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

A thousand apologies for being MIA for so long, lovely people! I've been busy visiting places, eating, shopping, then getting from New York to Canada and finally settling down for school here in Montreal.

I've been away from home for.. hmm, almost a month now. Things are awesome here, Montreal is a lovely place to be in! Of course I found the time to upload loads of pictures onto my FaceBook, but I guess only the onsugarettes who are on my friend list can vew them. I'll try posting the FB link on a separate post later.

Without further ado, let's show you all what I bought while I was in the Big Apple for 1 week!

Yeah, that's all the stuff and I crammed it all in that Sephora carrier. It may not look a lot, but it burnt a big hole in my wallet!

First up, mascaras!

I bought all the mascaras that I've heard so much hype about and isn't available in SG. From left to right, that's the Maybelline One By One, The Falsies Flared and 2 Covergirl Lashblast. The mascaras averaged about US$7-8 each, which isn't expensive considering how much mascaras cost in SG.

Then I got some Milani stuff!

Actually I wanted to get way more, but I either couldn't find the items I wanted or the lack of money in my wallet prevented me from doing so. I got 3 of their baked blushes (Luminoso, Rose D'oro and Bellissimo Bronze) and 1 Liquif'eye liner in "Black" (ha ha, how predictable!).

My Wet N Wild purchases more than made up for my inadequate loot on Milani. I went crazy on the brand!

Aside from that single gel eyeliner, which I've heard SOOO many good things about, the rest are their eyeshadows.

I got 3 trios, which only differ by a bit given the fact that they belong to the same colour family; it is practical for me to buy these though, since these are the colours I will reach out for more frequently.

And I managed to fulfill my aim of getting a "Comfort Zone" back-up! Together with the "Blue Had Me At Hello" and the two famous 6-pan palettes, "Vanity" and "Lust". I'm still aiming to get the "Petal Pusher" palette though, maybe when I return to New York in December...

Then along came my Sephora haul. Seriously, I spent money like I drink water when I'm in the Sephora's in USA, seeing how I don't purchase much from our local branches.

Another mission accomplished, and that it getting my Naked palette (like finally)! I was at Times Square's Sephora on the day they launched the Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV, and I was this close to getting it...but after seeing how much I had left in my wallet, I decided to be practical (come on, the colours weren't that fantastic; the packaging the shadows were in were another story though).

I bought the sample set of liquid tints from Benefit, a travel size tube of Laura Mercier's tinted moisturizer and a makeup set from LORAC, which came like this (but I threw the packaging away):

The set includes a baked eyeshadow trio which I love using (the quality and pigmentation is simply amazing), a mascara (3D lashes or something), a marker type liquid eyeliner which I also adore (it's even better than the Japanese one that I own, quality is fantastic), a blush (beautiful matte mauve shade) and a lipgloss. All for US$39, super reasonable can?

Aside from that, I got my first MAC fluidline from New York too. It's in the shade "Avenue" from the MAC Me Over collection that recently launched.

I was still in NYC when it launched so I popped by a MAC boutique and swatched all the goodies from the collection. I was really tempted to get one of the lipsticks and the much-hyped-about "Stunner" blush... but nah! Budget budget!!! This gel liner was US$16~ after taxes btw, which is so much cheaper than the price in SG.

I got some necessities too, nothing much to say about these items. There's the teeth bleaching gel, Mario Badescu's silver powder (freaking cheap here in the states), a bottle of Seche Vite and a small tube of Queen Helene's Mint Julep mask to try.

Last but not least, how can I not try Lush when there are so many Lush shops here?

So I got me some "Big" shampoo and some "Porridge" bar soap. The friendly sales girl threw in a sample of the "Veganese" hair conditioner for me to try out with the shampoo, good customer service I must say!

