Today's look, swaps, new stuff etc. [Warning: Long with lots of pictures.]

*Hoping that all our blogger girls in the Philippines are alright & everything gets back to normal as soon as possible.

I've noticed that looks are quite liked ;D, so I'm trying to post more of them. Here's my look for today.

Huge eyes (enhanced ones :-P), peach cheeks, and nude lips ;). [Finally starring Revlon Nude Attitude. Took me a while >:-) - but better late than never :-P.]

This look's product pic is huge - I ended up using so many products that they barely fit onto my Hello Kitty bag. But they're basics & I don't think this is too hard to copy if you are so inclined.

Skin: Barbara Daly for Tesco Moisture Foundation in Porcelain (for the record, I've finished the Oriflame one ;D), Tigi Fixx-It Stick in Light, and Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder in Vanille. I applied powder with my Jemma Kidd kabuki brush this time. And I contoured with the MAC brush & Bourjois Miel Dore powder - a video I've seen recently recommends using a contour colour similar to the shade your eye lids are (they're usually slightly darker than most of the face), and this fits :).

Eyes: I'll write out steps 'cause this was a bit elaborate ;).
*Line the upper waterline with black (Oriflame Retro Chic Kajal pencil - not pictured, I forgot to add it >:-/), and the lower waterline with white (my ridiculously tiny Laurel & Hardy by Oriflame - will be needing a new one soon).
*Use a sheeny pinky peach colour (I used the bottom left from my Markwins palette) all over the lids.
*With a soft dark colour (top row, second from the right, Markwins), draw a fat line just above the crease. It should be visible but not fully when your eyes are open.
*Sort out the line. Make sure its shape is right. (This is why I recommend starting with a soft colour.)
*Once you have the shape you want, go over it with black powder liner (Revlon Bedroom Eyes in Fishnet Jet). If you don't own a powder liner, you can use pigment or eye shadow.
*With a smudge brush (mine's by Sephora, but the brand doesn't matter as long as it works :-P), blend the colours.
*Line the upper lash line with a black gel (if you prefer, you could use a liquid) liner (I used the Jane Be Pure mineral gel liner in black). Make it a thin line with a slight flick that should end about where the thick black powder line does.
*Use a brightening pencil (Wet & Wild Idol Eyes pencil in Pixie) on the inner corners.
*Curl, and apply loads of (black) mascara on all lashes.

Cheeks: Bourjois powder in Miel Dore to contour, Mary Kay blusher in Apricot Breeze as the cheek colour, and the mess I ended up with when the face products section of my Too Faced Love Lisa Beauty Battle Box palette smashed on me (lol) as a highlighter :-P.

Lips: Revlon Matte lipstick in Nude Attitude.

More pictures...

I never have a 'normal' expression, do I >:-)?

I forgot to take a close-up of my eyes. Sorry about that. I think they are visible enough on these though.

Shiny face, funny facial expression. I must've scared myself >:-D.

Kidding XD...

Here's the usual Swap Update.

Swap 1 [The USA].

(For my Benefit lip glosses in No Peeking and Who Are You Wearing?, and my Just Cavalli 75 ml shower gel.)

This swap was...

A pain. She wouldn't send me anything for three months, and only did after I threatened to report her. The funny thing is that I had a funny feeling about this swap before agreeing to it - so here's some advice to swappers: listen to your intuition, if a swap feels wrong, don't do it, and know what you need to do in case you do get tricked. I was lucky 'cause I did get my items eventually :). She even added extras.

We agreed to swap for two Mary Kay palettes (Floral Fantasy and Enchanted Garden), an Avon Daring Curves mascara in Navy, an Estee Lauder Pure Colour Gloss in Praline, and a Mark Gloss-Tastic See Through Lip Shine Hookup Stack in Crystal Clear. She added samples of Mary Kay gloss and eye shadow, an Avon quad in Blushing Raisins, an Avon Lip Delight gloss in Vanilla Mint, and two mini Avon wash-off waterproof (how that is supposed to make sense, I have no idea either :-/) coloured mascaras (a purple one and a blue one) as extras.

