Belated Favourites of 2011

Although it is slightly late, I still have to entry this blog entry, as seems a year didn't complete perfectly without the list of my favourites of the year. And therefore, here they are:

Cleanser
As I made my own herbal infused olive oil to remove my makeup, there is no specific cleanser that I really have to mention, well, other than Origins Modern Fiction, I think.

Toner
To me, toner is just a basic form of moisturising water, so as long as they are not concentrated with alcohol, cheap toner will do for me, as I have used high end toner as well as those flower hydrolat, there is not much significant difference for me....

Skincare

Clockwise from the front:

• The Body Shop Lip Butter - i love them so much that i have purchased the whole collection. It's smoothing and i love the buttery texture.
• DHC Lash Tonic - since i realised that my lashes were falling off, i grabbed this quickly and started using it since. There was a noticable growth, but somehow it could irriate my eyes sometimes. 
• Za True White Sunscreen - as most of the sunscreen can irriate my skin, this is one of the rare one that won't and that it is not expensive
• Gariner Eye Roll - love the rolling ball and it's my 2nd one already, though i have already decided to get something else once this is done.
• Olay Total Effect Touch of Foundation - this is my quick touch up if I am just going to the veg market or around the corner to local shops, as seems nowadays, i cant leave the house without any foundation and this is one of the best way for a quick touch up.
• L'oreal Youth Code Serum - it has been a great hit on the net last year and that I have enjoyed the effect of the serum, which the only fatal fault is that i felt that my skin could be burn very easily after using this serum, so if your skin can be tanned as easily as mine does, then remember to put on extra layer of sunscreen after you use this serum at night.

Perfume

Clockwise from the front:

• L'occitane Cherie Solid Perfume - i have a newly found obsession of solid perfume, for which i have already collected 4 extra and for that this is my favourite as i love the smell of orange blossom.
• L'eau Par Kenzo por homme EDT - i love most of the perfume by Kenzo and that the person who gave this perfume to me is sort of part of the reason that i love it. However, the main reason that i like this as i love the scent that japanese combined. i love the citrus smell of yuzu, as well as the use of rosewood. 
• L'occitane The Vert Green Tea Solid Perfume - i used to use Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea EDT, but this scent of green tea is better than that and that i love stronger scent perfume.
• The Body Shop Moroccan Rose EDT - i think every woman should have a bottle of rose based perfume and that for this one, it is not strongly scent, which is the exception for me as i normally like strong perfume. This soft fragrant of rose is suitable for young girls or people like me, who much perfer a unisex or men's perfume.
• The Body Shop Dreams Unlimited EDP - i love the combination of cedarwood and white flower, which are the key essential scent. i love the musky scent, and that i love the shape of the bottle. 
• L'occitane Calanques EDT - this is similar to Dreams Unlimited, but this is more mediterranen style, a more subtle and soft smell, which remind me of the mediterranen sea.

Base/ Foundation

Clockwise from the front:

• Cargo OneBase Concealer + Foundation In One 01 - this is my most frequent use concealer, and that i sometimes use it as a foundation when i was travelling. it is light weighted and that it is not too pink toned.
• e.l.f. Tinted Moisturiser SPF 20 Procelain - i love this tinted moisturiser as the colour fitted my skin well, and it is yellow based rather than pink based. also this is really cheap, its only £3.50 for 25ml!
• Bourjois 10 hour sleep effect foundation - as titled, it is so light-weighted that i have been complimented when i was wearing this foundation, most people, even ladies thought it was my bare skin! so impressed by it to the fact that i have purchased a second bottle already!!
• Za Skin Beauty 2 Way Foundation - this is my favourite compact, though it's slightly darker to my taste, as in hk, they did not have the lightest shade, which is shade 20. Nonetheless, i love the formula that it's alright to have a slightly darker face.
• e.l.f. Mineral Booster, Sheer - i love this powder very much, as with Bourjois 10 hours sleep effect foundation, they were so light weighted to the fact that people thought i was wearing no foundation, while they actually covered my faults. also this powder gives a subtle, soft matt finish. 

