L'Oreal's Goldmine - Want A Share?

Well, yes, I would surely love to have a share in L'Oreal's Goldmine. After all, I am sure L'Oreal Paris makes a huge profit from their cosmetics and skincare sale yearly. ;)

I wish!

But it's not that kind of 'goldmine' we are talking about here. :P

It's L'Oreal Paris Infallible Eye Color in Goldmine!

I have read somewhere that this and a gold-toned lipstick and gloss are part of a gold-themed collection for the Holiday, but I couldn't seem to find the display of the collection in-store nor could I find the gold-toned lipstick and lipgloss.

But I know I have been seeing Goldmine every time I go to my local Boots and even the larger Boots stores and I have been eyeing it for a while. Another 'unhealthy' obsession of mine with gold eyeshadows, besides yellow.

So I picked this up last week at my local Boots as a little treat for myself.

It's a beautiful yellow gold with obvious shimmer and some glitter but without the fallout. It says on the packaging that it has an iridescent finish. The colour pay-off is quite good, but still tend to be a bit sheer. I haven't played with this on my eyes. So I just have a swatch for you today.

Whatever it is, I think this eyeshadow would make a great holiday look!

It retails for GBP6.99 for 3.5g in Boots and Superdrug.

On A Good Hair Day & Good Skin Day...........

.............I wake up in the morning with my hair like this, as in the photos below.........

Seriously, my hair was just naturally wavy and styled in such way when I woke up one morning some weeks ago. Unfortunately, such days/mornings are really rare. That's why I took some photos... *very vain, I know. ;)

While good skin day is more common for me. Clear, bright and radiant skin in the mornings is more easily achievable for me than nice hair. In recent weeks, when the weather becomes colder (though not always drier, as humidity could be on the higher side on certain days), I have been using Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief every night after applying my night-time moisturiser, which at the moment, is Korres Yogurt Cream. It's quite a thick, rich formula supposed to be for oily, dehydrated skin. While my skin is not dehydrated (though a bit on the dry side), my T-zone is as always, quite oily. I have been using Korres Yogurt Cream for about a week and a half now, and there is no break-out or anything which could be associated with thick, rich formulation. I have started to use it as my daytime moisturiser as well.

I will write a more detailed review on the Korres moisturiser another time. And the Clinique Moisture Surge too.

Have a good morning!

Photos From Our Thanksgiving Dinner

Yes, this is actually our first year that we are really celebrating Thanksgiving. In the previous years, we used to order ready-roasted turkeys and cranberry sauce and stuffings etc for Christmas when we were still living in Malaysia.

Anyways, this year, my brother-in-law is here with us for Thanksgiving and Hubby decided that we will roast our own turkey and have a Thanksgiving dinner. And we invited our Italian friends over as well.

So for the past week, I had been reading up on how to prepare a turkey and how to roast it, looking online for recipes of cranberry sauce, etc.

In the end, I managed to come up not only with a roasted succulent yummylicious turkey, but also 2 types of cranberry sauce and other sides, including roasted corns, stuffings and mash. :) And mostly a one-man show.....yes, I made almost everything, with Princess helping to make the cranberry sauce with apples and cinnamon, and Hubby marinading the turkey because I am squirmish when it comes to handling raw poultry (albeit a frozen one!) and preparing the gravy from the giblets. It's really strange that I have no qualms handling anatomical specimens but when it comes to raw meat and stuffs.... OK, I will not gross you out.............

So, here you are..........photo time!

The Thanksgiving turkey

Setting the table

Cranberries

Cranberry sauce with apples and cinnamon

It's interesting how when the cranberries start to boil, they really popped and we can hear the popping sounds and even see them popping. Though a word of caution, don't look directly over the pot, as one almost popped onto my face!;)

Then they slowly turned the colour of the mixture red and turned into gel consistency.

Cranberry sauce with orange juice (photo taken while I was cooking it)

After 4 servings of turkey......... that's how Princess looked like - stuffed and satisfied, though I think she looked more cheeky than satisfied! ;)

Have a nice weekend!

Look: Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow #83 Illusoire

This is the look I did with Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow #83 Illusoire.

Face Of The Day

Face: Benefit Hello Flawless Powder in Champagne

Cheeks: Stila Pomegranate Crush Lip & Cheek Stain

Lips: Make Up For Ever Fascinating Lip Gloss #16

Eyes: Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow #83 Illusoire all over lids up to the crease. MAC Zoom Lash Zoomblack mascara.

