icyabstract makeup

Tutorial (past LOTD): Crushed Cranberries & Snowflakes

icyabstract — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:23:55 -0800

Another tutorial of a past Look of the Day.
I've been trying to clear the requests for past Look of the Day tutorials as I already have photos for those so in general they are a little faster to get done.

View original LOTD blog entry.

Products Used (in this tutorial):
EYES
- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- MAC Artifact Paintpot
- LA Girl Platinum Eyeshadow in Sterling
- LA Girl Platinum Eyeshadow in Snowflakes
- LA GIrl Platinum EYeshadow in Crushed Cranberries
- 28 Color Palette (colors mentioned)
- Magical Tannsu Gel Liner
- MAC Plushlash Mascara

CHEEKS
- MAC Mineralized Blush in Merrily
- MAC Refined MSF (highlight)

LIPS
- NYX Round Lipstick in Circe
- Majolica Majorca Lipgloss in BE 205

To see the youtube tutorial:
YOUTUBE// Tutorial: Crushed Cranberries & Snowflakes (LOTD)

Poll: Do you wear sunscreen...?

icyabstract — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:34:36 -0800

Do you wear sunscreen daily?

A quick question that came to mind because of today's scorching weather.
I know the options provided below are rather limiting as I can picture a wide range of opinions.
Feel free to elaborate on your choice in the comments if you wish! (:

My choice: 'Not Really - but I think I should?'.
I used to not bother about sunscreen as I thought sunscreen was all about being fair-skinned, something I wasn't very interested in? But I've learnt that exposing your skin to the sun is harmful in other means, so I am trying to get into using sunscreen. Though it is something that I have to remind myself to do.

I was thinking... (hair related)

icyabstract — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:33:36 -0800

...of getting hair extensions!

Before anyone flips out or rapidly scrolls down to comment or anything, let me state my case.
The extensions that I have in mind aren't the clip-in sort, neither are they the glue-in type. I don't know how many of you guys have heard of this, but they are 'tie-in' extensions? I have never tried this out personally but I did have a couple of friends done it in the past. I am personally not familiar with the procedere so I can't elaborate much on it right now!

The thing is, I currently have some of these on hand.

And yes those are the hair extension bits they add on to your hair. From each 'hole' here are 2 bundles, so as you can see each bundle really isn't that thick.
Why do I have these? You might be wondering...
Well it's not that I had already set the plan to get these extensions done, but rather I got them for my school project.
I was doing a project whereby I had to design a brochure for a subculture, I chose Visual Kei, thus hair extensions as such were used in the aesthetics.

Thing is, I ended up buying waaaaay more hair extensions then required. As you can see, the missing 'holes' were all that I used (which I only realized are blocked in the photo, but you kind of get an estimate of how much I used), these are the remaining bits.
I am not thinking of putting them all in my hair just yet, maybe a couple just to try out (probably about 6-10 bundles?), and I am only using the blonde ones. I've tried holding up the red and purple ones to my hair, it didn't quite look right?

I don't know how the procedure is like and I am aware that these are rather temporary hair extensions. I've had friends put these in their hair for about a month plus (depending on how well you take care of it) before having to remove it because it just got all funky/frayed.
From what I know, these are super inexpensive, they are S$1 a piece though if you buy them in bulk or with their promotions you do get them cheaper. However, I'm not sure if you pay for the service of putting it in as well? I'll report back with more info when I do get it done, and for those who have done this sort of extensions before, let me know your experiences!

Since we're on the topic of hair extensions, a few days ago I was messing about with this clip-in extension of mine.

I've had this clip-in for a couple of years now but the first time I used it was a couple days ago! Back then I purchased it from SINMA for about S$3 or so? Not sure about it right now, but you guys can go to SINMA to check it out.

Here's the clip portion for those interested. it's a pretty good size (I think).

I know the glue work and all seems a little shody, but oh well it is afterall only 3 bucks.
Though I must say it does hold quite well in the hair and I had no problems at all with it moving when I wore it out.
Not to be too 'in-your-face' with my scalp as scalps can look quite scary, I scaled the next photo down a little.
Just to show you guys how it clips to my hair. Probably a unnecessary photo, but for the fun of, here you go.

