Review: Sephora's VIB 500 Point Urban Decay Urban Vices Palette Set + EOTD

Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a very long while since I last blogged. There will probably be a future post on that but for now I'm very excited to blog about Urban Vices Palette set, which I received almost a week ago.

Last year there was a 500 point Urban Decay palette which I really like. One of the colors in that set has become a part of my regular rotation of colors that I use and fortunately, it is a regular stock item.

I happened to be surfing Sephora's website online and saw the Urban Vices set available for a 500 point VIB redemption. I immediately called my local store and found out it was also available in our store so I rushed out to get there.

The set comes in a big box with the Urban Vices design on it.

Inside the box is another box--a small box the size of the palette, again with the Urban Vices design on it.

The back of the box with some product information, including the shadow colors.

Inside the box is the actual palette. It is made of sturdy cardboard, which is something that I don't like but I can't complain since it was a bonus item using my points.

The colors are Dope, Hoodoo, Derailed and Smokeout. Also included is a mini 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Smokeout. I haven't had a chance to do some checking so I don't know if any of these are part of their regular line or not. I think that I have Smokeout in another palette but not positive. If anyone knows these colors availability, please comment and let me know.

I did a quick EOTD using Hoodoo on the inner 1/3 of my eye, Derailed on the outer 2/3 of the eye. I dabbed MAC's Light Violet Crushed Pigment in the center of the eyelid just to give it some dimension and added Smokeout to the out corners of the eyelid and along the outer 1/4 of the lower lashline. I used Dolly Wink Eyeliner pen to line my eyes.

Like last year's palette, I'm really liking this one. One can reason that this gift isn't worth it because 500 points is equivalent to $500.00 spent. I like to look at it as a bonus, despite the value of the points because without the program, I wouldn't be getting anything. I think that with any reward program, one will never get full value of what their points were equivalent to.

I can't believe that it's mid November already. Somehow, this year has flown by much more quickly than any other year.

*Kat*

Using My Stash February - June 2015

It's been so long since I last did a "Using My Stash" post! I'm pretty sure that there might have been more items used but I couldn't find the containers.

Skincare

Skincare items is what I used up the most.

Rodan + Fields Reverse Line Deep Exfoliating Wash, Toner and Skin Lightening Treatment. I gave this line a good run and it didn't do what I wanted it to do, which was to remove freckles and dark spots.

Kose Hyaluronic Face Lotion. I'm not extremely particular about my face lotions as long as they are moisturizing. This one worked well and I believe isn't too expensive. I have several different face lotions in my stash that I need to use so I don't believe that I'll be making any purchases in the near future.

Nivea Soft Moisturizing Cream. I used this as an extra lotion. I really liked it and it was quite inexpensive. Since summer with high humidity has hit, I will not be using an extra moisture lotion for a while. I will most likely pick this up again but I have to admit that I have other heavier moisturizers in my stash that I need to use.

Naive Facial Cleansing Foam. I love Naive cleansers! I have several others as backup in my stash.

DHC Q10 Face Cream. It's a nice cream. Not sure if I'll repurchase as it didn't stand out as compared to other face creams that I have.

Nature Republic Argan 20 Mask Sheet. I have so many masks in my stash to use that I don't have to buy any for a long, long time. This was a nice mask to use and I think that I do have more in my stash.

Makeup

Bare Minerals BareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation. This is my HG foundation! I really love it. I think that I am almost done with a 2nd bottle.

Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre. This is a moisturizer and primer in one. I was using it mainly as a primer and really liked it. I am currently using it as only a moisturizer and it works very nicely that way too. A little goes a long way and although I have only recently started using a 2nd tube, I think that I need to buy another one to put into my stash.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. This is another HG product for me. This tube took me a whole year to use up so I was thinking of replacing it with a smaller tube, thinking that I will be using fresher product even though it's more cost effective to buy the larger tube. I happened to find the larger tube in my stash as well as a smaller tube so I'm set for over a year.

