Sleek's Rose Gold is a Sparkler!

Sleek's Rose Gold blush has been on my WANT list for the longest longest time. Often on dupe list for Nars' Orgasm blush with its gold flecks and rosy hues, I think Sleek's done this right. I bought it from a seller online. I'm glad I was able to jump on it because they're pretty popular and hard to get. The official website's been sold out for awhile now!

The packaging for this blush is compact, sleek and petite. The compact's a little hard to open though. 

Rose Gold is a gorgeous warm peachy pink blush with golden shimmers. The blush itself is extremely pigmented, more so than I originally thought! It's a full on shimmery blush and the color is quite strong. 

I think the shade is absolutely gorgeous! The shimmers are a little bit much and very easy to overdo but with a controlled stroke, pulling it off is really easy. 

Mostly gold shimmers

Such a pretty shade! It's long lasting as well. Priced at $6.50, I think this blusher is totally worth it! It's the perfect blend of warmth. 

Sleek is definitely a new brand for me. I'm very impressed this blush's pigmentation and color selection. 

FOTD soon :) 

  

For the Love of Bourjois!

My early introduction to Bourjois was their lovely blushers that were displayed beautifully at Sephora. I had always wanted to try their makeup but at the time I was a student on a budget. A little while later I heard they discontinued their entire line at Sephora and Ulta so I was saddened by the fact. But... thanks to makeup communities and swappers and a plethora of online shops, it isn't that hard to get what you want even if it's discontinued. It's a little inconvenient, yes, but you get it all the same. After seeing many bloggers' monthly favorites, I discovered Bourjois again! This time the Delice de Pourdre bronzer, or rather, the chocolate bronzer!

It is a matte bronzing powder that has a really soft texture and a nice subtle color for those with lighter skin tones.

Isn't it a delicious looking bronzer? It's known as the chocolate bronzing powder because of the little squares that are reminiscent of candy bars. I love the design so hard. It's so cute and whimsy, not at all serious. I got this in shade 51 which is the lighter one of the two (52 is a tad darker) and I really love it. I like the "lift" that it gives without the theatrics of shimmers, sparkles and glitter. I don't like looking overly bronzed because it looks unnatural and you know the lighting in the office emphasizes stuff like that. I love shimmers a lot, possibly more than the average person, but it can be distracting in a professional setting. 

That's why I've been loving this Bourjois one. To me, it's a real fool proof non-desperate bronzer that I can really count on at the moment for lifting my face and also emitting a nice healthy glow.

I still love my Dior Amber Diamond just as equally! I just love hoarding blushers, bronzers, highlighters... any kind of cheek makeup. Another thing I like about this powder is that it's inexpensive unlike the Dior counterpart. It's a quality matte bronzer that under $15.00 and can be found on many online stores. Definitely a thumbs up on this discovery!

Do you have a favorite bronzing powder or bronzer at the moment? :)

A Blush and a Bear

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I did absolutely nothing this weekend except watching movies, catching up on old British TV shows and eating junk food.

Also as of late, I've been really into the Benefit Hervana blush! Aside from the not so friendly packaging, I really like the swirls of color. It's pinkish, purplish, plummy and peachy; basically four individual shades in a pinwheel design to lift your cheeks and give it some warmth and light. It's currently my favorite 'apply in the morning' shades ;)

....and a quirky tee I found while skimming the racks at Ross. Apparently, they sell the same one at Forever 21! Laura, one of my favorite bloggers has it too! See hers here. 

How was your weekend, my friends? ^_^

Ulta Eyeshadow in Naked

I'm really surprised I hadn't wrote anything about this eyeshadow as I've had it in my makeup bags for years and years! I use it in a variety of ways, as a normal eyeshadow to a highlighter to a light blot powder. It seems very one dimensional but I find that Naked is an eyeshadow that is very multipurpose.

I find that the base color has a slight yellow tinge to it that is really flattering on yellow skintones. It brightens the inner corners of the eyes in a subtle way which I really like. It looks great as a highlight on the brow bone  because it's a nice matte color. I've also used this as a matte highlighter on my cheek bones which I really like as something on the go for touch ups.

Urban Decay's Virgin is similar in color but the shimmers get kind of off putting when it starts looking frosty/metallicy. This one does not, which is why I like it so much. It has a brightening effect that I find is really effective compared to all my neutral beige eyeshadows in my collection.

This is such a simple shadow that functions nicely without much effort. It also helps that this is really wallet friendly at $4.00. Ulta usually has buy 2, get 2 free or similar promotions with their own branded cosmetics :) I've gone through a few of these already. It's really my "secret weapon" when it comes to one thing that can do many, haha. 

Is a single eyeshadow a strange thing to have as multi-purpose product? Thoughts? =D

Giveaway Winnings!

Received an awesome package all the way from Canada today! Big thanks to LittoMokaa :) She is out worldly sweet!

Nikki Manaj by OPI minis - I cannot wait to try this! I haven't done my nails for over a year now... WHAT IS MY LIFE! \\o//

Sexy Look face mask and MBD eye mask! Can never go wrong with masks.

L'occitane Hand Cream - This was the "surprise" gift that she included. Smells go nice! I've never used this before so I'm excited to include this in my purse. Yipee!

Loreal Color Riche Balm in Pink Satin - I opened one (she sent me 2) and slabbed it on my lips. It's so moisturizing...and what a pretty (baby) pink color. 

Kibio Mask and eye cream - Cannot wait to try this! :)

Laneige Shimmering Multi Cream - This is so incredibly pretty! I swatched it quickly and the shimmers are insanely fine and the highlight is gorgeous!

Hello Kitty pen! ;) This is going to look awesome with my notebook. :)

Chanel and La Roche-Posay skincare samples - Cannot wait to try these!