T.B.C.

May Favourites

Thsee are my favourites for this month:

• Bobbi Brown lip liner in beige
• Cargo Supereyes masacara 
• LSY flower kabuki, which is last month favourite
• Muji blush Orange 01
• Ruby & Millie brow colour blonde
• TBS Dreams Unlimited EDP
• Gosh angled brush
• Crown eyeshadow? brush
• Olay total effect touch of foundation - the price of this increase by 25% for these 3 months, it is rather annoying... = =
• Bourjois  10 hour sleep effect foundation 71 abricote clair, which is also last month favourite
• e.l.f. complexion perfection

x kyanvi x

e.l.f. Tinted Moisturiser SPF20

Finally!!

I was browsing the e.l.f. website last month and was wondering when this tinted moisturiser be available in uk e.l.f. and just saw the email, they have finally! import this to uk site! Can't wait to see reviews on that and get!!!

Have you see any reviews on this yet?

Kyanvi

2010 Favourites Continue

Blush (Clockwise)

• e.l.f. Cool Bronzer
• Sleek Face Contour Kit - Light
• Laura Geller Baked Sateen Blush -n - Brighten Ethereal Blush
• Muji Blush - Orange
• Cargo Beachblush - Coral Beach

Eyeshadow (Clockwise)

• e.l.f. 6 colour palette
• Laura Geller Baked eyeshadow - Tiramisu
• Stila eye shadow trio - champagne glow
• Muji 4 colour eye shadow - brown
• Ruby & Mille Completed Eye kit

This is the end of my series... as I actually forgot to take the rest and I have already throw the magazine away... sigh..... = =//

Kyanvi.

2010 Favourites Continue

As continued....

For this time, these are my favourite brushes:

Cheek / Highlight (L-R)

• Models Own Retractable Kabuki
• Sigma  F50
• e.l.f. Complexion Brush
• Charles H Fox Angled Brush (didn't remember the exact name, does anyone knows?)
• Sonia Kashuk Small Angled Brush

Face / Foundation (Clockwise)

• Primark Pink Kabuki
• Model co Blush Brush
• MAC 190
• e.l.f. Flat Top Powder Brush
• Sonia Kashuk Flat Top Brush

Blush and Eye Shadow next!

Have a nice day!

Kyanvi~

2010 Favourites

Although I know it's already February, since I have already took the photos, then I might as well upload the photos [but too lazy to write that up @@] and put this as a record. ;-P

Eyeliners

Gosh Velvet Touch
Prestige Automatic
Prestige Total Intensity
Benefit Eye Bright
Stila Kajal

Brush - Eye

Barry M E/S brush
No 7 e/s blend & contour brush
e.l.f. e/s shading brush
Gosh eyeliner brush
Models own e/s blending brush

I will update the rest tomorrow! Good night!

Kyanvi

My Travel Bag

As I am off to Liverpool within 2 weeks time and that I was talking about packing for holiday with one of the ladies on a forum, so I decided to prepack my makeup bag now [though i think i may have to take a few items out as they are my stables *O*]

As it is only a 2 day holiday, I think my makeup bag should be as light as possible as I don't think I will bring a suitcase up.

[Apologise for the bad quality photo, I think I need to bring another camera, as my usual old one went a bit nuts =.=///]

Tool/ Brushes

Bobbi Brown Travel Blush, Eye shadow, Eye Smudge Brushes

No 7 Concealer Brush

Mini tooth brush (the orange one)

Mini Sponge

Smashbox mini Kabuki

Palette

Pixi Eyeshadow -Manage

Sleek Face Contour Kit - Light

e.l.f. Complexion Perfection

Pencil/ Eye

No 7 Eye Brow Pencil

Gosh Velvet Touch Eyeliner - Black Ink

Yves Rocher Brown Eyeliner

Tesco All About Face Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencil

Estee Launder Double Wear Mascara Sample

Base

Cargo One Base Concealer - Foudantion  -light

Estee Launder Nutritious Foundation Sample - 02

DiorSnow Base SPF50

Lip

Yves Rocher Almond Oil Lip Balm

Sleek Pout Polish - Raspberry Souffle

NYX Round lipstick - Pumkin Pie

These pack in the Models Own clear pouch and 2 mini zip lock pouch that come with No 7 or Ruby & Mille brushes. These pouches are really handy as you can even put your cotton bud and cotton pads in a separate one and they are relatively waterproof.

