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Hope you're having a lovely day!

Yve
<3

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils

I had heard a lot of great things about the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils in the beauty community so I knew I had to nab them when I went on my shopping spree in Sephora.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Lucky and Eldorado

I picked up two colours: Lucky and Eldorado. There were some awesome blues and greens that looked great too but I thought since I had not used them yet and wasn't sure of their quality, I had better stick to a couple of colours that were versatile and I could use a lot.

They are for sure, the best eye pencils I have used. The reason I steer towards liquid or gel eyeliners most of the time is that pencil eyeliners usually pull my eyelid as I draw them on which is both uncomfortable and unpleasant to use. Plus they smudge under my eye in a few hours making me look like a raccoon.

However, I wanted to give these a go anyway because if they lived up to their hype, I could use an eyeliner that is less harsh than a gel eyeliner and could give me a softer eye-look.

They did not disappoint. The eye pencil glides across the eyelid, making it easy to use. There is about a 20 second window where you could smudge it out along the eyeline for a softer look, but after that - it pretty much stays put. It doesn't smudge under my eye which is fantastic for me and I love the pigmentation and colours that I chose.

Swatch of Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencils. Top: Lucky. Bottom: Eldorado

There is some micro-glitter on both these pencils so if you don't like glitter in any form - this might not be for you.

I don't find that they work really well on my waterline though. I've tried putting the eyeliner along my waterline and gently pulling down my lower lid so it has time to set before it has contact with my eyes but it still fades after a few hours. Maybe my eyes are just more watery than others. Other than that, I love this eye pencil and definitely want to invest in some other fun colours.

They are definitely pricey at US 19 each but I do think that they're worth it (considering how many eye pencils I have floating around at the bottom of my makeup bag that I never touch cos they're just rubbish).

Do you like UD Eye pencils?

<3
Yve

Review: Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance Lipstick in Playful

Tarte Glamazon High Performance Lipstick in Playful. I... absolutely LOVE this lipstick.

I had a feeling that I might fall in love with this the moment I swatched it in Sephora - the formulation and pigmentation felt and looked beautiful.

First off, the packaging! I actually had no idea that the packaging of the lipstick was going to be so great. I had swatched the lipstick, grabbed it off the shelf, bought it and then flew back to Wellington without having a chance to take it out of its box to have a look. So I was really excited when I saw the beautiful packaging.

Tarte Glamazon High Performance Lipstick in Playful

The tube is made of a light bamboo material and I love how the pattern on the tube corresponds with the colour of the lipstick. The tube is longer than an average lipstick (like MAC) but that doesn't bother me.

Tarte Glamazon in Playful - cute bamboo packaging!

The formulation of this lipstick is absolutely wonderful. It glides onto my lips without pulling; it is a dream to apply and the pigmentation is fantastic. You really can get away with one coat of this.

I got it in Playful and it is described as a purple-rose colour. It has no scent which I like and it is really creamy and hydrating.

Swatch of Tarte Glamazon High Performance Lipstick in Playful

The lipstick claims it lasts 12 hours which I don't find true for me. It stayed well through the night when I went out for someone's birthday drinks but I was only drinking out of a straw. A lot of it comes off if you're eating and wiping your mouth with a napkin.

Maybe it does last that long if you don't touch it for 12 hours which is virtually impossible because we all need to eat and drink!

I debated against putting pictures up of the lipstick actually on me because who really wants to see my lips up close? But I know when I do research for my products, I always like to see swatches so I can make an informed decision so here are the pictures below:

Bare lips - no lipstick

Lips with Tarte Glamazon in Playful

The lipstick is a little pricey at US 26, but I think it is absolutely worth it.

My only regret now is that I didn't get it in more colours and since Tarte does not ship internationally and is generally not found outside of Sephora (who also does not ship internationally), I will have to savour this one lipstick that I got. Hopefully they will keep this formulation around for a while so I can nab some more in the future!

Have you tried the Tarte Glamazon lipsticks? Which colours are your favourite?

<3

Yve

Beauty Haul: Sasa and Sephora!

I bought a bunch of beauty stuff from Sasa in Hong Kong and Sephora in Maui! I think I went a little crazy seeing how much cheaper cosmetics were over there!

I won't go into depth on any of them because I'm planning to review some of them as I start trying them out! :) But if there is any of them that you're dying to get a review of first, let me know!

Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in Black - I have used this before and I love it! It has a super thin tip which makes it easy to slowly build up the thickness of your eyeliner. It does take a steady hand though!

Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner

Fairydrops Mascara - I've also used this before and it's the best mascara that I have used so far. It holds my curls and has never smudged on me!

Fairydrops Mascara

Little Witch Mote Mascara - a bit of an impulse buy. I've never heard of this brand but the sticker plastered on it tells me that it has won three number 1 awards (Japanese and Chinese has words that cross-over into both languages and that's how I got that information - but what kind of awards did it win? I have no idea. They could have just placed 3 medals there on the sticker for emphasis and I'm fooled to think it's a multiple-award winning product!)

Little Witch Mote Mascara

Shiseido Majolica Majorca Lipgloss in PK 338 - it's small, cute and a beautiful shimmery shade of coral pink - can't wait to use it!

Shiseido Majolica Majorca Lipgloss in PK338

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisteriser - I've been wanting to get my hands on this ever since I had it tested on me at a counter.

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisteriser

Anastasia Brow Wiz - I totally flipped when I saw this in Sephora. I've heard great things about this and there is absolutely no access to this brand on this side of the world so I snapped it up immediately!

