33 days

I had 3 of the most stressful/tiring days at work so far....

so I caved last Sunday :P

BUT, hey I made it to 33 days without buying any new makeup lol.


My haul from Sunday - I went to the MAC Pro Store and got:

1. Pink Pearl pigment (my first full size pigment!)
2. Lip Erase in Dim (I love it :) works way better than concealer for me).
3. samples of Naval Blue pigment and Silver pigment





Also, my skin keeps acting up (due to stress probably) and Everyday Minerals Intensive formula just doesn't provide enough coverage in those situations. So, I decided to order some samples from Buff'd Cosmetics, since I've heard they have heavier coverage. Samples were $1.50 each, including shipping.


And finally, I decided to venture onto Facial Shop. I'd been avoiding that website during my ban because I knew I would find something I wanted there. Of course, I found several things I wanted:

Shiseido Hydro Powder in Glistening Sand, and Bare Pink (they were listed for $18.99!)
Laneige Snow Radiant Blusher in 002 (a baked blush similar to MSFs)
Christian Dior Diorissime Ready-to-Wear palette from Fall 2007


On a non-makeup note, I wanted to order some circle lenses last week, but none of the styles I wanted were in stock anymore :( I'll have to wait until they email me when their new stock arrives.


And I already have a list of stuff I need to shop for this weekend - Naughty Nauticals @ MAC; a pink lipstick because NicNic and Psychoexgirlfriend just make it look so good; and a present for the bf's bday in a few weeks. I know what to get him, but I don't know how to choose it :S Guys are so hard to shop for!

Ilurvemakeup's Pink/Purple Challenge

My entry for Lurve's Pink/Purple challenge: - Tutorial for the eyeshadow portion of this look at the bottom :)


First, a full summary of what I used:

[Face]

Everyday Minerals concealer in Intensive Light
Everyday Minerals foundation in Light Winged Butter Intensive
Silk Naturals Perfecting Powder

MAC Blush in Emote to contour cheekbones
Everyday Minerals blush in Photo Album

[Eyes]

Urban Decay Primer Potion (not pictured)
Shiseido Hydro-powder eyeshadow as base
MAC Pink Pearl pigment
MAC Naval Blue pigment
MAC Passionate eyeshadow
MAC Beautiful Iris eyeshadow
random pale pink eyeshadow to highlight brow (not pictured)

Blinc Kiss Me mascara (not pictured)

[Lips]

Nivea LaBello lipbalm (not pictured)
MAC Lip Erase in Dim
Coffret D'or lipstick and gloss in 06 Peach Blossom













***

Tutorial for the eyeshadow portion of this look:

What you will need:

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion (not pictured)
2. Shiseido Hydro-powder eyeshadow in Violet Visions
3. MAC Pink Pearl pigment (PRO, Heatherette)
4. MAC Naval Blue pigment (PRO)
5. MAC Passionate eyeshadow
6. MAC Beautiful Iris eyeshadow
7. any light pink eyeshadow (not pictured)






1. Apply UDPP all over eye from lashline to brow




2. Apply Shiseido Hydro-powder in Violet Visions all over mobile eyelid. This acts as the colour base. Pat on extra product on the centre of the lid to make the purple very visible.





3. Apply MAC Pink Pearl pigment on inner half of eyelid and blend





4. Apply MAC Naval Blue pigment on outer V and blend





5. Apply a tiny bit of MAC Passionate on inner corner of eye and blend.




6. Use some MAC Beautiful Iris to help blend the transition between the colour on the lid, and the browbone highlight.

Then use any pale pink eyeshadow to highlight the brow.




7. Blend as necessary, and add more colour as needed.




8. Curl your lashes and add mascara/falsies, aaaaand you're done! :)









Hope you liked it Lurve ;)

Review: Coffret D'or 3D Lightning Eyes

One of the palettes my bf got me from Japan was the 3D Lightning Eyes palette in 02 (blue) by Coffret D'or. Its another brand by Kanebo, but a more mid-range brand. This cost about $35, while the Lunasol palette I reviewed earlier falls into a more expensive price range ($55-ish).


