I Tweet Too Much

That's my problem.


I've largely ignored my blog due to Twitter. For those who are on Twitter, you know what I'm talking about. There's no commitment to the tweets you make: they're random, tangent, in-the-moment, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of comments. And I'm very random.

I'm sort of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to my writing. That's where this blog takes an exit: my life right now is far from being perfect and I'm constantly trying to find this balance I'm yearning for, and I'm not there yet. Writing should be comforting for me, and it is, but I'm finding I do not have the time to commit to such a project. I prefer to write than to blog, and I'm thinking my definition of the two should be more similar than I let on.

So that being said, I'm going to try and blog more than tweet. Ok, a half-baked lie, since tweeting on a Blackberry is way more easier than blogging, but I'm going to try.

Here's ANOTHER update to complement my latest tweets....


1. Grad school

Yes, I'm apparently going through an early mid-life crisis and have decided that it's time to go back to school. Frankly, I'm fed up with the sh!t I put up with at work and figured there's a lot more to life than staring down a microscope and listening to my coworkers bitch about the bureaucracy and each other. And the only way I'm going to make more money than my current salary is if I move into management of some kind.

Enter grad school.

I was considering an MBA but instead of giving up the "wealth" (haha!) of knowledge I've learned from being in the health care sector, I'm going to try my hand at getting in the MHA program instead (Master of Health Administration). It's also cheaper, by about half ($30K!). This is an executive-style program, meaning I can still work full-time, pay for my mortgage, and still study my way out of my current job.

So far, I've put in my online application, created my CV, and told my three referees about sending in their Letters of Reference. All I've really got to work on for the next week is my Letter of Intent, where I outline why I should be allowed into the program and how I see it fit in my career goals.

I haven't started yet simply because "making more money and getting the hell out" of working in a laboratory doesn't seem to be convincing enough. I'm working on more tangible reasons. :)

And, in the meantime, I also have to start studying for this GMAT exam that I may have to challenge. I've bought all the books I need to study, yet, hoping against hope, that I'll be given a waiver to not write (long story, but there's a stipulation in the admissions policy that could be in my favour).

So, in true procrastination, the following has occupied my past few days...


2. MAC and Other Lemmings

I've always been in makeup, being gifted my first Cover Girl lipstick in Frosted Rose when I was 14. But, lately, past few years, I've been practically obsessed with it! I have some posts in this blog under the tagline "makeup" you can search for, if you're interested.

So I won't go into great detail, as this blog is not a true beauty blog (there are many out there that do a FANTASTIC job at this) but I'm been wanting, begging, pleading for some decent eye brushes. I just picked up a 224, a tapered blending brush, but really wanted the discontinued 226 for creasework. My wish list: 217, 219, 239, 208, 249. I'd march right down to my local MAC counter and buy these all if it weren't for the awesome Canadian dollar...If I bought all these on the US website and have them shipped to just across the border my fave US-parcel-pickup, I'd save enough money to get another brush free! I paid $35 CAD for the 224 and it only cost about $25 US! Gah!

And I "lucked" out going to MAC yesterday for the launch of the Wonder Woman collection (I say lucked tongue-in-cheek because it's not so lucky how much I ended up spending!). I didn't think I'd like any of the product, purposeful avoiding all the online reviews, but I ended up testing Marquise'D (lipstick), Emancipation (Lip Glass), and Mighty Aphrodite (duo blush). I ended up liking Mighty Aphrodite so much by the end of the day, I called my MAC counter 10 minutes before closing and asked them to put it on hold for me until my makeover consult (*sigh*) next Saturday. I'm a sucker for LE's (Limited Editions). Kinda rethinking my purchase on Marquise'D, though, as my pigmented lips find it a bit chalky. It looked good with Emancipation, though (hmmm.....).


3. Baby #3

Hold your horses! This ain't a sealed deal yet! Along with my mid-life crisis comes along my ridiculous notion to plan out my life. And life, as I figured it, always included three kids. I don't know when I'm really gonna fit this in, with school and work, so call me Crazy.....