More photos........

Eyeshadow Swatches: MAC Big Bounce Shadows & Gosh Mono Eyeshadows

These are some of my hauls from the past. I may have posted photos of them, but I thought I will show you some swatches. You can see the product photos here.

GOSH Mono Eyeshadows in 001 Golden Green(left) and 008 Burgundy(right) - swatches

Both the GOSH eyeshadows I picked up at a whim when I saw some of them on half-price at Superdrug. I swatched them in-store and though I have similar shades in my stash, I haven't tried any GOSH products before, let alone the eyeshadows. These 2 shadows have more like a satin finish. While they are not super soft and smooth in texture, they are not dry or chalky either. Their pigmentation is quite OK, and colour pay-off is quite good. Though Burgundy is a tad sheerer.

MAC Big Bounce Shadows in Spread The Wealth(left) and Luxury Touch(right) - swatches

Despite many not-so-stellar reviews on these Big Bounce Shadows from MAC Flighty Collection this past Summer, even Temptalia was disappointed with them, I saw several of these at the CCO in Bicester Village and just felt that I had to get some to try out. While it was not on a huge markdown, I picked these 2.

They are liquid, may be thick liquid, in the jars. While they swatched quite OK, I had problem applying them on the lids.

They didn't apply evenly and when I tried putting on a second layer, my finger would wipe off the first. So I went on to dabbing it on my lids. Still, the colour wouldn't stay long. Then, I gave up. But I dabbed on some powder eyeshadow on top of that 'mess' and WOW! It made the powder eyeshadow POP!

OK, I will speak more on the Big Bounce Shadows in another post and show you the looks I did with it.

Happy Hump Day!

It's Thanksgiving Day tomorrow and I will be busy in the kitchen........... ;)

Till then.......

Look: Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow #84 Epatant

This is a look I did using Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in #84 Epatant. It's the first time that I used this eyeshadow since purchasing it. And not only was I so impressed with the quality of this product but the shade is so beautiful yet gorgeous that it even drew the attention and garnered praises from the SAs of Benefit and Urban Decay!

*I had drafted the first paragraph last month and slap myself for not finishing up this post, though the photos have been cropped!

Face Of The Day

Face:

MAC Prep+Prime Skin Base mixed with Juice Beauty Perfecting Foundation in Organic Sand

Guerlain Meteorites in Mythic

Cheeks:

The Body Shop Roseflower Blush

Lips:

Make Up For Ever Fascinating lip gloss #16

Eye Of The Day

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in #84 Epatant all over lids and blend upward all the way to almost the brow.

Finish off with MAC Zoom Lash Zoomblack mascara.

More photos............

I think I will be using this eyeshadow a lot come the Holidays, wearing it to dinners and parties! :D

Happy Monday!

Lipsticks That I Own

Gio asked some time last week how many lipsticks do I/you own in her blog.

I got curious and I gathered all the lipsticks I have with me here in the UK, and photographed them collectively.

So how many do I have/own?

38!!!

Then after I took the photos, I realised that I had a GWP from Estee Lauder which was stashed away, so that makes 39!

And of all that, I have used about 20 of them, some only once, and some only swatched for photos. See below.

Happy Friday!

Photos, Swatches, Quick Review & FOTD: Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors

The Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors are new for Fall. It's a collection of 12 cream eyeshadows which replace the Hydro-Powder Eyeshadows.

Here I have swatches of 11 of the 12 eyeshadows which I swatched back in August when I was in Malaysia. GR708 Moss was not available at the Shiseido counter.

From the product brochure

Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors

Swatches of Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors (lighting was not quite good as all these photos were taken under the yellow lighting of the beauty hall)

From L to R: BL711 Angel, VI305 Purple Dawn, PK302 Magnolia, WT901 Mist, GD803 Techno Gold, BE204 Meadow, BR709 Sable, BR306 Leather, GR707 Patina, SV810 Tin, BK912 Caviar

More up-close swatches and description of the shades

Swatches of Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors

From L to R: BL711 Angel, VI305 Purple Dawn, PK302 Magnolia

According to Shiseido colour nomenclature (and for Japanese cosmetics, in general), the first 2 letters of the code indicate the colour family of the shade.