And here's an overall look of the hair extension and my hair from a photo I took on dailybooth.

That's my entry on hair extension-related stuff.
I'll keep you guys posted if I do get those extensions done. I am just curious as to how I would look, how they would feel and the overall experience.

Also, I really do want to love my current hairstyle but I still feel it's a bit blah?
I know that this current hair color is probably a little more fitting then my previous one, as a lot of people do prefer it, but I don't entirely love it? Like I feel it's not really 'Sara', in a way. I am probably not really making much sense here. haha!

But that's that, if anyone has tried this, do let me know! And also let me know what you think, should I just throw in a red one in a discreet position for the fun of?
Since I don't have anything else to do with these extensions anyway...

Aw man youtube, why?

icyabstract — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:45:41 -0800

So for the past few days I've tried about 3 times to upload a video onto youtube and the same thing keeps happening.

Ughs, why?
For the past three times I've tried I got the same message. I don't know what is going on but it seems not everyone is facing this problem as there are new videos being added to my subscriptions list.

Please do bear with me for the time being while I figure out what is up with this glitch!
And is there anyone else facing this problem? It's so frustrating ):

Boring Me - School, hauls & blogsale info

icyabstract — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:44:54 -0800

I realise that my beauty blog has been very stagnent of late. I seem to update once every 4-5 days now? And even
with this update, it's not even considered a full beauty post. I know, I'm so bad at this, I'm sorry about it.

The situation is that school's really busy, as mentioned in my previous update entry. It's still the same and will be the
same till about mid-December where my hols would kick in. However the joy is short-lived as school would start in
January and the cycle begins again, probably a lot more hectic then.
I have contemplated taking a hiatus, not because I want to, but because I don't want to make people think that not
updating regularly is a habit of mine. I swear it isn't and I try to update as often as I can, but circumstances just don't
permit right now.
It's like a choice between a hobby and the career, and while I love them both equally as much, we have to stick to what
is practical.

This entry is probably really boring, so I'll just get to the point.
I am trying my best not to initiate the hiatus because I don't think I can bear to completely leave the makeup realm.
And for those wondering, why is school that hectic. Well I am in my last year of school and I am sitting for a Bachelors
Degree in Graphic Design, which I will attain (if all goes well) in June 2010. Since my course is an accelerated course,
it compiles what most people learn in about 3 years of university into a year. Talk about madness! But it is fun, though
extremely time-consuming and it does take a toll on you, but I refuse to let it get me jaded.

Now on to more makeup related things. Hauls.
I've done minimal hauling these days compared to the past, and though I have touched on this before, I just want to repeat a little again. Not exactly the same way, so I am not entirely perserverating. I know hauls are an exciting thing to read/watch because it just is. With my recent lack of hauling, I do feel my blog getting a little more boring? Though I try not to let that thought be etched in my mind. I mean, I don't want to have the mentality that I need to haul to make my blog interesting. Of course making my readers happy to read my blog is a great thing, but I guess there are probably other ways to make the blog interesting aside from just hauling? I don't know, I hope I manage to do that! I will still pick things up every now and then of course since I can't entirely curb my need to spend. I guess I could say that I have reached an agreement with my conscious and my bank about my makeup addiction. Plus I was browsing my collection the other day and found that some items I owned are still completely unused. *gulp* Not good.

Also, I promised a blog sale, and I will carry through with that. I do have a couple of items stashed aside to photograph
and all. However, as of now I don't think I will be able to launch a blogsale since I would not have time to check back
with my mail, payment and to post out items. Especially since I don't want people to have to wait super long through the process of notifying me they are interested in something and knowing that I have posted it etc. So I'll hold out on blog sales for now, but I am not striking off a blog sale, fret not.

Alright, this entry is trailing on for too long. I just word-vomited right here everything that I had been wanting to discuss for awhile now. I know, word vomit sounds sick, but that's what it is! Lol.
If you managed to sit through my ramble, kudos to you!
I will still be around and still post videos on youtube. I might just not blog in between as often as I used to (for now)

I'll be back in full swing soon, and till then, much loves!
In the mean time, follow me on twitter if you haven't already. I update on tons more regularly then any other internet site I have an account at.
Twitter-obsessed? Most probably.

