Luscious Contour Kit Matte Drama - Swatches & Review

Hello people! It’s officially Spring in Pakistan so now is the perfect time to bring out those vibrant outfits and experiment with makeup. There are tons of contour and highlight products available in different formulas these days. Unfortunately, most of them have inaccurate contour shades making them unusable so we were excited to find the Luscious Contour Kit Matte Drama in the mail.

Luscious already has a contour kit out in the market but we haven’t tried that one. The previous contour kit had a powder formula but this one has a cream shade besides three powder ones. Let’s check it out, shall we?

The Product Claims

You asked, we listened! Presenting a brand new version with a flair for drama! Featuring a combination of 2 blendable, ultra-matte powder contour shades, a matte highlighter, and a cream luminizer that work together to create gorgeous celebrity-grade contours on any complexion or face shape. Advanced light-adjusting technology ensures the results always look natural. Use the contour shades for shading and defining, the highlighter for emphasizing and the illuminator for a strobe-like glow. Let the drama begin!

Dark Drama: Use it for a deep contour effect on the hollows of your cheeks and jaw line.

Medium Drama: Use it to diffuse the lines of Dark Drama, and to contour your forehead and sides of the nose. If you have a very pale complexion, use it as the main contour shade.

Matte Highlighter: Use it under the eyes in a “V” shape to highlight the under eye area, on your cupid's bow, and forehead.

Cream Luminizer: A special formula that mimics light. Use it on your cheek bones, the bridge of your nose, under your brow bone, or anywhere you want a strobing effect.

Ingredients

Dark Drama: Talc, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isopropyl Myristate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491) Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Iron Oxides (CI 77499)

Medium Drama: Talc, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isopropyl Myristate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491) Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Iron Oxides (CI 77499)

Matte Highlighter: Talc, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isopropyl Myristate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491) Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Iron Oxides (CI 77499), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985)

Cream Luminizer: Petrolatum, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Mineral Oil, Synthetic Wax, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Ozokerite, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Synthetic Beeswax, Polymethyl Methacrylate, MAY CONTAIN: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491), Tin Oxide (CI 77861).

What Do We Think?

Cream Luminizer: Warm light gold, good for warm South Asian skin tones. Creamy but a bit more glittery than I'd like my cream highlight to be causing the glitter to splay in all directions even if you blend a little more than just dabbing your finger over it.

Matte Highlighter: Not a true yellow but the pigmentation is controlled. It's something in-between a yellow and beige which looks like a dull yellow with more white in it on warm skin. I personally do not like to use matte yellow highlights. I feel they are just an unnecessary addition to the layers of makeup on my face. But you can use this as a brow-bone highlight, on the front planes of the face for that subtle lift or to clean up your eye shadow fallout if you already set your under eyes leaving that area brighter. It doesn’t have good blending power but since it’s such a light colour you can get away with it.

After swatching the contour shades a thousand times and putting them on myself and anyone I could find, I can talk about them without any second thoughts. Both the shades are totally matte with no micro shimmer at all, unlike Inglot HD sculpting powders which do not reflect noticeable light anyway.

Medium Drama: The lighter shade has strong red undertones which is basically wrong for contouring. The pigmentation is excellent and I didn't feel them to be chalky either (not the Inglot quality though). The swatch didn't appear to be as patchy as the Dark Drama’s but did not blend well. The depth is okay to contour medium skin but its tone is way too warm. It’s okay as a bronzer but doesn’t blend. However, due to the red undertone no matter how lightly you apply and convince yourself that no it could look good, the moment you step out in daylight it shows up red and unflattering.

Dark Drama: I couldn't tell what the undertone on this shade is because it won't blend! I tried so hard to break the pigment down but it won't budge from the place so much so that my skin started irritating after continuous brush strokes. This shade swatches patchy and sits in lines. My face looked freshly bruised and burnt after applying this shade over the top of the lighter one. I asked everyone around me how does it look and you can guess their answers.

