Mai-Kat Oshaberi

Secret Valentine Reveal

2012-02-14T11:00:00.000-10:00

Thanks to Sheila, this time she hosted a Secret Valentine swap. I had so much fun with the Christmas ones that there was no hesitation to go ahead and join this one. I felt that this one was more difficult to do since the limit was $20.00. Needless to say, I'm quite sure that everyone who joined in was far more generous than their $20.00 limit. That holds very true to my Secret Valentine who was...

DRUMROLL

May! I met May via Twitter and she is just the sweetest person!

The box was so cutely decorated! She knows how much I love (as well as many others out there) Hello Kitty.

The box was filled to the brim!

Yummy sweets! The panda ones are so cute and are absolutely delicious! May, are they Japanese candy? I showed it to Wuzzyangel and we both haven't seen it here before.

A ton of masks and e.l.f. makeup remover wipes. I haven't masked in a while and I really need to do so. Love masks!

Hand and foot exfoliator and wet swabs. I really do need to exfoliate my feet! It will come in handy.

A washing mitt and makeup sponge.

A Hello Kitty 2012 calendar! It's so cute!

A very cute polka dotted makeup case. This was also filled to the brim!

Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart--this was on my wish list! Beautiful purple nail polish, Q10 cream, hand lotion, a Dolly Wink Eyebrow pencil--or was it an eyeliner. Sorry, everything is at my office and I'm at home typing this and a cute stuffed charm.

I'll have to admit that I opened this up last week. Sheila gave me permission since she knew that I would be so busy on Valentine's Day that I probably wouldn't have a chance to open it up until really late, if at all. All of the panda candies are eaten and the other goodies will be finished up soon too. I can't wait to try everything that was in the box.

Thank you again May for the wonderful Secret Valentine gift. You were so generous! It's been great getting to know you on Twitter. I'll see you there again soon.

*Kat*

Creative Idea: Mini Japanese Sauce Container

2012-02-11T09:00:00.001-10:00

Since I don't like to use powder to touch up my face, I usually like to carry either my concealer or a bit of foundation for a quick and easy touch up, if needed. Honestly, I usually don't bother doing any touch up during the day but like a Boy Scout, I like to be prepared.

My current favorite foundation is Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation but carrying around the full bottle is a bit unwieldy and not practical. I thought about what I wanted to use and was going to use one of those flat crystal clear plastic sample jars and put it into a little ziploc bag in case it leaked. I then came upon a great idea when I was looking through my bento lunch supplies--mini Japanese sauce containers. The pack that I have originally came with 8 containers. Each container can hold 6 ML of product.

To carry it in my purse makeup bag, I only filled it up partially and put it into a mini ziploc bag. It didn't leak so I'm glad to know that I don't absolutely need to have it in a mini ziploc bag.

Since I will be traveling a couple of times this year, I decided to see how long this little container will last me. I filled it up about 3/4 full with the Chanel foundation.

I have been able to use it for 3 weeks now and can still get out some more product! That is with every day use! The one nice thing about this container is that the plastic is pliable so you can easily squeeze it as you use up the product and your container is less full. Admittedly, I don't use very much foundation with each day's application so this container size is perfect.

For a size comparison, here is the Chanel Foundation, which is 1 fl oz/30 ML in size.

It's going to be so nice to be traveling with a much smaller, lighter and unbreakable container.

*Kat*

Valentine's EOTD

2012-02-09T10:30:00.001-10:00

With Valentine's Day coming up next week Tuesday, I decided to work on a simple Valentine's look.

Products Used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
Urban Decay Pistol Eyeshadow (from NAKED 2)
MAC Eyeshadows: Yogurt and Swish
NARS Eyeshadow: Red color from Hanamichi Palette
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes Mascara
Tarte Starlet Amazonian Clay Blush (From Starlet Palette)
Revlon Berry Smoothie Lip Butter

Primed my eyelids with Eden. Yogurt is applied just under the eyebrows. Swish is applied to the inner 1/3 of eyelid from lash line to crease line. NARS red eyeshadow is applied to middle 1/3 of eyelid, from lash line to just above crease line and blending upward and outward. Pistol is applied (the one marked with the white "x") to the outer 1/3 of the eyelid from lash line to just above creaseline and slightly blending it upward and outward. I also blend it in the crease line having it fade as I work my way toward the inner eye. Lined the upper lash line and outer corner of the lower lash line with K-Palette. Using Pistol, I apply it over K-Palette on the lower lash line and blending and fading it towards the middle of the lower lash line. Mascara is applied to uncurled eyelashes.

Starlet is applied to my cheeks and Berry Smoothie to my lips.

This eye makeup look is definitely much more pastel than I usually wear. As a result, I really felt that I needed to wear mascara although I don't normally do so, especially for going to work every day.

I consider it to be a sweet and innocent look, neither of which I am. Haha!

Hope you'll be enjoying Valentine's Day with your special someone.

*Kat*

Mini Asian Haul

2012-02-08T17:22:00.000-10:00

I normally don't like to do haul posts unless there's a review included in it but I don't have a review. I'm actually sneaking in a post in between scheduled posts.

I mentioned in my previous post that I pet sit for my friends when they travel to Japan and Korea. At first they were paying me but we decided that instead of them paying me, I'd rather that they bring back things for me to the equivalent of what they'd be paying me.

They just got back from a trip to both Japan and Korea and I'm so excited with what they brought back.

I had never heard of this brand before but it's apparently quite popular. It's a trial-size sampler pack of the RJ Skincare line.

RJ stands for Royal Jelly. It is a subsidiary of Yamada Bee Farm and the RJ line is made with the honey that is farmed there. I've read many good things about honey in skin care. It's supposed to be moisturizing and helps to lighten the skin. I can't wait to try it!

DHC Moisture Fruit Foaming Cleanser and Gel Cream. Although the Moisture Fruit line has been out since 2010, I think, I hadn't heard of it before. I believe that it is a Japan only release. I've used other DHC products before and really like it so I'm quite hopeful that this will be the same.

The little boxed item was included in the DHC package but I have no idea what it is. Anyone? The only thing that I could read was "mineral oil". Most of it was in difficult kanji so I'm stumped.

From Korea is a Tony Moly Cats Wink Mascara, curling and longlash. I haven't tried this before either so it will be interesting to try.

I really love how cute the tube packaging is. Sorry, it's not really clear because it's still in the cello wrap but one of the ends has cat ears and a cat face. When I do a review of this mascara, I'll be sure to include a better picture.

I also received but not pictured, two boxes of snacks--Tokyo Banana and Shiroi Koibito. They are my favorite snacks. I also got two Hello Kitty utility knives and an Arashi book. For those who don't know, Arashi is a J-Pop boy band.

I hope that everyone is having a good week so far.

*Kat*

Gift Review: Experimental Weekend--EOTD Using Tarte Starlet Palette

2012-02-07T08:30:00.002-10:00

As I had stated in the beginning of the year, one of the things that I wanted to do was Experimental Weekends where I play with new makeup, items that I don't normally use or doing something that it out of my comfort zone with regards to makeup. This past weekend I decided to finally play with Tarte's Starlet Palette, which was a Limited Edition item from the Holiday 2011 collection. I received this from Vonnie of Oh So Vonnie in the Blogger Secret Santa gift exchange. You can see more detailed pictures of the palette in this post.

For Saturday's EOTD, I used the palette combo that was in the top layer, upper right hand corner.

The colors listed are: Talent, which is the top left color, a peachy/shimmery burnt orange; Idol, which is underneath Talent, a matte beige taupe; Cameo, which is next to Talent and Idol, a matte pink beige; and Virtuoso, a glittery forest green.

Other products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Nanoce BB Cream #2 Healthy Ocre

Using a small crease brush to easily apply a fine line using Cameo under the eyebrow as a highlight. Idol is applied in the inner 1/3 of eyelid, Talent is applied to middle 1/3 of eyelid and blending it upward to above the crease, into the contour area. Virtuoso is applied to the outer 1/3 of the eyelid and gently blending it toward the inner corner of the eyelid along the crease line. K-Palette is applied to the upper lashline and to just the outer corner of the lower lashline. Virtuoso is applied to the lower lashline, starting from the outer corner and bringing it toward the inner corner of the lashline. It actually fades out towards the middle of the eye.

The colors in this quint is quite neutral with the exception of Virtuoso. While I don't normally tend to like neutrals, I really liked the result of this EOTD. Virtuoso is such a pretty and strong color that it adds a necessary and beautiful pop of color to what I would consider a boring and plain look. I actually wore this on Sunday too since I liked the result so much.

I also decided to use the blush from the Starlet. The color of the blush that I used is Starlet.

It is a beautiful pink, described as "shimmering rose" on Sephora's website. It is an Amazonian Clay 12-Hour blush, which is long wearing and solar baked. It is infused with natural clay from the Amazon River and is rich in nutrients. It is nicely pigmented and applies very nicely. I really like this color and I'm just a bit sad that it is a LE color. I would love to try another blush from Tarte. The one thing that is a negative for me is that this blush is quite soft and powdery. I like to swirl my brush over the blush but when I do that with this one, it leaves a powdery mess behind. Enough that I have to tip over the blush and empty it out into the rubbish can. I should probably try to tip it out into a container and save it so that I can use whatever remants of it as a loose powder blush. The best way to pick up the blush is by lightly dabbing the brush into the blush pan.

One thing that I noticed when I played with this palette, each of the layers of makeup will pop out very easily so that you can reuse the Starlet set as a jewelry box or vanity. The makeup itself is housed in such flimsy material, which surprised me a bit.

The one good thing about this is that I think they will be very easy to depot and place into a magnetic palette. I will be traveling again in a couple of weeks and I think that I will want to take this set of eyeshadows and the blush with me as my makeup to use everyday. I will attempt to depot it soon.

*Kat*

NOTE: This is a scheduled post

Product Reviews: Shiseido Perfect Whip & Perfect Puff

2012-02-05T11:06:00.000-10:00

I am doing this as a double review because it is the same product line. I wasn't quite sure whether to do the review as a purchase or a gift because it was more like a trade. I oftentimes will pet sit for my friends who travel to Japan and Korea and instead of getting paid, I have them pick up things for me. This duo was one of the things that I got.

First up is Perfect Puff makeup removing pads. I really like Neutrogena Makeup Remover wipes and the significant difference between the two is that Neutrogena is an actual wipe and true to the name, Pefect Puff is a puff or pad and is similar to the asian puffs that I use to apply toner and liquid eye makeup remover except a bit larger and thicker.

I found it difficult to use Perfect Puff because I'm so used to the size of the wipes. I find the wipes easier to hold and use to swipe and rub across larger areas of my face. Perfect Puff is a little more difficult for me to handle and doesn't easily rub. Another significant turnoff for me is that when I use Perfect Puff, a strong alcohol odor is present. I looked up the ingredients and discovered that alcohol is second on the list of ingredients. I'm not happy with the fact that there is alcohol in it as it is too drying for my more mature skin.

Perfect Whip facial cleanser is your typical cream type of cleanser, which squeezes out of a tube. It does whip up quite nicely and cleans my face well. I do find my face to be a bit on the tight side after I dry it. While it is a good cleanser, I find Naive Aloe facial cleanser to be much more hydrating.

As a side note, the next week and a half will be quite busy for me at work so I'm going to try to do some scheduled posts.

*Kat*

Infallibles EOTD #2

2012-02-02T17:43:00.000-10:00

Today I present another EOTD using Infallible eyeshadows. This time I'm using Goldmine, Amber Rush and Eternal Black.

Products Used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Goldmine, Amber Rush and Eternal Black
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lash Mascara

Primed my eyes with Eden. Utilizing my standard way of applying eyeshadow colors, Goldmine is on inner 1/3 of eye, Amber Rush on middle 1/3 and Eternal Black on outer 1/3. Blended the colors together as best as I could--Infallibles do not blend easily. Lined my upper lashline and lower outer corner of lashline with K-Palette eyeliner. Applied mascara to my upper lashes.

Although you can't see it, I also used Time Resist White as a soft highlight on my cheeks.

I love this color combination as I think they all work together very well. Thank you to Lynn, Brianna and Vicky who gifted me with Goldmine, Amber Rush and Time Resist White, respectively. Vicky was actually the very first person who sent me an Infallible eyeshadow. It was exciting at that time because it was said that Infallible eyeshadows would not be released in the U.S.

Can anyone see what is different in the EOTD picture?

*Kat*

Creative Idea: Depotting Eyeshadows & Another Magnetic Palette

2012-01-30T17:55:00.000-10:00

WARNING: Picture Heavy

I've done some depotting before and some of it wasn't very pretty. I basically used the alcohol method of trying to loosen the glue but sometimes it didn't work well. Heat seemed like the best method but I was trying at all costs to avoid depotting using a candle because I felt that it was just too dangerous. I thought about trying using a flat iron but I had read that it wasn't as effective and I didn't like the thought of possibly ruining my flat iron plates. After much thought I got the idea to use my heat gun that I use for doing embossing in rubber stamping crafts. It has worked out well for me and I had a couple of people ask me how I do it.

Supplies needed:
   Palette
   Heat Gun
   Pointed Item to Push the Pan--A pen works well

For this tutorial, I am going to depot a Wet N Wild palette.

This is my heat gun. There are various brands out there with various prices but are priced around $29.99. You can usually find these in a craft store.

First you need to remove the stickers that are around the palette. The front has a short sticker tab that has the color of the palette. I usually like to keep this on the side. The back is fully covered with a sticker which has application instructions.

Often these stickers pull of cleanly and easily but if it feels like it is really stuck well, I usually blast it for a short period with the heat gun and the sticker will pull off easily.

