10-MINUTES FOTD CHALLENGE & Sunday Quickies

What up?

Hope you guys had a great weekend! 

I had a pretty relaxing weekend (read: I have done jack shit =.=") and god bless the glorious weekend weather after a terrible storm that hit the Sydney shore last Thursday. :D

Cosmopolitan; Havaianas; Sheridan Beach Towel; Coogee

Being an avid beach lover, how can I miss getting a good ol' Vitamin D-soaking sesh and playtime with the waves? 

I think I am close to being a chocolate bar now but am absolutely loving my tan! If only it stays this awesome for the next 6 months! #AGirlCanDream

:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:

So, after a scrumptious yumcha session with the uni crew at some ungodly hour on Sunday (9:30am on a Sunday is classified as ungodly in my dictionary.), I managed to squeeze in a mini haul before hitting the b-e-a-c-h. 

Sunday Mini Haulage

- Charity bracelet - "peace" and "believe"from RUBI - BIG ideas note book from TYPO to motivate myself to write down any ideas/ inspirations that come to mind and/or sight - 3 pair of heels from RUBI -

Before giving me the "WTF, is she crazy" look, these pretty heels were selling for $10 per pair and their heels are of perfect height for work. Its hard to go past them, really. Moreover, I do *kinda* need working heels as 99.9% of my heels collections have an average height of 4 inches. Not quite work appropriate, me thinks.

RRP AUD5 with any purchase in store (TYPO)

Tell me how gorgeous this PINK Eiffel tower iPhone casing is!!! :P

Super love <3 

:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:

As the title suggests, I challenged myself to finish a full make up (including eyes, lips and face; excluding any skin care applications) within 10 minutes. I have been snoozing my alarm more often than ever in the past couple of weeks and I have no other choice but to take my own sweet time to be creative with my FOTD. =/ I think there's a 5 minutes challenge that was going around a while ago but we gotta be realistic sometimes - 5 minutes is mission impossible LOL

10 minutes Make Up Challenge

Here's a quick breakdown of the products used:

EYES

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Bloom Eye Crayon in Taupe*

Sisley Phyoto Ombre´ E´clat in Stardust* 

Canmake Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Black

Maybelline Hello Kitty Volume Express Mascara in Black

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Hazelnut

LIPS

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Vintage Pink

(A long lost love! I am currently into cooler-toned pink lippie with purple undertone again and I have been wearing this for the past week!)

FACE

SkinFood Aloe Vera BB Cream in #2

Maybelline Instant Age-Rewind Skin Correcter in Nude

Marjolica Marjoca Puff de Cheeks in OR302

Sports Girl Oh My Goddess Bronzer

Jane Iredale In Touch Highlighter in Complete*

VOILA! 

Simple and quick make up = a younger and more innocent Adeline. :)

Love the final results of this <10minutes FOTD.

It will probably be my "on-the-go" look with probably different lip colour every week, or even day!

 Sisley Phyoto Ombre´ E´clat in Stardust is an absolute gem and works perfectly as an over the lid colour! (Review and swatches coming this week!)

I challenge everyone of you to do the 10 minutes FOTD challenge. :P

How long does it take you to apply your daily make up?

Does it take you less or more than 10 minutes? 

Don't forget to leave your link below if you took up the challenge! Would love to check it out!

Disclaimer: Products marked with * are press samples. 

XOXO,

A 

FOTD - Smokey Eyes with a POP of "Aqua-Gold"

Hey lovelies!!!

How was your weekend? Hope you had a great one. MY BAD for not posting for the past week, I swear I had heaps of posts and edited photos waiting to see the world but I have been exhausted pretty much the entire of last week. And weekend, well just say my liver isn't too happy. The cold factor was definitely the cause of Adeline being an absolute couch potato too!!! Not cool, I know! 

ANYHOOS,

this was the EOTD I had on during Sydney Beauty Bloggers High Tea last weekend. 

I absolute adore these lashes by Model 21 as they are extremely comfy! 

I was feeling unadventurous with my smokey eyes combination so I decided to give a little "pop" to the look by lining my lower lashline with aqua and gold colour. :)

Details on products used and more camwhore shots after the jump. :P

REVIEW & FOTD : Face of Australia Mineral Foundation Review and Au Naturale FOTD

Remember my Introduction to Face of Australia post a couple of weeks ago? 

I have been trying out their products since then. Reviews and more FOTDs using these products will be coming shortly.  :)

And the product I will be talking about today is:

Face of Australia Mineral Therapy Foundation in Natural Beige!

