An attempt at recreating Charlotte Tilbury's The Rebel

I've always loved jewel-toned smoky eyes; they've always been my go-to makeup look for an evening out with my friends. So when I saw Charlotte Tilbury's makeup challenge, I knew instantly which look I was going to recreate - it had to be The Rebel!

The Rebel just so happens to include one of the most flattering techniques for my eye shape and colour - horizontal elongation.

I have small, almond-shaped eyes with little lid space underneath my eyebrow, and for that reason I prefer to extend my eyeshadow horizontally instead of vertically. Those familiar with my FOTDs will see that the horizontal elongation is the basis of all my dramatic eye looks; I just change up the eyeshadow colours/placements/textures to suit my mood.

Here is my take on 'The Rebel':

Here's a better close-up of the eye. You can see that I've extended the liner into the inner corners for added emphasis:

For the actual eyeshadow, I used a mixture of singles including Nars Single Eyeshadow in Night Porter, Catrice Absolute Eye Colour Mono in Don't Touch My Mosserati! and the charcoal black shade from Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in OR302 Fire. Yes, Fire has not yet been purged - the black is way too useful for me to get rid of at the moment. 

You'll also note that I can't look rebellious to save my life. I tried looking intensely for the photos but just ended up looked angry. So here are my usual smiley faces for you: 

I actually tried this out months ago but only just got to uploading it, oops. Thanks for reading! :)

A quick swatch: Guerlain KissKiss Fall 2014

Guerlain has released some gorgeous new shades of their KissKiss Fall 2014 lipstick range, and they're so pretty I had to share my swatch pictures.

Left column, top to bottom:

• Sexy Coral 344 
• Excessive Rose 361 
• Rouge Kiss 325
• Red Passion 321

Swatched against:

• Liu (Rouge Automatique) - last one in first column
• Girly (Rouge G) - the pinky coral on the right

First thoughts: OMG how gorgeous is Red Passion?! I am testing this one out right now.

The lipstick does not last well through an oily chicken wrap, but it feels smooth and comfortable on the lips. They don't seem as creamy as the Rouge Gs, however they feel quite weightless for such a pigmented lipstick. 

I will refrain from commenting further until I eventually cave and buy one.  They're currently available exclusively from Debenhams, and there's a GWP where you get a mini KissKiss lipstick in 325 Rouge Kiss if you buy any two Guerlain items. I am so tempted!

Edit: There are rumours that this new KissKiss Fall range is meant to slowly replace the existing Rouge Automatiques, but let's hope not! Either way, thankfully my long-standing interest in Rouge Automatique Liu 122 has waned. Next to the glossy, cool depth of Red Passion, Liu looks much more warm and corally. 

My anti-acne skincare & makeup routine pictorial

For the past couple of months, I've been blessed with good skin. You know how some people are blessed with it, period? Well, I am happy to be temporarily blessed - such is the frequency of my breakouts. So when my recent period of good skin ended with a volcanic bang, I decided to show you exactly what I do in terms of skincare and makeup. Hopefully this will be helpful, if not interesting. 

Below is the offending acne spot. It's huge. The full diameter of the spot actually extends past the red circle, so it's about the width of my pupil o.O. And it's one of those firm, hard cystic ones, I think. My front-facing phone camera is not that great, so the skin looks a bit more evened out than usual. But trust me, it's baaad. 

No makeup, taken with slightly blurry front-facing camera

Step 1: Damage control & treatment

What you can't see in this photo is that there were actually two spots. Before I went to bed, I applied tea tree oil to both monstrocities, and one of them thankfully had died down by morning. Woohoo! 

Applying other topical solutions including BP, AHAs and BHAs would undoubtedly help, especially overnight. I had none of these to hand, so instead I applied copious amounts of tea tree oil to my spot. As with all products, do be careful and try a patch test in case of sensitivities. 

Step 2: Textural improvement (prepping for makeup)  

Textural improvement can encompass many things. I have normal-oily skin and the skin around my pimples can tend to be a little dry, which is why I like to exfoliate. If your skin is dry but not flaky, the only textural improvement/prepping you'll need is a good moisturiser. 

I exfoliate for two reasons - for one it improves my skin texture, thereby making me look more even-toned and glowy. It also helps to create a smooth canvas (especially on and around the pimple) so that concealer will go on smoothly.

