NARS Hanamichi EOTD Take 2

In the previous post, I did a FOTD using the NARS Hanamichi palette. I wasn't quite pleased with how the eye makeup came out and I did mention a couple of ideas that I had on how to change it up a bit. I decided to try it out again today using my own suggestions and I am much more pleased with the way the look came out.

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
NARS Hanamichi Palette
MAC Orb
Urban Decay Half Baked
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Canmake Agebuto Mascara

I started the EOTD off the same way using the 3 colors from Hanamichi and MAC Orb. I then went over the gold color with Half Baked, which helped to lighten and brighten the inner eyelid area. I also used the gold color to soften the harsh lines of the black color and also added and blended it in the crease contour area and above on just the outer half of my eye. I lined my upper lash line and outer corner of the lower lash line with K-Palette. Using the black shadow I lightly went over the eyeliner on the lower lash line and then using the gold I applied it to the middle of eye of the lower lash line. I then went over the gold with the off-white highlighter color. I applied Agebuto mascara to my eyelashes that I curled.

The rest of my face was done the same way, with me using the red color as my blush. I also used the off-white color to highlight the upper cheekbones. NARS Mitzi was used on my lips again.

I think that by using Half Baked, which is a brighter gold color, it did help to make the inner eye area look--well, brighter. There was some pop to it, whereas using the gold from Hanamichi didn't seem to do much for me. I also let the red color show up more prominently, as well as the black. Overall it was a darker eye look from the previous post but I felt that it gave my eyes a little more definition, which I liked much better.

*Kat*

Purchase Review, FOTD Featuring NARS

There are a couple of products that I'll be showcasing in today's review. I was able to get my hands on the LE Hanamichi palette a couple of weeks ago at a great deal thanks to Lulu of Luluchinadoll. She posted on twitter that we could get a really great deal of $80.00 worth of product from NARS for only $40.00. It was a great opportunity to purchase the Hanamichi palette that I had debated about getting but not wanting to pay the $65.00 price tag. I ended up getting a lipstick to fully use the $80.00 credit.

Unfortunately for us who live in Hawaii, there are some companies that will charge an additional shipping fee to ship it to Hawaii even though across the continental U.S. it is free.Quite understandable in that they are using FedEx to ground ship the products and there is no way that you can ground ship to Hawaii. One of the downfalls to living in Paradise.There are even some companies who will ship via USPS who will charge Hawaii residents higher fees. That I cannot tolerate and will not purchase from those companies at all. Seriously, shipping via USPS costs the same if they were shipping something to Hawaii as it does to ship to their next door neighbor. Fortunately, the shipping fee was quite reasonable.

The lipstick that I picked up is in the color Mitzi, a sheer strawberry pink with shimmer.

I'm sure that most of you have seen the various pictures of the Hanamichi palette and packaging. It comes in a fabric pouch and has the wisteria-wrapped kabuki eye brush in the middle. I have to admit that I haven't opened up the brush and looked at it. I normally don't use the included applicators but I will probably try this one out later.

The palette itself was pretty in the pictures that I had seen online but is absolutely gorgeous seen in person. I got to see it in person when I went to Neiman Marcus a few weeks ago.

After I saw it, it made me want it even more which is why I feel so lucky to have gotten this deal.

Normally I usually only do EOTD but this time I'm doing a FOTD.

Products used:

Missha BB Boomer Primer
Lioele Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream
Sue Devitt Concealer
NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Punjab
Canmake Shading Powder 01
Cle de Peau Translucent Loose Powder
NARS Hanamichi Palette
MAC Orb eyeshadow
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Fairy Drops Mascara
Guerlain Meteorite Pearls--Perles D'or & Teint Rose 01
NARS Lipstick in Mitzi

I started off with the primers and then did my eyes. Using Hanamichi, the gold is applied on the inner corner of my eyes and blended upward and outward in the crease area. The red color is applied in the mid eyelid to the creaseline. The black color is applied to the outer corner of the eyelid and blended inward to soften any harsh lines. I also used Canmake Shading Powder in the outer corner of the eye, just above where the black eyeshadow was applied to soften the black shadow and contour the eye a bit. I applied Orb to the browbone area.

I felt the gold color was a bit dull so I used the off-white highlighter shadow to try to brighten the gold and also over the red to soften it a bit. I don't feel that the red color is an extremely harsh color, nor did it make my eyelids look like it was red and sore but I do like it when I can have all of the colors nicely blended. Unfortunately, the effect that I was going for didn't quite happen.

