What makes you crave a beauty product?

I seem to have temporarily achieved beauty zen.

Right now, at this moment, I am indifferent to beauty products. While I might restock old favourites that have run out I don’t seem to want to try anything new.

This state of course won’t last because as soon as a new formula is launched promising me what I desire it will all start up again. But it seems that all my beauty needs are temporarily satisfied.

So what whets my appetite for beauty products?

1. Kiss-proof, long-lasting lip colours in ideal shades and formulas

No surprise here my mad desire for lipstains has been documented on this blog for ages as I’ve hunted for the perfect stain in a formula that’s easy to apply, in every shade I could want and at an affordable price point. Well, Revlon’s Balm Stains and L’Oreal Caresse Glosses have completely satisfied this need between them. Unless they launch a new colour that is that elusive shade of perfect pink I'm always looking for - I’m all good in the lip department!

Daily go-to: Maybelline Color 24HR Tattoo cream shadow in #35 On and On Bronze

I'm usually reluctant to review cream shadows until I've test-driven them awhile. I hate raving about a shadow only to find that a month later it's dried, cracked and unusable. Which is why I've waited THREE months to review this baby - so I can tell you it's still going strong.

Syen put me on to this one when she asked me to pick up up online for her as it's not available in Hong Kong or Malaysia yet (boo!). But if you get a chance to buy this from Australia or online from FeelUnique (like I did - free shipping to HK), grab it! It's only GBP4.99 on Feel Unique by the way.

I have this shadow in On-and-On-Bronze as well as Permanent Taupe and I definitely prefer "bronze". Don't let the names fool you though. Bronze is more Taupe (as you'll see in the swatch below) and Taupe is more dark grey. Annoying huh?

Also, Taupe is a matte shade and definitely resembles the hard to spread Mac Paint Pot in Painterly. It does make an awesome base though. But so does Bronze. More on that!

Taupe Madness: Loving the Stray Dog

Hello lovelies,

Just to give you all a heads-up, I think it's safe to say that there will be many more Taupe Madness posts peppered along the way - now and in the foreseeable future. This is due to the fact that I'm on a mad taupe hunt, having bought (and still buying) more taupes than I will ever need in two three lifetimes.

And good things must be shared, no?

Right. Where were we? Ah yes... Today we'll be looking at the Stray Dog. By Urban Decay.

Gorgeousness in a pan.

Sephora Crayon Jumbo Liners: A review + swatches!

Colour me happy.

Since I started out on ONE of these Sephora Crayon Jumbo Liners, I've gone back for more. Because they're so good, one really wasn't enough.

INGLOT: The 4-pan is a travel wonder!

Hey there,

To all our Malaysian lovelies, Selamat Hari Merdeka (Happy Independence Day)!!!

It's Malaysia's 55th Independence Day, and I hope you guys are enjoying the day off. And since you're here, I'd like to share a review with you lovelies + a little question.

Meet my INGLOT 4-pan eyeshadow, which I had purchased some weeks back.

Quick FOTD: Purpley-taupe look for work

So last week you found out what happened when the hubs went out of town.

Today, I want to share a really simple work look I did with one of the eyeshadows I got - Inglot #420.

Read on!

So the hubs went out of town...

And I went all kinds of crazy. The buying kind.

Since the hubs left the country a couple of weeks ago, I've this sudden urge to satisfy all my crazyeyeshadowsespeciallybrownsandtaupe lemmings. And the gorgeous Dior Golden Savannah palette was only the beginning.

French Pharmacy Mini-Haul

So I was recently sent on a work trip to cover the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and in between the crazy amounts of running, networking, taking down seminars and interviewing people I managed to snatch a bare 30 mins to dash into two French pharmacies and Sephora (not bad aye?) and grab a few items in a frenzy of high-powered shopping.

In a sorta clockwise fashion, starting with the pencil on the far left, I picked up (with mini reviews)...