The product I am using here is Kose's Seikisho Perfect Clear Gel, though you can use anything. In the past I've also enjoyed using Asian drugstore Watsons' Collagen exfoliating gel, which is cheap and effective without being abrasive. 

A closer look reveals tiny non-abrasive particles which you can't feel at all on the skin. 

After 30 seconds or so, the scrub forms a dry film on the face. Upon gentle rubbing, the film comes off, taking dead skin cells with it.

attractive

All smooth and primed for concealer! 

Step 3: Conceal

This is actually a bunch of mini steps. Concealing can be the most time consuming part of makeup, especially if you want it to look flawless. I don't bother trying to look flawless anymore because it's tiresome, and because I've learnt to make peace with my acne. 

Here are some application tricks which have always worked for me: 

• Pat concealer on with fingers 
• Use a cross-hatch application to minimise fingerprint concealer marks (a damp Beauty Blender / dense sponge often works better than fingers in this case)
• Apply concealer both around and on top of the pimple
• Blend liberally around the pimple to blend the concealed area into the rest of the skin

KEY: Do not disturb the makeup on the pimple itself. Just make sure it's covered, and don't be tempted to go in to blend out (you'll most likely blend away the coverage). It'll look more harmonious once you blend the concealer around the pimple anyway. 

Here I am dabbing copious amounts of Shu Uemura Nobara Stick Foundation over *and* around my pimple

Step 4: Give up

No, seriously. You've tried your best, but a pimple is still a pimple in all its red, three-dimensional glory. Settle for a decent coverage, because there's a wafer-thin line between concealed and cake-y.

Step 5: Set the concealer with powder

This step is just to fix and prolong the wear of the concealer. 

By this, I mean lightly pat powder on top of the concealer, making sure not to disturb or move the product around. I like to use a powder puff for this, because the flat surface area means that any pressure is evenly distributed and won't move the concealer. 

T-zone and spot both powdered with Guerlain pressed powder 

Step 6: Finish the rest of your makeup! 

Onto the fun part. :D

My makeup aesthetic during breakouts is as follows:

• Minimising flaws is good enough
• Accentuate good points, and THERE ARE GOOD POINTS. Watching Lisa Eldridge's acne tutorial fundamentally changed the way I viewed makeup and acne; she taught me to appreciate aspects of myself which I overlooked, and also taught me that acne never looks as bad to others as it seems to ourselves. 
• Draw the eye away from the flaws. I avoided strong blusher in this instance because my pimple is right on my cheeks. ^^
• Don't confound makeup with concealing. Have fun with makeup! Having acne doesn't stop you from having fun and playing around with colour.  It also helps you not to feel defeated if the concealer doesn't really work out, or if it just doesn't look as good as you hoped. Makeup should still be fun, and just because you have acne doesn't mean you can't enjoy it for its creative aspects. :)
• Choose the right colours and textures. If the spot is very red-toned, I'd refrain from blushes that have an obvious red undertone. 
• Don't disturb the skin on/around the pimple. I'd keep colour and product away from the concealed pimple as much as possible. 

Below is how I chose to do my face today - simple, natural but not entirely flawless. It still lets my natural and perfected skin texture and luminosity show through. Since the makeup is not particularly different, I haven't listed all the products but do let me know if you're curious about anything in particular! 

Both pictures taken in daylight, this one is a better depiction of my skintone

Makeup worth mentioning: 

• MAC F&B samples (probably N2 and C2) to even skintone 
• Shu Nobara Foundation Stick 564 as pimple concealer 
• Guerlain Meteorites and Guerlain pressed powder
• SUQQU Sumiredama on the eyes 
• Kanebo CHICCA Lipstick in 65 on the lips

Below is a side-by-side comparison of the pimply side, albeit in slightly different lighting. Make no mistake, the pimple is still there, and anyone who looks closely can see that the area stands out. You can click on the images to enlarge them at your own risk. :P

It does however minimise the appearance of the angry red pimple, and that's all I can hope for when I am faced with acne this prominent. 

before

after

Alright, I think that's it. The other thing that I try to do when I can is to use a Nexcare acne patch. You can probably find reviews and tutorials on the blogosphere for these, they're awesome. I currently don't have any, but next time I do I'll share it here. They basically drain away all the white pus from the pimples. Best to apply on clean, dry whiteheads and let it work overnight. Note - this will not work for cystic pimples. 

