Sample Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Moisture-Rich Radiance Fluid Makeup SPF 15

I've been enjoying using Hada Labo BB Moisture Cream as my foundation for several months now. While I do use it as my every day foundation, I thought that I'd test out some regular foundations, especially as summer will be ending and the cooler winter months is upcoming with drier environmental conditions.

While I was in Nordstroms picking up a CP order, I decided to take a look around. I've tried many different brands of foundations and haven't found one that I really liked. One brand that I hadn't tried is Chanel. After chatting with the Chanel SA letting her know my preferences and what I think is my color tone, I got color-matched and was told that 035 Soft Bisque in Vitalumiere Moisture-Rich Radiance Fluid Makeup seemed like the best match for me. She gave me  a generous sample container of this foundation and I've been playing with it for the last few days.

Color 035 Soft Bisque. The color in the picture is almost accurate although I think that in person it shows up a bit lighter and pink. The color definitely doesn't show up accurately on any of the websites I checked (Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus or Chanel). 


According to Nordstrom's website, this foundation is the best-selling Chanel foundation which instantly revitalizes your complexion upon application and throughout the day. It contains ingredients which specifically targets dry, dull and uneven skin and moisturizing agents to provide hydration and comfort. Marine extract helps to boost cell energy to enhance radiance and light-reflecting pigments smooth away imperfections, creating a soft-focus effect.


I first applied my current HG primer, Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream in Natural Green. I also concealed using Canmake Cover and Stretch Concealer under my eyes and Dermablend Cover Cream on dark spots.

Here I've applied the foundation to half of my face.

It is applied to <=this half of my face

It appears that the color matches my current skin tone quite well. There is barely any visible line showing where the foundation isn't applied.


I lightly set it using Cle de Peau loose translucent powder.

I then finish the rest of my makeup by applying blush.

This is after 8 hours of wear with absolutely no touchup.

My thoughts:

This foundation is very moisturizing. It is probably the first foundation in many years that seems to be a great color match for me. It is also one of the first foundations that I have found that really does not settle into or bring out fine lines. I'm actually quite impressed by that fact. It is definitely luminous and dewy, which I really like. I had actually used Guerlain Meteorite Pearls to set the foundation the first two times I used it and realized that I it was too luminous and bordering on making me look oily, although I wasn't. That's when I switched to Cle de Peau translucent loose powder. It doesn't make my face look matte but lets the luminosity show through without appearing oily.

The one thing that is a minus is that even with the primer, the foundation doesn't last as long as I'd like it too. After only 8 hours of wear, it has faded and will need to be touched up for longer wear. I've been able to wear Hada Labo BB Moist Cream for much longer without experiencing any fading or needing to touch up.

I'm sitting on the fence as to whether or not to purchase this foundation. It is definitely a higher priced foundation, but will not be the most expensive foundation that I have ever purchased. What are your thoughts?

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes Mascara

Lancome Hynose Doll Lashes Mascara finally got released here in the U.S. I was eagerly awaiting its release ever since I read a review of it on Makeup For Professional Asian Women. Jamilla liked it a lot and it seemed like it was a really great mascara.

It comes in only one formulation, which is washable, not waterproof. This is perfect for me as I prefer not to use waterproof mascaras. I don't like having to tug at my delicate lashes to remove mascara.

I love the shape of the brush as it helped to reach the tiny lashes in the corner of my eyes. It also grabbed my lashes and coated it well without clumping.

Unfortunately, I ended up not liking this mascara at all. It did not curl my lashes and even when I curled it, it didn't hold my curl. My eyelashes are very stubborn so it uncurls very easily. Waterproof mascara is actually better for me since my lashes don't uncurl with waterproof mascara.  Another reason why I didn't like this mascara is that it actually gave me panda eyes. Again, I wouldn't have this problem if it was a waterproof mascara but I haven't ever had a problem with any mascara smudging and giving me panda eyes. I didn't even apply it to my lower lashes but it still left smudge traces under my eyes. When I put my finger by my eyelashes and blinked, the mascara also smudged onto my finger.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed in this mascara. I really love the brush though. Have any of you readers tried it? What is your opinion of it?