K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner 24h. This has also been a HG product for me. I have a number of these in my stash. I was recently given a Dolly Wink eyeliner. It works exactly the same as K-Palette but I think that the tip is a little narrower so I like the way it lines my eyelids.

Sunscreen

Hada-Labo UV Whitening Emulsion is one of my HG products. I love Japanese brand sunscreens as it doesn't feel or smell like sunscreen. It also has high SPF, which I like. I have many of these in my stash.

Brush Cleansers

Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner. I like to use this everyday. This new formulation is great in that it cleans the brushes well and is so quick drying. Brushes stayed damp when using the old formulation.

Daiso Puff and Sponge Detergent is my all-time favorite for deep washing my brushes on a weekly basis. Or at least I try to wash them on a weekly basis. Very inexpensive and effective as a brush cleanser.

Not very many items considering that this is for 5 months. I still have so many items in my stash that need to be used and loved. It is slowly whittling down though and I'm happy that I've been doing this.

*Kat*

Purchase Review: Wet 'N Wild Color Icon Floral Values Bouquet Floral Eyeshadow Palette, EOTD and Angfa Review Follow Up

A long while back, sometime at the beginning of this year, I chanced upon a new Wet 'N Wild Color Icon eyeshadow palette. This new line of palettes now come in a 5-pan palette and will be part of their regular line. I purchased the Floral Values Bouquet Floral palette.

Lilac, pink and purples are colors that I like and this palette is so pretty.

I finally pulled this palette out to use and here's my EOTD.

Products used:

Urban Decay Orginal Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Wet 'N Wild Color Icon Floral Values Bouquet Floral Eyeshadow Palette
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner 24h WP
Sephora Crayon 12 hr Waterproof Jumbo Liner in 14 Violet

The medium purple color is applied to the eyelid, pink to middle of eyelid and dark purple to outer corners of eyelid. Lined upper eyelid with K-Palette eyeliner. Lined the lower outer corner of eyelid with Sephora Crayon Jumbo Liner and used a brush to blend it inward toward middle of eyelid. Lightly applied the dark purple eyeshadow over the jumbo liner.

It is disappointing but I found this palette difficult to work with. The eyeshadows were quite hard, not well pigmented and difficult to blend the colors easily. Wet 'N Wild eyeshadows have been a favorite drugstore eyeshadow line for me because it is nicely pigmented and of a softer consistency. Recently I had been reading more comments from other bloggers that the Wet 'N Wild eyeshadows that they have been using recently are on the hard side and not nicely pigmented. The only good side to this is that these eyeshadows are inexpensive so one doesn't feel badly about having purchased a product that isn't going to be used.

A couple of posts ago, I did a review on Angfa Scalp-D Beaute Pure Free Eyelash Conditioner/Serum here. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken any pictures immediately prior to starting using the product, which I started using about 2 1/2 weeks ago.  I went back through some of my older pictures and found one from September 2013. I decided to use it for the comparison picture with the picture that I took this morning. In neither picture, am I using any mascara.

The top picture is the one from 2013 and the lower one is from this morning. What do you think? Do you notice a difference? I think that while my lashes do not look longer, it does look thicker.

EDIT NOTE: I forgot to add that the recommended usage is twice a day, morning and night. I've been using it only once a day at night before going to bed. 

It's a new week. Have a good week everyone!

*Kat*

Sephora VIB Haul 2013

Someone asked me to do a haul post so here we go. I actually did 3 separate purchases during the VIB period. I first window shopped online a couple of days before the VIB sale started. I then went to my local Sephora store the day before the VIB sale started and scoped out what I saw online to see if I liked it in person. It's a good thing that I did that because I discovered that the MUFE Midnight Glow palette that I was interested in wasn't in store. Since I am in Hawaii, the next day hits us last in the States so just before midnight I was online putting things into my shopping cart. There was one item that I had seen in store but it wasn't available online so from that point I knew that I would need to go to Sephora later in the day to make another purchase. A few minutes after midnight, Hawaii time, I hit the pay button and my first purchase was made.