Haul: Tendertone & Empty Palettes

icyabstract — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:39:15 -0800

This really isn't very new news.
If you follow me on twitter or dailybooth you would have noticed me talking about pressing pigments/mineral eyeshadows for awhile now. It's because I haven't had the time to sit down and post an entry on here till now, so I do apologize for the slight belated-ness of this!

Not too exciting a haul, just some basic items.

Lets start off with the empty palettes.
These palettes are magnetic and it comes with the palette case itself along with 12 empty pans. I had purchased this from Magical Tannsu.
I don't exactly remember the price of it, nor do I think it is in the 'regular' catalog on MT. I simply had a sudden desire to press pigments and remembered Magical Tannsu carrying magnetic empty palettes before. So I contacted the owner, Weiduo about it and she said she still carries them. I don't know how many pieces are available though. I think they should be about SGD11.90, but then again I don't have the best memory.

As you can see I've pressed a couple of loose shadows, but the NYX Pearl shadow thingy (top left/pink shade) was a complete FAIL. It was probably the wrong method and using alcohol alone wasn't enough. I am still in the experimental phase of pressing loose mineral shadows so I don't feel confident enough to do a video about pressing mineral eyeshadows just yet. Pressing (MAC) pigments seems like an easy feat as all you need is rubbing alcohol. However when it comes to mineral eyeshadows, it becomes a whole lot more complicated. I'll keep you guys posted on the success of filling up my palettes without the shadows falling apart, I am currently experimenting with a certain mixing medium. If it works, I will do a video about pressing mineral eyeshadows with it!

Moving on, I had gotten another 'second-hand' makeup item.
Though this time it was a brand new second hand; which means I bought it from a seller not a company, but the product itself is brand new and unused.
The item I picked up was a MAC Tendertone in the shade Warm Smile

(I was too eager and swatched it before shooting it, hence...)

I've heard so much about MAC Tendertones, on how they smell incredibly good, which I do second! They do not have the typical vanilla scent that most MAC lip products are packed with. Though I do love the vanilla scent, the tendertones smell equally good. I can't quite seem to list a similar scent, but it seems like a mix of kiwis and berries. Something very fruity, but not perfume-fruity either.

I've heard MAC Tendertones not being the best in terms of pigmentation since they are afterall semi-lipbalms, so I guess I wasnt expecting too much on that fact. The color still does show up and it is still a pretty beige-nude shade on.
Here's a lip swatch, with a comparison to my natural lip color, to show the amount of pigmentation it gives.

My regular lip color

Swatch of MAC Tendertone in Warm Smile

I guess I just like how it gives a bit of a milky coat over the top of my lips, though it doesn't alter my lip color too much.
And a full face shot, just for the fun of (:

That's the haul! I haven't been updating on here very much with beauty-related stuff. I do have a couple of things I want to talk about as soon as I get the chance to. Just bear with me for a little! It's as if someone changed the difficulty level of my school assignments to 'Insane' or something, cause that's what it feels like.
I hope this entry wasn't too boring or hard to understand. It's been a little over 30 something hours without sleep and I can feel my brain dying.

But I seem like I'm whining, so I shall stop.
Thanks everyone for reading!

Going Brunette - New Hair Photos

icyabstract — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:24:16 -0800

As mentioned, here are photos of my new hair color! I am temporarily ditching the reddish hair and opting for something a little more understated.
I went for a darker brown shade and re-did my highlights since in the older hairstyle my highlights were all located at the lower half of my hair.

I don't know of any shade that is similar to what the hairstylist gave me as from what I have noticed, my hair isn't quite a true color. It's a dark brown but it leans towards the mousey brown at times and towards a slightly warmer brown at others. Rather strange, but I guess that makes it a little bit interesting? And my highlights are thin blonde strands that spread out across the whole of my head so it provides a lift but is subtle at doing that, not too much of an 'in-your-face' blonde streak.

Here are the shots of my hair I took when I was home.

(indoor lighting - flash)

And here was one my boyfriend took of me over the weekend.

(in more natural lighting - sunlight)

Ignore my expression, was caught off guard. ha.
But I do love how the colors in my hair show up in this photo.