1. Sephora's Flashy Liner Waterproof Pencil in #14 Flashy Taupe (amazingly smudge proof pencil and dark taupe is such a great eyeliner colour!) for €6.50
2. Topicrem Rounge a Levres Phantom (a really fun lipstick that goes on clear, turns pink) for €9.90
3. John Frieda Frizz Ease (because this summer my hair's gone from sleek to shriek) for €15.90
4. Vichy Derma Blend Ultra Corrective Foundation Cream-Stick (silicone free, here's hoping!) for €20.90
5. Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water (for the plane, wipes break me out) for €3.90
6. Clarins Rouge Jolie Rouge Brilliant in #7 Raspberry (I blame Lisa Eldridge for this one, but pretty, sheer, shimmery and smells of berries, so far I like) for €20.90

I also picked up...

Get it before it goes: Too Faced Lockdown Cream Eyeshadow

Right, so the full name is Too Faced Lockdown Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow - which is insane and far far too long. But names aside, the short review is this stuff is awesome and you should get it while:

• Strawberrynet is still on sale at HKD121 (plus the usual loyalty discounts - think I ended up paying less than HKD100 for it)
• They're in stock because it's been discontinued!

The shade I got was Bedroom Eyes, a shimmery brown taupe (yes taupe again) with, I’m sorry to say, glitter. But not too much or too chunky glitter. It’s very much like Urban Decay’s Sidecar in many respects - only Bedroom Eyes is less glittery. Thank heavens.

Because I take miserable swatches, I encourage you go here. She took absolutely lovely ones.

Why am I so in love with it? It really really lasts. All day. On oily skin and without primer. It’s also a really awesome primer in itself.

Even more taupe madness: : L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Bronze Taupe (US)

Syen and I don't see eye to eye on many beauty points. She loves vanilla, hates citrus (reverse it for me), she prefers warm shades, I prefer cool. I like gel cleansers, she goes for cream, I'm addicted to mascaras and my eyelash curler, she isn't. The list goes on and on. 

But a madness we absolutely share is one for taupe. 

I point to this post though as proof that I probably started it (hint, read "Nudge Nudge"). 

Or we discovered it on our own... alsoa  possibility. 

Anyway back on topic. I so loved the formula for L'Oreal Infallible in Endless Chocolate that when Syen told me of a taupe shade in the US, I lost my mind and ebayed it. Well, not immediately, only after I'd checked out the stores here... for months.. and found that neither it, nor its Asian counterpart, Sahara Treasure was available in Hong Kong. Sahara Treasure is available in Singapore though, if you can find it. 

So I picked this up on ebay for about USD8 including shipping. 

Taupe Madness: INGLOT Pearl #435

Hey lovelies,

Among the three of us here at So Loverly, I think I've developed quite a reputation of being taupe mad. (I've also developed a reputation for being mad about many other things *cough blush cough*, but you already knew that.)

Every time I look at eyeshadows, my eyes are inexplicably drawn to taupe and brownish shades. Can't be helped.

So today I'd like to introduce you to a shade I met while shopping with Kahani at INGLOT earlier this year - the Pearl #435.

Sephora's Crayon 12-HR Wear Jumbo Liner Rocks. Really.

Sometimes you come across things in life that you truly wonder how you ever did without before. Perhaps this borders on a slight exaggeration, but I feel pretty much that way about the Sephora Crayon 12-HR Wear Jumbo Liner in Taupe #04 .

It is awesome.

Endless chocolate

So Syen's told you that she's reconverted me back to cream shadows (although, with a few fallacies. I. do. NOT. squawk! Or say oh my 'gawd' *glares at Syen). Why "reconverted"? I used to love Benefit's Cream Shadow Liner D'Liners you see.. but they dry up. Not cool when they'r so pricey to start with. But now drugstores have started coming up with decent cream shadows, it seemed like a good time to try again and so far I have to say I'm totally impressed with L'Oreal's Color Infallible eyeshadows.

They've been compared to Armani Eyes to kill in the sense that the surface looks alike, and they're not so much cream shadows as densely packed pigments suspended in a base that lets you spread, blend and then it dries down to a long-lasting finish. Thing is, I can't confirm that for myself as I dont' think I'll EVER spend HKD300 on a single cream shadow (the price of Armani Eyes to Kill). Not for myself anyway. 

