Monday, August 31, 2009

Mini MAC Haul

I got a few eye shadows from MAC the other day and thought I would share what some of the swatches look like. I ended up getting (from left to right in the picture): Off the Page, Violet Trance, Stars 'N' Rockets and Glamour Check!





Off the Page is a really neat mango kind of colour. The colour pay off is quite good and I don't have any other colour quite like this at the moment so I think it was a good choice to pick up.



For some reason, Violet Trance looks more blue than purple in the picture on the left. Well, I guess the colour violet really is a blue based purple? I'm not sure! LOL. But it's a really pretty purple and purples/plums seem to look best on me.




And of course, sticking with purple-ly type colours, I got Stars 'N' Rockets. This is a really fun colour and sort of reminds me of my Urban Decay deluxe Fishnet eye shadow colour except Fishnet is probably more magenta and loud while Stars 'N' Rockets is more pinkish purple.



Last but not least is Glamour Check!. I love colours like this - a reddish kind of brown. And unlike the other Starflash finish eye shadow I have from MAC (which is Fashion), this one has great colour pay off. When I swatched MAC's Fashion eye shadow it turned out like a really nice teal kind of colour...but when I used a brush to apply it on my eye lid, I had to use so many layers and it just kept giving me a lot of fall out and didn't have the same colour pay off. So I'm happy with this Starflash finish eye shadow....


What are some of your favourite MAC eye shadows? Have you picked up anything at MAC lately?

:) Karen

FOTD/OOTD

Had to make a run to the post office today (and stop at a couple of stores). The odd time I'll be in a rush (most likely that means the store is closing) and won't have to time to put makeup on.
Today I had time to get ready though and this was the look:

With flash:

Without flash:
This was what I used:
EYES
MAC Indian Wood Paint Pot (all over lid) - I LOVE this colour
MAC Beauty Marked eye shadow (outer 1/3 of lid and a bit under my lower lashes)
MAC Blitz & Glitz Fluidline (top & lower lash line) - this is my everyday cream liner
UD Zero eye shadow (on top of the fluidline)
MAC Prep + Prime lash (got my gf hooked on it this past weekend. Adds a darn cm to your eye lashes and I love this mascara base)
L'oreal Voluminous Waterproof in Black
FACE
Revlon Colourstay foundation in Natural Beige
MAC Mineralize SPF 15 Foundation Loose in Medium (such crap by the way. Don't buy this!)
MAC Golden Bronzer
MAC Breath of Plum Powder blush
Smashbox's shimmer wheel powder (I don't know the name of this one. It's nothing special anyways!)
LIPS:
MAC Creme D'nude (I'm not liking mine that much - I must have gotten a bad one because the colour pay off is poor since this lipstick is a bit hard - literally hard! LOL)
MAC C-thru tinted lipglass

And, this is the outfit I wore running to the post office. I just slipped on a pair of sandals of course. Actually, it's getting a bit chilly here even in the daytime to wear a t-shirt. A lot of people are wearing cardigans or jackets and I felt like I needed one as soon as I stepped out! Not much of a summer this year in Toronto with all the rain and now Fall seems to already be here since the temperature has dropped :( Anyways, I got this t-shirt for $3 at the Stitches at CNE last weekend! All you locals have got to go to CNE before it closes labour day weekend! I got so many shirts, tank tops for only $3-$8 :)

So, how's the weather where you are? It is getting chilly too?!

:) Karen

In search of a great hand cream.....

I am searching for a great hand cream. One where I can slather it on at bedtime and wake up with baby soft hands! Or even a really good daytime hand cream that's not greasy yet provides a lot of moisture. I still haven't hit gold for either of those two criteria so my search continues and maybe someone (maybe you!) could make a suggestion for me!

In the meantime I thought I would let you know what I'm using now. At my bedside table I have two hand creams at the moment. The first one is L'Occitane's Nourishing Hand Cream in Honey & Shea.



