Nicocosity: Make-up

I've been meaning to write about this eyeliner for sooooo long, and by 'soooo long' I meant since 2018!

In all fairness I have to say I have improved a little bit with my eyeliner drawing skillz since the last time I did a post about eyeliners *ehem Miniso Make-up blog post here ehem*. Since then I have found a better eyeliner, and that is...

Yes, my friends, I have discovered the Canmake Tokyo Quick Easy Eyeliner a year after my Miniso Make-Up blog post, particularly when I received my first Canmake blusher and became attracted to Canmake's girly aesthetic.

But what is Canmake Tokyo exactly?

Yup!

Canmake Tokyo is an affordable line of make-up popular with teens in Japan. As I see it, they are like South Korea's Etude House's Japanese equivalent, because they are both REALLY GIRLY, affordable, and has a wide array of product to experiment with, from eyeshadows to lippies! I was actually first introduced to their creamy blusher after my cousin, Lot, gave me one after a trip to Japan. I actually liked the product, and I suppose that's what fueled my curiosity with this brand.

Anyhooo, let's start with our #NicDoesReviews on Canmake Tokyo's Quick Easy Eyeliner!

One notable thing about Canmake Tokyo products are its girly packaging. If I were to compare this to South Korean brands-well, comparing Japanese make-up brands to South Korean ones, Japanese' make-up are more subdued in terms of packaging, and overall aesthetic, unlike South Koreans where they seem to be VERY adventurous with packaging ~~looking at you Tony Moly Egg mask~~!

The Canmake Tokyo's Quick Easy Eyeliner is incased in this plastic box, where at the back I suppose it says a thing or two about the ingredients used to create this product. Also, good news, ALL CANMAKE TOKYO MAKE-UP ARE MADE IN JAPAN! Talk about quality 😉

As for the main eyeliner pen, it's thin and small, which means it perfectly fits even in the smallest of bags for quick touch-ups. What I absolutely adore about this eyeliner is its thin brush tips that is more forgiving if you create wonky lines, since it's thin you can try to layer it until it starts to look somehow decent hahaha! But joking aside, with its medium-soft thin brush tips, it makes the product easy to glide on your lids, which means less tugging and less hassle.

Unlike other eyeliners in the market, much like the Oh M'Eye Liquid Eyeliner by Etude House, the Canmake Tokyo Eyeliner dries into a matte black, rather than a glossy tacky one. With just one swipe, you get to have a black line, staying true to its quick and easy claim.

But if you want a richer bolder line, little extra swipes won't hurt to achieve a strong black cat-eye ala Adele. When the eyeliner dries on your skin it doesn't dry into a velvety feel, but rather more of like a tattoo, slightly faded black, not quite Jet Black. I say this is best in creating like the outline of the cat-eye then fill it up with a more opaque eyeliner, a pencil Kohl-based one perhaps?

This is it pansit, now let's see how this holds up in a day :)

7:00 AM

This is how it looks like after I apply it on my eyes. I only used the Canmake Tokyo Quick Easy Eyeliner even in filling up to make the cat eye. It's really easy to apply and the brush glides smoothly, and no tugging!!!

12:00 Noon

It's going strong, holding on 💪the 'blackness' starts to fade a bit, but it's not smudging, so we're still good. It's still in tact, but if you look really close, you'll see flaws already.

5:00 P.M

As you can see in the photo, yep that's a helmet because I went biking from my office to SM Megamall- which is 400 meters away hahaha! Due to sweat the eyeliner continues to fade, and what is left is the outline of the eyeliner.

7:30 P.M.

What we now have are remnants of what it was hahaha! With sweat and skin oils it wiped out whatever remained of my eyeliner.

By the way just a disclaimer I did not do any re-application or touch-up, oks?

Finally our classic Pros and Cons...

PROS:

💓 If you're in Japan you won't have a hard time finding a Canmake Tokyo booth in department stores. Also this retails for Php 300+!

💓 It's affordable

💓 The brush is thin and flexible, really helpful in applying the eyeliner because it results to less tugging.

💓 Once applied it doesn't fade fast.

💓 The eyeliner dries into a matte black feel, which is oretty good if you are not into a vinyl-lile glossy black (like the Oh M'Eyeliners of Etude House).

💓 Satisfactory marks for its pigmentation. With just 1 swipe you get to see a solid color. Yep, even without the use of a primer.