So what do you think?

I will update the 2nd part after I have hang my clothes as they are waiting for me in the washing machine!

Be right back.

kyanvi.

e.l.f. haul again~

This is my 3rd time to purchase goodies from e.l.f. as I really think some of their prodcuts are really bargain and good for value. Last week there's a offer of 3 lipglosses and free delivery for order more than £10. So I could not stand the offer and stock up again. kaka...

Although I heard some of the brushes are not good, by do some searching online, I managed to get all the good ones and this complexion brush is good, which hopefully I will do a compare and review if I have time after exams.

This is my 2nd bottle of eyelid primer as I really think this is very good. Only £1.50 and similar to UDPP which is around £11 a bottle of similar size. Isn't this wonderful?!

I have tried out the complexion reflection already, will do a swatch after exams (gosh.. i got a whole list of things to do after exams~) And will of course try out the cream eyeliner later too, cant wait~

K.

e.l.f. Cool Bronzer

Haha... 2 e.l.f. review in a row... but then, how can i resist to write positive reviews when I like them so much? This is one of the products that I use almost everyday. ;-P I took the photo above at night, so it was slightly paler with a blue tone due to the flash light. But I took the one below under sunlight, so the colours are sharper. 

Here's the swatches. I don't just blend them and brush it onto my face. Instead of a bronzer, I use it as a shape & sculpt palette.  The white to highlight the cheekbone, bridge or the nose & eyebrows. The pink is for the apples of the cheek. The reddish brown (the top right corner) for the shading just right below the cheek & the deep brown for the jaw bone or around the edge of the face (near the hair line)( i will put a drawing up later if i can fix my photoshop 1st...)

Conclusion

I think I will buy this again as I like the packaging (similar to nars ;-P) and the colours. The only down fall is that the white is not that visible, need to apply a few layers while the others are perfect. Consider the price of £3.50, I think it will be my stable piece unless the palette from Sleek can beat it.

Score

85/100

What do you think of that?

Kyanvi.

e.l.f. Mineral Booster - Sheer

Just felt that like or dislike is really a matter of timing... I said that because I was thinking of writing a quite negative review for a product, while I was typing the thing, I just had a thought of give it a go. So I left my pc to my room then try it again... Then... I actually like it more than before. I was amazed that I just changed my mine in split second... confused.... anyway, I won't name the thing now...

I also had lots of incident with this e.l.f. Mineral Booster too... I bought this because of the description as I do believe in powder skin care as Za True White Vitamin Powder is the 1st one that I use & love. When it arrived to me, I was quite disappointed with the QC of e.l.f., as the seal was broken... But glad that the customer service team is very kind & just refund for me after they saw the photo. I was thinking of just throw it away since it may be containmined. But my bf said maybe I should give it ago as probably just a defect, not a second hand (returned) product. And I am glad that I did so

Descritption of this product

Achieve the ultimate, translucent "photo finishing touch" to your makeup, our Mineral Booster melts into your skin, infusing it with key vitamins A, B and E to promote healthier skin that’s noticeably silkier and smoother. Completely sheer and ideal for all skin tones, Mineral Booster gently absorbs oil and minimizes the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines and pores for a beautiful even finish. Wear alone or buff over our Mineral Concealer and Foundation to lend extra staying power and to achieve a professional and stunning porcelain matte look that will last all day.

Well, it does promote silkier & smoother skin and absorbs oil which gives my skin a sheer look. Also, as it is more in a pink undertone, it gives my skin (cool - yellow undertone) more radiance & healthy pinkish looking. Now I use it almost everyday as a lose powder to set my foundation as it adjust my skin tone well.

