March Sephora Haul!

You know what? I blame Sephora. They keep shoving us 10% discount vouchers, I feel guilty if I didn't get the chance to use them. So one day I walked into Sephora with a shopping list and a heart full of determination, only to find out that most NYX butter glosses and matte lip creams I wanted were out of stock. What? No!

Well the good news is, Sephora was having a promotion at that time so I ended up getting 15% discount on all purchased items, yay!

First up, I picked up Triple Action Cleansing Water from the Sephora Collection as my friend recommended it to me. I also want to compare it to my HG Bioderma Sensible H2O Micelle Solution as they are actually quite similar except for the price tag. Come on - let's face it, Bioderma is extremely expensive.

I also got a lip product from the Sephora Collection which is their Cream Lip Stain in 04 Endless Purple. It is a wine burgundy red lip cream (sort of like a liquid lipstick) that gives a matte finish and it looks so pretty on my Youtube crush Diana (Easyneon). She used this in one of her tutorials and I know immediately that I had to have this.

Another lippie I picked up is the NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel (BLG08) and I am really loving it so far! It has a lovely peachy-pink tone and it just looks so natural on me. It has definitely become my new favourite MLBB, I'll tell ya that.

Next up, I got my HG Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Setting Spray as I've used up my travel size one which I got from the previous haul. This setting spray - I kid you not - is the bomb. It not only makes my makeup last whole day but also somehow reduce the cakiness and powdery looking feeling. 

I also picked up a sample size Tarte Maracuja Oil while queueing for payment at the counter. That row of mini/travel size products which is strategically located ithere... It always sucks me in like a black hole 'cuz I want to impulse-buy all of them! 

Anyway, this bottle of wonderfulness comes in 0.5 fl oz while the normal size contains 1.7 fl oz. I have heard so much about this so when I saw this standing beside the aisle with a RM50 price tag, I snatched it immediately. Maracuja oil is actally extracted from passion fruit and it contains a large amount of essential fatty acids and vitamins that will help to recharge and replenish our skin, well, at least according to Tarte.

Every night I put 2 drops of this maracuja oil onto my palms and gently rub them against each other. I then massage them into my cheeks which become rather dry due to the rough weather at Taiwan.  So far it doesn't break me out, it absorbs well and it really moisturises my skin. I highly recommend this to anyone with dry skin!

Lastly I picked up two Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Exposed and Blissful. Call me crazy but this is actually my first step in starting my Tarte blushes collection, hee. Well I couldn't resist, they're so pretty and good quality that I am actually thinking of getting either Natural Beauty or Babydoll next. (...Or maybe both?)

Freebies time! Sephora kindly gave me the samples of Fresh Soy Concentrating Eye Makeup Remover, Fresh Rose Hydrating Eye Gel Cream, Boscia Makeup-Breakup Cool Cleansing Oil, Total Age Defy Cream from their house brand..... and a 3-step sample kit from Biotherm Homme.

I mean, I learnt from a video that the whole skincare for men and women are just a common gendered marketing technique but still, seriously? Come on man. Well that aside, definitely looking forward to trying all the samples out! :D

I also received a black and white bedroom slippers for being a black card member. I was initially feeling happy from getting freebies until my mom started shouting at me for accepting shoes during Chinese New Year. Yikes. (Shoes are pronounced the same way as 'evil' in Mandarin and as a part of Chinese culture, it is considered bad luck to accept shoes as gifts during the new year.)
Sorry mom. But thanks anyway, Sephora. 

Soap & Glory Mini Haul: It's All About the Powders! - Solar Powder, Glow All Out & One Heck of a Blot!

Solar Powder - £11
Glow All Out - £11
One Heck of a Blot - £12

A few months ago my good friend Kelly was at the UK and I thought I'd take the chance for some guilty purchase. Yup. Soap & Glory. The packagings are simply too hard to resist. I mean, look at them! They're so cute! Anything with vintage theme will always be my soft spot.

I'm going to start off with my least favourite -- although I was really looking forward to trying this as I heard so many good things about it -- The Solar Powder. It consists of 2 tones - 1 lighter and 1 darker but for me it is generally too light even for my skin tone. It barely shows up on my face! *pouts* It is also not as pigmented as I thought; I needa swatch a few times more until it shows a hint of colour on the back of my hand. Boo. So now I will only reach out for this if I simply want to bronze up my face to prevent looking like a pale-faced zombie, which is good in a way that I won't have to worry going too over the top and risk having cheeks and forehead that look as if I just got punched by Mike Tyson.