Later in the day, I went to Sephora and picked up the items that were not online but was in store. The next night I was out with a couple of friends who wanted to hit Sephora so of course I found more items that I wanted.

Here are all of my purchases together:

Since I had made 3 separate purchased, I was given 3 VIB bags. I did tell the SA that I already had a bag but I guess they had quite a bit so they gave me with each purchase and told me that I could use it as gift bags. The online purchase that I had made was actually mostly because someone wanted help getting some items so I gave that bag to that person with the products I purchased for her. I did not picture the items that I bought for her.

Items purchased:

Philosophy Shower Gel Sweets x 5. I bought these to give as gifts and these were the items that were not available online. I also bought Formula X for Sephora "The System", which is nail polishes and Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner. These items are considered flammable so I purchased these items in store too.

Sephora Crystal Nail file x 2, Clarisonic Replacement Brush Head twin pack, Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Make Up For Ever Midnight Glow palette,Too Faced La Crème Color Drenched Lip Cream in Cinnamon Kiss and Amika Mighty Mini Ceramic Styler. I was also given sample packets from Amore Pacific, Boscia and Ole Henriksen.

Please share with me what you hauled at Sephora VIB. Or, if you were good and didn't haul, what would you have liked to hauled.

*Kat*

P.S. Don't forget that today is the last day to do the quiz. I will work over the weekend to figure out the winner and hopefully post the answers and winner on Monday.

Using My Stash--April and May

I have found some time to do another blog post. Hopefully my schedule slowly allows me to get back into the swing of things as our busy period starts slowing down.

I felt that I didn't have enough empties to do this blog post last month so again it's a two month post.

Skincare:

If you will notice, a lot of these were sample items. The only full-sized product is Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch primer. I really like this for use during the drier, cooler months. The other jar that looks like it was a full-sized product is Algenist Firming and Lifting Cream. I don't think this is a full-sized product but I got this from exchanging 100 VIB points from Sephora. I used this on my neck and decolletage and really liked it a lot. I wish that I had exchanged more points and had gotten more. Fresh Black Tea Age-Delay Cream sample packet. I'm glad that I got to try this out first. It applies a bit too greasy on my skin for my tastes. DHC Eye Bright Eye Cream sample. I liked this and may purchase it in the future. I'm hoping that I can get more sample packets as it'll be great to take with my when I travel. DHC Kakonjuka Line Essence, Lotion and Cream (forgot to include cream in the picture) packets. I was excited to try these but wasn't wowed by them. I also found the scent to be a bit earthy. I find that it's often difficult to form good opinions on products when they are little sample packets. I'd rather have something a little larger, which I'd even be willing to purchase, just to get a good feel of how products work. DHC Velvet Skin Coat primer. This was nice and it didn't break me out. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough product to be able to form a good opinion on it. I may have to to purchase it to see just how well it works. If it does work well, then more of these packet sizes would be nice for traveling as well.  H2O Deep Sleep Recovery Cream and Night Oasis Oxygenating Energizer Serum. These were nice sizes to work with although I still would prefer something a little bit more. These products were okay but don't think it would be something that I would feel inclined to purchase.

Makeup Items:

I always feel such a sense of accomplishment when I use up makeup items since these take so long to use. I have included two mascaras--Sephora Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara and Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara. I didn't care for the Sephora mascara and used it a few times only but it's gone way past the 6 month mark so it's time to get rid of it. The Maybelline mascara was okay and I did use it quite a bit. Revlon Lip Butter 050 Berry Smoothie is my favorite everyday lip color. I used it all up, all the way down the tube. I was going to get a replacement for it but I tried a Maybelline Whisper Lipstick  75 Rose of Attraction and am loving it too. The color is very similar to Berry Smoothie. MAC Print eyeshadow. Print is my all time favorite color and I use it almost every day. I already had another one in my stash as a backup. Dior Hydra Life BB Cream, 100 VIB Point sample. I was really liking this at first but noticed that it wasn't long wearing at all. After 5 or 6 hours, it would fade significantly. I'm so glad that I didn't spend the money on a full-sized tube. Oriks Sun BB Cream sample packet. I was able to try this only once and knew it wouldn't work for me, but mainly because the color is way too light for me. I looked like a ghost wearing this.

