icyabstract makeup

LOTD / Outfit: Inspired Mints, Bronze and Browns

icyabstract — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:30:00 SGT

Boring title but it was either this or "What I wore to a wedding!" which was truly what I wore this look to but... well I opted for this title in the end.

Every time during a special occasion or event, I would often wreck my brains over what eyeshadow look to do, aside from the usual neutrals. Most of the time, I draw a blank and go with smokey purples, blues or moss which I love but a little change and variation can be fun too. With that, I thank Pinterest for being a great library of visual references.

I'm not awfully active on Pinterest but I like browsing, not necessarily re-pinning unless I really want to remember something. That said, this look was inspired by a photo I chanced across. I'll put up the photo later but do note that I didn't replicate it exactly, just got some inspiration off it.

Products Used:

BROW / FACE
Sana New Born Lasting W Brow in LB3
Maquillage Brow Wax in 77
Elizabeth Arden Good Morning Serum
Lancôme Maqui Miracle Compact (Crystal)

EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
88 Metal Mania Palette (1 teal shade)
Loose Mineral shadow in Float on A Cloud (forgot the brand!)
Majolica Majorca Palette in BR355
Majolica Majorca Palette in GR750
Wet N Wild Comfort Zone Palette
28 Color Palette
CLIO Professional Brush Liner in Black
MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
Dollywink Volume Mascara
Canmake Falsies in 05 (outer corner)

CHEEKS
Sleek Makeup Glo in Peach Shimmer

LIPS
YSL Rouge Volupte in Faubourg Peach (30)

Highlighted products were provided by companies/distributors,
I was not obliged to use/feature them in LOTDs.

Just because there was a good load of palettes mentioned I thought I would post which shades I had used from which. While I have mentioned whole palettes, I really only used 1 shade from each.

The squiggly lines are a bit of a mess but here's what went where.

Blue – 88 Metal mania color (above) with 'Float on A Could layered over
Champagne – champagne shade from Majolica Majorca palette, blended between blue and bronze
Bronzey Brown – A bronzey brown used from Majolica Majorca palette to blend the outerhalf
Dark brown – Dark brown from Wet N Wild to accentuate the Outer-v
Skintone Brown – From 28 color palette (not pictured) to blend the edges
HIghlight – From 28 color palette (not pictured)

After running through all that, here's the picture that I was inspired by but clearly this was done sooooo much better. I even contemplated posting it because it would make my look seem so blah.

I loved the minty green they used but I couldn't find that particular shade so I had to go aqua blue instead.

(image from Pinterest)

Just to throw it in, here's what I wore to the wedding. It's nothing new and you have all probably seen this outfit and these wedges mentioned a couple of times.

A bad habit of mine is that I rarely plan what to wear the night before so I often end up just grabbing and going with whatever outfit comes to mind.

Ending off, here's the beautiful bride for the evening, Clara! Check out that blinged-up gown!

Thanks for reading!

LOTD / Outfit: My First Hens' Night! (feat. Stila In the Garden Palette)

icyabstract — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:12:55 SGT

This weekend flew by like a blur (as always) and so many significant things have occurred, one of them being me attending my very first Hens' Night! Or Bachelorette party as some may call it.

Before I talk about the night, I thought I would briefly share some pictures of the look I had on.

If you remember my woe on twitter and seen me around events in my frames, thankfully my contacts were ready just the day before so I didn't have to wear glasses to a Hens Night! It probably wouldn't matter but I wanted to go all out with lashes and the works, which I realize I haven't done in forever!

I had amassed a couple of Stila stuff, some received and some purchased, last week and will feature them shortly but I just couldn't wait to try them out.

In this look I used shades from Stila's In The Garden Palette, their spring 2012 offering. I wanted to mix up something fun and colorful but in the end, I went for a safe smokey moss-green look. I figured I didn't have the time to experiment and given my lack of color-use lately, it could be bad.

The highlight (literally) of this look would actually be the Stila Jewel Eyeshadow in Rose Quartz that I had dabbed, very moderately, in the centre of my lids for some added bling. Though sadly, since everything is shimmery in camera flash, the effect isn't as obvious in these pictures.

Perhaps next time! But it was beautifully (and subtlely) bling in person!

Will go into details about In The Garden's shades soon but for those familiar to it, it's

Breeze in the inner corner
Sage in the middle
Juniper on the outer corner. Love love love Juniper!

