10 things for Long Weekend

One | Long weekend itself is a  blessing already. 4 days not having to think about work, life cannot get any luxurious than this.

Two | I went with my bestie, Amez, last Saturday to Ikea. Despite the mouth-watering deal for some furniture, we skipped it and went straight for smaller things. I got an adorable pastel pink bowl (considering to get the plates as well), bed sheet and pillow sheet in lovely navy color, and cutleries for my mom.

Three | If you visited my instagram, you'd have seen I'm starting take a different style of photography. I'm trying to say goodbye to over-exposed white background, and embracing textures instead. I'd use the long weekends to try and explore this new style of photography. It's daunting but exciting at the same time since I've been in horrible photography rut this year!

Four | Pancake. Fluffy pancake. We got new standing mixer (courtesy of new house), as well as spanking new recipe. I might post some on my story, keep in track!

Five | Sleep. Long, good, unbothered sleep.

Six | Season greetings are coming, meaning new calendars, new photocards, new journals! How exciting.

Seven | I recently received a totally adorable Alice-themed tea selection from my friend. I've always been huge for earl grey, iced or hot, and this holidays will have me drinking them non stop.

Eight | Writing. Blogging. You name it. Recently, I got the kick after binge reading some stories and blogs while I was bed-ridden from nasty, evil cold. Blessing in disguise?

Nine | sheet masks. I have at least ten? Sheet masks ready to use in my freezer. They're such a treat after clay mask, cooling, and hydrating. But for whatever reason, I'm always too lazy to slap them on. I should quickly work on them before they expire (can they?)

Ten | Youtube. I have so many unwatched videos in my youtube feed, like lovely vlogmas by I Covet Thee and Kate La Vie. Time to finish them in between my productive hours, because life is all about balance, right?

What's your plan for long holiday?

All about Bases for Oily Skin

When it comes to base, I'm incredibly fussy, to say the least (when I'm bothered, of course). Having oily skin, living in country with tropical country with average humidity of 70%~90%, and temperature averaging from 23°C ~ 26 °C. Even if the sun is not high up there, shining, the humid air still melt my base rather easily. Simply put; it's absolute nightmare for my oily skin.

My search for the perfect base routine has began and I think will continue on until I find my absolute one. The ones I have tried so far have been either hit or a miss; wrong undertone or wrong texture. It does mattify but clings on dry patches. It's the right coverage but no exact color match. It's such a long, arduous (allow me to exaggerate), and money-consuming task.

I tend to research first (endless, and endless of blog reading, video hopping), hit the store, find the closest to my match, and stick with it regardless I'm 100% in love with it or not. So far, I've ended up with 5 foundations and 3 bases/primer. They're either hit or miss, but at least they give me the base (no pun intended) to work from.

R O U T I N E

My base routine itself is pretty simple. After skincare and SPF (absolutely important, especially in where I live), I start my makeup my applying the base first. My current love, and the one I crowned as my holy grail for its ability to give my skin that lovely, healthy, perky glow without being oily, is PAUL AND JOE PROTECTING FOUNDATION PRIMER.  After smoothing it all over my face, I leave.

Joke aside, I sometimes do that when I'm feeling really lazy. Next, comes the eye makeup. Whatever mess I make around my eyes is the concealer's job to tidy up. As for now, my concealer of choice is MAYBELLINE FIT ME CONCEALER. As far as drugstore concealer goes, I think this one is the best among the ones I have tried.It's fluid, thin, but still offers decent coverage. Foundation comes after that, applied with damp beauty blender since my mom has taken my foundation brush hostage (she's incredibly in love with it), and finished it with dusting of loose powder with big, fluffy brush.

T H E  E S S E N T I A L S

BOBBI BROWN LONG WEAR EVEN FINISH FOUNDATION SPF 15 is not my first proper foundation, but it's my first high-end, and it definitely sets the bar up high. It has incredibly light-weight formula; the most decisive factor for me. I hate the feeling of having a product on my face, I feel stiffed, like my skin cannot properly breath. True to its name, this one has impressive lasting power. The formula is definitely on the fluid side, the most fluid out of all oily-skin targeted foundation I've tried so far. The finish is less than matte but more of a stain, very natural, and like other BB foundations; skin-like. My only problem is it doesn't have my exact color match, but seeing as this is my second bottle, I don't have that much problem with it.

Needing something closer to my skin tone, and generally hungry to try Nars', NARS VELVET MATTE SKIN TINT with SPF 30 entered my collection last year. Considered my effort to get it as extra as I went far to Japan just to have this baby lining up my arsenal (obviously, I didn't go to Japan just for this babe). I had incredibly pleasant experience with the SA, and I fell equally in love with the product itself. It's a fuss-free product, easy to apply (often, I forego tool at all and go with bare hands), and perfect for on the go. It doesn't have impressive coverage as it's never targeted as such, but gives skin major lift up by evening out discoloration, along with satin finish.