The colour I picked up from L'Oreal is 'Endless Chocolate' and it applies well with hair and flat synthetic brushes and fingers. I find for maximum shiny and intense pigment, synthetic's the way to go. But for smoking out and blending go with brushes and fingers.

The shade's a rich neutral brown with gold shimmer and it is lovely. Sorry about the swatch below, I just can't seem to swatch well.

On the eyes, it lasts all day without smudging. Particularly with an eye shadow blended in - although you don't really need to. It's a multidimensional shade so you can get away with just using it on the eyes. Darker around the eyes as a liner and blending it out on the lid. 

The other shades haven't tempted me, but both Syen and I are on the watch for a Bronze Taupe we hear's out there. We both wants it!

Conclusion

This is a top flight cream shadow on par with many high-priced ones and certainly worth is slightly higher drugstore price. It retails for HKD$89 here and I wait for L'Oreal counters to go on sale - so I picked this one up at a 15% discount. Score!

Update: Now it's no longer winter, I need a primer to get this to last all day. Booooooo! For the record, I am... very very oily. 

Favourite Things: Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams. They rock.

If you're one who's into cream shadows, chances are, you'd definitely heard of Make Up For Ever (MUFE)'s Aqua Creams. Their reputation within the beauty blogging world is, frankly, quite legendary.

And so when I decided to head the way of the cream shadows, of course I had to try these.

EOTD: Going brown with the Naked palette

No. I do not yet own Naked 2. I wish.

But all this hype about Naked 2 has, of course, turned my attention to the original Naked palette which I do own. And this was the eye I decided to go with for yet another recent wedding.

This look was really simple, but I was really happy with it.

US Haul Part I: Sephora ~

Hello lovelies,

I am back! Didja miss me? Shameless, I know. But ah well... *winks*

And now that I am back from gallivanting across the United States, I bring you photos of what I've hauled back. I bought quite a bit of stuff, so I think I'll have to spread it out over several posts. Beginning from what I picked up from Sephora(s).


Hope you don't mind me bragging about my hauls. After all, what's a haul if not to share and show off a little, right? *tee hee*

Here goes...

Loving: Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Shadow Cremes!

Of late, I've been loving eyeshadows. I've been diligently wearing my eyeshadows every morning now, and I've discovered another love. Cream eyeshadows.


I mean, what better friend for good eyeshadows than a good eyeshadow base, right?

Monday's beauty bits: Top travel ideas

I love travel. I love planning for it, packing for it, I even love being on the plane - although I have as many plane-horror stories to share as anyone. But perhaps my most obsessive aspect is crafting the PERFECT away-from-home beauty kits.

Be prepared for a peek into my insanity.

Bath

It's not perfect, but for now it works. This is a net shower bag from Daiso, it has a plastic base and netting all around so it dries super quick. The idea is to hang it in the shower but this has its drawbacks - there's not always a convenient place to hang it, and the drawstrings make getting stuff out of it hard. Still, I haven't found anything as lightweight or handy to compete yet.

Review: MAC Style Snob

Hello Friday!

Lately (on days when I actually wake up early enough to slap on more than just blush and lipbalm), I've been wearing eyeshadow.

And among the many, many eyeshadows I have amassed over the years, I find that I've been reaching for this one fairly frequently - MAC Style Snob.


And so I thought it would be good for me to share my thoughts on it. Here goes!

Looks: Purple + taupe eye

So last weekend, I was in Singapore to attend a friend's wedding.

Between running after two young nieces, and running around town to shop a bit, it was rather a whirlwind of a lovely weekend!

Anyway, I thought I'd share an EOTD with you lovelies on what I did for the wedding dinner.

I had decided to go with a trusted and much-loved purple and black cocktail dress. And so I decided to have something somewhat similar for my eyes.

(Apologies, but this was the only shot I had of myself the entire night! I decided to crop my friends out, out of respect for their privacy. In my haste, I forgot to take any face shots.)