Cleansers:

I replace my Clarisonic brush heads in January, April, July and October. I have to charge my Clarisonic Plus once a month and so during those months when it runs out of battery life and needs to be charged, is when I replace the brush head. Daiso Puff and Sponge Cleanser is my HG brush cleanser. I try to wash my brushes once a week. Sephora Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner is something that I use on a daily basis to clean my brushes in between the washings.

Hair Care:

I should have entitled this heading as Hair Care Plus One because I realized after I took the picture that I included a hand soap refill package in here. I love that hand soap and have asked my friends to bring back refills for me every time they go to Japan. I'll be asking my son to bring more too. Lux Super Damage Repair Shampoo and Conditioner. While I really like this product, I used it up and won't be using it any more. The Asian brands of shampoos tend to make my scalp irritated. It gets a bit itchy and there tiny little bumps on my scalp that are a little tender. It also tends to build up on my hair after prolonged use which makes my hair look weighed down and lifeless. I do have backup refill packs in my stash but these will be for my daughter-in-law's use when she visits next month. Tsubaki Hair Oil packet is in my Palty Hair Color and I do like it. I will probably keep the packets that I get and use it to pack into my travel bag.

A couple of items that I did not use up but will definitely not use any more:

Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer:

While many people have raved about Smashbox Photo Finish primers before, A few years ago, I tried the HD Photo Finish primer and it didn't sit well with me. The higher silicone content is not good on my skin. I tend to break out in tiny little bumps. I don't know what possessed me to decide to go ahead and purchase the Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer a few months ago. I was told that there was way less silicone content in it but after using it a few times, I didn't like it much and I was starting to break out in those tiny little bumps. The picture shown is from Sephora's website as I didn't take a picture of the one that I had. I ended up giving it to Mai, who really likes the HD Photo Finish primer.

Mannan Gel Peeling:

I really liked this but it's a couple of years old now and I don't know if it's past it's expiration date, if there even is any. I also can't find it in Donki, where it was purchased. Any suggestions on a good gel peeling product?

*Kat*

Using My Stash January 2013

Wow, January has come and gone already. It just flew by!

I surprised myself by using up some products in January.

Skin Care Items:

Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator was okay. It didn't help with lightening anything, which is par for the course for all products I have tried. I've decided to go with hydrating serums instead and hopefully that'll be less pricey than those that claim to lighten dark spots, etc.

Vitacreme B12 was a good hydrating moisturizer. I've had this one for so long as I didn't use it consistently. It's something that I may repurchase although I'm undecided at this point.

Fresh Black Tea Age-Delay Eye Cream was an eye cream that I liked. It was nice and hydrating, which I liked. I hope that it did some age delaying but I didn't see anything significant. This is a maybe on repurchasing since it was a bit pricey.

Makeup Items:

Missha BB Boomer Primer was a primer that I really liked for the warmer months. I would consider repurchasing this but will have to wait till my friends go to Korea. (I do not like ordering from the U.S. site.)

I used up 2 MAC and 1 Sephora eyeshadow. One of the MAC eyeshadows is a staple color so I will definitely be repurchasing. The Sephora eyeshadow is also a staple but the color has recently been discontinued. I was fortunate to have purchased a backup a while ago and then last week the Sephora staff found two more in their back stock, which I purchased.

Miscellaenous Items:

I use my Clarisonic almost every night. In keeping with the suggestion of changing the brush heads every 3 - 4 months, I have decided to change the brush heads in January, April, July and October.

Philosophy Fresh Peaches and Cream Shower Gel was part of a gift set so this is a gift set size. I liked the scent of it but as with all Philosophy shower gels, I thought that it was a bit too emollient. I feel that they don't rinse off well. I will be reusing the bottle to put in some of the shower gel that I'm currently using to take on my trip later this month.

