My Randomness - HG products??

As I've stated previously, when it comes to makeup, I am one of those people with no brand loyalty. Reasoning behind this is because I feel that it is hard to name just one brand to be HG because I could always find something from a different brand that works better. So instead, I put together a list of product type and my current HG brand(s) specific to that product type. Read on if you're interested :)

Blush (powder): Illamasqua: their powder blushes are super pigmented and long lasting~ I feel they are well worth the money!
Brush: Real Technique // Sigma: love the brushes from these brands because they are of amazing quality and the price is decent~
Concealer: MAC (recently rediscovered the MAC prolongwear concealer and it's quite amazing)
Eyebrow: shu uemura, love the hard 9 formula! Although, it has a very limited colour range~
Eyeliner: still looking, the battle is currently between Koji's liquid eyeliner and shu uemura's gel eyeliner in pen form~~
Eyeshadow: Maybelline // Urban Decay (I'm thinking about specific palettes here)
Finishing powder: Hourglass, check out their Ambient lighting powder, please!
Foundation: Guerlain // Bourjois
Highlighter: The Balm
Lipgloss: Buxom // Tony Moly
Lipstick: Too Faced // Chanel
Lip Treatment: Vaseline // Laura Mercier
Makeup remover: Juju Cosmetics // shu uemura
Mascara: N/A, I'm still looking for the one...
Nail polish: Essie
Perfume: Jo Malone - HG because it makes customization so easy, and they have a wide range of scent to choose from~
Skin care: Simple // H2O
Tinted Moisturizer: The Balm Cosmetics

I am literally all over the place! It seems I got a lot of different brands covered and of course, I am constantly discovering new brands and products to add to my list. I would be happy if you share with me some of your HG brands and products , so that I may look them up and try for myself. Thanks for reading, and have a lovely evening!

Making a difference - Kiva

This has nothing to do with makeup, but I thought I'd include it here because it's something that I did recently that made me feel better about myself...

I joined the Kiva community in February earlier this year and made a small loan to help out a lady in Peru with her general store. I can't begin to tell you the satisfaction I get every time a repayment is made by my borrower. It's not that I care if I will get the money back (I think of it as a donation anyways), but the fact that she is able to repay means that she is doing good, and in some ways, indicates that her quality of life is getting better. I believed I helped someone and it makes me feel happy. For me, this is a better way to 'make' a donation, because it's great to be able to see the faces of people you help out and also, when they make the repayment you are able to re-lend that money out and help someone else.

If are interested you can use my reference below because this way you'd get a $25 free trial. There is more information about this on the website if you would like more about the organization, or the way the loan works~ 

http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/michelle5080

I encourage you to check it out!

Did you know?

Diamonds are not only gorgeous, shiny things you can wear, but it can also be used in cancer treatment.

I did not know that they had the potential to do good to one's health idea until I came across this article on my friend's blog. Her post on Real Research, Real Simple explained it quite well for me (since I don't understand some of the more complicated terms.)

Check out the article @ http://realresearchrealsimple.sunnybrook.ca/2012/06/diamonds-and-drugs-perfect-anti-cancer.html

And then there is Eggy, a simple decorative diamond... lols ^_^

7 Deadly Sins Beauty Tag

I stumbled upon this blog and thought it would be fun to do this tag and share it :) Enjoy~


1. Greed: What is your most inexpensive beauty product you love?
I love my ELF brushes, especially the eyeshadow brush, the powder brush and the kabuki brush.
What is your most expensive beauty product you love?
The most expensive beauty product that I am currently love is surprisingly a foundation (since I don't usually wear them), which is the Guerlain Lingerie de Peau. It looks lovely on the skin and smells divine!


2. Wrath: What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Concealer, ie Benefit's Erase Paste. I love it when it stays on as it helps conceal my blemishes but so far I've been having trouble with it staying put in concealing my dark eye circles... It migrates too easily even when I set it with loose powder -__-


3. Gluttony: What are your most delicious beauty products?
EOS lipbalms... unfortunately I can no longer use them :( Or... for scent, I find that Lancome's Rouge in Love smells delicious, like rocket pop!


