Swatches - Canmake Cream Cheek CL05 & CL06, Love Switch eyeliners and Canmake Just For Me Essence Rouge

I love drugstores and never fail to visit them whenever I go on holiday overseas (we will proceed to ignore the copious amount of swatching and visits I do at drugstores in Singapore).

I managed to swatch these at the drugstore when I was in Kansai.

Canmake has recently (according to a Japanese beauty magazine I have) launched a new shade in Japan - CL06. CL06 is named Clear Peach Sugar whereas CL05 is named Clear Happiness. Personally for my NC25-30 arm, both these colors look washed out but would look great on someone fairer than me. 

I could never resist colored eyeliners and these Love Switch eyeliners were super smooth to apply. I personally find the Indigo Black shade nothing out of the ordinary but the Olive Black shade had a beautiful dark green, is-it-there-isn't-it-there hue to the black. Despite the 'pearl' indication on the display, these eyeliners did not have noticable glitter particles.

Canmake's Creamy Touch Rouge in 03 Sweet Cherry worked so well for me, I thought of purchasing some lipsticks from the Canmake Just for Me Essence Rouge series. To date, there have been 4 shades released - C01 Natural Beige, C02 Camel Beige, C03 Brilliant Red and C04 Pink Coral. 

The pigmentation and colors were good - in this picture the testers were a little gummy but another swatching run at another drugstore showed smooth, glide-on textures. However, I really hated the packaging and forewent (?) purchasing C03. 

All pictures were taken either inside the drugstore with store lighting or outside of the store but inside the subway station without flash.

Canmake Whip Mousse Lip in 02 Orange

The Canmake Whip Mousse Lip in 02 Orange was in fact my first orange lippie for 2013.

This product received several good reviews online and I decided to get it when it was on offer at Watsons. 

Not a doefeet applicator. I think the description of fuzzy spatula comes closest. 

 

It is supposed to be a matte orange, but the colour leans towards coral on me. I actually do like the shade, however, this is not a product for dry lips. The product did not appear to have any significant scent, which is a plus point. 

Although I smear on a heavy duty lip moisturiser beforehand and blot away the excess before applying the Mousse Lip, the product highlights the dry condition of my lips. I have yet to try this as a cheek colour but do believe the colour might work as blusher.

Would I repurchase this? Not likely but I would recommend it to friends who do not have dry lips. 

Disclaimer: I received no payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions expressed are my own. 

Tony Moly Tony Tint in Cherry Pink

I ordered a Tony Moly Tony Tint in Cherry Pink when I was hauling from Gmarket Korea. Unlike Benefit's Benetint, this stain might actually only be meant for the lips (ad images only show it for the lips). 

Held just directly under the light 

The Tony Tint comes with a doefeet applicator, which makes it easy to apply on lips. It comes in 2 colours, and Cherry Pink is the darker colour. 

Stain after rubbing 

As a stain, the Tony Tint works well. However, I find that it does not suit me due to my dry lips. Tints do not have moisturing properties and I had forgot about that before I ordered. 

Also, after I dab on the tint with the applicator, I use my finger to smear the tint around, ensuring an even coat. This means my finger gets a reddish tint, much like after voting!

Quite frankly, without blotting, the shade of Cherry Pink looks scary on the lips. It is far better to apply and blot vigourously. 

Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment or payment in kind for writing this blog post. Any opinions mentioned are my own.

Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor & dupes

As I was hard at work on my Peripera Peri's Tint Jelly post, I came across another blue lippie, Lipstick Queen's Hello Sailor. Apparently, this blue lip offering from Poppy King is actually a tinted blackberry coloured lip balm. Out only in stores in May, Lipstick Queen's done the smart thing and released samples for bloggers and press in both USA and UK at the same time.

I first read about it here. Refinery 29's Megan McIntyre described it as "very sheer, very creamy.... It was a naturally bright, flushed appearance to my lips." Swatches can be found here. The swatch looks more greyish than the Peri's Tint Jelly in Sky Stick swatch I did but unfortunately I have not been able to find anyone swatch on their lips to make a fair comparison. 

With its nautical name and packaging, my first thought was that Lipstick Queen is launching this brand to ride on the Fleet Week (last week of May 2013 in NY). Hello Sailor, indeed!

