My taupe collection

While I love bright colours (as evidenced by the new banner photo above ^^ and my previous post), there is always a place in my heart for shimmery taupes. Over the past few years, I've unwittingly built up a small collection of taupes, so this comparison is equally for my benefit as it is for yours!

I forgot to include a picture of Shu Uemura ME856, though I did swatch it later; in truth I don't like it that much anymore. It is pretty, but texturally it does not flatter my eyelids and it also creases much more easily than my other eyeshadows.

Here is my (current) taupe family:

clockwise from top left: Shiseido Alchemy RD709 // SUQQU Konruri // SUQQU Himesango // KATE Deep Trap Eyes BR-1 // Dior Incognito // KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1 // SUQQU Sumiredama

The first two shadows on the left are the taupes from SUQQU Himesango and Konruri respectively. Texturally, they are very similar, however the Himesango taupe is a touch cooler than the one in Konruri, which looks positively bronze on my skin. Also is it just me, or does Himesango also look more red than Konruri? 

I dunno whether it's worth prematurely concluding that one of the two must necessarily be more flattering on my eyes. Both have their roles to play in my stash. :D

Much to my surprise, the Shiseido swatches rose gold on my skin. That explains why it often makes me look a bit swollen and bruisey when I use it as a 'wash' over the eyes. :) I was also taken aback by how soft and shimmery the Sumiredama taupe (furthest right) looks. I normally use it layered with the rest of the Sumiredama eyeshadows, but after seeing how it swatches, I am definitely going to wear it on its own sometime.

L-R: SUQQU Himesango taupe // SUQQU Konruri taupe // Shiseido RD709 // SUQQU Sumiredama taupe

In this next set, the one furthest to the left is Dior Incognito. I don't know if the pictures can adequately showcase the beautiful texture of this eyeshadow; it truly feels buttery to apply and blend. Lisa Eldridge once mentioned that she had had the Dior quint eyeshadows tested in a laboratory and that these shadows owe their texture to how well they stay in their 'fatty lipid' form. Once swatched, this shade is more of a grey on my skin. For a truer taupe, I like to blend it with the bronze-brown in the same Incognito palette. 

The three shades on the right are all from the now discontinued quint, KATE Deep Trap Eyes in BR1 (minus the highlight and liner colours). Upon closer inspection, none of these read as taupe on my skin, save for perhaps the darkest one, which is a cool brown with a flash of grey. The lid colour leans red again (meh), while the glittery highlight shade has a beautiful icy greyish-mauve tone. They did look more taupe in the pan, right?!

L-R: grey-taupe from Dior Incognito // three shades from KATE Deep Trap eyes (crease, lid and glitter shades)

Finally, I swatched Shu Uemura ME856 against the two taupes from the KATE trio in BU1.

ME856 (left) really does not appeal to me anymore; in terms of colour/texture/complexity, I find it rather bland. Its metallic sheen is not so flattering on my eyelids when used as a wash, plus it is ever so slightly red-toned, so I will have to purge it. My colouring makes it trickier to wear red, murky tones, and I prefer to avoid them where possible and stick to clear/neutral colours.

L-R: Shu ME856 (added as an afterthought) // darkest shade from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1 // lightest shade from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1

The two on the right are from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes trio in BU-1. These, along with KATE Deep Trap Eyes, are some of my favourite Asian drugstore eyeshadows. They are also sadly discontinued, though I think they're still available online in some places. 

The lightest shade (right) appears clearer (and less red - yay!) than all the other taupes in my collection, and for that reason I love it. It reminds me a little of Chanel Moon River, though it's much less shimmery. When I use all three shades in Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1, it gives me the epitome of neutral, subtly sparkly OL makeup. 

So, conclusions? 

My favourite shades are probably the SUQQU Sumiredama, Dior Incognito and the lightest from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1. These are all clear and neutral enough for me to wear all over the lid without a problem. The others would need a more restricted placement, and while it's definitely not a bad thing, it does make them a bit more finicky to work with. The comparatively less complex KATE Deep Trap Eye taupes are not standouts on their own, but I like them when layered together, especially with the glitter shade over the centre of the lid. 

What do you think, could I do better, in terms of texture/colour/anything else? Am I crazy for purging Shu ME856? :D

Holiday makeup: swatches, FOTDs and Austria pictures

Hi everyone! I've just come back from a week-long trip to Austria with my family. We spent two days in Vienna, then two days in Salzburg (where we also went across the German border into Bavaria), finally returning to spend our last four days in Vienna. It was glorious. We ate lots of 'wiener wursts' (snicker), I tried local beer and actually liked it, and my rusty German didn't get us lost even once during our trip. I consider that a win!

I didn't actually haul anything makeup-related, but I thought I'd share some photos of what I brought and wore on my trip.

my holiday makeup :)

I had such a great time in Austria. I'll share a couple of photos here, more at the end of the post. 

Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna

Leopoldskron Palace, Salzburg, where the boating scene from The Sound of Music was filmed

In my opinion, one of the most exciting parts of going on holiday is actually packing for it. Want to know my shameful secret? First and foremost, I strategise and agonise over what makeup to pack. Once that's done, the rest of the packing takes no time at all. My boyfriend once asked me if I had packed for a trip, and I replied sheepishly/optimistically, "Erm, I packed my makeup...?"

