Deidre's Mess

A day for the lost hours

2012-02-29T17:02:00.001+11:00

Good day everyone!

I still find it quite pleasant waking up every morning with just a plan or two for the day and nothing more. Though I suspect I'll become weary of this lifestyle by middle of next month. Lucky though that I have a companion or two going through this same aimless period of existence to keep company :). Rather than be bored alone it's more fun being bored together. There's honestly no where for us to go in this lil' city. The weather's too humid and more than half the time staying in with the AC on seems a much better plan.

On today's note, I don't understand the biggie about the whole leap year having an extra day so it's special thing. Even ASOS is having a further discount for today :/. It's just one day added to the calendar to keep it in sync with the earth's revolution around the sun. And technically it's not even an 'extra' day, it's more of a make-up day for the hours we didn't account for in the last 3 years. No? You don't exactly eat more breathe more or sleep more, you're making up for the eating breathing and sleeping u didn't get to do before.

But I guess I'll use this 'extra' time to do something productive now. Like sending in my applications!

Ciao loves.

Dre. x

casual weekend day/night - FOTD, OOTD

2012-02-19T17:12:00.002+11:00

First time rockin' lilac lips x

I think it's rather interesting compared to the usual pinks and corals. waddya think?

Face

Nature Republic Boom Bebe Makeup Base in green

Nyx Studio Perfect Photo-loving primer in purple

Kanebo Kate Liquid Foundation in OC-B

Nyx rouge cream blush in orange

Eyes

Revlon Colorstay eyeshadow quad in copper spice

Mac blacktrack fluidline

Dejavu fiberwig mascara

taiwan handmade clearband lashes

Nyx eyebrow cake powder in taupe/ash

Lips

Nature Republic's Lip Girl's stain in no.2

Nyx round lipstick in power

Sally Hansen's Lip inflation extreme in clear

i'm wearing all aussie brands:

Sportsgirl ladder-knit cut-out sweater

Blockout khaki shorts

Diva accessories

Dre.x

Happy vday x

2012-02-16T18:28:00.002+11:00

Hello loves♥ Hope all of u had a great Valentine's Day regardless single or have a special someone :). Don't fret if u're down on luck/love this time as there's still Chinese Valentine's Day (7月7日) - make more offerings and pray harder or take that day as a 2nd chance!

I'd say mine was perfect. Being able to celebrate w/ him made it perfect enough already. We had a splendid evening w/ a 5-course italian cuisine at Ristorante Beccari and much stifled laughter directed at this one waiter whose only issue was giving his job more than his 100%. I love fancy dining.

Also, I finally got my hair colour fixed on Vday afternoon. Been walking around with this very rusty orangey hair colour for nearly 3 months, a colour I really hate right down to my guts. Spent 3.5 hours at the salon and was set back by RM320. I really like my new colour (ash brown tinted a vegetable green) but I can't say I'm 100% satisfied because I wanted an ombre dye but what I was given was nothing ombre as I'm missing a middle colour which results in the ombre (gradient) effect. Will get that fixed on my next trip.

Dre. x

Bye-Bye Canberra

2012-02-03T01:49:00.001+11:00

The last of ANU life.

Done with the last module of my degree. Mixed feelings.

I kinda like summer semester, too bad this is the one and only summer course I have had taken. I initially dreaded spending summer here cause I heard of how the temperature can go up to 40 degree celcius. However the weather's been way better than M'sia, gets really cold (10-15 degrees in the afternoon) when it rains every other week or so, but it's all good. I like it.

By tomorrow afternoon I will be out of Canberra and on Saturday ----> the Gold Coast! Awesome possum.

I'm actually already starting to miss student life - the friends, the free time, the freedom, late nights doing nuts... the list goes on. The excitement of coming back to a start of a new sem is all behind me. Seeing friends tweeting about dates they'll be arriving back in Canb and I'm not... It feels... weird.

Gonna be months before I return to Australia. :)

Now... What's next?

Dre. x

Jpop favs

2012-01-28T03:44:00.000+11:00

It's now 2am and i'm relaxing and listening to a bit of music. Been working on my assignment for the past week and I'm finally 99% done - a few more touch ups and I'm ready to hand in on Monday! Woot.

So I thought I'd share a few of my all time favourite Japanese songs/singers. Whilst everyone was caught up w/ the Korean pop wave, Jpop got my attention.

As catchy and talented and beautiful as SNSD, brown-eyed girls, After school are (I know most of them, can't think of the names now and not bothered w/ google), I never fancied group singing (apart from Spice girls when I was 10?).

I'm no anti-kpop, I totally love ALL of BoA's songs Jap or Korean, Taeyang and his Wedding dress (cos this is the only song of his I can think of in a snap), etc. I am just never a fan of bands which seems to be the thing in Kpop now.