....if I get into grad school for September 2011, I plan to defer admission until 2012, allowing me time to have a baby prior to school. Then I can go to school from 2012 to 2014. By the time I've graduated, the kids will be 9, almost 6, and (if I'm lucky), almost 3 (or just turned 2).

I'll be 40 when I graduate.

Gad! I hadn't realized that! I'm gonna need therapy too....pencil-ling that into the schedule...!

So, if I can have my last kid before the rest of my life pans out, I can ditch the maternity clothes I've got! LOL All kidding aside, the true test is wrapping my head around perhaps having another boy and not getting the girl I'd like to have. Yes, even if God told me right now that my third child will definitely be a boy, I can honestly say that that's ok with me. After all, the two boys I already have brighten my day, who's to say that another boy would be so terrible?

4. House Hunting

For those that don't live in Vancouver, the real estate market here is INSANE! All homes have move than doubled their value in the past in 9 years, making Vancouver one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. The average price of a Vancouver home has reached $1 million.

Our tiny, 4-bdr, 2000 sq ft house averages $700K. In order to upgrade, we're looking at million-dollar homes.

Case-in-point: we recently put in an offer at the asking price of $1.050 million with one little Subject-To-Inspection clause in the contract, and we were outbid, by only $10K though, but no subjects. There are MANY homes that are being sold at $40K to even $120K over-asking. INSANE!

I may never own my dream home here in Vancouver, but maybe I will one day after I get that higher-paying job after grad school, after the baby #3, after.....

...I stop procrastinating.

Signing off Twitter and the blog tonight, to get some rest and start my Letter of Intent!

Sephora, Sephora, How Do I Love Thee?

Vancouver's first Sephora is open Downtown!

My eyes and heart are going a-flutter and I'm still at home and not in the store!

I am so afraid to go down there, though...I'm afraid of what damage I'll do! LOL

Vancouver: Makeup Forever - Sweetspot.ca

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FOTD...for no reason!

I got inspired by the beauty blogs I read to do a FOTD.

Ok, first off, I ain't no makeup artist or anything, so this ain't a work of art by any means. I've always enjoyed makeup and love to try new things. If you've read some of my past posts, I've been shopping a lot online and have recent amassed a sizeable collection of samples and full sizes from several mineral makeup companies. I'm currently awaiting my substantial haul (at least to me, a 20+ item order) from cherryculture.com , which I can't WAIT for, with all the NYX items I bought at 50% off during their last sale.

So, here's my FOTD. My son wanted to get in on the action; he's not wearing anything... LOL! I'm not going anywhere special, but thought I'd give this a shot:

Face:
AWG Oil-Control Powder Primer
AWG Hope 3.8 as concealer
Dreamworld Minerals foundation in Nammu
(Cloud formula)
Dreamworld Minerals cream topping in Peanut Butter Cream
(Clay/Silica formula)
AWG Shimmer Blush in Sensational


Eyes:
UDPP as base
Silk Naturals creme liner in Film Noir
Silk Naturals e/s in Brown Sugar
Cover Girl Lash Blast waterproof mascara in Very Black

Lips:
MAC l/l in Plum
Silk Naturals l/g in Skinny Dip

BTW: Dreamworld Minerals is having a 30% off sale, starting today and ending midnight May 25th. Code is MM30, min $10 order. The sale was also my inspiration to keep trying out Ellamae's samples. :)

Earthen Glow Haul

Earthen Glow Minerals had a recent BOGO sale, and I can't resist a good deal (c'mon: don't tell me you've never spent $40 at the cosmetic counter to get the $15 "Bonus Gift"?). And since I had never bought anything from this company before, I really was throwing my money to the wind, just so I can grab a deal.

I heard a lot of good things about this company, mainly reading up on posts from Aileen's blog, Shades of U. So when there was a Buy One Get One sale, I scrambled like mad, visiting forums like the Mineral Makeup Thread on FemaleNetwork, getting recommendations on shades before the sale expired.

With approval of EGM's customer service, I ordered Helena from the Olive family and Soon from the Yellow family, both in the Cover Me formula. I was recommended to get a "tweaker" in Lollie, to replace/add to Soon to take me into the summer months.