It smells soooooooo yummy - it smells like you've slathered on pure honey. And it's not that synthetic smell at all. So anyways, I've already bought into it purely because of how it smells. I think this handcream is pretty good - it's also a tad bit pricey for hand cream so I'm not sure if I'll repurchase it because after using this I don't wake up with those really soft hands that I'm aiming for (maybe my aim is unrealistic?). I don't have severly dry skin on my hands to begin with but sometimes I do get a slight bit of eczema on a couple of my fingers if I've been cleaning my place a bit too much that day and didn't wear cleaning gloves all the time. This cream doesn't fully get rid of the eczema overnight (I do have a prescription for it) so maybe it's not really that moisturizing? So I'm still on the fence about this handcream and I'm not really sure if I'd repurchase based on the price and results it gives me.
The other hand cream I have on my bedside table is Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve.
The scent is slightly medicinal with a bit of fresh mint scent to it...which is fine, but this cream doesn't seem to do much for me! Like L'Occitane, it is a bit pricey for hand cream too. One thing I do like about this cream is that it's not greasy at all - and it absorbs better than the L'Occitane one so you could use this as a day cream. I have no issue using slightly greasy hand creams at night before bedtime but in the daytime I want to avoid that. And what I mean by slightly greasy at night doesn't include Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly. I'm sure dunking my hands in a jar of Vaseline and putting mitts on at night would help my hands but I can't sleep with mitts on! Anyways, I will not be repurchasing the Kiehl's hand cream again.
And in my handbag I have Neutrogena's Norwegian Formula Fast Absorbing Hand Cream.



This is a pretty good daytime hand cream. It really is fast absorbing and not greasy at all like the original Norwegian Formula hand cream. The scent is synthetic and smells a bit florally (I can't describe scents so I'm sorry about that) - it's an alright scent which is quite light/medium in strength so it's not over bearing. I've already repurchased this hand cream a few times and it seems to be the one hand cream I'm stuck on for daytime use because it does moisturize and it's not greasy. I'm unsure if there's another brand out there that makes an excellent day time hand cream but I'm open to trying something new. Let me know if you have any suggestions on hand cream for me or how I can get my hands baby soft! LOL.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

FOTD/OOTD Saturday night

I finally feel 100% me this morning when I woke up.

I drank far more than my fair share on Friday night - I hooked up with a girlfriend of mine that I hadn't seen in ages and she loves doing tequila shots at the club :) So um, everything was really fun until I got home and was sick 6-7 times over. Yesterday all day I was still feeling dizzy with little appetite but now I'm fine! I exerted self control last night with the alcohol when we went clubbing again....and this is what I wore last night:

FOTD: my make up is the same as last time I went clubbing. I love UD Last Call!








OOTD: This is the dress I got from Forever 21 which I did a post about earlier. The shoes are from Guess. The bracelet on my left hand is the bracelet I got from H & M earlier (which I also did a post about). I still can't get over that the bracelet was like $7.90 (and it's really like five bracelets in one!)

:) Karen

Friday, August 28, 2009

FOTD

I can't stand picture uploading on Blog! Egh! I must be doing something wrong because:
(1) everytime I upload a picture it goes straight to the top of the post even if my curser is somewhere mid way done the page when I click "Add Image" button
(2) darn pictures leave so much gap in my blog that I end up deleting so much space
(3) okay, what the heck! These pictures are not easy to rearrange sometimes. I click and drag and sometimes it doesn't drag to where I want them to be!
(4) a couple of my pictures in this post are not the right side up! LOL. What the heck?! In the file on my computer they are right side up...sheesh....so whatever, bear with me!

So these are some of the things I used to get my FOTD.

MAC Studio Tech in NC30 (it's actually more like an NC35 which is okay since I bronze myself up to an NC35 anyways). I really like this foundation. I wish it had an SPF because if it did, I would use it everyday pretty much.


MAC Sweet as Cocoa Blush is beside the Studio Tech in the picture. It might look a bit scary or like a really deep bronzer but it's not - it's such a beautiful blush actually. I really like this colour blush on me.



The base I used on my eye lids was MAC's Quite Natural Paint Pot. I like all the matte paint pots (I'm not a fan of the shimmery ones like Rubenesque) but I find this one particularly a bit dark. I much prefer MAC Groundwork for a brown toned paint pot.

And beside the paint pot in the picture is my MAC Blitz & Glitz fluidline. I use this pretty much everyday. The website says there's gold pearl in it...it must be really subtle because I can't really tell but I like blitz & glitz more than blacktrack because it's not as intense for daytime but it's still a black colour (like, it's not slate or dark grey or anything like that).


After loading this picture up three times it finally came showed right side up! These are the three eye shadows I used: MAC tete-a-tint on the far left of the picture (for my crease), MAC satin taupe in the middle of the picture (for my lid area and under the eye), MAC sugar shot on the right side of the picture (for a highlight on the brow bone). I love MAC tete-a-tint (well, I love almost all the matte eye shadows that MAC does) for my crease to gradually help my darker lid eye shadow colour fade out. MAC satin taupe needs no explaination - it's a lovely colour on anyone. MAC sugar shot is nothing special - reminds me of a whole bunch of other brow high light colours I own.


