Diamond Enigma

Desert Island Lips Tag

2011-08-26T18:49:00.003+03:00

Back with a quick tag :). Stole this from The Dark Side Of Beauty ;). (If you're not following her blog, check it out. It's a good one.)

Here is the scenario: You are going to be cast away on a deserted island, but you must maintain your fabulousness. The trick is, it can only be a lip product. What ONE lip colour could you happily live with for the rest of your days? This isn’t about your favourite or what’s haute at the moment. It should be something that doesn’t require lip liner or mixing with some other colour to make it look good. This should be a colour that you don’t have to think twice about because you know it will never fail to make you look flirty, bold or seductive every time you wear it. What would it be?

The Rules:

Choose your Desert Island Lip colour (lipstick, stain, lip pencil, OR gloss). Only one, please.
Tell us why you’ve picked it (what makes it special, timeless, or the bomb).
Post a photo of yourself wearing the lipstick. The photo should be your full face.

*You may only use these other types of products in your photo:
Foundation/concealer/powder
Groomed brows
Mascara
Desert Island Lip product

Tag 3 other beauty bloggers.

*No paintpots, eyeshadows, eyeliner, blush, contour, highlighters or additional lip liners.

Mine would have to be the Cherry Labello lip balm.

(Only wearing it & tinted moisturiser. Desert island eyebrows too, will have to sort them out later.)

Here's how it looks in the sunlight...

Bonus pic:

Smiling 'cause Hello Kitty makes everything better ^_^.

I tag anyone who still reads my blog (& feels like doing this). If there's more than three of you, I'll be pleasantly surprised ;).

As always, thanks for reading :).

P.S. Here's some inspiration. I plan to try out some of these looks soon ;).

Sucker Punch inspired look, birthday cake & thoughts.

2011-04-24T19:26:00.006+03:00

[Happy Easter!]

Warning: Lots of pictures, many of which are eye close-ups. I hope they won't be too annoying, but I had a hard time choosing & wanted to finish this post already ;).

I haven't seen Sucker Punch & don't know whether I want to, but the make-up's beautiful. That's my excuse ^_^.

Below, I present my recreation of Baby Doll's make-up look. Let's start with the full face shots...

I tried to portray expressions seen on various graphics I found online.

(The hair, too. I never wear my hair like this: it's either loose, a messy updo or a ponytail. What do you think?)

So, if my poses look odd and/or funny to you, remember they aren't technically mine - I didn't come up with them ;).

I'd also like to apologise to any Sucker Punch fans who may think that I look like a poor parody of their favourite character. (I hope I won't!)

Next, eye close-ups...

Yes, I know.

Way too many pictures...

They do focus on her eyes in the movie though.

(I'm pretty sure it's a plot point.)

This last one is only here because it's fairly bizarre. I think I took that one by accident.

And OK, I didn't really need three nearly identical 'eyes closed' pictures...

But I've already uploaded them & it's my birthday, so here they are ;D.

The original look definitely uses false lashes. I did not ;).

Here's what I used for this look & how I did it. It's actually pretty simple.

Face: I used my Pola whitening foundation & Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder.

Eyes: I shaded my lids with the white shade from Wet & Wild Galactic Realm, used wet. Then I defined the eye with the brown (bottom middle) shade from the Let It Snow palette, going all the way into the inner & outer corners and using the shadow left on the brush (Tigi Fame - perfect for this look ;D) to apply just a hint of colour onto the lower outer corners. I lined with mascara (liquid liner could & probably should be used instead), and used my Oriflame pencil in Silver Snow on my lower waterline. To make my top lashes look like falsies, I used Lancome Definicils topped with Avon SuperShock. The bottom lashes were left bare.

Cheeks: I used the pink blush from my Sephora Sunswept palette on the centre & the lighter shade from my (smashed up but no less lovely ^_^) Sugar blush in Cupcake on the tops of my cheeks. Any similar shades of pink will do ;).

Lips: Estee Lauder Crystal Pink. It's not the best match, actually, but I really wanted to use it ^_^.

Birthday nails: OPI Russian Navy.

And here's a pic of my cake ^_^.

Number cutouts yet again ;).

Here's one last photograph. This & the very first picture are me posing as me (not Baby Doll of Sucker Punch). I took these last. I'm honestly surprised at how nice they've turned out.

Yes, I like this year's pictures. That's an improvement. It took me a year to like 2009's (I liked them in 2010), and a year to like 2010's (as predicted, I like them now), but I already like this. I suppose I'm making peace with my appearance. That was one of the reasons I started blogging.

Or maybe it's just growing up.

I have grown up. I've learned a lot & will keep learning. And I'm glad to be alive.

Thank you so much for reading my birthday post :).

Happy birthday to me ^_^.

Embarrassingly late Swap Update...

2011-03-18T11:30:00.002+02:00

Here's the last bunch of unposted swaps from, um, late 2009. I'd totally forgotten about them until I found the pictures. Here goes...

Swap 1 [Malaysia].

This was my second swap with Hanna :). This time, the stuff I sent her went missing :(, but she was kind enough to allow me to send her a replacement and keep what she'd sent me.

A note from her :), Estee Lauder Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover, Barry M Lip Paint in 52, Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick in Sugar Honey, Stila Brow Set in Warm, Laura Mercier mini eye liner in Mahogany Brown, Avon Naturals Whitening Anti-Marks Cream & Whitening Day Cream SPF 15, a sample of Etude House Perfect Proof Sun Guard SPF 50, and a
Skin Food Black Bean Nose Pack.

Hopefully she'll resume blogging one day :).

Swap 2 [England, Kaleidoscope palette swapper].

Superdrug Vitamin E Moisture Cream SPF 15, Ruby & Millie A Decade Of Colour Anniversary Quad, Bourjois Shimmering Shine Liquid Eye Shadow in Gris Platine, NYX Eye Shadows in Slate, Champagne and Highlight, Milani eye shadow quad in Blooming Fields, Almay Whipped Gloss in Pink Cloud, Sally Hansen Line Smoothing Mineral Lip Treatment in Citrine, Revlon lip gloss in Pink Afterglow & Flirt! Plushious Liquid Velvet Lipcolour in Red Stiletto.

Wouldn't recommend the Superdrug cream :-/.

And here's a close-up of the Ruby & Millie quad, 'cause it's gorgeous :).

Swap 3 [The USA].

Revlon Mineral Mousse foundation in Fair/Light. Plus an adorable mini nail polish as an extra ^_^.

The foundation isn't as pale as I normally like mine to be, but it is light & looks natural.

Swap 4 [England, same swapper].

Urban Decay eye shadow in Heat & yet another Revlon quad - this time, it's Nude Elements.

I can never have too many red eye shadows ;).

Or should I just say eye shadows?

Swap 5 [Italy, the swapper I got my Goldfinger orange lip pencil from].

Pout retractable liner in Eye Envy You & Canmake lipstick in 14. She also added a sample of body lotion as an extra :).

Thanks for looking :).

I didn't arrange any swaps this year - the more stuff I own, the less I 'need' ;). But I'm thinking of getting back into it. We shall see.

Nail colour of the moment: yellow! (Essie Flirty Girl.)

2011-03-09T19:00:00.006+02:00

Inspired by this post about Chanel's upcoming collection...

[Daylight, no flash.]

[Indirect daylight, close-up with flash.]

Yellow nails make me happy ^_^.

(I'm quite lucky to already own a nice yellow shade ;D.)

Thanks for looking at this short post :) - wondering what type of look to try out next...

Illamasqua Throb inspired recreation tutorial.

2011-02-17T00:12:00.003+02:00

For reference, here's the original pic...

(By the way, I know that my version's inferior, but remember that I'm not a professional & had to do this alone. I hope it's close enough and not too badly executed.)

I applied Jane tinted moisturiser to the sides of my face. For the heart area, I used my Pola whitening foundation in Pink Beige as a base, then I powdered the area with white eye shadow (from the Avon Smokey Eyes quad). I used my mini kabuki brush to powder.

I drew the heart with my Mocha Stick pencil from The Body Shop.

I filled in my brows with the black shade from my W7 palette using my Sephora Angle Brow brush, then shaped them & added some colour with a black pencil liner.

Trying to match the lid colour was a bit of a challenge & I'm still not sure I got that one right, but I used a shade from my W7 palette. I applied this on the lid & also smoked the lower lashline out a bit.

I lined my eyes with black mascara, using a gel liner brush. (If you have liquid liner, just use that; I had to improvise.) I made the line quite thick, then I went over it with silver (Oriflame Visions liner in Silver Snow), leaving a thin stripe of black right by the lashes. The black base really intensified the silver. I also tightlined with black.

I applied black mascara to my top lashes only, the lower lashes were left bare. I lined the lower waterline with a pale pink (Oriflame Visions duo liner in Thelma & Louise).

For my lips, I first shaped them with lip liner (defined edges & a heart shaped top lip), then I filled them in with NYX lipstick in Ulysses, blotted, applied another coat, and topped that with Estee Lauder gloss in Burgundy. I tried to match the original lip colour using products from my collection. If you like Illamasqua's lip colour, I'd recommend just getting that.

On my cheeks, I used Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1. (This is an Asian product.)

Finally, I drew on the little black heart with a black pencil, then painted it over with mascara.

Hope this helps & thanks very much for reading :).

Illamasqua Throb inspired recreation for Valentine's Day.

2011-02-14T20:58:00.005+02:00

Finally, I get to do a fairly graphic look. If the feedback's good, I'll do more of that sort. They're fun.

(Before you wonder, yes, posting this does indicate that I didn't go out - but yay for being single & having the chance to mess with my face as I see fit ;D.)

I tried to get a photo similar to the promo shot, but my best try is not really a side pic and slightly out of focus. But here it is.

I'm not really sad. But I do like this picture. So I guess this is for those who are...

[Cheer up. Think of something beautiful that belongs to all.]

Finally, eye close-ups.

Isn't the heart pretty ^_^? I think it's adorable :).

A tutorial of sorts coming up tomorrow.

(I used no actual Illamasqua products 'cause I don't own any. Sorry about that.)

Thanks for reading :). Happy Valentine's Day 2011, everyone ^_^.

Liiv Botanicals products review.

2011-02-07T18:11:00.004+02:00

This review will probably seem outdated. (I bought these products back in 2010 and have had them for months, and the Liiv line has since been discontinued in several countries.) However, I'm still posting this because this is, after all, a personal blog and I can write about anything I want. Who knows, this might still be useful.

*Liiv Botanicals Face Cream Cleanser

I know that you can tell that I love this product just by the state of it XD. I do :).

This cream cleanser is creamy and gentle but cleanses well, while being effective at removing face make-up. After using it, my skin looked clean, refreshed and soft, and there was a pore minimising effect too.

The one thing that bothered me about it was the smell. All Liiv products have a cucumber scent, but this one combines that with something yogurt-like. It's not strong enough to be repulsive, and if you don't mind dairy products this won't bother you at all, but that's the one detail that disqualifies this product from being perfect in my eyes.

Still, if you love products like Clinique's Comforting Cream Cleanser, but wouldn't mind trying a cheaper and/or more natural alternative, you'll probably like this :).

Recommended: Yes ^_^.

*Liiv Botanicals Revitalising Face Mask

Note that the packaging instructs one to apply a generous amount, but from personal experience I have concluded that (on me, anyway) with most gel masks, a little goes a long way.

After using this product, my skin looks like I've applied a matte tinted moisturiser. (I know that's a bit of an oxymoron, but it's the best description I can come up with.) It's smooth and fairly matte but there's a bit of a brightening effect too.

Recommended: Try it if your skin likes gel masks ;).

*Liiv Botanicals Vital Day Cream SPF 20

This is really light so it goes well under make-up.

SPF 20 is not really enough though :(. SPF 30 would be much better. Still, I do wear actual sunscreen on sunny days, and this is an effective product for cloudier times ;).

Note: Don't use this on irritated or freshly scrubbed skin as it may be too harsh.

Recommended: If the climate in your area allows you to use this often, then yes. Obviously, if you live in a place with very cold or constantly sunny weather, you'd probably need a heavier or higher SPF product respectively.

*Liiv Botanicals Vital Night Moisturiser

Check this out:

My first thought was, "This looks just like shampoo that's gone bad :-/." Upon closer inspection, I was really put off by the pink glowy particles in this...

(They're even more in your face in real life. The flash washed the colours out.)

Why use shimmer in a product clearly designated for nighttime use? That's when the skin rests & regenerates, after all. The only reason I can think of is to fool people into thinking they have glowing, healthier skin when they actually don't. So to be honest, I was worried about using this, but I had paid for it and the other products were effective. I started using this & hoped for the best.

Well - at least I was right,
This product irritates my skin, gives me spots and dries my face out. I made sure that this reaction was caused by this product by undoing any other changes in my routine except this, and I can safely claim that for me, this was terrible.

Recommended: Hell no.

*Liiv Botanicals Vitalising Eye Cream SPF 15

This has an eye shadow base-like formula, so it's lovely under eye make-up. On the other hand, if you prefer thicker eye creams, you may be put off as this is very light. The packaging is nice & practical, and it makes the eye area look smoother. But most importantly...
It has SPF :D. This is an effective & affordable eye product that has SPF. If you haven't found your staple eye cream, try this one out.

Recommended: Yes, this is brilliant :).

Thanks for reading :).

Korres magazine gift sets photos & swatches.

2010-12-06T21:45:00.004+02:00

Marie Claire Greece's December 2010 issue comes with a gift set featuring two full size Korres products. There are three different kinds: a lip liner & lipstick, mascara & eye liner, or eye shadow & eye liner. I ended up grabbing two shadow & liner sets.

The packaging's nice, sturdy cardboard.

My first duo consists of Smooth Cedar Wood Pencil in 12 Green White (though the Greek name for it is Light Green :-/) and Sunflower & Evening Primrose Long-Wearing Eyeshadow in 66 Pink.

The eye shadow packaging reminds me of Laura Mercier shadows, and so does the shade actually, I'll post swatches below so you can see whether you agree.

I think they packaged these randomly 'cause while both shades are lovely, I think that one would have to be fairly creative with their make-up to wear these together.

The second set consists of Soft Eyeliner Pencil in 2S White and Shimmering Eyeshadow in 46S Olive Green.

I own a lot of eye make-up, but white liner's a staple for me. Looking forward to trying out my new white pencil ;D.

Finally, here are two swatch pics.

Daylight:

Flash:

The shadows are sheeny and slightly metallic; the liners are pastel, pigmented and very pretty :).

I hope the swatches have helped and/or are nice to look at XD. Thanks for reading :).

Watercolour eyes look.

2010-11-20T21:04:00.006+02:00

Once again, apologies for the lighting. I really must plan these posts better so I don't end up shooting by electric light, but at this point in time, I blog when I can.

This look was me trying out an idea I'd had for a while. I think it turned out nice :). I call it a watercolour-ish look 'cause that's what the shadows' effect reminds me of.

Skin: Finishing off my almost empty bottle of Tesco foundation. I might decide to swap for a second bottle, that stuff is so pale. For that alone, it deserves to be loved. I powdered with Bourjois Vanille as usual ;).

Eyes: Wet & Wild Envy cream eye shadow as a base, then I used a mini blush brush to sweep on NYC MarblEyes eye shadow in Aquamarine, keeping the application uneven. This is key to this look. That way the ratio of green vs. blue varies throughout & that was the effect I was going for. I lined my upper lashline with black gel liner, my lower waterline with white liner, and applied mascara on (curled) top and bottom lashes.

Cheeks: Bourjois Miel Dore to contour & The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose to highlight.

Lips: Labello Pearl & Shine topped with Revlon Super Lustrous gloss in Pink Afterglow.

Products:

(Foundation not pictured 'cause there's so little of it left that I'm storing the bottle upside down XD.)

Eyes close-up (open)...Excuse the hair ;).

The idea for the eyes was actually two ideas that'd been swirling in my head: one, I was frequently using Tiger's Eye (my other NYC MarblEyes shadow) but had not tried Aquamarine & two, I was curious about using a cream base of a complementary but different colour than my main eye shadow (as opposed to a similar colour).

Combining them produced this :).

Eyes close-up (closed).

More pics follow...

The 'odd look' pic. I don't know what I was thinking...I mean that literally, not metaphorically. I kinda like this one - if I didn't, it wouldn't be here.

And yes, I love sweaters.