The free "tweaker" I asked for came jam-packed with powder, way more than any sample I've ever received before. It's not as yellow, as it is overall darker than Soon.

The two foundations I got are quite different from each other, Soon being drastically different than Helena. Because I have heavy yellow undertones but also evidence of olive present, I felt that they could together provide the shade I needed.

Here, I compare Soon and Helena to my current foundation, AWG's Hope 4.2 :


As you can see, Hope 4.2 is not as yellow as Soon, as it has some olive in it. I'm hoping that the right combination will yield something similar.

My FOTD, with 2/3 Soon + 1/3 Helena...


It's not a bad match, huh? The foundation is quite photogenic, with no apparent "white mask" found with many other mineral foundations. I applied a couple of layers, as I like full coverage, and it still doesn't appear cakey or give that ghost-like reflection.

I'm actually liking my EGM foundation more than my AWG foundation, despite the mixing involved. Adding the yellow Soon foundation gives my face an obvious pick-me-up not seen with Hope 4.2. But seeing I've got two very good foundations to choose from now, I'll just toggle back and forth between the two.

My Silk Naturals Haul

On Thursday, I received my super-fast shipment from Silk Naturals - 9 days (given it was only first-class not priority). My small order ballooned to over $30 again!

How pretty is all came:


Here's what I got:

• Perfect Harmony Foundation Sample Kit, contains Original Coverage Ivory plus 4 base shades in Buttery Gold, Warm Gold, Peach and Ebony, with scoop, empty 10g jar and sponge
• Medium Coverage Ivory Kit, with scoop, empty 10g jar
• Heavy Coverage Ivory Kit, with scoop, empty 10g jar
• extra Ivory samples in Original and Medium Coverage
• extra base samples in Buttery Gold and Warm Gold
• Tinted Oil Control Primer sample
  
• Oil Control Blur Finishing Powder sample
• Tinted Perfecting Powder in Love Lure and Tempt Tryst samples
  
• Sheer Bronzer in Tahiti Sweetie sample
• Sheer Blush in Lovelace
• Cream Eyeliner in Film Noir
  
• Flavoured Lip Gloss in Breathless and Skinny Dip
• and for free....a Cream Blush in Loverly and eyeshadow Terra, and a sample of Myst eyeshadow
  

I haven't tried formulating my custom foundation yet (waiting for a sunny day!) but I've tried out the lovely lip glosses. These two lippies are so nice...I like them more than Birthday Suit and Bliss.


Breathless is described on the SN website as a pink satin shimmer organic lip gloss. It's pink with a little brown in it, a neutral pink, made to look good whether you're cool or warm toned. Skinny Dip is described as a pinkie brown satin shimmer lip gloss, a medium tan colour with just a hint of pink.

SN says these two are hybrid colours: enough colour in them to almost call them a lipstick but glossy and shimmery enough to classify them more in the lip gloss category.

I love these lippies! I'm not a pink lipstick kind of girl (though, I must add, the very first lipstick I ever received was a Cover Girl frosted pink lipstick --- hey, it was the 80's!) but Breathless leaves me breathless! I like Skinny Dip over Bliss and Birthday Suit, maybe because it's got a little twist to the boring brown. I'll be buying more of these next time around.

I may hold off playing around with the foundation and the other powders I bought, until I pick up some samples of the foundation correctors Karen recently added to the website: a green colour booster for olive skin tones and a pure yellow if you need more yellow.

You see, SN's foundation is pretty ingenious, in that you mix your own foundation. There are 5 bases to choose from and you mix them with the appropriate scoops of Ivory. For instance, I might try mixing 1 scoop of Buttery Gold to about 4 scoops of Ivory and if it's too dark I can add another scoop of Ivory until I get it just right. And as I know I do have olive tones in my skin, I'll probably have to add a scoop of the olive too in there. I can't wait to start mixing...I feel like a mad scientist or something!

If I don't end up putting another order with SN soon, and I cave in to my urge to sample, I'll post my personal review on SN's Perfect Harmony foundation in a month or so.