In the past month or two, I've managed to step out from my comfort zone of cool-to-warm pink blush tones into achingly bright and subtle shimmery shades. \o/ Just looking at this picture makes me happy.

L-R: SUQQU Gradation Cheeks EX-02 Mizumomo, Chanel Le Blush Crème de Chanel in Chamade, Chanel Joues Contraste in Espiègle

L-R: Chanel Chamade swatched, blended out // SUQQU Mizumomo separately, layered // Chanel Espiègle

For eye makeup, I wanted to strike a balance between simplicity, complexity and ease of application. Why? Because I is lazy, but want to play with colour at the same time. :D

I chose the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze as a base, because it imparts the perfect MLBB tone on my lids. The metallic sheen is flattering on my eyelids and it blends wonderfully with fingers.

To make room for creative eyeshadow combinations, I brought all three of my Shu Uemura glitter topcoats with me for layering on top of the Maybelline. Shu ME 575 (right) was only included because I didn't want the palette to look empty, but it actually ended up being pretty useful and worked as a nice accent on the lower lashline.

G White Rainbow // G Blue 646 // G Orange 251 // ME 575

Here are some better photos of the glitter eyeshadows on their own. More (and much better) swatches can be found on Kate the Enabler's blog here:

Shu Uemura glitter topcoats layered over Maybelline Bad to the Bronze:

During my trip, I found myself only layering G Orange 251 or G White Rainbow over the Maybelline. The others looked a tad murky, so instead I used the blue one over copious amounts of G White Rainbow. The murkiness of the ME 575 layered over BTTB worked perfectly when used to add depth in my outer 'v' since it still provided interest but didn't add any unnecessary shimmer. 

Okay, now time for lipsticks! 

L-R: Missha Signature Glam Art Rouge in SPK102, Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense in Pirate, Dior Fluid Sticks in 551 Aventure

I am so sorry that these are not in the right order! >.<

As you can see, they are all very different in terms of texture, colour and pigmentation. The Missha is the least pigmented, and has more of a balmy texture with medium-low buildable pigmentation. Chanel Pirate is much more intense with a single swipe, and has a satiny finish which looks luminous and glowy on my lips, especially when first applied. It does dry down into a matte finish after a couple of hours. Aventure is the warmest lipstick in my collection. I love playing with the opacity of this lipstick - when applied sheerly, it takes on a beautiful orangey-pink tone. When applied liberally, it takes on a warmer, more orange tone as seen in the swatch below.

L-R: Dior Aventure, Chanel Pirate and Missha SPK102

Here are some photos of the makeup I wore my trip. They're not the best lighting as they're from my iPad. I pretty much overslept every morning, my apologies for the lack of eyeshadow close-ups! They wouldn't have looked good anyway, as my current KATE Art Dial mascara leaves horrible wet mascara marks on my eyelids every time I apply it. I can't wait to finish it up and go back to my HG L'Oreal Telescopic again.

1) I love how Aventure looks in this photo. I find it looks the most flattering when I apply it sheerly. When it's applied over my natural lip colour, it looks decently pigmented and almost jelly-like and translucent at the same time. LOVE.

Maybelline Bad to the Bronze with Shu ME lined on the lower lashline, Chanel Chamade and Dior Fluid Stick Aventure 551

2) For this FOTD, I layered the blue and white Shu topcoats together and applied mascara for more emphasis on the eyes and lashes.

Somehow I couldn't resist going back to add lipstick to this look and ended up applying the Missha SPK102 lipstick before I left the house. I didn't take pictures of the look with the Missha since I was already running late, but you can see it in action in the next photo.

Shu Uemura G White Rainbow mixed with G Blue 646 and Chanel Espiègle

3) This is Missha Signature Glam Art Rouge SPK102 on my lips. See what I mean about buildable colour? It doesn't feel sticky at all. 

SUQQU Mizumomo, Missha SPK102, Shu Uemura G White Rainbow

4) This last one is perhaps one of my favourites from the trip. The red is so brightening and flattering on my colouring. I wanted this ever since I saw it on the beautiful Anne from Rushing Glam. Perhaps it's the lighting but the lipstick seems to look pinker on me? Hmmm. Nevertheless, I quite like it.

SUQQU Mizumomo, Chanel Pirate and Maybelline BTTB & Shu Uemura G White Rainbow

Bonus holiday pictures:

The Salzach river

inside the Vienna State Opera

Belvedere Palace

Schonbrunn Palace

Fooood:

Unsurprisingly, I ate way, way too much meat during this trip. So much so that I bloated up like a pufferfish and had to resort to a sloppy version of a gankin massage to drain out toxins in my face. I dunno whether my meat-eating escapades contributed to the lovely spots around my chin, but you can see them in the pictures above, hehe. It's all worth it though. For SCIENCE! And posterity.

Amazing ribs: 3 flavour combination & a house special flavour

Apfelstrudel <3

a Sichuan restaurant in Vienna by the old Danube river

If you've made it to the end, I'm hugely impressed. Thanks for looking! :)