Review: OPI Matte Top Coat

I don't have so many nail polish collection. To be honest, now I only have three bottles of them, and they're all black! LOL! I get bored a lot with nail polish and ended up giving it to my friends or families, but I always keep the black ones because that color is like a holy color for me XD

Since I only have one color, I just don't know what to do to make a creation, and I'm sloppy, so nail art is definitely a big no-no. After reading some reviews on other beauty bloggers, I decided to create a matte look nail color, using O.P.I. Matte Top Coat. I imagined my nail would look like this:

A black matte Ford truck. Kewl, huh?!

Ok, ok, skip that truck anyway. LOL.

Why did I bought OPI? Because this is the only matte top coat I can find in Indonesia. I bought this from glamcollection8.com/ for about IDR 150K (USD 15).

The liquid is bottled in a thick glass, using a black plastic cap.

The liquid is clear with a strong smell of alcohol. Just like most nail products.

The result on my nails.

The whole look on my hands. Pardon my sloppy application. Do they look like that Ford truck already?

A little tip from me when using this top coat:

• Wait until the nail polish dry up first before applying it or you'll stain the brush and the top coat liquid.
• Make sure your nail is coated evenly with the nail color before applying it, or your nail would end up looking like this:

Bad top coat result due to uneven nail polish application

Ok, here are some facts about this product:

• The matte result is not long lasting since it faded out overtime, then my nail polish became glossy again.
• It's not fast drying, so be patient.
• Too thick application is a big no-no and kinda make your nails look 'wavy'.
• It's not just a regular top coat, so applying this definitely needs some practice.

I think I might buy some more color and even glitter to glam up my nail color collections. Until then, have fun!

The black nail polish is from Lovely Me:ex collection

Makeup Collaboration: Spring Makeup Look "Orange versus Pink"

So today I'm gonna post my very first makeup collaboration with babes of Indonesian beauty blogger. The theme we picked was the Spring Makeup Look.

My other pretty fellas who participate, you can check out their page:

• Anggie Lorita Irianto http://anggieloritairianto.blogspot.com/
• Martalina Thesya http://alleriamakeupartist.blogspot.com
• Ellen Tan http://loveellentan.blogspot.com/
• Lintang Pratiwi http://mineisdreamers.blogspot.com/
• Amelia Pratami http://ameltami.blogspot.com/ 

Aren't we all pretty? XD

And.. Yeah, this is my look for this project. I googled to find out what exactly a spring makeup look like, and all the bright colors show up. So I decided to choose the ones I thought as the brighest shades ever: orange and pink.

Here are the steps on how to achieve the look. First things first, draw your eyebrows and cover your lids with eye primer. Add tapes on your outter eyelids. But this is optional. I did that since I wanna achieve a neat look.

How to:

1. Apply baby pink color on your inner upper eyelids
2. Add light orange shade on your middle lids. Blend.
3. Then frame all the colors with a shocking pink color on your crease and outter V area. Blend them all together to get a nice gradation.
4. Add baby pink shade on your lower corner. Fill the rest of your lower lash bed with shocking pink. Don't forget to connect all the lower part colors to the upper ones. Blend.
5. Frame your whole eyes with black liner. Wing it a little.
6. Add fake eyelashes (Optional). Curl your lashes.

Products I use:

• Coastal scents 120 color pallete eyeshadow
• Etude house proof 10 auto pencil in black
• Itsdiva lashes
• Maybelline Falsies mascara in black
• Viva eyebrow pencil in brown
• Etude House Proof 10 eye primer
• X2 Bio softlenses in blue

For the lips, I use ombre style using shocking pink and shocking orange. Too bad I forgot to take the pics for tutorial -___- but this is a very simple look.

How to:

1. Don't forget to use lip balm.
2. Apply a shocking orange on your inner lips. Maintain a very small touch since it will smudge wider anyhow. I use Etude house blooming lips talk in OR207.
3. Fill the rest of your lips with shocking pink. I use Etude house blooming lips talk in PK013, then blend them together.

Final result:

Waaa, such messy eyelashes and eyeliners. I'm terrible at these!

The whole look on your what-so-called face, with my camera phone. I love selfies!

So, that's all for now. Hope the tutorial give you an inspriration. See ya on my next posts, Insha Allah!

The Liebster Award: Part 1

Yeay, award pertamaku ^___^ The Liebster Award.

