FOTD - Warm Metallics

Today's look is gold-based and metallic, with nice lush lashes. This is more of an autumn look, but I think it also works with boho and ethnic-inspired looks. :)



What I used:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance as base
- Coastal Scents gel liner in "24K" all over the socket and lower inner corners of eyes
- NYX eye shadow in "Rust" on front half of eyelid
- NYX eye shadow in "Bronze" on back half of eyelid, in crease and lower lashline
- Kate twist-up eyeliner in brown-black (forgot the exact name) along upper and lower lashline
- Kiss Me Volume and Curl mascara on upper and lower lashes
- No-brand false lashes

I finally bothered to put on a bit of foundation (Kate two-way cake) and lipgloss (Majolica Majorca BE210) for this FOTD, so have a full-face shot. I should have filled in my brows though. :p

Review - Kate gel eye shadow VS Coastal Scents gel liner

Here is another product comparison for you guys, this time with gel-type eye color! :)

On the left is a Coastal Scents gel liner in 24K, which is a rich gold shade. On the right is a Kate gel eye shadow in BR-2, which is gold-brown with sparkles.


Both of these come in a small glass pot with a screw-on lid. The Kate shadow is square while the Coastal Scents liner is round.


Here are both of them opened. The Coastal Scents is a very rich true-gold color, metallic with no sparkles, while the Kate is more brown than gold and has small silver flecks.


Here are both of them swatched on my hand. The Kate shadow (left) has a very unique texture; it is more springy and souffle-like, and when I apply it to my hand it feels cool and watery. You can kind of see the silver flecks in the pic. The color is a bit hard to get even though, and a couple of swipes are needed to achieve the effect in the photo.
The Coastal Scents liner (right) is more traditionally gel-like in texture, kind of like a pudding. However, only a single light swap is needed to get a nice even color, and it is very spreadable.

If you like noticeable sparkles in your eyeshadow, I would recommend the Kate gel eye color. It comes in 8 shades including pink, purple and silver, and all of them are very wearable. My sister also got the purple and it is just as sparkly. Of course, if you prefer solid colors, the Coastal Scents gel liner can't be beat; I have already used up more than half of the black one I have (which I used in my Green Shadow tutorial), and I definitely would buy another one.

FOTD - Shimmer Blues with Shisem lashes

I stayed home and didn't go to work today due to being sick (Piggy's got the swine flu XD), and I decided to do a FOTD with the Shisem lashes from Mimi. I also used Kiss Me Heroine Make eyeliner, the Kate Glamtrick eye palette in blue, similar to this one:

and white liner on the waterline.



I think today's FOTD is rather fail-tastic, mainly because my eyes are kind of puffy and the white liner was kind of a bad move. However, the Shisem lashes are quite fantasic! I don't even need to trim them before putting them on, and the glitter is subtle enough for everyday wear and doesn't look drag-queenish at all.



Thank you again to Mimi for the lashes, I will try to do a proper look with them later, I promise!

Makeup Review - Blush comparison

I got a new blush from the drugstore yesterday, so I figure that I should do review on it. I wanted to get a blush with a bit of pearl or shimmer in it, and the new blush seems to be exactly what I am looking for :)

On the left is my old blush, Majolica Majorca PK333. The case is bought separately, it originally just came in a small plastic container. On the right is my new Kate Cheek Color PK-1, which comes with its own mini-brush.


The MJ blush is a bit more orange than the Kate blush, and there are also two different tones in the Kate blush: the lighter part contains higher amount of shimmer than the darker part, but they are the same color.


I tried the blushes on my cheeks together. On your left is the Kate blush, and the right is the MJ blush. Underneath the blush I am wearing a layer of loose powder.


This is the Kate blush with both colors mixed together and applied. It is quite shimmery, without being outright sparkle-town or looking oily. I imagine that it would look much better over proper foundation though, as it seems to highlight my large pores.


This is the MJ blush, which is very natural even with heavier application. This blush would be good for my no-makeup days, and it is quite long-lasting too.

