Products I'm Using Right Now Tag

Lifted from Natty :)

Shampoo: Garnier Fructis

Conditioner: Herbal Essences Color Me Happy

Treatments: None at the moment

Styling products: Frederic Fekkai Smooth Hair, Hydrating Hair Cream

Styling Tools: Remington Wet 2 Straight flat iron

Shower Gel: Olay Ribbons Body Wash

Body moisturiser: Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea body cream.

Deodorant: Dove Visibly Smooth

Fake Tan: None

Cleanser: ProActiv cleanser

Exfoliator: ProActiv lol. Or I use an aspirin mask, then scrub as I rinse it off.

Primer: None

Foundation: Don't wear foundation at the moment, but if I do it's Revlon Colorstay

Foundation brush: Kabuki on a Stick from Coastal Scents

Concealer: Benefit boi-ing in 02

Powder: None

Blusher: MAC Heatherette Alpha Girl

Bronzer: None

Highlighter: MAC Sculpt/Shape in Accentuate/Sculpt

Eyeshadow base: Urban Decay Primer Potion

Eyeshadows: NYX Black

Eyeliner: Stila smudge pots

Curler: None

Mascara: Korres Deep Colour Mascara

Brows: Anastasia Brow Powder

Lipstick: None

Lipgloss: None lol. Lip balm for now

Nail Colour: Rimmel Stronger Base Coat. Yep, just clear polish for now. I'm so boring lol.

Daily Make-up Collection

These are the makeup products that I use almost-daily. All of them (except maybe #4 & #9) are my HG products.

1. Benefit You Rebel - I don't wear foundation often, but I still want to go out with a little bit of coverage. This tinted moisturizer does the trick. It gives a little bit of color and also has SPF.
   
2. Benefit Lemon-Aid -This stuff is a godsend, especially if you're Asian like me. It's not so much a concealer, but a color-corrector. It gets rid of dark OVER-eye circles and brightens the entire lid area with the perfect shade of yellow. It looks like you got a full night of sleep, even if you didn't.
3. NYX Single Eyeshadow in Black -Since I have yet to find the perfect eyeliner pencil, I just use black eyeshadow as liner. This is apparently a good dupe for MAC Carbon, but only at a fraction of the cost.
   
4. Korres Deep Colour Mascara in Black -This is my mascara of choice at the moment. The formula's a bit dry, but out of all the ones I have, I like this best. Bonus: Korres is known as a "natural" brand, which is always a plus.
   
5. Physicians Formula Gentle Cover Concealer Stick in Yellow - I, unfortunately, have the worst under-eye circles I've seen on anyone. Credit it to years of staying up late for no reason -_- The area is a bluish-purple color, so to counteract it, I apply this yellow concealer with my fingertips.
   
6. Benefit boi-ing concealer in 02 -I've been using this concealer for years, and even though I know there are better ones out there, I'm just sticking to what I know. I apply this on top of the yellow to make it even with the rest of my skintone.
   
7. Anastasia Brow Powder -I love this stuff! I've been oh-so lucky to be blessed with sparse brows. I use an angled eyeliner brush to apply the powder to my eyebrows, filling them in and giving them more definition.
   
8. MAC Sculpt/Shape in Accentuate/Sculpt -I bought this at a CCO on a whim for about $15 (regular price is about $27-$30ish?). I use the Sculpt shade to contour my cheeks and sides of my nose, and the Accentuate shade to highlight my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose. It's like a nose job in a compact, seriously! Sometimes I'll even highlight my brow bones if I'm not wearing eyeshadow. (Note: the shades are a lot darker in the picture than in real life. The highlight shade is a very light pearl-ish pink)
   
9. MAC Heatherette Beauty Powder in Alpha Girl -I also bought this at the CCO on sale for about $15. It's a baby pink that probably isn't the best shade for me, but it'll do for now.
   
10. Stila Smudge Pots in Black -Bonus! I don't always wear eyeliner on my upper lid, but when I do, gel liner is the way to go. My guess is that all black gel liners are the same, but that was before I heard about Stila smudge pots. If I didn't have so much of it left, I'd probably buy a cheaper L'Oreal or Coastal Scents-brand liner.
    

