Monday, October 29, 2012

Addiction Winter 2012: Arabian Nights Makeup


I have never been persuaded to purchase an entire look because of an ad, till now. When I saw the picture for the Addiction winter makeup campaign – and it doesn't help that I'm already an ardent fan of the brand – something in me snapped. Before long, I was sending an embarrassingly long shopping list to a dear friend in Japan, who was kind enough to get everything I wanted for me.

The Swatches
Mustard Tree Eyeshadow

Brown Toast Cheek Mix

L-R: Argan Tree and Tea Rose Cheek Sticks (blended, unblended)

Saffron Lip Crayon

The Look
Arabian Nights, Winter 2012

I mean, not that I have anything against it, but it's mustard yellow eyeshadow. I must have been feeling adventurous... or trying to dig myself out of a serious makeup rut. Either way, I have no regrets whatsoever.

The nifty thing about Addiction is they publish a complete step-by-step on how to achieve the look. I had to improvise because I didn't have a couple of products, but otherwise I stayed true to the instructions. You can take a look at the original tutorial here.

I needed flawless skin, so after concealing under eye circles and redness with my RMS concealer, I applied a thin layer of Chantecaille Future Skin around my t-zone and on my cheeks. Recently my skin gets oily very quickly, so I patted on a Paul & Joe translucent face powder to set.

I had the most fun with the cheeks, mostly because I found another contour color that works perfectly. I applied Addiction Argan Tree to the hollows below my cheekbones and blended it out with my fingers, then Tea Rose on the cheeks, blending it into the contour shade. I applied the brown shade in Brown Toast over the contour color, below the jawline, and to the sides of my nose. I lightly went over Tea Rose with the orange shade, and applied the highlighter shade down the center of my nose, above my cheekbones, and on my cupid's bow.

For eyes, I patted on Addiction Mustard Tree all over the lid, stopping just as I reached the bottom of the brows. I made sure to feather the edges so it wouldn't look harsh. With an eyeliner brush, I pushed Shu Uemura ME856 right into my lashes. I also applied ME856 to my waterline and created a slight gradient at the lower lash line with Mustard Tree. Finally, I dabbed the lilac shade of Le Métier de Beauté Penelope at the inner corners, combed on mascara, and applied Addiction Saffron to lips.

Individual reviews of the items above (hopefully) to come. I know it would have made more sense if I talked about those first, but I just really really really wanted to share this look!

Addiction makeup is exclusively available in Japan, though at a mark-up we in the States have access to it through ichibankao.com.

......................................................................................

Products Used:
Face -
Chantecaille 'Future Skin' in Camomile
RMS Beauty "Un" Cover Up #22
Paul & Joe Face Powder 001 (from the Holiday Make Up Collection 2012 001 Set)*
Addiction Cheek Sticks in Argan Tree and Tea Rose
Addiction Cheek Mix in Brown Toast

Eyes -
Addiction Eyeshadow in Mustard Tree
Shu Uemura Pressed Eyeshadow Refill in ME856
Le Métier de Beauté Penelope Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Pop Beauty Peak Performance Mascara in Brilliant Black

Lips -
Addiction Lip Crayon in 008 Saffron


The product marked with * was provided by the company for review

36 comments:

  1. Wow -- good going on the haul :)! I love this look on you. Mustard Tree looks especially fantastic. I purchased Tea Rose and am besotted with it; I think it may well be a starter drug to some of the brighter Cheek Sticks...

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    1. Tea Rose is the absolute perfect nude blush! Definitely go for some of the brighter ones :)

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  2. Absolutely love how Mustard Tree looks on you, really striking.

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    1. Thanks! I never thought in a million years I could pull off mustard yellow eyeshadow

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  3. Yay, makeup snapping! Haha. I love the saffron lip crayon. Does it feel as pretty as it looks?

    Definitely checking out Addiction/Ayako when I head to Japan. Those diagonally striped kohl eyeliners make me hyperventilate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's supposed to be matte but I overdosed on lip balm before I applied it. Not a drying matte though! Very happy makeup companies are stepping up on that.