Products Used:

BROW / FACE
SANA New Born Lasting W Brow in LB3
Elizabeth Arden Good Morning Serum
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation
Lancôme Teint Miracle Compact Powder (to set)

EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Benefit Skinny Jeans Creaseless Cream Shadow
Stila In the Garden Palette (Breeze / Sage / Juniper)
Wet N Wild Palette in Comfort Zone
Stila Jewel Eyeshadow in Rose Quartz (lightly dabbed in the centre of lids)
28 Color Palette (crease blending & highlight)
Majolica Majorca Neo Automatic Liner
MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
Canmake Lashes in 01 / Dolly Wink Eyelash Glue

CHEEKS
MAC Mineralized Blush in Happy Together
NARS Nico powder blush (as highlighter)
I Nuovi powder blush in Dolly (light dab on the apples)

LIPS
Make Up Store lipstick in Bare

Highlighted products were provided by companies/distributors,
I was not obliged to use/feature them in LOTDs.

I was in so much of a rush that I didn't put my lipstick on till I was on the way to the Hens Night, thus the bare lips in the above. Though I'm just listing the lipstick I had used, just cause!

I didn't have any proper outfit shots but over the course of the night there were some shots taken (by others) somewhat showing it. So here it is!

Taken from Nadia

With part of the gang, waiting for the rest and bride-to-be to arrive before heading in.

And a polaroid with the gorgeous bride-to-be, Clara, later in the night

Outfit:
I had on a slouchy grey tee-shirt (from Bangkok) paired with these black high-waisted Topshop shorts, along with these New Look wedges.

From the front it looks like a comfy attire but thanks to Smith's not very surreptitious shot (yes I knew you took a photo, I saw the flash!), here's the back.. which is also the reason I bought this otherwise normal looking top.

But enough about me, here's more of the bride-to-be on a night I hope she remembers for a good long time to come!

Board reads: I'm Single (for tonight)

Design done by me, caption provided by Smith and unknowingly modelled by Clara. Snagged a shot off her blogshop advertorials, muaha!

Here's the board by the end of the night, filled with polaroids taken from her missions and with us!

Picture from Jacelyn

All in all it was a night of crazy fun for us and I hope for the bride too, amidst her demanding missions. Now I know what to expect if I were to hold a hens night in future. I think I may have to rethink people I want to invite.... ha!

Thanks for reading, hope the weekend went great for you!

LOTD: A hint of Green in my Comfort Zone

icyabstract — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:51:13 SGT

Been a while since a LOTD so here you go!

And yes by Comfort Zone I do mean neutrals and at the same time refering to Wet N Wild's palette in Comfort Zone. I've used it a couple of times but always the neutral brown 'row' on the left. This time around I dabbled with the greens and some other shades on the right row.

Though truthfully I used the green rather sparingly becuase I didn't want a bold green color, but rather a slight hint or glint of it.

Okay I realize the green is barely even noticeable in the above photos... but I stress it's mainly a hint! The color I used all over the inner corner would be the browbone shade from the right row while brushing on the green in the centre of the lids.

Products Used:

FACE
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation
Lumiere Invisi-Veil (to set)
K Palette Brow Liner in 01
Maquillage Brow Wax in 77

EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Wet N Wild Comfort Palette (light shade on inner corner, green in the centre and brown to contour)
28 Color Palette
K-Palette Liquid Liner in Black
MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
Majolica Majorca Frame Plus Mascara

CHEEKS
Sleek Glo-on in Peach (I think?)

LIPS
Za Lip Vibrante in L6

Highlighted products were provided by companies/distributors,
I was not obliged to use/feature them in LOTDs.

It's quite frustrating that the greens aren't really captured in the photos but I guess that's what happens when you use it sparingly! In person it had a glint of spark of green when it hit the light, though it was fairly neutral otherwise. I think the next time around I might just pack on a little more green when I use this shade though I do like the subtle-ty of this combo as well.

Ohhh! and also I've been facing this on/off peeling situation with my nose. It's quite annoying because you can't put makeup or powder on that area then or else it makes the peeling even more obvious.

It doesn't look that bad in the picture (thankfully) and it's not peeling right now but I'm just waiting for it to happen again. I'm not even sure the cause of this since I do moisturize as per normal and this peeling happened out of the blue.

Anyone else ever faced something like this or know the reason for this?

Thanks for reading!

LOTD, Outfit & Nails for 21st Birthday Party

icyabstract — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 01:04:30 SGT

A little belated but here was the LOTD and Outfit post I was talking about!

