I never do you any good...

Multiple Mascara Madness - ModelCo FiberLash & Imju Fiberwig

2011-01-27T08:35:00.000+11:00

Ok, I gave in and bought ModelCo's FiberLash.I had been putting it off as at $48AU, it's more expensive than I can get DiorShow for :/ but I'd had the lovely sales assistants trial it on me twice and it looked insane, especially when my lashes were really long from using Lilash. In the pack you also get a full tube of "extension" mascara as well as a tube of the little fibres and as I knew that the fibres won't "go off" like normal mascara does, I thought of it as an investment.

So what's FiberLash? The premise of FiberLash is that you swipe on a coat of mascara, then you swipe on tiny little fibres that physically lengthen your lashes (they adhere to the wet mascara base), and then you layer over another coat of mascara to finish.

Now I haven't even used the mascara that's included with this set, because I had a plan! The first time a sales assistant tried this on me, I thought.. "Hmm... I wonder what would happen if I used with with my Imju Fiberwig mascara??". Soooo... Here are the results!

Can you guess which side had nothing and which side has the frankenstein mascara?

I have to say, this is my new HG. All I need is to get some more DiorShow (my old one has dried up) and try that as the base, then put the fibers on and then finish with the FiberWig - then they'll be thick AND incredibly long!

What do you think? Have you ever mixed and matched makeup and had a really good result??

More wedding related blather

2011-01-26T19:33:00.000+11:00

I have been very naughty and haven't had the time to post.

I have been busy planning our wedding as we finally found a suitable venue (not Boronia House - they never even called me after that disaster of a night). We had our tasting last weekend with H and H Catering in Avoca and they were awesome. Very fresh, succulent food and very reasonably priced and they'll come to our venue and we can provide our own booze.

I've also found an excellent dressmaker who will make me my dream dress - a violet fishtail gown :D

Now it's a matter of finalising the other major details.... Furniture hire for our venue, photography, hair and makeup, cakes, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, suits.. argh!

Wish me luck!

I also realised that I've still been using the same tube of lilash... it's only meant to last 6 months and it's been almost a year! I need to order some more for the wedding.. although knowing me I'll go crazy with some lush lashes or something ;)

xxx
Miss Neesh

MAC Victorian lipstick

2010-09-21T07:00:00.000+10:00

I have found a tube of MAC's Victorian lipstick! It should arrive in my letterbox any day now - yay!

Hollywood Regency addiction

2010-09-19T11:35:00.000+10:00

I'm about to move into my first home (it's just an apartment, but it's MINE!) and I have become obsessed with Hollywood Regency style interior decor.. It's so glam and dreamy :)

If you haven't heard of this style then think of 30s-70s Hollywood movies... Bold geometric shapes, crystal chandeliers, Baroque mirrors, lush fabrics, statement wallpaper, with a bit of minimalist, chrome and beautiful damask drapes mixed in for good measure....

I think Cailen Ascher put it well when she described it as:

"Hollywood Regency is a style that developed in the 1930s and 40s - think Humphrey Bogart and Joan Crawford - very chic and utterly sophisticated. This style beckons for glamour, luxury, and all things that sparkle. What made this trend so massively appealing was not one overarching theme or color but a conscious dedication to details - the sheen of a fabric, the decorative fringe on a pillow, the delicate crystals on a chandelier, and the personalization and flexibility it allowed to suit each individual's needs and sense of style.

"To give you a sense of what it generally entails, envision lacquered furniture and sumptuous fabrics. Metallic finishes and mirrors add a touch of elegance and class, while soft velvets, delicate silks, and sensuous satins appeal to one's sense of opulence. These all set the backdrop for Hollywood Regency. Though this style developed in a bygone era, it's completely adaptable to modern sensibilities, for the innate essence of the style is rooted in elevating the home to a haven."

I think I particularly like the way the palette often consists of black, white and silver, broken up by many textures and maybe one other colour as an accent.

Now I just have to start saving!

New lust - MAC Victorian Lipstick

2010-09-13T22:01:00.000+10:00

I just saw a post by Milly from pearlsandpoodles.blogspot.com which had the most PRETTY lipstick. She was lovely enough to mention the lipstick she was wearing and it's called Victorian by MAC.

Here's the post on it at temptalia.com and I think Katrina from Katrinalomidze.com put it best when she referred to it as the lovechild of my two favourite MAC lipsticks, A RoseRomance and Lollipop Loving.

I guess to me, it's what I want lollipop loving to be.

I must go on a mission to track down this lipstick.

Why oh why are my favourites all limited edition??

xxx

Wedding issues - Boronia House

2010-08-03T20:56:00.000+10:00

Hi lovelies,

Sorry I haven't been around much.. It's been a bit hectic for me. I've started a new job and finally fiinished studying. The next thing taking up my time is searching for a house to buy with my fiancee and trying to finalise wedding plans.

In between all of that I just haven't had time to do any posts. I'm sorry, I'm a bad blogger!

This is going to sound like a rant.. and I guess it is a bit. I like to think of myself as not being too much of a bridezilla, but my heart is feeling pretty bad after our recent experience with the venue that we had our hearts on for the reception canape dinner. We had our menu tasting at Boronia House in Mosman and I have to say we were disappointed. The venue is amazing. It's really lovely. Unfortunately the food we were served was not really up to the the standard we were expecting. We had to pay $95 per head to try the canape menu, and that is not taken off our booking if we do go ahead with them. $95 is the same amount they charge the people who are having the 3 course menu and is a lot to try 10 canapes in my opinion. But the price is not what worried us. Everything was cold, not just the cold canapes! When this was mentioned to the head chef after the third tray of food was brought out and was cold, he said that the ovens were acting up. I guess he didn't want to mention anything before we did in case we didn't notice or something? It was very clear that the food was not the correct temperature... it was definitely cold. If I'd been served fried calamari that was cold at a restaurant I would send it back (and I've never sent anything back). Don't get me wrong, the food TASTED really nice and was well prepared and beautifully presented, it was just cold. And when I'm being served chicken skewers, I feel a lot better if they're nice and warm (if not piping hot).

I don't know what to do. I really had my heart set on that venue. Now I feel like I can't be sure that the food won't be cold when served to our guests on our big day. I know no-one would actually complain about it on the day because the food is very yummy, but I'm sure they'd be thinking to themselves "wow, this should be warm!".

This has disheartened me so much that I haven't even felt like looking at wedding blogs or anything. This is coming from me who has at least 150 wedding blogs in her google blog reader that is normally checked daily. I was hoping this wedding planning process was going to be fuss and stress free... But now I don't know what to do. I don't want to go through the hassle of contacting a million reception venues again :(

Any ideas??

xxx
Miss Neesh

Lilash update!

2010-06-15T23:13:00.000+10:00

Hi ladies!

Here's a quick update of my third month using Lilash.As usual, click for BIGNESS!

After 3 months (with 1 coat of Diorshow mascara)

Before (no mascara)

After 3 months (no mascara)

After 3 months (with 1 coat of Diorshow on top lashes only)

See the crazy one on my left eye (on the right in this picture) that curls back? I had to cut it because it was becoming a spiral!

I am very impressed with this product still. When I wear Diorshow and my Imju Fiberwig it looks like I have fake lashes on. I tried on a few new mascaras at Myers (an Australian department store) and the sales assistants commented on how long my lashes were! I've NEVER had that before!

