20090829 FOTD

FACE
Normal

Cheeks
MAC Mineralize Blush in Moon River

EYES
TFEI
Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadow in Galaxy
MAC Mineralize e/s Assemblage
MUFE e/s #90
Bobbi Brown e/s Woodrose
Bobbi Brown e/s Bone

LIPS
Guerlain Le Rouge G in #60 Gabrielle
MAC d/g Internationalist

NOTD - July 4th the Independence Day

I totally felt patriotic! ;)

Chanel Glossimer Swatches

Out of Chanel Lumiere Celestes Collection, I got 3 of the glossimers. I had used Chanel glossimer once like decades ago. I wasn't too impressed back then - but that was the time I was not that into makeups. Until now.

Three lovely colors, swatches as following:

Above: From Chanel's Website

Above: Left to Right: Venus/Nebula/Mica

Above (Different lighting): Left to Right: Venus/Nebula/Mica

Below are lip swatches. I applied some lip balm and light foundation before the glossimers.

Above: Mica

Above: Venus

Above: Nebula

I am really loving these colors. They are very creamy and thick but not too sticky. They do have glitter but those are very fine and also pearlescent - VERY pretty! Among the three, I like Nebula the most because it gives out this beautiful berry color to the lips, and on top of that with the blue/purple pearlescent sheen... WOW divine!

Bobbi Brown 25% off!

June 8-11 Bobbi Brown is having 25% off discount on all the products. Enter code SUMMER1 for the discount. All orders over $60 will also be eligible for the free standard shipping.

20090528 Black Hair!

I've talked about dying my hair red/purple for awhile.. then when I finally decided, I chose black (blue black to be exact)!

FACE
Normal

Cheeks
Bobbi Brown Sheer Color Cheek Tint in Sheer Pink
MAC Hello Kitty b/p Pretty Baby

EYES
MAC Painterly p/p
Benefit Cream e/s Skinny Jeans (lids)
Bobbi Brown Rock Star Metallic e/s (lids)
MAC Malt e/s (above crease)
Bobbi Brown Woodrose e/s (crease)
Bobbi Brown Black Plum e/s (outer v)
Bobbi Brown Bone Shimmer Wash e/s (highlight)


LIPS
MAC Fashion Mews l/s
Chanel Glossimer #131 Mica

20090527 FOTD Purple

FACE
Normal

Cheeks
MAC Just A Pinch Gel Blush
MAC Moon River
MAC Tahitian Sand

EYES
UDPP
Vincent Longo Eye Shimmer Souffle Ultra Violet (lids)
MAC Parfait Amour e/s (lids)
M*A*D Minerals Pizzazz (lids)
MAC Omega e/s (above crease)
Bobbi Brown Woodrose e/s (crease)
MAC Shadowy Lady e/s (outer v)
MAC Brule e/s (brow bone)
MAC Vanilla e/s (brow bone)
UD 24/7 e/l Yeyo (tear duct)
MAC Vallum e/s (tear duct)
Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil in Onyx
UD 24/7 e/l Bourbon (undereye liner)

Diorshow Iconic Mascara
Clarins Double Fix mascara

LIPS
YSL Rouge Pur #146 l/s
CK delicious pout #404 Sparkle d/g

20090526 FOTD

It's a bit peach/brown look. Trying to use different color.

FACE
MAC Prep + Prime Line Filler
CHANEL Lift Lumiere in Ivoire
MUFE HD Microperfecting Primer #1 Green
MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Powder
Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Peach
Everyday Minerals Multitasking Concealer

CHEEKS
MAC Blushcreme Maindenchant

EYES
Two Faced Shadow Insurance
benefit Cream e/s Bunny Hop
MAC e/s D'Bohemia
MAC e/s Malt
Bobbi Brown e/s Woodrose
MAC e/s Shadowy Lady
MAC e/s Ploof!
Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil in Onyx
UD 24/7 e/l Ransom

Diorshow Iconic Mascara
Clarins Double Fix mascara

LIPS
MAC Shy Girl l/s
MAC Bare Necessity d/g

20090506 The Cat Eyes

FACE
MAC Prep + Prime Line Filler
CHANEL Lift Lumiere in Ivoire
MUFE HD Microperfecting Primer #1 Green
MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Powder
Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Peach
Gurelain Concealer Duo #1 Light

CHEEKS
MAC Just A Pinch Gel Blush
Chanel Powder Blush Narcisse

EYES
BareEssential bareVitamins Prime TIme Eyelid Primer
Coastal Scents Gel Liner in White
MAC e/s Shroom
MAC e/s Wedge
MAC e/s Charcoal Brown
MAC e/s Vanilla
Shiseido Maquillage e/l BK951

Diorshow Iconic Mascara
Clarins Double Fix mascara

LIPS
MAC l/s Pure Rose
Chanel Glossimer #131 Mica

Quiz

Take the Quiz and see jewel-toned eyeliner is best for you!