*Kat*

Gift Review: FANCL Skincare Travel Set

I had received this from my friends when they returned from Japan a few months ago. As I've been trying to use my stash, I finally finished up the toner that I was using and decided to open this set up.

Inside a top slide zip bag, is a bottle each of Mild Cleansing Oil, Washing Powder, Lotion and Milky Lotion. I do have a full-sized bottle of the Mild Cleansing Oil that I'm using so I have put the mini bottle away in my travel bag, along with the mini bottle of Washing Powder. I was also given a full-sized bottle of the Washing Powder that I haven't opened yet. I will be traveling to Las Vegas in October so I will use these two items when I am on my trip.

The Lotion, which is a toner, I really like! It is quite moisturizing. There are toners which have some alcohol in them so it is drying. Other toners that I have used feel like it is just water and I don't seem to reap any benefits from it. I think that once I am finally done using my stash (or at least most of my stash), I will purchase a full-sized bottle of this. I like it that much.

The Milky Lotion is the moisturizer. It is very light and while I do like it, I feel that it's a bit too light for my preference.

I love having mini products like this when I'm trying products for the first time. Usually the tiny little sample packages have too little product in it to be able to do a good trial run. Mini bottles usually provide just enough product to be able to test it out long enough to get a good idea of how good (or not so good) a product is.

*Kat*

Improvised Light Box

There are bloggers who will do a weekly post with links to other blogs/posts that they have read and found to be interesting. I love reading these posts because it's impossible to follow and read all the blogs that are out there so I really appreciate seeing links to interesting reads.

One of the ones that I read without fail is cosmeddicted's Weekly Reads. Last  week's (#25 August 11, 2011) Weeky Reads featured How To Build A Light Box For Better Pictures by Not A Rich Girl. Please take a chance to read this post because I found it quite interesting and decided that I wanted to build one too.

Not A Rich Girl used a cardboard box but I wanted something that I could dismantle so that it wouldn't take up space while not being used. Not wanting to spend money and going with the "using my stash" mentality, I thought about what I could do. I have lots of white fabric, so that's not a problem and I found a stash of dowels that had been cut down to about 20" lengths.

The dowels had been used in another project that I did a few years back.

All that I needed was to get elbow fittings for the corners.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find elbow fittings that small enough to accomodate the size of my dowels. The smallest was 3/4" fittings and I think that my dowels are 1/2". I also didn't feel like spending $1.68 per elbow fitting--I would need eight.

Thinking about it more, a light bulb went off in my head. A few weeks ago I had bought an organizer system to put my different makeup containers on.

Most of these interlocking cube systems are usually made out of wire grids but this one is made with a frosted plastic. I can take it apart and put it together as needed and with the frosted plastic, there's no need to attach fabric except for the inside background.

I can also use more pieces of it to make a bigger box if needed.

I'm still playing around with it a bit as I wanted to use a light-colored fabric for the background but it seems that white may be the best for the brightest pictures. I'm also playing around with a couple of different lighting choices. Pictured here are regular lamps but I also have a couple of LED lights that I'm testing out.

This DIY (kind of) light box cost me nothing since I bought the set to use for my makeup. I'm using the left over pieces for the light box. I'm happy that I was able to apply "use my stash" to this.

What do you think?

*Kat*

Gift/Purchase Review: Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream

Recently a reader and I traded a couple of packages. In hers, she included a sample of the Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream in 2 Natural Green. I tried it and liked it so much that I made a purchase from Pretty & Cute. I ordered it late at night on August 10th, so it was probably already early morning on the 11th in Oregon. My order was shipped out on the 11th and I received it in the mail yesterday, the 15th! That is really quick service! This is probably only the 2nd time that I've ordered from them but I've never had anything but a pleasant experience.

It comes in a really cute pink container.

