Haul - Priceline

Hey darlings,

I have been busy with coming back to Melbourne, settling down with school and touring around Australia with the family. So I am back with more stuff to review and guess what? A video I shot yesterday. Forgive me for the long break? =D

Also, I don't know why my video was like compressed. My face looks so elongated. =.=

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener - $10.20

Nail beds getting shorter, chipping, peeling, how my nails have suffered after doing house chores. It's a simple base coat as I mentioned in the video, so hopefully this will come to my nails' rescue, for they need to grow badly.

Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish in 660 Grape - $15.95

See the chips? 

 It dries fast, but it can't handle heavy duty chores. I'm pretty sure it'll last longer if I wore gloves when doing house chores. But as far as the top speed drying, yeap, it definitely dries super fast. Give it a good 10 minutes, it'll be done in a jiffy! Also, I love the colors they had. I wish they had the silver metallic ones in the Top Speed range though. But the colors are still limited in the range, but I'm sure they'll be bringing more colors out!

OPI An Affair in Red Square - $19.95

I have been searching high and low for this color, and I finally got my hands on this baby. I will definitely show you guys the swatches as soon as I change my nail polish color from the Revlon one! I can't wait to paint my nails red with this one.

Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Blackest Black - $16.95

I have never tried Gel Liners before and I was waiting for my liquid liner to finish. So after hearing raves on gel and I finally finished my liquid, I bought this. And I must say, I now understand why people have been going mad about it. I was there were cheaper alternatives in Priceline, but I was thinking I wanted something which would give me a good experience and impression on gel liners, so I chose Maybelline. I don't think I'll be going back to liquid eyeliners for a while. =)

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in 645 Red Revival - $16.95

 Most of the lipstick packaging are starting to look quite similar, don't you think? Like I said, if I wanted to test out a new item, the first brand I would go for is Maybelline. It's affordable and their products are not too shabby. I love how the red looked on me and it had a really nice sweet smell to it. Plus, it was creamy on lips and they lasted for so long. I only had to reapply them after eating but even that, the color was still there just a little faded out. My lips didn't dry out and I felt really comfortable wearing them. Best lipstick I own, I must say. The Revlon Lip Butters are different cause they are like lip balms. Different category.

Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Liner - $8.50

First lipliner I've ever owned because I didn't see the purpose of getting one for the other colors cause they were pretty light. So since I got a red lipstick, I knew I needed a lipliner to outline and define the lips. Creamy, it doesn't pull the skin much, glides on smoothly.

Manicare Eyelash curler - $ 11.99

I didn't expect much out of this. It did it's job, curling my lashes, better than the one I previously had. It also comes with an extra refill pad.

Manicare Dual Cosmetic Sharpener - $8.99

 I bought this because the lipliner reminded me I needed one to keep it sharp. I also have a couple of NYX jumbo eye pencils that needed to be sharpened, so I got the dual hole one.

Schwarzkopf Heidi's Heat Styles Heat Protectant Spray - $6.99

Every girl probably needs one of these. To protect our hair from all that heat we put our hair through just to achieve beautiful hair. Gonna try this out when I curl my hair next time. I can't wait to use this! Will do a review on this!

So, my first video, a long post, I hope you guys enjoyed it! I've done another video, so please stay tuned!

Lots of love,
Alanna

USA Haul

Greetings once again! Back with more lovely cosmetics to share with all of you! I ordered these about two months back and I finally got all of them, so here it goes! 

First of all, hitting it off with the Wet and Wild Coloricon Eyeshadow Collection Palettes! I asked my friend to get anything she could find cause one, I was undecided about which palette to buy, two, most of them were sold out. The Collection palettes seemed to be a better choice anyway, two looks in one palette, that's good! I was honestly very excited about these babies because almost all the Youtubers had them and there was just so much hype about it. 

So I got all three palettes which are Petal Pusher (purples), Comfort Zone (browns), and Blue Had Me At Hello (blues). They all come with a double ended sponge and brush and they each cost me about RM 16, which I thought was amazingly cheap compared to the normal drugstore palettes we pay for in Malaysia. 

Let the swatches begin!

