Posts (page 2)

My breakout seems to be quickly subsiding - finally! I think it was mostly hormonal PMS zits and now that 'that time of the month' has arrived, they are all healing and going away. I used mostly all MMBB makeup today except for foundation. I used my sample of Mineral Essence L3 that I have had for awhile and am trying to finish because some of the ingredients are botanical and thus I don't think its shelf-life is as long as purely mineral cosmetics. I really do like Mineral Essence foundation but I doubt I will ever purchase from them because their prices are a bit steep. I sandwiched the foundation between layers of MMBB Photogenic Veil and this time I must have done something right because I didn't notice as much oilies as before even after a few hours of wear. I also used Bisque Concealor on my spots and Bright Eyed on my undereye area. I think previously I was using too much Bright Eyed. Today I tried using less and lightly patting it on with my brush and it looked much better, didn't cake up and didn't look too pale but still did a good job of covering my dark shadows. I really like this stuff! I did go over it with a light dusting of foundation just to blend the edges and even out the colour a bit more.

Since my breakouts didn't look too bad after foundation and concealor, I thought I'd ease back into cheek colour with something more nude and less rosy. I picked out Sunglow which I think is supposed to be a bronzer (is that right, Lisa?). At least it looks like a bronzer to me, but I think it could maybe double as a medium-dark tan shade of foundation. I cautiously applied it lightly on the apples of my cheeks and contoured up to my temples. The colour payoff wasn't very apparent so I added a bit more and it gave me a healthy glow, very subtle but still pretty. I still wonder if I goofed and this is supposed to be foundation..lol. I also decided to use eyeliner today so I chose Frappucino which looked a darkish brown in the baggie. However when I foiled it, it turned a very appealing shade of medium brown with a copper sheen. A bit reminiscent of Fyrinnae Sake & Sashimi, but with a lighter tone and more copper highlight. Frappucino complements dark brown eyes beautifully and I think if used as a lid colour it would totally make my eyes pop. I haven't tried applying it dry but if it goes on darker when dry then I bet it would make a good accent colour to give eyes some smokey depth.

I really do wish I had a camera so I could actually show you all what I can only describe in words. The good news is that I'll have more access to a camera by the end of the month (a DSLR no less!). The bad news is that I don't know how much internet/computer access I'll have by then. Oh the irony.

Awhile back Sue very kindly sent me some samples of her Lumiere Medium Beige and Medium Warm in the Veena Velvet formula after I lamented that the Goldens were not working for me. I only got around to trying them yesterday and today but I realised that both Beige and Warm are much better shades for me than Golden! In fact I think I may have found my match in Lumiere :) I wore VV Med Beige yesterday morning and was surprised at how peachy it looked in real life. In fact, side by side, Med Beige looks like it has peachy undertones while Med Warm seems to have more yellow undertones. When I first wore Med Beige, it didn't seem to match very well. At first glance it looked ok, but on closer scrutiny I could see some obvious differences between face and neck. There was a very slight peachy-pink cast on my face compared to my more olive-yellow neck. I decided to wear it for a few hours anyway, and lo and behold when I checked back after an hour or so, the colour had warmed to my skin and looked much more natural. A very close match indeed and much better than Med Golden which made me look a bit jaundiced. So I was pretty satisfied with Beige!

This morning I tried on VV Medium Warm and when I looked in the mirror immediately after application, this was definitely the best of the lot! I could hardly tell the difference between face and neck and Med Warm just seemed to look like my own skin! I continued to wear this for the next few hours and expected the colour to deepen (making it potentially unwearable) but I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't seem to change at all. My face still matched beautifully after 3-4 hours and I didn't look off-colour or anything. Yup, I was very excited!! :D I like Lumiere's foundation formula and how velvety it seems to be so I'm really pleased to have found a match with them at last.

