My Makeup Bag - Spring 2009

Here's an update on my current makeup routine! I am still using the COACH one from January but it's more for things like bandages, mirror and lipgloss stuff for the big bag. I got a cute Roxy Train Case on sale at the local bargain shop for $20. It's like the average kid's lunch bag size that can fit a lot of stuff in it. Not that I use a lot of stuff on my face but it's perfect for stuffing brushes(I'm so bad with them), cotton pads, makeup remover and sponges in it. I wish they had the blue one though because I like that colour combo better. Oh well. There isn't much stuff different from my previous makeup bag posts because I repurchased things that I actually am quite ok with since there hasn't been much that has been quite outstanding to actually interest me in using a lot.


1) My beloved Raycious Crystal Skin Base! I still enjoy using this a lot! I like the texture of it so much that I really want to buy more back ups! Kind of expensive though because they are only available at certain online stores now that have extreme prices =(

2) SKIN79 Super BB Gold Label is the best!

3) Back to MAC Select Cover-Up Concealer. I learnt a very simple technique the other day that has a very good/natural look. To blend my concealer and BB cream together to make it the concealer not look too obvious on my face. Probably everyone has known and done that already so I guess I'm just slow. I'm a NW25 for MAC concealer.



4) The weather is getting warmer so I have chosen to get a Mineralize Powder from MAC as well to set/reduce shine on my face. I got Medium which is a complete match to my skintone. Light hand on T-zone is key because it seems to much to be put all over the face.

5) MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BLUSH FROM MAC!!!! This is MAC Blush in Prism(Matte). It was my very first colour and it is the best! It's a dirty peach that flatters as blush and contouring powder. If I could I would restock a lot of this.



6) Out with the horrible Revlon eyebrow stuff! I have changed to MAC. I got the MAC Eyebrow Crayon in Spiked. It's alright. I ought to really go back to powder. I also use BonneBell EyeStyle Clear Mascara to set it.

7) I have also gone back to my KATE gel eyeliners. I am currently using the beautiful PU-2 which is a deep plum purple. Looks great with browns/brown eyes! I also use this VOV Shining Auto Pencil(FREE FROM GMARKET!) to line the bottom/waterline to make the eyes POPPING!


8) So here are the items I have in my makeup bag right now!
Banila Co. Gossip Girl Palette. I gave into these palette things after seeing many pictures of them! I just had to have them too! So I got this one which is very familiar to another palette I have seen/and own(MAC?). I don't use the blush at all as it's too light but I love the middle brown colour. Very very nice.

9) NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha. I finally got to try one of these and wow! These are amazing smooth stuff! The colours are a bit extreme for me but this one is by far the most workable one. I like to use this sometimes as a base and apply the brown from Gossip Girl on top.

10) VOV All Night Mascara. I have yet to review this one(Where did Mascara Mondays go?!). All I can say is that this one is pretty good in waterproof and smudgeproof.


The tools used: Makeup sponge(need to be replaced), SANA eyelash curler, MAC 134, MAC 169 and MAC 214*.

As you can see, I'm really working on the neutrals for spring. I haven't been using a select major lip product because it's been a mix of lipsticks. Aren't neutrals great? What are you rocking this Spring?

*It's kind of bad but MAC 214 is an eye shadow brush but I use it to apply my KATE eyeliner. It's the nice short and stiff for the perfect line! Also great for smudging liner! I'm so bad!

Hello Kitty for Mac Haul!

Apart from the Japanese makeup brands, I really love the MAC brand. I just love their collaborations with different people and icons! I recently did a mini-me-haul from the latest MAC collaboration with Hello Kitty. I only got a few items that I would actually use so my haul isn't really interesting. I haven't seen many people buy these items so here's a look at it all.


My love for blush will never end! I decided to purchase both blushes from the collection. The colours are quite simple yet nice. I also love the packaging! The blushes are in this shiny black casing with some sparkles on it. I honestly don't like the finish of it because it makes me think they just covered the case with nail polish but nevertheless, Hello Kitty is cute on the top! The two blushes are Tippy and Fun & Games. They are both divided from the Wild and Mild side of the Hello Kitty looks. Tippy is the blush on the left and it's a real cute somewhat vibrant pink while Fun & Games is a light warmish peach. Both are totally wearable for every day use.


Another thing I got was the tinted lip conditioner Popster which is a nice semi-vibrant lip tint. The colour is very natural on me. As for packaging, it`s just like the normal TLC but with a shiny lid with Hello Kitty on it.


Now I had to just get something from the accessories part! Nothing that I really wanted but the Hello Kitty Purse Mirror. I also wanted the brush collection with the cute holder and extra brushes but it wasn`t needed. I find the purse mirror was quite a flashback to my childhood when Hello Kitty was like an ultimate collector thing. Very old school.


