Well one-brand for the most part. I did stray here and there (eyebrows and the powder). I'm also putting a dedicated review on some other products mentioned and not mentioned here (powder, lipstick).

I finally get to tackle the brand-spanking re-brand FS did with some old favorites and new additions. If you've seen my previous post about the newly re-launched FS Cosmetics or Features & Shades here you might be wondering what's really worth checking out and what can you pass up on. Here's my "one-brand" face of the day /makeup of the day with their products with quips on what I think of them.


Let's start with primer.

Aptly named "Primer" this pre-foundation base comes in a squeeze-tube (nice) and has 20g of product in it. That's a pretty decent amount since you really don't need a lot of this all over the face. This one especially tends to ball-up with the foundation if you use way too much.


Texture and appearance-wise it's very similar to Benefit's Porefessional. It's a silicone primer and it performs (I assume) as most silicone primers do. This does blur the pores and smoothes the skin leaving it velvety.


I personally don't subscribe to the notion that silicone primers or face primers in general makes makeup last long. I haven't seen a difference. I've tried the Maybelline and the Quick FX primers and they're all the same to me. One thing I can say is that this primer is heavily fragranced. The scent is very floral and "perfume-y".



For my actual base, I chose to go with FS's BB cream in Oriental. There are 3 shades available, this being the middle one. It claims to be a sun protectant, foundation, concealer and moisturizer. Basically an all-in-one product (as most BB creams tend to claim) but the concealer part is pushing it a bit.

I do really like this. It's smooth, blends in well, looks natural, feels light on the skin, moisturizing, has at most a (well...almost when you build it up) medium coverage and has an olive undertone to it (perfect) BUT...

It appears slightly ashy on me. I blame it on the spf for the slightly walking-dead appearance initially but it does adjust to your skin a little in about 10 - 15 minutes especially when set with a powder of your shade. It also has this light citrusy-floral fragrance that I don't mind unlike the primer.

I find it a little annoying that they didn't put exactly how much sun protection you get with this, so I suggest using a separate SPF. I also wouldn't suggest this to people with oily skin as this is quite moisturizing, glowy and tacky and stays that way if you don't set it. People with dry patches (me) would do well to exfoliate prior because this BB clings a little. Other than that, it's a nice everyday type of base for people who are okay with light coverage foundations (BBs/CCs).


This pretty "I'm ready for summer" blush in Twinkle Tan is gorgeous on the skin. It's like a bronzey blush with fine gold shimmer. It's smooth and very pigmented. If I had to recommend one thing out of everything here I'd suggest this one. The finish is this very gleamy highlighted-satin sheen — You won't need a separate highlighter with this for sure.


I haven't tried this for over 12 hours but for a typical 8-hour day it lasts well. Especially since it's less than P500, as with every product in this post.


This amazing True Light Liquid Lipstick in Glossy Peony is very pretty. Half of it because of the nice matte packaging and the light inside when you open it.


I would consider this more of a lipgloss than a "liquid lipstick". I think my perception of liquid lipsticks have been escalated because of the numerous liquid lipsticks that have been coming out for the past 2 - 3 years or so. It's not sticky like a typical gloss and it's decently pigmented as well. I would go as far as to say it's slightly moisturizing. Lip prep is important though because it settles in the cracks.


The colour is a pretty milky medium-peachy-rose with golden shimmer. Don't be put off by the shimmer though, it's really really nice on the lips. Not chunky "glitters" at all. It feels comfortable on, no strong scent nor taste and THE LIGHT GUYS. THE LIGHT!!!


For the eyeshadow I have their single eyeshadow in Ash Brown. It's a pigmented matte cool-toned dark brown. Rubbing my finger on the pan, it feels slightly gritty but for the most part it's smooth and blends well with a brush.


There's also a wide selection of colours and finishes. You can pop these in a four pan palette that they sell so you can customize your own palette. Richly pigmented, versatile and affordable for a whopping 4g, this will last long.


The black Mascarade Volumizing Mascara is okay. It builds up okay on itself. The pigment is really black and the brush is the normal bristled mascara brush I prefer but it only yields a natural lash look even after numerous coats. As you can see from the picture that's the extent of the the volumizing part it can do for my sparse lashes. For 10g, it's a decent pick for the price when you don't know which brand to go for.


It's not smudge-proof and waterproof, though it doesn't claim to be. But it's water-resistant so there's that. Like I said. It's okay but not something I'd purchase on my own. I like mascaras that give a lot of volume.


Final result. A very no-makeup makeup look. After running errands and being out for more than 5 hours, the bb cream and blush performed really well. I guess the primer also did its job? The mascara and shadow were still there too. But the shadow faded a little bit maybe an eye primer would do the trick next time. I was most surprised about the blush though, I only put a little but it still held on at the end of the day.

I also didn't break out. To be honest though I only used the primer twice but I had the sinking feeling it would break me out if I used it consecutively. I also couldn't stand the scent so that's the only thing I used twice.

Other products used : Palgantong/3WC Powder in #23 as setting powder and for eyebrows I used Pinkies Collection brow pencil in black, Glam21 pencil and Maybelline brow mascara in Dark Brown.

