Tuesday 31 January 2012

Birthday Week!

It's my birthday this Saturday, and the husband has declared this whole week my Birthday Week! 

Birthday Week Day 1 on Monday was a lovely dinner at Alley Bar at Peranakan Place in Somerset. 

Alley Bar is literally located in an alley backlane between two conservation houses on Emerald Hill. It's longer than it is wide, dim with warm candlelight, and lined with hanging lamps and a gilt-framed mirror right at the end. I didn't take any photographs, and the internet doesn't seem to be throwing up any good images, but here's the best one I found:



I'd really like to go back for another visit. ^~^


Birthday Week Day 2 was even better - today Hubby ordered these off ASOS for me:

Paul & Joe Ornamental Makeup Collection in 002 Noel


 Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

I'm so excited - can't wait to see what else happens in the days leading up to Saturday! Needless to say I'm also trying to guess what he's gotten me for my birthday, heehee~ This week is going to whizz past!  

In the meantime, random pictures from when I had a canter out at the weekend:


As you can see I got bored with adding watermarks halfway. Sigh! ^~^ Have a great week ahead!!

 

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Wishlist: Fun Things From Sephora

It's a pity I'm not allowed to receive "hongbao" (red packets with money) at Chinese New Year anymore now that I'm married - otherwise I'd definitely be trying to spend my "hongbao" money on these!

Oh, if only Sephora shipped to Singapore~! T___T
 











Monday 23 January 2012

FOTD: Chinese New Year

Sorry for the long absence, blogosphere! It's been a busy week at work, and I barely had time to keep my head above water - so it's nice to be back! ^~^ It's the Chinese Lunar New Year weekend, so to all readers who celebrate, Gong Xi Fa Cai in the Year of the Dragon! Let's have a prosperous one! 

Today my family, hubby and I woke up early and headed out to visit relatives and friends.  Here's my FOTD, along with my Vivienne Westwood Anglomania x Melissa jelly shoes ^~^





Items used: 

Face: 
Holika Holika Face 2 Change Cream Starter
Skin Food Aloe Sun BB Cream in Shade 2
Skin Food Lime Secret Shine Base in #75 Lime Shine Gold

Eyes: 
Etude House Petit Darling Eyes Matte Eyeshadow in Black
Holika Holika Eye Charm double eyelid tape
Brandless Eyelashes (bought in Malaysia)

Cheeks: 
Benefit Benetint
Benefit Georgia

Lips: 
Benefit Benetint
Beauty Credit Lovely Lipgloss in Very Strawberry 

A favourite scent of mine lately (that I used today as well) is Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy. It smells gorgeous!


 

Hope that everyone has a great Chinese New Year!

Sunday 15 January 2012

Tokidoki Sodashop Palette

While the husband and I were in town searching for dinner on Friday, we came across a Sephora outlet. When I had a peek in, this cute palette by Tokidoki caught my eye: 


It's called the Sodashop Palette, and retails for S$69.90 at the Sephora outlet in Takashimaya. I thought the packaging was adorable - look at the '50s diner-esque designs! Sugary sodas, sneakers, and even a little couple (who look remarkably like Tony and Sandy from Grease) doing the twist at the bottom! The tin even comes with a cute Tokidoki magnet in the shape of a pennant (shown above) and a whole sheet of character magnets which are tucked inside the tin. ^~^


Upon closer inspection, the palette contains 12 mini eyeshadows, a Perfetto burgundy eyeliner (Carina), and a nail file in the shape of Sandy, an iconic (if you will) Tokidoki character. The whole thing is flanked by a decorative mirror on the inside cover. All in all, it's really cute! 


The 12 shadows come in the following shades, and come with a plastic overlay/insert, containing the names of the shadows, as well as cute Tokidoki drawings accompanying them:
  • Skull Donut (nude vanilla)
  • Patatino (shimmery pale golden peach)
  • Riposino (medium brown)
  • Ciccio (bronzy gold brown)
  • Mummetto (dark brown)
  • Mozzarella (shimmery dark brown)
  • Tulipano (pale lilac)
  • Nancy Rocks (shimmery purple)
  • Romeo (plum)
  • Ciotolina (shimmery mossy green)
  • Arrosto (dark charcoal gray with shimmer)
  • Furbina (dark purple with shimmer)
For the most part, I thought the neutral shades in the palette were lovely, but I wasn't sold 100% on the blue-y. purple-y shades. That might be down to personal preference though, because I have, shall we say, a history with blue-y shades (haha!).