Meanwhile....more shopping to do....Earthen Glow Minerals is having a BOGO sale that ends Tuesday night!

Hmmm, do I need more foundation?

My HG Foundation....at last!

I finally found my HG foundation with Adorned With Grace Minerals, in Hope 4.2. Not a hint of peach or pink in it, and the perfect balance of yellow and olive. It's amazing! I even went heavy handed with application and it didn't change colour on me, like all foundations have in the past.

See? (I hadn't put on any lipstick or gloss yet....)


Here's a pic with flash:


No ashiness! Love it! It's got a creamy feel. When I swirl my brush in the bowl, it's like it already creams softly on my brush. I use a flat top brush I bought from Silk Naturals (same brush you can buy from Forever Female).

Now, this doesn't help me and my spending habit....now I've got to go buy me a full-size, and while I'm at it, probably pick up a few more items as well. I'm still waiting for my Smoothing Powder in Golden Tint from Franchesca. I'll give my thoughts on that when it comes in: it's supposed to be her version of MUFE's HD powder, but with some extra ingredients to help in adhesion, and slight tint to take off the white cast.

Meanwhile, I wonder what I'm gonna do with my Silk Naturals order coming in? I bought their Perfecting Harmony foundation kit, thinking I wasn't going to find a match with Hope 4.2 or 4.5 that I just sampled, and take it upon my own hands to custom mix my special formula. Oh well, I guess I'll just have more fun playing, as the evil scientist within me emerges.

Eye Brushes, Anyone?

I may be slow on the ball here, but I came across a site that sells those black-barrelled Brown Faux Fur taklon brushes for, what looks like, a great deal. These are the same brushes that are found on Aromaleigh, Adorned With Grace, and Buff'd, but only stock the eye brushes. All of Kim's brushes are $4. 85 each and shipping is reasonable (at least for this Canadian!).

Shop at Kileng here!

There's a February special right now. You get 4 brushes, the Large All-Over, Pointed Sculptor, Line & Smudge, and Smudger brush in a romantic organza bag for $17. Shipping is $2 for you US folks and $3.50 for us Canucks. It's a very pretty site, complete with some tutorials on how some of these brushes can be used. There's even a cute set of bowls to pour your minerals on, ready for gift-giving too.

I'm very tempted...

For reviews, you can head to Aromaleigh. I've always wondered about these brushes, and the reviews are very positive! Aromaleigh won't ship their brushes outside the US, while AWG, while a little more pricey, includes free shipping on all orders to US and Canada.

Your choice...but happy shopping!

Too Many Foundations!

Since last week, I received a few more hauls in the mail. One from Buff'd, then Adorned With Grace, another from LaurEss, and yesterday from Blusche.

I only have one face! And so many foundations to try!

First off, here was my order for a full-size in Saffron foundation and Mais setting powder from Buff'd, in addition to some blushes and other powders I wanted to sample. More on my Buff'd experience later....


Then arrived my Adorned With Grace samples. How pretty they were, all wrapped up! Appropriate, it being Valentines Day soon...



I ordered her 15 baggies for $12, oh which 14 of them were foundation! I didn't want to reorder any more samples, so I thought I would just cover my bases. A lot of them I placed aside, seeing how fair the colour was. I settled on trying Grace 4.2, a combo of peach/yellow/olive. I found it the best match though I think there's a touch too much peach for my colouring. I'll have to try this out a few more days. Otherwise, it's still a pretty good match:



I ordered a full-size Divine Oil-Control Primer Powder. The first ingredient is kaolin, with mica being second, which is super great for my oilies. I actually kept forgetting to apply this primer, because it's in a 4g jar (with powder puff to keep everything under the sifter!) and not in a baggie like everything else I'm testing. I finally used it once a few days ago, and it's fabulous! I apply it with the puff to my T-zone and it really works!

I also splurged and bought the 12 eyeshadows for $7 baggie special - got some neutral shades and some for highlighting and base colours. I've tried a few colours, and they go on very nicely. I wish I had some pots of the ones I've already used: they're that nice I'd buy full-size ones now even though I've still got samples. In my FOTD above, I used AWG shadows, though I can't recall which I chose to test.