Conclusion

I actually will buy this again as I really like the pinkish tone it gives and the powder is very fine. For £5, you can actually get a lot of product ( 17.8g), which is really a bargin.

Score

80/100

Kyanvi.

My Foundation Collection

Quick reminder

Ladies who have No 7 £5 off voucher remember to use it asap

as it is going to expired on the 31st Jan

only a few days left!!!!

(N.B. the Olay & No7 tinted moiustusers are not suitted for me, so maybe I should save them for give away =.=///)

From left - right (Bottles):

e.l.f. All Over Cover Stick - Toffee - for shading, it is cheap and easy to blend

No 7 Essential Moisture Foundation in Buff - my 2nd favourite and the colour suit me most

Olay Tinted Moisturiser in Medium - not used & plan to give away, why it is in the photo in the 1st place??!!

No 7 Stay Perfect Foundation in Blond - the texture is excellent, but the colour is not that suited for me

Natural Collection Tinted Moisturiser in Fair - cheap for daily use

Max Factor Seamless Foundation in Porcelain - used for blend with foundation that is too dark as this is very pale with pink undertone

Rimmel Long Lasting 16hr Foundation in Soft Beige - another accident where I bought foundation that is too dark for me... (probably another give away as I bought 2 online =.=///)

No 7 Tinted Moisturiser in Medium - again, not used & plan to give away, why it is in the photo in the 1st place??!!

3 Samples from Estee Lauder - Double Wear Light, Individualist, Nutritious Vita- Mineral

From left - right (compact/ jar):

Rimmel Cool Matte Foundation in Ivory - this is my new favouirte at the mo, once i realise some of my old foundation are bit too dark for me

e.l.f. Mineral Foundation in Light - the coverage is very soft, compare with Everyday Mineral/ Joppa Mineral, this is not as excellent as the others.

Lancome Mini Compact, which I forgot which one that is @.@ - but this is quite good

The Body Shop Flawless Skin Protecting Foundation 02 - got this when there's a special combo offer online for £15 included a foundation brush, it is so-so, and its bit dry for me =.=/// though the compact case is very nice, the cover can be used as a mirror too

Shiseido Sun Protection Compact - i love this one very much, it works very well when i was in hk. Although this is only a sample size, can last me for the summer, for reapply outside.

I got extra ones other than these, but 2 Dior compacts are too old and I think I should throw them away. But the old packagings are really nice @.@

Also, there's another compact that I bought from Jusco $10 Shop in HK. But I just realise that it has broken into piece, which I did't even know when that happened...

Sonia Kashuk Brushes

As I mentioned before, the brushes from Space Nk have arrived in my place (in a black box XD). The texture, the finishing of the brushes are in good quality.  I bought the following brushes for £4-6 each (original price is around £2x each:

Contour

Angled Blush

Synthetic Flat Top

Sonia Kashuk is more famous for her eye shadow brushes, but then I need face brushes more... and I heard that animal hair is used in her blush brush.

I compared the brushes with the similar ones I have already (photo above). The texture of the contour & angled brushes are really good. Compare with my everyday mineral brush, they are much smaller in size, but actually fit much better for my face. Now I use the contour for highlight, angled for shading and everyday mineral for touch up.

On the other hand, I was quite disappointed with the flat top brush, but this maybe due to the fact that I am not quite use the exact use of this brush?! Compare with my e.l.f. powder brush, I love the e.l.f. one more. The size of this flat top brush is perfectly, but there's so much synthetic hair, it makes it quite hard and dense, not fluffy at all. (though the quality of the hair is good, its nice and soft) Therefore, I may just keep it and see what can I do with it later on...

Conclusion

For £2x, I definitely not recommended to buy any of them as they don't worth that much, and since the price in the states is much cheaper. BUT, for £4-6, it is perfectly fine, as I bought the everyday mineral for USD$10 (around £6) and e.l.f. for £3.50.