Anyway, I'll post some of my fav videos below. I love these Jpop solo singers a lot, not just their songs but their MVs and basically just them, from head to toe.

Only, I wish I knew what they're singing about. Lol!

Namie Amuro
She's probably my most favourite, if I really really have to choose. the Queen of Jpop. Japanese Mariah Carey.

I started listening to a lot more Jpop when I came to Aus, that was 2 years ago. I can't seem to find them on youtube in Malaysia. They are probably blocked in M'sia, I don't know. But when I search youtube in Aus and in Malaysia they return different search results. I get a gazillion more japanese songs when I youtube in Aus.

This song by Aoyama Thelma was probably the first Japanese song that got me hooked way back when I was still in high school.

Yu-A

tonight was the first time I came across this song, mad love! can't find full version though :(

BENI

They have got quite a few MVs up on youtube, esp Yu-A and Beni. All awesome songs w/ great MVs.

Do check them out if u enjoyed these songs as much as I did. :)

Dre. x

Statement pieces

2012-01-19T03:02:00.002+11:00

I've been eyeing this piece ever since it first came out. So happy to finally get my hands on it. Perfect for functions. Will make any plain outfit look grand.

a casual piece just for that pop of colour

Bad hair day solution

Feathers! 2nd photo: Wore it together w/ the turquoise one I bought previously

(update 19/1 20:11hrs) totally left this one out! Orange on gold mesh = hawt.

Dre. x

Patong, Phuket

2012-01-15T21:32:00.001+11:00

I'm backlogging as I've been delaying this post for quite some time. I'm usually very lazy about travel posts because there's always tonnes of photographs to look through and on vacations my brains are on relax mode so when I come back from a trip I don't quite rmb what I did honestly. Everytime when someone asks me, How's your trip? What did u do? I'll go...er...nothing..eat...sleep...walk around, yeh. B o r i n g. Also, sometimes I don't like talking bout my trips cos it's hard to explain to ppl what they are not experiencing. Not like they see what I'm saying, u know.

But anyhow, back to my family trip. Hopefully the photos will do most of the explaining, I guess that's what they're for. Haha. I'll squeeze the whole 10 days in Phuket into this one post. :)

We stayed at 2 hotels, Baumanburi and The Kee, both are in Patong area which is the most tourist-concentrated part of the island. The Kee is a very new hotel though quite overrated whilst Baumanburi is really pleasant w/ a more spacious bathroom than The Kee. I prefer my bathrooms big but if it doesn't bother you The Kee's one is fine.

The Kee is situated practically less than 30 seconds walk from the infamous Patong red light district.

The Bangla road where the red light district is is blocked every night to accomodate the thousands of tourists that visit the bars and clubs there.

Loving the life-sized tiger sculptures on top of this bar.

We hired a driver and a MPV for a day and went to do some touristy things,

like going to the lookout point and elephant trekking where we decided it was more fun watching the elephants eat and shit than riding one under the blazing sun.

I remembered riding one when I was lil and remembered crying my heart out cos I was sitting in front and I felt the elephant's pocky hair on its head. Totally freaked me out, I guess I didn't expect an elephant to have hair on its head?

We also visited the cashew nut factory. The picture below is basically a model the cashew nut fruit tree. The nut is formed at the bottom of the fruit. How interesting eh.

On a different day, we got a tuk tuk ride back to our hotel after going to the fresh market. The fare for tuk tuks forever starts at 200baht (RM20) w/i the Patong area (about 10mins ride), and it is almost impossible to bargain with them for anything less.

For shopping, Jungceylon is probably the only shopping mall in Patong, it is really good enough. However there is a factory outlet otw to the airport where we managed to spend a few hours at, and also a shopping haven in Phuket Town called Central which is gigantic.

On to food. We ate at Savoey for 3 dinners and a lunch mainly because the Thai seafood there is awesome. It is one very famous restaurant in Patong and food there is really good you won't really bother trying other restaurants when u're having the best. We did of course walk in to a few other Thai restaurants but they all pretty much pale in comparison in terms of quality.

Savoey's Tomyam kung is concentrated w/ good-sized prawns they call shrimps, gosh they haven't seen real shrimps yet! Best tomyam kung amongst all that we tried.

They have live lobsters that u order by the kilo priced at around 2200baht/kilo if my memory serves me right, and the pineapple seafood fried rice is the best I've ever tasted. Honest. Also, to get better service and atmosphere I suggest going to the Savoey by the beach because the main Savoey (just opposite from each other) is very much overcrowded.

Him and his x-large bolognese, x-tra spicy.

We definitely needed breaks from all the spicy Thai cuisine.

