Things I've gotten as of late +

Hi all!

It's been a busy month for me, and it seems like the next few months will basically be the same trend. Working like crazy, plus before we know it the holidays will be around the corner and pass...you know how it is.

Anyway, I've cut down on the makeup spending, not by force, but I feel like I'm arriving at a standstill. Whenever I shop at say, Saks, Barneys, Bloomingdales...there's very few things I want at this point. My wishlist has been getting smaller and this has been the trend for over a year. I do buy seasonal things, but the overall things I want are minimal, and those items are not sold in the USA. I think after a while, my blog will just be swatches of what I own. I hate to say it, but I don't know how much longer I can keep up with this blog, main reason being nothing just calls my attention. I feel like I've almost bought all the things I've wanted. 

So without further blabbering, here's what I've purchased:

top row:

By Terry Hyaluronic Blush in Bubble Glow (her newest blush)

By Terry Eclat Opulent in Nude Radiance (it now comes in 3 shades!)

By Terry Hyaluronic Sheer Rouge in Be Red (one of her fall lipsticks)

Bottom Row: 

Hakuhodo J5523 BkSL

Hakuhodo J142 BkSL

Hakuhodo J5522 BkSL

Addiction Rose Bar Cheek Polish

Addiction Tadzio Cheek Polish

Addiction Tea Rose Cheek Stick (my friend took my original one)

As for the brushes, I got those since I plan on doing a future brush review doing more comparisons. They were the items I least cared about, but all the other items I purchased were new releases. The Terry items were items that I've planned on getting since the spring (except the foundation). Considering I got no seasonal makeup during the summer, I think the splurge is okay. The Addiction was a bit of a surprise since I didn't know about these until the last minute. 

I hope this post isn't too disappointing, but I hope you understand at the stage that I'm in when it comes to makeup. 

As for future posts: I do plan on making an Addiction post with just swatches of what I own. I did purchase Wayne Goss' brushes, but they won't arrive until DECEMBER. As much as I respect him as a youtuber, I'm a bit disappointed in the wait. I may do a review on his brushes, so let's just wait and see what happens. 

Any ideas as to what I should write about makeup wise? 

Addiction Eyeshadows ++

As some of you may or may not know, my future wife friend Shameless Fripperies made a trip to Japan...like as a random thing. Can I just say how jealous I am (in a loving way) that she can just pack her bags and go on a moments notice? 

I basically told her to buy all the makeup and brushes. I was wanting to see what she would buy, because if you haven't seen her stash already -- it's basically perfect. She offered me to pick up some items from Japan. I was a bit surprised to say the least because it's extra items she has to carry back, but I took her up on it. (Can you blame me? Knowing I have makeup that went to Japan, then Australia, to it's final destination, my home). 

A breakdown of pricing of what the prices of the eyeshadows are in Japan versus online -- 

Ichibankao (where I've purchased my other Addiction items) does sell it for a markup, but let's see how much of a different price points are: 

Ichibankao: Eyeshadows are approximately $30 each. Shipping with EMS (includes faster shipping and insurance on your package) is about $7. 

Total is approx $187. ($30 * 6 eyeshadows = 180) 
$180 + $7 for shipping. 

In Japan, eyeshadows are about approximately $20, but I did pay bit more for shipping since it was sent out from Australia, which was about $20 USD (shipping includes tracking). 

Total = $140 
($20 * 6 eyeshadows =  120) 
$120 + $20 shipping  

Okay, a decent price difference, but I feel like the markup from Ichibankao to some degree offsets the price of shipping (which I find pretty cheap). I've ordered items on a Monday for it to arrive on a Friday. 

Enough about the boring math, let's get to see some pretties :D

My first Addiction eyeshadow was Fudge and needless to say I was totally won over by the brand. I do have some items from them, which you will see at a later date.


BUT NOW....

Top Row: Pink Python, Keshi, Dolce Vita
Bottom Row: Bagdad Cafe, Joker, Chocolat

L to R: Pink Python, Keshi, Dolce Vita, Bagdad Cafe, Joker, Chocolat

same shades, overexposed lighting to see the shimmer factor.

Addiction Tuxedo Moon and Sugar Rusk Palettes (Jean-Michel Basquiat)

Hi all!

I hope everyone is well this morning. As of yesterday I received a lovely package from Japan!

