A year of lip products #3

I have recently discovered that I own an obscene amount of lip products. In an effort to downsize without having a blog sale or burning all the makeup in my possession in a bonfire, I thought it would be a neat little idea to take inventory of my lipsticks, glosses and stains.

Pictures are taken in natural daylight with no color correction or manipulation.

Revlon Moon Drops Lipstick in Peach Silk

One of the brightest lipsticks that I own, this one is incredibly hydrating and my lips never felt dry when I have this on. It does, however have a very grandma kind of smell which I'm not really sure whether I like or dislike. The color is a very vibrant peach coral and although it's supposed to be a creme finish, I find it slightly glossier than I'd like. I'm not sure if other people have the same experience, but I found that it stains my lips if I don't remove it with a cleanser.

A year of lip products #2

I have recently discovered that I own an obscene amount of lip products. In an effort to downsize without having a blog sale or burning all the makeup in my possession in a bonfire, I thought it would be a neat little idea to take inventory of my lipsticks, glosses and stains.

Pictures are taken in natural daylight with no color correction or manipulation.

The Balm BalmShelter Tinted Lip Gloss SPF 17 in Valley Girl

My very first product from The Balm is...very disappointing. To be fair, this was sold as a tinted gloss so I shouldn't really expect anything more than a tint. The color looked perfectly safe for everyday wear and the added sun protection factor sounded promising. It comes in your standard spongy doe foot applicator that I honestly don't like at all because I get paranoid that it will harbor all sorts of nasty stuff in those little nooks and crannies. Not much product is picked up and it annoys the hell out of me to dip 3 more times to do my lips. From the tube itself, I gathered that there's some shimmer but what I didn't expect was that they were practically glitter when I swatched it. Thankfully, it doesn't translate to lips and I have to say (albeit grudgingly) that it left me with a nice soft shine. I didn't experience any stickiness that usually comes with glosses nor did I particularly feel that my lips were moisturized. If anything, I thought my lips felt drier after some time. I was also pretty disappointed that while it smelled pretty decent (some fruity indistinguishable scent), it had zero taste. Overall, this is so underwhelming and meh that I don't think I ever want to wear it again.

A year of lip products #1

I have recently discovered that I own an obscene amount of lip products. In an effort to downsize without having a blog sale or burning all the makeup in my possession in a bonfire, I thought it would be a neat little idea to take inventory of my lipsticks, glosses and stains.
Pictures are taken in natural daylight with no color correction or manipulation.

e.l.f Studio Matte Lip Color in Natural

As the name of the shade suggest, this is a very natural-looking color that beauty bloggers refer to as MYBB (my lips but better). It comes in a pen-like applicator that you can twist up just like a regular lipstick. The products itself glides on smooth and I like that it's skinny enough for me to line my lips before filling in the color. Although meant to be worn as a matte color as shown on the skin swatch, I prefer to layer a good lip balm under to minimize the appearance of fine lines and any possible dryness.

Buy it here.

No Buy Ban

Ever since I came to Japan about 8 months ago, I've mostly been a stay at home wife. I learned to cook, did housekeeping, familiarized my self with the neighborhood and mostly, enjoyed not having to wake up at insane hours for work and function on 40 hour days.

Unfortunately, the one thing that I didn't enjoy was not having an income. Before, I was making some decent money and ate out often (partly no time to cook, partly not really knowing how to cook). I could shop whenever I want and I didn't need to think twice when I saw something that I liked.

In the first few months of being here, I spent on the things that I couldn't bring along with me. I guess when you move to someplace new, you have to eventually build up your stash. 

I got bored of buying the needs, and I began making a mental list of wants. All of a sudden, cosmetic and skincare products became all kinds of interesting to me. I started watching Youtube videos. There was a day when I even devoted 3 hours of my time to researching "How to Make the Perfect Hair Bun" and tried it out on myself.

I have never been on such a vain roll in my life. Should you be someone who knew me in real life, you would know that I hardly wear makeup and I don't comb my hair. I may even be called a little boyish.

But here I am, all of 29 years old and learning beauty tricks from people far younger. I thought, hey, if I'm gonna be a stay at home wife, I wanna be an attractive one at that.

So I started buying.

It started with browsing at the ELF website. They had a great deal of stuff at dirt cheap prices. I saw the 100 color eyeshadow palette on sale so I bought it. The more I browsed, the more I bought.

In just 2 weeks, I bought about $100 worth of products from ELF. Now, they didn't ship to Japan, so I got myself a US address and had my stuff shipped there. I had then paid another $250 to have my stuff shipped to my apartment here.

And with that, I spent the first $350 from my Malaysian bank account. Of course, who would feel the pinch when you're not physically paying in cash, right?

I discovered the wonders that is Rakuten after the husband mentioned it. More buying ensued.

In 8 months, I had spent a lot of money on zero income. Sure, I use all of the stuff that I bought. But who could really finish using up a 100 color eyeshadow palette anyway? Why did I need that extra lipgloss when I always get hair stuck on my lips? And 5 foundations? Really?

My bank account balance was beginning to look like the way it had been in my early 20s. Miserable. I'm sure the husband would be really disappointed if he had known about my secret spending.

I needed to put a stop to my shopaholic ways.

Hence, the No Buy Ban.

The rules are simple:

1. I'm not going to buy anything that I don't absolutely need, like, say, another pressed powder to add to my collection of 8 others.
2. I can only replenish what I've used up (eg. shampoo, conditioner, face moisturizer etc.)
3. The ban will last for a minimum of 30 days starting November 9 2012.

I've been cutting down on waste in my life for what seems like forever, so I can't even begin to describe how ashamed I am right now to be surrounded by all the things that I had bought on impulse and possibly may not have a chance to use.

Let's see how this goes.

Introducing: My Suteki

It shouldn't be allowed, ever, but I'm going to do this anyway.

SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!

A good friend in Malaysia and I had recently started venturing into opening a little blog shop of our own. We thought that with her still being in Malaysia, and I, now living in Japan, we could probably send each other parcels now and then to make ourselves feel loved (I know, I know).

Japanese cosmetics and skincare had long been known for their quality and performance and I figured there was no better was to prove the myth by trying them out for myself. Truth be told, I haven't had the chance to try out many things yet as I had brought along with me approximately 6 months worth of skincare when I came here. And the sheer volume of products here is really just mind blowing.

I love going to drugstores to browse and do swatches. It really surprised me that drugstore cosmetics here are of reasonably good quality and at highly affordable prices. They tend to wear very well, too. Though the colors may not be as daring and bold as, say, American brands, I have to commend the Japanese on mastering the nudes.

Without further ado, I present to you, My Suteki.

The site is still a work in progress as I'm still constantly sourcing products that I honestly think are good and well worth the buck.

If you want something but don't see it in the store, why not shoot me an email and I can hunt it down for you. I have access to pretty much anything when it comes to Japanese skincare and cosmetics so I could most likely do a CP for you.

Do take a look and please shoq us some love!