FOTD: Hello Kitty Glasses

I got these cute Hello Kitty glasses on Taobao some time ago, and couldn't resist bringing them out with me when I went out at the weekend.

I know I'm well into my twenties, but aren't they just cute? ^~^

 

Items used: 

Lips:

Figs & Rouge Rambling Rose Organic Balm

Skin:

Bourjois Healthy Mix in Shade 52

Cheeks:

Sleek Blush in Rose Gold

Eyes:

Generic eyeliner 

Not much make-up for a lazy Sunday out! Happy Monday everyone, hope you have a great week ahead!

Inspiration: Louis Vuitton Spring / Summer 2012

Images from the Spring / Summer 2012 runways have been littered throughout the media of late, there were, of course, beautiful, out-of-this-world makeup looks that accompanied great ready-to-wear collections (some of these were brilliant).

Of these, I think that I liked the Louis Vuitton Spring / Summer 2012 look the most, hands down. Dewy skin, nude / pink / pastel-y palettes and ultra-fluttery lashes contributed to a girly, flirty-yet-demure look that was so reminiscent of the '50s, a bit like Mad Men with a springtime palette. Even the ad campaign was shot in (what seemed like) an American-esque ice cream parlour! 

The ad campaign had a lovely look, which was structured, yet feminine. Cheeks were flushed pink just under the apples to highlight cheekbones, and eyes echoed the same pink colour to complement rosy lips. The look was pristine, almost, like women of the '50s - very Stepford Wives! 

Pat McGrath was the makeup artist for the show, and the look worked perfectly with feminine, uncomplicated colours on porcelain skin. This differed from the ad campaign shots because the focus was shifted from cheeks to the eyes. Blush was centered on the apples, instead of in that "racing stripe" area just under the cheekbones, and the makeup was a lot more natural (save for the fake lashes), contributing to an altogether girlier, almost ethereal look. Case(s) in point:

 

Anais Pouliot

 Kinga Rajzak

Liu Wen

Love the fluttery eyelashes! I reckon those would require more than one pair of fake lashes, and a sheeny primer / highlighter for that dewy glow. Amazed at how the makeup looks so different on all three models above, yet it works well for each of them. Definitely will be trying this out the next time I get the chance to go somewhere nice!

And just for kicks, here's the full runway show, which was the perfect mix of whimsy and feminine.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

FOTD: 18 February 2012

Husband went to spin music at Kinki's Bar at Customs House and brought me along. Here's my FOTD for the night - I lasted till 3am! I'm too old for partying all night!

Items used: 

Face: 

Holika Holika Face 2 Change Cream Starter

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Vanille

Skin Food Lime Secret Shine Base in #75 Lime Shine Gold (mixed with foundation)
Benefit Georgia Face Powder (to mattify my T-zone)
Liole Marbling Blusher in #1 Shining Aurora (to highlight my puny nose bridge!)

Eyes: 

Etude House Petit Darling Eyes Matte Eyeshadow in Black (used wet to keep my kohl eyeliner in check)

Holika Holika Eye Charm double eyelid tape 

M.A.C. Eye Kohl in Smolder

Brandless Eyelashes (bought in Malaysia) 

Japan Barbie Eye Diamond Brown

Sleek Storm i-Divine Palette (kindly gifted by the lovely Jian!) 

 

For interest's sake, here's how I used the palette - been dying to make use of it properly for ages!

I used (A) over the lid, followed by (B), which lent the whole lid a gorgeous, shimmery glow. Then I used (C) just under my brow and on the inner corners of my eyes. (D) and (E) were used to on the outer 'V' and to contour the crease of my eyes. Lastly, I used (F) to add a bit of depth to the middle of my eyes - applied just in the middle of my eyelid (Does that make sense?).

Cheeks:

Canmake Cream Cheek in #09 Pinky Rose

Benefit Coralista

Lips:

H&M Lip Butter in Fresh Pear and Sweet Pea

M.A.C. Lipstick in Myth 

And there we have it! Any thoughts? ^~^

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!