BUT, are these contour colours completely useless? No. The lighter shade with red undertones is a perfect bronzer on me (bronzers have red undertones not orange) while I was afraid to use the darker shade as bronzer due to poor blend-ability. I will continue using the cream highlight but not on important occasions or anyone who wants me to do their makeup. However, in cool and mild weather, this product does last well enough and the glitter of the cream just sits on top.

Packaging & Value:

The packaging is actually very good being compact, sturdy, metallic, light-weight, having equal pan sizes and enough space between the pans preventing mixing. It is travel-friendly because of its size, shape, weight and material. The net weight is 12g so I guess that includes the packaging not just the amount of product you get. The price does seem a bit excessive taking the weight into consideration but there are manufacturing costs involved. I would have been happy paying that price if the product delivered but unfortunately, it was a fail for me because of the powder shades not blending. If they blended well I would have been able to use them as bronzers or eye shadows.

We look forward to more face products from Luscious with suitable shades and improved formulas.

Price

PKR2250

Pros

High pigmentation

Light weight

Travel friendly

Sturdy

Cons

Warm contour shades
Poor blendability

Our Rating

2/5

What is your favourite product to contour with? Have you tried this one out yet?

Love,
Fizzah & Sadaf

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com

PR sample(s) for consideration. This, however, has not affected my sincere opinions as my loyalty is to the readers. For further details, check our Blog Policy.

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Sixteen Shades of Red: Our Collection!

Hello lovelies! Since it is Valentine’s Day, we thought we would give you a peek into our collection of red lipsticks and glosses. There are so many different textures and finishes to choose from and we enjoy trying out all of them for various looks. This post is going to be more pictures and less text so let’s see from the swatches if you find a gorgeous red shade for yourself from among our red lippy stash!

Essence Long Lasting Lipstick 02All You Need is Red: A sheer bright coral red

Color studio Pro Color Rush 110 Bombshell: A bright medium tomato red with visible yellow tones in cream finish

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss111 Kiss of Life: A classic vintage neutral matte red

Luscious Signature Lipstick 12 Poppy: A medium blue toned red in cream finish

Artdeco Perfect Color Lipstick No.4: A medium cherry red in matte finish

Color studio Pro Color Rush 113 Eternal Love: An intense cream coral red

MUA Intense Kisses Lip Gloss Pucker Up: A deep blue toned red glossy stain

Classics Ultra Shining Lip gloss No. 10: A bright pink toned shimmery red gloss

MUA Lipstick No. 13: A bright orange-y red

MUA Lipstick No. 8: A deep maroon red with lots of fine gold shimmer

Essence Long Lasting Lipstick OnThe Catwalk: A warm maroon with strong berry undertones (perfect Marsala)

Essence Home Sweet Home Long Lasting Lipstick Red-y To Relax: A bright warm tomato red

Color studio Pro Color Rush Drop Dead Gorgeous: A deep red with strong brown undertones

Wet n Wild Mega Last Lipstick CherryBomb: A deep blood red

MUA Intense Kisses Lip Gloss Stolen Kisses: A bright pink red with fine pink shimmer

Luscious Cosmetics Lip Couture Showstopper: A muted rusty red with fine gold shimmer

That's all for now folks. We can't get enough of these pretty red shades and our collection is just getting bigger and bigger!

What kind of reds do you prefer?

Love,

Fizzah and Sadaf

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com

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Luscious Cosmetics HD Mineral Liquid Foundation – Review & Guide

Luscious HD Mineral Foundation was my first choice in foundations when I began using makeup. I had tried their Studio Secret Concealer before and I wanted something good quality but readily available in Pakistan.

Product Claims

Luscious HD Mineral Foundation has a silky, lightweight formulawhich is made from pure minerals, vitamins and deep sea water. Glides onto the skin for perfect coverage, and evens out the complexion while allowing the skin to breathe. Contains 0% Oil and 0% Talc. Suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin.

What Do We Think?