Me smiling :D. Taking a decent picture of me smiling is much harder than one of me serious, but people tend to like them so I try.

I wanted to put this one first & name the post "He says he reckons I'm a watercolour stain...", but then I thought that most people wouldn't recognise the quote and those that did could be annoyed by me using it for a make-up look, so this little musing ended up here. Oh, and the quote's from a Tori Amos song.

Another lovely & always relevant quote from the same song is, "Nothing's gonna stop me from floating." - I hope it'll always be true.

Thanks for reading :). And thanks to my new followers for following ^_^.

Mixed post: Some old swaps, some sample reviews & a nail polish pic or two.

2010-11-09T20:45:00.010+02:00

Here's a confession: I like writing sample reviews 'cause they don't require as much effort as complete ones ;).

*Tresemme Moisture Rich Conditioner sample review: The 8 ml sample was not enough for my long & thick hair. Maybe that's why the product didn't make an impression. Pretty average. Using the sample didn't make me want to try it.

*Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser sample review: This has tiny scrub-like particles in it, so I wouldn't recommend it (and didn't use it) as a daily face wash. When used once to twice a week, it left my skin clean and smooth without drying it out. It also made my pores invisible. I'm quite pleased with this product.

Next, a very very late Swap Update...

Since these swaps were completed back in late 2009, I can no longer remember what I'd sent out in exchange - but I doubt that anyone really cares, so I'll just skip listing that.

Swap 1 [The USA].

Pictured: Revlon Sugar Sugar Lip Topping in Lemon Drop, Pop Glitter Stix pencil in Coco, Eyeko Eye Cake in Pretty Eyes, and (probably my favourite from this lot) Mark Flip For It Fall Colour Kit in New York.

And guess what? The Mark Flip palette was an extra :D. Swapping truly makes me feel better about humanity, the people one comes across are so kind. I really should get into it again.

Swap 2 [The USA - the swapper I got my Wild & Crazy bright yellow shadow from].

Lots of Glamour Doll Eyes sample baggies (I won't list them all just now, but feel free to request if you're interested) and two eye shadow minis (Secretive and Slumber Party), two Still Glamorus eye shadows in Chic and Crybaby, NYX lipsticks in Rea and Sparkling Bronze, Elf's Candy Shop gloss tin in Coconut Craze, Mary Kay Satin Lips Lip Balm, a sample pot of LUSH Dream Cream, and a bracelet :).

I can't remember what the white thing over the Elf gloss is XD. But I'm fairly sure it's a Jane mineral face product that I got for & gave my sister ;). She also got the Elf gloss and NYX Sparkling Bronze lipstick.

Swap 3 [Scotland, the lovely lady I got my Sleek Safari palette from].

Actual swap: NYX eye shadows in Apricot Moose and Root Beer, and NYX Concealer In A Jar in Fair. Expected extra: Clinique Blended Face Powder in 20 Invisible Blend. (That's the glowing circle next to the L'Occitane sample.)

Unexpected extras: The aforementioned sample of L'Occitane Creme Tres Precieuse, a lovely Hello Kitty tin ^_^ (gave the mints to my sister ;D), mint tea, and a Space NK catalogue :D.

This swapper is brilliant with extras - she really picks them out to suit you ^_^.

Swap 4 [The USA].

Lime Crime !!!

Pompadour & Vixen. Vixen's Limited Edition. I'm so pleased about snagging these.

There'll be another Swap Update post coming up in the future, and that'd be all - until I arrange some new swaps ;).

Finishing off this somewhat erratic post with better pics of Serial Blogger.

I'm pretty sure it's discontinued :(, but I love mine and the pictures I'd posted before didn't really do it justice, and I'm wearing it now so I thought I'd retake.

And here's a close-up with flash...

Wearing two coats there.
It's even more gorgeous in real life when each bit of glitter reflects a different colour :D...

Plus, discontinued or not, I plan to eventually photograph every nail colour that I own ;).

Thanks for reading :).

Busy days subtle look.

2010-11-05T20:45:00.004+02:00

This is the sort of look to wear when you're late for work or an errand and have no time (or maybe can't focus enough) to do a full face, but skipping make-up altogether would be inappropriate.

It's a very easy & quick look that looks done but pretty.

I'm not even going to break it down into eyes/lips/face for this; I'll just go with bullet points ;).

*When you're in a hurry, you've got two quick & simple options for face coverage: a cream-to-powder foundation or tinted moisturiser. I went for the former.
*Next, under-eye concealer. Lack of sleep usually shows and that should be avoided.
*For the eyes, a shade similar to your natural lid colour (usually a bit darker than the rest of your face) but with a sheeny effect will do nicely. The sheen should be a natural looking colour. The specific colour family will depend on one's skin tone, but out of pink, peach, beige, gold or bronze, one or more will work. Sweep it onto the whole eyelid with a large brush (I actually used one of those mini cheek brushes that palettes come with).
*If you have good lashes, just curl them ;D. If you need your mascara, go ahead and apply some.
*If you're really knackered, you may want to skip contouring because when sloppily done, it looks worse than a bare face does. But if you feel up to it and your face just doesn't look right without it, then yes, you should contour.
*Cheek colour's easy enough: a natural flush shade of cream or gel blush applied to the apples.
*A soft and slightly glossy shade of lipstick that's close enough to your natural lip colour to be applied straight from the tube finishes this look.

Was having an unphotogenic day...That's why I look so annoyed.
I'd probably look worse without make-up though.

The pic below is kind of odd but it shows how lovely the shadow & lipstick are, so up it goes ;).

(Lovely make-up :D. Wish I could claim the same about my face...)

And this is me so desperate to get a satisfactory snapshot that I used an umbrella.

Everyone has their own bunch of favourite I'm-in-a-hurry products. I used:

*Pola 1/f whitening foundation in P32 Pink Beige
*NYX Concealer In A Jar in Fair (to hide my dark circles)
*Tigi Fixx-It Stick in Light (on blemishes)
*Bourjois powder in Miel Dore (to contour)
*NYC MarblEyes eye shadow in Tiger's Eye (I love this - if you come across any, get it)
*Tarte Cheek Stain in Flush (Note: if you can, get minis - these are huge)
*Estee Lauder Crystal Lipstick in Crystal Baby
*Various brushes & my lash curler :)

I may end up reviewing the Pola foundation cake. I don't use it daily so I wouldn't know whether it has long-term whitening effects, but it does make my face look fair, as you can tell from the pictures ^_^.

I didn't mention brows 'cause I didn't do anything to mine for this look other than comb them.
Also, you could probably add liner to the waterline (I'd go with white), but I forgot it >:-).

Sorry if this was badly written - I hope that I'll get better as I blog more frequently. Got another look planned for the weekend, and I do have a few old swaps I want to post, if only for the record.
Thanks for reading :).

Impromptu look.

2010-10-31T21:42:00.004+02:00

This was quite random; I pretty much made it up while working on it.

Skin: Revlon ColourStay Mineral Mousse foundation in Fair/Light. It's quite matte so I didn't use powder. For cheek contouring & highlighting, I used Bourjois powder in Miel Dore and Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder in Vanille. No cheek colour - I wanted a pale, clean look.

Eyes: Bold and slightly sparkly lashes with a nude lid and just a bit of liner.

I started by covering the whole lid with a pale, satin eye shadow (Mary Kay Ivory Petal from my Floral Fantasy palette). Then I curled my lashes and applied mascara (Lancome Definicils). With it still slightly wet, I pressed some Everyday Minerals loose shadow in Mystic Night onto my lashes, following that with some glitter. I defined the outer lower lashline with the darkest shade from my L.A. Colours eye shadow set in Wine & Roses & lined the lower waterline with my Oriflame Visions glitter pencil in Silver Snow.

Pre-lip make-up pic:

For the lips, I used Wet & Wild lipstick in Black Cherry, but I wanted a fruit juice effect rather than a very defined & proper looking lip, so I applied colour with a lip brush I'd softened with some lip balm, starting from the inside and pulling the colour outwards. I didn't use liner.

[I'll try to take pictures during the day so the lighting's better. Electric light causes a blue tint when using flash & an orange one when not.]

Some you-can-tell-I-haven't-done-this-much-lately eye close-ups...

Annoyingly enough, the lash glitter doesn't quite show up in the photos :-/...

Stuff I've used for this look...

So, here goes another comeback look. And hopefully I mean it this time...

I don't know how regularly I'll be able to blog, but I don't plan to abandon this completely, so I will be posting in the future. Thanks for reading :).

Some nail pictures.

2010-05-19T21:04:00.004+03:00

I admit that I'm posting this as an alternative to nothing at all. At this point I'm literally too busy to focus on writing here :'(, and trust me, I'd love to blog more frequently and will as soon as it's viable. And that's a promise ;).

These were taken back in 2009 when I left the blogosphere for a fair period of time...But since I never intended to quit, I took blog-related pictures anyway ;D.

NYC Big Money:

Very foil looking. A nice shade for pale complexions. But not the easiest formula to work with. Still, in my opinion the colour makes it worth it. And hey, it's a very cheap one so fair enough :-P.

Also, that nail length isn't for me. I kept scratching my face by accident when applying anything to it XD. I've gone back to short, cute & practical ^_^.

MAC Girls Will Be Girls:

Limited Edition, from Fafi. My only MAC polish & it, like NYC, is also kinda too fluid and hard to work with. But I love the unique colour. Will probably re-photograph this one to get a truer representation.

Oriflame Visions Serial Blogger:

Love the name. Love the fact that it makes a great glittery top coat for anything I care to throw it over. Its texture is like rough sugar because of the glitter bits (lol).

That's it for tonight. Thanks for reading :). Will do my best to write and comment more.

P.S. Thank you all SO much for the birthday comments :). Sending wishes of cake to all who requested it XD ^_^.

Birthday look, cake & thoughts. 21 years old now...

2010-04-24T22:43:00.011+03:00

So, today's my birthday.

[Well, when I started working on this entry, it was still Saturday, so there :-P. I wasn't lying when I typed that ;D.]

I am now 21, and to be honest I do feel old. One of my brothers is twelve as of the 19th, and I remember myself being twelve. It's really damn scary.

It's not the 'growing old' aspect of it that scares me. It's the change and how time passes, not in relation to me but sort of historically if that even makes sense, how things that I live through will be the next generation's past...

When I get gloomy, I force myself to stop thinking ('brooding' would probably fit better here), so here are my look, cake etc. & am being positive :D.

[I do feel wonderful for making it this far though. Thank you God.]

Face: The usual. Tigi concealer, Tesco foundation, Bourjois mineral powder & contouring powder from that fake YSL kit. And a whole lot of brushes. A foundation brush truly's brilliant to work with.

Eyes: First, a soft wash of NYX Apricot Moose. Over that I applied Sleek Eye Dust in Inferno. I lined my eyes with Too Faced's Ruby Slippers metallic pencil (lovely :D) and used the lighter end of Oriflame's Aladdin & Jasmine duo liner on my waterline. Curled lashes & threw on mascara [Avon SuperSHOCK] too, naturally.

Cheeks: Revlon Leading Lady Blush in Smoky Rose, applied lightly & diffused over the apples. An unusual way of wearing blush for me, but I thought it'd work here.

Lips: Stila It Gloss in Fetching. It is ;).

Here's a smiling pic, because after all this is a birthday post...

And I wish the one below hadn't turned out this blue...But my phone tends to do that.

I'll post the eye close-ups just to illustrate how out of practice I am where those are concerned. Must keep trying then :-P. It's the only way to improve.

Cake:

The tradition of using paper numbers continues ;D. And here it is without them...

Oh, and of course I bought it. I cant't bake (and that's probably fairly apparent, lol XD). Thanks for reading :). Am passing out after I'm done with this - must get some sleep.

P.S. In retrospect, I like my smile from last time :). Maybe I'll like today's photos next year.

Comeback look: green.

2010-04-13T14:08:00.010+03:00

Maybe because green is the colour of hope[fully I won't mess up this revival]. But to be honest I just felt like working with said colour ;).
Or maybe spring has something to do with it. Anyway, pics:

[Disclaimer: Out of practice. That applies to everything, actually. Not just photographing.]

Yes, I was half awake at the time. Or half asleep. Depends on your perception.

Products:

This was my first time using a foundation brush. (OK, so it was marketed as a brush for applying face masks, but it looks just like a foundation brush & works perfectly.)

Skin: Good old (half empty by now) Tesco Porcelain, applied with a foundation brush (Oriflame). Powdered with Bourjois Mineral Radiance in Vanille, contoured with powder from a fake YSL kit. I know, I shouldn't have etc. but I got it for the lovely Asian made eye shadows, not for a fake logo. By the way, it doesn't even copy any real product, it just has the logo slapped on :-/. But the eye shadows are gorgeous & I'll be doing a look with them ;).

I have a new contouring brush too, Oriflame's Sun Brush. Which, for the record, is not slanted as pictured in the catalogue. It's a kabuki. But a good one & one can never have too many brushes :D.

Eyes: Pretty simple. Wet & Wild Envy as a base, NYX Spring Leaf on the lid & a bit of NYX Green Tea on the crease. Lined with my Avon Arabian Glow pencil in Emerald. Inner lining: Avon Glimmerstick in Black Stripe for upper lashlines & a random cheap white kohl for lower lashlines (fine, the brand is Lady Di). Curled lashes & used Avon's SuperSHOCK mascara.

Mine's Limited Edition. I actually got the whole stripey line (and yes, the packaging was part of the reason :-P) and will be posting pics as soon as I can get an accurate pic of the eye shadow shades.

Cheeks: The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Blush. Stupidly not pictured, but if necessary you can look it up under 'The Body Shop' or just see a few of my past looks, I'd been using it fairly frequently.

Lips: Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick in Sugar Honey, from a swap with Hanna :).

[Will be posting up some undeclared past swaps (mostly for reference, I suppose).]

More pictures...

I still look ugly when I smile. Some things will never change ;).

And finally, the wonky angles I sometimes seek in order to get an OK picture...

See the shadow? That's my arm >:-).

Finally, not really make-up related, but this is stuck in my head :-P...

It has infected my brain. Lol.

And this concludes the entry. Thanks for reading :).

If you clicked on this, thanks. 'Cause I plan to resume blogging.

2010-04-06T21:30:00.003+03:00

[Hopefully I still have readers :-P.]

My last post was written six months ago... But I finally have an internet connection, a laptop, and the will to blog again ;). It may take me a while to get the hang of it all (again), but I do have some ideas to work upon.

So do expect new posts on here, and thanks again for not forgetting me :).

Enter Diamond Enigma 2010.

Cris

Why I have been (& sadly will be) neglecting my blog.

2009-10-26T01:51:00.001+02:00

I shall put this down simply.
I am moving (or rather relocating), & will not have stable internet access for a (hopefully not incredibly long) while. So, I'll have to take a break from blogging.
To everyone who reads this, thank you :). Will do my best to be back soon.
Au revoir.

Cris

Can't think of a title. Just another post with a look & swaps.

2009-10-17T22:56:00.013+03:00

[Sorry if this post is badly written, I'm pretty tired.]

*The pics for the palettes collection post have been taken ;) & that'll probably be up next. Unless it's the tags. I'm behind on my tags again. (I always am, it's getting ridiculous...)

Swap 1 [The USA].

(For my Estee Lauder Idealist Pore Minimising Skin Refinisher mini, unused Veet facial wax tube, and some extras.)

I love Bourjois stuff :D. The extras were pretty nice too ;).

Swap 2 [England].

(For my mini Juicy Tube and lots of extras, 'cause I was just so happy about hers ^_^.)

Bourjois powder in Miel Dore (my new fave contouring shade), and as an extra, a Red Earth (my first item from that brand ^_^!) eye shadow in GR048 (a beautiful sparkly blue grey) :).

Swap 3 [Scotland].

(I got her a Korres Jasmine Lip Butter and added extras too ^_^.)

We agreed to swap for the Sleek Safari palette (and isn't it gorgeous :D?), and I also asked for the Jemma Kidd kabuki brush as an extra. But she added even more extras ^_^! I got a sample of Lush's Daddy-O shampoo (recommended - leaves hair clean but not dehydrated & does enhance its blondeness ;D), a Barry M kohl pencil in 4, and catalogues :D - well, a Benefit catalogue & a GOSH make-up look card ;). I love this kind of paper stuff but rarely receive any, so this was an incredibly lovely surprise ^_^.

