Merry Christmas!!!

and happy holidays to all my lovelies! I am truly blessed to have your friendship. :)

cutie patootie Santa Bowie ^_^

I hope your Christmas is filled with love and warmth!

♡,

G

Canmake 5 Effects Foundation Review

Canmake's newest 5 Effects Foundation combines beauty essence, sunscreen, make-up base, foundation and finishing powder all in one step.

Packaging is a pink, round plastic case with angled cuts on top to resemble a precious jewel. Although a tad flimsy compared to high end foundation cases, it is the prettiest one out of all the drugstore foundations I have seen.

on the upside, it is light and handy for traveling as it also comes with a mirror and sponge.

I purchased mine as a set (case+refill) at City Super for HKD138 (approx. USD19) but you can also get just the refill or the case. This is currently available in 3 shades, [01] Light, [02] Light Ochre and [03] Natural Ochre.

With a matching shade to your skin tone, it gives off a soft and natural, semi-matte finish. SA recommended [02] Light Ochre for a fair finish, but Jennifer and I decided to go with [03] Natural Ochre since I wanted a shade which will blend with my neck color. I'm happy to report that [03] is a perfect match for my NC 30 skin tone! This foundation has tiny specks of shimmer in it but its not notice-able when worn. :)

Coverage is light to medium, and can be layered for a flawless veil. Oil-control is pretty decent (I have normal-combination skin), I usually blot oiliness once a day (twice if I'm outdoors and its super hot) but when I wear this foundation, I don't feel the need to touch up all day. Plus I like the dewy glow it gives after hours of wear. Its like wearing BB cream,  but better.

♥ It doesn't flake and emphasize fine lines. Effect #1, #3 and #4

♥ It has UV protection SPF31 PA++. Effect #2

♥ It covers imperfections well, even neutralizing redness, but of course you'll need a concealer for those stubborn red mountains aka cystic acne if you want a very clean and flawless look. ;) Effect #4

♥ You won't feel the need for a setting powder when using this foundation as it has a cream to powder finish. Less products to use = less primping time! Effect #5

♥ Another important thing to mention is that it did not break me out or cause any allergies or rashes on my face. I believe it has a non comedogenic formula, free of mineral oil and fragrances. :)

♥ It lasts all day. (paired with my HG DiorSnow UV Base)

I can't think of anything bad with this foundation, perhaps the lack of shades to suit individuals with skin tones darker than NC30 is its downside, I hope Canmake releases more shades for this so more ladies can enjoy the great product + good value this foundation offers. Overall, this foundation is great and highly recommended to all my lovelies! :)


Thank you for reading and happy holidays!
♡,
G

Love Pack from Stellar!

Imagine me fighting a flu then suddenly lighting up like a bulb when I saw this sitting on my table... Yay! A love pack from my sweet and sexy blogger babe Stellar all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! 

Gingy making an appearance to ward off evil stalkers! :P

What's inside? a cute kitty note,

Rilakkuma phone zip pouch

a CARGO lip gloss and a TFS eyeshadow duo!

I see these two will work well together ;)

You really didn't have to send me anything babe, as I enjoyed every minute of shopping for your Lanvin x H&M dress! But THANK YOU ever so much for your kindness and generosity! ^_^

lots of l♡ve,

G

Jill Stuart Jelly Eye Color N in 09 Midnight Shine and 10 Vintage Decor

If Jill Stuart, Jelly and Shimmer are very appealing words to you, these little poopsies are definitely going in to your list after reading this post. Sorry! :P

Packaging is lovely as usual, this is Jill Stuart were talking about after all...

i love touching the embossed details on the carton! XD

feminine detailing on the cover...

scalloped edged glass pots...

and fluffy eye jellies in the most gorgeous colors!

I love the spongey, bouncy and smooth texture of these eye jellies, the scent is also very appealing to ladies who like sweet and flowery fragrance. Its not a problem if you don't have quick hands when applying cream/jelly eye shadows as these jellies don't dry up insanely fast unlike MUFE Aqua Creams. One more thing, these jellies don't crease on the lids. Yay!

09 Midnight Shine

deep blue with red undertones, reminds me of an eggplant. XD

10 Vintage Decor

a sparkly taupe. :)

swatches on bare skin (no primer):

GORGEOUS shades! I think these 2 are the most pigmented ones out of all the eye jellies from JS. 

