USA hauls

A few friends have been asking me the amount of make up items I hauled during my USA trip and my honest opinion is 'not much'. I left most of my make up shopping to my last stop in San Francisco which is a huge mistake. I don't see any Sephora and the brands that I was keen to get stuffs from such as Tom Ford has only perfumes and lipsticks. Not to mention that the 8.75% of refundable tax is quite a put off so.......

Other than Frivole which I purchased from San Francisco Airport, below are the make up hauls I got from airport and drugstores. The variety of drugstore brands such as Revlon, Covergirl, Maybelline etc is really good there. The range of shades available just made me green with envy.

A memento for my USA trip, I decided to get some Pandora charms for my bangle. Added a Statue of Liberty charm (representing USA) and 2 flower clippers so that the charms will not go all over the place when I wear it.

As I got the job offer that I wanted towards the end of this trip, I decided to splurge on myself by getting a Hermes clic clac in white. So in love with this baby, simple and chic! I heard that Singapore is retailing this at about S$1k and I paid US$610 at San Francisco airport. That's really some savings there.

A lot of other stuffs were bought in Las Vegas premium outlets, and miscellaneous places such as M&M's World and the stuffs are here inside my messy luggage. Don't worry peeps, I finally got down to unpacking it last weekend after 3 weeks. Lol!!

Make Up For Ever Blue Sepia Palette

I'll be honest with you when it comes to eye makeup, I am NOT adventurous. I work in an environment whereby 60% of the ladies do not even apply makeup. Thus, I always tend to tone down on what I am putting on my face so as to not bring attention to myself. However for ladies who like your neutrals and also the flexibility to kick some ass, do take a look at Make Up For Ever Blue Sepia Palette.

What would Blue Sepia palette be without a blue shade?? You can see a nice dark turquoise blue right in the middle of this palette.

 

Swatches below:-

I'll be honest, I do not think this palette have the best texture (once again Burberry and Urban Decay beats hands down). The black shade especially feels the driest. BUT I love using this shade as a eyeliner. If you are like me having mono-lids and like non-defined eyeliners sometimes, this shade is perfect. It can almost give you that subtle smokey look.

Pigmentation of Blue Sepia palette lives up to MUFE's name. I have tried using it with and without primer and both works fine. The colours come out stronger with my Too Faced Shadow Insurance and without any primer, it stays on fine and fading off lightly after approximately 4 hours of wear. Jacq did a few looks using this palette which looks amazing, do check it out. :)

I'm not sure if Sephora still carry stocks for this palette but for ladies who are keen, MUFE Blue Sepia palette is retailing at $75. 

Chanel Joues Contraste Blush in Frivole

Chanel's Joues Contraste Blush has been available in 2 formulas: US pressed version vs rest of the world baked version. When I head off to USA for my holiday, I was excited thinking that I finally get to purchase the US pressed version. However, I made the classic mistake of being a cheapo. Considering the non tax refund policy in San Francisco, I decided to make my purchase at the airport so that I need not pay the sales tax. BIG MISTAKE....... they only have the baked version at the airport!!!! %##%*()_ Anyways...... I decided to get Frivole nonetheless as I have been thinking about it for the longest time. -_-

Frivole is a nice orangey blush which I find flattering for most ladies. It is a nice switch away from pink blushes.

The blush looks lighter in the pan but colour intensity is buildable from the swatch below.

From left to right: Heavily swatched, blended

I made the mistake of going heavy handed the first time I used it as I was 'deceived' by the colour when  I look at the pan. My suggestion is to go light and slowly build the colour intensity till desired. :)

NARS Rikugien Satin Lip Pencil

After the purchase of my first NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park, I knew I need more of these lip pencils because the pigmentation and formula is just amazing. Since I have got a deep red shade from Hyde Park, I decided to get a neutral shade this time round and it's Rikugien.

Rikugien is a muted rose shade which looks almost neutral on my dark toned lips. I love how it makes my lips look natural but better when I want something that doesn't scream attention.

Upon close examination, I thought it look pretty close to another favourite shade of mine from NARS, Dolce Vita. So here I am comparing the swatch of Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien and Sheer Lipstick in Dolce Vita.

Top: Dolce Vita, Bottom: Rikugien

I find both shades close but not exactly the same as Rikugien has a more pinkish tone.

I'm not sure about you but here I am thinking what to get for my third Satin Lip Pencil! (opppsss...... drawer full of lip products staring right back at me -_-)

My long awaited USA trip

Hello peeps! So sorry for the long long silence. I have been away for a holiday to USA (yeah!!) and was also busy settling stuffs on my upcoming new job and minor renovation stuffs at home. But I'm back now and sure will pick up my blogging momentum once again.

Let's talk a bit about my trip, shall we? :) Me and BC have been talking about going for a holiday to USA for the longest time and it has never materialise. Finally this year, we managed to block out our calender, apply our leave away from work and book this holiday. Our holiday destination is none other than the popular Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco. :) I shall leave you with some of my favourite pictures from this trip for your viewing pleasure.

Morning in downtown LA

MacDonald's egg white mcmuffin. Singapore should have this!

Forest Gump at Madame Tussauds

Moses!

You cannot miss this view!

Santa Monica Beach

Hoover Dam (taken during helicopter ride to Grand Canyon)

Amazing landscape

Finally reached Grand Canyon

Las Vegas shopping strip

You cannot miss Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

I have truly enjoyed myself during this trip (except for the 17 hours flight) which gives me butt and back ache. As both me and BC don't drive, we do not have the privilege of renting a car and driving around. We rely mainly on hop on hop off passes and cabs. We have met extremely nice and friendly drivers who gave us tips on where to go to get good deals and also had fair share of terrible drivers who  asked for more tips or even gave us a disgusting look when they feel the tips we gave is not good enough. Well, I'm on holiday so who gives a s**t about them, LOL.

I strongly recommending checking out The Cheesecake Factory, IHOP (International House of Pancakes) and Fisherman's Wharf. The food are amazing and the thought of thinking of them just makes me hungry once again.

My only regret from this trip is that our tour to Alcatraz Island was cancelled due to the US government shut down. I was really looking forward to it and dammit..... it was called off. :(

Would I go back again? You bet but probably not until a few years later. My next destination has got to be Europe or London first! :)