Jewellery crush: marquiscamus

I am probably one of the many that have been crushing on beautiful accessories and jewellery lately. I already bought a übergorgeous necklace from the talented glowchaser lately (here). I have, however, a more expensive crush right now.

I found the jewellery site marquiscamus.com, and have been blown away by the whimsical and quirky pieces they have been making. They combine several materials and fabrics in order to make true statement necklaces and other trinklets. Look at this modern piece!


Their prices, alas, are rather impressive as well...ahum. I am thinking about recreating some of the easier pieces from their collection, with my own spin on it. But as for now, I will be looking regularly to the beautiful pieces.

I love the names of the collections as well: they consist of Modern Rebel, Victorian Romance, Victorian Rebel, Red Carpet and Joker.

This chain beneath is of the Victorian Rebel collection. It combines black cloth roses on a chunky black chain, and those little stones at the end are 'Vintage Chandelier crystal' (here, don't look at the price)

A piece from the Modern Rebel collection....Look at the combination of that tie and jewellery: BRILLIANT.

Pretty and princessy: the Victorian Romance collection. This piece has a vintage perfume bottle dangling beneath (here). I wonder if the necklace would be heavy like this.

These earrings could be recreated by a 'amateur' like me....

I love the big bow on this necklace....Also from the Victorian Romance collection.

This is a close up from the same necklace as before.

I like the combination of different chains and even the fabric that they put in this necklace.

Ackkk, I want them all. I need to win a giftcard from this store worth $1000, or such. (btw, I am not affiliated with this store...just a greedy girl wanting it all...LOL)

Kevin Beautymaker and credit-crunch wardrobe haul

Thanks to Jamilla Camel I found out about a British beauty etailer that sells reasonably priced Japanese and Korean cosmetics. After navigating on their, basically Chinese, website I caved and ordered---they had free international shipping when you order over 20 pound, and more importantly.....items of Korean Beauty Guru Kevin (Beautymaker) in stock...

The site is beautyeshop, and it took about 2 weeks for my order to come in. Sometimes British, or Royal mail, is so much slower than mail from the US or Hongkong. On the other hand, shipping from the UK can be fast if the package is tiny, as I ordered some beads for my jewellery/accessory making and they arrived within 3 days.

I ordered a lipstick in a colour which looked good on a small swatch, and it came out to be Rose, which is indeed a sheer rosy colour. Check out the colour yourself from the pictures.

It is not a flat lipstick, as it has tiny golden shimmers inside. They are hardly detectable on the lips, however, they give a really pretty and flattering glowing effect.

A swatch on bare skin: it is a sheer quality and looks delightfully rosy on the lips. I love the texture and it is reminicent of various Japanese lipsticks I have: I have the Kanebo Kate Rouge Extra Lipstick in mind, especially the sheerer version like RS-10. Kate RS-10 is a tad more mauve and more dark, though.

Foundation-wise, I have a very picky skin: it is really sensitive and sometimes overreactive, ánd it is in serious need of some covering up (oh, let's sum it up: discolourings, dry patches, beginning wrinkles, dark circles...you name it...my skin is a dermatologists dream, as it is so unperfect). I have tried some Korean/American/Japanese liquid foundation brands, but have not been happy with them. I often resort to mineral makeup from smaller companies for foundation.

When I spotted Kevin Beautymaker Mineral Foundation on beautyeshop for 12 pounds, I thought I took the plunge and ordered it.

It arrived in a really big jar...that jar is HUMONGOUS. I have to make comparing pics later, and swatch pictures as well.

Kevin's signature label:

\So, I do not have any swatches to share yet. The texture of the foundation is really lovely and non irritating, mattifying, yet not flat. The downside is the colour, which looks too orangy. A light layer is not obtrusively orange and looks even very flattering on a slightly tanned skin, but I do not want to apply several layers of this stuff, otherwise I look absolutely tangoed.

Ohhh, I haven't shared with you yet: I have been to Liverpool this week! I ordered a cheapy easyjet ticked some time ago, and last week was my OFFICIAL British shopping day. I prefer shopping in the UK over my country, as the shops have soooo much more interesting goodies.

Sorry for the lack of scenery pictures, but I was absolutely absorbed in shopping...he he. The first shop I raided was the giant Primark. Ok, the stuff is really cheap and it would probably not be adviseable to dress from top to toe in Primark fashion, but nobody over here knows Primark so my new stuff might be mistaken for Pradaaaah (yeh right, teeheee).

