A little EFFORT definitely goes a LONG WAY

My first FOTD, 

Is a simple everyday look using neutral muted hues for the eyes and face while using the lips as a focal point. 

To me, it is fast to achieve, easy to do and i really love it because it is natural looking and not over the top.

The look for the day is TA-DAH~

 While waiting for my train to arrive.

What I am currently using every morning to prep up,

I would always start my mornings with cleansing my face with cleansing foam like Nature Republic’s Flower Tea Shower.

Give my skin an additional boost with DHC’s Vitamin C Essence.

Tone my skin with Skin Food’s Lettuce and Cucumber Toner, love the cooling sensation as it helps to perk me up.

Moisturize my face and neck area using Shiseido’s The Skincare Day Moisture Protection.

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What products am I using for this look,

 Sun block, anti-shine, eye primer and makeup base. (Left to right)

Eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, blusher, lip balm and lip stick. (Left to right)

Concealer, foundation and powder pact. (Left to right)

The details are as follows:

Etude House’s White Aqua Guard Waterproof Sun Block to prevent aging of skin and harmful sun rays.

Smash Box’s Anti-Shine in Neutral on my t-zone area to reduce the shine on my oily nose and to allow makeup to last longer.

Skin Food’s Mushroom Multi-care BB Cream as my make up base for my entire face.

Benefit’s Stay Don’t Stray as the 360 degrees eye primer for my shadows to stay vibrant throughout the day.

ZA’s Concealer Perfection (Tone 1), as it works miracles to cover my flaws that I hate.

ZA’s True White 2 Way Foundation as it oxidizes evenly and provides great coverage.

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For the eyes,

Majolica Majorca’s MJ Majolook Luminoustic (BR 799) as this is one palette gives me all the nice and complimenting hues of browns.

Koji’s Spring Heart Waterproof Eyeliner (Dark brown 02) as it is easy to apply and work around with.

Maybelline’s The Magnum Voluming Express (Water proof) as produces natural looking curls and pumps up my lashes nicely.

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For the cheeks,

Kate’s Dual Blush in RD-1 (Old ver.) for a sheer blushing overall look.

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For the lips,

Neutrogena's Lip Moisturizer is the way to go, for it does not have any weird flavor and is colourless. The application of the lip balm is to ensure that the lip is moisturized and does not accentuate the fine lines when applying of the lip stick or gloss on the lips.

Stage’s Wonderlust Lip Stick in Monica 14, as it starts with a sheer colour, is layer-able and smells like vanilla.

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Last but not least,

Urban Decay’s De-slick Powder Compact, to help the makeup to stay longer and absorb excessive oil from my t-zone areas.

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With just slight touches up and I am ready to go. Usually, it will take me less than 30 minute for the entire process. Thus, I personally find that it is actually quite easy to do.

Hope you girls enjoy my first attempt at a FOTD, makeup can be really easy with just the basics done and lots of practice as practice does make it perfect and less time consuming.

I am not claiming to be a professional here, all I want to do is share my love for makeup products.

Till next time ^_^

Skin Food For Better Skin

Today I will be talking about *Drum rolls* the:

Skin Food’s Lettuce and Cucumber Series

 They mainly focus on, hydrating, moisture retention and moisturizing.

  

The involved culprits are namely the:

• Toner
• Water Drop Essence
• Water Jelly Cream 

Back when I was younger, I’ve often been put off with tedious skin care regime that many girls do thus it have been only a one step only cleanser since forever.

It was until recently, about last year till I become such a skincare junkie as I realized my skin condition deteriorate with the continuous makeup I put on without caring for my skin.

Luckily I was blessed with fairly good skin and thus was able to slowly salvage the condition.

This was the simple 3 step regime that the BA at Skin Food urges me to try. It’s just to cleanse, add this 3 step regime and moisturize. To me, it was simple, easy and time saving so I decided to give it a go.

This is super time saving starter for lazy girls like me or girls who want to have a stepping stone into proper skin care regimes.

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We will be starting the journey then,

After removing your make up and cleansing, start out with the:

Lettuce and Cucumber Toner

Just soak the cotton pad with a suitable amount of the product on the cotton pad and pat it around your face and neck avoiding the delicate areas like the eyes and the lip.

