Happy Birthday to meeeeee, NOTD, Hello Kitty Swarvoski pen

Damn I've been lazy. Didn't buy anything fancy or new so I didn't have much of an inspiration to post up anything. I'm still trying to finish up whatever make up I have first. Oh wait, I bought lots of nail polish, will post them up in my next post though.

NOTD - Pink with glitter and diamante

Oh! I forgot, I officially became 28 on July 10 this year. Wheee! Went to work as usual and came back home to sulk since Sir Terrible Memory was in Japan on a family holiday. Yes, the lucky boy, got to go Japan again so soon after our last trip. An all expense paid trip inclusive of shopping money. (WTF!!)

I had sleepless nights for the duration of his Japan trip and even had dark eye circles which is rare for me. Luckily a few days of good sleep afterward got rid of it in a jiffy.

These cupcakes were given to us (me and my sister) from our lunch mate who coincidentally birthday fell a day before mine.

But even without Sir TM, my birthday this year was good. My lunch partners organized an outing to a All-you-can-eat Steamboat Restaurant on the 9th. That night, my sister had to roll me out of the door, into the car and home. As usual, my greediness got the better of me and I paid the price. Yes, I work with my sister in the same company but different departments :D

On the 10th, the people in the department I am sitting in banded together to throw me a surprise party. Instead of a cake, they got little cupcakes with everything they knew I love, Chanel hand bag, Chanel lipstick, shoes, dresses etc. made from sugar fondant.

Besides the cupcakes, they also got me this!! OMG!

I was really touched, I ended up crying. I love them to bits but didn't expect anything from them. I would have been happy to just receive the cupcakes.

Later, my colleagues from my department threw another surprise party for me after sending me on a wild goose chase.

Too many cakes in too short a period caused me to put on so much weight I couldn't buckle my jeans anymore. So to end the story, I am now on a diet eating carrot sticks and celery. I am not happy...

P.s: If you are confused, let's just say I work in XX dept. but sits in YY dept, has transferred to VV dept. but still does a bit of XX dept. work while still sitting in YY dept. There!

Elisa got me a Jill Stuart tinted lip balm! Whee! Thank you, Habibi! I'm a little surprised she remembered how much I wanted one. I first saw it when Elyn got Elisa a Jill Stuart lip balm and I drooled - badly.

Still no ring from Sir Terrible Memory but Pinky Doodle Doo gave me four! Hah! Thanks, Pinky Doodle Doo. So far, I have received one from Bunny, four from Pinky and zero from Sir Terrible Memory *waves fist* I'm keeping tabs!

A chunky bracelet from my department head. Thank you!

So how's my birthday look?

Plain.

I manage to meet Bunny from BunnyOnline.com last Sunday and I think even she will be able to tell you that I am very plain looking in real life. I don't have any fancy-smeancy make up or clothes or hair. I'm just the average kinda girl you see everywhere :D

Sir Terrible Memory returned from Japan a day after my birthday and he bought me Hello Kitty stuffs and a Starbucks tumbler as peace offering, Yay!

How.. manly.

I was kinda hoping for the Cherry Blossoms ones but I guess they didn't have that.

Oh happiness! A Swarovski Hello Kitty pen filled with 150 Swarvoski crystals.


A Hello Kitty Eco bag, chocolate biscuits and tissue papers (lol)

Thank you Sir TM for the gifts, I am happy for the gifts but truthfully, I am thankful you came home to me safe and sound. That, is the best gift of all.

A handkerchief from the Hokusai Museum.

Hokusai was a famous wood print artist, believe it or not the image on the handkerchief above is made using a wood print.

NH Colla Plus Collagen Drink, OCC Interlace, NOTD - Gold!

I've always been wanting to try the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars so when a chance came, I happily got Interlace.

Described on the website as the palest peach cream. Truthfully, I'm not too sure if I agree with th description but since I have no words to describe the colour myself, we'll leave it at that.

This is not something new to most readers so I'm not going into great lengths to describe this. A small amount is needed to apply to your lips, sure you can squeeze all you want but too much of this and you'll look like an idiot.

I squeezed the usual amount (compared to other lip glosses) out and applied it to my lips, I had the weirdest pale orange-y shiny lips ever.

