sushi memories.

This is the last Japanese dinner I am having with my mum for the year.

Tamago Mentaiko Nigiri Sushi.

Cranky Salmon Maki.

Dragon Roll.

A FOTD

I used the natural makeup base I just got with Missha Perfect Cover M BB.
So far, I like it. 

Korean Beauty Haul #2

Oops I did it again. Another Korean beauty haul.
Seriously.

The first item i got is from this shop, Holika Holika.

This is the cream that I wanted for a long time but I am not sure whether I should get it because truthfully, I need do not need anymore base or primers.
I gave in in the end, I bought it.

Holika Holika Miracle Real Skin Finish or also known as Butterfly cream.

Although it is placed under skincare category, it is actually a glow makeup base.
It comes in two option. Oily/Combination skin or Dry skin. The Oily/Combination comes in a purple whereas the Dry comes in a pink pot.
I bought the oily/combination.

This is how the pot looks like.
That's the downside, it comes in a pot so it is gonna be less hygienic. It didn't come with a spatula.

The pot close up. It is really cute.

The cute lid with the butterfly and brand name.

The cream in the pot.
Basically it is a shimmery white cream that corrects skin tone and brightens up the face.

Next is Etude House.
I didn't get much from Etude House this time because I didn't see anything interesting.

I just got something I need, another is a impulse buy.

I got an eyebrow pencil and a cream blush.

The eyebrow pencil is something I need because I do not have any. I never bother filling my eyebrows before but since I did my brows, I think it is time to fill in my brows and make it neater.
So far I am really liking this eyebrow pencil, it is cheap and really easy to use.

The cream blush is an impulse buy because it was on 50% off.
I just thought that an orange peach blush is a fresh colour since I do not own a colour like that.


Next, is all from Nature Republic.
I did a pretty big purchase from Nature Republic.

First part is Skincare.

Farm Fresh Foam Cleanser in Mung Bean.

Two face essence. Pine Tree Urban Detox Essence and Chestnut Pore Tight Essence.
I am using the Pine Tree Urban Detox, so far I like it. These two bottles are back ups.

Ice Jelly Primers.
I am suppose to get one only and it multiplied into three. Gah! Shopaholic First World Problems.
It was on 20% off so it turned out affordable after the discount, I just have to snatch them up!

I got in three flavours - Blueberry, Melon and Cherry.
I love the texture of this primers, it is very unique. It is very jelly-like and after you make a dent into the jelly, it will return to its original shape!
Also, it smells heavenly! They really smell like their flavours.

The melon.
Green is counteract with redness.

The Blueberry.
Lavender to brighten up the skintone!

The Pink!
I don't know what the pink does but I think it brightens too.

Two affordable lip tints. One in Red, the other in Pink.
After 20% off, these lip stains are really cheap. I am very into lip tints because I do not have to worry about reapplying since it stays on and also blame the Kfashion scene!

Naturalia!

Finally my parcel arrived. Sure took the courier man long enough. Everytime I go to the site to check on updates of my parcel's status, it is always withheld at courier office.

This is the first time trying handmade beauty items.
As promised by my seller no artificial colouring, preservatives and fragrance.

I only got two items since I want to try them out before buying more.

I got a base and a sleeping mask.

Rose petals sleeping mask.
The smell is nowhere near rose fragrance we always smell. It only has very faint rose smell and the rest smells really planty.
I don't know how to describe.

The base.
It is very liquidy! So I was a bit shocked by the consistency.
It is very white so i guess the base suits fairer skintones if not it would look like chalk on the face.

Updates on Life - 27th August

I just finished my practicals last Friday. I am free.
The sad thing is I am going back to the land of vodka and nuclear weapons on the 1st of September. I really don't wanna go back there. I just love it here so much.
The food, the shopping experience and ofcourse my family.


Here is some sushi food spam.

This is the sushi I had with my family awhile ago.
I love Sushi Zanmai. This restaurant offers delicious sushi at an affordable price.

Collective base review #1

This is gonna be a collective base makeup review.
I think it is high time I review some BB cream/foundation I own.

1.Maybelline Clear Smooth BB Cream

This is the Asian version of the Maybelline BB Cream. I don't know the difference between the Asian and Western version since I do not own the western version.

