February Playlist

My February playlist mostly featured songs from Girl Group. To celebrate f(x)'s first concert, I fell into some kind of 'f(x) throwback' for a week, which led me to an SNSD throwback as well. I enjoy the contrast these two groups offer; SNSD songs are mostly classic, bubble-pop or pop-song, while f(x) is more experimental. To be honest, I cannot always stomach SNSD's song (too bubbly) but they got some heart wrenching ballad up their sleeves, and I'm always a sucker for good-yet-not-bland ballad. Music wise, f(x) is closer to SHINee so despite how strange it sounded in the first listen, I'm bound to like them in the end. Some songs I listened a lot this February are;

1. So Into U - f(x)

2. Beautiful Goodbye - f(x)

3. Beautiful Stranger - f(x)

4. Rude Love - f(x)

5. Red Light - f(x)

6. All My Love is for You - SNSD

7. Star Star Star - SNSD

8. Baby Baby - SNSD

9. Into The New World (Ballad DOME LIVE)  SNSD

What are the songs you listened a lot this month?

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Review: Makeup Forever Artist Plexi-Gloss 406 Burgundy

Makeup Forever Artist Plexi-Gloss has to be one of the most underrated lip product ever. With it's smack dab amazing quality, it's a wonder why people aren't talking more about this. This lip lacquer is described as 'A triple-impact lip gloss with buildable color and high-shine that stays put.' on MUFE's website.

The shade I picked is '406 Burgundy' , I don't think I need to explain the color since the name is pretty much self-explanatory. True to its claim, this gloss is very pigmented, one swipe gives you an opaque and rich color. They said the color is buildable, but when one dip is already enough to give me an intense color to fill in my whole lips, I do not see the need of building up. The finish is shiny without being too wet, but the shine gradually fades overtime into a somewhat satin finish.

Artist-plexi gloss is very lightweight, it doesn't dry my lips, nor it settle into fine lines. The formula is absolutely amazing, coupled with its longevity, which is around 5-6 hours with eating and constant drinking, I gotta say this really changed my standard of lip gloss! For me, this got to be my 'game changer' product. Beside its top notch formula, it opens my eyes for the wonder of dark, bold lips could do to my face.

Have you tried any MUFE Artist Plexi-gloss? What's your favorite dark lip color?

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Favorite Rose Scented Products

I happened to love rose fragrance more than I expected. Continuing the 'pink-themed' February, it's only fitting we talk about 'roses', isn't it? What other flower can be more appropriate with how closely related it is to 'love' and 'affection'? I remember the day when I almost obsessively track down every meaning of every roses out there and pink rose that speaks of 'admiration' has been my favorite after orange roses (happiness). Not just aesthetically pleasing, roses are also meaningful, and it smells really great; warm, romantic, and lady-like, which is probably why I'm attracted to its fragrance more than any other flowers. Here are some rose scented products I'm still using at the moment.

Liz Lisa eau de Linge Originale

Somewhere during my stay in Japan when I was pretty much attracted to Liz Lisa, I just know I need to smell like Liz Lisa. If you visited the actual store, you will know what I'm talking about; a warm, very girly floral scent that makes you feel like you are the most feminine and beautiful lady around. It just smells like warm winter, that's the only way to put it in my opinion. Needless to say this is a very winter appropriate fragrance for its warmth, comforting scent. There is no list of what kind of roses are put in there but they mentioned 10 essential oils being inside, I suspect some tea-tree oil is infused as well because there is that subtle hint of it. This works as all rounder fragrance; room, clothes, and body as well. Whenever it rains, I always make sure to spray this all over the room for a little bit of extra warmth.

Liz Lisa La Vie en Rose Body Lotion

Technically not a fragrance but this body lotion has some amazing long lasting scent going on, I swear it smells as much as it hydrates. It also has a very light and fast absorbing texture, something I appreciated from body lotion. This doesn't smell as heavy as it's eau de Linge counterpart, instead, I'd say this and that have entirely different perfume formula. Not as warm as the previous one, this body lotion is very appropriate for spring. It smells like a beautiful rose garden under the warm sun and crisp, fresh air.

L'Occitane Roses et Reines EDT

Since attending gym every morning, a need for portable and handy perfume rose (no pun intended) within me, and that's how I ended up with this roll on perfume. Between this one and Jardin Secret, I picked this for it's lighter and fresher scent. It smells very feminine with 4 roses; Bulgarian, Grasse, Turkish, and Moroccan, as its middle note. Guess what, it has bergamot as its top notes. No wonder I'm attracted to this lovely thing.