And on my lips I used MAC Snob. It looks dark/odd in this picture...probably because of the yellowish lighting in my bathroom.




















I didn't take a picture of the mascara I used now that I think of it but I used MAC's Prep + Prime lash followed by L'oreal's Voluminous Waterproof mascara in black.

And here's a couple of pictures of me with all that on. Without a flash:




















Here's me with a flash. I think my contacts are bothering me since my eyes are a bit red here. Ew and my zit on my right cheek is much more noticeable here!

Thanks for reading! Oh and if you can let me know if you're feeling the same about picture uploading on blogger, let me know so I don't feel so computer illiterate! LOL.
Karen :)

My favourite face cleanser

I've been using two face cleansers for a while now and they seem to independently do the jobs I need them to. I have sensitive skin and have had a lot of allergic reactions to different products, particularly anything soap based (liquid bath soaps, face cleansers, some shampoos..etc...).

First off, the Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser is what I use to get the gunk off my face (the gunk I'm talking about: long-wearing foundation followed by face powder, bronzer, blush, translucent powder at times).





















Yah, you don't want to know what I was using before I discovered this cleanser about a year ago! LOL. (I was using Oxy wipes which are not meant for face makeup removal). Anyways, this stuff really does take off all my face makeup! I was really surprised actually. For a short while after I first bought it, I would use an Oxy wipe to see if any extra foundation/makeup was not removed by the cleanser. But this Neutrogena cleanser never let me down on removing face makeup so I actually haven't touched my Oxy wipes in a while because I find it too drying to use an Oxy wipe following this cleanser.

In terms of removing eye makeup, um, it removes probably 70% of my waterproof mascara - at best, 90% of my mascara. It removes my eye shadow very easily (but heck, rubbing with your fingers will remove eye shadow!) and I think it does a pretty good job removing my MAC fluidline. But if you're like me and wear 2-3 coats of waterproof mascara (or more!) it might not work to remove that stuff. Soooo, I use plain Johnson's Baby Oil to remove my eye makeup and then I wash my face with the Neutrogena cleanser which brings me from a fully made up face to a clean face :)

The second cleanser I use is Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser:




















Now this one doesn't lather up at all like a typical cleanser so I can see a lot of people not liking this. And it does not remove makeup whatsoever.

It's soooo gentle - like I would say it's actually more gentle than some of those Johnson's "tear free" baby products (some are not so "tear free" for me). You don't even need water to use Cetaphil cleanser - you can just wipe the cleanser off with a tissue or face cloth and it won't irritate your skin :) But I do wash Cetaphil off my face...and the way I use Cetaphil is in the morning after I wakeup and just need to freshen up my face a bit (to get the sleep out of my eyes as well). I've been using Cetaphil since I was like 14 years old after my dermatologist at the time recommended this brand to me - I had really dry skin out of nowhere at the time and Cetaphil lotion cured the dry skin problem when NO other product would. I'll do a review of Cetaphil lotion another time if you want me to.

Have you tried any of these two cleansers? What did you think? What's your favourite cleanser at the moment?

:) Karen

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Best Lip Balm Ever!

I was at my parent's house visiting for the past couple of nights and I had forgotten to bring along my favourite lip balm. It was then that I realized how crappy my other option was. I was stuck with the Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer SPF 15 lip balm:






















Yep, that was the lip balm lying around on my desk in my bedroom at my parent's place. Before I get into why I don't favour this lip balm, I should mention that I really really only like lip balms that leave a layer of relatively thick coating on my lips. When I'm at home, I really apply a thick layer of lip balm to my lips and end up smacking my lips a lot for the next several minutes....I know that might seem weird but it's what I do and I really have to feel that waxy texture on my lips when I'm smacking my lips together! I know there's a whole other school of folks that like a thin, quick absorbing lip balm and in that case, perhaps this Neutrogena one is for you (or maybe that Nivea Lip Care which I'm also not a fan of)....although there's no flavour at all except for a slight hint of sunscreen. And you know, like all things you don't like, it seems to last eons. LOL.

