When nightmares come true - surviving a trip without your makeup kit (Part 1)

It happened, it actually happened. While on the plane from Hong Kong to Shanghai for a week-long visit with my boyfriend I realised, with spin-chilling horror, that I had left my carefully packed makeup kit, the one with all my brushes, with my perfect Inglot palette, with my foundations, with my foundation sponge... all on the little table by my bed.

Damn these red-eye flights!

I took stock of the little makeup bag I had with me. Thank goodness I had my ZA 2-Way powder foundation and my trusty concealer (Time Balm - I really owe the poor thing a review) with me along with theBalm's blush in Down Boy. I'd intended to freshen up before stepping off the plane and my vanity was saving my skin (literally!) then and there. 

In a state of mild panic I thumbed frantically through the in-flight shopping guide. "Should I get a palette? No wait brushes... good brushes are hard to find in a drugstore."

Eagerly I looked for the Bobbi Brown travel brush kit I'd been eyeing for several flights now. Ah hah! Slim, wallet sized and silver it was pretty and looked practical. (It's also known as the Bobbi Brown Party Collection Mini Brush Set for Holiday 2011 judging by this post by the Muse). 

My Lipstick Collection

I cleared out my makeup collection the other day and did a lip count. Are twelve lipsticks too little or too many? Four of them are in a wee palette though so I am not sure if they should be counted or not.

To get an idea of what colours I go for, check out the swatches after the jump:

Review: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation

Nothing beats Bobbi Brown for base makeup.

I tried looking for a usable drugstore liquid foundation for the longest time but nothing -- not even the famed Revlon Colourstay foundation -- matched my skintone. They were either too pink, too light or too dark. I couldn't carry off any of them unless I was going to be in a really dark room with a single candle.

Thank goodness for Bobbi Brown.

Sounds like Fast Food: Bobbi Brown's Lips & Cheeks To Go

I hardly buy face palettes as most seem to be made with fairer people in mind. The blush is either too light for me or the lip shades are bubblegum pink – I look disgusting with pink lips.

This palette first caught my eye at the Myers counters last Christmas in Sydney. A palette which matches my colouring is a rarity so this went on my lust list. When I saw it on eBay for less than AUD60, I immediately bought it!

It may not look very exciting – functional palettes hardly ever do – but this has a firm spot in my handbag, 3 days out of 5.

Monday's Beauty Bit

I didn't get much sleep Saturday night and Sunday's been incredibly busy, so I'm afraid today's post is going to be a wee bit on the lazy side. Meet my lucky score from the Estee Lauder Staff Sale - The Antigua Face Palette by Bobbi Brown. Acquired thanks to a dear friend who picked it up for me at half price (RM90).

I have an upcoming work trip to Osaka and plan to test this baby out as my travel palette! Will review it after the trip. ;)

What's your favourite travel palette?

My Bobbi Brown Custom Palette

You know I have a weakness for palettes and am eternally chasing "that perfect one". The perfect palette is one that can take me from day to night and will be all I need for a weekend getaway (maybe even longer!). It doesn't have to contain lip products, but blush and eyeshadows are a must. So when Bobbi Brown announced her custom palettes way way back, you can bet I went weak at the knees.

Once I learnt the prices for the palette (RM40) and for each individual eyeshadow (RM75) and blush (RM85) that weakness got even worse. Argh!

But I didn't go crazy and buy it all at once. Nope.... I got the palette at a discount, and all the shades in it are gifts slowly accumulated!

Syen started me out with the Lavender metallic eyeshadow and for my recent birthday she bought me the shimmer shadow in Champagne (which by the way is a PERFECT highlight shade).

The brown eyeshadow in Mahogany and the blush in Nectar are from gift vouchers for last Christmas and this birthday from a guy friend (I kid you not). Bless him. =D

Mahogany is really pretty but I honestly expected it to have more depth. It never seems to get quite dark enough for that perfect eyeliner / outer corner shade, but its great as a casual lid colour. I would add one more dark brown or black eyeshadow to my beauty bag for night and liner use.

