Thank you for taking part in my mini-giveaway (there’s still time to join as the deadline is Apr 1)! I will try to do one every month or every other month.
I had such a wonderful time in New York and the beauty shopping there was phenomenal. It’s ironic that I get a lot of people telling me how lucky I am to be in Japan where a lot of the amazing Asian cosmetics come from, but after several years, the novelty has worn off and the grass is always greener on the other side. Boy, did I milk this New York trip.
What makes beauty shopping so insidious is that the items are really small (plus I had a large suitcase with me) so I didn’t feel like I bought a lot then although I squirreled away some beauty item(s) almost daily, but when I came home and took pictures, I went, “Eeks! That’s a lot more than I usually haul!”
I think since my big skincare fiasco, I started to be drawn to beauty items that have nothing to do with my skin so I totally binged on nail polish this time. I couldn’t get enough of Butter London polishes and bought five in all — Knackered, Black Knight, Lady Muck, No More Waity Katie, and Hen Party.
The ones with glitter, like Black Knight and No More Waity Katie look gorgeous but they chip quite easily and are quite hard to remove. But the smoother formulas like the rest I purchased only started chipping slightly on the third day and I only felt compelled to remove them proper by the end of the fourth day which wasn’t too bad at all. I’m also really getting into the “3-Free” (free of formaldehyde, toluene, DBP or parabens) nail polish trend and they smell much less strongly when you apply them.
I loaded up on some Essie as well — Navigate Her, Mink Muffs, Mamba, and Carry On. I also got one OPI Holland nail polish, I Don’t Give A Rotterdam!. I love all of them and although I can get OPI and Essie in Tokyo, they are really expensive and the range is not as wide as in the US.
I had to get some MAC as well. I brought along a list of things I have been lemming for ages like the Oyster Girl lipglass, a paint pot in Rubenesque (I love the formula so much I’ll be getting a couple more my next trip which is in two weeks’ time), eyshadows Soba and Naked Lunch, and I couldn’t resist the new Chen Man mineralized eyeshadow duo, Pink Union. They are all so gorgeous and I know I’m such a late-bloomer when it comes to MAC.
Much has been said about e.l.f. blushes so I had to get Blushing Rose (which Emily from Beauty Broadcast raves about). The other items I have been wanting to try are the HD Powder and Translucent Mattifying Powder so I got those and I really love the HD Powder so far.
The e.l.f. website had some crazy offer where you’ll get free shipping if you spend USD25 and above. Naturally I wanted to take up this offer so I threw in Ticked Pink blush, a few vibrant eyeshadows (colours I want to experiment with but not necessarily want to invest a whole lot of money) as well.
Benefit is a brand I have been dying to try but it’s pretty pricey at Sephora in Singapore so I thought it would be a great opportunity to get this trial kit to see if I actually like their classic products, like High Beam, Bad Gal Lash, Stay Don’t Stray. They come in travel-friendly sizes which I’ll definitely be using on my next trip.
I loaded up on some durgstore items, too, like more Revlon Lip Butters (Fig Jam and Red Velvet), Maybelline Colour Tattoo (Too Cool and Tough as Taupe – love them!) and Baby Lips (Peach Kiss and Pink Punch), a Milani blush in Luminous, and two Ecotools brushes (powder and foundation). I also got the much-lauded L’Oreal Fairest Nude lipstick (not pictured here – sorry, I forgot to include it in the picture) which is friggin’ amazing. It is so creamy and has a slight touch of pink to make this nude shade flattering, instead of dead-looking. I wonder if I should get a back-up but I know that’s not necessary because I don’t think I’ve ever really finished a lipstick. I may have thrown away lipsticks because they smelled weird but not because I finished them.
I told myself not to get perfume but I couldn’t resist Victoria’s Secret’s Sexy Little Things Noir. The packaging had me sold even before I sniffed it but thankfully the contents are indeed a spicy concoction that is truly as flirty as its name suggests. One can’t really go wrong with VS fragrances as they never stray far off the bat, if anything, a lot of their perfumes are too safe in their fruity-floral bubble.
Another classic I wanted to try is the Amazing Grace fragrance by philosophy. I actually thought I picked up the 15ml version of that, but when I got back home, I realized it said “Pure Grace” instead and it seems there are several perfumes under the Grace umbrella. It certainly smells like clean linen and there are days which I just want that — also, New York was much warmer than expected so I appreciated something light to mist myself with.
Gosh, I feel like I can exhale now. That was a long post!