W&W 736 Petal Pusher

A-D belongs to the left column and E-H belongs to the right

A - a slight pinkish white
B - shimmery lilac
C - satiny dark purple
D - shimmery medium purple
E - sheer baby pink
F - brownish purple with pink shimmers
G - heavy dark brown undertone with red shimmers
H - black with fine glitter

W&W 738 Comfort Zone

A - very light champagne colour
B - medium satiny copper
C - shimmery copper colour
D - dark brown undertone with pink shimmers
E - satiny moccha taupe-ish
F - shimmery olive green
G - shimmery greyish brown
H - brown duochrome with slight green

W&W 737 Blue Had Me At Hello

A - shimmery pearl white
B - shimmery silver
C - black undertone with blue shimmers
D - matte-ish black (it has very very fine shimmers but it comes out mostly matte like)
E - satiny slight mint green
F - bright satiny turquoise
G - blue duochrome with grey
H - black with glitter

The colours were fairly well pigmented and it had a really nice texture, pretty impressive for a really affordable drug store cosmetic. I was just really irritated at all the 'A' colours. I didn't like the texture one bit, it was like dusty and the colour just did not turn up well, not even on my eyelids. The rest were just wonderful. Overall, I really like the palettes! I've been using a lot of the Comfort Zone palette and it's slowly working it's way up to be favourite. Nothing can beat my Urban Decay Naked Palette though.

Next up, Benefit products! I don't think we need an introduction over here. I got Pore-fessional and That Gal, two of the best selling items within the brand. I know we have Benefit in Malaysia but I didn't want to get them over here cause I could get it for a cheaper price in US. I paid US$29 (RM 96) for each of the products instead of RM 129.

The picture says it all. It minimizes the appearance of your pores. So say hello to flawless complexion! A small bit goes a long way so I don't use much. I only use them on certain areas anyway like the nose and the inner cheeks where my pores are most horrible looking. I pat them on and blend them. It has a very nice matte feeling and it keeps the oil control, which I love!

It's a brightening face primer. I first tried this in Melbourne. The Benefit salesgirl insisted on putting this on me and well, it was free so, what the heck. Ever since then, I just knew I had to get it. It brightened the whole face up and it acts as a primer. You can wear it alone or under your make up or over your make up! This is beautiful! I don't regret purchasing this at all. It keeps the oil controlled as well!

My final products for today are my Tarte Amazonian Clay Long-wear Blush. I first saw this on FrmHeadToToe, Jen was just going on about this blush and how amazed she was at this, you can check out her haul video here. I was looking for new and natural looking blushes anyway, so since my friend was there I got two blushes! One in Tipsy and another in Exposed. Both US$25 (RM 83) each, yes pricy I know. But honestly, I don't know if I was somehow influenced by Jen but honestly, ONE OF THE BEST BLUSHES I'VE EVER OWNED.

Tipsy and Exposed

Tipsy and Exposed

Tipsy is a very coral pinkish colour, perfect for spring or summer looks. It has that nice, well, tipsy colour. Exposed is a very natural colour, good for natural looks to give the cheeks a nice glow or a light tan. Both colours are matte, which I prefer because it just looks more natural in the daytime. The blushes are supposedly to last for 12 hours. I didn't test it for THAT long but I will say that they do last throughout my day. My favourite one is Exposed and I think it's going to be pretty difficult to put it down to use other blushers cause it just looks so natural and healthy. Favourite blush of all time, hands down.

So I hoped you like the post! I'll be back with more items to come.


Toodles with love,
Alanna

Essential hair serum

Greetings lovelies! Here, I'm going to introduce my face and being it the first time, I have no make up on me! And also, forgive my camwhoring skills for I have none and thus hopefully, making improvements on them! 

So, a friend of mine introduced this product to me and she's told me all the wonderful things about this product and I decided to test it out. I'm going to introduce a hair product I've been using over a year now. It has helped me out with my frizzy hair and made it more manageable. I am in love with this product. After a year of experience and tests, I think it's high time I let you know what transformed my hair . 

New packaging

The brand is Essential but this product is called Rich Premier Hair Essence. It's a japanese product and it's under the Kao company. They've produced Liese, Asience and Biore, so Essential is just another line but it's not available in Malaysia unfortunately. You can purchase it in any of the Watson's store in Singapore, or order it online at Sasa.com. I bought mine in Singapore for S$9.90 or S$10.90, I can't really remember. I bought the entire Hair Care line actually, the shampoo, conditioner and the hair mask, but I will do more reviews on that later. Just want to concentrate on this one first!