💓 Despite its small size, this eyeliner pen really lasts! I tried using this eyeliner for 3 months almost everyday, and til now it's going strong (a disclaimer: An eyeliner's shelf life is only around 6 to 8 months, mkaaay?).

💓 It's also available in Brown 👌

CONS:

💔 While yes it is available in most SM department stores nationwide, and even online (you can buy them here in Lazada), the price is very different unlike if you buy it in Japan. Here in The Philippines it retails for around Php 500- 600! Yes, almost double the price! But heyyy, a plane ticket costs more than 200 pesos, diba???

💔 It fades after a couple of hours, so it's a must to do some touch-ups with this bb.

💔 Staying power is 😔 But hey, this eyeliner does not have such claims like "long-wearing" or "water-proof", so I'm gonna cut this one some slack.

💔 The brush tends to fray in the long run. This one is actually a repurchase, and the first one that I bought frayed. Though I'm also at fault here because I like drawing hearts on my cheeks using this hahahaha!

As I have mentioned, this is a repurchase already and I think I have already used around 2 in the past, and given this statement I can definitely vouch for this eyeliner. Prior to using this I've tried a couple of brands, some more expensive than this one, that only gave disappointing results.

That said, I think Canmake Tokyo Quick Easy Eyeliner is a great addition to anyone's make-up arsenal, especially for those who doesn't want to break the bank. It's affordable, does the job, and easy-to-use, what more can you ask for?

MWAH!

Love Always,

Nicole ♡♡♡

P.S.

Ohhhh I've got a lot of make-up stuff to review hihihi! Stay tuned! 😍

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Once again, once more, my cousin went to South Korea and that means one thing:

Pucker up, buttercup

As mentioned in my previous blogs, my cousin and constant travel buddy, Lot, always brings me goodies, particularly make-up whenever she goes to South Korea, USA, and Japan.

Pretty much like my most recent beauty review with the Airy Ink Velvet Liptint HERE, this luscious ink lacquer is also from Korean brand Peripera.

In fairness I am impressed with their Airy Ink Velvet Lip Tint, in fact it's a staple content of whatever purse or satchel I am using, so let's see if this will turn into a 'holy grail' item of mine.

Staying true to Peripera's trademark quirky and fun packaging, this Ink Lacquer is definitely following with the the dress code. Much like the Airy Ink Velvet, this baby looks like an ink bottle so you might mistake this as an art material if ever you find yourself mixing it with your jars of paints hahaha!

The item is enclosed inside a box. The box has an illustration of what the bottle of lip tint looks like and the logo of the product. On the top and bottom part of the box you can see the cannister with the number which indicates its shelf life, as well as the shade of the liptint.

Unlike the Airy Ink Velvet's packaging, the plastic body of this ink lacquer feels glassy and heavier. I would say the glassy plastic material resembles closer to the Peripera Sugar Glow Tint but with frosty glass finish. Now, does this miniscule detail really matter? For a very clumsy person like me, kinda? I always experience accidentally dropping my make-up whenever I open my Cath Kidston polka dotted pouch, hence it's been an important unique selling proposition of an item to withstand x100000 falls and drops.

Cutting the whole story short, I dropped this lip lacquer countless of times during our trip to Japan, and I am proud to say that I was able to bring this home in one piece.

One good thing about the packaging is the clear inscription of the shade name and number, which is perfect should you ever want to repurchase this Ink Lacquer in the future.

Ohhh and this! I find it frustrating when make-up brands put the expiration date in the box and not on the actual packaging! I'm that kind of person who immediately throws out the box to lessen clutter, and with that I face the consequence of forgetting the expiration date of my make-up- and that suckzzz! So it's good that they added the expiration date at the butt of the packaging.

Let's move on to the actual product, I always get attached to describing the packaging lol hahaha!

Staying true to its name, it's thick as lacquer, but not excessive like an oil paint. I actually find this VERY SIMILAR to Airy Ink Velvet, where the consistency is very creamy, however this is thicker and denser. Another similarity would be the faint floral, but milky candy-like smell that is pleasant but not irritating that you'll take it as a deciding factor not to pick this up again.

Despite its consistency being a tad thicker than the Airy Velvet one, I gotta commend how it doesn't feel heavy when applied on the skin, nor does it feel too drying like other matte lipsticks. What's great about this lip lacquer is it doesn't feel heavy on your lips, so it doesn't feel like you have that nagging feeling of wanting to wipe it all off. That's what I particularly adore about this lippie, because you can get the good parts of a matte lipstick without the bad parts, e.g. can dry out your puckers. I suppose that's the reason why I was never fond of matte lipsticks, despite the great color pay-off, most are too darn drying! So much for beauty is pain!