Thanks for reading and do you haul a lot of beauty products on holiday more than any other thing?
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Hi my dearies, I’m so looking forward to a quiet weekend at home before I fly off to New York. Lots of packing to do at BB Headquarters and prepping for my departure. Thank you so much for your thoughts on our most recent Beauty Debate. I always enjoy reading your opinions and floored that anyone would take the time to talk to me on a blog about these questions of mine!
Today, I bring you my favourites for February. I don’t always do these posts because I may not actually stick to any one product for more than a few days (except for skincare, but that’s a bit boring now). But, I found myself drawn to the same cosmetic products over and over last month so here’s my love list…
Front row from left to right:
Nanoce BB Skincare Pact SPF17 PA++ in Healthy Ocre is an absolute delight to use. I love how this pressed powder takes the unflattering shine from my face but yet “lets it breathe”, i.e. you can still see the skin peeking through, so it has a very natural, slightly dewy effect a couple of hours after application. It’s not a greasy mess at the end of the day though I do blot once or twice by the late afternoon or early evening but that’s normal for me for any loose or compact powder. And this shade suits my NC25 skintone like a glove. I think it’s even better than my much beloved Jill Stuart pressed powder which has a more powdery opaque finish.
And late in coming into my possession in February was the Maquillage Face Creator (3D) in 66 which is such a lovely light peachy shade. The highlight and contour shades are so soft and feminine as well that makes this a great everyday go-to blush palette. It’s not highly pigmented but I prefer it this way as I could work the colour in rather than pat my brush on the pan gingerly and hope for the best, e.g. Bobbi Brown and NARS. Don’t get me wrong, pigmented cosmetics are great, but for light makeup application, I think this is perfect.
Isn’t it gorgeous?
Back row from left to right:
I’m so finicky about perfumes that I surprised myself by wearing The Body Shop’s White Musk Libertine Eau De Toilette almost everyday. First off, I’m not a fan of TBS fragrances so this is even more unusual for me. Secondly, I always tire of perfumes even if I love them to death. I don’t tire of them like I don’t want to ever use them again, but I need to take short breaks like a couple of weeks, if I apply the same fragrance for, say a week. But the White Musk Libertine scent was so comforting, fresh and subtle, I could spritz it every single day. I had to stop myself from using it, in case I did get sick of it, but I’m still very much in love with it. Even more shockingly, it has notes of Turkish delight, baby orchid and Chantilly cream. I really dislike Turkish Delight, too! Goodness!
The next item I stubbornly stuck to was Badger’s After Sun Balm for my lips. It’s obviously not summer now but I liked the scent of this product the most among the few that are available in Japan. It is by far the most moisturizing balm I have ever tried — it’s no wonder because it is a powerhouse of olive oil, cocoa and shea butters, and several essential oils. It sits very well under lipsticks and it is not so rich that it would be hard for the lipstick to go on. In fact, I think it enhances whatever lipstick I’m using.
Lastly, the combo of MAC’s Lustre Hug Me lippie and Lancome’s coral Juicy Tube is a lovely soft nude lip look I’ve been sporting. I find it hard to wear nude lip colours but this is a dream team.
I hope you enjoyed looking at my February faves — what were yours?
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For me, I was pretty tanned when I was living in Singapore before I moved to Tokyo so the idea of using bronzer was so foreign and unnecessary to my NC30 (maybe even NC35 if I spent the whole day dragon-boating — yes, I used to be crazy about that sport — or hanging out at the pool) self then.
But after watching tonnes of Youtube videos on makeup application, I was surprised how essential bronzer really is to many beauty gurus. I never really saw the need for it especially since looking tanned is not everyone’s cup of tea in Japan. In fact, when you read beauty magazines in Japan, the makeup tutorials almost never include bronzer. I’ve also transitioned into one of those women who dislike going under the sun and getting tanned (I like sports but I try to do them indoors or at night), so to artificially enhance my skin tone to look tanned is not even something on my radar!
Remember my hasty episode (or two) at airport duty-free counters? I bought a MAC Mineralize Skinfinsh Natural in Medium Dark and it was way too dark as a finishing powder so I’m now using it as my bronzer! Apparently you should use a bronzer that is two shades darker than your natural skin colour — hello, that’s me…
I’m slowly learning how to use my “bronzer” and I’m actually kind of glad it happened by accident because I would have never bought a bronzer on my own accord. I realized that bronzer can just be a contouring tool or it could be used as a “natural” blush, like in this video.