20090402 Sugar Sweet Chocolate

FACE
Normal

CHEEKS
MAC Moon River

EYES
Two Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Red Velvet s/s (lids)
MAC Butternutty s/s (tear duct)
MAC Shroom e/s (tear duct)
MAC Mineralize e/s Pink Split, Pink side
MAC All Girls p/m
Dior Impression Cuir Leather Couture Eyeshadow Palette, Light and Dark color
Chanel Beiges de Chanel, Darkest color
MAC Yogurt e/s (highlight)
MAC Graphblack e/l



LIPS
Guerlain Le Rouge G in #60 Gabrielle
BE Buxom Lips in April

20090331 FOTD

I think this is my favorite makeup face for now!

FACE
Normal

CHEEK
MAC Love Rock Mineralize Blush
Bobbi Brown Platinum Pink Shimmer Brick

EYES
Clarins Instant Light Base
NYX jumbo pen in Milk (lids)
MAC Yogurt e/s (lids)
MAC Love Rock m/b Solid side (outer 1/3 lids)
MAC Milk p/m (tear duct)
MAC Arctic Grey (contour)
MAC Apres-Ski (crease)
MAC Sketch (outer V)
MAC Vapour (highlight)
MUFE e/l #5
MAC e/l Kitty Power

LIPS
MAC Pink Treat l/l
MAC Big Bow l/s
MAC Viva Glam VI SE l/g

FOTD 20090325

My lovely Spring look:

FACE
Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch
CHANEL Lift Lumiere in Ivoire
Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder
MAC Tippy BPB
MAC Pretty Baby BP
MAC Luna

EYES
BareEssential bareVitamins Prime TIme Eyelid Primer
MAC Da Bling e/s
MAC Crème Royal e/s (fm Lucky Tom)
MAC Creme de Violet e/s
MAC Beautiful Iris e/s
MAC Warm Chill e/s
UD 24/7 e/l Zero
UD 24/7 e/s Bourbon

CoverGirl LashBlast in Very Black

Diorshow Iconic Mascara
Clarins Double Fix mascara

LIPS
MAC Fashion Mews l/s
MAC Kitty Kouture d/g

Review: Panasonic Heated Eyelash Curler w/Comb

Remember those model's tips regarding to heating the eyelash curler before using it? Well, no more danger introducing fire into your vanity table, nor the cumbersome of the hair dryer, and definitely no more burning the eye lids by the top of the heated regular metal eyelash curler.

I found this gem at QVC: $14.25 the Panasonic Heated Eyelash Curler w/Comb. Let me just say, I am totally in love with this product!

Above: The curler comes with the heated head, the removable comb, and a cap. It also comes with a little brush for cleaning. On the back of the comb there's the color indicator turning from purple to pink letting you know it's ready for use. Another good feature is that when you place the cap back on, it'll make sure the curler being turned off - I find this quite useful since I tend to forget things.

Here are the photos to show the before and after:

Above: Naked eye.. yeah, I know, scary! I have no makeup on what so ever.

Above: One coat of CoverGirl LashBlast in Very Black mascara, followed with one coat of Diorshow Iconic mascara. You can see the clumping and the "roach feet" looking (小強出來招手了...) on the lashes.


Above: Lashes were brushed through using the heated curler. The heat melted the clumps and separated the lashes which was A LOT natural in my opinions. Yes, it also melted away a bit of the volume, but...

Above: After another coat of Diorshow Iconic I think it's perfect!

Honestly, the reason I wanted to do a review on this was because I realized how great this product was and how much I could not live without - Just the other day I was washing the removable comb in the sink... one slip I dropped it and it's GONE down the pipe! I was panic so I went order it online right away - with express shipping. Then there I knew how much I loved this product!

You do need to clean it often since it gets the mascara on the comb. I usually clean it with makeup remover (since I use the mascara "raincoat" often and it's hard to clean it with regular soap),the regular soap, then I spray it with the rubbing alcohol and let it dry overnight.

Ratings: 5 out of 5
Honestly I can not think of any bad thing about this product!