Nectar, as you can see on Syen's post, is lovely. Loverly even . I find it to be a warmer, more pigmented version of Cargo's Blu Ray blush and so actually works well with both cool, warm and even glammed out looks like smokey eyes or red lips. I still find myself missing a bright cheerful pink blush that makes you look fresh and awake though. The look from this palette is really fresh and natural though.

So now readers I put the question to you. Pretty as the lavender shade of shadow is it's not quite in keeping with the palette's versatility. Should I therefore get myself a darker brown / black eyeshadow like Espresso or Smoke or a pink blush like Peony, Soft Pink or Pink Sugar?

Which should it be? And what shade do you vote for?

Glowy Maui ~

Oh Bobbi. How you do me in.

I first laid eyes on Bobbi's Illuminating Bronzer Powder many months back when it was first out. Of the many colours I saw, Maui stood out. It was a gorgeous coral, with gold shimmer.

Where others saw a bronzer, I saw blush. And when I swatched it, my heart told me it was love-worthy. It was beyond beautiful. But I walked away. Because logic told me I did.not.need. another coral blush. I walked away.


And three months later, I was back at the Bobbi Brown counter, making a purchase. I could not resist its siren-song.

With my favourite blush brush, it applies like a dream. Three swipes is all it takes to get me glowing. Faking the glow never got easier.

Encased in black casing, complete with a big mirror, Bobbi packs in a lotta blush. All 9gms of it.

It's gorgeous. All coral and shimmery gold. For all of One-hundred and fifteen.


Oh Bobbi. How you do me in.

All I Want for Christmas is...

Me being me, I usually ask for something wildly practical or bookish for Christmas. My Christmas (or was it birthday?) wish list once included a good steam iron and "The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945" by Saul Friedlander.

Gee, and I wonder why no one took me seriously.

This year, I have decided to come up with a frivolous wish list for once. The items aren't unattainable but they are out of my budget for now and I really do need to stop accumulating stuff.

Want to know what is on on my list?

1. First on my list is the Clarisonic skin care system. I have heard so much about this and have been hankering after one for ages. It costs about the same as the Braun epilator I recently purchased (a great investment, btw) but I can't justify getting a Clarisonic when I already have two God-given hands to wash my face.

2. I have been eyeing this beauty ever since I spotted it in David Jones a few weeks ago. Shimmer bricks are a dime a dozen but not in this beautiful plum shade by Bobbi Brown. I have swatched this a gazillion times in Myers over the past week and I am in love.

What is preventing me from getting it? The mad AUD 130 price tag. Eeeeks. The mark up is over 100% compared to Malaysian prices and I simply do not have that kind of moolah. My conscience won't allow me to wheedle the boy into getting it for me either. If only they would make this a permanent shimmer brick like Nectar...

3. My best friend once said, "I like my perfume to smell 'woman', not 'girl'." I am not big on perfume (my staple is Kenzo's Flower) but I do like my perfume to smell like 'woman'. Estee Lauder's Pure White Linen falls into this category for me and after my first whiff of it a year ago, it has been on my mind ever since.

Oddly enough, I dislike the classic White Linen fragrance. Pure White Linen Pink Coral, on the other hand, didn't leave any impression on me.

4. Does it count when the item you are lusting after hasn't been released yet? If you don't recognise this blush, it is from Guerlain's Spring Collection for 2010 and will only be released in February next year. The theme of the collection are cherry blossoms.

After studying in Canberra, the sister city of Nara, for 4 years, my sentimental heart yearns after this blush. My university grounds are covered with flowering plum and cherry blossom trees in spring and the lovely pattern on the blush palette reminds me of the beautiful sight.

There should be a number 5 but I can't think of anything I am coveting badly for Christmas.

What is on your wish list?

Monday's Beauty (Holiday Collections) Bits

Hello people! Hope you're this week is starting out great for you guys. Today's Beauty Bits will be snippets of some of the holiday offerings that I've managed to check out over the past week. I've managed to exercise some amount of self-constraint, but got a little naughty too. So read on to find out what I products I succumbed to!