I hope you found this helpful. It's nothing ground-breaking, and I stand to improve a lot of my existing techniques. What are your favourite acne-fighting products? 

Celebrating my birthday at the Royal Opera House

It was my birthday earlier this week! *throws confetti* I had a lovely day which involved lots of presents, food, and a trip to the opera.

Here's a card that I received from my family. Aren't the colours (and the makeup) gorgeous?

Speaking of make-up, I received this lovely set of MAC crushed pigments. It is well known in my family that I love makeup, haha. When I first saw it, I actually thought it was a Ted Baker item. The champagne silver and metallic emerald in particular look like they'll be very well-loved indeed. I'll make sure to try these out sometime and report back!

MAC Guilty Passions / 4 Brilliantly Cool Crushed Metallic Pigments

We ended up going to the opera to watch Puccini's La Bohème. I've only been to the opera once before, and that was to watch Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Hungarian State Opera. It was then that I fell in love with opera and I've been itching to go again ever since. So what better time than on my birthday to coerce my loved ones to watch with me? :)

For the evening, I wore one of the dresses I received as a present. Here's the makeup that I chose to wear with my lace dress:

As I was getting ready, a genius idea came to mind - apply the lipstick after putting on the dress. So here is my FOTN pre-Dragon just for comparison's sake:

I actually really like how this looks without lipstick. For those who are familiar with my makeup preferences, you'll see that it could easily pass as one of my everyday FOTDs.

Products used:

• Shu Uemura Nobara Stick Foundation 564 for areas needing higher coverage, MAC F&B (mix of random sample shades) everywhere else
• Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch - 3
• Guerlain Meteorites - 02 Teint Rose (duty free duo)
• Chanel Joues Contraste - Espiegle
• Chanel Rouge Allure Lacque - 75 Dragon
• SUQQU Blend Color Eyeshadow - 01 Kakitsubata 
• KATE Super Sharp Eyeliner - BK-1
• SUQQU Eyebrow Liquid Pen R in 01 Moss Green
• Natural Collection Lash Care clear mascara on lashes and brows

Yes, that's right! I have actually been doing stuff to my brows. One of my eyebrows is much more sparse and has a pronounced arch, the hairs are unruly and never sit nicely like they do on the other eyebrow. I've never bothered to do anything about them before, well, because I'm lazy and eye makeup is much more gratifying. I guess it's because I experiment with my eye makeup much more and it feels like a creative exploration, whereas eyebrows tend to be a fixed style and the emphasis is on 'perfecting'/'taming' - grooming, basically.  

But in the quest for perfection, and partly out of sheer curiosity, I decided to ask the SUQQU ladies to work their magic on my brows. This trip to the cosmetic counter increased my brow routine products threefold. Basically, I now own three brow products! \o/ That's clear mascara, eyebrow liquid pen and a spoolie. Four, if you count my mini eyebrow razor.

Dodgy brow on your right (my left), filled in with the SUQQU brow pen and set with clear mascara. The moss green liquid pen fills in the tiny gaps in my brows and makes them look more defined. Woohoo! Apologies, the entire right side of my photo is dark due to my position in front of the light. In real life this looks a lot more even, I promise.

Alright, if you've made it this far, I'm impressed! Here are some bonus photos of the opera house. :)

There is no greater demonstration of affection than agreeing to queue for opera tickets with me in the early hours.
My family are the best. 

A beautiful view upstairs in the Royal Opera House

a surround shot view from my seat

Thank you for reading!

Experimenting with Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio - Opera GD804

I've been wanting to purge this eyeshadow trio in the longest time because the colours do not flatter me as much as my other eyeshadows. When I first bought this eyeshadow palette, I applied the colours liberally all over my eyelid and turned to my mum to show her how it looked. I'll never forget her slightly awkward and frozen expression as she looked back at my muddy eyeshadow application. 