I think that it is best to remove the sticker because the heat of the heat gun is quite hot and it is possible that it might get hot enough to ignite.

We will remove a pan at a time, concentrating the heat gun's air flow on the area where that one pan is. It is best to work in a well-ventilated area because the plastic will melt a bit and there are some fumes that are emitted.

Continue to have the heat gun heat that area until you can see the plastic start to melt. It'll look like it has condensation forming on the plastic. It should take only a couple of minutes. You don't want to have the plastic melt, only soften.

At this point, you can turn off the heat gun and using your desired instrument, poke that area and see if it has softened enough for you to be able to push the plastic forward. If it is still not soft enough, apply more heat using the heat gun for about another minute.

Your pan should pop out of the case and you can either have it softly drop upside down onto a soft towel or you can carefully grab the lifted pan and place it aside. Be sure to protect your fingers because the pan will be hot.

Here you can see that I was able to push the pan out but my pen did not make an actual hole in the plastic.

Using the heat gun again, follow the same steps to remove the rest of the pans. Using this heat gun method ensured that my eyeshadow pans stayed perfectly intact. I haven't had any cracked or crumbled shadows and haven't nicked or put a gouge mark in it.

Note: While apply the heat with the heat gun, make sure to keep your fingers well away from the heat. It is best to hold the cover while the bottom corner of the case is on your towel-covered surface.

Now that you have removed the pans from the palette, you can cover the bottom of each pan with a magnetic strip after it has cooled and place it into a magnetic palette of your choice. Thus my segue to the 2nd part of this Creative Idea post.

Some time last year I had seen a few posts about turning a DVD case into a magnetic palette. I thought that it was a great idea and recently started working on that project. At first it was a bit frustrating because it wasn't quite as easy as it looked and because I tend to be a perfectionist when I create something that I had to have it nearly perfect according to my standards. Once I got the hang of how I wanted it to be, I went a bit crazy and a few bloggers were (un)lucky recipients of this palette.

I used a DVD case, made a nice cover for it by printing out a picture but you can use any nice printed paper as well.

I also added a picture to the inside cover where I had to cut out the portion where you would normally snap in the dvd. I cut a magnetic sheet to fit inside the case and put my depotted shadows in it.

This magnetic palette happens to be filled with all Wet N Wild eyeshadows. In between the two tabs, there is enough space to put a magnetic strip which will fit the last palette that I depotted.

I then place the small sticker tab that has the palette's name in an open area near the depotted pans.

As you can see in the pictures, I also place decorative magnetic strips which mark off each palette. That's just something that I decided I wanted to do. I don't think that I will be doing it with all of the palettes I depot. In the last picture if you look closely, just above and just below the palette that I just put in, I also added the applicators that came with the Wet N Wild palette. I did it just to show that it will fit in there. I normally don't use the included applicators so they will not stay in my palette.

If you've managed to read this up to this point, thank you! It is a long post. I hope that you found it interesting and helpful.

Review + EOTD: L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows

2012-01-28T07:29:00.000-10:00

Ever since L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows were released, my blogger friends and I'm sure most of the beauty blogger world, have been going crazy over them and trying get various colors. They were first released in the UK and Canada and it wasn't until some months later that it was released in some parts of Asia and finally the US.

I was fortunate to have been gifted with half of my collection. The rest I have purchased.

I was gifted Time Resist White, Forever Pink, Goldmine and Amber Rush. I purchased Perpetual Purple. Midnight Blue, Sultry Smoke and Eternal Black. I recently discovered that Time Resist White is released only in UK and Canada while Forever Pink is a Canada only release. I'm so grateful to my friends who gifted me with these colors.

Justine of Sakura Lovely probably has one of the most comprehensive collection and listing of the Infallibles here. If you get a chance, please check out not only that post but her whole blog. I'm just amazed by her colleciton. Another lovely blogger, Vicky of Vanity-Fashionista also wrote a blog post about her Infallible collection. She also graphed out the colors, other names they are known by (some of the different country releases have different names although they are the same color). She also graphed out which countries they were released in. That post is here. Again, please check out Vicky's blog too. Both of these women are so sweet and I'm fortunate to have become friends with them.

I recently did an EOTD using the Infallibles,

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Forever Pink, Perpetual Purple and Midnight Blue
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

Forever Pink in in the inner 1/3 of the eye, Perpetual Purple in the middle 1/3 and Midnight Blue at the outer 1/3.

Lined my upper lashline and outer lower lashline with K-Palette.

I really love the colors. I only wish that Perpetual Purple came out a little bit more brilliant because you can't really tell it's purple in this EOTD. I like to blend my eye shadows but I find that blending the Infallibles isn't easy. Normally I work going from lighter to darker colors but I think that I will need to go from darker to lighter to achieve the blending that I want. I also think that it's best to use an eyeshadow primer to help bring out and hold the color.

I have heard that Infallibles are comparable to Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill but I can't comment on that as I haven't seen or tried Giorgio Armani. I will say that these are really nice shadows to have. They do last all day long and I had no fall out problems. The shimmer in the shadows did not travel down to my cheeks or around my face through out the day. For the price, it is worth trying them out. There is probably only one other color that I'm really interested in getting and then I think I'm good, unless there is a release of more colors.

*Kat*

Purchase Review: L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes

2012-01-25T20:41:00.000-10:00

As many asian women, I have been "blessed" with stick straight eyelashes. While they do curl easily with an eyelash curler, non waterproof mascara tends to uncurl them and even extremely moist waterproof mascaras will uncurl them. If the waterproof mascara is on the drier side, then they will not uncurl. The downside to this is that mascara is difficult to remove and I do find waterproof mascaras to be drying to my lashes, which is not good.

In my search for a good non waterproof mascara that will curl my lashes without an eyelash curler or if I do curl my lashes, will not uncurl them, I found Japanese brand fiber mascaras work decently well. Canmake Gokubuto mascara has been my HG mascara as it somewhat curls my lashes and is water resistant, which makes it easily removable.

On Saturday Mai and I were shopping in Bed Bath and Beyond and we came upon L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes mascara. The packaging says that lashes will appear fuller, longer and curled and that it is easily removable with soap and water.

Mai's favorite L'Oreal mascara has been discontinued so we both decided to give this a try.

Here are my lashes before applying mascara and which have not been curled at all.

As you can see, they are quite straight.

Here are my lashes after applying the mascara. Again, I didn't use an eyelash curler to curl my lashes.

Wow, they are significantly curled! This mascara didn't clump on me and even after 10 hours of wear, it didn't flake. I'm just so amazed that my lashes curled as much as it did without using an eyelash curler. It did wash off easily, although I always use an eye makeup remover when I wear mascara, irregardless of whether it's waterproof or not. I liked it so much that I have already gone back and bought a backup of it.

Mai has had the same results and she really likes it too. The only thing that she doesn't like is the brush. I think that she finds it too long because she said she nearly poked her eye out. I haven't had any problems though.

In case anyone is wondering, my eyemake up consisted of using NARS Hanamichi palette with Urban Decay Half-Baked. This was taken on Monday, which was Chinese New Year so I wanted to do my eye colors to match Chinese New Year. I also used the red color in Hanamichi as my blush. I'm totally loving this palette and am so glad that I ended up purchasing it.

*Kat*

Happy Lunar New Year + A Thought For A Good 2012

2012-01-23T16:49:00.000-10:00

I know that I've already wished everyone a Happy New Year but it is now the Lunar New Year. I would write it in Chinese but I've seen it written so many different ways that I'm a bit confused now. I decided not to even attempt to figure out which is the most correct way since I am not Chinese and don't know where to begin.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! Let's all band together and make 2012 be a good one!

A floral arrangement for the lunar new year:

There are 3 small lanterns in the arrangement. Can you see them? There is actually a button on the top of each latern, which when pressed, will light up the lantern. It changes colors after a short while.

I think that in order for 2012 to be an awesome year, we as individuals, need to be proactive in the process. Of course, there are things that we can't control, like Mother Nature for example. A good friend of mine wrote an excellent blog post at the end of 2011. I hope that you will take the time to read it. It is written by Sheila of Maddy Loves and is titled "Blogging & Cyberbullying".

The internet has certainly expanded my world, as well as everyone else's. The world has become a smaller place as we are now able to communicate, find information and make purchases online. Internet, for me, is a wonderful tool and I've made so many wonderful friends in all corners of the world. Unfortunately, there is also an ugliness to the internet and people do feel much freer in doing and saying things that they normally wouldn't do in person. The internet allows you to remain anonymous and hide behind profile nicknames. I was appalled when I watched a YouTube video some months back. It was a tutorial by a well-known beauty blogger and I always appreciate the hard work that goes into doing those. I normally don't read the comments but I happened to and was shocked by the amount of mean comments. While I think that constructive negative comments are okay, mean and vindictive ones are not. I then went to another beauty blogger YouTube tutorial video and checked out the comments there and saw the same things.

As was mentioned in Sheila's writeup and was probably one of the main reasons why she wrote it, is that one of her friends, who happens to be a friend of mine, was being targeted. I believe some things were written as comments on her blog but most of them were in beauty-related forums. I did find it quite interesting that these were in countries where what you say and do are significantly monitored by government.

While these wonderful people who are being targeted seem to brush it off and ignore, one cannot deny that it is hurtful. Let us please remember the famous quote: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Hiding behind your profile nicknames and vindictive commenting as "anonymous" is cowardly. Negative comments are not unwelcome as long as they are tactful and constructive.

It is my hope that we can all be a kinder, gentler person. What goes around, comes around and if we can "pay it forward", just think of how much nicer this world will be.

*Kat*

Saturday With Mai

2012-01-22T00:32:00.000-10:00

Today I left home at 10:00 to meet up with Mai. She invited me to go with her to her company's departmental holiday celebration luncheon. This luncheon was held at the Prince Court Restaurant in the Hawaii Prince Hotel. This hotel is an upscale hotel and the buffet luncheon was amazing. There were different food stations--Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Salad and even a Sushi station! Of course there was an amazing dessert station.

My first round to the food buffet:

It was really difficult to choose from all of the different choices. There is red potato salad, green salad topped with spicy tofu salad, shrimp tempura and cataloupe.

I also went to the sushi station and got...

Spicy Ahi (Tartar Tuna) Sushi!

Next round to the buffet...

More cantaloupe, miso soup, namasu (pickled cucumbers) shrimp tempura, laulau and another sushi roll. This time it was a California Roll.

There was a wide selection of desserts as well. I took pictures of the ones that I thought were most interesting.

Strawberry Mango Mousse Cake

Pineapple Cheesecake

Strawberry Shortcake

Fruit Tart

Creme Caramel

There were a few others, two of which were chocolate. Amazingly, neither one of them interested me. One had macadamia nuts in it but they were so large that I didn't think I would enjoy it. The other looked like it would be way too rich for my tastes. My choices were:

Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Mango Mousse Cake, Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce and Creme Caramel.

I also got a bowl of Almond Float.

It is also known as Almond Tofu.

I was really impressed by the chocolate piece that adorned the top of my strawberry shortcake.

It was so pretty!

I can't believe that I ate as much as I did! Mai and I were so stuffed after eating all of the wonderful food. I was sad that I forgot my phone so I couldn't tweet pictures during the meal.

We then headed over to her son's martial arts class and spent a couple of hours there before going to Ala Moana Shopping Center for a bit of shopping. We didn't spend much time there and opted to go to my house to drop off dinner to my family and then go to Pearlridge Shopping Center to shop. We also went to Bed Bath and Beyond which is right next to the shopping center. The amazing thing is that I spent more money on beauty items in Bed Bath and Beyond than I did in Sephora! I bought a L'Oreal mascara that looks really interesting. It is Voluminous False Fiber Lashes. I will test it out and do a review. I also picked up a Neutrogena eye makeup remover pads container. It was the first time that I have seen those so I'm curious to test this out too. At Sephora, all that I picked up was a Sephora brand eyeliner, which was only $5.00! That's probably the smallest purchase that I've made in Sephora ever.

It was a fun Saturday with Mai. We hadn't seen each other in almost a month so it was fun spending the time together and catching up.

I hope that everyone's weekend has been going well.

*Kat*

Brush of The Month--Final Edition

2012-01-19T23:17:00.000-10:00

I'm still trying to finish up my 2011 year-end posts. Today's post is my November and December Brush of the Month brushes.

It's funny how it ended up being that the brushes for both months are crease brushes. The one of the left is an e.l.f. brush and the two on the right are a pair of really, really inexpensive brushes that came as a set. I like using crease brushes for applying my eyeshadows, especially if I'm doing more precision type of application of colors.

So this ends my 2011 Brush of the Month project. I'm so glad that I decided to do this to build up my brush collection. There are a few brushes that I purchased that I really like so I will definitely be purchasing more. I usually like to have 3 in rotation--1 that I'm using, another that gets used when the 1st one has been washed and is drying and a 3rd one for backup.

The weather has been a lot cooler which makes for longer drying time. Thanks to a recent post by Jen of From Head to Toe, I am now using her suggestion for the quick brush clean up. I'm sure that all of you have seen this post and her video as it is hard to find anyone who is not following her. I've always used packets of Purell Wipes to clean my fingers before I do any finger application so that I don't contaminate my products. However, you can't use the Purell Wipes on your brushes as I think it is too harsh. Seeing her suggestion, I've switched over to Wet Ones to sanitize my fingers as well as my brushes.

*Kat*

Creative Idea: DIY Mini Magnetic Palette

2012-01-17T21:11:00.000-10:00

I'm going to start and try to continue doing a series of Creative Idea posts. These may include DIY, recycling or otherwise. It will hopefully spark my creative juices as well as be budget minded.