Ok, I bought this faux-leather colourexploded snake bag from them...I love the Chanel-esque chain....I do not know when I will actually wear this, but I could not let this quirky number sit in that shop, so it needed a special place in my closet (and hopefully on my shoulder, if I dare)

Another bag from straw. It reminds me of my childhood when I had these little straw bags toting around, filled with dolls and my little ponies...(it was such a steal for 6 pounds)

And I love the leopard lining. I could always use it for storage. It looks like a hat box, don't you think?

The next thing is an Origami skirt, as it has origami folds in the front. I call it my Cheryl Cole-skirt. For the non-British who have never heard of Cheryl Cole, she is Britain's latest Celeb obsession. (pictures here/here). I would not pick such a skirt normally, as I am more of a boho-chic-chick, but I loved to have a clubbing skirt for when I will ever enter a Club again...LOL. It is something out of my box, which makes it interesting for a change (and for the 8 pounds...I just 'jumped' in my basket)

That was my post for today :D. Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!

Springtastic

I have been having a haul-modest week, I think. The weather has been sweet and I have been exploring my large stash of happy coloured lipsticks to match the weather. I have been loving my Nars Niagara lipstick a lot: which is a bit dry compared to the smoothness of several Japanese brands, but it is opaque enough for the vividness of the corally pink to shine through.

Another sunny haul that arrived was my silknaturals.com products. I blog a lot about Japanese and Korean cosmetics, but I still love the small mineral makeup companies in the US.

Silknaturals is one of my favourites, as they make wonderful lipsticks that flatter even the strangest skintones (mine, for example). And their pigments are often Mac dupes, but of a more natural quality, which my sensitive skin likes. And her shipping is really fast, especially for international girlies, so my cosmetic craving takes often less than a week to satisfy...


I ordered a small haul which consisted of the two latest lipsticks in Mirabelle and Whirlwind, 2 blush samples in Drama (MAC emote clone) and Gemini (NARS orgasm-like) and received a free eyeshadow in Pink Twink (the fun thing is that EVERYONE receives a free sample if you purchase over $10, which is such a lovely deal).


I also threw in a couple of skin serums in Oatmeal and Rose, which are both suitable for a sensitive skin. I am always on the lookout for good samples for my ...(fill in any age)...-something skin.

The Pink Twink looks more brownish than pink, but Silknaturals prides themselves for making age-friendly makeup which looks flattering and not clashing. It makes a wonderful colour for on the lid.

The Gemini blush looks really vivid. The glitters are a bit too much for me, but I think it would be a dream for lots of bloggers to wear a colour like this, especially when you enjoy several NARS colours. I think it is really pretty, but I would love to see this in a lipstick instead of on my cheeks. It looks lovely applied with a light hand, and having buffed away the glitters.

I haven't tried the original Mac Emote yet, but I am adoring the Drama colour. I was 'blessed with an enormous 'bump' on the side of my nose after eating too much bad food, and after concealing I removed the redness but still had the bump. Drama limited the 'drama' of having an extra nose (which is how my boyfriend called it...há) by concealing its 'bumpiness'. So, I have to buy this in full-size, or I have to visit the mac counter for the real thing...

Whirlwind lipstick is supposed to be a clone of the discontinued Mary Kay Pink Pout lipstick. I am not familiar with Mary Kay but the colour itself was supposed to be a cult colour. It was described as a 'rosey mauve with hints of brown' which suited my preference...

Mirabelle is descibed as a 'true warm peach shade'. It looked like a stunning pinky coral in the swatches at silknaturals, so I threw it in my cart as well. They retail for $4.50 which is a steal for such lovely lipbalms.

The swatches look different on my skin than seen at their site. The Mirabelle looks really warm, which is a bit of a pity. It is still a lovely lipbalm, though.

Continuing to springtastic talk: these little fellow have been my street buddies in the neighbourhood. They are sooo tiny, and so cute! I think they are siblings, as they stick with the same mother. Mother was quite protective when I took pictures of them.

I love this about spring, all the cute baby animals and flowers and vivid colours...

summerproof eyes

My hauls of last week were really rewarding in the field of making my eyes summerproof. I know, I know...it has hardly been spring...but the rising temperatures make my blood sizzle for summer fun...

One of the products I was dying to try out was the Paul & Joe Eye gloss. Actually, I was hesitating between Jill Stuart Eye jelly or Paul & Joe, but prefered P & J based on more flattering swatches (without too much glitter, my eyes do not want to resemble a discoball in summer) and the more convenient method of application ( a wand instead of dipping my fingers-aka unhygienic- into a jelly jar).