I love the exterior of this palette - the shiny mirrored finish and the touch of pink.




Too bad the bottom part has to be black plastic. I guess you get what you pay for - the more expensive Lunasol palette was a metallic finish all over.

Inside it has two shades for the eyelid, one for lining/smoking out the eye, and two highlighting shades. The lining shade could also be used for the crease instead if you prefer your own liner.




Swatches:

The colours are shimmery, but not glittery at all. The one exception is the lighter highlighting shade on the left - it does have some bigger sparkles in it. The other shades are mostly shimmery and more on the sheer side.





I just did my regular subtle stuff with this....I could have gone more dramatic with this I know, but it wouldn't have been appropriate for where I was going.






With flash the shimmer is more apparent:




The box does come with a suggested method of application - see diagram below. I like how you don't even need to know how to read it because they provided pictures and numbered the shades accordingly.




I find it interesting that they suggest you use the highlighting shade to brighten the undereye area. I tried it and although it doesn't cover as much as a proper concealer would, it does help reduce dark circles a bit without giving a cakey/crepey look. I'm having problems finding a concealer that won't crease on me so this will help me out for the time being.


Another thing I like is how it offers 2 dual tip applicators, shaped appropriately for their intended purpose. The applicators are quite sturdy and I didn't have to use my brushes for the eyeshadow shades. I also like how the brush side can be used to blend as well as apply :) I don't think I've ever seen palettes with brush applicators except MAC, and even then they only come with 1 brush, while this has 4 applicator ends.




However, if you use the darkest shade as a liner, you would probably want to use your own brush, because there isn't an appropriate applicator for it. I tried using the tip of the smallest sponge to line, but it could't apply the colour very well. Or you can just use it to darken/define your crease.

Overall, if pigmentation matters to you, you might want to consider something else. But I like it because its a versatile everyday palette - I can use it for day, and add the darkest shade later for a smokey night look. Also, I think the sheerness of the colours makes the blue/green colours more wearable for those who normally avoid blue.


Other colours that the palettes come in are pink, purple, gold, and gold/silver. NicNic has done a review on the pink one, and other bloggers like A Touch of Blusher and My Women Stuff have covered the purple variation. My Women Stuff also has the same blue one.

Dior!

I love the packaging of Dior's Detective Chic series! I have two now, but am looking forward to when they release more :)

These are last year's releases, I think:

Edit: The white palette is from Fall 2006, while the black was Fall 2007 and is still available at Sephora.com.




My most recent acquisition is the white one - (I got this off Ebay before Easter weekend so nope I'm still doing good on my makeup ban, in fact I'm at 30 days now :P)

According to the box, its a highlighting palette for face and eyes.







I hope they'll put out an eyeshadow one with more exciting shades later this year. The eyeshadow one that I have is composed of neutrals and greys, and half the colours are matte. Great for work, but kinda boring so I hardly use it. Got this one back in November.





Swatched:

Review: Coastal Scents brushes

I've finally tested most of the brushes I bought from Coastal Scents. There are two I still haven't had the time to make use of - the refillable dispenser brush and the angled chisel eyshadow brush. These are what I've tried so far.

1. Eyeliner brush
2. Facial Cleanser Brush
3. Italian Badger Buffer Brush
4. Duo Fiber Stippling Brush


1. Eyeliner brush

I was annoyed with this brush at first because when it arrived the bristles were bent due to the inadequate packaging of the shipment. However I managed to reshape it after washing so it looks alright now.

This brush works well for lining. The tip is firm enough that you can draw either a thin line or a thicker line depending on the pressure you put on it. Also I like that the handle is short, that way it doesn't get in the way when you're leaning close to the mirror to draw that line.

