Current Favourites!

Ello lovelies!

This this is a bit of a random post for me today, as i don't often do favourites as i find a lot of the time what i use day to day stays the same. But lately I've been loving a completely different set of products than normal, so i thought I'd share it! And being the forgetful person i am i forgot to photograph one of my top favourites, so I'll include it in at the end!


Real Techniques Brushes:

So we all know everyone loves these! I had put off buying some for a long long time, convincing myself that i did not under any circumstances need new brushes... i obviously wasn't that convincing! I first had the pleasure to try the Eye set after winning a giveaway and after feeling how incredibly soft they are decided i needed more, now! My two must haves are the Buffing and Powder brush, they have completely transformed my routine, i love them!

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer:

Another well heard of product! I've not had the best experiences with concealer  in the past and normally would just use more foundation, but oooh how I've learnt. This product is AMAZING. I've been really enjoying using lighter, dewier foundations and this concealer just allows me to cover any imperfections without looking over made up or cakey.

China Glaze Riveting Polish:

This is the prettiest polish i have ever seen and has been on my nails 90% of the time since i snagged one off eBay. I've done a full review on this here.

Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume:

Sweet, girly, fruity scent that is absolutely perfect for spring/summer! Adore!

Embyolisse Lait-Creme Concentrate:
I picked this up at IMATS in February and its been pretty unloved. Its a little less hydrating than my normal moisturisers but its also a lot lighter on the skin so with my new tinted moisturiser love it works really well! I really enjoy using this on my lips before lipstick too, gives the perfect amount of hydration without being greasy!

Makeup Forever Smoky Lash:

Best mascara I've tried, ever! Perfect amount of length and volume and no smudgy marks under the eyes, perfect! Again I've done a full review here.

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser:

Weirdly, this was one of my first reviews! I loved it at first, then went back to my Double Wear as i tend to favour fuller coverage. Well, not anymore! I am really enjoying this currently, with it being Spring (not that you'd notice with all this rain!) I'm attempting a more fresh, glowy look, and this achieves that perfectly! It is very light coverage so i do have to use quite a bit of concealer, but it still looks radiant and healthy. The only downside is the price, around £33 I'm not sure if I'd be able to stomach paying that for it.

Bobbi Brown Bronze Shimmer Brick:

Okay, so i cheated a little bit with this one. Its not actually my product, its my Mums but since we share the same area to put our faces on in the morning i do get to cheekily pinch some of her products. With a light hand this looks lovely to add a bronzey glow instead of using a blush, I've been enjoying just contouring and using a smidgen of this!

Nars Laguna Bronzer:

Okay, another cliche product! But I've been adoring this for contour! Simple as that!

And the missing products! Lip products! I've never been a lip girl but I'm obsessed with corally pinky toned lippies lately! My most worn is Costa Chic from Mac over Nyx's Pinky Lip Pencil, i neeeeeed more corally lip products!

So that is it!
Feel free to link me your favourites posts! I love a good nosey!

xox 

How do I wash and dry my brushes?

Some people asked if I actually wash brushes!
Of course I do. In fact, washing your brushes is as important as washing your face.
Using dirty brushes is like reapplying sebum and oil back to your face, which may cause breakouts and other problems to your face!!
I admit, I'm very lazy so I don't USUALLY wash my brushes. I will wash them, but not regularly.
But it's really important and I heard it is recommended to wash your brushes, (especially face brushes like foundation brush/concealer brush) everyday, if you happen to put on makeup on a daily basis.

Okay so I'll show you how I clean my brushes. Here's some of my very dirty brushes that I use almost every time I do my makeup. (I haven't wash them properly for like a month already wtf, it's a sin.) 

When I'm lazy, I'll use some cheap makeup remover wipes and wipe my brushes clean before using.

But no! It's not going to help clean your brushes. It will remove a little 'leftover' product on the brush, but wouldn't clean it properly!

So this is how I wash my brushes properly.

I use Johnson's Baby shampoo 'cause the bristles of your brushes are as soft and as precious as a baby's hair.

LEGGO WASH THESE BABIES.

Rinse them, put shampoo, rinse shampoo off!!
Squeeze them dry using a kitchen paper towel lightly~

Now off to how I dry them.

Drying is very important as if you lay your brushes side-way on the table, water will find it's way and seep into the brushes, and it will loosen the glue and hair will drop!!! AHH you wouldn't want that to happen.
Here's a way I learn from Michelle Phan!

