Manicure Monday: Harem by Illamasqua One Week Update

Hey, hey, heeeeeeey you lovely gals (and guys). :) What a lovely way to start off the week, with rain, lots and lots of rain all day. I love it so much! Downside to all this rain is I am way too lazy to get out of the house. It's okay, I'm good at improvisation, I have plenty of ish to do staying in as well. So that was pretty much my day, stayed in, sipping on hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows, can't forget the marshmallows. :P Heehee. Uhhh... what now? Oh yeah, not all about sipping hot cocoa, I did work too, boring stuff. Mehh, like cleaned my brushes, dusted, cleaned and reorganized the makeup room. I also cleaned out my makeup, threw out the old ones and wiped down the ones I kept. Overall, it was a very productive day. I am kinda hoping it'll rain again tomorrow so I can have a reason to stay in to finish up, but let there be sun on Wednesday so I can head out for errands.

Anyways, new week usually means new manicure, however, I'm sure y'all read that biggo title up there stating that this is an update post. Haha. So yes, I am reporting back here with one week nails, using Illamasqua Nail Varnish.

Remember my manicure from last week? No? Not a problem, lemme help you out.

But aren't you curious as to how one week nails without a top coat would look like?

BH Cosmetics 10 Color Palette: Foundation/Concealer & Blush

Why hello, hello there my dear lovely readers. I hope you're all doing well today. Just one more day until the weekend guys, just ONE. More. Day. :D

Today, I bring y'all another mini-mini haul, some BH Cosmetics, a couple products I picked up from Hautelook some weeks ago. It actually arrived last Friday but I didn't get around to opening it until today. I have been trying to get my hands on these two items for as long as I can remember. They're both the 10 color palette, the first being the Professional Blush and the second being the Foundation & Concealer.

Even with constant sales and clearances going on on the BH Cosmetic sites, the events on Hautelook tends to be cheaper so I always look forward to the events to stock up. Unfortunately, I was always too late to pick these two palettes up as they are clearly very popular. I was able to snag the Foundation & Concealer Palette for $12 and the Blush for $7.50. Although BH Cosmetics aren't top of the line, they are still able to get the job done. You get what you pay for, but with BH Cosmetics, you get what you pay for, plus more.

I love palettes with large varieties like this because it is so convenient to travel with. I don't even need to pack a bunch of individual blushes because all I need is to throw this into my case and I am good to go. The case quality from BH isn't bad either. I won't need to worry about the case breaking off and the products getting everywhere. BH Cosmetics products are pretty reliable when it comes to being travel friendly. I plan on going on a one week cruise sometime next year and I am thinking about bringing this blush palette along with my the Balm How About Them Apples? cream palette. Two palettes that wouldn't take up much room and I'll have all the shade ranges and finishes I need.

Check out the two palettes below. :P

First off, the Professional Blush Palette. As previously mentioned, the palette includes 10 shades that ranges from neutral to vibrant, matte to shimmer. These blushes are in powder form so don't be confused that it might be a cream even though it comes in a palette as such.

As you can see, the 10 shades are dramatically different in ranges. Top left and top right can be worn as a bronzer for me because I have fair skin but for anyone with darker skin, I think it would look gorgeous as a blush. In contrast, the second shade from top left is so light, I might be able to use it as a highlight instead.

My automatic favorites has to be the top row, third one over and bottom row, first and fourth ones. I just absolutely love pink blushes, they're just so natural and cute. But of course, the corals and oranges are beautiful as well, perfect the heated Summer that is to come.

I will not swatch them yet because with 10 shades, I don't even know if I have enough room on my arms to swatch, but I will swatch as I use them for y'all.

And second, the Foundation & Concealer Palette. Like the Professional Blush Palette, this palette also consists of 10 colors. The shades ranges from the fairest to the darkest with both warm and cool undertones. Unlike the Blush Palette, this palette are cream products.

The beauty of a concealer palette with variety is that you can mix and blend the shades to create new ones. If these concealers are anything I've tried from BH before, they should be buildable, so you can build up the coverage to your desire.