Patong has many italian restaurants and one of the more popular ones is Roma where I had my first taste of crab meat pasta which was absolutely delicious (too bad I didn't photographed it). However service there can be quite slow.

We also dined at Wine Connection and the sukiyaki food chain MK gold, both located in Jungceylon. Wine Connection has very reasonably priced European cuisine with over few hundred selection of wines from all over the world. The place is almost always packed w/ people during lunch and dinner. MK gold is well, MK Gold. I assume anyone who's been to Thailand would have dined here at least once.

NYE was the last night for us in Phuket. We were pretty much 'forced' to dine at our hotel at 3500baht/pax. Basically all hotels do that during NYE, I guess it's a once a year opportunity to rip tourists off.

Our dinner that night was poolside buffet style Old Phuket Town themed.

The new year countdown was one word - madness. I dare say tens of thousands of floating lanterns were released into the sky that night and when the clock struck midnight fireworks lit the sky brighter than day.

Dre. x

OOTD - casual uni attire

2012-01-12T23:29:00.000+11:00

Took an OOTD shot which I'm not usually bothered w/. Maybe I should do it more often, haha.

It was 10 degrees one very windy summer day and I couldn't find a freaking jacket, it must be chucked somewhere in my luggage I'm pretty sure. And I didn't know it was THAT cold until I was out of the building else I'd have put on my jeans instead!

top: Mng | bottoms: forever new | outerwear: blogshop | scarf: cotton on | boots: forever 21

Kept my face at a minimum. Eyes: Plum eyeshadow as eyeliner, mascara / Lips: Etude house tinted lip balm / Face: Missha bb cream, FOA blush in nutmeg

Dre. x

Sales Haul

2012-01-10T21:06:00.001+11:00

Hey girlies. I know most of u were consumed by the boxing day sales and I hope it hasn't done too much damage to ur pockets! Since it is not a huge thing in M'sia I came back down under just in time to savour the last bits of the year-end craze.

I thank goodness I live in Canberra and not Sydney or Melb, else I'd have had a heart attack trying to refrain the urge to splurge because I truly can't afford another kilogram more of excess baggage.

Anyhow, I still managed to grab myself a few items on my shoppin' trips this week and last.

1. 3 La Senza brassieres - seamless, front closure pushup, and deep plunge | 2. La Senza Monokini | 3. Ipanema platform flip-flops | 4. Wittner honey leather T-bar block platforms | 5. Wittner fairy patent leather wedges

1. La Senza animal print babydoll | 2. Lovisa lace and feather hairband | 3. Lovisa drop chain feather hairband | 3. Lovisa oversize peach pearl ear studs

I'm very happy w/ my buys and happy w/ myself because I've been a really controlled shopper so far. Really loving the feather hairbands cos feathers are in this year! And I do plan to get more rusty orange or brick reds into my closet this year cos they're just so stunning n eye-catching colours, though I promised not to buy anymore dresses before I came back here :/

Dre. x

Hello 2012

2012-01-04T20:27:00.000+11:00

Hey guys! 2011 has been a pretty awesome year for me and I hope 2012 will bring about even better things. I hope it's the same for all of u as well :)

On to resolutions. I really haven't given much thought about it, who ever keeps to them? Most of the time they're forgotten by the 2nd month. Anyhow, just for the sake of it and a way to jump start the new year perhaps, my resolution this year is to be more positive because I find that being skeptical and too careful bout things too often brings me no where and cause lost chances. So this year, I'll work harder to convince myself to see the positive in all things that come to me and give them all a chance.

I'm currently typing and trying to use as lil brains as I can so if I sound a lil off pls forgive me! I'm back in Canb now after 12 hours of travelling and I barely slept the last 24 hours. Funny thing is now that I'm SO tired and SO drained from travelling, unpacking, and all that crazy stuff, I can't sleep at all. So here I am :( Pathetic. It's that feeling like ur brains drained of its juices and still trying to squeeze imaginary juices out till it hurts.

Anyway, gotta get some work done soon got a 9am lecture tmr. Taking my final course for my degree and I can't wait to finish. Though what happens next is an equal headache.

Will post again soon, and hopefully w/ some photos. Till then, ta-ta.

Dre. x

Quick update

2011-12-21T17:08:00.000+11:00

Hey lovelies. Been super lazy w/ this blog lately, I'll probably be a lot more active when I'm back in Canbee (hopefully)! My life now is one that any working person will envy, and one that I shall cherish every second of before I step into the working world.