I thought the mini mascaras were black (there's no mention of their shade anywhere on them), so I gave one to my sister and put the other one into my swap box with the intention of adding it as an extra. Fortunately my sister opened hers and told me it was blue. I checked the other one, saw it was purple, and kept them ;). (It's alright 'cause she doesn't wear coloured ones anyway.)

Good: all shades work this time >:-D.

Bad: the bottom two shades aren't as pigmented as they look :(.

But I love the top left colour :D...So I'm keeping this :).

And I adore the Mary Kay palettes ^_^. The packaging is beautiful, they're slim and very portable, and the products work brilliantly ;). Each palette has three shadows, a cream-to-powder cheek colour, and two lip colours.

Swap 2 [The USA again, but a different swapper].

(For my unused Elf quad in Pretty 'N' Pink, two CDs, and a little something extra ;D.)

A Mary Kay empty palette and five lipsticks :-P. (Yes, I really like them.)

Pictured: my new palette, now containing duos in Cotton Candy, Ivy Duet, Jade, Tutti Frutti and Safari Sunset, and Mary Kay lipsticks in Cantaloupe, Downtown Brown, Frosted Rose, Paradise Pink and Shell.

Must post a look with Downtown Brown - it's so not what I'd expected, and incredibly beautiful.

Swap 3 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper].

(For two DVDs, my Revlon highlighter stick in Crystal Calm, and lots of extras as usual.)

Some skincare again ;). I really like the Nivea Gentle Cleansing Cream Wash & recommend it to anyone who likes creamy cleansers ;D. The Superdrug Vitamin E night cream's pretty good too :).

As for the make-up...I got the BeautyUK palette in 4 (most of the top right shadow broke off as soon as I touched it >:-D after taking the pic, but they're pigmented enough and the colours are really nice ^_^), my own L.A. Colours palette in Wine And Roses back ;D, Fyrinnae Lip Lustres in Bounce, Flavour Of The Day and Lollipop-Pop (I hate the packaging of these, but I suppose their inner beauty matters more :-P...), Prestige Total Intensity eye liner in Bold Brown (a cool-toned brown), Everyday Minerals minis in In The Garden, Mystic Night (probably the most stunning purple I have ever seen) and Starry Eyed, and MAC pigment samples in Dark Soul and Reflects Blackened Red. She also added Avon's Ideal Shade Smooth Mineral Foundation in Soft Ivory and a mini lipstick as extras :).

Swap 4 [The USA and yet another swapper].

(For my Estee Lauder DayWear Plus Multi Protection Antioxidant Creme SPF 15 mini, and some extras.)

A second tube of the Jane AguaCeuticals TM :), along with some really nice extras ;D. Tea ^_^ (fancy packaging too :-P :D), and fragrance samples - Missoni, and I've no idea what the other one is but I'll try it anyway :-P.

Will finish this off with things I've bought :).

I do shop :-P. It's just that swapping gives me more and better items for my money (and half the time, my junk) ;D. Plus, receiving a 'present' feels so nice :). As does packing one ;). Really ^_^.

So, more Tigi stuff...

Palette containing 8 full size eye shadows: 30 Euros, with Tools Of Attraction (5 mini brushes) and pouch free :D.

Incredible, right? That's a good deal even by US standards :-P.

Cyberoptics eye shadow in Jealousy: 13 Euros.

Blueberry liner: free :D, it was their tester (they had no actual Blueberry pencils for sale left) and they let me have it ^_^.

Tigi Tools Of Attraction:

[Wearing Revlon Not So Blue-Berry on nails.]

A mini face brush, shadow brush, liner brush, lip brush (that I'll be using for eye shadow anyway :-P) and baby kabuki ^_^.

Here's a close-up of Jealousy...