I don't know about the other MAC lovers, but after going through the MAC collection again a little more thoroughly, I found it slightly disappointing. The only eye palette I had found myself drooling lustily over, Sorceress, didn't swatch nicely when I was on the verge of buying. Even the dark purple took work for it to show up, and that just doesn't cut it for me. Not for a palette which costs RM180. I had also wanted the Hocus-Pocus face palette, but as I already have Peachykeen, logic got the better of me and so I walked away. Verdict: I'll pass.

I ran into Shu Uemura too, hoping to find their Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine lipsticks (glossy finishes in lipstick form always appeal to me), but all I got was a super-blank look from the SA. What I found out instead was, that the tsumori chisato holiday collection is out. No swatching done (Shu usually swatches beautifully anyway), but a quick look at the collection told me it was not for me. Verdict: I'll pass. (Anyone who does know anything about the Supreme Shine lipsticks, however, I'm all ears!)

The Body Shop, now is a different story altogether. Christmas offerings this year include their regular Cranberry range (called Merry Cranberry) and the new Black Velvet Apricot. But what I really, really dig is their Nutmeg and Vanilla range. I took a whiff, then whiffed and whiffed again. The scent is just divine, for a vanilla-mad girl like me. If you like vanilla, you'll want to check this one out. Serious. The body lotion and body scrub have my name written all over them. Verdict: Come to momma!

I haven't seen this in the Sasa outlets, but getting my grubby paws on a theBalm booklet, I noticed that there are in fact TWO Shady Lady palettes. One in leopard print (which me and Kahani both caved for), and then there's another one - in Zebra print. Looking at the pictures, it looks like several shades overlap, but I'm guessing Shady Lady Vol. 2 should include shades like Just This Once Jamie, Mischevious Marissa, Racy Kacy and Sexy Stacey. Verdict: On the look-out.

And finally, Bobbi Brown. Ah Bobbi, your Chrome Holiday Collection has left me absolutely drooling. And a mighty big collection too, I might add. I checked out the Earth Metal Lip & Eye palette, which looked gorgeous, but chickened out at its RM240 price tag. I didn't dare go near their Chrome Palette. But what snagged me was her Pewter Chrome Eyeshadow. At RM75, it's super-pricey but it's so super gorgeous I just caved. *Sigh* And while I was there, I also got snagged by her Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Maui. That cost me RM115. But it's beautiful I tell ya! Verdict: Came to momma!

FOTD: Going Au Naturel

When I posted my review of Bobbi's Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick, many of you girls requested for an FOTD. And so here it is.

Do bear in mind, though, that the shimmer brick is very natural, as I have mentioned before in my review. If you're expecting high drama from this shimmer brick, then you will be let down.

Trying to capture the "glowy look" in a photograph is also a lot harder than you'd imagine! I'd like to think it really looks better in person. =P

Read on to see what I used for this very natural look.

Face

• Illuminare Ultimate All-day Foundation/ Concealer
  
• ZA two-way foundation (on chin, nose and forehead only)
  
• Skin Food powder for oily skin

Cheeks

• MAC blush in Cubic
• Bobbi Brown Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick

Eyes

• Bobbi Brown Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick
  
• MAC eyeliner in Teddy (dark brown liner)

(The shimmer brick, while great as a highlighter or a wash to wake up tired looking eyes, can look a little light on its own. I think adding a darker shade of brown eyeshadow would complement the look quite nicely.)

(I added just a wee bit of brown liner to add a little oomph to the look. I felt it looked a little plain on its own as the colours are so natural.)


Lips

• Lipbalm
• MAC lipstick in Sandy B

So, what d'ya think?

I Spied Bobbi's Brights Eye Palette!

Ladies, will you check this out! Bobbi Brown is finally giving us colour! Browsing through the Bobbi Brown site, I stumbled upon this 35-soft-matte-shadow palette and for a moment I had to check to make sure I wasn't in the Coastal Scents website instead.

But true enough, it was Bobbi alright.

Isn't it such a lovely palette? And what a refreshing change to the usual Bobbi offerings.

More info on the palette after the jump!

