Coastal Scents weekend sale *update*

Thanks to Grayburn, I just found out there is a Leap Year sale at Coastal Scents - 20% off all makeup brushes!

The sale is good from Friday Feb 29 til Sunday March 2 at midnight.

No idea whether midnight is EST or PST or whatever...I would get the stuff by midnight EST to be on the safe side.

Not sure if I will get anything yet. Thinking of trying the duo fibre brush and possibly the pink kabuki ...haha that brush looks so girly I'll either love it or hate it :P


*Update 3/1/08*

What I bought off Coastal Scents:

Item No.	Item	Qty	Unit Price	Ext. Price
	Duo Fiber Stippling Brush	1	$6.36	$6.36
	Facial cleanser brush	1	$1.99	$1.99
	Chisle Angle Fluff Shadow Brush	1	$1.60	$1.60
	Italian Badger Buffer Brush Large	1	$9.56	$9.56
	Sifter Jars 10 gram with Sifter Seals Options: Choose One::1 Sifter Jar	3	$0.59	$1.77
	Refillable Powder Dispensing Pump Brush Silver	1	$5.56	$5.56
	Eyeliner Brush - Super Fine	1	$1.59	$1.59

Will review the brushes once I try them out :)

i am a shopping freakomaniac

i can't sleep because the cafe/bar next door downstairs is being really loud :( hate hate hate it!

ok enough negativity...

So because i can't sleep, and i saw alienman's post on Silk Naturals' sample/shipping offer, I started shopping...

Right now I have in my cart the following:

• Ultimate Eye Shadow Brush aka Double Ended Synthetic Eye Brush
• Blush sample of Sassy (matte peach)
• Blush sample of Flirt (matte neutral plum)
• 5 empty sample jars with sifters (to transfer my NYX pigments to)

I'm thinking of getting this too but I'm not sure yet if I really need more mineral eyeshadows:

Whisper Pink Clone of MA's Her Ladyship
"It has a pink base with sparks of gold, and gold highlights- and an effect that's really other-wordly. "

Also debating whether to get their Wet/Dry Mineral eyeshadow foiling brush since I don't have too many synthetic eyeshadow brushes right now. Hmm....

The offer is until Sunday so I probably will wait til Saturday to checkout my order.

***

At the same time, for some reason I decided to check out The She Space website since I've been hearing about it from Christiana's blog but never looked at their stuff.

Big mistake.

I ended up with 17 items in my cart. Good thing they're ALL SAMPLES, only $0.50 cents each and just $1.50 shipping to Canada.

They do have a 1 week processing time right now though, so I won't be getting them anytime soon.

I must say the colours look gorgeous on the website! Plus Christiana has been doing really pretty looks with them so I hope these are as pigmented as I think they are.

***

Before I forget, I did get my T'estimo Frame Impact Eyes 01 Green palette in the mail today!

I took pictures and will do a review soon :)

And why am i shopping freakomaniac? if the above hasn't yet convinced you that is.
Because a few hours after receiving it I went and bought more stuff off AdamBeauty.com -.-

He does things really quickly, I got a confirmation within 45 minutes that my order had been processed and will be shipped out.



Whoa.

I just went back to AdamBeauty.com to get the picture of the palettes off his site, and the T'estimo palette in Purple now has the sold out sticker. That means I snagged the last one! Wow I can't believe I could've missed it if I had waited. Now I feel a bit better about ordering so soon again :)

So this is what the stuff should look like:

T'estimo Frame Impact Eyes palette 03 Purple

Kate Square Cut Liner in BR-2 Natural Brown




Lavshuca Eye Colour Select in PK-1 Pink

face of a day from the past

This eyeshadow colour combination was inspired by one of Rolos' looks on ABB. I miss her posts, they always motivated me whenever I was feeling makeup burnout...

She did a look with Parrot eyeshadow and some purple. I loved it because I would never have thought Parrot would go with purple, but it surprisingly does. So I tried it a few days ago.





This one below without falsies, the one with the falsies came out blurry.



Now with falsies.





I love the Andrea Modlash 53's. They are just a little bit more dramatic than your natural lashes but you can still fool people into thinking they are real. I found that these ones actually looked more natural now that they have been a bit broken in, compared to when they were brand new.