4. Sloth: What beauty product do you neglect due to laziness?
TheBalm Mary Lou-Manizer. I love it, but if I felt lazy or was short in time, that would be the first thing I neglect.


5. Pride: What beauty product makes you feel confident?
Eyeliners. I have small eyes, so this helps give the illusion of bigger and more alert looking eyes. 


6. Lust: What traits do you find attractive in the opposite sex?
hmm... how is this beauty? I have to say that scent and sexy broad shoulders for physical aspect and sense of humour and love for food for personality. 


7. Envy:  What item would you most like to receive as a gift:
Naked 2 palette? Actually, some SkinFood or My beauty diary masks... Heard so much good stuff about them and have yet to try them out...  

Thanks for reading this far, and you have been tagged :)

Clean-up

I hate wasting things... but if it's expired or you think the product has gone bad... it's better to toss them out just in case... Here are some things that I may not want to get rid of but I must...

• Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara, Blinc, Lancome Hypnose + Cils Booster,  - expired... opened in June 2011
• ELF Mineral face primer - used a few times, thought it smelled weird and left my face feeling clogged up...
• Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator x 2- also used a few times since December 2009... Probably should have tossed it out earlier... did not like the finish of the product (too shiny)
• Skin79 Hot Pink BB cream - I love, love, loved this product... but my skin does not... The colour is right for my skin, and I don't need to apply powder as often as other foundations or BB cream. Sadly, my face breaks out pretty badly after several use... Although, I'm not sure if the product I bought was real or not... the consistency of the product is also very suspicious but everything seemed to match the site's...
• Mary Kay Satin Lips lip balm - had this product for way too long and don't think I should keep it since it's really quite old...
• Clinique Super Rescue night moisturizer - a sample I've had for almost 2 years... I thought it's time I toss it out... the consistency changed...

Are you doing a winter cleanup?

Funny event: Hair serum as face moisturizer

This past weekend, a bunch of friends and I went to shop in the states and I decided to pack LAST minute Friday after work... Due to multiple issues, I was rushed to pack my skincare routine so I packed a bunch of samples (it's the only time I get try out them out...) Later that night when it came moisturizing my face, I used what I thought was the "Caudalie" moisturizer and applied it on my face... it felt a little too thick as a moisturizer but I didn't question it until I had it covered my entire face... I started to get strange tingly feeling on my face... so I quickly grabbed the little bottle and it reads "Kératese." Crap!!! I used a hair serum thinking it was a moisturizer! I freaked out and began washing my face rigorously with my La Roche Posay Toleriane and a hot towel... my face by then was red and slightly swollen... it looked bad...

Here's a picture of my cheek and chin... RED! it looked worst in real life as the flash from the camera stripped the picture of its depth...

After, I washed my face a few more times and my friend let me used some of her products that night... I was afraid to sleep and wake up... but... I was fine the next morning... I'm not sure if it was all that washing or if it was the products my friend gave me, but whatever it was it worked... my face was almost normal...

That day... I was determined to get a moisturizer for my face (it isn't easy to find something that works for oily combination acne prone skin!) No luck with Lancome products at DFCC, because it was all sold out. No luck at the CCO, everything was too expensive even though they were on sale... I got desperate when I got to Wal-mart that night and got the Yes-to-Tomatoes Clear Skin Balancing Moisturizer... BIG mistake... (Em has better judgement than me...) I put this on at night and instantly my face turned red and slightly swollen... I gave it another try in the morning... same thing happened... only my face got extremely dry as well... needless to say, I returned it to Wal-mart... I think that I should really stick to what works for me... When I came back to T-dot... I used my reliable Génefique Youth Activating Concentrate for the entire face and the Kiehl's Cryste Marine Ultra Riche on areas that are dry... the results? Awesomeness :)

Lessons of the day?

Make sure you read the labels before using a product.

Fiancé on rare occasions may be right! 

