Faces of last week and today: Alice Through the Looking Glass

Last Friday, I had an audit at Pioneer first thing in the morning, so I decided to keep my eyeshadows matte and go with my full-strength KVD Lock-It foundation.

I used the purples from Viseart Dark Mattes, because they've never not worked for me. And I didn't want to have a high-maintenance lip, so I used my KVD ELL in Lolita II with NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu on top. (After lunch I just slathered the Tiramisu all over, I ain't got time to bother on Fridays.)

On Saturday, we had a dance class (Argentine Tango!), but instead of wanting to go with sweatproof, matte eyes, I somehow worked a lot of Time from the Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass into my outer corner. I also brought out my Dose of Colors in Brick, just because I missed a dark red lip.

Yeah, I ended up looking way vampier than I'd planned, but it was fun, anyway. I adore Brick, by the way. It lasts pretty well through meals - I mean, it wears off in the middle, but not noticeably, I guess it's that pigmented? I don't know, but I love it. I only reapplied once after lunch, but even after supper and a rainy ride home, my lipstick was intact. So. Great.

Anyway, I felt that I've been underutilising my Alice palette, just because it's so bulky. Which is a waste, because the colours are so bright and beautiful, and that was the whole reason I bought it in the first place. In fact, I actually bought it because of Salazen Grum - the copper-red shimmer. So I decided to do a one-shadow look with Salazen Grum today!

I paired it with NYX IBLG in Toasted Marshmallow, because my lips were acting up again and needed some moisture. I thought it would look crazy, but I liked the bright eyes and sorta-dark lips, overall. The eye colour also looks really nice behind glasses, so remind me not to neglect Salazen Grum again. 

I got to thinking that there are a lot of shades in the Alice palette that I haven't really given a chance, so for the rest of this week, I'll make sure to focus on the Alice palette for my looks. Yay!

JB Haul!

We went for a JB day trip last Saturday, and I bought.. way too many things. The above photo sorta shows what I got, off S$150! (Plus 30 ringgit borrowed from Cutes.)

Clothes

Flow, at Metrojaya department store
We were walking around the department store, just for kicks, when we stumbled on this plus-size label. By the way, the department store is so posh, it's almost snooty. There were maybe 15 customers on the entire floor, and the security guards would tell you to refrain from eating or drinking. It was just an odd experience for me, because I'm used to more bustling department stores, even our Robinsons or whatever other atas stores.

Anyway, I ended up getting three kinda-luxe tops - a datiny batwingish black one, a sopan navy blue crepe, and a heavy green one with a beaded neckline and a tie back (which I initially thought was a tie-front, ha!).

I just did some checking and it appears that Flow is a Malaysian brand which caters to sizes US10 to US18. Isn't that amazing? I can't name a single Singapore-based plus-size brand, which is mildly upsetting. But whatever. I definitely plan to check out Flow again next time I head over there.


H&M
Now, we have a H&M here too, obviously, but what we don't have is H&M+. It's crazy, unbelievable and annoying how JB has a plus-size line and we don't. I would think that since females do less manual labour here, we have a greater chance of being fat, and therefore needing plus-size clothes. So I always end up grabbing at least one piece when I'm in the City Square H&M.

Unfortunately, by this time, I'd already spent most of my money, so I had to borrow RM30 from Cutes so I could get that adorable denim skirt.

Also, how and when did denim miniskirts die out? This is the first time I was able to buy one in a shop since 7 years ago, in Perth. I hope this means they're coming back. :D


FOS or inB4 or whatever it's called
Cutes likes to shop here because stuff is really cheap, at an average of RM25 apiece. I normally don't bother, because the ladies' pickings is always pretty slim. But this time, I managed to find a nice cotton top and a cotton dress for baju rumah. Heh. What, it was like S$10 in the end, don't judge.


Makeup/Skincare

Sasa Selectiv
I found quite an extensive range of Peripera there, including the Powerpuff Girls range! Unfortunately, the stuff with Bubbles on it was either sold out or not the right shade for me. So I skipped that and got a Peri's Ink Moist in #5. I also found an entire range of Wet n Wild omggg. Why don't we have it in Singapore?! So I got a Liquid Catsuit (liquid lipstick), because I've heard good things about them.

I've actually tried both those items, and the Peri's Ink Moist is truly moist! I had a Zinger for lunch that day, and all I did was blot the colour off before biting into my burger. And voila, no chin transfer! It reapplies pretty nicely too. And I had to reapply, because it was looking kinda blotchy after my burger. Heh.

The Liquid Catsuit in Nice to Fuschia performs almost exactly like the KVD liquid lipsticks. It dries down nice and thinly. The downside, and difference, is that it pills up a little in the centre of my lips, and transfers if I rub or even touch my lips with my finger. Or maybe it's just this colour, I don't know. I don't plan to repurchase - I'm happier with my J* or KVD.


Chamelon
This is just loosely related to skincare because I use them for my PM skincare routine. Heh. I bought two fluffy hairbands for about RM10 each. They're so cute, and so far I've tried the blue one with the eyes, which works a little better than the Etude House Etti Cat Ears, which is pretty wow.


So that's what I got! Really happy with all my purchases, and I'm looking forward to hitting up these shops again on my next JB trip.

FOTW: JB trip

This past week has been really busy for me. The only day I managed to go home straight from work was on Friday, by which time I was smashed from 4 consecutive nights out. 

This weekend, Cutes and I went into Johor Bahru for our usual food and shopping. And today, I had a Fanababain meetup, so I was conking out majorly in the bus(es) home just now. 

So, on Friday:

I used mainly my Viseart Dark Mattes on my eyes. I put the two orangey shades in my crease and outer corner, and laid the blush shade from theBalm Driving License on my lid. The browbone highlight is from theBalm mini-palette, too.

Face was just my usual L'oreal Infallible with MAC Prom Princess as my blush. And for lips, I went with Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche in Maple (love this) with Essence XXXL Shine Lip Gloss in.. Fabulous Fuschia, I think it is? I like the gloss - it gives everything a purply-pink sheen, the shine is blinding, and it smells really yummy in a fruity way. I just wish the packaging was a little more convenient because right now, I have to kinda jam the wand back into the tube, as if it didn't fit properly or something.