I also received as a bonus from AWG a sample baggie set of all 8 of the new shimmering blushes. They're all very nice...I can't wait to go through all of them!

Then my LaurEss samples arrived, shrink wrapped to cardboard, well-packed:

Of the four shades I bought (Pure Gold, Pure Yellow, Warm Gold, Fresh Gold) the one I tried and liked was Pure Gold. I think Pure Yellow would suit me too, but Pure Gold has a touch of olive in it, and it matched very well. A friend of mine dropped by Sunday morning, and I had already put my LaurEss Pure Gold on, but nothing else (no eyeliner, shadow, blush), and she had to stop mid-sentence and ask me if I had any makeup on, because she couldn't tell and my skin looked so perfect. Now, ain't THAT a compliment?! So I couldn't help but ramble on about how fabulous MMU is to her. I whipped out my samples and exclaimed it's virtues!

So with that, LaurEss gets a BIG checkmark as a HG foundation. I ordered the Elemental formula but realized a few hours later that I should've ordered the Minimalist formula for oily skin. I emailed customer service and got a reply that they would be happy to switch the formulas for me. Yippee! But when I received my package, I did not receive the Minimalist, only the Elemental. I emailed CS back to ask them if the shades are equal across the formulas (in case I loved one shade, I could just order the correct formula). They said yes, it's equal, but that they would send me the Minimalist shades anyways, at no cost! Even Lauren, herself, emailed me and told me she was sorry for overlooking the order, and they would send it out the next day (this was Friday when I emailed her) USPS Priority. How's THAT for Customer Service?!?!? I was totally floored about how they handled my order, that I just have to order a full-size in the Pure Gold.

I found the LaurEss foundation very fine-milled and creamy. The Elemental foundation didn't last as long on me as I think the Minimalist would, but its got buildable coverage, and very, very natural. I can't wait to try the Minimalist.

My new love, until then, has got to be Blusche Minerals! I finally have it on today, with Mocha Java being the best shade (Creme Brulee and Brazillian are too light for me -- all in the Warm category). It's finely-milled like LaurEss and goes on dreamily. I thought it went on too light, but I think it warmed up on my skin, as my forehead doesn't look as ashy as I thought when applying.


The problem with my skin is that I have uneven tones. It's like some parts of my face, namely my cheeks, almost down to the jawline, is a fairer, more pink/cool colour. That's why when I compare foundation between my face/chin and neck, there's still a stark difference, even though my face colour has evened out nicely. My chin tends to look the ashiest when I apply foundation...which is why it's so crucial to find the right shade AND formula!

I hesitate to add an unmade up, just-washed face, pic...see what I mean?



Anyway, here's my Blusche order...I got the Petal and Coral blushes for free!:


$1.75 CDN (yay!) for a three baggie set, so I ordered three 3-baggie sets, one for foundation, one for primer and finisher, and one in concealer and correctors. I got the Medium Primer, the Veil in Matte (other option is Glow) in Phoebe (neutral tone) and Shelley (slight yellow tone). I chose the Yellow corrector for undereyes and the Green corrector for any red spots on my face and a concealer in Medium. $5.25 CDN for 9 baggies. :) Had to pay $3.50 shipping (it's Canada Post, which sucks), but it should've been free, like Buff'd offers, since everything fit in a standard 6x9 envelope with a 56 cents stamp on it (or whatever the cost is for a domestic shipping...it's not $3.50!). Oh well, the samples were cheap to compensate.

On to my experience with Buff'd...

I tried the Saffron on last week, and I felt like I just left the tanning salon. The coverage is super thick, and goes on rather cakey if use a Flat Top like I was using. I tried to keep a light hand, but perhaps I need a kabuki or something. The samples I had were in Concealing, so I might need to try out the Original formula. If I didn't apply any primer, the foundation cakes pretty fast, and I get balls of foundation collecting on my nose. Not pretty.