So that`s it for my haul!

Belated Christmas Haul!

Christmas is long over but I'm still in the midst of enjoying my new goodies! To be honest, I don't really celebrate Christmas anymore and I don't even race to the Boxing Day sales either. This year's presents were real great and most of them are very useful so I decided to make a special goodies/haul post! I only got a couple of beauty related things and the rest were more to do with my occupation. Mind you, most of these things I got after Christmas. Might be a boring post! Ha!

First off! Beauty-related items! I didn't get much from online shops because I didn't want to wait forever for things to come and there just wasn't much that I really wanted. Instead I decided to hit up a long time favorite shop of mine: MAC!


I decided to pick up the two Highlight Powders from the new Dame Edna collection. I don't really like Dame Edna but I have a thing for these powders/blushes/bronzers/highlighters. The packaging is as great as the Heatherette one so I just had to have them! I couldn't decide which colour as they are both sheer-ish so I got them both.

This one is What a Dame! and it is a pearlish gold kind of highlighter. Since it's pretty sheer and has a gold kind of finish, it is perferct for making a glowy face. Very nice! The only real thing I have with these highlighters is that the sparkly finish that you see in the pictures are totally gone within the first swipe. I wish it was throughout.


The other one is called Spetacle! which is quite almost like a coral orange with slight tint of red. I don't like using the velvet applicator but a brush so it's somewhat perfect for a light tinted blush. Blends pretty well with the ones I have. Something to put under my MSFs from MAC as well. Same issue with the shimmer layer on the top as the other highlighter.

Now I couldn't get everything from MAC as I have decided that I really only like their lipsticks, lipglosses and blushes. So I decided to turn to another brand I really like which is Bobbi Brown. I don't really own much from BB but I do like flipping through her books and looking at her looks. I find them really natural and very relatable for everyday occasions. So when her Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual came out, I had to get it! It's not that I couldn't just read this stuff online but it's more of a nice reference book to have. She teaches real well in her books and it never falls short on Asians which is awesome!

I took some pictures of the manual so you can see how nice it is!

She goes through everything from skincare to makeup to looks to becoming a makeup artist. I find her real thorough with every single aspect for correcting skin problems especially when it comes to undereye. Here's a picture of the blush page that really catches my eye every single time. I really like the colour she chose for that girl on the left! And the coolest thing is that she even did bronzer on a light skinned Asian lady. It's done tastefully that it isn't too bronze or too orange either.

There is also a specific page for lining the single lids. I don't have a single lid but this page just shows the diversity in this manual and that she really has everyone in mind. Sadly I find that dramatic eyeliner look very ugly looking. It looks more like drooping eye to me.

And finally! This is the back page of the book and it's so nice. A whole two pages of lots and lots of blush. Maybe that's her favorite product too!

Since I was already at Chapters(bookstore), I decided to spend some hard earned cash on myself and buy some books that I really like. I actually have one more book that I bought but forgot to take a photo of. That one is Giada De Laurentiis' Every Italian. Now, you must be thinking.. Martha Stewart?! Believe it or not, her book teaches the very simplest but the most basic things. I have a couple of these "references" cookbooks and they all teach the same thing as Martha but I think it's very nice to have. It's a great housewarming gift too! The other one I want to talk about is the INDULGE book. It's a dessert book written by the pastry chef at The French Laundry which is the restaurant that inspired the Disney movie Ratatouille. It is an awesome-beyond-awesome book! The pictures are beautiful and the recipes are super easy to follow. Restaurant quality yet homecook level instructions! I already made the panacotta recipe already!

The last of my purchases was on Boxing Day. I actually decided to go to the mall on sheer boredom. I was bored sitting at home so I just wanted to go out and actually see the sales. I went into the normal stores that I like and saw that COACH is indeed really good during sales! Basically they bring out the old collections and sell them half price! It's almost like shopping at the outlets that you have to drive to the border. The line and swarm of people(ladies and gentlemen!) was so much that I only browsed quickly to snatch up a bag and two cute makeup bags. Everything in total costed the price of the one cosmetic bag alone! What a steal!

So that's what I got for Christmas!

My Makeup Bag - Winter 2009

Happy New Year! New Year means new makeup bag! I got this COACH Makeup Bag at the Boxing Day sale while it was 50% off which was a complete steal! I was so happy about the price that I got one for my friend in another colour(green) as well. Hopefully she would have put use to it already. This one is from an old collection which explains why it's on sale but normally I would find older items should be treated like vintage. Guess not. Good design though! It's very slim but yet very roomy that it can fit all my makeup items that I have changed to for winter.


So here are the items I have in my makeup bag right now!