Swap 4 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper].

(I got her a Korres Quince Lip Butter, Manhattan waterproof mascara, Oriflame Seeing Is Believing eye cream, Oriflame rose face cream, my two Lancome mini sunscreens, and of course, extras.)

The palette's by a UK brand called W7 - yes, I know I already have too many eye shadows, but I was craving a palette like this one :-P. Also pictured are GOSH On Stage Cool Lip Jams in 101 (blue) and 105 (purple), Lip Smackers lip gloss in Starburst Raspberry, Revlon eye shadow in Riviera Blue (had that, swapped it to her & got the very same one back, lol), NYX Chrome eye shadow in Java and ArtDeco eye shadows in 206 and 376. The double-ended lipstick (Astor Double Excellence in 017) was an extra ;).

Close-ups:

This swap actually arrived with a relatively large hole on the envelope, but somehow nothing was missing :D. (Am I lucky or what?) I suppose the palette stopped things from falling out ;D.

Oh, and this palette has 77 colours ;).

Now for the look. I promise to do a look with no blue on the eyes next :-P. This one's blue based again though, 'cause it's just such a pretty colour ;D, especially with dark eyes like mine.

This look's very simple (almost too embarrassingly simple to blog about :-P), yet has impact ;).

Apologies for this pic's [lack of] quality:

Skin: I tried my Avon loose mineral foundation (in Soft Ivory) for the first time today, & I must say I'm very impressed - it's so beautifully pale :). NYX Concealer In A Jar in Fair took care of the under eye area, and as usual I used my Tigi Fixx-It Stick on any spots.

Eyes: I started with Revlon Riviera Blue matte eye shadow, then changed my mind >:-D and covered my lids (over the Revlon, why not :-P) with Mark Retro Peacock. (The shades are quite close, but Riviera Blue is matte while Retro Peacock has fine glitter.) I filled in the area from lid to brow with white (I used the very top right shade from my W7 Paintbox - probably just to be difficult & make my products picture look bulky :-/, 'cause any white will do) and lined the lower lashline with silver (Oriflame Visions glitter pencil in Silver Snow). Finished off with curled lashes & mascara. That's it.

Cheeks: The cheek colour from my Too Faced Love Lisa palette on the apples & spread out. Looks nice & glowy but you can't quite pin down whether there's a product on there ;). I like that effect :).

Lips: Boots No7 Moisture Drench lipstick in Cameo.

More pictures...

I wish this next one hadn't come out faded. But I still like it & will post it anyway.

Or maybe I like it because it's faded >:-D?

I almost deleted that one because of that shoebox, but ended up keeping it.

Thanks for reading :). Regular quality blogging should resume soon.

My Make-Up Collection Part 4: Face Enhancers.

2009-10-09T07:39:00.024+03:00

Nice title, right? That's what I call my cheek stuff ;). I don't have too many of these products (compared to eye or lip stuff), but it's still a nice & useful lot :).

I keep them in here...

This is everything laid out on my Hello Kitty bag ;).

Well, you cannot see every single product, but it does fit most in one go. Can't imagine doing that with my eye shadows :-P...

I'll begin with my Everyday Minerals minis ;).

Everyday Minerals mini blushes in All Smiles, Anytime, B & B, Best Friends, Chit Chat, Cookie Sheet, Corner Office, Jump Rope, Once And Again, Pink Ribbon, Plum Dust, Photo Album and Theme Park. (Also pictured is a sample of Pure Luxe Cheeky, but I swapped that off.)

Estee Lauder and MAC...

Estee Lauder Deluxe All-Over Face Compact containing Bronze Goddess Soft Shimmer Bronzer in 2, and Tender Blush in Pink Kiss, Rosette and Petal, Estee Lauder mini Soft Matte Bronzer, MAC Fafi Powder Blush in Hipness and Hello Kitty Beauty Powder Blush in Tippy.

Elf and Asian brand stuff...

Elf Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Sunkissed, Warm Tan and Luminance, Nichido Powder Blush in Sunkissed (it somehow ended up cracked, but I don't mind 'cause I can still use it), and Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.

Wet & Wild, Revlon and Mary Kay.

Markwins Eyes & Cheeks palette (there's nothing else written on it :-/), Wet & Wild Silk Finish Blush in Berry Shimmer, Revlon Leading Lady Blush in Smoky Rose, Revlon Pure Confection Highlighting Face Powder, Revlon Cream Blush in Just Peachy, and Mary Kay blushes in Apricot Breeze, Burnished Bronze, Desert Bloom and Pink Meringue.

Bourjois ^_^. I love Bourjois :D - definitely one of my favourite brands ;).

Delice De Poudre Highlighting Powder, Blushers in Rose Fougue and Rose De Jaspe, and Compact Powders in Miel Dore and Abricote. (Being pale, I use Miel Dore for contouring and Abricote as a peach blusher.)

Opened:

Various products in see-through packaging:

Physicians Formula Organic Wear Bronzer, Charm Colour Face Colour in FB5, IsaDora Diamond Glow, The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in 02 Blush, Stila Illuminating Finishing Powder in Gold and Sugar Sweet Cheeks in Cupcake.

Various products in opaque packaging:

Models Prefer Blush in Pretty In Paisley, Luscious Cosmetics Luscious Blooms Blush & Highlighter Duo in Coral Gables, my Oriflame shimmer balls I can't remember the official name for :-P (and that cream pot isn't their actual packaging either >:-D - I've moved them), Cargo Mini Medium Bronzer, Tarte Cheek Stain in Flush and Pout Flush Blush in Fuchsia Fusion.

Opened:

That's it ^_^. Of course, I do have blushes in palettes, but those will be published within the palettes section, coming soon ;D. Thanks for reading :).

A tag & my swap with Hanna ^_^.

2009-10-05T00:56:00.024+03:00

*10 labels instead of 20 per post (which was not enough for me either)?!? Thanks >:-@.

[I'll do the Daily Essentials tag next ;). Must take the necessary pictures for it.]

So, I was tagged by the lovely ladies at Italian Beauty Blog and The Adventurous Purple Koala (check them out, I love promoting the Euro blogosphere ;D) with the "I think you are an awesome girl" tag ^_^. Thanks :).

Since I (as way too often, hmmm...) end up posting this later than I should've, I'll leave this open 'cause I'm not sure who has or hasn't been tagged. Any reader of mine can take it - if you regularly read this, I do think you're awesome.

Here are my ten facts...

*I've always wanted a middle name. Or three. Having one name is just...Boring :-P.
*My voice changes according to various factors, including but not limited to my mood, what I'm saying and the language I'm speaking. And I don't mean minor changes - I sound like a different person fairly often (which must be odd to others).
*I love having blonde hair and dark eyes, I think it's unique and (along with my pale skin) makes me stand out.
*I can't do that spreading-lipstick-with-your-lips thing. I just end up clumsily squishing them against each other, and if I wore lip colour while doing it, I would just mess it up.
*I'm a fast reader.
*I really like being in motion. Buses, cars, planes, trains - anything as long as I'm moving.
*I make up my own names for constellations. There's the V sign (as in Victory), and the forever (looks like the mathematical symbol for infinity, which is an 8 lying on its side), and more.
*My beauty ideal is pale. (You probably know that.) I honestly don't understand why people use fake tan to lose something attractive they naturally have.
*I love taking photographs of anything that's beautiful. That includes make-up. It does not include myself. (But for the blog's sake, I try to do 'look' posts as often as I can.)
*I'd love it if someone did a make-up video tutorial on Dior Midnight Poison. (I won't do one 'cause I'm not beautiful enough to pull it off without looking like a parody or worse, an insult to the original. Don't argue.)

If you do this tag, let me know, I'd love to read your facts ;). Oh, and coming up with mine was sort of hard...But there they are :).

For my latest Swap Update, I'll begin with a swap I'd arranged with a fellow blogger ^_^. I love swapping with other bloggers :D. So, here it is ;).

Swap 1 [Malaysia - this was a swap with Hanna ^_^].

(For my barely used Mary Kate & Ashley LA Style gift set, containing the perfume & a body mist, all in a blue MK & A pouch. And of course I was generous with extras ;D.)

I was supposed to receive two glosses and a lip liner, but after no swap showed up two months later, Hanna offered to send me a replacement & allowed me to pick some items from her list. Isn't she a wonderful swapper?

So, I got these...

Contact lenses solution minis ;), a Stila Lip Glaze Stick in Brown Sugar (not brown at all when worn - more of a sweet nude), an Estee Lauder mini nail polish in Satin Gold (so cute ^_^!), nail polish remover pads, two mini tubes of Lancome sunscreen, and a Cafe Chocolate lip gloss by Amuse.

I recommend that gloss for occasions when you need to look and feel more awake. It's a beautiful fresh rose colour and smells very strongly of coffee ;D. (If you can't stand the smell of coffee, do not get this.)

But then, three months after the first swap was sent...It showed up!

That did take way too long, but I was still happy to receive it :).

The Estee Lauder gloss looks squished and half empty because it now is :( - it somehow was punctured in the mail and ended up leaking all over the other products. But I've cleaned them up ;), and there's enough of it left for me to try out anyway :D.

The Eyeko wipe and lipstick sample were extras :). The actual swap was for the Estee Lauder High Gloss in Berry, Stila It Gloss in Enchanting (bringing my total of It Glosses up to five :D, of which it's my current favourite ^_^), and Stila Glaze Lip Liner in Nude ;).

Thanks again to Hanna for a wonderful swap ^_^ (we're currently through our second ;D), and I do advise my readers to check out her blog ;).

Swap 2 [Portugal].

(For my Elf quad in Nouveau Neutrals, and lots of extras ^_^.)

Bourjois eye liner in Fil D'Or - this was on my wishlist, and now I finally have it ^_^. She also made me samples of Avene Hydrance Optimale Riche Hydrating Cream and The Body Shop Moisture Foundation in 1 as extras :).

She added the foundation 'cause she'd noticed that I was perpetually looking for pale colours. I love it when people add extras specifically to suit me.

Thanks for reading :).

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

2009-09-29T18:01:00.032+03:00

*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.

2009-09-23T02:52:00.017+03:00

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.

2009-09-05T17:58:00.023+03:00

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...

Last Swap Update...For now. I still have more to come (literally) & will post them once they do.

2009-08-16T20:28:00.011+03:00

Believe it or not, Swap Updates are my favourite kind of post to write. Looks are a pain because I'm a perfectionist and it's so annoying to get decent pictures, because I wasn't blessed with a nice face >:-). On the other hand, products are generally beautiful to look at (and if they aren't, I won't swap for those XD) :).

So, here goes ;).

Swap 1 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper].

(For 4 ArtDeco eye shadows & a Magnum Beauty Box to match, Stila tinted moisturiser samples, some extras, and a birthday present for her ^_^.)

Yet another huge multi-swap ;).

*Tesco Ginger, Vanilla & Pink Pepper perfume (50 ml). I love this even though it's cheap :D. It's a really nice, warm, spicy scent.
*So...?SuperStar mini perfume (20 ml). The packaging's so cute ^_^.
*Sugar Sweet Cheeks baked duo in Cupcake. This arrived broken, but it can still be used so I don't mind.
*Icing by Claire's nail polish in Signature Runway (wearing it here).
*Physicians Formula baked eye shadow trio in Baked Oatmeal (I love this - must try more baked stuff).
*Ruby & Millie Eye Colour in Red 420P.
*Bourjois eye shadow in Brun Somptueux.
*Milani eye shadow in Garden Mist.
*Barry M lipstick in 129 - the famous Lavender Whip supposed dupe. It's more Lavender than Fashion Mews ;).
*NYX lipsticks in Tea Rose, Ceto and B52.
*Benefit lip cream in If Only I Had Known. Isn't the pot gorgeous?
*Everyday Minerals eye shadow in Comfy and eye shadow mini in Hot Chocolate.
*Sleek Eye Dust in Inferno. Sleek palettes are famous around the blogosphere, but their pigments should be too ;D! They're amazing. I'll probably do a look to prove it ;).
*A Rimmel shadow & liner as an extra (swapped that off).
*Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush lip gloss in Slice Of Heaven - beautiful and tastes so good, I totally recommend Beauty Rush glosses and plan to get more ^_^.
*TheBalm Plump Your Pucker Tinted Gloss in Strawberry My Shortcake. Cooling effect (always a plus during the summer) and it does plump :).
*A Lancome mini Juicy Tube in Frozen Punch as an extra (I swapped that off too).
*Prestige Total Intensity eye liner in Intense Olive.
*Wet & Wild Idol Eyes Creme Shadow Pencil in Pixie - perfect for brightening inner corners ^_^. This was an extra too ;).

Close-ups:

Lipsticks from left to right: Barry M in 129, NYX Tea Rose, NYX Ceto and NYX B52.

Tea Rose is the colour of roses, Ceto is a mildly metallic tangerine coral, and B52 is a creamy rosy brownish nude.

Swap 2 [England, same swapper].

(For three Korres Lip Butters (Pomegranate, Guava and Plum), my Revlon eyelash curler (since I got & prefer the Shisem ;D), the Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser (in 1), and some extras, including my Clinique Wow Violet lipstick.)

*Revlon Leading Lady Blush in Smoky Rose.
*Bourjois blusher in Rose De Jaspe (the lid broke off but the product's fine).
*Lots of sample baggies ^_^. Most are eye shadows, but there's one of lip balm :-/.
*Jane Be Pure mineral gel liner in Black (comes with a liner brush).
*An Avene face wash sample as an extra - gave that to my sister.
*Avon Treselle roll-on fragrance - it's sweeter than my usual type, but I think I like it.
*Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker in Clear. Warning: this doesn't just make your lips feel cold or tingle, like most plumpers do - it has a very strong (probably close to painful the first time you try it) effect that's reminiscent of electric shocks >:-). Also, it smells freakishly exactly like cake (made me wonder just how fake food flavours may be nowadays). But it does work and the cake smell is pleasant :). And I got used to the electric shock treatment after enduring it twice :-P.
*Maybelline Line Stylist liner in Jade Flash (as an extra - I swapped it off).
*NYX Lip Pencil in Pink Nude.
*Tarte Lock & Roll Creaseless Eye Shadow Duo in Rose Gold. This works. I wore it on a hot day for over 12 hours and it didn't slide off :).
*NYX Lip Gloss With Mega Shine in Cady Shop [Candy Shop] and Frosteed Beige [Frosted Beige?]. Here's the situation: My glosses say 'Cady Shop' and 'Frosteed Beige'. The NYX official website lists 'Cady Shop' as Candy Shop (though the swatch is way off), but 'Frosteed Beige' is spelled with a double e :-/. Verify it here.
*Sleek Eye Dust in Jet Set and Vintage. I love these pigments so I got more ^_^.
*NYX eye shadow in Rust. I can never have too many reds ;D.
*NYX Chrome Eye Shadow in Iced Mocha.
*Everyday Minerals eye shadows in Lap Top and Net Surfing, and eye shadow minis in Mistle Toe, Snow Flakes and Starlit. Mistletoe is meant to be a single word as far as I know, but the packaging spells it as two words :-/.

I suppose this was the typoed products lot >:-). Lol. Close-ups:

Bourjois Rose De Jaspe, Jane gel liner, Sleek Jet Set, Sleek Vintage, NYX Iced Mocha, Everyday Minerals Lap Top, Net Surfing, Mistle Toe, Snow Flakes and Starlit.

Bonus pic:

Had to depot my Olivia lip balm to get a pot I could use for one of the Stila tinted moisturiser samples ;).

Not all brands featured have been added to the labels list, because 'the combined length of all labels cannot exceed 200 characters' >:-). I'm really sorry :(. [And annoyed >:-@.]

Thanks for reading ^_^.

Swap with Thiamere (and look featuring the products) & swatches of all my Mary Kay products as requested.

2009-08-15T14:56:00.020+03:00

*Disclaimer: New camera, still getting used to how it works, which places to photograph at, etc. so pictures may look a bit different from my usual lighting. Sorry about that, I'm sorting it out as we go ;).

So, Thiamere has finally received the stuff I sent her :D (you can see it here if you'd like), and now I can post up my stuff too :).

How did this swap come about? Well, she left me a comment here saying how much she loved my Victoria's Secret Mosaic Highlighter, and I (knowing what it feels like to have a product you really want unavailable in one's country) offered to send it to her :). But she was so nice and offered me some things from her collection that she didn't really use - and so we had a swap ^_^.