Paul & Joe it became, and I have not been dissapointed yet! I picked colour 1, a goldish glow that would look brilliantly alone or paired over another colour to punch it up. I ordered it at gooddealer.com. Gooddealer included two precious p&j samples as well...so lovely. I have been testing the light cream foundation in 30 and it is so glowy...now I know why Fuzkitty is raving about this stuff...uhohhh, more lemmings.

The packaging and the tube is so pretty and feminine, without going overboard on pinkness and fluffiness. I love Paul & Joe's peachy packaging and the gold writing is so gorgeous. The next picture is a closeup of the eye jelly in the tube...

Swatches: it delivers a glowy, champagne gold colour which can be sheered out to a shimmery hint of gold on the eyelids....

More importantly, is it splashproof/sweatproof/funproof? I have been splashing water over my eyes and eyelids....and it stayed on wonderfully. I also layered it over a taupe creamshadow, and it gave a lucid dimension to it...it also warmed up the taupe, so it would be wonderful for warming up cooler shadows for girls who prefer their eyeshadows to be more warm.

My second haul came from fyrinnae.com, a etailer company that specialises on wickedly fun-coloured mineral eyeshadows. I bought their Inks liquid eyeliner in the past, in colour intoxicating, and I love this stuff for an easy eye with a twinkle of fun.

I was craving more taupes, so I purchased the two taupe eyeliners available: Tinsel Taupe and Flattery Gets You Everywhere. As they have free shipping with a purchase over $20 (INTERNATIONALLY) I picked up a small lip lustre in Lace Gloves as well. The twinkly eyeshadow in the top of the picture was a freebie...I want to mix that with clear nailpolish to make a darkly glittery polish...ha ha.

Althought they are gorgeous, they are quite similar. I probably would not have purchased both if I knew that before. (picture in sunlight). The Flattery is a bit darker and has a greener hint compared to Tinsel Taupe.

The best thing about Fyrinnae's colours are their multi-dimensional quality in colour, so I will overwhelm you with swatches. Eeeek, my hands look so crocodile-ish right now...I need to use my Kose Happy Bathday soon!

I prefer Flattery Gets You Everywhere over Tinsel Taupe. Tinsel looks more silvery in specific light, whereas Flattery is more greenish. I still consider them to be quite similar. I love their names, btw...I wish that Flattery indeed got me everywhere...sight...

Ok, this is an eye post today, but I wanted to show you the other Fyrinnae swatches as well. The Lip Lustre feels more velvety than balmy, but it looks quite flattering in a velvety manner. Sometimes I am not feeling the glossy lip-look and a velvet product is more appropriate. The colour is a creamy coral with pink microshimmer, and looks summery on the lips.

I love this Taupetastic colour for waterproof eyes as well, but I will not tease the international crowd, as it is only available in meee leeetle country...

Another fantastic product is K-palette eyeliner! Somehow I could not find my own picture, but I have it in my collection as well. It stays put for a long time and is not too difficult to remove. I bought mine on jpmon.com a while ago, but it is available on amazon as well.

However, I think that the numerous gel eyeliners that are available these days, ranging from Mac to madminerals.org, will have a water-resistant quality as well. Just try some and find out which will suit you the most.

I will not discuss waterproof mascara's yet, as there are trillions of products out there. And, I have not found my HG waterproof mascara yet, although I am really interested in testing out the Clarins Fix Mascara, that is supposed to make ANY mascara waterproof. Oh, it was Jojoba who raved about it (here), check out her review.

Oh, I should have bought that yesterday...I was in the cosmetic shop where they still had the 20% discount, but my impatient boyfriend did not like my cosmetic browsing so much....LOL! He always chases me with cotton balls and paper towels to make me wipe away all my swatches...Somehow he thinks I already have enough makeup (who me?...you don't agree, do you? Dear Readers?)

Anyway, get your eyes ready for summer, and keep it fun, because a smokey eye should not be caused by the kind of 'activity' the girls practice in the next picture....

I'm so random...

KAPWOOWW....I need a new starting line for my blog...so I picked KAPWOOWW!

Thursday again! and a lovely thursday it is: I received my Topshop order today, which I will not show in this post yet.

What I can show you is my bead-box! he he! I haven't been crafting and beading for five years now, so the beads are quite old (are they antique yet?). I picked up a bit of beading on the day after Eastern, which was a free holiday in mi leeetle country...I did not want to venture outside as everybody and their pets venture outside, so I went for an attempt of creativity...

