Summary of this cosmetic year

only a few days left until 2010. And it's very unlikely that I should buy anything until then (simply because I'm not in Vienna). So I looked through my excel spreadsheet and boy, did I get a lot of free stuff in 2009... 2008 was a meagre year concerning cosmetics due to my exchange term in Singapore (the climate is too hot and humid to think about make up). 2007 was quite a lot, until I looked at 2009. I got 16 products for free. A large part is from the L'Oréal competition, another part from a friend and a few items were X-Mas gifts from retailers. I'm curious what 2010 will bring, but unless MAC re-releases Mothbrown eyeshadow, Coco or Sweet Sienna Pigment or have nice Holiday Sets (looong wait), I'm not supposed to buy. Given the array of colors I own I should have enough for the next few years.

And after doing the math I'm a bit wowed too: in 2009 I acquired cosmetics with a total retail price worth of ~800€, but paid 'only' 650€ due to various discounts and gift cards, and the free items. This does not include perfumes and skin/body care. Now 650€ could have bought me a new bag... on the other side I have lots of colors to play with and maaany substitutes.

One of my new year resolutions will consequently be: BUY LESS MAKEUP!!!

Oh and a random old snippet of the nail polish I'm currently wearing on my left hand... a bright green (looks less bluish in real) frost by a German drugstore brand.

Just my lipsticks...

I've been really busy recently, so that's why I'm showing you the pics just now. My lipstick collection is pretty small compared to other people's. But most of mine are actually just standing around...
... as you can see from their height. I still stick to the neutrals for everyday lol. Too much hassle with the brights/extremes to look good when you're already running late.

It's been awhile... MAC Pigments and lipstick collection

I havent't posted anything in a while because I started a new foodblog (foodoos.blogspot.com). However, it doesn't mean I'm not buying make up anymore. So for a re-start I'll show you my updated pigment collection.
It consists of the 2006, 2007 and two of the three 2009 sets. 2008 didn't had colors I liked. Now we'll look at each color in detail.
From left to right we have the following colors: Frost, Frozen White, Vanilla, Reflects Gold Glitter, Reflects Blue Glitter, Pink Opal, Helium, Naked, Lily White, Jardin Aires

From l to r starting with the first whole pigment vial on the pic: Jardin Aires, Dazzleray, Sunnydaze, Museum Bronze, Mauvement, Tan, Pink Bronze, Copper Sparkle, Sunpepper, Chocolate Brown, Rushmetal

Rushmetal, Old Gold, Reflects Antique Gold, Copperized, Chartreuse, Forest Green, Naval Blue, Softwash Grey, Violet, Softwash Grey, Dark Soul.

We have 4 pigments that look very much alike. The first pair is Dazzleray and Jardin Aires. The only difference is the slightly pinkish hue of Jardin Aires. Then we have Copper Sparkle and Rushmetal with the first being more sparkly and a bit more reddish.

The following pic gives you an idea for the next post... some bright colors will be among them.

Random lip swatches, some Chanel and MAC

When I was digging through my old pics I discovered this one: The grey lips I made with MAC Myth lipstick and some MUFE Black lipstick and clear gloss.

The next one is Chanel Silex, notice the pink and gold sparkle on my pigmented lips. The gloss itself isn't so pigmented, the sparkle gives your lips some kind of glow though.

The last pic is a comparison of my latest lipgloss buys:

- MAC Dazzleglass in Money, Honey

- Chanel Glossimer in Silex (of which you can see the swatch above)

Both were worth their high price tag. Though MAC Dazzleglasses have that kind of packaging that let the content seem bigger... but Dazzleglasses are only around 2g, half of what you usually get in a MAC lipglass... and have a higher price tag...

