my HAUL

ok lah. i am a closet beauty addict. some friends have caught a glimpse of this from the number of lipglosses i carry in my bag. but honestly it started out harmlessly when my cousin bought me my 1st ever lippie from Revlon called Girly :D it was a sheer glittery pink and somehow i used it for everything - blusher and eyeshadow included. so innovative yah :D

after that i dabbled here and there but never really got into it till maybe like 2 years ago when the Old Man announced that he had some vouchers for Kris Shop (y'know, the SIA in-flight shopping), handed me a catalogue and let me pick out some stuff. oh boy. wrong move. there were so many things to choose from! in the end i settled for a Dior travel palette and a set of 3 Guerlain Meteorites.

click to view larger photo with text

so sometime after that, i had a LOT of free time (as i do now..:P) and stumbled upon some beauty sites where the average (or not-so-average) Jane would post up tutorials on how to use eyeshadows that had more than one color, etc. i started reading them with an avid fascination and the result is what you see above, as of today.
mind you, it's not like i bought all of this. the travel palettes were free, mascaras, one e/s set and DiorKisses were lovingly donated by Godma, who's given me enough makeup that i really shouldn't ask for anymore!

More close-ups..
the above photo are the products i use most, the Revlon e/s quad is great for smoky eyes and the Maybelline blushers come with highlighters which i love. the brushes aren't that great though.
my favourite lipglosses to date which i've only been able to find in the States so far, C.O Bigelow. I love the mintiness!
The Bare Escentuals mineral makeup which provides the exact kind of coverage i've been looking for all this while, you totally don't look too made-up at all.
I love my L'oreal liner in choc brown, it's not as heavy as black would look and i've been using it for ages. Body Shop clear mascara is great for opening up your eyes a little without the heavy thick look that black would give, but for the special occasions I rave to everyone who's asking about the Diorshow mascara that i got together with the Travel studio, it's AWESOME! no curler necessary!
and last but not least, my RM3 find! yeah i know what you're thinking (my eyes are burning!!) but seriously it's worked well for me so far and the color payoff is terrific. a bit too shimmery for me so i like to use it with the matte shadows like the Red Earth ones. am still on the lookout for more (saw a 48 color palette for only Rm13!!)
yep, i've gone so far as to purchase a MAC brush set for an outrageous price...i'm still justifying it evrytime i use the brushes though, they definitely give a different look to application. and look at the cute red container i got to go with them! now i put all my other junk in them too :D
oh yeah, the first picture lacked another 2 pencils i have, the light green one was a donation from Godma, it's a black creamy-ish liner that's sparkly and the brown one is a L'oreal brow pencil with grooming brush on the cap. i thought was high time for me to get one as my eyebrows aren't that thick :( and i've only recently entered the harsh painful world of plucking.
The tan brush is from Bare Escentuals, a great one for the mineral makeup, although still a bit poky on the face. oh and you can see my Ganache for Lips balm that i got from Aust, the Choc Mint flavour is yummiiez~it's made from all natural ingredients, including real Bavarian chocolate :)~~ the creator is a lady who suffered from breast cancer and couldn't find any 'organic' products out there so she decided to create one herself, way to go!
these are my favourite brushes, the top is from MAC, it's a great soft blusher brush. First and third from bottom are my blending brushes and the middle one in white is an awesome brush that i got for dirt cheap from TJ Maxx in the states, an angled liner brush which is fantastically soft to the touch yet stiff enough to apply a beautifully thin line of color wherever you like. the big fat short brush on top is also from BE, i mostly use it after blusher just to blend evrything together :)Olay is by far the best moisturiser (drugstore anyway, i miss my Biotherm still :~) that i've found, it worked especially well for me in Aust with all that dry weather and harsh winds. the bareVitamins i got with my BE minerals, it's to "prep" skin before makeup. sometimes i get lazy using the Olay and just use this instead, it works well enough.
SK II eyecream was FREE (as if i have so much money to splurge on eyecream!) from KrisShop as well, i love it that he flies SIA :)) but i had the Olay when i went to the States before i got SK II. both work okay i guess, the texture for Olay is a little heavier but i don't really see any difference with SK II but i blame it on the late nights :P
