New Acquisitions, through swaps and not, & Ji's giveaway ^_^.

*Read this.

[Though you probably already have ;D. If not, you should, trust me.]

*Ji is having a giveaway ^_^! It includes Essence :-P :D! I normally hate giveaways that require people to post about them, but she doesn't - it's optional ;D. So I chose to do so for once ;). Plus I have an excuse to promote her blog with this :-P, and her blog deserves it :).

*The clouds background on my blog is because it's easier to read with a lighter background ;). I'm not renaming it to Cloud Enigma any time soon :-P.
Though it does sound kind of nice now that I think about it :).

I will do looks this week, promise. I'm just feeling kind of drained lately and a no-look post is better than no posts at all, right :-P?

Swap 1 [Australia].

(I bought her five Korres products: a foundation, powder, serum, eye shadow and Lip Butter.)

Lots ^_^!

The Cargo Vacation Kit, Sephora Sunswept palette, Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser, Tarte blush stick in Flush (raspberry loveliness ^_^, it smells and looks amazing :D!), Stila Illuminating Finishing Powder in Gold, OPI Hopelessly In Love, Stila pigment in 8, 2 extra pigment samples (one by a brand called Alima, and MAC Lovely Lily), MAC Flowerplay lipstick, Clinique Mango Tint Superbalm (I already own Raspberry Tint ^_^), Cargo Plant Love lipstick in Nahinni, Stila It Gloss in Striking and Inviting, and MAC Lipglass in Silly Girl and Gold Charm (mini & an extra).

She was also supposed to send me a Shadebender in Sorcery but she'd misplaced it, I'll get it if she finds it. It's still a generous swap though :).

The Sephora palette, Flowerplay & Nahinni. The bronzer's a cream product while the blush is powder ;).

(The glosses are SO much prettier in real life. I may have to retake pics!)

Contains one blush/bronzer tin in Coral Beach, 15 servings (lol) of Daily Gloss in three colours (five of each ;D), eye shadow cards (these will really fit anywhere - but I really hope they work!) in Costa Rica, Mojave, Bermuda, Aegean, Green Bay, Corsica and Yukon, and one mini mascara :).

Brilliant - I was running out of mini mascara backups (I never buy mascara) ;D. Now I'm covered ^_^.

I have access to the Aegean here, but I don't like swimming :-P. Or rather, I don't like all the SPF/hair removal/et cetera various procedures that one has to undertake, and I'm really not keen on exposing my body. I laugh at (or envy, the poisonous not the inspiring kind) others' bodies too much.

Got this 'cause I'm running out of body lotion ;).

This range is sold at supermarkets here, but it's manufactured by Korres ;). Cinnamon Orange, yum ^_^.

Here's some stuff my teenage sister bought at my advice ;D.

Korres backne shower gel (fine, it's for 'oily skin with imperfections' :-P), face wash, and spot treatment, from their teen skincare line ;). Although I have told her repeatedly that her skin would look much better if she'd be more regular with sunscreen...But who listens to their big sisters much :-P?

Also, here are some Bourjois shower gels she got (again, I recommended them :-P)...

Ten something Euros for the lot :). I prefer soap, but I may steal the chocolate one sometimes :-P...

Does anyone else have access to their body care stuff? I'm curious...If anyone's in France, you probably do though ;).

And my little sister gave me her pocket money and asked me to pick up something nice for her, so I did ^_^.

Hello Kitty by H & M :). I'll go get her the pink one too ;D.

Thanks for reading :)! Thanks for being patient with me not posting looks or reviews! Thank you ^_^!

Lol. I really want to recreate this, so it'll be up very soon ;).

P.S. Edit: Really easy contest: just go here & leave a comment ;D. That's all you need to do to enter :)! Lovely, isn't it ^_^?

Still alive :-P. Awards, swap update, some randomness and a pic.

*Me wearing Brave New Bronze...

[Bare face, just Korres sunscreen.]

My face is funny :-P.

About my neck...Yes, my face is lighter than my neck. I don't mind, but I know that most people will assume that I'm wearing badly matched foundation or something like that, and will judge me accordingly.
Anything I can do about that? No. Thus, I don't care.
But I have started high SPF & AHAs on my neck too, and am hoping it evens out eventually ;).