I use the Sephora brand Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner every day to do a quick cleaning of my brushes. This replaced my using Wet Ones every day. I already bought a back up of it and am using it.

Lux Super Damage Repair Conditioner is a favorite of my daughter-in-law. I had been using it and stopped for a while but have started using it again because I have so many of this line of shampoo and conditioner in my stash. It will probably be something that I will continue to stock in my stash--just not as much as I currently have.

*Kat*

L'Oreal Lash Serum--7th Week and Holiday EOTD

I'm back with another L'Oreal Lash Serum progress report. I've been showing weekly progress pictures every other week or so with 2 to 3 weeks pictures. I must say that at this point, it doesn't seem as much more has happened or perhaps will even happen so I don't think that I'll post each week's picture unless you'd like to continue seeing it.

This is week 7, again with no makeup and with makeup.

Again, I must say that I've been very impressed by this serum and will continue to use it.

I had a couple of Christmas parties to attend in the same night and I wasn't sure if we would try to make both. I decided to do a green and gold holiday EOTD and finally wear some mascara with my newly grown lashes.

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion: Eden (not shown)
Urban Decay Eyeshadows: Blitz, Junkie (Vice Palette), Kush, Loaded (BOS III Palette)
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
NARS Pencil Eyeliner
Canmake Agebuto Mascara
Maybelline The Colassal Volume Express Mascara
Sephora Collection Glitter Eyeliner and Mascara: Gold

As usual, I primed my eyelids with primer potion.Blitz is applied to the inner 1/3 of eyelid, Kush to the middle 1/3 of eyelid and blended in sweeping back and forth motion into and just above the crease, sweeping out towards the end of the outer corner. I did not sweep it completely to the inner corner. Junkie is applied to the outer 1/3 of eyelid and blended into Kush. K-Palette is applied to upper lash line and outer corner of lower lash line. It's basically just dotted there to connect the uppler lash line lining to the lower lash line. Loaded is used to line the lower lash line, blending the dotted outer corner and fading the lining towards the middle of the eye. Loaded is also used to the outer "V" of upper eyelid to add a bit more depth. I curled my eyelashes--for the first time since I started using the lash serum--and applied a light coating of Agebuto mascara. It is a waterproof mascara and I need to use waterproof mascaras to hold the curl if I wanted it to be as I curled it. I then applied a couple of coatings of The Colossal Volume mascara to the upper lashes and lightly to the lower lashes. I usually don't like to apply mascara to my lower lashes because it makes me look like I have black eyes. Having been using the lash serum, it has really enhanced my lower lashes as well and applying mascara gave it an even more extreme look so to soften it I used a brush to angle it towards the outer corner. I then applied NARS pencil eyeliner to upper waterline.

As a last step to add a bit more glitz to my eyes, I applied gold glitter eyeliner to 1/4 of the lower inner lash line. Unfortunately you can't really see it in the picture. The product that I used for this is Sephora Collection Glitter Eyeliner and Mascara. The SA at Sephora was wearing it and it looked really nice. I was concerned about the glitters being that close to the eye and she said that she hadn't experienced any migrating of the glitter into the eye so I decided to pick it up in gold and in silver.

The tip of it is like a regular eyeliner brush and after that there is the mascara brush. It actually takes quite a few swipes to get the glitter onto your eyelashes but after I tried it, I decided that I like using it as just an eyeliner. Unfortunately, there was a LE mini set of this in just eyeliners and that probably would have been a better purchase for me since I ended up deciding that I will not use it on my lashes.

Swatch so that you can see what it looks like:

I like the way it gives a litte bit of sparkle to your eye. I had a lot of women friends who loved it. It was only the hubs who, at the end of the night, asked if that's glitter or tears!

I initially really liked Loaded but I'm noticing more and more that there's actually a brown undertone to it. It's very similar to MAC Club, at least in pictures. I need to find a true Deep Emerald green eyeshadow as I love the color. Any suggestions?

*Kat*

EOTD Using My Stash

I apologize for I am way behind on my posts. I got sick last week Tuesday and am finally feeling almost normal today although I still have unexpected and frenetic coughing spasms.