I'll admit I've dropped down to using this only once or twice a week since taking these pics and I'm noticing the difference.. But I still have lots more lashes than I used to that's for sure!

Still, the only drawback is that my eyelashes still fall out whenever I remove my mascara. I wish there was something to strengthen them. if there was I'd be in super heaven (with AMAZINGLY long lashes!).

Easy DIY Lip Scrub Recipe

2010-05-08T12:53:00.000+10:00

I get dry lips pretty easily. Since it's coming into winter I'm noticing that my lips are peeling a little bit so I thought I'd share a recipe I adapted to help exfoliate my lips.

I thought I should buy a lip scrub but all of the ones I found were over $20 for a tiny jar. Screw that!

I did some reseach and adapted this from searching for lip scrub recipes off the net and some substitutions for what I had on hand.

What you will need:
1 small container with a lid e.g. a small snack sized tupperware container or a sample sized twist top container like the ones you get from MAC like this:

Picture from http://makeupbyjewlz.blogspot.com/

1 teaspoon of coarse sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

A few drops of virgin coconut oil (the edible type). This can be substituted for any other edible oil.

Recipe:
Mix dry ingredients together in the container and then add drops of the oil until the mixture comes together into a paste - if it gets too watery then add more sugar and salt in the ratios mentioned above until it becomes dry enough.

How to use:
Whenever your lips need a bit of exfoliation just apply a small amount to your lips in a circular motion with a clean finger. Lightly rub the grains of salt and sugar over your lips and then wash (or lick!) off. If your first try doesn't get all of the dead skin off then repeat as necessary. Finish off by slatering your lips in a moisturising balm (I like to use Lucas' pawpaw ointment).

Note:
If you don't have any suitable oil you can apply vaseline or another thick lipbalm to your lips and use the sugar and salt mixture over it.

Quick, easy and CHEAP!

I hope you enjoy!

xxx
Miss Neesh

All images sourced from google image search unless otherwise noted. I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned.

And yet MORE Japan!

2010-04-19T14:28:00.000+10:00

I finally got aorund the resizing some more of my pics (we literally took thousands!!)

It's been a while since I've looked at these.. Autumn in Japan is so beautiful. I seriously spent half my time taking macro shots of the amazing leaves around the place. So immaculate and relaxing...

The intensity of the colours is still something I remember so vividly...

Go to Japan.. Go..!

xxx
Miss Neesh

Rainbow cakes and other awesomeness

2010-04-16T19:06:00.001+10:00

Hi lovelies,

Sorry I haven't been around, I've been very busy! I've just landed a new job which I'll be starting the first week of May so I'm very excited. The amount of assignments I've had to do at the moment has been intense so I unfortunely haven't had much time for posting - sorry!

However, I have found some cute things around the net that I wanted to share :)

I have this thing about pretty food. I love food styling and well-presented food. Apart from Makeup blogs, the largest segment of my googlereader is taken up with food blogs!

Last year I came across a thread in a forum about rainbow cakes and I got inspired to try my hand at it.

For reference here is some of my rainbow cake inspiration (none of these photos are my own, I sourced them off the net ages ago):

I absolutely love the plain, unassuming white frosting, which when cut, reveals the bright contrast of the rainbow colours :D

I also have a love for cupcakes so I thought I would make an unholy union of rainbow and cupcake and here was the child that resulted:

Omnomnom! Very tasteee

I did have white frosting on the top originally, but it tasted disgusting (was some packet Betty Crocker stuff that was horrible!) so I didn't put it on all the cuppies. Unfortunately the purple did not come out as imagined and looked rather more grey than violet. The rest of the colours looked very intense though.

This got me thinking... For our wedding cake I don't want to have an elaborate 4 tier affair with sugar orchids or anything (not that I have anything against large, detailed cakes - it's just not our priority). So I was thinking maybe something like the rainbow cakes above, mixed with the shape of this pretty baby down here:

PURE AWESOME

I can imagine our guests going "oh what a plain heart shaped wedding cake" and then being gobsmacked when we cut the cake to reveal the beautiful rainbow :D

It also would be way to show our support for same-sex marriages, which are still not legally recognised in Australia >:|

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my kooky idea or your experiences with interesting wedding/celebration cakes if you'd like to share.

xxx

Miss Neesh

EpiSpring review

2010-03-28T21:04:00.000+11:00

Hi lovies,

While I was in Japan I gave in and bought an EpiSpring for 1,200Yen (about $16AU at the time).

Image courtesy of EpiSpring

I have to say I'm glad I did because it wasn't until I started this blog that I realised that I was beginning to get some slightly darkish hairs on my face :(( And to be honest, wax and my face do not agree. Whenever I get my eyebrows done I end up crying like a baby! I'm fine getting a brazillian and I do my own waxing at home all the time, but my eyebrows = SO MUCH PAIN for some stupid reason. On top of that I end up being red for about 5 hours after getting my eyebrows done - a big red line over my forehead. Not a good look!

Anyway.. the EpiSpring is a funny little thing designed to remove short hairs. You grab both ends of the spring, bend it in the middle and roll it over the hairs you want to remove. the gaps between the springs grab the hairs and yank them out. It's like plucking the hairs out very quickly so you can work on larger areas than you would bother with with tweezers.

When I first used it my skin went quite red after it, but after 2 or 3 uses the skin seems to get over it. I now use it about once or twice a month to keep things in check.

Pros:

It's instant - you don't have to heat it up or wait for it to be ready
You can use it whenever/wherever you want as it's tiny and it doesn't require any power
It's kinda cheap? Getting your face waxed usually costs anywhere from $11-25AU per go so being able to use this over and over again is good value
You can work on areas like the upper lip and sides of the face
Doesn't hurt very much - the first time the hairs come out each time it smarts but after that it's fine
Gets hair at the root to reduce regrowth

Cons:

It isn't as precise as tweezers
Doesn't cover large areas like waxing does
You have to use both hands to do it (no typing and using it at the same time!)

Overall:
I give this 4.5 out of 5. It does what it's meant to do very well.

Would I re-purchase?
If I ever lost it I would, but I don't think it will ever break so I don't think I'll have to!

Lilash Eyelash Enhancer Review Part 1

2010-03-23T14:00:00.049+11:00

Hello lovelies!

As you all know, I have had constant issues with my eyelashes. I have decided to do something about it! So I wanted to let you know that I have been using Lilash since the 19th of February. I have to admit, I have noticed a difference (i.e. I noticeably have eyelashes without mascara on and I can actually wear mascara without all my eyelashes falling out). I have also found that when I wear mascara now, my lashes look a lot longer and it looks like there are a lot more of them than when I normally put mascara on.

I also tinted my eyelashes at home last week and WOW - compared to the results I normally get this is amazing - I don't even have to wear mascara to have a "mascara-like" (for me anyway) look. I usually tint my lashes a few times a year but I think the difference after using Lilash is really noticeable. I have also noticed a big difference on my lower lashes after tinting - they seem longer than normal.

To see my "before" pictures please see any of my previous posts, but especially my Fiberwig Mascara Review which shows my natural lashes before and after mascara application and my Warm Machine FOTD and NYX Eyebrow Duo Review which also have some good naked eyelash closeups.