Aside from lightness on the skin, it's easy to apply and very blend-able! The Peripera Ink Lacquer has limited shades available in its product line, however the color combination you can create with all 5 shades are still impressive! It's also very build-able, just in case you'd like to make it into a darker shade.

Speaking of color...

One of my ultimate test of pigmentation is by blending, where if you blend it a bit after application and it end up disappearing completely, it deserves a 👎 pretty much the Withfika cream blusher I have reviewed several months ago hahaha! But if it's still going strong, you got a 👌 of a product. Now, now, this lip lacquer deserves a 👌.

As I have said, this Ink lacquer feels like sowing all the benefits of wearing a matte lipstick without suffering its cons. When applied on the lips you get to fully cover your lips with color with just one swipe. This is a big thing for me, given that my lips are pigmented so it takes a couple of coats to ensure that the color fully covered my dark lips.

What I actually like about matte lipsticks are how pure the color pay-off tends to be, unlike when you wear Satin or Glossy finishes. With this lip lacquer you get to have that impressive color pay-off, also you get to "customize" how strong the color will turn out.

In using this Ink lacquer you can either come up with a solid opaque lip, or...

Blend it out to achieve that powdery ombre lip color, which is a popular Korean-inspired look.

Nooooow, the real make-or-break determining factor for me: STAYING POWER.

As much as I want I would like to be consistent in doing touch-ups of my make-up, I supposed I am simply not that kind of girl. Given that I am such a lazy ass, my usual go-to's are make-up items that promises long lasting and long wearing. With that, does the Peripera Ink Lacquer fit the bill?

Because I believe in the saying, "pics or it didn't happen," here I am giving you proof to further justify my claim on Ink Lacquer having a 🗢🗢🗢 out of 5 lips. When I went to Japan I actually brought along 4 lipsticks with seemingly identical shades (HAHAHA) and this is one of them. As I lose interest in putting on full make-up, I start to amp up the boldness of the color, and this is the brightest amongst the lippies I had with me. As our trip gets close to its end, I start using this lip lacquer frequently than I did in the first half.

Soooo the photo shows my lips at different times of the day. The first one was taken at 10:00 am, and as expected the color is there, because it has been only an hour after I applied the lippie without eating nor drinking.

The second photo was taken at 1:00 PM, where I already finished a light meal. Basing on the photo, the color on my lips are still thriving, in fact it still looks nice, gotta commend this lip lacquer for that!

The last photo was taken around 4:00 PM, after having an icecream and beer at the Umeda building, and as you can see the color is completely gone.

Verdict for this? It's a small improvement from the Airy Ink Velvet, because this one withstand a couple of hours without touch-ups! However, I still can't place this amongst the Superstays of the world, because after gulping some beer, the color has finally departed from my puckers- but come to think of it this product never claimed to be long lasting 🤷

*Rubbing hands* ok, let's do this!

PROS:
💓 Despite the thick consistency, it feels light when applied on the lips.
💓 Really digging the glass-like packaging, very chic!
💓 Also, I appreciate that the details like shade name & number, and expiration date are included on the bottle itself.
💓 Easy to apply and blend.
💓 Nice color pay-off.
💓 Build-able color.
💓 Very pigmented!

CONS:
💔 Not really a major con, but at its price of around Php 600-Php 700 here in the PH, I feel like I could get a similar product from a much lower price range.
💔 Limited shades, they only have 5 in this product range. They always run out of stocks sooo fast!
💔 Sure, long lasting isn't part of its Unique Selling Proposition (USP), but it would have been fantastic if they added that feature on this wonderful product.

The Peripera Ink Lacquer feels like Airy Velvet Ink Lip Tint's big sister, a more experienced, bolder, and tougher one, but it still stays true to its roots being very blend-able and light. Would I shell a couple of pesos for a slightly pricier version of the Airy Velvet Ink Lip? Yep, and I'll probably get all 5 😉

Love always,

Nicole ❤

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When I was younger ~~and much foolish~~ I always consider having a cat-eye a staple look for me. Back then, bibi Nicole always has blunt bangs, so the need for eyebrows on-fleek isn't that high. Back then, my go-to eyeliner product was Etude House's Oh m'Eye Line Eyeliner where I would have my upper lids in jet black, while my waterline in its glittery silver version.

