TBE is featured!!! by Beauty Swatch

Thanks Akisa for guest featuring me at BeautySwatch.com :)

BeautySwatch is an awesome site for Lipsticks lovers as it has a wide (and I mean REALLY wide) range of swatches from different brands and colours. Feel free to check them out

Etude House Petite Darling Lips - OR202. I did a swatch on this colour here.

XOXO,

A

My Winter Staples

For someone with extremely dry skin like yours truly, winter is your worst nightmare.

Not trying to brag or anything, I have had friends envying my skin because it is acne free pretty much 360 days a year (minus the occasional pimple I get, which will automatically disappear a couple of days later) and not having the need to whip out blot sheets every couple of hours to absorb the oil. Little did they know that, acne and oil free skin is not as awesome as it seems to be, especially when the weather is cold. I will probably start developing wrinkles 10 years earlier than you guys because my skin is just way to dry. =.="

With the significant drop in temperature over the Anzac Long Weekend ( It feels as though we went straight from summer to winter, skipping autumn =.="), my face is as dry as a desert in the past couple of days. Red patches started to form around my nose area simply because my skin doesn't excrete enough moisture and it hurts from time to time when it gets too dry. I have been using Loreal White Perfect Whitening Moisturizer ever since I started caring about my skin (which was the start of Year 12) and I am still in the hunt of the perfect moisturizer. I have heard pretty good stuff about OLAY moisturizer, I might give it a try after I finish up my Loreal one. Any suggestions, my dear beauties?

So far, Lanolin Cream and Lucas Papaw Ointment are my winter staples.

Queenskin Lanolin Cream A$2 (Can be purchased from most of the Asian Souvenir Shops around Chinatown I supposed? I got mine from Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market)

" A revitalising and nourishing formula containing Vitamin E and Lanolin, it helps soften skin exposed to harsh weather conditions and daily routines. With the benefits of the natural oil from sheep's wool, it will leave skin supple, smooth and healthy. Apply as often as necessary."

And according to Wikipedia,

Lanolin is a greasy yellow substance secreted by sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals such as domestic sheep. It can be used as a skin ointment or water-proofing wax, and is also sometimes used as a raw material in the manufacture of such products as shoe polish.

As gross as it may sound, this inexpensive, weird sounding cream actually works wonders! For me at least. If you have oily skin or even combination of dry & oily skin, this might not be the right one for you as it is VERY OILY when applied. As much as I dislike going to bed with a greasy face, it helps moisturize my skin alot and prevent me from waking up to flaky skin which hurts when I wash them.

Lucas Papaw Ointment A$4.99 (Finally decided to give this a try after hearing a few of my friends swore by it when Priceline was having a special but I think Target/KMart sells it at A$4.99 without sale)

"A local topical application for boils, burns, chafing, cuts, cracked skin, gravel rash, splinters, open wounds, insect bites and nappy rash. The ointment helps to relieve and cleanse"

I find most of my friends use this as a lip balm but as you can see, it is multipurpose really. I apply it all over my eyelid area (cos it gets very flaky from time to time) around the nose area where the red patches form as well as a lip balm. Now, I can totally understand why this is a staple in many of my friends' purse cos it does a wonderful job in terms of moisturizing.

The only setback of Lucas Papaw Ointment is probably the smell. It's not a foul smell or anything (not sure if that's how papaw smells like after being processed) but I generally dislike any sort of smell (apart from fruity scent) from my make up products. None of my friends have complaint about the smell, so I guess it's just me. Lol.

Applying a generous amount of Queenskin Lanolin cream all over my face and Lucas Papaw Ointment at areas that are exceptionally dry have now been incorporated into my before-bed skin care routine in the past 2 weeks. Lets hope it continues to work wonders for me until we bid winter goodbye in August.

What are your winter staples? Leave a comment and let me know :)

Disclaimer: All products mentioned are purchased with my own money.

