The Best Makeup Edit 2016

With the end of the year approaching, posts about yearly favorites are popping here and there. Just like NYE itself, it's a tradition. I use this chance to look back and see what products did I love this year. Though my focus was more on skincare throughout 2016, I got myself some lovely makeup bits that I absolutely adore. Even if my makeup stash is considerably small, to keep things simple, I'm excluding products that I bought last year.

I finally tried Nars for the first time this year, and I'm incredibly smitten. My base favorites are two items from Nars. Their Velvet Matte Skin Tint and Contour Kit have been a firm staple in my routine since July. Both are light-weight and looks like real skin, especially the skin tint. The contour kit can double up as blusher since it has slight rose-tint to it, very handy when I was feeling lazy.

I got another chance to nab some Jill Stuart item this year. While not all of their items are stellar in term of performance, I cannot deny the quality of their best selling item; the blusher. With build-able pigmentation and finely milled shimmer, this blush gives my cheeks a very radiant, flushing cheeks. Their nail polishes are also in top tier quality. They're priced roughly around the same of Essie nail polishes, but with even more elaborate packaging.

For the eye department, I'm sure if you're a regular reader, you would know how inescapably in love I am with Burberry Eye Color, they make great eyeshadow as well as highlighter. Kiko wow-ed me with their highly coveted eyeshadow stick which was my on-the-go eyes for busy morning, they apply and wear like dream.

For my first foray into the world of eyebrows, I trusted Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper, it's a life-saver for brow-noob like me for its effortless application. Mascara is not an obligatory for my everyday makeup so I only picked one from Majolica Majorca this year. MajoMajo lives up to its name for being one of the best drugstore mascara in the market, this one instantly lifts and curl, while lengthening my lashes at the same time.

For lips, Clinique Pop Lips had taken over the last quarter of the year. Not only creamy, this lipstick is incredibly long-lasting and comfortable to wear. Lush Lip Scrubs are one 'blogger-made-me-buy-it' product, and I'm not disappointed! I can see why people love this delicious lip scrub, it thoroughly removes the unflattering flakes from my lips.

What have been your favorite beauty products this 2016?

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Navy Blue Favorite

I find this color to be flattering, both in my eyes and on me, so I'm naturally attracted to them. Give me this color, and the light in my head will lit up; MY. COLOR. I have many things in this color, but here are some of my favorite as of late.

Stradivarius Lace Up Track Brogues in Navy; I find this color combination of navy and white gives the shoes casual feel yet also feminine at the same time. The white-rubber sole might not be practical (since I have to clean it often after some uses), but they're easy to clean, so it's not that problematic.

Cat Pouch with Polkadot; this pouch is heavy and beaten, and worn, and I don't remember where I got it. But there's a reason why I keep using this pouch again and again; it can be a kitten, but it's so heavy duty. From makeup to cables, skincare bottles, and swimming googles, I've used this for almost every thing.

Pull & Bear Knit Cardigan; before Stradivarius, there was Pull & Bear. Their style lately simply do not cater to my fancy as much as back in 2013, I kept going back to them. Their Cardigan is particularly my favorite, they're so closely knit and warm, perfect for colder month.

Forever 21 Fox Print Mirror; isn't this so cute? I swear Forever21 has the cutest pocket mirror ever. I'm not easily tempted but the navy background of this one just trampled over my last wall of resistance. It's never leaving my makeup pouch ever since.

Daiso Hair Clip; when I use something for 3 years straight, that's saying something. I remember buying this at Daiso Harujuku, Takeshita Doori, when my friends came visiting. Leaving Daiso without buying anothing? Trust me; impossible. I always carry hair clip with me for just-in-case situation, or when I'm hitting the gym, this has been permanent fixture in my daily life.

Kiehl's Facial Fuel Lip Balm; I purchased this lip balm back in April. God, do I love it. It's as good as the L'Occitane one, and I might love it better on my lips that Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment.

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate; do I really need to recite all great things I've said about this little bottle of miracle? Yes, but I'd bore you all, so; no. This little bottle contains (what I believe to be) miracle in liquid form, and the glass bottle - in navy blue - makes it feel all the more luxurious, even though not exactly travel friendly. If you wants instant boost in the morning and clearer skin after every use? This one is for you.

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Toner; some people find toner to be gimmicky, but for me, toner is a must for skincare step. It leaves my skin feeling more refreshed and ready for the next skincare step. I've been a Kiehl's convert for a while now, and this one doesn't disappoint me either, it picks up the dirt residue well and doesn't make my skin feel tight after use.

