Stuff I do when Bored: Pink and Blue Lips!

Sometimes I get bored and do really dumb things, just because. This post is one of those times. After attempting my pink and blue eye look a la Shiseido Spring, I thought - why not do a pink and blue lip? It also didn't help that at around the same time, Nicki Minaj released her new video for her latest single "Stupid Hoe" - you know, the one that goes "You a Stupid Hoe, You a, You a, Stupid Hoe" (man, music these days...). And she was sporting pink lips, and blue lips, although not quite at the same time. A bunch of stillframes from the video are below, just so you know what I'm talking about:

Source

So I thought, why not learn from a rap star and a makeup promo image, and try something crazy? And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the result of my crazy moment. To make this look, I used my Sleek Pout Paints. The pink was a bunch of shades I mixed together (I used Peachy Keen, Pin Up, Mauve Over, Cloud 9), while the blue was just Peek-a-Bloo straight out of the tube.



After painting my lips in this ridiculous fashion, my next thought was: Oh well, since I already did it, why not just record it for posterity? (Who knows why I did that. Maybe I want to embarrass my future self. Or maybe it was just fun.)



Suffice it to say, I would never ever wear something like that out, and unless you have a reason to, I doubt anyone would really do this either. This was just something fun I thought I'd do, since I've already used the Pout Paints to mix up a bunch of serious shades (the warm rose lip, the coral lip, the mauve rose lip, and the purple lip). So there you are - a bored moment, and lots of fun. Enjoy, if you can.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Keratinology Sneak Peek: Care for Salon-Treated Hair

Keratinology is a haircare brand that is a subsidiary of Sunsilk. Launched in September 2011, the brand specifically targets salon-treated hair. As the name suggests, Keratinology is a combination of the words "keratin" and "technology", and claims to work on the hair from inside-out to prolong hair life after salon treatment. The leave-in conditioner and heat treatment products won a Cosmo Beauty Award, too, so the entire line seems quite promising.

Keratinology has three ranges of product, each targeting different concern for treated hair. Let's start with the first range, which is the Advanced Reconstruction Therapy range. This range claims to help your hair recover one year of damage in five days (yes, one year in five days, I didn't type wrongly!). The range consists of a shampoo, conditioner, spa mask, overnight reconstruction serum, heat protector spray, and a dual treatment shot. The shampoo has apparently received raves from beauty editors, and the spa mask and dual treatment shot are two key products in this range.



The second range is the Korean Bounce Therapy range. As the name suggests, this is a range that is meant to care for curls and maintain their softness and bounciness. There are four products in this range - a shampoo, conditioner, mask and overnight treatment. The much-overlooked shampoo apparently is the most important step for curls and coloured hair. We were told that apparently it does make a difference to how long your hair retains its salon look!



Lastly, there is the Sun-Kissed Therapy, which isn't a tanning session for your hair (ha, ha, not funny, I know), but is a range that is meant to prolong vibrant hair colour. This has three products, namely a shampoo, conditioner, and an overnight treatment. Once again, shampoo is a key part of the haircare regime to prolong treatment.



We were also introduced to an iPhone app, the Keratinogram. The app basically has links to the product commercials and so on, but the really interesting bit about the app is that it shows you the cycle that your hair goes through, which stage your hair is currently at, and what products (Keratinology ones, needless to say) are recommended for your hair in that particular stage of its cycle. You basically start the app, and answer a few questions about the details of your last hair treatment and hair type, and the keratinogram is customized to your hair. It's free, so it's worth a shot - even if you don't plan on buying their products, it's interesting to see the cycle stages that hair goes through.

Screenshot from Appstore

Also, if you're interested, Keratinology is currently having a Facebook contest, with the grand prize being a trip to Korea! The Keratinology Facebook Page has more information on how to enter - it's quite easy though, you just have to upload a photo of yourself with your Keratinology product, and the photo with the most votes wins. The end date is 31 March, so there's still over a month to do it.

And now, for the fun part - random photos! There's me and Kristen, and some really, really bad lighting. The sun was streaming in from the window behind, so we both look pretty dark as a result. Oops.



These are of food - just because deep down inside, I'm an aspiring food photographer. Although my food photography (is that even a proper term?) isn't very great, I have to admit.



I know I should compile the three photos into one single photo. Unfortunately I'm kinda lazy in that aspect, so you'll just have to bear with individual food photos. But that's okay, right? I mean, who doesn't love photos of food?