So that's my haul from New York. Don't fret, I bought even more cosmetics here in Canada! I'll be sharing them with you guys soon. Also, I'll be tryin out the FB photobook links, not sure if they will work here. It's better to view them via FB cos there's so many pictures, it's impossible for me to upload them onto Onsugar, ha ha!

Anyway, thanks for reading, you guys take care in SG! I'll write again soon~

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!

Okay, I admit it's not a huge haul, but there weren't many items that caught my attention for this collection. I told myself to pick up something from it as I had a $50 MAC voucher to use.

So I got the mineralized blush in "Warmth of Coral" and the lustre lipstick in "Gem of Roses".

"Warmth of Coral" has this really nice marbling of pink and brown with an orangey base. Plus, the blush is so finely milled and silky to the touch. It's nicely pigmented too, not powdery at all.

And "Gem of Roses" looks oddly familiar no?

Why? Tell you in a minute, here are swatches of the two products first. "WoC" on the left and "GoR" on the right.

Here's a comparison to the other coral-orange blushes I own, and to a total "GoR" dupe!

Yes! "GoR" is soooo similar to MAC's "Fanfare" lipstick!!! Oh mai gawd!

Just that with "Fanfare" being a cremesheen, it's more opaque and stickier, whereas "GoR" is just slightly sheerer and thinner in consistancy. If you look closely, 'Fanfare" is also a tiny bit more pink, while "GoR" is more reddish. But seriously, both of them look the same on my lips. -___-

The only good thing about getting "GoR"  was that I liked how it went on sheerer on my lips, with it being a lustre. I'm still hesitant about  wearing "Fanfare" out sometimes, as I find it's too bright. But with "GoR", it's definitely more wearable for me! Plus, I've had a more than a few people complimenting on the lip colour when I wore it during work, so I can be sure it's a good colour for me. Doesn't hurt to have two tubes of the similar colour then, I guess.

But I'm really satisfied with "WoC", cos I own nothing like that in my small collection of cosmetics. Both "Peachy Keen" and "Stereo Rose" look quite different from "WoC". Also, I absolutely love its bright pure orange colour and it having a matte finish!

See the difference in the sheen? "Stereo Rose" is the most shimmery, "WoC" is matte while "Peachy Keen" is in the middle.

You're probably surprised at why I didn't pick up any MSF despite declaring my undying love and devotion to them. I really wanted to pick up the MSF in "Pearl", but somehow the MAC counters didn't bring them into SG! ARGH! I checked the MAC outlets at Tangs, Ion Orchard and Ngee Ann City and "Pearl" was sadly MIA. The other MSFs I felt were too glittery and the colours were just meh.

Anyway, thanks for viewing this 'haul' post, I'll be posting up some LOTDs in which I wore "WoC". I'm really looking forward to MAC's "MAC Me Over" collection in late August - September though; I'm currently eyeing a few of the lipstick, paint pots and gel liners. I may get my grubby hands on them if I'm still in New York! Stay tuned!!

By now, if you've been a loyal reader of my blog, you'd know that I take bi-annual trips into Malaysia for holidays. And this time is no different. Before the trip starts, I'll always roughly plan what items I want to get there, just because makeup, nail polishes and a whole ton of stuff are so cheap there.

So here's what I bought this time:

Not a lot huh? Hah, that's because I spent a day and night in one of the highlands, where there's no shopping and only scenery. Which was really relaxing, I'll show you guys in the next post.

But my target items this time was:

1) Cleansing oil = got it!

2) Rimmel lipsticks = got only one, but still got it!

3) Keeping to my nail polish ban...which I obviously failed. But I have a valid reason, you'll see in a while!

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So first up, I dutifully got my cleansing oil. I was looking for one that was affordable, since this is my first time trying the stuff out, and this Biore one costs RM$17.50 only! It retails for $12-14+ in SG I believe, but I got it for half the price. *thumbs up* And I got the Sunkiller BB Perfect Strong sunscreen on a wimp, just because it's not available in SG and I'm forever looking for a HG sunscreen. This costs RM$33, if I remember correctly.