In all honesty, I think I am rather partial to reverting back to reddish hair as soon as I get the chance to. I don't hate this hairstyle, I guess I am just sort of luke warm with it? It is nice and I do love the highlights, but I am missing my reddish hair already.
I guess going red is something addictive. I feel dark hair makes me look a little fairer or paler, whichever. It might just be my mind set though.

I did a video with this hair color and also talked about upcoming videos, you can see the video here:
YOUTUBE// Vlog: Brunette Hair & Upcoming Videos

Let me know what you guys think of this hair color. Love it, hate it, prefer the older one?
I personally prefer my older reddish hair. ha. But oh well, in life you have to experiment!

Edit// Looking at the photos of my new hair, it seems like my hair isn't that much different, so here's an older photo to compare it to.

LOTD: Wearable 'Vampire' Inspired Look (outfit)

icyabstract — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:47:47 -0800

First off, credits for this eyeshadow combination would have to go to MichellePhan for her seductive vampire tutorial.
A look that she had done primarily for the Halloween season and while I am definitely not dressing up for Halloween right now, I loved the eyeshadow combination she had used so I adopted it and twisted it into something a little more wearable.
Though in my opinion aside from the heavy liner, the eyeshadow look, or rather the whole look itself is quite wearable if you are the daring sort; Minus the pale pasty skin for the vampire effect.

Here's a still from her tutorial video. Credit in this image goes to Michelle Phan.

Do note that this is my take on it and I definitely did not use the same products she did. Neither did I do it the same way.
I was merely inspired by her look. I realized in the tutorial she has red lips on but that's not what I feel comfortable running around broad daylight in, so I made some minor changes to it.

Products Used
(I'm trying to be more detailed with it, so that would explain why the Product list seems so long. And I'm also working the right color to use for it.)

FACE:
- Kawaii Tokyo Brighten Up gel in Herbal Forest (moisturizer)
- Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation
- Canmake color stick in 07 (undereye concealer)
- MAC Studio Finish Concealer
- Lumiere Cosmetics Invisiveil (to set)
- MAC Solar Riche Bronzer

EYES:
- Urban Decay Primer potion
- MAC Artifact Paintpot (outer 1/2 of the eye only)
- Maybelline Eye Studio quad in Autumn Spirit (lightest color - all over lid)
- L'oreal Infinite Wear in Brazilian Duo (rustic red shade - outer half)
- Rhomlon Eyeshadow in Black (outer-v)
- MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
- L'ancome Fatale Mascara

CHEEKS:
- Magical Tannsu 6pc Foundation and Contour (contour)
- MAC blush in Intenso (solid side)
- ELF Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance (highlight)

LIPS:
- Canmake Lip Concealer in 01
- NYX Round Lipstick in Circe
- Nivea Lipbalm in Cherry (slight reddish tint, not obvious but less nude)

And here's my take on it.
Again, I'm not saying I look like Michelle Phan or my look is similar to hers, it's merely inspired by. Just have to put that there cause some people might try to be funny about it. I'm sure most you all understand what I am getting at (:

Ha, if I were to be a vampire I'd be a tanned one. Porcelain skin and me don't go too well together.
I managed to take photos of my outfit too since I haven't posted an outfit entry in awhile.
I was wearing my combat boots, but pity they couldn't be featured in the picture as well. Though I'm pretty sure most of you guys know what it looks like from earlier entries and videos.

Spaz pose, I know, but I was trying to get my face and as much of my body in the frame!

Top (tunic and vest) combination from Hong Kong,
Leggings from Forever 21.
Necklace from Forever 21
Boots from Dr Martens.

I don't always list where I get what since some of them are random brandless ones. But if they are items you can purchase from known stores, I'll list it.
And last but not list, a cool-ass-teen-wannabe-gangster shot, just for the record.
That just sounded like a bunch of random mad tags.

Okay, on a slightly serious note, say goodbye to faded auburn/whatever color it has become hair.
I'm getting my hair colored tomorrow (Wed 11/11) - LOL at the coincidental date, not planned, I'm not one of those scene kids that need everything done on the same numeral (e.g. 09/09/09)

Not going to reveal the color yet, primarily because I'm not 100% sure myself. But we'll see. (:
Thanks for reading!