I emailed Jenn at Buff'd to ask her what I could do with my full-size Saffron to lighten it up a bit (I know! I jumped the gun when I bought the Saffron!). She emailed back quickly, suggesting that I mix with Moccasin to get the right shade, as adding Porcelain, a pure white, may not work as well. Although I thought that Moccasin was too yellow, after not having much success with a 50:50 mix of Saffron:Moccasin, I decided to try Moccasin straight. This is what I got (I only have mascara and blush on...so it's not my final face):


It's a bit yellow on me, looking a little brighter in person, but it's a much better match than anything with Saffron in it. It just doesn't have any olive in it to tone it down. It's still cakey on me, as I only had my Flat Top to apply it. When I finish my Moccasin sample, I may order myself another sample in another formula, to see if I can get away from this cakeyness. Meanwhile, I have a full, unopened jar of Saffron which I can't open until I really tan. So unless someone wants to buy it off me, this baby will have to keep until August or something!

I'm wiped out! If only my skin could take habitual washing, I'd wash my face several times a day to test all the foundations at once! As it is, I can only test one a day....my makeup routine is taking so much longer now, now that I have such a selection of foundations to play around with!

Slightly sM.A.Cked!

It was like the world was in slow motion as pushed the stroller closer and closer. Like it was a dream, fate, karma, if you will. Yes, I was so close, as my eyes widened in amazement, a sight I haven't seen in years, it seemed...the M.A.C. counter!

My toddler in tow, I managed to convince him that we go in the store "just for a little while".

- Mom, that's girl stuff!
- But Mom is a girl...
- No, you don't need makeup...

I sighed and blushed as the SA looked up and greeted us with what probably would have sounded like an "aww!" if I were any closer to her. Either that or she was telling herself, oh shit, don't come any closer.

I browsed around staring at all the new items I have only seen online, while constantly removing pans of concealer and foundation out of my son's hands. What should I buy today? Concealer? Lipstick? Hmmm....

I didn't know how to select a concealer so I asked the SA about the various kinds. She tells me that on February 5, M.A.C. is revealing a new line called Studio Sculpt that provides full-coverage yet won't crease or fade. The current products, she said, either provide medium-coverage and don't crease or full-coverage and can crease. The Studio Sculpt coming out would be the best of both worlds.

I looked up more information and found out this on Makeup and Beauty Blog :

Studio Sculpt Concealer: Inspired by the needs of M·A·C makeup artists, who demanded a full-coverage concealer that never becomes dry and cakey, the gel-based cream formula slips onto skin, effortlessly hiding imperfections. Its silicone coated pigments help retain color purity for superb coverage that blends easily yet covers completely with just a small amount of product.

It'll probably cost around $20 CDN since it will be $16.50 USD. So I booked an appointment next Thursday to try it out. And maybe, while she's at it, she can colour type me too...and try some other products that I'll be tempted to buy!

So I bummed around the place a bit more. I fondled the Paint Pots (how lovely! Groundwork would look great as an eye base with my skin colour), and tickled a few of the lipsticks.

Before I left, I picked up a pot of Lip Conditioner SPF 15. I heard great things about it, and although it was $15, at 15g of product, that's about on par with the Kiehl's lip balm I used to use, and that was just "ok". So far, I love the slight vanilla taste and it applies smoothly. A little bit goes a long way. Right away, I can tell it'll work better for me than my current pomegranate Burt's Bee balm.

I can't wait until next Thursday!

Re.Edit. Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog posted a review on the Studio Sculpt Foundation and Concealer....check it out!

LaurEss Pure Minerals

Ok, I'm weak.

I made another online purchase today to try out LaurEss foundation.

I got my second order from Buff'd Cosmetics today, with the darker shades of foundation. I thought the Caramel was darker than I needed, so I thought I'd mix 50:50 with the Saffron I had. Once applied, it gives off a darker finish, but it's a little bit too tanned for me. There's almost like a faint peachy look to it. Sigh. Should I try 75:25 Saffron:Caramel? Maybe tomorrow...but for the meantime...

I googled around for "Buff'd" and "filipino" thinking, just maybe, someone out there actually found a good colour match, other than Christiana. I bumped into a forum discussing the differences between Buff'd, LaurEss, and Monave.