I still noticed some oilies after a few hours so I'm beginning to accept the fact that tissue and blotting paper has to be part of my lifestyle. I don't think even primer and finishing powder can control the oil factor. I am a bit concerned about the Veena formula because alot of people claim that it makes them break out :( So far I haven't broken out from Lumiere but then again I've only worn VV for a couple days and for probably less than 6 hours each time. I like the formula for sure but I don't want to invest money in a fullsize only to have it give me pimples after a week! Also, am I crazy for still wanting to sample the other Beige and Warm shades in Medium and Light-Medium in the Flawless and Luminesse formulas? I think I've found a very good match in VV Med Warm but the curious part of my mind wonders if I could find another match in one of the other shades or formulas! I don't know if I can be satisfied until I know for sure :P 

I haven't been wearing blush for the past couple days since I have quite a bad breakout on my left cheek and am waiting for the red spots to heal before I go dusting more red pigment on them. Foundation lessens their appearance but doesn't disguise them completely. I also pulled out my old sample of Jenulence Yellow Beige F/P tonight and wore it. Yep, it's still a match :) I'm just waiting for a good sale from Jenulence before I get fullsizes of this and Butternut. Last night I wore the LaurEss Original Creamy Yellow that I bought fullsize from Lili. I think this is only my second time wearing it. The first time if I can recall, I wore it during the day and it was wearable but not really perfect. When I wore it last night however, it did look pretty good. There is something about the yellow in Creamy Yellow that looks different from the other yellow-based foundations I've tried. I think Lili (or was it her bf?) described it as a 'mustard yellow' and I do see a tinge of that when I wear it. Like it has less peach tones. Anyway, I do like it and think it was a good purchase. So thank you Lili and thank you Sue! A mineral makeup addict like me is blessed to have friends like you :)

I think I'm retiring Meow for now. My Manx samples are still nowhere in sight so I don't feel confident ordering a munchkin. I also can't seem to find a match and I've gone through scores of their foundations in various formulas. Either the formula is right but the colour is too dark or not yellow enough or the colour is ok but the formula is too heavy or sometimes both formula and colour don't work at all. I still haven't found a shade that makes me pause and think... 'Heyyyy! Now this could be it!'. Instead my reaction most of the time is just... 'Hmmm... okaaaay... hmmm' Even Purrfect N-Angora which I'm wearing right now doesn't seem to be as perfect as the name implies. Under certain types of lighting it looks ok but when I move to another window or other patch of light it looks a bit pale and ashy. I'm quite sad about it because I love the way this foundation feels, or rather the way it doesn't feel like anything at all. Even the 60/40 Purrfect N-Angora/Purrfect N-Chartreux (Spring Mix) that I wore this morning wasn't quite right. A bit too much peach I think. I also can't afford to buy two different foundations just to mix so at this point in time I won't be committing to any Meow foundations :(

I wore Sizzle again today on cheeks and lips and think I'll be getting a fullsize of this and some firefly and feliner samples. As much as I like Meow's other blushes I don't really like the fact that some of them contain carmine and all of them may contain traces of carmine since they are blended with the same machinery. I don't actually have anything against carmine but I have a tendency to use my blushes as lip colour all the time and I don't want to forget and end up swiping bug extract on my lips and probably end up consuming it, LOL :P It's all good though, I can easily get my vegan blush fix elsewhere!

I'm kinda bummed that the MMU company with the nicest, most affordable foundation formula, with numerous foundation shades is the one that I'm finding such a hard time getting a match with! Oh well, at least I get to save my money for other things ;) 

Edited to add: I'm also wearing Meow Undereye Concealor in Chartreux on spots and undereye area. I'm still seeing a little bit of cakey-ness so I'm thinking maybe it's the synthetic brush I'm using or my application/prep method. Otherwise, it works well for undereye but I think I need something more yellow for spots. I'm also getting oilies so I don't think it's just MMBB in particular, it's just that my skin has a split identity and thinks it's a frying pan. 

Updated: Great, Purrfect N-Angora actually looks pretty good like TWO hours after I put it on. What do I do?!?!?!

