Current: On the Go Makeup bag

I was shopping the other day and I thought 'Wow, boy does my purse feel light today!' Turns out, I had left my makeup bag at home. That's when I realized that perhaps I may be carrying too much 'On the Go.' I need to use a smaller makeup bag and reduce the amount of products. So, I down sized to a little clear bag and the rest is history~ Here's what in my makeup bag now~

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Waterproof Top Coat: I might decide to not bring this around anymore since I haven't used it once in the past two weeks~ 
• BareMinerals READY Touch Up Veil in Translucent: I've been using this for a while and I am on the fence with how I feel about this product. 
• blinc mascara in black: a backup I had in my stash for a while that I decide to carry around, it doesn't do much for my short lashes, but it's still better than no mascara and the great thing about it is that it doesn't smudge
• Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in 54 Boy: this is my current fave MLBB lippy! So creamy and moisturizing, I make sure it's in my bag everywhere I go
• Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 01: the current balmish lippy I'm carrying, it smells nice and is moisturizing
• Dior Diorsnow UV Shield BB Creme SPF 50 - PA +++ : If I'm in a hurry and have to leave the house without makeup, at least I have some coverage and spf protection 
• ELF Shine Eraser: although the summer season is over (booooh!) it's still necessary to have around when your T zone gets oily!
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear Concealer in 02 Light Medium: I find that whatever concealer I've been using lately, touch up for my undereye is always a necessity, curse those dark eyes circles.
• Revlon tweezers: for emergency, and for cuteness~~ the penguins on these always puts a smile on my face
• Sasatinnie Extra Precise Eyebrow Liner in 02 Gray: I cannot leave my house without my brows, if I do I need to fix it asap, so this is my security...
• Sasatinnie Waterproof Retractable Eye Definer with sharpener in 05 Metallic Green: I could technically leave this at home since I discovered...
• Shu Uemura lasting soft gel pencil in 02 M brown: did I say that I don't have a fave liner? Well, I changed my mind after using this... It smudges a little bit (what eyeliner doesn't on these oily lids???) but it's very minimal, and oh so easy to use! Blog post coming up on this awesome find (maybe when I get the black one ;)
• Stila Convertible Colour in Peony: I like this colour for everyday, the colour you see in the pan is not the same as after you apply to your cheeks.
• plus: little Lancome pouch that houses a hair tie, bandaids, mini lip brush and soft picks

When I first started this post... I didn't expect to write so much :|

Here's my makeup bag in the wild! aka on my desk at work

Oops, I just noticed that my Clarins lippy isn't in the pictures... but I assure you, it does all fit into the bag! :)

Shu uemura crazed~

My mini haul from the Canadian Shu uemera website was triggered by my recent acquisition of the shu blushes last week... and it arrived within 1 week of order, so I am quite impressed :) 

I purchased a total of three items:

• SU custom case in black (quad) this is the only colour available, I'd much prefer the white one~
• SU custom case (duo) from the ob collection
• SU blush M medium peach 361 
• freebie was high performance balancing cleansing oil (20ml)

I thought that the duo custom case from the ob collection was too cute to pass. This adorable case makes the perfect accessory and can hold either two shu shadows or 1 shu blush. 

I decide to pick up the quad so that my other two shu blushes (345 and 336) will have a home~

my three new blushes in one week: from top M medium peach 561, M soft pink 336, M soft coral 345

The total for this haul (1 blush, 2 custom cases) was $45.20 taxes and shipping included. I used coupon code artofshu, which got me free shipping plus $10 off $50 purchase. My subtotal for the order was exactly $50, so this ended up being a 20% off, plus I got a free sample of high performance balancing cleansing oil classic (what a mouthful!) I also signed up for an Ebates.ca account and got myself 4% cashback XD If you want to use my referral link its http://www.ebates.ca/referrer?referrerid=xUS9mlMNpN4%3D or you can go directly to the ebates.ca website and sign up. It's free and a great way to save when you shop online often.

Question for you. How are you liking the pictures now in comparision to the ones from before? These pictures were taken late last night (10pm?) I'm using the same camera phone with no flash and using a new light. I feel like the quality of the picture is better but is that just wishful thinking? Let me know if it matters, cuz it's bugging me~ Thanks for reading :)

Sephora Haul from VIB 15% off sale

Like most shopoholic, I find it a struggle to not invest in a good deal, especially since I've moved to a different area, with a different mall to shop at. The Sephora there is also bigger with more brand selection, such as shu uemura :)

I did not walk in with shu in mind, and I was actually not tempted to buy anything until I spotted the shu uemura section on my way out. After seeing Stylish&literate's post here I kind of convinced myself I should check them out. I did and this was my damage:

2 shu uemura blushes one in M soft coral (345) and M soft pink (336) these babies swatched so nicely, and has great pigmentation. If these are anything like their eyeshadows, then I'm sure the lasting powers will be awesome! Can't wait to try them out :)

The VIB tote and samples were nothing special, I only got 7 packet samples, but I did manage to claim my 100 point perk for the Stila Convertible Color in Peony. :) Ahh my blush craze phase~~ XD

Did you go crazy with your shopping this week?!

