**This post is about the case and not the newly formulated cushion foundations!**

Long time no see! This blog has been abandoned for almost a year... Real life really puts you in for a spin whenever it feels like it. I've been working at the same place for the past year and life was just really up and down for me in a lot of aspects. Truthfully, it still kind of is and I don't have as much time and money to put into buying and trying new cosmetics anymore. I've had some posts written up but I didn't like them so I never posted them and just deleted them. I'm not as serious about the whole blogging thing as others but I still don't like publishing bad posts since people actually read them.

I recently came back from my three week trip to Korea, though not buying much, I ended up having to buy new cushions when I found all my favourite cushions repackaged and reformulated. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that I couldn't even buy refills for my favourite IOPE XP Cushion... I wasn't really a fan of the shape of the new IOPE cushion cases, they're very... rounded? Maybe I would've liked the new formulas but I decided not to buy it in the end (in other to buy a HERA cushion). BUT, I am thinking of purchasing one since there's a discount on them at the amorepacificmall right now...

2014 Ampoule Intense Cushion Case v.s. 2016 My Cushion Project Case

Anyway, I found out Innisfree also repackaged their cushions and cases. This change I welcomed happily because the old cushion case had this really annoying problem where changing your refill was a giant pain while the new cushion case implements what most other cushion cases already had, a hole on the bottom to push the refill out. Hallelujah.

Even with the hole in the bottom, it's still slightly tough to remove the refill.

You know what else is great about the new revamped cushion? Innisfree has made an array of patterned and coloured cases to choose from rather than a default case. It isn't so great that you have to buy the case and cushion separately now but overall, the price is the same and there are more options. The cases are a soft matte texture with innisfree printed on the top compared to the old glossy feel with the brand and cushion type text. In terms of case choices, there are twelve base colours and each colour has ~8 different designs to choose from, in total there are about 100 different cases to choose from before any special editions! (They actually have the Summer Edition ones out in Korea right now!)

The new case is about 3.5mm shorter than the old case.

There definitely weren't 100 different choices when I went to the store to buy it but there were enough to make me stand there for 10 minutes debating which one to get. Ultimately, I went for the solid pastel pink one, because it looked simple.  The case is also a bit smaller and has less rounded edges. The button clasp is also a light white gold (?) colour which makes the case even more pretty but I find the clasp a bit hard to press open since the lock is a lot more shallow now.

The bottom of the new version is a lot thinner without the extra plastic.

On top of have new cases and refills, there are new formulas. I'm not sure if it's new because I don't use the Longwear version, but there's now Longwear Waterproof as well! Each of the original three formulas now come in N-Natural or C-Cover. Natural leans more towards beige, and Cover leans more towards pink. As you can see from my photos though, I haven't opened the new formula cushion yet... I'll probably try it out in the colder months since it is slowly becoming summer in our Great North.

It is important to note that old refills will not fit into the new cushion cases as the old refills are slightly too wide for the new cases. New refills also do not fit into the old case as they aren't big enough to lock into them. So, if you're thinking of buying a new case or even just a new refill, make sure you find a posting of the version compatible to either your case or your refills.

You can check out the entire new My Cushion event on the Korean Innisfree page. You can click step three to look at all the case colours and designs!

Sephora hauls are not something I ever want to make a habit, my wallet is still crying over the prices of some of the things I got. Either way, I went through a whole month of deliberating with myself about whether I was finally going to commit to buying what I put into the cart. The icing on the cake is that the birthday reward this year is a NARS deluxe sample so I couldn't say no.

First thing on the list is something I wasn't planning to buy until the very last minute before pressing the checkout button, the NARS Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. With spring approaching slowly, I've been wanting to wear brighter coloured eye makeup. Bright eye shadows don't show up on my eyelids as vividly as dark shadows so I thought it'd be a good time to invest in a nice eye primer. I have the Twilight collection from Naked Cosmetics and it came with a potted primer but as much as I like the results, I'm not fond of the potted format so I wanted to try a liquid one.

The product comes out a creamy colour and goes on clear and matte. I don't really have any impressions of this product yet since I haven't tried it out enough to say but, I had some trouble opening it initially. It was closed up nice and tightly. The packaging is standard minimal matte NARS style which I really love.