Here's what she's sent me :).

*A note ^_^.
*A metallic pouch :).
*Hair elastics for my sister (who was so happy to receive something sent to her & a bit surprised to be known around the blogosphere, lol).
*Rose paper soap :).
*Careline (I love this brand :D) pigments in Vanilla White and Moist Green. These are amazingly metallic when used wet, and still beautiful when dry :).
*An Elianto 3D Eyeshadow Cube in Gold Brown. Which isn't gold brown >:-). (I'll post a look below.)
*Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.
*A mini Sally Hansen lip plumping gloss.
*Everyday Minerals eye shadow minis in Matinee and After Party.
*Wet & Wild Precious Metals lipstick in Gold Rush. I'm so happy to have this 'cause word has it that this is a dupe of MAC Blonde On Blonde ;). I don't own that, but I'd like to - though for now I have this ;D. Yay ^_^!
*NYX Lip Gloss With Mega Shine in Burgundy.
*NYX Fruit Lip Gloss in Strawberry.

I've worn most of these products already, and I love everything. Thank you Thiamere ^_^!!!

Here are the close-ups...

I made up a look featuring some of these products today. This is the first one - I'll do a look with the rest too ;).

(See what I mean about the camera? But I promise I'll get used to it and take nicer and clearer pictures very soon ^_^.)
My fringe was annoying me so I trimmed it myself >:-). Could've been a disaster but I think it turned out alright :-P.

Skin: The usual. Loose powder instead of pressed though (Physicians Formula). Not sure why - I think I want to finish this one up 'cause I don't really need both. But I may change my mind >:-D.
Oh, and I forgot to contour. If it shows, I really don't care, I don't consider myself attractive anyway :-P.

Eyes: I applied the Elianto eye shadow as a wash, with a large, wide brush. Then I used Moist Green pigment by Careline wet, on my outer eyelids. Made a bit of an outer V too, but nothing too dramatic. To brighten inner corners, I pressed on a bit of Vanilla White pigment there, with my little finger. I lined my lower eye line with Styli-Style Flat Pencil in Buenos Aires (a shimmery white), using the skinny side, and then used ArtDeco Kajal Liner in 20 (a dark leafy olive green) on my inner eye line. Curled lashes with mascara on both top and bottom finish off the eyes.

Cheeks: Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.

Lips: Wet & Wild lipstick in Gold Rush.

Sometimes I feel stupid, writing such detailed descriptions. This isn't a magazine. But even if nobody else really reads them, they help me a lot when I want to wear an old look again ;). So they stay.

Products picture:

Eye close-up with eyes open:

Eye close-up with eyes closed:

(I quite hate this pic but I need to show the colours.)

Bonus pic:

I put up my hair but then took it down again. This was the only decent pic of me with my hair up. (And the other full-face pic was the only decent one with my hair down, so they're even XD.)

And here are the swatches of all my Mary Kay products to date. Somebody asked me for a look, but it'd take me ages to use all these colours in a look XD, so I made swatches :).

Two photographs, taken with different lighting, in order to give the truest impression I could manage ;).

From right to left: Single eye shadows in Raspberry Rush, Periwinkle, Fig and Seashell, and duos in Cotton Candy, Ivy Duet, Jade, Safari Sunset, Tutti Frutti and Twilight.

And the rest ;). From left to right: Lip Liner in Dusty Pink, blushers in Apricot Breeze, Burnished Bronze (I suppose that one's technically a bronzer, but I'll use it on my cheeks), Desert Bloom and Pink Meringue, and lipsticks in Pink Coral, Pink Daisy and Pink Melon.

The lipsticks are pinker in real life, but they just wouldn't photograph properly >:-@. I gave up, but I may use those in a look or three so you'd get to see them :).

Oh, and here are swatches of my Mary Kay Mini Mineral Eye Colour Quad.

Silky Caramel, Lemongrass, Amber Blaze and Denim Frost. Silky Caramel is a soft matte while the rest are shimmery and mildly metallic.

Is there anything else I should swatch? Let me know ;). Thanks for reading ^_^.

Avon lotion sample review & Swap Update & Essence Vs. Avon quad comparison.

2009-08-13T14:17:00.017+03:00

*Explanation about sample reviews: I like to review the skincare samples I receive, so that I can remember what worked, what didn't, and what I'd like to acquire in the future. They may be helpful to others too ;). But obviously I can't review a product I've used once in the same manner as one I've been testing out for a while, therefore I mark sample reviews as just that ;).

*Avon Solutions Hydra-Radiance Moisturising Day Lotion SPF 15 sample mini review: I've never liked Avon skincare (with products from the Planet Spa line being the notable exception). But this was a sample, so why not test it out? It's light, and not as moisturising as I like my products to be, but with the current hot weather, light is good...The problem comes from the low SPF. SPF 15 is fine in countries with little sun - but these tend to be cold >:-). In cold climates, this won't be moisturising enough for most people. In hot climates (if there's a place that's hot and sunless that I've forgotten about, feel free to let me know), SPF 15 is not enough. I can only recommend this to teenagers in cold countries, and preferrably you should try out a sample before getting the actual thing. Not an impressive product, and I won't purchase ;).

Next comes yet another Swap Update :).

Swap 1 [Indonesia].

(I bought her two Korres Body Butters and added a decant of my Kings & Queens body lotion as an extra.)

Remember the Too Faced Peacock palette I got on my birthday :D? I finally managed to find the Unicorn one too :), and was even willing to buy new stuff to swap for it ;). So worth it. Too Faced palettes are glorious :-P.

I also got a Kate eye shadow in GN-1, two mini tubes of Clarins Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream and one of Gentle Foaming Cleanser, a Clinique mini Superbalm Moisturising Gloss in Ginger, and Fancl powder tea sachets as extras :).

Here's a close-up of the Too Faced & Kate...

I'm thinking of wearing the blushes from both palettes as a flush/contour duo ;D. And the Kate shadows are beautiful :). They look like they'd suit my dark eyes...Will probably get more Japanese shadows in the future ;).

Swap 2 [Germany].

(For my Lip Smackers Party Pack, Mark Femme 4 quad, Mary Kay eye shadow in Storm, Prestige eye shadow in Indigo, Oriflame loose eye shadow in Midnight Star, NYX depotted eye shadow in Lakemoss Blue - well, the blue shade from the Lakemoss trio, and lots of extras :D.)

I swapped for the two Estee Lauder lip glosses (Pure Pops in Peppermint and Blueberry), IsaDora Colourmatic Eye Pen (microliner ;D) in Soft Black, and four mini perfume oils :). She also added candles and samples (an eye shadow sample & skincare - Nivea eye cream, Vichy Normaderm lotion and Bebe Young Care face cream & body lotion) as extras :D.

I had to give the Bebe Young Care to my sister because she adores the brand and we can't get it here, lol.

Unfortunately we both hadn't realised that the glosses were the Not For Individual Sale ones (thus not full-sized), but she offered to send me a swap evener (so kind of her - I'm sure many swappers would just tell me it was my fault), and today I got this :D.

Yeah, I asked for a mini Pikachu XD. Also the Essence Quattro eye shadow in Sixties Reloaded and Clinique trio (containing Sunburst & Rum Spice - I have Sunburst but it's part of a similar mini quad and I could always use more of those colours ;D :-P). And she still sent me extras: a mask, Vichy moisturiser sample, tea and sweets ^_^. I haven't had Campinos in years XD. Everything looks wonderful :). I'll probably swap with her again ;).

The Essence quad kept reminding me of something though :-/...
I went through my collection & discovered this.

They look similar, but they aren't really (as you will see). For one thing, all four Essence shades work >:-D. (Which is way ironic considering that the Essence quad is much cheaper...)

I swatched the Essence quad to prove that they're actually quite different :-P. (You can see swatches & a review of the Avon quad here.)

[Don't mind my ghostly hand, I'm still figuring out how to work that phone camera, and I wanted the truest-to-life swatches possible for obvious reasons ;). Feel free to request an accurate pic of my hand colour if you need one >:-).]

The colours may be alike, but the Avon ones are matte. The Essence ones are gorgeously shimmery, they remind me of Japanese shadows :). I definitely recommend Sixties Reloaded to all my EU readers ;).

I still have more swaps to post up XD...

Thanks for reading :).

Swap update...Oh, and an Italian products giveaway ^_^!

2009-08-10T19:28:00.015+03:00

*Waiting for my new phone to fully charge ;). This :)...

*How adorable are these new Bourjois trios ^_^? I can't wait for them to come out :D! Got my eye set on the smokey one ;)...

*I don't usually do this, but I tend to make an exception for Euro bloggers 'cause I'd love to have more of us around :-P. So, if you'd like to win some gorgeous products by Pupa and Deborah (for reference, I used Pupa eye shadow for this look ;D - please excuse my face and note the wonderful eye shadow!), all you have to do is follow this lovely blog :), and then blog about the giveaway yourself ;).
This is especially brilliant for those of you who don't live in Europe, because you'll be able to try a lovely brand you don't have access to :). So get entering ;D.

Now for the Swap Update...

Swap 1 [England, Kaleidoscope (regular) swapper. Explanation for new readers: I've nicknamed her that because that was the first thing we ever swapped for ;).].

(For a partly used tube of Piz Buin suncreen, two Korres Lip Butters (Wild Rose & Jasmine), a Korres Body Butter in Quince, Avon lipsticks in Frozen Rose and Berry Berry Nice, a pot of Oriflame Radiance Energy cream, and extras as usual.)

Amie (French, rhymes with 'cherie') Morning Clear Purifying Facial Wash, Superdrug Simply Pure Eye Make-Up Remover (I thought I'd include it in the multi-swap 'cause I needed some), Nivea moisturising fluid for my sister, Complex moisturising fluid (this didn't work for me at all and I re-swapped it), Boots Botanics Organic Face Hydrating Day Cream, Milani eye shadow in Leaf Green, C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint (rosy tint), Ultra Mentha Lip Shine (the strongest of the three) and Orange Mentha Lip Shine (smells & tastes like Fanta :-P), a Bourjois chocolate highlighter (a.k.a. Delice De Poudre Highlighting Powder in 53) for my sister (yes, I'm nice ^_^), a Revlon eye shadow quad in Neutral Khakis, Jane Endless Eyes liquid liners in Darkest Blue and Charcoal (these were kind of dry though, especially the blue one), Urban Decay Pleather Pencil in O (re-swapped, not my colour at all :-/), Revlon lipstick in Pink Pout and NYX lipstick in Athena. I also got a Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds lip gloss in Spoiled In Rubies and a nameless Milani gloss as extras :), but I ended up swapping those.

The C.O. Bigelow stuff makes my mouth feel cold, so it's simply brilliant for the summer :).

I'll be reviewing the skincare sometime in the near future ;). So far, I'm happy with the ones I've kept :).

Oh, and here are the close-ups...

Urban Decay Pleather Pencil in O (I'm guessing that refers to the book? Or perhaps it's a zero...), Revlon Pink Pout and NYX Athena. Athena's great if you're looking for a frosty, almost white shade of pink.

Swap 2 [The USA].

(For a Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine, three Oriflame Visions cream eye shadows, and extras.)

Jean Paul Gaultier MaDame and L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani samples (the latter was an extra and I gave it to my sister 'cause it's awful XD), Stila It Gloss in Fetching, Hard Candy eye shadow in Platinum Loner, Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush mini lip gloss in Sugar High (tastes so good), the Too Faced Love Lisa Beauty Battle Box ^_^, and my new staple - a gold Shisem eyelash curler ;).

Here's a close-up of the palette :).

(Yes, the cheek section has smashed in transit, but I don't really mind because it can still be used.)

Swap 3 [The USA - second swap with the girl I got my Mark Vintage Khaki eye shadow from ;)].

(For my Urban Decay Pleather Pencil in O, Sephora tinted moisturiser, and lots of extras - I was feeling guilty about not sending any the first time.)

An Urban Decay XXX Shine Cooling Lip Gloss in Guys Love Betsey (beautiful organic-looking red), Physicians Formula organic bronzer in Natural Glow (this is light enough to wear on cheeks & use for contouring - you know I don't do tanned skin ;D), and a Markwins eyes & cheeks palette as an extra :). The cheek colour's surprisingly pigmented and glowy, and I'll be trying the shadows soon.

I'd post more, but I'm limited to 20 labels per post >:-), so they'll have to come up in my next ;D. Thanks for reading :).

Finally got my contest prize ^_^! & Swap Update and some nail pics.

2009-08-09T14:05:00.019+03:00

*Getting a new phone (finally >:-D, lol) next week...Which means more posts ;D! I'm going to apologise yet again for slacking off, but I'm just not a summer person. I thrive when it's cold. [And I just happen to live in Greece >:-). Country swap, anyone :-/? Lol XD...]

I'm referring to the Barry M Nail Paint in Mint Green (famous for allegedly being a MAC Peppermint Patti dupe - can't confirm since I don't own the latter :-P), my prize for winning the random draw in Rebecca's Animal Instinct contest ;). (Here's my winning Smokey Pigeon look ;D ^_^.) That particular item was delayed (the reason was a perfectly valid one and I didn't mind), then sent, returned due to the sticker with my address falling off (lol), re-sent with lots of lovely extras to make up for the delay :), and finally reached me last Tuesday :D.

And here it is :).

I also got a mask, Tresemme and John Frieda samples (my hair's very dry right now for obvious reasons so these were brilliant ^_^) and a Glamour Doll eye shadow in Trophy Wife - this is so pigmented and metallic. I'm gonna love this ;D. Thank you so much Rebecca :).

(For the record, I've won a few other contests and giveaways, but I haven't always received my prizes...Oh well :-/. Thumbs up for all the honest bloggers who do complete their giveaways ;D ^_^.)

Of course, I had to wear the Nail Paint ASAP ;)...

(Pre-clean-up pic, which can sort of be seen, sorry about that XD.)

It's beautiful :D. It looks a lot better than it did on others' blog pics (no offence meant or anything, it's just far more appealing in real life). As for the formula, it applies quite well, and two coats provide enough colour :).

Now, it's time for a Swap Update :). (New readers: I'm an odd girl and usually swap instead of 'hauling' ;D. Oh, and hi :D!)

Swap 1 [Singapore].

(For my Jesse's Girl trio in Lime Lights, and some extras.)

Fine, I suppose I didn't need both XD - but red's my favourite colour :-P ^_^.

Oh, and they're Sasa eye shadow singles in RD002 ;).

Swap 2 [Canada].

(For my Bourjois mini pigment in 9 and Schwarzkopf mini shampoos...Remember those? Yes, this swap was arranged a long time ago, took two months to show up and was sort of stressful because of that :(. But it was worth the wait ^_^. Oh, and I did add extras ;D.)

Lots of stuff :D...All by Mary Kay ;).
So, I got blushes in Apricot Breeze, Burnished Bronze, Desert Bloom and Pink Meringue - the two bottom ones combine wonderfully for a pink contoured cheeks look ;).
And eye shadows in Ivy Duet, Fig, Periwinkle, Raspberry Rush, Storm, Tutti Frutti and Seashell. I asked for six shadows, but she added another as an extra ^_^! Along with lots of nice samples :). Despite the slow shipping, I'm glad to have done this swap :).

(Updated my palette with Storm, Raspberry Rush, Periwinkle, Fig and Seashell. Although I've since swapped off Storm and replaced it with Twilight, lol.)

Swap 3 [The USA].

(For my Revlon Black Cherry lipstick, a mix CD, and extras.)

Finally got a denim shadow :). I've always wanted to try that ;)...It's Clinique High Impact Eye Shadow in Faded Denim. The Sugar Sugar mini was an extra and I swapped it off because I already had that shade.
And a Colour Me Nude Lip Concealer by Etude House. I've worn that twice since then and I love it. If you're looking for a statement nude (I did say statement nude - this isn't a soft natural look and 'Lip Concealer' is a very fitting name for it), this is your product. I'll probably do a look with it to show it off ;).
More extras: a Hello Kitty lip balm ^_^ and a sample of the famous Urban Decay Primer Potion ;).

And here are some nail pics that I took before my Mint Green mani (pictured near the beginning of this post).

Two coats of OPI Rosy Future on all nails. Then, two coats of Oriflame Visions Skydiver on my thumb, and two coats of Icing by Claire's Signature Runway on the two dark nails.