Before (as always, click for bigger images):

After using Lilash for a month and tinting my lashes:

After tinting, with 1 coat of Diorshow mascara on upper lashes only:

Look at the length of the lashes on the inner corner of my right eye (left in the photo), that's insane!

I think this is the most striking depiction of the difference:

Before:

After using Lilash and 1 coat of Diorshow mascara:

I can't say I've noticed any thickening of the lash hairs themselves, or an increase in the amount of lashes yet, but so far so good. Some people also reported getting darker coloured lines on their eyelid where they apply the product and I can say that that definitely hasn't happened to me so far.

One day maybe I won't need to wear mascara and false lashes.... Fingers crossed!

Overall opinion:

So far I am very impressed with the results. For me, who has always struggled with feeling like I have no eyelashes, this is a godsend. I've been applying this once a day at night before I go to bed and I wasn't expecting to see any results until at least 6 weeks in, so having these results so quickly was pretty astounding. I have now gone down to applying this about 5 times a week.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money after seeing positive results with it on other blogs. I have not received any form of payment for this (semi) review. I am not affiliated in any way with lilash. The opinions stated in my blog are purely my own. We are all different and I make no guarantee that your results will be similar to mine from using any product I mention on this website.

More Photos from my trip to Japan - Shinjuku this time

2010-03-21T02:39:00.000+11:00

Here are some pics from outside our hotel in Shinjuku. We stayed at the Hotel Century Southern Tower which is right next to Shinjuku station and it was the best hotel we stayed at in Japan by far! We loved it. It was beautifully presented, had lots of space (for a Japanese hotel) and had amazing views over Tokyo from our window. We could see all the way to Mt Fuji on a clear day.

Another bonus was that when we were there (November) it was the lights festival all over Shinjuku, so all around the terrace outside our hotel the bushes and trees were covered in blue and white fairy lights. On our first evening there we wandered around in the light rain taking pictures. The mist made everything seem otherwordly and ethereal.

I was entranced by the blue lights - they were my favourite colour - the most intense electric blue.. So spectacular!

This Christmas tree thing lit up and made musical noises when you stepped under it. The people in Japan were so orderly - they lined up and went in one group at a time. If this were in Darling Harbour in Sydney there'd be people fistfighting about who goes in first!

Japan really was a magical place... I love how Christmas means nothing over there - it has no religious connotations, just consumerist ones! The statues of Colonel Sanders outside KFC stores had Santa hats on them because Colonel Sanders kinda looks and dresses similar to Santa Claus - no joke! Ahh... I want to go back again!

xxx
Miss Neesh

(PS This post is my own opinion and I was not paid for anything mentioned in it, nor do I have any affiliation with the Southern Century Tower hotel - I just think it rocked!)

When I think of Tiffany & Co., I don't normally think of this!

2010-03-19T21:26:00.000+11:00

The other day I came across this picture I took in Japan. I was wandering around through Tiffany's in Tokyo and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this display... The sales assistants looked at me like I was nuts when I took a picture.

I have to admit I still giggle when I see this pic

Hope you have a lovely day and find something random that makes you laugh out loud!

xxx
Miss Neesh

A quick escape...

2010-03-17T20:56:00.000+11:00

It's my birthday soon and my hubby has just told me that we're going to stay on my favourite place on Sydney harbour over the easter long weekend to celebrate! It's a 1 bedroom apartment overlooking the harbour with the most exquisite views! It's decked out like an executive bachelor pad with sexy leather lounges and a big flatscreen TV and wireless and foxtel and all that jazz (but we never notice because we're too busy watching the boats go by outside!). The last time we were there was for the New Years Eve fireworks, which if you don't know, run all the way down the harbour and the most spectacular ones are always shot off the harbour bridge. It was soooooo fantastic!

It's right on the water, directly opposite the Opera house and you could jump off the balcony and swim over there if you really wanted!

I can't wait to have a rest and just chill out in such a beautiful spot.

Here are some of the pics I took when we were there previously... I can't wait to go back... Only a few more weeks!

As usual you can click the pics for a larger version

The Sydney Opera House and the city are directly in front of the lounge and dining room windows (which you can see from the bed if you leave the dining room door open)

The Sydney Harbour Bridge

Here's part of the panorama taken on my cruddy cameraphone (scuse my not so great lining-up skills!)

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful future husband... I can't wait to laze around with him for a few days in the lap of luxury!

Are you doing anything nice for the long weekend? What do you prefer to do when you have a few days off... relax or go adventuring?

I'm back... Kinda! With new hair! (And Capybaras!)

2010-03-14T20:22:00.000+11:00

Hi!! So sorry I've been AWOL. My computer totally blew up and I've only just gotten a new one. I'm still waiting on getting my old hard drives back though so I'm hoping that I haven't lost all my pictures because I had a bunch of images I was going to resize for upcoming posts (not to mention all my wedding inspiration pics I've been hoarding like some crazy wedding lady!)

Anyway, since I have been such a bad blogger I thought I'd give you something to look at until I can hopefully get the rest of my stuff back.

I recently got my hair done so I took a whole bunch of cheesy pics to send to my fiance and I thought they might do (since I know I always get guilty pleasure out of seeing other girls' new 'dos).

Here are some "before" pics:

Scuse the crappy lighting and quality, these are all taken on my phone's camera. I was actually trying to get shots of the new glasses I was going to buy rather than my hair! I ended up getting these glasses with transitions lenses in them (I'm so excited because this is the first time I've been able to wear sunnies for YEARS because of my prescription!)

I also got these glasses too - but in deep purple :D They have this cute detail of bubbles on the sides hehe. Also, you might be wondering what that weird brown thing is that's dangling off my phone - it's a capybara! I saw some of these insanely awesome animals in the flesh for the first time in Japan of all places! So of course I had to buy a cute minibara for my phone :D Seeing the capys totally made my trip hehe, if I could have anything for a pet, it would be one of these cute little guys. But I digress...

So without further ado, here's me hamming up my new 'do:

FOTD for my new hair:
Face:
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium
MAC Select Cover-up concealer in NW20
Nars Orgasm Blush
NYX Blush in Taupe as contour
MAC Shimpagne as highlight

Eyes:
MAC Rubenesque paintpot as base
Urban Decay Sellout all over
NYX Smokey eyes palette darkest black shadow on outer third
Palgantong eyeliner in Crazy Black
Chi Chi Villian on lower waterline

Lips:
MAC A Rose Romance lipstick
ModelCo Seashell lipgloss

Eyebrows:
NYX eyebrow duo in taupe/ash

Also I'd like to thank my followers for sticking with me even when I don't post much. I finally looked at my blog after avoiding it for weeks because I thought everyone would have stopped following me, but I actually have some new followers so Hi and Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to follow me, it means so much :D

xxx
Miss Neesh

Wedding Makeup Inspiration

2010-01-18T21:47:00.003+11:00

One thing about having so many blogs on my googlereader is that I get exposed to a lot of great makeup on a daily basis. Ever since we got engaged, I have been saving pictures of makeup that I think would be nice for my wedding.

Here are some of my favourite bridal inspiration looks from various blogs (in no particular order):

Erika from Ekimura. Her beautiful looks always inspire me, but some of these would be particularly great for weddings:

I love these lashes :D I don't think they make coloured contacts in my prescription, though :( The slighly blushing cheeks and innocent lips are lovely too

These lashes also make me go weak at the knees, they're so dainty and feminine, and again just a hint of blush

Clara. I totally dig ALL of her eyeshdow looks.