Love the fact that it has a pump dispenser!

This is the ingredients:

This is the instructions:

Although it says that it can be used as a BB cream foundation, I find it a bit too light to be used that way but it's great as a primer. Because it is green, it is color correcting especially for any redness.

Bare faced

I find that it evens out my skin tone and even helps to diminish the light darkness under my eyes and helps to lighten the dark spot on my cheek.

Right after application

After BB cream has been on for at least 10 minutes

According to another site, the vitamins in it are: A, B5, C, E, F and H. Vitamin A (Retinol) helps to make the skin elastic. Vitamin B5 (Pantenol), controls oil and moisture into the skin. Helps to make moist and smooth skin texture. Vitamin C (Ascorbyl Glucoside) helps to improve from within, dull skin tone. Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) helps to make your skin moisturized and healthy. Vitamin F (Tocopheryl Linoleate) helpst to protect you skin from external radicals. Vitamin H (Biotin) improves rough skin for a smoother skin texture. 

As a makeup base, I find that it really helps to keep my foundaton stay put. Even though it's been quite muggy, my makeup hasn't melted.

After concealing and apply Hada Labo BB cream as foundation

Note: I didn't apply concealer under my eyes, just on the dark spot on cheek

This is from the other day but this is after 8 hrs of wear and no touching up

I had read that it gives a matte finish, which worried me quite a bit but I don't find that it's matte. I think if anything, it might be semi matte. I recently tried Shu Uemura's mousse base and it was really matte! Didn't like it at all.

I'm not sure if it's the vitamins in this BB cream, but I have noticed that my skin does appear to be healthier and smoother even after using it for only a week. I don't think it's my imagination.

This also comes in 1 Purple, which is supposed to help brighten dull skin tone. I got a sample of this with my order and will be trying it out. I just checked Pretty & Cute's website and it seems that this is out of stock. Hopefully it'll be restocked soon.

Thank you to Sandy for introducing me to this BB cream.

*Kat*

Party FOTD

Have you ever done your makeup and then wished you remembered what you used so that you can recreate it? Unfortunately, this is probably one of those where I don't know if I'd be able to recreate.
Yesterday was the husband's birthday and I spent the day running around trying to figure out what I was going to get him for his present. My first choice is not available any more due to the disaster in Japan. Hopefully after everything is rebuilt, it'll become available once again. My makeup for the day was a bit on the brighter side with muted cheeks and lips.

We had a birthday party to attend in the evening (we attended a birthday party on husband's birthday and it wasn't his party--haha) and I was planning on doing a gold and black EOTD. Unfortunately, I ended up not having time to completely wash my face and redo my makeup so I had to improvise with what was already on. As a result, I do not know how many and what colors are on my eyes.

Products used:

Face: Dermablend Cover Cream
          Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream in Natural Green
          Hada Labo BB Moist Cream in Natural Ochre
          Guerlain Meteorite Perles in Teint Rose

Eyes: Mezaik Double Eyelid Stretch Fiber
          Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
          Sephora, Urban Decay and MAC eyeshadows
          K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
          Fairydrops and Gokubuto Mascara

Cheeks: Canmake Loose Cheek in 01
              NARS Laguna Bronzer
              YSL Touche Blush in 5
              Maquillage Face Creator

Lips: The Face Shop Color Shimmer Lipstick in RD302
         Noevir Natural Code Lipstick in PK22F

For my face, I only had to touch up a bit using Hada Labo BB Moist Cream and powdering over those areas with Guerlain Meteorite Perles as my face makeup stayed pretty much intact. I haven't mentioned using Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream before as I had recently received a sample of this from a wonderful person who reads this blog. I will be doing a review on it soon.

During the day, I know that I used Sephora and Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes but I was just playing around with colors so I don't know what I used. I had actually done a similar look using similar colors once before but a much more muted look. I wanted to try the brighter look because I was inspired by Jenn of From Head to Toe and her recently uploaded tutorial. If you haven't read her blog, please check it out. She has an awesome blog and great YouTube videos.