Jill Stuart Horoscope Nail Polish in Observant Virgo; I know I got to have this the moment I saw the color (and the name). This polish is supposed to mimic starry sky of September; with navy blue sky and silver-blue glitters as the stars. I love popping this up now and then for some festive moments.

Do you have any navy blue products that you love? What is 'your color'?

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5 Shimmery Eyeshadow Picks

Hot weather and busy morning means I'm all for one-wash wonder eyeshadow. It doesn't only save time, but also avoid my eyes to look funny in case the weather turns unforgiving and decides to ruin the meticulously applied layers of eyeshadow. For me, one-wash wonder eyeshadow calls for shimmer that gives eyes extra dimension under certain light. Here are my 5 shimmery eyeshadow picks.

Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette in Push Up & Chocolate Martini; 'push up' is beautiful rose gold with pretty shimmer that translates into bronze on my lids. It's been my favorite lid color since forever (just look at the dip). 'Chocolate Martini' is true chocolate with gold shimmer. The texture is more chalky than 'Push Up' but not to the point of stubbornly unworkable. Due to its deeper color, it shows up really close to its as-seen-on-pan-color on my lids.

Beyond Cream Eyeshadow in 08 Signature Alice; I reviewed this eyeshadow back in May (please refer here for more accurate swatch). At the end, I mentioned I was having difficulty in applying this eyeshadow. Recently, I found out that the best way to apply this is by packing it on the lids using q-tips! It's much more vibrant, bold, and vivid than using finger. This method gives this eyeshadow fall out but nothing wet-wipes and concealer cannot take care of.

Burberry Eye Colour Wet & Dry Glow Shadow in 001 Gold Pearl; I'm insanely in love with this eyeshadow. I don't think there was any day back in July when I didn't pop this to my lids. Quality wise, I don't think this eyeshadow has any significant fault. This true-gold eyeshadow is more vibrant when wet, but even dry, this gives beautiful wash of color that instantly brighten up my eyes.

Kiko Long Lasting Stick in 05 Rosy Brown; the infamous dupe of By Terry Eyeshadow stick is as good as everyone claimed it to be. I love whoever thought of eyeshadow stick, this is so practical and can be applied when I'm in hurry, even on the go. I've been using this so much that I think I'm about to run out of it soon, I'm thinking between repurchasing or trying other shade in the line. What do you think?

I'm sorry that I'm an absolute failure when it comes to swatch photo, it doesn't do the actual product justice at all. I tried taking dozens of them but nothing worked in portraying the actual beauty of these 5 eyeshadows.

What's your favorite shimmery eyeshadow?

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What do I bring to Japan | Makeup Edition

As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’m leaving for Japan next week! I’m so excited to meet my friends there, I met them May last year and there were some people I could not meet back then but this time, they have the time to meet this poor, undeserving me. I will be absent from blogging – even instagram – until June 24th, my posts after that will obviously about ‘Japan haul’ #winkwink, and three posts from now on will be dedicated for ‘What I bring to Japan’ (as if the title is not obvious enough), starting from the most excited part; makeups! The theme (if there was any) is fuss-free makeup. 

The Base

June is also knowns as tsuyu（梅雨）or transitional rainy season between spring to summer. The weather is going to be very, very humid, thus I suspect heavy makeup won’t do me good. Since I choose practicality over anything when it comes to traveling, instead of bringing heavy, sweat-proof makeup like good blogger does, the only base product I will take with me is my Laneige Pore BB Cushion. They’re light-weight and long-wearing, also comes with medium coverage that’s enough to make my face presentable. I’m skipping concealer and powder even, betting my life (face) on the line with this one. Another plus is bulky this might be, it’s not as heavy as it looks like – very travel friendly. I will also take Jill Stuart Fruit & Aroma Mist Refresh Oil Control to freshen up my (and Amez’s) face during the day in case the weather get too stuffy, it smells good and summer-y!

The Eyes and Cheeks

Staying true to ‘fuss-free’, I only bring three items in this category. I ditch mascara since I’m planning to buy a couple there (Japanese drugstore mascara deserve all award it could get, seriously). For eyes, I will go with Kiko Long Lasting Stick in 37 Burgundy and 05 Rosy Brown. These two were literaly bought for the sake of this trip, so it will be ridiculous not to bring them. One swipe, and I’m ready to hit the world (read: barrel through the rain), I can either wear each color alone or use the together with Burgundy on the outer-corner/crease and Rosy Brown all over my lids (or vice versa). For the blush, of course it’s gonna be Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar, it’s not like I have other blush with me, right?

