Chinese New Year Makeup Tutorial｜Break Conventional Norm With An Avant Garde Spin

Finding my mom preparing Laba Garlic (腊八蒜) is a definite sign that Chinese New Year is approaching. This is probably the most important and celebrated holiday for my family. And nothing is better than a colorful makeup look to honor this special occasion, which truly brings back lots of childhood memory.

Products used,

1. NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil (604 Milk)
2. Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner (Black)
3. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil (Zero)
4. Ben Nye Lumiere Grande Color Palette
5. Wet N Wild Eyeshadow Collection (737 Blue Had Me At Hello)

To prevent fallout, prep the eyelid with a white or nude cream base or primer.

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Drew Barrymore Flower Beauty Lip Service Lip Butter｜The Upgraded Version of My Lips But Better

As I'm typing this review, a trip to my local Wal-Mart store is already on my schedule, so I can pick up more products from the new Flower Beauty created by Drew Barrymore. Yes! That's how much I'm loving this new line. Following my wonderful experience with the Beauty Balm BB Cream, I'm moving onto the Lip Service Lip Butter ($6.98 for 0.12 OZ/3.5g) in LB4 Princess & the Peony.

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Drew Barrymore Flower Beauty Balm BB Cream｜Not Just Another Glorified Tinted Moisturizer

It doesn't take a beauty fanatic to notice the recent influx of BB creams on the market. Walk into your local drugstores, randomly select a beauty brand, chances are you'll find some items labeled with the term BB Cream. However, most of them are not the BB cream that you expect (or at least for some of us). 

I'm a huge fan of BB creams and have been using them for the past few years. The upsetting reality is that most BB creams from Western brands are not really BB creams, which are suppose to provide flawless but natural skin finish. Personally, they seem more like glorified tinted moisturizers. I'm not saying that they are all horrible products, but a few brands sure look like that they just repackaged their regular tinted moisturizers because all their competitors are marketing BB creams.

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Sneak Peek｜The New Drew Barrymore Flower Beauty Launch Exclusively At Walmart

The latest beauty buzz in the blogosphere is the much anticipated cosmetic brand Flower created by the lovely actress Drew Barrymore. This monster collection of 181 pieces is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and carries budget friendly price tags. It's now available on Walmart.com as well as in stores. I have high expectations for this launch and grabbed 3 products.

• Beauty Balm BB Cream (BB2 Shade 2)
• Lip Service Lip Butter (LB4 Princess & the Peony)
• Petite Fleurs Pocket Triplet Eye Shadow (PF9 Shade 9)

Unfortunately, the eye shadow came damaged all thanks to Wal-Mart's lackluster packaging.
 

I'm going to give these a try and post up detailed reviews soon.

Did you purchase anything from this new brand? If you have seen the actual products, what do you feel about the packaging? Personally, I find it a bit cheap. Share your thoughts in the comments.

Angela

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Urban Decay The Fun Palette｜The Makeup Version of An Aquatic Wonderland

Beach, ocean, and bikini? Oh yes summer can be enjoyed all year long with the Urban Decay The Fun Palette. This limited edition palette carries 6 vibrant eyeshadow colors and a mini Lip Junkie Lip Gloss.

This is part of Urban Decay's recent release of its themed limited edition palettes, and "the fun one" really stands out to me because of its vivid and bold colors.

The glittery turquoise case and the golden zipper are the ultimate glamour. It's bigger than my iPhone 4S but can still be hold in one hand. Inside, you will find 6 amazing eyeshadows along with a travel size lip gloss.

• Deep End (Eyeshadow): bright teal
• Fishnet (Eyeshadow): bright pink with purple undertone
• Freakshow (Eyeshadow): deep royal purple
• Maui Wowie (Eyeshadow): metallic gold with silver glitter
• Stray Dog (Eyeshadow): metallic ash brown
• Sellout (Eyeshadow): pink champagne
• Midnight Cowboy (Lip Gloss): sheer nude with sparkle

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Girls' Generation Sunny I Got A Boy Inspired Makeup Tutorial｜Rockin That Royal Blue

As promised to you, I'm rolling out another makeup tutorial inspired by the look worn by the beautiful Sunny in her promotional images for the new album I Got A Boy from Girls' Generation (소녀시대). Unfortunately, I don't own a pair of blue circle lenses, so I opted for my blue colored lenses from FreshLook. I don't recommend this brand (it'll probably be another post entirely on how much I dislike these color lenses), but it gets the effect that I want.