It was such a hectic day, ngerjain kerjaan rumah. Makasih ya miss ART yang mudik di saat paling tepat, emang bisaaa banget situ ya. Lagi leha-leha di sofa sambil lurusin pinggang, sambil nge cek blog, eh dapet kabar kalo aku dinominasikan sebagai salah satu penerima Liebster Award by the gorgeous Putri Indah Marina. You can heck out her page here. We've been following each other's blog for a few weeks. Thank you Putri, you really made my day ^_^.

So what is a Liebster Award anyway?

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn't that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.

(source here)

Here are the rules when you receive this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Copy the Liebster Award logo in your blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you.
4. Mention 11 random things about you.
5. Choose 5-11 bloggers to be nominated next and link them in your post, with the follower less than 200.
6. Create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
7. Show these rules in your blogs (or you can copy from here).
8. Tell the people you have nominated! They'll never know unless you tell them.

So, ini pertanyaan buatku. Bahasa Indonesia aja ah... males mikir nih hihihi.

Apa yang membuat kalian ingin nge-blog?

Buat mengisi waktu luang. Iya, aku cuma ibu rumah tangga biasa, ga ada kerjaan selaen ngurus anak tersayangku ini. Plus dari jaman masih kuliah sampe kerja, sering banget beli makeup, dan suka makeup. Japi kenapa ga buat beauty blog aja.

Kosmetik kesayangan kalian apa sih?

Anything yang bisa menyamarkan kantung mataku yg super dark ini. Kalo udah pake itu di kantung mata, aku pede ga pake makeup apa2 lagi. So far merk yang aku sering aku pake itu Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse (Light) sama Inez Concealer Stick (Light)

Beauty Blogger Luar yang banyak menginspirasi kalian?

Tess Munster and Michelle Phan. Kalo MP aku suka beauty tips sama DIY-nya, kalo Tess Munster.. hmmm, coba deh buka page nya, you'll be surprise of how beautiful this person really is.

Kalau beli produk kamu suka di online shop / counter ?

Online shop. Lebih lengkap variannya. Kalo di counter aku lebih untuk nyari referensi warna aja. Hehehe licik ya.

Kalau ada kesempatan mau kolaborasi makeup sama siapa?
Aku terus terang ga nolak kok kalo diajak kolaborasi ama siapa aja, beneran deh. Asal badan ini masih sehat dan peralatannya memungkinkan, aku gak nolak deh. Hehehe

Siapa Artis Luar favorite kalian?

Johnny Depp dan Ewan McGregor. Bukan karena gantengnya loh ya XD

Apa jenis musik kesukaan kalian?

Rock dan Trip Hop. Tapi aku ga anti mainstream kok hahahaha. Aku juga suka K-pop, RnB, dll, tapi aku paliiiing suka sama dua jenis itu.

Siapa penyanyi kesukaan kalian?

Marilyn Manson, Massive Attack, Portishead (termasuk penyanyi bukan sih mereka?) dan Sarah Brightman. Banyak sebenernya, tapi yg paling sering aku dengerin ya mereka itu.

Kebanyakan tau produk-produk kecantikan dari mana?

Dari ngeblog dan join social media community. 

Lebih suka karoke/nonton film di bioskop?

Karaoke lah. Suka nyanyi walaupun ancur. Hahahaha. Kalo nonton kayaknya gimanaaa gitu, cuma duduk diem doang sambil nonton layar segede gitu, ga ngapa-ngapain. Ogah rugi, bahahahahaha! Kecuali film-nya Ewan McGregor dan Johnny Depp ya, aku pasti betah nontonnya.

Lebih suka jadi pengusaha/kerja kantoran?

Susah jawab yang ini, karena dua-duanya ada konsekuensi. Jadi pengusaha emang lebih bisa ngatur waktu, tapi kita harus terus konsisten dgn apa yg kita kerjain. Ide-ide harus terus mengalir, kalo ga,  rugi aja uang yang udah diinvestasikan, dapur juga bisa stop ngebul. Kalo jadi orang kantoran,  kita tinggal ikutin aja rule yang udah dibuat, paling banter sumbang ide dikit ke company buat process improvement. Ga enaknya, waktu tidak berpihak di kita, susah buat yang udah berkeluarga. Satu lagi, kalo orang kantoran dapet THR, kalo pengusaha ngasih THR! Hehehehe...