There are times when I need to go straight from work to a function. Recently it was for Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's house. I wanted to be able to touch up my eye makeup a bit after I got to my mom's house but didn't want to carry the two palettes that my two pans of eyeshadows were in.

After a bit of thought, I decided that the two pans would fit into the small Altoids mint tin. I put a magnetic strip into the bottom of the tin and put the two pans into it. I was able to carry just that small tin, which was less bulky than carrying the two palettes. It worked very well but I had to admit that it looked a bit tacky.

Remember the packet of Victorian cutouts that I received as a gift from Jamilla? I used that for this creative DIY project.

I used the small Altoids tin, painted it a gold color and added one of the cutouts to decorate the cover, which hides the raised "Altoids" wording. The end result is a nicely decorated Altoids tin, in which one can't tell it was originally an Altoids tin, from the outside anyway.

As an afterthought, I didn't need to add a magnetic strip in the tin because the MAC pan is magnetized and the other pans that I have depotted has magnets applied to the bottoms of the pans already. They do adhere to the Altoids tin without the magnetic strip on the bottom.

I will be doing more of these and will also use the larger Altoids tin. I have also purchased a blank tin to see how that will work out and if it does work out well, I will be purchasing more blank tins to create magnetic palettes.

*Kat*

Using My Stash

2012-01-13T18:43:00.000-10:00

At the end of December, I used up enough products to do another Using My Stash post. In many ways, it feels so gratifying to be using up so many things, even if many are mini sizes.

First up is skin care items. The only full-sized item is the Nature Republic White Therapy face wash. I've actually been using that face wash for over a year! It lasted me that long. It was okay but given the chance to purchase it, I don't think I would. The rest of the items are all mini sizes. The tops of the Noevir items I've written letters on the top so that I knew what it was as the items are different things but in same-sized bottles.

More skin care items. The Naive face wash and ZA sunscreen were both full-sized items. I loved the Naive Aloe face wash and will purchase it again when I've used up all of the face washes in my stash. This face wash also lasted me a year. It was a thank you gift from someone. I liked the ZA sunscreen, which was a gift from Sheila. I can't get ZA here any more. Fortunately, I have other sunscreens that I like and can purchase here.

The only hair care product that I used up was Neuma Moisture conditioner. I did like it but don't think that I'll be purchasing it again. The shampoo will probably be used up soon.

Lastly is makeup. I used up my Canmake mascaras and K-Palette eyeliner. These items are what I would consider staples in my makeup so they are replaced. I also used up a Canmake loose powder blush. I liked the color a lot but still not sure if I like the loose powder form. I have so many other blushes to use so will not be purchasing a replacement soon, although I would like to try the same color in a pressed powder blush.

Hoping that I use up a lot more of my stash in 2012!

*Kat*

Non-Blogger Present Showcase

2012-01-10T16:41:00.000-10:00

I wanted to do a post another post about the Christmas love packages that I received from blogger/twitter friends but it seems that I accidently deleted my photos and I already put everything together in one area. I'm hoping that I can separate and reconstruct who gave me what but if I can't, I'm so sorry to everyone that sent me love packages. Please know that I appreciated everything that you all gave me.

For today's post, I wanted to share with you beauty-related presents that I received from family/friends that don't blog.

From one good friend, I received MOR Neroli Clementine Hand & Body Wash and Hand & Body Lotion.

I have never seen this brand before so I am excited to try this out later and will definitely do a review on them.

From Mai (okay, she's supposed to be the co-blogger of this blog but it's rare that she comes on) I was stunned by her gift to me. She gave me the Clarisonic Mia in the color Berry.

I have the Clarisonic Plus but was thinking about the Mia, which I think might be more convenient for traveling purposes.

From the husband, I'm actually quite surprised by his gift. He gave me a gift card to Sephora!

I guess he's realized just how much into makeup I've gotten into and has given me something that I know I will make good use out of. In fact, he's been anxiously asking me every week since Christmas if I've gone shopping at Sephora yet.

As you get older, you get less and less presents. This year the presents that I did receive were awesome. Not that I don't receive wonderful presents every year but this year's gifts really are reflective of my interest in the past year or so.

*Kat*

2011 Reflections and 2012 Hopes

2012-01-07T22:18:00.000-10:00

I hope that everyone has recovred from the new year celebrations and food gorging. I wanted to be a little reflective in this blog post and write down my thoughts on 2011 and hopes for 2012.

2011--What a year! The highs were very high and the lows were very low.
I started out the year with the statement that I was going to use my stash and try not to buy anything other than replace essential items. I would have to give myself the grade of C+. I did do a pretty good job of using my stash and I still have a significant amount to go through. I did make purchases that were not necessities but wants but didn't go crazily wild in purchases.

The main reason why I didn't want to spend much on beauty products was because my son was getting married, which was a definite high point of the year. We were also going to be going to Japan in July for the planned reception. The low point, which was a really low point, was the earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan in March. All plans for Japan was cancelled because of the devastation. One reason was my son and daughter-in-law didn't feel it was right to be doing a large celebration in the wake of the devastation and recovery. The other reason was that the reception was planned to be held in Iwaki, which was one of the cities greatly affected by the disaster.

Another low for 2011 was my youngest son getting injured, tearing his ACL and 2 places of his meniscus. He required surgery and is currently still rehabbing, although doing much better.

On November 21st, my first grandson was born in Fukushima! He is healthy and the new family is doing fine. It was probably the highest point of 2011 for us.

At the end of 2011, I realized just how many wonderful people I "met" through Twitter and blogging. Many of you I have become close with and can truly call you a dear friend. I am honored that you also consider me to be your friend. During the course of the year, I got to actually meet 3 of you! Those were, without a doubt, happy moments for me.

I don't like to make New Years' Resolutions because so often they do not get met. So then, what are my hopes for 2012?

**I would like to continue with using my stash.

**Last year, I did "Brush of the Month", in which I purchased at least one brush a month to help build up my brush collection. This year instead of doing a purchase plan, I would like to try using my NAKED 1 palette so that I can use up at least one of the colors in the palette and try to hit pan on some of the other colors. I know many people love that palette but it is not one that I reach for. I'm just not a brown neutral person, which is why I just don't use the palette.

**"Experiemental Weekends" is an idea that I have come up with for myself. I often don't go anywhere on the weekends where my makeup has to be "in place". I've decided that on the weekends, I will experiment with using more drugstore makeup or other new items that I have acquired. I will also try experimenting with different color combinations and/or go out of my "comfort zone". I have many items which I don't use because I"m not comfortable with the color or texture or whatever other reason. If I like the result, I will blog about it.

**Again as with last year, I will be trying not to purchase a lot as I am once again saving for a trip to Japan. I will probably not have much to blog about as far a product reviews but will try to keep the blog interesting. I hope to come up with some creative ideas to share with you.

That's all that I can think about right now. May 2012 be a good year for everyone.

*Kat*

Ushering Out 2011 With A Meet Up & Welcoming In 2012 With New Year Food

2012-01-02T23:07:00.000-10:00

Sorry that I've been so inactive with blogging these past few weeks. Working and dealing with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season left me feeling quite exhausted this year. I do have quite a few catch up posts planned and hopefully can get it all organized and done soon.

The end of 2011 was a good one because I got to meet up with 2 bloggers at the same time. Liz aka Jamilla Camel of Makeup for Professional Asian Women and Tracie aka Wuzzy of Wuzzy Angel are the two bloggers that I got to meet. Coincidently, Tracie lives in Hawaii and quite nearby to me and we haven't ever met before this. We decided to meet at Ala Moana Shopping Center just outside of Nordstrom and then head over to Assagio Italian Restaurant for lunch.

Liz also brought along her husband who Liz described as a very tall English man. This conjured up all kinds of stereotypical images in my mind of English men. One stereotype is that they are loud and rowdy. The other being the perfect English gentleman. Her husband is indeed very tall and is a soft-spoken, genteel and perfect English gentleman. It was an honor for me to have been able to meet him too.

Liz, I have "met" via video webchat before and so it was great to actually see her in person. It is amazing how different people can look in person even though you've seen them through web chat. I have to say that Liz is even more beautiful in person, if that is even possible. She has the greatest personality too and is so easy to get along with. Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling very well so she couldn't enjoy eating a nice meal.

Traci is also a beautiful and easy going person. I've discovered that we have a few things in common besides our love for makeup. Traci, I think that we'll need to get together again and just fangirl over the Johnny idols.

We totally failed in remembering to take meet up pictures! We were having so much fun talking and eating that by the time I remembered that we needed to take pictures, the food was gone except for Traci's salad. This is the only picture that I took of Liz and Traci:

No blogger meet up is complete without goodies. From the lovely Liz, I received this bag:

And in the bag was wonderful goodies!

A packet of Victorian cutouts, a couple of eyeshadow palettes, a mask or two AND a Hello Kitty x Liberty Lipgloss Set! I already opened up and used the Victorian cutouts and that will be in an upcoming post. Thank you LIz!

From Traci, I received a wallet-sized zippered pouch which has a mirror inside and there was a bunch of sample packets that I can't wait to try. Also included was a nail polish and Bare Minerals powder.

It was actually all wrapped up in a package as well but I forgot to take a picture of it before I opened it up. Thank you Traci!

Thank you ladies! It was a wonderful way to end 2011.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I've been quite exhausted and I actually fell asleep on New Year's Eve as soon as I got home from work. I got up a few times and posted a couple of tweets but went back to sleep until I finally got up at around 11:30 p.m. It was just in time to wish my family a Happy New Year at midnight. I then showered and went back to sleep. New Year's Day, I was still feeling tired and like I had a hangover so it was mainly spent just lying around and watching television.

I finally cooked my New Year's meal for dinner tonight. It isn't the new year until we eat soba and the traditional ozoni (mochi soup).

Soba:

Ozoni:

Teriyaki Furikake Salmon:

I couldn't find my sakura-shaped cutter so I had to use this other cutter for the carrots in the soup. I don't like cooked carrots so after I took the picture, the carrots went back into the pot.

To eveyone, Happy New Year and I hope that 2012 will be a good year for all.

*Kat*

Blogger Secret Santa Gift

2011-12-21T18:43:00.000-10:00

Monday night, the 19th, we were finally able to open out Secret Santa gifts. Thanks to Sheila who organized the Secret Santa exchange, she also organized a video chat on Google+ for us to open our gifts with each other. It was certainly a lot more fun doing it this way--a virtual Christmas party where we got to see each others expressions as we opened up our gifts. Unfortunately, my webcam wasn't syncing with Google+ for some reason and no one could see me. Actually, those of you in video chat were fortunate--haha!

The people who participated in this year's exchange were:

Ashley - http://makeupkismet.blogspot.com
D - http://shinyprettythings9.blogspot.com
Evie - http://asidewalkcafe.blogspot.com
Jamilla - http://www.makeupforprofessionalasianwomen.com
Jian - http://pinkfishtart.blogspot.com
Kat (me) - http://maikatoshaberi.blogspot.com
Lulu - http://luluchinadoll.blogspot.com
Rosalia - http://style-love.blogspot.com
Sheila - http://maddyloves.wordpress.com
Vicky - http://vanity-fashionista.blogspot.com
Yinnie - http://looking-glass-beauty.blogspot.com
Vonnie - http://ohsovonnie.blogspot.com

This year my Secret Santa was Vonnie! She said that I was hard to shop for! Sorry Vonnie. I thought that I made it easy since I actually did a wish list this year. Last year, I didn't do any wish list and drove my Secret Santa nuts!

My gift actually was in two parts. The first package that arrived was actually the 2nd part and the 2nd package that arrived was the 1st part. I opened the first package and TA DAAA!

A package full of yummy Lindt Chocolate Truffles! I love those candies! Also enclosed was a Christmas card with a note revealing that she was my Secret Santa.

I then opened up the 2nd package and was surprised by one of the items on my wish list! Tarte's The Starlet Limited-Edition Makeup Vanity! I had actually considered buying it when it got released but then decided not to because it was something that I didn't need. When Secret Santa came up, I decided to put it onto my wish list. It is a 3-layer palette which has 4 different color-themes.

This picture is from the Sephora website as I couldn't get a good picture of the case.

It has a metallic type of finish and the flash just reflects off of it .

The 1st two layers/drawers are eyeshadows and the bottom drawer is Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-hour blushes, bronzer and shimmering powder. Also in the 2nd drawer is a mascara and eyelash primer. You can click on the drawer pictures to bring up a bigger picture. Thank you so much Vonnie for this wonderful Secret Santa gift! I can't wait to try everything.

Thank you Sheila for organizing this exchange again this year. This year I was Secret Santa for Sheila, which was ironic because she was mine last year. It is through this exchange last year that I got to know Sheila much, much better and we are now good friends. For me, that is the most important aspect of joining an exchange like this. I've become better acquainted with bloggers and the friendships that I have formed are priceless.

*Kat*

Incoco, Take 3 NOTD

2011-12-14T23:28:00.000-10:00

Ever since discovering Incoco Nail Polish Strips, I've been loving doing manicures. I know that I just posted my festive, Christmasy NOTD, which was okay but I felt was a little too busy and too much for my preference. I had to change out of it and decided to use what I think is one of the more popular designs as I can't find it in stock very often. This one is called Ballerina Princess.

I thought that it was pink when I first bought it but after looking at it better, there is a lavender hue to it. After applying it to my nails, it shows up much more and it's so pretty! There is a hint of fine micro glitter in it, which isn't visible in the picture but shows up really nicely especially in natural sunlight.

I thought Golden Lattice from my first post was my favorite but I believe that Ballerina Princess is my favorite. It is a beautiful pink-lavender shade with light gradation.

