Two Funerals, A Wedding Anniversary and A Family Reunion!

A lot has happened since I last blogged as as the title suggests, I had way too much to deal with and lost a little of my spunk along the way!

Tragically, a young cousin and an old uncle passed away within a month of each other and I thought I would never get over the first death when the second one came along! This threw me into a deep state of sadness which I could not overcome for a while. I did not want to do anything and my mind felt like it was in a state of nothingness. It was just blank and I was going through the motions.....

My husband came to the rescue by just being there for me and allowing me to cry whenever I needed to. What I would do without him I really do not know......it also helped that I had friends whom I could count on, thanks PPS!

I was back and raring to go soon enough and looked forward to spending some time with my beloved on our 11th wedding anniversary. We dressed up and spent an evening wining, dining and sharing our wonderful year together. I assure you ladies, it gets better as the years roll by! (at least for me it did)

The icing on the cake after the tragedies, was reconnecting with a lost branch of our family tree on my mum's side. After 26 years, my family and I met with some long lost nieces/nephews/cousins! What a blessing indeed it was for me to discover that I had 5 older cousins (when all along I was the eldest!) and to meet up at my place on Christmas day was a double blessing indeed!

So all in all, in the last months that I have been missing, what I really missed was writing and testing products and playing with make-up! I may have lost some members of my family but God gave me more than I lost by way of my new-found relatives. It was amazing to see each one of them and best of all.....I have connections in Singapore which means I would be able to get products from there not found in Malaysia to review for you my dear readers!

I pray that each and every one of you has a blessed year in 2011! Thank you for your loyal support. 

Coty Airspun Face Powder

Did you ever watch your mom/elder sister/aunts put on their makeup when you were much younger? My earliest memories of cosmetics were watching my aunts put on their makeup. They were heavily into Indian Classical dance and when there was show, they would sit in front of an old wooden dresser with a worn out mirror and put on their makeup. I would be perched on a big old bed in their room and just stare at their images in the mirror. The memories of my childhood were somehow jolted to life when I came across this product online one day because I distinctly remembered seeing something like this on their dresser. (Its been around since 1935, my friends!) It looked so retro and reminded me for some reason of them and that memory in their room.....They are not around for me to actually verify that it was indeed the same powder they used but I just thought I'd share that with you.

Back to Coty Powder, which is not available here but easily purchased online and is relatively cheap. I bought Coty Airspun Face Powder in Translucent Extra Coverage for RM 38!

Coty Powder is a finely milled loose powder which you use to set make up and it does so very nicely. The color says translucent but it does have a tiny bit of color which does not bother me as it blends very nicely with my foundation . This one is also and Extra Coverage powder which is buildable and you can add on which is something I have not tried to do as I believe the coverage from my foundation is sufficient. I use my favorite Eco Tools Kabuki brush to pick up the powder and dispense all over my face.

I was pleased to note that this powder helps with controlling oil as my face still looks matte at midday which is nice.

The packaging has also changed very much for the better as previously Coty was sold in a stiff, round cardboard container and did not come with a sifter. Oh the horror of all that powder flying about as you open the thing! However, they have revamped the packaging recently and it is now housed perfectly in a plastic container with a sifter and a puff (which is totally useless, so don't even bother). I must say, since I discovered the kabuki brush, I have not used puffs to apply my powders at all.

It has a smell which I cannot explain but since a small amount is applied on the face, I don't smell it and it does not bother me.

The back of the packaging says that this powder will smooth out fine lines and  blemishes. Please take that with a pinch of salt as you will need to apply and build the coverage until that happens.

There is plenty of powder in there that it will take ages to get through it so if you are looking for value, then this could be something you consider purchasing.

NYX Eyeshadow Base

There are many Eyeshadow Bases around but this one is the best IMHO. I purchased it for the sake of trying and not really expecting it to blow my socks off but this one came out a real gem!

I put it to the test one day when I needed to take my look from the office to dinner with a group of friends with nary a minute in the middle for touch ups. I put on my make up at 7am that morning and came home at 9pm and went straight to the mirror to have a look at how my eye make up looked. Having oily lids, I sometimes see creasing as early as noon and its not pretty! BUT on that fateful day, at 9pm I looked and looked and looked and WOW!!!! my lids looked as fresh as when I put on my make up that morning! Thats 14 hours that this base held my eyeshadow together my friends!

How can this be, I asked the eyeshadow Gods.....and the reply was: NYX eyeshadow base!

The color that I chose was ESB 03 which goes on a little light as you can see below but does help with making any eye color you apply on it just that little bit brighter.

Let me tell you that a very little bit goes a long way. Just pick up a little of the product with your ring finger and apply all over the lids up to the brow bone, wait about thirty seconds for it to set (well, I like to anyway but if you dont have time....go ahead) and you are good to go with putting on your eyeshadow.

Now this puppy is part of my daily staple. I spend long hours in the office some days and I am confident enough not to be checking my eyes for that awful line in my eyelid crease that gives my oily skin away!

Go online now and buy it!

Chanel Vitalumiere Satin Smoothing Fluid Foundation with SPF15

I have been lemming this beauty for a while now so when things were a little slow in the office one day, I put my lunch hour to good use by stopping by a Chanel counter to check this out. I was a little apprehensive about whether they would carry a shade that would work for my skin tone, however I was delighted to find a shade that matched my skin perfectly which is 50 Naturel. I ran all the way to the cashier to pay for my new 'toy'! 