I have to say, there is a great similarity between taking macro shots of food, and taking macro shots of makeup. The kind of camera angles and approaches towards picture composition is quite similar. Except that food is larger than makeup, so you don't have to squint as much.

.

The Keratinology brand as a whole is rather affordable. Prices range from S$11.90 - S$22.90, and the products are available at Watsons. If you have salon-treated hair, or frequently go to salons to treat your hair, this range would definitely be of interest to you. If you're looking for an affordable yet effective way of caring for your hair, the Keratinology range is definitely worth checking out.

(Product information provided at an event. Opinions are my own. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Valentine's Day Nails with Flowers and Gems!

After my Valentine's Day nails with no pink at all, as well as my Anti-Valentine's Day nails (gasp, I know!), I decided to be nice and do a proper Valentine's Day nails - with a little of my style added, of course. I did do a nail look with flowers and girly colours, but it's also something I would actually wear out, that's not puke inducing (you know, all pastels and stuff).

Basically, for this Valentine's Day nail look, I used Nails Inc Queens Park, a gorgeous deep pinky-purple with a shimmery, almost-metallic-y, duochrome-y finish. I really love this colour, the jewel tone of the shade just makes it so striking, and very gorgeous! I can't think of very many colours I love more than this, and if purple is your thing (as it is mine) you know you HAVE to get this shade, even if it's only sold half the world away.'

On top of Nails Inc Queesn Park, I added some flower stickers, to give that girly touch. And if I were a little bit more normal like most people, I would have been happy to stop there, and it would have been a perfectly fine Valentine's Day manicure for a night out. But nooo, something inside me was crying out for more bling. So I added on some flower-shaped gemstones! So now my nail is so blingy right now. Both the nail art stickers and gemstones were bought from Viva La Nails.



The first thing I did after I had done this nail look of course, was take it to Twitter (if you follow me on Twitter you would have seen this) and Facebook (ditto the friending me on Facebook), to ask professional opinion (by professional I meant "other awesome bloggers and whoever was online then") if I had really over-blinged my nails. Fortunately, noone thought I over-blinged my nails. I guess there's worse out there, for sure, but I don't think I've ever worn so many stickers and gems on my nails at one go...



Anyway, since noone thought my nails were too blingy, I wore them out to work the next day, and to my surprise, the world didn't crumble. So there you have it - my overenthusiastic attempt to add some flowery girliness to my nails! I think, though, next time I wear Queens Park, I'm going to wear it alone. I feel like the colour is stunning enough to deserve a whole mani by itself.

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Vanity Trove: A Box of Surprises Every Month!

Finally, beauty boxes have arrived in Singapore! Vanity Trove has launched, and I'm so excited! For those who have been following beauty news, one of the latest trends are beauty boxes. Services such as Birchbox and Boudoir Prive are extremely popular in the the UK and US, and I have long awaited the arrival of this in Asia. If you're like me, wait no longer - Vanity Trove is in town!



Following the standard beauty box format, Vanity Trove collects a subscription fee for a selection of beauty samples and products that are selected for you every month. The benefit is that you get to try a variety of products every month without having to shell out for full-sized versions. You also get the element of surprise - for a beauty junkie like me, nothing's more fun than getting a box of beauty minis and products - you don't know what's in it, but you just know you're going to like it!

The boxes are gorgeously packaged, in a sleek white large box with a pull-out front that resembles a drawer. I daresay the packaging looks even better than the US and UK beauty boxes! Inside that pull out box, everything is wrapped beautifully in pink paper. If you have a friend who's a beauty junkie but don't exactly know what product to get her, this would also make an awesome gift, with its beautiful packaging and lovely selection of products.



Once you open up the pink paper, this is what you see. Gorgeous, isn't it? Looking at the things inside just gets me all excited - there's a bunch of awesome beauty products stuffed inside this box!