I did find that this set of nail polish strips seemed to be of a little different consistency from the other two that I used. It felt thinner, seemed more tacky and stretched more easily. Because it seemed to be more tacky, it adhered to the nails really quickly and firmly. Also because it stretched more easily, it was a little more difficult to use the other half of the strip on the other hand. I had some problem with it crinkling. It's good to make a mental note that if the strips seem to be of this type of consistency, it might be better to not try to use one strip on two nails.

*Kat*

Christmas Is In The Air

2011-12-14T00:16:00.000-10:00

With the holidays fast approaching, it's beginning to feel more and more festive. Helping to add to that festive feeling is the blessings that I have received in the way of love packages and Christmas packages over the past couple of weeks. This is in addition to the Secret Santa packages that I received.

First of all was a love package from Yu Ming of Beauty-Box-Online. We follow each other on twitter and she remembered that I had once said that I was interested in trying out the MDB Earl Gray Tea & Macaron Masks and Chocolate Truffle Masks. She kindly offered to send me some since it hadn't worked out for her. Along with that, she included a few sample items. I can't wait to try all of the items out. Thank you so much Yu Ming!

Justine of Sakura Lovely and I also follow each other on twitter and we discovered that besides interest in makeup, we also share an interest in paper crafts and both fangirl cute, sexy and hot Johnny's entertainers. She sent me a lovely handmade card with an ornament that was designed and cutout using her new Cricut machine. It will definitely go on my tree when we finally put it up. I forgot to include them in the picture but she also sent me some lovely masks, one of which I can't wait to try--it's an eye mask. Thank you Justine for the beautiful card which was made with love.

I was really surprised today when I got a package from Mona of Make Me Blushhh. It was totally unexpected and she very quietly and sneakily sent it. All housed in a lovely zip pouch were some masks (we really can't have too many masks), nail polish, hand cream and a bag. I love bags and this one is a pretty pink and white print. The hand cream really intrigues me since it's a Vitamin + B12 hand cream. I can't wait to try this out. Thank you for the very lovely surprise Mona!

I also got two Christmas presents, which I opened up already because the two senders told me to open it. From Sheila of Maddy Loves, I got so many wonderful things! There's a bottle of Beauty So Clean that I had wanted to try. Each item included was neatly labeled with a note on it. I can't wait to try everything in there. One thing that I really wanted to highlight is that she made a beautiful necklace. On a sterling silver chain, there is a sterling silver shoe charm and a swarovski crystal bead in the color Clear AB. In the picture with all of the other items, it was taken with a flash so the crystal is showing up as blue so I also took a closeup picture of it with no flash so that you can see the beauty of clear crystal AB. It is my favorite color because it reflects different colors. Thank you so much Sheila for the heartfelt Christmas present. Thank you also for not keeping me in suspense and letting me open it early.

Lulu of Luluchinadoll is another blogger who I got to know very well through Twitter. She sent me a wonderful Christmas present as well. We are both Hello Kitty lovers and she sent me the cutest pair of Hello Kitty socks! I will wear this with my Hello Kitty PJs. I can't wait to try out the different makeup items that she included too. Thank you Lulu. I'm so glad that we've gotten to know each other through Twitter and blogging.

I also received another Christmas present from Tiffany of Rocketeer but I don't have any pictures yet because I haven't opened it yet. Thank you for thinking of me Tiffany. We discovered each other through blogging but found that we are bound together by something in common. Fate--life is interesting in that way, isn't it?

*Kat*

Blogger Secret Santa Exchange

2011-12-12T11:10:00.000-10:00

A really quick post since I'm doing this at work...

Last year I joined in my very first Blogger Secret Santa Exchange that was hosted by Sheila of Maddy Loves and really enjoyed it. I was so happy when she announced that she was going to be hosting it again this year and I quickly signed up.

As per the "rules", we are to post a picture of our package after we receive it. I found out that there were two packages that were being sent separately and the 2nd package finally arrived.

As you can see, I have written on the packages in which order they are to be opened as I was instructed. I am not supposed to open these until Christmas Day. There is a possibility that we may do a video group chat to open our gifts together so whichever comes first is when I'm supposed to wait to open. I need to hide my packages so that I won't be tempted to open and find out who my Secret Santa is. Whoever you are, thank you and I can't wait!

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Naked 2 and EOTD

2011-12-11T08:08:00.000-10:00

When I first heard a few months back about there being a Naked 2 that was going to be released, I wasn't excited about it as the rest of the beauty blogging world was. I have Naked 1 and it's a really lovely neutral palette but a palette in which most of the colors are a bit too warm for my liking. I am also not much of a neutral colors kind of person. However, after seeing some of the early reviews by beauty bloggers that received the palette before the release date, I changed my mind. The reason being that it's a palette in which the colors lean toward being on the cool-toned side.

As soon as the released dated arrived, I went to Urban Decay's website hopeful but not getting my hopes up because one of the disadvantages to living in Hawaii is being in the latest time zone in the States. I was sure that it had already sold out by the time I went on at 8:00 a.m. Hawaii time but already 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. in the rest of the States. To my surprise, I was able to order a palette and received a notification 5 hours later that my order had been shipped!

8 days later, my order arrived and included was a gold eyeliner pencil.

I'm sure you've all read about the new packaging and the included mini lipgloss and brush so I won't go into much details about it.

You can click on this picture to view it at a larger size

While I normally don't use the included applicators, this double-ended brush is nice and of nice quality so this is one applicator that I will be using.

The nice features about the palette is that it comes in a tin and has snap closures on each side. This ensures that the palette is securely closed and much easier to travel with, if you choose to.

In Naked 1 my favorite color is Half-Baked and that color in included in Naked 2. In Naked 2, I have to say that probably my favorite color is Pistol. I tend to favor silvers, grays, silver/grayish taupes, charcoals and blacks and those colors are what I consider to be my neutral colors.

For my EOTD, these are the products I used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette--Foxy, Verve, Pistol and Busted
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Fairy Drops Mascara

My eyeshadow application is basically always using the same technique but using different colors. Primed my eyelid with Eden and lightly applied Foxy just under the eyebrow on the brow bone. Verve is in the inner 1/3 of eyelid and is blended upward just above the creaseline but not going into the contour/eye socket area. I also always like to blend it outward in that area above the creaseline so that the color fades out. Pistol is applied to the middle of the eyelid. Again, blending it upward and outward into the same area but at the outer 1/3 of the eye, I like to blend this color up onto the brow bone. I also blend well so that you can't tell where Verve ends and Pistol begins. Busted is applied to the outer 1/3 of the eye, blending upward to just above the crease line and fading out into the brow bone. Normally I like to smoke it out more and apply the same color or a charcoal or black to the outer "V" but I decided not to this time. Lined my upper lashline with K-Palette and the outer 1/3 of lower lashline. I almost never completely line my lower lashline because it tends to make my eye makeup look too harsh and can actually make my eyes appear smaller than they are. I lightly applied PIstol on top of K-Palette that has been applied to the lower lashline to soften it a bit. I have never mentioned this before but I usually do this with eyeshadow to soften the liner. I also try to fade the color inward toward the middle of the eye. I also applied Verve to the middle of lower lashline.

It is a good look for the day and for those who work in conservative offices. For the evening, you can "glam" it up by smoking the look. I came home and applied Blackout to the outer "V" area and blended it so there were no harsh lines.

This eye look is definitely more me. The first look is a little too soft for my preference and I actually was asked if I was feeling tired or coming down with a cold. I guess people who see me on a regular basis are used to me with a smoky eye look too.

Naked 2 is a nice addition to my growing eyeshadow collection. I can see myself using this palette much more than Naked 1.

*Kat*

Another Incoco NOTD

2011-12-09T00:03:00.000-10:00

Since I mentioned in last night's post that I bought a Christmasy Incoco nail strip set, I thought that I would post about it today since I couldn't find it last night to take a picture of it. There were several different designs available, but I liked this one the best.

I applied the nail strips and about a half hour after I was done, I went to shower, washed my hair and dried and styled it. I then took this picture.

As you can see, it still looks freshly applied with no tip wear or chips. There's no way that I would have the same results if I used bottled nail polish. Sorry my middle nail is short because it tore off earlier today when I had no nail polish on. I now have festive nails, ready for the holiday season.

*Kat*

Purchase Review & Comparison: Incoco vs. Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips

2011-12-07T23:43:00.000-10:00

Again, sorry for the lack of posts and slow responses to comments. I've been sick for about a week now but in actuality have not been myself for several months. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and while I don't have a sinus infection, I do have sinus congestion so he told me take a different decongestant and prescribed a nose spray. In just 24 hours, I feel great! I don't feel like I'm in a fog anymore, don't have a dull headache and can actually breathe in air unconstricted. I didn't realize that I wasn't breathing in much air before. I'm actually feeling a lot like my old self and have energy again.

As promised a few posts back, I am here today to do a comparison between the Incoco brand nail polish strips and Sally Hansen nail polish strips. It was in this post that I showcased my NOTD using Incoco. This is my manicure after nearly two weeks of wearing it.

As you can see, my nails had grown and actually were getting too long that they were bugging me. It was time to cut my nails and remove this manicure. I'm always amazed by how long lasting these polishes are because I normally chip my nails within the first 24 hours.

This is what the Incoco nail strip packet looks like.

The cost of the pack is $13.00 but if you buy 3 or more, the cost goes down to about $10.00 each. (There are two sets of the strips in the pack.) Also included, but not pictured, is a mini cuticle stick, an emery board, nail polish remover packet and some sample nail strips. The sample nail strips come two strips to a pack. These are great for if you are first starting out with this system because it gives you a chance to play with it and not use your pack to do the trial.

Sally Hansen nail strips is in a box and is like this:

What is not pictured is the 2nd packet of nail strips. The cost of it is an average of $10.00 per box. It also includes a cuticle stick and an emery board.

My nails after applying Sally Hansen nail strips.

For Sally Hansen, when I was peeling the nail strip off of the backing, it didn't peel off cleanly. Part of the side of the strip stayed stuck on the backing. For me, that is no problem because I have really tiny nails but for those with wider nails, it might be a problem if it sticks like that. I don't know if this means that there is more sticking power to it than Incoco, but I didn't experience this problem with Incoco.

A blogger friend commented that she can't apply the Sally Hansen nail strips because it looks bumpy on her. I didn't have this problem either although I did find that I couldn't reposition the strips after it stuck to my nail. Again, it could be that it just has more sticking power to it than Incoco, which in some ways is good. With Incoco, I am able to put it on lightly and slowly and carefully manipulate it into position.

I'm not sure if it's my imagination or not but I also think that Sally Hansen is thicker or has a more plastic-y feel to it than Incoco. The length of each strip is the same for Incoco and Sally Hansen. If your nails are relatively short like mine, I find that I can use one strip for both hands' nails. For example, I can apply the pinky-sized strip to my right hand, flip it around and apply it to my left hand. This way, each pack will last for two manicures instead of one. You can view Incoco's "how to apply" instructions here. While it does take some practice to apply it easily, for me it is so much better than spending time painting my nails and waiting for it to dry completely. I always end up smudging it or ruining it somehow. I also have problems waiting for each layer to dry properly so that's probably why it chips so easily.

My own personal opinion is that I prefer Incoco over Sally Hansen. Somehow, it just feels like it's a better quality nail strip. I think that Incoco's collection of designs and colors, are much more elegant than Sally Hansen's. Sally Hansen has glittery strips that are really glittery or design prints that are actually quite busy, like the one that I applied. Both wore well on me and lasted nearly two weeks before any chipping or peeling occurred. That is a miracle for me because I use my hands a lot and am really rough on my nails.

In Hawaii, there is an Incoco kiosk at Ala Moana Shopping Center, which is where I first discovered this nail polish concept. A kiosk just opened at the mall which is close to me, which is a good and bad thing. I just purchased a Christmas design, which will be my new manicure. Unfortunately, I don't know where I put it so I can't take a picture of it right now.

Have you tried either or both? What are your thoughts about it?

*Kat*

NARS Hanamichi EOTD Take 2

2011-11-27T23:58:00.000-10:00

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

2011-11-26T19:06:00.000-10:00

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

2011-11-24T06:50:00.000-10:00

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

2011-11-23T08:27:00.000-10:00

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

2011-11-16T17:42:00.000-10:00

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

2011-11-03T14:57:00.000-10:00

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*

Happy Birthday Wishes and Early Birthday Celebration Adventure

2011-10-26T07:29:00.000-10:00

October 26 is a special day as several beautiful women were born on this day. I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to @Mona26 (Make Me Blushhh), @vanityfashionis (Vanity-Fashionista) and @Belle_Kels (I only know of her from Twitter). These women are wonderful and sweet women and I'm proud to be able to be a birthday partner with them. Happy Birthday to you all and I hope that this day is a very special one for you, filled with love, laughter and happiness--not just on this day but every day. I wish you many more Happy Birthdays to come.

This past Saturday, Mai and I spent the afternoon and evening out as she wanted to celebrate my birthday. It was a few days early but doing it on this actual day would have been difficult and she's tied up this upcoming weekend. As part of my present, she scheduled a manicure/pedicure session at Trina Beauty. I have had manicures done before as I used to use acrylic nails but I've never had a pedicure done. This place was so busy! I was amazed at how many people were there, not just customers but workers too. There must have been at least 10 chairs for pedicures. I didn't think that I would enjoy getting a pedicure but I really did. They clean up your foot and do a massage all the way up to your calves. My feet and toes have never been happier! My finger nails got done in the same color and I got a design put on my ring fingers.