I love this eyeshadow look because it's neutral yet dramatic.

Em from too much blush. Em always posts such lovely looks and this ones in particular jumped out at me:

Shimmery, neutral with a strong, defined lash.

Whitz - she is a makeup master and I spent about 3 days going through the archives of her vox blog (where most of her makeup looks are). Her new blog can be found here

Again, these looks are neutral but they still POP! I will also totally be rocking falsies at my wedding hahaha

TiffanyD. She always looks amazing and polished and her youtube vids are excellent too

I love the sultry eye and natural looking cheeks with a wet, glossy lip.

Jangsara. Her eye looks are always astonishing and her talent astounds me every day!

This classic bombshell look with a purple twist really grabbed my attention (we all know my weakness for purples haha).

Even if you aren't planning for a wedding these ladies' blogs are totally worth checking out!

PS obviously these looks are not my own, and I am also not affiliated or associated with these blogs and was not compensated in any way for this post. This post is just to give some love to some fabulous bloggers out there who have inspired me for my wedding :)

SO frustrating! Unable to comment on blogs with Firefox/Google Chrome

2010-01-17T12:30:00.001+11:00

I keep trying to comment on various blogs and because I'm using Google Chrome and Firefox, I can't comment on a lot of them. For some reason on the majority of blogs that don't have a popup comment box, it doesn't accept the cookies that say I'm logged in, so no matter which option I choose to log in as, it doesn't recongise my comment and it won't preview or send off the posts! It also appears that I'm not the only one to have this problem, however, Mozilla haven't done anything to fix it as yet :(

I know, first answer is to get internet explorer. I've tried that, but it won't install on my crappy old computer (I've tried different versions and everything, it just won't install!). Ugh! I feel really bad because I keep trying to leave comments on the blogs I love and only some of them work :(

So if you have a blog like that you might have more people who want to comment than you expect, but they might be unable to comment due to the browser they use.

I guess I'll just have to save up and get a new computer :(

PS To my followers who might not have gotten comments from me, that's probably why! I am commenting in spirit, I promise!

EDIT: I have now given in and successfully installed Safari and now I can comment on those blogs.. prepare yourselves for an onslaught!

FOTD - You've Changed - Urban Decay SWF, Chi Chi Wallet, MAC Snob, Urban Decay X, Mac MSF Natural Medium

2010-01-16T23:13:00.002+11:00

I have been totally addicted to the new song "You've Changed" by Sia. It's now my ringtone on my phone and I never want to answer it because I don't want to interrupt the song!

Anyway, I was going through my stash today and trying out some eyeshadows that I haven't used in a while and this is what i ended up with (please click on the pictures for a larger view):

This last image captures the beautiful golden glow that Urban Decay X blush gives :3

What I used

Face:

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium (lightly applied over cheeks, nose and forehead)
Urban Decay Blush in X over tops of cheekbones as highlight

Lips:

MAC Snob Lipstick
MAC Babysparks Dazzleglass

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion all over eye
Urban Decay SWF in inner corners top and bottom as well as highlight over the brow bone (or any shimmery pale white/cream colour)
Silver eyeshadow from a special edition Chi Chi holiday palette that doesn't have any names on it on the inner third (or any generic silver eyeshadow)
Medium purple/pink duochrome eyeshadow (similar to MAC's parfait amour) from a special edition Chi Chi holiday palette that doesn't have any names on it on the outer third (or any generic medium purple/pink eyeshadow)
Sparkly black eyeshadow from a special edition Chi Chi holiday palette that doesn't have any names on it on the outer v and crease (or any generic black eyeshadow)
Violet eyeshadow from a special edition Chi Chi holiday palette that doesn't have any names on it applied over the black eyeshadow above on the outer v and crease and along the outer third of the bottom lashes as a liner (or any generic violet eyeshadow)
Palgantong slim brush eyeliner pen in Crazy Black (my new HG eyeliner that I got in Japan) applied lightly on outer third of lashline and then winged up on the outer edges
Chi Chi eyeliner pencil in Villain on lower waterline

I hope you enjoy :)

Mscuppycakes.com update

2010-01-13T22:57:00.005+11:00

I forgot to mention that the issue with mscuppycakes.com (mentioned in this post) finally got resolved while I was in Japan. I did have to follow up a couple of times with emails, but they were polite and at least I ended up with the right palette in the end :)

I do really like all the NYX palettes as they have good pigmentation, although some have a lot of glitter fallout which isn't so great (kinda like urban decay's midnight cowboy - why why why!!!)

xxx
Miss Neesh

The Big News!

2010-01-12T21:56:00.002+11:00

I know I promised this a while ago but I still haven't gotten the proper pictures....

My boyfriend proposed to me in August! I didn't want to make a big deal about it because I was busy designing my ring.

The ring was finished just before I got back from Japan and I am totally in love with it!

It has a princess cut centre stone, two partially bezel set estate brilliant cut side stones, four channel set princess cut diamonds on the band and two "hidden" diamonds - one on the front and one on the back.

I designed the ring based on multiple rings I saw on the Pricescope.com forums - specifially this thread which is hundreds of pages long and has some AMAZING stones and engagement ring designs. The pricescope forums are so excellent, they taught me so much about diamonds. If I hadn't checked them out I probably would have been taken for a ride and settled for some horrid treated stone in a shoddy setting :(

I also have to give props to my jeweller, she and her staff took on my ideas and concepts and created a ring that I can't stop staring at with joy.

I also have to thank my amazing fiance for knowing me well enough to let me design my own ring and to his mother for her contribution to this heirloom.

Now I have to go plan a wedding.... Wedding blogs are now my new obsession (can you guess why I haven't been blogging so much lately?) *blush*

xxx
Miss Neesh

NOTD - Color Club Ultra Violet 885

2010-01-11T23:05:00.000+11:00

Here's a nailpolish that I just couldn't resist buying in Japan. It's from Color Club, and I think it was around 1200Y (Close to $15AU). It's got a deep purple/pink base with a violet/blue/green duochrome (triochrome?). Unfortunately it comes out much more fuchsia in the next two pictures, but in natural light it is such an addictive colour!

The duochrome is the same as the blue splodge on the bottle just next to my middle fingernail.

The duochrome is better displayed on my ring and little finger here, but it is much more blue/green.

This is a much better indication of the base colour but no duochrome showing (with Canmake's No.17 Holographic glitter nailpolish over the top). Scuse the tipwear, this was applied while I was in Japan and the pic was taken after I got home.

xxx
Miss Neesh

Fiberwig Mascara Review

2010-01-10T17:16:00.002+11:00

While I was over in Japan I was lucky enough to find some Fiberwig mascara by Imju. It has a whole bunch of raves on blogs all about the place so I kept my eyes peeled and found some in a shop that is the equivalent of Priceline for a price similar to the mascaras by the major drug store mascara players (Max factor, Maybelline, etc).

Image courtesy of Imju

Fiberwig is a tubing fibre mascara that deposits tiny fibres onto the tips of your lashes to make them longer. None of this "70% longer lashes" bulls**t that normal, non fibre mascaras promise - this actually adds extra physical length to your eyelashes. Sure it's only a copule of millimetres, but when you have thin, sparse, short lashes, it makes a huge difference!