Oh, and I like Brave New Bronze on me :). I haven't bought it yet (for this, I used the tester & took a pic once I got home) but I think I will ;D.

The new shade of SolarBits, I hate :(. But the repromoted ones are beautiful :). Bright Future is really pretty :D and I like Sunsationalist and Liberated too ;D. As you can see, got a mini wishlist - now I just need to act upon it :-P.

*I want this.

*Triple award from Sammie :D - who was kind enough to award every single follower of hers :'). Check out her blog if you don't read it already ;D.

Here are my pretty pictures ^_^.

I'll leave this open to anyone who'd like to take them :).

*Remember my red, white & green contest entry ;D?

Well, Linda sent me a little something just for entering ^_^! Isn't that kind :)?

There's even a note :D.

And stuff: A CoverGirl trio, N. V. Perricone and Skyn Iceland samples, and a Bare Escentuals mini Well Rested Multi-Tasker For Eyes ;).

I only kept the last 2, but I can't wait to use them :).

*And I won the random draw with my pigeon smokey eyes :D! Am I lucky or what XD? I really should enter some more contests, haven't done that in a while...

Swap Update :)...

Swap 1 [The USA].

(For my Oriflame 36 eye shadow palette, and I added many extras ^_^.)

Two NYC liners, an Avon Satin Gel Eye Liner in Black/Brown Pearl which I love :D, I'm afraid I'll have to swap for more gel liners XD...A Revlon highlighter stick in Crystal Calm, two Revlon lipsticks in Soft Silver Red and Silver City Pink, and the last 2 items were something of a disappointment :(...

The Physicians Formula Retro Glow gloss is lovely, but...I'm allergic :(. Will swap it off.

And this is what the Fiori eye shadow trio looked like when we were arranging the swap:

This is what I got.

Yup...Broken :'(. She didn't really wrap it properly.

Oh well, at least it's a pretty colour :).

Swap 2 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper ^_^].

(I got her 4 ArtDeco eye shadows and a shadow box for them, 6 Elf single shadows, and lots of extras as usual ^_^. And I think there was something else, but we always do large, generous multi-swaps and I can't recall every single item ;D.)

Two Revlon quads in Sultry Smokes and Berry Bloom, a Pout eye shadow duo in Miss England (yay, more Pout :D), the Revlon Pure Confection Highlighting Face Powder, Barbara Daly For Tesco Moisture Foundation in Porcelain (I hope this is good 'cause it is a supermarket product :-P, but I have to say that the packaging, at least, does not appear cheap at all), a Mark Kiss Therapy tin in Shimmering Bronze (you know me & Mark lip products XD - plus I was looking for something like this for the summer), the Eyeko pink 3-in-1 cream :D, a half-full (I was aware of it, don't worry ;D) Physicians Formula loose powder in Translucent, a Victoria's Secret Sexy Cheeks Mosaic Highlighter, Estee Lauder lip gloss in Cool Coconut, Sephora tinted moisturiser in 100 (so far, love this ^_^!), Bourjois Rose Fougue blusher and Noir Cobalt eye shadow, and extras - a mini lipstick and Avon samples :).

Lol, I practically wrote a mini essay up there XD. Close-ups:

You can see the Eyeko pot better in the mirror ;D.

I'll try to do some looks soon ;D. If I still have readers :-P.

Thanks for reading then :).

What may be the largest ever swap in blogging history :-P ^_^.

After lots of bubble envelopes and boxes, weeks of swapping, and much anticipation...

Here it is.

The Hello Kitty tote pictured is also part of the swap ;D :). I'd stupidly dented mine >:-/ :'(, but Sarah had extra ones available, and she kindly agreed to send me one :).

And that isn't even all of it. This photo has the things from Parcels 1 and 2. Funny story about these: one was a bubble envelope to be sent by Airmail, and one was a box to be sent by ground mail...But bless the absent-minded guy or girl at Canada Post who sent the box by Airmail XD - even though Sarah'd paid for ground shipping (which is cheaper) :D.