Glow All Out on the other hand, does its job well. Albeit the shimmery looks pretty intense upon swatching, it looks fairly natural on my cheekbone and emits a beautiful glow, perhaps due to the peachy tone. 

As for the translucent powder... I love my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. It's cheap, it does what it says so I'm content. But , unlike One Heck of a Blot, it sometimes cake me up and gives me dry patches if I'm not careful enough during the application (light is the key!) even when I only apply it around my oily T-zone. Also, packaging wise, One Heck of a Blot is much sturdier when compared with Rimmel powder's flimsy lid, so it is more travel friendly as it is stored in a round compact. The puff is of no help as it is just a thin sponge so I usually dust the powder either with my e.l.f powder brush or a huge kabuki brush I got from the Body Shop. 

Good job Soap & Glory (ignoring the bronzer though). And thank you Kelly! <3

Innisfree haul!

Innisfree White Tone Up Serum
Innisfree Long Wear Cushion SPF50/PA+++
Innisfree Shadow Pencil in #5 Milk Tea (부드러운 밀크티)
Innisfree Single Mineral Shadow 09

The force is too strong!
The temptation is too huge and I couldn't resist!

The shadow pencil was used in one of Pony's tutorial and it looked so good on her so I thought I ought to try it out. (If you don't know who is Pony... Go to Youtube and search her videos right now -- I insist. You can thank me later. You're welcome in advance.) And boy it did not disappoint me at all! The shimmers might be intimidating upon swatching but it fades into a nice nudish-beige tone with minimal amount of shimmers after blending. I now use it as a base by applying it on my entire lid and blend it out with my ring finger before putting on another shadow.
A gentle warning though -- you gotta blend it fast 'cuz it literally does not budge at all after it settles for only a minute. I'm serious. Like you can't smudge it with your fingers even if you try really hard. Trust me. It's that intense.
I also love love love the mineral shadow. The 09 shade has a burgundy plus copper brown-ish tone and the pigments are absolutely gorgeous. I'm so glad that I picked it up.

I am still trying out the cushion at the moment; perhaps I will blog about it in the future so stay tuned!


Note: Also, look at the crazy amount of samples given by the staff! All the cleanser samples I received are enough to last me for more than a week. Feels like I'm shopping in Korea all over again.

September Sephora Mini Haul!

Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara [RM59.00]
Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional (Travel Size) [RM40.00]
Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (Travel Size) [RM49.00]

All items purchased with 10% discount all thanks to Sephora - Hallelujah!

The primer is okay-ish. I bought the sample size to see whether does it really worth all the raves on the blogosphere. It does make my skin smoother. But I prefer my Etude House Sunprise Cotton Touch Powder Cream that acts as a sunscreen and a primer. (But it is sadly discontinued. Why?!)

Eyeko mascara on the other hand, manages to make my lashes look long and gorgeous. However the formula is very very wet and it often clumps up my lashes. Boo. Mascara is always a hit or miss for me. Oh well, the search vontinues.

And also, the makeup setting spray - Definitely a HG! As you would have known I am not a big fan of foundation so I usually only put on sunscreen and blushes to work and my blushes would fade like just after a few hours.
This setting spray, my life saviour not only helps set and makes my makeup last the whole day, it also somehow make my skin looks fresh and dewy as if my skin glows in a natural way. I definitely recommend this!
One thing I don't like about this product is the nozzle. The nozzle is not like the usual hair spray kind of nozzle probably because this is in travel size. So I would suggest buying the actual size unless you need one for travel.

Polka dots, floral, pastel and crochet.

Had Uncle Jang (again) this afternoon, and we proceeded to Topshop sales. Love all the tops I bought today especially the Dorothy Perkins’ pink polka, no thanks to all my friends that are good in persuading people. And the Zara grey pants only costs me RM99.90. I’ve also finally bought a black and white tank tops due to the increasing amount of crochet tops in my wardrobe. I found out recently that my tops are mainly polka dots, floral, pink or crochet. Dinner @ Betty’s Midwest Kitchen. Was going to have lunch/dinner with my brother at there this weekend but  oh well. Jessie xx