I thought this look wore well, especially the lips, because I had pasta for lunch and I was slurping it up crazily, but I only had to touch up the centre of my lips when I was done, so yay!


Saturday:

There was a thunderstorm in the morning around subuh, but by the time I fully woke up at 10am, the sun was out in full force. So I decided I'd go with a light base - my usual Laneige Pore Control BB Cushion, over my NARS Soft Matte Concealer.

Eyes are still Viseart Dark Mattes - this time I used the greens, with the crease colour from theBalm mini-palette on my lids.

I skipped blush, and for my lips I used Urban Decay Vice in Epigram, with CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine over the top. I think the lip shine really helped my lips not dry out as much.

At the end of the pretty sweaty night, my eye makeup was still pretty much intact, but the parts of my face where I'd put concealer were looking really sad and red, because the concealer had broken up. So I guess no concealer is a match for the persistence of my sweat. :(

I was planning to also write about my JB haul, but I think I'll just put it in a separate post. Goodnight!

End - Summer Lovin' Goals

Sorry, I missed the end date of the Summer Lovin' Goals by just over a week, but I wanted to wait for payday so I could get the last $350 savings into my MKK fund. Here we go!

First post for reference here.

Goal #1: Winnow through my closet

I've done about 3 rounds of this so far, so I think I've done pretty well. It also went along with a major clean-out of my room, so that was amazing. That led to making room for my little makeshift vanity space, so it's been great.


Goal #2: Finish up one foundation

I'm sorry to report that I haven't finished up any yet. I'm still satisfied with my current status, though, because I'm using foundation twice a week for work and once a week for dates, so that's pretty consistent.

• KVD Lock-It in 62 (45% to 30% left)
• Hourglass Vanish Stick in Golden Tan (60% to 55%) - I still love the finish on this, but doesn't wear too well after one morning at the office. It sort of settles into my pores. Sad!
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Mineral Powder (no idea, you can't see through the container!) - tossed! 
• Maybelline Fit Me stick (98%) - haven't touched this. I guess I don't like it after all. 
• Nude by Nature BB Cream (90% to 80%) - I've mentioned in earlier posts that this has started to pill up on me, ugh. I left it at the office for "emergencies". Possibly, I'll toss it in a couple of weeks or months. 
• L'oreal Infallible 24-HR Matte (80% to maybe 60%) - I love this most out of all my foundations. I've been reaching for it like, 9 out of 10 times when I'm wearing foundation. It just goes on so evenly and quickly with a brush, and it kind of stays on all day, even through excessive sweating. I'll be sad to finish this because they still don't have it in Singapore, but I'll make sure to pick up some more during my December holiday in Perth. 
• L'oreal Mineral Powder (75%?) - tossed! Woohoo!

Also I got a Laneige Pore Control BB Cushion because I'd been wanting it for forever, and I'd basically given up on the Nude by Nature BB cream. I'm happy with it! I love the colour, application is a breeze, my skin doesn't seem to hate it, and it smells amazing. No regrets!


Goal #3: Low buy

Well, it's pretty obvious that I haven't really kept to the restricted list of items to buy, in the last few months. Among the other prohibited stuff I bought are:

• Mizon snail line (AIO, Gel Cream, Ampoule) - Got mini sizes of these in a bundle because my skin was feeling really itchy and overheated at the time, and I was hoping this line would calm it down. So far, I've only used the AIO, which hasn't worked. My skin has since calmed down, so I'm just gonna phase in the rest when I've finished my current serum (TO "Buffet"). 
• NYX Butter Gloss and IBLG - No regrets! These have really saved my chapped lips from looking sad and boring. 
• NYX pencil sharpener - Super useful, I used this for my MUFE lipliner, yay! 
• NYX eyeshadow single in some shimmer bronze shade - This is a real workhorse and perfect for a single shadow look for the office. I think it was ten bucks, but it's fine with me because I'll use this quite frequently. Yes, I'm really starting to become a NYX fangirl. 
• A couple of Zoeva brushes - I find that they're cheaper than the Sephora pro ones, so even though they've shedded a little on me, I'm gonna stick to these. I may get a face set soon. 
• And of course, I had a little ASOS spree to the tune of $120 or thereabouts. But I'm quite happy with the stuff I got, so yay! 

Goal #4: Ride out once a week

It was really hard to stick to this. Once, I left Ferb alone for three weeks. Nasib baik nothing happened. So I've reduced the stipulated frequency to twice a week, I hope it's workable!

Goal 5: Fun lip colour once a fortnight

This is really easy to do, especially since my lips have gotten better in the last month or so. That said, I do wanna try and work in KVD Echo someday soon. 

Goal 6: One blog post a week

I think I dropped the ball in the first month, but I've been posting FOTWs every Sunday/Monday, so I've mainly stuck to the schedule. It's been a challenge, but it's fun to be writing again. I'll try and work on my camera skills now, because I'm still dissatisfied with the quality of my FOTD photos. 

Goal #7: $1k to MKK fund

This has been amazing. I've managed to put aside $350 from each paycheck to go into my MKK fund for the last four paychecks, so yes, I've hit this target! I plan to continue this $350-each-month practice until the real day, insya Allah, because it hasn't been a hardship to ikat perut and we need all the money we can get. 

So this was a really fun challenge to work on! I'm going to continue most of them anyway, so it's definitely been helpful in making me rethink my consumerist choices. 

Till the next post!

FOTW: Malay events

I had a really nice weekend which started with me waking up at 5.00am on Friday to do a full-beat face so I could check out the Fenty Beauty launch confidently. 

Friday:

I was inspired by Kaushal Beauty's video on a grungy fall look where she used the browns and black in the UD Naked Basics (?) palette on her eyes with a dark lip. So I recreated this with my Viseart Neutral Mattes! I used the darkest peach, the black and the dark brown shades, plus the glittery black liner shade from theBalm Driving License.

Lips are Huda Beauty in Famous. I love the dark vampy shade, but it doesn't really wear well through food and drink. Also, I fell asleep on my hand in the bus and schmeared it quite madly. Heh.


Saturday:

I had to do my makeup in 10 minutes because my dad was rushing me to get to Syafiqah's wedding. So I just buffed out my favourite L'oreal Infallible foundation, used all the colours in my trusty theBalm Driving Licence on my eyes, and popped on the NYX IBLG in Toasted Marshmallow on my lips. Blush was MAC Prom Princess.