Face of Australia claims that it delivers flawless coverage and a healthy boost of minerals to the complexion. They also claim that it won't clog pores or irritate skin.

It comes with a build in brush but I like using the ELF Powder Blush (which is awesome btw) to apply it all over my face before applying oncealer on my undereye. I then set it with Face of Australia Translucent Loose Powder after applying my contouring products. :) 

My thoughts on this products after testing it out for 3 weeks :

(Please note that I did not wear them daily and I did use other face products in between.)

* Flawless Finish

* Light to Medium Coverage

* Long Lasting

* Affordable

As you can tell from the photo above, it gives a pretty flawless finish. In terms of coverage, it is light to medium as my freckles are still visible but I think it's the same with most mineral foundation. I am cool with that as I don't like full and thick coverage. So, this is the perfect face product to use during weekends when you want to take a break from your usual foundation routine and give your skin some space to breathe. I started to wear this to work last week and it did last all day without a primer. 

Do keep in mind though, I have really dry skin and it's comparable to Sahara Desert now that the weather is getting colder here in Sydney. 

Retailing at $16.95, it's extremely affordable to those of you who want to try out mineral foundation but do not want to put too much stress on your wallet. :) And the quality is pretty good for the price you pay. 

On my FACE

Garnier Anti Dark Circles Roll On in Light

Face of Australia Mineral Therapy Foundation

Face of Australia Translucent Loose Powder

Face of Australia Pressed Bronzer

Canmake Blush in NW 25

Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether

On my EYES

ELF Eyeshadow Primer

Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether (as all over the lid colour)

Etude House Darling Petite Shadow in Cafe Latte (Outer crease colour)

Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner in Black

Wet & Wild Colour Icon Eyeliner in Turquoise 

Shu Uemura Eyebrow Pencil in Hard

Maybelline Hello Kitty Extreme Volume Mascara

On my LIPS

Illamasqua Lipstick in Wanton 

(this GORGEOUS matte berry pink lippie that I bought during the Sydney Beauty Blogger Yum Cha and Beauty Swap Meet Up. Definitely one of my current favourites along with Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Guestlist!)

This is definitely my favourite bludgy, Sunday combination - minimum make up with a bolder lip colour to brighten up the look. You don't have to compromise looking good to let your skin breathe! All you need is to pick the right products. :)

Do you wear less make up and let your skin breathe during the weekends? 

What's your favourite combination to achieve the "no make up" natural look?

All Face of Australia products and Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether were provided to me for consideration. However, all opinions expressed are 100% honest and I am not paid for this post.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! :)

XOXO,

A

Wet & Wild FOTD Series - Purple Smokey Eyes

Good day!  It has been a week since my last post. My apologies.The last week has been really busy at work and my CA focus session and seminar. It was such a shame that I couldn't attend Alpha H Beauty Blogger Breakfast Event on Thursday as I couldn't take time off work. Life of an accountant much?

ANYWAYS,

here is another FOTD for the Wet & Wild Series from the Sydney Beauty Bloggers Yumcha and Beauty Swap I attended last Saturday.

 

I have started using the good ol' plum colours again as we are approaching winter in the land down under.

I am featuring the Colour Icon Palette in Vanity today. =)

On my EYES

ELF eyeshadow primer

Garnier Anti Dark Circles Roll On in Light

Wet & Wild Colour Icon Palette in Vanity

* #2 - all over the lid 

* #6 - outer crease

* #3 - outer V

* #1 - inner crease and browbone

Wet & Wild Gel Eyeliner

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyepencil in Zero

Model 21 Eyelashes

Shu Uemura Eyebrow Pencil in Hard

 Circle Lenses from MUKUCHU

On my FACE

Etude House Magic BB Cream

Revlon Photoready Foundation in Natural Beige

Face of Australia Translucent Loose Powder (as featured HERE)

Face of Australia Pressed Bronzer (as featured HERE)

Canmake Blush in NW25

MAC MSF in Candlelight

On my LIPS

Rimmel Lasting Finish in Birthday Suit (swatches HERE)

As you can see from the photo above, Birthday Suit goes really well with smokey eyes. :)

Sorry for the short and irregular posts, I will try to resume regular blogging as soon as possible. 

Have a great week ahead lovelies!!!

XOXO,

A

Wet & Wild FOTD Series - Greed + Lust

Hi lovelies!

Hope you guys are having a great week so far! This week has gone by surprisingly quick but I am not complaining. =P It's officially autumn here in Australia. BOOHOO.  The weather doesn't really get cold until Easter but the forecast for the rest of the week and next week isn't that great. :( There goes my tan I got over the weekend!!! 