Remember the post when we did our Thrift Store Shopping Challenge? I mentioned that Mai and I bought additional items that were not part of the challenge. Here is one of the t-tops that she purchased:

Here is the CK jeans and t-top that I purchased:

We then went to my house to get ready to go out for dinner. We wore the dresses that we purchased when we did the shopping challenge. It was for this purpose that we did the challenge.

Mai's dress:

My dress:

I added the cardigan shrug from my own closet.

We went to Champa Thai to eat thai food. It's our favorite place! We had mee krob, spring rolls, panang chicken curry and beef ginger thai.

It was the first time that we tried the beef ginger thai. It was delicious but too similar to panang curry. We normally order chicken satay but wanted to try something different.

For my EOTD, I went with colors similar to that in my dress.

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
Urban Decayeyeshadow Junkshow (from 15th Anniversary Palette)
MAC Violet pigment (that I pressed), Sorcery and Print
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Canmake Agebuto Mascara

It actually came out a little bolder than it shows up in the picture.

I had a great early birthday celebration with Mai. Thank you, my dear friend, for always being there for me and for all of the times that we share, both the good and the bad.

*Kat*

Las Vegas Trip Highlights and Hauls

2011-10-21T17:35:00.000-10:00

I normally don't like to do just a haul post unless I can tie it in with a regular post. Although I really enjoy reading peoples blogs when they blog about their various hauls, somehow when I try to do just a haul blog post, I feel like I'm bragging, which is not my intent.

Las Vegas is a city where Hawaii people love to go. We have great charters which include airfare, transfers to and from the airport, hotel accomodations and meal tickets, all for a very reasonable price. You're even allowed to have 2 pieces of luggage!

We arrived on Tuesday evening so there wasn't much to do except go to dinner and spend time playing in the casino. The next day was when we went out shopping. We hit the Premium Outlet Mall, which is relatively close to the California Hotel and Casino, which is where we were staying. I normally go crazy there buying all kinds of things but didn't really have anything that I needed to buy. There was a new store there, Bare Escentuals Outlet Store so I went in there and bought several brushes. I really like their brushes although they are higher priced. I was able to get all three brushes (one is missing) for only $9.50 each! That's just about the regular price of one brush. I bought two of the Heavenly Face brush, which is the flat topped brush and one of the rose-colored handle brush. (Sorry, I don't remember the name of it now.) I would have bought more but felt a bit rushed. I also didn't think that I would end up giving one of the flat-topped brushes to my mom but it was worth it because she was so happy with it.

I also purchased a hydrating face mist from L'Occitane. I was disappointed that there was nothing that interested me in CCO. I also understand that H&M will be opening up in that outlet mall soon so I'm looking forward to the next time I travel to Vegas.

We also headed over to Trader Joes, thanks to my mom's friend who was driving. I love Trader Joes, which is basically a health-conscious grocery store. My favorite item from there is the Unsalted, Dry-Toasted, Slivered Almonds. I can't get something like that here that I know of. I bought 5 bags of them and will store some in the freezer. We use them on top of vegetable salads and I also eat it just out of the bag. Also purchased were bags of pistachio nuts, honey-roasted peanuts, mini peanut butter cups, chocolate lacey cookies, butter waffle cookies and Belgian butter almond thins. There were actually more items of each but they are not pictured because they were already eaten. Also not pictured is a bag of sweet 'n salty trail mix. That was also eaten. A couple of the the boxes of the butter almond thins will be given away but the rest is for my family to enjoy. If I could have, I would have brought back a whole lot more. I also think that these are reasonably priced as all of this was only around $55.00.

Sorry, Hime chan wouldn't move away from the goodies.

Wednesday was basically the only day that we went out. The rest of the days we spent eating in the various restaurants in the two hotels, California and Maine Street since they are connected and playing in the casino. Although I wished that I could have gone out more, it was great being able to spend time with my mom.

*Kat*

Packing for Travels

2011-10-20T17:28:00.000-10:00

I'm back from my trip to Las Vegas! I had a lot of fun albeit a little bit poorer.

One thing about traveling is having to pack, which I really do not like to do. I'm always afraid that I'll forget something. I do have a list but still worry about missing something. Cosmeddicted just recently did a really awesome post on how to prepare for packing your skin care and cosmetics here. It is really quite concise. I wish that she had posted it before I had to pack for my trip.

I know that I've done a similar post before but thought that I'd do another one, with some added information that I learned by going on this recent trip. Hopefully it'll serve as a memory jogger for my next trip.

I normally start weeks and weeks ahead, just throwing things into my suitcase as I think of them. My suitcase ends up looking like this:

A few days before my trip, I then go through everything and check off items on my list, weed things out, add things in, etc. I like to use packing envelopes to make my suitcase all nice and neat, especially since TSA opens up suitcases now. It would be quite embarrassing to have a messily packed suitcase with your undies falling out. Here everything is packed into the packing envelopes:

I'm always afraid that the airlines will lose my suitcase so I pack and carry what I consider to be essentials in my carry on bag. This will usually include extra underwear, my Clarisonic brush, skin care items, cosmetics and cosmetic brushes. (I do have spare skin care items and non-essential items packed in my suitcase.) In anticipation of this trip, I purchased a Freestyle Magnetic Palette, which I did write a post about, and put my point cosmetics into it. I had my eyeshadows, bronzer and blush in it and at the last minute, added Maquillage Face Creator pan into it, as I decided that I wanted to use the highlighting powders. Fortunately, the pan and and compact is sold separately so I was easily able to insert the pan into the magentic palette. I didn't stick a magnetic strip onto the pan but it fit nicely and it was stable enough inside the magnetic palette.

Since this was only a 5 day trip, I didn't insert a lot of different eyeshadow colors in the palette, just stayed with my basic colors. Perhaps next time, even if it is a short trip, I'll add a little bit more color. As you can see, there is space for a couple more eyeshadow pans.

I also purchased another brushroll from Teizaku, handmade by the lovely Yumeko. The last time that I traveled, I used the first brushroll that I purchased from her and really liked it. My only problem was that when I returned home, the residue makeup transferred onto the fabric of the inside of the brushroll. Naturally, it was easy to clean by just throwing it into the washing machine but I wanted to try to keep my brushrolls (yes, I took both of them) cleaner than last time. I also wanted to try to keep the brush bristles from getting messed up and had read from someone's blog (can't remember whose now) where they had bought these brush guards/sleeves. This was a last minute thought so I didn't have time to search for where I had read about these gadgets plus I didn't have time to order it and have it get here on time, so I improvised. I first got some netting and sewed a couple of sleeves and it worked out great. One thing is that I can make different widths to accomodate different brush sizes. It's not pretty, but it worked.

However, I didn't have enough time to be sewing all of the different sizes that I wanted. I liked how it compacted the bristles and yet it was able to breathe but I wasn't sure if it would still prevent the fabric from getting dirtied by the residual makeup. I then thought about another item to use. It would be quick and I could either reuse it or dispose of it plus pack more of it to take with me. In Hawaii, you can find either pre-packaged or buy it by-the-yard plastic tubing. This platic tubing is actually used here to make candy lei. It does come in several different widths and I don't think that it costs over $1.00 a yard. I only had one width available at home, which was actually wider than I wanted so it didn't really squish the brush head as I would have wanted.

You can either just slide it on or slide it on and tape the bottom for a more customized fit. The bristles will not be able to breathe as easily as when using the netting but it can still air out. With my narrower-handled brushes, I put several of them together inside one tubing. It really helped to keep the brushes from getting bent out of shape and also kept my brushroll from getting dirtied.

I did do some shopping but the only things that I bought that were beauty related were a couple of brushes from the Bare Escentuals Outlet and a hydrating mist from L'Occitane Outlet. I ended up giving one of the brushes to my mom, whom I was traveling with since she was quite intrigued by the fact that I used a brush to stipple on my foundation. She has a large birthmark on her face so she uses Dermablend Cover Cream and has always applied it with her fingers. Since it's a heavy cream, it was a bit difficult using the brush to apply the Dermablend easily so I told her to apply the Dermablend as usual but to finish it off by stippling with the brush. She was amazed by how nice the finish was and is so happy that I shared this technique with her.

I did do my major hauling at Trader Joe's. I brought back a ton of nuts, snacks and candy for the family and as gifts.

A note to myself is to remember to use bottled water to rinse off my face before I try to apply the Mezaik Double Eyelid Stretch Fiber. I was having such a difficult time getting it to apply properly and I believe that it is because the water has some emolient properties in it. I'm not sure if it's that way throughout Las Vegas or if it is within the hotel system. Even when washing my hands, I thought that it felt a bit oily.

I hope to get back to regular blogging soon.

*Kat*

Acne Problems?

2011-10-12T07:00:00.001-10:00

I thought that I'd do this post for those who have constant acne problems and don't know what to do. Of course, it's ALWAYS best to consult a physician first.

When my sons hit puberty, they naturally started having problems with acne. The oldest and youngest have had it the worst. The middle son had beautiful skin throughout and perhaps part of the reason for that is because he insisted that he wanted to go to the dermatologist when his first pimple appeared because he didn't want to get like his older brother. They were each prescribed the same thing, Benzac AC Wash 5% and Clindamycin Phosphate Gel USP, 1%. Both are pretty strong products and they helped to clear my sons' skin without having to do any further treatment processes.

I'm going to concentrate on the Benzac AC Wash. This is the same thing but it is the generic version of it.

It has peroxide in it so one needs to be careful when using the product as it has some bleaching properties to it. It is advised to keep out of the sun as much as possible and to use sunscreen. When my sons were using this, I had to switch them to using white towels because any type of colored towel would get bleach stains (white spots) on it. White towels + boys who actively participate in outdoor sports = easily dirty towels! It has even acted as a whitening agent on their skin. Perhaps I should try using it!

My youngest son had been using these two products for 4 years and his skin had cleared up. The dermatologist determined that it wasn't necessary for him to be seen any more and to just finish up all of his prescription refills. When there were no more refills left, he went back to using a regular OTC facial cleanser but started to break out a bit again so we switched to an acne facial cleanser. His acne just started getting worse and worse so he ended up going back to the dermatologist whereby he was again prescribed the same two products.

The other day he went to refill his Benzoyl Peroxide face wash and was told that it is now sold over the counter! This is the news that I wanted to share with those who are plagued with acne problems. According to the pharmacist, it is the OTC replacement for the prescription version. It does contain 1% less Benzoyl Peroxide though. I do not know if this will make a difference so I may have to do a follow up to this post after my son starts using it.

Again, please remember that it's best to see a physician first. If you do not go to a physician first and decide to try this out, please remember that it is very important to use a sunscreen and to keep out of the sun as much as possible.

*Kat* (this is a scheduled post)

Mai & Kat's Shopping Challenge

2011-10-09T18:15:00.002-10:00

Last month when were we out at Mai's birthday dinner, I gave her an envelope with a challenge. Inside the envelope was $20.00 plus a $3.00 off coupon. The challenge: Buy an outfit for our next celebration dinner, which would probably be for my birthday. The rule was we could only spend a total of $20.00 ($23.00 and using the $3.00 off coupon would still be $20.00). It had to be something nice, no jeans and a complete outfit. So if you were buying a top, you needed to buy a skirt or pants. The other rule was it had to be thrift store shopping and the $3.00 off coupon was from Savers.

Admittedly, I haven't done thrift store shopping in ages! The last time that I went, it was to Goodwill and it just felt so skanky! I've heard some positive things about Savers and there are two that I know of on this island. Yesterday, Mai and I decided to take on the challenge. Surprisingly, this was quite a pleasant experience. Savers is quite large, clean, well lit and quite organized. Perhaps it wasn't the best time to go shopping there as it was quite crowded, many with people trying to figure out what to do for halloween costumes. The dressing rooms were also very crowded and it was at least a 15 minute wait to get into the dressing room. There is a sign saying "6 item limit" but that was quite laughable since there was no one monitoring it and people were going in with shopping carts full of clothing.

I was surprised by the amount of clothing that I found that I really liked and could possibly fit me. Mai actually found a lot more things than I did to try on. Happily I can announce that we both found an outfit to wear plus more! We both bought 2 dresses each that we could wear out to dinner but we both know which one we will wear. The challege ended up being a tie because the price of the dresses that we each bought, ended up being the same!

Before I show you what was purchased for the dinner, I'll show you what else I ended up buying. Mai did buy a couple of t-tops and I can't remember if there was something else too. She didn't send me the picture for the additional items she purchased. I ended up also buying a pair of CK jeans, a denim skirt, a white t-top and a Chadwick dress.

The Chadwick ended up being the most expensive at $14.99. The CK jeans were $7.99, the denim skirt was $5.99 and the t-top was $7.99. The t-top and jeans are for me to wear for work.

Mai's two dresses purchased with the challenge money:

The two dresses were $9.99 and $7.99. She will be wearing the blue floral print dress for our dinner out. I also really loved that basic black dress because of the cutout design at the bottom. There's no way that we could sew that dress and do the cutout work. She will probably add a shrug or jacket to the outfits.

Kat's two dresses purchased with the challenge money:

These dresses were $9.99 and $7.99 too. I will be wearing the red dress to dinner. This dress is a Cinnamon Girl dress, a Hawaii company. Their dresses retail on the average $80.00 - $90.00 so it was really exciting to be able to get this for only $9.99! The black dress is a bit more form fitting on me that I normally prefer but for $7.99 I couldn't pass it up. The reason being that the black fabric is an overlay over a cream fabric and I loved that the cream fabric also had floral print on it.

It gives depth to the whole look of the design of the dress.

I do not like to wear sleeveless clothing so I will be layering over these outfits a shrug. I have many shrugs in different styles and colors. I really love them. Here's the red dress with a 3/4 sleeve shrug:

If I can find a shorter shrug with a short sleeve in my stash, I will probably use it that way but it looks nice with the shrug in the picture.