The basic marketing speak behind Hello Sailor seems to be "Shocking/never done before colour (in this case, blue) turns into a beautiful lip colour." Such lip products don't appear new to me. These 3 blue lippies are from various Korean beauty brands. They share the same concept - feature a 'shocking' colour (the brands also do a purple lippie) which promises to turn into a beautiful/ previously unimagined shade upon application.

Peripera (shade launched in 2013)

The Saem

Banila Co

I purchased my Peripera blue lippie at approximately S$7 (about £4 or USD$6) not including shipping vs Hello Queen's price tag of USD$25/£20 (not including shipping). 

However, this is not a fair comparison. Lipstick Queen has got a good reputation mainly due to Poppy King and the packaging and casing of Hello Sailor looks luxe to me. I also do not have the chance to try Lipstick Queen products myself so am unable to comment on their texture/glide/pigment etc. Clearly, the price points are departmental stores vs drugstore pricing. 

If you wanted to add a blue lippie to your luxury beauty bag, I would say go for Hello Sailor. But if you just want to try the trend and possibly toss the blue lippie aside after a while, try searching for Korean beauty brands which stock similar products.

Hello Sailor is available at Barnes New York (USD$25) in USA and  SpaceNK (GBP£20) in UK from 1 May onwards. In Asia Pacific, Lipstick Queen is available at Joyce Beauty in Hong Kong (Hysen Place, New Town Plaza, Harbour City outlets only) and at Kit Cosmetics in Australia (Myer departmental stores).  It is undetermined if Hello Sailor will arrive in Asia Pacific, so if you really want this shade, your best bet are the USA or UK locations.

Update April 2013: Lipstick Queen retails at HK$180 for a typical lipstick and the Lip Noveau set (Butterfly Ball Fly, Saint Berry, Red Sinner) goes for HK$420 at Joyce Beauty.

Peripera Peri's Tint Jelly

Spotted the Peripera lip series while online surfing and decided to order a Peripera Peri's Tint Jelly. I was intrigued by the promise that a blue lip product could produce such a colour.

Apparently, this particular shade is one of the 3 new shades added to Peri's Tint Jelly range in 2013. I had never tried Peripera before but at approximately S$7/-, it was inexpensive to try. Peripera products can be purchased at selected stockists in Singapore, however I have not spotted the Tint Jelly before.  

Actual Tint's Jelly alongside the box

Closeup of Tint Jelly (Shade Sky Stick) and its cover

The packaging is attractive a-la Benefit/various doll style makeup brands. The words on the box states "Like sweet jelly, this tint tenderly melts and color shows by moisture of lips. Argan oil and grape seed oil give vitality to lips."

I would describe the actual product as a teal colour, leaning towards the blue end of the spectrum. The product glides on smoothly, possibly due to its 'argan oil and grape seed oil' extract.

The product actually does appear pink on my lips, although it is more sheer than in the visuals. I applied the Tint Jelly on the entire lower lip and half of my upper lip (no other lip product used before Tint Jelly). The colour is sheer and looks natural.

Blotted lips on tissue

When lips are blotted, purple pigments appear on the tissue rather than any blue hue. When I rubbed the Tint Jelly directly onto a white cup, bluish stains with streaks of purple showed up. I personally don't quite believe without reading more into the ingredients list that this Tint Jelly changes colour with lip/body heat (there are many beauty chemists/scientists blogs debunking such marketing speak) but rather the Tint Jelly utilises pigments to create a visual effect of violet (as advertised by Peripera) lips.  

Rubbed Tint Jelly directly onto white Ikea cup. 

What surprised me when I absentmindedly scrubbed the Tint Jelly off my lips after taking the photos. A stain of the colour remained on my lips inspite of my scrubbing (and I do mean vigorous physical removal with a tissue, no lip makeup remover was used). This colour looked attractive and I did like the look quite a far bit.

Faint stain of colour

Side-note: I am unable to read the ingredient list myself as it is in Korean. The product visuals and descriptions on the box indicate argan oil and grapeseed oil. As I am unable to confirm nor deny the existence of argan oil and grapeseed oil in this product myself, I have indicated these ingredients in italics. I will update the ingredients list in English if possible.  

Korean Summer Makeup trend: Paying Lip Service

Not all the Korean brands are out with their summer makeup offerings. But for those who have started, there's a trend for lip products.

Check out their visuals!

I M by Mizon

Clio 

Peripera
This lip product is not new (I think they launched it in 2012) but they've added new shades to the lineup for summer 2013.

Love the bottom right blue tint - I might just have to order one myself to make sure that it does turn to that shade on lips!