I've been hanging out with my high school friends A LOT cos we are a bunch of very active young adults spilling w/ energy trying to get the most of a 'summer holiday' in boring tropical Kuching and simply because we miss and love each other that much. On a daily basis I either have lunch and/or supper w/ them or numerous coffee seshs and randoms in b/w. The remaining time is filled in by watching korean dramas with my sis and js bumming senselessly at home. A too perfect period of my life that I will look back upon when I start to wrinkle - a chapter with no worries, no obligations, nada.

I'll be off on my family vac to Phuket this Friday - which is like in less than 48 hrs. Excited! Will spend christmas and NYE there. For now, I'll be on my way for another meet up w/ the awesome gang.

Have a Merry X'mas and Happy New Year :)

P/s: Don't think I'll be updating until 2012!

Dre. x

Red Velvet cupcakes

2011-12-12T19:44:00.001+11:00

Baked red velvet cuppies w/ my sis bout 2 weeks ago. Twas my first time ever baking and I just decided to bake on a whim cos I was literally bored to the bones staying at home everyday since I got back to M'sia. I used to help Ellyn bake cookies at her place when we were still in Lodge. Haha. those were the daysss~~
Anyway, no one in my family bakes at all so me and my sis had to shop for everyth from scratch.

I must say the cupcakes themselves turned out pretty good and tasted good too. The first round of cream cheese frosting was sweet like fuck cos we followed exactly the recipe I got on youtube, so we made a second batch and somewhat modified the measurements to taste.

Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe (customised version)

1 ¼ cup of all Purpose Flour

2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder

½ tsp of Baking Powder

½ tsp of Baking Soda

¼ tsp of Salt

¼ cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature

¾ cup of Granulated sugar

¾ cup of fresh milk

2tsp lemon juice

1 Egg

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Crystallised Beet

For the cupcakes I used crystallised beet root instead of red food coloring. Otherwise food colouring is fine, doesn't alter the taste. And since I couldn't find buttermilk I used fresh milk and lemon juice instead.

Cream Cheese Frosting (customised version)

1 Cup of Powdered Sugar

6 oz of Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature

2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature

1 Tbsp of Milk

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

The original recipe was 2 cups of icing sugar and 4oz of cream cheese. However it was WAY to sweet so I halved the sugar and used more cream cheese.

Do give it a go if u have time :) IMHO this is a no fail recipe, anyone can make red velvet cupcakes. There are tonnes of recipes on the web too, most of them use the same ingredients and methods. No magic potion or secret ingredient.

Dre. x

Makeup brush talk

2011-12-05T21:00:00.007+11:00

Just thought of sharing my views on some makeup brushes that I currently own so I'll introduce them one by one below.

In picture above, I arranged my brushes according to most-used and essentiality

Please click below to read on individual brush review

Ecotools Blush Brush
-synthetic taklon bristles (super super soft)

IMO:
I think it's the most essential item amongst all because you really do need a brush like this to apply blusher evenly. As oppose to eye makeup where you can use standard sponge applicator or even ur fingers to apply, you really can't apply powder blush w/o a proper brush to blend.

Usage:
This blush brush is the only face brush I have and I use it every single day for everything on my face. It's an all-in-one brush for me. Besides applying blusher I use this for face contouring, applying loose powder, and also dusting away fallouts.

Topshop Eye Shading Brush
- natural hair (soft)

IMO:
This is the basic of basic eyeshadow brushes. A must-have unless u prefer using ur fingers. This is actually my 3rd shading brush because the first two (thebodyshop and ecotools, 3rd and 4th from right in picture above) didn't work the way I wanted. They were flat and stiff while this one is soft and fluffy w/ denser bristles allowing it to pick up more product.

Usage:
I use it to evenly sweep eyeshadow on entire eyelids and for highlighting brow bone. I pack on eyeshadow with this brush using patting motion on areas of the eye where I want more colour intensity.

ELF Blending Brush
- natural hair (soft, fluffy, can be a lil prickly sometimes)

IMO:
Honestly, this should place 2nd instead of the Topshop brush. I can triple this as an eye shading brush and crease brush. As a blending brush it works pretty fine doing the job of an eye shading and crease brush, but more subtly and not as perfectly. But if u want a quick day makeup, this brush delivers well. Super practical.

It is fluffy enough to blend, yet just a tad stiff and just dense enough to pack eyeshadow.

Usage:
Blending and smoothing out edges. Can double as eyeshading or crease brush when I'm lazy or running late.

Crease Brush
- sable hair (soft, dense)

IMO:
Must-have if you like dark smokey eyes. The dome shape and density of bristles enables it to pick up a lot of eyeshadow and you really need a brush like this for building intense colours on the eyes.

Usage:
I use it to apply dark-coloured eyeshadow in circular motion on the outer corners. The dome shape also enables me to easily bring product into the eye sockets.

