WLC #3

k.. actually have something in draft mode that I’m working on. But feeling really guilty that I posted so late last week and don’t have the time to get the draft finished… so for now, here’s this week’s video.

random eotd

here’s a totally random eotd… done a couple days ago using TSS shades. I’ve totally forgotten what I used. Sorry.

WLC #2

First up, yes, I know… I haven’t posted in an entire week. Life seems to be like that. One week I’ve got free time to spare and the next, I’m swamped with life and work. Will try to do better.

Cat’s challenge this week was to post a picture that we liked about ourselves. While, this one that I chose was taken during my honeymoon… that was a happy time and lots of lovely memories.

In terms of weight, haven’t lost anything at all… want to be discouraged but I do know I’ve been doing my best given the time I have and I do feel I’m becoming physically stronger. So… guess I’ll just have to be patient a little more.

Exercise this week was about 20 stories/floors each day – split up into 10/5/5. Its 8 steps per flight and two flights per storey/floor. I don’t even wanna think how many steps I’m doing. LOL! Biked my kids around too… plus tried to take the stairs where it was available.

The plan for this week… ramp up my iGallop workout (at least 3x this coming week). Got hold of the VCD for that so will be following the workout session there. I seriously expect to ache by the time I’m done. Would really like to strengthen my core (aka abs!). Will continue with my 20 storeys a day and sporadic biking.

Will also try and do more posts this week… mustn’t slack too long :P

It Made My Day

One thing I like about SilkNaturals is how upfront and honest Karen is. She’s always ready to help with a difficult order and bends over backwards to agree to my complicated requests.

I love her perfecting powders and foundation and don’t see myself changing brands anytime soon.

With the recent disasters in Haiti, her warm heart has again made an appearance. Read what she has to say :

It's been a rough week for the people in Haiti. My heart goes out to the people who were effected by the earthquake, and I'd like to do something to help.

So...post something here. It could be anything- something that made your day, a little joke, something cute your kids said, that your husband did the dishes, maybe a favorite recipe. Anything at all is cool in my book as long as you keep it clean (something that you'd say to your grandmother is usually a good yardstick).

Between now and Sunday evening, for each person that posts to this thread Silk Naturals will donate $.50 to Doctors without Boarders. I'm capping it at $500- but we only have 800 or so forum members- so tell your friends! Call your sister, or your Mother, or your best friend- post it to your Facebook status- get the word out!

What made my day?? Lots of things- but I'm especially happy about a certain shipment I got today, and puppy kisses when I got home. Puppy kisses always make my day. And I got to visit my Mother, and talked to my sister!

So I dropped by the forum thread and posted this up :

- to have a loving hubby who insists that I sleep and rest when I'm feeling horrid
- to have a loving son who insists on accompanying me to a workshop just in case mummy needs my help
- to have loving kids who once I finally woke up to eat dinner, all gathered around the table with me. Telling me what they've been up to and hugging me
life just doesn't get much better when you're sick

Please just take a couple of minutes to do the same. It doesn’t cost you much but may help someone in Haiti a great deal.

Off to baby my poor nose and head… I hate being sick.

TheSheSpace says…

Its a sad sad sad day. First I heard the news was when Ann “yelled” at me via MSN…

ann: DID YOU HEAR ABT TSS?
Fr0nd: wat?
Fr0nd: no
ann: TSS BYE BYE

which was when I scurried over to the site and then to the forum to find out more.

Heather has decided to refocus her priorities and discontinue TSS in its present form. She will be continuing to sell pigments but from a company called Hope Quest Cosmetics instead in very limited amounts.

So at the moment, all full size pigments have been marked down to US$2.50 while stocks last. Samples are still at US0.50 each. If you haven’t tried them out before, now is a great time to do so.

Guess I’ll be stash shopping alot from here on. :(

I am officially broke… (final part)

My final purchase from Watson’s was the Cream/Gel EyeLiner by Maybelline EyeStudio. Such a long name for my first very little pot of gel liner. :P

It comes with a little brush which I found rather easy to use. Granted, I haven’t washed it yet and already used it. So I might change my mind after I wash it. Still, for now, I’m happy with it. Its super stiff.. more like a very little palette knife than a brush. It smooths on the liner with very little problems.

