One Dollar Wonder: ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Pen

Hi everyone,

In the land of budget makeup, E.L.F rules. I mean, who else can make decent $1 products like they do? When I discovered something I like from E.L.F, I tend to stock up just to give them away to friends. When they have sales, it's even more awesome. I used to get a whole bunch of things I need and then some. During this vicious cycle (ha!) I discovered the Waterproof Eyeliner Pen and I have never been happier. At $1, it is the blackest eyeliner pen out there. I'm so glad I put my money down and got the first one at Target. I've tried so many eyeliners before and this one is very easy to use.

E.L.F Waterproof Eyeliner Pen ($1)

Wanna know why I love it so much? Jump!

First of all, this product comes in a shape of a pen. For those who have been using liquid eyeliners in the bottle form, you know how hard it is to hold the cap. However, with the pen form, you hold the liner the same way you hold your pen or pencil. Easy peasy!

Secondly, the tip is long and fine, but not too flimpsy.

I can draw thin lines with it. I even wrote my name and drew a flower, haha! Also, look how black and glossy this liner is. It feels like a calligraphy pen to me.

While I love how dark and glossy it is, the ELF waterproof eyeliner pen has a tiny glitch: it does not dry so fast. I have to hold my eyelid down and wait for it to dry. Otherwise, my whole eyelid would be smeared. The lasting power is decent. With a primer, it can last for 4-6 hours if I am not sweating so hard. It does not smudge but slowly flake away. After a long day, I saw myself with no eyeliner left.

Ingredients

This waterproof eyeliner pen is indeed very dark. It also holds a decent amount of liquid inside. If the tip feels dry, just put the cap on and tip it upside down before giving it a few shakes. That would distribute the liquid to the cap.

For $1, I can't complain. I have tried eyeliners that are more expensive but failed to last. Yet, this dollar product has intense pigmentation, looks glossy, and lasts decently. If you need a black liquid eyeliner pen, I highly suggest this product. I love it very much and hope you are going to enjoy it, too.

Disclaimer: I bought this product.

So, what do you think about the ELF waterproof eyeliner pen? Have you tried it yet? Please let me know what you think.

P.S: Tomorrow is first day of June. When did the time go?

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My Eyes on Inglot

Hi everyone,

Lately, I've found myself staring at the screen and lemming about makeup. Maybe lemming does not fully describe my status. It's more of uncontrolled drooling while looking at makeup swatches. Really, this is insane!

Source

Of all the buzzes I've read online, Inglot rings a church bell. I was very impressed of the pigmentation and variety of colors available. A reviewer did not do anything more than touching her finger to the pan and a whole lot of bright pigmentation attached to it. My mouth dropped to the floor when I saw it!

Price-wise, Inglot products are very affordable. Most of the items are $11-12 and I don't see a lot of colors to price beyond $14 USD. Their AMC lip glosses are pretty great and I've heard so many raves about their eyeliners. However, the real intrigue lays in this:

The Freedom System!
Source

If you are familiar with MAC 15-pan makeup palette, Inglot Freedom System is similar. However, Inglot took a step further by fully magnetizing their palettes to make them stackable. Yes, that's right. You can put whatever color combinations to the palettes and stack them on top of each other. They are extremely sturdy and I have seen reviewers having trouble taking colors out.

Now, you see why I'm so hyped up with Inglot? But that's not all! The prices of the refills are insanely inexpensive. For eyeshadows, a single square will cost you $7 USD, but if you buy more, the price will drop ($5 each if you buy 3, and $4.50 each if you buy 10.) Which means, if you fill a 10-pan palette, the cost would be $65 USD ($45 for eyeshadows and $20 for the pan.)

Just do the math, if you go with MAC, it will cost you $11 USD/refill x15 +$15 (for the pan) = $180 USD!
But if you buy from Inglot, the whole 15 eyeshadows with pans will cost you $97.5 USD. Almost half-price!