We had so much fun and success shopping at Savers that we plan on doing it again. Funnily, we both forgot our $3.00 off coupon so we'll be able to use it next time. We met our challenge of buying an outfit to go out with for $20.00 or less. With tax, we each paid $18.83. When we go out for our dinner in a few weeks, I'll be sure to take a picture of us wearing our outfits.

*Kat*

MAI here...Just to add on to Kat's blog....It was super a FUN Day! I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of merchandise that we found at SAVERS. I actually purchased another black dress, and two addtional t-shirts. If I knew how to post my pictures I would be able to show you all the rest of my purchases. I spent less than $40 total for the entire lot.
WE spent a good couple of hours browsing thru all the merchandise. There was a lady in front of us in line at the dressing room, (just by herself now) her shopping cart was stuffed full of clothes, maybe 50 pieces! Totally insane!
When we get together for Kat's birthday we will definitly model our new attire. I challenge all of you bloggers out there to something like this. Save money, benefits a good cause (big brothers and big sisters of hawaii) and get some great "new" threads!
Ok....Mai....over and out. (as she fades into the background once more...)

Chanel Ombres Perlees Eyeshadow Palette

2011-10-06T17:52:00.000-10:00

This eyeshadow palette by Chanel was a limited edition from the Spring 2011 collection. I missed on getting the palette initially but then Vicky from Vanity-Fashionista found it available again from Boots.com. Vicky and I happily worked out a trade (both for Chanel items) and I received the palette a few weeks ago.

I have a really sad tale to tell with horrifying pictures. I took the palette home and had it on the dresser along with a couple of other cosmetic items. I was getting ready to take pictures of the palette when the unthinkable happened. My cat was up on the window ledge above the dresser when she lost her footing. To try to regain her balance, she stepped on the lampshade of a big lamp thinking that it was sturdy enough. Unfortunately it wasn't and the whole thing came crashing down with her on top. The lamp fell on top of all of the cosmetic items that were on the dresser. Sadly, the Chanel palette got crushed along with my Canmake Blush container and another drugstore eyeshadow palette. The lamp also shattered.

Here is the end result of Ombres Perlees de Chanel and Canmake Blush:

As you can see, even the mirror of the palette cracked. The cover of the blush container is also cracked. Fortunately, it is a loose powder blush so it didn't make any difference to the contents. Surprisingly, the eyeshadows didn't crumble into a powdery mess. It's cracked but is staying intact so it's quite usable as it is, despite it's ugly appearance.

I've been using the palette and love all of the colors in it. I finally was able to take pictures for an EOTD.

Products Used:

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
Ombres Perlees de Chanel Palette, all 5 colors
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

For my EOTD, I basically used the colors working my way from left to right. The cream color is applied over entire eyelid. The pink color is applied to outer brow bone area. The middle shade is applied from lash line to crease line and blended upward. The 4th color is applied to middle 1/3 of the eyelid from lashline to crease line and blended upward. The last color is applied to outer corner of eyelid as well as outer "V" and blended inward. I also used the pink color on the lower lashline and the 5th color on the outer 1/4 of lower lashlline. Lined my upper lashline and outer 1/4 of lower lashline with K-Palette.

I really love the colors of this palette. The shadows themselves are really smooth and glide on nicely. Although they look quite dark in the palette, they apply as a more muted shade, which is really nice for Spring, which is the season it was released for. I personally usually go for a darker eye look but a more muted look is nice for a change.

My friends who follow me on Twitter know that there was a bit of an emergency a week or so ago. As a result, I've had to give up my room where I normally take my blog pictures and do other things. This is the reason there hasn't been consistent blog posts from me. You may have also noticed that in my previous post, the picture style has gone back to before I started using my DIY light box. Hopefully I can get my room back from my son soon.

Also, next week I will not be online because I'll be off in Sin City! Yes, I'm going to Las Vegas and will only have my iPhone with me. I may have a scheduled post or two but not too sure.

*Kat*

Using My Stash

2011-10-03T16:51:00.000-10:00

It's been a couple of months since my last Using My Stash post (done on July 25) and I've gathered enough empties to be able to do a post. While it may seem like I used up a lot of items, many of them were sample sizes and mini/travel sizes. I will notate when it was a full-sized item.

First up is hair care.

All of these were travel-sized tubes. There were all various lines from Alterna brand. I'm glad that I bought travel-sized items because they were just okay, not "wow" for me. The only one that I really liked enough to buy a full-sized bottle was the Bamboo line. Mainly I really liked the scent of it and it worked well on my hair. I've recently cut my hair off significantly to get rid of the damaged ends that were plaguing me so I don't think that I need the highly moisturizing shampoo and conditioners any more. I'll go back to using my Lux shampoo (Japanese line).

Next up is cleansers.

The two Philosophy bottles were minis. I don't really care for Philosophy shower gels so I definitely will not be purchasing any. The Lush bottle is regular-sized, I think (it was gifted to me by the lovely Brianna). It was called "It's Raining Men" which is the shower gel version of "Honey I Washed the Kids". I really liked it a lot. It's an LE item which comes and goes so hopefully I can catch it if they do bring it back in. Tony Moly Tokyo Cherry Blossom Foam Cleanser is full sized. I believe it's supposed to be a facial cleanser but I ended up using it as a shower gel. I didn't care for it much as a facial cleanser and it was so-so as a shower gel.

Next is skin care. There were quite a bit of little bitty bottles so I ended up having to take two pictures.

In this first picture I used up a sample bottle of The Face Shop "the smim" toner, sample bottle of Nature Republic "Omega Wrinkle Filler" softener and two sample bottles from Etude House Collagen Moistfull line, facial freshner and essence. All of these were brought back from Korea for me although the Moistfull ones that I used might have been gifted to me by someone. There were okay but don't think that I would purchase it on my own. From FANCL I used up travel-sized bottles of Lotion and Milky Lotion. I liked these and would purchase it if the opportunity comes up. Travel-sized bottle of Shiseido "The Skincare" hydro-balancing softener lotion. I've used full-sized bottles of this before. Full-sized jar of Noevir Protecting Skin Cream is a standard in my morning skincare routine. Full-sized bottle of Cle de Peau Face Serum. It was okay but not something that wowed me. Full-sized tube of Noevir Raysela Sunscreen for face. This too is a standard of my morning skincare routine. I already have several backups of it but will be using a sunscreen from ZA, which was gifted to me. ZA hasn't been available in Hawaii for a long time now but I used to use it a long time ago and really liked it.

Continuing on with this second picture is full-sized Lancaster 365 Cellular Elixir, which is basically a serum. I liked it but there are other serums that cost less that I like too. Full-sized Yuuka Face Soap from Japan. This is a facial soap that is made from chemical-free green tea. It comes with a foaming net which creates a fine foam, which is supposed to be effective in cleansing your skin and ridding it of the fine dirt hidden in lines and pores. From what I understand, it is not an inexpensive soap and has been highly rated in the past. This was given to me by my daughter-in-law a year or so ago and it's taken me this long to use it. It's okay but I'm not overly impressed by it. From the picture, you can see that I have another unused soap, which was given to me this summer by her mother.

Lastly is makeup.

This is a MAC pan that had Motif in it. I can't take full credit for having used it up completely. I actually was carrying my 4-pan MAC palette (like the one pictured) in my purse. Motif looked somewhat like the pan with Print, which is next to the empty Motif pan. There was actually less product of Motif in the pan than Print. When I pulled it out of my purse the next day, Motif was all broken up and unusable. I will be saving the empty pan so that I can use it to press a pigment color.

That's it for these last two months. I still have a decent amount of samples of skincare items as well as some full-sized bottles that will need to be used. I think that I will need to purchase a toner soon, which will most likely be from Noevir.

*Kat*

Review Follow Up: MAC Matchmaster Foundation

2011-10-02T18:45:00.000-10:00

About a week and a half ago, I went to MAC to test out their new Matchmaster Foundation, which I did a quick test review here. I'd like to do a follow up to that quick test review.

I ended up really liking the foundation so I went ahead and purchased it in shade 3. While when I first apply it the shade seems like a great match, it does oxidize a bit over time and gets to be darker than I'd like. I did go back and try shade 2 but it was definitely too light. Depending on the popularity of this new foundation, MAC may make a 2.5 shade, which might work out better for me.

The way that I counter the darkness is to use a powder slightly lighter and/or with a luminous finish. I also make sure to highlight the area around my eyes (high cheekbones, nose bridge, above eyebrows and around the sides, between end of eyebrows and hairline).

The nice thing about this foundation is that it has a pump dispenser, unlike most of the other MAC Foundations where you have to actually purchase a pump dispenser separately. It is also a twist-lock type of cap, which is also very nice.

I mentioned in my quick test review that I thought that the coverage was a bit light although it's stated by MAC that it's a buildable medium coverage. I've since changed my original opinion of it. It definitely does give a good medium coverage. The MUA used the MAC 187 brush to apply the foundation in store. That brush is a very soft bristled brush so it would give a light coverage. I use my flat top Sonia Kashuk multi-purpose brush and since the brush is much denser than MAC 187, I do get a nice coverage, which I like.

MAC also says that the finish of this foundation is demi-matte and I generally do not like matte finishes because it usually means that the formulation isn't moisturizing, although matte finishes do tend to have longer wear time. In order to add more hydration to my skin while using this foundation, I added Sana Uruoi Taishi Facial Mist to my skin before I apply the foundation and then again after I've put on all of my makeup.

Sorry, Blogger automatically rotated the picture.

I will also usually mist again mid afternoon. This has helped to keep me hydrated and no settling into and bringing out fine lines. This foundation is also very long wearing on me. Here's a picture in which I did absolutely no touching up except to mist with Sana:

The picture was taken at 11:45 p.m., approximately 17 hours after I initially applied the foundation. (You can see what the foundation looked like when it was first applied in the Quick Test Review post.) There is some fading, especially around my nostril area. That's because I kept sneezing during the day and had to blow my nose a few times.

I think that this foundation is excellent for humid weather conditions and will be a great summer foundation for me. It's been really hot and humid here recently so it was perfect to test drive the wearability of it.

*Kat*

August and September Brush of the Month Purchase

2011-09-27T15:43:00.000-10:00

I decided to combine my August and September brush purchase because I wanted to try out a new line of brushes and knew that I would be purchasing more than one brush. This new line (new to me) is Crown Brush, which I first heard about from Miss Kei Kei's blog in this post.

Crown Brush has a wide array of brushes with 15 different lines. I chose 6 different brushes from 4 lines. I also picked up a package of Mini Curved Spatulas, which are the exact same spatulas that Sephora uses.

From left to right: Perfectly Pink Blending Fluff, Perfectly Pink Deluxe Round Crease, Duo Fiber Deluxe Shadow, Luna Badger Deluxe Crease, Italian Badger Bullet Crease and Italian Badger Chisel Deluxe Powder Dome.

The Italian Badger Chisel Deluxe Powder Dome is really thick and full. When I washed it, some bristles fell out, which did not surprise me because it is so thick. Even after drying, a few more fell out but it hasn't shed any more since. I think that at the most one dozen bristles fell out. It also had a funky smell when wet--kind of the way a wet animal smells but using it, I haven't noticed the scent. I haven't had any other shedding problems with the other brushes. It is quite big and fluffy but slightly prickly at first use. With continued use, it's been getting softer.

The Duo Fiber Deluxe Shadow brush is wider and bigger than I usually like to use as an eyeshadow brush but it works well if I use it to apply eyeshadow over my entire eyelid, from lashline to brow bone. It's a little too large for me to use as a regular eyeshadow brush, but it could just be because I have asian eyelids which do not have widely creased eyelids. I've been finding that I like Duo Fiber brushes more and more as I'm using shadows that are much softer and more pigmented.

The two brushes from the Perfectly Pink line are my favorites. Although I had originally planned on using the Blending Fluff to blend my eyeshadow colors together, it is is much bigger than what I normally use to blend. It does work really well with doing a light application of setting powder under my eyes.

As for the other 2 brushes, I haven't really used them consistently to be able to do a proper review of them.

Overall, I think that these brushes are of really nice quality and at very reasonable prices. Shipping is quite reasonable too. I had a really nice experience placing my first order with Crown Brush. I had a problem when I tried to check out so I called their customer service and the problem was fixed quickly. Shipping was also very quick. It took no more than a week from the time I placed the order till I received them. I will definitely be ordering more brushes from Crown Brush.

Crown Brush is available online to these countries: US, UK, EU, AU, MX, CA. When you go to their website, you choose which country, which is located near the bottom of the page.

*Kat*

Quick Test Review: MAC Matchmaster Foundation and Pro Longwear Lipglass

2011-09-22T23:47:00.000-10:00

A second blog post for me today. I usually don't do this but since I'm a bit behind on posts, I thought I'd do a bonus.

MAC's Matchmaster Foundation was available for sale today so I went down to check it out.

Picture from MAC website

The whole concept of the foundation is that it uses translucent pigments which enables it to match your skintone. Gone from this foundation is MAC's color numbering system using either NC__ or NW__. There is a coloring system to it but it's more for your skin's darkness rather than whether or not you are yellow toned or pink toned. It is supposed to be a moisturizing demi-matte finish with line reducing, soft focus powders. It is also supposed to be a medium buildable coverage.

I'm usually between a NC/NW25 to 30, with 30 being a little to dark for me. With Matchmaster, I would use a 3.0, which is comparable to NW22, NW25 and NC30. I googled and found a color comparison chart here at Footluxe.com. Since I knew ahead of time what color I matched up with, when I went into MAC, I was able to tell them what color I wanted to test out.

