April 2011

Chantecaille Sea Turtle Palette Review and FOTD

April 30, 2011

I have a lot of unopened make-ups, the Chantecaille Sea Turtle palette is one of them. I bought this one from Mecca a while ago but never had the heart to spoil the embossing because it is just too beautiful to look at. It is time for me to use it as I have way too many makeups to be reviewed in the near future.

From a makeup collector point of view, Chantecaille limited edition palettes are pieces of art. Their palettes look and feel like true luxury. Unlike other brands, Chantecaille only release a few palettes a year, the quality has always been consistently superior. What I love the most is the color coordination of their palettes. I rarely come across a face or eye shadow palette where I like every single shade. Chantecaille is an exception – it only comes with the most refined and elegant neutral shades that are designed to enhance your natural beauty.

This palette contains 3 eye shades and 1 cheek shade, all inspired by the beauty of the sea turtles and their nesting grounds.

These shadows are buttery soft and easy to blend. Pigmentation wise they are on the moderately sheer side as they are designed to leave a sheer veil of color on the skin with a subtle glowing effect.

I created a smokey look using this palette – using the champagne color all over my lid, the brown shade over the crease and the dark teal color along my lash line and on the outer v.

Blush swatched on my cheeks, it is a beautiful peachy pink with really fine shimmers and lasted all day on me.

Overall look:

Other products I used:

Primer: Nars

Foundation: Dior Natural Glowing Hydrating

Highlighter: Giorgio Armani Sheer Shimmer in no. 1

Eye Primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Falsies

Brow: Shu Uemura

Lips: YSL Rouge Volupte in no. 30

Chantecaille Sea Turtle palette retails for $120 in Australia, 5% of proceeds will be donated to help WIDECAST ensure the survival of sea turtles.

{ 4 comments }

Labels: CHANTECAILLE • DIOR • FOTD • Giorgio Armani • NARS • Shu Uemura • YSL

Holiday Haul – Beauty

April 28, 2011

I am back! Feeling a little down (don’t want to go back to work..) and still jet lagging. This is just going to be a quick post showing you how many makeups I was capable of buying in 6 days time in Hong Kong and Taiwan:-P I am quite proud of myself this time around because everything I bought was on my wish list, did not buy anything on impulse 😉

I LUURV everything I bought, they are hard to find as a lot of them are Asia Exclusive. I can’t wait to blog about them with better pictures and proper reviews.

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Labels: SHOP

Where have I been?

April 18, 2011

Hi everyone, I know I have been MIA, that is because I am already on my Easter vacation 🙂 I am in the shopping paradise now – Hong Kong, been doing some serious massive shopping! Then I will fly to Taiwan to continue my shopping mission. My last stop will be Langkawi for a 6 days retreat. I am having a great time here but I miss blogging, can’t wait to show you allll the amazing stuff I have bought!

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Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Lipsticks Review – Part 3

April 10, 2011

I was in the shopping mood for more lipsticks today so I made a trip to my favorite department stores, fully tested out the latest sheer lipsticks that seem to be the IT lipstick of the moment- including the revamped Dior Addict Lipsticks; Mac Sheen Supreme Lipsticks ; Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Crystal Lipsticks. In the end I still went back to Chanel and picked up a few more Chanel Rouge Coco Shine! I just think they are the best sheer lipsticks in the market – the formulation is just unbeatable. For a sheer lipstick, the color payoff is excellent after a few swipes. The finish is moist; juicy and watery in a subtle and elegant way, not as wet as lipglosses.

I have previously reviewed and swatched Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in

– Boy; Chance and Evasion here

– Liberte and Aventure here

The 2 newest addition to my Rouge Coco Shine Family are:

– 42 BIARRITZ

– 50 RIVAGE

If I could only wear one shade of lipsticks for the rest of my life – it would be the “my-lips-but-better” shade. Rouge Coco Shine in 50 RIVAGE meets all my requirements – a muted pink shade that brightens up my complexion, makes me look more healthy; energetic and youthful.

Chanel Rouge Coco in Biarritz is my first “fall lipstick” for this year. It looks more brown in the tube than how it translates on to my lips.The sheer formulation gives a soft caramel brown finish. I have a feeling I will reach for this lipstick the most in the next few months.

{ 7 comments }

Labels: CHANEL • LIPSTICK

FOTD – Rosy Cheeks

April 9, 2011

I have a birthday dinner to go tonight, I made an effort to do my makeup hours before so I can take some time to do a few snaps for FOTD. My makeup for tonight is quite natural. Main focus is the rosy cheeks (When I think of Autumn I think of rosy cheek) – eyes and lips are kept neutral as I don’t like to have too much makeup on since my friends usually only wear minimum makeup.