I use to use the basic Blistex Mint lip balm SPF 15 for years. I even got my Dad hooked on this one and he still uses it! I LOVE mint and the mint in this lip balm is actually noticeable on your breath a bit for quite a short while after application. And of course, you can definitely build up a waxy texture with this lip balm. I found this in my purse because I still have a few tubes lying around...I'll still be repurchasing this one for sure:





















I've tried numerous Blistex lip balms and none I've liked better than this basic mint one from them. I've tried the Blistex lip tone (great for a hint of colour but not as moisturizing I find), Blistex Ultra Protection SPF 30 (gosh, this was one that I finished up at my parent's place and it's gross! It tastes like Coppertone sunscreen x 2! And no waxy texture!), Blistex Lip Ointment (it just tastes weird and I don't like how the formula can get a bit thin in consistency), the Lip Medex (it's okay...has a strange medicinal taste and kind of tingles if I can remember. Anyways, I only bought it a few times and that was it). I've tried a couple of others from Blistex but I think you get my point!

BUT, I discovered my new favourite lip balm ever like a few months ago and I can't go without it! LOL. I have one by my bedside and on my desk here beside my laptop. It hasn't made it's way into my purse but it sure will once my Blistex is used up! It's the MAC Lip Conditioner SPF 15.







I don't know how to describe it. I can really slather on a thick layer before falling asleep and I wake up with soft lips :) It has a slight hint of vanilla in it's taste and if I'm right, it tastes kinda rich as if I can taste the avocado extract in it. I think I can taste a hint of the sunscreen in it but I really don't mind (it's not like the Blistex Ultra Protection). Anyhow, I didn't realize it when I bought it but the MAC lip balm has all these moisturizing ingredients in them like: almond oil, shea butter, avocado extract, wheat germ oil, vitamin A and E. The MAC tinted lip conditioners are just as good but sometimes I don't want a hint of colour, especially if I'm slathering it on at night (I don't want lip colour on my sheets or pillow by accident!). I think my favourite MAC tinted lip conditioner is Petting Pink because it really does add on a noticeable light-medium toned pink colour to my lips :) It's not like MAC's Suntints liquid lip balm from the Baby Bloom collection which does shit for colour (ah hem, Pink Tinge! It's not like the tinted lip conditioners!).

Anyways, I thought I would share this because I've constantly been on the hunt for the best lip balm ever and now my search has ended (I think!). The only downfall is that the MAC Lip Conditioner is $16 before taxes....I know I know, but give it a try (at least at the store to see what I mean).

:) Karen

Friday, August 21, 2009

FOTD / OOTD Friday night

It's Fridaaaay! I'm just waiting for a few friends right now and decided to make a quick post. Here's a couple of face shots and I'm wearing the dress I got from Urban Behaviour earlier in the week:
No Flash:


With a flash:

Eyes:
MAC's Fresco Rose Paint Pot as a base on my lid and a bit below my lower lash line
MAC's Bare Study Paint Pot as a base under my brows
Urban Decay Last Call eye shadow (a favourite of mine!) on the lid
MAC's Samoa Silk eye shadow (just in the crease)
MAC's Phloof eye shadow (under brows as a highlight)
MAC's blitz and glitz fluidline (upper and lower lashline)
Urban Decay's Zero eye shadow to seal in the fluidline
MAC's Prep + Prime lash base
L'Oreal's Voluminous mascara
MAC's #3 lashes


Face:
Revlon's Colourstay foundation in Natural Beige
MAC's MSF Natural in Medium
MAC's Golden Bronzer (all over my face)
MAC's Fleur Power blush (it's really pigmented so use a light hand at first!)


Lips:
MAC's Myth lipstick

Gosh I can't take pictures of myself looking in the mirror, but you get the point!






:) Karen

Thursday, August 20, 2009

FOTD



I have a crap load of pimples on my face lately and I'm not sure why....ugh! Anyways, here's a breakdown of what I used:

EYES:
MAC's Fresco Rose paint pot (all over lid and slightly above crease, under the eye)
MAC's Greensmoke eye shadow (on the lid only)
MAC's Blitz & Glitz fluidline (top and bottom lashes)
MAC's Prep + Prime lash
L'oreal's Voluminous mascara

FACE:
MAC's Studio Tech foundation NC30
Make up Forever Full Cover Concealer in No. 8
MAC's blot powder in Medium Dark
Smashbox's colour wheel shimmer (no idea what it's called but I put it on my cheeks under my blush)
MAC's Hello Kitty Fun & Games blush

LIPS:
MAC Myth lipstick
MAC c-thru lipglass

:) Karen

What I bought this past weekend....

Soooo, my younger sister is in town for a couple of weeks and of course we went shopping together. I picked up a few things from Forever 21, H & M, Urban Behaviour and some perfume as well :)

First, this dress is from Forever 21. It's a faux leather fitted dress - I thought it would be great for clubbing!





