LOTD: Hello October!

October is here already. Today, I felt like the absolute worst! Perhaps it's the weather or perhaps its my busy schedule lately that took me down. Nevertheless, I went ahead and got ready even though I wasn't stepping out of the house.
I haven't been using eyeshadows lately. I'm always running late these days, that I don't even bother. So I decided to play around with my Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette that I bought a while ago. I have to say, the brow-bone colours/highlighting shadows in this palette seems to be a bit chalky....I ended up using colours from my Naked 1 palette instead. However, the rest of the shadows seem to go on fine, but I wouldn't say they are amazing shadows.
Since it's October, I thought I would do a look that resembles the fall using a green-gold shadow from the romantic eye palette in Honeymoon and a dark copper brown in Ever After, applying this at the outer eye in a horizontal V motion and blending this a lot with Honeymoon.
I evened out my lids with double-eye lid tape. These aren't the best tape in the world because I know you can get ones that are almost invisible, whereas the ones I am using just now, you could see the tape.
I've also fixed my brows (I'm ALWAYS trying to perfect my brows) by following the brow-bone that frames my face.
Lips I've been falling back in love with Revlon's lip butters and today I picked out my all-time favourite: Tutti Frutti. On the face and cheeks, I've use Revlon's Colourstay foundation, Vivo bronzer in Baked Bronze and Sleek blush in from their contour and blush palette in Light.

Now all that would make me feel even better is a bar of Twirl chocolate...sadly there's isn't any near me. 

If you haven't HYPE'd already on my Lookbook.nu.......

What's in my travel pack?

So I'm not always home. And over the years, especially ever since I started uni and I was staying on-campus, I travelled between campus and home (for work at the weekends) a lot(!) thus, I have been trying to solve the problem of HOW to pack my beauty products whilst travelling, or staying over at friends etc etc. 

I'm pretty happy with how my "pack" is these days. It's all very compact, it fits in my handbag neatly (obviously not the dinky wee bags, but one of decent size) and it isn't heavy to walk around with. So if you go between places a lot, you are staying over at your boyfriend's/friends or you're going on holiday- whatever the reason!- I hope this would be helpful.  

As I have mentioned, it is all very compact. Nothing too oversized. Essentially, I have two make-up bags: one is an Estee Lauder snake-skin, thats probably just a little bit bigger than an A5 sheet of paper and the other is a pencil case-like bag that I got from one of my Glossybox a while ago. 

If you wear contacts like me, you should purchase a travel-size bottle of solution, and it's also re-usable, so you can refill when you've finished.

Make-up wipes are the best for when you want to travel light! The Simple Oil-balancing wipes are my favourite as it cleanses my make-up without leaving that sticky residue other wipes do, instead it leaves my skin feeling matte and fresh.  

Here is what's inside the bags!...Surprised?

In the purple zip-bag I normally pack a toothbrush and hoping that other people will have toothpaste, then I have these Muji stack containers where I store my moisturisers, face primer and face wash -I told you it was compact didn't I? Then I shove all my make-up brushes, brow palette, foundation, powder and a blush in it.

In the pencil-case bag, I put in all my pen-like make-up inside. So concealers, mascaras, gel/kohl/liquid liners, tweezers, Carmex and there's space for my Shu Uemura lash curler! Normally I would put in my favourite lipstick of the week in there too.
If I remember, I try to bring my own face cloth because I somehow feel silly asking for a face-cloth, so I'd rather bring my own.

Unless I knew I was going to somewhere special or if it was to some special occassion, this is generally what I take with me. I hardly wear eye-shadows or false lashes these days as I feel there isn't an actual need especially when I'm always in a rush.

Happy 1st September folks! Can't believe the year has gone by so quickly!

Favourite Product of the Week: Refresh!

FPOW!

This week's favourite is Shu Uemura's Depsea Rose mist. I've had this for a while now, but neglected it until recently. I started using it again because lately my skin is acting up again and is looking rather dull due to too many late nights which has caused me to be even more lazy with my skin care routine. 

I use this with and without make-up on and it basically helps re-moist my skin and it gives a refreshing feeling after (probably because of it's lovely scent).
.Now, if I am honest, I wouldn't say this product is totally amazing or it has made a huge difference to my skin, but I feel that it's very handy to have when you are on the go and you need a refresher and re-moist. What is also good is that you could use it for your hair and body too. 

Shu Uemura offers other scents too, for example: mint, lavender, chamomile... and one that is unscented for those who do not like anything scented or are sensitive. 

Favourite Product of the Week: Tutti Frutti

FPOW!
So my favourite product of the week is a lip product and since it's summer, I like to opt for a more coral lip colour. My favourite this week is Revlon's Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti 015. Now these have been out in the shops for a while now (must've been at least a year or two now) so you can still grab them at most Revlon counters or drugstores and I've probably had this one for about a year(?)...

