A Little Rant

Every time I shop for cosmetics I get so mad at sales ladies.

As soon as you step inside, someone stops in front of you to ask "What are you looking for?" like you had to be looking for something. Well, I don't know, can I BROWSE FIRST?!

Then, you are completely left alone. Like deadly alone; hay-rolling-across-a-field alone. If you visit half an hour before closing time, someone will stare at you morbidly, just so you'd leave because you feel so unwelcome.

Scenario from this past weekend:

"Oh, I had no idea Shiseido had a cream eyeliner." [me in Italian]

"Yes."

"Um, what is it like?... Can I try it?" [picking up the product]

"Sure." [just standing there]

"Ummm, do I just use my FINGER?" [it's an eyeliner...]

"Yea, it's a tester."

"Ummmmm, do you have a brush, then I can try it properly?" [come on, I'm dying here!]

"Oufff, I don't have brushes just lying around here...I mean..."

She then opened a random drawer and gave me a bald stick that was once a brush in its previous life. It had three strands of hair left on it. She walked away and disappeared.

Seething with anger with a stick in my hand, I moved on to lipsticks.

"So? Do you want it?" was the response I got from her.

That's a commission-free world for you right there.

A Little Pick-me-up

*shout-out to Anna: do you live in Como? Should we meet up?*

It's Sunday and I finally have time to do a proper post. I've been reading all your posts, but simply haven't had the energy to do my own. How do you find the time to post so many photos and videos?! :-)

So first off, here's the cake I had in the beginning of the month. I love a good cake! This one is called the mimosa, eaten on March 8, Women's Day.

I got a lot of good stuff while I was away this past week or so. Here's Acqua di Parma Colonia bath and shower gel. This is very gentle on the skin. I was thinking the other day, "If this disappeared from the face of the earth, I might as well stop bathing." lol...

I'm pretty excited about these two items here: Shiseido Perfect Rouge and Shiseido Cream Eyeliner.

Do I need another lipstick? Probably not, but seeing how beautiful the colour looked on Jamilla, I had to get one. After my mauve craze this past winter, I'm ready to go back to pink. So I picked PK 307.
Given how unhappy I was with M.A.C. Fluidline, I picked up another cream liner. I thought I'd give Shiseido a try. It was twice the price, but a travel-size brush was included. I chose 02, a solid brown. I really hope this will work out.
Last weekend, the local makeup brand Madina had a clearance so a friend and I went to check it out. I picked up four eye shadows. Three are right here. Madina makes beautiful iridescent colours that are very unique. Matte colours are not so great.
The fourth eye shadow colour is the white one here, which I'm using as a cheek highlighter. It looks white, but once applied, it has a little gold iridescence. The rest of the eye colours in this palette are also used as my blushes. The last item of my haul is their natural bronzer. The palette is very big, bigger than my palm. I've never had a bronzer before, but these colours should work on fair skin too.

Honestly Now...

Tagged by Nic Nic, here are 10 honest things about me (wow, 10 is a lot!):

1. I can't stand superficial people. I just try my best to ignore/avoid them.
2. I am extremely loyal.
3. I believe in sacrifice: money don't grow on trees (lol) and happiness is not easy.
4. I eat Nutella every day. Mmm...
5. I often cry watching cartoons, everything from Shrek to The Simpsons.
6. I rarely get angry, but when I do, it's thunderous.
7. I have selective memory: it seems like I remember the smallest things well, and would completely forget what I had for lunch.
8. I think I am a good one-on-one company. I don't enjoy being in groups.
9. I really hate it when people say I'm weird or am different.
10. I am obsessively health-conscious.

Hey, what hasn't done this yet?? :-)

Edible Skincare (update)

The papain enzyme of an unripe papaya is very strong so for sensitive skin, use a ripe papaya. Unfortunately the supermarket near you might not always have this exotic fruit available. For the yogurt and honey, get the organic kind if possible.

From my experience, cucumber also has an amazing brightening effect, but do avoid the eyes. As with any treatment, spot test first for sensitivity.

It might be a bit troublesome finding fresh ingredients, but I am a strong believer in natural solutions. I will do a post on another DIY mask this weekend.

Edible Skincare

I haven't talked about do-it-yourself skincare for a long time. Here's the recipe for a green papaya brightening mask. I tried this for the first time tonight.

a cup of unripe papaya pulp (contains alpha-hydroxy acid and papain)

1/4 teaspoon of honey (moisturizing)1/4 teaspoon of plain yogurt (contains lactic acid)

Blend everything up. Or, grate up the papaya and mix with the yogurt and honey.

