Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express mascara

Hey guys. Seriously it is so hard to find any spare time to blog nowadays! No worries though, this too shall pass once I've settled all my papers and other relevant stuff. It finally came to my realization that I am really flying off soon! I know it's not somewhere super exotic like Thailand or Korea but I still think it will be just as fun (I hope)! Meanwhile, I've also started reading again after a couple months of not touching any books. I'm currently reading The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas for the second time and it is seriously one of the most entertaining book I've read apart from Sophie Kinsella's. I don't know why 50 Shades of Grey is so popular when this book literally blew it right out the window!

Enough about me. I finally bought the Maybelline Falsies mascara! This has been out in stores for months now and I've only recently got it because before this it used to cost more than B$25. Personally I wouldn't spend more than B$21 on any mascaras so I held back from purchasing it. Then I saw it on sale for B$16.20 the other day at Soon Lee! It was part of their Chinese New Year offer so kudos to you CNY. 

Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express mascara

The Falsies mascara is one of the many hyped-up products in the beauty blogger community and I can safely say most beauty gurus on youtube own this, if not all. I really like the purple on the tube, it gives the product a whole more youthful look compared to say, the Maybelline Stiletto mascara.

 Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express mascara

The wand, like most mascara wands, is very flexible and the bristles are slightly curved downwards. It's fairly big too but it applies really easily. The instructions on the tube said to 'use fanned-out brush with the inner curve against the lashes'. I'm not a big fan of the smell but since I'm putting it on my lashes my nose hardly picked up any scent so that's that. lol

 Left: Naked lashes

Right: After one coat Maybelline Falsies mascara

I have the typical asian lashes, short and barely-there and after a coat of the Falsies I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with the result! It's not clumpy at all and if you notice you'd see that the bristles of the wand helped a lot in separating my lashes and lengthening them. 

After two coats

Two coats of the mascara further lengthen my lashes and still, there are no clumps of mascara! I'm really impressed with the Falsies. It's no wonder it became many beauty gurus' favorite. Of course, I wouldn't say it gave me the appearance of using false lashes because no mascara in this world will be able to do that with my sparse eyelashes but this, this is good enough! In terms of volume it does give a bit of volume but not as much as the length it gives to your natural lashes.

The Falsies Volum' Express is a waterproof mascara (at least the ones sold here in Brunei) so you won't have to worry about it smudging or running down your face when it rains. It's fairly difficult to remove too but it's nothing that a makeup remover couldn't handle. Overall I really like this mascara and I recommend you all to go out and get this asap! lol I'll definitely repurchase this once I ran out of it.

January 2013 Favorites!

I'm back! There has been a lot going on recently and I find myself distracted whenever I try to put up a blog post so I decided to wait for a while before plunging back in writing one up. I've been going up and down BSB almost everyday this week to sort out my medical check as well as attending a talk for those who are flying to Malaysia soon. The lady who gave us the talk works in the Brunei High Commission in KL and warned us about the dangers of living on your own in the city. She even gave us a few tips on how to be street smart which I think is very useful especially when you're on your own in the city!

Anyway, I haven't been buying a lot of makeup recently and that gives me the privilege of digging around my current makeup collection looking for something good to use.

Skin79 Hot Pink BB Cream - I find myself reaching for this the most this past month. I noticed that the texture of this BB Cream is more of a gel than a cream, especially when you compare it to the regular foundation. If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know how much I love this. I tend to reach for this BB Cream a lot when I know I'll be out for a good few hours and wanted something that has medium coverage and a good amount of SPF for some protection against the sun. 

Too Faced Eyeshadow in Glamazon - This is one of those eyeshadows that I don't ever use much and it'll just sit on my vanity for months on end which is kinda sad because it's such a beautiful color! Earlier in Jan I attended a wedding reception and while preparing I rummaged through my makeup palettes and saw this shade which is in the Too Faced Insurance Policy palette and thought it's the perfect taupe color so I used it that day... and many days after. It's a shame I hardly ever use this palette because the eyeshadows are good in quality and the pigmentation is great. 

