Skyfall's bond girl inspired look

I watched Skyfall a couple of weeks back with my siblings and ever since I watched it, the makeup look that bond girl Sévérine wore when she met Bond is stuck at the back of my mind! It doesn't help that beauty gurus all over youtube have been uploading makeup tutorials on the latest bond girl's makeup look. Yes, including Michelle Phan! However, my favorite out of all that I've watched is by beauty guru Chelsea aka xclosetoreal.

Bérénice Marlohe as Skyfall's bond girl, Sévérine 

I was browsing Bérénice pictures and I noticed that she is always seen on the red carpet with her signature smokey eyes. Sometimes with a dark lips, and other times she left them nude. Either way, she looks stunning!

Bérénice Marlohe at the Paris premiere of Skyfall

 Chelsea's tutorial 

I decided to try out this tutorial which luckily for me is pretty simple to follow but looked very put together like you've spent a good hour on it. Chelsea even opted to use makeup sponges at some point in the 3 minute tutorial instead of makeup brushes. I don't have any of the items that she used in the video so I compensated with the makeup that I currently have. It's fun racking through your makeup collection looking for shades you can use to recreate a look!

What I came up with in the end

Ok I have to admit part of the reason I wanted to do this look is because I wanted to use that lipstick lol 

In the picture, her eye shape is elongated using a black shade and they had it exaggerated both at the inner corner of the eyes as well as the outer corner which is winged outward and upward. This somehow reminds me of the movie Black Swan. I have to say this look is pretty dramatic and is not something that I find comfortable enough to wear out, not even during the night time. Bérénice, on the other hand, really rocked those dark eyes + dark lips! If only I can look half as good as her!

On my eyes:

UD Naked palette eyeshadow in Creep, 

Second darkest shade in Essence 'Over the taupe' quad, 

Maybelline Volum' Express waterproof mascara,

Revlon Grow Luscious lashliner in Onyx,

MAC Paint Pot in Blackground

On my lips:

 

Revlon matte lipstick in Wine Not

On my face:

MAC blush in Desert Rose,

MAC MSF in Sunny by Nature,

MAC MSF in Gold Deposit,

SkinFood eyebrow powder cake,

Garnier Light BB Eye Roll-on,

Revlon PhotoReady concealer in Medium,

Essence Soft Touch Mousse in Matt Sand

Side note: So I've been watching a few episodes of That F Word on ClickNetwork recently and I think it's one of the best shows they've produced so far, if not the best. Others are nice too, like Budget Barbie, Tried and Tested, and also Chick vs. Dick which is darn hilarious but I personally like watching other people's thoughts on fashion and it's interesting to see what sort of styles are trending in another country. So thumbs up to That F Word!

Hair talk

So I accompanied my mom to Kathy salon once again but this time it's at their Gadong branch coz she wanted to get some highlights in her hair. The whole process took about 2 hours and they put in some purples and reds into my mom's natural brown hair. The whole time I just sat there reading and playing sudoku and when we're about to leave Kathy noticed my hair and ushered me to a seat so she can give me a haircut as according to her, my hair is 'very messy' lol I felt giddy as I sat down on one of the salon chairs. I'm getting a haircut! Without even planning to!

 Her hair stylist gave me some quick curls too using the tongs and they lasted more than a day!

Okay I have to admit, I like having long hair and am always trying to grow them out but whenever they reach past my chest, the ends of my hair always get really dry and brittle. The last time I went for a haircut was about six months ago and back then after the haircut the ends of my hair were fine but now they are damaged again so Kathy chopped them off.

Really liked the soft curls! This took May, the hair stylist about five minutes or even less to do! Makes me think that I should invest more in taking care of my hair and making them look cute instead of just having them straight down and all over my face like I usually do. 

Anyways, here's my OOTD.

Wearing my glasses coz I ran out of contacts solution! I think I can pass as a Korean teacher hah

That pretty much sums up my day. I don't usually visit the hair salon very often. Maybe only once or twice a year, which is why my hair is always in a bad condition whenever you see me on the streets or on campus. This may sound weird but I kinda like my hair dry, it gives my hair more texture I think as I have naturally fine hair. If I were to take real good care of my hair and stuff, they'll be damn straight and I will probably look like Severus Snape. And we don't want that!

A couple of OOTDs

Been going out quite a lot this week but only managed to take two OOTDs because I'm lazy like that. Ughhh Anyway, I accompanied my mom to Kathy hair salon in Manggis yesterday and Kathy suggested I do something different with my hair and she showed me this pic of a girl with really awesome wavy long hair. She said it's gonna take almost next to nothing to maintain those gorgeous waves. All I need is one hair product and I wouldn't even need to blow dry it with a diffuser or anything. I was almost convinced that I NEEDED that hair perm until she mentioned in passing it's gonna cost $288. Yikes.

 On to the outfits!

 

 I posted this outfit on my instagram!

 

FOTD:

 

 Wore this to the movies today:

My top is from iTop and bottoms is from Winmark for only B$12!