Smooth the mixture onto your face and wait 8 to 10 minutes. The mask dries up quite quickly. The honey literally sticks to your skin and the papaya pulp won't slip off if you don't apply too much.

It started to feel tingly after two, three minutes. Yay, that's the mask doing its magic! It smells amazing of course. Rinse off with cold water and pat dry. Follow up with a gentle moisturier.

I've been feeling up my skin needs a pick-me-up for a while. This was just the thing!

A Little Help (cont'd)

Thanks to everybody who commented on my problem with M.A.C. fluid line! I don't have a primer so these couple of days I patted a layer of Make Up For Ever HD powder on my lids before and after applying fluid line, hoping it'd help.

Not.

Today I had it on from 8.30 a.m. until 8.30pm. Again, the product on both eyes has smeared and is mostly gone within the crease. Unacceptable! I will either get a primer or change product...

Saved by the...

I've been using my new La Roche-Posay Anthelios W (gel) for over a week, and am ready to review it for you.

I bought this at a cosmetics pharmacy. La Roche-Posay is not expensive in Europe. (There was even a 10% discount just because the product will expire in January 2010). I thought I'd give it a try.

It took me an hour to find this product, because I was studying every option on the shelves (I am a bit like this with everything, a bit like Sally in When Harry Meets Sally).

It says "gel" but it's not. It comes out like a cream, and goes on a tiny bit oily over the skin. But hang in there. 15 to 20 mins after application, you will be ready to apply makeup.

Preservatives-free, fragrance-free. It's worth the wait.

You can see here the product is creamy white. The 100ml tube is convenient whether in your beach bag or on your vanity table :-)

After more than a week of use, I can say that I'm very happy with this product. Since I usually just use concealer and powder, I use this as a makeup base and it works wonderfully.

My trick is dust a layer of Make Up For Ever HD powder all over after applying the sunscreen. This provides a smooth surface for my loose powder to sit on. My powder and blush stay put all day. Not oily whatsoever.

(If my skin happens to be dry on a random day, I'd mist some Avène spring water to set the makeup.)

A dime-sized amount is enough for my face and neck. I've found my HG sunscreen and makeup base!

A Little Help

I applied M.A.C. Fluidline as eyeliner this morning at 9 a.m. It's 7 p.m. now and the colour on my left eye is all gone. This is so annoying!

Is this normal? Must I use Fluidline with a primer?

Spring Time (edited)

May I say THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Yumeko for sending me the jewelled palette that she is giving away.

It's so cool to get good news like this on a Sunday afternoon.

Hope everyone's ready for the weekend. By the way, my sale is still on-going. If you prefer to swap instead, just let me know.

This past week it rained so much everybody got so depressed! I had to cheer myself up somehow and got a few new things. I will try these out first and do some looks later.

I've been looking for a simple glitter nail polish for some time now. And fortunately last weekend a friend spotted it for me while we were browsing in a department store.

This one's from Nouba. Very pretty with multi-coloured, small glitter.

So I got also Dior 2 Couleurs Palette in 365 "Nude Look". I believe it's part of a new collection.

Dior Addict High Shine in 220 "Beige New Look", and KenzoKi Face Recharger.
Oh right, and a Dior eye pencil too. The packaging was tacky, but it came with a sharpener.

So the palette has a muddy matte brown and an iridescent light pink. I haven't tried these yet, but the colours look pretty versatile.

There were too many shades to choose from! But I really like this #220 shade. It's actually a lot lighter than what it looks like here. It's a sheer, very shiny peachy beige.

Added CBox

I added the CBox without really knowing how it works, lol...

Sale (reduced)!

Hi everyone! I'm letting go of a few things in my vanity. Please leave me a comment if you are interested. All prices are negotiable.

Never opened Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Protective Moisturizer SPF16. I realised I simply have too many sunscreens.

35$USD (compared to 52$USD on sephora.com)

Guerlain Parure Aqua foundation IP12 - PA+++, Shade 03 Beige Naturel

Never used, sparingly swatched twice :) The colour's one shade darker than my skintone.
30$USD (compared to 55$ on sephora.com)

Dianne Brill Fresh Water Pearl Powder Finish in Baroque Pearl. Faint vanilla scent. This can work as a highlighter or a finishing powder. This is a mirrored compact.

Gently brushed over twice with a sponge. The texture seems to be too fine for me (does that even make sense?)

I have too many powders already, letting this one go.

30$USD

(very hard to find in the U.S., sold in selected countries in Europe)