Soo from Makeup Tokki did a post on this palette way back in March of last year - Sephora is streets ahead of us over there! 

I had a poke around on Sephora's website to see what other kinds of Tokidoki goodies they have in store. My favourite by far was this set of brushes: 


Tokidoki Pittura Brush Set, US$35

These were sold in Singapore Sephora stores over the Christmas period - and sold out real quick! I would have loved to get my hands on these!

Are you a fan of Tokidoki cosmetics? ^~^

Haul: January 2012 Bellabox

First off, I have sad news. My camera has decided to throw in the towel, so goodbye to pretty, sharp photographs until I can get a new one! 

Does anyone have any good digicam recommendations? I'm open to suggestions!

I wanted to share some pictures that I took of my very first Bellabox! Bellabox is a service where, for S$15 a month, you'll get a curated box of 4 to 5 deluxe samples from high-end brands, ranging from health & beauty samples to fragrance, make-up and lifestyle products. Much like Birchbox and Glamabox.

A part of me thinks that this may very likely be a fad, but hey, as long as the samples are good, I don't mind paying the monthly S$15. ^~^ Here's what I got in the January 2012 Bellabox. 

Picspam ahead! First off, the lovely packaging:






The theme of this month's box was "A New Year, A New You". Samples leaned towards organic, holistic enrichment of the body and soul. Nice, because these are unlikely to break any New Years' Resolutions! 

Samples were wrapped with tissue paper, topped with a pretty sticker. Felt like I was opening a present! 




Belif Hydra Sebum Control Essence (10ml; 50ml retails for S$57)

Hydra sebum controls the release of excess sebum and oil in your skin, making the pores smaller and leaving your skin feeling dry on the outside but soft and moisturised on the outside.

This looks really cool. I've always wondered if these oil control products work (besides Tea Tree Oil), and am keen to give this a shot!



Dr Jart BB Cream (15ml; 50ml retails for S$33)

This unique triple action formula containing innovative active ingredients aims at naturally covering skin blemishes, protecting skin from UV rays and activating skin rejuvenation. It also smoothes wrinkles and fine lines while providing nourishment to the skin. 

I've heard so much about this! Can't wait to give it a try - there was a time when everyone was using Dr Jart BB Cream. Really pleased with this one. ^^


Dr Dennis Gross Extra Strength Alpha Beta Peel (1 packette; 10 packettes retail for S$71)

This do-it-yourself beauty treatment gives you all the ingredients, expertise and secrets straight from the dermatologist's office. This amazing product is anti-aging, brightening, complexion clearing and perfect or all skin types. You will see immediate results for a radiant and glowing complexion.

Am interested to try this out. I've never done anything remotely resembling a skin peel before, so this should be fun, especially when it claims to give awesome results. 

Herban Essentials Towelette (Lemon, 20 towelettes retail for S$18)

Herban Essentials essential oil towelettes are made with the highest quality pure essential oil, which not only makes them smell amazing, but makes them naturally antibacterial and antiseptic as well. Available in Lemon, Orange and Lavender. 

This looks a bit like a high-end wet wipe to me, but I'll keep this handy in my purse and we'll see how well it works!


Pangea Organics Lip Balm (Pyrenees Lavender with Cardamom, retails for S$14.50)

Pangea Organics have created a long lasting lip balm that deeply moisturises, nourishes and protects lips. There are 3 flavours available: Egyptian Fennel with Grapefruit and Sweet Orange, Italian Red Mandarin with Rose and Pyrenees Lavender with Cardamom.

Definitely most pleased with this sample. It's full-size, and I'm a fiend for lip stuff, so this is perfect! The other 2 flavours sounded a little more exciting, but lavender doesn't seem too bad either. Can't wait to try this out!


All in all, I enjoyed exploring the contents of my January 2012 Bellabox, and am looking forward to roadtesting the products - and receiving next months' Bellabox! 

