Saturday, June 27, 2009

9:23 PM

Blog Post : Entertainment : KISS - Because Im A Girl (english subtitles).mpg

I came across this video again. Th first time I saw it was in secondary school. Didnt even know what the lyrics meant then. Despite that I think the song is still full of feelings and emotions.

So I happen to come across the one with subtitles after all these while. This is a very popular song. I think thats because the tune is very catchy. BUt anyhow, now we know what she's singing :D . .

This is the only song that never fails to touch me everytime I hear it; both before and after I know what it's about. . . Music is amazing...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

5:50 PM

TKB Trading Mica/Pigment Skin Swatches

After disappearing for quite a while, I thought I'll make it up by doing some swatches that are long overdue. That was how my TKB Trading collection looked like after 2 purchases. I bought about 30 Mica pigments on the first go, and subsequently fall in love with their products and got more.
This was requested a long, long time ago. Like more than half a year ago. I just never had the time and mood to sit down to do them because I was busy with my projects. So finally, Here they are!.

Disclaimer: I paid for everything that I own from them. The reason Why i have so any of their products is because they are very inexpensive and great value for money. I live in Singapore and the company is based in the USA.

Company: http://www.tkbtrading.com/
What they Offer : TKB trading is a company based in the USA that sells ingredients and misc items needed to product mineral makeup. This means they sell the " flour, egg, sugar" that makes up a cake. You can find mineral makeup base ingredients like, mica, Talc, Silica, zinc oxide etc etc that are used to make mineral makeup foundation powders. They also sell Mica powders and oxide pigments that are used to make eye shadows. Their pigments and mica powders are also good enough to be used on their own as eye shadows. They also sell cosmetic sifter jars, pans, empty compacts. Not forgetting, dyes, lipstick bases, natural oils, liquid silicons, etc etc.

Mica powders (shimmery) : http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=12
Pigments (matte, oxides): http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=43
Jars and tools : http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=14
Go to their website to see more stuff they offer.

TKB Samples :
USD1.50 for 1 table spoon (USd3++ for 1 Oz which is about 3 tablespoons)
*1Table spoon fills a 20gm jar (w/o sifter) you will have enough to fill another 5gm jar if u wanna put a sifter in

USD1.50 / USD0.99 for 1 teaspoon
*1teaspoon fills a 10gm jar (w/o sifter)

This is what my tkb trading pigment/mica collection looks like now. The swatches below are all done on TKB trading's Eye Fix Eye primer.
If you want to see how these pigments look in their jars, go to this post @ http://msfrenchfries.blogspot.com/2009/03/updated-tkb-trading-swatches.html
I wrote some information about their consistency and finish on that post too :)

*click on the pictures to enlarge*

Labels: swatch, tkb trading

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

3:11 PM

NYX Pearl Mania Review w/ Swatches

Product: NYX Pearl Mania Loose Pearl Eyeshadow
Price : USD1.25-USD3.50 ( varies at difference stores and websites)
Ingredients: Mica (and) Iron Oxides (and) Titanium Dioxide

Price : 5 / 5
The quality of these babies is really really good. These are usually on sale for about USD1.50 each before shipping. You get about a 12gm jar full of product, so dont let the packaging fool you. These are really value for money. They are nicely pigmented and shimmery. The shimmers/glitters are also very finely milled. When I got these, there were only like, twenty colors, I chose 15 of those that will look good on me. However, NYX just came out wiht soem new colors. So the total color selection should be 30 (or so)now.

Packaging : 2/5
The original packaging is impossible to work with. The opening of the little container it too small to let a brush in. It's only big enough to dip in one of those sponge tip applicators. I ended up depotting mine into some stackable 10gm jars. But i still got some powders left, enough to fill a 1inch pan. Thats a lot of product for just USD1.50.

That's about it I guess, its a really short review. I often realise that when I like a product, I have very little to say , other than " It's great!"
The swatches below are applied on the TKB Trading Eye fix (Eyeshadow Primer)

Labels: eyeshadow, Lip Products, NYX, review, swatch

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

3:18 AM

NYX MegaShine Lipgloss : Review/Swatches I

Product: NYX Megashine Lipgloss (aka Goddess of the night Gloss)
Price : USD3.75 - USD8
Ingredients: Mineral Oil, Octyldodecanol, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit, Bees Wax, Paraffin, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Grape (vitis vinifera)Seed Oil, Butyl Parahydroxy Benzoate, Propyl Parahydroxy Benzoate, Microcrystalline Wax, Ceresin, Polybutene, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Ricinus Communis (castor) Seed Oil, Tocopherol (vitamin E acetate), Mica, Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide, D&C Red No.7 Calcium Lake, Fragrance.

I left out "Smokey Look" in the photos because it was in one of my bags and i totally forgot about it til now.

SweetHeart: a shimmery, very light pink.

Lollipop: a shimmery, coral pink that is a bit more sheer.

Frosted Beige: a shimmery, very light nude

Chestnut: a shimmery, light medium nude shade

Natural: a cream finish, medium neutral pink

Oro: a shimmery, medium copper gold

Candy Shop: a slightly shimmery, sheer and buildable coral pink

Smokey Look: a cream finish with barely noticeable shimmers. A Neutral pink lighter and more pink than natural.

