Christmas with the girls & false eyelashes clip tutorial

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! I went out for dinner at Munch in TST with A and G, then checked out G's new pad where we had a German riesling paired with crackers spread with chili crab dip, spring onion dip, camembert cheese and salmon pate. AND blueberry cheesecake... all while watching Borat and this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. It was fun and filling. :P

I didn't have time to do much makeup because I was in a mad rush.

Blurry phone pic cuz we started rushing for the elevator

Eiffel tower for A!

I want more presents! Gimme gimme moreSee? I was nice...not at all NAUGHTY

FOTD
Face
Cover FX Mineral FX SPF 15 foundation
Shiseido Inoui the Enhancer concealer
Baby Pink cheeks jelly in furaku pink (I think that's what the color is - it's in Japanese)
Cover Girl cheekers blush in illuminous blush
Coty Airspun loose face powder in luminous translucent

Eyes
Prestige browliner in Earth Brown
Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Navajo
Rimmel extreme definition two tone eye definer in fashion icon (I only used the black side)
L'oreal le kohl eyeliner in platinum
Majolica Majorca curl, curl, curl toward the sky eyelash primer
Estee Lauder Illusionist mascara
Darkness falsies

Lips
Calvin Klein lipstick in berrywood
MAC tendertone in pucker

False eyelash clip tutorial
I used to put on my falsies with my hands and use the end of a tweezer to push them into place, but since I've been more aware of beauty knick knacks lately, I decided to pick one up.

Tuke-matuge clip

Directions:
1) Squeeze eyelash glue into the cracks (the shiny part is the glue I didn't peel off from the previous use)

2) Center the falsies in the cracks and wait for the glue to become tacky (30 sec - 1 min)3) Clip the falsies close to the base -
4) Place as close to your lashline as possible and hold about 10 seconds.
Pros

• Easy to control the amount of glue (just fill the cracks)
• Adjusts the falsies closer to your lashline, and good when the falsies have lost some of their shape
  
• Less messy when readjusting (glue doesn't go everywhere)

Cons

• May still need minor readjustment
• Have to peel off the glue from the cracks and clip (well, I do it every time)
• Costs HKD26 lol

Bottom line
It's definitely more foolproof for falsie newbies and those cursed with shaky hands, plus I hated how glue went everywhere when I readjusted the falsies too much when I used to do it freehand. Thumbs up!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you have a Merry Christmas with lots of good food and drink! The past week I've been sick so I watched a ton of Christmas movies - and I'll try to watch a few more before the year is out. Here's a list of new and old classics I've seen this year:

1) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - the ultimate classic and a must-see
2) Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Edmund Gwenn is the most convincing Santa ever
3) Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - sweet and hilarious, this is going on my list of favorite movies
4) The Shop Around the Corner (1940) - the original of "You've Got Mail"; this is the only one where I would prefer the remake, but still worth watching
5) The Bishop's Wife (1947) - the original of "The Preacher's Wife", it was nothing super exciting
6) Babes in Toyland (1934) - cute and with lovely songs, but I want to watch the remakes as the plots are different for each one
7) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) - I kinda fell asleep watching this one
8) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) - short animated TV classic, I want to see the year 2000 remake
9) Frosty the Snowman (1969) - another animated classic which is good for kids
10) Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) - It's narrated by Fred Astaire, whom I love, but I didn't like this movie...I wouldn't choose to watch this again on my own
11) Elf (2003) - I surprisingly liked this one!
12) Barbie in a Christmas Carol (2008) - I ♥ Barbie! And unlike their other movies, they don't sing in this one! (I must be the only one that finds those songs annoying and distracting from the plot)
13) A Garfield Christmas Special (1987) - I love the cast's voices in this funny animated show
14) A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) - My all-time favorite Christmas movie, and I love the soundtrack.
15) A Christmas Story (1983) - Another must-see for the holidays, Ralphie is a cutie!
16) This Christmas (2007) - Not bad and good if you like Chris Brown

Before the year is out, I will watch:
1) Bad Santa (2003)
2) The Ref (1994)
3) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
4) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
5) Trapped in Paradise (1994)

Other Christmas movies I've seen in the past that I can remember off the top of my head:
1) Home Alone (1990)
2) The Santa Clause (1994)
3) Scrooge (1951)
4) Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
5) Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001)
6) Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (1964)

So if you don't have anywhere to go, these movies should keep you busy! I'm sure there's more which I can't remember at the moment. All I need is some hot dark chocolate...too bad I just finished my Thomas Haas Dark Chocolate mix last week.

Chicken soup for the skin

Everyone knows that having good skin is the base for everything that you put on top of it. This backdrop is more important than wearing any high-end makeup products. Most of it is obviously due to our genetic disposition, but there are certain things which really make a huge difference, most of which you've heard reiterated many times over from many different sources:

1) Sleep - What I've learned is not merely the hours of sleep, but the timing. My mom has drilled it into my head that our body detoxes from 11 pm - 1 am, and that's why you should be sleeping during that time to maximize the beauty benefits. (She studies the human body, skincare, beauty, etc.) I used to brush it off as my mom nagging me, but I've found that even if I sleep for six hours or less, if I sleep early, I wake up with clearer, softer skin with a glow. Plus my under-eye circles are definitely less severe.2) Keeping your head elevated - I think many people overlook the importance of a good pillow. When you sleep on a mushy pillow without enough support, it's much easier for your face to retain water and you will be more likely to wake up with puffy eyelids or a bloated face, neither of which makes you feel like looking in the mirror first thing in the morning. Get a semi-solid pillow (or several) that will keep your head up! Quick fix: I sometimes stack one or two thick towels under my pillow, but make sure you're getting enough support for your neck.

