FOTD : Birthday night out

I am back with another FOTD using makeup products I love.

I have kinda settled down with my makeup products, I have my few staples and I always reach out for them. 

Base :
Guerlain L'or Base
Chanel Les Beiges Foundation
Catrice Camouflage Liquid Concealer
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Natural
Innisfree Mineral Shading 01
Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in 22 Vintage Pink
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Soft & Gentle

Eyes :
Maybelline Brow Master in Brown
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Innisfree Mineral Eyeshadow 04 Matte
ABH Modern Renaissance Palette (Golden Ochre, Realgar, Antique Bronze)
Maybelline The Magnum Mascara
Maybelline Hypercurl Cat Eyes Mascara

Lips :
Charlotte Tilbury Lipcheat in Pillow talk
Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle

Guerlain L'or Base has been my favourite base. I haven't found a base that is as hydrating and it just gives a immaculate glow. I do not use it daily as it is really pricey, I do keep it for special events and days that I will many photos taken.

Chanel Les Beiges is one of my favourite foundation. As it is lightweight, it gives a natural dewy finish. Have been leaning to ight-medium coverage foundation rather than full coverage because I have been favouring the no foundation look. I have overgrown the whole cake face, strong contour, highlight trend. It is just too heavy on the face.
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I think I have another favourite. Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle, never in a thousand years I would thought I would love this shade. In the tube it looks like a boring, dull brown. On my lips it has a rosy hue, extremely gorgeous MLBB shade on me. Love the formula and the texture.
Definitely going back to purchase more shades from the line.

Skin Talk : Night Routine

In this post, I will be talking about my night routine. I have previously talked about my morning routine, you can check on the post here.

I am going to post two pictures of my current skin condition as of today (20th June 2017). Photos are taken with Iphone 7 camera.

Basically most items I use for my morning routine, I use them in my night routine too. I just switch up 3-4 products from my morning routine. 

I won't repeat what I have already talked about in my morning routine and just skip to the stuffs I switch up or add on to my night routine. 

So, for my night routine, instead of using the Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Lotion , I will replace it with the Tony Moly Galactomyces First Essence / Skinfood Black Sugar Perfect First Serum. These are heavier in consistency, that's why I prefer to use them during night time where I have time to slowly let the product to absorb and pat it into my skin. 

For serums, I will be using the It's Skin SYN-AKE 10 Serum. Honestly this serum is not doing anything for me whatsoever. I am just trying to finish this bottle up and open my new serums. Can't wait! And then, I have to talk about a new night skincare routine. Well, I will just update on my serum then. Till then. 

I layer on rich moisturizers during the night. I have finally bought the Dr. Morita Snail Mucin Watery Essence Moisturizer. This product is a game changer, if you have not tried it, run to your nearest Guardian and get yourself one. It has made my skin so bright and plump. I am so glad I took the advice of the Malaysian beauty lovers on the twittersphere and got this cream. I alternate this moisturizer with my Lancome Energie de Vie or Indeed Lab's Hydraluron Moisturizing Jelly. 

It mainly depends on how my skin feels that day. If I want to look fresher and brighter the next day I will use Dr. Morita's. If I feel my skin looks tired and dull, I will switch to Lancome's and when my skin's really dry and dehydrated, I will use the Hydraluron Moisturizing Jelly. 

My final step is the Bio-Essence Face Lifting Cream. I will apply this cream all over my face and massage the cream in with upward motion from my chin. I have been using this cream eversince discovering it, my skin is still quite young the effect is not obvious but it's better to prevent sagging skin as I am over 25. I like the tingly and tightening effect I get after applying this cream. It's like the cream is doing its work. 

Lately, I also have been finding myself incorporating my The Ordinary products into my night routine. I have the Alpha Arbutin, Niacinamide, Retinoid 2% and Azelaic Acid. I use them when I feel my skin needs them and I never use them all at once. I switch them up according to my skin needs. Mixing all of them would create a total disaster as there will be too many things going on in the concoction and my skin will just go haywire.
So far I have been loving the Retinoid 2%, it has done wonders for my skin. The Niacinamide is wonderful for spotty days.
I am still trying out the Azelaic Acid and Alpha Arbutin, I will report back soon.

Around Malaysia : Day 3 : Ipoh : Food, food, food

The third day in Ipoh started out with food hunting.
Most coffee shops open at 7am and by noon food will sold out. If you want to have a taste of Ipoh's finest delicacy, it's a must to wake up early. As they say, early bird catches the worms.

Our first stop is Thean Chun Coffee Shop.
This coffee shop is fame for their Ipoh Kai Si Hor Fun which translates into Ipoh Chicken Strands River Noodles.
It is a soup based dish served with flat rice noodles, strands of chicken and chives.