Just prior to getting sick, I had been seeing posts about Tom Ford Emerald Lust eyeshadow quad palette and fell in love with it. Who else has been lemming it? Unfortunately with its high price tag, I wasn't willing to purchase it and thought that perhaps I could rummage through my stash and come up with some similar colors. I haven't seen the quad in person so I wasn't quite sure what the colors look like in actuality. On some blogs it looked more blue and on others it looked more turquoise/green. This picture that I have is from Neiman Marcus website.

Products used:

L'Oreal Infallible Endless Sea
Urban Decay Unhinged (from Vice Palette)
YSL #5 Palette (5 Colour Harmony for Eyes)
Addiction Mystic Mirage
Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill #23
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
Sephora Glitter Liner
Sephora Mascara
L'Oreal Mascara

 

My substitutes for Emerald Lust

After applying eyeshadow primer, I applied Mystic Mirage to contour area of eyelids. Endless Sea to inner 1/3 of eyelid, Unhinged to middle 1/3 of eyelid and the lighter of the YSL blue eyeshadow to outer 1/3 of eyelid. I also applied very lightly GA ETK #23, which is almost a holographic eyeshadow, over the various blue eyeshadows to blend them together. Since there are micro glitters of blues and greens, it also helps to stay within the color theme of the eyeshadows. K-Palette eyeliner lines the upper lashline and just a smidge in the outer corner of lower lashline, to make a seamless transition from the upper lashline to the lower lashline at that outer corner. Using the darkest blue eyeshadow from YSL, I line the outer half of lower lashline starting at outer corner and fading it in towards the middle. I also use it in the outer V of upper eyelid and blend the color in, emphasizing the outer corners.

To glam it up for an evening out, I added mascara and Sephora silver glitter eyeliner to the inner corner of lower lash line. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to show up in the picture well.

 

Sephora Silver Glitter Eyeliner

I could have also used MAC Freshwater and Contrast instead of YSL palette.

All in all, I was pretty happy with my substitutes for Tom Ford's Emerald Lust palette.

I hope that everyone is well and gearing up for the holiday season.

*Kat*

Evening Out FOTD

Last night I had a business dinner to go to and so I felt that I needed to dress up a bit even though the restaurant that we went to doesn't have a high class environment.

Products used:

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill 20, 21 and 23
Addiction Eyeshadow Mystic Mirage
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner
NARS Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner
Shiseido Mascara Base
Canmake Agebuto Mascara
Sephora Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara
Clarins Skin Illusion Natural Radiance Foundation 109
Canmake Cheek & Cheek Blush 06 (LE)
Urban Decay Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color Love Child

I did an explanation of the Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill EOTD in my post here. The only difference is that I added Mystic Mirage to the outer brow bone area and used NARS eyeliner on water line of upper eyelid. I curled my lashes and used Shiseido mascara base which helps to hold my curl. I applied Agebuto mascara, which is a waterproof mascara and that also helps hold my curl. I then applied the Sephora mascara because I like the effect that it gives as it really seems to darken the lashes and make it fuller. I'm sorry but I forgot to separate my lashes before taking the picture!

The foundation that I used tonight was Clarins Skin Illusion Natural Radiance Foundation in 109. This foundation gives a nice finish and while it's rather natural looking, it also gives good, long-lasting coverage. Since my eyes were made up darker than normal, I decided to go with light cheeks and lips. I'm really loving the Canmake Cheek & Cheek blush in 06. Too bad it's an LE shade. Lips were done using Urban Decay pencil gloss in Love Child.

I love how this Canmake Blush gives a nice pink flush to the cheeks. It's nicely pigmented so you can apply too much--yes, I've done it! Please take note of my beautiful handmade earrings from Fushigi Shop. I wore these thinking that it's the perfect time to wear it. Please do check out this wonderful store with enticing jewelry pieces. Yasumi is away on vacation right now but she will soon be returning and coming up with more beautiful and unique creations.