It looks fine here but I looked like an idiot in real life; After blotting it a little

While some say the OCC lip tars last for hours and hours, I must be doing something wrong cause mine doesn't last at all. 2 hours or less max and if I don't reapply, I have a weird outer ring on my lips which is not flattering.

Oh well, it's still a very pretty colour and I can't wait to get my hands on other colours and mix them myself.

Thank you Sir Terrible Memory for getting me a bracelet. I love it!

NOTD - Gold!

While shopping in Zara in Japan, I saw this Japanese lady having the bling-est gold nails I have ever seen in my life. Under the soft light of the shop, her nails sparkled and drove me crazy.

Fast forward, I decided to recreate her nails using cheaper alternatives. It was messy, annoying, pain in the *toot* but the effect was worth it.

I used Etude House Gold BR003 as a base then I layered it with Winmax Pedicure Nail Enamal (gold flakes) which I got for RM5 in Daiso.

I think it took me roughly 6 layers of the Winmax gold flakes to cover the entire nail. My mistake was that I didn't wait for the layers to dry. By the 2nd layer I got lazy and that was my downfall. It look a veryyy long time to dry and I kept messing it up.

Up close, it looks messy but from far, it was great. It sure got my a lot of compliments. HA-HA! *puffs out chest for no apparent reason*

Right after I posted up the Inspired Look: Atelier Maquillage I could help but notice my "saggy" cheeks. It bothered me for a while and I wasn't sure what I could do about it besides messaging it and using firming creams. I have a fear of all the 'firming, anti-aging' creams because they tend to be rich and break me out. So it was between having loads of pimples or saggy cheeks. ARGH!

A colleague recommended me NH Colla Plus Collagen drink, at wits end I decided to give it a try. My colleague mentioned that I should buy it in pharmacies because it was selling at RM135 versus Watsons's RM164 for a month's supply.

Yes I look bloody weird with the make up but I putting on my long forgotten RM5 Daiso blusher when I 'rediscovered' my FREE lipstick that was in a horrendous red-ish colour and couldn't resist putting it on.

I'm using RMK liquid foundation in the photo and it's about 13 hours old.

After about 2 weeks, I started seeing improvement to my skin. My pores started shrinking and my skin firmed up.

Boy, was I happy. I'm now on my 2nd box and recommended it to my mom. I was shocked when my mom, halfway through her box has started seeing improvement as well. her frown line is less obvious and her pores has shrunk.

Definitely recommended for anyone who's interested in collagen drinks.

* I am not paid or sponsored by the company in any way. I bought all 3 boxes with my own hard earned money.

Etude House Oh~m'Eye Line, NOTD - Blueberries

NOTD - Blueberries(?)

Saw this design on Youtube and thought it was just so pretty. It seems pretty simple too, a dot her, a dot there, nothing that requires a rocket scientist. Which is a good thing since I definitely ain't one.

I'm not too sure how well it turned out but I sorta liked it. White has always been a nice base to use for any designs but I hate using white. It's hard to get it even and some brands - needs plenty of coats to get it opaque.

An ex-colleague of mine informed me that it was Etude House's 4th year Anniversary - that means sales!! I rushed over as I have been eye-ing their eyeliner for a while now. I saw my ex-colleague using it and she never seem to smudge.

It comes in Brown, Black and Gray. No prize guessing what i bought. The brush is surprisingly easy to handle and it only cost RM19.90. There was a 30% discount so the total price came out to about less than RM14 which is unbelievable.

So how was it? Does it last? Does it smudge? Does it go MIA after 2 hours?

Well, you need about 2 application to get a full even coverage and after that, it last for a good 12 hours without smudging. Seriously.

Today after 12 hours

What if you sweat?

It remains as it is. It does not run. How sure am I? I ran up the stairs to the 5th floor (there is no lift!) a total of 3 times and ran from building to building, sweated like a mad woman and nothing moved. I was wayyyy impressed.

It sort of dries to a slightly rubbery texture and is super easy to wash off. A little make up remover and it balls up into little clumps and doesn't smear even during removing. To my knowledge, it is waterproof as it does not run under water however under water and scrubbing can get it off.