But we're not done yet, the Inglot pan actually weights more than the MAC pan (2.7g vs. 1.5g.) Therefore, you get more products at a much cheaper price.

Now, we can shop online with Inglot, which makes me very excited. I've seen tutorials done with their eyeshadows and they all blew me out of the water. The pigmentation is insane! If you don't believe me, just watch Xparkage's Green and Purple Inglot look below:



Insane, isn't it? I can't wait to get my hands on some Inglot eyeshadows. I know if you go to trade shows like IMATS or The Makeup Show, you'll get the whole palette with makeup for $40 or so. Those of you who got a chance to enjoy Inglot makeup are so lucky. I envy you and hope you enjoy your makeup :)

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Burning Makeup Question: Do You Have any Makeup Quirks?

Hi everybody,

Yes, it's Thursday again and this time, our Burning Makeup Question of the week is "Do you have any makeup quirks?"

Yours truly looking way too gleeful with a red teddy bear. But believe me, smokey eyes, hair bow, and red teddy bear are not my quirks.

Wanna know my answer? Jump!

I have many quirks but so far, these take the cake when it comes to makeup:

1. I love to apply makeup with some background music. Lately, I've been obsessed with K-Pop. This song by Brown Eyes was my soundtrack when I recently did makeup.



2. I line my lips after applying lipstick: I've heard and seen people do the other way around (line then fill their lips with lipstick.) Somehow, that route doesn't work for me. Is anybody in the same boat?

3. I apply blush and bronzer after powder: again, people tend to do everything first before applying translucent powder. I found it to really mess up my contour line and I do the other way around.

So how about you, dear readers? Do you have any makeup quirks? Please share, please share. I'd love to read about them.

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Get Coconutty with Coconut Oil

Hi everyone,

Guess what's inside this jar?

It's coconut oil!

 And what do I use coconut oil for, you may ask.

Why, my dear readers, to moisturize my face, of course! A few months ago, I had a terrible crop of zits on my face. I used T3 Mycin and then benzoyl peroxide to cure them (but not together, though. That would be committing skin suicide.) Then, my niece mentioned cold press coconut oil and my mom got me 50 cent worth of it.

More than this much, but I doubt it to be more than an ounce.

 At first, I shrugged but put the coconut oil on my face anyways, since I'm such a good daughter (haha!) Day 1 saw less inflammation and so was day 2. Day 3, zits stopped oozing up. My mom and other female relatives started ooh-ing and ahh-ing at my new skin.

Once a geek, always a geek. I climbed Mt. Google and found out why coconut oil can cure acne. Turns out, there's an abstract in PubMed that talked about this. According to this publication, lauric acid is an ingredient found in coconut oil. Since it has poor water solubility, they loaded lauric acid on liposome to form LipoLA. This new compound can fuse with the membrane of P. acnes, the bacteria that causes acne, and lauric acid is released to kill the bacteria. Awesome science, right?

While waiting for LipoLA to come in a tube, I am determined to apply coconut oil to my skin. The scent is very yummy. Once applied, the oil absorbs into my skin and best of all, I don't need to use a lot.

See, this much is enough!
It is one drop of oil, people. ONE drop.

I was a fan of jojoba oil before but coconut oil tops it. It is a bit thicker and since my skin is oily, it takes time to absorb. However, on my hands and cuticles, the coconut oil is a dream! My hands feel feathery soft and the cuticles are well-behaved again. Since I only have a tiny bit, I don't use it on my hair. But for those who have really long Rapunzel-like hair, conditioning it at the end is very beneficial.

You can find cold pressed virgin coconut oil at health food store. I like the brand Spectrum. Although it's pricier than the other ones, the material is stellar. However, remember this: only use a little coconut oil on your face. The goal is to cure your zits, not to load more stuff on your face to suffocate your skin.

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Hello, Mr. Brown!