I then cleaned up any possible fallout of eyeshadow on my undereye area with a q-tip and applied the concealer. Then NARS Punjab foundation was applied. This was a sample that I had asked for when I went to Sephora. It was recommended to me by Jamilla of Makeup For Professional Women. Although I had mentioned that I really like Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation, I had to try this foundation out. I'm glad that I did. It's a nice foundation although it's a bit yellow on me. One great thing though is that this yellow is a brightening yellow. Most yellows make me look dull and sallow but Punjab doesn't. As I've started to do recently, I use Canmake Shading Powder 01 on the outer edges of my face to contour and to darken it a bit to match my neckline better. Lightly applied Cle de Peau powder over entire face.

Now I go back to my eyes to finish up. I lined my upper lashline and outer corner of lower lashline with K-Palette. I went over K-Palette with the black shadow and applied the gold color to the mid lower lashline. I didn't curl my lashes but did apply Fairy Drops mascara.

For my cheeks, I had read somewhere--I think that it was twitter and Sheila mentioned it--that she had read a blog that mentioned how they used the red color in Hanamichi as a blush. I decided to be adventurous and do so too. Using a duo-fiber brush, I tried to lightly pickup the color and apply it to my cheeks. It's definitely a bolder cheek look for me to use, especially during the day time so I then picked up some of the off-white highlighter color to go over the red. It didn't quite tone it down as much as I liked so I used Guerlain Meteorite Pearls in Perles D'or over it. I then realized that my face was a bit too yellow for my preference so I used Gerlain Meteorite Pearls in Teint Rose 01 on my forehead to add a touch of pink/rosiness to tone down the yellow.

Next I applied NARS Mitzi on my lips. Since the description is that it's a sheer strawberry pink color with shimmer, I thought it would be a brighter shade of pink. Unfortunately, it's an almost perfect match to my lip color, which is not what I was really going for when I bought the lipstick. I don't like to use nude shades on my lips as it makes me look really washed out so this color is what I would call my nude color. It worked out well with this stronger eye and cheek color.

The Hanamichi palette is so gorgeous to look at. The only really pigmented color is the black, which is a matte black. The red is pigmented enough but not so highly pigmented that you can easily over do the color application. The disappointment for me was the gold color. It is a dull gold and it doesn't show up well on my eyelids. It kind of just blends in with my coloring. Using the off-white highlighting color didn't really help to brighten up the gold and red so I think that if you want to add more brighteness to these two colors, perhaps a nice brighter gold like Urban Decay's Half-Baked or a nice shimmery silver can be applied over the two colors as a wash of color to lightly brighten it up. I think that I'll try using Half-Baked the next time I use Hanamichi. Overall, I'm really glad that I have this palette in my collection. It's definitely more of a collectors item than practical but it will not be one that will sit completely unused. I will be using it from time to time.

The holiday season is upon us. I hope that everyone will be enjoying it, whether you celebrate Christmas or not.

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, especially those living the U.S. and anywhere else in the world who celebrate it. I would like to start off this post with a big THANK YOU! We've been so blessed to have started this blog and see it grow into what it is today. Mai and I only had the intnetion of starting this blog as another way of keeping in touch with each other, especially with the makeup and skincare items that I either get a sample from at the store or purchase. Although we see each other often enough, sometimes I want to tell her about something that I've tried right away but doing it in a text message or trying to catch each other on the phone is difficult with our schedules. We have (especially me) have met so many wonderful people through beauty blogging whom I am proud to call my friends. Thank you to each and every one of you who takes the time out to read our posts.

Now on to the review...

Along with mascaras, finding the perfection foundation is my nemesis. Shade match is always difficult and then finding the finish and coverage that I like--it's so frustrating! Along this journey, I've learned several things about adjusting and adapting to shade matching and knowing what I like. Also along this journey, I've tried many brands, both drugstore and high-end hoping to find the one that I liked. Of course, I was hoping that I'd find it in the drugstore or lower priced brands.

One of the major frustrations with shade matching is that SA's will look at me and automatically categorize me as being yellow toned and needing foundation with yellow coloring, all because I'm asian. I always get a skeptical look when I tell then that I need something way less yellow based and more pink based and that I'm more cool toned than warm toned. Scary, naked face picture coming up but here you can see that my skin tone is cool with pink tones in it.

I finally found a SA/MUA that agreed with me and in all places at Neiman Marcus. A couple of week prior to going to Neiman Marcus, I happened to be in Macy's getting a sample of a Clinique foundation and ended up at the Chanel counter for something else. The SA there gave me sample packettes of the new Perfection Lumiere foundation in a couple of shades. One of the shades was 42 Beige Rose and when I tried it, I thought that the color was a good match for me. When I went back, another SA there insisted that I needed the Beige line and not the Beige Rose line so I left. At Neiman Marcus, the SA that helped me is very good at color matching individuals and she agreed that I belong in the Beige Rose line. At the time I thought that 42 was a bit too light so she gave me a sample of 52. It was way too dark! I ended up purchasing 42 Beige Rose.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation is a long-wearing, flawless fluid makeup that also contains SPF 10. It is an everyday foundation suitable for all skin types. It is oil-free and noncosmedogenic and is available in a range of 20 shades. It dries to a matte finish. It contains 30 ml/1 fl oz of product.