For something that is that cheap, I'm really impressed and this is something that I will definitely rebuy.

Kao Biore Aqua Rich + Giveaway

*sponsored but Ashley's integrity is fully intact

Kao Biore sent me some sunblocks about a month ago and I've been testing it out to make an accurate or at least I hope, an accurate review of it. The sunblocks couldn't have come at a better time since we'll be having the hot season till September.Temperature has been about 34-37 degrees Celsius and the humidity is high. VERY high. The kind of weather that makes you hide at home with the full blast of AC on.

For me I want a sunblock that is - non sticky, not oily, no funky scent, easily absorbed with at least 50 SPF with UVA/UVB protection and most importantly won't have to declare bankruptcy for.

(No funky scent because I once bought a sunblock that smells of coconut. It was nice except that the smell was overwhelming and you can't wear perfume with it in case the smells combine and you end up smelling like a giant, walking, talking mosquito repellent which coincidentally is what I smelt like when I combined my Chanel Chance with one of Benefit's body lotion)

I did not have a good impression of the Kao Biore sunblocks because I found that they left a horrible whitish cast and it's formulation made it thick, hard to spread and needs a good scrubbing to get it off. However this sunblocks converted me.

Biore recently introduced the UV Aqua Rich range - Aqua Rich Watery Essence for face and body (50g) and Aqua Rich Watery Whitening Cream for face (33g).

Out of the two, I started with the Aqua Rich Watery Whitening Cream for face. Its supposed to provide strong protection against UVA/ UVB (I refuse to buy anything that doesn't have UVA/UVB protection) and helps suppress melanin production and prevents age spots. It also contains hyaluronic acid and mix citrus essence as moisturising ingredients. Ideal to be used as a make up base.

The texture of the Watery Whitening Cream was slightly thicker that the other one and glides smoothly on the face. While it's pretty good as a make up base please don't compare it to a MAC Prep + Prime. The main function of this is a sunblock first and a base second.

It absorbs into the skin fast and leaves behind absolutely nothing. No break outs when I used this and no, it didn't make my skin any oilier under my foundation, sweat etc. I was actually quite impressed with it. A colleague of mine with sensitive skin was kind enough to do a patch test for me and after 6 hours, no bumps or itching!

The Aqua Rich Watery Essence for face and body quickly became my favourite sunblock! I mostly use this for the face but I have started using it for my body whenever I wear short sleeves. It's wonderful! The watery compared to the Whitening Cream and absorbs like a dream with no weird sticky, oily feeling that sticks to us when we sweat. No stains on the clothes and no funky smell as well. Whee!

According to the brochure, it contains Aqua Mirco Capsules where UV absorbing ingredients are locks in to provide long last protection against UV rays. It also contains hyaluronic acid and mix citrus essence as moisturising ingredients.

Both sunblocks does not have weird funky smell. A very faint, very subtle barely there smell of typical sunblocks a sort of citrus-y smell. Best part, it doesn't cost a bomb. It cost about RM32.90 each (I spotted Watson having a sale)

Would I recommend this to anyone? Seriously?

I WOULD!!

Would I repurchase?

In a heartbeat

Surprise surprise, I am now officially a fan of the Biore Aqua Rich sunblocks.

GIVEAWAY TIME (many thanks to the Biore Team for making this possible)

If you think it's too good to be true that a sunblock leaves no trace of oiliness or stickiness? Then just enter my giveaway and get a free 15g sample to try!

How?

Be a subscriber/ follower (To be truthful, I'm actually pretty lax. Bah) and answer this no brainer question.

1. What is your favourite Biore product and why?

Leave your email, name and answer and you will be contacted by the Biore Team via email.

Unfortunately, (I hate this part) it's only open to Malaysian residents with valid addresses only.

This giveaway ends on 1 June 2012.

Inspired Look: Leah Dizon (epic fail)

So what do you do when your boyfriend ditches you on a Friday Night to play Magic cards? You self entertain of course!

Firstly, to show off my new and improved cupcakes that I made. Of course, almost everything I do that looks good is usually inedible.

I decided that maybe tonight would be a good night to finally do the Leah Dizon look requested by Lisa from Shop and Chomp *gasp* back in Sept 2011! A thousand apologies, Lisa. And after seeing my take on beautiful Leah, I won't be surprise if you have the urge to throw rotten vegetables at me.