Aku baru ngerasain bertahun-tahun jadi orang kantoran, tau banget susah senangnya. Tapi belom pernah jadi pengusaha sendiri, jadi ga tau rasanya. Maaf yaaa.... -___-

Okay, I've chosen my next nominators for Liebster Award:

1. amandaanandita.blogspot.com/
2. resitaelena.blogspot.com/
3. ameltami.blogspot.com/
4. yuniusmanda.blogspot.com/
5. dearkharin.blogspot.com/
6. queenalooks.blogspot.com/
7. thefemmesbeaute.blogspot.com/
8. tiffaniheaven.blogspot.com/

Segitu dulu, mustinya 11 ya. Ahahahaha, belom dapet lagi nih, susah banget nyari. Padahal dua lagi...kalo ada yg udah pernah di nominate, oops, sorry may bad!


Here are the questions I'd like you to answer:

1. Alasan jadi beauty blogger?
2. Ada ga produk makeup yang dari dulu setia kamu pakai sampai sekarang? Kalau ya, apa?
3. Siapa artis yang jadi inspirasi kamu dalam makeup dan fashion?
4. Blog luar negri mana yang kamu suka banget visit? (Ga harus beauty blog kok)
5. Who's your favourite musician?
6. Kamu lebih pede dgn makeup natural atau bold?
7. Jabarkan tipe film yang kamu suka! Beri contoh judul! (kayak ulangan aja, hehehe)
8. What was your childhood dream? Are you still trying to accomplish it or not?
9. What's your guilty pleasure?
10. What is your wishlist for makeup and skincare?
11. Pilih kamera saku, DSLR, apa kamera gadget (hp/tablet)?

Nah itu dia pertanyaannya. Maap yah, sebagian ada yg nyontek pertanyaan orang, tapi aku emang beneran pengen tau! ^_^

11 Random Facts about me:

1. Barely eat meat and never eat any kinds of seafood since elementary school. I'm afraid of them. And eating meat only if it's cooked as a steak.
2. Cherish coffee a lot as a mood booster.
3. Milk always make my stomach hurts.
4. Before I got married, my ideal boyfriend is the one in Yaoi Mangas: super cute, stylish, rich, kind, loyal, smart, and GAY. But I have no gay friend....  Maybe that's why I barely have a boyfriend -__-
5. Dreaming of having a LASIK surgery to get rid of eye glasses.
6. I love drawing.
7. Spent years studying accounting, but barely remember a thing about accounting, because that did not interest me.
8. Spent years working in a foreign bank but speak more fluently about art, makeup and fashion.
9. Envy Tavi Gevinson and Stella Lee a lot. Talk about living your dreams, huh?
10. I got pregnant three times, but only one survived.
11. I have a very wide range playlist songs in my Apple gadgets, from Trio Ambisi (horas!) to Diamanda Galas. Do you even know them, anyway?

Phew, I think this post is the longest one with words in it. Okay, that's all for now. 

Happy blogging!

My Perfect Face

Hello, all you readers with the perfect faces wherever you are! This time, I just wanna set aside all the talks about makeup tools and beauty tips. Lets just talk about your face. Your bare face.

Seriously, what do you see when you look into the mirror bare face? Your face, of course! Hahaha. No, really, I'm talking about what your mind sees when your eyes are staring at your own bare face. Imperfections, I would say. Just what is exactly you define as a perfect face? To be honest, I have no idea. Even the most beautiful women in the world still find some spots that need to be carved.

I may look my best on some pictures, but in reality, I don't always look that good, especially in the morning XD. Thanks to cosmetics, I was almost able to cover up all those things I consider as the imperfections. Lets just reveal them one by one. Oh, by the way, due to some reasons, I don't look completely bare face in this pictures since a drew my eyebrows and thin eyeliners. Other than that, this is my real face. And, yeah, no filter. So prepare your heart XD

Warning: Nausea alert!

My super wide and 'spacious' forehead

My mother used to mock me a lot because of this. LOL. Even my family members and relatives have their own nickname for calling me because of this kinda forehead. But even so, I never been bothered by this and hold no grudge to my families XD. For many years, my mother maintained that medium bob hair cut with bang to cover my forehead, which lasted until I finally decided to wear Hijab. It worked well, although that's not the main reason

My eyes

Really. I have a lot to complain about my eyes. They're narrow, puffy, with very thin and short eyelashes, and those super dark circles... and they're super sensitive I get teary pretty often, and drawing lower eyeliners is completely a bad idea. They look fierce as well no matter how hard I try to smile kindly. But I love the fact that my eyes are still functioned, and I'm not suffering color-blindness. ^_^

My super thick glasses

This topic actually still related to the above paragraph. See my glasses lenses? Oh, yeah, they're very thick. My ears often felt hurt pretty badly from holding the weigh. I've been wearing these since I was 8 (I got bullied a lot as a child because of this) started with -2.00 and the number keeps on multiplying until I reached the age of 20. So, you can guess the minus and cylindris number by now. That's why in all of the tutorial I always wear soft lenses, simply because I can barely see without them. Wearing softlenses and glasses are mutually hurt. If I get the chance to win a billion bucks, I'd definitely get an eye surgery!