What I used:

[Eyes]

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• MAC Zonk Bleu! on innermost corner of eyelid to brighten
• MAC Parrot on inner half of eyelid
• Everyday Minerals Snowflakes eyeshadow on outer half of eyelid
• MAC Modern Heir eyeshadow on outer V (very small amount...you can hardly see it.)
• Andrea Modlash #53 lashes
  

I also added the silver shade from the MAC Royal Assets Cool Eyes palette as highlight later but its too subtle to show up here.

[Lips]

• some random lipbalm
• MAC 3N lipstick

[Face]

• some crappy foundation that was a shade too dark for me thus not worth listing
  
• MAC Emote blush to contour
• Everyday Minerals Best Friends blush

I would definitely have used a cooler pink blush in retrospect...but it was too late to switch.


Picture of the eyeshadows I used...because i took the picture so it has to go someplace :P

L-R: Zonk Bleu!, Parrot, Snowflakes, Modern Heir




Oh, and I found the trick to taking pictures that show the colour true to life....I just told it I was a plant. Yes, a plant.

I think this will depend on your camera though. What I did was to set my camera on the 'Foliage' setting. Seriously, the colours were so true to life. The only thing is my skin does look more orangy, so I had to lighten the contrast a little or look like a tangerine!

I haven't tried using the Foliage setting in dim lighting. But I think in that case it would be better to use the Indoors setting.

rant

i wish my bf would take pictures with me.


there i said it :(


he doesn't like taking pictures, but still he would do it with friends if he was on a vacation. so why not take pictures with me on special occasions at least?

its such a little thing, i know, but it really, really gets to me sometimes.

i want something you know, to look back on later. the way i see it is, the first couple years when you're in a relationship is when its fun and thrilling right? so why can't i at least have some tangible memento of it?



anyway......just had to get that out of my system.

Review: Lancome Aqua Fusion creams

I have been using Lancome Aqua Fusion cream since last August - about 7 months now. I have the non-SPF version, which I use some nights, and the SPF version, which I use whenever I know I'm going to be using foundation that day.

Background on my skin type: My skin type is what I call 'combination-dry', where my face tends to be dry but the t-zone and chin get oily at the end of the day. But my skin will still get super oily all over when I travel to tropical climates.

(FYI, my HG lotion used to be Ponds moisturizing lotion with SPF, but they discontinued it a few years ago. I've tried other lotions/creams from Neutrogena, and Clarins, but they usually leave my face a bit shiny/feeling a little greasy.)

Product(s):

AQUA FUSION CREAM and AQUA FUSION CREAM SPF - Continuous Infusing Moisturizer

Claims:

"Infuse your skin with moisture! This ultra-charged moisturizer delivers 16 skin-essential elements including Calcium, Zinc and Manganese to keep skin hydrated all day. Oil-free, water-smooth texture leaves skin glowing with health."

According to the Lancome Canada website, this product is targeted for normal to combination skin.

Ingredients: (this is for the SPF version, as I didn't have the box for the non-SPF one.)

Appearance:

Light bluish gel-like consistency.

The SPF version tends to be more liquidy and runny. See comparison picture below: you can see how the surface of the SPF version is smooth even though I just scooped some out. The non-SPF version is stiffer and you can still see the area where I just scooped some up.

Despite the difference in texture, I find both creams are equally moisturizing. The only thing that bothers me is that the SPF one is a bit hard to scoop out since it is more runny.

Pleasant fragrance. I don't know how to describe the smell, but I can say its more fruity than floral. It doesn't quite fit into any of these categories though. Personally, I love the fragrance! That was what first drew me to the cream. Those with sensitivities to fragrances might have to test a sample of it first.

Performance:

Absorption rate into my skin is fast, feels very light on my skin. Most other moisturizing creams tend to feel heavy. I normally have a paranoia of creams clogging my pores. but not this one, because it feels so light and clean.

Moisturizes my face without leaving a shiny look on my face. Doesn't feel greasy at all.

My skin tends to look a bit cakey in winter with foundation. However I find that the cakiness is reduced if I use this to moisturize after washing my face in the morning.

Price:

US$37 on Sephora.com. I usually like to wait for the department store counters to put on their gift with purchase promotion to repurchase this product as it is quite expensive especially in Canada. I don't remember the exact price I paid at The Bay, but after including the 13% sales tax we have in Ontario :( , it ended up costing over CDN$50. At least I got a gift with purchase...

Can also be purchased on Ebay for less - my first jar was off Ebay.