These glosses are more expensive than the NYX round lip glosses. These are of a thicker and more sticky consistency than those too. However , I wouldn't say I like these better than the round lip gloss or are of higher quality. I think the two are just different kind of glosses. One is a lightweight thin gloss, the other is a thicker, more sticky and slightly longer lasting gloss.

The megashine glosses are sticker than the round lipgloss , but not as sticky as those glosses that feels like glue on the lips. However, when the wind blows, do expect some hair to get stuck on the lips (something I cant stand). That, somehow didn't stop me from using and liking these.

For this reason alone, I prefer the round lipsticks to these. After about a couple of hours of wear, after some gloss wear off, it's not so sticky anymore and it's bearable for me. That's why I still wear these even though i don't like sticky glosses.

I think there are 3 kinds of finish for the Megashine Glosses (from the reviews I saw on youtube as well as the colors that i have) .

There are the shimmery , slightly shimmery (almost non-noticable shimmers), and cream finishes.

My favourite shades are Lollipop, CandyShop and FrenchKiss. Lollipop and Candy Shop are more sheer in a sense that you wont be able to get the exact shade you see in the tube on your lips. ( You can with Natural , Oro, etc) . But I like them because of these, as it look more natural and does not accentuate my lip lines as much as some other colors.

I especially like Candy Shop because it makes my lips look almost glass like. My lines look less obvious, which is a surprise because megashine lipgloss do tend to accentuate lip lines. I love the coral pink tint it gives my lips. I just really like how soft it makes my lips look.

French Kiss is sort of a nice neutral pink that I can wear. I guess I am not such a fan of the very shimmery kind of gloss.

I guess this review is kind of short because i just keep repeating the same things over and over :S. The price is good, but I only get them when they are on sale because i do like the round lip gloss better

Labels: Lip Products, NYX, review, swatch

2:15 AM

NYX Jumbo Lip Pencils : Review/Swatches I

Product : NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil
Price : USD2.50-USD3.50
Ingredients: Ceresin Wax, Microcrystalline Wax, Polyethylene Wax, Beeswax, Squalane, Hydrogenated Resin, Hydrogenated Styrene, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Mineral Oils, Isopropyl Myristate, Polyisobutene, Butlated Hydroxy Anisole, Propyl Paraben, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, C.I.77491/2/9, C.I.15850, Pearl Powder.

Rose Brown: a satin finish, medium brown
Iced Coffee: a satin finish, neutral pink with brown undertones
Narcisse: a satin finish, dark red with very obvious blue undertones
Chestnut: a slightly metallic finish, light medium copperish coral pink
Almond: a satin finish, light nude color. great for nude lips for fair - light skin

I love the texture of the Jumbo lip pencils. They are harder than lipsticks, but still pigmented and creamy enough to go smoothly over the lips. Some colors are more creamy than others. Although they are called lip pencils, they work as lipsticks. Their staying power is also better than the round lipsticks. However, the color selection is very little compared to the round lipsticks.
These don't have a scent. However when you are applying it, you can smell the scent of the bamboo or wood that makes up the stick that is around the actual product.
Personally I think there are a lot of dark shades and not nearly enough of those nude and MLBB colors to choose from. There's nothing that I don't like about these; the price is also really cheap. Even after shipping and postage fees I paid less than SGD10 for each.
These are definitely better than some of the other drugstore brand makeup. NYX is probably the icing of the cake when it comes to pigmentation as compared to other drugstore brands.

I am planning to get more colors in the future because i think they make touch up a breeze.
.
The one that I am most excited about in this batch is Narcisse. I got it for days when i want to go into a darker look, or more dramatic inspired makeup looks. Too excited that I put it on the moment i opened my package and took a FOTD :)
This was supposed to look solemn and, well fierce. But it didn't really turn out that way :S
I love the shade of red , reminds me of that blood-stained lips of some old vampire show i watched way back. ;)

Labels: Lip Products, NYX, review, swatch

1:15 AM

NYX Haul II - a mixture

This mini haul took SO SO so so so long to reach. more than a month. I ordered these during the 50% NYX sale at cherryculture.com. I guess it was the huge amount of orders during the period that delayed the shipping.

I got Nyx Single eyeshadows in wild Flower and Black.
NYX round lipsticks in Penelope and Black cherry.
NYX Jumbo Lip pencils in Rose Brown, Iced Coffee, Narcisse and Chestnut. I wanted to get soft fuchsia but

I wanted to explore in the areas of red and darker shade lip products so I got Penelopw and Black Cherry. Penelope is a Satin finish Black color lipstick. Since I don't have any black lipstick yet, i though it'll be fun to have one.

Black cherry and Narcisse are a little bit simillar. but One is more warm the other more cool. Both are Bluetone reds. I like Narcisse better because it is that dark dangerous red that I was looking for. Although i probebly wun't use it a whole lot, it'll be good if i want to do a goth or darker look.

I'll have swatches up soon for these :)

Labels: haul