I am quite pleased with the new Kate blush, but of course I will still be using the MJ blush, just at different times. :)

Drag Queen Contest Prize from Mimi - THANK YOU :)

I received my prize for the Drag Queen Contest run by Mimi/BeautyIsAndrogynous today! The spray and body wash smell great, and the lashes have glitter on them :)

She also included this sweet letter:


Thank you so much, sweetie! ❤

Circle lens review - Hyper Size Platinum Brown

Reposted from a Soompi post I made

I have pretty dark brown eyes, and I wanted a circle lens that matches my eye color as much as possible without being black. I used the Freshcon black lens before and it looks a bit too doll-like for my liking. After searching around I found Hyper Size Platinum in Brown, which is the darkest brown lens among the ones being sold on the couple of sellers I found.
This is the official image:


And here is the bottle and the lens:


I wore one of the lens on my right eye (your left) and took pictures:



Comfort: 7/10 - I only wore them for a bit around the house for 5 minutes or so, but they are a bit thicker than my Geo Angels or Nudys. Hope that after I soak them properly they will soften a bit.

Enlargement: 10/10 - These things are big, I measured them against Geo Nudys and they are a wee bit bigger!

Design: 10/10 - As you can see from the pics of my eyes, they are extremely natural looking on me, even with direct in-my-face flash. I like the soft brown limbal ring, and the radial black "spikes" gives good depth. My mom can barely tell that I am wearing the lens when I showed her.

OVERALL: 9/10 - This is the perfect lens for those with darker eyes who are looking for a natural-looking lens.

Goth-ish FOTD

I did this particular look in less than five minutes because I wanted to try out my Neo Glamour Blue lenses with makeup. I smudged gunmetal grey eyeliner on my upper and lower lashline (and the waterline), and put NYX Copper all over my lids. Then I put glue on a pair of false lashes, curl my lashes while the glue dries a bit, and stick the lashes on. Not bad for speed makeup, eh?

My face is completely bare except loose powder, and I am wearing MAC Blankety lipstick. I think this eye makeup and the lenses make me look goth-ish and kind of vampiric. :p

Circle lens review - Neo Cosmos Glamour / Tri-tone Blue

Neo Cosmos Glamour / Tri-tone Blue Review

I received my Neo Cosmos Glamour (also called Tri-tone) lens in blue, and since there are no reviews of them so far, I decided to try them on and write one!

Here are the lens in a case:

As you can see, the lens has a unique radial-sunburst design in the limbal ring. It was this design that drew me to buy them since I want a natural-looking lens instead of a more doll-like effect.

Here are a few photos in different lighting:

Looking directly at a lightbulb

Normal lighting in my room

With flash (dunno why it turned out so red)

These lens are GORGEOUS, and just what I wanted! They are light enough to be noticeable without freaking people out, and the inner light brown ring helps them to blend in more with my real eye color (dark brown). The radial-sunburst limbal ring looks especially beautiful in the flash photo

I took off one of the lens and took one more photo:

As you can see, the enlargement effect is not strong with these lens, which is fine for me since I am buying them for the color.



Final Scores:
Design: 10/10 - Love love LOVE the design and color!
Enlargement: 7/10 - Do not get these lens if you want an unnaturally large doll-eye effect
Comfort: 8/10 - I only wore them for the 5 minutes I took the photos, but they are noticeably thicker than my Geo lenses

OVERALL: 9.5/10 - These lens would get a perfect ten from me if they don't feel so thick, but damn do they look amazing on my eyes!

Oh my pretty Oshare boy~~

Oshare-Kei:
A Japanese music and fashion style, translating to "fashion conscience." The bands of the oshare kei genre, unlike those of visual kei, are bouncy and bright, their songs focusing on happy and positive messages like friends and relationships. Their style is colorful and vibrant, sometimes similar to decora, but usually much more toned down. Other than occasional eyeliner and colored contacts, they rarely wear alot of makeup, also unlike the visual kei genre. Oshare kei started to appear around 2001, and was said to have been started by Ryo of Baroque in their PV "Anakuro Film". (from Urban Dictionary)


This is my interpretation of the Oshare-Kei look spotted by Japanese bands like An Cafe, Irokui and Charlotte. It has been quite a while since I listen to any J-rock, and I don't know most of the bands in the magazine nowadays, but I find this look very cute and fun to wear. Here is a closeup of the eye makeup:


I also finally did my first live-action makeup tutorial! I recorded all the steps I took for this look, check it out!