Overall:

Does it meet its claims?

Yes - it does give the "oil-free, water smooth" hydration to my face. I don't know if those "16 essential elements" are the key to it, but whatever is in there works well for my schizophrenic skin.

Pros: -

• Feels light on skin, absorbs quickly
• Very moisturizing
• No greasy feel, does not leave a shiny look on the face

Cons: -

• Expensive
• Pot format, which is less sanitary (I transfer my product into smaller jars usually to lessen contamination.)
• Fragrance may be overwhelming for some (make sure you are okay with the scent before buying)
  

If you have oily skin but am still interested in this product, there is also an Aqua Fusion Lotion, which is for oilier skins. It comes in a pump style bottle so it is also more sanitary.

update and a green Everyday Minerals eotd/fotd

I went snowboarding on Friday and now my legs are stiff. Didn't remember hitting my knee at all but now there is a nice bruise on the right one. Strangely, my butt was bruised on saturday but now its gone, while the knee bruise and stiffness only started showing itself today. weird...

Haven't been online very much the past couple days. mostly because I was mentally wiped out from work, and now physically wiped out from snowboarding (because I am such an out of shape wuss...lol)

I did get off my (bruised) butt though and make myself a dinner of chicken wings and baked potatoes :) I stupidly overdosed on the pepper, which i shouldn't have because my skin has been looking irritated lately. There are some reddish patches on my cheeks now, which really worries me because my skin doesn't do that very often. I think my system is too "heaty" right now so i really should've cut down on hot/spicy foods. any suggestions on what cooling foods i should make for myself?

I hope my T'estimo palette will be in my mailbox when i get off work tomorrow...but I think its too soon for that.

I sorted out my traincase last weekend, and am a bit depressed at how little of it I actually use :( Having many blushes and eyeshadows are fine by me, but I have a lot of drugstore lippies/lipglosses that just don't work for me :( and they just sit there making me feel guilty about not using them. I might have some kind of clearance sale / giveaway just to get rid of those things that don't work for me. Will be looking into shipping costs first, and also maybe i'll wait until i have a bit more time to spare.

Oh and I also just revamped my labels, so it should be easier to navigate :)

Green EOTD/FOTD:





Picture is a bit blurry...because at the time of taking this pic i hadn't figured out the trick of taking clear, true to life colour pictures. But I discovered it today so my next couple FOTDS will be better :)



Here you can see that the Ardell InvisiBand Fairies are super crazy long...a bit too long for me to wear during the day. At least not in the company of people I know that is :P



I love MAC 3N lipstick. It is the FIRST and ONLY nude lipstick that, without any concealer, shows up true to life on my lips, and mutes them just the right amount. Am wondering if I really need a backup of it though...I don't really believe in backups because I figure there's always going to be a new product that is just as good by the time the old one runs out. But then ...a good lipstick is such a rarity for me...



Yeah...my lips are dry :S but see, even though they are dry, 3N doesn't show up cakey at all. I'm so surprised that it even shows up because its a lustre and I always thought lustres are the sheerest MAC lipstick formula. A lot of frost lipsticks don't even show up on me (like Sandy B. for example...). I have a hunch now that it is the shimmery lipsticks that are sheerest and don't show up on me, rather than whether it is lustre versus frost.

I gotta say thanks to blogger psychoexgirlfriend though, the only reason I checked out 3N lipstick was a comment she left on one of my entries. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone back to check it out again...so thank you :)

For anyone thats interested here's what I used for the eyes:

• Wet n Wild Mega Eyes Envy cream eyeshadow all over mobile lid as base
• Everyday Minerals Pressed Olive eyeshadow on inner corner
• Everyday Minerals Cypress eyeshadow on middle of lid
• Silk Naturals Lush eyeshadow on outer corner of lid
• Everyday Minerals Tinsel Time eyeshadow in crease
• Ardell Invisiband Fairies with DUO clear lash glue and Sephora Lash Placement tool :)

lemmings lemmings lemmings *and unrelated edit*

This look is so pretty, it makes me want to rush out and buy the Shiseido hydro-powder eyeshadow now...

Hydro-powder eyeshadow in Violet Visions



And beauty blogs are just so addictive! I was going through A Touch of Blusher again and found a post on Maybelline Dream Mousse Eyeshadow and now i just have this 'need' to go to the drugstore and get it....Except that I did, but the Shoppers Drug Mart near me doesn't carry them! :( I don't think they're discontinued, since they are still on the Maybelline website. I probably just need to visit a bigger drugstore.