Also, not recommend to shop online @ spacenk.co.uk as delivery is £5, though there were 4 samples included and packed in a black cardboard box (which I like) filled with polystyrene.

Score
Contour 80/100

Angled Blush 70/100 (due to the messiness of the hair when it arrived)

Synthetic Flat Top 45/100 ( I still haven't figure out the usage)

So, since I heard lots of people have bought this, I am looking forward to see other people's review~

K.

p.s. the design of the handle is kind of the selling point for this set of brushes, i think. Although they are much easier to handle, totally no good for travel...

Summary of the products that I like for 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was planning to write my last piece of review right before the end of 2009, but then, i was distracted and was watching Black Bulter (黒執事), so didn't have time to type up @.@ I either stayed at home or went out shopping right after new year, so didn't have time to surf online too.

Here's the top 10 products, both skincare and makeup that I love most

(N.B. not in a particular order)

1. e.l.f. Studio Bronzer - Cool

I always looking for a palette that can do shape and sculpt together at the same time...But there aren't many option available from Boots/ Superdrugs. The most famous one is the M.A.C. Sculpt & Shape Duo like the one below

But then, I found it rather expensive... So I use this as an example and found an other alternative.

For £3.50, this e.l.f. bronzer is really good for this purpose... (which I will type a review if I had the time...sigh~)

2. Everyday Mineral Angled Brush 

For USD$ 8, this is the best brush that I have and it is perfect for mineral makeup. Sadly, this is not available on everyminerals.com... if I know this earlier, I will at least buy 2-3 more...sigh~ so I have to take extra care to keep it well....

3. e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip - Spotlight

see more details on my recent post -> Click Here

4. Estee Lauder Double Wear Mascara

I prefer Lancome's  or Primark's mascara more before, and I didn't like Estee Lauder's mascara before as I have a bad experience... But then, after I used this. It is perfect, it lasted and extended my lashes well. Also, one more good point, it is easy to brush on without clotting my eye lashes.

5. e.l.f. Mini Makeup Collection

see more details on my recent post -> Click Here

6. Avon Care Rich Moisture Glycerine Hand Cream

see more details on my recent post ->Click Here

7. Homemade Lavender, Rose Face Cream

see more details on my recent post ->Click Here

8. Olay Total Effects Radiance Enhance Cream Wash

This is my favourite cleanser at the moment, as it is cheap and effective. It removed excess oil and dust gently without giving the skin a hard time. It is good for everyday use.

9.  Garnier Eye Roll On

I have already bought a spare new one even though I haven't finish the old one yet... But there's 1 annoying point though... I just saw online Boots.com, there will be a new caffeine roll on which is used for dark circle.... i cant wait !!!!!!!!

10.  Botanics Organic Rosewater Toner

There's a few more things I want to put in this summary... But then... since I have already chosen a face cream, so I think I should put a toner here instead...

Kyanvi

e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip - Spotlight

e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip - Spotlight

Firstly, I have no idea how i am going to use it, but just curious to see how it is like. So get the most safest option and here we are.

Basically, it is in liquid form, kinda like white shimmery foundation / liquid eyeshadow. After blending it off with my finger, it will form a shimmery glow layer and I found the right use for it - to highlight the bridge of the nose as Asian tends to have flat noses; and also highlight the cheek bones too.

I search online and other use it as a lip gloss/ eyeshadow/ blush and I think it will do its job perfectly well...

Besides, for £1.50/ USD$1, what you asking for?

Score: 80/100

Kyanvi

Eye Lip Face = e.l.f. II

Since I am quite interest in the prducts of e.l.f., I bought stuff when there's a special offer in the UK site. So, this  is it. For an order more than £25, a free Mini Makeup Collection (worth £15) is free!!

I still haven't able to find a chance to try them on. But yet, I did a swatch for this, kekeke, as I cannot resist looking at it.

Packaing and top view

I am actually suprise by the case and packaing, as from what I heard, e.l.f stuff are really kiddy like/ top like, which means the packaging quality won't be as good as other brand outside.