XOXO,

A

Party like a Rockstar

I think it is pretty obvious that I am currently diggin' the whole neutral POP look. For make up newbies, neutral POP simply means "popping" the entire neutral look (read: earthy eyeshadow shades) with a striking, funky eyeliner on your lower lashline.

Throughout the years, it has always been smokey + falsies whenever I am out clubbing. I have decided to try something different last weekend when I was out with the crew at DJ Sefu white party @ Sanctuary Hotel *click to read more about it on MW, MR, MS. :)* instead of the usual smokey, dramatic look.

I added a lil silver shadow on the inner corner of my tear duct area and falsies to create a more dramatic effect, compared to my everyday-neutral pop look. I absolutely love how it turned out and will definitely do this more often now. :)

On my EYES

MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study

SportsGirl Shady Lady Eye Colour in Tiny Dancer (This gorgeous peachy colour with tiny shimmer bits)

SportsGirl Shady Lady Eye Colour in Holy Smoke (The silver-ish colour I used in my inner tearduct area)

Revlon matte eyeshadow in Rich Sable 009

Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Eyeliner in Black (Upper Lash Line)

Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Royal Blue (Lower Lash Line)

1000 Hour Evening Lashes in Flagrant Glitz (The free falsies I got from my Priceline Goodie Bag)

Rimmel Glam Eyes Lash Flirt in Kohl Black

In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Colour in Eyebrowns

I actually really like these lashes although I was kinda reluctant to put them on due to the little rhinestones attached to it, but I guess it added some "sparkles" to the neutral shades I used on my lid.

On my FACE

Loreal White Perfect Transparent Rosy Whitening Moisterizer

Revlon PhotoReady foundation in Natural Beige

NYX Concealer in a Jar in Light

Etude House Lovely Cookie Blush in 03

Physician Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Matte Finishing Veil in Translucent

On my LIPS

MAC Viva Glam Gaga

MAC Florabundance Lipglass

What are you waiting for? Grab a funky, striking eyeliner to brighten and "pop" your neutral look. Add on falsies if you wanna look glamorous on a Saturday night out with your girlfriends. :)

XOXO,

A

Collective HAUL #1

Hello lovelies,

TGIF is not something I would say often, only during my internship days as being a Commerce student simply means 3-days-week and every week is a long weekend for me. However, after spending the entire week at work, with almost full time hours, I was really looking forward to this weekend. (And also, the first time ever to feel the whole long weekend hype). My Friday wasn't a good one, I must say. Apart from being stuck at work (the generating cash flow part is sweet though =P), I got my rejection from KPMG after my application being put on hold (or like what they call it " still in consideration") for 1.5 weeks. What a way to start my weekend. :(

Thank god, it got slightly better after having Happy Hour (2 for 1) cocktails @ Kuletos, Newtown with Wendy after work and we ended the night with fatty but yummy Thai Food.

Enough of whining and complaints. How was your Friday, lovelies? Hope it was much better than mine. :)

ANYWAYS,

Let's proceed to the HauLLLLLLL. I have always enjoyed watching haul videos/ reading haul posts, so I decided to start my very first haul post (since YT is failing me atm) and I am sure MANY more to come. :)

So, while waiting for Wendy in the city last night, I headed to Priceline, with the initial intention to just grab my eye drops (which I desperately needed as my contact lenses were acting on me) and meet up with her. I conveniently forgotten about the promotion a friend of mine told me a week ago, a friggin' awesome promotion which I will probably attempt to shoot myself if I miss.

You get a FREE Goodie Bag worth $150 if you spent $50 or more on certain brands.

I don't mean to sound like I am an affluent brat or whatsoever, but spending $50 in Priceline is not really a mission at all, considering how expensive and overpriced drugstore products are in Australia. Took me less than 10 minutes to grab a few products which added up to a grand total of $52.50.

'RIMMEL Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Royal Blue (as I am currently into the whole Neutral POP Look)

'ECOTOOLS Bamboo Foundation Brush

' REVLON PhotoReady foundation in Natural Beige (Yes, I have finally jumped the PhotoReady bandwagon)

' REVLON ColorStay Eyeliner in Black (Got this for free, wanted to to try their Mascara, but they ran out :( )

- REVLON is having a promotion now too, Buy ANY face product and you get an eye product FREE-

NOW, let's move on to the goodie bag, shall we???