Today I tried the last of the MMBB foundations I have: Medium/Dark Beige. I primed with Lumiere Sand Silk and used it as finishing powder too. I think my oilies were not so bad today but nose and cheeks still got kinda shiny without any blotting. Med/Dk Beige is not too bad a match, better than Med/Dk Olive Beige but not as good as Tan. When I first put it on it didn't seem to match at all. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was lacking. Some yellow perhaps. But after several hours the colour seemed to change and it looked better. I could probably get away with this if I wanted to but I'm always on the elusive quest for the perfect shade. I also think it's a little bit too dark but it just makes me look like I've been getting some sun, nothing unnatural.

I also took Lisa's advice and used Bright Eyed as an undereye concealor. I don't have eyebags but I do have some dark shadows just below the inner corner of my eyes. I think Bright Eyed did a very good job concealing them. The only problem I had is that it is a bit too light for my skintone so I had to go over it with a layer of foundation to make it blend in. I have to work on my application technique a bit more because closeup I could see the powders go a bit cakey. But from a slight distance my eye area really did look more refreshed! I practically never use undereye concealors so maybe this is something I should experiment with in future. Or maybe I should just try sleeping earlier...

I also used Blushing Mauve on both cheeks and lips. Like most of the other blushes so far, this is a really pretty colour and I think is more suited for a casual look. It doesn't seem as highly pigmented as the other blushes, good for those au naturel days. It somewhat reminds me of Lumiere Wild Rose blush. The only reason why I wouldn't reorder this is because I have blushes that are similar to it but otherwise it's a great light-medium pink shade that definitely flatters Asian tones :)

I also mixed up some Meow Spring Mix today and will give it a try tomorrow. My Meow order still seems to be nowhere in sight and I'm kind of despairing that it will ever get here by July 4th =/ I honestly hope that it hasn't been lost! The first order I placed with them arrived within 10 days so I expected my second order to be here by now. 

I wore MMBB Tan foundation today over a dusting of their Photogenic Veil which according to Lisa, is the translucent version of Petal Veil. I really do think Tan is my shade. In fact I think the only thing that could make it better in terms of shade is if it were a smidge lighter in depth. Slightly lighter foundations seem to make my face look brighter but it's hard to get the nuance right because too light just makes it look like a mask.

Unfortunately despite using the veil, my face still looked oily after a couple hours out in the hot midday sun. I don't know why this is because both the foundation and the veil contain kaolin =/ It really does give almost the same effect as EDM. Or maybe I just have weird hyper-oily skin, oily enough to fry an egg. The weather here does not help at all. I'll probably just save this foundation for night time use.

I also tried Fushia Fusion again on lips and cheeks. I don't think this colour is for me. It doesn't seem to go well with my skintone and is a bit too light for my lips. I can see it looking good on someone fairer than me, like pinkpixie. Oh well, it's ok. I still have plenty more samples to go through. And if I ever get done trying them all I think I'm going to order a 5-pc 5g set from Lisa. At only $23 it's a pretty good deal and I can pick and choose more of my favourites :)

In other news, I need an Ikea storage box and a tackle box like Sue's! I actually walked through Ikea last week but I must've missed it. Oh well, just one more thing I need to pick up when I'm down in KL again ;) I especially like the idea of the tackle box having removable compartments, because then it should be able to fit in brushes too. Right Sue, right??

One thing I may have forgotten to mention in my MMBB entry yesterday, is that the colour payoff for the blushes (and I presume eyeshadows though I haven't tried those yet) is excellent. I have been using very little each time, a few grains actually and this is enough for both my cheeks to look flushed. Excellent value! I also want to take back what I said about the foundation samples, they are more generous than I thought for the price you pay. And that goes for the mineral veil too. I expected to get maybe 3-4 applications out of each but now I think I may get more than 5 for the foundations and even more for the veil.