Of course, I'm going to describe all this in detail ;D...

Elf powders in Sunkissed, Warm Tan, Luminance and Tone 2. In real life, Tone 2 is darker than Luminance :-/.

The first three are meant to be bronzers. However, Luminance is not going to bronze you up unless your skin is literally white >:-). It's a beautiful and well, luminous XD powder that I use when I want my face to glow (for the record, I'm quite light) - and it can also be used as a highlighter ;).

Tone 2 is just a regular powder, and I got it for my sister ;).

Elf eye shadow singles in Moondust, Mocha, Sage, Wisteria, Ivory and Truly Pink. These are very pretty, but I ended up swapping them off to somebody who had them on her wishlist ;). I would've definitely kept them had I not known her though! They're lovely ^_^. My fave is probably Wisteria ;D.

Elf quads in Butternut, Pretty 'N' Pink and Nouveau Neutrals. These are so tiny and adorable in real life, and the colours are so pretty :D!

NYX eye shadows in Orange, Prune, Blondie, Lanikai and Lime Juice.

I swapped off Prune ;). Orange is a great matte orange :D, Blondie is a blondish gold and I adore the name, Lanikai is a very blue blue, and Lime Juice is true to its name ;D. I love these NYX cute square shadows and have since swapped for a couple more of them :).

NYX Loose Pearl eye shadows in Yellow Gold, Turquoise and Ocean Blue, and Wet & Wild cream eye shadow in Champagne Toast :).

NYX round eye shadows in Deep Purple and Prune (from a trio), and trio in Copper/Rust/Bronze.

I swapped away the first two. And I broke Bronze >:-). Maybe I'll use the pigment to make bronze body lotion - got that idea from a magazine article ;).

NYC lipsticks in Smooch and Cameo.

Smooch is a fairly metallic mid-pink. But the stain it leaves is a very lovely rosy colour - makes me wonder why they didn't bottle (tube?) that colour in the first place :-/. Cameo is a very pretty and on me, very natural looking (as opposed to a statement colour) coral :). Not sure about Smooch yet, but I'm definitely keeping Cameo ^_^.

Annabelle pigments in Cool Mint and Azure.

I'm in love with these pigments ^_^! They're vivid, they don't crease or fade, and they're so flattering with my eye colour that I really couldn't believe it XD :'D. I think I'll try to track some more down ;)...

(In case you were wondering, this is a Canadian brand ;D & their website is here.)

Wet & Wild nail polish in Bijou Blue and NYC nail polish in Kool Blue [sic >:-)].

Here's a detailed blog post about Bijou Blue ;). I swatched it on one nail and it turned out very turquoise - greenish blues don't really suit me (or rather, I dislike them), so that turned me off doing a full mani, but I will in the future and hope it grows on me.

While Kool Blue (stupid spelling notwithstanding) is The Perfect Icy Blue I Have Been Seeking All My Life :).
Thankfully, it's a 15 ml bottle XD ^_^!!!

The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose :). This is a lovely blusher that can be used as eye shadow & for highlighting too if you'd like ;), and as you can see, it has 5 rosy colours :-P. Love it ^_^.

(A bronze version also exists ;D.)

Everyday Minerals mini blushes in Pink Ribbon, Anytime, Theme Park, Corner Office, Jump Rope, B & B, Plum Dust, Best Friends, Photo Album, All Smiles, Cookie Sheet, Chit Chat, and Once And Again.

Once And Again was sent in an envelope because she forgot to include it with the rest of them - and due to Canada Post's rules about bubble envelopes not exceeding a certain thickness, she had to depot the blush into a baggie, unscrew the cap, and send it in that disjointed state XD.

I originally planned to swap some off, but after trying these, I don't think I will ;). I love them :). Oh, and the 'mini blush' name is misleading - since these are mineral loose pigment, you only need a little bit at a time, so they'll last for long ;D ^_^.

Everyday Minerals eye shadows in Tinsel Time and Bubble Tea, eye liner in Gingerbread Man, and sample size eye shadows in Wild Flowers, Baby Bath, Well Being, Oasis, Birdhouse, Shopping Spree, Pressed Olive and Cypress. The full size eye shadows are the same size as the mini blushes above ;).