For the evening party look, I decided to smoke it out more and added darker colors on the outer "V" using MAC's Contrast and blended it in. I didn't need to do much at all thanks to UDPP. Even with the hot weather and running around all day, nothing creased or faded.

I also added mascara to my lashes as I didn't use it during the day. What I didn't do and should have was to curl my lashes. NOTE: Colors are darker and more intense on real life.

During the day I had Canmake Loose Cheek in 01 on my cheeks. For the evening, I wanted to glam it up a bit so I bronzed with NARS Laguna and dabbed on YSL Touche Blush in 5 on apples of cheeks and blended it outward toward hairline.

I softened it up a bit by highlighting using highlighter colors from Maquillage Face Creator.

On lips I used The Face Shop Color Shimmer Lipstick in RD303, which is a beautiful deep red color. It's a bit too intense for my liking so I topped it with Noevir Natural Code Lipstick in PK22F, which I find a bit too light when used alone. Together, they work to form a beautiful color that I like.

Together they work to form a beautiful color.

The party was at a beautiful hotel in one of their lovely ballrooms. I'm glad that I decided to go with a more glamorous look for the party.

*Kat*

First Purchase from Haute Look

I had signed up for a Haute Look account quite a while ago--over a year ago. It wasn't until last month that I finally made my first purchase as it was a deal that I couldn't pass up.

Not Your Daughter's Jeans capris in blue-black.

The label on it says that it's premium denim.

There is fancy embroidered detailing with crystal accents on the pockets

The price of these on Haute Look was only $39.95 and I paid only $7.95 for shipping. In Macys and Nordstrom here, they are priced at anywhere from $88.00 on up. Another problem besides the high price that I have with instore purchases is the difficulty in finding my size. I was lucky to get this in a size 2P. I've been wanting to try a 0P but I haven't found it instore to try. The 2P is just very slightly loose in the waist/hip area but I think that if I wash and throw this in the dryer, it'll shrink a bit. It can also use some shrinkage in length as it is just slightly longer than I want.

I'm so happy with my purchase and I'll probably do another one if a sale like this comes up again. I already have two pairs of long jeans in this brand in black and I paid full retail price at Macys. The only thing that would have made this purchase perfect would be faster shipping. It took 3 weeks for me to get my order.

*Kat*

Kat's First Successful Pigment Pressing Attempt

About a month or so ago, Winnie of all styled up sent me a bunch of samples of MAC pigments. I hadn't tried MAC pigments before so it was new and exciting. All of the colors that she sent are so pretty but the one that I fell in love with was Violet. In fact, I loved it so much that I ended up at the MAC store and picked up a full jar of it. I had heard that you can press pigments into pans which makes it much more portable and less messy to use. Thanks to Google and YouTube, I searched around, read up and watched different tutorials and decided to take the plunge as it seemed simple enough.

First step products used:

First step was deciding what I wanted to press it into. I didn't have any empty MAC pans and I wanted to press it into something smaller than a MAC pan since this was my first time doing it. I didn't want it not coming out right and feeling like I wasted a whole bunch of pigment. I decided to depot a tin from an old eyeshadow palette that I haven't used at all (it's at least 5 years old). Again, having read up on all of the depotting methods, it seems that the heat method is the best but I think that it's pretty scary using a candle or any form of fire. I came up with the idea of using my embossing heat gun instead. This is a craft item that is used to melt embossing powder when you're doing rubberstamping projects. (You rubberstampers out there will know what this is.) Similar to a hair dryer but it blows air concentrated onto a smaller area and it's very hot air. As I used the heat gun on the back of the palette, you could see the plastic starting to warp. That's when I stopped and used the cuticle nail scissors to lift out the pan. I used alcohol to clean off any residue glue on the back of the pan, broke up the unwanted eyeshadow and cleaned the inside of the pan to remove any traces of the old eyeshadow. Using the 70% alcohol, I pour some into the plastic container and throw the pan into the alcohol to sanitize it. I also use an old, clean, t-shirt which I have cut up into a small section and I spritz that with alcohol as well to sanitize it. Pictured is a Coffret D'or (I think) lipstick which closely fits the size of the pan. Normally with MAC pans, you would use a quarter to press it.