 

 Decided to bust out my red lipstick once again because I love Taylor Swift wtf

We watched Skyfall and it was great! I really love the visuals they did during the opening of the movie where they played Adele's Skyfall. I feel like those are the things people see when they are high on drugs or perhaps, psychedelic drugs. It's so mesmerizing I couldn't tear my eyes off the screen even for one sec. Maybe I'm over reacting but I totally loved it! As for the movie plot it's not too bad, although the villain's appearance seemed kinda off to me. I think it's his blond hair. It doesn't match any part of his features!

 It's interesting the movie focuses on M's story instead of James Bond himself. 8/10 from me! I feel like I'm the last person to watch this because the movie has been out for weeks now but if you haven't watch it yet, go naoooo!

My school face and other tidbits

As much as I love makeup, I have been pretty lazy about putting any on to classes this semester simply because one, we only have one class every week which lasts for 2 hours. And two, I can't think of any other reasons but one is enough for me to walk into the class looking like I just woke up. Last week however I stayed back at home instead of the hostel and obviously I have all of my makeup in my bedroom so I finally decided to 'glam up' before class!

 

On my face:

  

The Balm blusher in Cabana Boy,  Essence Soft Touch mousse make-up foundation in Matt Sand

On my eyes and lips:

 

 Revlon quad in Blushed Wines, Revlon ColorStay black Liquid Liner, MAC lipstick in Bubblegum, Maybelline Lash Stiletto, MAC Paint Pot in Blackground

 

 Anyway I was browsing through my pc and realize that I have a few pictures which doesn't really belong anywhere so I thought I could share them with you guys before deleting them!

My beautiful dream catcher which is hung on my bedroom window. My sister Sharon made them for me and she is really good with handicraft. So far she has made me knitted head bands, bracelets and a hat! This dream catcher is prolly my fav deco in the room apart from another white dream catcher which hangs over my bed which I bought in Miri a few months ago! 

This is taken outside my home from when I tried taking shots for Shop Laurella. The stray cat came to our house months ago and never left! We named him Ninja!

 

Shala and me at Excapade for dinner a few days ago! I can never resist their Matcha ice cream w/ red bean! It's heaven in a bowl I tell you!

 I have also recently just watched Victoria's Secret 2011 fashion show after hearing that this year's have already took place. I can't believe I've waited till now to watch them! Those girls are darn gorgeous! I love watching the models don these overly-designed costumes which cost a bazillion dollars to make and yet only took seconds to show. 

Some pics from last year's show.

Books: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games), Specials & Extras (Uglies series)

P.s: Never read my reviews if you don't want any spoilers!

I'm really behind on posting book reviews! Mockingjay was supposed to be up months ago but I've only got around it now lol No worries though, coz I re-read the whole Hunger Games series and now the story is once again fresh in my mind! (Okay fine, I finished re-reading it weeks ago and have since then read at least 3 or 4 books but still!) There's nothing to it honestly, I just love this story so much! The characters in the book really grows on you and I still kinda hate Collins for killing some of them off. Ugh. It hurts!

 

Mockingjay by Susan Collins

Mockingjay is the third and final installment to The Hunger Games series and is my second favorite book out of the three. I just love the way Collins describes the tension between Peeta and Katniss when they rescued him from the Capitol after you know, President Snow tortured Peeta for 'information'. Ever since the first book, Katniss has been thinking of never having any kids and yet towards the end, she has 2 kids with Peeta which I think is very sweet but she had them to please Peeta. So I guess she never wanted kids after all.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. I like that Katniss ended up with Peeta because I've never really cared for Gale (which is unfortunate because in the movie Gale is better looking wtf). However, Katniss's perspective of her 'new world' is quite grim and she talks of her children playing on a graveyard and how she learnt to move on and 'keep busy'. I guess I was hoping Collins would write something more positive like how the people don't starve anymore and are happier and stuff. I mean sure, people died but that was years ago before her children are born. It's kinda sad to see her so hung up with the past and instead of living life to the fullest with her family, she's still living in the past (kinda). But I guess once you were a tribute, those things stay with you forever so I can't blame her.   

To sum up, here are the parts that I love about Mockingjay:

- Anything regarding Peeta and his recovery

- Katniss and her team fighting their way to the Capitol

- Moments between Finnick and his wife

- Katniss shooting and killing Coin

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

I didn't know this was the final book where Tally Youngblood was featured as the main character! Specials is the third installment in the Uglies series. Turns out the final installment, Extras is all about this Japanese girl and it was three years after the third book, Specials happened. 

So this is where it gets interesting, Tally is finally a Special! She was operated on and have strong ceramic bones and super speed, which I think is pretty cool. They gave her sharp teeth too and her team consists of five or so other Specials just like her, including her best friend Shay. They also have these tattoos on their body and arms which flashes with light according to their moods. I really have no idea what that looks like so use your imagination for this. ;) Anyway, there's a catch. They make you stronger and faster with animalistic features and instincts yes, but they also alter your brain into thinking that you are the superior species and the others are weak and disgusting.

