Everyday Skincare Routine

HAUL: Collective Makeup Haul Winter/Spring 2015

I'm back on Youtube!

With a no mirror makeup challenge! Check the video below and subscribe!

Macaron Trinket box

I've been wanting one of these for ages since I first saw them, about 2 years ago. I saw that they had them in Urban Outfitters, but in the US. NOT UK! I was so sad. But this year one of my friends went to New York, and I was lucky enough for her to pick one up for me <3 

The quality of it isn't what I expected for the price of it. The paint chips off pretty easily.. I think I might end up painting over it in a similar colour, then putting clear nail polish/top coat over it. Maybe that will help stop it from chipping so easily!

It's a pretty little handy trinket box, which I'm gonna use to keep my small jewelry in when traveling or staying over places (so I don't lose earrings/rings). The company that makes these is called 'Two's Company", search Macaron trinket box.

Cute cup = makeup brush holder

 

Decided to use this cup that I've had for years now (Thanks Sab <3) to hold/store my makeup brushes. It has two cute faces and arm handles! It comes with a lid and spoon straw too (not pictured). My friend got this from Malaysia as a souvenir when she went~ Asia always has all the best cute stuff. 

REVIEW: Eyebrow products

Over the years I have tried a couple of different eyebrow products, I didn't get into the routine or obsession with filling my brows in until about 3 years ago when I was 20! Now it is a must to fill in my brows.

Here are my bare brows. My hair looks extra ginger in here..

I'll start in ascending order of products I have used so far.

Rimmel professional brow pencil

Excuse the scruffy brush, I haven't washed it for ages since I don't even use it..

Being a makeup newbie at the time, I purchased this Rimmel brow pencil in shade 002 Hazel, as my hair is brown. But even then, I didn't really use it much! The pencil lid has a little brow brush for you to brush out and blend any harsh drawn lines in your brows. Over time the brush will gunk up with product so make sure you clean the brush every so often.

The colour of the pencil is really off of the colour that I want it to be (to complement my dyed hair colour, which is always a shade of brown). It comes out ORANGE on application and just looks really wrong. I just don't like the finish and look of my brows after I use this product. I also wasn't really a fan of the brush design, I'm a spoolie girl.

Wearing Rimmel brow pencil in 002 Hazel

As you can see... the outcome is really unflattering on me. It just looks weird and very unnatural because it stands out so much.

As I got more and more educated about makeup products and techniques, I can now confidently say that I will not go back to this product.


Maybelline master shape brow pencil

As my Rimmel brow pencil was nearing it's end, I opted for Maybelline brow pencil in soft brown, just to try another brand. I find that this product is way too wasteful, I have to sharpen it after each use, as it is quite sheer and I have to layer it on, but even then I'm not really satisfied. The life span of this pencil is very short due to this. I also find that this product is way too waxy, and it leaves my brows looking like I've rubbed Vaseline on them... so greasy. Of course it is better after I use the brush to brush it out, but in the end it is still quite sheer. Coverage is very minimal for the amount of layering I've done.

Wearing Maybelline brow pencil in soft brown

On the plus side, this pencil comes with a spoolie brush on the opposite end to brush and blend your brows. I don't use the pencil anymore, but I do use it's spoolie! Therefore I will not purchase this again.


Collection 2000 Work the Colour Eyebrow kit

The brow gel is not pictured, I used it up ages ago and discarded of the empty tube!

As you can see, I hit the pan in the brown shade. Shows how much I use it!

I was looking for a brow powder to try for the first time, so I opted with a drugstore one to see if I liked the results compared to previous pencils. I ended up with a collection 2000 one since I saw that it came with 3 colours and a brow gel, which gave me a chance to try two new things at once! My first brow powder and I love it. Ever since switching to powder, I haven't looked back to pencils. It gives me a much softer look, the perfect colour to compliment my hair, and is easily build-able to achieve the desired effect. The palette contains 3 different shades; black, brown and light, which gives me a great option to mix and blend to get the right colour brows I want. I use the brown shade the most to colour my brows, the black shade to fill in any sparse areas, and the light shade to contour my nose.

Wearing Collection 2000 work the colour eyebrow kit

It comes with a little double ended brow brush, one side angled flat, and the other is rounded edge. I have always gone for the angled side of the brush as it work best for me. There's also a mini brow gel for you to set your brows after filling and shaping them to your desire! This is also what got me into eyebrow mascara. I love this product, but once it runs out, I will try another brow palette, just because I like to try and test new products.