My pigeon inspired smokey look features Well Being ;D :).

Everyday Minerals Lip Scrub & Silk Naturals Date Bait Perfection Powder and Sleep In A Jar Under Eye Concealer.

I love the way the Silk Naturals stuff feels, but unfortunately it's just too coloured for my pale skin :(. I gave Date Bait to my sister ;), and while Sleep In A Jar makes my under eye area look jaundiced, it works well as lid concealer (think Benefit Lemon Aid, but in powder form) ;D.

Dior Detective Chic palettes ^_^!!! I got the eye shadow & highlighter (Pearl Reflection) palettes, and I now have 3 Dior clutch palettes total :D :) ^_^.

Great classic neutral colours ;).

I'll probably use these as eye shadows too XD.

[Wearing NYC Kool Blue on nails ;).]

And...

Hey, I didn't swap for these!!!

She gave me extras ^_^!!! Hello Kitty pins and a Wet & Wild I-Sparkle quad in Celestial Realm ^_^!!! Thank you ^_^!!!

Here's the pic of Parcel 3's lot ;).

The Wet & Wild liner came in Parcel 1 or 2 (I can't remember which), but I forgot to photograph it then so I added it to this pic ;D.

Pictured: NYX trios in Spring Leaf/Lime Green/Green Tea and Aquamarine, and NYX round eye shadow (I suppose this has been depotted from somewhere) in Lakemoss (far right). There's also a MAC ribbon ^_^, a primer sample, and a Wet & Wild lip liner in 666 Brandywine. That was a wishlist item of mine :D, and a replacement for the Wet & Wild tinted moisturiser we agreed on, because she'd discovered it had gone bad ;).

And some more extra stuff - ads ^_^!!! If you're swapping with me and have any you don't need...Take note ;). I love them :).

That was a MAC promo card that I gave to my sister 'cause she's a Fergie fan, while I hate her >:-).

Lise Watier ^_^! Another Canadian brand ;). I like the look she's wearing there :D. And I like the look of this...

Colourless mineral foundation to match all skin tones? That's brilliant ^_^!!! Has anyone tried this ;D?

Gosh...Featuring 6 looks. This is my fave ;).

And Revlon :).

Sarah, thanks again for a truly perfect swap :D :) ^_^.

MAC Fashion Mews review and look & Adorable Blog award ^_^.

(Requested by Chomsiri :). But I'm sure many people wouldn't mind a review of this XD.)

Review: MAC Hello Kitty lipstick in Fashion Mews.

[It has a kitty stamped onto it, how cute ^_^!]

MAC info: Sheer pale lavender [Glaze].

MAC's Hello Kitty collection included 6 lipsticks, of which I own three. Fashion Mews is a light, creamy pinkish lavender colour. It's not as lavender in real life as this though...

Which I would have been disappointed about, had the real life colour not been this beautiful :). It's lovely, and looks a lot like a nude shade, except it's well, not nude or peach. See my pic for reference ;).

The packaging is adorable ^_^, the name sounds good (unlike Big Bow for example >:-D), the staying power is very good (lasted through eating for me, although I was careful ;D) like all MAC lipsticks :), and I love that soft lovely smell ^_^. I personally had no dryness issues - but I rarely do, so I think that'd depend on one's lips' normal state. Can't speak for everyone on this ;).

So, is there anything bad about this? No :). The only minor trouble with this is that it's Limited Edition, so it may be hard to get hold of if you haven't already ;). I won't factor the price as a negative aspect because overpriced though 18,50 Euros may be, it's still not as much as, say, a Dior or Laura Mercier lip colour ;D. I won't even mention how fine by Euro standards the US price of 14 $ is - a L'Oreal lipstick is selling for more than that here >:-D.

Would I recommend this? Yes :). Definitely. Especially if you're a fan of Hello Kitty and lovely statement nudes ^_^.

Here's the look I did with it ;)...

(See what I mean about it being a pinkish lavender shade with a nude look & effect? I'm afraid my description's a bit confusing, so I hope the pic helps XD.)

