About time! I know... I do apologize for taking this long to finally blog about it, but as I had mentioned, I was working on a side-blog.
What is the side blog about? Well it is a shared blog between my boyfriend and I, and we would be updating our little adventures on there.
It's not exactly a personal blog that will be updated on a daily basis but more of a diary. A place where we would write about the special things/events that we did together. Something like that.

Regardless, the reason why that blog is so important is because I am not going into detail about my trip here because it's just going to be too long an entry. I'll summarize it a little with photos, and I'll link you guys to the extended blog. It's a lot better this way, so I don't picture spam or post-spam on here too much.

Okay, enough with all that, and on to the trip.
As you might have known from now, the reason why this trip is 'different' is because I went to Hong Kong with my boyfriend, just the two of us. No parents or anything. It was a fun experience since this is the first time I am traveling without adult-parent supervision.
One of the things we were concerned about would have to be language. Since neither of us speaks cantonese, we were not sure how to best communicate. Some people have said that you could speak to them in Mandarin or English and they'll understand you. Though we were initially skeptical about that, it is true. The Hong Kong citizens are able to hold a decent and simple conversation in English (not all, but most, especially the younger generations). Mandarin is okay too, but they don't understand our Mandarin accent very well. Hm.

I'll not be elaborating too much on the following photos, rather I'll just caption them.
I'm not sure how to best talk about the trip on here so here's a brief overview of things that we had done and seen in Hong Kong - slightly organized.

(all 'read more' links open in new window, so you don't have to worry about loosing this page!)

Day 1

On the plane to Hong Kong!

At Ngong Ping village (Lantau Peak)

Climbing up the steps to the giant Buddha statue at the Po Lin Monastery.

When you're in Hong Kong, duh you have to drink their Milk Tea. haha.
It was addictive, I must say.

Read more about Day 1 >>

Day 2

Ocean park day! Pity about the rain...

It was still raining after about 5 hours of us being in Ocean Park. How sad.

Pretty random, but the vanity area in the hotel. Where I get ready at every morning.

CTMA Shopping Centre, the interior.

Read More about Day 2 >>

Day 3

Classic narcissistic shot at Times Square Mall

Outside Times Square and Lane Crawford with the unsuspecting boyfriend

Tram up to the Peak!

Read More about Day 3 >>

Day 4

At the Goldfish Market. Look at them throw the fishes like that. It looks a lot milder in the photo, but they literally throw the bags.

Puppies for sale at the Goldfish Market too. Poor things, crammed into a box.

Bird Garden! Super cute place.

Hong Kong Science Museum, the mirror exhibition

At the harbor, watching the light show.

Read More about Day 4 >>

Day 5

Back to Singapore!

Read More about Day 5 >>

Overall, Hong Kong was really fun and I had a great time there. The food there costs a little more then I had imagined, though it's not mad expensive or anything. I would strongly suggest to eat at the road side stalls, as opposed to restaurants or Tea Houses all the time. As that is the best way to truly embrace the food culture in Hong Kong (at a decent price too!).
Shopping wise, it is indeed a shopping haven, nothing much to elaborate on there.

Haul entry coming up real soon!
Thanks for reading (:

Here is a slightly belated collective entry.
I had received the packages just before my trip to Hong Kong but because I was too busy with wrapping up my schoolwork and packing for the trip, I didn't have time to take photos and update it on here.

Regardless I have a bit time of hand these days so I finally got it done.
Lets start out with the mini-haul first.

So it seems that I have been fairly obsessed with purchasing 'second-hand' makeup. Though there must be a seperate term for it. 'Second-hand' just doesn't sound right...
Anyway, so here is the 'second-hand' makeup item that I got.

MAC Fluidline in Macroviolet

It took me awhile to actually purchase it because this is a cream product so I wasn't really sure. I mean, powder product wise it's not a big deal to purchase second-hand, but for cream products it's a little scary in the hygiene department.
So I did check with the seller regarding how she used the product and in the end I just thought whatever, and got it.
Plus, it was a pretty good deal for however much product is in it and the color is gorgeous!
One thing that I would never buy second-hand would be lipglosses. Unless it's the case of a brand new second-hand, you get my drift?

The seller was also kind enough to throw in some freebies.

I haven't tried them all yet, but believe it or, the Buff'd blush in Fruity is an amazing color! It's got a stunning pink irridescent to it.