(I always just paint over when I'm planning to use a darker colour after a lighter one. Why waste remover :-P?)

This (funny-looking) picture gives a much better profile of Rosy Future. It's similar to Skydiver, but while Rosy Future reflects violetish rose, Skydiver reflects glass-like icy light blue that reminds me of skyscrapers :-P. Rosy Future's more subtle ;), while Skydiver is a vibrant one, even though it's light.

I tried to capture the red glitter in Signature Runway, but failed >:-/. It's there in real life though. By the way, that's probably the reason why this colour doesn't make me look dead (me & black lacquer normally don't suit each other). Yay for that :).

Before doing a full mani with Barry M Mint Green, I swatched that on my ring finger. (Building up from the pics above, that is ;D.) I certainly had a funny-looking hand that day XD.

Thanks for reading, everyone :). Time to catch up ;D...

Back with something red & PosieTint...

2009-08-03T11:27:00.012+03:00

I'm back. I won't say that I'm fully back to regular blogging 'cause I don't know whether I will be...The weather leaves me feeling drained, stupid and fatigued, so even when I'm otherwise unoccupied, I don't feel at all like devoting much time to blogging (especially look posts). But I'll do my best :).

*Benefit EyeCon sample mini review: First of all, I had the mini from Justine Case. And with it being eye cream, it did last quite a while ;). I have mixed feelings regarding this product...It did make my eye area look flawless. But when some got into my eyes, it hurt. Since the main advantage of using eye cream (& not face cream) is supposed to be that it's more compatible with the eyes, I'll keep looking for something closer to perfect ;). Still, I do recommend trying it :), though I won't repurchase for some time while testing out other products.

Here's the look I wore yesterday...

Probably a very Cris look :-P. I certainly don't know anyone else who loves red so much that they wear it on their eyes >:-).

In a nutshell: a wash of matte red on the lids, my usual white liner, a rosy cheek stain and...Blue gloss ;). Combined with light, soft skin. (That actually photographed better than I expected it to. I'm happy :D.) Read on for the tutorial ;).

Skin: Matte, light and lovely :). I used my Oriflame Porcelain Doll foundation, Tigi concealer & Bourjois Apricote powder to contour, as usual, and debuted my Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder in Vanilla. Am very satisfied with it ;). I was afraid of it being too dark because it did look a tad too orange in the pot, but it's perfect :).
I also used Pout Love Glow to highlight under my eyes, on my cheekbones, & other places that needed it.

Eyes: Chi Chi eye palette in Brazilian Goddess, the red shade, used wet. (Very pigmented colour there :D, I'll post a close-up below.) White liner. No mascara. Curl. I LOVE my new Shisem eyelash curler, it's amazing ^_^.

Cheeks: Benefit PosieTint. It's beautiful :). Read on for a close-up ;).

Lips: What lip colour does one wear with red eye shadow? I went for blue. Benefit California Kissin'. I think it worked :).

Products...

More pictures...

(I obviously need to practice looking happy...)

To be honest, I wasn't sure about this one. It looks sort of robot-like :-/...
But then again I never like my pictures >:-).

Starring PosieTint.
Lovely. I know this seems to be one of my favourite words, but it's just the right one here. It's so eerie soft...So pretty...
(I can't believe I called me pretty. But hey, it's not me, it's PosieTint :-P.)

And this picture's not too flattering, but it's just to show how intense & matte the Chi Chi red shadow is.

No base. I used it wet though ;).

Red shadow fans: Chi Chi is an Australian brand. I got mine from a swap, and I highly recommend getting this palette if you're seeking a matte, true red :). This colour isn't pink, bronze, copper, rust or orange - it's red ^_^. Go get it ;D.

Thanks for reading :). Need to catch up with others' blogs now ;)...

Oh, and expect lots of swap updates up :-P. Sorry XD! But at least some of these swaps were with other bloggers :).

Tag, awards, Swap Update, and What Does Your Lipstick Say About You quiz link ^_^.

2009-07-17T22:04:00.022+03:00

*Link to Fuz's (eagerly awaited by many including me) exercise vid, just in case you may have missed it ;). I have it on my phone so I can do it anywhere ^_^.

Proper post soon I promise!!!

Hi to all new followers :). Thanks for reading ^_^!

Here's the lipstick quiz original post ;D...

No pic, but my most used lipstick is probably Jean (the Hollywood actress, not the French name, lol) by Oriflame - half of it is gone XD. (It's a red ;D.) And it's sharp-angled...Definitely sounds like me >:-). What do you think ;)? And what's yours :D?

I received this award from both Thiamere and Vonnie ^_^.

Rules:
Grab this award on my blog by leaving a comment on this post, a smiley face will do hehe. Please make a post of this award on your blog then link the person who gave this award to you. Also, you must pass this award on to bloggers you choose.

I'm leaving this one open to anyone who reads my blog, because you guys make me smile :).

Swap Update :D...

(Yes, I know my collection is huge already. But at least with swaps, I can pass on things that I don't use :-P ^_^.)

Swap 1 [Canada - A Watercolour Sky swap :D!!!].

(I got her the seemingly Greece-exclusive right now Jasmine Lip Butter ^_^, and a gift set of four Korres lipsticks :D. With extras, naturally :-P ;D.)

Lunasol Full Glamour gloss in Lucent Purple (review here ;D), Smashbox Tokidoki gloss in Dolcissima, Stila It Gloss in Interesting, Majolica Majorca Lash Gorgeous Wing Limited Edition golden brown mascara (I love the name ^_^, & it's only been used by her on clean lashes so it's safe), Kate silver gel liner, Cargo mini bronzer tin, and Silk Naturals eye shadow in Lush (supposedly a dupe for MAC Humid - not that I care, I got it 'cause I like mineral pigments XD).

And...Extras :D!!!

She knows me so well ^_^! Hello Kitty stuff :') - a mini file & mini polish. It's very beautiful but tiny so I'll use it sparingly, and I'm so happy to have it :).

And, I can't believe it, a mini PosieTint :'). I had this on my wishlist on Make-Up Alley - and she got it for me ^_^!!! I'd specifically requested a mini too, I see no need to own the huge one ;). It was brand new & sealed - not anymore 'cause I've opened it, lol ;D.

It fits in here perfectly:

[Just finished the mini EyeCon ;). My next post will probably include a few sample reviews.]

Since taking this pic, I've depotted the Some Kinda Gorgeous 'cause I never use it XD. Gave it to my sister, who's darker than me & loves cream-to-powder foundations ;). (I prefer liquids.)

Oh, and here are the close-ups :).

Isn't everything beautiful ^_^? Thanks so much Sarah :). Best swapper ever ^_^. And every reader of mine should go check out her swap/sale blog like, right now :-P XD.

Swap 2 [Ireland].

(For a lightly used Benefit gloss in Who Are You Wearing?, and some extras.)

No extras, but I don't mind :). I send extras 'cause I'm nice, not because I expect any back :-P.

And you know I'm a Pout fan ;D...So yay, more Pout :D!!! This gloss is called Cross My Heart :). It's beautiful ^_^.

Swap 3 [Australia].

(For 5 Oriflame glosses from the Daydream collection - see, I do swap off things to keep my collection size relatively normal :-P. And extras, of course ;D.)

She was so generous.

Everything came in the Clinique bag pictured above, which I love :D. We swapped for OPI Alpine Snow (wearing it right now, beautiful ^_^!), OPI Rosy Future, and MAC Lustreglass in Love Knot, from Naughty Nauticals. I missed it back then so I'm very happy to have it :).

But, she also offered to get me Australian products, and bought me a Chi Chi palette in Brazilian Goddess, which includes...The red eye shadow. It's not bronze, orange, pink, fuchsia or copper...It's red, pure true red, and very beautiful :).

She also added a Hello Kitty eraser & mirror, and a NYX lipstick in Ulysses (a vibrant bright coppery red) :).

Ironically, my perfect red did crack in transit >:-). But I can always swap for a second palette ;D.

Swap 4 [Japan].

(For my Benefit double-ended gloss in Didn't Hear It From Me & Your People, My People, and extras.)

I have kept the mini Bifacil, blue make-up bags, and Shiseido Zen fragrance sample ;). Everything else has reached various nice swappers by now :).

Finally, a tag from Nicola's blog ;).

Tell Me Something Tag!

1. What is your favourite item of clothing?
I have no idea >:-).
(Nice way to kick off a tag...Lol XD.)

2. What are your biggest obsessions?
Swapping :-P. And blogging, but I disappear every now and then >:-)...Sorry :(!

3. Who inspires you?
Anyone who has managed to become what I want to be or acquire qualities that I crave.

4. Who is your favourite designer and why?
I'm not really a clothes afficionado (as you can probably tell if you read my blog), but I do love Fendi's designs. I think they're kind of overlooked sometimes & that's strange to me.

5. What is your favourite song ever?
Can't pick one >:-).

6. What is your favourite song right now?
I really love this song at the moment.

7. If you were a sweetie what would you be?
Hmmm...Let's say one of those cherry liquor things. The only product containing alcohol that I'll (occasionally) consume >:-).

8. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet- what words would describe your rainbow?
Chi Chi red eye shadow (see above), oranges :D, green tea with lemon (:-P), rain, Dior Midnight Poison, and my new Lunasol gloss (pictured above) :).

9. What's your favourite film?
I don't think I have an ultimate favourite so far. Oddly, I rarely watch any. But I love Great Expectations. The book was wonderful, and the film may have deviated in some aspects but it's wonderful as well. Estella is a beauty icon, of course. And the soundtrack is stunning. I love most of Patrick Doyle's work, but the music from the 'Kissing In The Rain' scene is really beyond beautiful. [Check it out on my player (all the way below this blog) if you'd like ;).]

11. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
And this is the kind of question I never answer ;).

12. What are your 3 favourite smells?
Rain, Dior Midnight Poison and right now, Boss Orange :-P ^_^.

13. What are your 3 favourite tastes?
Sushi :D, cherries and well, vinegar XD.

14. What is your most treasured possession?
My collection maybe XD? I'd be furious if anything happened to it...

15. What did you always want to be/do when you grew up?
I wanted to 'help make the world a better place' >:-). I suppose that'd mean an aid worker. Still considering it sometimes ;).

16. If you were an ice-cream what flavour would you be?
Vanilla, of course :-P. Maybe with some kind of cherry-raspberry syrup core...That sounds wonderful :).

17. If someone made a short film of your life, who would play you?
I'd play myself :-P.
If I have to pick someone else...Hmmm, which actress do you think I look like ;D?

18. What would your perfect afternoon consist of?
No idea, but it would include walking, rain, good music, lip balm and a great fragrance. These are present in most of my Precious Moments :).

19. If you were a flower, what would you be?
Wild cherry blossoms :-P.

20. Tell me a random thing....Be it your favourite line from a song, scene from a movie or quote from a book.....Tell me about something that you love.....
"It's not a question, if I can fight by your side, and withstand anything, but I forgot that you said, 'Girl, if you come, you gotta bring your own sun'."

It doesn't even really make sense, does it? But I love this song. Love the album too. Thanks for reading :).

My Make-Up Collection Part 3: Hello Kitty Lip.

2009-07-10T14:59:00.030+03:00

[No, this is not a tutorial on how to erase one's mouth >:-).]

(I had a comment on Hello Kitty Eye, something like, "I thought this was going to be a Hello Kitty eye look...", and well, wasn't & won't be a lip look this time either ;D.)

This is the case I keep my lip products in :). It's Hello Kitty ^_^, hence the nickname Hello Kitty Lip XD.

View from the top:

Alright, let's open it...

Scattered on top of most lipsticks and glosses are various lip palettes, glosses that aren't tube-shaped, small-sized products, and certain lip balms that are coloured enough to belong here & not inside the Rimmel Case ;).

Hard Candy Pin Up lip palette, Mark Candy Stripes lip gloss in Candied Apricot and Candied Apple, a Mark Hookup double-ended gloss in Sugar Almond (left) and Marshmallow (right), a mini Hello Kitty lipstick, Tarte lip balms in Thursday and Friday, Embodyment Organic Essentials Cherry lip balm, Hershey's Milk Chocolate Scented Lip Gloss (this is a lot more of a balm-like product despite the name :-/), MAC lipstick in Malt (in a sample pot), L'Occitane lip gloss in Rose Bonbon, Biotherm mini Glossy Shine Luminous Crystal Gloss in 130, Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Champagne, and Oriflame Sweet Talking Lip Candy in Sweet Bubblegum, Sweet Caramel, Sweet Vanilla and Sweet Butterscotch.

These heart things are the tastiest lip product I've ever tried. It's sort of annoying because they're literally good enough to eat, and too often, I do >:-). Oh, and they're gorgeous too ;D.

After removing all the clutter on top, here's what is left...

Most lipsticks are located in the centre section, while the lip glosses are split into groups & live in the side pouches ;). I'll cover the glosses first.

Estee Lauder High Gloss in Ivory and Pearl, mini Pure Colour Crystal Gloss in Sugarcane, mini Pure Colour Gloss in Burgundy, Pure Colour Crystal Gloss in Raspberry Pop, and Pure Colour Cool Gloss in Cool Coconut.

Labello CareGloss & Shine in pink and nude (can't find a name on them :-/), Clinique mini Superbalms in Raspberry Tint and Mango Tint, mini Colour Surge Impossibly Glossy in Cream Soda and Camisole, and mini Glosswear For Lips in Air Kiss.

Mary Kay lipsticks in Pink Daisy and Pink Coral, and Liparazzi lip gloss in Velvet Rope and Stalker. Yes, these light up :D! Will do a review one day ;). Oh, and I'd love to swap for Premiere if anyone has it ^_^.

Palladio Plump 'N' Shine Herbal Plumping Lip Gloss in Frosting, Miners Double Trouble lip gloss (the pink one - no shade name given :-/), Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde lip gloss (which is what some will think of me after reading all this, I suppose >:-D), Dior Sparkle Shine Glitter Top Coat For Lips, and Wet & Wild Diamond Brilliance in 616 Rachel's Rocks.

L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Lip Gloss, Bourjois Rouge Pop Chic in Poupre Chic, Oriflame Plump & Gloss in Naughty Girl and Nice Girl, and Stila It Gloss in Striking and Inviting.

Bourjois Poupre Chic is rain-proof :D. And I'm referring to crazy flood-like rain. I'm always happy when it rains :), but a lasting-through-the-elements bright red lip colour just makes it better ;).

MAC mini Lipglass in Gold Charm, Lipglass in Cult Fave (Fafi), Totally It (Fafi) and Silly Girl, Pout Lip Gloss in Tickle My Fancy and Be My Baby, and Urban Decay XXX Shine Cooling Lip Gloss in Love Junkie.

For someone who allegedly dislikes glosses, I sure have a lot >:-).

And I happen to like lipsticks ;D...Guess what brand most of mine are by?

MAC >:-D! Of course :-P...Eleven and counting ;D.

Fresh Buzz, Pretty Please, Flowerplay, Fresh Brew (Hello Kitty), Fashion Mews (Hello Kitty), Strayin' (Hello Kitty), Not So Innocent (Fafi), Strawbaby (Fafi), Flash-N-Dash (Fafi), Fun 'N' Sexy (Fafi) and Utterly Frivolous (Fafi) - that was my first one ^_^.

Next, Oriflame.

Power Shine lipsticks in Rose Bite and Sangria Red, Matt Glam (that's how they spell it - why not 'matte', I don't know) lipsticks in Liz, Lauren, Jean, Audrey and Marilyn, Colour Attraction lipstick in Golden Forest (sadly, the pretty green tube's Limited Edition packaging :-P) and Visions Lip Love lipstick in Justin.

Opened:

Estee Lauder and Clinique.

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Crystal Lipstick in Crystal Baby, Crystal Pink and Tiramisu, Futurist Full Treatment Lipstick in Divine Wine, and Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick in Sugar Honey, and Clinique Colour Surge Lipstick in Wow Violet.

Opened:

Wet & Wild, NYC and Essence.

Wet & Wild lipstick in 514A Cherry Frost and 519A Hot Red, Precious Metals lipstick in 762A Ruby Glam, Mega Colours lipstick in 909B Pink Suede and 907A Black Cherry (the packaging is completely different but both are named Mega Colours :-/), NYC Ultra Moist Lip Wear in 324B Cameo and Essence lipstick in 03 Romantic Secrets.