Battle of the Eye Primers

If you're a beauty blogger or just a beauty buff obsessed with makeup, you've probably heard of and used Urban Decay Primer Potion. For a while it has been the top-selling eyeshadow primer on Sephora, with a 5-star rating and over 2,000 reviews. And for good reason! When applied to the lids before eyeshadow, it makes the colors more vibrant, and they last a whole lot longer. The only flaw about this product? The horrible packaging. While the genie bottle may look cute at first, it hides a lot of product in the corners that can only be retrieved by cutting it open. Lame! It was even more disappointing when Urban Decay came out with a new version of it (called Sin) using the same failed packaging. Lame x's 2!

This is where competitors have come in to steal the market. Recently, Too Faced has released its own primer called Shadow Insurance. I haven't tried it, but according to the reviews, it's almost identical to UDPP in performance. The only advantage is that it comes in a squeeze tube, so no more whipping out the butcher knife to get your money's worth!

However, there is one more company that has come to take its share of makeup lovers. Smashbox is coming out with a product called Photo Finish Lid Primer. The claims? To create "the perfect canvas for eyeshadow application. Wear this universal shade under shadow to increase longevity, or create the perfect nude eye by applying over the lid for an even tone." It comes in a lipgloss-esque bottle, but without the annoying curves like UDPP's. It costs more than the other two primers ($20 as opposed to $17), so we'll see if this one is worth the extra few bucks.

You can now get a sample of this product for free with any $25 purchase at Sephora.com. Just enter SMASHLAB at the checkout.

Random

I did go to Doraville last Wednesday like I said I would a few posts back. Needless to say, I didn't find what I was looking for. But then again, I never do. -_-

However, I did get to go to mall. I went to Sephora and checked out the new UDPP in "Sin." I did a swatch on my hand, and it looks like one of my favorite Cargo eyeshadows. Oh, did I mention that it lasted through the whole day, multiple hand washings and all?! Amazing stuff. I still have a full bottle of regular UDPP left, but when I run out, I'll probably buy the "sinful" version. :)

Random stuff, but last night I had a dream all about MAKEUP. Wtf? xD Seriously, it started out as me getting a makeover at a MAC store (keep in mind, I don't own anything from MAC) and me buying a shitload of stuff from there. Then I went to a bunch of other makeup stores and tried out different MSF's (o_O). Lol. Awesome. Too bad it wasn't real -_-'''

Anyways, life is blah as usual, but I'm not complaining. Things only stress you out if you let them. So I'm not letting anything get to me :)

Wish List

I'm going to start a series of posts that will add up to be my ever-growing Wishlist! Actually, it should be called a lemming list because most of the stuff I want, I saw in other peoples' videos and/or blogs. Heh. The first thing I will post about is...

Coastal Scents Ultra Shimmer 88 Eyeshadow Palette

And for obvious reasons. You can create an infinite number of looks with this! I've seen so many YouTube tutorials using this palette, and the pigmentation is awesome. You can also get this at Red Ginger Cosmetics, but they charge more. Lame. Anywhos, this is first on my wishlist!

Asian Square

This Wednesday I'm gonna be going to Doraville before school (my class isn't until 4, which gives me plenty of time to look around). Doraville is pretty much the mecca of Asian shopping & cuisine in Georgia. My family has been going there for years. When I was little I loved going because I was into anime and all that stuff, and they had plenty of stores for kids. Now I only go for the food. But! Since I've started looking into Japanese and Korean cosmetics, I have a whole 'nother reason to go! :D The shipping charges at Ohayo USA are too much for me, so hopefully I'll be able to find what I'm looking for when I go.

Anyways, I have to transfer all of my pics from my phone to the computer. And there's a lot of them -_- Ciao.

My only HG product

Given that my search for the perfect cosmetic will probably go on until I die, my HG list isn't that long. In fact, there's only one product on my list! It's because most of the stuff I use isn't even that great, but I can't afford to try & buy every product on the market. Sigh. So I'll post the one thing that has made the list so far. I can't live without it!

DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew

I love this stuff so much. I actually bought it on a whim when I was at Sephora about a year and a half ago. They had a display shelf of their best-selling moisturizers, organized by skin type. I have combination skin, and DDF (Doctor's Dermatologic Formula) was one of the choices they had for my type. I actually bought it without trying it! It sounds ridiculous, given the price tag ($38), but it was probably the best impulse-buy I've ever made! It's so light (as the name suggests) and doesn't clog my pores. It's actually a gel instead of a lotion, unlike most moisturizers. There is virtually no smell which is also a plus. The bottle is a bit small, but it lasts forever (and trust me, I use a LOT). I even let my boyfriend try it once, and the next day he asked me if he could use it again! LOL. I have a feeling that I won't be replacing this wondrous moisturizer anytime soon.