i love the L'oreal makeup remover, the layer of oil on top really helps with stubborn liner and mascara. i switched to Simple cause L'oreal is a tad more expensive but Simple is crap with the heavier stains, i have to add baby oil on my cotton pad together with the Simple to really get them out :( i think i'll switch back after God-knows-when-am-i-going-to-finish-with-the-Simple!
the three bottles in the middle are scented lotions from Bath and Body Works in the States and they smell ZOMG :))) from left to right, Cucumber Melon, Sweet Pea and Freshwater Cucumber. i totally regret not getting Sea Island Cotton :(( the fragrances are pretty strong though, i like this cause i don't have to use perfume anymore! Diehard's favourite is Freshwater Cucumber :) but i like Sweet Pea when i'm feeling girly :P
on the far left is some "high-clak" hotel lotion that Old Man gave me, but the smell's really nice (packaging says White Moss by Acca Kappa) and the moisture level is just right for our hot and humid climate. and ok, yes, i'm also showcasing my damned deodorant, but i think it's great cos i, erm, tend to get kinda sticky easily and Dove clinical protection (yes damn you i do need clinical strength deo!) is very long-lasting and has my favourite green tea scent as well.
the brown product lying on its side is Revlon Skinlights which belonged to Mommy Dearest before i stole it from her (heh heh) and i mix it with lotion before applying to my shins if i'm prepping for a special occasion, to give my legs a glow and distract from all the yukky chicken-skin and mozzie bites :P the pale yellow tube is Frederic Fekkai glossing cream for my super dry hair (before it turns oily after 24 hrs) and you only need a pea-sized amount for the whole head so it lasts pretty long, a good deal for USD$8.
i so regret perming my hair now cause i need like 15 mins or more just to get it ready if i need to make it look good and un-frizzy. the Sunsilk mousse works alright i guess, it's my first time using mousse but i still feel it's a tad pricey. the smell is prety yummie tho :)
Paul Mitchell has been with me since Aust (am i using expired product??) and i used it before i bought the mousse. it doesn't really have great staying power though, which might be expected as the bottle says Medium Hold, but my gripe is that the spray nozzle doesn't work well, it stays down for the first few sprays and you have to pull it up again. the smell is overwhelming and vomity! also, cause it's water-based (?) residue sticks to the bottom and the point of the nozzle, which you have to peel off evrytime before you use it. grr. now it's only for when i don't want such a bouncy look :D
the tri-wheat leave-in conditioner at the end sucks. but it's ok, cause i paid USD$3 only. i don't see any change in my hair at all after use :P
lastly, my scents! the pretty escada bottle i inherited from Mommy Dearest, i love it cause it smells like she's around when i use it, but sparingly though cause i definitely don't want to finish it. very strong scent with major overtones (?) of mango, so it's the spray-in-the-air-and-walk-through variety.
i got the tommy girl when i was 15! it stinks now but it was my favourite scent so i saved it till it went bad :( how sad! i got a red lipstick with it too but Old Man made me give it to Mommy Dearest. ARGH.
Elizabeth Arden Green Tea was an Xmas gift that Mommy Dearest got a long while back and she didn't like it so i got it! perks of being the only lala daughter in the house :DD this isn't the original bottle, actually this one was given by ...'s mom. still appreciate it a lot though :) she's such a sweetheart. this is my all-time favourite scent, although tainted with bad memories :P so i'm on the lookout for a new one.
Davidoff Cool Water has a GREAT story behind it, i signed up for TM Rewards when it first came out and after quite a while, one day, when no one was home, the phone rang. and it was from TM Rewards!! so they listed my options and i went for the DVD player which i'd been bugging Old Man to get but he just wouldn't budge, and this Davidoff for myself, since i was the one who hard-workingly went to sign up for it. thank God Mommy Dearest wasn't home, or she'd have snapped up some cooking appliance that would've gathered dust at the back of some cupboard for years. :DD well, of course i didn't tell them about it, just waited till the things got in the mail and surprised them with my lovely story! Mommy Dearest was so torn between wanting to yell at me and being amused that i'd gone behind her back and done all that :DDDD
anyway, Davidoff CW is also quite a strong scent and seems to be quite popular, i know a number of people who are in love with the smell. for some reason guys love it too ;)))))))

okay that's my haul! omg, so exhausting. if you'd like reviews of a particular cosmetic or swatches, let me know and i'll do a new post on it.

i barely blog anymore and this was an incredibly long post. hope the next one's about food! i'm cooking lunch tomorrow and the ingredients on hand are chicken pieces, cream and white wine maybe. hope he likes it!