I have always been on the lookout for a good cream highlight and bronzer. I wanted to try out that sculpted look that's been ever so popular nowadays but I didn't have any cream bronzer and highlight. This was the main reason why I had picked up this palette in the first place. I can use that ghostly fair shade up top as a highlight and the darker shades on the bottom as bronzer to sculpt my nose and cheekbones. Even if I wasn't going for that Kim K look, I still need a good cream product to contour my nose. I have been using only a powder, and yeah, it's working but by midday, the oil from my skin will kinda wash the powder away and I'll have to reapply. Hopefully with a cream base, I can eliminate that issue.

Another pro for having a concealer palette is the handiness when it comes to skin color changes from the seasons. Although I cannot tan for the life of me, even though I live in AZ; I'm the type that just turns lobster red, peel, and goes back to being fair as dough. I do however, get SOME color in the Summer months because during the Winter months, I do notice a change in color as I return to being super pale again. With that said, I do need a large range of concealers and foundations to match my ever changing skin. With a palette now, I can just mix and blend to my desire.

Again, I will not swatch these just yet. I will swatch them as I use them. If you're interested, please follow me on Instagram as I will most likely post the swatches and impression on there.

Thank you for dropping by to visit and thanks for reading. Y'all enjoy your night now. Please come back soon. :)

**All pics on today's blog are unfiltered to show the original shade and intensity**

Throwback Thursday: Hauls & Mini-Hauls

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Em kinh chuc cac ban mot nam moi nhieu hanh phuc, tai loc va suc khoe. I wish all of my lovely readers a happy new year with much prosperity, health, joy and may luck be on your side this year of the goat/sheep/ram. :D

I am currently working on the Spring/Summer 2015 Beauty Trends, which will be up very soon, maybe as soon as sometime next week.. So please anticipate that.

In the mean time, I prepared this Throwback Thursday post for ya'll. I see that most of my popular posts are those of hauls. So here for your convenience, are all of the the haul posts I ever posted here in one place.

the Balm

BH Cosmetics

e.l.f.

City Color

the Balm - Hautelook Event

Hello Tuesday my lovely readers!! Monday came and go and here we are, Tuesday again, a day closer to the Lunar New Year. Tomorrow will be New Year's Eve and the Mother took a day off to help me prepare... Not entirely sure if I should be grateful or cry. LOL. As the new year nears, everyone is trying to get their share of things done so everyone is on edge and just so... It takes efforts, lots of it to be nice. :P

I apologize for not being as active the last couple of days. Lunar New Year's week is by far the busiest holiday for us. Yes, Thanksgiving and Christmas is time consuming as well but the times reserved for Lunar New Years is just ridiculous. I will be "back" by Friday, hopefully. By then, it will be day 2 of the new years and by traditional superstitions, we are not to "clean" or "work", just "play" and relax for those three days. So yeah, by Friday I should be back; hopefully with an iPsy post because my bag came home today.

Anyways though, for today, I wanted to share with y'all a couple of things I picked up from the the Balm event on Hautelook not too long ago. And by a couple, I mean only three.

Check them out below. :)

Combined Haul - Hautelook Orders: NYX, the Balm, Sephora by OPI, Pixi, Pop Beauty

Wednesday greetings everyone! Hope you're all having a fantastic Hump Day. :P D-2 until Halloween, who else is excited?!

So it's been a while, but I have somewhat managed my "see everything, buy everything" or the "I want I get" syndrome. LOL. I emphasize on the somewhat part because being a makeup-aholic like myself, how am I to completely shut myself off from buying more makeup? The products I will mention today are all Hautelook orders I have made within this past month. I pick up a few things here and there and figured it'll be a waste of a post entry so might as well wait until everything arrived and do a combined haul. So this is what today's post is all about, a combined haul of Hautelook orders.

Let's start off with my first order from NYX Cosmetics, I picked up two eyeshadow collections.