She uses brush guards, and she places the brushes with the bristles facing downwards! This way, the water will run down due to gravity. Go YouTube and search if you don't know what I'm talking about.

I don't have brush guards, so I used scotch tapes!
Here's how!

Make sure you have the sticky side of the scotch tape AWAY from the brush. Common sense lol, else the scotch tape will stick on the bristles.

Place it in a cup/container like this...

TRALALA!!!
If you find this troublesome, go get a few brush guards. I think it's not very cheap, but considering that you'll reuse it and will help protect your brushes, it's a wise choice.

Hope this helps!

LUV U 2 Giveaway

Treat yourself and a person near and dear to your heart this May.  In honour of Mother's Day we would like to share the ASK Cosmetics complete line of incredibly effective nail, skin and hair care products with you and your "chosen" one.  Each of you will receive a tremendous prize package including 11 items all manufactured by ASK Cosmetics of Canada.  They specialize in innovative solutions that are designed to enhance what nature has given us all from birth.  Their products do not contain any waxes or silicones, but are made with some of the most expensive ingredients available on the market today.  No fancy packaging, no exuberantly expensive advertising - no, the brand ASK Cosmetics is simple about offering its customers safe and healthy products for people of all ages and walks of life. 

The entire product line-up can be viewed here.

Click on this link to enter the LUV U 2 Giveaway

This Luv U 2 Giveaway begins April 30th and runs until May 13th, 2012. 

As with all ASK Cosmetics Giveaways it is open internationally.

The winner will be chosen on May 14th and will have 72 hours to claim his/her prize.

P.S.  There will be 3 questions posted on the ASK Cosmetics Facebook page during the time of the giveaway.  Check in periodically and leave a comment on their FB page to get bonus entries.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day, Lisa M.

Today's Mani ~ Dots and Lace

My sis came over and looking at my mani, she wanted similar too...

She is a Pink lover but not these neon kinda pinks thats so much in vogue now. So i opted for this bright neon pink-very barbie like as base color and did some dots and lace print on ring finger. And finished it off with a glitter coat.

Products Used -



Base Coat ~ Konad

Base Color ~ Sizzling Pink, ColorBar

Stamping color ~ Black, Konad Special Nail Polish

Stamping Plate ~ m79, Konad

Glitter Coat ~ Peach n Pink Glitter, Camieo

Top Coat ~ Konad and Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard

My sis loves her mani. Do you too???

Have you tried Sizzling Pink from Colorbar? Its pretty, you should *.*

Thanks for watching, till next time.......

XoXo

Sangy

Black and White challenge Day 10 ~ Dots and Bows

I have been quite obsessed with white lately and used it quite a bit in my recent manis so today when its again time to use both black and white i opted for domination of black and subtleness of white. Unfortunately white always show quite sober and not white like in stamping technique. Though am so much in love with my today's mani, i would have preferred white showing well.

Anyways thats about what i think of my mani, here's pics ~

Products Used -

Base Coat ~ Konad

Base Color ~ Black Out, L.A.Girl Professional Salon Formula

Stamping Color ~ Lakme Color Crush 08

Stamping Plates ~ m79, m59

Glitter Coats ~ Star Light, L.A.Colors; Slipper 410, Revlon

Top Coat ~ Konad and Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard

So what do you think of mani? For me, am in *Love* ...

Thanks for watching, till next time .........

XoXo

Sangy

J.cut by Jeric Salon

I had been complaining so much about my frizzy and messy hair since like forever.
My friends kept asking "Omg peishi why your hair forever so many qq curlycurly things come out one!!!!" Pfft and I'll have to repeat like a broken radio " My hair frizzy what!!!!" 

Finally, Jeric Salon came to the rescue. Like literally.
So I headed to their new outlet at the new JCUBE (the new Jurong entertainment centre if you didn't know). It's called J.cut there but it's actually the same as Jeric Salon.
AND if you're a mountain tortoise, haven't heard of Jeric Salon yet, one of their outlet is at ION orchard, Basement, beside Daiso!

I went to the Jcube one 'cause it's nearer to my house. Now you know where I stay wtf.

So to start off, A PHOTO OF MY OLD FRIZZY HAIR. -_-

 Yes, and it's 10x worse in real life. I swear I look like a lion who had a bad nap okay.

This is what I told the hairdresser.

 I didn't say until so demanding la, I summarized it.

And jiang! So this is the sorcery they did..