Moving on, I had also done a swap with Weiduo (owner of Magical Tannsu).
I do feel bad because I didn't send as much, as I sent the package over first.
She was such a doll to send me this many lovely items! So thank you, I do love them all! (:

First up, the brushes!

Top: Smashbox brush, not sure about the one at the bottom but it looks similar to the MAC 214.

Italian Badger flat top brush (don't know the exact names, I just totally made this up, haha).
I have been lemming for a brush like this and boy am I excited to finally own one!

The other makeup items I had received are:

ELF Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Tart

Left: Loose pink eyeshadow, no brand of
Right: Everyday Minerals loose shadow in Golden Medal

ELF Candyshop Lipgloss in Cherry Bomb.
The second one to my ELF tin gloss collection. Can I just mention how incredible these smell. It makes me want to just eat it! haha

NYX Jumbo Pencil in Lemon
My very first NYX Jumbo pencil! Yes, believe it or not.

Revlon Powder blush in Pink Blush

L'oreal Wear Infinite in Brazilian Bronze Duo.
I absolutely love this! I've tried it out a couple of times with different looks and that bronze-rustic shade there is definitely a favorite.

That is it! Since fall is supposedly all about dark and intense lips, lets see if I can break away from nude lips and slap on these gorgeous red lip treats.

On a side-note,
I'm almost done with sorting out the Hong Kong trip stuff, and I'm pretty sure I should be able to get up some updates tonight or at least tomorrow.
Definitely making progress with it! I know it's taking a while, but you guys will see why.

Thank you very much for reading!

I was tagged by retail_therapy (thanks for tagging! :D) and in turn, I am tagging:

lxflickr
linnera
rainyydays

and of course everyone else who wishes to do it!

The tag:

1) What are your make items must have(s)?

Black eyeliner, concealer and a brow filler (be it pencil, felt-tip, colored brow gel, whichever)

2) Who was the first make up guru you watched on youtube?

- It was either panacea81 or steffistricks. Not sure which one first.

3) From the answer above, how did u stumble upon the person's channel?

- I found steffistricks while researching Heatherette for my school project, came across her haul entry on MAC's Heatherette collection and started watching the rest of her videos. As for panacea81, I was watching Tokio Hotel videos and saw in the related videos area a clip titled 'Bill Kaulitz Smokey Eyes', out of curiosity, I clicked it and the rest is history!

4) How did you discover Onsugar?

- Through Sophia (retailtherapy). I used to follow her on her blogspot, but found out she had stopped posting on there. When I learnt that she started posting on onsugar (and since I was looking for a platform to host my beauty blog, aside from blogger), I decided to join the community.

5) Who was the first onsugar blogger that you followed?

- Sophia (retail_therapy), of course.

6) Did you ever buy a make up item/tool which you end up not using or regretted buying?

- So many times.

7) What do you usually carry in your make up bag?

- I don't carry too much because I have this weird peeve with bringing my makeup out of the house. For fear of both 'contamination' and also breaking it (powder stuff). But I typically bring my blotting paper, blotting powder and a couple of glosses and lipsticks.

8) If you found your Holy Grail (HG) product, would you stick with it throughout or are you willing to try on other products which might end up not suitable for you?

- Skincare wise, unless that product is a total miracle worker (think Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner), I wouldn't stick to it for long. I'll remember it, but I'll want to try something else. As for makeup, I love to experiment with it so yes I will continue trying other products. Like wise, if nothing else works, I'll go back to the Holy Grail. Though I have this really bad habit of trying other products yet still getting back ups of things I truly love. Like NYX's Circe lipstick.

9) In your opinion which is more important, or rather which comes first, product quality or application technique?

- I would say that application technique is more important, for fairly obvious reasons. If a certain someone has great products but does not know how to best utilize it, wouldn't it be considered a waste of product quality? So thats my opinion.

10) On a scale of 5, how 'important' is make up to you?

- More important then it should be... 3.5? My life doesn't revolve around it, and I am not entirely obsessed with it, but does it make me happy and complete my day? Yes. So that is why I deem it as that 'important'.

Thanks for reading!

I was approached by I Nuovi Professional to be on their review team, much like Diana (adorebeauty).
I was sent three products to try out and review. I had asked if I was allowed to be honest and talk about negative points if I had found any, and the 'corespondent' said I was able to. So rest assured, I will be honest with my opinions in these reviews. I know I keep mentioning that, but I feel it is necessary, after all the drama I have seen on youtube and everywhere else. Though I might not be repeating it in future reviews. I will of course state that it's sent, but I will keep the disclaimer out as repeating it that many times might just get annoying.