After washing my hair, my hair is still a little messy when it dries. You can usually use the hair essence when your hair is still wet or after it dries, I prefer to use it when it dries. 

See how frizzy and messy it is? That's my hair even after I comb it. Ah, I don't feel good if my hair sticks out everywhere! 

So I usually take about 3 to 4 pumps of the hair essence and I evenly spread it out on my palms and comb it through my hair, concentrating on the last 15cm. Compared to the previous leave on conditioners I've tested the past years, the texture of this product is creamier and thicker and more concentrated. It contains High Purity Honey Oil and cuticle repair essence, so it coats the hair cuticles leaving it super soft and shiny, making it look healthy! 

Scruch it up!

Make sure you use up all the product on your hand, don't waste the goodness of it! 

AHHH! My hair looks much much better now doesn't it? It's neater, more manageable and it looks pretty good without me needing to style it. I've been using the product for over a year now, so I don't think I can find a better replacement for now. I've tried others as well during the year but I somehow just come back to this cause I can use it anywhere and anytime! You can check the Kao website for more technical details if I haven't really convinced you enough. =D 

That's all for now! I'll talk to you guys next time. 

Toodles with love, 

Alanna

Christmas and New Years Haul

Greetings once again! I haven't been blogging because I was waiting for (some of) my purchases to arrive from the USA!!! It's just a haul post not a review because I just got them a few days ago, so I'm testing them out before I give them a full review. I will do swatches though! =D

First parcel I got was from Peripera cosmetics. I only heard about this brand from Saaamage on Youtube (check her out, she's wonderful!) and I decided to give it a shot since I've been venturing into asian branded cosmetics. Peripera is a Korean brand but it ships worldwide, so you can check them out! 

They packed it up so nicely with bubble wrap and the sponges so all my items arrived in perfect condition. 

I decided to get 2 lipsticks from the My Color Lipstick collection and 2 nail polishes from Rose Nail Polish (Limited Edition) as they were both on sale. The lipsticks were going for US$21 each (RM 65 each) and the nail polishes each for US$6.95 (RM 21.50). 

I loved the lipsticks when I saw them. The intricate detail on the cover and the bullet casing really impressed me. Pretty ain't it?

So I got two lipsticks, one in 13 Mandarin Orange and another in 15 Sweet Apricot. They were the Hot selling items on the website, so I decided to give it a go. I have been looking for an orange lip colour. I know some of you might cringe at the idea of orange on the lips, but I plan to tone it down using a lipgloss so it doesn't look too orange. And it's a summer colour, which Malaysia is always in that season. The apricot pink is a nice pinkish closing to coral colour which hopefully would not clash with my skin tone. Hopefully, we'll see in time.

Mandarin Orange

Apricot Pink

I've swatched them here. It's really creamy and it glided quite smoothly on my hands. And I must say the colours were quite pigmented. It is supposed to give a plump effect on your lips and leave it moisturized. I quite like it though, but we'll see how it goes on the lips. 

Swatches: Apricot Pink and Mandarin Orange

 Next up, the nail polishes! Pretty bottle with a long handle with floral detail as well! With a long handle, I guess it's easier to hold and easier to control the amount of nail polish on your nails. Got one in PK109 Modern Pink Classic and another in PP109 Mod Wine.

Mod Wine

Modern Pink Classic

 So I tried it on my nails and I loved how it turned out. The pictures below are the swatches I did on my nails with just one coat. One coat! The color was vivid and apparently it's supposed to last a week without chipping.

 The pink is a soft nude-ish colour which surprisingly looks really really pretty. I usually avoid pastel colours because it clashes with my skin tone making it look really dark and well, it ain't pretty let's put it that way. This pink was just right. It is feminine and it just looks really good. I think this would be my new favourite pastel nail polish.

Sorry for the horrible nail polish application, I was in a rush when I shot this picture. =S Anyway, also with one coat and I managed to make my nail look opaque. It is really gorgeous this colour! I love dark colours anyway and this is another pastel colour which I could really learn to love!