Revlon Lipstick in Fuchsia Fusion - Intense fuchsia color! :) Can't wait to try this shade!

Hello Kitty Key Fob  

Smokey Taupe with the Naked 2 Palette

Hello friends! Hope you're having a good week so far. Mine has been quite good thus far. I'm forever looking forward to the weekends though ;)

On Sunday I went out with a friend for lunch and decided on trying every new thing I recently got, including the Naked 2! I'm still being experimental with the color combinations because they are significantly cooler than the first one. But I love it all the same, maybe even a tad bit more at the moment!

I unfortunately did not have my regular camera with me so my iphone will have to suffice.

I appreciate all your comments in my last post about hair! I haven't used any hot tools on my hair for about a month now and the shea butter cream has been a miracle product for me. I'm going to look into the shampoos/conditioners that were recommended :) Looks like I'll be doing a hair haul very soon, lol.

I used Busted and Verve for my eyelids and a little bit of Snakebite on my lower lash line to set the eyeliner. 

I also used MAC Blacktrack to line my eyes, no mascara because it looked very dramatic to me already o_o 

Closeup of the eyeshadow

For my foundation, I used Makeup Forever HD Foundation in shade 115. It is a beautiful foundation that is light reflective and luminous. It's also surprising very light and the foundation intensity is under your absolute control. 

I used Benefit Hervana as a blusher and highlighter. It's a beautiful blush, really multidimensional and versatile! I adore the spring-like colors and the zany swirls although not a huge fan of the packaging. I prefer a compact.

For my lips, I used Benefit's Benetint lip stain. I LOVE IT! Words can't even express it. It's very long lasting and has a very distinctive rosy color. 

That concludes my look for the weekend. I'm continuously experimenting with colors and combinations. I suppose the fun is in the experimentation ;) 

Smokey taupes - yay or nay? :)

Cantu Shea Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream

All my life I've dealt with "different" hair amongst my family and Asian peers. I have a ton of hair, very curly 80% of my hair, the other 20% straight. Some parts of my hair is quite course as well, but my hair texture is still very soft and I consider it to be relatively healthy now compared to when I was growing up. But the main thing that's problematic for me is the frizz! I think my whole life I always struggled with the image of wanting straight flowy hair so badly that my self esteemed was lowered significantly and i hated how my hair looked and did everything I could to keep it controlled.

Since then I've tried every cream, serum, leave-in conditioner, oils, Keratin treatments, etc that I could use to control the frizziness of my hair and while some worked really nicely (Biosilk, Kerastase, Chi), it still wasn't perfect and my hair didn't always respond to it. And also the fact that the mentioned products are not very wallet friendly kind of defeats the purpose if it sometimes worked to my liking.

So I searched high and low online and off, and stumbled across a leave-in conditioner at Target from this brand called Cantu Shea Butter. I didn't think much of it because it was in the ethnic hair section and the price was only $5.99 for 16oz of product (too cheap, I thought how could it work?) but I kept it in the back of my mind to research it. I am really happy I did because to my surprise, it's got really good reviews online. Most of the reviews are written by African American ladies with very course/kinky/curly hair and even though I don't fit into the category exactly, I decided to give it a go because what could I lose besides $5.99? Kerastase hair treatments start at  $40+ which is a total splurge given its luxurious line.

Image Source: Google

I bought this cream expecting absolutely nothing but it turns out that this leave-in treatment does wonders for my hair! It's hard to put into words really, aside from the fact that it's better than all the expensive products I've used. I get the same results as I would get with the Biosilk serum but for less than a quarter of the price.

 I'm not sure if I posted this picture on my blog before, but it's an oldie. This was taken years ago before I did the Japanese hair straightening for the first time. At the time I also never dyed my hair, used heated tools or anything! Crazy huh? Now, it's gotten better texture-wise but it would still turn into this frizzy nightmare if I went natural and not use any products.

Since discovering the Cantu Shea Butter, I've only it as a leave-in on dry hair or towel dried hair. You could use it as a very intensive treatment by coating your hair with it and using a shower cap overnight for maximum absorption but I haven't had the need for it. I just very simply use a dime sized amount, rub it around my palms and coat it around my hair with a thin layer. It's gotten so much smoother over time, the frizz has actually improved and my hair bounces a lot more than it did before. I'm just really satisfied with this and how it's helped my hair so much in the past month.

This my most current photo at the moment. And it's improved 100%. I really credit this to the Cantu Shea Butter. 

Some of the highlights about this leave-in treatment:

1. Contains proteins for your hair and many essential oils that your hair can absorb. 

2. Provides heat protection and sun protection

3. Real shea butter that's on top of its ingredient list

4. Free of sulfates and parabens

5. Little goes a long way! I use a dime sized amount every time

6. Price - You can't beat it. $5.99 for a 16oz tub at Target!

Ingredients: Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Glycine Soja Oil (Soybean), Propylene Glycol, Polyquaternium 37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG 1 Trideceth 6, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Trimethylsilylamodimethicone, Panthenol, PPG 1-PPG-9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, Lanolin Oil, Cinnamidopropyl Trimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Acrylamidopropyltrimonium Chloride/Acrylamide Copolymer, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Benzophenone 3, BHA, BHT, Zea Mays Oil (Corn), Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, DMDM Hydantoin, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance 

I highly recommend this product to anyone who has very frizzy hair, course or dehydrated hair. It is probably not suitable for those who have thin hair because I think the product can weigh your hair down. 

I also really like the scent, it's pleasant. Smells like what you would imagine for shea butter... warm coconutty smell? :) 

Have you tried this before? What works for your hair and why? I'm curious to know!