Wednesday, March 6, 2013

My Beauty Revolution: Peace with Pinks

Asian girls are defaulted to be obsessed with pinks and Hello Kitty. I used to be not able to stand both, big time and in a serious way. No joke. In the past, I hated pinks, especially what so called Hello Kitty pink, ugh. No offense or objection to any Asian/non-Asian girls who love Hello Kitty. Call me a weirdo if you wish. Until now I still dislike the cat and the pink that has become associated with her. At my last university, we even have a hybrid Hello Kitty version of our MALE mascot, in pink with that hair bow. Gosh, that's the ultimatum. Ok ok back to the post.

For some odd reason though, I ended up with buying quite a few pinks, lipsticks, lipglosses, blushes particularly, and even pink eyeshadows. While I was disrespecting them for a long time, I grew to appreciate how brightened my skin looked with them.

Handling pink eyeshadows is way too tricky on my shallow-socketed eyes. I stick with pearly pink or golden pink with a touch of peach and brown here and there. Soft pink eye looks haven't established a permanent place in my look book.  The only exception is Edward Bess Berry Chic (a look here) that features general soft pink and berry color theme.

Edward Bess Berry Chic Palette

Dior Rose Diamond and Edward Bess Berry Chic Palette
Dior Rosy Nude and its sister Rosy Tan also have the warm soft pink that don't show up as opaque pinks on my skin tone. See, I must play safe on the eyes! 
Pink blushes, bright vibrant blue-based pinks in particular, on the other hand are now must-haves in my routine. All started with the discover of Lancome Pink Preview Lipsticks. It's cool and pale and washes out my lips yet it's an excellent blush color. Edward Bess Soft Orchid is a more neutral version of Lancome Pink Preview, subtly mimicking my natural blushing. There are also Edward Bess Compact Rouge in Love Affair, Bourjois le Cendre de Rose Brune, Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Dollface and one of the more recent procurement Chanel Joues Contrast Rose Innitiale.

     First column: Bourjois le Cendre de Rose Brune, Edward Bess Love Affair, Smashbox Radiant, Tom Ford Narcissist
      Second column: Tarte Dollface, Chanel Rose Initiale, Edward Bess Soft Orchid, 
Lancome Pink Preview
Middle: Make Up For Ever HD blush #6
But not until I swept Smashbox Radiant on my cheeks, the whole new horizon of brightening makeup laid out in front of me. At that moment, I realized my face had some blue, red, pink beside my main skin tone of yellow.  And I look good in those bright pinks. I feel lively, energized, confident. I'm myself when I wear bright pinks. I love to wear them played down. They ARE my natural blushing color. My all time favorite blush is the Tom Ford Narcissist.

Top to bottom: YSL Rouge Couture Fuchsia, Chanel Glossimier Pink Teaser, Nars Easy Lover 
Now pink lipsticks are of more my natural choices and I embrace bright pink lip colors much earlier than blushes. My lips are red-tinted and pinks complement them well. However, cool pinks like Lancome Pink Preview ain't for me. I look dead. To play safe I need brown-based or at least warm-based pinks for everyday. When I need instant boost of color, however, nothing beats a pair of sexy bright pink lips!! YSL Fuschia lipstick for the ultimate drama. Then Chanel Glossimier Pink Teaser and Nars Easy Lover for flirty and glamorous lips.

YSL Rouge Couture Fuchsia 

Do you love pinks? What is the color you've learned to love with your beauty journey?

22 comments:

  1. Aaah, this post is so awesome! I used to hate anything pink too, in fact I was a tom boy back in my teens, lol. It's only a few years back that I started to appreciate them too. My favourite pinks are fuchsia, they are so awesome! ^^

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    1. Oh I'm glad. Every baby girl I know always, I mean ALWAYS, receives pink presents: clothes, shoes, toys, pacifier. Just so tired of pink when I was a kid. High-five for tom boy !! I was the same way but also was very drawn to fashion, makeup and accessories. LOL!! I was odd.

      Fuchsia is my favorite too!! Yay!! But only sheerly. Opaque fuchsia washes me out :D.

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  2. Haha I always felt confused about the Hello Kitty obsession too. I think for a long time I mostly associated pinks with very pale cool toned girls, and thought they'd look artificial or like Barbie on me. But I now think pink can be absolutely flattering on anyone... I even love very cool pinks because I feel they brighten the complexion instantly, especially on warm toned skin, because of the contrast :)

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    1. Confused and a little bit pissed off was I. Many friends of mine, especially guys, told me that I sure loved it for very good reasons. They were all shocked when I responded Hell No for very good reasons. Men just don't get it. So as the society. LOL!!!! And Barbie pink, OMG, I hated that too now that you remind me. But at least it adds some characters to the outfit, unlike Hello Kitty.

      I was surprised when discovering the brightening effect of cool pinks. Now I absolutely love it!! Phew! I'm not alone....

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  3. LOVE this! As you know I hated pink too! I've reconciled with the colour recently. We are on talking terms now at least hahaha!
    I really like warm, coral pinks!