Here's the product description on the back of the packaging.

I like it that the fluid is very lightweight and yet, it isn't mostly made up of alcohol (which a lot of Japanese lightweight sunscreens are). And of course, how they tell you how much to use each time and how many applications the bottle can last, ha ha!

Then I also dutifully got myself a Rimmel lipstick, in the shade "Undressed".

I wanted to really haul on the lipsticks but after swatching all the shades, I only really liked this colour. It's really cheap in Malaysia (RM$17), but maybe the colour selection wasn't all that fantastic. Many shades were frosty, which I don't like.

Then, lo and behold, I discovered essence cosmetics in a Watsons at Sungei Wang, KL! If you guys haven't heard of the brand, it's a budget cosmetics brand in UK (like really budget, everything only costs 1-2 pounds there). Quite elusive in Asia I think, cause this is the first time I've seen it in Malaysia despite holidaying there every year.

I grabbed 2 eyeliners and 2 lip liners. The skin-toned one is a Stila kajal liner rip-off, the shade "Almost Famous" in the Long Lasting eye pencil range (RM$7); the white one is a pearly, shimmery white pencil called "White Divine" in the Metallic range (RM$8); and the bottom 2 are the lip liners in "Nude Coral" and "Red Blush" (RM$6 each). All 4 pencils are made in Germany, the land of both branded and budget eyeliners.

I've always wanted a shimmery skin-toned eyeliner to get that wide-eyed look, and the white metallic one reminded me of the Lancome eyeliner that Michelle Phan always uses in her videos for her brow bone and inner corners of her eyes, so I grabbed them both. And they're so affordable too! Also, I've been meaning to get a red lip liner to do a bold red lip, so in goes the 2 lip liners (corals and peach are always my colour weakness).

Here's a swatch of all the products mentioned so far:

On the top and bottom most left is the Sunkiller Perfect Strong BB, both unblended and blended out. This gives a good amount of coverage, isn't too pale or pink-toned and it sets to a matte, powdery finish. Next to that is the Rimmel lipstick swatch, a nice neutral lip colour. Then comes the lip liners in "Red Blush" and "Nude Coral", and the eyeliners in "White Divine" and "Almost Famous".

You can see the skin-toned long lasting eyeliner still sticks stubbornly to my skin despite me having wiped everything else off. Not bad!

And then I saw these. These things that made me break my perfect 6-month polish ban record!

It's because they're so special and so cheap, no one can resist them! The bronzy one was RM$10, while the other two were RM$7 each.

The polish on the left is "No. 43, Where Is The Party?" and it's a beautiful purple-green duochrome! I'm not sure if it's visible in the picture, but the sides of the bottle always shines green, then graduating into a slight murky yellow and finally a deep purple. It is amazing. The polish on the right is "No. 38, Choose Me!" (and yeah, I did choose you) and it's a dead-on dupe of OPI's "Catch Me In Your Net". Who can resist that beautiful blue-green with gold sparkles?

Now this one you've gotta see, magnetic nail polish!

Yeah, I bought the little magnet that you're suppose to use it with, which I shouldn't have cause it's quite weak. But zomg, the polish! The shade is "No. 02, Copper Rulez!", and it's a gorgeous bronzy, brown shade with golden and copper sparkles! And apparently iron too, cause it totally creates the designs you see in that little pamphlet.

Nail polish swatches~

(Zomwidqqbidubsvfffff at that teal polish with that sick gold sheen!)

You can see the waves of brown-black in that magnetic bronze polish, those are caused by holding the magnet above the wet polish for about 30 seconds.

And of course the duochrome polish, which always never fails to make me stare at my nails 24/7 and make me look like an idiot.

See, told you I had a valid reason for getting these!

