Volunteer: Return to Terroir @ Melbourne Food & Wine Festival event

14 March 2011, Monday 

It is the day I have been waiting for sooo long, coz I am going to be a volunteer of the Return to Terroir (which was one of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival event). I just put on simple makeup that day.

Light grey-color eyeshadow is nice and suitable for OL look =D

Someone described me in this photo -> very chinese LMAO 

The volunteer T shirt was a grass-green color and the design is quite cute =D

Even though I think white/ other color will be more flattering.

Nevertheless, I dont think I will join the volunteer work next year. If the volunteers are not sophisticated or skillful, it is forgivable since they just kindly spend their time working without any monetary reward. Same principle applies on most volunteer works. But the problem was - staff who got paid (by the venue + the event) were so unprofessional, and the management was kinda chaotic. Nobody told us (the volunteers) what time we could leave. After 5pm, we were there doing our jobs and realized we could leave when we found all the paid staff left.

But I met some really nice people =D some customers came for the wine tasting and shared their experience with me. And the guy from Domaine Pierre Morey (love their chardonnay!) was really kind and friendly, enjoyed chatting with them =)!


16 March 2011 Wednesday
I have been practicing how to draw eyeline, which is so hard for me >_<
first -> I dont have big and pretty eyes
second -> my eyes are not the same but sightly different from each other
third -> I dont have a steady hand
*sigh*
my eyeline seems alright this time =D? Practice makes perfect !!!

Its interesting that I got asked whether Im Korean quite often... I am not Korean LOL

I am chinese, from HK =D

really love this pair of earrings so much =D!! they are big but pretty and eye-catching <3

17 March 2011 Thursday

Purple is definitely one of my favorite colors. 

Today's makeup look

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Daily makeup look

believable fake tan - LAURA GELLER balance-n-brighten

Honestly, it was not the thing I supposed it to be. Before I bought it, I was going to use it as pressed powder or foundation in everyday basis. I am disappointed as it is not what I expected. But on the other hand, it creates an incredibly natural but tanning effect for my skin, which is good sometime if I want my skin to look tanned (even not for every day at all)

yep, Love and Hate

In fact, its really difficult to get the product in even color and I have to spend so much time blending~_~

Here is the ingredient list if anyone is interested to know

It does create beautiful glowing effect, and enchant your pretty skin (if you have it). Again, it is lack of any coverage. People looking for high coverage foundation could save money from no getting this product.

the tanning effect is incredibly natural and believable. It doesnt look like bronzer or spray-on fake tan but as if a sun-kissed skin. 

The photos did not really capture the real color and my face looks much tanning than it is in the photos.

It will work great for you, if you have

- darker skin than I do, use it as daily foundation

- people loves beautiful sun-kissed skin but lazy to use multiple products 

[Haul] [Review] Max Factor ㊣

All these things only cost me $33 =D! 

promotion -> $5 off each item

voucher -> $10 off

Free Gifts - samples and makeup pouch

(Left) '3 samples + nail polish + makeup pouch' are the free gifts of purchase

(middle) Masterpiece colour precision eyeshadow in Pearl Beige - I saw Bubzbeauty used it in one of her tutorials and I am a big fan of liquid/cream eyeshadow, so I give it a try and it's actually quite nice =)

(Right) False Lash effect mascara + Lip gloss + Dip-in Eyeshadow - they are from this year Christmas Set. I got them @priceline for $25. but I know now it only costs $20 =D!

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I was in a dilemma between false lash effect and 2000 calories. eventually I got both =P

but  it does not work as good as I expected.

Max Factor and Covergirl are under the same company, so Last Blast and False Lash Effect are like sisters. No matter the packaging or the brush, everything is so similar besides I got covergirl lastblash (waterproof) 

Somebody are gifted with beautiful long and curly lashes, like MakeupbytiffanyD on youtube. But I am not one of them. My lashes are short and straight pointing down. I needa put a lot effort to curl them up!

False Lash Effect gives a nice volumizing effect but it does not lengthen my lashes. So personally I am not a fan of this mascara. If you have naturally long beautiful lashes and you are looking for a good mascara with excellent volumizing power, you may like this mascara.

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I actually dont really like powder form eyeshadow because it is easy to get messy.

The finish is really dazzling and ye-catching but it has very poor longevity. I used Mac paintpot as a base but this eye shadow still wore off after an hour. Totally disappeared.

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What cosmetics I've been wearing today

My Longchamp Le Pliage Tote Bags

You may not think longchamp le pliage tote bag is trendy, but the design is definitely classic. I ordered two longchamp tote bags online and get my name embroidered on them, Lovely =)!