Staying power is really good, especially if you don't rub your eyes. But I still suggest using eyeshadow primer before applying the eye jellies to make sure the pigments and shimmer stay put. Removal is easy, warm water and mild soap will do if you don't use primer (I tried this on the swatches).

With only 10 days 'til Christmas, is anyone still looking for something sparkly to stuff their girly friends stockings? Fret not my lovelies, I think I've found the perfect little pots your friends wont mind digging in to.

Ho Ho Ho!

♡,

G

ps. Its Lurvey's birthday today! Happy Birthday my love! ^_^

My Dose Of "Reality"

Hello everyone! Sorry for being MIA this week, I have a couple of cosmetic reviews coming up in the next few days. In the meantime, I just want to share a random fact and fun news with you. :)

Here's something you didn't know about me, I 'm a big reality show fan, from Laguna Beach to The Amazing Race, I lurve it. Especially The Amazing Race Asia... I always fantasize of joining the race with Lurvey (although he honestly says I'll be better off joining with a girl friend. Hahaha!) Anyway, as some of you might now, the fourth season's finale aired last night and the AMAZING (pun intended) thing happened, the two Richards from the Philippines won 1st place! :)

Richard Herrera and Richard Hardin, ready for battle in Malaysia. Aren't they good-looking or what? :P

photo from Google Images

TEAM PHILIPPINES! The Richards with Rovilson and Marc, 3rd place racers from TARA season 2

photo by Mr. Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet

"The Riches" were my early favorites, because I knew they had the ability and stamina to win this season's race. Plus since they're men, their team was drama-free and they showed great camaraderie with other teams. Philippine Teams in the Amazing Race are always good looking and very athletic, they always make it to the top 3 teams racing to get the grand prize, but this is the first time WE actually won!

Thank you Richards for making us proud! Enjoy your $100,000! ^_^

In case you missed it or just want to watch it again, there will be a season 4 marathon tomorrow, December 11 (Saturday) starting at 12:20pm (PH time) on AXN.

Any lovelies out there who are TARA fans like moi? 

♡,

G

DISCLAIMER: I am not in any way affiliated or connected to AXN or The Amazing Race, I'm just a happy camper who want to share good news and fun shows to watch. ;)

Magazines: Queen, ViVi, Sweet and Steady

I like to collect asian magazines, especially Japanese editions because they're bigger, have more content (picture-wise) and they come with the cutest gifts with purchase evarrr. I usually get just one (ViVi) or two when traveling, but this time I got carried away at PageOne and bought four...

[Queen Autumn 2010, ViVi January 2011, steady December 2010, Sweet December 2010]

Man, were they HEAVY! I couldn't get over how heavy they were so I weighed them when I got home and they tipped the scale at 3.5 kilograms altogether! My poor arms and shoulders.  x_x

steady comes with a small Agnes B. tote and a heart-shaped bag hook, for those who have light purses. I don't think it can take a loaded Neverfull gals. ^_~

Sweet comes with a small Kitson animal print tote and zippered purse.

I can never use such small totes so I'm dedicating these totes for carry-on snacks OR shoes. I think they'll make the cutest shoe bags! ^_^

Happy Friday! xx

♡,

G

Autumn in HK Part 4: Blogger Lurve! and Haul ;)

One of my favorite parts during my trip to Hong Kong was meeting Jennifer of lifeandlensofbeauty. It was my first time meeting a fellow blogger from abroad, so to tell you I was psyched would be an understatement. We met up in the afternoon, but only had 2 hours to chat and shop together so we pretty much stuck to my shopping list. Jenn helped me get some stuff from Faces, Lane Crawford and City Super. I loved shopping with a fellow blogger! It was so much fun enabling each other in person! LOL XD I'm already looking forward to shopping with her again next year! Hopefully we'll have more time to roam around the shops that time :)


G and J at Harbour City :)

pretty J asked to have a heart, so I gave her a big, pink one ;)

Jennifer is so sweet she came bearing cosmetic goodies!