I have been pretty busy running around and packing stuff the past few days, and you'll know why in the next post (or maybe you already do!).

Since the party was a surprise event some of you might be wondering, why were you so dressed up to begin with?

Well, because I attended the SG Blog Awards earlier in the day. I didn't manage to take many shots during that event itself so the surprise party, in a way, became a valid reason for this post! If that made any sort of sense at all... if it didn't, oh well ignore that and enjoy the post.

For this look, I mostly used some new eyeshadows I had acquired, which called for the haul entry over here.

The look pre-false lashes

And just because I was in that much of a rush, the following shots were taken in the car. heh.

Products Used:

FACE/BROW
K Palette Brow Liquid in 01
Maquillage Brow Wax in 77
Shu Uemura BB Beige Mousse Base
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation

EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Shu Uemura ME Medium Blue 686
Shu Uemura G Silver
Sleek Bad Girl (dark blue shade for outer-v)
Wet N Wild Comfort Zone palette (crease greenish shade)
K Palette Liquid Liner in Black
MAC Powerpoint Liner in Engraved
Falsies from this post

CHEEKS
NARS blush in Orgasm

LIPS
MAC Lipstick in Peachstock
Clear gloss over

Highlighted products were provided by companies/distributors,
I was not obliged to use/feature them in LOTDs.

I think I'm in love with the Shu Uemura G Silver shade. It can be worn to bling up a look for an occassion but subtle enough to add spice to a daily look. I should check out the Gold and perhaps Bronze shades they offer.

For the outfit I had on a dress from this local brand called Kitschen.

I chanced across their store in Vivocity all thanks to the boyfriend. A jacket on their window display caught his eye, he tried it and eventually bought it to wear for SG Blog Awards. Since SG Blog Awards had a theme (historical characters) and I wasn't going to play along with it because I came up with nothing, I figured I should be somewhat in theme with the boyfriend. I remember seeing a dress that looked somewhat like the boyfriend's jacket so I went back to check their clothes out.

Some might remember me mentioning Kitschen a couple times on twitter because I was quite impressed with the styles they carried, very casual yet stylish clothes.

This was the dress I picked up:

It's a little different from my norm but I liked how it's almost military-esque. Probably in a far-fetched way but the price was decent too, at S$49 (sale price). I was oo-ing and aa-ing over the material, stitching and the little detailing when I got home.

I don't have a close-up shot of the boyfriend's jacket so the only way to see it is through this outfit shot. It doesn't highlight the whole theme-ness but I like the dress how I can wear it to a party yet also to a corporate meeting as well.

After seeing that photo our outfits aren't totally the same... but the idea is there! ha.

Also, I practically based my accessorizing and the idea of my makeup look (that greenish hue in the crease area) off of my nail color. The minute Sophia gifted me Chanel's Peridot I swatched it on and deemed it as the color to wear for SG Blog Awards.

Doesn't it just match the accessory perfectly? That burnt gold-ish shade and Peridot even has that slight green sheen that reminds me of old brass/gold items.

Thanks for reading!

Haul: Shu Uemura & Wet N Wild - Color dupe alert?

icyabstract — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:29:33 SGT

The color dupe part isn't the main point of this but somehow happened to be a common topic that tied both these hauls together. Hence, I am lumping them in the same post!

After attending the Shu Uemura Color Atelier press launch, I think I have developed a new found attraction for the brand. So much so that even with the City Allure palette in hand, I felt I wanted more.

So what better way to settle that craving then to drop by the store (and haul)?

Being a blush fanatic I was ready to get a couple of glow-ons with this visit but the blushes were more on the natural, light and sheer side. They are gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but it's a matter of what you are looking for and that wasn't quite it for me.

Nonetheless I did leave with 1 glow on!

Shu Uemura Glow on in P Medium Red 175 (Accent)

Swatches a little later in the post.

And because I'm such a sucker for needing it to be in a 'complete' format, I thought I would pick up 2 eyeshadows so I could fit everything into a palette. I was (positively) 'influenced' by Sarah (facesbysarah) to swatch these two shadows and totally fell in love with them.

That silver is just gorgeously glittery and shimmery. It can be worn subtlely to provide a soft hint of bling or you could just go all out and pack that baby on!

Swatches of all three products:

Judging from the swatch you have an idea of how the glow-ons work. While it looked power packed in the pan, it swatches quite naturally. It's ideal for when you prefer a more subtle/easy to work with blush.