Stage Cosmetics Concealer Hype

icyabstract — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:06:33 -0800

For those who have not heard, Stage Cosmetics (available in Singapore and Malaysia) is having a sale-type thing.
A couple of their products, namely concealer, eyeliner, eyeshadow etc, are going for S$10!
This discount is on-going until the 22nd of November so be sure to check it out if you haven't!
(I am not sure if such a sale is available in their Malaysia branches.)

I'm going to honest I never did think much of this brand. However, it seems that a couple of people have been raving about their concealer recently.
Since there was so much hype about it and it was on discount, I figured there was no harm in picking one up.

Yeap, that was the only thing I got. I was trying to convince myself not to get too crazy with spending on makeup with Christmas around the corner.

My shade is in 04 Buff, however I would not say it's the best match for me?

Going to Stage, I did not do any research before hand on the shades they carried so I was a little surprised that they only carried 6 shades, and 6 fairly light shades at that. I think this was the 3rd darkest shade or something, I am not sure. The Makeup Artist swatched a couple of the shades and this was the closest match. Even then it's not the exact same color as my skintone.

Comparing this to my MAC concealer which is a lot closer to my skintone then this is:

p.s. colors seem slightly washed out, this makes me look porcelain.

It's almost half a shade to one shade lighter? The Stage concealer that is.
However though it doesn't match it's still something I can pull off. It does not seem as if I have white patches on my face or anything, so I guess that's good.

Thus far I can say that this concealer is indeed creamy.
Almost similar to the texture of Bobbi Brown concealers.
I can't judge about anything else just yet, but from what I've heard it sounds amazing.
Can't wait to try it out!
I do wish they had a slightly larger range of shades to choose from. But it doesn't matter, I could overlay some shades from the Magical Tannsu camouflage palette if need be.

So that is it for my one item haul.
Anyone else picked this up from the sale?

Elizabeth Arden Private Event - Product Preview/Workshop

icyabstract — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:52:20 -0800

I am sure some of you have already seen Sophia and Sarah's coverage on the event. But for those who have not, here is my version of it.

I was contacted by Elizabeth Arden's PR to attend their Product Preview/Workshop. During that workshop we were introduced to their anti-aging line, Prevage. Though the main purpose behind this workshop is to preview the newest addition to the Prevage line, their Prevage Day Cream (Ultra Protection Anti-aging Moisturizer SPF 30 PA++). This is not yet available in the market, but is set to launch next week (Friday the 13th! November 2009)

Now, the first reaction some of you might have is 'You are 19! What anti-aging?! You don't need that'.
To be honest, my mentality was rather similar though I was open to the idea of trying out an anti-aging product. As michellephan likes to put it, it's never too early to start. (unless we're talking about the richly formulated ones specifically made for mature skin!)

From what was mentioned during the event, it seems that the Prevage line is not just made to correct any signs of aging and wrinkling, it's purpose is also to prevent it. One of the presenters mentioned that anti-aging or at least aging prevention products are things that you can start using after the age of 18. Based on what I had heard during the workshop yesterday, I am intrigued by the product. Aside from the age prevention factors, the other effect mentioned that caught my interest is that it makes your skin less dull and rejuvenated, which is something I am looking forward to since my sleep hours are so pathetic my skin can't rest enough.

I will be trying this product out over the span of the next week or so and feedback on the effects of it, if I do notice a difference or not.
But for now, here are some pictures from the event. I didn't take a lot because everyone who was anyone there had a camera. Their staff had cameras, all the bloggers had cameras. It was a little overwhelming so I didn't think it was necessary to constantly whip out my camera and join in the photo taking fun.

Picture quality is blah, brought a handy digi-cam instead of busting out my SLR.
Also cause my SLR's battery was kind of dead from a photoshoot I had earlier in the day.

We all had individual shots taken, here's behind the scenes for Sarah's!

Prevage line display

The following pictures are courtesy of Sarah

From the event, we received a goodie bag, with the product to sample and some information about it.

I get a cheap thrill from the lanyard. haha!

That's my little blog entry about the event. I wanted to get it up yesterday but I was beyond tired I wasn't even sure if the entry was going to come out in English. ha.
And yes I need to get a hair cut soon. My hair looks so limp and unlayered. I am probably getting it cut and colored (getting highlights I hope!) sometime mid next week. Will keep you all posted on that again. :)

Thanks for reading!