Hi everyone,

A couple nights ago, I went through my stash of eyeliners and realized I have so many brown eyeliners! I mean, where did they all come from? I didn't remember when I got all of them. And where are my black eyeliners? Except Blacktrack and another pencil liquid eyeliner, I don't even have a black one in pencil form. Curiouser and curiouser, right?

But once I played with my brown liners, I realized why I have them. I truly love brown eyeliners. Truly, really, incredibly in love with them. Also, each of them are different from each other, which make them so interesting to me.

My brown eyeliner stash, all 5 of them (for now!)
(L-R): MAC Teddy, L'Oreal Extra-Intense liquid pencil eyeliner in Bronze, Essence Long Lasting eye pencil in Hot Chocolate, Victoria's Secret chubby eye stick in Bronzilliant, and Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on eye pencil in Bourbon

 Wanna know why I love them so much? Jump!

First of all, here is a swatch picture:

Now, I do have oily eyelids and my eyeliners need to be smudge-proof. Otherwise, they don't belong in the stash. "Sorry, you are the weakest link," I say before tossing them away.

MAC Teddy eye kohl:
Although this is not the first brown eyeliner I've ever bought, I have an intense love for Teddy. It is a dark golden brown color with a touch of shimmer. Not too much to be glittery but enough to brighten up your eyes. Also, Teddy can be smudged out like a charm and glides on as easy as buttah.

Smudge-proofability: 3/5. Sadly, Teddy doesn't last all day since it's too soft. However, I tend to use it whenever I'm in a hurry. Apply haphazardly, blend, then line again and I have a soft smokey eyes look.

L'Oreal Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil eyeliner in Bronze:
I got this at the dollar store and the next day found the same one at Walgreens for $8 or $9. I do hope L'Oreal did not discontinue it already. Bronze is an interesting eyeliner: it is in a lighter spectrum of the golden brown arch and it is sequin! Although I don't line it by itself, I'd like to combine it with Hot Chocolate for a more dynamic look. As it is a liquid pencil hybrid, it does feel more fluid. The feel is similar to UD 24/7 eye pencil.

Smudge-proofability: 4/5. This baby would not move an inch after it dried! However, it does not last that long.

Essence Long Lasting eye pencil in Hot Chocolate:
My friend Gio from Beautiful with Brains gave it to me. She swore by it and said I would love it. Not only did I love it, I think the Long Lasting formula from Essence rivals that of Revlon ColorStay. Yes, it is that good. Like ColorStay, this is a matte liner. Despite my love for fancy things, I do need a dark matte brown liner in my life. I'm thankful that Gio sent it to me.

Smudge-proofability: 5/5. I applied it early in the morning when I was in China and came back very late at night. Liner was still on my eyelids. Amazing!

VS Bronzilliant chubby eye stick:
Sadly, VS discontinued it a while ago. I love this chubby eye stick to pieces and the formula is very nice. I used it as a liner and an eyeshadow when I went to China. It lasted all day. Also, it makes a nice base, too!

Smudge-proofability: 5/5. It lasts and lasts until I take it off.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on eye pencil in Bourbon:
This is probably the most expensive pencil liner in the bunch if bought full size. However, I got a mini in a quad for $10. While everybody and their mamas seem to like the 24/7 formula, Bourbon didn't last on me. I applied it, walked away to do my own things, and it smudged. Of all the brown liners I have, Bourbon is the most glittery. The gold glitter specks are visible and I can feel them on my eyelids.

Smudge-proofability: 3/5. However, it makes a nice and glittery base.

I love these eyeliners and I hope it'll help those who are searching for a reliable one in brown. So, dear readers, tell me which one is your favorite? I'd love to hear from you.

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Cacharel Amor Amor: a Lovely Summer Scent

Hi everyone,

This year, I haven't bought a single bottle of perfume. My perfume stash dwindled down to about 3 scents I love the most. I gave away my stuff before and after moving to Vietnam. However, I still have a new bottle of perfume. Recently, my aunt from Belgium came back home for a visit and gave me a bottle of Cacharel Amor Amor. After experiencing the cloying scent of Cacharel Anais Anais, I was not sure if my love could go to its younger sister. I gave it a try and realized despite our differences, Amor Amor and I can work things out.