3) Drinking water - Enough said, I don't need to say much about it. When I had my clearest skin, I was drinking about 11-14 glasses of water a day (not because I like water, but it was the only way to stay warm :( ). However, I wouldn't say it makes as big of a difference as 1) and 2).

4) Moisturize - I had pretty bad acne during high school and still get a few pimples here and there now. Back then, I always thought I shouldn't use heavy moisturizers to clog up my pores and make things worse. However, my favorite moisturizer became Clinique's Dramatically Different Lotion. It soon became my HG at the time because my skin would clear up when I used it alone and healed my most flaky, stubborn spots. I can totally see why it was so popular. I've come to realize that I actually have more dry skin than combo (which I had previously thought), and that as long as I keep my skin thoroughly moisturized, it really helps keep pimples at bay. I haven't used Clinique for many years not because I don't like it, but because I'm a product slut - however, Eucerin's Aquaphor is great for eczema and pesky flakes and is popular among celebrities and makeup artists alike.

5) The Pill - I know it's always better to be natural and avoid eating medicines of any sort, but sometimes, you can follow every other beauty tip to a T and still have bad skin. It can be very discouraging, and there were days I wouldn't want to go out because of a bad breakout. Instead of going for Accutane, I tried Diane-35 - and WOW, honestly if I could say there was only one thing that has never failed to clear up my skin despite working 100-hour workweeks and being stressed out of my tree at school, this is it. I have recommended it to many of my gf's and I keep a stash of these for when things start to get out of control - effects show up after the first month and last for several months even after I stop. Talk to your physician before taking any form of medication.

Prices: Cdn $2x / pack from pharmacies (such as Shopper's Drug Mart or Save on Foods), HKD 100 / pack (I get mine from a pharmacy near HMV in Tsim Sha Tsui), ~HKD 50 from pharmacies in Thailand (I stock up whenever someone goes to Thailand - the Thai version is shown above)

Don't forget (I get lazy sometimes)...

BB Cream Overview

Before I went to Korea in early November, I stumbled upon BB creams in my research of stuff to buy. Apparently I'm late on joining the craze for these Blemish Balm creams which claim to do more than just cover imperfections compared to regular foundations or tinted moisturizers - extra ingredients are included to fight acne, whiten, tighten, provide sunscreen, diminish wrinkles... and the list goes on. However, they're mostly for fair or light skin tones as most brands only come in one shade. From what I've read online and discussion with other ladies, the most famous brands are:

1) BRTC - This is the brand that sparked the BB cream phenomenon when Korean celebrities started using it. Surprisingly, I couldn't find this line at drugstores while I was in Korea, although they do have an English website: http://www.skinami.co.kr/en_site/brtc_main_perline.aspHowever, I LOVE hunting down products in drugstores and I struck the jackpot when I was in Singapore! Watson's and Guardian (the sign looks EXACTLY like the Mannings sign in Hong Kong) each carried different BRTC products and had accompanying brochures.

Most popular products: Perfect recover, Perfect protect, Whitening & wrinkle repair

Prices:
SGD 49 for Whitening & wrinkle repair, Jasmine water (new), Glossy, Glossy shining
SGD 55 for Gold caviar
SGD 59 for Protect multiplex balm (new - contains almost everything you could want in a BB cream)

2) Dr. Jart - This is more popular than BRTC probably partly to its greater availability as they sell it at Watson's in Korea. Lo and behold, I found this in a shop 2 days after returning to Hong Kong from Korea! I don't remember the name of the shop, but it was at Tsuen Wan's Citywalk shopping centre. So any HKers, you can check it out and the price was about the same as in Korea - yippee! You can also check out: http://www.lunabeauty.comMost popular products: Repairing blemish base SPF35 whitening (silver label) - oily/combo skin, Detox healing blemish base SPF25 whitening & anti-wrinkle (black label) - dry skin

Prices:
KRW 29,400
HKD 236 (it was on sale when I saw it at Citywalk)

3) Hanskin - This is widely available as there were Hanskin stores pretty much everywhere in Korea (there are two in Myeong Dong alone). I think it was selling at Watson's as well.
Most popular products: Super magic SPF30 (premium)

Prices: I think there were two sizes, 30/50ml. I don't remember the exact prices, but at Watson's, you got a free gift from the same line for around the same price as if you bought it at the store. IIRC, it was around KRW32,000...

4) Skinfood - This brand is widely available at standalone stores in HK, Korea and Singapore. I've read pretty good reviews on this brand, and the price is reasonable if you want to try BB creams before splurging on other brands. Compared to other BB creams which have one universal shade, they come in 2 shades.
Most popular products: Gingko, Aloe Sun SPF20, Mushroom

Prices: Around KRW12,900 (Mushroom was a few thousand Won more than Gingko/Aloe). I didn't check the price of these in HK.

I will do a more in-depth review of Dr Jart black label and BRTC gold caviar BB creams later. (I haven't opened the Whitening & wrinkle repair or Protect multiplex balm yet.) Hope this info was helpful!