MAKEUP FOREVER MAT VELVET+ is highly coveted in the beauty world for being the 'it' foundation for oily skin. It entered local market just this year, and despite the poor shade selection, I bit the bullet and went with darkest shade offered. Alas, of course it's too light for my skin, I have to mix it with NARS to tone down the color. This has the thickest formula so far, and rather hard to blend, or maybe it's because I always deal with fluid foundation that I find this too thick? Either way, sometimes, I thin it down by mixing it with primer or a spritz of facial mist. Coverage wise, this triumph my other foundation (I often use it as under-eye concealer). BUT I find this one cling to my dry patches, so I have to make sure my skin is properly hydrated, even exfoliated, before using this. To be honest, the result is rather underwhelming.

URBAN DECAY is finally available offline around here, and the first product I tried from them is their equivalent of NARS' VELVET MATTE SKIN TINT, which is ONE AND DONE HYBRID COMPLEXTION PERFECTOR SPF 20. I dare say I love this more than NARS (sorry NARS) since its shade is more accurate to mine. On hand, this doesn't feel as drying as NARS', although a little bit sticky. Like MUFE, this one is rather thick, but not the point that I have to thin it down nor giving me blending difficulty. Despite not marketed with full coverage, I find this one hides my blemish quiet well.

T H E  F I  N I S H I N G

MAYBELLINE FIT ME POWDER is my on the go touch up powder. After trying high-end powder and found rather underwhelming result, I decided that as far as touching powder goes, I'll just stick to drugstore one aka. Maybelline, seeing as this my second purchase already. I don't think I'll switch for a while, this does everything I need as touch up powder; compact, eliminate shine, and adds a tiny bit of coverage I need as I go on with my long day.

Loose powder is, surprise! surprise! a little bit of a faf for me. I used to have one from BARE MINERALS and I find it more or less a dud product? Which is weird since everyone love it to bits and pieces. I rekindled my love for it after trying THE SAEM PERFECT PORE POWDER. Usually, I'd stay away from any white powder since they can give skin a grey cast, but this translucent one has absolutely none, and makes my skin silky soft. I cannot vouch for the pore-blurring effect but it certainly makes my skin look perfect!

A spritz of finishing spray or facial mist to lessen the flatness of my face, then I'm done! I have to say that I'm yet to find the one for me, but it in itself is an exciting thing since it means I have an excuse to try an entirely new product. Have any recommendation?

Desk Updates

The past four months had me, for the first time in my life (or, maybe, not really the first time. Technically.) moved out of my house. It went a major renovation, as major as tearing down the roof, and foundation, and tiles, and walls, and start everything from zero. We're living in spanking brand new house now, my mother's dream house with cream colored wall and high ceiling, and I find myself in a new room, with light turqoise colored wall and white furnitures.

The first thing that I put together was my desk. I switched from my, practically 10 years old desk to Alex desk from Ikea last August. It has two drawers; one where I store my stationaries, and the right one for my beauty bits.

I use random boxes that I purposely kept to store them. I have quiet a lot of fandom things like postcards, photocards, stickers, and what-not, and seeing them cluttered whenever I pull my drawer out makes me incredibly mad. Boxes are great for this reason. Boxes are life-saver. I love boxes. They separate my polaroids and fansites' goods so well. Nice, pretty, boxes.

The set up for my makeup is pretty much the same, still using the classic Muji acrylic drawer to store them. My collection definitely grow this year, especially on the eye department, but I managed to fit all of them in one box! Okay, maybe not, since liquid base products and sprays are put inside the drawer, but the other decor items like blushes and lipstick are sitting prettily inside the boxes. What a beauty blogger dream.

Obviously I will talk about my beauty set up later once I have acquired a proper vanity mirror (I'm holding on with my hand mirror and folding mirror now. Absolute nightmare), and the focus of today's post will be the desk set up in general.

I have decided to go with it and display things I love. Things that gives me joy and inspiration. Say goodbye to pretty prints and quotes, and hello to biases! Yes, I do love them! I shamelesly put three huge photos, and there are still, at least four? Five? to come once the season greetings I ordered arrive.

The A3 Canvas is from DeFlow's photo exhibition back in July and it took at least three months until it reached me. The long wait is incredibly worthed it. I was in awe as I unpacked the photo canvas. DeFlow's photo quality is stunning as always, the rich, vibrant color, the candidness of this photo that perfectly captured his emotion; perfect! I always feel energized waking up to this every morning.