MAC Blush in Fleur Power - I've been reaching for this the most in January and I love it! It's by far the most pigmented MAC blush that I own. Not that I own a lot of MAC blushes, only a few actually lol It's one of those everyday pinky-peach blushes that you can use for any look you prefer. It's THAT good. If you've never own any MAC blushes and am thinking of getting one, I recommend Fleur Power!

Banana Republic Eau De Parfum in Wildbloom - If I'm not mistaken this fragrance was released just last year so it's fairly new. I'm a sucker for fresh and floral scents so this perfume is right up my alley! I am totally in love with the packaging!! It lasts quite a while too, which is always a plus for me. It's definitely a day time scent but hey, who says you can't use it at night right? Top notes: Violet leaf, Red apple, Pear. Middle notes: Gardenia, Magnolia, Peach Blossom. Base notes: Teak wood, Sandalwood, Coconut, Musk

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour in Mr. Copper's fields - Okay, confession time. Recently I seemed to be helplessly drawn to shimmery colors and this is no exception. Even though this eyeshadow looks similar to Too Faced's Glamazon, I swear they are totally different! Mr Copper's field is more of a copper-gold shade and Glamazon is like I mentioned before, more of a taupe-y shade. Both are equally shimmery though!

The Face Shop Lovely Me: Ex Tint in Wineberry - I used to use this almost everyday when I'm going to classes on campus because you know how sometimes you'll have a full day of classes and you just get tired of reapplying lip stick/ lip balm. Wineberry is a gorgeous red color and the good thing about it is you can apply it lightly for a more natural look or you can layer them on for a more intense red on your lips. The best part is it stays on the whole day and saves me time and effort from reapplying the product. Also, a tube of this lip tint will last you forever!! The only downside is it tastes really bitter and I can't help but accidentally taste it whenever I apply the tint.

Revlon Photoready Concealer in Medium - I've tried a few concealers and in the end, I always go back to this. Even though it's in stick form, the concealer itself is surprisingly creamy and easy to blend. My sister uses this religiously as her under-eye concealer but I only use it to conceal spots on my face because I prefer something lighter in texture for my under-eye concealer. To each her own, right? For under eye concealing, I use the Garnier BB Eye Roll-on but apart from that the Photoready Concealer takes the spotlight!

That's all for my January favorites! I wanted to include a few more but that would mean writing up an essay lol What were your January favs?

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadows

So I just finished watching the Australian Open Semi-Final match between Federer and Murray. Murray won with 5 sets and I'm looking forward to the final match between him and Djokovic. I've been a supporter of Federer for years now and the first tennis match I've ever watched is of him and some other dude which I don't even remember who it was. I did, however remember watching him play that first time and thinking "Wow, this dude is realllllyy good!" I was pretty clueless and didn't even realize I was watching the then world No. 1 tennis player in action.

Anyway, today I want to share with you guys my thoughts on Catrice's Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadows! There are a lot to choose from and I initially picked up 5 or so to try out but in the end I only got 2 because I have a really hard time deciding whether or not it's worth it and whether I really need them so 2 it is!

These are the two shades that I got!

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadows in Mr. Copper's Fields and Starlight Expresso

I absolutely love the packaging! The eye shadows come in a clear plastic case with a closure that snaps shut and I love how you can easily see the color of the eye shadow! The packaging is not too bulky or too small which makes it perfect for traveling. Again, the plastic case makes the product seem a lot more expensive than it really is! Much like their bronzing powder. Each individual eye shadow comes with 2g of product. For comparison, a single MAC eyeshadow comes with 1.5g of product.

These eye shadows retails for B$4.90 in Paloma, The Mall. Mr Copper's Field is a gorgeous shimmering copper-gold color and it's great to use as an all-over-the-lid shade or even as a highlight in the inner corners of the eye. Starlight Expresso, on the other hand is a matte cool-toned taupe color. I don't know if this is the same with the rest but I find that the matte Starlight Expresso is more powdery than the shimmery Mr. Copper's Fields.