So with that said, here are the items I was sent and will be reviewing.

I had received these a couple of days before my trip to Hong Kong, but I didn't have time to get an entry about it up.
I haven't tried them all sufficiently to be able to give an in-depth review yet.
The three items that I was sent are:

Metallogy Eyeshadow in Patina

Powder Blush in Dolly

Ultragloss Lip Color in Rock

Photos of product colors and all that will be revealed in the review itself. It's obviously not a secretive thing, but I don't want to repeat the photos too much, so I thought I would start with featuring the packaging first!
I will primarily be reviewing these on my onsugar blog, not youtube, so check back here for the reviews!

So this is a quick update and a bit of a filler entry as right now I am in the midst of sorting through photos and getting stuff from the Hong Kong trip straightened out. The plan is to start a little blog to talk about the whole trip in full detail. I will let you guys know more about this in due time. Since I was in Hong Kong for 5 days, blogging about everything that had happened in 5 days might take awhile, plus sifting through 1,000+ photos doesn't help either.

Nonetheless, I just wanted to make a quick entry clarifying that I am indeed back in Singapore. School starts next week, so that isn't something I am overly excited about, but life's life, isn't it? I also have some tutorials planned as I haven't done those in awhile.

With all that being said, keep a look out for my Hong Kong vlog/haul entries coming up soon! In the mean time, I am trying to get a "What's in My Bag/Purse" video up to compensate for the super long absence on youtube. If only my internet would stop crapping out on me every 10 minutes.
Seriously though, the MIO internet plan sucks.

Finally!
After grueling and spilling our guts out for weeks, it's finally the holidays. Sadly I don't get that long a holiday at my college, but it's alright. It's definitely better then not having holidays at all!

For this term, I'll be having a 2 week break, and then it's back to school.
Normally the 2 week break would be pretty uneventful and consist of me making up for the loss of sleep during the school term.
However, during this term break, I am actually going on a holiday! It's probably not new news (ha, no pun intended) if you follow me on twitter and read all my tweets religiously. Well, maybe not religiously. But if you read my recent tweets enough you would notice that they all seem pointed about traveling, vacation and I did mention something about Hong Kong too.

So a summary of the paragraph that you had read above would be, I will be going to Hong Kong for vacation!
I'll be gone for about 5-6 days, starting end of this week.
That would explain why I will not be blogging, tweeting or posting for the most of next week. My final tweets, blog posts and youtube video would probably be a reminder about my trip, as I have started getting some rather.... how would you say, pushy requests? But yes, point-being, I'll emphasize on my trip again when it gets closer. Till then, I've got navigating and packing to do!

Fret not, shopping will be done in Hong Kong ;) I think I don't shop very much on vacation so I will not be lugging a separate luggage back or anything - I think. I do have a couple of items I want to check out and probably pick up but we'll see how all that turns out.


Now, on to something on a totally different spectrum, and that is my school work.
I am not going to be showing everything that I had done, just because... Well, just cause. However, here is the finished version of the poker cards that I had talked about on my dailybooth account.

And also the box that it is to be stored in!

Super random feature of my school work.
(All of it done on illustrator CS 3, for those who are wondering)
I am not going to feature my school work often because it's not very related to what I typically talk about on here.

So the reason why I had been tweeting about Lady Gaga for a bit (or have I been? I don't remember) is because I was doing a school project about her. It was one of those choose a random topic and get creative kind of a project. I decided to do advertising and promotional materials for a Lady Gaga Meet & Greet Event. This was just one of the items. But yes, I'm rambling so I shall stop.

Now that was a really lengthy update. For those who have managed to read thus far, kudos to you!
If anyone has any information about Hong Kong (preferrably recent) be it food, travel, where to shop, weather, please do let me know!
It's not my first time there, but it's a first time for something (I'll talk about it when I get back) and I'm excited for it.

Available at: http://sunlove.biz

Being tan is something that I have always aspired to be. Back in the days, I used to be such a huge junkie of going to the beach and laying in sand and all, but right now, that just sounds like the last thing that I would ever do. So how else can I get tanned yet still avoid the sun?

Yeap, you guessed it. A self-tanner.

