Essence 31 Electriiic & so much glitter

Greek / Ελληνικά

We're nearing the end of the summer and the song I'm starting today's post with has that end-of-the-holidays feel for me. I am not a summer person, but this end-of-season melancholy is almost palpable.

It ‘s been quite some time since I did a mani that was more full on and I really feel I went to town with this one: stamping, glitter placement, making straight lines with striping tape. The base on most nails is Essence 31 Electriiic , a beautiful blue crelly polish, stamping and the pinky were done with Models Own - Chrome Rose Gold and the glitter polish I used is 105 from the Innisfree star collection and it has so many different kinds of glitter particles in: medium, tiny,square, hexagonal, rectangular, gold, rose gold and white. Picking particles from it to do the thumb and pinky designs was not easy. The stamping plate I used on my pointer finger is Bundle Monster 201.

XxX

Elysse

 

 

Eye shadows Assemble: Putting together my own palettes

And how did I manage it without them taking up too much space? I had them in palette! 

Greek / Ελληνικά

Ever since I started using Japanese cosmetics I got hooked on de-potting them and making my own eye shadow and blusher palettes. You see all Japanese cosmetics have a tiny pinhole at the back (sometimes under the ingredients list sticker) that makes de-potting and placing them in palettes super easy. Keeping them all together like that I get to use all of them more often without forgetting I have any of them. Plus I also get to have a personalised palette that suits my needs and preferences.

my blusher palette (Shu Uemura &RMK)

A while ago I reviewed the Elixir - All in One Face-book palette and as I didn’t like the packaging, I decided to de-pot it. I ordered a couple of non-magnetised empty palettes from ebay. I have been using a palette like this for years for my blushers so I know they are actually pretty sturdy.

This is how the palettes arrived, each in an individual plastic pack. They come with a few empty pans in a spongy case. The pans are easy to remove since they are not glued on. These particular ones are the size of MAC blushers, but they do have them in eyeshadow size as well. The spongy separator was glued to the palette. I soaked it really well with some rubbing alcohol, set it aside for a while, and after a couple of hours it came off with minimal effort. In the picture you can see the marks left from the alcohol, but they are not permanent. As soon as I washed it it was fine.

As for the Allin One Face-book palette, it was easy to separate the two cardboard parts, but then the eye shadow pans had to be removed carefully cause they were glued on. The only one I cracked a little was my favourite teal, just my luck! I used some more rubbing alcohol to remove any traces of glue from the back of the pans and then I started placing them in the palette to see how I would fit them all in. 

As you can see, I could fit in all of the eye shadows, the eye brow creams and powders and then some more. In the end though I decided to put the blues separately in a different palette since I don’t really like wearing blue and instead I put some Japanese eye shadows and a few from a Wet and Wild palette I had gotten, but never really liked enough to review. When I finished the placement, I took them all out again, put some double sided sticky tape in the palette, placed them in the order I had chosen and now they are much easier to store and take with me.

Assembling an eye shadow palette may seem a bit consuming, but I find it much more practical for everyday purposes.

XxX

Fantastic Baby!

Ελληνικά /  Greek

Another one from the vault, one inspired by the many fantastic visuals of the Big Bang "Fantastic Baby" video. I wasn't that keen on the music when I first saw it as kpop is not really my thing, but the style was out of this world. 

Let's see if I can remember all the colours I used for this.
Index

A-England - King Arthur (base), Camelot (black) and Stargazer - 232 (silver) stamping with at least one Βundle monster plate.

Middle

The dark base is Galahad by A-England, the thin shiny stripe is Le chat CM - Ashy Green, the tiny triangle is by a greek brand called Erre Due and I suspect the thick stripe is For Audrey by China Glaze. 

I am not even going to attempt the ring finger though I recognise a couple
Little finger (not Petyr Baelish)
Etude House (white), A-England - Camelot and Seventeen 533.

The video follows, but if you're not used to kpop , listen at your own peril!
That's it from me and T.O.P.

xxx
Elysse

Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss: A Merry Bunny Return!

Greek/Ελληνικά

Dear readers,

I am so glad to be back from my long hiatus. I'm not going to blab about it , suffice to say life is a bit smoother now and I can resume posting regularly. Thank you to those of you who remained here and to those who sent me messages enquiring about my health. You are all such lovely people and I have been so excited all day today with the thought of writing and being part of the community again. I  have so many products, beauty secrets and ideas to share with you! Here it goes then... 