I can't overstate how much I love Toasted Marshmallow. If I could keep just one lipstick out of my collection of.. 20? It would definitely be this.

Anyway, I was at the wedding for like an hour, then I came back home and just put on mascara before I went out for my date.

Yeah, my glasses basically cover up all of my eye makeup, so I should definitely try to go crazier next time.

We had fun, as always. 9 Rangkaian Tarian Melayu was so, so much fun and truly educational, and also a welcome trip down memory lane for me. Afterwards, we walked to the Waterboat House, which is beautiful, and then we walked back. Pretty chill day, but we're also quite sick of the Civic District, so we can't wait to get away after the end of this month.

FOTW: Lazy Day in Tampines, + Watsons Haul

So yesterday was one of our rare no-plan dates, and it was a really hot and sunny day, and we were planning to ride out, so.. I ignored all of that and decided to attempt a halo eye anyway. 

Eyes: All Nubian II palette. My trusty Madagascar as a transition/crease (I usually don't define my transition or crease separately, because double eyelids.), Kenya as the inner and outer corners, and Zuri as the halo. Later, when I was dabbing Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Liquid in Opal on my cheekbones, I also popped the remaining on my browbone. Then I dunno what got into me, but I used the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk in my waterline and went in with a bit of Kenya on my lashline, after mascara HAHA. 

Face: L'oreal Infallible 24Hr Matte, MAC Veronica blush, aforementioned Becca SSP Liquid. I actually don't really like this Opal because I don't think it shows up well on my face, but I just wanna get it finished ASAP since it was a Sephora points perk. 

Lips are UD Vice in Venom, which is truly one of my favourites and never dries out my lips. 

So, as I said, it was a really hot day, but somehow my eye makeup did not run away and my halo look was still the same with my eyes open. Of course, with my eyes closed, you could see that the shimmer had transferred upwards, but that's nothing new or tragic, so I'm good. 

Watsons was having a 20% off members-only sale, so I bought backups of my DHC Deep Cleansing Oil and my Hada Labo HA Lotion, which are both on their last 5% or so. Gosh, I never realised how expensive the DHC was! It's like $40 for 200ml like whutttt. I got this at like $25ish in the sale but like, why did I pay $40 for it that first time? Now I'm hooked and I'm gonna have to splash out 40 every two months. Syabas, Ain.

I know I said I wanted to try the Hada Labo premium, but I thought hey, the normal one is working fine for me, so why mess with a good thing, right?

And finally, this Marc Anthony shampoo I got to replace my current 2 litres of shampoo I'd bought in a common idiotic moment like, two years ago. Or maybe a year ago, entah. I wanted to try something sulfate-free and see if that improves my hair and scalp in any way. So, I will keep you updated!

Makeshift Vanity

Check out my new vanity! Over the Ramadhan period, I managed to clear out a good chunk of my stuff, and managed to free up 3 cubes in my shelves to create a mini-vanity area.

Key features:

• Acrylic drawers and PE drawers and containers from Muji. Muji is a true organiser's haven - when you enjoy paying $$$, that is. They were just about enough to contain my rapidly growing collection, so I told myself I'm not to buy any more makeup or skincare that won't fit into the allocated storage containers now. 
• BOSSE bar stool from Ikea, $59. I chose this because it was cheapest, with a wide seat area, and no backrest. I felt like a backrest would make my room feel even more cluttered than it already is. Overall, I'm happy with my decision, but I realise that the corners are a little pointy, so it kinda hurts when I sit down at the wrong angle. Ugh. I didn't think about that at all. If I'd known, I would have gotten the INGOLF bar stool (with backrest) at like $70-$80, but it's okay, it's not a giant issue or anything. 
• Philips desk lamp at the top right corner of the photo gives extra illumination if I need it? Haha. It was left behind by Hashim (my brother-in-law) when he moved out. The light is pretty bright, and looks very very cool white to me, but when I took a test shot the other night, I looked yellow, so I don't know what's what anymore. 
• Finally, the star of this vanity, my battery-operated mirror with LED lights from Japan Home (Toa Payoh), $9.90, batteries not included. This is a really happy find of mine, because I realised that the desk lamp doesn't illuminate the inside of the cube, so any mirror I put inside there becomes useless for detailed makeup work. Before I found this mirror, I ended up just holding up a mirror with one hand and tilting my face up to catch the lamp light. It was kinda annoying, because it meant I didn't have a spare hand to balance with, or grab things or whatever. It's also a giant plus that it's battery-operated, because there is no space for additional wires or whatever to be hanging out around my cube. I really lucked out when I wandered into Japan Home and found this mirror. 

Here's a close-up shot of the mirror:

Thoughts so far:

I've used my vanity a couple times since it's been up for a week, although that was without my magic mirror up there. I don't know if it's psychological or something, but I thought my makeup looked better, as in it was blended more cohesively, even though I thought my skin looked horrible and textured under the bright lights. 

However, having all my makeup and skincare stacked up on top of each other in those cubes makes it a fiddly business to keep reaching for stuff while sitting on the stool. You know, as opposed to a nice proper table where nothing's gonna knock into each other when you lift up one item? But it's fine, my workaround is to lay everything out on my bed and pick out the stuff I want before I start. Then I just reach over to my bed to grab it and put back the previous item. It's worked so far, and I had a successful 25-minute makeup session yesterday when getting ready for work, so yay. 

Also, a plus of this new location is that I can set the fan to blow directly and uninterruptedly at me - my face, specifically - for the whole session. When I was sitting in front of my cupboard, the fan was basically blowing at the back of my head, which was sad and not very effective. Also, I can see the clock from where I'm sitting now, instead of squinting at it from my previous position, which helps greatly in time-management. 

Overall, it's a definite improvement from my former situation. My vanity is now so welcoming that I feel like sitting in front of the mirror and testing out eye looks. But I haven't done that yet, heh. I'll keep you updated!

Personal dupe for J*:

So I'm not exactly a fan of J*, although his was the first bunch of liquid lipsticks I bought, which then reintroduced me to makeup as a hobby, so, I dunno if I'm supposed to feel any kind of loyalty for that. Anyway, I've seen been enlightened to his meanness in general (which includes the being racist part), so yeah I've been trying to reduce the amount of stuff I buy from J* Cosmetics. 

