guessing game~

Just for fun~

Guess what foundation i used in this picture & if you guess it right you'll have a chance to win a little gift for me.

This giveaway is open for my Philippine-based readers.
You can join this little giveaway by hopping on to my Facebook page & leave a comment or you can click HERE.

I like how it can even out my skin from the chest area to my face.

Maybe i'll include a bottle of my franken polish as a prize.
I'll just decide what will it be by the end of this week.

Start guessing!

Have a great day,minna-san!
Jaa ne~
^_^

neutral look + Eshiko HD Powder

Hi,hunnies!

I wasn't able to blog that much the past couple of weeks because i've been too busy with lots of things. I know that this year i'll be very busy because i want to gradually do a career shift. I just hope that i won't be too busy to blog. I promise to find time for blogging.

Anyways, i have been practicing & practicing on make-up applications... especially for bridal looks. Something that is natural & will just enhance what the person has & not totally change their looks. I have to say that i am not really into neutrals because i prefer bright eye make-up. So working with neutrals is something that i want to be really good at.

How hard can it be to do neutral looks,right?
It's a very safe combination of earth colors & nothing could go wrong but i still want to make sure that i know how to work with the colors & what shade would suit a certain tone best.

My camera was in a good mood the time i made this & i was able to take good pics. I need to actually bring it to Samsung because there's something wrong with the lens of it when im zooming it in so i'll be without a camera once i had it repaired.

When i went to the mall the other day & asked Samsung they said that i can only have it repaired at SM Mall of Asia... great! that's an hour or two travel away from where i live!

I'm doubly glad that my brows are looking better...finally!
Brows has been my weakness before & i think im not doing bad,ne?
hehe

Have you heard of Eshiko?

I read reviews of it, looked at pictures & it seems good. I saw a deal at awesome.ph last week so i immediately bought one. I know i said that i am on a personal make-up ban but this is just too good to passed. It's been said to be better than Make-up Forever HD Powder, how could i let it go,ne?

Smallest in the world for a flawless finish,huh?
Just a quick idea about what they're claiming..

ESHIKO™ is a 100% hydrated silica refined at the smallest size possible, smaller than all the leading hydrated silica brands. We also infuse moisture to each hydrated silica nanospheres to prevent the number one problem among all leading hydrated silica brands – Dryness of the skin. Think of ESHIKO™ as a 100% hydrated silica with an upgrade, the best hydrated silica on the market today.

I'll let you know what i think about it after i've tried it. But you might want to check this site for a comparison between this & MUFE HD. If it works that good, i wouldn't mind paying $30 for it!

I do hope that this would be a good product. I said countless of times that i never did like putting on foundation. I hope that this is something that would really work for me!

I need to catch up on my reviews. They're piling up crazily!
Next review will be about the Etude House Apricot Sticks.

Hope you all are having a great day!
Jaa ne~!
^_^

eyelook: Pin-up + liquid lining

I consider Pin-up as a classic & very lady-like amongst all make-up look. There's something sexy & beautiful about red lips & clean yet elongated eyes. For some reason red lipstick works better on me rather than pink ones, so i guess that's the reason why i'm biased with this look. I think i mostly wear red every time i go out.

I've always preferred the pin-up look because it's all about being natural. I mean, you just have to enhance what you have but not to the point of altering it already. Strong brows, lined eyes, full lashes & red lips... these are the things that you just need to enhance.

I know i look haggard. ggaaahhhh!!!!
Blame it on lack of sleep because of the dogs. Charlie, our choco lab keeps on going outside of room to check on his buddy, Tippy, our aspin dog. I can't let TP in my room because he got fleas & i don't want to sleep on a flea-ridden bed.
*shivers at the thought*

Last time, i focused on highlighters. I also made a separate post about how i apply red lipstick. So this time it's just a separate post on how i apply liquid liner.  I'm sure there are tons of ways on how you can apply them but i hope that somehow this post will be of help for those who are having difficulty with it.

I have said countless times that i prefer to use liquid liner compare to other liners. I'm not a fan of gel even though i have been hearing good things about it. I find it a nuisance to use a separate brush, dip it, use it then clean it afterwards. It's hard to take gel liner off your brush, not if you use oil first, but i just didn't like extra work..haha.. just call it laziness.
XD

There are 3 Ls that you have to remember when you do the pin-up look.
LINER - cat-eyeliner for that smoldering & mesmerizing look. meow!
LASHES - bat your eyes to melt your guy's heart out.
LIPS - red lips for that seductive smile. rawr!

