Kat Von D at Sephora.

I am obsessed with two TLC shows currently airing on Discovery Travel and Living in Malaysia -- Miami Ink and its West Coast spin-off L.A. Ink (see pic above for cast). The show revolves around the young tattoo artist Kat Von D (white swimsuit, centre), first spotted on Miami Ink before she was fired, and her talented, quirky colleagues at High Voltage Tattoo in Hollywood California. My own fascination with tattoo art aside, I adore the alterna-chick look the women cast members rock and the absence of magazine-ready blonde glossiness (see The Hills) on the show.

You can imagine how thrilled I was when I learnt that Kat Von D was collaborating with Sephora on a makeup collection, which is now for sale online. I don't know the extent of Kat Von D's contribution (celebrity lines, y'know?), but the finished product has a romantic goth-glam feel to it so it feels like a collection the creator would wear herself. The plastic casing is stencilled with silver roses and comes in a specially silk-screened paper box.

The Kat Von D makeup collection isn't large -- there are two shadow palettes named after her favourite composer, creamy red lipsticks, liquid liner (of course) and an eye brush set. I'm personally lemming:

True Romance Eyeshadow palette in Beethoven (the other's named Ludwig. God, I'd buy both just to keep them together)

Painted Love lipstick in Hellbent because it's described as 'blood red'. Which I think is the perfect lipstick to wear when I'm carving my lover's initials into my skin while listening to My Chemical Romance.

It goes without saying that both images are from Sephora.

Prices for the Kat Von D makeup collection range from US$16 for an eyeliner and US$48 for the eye brush set, so it isn't exactly inexpensive. Still, this is one thoughtful eponymous celebrity makeup collection that may very well be worth every penny.

Green-Eyed Monster

I'm in the green eyeshadow phase now.

There. I've said it. I love all sorts of greens and with my Bourjois as well as RMK, I'm not easily satisfied.

With Bloom's flagship store opened, I've been making a lot of trips to the store. Blame it on the distance, or lack of. Blame it on the wonderful makeup artist (ask for Alice, she's the sweetest and warmest person ever!) and blame it on the very pretty, very fun and very affordable products.

And, when I saw what she did with her eyes, I immediately went, "I want that look!"

It's a very dramatic look that's not suitable for everyday use but I loved the way she played with the colours and how she built the effect up.

In the end, I bought a couple of items from her, came home and re-created the look.


Shadow liner in electric blue


Eyeshadow in Moss

My way.

I used the shadow liner in Electric Blue to line my eyes. Yes, it's the return of the dreaded electric blue eyeshadow! Trust me on this, it works! Then, I smudged the eyeshadow in Moss (which looks suspiciously like one of the colours I have on RMK, but upon closer inspection, they are completely different!) on the outer corner of the eyes. I blended the colours so that there's a thin line of aqua with a pop of green at the outer eye. Then, I took one of my least-used eyeshadows: Gold by The Face Shop which I got for RM10 or 15. I smudged that along the lash line to blend it with the rest of the liner and slightly into the green. I finish that off with my Dior Ready-to-beige as a highlighter on the brow bone. Brow pencil and mascara to follow as usual.

Pictures will have to come tomorrow because I'm completely swamped with work with the announcement of the new State and Federal budgets, fundings and the new organization structure.

NB: Shryh, how proud are you of me? I'm using eyeshadows from all different brands!

Pretty Beauty Stash

A quick pitstop at Doncaster Westfield a few days ago and my heart skipped a beat.




Gift with purchase! My favourite kind of shopping!


Take a guess!






What could it be?!



I think I should stop tantalizing Tine. For an entire day of yesterday and today, we'd been exchanging texts and emails and she's probably going to make me pay dearly for teasing her when we do meet up for coffee one day.

Well, not long ago, Shryh blogged on Glossifieds not long ago on a limited edition Guerlain palette. I tried my darndest to locate it in Wellington airport but to no avail. But, heyho, here we go!