Here’s some swatches showing how how thin/thick you can get the line using their brush.

I did a very simple look for going out then spent a couple of minutes playing with it a little more when I got home. (This was done while my AHA Exfoliating cleanser was on so the photos are gonna be rather closely cropped.)

Here’s what I came up with.

The most dramatic winged liner look I’ve tried so far

And here’s a double winged look… is that the right term?

   

I’ve used it practically every time I’ve used makeup this week and am really liking this product. It can give me both a subtle addition to the lashline and a dramatic strong line. Plus it lasts on me for more than 12 hours without any serious smudging. While I wouldn’t give up my MM liquid liners or my JEP with e/s on top, any time soon… this will definitely be added to my list of commonly used items.

That’s it from me for now… off to get ready for a workshop and then church.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Swatches… from random AL & Fyrinnae e/s

So like I’ve said so many times before, I’ve got tonnes and I do mean tonnes of random samples sitting around. Picked some up that happened to be sitting in the same envelope as my BFTE baggies so decided to get them swatched too. As usual, monistat was used as a base and e/s was swatched using a dry brush.

Fyrinnae Sea Turtle
Aromaleigh Fervor (Valentine 2009 LE)
AL Fig (opulant lustre)
AL Lisette (bette noir)
AL Umber (pure eyes matte)
AL Orchid (pure eyes frost)

     

Rather liked the colors and texture of the e/s. Especially liked Umber… been looking for a dark matte e/s to use on my crease and this looks like it just might fit the bill. Haven’t used them yet so still don’t really know how they’ll blend or stay on my lids.

Sea Turtle was an unusual color that I had trouble capturing on camera. Its base is green but it has these blue sparkles that makes it special. Here’s a closer shot.

I used it as a liner on my eotd posted here and it came out great. Loved the unique look that it had.

I haven’t tried it as a e/s yet and can’t say how that will end up. Am actually a little apprehensive about trying it as an e/s cos if you buff it, the blue sparkles all go away and you’re left with a green not so special e/s. Ah well, will try it out and see soon.

I love my lips...

After my last post, I remembered this silly song that's on a vcd my kids love to watch...

hope you enjoy the silliness

 

now back to regular programming… *grin*

WLC #1

I’m not the type to do New Year resolutions… they don’t work for me. What I do do is think long and hard about doing something, then once I’m sure that I’m sure that I’m sure that I want to do it… well, I do it.

And for 2010, I've decided to fulfil my long held wish of toning up and maybe even trimming down. I started with a fruit lunch the first week of Jan. Lots of water and fruit to stave off hunger pangs til dinner time.

Then on Monday, I started with a short  11 min session on our elliptical trainer. I covered 5km and for my trouble… had achy thighs and calves the next morning. But I’m determined not to complain and to keep going til I do reach my goal.

Then I sat down to do my daily blog reading using Google Reader. I’m a regular reader of various beauty blogs and personal blogs of friends… this time a post from Rebecca from PandaDoesMakeup caught my eye.

She was talking about a Weight Loss Challenge that Cat from Cat’s Little Obessions was running. Its for a period of 12 weeks and is meant as just a group of like minded ladies providing moral support to each other while trying to shed some pounds (about 2 a week hopefully).

That sounded like it was meant for me… but upon reading Cat’s blog, I realised I had missed the deadline for signing up. Hoping for a reprieve I emailed Cat explaining the situation. The darling said… “i'll make an exception just this once for you”. *hugs*

So I’m IN!… yay! more support for me…

Her first challenge was to list 3 things that you like about yourself. The idea is to start focusing on the positives.

So here’s my three (I focused on my face)

1. Ear lobes – I got pretty “buddah-ish” type lobes. Good for earrings

2. Lips – I got a pretty defined cupid’s bow. No need to draw in. Easy to use lipsticks to fill in color.

3. Double eye lids – am so thankful I have them. I think learning how to do eye shadow would be harder if I had monolids. Most tutorials out there deal with the caucasian type eye not the asian eye. 