"Inspired by Bobbi at Fashion Week. This collector's edition palette is designed for the woman who wants to play and experiment with bright color. Features 35 soft matte shadows in a colorful shade range that includes everything from pinks and greens to blues and purples. All the shades are new and exclusive to this palette, which features a unique, fold-out design and full size mirror. Available for a limited time." - Bobbi Brown site.

I haven't seen this palette myself. And truth be told, I don't even know if this will ever reach Malaysian shores.

But I will keep an eye out for it. If anyone has seen it, please let us know!

And the question is, what do you think of it? Holler back, girls!

Looks: All That Jazz!!!

So last Saturday Kahani and I decided to go paint the town red. Well, actually a friend of hers, Elvira Arul, was performing in Bangkok Jazz in KL (she was VERY good, by the way) and we thought "Why not?".

It's been a while since we've had a bit o' fun, and so fun we did have.

Kahani pulled off her femme fatale Frenched look once again, while I chose a purple smokey-eye number. To go with the top, see.

So read on to see what I used to create this look! =)

Face

• Illuminare Ultimate All-day Foundation/ Concealer (this is GREAT stuff as a concealer. Review coming soon!)
• ZA two-way foundation (on chin, nose and forehead only)
• Silk Naturals Tinted Oil Control Primer (I use this as loose powder)

Cheeks

• Bobbi Brown blush in Mauve

Eyes

• MAC Paint Pot in Painterly (eye primer)
• MAC Shadestick in Royal Hue (in my crease as purple base, and in the final step, very lightly over liner on lower lid)
• Silk Naturals eyeshadow in Slate (applied over Royal Hue)
• Cyber Colours black eyeliner (on upper lid and halfway on lower lid)
• Origins eyeshadow in very dark grey/black (in outer V corner, and entire lower lid)
• Stage eyelash curler

(Despite piling on Slate, which is a grey shade, the purple from the shadestick is still very evident, which is just awesome.)

(Deepest apologies, but pleease don't mind the brows. They're ermm.. overgrown at the moment. *blushes*)

(Note: No mascara. *grin*)

Lips

• Lipbalm
• Maybelline Water Shine lipstick in Kir Royal (looove!)

(And the whole look put together. And oh, this shot was AFTER the partying with minor touch-ups of course. Lasted pretty well, huh?)

So, what do you girls think? =)

Have Yourself a Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Copper Diamond ~

Hey ladies! With the holiday seasons in full swing now, I thought I'd share what I've picked up for meself.

Sitting rather smugly on my beauty shelf right now is the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Copper Diamond. When the ads first came out a month or so back, the one thing which screamed "Take me hooome!" to me was this shimmer brick.

It left me no choice. And so the first chance I got to get my paws on this little pretty palette, I did. I HAD to.

This shimmer brick comes in five strips of beige and light bronze shades with gold shimmer. It's a great highlighter, for those of us girls with warmer skin tones. I am not entirely sure how well it would suit the cooler-toned ladies amongst us.

The first time I wore this was when I walked into a Bobbi outlet (in Midvalley) and asked to try it out. The MA (Esther, who was entirely lovely) applied the Desert Rose blush lightly on my cheeks for a light flush and then proceeded to swirl her face blender brush on the palette and dusted it on my cheeks lightly to highlight.

While the shimmer brick might be named Copper Diamond, in no way did it sparkle with chunky glitter. Instead, the end result was a lovely and natural soft candle-lit glow. Kahani protested when she heard, proclaiming that no self-respecting Copper Diamond should be "natural".

"That's what BEIGE is for," said she.

I beg to differ. This baby has just the right balance between the lightness of a highlighter with the oomph of a mild bronzer. Perfect.

Apply it (preferably with fingers I should think) to your eyelids, and you've got coordinated eyeshadows too.

Another aspect of the palette I wish to highlight (pun intended), is that the packaging differs slightly from all the previous shimmer bricks. This one comes in a matte gold case, unlike the others which come predominantly in shiny black cases. But the best part? No more accumulating unsightly thumbprints worthy of CSI status.

Being a shimmer fan, I am definitely happy I picked this up. I've been using this of late, and so far am loving it.

