Archives for November 2013

The neutral, elegant Dior Golden Snow eye palette isn’t just for Christmas

November 25, 2013 Paris B 30 Comments

If I’m to be perfectly honest, Dior’s Golden Winter offering for this Christmas isn’t wowing me. It just looks like so much same-old, same-old that I was quite happy to overlook it altogether. I have to say however that despite feeling a little humdrum about it, I was a little taken with the Golden Snow 644 5 Couleurs eyeshadow palette, which is one of 2 limited edition palettes released for Christmas.

Golden Snow is the cooler of the 2 palettes, the other being Golden Flower #643 which you can see here. Since I prefer cooler tones, this was something I was ready to test. If it had been Golden Flower offered to me, I’d have passed on it immediately.

I found the Golden Snow palette to have a consistent quality with the rest of Dior eyeshadow palettes. What this means is that if you never liked other Dior palettes (common complaints are sheer textures) then you won’t like this one either. I did however, find that the quality of the shadows were better in terms of colour application and blendability and I could quite easily pack on colour without it looking heavy.

Come Holiday Shopping Down Under and a-Waltzing Mathilda with me

November 24, 2013 Paris B 58 Comments

My timing was so “good” that when I got back last week, it was quite late at night and I fell headlong into work the next day and was pretty busy the whole week. So, unpacking has been slow and you know how that’s like right? Slack off for a bit to unpack and suddenly the suitcase sits there for months on end. Reason why you should always unpack the minute you get home. I eventually found some time to and I thought I’d show you what came home with me from Down Under.

Let me preface this little haul by telling you that many things in Australia are pricey, especially if you’re talking beauty products. I found out that Revlon, for example, is sold at similar prices dollar-dollar with prices locally which means that with the exchange rate, a Revlon Lip Butter could cost you RM65. Top up a little more locally and you might as well walk away with an Estee Lauder lipstick that costs RM80.

You also saw how marked up the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palete was in my previous post, so, when it came to beauty buys, I barely bought any. I looked of course, in the beauty halls of Mecca Maxima and Kit Cosmetics and spent a nice time trawling the aisles of Priceline but I eventually walked away with very few beauty buys. Instead, I spent most of my shopping money on candles, candles and erm… candles and groceries! 😀

New! Haute Couture Luxury French brand, By Terry returns to Malaysia

November 22, 2013 Paris B 40 Comments

Do you remember when By Terry Cosmetics were available here in Malaysia? I bet few of you do LOL! I used to get their counter confused with T.leClerc and then one day, it quietly disappeared. It was before I had a chance to try anything from the brand because it is a luxury brand and my pockets weren’t very deep back then.

Fast forward to November 2013 and what d’ya know? By Terry is back in Malaysia!

I still am not familiar with the brand so I’m always open to hearing thoughts from anyone who has tried her products. But an interesting bit of trivia I learned is that Terry de Gunzburg, the name behind the brand, was the original creator of the famed YSL Touche Eclat brush on concealer-illuminator pen! Now that we’ve heard of haven’t we? I’ve even tried it (although I didn’t like the YSL formula)

It turns out that when Terry de Gunzburg left YSL she took the original formula with her so perhaps the one I tried wasn’t the original that made it famous? I don’t know. But By Terry carries the Touche Volutee, a brush on concealer-illuminating pen that I am told is very popular and highly raved. Guess who’s going to have to try it now eh? 😛

Here to Badger you with a Natural and Organic Broad Spectrum Physical Sunscreen

November 21, 2013 Paris B 16 Comments

Sunscreen is something I am a big advocate of and although I’ve already found “The One” it happens to be so pricey that I’m open to trying more affordable options. One that I came across quite recently after reading some raves for it from VivaWoman was this from the Badger Company. Yes, the same company that gave us the Badger Balms.

I’m not usually fussy about using natural or organic skincare but it is worth mentioning for anyone who is concerned, that the Badger Aloe Vera Broad Spectrum SPF30 Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Lotion is a certified natural and organic sunscreen with very high zinc oxide in its formula, which makes it a physical sunscreen. Zinc Oxide is known to be among the best, if not the best UVA and UVB blocker out there, blocking both harmful UV rays.

I was rather concerned about this high zinc oxide content, because I’m one of the rare people I know who actually breaks out from products with high zinc oxide content. It’s part of the reason why I cannot use many physical sunscreens. Titanium Dioxide is fine, but zinc oxide turns my skin into a mess. Yet, I was curious to see if this might work for me.

Archives for November 2013

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