The brush is bushy but the end is pointy so you can get right into the inner corners of your eyes to get those pesky little hiding lashes. It takes a bit of playing around with, but all you need to do is continuously sweep the brush up your lashes to the tips in the direction you want them to curl. This then deposits tiny little fibres towards the end of your lashes that add length.You can even concentrate on certain lashes that you want to enhance and just make those ones grow bigger.

I found that after putting this on my lashes brushed against the lenses of my glasses - first time for everything!

Unfortunately though, this is not a volumising mascara so if you have thin lashes, it won't make them appear longer. It also tends to clump your lashes together so they can kind of look a bit spindly and spider-leg like - this adds to the advertised "brush on fake lashes" look. If you go overboard and let the lashes get spindly and long it could look very unnatural.

I have worn this multiple times throughout the entire day and I haven't noticed any smearing or panda eyes (I have very oily eyes and this is a common problem for me). It seems to last all day with no problems. I think that the lack of smudging is due to the tubing formula.

It is relatively easy to remove. Just warm water pressed onto the lashes loosens the tubes and they slide right off.

I've found the best way to wear it is as follows:

Curl your lashes
Apply a volumising mascara (my favourites are Diorshow and ModelCo FatLash)
Apply Fiberwig, focusing on the ends of the lashes to build up extra length.

Here is an example of the difference Fiberwig makes to my lashes (when applied as above with Diorshow to volumise):

My eyelashes with no mascara - only eyeliner (Click on the images to make them much bigger):

As you can see, there's really no definition of my upper eyelashes at all!

Here's another example of my lashes, on the eye on the left hand side in the picture you can see my natural lashes, but they don't stand out at all, and you probably wouldn't have noticed they were there until I pointed it out! in case you're wondering, the large dark "lash" on the end of my eyelid on the eye to the right is my winged eyeliner (which sneakily acts as extra eyelash definiton from a distance ;D)

Ok here is the Fiberwig over Disorshow:

OMG I have lashes!

Here's me being squinty (ie smiling) which shows the lash length and curl really well.

Fiberwig Pros:

Literally adds dramatic physical length to your lashes
Is relatively easy to apply
Dries quickly
Doesn't smudge or flake
Is pretty easy to remove
Lasts all day
Good value (if buying at Japanese retail)
The black colour is a "true" black colour.

Fiberwig Cons:

Takes a longer to apply than normal mascara
Can clump lashes together (but is not "clumpy" in consistency if that makes sense?)
Doesn't volumise or add much curl
Hard to obtain in Australia
The fibres can get "droopy" and look very wonky if not applied properly

So what's the final result? I am very happy with this mascara as it delivers what it promises. I would definitely buy this again (at Japanese retail price). I just wish it volumised as well!

xxx
Miss Neesh

More MAC (and other) Lipstick & Lipgloss Swatches - Snob, Viva Glam V, Nymphette, Plink!, Serial Dater, Madly Mauve, Raspberry Juice, Fraise, Pink Sea Shell

2010-01-09T20:14:00.000+11:00

Hi! Sorry for the delayed posts, I haven't been around the internet much. I wasn't too happy with the quality of my lipstick swacthes from my previous post so I decided to try again.

Here are my natural lips again for reference and my skintone is around an NW20 with MAC foundation:

MAC Snob Lipstick- Satin:
An opaque purply/blue based pink, I love the texture of this one!

MAC Viva Glam V Lipstick - Lustre:
Looks very brown in the tube, but applies to a more brown based pink with golden shimmer.

MAC Nymphette Lipglass:
Sheer, very shimmery golden glitter, lovely layered over a boring lipstick

MAC Plink! - Lustre:
A creamy pink colour. If this had the same opacity and texture as Snob I think I would be in love, the colour is just so beautiful.

Chi Chi Serial Dater Lipgloss:
Baby pink semi-opaque lipgloss with a light pink shimmer.

Designer Brands Madly Mauve Lipgloss:
You really need to click on this to get the full effect. It's a lovely deep pinky purple with silvery shimmer. Very glossy but not too sticky and only $4.95AU!

Designer Brands Rapsberry Juice Lipgloss:
A lovely red lipgloss with pink and gold glitter, again not sticky.

Lancome Juicy Tube Fraise Lipgloss:
Very shiny sheer pink with pink glitter. Unfortunately it's very sticky :(

ModelCo Pink Sea Shell Liplights Lipgloss:
A frosty light pink gloss with silvery shimmer.

I hope these swatches help someone make an informed decision when considering lipsticks and/or glosses. I know that blogs with swatches on real skin helped me immensely when I was first getting into lipsticks, so hopefully I can give something back too :3

If you have any further questions about any of the colours I've swatched don't hesitate to ask.

xxx
Miss Neesh

Er disclaimer and all that: All the products featured on my blog have been purchased by me unless otherwise noted (apart from the ModelCo Pink Sea Shell lipgloss which I have gotten several times in Gift With Purchases when buying other ModelCo products - if I didn't have 3 tubes I would have bought it myself though!). I have not been paid for this nor am I affiliated with any of the brands mentioned. All comments are my personal opinion and are purely my own.

Back from Japan!

2009-12-14T21:32:00.004+11:00

Hi! So sorry for the lack of posts!! I took a million pics of my haul from Japan with my dad's awesome Nikon (and some other things because I have some BIG news) and then when I went to transfer the pics from the memory card I found out that my memory card reader doesn't have the right hole for that brand >:|

So in the meantime please enjoy some pics from my trip to Japan. I had such an awesome time and I never thought I'd say this, but Jetstar's 2 for the price of 1 flights are soooo worth it! We got two return tickets to Osaka from Sydney (stopping over in the Gold Coast) for around $530 each including taxes. That's INSANE! Sure Jetstar's not exactly swanky, but for that price I really had nothing to complain about.

I can also totally recommend the Century Southern Tower Hotel in Shinjuku. It's magnificent and if you can get 4 days for the price of three it's sooo worth it! It's right next to Shinjuku station and all the department stores.

This is the shrine near Takeshita Dori in Harajuku (the famous street filled with Lolli/Hime shops in Harajuku.

On the way to Osaka Castle. The leaves here were so pretty!

Osaka Castle peeking out from behind a very pretty pond

We stayed really close to Nanba in Osaka (the main nightlife area). It had so many crazy buildings and entertaining sights.

Need a Starbucks fix? Go to your nearest 7/11 or FamilyMart and buy some! I found one of the most aweosme drinks in a Family Mart - Fig jelly milk drink thing. Damn that was tasty!

Harajuku is CRAZY awesome :D

Also screw blogger for making uploading pics such a retarded process! Is there an easier way to place them in your post as well? This post has made me want to rip my hair out!

Going Japanese

2009-11-08T22:22:00.003+11:00

Hello!

I have been very ill with a horrible infection and I'm only just getting better now, however in good news I am about to go to Japan for 12 nights!

I am also close to getting a resolution with mscuppycakes.com for the wrongly issued eyeshadow palette that I mentioned a few posts ago. They requested that I send the palette back and that they would refund me the postage and send me out the correct one. I sent it back along with a scan of the receipt, and they very quickly sent me the correct one back, however I am still waiting on the refund of the postage that was offered. It's a lot of hassle for a small item :/Although it's not entirely their fault - the palette had been placed in the wrong box, but still it's been months now :(

I guess at least they've made some effort to fix it up rather than just ignoring my emails so props for that!