The mesh board is from Ikea. It comes with paper clips as well, but as you can see, as I slowly fill them with many, many photo cards, postcards, photo stickers, and birthday cards, they're not enough, and I need to pull out my wooden clips. I have pretty much everything I love there, and like any other mood board, this will probably change the next season/month, but for now, these are my ultimates. I also hang my sunglasses on the corner for a dash of maturity, as my sister put it.

Down below, I have my Hermes' perfume, Argain Body butter from body shop, box of My Burberry Perfume, and shell dish from Zara Home to store my bracelets and rings. To finish, I put my rabbit plushie from Ikea, and a captain America tsumtsum in its lap.

The desk is very me, it's not the desk you will expect from twenty something, fully-functioning adult. However, here it is, my desk, I think it's me, in desk set up form(?). It has a taste of everything from high end lipstick, child's toy, spices and cardamom perfume, potrait of idols, and photo stickers from her younger days. It's very personal, and since it's the place where I will spend most of my time in, I think it makes sense that I want, or rather; need it to be one.

How do you set up your desk?

An Ode to Pink Eyeshadows

If it wasn't obvious already (which, I'm sure; it's not), I've accumulated a fair amount of warm toned eyeshadow these past months. Starting from ZOEVA's Caramel melange palette, and now I have total of two palettes full of pinkish and reddish colors. I know it's little compared to some other bloggers out there with their infinite amount of palettes, but the thought of having too much to actually wear sends me into this spiral of anxiety. Am I the only one?

I'm omitting the said Caramel Melange from this post for the sake of focusing on to the pinkish tones only. Starting with the stunning Cherry Blossom palette from Etude House. I didn't have high hope to begin with, I expected some to be horribly crumbly, a fall out fess, or not doing anything at all period, and, voila! It's actually better than I expected.

Some shades are duds, like two colors on right end (which is INCREDIBLY disappointing, because, boy, was I looking forward to that bright magenta one), some are stellar. God-sent. Life-saver. The shimmery champagne and peach are my favorites throughout September as all-over lids color, instant wake me up color, they'd say. They look beautiful under my eyes too, with the matte brown smudged on the corner and lash lines.

I love to mix the muted purple (matte) with the brown one as crease/transitional color. It's definitely on pigmented shade as it shows up with purplish hue instead of turning muddy color on my darker lids. The gold shade (5th from bottom) has no gold pigment whatsoever, but it's perfect pick when I want some sparkles on my eyes.

The rest are single eyeshadows, again, from Korean Brands. I regret not picking up more Aritaum mono shadow, they're cheap as chips, and are splendid on the lids. I can never seem to skip patting this glittery shadow in Coral Mod on the center of my lids. Of course when I actually bother putting on makeup, aka. mostly three times a week as of late. I already picked at least three other colors to add to my collection, I'm addicted, it seems.

Lazier day calls for Enamel Eyes, another product from Etude House. It's cream product that I usually stay away at least 100000 ft radius from (oily lids ahead), but this one surprisingly stay put. Maybe thanks to the primer I never fail to put on prior from slathering this on. Either way, it's gorgeous coral-y, orange shade with specks of gold.

The remaining two producst are single shadows from The Saem that I've mentioned time to time. Both are mattes, both can be infuriatingly powdery, but both manage to escape the curse of patchy, non-pigmented matte. Fear it not, the red isn't as intimidating in real life. Applied with light hand, it gives a nice breathe of statement color, usually, I used it on the outer corner of my eyes, with the pink one as all over lid color.

Whilst they work beautifully together, like butter on toast, of course I love to experiment. Throw all these warm tones together, no eyeliner, smudge the darkest and boldest color instead, slather those shimmers, and glitters! Throw some matte on the crease! Add some more red! Pat on glitters!

It sounds mad. It sounds crazy. But that's how I've been sporting my eyes for the last three to four months (again; when I can be bothered, because you only have time as little as energy at 4 AM). The trend might have passed with the release of UD's Naked Heat (that I'm checking everyday at Sephora Online like Vulture), but I'm never one to follow the trend anyways, so, I will continue charming pink clouds onto the lids for, months to come.

What's your favorite pink eyeshadows?

a Confession of

Here I am, 7 am in the morning, sitting in front of my mother's laptop, pondering what should I write to explain about my absence this past couple of months. As another thought, that I didn’t have any drink with me entered my thought, I realize something, that might came across as selfish, that; hey, I don’t owe anyone but myself an explanation.