Well, for sentimental reasons, I haven't been able to get rid of it. I used to work near the Paris Garnier opera house that inspired the colours in this palette, and owning this palette reminds me of the period of time when I lived in Paris. 

credit: blog.parisattitude.com

Aren't the colours just perfect? Ok, let's see how they translate onto my skin. This was taken in overcast lighting, hence the darkness of my arm: 

I have the most trouble with the blue and olive shades. Experience informs me that clear colours are most easy to wear on my skin, and that pastels also do not work well on me. 

As with all Shiseido eyeshadows, they are pigmented but not opaque, so the colour of the eyeshadow will change when applied on the eyelids. This is part of the problem, as the powdery sky blue can make my neutral-warm, olive skin look a bit washed out when applied too liberally. 

This is the look I decided to go for in the end: 

Laneige Snow BB, MGPIN cream highlighter, Guerlain Meteorites Teint Rose and Lanolips lip ointment in Sunshine

Main points from this look: 

• Following a rounded (or 'tulip') eyeshadow placement, I contoured my eyes with the olive shade and avoided applying it to the centre of the eyes. My inner corners do not naturally have very prominent contouring, so instead I focused more of the dark shadow on the outer corners and the crease. 
• I used some of the gold shade to lightly pat over the centre of the lid and added a concentrated dab in the inner corners. 
• The light blue was added all across the lower lashline for a brightening effect. I really like how this part turned out! 

Here are some creepy eye close-ups for you:

There was also a failed attempt at layering - I initially applied a layer of Chanel Stylo Eyeshadow in 47 Blue bay on my mobile lid and layered the blue shade over the top. This turned out to be pointless because the layering couldn't be seen at all. The blue eyeshadow grabbed onto Blue bay a little too well. Also, Blue bay did not blend out quickly enough, so its placement was just restricted to my mobile lid. If you squint hard enough, you may be able to see a hint of blue on the mobile lid in the photos, but it's really not very noticeable. 

The eyeshadows look surprisingly neutral on my eyes, and I adore the powdery blue shade too much to let the palette go. But I'm still not entirely convinced that I should keep this. Perhaps the placement is a little too low. Hmmm. What do you think? :)

Jungsaemmool inspired eyeliner

I'm sure many of you have heard of the Korean celebrity makeup artist, Jungsaemmool. Her technique is wonderfully delicate and nuanced, and she is especially gentle on the skin - think the direct opposite of Mary Greenwell. :) 

Her technique reflects the epitome of current Asian makeup aesthetics, and I appreciate how she can create completely different moods in makeup without reverting to obvious tricks such as bold lipstick colours or strong contouring. I also love her mastery of eyeliner. 

The photo below is actually not the finished look from her tutorial, but I simply had to screenshot the video at this point. Today, I was inspired by the screenshot below (meaning I tried to imitate it and it went wrong, so now my look is loosely inspired by it).

Here is my attempt: 

Apologies for the foundation mismatch :D

Where JSM used a gel eyeliner and square eyeliner brush, I used a scraggly KATE liquid liner and a small oblong sable eyeshadow brush. 

After endless amounts of targeted application, blending (where blending actually resulted in accidentally removing flakes of eyeliner), and re-application, this was the final look:

The right side technically has a gap between the upper and lower lashline, but a flake of eyeliner got in the way! Boo. 

Though JSM leaves an intentional gap between the upper and lower lashline, the gap is still softly shadowed. To imitate this, I tried to blend out the eyeliner and also used the black shade from Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color in OR302 Fire.

I tried to keep the centre of the upper and lower lashline light - only smudging existing eyeliner to faintly connect the darker edges, and drawing small triangles at the upper and lower outer lashlines. 

It was interesting to note that the dark eyeliner triangles end before the lashline, creating a more lifted and angular look. I only managed this on one eye, haha. 

To add dimension and luminosity to the eye, I added the peach shimmery shade from SUQQU Konruri to the lower lashline and the inner half of the upper lid.

SUQQU Konruri peach eyeshadow on the lid

Some tips that worked for me: 

1. The natural oils on my eyelids provided a great emollient base to take away any eyeliner mistakes during application. By the same logic, I didn't apply any eyeshadow on the lids until after I finished the liner.
2. I have what people call 'inner corner hooded lids', where my inner corner is much more hooded than the outer corner. It eats up lots of eyeliner, so don't underestimate the amount of inner corner lining that's required.