Up close and personal


Without flash

It's probably the last one in Melbourne because I got Myer and David Jones in the city to call up Chaddy's and a few other places. But, I never thought of Westfield.

Good on me!

Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Skinny Jeans

It's been quite a long while since I got this eyeshadow. On days that I'm pressed for time, (e.g. rushing to catch the 725 to Richmond to make it for the 739 Blackburn only to find out bloody Connex has cancelled my 739 and I'd missed my 734 Lilydale. !*(&(#*^(*!&(!*&!!!^@^%@&^%) this is truly a God-send!

Image from benefitcosmetics.com

The colour is most definitely office-friendly. Names of colours on Benefit products aren't usually self-explanatory. I mean, who in the world would understand what sort of colour Skinny Jeans is? Except for yours truly because coincidentally, my first pair of skinny jeans was in dark grey. So, it's close enough. This is shimmery pewter or very dark grey with a tiny hint of green at certain angles. Most definitely office-friendly and I love that the finish is almost the smoky eye but not quite there yet.

The pot is most certainly generous and I have no idea how in the world I'd be able to finish using up every single bit of this eyeshadow. Even if I were to use it everyday, there's really no way one could use up the entire pot before it dries up.

Texture wise, it's very creamy as its name suggests and very, very soft. It is most definitely blendable and almost idiot-proof.

I guess that's where the pros of this product ends. I hate its claim that it's creaseless. It's most definitely not. I prep my lids with the world-reknown Urban Decay Primer Potion and at the end of a 12-hour wear, there's a little hint of creasing. So, one fine day, I decided to test it for its creaseless claim. No primer, nothing to prep the lids. It creased within a couple of hours. To be fair, I do have fairly oily lids but I dislike the claim and aimed to prove it wrong if it's not performing up to its claims.

It's a very easy product to use. I usually use a stiff brush (an eyeliner brush is a good bet) and load it up with the product. I draw a thick line near to the lashline and flicking it out a little as one would do for an eyeliner. Using my finger, I'd blend the colour up towards the crease. With that, I get the liner as well as a shadow effect in one. Then, I'd load up the colour a bit more for the outer corner of the eye and blend it in. Finally, a little lighter colour as a highlight for the brow. My staple for highlighting is Dior Mono shadow in Ready-to-beige. It's a great champagne-y-gold colour that's very subtle.

If I have a little bit more time, I usually go over the colour with a powder shadow in a similar shade. I pick Rock from the Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes palette. The finish is a bit more dramatic compared to using only the cream eyeshadow on its own.

If creasing is not an issue with you then, this is a great everyday office-friendly colour. If you have oily lids, then it's a good idea to find a primer for your lids and then load the product on. Having said all that, it's a pretty good value for money because of the huge pot you get. And, it's a great colour to use that is timeless and suits almost all skin tones.

Guerlain LE Eyeshadow Palette Fleur de Feu

Heart... fluttering... Cannot... breathe...
Image from eluxury.com

Hooooly smokes, but Guerlain's Fleur de Feu (Fire Flower, I think) limited edition eyeshadow palette is making me go weak in the knees. Designed by Herve van der Straeten, the man who brought Guerlain into the 21st century with his product designs, the palette takes inspiration from a South African flower that "mocks the surrounding land ravaged by fire [...] the ideal metaphor for casting off winter's gloom." Oooookay. But apart from the melodramatic copy, what's not to like about the pink and grey shadows encased in a black gold (swoon!) compact? Nothing, I tell you, NOTHING.

Two Faced Galaxy Glam Eye Shadows.

