Saturday, 26 November 2016

International Make Up Haul: Elf, Tarte, Sephora and more.

Hey guys! Hope you all are doing well.

In this week’s post, I will be sharing a small US beauty haul.

Recently a friend of mine had gone to the States and he offered to get some stuff from there for me. I went ahead and made an elaborate list with prices, shades and pictures of beauty products so I get exactly the products I want. The United States is parNarsadise for any make up lover. The prices for most products are the low. You get amazing deals. Most products launch first in the United States. My final list was a mixture of some drugstore and some high end products.

So lets get into the haul.

The e.l.f. Mineral Pearls in Natural
This product retailed for 8 dollars at Target. Foundation may leave your face looking a little washed out. This product helps you regain that colour simply by using the powder puff, that comes along with it, and buffing it into your skin.

 e.l.f Blush & Bronzing Powder in St.Lucia
This product, that retails for only 3 dollars, is a complete steal. It has some gorgeous matte black packaging and is completely sleek and travel friendly. The bronzer is a dupe for Nars Laguna Bronzer and the blush is a dupe for Nars Orgasm Blush. The Nars Bronzer and Blush are their best sellers which is available for only 3 dollars along with a mirror.


 e.l.f Makeup Mist and Set in Clear 
This product retails for 3 dollars at Target. It is often compared to the MAC Fix Plus Setting Spray and the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray. So it not only helps your makeup stay on forever but it also helps enhance your eyeshadow and your highlight only for 3 dollars.

FYI, e.l.f Cosmetics ships to India through their official website.

Wet n Wild Photofocus Setting Spray 
This product retails for 5 dollars at Walmart. It has been spoken about amongst best products in 5 dollars by many Youtubers. In India, we do not have many drugstore setting sprays. So I decided to give this product a try.


Wet n Wild Makeup Brushes
6 brushes retailed for 10 dollars. This range includes cruelty free Vegan brushes. The brush set includes a concealer brush, eyeshadow brush, angled liner brush, blush brush, foundation brush and crease brush. I love the pink white ombre bristles.



Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer in Light Bronzer
This product retailed for 15 dollars at Target.I have heard so much about this product by so many Youtubers. It has one of the best fragrances in cosmetics. The packaging is totally adorable.It comes with a tiny brush and mirror. It is perfect for that natural glow.

L’Oreal Paris Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation in 207 Sand Beige
This product retailed for 13 dollars at Walmart. I personally love their Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation but recently I have been all about the glow. Most of my foundations are of matte finish so I decided to get this foundation and mix things up a little.



Tarte Tartelette Tease Palette
This product retailed for 21 dollars at Sephora. This is a limited palette which is pocket friendly version of the Tarte Tartelette Palette in Bloom. All the eyeshadows are amazingly pigmented and the palette has the perfect combination of matte and shimmery shades.




Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Bold Lip
This set includes 6 high end best seller lipsticks valued at 75 dollars sold only for 28 dollars. It includes 3 liquid lipsticks which are Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Damned, Tarte Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint in Yaassss and Ciaté London Liquid Velvet in Head Over Heels. It also includes 3 crayon lipsticks which are Bite Beauty Matte Crème Lip Crayon in Aubergine, Laura Mercier Velour Lovers Lip Colour in An Affair and SEPHORA COLLECTION Rouge Cream in 49 Belly Dancing.




That is all for this post.If you would like a detailed review on any of the products or have any suggestions or questions, leave it down as a comment. 
For regular updates, follow our Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/compactmatters/
Photography Credits: Ananya Khatri.


Saturday, 19 November 2016

Plum Natur Studio Kohl Review.

Hi guys! Hope you all are doing well.

In this week’s post, we will be reviewing Plum Natur Studio Kohl Kajal.

A kajal or a liner is a product that is found in every girl’s make up kit. A kajal is one of the first make up products most of us used.
Some of us like to wing our liner, some of us just like to go with a thin, some of us like to go bold and thick and some of us simply line our waterlines. However unlike skin products, most of us look for the same things in a liner. Thus in today’s post I will be reviewing my go to liner.



The Plum Natur Studio Kohl Kajal is the only make up product from Plum, which is a skincare brand. It is a gel liner.Their products are available on Nykaa, Amazon and Flipkart as well as their official website.

Price 
Rs.425 for 1.2g.




Packaging 
The product comes in form of a purple sharpenable pencil. The sharpener must be purchased separately for Rs.150. However on Nykaa they sell the combo for Rs.500.Along with the pencil comes a tiny paper with a recommendation to use only the Plum Sharpener.

Fragrance
 The product does not have any fragrance.

Shade 
The product is currently available only in 1 shade, Black Brilliance which is a jet black colour. The product is super pigmented and one swipe is more than enough to get intense black colour.


Ingredients 
The product contains Castor Oil, Rice Bran Wax and Vitamin E which help in the product to glide on. It is preservative free and mineral oil free.


Longevity 
The product stays intense and in place for 8 hours which is the best I have ever seen. After 8 hours, the product fades away. However it does not smudge. It does not great black patches around your eyes like most liners. Not only is the product smudge proof, it is also as water proof .