All the goodies come in this gorgeous shinny black tote bag ♥

A bag-load of goodies.

- MANICARE Concealer Brush

- REVLON Color Stay Velvet Creme Sample in Natural Beig

- PRESTIGE Cosmetics Eyehadow in Suede

- 1000 Hour Colour Lashes ( It would have been better if it doesn't have rhinestones attached to it)

- REVLON Nail Enamel in 791 Midnight Affair ( Although I have never really been a fan of blue, I really like this colour. I have just painted my nails with this new baby, so stay tune for NOTD.)

-SHE Wash Away Milk Cleanser (Never knew the existent of the brand SHE but I guess it's worth giving a go since my skin generally doesn't react when I switch products)

- BIORE Pore Unclogging Scrub ( It is stated on the packaging that this is a Sacylic Acid Acne Treatment and I barely get acnes, so I doubt I will use it)

- INNOXA Daily Moisture Protection with SPF 15.

- Swisspers Cucumber Cleansing Wipes

- PALMER's Body Gloss

- PALMER's Concentrated Cream, which softens and relieves rough, dry skin.

- PALMER's Foot Magic, which deeply moisturizes rough, dry skin and apparently soothes tired feet. (Maybe I should try it after clubbing tonight LOL)

- Charles Worthington Stay Smooth Shampoo (Charles what? Haven't heard of this brand before but will definitely try this out after my curly and frizzy in growns start to dominate my rebonded hair.

- Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner

- Marc Daniels Big Hair Intensive Thickening Cream ( My hair is thick enough, thank you very much)

That's a whole load of freebies for $52.50, including the Revlon promotion. I did not actually do the math there but by the look of it, it is definitely value for money albeit there were quite a few random products included.

If you're living in Australia and there's a Priceline near your place (which I am pretty sure there is, since Priceline is EVERYWHERE), what are you waiting for? =P

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The Marketing Teams are very intelligent beings. By issuing you a loyalty card, and a few tiny rebates here and there every month, not-so-rational consumers (like yours truly) are highly likely to spend some ka-ching at the store eventhough we don't really need that product nor like it. We buy simply because it is "so cheap"and its "on offer" and we "accumulate points" anyway.

The few products that I have grabbed in the past one month:

- PHYSICIAN FORMULA Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Matte Finishing Veil in Translucent Organics

- RIMMEL I ♥ Lasting Finish in Tangerine Queen

- MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study

- MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick (It took me a while to decide whether I should get this but I am glad that I finally bought it cos I am absolutely in love with this colour! HEY, its limited edition and all the proceeds from sales goes to MAC AIDS Fund)

- SPORTS GIRL Shade Lady EyeColour in Holy Smoke

- MAYBELLINE Color Sensational Lipstick in Pink Please

This is an exceptional circumstance, where I do actually want all of these products, except for the Physician Formula's Mineral Finish. I bought it because I was sent a $10 Physician Formula Voucher by Priceline along with my loyalty card and Priceline was having 20% off all skincare products a week ago. *Fail in being a rational spender*

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A couple more purchases/ freebies I got:

Creamy Scaled Bag from Sports Girl - Got this gorgeous bag for $14.95 from $39.95. *absolute steal*

My love for animal printed stuffs is getting slightly unhealthy.

Got this gorgeous dress and the animal printed top for 15 bucks each at Market City.

FREE Bec & Bridge Tote that comes with May's CLEO

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I shall end this post with the LUSH goodies I received from Joanna's Giveaway =P

LUSH Snow Fairy Shower Gel ( I have used this a couple of times already and I LOVE IT!♥)

LUSH The Comforter Bubble Bar

LUSH Melting Marshmallow Moment

LUSH Creamy Candy Bubble Bar

LUSH Honey Bee Bath Bomb

MAC Small Zip Up Make Up Case, LUSH Snow Fairy Solid Perfume, MAC Florabundance Lipglass and a few LUSH soap samples.