Free L'Oréal Stuff - Part 2

Labeling my eyeshadows is quite time consuming... if you do it with MS paint like me ^^...so I figured I'd show you something else for now. As I participated at the L'Oréal Brandstorm challenge with two colleagues we received quite a bit of free stuff. Here is what we got in the final (we didn't win unfortunately). It's retail worth is around 180€ ^^

We mainly have hairstuff from the L'Oréal group. Of course Maybelline stuff and some other. So what's really useful for me is the clear Maybelline nail polish as it's serving as my base now. Then the mineral foundation is also nice, a little too pinkish for my complexion but the darkness is okay. The eyeshadows don't rock my boat as I'm used to intense MAC pigmentation... but oh well, I can use all of the products somehow. But honestly I wouldn't have bought any of the products. As for haircare, I don't need any with my thick straight Asian hair... but the L'Oréal brand playball hairgel is nice, and the Fructis shampoo smells soooo delicious like green apples. Yummy.

Woooohooo - finally BACK!

Well, this university term has been the hardest of all - graduation... And it's not over yet as I just submitted the first draft of my thesis. But I will have ~10 days of break until feedback and working on it again. Anyway, back to the good stuff. I've aquired a few pieced of cosmetics during that time... my newest one being MAC Smoke & Diamonds (due to hype, but it's a nice colour and sold out very quickly... I'm very happy I got it ^^). I also did an eyeshadow pic session as it always reminds me that I actually have too much stuff ö_Ö but powder doesn't go bad, so... yeah, will add color names to the pics and post some time later. Some of my other cosmetics (liquids, fragrances) are down in the cellar as it's damn hot in my room and the fridge is too small. See you later!

Free Maybelline stuff YEAH

So I'm participating in the brandstorm competition by L'Oréal. We had this briefing day and got some nice full size products for FREE, to get to know the brand ^^ (we gotta launch the first Maybelline fragrance...). Ok, I gotta say not everyone who participates get it :P we were 1 out of 5 teams who made it into the national finals (out of 12 participating teams, not that much eh...).

Now I have a Matte Mousse foundation which is a bit too pale and pinkish on my NC25 skin (the Maybelline color is 030 Sand). So it accentuates dry flaky skin and coverage isn't the best, BUT the consistency is nice. Ít feels so soft and smooth when applying. LOL I'm gonna find a way to wear it... with yellow colored powder ;D

Then I have an eyeshadow duo with too much white shimmer in it. Come on Maybelline, you have a nice image, so don't make cheap looking eyeshadow. Thanx! (if you didn't notice, cheap eyeshadows with bad quality that you find in those noname sets usually have white shimmer overload....).

Next up: A clear nailpolish which is supposed to dry in 40 seconds. Didn't try it yet, but I will wear it as a basecoat anyway and I really needed a basecoat!

Another item for the eye is the XXL Mascara, but unfortunately it's not waterproof... I can only use waterproof due to my Asian stick straight lashes.

Now we're almost done: Superstay Powergloss! In a pink shade with gold shimmer, I was hoping to get Fire Granet, but that shade is also nice.

Finally we have a Moisture Extreme Nude collection lipstick. It smells nice, like caramel/toffee (its name is Toffee cream ;D), the color is a bit too bright for everyday. I mean I like paler stuff (MAC High Tea), but with the right Eye make up it will look more healthy than High tea haha. Since it was free I love my gifts ;D Gonna post pics when I do looks, but Sunday will actually be my first free day this week urgh... to think that I'm only in university lol

Piha Black on red lips

So this is MAC Lasting Lust with Lancôme Piha Black Gloss over it. You can see my dry lips through the gloss... because the layer of color dries out your lips, the gloss over it is just some kind of illusionist comforter. The lips don't get moisturized, it just seems so lol.

Not so great lol, but Piha Black definitely tones down colors... Lasting Lust with regular clear gloss is a bit more garish, slightly orangy, at least compared to Russian Red. Actually I like the red Maybelline shade more, and it's even less expensive....

Nails...

Just a quick post before going to bed...

This is MAC On the Prowl. The only grey I could find... (shimmer stuff doesn't count. it would be silver, I wanted NO SHIMMER this time).

On the other hand: MAC Whirlwind.

Excuse the mess, I took the pics right after applying Seche Vite. Anyway, I applied all this on Saturday and today (very early Friday) there is still NO CHIPPING! Amazing, just amazing. All for under 4€ lol. Tomorrow I'm gonna remove the colors though, need some fresh stuff to look at. I guess Chanel Black Satin on the left and Zoya Tangy on the right. Or both hands Zoya Blair... we'll see.

