Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Great Shelf Project
I've been wanting to get a shelf of sorts to store my little make-up collection that just keeps growing and growing, but somehow never end up used at all - aside from mere swipes on my hands/face to test it (i decided not to mask the awesomeness within).
My room is a complete mess and I think the reason I hardly use any of the stuff I buy is because most of the time, I cant find them. I have the attention span of a mosquito and if I cant find what I want to use within 30 seconds, life goes on.
So I popped over to Jusco, which was a horrible disappointment because everything cost a grand total of RM30 and above. I'm not going to pay so much for a shelf to keep my lipsticks in. If it collapses halfway, cellophane tape can be had for RM3.90.
I thought shelf-salvation would rain down upon me in IKEA, the grand dame of all things colourful and plastic, but it was not to be! IKEA being well, IKEA, all their storage spaces were meant to maximise space and consisted almost entirely of a huge assortment of boxes, in varying degrees of pretty, designed for stacking.
Boxes which were.. So tempting. Paper.. Cardboard.. Felt.. Embossed cloth ones.. Red faux leather.. Zebra-print..
But willpower prevailed! Stupid IKEA. Getting my hopes up to find the perfect home accessory and instead, making me walk out empty-handed without any purchase to validate my parking ticket for free parking. I need mini drawers IKEA, not Lego blocks disguised as storage boxes TQVM.
Who knew that the little gem I was looking for would be in the last place make-up would dare show its cakey little face - ACE Hardware Store, Ikano.
Behold!
9 mini-drawers ready to be filled with.. Awesomeness!!
A flat top-shelf bit just waiting to be weighed down with.. Awesomeness!
I decided to do a little bit of DIY myself. Y'know, get my hands dirty and work for my craft.
I lovingly lined the inside of all 9 mini drawers with tissue. Because make-up can be a very messy business indeed.
Whew, that totally tired me out. I'd make an awesome Stepford wife.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Beep Beep Boop Beep
I am morphing into a robot.
Surviving only on siew pau, dwindling bank accounts, egg tarts and Cooking Mama 2.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wasted weekends...
... equal cranky weekdays.
Sigh I dont know why, but I always feel that my weekends should be full up doing something - anything! If the weekend is not spent out somewhere, I get restless, cranky and lament about what a wasted 48-hours its been.
Yumcha session? Jom! Bazaar? Must go! More than one bazaar? Go for all (luckily there are 3 bazaars this weekend)! No money? Window shopping!
I think its because I spend 5 whole weekdays with my butt planted in a chair, I'd rather make the best of the 2 weekend days by sitting down as little as possible and moving it around somewhere else - much to the dismay of the one who is always the innocent victim of my "itchy backside syndrome" =P
So, weekend plans anyone?
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
Reviewing NYX
Buying make-up online might be a pretty scary step to take. Afterall, I'm pretty deep in the school of thought that if I can't touch/test/sample it, I'm not buying it. Especially things like lipstick and foundation where buying the wrong colour can prove to be pretty disappointing (emotionally and financially).
Then I started reading some beauty blogs and all their make-up reviews on loads of international make-up brands really got to me and I was really tempted to try some of them out! Most of them either bought it online or have friends (really nice friends) who send them swag from overseas.
I decided to go the online route and ordered some make-up from a US brand called NYX. Its a pretty cheap make-up range, which did make me kinda apprehensive at first because I'll be putting this stuff on my face and I dont want my face to morph into something else the next day. But thank goodness for Google and tons of make-up reviews by bloggers!! =D
(details on how I ordered it at the end of the post)
So here goes my little review on the NYX make-up range I bought!
Item 1: NYX Mosaic Powder in Highlight (USD6.50 after discount)
"NYX Mosaic Powder is a fusion of five luminous shades in one. NYX Mosaic Powder blends together to match your skin type for the perfect shimmer and glow!"
As per its name, the NYX Mosaic Powder is a palette of 5 shades in various hues in 1 compact. The entire range has blusher and bronzer shades, and only 1 was a mosaic for highlighting. Decided to play it safe and buy that one since I already have 2 blushers that are barely even half-used.
"Highlighter" came in a mosaic of light pink, lilac, pale yellow, white and light brown.
Packaging wise, it came in a simple round, black, plastic casing (no mirror) and doesnt look too tacky. Generally, some make-up bases come in different colours like green to minimise redness, lilac to brighten up dull skin, etc. So "Highlight" is a combination of those and I think its purpose is just to even out your skin a little bit overall.
I swirled a big powder brush (dont know why I have one lying around) in it and brushed it over my face after I'd finished putting foundation on. Well, it does give a pretty decent glow (shimmer), but not too much until you look like a disco ball glittering. The effect isnt too obvious and I wasnt hoping for any complexion miracles from it (so cheap mah), so not too bad. I'd say good to highlight places like cheekbones, nose bridge, etc. Might buy a blusher next. No colour swatch of this because you wont be able to tell anyway.
Ingredients, for those who care to look.
