Valentine: honesty is the best policy?

I found this blatantly honest card via the black box reviews-blog who showed me Etsy-seller Ripecards, who uses messages outside the Hallmark box.

I kind of love the honesty...When you are in a relation longer than a year, you find your rose-tinted glasses to dissapear. This card truely tells how you sometimes feel about your loved one. (

So, are you a fan of cute and romantic cards, or do you appreciate the slightly rude but fun way to say 'happy valentine'?

How do you like your valentine Cards?

• Sweet and romantic, very Hallmark style
• Blatantly honest, but still loving
• I hate valentine! Don't pester me!
• As long as he brings on the diamonds, I don't care.

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Lunasol Glamour S Lipstick in Shiny Beige 17 (Holiday 2008)

During the holiday collection of 2008 I tried to be selective and tried to resist some of the beautiful collections of the Japanese collections out there. One of the items I resisted was the Lunasol Glamour Lips S in Shiny Beige 17. I liked the idea of adding another nude lipstick to my collection but was not sure to spend approximately $28 on a lipstick that could be meh.

So why did I order this particular lipstick after all. One word: 50% off! (another word: last item available). I browsed the bobodave.com site and found this lust-have item for $14, that is a 50% and another reason to indulge in a nude lipstick with silver shimmer.

This is my second Lunasol lipstick. I ordered my first one a couple of months ago in the Soft Red version of the fall collection, but the lipstick turned out to be too orange for me so I 'donated' it to the glowchaser!

Lunasol really knows how to create a beautiful lipstick case. It is not too OTT blingy: it comes in a chrome coloured case in a square form. The lipstick wispers luxury.


The next picture is slightly out of focus, but it shows how the silver of the lipstick lights up in a light or sunny environment. I noticed how the lipstick 'morphed' from a beigy nude in a shadowy environment to a light reflecting colour in sunshine or bright light. The silver parts light up but not in a garish and sparkly way but in a lip plumping manner, very lovely indeed.

The next picture makes the lipstick seem slightly mauve, but that isn't the case. It shows the lipstick formula, but keep in mind that the colour is not mauvy at all.

The colour itself is a nude with a hint of peach. You can see the difference of the lipstick with a picture taken in the shadow...

And the next one is with light! See how the silver lights up and 'plumps' the area.

Overall, I like the lipstick and it is a keeper (so sorry, no donating, LOL). It is not my favourite HG colour, because I prefer my colours to be a bit more mauve in order to create a my-lips-but-better colour. It will be lovely with a heavy eye makeup because it tones down my natural colour a bit, and makes it more nude.

The lipstick is not for sale anymore on bobodave. But, they do have the Lunasol Glamour lipstick in 7 Beige for half of the price ($14.63) over here, so be fast to get this deal (ps: not affilliated with bobodave.com, just a happy enabler)

Skinfood Herb Salad Emulsion and Herb Salad Mist (for sensitive skin)

I have been a bit late with reviewing some of my Skinfood items I collected during my last Sasa.com haul. But better too late then never, right?

The true reason for reviewing these product a bit later is that I wanted to take my time testing them for a longer period and take my time integrating each product into my current skincare. It is not advisable to change your skincare regime 360 degrees...your skin needs to adjust itself to something new: skins are creatures (or organs) of habit.

I was particularly interested in the sensitive skin line from Skinfood. I ordered some products from other skintype ranges as well, but only the ones that seemed suitable for sensitive skins.


Skinfood prides itself as being a natural brand and even its logo is in the form of a guardian angel, as Skinfood claims the guardian angel "was designed in mind to symbolise the goodness of purity of our products." With this idea in mind, the positive reviews I already read on several blogs on Skinfood items, and the relatively low price on Sasa.com made me want to order a couple of products...at least, it is not Creme de la Mer-priced (and I hated that...even if it claims to be God's gift to skincare).

Anyway, my first reviews will be about the two products I picked up from the sensitive line. I start off with the Herb Salad Emulsion. It arrived in a glass bottle and was quite large. In the next picture I put a Mac lipstick next to it in order to compare the size. Most people are familiar with the size of a Mac lipstick.

There is the gold little bugger...ooops, guardian angel! Funnily, Skinfood put the words 'for sensitive skin' between brackets...

