Brand Regrams!

Just a few re-grams from my fave brands. They are are all flatlays. I do tend to take a very long time to compose each one.

I do update this post every once in a while.

My Instagram used to be called "teawithmakeupmagic88" but I had a rather nasty experience with someone trying to hack into my account. Hence the multiple name changes. Thank goodness that Instagram has stepped up it's security features. You can see all of these regrams on my Instagram page under the section "PHOTOS OF YOU" on your mobile device. I've just done screenshots of them here showing them with my Instagram tagged.

Everything photographed is purchased, styled and photographed by me. Only in the rarest of the occasions am I given the greatest honour to borrow items.

I'm in Absolute Bliss - Tarte Cosmetics Regram

The new Tarteist Mascara - Regram from Tarte

Promo shot for Klasse14 - they create such unique watches. Highly collectible

Coco Sun Tanning Lotion Promo Shot 

Cocosun Promo Shot. LOVE this product, it smells so good!

Jamberry's Nail System

Ikoo's estyler and brush

The amazing Jurlique

Rimmel London's Sheer & Shine Lipsticks - LOVE the #expressionnotperfection. LOL!

Shanghai Suzy (an Australian based cut brand) - See my blog post on Shanghai Suzy for a review of all of these lipsticks

Promo pic for Skinstitut - very happy that they said it was "One of their fave posts to date!"

Campaign for Scout Cosmetics

A different type of flatlay for Scout Cosmetics

Flatlay including Scout Cosmetics' Nail Polish

Ne'Emah Fragrances

Graphic Promo Shot for StevieK Cosmetics - a new soon to be cult Australian based brand

Promo shot for Avene for their new Cleanance Range

E8te - An Australian skincare company

Extremely happy about this shot for Skinstitut

I am an absolute nut about Shu Uemura! So this regram made me super happy. This included the blanc:chroma for promo purposes.

This was for Shu Uemura blanc:chroma cushion foundation's promo purposes.

Gilded Cage promotion - a very luxurious brand of high quality lipsticks (they also have eyeshadows and lip glosses)

Promo shot for Avon's Nutra Effects Line - I also did a blog review of this line which you can checkk out :)

Promo shot for Nip+Fab's Viper Venom Micro Blur - a serum and primer in one

Nip+Fab's Cleansing Pads

Feature I did on Avon's Nutra Effects Skin care line

Promo Pic for Sisley Paris Makeup

Tangle Teezer campaign shot - a mix media photo

For Tarteist Lip Paints (Tarte Cosmetics)

Promo shot for all natural Boho Balm - this was a very tricky shot to do due to the mirror in the cover of the lid

For Antipodes, a skin care range I've grown to love!

One of my favourite shots for Antipodes. Simple and conveys the organic essence of the brand with the bare minimum of props.

Promo for Elemis Skincare - a super luxurious line

A repost from PONi Cosmetics 

A simple yet effective shot for PONi Cosmetics' White Knight Mascara

Promo Shot For Scunci Hair Products

Promo Shot for Scunci Hair brushes and accessories

Promo Shot for YSL

Beautylish regram on 13 FEB 2016 - I love this photo, i enjoy using rich tones

Can I just say, Beautylish's customer service is awesome. They texted me about the CT Gold highlighter BEFORE it was released online. That highlighter was sold out within minutes of it being available online.

I particularly love this one

Manicare x Lizkeishmakup Promo photo I did.

Another Manicare x Lizkeishmakup Promo photo I styled and photographed

Artiste Brushes for Manicare - they are so soft!

Shot to promote my favourite brush from the Artiste Collection by Manicare

Our puppy promoting Potty Plant's innovative puppy training system

Promo shot for Potty Plant - the perfect potty for pups and kitties alike!

Nude by Nature Promo Photo for SweatybettyPR - styled and photographed by me (of course)

Repost of my original Nude by Nature shot by Asos

Stem Organics - an organic skincare company

Scunci Hair Brushes - a really quickly styled and taken photo once I received the PR pack

White.Glo Campaign Photo

White.Glo Campaign photo with a Thank You Note!