I thought I'd make a fun start with these little guys cause they crack me up every time I look at their faces. It's not often that you find cosmetics in the shape of anthropomorphic bunnies, therefore, it was almost obligatory to take the above picture with them looking like a gang of bandits. It's not the only reason I love the Tony Moly Petite Bunny Glosses though. They are actually really nice!

The ones I have at the minute are #3 Juicy Apple, #4 Juicy Cherry, #6 Juicy Orange, #7 Neon Orange and #8 Neon Yellow. 

According to thecompany's description they:

• soften dead skin cells with strawberry essence. It is actually mentioned as 'saving you from the embarrassment of lines on the lips' (I am assuming they mean dry lips), there's nothing quite like shaming you into buying a product, right?
• moisturise, smooth and soften your lips as they contain berry and grape essence,
• give you shiny lips with a smooth colour ,
• are rich in proteins that form a barrier to prevent moisture from escaping.
• give a strong colour to your lips that doesn't fade easily.

This is how they arrive, with the little sticker where you can see their number;

they are full to the brim;

and this is what 2 grammes of this product look like.

And here's my thoughts on these little cuties:

• They are wonderful little balms and they do soften the lips.
• As with all balmy products they do tend to disappear after a few hours so you will need to re-apply during the day. Their cute shape makes reapplication a more fun experience.
• They all have a slight fruity smell and taste, but not all have the same. None of them are too strong though.
• The colours are not too strong, they are perfect for day wear or when you want something almost natural.My lips are quite pigmented so I am very happy with them.
•  #3,#4 and #6 have a balmier texture, while #7 and #8 are glossier.
• #8 is one of those colour changing lip balms that are all the rage in Korea. In the tube it looks yellow, but when it's on, it turns to a lovely soft peach. It's also the glossiest of the lot.
• #4 is the least pigmented. You need to apply it a few times to show
• #6 is the most pigmented and least glossy one. 

I've also swatched them for you. On the left I've swiped them once and on the right I've swiped them enough for the colour to become apparent. 

Shade (sunny)

Direct sunlight

And here is a picture of all of them. I got all of them on ebay and I am contemplating getting #5 and #9 just so I can have a couple of happy looking ones!

All in all, I think I am going to enjoy using them all spring and summer long!

XxX

Elysse
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Dotting tool fun with Etude VIP Girl polishes

Greek/ Ελληνικά

The seventh challenge in the Summer Challenge is Dotting Tool Summer Fun and fun I had. I really enjoyed making something this colourful. I don't usually use this many bright colours, but I really felt like making something cheerful today so out came my dotting tools along with the VIP Girl collection from Etude House and this is what I made!

Here is the full collection. Aren't they the cutest? From left to right they are: YL802, GR605, PK011, BL505 and PK012. 

XX

Tangerine Summer with RMK

Greek/Ελληνικά

By now I think we've all gotten enough of the Pantone colour for this summer, Tangerine Tango, in all sorts of products and -most prominently- lip colours. I can't say I've taken part in the tangerine madness and it's all due to these two products which I've been using non-stop for the past two summers and will be using for this one, too.

RMK Gloss Lips N CL-02 Clear Orange is the only lipgloss that's ever won my heart. I am a lipstick girl through and through and, yes, I did manage to spent all of the 00s without becoming enamoured to lipgloss; CL-02 is just this special and different. It's not sticky and it's not icky in the way a gloss can be and it has no sparkles. It's a beautiful clear orange; I liked the clearness of it so much I used to get obsessed about not tranfering any lipstick in the tube with my brush. I apply it sheerly and it enhances my natural lip colour and makes them look juicy. I start using it when the days are growing warmer, and it's one of only two lip products I took on my holidays last year when I decided I wouldn't take too much make up with me. It's summer in a bottle for me! The applicator is a plastic brush which started splaying after I'd used about half of it, but it was nothing I couldn't fix with a pair of scissors. The good news is that CL-02 is part of the permanent line. Permanent lines are so often ignored in favour of seasonal lines, but look at the gems one can find! I'm already on my second tube and will be getting more after this. 

RMK Sweet Colour Lip 01 Tangerine was part of a seasonal line from 2007 or 2008 and it is a coloured lip balm, pretty much in the same vain as the Clinique Honeys and all the other sheer lipsticks that have become so fashionable. I love lip products like that cause they give a bit of colour, but you can still see the natural colour and texture of your lips. I'm not going to say much more about it since it's a long discontinued product, but I like it so much that I couldn't leave it out. It was -in my opinion- the best one of that line and I use it all through the winter. I was lucky enough to find one on ebay earlier this year as I had finished my first tube ages ago and after this one is gone, I'm going to miss it!