Which is, incredibly selfish, one might say so. But by the end of the day, this blog is another space of mine, a personal space, or at least; that's what it supposed to be, until I got trapped, tangled in what we called 'blogger cliché', and looking back my past entries I began questioning myself; just who were you trying to emulate, self?

Simply put, they didn't feel like me, that writing style, that attempt to be a cheery and upbeat twenty something girl who enjoys candle, routinely slathers body lotion, and have a structured life, it's not me. But maybe what got me the most is that writing style. is. not. me. 

I write like this; ramble-y, so many comas in between and might annoy the hell out of anyone who's used to flowy sentences (what is flowy sentences, even?). I go round and round, making unnecessary long description about how someone's voice is rich, like honey dips, gold like sun that sits on morning dew. I write nonsensical, my thought goes everywhere and where, and return to point one. I did it well, incredibly so on my other writing outlet, but not here.

To be completly, and painfully honest; I never feel satisfied at this blog, and despite my denials, like; a year old denial, it's because I keep comparing myself to other bloggers. See? That blogger cliché, again. This little space structured out of HTMLs and JPGs is supposed to be mine, but reading my past entries, there's this strange sense of detachment.

Back to my previous question; who am I trying to emulate?

My favorite bloggers, with no doubt. And that is so wrong in so many levels, because I realize by the end of the day what I love about them is how personal their blogs are, it feels like they are talking to me themselves. They have their own writing style, their own photography, none of them are exact carbon copy of one another, and they're supposed to be who I aspire to be.

But it's a mistake, that everyone easily fell into when they first started this. The sin called comparison, and ironic turn of wanting to be better, brought me here, and here I am, with my own voice, with my own writing style (which you have noticed by now; very ramble-y, 180 degrees turn of my past entries), ready to tear it all down.

Enter 'Dear Lunatics', Changing my blog url is a huge decision, it's a long winding steps, too, but I'm willing to take these baby steps. It's a long process, like learning to brew the right coffee, like discovering yourself. Like waking up in the morning knowing you have to tackle the day but your limbs are too weary, and you are not ready, but your head is ringing sirene of; get up, you failure! Everybody can, why cannot you?

I will no longer force myself to write about what I do not want to write. I will not force myself to make content calendar to fill. While some of you might screech in horror; "NO! CONTENT CALENDAR IS LIFE!" , I think it's a step that I need. For now. The key. For now. Too many things are happening with me this year, as I've addressed a couple of times in this blog (which is the only explanation I could give you for now). I'm still trying to find an even ground for myself, and if that included walking away from the safe structure that I've been standing on all these times, then so be it.

There's no promise I can give as to when I will make a comeback, instead, I can give it that I'll be falling out of the regular blogger train and hop onto the slow blogger ones. That’s it, everyone. Have a nice Sunday!

And I will make myself a cup of coffee. By the way, my mom suddenly announced she had a hairdresses appointment for me in 30 minutes, so, another to-do list un-checked.

But you know, what? It's fine.

Everyday Makeup Staples

As much as the beauty content I consume every day is the morning I wake up feeling putting on makeup is the last thing I’d do. Hopefully I’m not alone in this department, I reckon each person have their own reasoning, but for me, mostly because of fatigue. The need to look presentable prevails still, and these are the products I reach for when the blue-morning comes.

Never before I thought a primer will bring excitement to my life. If you remember last year, I fawned so much over MAX FACTOR’s faceffinity, this one is even better. While both are lovely as foundation base, PAUL & JOE PROTECTING FOUNDATION PRIMER works as beautifully alone. The official website doesn’t mention anything about what this silky liquid contains, but it lives true to its moisturizing and lightweight claim. It is very fluid, easy to apply, rather than primer, this resembles a tinted moisturizer. Smoothing this over my face instantly banishes the dullness of my skin, brightens up, and enlivens my face. The perfect one for lazy morning.

Until last year, I was never a brow person. I mentioned briefly in my last post that it’s all the Korean beauty bits that got me excited about brows. While I’m getting better at drawing my brows, in the morning when all I want to do is fall face first on the bed instead of stepping out to tackle busy day, a tinted brow mascara is the ultimate life saver. THE SAEM BROWCARA in BROWN is bought precisely for this reason; aye, I bought it to save my lazy-ass soul. Like other brow mascara out there, just a wiggle here and there, voila! They might not be Instagram-worthy brows, but they save my brows from looking like two sad caterpillars sitting on top of my eyes.

A staple from last year is my JILL STUART LAYER BLUSH in OLD ROSE. Looking at the dents, you can tell this blush has been thoroughlyl loved. I mean, who’s not excited looking at that elegant packaging, am I right? Containing very fine shimmer, this pinky-mauve blush lifts up my complexion in a breeze. A swipe of this on the apple of my cheeks and I’m ready to tackle the day.