Missing in this picture are: Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter and Christina Aguilera Signature Body Lotion.

Once again, thanks so much for these goodies, Joanna :) I can now say, I am no longer a LUSH virgin =P It is an absolutely bliss to have nice shower with fragrant shower gel/soap after a long day at work. I can now understand the whole LUSH craze on YouTube as well as around the beauty world. Can't wait to try out more LUSH products in the future.

What is your favourite LUSH item? Leave a comment and let me know :)

Disclaimer: All products were purchased using my own money except for the products I received from a giveaway.

XOXO,

A

BRB - FOTDs

Hey lovelies,

I promise I will update TBE over the weekend with some reviews and my recent collective haul instead of FOTDs posts only. I have been so worn out from work (and its not even FT job yet!) this week and my energy bar is almost nil by the time I get home. No kidding. All I wanna do is just watch some dramas and a lil chatting, anything that doesn't require brain cells. Hence, my beloved TBE has been neglected, but I will be back soon cos it's freakin Friday tomorrow!!! =P

Before I spam you lovelies with more FOTDs,

I would like to share with you guys the lovely package that I received from Joanna from FrailHeartsofHope's Giveaway. LOVE THEM LUSH GOODIES <3> Thanks Joanna!!!

- During my cousin's graduation and work training on Tuesday-

- That's me, having to wake up at 7:30am in the morning yesterday for work, hence the look.-

I have been pulling off the nerdy look in the past couple of days as all my time spent out isat work. =.=" And the fact that I have to wake up early isn't helping as well. "Nerdy is the new black", baby!

-And yet, I look more refreshed and well.... enthusiastic today when I had to wake up at 6:30am-

Hope you guys enjoyed the FOTDs shots. :) As you can see, I am all into neutral earthy colours lately. Till next time, my dears!

xoxo,

A

FOTD [14.04.2010] - Neutral Look with Turquoise-Green POP

Hey lovelies, how was your weekend? Hope it was as awesome and as legendary as mine :) An epic night out with a bunch of lovely friends whom love dancing as much as you do. And transforming from hot and classy to sweaty cos 3 hours of vigorous (yes, I believe that's the word) dancing doesn't exactly keep you sweatless. Oh well, good times. I will share the link here when I update my personal blog. :)

Sorry for the little unannounced hiatus here. I have been busy working my ass off last week and more job applications. Hence, lack of updates.But fret not, my dear beauties. I have a couple of things in mind that I wanna blog about and will do so when I have the time, which is probably the end of this week, cos we have the long Anzac weekend. =P As for now, just enjoy the FOTDs and blog-torials. =P

FOTD 14.04.2010 :D

I have done a "Neutral with POP"look not too long ago here, but the POP was pretty subtle and wasn't as eye catching as this one. However, I have decided to make use of my Turquoise-Green Eyeliner Pencil from ChiChi which I have very well abandoned for ages to create a more eye catching POP.

On my EYES

Etude House Petite Darling Range Cream Shadow in Golden Beige (as base)

Maybelline Eye Studio Quad in Copper Brown

Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Eyeliner in Black (Upper Lash Line)

ChiChi Double Sided Eyeliner from a Chi Chi Make Up Set I got as a present (Lower Lash Line)

Etude House Drawing Brow Pencil in Grey

Rimmel Volume Lash Mascara in Ultra Black

On my FACE

Loreal White Perfect Transparent Rosy Whitening Moisturizer

Etude House Magic BB Cream

Loreal True Match Mineral Foundation in Apricot Peach

( I can't remember what blush I wore here, if I am not mistaken, it should be my Etude House Cookie Blush in 03. It should be.)

On my LIPS

Maybelline Colour Sensational in Pink Please (Lipstick of the week)

Lucas Papaw Ointment

A bit too much for the eyes?

Put on your glasses and you're good to go. :) The dark and thick frame helps to tone down the colour a little bit.

