Jill Stuart Jewel Crystal Eyes 102 Amazonite Dazzle *limited edition*

For this spring 2011, Jill Stuart came up with 2 limited edition eyeshadows, part of the Dreamy Garden Collection for 2011. The 2 palettes are #102 Amazonite Dazzle and #103 Sparkling Morganite. The eyeshadows are also Taiwan and Hong Kong exclusives.

I have owned a few of Jill Stuart eyeshadow palettes and they don't have much variations from one and another. They are mostly in sparkly pinks and purples with a deeper tan or browns for eyelining. I was immediately drawn to #102 Amazonite Dazzle because it has a selection of beautiful earthy tones of eggshell white, khaki beige, khaki green and a plummy-brown color, which is not commonly found in its regular series.  

Amazonite Dazzle has much similarities with the Taiwan exclusive from Christmas of 2010, Romantic Onyx, which is also some nice sophisticated smoky eyeshadow colors :)

The eyeshadow palette has the Dreamy garden theme design, which appears to be some butterflies (or birds?) on the cases and the paper box packaging, very pretty!

Comparing this case design from their regular line, a dash of colors does make a difference in showing the fun and playfulness element:

The first 3 colors to the left has a metallic shimmer finish to them while the last plummy-brown color appear to have more of a matt finish but once swatched, it does appear to have some minor shimmer in them.

Better close up for the colors from makeupandlife.com:

As with other Jill Stuart eyeshadow, they come with a sweet fragrance. The texture of this eyeshadow is not that powdery, but it's not the most creamy eyeshadow I own (compared to Lancome or Dolly Wink). I guess because of the glitters, some flecks of sparkle fallouts are noticeable, and the pigmentation is ok (I think the colors appear to be more vibrant in the pan):

EOTD look:

For a full FOTD look, please go here.

Better colors from makeupandlife.com:

Overall I like this palette, but I think I love the packaging even more, as I own eyeshadows of better quality myself. I think I would probably use the colors from this palette more for the night (all the colors compliment one another really well) and use the regular pinks and purples for the day (more likely a spring day, perhaps?) but overall I am happy that I got this limited edition from Jill Stuart.  I could wear this day or night and . I'm already eying the new Jill Stuart Kitten eyes 2011 summer collection for the new Jelly Eye Color N in 14 Dazzling Tear as a base highlight for my neutral eyeshadows. I am still figuring out the best deal for this ^^

RMK Powder Eyes in 01 Deep Brown

RMK was actually introduced to me not too long ago. When I first chatted with my gaming friend from Luca, I asked about her favorite eyeshadow brand and she said it's RMK.

After talking more in depth with Luca, I found the RMK eyeshadow she got was a limited edition on from the winter of 2010. She got it from the airport duty free.... great, that makes it harder for me to get!

However, after some persistant searching online high and low, I found it! The first RMK eyeshadow I got was 03 Red Brown. After using it for a few times, I like the texture and I opt for a second RMK eyeshadow in 01 Deep Brown (this is also the same color my friend owns).

RMK Brown Eyes are at 4500yen retail, but of course I got it at a far more reasonable price at about $28 :)

Instructions on how to apply this eyeshadow:

RMK's design are always sleek and nice. However, this sleek mirror design also means a lot of fingerprinting all over the case:

Actual colors of the RMK eyeshadow, which is a neutral brown color. Nothing fancy, just best for simple neutral look:

Comparing 01 Deep Brown (left) with 03 Red Brown (right). 

The swatches at the back of my hand. As Luca has told me before, RMK isn't the most pigmented eyeshadow so if you want pigmented colors, go for MAC but not RMK. The colors are quite subtle, which makes it perfect for a naked neutral look. The red brown shadow has a slightly reddish tint, as suggested by its name. Deep Brown is a tad much cooler in tone:

 I love how silky the texture is. The over the eye glitter is not glittery at all, which makes it work appropriate (Hello! Jie Jie!) 

 EOTD:

This RMK eyeshadow is nothing fancy, just plain simple neutral browns that will work for a nice everyday neutral naked eye look!

