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

And it's all thanks to a fellow onsugarette, crazy4mac!

She updated her sales post on her blog not too long ago and I pounced onto the chance to get MAC's cremesheen lipstick in "Crosswire". At that point of time, it was unfortunate for me that the lipstick has already been sold, and I was going to let the thought of it go when she offered to B2M a lipstick of my choice at the price of S$10. How wonderful and sweet of her to do that!

So I went swatchy-swatch crazy online and in the MAC store to pick out a shade. Here are some of the swatches I returned with, compared to my recently-bought Stage lippies.

Oh yah, and there's my Korres Lip Butter in "Mango" at the bottom. Colour payoff for that lip balm is really not bad. :)

Aside from "Crosswire", I had wanted "Ravishing" initially cos it looked awesome in online swatches, but it was a totally different story when I swatched it in the MAC store. Luckily I went down to see it for myself first, lesson learnt!

In the end, I picked "Fanfare" and I was beside myself with excitement when I received it in my mailbox a few days back.

"Fanfare" is described as a mid-tone yellow pink on MAC's website.

Here is a better swatch comparing my Stage lipsticks to "Fanfare". They are quite different.

You can see that "Fanfare" is pinker and slightly darker than the other bright orange shades of my Stage lipsticks. On me, it appears as a very warm, coral-ly kind of pink; somewhat similar to my natural my lip colour, but pinker and brighter.

And here are my lip swatches:

I love the texture of this lipstick! It's creamy and easy to apply, but unlike NYX lipsticks, this doesn't have much slip, so it lasts so much longer. I like that it dries down to a tacky finish but it doesn't dry out my lips. I know my NYX lippies go on very smoothly and creamily, but they make my lips so dry after settling down.

Full-face pics with the lippie:

And I dig this pic of me with my green cupboard as the background, ha ha!

Thanks for viewing this entry, I'm buried deep deep in the midst of exams preparations now! Take care everyone~

Still feeling the playful vibe and wanting to challenge myself with more nail art, I decided to paint up some pretty elaborate designs this week! Voila, mes mains!

My left hand:

Strawberry cupcakes on the thumb and ring finer (sorry, the ring finger's cake is upside down :p), some candles on a cake on my index finer and chicks on my middle and little finger!

My right hand:

Same thing, but with chocolate cupcakes instead!

The candles on the cake on both my index fingers are specially painted for my friend who was celebrating her birthday this week (it just passed). :) The moment I saw her, I pointed my fingers at her and said "For you!", lol!

Anyway, my 2 cupcakes...

...and my 2 chickies are so cute! They're all ready for the long Easter weekend, are you?

Thanks for viewing this entry, hope you enjoyed the cute little designs as much as I enjoyed scrawling them on~

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!

I've decided to open a Sigma spree as I've found a functional 10% off discount code!!

Note: Please join only if you're comfortable! Even though this is my first spree, I have ordered from Sigma before; I wanted to try the system out before helping you guys order and I'm currently familiar with how it works. Hope you can understand where I'm coming from and please, join only after you've read my terms and conditions and you're ok with everything. Thanks!

Sigma Beauty

Terms & Conditions:

• Please do not join if you're uncomfortable or impatient.
• This spree is opened only for onsugarettes.
• Please make payment before leaving a comment/order. I will not be taking in orders that are not paid first. Once payment is made, there should not be backing out/requesting for refunds. It will be considered a confirmed order.
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• I reserve the right to reject any orders that I feel uncomfortable with. I also reserve the right to cancel this spree if the response is not good.
• Please be prepared to wait 2-3 weeks as international mail takes time.
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Contact me:

i.m.ccxl(at)gmail(dot)com

Spree closing on:

22nd April 2011, 21:00/9 p.m. sharp

I will be opening for 1 batch of USD 170 cap (before discount). Another batch will be opened if response is good.

*please do not bust my cap, or post after the dateline. Email me if any queries*

Exchange Rate:

USD 1 = SGD 1.33 (exchange rate will be adjusted accordingly to the rate of my credit card)

Shipping:

Sigma -> Direct International Shipping -> Me -> You

2 payments:

1st - will be collecting payment for items + initial shipping of SGD 2

2nd - local postage fee + top-up for shipping fee (if any) + handling fee of 50 cents

Distribution of items:

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Format of Order:

Onsugar username / real name: 
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* spree format is modified from icefrost's beauty spree blog. Thanks Michelle!*

Yes, I am. :] And that's why I did these playful designs on my fingers and toes~

On my hands are bee nailart designs. I was inspired to do this after watching BubzBeauty (btw, am I the only one who thinks she looks old..?) and Rusty paint this on their nails, but two weeks back, I wasn't quite feeling the cute vibe - I was into the emo-punk feel. That's why I only got down to it this week. Also, I modified the design a bit (changed the bee and added clouds, ho ho!).

Here's my left hand:

Ha ha, pardon the slight smudging of the bee! xD I didn't wait long enough for the nail art to dry before going over it with my top coat, oopsie!