Start with your foundation (i'm sorry, i still haven't even started my post about foundations..it's just that i want everything to be really detailed), making sure that you have a nice clean base. Having a flawless skin is one of the key factor in achieving a very nice pin-up look.

Making the cat-eye look is difficult for a lot of girls. Heck, I still sometimes struggle with it, making sure that my eyes look even! I learned form my experience that it's better to do it with your eyes open rather than lining with it closed.

Why?
Simple!
You have your eyes open the whole time, except for when blinking but you can't really count that, can you? So, why apply something that could change the shape of your eye with it closed when you spend your waking hours with it open. You'll be able to see what you are doing clearly, notice any stray marks, smudges & flicks very easily if you have both of them open.

You just have to be gentle & take the time perfecting your eyeliner. You can't just do a single swipe of it & expect it to be perfect?! I guess if you are a professional eyelining chick (LOL! can't think of a word to describe it) then it's no sweat. Even professional make-up artist knows how important it is to take time even-ing out your eyeliner!

Tell me, what's the difference between the two?
I think it's quite obvious already how eyelining can alter the shape of your eyes... in this case the strong brows also plays an important part because the high arch was able to give out the illusion that i have bigger eyes.

When lining the eyes, make sure that you have a steady table where you can rest your elbows. It would help give you a better & steady grip on your brush. I took countless of pictures & done this look many times just to be able to give you better pics so sorry if they somehow looks different because there are some good pics in one batch.hehe.

If you are using an eyeshadow primer, bring it up to your brows so to ensure that your brows will also last long. Choose an eyeshadow that is almost like the color of your skin. You can even just bring in your foundation all over the lids. You have to cover any uneven color on your lids. Then using something that you would contour your face (or a foundation 2 shades darker than your tone). apply it on the contour of your eye.

That's it.
You wouldn't even need to bring the contour on the edge of your lash line. You just need to create the illusion of a deep-set eyes. It would enhance the vampy-look of your liner. Now let's get to lining...

What i do first, instead of dragging the liquid on my lash line is to pat it in, work it in to make sure that i also cover the space in between the lashes. Start from the middle going outward, then slowly bring the line in the inner corner of your eyes.

Even if you tightline (lining the waterline), there is still that small "unlined" space, which somehow destroys the whole look. Patting in the liquid will also enable you to somehow line that space.

Make sure that you also line the inner lash line,ok?
Again, keep your eyes open to see what you are really doing. Just be gentle & it will be ok.
Once you have already lined it, then it's time to do the flick.

I made the flick deliberately thicker here to make sure that you'll be able to see it clearly, but it's really better to start with a thin line. I have heard that to make the perfect flick you have to just follow the shape of your outer lash line going to the end of your brows... like so.

I do it differently, though. I mostly just follow the natural curl of my lashes. My right eye has a slightly different shape to the left eye so following the lash line mostly just makes me look weird. I stare at the mirror then i slowly draw the flick under my lash.

Make sure you bring in a darker color on the lower lash line to define your eyes.

Now, the most difficult part is making sure that your right eye looks the same with your left eye.

Again, im stressing on the importance of looking straight in the mirror to see if they look even. If you are not yet sure about using liquid liner straight on your eyes, then use a pencil liner first. Trace the line that you will do to see if it looks the same with the other eye. If not, then you can easily erase it using a Q-tip soaked with a non-oily make-up remover. Roll the Q-tip away to get rid of the line, roll, not rub.

Take your time, im sure you'll eventually get them looking equal.

Let's move on with the brows.
Using your favorite brow powder, gel or cream, load your angled brush with it. Start in the middle to define your arch. Don't exceed your natural arch. You just need to strengthen the look of your brows by applying a darker color, but not by exceeding your natural brow shape. I think it would just look very unnatural.

Lightly fill in the gaps of your brow using a feathery stroke. You wouldn't want any harsh lines. I prefer using powder because it wouldn't create any harsh lines with it. Once you get to the inner area, just use the tip of the brush... using feathery strokes.

I didn't really use falsies because i can't find something that would fit this look on my stock of lashes. I have to go to the Beauty Bar once more to stock up on my favorite Andrea lashes! So i just cut the falsies that i had here with me & added it on the outer area for the much needed flair!