And two pics of the palette, in different lighting.

Peach, Brown, Wine, Passion, Copper, Natural, Black and Vanilla.

And some stuff from Sephora...

I paid 5 Euros for the Too Faced eye liner in Ruby Slippers (hey, it's red, I had to get it :-P), and 5 Euros for...

Five mini Sephora brand brushes, and a case (with a mirror). It's so cute too ^_^.

These have their uses written on them. Powder, shadow, smudge, concealer & angle brow.

I think this was my longest post to date. This is what happens when you neglect blogging...Sorry about that, and thanks for reading :).

Last night's blue look, last week's blue nails, & more new stuff, including my contest prizes.

Finally, a look :-P.

(I know they're the most popular kind of post & everyone likes to see them, but I hate them - my face isn't a pleasant subject to work with in my opinion. Still, I can stand it when I have to ;D.)

This looked nicer in real life :), so I'll be wearing it again ^_^. But...

It looks exactly like a passport photograph. And that isn't a compliment.

(Hey, it's my face, so I can tell the truth :-P.)

In case you can't tell, yes, I really hate taking pictures >:-).

An angled eye close-up. I suppose I got bored of the regular ones.

(I do love that 'looking through the hair' effect. Even on me.)

Here's what I used. (Yes, many things are new.)

Skin: Jane AguaCeuticals (that's a g as seen on the pic, not my mistake :-/) Sheer Tinted Moisturiser SPF 30 in Fair Tones (the lightest shade).

You've noticed? It's not light enough for me :(, and I don't think I'll ever find a technically cheap TM as light as the Stila, but that's about the only problem I have with it. And it doesn't look unnaturally dark, so I can definitely pull it off ;). (In fact, I'm sure that most people would prefer this over my usual pale base colour.) It's a great product :). It makes my skin look (and feel) glowy, soft and healthy, and has SPF 30 :D. I've already arranged a swap for another tube & definitely recommend this to you all to try ;).

I also used my Physicians Formula loose powder (mainly because I wanted to try out the kabuki), and contoured with Bourjois powder in Miel Dore (not Apricote) - I think this one works better ;).

Eyes: I followed the technique outlined in this video. Since I don't have that quad though :-P, I used my Milani quad in Denim Blues (the colours are pretty similar ;D). Also, I made everything blue :D - so my liner & mascara for this look were Barry M Kohl Pencil in 4 and Avon Daring Curves mascara in Navy ;). And of course, I curled my lashes with my Shisem curler.

Cheeks: The Body Shop Shimmer Waves 02 (Blush). I used a mix of the darker colours on my cheeks & the lightest one (which looks white but actually reflects pink when worn) as a highlighter. Definitely recommending this product to all pale girls - it's not as shimmery as one'd expect of it, just softly glowing and very pretty :).

Lips: Estee Lauder Pure Colour Gloss in Praline. Which I thought would be brown (praline's chocolate, isn't it :-/) when I asked to swap for it - and obviously it's not >:-), but it's pretty so I don't mind ^_^.

Bonus pic: I'm watching you :-P...

Some swaps come next :). Read on for the blue nail polish pic ;), it came from a swap so :-P...

Swap 1 [The USA].

(For my depotted NYX eye shadows in Rust and Lime Green, and lots of extras ^_^.)

The Jane TM :D! (See the 'Skin' section of the tutorial for the full name, I'm lazy :-P. Or just read it on the pic ;D.) And...

Revlon Not So Blue-Berry nail polish :).

I've wanted that colour ever since I read this review, but living in Europe, I couldn't just go out and buy it :-P. (Don't get me started on that, there are so many products I wish I had direct access to :-/...)

Here's a pic...

Simply lovely. Oh, and it does smell like berries ;).

She also kindly added a Trish McEvoy Beta Hydroxy Pad and mini primer as extras :D.

Swap 2 [The USA, a different swapper].

(For two Prevage minis I had & obviously didn't need, and some extras.)