My right hand:

Ha ha, I thought I'd have to go through hell and back to paint my right hand, but it wasn't all that bad. In fact I prefer the bee on my right hand! I felt that the one of my left hand was a bit too big. -___- I love how the design here seems to connect so well between my fingers.

My two lovely bees, one fatter than the other~ I had to use my teeth on my camera to capture this shot, wtf, ha ha ha!!

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And I went clown-crazy on my toes!

This design was inspired by Kimberly, who does a great job with spots. I think it's easier to paint this on other people's toes, cos after bending over my feet for 15 minutes, my eyes were tearing and my back was aching from the strain. It was terribly tiring, but worth it, cos the design is so cute!

So I'll be proudly sporting these designs for a while (probably a week for my fingers and a month for my toes)! What do you think of the designs? Ha ha, thanks for viewing anyway! ^__^

Following up with my previous post, here's the promised swatches of my WnW "Comfort Zone" palette I got. Do note that these swatches were done without any base; you can probably tell from the pigmentation why everyone is raving about these eyeshadows.

What my palette looks like, with the top right shadow quite cleanly knocked out of its pan. :) But I don't mind, I can still use the little bit that's left.

The left column of eyeshadows, the neutrals side:

Oh gosh, I LOVE everyone of these neutral shades. The highlighter colour is such a buttery soft gold-white, and the peach is just nice for those simple "shimmering-eye-with-winged-eyeliner" looks, and the last almost-black colour looks almost like MAC's "Beauty Marked"! I can probably sell away my "Beauty Marked" already, because this fella's pigmentation pwns MAC's!

The right column of eyeshadows, the green side:

See the duochrome on the last shade on the right?!

And again, I adore all the shades, though I probably won't reach for the lightest green shade much. When I swatched the highlighter shade, I immediately regretted that it was almost all gone from the pan, cos it's soooo pretty and shimmery! The dark forest green with gold glitter is awesome too, and needless to say, my fav would be the last shade with its teal duochrome. It's said to be a dupe of MAC's "Club" e/s.

A thing to note is that because the pigmentation is so good, it may stain your lids (or fingers in my case); make sure to cleanse the e/s off properly! :)

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Now onto the LOTDs that I wore to school last using this palette. Sorry if the photos had weird colouring or bad quality - I had to use my iPhone to snap the pics, cause I don't bring my camera to the dorm with me.

LOTD #1

I brushed on a washing of the peach shade all over my eyelids, and lined my eyes thickly with the duochrome brown-teal shade.

Can you spot the cool teal shimmer in the last 2 pics? How amazing is that, ha ha!

LOTD #2

Green eye makeup to go with my green polo T. Here I used the light gold-green shade on the lids, the dark forest green to contour my outer V and the shimmery taupe highlighter at my tear ducts! Oh, and I used Urban Decay's 24/7 Liner in "Covet" as a base, to make the green pop.

LOTD #3

So I was wearing a taupe-coloured top yesterday, hence I decided to matchy-match my eyes. The taupe highlighter shade went all over my eyelids, and the darker sable brown contour shade was used to contour my outer V. Additionally, I used a matte taupe shade form my 88 palette to blend the two e/s together.

I seriously love the taupe highlighter shade. ): Kinda sad now that there's so little left in the pan, but given the chance, I'd purchase another "Comfort Zone" palette along with the other two!

One warning of caution though. The e/s are incredibly INCREDIBLY soft. I understand now how they get so easily damaged during shipping, cause they seem to crumble at just a single nudge! I think this palette would be gone if SG was to have an earthquake. =\ Touchwood. But you get the idea how soft it is! All in all, I think this palette is worth all the hype and raves it's getting, and if you can get your hands on it, please allow yourself this purchase!!

Thanks for reading this post, hope you enjoyed it! :D

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. :)

It's been a while since I've last sported intricate designs on my nails, partly due to me not having enough time/patience to paint my nails properly and also because I dig solid-coloured nails. :)

But I have been wearing this design for the last 2 weeks (gasp! Broke my 1-week routine) before finally taking it off this weekend!

My left hand:

And my right:

I kinda went asymmetrical by printing the houndstooth design on different fingers on both hands. The gorgeous red colour is OPI's "The Show Must Go On" and the black was some random black (goopy) polish, which I used for my konading.

I love how the red polish flashes orange at certain angles! It's like you're getting a different houndstooth design everytime.

And also how the black design makes the red look more cool-toned while the other fingers look warmer. I'm a sucker for multi-dimensional nail polishes. :)

So a quick update on what I did last Sunday:

I went to donate blood. It's my 7th time and I'm sooo aiming for that 10-time medal, woots! But it was my first time feeling light-headed after the donation. Hmm, normally it doesn't happen; must be due to that time of the month.

And also I made this collage of my cat! (pardon the noob editing skills, I had to make do with whatever basic image programme I had ;__;)

Ha ha, hope you enjoyed this little post! Thanks for looking and take care y'all!