However, my favourite liquid lipsticks are J*C, namely Gemini, Leo and Unicorn Blood. At the moment, I'm still gonna keep buying Gemini and Leo, because I use them so frequently, and I haven't found matte dupes for them. I thought it would be the same sitch for Unicorn Blood, which I love love love for being so dark and blood-coloured. But then I realised that Dose of Colours in Brick is even darker than Unicorn Blood!

Top: Brick, Bottom: Unicorn Blood

It's not a perfect dupe by any means. You can see that Brick is more neutral, while Unicorn Blood is yellower. But the overall effect on my lips seems to be the same, so I dunno. My Unicorn Blood is drying up now, actually, so maybe I won't repurchase unless I have another US$55 worth of stuff to buy from Beautylish to make up the $75 for free shipping. As for Dose of Colours, I really do like the two liquid lipsticks I have, but I have to pay for shipping for those, and the package arrived a little banged up that time, so.. I dunno. If I finish Brick, I might just go back to J*C via Beautylish anyway, just because Beautylish is love when it comes to shipping. 

Okay, that's all I have for today! I've started writing down my post ideas, so I hope I come back soon with a new post! Bye!

FOTW: Friday off and Films at the Fort

I took the day off on Friday to head to Ikea with my mom and sister to get stuff for a makeshift vanity. As always, when I'm going out with my mom, I have to hustle because she always nags when I take too long to get ready. But somehow, I was degil and still wanted to put on a light full face.

So I used my L'oreal Infallible on the face, The Balm California DL on my eyes and on my lips, MUFE Aqua Lip Pencil in 14C with NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu on top. I skipped concealer and blusher, as always when I'm in a rush.

I can't say enough how easy the Infallible is to apply. It probably takes me all of 30 seconds to dot it on my face and buff out with my Zoeva brush. It feels so, so light, too! That's why I still keep reaching for, especially when I'm in a rush, or if it's a really hot and humid day. Yes, it is still too pink for me, but I don't care. For now, I'm still oversupplied with foundations, so once I finish something, I'll go look for a less pink and more green foundation.

Date of the weekend

Here I am on my newly-bought Ikea stool, with my freshly-placed desk light, and my God-given natural sunlight grudgingly creeping in through my open window. Same, too-pink foundation, because it was so hot and muggy, my face was starting to rash up. I put some Mizon Snail AIO around my nose and mouth, and it kinda-sorta helped. The rest of my face was basically the same as on Friday, except I added blusher in MAC Veronica (Prom Princess), to help make me look fresh and young and cute? Because I was trying to channel Marty Maraschino from Grease, for the movie we were catching at Films at the Fort.

We had a lovely day, with some mini-hissy fits because I was anxious we'd be late, and also he picked the wrong supper place. Heh. We were also overwhelmed by the giant Night Festival crowd. Travel light to festivals, people! I didn't have a choice because I was lugging two picnic mats, two inflatable cushions, and a baby blanket. But otherwise, a lovely afternoon and evening spent with my adorable, always-accomodating boyfriend.

FOTW: Civic District Outdoor Festival

We had a more relaxed, #noplan date on Saturday, to hang out around the Civic District Outdoor Festival. But I still wanted to put my full face on, for some reason. Lucky then, that it had rained for the entire four hours prior to me leaving the house. 

I mixed my too-pink L'oreal Infallible 24HR Matte in Amber with my too-yellow KVD Lock-It in 62. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I think I could have put in more Amber, because the overall result was still a tad too yellow. And I realised that after I got used to the runniness of the Infallible, I actually prefer that texture to the thickness of the KVD. I hate to admit it, but yes, there it is. So I may actually end up not repurchasing KVD but instead looking for a runny texture or whatever Infallible I can dig up in Singapore (or Perth at year-end). 

I also used my Nubian II palette on my eyes, pulling in a tan and peach shade from my Viseart Neutral Mattes for the lid and browbone highlight. I really adore my Nubian II, actually. I think it might be my favourite palette. If only my deep crease didn't crease up all my shimmers, I would be able to use the Nubian II as a standalone palette more. Maybe I will pick up a NYX Glitter Primer, or whatever it's called, to see if it improves the performance of shimmers on my lid. For primer I actually used UD Anti-Aging Primer Potion, with my LM setting powder and NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on the lid, but I really don't find that Milk helps with the popping or the longevity of the eyeshadows for me. I think I'm about ready to give up on it. 

And my lipstick is my favourite funky colour, the KVD ELL in L.U.V. I love everything about this shade - the brightness, the purpleness, and the name (one of my favourite Tory Lanez songs this year). I went to the doctor about two weeks ago and he gave me some cream for the supposed rash on the perimeter of my lips. It seems to have worked, because my lips have finally reverted to their normal self of not being cracked and chapped, syukur Alhamdulillah. As a result, I've been able to wear liquid lipsticks again, which is a great triumph and relief. I did have a mini-episode that day when I put Lanisoh Lanolin on my lips one night, and woke up the next morning with lips that were threatening to chap up again. So I've concluded that my lips are sensitive to lanolin, and I'm not gonna play around with that anymore. We'll just stick to paraffin and beeswax for these babies. Actually, the Bite Agave Lip Mask has lanolin too, I've heard, although in lower concentration, so it might be okay to continue to use that sparingly. Sparingly = my paraffin is too far away and the Bite Agave is just nearer to reach. Heh. 

I finally dug my ABH Dipbrow out of the mothballs but kinda overdid my brows a little. It's just so hard to control the placement, especially with these darker colours! I think I'm just gonna pick up a NYX brow pencil next. I've heard good things about it compared to the ABH Brow Wiz. And I skipped blush because I was thinking of reapplying my sunscreen throughout the day. Spoiler alert: I didn't reapply. 

I didn't love the overall eye look in the end, but it's okay. I've now come to the conclusion that I will try not to overthink my shadow placement. We'll see what simple look I can come up with next weekend. Also, I'm looking forward to mixing my foundations again. 

Heh, sorry, this last one is just for kicks. OOTD: Top by Curve Cult, shorts by Warehouse, denim jacket by Cutes, sneakers are the Reebok Zoku Knit or whatever they're called. 

