Waktu aku sebut nama brand 'Bioaqua', aku yakin banyak dari kalian yang meragukan brand ini. Karena aku sendiri pun sebetulnya agak skeptical sama brand-brand kosmetik dari Cina. Jadi awal mula kenapa tiba-tiba punya produknya Bioaqua karena waktu itu mamaku lagi lihat-lihat di Tokopedia ada blush murah banget cuma Rp. 40.000. Aku kira produk lokal kan, eh ternyata pas aku lihat si Bioaqua ini. Saking mamaku pengen banget nyobain, akhirnya aku cariin dan beliin di Shopee.

Kalo udah ditap-tap pake spongenya, dia lumayan encer (?). Menurutku gampang banget diblend di pipi dan ga sampe ngegeser foundation/base make-up. Kok aku bisa tahu? Jadi akhirnya mamaku melimpahkan blush ini ke aku karena ternyata dia ga suka pake blush cushion hihi. Aku awalnya ragu bakal cocok di kulitku karena aku kan lumayan hitam. Tapi ternyata oke oke aja. Warnanya ga terlalu norak dan ngejreng. Emang sih pigmentasinya ga gila-gilaan cuma bisa dibuild semau kita dan menurutku itu poin plus dari produk ini. Baunya juga wangi parfum gitu, bukan wangi bahan kimia aneh, cuma kalo kalian agak sensitif sama wangi-wangian, mungkin bakalan terganggu sama wanginya.

Ini bakal jadi pertama dan terakhir kalinya aku beli produknya Bioaqua. Jujur, karena aku baru mulai belajar make-up, aku jadi kurang ngeh mana aja produk yang termasuk "abu-abu" dan jadi lumayan tergiur sama harganya yang super duper murah. Saranku sih buat teman-teman juga, lebih baik hindari produk dari brand yang nggak jelas. Sayang kulitnya, udah dirawat baik-baik malah bisa rusak karena make-up nggak jelas :(

Ya ampun, jujur waktu paketnya sampai rumah, aku benar-benar nggak berhenti ngelihatin bungkusnya sebelum akhirnya aku buka dan muncullah satu tube liquid lipstick dari brand yang selama ini udah aku idam-idamkan. Ini emang bukan produk dari Colourpop pertamaku (karena sebelumnya aku udah pernah coba concealer mereka), tapi entah kenapa pertama kalinya punya Ultra Matte Lip ini rasanya benar-benar surreal aja. Berhubung aku baru banget belajar soal make-up, jadi aku belum punya banyak produk dari brand luar. Belanja online aja bisa dihitung tangan kali.

Waktu aku lihat-lihat Shopee dan ngecek harga Ultra Matte Lip, aku kaget aja ternyata untuk ukuran produk luar, mereka semua lumayan affordable, di bawah Rp. 150.000. Dan akhirnya nggak pakai pikir panjang langsung check out deh. Aku langsung ingat wejangan dari teman-temanku yang selalu ngingetin kalau harus bijak ngatur uang buat belanja make-up, apalagi karena aku baru belajar jadi rasanya pasti pengen beli ini beli itu haha. Ada yang samaan kayak aku nggak?

Baca juga: L'Oreal Infallible Pro-matte Liquid Lipstick Les Chocolats Shade 862 Volupto Choco Review

Jadi seperti yang aku udah bilang, aku memang lagi ngincer banget si Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip ini. Paketnya benar-benar ditunggu saking nggak sabarnya buat nyobain. Sejak nyobain concealernya, brand Colourpop ini jadi makin menjamur di hati aja rasanya haha. Soal buat ukuran brand luar negeri, Colourpop ini memang range harganya masih terbilang murah tapi nggak murahan. Plus, aku selalu suka sama brand luar negeri karena pilihan warnanya (baik lipstik ataupun complexion product) selalu banyak dan beragam, jadinya aku bisa ekplor kreatifitasku.

Dari segi packaging, sekilas dia kelihatan kayak liquid lipstick-nya Wardah. Tapi keduanya tetap beda kok. Tubenya Colourpop lebih ramping dan panjang dibandingkan Wardah. Aku memutuskan cobain shade Bumble sebagai shade pertamaku karena Bumble ini kayaknya salah satu shade best seller dari Colourpop. Warnanya memang gampang masuk ke banyak skin tone sih. Awalnya aku sempat ragu dia bakal kelihatan wagu buat aku yang sawo matang, tapi ternyata nggak.

Baca juga: L'Oreal Rouge Signature Shade 116 I Explore Review

Wow, I should totally give myself a pat on the shoulder because the last time I bought a mascara, I swore to myself I wouldn't buy another one because one thing for sure, mascaras don't work on me. I have the world's shortest eyelashes. So far, I have tried two mascaras, one of them not documented in this blog because back then I didn't take make-up seriously. But I've tried one from Mizzu and the other one from L'Oreal. Both unfortunately don't leave a great impression on me. I was about to give up on this entire mascara journey because let's just put on fake lashes and be done with it. I'm not interested in eyelash extension just because I'm not a tidy person and lash extension takes so much care into it I'm not sure I can manage. But on the other hand, I'm still looking for ways to make my cloudy eyes to look more awake and alive on a daily basis.

And this is it, the main reason why I want to get this mascara so bad is because of the brush. L'Oreal Lash Paradise and Mizzu both have full-on bristles and figures like hourglass. To me, that kind of brush is way too fat for my small eyes and takes too much products with it that can make applying mascara messy. Of course, it's probably because I'm such a newbie in applying mascara that I tend to leave mess on my lids and lower lashes but that just proves to me that I need a slimmer brush. Push Up Angel mascara has this kind of friendly and not so in-your-face vibe, making me feel like 'ooh I can actually handle this'. I mean, just look at it, just look at the brush. I love how it's a one-sided brush and very slim and long so it can easily reach out to my inner corner. And may I say, with this kind of brush, it's most unlikely for the mascara to get clumpy.