[Reference : Sensitive, dry-normal skin, slightly oily t-zone and dry patches. Sweaty boy.]


Like I mentioned, everything here is less than Php 500. So the brand on the whole is pretty affordable. What would you try from this brand? Which FS product would you like an in-depth review on? My personal picks are the gloss, shadow and blush.

xx,
CJ

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Hmm sounds like a pretty blog name.

I've tried one to two creme blushes a long ass time ago and couldn't quite remember how I felt about them. I currently have two in my collection a Korean one that feels like Maybelline's bouncy blush and this one.





TEXTURE | PIGMENTATION | WEAR

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I quite like this brand's matte lipsticks and a lot of people in general like their lipsticks as well. This one though doesn't get the same enthusiasm as the former.

It's pigmented and you really only need a little so it won't end up looking cakey on the skin. Blending it out is easy as well if using a brush or your fingers. The finish is natural, isn't glowy and sits well on my skin. It also lasts quite well I find. A little over four hours would be a fair estimate then it starts to significantly fade. Maybe because it was such a light color to begin with and I only put a very small amount.


That being said, it doesn't feel nice on the skin or to rephrase it's not comfortable to wear. I also think the color doesn't suit me all that well. It's a blue-based light pastel pink which I thought would be a nice break from all the corals and peaches I tended to wear.

In the spectrum of light and dark I'm in the middle. I find this will work well for people with light skin and dark skin but not medium (with warm/olive undertone). If your undertone leans a little more pink or you're neutral I think you can try it out but for the most part the two extremes of skin tone range will pull this one off better than I.

And the scent! Sometimes I like the nostalgia of "old-school" smelling makeup on certain products but I can't stand this one. It does linger on the face for a while and you can smell it on you (until such time that your nose gets used to it).

It's not bad per se. I wouldn't say it's a must-have though. It's cheap so if you want to explore some cream blush options try to swatch this at one of their kiosks as they also have four or five more colours to choose from.


xx,
CJ


PS. Will give this one to a friend.
PPS. I paid no more than Php 200 for this. Don't remember the exact price. I also don't remember the exact shade name or number. Hehe.

I just love it when companies inject cheeky names in their products. Skinny dipping is by far my favorite blush name, Hot flash...meh not so much.
I got these blushes from ebay for around 200Php (approx $5) each and at the time, I was so enamored by all things Benefit, most especially their boxed blushes so seeing a cheaper version on ebay was kinda providential (HA). I figured since it's in a similar format with 1/10249 of the price, might as well give it a whirl.

What can I say, aesthetics make up 50% of my purchasing decision.

"We ♥ out animal friends. We don't test our products on them"

Now while I love the little snippet of love for out little critter friends, I'm rather wary of its truthfulness. Usually companies that don't test on animals, have the cruelty free bunny on them. And this one doesn't have any on the plastic box it came in nor on the blush box.

I was diagnosed with having Butter Fingers, hence the mangled blush which I tried to fix.  Emphasis on the tried.

Like I said, I love the packaging but the box itself is misleading in a way that I thought it contained a lot of product.(I mean it does - contains 5.7 grams. But I was kinda expecting it to be a little deeper. Blame the cheapskate that I am) The way the metal pan is placed inside the blush was flimsy as well.

The elastic band on the lid held a brush which I removed because it was utterly useless. The brush was so tiny and the hairs were so thin and sparse it seemed like a prank.


Do not be fooled. The hairs are just 1cm thick when flattened. Dishonor on you Hard Candy! Dishonor on your family! Dishonor on your cow!

And now for some swatches!

I was trying to make the lens focus, but it kept focusing on my face...so there goes my fist.

Skinny Dipping has this lovely tangerine that I like. The other one is sort of a mauvey color. Both are satin with silver shimmers in them and blend nicely. Now the mauve, looks extremely natural on me save for the obvious shimmer.The orange one wins for me though -the color is super bright!



Here I am wearing a mixture of the orange and mauve and the result is a nice apricot color on my face. The mixed swatch looks different though because I didn't get an equal amount when I swirled my brush.

One thing to note is that this particular blush is quite pigmented so swirling around the brush in the pan gets a ton of product on the brush and you only need a little when applying. I personally switched to a stippling brush so there's less product and I can build it up gradually.

Hot Flash is more matte overall. The brown one makes for a good eye-shadow too. Comparing the 2 blushes, Skinny Dipping is definitely more fragile and powdery (Hot Flashes is a little powdery too) but Hot Flashes has more color combinations. Even after having 2 satin finishes, the final look is still matte.

Swirling all the colors, the result is a healthy red-pink blush. It definitely brightened my complexion. I would say this is a little more girly and sweet, and Skinny dipping is a little more healthy and adventurous.

Lasting power is ok. Skinny dipping doesn't last as long as I'd like. The shimmers stay though, the pigment is barely there.

Are they worth it? Not really. There are definitely better and cheaper blushes out there (Jordana, Ever Bilena, Careline, Nichido, Essence etc) but I'd say it's ok because the packaging is nice and the colors are unique to my collection.

What's your everyday/no-brainer top blush color and/or brand?