1) Since I really enjoyed using the Raycious Crystal Skin Base, it has made it's way in. It probably isn't a winter thing but I find it alright for the weather as a base. It's probably whatever actually goes on top that matters.

2) I have started to get into the BB creams thing but I've only decided to try one which is the most attractive and seemingly popular one which is the SKIN79 Super BB Gold Label. I have yet to take some nice pictures of me actually using it so the review will be coming soon!

3)For eyeshadow, I am really trying to use up my old stuff which I have brought back last last year's Lavshuca Winter Make Collection in 01. I really liked the colours in it and there is also lip stuff too! The colours are a bit night-ish but the pink and pearl white is nice alone too.

4) I love love blush a lot! I also loved the Bihada Ichizoku Cheek Blush in Pearl Rose as well!

5) As for eyebrows, I am still using the same old Revlon one but this time I'm really trying to get rid of it badly. So instead of throwing it away, I'm doubling the usage as a hard eyeliner. It's contrary to the eyeshadow selection as it's brown but it's pretty dark and not so noticeable. I also am using a tester version of the Bobbi Brown creamy concealer. I got at the counter for free and it's alright. It definitely needs to be used with eye cream.

6) I am also using MJ products for both lip balm-ish and mascara. I'm using the MAJOLICA MAJORCA Glossy Glamorous Girl Honey Lip Gloss.

7) Last but not least is my favorite lipgloss of all time! The MAQUILLAGE New Climax Lip! The colour and texture is just superb!

So that's what I have in my New Year makeup bag! What's in yours?

Semi-back

Dear Readers,

Hello and hello again! I have indeed been back and around for quite a bit but my new job is quite important to me and I can not maintain this blog as much as I could before. I'm not leaving this though! I still enjoy my time writing about makeup and beauty products. I'm just afraid that it won't be too constant. My life has taken HUGE step into the future. I went to a job training in the US and it was very successful. I am now back in Canada working full-time at my job and loving every single minute of it. I have also taken an even HUGER step with my boyfriend as well. Good things are happening to me now! I must sound silly now but I have to say I feel very blessed for everything I have and the things I am able to do. I hope we all are.

See you guys around!

- Eliza

Semi-Hiatus

Dear Readers,

I hate to say this again but I will have to be on a short hiatus. I have an important job training to go to for a few weeks so I will be unable to post new reviews and respond to the questions/comments. I'm afraid to say Mascara Mondays may be on a pause as well.

Please enjoy the past entries for the time being!

Thanks!

- Eliza

My Makeup Bag - Summer 2008

I thought it would be time to do a "What's in my Makeup Bag" entry. I love seeing what's in others collections and bag of goodies. I personally love my collection a lot but I really can't bring all of them out so I really made one for every day work. Going out makeup is another story.

To start off I'm using a Victoria Secret makeup bag that I got for free at a checkout online with a $50+ purchase. I bought the eye shadow and face mosaic which is very awesome but I'm not here to talk about those. I used to use my COACH one but it's really too small to carry my new stuff. This one holds everything and still has room to breathe.


I know this is a Japanese beauty product blog but I just happen to be one of those billion happy users of the Laura Mercier primer and tinted moisturizers! I'm happy enough about it that I have never really looked into the Asian market. As I've pointed out in my previous entry, I'm not too keen on buying cute packaged face products. And yes! Tinted moisturizer for summer!

I still haven't found great-oh-my-gosh-holy-cow concealer for the undereye yet but the MAC one is probably one of the few ones I actually sat down in the MA chair to try. Coverage and texture is ok.


I'm so so very obsessed with bronzers for the summer! I own quite a bit but by far MAC MSFs are lightweight and great! I don't really see much bronzers in Japan. I guess they just like pink dollish cheeks. Now you must be wondering why I have that expensive MAC Kabuki brush there! I was slow in getting the one at Sephora before it sold out so there it is. I also use Revlon eyeliner because I'm horrible with powders. I am however looking into buying one from INTEGRATE.


Ahhh! The lovely LAVSHUCA Summer pallete! As I mentioned before, I love this one to bits! The colours are so right for summer and they create multiple looks from natural to daring. KATE and stila eyeliner that are different but both extremely outstanding. Just had to have a black and brown in the bag for different looks.


I love the Visee mascara a lot because it makes my lashes really long but sometimes I like to switch it up with my Anna Sui waterproof one. The Anna Sui one is also used for lower lashes.


And finally the lips! I'm currently using lip glosses for the summer because it matches the look and it's not going to melt. I have the stila plumping gloss and the MM Rouge Majex that I've been raving about!

So that's pretty much my entire bag for the summer! I'm currently looking for bronzed looks to do with my daily look. Maybe I'll scan and post some.