The texture of this BB Cream is liquidy of a foundation. Compared to Korean BB creams, this leans more to a tinted moisturizer with SPF.
The packaging is a tube with screw top. Since the BB cream is so liquidy, it actually leaks from the nozzle, creating a mess. This is what I hate about the packaging.
Does it promise the 8 things it does?
Brightens - Definitely
Evens - Yeap!
Smoothes - Smoothen? My face definitely feels slightly smoother.
Refines - I don't see anything refined
Clears -  Oh Maybelline BB, you are no pimple busting product. i don't even see Tea Tree extract or Witch Hazel extract or Salicylic Acid in the ingredient list.
Conceals - It evens, it does not conceal hyper pigmentation, dark eyecircles or pimples. You need a concealer for it.
Moisturizes - It is not very moisturizing. Don't skip moisturizer step and use this BB cream!
Protect Skin - Ofcourse! There's SPF and an extra layer on the skin.

It like that it sinks into the skin creating a "no makeup"-like base look. Maybe because it is very light.

Coverage of this BB cream is light to some-what medium. It is buildable but I do not recommend building it because it might make the face look pale.
It comes in 2 shades which caters for skintone NC20 to NC35.
Price wise, it is very affordable, it is good to grab one as a tinted moisturizer.
Oil control is above average, foundation last about 9 hours on me. I am not a very oily girl.

So far, I pretty like this BB cream.
I would give it a 3.5/5.

2.Ninelle Matt Effect Foundation

This is one foundation not available in Asia. I don't know which European countries this brand is available at but I got mine in Russia.
The texture of this foundation is slightly liquidity. It is very light.
Since it is light, the coverage is as light too. It is not buildable but the foundation stays on the skin. It is not very streaky, best applied with a brush, like most foundation.

It evens my skintone, conceals some redness but skin problems like hyper pigmentation, pimples or dark eyecircles, a concealer is definitely needed.
Price wise, it is affordable. I forgot what's the price but definitely comes under the affordable line.
It says it is a Matt Effect foundation but I don't find anything mattifying about this foundation, the finish is satin. Which I like it more than matt since matt can be too flat on the face.
This foundation is quite moisturizing. Oil control wise, it is not very good, stays about 3 hours on my face then magically fades off. My skin isn't oily to begin with.

I give foundation a 3/5!

3.Vivieene Sabo Lifting Care Foundation

I am not sure where Vivienne Sabo is available at. I got mine from Russia.
Texture wise, it is mediumly liquidy. The coverage is medium to full. Definitely buildable but I don't recommend building because this foundation is streaky!
I takes quite a long time to buff in with a brush to achieve a less streaky look. Imagine if using fingers, it is gonna take awhile before the streaks are less visible. Still patches of foundation can be seen on my skin. So dry skin people, just don't go near this foundation.
The magical thing is it looks good on camera (my camera atleast), what sorcery is this.
It conceals most redness and skin uneveness. Dark circles too if they aren't too heavy. For pimples and hyperpigmention some light concealing is still needed.

Price wise, it falls under the affordable range.
Oil control is okay, not too great but not too bad. About 5-6 hours on my face.

A 2.5/5 for this foundation! It still works for me.

4. Vivienne Sabo Ton De Plasir Foundation

Vivienne Sabo is a cheaper range of drugstore makeup find in Russia. This foundation is the most expensive foundation under Vivienne Sabo yet it is still very affordable.
Texture wise is a medium liquid. The coverage is medium to full and buildable.
I got to say this is my favourite Vivienne Sabo foundation because it is not streaky, it has good coverage thus conceals a lot of imperfections but major acne and hyper pigmentation still needs some concealing.
The only complain has got to be the undertone. It has very yellow undertone. I am Asian but my undertone isn't very yellow so it didn't match too well.
Since this foundation is marketed in European countries, I don't know how Caucasian deals with the undertone. If it is marketed for Asians, I would understand because the yellow undertone will suit lots of Asians.
Oil control is above average, this foundation can last the whole day for me with dusting of powder.
Price wise, it is under the affordable range.

I give this foundation a 4/5. 

Post holiday haul

Yesterday was a public holiday so my parents took us out to shop.

I took this advantage to haul things that I need to bring over to Moscow.
So first buy is from Daiso. Nothing very special, just two Hello Kitty laundry bags.

The rest is hauled from the local pharmacy(drugstore)

Nixoderm Skin Ointment, ZA total hydration lotion and Neutrogena Oil-free moisturizer for combination skin.
These items are in my current skincare routine and I am gonna continue this routine until I find better products. They are not at "OMG the best" level yet but they work well on my skin.

Got backup for the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Water Base Sunscreen because this is my current favourite sunscreen. It is so light, non-greasy and watery.
For those who hates greasy sunscreen should look into Biore's sunscreen and you will love it.
I also got the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Mousse Water Base Sunscreen because of the multiple raves. I just had to pick one to try it out myself.

A FOTD.

My skin's condition is pretty terrible after coming back from holidays. All the chlorine screwed up my skin but I currently back to my skincare routine, so it calmed down a little.

on the beach.

