Professional Bridal Makeup for Sasha

Today in makeup class, it was my turn to be the makeup artist and I worked on my class mate Sasha for the Morning Bridal Makeup look.

That's her after the makeover!! 

You can see Sasha is pretty satisfied with the makeup, eh?

Before

Picture perfect after makeup - my face (on the left) is hideous in comparison

Bridal magazine cover model - SASHA!! She is so pretty ~

Foundation:

1. On Sasaha, I first used orange (cover dark circles) and green (cover redness) concealer to cover imperfections. 

2. Mixed 2 foundation colors to match Sasha's skin tone for a flawless finish.

3. Highlighted the high points of her face and used a darker powder for shading to give her a sharper nose and chin.

Eyes:

1. Used black kajal liner for outer corners to create the deep-set eyes. Used brown, beige and silver for the whole eye look.

2. Gave eyes a sharper look by lining them with black pencil eyeliner. Softened the look by smudging the line and applying black eyeshadow over it.

3. Applied dolly false eyelashes and finished with black liquid liner.

Cheeks:

Used a mixed color of light pink and orange to achieve a coral shade for the cheeks.

Lips:

A shimmery light pink for a youthful look. 

RESULT: Sasha is ready for her big day!!…. just that she is not getting married yet… LOL

I am actually happy with my work today… and I feel I am getting a step closer to being a professional bridal makeup artist… what do you think? :)

Palty Haircolor (Jewel Ash)

Last week I colored my hair ash!!

Usually the grey hair color look is pretty hard to achieve, but as I had light hair previously, the result was not too bad.

I used 2 boxes of these:

Palty Hair Color, Jewel Ash, $12.90 each

Kit includes instructions in Japanese and English, plastic gloves, leave-in hair conditioner,  hair colorant, comb cap applicator

This is my hair before coloring. Its a copperish shade, almost red!

This is after coloring! Not bad, isn't it??

As my hair before coloring was really quite red, the ash colorant was not strong enough to cover all the redness. However, as you can see from photo above, the result is not bad already!! I think if I had used 3 boxes of the hair dye, the result will be more even.

I think the hair product is not too strong, as it left my hair a little dry, but not that super dry (the usual feeling after coloring hair, but not that super dry). The leave in hair conditioner was not bad. I applied it to the hair ends after washing my hair while it was damp, and it left my hair really soft. The smell of the product was tolerable, nothing too pungent.

I would buy this brand of hair color again if I want to home-dye my hair again.

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Anyway, just an update about myself… for those who are interested :)

I just started on my professional makeup course! I am learning lots of things about makeup and my ideas for makeup looks are coming back again (yay!!). I am a little busy right now, with work and full time makeup course, but I will start posting pictures of my makeup looks again ^_^ 

Please visit me again soon!!

Fresh Kon Designer Cosmetic Contact Lenses (Orange Solitaire)

I am a regular color lense user, so it's no wonder I was excited when I saw this new product: Fresh Kon Designer Solitaire series. 

It comes in 4 colors: Pink, Orange, Green and Aqua.

It's called "solitaire" because the design on the lense frames the iris in a multi-faceted diamond cut pattern. Pink is supposed to be girly, orange natural, green sophisticated and blue is supposed to brighten up the look.

Pink Solitaire

Orange Solitaire

Green Solitaire

Aqua Solitaire

As I already have another pair of pink lenses, I opted for orange, hoping that it would be something unique… how wrong I was! Orange is just like brown color lenses to me. Luckily, when the lenses are on, the solitaire design is still obvious, so my eyes still look special, in the nice sort of way!

The black outer ring makes eyes look bigger.
The orange is a single tone orange.

Before

After

Comfort wise, I think Designer Solitaire series is more comfortable then Fresh Kon's previous series, Mosaic. It feels less dry, and I can wear it for about 8 hours without feeling like tearing them from my eyes. 

I think I might try their pink, if this pair stays comfortable for a month.

I got it from Optical 88, $28 per pair. Optician told me that they are monthly disposable lenses. I can't find that instruction anywhere on the box, or on their website, so I decide that I will trust the optician.

If you are interested to try, please contact an eye-care practitioner for suitably of wear :)

Best Shoes of the Year: Vivienne Westwood + Melissa Lady Dragon VI - Red Metallic Red Heart

As title suggests… these are my favourite shoes of the year!!

Reasons? 

1. They are Red!

2. They are Comfortable!

3. They are Gorgeous! 

4. They are Melissa!

5. They are VIVIENNE WESTWOOD!

Lovely! Lovely! LOVELY!! 

