First of all: an advise to those who happen to put their hands on a bigger chunk of money: Stay away from the internet!!! And most of all: online stores!
In the timespan of 3 months I spent over 2.000 dollars (I haven't counted every single stuff I bought, and to tell the truth, I'm afraid of to do so). That's incredibly much money, and for many-many people too, so I promise to review everything. Sooner or later, that is. *cough*looks away*
It's more than enough to know that all those things you see in the below photo costed a bit more than 1.300 USD! Holy shit! I tried to gather only stuffs I bought in December-January, but some February things got in the picture too.
(sorry quality is not the clearest in full size either, lighting sucks in my bedroom at night. to have a bit of idea of what's in the picture take a look at the tags)
Many of it came in that huge box, with the My American Shipper parcel forwarding service, so sorry for the mess :)
BTW, My American Shipper is my first experience of mail forwarding services. You know when online stores don't ship outside the US became terribly annoying? Or they set such high fees for international shipping that a trip to the Moon is cheaper.
Few words of My American Shipper:
-shipping fees are not so high like with other services
-first time you ship, the final rate you'll get is decreased by 35%
-they provide pictures of your incoming mails for free
-they send notifying emails when your orders arrive to their storage (however, after my 4th or 5th incoming box they gave up on me and I had to check to see if my stuffs arrived to them)
-customer service is good
-I didn't have to fill in the 1583 form since My American Shipper does not provide mail forwarding service and I'm sooo grateful for it, coz 1583 form is such a pain in the butt ( I don wanna go to the US consulate just for this!)
-they consolidate your packages (but before they are done with it you won't know how much you'll pay, coz they register only the incoming weight and that's a looooot more than what they'll actually ship out)
-they store your things for 45 days
-they are located in the state California, so you'll have to pay sales tax when paying for your orders
-no sign up fee
So, the above makeup and skin care stuffs were bought from either official brand stores, sasa, cherry culture, Gilt, Adambeauty, etc. Some were picked up at duty-free and some I bought on ebay.
You saw it right, Sasa.com! I had another "who's-the-scam-here" round with them, and this time I succeded to get them to change the payment from credit card to Paypal before they cancelled my order altogether....only for the sake of the Lancome Visionnaire cream. God, I'm so happy I didn't give up! *.* I tell you, Visionnaire is the Holy Grail! I can't live without it!
Finally! I own Making faces by Kevin Aucoin! bwahahahahhaha So cool! Thank you Gilt! I love you! *.*
And to review something, that became my HG foundation and picked up in Istambul, in the duty-free: Kanebo Sensai Fluid Finish
Color is FF202 Soft Beige
Description: "Deeply moisturising foundation with 55% water content. Sheathes the skin in a delicate veil of moisture to provide daylong hydration while imparting a silky, healthy-looking sheen to the surface. Apply sparingly over make-up base after double moisturising.
Foundation shades may differ depending on region."
Has SPF15 and holds 30ml of product, which seems less than other 30ml foundations....I'm already at the bottom, after 2,5 months! With other foundations a half year isn't enough to finish them!
If I remember correctly than it was 35 EUR, so not the cheapest foundation ever, but damn, this is on a whole different leven than the average foundations! Totally worth the money!
If I remember correctly than it was 35 EUR, so not the cheapest foundation ever, but damn, this is on a whole different leven than the average foundations! Totally worth the money!
I love the bottle, so smooooooth! *.* The pump head works fine, you can control the amount of foundation to come out....if you push it carefully. If you're in a hurry, push it fast and hard, and the cap thinks otherwise, you might get foundation on your dress in stead of your brush! HAHA
The coverage is medium to full. The sparing application aids you with a medium coverage that looks super natural, and if you add a bit more, you'll get a natural looking almost/or total full coverage. Some seriously red acnes will break through in color eventually screaming for extra concealer, but this foundation in itself covers 85-90% of discoloration.
Click for the full size if you'd like to see the ingredients.
I love how it does not oxidize over time, or fade. It does hydrate my skin, but not causes my oily T-zone to work on overload making me an oil factory. The oily parts won't become dry deserts, but stay on the moderately oily side.
Did I mention that it has a super natural finish? No mask-like feature and I can't feel it on my skin either
For color sampling, the above pic is without flash. On the left side the foundation is blended a bit, but not entirely, so you can see the edges.
The below pic is with flash.
And now, something I've never done before, and I don't think it'll make a usual spot for this blog in the future:
..........
*drumroll*
..........
bare face
..........
holy shit!!!!
Comparison photo:
left side is with Sensai Fluid Finish and concealer
right side is totally bare face, nothing used but skincare
horror movie! XD Let me tell you, that darkness around the eyes is quite lightened now!^^ Add to this 365167356253682138615 shades more of black and double it, that is the original horrible darkness I sport around my eyes! HAHA
BTW, sorry for the hair, it was half-dried at the time of the shot!
And this is the finished FOTD
Without flash on the left and with flash on the right.
Okay, this isn't the same angle, but I made the collage from this set of photos coz I wanted to show the blush too. >.<
And here are the things I used (click for better quality):
Face:
Sensai Fluid Finish foundation
Pixi concealer palette
L'Oreal Studio Secrets primer
Scott Barnes Loose Powder (translucent) (review here)
Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki brush
Clé de Peau contour brush
Cheeks:
MAC blush (Vintage grape) (beats me which LE it was, but I missed it at the time)
BH Cosmetics Contour & Blush 6 color palette
e.l.f. Blush brush
Sigma P84 Precision Angled brush (review here, not shown on the photo)
Eyes:
NYX HD Eyeshadow Base
NYX Nude on Nude palette (used shades are marked with X) (Hello UD Nude-mania~)
Make Up For Ever Waterproof Eyerow Corrector (color is 0, not shown on the photo)
Shiseido small angled brush (for eyebrown, not shown on the photo)
Etude House C brush
e.l.f. C brush
e.l.f. contour brush
e.l.f. small precision brush
Sigma E40 Tapered Blending brush (review here)
Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash mascara
Lips:
MAC Lipglass (Rich & Witty)