This is the product explanation of Vitalumiere on the website:- " Delivers a young, radiant look. Lines, wrinkles and imperfections seem to be erased. Ultra-gliding fluid provides buildable coverage. SPF 15 UV protection; nut extract guards against free radicals" Now who does not want all that?

Whats not to love about this product? Nothing at all, in fact I love it so much its been the only foundation I have been using for a while now. The pump bottle is super efficient in dispensing just the right amount of product for a light to medium coverage and on the odd day that I do notice some extra redness on my cheeks, I use a bit more.

Its wonderful to note that the foundation glides on and blends easily and it does not feel heavy on the face. You get a lovely dewy finish which lasts all day long and looks as fresh at the end of the day as when you first applied it in the morning. Unlike some foundations, my face did not get very oily towards the end of the day which makes me love this foundation all the more.

Here is the back of my hand with a little bit of the foundation on it...see how it matches quite nicely?

 And here is a picture of the foundation smoothed out on my skin!

If I were asked what I don't like about this product, I would not be able to provide an answer because I like the pump bottle, I love the product and the dewy finish, I love that there is a color that suits my skin, heck, I even love the slight whiff of an unexplainable smell that it has!!

For those of you who want to know what goes into making this beauty, here is a list of the ingredients:-

You know something dear readers, I think this may be my HG foundation!!!!

NYX Jumbo Pencils

Oh the raves about these little things I tell you! Of course I just HAD to investigate!

Hence, I present to you these:-

From left to right:- Milk, Pure Gold, Purple Velvet, Orange and Black Bean.

The must have colors are Milk and Black Bean. Milk used as a base so lighter colors applied on it pop and Black Bean as a base for smoky looks.

What you notice first is that these are not your regular slimline pencils. These are the Sumo Wrestlers of the pencil world and hence the name "Jumbo" Eye Pencils! For the relatively cheap price (less than 15 ringgits) I was all excited at the amount of product that I got!

The best part is that these pencils apply so very smoothly and are dreamy creamy which makes it so super blendable. Because it is creamy though, there can be a tendency to overuse. So exercise caution when using as a little goes a very long way.

On the downside.....because of the Jumbo-ness, it is not ideal for using to precisely line the eyes. You will most likely end up with an uneven line. (You can tell that I tried to do it right?) 

You will also need to invest in a sharpener that is big enough to accomodate the larger girth that this pencil has but this is not difficult as these sharpeners are easily found. You know when I am sharpening my lip liners, I always mourn the fact that a lot (a LOT!) of product is wasted from the sharpening....I hate that which is why I was delighted to come across many video's online on de-potting (yes! de-potting) the Eye Pencil without changing the quality or consistency of the product. I may give it a go and report back later with my findings.

Kings & Queens Nefertiti Honey Soap

Free from Mineral oil and parabens, Kings & Queens Nefertiti Honey soap got me all giddy from first smell! Yummeh!

When I have time, I like to spend my Saturday afternoon taking a nice long shower and I would take the time to work in some scrubbing and rubbing into the whole routine. I picked the Nefertiti Honey soap from the range to join the other little gems that I use during my shower.

The bar is huge (larger than the standard bar of soap) and I needed to shop for a soap dish large enough to house the honeyed beast, which of course took a long time as I had to shop in several places before I was happy with this one dish! Did I ever tell you that I am a little crazy?

I don't need to go into the wonderful properties of honey but if it is good enough for Queen Nefertiti, it's good enough for lil' ol' me!

The soap lathers a little more than normal soap and is very sudsy. The smell was nicer when it was still in the package so I was a little disappointed with the intensity which was far less  than when it was unused and packaged! Bah! Also, I felt that the soap was a little drying to my skin despite the fact that this soap is enriched with Pomegranate, Blue Egyptian Lotus and Malachite extracts.

So, nothing magical about this soap apart from the fact that it is a little more luxe than normal soaps and you do need to treat yourself a little now and then eh!

King & Queens does some lovely body butter, body milk and shower gels apart from their soaps. I purchased this at Shins at One Utama for RM25.

NYX Blushes in Silky Rose, Desert Rose and Pecan

I recently purchased these little babies and have since taken them for a test drive.

The first thing that I noticed was that nice embossed or quilted pyramid pattern on it which I really love. For me it adds a touch of luxury and its fun to look at. 

I am sure that all of you already know that NYX (pronounced Nix) is affordable and has really taken off because of the price as well as quality. Unfortunately though, not available in Malaysia yet which is really sad!

The three colors that I picked up were Silky Rose, Desert Rose as well as Pecan.

My first impressions were that they did not look as finely milled as I had expected. When I swept a fan brush over the blush for the first time, I was alarmed at how chalky and powdery the blush was and this confirmed my initial impression of it.

However, these blushes are intensely pigmented which means that you should use it sparingly as you can pick up too much color and then have a huge spot of color on your cheek. A fan brush works well for picking up a light dusting of this blush and blending well (perhaps you can use a kabuki brush to buff the color well) is KEY in getting the color evenly on your cheeks. Some of us tend to sweep our brush into the pan to pick up the color - not so for this one. It will only pick up too much color and leave you with a chalky mess to deal with. So whatever brush you use, make sure you gently sweep it across the color. I know some blushes take some work with the brush to get it to pick up a decent amount of color. But if you are patient and wield some measure of control over your brush, these blushes will work very nicely. Remember it is easier to build color to the desired amount rather than take away.

I love both Silky and Desert Rose which is great on Indian skin. I purchased Pecan to use as a contour and I am still improving my technique with it.

I hope dear readers that you will stick by me as I have loads more NYX products to review and will do so soon!