If you see red in the soup. Fear not, it's not chili or anything spicy.
The colour comes from prawn shells which serves as the stock of the soup to give the soup a rich and sweet flavour.

A lovely bowl of kai si hor fun, the flavours in the broth is very rich.

We are told that the Popiah from this coffee shop is great too and we ordered a wet version and a deep-fried version to try out.

I prefer the wet version better as I am not into deep fried popiah but both taste equally good.

A cup of Ipoh White Coffee and Caramel Custard.

This shop is not the shop for white coffee but we are already in Ipoh, we wanted to try it out to compare it to the fame Ipoh White Coffee shop that we will try later on.
The Caramel Custard is great, the smell of eggs is very strong and fragrant in this little custard. They didn't skim on the ingredients while making this sweet dessert.

After breakfast, we visited Concubine Lane.
It is said this place used to be the place where tycoons hid their mistresses thus the name Concubine Lane. Today, this place has turn into a tourist attraction.

There are lots of street arts around the place. You just have to hunt for them.
There's a map stating the locations of the street arts. If you still can' decode it, ask the locals, they would be happy to tell you the exact locations.

This piece of Street Art depictates how Ipoh used to be a tin mining town before it become the Ipoh we see this very day.

Time for more food. You can't just get enough food when you are out travelling.
This time around we stop by this shop called Xin Quan Fang for their curry noodles.

The dry curry noodles.
It's good but I am more a fan of Penang style curry noodles. So any curry noodles other from Penang is just alright for me.

The wet version.

Finally we stopped by Nam Heong for the fame Ipoh White Coffee. This is the moment I have been waiting for, this is my purpose for visiting Ipoh.
This has to be the best cup of coffee I have tried. It's rich and aromatic. The coffee leans acidic so it might not be for everyone but I really don't mind the acidity. In fact, the acidity is what gives this coffee its flavour.

This is our final food stop. It's the Mapo Wantan Mee Restaurant.
Wan Tan Mee is egg noodles.

At time point, I was too full to even eat. I left the tasting to the rest while retiring from eating for the day.

Dried Wan Tan Noodles.

Dumpling soup.

Our trip in Ipoh ended with this food journey all around Ipoh 

FOTD : Simple fresh face

I have not done a FOTD for a long time, it might be because my makeup look is repetitive. It gets boring when I keep sharing my looks which probably looks the same.
This is the look that looks good on me, I do it anyway.

I am not into colour makeup and artistic makeup. I admire those girls who are able to do it because it requires so much skills, talent and creativity to achieve it.

As I get older, my makeup gets simpler and simpler. I am all about the fresh faced makeup, makeup to enhance my features.
Now, it has been searching for the best makeup product that works on me.

In this FOTD, I am going to talk the makeup products I have used and a small review on the ones I have been loving to use so far.

Base :
Banila Co. Prime Primer in Hydrating Shimmer
Max Factor Skin Luminizer Foundation
Catrice Camouflage Liquid Concealer
Coty Airspun Loose Powder
Innisfree Mineral Shading Powder 01
Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in 22 Vintage Pink
Catrice Luminizing Highlighter

Eyes :
Maybelline Brow Master in Brown
Elianto Mono Eyeshadow in Cocoa
Elianto Mono Eyeshadow in Roasted Brown
Etude House Look at My Eyes in BR402
Innisfree Gel Liner in 09
Maybelline The Magnum Mascara

Lips :
Peripera Airy Ink Velvet 02 Pretty Orange Pink

Banila Co's primer remains being my favourite drugstore primer (I know you can't find it in Watson's or Guardian but it's available on Hermo or the Banila Co stands and the prices are drugstore) . I still have not come across any drugstore primer that comes close to this primer but there's not a wide array of primers to select from in the drugstore to begin with. I chose the hydrating shimmer because of the nature of my skintype being dry.
It hydrates my skin well and makes foundation application smoother. Also, it prolongs the wear of my foundation. Ticks the boxes of what I want in a primer instead of being another layer of product sitting on my skin.

I like the Max Factor Skin Luminizer foundation, it does well enough. I have creasing problem because of my deep set smile lines. I have come to a point that I do not mind if foundation creases after a whole day of long laugh or after half a day. This creases slightly before mid day but other than that, it's a beautiful foundation. It has a nice dewy finish and it adheres to the skin like second skin. Coverage is medium.

The Innisfree Mineral Shading Powder 01 is my new found love. The shade lies between the Benefit Hoola and Hoola Lite. I like the shade very much as I found it very natural looking on my skin. It is not too bold nor ashy. Furthermore for the price, you can't beat it.

Also, the Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in 22 Vintage Pink. My new found love. It's a beautiful neutral pink shade on me and it last all day long. Maybe some people do find the perfume scent off putting , it's on the strong side bu I really like the scent of this product. I like the floral scent.