Click on the above ingredient list picture to get a larger image for easier reading.

I had read some reviews online and was a bit worried since it was getting mixed reviews. Another thing that worried me was the fact that it is a matte finish because I prefer a more dewy finish. I also prefer not to have SPF in my foundations but that is getting to be harder and harder to find.

I love the fact that it comes in a pump dispenser. It is also really easy to control the pump so you can just as easily get a full pump or pump out just a dot of foundation. As I read on some of the reviews, it is a foundation that it not easily blendable if you are using a brush. I usually use a Sonia Kashuk flat top brush to stipple on my foundation but I have found that it doesn't evenly distribute on the brush. This brush is a little narrow and stiff. I discovered that ELF Powder brush, which is a flat top, works quite nicely. It is much wider and softer.

The foundation does dry to a matte finish but there is a slight luminosity or sheen to it but it doesn't make one look oily. I've had some that make me look too shimmery. While it does dry matte, I find that as long as I moisturize well, it won't settle into or bring out fine lines.

There is a slight scent to it, which is a kind of flowery or fruity scent, but it isn't unpleasant and it dissipates quite quickly.

Coverage is light to medium, depending on how much you use. I get decent coverage and don't use much foundation at all. That is good because the price of the foundation is on the higher side. I believe that it is the highest priced in Chanel's line.

The longevity of the wear of the foundation is great! I've worn this foundation for over 8 hours and didn't do any touching up. In this picture, I took it after 8 hours of wear with no touching up. It also doesn't oxidize very much at all.

Overall, I think that this foundation is a good match for me. I had tried another Chanel foundation a few months ago and debated whether or not to purchase it. I decided not to because I didn't like the feel of the foundation on me after wearing it for several hours. It was one of those that felt heavy and felt like you were wearing foundation. As a result, I kept on touching my face throughout the day as it would feel a bit uncomfortable. The only con for me is the price. It is a pricey foundation at $55.00.

As you could see in my before and after pictures, I have a lot of imperfections that need covering up and this foundation does a good job of it, along with my pre foundation and foundation application routine. Would you like to see a post on what that is? It would be long a rather picture heavy. Please let me know in the comments.

*Kat*

P.S. I thought that I wouldn't be doing a post again until after Thanksgiving but I was up at 4:00 this morning getting the turkey into the oven. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't so I wrote this post instead.

Quick Sewing Project Result

Those of you on Twitter have seen this already. Recently my dear friend from Japan came to visit. She comes regularly at least twice a year and actually considers Hawaii her home. She is definitely more "Hawaiian" than I am. She LOVES the culture, is even in a hula halau (dance club) in Japan. She loves the music, food, surfs and history. While on the other hand, I do not. I love the Japanese culture and it's so funny how I'll ask her about something current and she has no clue. She comes to Hawaii to our house and watches the Japanese dramas here.  We consider her to be family and she even calls me "Onee-chan",  which means older sister in Japanese.

One tradition that she has is to travel to Hawaii and be here in the beginning of November because it's when her birthday is. Since my birthday is at the end of October, we usually have one night where we celebrate our birthdays together. This year I decided to make a very simple peasant style dress for her as her birthday gift. Knowing how much she loves Hawaii and the color pink, I combined those two loves by finding a Hawaiian print fabric in pink.

As I mentiioned, it is a very simple style and it took me perhaps 3 hours to complete it. Since it uses elastic in the neckline and sleeves, I had to customize it to her preference so I couldn't have the gift completed and wrapped up for her to open but she was happy nonetheless.

I do have beauty posts planned and lined up in my head. Hopefully I can write them up soon. There's been a lot going on here so it's been a little difficult to do--sorry!

In the meantime if I don't write up another post again before the big day, I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Mai and I are so thankful to all of you who take the time to read our blog. It has grown into something more than we imagined. I've also met so many wonderful, wonderful bloggers who I can sincerely say are my lovely friends.

*Kat*

Purchase Review & Comparison: Wet N Wild Mega Liner vs. K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

Hi there! Long time no blog. Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Real life has had some hiccups along the way and it's also starting to get busy for me as the holiday season starts to come upon us. There are several reviews that I want to do and will do in the near future.

Today, I was going to do just a review of Wet N Wild Mega Liner but I decided to also do it as a comparison with my HG liner, K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner.