Randomness from the month of September

Here's a bunch of random pictures I took last month that I didn't get to write a post about, but would still like to share, even though the month is over. Here we go!

These are the products that I brought to our mini Tobermory trip. I got to try the Mèreadesso Face + Neck Toning Gel that I got in my September Luxebox and I really liked it. There was enough product to last me 2 weeks! I love how it absorbs quickly, as well as saving time having only one application for two functions and my skin felt great. Also, as a bonus it did not grease up my face. I am currently contemplating forking out $120 for the 50mL bottle... Any thoughts??

oooh! I also started using my prescription med for my acne, and so far so good... :) it seems benzol peroxide works for me :)

eM's dad won this makeup gift basket at a school reunion dinner and he gave it to me :) It contains a bunch of Lancome goodies selected and sponsored by Marlene Lai :) such an awesome prize, I wuv it! It consisted of 2 full sized products (liner and mascara) and a lot of deluxe sample size items~

the kidz in a pink basket with lots of makeup

While I was on my Atlanta trip, I was introduced to the world of Pandora jewellery... and I purchased my first bracelet: 3 charms plus a safety chain~ I wanted a more neutral colour bracelet that I can wear on a daily basis. What do you think about my selection? What should be next? I find that the 3 charms move around a lot and I probably need clips, but... they are so big and bulky... 

Pandora bracelet

And for fun... this is a very special box given to me on September 17th :) I heart the bow~ haha...

Hello Kitty! - Swatches!!

I'm not normally a Hello Kitty fan, mostly because I prefer the rest of the Sanrio crew (Purin, Chococat, Pochacco and the list is endless...) but when I saw this on the Sephora website I just know that I really want it T^T

The Hello Kitty Graffiti Eyeshadow and Blush Palette has 4 eye shadows (shimmery gray, soft pink, grayish teal and charcoal) and 2 powder blushes (bronzy peach and dusty pink.) The colours are less adventurous in comparison to what the outside looks like, but I think are pretty wearable colours. The packaging on the other hand looks so cute, yet daring and colourful (which I <3)! Need I mention that it is a 'Sephora' exclusive, limited edition?? My # 1 weakness!!

Now I just need to go to Sephora to see how pigmented they are...I might have to wait for my trip to Atlanta next month to get this :)

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I had to check it out at Sephora today... my first impression when I saw it was realizing how big the palette was, almost the size of my palm. It was chunky!! anyways, here are some swatches of the eyeshadows for this palette :)

with flash

without flash

What do you think? Should I still get it? 27.07.11

Rant: USD vs CAD

This is a partial list of the dmg I'm looking forward to... I can't believe with the Canadian dollar so high we still manage to pay so much more!! The total listed below does not even include duties + HST that we have to pay... 

Still, I'm excitedly awaiting my order! So spoiled ^_^

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This order took 2 weeks to get here... et voilà!

Here's the samples...

and the order... :)

Cannot wait to try them out!

Makeup expiration dates

I got curious about makeup expiration dates after getting a few styes on the same eye for the past few months...

Here are my results after I did some intense (15 minutes) research online:

Brushes: must be washed weekly with a mild detergent

Concealer: 12 to 18 months

Cream & gel cleansers: 1 year

Eyeshadow: up to 3 years

Foundation: a water-based foundation will last up to 12 months, oil-based will last up to 12 to 18 months, cream or compact foundation up to 18 months

Fragrance: 2 to 5 years

Lip gloss: 18 to 24 months

Lip liner: Up to 3 years

Lipstick: Some experts say 1 to 2 years, others say up to 4 years or until it smells bad... 

Liquid eye liner: 3 to 6 months

Mascara: 3 to 4 months

Nail Polish: up to 12 months

Pencil eye liner: up to 3 years

Powder: 2 years

Sponges: washed weekly and discard monthly

I guess this is the general guideline I'd be keeping in mind on when products need to be tossed out...

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Update: I found this informative site that can help calculate the date your products was manufactured and therefore find out when your products are due to expire... Check it out :) http://checkcosmetic.net/

07.12.11