November Haul: Japanese and Mii cosmetics

I haven't done a beauty haul post in ages. I've been trying to save money by cutting down on my beauty purchases. But not being able to buy any products got quite depressing, so I thought I'd treat myself to a few things!

I ordered these Shiseido Maquillage products from apopofkawaii.com, my go to shop for Japanese products.

I bought their Moisture Rouge Lipstick in RD336 and a refill of the Design Cheek Color in 80.

The packaging of the lipstick is wonderful. I love the shiny pale pink/lilac cap!

I've had this blush shade before, and have been using it for the last 2.5 years, so I only had to buy the refill. This is one of my favourite blushers ever. It gives the cheeks to most lovely radiant flush.

Swatches of the 4 individual shades:

Swatch of : (L) the lipstick in RD336 and (R) the 4 blush shades swirled together:

Sorry for the above swatch. I must agree, it's the crappiest swatch ever. I will do an FOTD post with a review on these products sometime in the future so you can get a better idea of the shades.

I've kept hearing great things about Mii Cosmetics. They have been featured in numerous magazines as well as various blogs. I've been wanting to get my hands on these products for a while, but found it extremely difficult as they were only stocked in specific spas around the country. However, they were recently made available online at http://www.gerrardinternational.com/

I have to say, I really like this website as it gave me free next day delivery AS WELL as a free gift!

I bought the Moisturising Lip Lover in Smile

Uplifting Cheek Colour in Kissed

Luminous Tinted Moisturiser

The tinted moisturiser was bought as a gift for my mum as the mii skin products come in shades too dark for me. My mother plays golf ALOT so is nice and tanned.

The blush is a super pretty shade or bright pink. It looks a lot less bright (and more subtle) on the cheeks.

The lipstick is a gorgeous petal pink shade. Am really happy with my choice of shade (as shopping for makeup on the internet can sometimes lead to nightmares!)

Here are swatches of the (L) blush and (R) Lipstick:

As with the Maquillage products, I will do an FOTD with these products when I next get some free time.

Here's the free gift I got with my purchase! It's a full sized Dramatic Powder Finishing Brush.

The brush is of great quality and feels so soft on the skin.

FOTD with NicNic's Gifts

Today's look was made using a couple of items from the gorgeous parcel Nicola gave me (original post here).

The Shiseido Integrate Gracy Eyebrow Pencil she sent me has made it to one of my most treasured beauty products. It's a perfect match for the brows, making my eyebrows looks lovely and thick, and most importantly of all - natural.

On my cheeks, I used a tiny dab of the Canmake cream blush in 11, also from Nicola.

This is a stunning pink shade...

...which on my cheeks looks soft and rosy. I kept my lips natural looking with a tinted lip balm.

A group photo of the products used in this look:

Products Used:

Laura Mercier Cake Liner in Black Ebony

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow in Beach Honey

Benefit eye Bright

Clarins Instant Definition Mascara

Shiseido Integrate Gracy Eyebrow Pencil in 963

Canmake Cream Cheek in 11 Heavenly Heart

Une Sheer Lips Balm in S03

As I can never get a thin enough line with my gel liner, I've recently switched to cake liners to tightline my eyes. I find tightlining gives a more natural eye.

I almost forgot to mention, I used applied beloved Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate on my skin to give a subtle glow. I didn't mention it in the product list above as its a skincare item.

I've received an amazing response of my giveaway. Thanks to those of you who have entered. If you haven't already entered my giveaway, you can find it here.

Japanese Makeup Haul From apopofkawaii

I love Japanese cosmetics and have recently placed an order on the beautiful Nicola's online store apopofkawaii. It's a terrific shop filled with lots of little gems only available in Asia. My order arrived really quickly - within a week if i'm not mistaken, which is amazing seeing as it's sourced in and shipped from Japan.

Here's my order all neatly packaged together:

I bought 4 products:

Visee Mineral Cheeks Baby Finish RD-2

Shiseido Integrate Blush PK210
Lavshuca Melting Eyes BE-1
Integrate Eyebrow Pencil GY941

I first set eyes on the Visee Mineral Cheeks Baby Finish at Worship at the House of Blues, a beautifully written blog with the most gorgeous pictures. The blush looked so gorgeous, and after some deliberating, I decided to make a purchase.

The blush is so pretty, I spent many lost moments admiring it.

More pictures of the lovely blush:

Swatches of each of the 4 shades, and a swatch of the 4 shades blended together (on the extreme right). Blended together, this blush is a bright peachy-pink shimmery shade.

The blush on my cheeks, all 4 shades blended:

The blush on my cheeks came across quite shimmery, which I'm not used to. I think the next time I use it, I'll avoid the shimmery white shade.

My favourite makeup item is blush, and I couldn't resist trying the Shiseido Integrate Blush in PK210.

This blush is a cool toned baby pink.

The blush on my cheek:

It gives a soft, baby pink cheek. I can imagine this blush to be very popular in creating either cute 'Ulzzang' makeup or a sweet 'doll' look.

I also bought the Lavshuca Melting Eyes in BE-1. It has a funny name, but the I think the shades of in this eyeshadow palette are gorgeous.

The shades are fairly shimmery. I find Japanese brands to have really beautiful shades of makeup, but some of their formulas tend to be a bit on the shimmery side.

Swatches of the 4 shades:

As I'm growing my fringe out, I need to start grooming my unruly brows. I bought Integrate's Eyebrow Pencil GY941. I've read great things about how easy to use and natural looking this eyebrow pencil is. GY941 is a dark grey with a hint of brown.

The shade is a perfect match for my eyebrows.

Nicola also added a packet Hello Kitty facial blotters. So cute!

Before I forget, thanks to all of you who wished me good luck in my Citizenship test. Lucky for me, it was very straightforward and I passed!

Shiseido Translucent Loose Powder Review

Hi, I've been on a search for the perfect loose powder. My quest is to find a powder gets rid of excess shine and provides a radiant glow, whilst being kind and non-irritating to my sensitive skin.

Today I thought I'd share with you my thoughts on Shiseido's Translucent Loose Powder

It comes in a translucent violet tub, packaged in a shiny red box. According to Shiseido, this product is non-comedogenic and is dermatologist tested.

The powder puff that comes with it is pretty pale pink, with a red satin ribbon. This puff is the softest I have ever come across. Feels incredible to use!

I found the powder to be very fine. It contains very tiny particles of shimmer, which on the skin provides a nice radiant finish. It definately did the job of mattifying oily areas, and my skin has not been irritated by this product so far.

Here I am using this loose powder. It actually gave me more coverage than I expected from a loose powder. My face was a bit blotchy and red the day these pics were taken. With just the loose powder on top of moisturiser, it provided just enough coverage for the redness.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this powder. It absorbed oily areas of my skin, and provided a small amount of coverage. On top of foundation, it will give skin a flawless complexion. I especially liked how the powder wasn't too matt, and that it gave a nice radiant sheen. In addition, I didn't feel the need to reapply the powder during the day.