Last of my haul, clothes finally. The grey cardigan costs only RM$25 and the 2800 Denier leggings only RM$17 (dead cheap or what?). Both are for my coming trip to New York and Canada, where I'm positive that I'll be freezing my butt off.

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Last but not least, I wanted to get a full mani-pedi done but by the time I got to Times Square, it was already late and most of the nail shops were closing. In the end, I only did the pedicure (for only RM$40) and this is the polish I chose for my troll toes!

Ha ha ha, so unlike me right? So purple and pink and girly! But I wanted this as it's an ORLY duochrome (and again, yes, duochromes did me in).

I don't know the shade, but I was totally suckered in by the golden sheen of the polish, when light hits it at certain angles.

I shall end this post with a shout-out:

Did you know that Max Factor can be found in KL?

I didn't know that at all and I was dumbfounded when I saw the counter in Sungei Wang's Parkson Grand. I played with a few of their products, like the foundation and mascaras, but they didn't display the price and there wasn't a sales assistant nearby so I just walked off after that. So now you know, if you desperately want to get Max Factor makeup, you can always head to Malaysia!

Hope you enjoyed reading this haul post (it's been quite a while since I did one), thanks for dropping by!

Warning: Image heavy. This post is going to be crammed to the brim with pictures of me and my idiotic grinning face. If you are adverse to seeing more than 3 pictures of me, please refrain from reading this post. You have been warned. Thank you. :}

The story begins with me and my current obsessive phase with coral lipsticks, and Diana's post on the Stage Cosmetics sale that was going on at Bugis. So I made my way down hurriedly the next day, in fear that all the good lipstick colours were all sold out, but lucky me! There were still quite a lot of lipsticks left, and the colours that I was eyeing is still in stock!

So I grabbed 4, 2 Wonderlusts and 2 Wonderluxes, for S$18 in total. How. Friggin. Cheap. Is. That.  *big stupid grin plastered on my face*

Yep, the 2 Wonderlusts are Julia and Sarah, while the 2 Wonderluxe are Candid Coral and Apricot Angel. Here are the hand swatches, in the mentioned order:

Ha ha, they all look the same don't they? Yeah, you can probably tell how crazed I am, currently, over coral lipsticks (so crazy that I had to get 4 similar shades?!). But there are subtle differences between them, maybe it'll be more pronounced in the lip swatches.

Anyway, here are my naked lips, just for comparison's sake. I have quite pigmented lips, so nudes or lighter lip colours tend to work against me. =/

Lipstick #1

Though it's sheerer due to its moisturizing character of being a Wonderlust, Julia is still quite a vivid coral-orange with a nice creamy texture.There's no glitter/shimmer and the colour is definitely buildable, as seen below.

Lipstick #2

Ahh, Sarah is definitely sheerer and just a tad brighter and more pinky than Julia. It also has some glitter in it, hence the texture is not as creamy as Julia. But the colour is also buildable and it instantly perks up your (or in this case, my) face.

Can see the glitter on the tissue?

Lipstick #3

Now being a Wonderluxe means that both Candid Coral and Apricot Angel are significantly drier than the Wonderlust lippies, but personally, I can tolerate the texture and it's not as bad as the Revlon Matte lipsticks (those suck the moisture out of my lip skin cells). As long as you prep your lips, it should be ok. And Candid Coral is such a pretty matte coral-ly shade!

Lipstick #4

Apricot Angel is the kind of pink lipstick that I would go for. Baby pinks and mauves just don't look right on me, and I love how this lipstick looks like the perfect in between of coral and pink.

(A rare grim, emo face for you?)

(Ha ha, I guess not! :p)

But if you're thinking of wearing the Wonderluxe and they're still too drying, you can always smooth over a layer of lip gloss/ lip balm and they instantly feel so comfortable on your lips! No more dryness, serious! Here, I applied on my L'oreal HIP lip balm in "Savoury" and it turned the matte lipsticks into such nice glossy ones.