Blush-of-the-day was Fuschia Fusion, a medium pink colour that looks scarily bright in the baggie but goes on very natural. I haven't decided if I really like this one or not. To be sure it is a beautiful colour but I'm not sure if it works that well for me. It could be because the foundation I wore today wasn't a match and maybe that threw things off. I tried out Bright Eyed which is really the MMBB Yellow Colour Adjuster/Undereye Concealor. Kind of a 3-in-1 thing. Bright Eyed was too light for me and sort of reminded me of Meow FF N-Angora which has a similar yellow intensity but was also too light. I also think I may have used too much because it looked a bit cakey soon after I put it on. Or maybe it just doesn't go well with the skincare sample I'm using. On lips I wore Rouge Shimmer, which turned out to be another very pretty nude red like lips stained lightly with raspberry juice.

Later in the day I washed off the makeup and decided to do half faces of Walnut Beige and Tan foundation. When I first saw them in the baggies I thought, no way I can wear this. They both looked so different from the foundations I know I can wear. They both actually look almost identical to the colours I used to highlight their names above! Walnut Beige is like a medium nut brown and Tan looked like a medium-dark peachy orange. Despite first impressions, they both looked very natural when worn. WB is a bit too dark for me though, it makes my face look somewhat dull. I think it would be a good shade for women of ethnic Indonesian or Filipino descent. Tan on the other hand, looked like a good match! I was a bit worried I would look neon orange, lol but it actually seemed to suit me very well. I'll probably wear a full face of this tomorrow to try it out properly.

I am still waiting on my Meow samples I ordered that shipped on the 20th. I really hope they get here by Monday! The last time it took 10 days to ship. I want to see if Manx works for me or if I should just go and order a munchkin of Purrfect N-Angora. I really do like it alot and like Lili, love the fact that it's layerable without feeling heavy. 

I also witnessed a road accident this evening! I was waiting at the traffic lights when I heard this sharp screeching sound. I looked in my wing mirror just in time to see a motorbike hit the side of a sedan car about two cars away from me! I literally saw the guy on the bike bounce off the car and I think his crash helmet flew off because he wasn't wearing one when he landed on the road. In my rearview mirror I saw him move and begin to sit up immediately so I don't think he was that badly injured. Several other motorists went to help so I didn't stick around. It was freaky though! I think the car driver was in the wrong because it looked like he made a sharp right turn and the motorbike ended right in his path. Gosh! It's times like these when I'm reminded that life is so fragile.

I've taken a long hiatus from posting and reviewing MMU, or at least a week+ feels long in blogging time. My My Minerals Bath & Body order arrived slightly over a week after I got shipping confirmation which I think makes it the fastest delivery time of all the MMU companies I've sampled! I ordered three sets of 20 random samples so imagine I have 60 colours to go through! Fun! :D I have mostly been reaching into the big plastic baggie and picking out colours like a raffle every time I get ready to go out. Lisa sent me quite a spread and everything looks deliciously good. I especially like her greens, golds, neutrals and reds. She was such a darling to include an Itty Bitty Kabuki as well as samples of Moroccan red clay with my order (yes Sue, you'll get some clay for masks too). I have to say that for the price of $0.20-$0.25 per sample, they are very generous. The foundations have enough product for a handful of applications which is fine but the blushes and eye colours, well there is enough in there for many tries since you don't need to use a lot. Adding inexpensive First Class International shipping, MMBB's prices can't be beat!

I've only tried three of the colours so far and one of the foundations. The colours were Rum Raisin (A red raisin colour with metallic sheen), Rouge Shimmer and Warmth (A beautiful blush/bronzer that gives a perfect sun glow) and I used them all as blushes with the exception of Rum Raisin which I've also used as lip colour as per Lisa's recommendation. I have to say I love them all! Rum Raisin gives my cheeks a beautiful pop of colour and makes an excellent nude red lippie. Rouge Shimmer is a more sophisticated red with a slight shimmer finish. It's perfect for nights out and the shimmer is an effect I think MAC Mineralized Skin Finishes would give. It highlights cheekbones nicely without looking over the top. When I picked out Warmth I thought it would be too pale for me because it looked rather light and peachy in the baggie. I only used very little but a few minutes after application I looked in the mirror and was delighted to see a subtle sunkissed flush on my cheeks! Warmth gives me such a healthy glow and is actually a peachy-looking shade that I would love to wear. Lisa also says this can double as a foundation but it would be too dark and peachy for me to use for that purpose.