Soft rebonding!
Do I need to remind you how bad my hair condition was?! What sorcery is this..

I asked the hairdresser what's the difference between Soft Rebonding and Normal Rebonding!

Soft rebonding gives a more natural finish, so it wouldn't be too straight! You should opt for normal rebonding if you like straight hair, but I wanted it more natural (I just want to remove that frizz) so they recommended Soft rebonding instead!

I didn't bring my camera along but here's a few shot taken at the salon, with my phone!

The salon is pretty spacious! And there are Japanese magazine on the racks so you wouldn't die of boredom.

And a shot that I sent to Rachell while doing my hair that day HAHA.

The whole treatment took like...3 hours!
Did I mention I took 4/5 hours to do normal rebonding back then at other salon?!

I love their hair washing area. It's like a 'room' specially for your hair wash so nobody can see how unglam you look lol. And the hair wash is damn comfortable. I didn't take a photo of the hair wash area but it's okay, go JCUBE's J.Cut to experience it yourself! ;D

 With the hairdressers outside J.Cut! They curled my hair right after the rebonding btw.
And le Photoshopped face 'cause I had bad skin + no makeup that day. (I know you didn't realize. Photoshop level : 9999)

This is how the curls + my new hair looks the second day!
Ready to see how my GORGEOUS hair looks after I wash the curls away? *whip my hair back and forth*

 So smooth and silky!!!

 Now got look a bit like those TV shampoo commercial not?! LOL

 The best for the last LOL.

Head down to JERIC SALON to have your hair done now!
I swear you'll be so damn happy with the results 'cause I am!!!

www.jeric.sg
Check out the other outlets and price on their site, for your own convenience. :)

*flips hair once more*
Y U NO go do your hair now?

The 10 Beauty Commandments Everyone Should Know

There are many options to take beautiful care of your skin, but the first and most important step is to have a clear understanding of how the so-called "beauty" industry works.  If you are a knowledgeable consumer you won't repeatedly get waylaid by poor, ineffective products and misleading, ridiculous claims.  Everyone should know these commandments BEFORE you go shopping at another cosmetics counter, view another infomercial, have a friend introduce you to a new multi-level cosmetics line, talk to your dermatologist, have a facial, or read another fashion magazine.  Take all these basics to heart and you will have a better perspective on what exactly you are buying (or what to avoid) at the cosmetics counters.  You will not be fooled by what the products claim to do or not to do.  You will be aware if you are wasting your money, and most importantly, whether any of these products can hurt your skin.

Make educated decisions about your skin care, body care and makeup, not to forget nail care and hair care as well.

1.  THOU SHALT NOT believe expensive cosmetics are better than inexpensive cosmetics.
2.  THOU SHALT NOT believe there is any such thing as a natural cosmetic (or that natural means better).
3.  THOU SHALT NOT believe in miracle ingredients that can cure skin-care woes.
4.  THOU SHALT NOT covet thy neighbour's perfect skin (or believe her perfect skin came from a particular product or cosmetics line; skin is more complicated than that.)
5.  THOU SHALT NOT believe everything a cosmetics salesperson tells you.
6.  THOU SHALT NOT believe in the existence of anti-wrinkle, firming, toning, lifting, or filling-in creams, lotions, or masks that can permanently erase wrinkles.
7.  THOU SHALT NOT be seduced by every new promotion, new product, or new product line that the cosmetics industry creates.
8.  THOU SHALT NOT get a tan; sun is your enemy, not your friend; it is the primary reason that skin wrinkles and develops skin cancer (and it isn't just about getting a sunburn - turning the skin brown is equally as damaging when done on a regular basis).
9.  THOU SHALT NOT buy a cellulite cream, nor shalt thou assume it's possible to dissolve fat from the outside in, because you absolutely cannot.  If these products worked, who would have cellulite?
10.  THOU SHALT NOT see picutres of pubescent, anorexic models (who spend two hours getting their hair and makeup done and another two hours posing while the photographer and a corps of assistants determine the most flattering lighting, after which the resulting pciture goes through a battery of digitally enhanced touch-ups and adjustments) and believe you will get the same (or even similar) results from using the products being advertised.  That is, unless you happen to be  pubescent, anorexic, and a model and can somehow stay in the right lighting all the time.

Source:  "The Original Beauty Bible" --  Unparalleled Information for Beautiful and Younger Skin at Any Age written by Paula Begoun

Budget "Beauty Blender"

 Ello lovelies!

