Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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

Thursday, March 26, 2009

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




Wednesday, March 18, 2009

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!

Friday, March 6, 2009

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. :)

Monday, March 2, 2009

20090302 Silver and Pink





FACE
Guerlain Meteorites Light-Diffusing Perfecting Primer
Giorgio Amani Luminous Silk Foundation 4.5
Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder
MAC Tippy BPB
MAC Pretty Baby BP
MAC Luna
MAC Sculpt and Shape

EYES
Bare Escentuals Eyelid Primer
MAC Silverstroke f/l (as base on the lids)
Guerlain Ombre Eclat Eye Shadow Palette in #400 (silver on the lids, plum lightly on the crease)
Jill Stuart Moon Shadow (on the lids to create shimmer)
MAC Penultimate e/l
MAC Glitter Eye Liner Kitty Power

Mascara
CoverGirl LashBlast in Very Black
Diorshow Iconic Mascara
Clarins Double Fix mascara

LIPS
Guerlian Kiss Kiss Pink Shine l/s
Guerlian Kiss Kiss Gloss Pink Pearl l/g