The contents of the Vanity Trove change from month, to month, so there's always a little element of surprise. January's Vanity Trove contains the following products:

1. Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief moisturizer, 15ml
2. Leader's Clinic Face Mask, 1 sheet
3. Olivella Shampoo, 70ml
4. Olivella Conditioner, 70ml
5. YADAH Beauty Pack
6. YADAH Angel Liptint Lip and Cheek Stain in Juicy Red, 3ml




I'm pretty excited, because the YADAH Liptint is a ful-sized product, and so is the Leader's Clinic Face Mask (although they sell them in a box of 10). Being of an economist background (hey, I did major in Economics for my B.A., after all), I decided to do a little bit of math on how much the samples were worth vis-à-vis its $25 price tag. Altogether, the samples came up to a total value of $58! I have to say, I was impressed by this figure - it means you're definitely getting your money's worth for sure!

I haven't had the time to try out all the products yet (come on, you guys don't expect me to give you full reviews of 6 products in one day, right?), but I've reviewed other Leader's Clinic face masks before, and I've found the Leader's Clinic brand to generally be a good one. And Clinique's Moisture Surge is of course one of those tried-and-true, swear-by-it staples, so those are great additions to the box.

Out of the entire box, my favourite item was the Yadah Angel Liptint, which is actually quite similar to Benetint and its many imitators. The Yadah Liptint is slightly different as it's in a gel form, which makes it easier to apply and less prone to spilling. It does seem to stay on, and if you splash water on your face it doesn't smudge, although if you eat an oily meal it will disappear. And it smells like candy! Yum!

If you're looking for a beauty box to subscribe to, and if you're in Singapore or Malaysia, you can definitely check out Vanity Trove. Or if you're looking for the perfect gift for a beauty junkie or a girly-girl, this would also make a great gift. Here's a sign up link for Vanity Trove so you can place your order, or just learn more about Vanity Trove.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. Post has a referral link. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Anti-Valentine's Day Nail Art: Shattered Hearts!

Not everyone loves Valentine's Day. Some don't have a significant other, some don't like the crass commercialization, and some just aren't the type to make a big deal out of things. So, here's my Anti-Valentine's Day nails - shattered hearts!

I figured, since I already paid my dues by having Valentine's Day nails (not once but twice! C.f. my Valentine's Day nails with a touch of spring and my Neon pink and black Valentine's Day nails), why not do an Anti-Valentine's Day mani? I decided to work with the theme of being heartbroken, and decided to have a girly pink base with broken hearts.

The pink base was Orly Rage (I've previously compared Orly Rage and GOSH Frou Frou), a gorgeous opaque, non-streaky and non-brush-strokey pink foil. (Is non-brush-strokey even a word?) The black hearts were made with OPI's Black Shatter, although any black crackle polish would have done too.



In my head, this seemed like a good mani, since shatter polishes naturally crackle, so they lend themselves well to the "shattered hearts" look I was trying to achieve. The hard part was getting them to take the shape of a heart! I tried everything - freehand, tape, self-made stencils using paper and scissors - and nothing worked really well. They just looked like random shapes, not hearts. In the end, I just filled out the heart shapes more fully using my Wet n' Wild Black nail polish.



I don't know if these look anything like hearts to you, but that was probably the best I could do. I liked the concept and the "shattered hearts" idea, but I'm feeling a bit meh about my execution. But still, here's my Anti-Valentine's mani! What do you guys think? Shattered hearts, or just mere blobs?

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Illamasqua Sophie-I Eye Look on my Asian Eye

I've been hearing all the recent buzz about Illamasqua's Sophie-I, an eye look specially created by Illamasqua for their S.O.P.H.I.E charity initiative. This time, they're partnering with one of the most awesomest nail bloggers on the planet, Scrangie, to raise awareness of S.O.P.H.I.E. ("Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere"), named for Sophie Lancaster, a British girl who was beaten to death together with her boyfriend for looking different.

I'm always very supportive of S.O.P.H.I.E.'s cause. The effects of prejudice, intolerance and hatred are more commonplace than ever these days, especially now the internet has opened new aveneues of cyber-bullying, which wouldn't have been available just over two decades ago. Who would have thought that with the advent of the internet, kids would bully other kids til they were driven to the point of suicide? As a blogger (and on occasion also subject to fortunately much milder forms of online bullying as a result - you know, mean tweets, comments, etc), this deeply resonates with me.