My flat nose

This item has been another target off all the stupid bullies back in my childhood and teenage hood. Luckily even though it's flat, but it's pretty small, and still fully functioned as a breathing tool. ^_^

Do you know that flat nose is actually a symbol of success? Hahaha.

My chubby and plumpy cheeks

These marshmallow shape cheeks actually only appear when I smile or laugh, it's weird huh? If don't smile, they really dissappear! But you know, chubby cheeks can really make you look younger! Guess how old I really am!

My not-so-white teeth

Although my teeth are lined neatly (thanks to my mother who persistent enough to take me to the dentist although I hate it so much), but they're not the whitest ones. This happens because my constant consumption on coffee since elementary school. So, I don't really confident wearing dark bold lipsticks. But well, this is because of my own fault.

That.. Errr.. Mole

What is that, really?! I don't really like moles, to be honest. Kinda make my face look dirty. Sorry, God, I complain a lot. And, sorry, Cindy Crawford, you look great XD.

My curly pinkie

Err... Right, actually, not only my pinkies are curly, but all of my fingers are.

There are still many though: my fat belly, my fat calves, etc, etc. Sheesh... Women! You never had enough!

Okay, I finally revealed some items I consider as my own imperfections. Phew, it took a lot of courage. 

I don't mean to sound like a Miss Complaint, but lets just be honest, who in the world ever satisfy with her/his own appearance? Many people got bullied a lot, some of them even chose the worst path to end their suffering. But lemme tell you this before it's too late. The problem is not on how many imperfections you have, but how you face them, how you live with them, and finally accepting those as part of who you are. If you already achieved this stage, then you are living a happy and content life. 

So, to all the imperfect people out there, we all are!

Tutorial: Purple Power!

I've been keeping this tutorial for about a month in my draft, first meant to be my submission for Indonesian Beauty Blogger Makeup Challenge for Fairy Look, but I canceled it. Why? I'll let you know later.

Okay, let's start with clean eyes, defined eyebrows, and primed eyes.

If you've done all of it, now you can start.

1. Apply blue color on half of your upper eyelids.
2. Fill the rest with purple shade, then blend. Or you can do the other way around.
3. Cut your crease and outter V line with black shade, then blend.
4. Fill the half of your lower lash line with purple, and the rest of it with silver eyeshadow. Don't forget to color your tear duct as well.
5. Apply eyeliner using the style I did in the picture. Separate the end line. Line your waterline with black liner as well. (Or you can choose any preferable eyeliner style).
6. Apply mascara and you are done. You can apply false eyelashes, but I was a bit lazy that time. XD

Final result:

Full face view:

See? This is why I didn't submit this. I don't look like a fairy at all. More like a witch. A lizard witch. LOL.

Eye makeup ingredients:

• NYX eyeshadow primer
• LA Colors eyeshadow
• Artistry pencil liner in black
• Viva eyebrow pencil in brown
• Clinique mascara in black

Lips:

• Viva Body Painting in purple

Hope you enjoy the tutorial. See you!

Review: Etude House Kissful Lip Care Lip Concealer

I bought this out of curiousity. What a lip concealer would do, I wonder? Does it work like an eye primer? Wouldn't a regular concealer be enough? It was cheap anyway (IDR 58K), so I didn't think twice to purchase this. Pardon me, I don't mean to sound so snob.

 

 

This tube comes in a tiny nude colored plastic tube, looks like a lip balm, with a creepy smiling girl illustration. Yeah, I think she's creepy. >_<

 

 

If you glide it on, you'll find this pale odorless stick that almost look like a regular concealer.

 

 

The ingredients and directions of use.

This product claims to even out the color of your lips and make your lipstick color look more vivid. But how they'll look on my lips? I've prepared some examples.

 

 

My bare lips is actually very pale and light colored. Note that you'll need an extra lip balm application before wearing this. I don't feel that heavy sensation on my lips like when I'm wearing a regular concealer stick on my lips. It is very light and not sticky.

 

 

Here are a few examples using lipsticks:

 

Do you notice that my lipstick color is lighter on the area applied with this concealer?

