beckoning me...
it's not my fault. can't fight it!


out of the paper box.
cue the hallelujah chorus.

okayy.
back to normal programming.
(warning: long post& lots of gushing ahead)

when opened, she shows her true colours...


gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous
baby's got 20 new colours (0.8g each) in 4 rows of 5 shadows each.


back of the box
pictures& names of the individual shades.

the following are swatches on the back of my palm with no eyeshadow primer and roughly 1 to 2 swipes each.

yesh. all 20 can fit in there.
big hands i have.


normal lighting.


with flash.

down to the review proper, i will talk about these babies row by row. n il give them nicknames for easier reference &becos i like it that way.

1st row: the antiques


top to bottom:-
desperation/ muse/ jagged/ blitz/
penny lane

desperation: purplish brown metallic taupe. a great taupe staple.

muse: dark chocolate brown with glitter. very buttery and pigmented.

jagged: antiqued (blacken) olive gold. experienced major fall out with this one and it is a little sheer, you need to layer on more product for a deeper colour. not impressed with this gritty mess although i had high expectations for this colour.

blitz: great shade of metallic gold that's not too light and yellow. very wearable gold and will look great with red lips.

penny lane: metallic light peach with copper tones.

my stand outs for the antiques:-
desperation, muse& blitz.
desperation and muse will be great for smokey looks especially muse (very easy to use for a brown smokey eye look).

2nd row: the mermaids


this is the row of shades that made me lemm for vice so bad.
one word: chaos. chaos!
and the shades are great marine colours that i always gravitate to.

top to bottom:-
junkie/ chaos/ occupy/ unhinged/ black market

junkie: dusky blue toned emerald. very nice jewel colour.

chaos: electric blue. reminiscent of rescue beauty lounge fan collection 'ikb 2012' nail polish colour. slightly chalky but that's expected for colours this intense and/or neon. more layering needed for even colour distribution.

occupy: graphite shimmer with silver glitter. if i can rename it il call it 'oil slick' cos im romantic like that.

unhinged: cool toned metallic teal. this colour reminds me of mermaids (ariel!)

black market: brownish black. very pigmented.

my stand outs for the mermaids:-
all. all. all.
chaos is a definite shoo-in fave (probably my most fave) and the reason many beauty junkies desire this palette so much.

i didn't think much of occupy at first but i love it now. looks like petrol under sunlight with its purplish sheen.

i love them all and i shan't gush anymore. next!

3rd row: the jewel tones


this row of colours is the next fave row after the mermaids.
they remind me of jem (of jem and the holograms) the 80s pink haired female cartoon character (i really wanted to be her even today heh).

top to bottom:-
provocateur/ rapture/ vice/ noise/ armor

provocateur: warm silver-ish lilac with pink tones and glitter. reminiscent of urban decay midnight cowboy. very buttery.

rapture: frosted grey-ish eggplant purple. great for a smokey eye.

vice: metallic royal purple with red tones, slightly frosted. pigmented.

noise: bright medium cerise pink (bright but not neon yet), a little chalky but who cares?
great colour.

armor: light olive taupe with silver glitter, slightly frosted.

my stand outs for the jewels:- rapture, vice& noise. of cos noise is a definite yes as it is the chaos of this row.

row 4: the age of innocence aka the barely-theres


ok, i admit. this is a little yawn inducing for me. reminds me of my ballet shoes and babies. don't ask me why.

this row of colours is like the white shirt/black dress in your cupboard. boring but necessary. darling, it's not like you can wear party clothes for every occasion....

top to bottom:-
nevermind/ echo beach/ anonymous/ freebird/ laced

nevermind: heh, immediate association with nirvana's nevermind. metallic medium
warm brown, slightly frosted.

echo beach: very frosted light champagne gold.

anonymous: it sure is. skin foundation tone (NC15?) great on the entire lid as base for bright colours like chaos and noise and it's great for wearing alone to brighten and even out natural lid colour. although nameless but useful.

freebird: light metallic rose gold with glitter, slightly frosted. pretty shade i admit.

laced: muted nude grey-ish brown, matte.

my stand outs:-
just becos it is such a useful& necessary shade - anonymous.
and laced becos it is understatedly beautiful.

overall thoughts:-
urban decay is a brand that i discovered when i was 17. my first product i got was a lip product called lip gunk in 'gash'.
goth like, i would wear gash on my lips with heavy eyeliner. as usual what's new...
fond memories of being 17.

heyy i really tried so hard to resist (& i did, this was gifted to me) but i think i lemmed the most for this palette even surpassing the naked palette.

why? becos the colourways can take me from day to night and i can really have fun playing with all the colours knowing i have use for all of them.

well and the last and most important reason that drew me in to this palette is chaos.
c h a o s

now im gonna talk about packaging...
this palette in ud's own words is 'gorgeously luxe' and it is with the jewel inlaid case and heftiness of the entire palette and im so happy it is not made up of cardboard (book of shadows...) and its texture is soft and suede to the touch.

great improvement and well thought out.