I hit the LaurEss website and was instantly drawn. I don't know if it's the case with all MMU, but the LaurEss website claims that its makeup is water and sweat resistant. And they have free shipping to Canada! I thought perhaps their shipping was free for only samples, but I put in 3 full-size items in the cart and shipping would be free. Granted, the samples are a little more expensive, at $2.50 each and the foundations and powders run around $22. Hey, if I can get a match, great!

These are the colours I chose for samples, with swatches taken from the website:

Pure Gold - Medium Golden with Yellow Tones
Pure Yellow - Medium Yellow Tones
Fresh Gold - Dark Medium Golden with Yellow Tones
Warm Gold - Medium Dark Gold with Yellow Tones

The Warm Gold could be too dark, but at least I'll have a sample to mix with if I need a more intense shade.

LaurEss' foundation shades come in 3 formulas: Minimalist, Elemental, and Ethereal. Minimalist is the sheerer formula but buildable, Elemental is their medium coverage, neither flat or shiny, while Ethereal has a creamier, heavier coverage. All the shades come in any of these formulas. I believe I counted 54 available shades, at 10g for a full-size.

And since I was purchasing 4 samples already, I figure I'd try out a primer and a finishing powder, just to complete the look.

They have 3 primer formulations: Kick Start, Fresh Start, Jump Start. Kick Start is for dry complexions, Jump Start for oily complexions, and Fresh Start somewhere in between. They have shades Light, Medium, Tan, Dark for each of these formulas, each shade matching the foundation you choose. Since most of my samples were from the "Fresh" or "Pure" colours, Jump Start Tan would compliment well.

They have similar formulas for their finisher powder. Finishing Touch for dry, Fantastic Finish for oily, and Ultimatte Finish is probably somewhere in between. Obviously, I got the Fanastic Finish in Tan.

So, $15 later, free shipping, I ordered 6 samples? Worth it? We'll see. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do a proper review.

I guess I should post a better pic of myself, to show you what colour skin I'm dealing with here. Another day, I guess. Hmmm....thinking of checking out Monave now...

Re.Edit. Monave sounds promising but they don't offer USPS First Class Mail. It's USPS Priority for $19, as high as $55 UPS Worldwide. For a $5 cart! Yikes....forget it! I guess I'm done shopping for now!

Re.Re.Edit. Turns out that after reading a few forum posts, Minimalist Foundation is for normal to oily skin, as most closely resembles their Original formula which was discontinued not too ago. Elemental is best suited for normal to dry skin. I shot an email to LaurEss to see if they can switch my order from Elemental to Minimalist. Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be able to do that! Maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow!

My Beauty Realization...and Purchases!

Being a mom gives me a certain badge of honour....one which I don't wear proudly. The badge of "ugliness" comes to mind. Yes, as a mother, I am now to look a certain way, my hair having not seen a hairbrush in weeks, nevermind my straightener, my bare-all complexion of past acne scars of yesteryear and impending wrinkles foretelling my doom into motherhood greet me in the mirror; yes, I am a mother now.

Mind you, I have been a "mother" for almost 4 years now, though just having a newborn around makes it seems like a "rebirth", so to speak, into motherhood again. I grew out of this phase I'm in at one point in my life, but here I am again, faced with the challenge of beautifying myself to prove to all, and especially myself, that I am one of those wondrous females who can have her looks AND kids too.

So where do I start? This past week has been an awakening for me, as I stumbled upon a beauty blog by Miss Christiana - Memoirs of a Shopping Addict. As I read through her blog, her makeup reviews, application tips, I realized I was old. Christiana just turned 22 years old, about a dozen years younger than myself, and she is young and beautiful and has a passion about beauty, showing how much confidence and poise a 22 year old should rightfully have. What does this 30-something have to show? I found her blog not only interesting but inspiring, so I decided to search online for products that would beautify me on the outside, in the hopes of convincing my inside to glow too.

So, I'm no virgin when it comes to online shopping. I don't have any hangups. Yes, I've been somehow caught in online identity theft, but that won't stop me from shopping online, since I keep track of everything on one online-only credit card (I used to before, and it still happened, but I remain diligent).

