[ ♡ ] Review – LA Lipsticks: NYX lip swatches & Faceshop

Posted: June 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Makeup, reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Part III of reviews. These are the lip swatches of lipsticks I purchased in LA. I purchased a total of 10 lipsticks at three different retailers, one in San Fran. The last lipstick on the right is number 11 from Faceshop in Chicago that I’ve never swatched before so I threw it in the bunch. I actually also have an Illamasqua lipstick thats number 10 but that’s in my makeup bag so it will get it’s own review but for now here are 9 plus one Chicago one.



I got most of the NYX lipsticks from a store in downtown LA on 6th & Los Angeles. Right around that area is a cluster of cosmetics shops that sell NYX products for good prices. I think I paid $2 each? I also bought a few from a shop called the variety shop in San Francisco. They were $2 there except for the bigger lipstick in the middle which was $7. The faceshop lipsticks are from a faceshop store inside a plaza in Koreantown. I have no idea what the plaza name is because its not one of the bigger ones but if you google faceshop LA you’ll find it. The lipsticks ranged from $12-$15 depending on the finish, matte was the more expensive one. The last Faceshop lipstick was from another faceshop store in Niles, IL and it was on sale for 40% off so I think I got it for like $4. As far as choosing colors for the NYX lipsticks, I just pop open the lid and take a look at the color against my hand to see if I like it and have a color similar to it and if I don’t have a color like it then I’ll just buy it. For the faceshop ones I swatched them on the back of my hand so its kind of hit or miss on the lips once you get it home. I try not to choose lipsticks with glitter or shimmer in them and also duochrome types that change colors if you tilt it. I also stay away from frosty colors.

Here are the swatches on my arm:

Now onto the lip swatches. Keep in mind, the no flash pictures are not really indicative of the color because I have huge window on my left so the lighting is off. The flash version is more true to the color.

First is NYX round lipstick in perfect.


It’s really close to Iconic but has a brown undertone. Its hard to describe because so many of the shades I picked are similar but this one is a brown nude that is only slightly darker than my natural lip color.

Second is Iconic.


It looks close to Perfect but this dark nude color is more pink toned and less brown.

Next is Sierra.


Sierra is a nudey brown orange. It’s really pretty. You can definitely tell its orange and different from the others.

Next is heredes.


Heredes looks close to the other two first ones but this one looks more like a burnt apricot nudey brick color. I know, it’s a weird way to describe it but that’s the closest I can get to a description of the color.

Next is Hot pink.


The one is hot pink but comes on sort of sheer, not quite like a creamy spread like the others. It reminds me of the pinky lipliner. Its like a fushia, not really a hot pink.

Next is the NYX black label lipstick in India.


I actually grabbed this color off the counter and threw it in with my purchases as I was checking out because I swatched it and thought it was so cute on my hand. Its like a really cute baby pink but on my lips it just looks white and washed out. No worries though, I plan to layer with this lipstick so I should be able to use it.

Next up are the Faceshop lipsticks. First is the Matte orange color in OR201.


This one is really cute. Its actually a lighter version of the Illamasqua Obey color that I got. Its just a light muted orange.

Next is the glossy orange in glossy OR201.


It’s just a nice, moisturizing sheer glossy orange shade. Nothing special.

Next is the glossy PK101 shade.


This one is the same finish as the orange color but lighter. It’s a baby pink glossy shade.

Lastly, here is the Faceshop Lovely one in PP401.


It’s a really pretty raspberry purple that’s matte but creamy and glides on nicely. I actually want a blush in this shade.

Overall I’m happy with my haul. The only thing I don’t like about nyx is that you never know what the lipstick will be like when you put on it your lips because they all come in varying finishes and come on differently with no indication of what is what. Most of them are a nice creamy formula but some are sheer with flecks and some just don’t spread well. The faceshop ones are nice but too pricey for the normal/basic quality of the lipsticks. Overall I think I’m going to stop buying faceshop lipsticks until I go back to korea and stop buying Nyx lipstick until I find a shade I definitely don’t own.

♡ PaNhia

[ ♡ ] Review – LA blushes

Posted: June 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Makeup, reviews | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

So I have all these new products that I’ve posted up but haven’t swatched or tried on and I thought I’d do some swatch posts. I also need to pull out a box for items to try and keep it on my vanity so they won’t go to waste.

First I’m going to swatch and review the blushes I got. I only got two in LA, one randomly and one I planned on getting. I got a light orange from Illamasqua in Lover and a purple one from the Faceshop’s lovely line.

I actually went looking for the Illamasqua blush because like I’ve said previously, my Sephora doesn’t carry that line. And I don’t want to pay $25 for a blush and not like it. So I did some research and found a sephora in LA that carried the line and so I picked up a blush. I originally wanted excite which looks just like lover but much brighter and more orange. But I swatched them and thought excite was too bright for me so I went for lover instead. The faceshop one I just picked up because I’ve been on a purple blush hunt lately.

Here are the swatches on my arm first without flash then with flash.

The illamasqua blush picture turned out more orange than it actually looks. It’s still a orange blush but more on the coral side with pinks in it. It’s matte, no shimmer and has good staying power. I like it but I wanted more of a muted orange and lighter orange. This one is still darker than I’d like. I paid $25 + tax for this one.

The faceshop blush is actually pretty light and looks close to the pictured shot. Its not purple on the cheek but it does have that purple sheen/undertone. It looks closer to a highlighter than a blush but I actually really like it as a blush with some pink on the cheek hollow where you usually apply bronzer for definition. It works sort of like a doll look. I never thought I’d like super light cheeks but it looks really cute. It doesn’t have good staying power though so I’d say set it and reapply. This one was around $9.