There is a pretty, raised design on the cover which does imprint into the pressed pigment. I also sanitize this cover with alcohol.

Next step products:

I also sanitize everything that I use in this step with alcohol. I really feel you can't sanitize too much since you are making something that will be used on your delicate eyes. Here I have a blue shop towel (it's basically a paper towel but it doesn't shred or break apart, a small plastic cup, 90% alcohol, wooden craft picks, pipettes and my MAC pigment. I forgot to take a picture of the cotton pads that I use. I didn't use cotton balls because I didn't want wisps of cotton to be left on anything that I used and then get pressed into the pan as well. I used the cotton pads, which were soaked with alcohol,  to clean the inside of the cup, the outsides of the pipettes and wooden picks.

Basically working over the shop towel,  I poured some pigment into the cup, using the pipette I drop 90% alcohol into the cup and mix it using the wooden pick. In this step I used 90% alcohol instead of 70% because it makes your drying time a lot quicker. 70% alcohol can be used instead of 90%. You want to try to get the consistency of the pigment/alcohol mixture to be almost a very slightly runny pudding consistency. Just keep on adding drops of alcohol until you get the desired consistency. If it's on the more liquidy side, that's okay, it'll just take longer to dry. Fill your prepared pan with the pigment. On a hard surface, you'll want to tap your pan to even out the mixture as this will also remove any air bubbles. Set your pan aside for approximately 45 minutes to an hour (or longer) depending on how wet your mixture is. Test your pigment by gently rubbing your finger over it. If it's powdery, then it is ready for pressing. If it still is damp, then you'll need to let it dry longer.

To press, I pulled the cap off of the lipstick and tightly wrapped the t-shirt piece over it, making sure that it was smooth on the bottom surface where it will be placed on the pan. With the pan on a hard, flat surface, I place the cover over the center of the pan and pressed down firmly several times.

Sorry, you can't see the design of the cover in this picture because I already used it. I forgot to take a picture of the final product before using it. I then set it aside over night. The next day I cut a piece of magnet tape and applied it to the bottom of the pan along with a sticker with the name of the pigment.

I was really happy with this first attempt being successful. I found that by pressing the pigment, I didn't lose any color intensity. My MAC pigment is now travel friendly and I find that I actually use it more than trying to remember to use my pigments.

Another travel-friendly hint for pigments if you don't want to press it is to use contact lens cases. I use it for storing my cream concealer, cream foundation and have put Barry M pigments into it. In fact for my cream concealer, I actuallly use a lighter color for under my eyes and a darker one to conceal my spots. I put the lighter color in the "L" compartment, which then makes it correspond to "light".  When Winnie sent me the different MAC pigment samples, she also sent it in contact lens cases, which you can see in my post here. I don't wear contacts so I buy lens cases at the drug store.

Next I want to try to learn how to press Barry M pigments as I have a couple of them. There is a different procedure for doing it and it seems like it might be a bit more complicated.

Since I'm also a crafter, I think that it was easier for me to utilize some of my crafting supplies into doing this pressing project. As I had mentioned, the heat gun is used mainly in rubberstamping and I have a ton of pipettes because I was doing a lot of melt and pour soaps before. If anyone is interested in purchasing pipettes, please let me know. I was going to put it up into our Galpal shop but haven't done so yet. Of course, you don't need to use a pipette for the alcohol, but since I'm used to using pipettes, it's what I find easiest and most sanitary.

I hope that this was helpful for anyone else who has been wanting to try to press MAC pigments but hasn't tried it yet.