She encouraged us to do videos instead of just blogs so we could see the changes over time. I thought that was a good idea… but… video.. scary!!!! and I didn’t know how to do it. 

But I remembered playing with my kids on our new MAC powerbook and that has a in built camera which is pretty clear. So here’s the result…

 

Today, I cycled my kids to school then went to the supermarket to buy laundry detergent. Then it was on to our OSIM iGallop for a 30 min session targetting my core. Next up was 5 mins on the elliptical machine.

I really want to keep up the momentum… wish me luck?

p/s this is not gonna turn into a weight loss blog… don’t worry :P

BFTE eotd #1

Here’s the first of what I hope to be a couple of Beauty From the Earth (BFTE) eotds.

To start things off… a lovely golden e/s called Sunshine. What an apt name. Its a ray of sunshine that brightens up your eye.

here I used BFTE Sunshine on top of NYX JEP in Yoghurt. My base as usual is Monistat. The liner is NYX JEP in blackbean with Fyrinnae’s Sea Turtle e/s patted on top. Brows are filled in with Inuovi’s cocoa pencil. No mascara.

 

and here’s my fotd…

SN mix of foundation, perfecting powder, date bait, zinc and silica
SN blush in Babydoll
SN lipgloss in peace

   

before you ask… the guy with the ear behind me… is my hubby. LOL!   

I am officially broke… (part 2)

To continue my Watson’s hauls… sigh… I searched two outlets for Canmake blushes. Finally found them… swatched all six colors (01 to 06 from left to right; top to bottom) and four Majolica Majorca Neo liquid liners (no, I don’t remember the code numbers).

I won’t bother to post pics of the display unit or the individual blush casings… they’re all over the blogsphere… just do a search. I did do swatches for my own reference. Something I like to do so that I see how it turns up on my skin tone.

The pics were taken in store and without any base using my fingertips.

 

Am so tempted to pick up the green liner and the dark brown liner… but that’d put me back another close to 40 bucks.

As for the blushes… was really drawn to 01 which was a pretty light pink. There was only one left too… but in the end decided on 05 which is a peachy pink.

Used with a fibre optic brush (Ann’s suggestion), it produces a pretty flushed look on my skin. Quite like it and have used it two days in a row now. In terms of lasting power, I can still see it on my cheeks at the end of a 12 hour day so I think that’s pretty good mileage. Am happy with my buy and thinking… just thinking… about 01 still.

I brought my daughter along with me on this swatching adventure. Monkey see, monkey do right? so this was the result…

can pass? I think got some hope ya?

and see her pretty sparkly slip ons. My mil just brought them home from Hanoi… she’s so proud of them.

My last purchase was the much raved about Maybelline gel eye liner. I got this in brown. Again, it was at 20% off so it was a good time to give it try. I haven’t opened it yet so have got no swatches and no opinions to share. Will definitely update you when I do get my brush into the pot. *giggle*

Have a colorful day everyone! I know I am. :D

*thud*

what you just heard was the sound of my jaw hitting my keyboard…

check this out – from here

Its done by Petrilude… he’s one of the makeup gurus I watch on a regular basis. Love love love his Halloween video tutorials and have learnt a lot about placement of e/s from him.

Even my hubby doesn’t mind having his voice in the background. Says its one of the nicer ones. *grin*

If you’re reading this Josh… *hugs* and thank you for sharing your knowledge!

*edited to add.... he did a tutorial! woot!

Sunday’s FOTD revisited

Found a couple more pics of Sunday’s look. Hope you enjoy them :)

I am officially broke… (part 1)

Watsons… can I say that I hate your sales? the 20% off on makeup items is just so tempting even someone on a tight budget like myself can’t resist. Then to have them offer 20% off on Majolica Majorca for the first time ever… how on earth could I resist? (I also blame Ann for her lovely enabling power!)

So.. I’ve been lemming the new colors ever since they launched in fall 2009.

I’ve got their older liners in Black (999) and Shiny Black (I think 991 or 995) but really wanted colored liners. So this was the perfect opportunity (and yes, I am punning. LOL!)