The emulsion has to be 'poured' out of the glass bottle. I don't think this is a very handy way of applying lotion. It is really easy to 'throw' out too much product, just like ketchup in those Heinz ketchup bottles.

I was able to pour out a little blob of the emulsion. Emulsion is a thinner consistency than cream, and for that reason I picked the emulsion over the cream version. It makes a better product for warmer summer months, because it is a light and airy formula. And indeed, it is very lightweight and liquidy.

The scent is something I like: it is slightly citrusy, which again makes it suitable for the hotter summer months. On the other hand, I do not consider it to be completely suitable for very sensitive skin, for the exact reason that it is scented: real sensitive skin can hardly tolerate fragance. I can say this because right now I have overtly sensitive skin as well, so I cannot use this product right now :(

Therefore, it is a nice product for skins that are not very dry or sensitive, or as a refreshing moisturizer in the summer months. I think normal to combination skin could use this as well.

One of the products I have been using a lot lately is the Skinfood Herb Salad Mix tonic spray. It smell exactly the same as the Emulsion, but does not seem to irritate my skin...the opposite, it is very soothing and refreshing.

The bottle itself is a plastic one. I find this a bit inconsistent compared with the glass bottle for the moisturizer. Why is the moisturizer in a glass bottle and the spray in a plastic one? Anyway, I prefer the plastic version, because I am less afraid to drop it.

The little arrow shows how much I have already been using from the spray. I already used 1/3 or 1/4, and that is quite a lot for an cosmetic addict with lots of facial sprays to choose from.

I could not photograph all of the ingredients on the bottle, because the bottle is round (doh). Still, you can see some valuable goodies inside, such as Camellia Leaf Extract, Aloe Vera, Chamomilla, Calendula and Hamamelis....all these ingredients are super soothers.

I will definitely reorder the Tonic in my next sasa.com order. As for the Emulsion...I have to wait until summer to see if my skin likes it, otherwise it will be used for my hands or legs...LOL.

I paid US$ 8.90 for the Skinfood Herb Salad Mist at sasa.com and US$ 9.90 for the Skinfood Herb Salad Emulsion (which is not available on sasa.com anymore, but ebay will probably have it).

What Kate wants: Kanebo Kate Deep Trap Eyes in GN-1

Spring collections leave an empty hole in my wallet. Actually, I have to say something similar with Autumn collections, because I am a big sucker for anything new and trend-related in makeup. I just love the idea of updating your look with a bit of eyeshadow and lipstick.

I was very pleased to see that Kanebo Kate added a new addition to the Deep Trap Eyes collection they launched in 2008. I love the variety of the Deep Trap eyes: you will get 5 eyeshadows in a sassy palette for a reasonable price...not to mention, the quality of Kate's Deep Trap eyes (and most of the Kate line) is pretty good: they are pigmented, buttery in application and have a moderate amount of shimmer to make the eyes sparkle (but not OTT teenybopper).

I especially loved the colour scheme of the Deep Trap Version, which consists of a mix of greyish greens. I am not the fondest lover of green eyeshadows, but when I saw some pictures of this palette online I found myself wanting it: greyish greens make a flattering mix against my eye colour and the pop of bronze is really nice.

I love how the colours are glowy and not overtly sparkly. I was considering to buy their latest eyeshadow palette as well: the Diamond Cut Eyes, but I haven't been wowed (yet) by the colour scheme. Perhaps that will change if I see some swatches online ;D

Most Japanese brands include a handy picture of how to apply the eyeshadows in harmony. I absolutely like this concept, because I can be quite lost in the abundance of colours and techniques. However, bear in mind that the technique on the picture is aimed to enhance Asian eyes. My eyes are slightly slanted as well, so the techique suits me well. For other eye shapes I would suggest checking out this or this site, or check out the numerous makeup-artists guides to applying eye-shadows to different eyeshapes.

I will zoom in on the eye chart for the eyeshadows, and the corresponding colours.





I really like the idea of placing the E colour, or the bronzy gold, in the middle of the eye. It will bring luminance and interest to the greyish green eye makeup.

I bought this palette on ichibankao for $20.50 which includes shipping. It will probably pop up on adambeauty and other japanese related websites soon.