That pretty much ends my Peripera haul. Moving onto the a nail polish I got from a friend of mine who was so thoughtful to get me this La senza Ooh La Nails nail polish from Singapore. I didn't know they sold nail polishes in the first place. I have no idea what colour it is called but oh my my IT IS GORGEOUS! Super hot metallic pink colour which I think it's super adorable! It just screams fun, carefree and hot! Also a little sheer but I think one coat should suffice for the nail. It is really gorgeous. I was surprised that it glided on easy on the nail and the colour was just really tantalizing. I would really recommend those of you who can purchase this item, DO SO!

Next up, a Christmas present from a dear cousin of mine! Gosh, family members do know me well. =) He got me a Kate Reflect Mirror Eyes in this ice blue colour. I don't know the name cause everything is in Japanese. Kate is actually a Kanebo product and I previously owned another earth coloured Kate palette but I gave it to my mom when I got the Naked palette.

So it comes in three colours, ice blue (a shimmery light blue), white (shimmery white) and gray (shimmery as well). The ice blue would be the main eyelid colour with the white on the inner eyelids and gray to finish it off by conturing the eyes sockets below the brow bone or by lining the lashline.

It wasn't as pigmented as I would like it to be when I swatched the colours on my hand. I had to layer it a couple of times because I could get the colour to show up. The blue and gray was ok for me, I liked the colours but the qhite not so. I would probably use another colour instead of the white. It wasn't consistent and it kept falling out and I just didn't like it.  It doesn't even stay on for long, so the white I'm not happy with it. The other two colours, yes, I would love to use them. This shadow palette goes for RM 52 in Sasa.

I know I'm late in the game but what can I do when I don't have the opportunity to buy them in drugstores at such a cheap price. It's not even available in Malaysia so I just got them off eBay (the power of internet!). The Revlon Lip Butters have been such a craze on youtube and I heard so much about them and it got me excited so I decided to just get them.

I got them in 075 Lollipop, 090 Sweet Tart, 050 Berry Smoothie and 015 Tutti Frutti.

Lollipop is a really sweet pink colour, close to NYX LSS 640 Fig when I swatched it. It cost me $13.99 (RM 43.36).

Lollipop

 Sweet Tart and Berry Smoothie were almost the same colours when I swatched it on my hand although the sticks were really different. There is a subtle difference but you can really tell the difference when you intensify the colour on the lips. Sweet tart cost me US$ 16.99 (RM 52.67) while Berry Smoothie was US$14.99 (RM 46.47). The prices ranged, I think due to the popularity of the colours.

Sweet Tart

Berry Smoothie

 Tutti Frutti is yet another orange colour that I'm interested to test out. This would probably be lighter than the Peripera Mandarin Orange because this is a lip butter so I don't think it would probably be as bright as the Mandarin Orange. It cost me US$ 11.99 (RM 37.17), the cheapest among the 4. Not so popular I guess because it is orange.

Tutti Frutti

Swatches (L-R): Lollipop, Sweet Tart, Berry Smoothie and Tutti Frutti

 I liked how it felt on my hands. It glided on smoothly and bear in mind that the swatches I did was only one coat. So pigmented, I like! I think they would really be my favourite lip colours to use. I still have to test them!

The last product I bought from Guardian was the Revlon Color Burst Lipstick in 012 Cherry Ice. It's a new colour from Revlon and I've been looking for a really nice hot pink lipstick which isn't too bright. And this was exactly what I was looking for. I initially saw this colour in Target in Melbourne but I didn't have the time to go back to get it so instead I got it here! It was RM 37.90 if I'm not mistaken.

The reason why I was searching for this particular colour was because I saw Blair on Gossip Girl wearing it in one of the episodes in Season 5. It looked so gorgeous on her. It wasn't red but it wasn't really pink, it was just somewhere in between and it had glitter so it really looked fantastic on her.

I know it looks really red and it might scare some of you but when I swatched it, it was just a nice subtle hot pink with shimmers on it. I would say the colour was be a close dupe to MAC's Glitter and Ice Dazzleglass in Love Alert. The colour was gorgeous however I was disappointed with it. The lipgloss was just too sticky for my liking and I found it so uncomfortable to wear it. So when I found the Cherry Ice, I knew I had to get it. In addition, it was lipstick so it would last longer rather than lipgloss. It was easy to put on my lips and the colour looked great!

Cherry Ice swatch

 I hope you've enjoyed my Christmas and New Years haul! There are more products coming and I've yet to give a full proper review on all of these products, so stay in tune! Happy New Year people!


Toodles with love,
Alanna