It was a lovely date - we had lunch at Chilis, coffee and cake at Craftsmen, walked a lot around the area, caught a couple of fun exhibits at National Gallery, had drinks and the yummiest foie gras and duck sliders at the rooftop bar, danced a little, and took the bus to Changi Village where we had supper at Dynamic and chilled by the sea, trying and failing to watch for meteor showers, thanks to the cloud cover. 

This has been a hybrid Face/Date of the Weekend. See you next time!

July Empties and Favourites

Empties

So after like.. 3 (?) months of skincare, I finally got some empties!

Stephanie Nicole made me buy these. She started me on my multi-step skincare routine, and I bought these two to fill in the many gaps I had at that time. The Caudalie Grape Water is supposed to be for the hydrate step, but I feel like it didn't do anything for me. I mean, humid weather, me sweating all the time, this grape water is just adding to the surface water on my face, but no true hydration, I felt. I do love that this is literally grape water, grape juice, and nitrogen, but.. not repurchasing. I've replaced this with my Hada Labo HA and Belif Anti-Aging Shaking Water, and those feel so much better on my skin.

I actually bought two of the Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream Moisturiser, because Watsons was having a Buy 2 Get 1 50% Off at that time. I regret it, so so much. Remind me not to buy backups anymore, especially when I don't know if the product works for me or not. So this thing is supposed to be wrinkle-smoothening, among other claims, but because I don't have wrinkles yet (thank You, Allah), I can't attest to the truth of that particular claim. I also hated the heavy feel of this moisturiser on my skin, because I was combo-oily at that time. It also made my skin smart/tingle unpleasantly, for some reason. So I ditched it for a month or so, and just went with my Belif Aqua Bomb. I did continue using this Olay cream on other parts of my body, just to use it up as quickly as possible.

But when my skin turned to combo-dry about 3 weeks ago, the Belif Aqua Bomb just wasn't giving me enough of an occlusive layer, so I went back to the Olay. It was pretty okay, and I was about to forgive it and just use it both night and day. Unfortunately, last weekend my skin started acting up (itching, rashes) from the sun exposure, and the Olay started stinging my skin again. So I gave it up and bought Belif Moisture Bomb on Monday. Yes, I caved, I'm sorry. I already opened the second Olay I got, and I'm still using it on my body, so let's hope I can finish it in two months or so. Yes, weirdly, it doesn't annoy the skin on the rest of my body. My chest especially loves this cream, go figure. Anyway, not repurchasing! (Or maybe I am, for the good of my chest. We'll see!)

Favourites

I think I had five favourites in June, but I can't think of more than three favourites for July. Mainly because of my rashy skin and chapped lips, I guess? Like, I wasn't able to use the full range of lipsticks I have *sob*.

The NYX Intense Butter Glosses were a lifesaver for my lips. Well, not my lips exactly, but I don't like going out without colour on my lips, so these looked great on, and they didn't kill my lips! I'd like to thank r/MakeupAddiction, or was it r/BrownBeauty, for recommending these in a couple of threads. These are Toasted Marshmallow (on the left) and Chocolate Crepe (on the right). I got Toasted Marshmallow first, simply because it was the only darker shade at Sephora Ion, and not because I was madly in love with the colour or anything. But I was pleasantly surprised because it looked amazing on - not too crazy, but natural enough for me to wear to work daily. And it fades off into a really accurate MLBB colour. My outer lips are more darkly pigmented, and it's almost the same purply shade. But better, of course.

So I was dying to continue a NYX IBLG collection, so I picked up Chocolate Crepe a week or so later, at the NYX store in Bugis. I'm just gonna buy my NYX stuff there from now on, because they obviously have their full range there, and Sephora doesn't have enough room, so they keep switching out the displays. One week is the IBLG, the next week it's the less-impressive Butter Glosses. Anyway, I love this shade too, because it's the MLBB for my inner lips. It fades naturally too, so I just love love it. I really hope NYX somehow comes up with more colours, because the rest are too light or too neon for me, and I need my blood red, please.

And the third item is my California Driver License palette by The Balm. I remember buying this in a drugstore in New York because I loved the packaging. At that time, I wasn't into makeup at all, so I hadn't wandered around the Singapore Sephoras in months. If I had, I would've realised that we have The Balm here too. Anyhow. This poor palette has been overshadowed by my Viseart palettes for a few months, but I reached for it again last month to do single-shadow looks for when I have 5 minutes to put my face on before I miss my bus. I adore the blush and and brow shades. They're the perfect go-to combo for 5-minute days, and they look darn good on. The liner shade is great too. It doesn't actually look glittery on the eyes, just black, but it's fine with me. It's slightly more forgiving than the Viseart black. And I also pull in the blush shade for a lid colour when I don't like my other lid options, and the brow one if I don't like my other crease options. Love. This. Palette. I'm so glad I went for this one instead of the Hawaii one!

And that's all I have for tonight! See you next post!

FOTW: 34-degree weather

I was trying to do Palette a Week (PAW), with last week's palette being the UD Alice Through the Looking Glass, but it turned out to be one of the hottest Saturdays ever, and I didn't want shimmer shadows all over my eyes, so I skipped the UD and pulled out my trusty Viseart Dark Mattes and The Balm California Driver Licence and went all-matte instead.

The blush and the brown shade are my jam. They just look so natural on me, I love it.

Lips are NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Black Cherry. That was my third IBLG, because I loved Toasted Marshmallow and Chocolate Crepe so much, and I've missed wearing a dark, vampy lip colour.

Unfortch. Two things:

1. They don't have the blood-red shade that I really want, so I kinda had to settle for this shade. 
2. This colour, unlike the other two, applied really streaky and it bleeds, and it fades patchy. 

It's so sad. I wound up wiping it off halfway through the date and applying my trusty Toasted Marshmallow instead (yes, I had it in my bag as a backup). 

I dunno, I think the eyes don't look as intense as I wanted them to. Or maybe this shot is overexposed, God knows I need more practice taking good quality selfies (for critiquing purposes, not IG likes). 

Oh yes, the rest of my face was just my Nude by Nature BB cream with no blush, because I wanted my skin to breathe and also I wanted to continue reapplying my sunscreen (which I did - twice!). 