Lips is that one department I can never leave out because I’d look like a sickly looking potato (is that even a thing?). I moved temporary out of my house for renovation, and I had tucked away lipsticks that I no longer wear, leaving me with only two of them. What I thought would be the chance to use up old products changed upon purchase and purchase of lipstick (hope I’m not the only one who had committed this atrocity). As of late, I’ve been loving NYX SOFT MATTE LIP CREAM in BUDAPEST or PRAGUE, with old love BURBERRY LIP VELVET in OBXBLOOD occasionally thrown into the mix.

Birthday Haul

This post is so long overdue since my birthday was in early September, but I needed time to try the new products so I can at least give short impression about them. Excluding the cleansing oil which has become a staple in my routine and the cream eyeshadow on the top-left, all of them are new products that I never tried before, perfect goods for birthday, isn’t it?

ETUDE HOUSE Play 101 Pencil; after trying the brown one and loving it, I decided to get the champagne one as well since I do not have any product for my waterline. It’s as creamy as the brown one, and glides well without any tugging, I love to put it in my inner corner as well for more precise application.

ARITAUM Mono Eyes in Coral Mod; Since March, I’ve been into this whole warm-eyeshadow looks, even before UD released the highly coveted Naked Heat (which I’m planning to get once I hit pan on my ZOEVA Palette), and the last summer was spent perfecting my collection. I fell in love with this shade after watching ESTHERIS’ video on youtube; it’s a perfect, sparkly coral eyeshadow with more glitter than the actual pigment. I didn’t think I’d love this kind of formula, but after layering this on the center of my lids for, basically; every single time, I changed my opinion. It sparked life into my eye makeups.

ETUDE HOUSE Play Color Eyes in Cherry Blossoms; there were two palettes that caught my attention, this one and the Red Wine. I figured Red Wine looks too similar with what I already owned and go with Cherry Blossoms instead. This palette has 10 colors centering around pinks and corals. It only has 3 mattes, they're slightly powdery, but blends really well. Pigmentation is inconsistent but it's medium at most, at least they still show up on my somehwat dark lids. I'm still playing around with this palette, I'll come up with a post on its own dedicated to this one.

MAC Brush Cleanser; since I started experimenting with eye makeup basically every single morning, my brush have been looking as dirty as ever. I'm too lazy to deep clean every single week (yep, I admit that), hence the rising need for brush cleanser. This does the job of removing pigments fine, but not as efficient as I imagined it to be.

THE BODY SHOP Mauritius Dahlia; this is birthday present from my friend. True to my fashion, I entered this whole liquid lipstick craze very late. After getting NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream and seemingly unable to live without it, my friend figured that I need another one in my arsenal and voila! Mauritius Dahlia is the darkest of the bunch, a deep burgundy shade with red undertone. It's like my highly coveted BURBERRY Oxblood but deeper. It's very creamy, pigmented, but in term of longevity, it's inferior to NYX's.

What do you think of my birthday haul?

Life Lately

2018 is barely 4 months away, 2017 had many things happened to me, both for better and worse. You might have noticed the lack of activity in my blog, and that's one of the consequence. Nevertheles, I'm trying to enjoy what it's been giving me.

Beauty
My love affair with warm-toned eyeshadow still continues. I’ve been enjoying applying Etude House Enamel Eyes in OR02, a glittery cream eyeshadow with lovely shades of pinkish-orange. From the same brand is the Play 101 Pencil, an equally creamy brown pencil liner with fine golden specks, to tight-line my eyes, something I didn’t fancy doing before! On my lips, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Prague has become a staple, the fuchsia color is nice addition to my berry tones lipstick collection.

F&B
Coffee has become compulsory, like education, for my life. I noticed that during fasting month when I wasn’t able to get my daily morning fix, my mood just went abysmal; for an entire month at that. Now that I can get it daily again, I never want to part with it anymore, such a cliché my life has become, eh? Adding hazelnut syrup to my Americano is something I’ve been enjoying as of late. 

Health
On June, I was diagnosed with problems on my knees, I’m not allowed to wear heels anymore, so I had to bid goodbye to my majority of footwear (which basically meant; everything). I’ve been living in Keds ever since, and I have to say I’m a convert!  I have a pair from Disney Collection, and I’m eyeing another one they do with Riffle Paper & Co.

Style
After graduating college, I’ve found my signature style which includes A-line skirt (my favorite is from Zara, with pockets, very handy!) and t-shirt. Most of my clothing is from Stradivarius, t-shirt included, and I’ve always got the one from basic collection. Last August, I picked up one from the organic line, the material is thicker than the usual, with longer sleeves as well, I cannot stop wearing them! I have two; one in mustard and muted pink.

