maybelline mineral power foundation


overall 9/10
for the last few weeks this has been on my face a lot! it applies really well, its nice and light but has great coverage and matches my skin tone. this is a product i'm really sorry to be saying goodbye too, i picked this up around January when London Drugs said it was being discontinued and had it on sale for $7 (reg. $14CAD). its such a shame! that was the first time i bought this and i wish i bought more. i really like this foundation, i have it in Light 0 which is the lightest shade. it's warm-toned and seems to have slight yellow undertones which makes it a great match for my asian skin.
i'd say it gives medium coverage, i know people say that rimmel's lasting finish foundation is full coverage but i think this has more coverage and definitely beats them in their shade selection. 


it's packaged in a squeeze bottle which is more a lot more precise than the tube bottles a lot of foundations are in but squeeze too hard and oops you've got too much product. really would prefer a nice pump bottle. that's my only complaint.

i've been using this as concealer too, it layers alright but it takes time to set so you have to wait for quite a bit before reapplying or you'll just move it all around. i've used it on my under-eyes to prep them for concealer and to conceal redness which this is amazing for because it blends so well and is so light. a lot of the foundations and concealers i've tried sort of "settle around" the little bumps around my t-zone and get really cakey when i try to hide blemishes underneath them but this hasn't done, it just covers smoothly. there's also has spf 18, which should be enough for cloudy winter months, and spf is always a plus.  

you do need to moisturize well before using this or mix some face lotion with it, i have a friend with slightly dry skin and when she used this it brought out her flakiness, because i have oily skin and it has a soft matte finish, this works well for me.

elf professional total face brush



overall rating: 6/10
the biggest pro for this brush is that it's real cheap, i got this for $1.25 or $1.50 or something like that a few months ago when the dollarama at metrowtown had a whole bunch elf face brushes (i think they still have the bronzer brushes) and the eyeshadow brush.  i kicked myself for not getting the eyeshadow brush after i heard that they were actually pretty decent. this one however, while being big and fluffy and so far i haven't had problems with shedding but is too hard and scratchy. because the bristles are tough they pick up stuff alright but it doesn't spread it as well. the reviews on mua says it starts shedding after you wash it a few times but i think if you're careful and just use water/cleanser on the end of the bristles and not at the roots where the glue is, it should hold together for a while.


a close up shot of the bristles. they're rough but this is still probably the best face brush you can get for around $1, i guess its not bad to try out, especially if you're getting started with face makeup, but you'll probably end up buying another brush anyways so i'd say its better to skip it and get a brush from ecotools or the e.l.f. studio line. it'd be more environmentally and economically efficient. 

my favourite youtube gurus


She's a very successful professional makeup artist that works for magazines like Vogue, Elle, and Glamour and brands like Chloe, Alberta Ferretti, Prada, Donna Karan and Moschino. I love her personality, she super friendly and down-to-earth, i definitely can understand why people love working with her! All her videos are filmed in superb lighting and look studio quality. she's done a wide range of looks, from modern "rocker" and smokey eye makeup to classic looks and tutorials on makeup removal and blemish concealing. I really like her approach to makeup, she doesn't make it seem overly "girly" or shallow or "fake", her makeup looks, her personality and her presentation are clear and fresh and plus she's british! who doesn't love british accents? she's my favourite guru at the moment. check out her website lisaeldridge.com

fav vids: Pink Glitter Lip, First Date Look , 60's peachy lips, Cheryl Cole - Elle magazine cover look





Queenie, who is Beauty QQ, is amazing, i love her! she is a great role model and one of the best people on the internet. in those guru gossip forums where they bash most gurus, she and manwomanfilm (below) are one of the few that they rave about and they are picky viewers! all of her videos have great music and she writes wonderful, inspirational quotes about life and taking care of yourself and being grateful, her videos are beautiful and not just about makeup. If your chinese she does some of her videos speaking Cantonese or mandarin and i think all of her videos have chinese subtitles and English subtitles. i like how she makes makeup fit in with life and reminds people of the other things in life. I watch her videos not only for beauty tips but for what she puts into them and how she inspires me.

My fav vids: Chic and Sexy Night Out Makeup, Natural And Glamorous Smoky Eye Makeup Tutorial



I think she's one of the most creative gurus, especially considering the quality of her videos. she's japanese i believe and she's not a professional makeup artist although she certain should be one. she is very skilled and has some astonishingly original artistic looks. some of her videos seem like michellephan ones (she has a geisha look, a mask look and a zebra look) but i'm pretty sure her videos came out first. She recently posted some striking valentines day looks (i really like them!) and she has some great hair tutorials. I always looked at those asian magazine's hair tutorial photos (like in ViVi or Ray or Beauty, etc.) but i still couldn't grasp how they did it, she makes it looks super easy and look really nice. she usually doesn't talk in her videos, if you don't like watching videos where the person sort of rambles on and on you'll love her like me because her videos are straight to the point and well edited.   she has her own distinct style both in terms of makeup and video editing. everything is high quality!

fav vid: Easy makeup look for Graduation & Prom ,



her videos have a more home-made feel to it but are still good quality. her looks are gorgeous and she has some great tips. she's 18 and she's sooo pretty! She has a ton of great, cute everyday looks and she's has some more dramatic makeup tutorials.