I am loving the brown skin now! I didn't realise how tanned I was until I took this photo!!! Even people at work were telling me how much brown-er I have gotten over the weekend! LOVE IT though! Albeit I had a bizarre yet vivid nightmare on Saturday about skin cancer after spending all weekend at the beach. =.="

ANYWAYS,

as mentioned in my previous Wet & Wild Colour Icon Palettes review and swatch post, I will be having a Wet & Wild FOTD Series, bringing TBE readers a series of FOTDs I created using the palettes I own. :) 

I have already drafted a post using my absolute favourite - Vanity but I decided to post this look first as I look tanner and brown-er here. :P

This FOTD is a combination of Greed & Lust palette. :)

Greed Palette

Lust Palette

I really like how the shimmer peach colour (#5 from Greed Palette) really brightens up my entire look!

A close up of the EOTD - simple and perfect for work or school. :P

On my EYES

ELF Eyelid Primer

MAC Paint Pot in Let Me Pop

#5 from Wet & Wild Colour Icon Greed Palette (All over the lid)

#6 from Wet & Wild Colour Icon Lush Palette (Outer corner and crease)

#1 from Wet & Wild Colour Icon Greed Palette (Brow Bone)

Wet & Wild Gel Eyeliner in Black (upper lash line)

24/7 Urban Decay Glide-on Eyeliner Pencil in Zero (lower lash line)

Maybelline Hello Kitty Volume Mascara in Black

Shu Uemura Eyebrow Pencil Hard

On my FACE

Cancer Council Tinted Moisturiser in Cream Beige

MAC Mineralised Skin Finish in Medium

Garnier Anti - Dark Circles Roll-On in Light

Sports Girl Oh My Goddess Bronzing Powder

Canmake Cream Blush in 03

MAC MSF in Candlelight

On my LIPS

MAC Lipstick in Shy Girl

Wet & Wild Colour Icon Palettes are definitely my current favourites!!! As you can tell from the photo above, they are incredibly pigmented and colour pay-off is amazing! I wish I own every single of their palettes! You should definitely get your hands on these babies if you have access to them! 

IF ONLY I STAY THIS BROWN FOREVERRRRR :)

I hope you guys enjoyed my first Wet & Wild FOTD Series and there are definitely more to come! So stay tune for that. :P

Have you tried any Wet & Wild products, especially the Colour Icon palettes? 

Which is your favourite?

xoxo,

A

ASIA TRIP HAUL PART 1 - SINGAPORE :)

Hello lovelies!!

How was your weekend? Mine was awesome while it lasted and now it's back to work again! Weather was absolutely glorious for the first time all summer and yours truly managed to FINALLY got herself tanned yesterday and maybe slightly burnt. Lol. I had the usual Friday night drinks with the crew and attended Vclub (my gym) New Year - Mad Men themed party on Saturday. Will post some photos from the party once I got hold of the ones from my friend's camera. =)

What did YOU get up to during the weekend? :D

ANYHOOS,

my long awaited Singapore-Malaysia haul post is HERE alas! It has almost been a month since I got back! I will separate the stuff I got from Singapore and Malaysia as some stuff are only available in Singapore and it's too long to put them all in one post!

 Did I mention how much I LOVE WATSONS Singapore? (It's equivalent to Priceline in Australia and Walmart in the States.) My sisters think I am weird for wanting to go in every Watsons I saw LOL They have SO MANY awesome Asian brands like Canmake, Skin 79, Kate, Liese, Palty, Essentials and the list goes on! 

SINGAPORE HAUL

I got a couple of Essentials stuff  (and MANY other stuff lol) from WATSONS as I have heard heaps of good reviews about them in the past. And after all the heating I have done to my hair, I really should be showing my hair more TLC. 

L: Essentials Anti Frizz Serum

R: Essentials Nourishing Care Lotion

I barely touched the Anti Frizz Serum as I have recently chemically straightened my hair and they are still nice and non-frizzy. I do however, apply the Nourishing Care Lotion after I wash my hair each time.

Essentials Ultra Honey & Shea Butter Hair Mask

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this product SO FREAKIN' MUCH!!! If you followed me on twitter, you would of seen the random raves I had about this product! 

This is my new HG hair mask and I definitely swear by it! It leaves my hair SUPER soft and smooth after using it. I have been using it every 2 days as my ends are pretty bad at the moment. I wish I stocked up more on this hair mask! 