Opened:

NYX, Revlon and Barry M.

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Nude and Round Lipstick in Iced Honey, Revlon lipstick in Nude Attitude and Silver City Pink, and Barry M Lip Paint in 100 Baby Pink and 123. At least I think it's 123 - the label has partially faded. As of me writing this, there's no 123 on the official site.

Opened:

Various luxury brand lipsticks.

Dior lipstick in Golden Mirage, Orlane Rouge Extraordinaire Lipstick in 34, Cargo Plant Love lipstick in Nahinni, and Pout Full Cover Cream Lipstick in Mi Amore.

Opened:

Last but not least, my set of mini Mark glosses :-P.

Glow Baby Glow minis in Girly Girl, Bubbles, Smooches and Blow Kisses, and Glow Baby Glow Luxe minis in Lucky Luxe, Choco Luxe, Flirty Luxe and Petal Luxe.

Swatches/reviews/looks on request ;). Next, I'll be presenting my cheek stuff, or as I like to call them, Face Enhancers :). Thanks for reading ^_^!

Oh, and to the one person who answered, "I don't know why you do these make-up collection posts anyway, they're so show-off & frivolous..." on my poll, thanks for the honesty - and I do it to keep a log of what I own, and because I enjoy looking at make-up :-P. I hope some of my readers do too :).

Blogger won't let me include more than 20 labels, so I can't mark this post with all the brands I own. Sorry :(!

Certain things I know & Swap Update.

2009-07-08T14:07:00.011+03:00

I wasn't sure how to title this. I think 'beauty tips' sounds like something a professional, or at least someone experienced, would say. I don't want to claim that, so I'll just say that these are things I've learned from experience and consider worth sharing ;). Though they work well for me, I cannot guarantee that they will for you - but I certainly hope they do :).

*Apply cream onto damp skin. This works great for me personally :).

*If you have long & dark lashes, you don't really need mascara - just curl them ^_^! This'll save you time and eradicate the very annoying task of getting mascara off >:-) ;D.

*If you're out of make-up remover, try olive oil - it works better than half of the products I've tried >:-D and isn't irritating at all ^_^.

*Cheap liners can be made to look more vibrant & pigmented if you melt the tip a bit using a lighter. Just make sure you let the pencil COOL OFF before it touches your eye - test it on your hand if you're not sure. I do this to make liner look bold and graphic, or fluid-looking. And in case you were wondering, this is indeed the reason why I sometimes have a lighter on my Products Used photos ;D.
Note: this does not work on waterproof pencils. They burn >:-).

*Speaking of that, don't smoke - avoid the sun (and use SPF when you can't) - stay hydrated. This will keep you from decaying XD.

*Don't forget to wear SPF on your lips, neck and hands when it's sunny! (I assume that you do wear it on your face...) Failing to do this will result in your neck being darker and more leathery than your face - ICK, not to mention that most people will think, "Foundation line" >:-). And a lip burn is terrible - and easy to avoid, so just do :-P.

*Oh, and the sun can distort hair colour, so if you mind that, you'll need SPF in your hair too ;) (lol). On the other hand, if you're blonde like me, you may allow it to give you some natural highlights :). Don't forget leave-in conditioner though to make sure your hair doesn't fry ;D.

*A gleaming, 'pale glow' powder product is a great thing to own. It can be used on the eyes, as highlighter, or for an all-over glow. I recommend Elf Luminance - it's very cheap yet works brilliantly ^_^.

*Lip balm with high SPF (example: Nivea Sun) gives a matte nude Fashion Mews appearance that I personally really like :).

*Another cheap and practical thing to own is a four-step trim/clean/smooth/polish (I've also seen 'file/clean/condition/shine' used) nail file. Mine is from Essence, and I'm pretty sure that Avon makes one too, but I don't think the brand really matters. These things really do work, and after doing all four steps, you get the effect of a clear/nude mani without actually using lacquer ;).

*For brunettes: a sage tea rinse helps enhance your hair colour :). This tip was taken from a book & tested by my sister ;).

*Never assume that a cheap product doesn't work, or that an expensive one does work. Try things out. You may be surprised.

*If you have any beauty products that don't work on you, are neglected, or you no longer like, swap them ;).
As the blogosphere Swap Queen, I had to say that :-P ^_^.
Or you can give them away :). I often pass on products to my sister ;).

Most Important Piece Of Info: Never worry about trying a new make-up style, look or colour! If it doesn't suit you, you can just wash it off ;). If it does...You've learned something :).

Please add any little notes below (by commenting) if you have any of these to share - I'd love to read them ^_^!

Swap Update time :D!

Swap 1 [Canada].

(I bought her a Korres milk soap.)

2 Mark eye shadow stripes shadows (in Pure Nudes and Pure Pinks) in a medium palette, two blushes (Star Glo and Kitten Glo) in a medium palette, and a large palette - the shadows there are mine ;). Finally they have a home :).

And a lovely C post-it ^_^! This was the nicest extra in recent memory :).

I ended up moving all the shadows together into the large palette ;).

Swap 2 [Canada again].

(The two Mark blushes pictured above, and some extras. Lol - I see nothing wrong in swapping away things received in swaps though, if they're not what you expected or you found something you'd rather have, why not ;D?)

Funny how the blushes went from Canada to Greece to Canada though :-P XD.

Stila tinted moisturiser in Fair (it's not full & I was aware of that so no issues there ;D), NYC nail polish in Big Money (I'm not gonna wait for OPI Aragon something to indulge my craving for green lacquer :-P), Essie mini nail polish in Flirty Girl ^_^, and some lovely extras :D! Skin Food samples (I'll use these on my neck & hope they help with whitening it to match my face ;D - see above on why one should wear SPF on one's neck too, I'm a prime example >:-D) and a Blistex roll-on cherry SPF lip balm :). I love cherries ^_^! They're probably my favourite fruit ;)...

Oh, and she included a business card. First time I saw that in a swap XD.

Swap 3 [England].

(For my 5 Oriflame Daydream Collection mechanical liners. I just didn't use them much - I prefer pencils. And toe separators as an extra - my little sister donated these ;D ^_^.)

A Bourjois mineral powder in Vanilla (looks a bit too dark in person, but it's the lightest shade, what can I do :-/?) and as extras, an Eyeko ad and make-up remover wipe :). And a note ^_^. It looks like recycled paper :D!

Yeah, I adore swaps ;D. Thanks for reading :)! I'll be doing Part 3 of the My Make-Up Collection series (lip products) soon ;).

My take on the whole dark eye & pink lip thing. Emphasis on 'my take'.

2009-07-04T11:28:00.009+03:00

Inspiration here.

Stunning. But of course, when I tried to recreate it, I kept my pale skin, used pink blusher, and changed the eye make-up a bit. Resulting in...

This.

I know I'm not as beautiful as either Nic Nic or the model :-P. But I still love make-up so I still do these shoots - and anyway, anyone who finds me ugly doesn't have to read this XD.

This look is actually fairly simple. I don't do black eyes usually but it's not that hard regarding technique - just annoying when the (very black) pigment slides to its heart's content onto places where it shouldn't >:-). Here's the stuff you need...

Basic list: your usual matte look skin stuff, mascara, a curler, black eye shadow, black liner, white liner (naturally - it's my version :-P ;D), something pink for the cheeks (preferrably powder to enhance the matteness) and some baby pink lip product. Unusually for me, I chose gloss - but Nice Girl is my perfect baby pink ;).

Detailed explanation: read on.

Skin: Matte. Stick to your natural skin tone for this ;) - mine is pale :). I used my usual Tigi concealer, Tesco foundation in Porcelain, and Physicians Formula loose powder in Translucent.
The foundation is wonderful :) - and you can see that on the pic too, it makes my skin look flawlessly sculpted. And for the record, it's even lighter than my usual one ;). I'm very happy I took a chance on this supermarket product :).
Oh, and I almost forgot - Bourjois Apricote powder for contouring ;D.

Eyes: Black eye shadow all over the lid but not exceeding it (I used my birthday gift Wet & Wild quad ^_^), black liner (Oriflame Retro Chic) on the upper inner eyeline & around the eye, and white liner (of course, Oriflame Laurel & Hardy - I'll need a new white liner soon, it's like 3 cm long right now >:-D) on the lower inner eyeline. Mascara (Pucci Guerlain) on all lashes, and lots of it, and of course, curl (Revlon) ;).

Cheeks: Bourjois Little Round Pot in Rose Fougue.

Lips: Oriflame Plump & Gloss lip gloss in Nice Girl.

More pic spam :-P...

I'm trying to pose, but it's not really working :-P.

"Oh God, may I just please get one decent photograph?!?"

Failed attempt at a wink >:-D.

And of course, I had to pout :-P.

I will be camera-less for the next two weeks, so no looks >:-/, but I have some stuff prepared so I will be blogging ;). Thanks for reading :).

Bonus pic:

My little sister stuck her hand there. I laughed XD.

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

2009-06-30T09:42:00.016+03:00

*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.

2009-06-25T09:17:00.012+03:00

*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 ^_^.

2009-06-13T21:51:00.028+03:00

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 ^_^.

2009-06-09T23:19:00.010+03:00

(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.

2009-06-07T09:52:00.022+03:00

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.

Swap update, skincare sample mini reviews & for a change, New Acquisitions I've actually bought >:-D.

2009-06-05T23:00:00.015+03:00

Here they are ^_^. I love Sephora :). (Who doesn't XD?)

Stila eye shadows in Poppy (was a wishlist item, yay ^_^), Mood and Toffee :).

Best part: they were a Euro each ;D :-P.

I love the quotes the Stila shadows come with :).

*Clarins Gentle Night Cream sample mini review: Makes an OK eye cream unless it gets into the eye - then it hurts like hell. [Like most face creams :(.] As a face cream, feels nice & soft when I put it on at night, but in the morning my face looks kind of drained. (That may be me though, not the cream XD.) Won't purchase ;).

*L'Occitane Honey cream sample mini review: Wonderful. I put this on at night, & when I woke up my face was lovely pale and glowing ^_^. I was literally shocked. Will look at the boutiques (I know 2, one in Kolonaki & one at The Mall - this is more for my reference 'cause I doubt I have any Greek readers, lol) for it - apparently it's been discontinued (>:-/?!?) but this is Europe, we keep things for way too long XD so I hope I can find some :). If I don't, maybe I'll check out the Korres honey cream, it'll probably be cheaper too. (I'm in Greece, remember ;D?)

*The Piz Buin sunscreen I swapped for is a bit irritating on my skin :(. Will switch back to Korres Watermelon sunscreen ;). I'll try the Piz Buin as hand sunscreen though, I hope my hands aren't as sensitive. If it doesn't work even there, I guess I'll have to get rid of it XD.

And here's the Swap Update of the moment ;D ^_^.

Swap 1 [Singapore].

(For my mini Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfume bottle, Elf white liner, and some extras.)

We swapped for the Strawberry Shortcake pouch & Barry M lipstick in 123, the rest are extras ;). Hello Kitty note papers, cherry tea and pink bracelets - she was so sweet ^_^.

The pouch was for my (soon to be 7 year old) little sister - she's jealous of all the parcels I've been getting so I thought I'd get her something too :).

The lipstick really is this purple, and full of large chunks of glitter...I opened the tube & my first impression was, "Oh God, no :(!", but I tried it on...And it's beautiful :). It'll look great with a futuristic purple & silver eye look ;). Definitely not a natural look lipstick though, lol XD.

Swap 2 [Canada].

(For my L'Oreal Essential Colours palette, Oriflame Pink Strass lipstick, Glamour gold palette and Max Factor eye shadow brush - she asked for that as an extra and I let her have it.)

Scrunchies for when I grow long hair again (they're cute ^_^), a Dior glittery gloss top coat, a Mary Kate & Ashley gloss for my teenage sister who's a fan of theirs, and a Clinique eye shadow quad in Plum Seduction.

Swap 3 [England, Kaleidoscope palette swapper again ;)].

(For a Too Faced foundation in London Fair I bought her, a Revlon eye shadow in Riviera Blue, the Ulta duo I got from one of my first swaps, a Pure Luxe blush sample, an Elf Baby Lips gloss, some Everyday Minerals Shopping Spree eye shadow I depotted for her, & extras.)

Lush Jungle conditioner (I hope this is good 'cause my hair's fried), [yet another] Wet & Wild I-Sparkle quad in Twilight, Pout glosses in Tickle My Fancy and Be My Baby, a Pout blush stick in Fuchsia Fusion, NYX Nude lipstick, Revlon cream blush in Just Peachy (wishlist item, yay ^_^), Hard Candy Shazam Loner eye shadow, an Avon moisturiser sample, and (lol) a lollipop XD. My sister was so happy ^_^ - I gave it to her XD.

I really love Pout :). Why did they discontinue such a lovely brand :'(?

That's the Pout blush & NYX Nude ;).

Swap 4 [The USA].

(For my L'Oreal Star Secrets Gong Li Coral. I ended up swapping it after all.)

An Avon cream sample I gave away (lol, I'm twenty - I don't need facial fillers yet >:-D), lovely Mark gloss palettes ^_^ (I think the colours are Candied Apricot & Candied Apple or something like that), a Hello Kitty mini lipstick ^_^, Revlon lipstick in Black Cherry, and Burt's Bees lip shimmer in Champagne :) - that one was new & sealed.

I'll be doing some reviews next week ;D. If you want me to review anything I own, just let me know and I'd love to :). I've received such a request in a comment recently & it makes me feel like a famous blogger, lol. Thanks for reading :).

Contest Entry: Pigeon inspired smokey look & Tag courtesy of Nic Nic ^_^.

2009-06-02T21:50:00.013+03:00

This is my try for Rebecca's Animal Instinct contest :). No rigid rules, just create a look inspired by your favourite animal ;). Mine is...

The pigeon ^_^.

Here's what I came up with...This post is pic light - was having an unphotogenic day. (Yes, that is always the case with me if you were wondering :-/ - I mean that today was worse than usual >:-D.)

I was a bit worried about taking pics outside on the balcony (being seen - v. uncomfortable & I hope I managed to avoid that), but it was fine.

I focused on the eyes, as you can see...

I patted loose, jewel-like green and purple colour onto a grey base. See the pigeon connection ;D?

My eye is even shaped like a pigeon - just add a head :-P. Lol, but I think it is on that pic XD!

And here's what I used...

Skin: The usual, but I used Elf Luminance instead of my usual matte powder ;). Have I said that I looove Elf Luminance already? Well, I'm saying it again :-P.

Eyes: I used Moonlight (bottom left shade) from the Avon quad to shade my eyelids, then Steel (bottom right shade) to make an outer V (repeating the idea from this look ;D). I added bright silvery grey liner on the inner waterline, and dark grey liner (Oriflame Visions Jekyll & Hyde) on the outer line.
Then, I patted on green pigment (Barry M Dazzle Dust in 14) on the inner half of the eye, and purple (Everyday Minerals eye shadow in Well Being) on the outer half, & blended ;).
Curled lashes & mascara on top and bottom lashes finished the look :).

Cheeks: Charm Color blush in FB5.

Lips: Biotherm Glossy Shine Luminous Crystal Gloss in 130.

If you haven't entered this contest yet, you should ;D.

I was also tagged by Nic Nic to show my blogging space to the world...

Computer of the moment. Nothing personal ;).

And I believe these were part of the tag too...

* What are you wearing right now? A green shirt (look above :-P), red track pants, socks & underwear >:-). And my smokey pigeon make-up :-P XD.

* What's the last thing you read/are currently reading? This, I read it as I write it ;).

* Do you nap a lot? No :-/...But I have really weird sleeping habits. If I were free to, I'd probably wake up in the afternoon and go to sleep at 9 A.M. or so, lol.

* Who was the last person you hugged? My little sister :). I never hug anybody else, do I XD?

* What's your current obsession/addiction? Still swapping :-P.

* What's for dinner? Had it already XD.

* What was the last thing you bought? Technically, I think it was stamps >:-). For swapping ;).

* What are you listening to right now? I have this stuck in my head...

And before you ask, no, I don't watch the show, I won't watch the show, I hate it & I don't watch TV anyway. But good music is good music regardless of where it comes from.

* If you could have any super power, what would it be? The power to control people >:-).

* What is your favourite weather, and why? Anything but sun, because the sun cooks people :-P.