I hope you liked this recreation! In hindsight, I probably should've used gel eyeliner and applied mascara. Regardless I really like the way this turned out and I'll definitely try variations of it in future.

Here are some of my other favourite tutorials from Jungsaemmool:

Metallic navy smokey eyes

Actress interview makeup

Pearl brightening makeup

Thanks for reading! :) 

美容护肤

Taupey fun: layering Shu Uemura ME856 with KATE Metallic Jewelry Eyes BK-1

Given my recent appreciation of taupes, as well as my current obsession for layering eyeshadows, it won't come as a surprise to you that today I decided to indulge in some taupey layering. 

In my last post, I had mentioned that I was intending to purge my Shu ME856 because it creases on me. Today I decided to give it another go, and as an afterthought, I patted some of this beautiful KATE Metallic Jewelry Eyes in BK-1 over the top. I was somehow hoping that the additional eyeshadow would somehow prevent creasing? Hmm, I shall have to report back. 

Shu Uemura ME856 // KATE Metallic Jewelry Eyes BK-1

The KATE looks surprisingly similar to Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre in this photo, however in reality the two are quite dissimilar. If it weren't for my Mirifique drying out on me, I would have included a comparison photo here. 

Anyway, the KATE doesn't have too strong a colour pigment; its monochromatic, metallic glitters set in a sheer grey base. There are no special flashes of colour, just buildable levels of shine. 

Below are swatches of how the shadows look separately and layered together. I actually used a very light touch to pick up the KATE eyeshadow. It has a cool, wet-but-dry touch to the fingers - sounds strange, but this is the best way I can describe it. 

ME856 has a warm metallic satin sheen on my skin, and when paired together with the cool tones of the KATE, it creates a beautiful neutral shimmer. I love how this turned out! Neither of the shades look that special on their own, but layering the two makes both of them shine (pun not intended but intentionally not edited :P). 

L-R: Shu ME856 // KATE Metallic Jewelry Eyes BK1 // KATE layered over Shu

I'll include a quick FOTD using the eyeshadows today. I am wearing KATE Art Dial mascara and Chanel Espiegle as blush, over Shu Nobara stick foundation in 564 and Guerlain Meteorites Teint Rose.

See why I included swatches? This photo could not do the eyeshadows justice :)

Thanks for reading! I have a feeling the next few looks I create will still involve lots of taupey layering. I am thinking of layering some with the pink and blue shades from SUQQU Mizuaoi. We shall see!

My taupe collection

While I love bright colours (as evidenced by the new banner photo above ^^ and my previous post), there is always a place in my heart for shimmery taupes. Over the past few years, I've unwittingly built up a small collection of taupes, so this comparison is equally for my benefit as it is for yours!

I forgot to include a picture of Shu Uemura ME856, though I did swatch it later; in truth I don't like it that much anymore. It is pretty, but texturally it does not flatter my eyelids and it also creases much more easily than my other eyeshadows.

Here is my (current) taupe family:

clockwise from top left: Shiseido Alchemy RD709 // SUQQU Konruri // SUQQU Himesango // KATE Deep Trap Eyes BR-1 // Dior Incognito // KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1 // SUQQU Sumiredama

The first two shadows on the left are the taupes from SUQQU Himesango and Konruri respectively. Texturally, they are very similar, however the Himesango taupe is a touch cooler than the one in Konruri, which looks positively bronze on my skin. Also is it just me, or does Himesango also look more red than Konruri? 

I dunno whether it's worth prematurely concluding that one of the two must necessarily be more flattering on my eyes. Both have their roles to play in my stash. :D

Much to my surprise, the Shiseido swatches rose gold on my skin. That explains why it often makes me look a bit swollen and bruisey when I use it as a 'wash' over the eyes. :) I was also taken aback by how soft and shimmery the Sumiredama taupe (furthest right) looks. I normally use it layered with the rest of the Sumiredama eyeshadows, but after seeing how it swatches, I am definitely going to wear it on its own sometime.

L-R: SUQQU Himesango taupe // SUQQU Konruri taupe // Shiseido RD709 // SUQQU Sumiredama taupe

In this next set, the one furthest to the left is Dior Incognito. I don't know if the pictures can adequately showcase the beautiful texture of this eyeshadow; it truly feels buttery to apply and blend. Lisa Eldridge once mentioned that she had had the Dior quint eyeshadows tested in a laboratory and that these shadows owe their texture to how well they stay in their 'fatty lipid' form. Once swatched, this shade is more of a grey on my skin. For a truer taupe, I like to blend it with the bronze-brown in the same Incognito palette. 