As it's a Limited Edition item, best hurry if you like what you're seeing. But like all other shimmer bricks, this one will also set you back by RM145.


Diamonds never come cheap.

Guest Review: Bobbi Brown Concealer & Corrector

Just in time to save us, is the amazing Eli and her wonderful reviews! Just to give you a bit of an update, Syen and I have been so swamped by work it's not funny. We're both taking medical leave soon (and not voluntarily) if something doesn't let up. Fortunately, we have a guest reviewer discussing a topic of intense interest to both of us with our shadowed eyes.

My best friend and I tend to go cosmetics shopping together because (a) its fun to go shopping in pairs, and (b) we get an extra body part to try stuff on. So when I was on a hunt for a good undereye concealer during my last visit home, I dragged her out to accompany me.

Our first stop was MAC but the concealer was so drying, it left a crack akin to dried riverbeds under my bestie’s eyes. We headed over to Bobbi Brown instead.

(If you are ever at the Bobbi Brown counter in Jusco, Midvalley, look out for Winnie. She’s one of the nicest MAs I have met – very sweet, nice, not pushy and generous with samples. She gave me samples of undereye cream, face moisturiser with SPF 15 and a wee bottle of oil-free foundation. There’s another MA there who is a bit of a grouch. Don’t go to her. Hop over to the stand-alone shop outside instead)

According to Winnie, my best friend didn’t need to get the corrector as her eye circles weren’t too dark. Mine on the other hand – she paused for a moment.

“I look like a panda,” I sighed.

For very dark eye circles, the peach-based corrector is applied first to “correct” the eye circles, which helps give extra coverage before the yellowish concealer is layered on top. The corrector is also supposed to help the concealer look a lot more natural. I have tried using the concealer on its own and it doesn’t work so well without the corrector underneath. If you think that you don’t need the corrector, test out the concealer on its own. A different MA once tried talking my best into getting the corrector as well.

The corrector and concealer both have the same thick creamy consistency so a little goes a long way. A dab into the tiny pot is enough for both eyes. As the formula is rather thick, I usually alternate between spreading it with a brush and then patting it with my finger. The warmth helps melt the concealer and lets me blend it in better with the brush. Set it with some loose powder and I am good for up to 10 hours.

There are only three things I dislike with this product. The first is that I have to use a good concealer brush with this. Since I use both the concealer and corrector, I need two concealer brushes. The second is that I have to use a good undereye cream; gels don’t work with this. If I don’t moisturise my eye area well before application, the concealer settles into my fine lines after a few hours. The last would be that it takes time for me to layer everything on properly. But then again, maybe I am a bit slow.

Bobbi Brown’s creamy concealer and corrector retails for RM 80 each in Malaysia. The price might have gone up to RM 85 though. There is also a cream concealer kit for RM 140 which comes with a container of loose powder underneath. But as the oh-so-nice MA whispered to me, “You don’t really need it. Save your RM 60 and buy something else instead.”

Before I forget, someone once told me that the stand-alone Bobbi Brown shop in Midvalley only sells the concealor kit and doesn’t stock the cream concealor by itself. I don’t know if that is still the case but if you don’t want the powder, just go over to their counters in Jusco or Isetan.

Because she loves me too!: Bobbi Brown Lavender Metallic Eyeshadow

Syen was in the midst of a discount cosmetic buying frenzy, when she spots this bee-yoo-ti-ful eyeshadow and is reminded of my insane love for all things purple.

(I even have a purple dragonfly tattooed on my shoulder. I also have an insane love for dragonflies)

This eyeshadow (£14) creates a lovely sheer shimmery wash of lavender that is quite distinctly purply. It's very soft and pigmented, I find just touching my eyeshadow brush to it picks up enough pigment for a wash of shadow.

It's also nicely longlasting. I used this over a base of Mac Paint Pot in Painterly (review pending!), and used SN Mineral Eyeshadow in Bittersweet as a crease shade. However at the end of the day, Bittersweet, which I didn't foil, had faded quite a bit while lavender was still going strong.