Addiction Sugar Rusk on the left, Tuxedo Moon on the right

This is the summer collection I've been waiting for this year. I will give you a quick first impression and swatches since I'm literally running behind already and it's only 10 am :(

From the promo photos, Sugar Rusk's shades looked deeper and darker than what you actually have. I was a bit taken aback since I wanted to see some rich, deeper colors. 

Packaging: I stood there staring at my palettes for several minutes, oooh-ing and aaah-ing over the packaging. It's sleek, black packaging, square in shape, with neat graffiti type designs that Jean-Michel Basquiat was known for. Sadly from what it seems, that Ichibankao is sold out of the limited edition packaging. It's really a winner for me, especially since it hits close to my home (NYC) :).

Colors and Textures: Sugar Rusk was a bit of a surprise, but overall I am always won over by the complexity, smoothness of the non-matte shades. The mattes are easy to work with, apply and blend as well. Tuxedo Moon consists of three matte shades, and one satin type finish eyeshadow. The black isn't as intense as the pan makes it seem, but it has a small silver shimmer, and the other colors are quite lovely too. Both pictures are taken with natural lighting, no flash.

Sugar Rusk

Tuxedo Moon

Overall I'm really happy with my purchases, and I got them from Ichibankao for 8100 Yen, plus shipping.

Items in my current rotation +

Since I've been on a hiatus, I need to make up for lost time (oops). 

Okay, so items I have been using often are as follows -- FYI I got the RBR compact as a gift from Sethakins. It's not a sponsored post, nor am I getting paid to post it. 

Armani Precision Retouch Concealer: Now that the weather is getting warmer, it's time to lay off on the heavier texture face items...at least my skin prefers thinner formulas come the warmer months. This stuff is seriously high coverage, with an amazing thin brush to get in the under eye areas, as well as point conceal targeted areas. I'm shade 3.

Kilian Extreme Oud: you can read my a couple of posts down. It's so sensual...and delicious. :)

Addiction Damask Rose: It's time for me to break out the brighter pinks, and the easiest way for me to break into those shades is always with a nice bright blush. Not to mention the balmy texture and ease of application. :) 

Hourglass Vintage Lipstick: This one was hiding in my stash for a while. I had purchased it at a Sephora where Josh Collier (MUA) was working at. He showed me the newest lipstick shades, and picked out this color. Totally forgot I had it, until I was settling into the new place and saw it. It's such a gorgeous warm pink brown. 

Chantecaille Just Skin Foundation: Chantecaille is one of those lines that doesn't have an exact match for me in their foundations. I made Future Skin work as best as I could, but over time I found better matches and eventually stopped using it. It made me sad that I couldn't use their Future Skin, but I was determined to have a foundation from their line. Luckily their Just Skin shade in Glow is a semi close match, and it's forcing me to use lighter coverage foundations. I like it so far, but we'll see if it's an item I'll repurchase.

You know Guerlain is another line that I don't have a match in? And they too make nice foundations. 

By Terry Hyaluronic Sheer Rouge in #9 Dare to Bare: It's a lipcolor that makes a statement in of itself, a pink with some mauve in it. It darkens my lipcolor, while providing a soft sheen. It's my favorite shade from the new Sheer Rouge line. 

By Terry Laque de Rose in #8: I'm running out of this shade, and I think I have backup somewhere. It pains my little soul that this shade is forever gone. It's that gloss that I use after a lipstick fades because it's just so easy to apply, not to mention just beautiful.

Skinceuticals Sport UV Defense SPF 45: With the sun being out more, and yours truly being sensitive to the sun, I have to use a higher SPF sunscreen. I've bought several of these, and have yet to find something better that works for my skintype. It's a thick cream that blends quickly, doesn't leave a white cast and it wears like iron. You can see in the photo how much I love this sunscreen.

Rouge Bunny Rouge mirror compact: I got this as a present from Sethakins himself, and little did he know I had a worn down mirror that I used since middle school. LOL I refuse to post a picture of the old mirror. I'm glad I have something more polished and functional. Thank you for the awesome present. 

:)

Addiction Cheek Stick in Tea Rose +

Good morning everyone!

I'm still not at my house...but my life is more "normal", especially when it comes to transportation. I'm still with friends, which means my makeup stash is far far away. But as a result, I'm reviewing things I'm liking as of late. ;)

One of my newer possessions, Addiction Cheek Stick in Tea Rose is definitely something that I'm seriously enjoying. 