Overall: Decent lining brush

Here I used it with Indianwood Paint Pot to line my upper lashline.





2. Facial Cleanser Brush

The brush head is a good size for exfoliating my face, and it does come with a cap which would be handy when travelling. However, I don't like this. The ends of the bristles feel rough on my face. I would use this only with a light hand, but still I feel a bit paranoid I might be doing more harm to my skin than good.

Overall: Definite no-buy



See those little fibres that are longer than the rest? Looks like sloppy worksmanship to me.


3. Italian Badger Buffer Brush

From L-R: MAC 188. MAC187SE, Sephora Stippling Brush, Coastal Scents Duo Fibre brush, Coastal Scents Italian Badger Buffer.




The italian badger buffer is quite fluffy yet dense at the same time. The bristles are nice and soft. This is my first flat top/buffer brush, so I'm no expert at using it. I find that I need to use a stippling brush first to apply the mineral makeup on my skin, before using this to 'buff' the foundation in. I can't use this to apply the foundation directly otherwise my skin looks cakey. But for buffing purposes, it works quite well.

Overall: Great buffer brush, especially at that price.



4. Duo Fiber Stippling Brush

You might notice from the previous picture, and this one, that the CS brush looks a bit more fluffy than the other duo fibre brushes.

L-R: MAC 187SE, Sephora Stippling brush, CS Duo Fibre brush



Actually, in real life the brush head is quite a bit more fluffy than my other duo fibre brushes. The bristles do feel very soft and gentle on the skin. However I actually find it hard to apply mineral makeup with it. Its hard to blend foundation on the skin with it because the bristles don't offer much control over the application. As a result, my makeup looks quite cakey if I try to use this.

I don't like using this for blush either. The head is too fluffy so it distributes blush over too large of an area, over my entire cheekbone which I don't want. I want the colour to just be on the top 2/3 of my cheekbones because otherwise my face just looks too red/pink for my taste.

So....I didn't think I'd say this, but I dislike this! I don't even know what to do with it now, since I can't use it for foundation, blush, or powder. Maybe I'll try it applying liquid foundation with it and see how it does.

Overall: Would not repurchase or recommend.

Note that a common complaint for this brush is shedding and some bleeding of the black dye during washing. The brush shed a little when new, but after washing it 1-2 times it didn't shed anymore. It does turn the water a little grey when washing, but not much. Doesn't leave a stain on the paper towel on which its drying either so that isn't a problem.

***

I have noticed though, that Coastal Scents brushes tend to generate very polarized feedback. Either you love them or hate them. It seems that the quality of their brushes can vary widely from batch to batch. So...read up on other reviews first before you decide to buy!

my camera

Tagged by Christiana to share what type of camera I use to take my blog pictures!

I use the Canon Digital Ixus 860 IS, otherwise known as the Canon Powershot SD870 IS in North America. The card slot of my old Canon got screwed up, so I picked this up last year when I was in Asia. It was a good deal because I didn't have to pay tax there, and the store threw in a the leather case, a mini tripod, and 1G memory card for free :)








And..... I'm tagging the following bloggers to share theirs :)

Ilurvemakeup
Fei
Nic Nic
Her Peachieness
Petitebelle

Tagged: 6 fun facts about me

Tagged by Mayaari :)

1. Things I'm passionate about:

• cosmetics :P
• food
• fantasy novels
• psychology

2. Books I've recently read:

• Freakonomics, Steven Levitt
• Confessions of a Shopaholic

Thats about it...although I am planning to read Charlotte's Web and possibly catch up on the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia. Don't know when I'll have the time though.