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Longchamp Le Pliage Tote Bag (long handle) - Small - Deep Red - 14.5W x 9.5H x 5.5D

The size is perfect for day-to-day use. I can fit all my miscellaneous stuff inside it, e.g. wallet, planner, ipad, cellphone, makeup bag, water bottle, and still have lots of space left.

I also chose to embroider my name on it. The color is New Gold. The font size is a bit too big for this small bag, but it is still very special :)

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Longchamp Le Pliage Tote Bag (long handle) - Large - Praline

Praline was a limited shade for 2010 Autumn collection and it is no longer available. Before I ordered it, I tried to search the photo online but there was nothing at all. So I am the first one to review it :D !

Praline, is a light chocolate brown color but not a true warm praline colour. It is not a very eye-catching color but goes well with anything.

The size of it is HUGE!!! Yep, HUGE! 19W x 12H x 7.5D

I ususally use it for uni since I can fit textbooks, laptop and all my bits n pieces in it.

I got it embroidered with the color - White.

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Overall, I quite enjoy using Longchamp Le Pliage Tote. The bag is light weight and you can fold it flat for storage. It also has a nylon layer inside, so it performs a degree of water-resistance. However, the corners wear off a bit with uses but it is completely natural.

Because the bag is foldable and light, the base of the bag is quite soft. When you put your things inside, the base kinda 'collapses' and the bag just lose its shape. I simply put a plastic board from other purse on the base to maintain its shape and volume.

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Where i bought it?

http://magnums.net/

It offered 20% off discount so I got quite a good deal =)!

My Current favorite - Bourjois Sweet Kiss Naturel Lipstick [06 Rose Tendre]

Its true that I have an explainable obsession with this lipstick, like the love at first sight.

When I first saw it in Priceline, I just picked it up and went straight to the cashier.

On hand, its a peachy pink color and I think it achieves the perfect balance in peach and pink.

The lipstick is actually a semi-matt finish, of course you can add some lipgloss to make your lips look glossy. And the texture of this lipstick is not really moisturizing, it will enhance all you lip-line unless you apply lipbalm first (Dont be lazy pls =] ).

 I have gotten so tanning even now it is only the beginning of summer >_<

I have to say the color on lips is not as pretty as on hand. But I do really like this lipstick.

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I have a part-time job as a waitress. Its an extremely tiring job X[ !

But one day I found this little note on a table. There were two girls sitting on that table and They wrote it on the back of their cheque =D! Cool

[Review] Pink Brush Set from Ebay

Good tools can make a great difference but they cost.

Recently I purchased a 20-piece brush set from Ebay and the pink color certainly was attractive to me :P

I tossed away the brush roll since it is too crappy.
[[ you know sometime ebay sellers will put a note saying 'thank you for purchase' and dont rate them negatively? They put that note inside the brush roll and the ink transferred onto the surface... awwww. hate it!! (see the pic below -> there is some black lines on the right) ]]

This set contains 5 face brushes,1/2 for lips and the rests are for eyes.
Same as other cheap animal brushes, these brushes do smell.
Washing them before use is definitely a must.

When I was washing them, they shed like crazy!
The bristles were quite sparing, and got even worse after wash.

All the white bristles are really soft and tender, not stiff.
Hence, they work quite good as face brushes. I do hope the bristles were much denser.

There is a pink stippling brush in the set but it really does not have much bristles.

It does not work very good on applying foundation but cream blush =)

The photos above show comparison between the stippling brush and my Everyday Minerals brush
[[the EM one is awesome. Sofe and dense bristles give an air-brush finish. Love it ♥ I think it may be sort of similar to Sigma one? ]]

But for the eye brushes, sorry, they fail.

First, no sponge-tip brush please.
Second, here is the comparison between two cheap brushes I owned and the eye brushes in this set
The Red Earth and Sinful color brushes are far more fuller.

As I said, the white bristles are really soft. It cannot really put on much eye shadow on the lids but the sparse bristles do not work well on blending either. Suck.

This set has two angled eyeliner brushes, a synthetic one and a goat hair one, both are craps.
Compared to the one I have (right), my old angled brush has a fine and sharp edge and works much better to create a perfect line.

In conclusion, I dare not to recommend this brush set.
People in the US can go to ELF, SINFUL COLOR or even WALMARTS to get cheap and good brushes.
But people outside US, like Australia brushes and things are comparably pricey, you can get a good amount of brushes here. even not every brush is nice. [Update: go get real techniques! they are good and cheap!]

Where I got it from: Ebay seller: 09chan
Price: US $16 included postage




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Good blending brushes are hard to find, reasonable priced ones are even harder (at least in Australia).

I finally a pretty good one from TARGET and under the brand NAPOLEON

Even it is made of synthetic bristles, it has enough bristle strength to get the job done.