I also got a bracelet from Forever 21. It's a silver metal bracelet and it seems that chains are the in thing at the moment. I figured it would look great with a pair of jeans and a tank top or t-shirt:

















And here's a close up of the links in the bracelet. I really love this bracelet actually:



Then from H & M I saw a lovely bracelet that had five bracelets in one....three of which are faux pearls and two are just plain cubic zirconias stringed in a single row:

And here's a close up although by now I'm sure you know my camera sucks with close ups especially!



I haven't been to Urban Behaviour for awhile (like a month) even though it's just down a couple of blocks from me. Right near the entrance of the store was a really nice raspberry coloured dress with black lace on top and I had to get it. It has side pockets too!










And here's a close up of the lace detailing which I think is very pretty:















After clothes shopping my sister wanted to check out some perfume. She ended up getting the Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue as well as the Salvatore Ferragamo Charms perfume; both of which are really nice. I can describe scent very well at all for the life of me but they're both smell great! And I'm not sure about you guys - I always end up spraying ten or more perfumes whenever I go perfume shopping which just ends up confusing me. So I ended up with two perfumes.
The first is Escada's Moon Sparkle. I LUV Escada perfumes. I know they all smell so similar. Right now I have Escada's Island Kiss which I also love. It seems that only Escada perfumes make me feel like I'm on a beach. Seriously, I don't know what it is but whenever I spritz an Escada perfume on I feel like I'm on a beach with pineapple and banana trees around me..haha. Do you guys have a perfume that makes you feel like you're on a beach???



















Here's what the bottle looks like:





















I kind of hate how the base of the bottle is so small of a footprint so I'm scared it'll fall over more easily :( Lets hope that doesn't happen.
And the second perfume I bought is the Armani Code. I bought this perfume like two years ago (maybe three years?) when it first launched here. I remember whenever I wore this, so many people asked me what I was wearing. It does have a slight black licorice smell to it and I hate black licorice - perhaps that's why I got sick of it by the time I finished off my first bottle so I didn't repurchase. But of course, I fell in love with the scent again this past Sunday and got myself a bottle indeed:




















And here's the bottle which has a very sexy slight curve to it.

















What are some of your favourite perfumes at the moment???

Michael Kors Handbag

On Monday my younger sister, my parents and I went to Buffalo and I picked up this lovely small handbag from Micheal Kors:
















A close up of the label but my camera sucks!

















What it looks like opened:

















This is my second MK bag and although I favour larger handbags, I do need a couple of small ones for an evening out or for clubbing even. I know this is more of a spring and summer bag but I'll probably wear it up to mid or late September depending on how cold it gets here!

Have you guys bought any handbags lately?

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Friday Dinner & Forever 21 Dress Haul

Yesterday my plans got scrapped to go clubbing (see Scavenger Hunt post) so I ended up meeting up with some friends at Fairview Mall. From there we all went to get some Malaysian food for dinner at Restoran Malaysia:

http://www.restoranmalaysia.com/

I ended up getting the Malay Curry with Beef, roti and rice. The curry was pretty good. The roti I found a bit disappointing - it was more sweet than I wanted it to be and not really fluffy. And you know, a lot of social events just evolve around food so as if that wasn't enough, the whole gang wanted to eat dessert at Demetre's. I really should have skipped it but went along since the company was good. Anyways, I felt guilty eating all that food :( I'm actually trying to drop 8-12 lbs at the moment so I need to keep on top of that better.

Anyways, Glenn had told me a new Forever 21 store was open at the Fairview Mall. So I ended up going to the mall a bit early to check out the store before meeting up with friends for dinner. I ended up getting three dresses. I'm really impressed how large this Forever 21 store is. The closest Forever 21 store to me is at Yonge/Dundas but the selection is not nearly as good. Plus, it's such a high traffic area at Yonge/Dundas so all the good stuff sells out within a day or two so I don't bother going there regularly anymore since I get frustrated when all my sizes in nice stuff have sold out :(

Sooo....the first dress is a black lace dress. I have a few black lace dresses but you can never have too many! I know it looks kinda short on my bed, but it's not short and it's fitted


Here's a close up of the lace pattern:



The second dress is a fun, casual dress. It actually looked better on than I expected.



And the third dress is a leopard print dress. Now, I usually avoid a full out leopard outfit but this was too nice to give up. It's fitted and has some gathering along the front with a side bow to the left as seen in the closeup.




Yay for Fairview Mall. I need to visit that place more often now! Too bad it's up town but I guess that's what happens when you live downtown - it's so busy here so a lot of good clothes at cheap places sell out fast. What do you guys think about the dresses?

My Blog List

Total Pageviews