Dreamdots Campaign Shoot

Promo shot for The Aromatherapy Co featuring their Therapy Range Body & Bath Oil in wild rose and vetiver

Sempre Di - One of my go to shoe brands

Promo Pic for Simply 7 snacks (so yummy) and Karma Wellness Water (I want to drink this everyday)

It Cosmetics - one of my favourite definite go to brands

I was quite happy with how lush this It Cosmetics came out

Stunning Diamond Collection from the Makeup Store - This photo took ages to get the light just so. For The Makeup Store

A real favourite of mine - for Makeup Store

A fun photo using makeup to create origami inspired animals - for The Makeup Store

Makeup Store's Jungle Collection - This photo was also posted on: 

One of my favourite photos mixing in fashion with makeup

Iyu-Iyu.com - selling unique handcrafted tech accessories (that tuxedo monster is an iPhone 6 carrier)

Gorgeous Cosmetics - A great Aussie brand originating from Melbourne

Party outfit shot for Gorgeous Cosmetics

One of my more inspired photos - Becca Cosmetics

One of my first BIG brand re-grams. I was so stunned!

Gorgeous Cosmetics - a great Aussie brand

This made my whole 2015 seem much brighter!

LOVE Paul & Joe!

Beautylish - a great beauty webstore - fantastic customer service 

Becca, another great Aussie brand

Besame - super cool retro style packaging with cutting edge makeup!

The flatlay that cost me $$$$ not to mention a lot of time :)

Yours Truly and Lots of Love, TeaCupofMakeup

It Cosmetics Regrams - WOW so happy

Pretty Cool (Their Instagram) Source: It Cosmetics' Instagram

Another brand that I simply adore, It Cosmetics (http://www.itcosmetics.com/)

I used to have to order it online from the U.S.A. and it was also available at PM Studios. Now it seems that it is available exclusively at Sephora in Australia.

I was so blown away to see that they chose this! Source: It Cosmetics' Instagram (link)

Their caption to my photo above just made me so happy, they called it "Makeup Heaven". I don't think they will ever know just how happy it made me feel. I saw this regram only after I came out of hospital. The day I left hospital was a very happy day for me and this was the cherry on top. Tears of joy. :)


It Cosmetics - A Great brand with an awesome positive vibe.


Yours Truly and Lots of Love, TeaCupofMakeup

Product Photography for the MakeupStore Australia

Screen Shot of my "banner" style photo for the Australian website of Makeupstore (@February 4th, 2016)

Original Photo: if you look closely you can see my little watermark :P

It's always an enjoyable past time doing product photography and having free reign to indulge in my creative vision. It is also tremendously flattering when asked to do a photo to be used on a huge International brand's website. This was done for free. I did receive these three eyeshadow palettes for free though :)

I love pretty much everything from the MakeupStore (http://www.makeupstoreaustralia.com.au/)

Their products are high end quality and reasonably priced. I have stopped buying MAC and NARS except when they have interesting limited edition releases.

Yours Truly and Lots of Love, TeaCupofMakeup

My Stila Cosmetics Faves: Liquid Lipsticks, Cushion Eye Liners & Water Color Blushes

Hello! Sharing a few of my current faves from Stila today.

Ahh, it's always happy days with Stila Cosmetics! I think my first (none-drugstore) eyeshadow was "Kitten" by Stila. It was so pretty and it was named "kitten". In marketing speak, "it sells itself."

My collection of stay all day liquid lipsticks & plumping primer

swatches!

The stay all day liquid lipsticks are amazing. They lasted through-out the day and even through a bowl of laksa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa). They do slowly wear off a bit but evenly and there is a bit of a stain left which is still quite pretty.

When paired with the lush lips primer, the colour of the lipstick is intensified. There is a slight candy scent to them which is not unpleasant. There is no taste to them, meaning neither sweet nor waxy like some lipsticks. The texture is smooth as you apply it. It does set fairly quickly, so I would suggest using a matching lipliner or a lip brush to pick up the colour to line your lips, then fill it in using the applicator.

It is not uncomfortable on the lips. Nor drying. I would recommend using the primer or a lip balm first to prime you lips so that it does not settle into any lines (if you do have them).