I've tried this yesterday with a wax-base primer and it just does its work; my lashes are flying. After the last time I got so disappointed on Lash Paradise, I felt like I don't wanna spend another dollar just for a mascara because I thought I would never find the answer to my lash problem. But now, I can say it's almost over. Almost? Because even with its lifting power, it doesn't really give that much volume to my lashes. Wait... actually I'm not really sure about that because this makes my lashes visible and lifted and thick. But if you somehow find this being not voluminous enough, I suggest you to combine it with another mascara. I'm planning on using this together with Lash Paradise because it's a true voluminous mascara with a very bad lifting power. Push Up Angel also gives your lashes a winged look like the wings of an angel ;) So, does it work? Oh my god, it does.

Where to shop:

Guardian, Watson (or any kind of drugstore, really)

Price:

IDR 138.000

One of fashion's most fun item to collect is; BAGS. Well, aside from shoes. Because you can always outgrow your clothes, you can no longer fit into your favorite pair of jeans but your shoes will never get you wrong. And so do bags! It's a very noticeable accessories and gives a bold statement to your entire look so bags are such a good investment. I gotta say though, I haven't shopped many bags the past few years. Blame on all the make-up shenanigans cuz that's where all my money goes to. But this time I managed to stop myself from purchasing more lipsticks and actually searched down the entire bag section on Shopee and found one that called my name. I usually buy my bags in black just because black goes with all kinds of color and is a safe choice for someone who doesn't have many color options in her everyday attire. But this time it's different. The red is just so tempting and sensual that I knew the moment I saw the picture, I had to get that color.

Long story short, took the bag a week to get to my house. I ordered it all the way from Batam for only IDR 90.000 with IDR 4000 of shipping fee. The bag originally costs me IDR 125.000 but it was on a discount. And just like any other girls, I love scoring a good deal of high quality stuff with a low price. Even my mom was jealous of how pretty it looks in real life when the bag arrived because she was a bit skeptical about buying stuffs online, and then she told me she needs to get one as well.

And as you guys have probably guessed, yes, it's a no-brand. I don't mind having unbranded bags because I don't pay a lot of attention on big brands. In fact, some of branded bags' bag design are just too much and overwhelming for me. Because at the end of the day, it's not the brand, it's you. It's your style that matters. You can wear a vintage $5 leather briefcase from a thrift shop and be asked for a photograph on the street if you have the style. I'm not saying that there's a hierarchy on bags but your style defines who you are. So if you're not sure to actually spend money on less expensive no-tag bags, come back here and let me remind you of how I'm glad I actually bought this bag.

As I've promised last June, I'll be starting each month with at least my current top 'something' because it's fun to do? Like if you think about it, there are just so many categories you can break down and last month I did a wishlist, and I was originally going to do my current reading for July but all of my favorite books are in Jogja so that couldn't happen. I switch it up with my current playlist because I've turned on my premium membership again on Spotify (finally YES, after so many months having to keep shuffling and listening to ads in between songs) and I've discovered a lot of good tunes that I would like to share with you guys in hopes you would share your current playlist too! There's really no particular order in setting them together except for the Girls Like You because damn, it's a really cute song with a simply beautiful video clip.

Find me on Spotify: NAVARTIERRE

Hi, how are you guys doing? I'm still enjoying my semester break holiday at home with the family even though some of my friends are already planning to go back to Jogja to take care of some things. I hate having to go back to Jogja, honestly. That city has put so much burden on me that I feel like it's the biggest reason why my depression has gotten so much worse for the last few months. My main life goal for the next one year is to graduate from college, I have to graduate soon. And I'm just sad because my high school friends are graduating this August and I will be the only one left who still have to whip my ass to make a thesis. This kind of environment used to motivate me, but in this age? It just brings me down.

So that's a peek into my current life situation. Today's post will be yet another beauty and make-up review of my recent purchase; the Maybelline Baby Skin pink primer. So even after all this time wearing this and that, I don't have a single primer. I never wear my foundation or concealer with a primer because I didn't have one... I really don't know what to buy and where to start. And so I just go down to Maybelline because I remember they have this blue primer thing. I tried it once on my skin and it's so silicon-y and I'm not really sure it's going to work wonder with my T-zone because silicone-like primer tend to make my face super oily. But they run out the tester for the pink one so I couldn't try it out. But still, I bagged it home just because I'm in dire need of a primer. I smell it and it reminds me with that pink packaging day cream from Pond's.

I'm also very intrigued to buy this one because it feels very hydrating against my skin and it has SPF 35. I don't know if it's true or if it actually works but nyeeeaaaahhhhh. At least I do feel hydrated and that's important. I bought this on the counter and it costs me IDR 89.000. It's very cheap for a primer and gives me enough room to try a new one in case this one doesn't work out. I ask my friends for any recommendation because I feel like this 'primer' doesn't act like a primer to my skin aside from hydrating it. Some say I should try the one from Studio Tropik, or Nyx Angel Veil, Emina's newly launched primer, and Make Over. What about you? Do you have any recommendation for me?

Unlike the blue one with its silicone-like texture, this one is a cream. It feels so much more moisturizing on my skin and it doesn't make my T-zone super oily like the blue one does. Although I'm not really sure if this prepares my skin for make-up but it gives a subtle base for the foundation to stick around. Not to mention because it adds a little shimmer and has SPF so it's a bonus point. But I'm down to try new primer in the near future so this one is probably a pass because I don't feel any changes on my make-up longevity.