All posts tagged: beauty

On Consumerism & Spring Cleaning

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I’ve been going back and forth on this topic for quite a while now, and have been sitting on this particular blog post for about a month. I don’t really know what to say about “it,” but I do know that I want to take part in the conversation. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on the matter of consumerism and over-consumption, all of which, at least in part, echo what I feel as a person and as a… how do I say it? Mindless drone? Sheep? Just kidding. I’m not here to berate myself for liking material things, but I do want to examine my personal habits as someone who does enjoy, in some measure, shopping, acquisitions, and beautiful things. First off: I hate to admit it, but I think this blog is a big indicator that I am a hoarder. When I was drafting this post, I felt like I wanted to “out” myself as a terrible person who collects useless things only to abandon them later. Then I backtracked and …

Nosy Beauty Vol. 28: Erin

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Nosy Beauty is back! After an unexpected hiatus, sorry guys. This week, I’ve got Erin, who I first met online because of a shared love for film photography. Ooo~ Ha-ro! My name is Erin, a catwoman already in her late 20s who likes writing for fun & money and taking pictures in black & white. I run my own webzine – Parallel Planets. I’m currently in Tokyo, Japan and I’m loving every day that I’m here. My make-up bag is very basic that if it were a real girl, you wouldn’t bother dating it. Haha. Seriously, though, my make-up process is not very scientific. As much as possible, I try to appear “comely” in 5 steps or less. STEP 1: So, before applying any make-up, I always put on Nivea Soft Cream just to moisturize my face before applying some liquid foundation – I currently use Kanebo, which is readily available here in Tokyo. STEP 2: I love wearing eyeliner. It was the first make-up which I learned how to use and I’ve been using …

Bedside Matters

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LOL the title is just a “play on words” thing for night routine. After cleansing, this is what I typically use. The heat has been so unforgiving lately, that my skin started to really freak out. I figured it was the heavy moisturizers I’d been using so I switched to a few lighter alternatives. After thoroughly taking my makeup off and sometimes toning, sometimes not, I used to use the Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Complexion Serum and Dark Spot Corrector, but as it is out of my price range right now (I mean, $125 for 0.5 oz?!), I turned to the forgotten serums and anti-aging potions in my stash right now. Sidenote: You know what’s funny? It never occurred to me to research just what peau vierge meant, and it turns out it’s French for VIRGIN SKIN. Almost spit out my drink there. Ha. My usual sequence goes like this: — A generous pump of the bareMinerals Multi-Wrinkle Repair, which I purchased quite a while ago. I like it because it’s like and …

Recent Loves

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I feel like it’s a bit too late to talk about “monthly favorites,” but I always have little products I want to talk a bit about. Here are the things I’ve been loving lately. Not exactly for an entire month, but just the ones I’ve been reaching for a lot these days. For my eyeshadow fave as of late, I’ve got a palette by NARS that I’m sure you are all familiar with, And God Created the Woman. This is such a great little palette. Recently, I’ve used this for eyebrows, eyeshadow and liner all at once. Other makeup favorites: I got the & Other Stories Eyebrow Pencil in Bouclé Greige from Laala and I’ve been using it a lot. I posted about my brow routine not long ago, and I sometimes have been using this in place of the K-Palette eyebrow marker. Another frequent easy lipstick I’ve been using a lot of lately is the THREE Velvet Lust Lipstick in 05 Love Like Heaven. The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger is steadily becoming …

Mascara Backlog

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I might have a problem. I have 5 kinds of mascara open right now (3 full-size, 2 samples), but these are the ones that I have yet to even try. I can’t seem to curb my mascara enthusiasm and buy more than I can use up in one time. Actually, no, that’s not true. I have been holding back. Imagine my “to-test” pile if I didn’t give a crap. We beauty lovers tend to over-buy stuff and hoard things we don’t need, but mascara seems to be a bit trickier since it expires fast (and it is unhygienic to ignore the expiration durations here) and you can only use it so much. I don’t know how to get the most “bang for my buck,” so to speak. What is your “problem area” when it comes to makeup? Mine is actually eyeshadow, but I’m so overwhelmed by the fact that I have so much unopened mascara! I’m so curious to see how these will fare with my lashes, but I’m also scared of germs so I’m …

Stashed & Forgotten: MAC Powder Blush in Plum Foolery

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It’s been a busy few weeks and makeup purchases have been few and far in between, so I’m still in the middle of testing some of them. Here’s an ode to an old blush love, though. Stashed & Forgotten is what I call some old-ish makeup items that I haven’t gotten around to featuring here. Today’s feature is the MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Plum Foolery I only have 3 MAC blushes from their regular range, and I think that this shade Plum Foolery is one of the best. I keep forgetting about it because I stash it in a MAC Large double palette, but I think it’s a great plum blush. Similar to NARS’ Sin, which is one of my favorite NARS shades, Plum Foolery is shot through with some fine, gold shimmer. It adds an overall glowy quality to the blush, so I usually forgo the highlighter. This has more true plum tones than Sin, though, leaning more berry than muted with more pink and warmth than its NARS sister. It is well-pigmented …