I also went shopping today, got MAC Pro Longwear in Lasting Lust... for now I'll only tell you it really doesn't smear/go off. What it looks like on it's own, consistency, what it looks like with Piha Black and if it rubs off with a different gloss than the intended topcoat... I'll tell ya tomorrow *zzZZzz*

Here it is...

I was surprised that I got my package today... pretty fast (Douglas Online Shop to Austria). I didn't include the clear up strips in this pic as it didn't fit into the group shot (stylewise). On top is the Eau de Star Sample. When trying it out it instantly reminded me of Angel, but it's not as strong. I don't really love it, Angel Innocence and the Original are better. On the bottom is the generous YSL Rouge Volupté Sample, it even includes a mini-brush. The first color on the left is definitely something I'd wear, the second would work too. I'm curious what the bright red will turn out to be, since I love MAC Russian Red already and will buy Lasting Lust (Pro Longwear formula) today. I'm not a hot pink person, but maybe with the right eye makeup...

Here is Lancôme Piha Black on it's own. Now I own a L'Oréal Group lippie I can take with me to the Briefing Day and whip out if I need to touch up... black colored haha.

Piha black is more of a dark grey with lots of white shimmer. When applied it looks grey because it's quite sheer. I will try it on my lips and with different lipsticks later.

Coming up next: my Nails :P You know what's funny - I applied my current nail polishes on Saturday, they still didn't chip or anything... that's why I love Seche Vite topcoat.

Piha Black was shipped...

seems it isn't actually THAT limited. Probably those sets were, but you can get a bright lipstick for wearing under the gloss from many companies... anyway, I also found the gloss being sold online on another European cosmetics retailer :D I'm curious what this gloss will look like over Russian Red...

Lancôme Piha Black Gloss

So I read that this gloss was super limited and twice as exp. Now I looked at some cosmetics retailer which is very big in Germany and Austria, just randomly, looking for Juicy Tubes. Then what do I see?! They have Piha Black in stock O_O ok, short thinking, and 23€ later I ordered it. It's the same price as every other Color Fever Gloss, and in stock... sooo now I'm really curious if it will arrive lol. Along with some clear-up strips (free delivery) and 2 free samples: Thierry Mugler Eau de star and YSL Rouge Volupté ^^ Will definitely post pics when/IF it arrives since I couldn't find any swatches of it.

Holographic Nails

This is what I've been wearing the last week. It's OPI DS Shimmer over Chanel Black Satin. I lurrrvvee the holo effect.

However, I just painted my nails (removed the holo yesterday). Now I'm wearing MAC Whirlwind on my left hand and On the Prowl on the right. Even though On the prowl is a pretty and quite unique shade (grey with no shimmer) it's consistency is plain terrible. Its weird goopyness (though just opened) makes application a very streaky affair. Thanx to 3 coats and 1 coat Seche Vite it looks decent now... pics will follow.

One step closer to Paris...

as mentioned many posts ago, I took part at the L'Oréal Competition 'Brandstorm'. Now we've passed the first round, right into the National Finals where we're gonna have a briefing at L'Oréal. 12 teams have submitted their pre-cases. 5 passed, we're one of them. But at the national finals there can only be 1 winning group. This one will fly to Paris and compete with international teams. Soooo, if we're gonna win I'm sooo going to Goyard again and look for a white St. Louis tote haha. XD

Guess what I found today? A grey nail polish! In the MAC Helly Kitty collection, named 'On the Prowl'... gosh I've been wandering through Taiwan's department stores to find a grey NOT silver polish, and now I found it in Austria. Too funny. Lucky they got a second shipment though as almost all stuff was sold out yesterday. Pics are gonna follow...

Inside my bag...

Today I carried my Reissue to a french course at university:

Contents:

- LV Taiga Wallet

- Samsung cellphone

- Asus PDA

- Montblanc Case with Rollerball
- iPod shuffle

- Le SportSac Makeup bag

- MAC Lipstick in High Tea

- Chewing gums

- Tissues

- Plastic bag for heavy rain protection...

