Posts Tagged ‘Mascara Review’

Remember there was a week I mentioned on Twitter that I was trying out various mascara bases for a review spot on Urban? It’s finally gone to press!

Urban Singapore Mascara Base Reviews

I used to use mascara bases (remember the time when mascara bases came with the mascaras on double ended tubes), but then stopped using them when I switched over to falsies. Now, it looks like bases are making a comeback again, especially since most are fortified with all sorts of nutrients, making them both a mascara base and an eyelash nourishing serum.

For instance, the Chanel Beaute De Cils Nourishing Mascara Base has meadowfoam oil bonded to silicon to give it repairing, strengthening and smoothing properties. The DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum & Primer is a nourishing serum treatment, with a unique cell-conditioning complex made up of hydrolyzed soy proteinson, on top of being a mascara base.

After trying 8 different mascara bases over the week, I swear my lashes have grown that teensy wee bit longer. Must be a combination of all the goodness from the different mascara bases. Yay! Although all of them performed particularly well, I did have my favourites. Can you guess which ones they were?

Click to enlarge
Mascara Bases Review

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Spring

The arrival of Chinese New Year signals the arrival of Spring time in the Chinese Lunar calendar. The best thing about Chinese New Year is getting all dressed up in new clothes and going visiting. Instead of rocking a red look this year, I went with a soft romantic face of the day complete with flowers to welcome Spring.

Face
MAC Prep and Prime Foundation Primer
Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener in Med to Dark Bisque
MAC Studio Fix Foundation
NARS Orgasm Blush

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Urban Decay NAKED Eye Shadow Palette
Kate Gel Eyeliner
Tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner
H&M Eye Pencil in White
Maybelline Define-a-Lash Pulse Perfection Vibration mascara

Lips
Maquillage lipstick in BR302

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Maybelline Magnum Volum Express Super Film mascara

Although the Maybelline Magnum Volum Express mascara (aka the Colossal Volume mascara) never did it for me, its updated version, the Maybelline Magnum Volum Express Super Film mascara may just change my mind about it. Packed in the same eye-catching yellow tubing, the bright red words on the Maybelline Magnum Volum Express Super Film mascara scream “Look at me!”. The mascara formula does exactly that to your lashes and I thought I’d share my thoughts on this Maybelline mascara in this review.

Unlike its previous version, opening Super Film was quite pleasant: there was no “collageny” smell. The smell was something that turned me off the original Maybelline Magnum Volum Express mascara. Sweeping the formula onto my lashes with the slightly curved wand, the first coat of Super Film didn’t impress me much. It was the second/third coat that really got me going wow. Volume and intensity is the name of the mascaras’s game. Beyond that, my lashes threatened to clump and look like a spider was doing gymnastics on my eyelids.

Removal of the Maybelline Magnum Volum Express Super Film mascara is quite a breeze. Thanks to its new formula, the mascara comes off easily with warm water. But I still prefer to remove my mascaras with eye make up remover and this mascara came off surprisingly easily without much hassle.

In a nutshell, I am liking the new Magnum Volum Express Super Film mascara. I might just get it because I’ve yet to find my holy grail of volume mascaras and will keep doing reviews until I find one. But, in the meantime, if you’ve seen the number of mascaras I have inside my makeup bag, you might want to try and dissuade me from buying anymore to add to that collection.

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I have this nasty little habit when I go mascara shopping: I tend to pick up several mascaras at once and store them somewhere for a couple a months before I get to opening any one of them. Call me a mascara hoarder, but even when I got the Maybelline Colossal Volume Express mascara waaaaayyyy before it hit the shores of Singapore as the Maybelline Magnum Mascara, it took me about 8 months later before the mascara got to see daylight. LOL.

Please dont ask me why that happens. But perhaps it’s just knowing that after I’ve found the best mascara that I dub the holy grail of mascaras, nothing else comes close. Except maybe its sister mascara with an additional pulse.

Still, I’m always on the look out for new mascaras that promise to curl, lengthen and volumise your lashes. So when I walked into Duane Reade, the local drugstore, the first night here in New York, I had a bimbogasm when I saw the shelves of makeup. I picked out a whole bunch of mascaras, but decided I only have so many lashes that I can coat with mascara. So those we couldnt get back home in Singapore were the ones I landed up with.

Clockwise from top:
- Covergirl Lash Blast Luxe mega volume shimmering mascara
- Covergirl Exact Highlights eye brightening mascara
- Maybelline Define-a-lash Volume mascara
- Rimmel Glam Eyes Lash Flirt mascara
- Maybelline Pulse Perfection Vibrating mascara (review here)
- Maybelline Define-a-lash Lengthening mascara (review here)

Me picking up the same two mascaras time and time again is probably the best testament to how amazing I think they are. As for the rest, I promise I will get a review up for each of them within the next….. 3 months maybe? Haha. Or it might be better if you told me which one you’d like to see a review on and I’d get started on that pronto.