The product comes in a clear 30mL plastic bottle with pump and a cap that clicks well in place and doesn’t fall off on its own hence it is travel-friendly. The packaging doesn’t look cheap and is not very breakable. The product does not have a strong odour and definitely fades once it sets. The formula is oil-free, lightweight and neither too thick nor too thin which is buildable too hence gives a choice over coverage: light, medium or full if layered up (does not look cake-y). The texture is smooth, blends easily without accentuating dry patches so it feels hydrating and gives a natural dewy finish. The foundation lasts through daylight hours without a primer in pleasant weather (7 - 8 hrs) on combination skin. You don’t even need to set it unless you have combination skin (only T-zone) or oily skin. For summers, apply a primer underneath and set it with a loose powder or compact to sustain it or if you have large pores. Since the foundation is oil-free, it works equally good in summers too, does not feel heavy at all and stays intact when set with powder or compact as the dewy finish might be too much to handle in summers for people with oily skin. I have combination skin which becomes very oily in summers and I have noticed this foundation makes my T-zone oily rather quickly in that season and I need to retouch it with my compact powder. You will be disappointed if you wish to conceal major blemishes or dark spots with it, you will need a concealer for that. We feel that the price is right for the formula because most other good drugstore foundations are in the PKR 2000 range. One among us who uses this foundation has large pores and she has not experienced any clogging of pores and breakouts. The foundation contains SPF 15 along with deep sea water minerals and vitamins so it does not oxidize. Despite containing SPF it photographs well and does not give a white cast which is usually the case with foundations containing SPF.The shade range is narrow but excellent for desi skin tones and lacks a pick for neutral tones as demonstrated by the swatches.

All the swatches are taken on respective skin tones.

Pink Porcelain 00: A fairly light shade with pink undertones.

This is perfect for cool toned fair ladies with pink undertones. It is not light enough for super pale people like many red heads and will not work for neutral toned ladies because it will look like you have a white cast on your face.

Ivory 0: It has yellow undertones only but it is considerably lighter than the next shade Natural 1.

This is only for warm toned ladies and is perfect for fair skinned women but not medium skinned ladies. Neutral toned women will look very yellow if they apply this to their face therefore Sadaf has to mix Ivory 0 and Porcelain 00 to create her neutral shade.

Natural 1: It is a medium shade – not too light or too dark and looks very natural when blended onto the skin although it has quite strong yellow undertones.

You may choose this shade if you have a warm complexion with yellow undertones. It will suit Medium (NOT dark) complexion with warm yellow undertones.

Note:

Dusky beauties, who find Natural 1 too light for them, should try the next shade in this range. All of the rest (Sand 1.5, Medium Beige 2 and Golden Beige 2.5) steadily increase in depth and have yellow undertones for warm toned ladies. Also, warm toned people have strong yellow undertone so it is okay if your foundation looks yellow. It will match your skin perfectly. Just focus on getting the right shade (i.e., how light or dark you are) in your yellow undertone foundation category.

Understanding Your Skin Tone:

Warm – Gold jewellery suits you more and the veins on your wrist are green

Cool – Silver jewellery suits you more and the veins on your wrist are blue

Neutral – Gold and silver jewellery both suit you and the veins on your wrist are purple or not clearly green/ blue

Price

PKR 1425 (US $14.49)

Availability

At all major superstoreswith Luscious Cosmetics kiosk and online from Luscious Cosmetics.

Pros

Oil-Free

Lightweight

Buildable

Does not Accentuate Dryness

Light/Medium/Full Coverage

Good Wear Time

Suitable for all skin types

Contains SPF15

Contains deep sea minerals

Cons

Narrow shade range
Makes skin oily in summers

Our Rating

4/5

Have you tried a foundation from this range? How was your experience?

Love,

Fizzah and Sadaf

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com

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My Daily Makeup Guide

Makeup is all about enhancing your features instead of layering up different products and end up looking like a disco ball. Getting familiar with makeup and using it is a dilemma many girls out there face who are new to it or are still getting used to it: What to wear and what to skip to get that “minimum makeup look” is usually the question asked by many newbies. Today I thought of sharing with you guys what I personally like to do to keep my face fresh and colourful without going overboard. I am neither a professional makeup artist nor an advisor; everything I share here is based completely on my experiences.