Anyway, I am very excited about going to Japan. I have always wanted to go and it will be November so there will be lots of beautifully coloured maple leaves (my favourite!).

We're flying to Osaka via the Gold Coast, spending 2 nights in Osaka then off to Tokyo on the shinkanzen, off to Kamakura, back to Kyoto and then to Osaka again. I can't wait to try authentic okonomiyaki yum yum!

I doubt I'll be posting while I'm over there as it will be so busy, but I'm going with a photographer so we'll hopefully get some really good shots :D

TTFN!

I've now joined Bloglovin!

2009-10-29T08:38:00.002+11:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin

This seems like a nice way to follow blogs, I just wish it had a way to import from googlereader or blogspot!

Anwyay, perhaps with more users it will expand its features :)

MAC Lipstick Swatches - Plink!, A Rose Romance, Viva Glam V & Lollipop Loving

2009-10-22T22:45:00.012+11:00

I thought I'd share some swatches of my measly MAC lipstick collection. I hardly wear lipstick because I drink around 2 litres of water everyday and I find it comes off really easily. However, I do enjoy wearing lipstick and I have a few that I wear very often.
From Left to Right: Plink!, A Rose Romance, Viva Glam V & Lollipop Loving.

First we'll start with my natural lips with no lipbalm or anything. My lips aren't too pigmented, but I do have a few freckles on them (in case you hadn't noticed, I have freckles EVERYWHERE!). I wear NW20 in MAC foundations.

I then applied a little Lucas' Paw Paw ointment (my favourite clear lip balm) as my lips were a little dry. I noticed that this did make the lipsticks apply less opaquely than normal.

All lipsticks were applied lightly using only the lipstick itself, no brushes or other fancy application methods were used.

MAC Plink! Swatch indoors with flash (Lustre):
This is a lovely very light pink. It is creamy and applies very smoothly. I think of this as my "your lips, but better" lipstick. This is my first MAC lipstick, I think I got it for my 21st. I've had it so long that the MAC lettering has rubbed off on the outside. I'm running low though so I will have to replace it sometime soon.

MAC A Rose Romance Swatch indoors with flash (Lustre):
I am in love with this colour. A beautiful light rose colour with a hint of light purple. Again this applies very nicely but doesn't feel as creamy as Plink!

MAC Viva Glam V Swatch indoors with flash (Lustre):
Viva Glam V feels a little more gritty and is better applied with less lipbalm so it "sticks" more to the lips. This is the darkest MAC lipstick I own, the product itself looks quite brown, but I don't apply it too thickly.

MAC Lollipop Loving Swatch indoors with flash (Glaze):
I really love this colour. It applies so smooth and has a lovely duochrome green/gold shimmer (which unfortunately did not show up very intensely in any of my photos) over a light pink base. I bought this blind, purely off swatches and reviews I saw on blogs and forums and I'm so glad I did. Plus I got the heatherette packaging so when I pull it out to apply it I get to see the pretty hot pink tube :D

Looking at these swatches has made me realise just how small my comfort zone is when it comes to lipsticks - I reallly don't like dark tones at all. At least not for everyday wear. I really don't have any idea what other colours would look good on me I guess.

I hope these swatches help someone as I find it impossible to tell what colour a lipstick is going to turn out when worn from the swatches you see on most makeup company sites (or from just looking at the lipstick itself).

OPI Honeymoon Sweet & Alpine Snow French Manicure

2009-10-22T22:21:00.004+11:00

Here's a quick one - my first DIY french manicure.

I used OPI Honeymoon Sweet (a sheer, light pink with greeny/gold shimmer) and OPI Alpine Snow (a pure white) for the tips.

Click on images for BIG!
Hope you like :)

xxx

LOVE & HATE for October

2009-10-12T22:36:00.005+11:00

LOVE:

MAC Lollipop Loving Lipstick - I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS COLOUR. I bought it without trying it on in real life first which is a real no-no for me but I'm SO glad I got it. I could wear this for the rest of my life.
MAC Mineralize Natural Duo in Medium/Shimmer Pressed Powder - I LOVE the shimmer as a highlighter it's purrrrrfect! This has replaced my urban Decay blush in X as my favourite highlighter, and better yet, it's packaged with my favourite face powder in the perfect colour. I can't be happier with a product than with this. I'm so glad I took the plunge and got this off a lovely lady on specktra :D
NYX jumbo eye pencil in cottage cheese - I'm a convert, really makes eyeshadow POP. The only thing is that it creases on me if I don't use a primer. But for such a cheap price and the way it makes eyeshadows look so intense, I am very happy with this (plus it will last forever!)
NYX Smokey Eye palette - I never thought I'd be able to pull off the perfect smokey eye but I have been proven wrong. I love these colours, and the texture is really nice and easy to apply.
NYX Runway palette in Versus - The purples are very intense and there's even a section of nude/neutral shadows so the palette does two things well, great for like $8US!
Cheap rip-off Ped-egg! My calluses are mostly gone. I think I went a little overboard and have over-filed though as one area seems to be getting a little bit tough.
retailmenot.com - coupons for most online stores
beatmyprice.com - check this out if you're buying stuff on line, it'll search ebay plus other online retailers to show you the best price for a product (only downside is that it doesn't include postage fees)
fragrancenet.com - woo cheap perfume! Less than half AU$ prices in fact!

HATE:

The fact that mscuppycakes gave me the wrong palette when I ordered. I wanted the champagne & caviar one and inside the champagne and caviar box was a totally different nyx palette (someone must have tampered with the boxes, as I noticed it looked a bit damaged before I opened it)! SOOOOO angry and still waiting for a response from their customer service team. I waited WEEKS to get it and I was soooo lemming that palette in particular (I ordered the other two palettes above at the same time as an afterthought cause I was originally only going to get the champagne and caviar one). *** EDIT: This got resolved in November as mscuppycakes got me to return the incorrect palette and sent me out the correct one and refunded my shipping costs.
The weather around here. It's supposed to be SPRING so why is it FREEZING?
Assignments, ugh thankfully only one more to go this year
Mascara drying out before I can use it all
My eyelashes falling out whenever I use mascara/touch my eyes/the wind blows (which is why my mascara dries out before I use it up)
International postage taking so long - I want it NOW damnit!

HEART - NYX Review, Swatches and Before and After - Taupe/Ash Eyebrow Duo

2009-09-22T19:59:00.006+10:00

I don't know about you, but I suffer from the dreaded "one eyebrow is thicker than the other" disease. It doesn't matter if I get my eyebrows professionally plucked or what, my right eyebrow is noticeably sparse towards my nose. I have tried many products to even it out so it doesn't look so retarded. I've used eyeshadows, pencils and mascaras - with varying degrees of success.

I have finally gotten around to doing before and afters with my eyebrow duo from NYX. I got this a while ago and I've been wearing it just about every day. I'm very happy with it - especially for around $5AU!

It comes with two tools - a mini spoolie and a mini angle brush.

You can't really go wrong with a spoolie. I guess some might see the small brush length as a plus. To be honest I don't normally even bother with this (although looking at the before and after pics, I probably should start!)

The mini angle brush is pretty cheap. It's got a lot of loose bristles that poke in random directions so it's not GREAT for really defined work. However, the powder itself is pretty forgiving, so it really doesn't make that big a deal. I use this every day to apply and I find that it's fine for the job. For such a cheap product you really wouldn't expect a top notch brush would you??