- some scribbling paper (the green)

- some french information papers, folded (the white)

I wished each lessons would be such a leightweight one...

Still got the flu, but here's the Hermès!

So here is my first real H-piece (I don't count perfumes).

And that's what's inside:

The belt in black box/chocolate togo leather and a shiny gold buckle in the small drawstring bag ^^ The following is the chocolate side on a black Zara pant.

Again, with flash which washes all colours out, but gives you a more crisp view...

The only thing now is to lose weight as I can't close the belt on my lowrise pants and the gold buckle doesn't go with my washed grey jeans. I'd do sports now if I wasn't coughing and sneezing all the time. Apart from my throat, lungs and nose hurting lol. Goddamn flu.... I went to the Opera yesterday and managed to look (somewhat) smashing while feeling smashed ^^. Thanx to makeup, a thick layer of MAC Studio Fix Fluid with concealer, bronzing powder and blush... Humid Eyeshadow etc. and I looked human again (when I'm sick I neglect skincare so little red bumps will show up on my whole face...). Only my eyes looked watery, but that I couldn't help lol. Isn't it great, makeup makes you look so healthy and gorgeous while in reality you're sick, feeling like sleeping/fainting/dying. I guess you don't wanna know, but I had to cough that hard yesterday (after Opera, thank god) that I threw up my late dinner... never happened until now lol. One day I'm gonna die from coughing...

Oh yes!!!

I was lucky on saturday - or not. Depending on your point of view. I got my Hermès Belt, right color, right size (more or less). Great - just that I began developing a fever while shopping and now I'm coughing and dripping outta my nose like a tap (yeah I knew that's something you wanna know....). Anyway, beautiful belt looks gorg. on each side, the shiny golden buckle fits perfectly to both black box and chocolate togo leather. The only gripe: I don't have any pant that fits with the belt... it's tight to begin with since I wanna lose weight. But either the pant has the wrong color (grey jeans and gold?! NO WAY!) or they sit too low on my hips which are too wide for size 85 lol. You will get pics of my first Hermès baby tomorrow... when I'm hopefully less coughing and so on...

My first Hermès leather piece...

will not be a bag, unless I find a bag of gold on my way. So today I'm going to the boutique again and will finally buy a belt, black/brown, size 85. If it's still available that is... I want a shiny gold H buckle with it. And additionally I'm gonna pick up a MUFE HD-Powder which took like ages. One thing: MUFE is cheaper in Austria than in Taiwan, OMG can you believe Ö_Ö haha MUFE must really be a Paris brand.

So why an H-belt? My stomach is really really fat, 85 is just a bit too small for my waist, if I lose several kgs it will fit perfectly AND Hermès is far too expensive not to fit in!!! So much to my motivation...

Grey lips and blue lashes

I was browsing old runway makeup looks when I stumbled upon two things:

- Grey lips and

- Colored Lashes

Ok, the first look is by Tom Pecheux (pics from nymag):

He used concealer and MAC Black lipmix. My version is 100% for the mouth: MAC Myth and MUFE L86 Lipstick. The first one is colored like a concealer and the second plain black. Thought this was interesting, I like weird colors on lips like blue or black, but I never thought of grey... gonna take pics when my lips are less flaky.

Now the second thing - colored lashes - sound less interesting. What I discovered is actually this: You can wear any color you have as eyeshadow/pigment on your lashes... that's it lol. So easy, but I was too stupid to figure it out myself until I saw some pics of MAs applying blue pigment to the lashes with some kinda fan-shaped brush. So the thing is you get a Mascara as close to your desired color as possible OR a clear mascara. Put some eyeshadow/pigment on one side of the brush, then distribute mascara on your lashes and immediately pat the brush with the colored side on your lashes, preferably coming from below, so the powder won't spill... since the mascara is still wet the color pigments will adhere to your lashes and give them the color you want.

Here is the inspiration (source: style.com)

And that's how it's done:

Simple, eh? I learnt something interesting today...

Fabulissss

Good morning! Jetlag's gone, pictures are coming...

