This is one of those entries whereby I ramble randomly about things that might not particularly be makeup focused. Or in this entry's context, not makeup focused at all!

One (very vague) connecting point would be that I wanted to post the 'main feature' here in the earlier glitter-fied post but that ran a little long so, here it stands now on it's own! This one feature then spiraled into this post of... well sheer randomness.

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I had tweeted my woes about how crappy and gross my phone's earlier screen protector had become and Evonne, who chanced across my tweet, had very kindly came to my rescue. Now, I place my phone's screen protector in great regard because I cannot stand seeing a scratch of any sort of my screen. Not just normal smudges/smears but the hairline ones that never go away and imagine that, all over the screen protector! Yes, it was a crap protector I got from some random place so... I sort of knew it.

Evonne offered to give me a screen protector from her her (co-owned) store ahbengshop.sg so here you have it...

A blingingly new screen!

I know most girls have or had these bling protectors but it's my first, so let me be excited about it in my own little bubble. I've only had plain glossy ones thus far, which I like but the bling protector does make the phone look that somewhat prettier.

The bling is mostly obvious under a light source and if your display is on, you barely see it unless it catches the light. Gorgeous, purely from a girl's point of view of course. Most guys that have seen this went, what the...

I had this protector since the end of last week but never got an appropriate time to showcase it till now, ridding on the blingness of the earlier post!

This is available on ahbengshop.sg for S$4.50 and I thank Evonne for saving my tech life, again! I have seen some bling protectors glisten with pink-ish and blue-ish sparkles but ths one is purely silver/white, no color to it which I much prefer.

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Alrightey, one topic down!

To be honest I have an idea of what to write in this entry but for the most part I'm really just making it up as I go. That's what we do with journals, yes?

I believe I did mention something about roller-blading much earlier (perhaps my Shu Uemura foundation review?) but I've yet to feature my new best friends so... here they are!

It was a case of boyfriend and I thinking to go blading at the East Coast so it snowballed from thinking to rent blades to eventually purchasing our own. I'm not sure how it evolved but at the end of it I think it's a good investment and motivation to take this 2012 fitness thing seriously!

The blades I have here are by the brand K2 in the model Rita, I got them on offer for about S$190 plus. The original retail value was S$260 or something, I can't recall now.

Boyfriend and I did some research and K2, along with SEBA, turned out to be one of the more popular brands to invest in. Royal Sporting House/World of Sports etc stocks a brand called Rollerblade which is okay but for the price they go for there, you can invest in K2s or SEBAs instead, which are said to be better.

Okay a lot of roller blading talk there but I like the K2 Womens models because they come with a cause!

They are tied up with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, which I thought was an interesting move for a blading company.

Boyfriend picked up his blades from a separate store and he, being the pro boy that he is, picked up freestyle skates without brakes.

His skates are SEBA and made for more freestyle/street skating with the sturdier boot. Mine looks so much more like a shoe compared to his....

In the long run if you average it out, having your own skates means more freedom to skate at your own time and works out cheaper than renting, even if you throw in the cost of arm/knee guards and all.

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Seems like I had quite a bit to ramble out. Lastly, I thought I would just share my obsession with Dream High 2!

I loved Dream HIgh 1 so much that I would look forward to catching it every single week without fail and yes, it was one of those rare times where I watched a drama as it aired instead of waiting for it to be over and watch it in my own time.

Upon hearing there were doing a season 2 with a whole different storyline, I was skeptical - very skeptical. I was almost prepared to not like it but as it turns out I don't think I can bring myself to hate anything from the Dream High production.

Though it's only been 3 episodes so far, I really do like it. The new cast is doing a good job and the storyline seems to be a little more thought through this time and less straight-forward but hey it's only 3 episodes, I can't claim that.

It's been awhile since I've idled away my time watching dramas or variety shows and this drama may very well be the death of my sleeping hours but.... hell, Jiyeon's so cute in this, Jin Woon's acting is so good and Sora is doing a good job. I don't want to comment on JB... because he's a 94'er? That's like... young, so anyway.... that's about it!