The only downside is, that obviously the applicator is about twice the length of a normal lipstick, i.e. the length of the tube as seen above. This is a design issue. The same can be said for the Kat Von D, LA Splash and Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipsticks. So, having a long applicator makes it a bit difficult (e.g. in the car or when you have to apply it quickly) to apply on the go if you are used to a normal lipstick, which is about slightly longer than half the length of these liquid lipsticks.

Got Inked Cushion Eye Liners

Nice!

The Got Inked Cushion Eye Liners are innovative. As you can see from the photo above, there is literally a cushion inside the little pots of colour.

It's innovative, but also necessary because the formula of the liner is that it is watery. They are a slightly more watery liquid eyeliner. Hence the need for the cushion so that they could sell it in the "pot" style packaging. You use it with their La Quil eyeliner brush (my favourite) or any eyeliner brush.

That being said, most liquid eyeliners do come with a brush, for example the famous K-Palette eyeliner.

A very popular Japanese product

So, it is troublesome to have to carry a little pot of eyeliner and a brush as well, if let's say you wanted to glam up your look after work to attend a date or a party.

As for lasting power. AMAZING.

Beautiful huh? Applied on bare skin (no primer)

Of the four that I have, Garnet is the only one that has a matte finish. These swatches stayed on my hand for approximately two days. They survived washing dishes, two showers, multiple hand washing and other house chores. The colours only slowly began to break down over time after about 26 hours or so.

That's pretty cool.

Aqua Glow Water Color Blush in shimmering lotus

I've also been enjoying the aqua glow water color blushes. They are SO pretty.

The effect of these blushes are a bit like the iope cushion blushes but without the sunscreen.

Great packaging

swatches!

There is a net inside the pot and the texture of the blush is more of a very watery gel. It can get messy. As I am a germaphobe, I use a disposable sponge to apply them or if I run out of such sponges, I use a cotton ball and pick up the tiniest amount. It goes on sheer and you can build up the colour.

I would not recommend using a brush. It will get very messy.

They both have tiny tiny shimmering gold micro-crystals in them.

Lasting power: pretty decent. Through out the work day.

It feels most refreshing applied on a hot day. 

Downside, again, hard to apply on the go due to the packaging design. I think the iope one is better suited for touch-ups. I carry those in my work bag.

My instagram pic that took me ages to do.

So what are your favourite Stila products? I've just got the new convertible colour palettes and I've yet to test them. Would love to hear what you think!

Yours Truly and Lots of Love, TeaCupofMakeup

Bobbi Brown's Highlighting Powder in "Pink Glow"

Classic Bobbi Brown

The first ever makeup brand I tried was Bobbi Brown. Mum thought it would be a good idea to get some makeup for my first proper job (at a big professional firm, lah lah lah) and we went to the nearest department store and as it was organised in alphabetical order, we naturally went to the Bobbi Brown counter first. I think we left with a compact cream foundation, a pressed powder, three lipsticks and that was all. I think I looked pretty good for my first day at work.

Since then, I've kinda been touch and go with makeup. It wasn't till late 2010 that I discovered Sephora (Makeup Heaven) when we went to New York for a holiday and was tasked by a very sweet friend to go to this place called "Sephora" to pick up a few things for her. Once I stepped into that magical store, I was hooked. I now have a makeup collection worthy of the title "Makeup Hoarder".

Pink Glow

I digress.

Here you see the very beautiful, very lovely, utterly seductive highlighting powder from Bobbi Brown in "Pink Gold". This is part of the whole "strobbing" trend. Strobbing = highlighting A.K.A contouring is passé. I like it! you bring things forward instead of backward. Though, I do believe, we will all still be contouring away... in secret.

As you can see, it is very beautiful. The trend, it seems, is to design the packaging to seduce. The criss cross tiled embossed look is very "in" and you do see more and more brands coming out with very attractive "embossed" products (for example, Laura Mercier's (in)famous "Indiscretion" highlighter with its waves that had all of my secretaries going "oohhh ahhhh". That highlighter was a limited edition release but is now part of the permanent collection).