The MUA first applied Prep + Prime Refined Zone, which he said will mattify my skin. He also used Prep + Prime Fortified Skin Enhancer in Adjust, to even out the skin tone. He then used Select Coverup in NW 25 to cover my dark spots and under the eye. He said that it's really best to use concealer with Matchmaster Foundation because the coverage is on the lighter side due to the skin tone matching properties. I still thought that it was a light "medium buildable coverage".

The feel of the foundation is so light that it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing anything. With the concealer, I think that the coverage is quite decent enough. The color does seem to match well, which I'm really liking a lot. One thing that I personally don't like is my face being matte. I feel that it really brings out the fine lines. After several hours of wear, I do feel like my fine lines are showing and my skin actually feels a bit parched. There is absolutely no oil that I can feel. I think that this is partially due to the fact that I had to remove whatever makeup I was wearing with a makeup remover sheet. By doing this, I also removed whatever skincare products that I had on and no skincare products were applied before putting on this foundation.

I was able to bring home a sample of the foundation so I will be able to give it a test after doing my regular skincare routine. I'm hoping that my skin will stay hydrated with my moisturizers under this foundation.

Also recently released (not sure if it was today as well or earlier) is MAC Pro Longwear Lipglass.

Picture from MAC website

This is a long wearing lipglass that is supposed to last six hours. It goes on smoothly and gives your lips shine and color. I used the color "Show Me', which is a mid-tone neutral plum. I loved the color but the feel of this is very typical of MAC's lipglass--sticky. I don't like my lips being that sticky. I thought that since it's long wearing that it might be transfer resistant but unfortunately it is not. I had sticky lip marks on my cup when I drank some water. The color has lasted, even after eating dinner although the color has faded significantly and the shine is gone. This will definitely not be on my "to buy" list.

Have you tried either of these products? What did you think?

*Kat*

New Goodies from Teizaku and Packing

2011-09-22T16:09:00.000-10:00

I had gone to Las Vegas last year in October and again earlier this year in February. I can't remember exactly when it was but I had made a purchase from Teizaku for a handmade brush roll in a pink Charmmy Kitty print. I used to to travel to Las Vegas and love it so much. Recently Yumeko had posted some new brush rolls but this time in sakura print so I just had to get one. I also lucked out and was able to pick up an insulated water bottle holder/carrier.

These items are all handmade by Yumeko and sell out really quickly. She does an awesome job. All of the items that she makes and sells are entirely created by her, from the design of the product to the construction of it. She does not use commercial patterns or instructions. She also ships out really quickly and I can highly recommend her.

I really wanted to do this post yesterday but was laid up with a migraine. She posted about a pre-sale that she's having so please do check out her blog sale page here. I'm not sure what she still has available.

She also writes an awesome blog mostly about things in Japan. It's not only beauty related but she does posts on interesting places, travels and food. Please do check out her blog, A Dream of Tokyo if you like reading these kinds of writings.

I'll be travelling to Las Vegas again in October so the timing was perfect. I already have both my brushrolls thrown into my bag as well as the water bottle carrier. Yes, I'll be taking both brush rolls with me.

I don't know about most of you but one of the reasons why I don't like to travel is because of packing. I'm always afraid that I'll forget something that I really, really need. The result of this worry is that I often start packing 3 months or more before my actual trip. If I think of something that I will need I throw it into my suitcase or carryon. I'll pack clothes and unpack them as I weed out what I've over packed. I've actually only started packing a week ago so I'm really far behind. This is what my bags look like right now.:

The suitcase is actually a smaller suitcase and I think that I'm going to end up transferring everything into the large suitcase. Either that or I might keep it in that suitcase and pack that whole suitcase into the larger one. I'm not sure if I'll be doing much shopping in Las Vegas so I'm still debating on that. Normally I do pack my suitcase into my suitcase so that I'll have the extra suitcase to bring back everything. I travelled with only my one large suitcase in February and ended up regretting it. The result is that the suitcase in the picture was purchased in Las Vegas so that I could bring back everything. My luggage looks quite messy now but it will be nice and neat when I'm ready to leave. If anyone is travelling to Las Vegas in October too, please let me know and if the timing works out, maybe we can meet up.

*Kat*

Swap Review: Canmake Agebuto Mascara, L'Oreal Color Infallible

2011-09-19T18:23:00.000-10:00

I'm back with another review! I'm so sorry for the lack of regular posts and reply to comments. It's been a bit hectic for me. There's quite a back up of things that I need to blog about too.

I recently did a swap with Lynn that I met via Twitter. She doesn't have a blog so I can't provide a link for you. I had an extra UD 15th Anniversary Palette that she wanted to purchase from me and after thinking about it, I asked if she would rather do a swap instead of PayPal me.

One of the items that I really wanted was Canmake Agebuto Mascara. I like their other two mascaras that I have--Gokunobi and Gokubuto but was really curious to try out this new release.

One thing that I didn't realize until after I applied the mascara is that it is a waterproof mascara, which I have been trying to avoid. For one thing, waterproof mascaras (especially Japanese brands) are difficult to remove without tugging and pulling at your lashes. I have also realized that they are quite drying and can make your lashes brittle with constant use.

Anyway, Agebuto promises you:

An upward curl that will last
Hyper volume effect
Lifts and separates lashes, fanning them out
Run prevention
Waterproof effect
Contains lash-conditioning agents
Wide spiral brush

I did try it without curling my lashes first but it didn't really help to curl my very, very stubborn lashes. The next day I curled my lashes first using my Koji eyelash curler and didn't use any mascara base first, which usually helps to keep my lashes curled. Normally when using waterproof mascara, I don't use a mascara base anyway.

I must say that I was very pleased that it definitely held my curl until I removed it for the night. I didn't experience any flaking or smudges from long wear and natural oils that occur as the day wears on. I don't know if it helped to fan my lashes out but it did seem to volumize it. I liked the brush too as the mascara really didn't get clumpy as I applied more layers. It's nice to know that it is formulated with lash-conditioning agents. Removal of the mascara wasn't too bad either. I think that it's probably on par with removing non-Asian waterproof mascaras. Oveall, it's a really nice mascara that works well with my stubborn, poker-straight lashes. I'm not sure if I would purchase it again--perhaps if I can purchase it myself in Japan (or have my son) because it is reasonably priced.

In case you're wondering what I'm using for my eye makeup, I decided to add it into this post. When I did the swap with Vicky for the Sleek Bad Girl palette, she surprised me and included L'Oreal Color Infallible eyeshadow in Time Resist White. I was so happy because I understand that this eyeshadow line will not be released in the U.S. To showcase the Agebuto mascara, I wanted to go with a more muted EOTD, plus I wanted to try out the Infallible.

Products used:

Mezaik Double Eyelid Stretch Fiber
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden
NYX Champagne & Caviar Eyeshadow Palette
L'Oreal Color Infallible in Time Resist White
Wet N Wild Eyeshadow Palette in We're Blasting Off
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Canmake Agebuto Mascara

I used Time Resist White on eyelid from lashline to crease and built colors from NYX palette onto it from mid lid to outer lid. I used the eyelid color from the Wet N Wild palette along my lower lashline.

The Infallibles are a wonderful eyeshadow line. I'm sure that most of you have read reviews on it so I won't go into detail. However, if you haven't read up on it yet or are interested in learning even more, I'd like to introduce you to my lovely blogger friend who created a beautiful bold, seductive eye look tutorial using several different Infallible colors. Sheila of Maddy Loves created this look and made this tutorial, which is her first tutorial video. I personally think that she did an awesome job. Please help her out by voting for her video. She can win a 2-day trip to LG Fashion Week in Toronto with backstage access to one of the shows where she'll be able to see L'Oreal Makeup Artists in action. You can vote for her here by just commenting that you're voting for Sheila. Voting ends this Friday, September 23, 2011.

Thank you!

*Kat*

Swap Package/Prize and EOTD

2011-09-15T16:43:00.000-10:00

Recently, Brianna of The Sun Girl Says returned home to California after living in Japan for 5 years. I was really excited to learn that she lives within walking distance to a Trader Joes. I asked her if she could pick something up for me and mail it and that I'd reimburse her. We ended up deciding to do a trade. Wondering what it is that I need to have from Trader Joes? Unsalted, toasted, slivered almonds!

I love these! I will eat it out of the package as a snack but it tastes really good on top of a vegetable salad. The funny thing is that the day before I received these in the mail, the husband asked if we had any more of "those nuts".

Also included in the package that she sent was a prize from winning her guessing game. She hadn't even announced it on her blog at the time that I received the package so it was a BIG surprise! I've never won anything from a blog contest/giveaway before.

Thank you Brianna! (I'm not sure if there were any more things in the bag as it got mixed up with some other things--please comment if there was more.)

On Saturday the 10th, I had a wedding reception to attend and was wearing a tunic top that is a pale dusty rose color with really dark chocolate brown spots on it. I wore it with black leggings. In trying to decide how I was going to do my makeup, I decided that the colors from the Wet N Wild eye palette prize would be perfect. The palette that I used is "We're Blasting Off".

Products used:

Mezaik Double Eyelid Stretch Fiber
Urban Decay Shadow Primer Potion in Sin
Wet N Wild "We're Blasting Off" Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Print Eyeshadow
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Koji Eyelash Curler
Shiseido The Makeup Mascara Base
Covergirl Lash Blast Waterproof Mascara

Each shadow in the Wet N Wild palette is imprinted with where the color is to be used. As it turns out, it is where I would use them too, although I can see myself interchanging the pink and taupe colors depending on my mood.

I applied the pink color on browbone and over entire eyelid from creaseline on up. The taupe color was applied on the eyelid and along lower lash line. The chocolate brown color on outer eyelid and blended in towards the center of the eyelid. I also blended it upward towards the crease. MAC Print was applied on outer "V" of upper eyelid, along upper lash line and on outer 1/8th of lower lash line. Lined upper lash line and outer 1/8th of outer lower lash line with K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner. Using Koji eyelash curler, I curled my lashes and applied Shiseido mascara base. I use this when I want to make sure that my curled lashes will not uncurl. It really helps although I think that it's basically a clear waterproof mascara. I then applied Covergirl Lash Blast Waterproof mascara. This was a gift from K a while back but I only opened it up now. Thank you K!

I normally don't wear waterproof mascara any more after years of wearing it because it's a pain to remove easily. I know that it was partially from having to remove waterproof mascara, but also in part due to age that my lashes have become less full. I now stick to film type mascara that will wash off easily in warm water but doesn't smudge on me. The downside is that my curl doesn't stay like it does with waterproof mascara. For the occasions when I want prominent eyelashes, I'll wear waterproof.

I really like this Wet N Wild palette. The colors suit me well and are very wearable whether for a day look or night look. The shadows are amazingly soft and pigmented, normally associated with much higher priced shadows. Thank you again Brianna!

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Sue Devitt Base Makeup, Long and Picture Heavy

2011-09-09T17:50:00.000-10:00

Today I wanted to feature from Sue Devitt, the gel foundation and pressed powder. This will complete the base makeup look for me. The concealer review, which was my first purchase from Sue Devitt, is here.

There are two different foundation formulations, gel foundation and whipped foundation. After playing around with the samples for a few days, I honestly didn't feel that there was too much of a difference between the two. Both foundations are formulated 3 different types of seaweed which are good for the delicate skin tissue. It also has a 70% water content. I was debating between two colors, Great Sandy Desert and Granite Downs. Granite Downs is is described as a medium beige good for tan/medium complexions while Great Sandy Desert is described as golden for olive/medium complexions.

I decided on Great Sandy Desert in the gel foundation because I found that as I swatched it on a white tissue, it showed up as a more peachy/pink than golden colored. Peachy/pink appealed to me because I felt that it would also help to cover up more spots with the peach tone in it. I also found that as the day wore on, Granite Downs got a bit too dark for my personal preference.

Another reason why I chose the gel foundation is because it comes in a bottle with a pump dispenser. The whipped foundation is in a jar.

Description and ingredients of the gel foundation:

The gel foundation is easily dispensed via the pump and you can control how much you want to pump out at a time. It is a thick gel and isn't runny at all, except for when I first used it. The first several pumps were very watery but it was just because it had settled and separated from the time of filling the jar till use. It's not surprising since the foundation is 70% water. There is 1 fl. oz/.30 ml of product, which is similar to Bobbi Brown. The cost is $38.00.

I couldn't get it to take an accurate picture of the true color of the foundation. In these pictures, it does indeed look like a golden color but it is a peachy/pink color. Applied on my skin, it sways more pink than yellow and that is perfect for me. The color is also an almost exact match on me.

Face with prepped and spots concealed with Bermuda Triangle Undereye Corrector:

Great Sandy Desert applied to half of face:

Great Sandy Desert applied to whole face:

If left alone, it does oxidize and I got a bit pinker than I preferred. As most of you are well aware of, I do not like using powder to set my foundation as much as possible because I find that it usually makes my face look matte and settles into fine lines. I recently started using Cle de Peau translucent loose powder and Guerlain Meteorite Pearls as I found that both worked well and didn't settle into fine lines. I like the glowiness that I get from Meteorite Pearls but it really doesn't help to set foundation very well.

When I talked to the SA at Macy's she suggested that I use the corresponding pressed powder. Although it's the same color, Great Sandy Desert, it is more neutral to yellow so it will help to tone down the pink of the foundation.

I was apprehensive of using a pressed powder but after reading that it has the same ingredient as Bermuda Triangle, flexible Nylon-12 which locks in moisture and contracts and expands with your facial motion, I decided to give it a go.

