Always Youthful

My Birthday is coming up. A milestone birthday I dread, but getting more comfortable with the idea. Most people I meet are shocked to find out my age. Here are some of my beauty tips for looking youthful.. I do credit a lot of genetics and race though because both my parents took a long time to look their age.

1) Drink Water
2) Drink Tea
3) Eat Greens
4) Dance
5) Yoga
6) Smile, Laugh, Joke around
7) C'est la vie! Be easy going
8) Invest in regular facials - about 1x a month
9) Good quality skincare - wear SPF!
10) Don't bake your skin in the sun - those years in SoCal didn't help my skin
11) No Smoking
12) Exfoliate 2-3x a week
13) Moisturize
14) Exercise
15) Sleep 6-10 hours a night
16) A face mask once a week

Make up for glasses

Applying make up is a little bit different if you wear glasses. The lens sometimes makes our eyes look closer and cross-eyed. The make up application for the eyes have to make the eyes appear wider, brighter, and bigger. The best part about make up is the fact that we can always play with light and shadow. Its an illusion.

My sister was doing her homework with her glasses on and I was inspired to do a make up look that is easy for young professionals working in an office environment. (Thanks to my sister for being my guinea pig!)

 

The main concern in a professional looking make up application is to make the whole look clean and bright. With glasses its easy to look frumpy and sleepy. I focused on making the eyes wide by adding light reflective eyeshadow base with the contour on the outer corners of the eyes. The eyeliner application is also focused on lining the upper lash line with a darker emphasis on the outer corner. The lower lash line is only half lined with the emphasis on outer corner. A peach cream blush, highlighter, mascara, and a reddish-rose lipstick. I prefer lipstick over lip gloss because in my opinion it looks more polished than gloss. 

Products used to create this look:

Make up forever Sculpting Kit: I used this as a highlighter for the brow bone and high cheek bones as well as a shadow base for the eyes. I contoured her cheek bones, side of the nose, outer corner of her eyes, and on her jaw line.

The Make Up Store microshadow in xocoatl: This was used to contour her eyelid in the outer corner only.

NARS eyeshadow duo in Misfit: I used the cream base eyeshadow in this palette for her lids because it has a bit of a shimmer to it to diffuse the light and make the eyes appear more awake.

Stila smudge pot in Brown: I used this to line her upper lash line and 1/2 of her lower lash line. Emphasizing the outer corners.

Becca Cosmetics jewel dust in xantho: I tapped this glittery bronze onto the middle of her lids. This creates a beautiful shimmery 'pop' in her eyelids.

Stila convertible color in Gladiola: Though the color make scare people away this is a beautiful peach blush and when applied to the apples of the cheeks a natural healthy flush is created. I prefer peach blushes than pink-y blushes because it looks a little more radiant and natural.

NARS sheer lipstick in Gipsy: This is a beautiful rose color that looks great on most people. It has more color than Dolce Vita (another fave of mine and my personal go-to lipstick) that will read sophisticated career woman without being intimidating like a red lipstick.

 

Holiday season 2013 sets to covet

Holiday season is coming up and with that are all the amazing beauty sets that will adorn the shelves of your nearest Sephora. As a beauty junkie and product hoarder (aren't we all?), Sephora is one of my favorite stores to get lost in. I get a kick out of making a mess of my hands with all kinds of testers of eyeliners, lipsticks, lip glosses, glitter, skincare, perfume, etc.
I am excited about all the holiday sets that are coming out for the holidays. Some brands like Stila have unleashed their sets already. Here are some of my favorite ones that are coming out!

1) Stila's Tools of the Trade 5 piece 5 piece Luxe Brush Set
$28

2) Stila's Color Me Pretty Lip and Cheek Palette
$28









3) Stila's Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow
$32
Technically not a holiday set but I saw these at Sephora the other day and was super close to purchasing a couple pots of these metallic foil eye shadows. They would make the perfect holiday eye make up.