vice comes with a double ended brush. good but i kinda wish they gave a mini sized primer potion instead. but still im happy.

this palette is out at sephora at sg$88. grabbb it.

leaving you with one last pic of the beauty...

review: rimmel vinyl lip gloss

hihi.
today il be reviewing 4 of rimmel's vinyl lip glosses.

i got them from watsons in a $9.90 mix bag of rimmel stuff (includes eyeshadow palette, 2 lip glosses, mascara, lipstick, face powder or nail polish).

managed to get 2 on different occasions and im glad i did! real value for money although i must tell u the products were manufactured in late 2010, 2011 so get them if ur willing to use them knowingly.

such mix bags are great to play and test drive the brand's offerings.

ok here they are:-


il review them in this order
(left to right)
#290 be famous
#240 fall in love
#330 snog
#190 pin up

first up, #290 be famous


a nude-ish coral with a translucent jelly finish. just enough orange in this coral. really easy to wear and this shade of coral although safe, it never fails to brighten up my face. love.

#240 fall in love


ok straight off the bat. i didnt 'fall in love' with this and it's not becos it has shimmers/glitter (no worries it's micro fine). it is a sheer rose pink with lotsa shimmer and it enhances my natural lip colour but that's all.

it doesn't wow me cos it makes me look pale and sickly after a while.
i believe other girls can rock it though.

#330 snog


'snog'? heh so brit. 'lets snog under the banyan tree??' that's how it'd possibly be in my part of the world... not under the eiffel tower heh

this is the first vinyl gloss i got n i love it to bits. i looked it up online and found that i'm not the only fan.

yes it is the usual pinkish brown mauve (colour in the picture is not the exact representation. real colour is slightly darker) but who cares?!

i love to wear nudes but it is so hard for me to find one that doesn't wash me out or look like im putting concealer on my lips (not a fan of that look). this is my mlbb.

this gem can go with alot of looks be it dramatic, smokey or natural. if u see it in the stores, get it.
ive only one tube of this so im gonna ration it. yesh, r a t i o n.
love love major love.

#190 pin up


finally, colour.
ok now this is confession time.
in my mix bag there was no pin up but some ugly pearlised colour. i spotted pin up in another bag and i was like 'me. need. that. now.'

so the dirty deed was done and she became mine.
(dont get the wrong idea. i exchanged not stole it.)

for girls who don't fancy red lips or are afraid of going bold this is a good transition shade to the dramatic side. instead of red, try this raspberry gloss.

in the pic above i didn't layer alot of colour but you can put on more to get a very bright and fascinating shade of raspberry pink.

the best part is that i love how this shade plumps and makes my lips bitable
\(//∇//)\
love. all love.

all 4 swatched on my hand


left to right:
be famous/fall in love/snog/pin up

overall:-
texture is great. no sticky feeling and high mirror shine.

since i got this in a mix bag for a real low price i do not know how much this costs alone but not alot i believe.

so def a good buy for a gloss that performs well.

i won't go into how long it lasts since it's a gloss i expect to touch up more often than when i wear a lipstick.

ok thanks for reading! thxbai :)

geek_chic: hello kitty x mimobot

so here's what mr postman came by with yesterday afternoon...
ack! ack! finally! after waiting for so long, kitty chan arrived at my doorstep! my belated christmas gift to myself ;P


ive always been lemming for a hello kitty mimobot and only took the plunge when they had a black friday sale. inclusive of shipping and after discount the bill came up to approx US$21.50 for the 8gb thumbdrive model.

but your eyes aren't fooling you.
i received the 16gb model (i completely forgot which capacity i got...) and after checking the bill and online receipt, i got a free 8gb upgrade! the printed bill stated 'free 8gb upgrade' and that is enough reason for me to be happy as a lark!
don't know how don't know why but il just accept! thank u Lord! :))

so US$21.50 for a 16gb sanrio licensed kitty chan thumbdrive is pretty worth it if u ask me...


out of the box...
there are 5 other kitty chan designs to choose from (as pictured above)
i took half a day deciding which one im gonna get (final candidates were fun in the fields and the model in the pictures)

of cos i had to choose kitty-chan-in-a-kitty-suit model!
how can i resist any form of black humour heh heh (^O^)

if u don't like kitty chan (don't tell me why i don't wanna hear lalalala) there are other character mimobots as well...
like tuxedo sam, c3po (want!)...
just go here


readyyy to go!
im not gonna go into its performance cos hey it's just a thumbdrive ya but overall quality is good ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

the thumbdrive comes with exclusive kitty chan wallpapers and icons etc. nais!

the cap fits very tightly but i guess it's better than having a loose cap and worrying if you are gonna lose the cap itself...
be prepared for some elbow grease!

my only complaint is that i wish this thumbdrive has a hook or something similar for me to hang it on a lanyard...

you can be sure that il b prowling the site when there's a sale and just to inform you mimobot thumbdrive is a good and practical gift.

ok that's it! enough geek talk, time to catch the Zzzs!