Closer view under flash

The problem of  living in England is that we lack of sunshine while my skin still turn darker and darker during the winter.@.@ As there's no sunshine, most of my photos aren't as good as other bloggers,sigh..., but for this lot, I actually have some luck when I did the swatches and god... how easier to do things under the sunlight, and less flashing/over explose those annyoing stuff.

Whole palette under the sun light.

Eyeshadows, blush & bronzer

Lipsticks

I haven't take photos for the eyeliner, as I haven't really try it. I did draw a line on the back of my hand before, its not too soft but i think it should be useable.

Also, the eyeshadows are quite pigmented, it wasn't too hard for me to make a decent patch for the photographs and took me some time to wipe them off with my Botanic wipes.

This also applied to the lipsticks, my arm actually got red because I was rubbing it so hard with the cleaning.

Furthermore, the only cons is the brushes as e.l.f's main brushes are quite soft and nice, so I am having a similar expectation. Yet, I am kind of disappointed.

Conclusion

At last, I will actually buy this palette if I am a beginner or need a whole set of new makeup, as I definitly will bring this for holiday so that I dont need to draw up a list of what I need to bring. ;-P

Score: 70/100 (mainly for the original price and the amount of product you get)

Kyanvi.

p.s. wahhhh... forgot to label the white corners and forgot to mention them too.

The left hand side one is a white cream eye shadow and the right hand side is the pale white/ colourless lip gloss

Eye Lip Face = e.l.f. Part I

Wakakakaka... Finally, I bought my first lot of e.l.f.  Since lots of bloggers/ beauty forum users are really hot/ keen about this brand and some of the products have high recommendation due to its price and quality, I cant wait for the UK site to send me some decent offer.

I actually bought 2 lots, as I received another dicount after I sent out my 1st order.

I can't belive how cheap the products can be, for these 2 lots, I only spent £40, that's included delivery. It is even cheaper than the stuff I got from Body Shop recently... (and I finally realised that I have not take any photos for that order, even though 2 of the products are already gone off from my house and I am already using the brush and foundation @.@)

Anyway, I am off to try out when I put make up on...

Kyanvi.

p.s. the brushes are very nice, they are soft, volume, yet cheap, my god.

e.l.f. - I am waiting for u.

I have ordered lots of stuff from e.l.f. last week as I heard a mix comment from the bloggers and really want to see how good or how bad the stuffs are...
BUT...
They are lost in the postal system...@.@ I hope they are coming back to me soon, finger cross, as I have contacted the customer service, and their reply was that I have to wait until 10th Dec and they then will further investigate...
1st time I heard such bad response from any customer service in UK, I thought the response from Debenhams was bad enough last time...

Brushes.... II

Since I have managed to write the review of my brush collection... I forgot to mention 1 thing... it is...

What other brushes that I was thinking of buying!!

From the research I have done online, the following company's brushes are recommended by different bloggers/ forum user:

• M.A.C. - of course, it's kinda like common sense to lots of ladies nowadays... but i found the price bit too high @.@
• Bobbi Brown - another maker that is generally recommended
• Sigma - according to lots of bloggers, the quarlity of the brushes are as good as M.A.C.
• Trish McEvoy 
• e.l.f - i heard a few of its US$1/£1.50 brushes are okay and the studio line ones are generally worth more than US$3 /£3.50. 
• Shu Uemura
• 白鳳堂 (hakuhodo)
• The Body Shop - consider the ones I have used, they are actually good valued
• Ruby & Millie - after I own almost the entire collection, I began to wonder, how InStyle Magazine judge that?? Some of them aren't as good as The Body Shop, yet the price are roughly the same (when there's no £5 off voucher exists)
• Mannings (HK) - one word - cheap; and this is the entire reason for the bloggers in hk to recommended

Have I missed any?

K

p.s. Lancome Foundation Brush is good, I heard. But not its entire line. Also, M.A.C. holiday / mini brushes arent as good as its individual ones, as some bloggers claimed. But, I have no idea whether it is true or not.