Nude and sticky: Kiss Me Heavy Rotation lipgloss in 2.

Yesterday I received my JPmon haul, which was filled with nice Japanese goodies. Today I had some good sunny weather so I picked up my camera and went in review mode.

I want to start of with one of the least known items in my cart: Kiss Me Heavy Rotation Enamel gloss. Kiss Me is a widely known Japanese Brand. It is especially known for its Kiss Me Heroine Make Mascara, a mascara that one several beauty awards and also has a good rating on American Based beautywebsite Makeupalley.

a very minimalistic front of the tube

I haven't seen their Heavy Rotation product line a lot. It seems to be listed on the Kiss Me website, but their lipgloss is not featured, only a couple of mascaras. I don't know it that means if the product is outdated, or the website. At least according to this ebay seller it is supposed to be a new product...but we all know how reliable ebaysellers can be, so I do not take its word for granted.

The tube itself is quite simple. It has a very minimalistic front which shows the product in a transparent tube.

The back has the necessary product details. I cannot read any Japanese, so Kiss Me could state that I could be a total loser, and I would not know....LOL.

Close up: It contains 7 gram of product and I have picked no. 2. It also shows an open/close system. At the next picture, it is closed, so you cannot squeeze any product out.

Tadaaah, the next picture shows how I screwed the tube, and there is a little gap between the tube and the brush head...It is open for glossing up. It has a handy lipbrush which distributes the colour. The brush itself is not very soft, but it works all right. You cannot compare the brush with the wonderful quality of Dior I reviewed earlier.

What comes out is a very sticky, very heavily pigmented gloss in a milky pinkish nude colour. It smells nice, a bit vanilla and fruitish. I like the scent, but am not too fanatic about the sticky factor.

I really want to add a picture of the gloss on my very pigmented lips. You can really see how it cancels out my natural colour and adds real nudeness to my lips, without looking like a lip concealer or normal concealer.

Lots of girls are aiming to create nude lips when pairing up with heavy and smokey eyes, and this would absolutely be the colour to go. It is still a bit pink, so your lips would not look dead or totally cancelled out.

But it is incredibly sticky so if you cannot tolerate a very sticky lipgloss I would suggest skipping this lipgloss.

jpmon haul: lips and pore decloggers

I have been a naughty girl again....I filled up my cart at jpmon and ordered it! Oohhhh.

I seem to have picked a theme: my order arrived and it was loaded with lip products and pore purching goodies...I also fell hard for the cutisy factor of some boxes...cute manga faces, girls with big eyes...Cuuute!

So, what did I order? I ordered two Elisabeth glosses: The Nude Bon Bon gloss that is also being sold at adambeauty.com. I also ordered a pinkish clear gloss, or lip oil from Elisabeth.

I was also really curious for the Kiss Me Heavy Rotation lipgloss in 2. I have tested it, and it is really opaque and heavily pigmented. I will post a swatch soon on my pigmented lips.

More lips, I have been copycatting again! Kathi posted a rave review about Privacy Clubbin' lovin' lip liner...and I liked it.

The colour is a light nude pink, very suitable for light lips, I think. I might have to play with it some more. It is quite a unique colour because most lipliners are often quite dark.

My pore purgers! Let me start with the nose patches. I really liked the idea of a black nose patch. I have never read any review about this brand before, and I am not even sure if there is an English name for this brand, and it might be totally crapalicious. But I am willing to try it out...LOL.

I suspect that this mask is black as well. I like the idea of running around with a black mask. "they tried to make me go to rehab...but I have my Detox (B)right at home".

Manga time! I added a sheet mask with a manga romance story picture as well. Aww, the girl is crying...happy tears I think...

Don't cry...you will have a perfect complexion and a lovely man by your side...

And I picked up the pink version of the Bihada Ichizoku blush...How could I do an order without adding a blush....ha...

Reviews and swatches will pop op on this blog soon. Watch this space!

Swaptastic

I feel so lucky to have encountered a couple of sweet and wonderful fellow bloggers in this beauty blogosphere. It is amazing to find that someone will send you gorgeous things without ever meeting before in real life.

Another beautiful swap has been with Engmin. I swapped for her Biore UV perfect face milk in SPF 50 and received so much more.