Incase you're wondering, I catch Dream High 2 from youtube because this way I can watch it on my way to work.

 

Thanks for reading! I do hope you all don't mind rambly posts as such, I find it nice to stray and talk about other miscellaneous things but at the end of it, it's still a makeup space so if it bothers you, let me know!

Remember to take part in the Lit Cosmetics Giveaway if you haven't!

Where does glitter come from? According to the folks over at Lit Cosmetics, apparently it all comes from a big glitter tree!

Jokes aside, Lit Cosmetics is a brand that focuses on bringing some sparkle into our lives with their wide selection of glittery shades. While glitter isn't something I embrace and hold dear, I still like it from time to time and you certainly never know when you need that added bling to spice up a look.

Now, glitter is just about everywhere but Lit Cosmetics was founded in 2001 when Jodie Perks, the owner of Lit Cosmetics, felt a need to reinvent and introduce some sparkle and fun into the makeup that was then.

"No Glitter, No Glory"

Lit Cosmetics would be ideal for those who have a need to glitz up their makeup such as cheerleaders, dancers, performers, models and more. Though, I don't fit into any of the above categories, they still extended their product to me as part of their vision to spread the glitter to any and everyone!

Naturally I would be taking a more neutral, simple and everyday approach with these glitter-bombs instead of the fancy face painting you can see on their website.

Nonetheless, introduction aside, lets have a look at the items they had provided me with.

With the package came 3 glitter pots, 2 (liner) brushes, a glitter base and this odd ball.

This product here is supposed to help clear and dust off glitter particles (to be used dry) though I have not put it to the test. Typically if I know I will encounter some fall-out with a certain look, I prefer to do my foundation after my eyelook is done. This way I don't have to delicately dust fall-out off, I can go at it with a wet wipe, way more effective.

Lit Cosmetic's online catalog is flash-based and scripted so you flip through it, like a book. It's pretty nifty and it's the first time I have seen a company integrate this flash frame with a shopping cart, it's typically used (to death) for photo-books or online portfolios.

With this many colors, the representation method does save you the trouble from having to scroll through too many things but the downside is you can't search (Ctrl/Apple + F) a shade on the page. The 'content page' links along the front page are pretty handy if you looking through a select color group.

The choices are aplenty so I left it up to the folks at Lit Cosmetics to choose what they would like to recommend to me and these are the 3 that I ended up with!

 

Lit Glitter Colors

The colors they picked out are Pretty in Pink, Twisted Sistah and Beach Baby

The bottom of these pots function as a screw on top so you can 'stack' them up to save space or store them individually.

These glitter pots are going for CA$12.95 (approx S$16 / USD13). The glitters have a 'glitter-cut' which defines how large or how fine the glitter bits are. The shade names indicate which size they are so be sure to look out for that, it would be the last 2 digits (e.g. MADMS2 - Size 2!).

(click to enlarge)

Notice that I don't quite refer to these as glitter eyeshadows because they are certainly more true-glitter than say a glitter shadow. They have a different texture and seem to be packed looser than if you compare it to a mica-shot eyeshadow loose powder. These are full-on glitter without an underlying base color to hold it together.

If swatched alone, they look pitiful because they do not have a base to grab on to, so as with most glitter usages, a base or some sort of mixing medium is necessary!

Enter, Clearly Liquid Glitter Base™, a product with great responsibilities in the Lit Cosmetics inventory.

 

Clearly Liquid Glitter Base™

Mentioned to be the backbone of Lit Cosmetics, the newly formulated Glitter Base is paraben-free and made of natural ingredients, costing CA$22.95 (S$29 / USD23). A mixing medium isn't something you need to run out to get because you can easily find your own or in most cases, we use simple ole water.

As far as glitter goes, I advise against using just water because that dries up and disappears, leaving the glitter to hold themselves together. We all know with glitter that doesn't happen thus traveling and fall-out will occur.