4) Urban Decay's Naked Nail Kit 
$12

5) Urban Decay's Black Market 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil set
$36

6) Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar: Metallic - in Black Metal Dahlia
$18

7) Smashbox Wonder vision lip gloss set
$24

8) Tarte's Pure Delights 8-Piece Lip Surgence set
$34



















All opinions regarding these products are my own personal opinions alone. The pictures are taken from the companies websites which are linked to this blog. No companies or product endorsements here. 

Smell this

My favorite scents are a combination of peppermint, mint, eucalyptus, white tea, and citrus. Its no surprise that when I come across a body product that has any of these combinations, I end up purchasing it! These body products leave my skin feeling soft. I have soft smooth skin in general due to genetics and skincare.

I live in a tropical country with 100% humidity and the heat sometimes drags me down so I've got my AC blasting constantly in my room. The biggest problem when spending a majority part of my day indoors with AC is the fact that it dries out my skin. I was given a luxurious body lotion by a student of mine that smells like a spa!

This lotion is by Como Shambhala and is made without sodium lauryl suphate. In fact their ingredient list is pretty small. I like it because #1 it smells good with the combination of eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, and peppermint. It also melts into my skin without feeling too greasy within a couple minutes. There is also a nice tingling sensation from the peppermint.

The lotion is supposed to be an "invigorating" lotion but the reason why I like eucalyptus and mint is because they are calming scents to me. I use this lotion after my evening shower before I get ready for bed.










There is a local brand of home spa products here that have opened up branches all over the island called Mt. Sapola. Every time I pass their store, I can't help but take a deep breath in because the stores all smell like entering a spa! They also have a whole range of Rosemary-Eucalyptus body products that I adore. I am always replenishing my body wash from Mt. Sapola

This Rosemary-Eucalyptus body wash does not have an overpowering smell but just enough to get you saying 'aaahhhhh' in the shower. This body wash also doesn't strip my skin dry (unless I use scalding hot water - which sometimes happens because my shower head has a weird temperature problem) and works well with my loofah.

I have also tried their Rosemary-Eucalyptus salt scrub as well and prefer this one to Bliss's Hot salt scrub because the scent is not an overpowering Eucalyptus scent. I like to blend a scrub and a body wash together on my loofah so its an exfoliating body wash. I don't particularly like the oily residue that all body scrubs I've tried in the past leaves behind on the skin.






When it comes to perfumes and colognes, I have a pretty picky nose. I started wearing CK one when I was 11 in 6th grade when that scent was all the rage in the 90s and over the decades, I've collected quite a number of perfume bottles of different ranges of scents. Clearly, the scents that I loved, every little drop was used and the ones I didn't love were barely used. In college, I used a combination of Dolce Gabbana Light Blue (that scent still evokes memories of college), Coco Chanel Mademoiselle (really sweet smell), and Burberry Brit (which I still love and use on occasion). Post-college, I stuck with Burberry Brit but have mostly been drawn to natural scented oils that I could get at Whole Foods because my nose needed some calming scents due to living in New York. I discovered Jo Malone in New York and have loved her colognes since then. The brands colognes are meant to be mixed up and paired together to make something completely individual.

A bit sweet but mostly citrusy. This is a perfect scent for a hot summer day. Considering where I live now is mostly just hot all year round, this is my go-to scent for the day time. According to their website, this is a "Peppery basil and aromatic white thyme bring an unexpected twist to the scent of limes on a Caribbean breeze."

This scent is a light floral scent of White Jasmine and Mint. This is the scent that hooked me onto Jo Malone's line. The scent is described as "Just-crushed wild mint adds a dash of eccentricity to an exuberant bouquet of jasmine, lily, orange flower and rose."
Its a little exotic but mostly refreshing scent.




















All opinions regarding these products are my own personal opinions alone. The pictures are taken from the companies websites which are linked to this blog. No companies or product endorsements here. 

Jason Wu's Spring 2014 Beauty look

Its NY Fashion Week season and I've been such a fan of checking out all the beauty looks that are captured by Allure Magazine. Sometimes the looks for runway border on the theatrical side which is great for the stage/parties to get noticed/or just Loud trendsetters but not the best for the every day or even to go out for dinner.  I am loving Jason Wu's Spring 2014 look though created by Make up artist, Diane Kendal.
http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/runway-beauty/spring-2014/jason-wu#slide=4

Take a look at that sparkly gold shadow! This would be so beautiful to recreate for a night out!






















