Saturday 18 April 2015

NYX MERCI BEAUCOUP EYE SHADOW PALETTE




The other day, as usual I went for a buggy walk with Lear. Suddenly the NYX Cosmetics booth appeared in front of my very eyes.

Back in London, NYX isn't a brand that can get hold of easily. In Hong Kong, it's a different story. NYX and I always manage to bump into each other.

I couldn't resist this eye shadow palette. 9 colors for the price of HK $150, approx. £13; it's a bargain if you ask me.  

There are 12 palettes to choose from in this range but I chose Merci Beaucoupe.  I love the fact that this is a neutral earth tone shade palette (who doesn't love one of these), but I was particularly drawn to the coppery red shade (my recent favourite).

I must say though, when I swatched these, the colour pay off isn't that great compared to other eye shadows but there are some good colours in this palette, e.g. number 5.  On the pan it looks just like a boring kind of dark brown shade but when swatched, it has a slightly burgundy undertone.

I used it once soon after I bought it and I must say I'm impressed by the quality.  When applied on the eyelids using brushes, the colours transfer really well, it's pigmented and very easy to blend.  Shade no. 8 is always a great matte shade used as a highlighter!  Such a versatile, purse friendly and high quality eye shadow palette.

What eye shadow palette have you bought recently?






Thursday 16 April 2015

5 PAMPERING IDEAS WHEN YOUR BABY IS ASLEEP






You might be one of those moms whose babies sleep all day long, good for you if you are one of them!  It means that you have tons and tons of time to get on with your own life whilst baby is asleep.  However, the reality is that generally when most become a mom they don't get much time of their own anymore.  Any precious free time/ me time become so valuable that you just need to prioritise about what you need to do - housework, answering emails/ phone calls, and most importantly, pampering yourself.

My little one, Lear is 6 months old.  I feel very fortunate that he is a fairly good sleeper at night.  We do get those occasional odd nights when he would be awake then we struggle, but that's normal I suppose.  However, during the day he doesn't nap for too long so for me to fit in beauty pampering routine is always a matter of competition with times.

Here are 5 things I would do whilst Lear is asleep or whilst we are on the go during the day:

A thorough facial cleanse - This would be the first step you can opt for - have your face a quick deep cleanse.  I would strongly recommend using Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. I love this because not only it's so gentle on the skin, it's very hydrating and moisturising after cleansing.  The use of a flannel to wash off the product from your face is a great way to exfoliate your skin if you don't have the time to include this step in your skincare routine.

A face mask treatment - This is definitely on the top of my list what I would do after cleansing my face.  I would completely  run to the bath room and smear on a layer of detox mud mask to get those pores a deep cleanse.  It doesn't take that long anyway, 5 minutes is actually all you need.  Unless your little one suddenly wakes up in 5 minutes, he might be frightened by the look of yours and faded back to his dream!  If you have a further 5 minutes or so, do put on some kind of a paper mask to inject some hydration back to your skin.  The combination of detox and hydration makes a world of difference to brighten up your face.  Trust me!

On-the-go nail polish Sure if you know (as if you could predict babies' sleeps!) that you have a good half an hour or so whilst having face masks treatment, you could totally slap on some nail polishes.  However, if this is impossible, I suggest whilst you are buggy walking your babies, slap some nail polish on and let them dry!  I would strongly encourage you to use Seche Vite Top Coat - not only it gives you a gel nail finish, it dries your nail polish ever so quickly it really is amazing!

Nail moisturise When you are busy taking care of a baby, your hands must be constantly soaked in water because of all the washing you must be doing all the time.  I find that ever since Lear was born, my cuticles are dead dry and they are quite a scene to my eyes.  Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle Cream is fab product to give those much needed attention cuticles a bit of a reborn.

A quick facial spray If a challenging day is all you are having, your little one just isn't sleeping at all for no apparent reason.  Go and have a quick spray of La Roche Posay Thermal Spray Water would give you a quick pick-me-up!

All these have been trialled and tested between Lear and I.  There's just no reason you should neglect about what you need even you have a small baby!







Saturday 4 April 2015

HOLIDAY NAILS





Happy Easter holiday, wherever you are!

I often like to make an extra effort to wear a nice nail polish in the holiday seasons.  I mean, why not?  Any excuse to dress up or add those extra finishing touches to my outfits, I say welcome!

The weather is getting very warm here in Hong Kong, these days temperature gets up to 28c!  So, for me this is summer already (but lots of people say this isn't quite summer yet, the worst is yet to come!).

Anyway, I'm more drawn to some bright and statement colours recently.  As I don't (and I can't) wear any statement necklaces anymore, with a little one to take care of it is dangerous.  So I turn my thoughts to some bright nail colours to go with my normally plain outfits these days.

This bright neon pink is PERFECT for this occasion then.  I discovered this brand called Bisous (A Korean brand) from Sasa (equivalent to Sephora), and this neon pink colour totally stood out for me from the crowd amongst other nail colours.

I love that this is just the right shade of neon pink that it is bright enough to look flattering on my hands.  Although the applicator isn't the best one, the brush is slightly too thick for me liking so if you have little nails like me, it can be a bit messy when applying.  2 coats is pretty adequate to get an opaque finish, and it dries rather quickly, together with my beloved Seche Vite top coat.  If you want to try out this type of neon colour but is a little afraid of how bright it is on the nails, perhaps applying it on your toenails is a way to show your love to colours and the warm weather?

I'm definitely going back to check out to see what other colours they have got on offer, also I want to see if I can find other neon colours, too.

Happy holiday season and happy applying nail polishes!