Sooo, here a (miserable) pic of Zoya Tangy on my nails. Due to the flash the duochrome is not visible (imagine pale orange-golden shine on vibrant neon green metallic). If I don't use flash the pic will be to blurry (shaky hands and weightless digicam lol). I can promise you the color is more greenish in real life with the duochrome effect. Only downsides: you need 3 layers to get it opaque and it shows streaks easily. Since the price is below 4€ and the color quite unique I will readily put up with it.

Next up is Zoya Blair. It's a slightly bluish, dark berry red frost. Out of all the Zoya reds at the fair, this was my fav, I don't like orangy reds or too bright ones for nails. So this showed the most 'dimension' in the bottle and so it came with me. Again for under 4€ this is a steal and must have color! Ready to be glam? Get Blair!

Oh, btw Zoya products are free of Formaldehyde and some other bad chemicals. See www.zoya.com for more information on this.

Here is a group shot of my mini nail-haul.
On the very left is the OPI DS Shimmer color I'm gonna pair with lotsa colors hihi. Next mani will be Chanel Black Satin, one hand with DS Shimmer over it. Thanks to Seche Vite (on the very right) I can now get shiny black nails without the usual nicks and dents.

All in all - gaaawjuss finds. The Seche Vite was about 4€ too, slightly more than the Zoyas. Only the OPI at 16€ is a bit exp. but worth it. Ok, I would have bought the Zoyas for up to 15€ too and OPI and Seche Vite for 25€... hope the producers won't read this haha.

Chaos is back!

And it bought some nice nail polishes at a cosmetics fair in Taipei. I never would have imagined to see Zoya or Seche Vite in my life (unless I fly to the US, which is unrealistic at the moment as I need a visa for entry). But now I'm the proud owner of a hot neon green metallic with slight orange duochrome (Tangy by Zoya), a warm berry red metallic, which has just the right amount of blue to catch my interest (Blair by Zoya) and the best top coat on this earth! Seche Vite... never was getting a smooth, shiny nail so easy! I cannot hold still for 1 hour to let polish dry properly. Even if I did the next day I'd wake up with fine scratches in my polish. But Seche Vite really sealed the color. No scratches, if only I let this top coat dry for 3min. Gosh that's gonna be a very nice nail season. AAAANNND the final one I got my claws on: OPI Designer Series in Shimmer. Stumbled upon this by chance and I must say WOW, this is amazing 3D color haha. Pics tomorrow... now I gotta sleep, jetlag gaaahh

Holiday Break

So I've had quite a lot of stuff to do the last few days. I'm still writing on the L'Oréal brandstorm pre-case. Since I'm leaving for 2-weeks (Taiwan) I won't be posting much during that time. I will only have internet access in public places, so... well I'm just gonna give you an outlook of what kinda looks you're gonna get in the future, when I'm back that is.

My new babies

I don't buy much make up nowadays. First I already have a lot and could probably mix almost every color with my pigments, second the nice stuff is friggin expensive. However, I don't own that many blushes compared to eye- and lipgear. Sooo MAC came out with new MSFs, I already like the Promo pics of Redhead MSF. However, I first swatched it on my hand and thought it would never show up on my NC25-30 skin. Then I read some reviews on makeupalley.com and darker people than me liked it. So ok, let's get one before they sell out... btw I also got the Brunette, since I'm actually (dark) Brunette lol and didn't had any blush in that color yet. So bad Blonde MSF didn't arrive in my fav store yet. I will probably buy that one too since I'm running out of my pink Armani blush. I was fortunate to get 10% off yesterday and my fav MA was there too! Here are my virgin babies:

Here they are unpacked :O left is Redhead, right it Brunette and bottom is Pettycoat for comparison. Awww I can already sense the gorgeous glow of Redhead!

Here is a swatch on my hand, from l to r: Brunette, Redhead, Pettycoat

What was it like on my cheeks? Redhead does show up! As a subtle glow... it instantly brightens my complexion and I can't overdose it with my dense brush. Looks pretty natural too. Very nice... friggin fabulous and me likey likey! :P I will probably run out of this in 5 years or such, but wish it was permanent... The other one, Brunette is tooo dark for a normal blush brush, I will try it with my #188 once I clean it from Studio Fix Fluid lol. As for now, just toooo dark lol.