Image is from Allure's site. Check out the look in their slideshow here: http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/runway-beauty/spring-2014/jason-wu#slide=4

Miracle Oil for removing scars

A friend who fell off her bike over the summer and she got really scratched up. She spent the week rubbing Bio-Oil on her face and massaging it into her scratches and scars. Slowly but surely the scabs shrunk and then fell off revealing glowing new skin underneath! My other friend witnessed this and went to go buy a big bottle of Bio-Oil. I started to see the difference in both my friends skin, so I've jumped on the Bio-Oil train. I have some scars from figure skating, insect bites, dance injuries, mysterious bruises/scratches, stretch marks, scars that won't go away... ok you get the picture. I needed some of that miracle oil.

According to their website:

The Bio‐Oil formulation is a combination of plant extracts and vitamins suspended in an oil base. It contains the breakthrough ingredient PurCellin Oil™, which changes the formulation’s overall consistency, making it light and non‐greasy, ensuring that the goodness contained in the vitamins and plant extracts is easily absorbed.
Bio‐Oil has undergone safety assessments in accordance with the Council on Cosmetic Products. The toxicological profile, chemical structure, level of inclusion and total level of daily exposure of each ingredient used has been assessed and deemed safe for use (including for use by pregnant women).
Bio‐Oil is a member of Beauty Without Cruelty International.

After reading some reviews online, I would definitely only recommend to use this product on body scars first because there have been some skin reactions such as clogged pores resulting in a pimple attack on the face. If you live in a dry climate and have dry skin, you may be able to use it on your face sometimes.

For other scar removal skincare check out this site I found here.





All opinions regarding these products are my own personal opinions alone. The pictures are taken from the companies websites which are linked to this blog. No companies or product endorsements here.

5 products for summer that I currently love

Summer is here! Its hot EVERYWHERE (unless you live in the Southern hemisphere in which case, its winter for you!). Make up melts if you put too much on. The trick is to use multitasking products and don't cake it on. Since its be really gross here in Singapore with the hazardous levels of haze/smog/smoke from the nearby forest fires in Sumatra, I've been doing some skincare rituals at home to make sure that my pores aren't clogged 24/7 yet keeping everything simple.

1) Nutriganics Foaming cleanser by The Body Shop

I've been using this foaming cleanser for about a month now and like how light this feels. Its $26.90 SGD so it won't break the bank and its part of The Body Shop's Nutriganics line.
















2) Origins Make a Difference moisturizer

This moisturizer blends right in and light for daily use but can also be layered on for more moisture at night. I use it both a.m. and p.m. as well as on my neck. I like the fact that it isn't greasy or sticky.

















3) Josie Maran's Broad Spectrum SPF+40 lotion

Its not so easy to find a sunscreen that is light, watery, and blends right in without that white, greasy, sunscreen smell, and heavy texture. When my Kate Somerville sunscreen serum ran out, I started using this. Its lighter than the Kate Somerville sunscreen and smells like her argan oil products (a little like a kid's multivitamin).













4) Urban Decay Naked 2 eyeshadow palette

I really like this palette because there's so much you can do with it. I like to play around with the darker colors to be used as a liner. With all the hype that has everyone coveting the Naked palettes this one certainly lives up to its fame. I'm not a big fan of palettes with colors that you probably won't use. You'd love this one because ALL the colors in this palette is beautiful.













5) VMV Hypoallergenics Ooh-La-Lash Volumizing Mascara

I can't say enough good things about this mascara. This mascara is hypoallergenic, 100% dye free, non-comedogenic, and best of all it works really well! It doesn't smear, coats the lashes to create beautiful feathery long lashes and doesn't make my lashes fall out.















All opinions regarding these products are my own personal opinions alone. The pictures are taken from the companies websites which are linked to this blog. No companies or product endorsements here.