MAYBELLINE HyperSharp Liner (Swatch and Review)

Rekindled my love for liquid eyeliner pen and took a leap of faith

ever since my skin got bad, i tried to avoid gel eyeliners because they would require an eye and lip makeup remover. even though my skin can tolerate some makeup, i'm not sure if they can tolerate the makeup remover! so i've been utilizing my liquid eyeliner pen a lot more. my heroine make smooth liquid eyeliner is running dry soon, and my kate spider liner melted and smudged throughout the day, i figured it's time to try something new to see if it'd work as great as the heroine make smooth liquid eyeliner.

this is totally an impulse buy. i heard how good it is from a girlfriend of mine, she said the pen is really fine, and long lasting on her eyes. while passing by my budget toiletry shops in chinatown, i picked it up considering the lower price. (you see the price tag on the title image! $21.90 is the usual retail price at watsons, and $16.40 is the price at swanston)

looking fancy with a shiny yellow cap and gold lettering on the pen

i picked up the colour "intense black". there is two other shades if i remember correctly - brown and soft black.

CLAIMS

below are its claims on the front of the package:

1. 0.01 tip for super sharp lines
2. water proof
3. easy removal
4. stain free

more claims printed on the package on the back

in summary, it's an eyeliner that will deliver super fine lines that're jet black. formulated to have amazing staying power, it's also easily removed without staining your eyelids.

i just found out it's has a film type formula too, meaning it stays put on the lids really well but easily removed with warm water.

surely, something must be missing here because as far as i know, there's always gonna be a compromise between staying power and ease of removal. one of the claims must be false. which is it? 

INGREDIENTS

maybelline hypersharp liner ingredient list

PEN TIP

since i have other eyeliners of similar type, i can show you a comparison of their tips.

a closer look at the pen tip of the eyeliner pens i own

honestly, the difference is too small and insignificant. heroine make looks the finest at the tip, maybelline might be finer than kate.

the tip is a brush tip, making it very easy to control and contour against your eyes.

COLOUR AND FINISH

swatches of the eyeliner pens i currently own

the maybelline hypersharp liner in intense black wasn't as intense as i hoped for it to be! both the heroine make and kate appears to be blacker than maybelline. however, it's fully matte, so that's something new for me. i've been looking for a matte eyeliner! you will notice heroine make has most sheen.

MY EXPERIENCE:

i got about 2-3 hours of wear time from the eyeliner before it started melting and transferring to my lower lids. BAD NEWS!!! i was so disappointed when it happened. what happened to it being water resistant and sebum resistant!? i used it to line the inner corner of my eyes, which might be a mistake on my part (but heroine make never did that to me).

even after i avoided using it on my inner corners where it's easily in touch with my tears, i noticed the outer half of my eyeliner transferring to my lower lids as well. :( YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THIS!!! now this is acting exactly the same as the kate spider liner. :( what am i going to do with 2 bad eyeliners?

now that the worst thing that can happen is mentioned, i'll talk about the other claims.

the pen tip is indeed very sharp and will be very useful for people who need to draw fine eyeliners. the tip is a brush tip, my favourite kind of tips because they can bend and conform to your eyes so that you get that perfect line.

the ink does not feather into any fine lines even on my arm.

and i like the matte finish because i feel like it enlarges the eyes better than a shiny eyeliner.

lastly, this eyeliner is easily removed with vaseline. i find that it requires a little bit more tugging when i used a makeup remover (bifesta cleansing lotion). i have yet to try removing it with warm water, so i'll give that a try next time. as far as i know, this has a completely different formula as the heroine make, even though both claims to be a film type formula. heroine make will come off in a sheet if i did rub it with vaseline, while this actually melts off in it.

VERDICT

i'm still on a quest to find a matte version of the heroine make smooth liquid liner. if you're not going to use this for your inner corner of your eyes, and you only use this on your outer lid (not even remotely near your lash line), you might like this eyeliner.

for me, it's not water proof enough.

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Revlon Moisture Stain (005 Parisian Passion) First Impression Swatch and Review

My thoughts on the highly pigmented gloss after wearing it just once.

i have been keeping a look out for these lip gloss ever since they made their debut last year. i didn't buy it immediate because 1) i wasn't in the right condition or mindset to wear makeup last october, 2) the price is too jarring.

each pop costs SGD 20.90 normally.

i got it a few days ago as it had a 50% discount. it's a weekly special at watsons, so i took my chance and made my long awaited purchase. there's only one shade that have captured my heart since a year ago, so i brought it home.

005 PARISIAN PASSION is a deep purplish-berry shade. 

similar to the maybelline lip polish/elixir and innisfree creamy tint lip mousse, this lip gloss-lip balm hybrid has shine of a lip gloss, the colour of a lipstick, and the moisturizing capability of a lip balm.