NYX

– Love in Florence 5 Color Shadow Palette in Eat, Love, Be Fab (LIF02)
+  Glam Shadow Stick in Rose Gold
– Love in Rio 3 Color Shadow Palette in Sway With Lola (LIR13)
+ Jumbo Eye Pencil in Oyster
+ Jumbo Eye Pencil in Pacific

The first eyeshadow palette I got is from the Love in Florence collection. It came with a 5 shadow palette and a shadow stick. As you can probably see, the palette is very Earthy, with neutral colors; even the salmony pink and green seems to give off that Earthy vibe. The shadow stick is called Rose Gold so you can already guess it's a rose gold-ish shade. Haha.

The second palette is from the Love in Rio collection. This palette came with 3 shadows and two Jumbo Eye Pencils. The three shades include a baby pink, baby blue and very beige; as for the eye pencils, one is a pearly lilac while the other is a pearly sea blue.

Both palette, I feel, is perfect for Spring, the pastel, neutral Earthly colors. Don't y'all think so?

Next batch of order is from the Balm, a brand that's recently become a fast favorite.

the Balm

– Instain Long Wearing Staining Powder Blush in Argyle
– How 'Bout Them Apples? Cheek & Lip Cream Palette
– Mary-Lou Manizer
– Stainiac in Beauty Queen

I might be the last person to jump onto this band wagon but I finally got my first ever Instain blush! Out of the... five or six shades available, I picked up Argyle, a dusty rose pink shade. If I end up liking this Instain formula, I might purchase the other shades. I do have the rest of the Balm's blushes like Hot Mama and Down Boy and I do love those a bunches.

As soon as I saw this cream palette, I knew I just HAD to get it. In face, it was the first item I added to my cart. The packaging is super cute, the shades looked amazing and since Winter is just around the corner, I thought it was appropriate to stock up on cream blushes. Yeah, during the Winter, I tend to use cream blushes because it looks more natural, as if you're really blushing from the cold.

I loved Cindy-Lou Manizer so much I had to pick up Mary-Lou. While both are highlighters, Cindy-Lou is more pinkish while Mary-Lou is more yellow. I've realized that I have been reaching for Mary-Lou more often now because it not only complements my skin tone more, it complements my the blushes I use as well.

Y'all know how much I already love this lip stain. It isn't as long lasting as Benefits or my Peri Pera but it does do a fine job of staining if I do not eat or drink. Unlike Benefit where the tint is water based, Stainiac is a gel and you apply it with a doe foot applicator. It does not leave a tackiness feel or does it have a smell that's bothersome. Love it so much I bought 3 more for back up...

Next up, more Sephora by OPI Nail Colors... :D This time, Fall and Winter shades.

TOP - Left to Right: Dance Til Fawn, Fiercely Fabulous, Good Thing We Bling!, Hi Def, It's Bouquet With Me, Keep Me In The Mistletoes
BOTTOM - Left to Right: Leaf Him At The Altar, Metro Chic, Mr. Right Now, Set The Mood, What's Your Sign?

Sephora by OPI

Nail Colors in
- Dance Til Fawn
- Fiercely Fabulous
- Good Thing We Bling!
- Hi Def
- It's Bouquet With Me
- Keep Me In The Mistletoes
- Leaf Him At The Altar
- Metro Chic
- Mr. Right Now
- Set The Mood
- What's Your Sign?

Love these nail colors oh so much that I had to pick up 11 more shades. I actually picked up 12 initially but one shade became out of stock so I ended up with 11. Of the 11 I did pick up, 9 are stand alone nail colors, while two are more of a top coat or for accents because they are composed of large glitter particles. 

Good Thing We Bling! is super perfect for the holiday season, I mean it has large red and green glitter specks and gold micro shimmers. Very, very beautiful.

I did use Metro Chic and Leaf Him At The Altar already. Check 'em out if you're interested. :P

 

 

As a matter of fact, I actually used another one of the nail color from above in my Halloween Spooks manicure this week. That bright orange I used for the Jack-O'-Lantern, is no other than Hi Def, that in your face orange on the top, third one from the right.