After my last haul i had quite a few requests for a review on my eBay makeup sponge find, so here it is!

Firstly, I've never tried an actual Beauty Blender so i can't place real comparisons on the two, and i don't think I'd ever be willing to part with $20 for a sponge! So after hearing a ton of rave reviews on this type of sponge i went for a good ol' hunt on eBay and stumbled across this one!

I payed around £2 for this including shipping from Hong Kong, but for so cheap i was willing to take the risk that it might be utter crap when it arrived, but luckily i was pleasantly surprised! Named a "Bottle gourd sponge" on Ebay, there was plenty of sellers to choose from, so i opted to spend a few pence more and go for a top rated seller. It arrived within two weeks!

Now I've had bad experiences with sponge wedges, i could never get on with application and whenever i tried to wash them they'd break and fall apart. I am REALLY enjoying using this for application of thicker foundations, and even my Double Wear (although it is a pain in the ass to wash out!). By dampening it down with warm water it makes most of my foundations a dream to apply and blend, and for me it really helps at not accentuating my pores, which is great! It's also great for eliminating cakeyness, i have a horrid habit of over powdering and getting a slightly cakey top lip, so I've been loving using this to stipple over any mistakes to get a fresher, less cakey finish.

Again, I've never tried the actual Beauty Blender sponge because of its price, but if you are in the UK there are a few cheap alternatives if you are not confident buying through eBay!

Cosmo Beauty Sponge. (Also available in Superdrug)
eBay Seller. (£1.96 including postage)

Have you tried the Beauty Blender sponge? Is it all its cracked up to be?

xox

Glitter - Tipped Mani's to try this Weekend

Its almost weekend, am in a mood for glitter-tipped manis. So, i thought why not share my fav mani tips with you. *.*

You are going to love these manis if you are a glitter lover like me. Its not only super quick and easy but also adds that lil glam punch which is so perfect for weekend.

Pick the base color depending on your mood and just play with glitter. Just a glitter top coat concentrated on tips to spice things a bit. Now whats not to LOVE? *.*

Products Used -

Base Coat - Avon Nail Experts Smooth Beginnings

Base Color - Purple Rain 16, Faces

Glitter coat - Camieo Pink Glitter(shown in pic)

Top Coat - Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard

 Products Used -

Base Coat - Konad

Base Color - Purple, China Made

Glitter coat - NYX's Sea of Cortez(shown in pic)

Top Coat - Konad

Products Used -

Base Coat - Konad

Base Color - Brick Red, China Made

Glitter coat - Gold Glitter and Silver Chunky Glitter, China Made

Top Coat - Konad

Products Used -

Base Coat - Konad

Base Color - Eyetex Dazzler (shown in pic)

Glitter coat -  Glitter

Top Coat - Konad

Want to try some? Here are some of my fav coats ~

L.A.Colors
Sparkling Diamonds NP446
Star Light NP443
Goddess NP442
Jeweltone NP447
You can buy these @Urban Touch

NYX
Pink Avenue NP37
Peach Ave NP38
Sapphire NP36
Gold Sparkle NP62
Red Glitter NP115
Dark Red Glitter NP116
You can buy these @Style Craze

Needless to say i love the glitters from L.A.Colors more esp 'Star Light'. More pics and post on same soon....

So would you try glitter tipped mani this weekend? Whats your fav glitter that you think i should give a try??

Till next time...

 

XoXo

Sangy

Black and White Challenge Day 9 ~ Water Marble

I am actually running around to get things done and so this post is gonna be pretty short, just say pics and some talking *.*
I know you wouldn't hate me for this ....

Products Used -

Base Coat - Konad

Base Color - Lakme Color Crush 08

Other colors - L.A.Girl Disco Brites Vinyl Record, Lakme Color Crush 18, L'Oreal Paris Luminescence 314

Glitter Coat - L.A.Colors Star Light

Top Coat - Konad and Avon Nail Experts UV Gloss Guard

I haven't tried my hand at marbling before, so making patterns and creating a style was definitely out  of question today. But it seems pretty fun and i am sure i would seriously try this one fulfledge soon.

But meanwhile i tried creating a splash effect but with water marble. This pretty much reminded me of the pretty cotton scarves we get this Summer season in India, and also the unforgettable, festival of colors 'Holi'.

Hope everyone had a lovely day, mine was pretty hectic ..

Thanks for watching, till next time.....


XoXo
Sangy