I still miss wearing my Unicorn Blood. Praying that my lips get better soon!

Skincare diet

Skin is mad at me for staying out in the sun for a good five hours on Saturday. It's been rashes, itches, redness, peeling, and breakouts.

All the aloe vera I'm slathering on doesn't seem to be good enough, so I've downsized to just my Hada Labo HA and a moisturiser. Somehow, the dry patch on my right cheek likes it, because this is the least dry it's been all week.

Also Belif gave me a foil sample of their latest bomb - the water bomb? Duh, isn't water = aqua? Find a better name, guys. But I'll update my thoughts in a coupla days!

posted from Bloggeroid

FOTW - Ella and Open House

It's been a really hot weekend, which yes fine, I'm thankful for since it means it didn't rain. But. My skin really did not enjoy the heat and started rashing up last night after I removed my makeup. I think I'm gonna have to go easy on the foundation for the next few days, and give my skin a break.

But anyway, the heat didn't stop me from putting on a full face both days, because when else am I gonna get the time and mileage to use all my colours, right?

Yesterday was the Ella concert, and I had agreed to actually bring Ferb out for a ride. So I went with my trusty KVD Lock-It liquid foundation, which really doesn't budge, no matter how much I sweat. And I did a dark carved-out V-shape. The dark colours were to match with Ella's dark smoky aesthetic, but I went for a V because I don't wanna look too bruised with all the purples. Ha. I went with my Juvia's Place Nubian II for this. Lips are my current go-to, the NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Toasted Marshmallow, because my lips were madly swollen when I woke up yesterday morning. Also I'd been avoiding doing my brows for a couple of weeks, because I just didn't have the extra time, but since I was pretty ahead of schedule this weekend, I went in with my ABH Brow Wiz in Soft Brown. I do like it, but I'm really angry that the spoolie part broke off. I realised from reading the subreddits that it's a common thing, but that just makes me angrier, so I'm gonna try the NYX one next time.

Anyway, the makeup held up pretty well! It didn't look super crazy when I got home at like 2.30am.

Yes, my skin looks really crazy here, because it was even hotter today than it was yesterday, if that's possible. I was headed to Djamil's Hari Raya open house today. I went with a lighter foundation because rashes - the Hourglass Vanish Stick Foundation. I didn't like the way it sat on my face today. I guess it's not the kind of foundation that goes on well on a sweaty face. Eyes are Nubian II again, because I wanted to use another shimmer, heh. And I deepened the outer corner with the orange shade from the Viseart Neutral Mattes palette. I used a tint for the lips because I knew I'd be eating a lot, and I didn't wanna be bothered with touching it up. So, thanks again Rainnie for the Too Cool For School Peekaboo Oil Tint in Red Bang Bang!

Yup, so that's it for my Faces of the Weekend. Catch you next time!

JS VLL Gemini dupe

So I have to admit that I'm still buying a couple of J* liquid lipsticks, because Gemini (perfect pinky nude), Unicorn Blood (brown-based blood red), and Leo (browny nude) are my favourite colours to wear, the formula is long-wearing without being drying, and I haven't been able to find dupes for them.

But I wandered into the standalone NYX store at Bugis on Monday and they had the full range of their IBLGs, so I swatched everything and bought me a Chocolate Crepe. When I put it on, I realised that it's a great shade dupe for Gemini! Yes, totally different finishes, but if you remember, my lips are still not 100% yet so I'm hesitating with going back to liquid lipsticks for the time being. Other than that, it's just great to know that if I ever want to boycott J* totally (uhh, I won't until I find a Unicorn Blood dupe), I still have nude options.

Top to bottom: NYX IBLG in Chocolate Crepe, J* Gemini, MUFE Aqua Lip Liner in 14C

Granted, the NYX is a little deeper, but I think that's even better on my skin tone. Yay!

June Favourites

Hello guys! (No one's reading this, I know :p) I don't do videos (yet), but I thought I'd start doing monthly favourites posts because I do buy a lot of new shit every month and also, sometimes my preferences change and I'm reluctant to admit it because it's like I'm cheating on myself or something.

Anyways. In no particular order, ...

Cosrx One-Step Pimple Clear Pads
These are amazeballs. I like the whole wiping mechanism, it's one less thing to pour onto my palms and therefore to control the pouring power (?) of. And they started working quite visibly within two days of the first and only use. Well, yes, I admit that it turned the almost-dry parts of my face unequivocally dry, but I can manage that. Anyway, it got rid of my chin CCs, which I've tried steaming off, squeezing out, scrubbing away, everything! So it gets my eternal gratitude for that.

Zoeva Foundation Brush (104 Buffer)
I picked this up to use on my Infallible 24HR Matte, which is a way thinner consistency than my former HG, KVD. It worked so, so well! Like, even the feeling of just smooshing it into my face is pleasant. I'm trying it with my stick foundations next, but I think I need more practice/technique update in that area.

Biore Perfect Milk Sunscreen
I bought this precisely for the extreme mattifying properties it's known for, and it did not disappoint. Sadly, it gives me a white cast which I didn't notice when I swatched it on my inner arm in the store, so I can't wear it on its own. Also, since I'm more combo-dry than combo-oily now, it tends to dry out my cheeks, so I have to moisturise madly with this. I think it's perfect when combined with...

Nude by Nature Sheer Glow BB Cream in Golden Tan
Got this in Sydney because I was obsessed with trying out Australian products which I'd not be able to find here. I didn't really like it when I got back here though, because I thought it was too sheer and also I felt like the "glow" looked more like "uncontrollable shine" on me. But now my skin is clearer, the sheerness works. And the matteness of the sunscreen keeps the glow at the perfect level.

L'oreal Infallible 24-HR Matte in Amber
Apparently this is the Australian version, as compared to the US one, which is called the Pro Matte. I love love love it. It feels so light on my skin, but the coverage is pretty full, and it stays on even after a normal walking sweat session. Unfortch, this shade is too pink-toned for me. But whatever. I don't mind the wrong undertone with such a great formula.

Well, I think that's it. Five products is enough to favourite in a month, right? See you next time!

posted from Bloggeroid

Check-in #2

For this fortnight's check-in, I'm happy to announce that I finally managed to save the final $50 for this month, because I found about $700 in duit raya while I was cleaning my room. Syukur Alhamdulillah for small mercies. 