I was sent this product to try out. Maybe I'm being paranoid but to not start drama, I feel I have to throw in a disclaimer. Regardless if I was sent an item or if I had bought it, I will still be truthful with my reviews. I don't believe in lying about a product because that's just going to defame you and it's not worth it. So everything I review be it this product, or any product I have ever reviewed are all my honest opinions.
So in the case of the Sunlove Self-Tanner, to be able to give an informative review, I've tried it out a couple of times. Every time I try it, I aim to find out something new about the product be it positive or negative. Though I have written a list of everything that I wanted to point out, youtube does not allow me to squeeze all that information into one/or two video(s). So for once, I might actually be revealing more information in the blog post. Though I would still recommend to check the videos out as there are visual demonstrations available.

The Product:
"SUNLOVE is a mistake-proof, at-home microfine misting system that safely delivers a natural looking tan without the sun. Formulated with a unique blend of natural ingredients, Sunlove delivers an immediate bronze tint to the surface of your skin, while the active self tanner goes to work....."
About Sunlove

My thoughts:
I absolutely love this product. I truly do. It does everything a self tanner is supposed to do. It makes your skin healthier and more radiant. The color looks perfect and incredibly natural, trust me when I say I have had issues with self tanner shades before. It seems most other self tanners or bronzers I've tried either made my skin look yellow or the undertone was just off. This Sunlove self-tanner did not give me any issues. The color matched and look gorgeous.

As this is a bronzer as well, you get color instantaneously so it is quite gratifying to be able to see yourself getting tanner by the second (or by the spray). Unlike some self-tanners out there that are colorless upon application, since this has a bronzer infused into it, you would be able to see if you have missed spots and get to them. Instead of having to wait a couple of hours for the self tanner to take effect before realizing that you've missed spots. So I would definitely say this is really easy to use.

Though the mechanism might seem pretty intimidating at first, (or at least to me it did) it's actually quite easy to work around. It's just a matter of getting used to it. Once you've gotten the hang of gripping it and maneuvering your body the right way, everything just clicks.

Though this was not mentioned on my youtube, for those who might be concerned.
When the product is being shipped to you, the self tanner liquid is well-sealed so you don't have to worry about spillage.

Now here's the list of Pros and Cons that I have drafted.

Pros

• Self tanner color is very natural looking

• Dries pretty fast - dries to the touch in about 3 minutes or so (depending on how much you have layered)

• Can be layered

• Can be dabbed off (immediately) if sprayed too close as product is visible.

• The product does diffuse out slightly on the skin, so if you accidentally got splotches on, it's not insanely obvious.

• Does not stain sheets after an hour of application (if you spray before going to bed)

• Tan fades in about a week and it fades nicely, not patchy at all.

Cons

• Can't tilt the mechanism while spraying, else it would drip

• Product does collect at the nozzle area, you would have to constantly wipe it so it wouldn't get messy

• Might need someone to help you with harder to reach areas e.g. your back

From what I can tell, the pros definitely out-weigh the cons!
For more information, do check out the video review and also the demonstration!
ALSO, the Giveaway ends on the 12th of October (GMT+8) so don't forget to submit your entry before then!

Sunlove Self-Tanner: Review (Part 1)
Sunlove Self-Tanner: Demo + Giveaway info (Part 2)

Now, on to some photographic documentation of the product.
As I had mentioned, this is a bronzer and a self tanner, thus I decided to do comparison of both the bronzer and the self-tanner versus 'regular' skin.
What I did was to spray one hand with the sunlove product and took a photo of it immediately, that would represent the bronzer.
Then, after 3 hours, I washed the bronzer off and took another photo and that would represent the self-tanner color. Which is also the color you would be for the next week or so.

I decided to rope my brother into this documentation as well since he is of a darker skin-tone then I am. It could help solve doubts on whether this product would show up on someone with a darker skintone.
For reference, I am an NC30 at MAC (and our faces are supposed to be lighter then our bodies, no?)

Click on images to enlarge and for better color resolution.

Bronzer Effect

Self-Tanner Effect

So from the photos and from personal observation, the self-tanner color is a little more natural looking than the bronzer color. Thus, if you do get carried away with the bronzing and made yourself darker then you wanted, you can be assured the final self-tanner color would not look as dark. It seems that this product 'adjusts' to your skintone and seems to look natural on most people. I guess this self-tanner works pretty universally, so if you are someone who is pretty fair and is afraid to use self-tanners because you might look muddy, I am pretty sure you will not have a problem with this one. For those who are medium or darker in skintone, this adds a nice boost and makes you look really healthy and sun-kissed.