I'm just so in love with the colour and its versatility to go with most of the eye looks I go for. It's also wearable on a daily basis because even though it's corally-red, it isn't overwhelmingly bright which is great because I could also wear this to work and it just gives me a pop of colour. The application comes off semi-sheer but build-able. Of course, because it is a lip butter, it is also super moisturising which is just what I need lately.

Sleek Make-Up Haul

Bought a couple of Sleek products lately since I have heard good things about Sleek and wanted to try out myself. I have only previously ever owned two other sleek products and that was their Kajal liner (which I didn't really like) and the Original mineral based eyeshadow palette (I liked it but it isn't my everyday go-to palette). This time, I picked up 3 of their blush/contour palettes, 2 lip palettes and their eye primer palette. 

I always automatically assume that whenever lippys are in a palette form, they are never as good quality and they always have this plastic or chemical smell to them. Now even though these Sleek lip palettes still have a slight chemical smell to them, I really love first and foremost for their colour and pigmentation which ultimately gave them a good staying power. However I would suggest pre-moisturising your lips first before applying the colour because they can get quite drying.

I think with the colour selection they have, it's quite good to have in your kit but I wish they came in one big palette as well so it would mean carrying less.

The blushes and contour palettes? Offftt... I'd say they are comparable with some of MAC's powder blushes. The quality is just excellent and I like how they have a light and medium version for contouring. And like the lip palettes, they have an excellent pigmentation which maximises it's staying power.

As for it's eyeshadow primer palette? I was rather disappointed. When I came to use it, it almost felt like I was putting on a product that was from one of those kids make-up. It lacked something that would tick the quality box. I'm being very vague because to be frank, I haven't used it enough to give a full commentary on it. What I could say is that I really like the colour variety they have included which could be used in almost any eye-look.    

Primer Palette 600

Blush by 3 in Pumpkin 363

Face Form blush and Contour in Light 373

Face Form blush and contour in Medium 374

Lip4 Lipstick Palette in Siren 859

Lip4 Lipstick Palette in Ballet 858

Review: Apocalips!

I'm probably like the last one to blog about these lippies that Rimmel came out with around 2-3months ago in the UK -I've had a busy 2-3months.

I bought them when they were first came out though and at the time, it was a big rave around some beauty bloggers, so I was curious to try them. 

Colour

I chose 3 colours from its range, and (again) took advantage of Boots 3for2 offer:

• Luna (left) is a peachy colour, it's a colour that's very suitable for everyday wear and perfect for spring.
• Big Bang (middle) a blood red colour, perfect for evening wear or if you are like me, who is into reds, then this one to pick out from this range.
• Stellar (right) a bright pink/fuchsia but it leans more towards the reds when you wear it. It's a really nice colour, but I wish the pink was more....pink?

All the colours are very opaque and I was very impressed with it and I think it's obvious that Luna and Big Bang are my favourite.

Colour Swatch

Formula and Texture

It has a creamy texture which I find easy to glide on and spreads evenly (although that does mostly depends on how well you've been taking care of your lips -chapped lips never work with any coloured lip products). I find its formula really good for a drugstore product and it feels almost like a 2in1 combining lipstick and lip creme together. It also lasts very well, for a creamy-textured lip colour and feels rather moisturising (not drying) on the lips too.

Duffle applicator with a hollow to allow it to grab more of the product from its tube and producing the opaque colour even from first application.

Price

At the moment, this retails at £4.99 each in UK drugstores, which I feel is a fairly decent price for a high quality lip product.

Overall

I love this product for everything it is but I wish they had a much wider range in colours for me to choose from. It also smudges quite easily if you're not careful when applying. What I do is use a Q-tip to erase any slight smudges and for perfecting the lip shape. 

Beauty Trend: MAC Spring '13

Happy Chinese New Year to all my fellow yellows! I usually love this time of year because everyone is in good spirits and families come together, eating lots of good food. I had a quiet one, not really celebrating as such this year, but I'm happy to see all my friends are having a great time (and great food - yes I'm jealous). 

So in chinese:

 祝各位 新年快樂 萬事如意 但最重要是，身體健康!

It's middle of the night and I am busy doing trend research work for my knitting (course work) whilst multi-tasking on Instagram and obviously on this. 

I thought I would just keep an update detailing beauty trends/campaigns/collections (whichever you call it) either in general or by brand for you to look forward to or to check out now.

Well it just so happens that M.A.C has recently launched their Year of the Snake collection for this spring. 

I'm very intrigued by this collection already and yet I haven't even begun to try the products itself. What caught my eye really were the beauty powders that are embossed with a snake pattern. It's a simple design but I simply like it. 

Moreover though, it is the this collection's colour palette that succeeds to captivate me to (perhaps) purchase a few items. To be specific; I am highly into plummy colours and this collection's colour palette has it all. 

You have vibrant tones of magenta, purple and a slightly pink under-toned red. Then team them up with colours like copper,beige or a shimmery yellow to tone them down slightly or tone it up with some intense black.  