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Heh heh, hope you enjoyed the pic spam of my face! So many right, sick of my mug shots already? No choice, have to do it since it's lip swatches and I think it's better to give full-face views to better judge the colour.

I'm not sure if the Stage sale is still on (or even if Stage is still around), but if you can get your hands on these cheap babies, definitely go grab some! They're just too good to pass up! Thanks for viewing anyways, take care people!

Ha ha, my haul posts were badly missed right? :D

Lol, nah, just kidding. It's really been a long time since I've last posted a haul entry. A few reasons, one being the thrifty person that I am, another being that I don't need anything at the moment (have waaayyy too much makeup to finish up) and thirdly because I've been so plugged with school work that I didn't even time to go shopping. T__T

Ahh well, but that means I've saved up quite a bit of money and I've finally made some purchases! First up, I went to the John Little expo sale (which is still on until this weekend) and I got a few necessities from there.

I've tried a sample of it, and it's amazing stuff! I tried deciphering out what made it work so well at exfoliating our skin by looking at the ingredients (AHA, BHA???) but there's nothing like that inside at all. It's just...water, lots of silicon and a whole bunch of extracts. I mean, how does water, silicon and extracts exfoliate our skin?!? Mind-boggling, but I'm content for now at how well it works.

Next, the La Senza bras there were a steal at 3 for S$30, so I couldn't resist getting them.

Fancy designs, but I shall spare you all the sight of my bra cups. :P

Then, I finally got the EOS lenses which I had order 3 months back. The seller took friggin' long to place the order and mail them out. -___- Luckily she apologized for all the trouble, and wasn't stuck-up and all that.

I got 2 pairs for S$32 I think (or was it S$30..?). The flower series in blue on the left, and the neon design in brown on the right. I'm soooo excited to try the brown ones, cos they look stunning! It's almost vampire-like, the colour.

I've been wearing GEO lenses and they're ok; sometimes they're comfortable, sometimes they just get manufacturing defects (I kinda think their QC isn't very good) and they feel scratchy. So I want to try out if the EOS brand feels more comfy and if their QC is better. We shall see, I can't really wear lenses now cos I get headaches when I wear them to lectures.

Last but not least, I got this from Under-Twenty! Was super excited when I saw the package on my table!

Ha ha, Ng Li, if you're reading this, you know who was it who got this palette from you! xD

A while back, she (the owner of Under-Twenty) put up a shout-out to anyone who wanted to purchase palettes which got damaged during shipping, and I jumped on the chance to get this Wet N Wild "Comfort Zone" palette.  She was selling it so cheaply at S$8.00, I had to have it even if the top right pan had all its eyeshadow knocked out already.

The colours are so gorgeous, and pigmented and soft! I'm going to be reviewing the palette a bit more in the next post, along with swatches and LOTDS that I've done with it. So stay tuned! But for now, thanks for reading this post. :)

Revealing all the NYX lipglosses that I've gotten in my last Cherryculture haul when they were having 20% off!

From left to right: Mega shine lipglosses in "Candy Shop", "Cosmo", "Plush Red" and "Vixen". Last one is the Round Lipgloss in "Vamp Red".

Given my 'thrifty' nature, this is actually the most number of lipglosses I've bought at one shot, and it all started with me lusting after MAC's Venomous Villains "Wrong Spell" lipgloss. I've had these for about a month already and I've been testing/playing around with them. Ha ha, it's lots of fun colouring my lips with all these dark colours; too bad I can't wear them out in SG.

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Swatches of the glosses on my hand:

Left to right: Candy Shop, Plush Red, Vixen, Vamp Red (round lipgloss) and Cosmo. The shimmer-free swatch on the top right is of my first NYX Mega Shine lipgloss that I got in "Natural".

Here are the lip swatches:

1) Candy Shop

This lipgloss is the least pigmented out of all the NYX lipglosses I got. The rest are kinda like liquid lipsticks but "Candy Shop" has got a very nice sheer wash of pink colour with enough shimmer and shine.