Last but not least, my Pixi and POP Beauty order that consists of three, but now two items. 

Pixi & Pop Beauty

– Pixi Nail Color in Lime Lustre
– Pop Beauty Nail Glam Nail Polish in Pink Popsicle

I actually ordered two POP Beauty nail colors but Hautelook messed up my order and sent me only one but charged me for two. I already sent them an email so hopefully we'll get it sorted out. But doesn't the pink look super gorgeous?! 

If y'all remember, I was raving about Lime Lustre a while ago. Unfortunately, I was only able to use that once before I regrettably broke the bottle and all was gone. I loved the shade so much that when I saw Pixi was featured on Hautelook and Lime Lustre was one of the nail colors, I had to repurchase it. 

That concludes this combined haul from Hautelook. Is there anything specific y'all want to see? Let me know! You all enjoy the rest of your night now. 

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please do come back soon! :)

Throwback Thursday: Hauls & Mini-Hauls

Happy Thursday everyone! For some, just one more day until the weekend and for others, tomorrow IS weekend!

I am currently working on the Fall/Winter 2014 Beauty Trends, which will be up tomorrow or Saturday. So please anticipate that.

In the mean time, I prepared this Throwback Thursday post for ya'll. I see that most of my popular posts are those of hauls. So here for your convenience, are all of the the haul posts I ever posted here in one place.

the Balm

BH Cosmetics

e.l.f.

City Color

Unexpected Mini-Haul: Target & WalmartMini-Haul: Ulta & WalgreensMini-Hail: Ulta & WalmartMini-Haul: Sally, Ulta & WalmartK-MartUnexpected HaulMini Walgreens HaulMini-Mini Haul: Target & UltaMini-Haul: K-Mart & Target
Sephora by OPI Mini-Haul - Hautelook Order

Hope you'll check the hauls above out. Enjoy your Thursday now.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon! :)

Sephora by OPI Mini-Haul - Hautelook Order

Hi everyone! How has your Tuesday been?

I think I figured out why I was so sluggish yesterday. Uncle TOM and Aunt DOTTY came to visit! I usually don't get cramps, not one bit, not at all. They just come and go within a week. But this time, I've been cramping all morning and it's barely day one. I think I'm gonna cry... Needless to say, I'm not having a less than pleasant day.

So a couple of weeks ago, Sephora by OPI was featured on Hautelook again, I could not raesist and placed another order. This time, I bought twelve, but only eleven has arrived safely. I'm not quite sure what happened to the last one, but I'll wait a couple more days until I contact them.

I don't remember how much these are originally priced at, but I got all of these for $3 each. It's still a little pricey for nail colors but I guess I shouldn't complain since they are high end and the quality is amazing!

TOP (left to right): Casting Call, Domestic Goddess, Iris I Was Thinner, Just A Little Dangerous, On Stage, What A BroadBOTTOM (left to right): Cover Me In Petals, Go With The Flow-er, How Cute Is That?, IM Beauty, Three Way Mirror

As you can probably see, I got mostly shades of purple. I think purple compliments my skin tone well and they're quite a sight to see when applied. As much as I adore the purple shades, I couldn't resist the brights. So yesterday, I did my manicure in those brights you see there which I ended up calling Fiery Passion.

These Sephora by OPIs can and will last up to a week even without a top coat. I have tried it before and it has not let me down anytime. The application makes me not dread doing my nails as it was very quick and effortless.

If you're interested in picking these up, they're usually up on Hautelook on Mondays for their #ManiMonday event. If you do decide to give these a try, I recommend getting their creme formulas, one coat and you're good to go.

Alright, hope ya'll enjoyed checking out those beauties. I am off to go walk off my cramp. It hurts so much.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Come back soon! :)

_____________________________

SONG OF THE DAY

INFINITE IS BACK! And Sunggyu is killing me a little more each time I re-watch this MV... Why is he so sexy?