Onto the Swatches!
These were taken indoors at night.

The taupe colour is slightly lighter and I use that to fill in my left (thicker) eyebrow.

The Ash colour is darker and slightly more brownish/gray and I use it to fill in the sparse area on my right eyebrow.

OK here is my scary "before" picture. I have nothing on my eyebrows and I haven't brushed them or anything. You can easily see where my right (on the left in the pic) eyebrow is really sparse compared to my other one. You can also see my other eyebrow friends, my two freckles that live just under my right eyebrow. From a distance these bastards make it look like my right eyebrow is thicker than it is! There's really nothing I can do about that apart from conceal them. However, my hairdresser has helped as my sideswept fringe usually covers that eyebrow heheh.
I have naturally mousy brown hair (dark dark dark ashy gray) and I find these colours blend in really well and look natural against my natural eyebrow colours.

And here's the slightly less scary "after". I have used the spoolie to quickly tidy up my brows and applied the colours as mentioned above.

Now I applied this pretty lightly, but it's easy to see that the Ash colour fills in the sparse bits in a very natural looking way. I'm not a huge fan of the really obviously drawn on eyebrow look, but I'm sure that if you wanted that effect you could easily apply this very thickly and with a better angle brush and get a great result. I suppose you could also apply this wet with water or your mixing medium of choice for a really intense look.

Overall I am really impressed with this product. The packaging is functional and sturdy. The included tools serve their purposes. The price is right (I was orginally thinking of buying one of the MAC eyebrow pencils that retail for around $35AU!). The colours are good and look natural. The powders themselves are easily buildable and apply nicely. There is heaps of product - I mentioned before that I've been using this pretty much every dayand there's hardly a dip in the pan.

I am very happy with this product and will most probably repurchase (if I ever run out!).

I'm back and a quick review - Bloom jet black liquid eyeliner

2009-09-09T18:41:00.008+10:00

Hi, I haven't forgotten about you guys or my blog!

I have just moved house and only just now gotten internet! Man it sucks without the net, I can't do my banking or check the weather or book accommodation for my upcoming trip to Japan in November or anything hahah. It's scary how much I've come to rely on it.

Anyway, once I get my act together I'll do up some new makeup posts. I was hoping to have a new MAC haul to share but the techniques workshop I was booked into was cancelled so I refunded my money instead.

Anyway here's a quick review of one of my HGs - Bloom's liquid eyeliner in jet black.

(Picture Copyright to Bloom)

Why I love it: It is easy to draw a fine line or a thick line. The nib is just the right size. It dries quickly, and once it's dry it won't budge until you really try to get it off. It survives tears, light eye rubbing, sweating etc, yet comes off easily with makeup remover or even water and a cotton bud/pad. The packaging is easy to use and convenient (you don't need a special brush). The colour really is jet black. It's not shiny and it's not dull either. You only need one coat, unless you want to make a thicker line.

What I don't like so much: It dries up pretty quickly (way before you use it all). I use it pretty much every day and it begins to get dry and gluggy after about 3 months. You can keep using it after it starts to become gluggy, but it really negatively affects the ease of application. It is kinda expensive - $25AU for a bottle. While upfront that is not so expensive, when you consider that (from what I've heard) gel eyeliners like MAC's blacktrack and Bobbi Brown's will last for upwards of 6 or so months it's no longer so cheap.

Example of it on me:
You can see more examples of it on in my posts below as well.

Overall: I still give it 4.5 out of 5 stars because it's got the whole package.

Would I buy again: I'm already on my 3rd bottle and it's getting gluggy so I'll be getting another soon (unless someone can convince me to buy blacktrack or bobbi brown's eyeliners instead).

Thanks for bearing with me & let me know if you can recommend any better eyeliners that I should try out :)

Some of my Favourite Pigment Swatches - MAC, Chi Chi, Red Earth & Everyday Minerals

2009-08-21T22:37:00.008+10:00

Hi! Sorry I've been MIA - I'm in the middle of moving house... I don't know when I'm going to have internet again so it might be a little while before my next post, but I thought I'd share some interesting piggie swatches with you.

I have mentioned ChiChi a bit in my previous posts and comments. I LOVE ChiChi! They are relatively cheap, are packaged nicely, and have great names and pigmentation. If you're in Australia I strongly recommend you go and have a play with their stuff at Myer or DJs. They often have great GWPs and % off sales. Just after christmas you can usually get at least 30% off.

I was playing around the other day with some of the MAC pigment samples I got off the makeupgeek.com store and I found that there were some similarities to some of the pigments I already had from other brands.

Shimmery Neutrals:
From left to right (foiled with home made mixing medium and then swatched dry):
MAC Naked, MAC Vanilla, ChiChi Centrefold, Everyday Minerals (EDM) Wet Sand

Click the image for a larger view

As you can see, the ChiChi pigment is much more bronzy than the MAC pigments when foiled. I find that when it is applied dry it is somewhere in between Naked and Vanilla in colour. It seems to have the pigmentation of Naked, but the same shimmer as Vanilla. In a pinch it could be a dupe for both. I have had this eyeshadow for soemwhere near 6 years and I've not used more than 3%. I love it as a highlight on the browbone, tearduct or cheekbones. I also use it as an all over wash when I'm too lazy to do a proper eyeshadow. It really is one of my HGs. However, it's a bit too shimmery for a very uptight corporate office environment though.Click the image for a larger view

The Everyday Minerals pigment was certainly the most vibrant and pigmented when applied dry. When applied dry it had a similar effect to Vanilla when applied wet. I didn't really like the look of Wet Sand when foiled, it looked a bit too starkly white. Applied dry though, it is very pretty. I use this as a highlight for browbone, tear duct and cupid's bow.
Don't be fooled by the pic above, the jar of Centrefold has a sifter in it which makes it look like it's almost all gone. It's actually still almost full!

Brights:
From Top to Bottom, Left to Right (foiled with mixing medium and then swatched dry):

Red Earth PU078, MAC Violet, MAC Pink Pearl, ChiChi Material GirlClick the image for a larger view

ChiChi's Material Girl pigment is an amazing dupe for MAC's Pink Pearl when foiled. When applied dry, the MAC pigment has more pigmentation. However, if you don't feel like shelling out for the Pink Pearl, the ChiChi pigment is so close I don't think you'd know the difference if I didn't tell you.

Click the image for a larger view

As you can see, the Red Earth pigment has more of a dark blue background than MAC's Violet pigment. MAC's Violet pigment also has more of a true violet shimmer. I am totally in love with the Violet pigment, it's so beautiful!
I was pretty suprised to see such a close dupe for Pink Pearl, if I'd known it was so similar I wouldn't have ordered the pigment sample as I have more Material Girl than I'll be able to use in 3 lifetimes. If you can get your hands on ChiChi, I'd definitely recommend you try them out.

I have the old packaging of the ChiChi eyeshadow dusts, which is bigger than the new versions. The packing is also worse on the new ones, with the lids being difficult to close :/ I'd still buy the new packaging if I ever run out of the ones I have (which I won't unless I tip them over or something).

What are your favourite dupes? Do you have any favourite low to mid range cosmetic brands?

