Posts Tagged ‘cruelty-free’
Review: Ofra Lipstick #205
Posted on: November 7, 2014
- In: Reviews | Swatches
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One of my recent makeup kit mainstays is Ofra Lipstick #205. This is the other option to receive from the Beauty SOS Glamourbox last year. I got my #202 (red) from that, and this #205 I bought from Shayne.
It is what I would describe as orchid pink, although it leans a lot more violet on the tube. There is a small window on the bottom that lets you see the shade.
As I said, on the tube it looks a lot like purplish pink.
Here is the arm swatch. See what I mean about orchid pink? It’s actually quite dainty and lighter than what the color in the tube looks like.
One of the things I really like about this lipstick is that it looks different depending on whether you blotted the lipstick or not. Check out the lip swatches here.
Here’s a face shot with the non-blotted version. You can really see the sheen of the lipstick here.
And here is another shot, this time blotted. The sheen is now much more muted, and it looks almost matte.
I really like that I can choose to go either matte or shiny with this lipstick. It also smells like vanilla, which I really like. It lasts relatively long, about 4 hours, without drinking or eating. Unfortunately it has a tendency to transfer, so be careful about that. This looks like a standard 4g or 3.5g lipstick, and costs Php650.
Ofra is cruelty-free.
Pros: beautiful orchid pink shade; relatively long lasting; cruelty-free
Cons: price; transfers
Ofra Lipstick #205 is available through the Glamourbox Boutique, as well as selected Snoe outlets and Glamourbox stalls.
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One of the recent things I’ve been testing is K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow Mascara in Natural Brown. I got this in reaction to Maybelline Fashion Brow Brow Mascara – I thought its brush was too big for my brows. I got interested in this product by reading fellow bloggers’ reviews, and the reviews were mainly positive. This costs Php595 and is available at Beauty Bar.
The tube is short and squat and clear, showing the actual shade of the product. The cap is a nondescript black that holds the wand. The name of the product is clearly printed in gold.
The shade number is printed on the opposite side. 102 here refers to the darker of the two available shades: Natural Brown.
Here’s a close up of the wand. This is the main reason I got this. It has a very small oval brush.
Here’s a profile shot of the wand tip. You can see that the bristles are pretty short. They are also quite stiff, and is perfect to apply the mascara onto the brows.
Here’s an arm swatch. The left is a single swipe while the right is kind of smudged, the kind I imagine it would look like on the brows.
And here it is on my brows. As you can see it seems to keep my brow hairs firmly in place and look really well groomed. I am wearing the K-Palette Brow Mascara over In2It Eyebrow Powder.
Upon closer inspection, Natural Brown actually still is quite too light for me.
In conclusion: I really like this product, even if it’s a bit too light on me. I am hoping that K-Palette releases a darker shade soon!
Pros: keeps brow hairs in place; correctly-sized brush; cruelty-free
Cons: shade still too light
K-Palette is cruelty-free, and is available at Beauty Bar.
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First, an aside on hauls: I don’t really post my hauls anymore, mostly for two reasons. One is that I don’t really haul new things lately (I’m on a spend “ban”!), and two, sometimes I think that maybe my haul posts are pretty boring. I would just review the items I bought that I think is worth reviewing. What do you think?
Moving on to more exciting things! Ever since I saw V’s post about Catrice being available here in the Philippines, I’ve always wanted to try finding it. I spent a miserable two months stalking SM Makati and Watsons Greenbelt 1 but no signs of Catrice. About a week ago I happened to be in SM North The Block and of course I dropped by Watsons there (mostly to buy other things tbh; my Bifesta needed replenishment). Lo and behold, I finally found a Catrice counter!! Given that I was on a strict budget and I wasn’t really planning on finding Catrice there, I limited myself to one item. Believe me, that was pretty hard, I wanted to buy things like eyeshadows and nail polish!
With the help of the Catrice SA, I selected this pretty interesting base called Matt Mousse Make Up. It’s supposed to be a sort of cream foundation that sets into a powder finish. Quite an interesting idea! I swatched it on my arm and personally witnessed this transformation. The SA insisted that the lightest shade was the one that fit me best; the next one seemed indeed a little too dark. The price sealed the deal: it was only Php379 (or something like that; basta below 400)! I got the shade 011 Light Beige.