It's an intense look that we don't often find on Sunny, but I think it suites her blonde hair quite well.

Products I used,

1. Castledew Diacut Eyes (#901 Planet Diamond)
2. Lunasol Ocean Scene Eyes Quad (EX02 Vacation Ocean)
3. Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette (Beethoven)
4. Laura Mercier Eye Basics (Wheat)

STEP 1: Prep your eyelids with a shadow primer or a nude cream base.

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How To Achieve The Bitten Lips In 5 Minutes

If you follow beauty trends in Asia recently, you've probably been bombarded with bloggers (and everyone else) talking about the "Bitten Lips". It's nothing new but a revamped makeup look that took over many Asian countries in a storm. And it's all thanks to the beautiful Korean actress Yoon Eun Hye (윤은혜) who sports her now famous "Bitten Lips" look in her on-air drama I Miss You (보고싶다). 

And the craze certainly didn't stop when people found out the brand behind her signature pink lips because the same colored lipstick is now sold out in most Shu Uemura counters. However, it's extremely easy to achieve her sexy lips with a few simple and still widely available products.

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Urban Decay Naked Nail Set｜Inspired By The Cult Favorite Shadow Collection

I've wondered more than once if Urban Decay will continue to launch only shadow palettes in its now industry renowned Naked collection, and the answer is quite obvious a No. Joining its Naked craze, the trend-setting brand has recently released the Naked Nail Set, which includes 6 beautiful shades based on some of its most sought-after eyeshadow colors.

The kit comes in a sturdy foam box, which is great to store the polishes in. However, I do have to complain about this packaging because it's extremely difficult to get the bottles out as they are somewhat "stuck" in the container. I had to actually use a knife and "pop" each polish out.

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Sales and Deals｜Bloom.com Store Closing 60% Off of All Purchases

Just a quick note that if you are searching for some great deals, head over to Bloom.com for its biggest sale. Bloom.com will soon be closing its online shop and focus solely on building the largest social beauty site. Until then, it's currently offering 60% off of all products.

• Use code NEWYEAR60 for 60% off on all purchases.
• Free shipping for $49 and more orders.
• $5.95 ground shipping for orders less than $49.

A lot of stuff are sold out now, but I was still able to find some great deals.

Angela 

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Ciaté Sequined Manicure Kit｜Create Extravagant Nail Art In Under 10 Minutes

By now, you've probably heard mixed reviews of Ciaté products. I've seen bloggers raving about them, but there are also girls out there who just absolutely hated these so called revolutionary nail arts. For myself, I'm somewhere in between, so I've decided to try out other kits from the UK beauty brand to see what I really think about their products. I've already reviewed the Ciaté Caviar Manicure kit, which you can read the full review here. Today, I'll be showing you how I created an gorgeous nail art using the Ciaté Sequined Manicure Kit and as well as a full review on the set.

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My Favorite Makeup, Hair, and Bath and Body Products of 2012

This is the second part of my favorite beauty products of 2012, which sums up some of the best makeup, hair, and bath and body products that I've experienced. You can read about part 1 here.

BeautyMaker is a cosmetic brand created by famous Taiwanese makeup artist Kevin and offers high quality beauty products at inexpensive prices. My favorite product from the brand is the Aqua Eye Concealer. With a creamy texture and high coverage, this is a great and long lasting under eye concealer.

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My Favorite Skincare Products of 2012

As we celebrate and look forward to another wonderful year, we can't help but to look back at 2012, which personally for me, is a year full of adventures. I've made some of the biggest decisions in my life and of course, I also started blogging. To commemorate such a memorable year, I want to showcase some of my favorite beauty products that have accompanied me through the ups and downs.

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