Review: Whitening/Brightening

Coming from a Taiwanese background, no matter how much this American culture has been into the "tan, healthy bronze" I still prefer myself being more on the lighter side - the very least, my face. Luckily I do have a lighter skin tone, although that also warrants the more easily identified "imperfections" namely, freckles. It seems I always have some freckles on the highest points of my cheek bones, though they seem getting more prominent with my age. And I started paying more attention (Translation: getting more specialized products) to these little guys about 4-5 years ago.

Here are some products I've used and my experience.

NeoCeuticals Skin Brightening Gel $38 at skin-etc.com

This yellow colored gel is formulated to brighten, exfoliate and smooth discolored skin, and stimulate epidermal renewal to reveal brighter, newer cells. This product contains kojic acid, citric acid and Vitamin C along with glycolic acid (an AHA), lactic acid (an AHA) and gluconolactone (a PHA).

It's a transparent gel form with slightly yellow/brownish color - the color got darker along the time. It smelled a little bit like sulfur I was not sure why. My skin did not have sensitive response to it which I was told one time by a pharmacist in Taiwan stating that lots of people were allergic to kojic acid. So I considered myself lucky. It did seem to work - I felt my freckles got a little bit lighter. - I have one bigger spot on the right cheek and a bit dense cluster on the left cheek which I use as indicators. This one made my right side's big freckles shrink a little bit.

Lancome Bright Expert Intense Brightening Spot Correcting Serum $90 at Nordstrom

Unveil flawlessly even skin-tone and exceptional luminosity. Unique Lancôme technology targets damaged surface cells to reduce the appearance of dark spots, while a combination of vitamin CG and botanical extracts helps even out and brighten the complexion. Exceptional results:

- Brighten complexion
- Uncover natural radiance
- Even out skin-tone

The Intense Brightening Spot Correcting Serum is a breakthrough brightening serum that visibly brightens the skin and significantly reduces the number, size and intensity of dark spots.

I think Lancome has already come out with newer version of this line. I tried this about 2 years ago. I read quite some claims by the company guarenteed the great work, and I truly wanted to love it... But I did not. It did not seem having any effect on my skin. Sigh~

Chanel Precision Performance Anti-Taches ( Dark Spot Corrector Roll-On ) ~$55

An advanced anti-dark spot treatment to unify your complexion Combines Narcissus bulb extract with Licorice extract & Vitamin C Eliminates melanin synthesis at all levels Accurately corrects pigmentation irregularities Gel-like aqueous solution is easily absorbed into skin Visibly reduces size & intensity of dark spots To use: Apply regularly for at least eight weeks. Shake well & rub well over target area.

I really liked this product. It has the roll-on type that can apply more precisely to the spots. And honestly I think it worked - too bad I can not find it anywhere anymore. The "life span" on the tube indicates 12 months - the amount of the products definitely lasted longer than that - and it started brownishing... Hence I started my search journey trying to find a substitude.

Shiseido Melanoreduce 2

This product is purely Asian market specific. I have not seen anywhere in the States selling it - not even on eBay. The star ingredient in this product is called Tranexamic acid (傳明酸) which features inhibiting the effect of Tyrosinase whcih is the catalyst for melanin production. The idea is when the production process being blocked less melanin would be produced - and you will have less pigmentation.

I purchased this during the last trip back to Taiwan. I asked the counter girl how fast I would be able to see the reduction of my freckles.. of course she was vague about it and nicely told me the effect was different by individuals. I liked this product's being moisturing and I religiously used it for over a month - and I saw NO results, sadly. I guess the product focuses more on "inhibiting the production of melanin" but not so much on the "reducing".

Kiehl's Highly Efficient Skin-Tone Corrector $50 at Kieh's

The proprietary patent-pending technology covering the use of Emblica to stabilize highly unstable ingredients including Glycolic Acid, when used together in this formula, helps to correct the appearance of uneven skin tone.

Beginning at six weeks, and increasingly through a 16-week period, our formula was noted to significantly diminish the appearance of:

• Mottled pigmentation
• UV sun spots
• Uneven skin tone

This is new. It's a product combining the usage of glycolic acid, Emblica and hepes to help increase the skin cell turnover in a stablized environment and the meantime provide the benefit of antioxidant and collagen production. I've been using this twice a day for 3-4 days. Believe it or not, I already see some improvement of my skin tones. My skin started a bit dull and "dirty" - if you know what I mean. And now I can start seeing it's getting more glowy and brighter. So far this is my fav brightening product, will keep using it and report more later. :)