Glossy posse: Kanebo Lavshuca Balloon RD-1

Today I would like to take a closer look to one of my newest lipglosses. I absolutely have no shortage in lipglosses, and I even doubt if I have ever finished a lipgloss entirely. Still, these glossy babies tempt me to reach for my credit card, especially when they promise me my-lips- but-better glow.

Kanebo's little sister Lavshuca is consequent in releasing regular collections throughout the seasons, and they often have a new formula of an eye or lip-product in their new line up. Their Balloon line had a couple of natural shades that the Japanese cosmetic makers are often so skillful of. The name Balloon also sounds tempting for the volume-challenged pucker that I have.

The gloss comes in a neutral, partly see-through box. The colour and number is written down on the sides of the box.

The gloss looks like a pen in its size. The application system is quite new. You have to press a button on the side, and eventually, some lipgloss will appear out of the plastic tube. It took me lots of patience and clicking before any gloss came out. I am not sure if you have to press in the button for the whole time, or click rhythmically.

It works quite differently than another penlike system I have from Integrate (beneath the next picture), which is an easy twist-and-gloss tube.

The colour was, although it looks quite rosy in the picture, a bit too brown for me. I also found it a bit too sticky for my liking. Normally that would not be the biggest problem for me, as I like the sticky Mac Lipglass as well. But in this case I found that the pigment did not spread evenly because of the stickiness. It resulted in an uneven coat of lipgloss and colour on my mouth.

My lips did not ballooned into huge porportions either. I could not detect any plumping effects. It functions, in my opinion, just as the standard lipgloss as far as volumizing the pout.

So I would like to compare the size with my Shiseido Integrate Soft Jelly Rouge in PK 702. The Integrate is the top one; the Lavshuca balloon is on the bottom. Obviously, the Lavshuca is the one in a thinner pen.

I prefer the Integrate over the Lavshuca, as Integrate is non-sticky and spreads the pigment out easily and equally. Nevertheless, the colour can be a bit too cool, sometimes. The swatch picture next shows the Integrate on the left and the browner Lavshuca on the right. Both have these lovely sparkles that are subtle enough for the more mature woman.

So I did my customizing blending of the two, and concocted the perfect MLBB (my lips but better) gloss. As far as the stickiness, now it is just a tad sticky. Together, they are a wonderful match.

That saved my glossy posse for today...

For a more positive review on the Kanebo Lavshuca Balloon lipgloss and more swatches of different colours, check out Lotuspalace.

still a little miss shop-a-bit!

After a bit of seriousness, I feel like writing something about the fun stuff in life again. And, most readers will agree, that is a bit of girly shopping time too.
I do not always shop for myself, he he, I am not that narcistic, and buying presents for other people can be fun too.
One of my latest purchases from etsy will be a present for a friend of mine. She enjoys quirky things a lot, just like I do. I purchased this upcycled tshirt necklace, made from old tshirts(!!!) so it is environmentally friendly too, from a seller named etnyk.
This necklace is a bit different from the ones being sold on a more common base (Urban Outfitters, etc) as it has those little velvet beads added to it. Plus, it is called Gypsy so it is a perfect present for my travel-loving friend of mine, who thinks of herself as a modern gypsy.
I also purchased a couple of things on nonpareilleboutique . Nonpareilleboutique has become quite a popular place for Dutch beautygirls to find their NYX (together with Cherryculture.com) and I wondered how their customer service would be. So far, nothing to complain about their service.
One of the things I ordered was the NYX palette in Caviar and Champagne. I was afraid I ordered this too enthousiastically, because one of the most thorough beautybloggers, Pink Sith, found it to be lacking eyeshadow-power (post here).

Even though she is absolutely right that the eyeshadows lack consistency in colour depth and pigment and are somewhat on the sheer side, I still find some of them to be ok for me.

And being superficial...I love the name...Champagne and Caviar!

I also enjoy buying from mineral cosmetic companies every now and then, even though I downsized buying from them. Mineral foundations are still one of the most suitable for oversensitive skin, which mine oftenly is.

Often they also have good offers on samples of eyeshadows and blushes, which is ideally for the colour-addictive buyers like I can be. I can try a couple of newer colours, for example, experience with the returning 80s look, without breaking the bank on expensive eyeshadows

Meowcosmetics.com had a wonderful discount on labor day with the code catshatework. I am not a cat, but I am not a workaholic either ;P. Their latest release of Taboo blush colours looked so workable (no pun intended) that I ordered most of the samples. I also picked some brighter eyeshadow colours from the Rainforest collection.

The names of the Taboo range are, of course, taboo inspired. Expect names like Dirty Talk, Nudity, Scandal, Fetish, Lust, Racy and Promiscuous....oh la la.

Besides of the provocative names, the colours look very promising and wearable in real life as well. Not scandalous at all . ;D

The Rainforest eyeshadows have rainforest-inspired names, such as piranha, boa, touchan, and poison dart frog. I picked a couple of neutral shades, and a couple of vivid colours for adding a bit of zest to my eyes.

