Santorini Haul

I did manage pick up some beauty products when I was in Santorini since most of the time I have been wondering in Fira. Mostly, I picked up Greek beauty/skincare products that are obviously cheaper and more accessible in Greece.

Greek famous beauty/skincare products are usually found in Pharmacies.

Here's the damage done on the first day on the Island. 

Hondos Center is the only department store in Santorini, which is located in Fira. In that store, I picked up some YSL items since we do not have YSL in Malaysia except in KLIA terminal and the price was cheaper than in Russia then. 

From the pharmacy, I got Korres and Apivita products. Apivita and Korres are well known brands in Greece. 

Apivita cream with propolis. The salesgirl recommended this to me for problematic skin. The cream smells purely like propolis. 

Anyway, this cream is not for me. Just getting it for someone who breaks out time to time. 

From Korres, I got this Santorini Vine collection as a souvenir. The smell ain't particularly for my liking but since I was in Santorini, why not grab this gift set as a remembrance and souvenir for the family. 

A pretty gift set from Korres indeed. I like the Santorini print behind the gift set.

Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation in BR20

Hondos Center was having a 30% off on all high-end cosmetics and perfumes.

The sales assistant in Hondos Center is really nice and helpful. She matched me to this foundation and it was a perfect match on my skin. This is my first YSL foundation. 

Another YSL product I picked up is the YSL Kiss & Blush in 9 Rose Epicuren. 

I have been eyeing on this product eversince it was launched. I find the whole lip and cheek hybrid product very interesting,

Here is a swatch of the YSL Kiss & Blush in Rose Epicuren. 

It is a baby lavender-pink. Very sweet colour, I fell in love with this colour when I first swatched it. 

This is the purchases on the last night. I did have some dramatic experience with the lip butters. 

While Korres is very accessible in Santorini island since it is a Greek product but due to high popularity, their lip butter are mostly sold out with only a few shades left. All these lip products are actually bought from different pharmacies.

The Lip Butter in Wild Rose and Jasmine are bought in Oia. I do not intend to get Wild Rose, infact I wanted Quince but the sales lady gave me the wrong shade and I did not realize till I was back in the hotel. So the next day I had to search for it, I went to 3 different pharmacies and also Hondos Center in Fira and I think there were only three pharmacies. I finally got Quince from the pharmacy close to Carrefour. I think it is the more secluded pharmacy out of the three pharmacies there since the other two were at nearer to the bus stop and on the way to the Central Square. 

The glory of my Korres lip butters. 

The Watermelon Lightweight Tinted Moisturizer is also something I have looked out for. Glad to found it at one of the pharmacies. It was such a challenge finding certain Korres products in Santorini

That's all for my beauty haul in Santorini. I am not done with my Santorini holiday series post but I have some up. 

Here are links to the post if you are interested. 

Eating out : Taverna Glaros 

Day one : Santorini 

Nail Polish haul : Sally Hansen & China Glaze

New collection of nail additions into my collection.
These are the new four babies in my collection.
From Left : China Glaze nail polish in Sweet Hook, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Cafe au Lait and Mauve Along and China Glaze in Pink-ie Promise.

Up until now I have never tried China Glaze nail polishes. The other day, the beauty store near my hostel had an offer on China Glaze nail polishes and I thought why not grab the opportunity and try the nail polishes. As usual I stayed with the colours in my comfort zone. I know it is getting boring and I should venture out for more exciting colours.
"Sweet Hook" is a lilac creme, I probably have so many colours of this shade but this shade is just too beautiful and it is very suitable for daily wear, since it is very feminine and toned down.
"Pink-ie Promise" is a muted down barbie pink. If you love barbie pink but you don't want it to be too loud and a mature, feminine kick, this is the shade for you.

So far, I haven't really painted my nails with these polishes. The most I did was swatching them on my nails. I really like formula from swatching it, it is a little thick but it evens out and dries down very nicely. Not streaky at all.

The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure are currently my favourite nail polishes!
It is very easy to apply with the wide brush head, it doesn't streak, two coats is all that is needed for a nice opaque colour, 3 if you want to be safe and it doesn't chip until a week. That is the total plus point, it doesn't chip until a week. With the price, that is better than a salon manicure.
Rive Gauche are having a sale on these nail polishes for 149 Rubles each and I can't help myself and picked up two more shades.
They are nudes. Super pretty nudes, especially Mauve Along. I am no good when it comes to explaining colour, I would say Mauve Along is a nude creme with mauve and pink tones. It is very different from all the nudes which I own. This one just stole my heart away.
Cafe au Lait is more of the typical nude. It is beige nude with slight silver shimmers that is barely visible upon application. A very neutral colour that is suitable for everyday use.
Now I am eyeing on the Miracle Gel nail polishes. I will definitely grab when they go on sale. I am a cheapo, I am not willing to fork out more than 250 Rubles for nail polish

FOTD : Christmas day out

For my base makeup, I am using the Catrice Nude Illusion Foundation. I have grown to love this foundation. It is very natural and gives me like a second skin finish, a very great drugstore foundation. The finish is matte with a soft glow, not a dead flat matte. It is beautiful. 