The Lips

After a lot of mulling over my lipstick stash (which is made from 7 lip products sans lip balm), I decided to go only with Burberry Lip Velvet in Oxblood. When I feel like sporting dark, bolder lips, I can swipe Burberry Oxblood on. But when I want something lighter, I can just pat this lipstick on my lips and gets brighter, red color which instantly brigthen up my face. Such a no-brainer lipstick, there’s a reason why this little, sexy baby is my holy grail. For lib balm, I’m sticking with L’Occitane Ultra Rich Lip Balm.

The Tool

a The only makeup tools will be Bobbi Brown Sheer Powder Brush, the all-rounder brush, my holy grail of brushes. I’m planning to leave this on the hotel where I stay and only take this along when makeup shopping is on schedule.

a In conclusion, I’m going to bring 7 makeup products + 1 tool with me for a five day trips. The number is roughly the same with what I always have everyday in my makeup pouch, and it’s for full-face makeup. For some of you, this might be too little but for me, these will be enough to ensure my face’s (makeup) survival throughout the trip! Stay tune for the next installment; skincare!

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New in March

We're almost halfway through May and look at how much new products I already have under my belt. It's truly frightening sometimes watching how my collection, which supposed to grow in snail-like pace, sometimes can fast-forward to "Two eyeshadows and a blush in a month!?". Now, dont' get me wrong, while for other beauty enthusiast two eyeshadows and a blush is a little, it's a lot for me. Unfinished product makes me insane while a sight of pan brings me joy. I'm easily guilt-tripped so even if the thought of my Muji drawer overflowing with pretty, dainty blushes excited me, the sight of the sole blush that I had been using throughout 2015 is not even showing a tinny-weenie peek of pan drove me mad. Please do forgive me.

However, March found me with a slew number of new products. Let's just pray (at least for my sake), that they're not growing in number by the time April began. I will try not to delve in too much about some products since full-on review should be coming later.

Bath and Body Works Mahogany Teakwood Concentrated Room Fragrance; my absolute favorite candle from BBW is their Mahogany Teakwood, and basically anything with wood in it, really. I've been putting myself off from buying candles despite how effortless they're in helping me overcoming my insomnia because they don't exactly come up cheap here, so this concentrated room fragrance is really a life saver. One spray and it filled my room with the most relaxing scent ever.

Laneige White Plus Skin Refiner; I meant to get their Power Essential Skin Refiner Light to go with my Balancing Emulsion Light but they're out of stock while my current toner/refiner is on the verge of running out. I'm complete paranoid when it comes to toner so I decided to go with whatever they had at the moment. I ended up with this one which is targeted for people with dull skin. This might not be what I had in mind but I do not regret it, especially with how I only have good experience with Laneige so far.

Kiko Long Lasting Stick in 05 Rosy Brown and 27 Burgundy; the highly coveted Kiko eyeshadow sticks are finally in my hand /insert sinister laugh here/. These are my first eyeshadow stick as well. With how many morning I find myself in the gym and going to office right after, I figured I need something more handy and practical for my eyes instead of carrying eyeshadow palette with extra brushes. So far they're as amazing as what people and their mothers said!

The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose; this originally belong to Amez but she didn't use it as often so I /shamelessly/ asked it from her. Since my skin is deeper, this comes out as rose-toned highlighter than a bronzer as it has been marketed as. This gives me a nice subtle sheen that doesn't make my oily skin oilier. I still cannot say whether I 'love' it or not, I think I need more use to decide.

Laneige Power Essential Skin Refiner Light & Perfect Renew Firming Eye Cream (travel size); So I had successfully converted my mom into a Laneige believer. A trip to Laneige with my mom and her friend whose daughter is also a believer, ended up with a free travel size kit and a calendar. My favorite thing happened to be the calendar because the aesthetic is so gorgeous but I think nobody want to hear me raving about a calendar here. However since dad just bought her a skincare set from Estee Lauder (her one and only true love brand), she only picked the essence and serum, leaving me with eye cream and toner. Luckily, this is the exact toner I was looking for and I have no eye cream with me so I accepted them gratefully. I mean, what kind of good daughter refused skincare from their mother, right?

These are the new products I found myself with halfway through March. What have you bought so far?

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