Priced @ $34.90 dollars for a 135ml bottle

Pros

• Cooling sensation upon application.
• No pimple or rash outbreak – The SA mentioned that though all toner contains alcohol but theirs contains very mild traces of alcohol and is of a different component then usual drugstore toners. I once got a serious pimple and rash outbreak all together for trying a drugstore toner and ended up making me hate skin care products all together.
• The glass bottle seems really durable, as I dropped it twice and there is not a single chipping or breakage. Though please don’t try it on purposely =_=;;

Cons

• Didn’t help in the removal of excess sebum and dirt.
• Cute packaging though the dispensing of the products takes quite an effort at the start.

Next,

Lettuce and Cucumber Water Drop Essence

  

Pump the bottle to dispense the product out, one pump or less is enough for the entire face. Spread the product evenly using your hands before patting it gently on your entire face.

Priced @ $38.30 dollars for a 45ml bottle

Pros

• Cooling sensation upon application.
• Instant absorption upon skin contact.
• Refreshing, do not have an overpowering scent.
• Non-oily or sticky feeling.

Cons

• Bad control on amount applied will result in rash breakout, though it usually subside given it a day or two.

Lastly,

Lettuce and Cucumber Water Jelly Cream

  

Start by using a spatula or with clean and dry fingers to dig out a small amount out. Spread the product evenly using your hands before patting it gently on your entire face.

Priced @ $38.30 dollars for a 50ml bottle

Pros

• Easily absorbed through require more time than the essence.
• Doesn’t feel heavy on my skin.

Cons

• Bad control on amount applied will result in rash breakout, through it usually subside given it a day or two. 

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The showdown between the:
Water Drop Essence and Water Jelly Cream

I squeeze out some of each of the product on my hand,

Before the test with both of the products on my hand.

After massaging both of the products on my hand to see the results.

On the left,

The Water Jelly Cream has a light creamy texture that absorbs pretty fast and produces a glossy finish. 

On the right,

The Water Drop Essence have a waxy creamy texture to it, it is a gel type product that turns into water droplets instantly upon massaging into the skin.

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Comments

Initially it did wonders to my skin as though I have combination skin, I have really dry cheeks. There was a significant improvement on the suppleness and smoothness of my skin. Application of makeup base and foundation glides on better too.

Through the few months that I have been using it, the effect just seemed to stop at a stagnant stage. I guess it probably means that I have to seek out other products to see a prominent change in my skin again.

It’s great for starters to work around with and for the very fact that it gives me such bouncy cheeks.

Girls, please take care of your skin even if it means lesser money for clothes as you only have one face and there are no refunds or exchanges. With good skin even makeup becomes easier.

My Verdict

7 out of 10 stars, for being idiot proof to people like me.

Will I buy it again?

Though it has been my savior and I will be grateful for all my life. I will not be buying it again as my skin need to change it’s regime to see an improvement.

I would recommend this to girls out there who have hydrating issues and wants to prep their skin up.

Till next time ^_^

With the WILL POWER that even overcomes HUNGER

Last Thursday on the 9 of Sep, after being a slap left right inside out at work, I ran down all the way to Isetan Orchard.

Once I reached, I was greeted with a sea of ladies.

They were all munching away at the delectable miniature cupcakes and brownies. I was super hungry as I skipped dinner but my enthusiast-ism takes over the better of me.

Are you all curious already?

I went for the: Laneige’s Mystic Fall Cocktail Party 2010.

If you girls were there, you can easily recognize me as I am the weird girl who keep taking pictures with her baby pink coloured camera.

The event mainly focuses on how to wear this seasons colours and how to create semi smoky eye makeup that is even wearable in the day.

Not to forget, all this is mainly created using Laneige’s Mystic Veil Fall 2010 limited edition collection.

This fall collection includes the:

• Mystic Veil Foundation – Cream textured foundation with SPF 33PA++
• Mystic Veil Blusher – Cream type blusher with a sheer finish.
• Mystic Veil Eye Palette – A 4 colour pressed powered eye shadow palette.
• Snow Crystal Intense Lipstick – Contains amino acid and comes in 2 different colours.

The GWP that includes a tote with the Mystic Veil print is super lovely too.

I loved the fact that this season product’s packaging comes with an elegant gothic feel to it. It makes it feel more luxurious to own one of these products.