Glasses are no longer geeky. In fact, it is one of the most popular fashion icons lately. Nerdy is the new sexy. :D

Who said nerds can't look hot? Think twice, darling. =P

That's all for now. Stay tune for more FOTDs :)

PS: I am going to update my fellow beauties page. Drop me a comment if you wanna exchange links :D

PPS: My Monday morning was greeted by the wonderful gifts I won from Joanna (Frail Hearts of Hope)'s giveaway. Monday Blue wasn't as Blue anymore. :D Gonna do a more detailed post on the goodies I received soon. I love receiving parcels! <3

XOXO,

A

TBE is featured!!! - Quench your skin by Beautylish

Thanks @morebeautylish for featuring me in their recent post - Quench your skin.

Follow them *here* if you haven't already and do check out their lovely blog *here* :D

So, my dear beauties, what is YOUR favourite moisturizer of all times? Both skin and face. Let me know :)

XOXO,

A

TBE How To: Simple & Quick Everyday Neutral Look using REVLON ColorStay Mineral EyeShadow

Its simple, quick (approximately 15 minutes) and very wearable (to work, to school or just simply a casual day out). And extra brownie points for using minimal products. :)

All the colours I used to create this look are from this REVLON ColorStay Mineral Eye Shadow in Midnight Garnet 03. Truth to be told, I got this for RM10 (Approx AUD3) at Carrefour when I was back in Malaysia during summer break and I did it like it at all, after using it for the first couple of times. Being a mineral shadow, it is obviously not as pigmented. (And that's probably why I decided to ditch it aside as I am a fan of pigmented shadows.)

However, after ripping this little trio out of the corner of my make up storage about a week ago and gave it another chance, it went from my least favourite item to one of my on-the-go make up products. I really loved how the look turned out by packing on a few extra layers and adding a thicker layer of cream shadow. I am also surprised by how long it lasted. Definitely my saviour on the days when I couldn't be bothered trying out new colours or when I need to tone down a lil on my eyeshadows.

On my EYES

REVLON ColorStay Mineral Eye Shadow in Midnight Garnet 03

(I applied the pearly beige colour on the left of the trio all over my lid and the sandy beige? colour on the right on my brow bone. Then, using a blending brush, apply the darkest brown shade at the outer corner of your lid, creating a V shape and pull it along your crease.)

In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Colour in Eyebrowns

Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Eyeliner in Black (Upper Lash Line)

Loreal Contour Kohl Eyeliner in Chocolate Noir (Lower Lash Line)

Maybelline Magnum Volume Express Mascara in Black

My lashes were facing down for some odd reasons. But they look much better when I open my eyes (as you can see above :D). And, definitely loving Maybelline Magnum Volume Express Mascara in Black. Can't wait to try out Covergirl Lash Blast though and see if it's really that good.

On my FACE

Loreal White Perfect Transparent Rosy Whitening Moisterizer

Etude House Magic BB Cream

Loreal True Match Mineral Foundation in Apricot Peach

Etude House Lovely Cookie Blush in 03

On my LIPS

Lucas Papaw Ointment (as Lip Balm)

Etude House Petite Darling Lips (I don't know the exact name for it as it is in Korean but it is a sheer coral-ish pink colour with shimmer bits on it)

It looks pretty nude over Lucas Papaw Ointment.

As you can see, the lipstick itself is pretty moist itself even without lip balm or lip gloss. Love it!

-Left: Without flash. Right: With flash-

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A few more photos with flash :)

Close up - look at how cloudy my contacts are. No wonder they were blurry =.="

My face looks really oily with flash but in real life, it is actually VERY dry and I have to apply moisturizer every couple of hours and it gets worst during the winter. Any suggestions on which moisturizer is good for extremely dry skin? I am currently alternating between my Loreal White Perfect Transparent Rosy Whitening Moisterizer and Queenskin Lanoline Cream.

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I shall end this post with my NOTD - Rimmel's Lasting Finish in Tangerine Queen .

XOXO,

A