JYJ coming back?! Uh, yes please!!! Junsu's voice is to die for. Oh my gosh, this is gonna be one epic comeback. Counting the days until they drop their album and MV. Seven...and waiting.

the Balm Haul - Hautelook Order

Hello weekend everyone! How are you guys? I am enjoying one relaxing Saturday. Not really doing much, just cleaning and derping around. I don't know about you guys, but I do enjoy cleaning the house; just blast the music and I can go all day. I stopped for a bit for lunch but before I dive back to cleaning, I should take a moment to do a blog.

Its been a while since I did one of these post, but here it is, another Haul post. I am super excited because this is actually my first the Balm purchases ever! Although I already own one or two the Balm products, they're either from my iPsy bag or was a gift. I was lucky enough to have caught the Balm featured on Hautelook and I just had to place an order. I didn't pick up everything that I wanted, had to stop myself and only got what I really, really wanted.

EYESHADOW
Nude'tude
Overshadow Shimmering All-Mineral Eyeshadow in No Money, No Honey

LIPS
Stainiac in Beauty Queen

HIGHLIGHTER
Cindy-Lou Manizer

BLUSH
Cabana Boy
Down Boy
Frat Boy
Hot Mama

I know I am super, duper late but I finally got my hands on these blushes. I have heard soooo many rants and raves and reviews about these things and I was just dying to get them..FINALLY though. These shades look super gorgeous and I definitely cannot wait to use them. These arrived sometime last week and as you may know, I have stayed away from makeup this past week in order to better my skin. As soon as I start wearing makeup again, these will be my go-tos. They look so beautiful, I can't get my eyes off of them. Since I have yet to try these, I cannot tell you how they are as of yet, I do plan on doing an update post after I have used them enough. If you're interested, please look forward to an update post in the near future.

I am a lip junkie, I love lip products and lip stains are one of the many obsessions I have. I could not pass up this stain and glad that I didn't. I did give this Stainiac a try on Wednesday so I can give you some input about this stain. This particular shade is called Beauty Queen, it's a reddish-berry-y-pink shade. Unlike Benefit Benetint, Beauty Queen is a gel stain and the applicator is a sponge-tip, not a brush. There is no smell to it, at least, none that I can smell and there isn't a weird taste when applied either. That alone is 10 points for me. As for the formula, I do wish that is was more hydrating and less dry and sticky. Within a minute after applying, so basically when it dries, it becomes a bit sticky. It's not super glue sticky, just melted sugar sticky if you know what I mean. Nothing too hard to fix, I applied Baby Lips or Butter Gloss over it and everything is peachy. Staying power wise, I give it an 8 or 8.5. It did not last me all night, through eating and drinking but it did stain my lips pretty well and the stain did withstand me eating an drinking. I really like this and hope that the Balm will come out with more shades like baby pink, lilac and/or coral.

Besides the Balm blushes, the other product I keep hearing good things about from everyone are their highlighters. While everyone raves about Mary-Lou, I personally prefer Cindy-Lou. Mary-Lou it seemed, is more of a gold base while I prefer a pinkish tone instead, which is what Cindy-Lou is. Like the blush, I have yet to use this but I'm itching to. I bet it'll look so gorgeous, shimmering and radiating. I wonder if this can take over as being my ultimate favorite highlighter, which is currently Hard Candy Baked Bronzer in Tiki.

Down to the eyeshadows, one palette and one single. Ever since I heard about this palette loooong ago, I have set my eyes on it. But I hesitate to purchase a palette that I don't really need for $36. Luckily, these were prices at $18 and it was the first item to be in my cart. For half the price? Hecks yeah! I did play around with some shades from the palette, ugh, so beautiful. The quality is comparable to Too Faced or Urban Decay. Loooove and glad I waited. The last item and other shadow I picked up is called Overshadow Shimmering All-Mineral Eyeshadow in No Money, No Honey. Hahaha, love the Balm's clever names. It is said that this shadow is used over other eyeshadows for a shimmery glow. I might use this as instructed and as the sole eyeshadow to see how it shows up. No Money, No Honey is a shimmering gold, which is one of my favorite shades for the eyes. After I placed my order, I hopped on over to the Balm's site and I saw a shade called Work Is Overrated, a shimmering pink champagne, which I adore witj all of my heart. Unfortunately, Hautelook did not feature this shade, but if I end up loving No Money, No Honey so much, I might just buy Work Is Overrated.

