BS - Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer

I have been a huge fan of Burt’s Bees. It saved my lip’s life. I have own and tested all - peppermint, honey, life guards’ choice, pomegranate (my love) - but two of their tube lip balms.

Just recently, I discovered the beauty of their lip shimmer.

Lip shimmer comes in a variety of colour. You can wear a colour on its own, or mix it up to give you the desired shade.

For work, I need to look fresh. So as a daily routine, I emphasize a lot on my eyes. The medium eye shadow coverage and thick black liner tends to cast my lips in a paler shade than it usually is. To brighten the colour of the lips and to perk up the look, I apply a spot of red (I use Rhubarb) and soften this deep red with a dash of light shimmer (I use Champagne).

I really like the result. A soft buttery pink that compliments the eyes. Best of all, it is au natural!

PS: We have Burt’s Bees in Singapore!!!! Lots of kisses to Sephora.

PPS: Shall upload my pictures of my girly outing with Bing soon enough…

BS: When to throw your cosmetics away

Healthy skin radiates no matter how light you are made up. Make-up should be used when they are fresh. Applying make-up that has been kept for too long is like applying germs -which would likely irritate the skin.

Germs will breed easily in moist make-up; thus liquids or cream based items will spoil more easily than powder cosmetics.

Mineral based make-up should be used as soon as possible, as it contains no preservative. Best to throw it away at 6 months.

Besides that, here is the low down guideline of when to throw what:

The eyes

Mascara: 3 to 6 months, or if it’s dried up
Eye shadow (pressed): 2 years
Eye shadow (cream): 12 to 18 months
Eye liner (stick): 2 years
Eye liner (cream): 3 to 6 months

The face

Foundation (compact): 12 to 18 months
Foundation (cream, liquid): 12 months.
Concealer (cream): 12 to 18 months
Concealer (powder): 18 months

The cheek

Blusher (powder): 2 years
Blusher (cream): 12 to 18 months

The lips

Lip gloss: 18 months to 2 years
Lip balm: 18 months to 2 years
Lipstick: 2 years
Lip liner: 2 years

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner

Cosmetic power-house Maybelline scores with their latest gel eyeliner product, climbing up the Japan market and named Japan’s number one selling gel eyeliner.

I have to admit that after a bad experience with their first liquid eyeliner (which, in my opinion had staying power, but was too itchy and always left me with red rashes), it took me about 2 months to convince myself that it was alright to spend $19.95 to test try this new eyeliner. After all, there must be a reason why the Japanese ladies love it so much.

A couple of test tries later, I can say that this eyeliner is a far cry from their first liquid eyeliner. In fact, this new improved eyeliner is really really good that I might make this my staple eyeliner.

Smudged proof, non-greesy, non-cakey, easy application and easy to remove, and for just $19.95? I’m sold.

What’s best is that it currently comes packaged with a free eyeliner brush (which works magic), so you do not need to fret spending more money to purchase an eyeliner brush.

Get your Maybelline gel eyeliner (which comes in basic black or brown) from major departmental stores. Wait to purchase it during their 20% less promotional period, which happens so frequently.

BS: Lip Plumper by Sally Hansen

Late last year, I blogged about my lips being awfully sensitive to products and the only lip care that I can use without an allergic reaction is produced by the good people of Burt’s Bees.

Well, good news folks! I have found another product that has passed the lip sensitivity test!

Initially, I had my doubts about this product, for it is manufactured by a company who deals with nail products. But, after seeing that it has been tested and approved by dermatologists, I decided to just test my luck. And, I love it.

I love it for it’s glossiness. Now, my lips will never look naked anymore. This lip plumper has a fruity taste to it and upon application, your lips will feel this tinge of coolness. It comes in four shades: Clear, Sheer Blush, Sheer Pink, and Sheer Mocha. My favourite has to be Sheer Blush. There is a good hint of baby pinkness, which compliments a dash of blusher. There is no significant plumping effect though. It does not miraculously give you Jolie’s lips. But, who cares, I can finally wear proper lip gloss!

BS: Phloof!

A favourite eye shadow of mine is Sunday Best from mac cosmetics. It is nude pink with a little shimmer. I love it so much. I really do. The colour is great as a base and as a highlight. It is light nude enough to act as a day-to-day basic. Blend it together with black eyeshadow and it’ll look The problem? It was a limited edition. (Though I think I talked about this before).

Since then, I have been hunting for a similiar shade for eons. I’m glad, I found a similiar shade Phloof! from mac cosmetics as well. This is faint frosted white. Upon application, there is minimal difference to Sunday Best. This time round, fear not, for Phloof! is a staple in mac cosmetics. Though, the saleslady told me that it sells out fast. Better than being limited edition!

BS: Nars Deep Throat

A week ago, my sister jet setted off with her hubby and my baby niece to Hong Kong. She brought me back a Nars goodie. =) My long awaited blusher is here! I wanted her to get it in Orgasm. This is because, after reading countless of reviews, Orgasm seems to be the way to go. It is said that Orgasm is the one blusher that fits all women. It is like a global blusher. Apparently, after my sister showed the lady my photograph, she said Deep Throat would fit me better.