Closeups shots of my eyes

Eye Products:

Too face shadow insurance

Chanel eyeshadow Quad in Spice

Stila smudge pot in Kitten

Lancome eyeliner in brown

Kiss Me Active Girl Mascara in Black on lower lashes

Ardell false eyelashes in Babies Black on upper lashes

Overall look:

Face and Lip Products

Dior Radiant Base along my cheekbones

Dior Nude Natural Glow Hydrating foundation

Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer to highlight my under eye areas

Stila blush in Rose

Rimmel Lipstick in Nude Delight

Chanel Glossimer in Volage

What is your favorite makeup look for Autumn? Would love to hear your thoughts.

{ 3 comments }

Labels: FALSE LASHES • FOTD

April Weekly Haul

April 7, 2011

I want to do more product reviews or FOTDs, but I have been working extremely long hours lately, by the time I get home my face is left with nothing but stress and dust haha. Since I shop almost every week, I think I might as well show you what I have bought lately.

No matter how tired I get, I always have some energy left to shop! I managed to stock up some of my all time favorite products as well as some new products I have been lemming for a while.

Here you go, a group picture.

I love Inglot makeups, can’t rave enough about it! I picked up some beautiful pigments, a gel lipstick and a super moisturizing lip crayon.

Two products from Mecca. My all time favorite world’s best cleanser by Eve Lom – this is my third pot. I am still using other cleansers but I don’t feel secure without this one.

I have never tried the Living Proof haircare line, it sounds really enticing on Mecca’s ads.

Guerlain Radiance concentrate with Pure Gold Makeup Base. What?!! Another primer! I have always been wanting to try out this product, heard so many good things about it.

Reviews and swatches for these products are coming soon 🙂

{ 4 comments }

Labels: Eve Lom • GUERLAIN • INGLOT • Living Proof • SHOP

SKII Cellumination Mask Review

April 5, 2011

After a long day of stressful work, when I am still in the mood to take a picture of myself smiling genuinely..that means I am in lurvvv..with SKII Cellumination Mask-IN Lotion.

It all began from last week, I was flicking through the latest issue of Marie Claire. This product featured in their beauty section just totally caught my attention.

Their description:

GET GLOWING – gives the intense radiance benefits of a face mask, minus the fuss. Simply smooth it on under your moisturizer daily for an instant pick-me-up.

If you ask any makeup artists, I am sure 9 out 10 would suggest you to use the SKII treatment mask before the big events to prep the skin– it just makes a huge difference to your makeup. Pat McGrath always uses the SKII treatment masks on models at every fashion show she does. They are extremely pricey though, $125 for 5 sheets! This product – SKII Cellumination Mask-IN Lotion, seems like a cheaper alternative that allows me to achieve a similar result.

There is no better time to test this product than now. Lately, my skin is getting dryer as the weather is getting cooler. I noticed my makeup appears to be sitting on top of my skin regardless of what products I use. I have been using this product religiously every morning before my toner, and it has totally addressed my skin concerns.. It gives me a radiant complexion by taking away the dullness, dryness and flakiness. I find any moisturizer I use afterwards absorbs into my skin better, and any foundation I use blends in beautifully like my second skin – exactly the same effect as if I just had a mask.

Just for your information, this product retails for $120 in Australia, about the same price as a box of SKII Treatment Masks but you can get much more use out of it.

{ 5 comments }

Labels: LOTION • MASK • SKII

Liquid Keratin Hair Treatment Review

April 4, 2011

Keratin or Brazilian blowout hair treatments have been a phenomenal trend lately – it seems every salon I walk pass in Sydney offers this hair treatment. However with all the controversy around this treatment, I opted for a safer option – Keratin Treatment at Home!

There are a lot of Keratin Treatment Home kits to choose from in the market now. The price ranges from $200 a bottle to $50 a bottle. The one I bought is:

Liquid Keratin 30 Day Straight Smooth Strong and Long Treatment

What is it?

It is a keratin treatment that you can use at home that will keep your hair straighter, shinier, stronger and frizz free for up to 6 weeks. It is a safe and inexpensive at home alternative containing NO Formaldehyde and other harmful chemical ingredients.

Basically you apply this product on your wet hair, completely saturating your hair with this product. Wait for 30 minutes then you can use GHD or any hair straightener to flat iron your hair to activate the ingredients.

My thought:

My first impression when I received the product was – wow what a tiny product (120ml). Comparing this with my body lotin in travel size.

I didn’t use it on my entire hair. I only applied it on a few sections of my hair that was frizzy and really bothered me. I have to say I am quite impressed with the result, as I didn’t really have a high expectation on this product to begin with (simply because I have been disappointed at too many hair products in the past). My hair remained quite straight (still with some waves) and frizz free for up to 3 weeks, the best result starts to fade after 2 weeks, and by the end of 30 days my hair reverts back to its original condition. The biggest improvement was it added superior shine to my hair and a lot easier to manage. It is quite a small bottle – one bottle would only last 2-3 applications for me.

Would I recommend it?

Yes and No. Yes to people who have the same hair type as me, not too frizzy and just want the hair to be more manageable; softer and less frizzy.

No to people who have a whole head of frizzy hair or after the same result as you would get in the salon as I don’t think it would be ‘powerful’ enough.

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Labels: HAIRCARE • KERATIN

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