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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lips: Revlon Matte lipstick in Nude Attitude.

More pictures...

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

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

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

Kidding XD...

Here's the usual Swap Update.

Swap 1 [The USA].

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

This swap was...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swap 3 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper].

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

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

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

Swap 4 [The USA and yet another swapper].

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

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

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

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

So, more Tigi stuff...

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

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

Cyberoptics eye shadow in Jealousy: 13 Euros.

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

Tigi Tools Of Attraction:

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

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

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

And two pics of the palette, in different lighting.

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

And some stuff from Sephora...

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

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

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

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

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

[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?