Project X Pan 2012, or what I am bringing to school [Face]

Hi all, I decided that for 2012, I will try something new and I made a video on youtube! Never imagined that I will join the hordes on youtube, but here I am with my Singapore-accented voice. Finally managed to upload it after trying all day yesterday and today.

Now, I accidentally deleted the real first part to this video, so the video starts with the second part, the face portion. I even left out a few things *shift eyes away in guilt* but to make up for it, here are some better quality photos of the things!



Face Primers and BB Creams

1. Missha BB Boomer: Very pink toned primer. I honestly don't have much of an opinion of it now as I have not used enough of it to have any notion of how good or bad it is!

2. Lóreal true match Moist Up Makeup Base: Read that it's a good primer, but I got it on sale and it's for dry skin, which is the furthest thing possible from me.
3. Skinfood Mushroom Multi BB Cream: The best thing about this BB cream is that it smells wonderful, and when I put it on, most unobservant people don't think I have makeup one because it is a) very natural looking (yay!) and b) very low coverage (boo!) Using it as a makeup base since it is so sheer.

4. Missha Perfect Cover M BB Cream: One of the few medium coverage BB creams. If I put foundation over it, the whole thing looks super cakey. Pink toned as usual.




Powder, cream and liquid foundations

5. Za True White Foundation refill in 21: I bought it because it was cheap, but this range actually runs a fair bit lighter than the original range. It's supposed to give a whitening effect but I really can't tell because it is too light for me to wear this foundation at all. Planning to use it as a highlighter or in the centre of my face.

6. Graftobian Hi-Def Glamour Creme in Temptress: This was quite a nice colour match to me a few months ago, so hopefully it still matches me! I love it because it gives a full coverage flawless look when used with a damp sponge, like how Gossmakeupartist recommends it to be used. It does contain Silica and when you use it as much as I do, since my skin is pretty bad so I like a full face that gives a flawless mannequinn look, it does make my face look really white when taking flash photography. The coverage does fade after a few hours and it does get a bit oily after a few hours but I love this foundation and only use it during special occasions.

7. Za Two-Way foundation in 22: My first foundation ever, so this makes it 2 to 3 years old. A tad light for me and I like to apply it with a damp sponge to give it a more natural look. Applying with a sponge tends to emphasis my pores, and it looks the best after 2 hours, when the natural oils of my face break through the powder, to give a more natural finish. Not very good oil control though, and I probably won't repurchase this ever.

8. Franken-foundation consisting of a full bottle of Mac Studio Fix Fluid in NC40 (much too dark for me), a full bottle of Revlon Colourstay in 310 Warm Golden (too dark for me) and 2 half empty tubes of BRTC Jasmine Water BB Cream (fits NW15-20, way too light for me), which ignited my hate for BB creams, and some moisturizer: Still a bit too brown tinged for me, but I have a huge bottle to finish now. Best to sheer it out with a damp sponge.



Loose Powders and Compact Powders

 9. BRTC BB Sun Pact: Meant to go with the Jasmine water BB cream, so way too light for me. Hoping to use it as a mattifying powder since most powders mattify anyway.

10, Missha Art Designing Loose Powder: An emergency loose powder that I bought on holiday and which I stopped using when the holiday was over. No real opinions yet.

11. Elf Studio Translucent Mattifying Powder: Hit Pan already and it does it's job!

12.  MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Medium Plus: Too dark once again and the cover broke!



Concealers

 13. Everyday Minerals Concealer in Intensive Medium: Looks a bit too brown toned on my yellowish face. My first concealer I believe, which means it needs to be finished soon.

14. NARS Concealer Duo in Vanilla/Honey: Too light for me as I bought it wearing the Jasmine water BB cream, which made me a highly unnatural NC20, when I am NC25-30 by nature. Trying to finish it fast!

15. NYX Concealer in Orange: Seriously. What was I thinking?! An orange concealer?? I was so into salmon based concealers when I bought this from NYX, and then when it came in the mail, "Hold on, I don't even have bad dark circles!".