*Kat*

Quick Test Review: Lancome Visionnaire

The other day I was out shopping when I stopped by the Lancome counter in Macys to check something else out. The sales associate there was wanted me to test a new skin care product that just got released. It is Visionnaire, Advanced Skin Corrector. It targets wrinkles and pores and eveness.

Picture from Lancome website

According to the sales associate, this product was 10 years in the making. Doing some online research, I have read that it's 12 years. Whether it's 10 years or 12 years, the main point is that it took a significant number of years to develop this product. You can check out this link on Lancome's website which explains the product reasonably well. The one very disappointing thing is that I couldn't find a full ingredient list--anywhere online. Perhaps I'm just not searching well but I personally think that this is important information which should be easily accessible.

I was a bit skeptical because Teint Miracle was touted as being a break-through product after 10 years of research. I tried Teint Miracle and was not impressed by it at all. On me, it didn't do what it said it would do. Genefique was also another product that I was disappointed in. 

The sales associate applied one pump onto the back of my hand and rubbed it in. It did feel quite nice and the skin did seem to have smoothed a bit. I left and by the time I reached home, I could not stand it any more. It is highly fragranced and the fragrance lingers! I washed dishes twice and still the scent lingered. For those who do not like scented products, this is definitely not for you. One main reason why I went in search of the ingredient list is because I wanted to see if it contains silicone as the surface of my skin felt like smoothed out like when I've tried products with silicone in it. Upon waking up the next morning, that area where the product had been applied did seem to still be smoother--could it be because of the product having penetrated the layers of the skin? Remember, this product was applied in the afternoon of the previous day and I had done numerous hand washings, washed dishes and showered. If Lancome can produce this product unscented, I would definitely want to test it out on face. As it is now, the fragrance is too overwhelming and lingers that I would probably end up nauseous and with a headache. To me, the scent reminds me of musk, which is not a scent that I like at all.

*Kat*

Office Makeup Bag and another EOTD using UD 15th

I always used to keep a makeup bag with some basic necessities in case I needed to touch up during the day. Unfortunately, it sat there for many years not being used so I finally cleared it out and dumped everything. I put into the makeup bag a few things that I wasn't totally loving, which was a good thing. A month or so ago due to an unfortunate situation, I was called at 5:15 a.m. and asked to come into work right away. The phone call woke me up so I had to rush out of my house doing just my basic morning skin care routine and applying my base makeup and eyebrows. This made me decide that I, once again, needed to keep a makeup bag at work. Here is what I have:

A really old Shiseido GWP bag
Avon Eyeshadow Palette, which is mainly neutral colors
Eyelash Curler
Mascara
e.l.f. blush
A couple of e.l.f. eyeshadow brushes
A e.l.f. blush brush

Originally I didn't have the blush and brushes in the bag, just the eyeshadow, eyelash curler and mascara. After this situation, I added the blush and brushes. I figured that this would be sufficient. I was mistaken. This past week I had been planning on taking Wednesday off so I stayed up super late and was sleeping in when my worker called me about an hour before starting time that she was way too sick to make it in to work. Another mad morning rush to get my basic skin care and base makeup done before heading out the door.

After putting on my makeup, I realized that I still needed more items in the bag so this is what I added:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potlion (forgot to include in picture)
Physician's Formula Eyelash Booster Eyeliner Pen
Canmake Concealer
Anastasia Eyebrow Pencil
Old MAC brush that I use for blending
Borghese Slanted Eyebrow/Eyeliner brush
NYX small brush--not sure what kind of brush but I usually use this to apply eyeshadow to my lashline

I usually use both an eyebrow pencil and eyebrow powder. I decided that I can use one of the eyeshadows in place of eyebrow powder. Most of the items in the bag are inexpensive since they will not be used on a regular basis. I have not included any lipstick because I alway have a lipstick in my bag.

EDIT:  I want to clarify that I do not carry all of this in my bag but leave it in my office in a drawer. I actually don't carry much in my bag anymore, just a lipstick and a compact.

I did another EOTD today using Urban Decay 15th Anniversary palette.