This is obviously a huge problem because the love of her life, Zane is still a Pretty unlike her. Even worse is that Zane was 'crippled' after his brain injury which causes his hands to tremble and that made it harder for Tally to see past his imperfections. Her mission throughout this book is to get Zane to be turned into a Special just like her so that they can be together because she simply can't stand looking at him as a Pretty. Anyways, shit happened and Zane died. It's a real bummer because Tally was trying so hard to remember him as the person she loved instead of just another weak Pretty (thanks to the brain alteration).

Towards the end, all the Specials were cured of their brain alterations except Tally. She and David decided to live in the wild and protect nature. If you didn't know, in Tally's world preserving the nature is extremely important because they knew the dangers of excessive cutting down of forests. Tally lived in a futuristic city 'three hundred years in the future'.

Favorite parts of Specials:

- Any moment depicting the use of Tally's special abilities

- Moments between Tally and Zane 

- When they first arrived at Diego city

- Tally's journey to the city

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Extras is set 3 years after Specials and follows a Japanese girl named Aya. I was kinda disappointed that the author didn't continue with Tally's story but I guess her quest was done. This book did feature Tally nonetheless as Aya gets to meet her. It's interesting to read Aya's view of Tally because before this we readers get to be in Tally's head and know exactly what she is feeling and thinking but from a third person's view it can be interpreted differently. I'm not a big fan of Aya however, she seems very nosy to me and maybe that's coz she's a journalist or something along that line and is always looking to uncover new and interesting stories about other people.

In this book, Aya pretended to be friends with this secret circle of girls who did really crazy stuff at night. Basically she wanted to write a story about them but in the end she started to really love doing all those stunts but was discovered by the girls and was shunned instead. That's all I'm gonna tell you, read the book to find out what happened!

Overall, Uglies is a pretty good series in general although I find myself preferring The Hunger Games and Delirium. 

FOTD w/ MAC lipstick in Craving

The rain has been pouring like crazy these past few weeks and it made me think that perhaps this gloomy weather is just Brunei's version of  Autumn. Though we might not be able to enjoy the 'real' seasons here, I somehow still very much feel them in the air, thanks to the almighty influence of the internet! I followed a few fashion and beauty profiles on instagram and their updates on the latest trends according to the current season had me altering my own approach towards fashion and beauty. And of course youtube helped too!

I've had this lipstick for quite a while now and can you believe I haven't used this since I got it a year ago? Madness. I kinda forgot I own it tbh, which is sad because it's such a beautiful color!

MAC lipstick in Craving

 

MAC lipstick in Craving

 

MAC lipstick in Craving

I've been gearing towards darker colors nowadays because of the gloomy weather so I decided to bust out Craving and just wing it. Anyway, I've always had this image in my mind of a woman in a trench coat holding an umbrella, walking in the rain with with dark hair and dark lips. I guess in the back of my mind I wanted to be that woman (?). 

MAC lipstick in Craving swatched

MAC Craving is a gorgeous berry red. When you put it on, it doesn't show up as dark as it looked in the tube and is surprisingly very wearable on a day to day basis, I think. It's also an amplified and quite moisturizing despite the deep color.

I felt compelled to do another before and after shot so here you go!  

Before and after

I'm loving the darker lip trend! It's also pretty convenient because I won't need to spend eons of time on my eye makeup. With this trend, all I need is the lipstick, an eyeliner, brow pencil and a mascara. And I'm pretty sure Taylor Swift would agree with me. ;)

Sharon's birthday weekend (Day 2)

Here's what went down on day 2 of that weekend! By the second day we have basically ran out of things to do (surprise, surprise) so we left for home in the afternoon. But not before a quick swim and some scurrying around The Times Square area!

Trying to keep our eyes open, it was really bright outside! Anyways, we woke up super early at 7am to dominate the pool at the hotel. Luckily it was just us and thank God it was shaded! The water was freezing though.

Just puttin' mah shoes on..

 Taking advantage of the extremely good lighting in the room!

A shot of the four of us siblings I put up on Instagram!

 Shala, Sharon and me

 I'm wearing my new horse printed top! I love it! Still can't believe it's a size S from F21.

 Having our breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. The food is magnificent! I always have a love-hate relationship with buffets. Wanted to try everything but don't have enough stomach capacity lol

 This is only a small selection of the food they have! It's crazy.

 Sharon and her birthday cake from Lof!

Went out to Airport Mall coz the siblings have never been to D'Brandon clothing store. How can??! But they were closed when we got there, talk about no fate.

The place was pretty deserted so we used the massage chairs! This is the first time I've tried it even though I've seen it around everywhere in shopping malls lately and it's pretty good! 

 After walking around aimlessly we decided to go for some sushi snacking. I don't know what we're trying to achieve here because truthfully we were still pretty full from the heavy breakfast!

 Shala imitating my brother's habit of pushing his glasses up his nose-bridge!

We couldn't think of anything else to do after that so ended up Karaoke-ing! 

 So that pretty much sums up our weekend! Though it's not much I still enjoyed it because I honestly can't remember the last time the four of us siblings actually went out together. It's been that long. Sometimes we just get caught up in our own lives we tend to forget about the people in the next room, you know!