Angled Precision Brush
- natural hair (sturdy, soft)

IMO:
Perfect for filling-in eyebrows and creating a clean angle. It is as sturdy as the angled eyeliner brush yet a lil fluffy enabling it to pick more product. It's hard to find a brush like this so a good/better alternative may be a smudge brush that looks like a shading brush with shorter bristles, almost half the length

Usage:
I use this brush for a variety of things: to fill in eyebrows, set eyeliner, smudging, applying shadow on lower lids.

Ecotools Angled Eyeliner Brush
-synthetic taklon bristles (soft and sturdy)

IMO:

This brush does a very specialised job for me - to line my eyes with gel/cream liners. I line my eyes with gel liner 85-90% of the time that's why it's one of my top brushes. If you don't use gel/cream liners this brush is pretty useless. Some ppl use it to fill in eyebrows but I think it's too fine and thin for the purpose, not versatile (unless u're the type that draws two lines and call them eyebrows). ---> ugly.

Usage:
For precise eyeliner application.

Lash and brow comb

IMO:
An essential if u love ur eyebrows.

Usage:
To comb brows, blend out brow colour, separate lashes.

Brushes mentioned below are ones I can do w/o:

Coastal Scents Crease Brush
Goat's hair (very smooth and soft)

IMO:
No idea why they called it a crease brush cos it's more like a pencil brush to me. Anyway i think it's a brush one can do without because the only thing i find it useful for is to highlight inner corners of the eyes, which can be done w/ a precision brush or a sponge tip. It is too soft to use for smudging and the bristles are also too smooth to pick up much colour, which makes it quite useless.

Usage:
Highlight inner corners.

I didn't take individual shots for the rest but they're in this picture.

I find Ecotools and Body Shop Eye Shading Brush too smooth and stiff to hold powder products. But they come in handy on occasions where I use wet products on the eyes like maybe wet glitter, which is rarely.

For the concealer brush, I hardly use it cos I apply concealer w/ my fingers most of the time. And, my blush brush does what the mini fan brush can do so I don't use it at all.

And that's all on makeup brushes! Hope some of u will find it helpful :)

Dre. x

DIY Nails

2011-11-29T18:16:00.001+11:00

I dug out some photos of past diy nail arts from my laptop. Nowadays I'm so lazy I pretty much just do a french manicure everytime or just plain one colour nails.

Was messing around w/ photobooth here. But 3 years back I kept my nails this length cos I din have to do anything! After I left for Aus, I kept my nails half this length.

Trying to grow them back now but I'm not used to it. I can't cut them as square as I used to either! Takes practice!

These are my everyday nails :) They match everything and it's the fastest and easiest nails I can do. U'll forever look well-groomed w/ these.

Dre. x

RIP Jeremy

2011-11-28T14:36:00.002+11:00

Yesterday, many of us lost a very dear friend.

We spent 5 years in high school together plus a few years out of high school it's been a quick 9 years. Through these years we have had some wonderful times with our numerous get-together karaoke seshs, CNY visiting, or just plain chilling and "lim-tehing" together.

I'm really glad I've come to know such a wonderful person like you. Forever suave and urbane, and always the funny one that gets "bullied" by the girls, the ladies' man, a great company for basically anything.

We'll all truly miss you and everything about you.

Dre. x

Thank you for your questions!

2011-11-22T13:09:00.000+11:00

Hey gorgeous beings, I've finally come round to answering most of the questions some of you posted in my Formspring. Some were at least 2 weeks old but I was mugging for my finals then so I do apologise for the slow response.

Anyhow the replies are in now if u were the one asking any of the questions :).

Just click on "Formspring - deidrechew" on the sidebar and u'll be taken to the site.

Dre. x

Nuptial Moments

2011-11-22T02:27:00.003+11:00

Aloha! I'm back in good ol' Kuching. It's not as hot this time of the year compared to my last trip back in June/July. Thank goodness :)

Also, I flew back just in time for my friend Ivy's wedding on 20/11/2011. It was a fun experience being one of her "sisters" and I feel so happy for her for tying the knot.

It was such a blessed day and I wish her all the happiness in the world!

Dre. x

Dejavu Fiberwig, My Beauty Diary, etc

2011-11-12T22:14:00.000+11:00

A small collective haul of some beauty products over the past two weeks. Will review individually when I get the chance :)

Dejavu Extra Long Fiberwig Mascara

Backup of my favourite mascara :) I don't think I can ever live w/o it. One tube of this lasts super long, it doesn't dry up as fast as most mascaras.

My Beauty Diary (Black Pearl) 10-pack Mask Sheets

I ran out of my Korean mask sheets so I decided to get this one after reading Ruby's post on how much she loves it (I trust you babe!). My friend here has also recommended it to me before. My Beauty Diary is such a popular Taiwan brand I can't believe I haven't tried it out up till now!