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadows in Mr. Copper's Fields and Starlight Expresso

They are surprisingly pigmented and easy to blend! I was in a rush to go out a few days ago and I decided to put on Starlight Expresso. I even used my fingers to apply it on as well as blend it onto my lids and it worked out pretty well. However, I'd recommend you to put on some primer before applying any Catrice eye shadow if you want it to last longer because I tried using it once without any primer on and with one swipe of a wet tissue the eye shadow is gone! This surprises me because it usually takes a whole lot more than that for me to remove the Urban Decay eye shadow that I use all the time.

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadows

Overall I really enjoyed using these and they have been my go-to eye shadows currently. After trying these out they make me wanna go back and try the other shades! I'd probably go back for more neutral shades though. I wonder how pigmented are their colorful eye shadows, the blues and greens especially.

Time fillers!

While most of us are already moving on with the new semester, I'm currently still at home waiting for the offer letter from UM to arrive. Good news is that our supervisor just told us yesterday that they will be here by the end of the month so - fingers crossed! I can't find much to do around the house and so I juggle between reading books and watching TV. My extended holiday is about to come to an end and I think I'm ready to move on.

Meanwhile, I'd like to share with you guys the books and TV shows that I am currently watching!

Switched at Birth

This is one of most unique shows I've watched so far because many of the characters are either hard of hearing/ deaf which means using sign language as part of the script! I've always been interested in sign language and wanted to learn more but I just don't know where to begin. It'll be awesome if UBD has a sign language club! I picked up a few simple signs that I recognized from when I am friends with this girl in my high school who is deaf herself but apart from that I am lost in the quick gestures and hand movements. It was weird for me because back then I hardly know any sign language so this friend of mine taught me bits and pieces here and there and in the end we were able to 'talk', gossip and even joke around! I can't explain how enlightening the experience was. Talking to her challenges me to use my facial expression more carefully and it makes me so much more aware of other people's body language. I guess it goes to show that language is so diversified that sometimes, you don't need to speak to be understood.

Anyway I went off on a tangent there. haha Emmett used to be my favorite character but I'm not so sure anymore after he slept with Bay's (his then gf) nemesis. This is a great show if you wanted something easy on the mind. Even when things go wrong it won't be as bad as when things go wrong in Gossip Girl or 90210 where you know the characters really f*cked up bad. lol

Bunheads

I don't know why I'm still watching this. It's not that interesting and there really isn't much going on. But it fills my time so I guess that's why. It's about this woman who married a man (Hubble) on a whim and moved to his town to find out that he still lives with his mother. The man died soon from an accident and she is left stranded in this little town where everyone knows everyone and there isn't much to do. Hubble's mom owns a ballet studio though so this show centers around her and her mother in law who is the teacher, as well as the students.

Revenge

 Though the plot of Revenge confuses me sometimes, I still like watching it because for once, the main character has the upper hand. Most movies/shows are like Pretty Little Liars, where A, the bad guy is always messing with the girls while they are consistently one step behind in everything. Revenge, on the other hand shows Emily the main character as the one with the power. I like how she is able to play her cards right and is able to do considerable damage to her enemies. It's refreshing to see her plot her revenge and succeed while giving that little smirk she always does when everything went well. I think that's part of the reason why I like this show so much. I'm always wondering who is she gonna mess with next!