Annnd that's all folks. I will most like do an update post regarding these products, whenever I get to them. Please look forward to it. Hope ya'll enjoyed this haul post. Back to cleaning I go.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Come back soon! :)

___________________

SONG OF THE DAY/MOMENT
"The Story Of Our Lives" - god Ft. Megan Lee

This MV got me into tears... You do not need to understand Korean to understand the story. Sigh... Family is the best. <3

_______________________

JAPANESE DRAMA
Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo Season 2

 

I am BEYOND ecstatic to hear news of a second season. I LOVED this new Japanese adaptation so much, I was sad to see it finish. But...but now there's a season two? Tears.

Damaged Hautelook Order = Disappointment

Hi guys! Hope all is well for you. From the title of the post, you can probably guess what this is about...

I placed an order on Hautelook for Sugar Cosmetics a few weeks ago and the order finally arrived yesterday. I was super excited and anxiously waiting for the package to arrive but to my utter dismay yesterday upon opening it.... I almost cried.

Instead of a nice clean box with the intact and wholesome products... I opened into a huge mess of dried out blue glitter chunks ALL over the place. It was all over the box, the order paper, my other products. It was evident that a nail polish bottle broke but I was wondering why. Upon further inspection, I realized that they had packed my seven bottles of nail polish, which may I add that are extremely fragile and a couple more things with just two air bags. I always hated those air bags, I prefer the classic bubble wrap over that any day because guess what? Those two air bags were deflated and those bottles were banging up against each other.

NEVER use these to pack TINY or GLASS things like NAIL POLISH BOTTLES

The mess was caused by a nail polish bottle that broke from the neck. The blue glitter polish that was supposed to be in the bottle is now coating the box and the products. Besides that broken bottle, several others of the bottles had cracks in them, so
if it had not arrived yesterday, I think they would have also broken off. It's not a big crack, but there's still a crack so air was let in so now the polish is chunky and gloopy. I don't think even nail polish thinner can even save that. There went the other four of the remaining six. The two that are left, I cannot even open without probably breaking the bottles. The dried up glitter polish got into the crevasse and basically super glued it shut. I don't know if I should risk shreds of glass on my hands attempting to open that.

Besides the nail polishes, I also ordered a Lip Scrub. The scrub is in a little jar container with a plastic twisty lid... Yeah... you know where this is heading. The side of the lid broke off so the oil in the scrub was seeping out. It wasn't that bad because it didn't get on anything else besides the jar. The scrub is now completely dried up. I guess I can still use it because it doesn't smell or look funny.

Last but not least, in that unfortunate order were three Shadow Stick. These I can definitely still use because they're in individual packaging so only the package was damaged. One stick though, the cap had a minor crack, but that's it nothing major.

I shot an email to Hautelook Customer Service right away and they got back to me within an hour. The agent fully refunded me and apologized.  Honestly, no apologies were necessary because I know no one wanted this to happen. But it was nice to get refunded the full amount I paid. This will not stop me from future purchases from Hautelook, because as we speak, I just placed another order. Haha. Lesson not learned. It's just a shame cause I was really looking forward to try those nail polish. They look so pretty. I guess I'll have to wait until Sugar is featured on Hautelook again.

Just for fun, the cosmetic brand I ordered is called Sugar, I believe they're available at Kohl's if anywhere. The seven polishes I ordered were: Sugar Rush, Sugar Crystals, Sprinkles On Top, Mint Chocolate Chip, I Want S'more, Cookies N Cream and Cake Topping.

what they're SUPPOSED to look like

The Sugar-Licious Sugar Lip Scrub. This smells so delicious.

And the Sugarstick Cream Shadow Stick.

Thank you for joining me for another post, albeit today is more of a frustrated rant. Please come again soon. Thank you visiting and thanks a bunch for reading. :)