COLOUR: you can call it a burgundy shade, to me it's more like a purplish-wine shade. 005 parisian passion doesn't contain any shimmer or glitter.

PIGMENTATION: the gloss is rather pigmented. one layer gave me a translucent wash of colour (photo below) while two coats fully coloured my lips (as seen above).

FINISH: it has a glossy finish.

PACKAGING: the colour of the squarish tube reflects the colour of the product within. i think it's quite true to how it looks on my lips!

a paddle applicator with a tapered end for precise application. the colour payoff is good and that's just one coat of product!

TEXTURE: a very thick liquid, some skills are required to spread it out evenly over my lips. thanks to the stickiness, it adheres to the skin very well. when i smack my lips, they didn't stick together like i had expected it to do so (as with the revlon ultimate suede lipstick), which is a pleasant surprise for me.

does it stain? see for yourself!

STAINING POWER: it stained my bare lips pretty well within 10 minutes. the longer i have it long, the darker the stain. i love the natural look of my wine stained lips! (note: my lips are clean and bare prior to application)

FORMULA: the product is very hydrating and can be worn on its own (without any lip balm). in fact, i think it's best to start off with a pair of bare lips if you want to get stained well. the viscosity of the product allows it to be spread out evenly, thus ensuring an even stain. even though it adheres well to the skin, it isn't overly sticky.

STAYING POWER: the gloss itself isn't long lasting, but the stain is.

SCENT: lightly scented, i can't quite pin point what's the smell but it doesn't smell unpleasant.

taken under yellow/warm lighting

taken under white/cool lighting

HOW TO PERFECT YOUR APPLICATION: when i said some skills are required to fully maximise the benefit of this product, i just mean for you to utilise the paddle applicator for a perfect application. i find that the best way to apply this new kind of liquid balm (similar to the maybelline lip polish/elixir and innisfree creamy tint lip mousse) is to use enough force to smooth the product over your lips. lip smacking pre-maturely may result in an patchy application. also, make sure your lips are clean and bare without a trace of lip balm for the best application experience.

OTHER PRECAUTIONS: you may also want to dip the applicator slowly back into the tube to prevent over spilling of the product because the thickness of it will increase the risk of trapping air and thus, spilling out of the tube. you don't want to get this sticky mess onto anywhere that's not your lips.

VERDICT: a lovely formula with amazing colour payoff. i love how it moisturizes my lip which packing the colour on so intensely. i would prefer it to the loreal shine caresse glossy stain as the former is more hydrating and pigmented. one layer of product gives you about 70% of the colour, but if you're aiming for super dark lips, two coats might be necessary.

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Sigma Lip Base (Indulgent) First Impression Review And Swatch

First Impression And Swatch of the Sigma Lip Base (Indulgent)

this is the first time i used a lip liner and i really liked it.

my mom isn't into makeup like me, but she do use lip liners, so i've always associated lip liners with the older generation since young. moreover, lip liners aren't marketed as heavily as lipsticks are, i just never thought of buying myself one.

sigma has sent me some of their beauty products (you can read more on a separate entry) and here's my first impression review on their lip base in the shade indulgent.



COLOUR: nude pink that can look a little peachy under warmer lighting.

FINISH: matte, but has a slight sheen to it that resembles natural lips.

a nude pink that is a my-lips-but-better shade for me.

SCENT: unscented.

TEXTURE: almost velvet like because it glides onto my lips (without lip balm) really smoothly and evenly.

PIGMENTATION: able to completely cover up my original lip colour easily, it also lifted my mom's slightly darker lips a little. you can see from the swatch above that the lip liner covered a brown spot on my lips.

STAYING POWER: it can be wiped off easily with a piece of tissue, but it doesn't transfer to cups as easily as lipsticks. i got 2-3 hours of wear before i wiped it off (because i had to eat). reapplication is very easy since it can be cleaned off so easily. 

at the end of the lip liner is a colour that matches the colour of the product.

OVERALL: a very light weight product that hugged my lips like second skin, giving me a really natural look. i really didn't feel a thing on my lips. even though my lip lines are pretty visible when wearing just the lip base alone, my lips isn't actually dry or uncomfortable. the product didn't sink into lip lines like certain lipstick does. as i'm an avid fan of smacking my lips subconsciously, i notice this product doesn't have that sticky feeling like the revlon ultimate suede lipstick.

VERDICT: i'm loving this lip liner! 

since i've never used lip liners before, i have nothing to compare this to, but the performance of the lip base surprised me very pleasantly :) it's perfect for days when i wish to look a little more under stated yet made up. this might just send me into a lip liner hunt in the future for more amazing stuff.

you can check out the other lip base shades they offer.

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