Normally I don't write a haul post unless I have a product review to go with it but since I've been in such a non-purchasing mode, I decided to do a haul write up.
First up is 3 separate purchases that I made from the same vendor but it was a couple of months ago, at least. I'm finally doing a post about it. I really wanted to write this one up because everything about it is LOVE!!! This vendor that I'm talking about is Yasumi from The Fushigi Shop. She creates 99.9% of what she sells in her shop. Most of the time, she calls her creations "fings" and they beautiful pieces. Located in the UK she mail orders to customers around the world. I've had only the best shopping experience from The Fushigi Shop. Please do check her out.
I first purchased a pair of earrings from her and was so impressed by her packaging when I received it in the mail. First of all, it comes packaged in a lovely vintage-style package.
When you open the package, there is an absolutely stunning black box.
Your lovely purchased piece is lovingly placed in the box. This is the first piece that I purchased from Yasumi, a pair of earrings.
Each piece has a name but I forgot the names of the pieces that I purchased.
I then later purchased a necklace which I couldn't resist.
I thought that it would match nicely with the earrings that I purchased.
Then about a week later, she created a stunning swarovski bracelet that I had to have!
I love blingy bracelets! As hard as I tried, I couldn't capture the brilliance of these pieces on camera.
On all of the jewelry pieces, you can click on the picture to view it in a larger format.
Thank you Yasumi for the awesome service and beautifully created pieces that I received from you!
While I was shopping around for some CP items for another blogger, I came across two makeup items that I couldn't resist. Maybe since I'm feeling better, my purchasing mojo is coming back.
First is Milani Face Illuminating Powder.
I don't normally wear highlighting powders much but I just couldn't resist how pretty this was. I've used it a few times and really like it! It's not overly shimmery and gives just a hint of highlighting, which I like.
L'Oreal's Project Runway 2012 collection finally got released here and when I saw limited edition eyeshadow in The Mystic Gaze palette, I just had to have it!
Beautiful jeweled colors, which I normally associate with winter more than fall. These are my kind of colors! Unfortunately, upon using it only once, I didn't like it. The purple and blue colors turned out so similar on me that there really wasn't any color distinction. I also found that these applied very streakily on me. Perhaps it's a sign that I don't evenly apply my eyelid primer but I haven't had problems with other eyeshadows that I use.
Lastly, I was at an expo and there was a vendor there selling press-on nails. While I've bought press-on nails from the drugstore and didn't like them, these really intrigued me. There were many designs and styles and I liked the fact that it could be customized to fit me. I have really small fingernails that they are like a child's so I often have problems with artificial nails. After talking with the vendor a while, I decided to take the plunge and purchased a set.
I ended up purchasing one of the most popular sets that it's difficult to keep in stock. What also sets these nails apart from drugstore brands, besides the price, is that they are from Japan. From what she told me, and perhaps I was gullible since I don't know for sure, is that they are VERY popular in Japan. It was made popular more so because a Japanese celebrity is known for using it and it was used in a movie. The press-on nails that I've used from the drugstore have used either 2-way sticky strips or nail glue to apply the nails. These have never worked well on me and at least one inevitably goes flying off somewhere. These are already backed with some kind of sticky residue and after each use, before you apply it again, you will need to brush on a sticky glue. I played with it on one hand a bit and must say that it is really super-strength sticky! It adhered well and stayed that way until I took it off. One thing to remember with this is that you put it on like you would jewelry. You shouldn't keep it on all the time, bathe with it or even wash dishes with it. Perhaps that's the only thing that I didn't like about it as when I do a manicure, I like to just leave it and go and forget about it till I need to do my mani again.
This was pricey but if you are to use it only for when you go out, it should last for at least a couple of years. I figured that for the price of a dozen Incoco and Sally Hansen nail strip packets, this ends up being a better value in the long run.
The vendor here in Hawaii is Kalana Hawaii. I like that I can go back and have her clean the nail tips (for a fee) if it gets too gunked up with the glue. I may go back and purchase another set that it more of an everyday type of manicure. I must say that I love bling though.
I'm looking forward to the weekend as I'll be meeting up with Nunu of Macnunu!