These days I have been very simple with my eye makeup. I have been using the same ol' neutral earthy shades for my eye looks. Also, I have been enjoying using a dark brown eyeshadow to line my upper eyelid instead of eyeliners because they look softer and more natural. For my tight line, I have been using the Innisfree Gel Liner in 09. Affordable, easy to use and does not smudge.

I have just gotten this Peripera Airy Ink Velvets and I have been trying them. So far, I really like how lightweight they are, they feel like cotton or cloud upon application and they are less patchy than most lip tints I have used. Don't you hate when lip tints stains the inner parts of the lips darker than the rest of the lips.
It did not stay through lunch despite being a super strong lip tint. Guess Malaysian food are just too oily. I have to try out more before giving my final verdict.

That's about it. This is the makeup products I have been using and testing.
I will report back with products I have been using with another FOTD. 

Holiday haul : KIKO

The last time I did a Kiko haul was when I was in Italy and I regretted not getting more items from them because they were so affordable and the quality is great for the price.

During my winter holidays, I visited Germany, Spain and Portugal and all these countries carried Kiko products (yay!) and managed to sneak into every single Kiko store I passed by.

Here's the display of items I have gotten from Kiko. I picked mostly sales item up with the exception of the Smart Lipstick. 

Let's start out with the first item I got. This is the Kiko Bronzing Powder. The packaging is matte black with a rubbery texture, I would say it is comparable to the NARS' packagings. Not my favourite type of packaging because it gets dirty really fast but it looks really sleek. 

I bought this bronzer for around 2 Euros which is pretty much a steal. 

I chose the coolest tone among all because I am searching for a more contour like shade. 

This is a BB Balm pact.I am so lucky that the leftover shades were my shade match. The packaging is similar to the bronzing powder. 

Foundation pacts are really convenient especially on the go and travelling. 

It's nice that it comes with a mirror and a sponge applicator at the bottom. 

Kiko Beam of Light Highlighter.
I can never resist a highlighter and not when it is on sale.

The shade is 01 Cream.
It is a beautiful champagne shade highlighter.

Next up, I got blushers from them.
105 - Dark Rose is a brown beige shade with rose undertones

104 - Pastel Pink. It is a muted medium pink with slight brown undertones.

These two blushers are muted shades and they appear very natural on the skin if you are going for the natural blush look.

I didn't mean to pick this up but I just could not resist this shade. This is the Kiko Velvet Satin Nail Lacquer in Vintage Rose. It is a dusty rose taupe shade.

Kiko Smooth Temptation Lipstick in 05.

05 is a rosewood shade. A deep rose with brown undertones. 

Kiko Cream Crush Lasting Color Eyeshadows. 

This is a cream eyeshadow. They felt really good when I swatched them in store. They are very creamy and airy. So, I picked up two shades. 

This shade is 01. It is a pale champagne shade with pink undertones. 

This is the shade 02. It is a apricot shade. 

I really like cream eyeshadows because they are easy to use. Just pick up some colour and dab on the eyelids and you are done. 

I picked up the lighter shades because they can double up as an eyeshadow base. 

These Smart Lipsticks are really nice and creamy. I picked them up the last time I visited Italy and my mum loves them. So, I picked up one of the shades for her. 

From left : 917 and 913

917 is a medium rose with brown undertones. This one is for my mum, she likes this kinds of shades. 

913 is a dusty rose. 

Luscious Cream Lipstick. 

I got these because they were on sale. The texture of these are really nice upon swatching. They are smooth, pigmented and creamy. 

I also picked up one shade for my mum. 

The packaging is very unique. 

To obtain the bullet, you need to push the top part of the lipstick away from the cap. 

The packaging is nice. They are in a silver pearl in shade packaging 

From left : 515 is a pinkish purple shade whereas 505 is a peachy brown shade. 

Kiko Shining Star Lip Lacquer.

This is a limited edition. It is from their Holiday 2015 collection. 

The packaging is really beautiful that these are so hard to pass up. 

The Kiko Lip Lacquers is one of those type of hybrid lip product that provides the feel of a gloss with the pigmentation of a lipstick. 

From left : 02 Unique Magenta and 01 Cool Mauve 

Unique Magenta is a fuchsia-raspberry pink. 

Cool Mauve is a light mauve nude pink. 

Kiko Rebel Bouncy Blush.

I got three of them which is kind of impulsive. They were so pretty that I could not help pick them up. 

03 Treasure Rose

Treasure Rose is a dusty rose shade. 

02 Adorable Pink. 

Adorable Pink is a light warm pink shade 

04 Passion Red Wine

Passion Red Wine is a raspberry pinkish red shade. 