Next is the (new) much talked about Roller Lash by Benefit! I saw so many pre-launch reviews raving about this product so I took the dive and bought it. I also bought it because I thought the packaging is super adorable and cute. I've used it once so far and like what it does. It definitely lengthens and holds your lashes well. I only wore it for a short few hours but I like it so far.

Finally the main purchase of the haul, the palette that I've stared at since its initial launch in 2013. After a little over a year of debating with myself, reading reviews, and swatching them myself at the store, I finally put the money in and bought it. After over a year, I finally own Urban Decay's Naked3 palette. I love pink/rose coloured palettes, and despite this palette being more neutral toned, I still really like it. This palette really fits the rose-gold trend that recently exploded onto the scene. The colours are smoothly pigmented, the palette feels sturdy, and the brush is really nice as well. The lighter colours on the palette will be nice for spring but the rest might be better for autumn/winter.

Sephora hauls are super self-satisfying but put such a huge dent into my wallet. I don't plan on making another Sephora haul for a long time but I've been eyeing the Too Faced Teddy Bear Brush Set because the pink and gold handles are super cute. I will resist for now.

The past week has been busy, tying up knots to previous obligations and making decisions to close another chapter of my life. Still getting things sorted but 2015 should be going with a nice start. January is already half over, hopefully everyone is doing great so far!

As a girl with way too many lip products and only one pair of lips, I've been trying to cut down on buying lipsticks. It proves difficult every year to finish the lipsticks that I already have. However, as you can see from the post title, I got another one.

Today, I'll be talking about TheFaceShop's Artist Touch Lipstick-Creamy Matte #BR801. It is one of the more nude colours compared to a lot of their other bright colours. To be honest, I find that thefaceshop doesn't have enough colour variety when it comes to their lipsticks. A lot of them tend to be on the lighter side so it's hard to get a good deep burgundy or even a deep rouge. Either way, I picked up this corally nude colour instead. As the package indicates, it's a matte lipstick with a creamy texture. Packaging-wise, it's very similar to MAC's lipsticks.

Product description and ingredient list.

I've liked many of their Moisture and Glossy lipsticks so I decided to give the Creamy Matte one a try as well. I can't say I'm totally into this one though. The Moisture and Glossy lipsticks were more sheer and similar to tint balms in terms of colour and texture, thus their labels. While the pigmentation of the CM lipstick is definitely higher, I'm not sure if I like this one or not.

While applying the lipstick, you can definitely feel the creamy texture, however, once it's on your lips it doesn't feel as creamy anymore. I'm kind of sensitive to the feeling on my lips so I don't like it if I can "feel" the lipstick weighing on my lips. This lipstick starts drying out your lips almost immediately if you didn't prime your lips lip balm beforehand. It also accentuates any kind of dry skin on your lips, which I suppose is very common for matte lipsticks but, after a while my lips got even flakier and drier. I definitely recommend using a heavy lip balm and/or using a lip scrub before using the Creamy Matte lipsticks. 

While the pigmentation of the TheFaceShop lipstick seems very pigmented compared to their other finishes in the same line, the Etude House Dear My Wish line is much more pigmented and creamy. It takes my Etude House lipstick only two (or sometimes even one) strokes to achieve the colour payoff of maybe 3~4 strokes of the TheFaceShop one. Of course, the Etude House lipstick is more orange/pink and not as nudey brown as the TheFaceShop lipstick but at least it's not as drying. I've tried applying my Etude House Jelly Lips Talk lipstick before applying this lipstick and it comes off a bit better but colour payoff obviously isn't as high as just using the lipstick alone. It just felt like the colour wouldn't adhere to my lips on top of the other lipstick.

In terms of durability, it's not too long-lasting. It has no tinting properties so when you drink something or eat something, 75% of the colour comes off. Reapplying every two to three hours will be inevitable for this kind of lipstick.

Overall, I'm really sad about this lipstick because I really liked the colour of it. It's really unfortunate how drying it is on my lips. I'll most likely still use this lipstick because I love the colour but I'll definitely have to be diligent in checking if my lips are looking human if I do. If you would prefer something less drying, the Moisture and the Glossy finishes of the Artist Touch lipsticks aren't bad and they also have similar nude colours with less powdery finish thus not as dry. I personally prefer the Moisture > Glossy > Creamy Matte.

Pros:
- A really nice nude colour
- The colour is true to the swatch mostly

Cons:
- Extremely drying
- Accentuates dry lips
- Not long-lasting