3. Songs I could listen over and over again:

• Coldplay - all 3 albums
• Norah Jones - first two albums
• John Mayer - first album
• Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape, 4 in the Morning, Early Winter
• Soundtrack from Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core
• Theme from Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke
  

4. Traits I'm attracted to in my best friends:

• Reliable
• Considerate
• Fun to shop with ;)
• Comfortable to be around
• Non-judgemental, open to different points of view
• Respectful of others
  

5. Things I say often:

• what the f....
• what the h.... (you get the idea :P)
• stupidity.
• ____ of crap (lol I'm starting to sound so negative, aren't I?)
• umm...
• really?
• _____, I think. (even when I'm sure :S )
  

6. Things I'd like to do before I die: (ok, why does this have to sound so morbid?...)

• Own my own place, be it an apartment or house
• Live in France, and Japan again, for a few years
  
• Own my own business / or co-own with a partner
• Visit Korea, Hong Kong, and Western Europe
• Visit New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore again

Back in high school, I used to have a super long list of stuff I wanted to do, but I guess over the years my priorities have changed. Now I can barely think of what I want to do now. I'm just so unsure what to do with my life.

EOTD + some lemmings

Question from Anonymous:

can u tell me the address for the whole food store in toronto???

thanks!

The Whole Foods store I go to is at Hazelton Lanes in the Bloor-Yorkville area downtown, 87 Avenue Rd.

They have pretty nice long opening hours and free customer parking if you spend over $25, check out the details here :)

***

I'm pretty happy that the upcoming collections for MAC aren't that exciting. I was a little excited for Naughty Nauticals after seeing the promo pics, but then Specktra just posted some swatches of the products and they don't look so good anymore. Only the sea green Mutiny pigment and blue eyeshadow is calling out to me. But I'm gonna try waiting until end of May to get them when my makeup ban ends.

Neo Sci-Fi on the other hand made me laugh. Orange packaging?? What is MAC thinking? LOL I'm pretty happy about that because I know it won't tempt me at all. Its like a failed follow up to last year's Moonbathe.

Cool Heat is probably the only upcoming collection that I'm excited about so far. In fact its the first MAC collection which I want almost everything, though that'll probably change because the products never look as good as the promo pictures. Right now I really want all the blue, violet, and green eyeshadows, plus 2 of the slimshines. Anyway if you haven't already, check out the pictures and details from Temptalia.

Did you hear about that Dress Camp collection being sold out on MAC Online within a matter of hours? I wasn't excited about it from the preview pictures, until I saw the lipglasses on Specktra Beauty Blog last night, but by then it was too late. Oh well, more money for other things :)


Moving on...

Here's a EOTD I did for fun. I was trying to go for a look similar to this one, but failed. But its still a more colourful look than my usual. Constructive feedback welcome :)














What I used:

Urban Decay Primer Potion
NYX Aquamarine trio - lightest blue shade all over mobile lid up to crease
NYX Spring Leaf on middle of lid
MAC New Vegas MSF on inner corner
NYX Aquamarine trio - darkest blue shade - very lightly blended on outer V
Lorac Greatest Hits CD2 white shade on browbone
Blinc Kiss Me Mascara


***

I'm getting tired of my Freshlook amethyst contacts. I still like how they look, but they can get uncomfortable after wearing them a few hours. And even though I bought them soon after my eye exam a year ago, I got my eyes tested again at the end of that same year and my prescription had changed for the better... Meaning these are too strong for my eyes now, wth :( And I still have 4 more monthly pairs to get through.

I'm thinking of getting some circle lenses now since they seem to be more comfortable than Freshlooks. I already have circle lenses, kind of - the Acuvue Define ones, which I like but I only have a 30 day supply of them as they are the daily disposables.