Today I decided I should try the foundations so I wore Medium/Dark Olive Beige. Sadly this was not a match for me. The depth seemed ok although perhaps it could have been a smidge lighter. But it went on pinkish and didn't have enough of the yellow that I need. The foundation seemed to form little granules but these quickly turned to fine powder when I swirled my Lumiere baby kabuki in them. The foundation overall reminds me of EDM. My face got rather oily after a few hours but I didn't experience any itchiness or tightness. I quite like the formula, I just need to find a better shade.

I have to say that the best part about MMBB is Lisa herself :) She is one of the nicest ladies I've ever met online and of all the women who make it their business to sell makeup, Lisa is the only one who has become a friend. I really enjoy batting emails back and forth with her and her sweet personality, encouragement and advice are such a blessing. Needless to say, her customer service is stellar. Overall I have no complaints about MMBB and would highly recommend it for affordable, quality makeup and an excellent shopping experience! 

One last quick post before I go to bed. I don't think I'll have time to write an entry tomorrow and I'm not sure when I'll be able to get online again. If I do it'll be very briefly :) Today I wore the EDM Winged Butter Intensive that I bought from Lili. I think despite the fact that this fullsize looks different from the sample I have, it still is a great match for me! So thanks, Lili! I'm very happy with it :) EDM doesn't seem to stand up to heat and sweat very well because by a few hours my face was really oily. But I wore it at night as well and it held up much better then.

For blush I tested my sample of Twisted Fayte Crushed Roses which looks like a shimmery red but when applied it took on more of a medium peachy cast. I thought it looked a bit too strong but funnily enough I got a compliment from the lady I buy lunch from everyday. She said I looked pretty with makeup, LOL. I also briefly met a friend I hadn't seen in over a month and he remarked that I looked different. He didn't say why and I quickly changed the subject because for some weird reason, I feel very self-conscious when people 'notice' my makeup :P

Anyway, I still have what seems like a million things to get done before I turn in so I'd better get going I'll try to get online on Tuesday with some updates and to see what you girls have been up to in MMU-land ;)

I think I'm at the end of testing all my Meow samples. I still have the concealor in Naughty-Chartreux but I don't think I'm going to try that as foundation because I just haven't been having much luck with Chartreux anyway. Today I wore Pampered Naughty-Abyssinian which I got in a swap with Wern. This shade really wasn't too bad in terms of colour but I would have liked it to be a bit lighter. So far with most of the Naughty shades I've tried, I haven't really found one that made me go 'Wow!' the moment I looked in the mirror. You know that shade that makes your complexion look brighter and come alive, where you scrutinize your face looking for flaws but can't find any? Where just looking in the mirror puts a smile on your face because of how pretty you look? Purrfect N-Angora is probably the only exception. I still can't really wrap my mind around the possibility that I could wear Frisky.

I'm trying to go through the shades I intend to take on my trip, sort of giving them a few trial runs. For blush, I wore Twisted Fayte Spa Day - my first time using it as blush. I'd previously only used it as lip colour and it works well to give my lips a soft pink, my-lips-but-better hue. So why was I not surprised that Spa Day makes a beautiful blush too. It was quite similar to Fyrinnae Bewitching, with perhaps slightly more pink-rose tones. I am SO SAD that Twisted Fayte is no longer in business because I would love a full-size of Spa Day. As it is, I hoard what little I have of the sample and know it will be a dark, dark day when I run out.

On eyes, I did a thin line of Fyrinnae Tabloid (Dark charcoal with green sheen) wet-lined with a tiny flick at the end (not as bold a flick as I'd do with black/brown liner). Tabloid is a rich, deep green liner, almost like a very dark green-teal. It's supposed to have a charcoal-coloured base but really all I saw was a green sheen. It definitely makes a nice change from blacks and browns and it didn't clash at all with the rose-pink of Spa Day.