Belle Madame All-in-one Blender Sponge

Foundation sponge that reminds me of the BeautyBlender at fraction of price. Though I highly doubt it compares.

Double eyelid tape. This one's unique cos it is a double-sided tape whilst the normal ones are usually only sticky on one side. I know a lot of people ask why I use double eyelid tapes when I have double eyelids already. However, one side of my eyelid parallel whilst the other is tapered. Eyelid tapes give me semi-permanent parallel double lids. More on this in future, lazy to explain now.

TopShop Liner in Rook

Ok, I finally got a liquid liner after 3 years w/o it. I survived! As much as I love Mac's Blacktrack Fluidline, gel liners are matte and can never achieve the sharp black shiny sheen of liquid eyeliners.

TopShop Shading Brush

And I survived w/o a shading brush all these years. Actually this is my 3rd shading brush, bt the previous two just didn't work for me. Loving this one :)

I'll talk about most of them individually in upcoming posts, hopefully.

Dre. x

A Pink Romance (formal/dinner date makeup look)

2011-11-11T12:00:00.003+11:00

Hey beauties! Today's 11/11/11 and I thought I'd do a quick update to mark this pretty date. I'm still in the midst of exams! Two papers tomorrow!!

Anyway this post is gonna be on the makeup look I wore for my Valete dinner. I was gonna do rusty gold pink eyes at first but I decided to nap before the dinner and had an hour left to dress n make up and I had to rush n didn't have time to experiment w/ the gold. So I ended up going for a shimmery pink slight smokey eyes w/ rosy pink lips. As it was a formal dinner, I kept the look soft. I think this will be a perfect valentine's day makeup cos the pink gives it a romantic feeling. Haha! Though v-day is months away who knows some like to plan well ahead :).

Listing down the products below if interested :)

FACE

NATURE REPUBLIC Bloom Bebe makeup base

KANEBO KATE liquid foundation (OC-B)

NYX Concealer in a jar (Beige)

ELIANTO compact powder (Sand Beige) as bronzer

FACE OF AUSTRALIA blush (Nutmeg)

LIPS

NYX Lipliner (Peekaboo Neutral)

NYX Round Lipstick (Tea Rose)

CLINIQUE Superbalm Lipgloss (Apricot)

EYES

Can't see very well how it looks from the portrait above so I did some close-up shots of the eyes w/ and w/o flash. The pink is more true in the flash one whilst the darker shades are truer in the w/o flash.

ELF eyelid primer - all over lids

NATURE REPUBLIC eye popper crayon (shimmer white) and single eyeshadow (shimmer champagne) - inner V

NATURE REPUBLIC single eyeshadow (shimmer dark gray) - outer V

88 Matte Palette (boxed colors):-

white - brow bones

bright pink x rose pink - center lids

dark brown - outer 1/3 lid n outer 1/2 crease

MAC blacktrack - upper x lower lashlines

DEJAVU fiberwig mascara

Taiwan handmade lashes x TFS lash glue

A photo from this year's Valete:

Valete 2011 vs Valete 2010 (below).

Missing more than half the ppl, cos most of them left already! And this year's Valete was held later into the year in case u're wondering why the sky is still so bright (above). Spring came a lot earlier too!

x Another photo of me before to end x

p/s: one more week to ♥Kuching♥

Dre. x

How I clean my makeup brushes

2011-11-05T15:16:00.001+11:00

I wash my makeup brushes once every 4-6 weeks or 3-4 weeks if I happen to use them more. All these while I've been using Bare Minerals Well-Cared For brush conditioning shampoo. I think this product is really effective in sanitizing my brushes and it leaves the bristles super soft afterwards.

After shampooing, I'll shape the wet bristles to their original shapes before drying. Since I don't have brush guards to allow my brushes to stand upright w/o ruining the wet bristles, I hang my brushes in that way to let them drip completely dry. I usually air dry about 12 hours before use just to make sure they're 100% dry. Another alternative method is to lay them on a flat surface to dry if you can't find a way to dry them bristles down.

I can't stress how important hygiene is especially for brushes that goes on your face (powder/foundation/blush brushes) and those that come really near your eyeballs (eyeliner/angled/pencil brushes). The last thing you want is a breakout or an eye infection.