My sister-in-law was with me at the time, and said that it looked quite similar to Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, which I never tried. Catrice Matt Mousse Make Up claims to result to even finish and invisible pores and lines. I immediately tested it out as soon as I got home. And several more times in the next few days!
I really love how this feels on the face! It’s very cushy, and quite pleasurable to apply because of the cream-to-powder aspect. There’s a sort of play factor going on that makes putting foundation on quite fun. The biggest downside I can see is of course the glass tub. I just make sure that I use clean fingers when applying this. I have not tried using a brush (because I have no idea what kind of brush to use) or sponge.
Above is the arm swatch, first just a swipe. It’s very thick but airy.
Then the blended. It looks a bit too pink and dark here on my arm, which means either my arms are too fair or I put on too much product. Let’s see how it looks on my face.
Here’s my bare face.
And here’s one layer of Catrice Matt Mousse Make Up. Ok now it seems too light? I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I can work with this though, and again I really like how it feels on the skin. I also used it here on my lids as a primer; you can see the yellowish tint on my bare lids practically disappear.
Here’s my face with the rest of my makeup on. Maybe it needed a bit of setting in, but I think here it looks much closer to my original skin tone. How did it perform on the pores and lines? It did do some blurring action but did not completely cover them. Perhaps if I put on another layer it would cover them some more.
Other items on face: Ellana Minerals Eyebrow/Eyeshadow Quad (brows), Ellefar Princess Eyeshadow Quad (lids), Pixy Waterproof Mascara (lashes), Daiso Special! Mix Cheek Powder in Magic Color (cheeks), Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Laguna Beach (lips)
Catrice is happily cruelty-free! At their price I think this is going to be my go-to drugstore makeup brand! The Matt Mousse Make Up is Php379 (I think) for 16 grams of product.
Pros: cruelty-free; very affordable; matte foundation; relatively long lasting
Cons: glass tub; limited availability for now
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Quite an almost-alliteration! Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Laguna Beach is unabashedly my favorite in the Flawless Beauty Glamourbox that was recently released. I love Ofra lipsticks and have always lemmed for the liquid lipsticks available at Glamourbox Boutique. You won’t believe just how excited I was when I saw this inside the subbie box (there was some squealing involved)!
The lipstick came in a black box with a little window to show you the shade, and the actual tube is a transparent one with a black cap. The shade name is clearly written on the tube.
The wand itself is just a doe foot applicator. It’s adequate enough to apply the lipstick onto the lips, but is not a very good one for defining the cupid’s bow. For better application, I would recommend using a lip brush. [Pardon this shot. For some reason the macro setting focused on the tube instead of the wand.]
Here again is the arm swatch. From this and the product color on the wand we can see that Laguna Beach is some sort of peachy pink/plum sort of shade.
Let’s move on to the lip swatches! Here is a comparison of bare lips and one with Laguna Beach.
It looks a lot muted here than what the arm swatch suggests. Here’s a closer look at the lips.
Upon closer inspection, Laguna Beach is actually a pretty pale pink. As it is a liquid lipstick, there needs to be a little bit of wait time for the lipstick to dry and settle. It dries matte, but unfortunately has a tendency to emphasize the lip lines. To test the longevity of it, I took another photo after four hours and a meal (Brightest Bulb in a Box‘s lipstick longevity test).
It’s still somewhat there but a little faded, and is a lot more evident on the outer edges of my lips. I would say that this is fairly long lasting, as long as you don’t eat or drink so much. It is still a pretty interesting lipstick for me (my second liquid one, but my most used so far!). Did I mention it smells so good? It has a very appealing vanilla pastry scent that makes me want to buy cupcakes. This costs a pretty steep Php950, but it has 8 grams of product (usual lipstick tubes contain 3.5-4 grams). Ofra Cosmetics is a cruelty-free company.
Disclaimer: I buy Glamourboxes with my own money. I am not required to write this post.
Becoming Sleek 