Overall I'm genuinely enjoying playing with this eyeshadow - it's breaking me out of my "nude rut" (ok that sounds dirty) where I tend to only reach for natural or nude shades of shadow. Here I've paired the eye look with SN Embrace (dupe of BB Mauve Blush), SN Kisser Slicker in Seedy, and a Magenta top (yes I matched my top to the eyeshadow!). What do you think?

Bobbi's Sweet Nectar

Sorry girls. It seems that the last few posts have either been on blushers or lotions, and this happily joins the ranks of those in the first category. Obviously.

And so today I shall pay homage to one of Bobbi Brown's blushers in her staple collection - Nectar.

Bobbi's products are never garish. They never make a statement. They're never loud. They never scream for attention. They're always subtle. Always consistent.

Some might even have the audacity to say they're a little blah, or boring, if you will.

But they have a kind of magic that charms its way around your little head. They never let you forget.

I should know. The first time my cheeks had the honour of wearing this blush was four years ago. And it's haunted me ever since. And so, four years after I first tried Nectar in a makeover, its finally charmed its way into my makeup collection. Just don't ask me how.

It's a coral-pink shade that looks more pink than coral in the photo, but believe me, there's coral in there too. Really.

It's got all that fresh-faced pop with none of the shimmer. It doesn't need shimmer. It's got oomph all on its own. It's very finely milled and just like all Bobbi blushers, pigment is never an issue.

Dust it on for less-makeup days to perk your complexion up. Just be careful with application or risk ending up with Bono-the-clown cheeks. Add a little gloss, or tinted lipbalm (my preference), and you're ready to run.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. So I guess I'll let the picture do the rest of the talking.



(Apologies for the slightly poor quality, this was taken with a camera phone after the BB makeover.)

And oh, you'll need to fork out RM80 for a 3.7gm pan.

Bobbi doesn't let you forget that, either.

Bobbi Brown One-Day Free Standard Shippping Offer

Girls, Bobbi Brown is offering a one-day free standard shipping offer with any Bobbi Brown purchase online.

All you have to do is enter the offer code: BEST at checkout. It's valid for a one-time use only and it's only valid on May 13 (until midnight, ET).

So hurry and check out BobbiBrown.com !

Bobbi Brown Gets Personal: Customise Your Own Palettes!

Ladies, Bobbi Brown has finally jumped on the customised-palette bandwagon and it looks goood. For her latest collection called Get Personal, Bobbi's motto is "No two women are alike, so their makeup shouldn't be either".

I haven't had the chance to look at them personally yet, but check these pictures out! They come in 3-pan and 4-pan palettes, with lots of new shades to go with them too.

If you'd had the chance to check it out at the counters, let me know what you think.

In the pursuit of pink

Once in awhile in life, you receive an epiphany. A burst of clear insight that provides meaning behind some of your decisions and actions in life. Its clarity makes it all so blindingly obvious you wonder how you could be so blind.

I have just had one about my lippie collection.

It may not be obvious from the really bad image above (swatching is HARD, harder than I ever realise), but these are all swipes of my pink lippie collection. And in real life, they're all eerily similar. Oh yes, there are some undertone and finish differences, but they're all basically a shade of berry pink. Believe it or not, this is something I have never noticed before now.

Because you see, I discovered perfection. The perfect pink is swatch number 1. It's Bobbi Brown's Clear Pink Lip Sheer, and it imprinted its lovely self in my brain to a degree that shades 2 - 5 were all bought because they look like shade 1 to a certain degree, they're all cheaper than any BB lippies, and they don't live in a limited edition palette (BB Pink Palette). It all seems perfectly reasonable that I should have 6 different versions of the same shade now, but I was doing all this purchasing subconciously. And I still haven't found the perfect twin to BB's lovely shade - which limited edition! Oh the angst! The search shall have to continue.

Here's the list of lippies behind the swatches:

1. Bobbi Brown Clear Pink Lip Sheer
2. Maybelline Watershine in Rhum Cake
3. Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor in Pink Spice
4. Bourjois 3D Effet 3D Cosmic in Shade 23. - Frambois Magnific
5. Stila Twinset in Demi Blush
6. Mentholatum Water Colour in City Rose