As I've mentioned in prior posts, I hadn't been feeling well for a month or longer. At one point it the exhaustion was really bad. I'm still not sure what it was but there's a sneaky suspicion that it was a reaction to the ancient dust and mold from trying to clean out a room in which things my in-laws stored away for over 30 years. I've since stopped cleaning and when I resume, will use a face mask.
This illness not only affected me physically but mentally as well. From the exhaustion, I developed dark under eye circles--something that I haven't had before. I also couldn't be physically active, spending most of my time just lying down and resting, so I gained some weight. My face became a bit puffy and looked like it was sagging and drooping, eyelids a bit sunken in and combined with the dark circles and overall not feeling well, I wasn't liking myself very much.
As I started to feel better, I knew that I had to do something. The dark circles under my eye have lightened, which for which I am relieved. Over a year ago, I stopped doing the Tanaka Facial Massage but last week I started to do it again. Maybe it's my imagination but I feel that it has helped to get rid of most of the puffiness and has given a lift to my face. I've changed the way that I do my base eyelid makeup to help take away the sunken in appearance. Overall, I think that I'm looking more like myself and I'm happy. As a result, I feel like I can do an EOTD!
Most of the Japanese brands of eyeshadows are predominantly brown. They do have a "pink" palette (usually coded PK-1 or similar), which usually consists of a pink eyeshadow pan and the rest are browns or pink/brown tones. I'm definitely not a brown person as most browns make me look really tired and washed out but I had been looking into trying a pink palette but couldn't decide which one to get. While I was depotting the Starlet Palette, I came across a set of eye shadows that I thought would be in a Japanese pink palette.
Products used:
diva, trophy and timeless Tarte eyeshadows Chocolate Milk Hello Kitty Pen Pal Eyeliner Black Voluminous False Lashes L'Oreal Mascara Black Full Action Sephora Mascara
Apply diva (pink) to inner 1/3 of upper eyelid, trophy to middle 1/3 of eyelid and timless to outer 1/3. Lined uppper lashline and outer corner of lower lashline using Chocolate Milk. Using timeless, I apply it over the liner on the lower lashline and blend and fade it in towards mid eye. I first applied the L'Oreal mascara as it helps to curl my lashes a bit and then added Sephora mascara as it helps to add volume to my lashes.
I'm quite happy with the result of using these brown colors. I had no one asking me if I was tired so I guess that it looked okay to others as well. I searched around at home looking for a brown eyeliner and found the Hello Kitty one. I remember using it a couple of times and deciding that I didn't like it so it's a wonder that it is still around. I think that I didn't like it because it smeared and faded throughout the day but this time it held up well. A tip that I learned from Beauty Box Online was to use eyelid primer on your lower lashline and this will help to keep your liner in place as well as help to keep mascara from smudging onto your lower eyelid. It really does help!
I hope that I don't really fall in love with these eyeshadow colors because once they are used up, I can't replace them as it seems that Tarte doesn't sell individual eyeshadows. It was also exclusive to the Starlet Palette.
Just because I've been in such a non-buying mood and only using my stash, I'm finally making some headway in clearing out products and making some space. I also decided to go ahead and depot the Tarte Starlet palette.
If you recall, it was an LE item from last fall/winter and was the star item that I received in my Secret Santa exchange. It is quite a large item as it's meant to be used as a jewelry box after you're done using up the makeup. Seriously, how quickly will one use up ALL the makeup in a palette? Here's the Sephora stock photo of the palette:
I had been making some DIY magnetic palettes, as featured on this post but didn't want to work that hard and wasn't in the super creative mood. At our local Don Quijote stores, they've opened up a "Bargain Center" in which all of the items are $1.99 (USD). They had a similar department, which closed down a few years ago, but everything was $1.00--which is a lot like the 100 yen stores in Japan. Since then, economy has gone south and yen has gotten really strong against the dollar. Taking this into consideration as well as shipping costs, $1.99 is actually quite reasonable. I bought a few small plastic box containers at $1.99 and also found one which actually has 3 containers in one! To me, this was a bargain! The largest container measures 3 1/4" x 7" (approximately 8 cm x 18 cm).
The two smaller containers nestle into the largest container.