This product retails for 44.95USD at sunlove.biz and that honestly is not a lot considering you can use this product for about 8-12 full body and face applications. That would average out to be 3.50USD or so. If you were to get a spray tan done at the salon, it would definitely cost a lot more. So I say this is indeed a good deal. Especially for those in search of a perfect self-tanner. This would definitely be my recommendation.

And this was also the HG product I tweeted about.
I've also adopted the rating and 'would you re-purchase' option because it gives people a better overview of reviews.

Product Rating: 4.5/5

Would I buy this again? Yes, most probably.

p.s. Do remember to take part in my Giveaway before the 12th of October if you haven't already!

I was nominated by retail_therapy and clarachan for this. Thank you dears! (:

Rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

So first, I have to share 7 things about myself and in all honesty, I'm running out of things to say! After staring blankly at the screen for a couple of minutes, I've managed to churn out seven facts about me.

1. I've had a short bob hair cut (down to about my ears only!) for the most part of my primary school days. My parents only allowed me to leave long hair when I was 12, which is probably why I hate having short hair so much.
2. I work best under pressure or if I have a lot of tasks on hand. If I'm too 'free' I'll end up procrastinating and all.
3. As much as I love having reddish hair, the hair color I truly truly wish to have is a mousey medium ash brown. I've tried getting it once, but after a couple of washes, reddish tones showed through again.
4. I never like my hair neat. I have been told I touch my hair too much, but that's because my hair falls limp naturally and I constantly have this desire to scrunch it up every couple of minutes.
5. I don't have a very sweet tooth. I believe I've mentioned this... I don't eat candies or chocolates very much. When drinking 'pure' coffee, I don't like adding sugar either. Though I do drink frappes and all that fancy stuff at cafes, just not the uber sweet ones.
6. I need to get braces done, but I'm procrastinating. Probably not a good thing... but I hate going to the dentist. I received the slip when I was in secondary school and stashed it away till now... =/
7. I like listening to oldies, probably influenced by my parents playing music around the house when I was a kid. Think Abba, Air Supply, Bee Gees.

Okay with that done, I'm now supposed to nominate 7 people for this. And though I'm sure some of these people have already been nominated, I'll still nominate you guys again.

heavenlygorgeous
maddymadeline
linnera
lynn (lxflickr)

So rightfully, there should be 7 names there, but it's 3AM now I'm too tired to think.
I'm pretty sure most people I know have already been tagged so I'm going to leave it at this.

Thank you for reading!

Being inspired by retail_therapy's post on customizable MAC palettes, which is a pretty new function on MAC Cosmetic's website, I decided to try that out too and blog about it. Just for the fun of it.
I personally am not extremely interested in MAC's regular powder blushes or eyeshadows. Sure I do want to collect them if I can, but I hardly get crazy tempted to pick up a MAC eyeshadow unless I have been thinking about it for over a week. So technically, I would never purchase 15 MAC eyeshadows in one go, unless I seriously went on a mad splurge.

But regardless, I think this is a pretty fun exercise as it makes me feel momentarily happy. I don't know if that's weird, but I think it's fun and it'll be interesting to see what other people's choices are, So if you are interested in doing this, feel free to do so!

Most of the choices for my palettes are based off of what I had seen on youtube videos or makeup blogs as I hardly frequent the eyeshadow section in the MAC store. The rules for this as stated by retail_therapy (Sophia) is to not have any repeat colors in either palettes, unless there is an absolute must for it.

So here are my picks for the 15 Piece palette:

I chose these colors not based on how 'portable' this is, but rather on the colors that I have been eyeing. What I mean is, that would explain why there isn't a black eyeshadow or a lot diverse colors to work with, etc.

Next up, we have the 4 piece palette:

This would be my 'portable' or travel palette with colors that you would be able to create a complete look with.
(I already have Brule so I wouldn't actually purchase it again, but I didn't want to repeat Vanilla. Lol)

And finally, my 6 piece blush palette:

Yeap, no pink (like pink swoon sort of pink) blush....
I have actually been eyeing Margin and Ambering Rose for the longest time EVER. So I might eventually pick them up... who knows!

So that would be how I would fill my palettes up! Realistically, I doubt I would ever hit the 'add-to-cart' button or the 'check out' button after filling these up, but it's still fun to play around with.
How would your palettes look like?