The three shades on the right are all from the now discontinued quint, KATE Deep Trap Eyes in BR1 (minus the highlight and liner colours). Upon closer inspection, none of these read as taupe on my skin, save for perhaps the darkest one, which is a cool brown with a flash of grey. The lid colour leans red again (meh), while the glittery highlight shade has a beautiful icy greyish-mauve tone. They did look more taupe in the pan, right?!

L-R: grey-taupe from Dior Incognito // three shades from KATE Deep Trap eyes (crease, lid and glitter shades)

Finally, I swatched Shu Uemura ME856 against the two taupes from the KATE trio in BU1.

ME856 (left) really does not appeal to me anymore; in terms of colour/texture/complexity, I find it rather bland. Its metallic sheen is not so flattering on my eyelids when used as a wash, plus it is ever so slightly red-toned, so I will have to purge it. My colouring makes it trickier to wear red, murky tones, and I prefer to avoid them where possible and stick to clear/neutral colours.

L-R: Shu ME856 (added as an afterthought) // darkest shade from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1 // lightest shade from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1

The two on the right are from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes trio in BU-1. These, along with KATE Deep Trap Eyes, are some of my favourite Asian drugstore eyeshadows. They are also sadly discontinued, though I think they're still available online in some places. 

The lightest shade (right) appears clearer (and less red - yay!) than all the other taupes in my collection, and for that reason I love it. It reminds me a little of Chanel Moon River, though it's much less shimmery. When I use all three shades in Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1, it gives me the epitome of neutral, subtly sparkly OL makeup. 

So, conclusions? 

My favourite shades are probably the SUQQU Sumiredama, Dior Incognito and the lightest from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1. These are all clear and neutral enough for me to wear all over the lid without a problem. The others would need a more restricted placement, and while it's definitely not a bad thing, it does make them a bit more finicky to work with. The comparatively less complex KATE Deep Trap Eye taupes are not standouts on their own, but I like them when layered together, especially with the glitter shade over the centre of the lid. 

What do you think, could I do better, in terms of texture/colour/anything else? Am I crazy for purging Shu ME856? :D

Holiday makeup: swatches, FOTDs and Austria pictures

Hi everyone! I've just come back from a week-long trip to Austria with my family. We spent two days in Vienna, then two days in Salzburg (where we also went across the German border into Bavaria), finally returning to spend our last four days in Vienna. It was glorious. We ate lots of 'wiener wursts' (snicker), I tried local beer and actually liked it, and my rusty German didn't get us lost even once during our trip. I consider that a win!

I didn't actually haul anything makeup-related, but I thought I'd share some photos of what I brought and wore on my trip.

my holiday makeup :)

I had such a great time in Austria. I'll share a couple of photos here, more at the end of the post. 

Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna

Leopoldskron Palace, Salzburg, where the boating scene from The Sound of Music was filmed

In my opinion, one of the most exciting parts of going on holiday is actually packing for it. Want to know my shameful secret? First and foremost, I strategise and agonise over what makeup to pack. Once that's done, the rest of the packing takes no time at all. My boyfriend once asked me if I had packed for a trip, and I replied sheepishly/optimistically, "Erm, I packed my makeup...?"

In the past month or two, I've managed to step out from my comfort zone of cool-to-warm pink blush tones into achingly bright and subtle shimmery shades. \o/ Just looking at this picture makes me happy.

L-R: SUQQU Gradation Cheeks EX-02 Mizumomo, Chanel Le Blush Crème de Chanel in Chamade, Chanel Joues Contraste in Espiègle

L-R: Chanel Chamade swatched, blended out // SUQQU Mizumomo separately, layered // Chanel Espiègle

For eye makeup, I wanted to strike a balance between simplicity, complexity and ease of application. Why? Because I is lazy, but want to play with colour at the same time. :D

I chose the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze as a base, because it imparts the perfect MLBB tone on my lids. The metallic sheen is flattering on my eyelids and it blends wonderfully with fingers.