Source: Scrangie

So, with that said, I thought to join in on the S.O.P.H.I.E. awareness-raising and commemoration, I thought I'd do a post featuring the Sophie-I look (seen in the above promo photo), as worn by me. The eye look was kind of difficult for me to do, becuase I don't really have that kind of lid space or eye contours to play with (blame that on my tiny puny Asian eyes), but I tried to sort of adapt it, with mixed results. Here's how the Illamasqua Sophie-I looked on me:

To make this look, I didn't use any Illamasqua products - I mean, you really only need black eyeliner and black eyeshadow. I used Stila Ebony for the eyeshadow, and for the eyeliner pencil, I just a random Wet n' Wild i-Shimmer one I had lying around. Turned out, (as you may have guessed from the name), the Wet n' Wild eyeliner had glitter, which made the entire look shimmery black, instead of matte black as I intended. Oops. For the skintone eyeshadow, I used Stila Chinois, a matte eggshell shade.

Anyway, if you want to follow the instructions Illamasqua has to re-create the Sophie-I look, they're up on Scrangie'ssite. There's a link to a video tutorial, as well as a step-by-step picture tutorial too, although this tutorial was taken from Source: Nihrida, who also has her version of the look up (and it's hawt on her).

Source: Nihrida

I kind of wish I had defined the cut crease a little bit more, but in my eagerness to remove any harsh lines, I think I may have overblended. Also, in the instructions, they recommended that the eyeliner be flicked up, which looked a little over-crowded on my already tiny eyes, so I rubbed it off.



Another thing I noticed was that although the instructions given by Illamasqua didn't mention eyeliner on the lower lashline, the model is actually having black eyeliner that's flicked out at the inner corner of the eye. I didn't do this, because it would have been a tad too unwearable for me, but I like how it really looks like in the promo pic. For me, I just smudged some black eyeshadow along my lower lashline, and called it a day.



My own apprehensiveness aside, I actually quite liked this look. Sure, it's daring, and I don't think I'd actually dare to wear it out, but it has this certain high fashion, runway-like feel about it. It's the kind of eye look I could imagine models wearing down a runway. It looks very striking, if nothing else, due to the stark definition created by the black eyeshadow against a pale base. I do quite like the look, it's bold and unique, a very dare-to-be-different look.

So anyway, that's my version of the Illamasqua Sophie-I look. RIP Sophie. A life may end, but a strong soul will never be forgotten.

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Valentine's Day Nail Art with a Spring Twist!

Valentine's Day is drawing near, and so is Spring! After my Valentine's Day Candy Hearts eye look, I decided to do some Valentine's Day nails! I wanted something that was Valentine's Day, but still on-trend for Spring, and not all drenched in pastel pink and flowers (shudder). And I wanted something that was me.

So I incorporated all of these elements into my Springy Valentine's Day nail art! I used a popular colour for Spring 2012, mint, as a base, and I gave it a little Valentine's lovin' with the yellow hearts. And of course, I made it me with the addition of gold glitter!

For the base, I used Nails Inc Spring Mews, a gorgeous mint green creme that was opaque in two coats. This little baby was put up for adoption by her first owner, and when I adopted her, she was in a really bad shape, all dried up and crusty. I had to nurse her back to health with some nail polish thinner, and now she's good as new. Then, I added some gold glitter near the tips, using less towards the end. And lastly, I added the cute little hearts!



I really like this nail look - it's sufficiently girly without being too much, it's sufficiently Valentine's without being nauseating, it's sufficiently Springy without being a slave to trends, and it's got bling! All my favourite things. The only thing is, I feel like I didn't do the glitter gradient as well as I would have liked. Loose glitter can be hard to work with.



That's my take on Valentine's Day nail art. Fresh, springy girliness! I'm still feeling inspired, so you'll be seeing more nail looks themed around Valentine's Day, but with a twist - you can bet, they're not going to be pastel pink flowers!

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Valentine's Day Candy Hearts Inspired Eye Look

Valentine's Day is coming, and that's great reason to get a little more creative with an eye look! This year, I felt inspired by Sweethearts - the absolutely adorable conversation candy hearts that are a mainstay of every Valentine's Day!

After last year's hot pink and purple Valentine's Day eye look, I decided that this year, I wanted to do pastels. But I didn't want to do sweet girly, on-a-date type pastel pink eye. So, instead, this was my inspiration:

Source

And this is the look. For this look, I was trying to fit as many Sweethearts colours onto my eyelid without running out of space, LOL! I was thinking of pastels with a pop. I hope I succeeded.