* What time do you usually get up? Some time in the morning XD...

* What is your most challenging goal right now? Won't share.

* Say something to the person who tagged you: If I was as pretty as her, I'd do Looks of the day way more often :-P :).

* If you could have a house - totally paid for, fully furnished - anywhere in the world. Haven't I answered this already in another tag? I don't know. But definitely not in this country.

* Favourite vacation spot? I don't go on vacations.

* What is your favourite item of clothing? I don't think I have one XD.

* Favourite pair of shoes you keep going back to over and over, even though your closet is overflowing with a zillion others? It's not. It's overflowing with eye shadows :-P.

Yes, that thing is full - and it's heavy >:-). And I love them all ^_^.

Oh, and about the shoes XD...My Product (RED) Converse :). But I'm thinking of getting some kind of slip-ons for the summer ;D.

* Name one thing you cannot live without: Oxygen XD.

*What time is bed time? Soon after I'm done with this ;D.

* If you could wake up anywhere tomorrow morning, where would it be? I won't share :-P :).

Thanks for reading :). Coming soon, a look with my Blind Swap products ;D...Yay ^_^!

Swap Update Part 2 ^_^ & a few random bits and pieces.

2009-05-31T22:50:00.015+03:00

[More look/contest posts next week, promise ;). & I've been tagged to show my blogging space, which I'll do ASAP too ;D.]

*IsaDora Delirious is available here in Greece :). I (of course >:-D) love how fluorescent the eye palette is :D, but I'm not sure whether I'll end up getting it yet ;). The liner is gorgeous, but my Avon Turquoise liner is similar enough, so I don't need it :-P. The lip colours are a bit too bright for me to like :(. (Maybe they'd work for darker complexions?) And surprisingly, I quite like the perfume :). Do test it if you have the chance to ;D.

*I've moved my eye products out of the Hello Kitty case & into a gold Estee Lauder one I have - it's much bigger. The Hello Kitty case now houses my cheek stuff, or, as I like to call them, face enhancers ;).
I'll probably throw in a pic of the gold case in my next post. I officially have WAY too many shadows. And I still want more. I'm still getting more :-P.
My fave quote related to this subject..."Well, at least we're addicted to something healthy."

*I've received my first ever Blind Swap ^_^!!! It's from Nikki :), and I feel a bit surreal, swapping with such a famous blogger XD. She got me truly wonderful stuff, I can't wait to share it with you ^_^. But of course I have to wait till she receives mine ;D.
Also, I've finally sent out the last part of my Watercolour Mega Swap :), so I'll be able to post that up soon too ^_^.

And here are some more swaps :).

Swap 1 [Malaysia].

(For my 2 Estee Lauder sample packaging eye shadow duos in Neptune and Jupiter, some perfume samples and some extras.)

A Clinique eye shadow in Blue Lagoon :), a Lumiere eye shadow in Cafe Latte, and 2 Estee Lauder mini glosses in Sugarcane and Burgundy ;). She also kindly added a sample of MAC Malt as an extra :). It's lipstick - I thought it was a Paint Pot sample at first (lol) XD, but nope, it's lip colour ^_^.

Swap 2 [The USA].

(I bought her three Korres Lip Butters. I've been kinda meaning to try some of these myself 'cause everyone adores them :-/, but I have enough lip balms ;D. Proof here :-P.)

She was beyond generous :). Behold this lot :D...And much of it was extra :-P ^_^. So, we have...

*A Mark Flip For It palette in South Beach :). I love these ^_^! As you know XD.
*Wet & Wild trios in Aquamarine, Jewels and Green Moss.
*A Prestige eye liner in Rhapsody.
*Mark eye shadows in Retro Peacock, Dragonfly and Heavenly.
*NYC eye shadows in Tiger's Eye and Aquamarine.
*Bourjois Little Round Pot eye shadow in Khaki Etonnant.
*Sonia Kashuk lip balm - that was an extra :). Gave it to my sister ;).
*Samples of Pure Luxe blush in Cheeky, Pure Luxe blush in Giddy (swapped that off), and Fyrinnae eye shadow in Polar Bear. These were extras too :).
*2 NYX loose shadows - also as extras ^_^! They don't have names on :-/, but they're a silvery white & a coppery red.
*Wet & Wild Diamond Brilliance lip gloss in 616.
*Palladio plumping lip gloss - another extra XD! This is such a nice peachy nude, and large as my collection may be, I actually did not have this colour...Until now :). Can't wait to use it ^_^.
*Lipstick extras - L'Oreal Watermelon Ice & Rimmel Birthday Suit. Swapped those off 'cause I don't use these brands ;).
*A Coastal Scents sample of Frenzy eye shadow (another extra).
*Jane Shimmering Blush in Wisteria - will swap that, I know somebody who has it on her wishlist ;D.
*A Revlon eye lash curler :). Yet another extra, and one I needed very much - thank you ^_^.

Here's a close-up of the South Beach palette :). The blush is upside down >:-D, lol XD.

I actually sort of like it though :), like my chewed-on Be:Yu lime nail polish XD ^_^. And here are the lip colours...

Nice :).

Swap 3 that was really a gift ^_^ [The USA again & a different swapper].

(I sent her a request for her Mark Bohista quad, but she couldn't find anything she liked from my stuff. So she offered it to me for free ^_^.)

I was expecting the Mark quad, and she mentioned some used Wet & Wild stuff. But I ended up receiving all this...

From left to right & all as usual: Mark Bohista eye quad, Wet & Wild Ultimate Expressions eye palettes in Sandcastle and Let It Snow (yay, covered on neutrals :D - I would've never shopped for them myself XD, thank you ^_^), a Luscious Cosmetics blush & highlighter duo in Coral Gables (that has some of the best packaging I've ever seen, read on ;D), a NYX lipstick in Iced Honey, Wet & Wild trios in Egyptian Sands and Belgian Chocolates, and a Wet & Wild blush in Berry Shimmer.

That blush can be built up to an intense & very beautiful colour that can be used as red eye shadow :).

Yes...My search is almost over ^_^. (I'm a perfectionist and will keep looking for red eye shadow that was made to be eye shadow, lol.) And since this is a blush, it's huge and will last near forever if used as shadow :). I can't believe I got this for free XD! Can't wait to use this - expect a look with it soon ;).

I compared the Belgian Chocolates trio that I got from this swap to the one I already have, and they're not identical :-/. However, they're similar enough, so I gave one to my sister ;D. She loves browns :).

More pics: the Mark quad, NYX lipstick and Luscious Cosmetics blush tin ^_^.

And here's the Luscious Cosmetics blush, opened :).

Isn't it lovely ^_^?!? I'd never even heard of that brand before receiving this. Thank you :).

& I guess the moral of this story is...Ask for things you like even if they seem out of your league, you'll never know who'll be kind to you XD ;). Thanks for reading :). Doing this contest next - why don't you try too ;D?

Kinda late swap update. Rhyming not intended, I'm just too lazy to eliminate it.

2009-05-29T23:04:00.021+03:00

Other people have 'hauls', I have Swap Updates :-P :).
Well, not for much longer, since I (yay ^_^!) have indeed & finally run out of stuff I don't need...At least for now XD.

Swap 1 [The USA].

(For my L'Oreal lipstick in Nude, Maybelline lipsticks in Passion Red & Moon Star, a purple Avon gloss, and lots of extras :D. I was feeling generous XD.)

An L.A. Colors (I keep typing 'colours' XD) eye palette in Mesmerise (that I've swapped off too XD), Wild & Crazy eye shadow in New U Girl, and 2 Jesse's Girl trios in Lime Lights and Purple Haze.

I actually quite like the Purple Haze :). Probably because it's not purple per se - it's violet, periwinkle and lilac >:-).

Swap 2 [England, the Sugar Kaleidoscope palette swapper again, she's one of my regulars :)].

(This was a 2 part swap. In total, I've sent her: 5 L.A. Colors palettes, the black/white/grey KleanColor trio, a L'Oreal Voluminous mascara that I got from Posey for entering her contest & that she kindly permitted me to swap away :D, a set of 3 Travel Exclusive Juicy Tubes, a lightly used Bourjois mini nail polish in 38 that my sister got sick of >:-D, a NYX eye shadow in Prune, NYX depotted shadows in Prune and Deep Purple, and a lot of extras, I can't recall all of them now XD.)

& I ended up receiving all this lot...

Part 1:

A Mary Kay Signature palette, a Mary Kay lipstick in Pink Melon, Bourjois Asia foundation in Beige Clair (too dark, will be using it for tan looks ;D), Eyeko Minty Fat Balm (finally I have some Eyeko >:-D, last person around the blogosphere to, I suspect :-/ - and I guess that's another thing for the review list ;D), Burt's Bees lip balm (the one in a tin), Wet & Wild lip liners in Pink Mauve and Willow, Mary Kay lipsticks in Pink Daisy and Pink Coral (these are testers that won't fit into the palette, but I don't mind ^_^), a Tarte lip balm in Friday, a Mary Kay lip liner in Dusty Pink, and just for the sake of it, a Mark Hook Up connector :-P. I'm very likely to swap for Mark stuff, so it's good thinking on my behalf ;D.

I love this palette, it looks so beautiful and chic :). And here it is with my first ever Mary Kay eye shadow duo...

Part 2:

Cleanse Your Soul mini Geisha body cream (spicy, love it ^_^), Pout Love Glow (looks really promising, can't wait to actually use it), Revlon Bedroom Eyes powder :D liners in Plum Wicked, Jaded and Fishnet Jet, NYX eye shadows in Luxor and Cool Blue, a Revlon eye shadow trio in Plum Like It Hot (XD), a depotted Lorac eye shadow in Jade, Barry M lipstick in 100, Pout lipstick in Mi Amore, Revlon lipstick in Nude Attitude, Wet & Wild lipstick in Pink Suede, Estee Lauder lipsticks in Divine Wine and Sugar Honey, and a Hard Candy lip palette in Pin Up.

Showing off my new lipsticks :-P :).

Same order as before ;). I swatched Nude Attitude at a shop here & I'm positive the one I have is prettier. The shop one was much browner :-/...Shade discrimination again >:-(? But whatever, I have the good one >:-D and that's all that matters :). And oh, it is so good. I'll have to come up with a Look of the day to show it off to you all ;D.

I'm a bit confused about why would a palette calling itself Pin Up consist of, well, caramel, brown, bronze and clear :-/. But they're nice :).

Swap 3 [The USA, another swapper].

(For my Limited Edition Avon duos in Daring Doll and Porcelain Doll, a Cover Girl eye shadow I got from a swap, and some extras.)

That Everyday Minerals mini concealer in Peach was an extra :). I also got three more Mary Kay duos ^_^ in Jade, Twilight and Cotton Candy, and an Elf gloss in Baby Lips. Swapped that off ;). But here's my palette, updated ^_^.

And I'll be receiving more Mary Kay stuff soon, so I guess I'll need more palettes >:-).

Swap 4 [The USA & a different person again].

(For my Avon Angel Cake eye shadow duo and Sahara Sun nail polish.)

A skincare sample I didn't keep, a Wet & Wild lipstick in Hot Red (this is too good for such a cheap item - unbelievable ^_^), a Mark Hook Up gloss (Sugared Almond on the left & Marshmallow on the right, these are amazing :D), an Elf white liner (had to swap that away, it wasn't pigmented enough for me), and Prestige liners: an eye liner in Poly and a lip liner in Tomango.

There are more, but I've run out of label space >:-D. And since I want to label everything properly, you'll just have to wait for my next swap update...Coming soon ;). Thanks for reading :).

What should've been a contest entry - but I was too late >:-). Oh well :-P.

2009-05-25T21:04:00.005+03:00

Anyway, I don't want to waste the pics :-P, so here is what should have been my entry for Naomi's purple eye look contest ;D.

Straight:

Closed:

Pose:

Products:

Skin: The usual, & Bourjois powder in Apricote for contouring.

Eyes: Here we go with the long annoying explanation...
*The purple cream shadow from the Pupa Optical Red palette (which I decided to keep & not swap after all ;D ^_^) as a base.
*The purple from the Oriflame duo in Urban Twilight (square duo on pic) on the inner half of the lid.
*The purple from the Oriflame Visions duo in Anthony & Cleopatra (round duo on pic) on the outer half.
*The purple from the Mark Femme 4 quad (I think the shade name is Sassy) on the crease & as a V-shape on the outer eye.
*The purple from the KleanColor trio (that doesn't have a name >:-D) as a liner & to brighten the inner corners.
*White liner (that I forgot to add to the pic >:-/), as usual :-P. Of course, I used my Laurel & Hardy one ;).
*No mascara, but I curled my lashes :).

Cheeks: Everyday Minerals blush in Plum Dust.

Lips: Oriflame Visions Sweet Talking Lip Candy in Sweet Butterscotch. My lips aren't at their best right now, due to me forgetting lip SPF a few days ago >:-D, so I'll be wearing gloss for the next few days until they sort themselves out ;D.

Bonus pic - smile:

Well, sort of :-P.

Thanks for reading ^_^! I still hate purple XD, but this look turned out alright :D! What do you think ;)?

Dear 16 year old me...[Tag.]

2009-05-23T18:28:00.003+03:00

Dear Cris,

You're calling yourself Cris already, aren't you? In your diary only. This will change. I know how afraid you are, but you will grow to be a much more daring person than you could've ever imagined at sixteen.

There are many things I ought to say to you, but I won't. Because everything that's happened, every choice you've ever made, will lead you to where I am, to who I am today. And that's not something I'd risk changing! Nevertheless, here are some things I will convey to you.

Keep writing your diary. It's the closest thing you've had to a friend. It's your release. It helps you practice writing. And it helps prepare you for the future in ways you can't imagine, but it will be crucial.

Don't waste time on the people you envy, the ones from school. They're not worth it. You will forget them and find higher standards to adhere to. And funnily, when you stop trying to change who you are, that's when they'll accept you and admire you. But you'll no longer care.

Don't try to make yourself like the music that's popular, the stuff in the charts. It'll be a waste of CDs you'll never listen to after the first few times. Keep reading music blogs - they'll help you grow so much. And you will manage to find most of those records, and will buy them. Don't you worry about that.

Keep buying magazines!!! You may seem hopeless to yourself, but you know you learn by absorbing. And you will. You'll even end up spending most of your money on products & make-up - I know you're laughing! Do more of that. It's good for you. And your smile's beautiful to most people! You're really very harsh on yourself. I'm afraid I've retained that. But sometimes believing in things makes them true.

Please, enjoy the weather. You will be tortured by the sun a lot in the years to come. But the memories will help more than you can imagine.

Keep taking those photographs. In the future, there will be a way to get them off your phone, and having memories imprinted will give you strength. By the way, I know your little sister's very beautiful. (For the record, she'll be even more so in the future, and you'll be so jealous of her! But you can manage.) I know the sky is wondrous. But try to take pictures of yourself every once in a while too. I know you can see your unattractiveness and it hurts, but numbing the impulse is the only thing you can do. And eventually, you'll discover that most people have much lower standards than yours and really, genuinely do consider you quite pretty. They're not lying.

Never lie to yourself. Never try to be somebody you aren't. Because eventually success will find you for being who you are.

I know you don't believe this. I know you're terribly cynical. But I also know you have hope, this undying hope and optimism that will carry you through anything. Never lose it.

Yours truly, and with love,

Cris.

P.S. You're about to bleach your hair for the first time ^_^! Exciting, isn't it? Well, I do happen to know that when you go to the hairdresser's & request it, they will sneer at you and only agree to give you blonde highlights. They will look horrible on your dark hair >:-). You will cry, and your mother'll feel sorry for you and buy bleach from the supermarket, which will turn your roots blonde, and your ends ginger...Remember dyeing your hair bluish black a few months ago? Well, those hairs don't take bleach well. So for the next few months, your hair will be this funny mix of blonde, ginger and brown, but it will sort itself out eventually to a nice golden blonde, and now, in the present, you're still a blonde. It's grown to be truly you. And you rock it.
You'll end up exploring diverse make-up looks too - that's the appeal of it. But you'll never forget your first love - blue eye shadow and red lips :). Sometimes, even together. Still. Some things never change ;D.

Thanks Vonnie :).

Contest Entry: Barbie Inspired Look.

2009-05-20T21:49:00.009+03:00

Why am I happy about receiving (from a swap) foundation that's too dark for me?