BIORE Make Up Remover Wipes - To be honest, I reckon all make up remover wipes are pretty similar. The genius me forgotten to put in my make up remover before I left for the airport because I had shitloads of one too many drinks during my Christmas Party the day before and I really needed one. And since XiaXue raved about this product so much, I decided to give it a go! 

I bought this Rimmel Lycra Pro Professional Finish Nail Polish because my Leopard Printed Nail Wrap was peeling and for those of you who don't already know, I can't stand unpainted nails. So there you go! 

CANMAKE Crack Lac Nail - which created this awesome "nail art" in less than 15 minutes with just one generous layer on top of Rimmel Lycra Pro Professional Finish Nail Polish. 

For full tutorial, click HERE. 

I really like this Crack Lac thingamajig! I wished I have bought more colours though. :( See what I meant by Singapore's Watsons offers awesome stuff? 

DUO Eyelash Adhesive - My HG eyelash glue, nuff said. 

CANMAKE Cheeks Powder in PW 19 - My current favourite blush!!! :D 

Have I mentioned how much I love CANMAKE products? I wished I hoarded more of them when I was there though =.="

Maybelline Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara - It's Hello Kitty and it's pink, need I say more? :D

LIESE Bubble Hair Color in Milk Tea Brown and Cassis Berry

I bought them because I have seen them around the blogosphere and I can be quite a hoarder like that LOL. I really wanna try Milk Tea Brown but my current hair colour is pretty dark and I am still abit iffy about the whole hair dye thing because the last time I dyed my hair with the most gorgeous mahogany colour, I had the worst allergic reaction. (Think: deformed face, swollen eyes and face, "burnt" scalps". Yes, it was that bad that I needed steroids.) We shall see about that...

SEPHORA is definitely the place I was most looking forward to visit, after Marina Bay Sands and Universal Studio of course. For those of you who don't already know, we don't have SEPHORA here in the land down under. =.=" Even if we do, I am pretty sure the price will be ridiculously inflated too. 

I was expecting to go crazy in SEPHORA but only managed to grab 3 stuff, way below my expectation LOL. 

URBAN DECAY - THE BLACK PALETTE!

I was actually debating between this one and their Limited Edition NYC Palette but there are 2 very similar colours in that palette and I doubt I will even use it and thought this Black Palette looks pretty good too, and well, not as main stream as the NYC Palette. (Although I doubt I will use this as often as my Naked Palette because it's just too pretty to be used! )

Look at how pretty these colours are! And it comes with a travel size primer and a full size Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On in Zero (which found its way back to my every-day must haves!)

SEPHORA Mineral Foundation Compact - I bought this simply because I wanted to try a "Sephora" brand make up LOL. I was on a lipstick ban (which I kinda regretted not buying now BOO!) at that time and I wasn't really looking for eyeliners or eyeshadows so yeh. 

 The last item I got from SEPHORA was Soap & Glory's Flake Away Body Scrub! Claire recommended me this product and I gotta say best recommendation ever because I absolutely love it!! I feel so "clean" and refreshed after using it and it smells amazing too!!! I am definitely a sucker for anything that smells good! :) 

As for the BENEFIT SOME KIND-A GORGEOUS Foundation Faker, I got it from Raffles City if I wasn't mistaken. I was contemplating about it when I was in SEPHORA as I don't really need another "Foundation" (Tinted moisturizer and BB Cream are my best friends!) But yeh, clearly I gave into temptation. Lol.

That pretty much sums up the Make Up I bought from Singapore! I LOVE SINGAPORE's shopping!  I bought a couple of shoes and a bag from Charles & Keith and Steve Madden too and some other random stuff too. 

Let me know if you want a detailed review of any of these products. :) Have you tried any of these products? Any favourites?

ASIA TRIP HAUL Part 2 - Malaysia is coming up soon!!! It took me ages to have this post up, so the next one is probably in the next couple of days. STAY TUNE! 

XOXO,

A

NOTW - LE CRACK NAILS FT CANMAKE CRACK LAC NAIL POLISH

Hey lovelies!!!

How's your week been so far? 

Work has been a drag for me this week and I am so glad Wednesday is over and 2 more days to the weekend! I have a gazillion things to cross up my to-do-list yet I have so little time. I really gotta reorganise everything - my time, my priorities, my life pretty much in general! I am also trying to get back to regular posting since I have HEAPS of backlogged posts that are yet to be posted. 

Anyways, enough of my random ramblings. 

