Saturday

Grapefruit Ginger Cheesecake + lots of L-O-V-E



August 28th marks a very special day for me: the BF's birthday -v-!

We decided to celebrate early. This is the first birthday we spend together since a year ago, and I wanted to celebrate with a homemade cheesecake ^^

Tada!!
My first time trying to bake cheesecake, but it turned out amazing! The most time consuming part was peeling the grapefruit slices one by one x.x But I felt so happy making this cake ^^ The chocolate heart and box was made last second, eek~

The cheesecake was so rich and creamy, will post recipe if anyone wants to give it a shot! :p



On another note...
More stuff in the mail!

Rohto Hadalabo Gokujyun Super Hyaluronic Lotion (toner)
This toner makes your skin so soft and moisturized. I bought this in preparation for Winter when my skin gets drier. It's very light and almost mattifies upon application. Like the picture on the cap, your hands actually do stick to your face everytime you pat it on! Fun, hehe. This product is extremely popular in Japan; 1 bottle is sold every 4 seconds ^^

Kiss Me Heroine Ultra thin eyeliner: This is an incredible liner! My Hourglass one ran out and I really wanted a thin liner for precision and control. It was a fight between the Dolly Wink Eyeliner and this one. A lot of people preferred this one over Dolly Wink, and the price is much less expensive, so I thought why not? This is extremely smooth and pigmented. And the tip is only 0.1mm, so it really allows a precise application.

Off to finish baking my shepherd's pie~ Have a happy day everybody!

Thursday

Dolly Wink Lash Lovers lend me your ears!

Here to share with you guys yet another giveaway, this time a pair of Dolly Wink eyelashes in No. 1 and No.2:

This giveaway belongs to Emily from ThisWasForever (clickity click to go to her giveaway page).

I found out about this one a bit later, so there are only 2 days left before the giveaway ends on August 27th. So get busy!

Monday

Bits & Pieces! (Etude House/Stila/Skinfood/Mentholatum)

This morning I was awaken by the doorbell. My dear mail man had stuffed a few morning gifts in the mailbox for me ;D

Needless to say, no matter how often I receive things in the mail, they never fail to excite little old me ;)
Here lies my...
Etude House Aloha Cocktail Syrup Nails in #2 Sunshine Bronze
Stila Lip Glaze Stick in Vanilla
Skinfood Pomegranate Scalp Care Tonic
Mentholatum Medicated XD Lip balm

Cocktail Syrup Nail set! This is the limited edition summer nail kit from Etude House. You guys might be familiar with the Spring edition Miss Tangerine nail set. This Aloha set also comes in a pink kit called #1 Rose Cocktail. But I like this one more for the summer~ I think I'll be collecting all of their gradation sets in the future!

It's like the darker version of Miss Tangerine nail set, which I regret not buying!

Stila Lip Glaze Stick in Vanilla. I love the consistency of this "lip stick". It's glossy and smooth and very hydrating, yet it's not even close to sticky! I think I will be trying a few more of their sticks because I love the convenience and the formula so much ^^ The vanilla shade is essentially a slightly shimmery, moist gloss over the lips with no pigment. Kind of reminds me of YSL Candy Sheer Volupte in Lush Coconut ;D
Boring lip balms? I think not! I stumbled upon these when I was in Japan and my lips just happened to be extremely chapped (had a terrible cold). I grabbed the closest thing and this has become one of my stables! This is literally the only lip balm that immediately heals my lips and makes them soft and plump, and I am a total lip essence / balm / whatever junkie! Even the BF notices by the way ;)
I've always been troubled by the fact that I have relative thin hair and I tend to lose a bit more hair in the Summer. It just recently occurred to me that maybe I should be pampering my scalp a little. I was choosing between the this and the Yanagiya collagen medicated hair essence, but ended up with this one. I tried it on today and it is extremely minty and tingling on the scalp. Great for the summer~ Needless to say though, this one really requires some testing out to review and give results. I will have to be patient to wait and see ^^

Wednesday

Princess Room Renovation! ❤


Ah, I've been so busy lately because I'm officially renovating my room! I've been dragged across town looking for the perfect floral wallpaper and canopy bed but in the end, I've decided not to have a wallpaper on one wall any more.

So instead, I've bought a white vanity desk / drawer and floral lace curtains, and a white canopy bed with a floral template. I'm planning to find those wall stickers of a large, exquisite flower to paste on one corner of the wall beside the vanity desk. Also, I've decided to paint the room in "Cupid's Arrow" (extremely light baby pink). For some reason, I'm just leaking with girliness lately.

My room inspiration

Oh how I've always wanted something from fairy tales *--*

So I've already lined the crevices of my room with green tape and the paint is ready to be poured on tomorrow! I'm very excited, but this means I don't have time to update the blog often. I'm looking to do a review on a few things I bought from Sephora; which are the Benefit Hoola bronzer, FairyDrops Mascara, and Laura Mercier Tinted moisturiser in Nude. I'll also be reviewing the Max pure brown and gothic brown lenses soon. Keep an eye on those! ^^

I shall see you all later!

Sunday

Tarina Tarantino Jewel Box

Gooooood evening :)

A few weeks ago, I grabbed the Tarantino jewel box palette from Sephora. Thought I'd make some swatches of the products in this magic box ^^
The box is a metallic grey and is soft padded at the lid and separated into 2 layers. I use the bottom layer to store lenses x)
A closer look at the palette. This set features:

Pearl Glow Primer
Gem Gloss in Ruby Headphones
Fleur de Lash Mascara in Opal
Eye Dream Hypershadows

Swatches in the order from first column down:
The first column features bronze shimmers with a white shimmery shadow.

