Lil Birthday Haul for Lil Sis

While traveling snagged these items up for little sister's upcoming birthday.

On the right is the Stila Love at First Blush set from Sephora. It includes a lovely 3 gradient blush, made up of little overlapping hearts in a shimmery pink-peach. The blush by itself can be purchased for $14 but this set that includes 2 Stila Lip Glazes (0.05oz) was $20. The lip glazes are in the prettiest pink colors - a soft peachy pink and a shimmery pink. For swatches view this post from Polarbelle (external link).

The other item is a cute Hello Kitty lip gloss set from Marks & Spencer. It was all of £5 and I wished I had grabbed another one for myself! The glosses are flavored in blackberry, cherry and strawberry; and are quite  pigmented.

Perfect for little sis! She loves pink blush and tons of lipgloss. Although she says she now has enough lip gloss to last the year.

UD Naked 2 vs Lancome Absolu Voyage

I was never too keen on getting the Urban Decay Naked 2 despite the fact that the Naked palette has served me well. The shades on the first are mostly unfinished except 2 shades to the left so a similar-ish palette would be a little wasteful. Once the 'new' version is in hand the older one will surely go to the back burner. Completely wasteful.

Then there's that niggling voice that says that while i'm where it's available i should grab one - as it'll be a few months until it gets to malaysia. Pricing is close US$50 vs RM180 so that might not be a point. Though the Naked palette has been my daily staple for months so the Naked2 would get the same mileage.

So confusing! I have heard that lots of us that own the Naked palette are having the same conundrum trying to decide if the Naked2 is necessary!

On the flight in saw this Lancome Absolu Voyage in the in-flight shopping mag. It's a nice sleek compact makeup kit that has everything you might need for a trip - eye shadows, blush, powder, lipsticks, brushes, mascara. This palette is supposedly only sold on flights for US$61 (delta). It's a serious contender now.



Did you get the Naked 2 palette? Are there any other alternatives to Naked 2 palette that you selected instead?

Update - I am so sesat, the Naked 2 has already been released in Sephora Malaysia and comes in at only RM179.

12 Resolutions for 2012

Somehow before the start of the new year I haven't been keen on making new year resolutions but after the new year does roll around it makes the year feel a little unfinished. Seeing as it's almost 2 weeks into 2012 I'm going to call these just resolutions.

1. Be a better blogger
This is a no-brainer. The 2011 post count = 43. The 2010 post count = 93. I have been neglecting this little blog. Who knew that having a 9-5 job; a soul-sucking mind-numbing one at that; made me blog more? Not to mention be better with the comment love - give positive feedback and be supportive ... and not stick so much in my own shell.

2. Be more adventurous (with makeup)
The whole point of creating this blog was to be more adventurous with my makeup choices. Ever since getting the Urban Decay Naked palette in early 2011, that's all that I've been wearing. It's a great palette but it's in some aspects is pretty boring because it's all neutral.

3. Lose that same xx lbs.
Every year there's always a new weight goal. At the very least at my age I know it's not within the realm of possibility to be 110lbs with my body type.

4. Take more pictures
Will be doing quite a bit of traveling this year. I prefer to explore, take in everything at my own pace and don't usually whip out the camera every time to take a picture. In the end we have all these trips but a handful of pictures.

5. Don't sweat the small stuff
I'm an anxious, pessimistic, worry-wart kind of person. Have to learn to let go.

6. Be more financially responsible
Really important this year because of upcoming plans.

7. Cook with more variety
Back in October during the Big Bad Wolf sale I bought all those cookbooks justifying it with "I'll cook something new every week! I'll never need cookbooks ever again!". Right. I do cook regularly but introducing something new into the routine is quite rare at once a month. It should be more often especially with tons of recipes at my disposal.

8. Travel more (and be more adventurous)
I like tagging along with the husband on business trips and exploring a new city all by myself. We have the luxury of doing that right now before the kids. Perhaps even go for a solo trip by myself this year?

9. Get into a regular exercise routine.
Both for me and the husband. We'll most probably be signing up with the gym once the new mall comes up in a few months. A walk in the beautiful park (just across the road!) in the evenings should be a start.


10. Learn something 
A language? Cake decorating? Photography? Finally painting those 40K banshees?

11. Get a new camera
A few months after buying this point-and-shoot, the camera had a close-up with a pen in my handbag resulting in this annoying dot. The camera still works though repairing would cost the same as the cheap camera itself. I have extreme DSLR envy for my husband's 600D :) No more point-and-shoot cameras from here on out no matter how 'cheap' it may be. 

12. Give more
But not too much especially to undeserving people!


This is very late but would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! What were your resolutions for 2012?

Soap & Glory Arch De Triumph

 Soap & Glory Arch De Triumph

RM 41 at Sephora

Have been checking this product out during my visits to Sephora every single time and a few weeks ago finally purchased it. What was most interesting was the highlighting side as it seemed like a dupe for Benefit's High Brow.

In the end the verdict on Arch De Triumph was a straight on 50-50. This is all because of my extremely sparse brows. As such the pencil makes my brows look very drawn on and uneven. The plus side is that the color only adheres to hair much like my HG Shu Uemura Hard 9 pencil. So if you don't really have much hair? Well the color isn't going to go on all proper.

 

Love the styling on the packaging on these Soap & Glory products. The highlighting side is pretty nice and fits perfectly as a dupe for High Brow but at a fraction of the price! I've thrown this in my bag as a backup brow pencil because I do look quite beastly without brows drawn in and the highlight side is perfect for touch ups. 

Oh yes you heard it right! The Shu Uemura Hard 9 pencil is back in my HG books as I noticed that the Empro - despite my mad ravings in a previous post - made my brows look too drawn on as well. The perils of having excessively sparse brows.

Not As Advertised - Dried Squid Snack (Kisoto)

I'm pretty mad about this so had to blog about it. Spent RM 10.69 for a pack of these dried squid. It is pre-sugared as I rather not do it myself as it causes a mess. On receipt "STG/KPG GULA 130G".

130 grams, for the record.

On opening the pack, it looked like an extremely small amount. As little or even less than one of those small RM 3 - 4 single serving packs. I buy these big packs to put in a tupperware sliced up for easy snacking for a couple of days.

Seeing as how it's a strangely small amount, I took out my digital scale and weighed it. The squid itself? 55 grams, less than half what the pack states.

Oh of course there is a sugar pack that weighs 50 grams. But what's the point of a sugar pack if it is bought pre-sugared from the factory?! If you have ever had this snack you will know that extra sugar will not adhere beyond whatever is already on. Total with sugar pack is 20 grams less than stated .. so you're essentially paying for the plastic tray and packaging along with the useless sugar pack.

Avoid this brand - Kisoto Prepared Cuttlefish (Sotong Keping).

I'm no miser but please follow up as advertised. As comparison let's take this can of corn, it's a staple in our pantry so I grabbed it to do a quick weigh-in. 

The can states clearly that the nett weight 424 grams while the total weight when weighed with the can is 500 grams. You get exactly what you're paying for with no false advertising.

Anyway I full well know that it's just dried squid so I'm probably making a big deal out of it all. Also my husband is going to make fun about the perils of eating all my favorite Asian (smelly & weird) food :D Although now at least I am going to avoid this brand at all costs.