NOTD

- ZOYA Paige


I was looking for a "work appropriate deep purple-red coloured nail polish" and found this. It is mauve purple and is perfect for fall. The colour is on a darker side for me to wear it for work but it looks very mature and elegant. I love zoya nail polishes because they have good brush and the colour is normally pigmented. This one is two coats -very opaque and doesn't seem like it's going to chip anytime soon even though I wash dishes everyday. Good stuff.

October 2011 favourites

I cannot believe that I was away from this blog for about a year. I missed how much I enjoyed posting about the products I like.

Here are my favourites of October 2011:



Perfume: Christian Dior j'adore

I thought about buying j'adore many times. Whenever I was browsing at the perfume section, the first one that I tried on a small strip of paper was always j'adore. The smell reminded me of an elegant, working woman. I didn't buy it because I was afraid that I wasn't able to pull it off. But now I regret for not buying it sooner. It smells heavenly. It lasts whole day and stays on my clothes too. It just makes me feel confident and sophisticated. I finally realized that I am mature enough to enjoy this scent.

Lip balm: Cherry Culture Lip Balm in Bubble Gum

Thanks to cherryculture.com because this free lip balm you included in my recent package is awesome! As I wrote previously about my lip balm addiction, I have used numbers of lip balms. Not so many of them were up to my expectation so this free lip balm surprised me. It's very moisturizing and tastes yummy too. I like it so much that I asked them when will they have the free lip balm promotion again. (They told me to wait until next year.)




Foundation: Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions in 02 Fresh Ivory

My HG foundation. It's got great coverage and works well on acne. It makes my skin look smooth for many hours (12 hours +) without getting oily on my t-zone. I love how it doesn't make me feel like I am wearing makeup cause it's so light. If you have combination and acne prone skin, you would love this foundation. I just finished the second bottle.

Concealer: Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Light 4-5

I like the dough foot applicator. It blends well and conceals acne scar, discolourlation and dark eye circles. I love the price too! ($5.99 on sale)

Blush: Hard Candy Baked Blush in Living Doll

Dolly pink blush. I like to apply this by tapping on the apples of my cheek only (not blending towards my ears) with the flat top brush. I look younger when I wear this blush.

Highlighter: Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle

This makes my skin look dewy and healthy. Many people complemented that I have great skin since I started waring this highlighter. However, I try to avoid this when I have acne on my cheek because it would make it stand out.




Eyebrows: Mac Eyebrow Pencil in Lingering

No sharpening, no hassle. The colour is lighter than what I normally wear but that's because I dyed my hair in light colour this summer. The strokes are quite thin so I normally blend with the angled brush a bit to make it look natural.

Eye primer: e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer

HG primer. It prevents from creasing for whole day. I have Too Faced Shadow Insurance but I reach for this more because I know that I can just use it up and buy it again for an amazing price!!! (I have two backups too.)


Eye primer: NYX Jumbo Pencil in 617 Iced Mocha

This is my recent obsession. This product helped me a lot this month to get ready quickly for work. I just applied e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer and applied this all over my eyelid and blended the edges. Then I packed Maybelline or Covergirl single eyeshadow on top of it and blended again. That's it. I didn't have to use different colours -somehow this cream eyeshadow created dimensions to my eyes when I applied.

Eye shadow (single): Maybelline Expert Wear in Silken Taupe & Covergirl
Eyeenhancers in 760 Tapestry Taupe

I am in love with taupe colour. Work appropriate, sexy, not over the top and chic. I wear this almost everyday at work. Maybelline one is a bit lighter taupe compared to the Covergirl one.






Eye shadow (palette): Stila Naturaleyes Eye Shadow Palette & NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in 01 Jazz Night

Stila palette is gorgeous! I was actually thinking about getting NARS Naked Palette but I gave up on getting it in Canada cause it was always sold out at Sephora. So I bought the Stila palette instead. The colour is all wearable. The shadow itself is rich and very pigmented. If you are looking for a versatile (neutral or smokey) good quality palette, I would highly recommend this.

As for the NYX 10 color eyeshadow palette, I have been using only the two colours -the dusty purple colours on the right side.I wear these when I feel like wearing purple eyeshadow to work. It's a subtle purple so I don't need to worry about wearing something too colourful.




Eye liner: NYX Retractable Eye Liner in 04 Brown

All my favourite eyeliners need to be sharpened (Clinique Cream Shaper for Eye, Stila Kajal Eyeliner and Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil) everytime I use so I got tired. I needed something quick and easy when I am in hurry. So I gave this a go and I'm glad that I did. The consistency is creamy but it doesn't smudge or transfer to my upper lid even though I don't blend it out (which is rare to me). The only cons is that it doesn't last in water lines.

Mascara: Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara in 01 Black & Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in 01 Black

Although I am in love and hate relationship with this mascara, I used it a lot this month. It makes my lashes look super long but the consistency is a bit dry for me. We will see how the relationship develops.

Clinique bottom lash mascara is brilliant for those who have tiny bottom lashes like me. It takes time to build up but application is definitely easier than the regular brushes. I used to have to correct my "accidents" with q-tip on my bottom lashes.






Lipstick: MAC Viva Glam V (swatch: right)
This is my go-to lipstick for work. It looks a bit brown in the tube but when I apply it on my lips, it looks like a natural pink colour with shimmer. It goes with any eye makeup so I don't have to think about it. I love this colour!