FOTD - Warm Machine - Frosted Lilac, Parfait Amour, Stars N Rockets, Odd Couple, Shroom

2009-08-12T22:32:00.007+10:00

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance - all over
Bloom Jet Black liquid eyeliner - outer third of top eye and slightly winged out
Chi Chi Villain (black) pencil eyeliner - bottom waterline
NYX Frosted Lilac - Inner corner, tear duct and inner third of lower lashline (applied with Gorgeous Cosmetics #104 brush)
MAC Parfait Amour- Eyelid (applied with Mac 239SE)
MAC Stars N Rockets - Crease (applied with Mac 219SE)
MAC Odd Couple (purple side) - Outer V, blended into crease over Stars N Rockets (applied with Mac 219SE) and outer third of lower lashline (applied with a generic angled eyeliner brush)
MAC Shroom - under browbone as highlight (applied with Mac 239SE)

Lips:
Natio Goddess gloss pot

I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way...

2009-08-06T21:45:00.005+10:00

This is an ancient photoset from a look I did a few years ago (2006 i think?) for the makeuptalk forums. I used to lurk there a lot before I found the specktra forums.

These pics were for a "Dare to Be" competition to be your favourite fictional character so I chose to be Jessica Rabbit of course! The worst bit was that I'd just dyed my hair back to blonde from red so I couldn't pull that bit off.

It's funny looking back at my old makeup and how lame it was, I really had no idea how to apply eyeshadow, blush or anything else for that matter!

Anyway, sorry for the camwhorish angles! She's supposed to be sultry and sexy :X

Makeup Used:

Eyes:
Chi Chi Eye Shadow Dust in "Material Girl" (a bright duochrome pink/purple very similar to MAC's Pink Pearl) above lid to brow bone.

Red Earth loose eyeshadow "PU078" which I bought many many years ago from one of the old standalone Red Earth stores and I'm pretty sure is discontinued (it is similar to MAC's violet pigment, but has more of a royal blue undertone). Applied wet on the eyelid and under the eye. Applied dry from crease to brow bone, gradually getting lighter as I went upwards.

Chi Chi Eye Shadow Dust in "Fly Girl" as brow bone highlight.

Face:
As you can see, I don't think I actually wore any foundation/blush for this one (I never used to wear any! It always broke me out)

Lips:
Chi Chi lipgloss pot in "Serial Dater"

NYX Review and Swatches - Flamingo, Frosted Lilac, Baby Pink, Cotton Candy, Spring Flower & Taupe

2009-08-02T19:54:00.011+10:00

I recently got my NYX order from mscuppycakes.com for some eyeshadows, blush and eyebrow powder. NYX is pretty much impossible to get in Australia, but it got good reviews online (especially on the specktranet forums) and it is pretty cheap so I decided to try them out.

I got two eyeshadow pots:
NYX Flamingo
NYX Frosted Lilac (supposedly a dupe for MAC's Beautiful iris)

One eyeshadow trio:
NYX 05 Palette Baby Pink, Cotton Candy and Spring Flower

One blush:
NYX Taupe

One eyebrow powder duo:
NYX Taupe/Ash

Swatches:
Inside (under energy saving lights)
In sunlight:

Reviews:

Single Eyeshadow: Flamingo
Colour Description: Peachy pink/coral with gold shimmer.
Payoff: Without primer: Not too bad, had to build it up a bit. With primer: it's nice and blendable. I've been using this lately as a crease colour along with MAC's Retrospeck on the tear duct & lid for work.
Packaging: Functional with a clear lid showing the colour. Not flimsy.
Price: $4US (not including international shipping)
Comments: This colour is a bit out of my normal comfort zone so I'll have to play around with it before I make a final decision on whether I like it or not. The product overall is fine, it doesn't have any discernible smell, the packaging is nice, the consistency and payoff is fine for the price.

Single Eyeshadow: Frosted Lilac
Colour Description: Frosty light lilac/purple. The frost is white/silver and has miniscule white specs of glitter. This is supposed to be a dupe for Beautiful Iris by MAC. I have swatched it on paper next to Beautiful Iris and this is lighter and more pink toned with a pinky/silver shimmer while beautiful iris has a light purple shimmer.
Payoff: Not too bad, had to build it up a bit. I didn't use a primer so I'll report back on that once I have.
Packaging: Functional with a clear lid showing the colour. Not flimsy.
Price: $4US (not including international shipping)
Comments: I like the colour so far and I don't think it's a terribly bad dupe for beautiful iris, but it's not a direct copy. The texture is about the same as flamingo, which is to say that it's good.

Trio Colour 1: Baby pink
Colour Description: Frosty very light pink although according to NYX this should be a matte colour. The frost is very shiny and pearly white.
Payoff: Not too bad, had to build it up a bit. I didn't use a primer so I'll report back on that once I have.
Packaging: As a palette it has a window in the top to show what colours are within. there is a mirror on the inside lid. The palettes are in there pretty firmly. It has your run of the mill two sided foam eyeshadow applicator. Does not include a clear film protector.
Price: $6.90US for three colours (not including international shipping)
Comments: Not quite the colour I envision when I think of baby pink, but it is very pretty. The texture of the palette colours seems to be fine.

Trio Colour 2: Cotton Candy
Colour Description: Frosty light pink with a hint of purple. The frost is very shiny and white.
Payoff: I found I had to build this one up quite a bit. I didn't use a primer so I'll report back on that once I have.
Packaging: As a palette it has a window in the top to show what colours are within. there is a mirror on the inside lid. The palettes are in there pretty firmly. It has your run of the mill two sided foam eyeshadow applicator. Does not include a clear film protector.
Price: $6.90US for three colours (not including international shipping)
Comments: This colour seems closer to baby pink to me. The texture of the palette colours seems to be fine.

Trio Colour 3: Spring Flower
Colour Description: Pink with a pinky spearl shimmer.
Payoff: This colour is more pigmented than the other pinks although probably close in pigmentation to Flamingo. I didn't use a primer so I'll report back on that once I have.
Packaging: As a palette it has a window in the top to show what colours are within. there is a mirror on the inside lid. The palettes are in there pretty firmly. It has your run of the mill two sided foam eyeshadow applicator. Does not include a clear film protector.
Price: $6.90US for three colours (not including international shipping)
Comments: This colour is a lot bolder than the other two in the palette, with a more intense colour and payoff. the shimmer is a lot less pronounced on this. The texture of the palette colours seems to be fine.

Blush: Taupe
Colour Description: Matte Brownish grey. Supposedly a dupe for Emote blush by MAC, but I don't have access to that colour so I can't comment.
Payoff: This colour is significantly more pigmented than the eyeshadows. It wasn't too pigmented for contouring and seemed to blend well without being chalky.
Packaging: It is a larger version of the eyeshadow pots with a clear lid to show the colour.
Price: $6US (not including international shipping)
Comments: On my light MAC NW20 skin this colour seems quite natural. It doesn't require much to get a subtle contour going on. There is no shimmer so it doesn't look like you have anything on. If you used a heavy hand you'd easily look dirty though hehe

That's all for today.. I'll try and do a before and after with the eyebrow powders sometime soon.

First Post

2009-08-02T19:48:00.000+10:00

Welcome to my first post!

This is my first foray into blogging so I hope it doesn't suck too much.

I hope to post mostly about makeup and beauty related things.

This blog will include swatches, reviews and anything else I get inspired enough to add.

I hope you enjoy!