Colors I got are BL603 (blue) and GR604 (green).

so.. swatch time! this pic was taken in daylight. The inner two lines were done with enough liner liquid for it to be visibly higher than my skin. Kinda like a long bubble of liner. It took quite a while to dry. The outer two lines was done with much less liner.

 

My opinion…

If you like color and are willing to wait while they dry… get these liners. They really do last a looooong time on your eye once dry. I used the blue one yesterday for more than 12 hours with no smudging at all… before you ask.. eotd pics are in the works.

If you like darker liners, get this.

However….

If you prefer a less watery liquid liner, get the old range “Neo” which is less watery, dries faster but has less fun colors (at least according to me).

If you have the type of eye lid which creates a new line if you blink before the liner dries, do NOT get these liners… you’ll smudge big big time unless you have strong lid discipline!

For me, its back to lemming for Neo liners… I’d love to get one in both the light brown and the darker brown. Don’t really like the other shades… *sobs*

for pictures of packaging and details of the liner itself… check out the link I’ve included at near the top of my post. :)

No makeup day?

Ever woken up in the morning… say on a lazy Saturday… and decided, “No, I won’t use any makeup today… “

Well, I did that this morning and then we decided to go out for lunch. Sigh…

Let me backtrack a little here. As the months have gone by recently, I’ve noticed more and more spots turning up on my face. You can call them age spots but I think they’re basically sun damage finally showing up after all these years. So my resolution for this year is actually to use my sunblock regularly as long as I’m headed out into the sun.

Back to today… given that we’re leaving house at 12 noon… I think I’m gonna see some sun. Don’t you? So off to my m/u zone I headed to put on some sunbock.

BUT once that goes on… I *have* to set it with some powder… and then I look so washed out… I *have* to add some blusher… then my eyes look so plain… I *have* to fill in brows and add some liner.

Sigh… there goes the no m/u day. LOL!

Anyways… played with my new MM liner in green today… haul post with swatches will go up probably tomorrow… so hold your questions. Answers will be coming! If you can believe it, its still not dry on my lids and its been about 5 mins. Sigh. Really don’t like this formulation *at all*

So here’s my uber duper plain eotd for today.

Face Powder
MM Perfect liquid liner in GR604
Inuovi brow pencil in cocoa

can you see how wet this liner is… sigh…

Used another new haul item on my cheeks. The Canmake blush that everyone seems to be raving about. I got the 05 shade. Used with a f/o brush with a slight dusting of SN’s Climax on top to set it.

k.. now i’m really running out the door! LOL!

*edited to add…. the smudge you see on the pics wasn’t on my eye… I looked after I posted and its not there. I’m guess there was a smudge on the camera lens? don’t really know :P

RAOK – Beauty From The Earth

Many many moons ago, a lovely blogger friend sent me some samples from BFTE after I commented on them in her blog. She did swatches as well as 1 eotd… (where’s the others gf??)

Well, they’ve been sitting on my computer desk all this time. As you may have well noticed, swatches from me have all but dried up… no time. Really. :(

But I did manage to make some time recently and so here they are. (I’m so sorry for the sheer lateness of these Farah. I’ll do some eotds soon)

*as always, swatched with a dry brush on top of Monistat*

Lavish
Butterfly
Sunshine – me likey this one… lovely highlight and all over color
Wildfire
Lush
Honey
Sedona – rather interesting shade in my opinion
Royalty – another purple I think I’m gonna like
Rasberry
Gem
Aqua Mist

 

with flash

 

without flash

Running off to celebrate my girl’s birthday at Swensen’s… hope everyone has a absolutely lovely Sunday!

Maybelline’s Angelfit Pore Zero Base – a review

These pics have been sitting in my drafts folder for months. I’m ashamed :(( Just never ever got round to writing a review on this.

Well, since I seem to be in a little more of a blogging mood today. Here’s a quick review.