I haven't been posting for a few days. Well sorry about that because I went on a holiday!
Now, I am back.

I went to the beach in Cherating for a holiday.

The view outside my room.

The pool.

The beach.
It is pretty quiet, not many go down to the sea because the tides are pretty rough.

Hainanese Chicken Chop that I had in some shop in Kemaman, Terengganu.

At the sea.

Wonderstruck!

I haven't post about eventhough I had this for quite some time.
This. I asked my friend's aunt to get for me all the way from the US since it wasn't available in Malaysia at the time of purchase.

The Taylor Swift Wonderstruck perfume.
I got blown away by the packaging, that's why I got it. It is a bonus that it smells great.

When you open the box, you can see the pretty cap detail and dangling ornaments.

Everything about this perfume is just so perfect.
It is so fantasy-like.

Aug 12 - life update

Finished my first week of practicals.
I gotta say it is super tiring running up and down the ward the whole day eventhough I hardly did much. My feet hurts.

About a week ago I went to eat banana leaf rice with my dad.
I don't have much chance to eat banana leaf rice since it is not easily available at the area where I stay.
It is really delicious. I love fish curry and rice.
Also, just thought the photo turned out really nice, I have been experimenting with my phone's camera apps.

Yesterday my family went for "buka puasa" buffet.

Here's my FOTD

Slight water retention of the face. I was sick and still am sick.

I used the Revlon ColorStay foundation and found my love for the foundation back. It looks really good.
I used it with a light dusting of ELF mineral booster, Missha The Style Perfect Concealer (I have one stubborn pimple) and Garnier 2 in 1 corrector.

Missha loot - Missha M Perfect set.

I finally did it.

I finally jumped the bandwagon and got Missha's bestseller BB cream.

The Missha M Perfect Cover BB.

It sure took me long enough to get it.
The seller that I always get my Missha BB cream from, had a promotion on Missha M Perfect Cover BB.
It was buy 2 and get a free Missha concealer. Since her Missha products are already discounted, I was surprised that she did this promotion.
If you stay in Malaysia, I recommend this seller in getting selected BB creams. Click here to the site.

I bought both BB cream plus a concealer at RM111 (USD35) including shipping to my house, which I think it is a reasonable and great price.

Missha M Perfect Cover BB comes in variety (not really, but for Korean BB cream, the colour range can be considered extensive) of shades. It comes in 5 shades, No.13, No.21, No.23, No.27 and No.31.
The colour I got is No.21. The perfect shade for NC15-NC25.
It also comes in a 20ml or 50ml bottle. Mine is 50ml.

It came in a battered condition thanks to poslaju even with bubblewrap.
Not only i received my parcel at 6.30pm, they also handled my parcel roughly.
Poslaju is deteriorating in service.

The BB cream comes with a sleek red tube and a pump dispenser.

It promises skin whitening and anti aging.
Also it comes with SPF42 PA+++. This is good.

Missha The Style Perfect Concealer in #21.

Know your BB cream.

BB Cream, this is what is booming up in the makeup world. The trend has swept from Asia to Western countries now.

Western brands have been coming up with their own BB cream too. Take Garnier, Maybelline and L'oreal as an example and also high-end brands like Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Clinique etc.

My BB Cream Story

Myself I have been a BB cream user for 4 years.
I first encountered BB cream when I was looking for a skincare then somehow I bumped into BB cream.
My first BB cream was the Skin79 Hot Pink BB Cream. I am still faithful to this BB cream till this day.
It is one of favourite BB Cream I have used to date.

After the Korean wave swept to our shores. More Korean beauty stores start to mushroom in my country.
Since BB cream became so much accessible, I went to pick out more BB creams to try.

After using BB for a year or so, I switched back to foundation.It is not because I dislike BB cream, I really like them but I haven't found a BB cream I like from korean beauty stores available in my country. Instead the ones I like are not available in shops and needed to be purchase online
That time I do not have a bank account yet so transferring money was a hassle.
And maybe I had a foundation kick too at that moment, I just wanna try out more foundations to find a HG foundation.


After awhile I found back my love for BB cream and switched back to BB cream.
Around that time, I already had my own bank account so it is easier for online purchasing of BB creams.

After many trials and error, I found my current HG BB cream. I encountered this BB cream because Kumicky of Popteen magazine said it is her favourite BB cream. I love Kumicky and I really want to try out things she recommend, I trust her opinion.
So, I went to search on this BB cream high and low on the net since there no Missha store in Malaysia.

It is the Missha Misa Cho Bo Yang BB Cream. It is a herbal BB cream.

In the middle of the BB cream hauling series, I found other favourite BB creams too.
Such as the Skin 79 Hot Pink BB cream and Dr. G Gowoonsesang BB cream.