Now, I'm a complete dunderhead when it comes to science, which is even more appalling after I tell you that I was in the Science Stream in high school. But I adore space documentaries and science-fiction movies (Mars Attack counts! Shut UP!), and wild horses cannot drag me away from a planetarium, especially the dome theatre shows. When I was in Washington D.C. last November with only an afternoon for touristy activities, I visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum first, cramming in two shows (one dome, one 3D) before running off to an Edward Hopper exhibit at the National Gallery. Two of my best memories include starry skies, frosty temperatures and great company. I love the feeling of wonder as I gaze up into the skies and fantasize about interplanetary travel, and the feeling of despair that we know so little still even after making great progress in space exploration. I have a greater sense of my place in the universe, which is to say, staggeringly insignificant. Stargazing is a remarkably effective ego check!

So naturally, I'm *ahem* over the moon over Two Faced cosmetics's Galaxy Glam Eye Shadow because it looks like this:

Out of this world. Picture from sephora.com

Is it really eye shadow, or did someone snag a part of the galaxy with her butterfly net and set it in a silver case? Where MAC's Flashtronic mineralize shadows gleamed in the pans like planet surfaces, the Two Faced Galaxy Glam shadows make me feel like an astronaut orbiting the earth in a shuttle. The Galaxy Glam Shadows come in four shades:

• Deep Space - black with cobalt blue
• Moonbeam - black with laser light green
  
• Shooting Star - black with galactic gold
• Supernova (shown) - black with peach and pink

Priced at US$19.50 each, the eye shadows are available online at sephora.com and various Kit Cosmetics outlets in Australia.

Innovation or gimmick? Chi Chi Eye Magic

Press and swipe. These eyeshadow strips by Australia-based Chi Chi Cosmetics are all it takes to achieve "flawless" results. The Chi Chi Eye Magic comes in 18 different colour combinations inspired by the Australian landscape and can be found in Myer department stores and leading pharmacies across the country. "Professional eye makeup in a single stroke"? I admire the the founders' efforts to demystify the eye makeup process, but I have some doubts about the universality of their tricolour rainbow strips. Will it work on a single-lidded Asian gal? The wrinkly, saggy skin of an aging femme fatale who can barely draw a straight line with her lipstick? Will it look as fake and tacky as temporary tattoos? Only time, and our Australian correspondent, will tell. ;)

Wedding beauty.

Long story short - our lovely g33kchic got married to her sweetheart of 7 years on 25 August 2007. I went over to her house early in the morning to watch her get her makeup done. Many brides from our hometown go the whole hog on their special day - renting 3, 4 outfits for the day and hiring makeup artists to transform them into unrecognizable glamourpusses. Consequently, they look amazing in studio photos, but pictures taken by their guests inevitably reveal the caked on foundation that is 3 shades too light for their complexions.

g33kchic's attitude, which I share, is that the bride should look like herself on her wedding day, but look her absolute best. She thus opted for a neutral palette of shimmery nudes and browns carefully selected to include her favourites and 'holy grails' from her makeup collection.

All that a bride needs - I'm referring to the coffee, of course. ;)


Makeup checklist - brides usually tuck blotters, gloss into a small pouch the bridesmaid carries. Our g33kchic brought this bag, which was the size of a small football!


Eyeshadow - Dior 5 shadow palette in Frosted Earth(limited edition)

Bride's holy grail blush - Benefit's dandelion

Nail lacquer - Chanel's Pink Satin. I thought this would be prettier than a picture of the bottle itself.

Other items used - Laura Mercier primer, false eyelashes, Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes shadow palette, which was used for contouring!

By the time she donned her veil and gown before leaving for the church, she was truly a vision in white.

Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes Palette

I try not to buy into the hype of each season's makeup 'must-haves', and when I first caught sight of Bobbi Brown's Stonewashed Nudes eyeshadow palette about a month ago, I wasn't as enamoured with the palette as many other beauty bloggers. But as the end is nigh for my beloved Vincent Longo eyeshadow trio in Easy Rider, and it was the first time in years I've actually finished a pot of eyeshadow. The imminent demise of my pot of Easy Rider helped me to realize that I overwhelmingly prefer a nude-brown eyeshadow combination to wear to work on a daily basis. I considered getting a second pot of Easy Rider, but that would mean delayed gratification as Vincent Longo makeup is not available in Malaysia. Bobbi Brown's Stonewashed Nudes eyeshadow palette, on the other hand, was easily available (albeit for a limited period only), highly coveted and fantastically office-friendly.