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The makeup artist for the day:

Mr. Larry Yeo

It wasn’t my first time that I have seen him in action. His makeup demonstrations are always light-hearted, enjoyable and easy to understand. I think it’s because of his funny antics that often make all the girls giggle while he continues his demonstrations. He is such a lovable person, cheers to Laneige for getting the right artist.

I personally always enjoy the session a lot though sometimes I feel guilty when he cover about common mistakes that should be avoided and I am a culprit of it. Ha-ha but I always learn something new from it.

He also always stresses that:

Prepping the skin is very important before makeup. Applying moisturizer and sun block is a must. Girls, please do not be stingy and dispense out enough product out instead of just dots of sun block at the selected area.

Remember to apply it to all the skin area exposed to the sun, like the face, neck, shoulder if you are wearing cropped tops. I admit I am a culprit and only apply to the face area.

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The first product that was introduced was the: Mystic Veil Foundation

He nicely asked the lovely BAs to give us each some of the foundation on our hand to let us have a firsthand experience to feel the texture of the product. I love hands-on as it lets me understand the product better.

The cream foundation sample that I gotten.I love the cooling sensation upon application with a nice light aqua smell. It is easy to blend and it feels light on my skin.

This is the model for the day and her personal magician. She only had basic makeup on which is namely the: Mystic Veil Foundation and Laneige’s concealer.

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Eyes

He used the: Dual Shadow Eye Colour Pencil - In Grey and Cream-silver-ish tone. 

It helps to create a creamy based for layering of other powder shadow if desired too.

Note:
Larry mentioned to always starts with dark eye colours first and lighten with light eye shadows. It is because that it is always easier to lighten then darken with light base on the lids. It is too not advisable to use a white cream or shadow as base to layer colours on as no matter how much you layer on, at times the desired intensity just does show.

First tip of the day:
Dust loose powder under the eye area to catch any dropping eye shadow powder, this prevents it from dirtying your face makeup. Though, please remember to brush or dust off the power after you finish the eye makeup otherwise it will show up strangely on photos.

 

Using the Mystic Veil Eye Palette, he uses the pretty sheer looking pink shadow to lighten the look of the intense grey smoky effect of the eye to give it a more mellow feel.

He then used the white shadow for the inner corners of the eye to give the model eyes a perked up effect.

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Application of Mascara

Curl eye lashes with curler before applying mascara
  
Second tip of the day:
After dipping the wand into the mascara bottle, wave the wand in the air for a few seconds to ensure that the mascara on the wand is slightly dry before applying it on the lashes in a zigzag motion.
This will help to ensure that the curls last longer and your lashes will stayed curled even after applying the mascara.

If you prefer to use the hot eye lash curling iron, please do so only after applying mascara, as it acts as a protective layer for your lashes and it makes the curls to last longer.

What is Asian women’s most important feature?
*Drum rolls* It is the EYE BROWS!!

It helps to gives us more a more 3-dimensional look and because we do not have as defined looking or full looking brows, we have to at least use an eye brow pencil to colour or line the brows.

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Kissable lips with the: Snow Crystal Intense Lipstick

When using a lip stick, it is always better to use a lip brush for a more precise application. Start from the edge and line it to the middle, do likewise for both sides.

Two different lip colours can be layered for a different effect.

For a more pouty looking lip, apply the highlighter on the Cupid’s bow and under your lip for a more contoured and 3-dimensional look.

The finished look for the demonstration, the model was nice enough to pose for my picture. ^_^

The picture above shows the colour swatches for the two lovely shades for the Snow Crystal Intense Lipstick. Please pardon the bad picture as it was really packed with all the ladies.

This is the exclusive welcome gift for attending the makeup demonstration. The ring bind note book is so lovely with the pure white sleek look and I can’t bear to pollute it with my messy handwriting.

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If you girls have not heard about Laneige,

 

Laneige is a Korea brand that focuses on both skincare and cosmetic products. Laneige is the French word for snow, thus you can tell why their logo is of the image of a snow flake.  

I personally quite like Laneige’s cosmetics as for most of the times are complimenting to the Asian skin colour. But with regards to their skincare, I have heard lots of raves on it and I brought some to try out at this event. Will blog about it once I get to it.

For price wise, it is considered affordable pricing for a reputable brand and they are often packed in a generous amount. Though look out for their promotional set if you would like to try their skincare range as it is really worth the savings.

Till next time girls ^_^