Lancome Color Design Eye Brightening All-In-One 5 Shadow & Liner in 100 Taupe Craze Palette

A while ago, I saw Michelle Phan's youtube video demonstrating a day to night look with this palette in a different color (purple).

Back when Sephora had their 15% off F&F event, I hauled this neutral colored paletted in 100 Taupe Craze. (I admit I have this obsession with neutral brown palettes!)

The back of the packaging shows the 5-step process with this eyeshadow palette. Interestingly, this palette is made in Canada. (I always assume the Lancome we get in the US are made in US!)

I have tested the texture of this eyeshadow palette before in Sephora prior purchasing and that's why I know I love the creaminess and texture of this shadow. In my opinion, the Dior palettes are a bit too chalky for my taste and this Lancome palette is definitely gliding on a lot smoother without any fallouts~

However, reading some of the reviews on this product on Sephora, some people complained about how little of this product is with a hefty $48 price tag. Someone actually did the math that the whole palette cost a whooping $340 per ounce!! (well this palette only have 0.141oz in total) Well, even the quantities seem little, how often do we usually finish using an eyeshadow palette entirely? I think I may break the record using this palette!

Actual palette of the 5 colors, and 2 sponge tips applicators:

Very neutral colors, slightly to the cool side, but not as cool as gray neutral palettes... similar to the Dolly Wink 01 Brown Sweet Dolly (which as a little bit more orange tint):

Swatches on the back of my arm. I think Jie Jie would love this neutral palette but will not go to #3, the Highlighter, aka, shimmers!

EOTD look on me:

So far, it's working well on my NC-30 skin tone for a neutral day look. Perfect for the office too, (right Jie Jie?)

Thoughts? I love the creaminess and how silky the texture is when I glide the eyeshadow on to my lids. I give full points for the texture and also how it delivers a neutral nude make up look on me.

Do give this Lancome eyeshadow a try!

Hada Labo BB moist cream and BB moist emulsion

Sue Lynn had did a pretty comprehensive reviews on the various kinds of BB creams suitable for darker/yellower skin tone here.


And her review is exactly why I was prompted to get this Hada Labo BB moist cream and emulsion

As typical with other BB creams I own (such as Missha's BB cream), they tend to work on fairer skin so when I use them, they tend to give me a white ghostly cast.

This Hada Labo BB cream/emulsion comes in 2 shades, #1 Natural Beige (lighter) and #2 Natural Ochre  (Darker). The cream kind is truly in a cream form and comes with a SPF of 32 PA+++ while the emulsion kind is a little more watery and it has a metal ball inside the container to shake the contents up, and it offer a higher SPF of 50 PA+++

I got my BB moist emulsion in #1 Natural Beige from a beauty blog sale earlier and from my recent haul from Adambeauty, I lay my hands on the BB moist cream in #2 Natural Ochre.

Swatches at the back of my hand. Left: BB moist emulsion #1 Natural Beige. Right: BB moist cream #2 Natural Ochre:

Zooming in, as you can see, the emulsion is indeed more watery:

Blending it out, I love how it's darker and yellower than typical Korean BB creams!

Fully blended out. They match my skin tone pretty well and coverage is ok for its light texture. (See how the BB cream and emulsion slight hide the blood veins at the back of my hand?)

Ok, now testing on my naked face. Warning, I still have some leftover redness from my unknown allergies and breakouts from not too long ago:

Before BB cream

After BB cream

BB Emulsion applied, slightly paler for my skin tone

I am pretty sold on the coverage and how lightweight this BB cream is. Redness and pores are significantly covered up. The lightness of this BB cream make is very suitable for the muggy months of summer here!

There is not much difference between the cream and emulsion. But I do agree with Sue Lynn that the emulsion kind tends to make my t-zones a tad oiler after midday. But I use the emulsion kind sometimes because I maybe out in the sun for a longer period of time...

Overall, this BB cream is a good buy. They are currently out of stock on Adambeauty's site and I think it's probably because of the rave from Sue Lynn^^ If I am hauling again from Adambeauty again, I would probably order another back up because I love, love, love this BB cream!