That was a part of my shop-a-bit...I hope everyone will have a splendid weekend.

Winner "Back to School"-giveaway

Gosh, I was not able to post the winner at exactly GMT+1 at 13.00, but I saw that the last post has been yesterday so I hope it will be ok that I drew the winner a bit later.

The great winner is no 21: and that is ti-amo!

Congratulations ti-amo! You have won a couple of fabulous back-to-school pretty products! I will contact you directly after posting this post...

not so happy

Disclaimer: the next post will not contain any happy news or wonderful pictures of cosmetic items. It will, unfortunately, be a public rant on the downside of the human nature of some persons. If you want to stay in a happy mood, or are 'weak at heart', please abandon this page.

After a couple of weeks of miscommunication and persons who think that they know who I am and were I stand, based on feeble information, I felt somewhat angry, but also proud to see how Jamilla Camel handles the situation with her troll (this post).

I, as most readers know, do not post my face on my beauty blog. It has partly to do with my lack of self-esteem, the need to stay semi-anonymous and also, that persons with bad intentions would not use my face for other purposes.

The fact that I want to stay semi-anonymous is that some people feel the urge to pigeonhole you based on certain characteristic, which, personally, I find this very shallow and lacking interest in the real human being behind certain behavioural aspects or characteristics. I like makeup, period, and I am not ashamed by showing a bit of vanity. Does that make me an airhead or does that drop my IQ level with 10 points? I do not think so.

So why am I vain? Well, even the most hardcore non-cosmetic user, anti-vanity person is aware that beauty, health and a reflection of happiness matters in our contemporary societies (Western, Asian, African, etc etc). If my face glows, it makes a better impression than if my face is covered with red splots and weary eyes...although I do not hesitate to do my groceries au naturelle when I do not feel up to do my makeup.

So, for some people I am too vain, and other people would hand me a whole list of 'improvements' I could make to look 'more beautiful', 'more Western' or even...forgive my French...'more pornstar-esque'.

However, I do not think it is valuable to listen to various people too much, because they themselves are hardly consistent in what is beautiful or not (some opinions change as the weather), are sometimes not the persons I consider to be style-icons themselves and blatantly...are not even that important in my life.

People who matter, or the loved ones, are important. My boyfriend often suggest that I should not switch skincare products too much and stick to something that works, as my skin is too sensitive. He is actually very right about this. These suggestions are very helpful and valuable.

As far as blogging, I love to write about products that could actually work for a person with genuine flaws. It is ok to hear a gorgeous, young saleswoman say that the eyecream works for her and her undereye circles, but I doubt if these flawless person actually know and experiences what an undereye circle is...

I also love the blogging community of beautybloggers. We share similar interest in beauty, and often in food and travel as well. It is so nice to see if a Lunasol items gets thumbs up before you splash out on a product you have never seen before in real life.

So, that will be all of my rant for today, and probably the whole year ;P! I will draw the winner of the contest in the afternoon, so I will post the winner in a few hours.

As for now, stay strong and beautiful (your own terms of beauty, that is)

Kanebo Lavshuca Dual Eyes in PU-2 (and Kate Diamond Cut PU-1)

Most cosmetic brands have been releasing their colour collection of the Autumn 2009 season around this moment. With the release of the latest colours of the Autumnal season, I was drawn to a couple of purple shades from Japanese brands. I had already purchased the latest Kanebo Kate Diamond Cut eyes in PU-1 (which I haven't swatched yet...ooops, I will show you the swatches at the end of the post).

I was still curious for the latest release of Lavshuca's Dual Eyes in a new duo of purples, even though I have my modest share of purple eyeshadows now. After being on a buy-diet for a while, I though it would be ok to purchase this duo of eyeshadows...

Ohh, I still adore the promo-picture of Paul & Joe's spring line of base products. I would almost get bangs in order to look like that stunning girl, however, bangs and me are not the best combination.

Kelly from ichibankao also included these samples of Esprique Precious lipglosses. That is so nice, because I merely ordered a the eyeshadow palette. I am wearing the reddish nude colour (right on the card) now, and it is slightly sticky and quite pigmented for a Japanese lipgloss. I already like this shade, pigmentation and texture.

Back to the real deal of this post...my precious new duo palette. Lavshuca does not have the most expensive packaging (a euphinism for a cheap looking box) but I love the girly shapes of the little palette.

Inside is a shimmery composition of two colours...a lighter colour in a whitish lavender shade and a deep cooler purple colour, which mixes amethyst with purple.

Yikes, there is my lizardy skin again (yes, I radiate self-confidence ;p). I think my skin would be the nightmare of any Japanese girl and I think, if I would ever visit Japan, I would wear skyscraper heels in order to be really tall and not let the persons with perfect complexions watch my skin. (boohoo, and I take such good care of it)

On the other hand, with my imperfect skin it is great to see how the pigmentation of the Lavshuca duo works on the more mature eyes. The first swatches were taken in direct sunlight and the next swatch in indirect light (still sunny).