Anastasia Brow Wiz

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil - I've heard that these are fantastic so I had to give them a go. I got it in Lucky and Eldorado.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil

Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance Lipstick in Playful - this swatched beautifully across the back of my hand! It was so smooth and the pigmentation was so great that I had to get it.

Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance Lipstick in Playful

Trend toes Real Lacquer Strips in Cherries - I don't know what is wrong with me. All I focused on when I saw these nail polish strips were the patterns. It wasn't till I got home and examined it when I realised the brand name was "trend toes" - I bought it thinking it was for my fingers. But I'm sure I could still use them for my fingers, hopefully the sizes would work.

I really had to hold back from buying even more from Sephora. I came across a lot of things that I wanted to try out but I would have run up quite a bill so I had to stop myself from grabbing more off the shelves!
I also wanted more things from Sasa in Hong Kong too but I literally ran out of time - oh well, next time!!

I can't wait to try out some of these items! Have you used any of them?

<3
Yve

September Favourites 2012

Alright, this post is about a half month late and I have no excuse but laziness!

I traveled for half of September, to Hong Kong and Hawaii. It was a fantastic trip and I enjoyed all of it :) It did involve being in a lot of hot and humid weather and I had not been in this type of climate for a long time since Wellington is usually cloudy, and a tad cold.

So I tried to keep my makeup on the lighter side so it wouldn't melt all over my face during the day (you need your makeup to last ALL day in Hong Kong, the city is so happening that you never get back to your hotel room till about midnight!)

I absolutely love my NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. Now, I use this on a daily basis normally anyway because of my oily eyelids (eyeshadows crease on me within an hour or two without it) but I really got to take it out on the road and put it to the test in September. It worked beautifully, holding my eye makeup in place for the entire day. It's almost finished though so I'll either have to get a new one or perhaps give the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion a try (I have a little tester) and see how it stacks up!

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

I had to stop using my favourite foundation for a while as it clung to my dry skin patches while in Wellington but I got to break out my NARS Sheer Glow Foundation while on holiday and I was so happy to use it again! It gives me a medium coverage, while feeling light on my skin and I love the glow of the finish it gives me.

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Santa Fe

I didn't bring many eyeshadows with me to try to cut down luggage weight so I just brought my Urban Decay Naked Palette. The two colours that I used the most was Half Baked and Smog. I love these two colours together.  

Half baked is a beautiful shimmery gold that brings a lot of light to the eyelids and Smog compliments it well to give a little bit of depth to the eye.

Urban Decay Naked Palette: Half Baked and Smog

My favourite blush of the month was definitely Benefit's Sugarbomb. For one, it smells so great! It always brings a smile to my face when I get a whiff of its scent when I put the blush on.

I just love the coral peach colour you get when you swirl all the 4 colours together and I think it's perfect for summer days.

Benefit Sugarbomb

My last favourite was this mask I got from Sasa (a large cosmetic store in Hong Kong that houses a lot of Japanese brands). It's from a brand called My Beauty Diary and they have a range of masks for different purposes. I got the Aloe Vera one because I really needed to put moisture back into my skin. The long haul flights I had to take from New Zealand to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Hawaii definitely sucked out a lot of moisture out of my skin and staying in an air-conditioned hotel room every night did not help matters either. I needed my skin to be well prepped for the makeup artist who did my makeup for my Hong Kong wedding banquet and of course my wedding day in Hawaii and this mask completely rejuvenated my skin in preparation for my big day(s).

My Beauty Diary - Aloe Mask

My September was absolutely wonderful. I got to marry my best friend and spend a wonderful day celebrating with all our close friends. I hope your September was great too!

<3
Yve

Dots and Heart Manicure!

I felt like doing some fun with my nails today and I've never done nail art before so I thought I'd give it a go!

I don't have any nail dotting tools so I just used the end of a bobby pin and made a very simple design so I couldn't mess it up too much :)

Hearts aren't that easy to do! I'm going to need a lot of practice!

Grey colour: Essie Chinchilly; Pink: OPI Mod About You

I really like it! It's really cute and now I want to invest in some nail art tools to make more cute designs! Uh oh - this could mean spending more money because I've had my eye on nail art stamping sets ^.^

What do you think? Do you have any nail art stamping sets to recommend?

<3
Yve

Review: Philosophy Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser

I used to be a good girl and cleansed, toned and moisterised religiously. However when I'm in a hurry, I always want to skip the toning because I don't seem to see the benefits of it instantly like I do with the other two steps.

And I have to admit that I naughtily stopped toning for a while when I ran out of it and while I sometimes felt guilty, my laziness runs deep.

So when I came across the Philosophy Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser which claims to cleanse, tone and melt away makeup in one step, all the while hydrating the skin - I knew I had to try it.

I've used a lot of it already when I took this picture! Sorry - but at least you know I really do use it!

I absolutely am in love with this product. I use it on its own in the morning and with my Clarisonic Mia (read my review of the Clarisonic here!) at night in the shower. I feel that it takes off my makeup really well (I use a separate eye makeup remover beforehand though) and my face always feels refreshed and clean after I use it.

I tend to have sensitive skin and I also wear contacts and it never has once irritated my skin or my eyes.

And of course the best thing is that I no longer have to feel guilty for being lazy - with the toning step included, I can walk away knowing that I have broken no cardinal skincare rules.

I'm keen to try some of the other Philosophy products, especially when all their product names are so cute like "Eye Hope" and "Full of Promise" - yes I'm a sucker for marketing. I guess I'm a prime target for them!

I bought my Philosophy Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser at Strawberry.net. It comes in a 5 sizes, ranging from 90mL to 946.4mL

Have you tried this cleanser or any of the other Philosophy products? Do you have anything to recommend me?