Start off with a clean face. A cleaner face requires less makeup to make it look better. Here is what I like to do in my routine.

Primer (optional)

A primer is applied before you apply foundation/BB cream to reduce the appearance of pores and make your makeup last longer without budging or fading away. Use a tiny amount of your favorite primer and apply onto your face and neck especially concentrating on the T-zone (forehead, nose and chin) where you are most likely to get oil.

What I Prefer

I skip this step until and unless I want my makeup to stay intact the whole day. I use MUA Face Primer.

Moisturizer/BB cream

Use a moisturizer to replenish your skin of the lost oils. Your skin needs moisturization irrespective of the season. Use either a clear moisturizer or a tinted one (BB cream) if you have uneven skin tone.

What I Prefer

I prefer a moisturizer which does not feel heavy on the skin. I have used Garnier BB Cream as well as the Maybelline one and found the latter to be more comfortable on my face. I like to wait one or two minutes after applying BB cream to let it set before I proceed.

Concealer

Apply your go-to concealer in a small quantity under your eyes to cover up dark circles or double up the BB cream if you do not own a concealer yet. Make sure you blend well.

What I Prefer

I skip a concealer in routine makeup unless I have to deal with severe dark circles. My BB cream doubled up as concealer works well for my under eyes. On bad days, I use my Luscious Studio Secret Concealer.

Mattifying Powder

Use a compact powder or loose translucent powder to keep your face matte and lock your makeup in place. Dust a little concentrating on your T-Zone, do not layer up if you use compact powder otherwise it will look cakey.

What I Prefer

Using a fluffy brush instead of a sponge to apply compact powder gives me just enough of the product preventing the cakey appearance. I use Essence Mattifying Compact Powder (Natural Beige) or Oriflame Air Soft Powder (Clear) or Catrice Prime and Fine Translucent Loose Powder.

Highlighter (Optional)

Wearing eye shadows daily may not be everyone’s cup of tea, instead try using a highlight shadow or pencil (champagne, rose gold or off-white or white) on your brow bone, middle of eyelid and inner eye corners to brighten them up.

What I Prefer

I like to use my Essence Stays No Matter What eye pencil in “Whipped White Frosting” on my eyelids, inner eye corners and brow bone to give my eyes extra dimension.

Mascara

Apply lots and lots of mascara to open up your eyes both on your upper and lower lashes. Doing this even when you are not using eyeliner makes your eyes appear wider and bigger. Just make sure you apply mascara on EVERY single lash fanning them out.

What I Prefer

I like to wear mascara in steps; I wait for the first coat to dry before I apply a second and third coat. This helps me build up the volume and length since I have very thin lashes. I use Essence Maximum Definition Volume Mascara.

Blush

Use your favourite blush concentrating on your cheek bones instead of apples of cheeks to get that defined sculpted look. You can skip a bronzer if you apply blush this way. Make sure you blend well, though.

What I Prefer

Since its winters; the season to take out all those warm and deep blushes one has, I like to apply a warm blush such as MUA Blush “Bon Bon”, Sleek Blush “Pomegranate” or Makeup Revolution Vivid Blush Lacquer “Heat” on my cheekbones for a definite sculpted look.

Lipstick/Lip Gloss

Winters call for berry and plum lips. If you are not comfortable wearing a dark lip colour wear any that you like or are comfortable with. Do not hesitate to experiment with lipstick shades though; some might pleasantly surprise you, who knows?

What I Prefer

Being a lipstick hoarder and a fan of full opaque lips, I like to experiment with my lip colours. But for this season I am all berry and plums. My favourites for the season are Essence Matte Lip Cream in “Smooth Berry”, Colour Studio Professional Pure Matte Lipstick in “La Rouge” Essence Long Lasting Lipstick in “On The Catwalk” and WetnWild Mega Last Lipstick in “Cherry Bomb”.

Makeup is about one’s preferences and comfort zone but, like I always encourage my friends, sisters and you guys, experiment with techniques and colours. One not only learns this way but also discovers what looks good and what looks better.

What are the products that you like to wear in your routine makeup?

Love,

Fizzah

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com

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