Anyway, I want to get 2 colours, brown and black so they're not too obvious. I was considering these ones:

BT02 Brown
Dali Brown
DM23 Brown

BT01 Black
Magic Black

What do you guys think? Any other suggestions? I'm looking for natural looking ones that won't make me look too spaced out. And for the browns, I don't want something thats too light brown because my eyes are more on the dark brown side. Although the BT02s do look kinda light....Its sorta hard to tell from those website pictures though, which is why a lot of my choices are the ones I've seen on fellow bloggers :)

Mini Q&A and Burts Bees review

Mini Q&A:

Fiona wanted to know how much shipping for Everyday Minerals costs to Canada - it cost me $5 for the sample kit. The last time I ordered, I got stuff worth $30+ so it cost me about $8 then. You can get an estimate by checking out, as long as you don't click on the Confirm Payment button just yet :)

Also, Anonymous wanted to know how much I got my NYX pigments for. I got mine for $5.99 at PharmaPlus / Rexall. Kind of expensive, but those are the only stores that sell NYX in Canada :( But its a LOT cheaper if you order them off Ebay or CherryCulture.com.

***

Ok, I've decided to finally do the review on the Burt's Bees shampoo even though I feel like I don't have much to say about it :S I was thinking it'd be a lot more useful if I had gotten the matching conditioner, but it wasn't in stock at the drugstores I went to.

I did see it at Whole Foods Market, but Whole Foods was charging a ridiculous price for the Burts Bees stuff :( The shampoos and their matching conditioners were $12.99, while the regular price at Shoppers is $9.99....a $3 markup??

So I ended up buying a different conditioner from Whole Foods to try - the Shea butter one. This is probably also overpriced at $14.99, but it was a Burts Bees product I haven't seen in any other stores, and I really needed a good rich silicone-free conditioner. This one doesn't come with a matching shampoo so I figured it should go well with any other BB shampoos.


Burt's Bees More Moisture Raspberry and Brazil Nut shampoo, & Shea Butter and Grapefruit Hair Repair conditioner:




Ingredients for More Moisture shampoo:



This is the second Burt's Bees shampoo I've used. Previously I tried their Colour Keeper shampoo. It smelled awesome and cleaned my hair fine, but didn't do much to prolong my haircolour despite the claims.

Since my hair isn't coloured anymore (except for the ends that are growing out anyway), I decided to try something else. I wanted to continue with Burts because I like the fact that its sulfate-free. I've heard that sulfates dry out your hair more and since I already have dry, fine hair, it needs all the help it can get.

The shampoo cleans my hair nicely. Lol I don't know what else to say - other than I like that it does what a shampoo should do minus the sulfates :)

Note that Burts Bees shampoos, because they are sulfate free, do not foam up as much as regular shampoos. So it might feel like you need to use a lot more product to clean your hair. However thats not really the case - you just have to get used to using the same amount but with less lather present.

Only thing that bothered me the first few times I used it is the scent. I was expecting a raspberry scent, which IS there, but its not quite the usual raspberry scent you get from lotions and stuff. I thought the scent smelt a bit 'fishy' at first lol :) So I read the label and they mention that the raspberry extract contains omega 3 fatty acids! I'm thinking that might be why.....Does anyone know if omega 3 fatty acids smell fishy even if they come from non-fish sources? Hmm....But anyway, the smell is fine after you get used to it. Just take a whiff at the store before you buy it to make sure that you will be ok with the scent :)


Ingredients for Hair Repair conditioner:




I love this conditioner. I have tried Burt's Bees Colour Keeper conditioner before, and that one sucked :( It didn't condition my hair enough and left it tangly. However this Hair Repair one is much richer, and smells awesome because of the grapefruit scent. It works best if you squeeze out the water in your hair as much as possible before putting the conditioner. I've used it a few times now and it leaves my hair smooth :) I do still use a bit of my usual Kiehl's hair serum oil to smooth the ends but I have a lot less trouble with brushing it due to this conditioning this product does :)

The reason I got this product was because I've read somewhere that you should use silicone free conditioners together with sulfate free shampoos. With regular drugstore shampoos, what they do is strip your hair clean with the sulfates, while the conditioners contain silicone to balance it out. But with a sulfate-free shampoo, using a silicone containing conditioner would add to product buildup and probably make my already fine hair flatter :P

Normally, with regular sulfate containing shampoos, I use Johnson & Johnson's Kids Detangling shampoo because my hair just gets tangled like crazy otherwise. But I hate that it weighs my hair down more and if I use too much, makes my hair feel greasy faster. I believe its because of the silicones in the product. None of these things happen with the Burts Bees, and from looking at the ingredient list, it seems silicone free :)


To summarize - Thumbs up for both products :) Just make sure you are ok with the scent of the More Moisture Raspberry shampoo.