Do you use any sample services like Bellabox? Share your experiences in the comments! ^~^

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Haul + Review: Benefit Georgia and Posietint + Swatches

Recently I got my hands on Benefit's Posietint and (the now-discontinued) Georgia from an online seller. The whole shebang came brand new and packed, albeit a little precariously, in a medium-sized envelope. 


See what I mean? A little bit dog-eared, but since the contents were safe and sound, no harm done. When I got the package undone, this was what I received: 


The seller kindly gave me a free green tea mask in addition to my purchases. Result! 



Benefit claims that Posietint is a "poppy-pink tinted lip and cheek stain", that provides a "kiss of see-through" colour to "brighten cheeks & lips". Its "liquid-gel formula blends to just-picked perfection on all complexions and lasts for hours". 

The description sounded lovely enough to me, so I decided to give it a whirl. I already use Benefit Benetint (and have some UK drugstore alternative as well) - the consistency of which I love - so I figured this might be a pinker version of that. 


What I loved: 

It definitely lends a pinker, cuter pop of colour to the skin (although I didn't really get the poppy reference - I always thought poppies were red), and thankfully it is translucent enough to stand out just right on both tan and dark skin. 

I tried this out on the back of my hand, which was suitably tanner thanks to a week out in the sunshine and it still stood out, which was great because on tanned Asian skin, lighter blushes - especially those loaded with more glitter than pigment - tend to just disappear into the skin. So this was great for that. Plus, it lends a flushed look that is more natural and less severe than Benetint.
 
What I didn't love: 

The consistency. The Posietint formula seems gloopier than Benetint. Where Benetint has a light, watery consistency, Posietint has a thicker, more opaque look to it. Perhaps it has to do with the pink colour pigments, but it applied almost opaque on my hand (as seen in the above photos). 

I think the consistency might be its one drawback though, and should be applied by make-up novices with care, as gloopy make-up tends to apply unevenly, giving that quite awful racing stripe look.That said, I feel that I should give Posietint one more chance, because it is equally likely that the product dried unevenly when I paused to take the above photos. 

Nevertheless, Posietint is good as a base for creating a denser, pink cheeked look, or on its own for a natural, healthy flush. If applied with care, the result can be good!


Georgia

Georgia was discontinued by Benefit in early 2011 due to (I assume) poor sales. To be honest, I never dallied very long by Georgia at the Benefit counters when choosing blushers. This was purely because there were so many other options on offer - Coralista, Sugarbomb, Bella Bamba... amongst the myriad shades and concoctions, Georgia very easily got ignored. 

The funny thing with Benefit is that they call all their blusher-type things "face powders", which is suitably ambiguous. This includes bronzers (Hoola, Dallas), blushes (Coralista, Sugarbomb), and those that are neither (Georgia, and at a push, Dandelion). In fact, you'd probably be forgiven for getting one or the other confused. 


As you can see from the swatches above, Georgia is warm-toned, peachy in colour, and would do perfectly as a finishing/pressed face powder. 

What I loved: 

It's a lovely colour, and applies nicely to give good coverage all over the face. I like how it's just a little bit pigmented, and I felt that it evened out my skin tone and giving me just a little bit of a healthy glow - peachy, almost - pun intended!

What I didn't love: 

The packaging. Benefit face powders are all packaged in these little square cardboard boxes and come with the characteristic little square brushes. These are great for blushers, where you need to pack on colour for a small area - the brushes work excellently to pick up and transfer colour where it is needed. However, using the same brush (and surface area) on the whole face severely limits application. I switched the square brush out for a normal retractable brush (mine is from the Body Shop), and the powder went on like a dream. 

Do you use Benefit products? Which ones are your favourites?

Tuesday 10 January 2012

SOTD: Defying Gravity - Wicked


It's been a busy kind of week, so hi there! I've missed everyone! Work has gotten intense of late, but I'm excited, because hubby and I are going to the theater on Thursday evening to see Wicked!

Wicked is showing at Marina Bay Sands here in Singapore, and I've been waiting literally since last year to watch it. Can't wait! I'll likely be embarrassing myself singing along to all the songs (like I did when I went to watch The Lion King) to songs like the ever-popular Defying Gravity:







Isn't the Elphie Pullip cute? What is your favourite musical?