My life-saver

Time have definitely changed, where I have traded these bad boys for Skin Food Choco eyebrow powder (which smells like chocolate, hnnng)which resulted to me having my muscle memory totally forgot how to do a finesse flick- Actually forgetting how to do make-up overall.

Me, now.

But with all the upcoming shindigs and travels on my way, I figured I have to get back and embrace my make-up junkie-ness (lol), and with that I decided to do baby steps. In doing so, I figured I should probably start with something very affordable before dabbling with MACs and Bobbi Browns. With that, I ended up in Miniso.

For those who have no idea what Miniso is ~~Have you been living under a rock?~~ , it is a low-cost shop that sells everything you can think of. They have everything, from toys to stationery, and even drinks! Its aesthetic looks like Uniqlo, but the extensiveness of its products is akin to Muji. The brand is marketed as 'Japanese', but really all of its stuff is made in China. They sprouted like mushrooms in the Philippines 2 years ago, and ever since they have been a big hit with the Filipinos.

Since looking for a branch of Miniso is as easy as spotting a McDonald's, it was easy for me to scour these goodies. Usually, the only thing I buy in Miniso are stationery and socks, but I have never bought make-up products from there, despite being really curious about it. Perhaps the reaaaally low price point makes me think, 'This is too good to be true", so I always pass by the make-up counter and go directly to where the pens are at.

Carry On, Move Along

Anyway, this time I decided to whisk away those thoughts and just buy all these stuff. Soooo, let's begin with the Mascara:

1. ALL-WEATHER NO SMUDGE MASCARA - Php 99.00 or around $ 2.00

Yup, not joking this retails for 99 pesos only. At that time when I was looking at the make-up counter, there are only 2 varieties of mascaras available, one is this, and the other is a volume maximizing mascara. However the other one doesn't have this:

Yup, this one's waterproof.

VERDICT:
I hate it. HAHAHAHA! I don't know, but it's so clumpy! It's my first time to use it, and it's just so clumpy! When I applied it in my lashes, it did not perform well either. My lashes ended up looking like spider legs. Yikes! I did not even bother taking a photo of it, because it looks awful :/

2. EYELINER - Php 99.00 or around $ 2.00
Unlike the mascara, there's a myriad of types of eyeliners available. There's some that promises more precision, then there's also that claims it is super waterproof, so in the end I opt with this one since I suppose it's the best of both worlds- and look at how shiny the gold packaging looks like ♥

VERDICT:
Oh wow, I hate it too! HAHAHAH! Don't be fooled by how you apply it on your hands or wrist, because it's so difficult to put it in your eyes! Sure, I'm not as adept as I was in drawing a cat-eye, but daaaaayum, this runs quite patchy on the eyes! I've tried using it for the whole day, to see if at least its' waterproof claim would bring justice to this... but no. it disappointed me even more. So at the end of the day, I looked like I had a boxing match with all the smeared eyeliner in my eye area *sigh*

3. EYELASH CURLER - Php 99.00 or around $ 2.00
The only non-make-up item I bought is this mint green eyelash curler with grip support. Originally, this is the only item I was after for when I entered the store- I should have just trusted my instinct and just bought this HAHAHA!

VERDICT:
Surprisingly, this is good. This item does what it promises, it curls the eyelashes ☺ Though of course, it lacks the magic effect of what a Shu Uemura curler does, but hey what can you expect from Php 99 pesos compared to a Php 1,000+ one, right?

So, is Miniso Make-up worth it?
Well, it is very affordable, however if you have high expectations, don't even bother buying because you'll just end up being disappointed. I think the only scenarios buying make-up from Miniso is acceptable is when you have an emergency event, or if you just want to experiment, however if your criteria doesn't fit within the two, spare yourself from the heartbreak and buy equally affordable and trusted brands like Maybelline, or even local brands like Careline and Nichido.

Also, I've read a couple of stuff online where people are apprehensive about trying Miniso make-up, since they are soooo affordable that the ingredients used in making them are probably toxic, or at least harsh to the skin. So far, I did not experience any irritation or bad effects, but if you really are skeptic in trying them, buy non-make-up items in Miniso instead, they are much better than the make-up -And yes, I'll forever vouch for the Miniso Acrylic Markers ♥

With that, I shall go to Etude House now and get myself a fresh piece of jet black Oh M'Eye Line.

Love, Always,
Nicole ♥

P.S.
As of August 3, 2018 I have lost the mascara. I remember putting it in my jacket pocket yesterday, and when I checked the pocket, it is officially missing. R.I.P. Miniso Mascara.

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