Tips & Tricks : Saving money when buying makeup.

On this very post, I am going to share my money saving tips and tricks when it comes to makeup shopping or how I save money when buying makeup products.

Couponing is not a thing in Malaysia nor big clearance discounts. When I was in Moscow, I had the luxury to get high end makeup at a much discounted price during seasonal clearance or 50% off storewide sales. 

Since being back here in Malaysia this has not been an option, so, I have found myself searching high and low for other methods and ways to save money or get money back through my shopping addiction. 

The first tip is a no brainer, that is participate in sales. Sephora has a biyearly 20% off storewide and sitewide, this is the best time to stock up or fulfill your wishlist. Even other e-commerce websites like Hermo.my do always have sales going around, do often check their website to keep track of sales. The last big sale they did was a 70% off L'oreal, Maybelline products. Doesn't that sound so tempting? So, do check on the website daily or subscribe to their e-letters if you can't bother but I recommend you to check in daily and click on attendance to collect points. 500 points is RM5 off! Starting this year Qoo10.com.my (one of the places I shop for K-beauty) always have coupons to be claimed on the website which is going to give you discounts when purchasing from the website.

Find cheaper options online.Like for K-beauty, the markup prices in stores can be astronomical. Do look around on online websites for cheaper prices. I often purchase my K-beauty from Qoo10, Hermo.my, Ebay and Roseroseshop.
Another tip, is to shop on UK websites, UK websites are very international customer friendly, they ship almost to everywhere. The good thing when you shop from UK websites, when you are outside the UK and European Region, you get VAT excluded. That is as good as shopping from the duty free.

This tip is from me and you are going to thank me. Shop on Carousell. You never know what treasures you might come across. Carousell is a platform to sell or buy preloved or brand new stuffs. I have encountered a few sellers who sold their brand new untouched luxury brand makeup products for more than 50% off market price. You can also get preloved makeup products and the prices are way cheaper than market price. Ofcourse it's not for germophobes or fussy buyers but certain products spraying or dipping in alcohol will do the job. I am very careful when I buy preloved products, I usually go for foundations or if it's others, it's either swatched once and never used or used once and never. Look at the pictures provided carefully or ask for extra pictures if in doubt.
I have bought a few gems from the site. Also, becareful when shopping on the site, do read the description thoroughly and if there's any unanswered question, do not hesitate to contact the seller and enquire. And, check on the seller's feedbacks!

I hope I don't get backfired by this because I know it is shady but buy tester units. Sometimes you just wanna try that luxury brand so badly but you just don't have enough money to spare or you just don't want to spend that huge amount of money on that particular makeup. This is when tester units will do the job. Much lower than market price, exactly the same product.

Also in Guardian or Watsons, never buy anything in full price.Wait for discounts or sales. It will come. 

Shopback.my. At first I thought this website is a dud bit after trying it myself it works and I got my cashbacks. It is sort of like the Ebates of Malaysia. You have to click on the websites you wish you to shop on the shopback page and if you shop using the particular page, you will get cashback. The referral links won't bring you to any sketchy websites. It will bring you to the official page of the website you wish to shop.
Sometimes, they do have some promotion like higher percentage of cashbacks and they will advertise any sales going on on online shopping sites.


Hope my tips and tricks is going to help you all to save money when buying makeup.

Also, I am not sponsored in any shape or form to mention the websites I have mentioned in my post. 

Around Malaysia : Day 2 : Ipoh : Sunway Tambun at night

The second day in Ipoh, we ended our night with a hot spring bath in Sunway Lost World of Tambun.
They had some sort of promotion going on that time, it was like buy 1 free 1 for the hot spring bath at night.
I was really excited as I never tried a hot spring bath before eventhough I visited Iceland and never went to the Blue Lagoon or there's so many hot springs just across the mountains near my house.

I did not take as many pictures during our hot spring session because I thought it won't be really polite to take pictures of people bathing in hot spring and we looked like we were ran over by the train at the end of the day.

The hot springs.
There are many temperatures for the spring ranging from 39-45 degrees. I kinda forgot on the temperatures available but there were 5-6 pools available. So there's enough space for everyone.
Different temperatures for different people. Different people? More like different human adaptation.

At first the spring water just felt too hot for us but after adaptation, we found it really relaxing. It's like being wrap in warm cotton wool.
I did tried the hottest spring but I felt it's still too hot for me. Guess I couldn't adapt to that temperature.

Aftermath of hot spring. I guess I did not look too bad with my wet hair and makeup into hot spring.
I would not have done any makeup if haven't I came to the hot spring from somewhere in the day.

That's how we ended our second day in Ipoh.

The next day I woke up really sore and tired as if I have hiked 12km the day before. Is this the effect of a hot spring bath?