Topped it off with ELF tone correcting powder in Shimmer. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, 3CE full coverage concealer, Essence Sooo Glow highlighter, The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzer and Essence Me & My Icecream cream blush.

Eyes makeup. I am using the Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eyes Palette in PK722 and Catrice Absolute Nude Palette. Mascara is L'oreal Volumissime x4 Mascara and Maybelline Volum' Express Cat Eye Mascara for the lower lashes. 

Eyeliner is Maybelline's hyperliner in Brown. 

Lipstick is Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Asia. I think I have just found my new favourite winter 'nude'. Asia is a pink-brown nude, quite a Kylie Jenner colour. 

Merry Christmas from Moscow

The New Year and Orthodox Christmas decoration in the city center is beautiful this year. They did spend more money on the decoration and illumination this year. To add on the fact that is has been snowing the whole day on the 25th of December and extending into 26th, has transformed Moscow into a winter wonderland.

Christmas tree decoration in the middle of the market outside of Red Square, opposite Four Season hotel. 

So beautiful. 

Christmas market. 

Selfie with the christmas tree. Pretty much a fail since I couldn't get the right angle and the lighting is bleh on me. 

GUM is also very nicely decorated but the decoration is the same as last year's. So there is nothing very special or surprising for me. 

Christmas trees, each brand has their own design along the walk ways. 

Christmas haul : Apple & Cinnamon

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hope everyone is having a fun Christmas. 

This is a random haul that I did at the beauty store near my hostel. There was a discount on Maybelline eyeliners and I do need eyeliners since I only have one Maybelline liquid eyeliner which I fear might dry up soon. So, It was a good chance for me to head to the store to grab them.

The Glade Cosy Apple & Cinnamon air freshener is a random purchase but air freshener is considered a room necessity to keep the room smelling fresh and nice. With such a Christmas-y scent on the most wonderful time of the year. It is a total plus point.

I got a a black and brown eyeliner from the Maybelline Master Precise line. If you only need two eyeliner colours in your life. Brown and black it is.
Black for the more glam look days and the brown for an everyday natural look or the no makeup look.

It is a felt tip eyeliner and the nip of the eyeliner is very fine which makes drawing really easy and fool-proof.
For the price I paid, I would say this is one great eyeliner.

Oh! So Matt! This colour is a new release from Essence to replace on of their older nude shades.
Nude are always welcome in my lipstick army. I could not resist picking this up in the end.
Whenever, I am at the Essence counter, I will definitely be swatching this lipstick because it is beautiful.

It is a beautiful beige nude. The finish should be matte as said by Essence but I do not think it finishes matte at all. It is more of a satin-matte finish. It doesn't bother me at all.
Like most of Essence's Longlasting lipstick, this lipstick is creamy and pigmented. 

Concert in Moscow

River flows in you.

I think many know this piece.

I am very lucky to catch Yiruma in his first concert in Moscow.
River flows in you is the piece that brought me to Yiruma. This pieces are very melancholy and romantic which draws me to him.

Here is my look of the day. I was very sloppy with my makeup.
I am using the L'oreal Nude Magique foundation over the Etude House Conditioning Face Cream with no powder.
Lip colour is Essence Lipstick in Natural Beauty.

It was my first time in Dom Muziki so I went all touristy and explored the hallways.

The grand stairs of the hall, there were a lot of people taking pictures all around. It took me awhile to slot myself in some spot of a picture.

The hall.

This hall isn't one of the most photogenic halls. It definitely looks better in person but it isn't like a beautiful hall. The brown tones makes the hall quite boring looking.

I sat at the third row of the left balcony. From my seat, I couldn't see Yiruma on stage at all, I had to stand if I wanted to look at him. It is the cheapest ticket so I could not complain much.
Luckily it is a piano concert, all I need to do is sit down and relax and enjoy the piece.

Yiruma on the piano.
Listening the pieces live is a whole new different level. It is amazing, every note resonant nicely in the hall giving a different magical sound to the piece, it is much more surreal listening to his pieces live . The arrangements of songs are different from the album too.