Pout Love Glow, no mascara or liner, Oriflame Aqua Vibes Cool Eye Shadow stick in Hawaii as a base & Lumiere eye shadow in Cafe Latte over it, for a minimalist, gleaming look :). This is how I'd wear this - but I'm totally open to suggestions, just leave a comment ;D.

By the way, the moment I saw Cafe Latte, I thought, "This is the shade for Fashion Mews :D!" ;). Does this happen to anyone else? Knowing what to wear a product with before actually trying it...It often does to me, anyway.

Here's another bizarre not-quite-smiling pic. Photographer's block won't lay off :-P. I'm never photogenic >:-) but I usually can manage to look presentable, and in the past few days, it isn't happening >:-/.

& I've received this from Thiamere :). Thank you ^_^!!!

This is so cute XD ^_^.

*Include the award logo in your blog or post.
*Nominate as many blogs which you like.
*Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
*Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
*Share the l♥ve and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

*Jess
*Nic Nic
*Ji
*Fuz
*Ning Star
*Nikki

& I don't know who else hasn't received this, so if you haven't received this yet and have an adorable blog, I award you :-P :).

Thanks for reading ^_^!

P.S. If you'd like to request a review, go ahead ;).

Blind Swap lot and look & Clinique Plum Seduction swatches as requested.

Thanks so much Nikki for being my first Blind Swap ^_^!!!!!

Well, it wasn't completely blind for her, since she knew that I was sending her a Korres Body Butter - I offered to, 'cause it's hard to get in her country and easy in mine ;D. But I sent her lots of other stuff from Europe too :-P :).

It was completely blind for me though. I had no idea what I'd be getting...Which can be a bit scary, but I trusted Nikki to pick good stuff for me :).

When I got the envelope, everything was all wrapped up in pink tissue paper, how cute ^_^. Of course I didn't photograph it, I was too eager to unpack it all :-P XD.

Her note :). So sweet & nice of her to add one ^_^.

I'm not sure what this is. But it's cute XD.

Edit: It's a bag holder ;).

Skincare: Paul & Joe Light Cleansing Milk and Moisture Lotion mini bottles. (Well, they're not that mini - 25 ml each ;D, lovely ^_^.) They're beautiful :). Can't wait to use them ^_^!

Make-up :D!!!

Careline eye shadow duo in Poison Ivy, IN2IT eye shadow duo in Sphinx, Embodyment Organic Essentials Cherry Lip Balm, and Nichido blush in Sunkissed.

She remembered (from a comment I left on this gorgeous look of hers) that I was looking for an orange ;D :'D! Now I can try to recreate the look ;)...

Here's a close-up of Poison Ivy :). The built in brushes are a bit hard to manoeuvre if doing anything but a simple lid colour, but the pigments are amazing ^_^!

And masks ;). Four of them :D. These are the face-shaped tissue kind - I've never tried similar ones before, so I'm definitely looking forward to it :).

Collagen...

Coenzyme Q10...

Pearl...

And potato XD.

All in all, my first Blind Swap was a wonderful experience. Thank you Nikki :). I hope everything I sent you makes you happy too ^_^.

Of course, I had to do a look with all my new make-up ^_^. Here it is :D.

I look kind of grumpy because I was annoyed at my face being extremely unphotogenic (as usual). And I was tired.

Eyes:

By the way, the Pucci Guerlain mascara brush is terrible. I finally gave up & replaced it with my Clinique mini tube brush that I'd kept. (Thankfully it fits the tube tightly ^_^.) And the mascara isn't anything special either to be honest :-/. But I got it in the Pucci eye set & for the Pucci eye set (not for the mascara as such), so I don't really care XD.

The colours are so beautiful :). I think my next look will be light on the eyes though, I want to do something soft ;D. I've done quite a few intense eye looks for the blog so far & I need a break ;).

[Funny pic of me, starring my wonky mouth & unclassifiable expression :-P.]

Here are swatches of my Clinique Plum Seduction quad for Kim :).

It's very nice :). I swapped for it even though it's mostly purple XD. But these colours are very beautiful so I don't mind that at all ^_^.

Well...Thanks for reading ^_^! I've got a really huge swap to present next...Can't wait ;D.