Hey, once upon a time I organised my beads into different colour sections...what has happened to my orderness?

More beads: I kind of have to laugh about the neon-yellow cord, as 5 years ago neon was returning into the scene, and I was still hip enough to wear neon (ha ha, so I thought I was).

A cosmetic shop had 20% on their cosmetics...tahaa! Dior was calling me: I picked a colour I have been lusting over since 1998: Dior Ultra Gloss addict in 157. It is a gorgeous corally nude with green microshimmer. I love green microshimmer in lipsticks: somehow they plum up my skinny lips...

In natural daylight: It looks like a completely different gloss, but you can see some of the microshimmers...

I finally dared to swatched my precious Shiseido Integrate palette I received a while ago. Although the colours are so lovely and earthy, I espected them to be a bit more green instead of brownish.

The only colour that is a bit greenish is the darkest one on the right, oh, and the second one in the middle, but that one is too glittery. If you prefer a greener palette I would suggest looking at the Kanebo Kate Deep Trap eyes in GN 1 (here)

They are still lovely: the bronzy brown is luscious, and the darkish green is very useful for a alternative smoky eye.

Oh, and I am lusting over this product:

The bronzer on the left is the object of my affection (Goddess 001)! It is from Paul & Joe's Summer collection Gold. Beauty Anonymous has spotted it already on Beautyhabit, but I once mailed to beautyhabit for international shipping, and they were only able to ship by DHL, which would have costed me $54 for shipping alone...

So I have to wait patiently for gooddealer or ichibankao to release them....

Cheap delights: Amuse blush palette & LA girl lip palette

Happy Eastern, again! I was up early and I had not much to do, so my blog needed some updates. Did you eat lots of chocolate eggs yet?

I wanted to dedicate this post to the cheap and wonderful products I aquired since my last cherryculture haul. My first cheap suprise was the LA lip palette. I was enabled by Jojoba to buy the LA lip palette, which turned out to be pretty smashing! Jojoba already posted the best swatches of one of the palettes, Eternity, check it out on her blog (here).

I also bought Passion, which turned out to be a passionate palette of warm and cool colours. Actually, the mix of warm and cool colours is a bit confusing, as palettes normally are ór cool, ór warm, or neutral. I found Eternity to be neutral/cool, and very workeable for me. This palette is suitable for summer months, when I am sporting a (fakish) tan.

I made swatches and photographed them in full sunlight. The first three colours are really warm, actually they are truely Jamilla Camel colours, as I see her sporting lots of warmer colours (and looking good in them). And the last two are really cool toned berries.

A picture outside the sun. Feel free to click on the picture to enhance the view.

I was pretty gobsmacked by the softness of the lipsticks, they are really moisturizing and soft on the lips. They stayed on for a rather long time.

My favourite palette of the two is still Eternity, but I love this for mixing and for wearing in the summer months. For the $8 they are retailed you will get a set of 6 colours that are fun to experiment with, to step outside the box of your usual colour scheme.

Talking about cheap but effective: I bought the Amuse blush palette in Natural for a mere $3, and with the discount that was even a cheaper $2.40. In total, that would be $0.60 per blush colour! I did not expected miracles or even decent pigmentation from this palette, however, it is rather decent after all.

The first two colours on the left are actually the bottom colours: sorry for the confusion. The 3rd and 4rd colours are the upper colours. The pigmentation is really dense, and you can pick up lots of colour from a simple swipe with the fingers or brush. I was pleasantly suprised by this, as I expected a hard surface.

The first two colours (or the bottom from the palette) are neutral toned and a bit rosy. I love the first one, that is such a me-colour, so stunning. The second is wonderful as well. The third colour is a warm brick-like colour, which was not too flattering on me. However, I love the amount of shimmer and dimension in every blush, not too glittery nor to flat or matte.

The swatches in direct sunlight. The fourth colour is a bit peachy and works with my skintone as well. Isn't that lovely: three winners in a palette! What a deal, what a steal!

The only downside of this palette is the cheap case, and the blushes have a slight old-lady-ish scent. Nothing obtrusive, though.

It makes me curious for the other Amuse cheek palettes as well: they have a set named Pinky and one named Dusty Rose. I could not see the colours too well on cherryculture's webpage. However, I guess the colours are suited to their names, although the lower colours on the left look like bronzer types. Mmm, I will put them on my wishlist for my next order.