BL711 Angel - a mid-tone blue with silver shimmer (BL=blue)

VI305 Purple Dawn - a mid-tone purple with silver shimmer (VI=violet)

PK302 - a pale shimmery baby pink (PK=pink)

Swatches of Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors

From L to R: WT901 Mist, GD803 Techno Gold, BE204 Meadow

WT901 - a frosty white (WT=white)

GD803 - one of my favourite colours and yellow eyeshadow! It's a warm bright golden yellow (GD=gold)

BE204 - a shimmery golden wheat colour (BE=beige)

Swatches of Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors

From L to R: BR709 Sable, BR306 Leather, GR707 Patina

BR709 - an olive-brown (BR=brown)

BR306 - a slightly cool-toned dark brown (BR=brown)

GR707 - a golden olive green (GR=green)

Swatches of Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colors

From L to R: GR707 Patina, SV810 Tin, BK912 Caviar

GR707 - see above

SV810 - a cool shimmery silver with bluish undertone (SV=silver)

BK912 - a black with multi-coloured fine shimmer (BK=black)

So, I purchased 4 of them and will write about them soon. A reader of mine guessed correctly on my FB page! :D

It's been very very long overdue. ;)

Anyways, if you can't wait for the full review, here is a quickie...........

They all have smooth buttery texture which swatch easily and apply like a dream. Its pigmentation is very good and claims to have a proven 16-hour lasting effect. Well, I have yet to really play with this and have them on for 16 hours, so we shall see.

But from the quick EOTD which was done by the Shiseido makeup artist using VI305, PK302 and WT901, the shadows did stay put from the afternoon when he put them on for me till night time when it's time for me to remove my makeup. And I didn't see any creasing nor fading.

It retails for RM75 (6g) each. In the US, it's USD25 each. I am not too sure of the price in the UK, perhaps GBP20 (to be confirmed).

Face Of The Day

What a long post for a Monday!

But from this week onwards, posts will not be as frequently published because work is really piling up and I haven't that much time to schedule enough posts to last till when I will be free again. :)

Let's Celebrate 11.11.11 With The Festival Eyeshadow Palette From Famous By Sue Moxley! Review & Swatches

Happy 11.11.11! And I have purposely scheduled this post for 11:11AM as well! Haha! Perhaps, another post will pop up at 11:11PM? ;)

So will you be doing anything special today? Anyone getting married? Having a party just because? And any of my dear readers here expecting a baby today? :D

I don't really have anything planned out for today. Just thought of may be to celebrate this date, I will review a really bright and beautiful eyeshadow palette, coincidentally named Festival. Well, it's not a festival but whatever, please excuse my lack of imagination and creativity! ;P

Famous by Sue Moxley Festival Eyeshadow Palette

Again, like a broken record, I purchased this Famous by Sue Moxley eyeshadow palette called Festival from Superdrug after seeing lusting over it when I saw it on the Famous FB page.

OK, let's get on to the palette!

It comes in a rectangular matte black plastic casing which actually feel rather weight-y. And inside, it has a rectangular mirror which spans the entire lid. It comes with a dual-ended sponge tip applicator. Normally, I would just put the applicator into storage and use my own brushes instead. No exception to this.

This palette houses 4 brightly coloured eyeshadows, each one with excellent pigmentation and good colour pay-off. I haven't tried them on my lids so I can gauge for their blendability on my lids. The photos of the swatches below don't really do justice to the real colours. Blame it on the Sun who has gone into hibernation! :P

And the 4 colours are some of my favourite colours, especially so when there is a duochrome shade in this palette! It's amazing that this is the second duochrome eyeshadow shade that I have encountered with this drugstore brand! The first one was this.

The 4 colours are a cool-toned mustard yellow, a bright true orange, the duochrome fuchsia with a blue sheen, and a blue green. I wouldn't say that they are shimmery, but all 4 have a lovely pearlescent sheen that borders slightly metallic to a varying degree, depending on how the angle of the light falls on them.

The amount of product you get is quite a lot. On the back of the casing, it states there is 5g, so I would assume each eyeshadow is 1.25g in weight. And for GBP9 which I thought was pretty expensive for a drugstore eyeshadow palette initially, the quality and quantity of the eyeshadows sort of make up for the rather high price tag.

More close-up photos of the eyeshadows..........

Swatches of Famous by Sue Moxley Festival Eyeshadow Palette - natural daylight on a cloudy day

Swatches of Famous by Sue Moxley Festival Eyeshadow Palette - under fluorescent lighting

See the duochrome in the fuchsia shade

Happy 11.11.11 again!

Have a lovely weekend ahead!