Finally, for the blush, just choose a light peachy pink blush. Something that will add a hint of healthy color, not something that will draw the attention away from your lips.

Whew!
That took a lot!
Gosh, i'm not even sure if you understood my explanation back there! hahaha!
I hope to God that you just did because i won't go into it again.
Did you know that this post had been sitting on my draft for more than a week now because i just can't seem to find the right words to explain it?!
Now, i need to just publish it because i feel like i've reached my limit.
Mou genkai nan desu~
T_T
It's hard to be a perfectionist!

Anyway, if you are really having a hard time lining, practice, practice, practice.
You'll get the hang of it. I'm sure!

Hope you all are having a great evening/day,sweeties!
Jaa ne~!
^_^

playing with falsies~

I don't get to play with my make-up palettes as much as i want to, not because i don't have the time (that's also one..hehe) but for some reason it just doesn't look right every time i do it. There are just some time where no matter how much i blend the colors, it just doesn't look nice. I'm sure you all have had experience like mine,right?

That mostly happens to me when i do my nails.
What i am thinking of most often than not looks different when i do it on my nails already. hehe
But also in making eye make-up too once in a while..

I felt the need...yes, need!.. to whip out my palette & do a pink eye make-up last night. It's high time that the urge to do eye make-up ought to return back. I missed playing with my palette & being able to come up with something that at least looks nice. hehe

I was only able to do my right eye... hehe
I will do both of my eye later on when i do the tutorial...

Sorry about the messy hair...
My hair had dried out because i switched to an anti-dandruff shampoo.
*sigh*
Next week it will be back to its crowning glory once i go back to my Camellia Hair Care.

Anyway, i'll do a tutorial of this look maybe tomorrow. I just did this last night & i prefer taking tutorial pictures in the day so that i can photograph the process a lot better. I was testing out the falsies that KKCenterhk sent me.

They sent the ES A155 to test out as per my request.

I was surprised when i opened it because the lashes that greeted me are quite dramatic... well, dramatic for me who got small eyes.

These babies are quite unique in a way that it thickens & lengthens in the end which is perfect if you want to achieve a cat-eye look!

Since it's too long for me, i decided to cut it at the end. It's so long that it look so fake on me if i didn't cut it.

This is how it looks like on my eye after finally cutting a few strands...

I also used a lower lash because the upper lash looks so dramatic for me & it will just "close" my eye up if i didn't do so. I used the one from KKCenterhk too!

I like how this eyelash enhances my eyes every time i smile. LOL!
It's also as if my eyes are smiling too!

I can't wait to try this with both of my eyes~!

See how long this lash is?
It will perfectly fit your eye!

Tutorial post to be posted later... i'm about to do a tutorial now after this!

Have a great day,gals!
Jaa ne~!
^_^

thoughts about smokey eye make-up for semi-monolids

Before you scroll downward, just a little reminder that this post will be full of my pictures. For lack of model, i don't have a choice but to just put my pictures as an example. This is a bit embarrassing for me, putting in all of these pictures, but i would just like to make a point & this is the only way to explain my point. This is not a tutorial, by the way.

Most people think that only those that got deep-set eyes can rock a smokey look. Those that got monolids/semi-monolids would have a hard time pulling it off because they do not have "eye sockets". Let me tell you, hunnies, that that is not true, in fact if you will be able to apply it the right way, it could make your eyes look bigger even though you have hooded lids.

I don't have deep set eyes but i do smokey look every once in a while. You can even see in this pic below how narrow my eyelid is, so there's no ample space to do much blending but that doesn't stop me from doing smokey look. Uh oh, i need to wax my upper lip already.. *note to self*..hehe... by the way, that small white thing on my lid is glue..haha.

Bright smokey eye make-up gives off a very fun & flirty look, while dark smokey eye make-up can give that chic & strong (depending on the colors that you choose) look. Lots of women shy away from it thinking that it won't suit them. Personally, i think every one can pull off a smokey look.

I have done a couple of dark smokey eye make-up & it gives me a different look each time. It could make my eyes smaller, if i go for an elongated look. It could make my eyes look bigger if i go for a rounded smokey look. It could give me a fierce look if i use a really dark look like donning in a gothic look.

Whenever i tell the ladies that they can do the smokey eye make-up, they always have that doubtful look. It's like they only think that only actresses & models can do those & not ordinary women.

I went over my past eyelook posts to browse what are the looks that i've done before.