Music
I’m still pretty much in love with everything NCT127 got to offer, their latest album CHERRY BOMB has been my favorite since its release (Whiplash tops everything else, no further question). Creeping into my playlist are Superheroes by The Script and Stay by Zedd & Alessia Cara. I’ve also been loving the old album from 2012 by EGOIST, her soft vocal always managed to get me.

Old Love Affair with Korean Brands

Like true k-pop fans, the only makeup I knew back then had been Korean makeups. It was all the rage back in 2010, everyone seemed to be in love with the 8 steps Korean skincare (which was crazy for teenage me who found the idea of applying lip balm appalling), the sheet masks, and the BB-cream. I remember my very first makeup product was Shini Star BB Cream from Etude House, then rice concealer from The Skin Food (which was pretty meh), and eyeliner from The Face Shop (the worst eyeliner in history).

I was never into them anymore after beauty blogging took me by storm, introducing me to western brands, and my experience in living in Japan itself changed my preference. Love, however, had its way of coming back. Everything pretty much started after I picked up the red eyeshadow by The Saem, inspired by the gorgeous burgundy eyes I saw on K-Con Mexico, I searched high and low only to find the red/pinks eyeshadow available on Korean Makeup brands (not even NYX had them in stock! Shocking!). I had the red one first, then just a couple of weeks ago, I picked up the pink one from the same store.

But now as I write this, I realized maybe it wasn’t the pink eyeshadows, maybe it was my trip to Korea early this year that started it all. I pretty much did skincare haul from Innisfree, because as skeptical I was to their makeup (I know; I know), I do believe in their skincare. Then Innisfree officially opened their store in my country, with really affordable price at that, and I pretty much went wild.

Their Suncreen for oily skin is a dream to apply, even if it’s not as milky as Japanese sunscreen, more in creamier side, it absorbs pretty quickly and doesn’t leave any gray cast on the skin. I picked up aloe revital skin mist on a whim, didn’t expect any skincare benefit from this mist which isn’t what this is marketed for either, it’s really refreshing to spray this all over my face after a long day. Innisfree also have divine sheet and capsule masks, both which I pop in the freezer before use with different benefits.

From the makeup department, my infatuation with warm-toned eyeshadow just got even worse. Following the matte singles from The Saem is Enamel Eyes from Etude House, it’s pretty much cream eyeshadow with fine-shimmer particles, I usually swipe all over the lids for pinkish-orange look, or popping it on the center of my lids for dimension.

Still for eye makeups, Innisfree Microcara is savior for people with short lashes like me, the bristles are really fine and small, making applying them easier, especially for under eyes (no more poking my eyes or accidentally ruining my eye makeup from unstable hand). Auto eyebrow pencil makes drawing my brow (which used to be a nightmare), a better experience.

My collection is growing (too rapidly if I must say), I’m currently waiting for my order to arrive next week (another eyeshadows!). I used to stay away from them because I found these Korean makeup turned really over-priced once they become officially available in my country, plus, western brand does better product in general, at least on my skin. It feels nice to have proven wrong once in a while, now I cannot seem to stop browsing through their website, scoring for pretty warm-toned eyeshadow to pop into my shopping cart (but never actually buy it, because, let’s be real, it’s getting too cluttered in here lately).

Have you tried any Korean skincare or makeup products?

Current Bedside Situation

THE BODY SHOP Argan Oil body butter has been my go to as of late, I like to slather this on my skin just before bed after a hot shower. It leaves my skin feeling buttery smooth without being sticky. I cannot not have it on my bedside table.

The sweltering weather lately leaves me parched, so I love to have my tumbler next to me. This was SHINee tumbler from SUM Market, perfect size for icy drink; peach tea with tons of ice cube or cold apple juice.

Ever since it arrived late April, I cannot stop adoring BANANAFISH' photography. She really has the talent. They said you can't take a good photo unless your heart is in it, and her loves toward her object shines.

JONGHYUN's BASE / SHE IS & NCT 127 FIRETRUCK have been on repeat since I'm yet to receive my CHERRY BOMB album. BASE is a classic, MONO-Drama is a song I will never get tired of, same with White T-Shirt. Paradise is perfect song for a sunny day drive. These albums are truly the embodiement of summer.

What do you have on your bedside table?

acceptance over understanding

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Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Who doesn't love peanut butter? And chocolate? And both of them combined? Chewy, soft cookies with crispy edges? Yumm, you can't deny them. Not with how easy this recipe is; 5 ingredients!