.In total, this collections includes: four single shades of eyeshadows, two pigments, three lipsticks, a beauty powder and their Zoom Lash mascara in Rich Black.

I also like the design on their box packaging which is always a bonus whenever I buy a beauty product.

Will I be spending my red pocket money on this collection? Maybe. But I shall most definitely check out the beauty powder (purely for the embossed snake - sad I know but I love it!)

What will/have you be/been spending your red pocket money on (if you got any)?

Review: Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation

First of all, I was told by a few people said that this was good for oily skin. What a lie. But to be fair, I wouldn't know for sure if I hadn't tried it for myself.

I've been using this foundation for a week now and have been wearing through different sort of occasions depending what was happening during the week of course! Some days I wear it with a finishing powder some days just pressed powder.

The first thing I noticed about this foundation is that it gives a rather dewy complexion to the skin. I immediately thought "this is so not for oily skin!" because as much as how nice the dewy effect looks, if you have oily skin, your face will just become more and more shiny quicker. Nevertheless, I still wanted to see how long it will last until my face gets really shiny.

FACE BEFORE FOUNDATION WAS APPLIED 

So to start with, I had a few blemishes around my face (the most obvious one being on top of my lip) and redness around the nose area and the bit between my brows (the daylight meant the camera couldn't capture the redness but its there).

FACE AFTER FOUNDATION IS APPLIED

The coverage for this foundation is light - medium, but I felt that it was build-able. In fact, I found that since I normally use my fingers to apply, I decided to switch to using a flat-top brush and that gave more coverage with fewer layers.

On a hot day, the shine comes through quicker, maybe 4hours? and then I would feel I need to use oil blotting papers. On cold dry days, it lasts longer, perhaps a maximum of 8hours for me personally. I have mix feelings about this foundation partly because I do love the shade, it does feel hydrating, it's not heavy, has SPF25 and oil-free (this was probably the bit that was misleading some people) but I was rather gutted to notice instantly that my face wasn't going to stay matte. 

However, I will still keep using this foundation because I discovered that by using a finishing powder or blotting powder the foundation will stay longer so its the end of the world with this product -just invest in a really good finishing powder instead (and because its £24.50 non-refundable.....I am forced to keep it anyway).

My shade is Champagne which when blended, matches my skin very well

Also just to note: the liquid comes out more on the watery/thinner side than I thought, which is why it gives only light-medium coverage.

Also the only reason I'm looking for a foundation/base for oily skin is because all of a sudden my skin decided to lean more to the oily side, I'm not sure if its because of the change in weather or the act of my hormones. 

Next I am going to try Maybelline's SuperStay 24hr foundation. If you have any review/make-up look requests then feel free to leave a comment below OR you can follow me on my Twitter account @SoapyC and I will reply you there. =]

Easy Red Lip Look

Hey folks! It has been 2yrs since I had filmed videos and even then they were rubbish! Out of the blue though, I decided to film one for fun. However forgetting that editing isn't fun at all as it took me 6hours to work out how to use the programme, start editing, then I had to re-edit because it crashed and I had forgotten to save -nightmare.

In the end though, I was happy with the result. =]

About the look


I sometimes feel that some Asians (particularly amongst my friends) that having a bright red lip seems too much for them if it was to be worn casually. Personally, I love red lipsticks. So I decided to show people how to wear it as an overall look.
In balance with the bright lip, I kept the eyes simple and accentuate the cheeks. Truthfully though, to wear anything bright or a bit more quirky and different, all you need is a touch of confidence. And the bright lips? -Just smile.

FOTD: Sweet Pink

This is actually the make-up I had on yesterday, but it's pretty similar to my every-day look anyway. I am currently totally in love with the Kate Moss spring collection lipsticks for Rimmel in the shade no.16! It's a sweet rosey pink and normally I would be more a coral or nude person, this one made it to my everyday-go-to lipstick list! My eyes are then, to keep the look soft, I used brown shades from the Naked Palette. My cheeks I used a new favourite of mines from MAC's mineral blushes collection.

LIPS

Rimmel Kate Moss Spring Collection Lipstick in no.16

EYES

Crease: Naked Palette - Sidecar

Outer crease bring towards middle and up: Naked Palette- Buck

Brow bone: Naked Palette- Virgin

Mascara: Maybelline Colossal Waterproof Mascara in Black

Top liner: L'oreal's Super Liner Carbon Gloss in Black

Bottom Liner: Maybelline's Gel Liner in Black and runned over with HD Brows shadow in Carbon

Brows: HD Brows Vamp Palette in Rich Brown

FACE & CHEEKS

Face: Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation in 103 True Ivory,

Maybelline's Mineral Concealer in 02 Natural (I heard this line is discontinued?), 

MAC's Studio Fix Pressed Powder in NW20

Blusher: MAC's Mineralize Blush in Dainty

No Filter and under natural lighting

That's it! It's boiling in my room just now so I'm going to go cool down for a bit (like stick my head in the fridge!).