Pretty Little Liars 

Speak of the devil. I don't even know what to make of this show anymore because there are so many twists and turns to the plot not to mention the side stories which are just confusing to me. I thought this is a friendlier show but apparently I am wrong because someone actually tried to kill Aria by trying to push her off the train in a box with Garett's body in it. Talk about murder! Also, what's up with Aria's dad?? One second he is all 'I'm so sorry, Aria' and the next he's giving her that perverted look saying 'I know what you're up to, Aria. I found that letter in your boot.' This must sound confusing if you haven't watched this show. Give it a go if you're into mysteries and suspense but if not, I'd say skip it. I wish I could say I have a favorite character in this show but alas, I'm annoyed with them all. hahaha I'm still watching because I wanna know exactly what the heck is going on and am half-hoping they'd clear up my confusion with each episode that I watch.

The Vampire Diaries

Compared to Pretty Little Liars, TVD's story plot is straight to the point and that's exactly what I like about this show. You know with each episode what is going on and what they are doing or trying to do. Side stories aren't so bad as well and they all have an ending which makes more sense than PLL's. I'm glad they finally put Elena and Damon together but I'm starting to wonder what they're gonna do with Stefan. I think Stefan's gonna be forever mulling over his breakup with Elena in self-pity because that's what he does. I don't know, we'll see. Apart from the love-triangle, I love watching Klaus with Caroline! Who doesn't right? haha

Modern Family

No explanation is necessary with this. The picture says it all. lol This is my favorite sitcom apart from The Big Bang Theory. I can watch this over and over again and still laugh about it like it's the first time I'm watching it!

The Big Bang Theory

Sheldon Cooper. 'Nuff said! Actually, he's not the only one. The things these characters say is just freakin' hilarious I can't even! I usually download these shows and sitcoms are the one I keep in my folders whilst I delete the rest once I've watched them. I can't bring myself to delete this because I know I'll watch it over and over again!

X-Men

This is random haha! I've recently started reading X-Men from the very beginning at Issue #1 when it was first published in 1963 and although the story wasn't that amazing at first I quickly grew to love it. In the 1960s each issue comes with a new 'threat' in which the X-Men have to defeat in order to 'save the world' but now that I'm in issue #201 (1986), I noticed that the story flows more now. They not only concentrate on the X-Men fighting the villains but they also talk of things that are happening within X-Men. Storm losing her powers, Cyclops getting married, Professor X gaining and losing the use of his legs. There's a lot going on and I find that I'm usually more drawn to when things are more slow-paced. The fighting scenes are good but it's not my favorite. The drawings are getting better and better and I can't wait to reach the 1990s issues!

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

The Lucky One started with this man who found a picture of a girl among the ruins during his time in Iraq and after the war he decided to search for her. On foot. With his dog. His friend believed that the picture bought him luck because he survived a lot of tricky situations during the war in Iraq while many don't. So off he goes and of course, he found her.

 I read this so long ago that I've almost forgotten the story plot. What I know for sure is that the book is about a thousand times better than the movie. As it always is. The writing style is very similar to Dan Brown's where the author writes in a sense that we as the reader read in the perception of one character to another. However I particularly liked the main guy character who is Zac Efron in the movie. If you are interested in this story, I strongly suggest you read the book instead of watching the movie and you best believe you'll enjoy it more!

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I know I'll love this book even before I read it because Kinsella never disappoints! She always puts magic in her book and I'm left laughing and crying. Sometimes I do both at the same time. This is no exception and even better, it all started with a cellphone. I guess it's time we finally admit that technology is all over the place nowadays it's so hard to avoid them. Even in books. Like most of Kinsella's book, I've Got Your Number is an easy read with a quirky main character who's gonna make you laugh yourself silly. I love how she puts into words these thoughts that the main character is thinking and made it sound so funny!

The story started when Poppy lost her engagement ring during dinner or something with her friends in a hotel. She panicked and somehow lost her cellphone too in the chaos and then amazingly enough, she found one in a trash bin and claimed it as hers because well, finders keepers. So she started calling her family and friends and told them to use this new number to contact her instead if they ever found her ring. Turns out this cellphone actually belonged to this multimillionaire's (doh) assistant who quit her job and dumped the cellphone in a trash bin. While the ring remained to be found, Poppy and this man started texting each other... read the book to learn the rest!