Next up, lip stuff! The world according to me (haha) is divided into 2: lipstick and lipgloss people. I'm in Camp Lipstick. I used to do lipgloss, but my hair kept getting stuck on my lips whenever a gust of wind came and annoyed me to no end. Its no fun having to pull sticky hair away from my lips and it just feels really uncomfortable.
I love lipstick! I have about 5 lipsticks (not a very big collection la. amateur only) which I rotate depending on my mood/outfit, and I'm always looking out for more shades. Now I cant leave the house without any lipstick on because seriously, I look pretty corpse-like without it. I'm a true believer that lipstick alone really can make you look fresher and alive =P
Item 2: NYX Round Lipstick in Rose and Indian Pink (USD1.95 each after discount)
"NYX Round Lipstick is smooth and moisture with every application! This is a velvet-textured lip cream that covers the lips with rich color that smoothes and moistures lips with each application. NYX Round Lipstick is NYX's best selling lipstick."
I'm abit upset at myself because the colours I picked for the NYX Round Lipsticks arent exactly what I was looking for (thankfully not a very expensive mistake). That's one downside to shopping for lipsticks online. Try choosing a shade you think will be perfect for you from NYX and tell me how you do - they have over 100 colours to choose from! Its madness!
Rose is a rather solid pink colour and looks all too similar to a lipstick shade I already own, so I dont see myself using it much. Indian Pink is a light peach colour which is a shade too pale for me. Probably best paired if I'm using heavy eyeliner or something. Its also abit frosted when it goes on my lips, which I'm not a fan of.
Both lipsticks go on pretty easy (i use lipbalm before lipstick anyway) and although they're not long-lasting, they do a pretty decent job. Kinda easy to remove too. Quite moisturising, unlike the cheaper no-brand lipsticks we can find at Guardian/Watsons, with a small hint of glitter/shine.
Item 3: NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in Plush Red (USD3 after discount)
"What's better than a lip liner and lipstick in one? Jumbo Lip Pencil provides precise lip lining while filling your lips with smooth, creamy, moisturizing color."
As for the NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in Plush Red, I love it! I've always wanted to have at least one mega-red lip colour for the heck of it and this lip pencil is great! Its a fiery red that's not too bright and goes on like a dream! Its got a pretty creamy texture, which surprised me because its in a pencil form and went on nice, smooth and thick. No need to colour over my lips in repeated swipes. Texture might be abit too creamy for some, but I'm fine with it. Pencil tip is kinda fat, so gotta be pretty careful when applying it.
Looks good freshly applied, looks even better after blotting with tissue for a matte look. Definitely gonna get more of this in other shades. I dread having to sharpen it though. Have not done the time-test on it yet to see how long it can last, but removing with just a tissue wasnt easy (good!).
The NYX Round Lipsticks came in a decent black casing with a transparent plastic bit at the bottom which shows a pretty precise representation of the lipstick colour.
Edit: Beatrice (of Beetrice's Reviews) told me that the transparent plastic base at the bottom of the NYX Round Lipsticks contains actual lipstick! So that explains the precise colour. Shall find a way to prise it open and see whether can use or not.
Colour swatches on my sad hand! L-R: Rose, Indian Pink, Plush Red.
Ok, on to the good news on how to buy NYX (or any other international make-up brand) that's not found in Malaysia! I was reading the Skin Deco blog and she posted about how she ordered make-up online via this thread on Lowyat.NET called "sgDrugstore" (click here) which made the ordering process really simple! Just read through the step-by-step instructions. Its not rocket science.
All you have to do is check which online shopping spree is currently open, browse through those websites, take down the links of the products you want, post it up there and a nice guy named Ryan will quote you the price in RM inclusive of shipping costs/taxes and postage (depending on which type you choose). He orders alot in 1 go, so he usually manages to get free shipping/discounts. Definitely much cheaper than buying it alone. Plus, I dont have a credit card, so he makes it much easier with local online bank transfers and all.
I was a little apprehensive at first, but a quick read through the thread shows alot of satisfied customers and Ryan is pretty efficient and very patient with the tons of girls and their questions/requests. Now you can order stuff from brands like Urban Decay, MAC, Cover Girl, Benefit, Stage and all those other brands you read in magazines, no problem (not just make-up. hair, body, facial products too)! Delivery depends on how fast you order and how long he keeps the spree open. Mine took about a month to arrive, but sometimes it can come in a few weeks.
I got my NYX swag from this website called Cherry Culture, but he's closed the spree for that so I'm gonna wait till its open again (he only opens sprees if there's a discount going on at the website) and order more!
Brownie points for sgDrugstore because my package came in an envelope that was completely double-sealed with cellophane tape around the edges of the entire envelope (to avoid those pesky post people from ripping it open) and my make-up was in a ziplock sandwich bag tightly packed in a layer of bubble-wrap. It was so difficult to open, I had to use a scissors and slice through everything (THIS.. IS.. SPARTAAAAAA!!). So yea, he does put alot of effort to make sure that your swag doesnt get damaged/stolen.
Man, this make-up review thing is kinda fun. And I'm addicted to looking at tons of potential make-up buys online.
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