Yes yes.. I, uhh got sidetracked and decided to do a slightly different version of Leah. I mean, seriously, even with any amount of make up, I'll never be able to look anything like Leah. Maybe in my next life.

Not that Lisa wanted to see me as Leah herself but I really got sidetracked. I'm so sorry! Leah looks sweet and innocent in the pictures and I ended up looking like I just want all your money in mine.

Starting with my usual laziness. I have my office make up on. Mac PP Bare Study as base and Blacktrack as eyeliner. My pimples have healed after a damned embarrassing 3 weeks or so. Yay, now it's just Battle of the Scars. Still using Dermadex to clear up everything.

Thank you, Elyn for sms-ing me to tell me your HG anti-pimple lotion.

Cover lid with a light shimmery beige gold, I used Stilla's Wheat. Use dark brown eye shadow to extend pass the .. I hope the picture is kinda self-explanatory cause I just lost for words right now. Strange, that has never happen before. Haa...

This is the part where I sidetrack badly. Because I'm a monolid, thin eyeliners doesn't do any difference to my eyes unless I apply them really thick. Unfortunately, thick became thicker and thicker to the point of no return. Use a pale gold eyeshadow, I used Mac Nylon to lightly brush the inner corner of my eyes and extended the eyeliner.

Because I wanted flawless skin and because I am not born with flawless skin, I decided to use at least 6 inches of foundation to cover every possible flaw that I had. I used my MUFE camouflage cream to "paint" my face silly (just the upper half) and then applied my Bobbi Brown stick foundation of the rest of the face.

Stupid MUFE (KLCC branch), they displayed old, discoloured concealers that was probably there since the beginning of time and stupid me for not checking when the girl handed me the new one. Passed Elisa the concealer and she couldn't use it cause it was too pale for her so no prize who ended up with the concealer. Hell, it was too fair even for me. Couldn't return to make a big fuss since it was a 4 hour ride.

I did a mistake by powdering my face after that, I should have left it alone. Everything caked up like an old expired cake.

Apply NYX round lippie in Orange Soda and Smokey Look lip gloss. Put on extremely hot wig. Hot as in the temperature not the sexy hot kind. Start snapping pictures then realized I forgot the eyelashes. Damn. Remove wig, put on falsies, put on wig.

Close up of eyes. I wish I had money to attend make up courses *sigh* Thank God for YouTube.

Tadaa, went to show Pinky Doodle Doo and she commented I had the "meow mie" (a slang for cat) kinda face so I skipped back to my room and drew some whiskers on.

And I end my Leah Dizon attempt with this...

The return of the pimples!

There has been so many make up looks I wanted to do but everything ended up being put on hold, no thanks to the awful return of the pimples.

Truth be told, this is the worst I had since high school. It was painful, came in truckload and I had new ones every single day. I am used to pimples so for the first two week it didn't bother me too much but after that, I started panicking. I stopped all my 'new' skin care and revert to my sleep-on-the-towel-rather-than-pillow, using dermadex, putting on clay mask every single night, drinking coconut water to cool the body down, frequent washing of face and hair and vitamins. Thankfully a week after the routine and my face has gotten better.

It's not everyday that I get a face full of pimples and better yet, six pimples in a row? That's a new record. The usual is just the 'Orion's Belt' that I can accept but six?! The nursery rhyme kept playing my my head every time I see them;

Mary Mary, quite a contrary, how does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells

And pretty maids all in a row...

It really didn't help with all my colleagues asking me what was wrong with my skin. It was so bad no amount of make up could cover the bumps everywhere. I'm ashamed but I kept peering into my little compact mirror at work tempted to squeeze the beejesus outta them.

The cause of my pimples? Serum, the wrong kind of serum unfortunately. Took me two bloody good weeks to figure out what caused the pimples. I should have noted the fact that my forehead was cleared and only my cheeks and chin was affected (I used the serum mostly on my cheeks and chin and very little on the forehead)

Hopefully, I'll be able to do some EOTD that I miss so much soon and best yet, I have some cool reviews coming up. Sorry for the wait and thank you for commenting in my previous post.