Sunday, September 25, 2011

Singapore shopping - Kenzoki and Burberry Beauty

Metro was having a 20% store-wide sale this week. Initially, I did not plan to buy anything except Chanel UV Essentiel and Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder. These are two stable items in my make-up routine and stocking them always gives me a peace of mind. However, recently, I am thinking of trying out sunscreens from other brands as the price of Chanel UV Essentiel is increasing to an unacceptable level. But again, I do not want to waste money on trying new products and eventually still have to go back to Chanel. It is a very disturbingly tiresome argument I was having with myself.

Anyway, I was in a very bad mood this week due to family matters. So I knew that I would, either spend a bomb shopping or walk home empty-handed. With that kind of mood, I went into Metro Paragon and headed straight to Kenzoki. Err? That sounded so out of the blue. Well, at the time, I suddenly remembered Kenzoki also had a suncreen (which brand does not have?) and a lot of customers seemed to ask for it last time when I was there checking out its moisturizers. So I thought I might want to see if the stock had come in (it had been out of stock in July).

When I reached the counter, the SA was the one had served previously and I had felt quite comfortable with her. I asked to test the suncreen on my hand to feel texture and if it left a white cast on my skin. Even though the product looked thick at first on my skin, when I spread the liquid, it took less than a minute to absorb into my skin and leave nothing behind. No white cast and stickiness. And the coverage seemed great, just a few drops to cover my forearm. I thought to myself, maybe worth a try. I asked the SA about the price. $61, compared with $73 of Chanel. That was great. "I will take the suncreen, thanks!"

But I did not stop at that. I did not feel satisfied, so the SA recommended other products from Kenzoki. In the end, I walked out of the counter with a night eye cream (for dark circles) and an exfoliator for my face. I had some from Origins (GWP and reward points) but I was having a withdrawal from those products. And Kenzoki scrub had very interesting texture. So yep, I gave these products a try. After all, I am pampering myself so it should be money well-spent.

But that was all I bought in Metro. Amazingly, I did not think about stocking Givenchy loose powder. I passed by the counter without a second thought. I guess I still had until end of this year to buy a new box.

My next focus was Tangs and the newly-opened Burberry Beauty counter. Why? Because I wanted to take a look at Burberry Beauty products, especially its blushes. I was reading beauty blogs the past few months and got hooked into this brand. I am a sucker for clean and classy packaging. That is why Chanel, Givenchy and Kenzoki call to me. The design of Burberry beauty products could not be any less perfect. So yeah, I needed to see them for myself to satisfy my eyes, and then tested the products to see if they were as wonderful as those bloggers described them to be.

The counter was situated near to MAC and the perfume section of Tangs Beauty Hall. And it was quite empty when I was there, which made me hesitant to approach the counter. I just wanted to check out the products, but I might not buy anything. And an empty counter might make that difficult as the SAs would have more focus to push you. Again, my depressing mood prompted me to go there. (Yep, I usually do many thing unreasonable when I am stressed.)

The SA serving me turned out to be very polite and nice. She asked me if I was interested in a particular product and my answer was blush. Due to two unfortunate accidents, my eyes are extremely sensitive and dry nowadays. I cannot put on eye make-up without irritating them, which means eye shadows, mascaras, eye liners, etc. are out of my focus. So when I shop for my make-up, they usually include liquid foundation, loose powder, blush, eye brow related stuff, lip sticks and blush. Since I was sick of my current blushes at home, I looked forward to exploring some new options at Burberry.

Singapore counter seemed to carry all the light glows (that was what Burberry calls its blush) which were available on the UK website. This means more than what is offered on Singapore website. And the SA recommended Tangerie (No. 6) and Blossom (No. 5) to me. After trying both on my cheeks, I wanted to buy both colors. One interesting point about the blushes was that they looked quite different from the pan and on my cheeks. And different in a good way. The texture was another winning point, velvet and pigmented. What else could I expect from a blush? I was sold. But which color should I choose? After asking me a few more questions, the SA convinced me to take Tangerie as most of my current blushes were pink tone. Tangerie would give my blushes a variety.

So yeah, I happily took Tangerie home with me, after parting 61 bucks at the cashier. The price was high, but it was comparable with Chanel. Also, after I checked the website, the pricing in Singapore was quite compatible with other countries carrying the line, which made me even happier. And you will definitely see me at the next Tangs 12% sale.

Here are some shots I took of the blush. Beautiful, isn't it? However, due to my lousy iPhone camera, the color of the blush was not reflected well in the picture. It is the best to see it in real life.

Burberry Blush in Tangerie

Burberry Blush in Tangerie

Burberry Blush in Tangerie

Burberry Blush in Tangerie

Burberry Blush in Tangerie

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