I used to be such a baker girl back in college, whipping batches and batches of cookies or brownies every now and then. I no longer have the luxury of time to bake after started working full time, but the holiday gave me time to revisit my favorite peanut butter cookies recipe.

1 cup  of peanut butter (store-bought. You can use both the creamy one and chunky one. I use creamy skippy for the 'melt in your mouth' kind of cookies, and chunky for extra peanut chunks)

1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large eggs
1 tbs baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips/chocolate chunks, or, really; go overzealous with them
additional (for me): 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Mix brown sugar, egg, and baking soda on mixing bowl until thoroughly incorporated,

add in the peanut butter and mix again. Enjoy that heavenly peanut butter scent filling your house, proceed with caution; do not dip your finger too much into the batter. I know it's tempting, but; don't. Once is enough,

dunk in the chocolate chips/chunks. Mix again to your liking; use spatula if you wanted the chocolate to be big, or mixer if you want them broken into little pieces and play'peek a boo' in your mouth later,

chill the dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight,

Scoop the dough using small ice cream scoop, place it on baking try with 5 cm between each cookies.

Bake in 250 F for 8~10 minutes. Let it cool, then,

dig in.

 What is your favorite peanut butter recipe?

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Nail-ing The Summer Blues

Excuse the bad pun, but don't we all love a bad pun? No. Okay, then. It won't stop me from sharing these three gorgeous blue nail polish to rock in summer. They look especially pretty with a little bit of tan.

Imagine chilling by the pool with perfectly done nails; sea-turqoise nails, isn't it just lovely? The most recent addition to my nail polish squad fits the job perfectly;  PAUL & JOE La Piscine. Unlike other muted-blue that can turn ashy, this shows up as true turqoise. The formulation is also something I incredibly love; one swipe for rich, opaque goodness.

Blue and silver can do no wrong in my opinion, they're made for each other. Hence why this polish from JILL STUART is a perfect pick for summer. Observant Virgo is a lovely sapphire blue polish with silver glitter that adds a touch of fun onto your nails.

CHANEL Vibrato might not be my favorite in term of formulation but I have to admit that this particular shade of blue looks really great against my medium-olive skin. It dries well, the glossy finish also never fail to make me swoon.

What are your summer blushers pick?

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5 Products I cannot Live without

"Products I cannot Live without" is such a classic post for blogger. While I do not have them for makeup category, skincare is a whole another story. My skin condition is heavily reliant on the products I used, once I found the right routine, I'm not inclined to change just for the sake of trying new product if it means 'jeopardizing' my skin's health.

For years, I've been loyal user of SHISEIDO Perfect Whip, exactly because of how good it is. It's thick, creamy, and lathered up right with foaming net gives you such a dense ball of foam for heavenly cleansing experience. Whenever I tried to swerve lane by using another cleanser, my skin gets bad, maybe this cleanser is cursing me or something to use it forever.

No brand does oil like KIEHL's do. Their Midnight Recovery Oil is a coveted product for a reason, and while not as hyped, Blemish Clearing Cream is another gem in their lines. Combo of this to every night blesses me with happy, clearer skin in the morning.

The very first product that shows actual effect on my skin is Essential Balancing Emulsion from Laneige. It's mouthful, what's with emulsion and all, but to put it simply; this is moisturizer for oily skin that also comes with UH-MAZING skin clearing effect. I noticed that after using this, my acne scar fades faster. Not what I expected from product that's not marketed as such, adds another reason to love it.

Okay, so this is technically cheating since I said I have none from makeup category, do forgive me for I really, truly cannot live without this one. For years I stay away from MAYBELLINE's eye product since they refuse to go along with my oily lids, until this one. Lash Sensational is favorite of many, and I can see why. I can skip the curling step, yet I get the fluttery and curling effect just the same.

What are products you cannot live without?

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Favorite One Wash Wonders

For someone who talks about beauty, I'm actually on the 'rubbish' side when it comes to applying eye shadow, I cannot even do smokey eyes right to safe a life (ahem - my sister's life ,actually). Either it's my incompetency or I'm just too into 'energy-saving' when it comes to it. One-wash wonder is more my thing, especially these three.

BURBERRY Gold Pearl; you might be thinking 'oh, this again?', which is exactly the testament of how much I love this eye shadow. Burberry's color range might not be exciting for some people (brown and nude and neutrals), but for me, the whole charm of its eye shadow lies in its formula. Easily applicable with buttery texture, lack of cough-inducing powderiness, intense pigmentation with glow-inducing finish; exactly what you'd want from such luxurious product.

