Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Le Metier De Beaute Kaleidoscope in Silk Road


I cannot believe it. I actually ordered a LMdB Kaleidoscope. With tax and everything, this set me back a Benjamin. Kaleidoscopes retail for $95 and the brand is available at Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. To convince myself (who am I kidding? It really didn't take much convincing) to purchase this, I cannot buy any more jewelry until at least after the holidays. BaubleBar has been doing Buried Baubles every day for a period of 20 days. Which means, there is a new piece of jewelry marked down to 10 bucks hidden on their site daily. Thank goodness I will be working over winter break to pay for the sparklies. Honestly, I should be stopping anyway. I have more jewelry than I am capable of wearing. Aside from my makeup/skincare addiction, jewelry is my weakness.

Sorry for getting off tangent! Back to my horribly expensive makeup purchase. I have read innumerable rave reviews of LMdB's quality eyeshadows and what drew me in is the concept of it. I have tried blending eyeshadows together before, but they always result in a muddy mess. Well, for the Kaleidoscope, their signature application technique is called, Couches de Couleurs. For this you apply shades from top to bottom, on top of one another to create a new shade from blending. Because the shadows have been milled over four times, they are incredibly blendable and will not appear muddy. Of course, you can mix and match for various color combinations.

To see this technique in action, check out Messy Wand's tutorial here. Xiao from Messy Wands was the one who turned me over to the dark side. I discovered her blog a few weeks ago and I find myself looking forward to her updates. Here she is wearing Silk Road in one of her posts.

For awesome swatches of Silk Road, you can check out The Ultimate Makeup.

Personally, I have never been big on eyeshadows because I have seriously funky eyelids. I don't have double eyelids, but I certainly don't have monolids either. They're like a weird hybrid. I have a plethora of little creases over my lids. That sounds gross, actually. But it's not noticeable unless you're really looking. I've always just been an eyeliner girl or I'll swipe Groundwork or Constructivist (MAC Paint Pots) on as well. Lately, I started using the brown shadow in an old L'oreal H.I.P duo called Brazen.

The point is, I'm extremely excited to see if LMdB measures up to the hype. I just love the idea of having  makeup staples, it's the minimalist in me talking. I would much rather spend money on one quality item than a much of stuff I don't quite love. We shall see!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Skincare Routine


Are you overwhelmed yet by my skincare army? Honestly, it's much simpler than it looks! Before I dive right in, here's a background of my skin: Dry/Normal and Acne Prone. I have a lot of red/brown pigmentation from acne scarring (I am guilty of picking pimples at times, gross, I know). I break out when it's that time of the month and just because. I never really observed WHEN I break out, I just freak out. Anyway, let's get to it!

Day Time:

A) I cleanse with Fresh Soy Cleanser because it's gentle and non-drying. I reserve this for mornings since I don't think it has enough strength to remove makeup.
B) I tone my face with La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water. It calms my skin and makes me feel refreshed. It's also a wonderful makeup setter, I much prefer this to MAC's Fix+.
C + D) I live for serums! They're so concentrated and they penetrate into the skin faster than moisturizer. I really enjoy the Fresh Soy Face Serum because I think it amplifies the moisturizer, giving my skin better texture, quicker. My mom gave me a deluxe sample size of the Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum and at first I was reluctant to use it. I don't want to lighten my skin like most Asian girls. However, I think it's really improving my acne scars! So no complaints there. I probably won't be able to afford a full size bottle once this is gone. Le Sigh.
E) Recently I started using Soap & Glory's Catch a Wrinkle in Time Day Moisturizer in place of the Fresh Soy Face Cream (saving that for nights only). Will keep you updated on it.

Night Time:

A) First I remove my eye makeup with Sephora's Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover.
B) Then I cleanse my face with Paula's Choice Normalizing Cleanser from her acne line. It's a gel cleanser and it does the job. But I don't really think it's anything special.
C) Tone with thermal spring water.
D + E) Put on serums.
F) Paula's Choice 2% Beta Hydroxy Acid Gel:
Exfoliating 2% BHA Gel is a water-based formula that exfoliates both the skin's surface and inside the pore, reshaping the pore lining to unclog pores and improve skin cell turnover rate. This creates a dramatic improvement in the skin's appearance, feel, and function especially for blemish-prone skin. There is a great deal of research indicating that BHA (beta hydroxy acid) increases collagen production and drastically smoothes the surface of skin. Additionally, BHA has anti-bacterial properties that attack blemish-causing bacteria. The silky gel base of this exfoliant is similar to the texture of the Exfoliating 1% BHA Gel but has twice the amount of salicylic acid to combat stubborn blemishes, including blackheads.
As for what I think of it: I really can't tell you whether it has made a large impact on my skin. But I can tell you my routine has improved my skin immensely. Therefore, I do partially attribute the change to this product.
G) Fresh Soy Face Cream is amazing, as I have said many times before! Dry patches be gone!
F) At night, I also like to use a few drops of Desert Essence Jojoba Oil to moisturize my face even more. Not to mention it helps with acne (will do a post on that in the future). For the past week, I've been doing it every other night. It used to be every night, but I'm trying to not depend on it too much. I'm looking forward to experimenting with Josie Maran's Argan Oil soon.

I would love to hear your routine/tried and true products or if you have any recommendations for me!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Holiday Wishlist

1) Chanel Le Vernis in Graphite, 2) Rouge Dior Nocturne #961 Lipstick, 3) Stella by Stella McCartney roll on perfume, 4) NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Cordura, 5) MAC Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe, 6) NARS Multiple in Maui, 7) Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, 8) Fresh Soy Face Cream, 9) Lancome Visionnaire, 10) Le Metier De Beaute Silk Road Kaleidoscope