Always remember to clean your brushes! Sanitary is key to beauty :)

Dre. x

2011-10-30T16:52:00.001+11:00

At this point only God can forgive u. After all, that was probably the only thing u seek for - to clear ur conscience with God. If it weren't so, you would have admitted to us long before, given the countless opportunities you had. Obviously, you did not care whether or not ur lies were jeopardising ur relationship w/ ur friends. Not until when we have to resort to bringing the case to "court". Not until we present you w/ ur greatest fear. I guess now you only have the Lord as your friend, probably that's all u wanted since He's your gateway to heaven. Is this how it's gonna work? Where only fear can get a person to confess his wrongs, where friendship and love pale in comparison. If that's so, you may want to re-think your values and concept of a friendship. Doesn't mean as long as your relationship w/ God is fine, alls fine. I think God knows it too.

Sorry, personal view. I don't know how ur belief works.

Dre. x

Nude and smoking (Smokey eye makeup look)

2011-10-16T20:48:00.008+11:00

Did this look for a friend's 21st bday party last night. Midnight blue smokey eyes w/ loads of silver glitter and nude baby pink lips. Been a while since I last did dark smokey eyes.

Anyhow I really like how it turn out. Created just what I had in mind, and it took about 45 mins to complete (will list down the products used below). I did quite a bit of face contouring as well for a bronze finish since the blue and pink were cool tones I wanted to warm up my face a lil more if that makes sense.

Close-up shots. Colour-edit the photo on top. Below is non-edited.

Can't see it here but the glitters on my top eyelid was super sparkly IRL and esp in the club when it reflects light in the dark.

Products used:

Eyes/Eyebrow
ELF Eyelid Primer
NYX Jumbo Pencils (Milk & Slate)
Maybelline Hyper Diamonds (BU-1)
STAGE Liquid Eyeliner (Glitterati)
NYX Glitter Mania (Silver)
MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
DEJAVU Fiberwig Mascara
ELF Eyebrow Kit (Medium)
DAISO Eyelashes (Criss-crossed)

Face/Cheeks
NATURE REPUBLIC Bloom Bebe Makeup Base
KATE Liquid Foundation (OC-B, lightest shade)
ELIANTO Compact Powder used as bronzer (Sand Beige)
NYX Concealer in a jar (Beige)
NYX Rouge Cream Blush (Glow)
NYX Mosaic Powder (Dare)
FACE OF AUSTRALIA Blusher (Outback Nutmeg)

Lips
NYX Round Lipstick (Strawberry Milk)
NYX Round Lipstick (Orange Soda)
LANCOME Juicy Tubes (Baby Doll)

If interested, step-by-step below:

For eyes, I first prime my lids w/ an eyelid primer. Then I highlighted brow bones and inner corner of eyes till half way across the eyelid w/ Nyx Jumbo Pencil (Milk) and the outer half of my upper and lower eyelids was smudged with Slate for a smokey base. I then used the darkest colour (a midnight blue) from the Maybelline palette to go over Slate (doing a slight cut-crease + cat eye effect) and using the medium blue colour from the palette for the middle of the lower eyelids for a pop of colour. After that I used the glitter eyeliner to go over Milk on the upper eyelids below the crease line. I also dipped the eyeliner brush into Nyx's silver glitter and pressed more glitter on. After that I lined the upper and lower lashline and waterline w/ Mac's blacktrack. I filled in the eyebrows w/ Elf's eyebrow kit. Finally, mascara and falsies.

For face, I primed with a makeup base. Then I applied liquid foundation all over and contoured forehead and cheekbones w/ Elianto's compact powder which is two shades darker than my skintone. I then applied a Nyx's pink cream blush on the apples of my cheek and went over with Face of Australia, a nutmeg coral powder blush. Finally I went all over the sides of my face w/ Nyx's Dare for a more sculpted look. Also applied concealer on undereyes.

For lips I had Nyx's Strawberry Milk as a base and blended in Nyx's Orange Soda to give a more neutral pink as Strawberry Milk is a very cool baby pink. Finished off w/ Lancome's Juicy Tubes in Baby Doll, a sheer pink lipgloss.

Dre. x

Hair Products

2011-10-14T20:38:00.007+11:00

Really loving the Garnier Fructis Fortifying Shampoo at the moment! Never thought it'd be any good cos I got it w/o much thought and my friend told me to just get it cos it smells really good, and I thought why not no harm trying since it's such a small bottle. The labeling attracted me as well cos it claims to nourish the hair while retaining color of dyed hair. Don't really know whether it really prolongs hair colour or not n I honestly don't care much since my hair is dyed a medium brown n it looks dark brown half the time anyway, not like I have some weird red or yellow hair that'll easily turn a rusty orangey colour.

And my, the first time I had it on my hair I knew it was gonna come out good after I blow dry and it sure did! You'll js know it if the shampoo's right for ur hair. I know Très Semme does shit to my hair, it dries the ends up really bad n I need at least two washes of a different shampoo to get it back to normal. It used to work for me, and I got a huge bottle of it but after I started dyeing my hair it just didn't work anymore, sadly.