Is bronzer essential in your makeup regimen? Yes or no, please tell us why! If you have a favourite bronzer, please comment below, too.
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Hello my lovelies, are you enraptured in holiday collection fever or what? I just thought I’d cured myself of drooling after the fall collections and here is an arsenal of amazing coffrets being offered this season. I would like to get one set but don’t know which!
Let’s start with the Japanese brands first…
Lunasol’s Tender Glow Collection has got to be one of the most value-for-money sets amongst the Japanese brands out there. For 6,825JPY, you get an eyeshadow palette (Party Eyes TG EX01), a cream blush (Cream Cheeks EX04), a lipgloss (Full Glamour Gloss N EX 19), a loose powder (Skin Contrast Face Powder 01). Lunasol fans will know that one eyeshadow palette is 5250JPY so you are getting quite a few products for just a bit more.
I would love to get this but I already have many neutral palettes so do I really need one more? And I’m wondering if the loose powder shade can be swapped out as the one in the picture is definitely too light for me.
At first glance, Jill Stuart’s Fairy Collection looks like a lovely treat for 7,875JPY which is not too bad but I wouldn’t say it’s very “worth it” on closer inspection. In the set, there is a Jewel Crystal Eyes 104, one Loose Powder N 101, a Jelly Lipgloss 103, and two fragrance satchets in peach and lavender — all of which are encased in a frilly cosmetics case which is frankly way too girly even for me.
Personally, I would like the eyeshadow palette and the lip gloss but I’m really not sure if I should get yet another face powder of which I have several already (not Jill Stuart ones but in general).
Now the star of all the Japanese brands is definitely Addiction’s Sleepless Nights Collection. It looks the most exciting and it’s a kit meant to prep you for a glamorous night out. Priced at 9,765JPY, it is on the pricey side but you do get enough goodies that make it an honestly good buy. Another draw is that this whole set is limited edition and I’m not sure if they would eventually include these items in their permanent collection.
The compact has an eyeshadow duo with a shimmery charcoal grey and a glittery silver, plus a very light cool-toned baby pink blush. The blush is not as light as it looks when swatched and warms up a bit on my slightly tanned skin tone and the SA had similar colouring to me and it looked very pretty on her. The other items are a plum nail polish, a mini sheer pink lip gloss, a black eyeliner with multi-coloured shimmer specks (very very cool in person!) and a tiny pot of body/face shimmer. The one downside to this collection is the bag which kind of looks cheap and nasty in person. The sequins were a bit sad and ragged to put it bluntly.
Now onto non-Japanese brands…
I had been thinking about MAC’s Festive Frost Face Kit since I’d been spying them on US and UK blogs (Jamilla has a great post on this). But I don’t think there would be the exact same set available in Japan because in the Dec issue of Biteki, it says you can get a Make It Perfect Brush Kit/Mineral Eyes set for 8,400JPY or you can get the six eyeshadow palette, called 6 Snow Globe Eye Shadow in Warm, Sultry, and Cool for 5,775JPY. The info is not yet up on the MAC Japan website though the Glitter & Ice collection is on sale at counters right now.
I’m a bit torn up about the Holiday Style Collection by Estee Lauder but this must be the best value kit amongst all the holiday offerings at the moment. For 12,600JPY, you get a 15 eyeshadow palette, a 4 blush palette, three lipsticks, two mascaras, two lip glosses, one eye pencil, two lip pencils, a cleanser, a mirror, a clutch, and a makeup bag. Estee Lauder makes stellar, high quality products but their branding and packaging are just too oba-san (old lady) for me — just look at the red bags/mirror (!!!). However, I’m very tempted because the matte eyeshadows look incredible!
What are you drooling over this holiday season? Have you already got one or two holiday sets already? If you have, do share what you like about them!
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This is my first-ever FOTD and my skin has cleared up quite a bit since my last breakout fiasco. I figured that it’s not that often I have okay-looking skin and I’ve “re-discovered” an old foundation that was unloved by me for the last year, so I thought, “Let’s do an FOTD!”
I bought Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Light Foundation Stay-in-Place Makeup SPF 10/PA++ (Intensity 2.0) in January as a “gentle” base during my horrible breakout phase last winter. I looked up Makeup Alley and found that those with acne-prone skin liked this particular foundie because it was light-weight, non-clogging, non-oily, and had decent coverage.
