Desert Island Lips Tag

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.

[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...

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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 :).