 

This example is more obvious. I tried to do that gradient look, and my neon pink lipstick changed into baby pink.

 

 

I tried a lot of lipsticks using this primer but I just took pictures of those two. Do I like it? I would answer, no. Not at all. This product really keeps its promise to lengthen the staying power of your lipstick color but at the same time also soften up their intensities. Many reviews I read claims the opposite effect though. I think this will work best for those who have natural dark lips and wanted to make it lighter, or when you want to make that Geisha or creepy doll look! Hahaha.

 

 

Verdicts:

• Odorless
• Works best for dark lips
• Non sticky formula
• I don't think this product will make your lipstick color pop out
• Doesn't make your lips dry like a regular concealer, but lip balm usage is suggested
• Maximize your lipstick staying power
• Price when I bought this: IDR 58K (USD 6)

 

 

Repurchase?

Curiousity about one thing happened only once.

Have you tried this product before and have the opposite sentiment? Why don't give me your thoughts? Thanks for reading my review. ^^

Review: Melanox Face UV Protector SPF 30 PA++

To be honest, wearing a sunscreen, especially on my face, is not my favourite activity. They felt greasy. But thanks to many health and beauty articles I read, now I consider this as an important item other than my eye concealer. Before, I only wear sunscreen on my body when I wanted to take my swimming lesson as a child. LOL.

My skin type is normal to oily combination, so it's really important to find a sunscreen with oil-free formula. I used to wear Loreal face UV protector for about a year, really liked the matte formula, but still it felt sticky. So I decided to try other sunscreen products. This is what I grabbed 6 months ago from a local drugstore in my area.

It comes in a small white tube packed in a carton box with the same design as the tube. This product was lined along with other face sunscreen brands, but the word oil-free formula and non-comedogenic catched my eyes. Many sunscreen would cost you with black pores in long term usage. So I grabbed it and kinda surprise to know the brand was Melanox. As far as I know, this local Indonesian brand is famous for its whitening ointment (yes, ointment, not cream) with a very dull-looking tube. More like a presciptioned ointment. 

The SPF 30 PA ++ is more like an average or medium protection a sunscreen could over, so I don't mind with that. Moreover, SPF above 40 have more risk in skin irritation.

And so I bought it. The price was around IDR 50K, almost IDR 60K (USD 6). The content was only 25 g.

The cap was swiveled shaped. Not very practical. I dropped the cap a lot when I wanted to apply this, especially when in hurry. 

The ingredients:

When reading the ingredients one by one (I'm very carefull about this one, paranoid maybe) I noticed that some of them are still among controversies in health and beauty products. So, for a couple a months I doubt whether to use it or not. It took a lot of courage for me to wear this. But my final verdict is like consuming MSG in instant noodles, right? It is actually dangerous if you consume it in a very large amount, isnt't it?

This is the application on my hand. The bottom picture is my hand after the application. And just like all sunscreens, it will give you that white cast appearance, especially under camera flash.

The cream was odorless and in a fleshtone color, it was actually pretty thick and dense, looks like BB cream, but very, very thick. Oh, don't worry, although it's fleshtone, but the result on your face is colorless.

Wearing this on my face, it felt very sticky. Gosh, how I hate this feeling! You need a lot of product to cover your whole face because of its thickness, so I think 25 g is not generous enough. I waited for about 5 minutes to let my face absorbed it, before setting it with my other makeup routines. And although I hate its stickiness, it actually gives you that matte look for the next 4 hours after the application. Of course I also wear this along with other oil free formulated makeup and skincare for its maximum performance. I've been wearing his for 4 months and so far it doesn't give me breakout whatsoever. And as for its protection effectiveness against UVA and UVB, well I guess it'll take further medication research in long term usage, so I'm not able to provide you with that information.

Oh, by the way, don't forget to apply this at least 30 minutes before leaving your nest. ^_^

Remember, sunscreen contained in your BB Cream or cake powder is not enough to protect your face from sunburn. Use a freaking sunscreen, kay.

Verdicts:

Matte look up to 4 hours after the application, more or less

Good staying power

Sticky feeling on your face

Thick cream

Odorless

Fleshtone cream, but colorless result on your face

SPF 30 PA ++

Price: IDR 50-60K (USD 6)

Where to buy: supermarkets, drugstores

Repurchase?

IDK. I just bought this non-local Banana Boat face sunscreen. Can't wait to try it out once I finish this tube!

Have you ever tried this sunscreen before? What's your experience with this?