All The Things I Can't Live Without...

I've known this online shop for a while now, due to several posts from Verlyn, and they really do sell their asian cosmetics and face masks very cheaply! Plus, it's a super easy site to use and their customer service is VERY good. Frequent updates, quick processing and good mailing service makes me a very satisfied customer indeed!

Click here to browse the website --> Secretive.sg

So here's what I got; I didn't buy much, cos I'm still scrimping on money for my exchange trip.

On the left is Lioele's Real Crystal Foundation in "Shade 2", on the right is Lioele's Water Drop BB Cream and at the bottom is Lioele's 3D Enamel Lip Gloss in #1 Tangerine Peach.

Yeah, you can guess from the purchase that I'm quite a fan of the brand.

It started with me buying their Water Drop BB Cream last year to try, and I've gotten tons of compliments on my skin whenever I've worn the BB cream out. Hence, it's my Holy Grail foundation. My current tube lasted me slightly over a year; I recently realized it was running out and it sent me into panic mode! Then I realized John Little stopped stocking Lioele (WTF! Shhhh*****ttttt), so I was desperately trying to buy a back-up, when Secretive.sg notified me they had restocked this BB cream in their inventory!

YES! Score! Lucky me...

... and I got it at S$11.40 only. Look at the original price! A year back, I got mine at S$28++ at John Little, due to some discounts and rebates. This year, the price I got it off Secretive.sg can't be beat, I tell ya'. I think Sasa and John Little stopped stocking Lioele though. *is sad*

I was browsing through the website looking for things to buy, when I spotted this and bought it since it was only going for S$5.00.

No harm trying a new foundation, and it was so heavily discounted too.

Here are swatches of the two face products:

The BB cream still is a little light on me, so I mix in a few drops of my darker tinted moisturizer to correct the shade. I really dislike having a mismatching face and neck/body. Even if it's only a slight discrepancy. It's one of those pet peeves of mine I simply can't stand and I feel like telling women off whenever I see their faces like that. Come on, people! Don't go out when you're two-toned and all, PLEASE.

The foundation, however, I found a little too dark for me. You can see in the swatch it's a bit too orangey. To solve the problem, I only need to mix in a bit of my lighter BB cream or my Bourjois foundation in No. 52.

Here's the 3D Enamel lip gloss I got. I super super adore the packaging, holographic awesomeness!

The wand is reminiscent of the Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lip Color wand - both are rectangular in shape and flat on one side. The only difference is that the Bare Mineral's wand is more flexible and you can bend it to your lip's contour. Lioele's is a lot stiffer.

Swatch of the pretty lip gloss for you! It's a bright neon orange, me loves~

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Anyway, I tried wearing the Real Crystal Foundation out the next day. Here's out I look with it on:

Texture-wise, it sets to a slightly tacky-dry feel but its finish is dewy. It's an interesting combi. Coverage is medium, I'd say. Better than the Lioele Water Drop BB cream and Bourjois' Healthy Mix Foundation. It's waterproof, cos I had to use the bi-phase makeup remover to get it off my fingers. And it also has an SPF of 10.

My face doesn't really get oily but you can see the slight oil sheen here. That's the foundation settling into my nose crevices. I also noticed it becoming cakey around my larger pores at my nose and lip area.

But I kinda resolved the problem. Solution: Use a foundation or stippling brush to apply the foundation. I used my fingers here to apply, which gave me a heavier coverage and made my nose area cakey. Using a stippling brush gives a much lighter and natural coverage! Wonders!

Strangely enough, the foundation still looks a little lighter than my normal skin tone. Given that I did mix in some of my BB cream, but... I shall try it neat one day. See how it goes. :)

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Last but not least, My Beauty Diary face masks bargain!! Omg, I got this box of 5 Moroccan Rose masks for S$4.90 only! That's less than S$1 a piece. I bought it a week back at Guardian pharmacy, don't know if there's still stock left or not.

According to my very noob understanding of mandarin, I think this mask is for moisturizing and hydration purposes..?

Should be lah. And it's not bad too, cos I've already used 2 pieces. I'm currently very into maintaining my face, as the date to my exchange trip and the 22-hour flight draws closer. I don't want to break out there, or even on the way there.

Ha ha, one of my first draggy posts these few days! So happy to regurgitate everything out. :3 Hope you guys enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it!

I haven't been spending much lately as I was saving up for an iPhone. Plus no pocket money during the holidays = even less spending power.

But things have come around! First up, I've finally gotten my iPhone 2 days back (after waiting for half a year). It's an indispensable device to me, cos I love my music and I love my apps. :) And, I've started receiving pocket money again, yay! Plus, I've sold a whole bunch of pineapple tarts (pity I didn't a pic of them, cos I made a whole mountain load!) so I've gotten some extra spending money.

Ohh, and Chinese New Year is just tomorrow...which means ang bao!

So I went to get the 2 items that I've been eyeing for the past month and finally justified buying (come on, they're necessities!).

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Item #1, liquid eyeliner! This is the Wink Up Essence-In Pen Eyeliner. I had to get a replacement after using my Silkygirl Precision liner for more than a year (and it finally dried out).

They claimed that Hyaluronic Acid, Collagen and Pantothenic Acid has been added to strengthen the lashes and the skin around the area... but how effective is that gonna be when the substances are the last 3 ingredients in the ingredients list??? *is skeptical*

But I'm definitely digging the sleek red packaging and the fine brush tip!

Time to test!

As you can see, the fine tip really allows precised and thin lines to be drawn. I could feather out the lashes singly in the eye pic that I drew. And more pressure can be applied to get a thicker line ala Pikachu~

This eyeliner is water-resistant and quite stubborn to smudging when you rub against it. However, I've only used it twice so I can't say much about its waterproof or lasting properties. But so far so good (and that's a plus cos I'm an extremely picky person)!

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Item #2, a new foundation! This is the Bourjois "smell-so-good-I-wanna-eat-it" Healthy Mix Foundation.

Here's the pump and I got it in Shade 52, Vanilla.

I was quite excited to get it cos this would be my very first foundation, giving that all I've been using thus far are BB creams and tinted moisturizers. It's true, I really feel like slathering some on my tongue every time I apply it onto my face - it smells so refreshingly intoxicating!

Coverage is about light to medium; it's light and moisturizing; the finish is dewy but it sets to a semi-powdery finish. I've only worn it once, so I can't attest to its "16 Hour" claim and I don't know how it does in sweltering weather yet. We shall see, but for now, I'm really satisfied with it.

Here are the pics of the foundation after 6 hours of wear, when I test drove it yesterday.

(I didn't toggle with any picture settings this time, maybe only brighten the pic a bit as it was night time when I took the pics and the room was kinda dim. What you see is how it looked on my face.)

In normal room lighting:

Dewy..but not oily. The shine at my cheeks is partly due to my MSF which I used to highlight. But my nose and the area around it does tend to get a bit oilier than the other places.

With flash:

So that's that for now, I'm really excited to wear the foundation out to visitations during CNY!

Here's wishing everyone and your families a HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! It's time to get hoppin' (Year of the Rabbit) and hope everyone eats lots of barbeque meat and pineapple tarts!

P.S. Super excited at what looks I'm gonna be doing this CNY. Last year with makeup was fun~~~