Pros
Can be used as liner and a kajal
Since it is smudge proof and waterproof, it is perfect for all weathers.
Does not require touch ups.
Long shelf life of 2 and a half years.
Travel friendly

Cons
The product needs to be sharpened frequently.

My Verdict

This product gives you the intensity of gel liner, the smoothness of liquid liner and the precision of a felstick liner. It is a great purchase. I highly recommend this to college girls or working women or anyone who has long days and could not be bothered about touching up their liner repeatedly. This product makes life easy and pretty for all of us. I have already purchased my second Plum Natur Studio Kohl.


That is all for this post. Hope you liked it. For regular updates, follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/compactmatters/
Photography Credits: Shivam Bhatt and Ananya Khatri.

Saturday, 12 November 2016

Innisfree Wine Peeling Jelly Softener Review.

Hey guys! Hope you all are doing well.

In this week’s post, I will be reviewing the Innisfree Wine Peeling Jelly Softener.



Price
The Innisfree Wine Peeling Jelly Softener retails for Rs.900 for 180ml.

Packaging 
The Innisfree Wine Peeling Jelly Softener comes in a plastic bottle that resembles a wine bottle. The product has a cap and a stopper which can be easily placed and removed. However the stopper is really tiny so it can be misplaced easily.

Fragrance 
The product smells like red wine with a mild floral and citrus tinge.

Ingredients
The product contains wine extracts from France, green complex, different leaf extracts, seed extracts, root extracts and fruit extracts.

Application
The product is a thick white liquid. The product must be applied after a cleanser and can be followed by a toner.The instructions on the bottle say that the product must be taken on a cotton pad and gently swiped around the face.However this does not work not well. I prefer taking a small amount of the product in my palms, dab it all over my face and neck and gently start rubbing it with my fingers. The sales lady at the store also used the same method. Within a minute, you can see your dead cells come out in form of gunk with the product.



Usage
The product works wonderfully as a gentle exfoliator.
It also helps tone the skin and cleans the pores while removing the dead cells.
The product keeps the skin hydrated and does not let it dry out. 

Pros
It works on all skin types.
There are no similar products in the Indian market.
It has a soothing smell.
One bottle will last you for quite a while.

Cons 
It can not be used a substitute to a daily scrub or toner.
The application process could get a little messy.
It is slightly expensive.

My Verdict
All in all I feel this is a great product. Innisfree is an amazing brand and this is one of their best sellers for a reason. Even though it is a little expensive, you are getting quite a lot of product for your money. Also every application only requires very little product. Since it works for all skin types, multiple family members can share this product. I personally suggest that you add this product to your weekly skin pamper routine.


That is all for this post. Hope you found it useful in some way. We will be back with a new post next week. If you have any suggestions or questions, leave it down as a comment. For regular updates, follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/compactmatters/
Photography Credits: Ananya Khatri.



Saturday, 5 November 2016

How To Get A Free MAC Lipstick.

Hey guys! Hope you all had an amazing festive week. It has been 6 months since we started Compact Matters. We would like to thank each one of you who has ever taken out time from your schedule to read Compact Matters. It means the world to us.

In this week’s post, we will talk about the BACK TO M.A.C Program. If you are a MAC regular, you probably already know this but for those of you who don’t, continue reading.


As a part of their CSR policy, MAC has been involved in recycling and waste management. You can help them in their noble initiative and earn yourself a free MAC lipstick in 3 simples steps. These steps also include some personal tips I use.
 Step 1
Collect 6 empty MAC containers. These are the primary packaging containers or the metallic/plastic containers that contained the product.The cardboard boxes are not required. These containers can be of any MAC products. Lipsticks, blushes, eyeshadows pans. They even accept the mini lip glosses. These products can be a few years old and that is not a problem at all. So NEVER throw MAC containers away. If you are not going to purchase any more MAC products, give the containers to a friend.


Step 2
Go to MAC store and get swatching. What I love about this program is not only do you get to do something good environmentally, but also you get to choose the shade of the lipstick you want. I personally like to search for a few colours online before I go to the store. MAC has a lot of lipsticks that fall into the same colour family so take your time and choose your colour.MAC has a beautiful range of colours with a lot of different finishes. There is a perfect lipstick for everyone.

At a MAC store, you are allowed to swatch colours on your lip as they sanitize the lipsticks for you. However I feel it is not practical to swatch every colour you like on your lips. So shortlist 2-3 shades and then probably go for a lip swatch.

The Viva Glam Lipsticks and the MAC Retro Liquid Lipsticks are not included in the program since 100% of their retail selling price is provided to organizations that help people with HIV/AIDS.




Step 3
After you have selected your shade, you take your empty containers to the payment counter. The sales person will check every container and hand you your brand new MAC lipstick absolutely free of cost.


I picked a shade called Craving which is neutral pink.
Lip swatch of Craving.

Hand swatch of Craving.

That is how simple it is to get a free lipstick from MAC.
That is all for this post. I hoped this post helped you and you will probably get yourself a free MAC lipstick very soon.

 For regular updates, follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/compactmatters/
Photography Credits: Ananya Khatri.