Clinique Glosswear For Lips Sheer Shimmers in Gold Sparkle. If you'd like to know what it looks like, picture Benefit California Kissin' in this colour, minus the 'freshness' effect, and it's quite sticky. Believe it or not, this looked like a cool-toned gold to me, so if you're after one, check this out ;).

She also added a La Roche-Posay eye cream sample & a face cloth as extras :).

And last but not least, here's my prize lot from Blogspot Beauty's contest :D.

This contest had a really cute concept - the prizes were minis of BB's fave products, so the winner could get to try them out for herself ;) ^_^.

The minis:

*Estee Lauder mini Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher.
*Estee Lauder mini DayWear Plus Multi Protection Antioxidant Creme SPF 15.
*Boots No7 mini tinted moisturiser in Medium.
*Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess mini bronzer.
*Estee Lauder mini MagnaScopic mascara.
*Lancome mini Definicils mascara.
*Lancome mini Juicy Tube.

And two full-size products: a Sanctuary warming detox mask and a Boots No7 Moisture Drench lipstick in Cameo.

It's a medium rose with a reflecting sort of effect. Reminds me of my Oriflame Skydiver nail polish (which I'll have to repurchase 'cause my little sister knocked it off the table >:-@, but at least I'm glad it was this & not a rare OPI one, lol) or my Barry M lipstick in 123, minus the huge chunks of glitter in that one. I think I'll take a picture 'cause I'm having a hard time describing this with words :-P.

I've swapped off the mini skincare 'cause I know they won't work for me, and the Juicy Tube. I also gave the mini TM to my (teenage) sister - and she adores it :D. (I'm always happy & a bit vindicated to see her excited about a product, 'cause she normally looks so bored when I'm all giddy about my new stuff, it's irritating >:-/. But hey, her friends are all jealous of her & say she's lucky to have a live-in Sephora XD :-P.) I've kept everything else though, and will use it often ;). Thanks again BB :).

And thank you all for reading ^_^. I know I have a few tags pending, so I'll do these soon ;D...And there's more new stuff (swapped and purchased) to share :).

P.S. Thanks to everyone who missed me. I appreciate it more than I seem to.

I've won another giveaway, yay ^_^! Plus some nail pics & New Acquisitions. Including a must have product under 5 $ - really.

Blogspot Beauty e-mailed me...To tell me that I'd won her contest :).

Well, that's about as good as 'welcome back to the blogosphere' can get, right XD? Thanks so much BB ^_^. Everyone else, do check out her blog ;).

Here are the nail pictures. I'll do a look as soon as I stop feeling like a dried out pancake.

So, Nails Inc Victoria:

I'd swapped for this one ages ago, can't believe I'm only posting it up now.

Well...It's an autumn kind of colour :-P? Not that I personally pick my looks like that, but many do ;).

Nails Inc Victoria topped (in retrospect & as visible on there, sort of clumsily - sorry!) with Icing by Claire's Signature Runway (black with red sparkles, pics minus the sparkles >:-D here).

Can you see the red glitter on this pic? It just won't show up >:-/. But for the record (if you're planning on getting the Claire's polish, and you probably should if you can 'cause it's cheap enough to take a chance on ;D), they are there. And they're most intense under electric light. I think that topping a chocolate colour with this would look like OPI Midnight In Moscow ;) :D.

Alas, I don't own a chocolate colour XD. But I love this combo too :) - and it's even prettier in real life 'cause one can >:-) see the glitter. I think I prefer this to wearing Signature Runway on its own, and I'll be wearing it again ;).

Wet & Wild Bijou Blue...

Blue is my favourite alternative (that is, not red, white, pink or nude) colour to wear on nails. I feared that I might hate this (I don't really like teal), but somehow, with my skin colour, it works :).

[Here's a proper review ;).]

I've also worn my Essie Flirty Girl, but was too lazy to photograph it >:-). Will do next time though ;D.