RMK products are a little difficult to find, but you can check out their website in case there is one near you or you can order via telephone.

Etude House PP904 Mystic Purple: Magic purple!

Of all the beautiful polishes that I own Etude House PP904 Mystic Purple, this is in a league of its own. It's just so unique! It's not a duochrome, but it looks very different depending on the light. It can look from purplish-grey, to purple, purple with bronze sheen and when the light hit it directly it simply glows. The base colour is a cool purplish grey with a lot of pink and gold micro shimmer which combine to give it the bronzy hue, but at the same time you can see both the gold and the pink sheen. Honestly, I just wish I could capture it with my camera, but I doubt any camera can capture its many 'faces'! It only takes 2 coats to make it opaque, it's smooth and it has s small, flat, excellent brush! 

My Pride and Joy: Speckled

For a very long time I have wanted a polish that has particles in but isn't shimmery or sparkly. I wanted a speckled polish. I have seen a couple this year by Misa and one by Orly and , while I am hoping there's going to be more eventually, they weren't speckled enough for me.

Tired of waiting for somebody else to bring out what I wanted, I decided it to make it myself and here it is, a pinkish nude base with lots of black speckles that neither shimmer nor shine! The colours I picked were Ciate - My Fair Lady and Guppy - 33. My Fair lady is a very sheer nude/pink french nail type of colour and guppy is and Guppy 33 is a very pigmented pinky beige. I wanted to keep the colours light because the addition of the black speckles would make it look darker. Also, the texture without a topcoat is a bit uneven (first picture) but it improves with a layer of topcoat(second picture) and is smooth with a second layer, especially if it's thick (forgot to take a picture). Here it is, my sweet Speckled!

Natural Light (shade)

Artificial Light

Before mixing

Speckled and friends

Dear Shu Uemura why?

When I saw the latest Color Atelier version of the Shu Uemura eyeshadows and blushers which has been out roughly since November in the UK I couldn't help noticing that they were smaller than the older ones. Yesterday I found one of the cases form the pre-2005 eyeshadows and noticed that those were even larger. Up till 2005[pre-L'Oreal era] we were getting 2.8gr (0.9oz.), from 2005-2011 we were getting 2.1gr(0.7oz) [3/4 of the previous version]and now we are getting 1.4gr(0.49oz); we are getting exactly half the product we used to get till 2005. Moreover, now you have to get a 'single' palette even for one eyeshadow. I really don't like being pushed to buy something when it used to be included in the price.

And of course there is the issue I mentioned in a previous post, about the cosmetics being made in Korea now instead of Japan.

The blushers'quantity hasn't changed as dramatically. I don't have any of the pre-2005 era ones so I don't really know how much blusher was in the pan but between 2005 and 2011 we were getting 5gr and now we are getting 4gr. My issues with the new Color Atelier Glow On Blushers is that they have changed the codes! They all used to have a three digit number which was informative as to what the colour characteristics were. Well, that's gone now! They've replaced it with a different two-digit number which means that either I'll have to visit the store with the list that they have made available (highly unlikely) or just get whatever I like when I see it. Having learned from experience, I am attracted to the same sort of colours and buying the same colour from the same brand just because they changed the code will annoy me to no ends. I guess I won't be buying any more of them until I need to, which won't be any time soon since they last forever! 

Leap Day Maneki Neko!

Greek/Ελληνικά

The Maneki Neko (招き猫), the Welcoming Cat is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner. Each cat has a different meaning according to colour.

Red Cat (Mavala - 156 Rococo Red) Good health

Gold Cat (Ciate - Gold Digger) Financial matters, wealth.

White Cat (Etude House - WH702) Good Fortune / Bib: More fortune

Black Cat (Etude House - WH70) Favoured in Kyoto, for good health, good matches and warding off stalkers [how precise!]  

via

The details were drawn by hand using acrylic paints. 

And some more good fortune

Etude House and a Bit of Baroque

My first attempt at French style stamping. I didn't quite succeed in stamping properly, but somehow I managed to stamp the gold over the green almost perfectly. Learning curve, learning curve.. 