Still, it takes a longer time for seasonal collections to hit our shores (O' Flashtronic, wherefore art thou?) and after days of skulking around the standalone Bobbi Brown cosmetics boutique in Mid Valley, my vigilance with rewarded when the palette finally went on display today. A failed shopping trip over the weekend had left me with more cash in the purse than usual, so I bought the palette, encased in taupe brushed metal, instead.

L-R: Navajo, Mica, Ash, Hot Stone, Stonewash, Rock, Espresso

I now have a reason to look forward to the second day of work this week. For now.

Genie In A Bottle, or the Urban Decay Primer Potion

I first became aware of Urban Decay cosmetics in my late teens, and I was utterly blown away by the company who dared to name a nail colour 'gangrene'. The brand's twisted, unprissy aesthetics struck a chord with my inner smudgy-eyelinered, torn-fishnet-stockinged alterna-chick. Indeed, Urban Decay was founded in 1996 by a woman who worked for Cisco Systems who was sick of the sea of pink nail polish in the market at the time.

My first over-the-counter makeover was by an Urban Decay sales assistant during the sultry summer of 2000 when I interned at a television news station in Taipei. I left the mall with sparkly blue eyeshadow (Urban Decay does not do 'matte'. For the most part.), sparkly bubblegum pink lips and a small bag containing a tube of the same sparkly bubblegum pink gloss which I promptly gave away to a friend when I returned to college that fall. After a brief flirtation with the Midnight Cowboy eyeshadow - what was a dorky Government major going to do with super-glittery beige eyeshadow? - I sadly concluded that I simply wasn't hardcore or even interesting enough for Urban Decay.

Fast forward to 2007, where I've a bit 'put away' for a rainy day, a tiny disposable income from my day job as a PR drone, and most importantly, a willing if not slightly diffident State-side contact who made Sephora runs on my behalf if I batted my eyelashes hard enough. I was also clocking time on makeupalley.com, where while browsing the most highly-rated items on the website, I noticed that the Urban Decay Primer Potion was getting resoundingly positive reviews. Primer Potion fans raved about how eyeshadows stayed fresh from dawn 'til dusk, and I figured that legions of experienced makeup aficionados could not be wrong. I informed g33kchic of the news, and she quickly tapped a travelling co-worker to get her a tube. g33kchic was an instant convert, and I waited for an opportunity to get my own tube.

Now, as the proud owner of a tube, I can tell you in my own words that this stuff works. In true Urban Decay style, the primer comes in a purple tube with a silver cap whose sleek curves would not be out of place on the dresser of a certain 60's television genie. Given the eye makeup of the era, the primer potion might have made Jeannie's toilette a little easier. The primer potion comes with a sponge applicator with which I dab little dots of primer onto my eyelid before smoothing them all over with my ring finger. The 'potion' is a nude formulation that goes on sheer and subtly smooths and evens out the skin around the eye area, creating a base for your eye makeup with a death grip on your shadows. This eye primer pretty much solved the problem I had with migrating eyeshadow, which left me looking like a panda and very much worse for the wear at the end of the work day. In fact, I even use a little bit along my lower lashline, where I like to apply a smidgen of black shadow as liner.

My one and only gripe, and it seems so petty to quibble when this is just magic in a tube (hah, see that?), is that I am unable to gauge how much is left or even how much is in there to begin with. When I pull the wand out of the tube in the morning, I am sometimes unconvinced that the sponge applicator picked up any product at all. Perhaps this is one cosmetic product in which I shall have to have some blind faith.