Jill Stuart Tuberose & Rose Hand Cream

The hand cream that I and my mother swear by. Coming from Jill Stuart, the packaging literally has nothing to fault at. The formula has me and my mother on our feet; it's thick but once you rub it it, it just melts and the residual stickiness only lasts for no more than 10 seconds before leaving your hand as soft as butter. Whenever I visit Japan, mom always make sure that I bring at least one for her. As the name suggest, this is more heavier on tuberose's side than the rose itself. Compared to the others, this smells the sweetest.

Jill Stuart Tuberose & Rose Body Milk

The body milk version of Rose & Tuberose Hand cream. The only difference is truly only on the consistency side being body milk and all. Compared to TBS' body milk, Jill Stuart's is runnier but the funny thing is it's not as sticky. Scent wise, this smells completely the same with the hand cream.

Those are my favorite rose scented product. Do you have any favorite rose scented product?

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Jill Stuart Review Jewel Crystal Eyes N in Pink Cameo

Despite my love for Jill Stuart, I will not exactly associate them with term 'pigmented'. Don't get me wrong, I do not mean it in a bad way but rather, the image of Jill Stuart in my head is of a brand with subtle yet romantic makeup. Considering this, I was pleasantly surprised when I tried Jill Stuart's Eyeshadow for the first time.

Jill Stuart Jewel Crystal Eyes N is described as ' A dazzlingly bright sparkle, like finely crushed jewels. Eye colors that bring a sense of presence to your eyes'on JS's official site. As always, the packaging of this eyeshadow is to die for. This quad comes in 6 permanent colors, mostly variation of neutral pink and brown. 02 Pink Cameo is made up of white, pink, caramel, and dark brown color, all shimmery and contains fine silver glitter particle.

As mentioned above, they're more pigmented that I thought! Maybe their pigmentation isn't as superb as, let's say, MAC, but since I expected them to be another shimmer/glitter bomb with more glitter than pigment (which happened to be the case with the other JS eyeshadow), I was completely in awe when I tried this on. They actually show up on my dark eyelids even without primer. Texture wise, they're soft, buttery, a little bit crumbly but with minimum fall-out. Despite the glitter, they're not chalky like some shimmery/glittery shadow can be, in fact, they're very smooth!

Longevity wise, they last for 4 hours then starts to crease around then. It could be because of my oily lids, tho (mine is suuuper oily). Overall, I'm pleased with this product. Packaging and presentation aside, Jill Stuart Jewel Crystal Eyes N is a luxurious eyeshadow quad that makes you feel as luxurious when having them on.

Have you tried any Jill Stuart Eyeshadow? What's your favorite?

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The Pink Lips Edit

I think I forgot mentioning in my first blog post that this month will be entirely devoted to pink. I wouldn't even try to defend myself by saying; no, this absolutely has nothing to do with Valentine. Which happened to be tomorrow! Seeing as I'm single and perfectly happy, I will be spending the day hanging out with lovely Amez swatching makeup shamelessly endlessly while picking a gift for a friend. And, whoops, today we won't be talking about that, but let's talk about some pink lip product picks!

1. Jill Stuart Fruit balm in 02 Pink; first, I'm so sorry for the pathetic excuse of probably the best lipbalm I've every tried of all time. Having a very picky on top of dry, chapped lips, I'm struggling to find the one that really works on me. As you can see, this one got a real lot of loving for its moisturizing quality and it gives me the loveliest pink sheen as well!

2. Dior Lip Glow in Pink; the ever so classy and classic Lip Glow from Dior. I got this as souvenir from my uncle's Euro Trip and even if this was the only makeup related thing I received, I didn't feel disappointed at all because of how gorgeous this is. Sadly, not as moisturizing as Jill Stuart's balm but it still gets the work done.

3. Jill Stuart Lip Blossom in Amaryliss Poetry; excuse the typo. I think I have talked enough about this in my previous post. A perfect lipstick for someone with relatively dry lips and cool-toned/fair skin who wants a subtle or barely there vivid pink on your lips.

4. MAC in Cosmo; the classic pink-brown color. This is my favorite of out the bunch. It also performed the best out of all products mentioned there; opaque, long-lasting, and non-drying. Office appropriate doesn't equal to non-office appropriate, a perfect every day color that with the right eye makeup, can give your a classic, polished, and lady-like look.

5. Candy Doll in Lemonade Pink; probably the closest to nude-lips I owned. I'm quiet ambivalent about this lipstick, all I can say is this gets a great formula. The opacity is medium and can be layered for more opaque and nude color. With satin finish, this nude pink lipstick is a good pair for heavy, smokey eyes.

6. NYX Xtreme Shine Lipstick in Candy Land; I got this from my co-worker and have only tried it once or twice. With it's blue undertone, the color doesn't work that well for me which refrains further usafe. However, it's not as sticky as I expected it to be after initial swatch. For anyone who's looking for great liquid lipstick under the budget, I'm sure you have turned your way to NYX, but, hey! One more reminder won't hurt.