The deeper colour is, in my opinion, incredibly pigmented and buttery. I love this colour so much and it would make such a wonderful crease and liner colour, or over the whole moving eyelid for kapow-smokey eyes.

The lighter colour is not a me-colour. It can look good in a blended manner, but it would look to grandma-esque on me. The pigmentation is also a lot lighter...unfortunately.

Another lovely purple palette I bought from Kanebo Kate is the new PU-1 of the Diamond Cut Eyes.

If you love cooler purples, like I do, you will only get 2 of the 5 colours that would be something of your liking.

It costed me about $20, which gives me two stunning purples and one workeable white shade (in the right upper corner). Glittery fans will love the Diamond part of it (wavy in the palette, on the left upper side), however, they will be useless IMO.

I like the pigmentation of the Kate Kanebo light purple and the darker purple, however, I think Lavshuca looks better on, pigmentation-wise. On the other hand, I prefer the colour scheme of the Kate colours.

Those were my swatches of a couple of the latest Kanebo Kate and Lavshuca purples.

How do my dear readers feel about the fall collections of the Japanese brands, or the Western brands? Have you found your HG product in these collections, or do you prefer the collection of a particular brand from another season or year?

Back to School giveaway

It is time for a new giveaway.

I am not the kind of person to break any promises, and I had promised the readers of this blog a 'Back to School' giveaway. And no, this giveaway is not limited to the school-ster only, it applies for everybody who has once been at a school/college/university and recognizes the feeling that comes with returning or going to school for the first time.

This might vary from having a feeling of anticipation, others are reluctant, some are exited and some even are afraid of going back to school. Others have nostalgic feelings of how their mother brought them to school, some feel attached to how they went to secundary school for the first time, and some think of the smell of chalkboard and dust (nowadays that would be the scent of computers and the typing board).

Enough about that...lets discuss the prices you can win.

1. Paul & Joe summer 2009 Gold bronzer in 01 Deity (post here). Very pretty, I only tested it once for the blog and to swatch it for the blog. I like it, but other bronzers work better from me.

2. China Glaze Nailpolish in Strawberry Fields. Brand new, I just ordered two of them instead of one.

3. Becca Beach Tint in Raspberry Summer 2009 edition, that is Australian summer (which is during the december/januari months). I swatched it for the blog (post here) and used it another time, however, I wanted to love it so much but it is just not the kind of colour that flatters me. Very hygienic tube.

4. Marbled (baked) blush from Second Love in Sunset.

5. Manglaze Nailpolish in Fuggen Ugly.Matte nailpolish is the next best thing in nailpolish next season. Manglaze has been a trendsetter since 2007 so you will get the original of matte polish in a slate grey colour.(more info over here and here)

6. Theme fragances in Sarong...roller. It is a summery scent but in a neutral setting, combining coconut notes with vanilla laced through. It is one of themefragances.etsy.com most popular fragances. Perfect for maintaining the summery and carefree spirit even when you are behind your desk during the blurry fall season.

Those are the deals...these are the rules (ok ok, not strictly rules, but the guidelines):

1. become a follower of my blog, or leave your email behind in the comment (if you feel safe about it). I do not want followers just for the giveaway, so you can join even if you do not follow my blog. I just want to contact the right winner when the winner has been drawn.

2. I am all about anecdotes, so tell me the story that sums up the feeling of back-to-school for you. If it is too traumatic you can tell me anything else...just post it under no 2.

3. Contest ends on Thursday, 17 September 2009, 1 PM European standard time, GMT +1)

4. Winner will be announced in a new post after random selection by random.org

5. Please contact me with 3 days to claim your prize or another winner will be selected!
Prize will be shipped by airmail WORLDWIDE within 3 business days after winner contacts me!
I am looking forward to your story in the comments!

Good luck and I hope you will have fun participating!!!!

Notes and a very bright dress...

I do not have any particular information to post today, plus the credit crunch situation and my wallet have an impact on my spending habits. I still feel that a diligent blogger should post regularly, so I will post you a Topshop purchase I bought approximately a month ago.

It is bright, in-your-face-eyepopping bright! It looks like a hippy and a flapper piece of clothing came together and this is their baby...It is Topshop, probably from one of Britain's coolest shops (I like some others as well).

Actually, it is not age appropriate anymore...or that is what some people would say. On the other hand, I think it is adorable and I look bright and happy in the dress. The tiny strings dance on the body when you move and I adore the colour setting.

So, it is not a piece that I would wear over and over again, and it is not practical either, but sometimes a girl (or woman) likes something utterly useless but still quirky and fun...

So, what are the pieces in the closets of my readers they have bought, do not use that often, are not that practical, but still makes them very happy when they look at it?

Some sales

I have listed some items I would like to sell or swap some of my neglected cosmetic items. Check out my sales blog @ birkies' sales on the quirkyandcurious.blogspot.com blog.

I will probably add more items soon.