Base Colour Etude House - GR605 V.V.I.P. (one coat)

Stamping Colour OPI - Jade is the New Black

                           Stargazer - 237

Stamping Plate Bundle Monster BM17

A Pretty Greige

Etude House is a Korean brand and they make a lot of pretty polishes some of which I own. This is the brand's pretty greige (for the unversed amongst you greige = colour midway between grey and beige), otherwise known as Etude House - WH708 creamy grey. I don't have any other greiges to compare it to as I was pretty happy with this one's colour. I have used it again here if you want to see more of it. It was a bit thick when I got it so I added a few drops of nail polish restore and now it's much better. The brush on these polishes was a pleasant surprise as it is flat and easy to work with and doesn't splay. This is two coats without a top coat. 

 (artificial light)

 (artificial light)

(artificial light)

I bought this and many others from this ebay seller and have always received excellent service and many Korean gifts! 

Frosty High

It's been frosty yet sunny these days and the bare tree branches look so nice with frost on them. If only the pavements weren't so slippery and dangerous! I hate having to walk around when there's sleet. I'm not used to it at all and as a result I walk around like an old duck, looking at everyone else who, being more northern than I am, walk normally. How do they do it? Is it a superhuman skill? Ugh...

Btw have you noticed the Google Doodle today? It's for Charles Dickens'200th birthday! Yay! I hope people turn to reading more of his books this year. I was reading earlier in a British newspaper that kids these days lack the attention span for reading his books and if that isn't a sad thing, I don't know what is. 

Anyway, I shouldn's stray off on other topics too much or at least that is the purpose of this blog. Back to the mani! It's a blue skies&branches&snow theme! I used China Glaze - Flyin'High as a base, Le Chat Cm 04 Brown Nail Art Polish for the branches, Etude House - WH702 for the snow and Seche Vite Top Coat.

Ceramics

I've missed the decorative motifs in the old buildings at home in Athens (Greece) and I wanted to create something quite earthy, ceramic looking, like a decorated tile.I really wanted this to be matte because I prefer the natural matte surface of ceramics to the polished one; they feel more primitive in a nice way. By touching their rough surface you realize that you're touching a piece of moulded soil and it is as beautiful as it is simple. 

Base colour: Etude House - WH708 (greige)

Stamping colour: Olay - Terra

And of course Manglaze - Matte-astrophe to complete the look. 

My Perfect Eye Liner: Shu Uemura Painting Liner M Black

Happy New Lunar Year everybody!! It's the year of the black dragon, the dragon of water! How exciting does that sound? I thought that the perfect product to feature on such a day is my beloved gel eye liner, Shu Uemura Painting Liner M Black/ M Noir (for the French speaking population). 

There are not enough words of praise for this little miracle. I've had the same jar for 2 years and 2 months, I use it at least 3 times a week and only now has it started to not glide on as easily as when I had first bought it, but even so it's still great! Here's a picture of my jar and yes, I am that OCD with my gel liners.

It's not a glossy black like liquid liners tend to be, but that is to be expected since it's a gel liner. It is easy to blend if you wish to do so, but it won't move around much once it's set. I've had no problems with transfer on the upper lid, which was a major problem for me with other eye liners. It is very smooth to put on as it literally glides on on its own. It has served me right on many long days without smudging, flaking or melting or otherwise making me look like a disaster at the end of a long day.

That said, I have a complaint with Shu Uemura in general these days. Their products all seem to be marked as "Designed in Japan, Made in Korea"(open the picture in a new tab and you should see it clearly, instead of "Made in Japan" like they used to. I have nothing against Korea or Korean cosmetics, but when I buy luxury Japanese cosmetics I expect them to be Japanese. The eye liners were one of the first products they started manufacturing in Korea and nowadays it seems like everything is made there. People at Shu Uemura you are a luxury brand, why treat us this way? You were the ones that got me into Japanese cosmetics and insisted on how their quality is superior to products from all other countries, so why did you become a Korean brand? I do feel cheated somehow and will always wonder what the eye liners were before they moved their manufacturing centres to Korea.

Now that that is out of the way, one small precaution to people living in countries were it gets extremely hot. In temperatures over 38°C it becomes very melty so I don't suggest using it. You can get away with a little bit, but not a proper feline eye. By the end of the day you'll look like you put it on with your fists, kind of like  Taylor Momsen and that's never a good look.

Just to show you how much you can do with this liner, I loaded my brush up (an artist's kolinsky brush size 0) with as much quantity as I could and drew this black dragon without dipping in for more! And bare in mind that my liner is very very old in liner years!

 I did various other lines with a different brush, a no-brand synthetic angled brush. 

Happy New Black Dragon Year Everyone!!