Packaging: It looks like a lipstick ... It comes in a black square tube with a magenta/fuchsia kind of base and "Addiction" is written on the side of the tube. Pretty good packaging if you ask me, and I love the magenta/fuchsia accent. The small downside is that it shows fingerprints easily. Seriously not a deal breaker for me.

Formula: It feels like a balmy lipstick in terms of how it glides onto the skin. Beautiful texture if you ask me, and it can be applied on the lips like a standard lipstick. I tried it on once, and it's not opaque nor as long lasting (on the lips) for my personal taste. It's nice to use when you're in a pinch for the lips. As for a cheek product, it's quite lovely. It lasts on your cheeks for around 5 hours. What I enjoy most about these is the soft focus sheen it has when applied on the cheeks, yet it still has a natural finish. The main downside is that it's not as long lasting as I'd like, but I can't complain. I do prefer the Becca Beach Tints for longevity, but the formula of the Addiction Cheek Sticks are much more refined, as in they're not as sticky as Becca BT. Addiction has a beautiful selection of colors and their lighter colors are wonderful for fair skintypes. 

As for Tea Rose, I adore it since it's a warm nude shade that actually shows up on my skin. It's perfection for me. I'm so glad I've found a great warm nude blush :D

Price and Size: ¥4050 (on Ichibankao) for 3.8g

top to bottom: Tea Rose, Rose Bar, Damask Rose (no flash)

top to bottom: Tea Rose, Rose Bar, Damask Rose (with flash)

left: Tea Rose || right: Rose Bar

Addiction eyeshadow in Fudge and a long intro +

I know most of you are aware that the reviews on Addiction out in the blogosphere only state amazing things. There's something to be said about Japanese makeup in general -- there's a high level of quality and craftsmanship. It's seen in makeup brushes, or even skincare for that matter. It's not a coincidence that I've been using more of my Japanese makeup as of late, since I'm always a fan of minimalist packaging, beautiful silky textures of powders, and trying to edit my stash to just awesome items.

That's not to discredit makeup made from other parts of the world, because every line has something awesome. But you know there's something interesting about Japanese makeup when Karl Lagerfeld is an aficionado himself for the past 20+ years.

So back to Addiction -- my first items from the line were oddly enough, blushes. Maybe part of me was a bit nostalgic for the Shu glow-ons. Of course being in love with those, I slowly moved into eyeshadows. I would only buy like 1 at a time since I wasn't sure what items to get, and the fear of buying something I'd regret. I recently purchased a few as gifts for friends because they're always wanting a piece of what I own. It's a makeup line I would put in the back burner since I hate ordering online and the waiting time. There's also of course my budget and trying out new items that were sold here in the states. Yes, I really do have a budget. All of the items featured on this blog I've purchased, except one or 2 items (which their posts state I've gotten for free)...One of the items was a part of a GWP.

For some reason, the most viewed items (posts) on my blog weren't from Japanese makeup items. Part of me was a bit hesitant to even review Addiction since it didn't seem like people cared to read about my Japanese makeup reviews, like Shu Uemura, Suqqu, etc. I wanted to review this because a couple of posts ago about my haul, people oddly enough asked for an Addiction review...

so here it is :)

Fudge

Packaging: sleek black packaging. easy to flip open without being flimsy. the best part with this eyeshadow is that you can depot them into their palettes. pretty straight forward. my first impressions about the packaging is that it felt flimsy since it isn't a weighty pot like Burberry, but it's totally not flimsy at all.

Formula: It feels like silk in comparison to a creamy texture. It glides on, and the texture is so light weight. The best comparison in terms of eyeshadows are Rouge Bunny Rouge (RBR) or Suqqu. Suqqus feel a smidge creamier than Addiction. The complexity of Fudge is something special in of itself. To those who don't own any Addiction, but own a color like RBR Abyssinian Catbird or Bejeweled Skylark, it's in the same vein of complexity and texture.

Lasting Power: I've recently worn Fudge without eyeshadow primer, and it lasted for 12 hours on my lid with no fading, but there was creasing on my crease after the 4th hour. Without primer that's something pretty awesome, especially in this heat.

 

Color: It's a beautiful warm bronze. It's really warm, but not garish or sickly looking on my medium skintone. It's a color that's so beachy and glorious. I didn't feel comfortable wearing it at first, but I felt like a summer advertisement for a makeup ad when wearing this shade.