GOSH eyebrow mascara 

As my hair is dyed brown, I find that my black brows look too harsh on my face. Although the brow powder helps to lighten my brows, I was also looking to get a coloured brow mascara to kind of 'tint' my brows temporarily each time. Looking at drugstore products, I found these GOSH brow mascaras in two different shades of brown, 002 and 003. There were no testers (Do people just steal testers? Loads are also missing!) so I just went and bought both of them to try myself and give my verdict.

The result? They don't add colour to my brow hairs. But they do keep my brows in place. Which is okay but not what I was looking for. Would I purchase these again? No.

MUA clear brow gel

Not much to say about a clear brow gel. It was cheap and does the job! You get a lot of product too as the tube is long. This is value for money and I'd go back to it.

Soap & Glory Archery brow tint & precision shaping pencil

My first try of Soap & Glory cosmetics! I had heard good reviews about the Archery brow products, so I went and bought both of them. I got the shade 'Brownie Points'.

The Archery brow tint is a light liquid pen brush applicator, and the shaping pencil is retractable. It took me a few tries to get the perfect brow look with this pen, the first few times my brows kept ending up looking thicker than usual. So after I brushed just below my brow shape to keep it from going too thick, and in the end I got the hang of it!

Wearing Soap & Glory Archery brow tint & shaping pencil

This product is good, however I am still straying back to the good old Collection 200 brow kit, as I am just more comfortable using powder. I do use the shaping pencil after filling my brows in with the powder, as the pencil is a little waxy, it helps to shape my brows even more. Also, you can use the brow tint to draw a precise line under the brow if you want more definition, just make sure you don't use a heavy hand. This is a product that I would definitely go back to.



Soap & Glory Archery 2 in 1

I've heard other beauty bloggers compare the Soap & Glory Archery 2 in 1 brow filling pencil and brush to the Anastasia Brow Wiz, which made me want to get it and try it out myself. First look at the pencil, it is really thin. Like reaaaaalllyyy thin, it feels very delicate compared to other brow pencils/pens i've used or held.

Wearing Soap & Glory 2 in 1 brow filling pencil

I like the result, although it is a little slightly darker than the brow powder, it isn't much of a difference. Easy and precise, as the pencil is retractable and its thin, you can draw nice soft thin lines to fill and shape the brows. The brush spoolie is also small and thin which makes brushing more accurate. I think I have a thing for small products, it feels so dainty and I love it!

This is another product that I would definitely go back to. I'd recommend this Soap & Glory 2 in 1 brow pencil to those that want a good Anastasia brow wiz dupe because you don't want to break your bank! 

REVIEW: Ciaté Caviar Manicure

I received this Ciaté Caviar Manicure set as a birthday gift from a friend! I've been out of the whole nail art thing for a few years now. I used to do all sorts of patterns and designs, then I stopped painting at all for a good year, and only recently got back into the habit of painting my nails. Although just plain colour and that's it.

So this is a nice and easy way to make my nails look more interesting than just a plain coat of colour!

You get a bottle of caviar micro pearls, a bottle of black nail polish, and a funnel.

Close up of the caviar pearls

It was my first time using this, and I only did the ring fingers of each hand as I think doing all of them like this would be too over the top.

It's important to keep everything in the packaging, as the plastic lid doubles up as a tray to catch the pearls when you pour them over your nails, and makes it easier to pour back through the funnel into the bottle, to reduce any wastage!

For my first experience trying this out, I did find it difficult to get a nice even spread of pearls. There are some gaps on the nails that are not covered! I need more practice. I'm not used to the feeling of having things stuck onto my nails, the raised texture and all. Also paranoid that the pearls are going to drop/fall off into my food and I'll end up eating it...

In the included booklet, it said that the best way to seal the pearls is to apply a top coat to only the tip of the nail?

You can see the little gaps in the photo. It's an interesting look... I'd never do this to all of my nails though. Reason being is that when they start to fall off, it'll be uneven and start to look a bit mank! One nail on each hand is enough for me.

This product isn't something that I would by for myself. It was nice to receive it as a gift though, as I've got the chance to try it out, something I never thought of anyway.

I'll be a good pairing with my Tsubasa inspired nails I used to rock a few years back!