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? ^~^

Inspiration: Catwalk Liner Styles

credit: fuckyeah-hairandmakeup@tumblr
Which one is your favourite? Some are a little far-out, like the Thierry Mugler eye, but others, like Stella McCartney and Paul & Joe are pretty wearable!

Are you more fond of wearing pencil, or liquid liner?

Review: Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner

So, finally I have a review to share! It was raining cats and dogs when I was in Malaysia over the weekend, and I got the bright idea of doing a test on waterproof eyeliner. I'm a big fan of eyeliner, and never leave home without my handy-dandy gel eyeliner from Tony Moly (mentioned in my previous FOTD post). That said, I've been let down by eyeliner in the past, and am always on the lookout for more awesome, long-lasting formulas that are kind to the skin.
I came across the display for Make Up For Ever's ("MUFE") Aqua Liner, which was released in Asia this summer as the lynchpin for the "6 Summer Looks" booklet.

Now, I love MUFE displays, because they always look so professional and shiny, not to mention that you get to play around with the testers as much as you like without getting a snooty SA peering down her nose at you like you're a pleb who really should run along now if you're not going to make a purchase. ;~; It's refreshing to find a store that actually encourages experimentation, don't you think? ^^
Lovely, glitzy display. If you squint, you'll see the "RM84" price tag just below the testers. That's about SGD$34, although I honestly can't remember how much they go for in Singapore - let me check that out! In any case, the Aqua Liner range claims to be waterproof, smudgeproof - practically lifeproof, which is a tall order for any kind of eyeliner. Everyone knows that pencil liner smudges, liquid liner isn't good for anyone without a steady hand, and gel eyeliner can be fiddly at best, so Aqua Liner's claim sounds real good on paper. When coupled with hands-on-heart declarations of affection from the blogosphere, I decided I would have to go and experience the Aqua Liner phenomenon for myself.Aqua Liners come in 15 shades, and each has either a matte, iridescent or diamond finish. Just look at all the pretty colours in the image above! The display had all the colours out, so, naturally, I went for the brightest ones that caught my eye first. Behold:
From left: #5 Diamond Turquoise Blue, #9 Iridescent Fuschia,

#1 Diamond Gold, #13 Mat Black, #8 Iridescent Electric Purple, #4 Diamond Lagoon Green

The Claim:

MUFE claims that "This eye-catching, highly pigmented new collection of waterproof liquid eye liner was developed to outperform even in the most extreme environments." It contains acrylic copolymer, which is a hydrophobic macromolecule that forms a flexible film to lock water out, and has 50% more polymers than traditional eyeliner eyeliner formulations. To top it all off, Aqua Liners contain essential amino acids derived from apple juice for high-color intensity and bold pay-off.

The Acid Test:

Remember my post about walking in the rain? That was the test - a whole 2.4 km of smoky, sweaty, rainy conditions, that really put my eyeliner swatches through their paces. It was raining heavily the whole evening, and as I was browsing and eating (sometimes, with shame I admit, at the same time), the swatches got quite a battering.

What I loved:

The eyeliner applies like a dream. Application is smooth, sleek, and incredibly precise, which is quite a tough call for a lot of liquid eyeliners. This is because Aqua Liners have a foam applicator instead of a conventional brush, meaning that the former can pick up product and distribute it evenly in one, smooth stroke instead of you having to make a couple of haphazard ones. Coupled with the unique formula which combines high pigments and polymers, those with steady hands can get a clean, thin eyeliner line without much fuss. The handle of the applicator is pretty ergonomic, too, and fit easily in my hand without feeling clunky or awkward.

I also loved the colours - they were vibrant, opaque, and were true to the shades depicted on the eyeliner bottle. I liked how the ones with sparkle (in particular, #1 Diamond Gold, had tangible bits of glitter in them, and as you can see, #5 Diamond Turquoise Blue delivered a neon pop of colour which would have looked killer if I had applied it to my eyes. I only swatched each colour once, and the colours were so pigmented, I didn't need to do go over it again.