Thank you Jenn! I'm wearing the NYX round lip gloss now. ^.^


now onto my cosmetic haul, 


our first stop, JILL STUART! :)

I  got 6 items from Jill Stuart: Makeup base, Smooth Silk N foundation refill + case, 2 eye jellies and the eyelash curler. The other stuff in the pic are GWP's.


next in my list was the Cle de Peau counter at Lane Crawford! I already hit pan on my Shu Uemura eye corrector so I was in the hunt for a new concealer. MUA recommended for us to try the Ochre shade, and it looked really promising in brightening and covering my dark circles so I got one. 

MUA also gave us puny Cle de Peau foundation samples (bottom). Don't let that packaging fool you! :P


after that we went up to City Super to get some Dollywink and Canmake cosmetics.

lashes! I really wanted to try no.4 because the lash band is not as long as the other ones from the line, I just hate it when I have to cut lashes. I think its such a waste. I also got the lashes case, just because. *BIG BOW*


Canmake!

GWP foundation, 5 effects foundation in 03, gradation wink eyeshadow palette and concealer in 09 (for dark spots/acne scars)


Of course I wouldn't be able to resist getting a few items before I met-up with Jenn.


Some hair care and hair dyes from Vivo, a store similar to Watson's.

the pink range from Essential smells so good! I got a shampoo, conditioner and hair masks.


My HG hair dye, Liese aka Prettia bubble hair color

in Sweet Pink (got it to try a hint of red) and Marshmallow brown (my current hair color).


SASA! 

Kiss Me Heroine Make liquid eyeliner, mascaras, Dove foaming cleanser, 'Q-pot ish' chocolate falsies case. Majomajo nail polish and cream shadow, Gi & Gary falsies, Cyber colors concealer and screw brushes.


my loot from Joyce, Deborah Lippmann nail lacquers!

Happy Birthday, Bad Romance and Across The Universe. FINALLY! :D


I really tried to contain myself from buying too much cosmetics this time, thinking that I will be back next year helped a lot! I know you gals understand the feeling of being overwhelmed with so much prettifying things. I think the only area where I failed completely was with the foundations! I just cant resist the Jill Stuart and Canmake foundies!  I can only justify those purchases by thinking I will save money on shipping if I buy it in Hong Kong. Yeah, poor justification. I KNOW! hahaha XD

That's it for now! I hope you liked the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Lovely Thursday to ya!
♡,
G

Autumn in HK Part 3: Central + Stanley Market + Food!

Lovelies! It's December! Where did time go? ahhh... Holiday season is here once again! I can't wait to shop for kid's toys with Lurvey! As we know, Christmas is more fun for children, their faces light up whenever they open presents, that's why I always like to watch them demolish the gift wrapping on Christmas day. hahaha! 

I want to thank all of you who left a comment on my last post, I'm still contemplating on repurchasing the blusher, I'll let you know if I do! for sure ;) will be replying to your blogs in a bit! :)

OK enough rambling and on to my post, today I'm going to share some photos from our 3rd day in Hong Kong, we had a lot of FUN stuff to cover that day...

Started the day in Central, where I spotted this super cool wall:

I lurve this pic and you know why! :P I'm carrying the Lanvin ♥ H&M paperbag because I was meeting Stellar's SIL anytime that day to give her the dress I got for Stellar. side note: I can't wait to see you wearing it babe! :)

We got some yummy McDonald's iced coffee to jump-start the morning! ->because Starbucks costs a fortune in Hong Kong. LOL

plus I got some Deborah Lippmann at Joyce! woohoo! :)

K & G at Stanley Market for lunch.

urbanity x coffretgorge ^_~

food porn time!!! 

yummy Torino pizza and Frutti di Mare spaghetti at Pizza Express!

I swear, K and I finished this without remorse! sooo good! It made me miss my family, who love pizza and pasta as well!

full and sleepy... hahaha PIG! but still posing for a photo. XD

afternoon dessert: Mango platter at Hui Lau Shan, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

my favorite snack in Hong Kong! the cold weather won't stop me! XD

our last pic of the day, this was in front of DFS Galleria where we swatched Givenchy blushers -which are now added to my gotta get get list! XD

paper bags galore! this is where I missed Lurvey the most. hahaha *kidding!*

My meet-up with Jennifer up next! I realize this post has been long and pic heavy, I have to dedicate a separate post for our meet-up and haul to keep ourselves focused on matters at hand. LOL! Don't I sound so serious and mature? XD

later!

♡,

G