The good news is most people reach for things like eyedrops or hydrating facial mists as a mixing medium since those are not, just water. One point I have noticed, from prior experience is that to make something really stick and hold together, get a product with a good amount of Glycerin because that really puts the 's' in stick!

Comparing this to a commonly used mixing medium (also glycerin infused), MAC Fix + I would say the Clearly Liquid Glitter Base™ has more stick, with a slightly thicker consistency, since it's formulated for that purpose. Just like how we can't possible spritz a mixing medium all over our face since that would be too thick and sticky on.

In short, is a mixing medium necessary? Yes it is.
Is this particular one necessary? No it's not but I find it really holds the glitter well.

 

Brushes

The folks at Lit Cosmetics were also kind enough to include 2 eyeshadow brushes within the package so I have a complete set of things to use, from mixing medium to glitter and now brushes.

Round brush - CA$16.95 (S$21 / USD17)

Liner Brush - CA$15.95 (S$20 / USD16)

I've tried both and would say the small (Liner) one doesn't quite do it for me. While it's thin and very precise, I find it a tad filmsy with use and much prefer something firmer. I don't mind the thickness of the Round brush and it gives better control too. This paragraph can go very awry if you aren't in the right state of mind.

So anyway... after using the Liner brush once, I've since put it aside and only reach for the Round brush now.

Eyeliner brushes are easily available here and we all might have one or two so I'm not putting much emphasis on these ones since they are... functional yet, that's about it? Though if brushes are your thing, you could pick one up for the sake of the sparkly handle.

 

To combine all the elements together, here's a swatch I did with the brush, mixing medium and glitters.

What a vast difference from the earlier swatch!

If you are worried about the mess or hassle of washing the brush each time after use, you would be surprised to know that if using the right mixing medium, the glitter bits would come right off the brush. Maybe a little flicking the bristles after is required but no thorough rinsing, I assure you that.

Here's a somewhat step-by-step pictorial of how I apply them and evidence of a clean brush after!

Voila, clean brush! I didn't 'set up' the shot, I swear!

While I didn't compare it to another mixing medium, which I totally should have, I compared swatching it with Clearly Liquid Glitter base VS plain water.

At first glance it's quite obvious that the Glitter Base helps pack the glitter particles closer together while the water mixed one seems a little runny. I let both swatches sit for awhile to dry down before I continued with Step 2!

Annihilation!

While I didn't go berserk on them I did rub the tissue across with good strength, probably a little harder than you would if you rubbed your eye but it's all for demo purposes! I honestly wouldn't think anyone would go berserk on their eye with makeup on, right?

The Glitter Base holds the glitter bits well despite the test while the water-base one is completely gone. How sad...

Well I suppose my point of this is really just to show case that the Glitter base holds well and that you honestly should use a mixing medium if using glitter flecks. I might try this again with Fix + since it's not all a fair fight putting water up against a proper mixing medium.

Lit Cosmetics has stores within the US and Canada, you can check their store locator for more information. For the other countries, us included, we will have to purchase from their online store. There is a flat rate of CA$10 world-wide shipping so I suggest spree-ing together with pals to split that cost!

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I know this post is waaaaaay long so to reward those who have read this far,
I have a MiniMe Lit Kit (worth CA$35.95) to giveaway!

The kit contains:

• Sparkle duster
• Mini detailer & eyeshadow brush
• 1 glitter color - Beach baby (brand new)
• 30ml Clearly Liquid Glitter Base

 

The highlight of this would honestly be that Glitter Base because it's enough to last a long while and to mix with loose/glitter polishes of other brands.

All you have to do to take part is simply:

1. Be a follower of my blog, via onsugar or RSS feeds.
2. Leave your email in the comment along with 'Enter Me'
3. You can only comment once in this giveaway
4. Open to those residing in Singapore only.

 

Sample entry:
Enter me! icyabstract@gmail.com

Giveaway closes on the 23rd of February 10.00PM GMT+8.

 

Thanks for reading and good luck!

Disclosure:
Products were provided to me for review consideration.
I am not affiliated to them and all opinions expressed are my own.