Vivienne Westwood + Melissa Lady Dragon VI, Red Metallic Red Heart

Highlight of the shoes: Red Metallic Heart. Super shiny and reflective

Adjustable straps

OMG… Mightily drop-dead gorgeous shoes. Not only are they red, they are also from Vivienne Westwood (VW), my favourite British luxury brand. I have been a fan of VW ever since I started reading this famous manga by Ai Yazawa, NANA. In NANA, the heroine of the story, Nana (the lead singer of rock band Blackstones), adores this brand, and so, I started loving everything from VW as well (OK- maybe not their 'Tits T-shirt' and 'Penis Pendant', but I surely love their Rocking Horse shoes -- yup! VW is a punk label)

So anyway, I will never be able to afford their leather shoes, so I always go for their Melissa ones. Not only are these Melissas VW style, they are also comfortable enough as rubber shoes. They do not look cheap, despite being made of rubber. Like all Melissa shoes, these sandals smell like bubblegum (rather sweetish) -- so some might not like it. I have no problem with the smell of the shoes!

I got mine from Endless.com. I ordered on 6 October, and the shoes arrived on 10 October (the only thing is sometimes they ship by UPS, and UPS has messed up my orders before). Endless carry a large-enough range of imported shoes; and they have free international shipping with orders above USD150. Their prices tend to be more reasonable than Zappos, though does not carry as many styes -- but hey! Zappos doesn't ship international! Sometimes, it takes a little longer for Endless to bring in new collections, and less colors; but I am really ok, because they are cheaper. I had also dealt with refunds with them before, and they were pretty efficient and I got my money back in about 2 weeks, after the shoes were shipped back to US.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Spot-Control Foundation + Maquillage Compact Case W

Sorry everyone!! I have not been blogging lately… this time not due to excessive drama watching, but work. Since 2 weeks ago, my schedule have been pretty hectic: I have to keep travelling around in the day and when I get home, all I want to do is read a book or watch an episode of drama. I am not exactly tired, just feel that everyday is a busy day and I want to relax! This feeling is strange. Somehow, I am busier after I quit my previous job; yet mentally I am freer -- such a strange feeling, you know?

Ok today's post is not really the exciting kind of post that you expect from a person who has not blogged for a long time… but I have been wanting to write this post for a while, so just let me get it out of the way first :)

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Spot-Control Foundation (Refill) SPF25 PA+++, 10g, $65

Maquillage Compact Case W (Limited Edition), $23 

Shade: 020 (OCHRE10)

I got this foundation because… I was attracted to the Maquillage casing at the Shiseido counter. So embarrassing to say this! When I asked about the Maquillage foundation, the BA told me that the White Lucent foundation is better than the Maquillage one. So, I got the Shiseido foundation, and the Maquillage casing. 

Before (with sunblock)

After (with sunblock)

Let's talk about coverage. The coverage of this foundation is good! I was impressed with how fair and flawless my complexion was after I applied this. My skin looked good, without looking like I had put lots of stuff to cover my somewhat blotchy and yellowish skin. My skin looked and felt smooth. The finished look was good. The real test was whether the foundation would last as long as liquid foundation.

The texture of the foundation is not really powdery like the ZA powder foundation, but feels more moisturising. Is that possible for powder foundation…? The powder can only be used dry. It's not a 2-way cake.

The next few days I used this foundation in place of my Jill Stuart liquid foundation. I set the look with my Jill Stuart loose powder (lightly). I looked great when I stepped out of the house. Unfortunately, by the time I reached office (an hour or so away), there was already shine at my T-zone. I don't have oily skin, but my skin is the irritating combination kind. About an hour or so later, I had to blot the oil away. The 'fair and good skin' look didn't last for long :(

Honest. This is by no means a bad foundation -- covers well, makes skin look good etc… but just not right for my combination skin. Liquid foundation still seems to stay put and control oil better for me.

I really wanted to like this… but I guess… I will be able to find something better after this.

My New Hair Color - Fiery Red

Okie… it all started off with me wanting to keep some photos of my new hair color…

Then slowly… somehow… I started posing in front of the camera and snapping all kinds of shots. My MacBook camera isn't the best, and takes photos with horrible lighting, so I began to add various effects to the photos. 

Right. This is a really self obsessed post. Please ignore me if you get uncomfortable!! LOL

I 'overexposed' all photos for that ancient look. Not sure what you guys think?

*Updated* NOTD: Gelish - Night Reflection

I like my new Gelish color! And my new nail shape :)

Night Reflection is a deep purple with red shimmer. *UPDATE* I have added 2 photos with my nails taken under sunlight. You can see the red shimmer a little better in these 2! It's not a very unique color, but it looks very good as Gelish because of the mirror like shine. This color looks trendier when nails are short, and I think that my nails are a little too long already (OMG did I actually say that my nails are too long); but I really didn't want to trim them shorter as I have not had such long nails for a long long time (due to how I used to abuse my nails by doing gel nails). Now my nails look slightly vampish due to the length…

Last year, I did a review on the durability of Gelish, and I said that the color only lasted chip-less for about 9 days. Now that I have done Gelish many more times, my experience on that has kind of changed. Since my nails are healthy again, I think I will be able to access how good this dark color will last on my nails much better. I will do a new review in 3 weeks' time (or when the color starts to chip)!