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With the beginning of a new month, I can safely tell you that beginnings are just as difficult as endings. A beginning always holds uncertainty; a beginning is always full of pebbles along the way; a beginning is always where you start mucking about before you finally find what works for you. As much as you always plan for something, the unexpected never fails to happen and it’s these unexpected surprises that you have to deal with that make a simple beginning challenging yet so very exciting.

It is with the beginning of dweam.com as a Singapore Beauty Blog that I say goodbye to my previous direction. It is today I welcome a new beauty direction in my blog.

I’ve always toyed with the idea of starting a full fledged beauty blog. I can tell you it was difficult to do so. The beginning is always tough. I never thought that I was qualified to do so despite spending all my years in University on stage dancing; never thought that all the time I spent in front of the camera and on the runway was enough for me to tell anyone how to do their makeup. In fact, why would they listen to an ugly duckling like me?


Can you guess which one is me? Hahaha. Fresh faced into Uni. Taken when I was in Year 1 in 2004.

But maybe it was really when I finally ventured into the pageantry circuit and had to “fend for myself” that I finally got the courage to start. Afterall it was then that I had the most “drastic” changes in terms of how I looked. Hahaha. No, it was not plastic, but merely a refining of the basic techniques I already had. With this experience in dance, modeling and pageantry, yes, I’ve decided to give myself the go ahead. That’s not to say, up to this point, my beauty tutorials, makeup reviews and DIYs come from professional backgrounds. They are simply genuine reflections of what I do, use, experience and feel for the products on a regular basis.


Fast forward 4 years later, 2008.

However, beauty, to me, is not merely about who has the biggest eyes, the fullest lips, using the best makeup or having the most extensive number of products. I have to say that coming from a Psychology background (oh yes, I’m trained in Psychology. Let me read your mind now) that beauty to me is really just a mental state. I fully believe that we can and all should dream of the beautiful to be truly outstanding. My one month in the Philippines representing Singapore as Miss Earth also taught me that exact same thing. It wasn’t the girl who had the flashiest clothes, biggest eyes or the best hair that eventually won the crown. It was the girl who could compose herself well in times of duress that finally got crowned Queen. It was her who could smile despite not having things go her way. It was her who was a friend to all. Despite landing only Top 16, I have to admit, I learnt a lot during that trip to last me a lifetime.

Being beautiful is an art, but more importantly, being beautiful is a holistic development. As I share with you what makes me beautiful outside and in through my DIYs, reviews, tutorials, outfit posts, the not-so-newly conceived SneakerSunday and the occasional lifestyle posts, I hope new readers and potential followers will take my hand (albeit a virtual one) and join me in my beauty journey. For those who have been following me for a long time, I thank you for your unfailing support. There are so many people I have to thank, because without them dweam.com would not be where it is now. But, I will leave that for another day.

As an ending note, my dream for this blog is to inspire you, my reader, to become more beautiful inside and out as you explore uncharted territories with me, in this new chapter of dweam.


2010. Photo credits: Brad Lau

This is me. This is dweam now.

Not everyone can be a beauty queen, but everyone can be beautiful.

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Beneath all that dark eye makeup you might see me with usually, lies a very lazy girl. I’m really quite a fuss-free person even though I’m mad about makeup and have a deep love for dark dramatic eyes. But we all have our off days, and from time to time (actually most of the time if I can get away with it. HAHA), I opt for a no makeup face.

How To/Tutorial: No Makeup Face

I recently decided to do a no makeup face (and have it photographed) while having Sunday brunch. Sundays are meant to be days where you chillax and enjoy good company without worrying too much about how you look. Yet at the same time, in the presence of company, you do want to look presentable without being overly madeup.

So here’s how-to achieve a no makeup face:

1) You want to appear like you have no makeup at all yet still maintain a flawless complexion. Concealer is thus, your best friend in this no makeup face. Apply concealer and blend thoroughly to the dark circles under the eyes with your ring finger. Also remember to conceal any blemishes or other spots.
2) Next, dust powder foundation all over your face with a big fluffy brush for a natural finish.
3) Choose a natural peachy blush for that rosy flush and sweep it over the apples of your cheeks. I used the NARS Orgasm blush because it’s has lovely golden sparkles that brighten up your complexion instantly.
4) Light pink lips are the way to go in a no makeup face. I like the e.l.f Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Baby Lips for a hint of colour and gloss. Also because the lipstick is in the form of a pen, it’s so easy to carry around!

Do you have an alternative method to achieving your no makeup face? Share it with me or even better, show me!

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