I'm not sure what I'll do with the smaller container as it is a bit small and is actually has two compartments with two covers. One pan will fit into a compartment but it doesn't make sense to use it that way. I may end up using it for some small craft knickknacks.
All that I needed to do was to apply a sticky-backed magnetic sheet to the bottom of the plastic cases and to the back of the depotted pans. I also printed out labels with the eye shadow names on it.
I had previously depotted a couple of shadows and blushes from the palette and placed them into another magnetic palette. Not all of the shadows fit into the two containers that I have pictured but most of them did.
The empty Starlet box, which is supposed to be used as a jewelry box, is sitting in my sewing machine area being used to store my sewing notions instead.
I'm really in a beauty rut right now. Although I had decided a year or so ago to "use my stash", it has become a bit ridiculous. I'm even too lazy to replace my favorite staples, which is a good thing for using my stash and perhaps my wallet but is making me a bit boring as I don't go out to shop and find new things to try.
Fortunately, I have some wonderful friends who have sent me love packages with products to pique my interest. One of the items I have received is the newest Kracie Naive Facial Cleansing Foam with Royal Jelly and Rose Essence. This was released earlier this year.
From Rakuten's website, this is the ingredient list:
The cleansing foam is formulated with royal jelly and rose extracts for soft, supple skin. The two extracts promote moisture in the skin and has a very subtle floral scent. It bubbles up quickly and creates a nice foam. Even after rinsing, my skin feels nicely moisturized and doesn't tighten up. It is paraben free and hypoallergenic. In general, I really like Naive cleansing products. Prior to receiving and using this, Aloe was my favorite facial cleansing foam but I find that this is even more hydrating than aloe. There is a blue version as well and it is for rich moist smooth skin, whiie this yellow version is for rich moist soft skin.
An added benefit (well, to me anyway) is that my absolute favorite JPop singer helps to promote this line. Here is the CM:
I also use the Aloe body wash!
I really like it a lot. The best thing about these products is that they are very lightly scented, which is something that I like. I used to really like Victoria Secrets and Bath and Body Works products but have found that they are now too strongly scented for my liking.
Thank you Yumeko for sending this to me earlier this year. I appreciate your asking me about it and asking if I had seen the CM for it, which I hadn't at the time. I really like this cleansing foam and it is now my favorite!
A few months or so ago, the very lovely Sheila of Maddy Loves gifted me with her favorite base makeup at this time. It is the Marcelle BB Cream. She sent me the Medium to Dark shade.
It is a Canadian brand. I haven't tried any BB creams other than asian brands so it was quite nice to try something new. I can see why this is her favorite base makeup.
Face primed and concealed:
Half of face with BB cream applied (side with red check):
As you can see, there is a slight color difference. Not easily noticeable.
BB Cream applied to whole face:
Makeup compeletely done:
My thoughts on this BB cream:
I love the consistency and coverage of this BB cream. I also like the color tone of it as it's not too yellow nor is it too pink on me. The finished look that I got with this BB cream is very smooth. It didn't settle into fine lines at all and actually made them look like they weren't even there! I was able to wear this for pretty much close to 10 hours with no touching up. It was also nicely hydrating. I also like that it comes in a pump dispenser. Very sanitary.
The shade of Medium to Dark is just slightly too dark when applied but would be very much wearable. Unfortunately, it does oxidize on me after an hour or so and I was way too dark. If this came in shade Medium it probably would be perfect on me. I think that it only has a Light to Medium shade though and I know that would end up being too light on me. I'm thinking that I will probably have to mix the two shades together to get a good match for me.
Thank you Sheila for this gift! I can see why this is your favorite makeup base at the moment. I'm totally blown away by the finish of it. I might ask you to CP the lighter color for me.
*Kat*
Addendum: Just received a gift of another BB cream that the color might be slightly too light. I will have to paly with it to see how the shade works out first. If it does end up being a little too light, I will try and mix the two and see what happens.
Kat and Mai are Asian Americans in their mid 50's. They are a wife and mothers Constantly searching for exciting and new makeup products. Please feel free to follow us.
CONTACT:
You can email us at:
galpal.hi@gmail.com
.JPG)