I threw together this outfit from stuff I have in my closet. It is not as Oshare as I would have liked, but I don't wear much neon or "happy" colors so this is the best I can do. :p

This are taken in my bathroom, please excuse the lame shower curtains. XD


The awesome wig I am wearing is made out of half black and half white hair, I wonder if my hair would look like that in 10 years. XD


A couple more closeups:

The crystals are loose craft Swarovskis left over from my blinging spree a while ago :D

And finally, more camwhoring!


This is a fun look that can definitely be worn for a night out (without the blocked-out brows maybe :p), and I had a blast doing the tutorial. Hope you like it <3

Testing out another NYX palette

I tested the pink-toned NYX palette from my haul on my eyes, with Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer underneath.


On my right eye (your left) I used Flamenco all over my lids. I really love this color! It is violet-pink in color with a gorgeous gold shimmer, and would be a nice color to wear on dates :)

On my left eye (your right) I wore Princess Pink on the inner half of my eye, and Violet on the outer half. These two colors are quite hard to put on, and needs layering to show up well in photos. The colors are run-of-the-mill shimmery pink and violet, nothing exciting, but would be quite nice as highlight shades for heavier eye makeup.

I am wearing criss-cross false eyelashes by the way, I love how natural they look after I curl them together with my real lashes.

My first review - NYX haul!

I got my order of NYX makeup (at 20% off) from Cherry Culture in the mail today! Check them out :D

Starting from the top, going left to right:
Eyeshadow Trio - Princess Pink/Flamenco/Violet, Ceramic, Copper/Rust/Bronze
Liquid Eyeliner - Aqua, Electric Blue, Lavender, Gold, Silver
Ultra Pearl Mania - Mocha
Concealer Jar - Beige
Glitter Eyeliner - Pink, Gold, Apple

Here are the eyeshadow swatches on bare skin:
Princess Pink - A medium pink with slight silvery pearl
Flamenco - Muted violet-pink with gold pearl
Violet - Pastel violet with slight pearl
Ceramic (left) - Black/very dark grey with mid-size silver glitter
Ceramic (middle) - Gunmetal with a bit of metallic shimmer
Ceramic (right) - Dark grey with fine silver glitter
Copper - Metallic brick-red
Rust - Metallic rust-orange (closer to the color of copper than Copper)
Bronze - Metallic warm brown
Ultra Pearl Mania (Mocha) - Super-shimmery cool brown

The first palette is kind of hard to put on, I had to rub it in a bit in order to see the color. I am quite surprised by Flamenco, as the gold-ish shimmer was not expected and look quite gorgeous in person. The two other shadows are not bad either; overall this is a good palette for everyday use.

The second palette was a bit of disappointment as I had expected it to be multiple shades of silver-grey instead of two matt shadows with glitter and one matellic shadow. However, all three shades would be very useful in creating smokey eyes when combined with other colors.

The third palette... holy shit I LOVE it! The colors are gorgeous, and they show up very well even without primer:


I am wearing Copper on my lids, with Rust above that, and Bronze along the bottom of my eyes. This is only one layer of shadow on bare skin, and the color is already quite vibrant. Can't wait to see what I can do with these colors!



The vertical streaks are the Liquid Eyeliners - Aqua, Electric Blue, Lavender, Gold, Silver. These eyeliners are OK, not too watery and not too thick. The Gold is much more rich in person, and kind of antique-ish. The Lavender is a bit too silvery, I wish it could have been more purple.

The horizontal streaks are the Glitter Eyeliner - Pink, Gold, Apple. They are kind of hard to put on since the glitter does not stick to the brush well, and need a few layers before the base color shows. The Pink is especially hard to put on, it just doesn't show much. I think these would look great layered over other colors, e.g. to make glitterific drag-queen lips by wearing it over lipstick.

I can't swatch the concealer cus it's a gift for my sister, but she told me that it goes on extremely smoothly and she loved it. :)

Overall I am quite pleased with this batch, and I would love to order more eyeshadows. Now if only they have another sale....