Having been too used to swapping on immense amount of my Paul and Joe’s blusher 04 (due to it’s baby pink nature), I made a terrible mistake with Deep Throat. Something about Nars blusher is that a little goes a long long way. Just dabble 2 - 3 swipes and you will be good to go. One week of regular usage, I have finally grown to like Deep Throat. One needs to allow the blusher colour to settle on the face first before being able to appreciate the glow it gives to the face. A good blusher is one that as the day goes, it does not require much touching up and does not make your face look grey but lights your face up with a soft radiance.

Even so, my favourite blusher still remains as Paul and Joe’s 25. Unfortunately, production for it has hauled. Paul and Joe people hear my woes!

BS: M.A.C Powerpoint Eye Pencil

I love MAC cosmetics. I love them for the drama mama eye make up. I love them for their easy applications and most importantly, actually extremely importantly is that they do produce make up that is very easy to remove yet are waterproof. So, at the end of the day, your make up remains intact regardless.

I have used countless of eyeliners thus far - liquid, kohl, pencil. Yet, thus far, MAC eye pencil wins my heart. It does not itch my sensitive skin, it does not smudge as much (which is rather important to me because I am lazy and I hate to touch up my make up at any point in the day). My favourite is buried treasure for the tint of

BS: Burt’s Bee to the rescue!

I have sensitive skin and it’s such a chore to find suitable products to use. When I was in Junior College I broke out in acne and pimples due to using the wrong facial products. As a result, I am pretty brand loyal and do not buy facial care products on a whim.

I have to say though that my lips suffer the most. I have not been able to use pretty lip-glosses from brands like stila, lancome, or even use vaseline (yes, how queer ain’t it?) and lip-sticks are a big no no. My lips were so sensitive to the ingredients that I was prescribed some medical balm by my dermatologist to nurse it back to good health.

Boy, am I glad I finally found the answer to protect my lips! Burt’s bees beewax! This lip-balm is made from 99.6% natural ingredients including beewax. The company also prides itself for being environmentally friendly by using recylable plastic for the packaging.

I begun using their balms 2 years ago, and I’m happy that my lips are happy. They have a range of lip balm, shimmer and gloss. The shimmer is too shiny for my liking, but I’m in love with their balms. I use pomegranate for that tinge of red. Honey tend to soften in tropical climate but is good for winter climate. Mint is really awesome because whatever you drink thereafter taste like peppermint.

A pity though, because burt’s bees is difficult to find in Singapore.

BS: Buzz the fuzz

Be initiated. Be fuzzed out.

I finally garnered the courage to go for my first ever Brazillian wax. After many months of procrastinating and pondering to do it or not, I decided to march into a Strip Esprit salon 3 days ago. Enough is enough, if you never try you never know why some people praise about it and others just dread it. Though, I decided to try the vanilla white chocolate wax from Strip as it will supposedly ease the pain. The delicious smell of chocolate aroma is a plus of course.

According to wikipedia, B.W. is apparently the most extreme form of waxing in which you remove all the hair down under. There are of course other forms of of waxing like bikini wax, american wax, french wax - which are I guess more for beauty purposes. I decided, let’s just go all out. Go Brazillian!

When one thinks of B.W., a few things pop up: 1) painful! [think Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality]. 2) embarrassing [think showing it to a stranger]. 3) Kinky, kinky.

The good news is, 1) it’s not as painful as what it seems to be. At least I thought that having an upper lip wax was way much more painful than stripping down under. Yes, I’m odd. But that could jolly well be because I’m on AHA and thus have ultra touch-me-not facial skin or I had an awesome waxer. The other good news is, 2) you are the one in 35,000 people these professionals have gone through. So there is nothing to be shy about. The last good news is, 3) Please ladies, it’s really a regular process that most other ladies go through. Rid of the fuzz is good for your health - no more home for the bacteria that lives down under. Your doctor will give you the thumbs up.

The more worrying part is of course, the after care. Ingrown hair is just such troublesome little things.

But in general, it feels great!

BS: Lancome Ellipse

I seem to have a knack for buying products that are either limited edition, hard to get or has been phased out. I’m pretty loyal when it comes to brands so I always get frustrated when I find out that the same shade is no longer available for purchase. But it means that I always have the opportunity to try on new products and fall in love with them!

About 1.5 years back, lancome launched a limited edition eye shadow called Ellipse. I bought 02 Songe Argente. The compact eyeshadow is packed into a silver metal case which retains finger print marks due to the smooth surface. Thus, it is placed into a velvet pouch.

The blue shade is rather unique. Dabble a little on and you get a shade light enough which is sufficient for a dine out with friends. But swipe a little more creates a smokey effect which is good for after night parties. Due to this unique nature of the eye shadow, even after going through oxidation, the look would only be smokey and not dull.

As the colour is rather sensitive during application, It’s best to use a brush (like eye shader) for a smooth finishing rather than using eye shadow applicator which creates uneven shading due to uneven pressure.