First of all, the one big difference is the price. Wet N Wild Mega Liner is only $3.99 here (will probably be cheaper on the continental U.S.) and K-Palette is around $15.99, depending on where you purchase it from. I bought the one pictured from iMomoko. It is a Limited Edition one because it is in the pink tubing. It normally comes in black tubing. The other difference is that there is a shaker mechanism in the tubing for K-Palette but none in Wet N Wild. I think that the shaker mechanism helps to keep the liquid fluid and flows better.

The saying that you get what you pay for holds true for this product. It was a disappointment for me in that the product does not come out evenly or nicely wet. It actually is a bit stiff and dry--kind of like a drying marker. It was also interesting that it didn't come out well because the tip of it is much thicker than the K-Palette.

If you work at it and layer it, then you'll get the kind of deep, dark lining that you would normally get with one swipe of K-Palette. I didn't want to work that much so after testing it out only that one time, I went over it with my K-Palette so I can't really review how well it lasts over a period of time.

I find that the Japanese-made pen liners work very well while the American made ones, I do not like. I had also tried Revlon's Color Stay liner and it didn't work well for me. While Physician's Formula may not be a Japanese brand, their pen liners are made in Japan and I find that it works out nicely too.

I'm going to add a bonus NOTD here. I normally do not do my nails on a regular basis because I can't seem to paint my nails and be patient enough for it to dry. I always end up smudging it. I also love how Konad works but can't seem to do it either. Thanks to Incoco, I am able to do manicures with nice designs. This is my current manicure and I really like this design and coloring.

I know that Sally Hansen has nail polish strips like Incoco and I've used it once but didn't really test it out well. I'll do a review and comparison in the near future too.

*Kat*

Purchase Review: L'Occitane Olive Tree Organic Toning Facial Mist--Using It As A Mist & KiraKira NOTD

Sorry for the lack of posts. My youngest son had his knee surgery (ACL reconstruction and fixing 2 meniscus tears) on Friday and I didn't realize that he was going to be as immobilized as he is. As a result, I'm having to spend more time helping him with my time getting interrupted here and there.

I had mentioned that I picked up the L'Occitane Olive Tree Organic Toning Facial Mist (aka Brume Tonique Toning Face Mist) and had several comments on wanting a review of it.

This is the ingredient list:

Aquawater, Mentha Viridis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil, Glycerin, Alcohol, Sodium Pca, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Water, Capryloyl Glycine, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Limonene, Potassium Sorbate.
This is a descrption, together with an ingredient list and directions on how to use it. I got this off of Amazon.

A fresh mist that tones, invigorates, moisturizes and softens the skin. A certified organic formula by Ecocert with a fresh new fragrance. Organic mint essential water tones, refreshes, stimulates, invigorates, and purifies the skin while organic olive tree leaf extract preserves the hydration of the skin. Organic olive water serves as an antioxidant and protects, working with organic olive oil to calm and soften the skin with vitamin E. Ingredients: Organic mint essential water, organic olive tree leaf extract, organic olive water, organic olive oil. 100% of the ingredients are from natural origin and 45.2% of these ingredients are from organic agriculture. To use: Apply to clean and dry skin every morning and evening on the face and neck by misting directly on skin or using a cotton pad. May also be used during any time of day to instantly freshen up the skin. Do not rinse, use daily. Results: Skin is refreshed and toned.

Today will be my thoughts on using it as a hydrating facial mist, which is the reason why I purchased it. In all honesty, I didn't like it. The main reason being is the way it sprayed on. It doesn't come out as a fine mist but rather almost foamy. I'm not sure if it's the dispenser or if it's just the way it comes out. I tried spraying it onto a cardstock to take a picture of it but it did dissipate quite quickly. I think that the paper content of it soaked it up quite quickly, After several attempts, I managed to get a picture of it.

I also took of picture of it sprayed onto my arm to show how it sits there. Sorry that the quality of it is blurred but you get the idea.

I think that with it not coming out as a fine mist it might affect my makeup that I have on. As a result I did dab off the excess so that it wouldn't affect my makeup. I prefer using Urban Decay's Dew Me and Sana's Hiaruronsan Mist as a facial mist.

I have been reading really great reviews of using the Brume Tonique as a facial toner so I will try using it as a toner instead and will do another review later.

Yesterday we had a power outage and with no electricity, there's not much one can do nowadays. Fortunately it was in the afternoon so it wasn't like we needed electricity for lighting. I decided to do a a manicure.

Sparkly, glittery nails. Unfortunately you can't tell from the picture but it is a gradient silver to pink tips manicure.

I hope that everyone is having a good week so far. Weekend is coming upon us soon!

*Kat*