Great Sandy Desert Pressed Powder applied over foundation with a powder brush:

I found that the pressed powder did help to set the foundation and keep it in place for a decent amount of time. I also felt that it didn't make me look very matte. I will highlight under my eyes and high cheekbone area with Meteorite Pearls.

Face fully done with pressed powder and blush:

Face after 10 hours of wear with absolutely no touching up:

I would normally prefer to do a quick touch up under my eyes and on my nose but didn't do so for blogging purposes. I think that I still oxidized a bit but it is actually very similar to my natural skin tone. The really nice aspect to this pressed powder is that it is really compact! It's just barely thinner than my iPhone!

There is .35 oz/10 g of product and costs $28.00. Maquillage Powder foundation refill has 12 g of product. Sue Devitt Triple C-Weed pressed powder does have less product but I can honestly say that I don't know when was the last time that I actually finished a pressed powder. I also really llike how thin and compact this is so it's easy to carry around and to travel with. I'm not sure if the "sponge" that is in there is actually a sponge applicator or if it's just a sponge sheet that is protecting the mirror--it is that thin! If it is supposed to be a sponge applicator, then that is the only real downside to this product.

I'm so glad that I held off on purchase the Chanel foundation that I was thinking of. After days of testing out the sample that I got, I felt that the foundation felt too heavy on my face. It felt like I was wearing foundation, which I don't like. As a result, I kept on touching my face throughout the day because it felt somewhat uncomfortable. With the Triple Seaweed Gel Foundation, I do not feel it's heavy on my face. Although it's a thick gel, it is vey lightweight and feels soothing and cool right after application.

I'm sorry that this was such a long post. It really should have been broken up into two different posts but I felt that with the two products working in conjunction with each other, it needed to be in one post. I'm liking this brand so much that I may have to venture into trying out the point (color) makeup.

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Sue Devitt Bermuda Triangle Undereye Corrector

2011-09-07T17:21:00.000-10:00

Sue Devitt is a beauty line that has recently been introduced into the islands via Macy's. It is a line that I had never heard of before and since it's mainly within the U.S., I don't think that it's very well known. I had been looking at this line every time I passed by the display. It intrigued me because of the concept of this whole line is inspired by exotic destinations and is infused with derivatives from nature, mainly marine and floral. It is supposed to be hydrating and anti-aging. All of these are components that are important to me.

I finally decided to take a test run and ended up purchasing the Bermuda Triangle Undereye Corrector with Orchid Extract. It is an undereye moisturizer and concealer. It is a stick concealer in a twist type of container. It contains . 08 oz/2.5 g of product, which is comparable to other brands of stick concealers.

The ingredient list:

Click to enlarge so that you can read it

A swatch on white paper:

According to their website information on this product, Orchid extract helps to keep the delicate undereye area hydrated, reduces fine lines and wrinkles and fights free radicals. It is peach hued to contrast with the blue-green tones that are common in undereye dark circles. It corrects, conceals and hides imperfections and creates a flawless complexion. There is also a special ingredient called Nylon-12 that expands and contracts in relation to your facial movements. This ensures flexibility in the formulation so it won't crack or crease. It has durability and long-lasting coverage.

As most of you know, I have a rather large, dark spot on my cheek and it is difficult to find a concealer which will cover it up well. I've also mentioned before how one MUA told me that orange/peach tones work best in concealing dark spots. Since Bermuda Triangle is a peach-hued concealer, I put it to the test.

My naked face that has been prepped and primed:

After initial application of Bermuda Triangle, applied to undereye area and various dark spots on face:

I dabbed a little more Bermuda Triangle to the large dark spot and set it with my favorite setting powder:

Final look after applying Sue Devitt foundation (which will be in a later review):

I'm amazed by how well this concealer worked! You can't see that large dark spot at all.

This is after more than 10 hours of wear. I did touch up with powder on my nose and under my eyes, just a little bit. This is normal for me each day:

As you can see, the concealer is holding up very well on my cheek where the large dark spot is. I didn't do any touching up there.

I'm really happy with the result of this concealer. As promised, it didn't cake or settle into fine lines. It did seem that my undereye area stayed hydrated. I believe that I will repurchase this again.

There is only one color for Bermuda Triangle Undereye Concealer. Since it is peach hued, it is considered a universally flattering color. While there are places scattered within the United States where you can purchase this line, it doesn't seem to be widely available. You can purchase it online but unfortunately, they do not do international orders. You can find it in the UK at Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge. For more information, you can visit Sue Devitt online here.

*Kat*

Playing With Geo Mimi Circle Lens

2011-09-05T17:21:00.000-10:00

As a beauty blog reader, I had been reading many posts from people who use circle lenses. I was always curious about it and stupidly thought that it was available only to people who needed to wear contacts for corrective vision purposes. It wasn't until recently that I learned that they are available as a non-presciption and non-corrective lens. This piqued my interest in them even more. I actually have sensitive eyes and don't like it when anything goes into them so I've always thought that if I ever needed to wear glasses, I probably would never use contacts since I can't see how I would be able to stand something on my eye. (I only recently started needing to wear glasses but only for reading.)

Recently Blair had tweeted that she was selling a pair of Geo Mimi Lens. I believe that it was in a gray color. I have to admit that curiosity got the better of me and I rationalized it was something that I should try as a beauty blogger. I went ahed and tweeted her back that I wanted to purchase it. Please check out her blog as she does quite a few posts on different contact lens and it looks so pretty on her.

I've actually had it for a while now but I needed to research on how to open the bottles, care for the lens and how to insert and take them out. I also finally got together with Mai, who wears contacts, so I had her help with showing me how to insert them and take them out. Unfortunately, she only uses hard contacts so it's a little different.

Here is my eye before I inserted the contact:

And this is the end result:

Can you see a difference? No? Don't worry if you don't because there actually is no difference! The 2nd picture was taken 12 hours after the first picture and after I had tried and tried and tried to insert the contact, but to no avail. Mai and I were laughing at first because it was quite hilarious. I've come to the conclusion that I can't spread my eyelids far apart enough to insert the lens. The lens is actually quite large and every time I try to insert it, my eyelids are not spread far apart enough that the lens actually inverts and molds itself to my finger. I finally did manage to insert it into my other eye--I guess that the lids are looser and can spread apart farther. Unfortunately, I could feel the lens in my eye and my vision was a bit cloudy. I'm not sure if it's because it wasn't centered properly or if that's how it is. I also thought that it looked a bit scary as my eye didn't look pretty and doll-like as I've seen with other wearers of these type of lens. My eye looked like a reptile's eye!

My conclusion on this is that I'm so glad that I tried it. I know that it's not for me. My eyelids can't spread far apart enough to insert it in. Besides, with me being older, I'm afraid that if I continue to spread my eyelids that far apart, it will lose whatever elasticity there is and will droop something awful. I'll stick with my own beady little eyes.

*Kat*

Sleek Bad Girl Palette EOTD x 2

2011-09-03T10:09:00.000-10:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been actively participating by commenting on blogs or responding quickly to comments. I caught a cold last week and still can't seem to shake it off. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

I wanted to feature Sleek divine Bad Girl palette today. I know that this was released awhile ago and there have been many reviews. It is a limited edition palette and I was so lucky to have been able to receive this as a gift from the beautiful and wonderful Vicky of Vanity-Fashionista. We had been chatting on Twitter and I mentioned how I would love to try a Sleek palette and that Bad Girl really appealed to me. The package arrived on Thursday and I was so happy.

There was a bit of a mishap that happened during transportation to me where 3 of the pans in the palette got damaged.

It's all good though because it was still intact and very usable.

Products used for both EOTD:

Mezaik Double Eyelid Stretch Fiber
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
Sleek divine Bad Girl Palette
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

EOTD 1:

I used the beige-ish color (2nd color on top row) over entire eyelid, from lash line to brow bone. The 2nd blue color (4th color on bottom row) from lash line to crease line. The white color (1st color, top row) was applied over the blue to tone the color down. Gun Metal (4th color top row) was used from mid eye to outer eye, blending upward into crease. The black/charcoal color (last color, top row) applied to outer 1/4 of eyelid. lined the upper lash line and also in outer "V" of upper eyelid. It is also used on lower lash line, the outer 1/8. Entire upper lash line and 1/8 of lower lash line is lined with K-Palette eyeliner.

I had read many reviews on how soft the shadows are and that they are pigmented. I was totally unprepared for how pigmented they are. When I applied the blue color, I barely tapped my brush onto the color and when I applied it, it was just a burst of color! Definitely way too dark, which is why I tried to tone it down with the white color. I'm thinking that perhaps a less dense brush will work better. The shadows are definitely soft, perhaps too much in that color is picked up very easily and the potential for fall outs is very high.

It was also to my dismay that the 3 colors that were damaged, ended up being way more damaged than first thought, perhaps because the shadows are so nice and soft. When I used 2 of the 3 colors, they disintegrated and crumbled into a powdery mess. I decided it was not a problem because I could repress it. I proceeded to put the white shadow into a little cup and some of the gun metal got into it. I cleaned it up as best as I could but it was quite minimal so I don't think it will affect it much. When I was getting ready to put the gun metal color into a cup, I jostled the palette accidently and the other dark silver color next to it (it was the other one that was damaged) crumbled while some of the gun metal fell out of the palette and most of the rest of it ended up in the other pan with the dark silver color. While I was cursing my clumsiness, I decided to just put both of the colors into the cup and mixed it together. Following the procedure for pressing pigments, I proceeded to work on the white color and the mixed gun metal/dark silver color. I filled the original white color pan with the white mixture and filled both of the other two pans with my new duo color mixture.

The new mixture is a nice medium silver color now. I am happy that I was able to salvage it with the bonus of having had to make my own custom color.

EOTD 2:

For this EOTD, I again used the beige-ish color over the entire eyelid. My new custom color was applied from inner corner to mid eye from lash line to crease line. The deep hunter green color (1st color, bottom row) was dabbed in the middle of eyelid, from lash line to crease line and blended upward and outward. The back/charcoal color (last color, top row) was applied to outer 1/4 of eyelid and in outer "V". It was also used on the outer 1/8 of lower lash line. I lined my eyes with K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner--the entire upper lash line and outer 1/8 of lower lash line.

I managed to not pick up as much color for this EOTD so it's a much more muted look that EOTD 1. It is good for a day time look.

I hope that you enjoyed my unexpected adventures in playing with this new Sleek palette, my very first one! I would definitely be interested in trying out some others. Thank you, Vicky, for this wonderful gift! You are truly a sweet person and I'm so glad to have become friends with you.

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Josie Maran Beautiful Smoke Palette

2011-09-01T17:10:00.001-10:00

I am on a "no buy" but lately I've been purchasing things, mainly eye shadows. Fall is the season when many neutral palettes come out and since the colors are usually too warm for me, I pass on purchasing the collections. Dior's newest collection features 6 3 colouer smokey palettes and I'm wanting 3 of them. I'm hoping to cut it down to 2 but we'll see.

I recently saw Josie Maran Beautiful Smoke Eyeshadow palette in Sephora and really liked the look of it. Mind over matter and I bypassed it. I've actually been waiting for the mail person to deliver my Sleek Bad Girl palette, which I felt would create the same smoky eye using some similar colors. I decided yesterday to no longer wait and picked up the Beautiful Smoke palette.

The attraction of this line is the fact that the naturally formulated shadows are infused with Argan Oil and a blend of floral and fruit extracts. I use an Argan Oil treatment for my hair and love it so thought that it would be good to try an eyeshadow that is infused with it. It is suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers.

Sheila of Maddy Loves recently posted a review on NARS Grand Palais here and the silvery taupe color caught my eye. When I went to Sephora yesterday, it was to check out Grand Palais. While I really loved the silvery taupe, the dusty rose color was a little too warm for my tastes. I debated whether or not to pick up the duo anyway because of the silvery taupe. I then went and looked at Beautiful Smoke and another debate was going through my head. I then got the idea to swatch the deep brownish taupe color in Beautiful Smoke and compared it with the silvery taupe in Grand Palais. I don't wear browns well so I wasn't sure about the color. I then decided to layer the silver color over the brownish taupe color in Beautiful Smoke and to my amazement, the color came out almost identical to the silvery taupe in Grand Palais.

This was all that I needed to decide to forego Grand Palais and pick up Beautiful Smoke.

Did an EOTD this morning using Beautiful Smoke.

Products used:

Mezaik Double Eyelid Stretch Fiber
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
Josie Maran Beautiful Smoke Palette
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

Included in the box is an "instruction" sheet, similar to what you find when you purchase Japanese brand eyeshadows.

I basically followed the instruction sheet, mainly because that's how I usually apply my eyeshadow anyway. I did layer the silvery crease shadow over the deep browish taupe shadow to the inner 1/3 or my eyes to create the silvery taupe color that I loved from Grand Palais.

These shadows are really nice. While they are not buttery soft and highly pigmented like Urban Decay shadows, they are nicely pigmented. I think that there is a fine line between buttery soft and too hard and these shadows fall within that fine line. The liner shadow is actuallly much firmer, which is nice because I experienced no fallout using it or any of the other colors. You can also layer it and build up the color to achieve a darker, richer color which would be good for an evening look.

It's my first purchase from this brand and I'm really happy with it.

*Kat*

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

2011-08-29T20:03:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-25T16:33:00.001-10:00

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

2011-08-24T16:30:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-19T20:52:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-16T17:20:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-14T09:14:00.001-10:00

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

2011-08-11T15:41:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-09T17:35:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-07T08:38:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-06T14:45:00.002-10:00

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

2011-08-06T00:44:00.000-10:00

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

2011-08-02T16:52:00.000-10:00

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*