other cool channels/gurus
gossmakeupartist
beauty321
hollyannaeree
ekimura
makeupgeektv
juicytuesday
Shantea mac
jungsaemmool
AllThatGlitters21
stillGLAMORUS

on another note
i've reached 100 followers this week! thanks guys! most of you started following me while this was mainly my personal blog with a few reviews and such here and there, recently i've been making a lot more product review posts because i've gotten busier and my product reviews were getting long overdue. i hope you still find them helpful! i've made a lot changes to this blog this month, to everyone that's known me for a while, thank you all for sticking through with me and to all my new followers a big hello! and i hope to get to know you guys better ^^

sally hansen lipstick in baby pink




Sally Hansen Natural Beauty inspired by Carmindy color comfort lipcolor lipstick
shade: Baby Pink
this is a very creamy lipstick and due to its consistency it does transfer easily and isn't very long lasting. because of this its great to use as a blush because its easy to spread (careful with oily skin though, might break you out, prefect for dry skin!)

as a lipstick, i haven't really liked this, i really wanted to (i actually won this in a giveaway,  the only giveaway i've won, from kati at themakeupdrawer - check her out, she's awesome! - ) but i've never worn this out because unfortunately, this shade did not clash well with my skin tone. it looked very unnaturally pink, disappointing considering the product's name includes "natural beauty" and "color comfort". in lipstick form it looks like a rosy, and a bit pale, wearable pink but it goes on a strong, bright pink once worn.
here's what it looks like on my lips. the colour is unphotoshopped but i cropped out my skin so you can see the lipstick's colour on its own and decided how you like it from there.  it looks a lot less bright after i cropped out my skin. i wasn't wearing any other lip products, i didn't blot it with a tissue, and the photo was taken with flash.

as a blush though, if i dab a little bit on my cheeks and blend it out, its nice and moisturizing and provides a pretty sheer wash of color that looks natural enough. the packaging is good quality and it has a sort of design you'd might expect from the body shop. 

& so those are my thoughts on this lipstick
since its valentines day soon i decided to do a lipstick review. i hope all of you have a special someone to kiss on the 14th!  but if you don't...



like joseph gordon levitt. wait no, he's mine!



wishing everyone a happy valentines day ~

weekend haul + post midterm rehab

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.
- Lao Tzu

midterms have been over for a few days now and i've been taking the time to catch up on some

i'm really glad that that's over!

on saturday i had some retail therapy, i wasn't planning on buying much but i got a bunch of stuff ^^


left to right - Dermatouch m.e.d. exfolation, marcelle skin care set, maybelline pulse perfection mascara, giovanni shower gel, and philosophy wish upon a snowflake

left to right -seche recondition perfect nail, nyx magic wand concealer, essie nail polish

i've heard that their (seche's) top/base coat is really good but i couldn't find it so i got this one, its called a nail treatment but it really just like clear nail polish... i like it so far
i also bought some clothes (inclyding a cute black dress!) and some stuff for school

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and a lot of snacks + food. above is a "coconut cake" (but there wasn't a lot of coconut) from t&t's bakery. its chinese new year, we need to celebrate (:


best news i've heard all week




joseph gordon levitt is said to joining the cast of The Dark Knight Rises, the sequel to the Dark knight. YEEEESSS !!!! i am so psyched!


here's jgl on the cover of vanity fair, beside andrew garfiend and mila kunis

The Dark Knight Rises = kind of lame title but with JGL and tom hardy I'm really excited to see their performances and Christopher Nolan's story. I can't believe that they aren't giving Nolan a nod as best director in the Oscar Nominations! Ah, well we know he'll win one for sure in the future, his movies are incredible.

yesterday i saw tangled with some friends, it was awesome!


  its a really good movie, cheesy, but in a sweet sort of way and the graphics are amazing. it had really funny moments and lots cute romance scenes!

we laughed so hard at this!
guys that use their eyebrows are so cute (:

i've made the photos smaller recently, i usually work on my laptop so the pictures seemed medium in size but i logged onto my computer the other day and wham the photos were huge! i hope its easier to load my page now ^^

maybelline dream mousse concealer



shade: porcelain ivory (light 0-1)
overall rating: 6/10
i got this last month, the drugstore in my area said this was being discontinued (i guess they'll be replacing it with the new Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse line) and i heard good stuff about it so i thought i'd give it a try. I've only used it a few times and you can see that i've made a huge dent in it already! i've been afraid to use it because it disappears so quickly! the jar seems big enough but the layer of product in it is quite thin. I also don't use it often because its a bit too dark for me, this was the lightest shade my drugstore carried (they only had 6 shades but the website shows 16 shades), on the maybelline website it shows a shade before this one , light ivory (0) but it doesn't look really look lighter but has a brighter tone. it looks like the shades with even numbers are for warm skin tones and the odd numbers are for cool skin tones.

the consistency of the product is really soft, it picks up in lumps and you can see some of the air bubbles from being whipped(i've been applying this with my finger)and it spreads smoothly and feels kind of creamy but dry. It starts to get cakey as you try to build coverage, it drys matte so too much makes it look very powdery and it accentuated lines under my eye i didn't even know i had. As for blemishes it covers redness ok but it sort of bunches up around the zit and makes it look more apparent. Also, jar packaging isn't very sanitary so i would recommend this to go around break outs because it would probably just add more bacteria. so far this is my impression of it. its definitely not an HG for me, there's no spf and its not light enough to brighten up my under eyes but i'm still glad i tried it out.


year of the bunny
on another note, it's chinese new years today!
its the year of the rabbit this year, my parents are both rabbits and are turning 48.
people that are born in the year of the rabbit are thought to be calm, gentle, thoughtful and persistent.
(erm, calm and gentle, my parents? no way. but persistent? my mom? definitely)

famous rabbits
Albert Einstein, Leon Trotsky, Frank Sinatra, Pope Benedict XVI, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt (he's the same age as my parents!),Johnny Depp and David Beckham.


happy chinese new year everyone ~  eat lots!