Applied with my Rae Morris Brush

It's a highly pigmented product. It is also fool-proof, in that you can't mess this up. I chose pink over the other "gold toned" offering because I felt this would make a very nice contrast to my usual Warm colour palette. You can apply it with any blush, fan or contour brush. Here I used my trusty old Rae Morris brush.

The next few photos may scare you...

Only because of the size of my pores.

In bright sunlight

Under normal indoor lighting conditions

As you can see, it's very subtle. I LOVE it. I hate that over highlighted look that you can spot a mile away. Makeup should enhance not distract. I was at the Lover warehouse sale the other day and I missed out on a few bargains because I was so distracted by this woman's highlighted cheekbones. It was as if she had decided to really pile it on. It was so bright. So shiny. I was distracted. It looked like she decided to pour glitter all over her face.

Lasting power: at least 12 hours in hot humid sweaty weather.

Verdict: Run. Buy. Before it sells out. In Australia, it retails for AUD80. 

You can get it from http://www.bobbibrown.com.au/product/14460/39587/New/Highlighting-Powder--Pink-Glow/SS16#undefined3

Or you can get at Myer and David Jones.

Hugs&LotsofKisses.

Yours truly, TeacupofMakeup

MOTD January 26, 2016 - Australia Day!

It being Australia day and all, I chose to go GOLD!

Although I can wear both cool and warm colours, I do tend towards warm tones. I have so many bronzey goldey eyeshadows and highlighters I think I could pretty much paint my whole house GOLD. Oh Dear.

38 Casino

38 Casino

I have finally dared to venture into the realm of Tom Ford's makeup line. It is so expensive that I have been hesitating for a while, but I figured that with my monthly beauty "budget" (actually no budget I do a lot of retail therapy, yes I am sad), I figured if I bought less of other things, I could buy a high quality item like a nice lipstick from Tom Ford. This one is "No. 38 Casino". I got it in the Duty Free section in the Sydney Airport AFTER you clear Immigration and Customs. The Tom Ford stand was of course well picked over and what was left were more daring shades like this one. It took some gentle persuading from the (nice or rather "I'm-so-tired-I can't-be-bothered-just-hurry-up-and-buy-something" Tom Ford rep) to try this one and I really like it! It has a metallic finish which is very glam.

You can tone down the "glam-ness" by tapping some translucent powder on top of it to take away the metallic edge. Ben Nye’s Translucent setting powder works fine for this.

So shiny, so new...

Is this Love?

I'm pretty happy that the UD | GWEN STEFANI eyeshadow palette finally made it to our fair shores. It took a while. It was definitely worth the wait though! You basically get 13 neutral colours and 2 POP colours (the pink and blue). The pigmentation is as expected from Urban Decay - very good. The packaging is divine (thank you Ms Stefani, you have such good taste). I think I give this two thumbs up and more. A very perfect partnership between two very cool partners.

It looks nothing like an egg inside.

I love Tony Moly. For the packaging. No. Yes. No. OK. They do have some products that work. I'm not sure this one does though. Reviews are divided. 50/50 split Yes/No. I bought it on my lunch break after looking at my face in the office toilet (which has terribly unflattering lighting but an oddly flattering floor to ceiling length mirror which makes you look skinnier... the mind wanders...). I am not sure about this one. Apparently, it improves the more you use it. I do inspect my pores now with one of those magnifying mirrors. I am a masochist.

This is the colour you get when applied. The colour can be built up.

These YSL Tint-In-Oil thinggies mystify me. They taste nice. They feel really nice on, like silk. I want every single one (I have 3). The one I wore today is "No. 7 Crush Me Orange". I usually start by prepping my lips with a really good lip balm like the one from DHC, or I might use this if I am feeling especially decadent. I applied this first. Then I applied the Tom Ford lipstick. I left that to set for a while. Then I applied just a tiny bit of this oil in the middle of my lips for an ombre effect.

It came out quite pretty.

I forgot to take a photo.

There is a purple Tint-In-Oil I want it...

I'm quite the hopeless blogger aren't I?

Uhmmm, I guess that's all! Good night, Good day. May you have sweet dreams or may the Sun shine on you, depending on wherever you are in the World.

Hugs&LotsofKisses.

Yours truly, TeacupofMakeup