I'm having a headache figuring out what to pack since I'll be away for about a week and a half. Clothes, makeup, hair stuff, skin stuff, and a long list of appointments to keep track of and errands to run! Ugh. I'm also starting to get nervous about going down to KL and for crying out loud, today's only Friday! At least my skin is behaving itself which is something I'm always grateful for. Maybe one of these days if I get insane brave enough I'll post an old picture of myself from 2+ years ago when my skin was at its worst. I cringe a little when I happen to see those pictures but they also remind me to be thankful that for the past year my skin has improved so tremendously. 

I am doing much better today! I think all that sleep, good thoughts and medication did wonders :) Just hope I don't relapse now!

So today I went on a sampling frenzy in order to weed out what colours I should wear on my trip and so on. I also wanted to finish trying my Meow samples before I go away this weekend. In the morning I used Meow Undereye Concealor Naughty-Chartreux as foundation and it seemed all right. The match wasn't perfect, a bit ashy around the edges but still wearable. I liked the feel and coverage more than Flawless Feline but I did seem to get a bit oily after only a couple of hours. In the early evening I tried Meow Purrfect Frisky-Korat just because I had some lying around. To my amazement, I could actually wear Frisky! The colour was still a bit off (not enough yellow) but the depth wasn't too bad at all. I expected to look like a mime or something but no, Frisky was really quite good. Now I'm in a quandrary because I'll have to try both Frisky and Naughty Manx in all the different formulas, as well as Frisky-Chartreux. Here's to another sampling frenzy.

At night I wore LaurEss Elemental Soft Gold and while this also looks like a wearable shade, it doesn't seem to match well under certain types of lighting. Overall, it's not bad though.

Daytime blush and lip colour was Fyrinnae Kabuki. This is really too strong a cheek colour for daytime so I think I'll pull it out for nighttime use when I'm in KL. I have to keep reminding myself to use less of this everytime because it is so, so pigmented. I used a little and thought it wasn't enough. Then I added a bit more and it was too much! I blended like crazy and then it looked much better. The one thing I like about Kabuki as a lip colour is that it lasts and lasts. I used a little mixed with lipbalm over lipliner, and hours later after a meal and washing my face with water my lips were still stained a rosy red.

At night I used Meow Sizzle on my cheeks and fell in love with it all over again. A fullsize is coming to me sooner or later! I buffed it first on the apples of my cheeks, then lightly under my cheekbones and finished by dusting it in the number '2' shape from temples to cheekbones. I love the natural bronzey look that I get and I think I'm going to be wearing this for interviews since it's not too over the top. I also wonder if I'm weird for doing this, but when I apply mineral blush I don't do one cheek first then the other. I load my brush then go back and forth very quickly from one cheek to another doing equal swipes/circles each time. This seems to be the only way I can get both cheeks to be even without overloading on blush and having to go back to fix things.

I've also been practising lining my upper lashline and doing that little flick at the corners. Daytime I used M.A.D Minerals Chocolate Matte (Rich, chocolate brown) from a sample Wern sent me (thanks Wern!). Chocolate Matte was not as dramatic as my black eyeliners so it made a perfect daytime liner and stayed put all day. I couldn't get the flicks to be even though! The left eye looked much nicer than the right. Bolder too. Oh well, I still have time to practise. For nighttime I wore Fyrinnae Ultrasuede (Matte, velvety deep charcoal brown) and managed to do more even wings this time although I made them more subdued. I also tried lining just the outer 1/3 of my lower lashline as suggested by thepinkpixie and while my eyes looked great, I also noticed the lower lashline colour start to smudge after 3-4 hours =/ Ultrasuede is very different from Chocolate Matte in that it's less of a true brown and more of a very dark grey. In fact it reminds me of moleskin :) I really like them both and I think they make good brow colours too.

I'm half dreading going away this weekend because I don't know how much online time I'll have. I'm guessing not a lot. I don't think I'll have bad withdrawals but I shudder to think what if there's an MMU sale and I won't find out about it!