On to my new stuff :D. I love things :-P. You can probably guess that by now >:-).

First of all, here are some things I actually bought >:-D.

A sharpener for my concealer (in my favourite colour, of course :-P), and two Tigi Bed Head brushes :D. They're hot pink ;D, and have names. Whoever came up with that is brilliant :). I don't like it when products have numbers instead of names & there's no real reason for it to be different with brushes. The liner brush is called Fame, and the other one's called The Love Brush ;).

These cost me 6 Euros each. If you can get them for that price, do. If you can get them full price, do it anyway if you have the funds, 'cause these rule :-P.

So far, I've used Fame with my Kate silver gel liner. (My black liners work fine with the cheap liner brush the Jane one came with, but this one called for a better tool ;D.) It works wonderfully :). I love it ^_^. And I'm sure I'll also love The Love Brush when I get around to using that ;D.

And now (you probably knew this was coming...), here are some swaps :).

Swap 1 [France].

(For my Maybelline Line Stylist in Jade Flash, and a few extras.)

An eye & lip liner from The Body Shop, in Chocolate ^_^. Also samples of a Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream and something anti-ageing by Guerlain - swapped that one off.

Swap 2 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper].

(I got her an Oriflame Radiance Energy cream and Beauty Balm, and as usual, added lots of extras ^_^.)

Palettes galore :D...

Profusion 36 Glamour eye palette, Sleek palettes (finally got my hands on these) in Acid and Chaos (which is upside down on the pic >:-D), the ArtDeco Beauty Box I'd originally bought for her (with two eye shadows in it ^_^), Coty Puzzle perfume (50 ml), Bourjois Violet Absolut eye shadow, and a metallic blues palette by L.A. Colours as an extra :). It's beautiful ^_^!

That shiny thing on the bag's top right is a pore strip, it was an extra too XD.

More pics...

The Profusion palette is a must have. I mean it. And it's only a few dollars in the US >:-). So freaking unfair to us all in other countries, but at least I managed to get one through this swap :).

It's got a lot of lovely neutrals and enough smokes, but also a red, some greens, a lovely periwinkle blue...A wonderful variety of colours :). And guess what: these colours go on metallic if used wet, and many are duochromes :D. See that pale orange in the second row (second from left)? It reflects white ^_^. This is for a single colour out of a 3.99 $ palette that contains 36 of them. If you have access to it, get it now ;D.

Oh, and it has the best and largest mirror I've ever seen on a palette XD. If you have a hard time justifying this purchase, tell yourself it's for the mirror's sake - and once you try these amazing shadows, you won't have any more issues :-P ;).

That's Acid on the left and Chaos on the right.

Well, only the middle four shades in Acid are true neons :-/. But the other shades are pigmented anyway - and I suppose that them not being fluorescent will be seen as a good thing by most people XD.

As for the shades in Chaos, they remind me of clay XD. But they're really nice colours :). Look at that orange, it'll be great for autumn themed looks ;).

You can also see my two new ArtDeco shadows on that pic: 82 and 217. But since I have 243 from the same collection the Beauty Box was part of, I put that one there. And to keep things green, I added my other two ArtDeco greens. It now looks like this:

ArtDeco eye shadows in 318, 243 and 390.

And this is a better pic of the Puzzle bottle:

It's so cute :). But in real life it's green, not blue :-P. (Though personally I would've preferred blue like on this picture, lol. But oh well.)

Swap 3 [The USA].

(For my mini Lancome Juicy Tube in Frozen Punch, and I added a few extras.)

C.O. Bigelow Soda Fountain Strawberry Sundae Mentha Lip Shine ;D. As you know, I love these - and this one looks so pretty :).

Oh, and it was brand new & still sealed. Not that I care XD, I don't mind used lip stuff. But I suppose it's nice to swap for something unused every now and then ;).

Thanks for reading :). I've got a lot of catching up to do XD...