My Go-to products

Most MU addicts (like myself) own a lot of makeup... however, only a select few are used daily... Here is my list:

• Anastasia Go-To-Brow: quick and easy, I don't have to go hunting for a brush to apply it on and the highlighter on the other end :)
• shu uemura eyelash curler: one word, L.O.V.E! no pinching and beautiful curls for people with short lashes~
• eos lipbalm: my current fave is the mint one, because of it, my lips have never been softer! 
• Maybelline Line Stiletto in brownish black: so easy to use in creating clean thin lines, a product I will definitely repurchase~
• Almay one coat nourishing mascara: the mascara shows my curls beautifully and on most occasions does not leave me with raccoon eyes, but at times it might... I wish my eye area was less oily -__-
• Urban Decay Naked palette: the colours are neutral, which is perfect for work, yet there are colours you can use if you want a bolder look 
• Too Faced Shadow Insurance: this is a very important product for people with oily eyelids as myself, although I must say that I prefer the UD primer over this...
• Clinique mirror: it's a simple mirror that is slightly bigger than your palm, it does its job and it was free :)

My 'dailies.' Lately I've been using my October Luxebox as a tray to hold  frequently used MU

Due to hygienic reasons... I have to switch out my eyeliner and mascaras at the 3-6 months mark ( it really should be 3 months... but I pushed most to almost 6)... I feel that they were still okay, but I don't want to risk getting a stye... so here are the products I'm switching up with: 

Haul: L'Oreal and Lancome warehouse sale 2011

Biggest haul (yet)

This was my big splurge of the year and surprisingly it was not just on makeup! I've picked up quite a few sunscreens since we have plans to go camping / white water rafting and other outdoor activities this summer. At a very decent price of $3.38 each for the face sunscreen I just had to get a few to share. :D

Another sunscreen I will be trying out is the one from Biotherm on the bottom left corner. The set is sold for $39 regular but I got it for $21.50 at this sale and it includes a body wash and a body lotion.

I also stocked up on La Roche Posays' Toleriane Dermo face cleanser @ $13.50, regular is $28. One for my bf and one as gift. :)

L'Oreal + Shiseido warehouse sale 2011

Yesterday we went to both the L'Oreal warehouse sale as well as the Shiseido one and it was insane!!! There was a lot of people there and the lineups were crazy long! We waited only an hour to get into each sale however to get into the Shiseido sale could take up to 3 hours in the morning, on top of that there was a huge lineup just to pay!! This was a day full of standing, walking and being shoved around with some very aggressive shoppers at both sale who went coucou over everything!


Inside the L'Oreal warehouse sale



crazy line up to go into the Shiseido warehouse sale



Inside the Shiseido warehouse

the shopping crew!

From the top of my head I remember only buying some eyeshadows, mascara, sunscreens, and hair products from the L'Oreal sale and for the Shiseido sale it was mainly eyeshadows(again), eyeliners, blushes, nail polishes and I got one moisturizer. Both sales had great deals however I feel that the sale at Shiseido was better as there were more options for skincare and they were continuously restocking items throughout. Will post pictures up when I finally get to it :)

Notes for when you go to these sales:
- wear comfortable shoes (you will be standing a lot!)
- wear t-shirt (it gets very hot and stuffy inside)
- bring water (keep yourself hydrated, they have washrooms if you need to take a break)
- bring snacks (especially if you decide to go to two sales on the same day)
- set a limit (you don't want to max out your credit cards, however please note that at the L'Oreal sale they do have a $600 limit per ticket)
- and finally, learn kung fu. I kid you not, you will be fending people off you and your stuff!!! Haha!!

Oh yeah. And after all this madness I still ended up going to Pacific Mall and Market Village to pick up my Shiseido stick foundation (it was not at the sale) and my Skin79 BB cream. I am prepped for summer :)

V.I.B. Sale 15% Off + Spring cleaning~

My friend and I went to check out the V.I.B. sale yesterday to check out the deals... She had perfect control and didn't make a rash purchase but.. yeah.. I splurged a bit... again... Though not without reason! I really need to find the perfect mascara so I got the Deluxe Mascara sampler set. Looking forward to finding my lashes and hopefully there is one that will work to not smudge badly and give me panda eyes.

Another thing I got from Sephora was the "shu uemura Eyelash Curler," my Clinique one is too old and had to retire. I am quite excited to use this because I heard so much good stuff about it, let's hope it lives up to expectation!

Lastly, I spent 500 beauty points for the Smashbox's Perfectly Polished Lid... :)

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I also decided to go through my makeup stash to see which products I have that haven't been touched in a long time and tossed them out... which included a few mascara as well as some eye cream + skin care... I know I really should be doing it regularly (clean up every 4-6 months) but we'll see...

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Update: Swatches for the Smashbox Eye Shadow Trio: Vanilla, Champagne, Brazilian Bronze

Thoughts: I originally left this at work for emergency use (therefore it was untouched)... but I didn't have time in the morning to put on makeup so I decided to try this out. It instantly brightened my eyes, and made me look more awake. I really like the way Champagne and Brazilian bronze showed up on my lids (even though I didn't prime it)... However, I am not as impressed with Vanilla because it didn't really show up... Overall, I think that this great for neutral looks and daily wear, I am glad to have tried it out! 07.08.11