Before I got the Garnier one I was actually using Head and Shoulder's 'smooth and silky' or 'silky smooth' (or smth along that line) and I really like that one as well but the shop didn't have it when I needed to get shampoo. Really glad I picked the Garnier one up :).

And since I'm on about hair, I use Loreal Elsève hair mask as an everyday conditioner. I don't use conditioners cos they don't work as well unless they're salon professional ones. And this one's really good, I'm on my 2nd tub of it now which is the "Re-Nutrition" (yellow and white tub). The first one I had was the "Nutri-Gloss" (pictured above) and I find it works better. Will try Essentials hair mask after I finish this tub, heard good stuff about it.

OH guess what, I spray FACIAL mist on my hair in the mornings sometimes to soften it when it's too dry, it actually works!

I assume facial mists are just water formulated w/ some sorta hydrating ingredients so it'll most likely work fine w/ hair. This one's Nature Republic's Love Hawaii Facial Mist. Tropical coconut scent, smells really good on hair actually :). No amazing results, just helps in smoothening it out esp when the weather here dries out ur hair overnight. I know I really should get a serum for my hair, too lazy n couldn't care less atm.

Also, I got this RPR's Straighten Me Out, a heat-activated straightening gel because I have wavy hair and having it sleek straight feels good.

In all honesty this product does not work well even though the stupid sales person at Salon Warehouse told me it'll work. Maybe it works for caucasian hair, I don't know. In fact it dries out my hair a lil. But I still use it once in a while when I really want my hair to be straight. It does straighten my hair out a teeny bit more, though it may be cos I blow my hair longer when I use it. -.-

This is about all I use for my hair! No fancy stuff. Just fyi, I don't wash my hair every day cos imo it's very bad for ur hair and scalp if u keep washing natural oils off. I find that when I wash my hair everyday it actually makes my hair oilier faster cos it triggers sebum production. So girls, if u feel your hair gets oily within 24 hrs, consider washing it less, it'll slow down sebum production (if it's only ur fringe getting oily dont be complaining fcking keep it off ur face la *rolls eyes*). I wash only once every 2 to 3 days.

Dre. x

2011-10-08T01:58:00.003+11:00

CBF to do anything right now. Arh I'm so screwed for accounting theory assignment, I have no idea what I'm writing and the freaking essay doesn't flow. If I can't make sense out of it I doubt the lecturer can. Why does ANU torture us this way!!!! I'm counting down the days till I'm back home again, so tired of this place. Every meal I eat is just to live, I know I'm making it sound damn sad. I shouldn't be complaining too much, at least I have a bunch of really good friends to hang out w/ over here.
But this place is really miserable sometimes, I feel that those who stay here a few years too long tend to get a bit screwed up in the head - esp the guys. I'm not being sexist, we all know how girls are the independent ones and guys they just need their ladies. I think the lack of entertainment gets to them more too. And to me it's no surprise these guys can't get their girls. They lack the qualities. I would say girls in general would want a 'solid' man. He knows what he wants, driven, mature (like m a t u r e, not just THINK that they're mature as they all do), independent in the sense that he's got his own life and friends (not tailing the gf around like a puppy) and at the same time makes time for his girl too. If they don't have those basics to me it's just a BIG TURNOFF. Whinny, self-absorbed, selfish guys are a big turnoff too btw. And the girls know it, don't think u have an ok face and a lil charm will get u very far - u'll go as far as a high school leaver who thinks u're a cool senior and dumbs u when she realises she's way cooler than that <---that ws me. I don't deny and neither am I ashamed to say I was one of those many girls who tickle at the idea of dating a senior in uni. I dated a lot, it's a way to test the waters instead of not knowing whether to sink or swim. It mould me to become a very certain person. CBF w/ BS at this stage, I can't comprehend how some ppl can allow so much BS in their life. My hands are too full to let any BS or BS ppl in. People I classify as BS ppl are those w/ no aim in life, smoke their day away drink their night away, gamble becos they think they can make money that way or because they have nth better to do, like to pick fights, their only expertise is dota, talk loudly cos they've got a lot of 'brader brader' and can gossip about anyth under the sun. They say an empty canon makes the loudest noise. Ok I'm done w/ ranting. If only this were my acc theory essay.

Dre. x

Pole lessons

2011-10-04T00:19:00.000+11:00

Sneak peak into where we take our pole lessons. The one in the picture is of intermediate level already :P We don't do crazy stunts yet, at least not for a very long time! Can't wait for my 2nd lesson this week. The first one got my entire body sore for a few days, especially muscles in the thighs and arms. It's crazyyyy~~ And I realise how unfit I am when i couldn't lift my body with my arms alone, legs in the air. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it :(

Dre. x