Please excuse the screwed-up labels in the following images, I don't know what went wrong with the editing programme. But the top left pic is of my naked lips, the bottom left is with the lip gloss and the right pic is pretty self-explanatory. :)

2) Plush Red

I really like Plush Red a lot; it's the lip gloss that I've used the most amongst the 5 that I've bought. It's like really bright red liquid lipstick but I like suing it as a stain as well.

3) Vixen

Hah, this was the supposed dupe of MAC's "Wrong Spell" and yep, it's downright vampy. I don't actually think I'll dare to wear this out like this, most probably I wear it as a stain instead. It's too outrageous for conservative SG. Maybe I should be thankful I didn't get the MAC one, but I haven't tried it so i wouldn't know. =x

4) Vamp Red (Round Lipgloss)

It's pretty similar to "Vixen" but "Vamp Red" leans more towards the maroon/plum side while "Vixen" is more brownish. Also, the round lipgloss is significantly more diluted than the Mega Shine glosses, so it can apply streaky and uneven.

And oh boy, do I hate the smell of this lipgloss!! It smells like Mama Lemon Washing Detergent, and I feel that it even tastes like it. Aside from it's not-bad vampy colour, super eww! Never buying the round lipglosses again. =___=

5) Cosmo

Okay, basically what the labels are saying is that it looks super good on the lips, but once you wipe the gloss off, it leaves semi-permanent silver shimmer on your lips. Not sexy at all! It's like you're having silver foil pasted on your lips. I wasn't too fond of this lipgloss, cos I don't fancy frosted lip products in the first place.

But I must admit, it looks pretty in the lip swatch. Maybe it's one of those glosses that photographs better than when viewed in real life.

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And this is currently my favourite bright lip colour to wear out.

It's basically applying "Plush Red" all over my lips, letting it set a little, then blotting most off. After which I layer on Milani's Lip Mixer lipgloss (which I got from under-twenty20), cos it's sheer and shiny enough to give a nice finish and it's thick (lasts long!).

I like how it's not too bright (like attention-grabbing, in your face bright) but it's got enough colour to brighten my whole complexion. Plus, it makes me teeth look a little whiter.

Thanks for looking at the swatches and reading this entry! I hope these images helped you if you're considering in getting some NYX lipglosses (get the Mega Shines, they're sooo much better than the Round lipglosses). Talk to you guys soon~

My family and I always make it a point to holiday in Malaysia twice annually, to take a breather from SG and to selfishly satisfy my never-ending shopping cravings. So last week, we went on a 4 day-3 night shopping trip in KL and Sunway Pyramid!

Actually, I wasn't aiming on buying much cosmetics cos (and I'm really happy to announce this) I'm satisfied with all my makeup I have. I'm planning to seriously use some up before buying more. For now. I don't know how long my satisfaction with my stash will last though. The last "lust product" for me now is only the Urban Decay Naked palette (which I pathetically haven't gotten Q__Q )

But my primary goal for this trip was to get a full manicure and pedicure done! After attending the basic nail course in the nail school, I've always done my own mani's and pedi's but this time, I really wanted to be pampered. Hence, I scoured around Times Square Berjaya and found this nail parlor with very attractive rates! I got a full mani and pedi for just RM$66 (S$28) with 2 free nail art thrown in.

For the first time, I'm proudly showing you guys my troll feet!

[In sunlight]

\

[In indoor lighting]

The poor manicurist had to scrub and file at my feet for ages in order to get rid of all the cuticles and dead skin, but she did a fantastic job and for the first time in a long while, I had nice smooth feet~

This beautiful purple-blue duochrome polish is by Creative Nail Design (CND) but I didn't get the specific name. I absolutely love the strong blue shimmer that flashes when the light hits my nails, and the polish was very shiny even without top coat.

Here's a more accurate picture of the purple colour.

