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!

Visee Creamy Lipstick RD401: Two Ways

I very nearly cancelled my order of the Visee Creamy Lipstick RD401. My reasoning at the time was that I could abstain from excessive purchases by learning to mix colours using my existing collection. But before I could cancel my order, it had already been dispatched. I am very, very glad that I went through with this purchase. 

The unique thing about this lipstick is that it is one of those effortless, skin-brightening shades on my skin. I am flabbergasted that it does not draw attention to the red, high-contrast hyper-pigmentation on my cheeks, like some other more fuchsia-toned lipsticks do. It's bright, vibrant and makes my skin look better than ever. 

Some pictures:

with flash

Swatches:

Indoor, daylight (L: three swipes, R: one swipe)

Indoor, with flash

Bright daylight, no flash

My lips are not very pigmented and do not have a strong mauve tone, so most lipsticks are true-to-colour on me. In the afternoon smoggy light, Visee RD401 looks more red. However, in bright daylight the colour does take on a more pink tone, as shown here: 

close-up

RD401 as a nude stain:

RD401 applied to the centre of my lips, blended out with fingers into a light stain

I think the reason why this lipstick looks brightening on even my flawed skin is because its tone is very similar to my natural lip colour. When blotted down to a stain, it's completely harmonious with the rest of my colouring. I am actually quite surprised at exactly how 'nude' this lipstick can look.

Eyes: MGPIN Sculpture Bright Eyeshadow, light taupe from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1, tight line and slight outer lash line definition using darkest shade in KATE Deep Trap Eyes BR-1

A couple of layers of RD401, paired with defined, bright-looking eyes with minimal eyeshadow:

Eyes: champagne colour from KATE Deep Trap Eyes GN-1, L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Waterproof

I can't actually believe that in the above picture, I am not wearing any foundation. My acne has been volcanic for the past few months, and though I still have plenty of dark pigmentation marks, my skin texture overall is quite nice and luminous. More specifically, I attribute the controlled, pore-less glow in this photo to Guerlain Meteorites, which I hauled at Hong Kong Airport after my trip to Taiwan.

Base products, for those interested:

For sunscreen, I used the brightening Biore UV Milk sunscreen (pink bottle).
I then half-heartedly concealed some spots as well as my under-eye area using the Maybelline Age Rewind Under-Eye Concealer. Lastly, I dusted the Guerlain Meteorites Blanc de Perle all over. With gusto. I probably went overboard because you can see the powdery residue up-close. It seems to photograph very nicely though!

I've come to the realisation that, for me at least, the magic of the Guerlain Meteorites is most perceptible when used over skin with little-to-no makeup. Heavier foundations such as the SUQQU Frame Fix Cream already impart a wonderful satin finish, so it's hard to see the difference with Meteorites on top.

But when dusted lightly over translucent, semi-naked skin? My god. That's when the Meteorites really shine. I think I am a convert.