To be honest, I liked it at first and then I didn’t like it because it didn’t give me enough coverage and looked patchy on me. Furthermore, the brand Estee Lauder is not something I usually reach for as I prefer girlier brands, e.g. Jill Stuart and Paul & Joe, but I realized I’m actually smack in the demographic that Estee Lauder markets at – LOL!
But on hindsight, my skin really was a mess and I think I didn’t put enough of it on as I used to have a very light hand with liquid foundation. I just felt it didn’t give me that ultra-smooth complexion that some BB creams can (like the Nanoce one but it’s too rich for non-winter weather). And because it is very light-weight, I think it wasn’t moisturizing enough for the freezing temperatures in Feb and Mar in Tokyo. My skin was flaky at that point in time but I wouldn’t blame it on this foundation because I think I wasn’t moisturizing my skin enough and was using an arsenal of drying acne products.
BUT, in this warm-ish fall weather when it is over 20 degrees C in the day and 16-18 degrees C at night, somehow my skin has been LOVING this foundation. I do use it generously but it doesn’t cake. The only complaint I have is that it is a wee bit too light for me shade-wise but Intensity 3.0 is way too dark for me.
It gives a dewy look if you don’t powder your face after and it gives surprisingly good coverage to redness and freckles.
Other items used in this FOTD:
Lunasol Modeling Eyes 01 Beige Beige
Dollywink Eye Pencil in Brown
Lancome L’Extreme Mascara
Meow Cosmetics Brow Beater in Dark Brown to line brows
Esprique Precious Gradation Layer Cheek 01 Coral Red as blusher and face highlighter
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Medium Dark as bronzer
Revlon ColorStay Pressed Powder 104 Medium
Jurlique Love Lip Balm
Chanel Rouge Coco Cambon 31
Lancome Juicy Tubes mini (sparkly nude)
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Hello my lovelies, a week has gone by since I returned from Singapore and it’s has zipped by so quickly I don’t know what hit me. I went to Singapore to settle some wedding stuff but I managed to find time to shop. Duty-free and a cheaper currency are all there is to tempt me. I ♥ shopping when I go back to Singapore!
Before I get into my post proper, just a reminder that my giveaway ends in 24 hours! So go on over and put your name down….
I don’t usually buy so much at once and the bulk of my beauty shopping is really my Naruko products which I have been lemming since forever. For those who don’t know, Naruko is a natural paraben-free skincare and cosmetics brand from Taiwan that is formuated by celebrity skincare and makeup guru Niu Er. I’ve heard so much about how great Naruko is on Youtube that I had to get some. Though it is not available in Japan, there is a Singapore website so I just ordered a bunch of products and got them sent to my parents’ residence. I’m also flying to Taiwan in July so I might pick some up there but I’m not sure if Naruko is an internet-only shop which is the case in Singapore (click here) — it was only sold online and none of the stores carried the brand.
I know I said in my early summer skincare routine video that I was avoiding herb ingredients but some Youtubers with sensitive skin tried Naruko and they didn’t have flare-ups….and my skin is improving so hopefully it’s not as sensitive as it was before. What can I say, I’m really an incurable beauty junkie!
Anyway, hope you enjoy this video and till the next episode!
Products mentioned:
Part I Skincare:
My Beauty Diary All In One Sample Pack
My Beauty Diary Apple Polyphenol Mask
My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Mask
Silk Whitia Whitening & Moisturizing Mask
Silk Whitia Anti-Oxidation Whitening Mask
Naruko Narcisuss Day Care Range:
Foaming Wash
Mousse Facial Wash
Moisturizing Dew
Moisturizing Day Protector
Total Defense Fundamental Serum
Night Jelly
Tea Tree & Naouli T-Zone Blackhead Pore Remover
Job’s Tears Whitening & Cooling Night Jelly
Rose & Snow Fungus Night Jelly
AMPM Wakeup Skin Smooth Washing Powder (free gift)
Part II Makeup:
Clarins Blush Prodige Illuminating Cheek Colour 03 Miami Pink
MAC Mineralize Skinfinsh Natural Medium Dark
Estee Lauder Nutritious Vita-Mineral Loose Powder Makeup Intensity 1.0
Lunasol Ocean Eyes 05 Colourful Ocean
Lunasol Modelling Eyes 01 Beige Beige
Clinique Age Defense BB Cream SPF 30/PA+++
MAC Blush & Stipling Brushes
MAC Brow Set Beguile
MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick Gotta Dash!
Urban Decay Good Karma Liner (Brow Brush)
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