The eyeliner dried quickly - I had barely made it to the lipgloss stand (which was just two steps away) before the swatches had dried and were practically unsmudgeable (I did try). Removal was also easy, because the eyeliner rubs away with soap and water without leaving any ugly smudges and streaks. Champion!

What I didn't love:

It didn't survive the pasar malam. The eyeliner stuck fast when I was safe and dry indoors, but once I got caught in the rain (it was pretty heavy, but I had an umbrella) and started coming into contact with oil, grease and dirt, some colours didn't cut the mustard. See the swatch below:


This was after four hours of hanging out in the rain. As you can see the blue-green based shades (#5 and #4) bled right through, seeping into the fine lines of my hand. I can imagine this getting pretty messy if this happens on your eye. However, the other colours held fast. In particular, the #13 Mat Black impressed me with its staying power as it remained pristine and held up to the trials of the day.

That said, I think for the price, you don't get a whole lot of product (each eyeliner is 0.058 oz), so it is pretty expensive. In particular, if you're after a good, strong blue / green eyeliner with staying power under more extreme conditions, you might have to continue your search because they do tend to bleed. However, for regular use, I think the MUFE Aqua Liners more than live up to their claim. Just make sure you're 100% sure they won't run if you're going to be wearing it to the beach!

Here's the complete list of Aqua Liner colours:

• #1 Diamond Gold
• #3 Iridescent Emerald Green
• #4 Diamond Lagoon Green
• #5 Diamond Turquoise Blue
• #6 Iridescent Navy Blue
• #7 Diamond Black Purple
• #8 Iridescent Electric Purple
• #9 Iridescent Fuchsia
• #10 Iridescent Red
• #11 Diamond Burgundy
• #12 Mat Mocha
• #13 Mat Black
• #14 Diamond Multicolor Black
• #15 Iridescent Anthracite
  

And so there you go! Be a fan of MUFE Singapore at their webbie, and for more information, visit MUFE's main website.

Which brand of eyeliner do you swear by? ^~^

Ingredients List:

Aqua (Water), Butylene Glycol, Styrene/Acrylates/Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Bis-PEG/PPG-16/16 PEG/PPG-16/16 Dimethicone, Sorbitol, Laureth-2 Benzoate, Sodium Laureth-12 Sulfate, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Ammonium Hydroxide, Sodium Cocoyl Apple Amino Acids, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sodium Polyacrylate, Coconut Acid, Hexylene Glycol, Trisodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Benzyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Methylparaben, Potassium Sorbate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Mica, Silica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, [??? CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77000 (Aluminum Powder), CI 77007 (Ultramarines), CI 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), CI 77288 (Chromium Oxide Greens), CI 77289 (Chromium Hydroxide Green), CI 77400 (Bronze Powder), CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77510 (Ferric Ferrocyanide), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)].

FOTD: Kuala Lumpur

So... how is everyone? Hope that those who were able to made good use of the Hari Raya long weekend! I have a little bit of a confession to make - after I returned from my work trip to Shanghai (which just about took everything out of me), the husband and I decided to go on a short trip to Kuala Lumpur with my parents, and younger brother.

To put things in context, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is just a couple of hours' drive away from Singapore, where we live. This weekend seemed like a nice chance to nip over the border for a spot of good food, good shopping and good company. Three whole days of it!

I'm still in the process of taking pictures of what I got on the trip, managed to get a couple of good / interesting deals! In the meantime, here's my FOTD for last Saturday. The day's activities involved trekking along Malaysia's longest night market (or pasar malam) in the rain, and trawling the malls for bargains, so it called for easy, breezy makeup that would last the whole day.

Items used:

Base / Primer: Holika Holika Face 2 Change Cream Starter, Skin Food Aloe Sun BB Cream in Shade 2

Eyes: Koji Eyetalk, Tony Moly Backstage Gel Eyeliner Daiso Lashes (Volume Type) #11

Cheeks: Benefit Coralista

Lips: Etude House Milk Screw No. 3 Berry Milk topped with Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine (gives you sweet breath, too!)

Highlighter: Lioele Marbling Blusher Shining Aurora #1