Price and Size:  ¥3200 (approximately) $41 USD for 1.2 grams on Ichibankao. They're half the size of a RBR eyeshadow. It's definitely worth every penny. I know it's a lot for the size, but who really finishes an eyeshadow? 

Pictures ahead -- 

L to R: RBR Bejeweled Skylark, Fudge, RBR Abyssinian Catbird (with flash)

L to R: RBR Bejeweled Skylark, Fudge, RBR Abyssinian Catbird (no flash)

backside of the eyeshadows so u can see the size and writing

L to R: RBR Bejeweled Skylark, Fudge, RBR Abyssinian Catbird, GA ETKI 6, 15 (low flash)

L to R: RBR Bejeweled Skylark, Fudge, RBR Abyssinian Catbird (close up)

items i've acquired in the past couple of months +

I've been in a rut of sorts, plus the summer heat has made me less inclined to wear makeup in general. there's probably the fact too that i'm not a fan of summer collections. Don't even get me started from what i've seen for this fall so far, I'm a bit let down since the colors aren't quite my thing (NARS i'm looking at you).

But anyways, here's what I've gotten :)

Top row: 

Addiction Rigoletto and Truffle. Then there's Burberry Trench and Midnight Brown

Middle section from left to right:

YSL Glossy Stain in #5, Burberry Blush gloss, Armani Eyes to Kill Intense 27, 28, (25 is the one that's in between the nail polishes). 

Illamasqua Naked Rose Blush, then on the far right is Kevyn Aucoin Pravella (the color when swatched is warmer than the photo).

The two nail polishes are: Rescue Beauty Lounge Jack in the Pulpit and the brown one is Ghost Ranch (which got renamed due to some copy right issues), .

On the far bottom left is Kevyn Aucoin Topaz loose eyeshadow, to the right is Citrine. 

Any items you'd like me to review? please let me know. :D

Addiction Blush in Amazing (04) +

Due to a special request from one of my readers, I've decided to review a blush. You know what? I never really review blush to begin with. It's not something I wear often...I'm a light foundation, mascara, and lipstick kinda chick. It's kinda odd since I own so many blush brushes, and some blush...but I never wear it as often as I could/should.

Moving along, I guess since I don't own many blushes, the few I do have are ones I really do like. Maybe it's because I don't get that easily won over by a blush's color, texture, etc...it has to be something special to me in order for me to have it in my stash. I've bought blushes and given them away or return them if I don't think it's special...

so with that being said...

One of the blushes in my stash is Addiction's Amazing. 

Packaging: Sleek, shiny black packaging. It seems pretty sturdy, and something to take away is that it's not bulky at all. Addiction is written on the lid, and the bottom of the lid has a hole, which makes it seem easy to depot. The blush itself seems larger than the 2nd generation Shu blushes (as you'll see in the photos below).

Color: in the pan it's a vibrant, matte, neon pink. it looks like a neon strawberry pink. It's not a fuschia shade either. my first thought is..."whoa, this is definitely not going to stay in the stash". It's not as warm or as reddish as RBR orpheline. Of course when applied it's not as insane (vibrant) as it appears. I can't think of a color it looks similar to, but I'm not the best person to ask since I don't have as many blushes.

Texture and finish: I'm sure some of you have heard about their eyeshadows and their awesome textures...and this definitely is no different. It's smooth, buttery, and glides on the skin so easily. It's a drier formula than Burberry eyeshadows, but how it just looks on your skin is nothing short of beautiful. It's a matte finish, but not chalky whatsoever.

Price and Size: ¥4050 on ichibankao (which is approximately $51, not including shipping). I don't recall paying for shipping though. I think. I don't remember. Size is 3.9 grams.

Worth having?: I think so, because it's not a common shade of pink. Plus finding a powder matte texture that blends easily and not looking chalky isn't that easy to come by. 

photo time :)

L to R: NARS Gaiety, Shu RD 14 (d/c), Addiction Amazing, Shu P Wine 25 (d/c). (taken without flash)

L to R: NARS Gaiety, Shu RD 14 (d/c), Addiction Amazing, Shu P wine 25 (d/c). (taken with slight flash)

L to R: NARS Gaiety, Addiction Amazing, Shu RD 14 (d/c: bottom L corner) , Shu P wine 25 (d/c: upper R corner).

 

L to R: Addiction Amazing, RBR Orpheline