To make room for creative eyeshadow combinations, I brought all three of my Shu Uemura glitter topcoats with me for layering on top of the Maybelline. Shu ME 575 (right) was only included because I didn't want the palette to look empty, but it actually ended up being pretty useful and worked as a nice accent on the lower lashline.

G White Rainbow // G Blue 646 // G Orange 251 // ME 575

Here are some better photos of the glitter eyeshadows on their own. More (and much better) swatches can be found on Kate the Enabler's blog here:

Shu Uemura glitter topcoats layered over Maybelline Bad to the Bronze:

During my trip, I found myself only layering G Orange 251 or G White Rainbow over the Maybelline. The others looked a tad murky, so instead I used the blue one over copious amounts of G White Rainbow. The murkiness of the ME 575 layered over BTTB worked perfectly when used to add depth in my outer 'v' since it still provided interest but didn't add any unnecessary shimmer. 

Okay, now time for lipsticks! 

L-R: Missha Signature Glam Art Rouge in SPK102, Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense in Pirate, Dior Fluid Sticks in 551 Aventure

I am so sorry that these are not in the right order! >.<

As you can see, they are all very different in terms of texture, colour and pigmentation. The Missha is the least pigmented, and has more of a balmy texture with medium-low buildable pigmentation. Chanel Pirate is much more intense with a single swipe, and has a satiny finish which looks luminous and glowy on my lips, especially when first applied. It does dry down into a matte finish after a couple of hours. Aventure is the warmest lipstick in my collection. I love playing with the opacity of this lipstick - when applied sheerly, it takes on a beautiful orangey-pink tone. When applied liberally, it takes on a warmer, more orange tone as seen in the swatch below.

L-R: Dior Aventure, Chanel Pirate and Missha SPK102

Here are some photos of the makeup I wore my trip. They're not the best lighting as they're from my iPad. I pretty much overslept every morning, my apologies for the lack of eyeshadow close-ups! They wouldn't have looked good anyway, as my current KATE Art Dial mascara leaves horrible wet mascara marks on my eyelids every time I apply it. I can't wait to finish it up and go back to my HG L'Oreal Telescopic again.

1) I love how Aventure looks in this photo. I find it looks the most flattering when I apply it sheerly. When it's applied over my natural lip colour, it looks decently pigmented and almost jelly-like and translucent at the same time. LOVE.

Maybelline Bad to the Bronze with Shu ME lined on the lower lashline, Chanel Chamade and Dior Fluid Stick Aventure 551

2) For this FOTD, I layered the blue and white Shu topcoats together and applied mascara for more emphasis on the eyes and lashes.

Somehow I couldn't resist going back to add lipstick to this look and ended up applying the Missha SPK102 lipstick before I left the house. I didn't take pictures of the look with the Missha since I was already running late, but you can see it in action in the next photo.

Shu Uemura G White Rainbow mixed with G Blue 646 and Chanel Espiègle

3) This is Missha Signature Glam Art Rouge SPK102 on my lips. See what I mean about buildable colour? It doesn't feel sticky at all. 

SUQQU Mizumomo, Missha SPK102, Shu Uemura G White Rainbow

4) This last one is perhaps one of my favourites from the trip. The red is so brightening and flattering on my colouring. I wanted this ever since I saw it on the beautiful Anne from Rushing Glam. Perhaps it's the lighting but the lipstick seems to look pinker on me? Hmmm. Nevertheless, I quite like it.

SUQQU Mizumomo, Chanel Pirate and Maybelline BTTB & Shu Uemura G White Rainbow

Bonus holiday pictures:

The Salzach river

inside the Vienna State Opera

Belvedere Palace

Schonbrunn Palace

Fooood:

Unsurprisingly, I ate way, way too much meat during this trip. So much so that I bloated up like a pufferfish and had to resort to a sloppy version of a gankin massage to drain out toxins in my face. I dunno whether my meat-eating escapades contributed to the lovely spots around my chin, but you can see them in the pictures above, hehe. It's all worth it though. For SCIENCE! And posterity.

Amazing ribs: 3 flavour combination & a house special flavour

Apfelstrudel <3

a Sichuan restaurant in Vienna by the old Danube river

If you've made it to the end, I'm hugely impressed. Thanks for looking! :)