And my manicure, using my cat Mocha as a contrasting backdrop. And again, I forgot to get the name of the polish but it's something by China Glaze. Looks like the polish "Stellar" though, after much googling.

Gahh, how I love the gold glitter reflex in this polish. Even in low light, it shines so beautifully.

And here are the two free nail art I got (pretty white flowers)~

Definitely worth the RM$66 I'd say. I'm going back for another round the next time I go KL. :)

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My rojak haul.

And though I didn't go berserk on cosmetics, I lost it when it came to nail polish! When it's so friggin' cheap, how can you not haul?! (self-imposed nail polish ban for the year)

I love Etude House's glitter polish but they're kinda pricey in SG, so I always make it a point to stock up when I'm in M'sia. The pink and gold glitter polishes were RM$8.33 (S$3.53) after 30% off the retail price while the blue and peach duochrome-y polishes were RM$5.95 (S$2.53) after 50% off.

These two were RM$4.83 (S$2.05) each after 30% off.

Skinfood polishes are another korean polish brand that I love, especially for their neutral, earth-toned colours. Just don't get the carcinogenic ones. =x This two were RM$8.80 (S$3.73) each without any discount. Still cheap though, compared to SG's prices.

And another thing to haul in M'sia.. what else?? Ha ha, of course Daiso cosmetics!! Good to play with, really cheap prices and not available in SG.

I've always been quite impressed with the quality of Daiso e/s. This kind of pigmentation is awesome at only RM$5 (S$2.12) per palette.

Swatches of the colourful 9 shadow palette (one which my mom helped herself to).

The first 2 blue e/s here are swatches of the green pigment "Shiny Powder" (lol); the most left was swatched wet while the one next to it dry.

Swatches of the purple and blue quads.

Note that all swatches were done without a primer/base, so these are their true pigmentation.

Jewelry that I bought, 3 rings and 2 bracelets for RM$30 (S$12.72) only! They had some crazy discount thing going on.

And the 2 products I aimed to buy for this trip, my eye cream and eye drops.

Ha ha, what a lengthy post! *yawn* In a nutshell, when you go shopping in Malaysia, please do not hold back. Technically, you're saving loads!

Anyway, thanks for looking even though it was sooo draggy, cheers everyone!

Well, strictly speaking, it isn't a haul since it's only 1 item. But inside that 1 item are many items and I was especially psyched at getting this product, so I consider it a mini haul! Ha ha, this is a Christmas gift to myself this year and it came on time too - arrived at my doorstep on the evening of 22nd Dec.

When I saw this package on my table, I went "WTHOMFGBBQRIHGKDEGWIUUIIII!" and instantly retrieved my trusty letter opener to rip the package open.

And the most gorgeous packaging ever! Even in my short time obsessing about cosmetics, I know nice packaging when I see one alright? Not that noob. :)

And all the innards of the package, fully exposed for you guys to see.

Care card..?

Information pamphlet.

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And introducing to you, the Sigma "Naughty In Black" Travel Brush Kit! Lovely brush roll, and it matches my nails too~

Here's how big it is compared to my arm.

And what you get after opening the brush roll.

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Even though this is a travel kit with supposedly travel-sized brushes, they don't feel mini and travel-ly at all. I would actually consider the face brushes almost full-sized (I know the real full-sized ones are enormous!) and the eye brushes, though smaller than usual, are a good size to "handle" with (no pun intended).

The kit comes with 3 face brushes: Large Powder F30, Large Angled Contour F40 and the Foundation Brush F60.

It also includes 3 eye brushes: the Tapered Blending E40, Eye shading E55 and the Pencil E30 . The last one is the concealer brush F70.

Not sure if you can see from this picture but they're pretty big and sturdy brushes. The wooden handles feel solid (like can whack people with) and the metal ferrels are really firm.