Products used:

UDPP in Sin
UD 15 Palette eyeshadows--Vanilla, Tainted, Junkshow, Omen, Half Truth and Blackout
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

After priming with Sin, Vanilla is applied in contour area of eyelid. Tainted on inner 1/3 of eyelid, Junkshow on middle 1/3 of eyelid and Omen on outer 1/3 of eyelid with it being blended up to above crease towards brow bone. Half Truth is applied to upper lashline and outer corner of lower lashline. Blackout is applied on outer "v" of upper eyelid corners. Using just a light dab of Omen on my blending brush, I blend an overlay of color over entire eyelid area where I've already applied my eyeshadows. This helps to blend together the colors. K-Palette eyeliner is applied to upper lashline and outer corner of lower lashline. I lightly apply Half Truth over K-Palette on lower lashline. I also lightly dab a domed brush into Blackout and then into Half Truth and dab the outer corners of my upper eyelid to darken and give more depth.

Other than Vanilla, this was done using different colors from yesterday's posted EOTD.

*Kat*

EOTD Using Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette

I want to start off with apologizing for my lack of posts this week. It ended up being a busy week with me working longer, extra hours due to one of my workers getting sick. It was really worrisome since she was out a day and then came back the next only to have to leave after about an hour and being rushed to emergency. She was there until late at night. I was so relieved when I got informed that she was okay but her blood pressure had shot up really high and she was sick with a bad case of stomach flu. Now I'm worried that my other worker and/or I will end up getting it too. I would get home so tired that I would end up just parking myself in front of the tv or laptop to watch a Taiwanese drama that I've gotten hooked on because of the cute guys. Unfortunately, it's 24 episodes long and I've been doing marathons watching 3 - 4 episodes at a time.

I was lucky to have been able to acquire Urban Decay's 15th Anniversary palette--actually was able to get several.

This is the EOTD that I did using this palette:

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin
Urban Decay Eyeshadows from 15th Anniversary Palette--Vanilla, Deep End, Evidence
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

Primed with Sin. I applied Vanilla over entire eyelid, lightly from crease to eyebrow, more heavily on inner 1/3 of eyelid. Deep End is applied from middle of eyelid to outer corner. Evidence is dabbed at outer corner of eyelid and applied at the outer "v" of upper eyelids. I also used it along the upper lashline and outer corner of lower lashline. Blend the colors using a blending brush to soften any harsh lines. Line upper lashline and outer 1/3 of lower lashlne with K-Palette. I lightly applied Deep End over K-Palette on lower lashline.

The colors in this palette are so pretty and I think that one can create many different EOTDs using it. The shadows are typical of Urban Decay's quality in that they are nice, soft and buttery shadows which are pigmented. While this palette is LE, it seems to be more easily available than the still elusive NAKED palette.

Have a great weekend!

*Kat*

Why Dermablend Cover Cream is Kat's Current Favorite

I've been asked by various people, whether it's blog readers or others that I know, why I don't use Make Up For Ever's concealer. I've even been asked that by Sephora's makeup artists/sales associates because it is apparently a favorite amongst most people. It is not from lack of trying it because I have actually purchased a tube of Full Cover and used it. For me, Dermablend's finish is just way better than MUFE.

MUFE:

Right after application

After wearing it for several hours

Dermablend:

Right after application. Sorry, I didn't take a picture after

several hours of wear but there were still no fine lines showing.

As you can see, MUFE brings out any fine lines that I have under my eyes. I don't have as significant of a problem with Dermablend. MUFE is waterproof so as a result, it dries up while Dermablend keeps my skin moisturized, which I think is a big factor as to why fine lines appear with MUFE. I even did swatches on a white cardstock and after 6 hours, I went back to the swatches. MUFE felt just like the cardstock while Dermablend still felt moist. The only drawback it the concealer having moisturizing properties is that when it's quite humid, it may fade so a touchup may be necessary.

I hope that this comparison was helpful.

*Kat*