Mini Make Up haul

Since I did a massive Naruko haul not too long ago, I have been having this urge to haul some make up products. So I did a small scale beauty haul, by small scale, it's smaller than most beauty bloggers like MisoJenny, Fuzkittie, Sum Mei or Danica :) (Haha, what an excuse!)

First haul, my order from Adambeauty, don't you love it when you see a package in your mailbox?

This time, I order products from the maker Hada Labo. I ordered the BB moist cream (seduced by Sue Lynn's BB cream post for yellower/daker skin tone), Moist Mist, Super Hyaluronic Acid Moist Essence Ex (I love serums!!)

With my limited Japanese Katakana knowledge, I read that the BB moist cream is Paraben free. However, the other 2 items DO contain Parabens.... strange?

Second haul, my order from Imomoko finally came in!

One thing I do need to complain about Imomoko is that I placed my order on June 1st and I didn't receive my order until June 21st... and it took them 20 days to process and ship my order? That's rather slow imo!

And once I opened up the box, it's packaged with dirty newspaper.... emm, not attractive at all!

I ordered a sampler of My Beauty Diary "Blooming of Beauty" flower series masks. I have seen full sized boxes of these flower masks in my recent NYC trip but I just couldn't decide which favor to get... I guess the sampler is a good way to find out which one I like the most!

And the other item I got is the Lunasol Ocean Scene Eyes limited edition EX-01.

This Lunasol palette is raved by both Sue Lynn and Jie Jie and both of them have swatches on their blogs. I guess this Lunasol will remain in this cello-wrap for a little while because I feel like this palette is too pretty to be used.... and also I know that the pretty lettering on the eyeshadow will go away once I swatch it.... I am not sure if I will open it one day or it will remain in my collectible pile!

When I ordered this EX-01, I was debating if I want to get the blue EX-02 as well, but since blue wasn't really my color, I didn't haul EX-02 as well. But after a second thought over a week, I think I am going to get the EX-02 as well!

The 6 favors of the "Blooming of Beauty":

Third haul, well this is more like a shopping haul. One day at TJ Maxx (for those not familar with US stores, TJ Maxx is a bargain store where you can find brand name for less), I found this Versace silk scarf. I have always like scarves and I own silk scarves from Thailand and Bali when I travelled there, but I have always wanted a timeless piece. I came across this while shopping in TJ Maxx one day.

This silk scarf retails for $250. And even on this website, it's selling for $199+shipping. They do have a black and gold version on that website, but then my love said the black color is definitely an old lady piece, while the white one looks younger and matches me.

Final price? $89. Not the cheapest, but a rather good price for a branded scarf and a timeless piece! I see myself using it a lot for the years to come!

DIY quickie grocery bag

A while ago, I have visited my local fabric store to get cloth material for blogger Jie Jie's make up pouch. I have also acquired another interesting fabric that has a Japanese flair to it (the pink and green one to the left that has patterns of a traditional paper fan).

I started out by measuring and cutting all the components out. This time I am making the yellow colored grab bag in the pattern book. I call this kind of bag a quick grocery bag where I can just put my wallet and cell phone inside and head out for a quick grocery run:

The same yellow bag is on the cover of the pattern book too:

Next is where I spend a significant amount of time doing, embroidering gold threads along the fan pattern outline of the fabric, and stitching it with a nice soft polyester filling to give body to the bag:

Even the back side is neat and tidy:

The finished product. As I don't have a sewing machine at home, this entire bag is done by my own hands. Yes, I know it takes more time, but I feel I have better control with my own hands. The pattern book's bag was a open tote bag but for security reasons, I went ahead and added a zipper in the bag :)

I added my name on the tag, somehow this reminded me of "Agnes B" logo:

This is what I mean by more control over the stitches. Notice how close I can stitch to the edge of the fabric? It's harder to do so with a sewing machine. Haha, I am proud of my needlework as they look pretty uniform and out from a sewing machine!

The inside of the bag is lined as well^^

On and off, this bag took me about 3 weeks to make. Probably I just can't devote time constantly to finish a project from start to finish...