Of course I got a case to go with.

I was actually eyeing the white limited edition palettes at the time of purchase (really not that long after the launch!) but apparently it was already sold out. Bummer.

Now, one thing that skipped into my mind while taking these shots was that ME Medium Blue 686 resembled MAC's Deep Truth. It had a pearly finish, was a dark deep blue that blended out a little darkened at the edges. They seemed so similar that I just had to compare them.

Now can you guess which swatch is which?

Okay, maybe there is just a slight difference between the two, but I'd like to think it's the flash that's lightening the top shade.

Which is Deep Truth and which is ME Medium Blue 686?

Tadah~ But they are really similar... which I don't mind since Deep Truth is one of my favorite blues. One thing I did note is that the Shu Uemura color is softer in texture and felt easier to blend.

What I like about these palettes is that if I am bored I could just shift the shades around and create a new palette so at least the whole makeup process feels new again.

❧

Now, the next thing is this Wet N Wild palette in Comfort Zone, which was from Michelle's little instock sale.

The palette overall gives a very neutral vibe since the greens included aren't bright and lean to the sage-y and moss-y side. The colors in this palette are pleasant and easy to work with be it mixing the browns and greens or using them in their select 'columns'.

Though the one shade that made me want to buy this palette despite it being yet-another-neutral is this 'Definer'.

There have been some talk about it being a comparable shade to MAC's Club due to their brown base and teal duochrome. However, when swatched, I will have to give the point to the Wet N Wild palette.

I prefer the darker base of the Wet N Wild and while this shot isn't the clearest to showcase it, the Wet N Wild shade had a stronger duochrome effect.

So that's my little haul!

I wanted to put this up because I did a look using both eyeshadows from the Shu Uemura and Wet N Wild palette so I guess I should 'declare' these items in a post first. That look will be up a little later, and you'll see why!

Thanks for reading!

Goodies!

icyabstract — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:48:43 SGT

Awhile ago I had received a package from a beloved friend of mine, Kristy (kristy227 on youtube).
Kristy resides in the states and we engaged in a little swap where she'll send me some stuff exclusive to the US and I'll send her some stuff exlusive to Asia/Singapore. Of course do note that when I say exclusive I don't mean that you totally can't find it here but more of you have to go to great lengths to be able to purchase it.

The package came in my mail a few weeks ago and I was sooo flipping excited when I saw it sitting on the bar counter (where we usually put the mail and stuff in my house).
The minute I saw it I whisked it up and ran into my room with it. How epic, but true.

I did a video showing my initial reaction in opening the package and all and might I warn you that I was absolutely hysterical in that video. It's honestly painful to watch, for me at least, as I felt this strong urge to knock sense into myself and tell myself to stop being so jittery. Sadly what's done has been done, and I guess it shows you guys a different side of me... ha!

To watch the video, click on the link below:
See video: Goodies! (:

For those who wish to see pictures of the products, keep scrolling. For those who haven't watched the video and want to be surprised with the items, don't scroll down as there are spoilers. Lol!

Here's the total of what I had received from Kristy

Now for some close-ups

Wet N Wild Blushes, Bronzers and a foundation powder (top left)

L-R: Icing cream shadow pencil and eyeshadows

Jesse's Girl shadows. These were from some Studio/Art collection thing. I don't remember the names now.

Maybelline Studio Blushes

Maybelline Studio Eyeshadow Trio

L-R: Jane Eye-zing in Clubbing, ELF Shielding Hydro-tint, Some eyeliner/cream shadow I forgot the name of.

L-R: L'ancome Juicy Tube and L'ance Fatale Mascara

L-R: Maybelline lipstick, L'oreal Endless Kissable ShineWear

So that's basically everything that Kristy had given me.
Ain't it all so awesome and pretty and I definitely felt like a total noob when I opened the package of it all and looked at the products.

Alright so before I leave you guys, I'm fairly sure I might get some questions regarding doing swaps and such but I would have to say that I am not exactly accepting any swaps as of now. I decided to swap with Kristy because it's kind of fun and definitely something new for me, however through this I have learnt that swaps are indeed fairly time consuming and above it all, let's be honest. We all know how much anything/everything here in Singapore costs as opposed to the states so it's just difficult to be able to give the same amount of products back without using my whole month's allowance up. I don't know if that might come across mean but that's just what I think. It is fun and I would engage in it in future for the fun of it, once in awhile perhaps, but just not on a daily.

With that said, thanks for reading!