MAC Strobe Cream

Good Day Everyone,

The weather in Singapore has been so dry lately that lush green grass on the sidewalks is now looking very dry and straw like. I can’t even remember the last time it rained but I know weather records have been broken during this long dry spell. The dry weather combined with the effects of indoor air con has taken a bit of a toll on my skin, which has always been on the dry side to begin with.

I’ve upped my game when it comes to skin moisturisation and due to the hot weather makeup has been kept to a minimal but one product that I have been reaching for almost daily is my MAC Strobe Cream. Now MAC categorises their Strobe Cream under skincare as a moisturiser, but to me this isn’t a moisturiser, but a skin illuminator, that can also be used as a highlighter. 

 

According to MAC, the Strobe Cream is;

The ultimate quick fix for the skin. Super-powered with potent botanicals; de-snoozes, de-stresses, moistens, freshens and boosts the look of dull, flat or tired-looking skin with a fully loaded vitamin zap and a mega dose of green tea. Brightens and clarifies with iridescent particles and antioxidants. Enhances the effects of light on all skin and in all lighting conditions from sunlight to spotlight.

I can certainly vouch for the brightening effect. On days when my skin is looking particularly flat, dull and dry (which is often at the moment) I apply the Strobe Cream, focusing on my cheeks and then sheering it out across my chin, cupids bow, bridge of my nose and forehead… basically all over my face for a dose of luminosity and a healthy glow. I don’t know what’s in this cream or how it works exactly but it just adds life and light back into my skin. It isn’t glittery, shimmery or sparkly but rather it has a pearlescent sheen to it, and it’s this subtlety that makes it suitable as a skin illuminator, for that healthy lit from within glow.

 

I don’t use this Strobe Cream as a moisturiser because, for me, it doesn’t feel moisturising enough. I tend to apply this after my moisturiser. On days when I’m not wearing foundation, this goes all over my face, as described above, and I just use a bit of concealer and my skin base is complete. Days when I am wearing foundation, I will sometimes use this as a subtle daytime highlighter on the typical areas like the tops of my cheekbones, cupids bow and the bridge of my nose. This sits and blends well on top of my foundation and cream blushes. When it comes to highlighting my brow bone I’m definitely a matte kind of girl. No shimmer is ever allowed to go near my brow bone, however, as this cream has more of a pearlescent effect rather than shimmer, I do sometime use the tiniest bit on my brow bone when I’m wearing predominantly matte eye shadows. This just helps to lift my eyes and draw attention to my brows. 

See the luminosity on the bottom half of my hand vs. the top half

The effects of this cream are pretty subtle, that’s what I love about it but I can imagine that for some people the effect maybe a bit too subtle. The cream has a bit of a scent to it that isn’t particularly pleasant but it’s bearable and does fade after application. The cream is very light weight and absorbs into my skin quickly and isn’t tacky or sticky. It hasn’t clogged my pores or caused any breakouts but my skin is pretty resilient and I’m lucky enough to have inherited my mum’s good skin genes. The only downside to the Strobe Cream is that the pearlescent effect doesn’t last all day. On my skin it probably lasts for about four to five hours before I feel it’s faded to the extent that I can no longer detect its subtle luminosity. However, as I’m no longer a career girl, I rarely need my makeup to last all day and so that doesn’t bother me too much. Also, as the Strobe Cream comes in a handy travel size tube you could easily throw it in your handbag / purse for touch ups throughout the day. 

The Strobe Cream is half the price in Singapore than it is in the UK which is bizarre as makeup tends to be more expensive here compared to back home. I picked up my travel size tube at Singapore airport for SGD$11 (approx. £6 compared to the £12.50 price tag in England for the same size).  However, I don’t think I will be needing to stock up any time soon as a little bit of this cream goes a long way. I always end up using less than I think I will, in which case the excess goes on to my décollete ;o)

Have you tried the Strobe Cream? What did you think? Which are your favourite skin illuminators for that healthy, glowing from within, effect?

Love Sheen xxx

Valentine's Eyes

Good Day Everyone,

Happy Valentine's Day for Friday! You know what they say... the eyes are the window to the soul, so whether you're all loved up or all loved out (for now), you can still have beautifully made up eyes :o) As you know, eyes are my thing and whilst a bright red or pink might work beautifully on the lips, it's a little harder to pull off on the eyes. So, I'm sharing a look that I like to wear that is a little twist on the colour of luuurve!

For this look, I used this eye shadow palette from Marks & Spencer that I bought quite a while ago. I instantly fell in love with that burgundy wine colour (4th from the left). In my younger days I always used to think that having brown eyes was really boring and envied people with green or blue eyes. However, as I got older I started to appreciate the perks of having brown peepers as most (eye shadow) colours work really well with brown... it's kind of like what black is for clothes - can be paired with almost anything colour wise.

Eyelids with MAC Prep+Prime

I started of by using my MAC Prep+Prime (reviewed here) to mattify my eyelids, reduce any discolouration and minimise the appearance of my fine veins.

Eye shadow colours

Next I swept the pale pink colour (1st on the left) all over my eyelids going up to my crease, and then I used a fluffy blending brush to apply the pink (2nd from the left) into my crease and blended it with the pale pink. Next I took a little bit of the burgundy wine colour on the tip of the same fluffy brush and softly defined the outer corners of my eyes, taking the colour half way into my crease. To reduce the redness of the burgundy colour I layered a bit of the brown (3rd from the left) on top and this made the overall effect a bit more purple-y. The key with this look, as with most eye shadows, is to layer and build the colour slowly as it's easier to add more colour than to take it away if you add too much. In addition, you must blend blend blend with a fluffy brush after the edition of each colour, to get that seamless, diffused colour transition with no harsh edges. I also took some of the pale pink onto my lower lash line with an angled brush, at the inner corners of my eyes and used the brown and burgundy on the outer half of my lower lash line just to add a bit of definition.

Black kohl liner on the upper lash line and lower waterline

I then applied a very thin line of black pencil kohl liner on my upper lash line and on my lower waterline just to intensify the look a bit. I followed up with a couple of coats of black mascara and used a tiny bit of MAC Strobe Cream as a brow bone highlighter.

MAC Strobe Cream on brow bone

Finally, as this is a Valentine's look I decided to add a bit of sparkle by using my Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder on the inner halves of my eyelids. Unfortunately, I don't think my photos did the sparkle much justice. And there you have it, smokey eyes with a twist on the traditional colour of love.

Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder on inner half of lids

What (eye) makeup looks do you like to wear for Valentine's Day? Whether you're out with a loved one or having a night with the girls, I hope you have a lovely valent-eyes day :o)

Love Sheen xxx