catching up

Thank you for the input on what to do with my hair, I appreciate it :) I still want to do dark hair/curls, but i think i'm going to wait until my hair is healthier. Right now its the ends that are dry with split ends, because I had dyed my hair last year and I also swim sometimes. I think once that part finishes growing out (its halfway there), the newer hair will be better and I can do more with it :)

So for now I'm just gonna cut a new style - I plan to go to my friends' Japanese hairstylist to see if he can do anything new with my hair that I like.

I don't have anything new to share besides the old stuff that I haven't caught up on posting, such as my last haul before my ban started:




Guerlain L'or Radiance makeup base
Free sample - Guerlain Cleansing Milk

Dior Skinflash Radiance pen
Free sample - Fresh High Noon bronzer

MAC Prep & Prime lip exfoliator
MAC Volcanic Ash exfoliator


I've already mentioned the Dior Skinflash pen in my Exes and Loves post, but I really like it! I have really dry skin, including under my eyes and most concealers I've tried crease on me, even high end ones. Now this does crease after several hours, but its much better than the others that creased within an hour.

Comes in a sleek silver tube with a dark blue sleeve to store it in




This is what it looks like when you turn the base of the pen to dispense the product (kinda like those Stila lip glosses)




I got the Guerlain base because I wanted to try a base that for once did not contain dimethicone or other silicones.



The Guerlain makeup base is supposed to have these flecks of 24k gold that melt on your skin upon contact.




It has a nice light texture and scent. However - for my skin it didn't seem to do much as a base. It doesn't exactly smooth out my skin, and I don't think it has anything to control oil for oily skintypes. I think its more to hydrate your skin, as it feels similar to a moisture serum. I've only used it 3 times in total so I'll give it a few more tries before I decide whether to return it.




The MAC lip exfoliator does a nice job of exfoliating, it does what I was hoping the Everyday Minerals lipscrub would do. HoweverI find it annoying that the black scrubbing specks in the MAC stuff tends to cling to my lips afterwards. Right now I tend to reach for it when I realise my lips are dry - which is when I've already put on the rest of my makeup, which is why having to pick off the black exfoliating particles is so annoying. I guess this is something I should be using before washing my face instead.




The MAC Volcanic Ash exfoliator is nice....Now, its not necessarily an amazing exfoliator by any means, I find the scrubbing particles don't do as good a job as the aspirin mask in smoothing my skin. However the smell and the texture of it is addictive. For me its like a mask-exfoliator hybrid that can be used more frequently than the aspirin mask since it is gentler.

One thing I don't like about it though is the jar format. I wouldn't normally care, but because the product is black, and sticks to the lid of the pot, everytime I put the cap back on some black liquid will seep out from the rim of the pot as I screw the cap on. Its annoying because it messes up the area that the pot is sitting on, leaving a black ring on the counter/shelf.



Remember how I exchanged the pigments I got in NY for different colours because I ended up not liking Old Gold and Fuschia? I exchanged them for Cornflower and Rose pigment instead:




Cornflower is a bit similar to Bell Bottom Blue, but it has a pink-purple sheen to the blue. Sorta reminds me of Climate Blue eyeshadow from the Cool Heat collection.

Rose pigment is a bit chunky - similar to Helium, so the colour payoff isn't quite what you'd expect from the pot. I'm still not sure how I'll use this as eyeshadow, but it looks like a colour I can mix with some lipgloss/lipstick :)


L-R: Bell Bottom Blue, Cornflower, Rose






The duochrome in Cornflower photographs better on the fingertips:

(same order as above)