This made my eyes look small because the concentration of the color is at the outer part of my eye. As far as i remember, when i did my liner, i also elongated it hence the effect. This looks is better suited for those that got deep set eyes & would want to don the ultimate cat-eyed look.

Gothic look is really fierce & can make you look like you are angry at the whole world, but you know what's awesome about donning in a gothic eye make-up? It sort of gives you that "don't mess with me" type of outlook & would even make you feel confident.. provided that you have an awesome primer underneath,ok? hehehe

Going without primer in this look would be disastrous for if you have a dark make-up it would be very obvious once it creases. But believe me, girls, this look is awesome when you wore it.

Now i think, the sultry soft smokey eye make-up is one of the most coveted eye make-up look. If the gothic look gives you that "i am awesome" type of attitude this one exudes an alluring & feminine aura that's why most of us relates a very smokey look to sexiness.

Kim Kardashian exudes that sexy sultry look whenever she dons her smokey eye & nude lip look,ne? If you feel like you need an extra boost with your confidence by your eye make-up, soft smokey eye make-up is your best bet!

Now, let's talk about  bright eye make-up!
You don't have to be tied with the usual neutral/earth colors. There would be some time in your life when you would have to taker a step forward & leave it for a while. You would discover a whole new world out there once you start filling your make-up kit with colorful shadows.

I love bright eye make-up! It is very fun, girly, playful & flirty. It adds sunshine when you are feeling down. Now, i know a couple of ladies who do not like bright eye make-up thinking that it won't suit them. I think some colors won't suit a specific tone but once you found the colors that suit you. You won't go wrong.

I did this make-up look when i joined a contest. It was an arabic make-up contest. It was really fun having this bright look, i almost regret taking it off for it cheered me up.

Last thing that i want to add is to justify what i said before that if you do your smokey look, it could emphasize your eyes even though their small.

See how different it looks like with the smokey look?
As what i said in my past post that you have to bring the colors upward not at the outer part so that it would 'lift' your eyes. I'll do a tutorial for the first picture that i posted later on.

I haven't touched my make-up kit for a long time already! Aside from my go-to stuff which would just have the basics, i've neglected the rest of my make-up. Actually, i don't put make-up when i go out anymore, unlike before. I only put moisturizer (that got hyalauronic acid), dr feelgood as a primer (to somehow close up my pores so dirt won't enter it), lipbalm/lipstick, groom my brows & that's it!

Haha!
That's why a couple of people are surprised whenever they see me (especially those who know that i am a beauty blogger) for they are expecting that i would always have smokey eyes or vampy lips. So, if you are expecting to see me with full make-up on just because i'm a beauty blogger, pardon me for ruining your expectation but i prefer to keep my face bare for all people to see my flaws. hehe

I learned it the hard way that piling on make-up is not good. As what i said, i still have the scars & marks to prove it.

But that doesn't mean i stopped doing smokey eye make-up or even going for a full made-up look. I'm just waiting for the perfect time when i could go all out.

So, ladies, don't shy away from doing smokey eye make-up. As what the "kocho-oneesan" in the anime Saiunkoku Monogatari once said,

"Make-up is a woman's battle armor. When you're heading into a battle make sure you wear it. If you do, you'll never cry. If you cry, your make-up will fall apart. No matter how light the make-up is, the result would be disgraceful. So regardless how difficult things are, you will not cry."

I love this quote!

Hope that you will try to don smokey eye make-up every once in a while,ok?

Hope you are having a great day/evening!
^_^

ps:
My FB giveaway has already started. Head on HERE to join.

playing with falsies~

It has been a while since i did a make-up look post. This post had been sitting on my draft for like forever. I feel guilty for not posting this asap. Well, now i get to have a bit of a free time so i was able to do a bit of blogging. I'm sorry if this had been delayed for months!

I was quite busy cleaning our house the past couple of weeks so i wasn't able to blog properly. I moved to my parent's room because i don't like sleeping in an air-conditioned room anymore. So now my room is only being used by my 3 younger brothers, i only stay here every time i use my pc though. So this is already their room & now i'm in a bigger room all by myself. Yay!

Anyway, going back, i decided to play with the false lashes that i got months ago from KKCenterhk.com.

I got a box full of upper lashes & 4 lower lashes (as per my request). I have always wanted to try wearing lower lashes & now i get to try all i want!