[Don't worry, swap update coming up later this week ;). I got lots of new stuff as usual :-P ^_^.]

Because...I finally figured out what to do for Laura's Barbie contest ^_^!!!

Thanks for the contest, Laura :). See, I told you I'm the kind of person who enters right before the closing date, but that I would do it ;) :).
After all, there's no way I'm skipping a contest that includes red eye colour as a prize. You know me ;D.

Without further ado, my inspiration...

Malibu Barbie :D!!!

This is an unusual look for me, because I consider my fair skin one of my best features, and normally enhance its porcelain loveliness. But everyone should try something different once in a while, and with summer coming up, I thought I'd give the tan thing a go ;).

So, she's got a tan complexion, pastel blue shadow with some peachy pink on the inner corners, twiggy lashes (she is a doll :-P), and baby pink lips :). An adorable combination that I often work, actually - but with my fair skin ;). This time though, I'm doing it her way ;D.

My attempt at the look [excuse the toilet in the background >:-), I couldn't get the lighting to work properly in any other room]:

There will be more pics after the products pic & info ;).

Malibu Barbie Look Products & Tutorial:

Skin: I didn't use my usual foundation for this look ;). I needed a darker base. Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect in Beige Clair (mine came from Asia - clarifying this 'cause I suspect that this is darker than Euro Beige Clair) provided it :). To bronze, I used my Laura Mercier Bronzing Book palette in Gilded - Matte Bronze Light (and this is light indeed, and thus perfect for fair girls :D) to bronze, and Gilded to highlight & as a cheek colour. On the picture, Gilded is on the left while Matte Bronze Light is on the right ;).
By the way, I love the Fafi brush :). I'm actually considering getting some more brushes XD!

Eyes: My lovely blue's from my Pupa Heart palette :). I also used ArtDeco eye shadow in 557 on the inner corners, a new eyelash curler (Revlon) I got from a swap, and lots of Pucci Guerlain mascara on upper & lower lashes.

Cheeks: Mentioned this before, actually - Gilded from the Laura Mercier Bronzing Book in Gilded ;).

Lips: Oriflame Visions lip balm in Tropics as a base, and (probably my favourite) Plump & Gloss lip gloss in Nice Girl ^_^.

Eye close-up:

I think this one's my favourite. I always love eye close-ups :).

My skin is so the colour of Barbie plastic in all these shots, it freaks me out :-/.

So, what's the verdict on me & tanned skin ;)?

I think I prefer being pale :). But this was fun :D.

Thanks for reading ^_^! I'm considering entering Naomi's Purples contest after all, and who knows...I just may ;).

Alter Ego make-up...It won't be what you expect though :-P.

2009-05-17T22:47:00.010+03:00

[This is for Posey's contest ;).]

Before showing my Alter Ego look, I shall (as per contest rules) have to present a 'regular' look of mine ;D. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I do different kinds of looks (that's what's so amazing about make-up, after all), but they normally share one crucial factor - they're expressive. At least one feature (& often more than one feature) really pops. Something is always bright :).

Here goes my 'regular' kind of make-up...Credit goes to Thiamere for coming up with this gorgeous look ^_^. I've wanted to try it ever since I first read that post, and now I finally have an excuse to ;D. My version is even more outrageous 'cause I threw in a bright lip colour :-P :).

Odd pose, but I like it :-P.

Now, here comes my Alter Ego...Ready?

It's not wild. It's actually incredibly boring natural-looking make-up, which I hate. I know it's classic. I know it looks good. But I like colour.

Which is why I never wear this kind of look. Until this contest :-P.

So, which one do you like? I prefer the bright one :D, but maybe that's 'cause the natural look pic is kind of blah XD...
Anyway, read on for details on how to do both ;).

Alter Ego Neutrals Look Products & Tutorial:

[I did that one first ;).]

Skin: My usual foundation & concealer ;). I threw out the Rimmel powder 'cause it stopped working well :-P, and am now using the one from my Oriflame Christmas Palette. It's nicer :), but the placement isn't the best...Yes, every time I use it, I get some on the 2 right lip colours >:-).
I also did some minor contouring on my jawline with the Bourjois Apricote powder & Elf Luminance powder ;D.

Eyes: The very left shade from my Physicians Formula quad in Earth Minerals, and curled bare lashes. That's it.

Cheeks: Everyday Minerals blush in Jump Rope.

Lips: Burt's Bees lip balm as a base, and Oriflame Visions Sweet Talking Lip Candy in Sweet Caramel as lip colour. (That's the heart on the picture XD.)

Thiamere Bright Look Products & Tutorial:

[Note that I'm building on the neutrals look for this one ;). I didn't bother removing it (except the lip colour 'cause that was easy enough), and there wasn't much to remove anyway >:-D.]

Skin: Elf Luminance to brighten. I love this product, will probably do a review :), and if you're in the US and therefore can get it for a dollar, you definitely should ^_^.

Eyes: From the outside looking in ;)...I used bright orange, hot pink, and fluorescent yellow :D. To be more specific, I used NYX eye shadow in Orange, MAC Hello Kitty blush in Tippy (it's not shadow - but so what :-P?), and Wild And Crazy eye shadow in New U Girl ;). My fave white liner (Oriflame Laurel & Hardy), and I opened a new mascara a few days back since the Rimmel ones have expired ;D - the Guerlain mini from my Pucci Guerlain eye set ;).

Cheeks: MAC Fafi Hipness ;).

Lips: Orlane Rouge Extraordinaire Lipstick in 34, one of my favourite brights :). And I used clear gloss (from Oriflame's old blueberry products line) over it ;D.

Eyes close-up...

And another odd pose...

Really like this one :). That sounds strange coming from me, doesn't it?

Well, I guess that's it for tonight ;). Thanks for reading :). I still have a Barbie look and a pigeon look to come up with :-P ;D...

My fifth (!?!) award, and MANY things received from swaps ^_^.

2009-05-16T11:37:00.030+03:00

[Note to self: Must not neglect my blog or I'll just have way too many things to deal with!]

I received this lovely award from Vonnie ^_^. Thank you so much for your kindness :).

Terms & Conditions For the Award Recipient:

1. Paste the Award Logo in your blog

2. Give out the award to 10 Blogs that you feels the most inspired and most friendly.

3. Make sure u back linked the recipients' blogs to your blog.

4. Inform the recipients about the award by leaving them comments on their blog

5. Give some love to the person who give you this award.

[I won't bother with the broken English XD. But for the record, it's not me, it's the original award text as received by me :-P. And anyway, it's the thought that counts ;) :).]

I know that while reading one of the 200+ blogs I follow, I saw somebody wondering where these awards originate. It's true, you know - don't you wonder too? Perhaps I'll create one someday and see how far it spreads :-P ;D...

10 Inspired Friendly Bloggers:

*Chomsiri
*Ji
*Posey
*Sofie
*Gracie
*Claire
*Care
*Kristine
*Kasumi
*Miku

This is what happens when one neglects tags >:-). I tried to pick people who haven't received this yet, and it was hard. And I'm not even 100 % sure that I've succeeded XD.

Alright, and THIS is what happens when one neglects swaps >:-D...
Or rather, neglects posting up her swaps ;). If anything, I swap too often :-P. Here we go though...As you will see, it's about time.

Swap 1 [Australia]. A.k.a. My Swap With Claire ;D ^_^!!!

(For my Lancome Travel Exclusive Sublime Seduction palette, and some extra stuff ;D.)

This is not the swap XD. This is a lovely note she wrote me :). So kind of her ^_^!

This is the actual swap ;)...

2 Chi Chi eye palettes in Cheerleader and Doing Cool :). And extras too :D! Soap ^_^! I love soap :). Much prefer it to shower gel, nice people take note ;D.

[Her handwriting is so pretty...Mine's so unreadable in its cursive form that I have to write in print when I need others to be able to read what I've written >:-).]

I gave the Fig one to my sister 'cause she loves fig, natural products, and receiving little gifts from me :-P. Am keeping the Godmother though, it smells amazing :).

Cheerleader is a fun colourful selection ^_^. Doing Cool is more of a practical palette ;). For me at least, its colour selection works well for daily looks: there's blue & brown, and a pink and an orange :).
I love both :D. Thank you SO much Claire ^_^.

Swap 2 [The USA].

(For an Elizabeth Arden quad & Avon duo in Starlight.)

The jewellery was a much loved Easter gift to my sister ;D :). The Lancome pouch is mine though :). I normally abhor animal print, but for some reason I was really attracted to this, and I love it ^_^.

Swap 3 [The USA again, different swapper].

(For 2 Maybelline quads in Sapphire Ice & Emerald Isle, one L'Oreal Milla Jovovich Star Secrets trio, one Rimmel shadow in Saucy Mint, one Rimmel Duo in Sky, one L'Oreal lipstick in Nude and one Maybelline lipstick in Natural Rosewood.)

4 L.A. Colors palettes in Soiree, Wine & Roses, Enchanted and Tranquil, 3 KleanColor trios (they don't have names :-/), one Revlon Matte eye shadow in Riviera Blue, one Physicians Formula quad in Earth Minerals, and one lime waterproof mascara. Impulse swap on that one XD. Better than impulse buys :-P ;D.

I swapped the L.A. Colors & top KleanColor trio off 'cause I know somebody who had them on her wishlist, and I could survive without them ;). Will swap the Revlon off for the same reason. But I'm so happy with the things I'm keeping ^_^!

Swap 4 [The USA, yet another swapper].

(For my Elizabeth Arden lip balm tin in Berry Sun, Stila lip tint in Berry, Maybelline Forever Metallic Lites lipstick in Red Star, and extras ;D.)

Prestige eye shadow in Love (finally found it ^_^, it's the perfect true rose), an Estee Lauder gloss in Raspberry Pop, a Mike & Ike lip balm that is much more like a gloss, a Hershey's chocolate gloss that is much more lika a balm (lol), and a Bourjois mini pigment in 9. May swap that one off 'cause it's similar to my new Annabelle pigment in Azure, but I'm still undecided ;).

The Hershey's was an extra :), as was the Dove sample. Swapped that off, I hate Dove XD >:-).

Swap 5 [Sweden].

(For my Elizabeth Arden Perfect Cinnamon lipstick, and extras ^_^.)

This arrived gift-wrapped :'). I should've taken a pic, but of course I was too excited & opened it immediately XD.

What caught my attention about this BeYu (German brand, if I'm not mistaken) polish was the 'handle bitten by a 2 year old' in its description. I'm weird >:-).

But this is The most gorgeous lime I have ever seen. I am so happy to have it :). Will wear it a lot this summer ;D...

And she included some kind of purple hard sweets as an extra XD. They're surprisingly OK :-P, or maybe I just like the challenge of chewing them up >:-D.

Swap 6 [England].

(For my L'Oreal Transparent Red & Maybelline Forever Metallics Orange Fusion lipsticks.)

I got the Bourjois white chocolate powder ^_^!!!

And there's more XD. A Models Prefer blush in Pretty In Paisley that has the most beautiful blush compact I have ever seen, and a Dior lipstick in Golden Mirage (been looking for a gold for a while, I hope this works) ;).

Extras too: an Olay mask (that I gave away) and Milani Luminous. I know somebody who wants this & have messaged her about it ;D...

Unboxed:

Opened:

Swap 7 [Italy].

(For my Maybelline Burgundy lipstick, a L'Occitane almond soap and Lancome Miracle mini shower gel.)

This arrived in an extra cosmetics pouch ^_^! I'm not thrilled by the fact that it's Playboy >:-), but I love that sheer pink fabric so I'm keeping it :).

Sunscreen. Thank God. And since this has been tested on the Himalayas, it should work in Greece >:-). A blue mineral eye shadow in Cloudless Sky (can't find the brand written anywhere and I don't remember what it was >:-D), and an orange lip liner. For the summer ;). The brand is Goldfinger.

Swap 8 [Belgium].

(For a Korres shampoo I bought her.)

Clinique Comforting Cream Cleanser ^_^, Clinique Rinse-Off Eye Make-Up Solvent (had the chance to try this in the meantime & it's good, I may buy a full-size one), Estee Lauder mini Resilience Lift Extreme Ultra Firming Creme SPF 15 (that was for my mother), and Pupa loose eye shadow in 1. That Pupa is so much better than I'd expected - it's amazing. Swatch it if you have the opportunity & you'll see what I mean ;).

Swap 9 [The USA, another swapper].

(For a Saledo eye & lip duo, and extras ^_^.)

My first ever Mark palette :), in Sydney. 7 more to go XD. (Well, actually 6 'cause one is on its way to me ;D.) And a MAC extra...Black SolarBits :). Unbelievable.
Will need to come up with a good look for these, 'cause I don't want to waste them.

Opened:

And you can flip the palette around ;). Like this...

Swap 10 [The USA again & yet another swapper].

(For 2 Glamour palettes and one L'Oreal holographic eye shadow.)

Mark eye shadow in Vintage Khaki (will need to swap for a case), NYC blue liner (that thing is long), and a Skittles Lip Smacker :). The Dior foundation sample & Cover Girl shadow were extras ;D. Swapping the Cover Girl off, and I gave the Dior to my sister 'cause it was too dark for me ;).

Up next: Contest entries, reviews, and that HUGE swap ;)...

Thanks for reading :). And don't hate me for swapping so much - what can I say? I like nice things :-P ^_^.

IsaDora Blooming Spring swatches ^_^. And some ramblings.

2009-05-11T21:48:00.010+03:00

Electric light:

Moderate sunlight:

[Yes, that was a rare day in Greece with little sunlight. I was happy :).]

Taffeta Pink, Mango Fizz and Coral Rose lipsticks, Pinky Peach blush, Eye Brow Lift & Define pencil, eye shadow palette colours, violet liner and Blonde liner. You can see my original post about that collection here ;).
I want the palette now :D, and I'm definitely getting the Blonde pencil ;). The lipsticks are too shimmery for me to like them though :(. And I've just noticed that my MAC Hello Kitty tote is visible in Pic 2 XD.

Now, why had I disappeared off the face of the blogosphere these past few days...

Sometimes I get too pessimistic to communicate with anyone...Well, it's almost passed. I'm back :).
For now >:-D.

Everyone on here has been so incredibly kind to me, but sometimes I wonder. You see, you do know that I consider myself unattractive. Normally I accept it and live with it, it's just that sometimes things happen that rub it in my face and I don't feel like anything is truly worth it.
I don't know how to explain. I don't know whether I should. I don't know why I'm typing this - I'm so harsh about not revealing my physical flaws, and now I'm airing my emotional ones.

I received lots of swapness in the past few days...

Will post everything when I'm feeling better ;D. But here's a sneak peek...

My MEGA swap :D, with love from Watercolour Sale :). I'll need a separate blog post just to cover all of that stuff ;D.

And some more swaps :-P. Including my swap with Claire - she's received mine so I can finally use hers ^_^.

Thanks for reading :). I hope somebody finds those swatches useful XD, and don't mind my negativity, it's just part of me. It'll never change ;).

P.S. I just saw this :). If you could vote for me by leaving a comment there (but only if you think I deserve it, of course ;D), it would really help cheer me up :-P.

Got a Blogger Friendship Award...I feel honoured. Thank you.

2009-05-07T18:19:00.007+03:00

The rules are:

1. Take your award here
2. Put the logo on your post
3. Link the person who awarded you
4. Nominate at least 7 other bloggers
5. Add the links of those bloggers on yours
6. Leave a message for your nominees

I like this because it says at least 7 other bloggers ;D. Meaning I can pick more :D - yay ^_^!!!

I was lucky enough to receive this award from both Thiamere and Gracie :). I was so touched by both of these 'cause when someone considers me a friend, it means a lot to me. Really. I can't believe all the wonderful people I've met through blogging :'D...

OK, before I start crying XD, I'll list my nominees ;). I'm only picking people who (as far as I know) haven't received this yet, to spread the love around ;D.

Guess what happened here...My computer crashed and I lost all the lovely descriptions I wrote ;_; >:-@!!!

Before I start throwing stuff, I'll just list everyone again. I just want you all to know that I am honoured to have you all as my blogger friends ^_^, and no stupid computer can take that away :-P.

*Ji

*Fuz

P.S. You've no idea how annoyed (if not furious) I am now with my stupid computer losing all my longish detailed paragraphs about each blog :(. But I hope you're happy with receiving the award ;) :) ^_^.