16. & 17. Maybelline AngelFit Concealer in Light Beige and Natural Beige: Light is too light for me and Natural is too brown



Highlighters, Cream blushes, Powder Blushes and Blotting sheets

 18. Benefit Moon Beam: Bought this because I thought this will fit Asian skintones better than the silvery High Beam... and it's a pink toned highlighter *dies as a truly yellow-skinned gal* It's only here because I barely touch it and it needs to be used up soon.

19. NYX Cream Blush in Natural: Nice natural rosey shade, definitely not too pigmented which I like since I'm pretty heavy handed, so being able to slowly build up colour is a nice luxury. However, it does fade on me after a few hours so I probably need to touch up then. Does it bother me? No, not now when I'm trying to finish it!

20. Canmake Cream Blush in 02 and 06: 02 is a very sheer bright pink that has more sparkle than colour really. I could probably even use it as a highlighter. The intention in buying 06 was to use it as a bronzer *stop laughing, I was a true makeup novince back then! This led to possibly (and hopefully) the worse makeup day in school ever* but though it looks brown in the pan, it actually applies as an orange-brown, which goes splendidly with my skintone. Corals and oranges are definitely the most natural shades for me.

23. Canmake Powder Cheek in PW05: Bought it out of a whim, when I couldn't find the shade that I wanted to buy originally. Turned out to be a surprisingly uncommon colour, as its a coral with very strong yellow tones, and shimmers in it. Planning to use this with my coral lipstick for an awesome retro face!

Wow, 23 products and this is just on the face section alone! I still have lips and eyes to go through, so stay tuned. This is Project X pan week :)

Love,
Tabby

Rant: why are Korean bb creams so pink toned?!!

I really need to get this off my chest: why are Korean bb creams so pink toned?! Pink neutralizes yellow and makes you look fairer supposedly. Pink is not a flattering tone on Asian skin that is yellow toned, speaking from experience. I would rather clear luminating yellow toned or tanned skin. I have only seen two truly pale Asians, ones that are so white they can give Snow White a run for her money. Guess what, they are both from the northern region of china, and are in a constant battle with hyperpigmentation and freckles. So be careful for what you wish for...

What usually happens with pink toned bb creams is that you get the mask effect. The colour of your face and neck/chest area are totally different and there is a clear distinct boundary.  The last time I took a trip to Korea, I saw quite a few white mask ladies stewardesss, on the journey to and fro. It is not a flattering look.

While googling about how one should deal with a bb cream that is too light for you, I found a few blogs about how bb creams 'brighten' their face with a picture attached, and then I'll look at their neck. Perhaps there's silica in the bb cream giving a white cast when photographed but seriously, no. Get foundation instead. Even the shade 2 of bb creams that are supposed to match nc25-30, the range that I fall in, are pink toned and give me a ghostly unnatural look.

I'm just ranting because I have more than 10 bb creams that I bought in my bb cream craze but most of them are too light/too pink despite what the sales assistant claimed, oh the money that I wasted while trying to figure out which shades matches me. Thankfully the new generation of western and Japanese bb creams seem a bit more yellow toned, so I can't wait to explore them!

(Edited because as with most rants, I sounded like a foaming maniac with a staunch hate of the aspect in Korean culture that prefers pink toned fair skin. I simply find that it's not suitable for my undertone or skintone and having invested so much money into BB creams of various brands, it is a disappointment that I can't find one that matches my skintone well. It was an expensive learning experience in makeup, that pink toned bases really don't suit me, which enbittered me. Some girls can carry off the fair pink toned looked, but I have found very few of this rare breed in sunny singapore, without looking like they caked on makeup that is the wrong shade for them. I am trying out ways to use up the bb creams that I have, but who knows, maybe I might find one that will suit me, though I'm still struggling to use up certain ones (looking at you BRTC Jasmine water bb cream). I'll write more about bb creams on another day