I received a Coogi Base product in a lavendel colour....I love that the Makeup Base has also 'humanizing' proprieties...LOL, it might make me more social!



She also included a FULL SIZE Coogi BB cream.

Coogi loves to write inspiring texts: "Nature provides us with the energy we need in life. Thus, guided by the motto "finding health and beauty in nature," we offer beauty based on the vital elements of human life from Mother Nature."

I really like this motto, though!

My sweet swapper also had some mindreading powers: I was so curious about Coogi products and I am really glad to be able to try out some of their Flowertox samples:

And she included the sweetest letter....Awwwww CUTE paper!

Yummmmmmmmy, look at these munchtastic Panda cookies. And yes, they survived the long trip and were completely undamaged, until they dissapeared in my hungry mouth.

Thank you so much, Engmin. The Lunasol palette will arrive at your doorstep asap!

Spring anticipation: my first purchases from spring collections

One of the great thing about the change of seasons is...actually...change itself! I love change, especially positive change, and I cannot think of a more positive season as the lovely spring waiting to stick its head behind Winter's grumpy head.

Spring is light, spring is hopeful, Spring is the Obama of the seasons...

I also love the change in clothing and makeup. Actually, I even prefer makeup, because you can put on a spring-loving face even if winter is still forcing you to stay in your confortable sweater and tights.

My very first spring item I purchased has been the Coffret d'Or Shine Accent Eyes in 01 Orange Spring. I did not buy this based on the reviews this time, because I had read (on Rouge Deluxe) that they were not very pigmented at all. It was a bit of a gut feeling and a longing for lightness that I was drawn to the iridescence of the palette. As for the colours...I love the way how a tinge of peachness brings out the green in my eyes, so I picked the palette with a peachy colour and a golden glittery colour.

Okay, it is showtime....It has been waiting for two weeks now and my dear Coffret d'Or needs to show its beautiful face right now.

I like the colours. I consider the peachy colour on the left and the brownish colour on the right to be my favourites. Both are shimmery and very soft.

The White colour on top is almost matte with a few sparkles: I know that Japanese palettes often include a white highlighter like this, but it is not my fave.

The glittery gold in the centre is a cream-like formula. I am not sure about this yet...I need to test it a bit further.

Same colours, different angle.

I consider this palette to be a neutral with a twist. I think it will make a lovely look on the days when I go to University to follow some of my new courses (soon, which is another thing I am looking forward to).

In addition, I felt the need to buy a lipgloss today...and so I did. I was slightly influenced (actually heavily) by several pictures of Fuzkitty and her love for Dior.

I was happy to notice that my favourite shop had their Spring collection of Christian Dior in store. Sometimes it takes ages for our country to stock up on seasonal collections: I see swatches posted on several blogs months before I can finally see and buy it myself, but this time they are not late at all.

I already saw swatches of the Dior Spring edition on Karlasugar's super swatch blog. Karlasugar makes amazing swatches on her arm...I always wonder how the salespersons look at her when she walks out the store with complete collections drawn on her arm....or she might actually be a salesperson on a cosmetic floor and walks out in her break to make pictures. Anyway, back to me...LOL, and my Dior lipgloss.

Ok, I saw Karlasugar's swatches and was completely convinced that 657 Pink Satin would become my new love...my ultimate My Lips But Better Nude lipgloss. Oh boy oh boy, was I right! It is a pinky nude with reddish glimmers inside....

But first, the box...I love the Blue tinge of the Dior box...

I like to tote around several Japanese, aka unknown to this region, kind of lip products...very niche. Now I have a completely recognizable lipgloss in my purse. By the way, it is my first full-size Dior lipgloss.

Most people are quite familiar with Dior, but I still want to show you what I like about this gloss. The aplicator is a brush instead of a felt tip: I love this system for applying lipgloss. A spongy applicator can sometimes be a pain for applying a large dose (you have to keep on scooping in your tube).

Glossy, non-sticky, a reddish nude with reddish and gold glimmer particles inside. Yes, it is pigmented which is a good thing for my very pigmented red lips...It tones them down a notch and looks more...harmonic...

Last picture...all of the swatches of my new Spring products together. Great for a pulled-together neutral look!