Lilac Cloud is the colour I want:



I like the other turquoise colour she got, but I don't see it on the Maybelline website so I must not obsess over it...

Also, I saw this Pop palette because of the Muse and now i want it :S
Mostly because I think it would've worked better than the NYX for the Clarins look I did previously.

Pop Beauty Lid Neon palette



But I have to resist all of these except the Maybelline perhaps. Reason being the closest Sephora and MAC is too far to get to since my bf isn't here to drive me for the next couple weeks...lol. Perhaps this is actually good for my addiction then....:(

And I want my T'estimo palette already! This week is going by too slowly :S

Its supposed to arrive early next week hopefully, as long as Canadian customs doesn't give it a hard time.

*Edit* Psst! if you are a fan of Snowkei, she just posted what seems to be her MAC collection. It seems less than I thought, but she does have tons of pigments. Also I guess if this is just MAC I would love to see what she has from other brands :)

online shopping and pictures of dinner

Today, I caved and ordered this:

Kanebo T'estimo Frame Impact Eyes - the 01 Green palette



(Picture from Ebay seller fubsypig, but I ordered it off AdamBeauty as it was cheaper.)

In my defence, the T'estimo line is being discontinued by Kanebo, and this was an older palette from the Spring 2007 lineup, so I had to get it sooner rather than later...in case they ran out.

Also, there were so many good reviews for the Frame Impact palettes in general...I couldn't resist. I did already ask my bf to get me the purple one from Japan, because it sounded so good in the review by A Touch of Blusher. But I didn't want to add the green one onto the already-too-long list...

Apparently these consist of a cream base (the left pale shade), a cream liner (the right shade), and the two colour shades in the centre.

I can't wait for this to arrive....but man, it'll probably take like 3 weeks :S

***

Here are some pictures that I took when I went for dinner with the bf. We went to an Italian restaurant on Wednesday night, because he had to pack on V-day. No fotd though, because there wasn't enough time for me to go home and change or prettify myself after work lol.

Appetizer - Bruchetta (x 4 pc...I took the pic of the last piece :) , was not bad)



Appetizer - Calamari (fried calamari is always good! The dip was good too)



My main course - Rack of Lamb (not too bad)



His main course - Veal (tasted mediocre)



Dessert - Tiramisu (bad decision, I should've gone for creme brulee instead...this had too much cream)

today was playday.

I'm so tired...I'm heading to bed after this, I hope. Am so glad tomorrow is a statutory holiday :D

Nothing much was accomplished this weekend. I've become such a procrastinator now even though I'm no longer a student and don't have homework anymore :S

However, I was motivated enough to play with some makeup :P Decided to try replicating some looks I've seen online:

Gold-reddish brown look



Me:

I didn't really like how it turned out. I think the colour payoff sucked because I went cheap and used concealer as a base instead of UDPP. Should've foiled the NYX yellow-gold pigment as well, but I'm so lazy...



I find that using concealer on my naturally reddish lips makes me look sick...





I used MAC Sketch eyeshadow to get a reddish brown, but I ended up using too much Brun as well, and killed the red tones :S Oh well.




I don't know why in this picture the inner corner of the eyeshadow looks blocky? but at least the yellow-gold colour comes out better here.

Thinking about it, the colours ended up looking more like this bumblebee look...

What I used:

[Eyes]

Rimmel concealer as base, since I didn't want to waste UDPP
NYX Shangri-la trio - the yellow shade on inner 1/2 of lid
NYX Yellow gold Ultra Pearl Mania loose eyeshadow over the previous
MAC Sketch eyeshadow on outer 1/2 of lid
MAC Brun eyeshadow to darken outer V
ELF Luminous highlighter on browbone
Curled lashes and applied Blinc Kiss Me mascara lightly on upper and lower lashes.

[Face]

Everyday Minerals concealer in Intensive Light all over face
MAC Emote to contour nose and cheekbones
ELF Luminous highlighter on top of cheekbones

[Lips]

Rimmel Recover concealer to mute lipcolour
A bit of Nivea Labello lipbalm to provide a hint of glossiness



Clarins Colour Fizz look
(saw this on Nessa's blog awhile back)



Me:



I need a more pigmented yellow to pull this off. Perhaps MAC Chrome Yellow would've been good.