This post is not a full make-up look though. I haven't got enough time to do a full make-up.. but i'll get to it someday.hehe

The sample that they sent me was A400. It's a full set of 10 pairs, i just played with one of them the time i got it that's why one is missing..hehe

This is how it looks like.

They are actually quite long compare to the traditional lashes like Ardell, Andrea, etc. At first i thought that i won't be able to use it because it seems like it would give me a very dramatic look even though it's supposed to look natural but i'm mistaken. It still gave me a nice look~!

Once you remove it from the box, it would have these extra strands on them that you would need to cut. If the lashes are too long for you you can just trim it on the sides to fit your eyes. Luckily, i don't need to trim it.

So, first thing to do is to properly line the eyes...
Lining your eyes can give a different eye shape. See how different my right eye looks compare to my left eye? It looks bigger,ne? It's because i made the middle part thicker compare to the sides, plus i winged it out so that it would lift my eyes even though i made a thick line at the top. This a nice trick to make your eyes look bigger even though you don't have geo lenses.

With that done, it's time to add color to the outer lower part of the eye area.

Go for a dark color. I was just feeling lazy to look for a darker color that's why i opted for this color, but it would be a lot better if you would have a chocolate brown or even black to give definition to your eyes. Doing so would make your eyes seem bigger.

Did you notice the difference between the eye shape?
My left eye looks small & droopy (i hate to use this term but for the lack of it, i'll just go for this..), but my right eye seems bigger. Make sure that you apply a white eyeshadow at the inner eye area so to give that "awake" look. I just forgot to do so when i took this...hehe

Going back to the lashes, make sure that you trim the excess strands

When i apply glue to my falsies, i do not apply it directly from the tip of the tube because somehow my clumsiness always gets the better part of me that i ended up also applying glue to the lashes itself therefore ruining it before i even get to use it. I have destroyed a couple of lashes all because of that.

Pardon me for the blurry pic, i was having a hard time getting my camera to focus.

So now i put the glue on the edge of something then i just run the edge of the lashes on the glue while holding it with a tweezer. It always makes my work easier & no danger of putting too much glue on the lashes.

This is how it looks like when applied...

I used mac woodwinked on the lid & mac sugarshot as the highlighter. Even though it's long, it still looks natural & this feels light. Most synthetic lashes makes me feel sleepy every time i apply it i guess it's because it's somewhat heavy, but not this! in fact it almost feels like it's made of natural hairs~!

Me like it a lot~!
^_^

See how long it is?!
You can even see my real lashes on that pic. It would be the straight lashes below the curl of the falsies. Again, even though this is long, it still feels light & airy!

This is good for natural or dramatic look as well! Pardon the picture, i did not apply any face make-up hence you could see redness on my cheek area. I only applied pink lipstick though. It's Ever Bilena Off Beat Pink.

If only this is available locally i would buy lots & lots of them but, unfortunately, this can only be bought online. You can buy it at KKCenterhk.com for only $6.84. I have to say that this is really cheap but the quality is good~!

I highly recommend this!
I would definitely buy this again...once i got over the fear of Customs tax...LOL!

Anyway, moving on to the lower lashes. You have to help me in on this... What lashes do you think suits my eye? I did not stick them on with glue though~!

Let's start first with eyelash number 8

This is how it looks like on my eyes.

I think this would be good as outer lower lashes only but i'm still not sure if it's ok as a full lower lash...hmmm... what do you think?

Next is would be the eyelashes number 6

This is how it looks like on my eyes

I think this would be good for those who prefers dark smokey eye... especially if you like to also line your lower lash area with dark color, but not with natural look,ne?

Then the 3rd one would be this

This is how it looks like on my eyes...

I think this would better suit those who do gothic eye make-up. A really heavy dark eye make-up would definitely make the eyes looks bigger with this. Pair it with a heavy lash, then you would be able to rock the perfect gothic look!

Last would be this one...

This is how it looks like on my eyes...

I think that this would look great naturally if only the lash band would be transparent. Unfortunately, this has a dark band so it will not be good for a natural look.

I'll be doing a full make-up look with each lashes.
This is just a preview of how each of them looks like.

Anyway, what do you think?
What lower lashes suit my eye the most?

I missed playing with my eyeshadows~!
I have to do a make-up look sooner or later!

Do you use false lashes?
What kind?

Hope you all have a great evening/day,hunnies~!
Jaa ne!
^_^