Lipgloss: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in 008 Peony (swatch: left)
I love this lipgloss. Peachy pink colour with the gold (fine) sparkles. I wear this lip gloss on many lipsticks that I own. It instantly creates feminine, glossy look! Of course, this and MAC Viva Glam V goes very well together too.




Nail polish: Essie 764 Lady Like

I love muted coloured nail polishes. This one is a gray-ish purple colour. When I bought this, I was thinking "oh wow this is such a cute colour... I can wear it to work too." But when I got home and looked at my nail polish rack, I found out that it is almost identical to my all-time favourite nail polish from Borghese called Milano Taupe. I guess I love this colour that much.

NOTD

- China Glaze Nail Polish in Fifth Avenue

Muted rosy cream colour. It's pretty and work appropriate. I like China Glaze nail polishes because they are not streaky and the cream colours are opaque with two coats. However, I HATE their brushes -way too thin and flimsy. It takes longer to apply compared to OPI because of its brush. I wish China Glaze brushes were bigger like OPI's.

Lip balm collection

(from left to right)

- Kiehl's Lip Balm #1
I found out about this lip balm when I was in highschool. I used to drop by this store called Sony Plaza in Tokyo after the class almost everyday and they carried products from Kiehl's. They had all kinds of imported items from North America(I used to buy Twix from there too). The lip balm is simply amazing. It is super moisturizing and does make your lips softer. Downsides are: too glossy and unsanitary to stick finger into the jar. But they do have stick ones so I guess that could be solved. One of my favourite lip balms of all time for sure.

- Muru Muru Butterm
I bought this at the airport when I visited my family in Japan last year. It was a "top seller lip balm" at that time. It's supposed to moisturize like butter... which I found a strange description. It's an okay lip balm. It's not super moisturizing but does a job if I load it up on my lips.

- Softlips in Framboise Friande $ Strawberry Sherbet
I've heard good things about these so I gave them a try. The first thing I noticed was the flavour -smells amazing and taste yummy too. It is somewhat moisturizing but I HATE how it's so thin. It takes forever to finish applying this lip balm because of the tiny surface. For that reason, I have not used it for a while now(they are in my car for a lip emergency).

- Nivea Milk & Honey
This is my number one lip balm at the moment. I love how it moisturizes my lips very well and also good to apply before lipsticks. The surface is big enough to cover my lips quickly too. Though the flavour is questionable (to me, it doesn't taste milk & honey at all), the lasting power is awesome. Highly recommended.

- Blistex Lip Infusion
This has an interesting applicator. It's got the silver roller so the lip balm itself is liquid. I was looking for a menthol lip balm before and I found this -it was soothing for two seconds and that's it. It's like licking my lips... it gets dry right away. Not good.

- Blistex Silk & Shine
Shine, maybe. Silk.... I am not sure. It smells bad to me. It's like the bathroom odor spray. I cannot take it when the lip balm smells bad.

- Shiseido Water in Lip
Again, I bought this in Japan. It's very smooth and soothing. I like it. Too bad I cannot buy it in Canada.

- Menturm Mizu in Lip
Mizu means water in Japanese. The package says it contains aloe inside and makes my lips shiny looking. I haven't used it yet but I am expecting it to be good since Menturm is a famous company that makes good first aid products.

- Shiseido Water in Lip (La France flavour)
I had to get this when I saw it at the drug store in Japan. As I said, I liked the original Shiseido Water in Lip. Now they have the La France flavour!!! Bravo Shiseido. For those who don't know what La France is, it's a type of pair. I want to try it but I am going to wait a bit longer... :)

NOTD

- OPI Tickle my France-y

The very famous nude colour from OPI is indeed a stunning colour. It applies smoothly and not streaky at all. I love colours like this. Appropriate for work and yet the colour is not boring.

I am always in search for work friendly colours :)

Favourite rings

- Swarovski Nirvana Ring

- Swarovski Mint Chic Ring

They are my favourite rings. I wear one of them everytime I go out.
I remember when I was trying them out at the Swarovski store -my boyfriend rolled his eyes and said "WTH, TOO BIG". He always knew that I loved shiny stuff but I guess he never expected me to pick such gigantic piece. So I desperately said to him, "I know it's big. But they are so chic. Just look at the name. It's a girl thing hun."

He complained a couple of times that he couldn't hold my hand properly because of their sizes but I just laughed. I was too happy to see them on my fingers. Also, I couldn't believe how many people actually took my hand and made complements on them.

Here is one thing I learned about Swarovski rings -not every ring will stay in a permanent collection so if you found a piece that you like, get it before it's gone. I had such hard time finding the Mint Chic ring for that reason.

Jewelry like these would never go out of style :)

NOTD

- Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Plum's The World

Another perfect colour for fall. I picked up this nail polish because of its muted grayish purple colour. But I couldn't believe it when I painted my nails with it -it was not gray at all. It was more like muted brownish dark purple.

Although the actual colour was different from what I thought, I'm enjoying this colour on my nails. It's great for fall and winter.

Also, I should mention that the bottle of this nail polish is amazing. It's got the black rubber band around the brush handle so I have steady hand when I paint my right hand even.

Highly recommended!