Melliesh Blush

Oh wow, time flew by so fast! I totally forgot to do a review on the Jill Stuart set, but to be honest, I haven't really been using it. All I can say is, the smell reminds me of Lancome's Miracle perfume and doesn't last long at all!

I decided it was time for a new highlighter. I was tempted to get the Dolly Wink beige highlighter compact but I don't know how I ended up with the Melliesh Cheek Color 06.
I purchased this on the Sasa website for about $15CAD.

I was pretty surprised at the size, I thought 4g would be very small, but it's pretty big. This is great for those like me that like to try many different things so having it smaller works great.

The color is a very pale lavender with practically no visible shimmer. If you look very very hard then you will notice the slightest bit of shimmer.
Here it is compared to the Maquillage cheek sculptor blush. I can't remember the name of the blush since it's not on the case, but it came out a few years ago.
The lavender highlighter shade in the Maquillage blush is very similar to Melliesh, except Maquillage has much more visible pearly shimmer to it.

The highlighter blended very well to my cheeks without a chalky finish. I layered it two times to get a pretty glow. I kind of wish there was a bit more shimmer to it, but overall it gives a very beautiful natural glow.

 See, no visible shimmer and the lavender color is very pale. Although it's very pale, my coworker noticed that my skin looked more radiant!

 I'm not actually too sure how long it lasted on my cheeks, considering there is no shimmer for me to see how much it faded.

Hong Kong Haul~

Again, it's been such a long time since I've updated XD
My mom recently went to Hong Kong and I gave her a small list. Most of the products I can buy from Adambeauty so I didn't bother asking for too much.
I can get the 女人我最大 magazine easily at T&T, but it was cheaper from HK. 

I saw these pins online somewhere and thought they'd be pretty useful since they're longer than the typical pins..and they have a slight curve.

Comes with instructions for a simple "do" at the back. I was pretty disappointed with these though, they're not very strong/tight, so it slides out easily -___-'

Saw the Dejavu Lash Serum on Ichibankao and I just had to have it.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't use makeup everyday and cleaning mascara off doesn't always end pretty. Sometimes I'd lose a lash or two, so hopefully this serum will help strengthen them a bit.
The tip is sort of spongy with tons of product on it. I just wave the tip through my lashes and comb it out at night.

My beloved Koji Curving lash curler... The silicone pad on my first one has ripped through a while ago and I couldn't find my refill so I threw out the whole curler. I think I should have just purchased a random silicone replacement to use, but I think it's shaped differently. ButI got the Shiseido one to use in the meantime, which is OK, but sometimes the inner lashes don't curl.
I think I forgot how well this one fits my eye because when I go and press the curler, it curls very very close to my lashes that it feels like it's tugging at them too much. Now I just need to get used to using this again.
The one I got comes with a cute little handkerchief, instructions booklet, case and 2 extra refill pads.

Ever since I started growing out my hair, which is quite long by now, I find it very difficult to maintain the volume, especially if I don't use the crimping iron at the roots (learned the trick from Fuzkittie). Mousse and curlers only do so much so I thought I'd give these interesting clips a try.
They're basically metal hair clips that snap into place (you know the ones you would use back in elementary school to help keep your ponytail nice and snooth?). These have velcro on the top and bottom, with the top being bumped up slightly.

Just clip it on the bottom layer anywhere you want some volume. My bangs are too short to clip the pins so I tried them on the sides of my hair.
They work pretty well, a tiny bit of volume but I'm always paranoid that they're visible, especially when it gets windy outside. The clips do slide down my hair a bit, so using some hair spray underneath my hair helps give it some grip. Overall I think using the crimping iron gives the best volume.

And.... my younger brother got me the Jill Stuart Relax First debut kit as my Christmas present! I thought it was the one with the bath tablet, but this one came with the super cushy soft pouch instead. Will do a post on this soon!

Bobbi Brown Obsession

Recently, I've been collecting quite a few Bobbi Brown items. I don't know how it started.. for some reason, BB's base makeup appealed to me.
I'm not a huge fan of the color makeup, like the lipstick, powder shadows and gel liners. The lipstick feels sticky, the eyeshadow (from the shimmering nudes palette) oxidize and change color, even with a primer, and the gel liner doesn't stay put. Maybe I just haven't found the right color products yet.
I've also tried the hydrating eye cream with avocado, did wow me too much. Now that I think of it, I've tried so many BB products without even realizing it.

I recently purchased the Skin Foundation Mineral Makeup in Light to Medium and the Sheer Finish Loose Powder in Soft Sand.
I got kind of annoyed at how the Sheer Finish Pressed Powder kept crumbling whenever the hole in the middle grew too big. It happened to both of the BB pressed powders I've used, so I just gave up and purchased the loose one to use at home and I keep a Lancome Translucence pressed powder in my purse instead...hopefully that won't crumble so easily.

I haven't actually used the loose powder yet, but it's the same color I've been using in the pressed form, so I can't imagine it being that much different. I've done a post of the Skin Foundation and the Tinted Moisturizer in my previous posts if you'd like to read about it.

I've read online that the mineral makeup is very sheer but I wanted to try it anyway, and yes it is sheer. When I first applied it, I barely even noticed anything on my skin, but after a few minutes, it seemed to look better and showed some form of coverage. I think it would work well as a finishing powder for those who prefer fuller coverage on top of their foundation. Otherwise it's a great light makeup to use because it stays very natural. It doesn't oxidize on my skin like the Laura Mercier mineral powder, but oil control isn't superior. It's not that my skin looks super oily, but after a couple hours, there's shine on my nose faster than if I used the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24 foundation.
But overall, I love the feeling of the mineral powder. It's soooo silky and soft and doesn't crease, whereas the Laura Mercier mineral powder, if my forehead gets really oily, I see a bit of it creasing.

I'm going to be heading to Port Canaveral in a couple weeks for a 4 day Bahamas cruise, hopefully I'll find some good deals for Bobbi Brown at the outlet mall and duty free store. Totally interested in trying the shimmer bricks.