I thought I could pick up something new at Everyday Minerals, where I've purchased a couple of sample kits to test their foundation colours, in addition to some blushes and concealers, but then I thought I'd start shopping elsewhere for a bit, to see what's out there.

Before coming to this whole epiphany on Christiana's blog, I was going to make a purchase on Franchesca's website, Adorned With Grace Minerals. Franchesca had developed the foundation mix of Buttered Tan at Everyday Minerals, a colour that can suit most filipino girls, being Filipino herself. I found out that she has developed her own line of mineral makeup, focusing on colours for the yellow/olive undertones in Asian skin. Buttered Tan never suited me, and I hadn't quite determined my exact shade at Everyday Minerals. I decided to buy AWG's "15 for $12" sample kit, where I could sample 15 colours for one price. I chose 14 colours from her foundation palette to test out (I reserved one sample for a blush, I believe).


Also I ordered her Divine Oil-Control Primer, which would help me keep the slick away. I'll try anything that will do that! And since she had a 3-day special on 12 eyecolour baggies for $7, I couldn't resist and pick that one up to. I plan on doing some swatches when the haul comes in. Oh, and the bonus couldn't be any cooler: 8 samples/baggies of the new shimmering blushes she will release next month. They are super nice! The following swatch is found on Franchesca's blog, Defining True Beauty:

Meanwhile, on Christiana's blog, I stumbled upon a reference to Buff'd Cosmetics, where she finds her HG (holy grail) foundation. Turns out the company is from Prince George right here in BC! How I could I not order something from a MMU (mineral makeup) company so close to home?!? Well, no duty or cost conversion, that is. So I purchased 5 foundation samples in Moccasin, Almond, Buff, Warm and Saffron to try. They came in and right away I knew Moccasin and Almond were too light, Buff being ok, but Warm and Saffron looking more my tone.


I'll post swatches when I have a chance. I put Warm on first and it was too pink for me. I have a lot of yellow undertones and although there is a balance of yellow and pink in Warm, I guess I don't have much pink in me all. I tried Saffron, which looks really yellow. After a few days of wearing the sample, I think Saffron could use a LITTLE bit yellow, as I am still a bit chaulky looking after applying. It's not perfect, but so far is the best match I've found in MMU.

I went and put in another Buff'd order to sample Caramel and Camel, which might be too dark for me, but perhaps they have a better level of yellow. Since I was ordering, and the shipping was free, I added samples of Midnight (an eyebrow colour), Canvas (an illuminating dust), Whisper (a pure white blush for highlighting), and Mais (a translucent yellow setting powder). I think that's what I ordered...my samples should arrive tomorrow. I'll try and post swatches of these too.


I couldn't help but browse Christiana's site for more helpful info, and she refers quite a bit to Silk Naturals. Another MMU company, but this has fantastic shipping prices to Canada! I put in a $40 order and shipping was only $3.50! Ok, so what did I order?


Fiber Optic Blush Brush
Premium Synthetic Flat Top Brush
Climax blush (NARS Orgasm clone)
Birthday Suit lip gloss (a nude tone)
Bliss lipstick (Bobbie Brown Brownie clone)


With my order, I'll also get a free eyeshadow of my choice, which I picked Brown Sugar, and Melange, a silvery plum eyeshadow, their choice of bonus.


First time purchasers get 5% off their order. I practically got shipping free as a result! What's not to love?


I didn't stop there though. I hit my all-time favourite place to shop: ebay! There I bought a very coveted Ben Nye Powder Cheek Rouge in Contour No.1, recommended by Christiana as her favourite contour powder (and, boy, do I need contouring, LOL). Also I decided to spring for a tube of Urban Decay Primer Potion, since I've been wanting to try it forever. I bought a second tube for my sister too, since she prefers using a primer but has never tried UDPP before.

So, there, my January haul! With any luck, there will be a February haul, probably with full-size items, if not a few more samples to try out. The other sites I wanted to shop at were Coastal Scents for their 28-pan Neutral palette, and JW Cosmetics, just because.


Now all I do is wait. Sigh. A little shopping therapy is already making me feel a whole lot better!