Burberry Lip Glow Bright Plum and Laneige Water Supreme Foundation

Burberry is a brand that I haven't explored much of as the shade range tends to be too muted and classic for my taste. Recently, I ordered the Lip Glow #17 Bright Plum (US$27) from Nordstrom. This was released for Holiday 2011 and is part of the permanent range. Made in Italy, it retails for S$39 in Singapore at Tangs.

I love the sleek lucite packaging with the tapered inner compartment. The subtly textured surface of the box packaging is another lovely elegant touch. The slanted doe foot sponge applicator works well enough and doesn't require much re-dipping into the tube.

Bright Plum is a glossy, well-pigmented dramatic plum red without any visible shimmer, well-suited for the holiday season. It may be a tad intense for the day but I've always had a soft spot for deep berry hues and have no issues with sporting them during the day. With Bright Plum, I usually wear lighter shades on the eyes and cheeks so that the face isn't overwhelmed by too much color everywhere.

The gloss is not as slick as YSL Glossy Stain. It lasts well over more than four hours but there is some bleeding into the fine lines and stickiness after a couple of hours. Given the high price tag, I doubt I'll pick up other shades unless they are truly spectacular. Personally, I still prefer YSL Glossy Stains.

Below is the list of ingredients.

For this look, I used Laneige Water Supreme Foundation SPF15 PA+, which was kindly gifted to me by Larry Yeo.

The shade No.21 Natural Beige looked awfully yellow and dark in the bottle but fortunately, it turned out to be a pretty good match for my skintone and not as dark as it looks in the bottle. It has a light texture that melds easily into the skin for a natural satin finish. I like how it evens out my skintone in a jiffy without pooling in my pores. The only flaw is that the oil control isn't that great and I find myself having to blot quite a few times during the day even though it is now the dry winter season.

Below is the ingredients list. You can read more about the foundation here.

The other products used for this look: RMK Christmas Palette 2012 and Super Basic Liquid Concealer EX01, Lavshuca Fairy Candy Cheeks 01 Pink, Becca Ultimate Mascara, K-Palette Lasting 2Way Eyebrow 02, Cargo Swimmables Eye Pencil in Charcoal.

I was lucky to find the Lavshuca Fairy Candy Cheeks on my trip to Japan in the fall. These limited edition blush balls were released as part of the spring 2012 collection. Composed of three colors, they are nicely pigmented with a soft glowy finish.