7. Jill Stuart Lip Jewel in Coral Kiss; same with Jill Stuart's Lip Blossom above, I've talked enough about this on my previous post. This leans more toward nude pink than coral but it doesn't diminish the fact that it's a lovely gloss with the finest particle of glitter, you can barely tell at all.

Those are some of my favorite pink lips products, what's yours? Do you have any particular lipstick color you love to wear on Valentine Day?

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Jill Stuart Review Lip Jewel and Lip Blossom

Jill Stuart's Lip Blossom (lipstick) and Lip Jewel (lipgloss) had been under my radar for a while. Being a paranoid turtle I am, I was reluctant to buy it online in fear of purchasing wrong color. Well, I still ended up buying (somewhat) wrong color despite not buying it online but at least I didn't spend extra bits for shipping fee. Beware; this is going to be a photo heavy post for a reason you'll understand once you see these gorgeous products.

Prior to 2015 Summer, Jill Stuart only had one lipstick line in their collection; Lip Blossom. The claim is this lipstick is supposed to give your lips a gentle color (like flower) with lustrous finish. Lip Jewel itself is described as a gloss that will give your the vividness and shine of jewel. Lip Blossom has 18 color selections in total while Lip Jewel has wider range with 22 colors. Generally, there're two type of finish of each products; with no glitter and with glitter.

The packaging of these lippies, as you can see, are gorgeous. Lip Blossom comes with these amazing engravings and the top can be flipped open to reveal a very small mirror. The mirror is supposed to help you when applying lipstick but frankly speaking, it's not that functional. The tip of the lipstick has a beautiful diamond cut that's gone the moment you swipe it (MAJOR SOBS). Lip Jewel has a clear diamond cut plastic tube instead of the usual, boring cylindrical or cubic tube. Both products are topped with pink crystal with swarovski element in it.

Lip Blossom in 05 Amaryllis Poetry is a bright pink lipstick with purple undertone. The coverage of this lipstick is sheer to medium, building up the product gives you more opaque color. It has glossy finish and quiet high amount of shine but without making your lips look oily. The texture is very creamy and it glides on like butter with no tugging at all. If you're struggling with constantly dry lips, this is a good lipstick for you.

Lip Jewel in 09 Coral Kiss is a nude coral gloss with fine golden glitter. If you're scared of glitter ) on your lips, worry not because the glitter particles are so fine I can barely feel it at all. The coverage is on the sheer end, I find that layering them increases the glossiness but not the opaqueness. This is good worn alone but I usually use it to top my Brave Red lipstick, it gives me the most beautiful red and juicy lips.

The major downside of these lippies are their lack of longevity. They only last for 2 hours (3 hours at best). I won't say Amaryllis Poetry looks good on me but it's not bad either since it doesn't make me look sick or anything relatively bad. Also, Lip Jewel sometimes leave a weird film on my lips, and when my lips are too dry, it flaked them horribly. I tried wearing them together once and I immediately took them off because the combination of these two doesn't work on me. I reckon these work best for someone with fair or cool-toned skin.

Overall, Jill Stuart Lip Blossom and Lip Jewel are good product. I wasn't expecting them to have smack-dab pigmentation like MAC or Burberry to begin with and I was also aware that they're going to be very glossy/shiny, so they didn't betray my expectation per se. They did what they claimed to do, which in my opinion, is better than product that failed its claim. Still, I wish they could fix their lasting powers and do something about that weird film. I usually whip them out for casual family outing of the day I don't want to appear too dressy.

If you are into glossy and moisturizing lipstick and doesn't mind minimum coverage, Jill Stuart Lip Blossom and Lip Jewel might be perfect for you! Have you tried any Jill Stuart's Lip Product?

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To do February

Hullo! I'm sure you have heard this thousand of times already, but; I can't believe we're a month into 2016! For February, there're quiet a lot of events to attend; my parent's wedding anniversary, parent's birthday, my best friend's birthday, cousin's wedding, work related event. Needless to say, my weekends are pretty packed even before the month even begin and it saddens me because it means less time for photographing and writing. However, I'm getting back into my planningroutine and I have to admit it really helps me getting works done! Below are some my To-do for this month;

1. More healthy lifestyle, I need to shave at least 1 kg this year. Less snacking/eat out, saves money

2. Find a time in between busy weekends to photograph/write. I figured the shorter time I have, the more focused I am

3. Read more about SEO and content marketing in between. It's both work and hobby related.

4. Be more consistent on instagram post. At least 3 times a week.

5. Minimum of 6 blog entry for a month

6. Sort out my wishlist this year and starts budgeting

7. Pick up this Pore Deep Cleansing Foam, Power Essential Skin Refiner Light from Laneige, or Midnight Recovery Serum, Blue Herbal Spot Treatment from Kiehls. 

8. Quote of the month; the hardest thing in any experience is taking the first step

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