Outside Dom Muziki.
It is a beautiful glass building.

Definitely one of the nights to remember. It was amazing catching Yiruma live.

Little beauty shop haul : body lotion and Bourjois

I went a little hauling crazy this month, there are more hauls to be posted but I need to get them sorted out.
Let's start off with this haul which I did about 2 weeks ago at the local beauty store.

Winter is here. My skin has been really dry and flaky especially my legs, they are so scaly.
So I headed to the beauty store to get some body lotion and oh my, I left the shop with one huge tub of body lotion and another tub of body butter.
Organic Shop is a local Russian brand that promotes organic skincare or beauty products, they contain simple organic ingredients and no SLS, parabens or silicons. Not to mention they are very afforable which gives them a thumbs up from me.
The bad side, they do contain fragrance. Not too organic after all but I do not mind since the price tag is so affordable.

I adore sweet , dessert-like smelling items. So, I picked up the Body Dessert Body Lotion in Caramel Cappucino. This smells so good, makes me feel like drinking cappucino or caramel macchiato. It smells divine.
The Organic White Choco & Shea Body Butter smells really good too, it doesn't smell sweet that is too artificial and sickly, it has a very nice chocolate, cacao smell. I am already 3/4 on this tub and I have just started using about a week and a half ago. This proves how much I like it. My skin has been feeling very soft and moisturized.
Definitely running to get a second tub when I am done with it.

The Caramel Cappucino is so huge beside the Organic White Choco and Shea. Base on the weather and the rate I use lotions in winter, they will be gone in two months or so.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet were on sale. I couldn't help but to treat myself with these liquid lipsticks. They are by far my favourite drugstore matte liquid lipsticks. It would be a sin not to pick them up and it is the first time they were on sale since they were released here in Moscow.

and a little secret, with the current exchange rate, I paid really little for these liquid lipsticks. It is a good time to do shopping in Moscow now.

The two shades I picked up is Ole Flamingo! and Nude-ist.

I do own Nude-ist and this is actually a back-up. It is my favourite shade out of all the Rouge Edition Velvet since it is the most neutral and wearable. I was actually eyeing on Peach Club but unfortunately Peach Club is all sold out. Might need to go back to the store to check whether they stocked it back up.What a bummer. There were some  Nude-ist shade left on the display, so I thought to just grab it up as a back-up.

The other I chosen is Ole Flamingo. It is a straightdown bright fuchsia. The colour payoff so pigmented that one swipe is all that is needed. I even had difficulties removing the swatches from my hand, it took atleast 3 days to get rid of the stain on my hand. That proves how pigmented and long lasting it is.

Eating out Malaysia : Wafflemeister

Let's not care about the calories and just enjoy this masterpiece of dessert.

Wafflemeister hails from the UK and it has arrived in Malaysia.
I love waffles, they are one of my favourite dessert.
I am glad before I flew back to Moscow, I had the chance to try out the waffles with my girl friends.

Waffle with cream and chocolate gelato drizzled with milk chocolate.

This is what dessert paradise looks like. The warm waffle and the cold rich chocolate gelato. That is a big thumbs up from me.
I have tasted gelato from Italy, this is not the best gelato I have ever tried but it is one of the best you can get in Malaysia.

Cookies and Cream waffle.
I would prefer that the cream with topped chunks of oreo instead of 4 full oreos sitting on the cream. It doesn't give the full cookies and cream flavour. It would not make sense if we were to break the cookies ourselves and sprinkle it all over the waffle.
This just makes ordering this waffle not exciting, there's no difference from the normal waffles with cream.

If this is the case, I would suggest to choose the normal waffle topped on with your favourite gelato from the gelato bar. You will have the best waffle combination.

Even so, the waffle taste so good, the outside slightly crispy with a fluffy inside. It being warm just adds on many bonus points.

Desserts makes me happy and all joyful. 

FOTD : Getting ready for Rostelecom Cup

Rostelecom Cup is a once in a year hang out for a figure skating fan like me. So here's how I did my makeup for the outing.

I have been loving the Essence Effect Eyeshadow in UK's Stonehedge. It's amazing! 

A cheapie but a goodie. That's how I call it. 

All I need is a small dollop, to cover my whole lids and it immediately gives a nice colour and shimmer shine to my eyelids.

Products used for eyes :
L'oreal Volumissime x4 Mascara
Maybelline Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara
Essence Effect Eyeshadow in UK's Stonehedge
Stila Smudgestick waterproof eye liner in Stingray
Etude House Drawing Eye Brow
3CE Full Cover Concealer

I keep the products very minimal and bare.