Cacharel Amor Amor (comes in 30, 50, and 100ml EDT)

Wanna know what I think about this perfume? Jump!

First of all, here is what Cacharel said about Amor Amor:

The atmosphere is electric as your glances meet. Amor Amor is the trigger: do you dare unleash passion? Sensual vanilla and jasmin mingle with sparkling blackcurrant; let the scent wrap around you both. Instant attraction, instant desire, instant Amor.

Vanilla, jasmine and black currant sound really good to me. I took a sniff and realized this ain't the cloying, heady old-fashioned Anais Anais. This perfume is a light floral scent where all the notes blend well together. Initially, this perfume is very vibrant and flowery. I could detect a touch of jasmine with black currant to give it an edge. Nice but not too oriental. Then, the vanilla scent quickly emerge and the perfume has more edge. As it dries down, vanilla becomes more and more pronounced. Overall, it is a very clean scent. I wear it on hot days and it does not give me a headache.

However, here is a major gripe:

The cap.
Where is it?

Of all the perfume bottles I've ever owned, this is the weirdest. I mean, where is the cap, Cacharel? Where is it? Do you think your bottle is going to stay nice and dandy on my desk forever? Hello, I may take it on a trip and how am I going to store it?

Really, what did they think?

Overall, I like the scent and the red bottle is a nice touch. It is not too bulky. My bottle is a 100ml size, yet it fits comfortably in my hand. For some reasons, the wires and the loop around the neck of the bottle make me think of a grenade. I know this is not similar to Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb but I can't help it. I smelled Flowerbomb before but it was not something I would wear. Amor Amor, on the other hand, is a lot more wearable thanked to the vanilla note.

Would I buy it again? No. This bottle is going to last for a long time. Also, I don't wear the same perfume all the time. Moreover, Amor Amor smells similar to so many floral scents out there. Mariah Carey Lollipop Bling Honey smells a tad more intense but costs you only $20!

Where to buy: department stores, drugstores, and online. This scent is very common.
Price: from somewhere around $35 to $65, depending on the size and where you get it.

So, if you need a soft and sweet summer scent in the floral side, Cacharel Amor Amor is the one for you. It is not overwhelming and wears well in the heat, which is perfect during the hot months. I'm still finding a way to transport it safely during trips. The lack of a cap really bothers me.

What do you think of Amor Amor. Have you every used it? What is your favorite summer scent? I'd love to hear all about it!

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Belly at Large: Cambodian Kittens

Hi everyone,

Dao's here, not Belly. Being a Crazy Cat Lady (CCL) without a cat is hard. I miss my Belly. I miss his fuzzy face, his smart-alec meows, his passion for turkey, and his constant bugging me for head and tummy rubs. Yes, I miss his good, bad, and ugly. I just miss him.

Adorable Belly looked so thoughtful. I know what he was thinking: "When is she going to give me more turkey?"

Sometimes, I even miss his girth crushing me when I was trying to sleep.

Yup, a candid shot of Belly's belly. He's a quarterback-size tabby kitty.

Belly is very special and as much as I tried to replenish my longing to him, I failed. He is the one kitty that touched my heart. When I visited Cambodia, I saw a litter of kittens on the boat and my heart melted. I just thought of these kittens to grow up and become somebody else's Bellys, to touch people's hearts the way Belly did to mine.

And this one kitten busted this move that almost made me bring him back to Vietnam:

HE LICKED HIS PAWS GANGSTERLY!

 How that kitten learned this move is beyond my comprehension. But I swear the moment he started licking his paws, I only thought of Belly. However, Belly only did it to warn me. This kitten, being young and innocent, enjoyed the act.

Mama Cat and one of her babies.
Kitty: Mommy, can I go play outside?
Mama Cat: No! It's dangerous. We're on a boat, son.
Kitty: pwease, pweety pwease!
Mama Cat: I said no. Now go play with your siblings!