So now I am back to using BB cream. At the same time, I do rotate between using BB cream and foundation, depends on my mood or the situation.

Why BB Cream?

I feel that BB Cream adhere on the skin better than foundation creating the super natural "no foundation" look while providing coverage, correcting skintone.
It is the finish look many girls want. No one wants to look cakey.
Compare to most foundation, BB cream are definitely lighter in weight and they are not as cakey.

BB creams promise that they would refine wrinkles, whiten, heals blemishes, refine pores etc.
I dont take those seriously because seriously it is not magic potion. I leave those to my skincare to do it.
Maybe over time it does help a weeeee bit but don't expect too much out of it.

Western BB Cream vs Asian BB Cream

I only own one Western BB Cream which is the Maybelline Dream Smooth BB Cream. Eventhough this is an Asia limited product, I still consider it as a western BB cream.
I will do my review on the BB creams based on this BB cream.

Texture:
Asian BB Cream differ in texture base on brands but one thing they have in common is they are very smooth and spreads really well. It is hard to get streaky BB cream application with fingers.

Western BB Cream has liquidy texture. Somehow the spreadability isn't as smooth as Asian BB creams. It just get streaky when you don't blend it properly.
The texture leans close to a tinted moisturizer. Western BB cream gives the feel of a glorified tinted moisturizer with better hydrating properties.

They are both equally lightweight.

Shades:
Western BB cream comes with more shades to cater every skintone.

Don't believe that BB cream will eventually blend to your skintone eventhough it promises.
A NC20 shade will turn into a NC50 shade? It is not magic liquid but if you are not too far off a particular shade, it will somehow oxidize into your skintone.

Asian BB cream caters only for East Asian skintones, so they only come in either one or two shades.
The shade will fall into the NC15-NC25 range.
The only Asian BB cream that caters to a wider range of skintone is the Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream. It comes with 4 shades.
Please note that some Korean BB creams tend to have a grey cast.

Sun protection :
Both BB creams offer sun protection. Since Asians are so obsessed about having pale/fair skin, some BB cream can come in a SPF up to 50.
If you want more sun protection, you can look into Asian BB creams.

Ingredients :
Asian BB Creams tend to have those "good for your skin" plant extracts infused into the BB cream as opposed to Western.
Other than that, the ingredients should not differ too much. 

Romantic Fairy

Finally the long waited Hong Kong airport haul.

I didn't get around posting this haul. Oh my forgetfulness.

My transit in Hong Kong wasn't a long one, so I didn't roam around much.

All I did is hang around the beauty duty free. 

Then I spotted a brand that I love. This brand is only available in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, if I am not mistaken.

It is the ever so romantic, fairytale-like, girly, princessy Jill Stuart.

Without hesitation, I picked up the Jill Stuart Blush Blossom and Jill Stuart Jelly Eye Color N

They come in a nice pink packaging with some pop-out frame design on the box.

The casing for the Jill Stuart Blush Blossom Compact.

Looks like SailorMoon's compact? 

The colour I got is 04 Seductive Rose.

It comes with a stopper and a plastic on top of the gauze to stop the powder from spilling everywhere.

It comes in a light peachy pink and rose pink combo.

Very sweet.

The brush that the blush comes with. It is a very good complementary brush.

The design on it is so pretty, it is amazing.

Got myself two Jelly Eye Color N.

They are very famous in Japan especially amongst fashion magazine models.

The first colour I picked up is #13 Antique Chiffon.

Here is how it looks like in the pot.

The texture is fluffy, like a very fluffed up jelly.

Antique Chiffon is a medium taupey-steel colour.

A closer view into the eye jelly.

Yes they are shimmer bombs. Not for those who dislikes shimmer. It takes the whole shimmery look to a new level.

Personally I love shimmery eye colours because it opens up the eyes.

Yea, Asian eyes. 

The next colour I got. #10 Vintage Decor

It is a plummy mocha brown.

A very beautiful colour.

A closer look into the pot.

The last thing I got is Jill Stuart Jewel Crystal Eyes in #104 Fragile Opal.

This is the only one I didn't get off the Hong Kong Duty Free.

Since it is a limited edition, the design is different from usual, they added on some painted flower design under the plastic packaging.

Actually i this comes in a set but this is the only product I bought from my usual Japanese cosmetics seller.

I didn't want anything else except for the eyeshadow so I thought it is better to buy it individually.

It comes with fascinating colour combination.

A white, opal, pink and dark plum brown.

That's all I got from Jill Stuart. I literally broke my bank getting from Jill Stuart but it was all worth it.

I am gonna check out some of items the next time I stop by Hong Kong airport again.