Final note: I don't use any hair styling products like hairspray or mousse or serums at the moment other than the Kiehl's Silk Groom serum, which is oil based. So I'm not sure if it will clean hair effectively if you use a lot of those, since this isn't meant to be a clarifying shampoo. But it works well for a simple haircare routine like mine :)


P.S. To Canadians: Don't buy Burts Bees from Whole Foods - its overpriced. Even the online Canadian site (http://www.forever-natural.com/) is cheaper than Whole Foods. The shampoo is listed for $10.99, which is $1 more than Shoppers Drug Mart but $2 less than Whole Foods Market. Also, if you buy over $50 you can get free shipping!

quick review of Kate gel liners

For Grayburn and others who were interested in the Burt's Bees shampoo I got, the review is coming soon, I promise :) I'm not sure what to write about it though ...I don't know what other people want to know about shampoos? Maybe I need to use it more first too. Also, I want to try the matching conditioner but all the stores that I've been to that carry BB, are out of stock on it :(

Like (g)ezebel, I've been trying to catch up on other blogs too but its tricky. See, I read ALL of them...at work, usually through my google feed reader, shhhh! But I can't comment on them there because I'd have to visit the actual site and that would show up in my history log....Not something I'd want upper management to see if they check it. Sigh. I usually "star" them for later so I can go back to it but right now I have like 300 posts starred lol. Sorry guys :(
So I've been wondering, is there a way to comment on a post through a feed reader??


***

Emilee @ GirlMeetsMakeup.com asked me to review the Kate gel liners I got recently.

I got the purple, gold colours from Japan and then ordered the silver colour online.




So, first thing I noticed about them is they are smaller than MAC Fluidlines. They are a bit cheaper though so I think it evens out. Am a bit too lazy to do the math right now :P

Size omparison with MAC Blacktrack Fluidline:




Swatches and descriptions:

Note that I had to swipe the colour on more than once (about 2-3) times to get a nice unbroken line for the metallic liners. The metallic ones are more similar to glitter liners than gel liners. The purple one is smoother and the colour goes on with 1 stroke but you can build intensity with more swipes.

Silver - like a platinum silver colour.
Gold - is more of a faded/pale-gold colour , not a yellow gold at all.
Purple - reddish purple (i.e. dark purple with reddish shimmer)




Purple liner on top, paired with gold liner on the bottom:






Silver liner on bottom only:




Note that one thing I can't cover yet in this review is the staying power....because I haven't had the chance to wear the liner out on a hot day and see if it lasts (being still cold in Canada and all).

But anyway, I like the colours, which are quite different from the existing MAC Fluidline range. The purple liner goes on quite smoothly like Fluidlines do, so that I would definitely repurchase if they came out with more colours.

The silver and gold liners are more like glitter liners, while the ones from MAC are more gel-like. So these Kate ones are quite unique BUT can be annoying if you don't like the glitter consistency. I personally find it a bit annoying that the product doesn't go on smoothly, but I find liquid glitter liners have the same problem also.

One thing to note is that unlike Fluidlines, the texture of the Kate gel liners seem more suited for being liners only and not bases. The metallic ones would definitely not work as bases since they don't go on very smoothly. The purple is a bit more creamy but still...not quite the same as MAC.

So if you want your products to multitask as bases, stick to Fluidlines.

In summary -

I like the purple one because I know i'm going to use it as a liner only and it works well for that. The metallic ones are super pretty but I'm not a fan of the texture :( They're something to try, but I wouldn't repurchase the metallic ones.