The second column houses brown based / nude shades including a nude shimmer pink and pink/peach that is barely visible on the swatch, I apologize! But the nudes are great as a shimmery base.

The third column attempts vibrant cool toned purples/blue. This column was slightly disappointing since the colors looked very vibrant in the pan, but is not nearly as pigmented.

The last column features a sheer gold, matte coal black, metallic grey, and coal with multi-colored sparkles. These I like!

Swatch of the ruby lip gloss and pearl glow base...
Shimmer/iridescence

To be honest, some of the eyeshadows could be better. The most disappointing for me was the vibrant column with royal blues and purples. It took me a few swatches to come up with a pigmented color for the camera. Also, the last two blues were extremely powdery and clumpy.

My favourite would be the bronze and nude shimmers, as well as the final column featuring gold and coal colors. Those were generally pigmented and have a great texture.

Stay power for the shadows is so-so... tends to crease a bit for me, but that may be because I have pretty oily lids, though I do use the UD primer potion.

I do, however, love the ruby headphones lip gloss! It's a very wearable red and would look good in the winter (thinking ahead a bit :P).

One of the main reasons I bought this was for a cute storage box. This served its purpose, and is quite useful in the long run. I would still recommend this because it works and it's just so cute. Plus these are only $39 for a $299 value kit. Why not?

So what do you guys think? Mhm or nuh-uh? Let me know!

Giveaway share: Elly Belly Baybee's NAKED Palette Giveaway!

Here's another wonderful giveaway~ This time by the lovely Ellis from Elly Belly Baybee. The giveaway features the coveted Urban Decay NAKED Palette!


This palette includes the following shades:

Virgin
Sin
Naked
Sidecar
Buck
Half Baked
Smog
Darkhorse
Toasted
Hustle
Creep
Gunmetal

Check out her blog and giveaway entry here. The contest ends on August 20th, midnight.

Good luck to everyone!

Friday

Cominica Beauty Blog Giveaway ❤

Hey guys, I'm here to share a giveaway by Cominica! This giveaway features 5 pairs of lashes, masks, a handmade ribbon hairband, and Etude Fresh Cherry Tint in pink (samples).


If you're looking to get your hands on a few lashes, feel free to check out her international giveaway and test your luck! ^_~

Thursday

Review: EOS Max Pure Brown (G201)

Back with another lens review!

Today I present to you, the popular EOS Max Pure Browns:

I purchased these lenses from kiwiberry1-collection. These are my go-to lenses for everyday wear (though I don't wear circle lenses everyday for the sake of my eyes). I'm sure you've heard it all before: it's natural, comfortable, glossy, you name it.
Diameter: 14.5mm

The lenses have a dark brown limbal ring and a very natural gradient into a light honey color near the iris. These blend flawlessly with brown eyes.



Let's bring up the numbers!

Design: 5/5
Very natural design. These are simply the perfect daily circle lenses.
Color: 5/5
Very pretty honey brown color with a beautiful gradient. The color is just light enough to tint my dark brown eyes with a light brown ring.
Comfort: 5/5
EOS lenses = maximum comfort (for me at least :p)
Enlargement: 4.5/5
These lenses can be very dolly due to its dark limbal ring, yet it is not completely black. These enlarge quite well in a natural way.

Overall: 5/5
You can tell I love these lenses!


By the way, I also received the 2 pairs of lenses I bought from kiwiberry1-collection a few days ago. Since they're based in Vancouver, Canada, I receive them usually in 2 or 3 days.

These are the EOS Max Pure Greys and EOS Gothic Browns:
I'll be reviewing these later after a good soak, so stay tuned! ^^

Wednesday

Review: EOS Bubble Brown (WM-101)

Hi guys!

Yup I'm alive ^^

Thought I'd make a comeback with a circle lens review rather than another make up review. This time I will be reviewing the EOS Bubble Browns (WM-101). These are a new version, the original one was a darker one like GEO BC-102. But these ones are much lighter. Very... bubbly.

Behold!


These were purchased from kiwiberry1-collection. If you're looking for new pairs of lenses, make sure to check them out because they have great customer service and prices! I also bought a pair of EOS Max Pure Browns from them which I will review later.

As rumoured, yes these are creepy lenses, and I'm trying to get used to them. They also give out this teary and introspective effect. It's tough to describe, but I would say it echoes a feminine gaze :)

Diameter: 14.8mm
As you can see, there are no limbal rings at all and the color is 1-tone, light brown.

This was taken in the morning when my eye was swollen -v-
Photos are taken in daylight.

So here come the numbers:

Design: 4/5
Love the uniqueness of these lenses, although it's not for everybody. It is really bubbly!
Color: 4/5
Just 1 tone. But it's a very pretty true light, hazy brown that tones down my darker natural color.
Enlargement: 2/5
With the lack of a limbal ring and light color, these are definitely not exactly enlarging. I doubt enlarging was its purpose though. If you're looking for dolly eyes, you may have to pass on this one :(
Comfort: 4.5/5
EOS lenses are the only lenses I feel very comfortable with. They do get oh so slightly dry after 4-5 hours of wear. But a drop of Rohto fixes it!

Overall: 4/5
Takes some getting used to, but I love the sensitive look it flaunts. Very cute.