For this look, I used the pink and yellow shades from my BeautyUK Day and Night Palette, the light purple shade from my Superdrug MUA Eyeshadow Trio in Passion, and the green from the Superdrug MUA eXtreme Metallics Quad in Starstruck. All done with budget beauty products - another yay in my book.



I was trying to get the right type of shades so that it would be pastel but still vibrant - after all, nothing's quite as gross as overblended muddied up pastels. So I ended up with a sort of pastel rainbow, which I hope wasn't overblended or underblended. Well, when you have as little lid space as me, it's a challenge fitting more than three colours in an eye look!



The BeautyUK Day and Night Palette (which I've reviewed before) had good pigmentation and texture, and so did the Superdrug MUA Eyeshadow Trio (I've reviewed a Superdrug MUA Eyeshadow Trio before too, only in a different shade). The only one with a slightly odd texture was the Superdrug MUA eXtreme Metallics Quad, which was a little more powdery. You'd have to use it foiled to get the full metallic effect. I didn't for this look though, because I wanted it to look pastel.



Anyway that's my Valentine's Day inspired eye look! I don't recommend anyone actually wearing this out for a date (unless a pastel rainbow is your kind of thing), but this was just something I did for fun.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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a-England King Arthur v Ciate Velvet Tuxedo: Comparison

It's dupe comparison time! In a previous post, I wrote about a-England King Arthur, a gorgeous gunmetal grey. I thought it looked similar to Ciate's Velvet Tuxedo, so I decided to do a comparison to see if these were dupes or not.

In the bottle, both look quite similar. Both are deep gunmemtal greys with shimmer in them. My Ciate bottle used to have a cute ribbon on it (I actually have a super old NOTD and a bottle pic of Ciate Velvet Tuxedo on the blog - it's super old, so look at your own risk). But over time the ribbon came off, so now I have a ribbon-less Ciate bottle. No cute ribbon...it actually makes me a little sad.



Here's a swatch picture of the two in natural light. You can't really see it in the photo, but Ciate Velvet Tuxedo is actually a shade darker than a-England King Arthur. It's not a big difference, so for some reason the camera didn't pick up on it. The shimmer is the same in both colours, though.

L-R: a-England King Arthur, Ciate Velvet Tuxedo, a-England King Arthur, Ciate Velvet Tuxedo

Below is another swatch picture, this time in more shaded lighting conditions. You can see the shade difference a little bit more clearly here. The Ciate shade is a shade darker than the a-England shade, but otherwise, both are quite similar.



L-R: a-England King Arthur, Ciate Velvet Tuxedo, a-England King Arthur, Ciate Velvet Tuxedo

So, the final verdict - do you need both? To be honest, I feel like they are both quite similar. I'd get a-England King Arthur over Ciate Velvet Tuxedo, just because it's lighter and thus looks a little more grey and less black, especially in lowlights. But unless you wore the two side-by-side and looked closely at them, it's easy to think they're the same colour.

(a-England product was sent for review. All other products were bought. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

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Spring Pink and Green Eye Look (and a tad of Aqua)

Spring isn't technically here yet, but I keep seeing all these gorgeous promo photos and ads for the upcoming Spring collections that I'm in a Springy mood - hence today's EOTD (Eye of the Day)!

I used three shades for this Spring-inspired look. The pink shade the pink from my BeautyUK Day and Night Eyeshadow Palette, the aqua shade (Blue Hawaiian) from Sleek Curacao Palette, and the deep green shade (Green Iguana) also from the Curacao Palette. The photo below shows which shades I used.



For this look, I was thinking of spring flowers and their leaves...pink and green. Very girly, springy, and romantic even! Like Valentine's Day came early! And I snuck in a little aqua in there because it's just such a fresh colour, you know? Also, aqua shades happen to be pretty on-trend for this spring season. I used the pink shade on my inner lid, the aqua in the middle, and the deep green on the contour and outer V area.



Blending and pigmentation of all the shades was good. I'm starting to think that Sleek and BeautyUK are two really value-for-money drugstore brands. I've never met a Sleek palette that sucked (then again, I don't have every single palette), and the BeautyUK palettes are pretty darn good, too.



I really like this look, it's really pretty and feminine, while still being really fresh looking. I'm totally thinking I could pair this eye look with China Glaze For Audrey on my nails, since both have a springy sort of aqua in them. I kind of like how the look adds a pop of colour, while still giving off an overall girly vibe. Perfect for Spring!

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