      When will you be visiting? Super jealous! I need to find some way to relocate there or something

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  4. Oh my God I LOVE this look, and I LOVE it on you!!! Your skin looks SO nice and smooth here. Lovely :)

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    1. Thanks, Sunny! Even though I have an unfortunate zit in between my eyes >:) It won't go away and I couldn't avoid photographing anymore

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  5. Love it! That Mustard Tree eye shadow looks good :-)

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  6. You look beautiful, Wandz. I'm not sure how I feel about mustard yellow eye shadow. I love that it's out there - so bold and unique - but I probably could not pull it off, myself. Sigh.

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    1. I don't know how to make it "wearable" if I wanted it to be. Maybe just a little on the lid and smoke out with brown in the crease like usual.

      You never know until you try, Larie :( I wouldn't have thought I could do mustard anything had I not impulsively bought this

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  7. OK I thought there was no way that could look good but OF COURSE it looks beautiful on you!

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  8. MUST get MUSTARD haha! What a cool colour! Looks amazing on you. I'm into red right now. I have the most amazing red from Kat Von D I've been playing with. SO GOOD.

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  9. Xiao, may I just say I have been following your blog for a few months and I wanted to say thank you for all the photos, swatches, etc.

    AND! Your hair looks fabulous! I feel like your face is in focus more, you've never looked better.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for saying hi! And for reading Messy Wands :)

      My mom wails about my hair everytime she sees me on Skype now, but even she has to grudgingly agree that it's made me look so much younger :)

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  10. Surprisingly, I really like that mustard yellow colour. Argan Tree also looks nice for contouring. Love how you recreated the promo look, I just love any reds and vamps on you! / Claire

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  11. Only you, man. I wear this and the village children will point and laugh!

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    1. I just love that village children still exists, Liz :P

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    2. Of course they do! You'll see on Halloween.

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  12. Xiao this is so gorgeous - the mustard looks great, and my lemming for Saffron grows even stronger! I'm actually tempted to get the mustard myself, but I already know it'll never work on me. But yeah, this whole look is beautiful on you. xx

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    1. Saffron would be AWESOME on you! And I bet you could actually rock the mustard. When I was recreating the look I was fretting that my skintone would be too yellow for it, and wished I had your face instead :)

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  13. Xiao. Gorgeous! As editorial as the mustard yellow shadow is, there's something about this look that could also totally be pulled off with a comfortable sweater while running errands. You've really bridged the gap between ads and real life makeup.

    Also ... WANT Mustard Tree. I just know it would make me look sickly (hello, pale with green eyes). But still!
    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Like I was telling Lizzie, who like you have gorgeous pale complexion and unbelievable green eyes (see this: http://glossedintranslation.com/2012/10/19/autumn-look-with-shu-uemura-addiction-and-lunasol/), it'll probably be awesome!

      Delete
  14. I love your short hair! So chic! I frames your lovely face and makeup looks very well.

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  15. I DIEDED over this ad when it first came out and you actually improved on it <3 Damn your magical ways

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  16. Damn girl--this look is AMAZING! I LOOOOOVE mustard yellow but have never thought to wear it on my eyes before. This changes everything~! Oh, and that pop of lilac in the inner corners really brightens up the eyes beautifully--nice touch! :)

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    Replies
    1. They used blue and I realized I didn't have blue! Good discovery though :)

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  17. Ahh, looks so good! I have never thought of mustard yellow on my eyes before (well, OK, maybe I did) but wow. Great of them to include step-by-steps for the looks, too!

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    Replies
    1. Yes! I'm very thankful and I think more brands should do it. Or at least tell us what they used

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  18. I'm actually very obsessed with this look! (You look stunning!) I really, really love yellow eye shadow (MAC's Chrome Yellow is one of my most used shadows) - I don't cake it on, obviously, but I think it adds such a nice brightness to my eyes when lightly washed over the lids. And I find my skin is just too pale for brown, so mustard yellow might be an excellent alternative, yay! But also not-yay-at-all, because I live in London... Which definitely isn't anywhere near to Japan...

    And am I the only one who thinks 'Brown Toast' is a really weird name? It makes the middle shade in the cheek mix seem somehow really crumb-y.

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  19. https://vapehop.com/ buy it

    ReplyDelete

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