The whole litter, minus one or two kitties

Cambodia's Next Top Kitties. Today's theme is "Fear". Now, go ahead and work it!
(Belly Jr. is the one on the right.)

For now, I'm alleviating my pain of missing Belly by posting photos of cats (and dogs) that I took. Until we meet again, Big Boy!

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Burning Makeup Question: When Did You Start Wearing Makeup?

Hello there, everyone!

Yes, it's time for another Burning Makeup Question. If you missed the debut post, click here.

Yes, Belly, you can haz a queshun. Also, I miss you, my baby boy!

Belly and I want to know when you started wearing makeup. Wanna know our answers? Jump!


Dao: I didn't wear full makeup (ie foundation and all that jazz) until sophomore year in college. It didn't last long, though, as I realized my skin broke out even more from the makeup. Not until I rediscovered mineral makeup without bismuth oxychloride that I started wearing makeup again. That was about less than a year before I started this blog.

Belly: makeup, what makeup? I'm gorgeous. I don't need any makeup.

How about you, dear readers? When did you start wearing makeup? Please let Belly and me know in the comment section. We'd love to read all about it!

and Belly!
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Tutorial: Shaping Eyebrows with the Tinkle Brow Razor

Hi everyone!

Last week, I wrote a quick review on the Tinkle eyebrow razors. I mentioned that I would do a tutorial on eyebrow shaping using this tool. Well, tada! Here it is!

First of all, you don't really need a lot of things to shape the eyebrows if you use this method. Beside the Tinkle razor, you only need a name card.

Seriously, these are all you need!

 Secondly, if you don't know how to frame your eyebrows, this tutorial should help. That was how I used to do my brows but now, I don't need to frame them anymore since my eyebrows are embroidered now (more on it later!)

So yes, step 1 would be drawing a frame of your eyebrow. This would give you a shape of how things are supposed to look. Like the previous tutorial, you would remove the unwanted hair away from the frame and keep the rest looking well-groomed.

My left eye with Chewbacca-ish eyebrow
Before, I would have used some kind of light powder to cover the eyebrow area I'd like to keep. Now, I already have the frame from the eyebrow embroidery.

 The rest of the tutorial is after the jump. So jump!
Step 2: use the name card to wedge on the top part of the eyebrow

Like this...

 ...and use the Tinkle razor to shave away the unwanted hair. I learned shaving it from the top down is better than from the bottom up, as I can remove as much or as little hair as I'd like.

Step 3: do the same to the lower part of the eyebrow

Then wipe away the hair. Repeat on the other side and tada! You're done!

This is how my eyebrows look after shaping with the Tinkle razor

 Optional: if your eyebrows are too light, you can darken them with eyebrow pencil or powder. I used Ardell brow powder and a slanted eyeshadow brush from EcoTools.

This is hella fierce!
Skin sans makeup, btw.

About eyebrow embroidery:

Although I didn't hate my eyebrows, I had a major problem shaping them. My eyes actually look like this O_0 and as a result, my eyebrows are not even. You guys probably didn't realize this because I took pictures of myself with some really flattering angles.

Eyebrow embroidery hurts. It is semi-permanent and lasts from 5 to 10 years. The process is micro-tattooing fine lines that resemble hair to the eyebrow area. It took about an hour to embroider both of my eyebrows and I got some antibiotic gel to take home with me to care for my brows. After a few days, the areas began to itch and I did my best not to scratch. Otherwise, the whole thing would be messed up.

Then, a month later, I went back for a touch up and bought a jar of brow care balm. The second time was a lot faster and less painful to me. I got in and out in less than half an hour. It does itch as much, either.

I guess the new eyebrows go well with my face. They don't look fake to me but look more like I had some brow powder on.

Would I recommend this procedure to people?

Well, it depends. If you already have some fantastic eyebrows, then I would not recommend this to you. However, if you have problem shaping your brows and/or have thinning brows, this would definitely help.