1. Winnow through my closet

I've done many more small rounds of clearing since, and I finally created enough room - the entire top shelf of one cupboard - to put my bags. I also cleared out most of one drawer and put my sports bras in there. Also, I cleared out the rest of my room while I was at it. 

I admit that I could stand to lose another 30 - 50% of stuff, but I think I'll save that for when I'm moving out, or something. :) 

2. Finish up one foundation

I've been using foundation daily for work, which is about five times a week, and I've been using the KVD one most of the time. I did try to work in the Hourglass sometimes, but it just doesn't last all day, especially when I'm rubbing my face, so, I dunno, naturally I keep reaching for the KVD. 

I'm actually falling more in love with my Infallible Matte foundation the more I use it. It feels so lightweight on my skin, but the coverage is excellent and the finish is more matte than KVD, which, like, wow! My forehead doesn't get shiny till late afternoon, even with all the sweating going on, which is more than I can say for the KVD. I wish I could repurchase it more easily, but I don't care - I'm gonna use it up anyway, if it comes to that. 

Oh, also I threw out the L'oreal Mineral Powder because let's be real, it was doing nothing for me and I haven't touched it in a year. 

Once I finish up one foundation, and if it happens to be the Infallible which I can't repurchase yet, I'll try the Laneige Pore Control BB Cushion. 

3. Low-buy

I messed up a little here. After my massive decluttering, I decided to reward myself with a bunch of organisers from Muji. I ended up spending about $120 on five PP drawers, three smaller PP containers, one PP carry box (for my skincare), and my prized possession - an acrylic drawer for my (considerable) lipstick collection. Ah, it looks so lovely. I'm so happy. I don't regret a thing. It makes my skincare routine much less kecoh, which is great. 

I also made my planned purchases for the month, which was the four Cosrx items I'd listed earlier. 

I did also mention that I wanted to try something from Pyungkang Yul, right? But the shipping from Ohlolly (clearly their exclusive retailer) was like $20-$30 (USD!), so that was an easy no. I'll survive on my Belif and maybe try a Muji travel size, thanks Ohlolly. 

4. Ride out once a week

Sorry, I really don't think I can keep to this goal. The inclement weather doesn't help my kemalasan. I can do a once-a-fortnight thing, if you will. 

5. Fun lip colour once a fortnight

Well, this is an easy one, I guess. Even with my chapped lips situation, I have the cream Vice in Venom, so I wear that like, every other Friday or so. Or whatever dates I can squeeze in. I wore it yesterday! Thank the Lord for traditional cream lipsticks. I may allow myself to buy one more next pay. 

6. One blog post a week

Still on track, as you can see! 

7. $1k to MKK fund

As I mentioned in my first para, I've saved the required $350 for this month, yay! I mean, Syukur Alhamdulillah. Two more months of $350 to go! Let's do this! 

Rants and raves

I'd mentioned my chapped lips in one of my earlier posts. And I'm sad to announce that they're back! It's my fault. I was reading on one of the subs (AB or SCA) that someone put the Hada Labo Gokujyun HA Lotion on their lips before an occlusive, and woke up with nice plump lips. So I decided to be gatal and try that. Yeah, one and a half days later, my lips started chapping again. This is even worse than the first time, because it's spread to my lower lip, and quite a large surface area, too. Lipstick looks horrible on now, even the cream ones I'd been exclusively wearing during Ramadhan. 

I'm sad and bingit sendiri because I love wearing my liquid lippies, and I miss them so much, especially L.U.V. Please wait for me, guys! I'm slathering lanolin as liberally as I can, and praying for the health of my lips too. Lesson learnt: Don't be slathering any kind of acid on your lips. 

In happier news, my skin seems happy with the changes I've introduced, which was mainly the Cosrx Pimple Clear Pads. So far, I've only done two rounds of that, about 2 days apart. Granted, my cheeks have gotten drier, but the whiteheads? white bumps? CCs? on my chin have all but disappeared. I can't believe I agonised over them for months and even tried to squeeze them out at lower points in my life, when this solution was just a subreddit away. Okay, yang lepas tu lepas. 

So with my dry cheeks, I have to be more careful to use a heavier moisturiser on those areas, and then seal them in with lanolin. Otherwise, I have no complaints! 

I'm itching to try my BHA and AHA Power Liquids, but I'm gonna give myself another 2 weeks on the Pimple Clear Pads before I introduce the AHA. 

Oh oh. I have to admit that I picked up some brushes at Sephora last week to up my eyeshadow game, and I regretfully got a Supergoop Defense Refresh Setting Mist after I met Holly and she excitedly demoed some of the products on me. I only realised, back at the office, that the reviews of the product were not-so-rave, and the tester spray really did leave odd beads of residue on my eyebrows and eyelashes. So there's no way I was keeping that. 

Thankfully, I managed to return the Supergoop today, and get the NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer in Caramel. Yes, I like to make like I'm darker than I really am. I don't think it looks odd. In fact, I don't think my foundations oxidise on me - they seem to get lighter the longer the wear time. I guess my skin chemistry makes the stuff reduce, then. :P

Well, till next fortnight, or earlier!

Check-in #1

Quick check-in on my Summer Lovin' Goals!

I haven't bought anything yet, but I have a Sephora mini-spree (for brushes) and an OhLolly mini-spree (Cosrx and one Pyungkang Yul item) planned for this billing cycle. I'm really proud of myself because I was at Tangs with Nat on Friday and there were some nice Alia Anggun tops in my size, and on sale, and I didn't even try them on! Also I was at Sephora twice this week and didn't buy anything, just swatched lots of stuff. So keep it up!

Next, I managed to put away $300 to my MKK fund. That's short of $50 for this month. Not too shabby, considering this month I had to renew Ferb's insurance and road tax!

Also, I didn't manage to ride Ferb last week because I wasn't feeling well, but I rode out for my brow appointment today so that's great!

I'm well on track to using up one foundation. I'm focusing on the KVD and the Hourglass Vanish stick.

Till next fortnight!

posted from Bloggeroid

Chapped lips

We're just entering the fourth and final week of Ramadhan, and it's been a pretty challenging one for me. Or rather, my body isn't reacting the way it normally does during a fast. 