I like this one better than the first look. I was surprised by how wearable it looked. Only thing I would change is to not bring up the yellow shade as high, if I wear this out. I'd bring it up to only the crease, where the orange is now, and use a more subtle highlight on the browbone.




Lips were a bit off, I'd use a darker blue-pink next time like MAC Mattene 40s Pink with the Cult Fave lipglass instead of NYC.

What I used:

[Eyes]

Rimmel concealer as base
NYX Shangri-la trio - yellow shade all over lid up to browbone
NYX Shangri-la trio - orange shade on outer V
NYX Purple on lower lashline, outer half
NYX Shangri-la yellow and orange on lower lashline, inner half
Curled lashes and applied Blinc Kiss Me mascara lightly on upper and lower lashes.

[Face]

Everyday Minerals concealer in Intensive Light all over face
MAC Emote blush to contour slightly
Everyday Minerals B&B blush

[Lips]

NYC Fragile Pink lipstick
MAC Cult Fave lipglass


Oh and I did these looks on one eye each, so don't mind the other mismatched eye in the full face pictures please? :D

NYX swatches for ABB *edit3*

I finally got around to doing proper swatches of some of my NYX stuff for the NYX swatch collection on ABB. Didn't post any of my trios though because most of them have already been covered by other people. I did actually do the trio swatches ages ago, but never got around to editing and submitting them.

*edit* After looking through the ABB entry again today I realised I have two trios that aren't covered there yet, so I'll be editing and posting those too :)

*edit2* Shangri-la eyeshadow trio:



*edit3* Lakemoss eyeshadow trio:



I know they all look the same...:( This trio disappointed me. The colours are clearly different in the pan but they look black when swatched. I included that swatch of MAC Fertile to show that it looks kinda similar to the purple-black shade, in case anyone wants a dupe of Fertile.


NYX singles:




Comparison of Prune single eyeshadow with the Prune from the trio:

For some reason the colour of Prune is pinker in the trio, and more purple in the single...I don't know why. I initially bought the single, then found that I wanted the other two colours in the trio so i have both....which look nothing alike after all.




NYX Ultra Pearl Mania loose eyeshadows:

The yellow gold is a bit more yellow than what this picture shows.




NYX Jumbo eye pencils, lip pencil, liquid liner:



As I've mentioned before the liquid liner really sucks, so I'd advise against getting it. The lip pencil I found is too shimmery, but I might be able to make it work as a base and layering a light, non shimmery colour over it.

recent acquisitions

don't mind the title, i'm just bored with using the word 'haul' all the time lol. I guess that means I buy too much stuff.

***

i borrowed a whole stack of animes from my bf in case I got bored:



Anyway we didn't really celebrate V-day because he had to pack for his trip that night. But on Wednesday we did have dinner. Also before that, we stopped by the mall because I had already mentioned to him I wanted to get something from MAC that day. He was nice enough to pay for it too :)



I got the Sassed-up iridescent powder, and Cult Fave lipglass.



Originally I was going to get the Rollickin Paint pot instead of the lipglass, but the texture felt drier than I had thought. It also didn't look as wearable for me when swatched on my skin. The lipglass on the other hand was really pretty colour so I decided to get it anyway despite the disappointing packaging.

You can see here the design is a label that goes around the lipglass cap:



The top part of the label even sticks out a bit :S



Not good, because I'm the type that picks at stuff like that. But I guess even if I end up ruining the sticker, the MAC logo is still somewhat unique compared to the ones on the permanent products.

Besides MAC, I also hauled some drugtore items over the past few weeks:

• Castor oil (to try the oil cleansing method featured on Mrs Lynne's blog)
• Glycerine (to make homemade mixing medium)
• Jamieson's Vitamin E cream, 30,000 IU, For dry to very dry skin
• NYX Pearl Mania pigment in Yellow gold
• Bonnebelle eye liners in Indigo and Stonewashed
• Nivea LaBello Hydrocare lipbalm

Also pictured is the sample of Calamine soap I received from Northwest Orca Soaps, haven't tried that out yet though.

The drugstore close to where I live was clearing out its stock of Valentine's day chocolate. I saw these and had to have 'em :)





Among all the Marvel heroes, I like Spider-Man the best :)

I have this in my shower:



The shower in my apt is the crappiest, but this usually helps cheer me up, haha :P