But my biggest concern is where to get it done. I went to a highly reputable place in Saigon. My mom and a few cousins went there to get their brows done before and they all look fantastic. Unlike other places, this place actually pain the brows to match your face. I wanted more of an Angelina Jolie's eyebrow style but the brow artist convinced me I would look too fierce. She was right. I ended up with something less archy but the eyebrows are more "me." In fact, she just extended the ends for me. If you touch my eyebrows, the hairs are still there.

I guess eyebrow embroidery is getting more and more common in Vietnam. I'm not sure about other Asian countries, though. Also, I'd like to keep everything transparent around here. You guys can easily go through my archive and realize my eyebrows look different. This is not even cosmetic surgery, maybe low-core tattooing at a very sensitive place but that's about it. I made it my policy not to deny the things I did or go around and say that I naturally look this way but in fact I don't. There's no point of doing so. I hope you guys get the point I'm trying to make.

That's all for now. This is a 2-in-1 post with a Tinkle brow shaping tutorial and some information on eyebrow embroidery to boost. I hope you like it. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me. I'd love to hear from you.

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Love Eye Makeup but on Time Crunch? Here's a Tip for Ya!

Hi everyone,

Yup, that was me climbing the Great Wall of China! I actually had time to camwhore before climbing to the next beacon (Beacon number 9.) It was a great trip and I was wise enough to pack some essential makeup and skincare items for my trip.

Despite the sandstorm from Mongolia, we managed to take some great photos
And yes, this is how I look now. It was cool that day (14-22 degree C) but with strong winds. The cashmere cardigan saved my life!

I actually brought a small bag to store my essential items. As much as I want to haul my whole makeup and skincare storage unit, I decided to be more selective.

Everything I needed stored inside this fake croc bag from Clinique.

Wanna know what's inside and the makeup items that made my traveling life easier? Jump!

Separated the makeup items from the skincare items (Sunplay sunscreen, Skinceuticals Phyto gel, and a bottle of lotion from a hotel I stayed), and other equally important items when I'm on the road (perfume, zit cream, Dramamine, and Carbophos. I stored my ibuprofen and cold medicine in my carry-on.)

Of course, I wanted to look nice during the trip. I wanted to apply colorful eye makeup everyday I was in China. But the cruel truth hit me before the trip even started: I would not have the damn time. For real. Every single day when I was there, I woke up at 6 o'clock if I was lucky (some days I woke up at 4 in order to catch a plane at 8:30.) Then, we would travel, go sight-seeing, eat, and enjoy ourselves until 8-9 pm (if we were lucky. Checking in around midnight was the norm.) Therefore, we were extremely lucky to get 7 hours of sleep. I got about 5 hours of sleep every night since we (the young group) decided to walk around the cities we stayed every night to tire ourselves out before going to bed. No, traveling isn't always dandy. It is hard work. I lost almost 5 lbs during this trip.

But I digressed. Let's get back to how I survived makeup-wise. Here are the things I packed:

Benefit Coralista: check. Heroine Make mascara and remover: check (actually love this mascara very much! 12+hrs of walking and sweating but the stuff still clung on to my lashes like dear life!) Shu Uemura curler: check. MAC Viva Glam V: check. Maybelline eyeliner sharpener: check, because...

I brought a whole lot of eyeliners and chubby eye pencils with me!

I figured out I would not have time to put on eye makeup and I needed a fast routine that makes me look awesome. Hence, the eyeliners and chubby pencils. I applied the chubby pencil and blended with my finger. Then, I lined my upper and lower lash lines with different colors before curling my lashes and applying mascara. Bam, I looked very decent during the whole trip. Yet, the routine starting from applying moisturizer (Phyto Gel) took less than 5 minutes.

I guess this is quite an ingenious idea: the pencils are small and do not take a lot of space. Also, you don't need to bring any brushes. More space in your luggage for souvenir goods, I say!

I hope you enjoy this packing tip. Have fun!

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