I must say that when I purchased the Eyes to Kill eyeshadows, I was hesitant on #23 (the opalescence white shadow). I'm so glad that I bought it because it has to be my favorite of the 3 colors that I purchased.

*Kat*

EOTD--Stash Find Inspiration

As I've mentioned in prior posts, I hadn't been feeling well for a month or longer. At one point it the exhaustion was really bad. I'm still not sure what it was but there's a sneaky suspicion that it was a reaction to the ancient dust and mold from trying to clean out a room in which things my in-laws stored away for over 30 years. I've since stopped cleaning and when I resume, will use a face mask.

This illness not only affected me physically but mentally as well. From the exhaustion, I developed dark under eye circles--something that I haven't had before. I also couldn't be physically active, spending most of my time just lying down and resting, so I gained some weight. My face became a bit puffy and looked like it was sagging and drooping, eyelids a bit sunken in and combined with the dark circles and overall not feeling well, I wasn't liking myself very much.

As I started to feel better, I knew that I had to do something. The dark circles under my eye have lightened, which for which I am relieved. Over a year ago, I stopped doing the Tanaka Facial Massage but last week I started to do it again. Maybe it's my imagination but I feel that it has helped to get rid of most of the puffiness and has given a lift to my face. I've changed the way that I do my base eyelid makeup to help take away the sunken in appearance. Overall, I think that I'm looking more like myself and I'm happy. As a result, I feel like I can do an EOTD!

Most of the Japanese brands of eyeshadows are predominantly brown. They do have a "pink" palette (usually coded PK-1 or similar), which usually consists of a pink eyeshadow pan and the rest are browns or pink/brown tones. I'm definitely not a brown person as most browns make me look really tired and washed out but I had been looking into trying a pink palette but couldn't decide which one to get. While I was depotting the Starlet Palette, I came across a set of eye shadows that I thought would be in a Japanese pink palette.

Products used:

diva, trophy and timeless Tarte eyeshadows
Chocolate Milk Hello Kitty Pen Pal Eyeliner
Black Voluminous False Lashes L'Oreal Mascara
Black Full Action Sephora Mascara

Apply diva (pink) to inner 1/3 of upper eyelid, trophy to middle 1/3 of eyelid and timless to outer 1/3. Lined uppper lashline and outer corner of lower lashline using Chocolate Milk. Using timeless, I apply it over the liner on the lower lashline and blend and fade it in towards mid eye. I first applied the L'Oreal mascara as it helps to curl my lashes a bit and then added Sephora mascara as it helps to add volume to my lashes.

I'm quite happy with the result of using these brown colors. I had no one asking me if I was tired so I guess that it looked okay to others as well. I searched around at home looking for a brown eyeliner and found the Hello Kitty one. I remember using it a couple of times and deciding that I didn't like it so it's a wonder that it is still around. I think that I didn't like it because it smeared and faded throughout the day but this time it held up well. A tip that I learned from Beauty Box Online was to use eyelid primer on your lower lashline and this will help to keep your liner in place as well as help to keep mascara from smudging onto your lower eyelid. It really does help!

I hope that I don't really fall in love with these eyeshadow colors because once they are used up, I can't replace them as it seems that Tarte doesn't sell individual eyeshadows. It was also exclusive to the Starlet Palette.

*Kat*

Gift Review: Daiso Double-Ended Concealer & Kat's Method of Concealing (Picture Heavy)

Today's review is on the Daiso Double-Ended Stick Concealer.

This was in Yumeko's "Top 8 Beauty Related Buys from Daiso here. She graciously gifted me with one and I finally got around to trying it out.

One of the unique things about this concealer is that it is double ended. One end is wide and the other end is pencil tip thin.

I like this concept especially if you are wanting to conceal smaller problem spots.