Last week Monday, my lips started chapping, and they were raw by the time I got home. I blamed it on the Peripera lip tint (Ink Velvet) that I wore that day. Lip tints are the most drying of all lip cosmetics, right? So the next day I went back to a "normal" liquid lipstick, but my lips refused to heal. So I just had patches of raw skin - no flaking pieces of skin or anything, just raw open "wounds"? - which hurt like heck, especially since I couldn't hydrate myself throughout the day. Even reapplying copious amounts of my Vichy Aqualia Thermal every half hour or so didn't work. I went crazy last week trying to find something that would work. My Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub, Bite Agave Lip Mask, random Belif Rose Oil.. Nothing worked. On Saturday I was heading out for a date and removed my protective layer of Bite Agave to put on my Huda Beauty liquid lipstick in Famous. I reasoned that Huda Beauty's liquid lips are the most hydrating, from my past experience and also they don't dry down, so I'd be safe. But God no, my lips started stinging the moment I swiped the doefoot applicator on. That was upsetting. I immediately wiped it off and smeared on my UD Epigram. That didn't hurt. Cream lipsticks ftw when you have sad chapped lips. 

I don't believe this has ever happened to my lips before. It must be part of getting old or something. Usually when my lips dry out, they just start peeling. So you slap on a scrub, remove the dead skin, and you're good to go. But yeah. None of the usual remedies worked. 

So on Tuesday I got off work early, so I dropped by Mothercare at Tampines and bought a tube of Lansinol HPA Lanolin. It's actually marketed as a nipple cream, but because it's pure lanolin, you can use it for similar skin concerns, I suppose.  It appeared to be the top remedy from my r/skincareaddiction searches. I was a bit bingit at having to shell out 30-some bucks for a lip salve, but on hindsight, it is 40ml of product, so it's a lot cheaper than Bite Agave, even. And it's so thick, you only need the teensiest bit to put on your lips. That tube'll probably last me till I actually need it for my nipples, insya Allah. 

Anyway, I was really impatient to see results, but it's been slow-going. Sigh, this internet age, making us want more things faster. (Fine, okay, I won't try to shift the blame.) However, I think that it is working quite beautifully. My lips no longer sting when I eat pedas food, so that's a step ahead. And I've been using cream lipsticks religiously (I miss you guys, liquid lips!) to avoid exacerbating the problem, so I'm gonna try and put on a liquid lip tomorrow, and see how it goes. Then I'll go back to cream for the rest of the work week, so that I'm ready to rock an intense liquid lip on 1 Syawal. 

Watch this space!

Baaaack!

Hello, I'm back and with a skincare obsession and some real #goals! 

So I've joined the MakeupRehab subreddit, which has been really helpful and given a new, healthier perspective on my latest obsession. There was a post today on Summer Lovin' Goals, so I came up with some and I'll post them here, because I'm too shy to post on the sub. 

Duration: Now, 6 June to 3 September. 

Check-ins: Every Sunday

Here goes!

1. Winnow through my closet

I've done 2 - 3 rounds of this so far, this year. But I think there's still a lot of room for improvement, because I have so many clothes now that they're stacked to unsustainable heights. So I really want to do one giant, focused one this time. 

Guidelines:

• Mouldy, ripped
• Never wear it
• More than 2 sizes up or down

2. Finish up one foundation

Here's a list of the foundations I currently own: 

• KVD Lock-It in 62 (45% left)
• Hourglass Vanish Stick in Golden Tan (60%)
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Mineral Powder (no idea, you can't see through the container!)
• Maybelline Fit Me stick (98%)
• Nude by Nature BB Cream (90%)
• L'oreal Infallible 24-HR Matte (80%)
• L'oreal Mineral Powder (75%?)

That's way too many for someone who doesn't wear makeup half the time, thanks to Zumba. Soooo.. Let's try to finish up one of these soon! I'm favouring the top 3. I love the first 2, but the Vanish isn't long-wearing at all, and is more dewy (i.e. shiny on me), of course. And the Tarte one just doesn't do much for my face, so once I get rid of that, I will not repurchase. 

3. Low-buy

From here on out, I'm on a low-buy mode. This applies to clothes, makeup and skincare. It explicitly excludes date expenses, Uber, and food. I'm only allowed to buy replacements for whatever's used up or damaged (ripped pants, anyone?), and the following Cosrx items, because I plan to add them to my routine:

• Pimple clear pad
• Acne Master Patch
• BHA Blackhead Power Liquid
• AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid

4. Ride out once a week

Since I don't ride to work anymore, Ferb is tragically underutilised. I'll make sure I bring him out once a week, whether it's to the shops or the park, or on a date. 

5. Fun lip colour once a fortnight

I wear my brick reds, peachy nudes, and pinky nudes on the daily, whether it's for work or dates. I've almost forgotten how much I love my bright purples, dark purples, and vampy shades. I even bought a fresh tube of KVD's L.U.V. last month, but I haven't had a chance to open it. So I think that I'll have to make a conscious effort to work them into my makeup routine. Since I'll only be able to wear them on Fridays (if there are no meetings or interviews) and weekends, there's not much room to include them, so I've made it easy by putting fortnight as the frequency. 

6. One blog post a week

Starting with this post, I'll endeavour to put up one blog post a week, whether here on Blogger, Tumblr, Wordpress, or even Livejournal. As long as there are words accompanying the post, it's counted!

7. $1k to MKK fund

I saved the most ambitious goal for last. I'm hoping to save another $1,000 this summer for my MKK fund. I really do want to marry Cutes, and I want to be financially ready for such a commitment, so this would help immensely. This means I'll have to put away $350 each month, or thereabouts. 

Go Ain!

Well, that's it for my comeback post. I'll try to check back in the next couple Sundays or so! Toodles!

Whee! I'm like blogging on Shups' iTouch and it's loads of fun. Thanks Shups! Life's been tiring but loads of fun, I actually feel like I'm doing some good in this gorgeous store of mine. Been having lots of suppers with The Cute One. Hehe. It's so great that she rides too! Yey! And I haven't been clubbing in two weeks, how weird is that?! Ohwells. And I bet my favourite bouncer misses me. I miss you too, favourite bouncer! Okay I'm gonna change now cos I'm meeting Mai in awhile, toodles!