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    1. We are!!!! Yes, I respect the color pink!! I love warm and coral pinks for things like belts, purses, scarves. It instantly softens and adds some fun to the look. Thank you for the comment Tracy!! xx

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  4. I used to only love neutrals but as I go on my "beauty" journey I began to fall with dark deep shade such black, blue and purple! ^_~

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    1. Hi there, I'm revolving in the opposite direction, hahaha. When I first started wear full face makeup, I wanted to look like J.Lo. I thought her makeup was flawless, unique and really complemented her and her outfit well. So I jumped into all kinds of blue, purple, dark greys, plums and now still own an arsenal of these dramatic colors. Oh and gold and sparkly silvers too :D. Then I don't know for whatever reason, I started to embrace neutrals, probably since Dior Summer 2011 with Rosy Nude and Rosy Tan. After that was the entire line of Edward Bess and keep going until now. I'm obsessed with neutrals for the eyes and the clothes. But a pop of pink for the look is becoming more and more frequent.

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  5. I love this post! I like pink LOL but I dislike things that are too Asian cute (I am an Asian though :p)
    As time goes by, I start to appreciate bolder colors like deep blue and deep green. Over the time I am loving deep colors much more than ever. I still love pink on my cheek and lips, but I could never rock pink on my eyelids :D hahaha

    xx Meryl @ Memoiselle

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    1. Thank you Meryl!!! You said too Asian cute and I totally got it. LOL!! Duck face anyone? Oh, I love the smokey eye looks you've been creating. Deep colors look gorgeous on you. Me the same way with pink lips and cheeks. That's just easier. Pink on eye lids ain't for me.

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  6. The closest I come to pink on my lids is dusting a little of my blusher onto my lids -- it almost primes my eyelids for more makeup, and it leaves my eye shadow with a little warmth that I like. Sometimes I'll use a lavender-pink inner corner highlight like Eye Bright, but that's about it!

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    1. Ah, that's such a clever trick. I need to try it too! Do you look for particular ingredients in the blush that are safe on the eyes? I'm always skeptical about using non-eye products for my eyes. Lavender-pink goes to my test list! In the past, I've tried lavender eyeshadow and it look drop-dead boring on me. I'm just boring. But I imagine it can brighten up my eyes quite a bit. Thanks for sharing! xx

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  7. LOL you're like me! I'm really icky about pinks. I just about never ever go for pink blushes, let alone eyeshadows! It's not even about whether I can "pull them off" anymore. I just seem to have this psychological barrier LOL The only pink anything I use regularly is Chanel Rose Initiale, and that's because it's neutral so I can wear my cool-toned red lipsticks with it. So jealous of all the pretty pieces you have! <3

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    1. I knoowww exactly what you mean!! After hating pinks for such a long time, it was hard for me to reverse the preconception of "ew, pink again". hahaha. Thank you for the compliments!! See how odd it was that I've been collecting quite a few pinks.

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  8. I would say you have made your peace with pink :)

    I'm cracking up at the hello kitty part. I find the character annoying, too.

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    1. Talking about annoying Hello Kitty, you have to live with one of my ex-roommates. She had Hello Kitty waffle maker, toaster, hand bags, key chains. Anything pink was hers and the non-pinks were mine. It was a bumpy ride. LOL!!! Yep, I'm at peace with pinks now :D

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  9. The Hello Kitty love hit me at a very late stage in life - I was in my late 20s when I fell in love with a Hello Kitty bowling ball!!!!! LOL

    I still don't like most pinks but I love brighter intense pinks. That TF blush is amazing!

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    1. LOL!! We have stages don't we? I watch kid animated movies until now. Don't want to be a jerk but that TF blush is magical (to me)!

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  10. My daughters love Hello Kitty. So I had to accept that little meow, but banned in a little corner. Hahahaha!! I suppose it is cute in small doses. I don't understand the hype. I've had my battles with pinks too, but I find that pink blushes complement me really well. Pink lipsticks, not so much. I have to be very picky. Pink eye shadows, I still don't like it despite compliments I receive when I wear them for my blog posts. I'm still not convinced. LOL!

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    1. Aw, that's cute!! Yes, I agree a little bit of Hello Kitty brings girly vibe to everything. And I don't get the hype either. LOL! It seems like most of us are just luke warm with pink eyeshadows. It's such a tricky shade but I must agree that you wear them beautifully. xx

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  11. While I didn't hate Hello Kitty, I too never understood the fanaticism about it (especially in the Sephora Hello Kitty collection). I think it's fine for little girls but for grown women, it's weirder. Same with Twilight.

    I know a lot of Asians love wearing baby pink cheeks and lips while I've always embraced peaches and corals. I've only started getting into pink colored cosmetics so these pictures were beautiful to see :)

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    1. Yeah I never get the Twilight thing, speaking from the standpoint of Harry Potter fan. But we're all difference, eh?

      I feel too like peaches and corals are much more approachable for my skin tone. Told ya, I hated pinks until recently. High-fives!

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