Before I continue into my concealing method, please let me ramble on a bit about my skin blemish "history". I grew up with freckles, a bit unusual for a full-blooded asian, I think. I always hated my freckles especially as they continued to multiply as I grew older. Of course, living in Hawaii and always being in the sun didn't help especially since back when I was in my teens, sun screen protection wasn't stressed. Then one day, I had a pimple on my cheek and after it was gone, it left a dark spot which also blended into a cluster of freckles leaving one huge dark spot on the apple of my cheek which, to this day, doesn't lighten or go away. I've tried many lightening products and have had many suggestions from makeup artists as to the best technique and products to use to conceal this dreaded large spot as well as my smaller freckles. One suggestion was to use an orange-colored pencil to conceal as many makeup artists use this technique especially for photo shoots. I tried it and unfortunately ended up with orange spots that really weren't obvious unless you looked at closeup shots or saw me in person really close up.

So I've taken all the information that I have gleaned over the years and came up with what works best for me. It's probably most unorthodox and perhaps many professional makeup artists will cringe but it's what works for me and I'm happy with the result.

I must say that I like using a peach-toned concealer and my HG is Sue Devitt Bermuda Triangle Undereye Corrector. For the purposes of this post, I'm using the Daiso Double-Ended Stick Concealer to review it at the same time. My technique and products that I use is the same, just the concealer is different.

Normally I prime and prep my face and do most of my eye makeup first and then I conceal and apply foundation. Besides the concealer, the other products that I use are Sephora Smudge/Eyeliner brush, e.l.f. contour brush, Crown Brush fluff brush, Sephora Eyeshadow in sun-kissed N° 78 and NARS Orgasm blush.

I start off with my primed and prepped face.

Using the wider end of the Daiso concealer, I smudge some of it onto my finger and pat it under my eyes.

Using whatever is remaining on my finger, I pat it onto the large dark spot and to the sides of my nose. Using the Sephora brush, I pick up some concealer and start covering the large dark spot.

Using the pencil tip end of the concealer, I dot the larger, darker spots. (Normally I use the Sephora brush to apply concealer to the larger, darker freckles.)

The concealer is quite visible and this is true even with my HG concealer.

To help create a more natural concealed look, and to provide more coverage for the large, dark spot, I use the e.l.f. brush and pick up some Orgasm and then some sun-kissed and apply it to the large dark spot. Trying to keep a light hand, I add this combination until it is concealed decently well.

Using only sun-kissed, I apply it to the other spots that I used concealer on. Using the Crown Brush fluff brush, I lightly apply sun-kissed to under eye, sides of the nose and and over all the dotted areas to blend everything together.

My face is now ready for foundation to be applied.

I do realize that the normal procedure for applying concealer is liquid foundation first and then conceal, or if you are using powder foundation, then you conceal first.  Although I use liquid foundation, I like to conceal first because the areas where you use a concealer will be lighter. Applying a foundation over will minimize and most likely eliminate the white lighter spots. This is also the reason why I like to use a flat-topped brush and stipple on my foundation. Oftentimes I will apply more Orgasm to the large dark spot before and after applying foundation. Because it is on the apple of my cheek I need that area to have more "orange" coverage. After applying blush, it is concealed nicely. If I use a lighter color or powder to cover and set the concealer, that area will show up as a white spot under the blush. I have found Orgasm to be the best color for this purpose. I originally wanted to use a matte eyeshadow as sun-kissed is a bit pearlized but this color was the best for what I wanted to do and it ended up working out much better, I think. It helps to brighten up the under eye area and I think that it also helps to reflect light away from any imperfections.

Although the Daiso concealer isn't peach-toned, which I normally like, using this method helped to color correct the concealer so that it worked out nicely. In Japan, this concealer is only 105 yen, which is a bargain! It worked well on me. I didn't need to touch up (although I don't touch up unless I'm going to go out after work) and it didn't settle into fine lines. As Yumeko said in her post, it's great for keeping in your office drawer or gym locker.

Sorry for the length of this post. I know that it seems like a lot of steps and time consuming but it actually goes quite quickly for me. I must say that I have a love-hate relationship with my dark spots. I really dislike having the dark spots on my face and am considering medically getting it removed. However, I do like the fact that I can test and see how well a product works by having the dark spot.

I will write a post on how I apply my foundation another time.

*Kat*