But I didn't only get these 7 brushes, I got 2 goodies thrown in with my order! This kit came with a free Duo Fibre F50 Stippling Brush.

And I totally wasn't expecting this, but I received the Blending E25 Eye brush too! It was suppose to come free with the premium kit (the duo fibre was for the travel kits) but they threw this in for me as well.

I SUPER LOVE this brush can?!?! I've used it for a few times now, and it not only applies e/s like a dream, it blends impeccably well too! It's said to be a dupe of the MAC 217 I think. Omg, I want to marry this brush.

So here are all the brushes I got with just 1 simple travel kit order. Awesome-ness~

And since I'm going to Malaysia soon for a short holiday (aka spree), this will be the set that I'll be toggling along~

Yep, that little seemingly insignificant pocket is actually big enough to stuff my eye liner and e.l.f brushes.

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Last but not least, I'm selling off the Foundation Brush F60 and the Concealer Brush E70. I'm kinda sad to make my Sigma brushes part ways since they're all part of the travel kit family, but I have absolutely no use for the foundation and concealer brush so I thought, might as well sell to to some kind person who will at least put them to good use.

The Foundation Brush is going for S$10.00. The Concealer brush is going for S$8.00.

I am selling it at the discounted prices I got this set for, so I'm not making any profit or loss. Just want to pass these on to someone who will use them well. Prices include normal postage. Do leave a comment if you're interested in getting them alright?

P.S. Thinking of selling the Duo Fibre F50 brush too, but I may want to keep it for myself to use with my MUFE Aqua Cream. If anyone is interested and offers a good enough price, I may just sell it. As again, do leave a comment if intrested!

Anyway, thanks for viewing and apologies for the pic spam! Just that I'm so spazzed about this travel kit, I had to share most of the pictures I took with you guys. Merry Belated Christmas and have a Happy Boxing Day!!!

I've been quite good to my wallet lately, because ever since school started, my temp job income has stopped and my pocket money isn't exactly haul-friendly. Not that I'm lambasting my parents or anything, cos I really dislike to still be depending on them for money. Hmph... But anyway, the only downfall to my stringent allowance control are sales. If there's anything going cheap, I'll be the first one down to sniffle out the goodies.

This explains the items I got from the recent Sasa sale at JP, and a Threadless spree I joined (who can resist cute $10 T-shirts?!). The other items I deem as necessities. :) Nice word, I gotta use it more often.

Thanks to Diana's tip, I got the lashes super cheap (2 boxes for S$1.99 vs retail price of S$12.90 each).

Close-ups of the lashes. I'm so digging the bottom pair with the crystals and black stars!

And of course, I couldn't resist the bottle of nail polish with its unique mother-of-pearl colour (S$1 a bottle).

Necessity No.1, sunscreen! Thought the texture wasn't too bad, so I decided to give it a go. Didn't want to continue with the Biore series after Charlene alerted me to the alcohol content.

And necessity No.2, base and top coats! What will we, nail polish junkies, do without them? *sigh*

Decided to give Poshe a whizz after finishing up my Seche Vite. Shall compare these most popular top coats soon!

Necessi And my OPI Burlesque (The Show Must Go On & Sparkle-iscious) and Man Glaze (Matte Is Murder) polishes arrived, courtesy of Pris from teaplayground!

Gahh!! *spazzes* They're downright, in-out BEAUTIFUL!!! Sparkly sparkly~

And I simply adore the design on the Man Glaze label! Veiny-hands, so chic, who can resist?!

And being super excited as I was then, I swatched all the polishes immediately!

Well, I wiped off Sparkle-iscious off the 3rd finger after gawping at it cos glitter polishes are a PITA to get off once they set. And I painted 1 coat of Poshe Top Coat on the Matte Is Murder finger...

Yeah, ok, I know I mutilated the swatches, sue me. :p

Ha ha, I have a few more items to post up, but for now this haul post shall end here. Thanks for sharing my money-spending moment, everyone!