Even for my face, I try to tone it down, being very lighthanded with every product I used. Of late I am just very into the bare and natural makeup look.

Face products used :
Etude House Face Conditioning Cream
Catrice Nude Illusion Foundation
ELF Tone Correcting Powder in Shimmer
The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder in 01
Essence Me & My Ice-cream Cream Blush in Ice Bomb
Topshop Glowstick

The lipstick I used this time is Rimmel Moisture Renew in Notting Hill Nude.

This nude is just so fantabulous on my skintone. It is a neutral with a hint of pink.
It is one of new favourite nudes. I looks very good on my skintone.

Essence TE Hello Autumn haul

Since winter is here, the sun has been setting really early in Moscow which makes photography really challenging with the little amount of sunlight.

This makes me not have the mood to take pictures of my hauls. I will slowly take time to get them posted when the lighting gets good and not so gloomy or dark or I would just use my ugly table lamp lighting. 

An introduction to my haul.

I am so excited that finally Essence Hello Autumn has been launched in Moscow. I did take them quite long to arrive here. I thought it would never seen daylight over here.

This collection is one of the collection that I have been very enthusiastic about I find a few products to my liking, like the lip cream and colour adapting powder blush. 

In the end, I picked up four items from the collection, one item is not in the picture because it is a back-up. 

I picked up , Lip cream in keep calm & go for a walk (That is a mouthful),  Colour Adapting Blush in Beauti-fall Red, Multicolour powder in Autumn & The City.

I myself, am very intrigued by the way the blush works. Maybe I have been living under a rock but I have never seen a colour adapting powder blush, usually it comes in cream or gel form.

It applies on like a very glittery highlighter and according to the body's chemistry, it will transform into a flush that suits your skintone.  Unlike its name, it doesn't turn red. It turns to a nice soft pink flush on me.

A close look of the powder blush, in the pan, it is a white highlight colour with pink undertones and golden shimmers. Really beautiful.

Because of the golden shimmers, the blush leaves a highlighting effect on the skin.

Essence Multi-colour powder in Autumn & The City.
When I saw this powder, I just thought how beautiful it is. It really reminds of fall with the leaves texture and mixture of browns in the palette.

The mixture of light champagne shades and dark browns are design to give your face a little 'colour' and glow.
You do need to apply with a heavy hand to have some 'colour' or 'glow' , it doesn't really show up. Because of that, it does work as a powder.

For the design, it is a novelty item to own. Just so gorgeous in the pan

Essence Hello Autumn in keep calm & go for a walk.
This item is what I am so excited for. As most know Essence has discontinued like lip cream and for them to it back up for a TE, I am all for it.
I love their lip cream, it is comparable to the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams.

Keep calm & go for a walk is a nude with pink undertones. They have another one in a red colour but since lately I am more into the nudes, I thought I would just go with this one and leave the red for some other time or purchases.
This is the product which I even got a backup for it.

That's all I got for my Essence haul.
There are few more Essence items that I am looking forward to getting but it still haven't been restocked. As soon as I get my hands on them, another Essence haul will come up. 

Eating out Moscow : Yaposha

It was my friend's birthday on the 19th of November, so we had decided to eat out since we found a restaurant we wanted to try and they had 50% off coupon.

This website, Biglion.ru , is a great website to check out coupons for restaurants and cafes around Moscow.

The Yaposha we visited is located near Krasnye Vorota Metro Station (Red line)

We ordered the wrong sushi set. We ordered a 'warm' set, what 'warm' set meant in Japanese-Russian cuisine is that the sushi rolls are either fried in tempura coating or any raw ingredient is grilled.
Not my favourite kind of sushi, I prefer my sushi ingredient 'traditionally raw' but we had to finish it since we ordered it.

On that day, I don't know why I was craving for Unagi .So a unagi roll for me.
I like it so much better than those fried rolls, those fried rolls can get too oily for my liking.

After finishing the fried or 'warm' rolls ,we aren't satisfied with our meal since we felt like we weren't eating actual sushi with all the tempura coating and oily feeling in our mouth.
We ended up ordering another three salmon rolls to satisfy our taste buds.

Chocolate roll.
There are some rice in the chocolate roll, my friends didn't like the taste but I find the taste pretty acceptable, I couldn't taste the rice since the chocolate overpowered the taste of rice.

Overall, with 50% coupon, I find the price for the amount and quality of food is very reasonable. I would visit this restaurant again on days of gathering.