I am back from my Singapore-Malaysia-trip for almost 3 weeks now (talk about how fast time flies aye) and my haul post is still "coming soon". But fret not dolls, it IS coming soon cos I have just finished watermarking those photos. I TRIED making a haul video but clearly failed big time cos it is extremely awkward trying to speak to the camera. Like seriously. So, I guess a haul post will do for now. =)

Here is just a preview of what I purchased from Singapore and Malaysia:

(As opposed to the usual all-products-in-one-picture-preview, I decided to be a little different this time by previewing the final result of using a couple of products from my haul =P)

LE CRACK NAILS!!!! 

I know it looks like it takes ALOT of effort to achieve this nails but honestly, it took me no more than 15 minutes for both hands. (Gotta thank my HG Dry Fast Top Coat by Seche Vite for that too!)

So, how did I achieve this?

STEP 1: APPLY TWO COATS OF YOUR FAVOURITE BARBIE PINK NAIL POLISH. 

I am using Rimmel's Lycra PRO Professional Finish in Urban Princess.

STEP 2: APPLY A GENEROUS LAYER OF CANMAKE CRACK LAC NAIL

I know CANMAKE is not a brand that you can find anywhere, especially in Australia or the States. Fret not, But do try looking around online and you might be able to find it. I know A Pop of Kawaii does carry a lot of Canmake stuff but I am pretty sure they haven't brought in the Crack Lac Nail series yet. But I will let you get guys know for sure when it does! :) 

Katy Perry for OPI collection does carry the Black Shatter Top Coat too but I am not sure when will it be released in Australia. :(  And unfortunately it only comes in black. So, if you are looking for colours, you should probably go for Canmake as they have 3-4 different colours in their Crack Lac Range. 

STEP 3: WAIT FOR 30 SECONDS - 1 MINUTE BEFORE APPLYING A LAYER OF DRY FAST TOP COAT. 

I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. 

And VOILA!!!!

It is THAT simple :) People at work were amazed when I told them how easy it was to get these nails! :P 

And you don't have to use barbie pink as the base colour, any colour that tickles your fancy will do. :)

Let me know if you have tried something similar. :) I'd love to check it out!!

:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:

Just a quick question before I end this post, 

Does any of you have acne - prone skin? 

And for those of you who does, have you heard/ tried Proactiv products? 

I have a little something for one lucky reader of mine - more details in the next post. 

XOXO,

A

FOTW - WORKING SERIES #4 - THE BRONZE HORSEMAN

Goodday! How was everyone's weekend? Its good to finally have some sunshine in Sydney after a pretty chilly week (for November that is). It was a pretty quiet one for me as I spent my Saturday recovering from a nasty hangover (when I didn't even have that much!) and hit the gym for some good work out session. I think its time to monitor my alcohol intake now that I am frequenting the gym more regularly, and apparently your alcohol tolerance decreases as your body built more muscles. Is it trueeeeeee?

ANYWAYS, I haven't posted any "Naked Palette" FOTD ever since I got that baby and I figured its about time. :) 

 This was the look I created last week using the naked palette. :) 

Since its kinda bronzy and one of the colours I used is called Dark Horse, I decided to use The Bronze Horseman as my title. Don't judge me lol. 

I haven't been wearing my circle lenses much lately except for the weekends as you're not supposed to wear them for long hours. And for me, from popping my contacts in the morning, getting ready, a whole day at work and gym after - thats a good 14 hours for me. I am pretty sure its not advisable to wear normal contacts for such long hours (14 hours a day, 5 days a week. You do the math), let alone my circle lenses. 

On my EYES

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Naked Palette

- Side Car as all over the lids colour

- Dark Horse as outer corner crease colour

- Naked as inner crease colour

- Hustle as outer V colour

- Virgin as browbone colour

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

- Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Whiskey (Lower Lash Line)

- Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Hazelnut

- Maybelline Colossal Waterproof Mascara in Black

On my FACE

Etude House Magic BB Cream

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Silky Beige

NYX Concealer in a Jar in Light

Milani Sunset Duo in Sunset City

Canmake Powder Cheeks Blusher in PW25

MAC MSF in Candlelight

On my LIPS

Cancer Council Australia Lipstick in Soft Pink (which is actually more of a nude colour)

I kinda like how the "messy" hair up do although it did take me quite a while to create this somewhat messy look. 

Naked Palette is definitely my new found love!!! 

With 12 different neutral colours, you can go creative with your look without having to be afraid of being to OTT. If you're going out after work or school,simply apply a bold lipstick to brighten up your look. :)

Are you a proud owner of the Naked Palette too? 

Do share your FOTDs! I'd love to see them :)

XOXO,

A