Overall I’m happy with my purchases. Its given me more blushes to add to my collection and given me a chance to try a new brand. I’m now on the look out for a light, muted orange blush and a raspberry purple blush.

♡ PaNhia

[ ♡ ] Recent Purchases & cosmetic reviews – 03/23/11

Posted: March 23, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: reviews | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I did a little shopping the other day and decided I would do some lip swatches. First, some quickies from Walmart and Kmart.


• I’ve been struggling with tweezers lately because I now have three that I use for different purposes. One I use is a thicker tweezer for placing my false lashes and then I have a Revlon with a small tip for brow plucking and finally a tiny one for really close tweezing. The other day I went to my sisters and used her tweezers and I really liked them so I went to kmart and got one that was similar. It’s a medium-small size but its got a really sharp pointed tip and works really well for plucking. This baby has eliminated two of my tweezers so I’m pretty happy! It also comes with an extra one that I don’t use.
• I got facial exfoliating sponges to scrub away dead skin cells
• I also got a Neutrogena makeup removing cleanser because I ran out of my clean & clear one and they no longer make it. I just prefer a cleanser to remove makeup because I’ve found that wipes don’t remove all my makeup and I’d rather not have clogged pores
• I also got a new eco-tools loofah for my gym bag
• And then I got a sally hanson top coat clear polish for work

I also stopped by Ulta to use my coupon and got 4 nyx lip products. First, two jumple pencils that look pretty similar. They look pinky peach and light orangey.



Here is what it looks like on the skin:

On, though, they’re actually quite light and frosty looking.

I will be returning these two because I won’t be using them.

I also got two lip liners that I love! One is a called nude pink and it’s a light rosey pink color. The other is called pinky and it’s a hot pink color.

Here are some quick swatches of the following three lipliners I’ve recently purchased from NYX

Frist, nude pink:

^I love this color!
Next, dolly pink:

^here it looks crazy but its actually a really cute light purple pink color.
Finally, Pinky:

^I love it!

I also bought a lipstick during spring break by MAC called Pink Nouveau. I actually went in to buy morange but it was just looking funky on my lips that day so I got this instead.

No flash

flash

And then I also wanted to do a quick swatch of my new favorite lipstick from the Faceshop in 217, a super cute orange shade

And finally, I wanted to show you all my new concealer from the Faceshop. It’s a solid concealer in the darkest color they had, which still is pretty light. I’ve used it every day since I bought it two weeks ago but it broke one day 😦

I didn’t push it too far out or anything, it just fell out when I opened it. It still works though, I just shove it back in there and open it carefully.

Previously, I used liquid concealer under my eyes but I like this much better because it doesn’t drip and move and I don’t have to wait for it to dry before moving onto more eye makeup.

And here is the eye comparison. On the left is with concealer and on the right is without.

As you can see I definitely look more refreshed with concealer. I don’t have super dark eyes but they are slightly darker than my skin tone. If I don’t wear anything at all, I always at least wear concealer under my eyes.

That’s all for now. Look forward to a post of more swatches from my faceshop purchases.

♡ PaNhia

[ ♡ ] Recent Purchases 3/14/2010 – Korean cosmetics & kawaii japanese

Posted: March 15, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Daily Outing | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

I’ve done a little shopping on my trip and actually did quite a bit of damage at the faceshop. First though, are my finds from the Kawaii store. I got two gift box sets that I already put together to display. They’re about $2.50 – $2.99 each.


I also got this cute two tierd bento! Its huge!

I found some tab stickers that I love. I got some from LA last year but I was only able to find the blue ones. These are different colored sheets!

And last but not least I got this cute little container that I will use to store earrings and necklaces for when I travel again. Its really cool. There’s compartment part on top with lots of little squares for earrings and then you can lift it up to put bigger things on bottom.

Next are items I got from the faceshop & h-mart. First is a collective faceshop shot:

Here is a closer look at samples. It was funny, the sales lady took a look at my hair and concluded it was damaged so she gave me a sample for damaged hair.

Now onto the good stuff! I bought a gel liner set in black because I’m currently running on just a small pot of stila paint pot in black and anticipate running out soon. Its actually pretty big and comes with a mini brush that I will probably not use.



I also got three lipsticks from three different lines. The middle one is from an older line and was 40% off!



^ I got a baby pink, a muavey purple, and an orange. I’m most excited about the orange!

I also got three four liners, 3 lip liners and 1 brow pencil liner. These three are from the same line but the bottom one is the brow pencil. The lip liners are in a light brown color for nudes and a light pink color.

Here is a picture of the other lip liner which is an orange.

I also got a retractable lipbrush:

I also got an impulse mud mask for the nose:

Along with that, I got a concealer stick in the darkest color they had. I haven’t used solid concealers in a while so I don’t know how I’ll like it.

And last but not least I got face sponges and a 4 packs of facial cotton wipes (I gave two to my sister.)

Along with cosmetics I purchased several sets of utensils because I love long Korean spoons and thin chopsticks.

I also got this cute little pencil box that I was going to use for carrying my brushes but then I bought something else when I came home that rendered this box useless. Its stil cute though and I’ll probably find some other use for it.

Also included in this post are my recent target purchases:

I got a box of tissue, two cosmetic bags (because I couldn’t decide,) a foam coloring kit, Elf gel liner in purple and a new contact case.

In the end I chose this bag for my cosmetics because it had the most space and did the most with what I like to carry. I used to just carry a small set of cosmetics in my purse for touch ups but now I carry most o f my basic makeup with me because I go to the gym a lot and shower there so I needed a case that will carry a lot of makeup and the fact that it has a section for brushes just makes it that much better.

And that concludes my recent purchases!

♡ PaNhia