NARS Isolde; my most recent eyeshadow purchase quickly make it to the list, no wonder. I'm smitten with the golden color which has slight orange-ness on it, either because it's actually there or because of my skin color. The shade actually makes the ey eshadow more dimensional than being the classic gold, taking away the 'boringness' of one-wash wonder.

ZOEVA Caramel Melange; shade '18 C' is 'dearly abused' ever since I got my hand on this palette. The only downside about this palette is its powderiness, yet it doesn't stop me from applying this pearl orange shadow on my lids.

What are you favorite one wash wonders?

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Pick Me Up Haul

There's no denying I've been feeling under the weather lately. There is no denying either than when I feel stressed, I tend to channel it by spending my money. It makes me feel guilty sometimes, but when I'm driven to the wall, all I wanna do is feel good by treating myself. Here are some products I picked up.

NARS Duo in Isolde; this duo from NARS have been in my wishlist since forever. I'm smitten with the combination of  gold and copper, such beautiful pair for easy yet polished look. Perfect for someone who's more into 'one wash wonder' kind of shadow. The formula is dreamy; buttery-smooth, non-powdery, and pigmented.

MAYBELLINE Fit Me Concealer; for years I stay loyal to BOBBI BROWN's creamy concealer, to the point I actually got kind of bored with it (I'm sure I'm not the only one?) . FIT ME Line just got available recently and with how many people said it's dupe of the infamous NARS creamy concealer, I cannot help but try.  I've only tried it a couple of times to really give my verdict, but this one is a lot more runny than the original NARS.

KIEHL's Butterstick Simply Rose; the new lip balm offering from KIEHL's got me reeling. I absolutely adore KIEHL's as a brand and this balm reminds me a lot of FRESH sugar lip treatment (which I had love-hate relationship with). I can say I like this tinted balm more than FRESH's offering, simply because it doesn't make my lips flakey by the end of the day, and despite being light-weight, it gives my lips lots of moisture.

THE BODY SHOP Lip & Cheek Tint; I got this for free by exchanging my TBS points without any expectation at all. The pigmentation and lasting power surprise me, but other than that, the formula doesn't work that well. It leaves my lips patchy by the end of the day and doesn't stay on my upper lip at all.

THE BODY SHOP 3 in 1 Brow Definer; this brow-noob is finally challenging the world of brows, yay! I stick with brow mascara not only just for the ease of it, but because I'm scared I'd just buthcer my brow if I tried anything more 'complicated'. Yes; 'drawing brow' is complicated in my opinion. This pencil comes with brush, highlighter, and actual brow pencil. The pencil is creamy and easy to draw, it's not as pigmented but it saves me from over-drawing my brow.

What do you buy when you're feeling down?

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5 Jill Stuart Favorites

As a brand that often get mention in this blog, of course Jill Stuart deserves another exclusive post. I admit that Jill Stuart product can be a hit or miss on me, despite how much I love them. But once they ticked the boxes, they’re too amazing not to be talked about. Here are 5 favorites of mine.

Nail Polishes; I’ve talked about their nail polishes here. Not only beautifully-made bottles, they also come with beautiful formula. I rarely have problem with neither applying nor removing except for some that came with glitters. They wear beautifully for 3~5 days without chipping. The shades range is more on romantic side with many pinks and nudes, it goes well with their brand identity; something romantic and timeless.

Hand cream; some people might find it marmite but hand cream is something that is actually difficult to get right. Some only have the scent without having moisturizing quality, or it’s hydrating but too sticky. Jill Stuart got it right in every sense; consistency, hydrating and moisturizing, also the heavenly scent. There’s a reason why this is my mom’s favorite.

Blush; it’d be weird to talk about Jill Stuart but not about their blush, it’s equivalent to talk about MAC but not about their lipstick, seeing as it’s their best-selling product. You’d think they’ll turn sheer on my medium-tan skin, but they’re actually quiet vibrant. The medium pigmentation makes it buildable so it’s impossible you can go wrong with it. It also gives your cheeks nice and healthy radiance with their micro-shimmer, I have large pores, but I never have issue with it.

Lip Balm; like hand cream, it sounds simple but finding ‘the one’ for you is not an easy task. I can say this is the best lip balm I’ve ever used. It’s thick but absorbs into lips quickly, giving my lips sheen, moisture, plus a hint of color. It also tastes and smells delicious, as I don’t have problem with fragrance in product, it’s pleasant, but if you have, this might not be the one for you.

Mouse Brow Mascara; I recently talked about this in my 1^st impression post. This quickly rose to the top of my favorite brow product! Brow used to be the last of my priority but after this came into my life, filling my brows become such a joy. I love how easily it fills my brow, shape them, and keep them at place at the same time. It doesn’t even take a minute, so hassle free!

Have you tried any of these products?

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