When I first started using makeup about 2 years back. My first foundation purchase was Maybelline’s Angelfit Powder Foundation. It was a lovely foundation that gave a glow to my face. Sadly, I stopped using it when I realised that my pores were becoming seriously clogged. Before you go “eeeeekkk”, please bear in mind that I was a complete makeup noob. Didn’t know how to get it off properly. Light dawning? I know better now and am seriously tempted to give it a go again soon :P

But this review isn’t about that… its about its sister product called the Pore Zero base.

here’s my super blur pic of it. Sigh. It comes in a 30ml tube which dispenses the product easily on to your finger.

Please click on the pic for the description and their product claims. Have added another pic for those who want a clearer understanding of the ingredients used.

 

So here’s what it looks like. Slightly creamy but really easy to blend out. You’re supposed to put little dots all over your face. Not all at once cos this dries fairly quickly. So you dot, blend, dot, blend, dot, blend.

See how my pores have gone bye bye… seriously, this product does work in blurring out the look of large pores. It also gives a slight glow to your face which is rather pleasant. Does leave a slightly greasy feel on my skin but that’s goes away once I put on my loose mineral powder. What I especially like about it – and what got me to plunk down cash for it – was the spf factor (SPF 25 PA++). Having a sunscreen feature is a really nice touch for a primer/base.

The only reason why I don’t use this as often as I do my Biore UV Bright Face Milk (yeah I know.. cheesy name) is due to the ease of application. I’m a lazy person – just in case you didn’t know that already *grin* – and prefer to pore a puddle into the middle of my palm, rub it between my palms and apply. The whole dot, blend, dot, blend thing is just too much for me. Although when I do it, I get a lovely base for makeup that lasts through the day.

*note – as with all other makeup… make sure you use a good m/u remover at the end of the day or you’ll be sorry. I use JustFr0nd’s exfoliating AHA cleanser on my face and a oil/water blend for my eye m/u*

Super Simple EOTD II

Someone… and I won’t say who… complained that I used a LE shade that wasn’t available any more. So here’s a similar look using a regular shade that was is one of my favourites to use as a highlight or even over another color to lighten it up a little.

no base – unless u count sunblock
NYX JEP in baby blue – all over lid
TSS Moonlight Whimsey – patted on lid and blended upwards til the brow bone
MM’s liquid eyeliner in 995
MM’s gorgeous lash mascara 
Maybelline’s Volum’ Express Turbo Boost mascara in black 
Inuovi’s brow pencil in Cocoa (found the name :P)

Sole affair

First up, what I refer to as my cute heels. They aren’t formal at all and not what I expect to see from heels. The brand is North Star which normally sells track/running shoes. Hence the casualness of these I guess.

Like I said in the last post, original price was RM89.90. Got them at a whopping 70% off. So after taking into consideration the FX rate, price for me was S$20/US$14.

Love the teal blue and white. Got a lovely teal long dress that would match pretty much perfectly *happy happy*

and look at the heels. Gotta make sure to practice a little before leaving the house. Haven’t really used heels this high since I’ve had kids and that’s… erm… 9 years ago?

On to something a little more ethnic. If you were to meet a Peranakan woman a couple decades ago, chances are high that she’d be wearing one of these

(pic from here)

Well, personally, I don’t like the old fashioned look of these and prefer to have an open toed pattern (to show of my pretty nails especially after a pedi… yes, I’m vain)

So this is my latest pair of beaded sandals (I’ve got two others. Pics on the way). Actually, I have no need to get these… I just wanted them. And they looked so pretty. So I picked my pattern and my color (you can choose both) and the nice lady made a pair of sandals for me.

See how pretty the little flowers look? And to think someone hand beaded them one by one. Oh the time taken… if I had to do it, my eyes would surely be totally crossed!

Finally, here’s my lovely cheap pair of ‘classy’ heels. They were a “quick! I have to get these” type of buy. One size too big but at S$10 they were seriously a steal. Love the stitching detailing, the buckle and the nice red inside. Had to buy two sets of insoles just to make them a little more wearable.

Haven’t worn any of these shoes yet.. been in a pretty casual mood lately. But they’re sitting pretty on my shoe shelf and I can’t wait to wear them. :)