Heidelberg

Heidelberg

I’m back again.... I thought I’ll play with my macjournal software a bit and do a travel post. if you feel uncomfortable with this font.. let me know

Went to frankfurt last week, mainly for business but we went 1 day early to escape from the nothingness of Germany (according to S) so we picked heidelberg to visit.

Apparently the hercules statue..

unfortunately we went a day’s late so ended up seeing the aftermarth (tired street performers) and sunday... meant only icecream shops are open..

still we went up to the Heidelberg castle and look around. Great to travel when you have a student card

the famous bridge

the red Heidelberg castle

One of the embassy building on the hill

originally we can leave at 5pm, but S thought since we spent 30 euros each to get here, we should stay longer. in Evie’s logic that meant she can mess up with time. Had dinner at 5pm, to leave and catch the train at 7.20.. giving themselves 30 mins to catch the train

except.. public transport is just bad in europe therefore we didn’t catch the train and waited for an hour

by the time we caught the train, it was a Regional service train.. rather than 50 mins journey became 1.5 hr

totally totally exhausted

JLPT exam

a random piece but I’m taking my JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency test) in 2 months time.
Rather scary but hey.. I’m on Level 2 , just one more level to qualify to study in Japan hehe

but this is the last year they are holding the exam so must really really study hard (I heard it is a lot harder as they might abandon the multiple choice style question next year)

will do a review probably tomorrow..

My 2 cents on BB cream

I am here to declare I won’t buy anymore BB cream. (and use up everything I have or swap them away). Having been using BB cream for over 1 year, I think I can make a good judgement if it is suitable for me or not.

I’ll break down why I decide to give up:

1. is it true it is all in 1

the all in one includes, no primer, no moisturiser, no sunscreen, no concealer
Well that’s how it sell it to me. however, it is rather dry to apply on (and you only use little of it) you need to moisture. Yes you don’t need primer or sunscreen as it includes it, but most of the BB cream does not have concealing power compare to a normal concealer. I need to dab some concealer around eye around.
So in one way, BB cream wins, but most of the foundation also contains SPF and long lasting nowadays.

1. What BB actually means

Blemish cream. It is for dedicate skin after surgery or to skin that is prone to spots. Therefore it is rather dry in nature. Jamilla did a few great post on her experience using BRTC after her IPL treatment. But in general, the mass market BB cream does not contain such quality. Gary Chung, a makeup artist from Hong Kong is actually anti-BB cream, he feels BB cream is being misunderstood and used in the wrong way. (that’s before he get paid to sell Mioggi bb cream)

1. weather condition

For my combination skin, i find that bb cream cannot be wear in wet tropical weather . My problem is that I can only use BB Cream in weather like Uk, cold and dry most of the time. The oil control properties do not exist in the BB cream I use for some reasons (Missha in particular)
You can mix BB cream with foundation if you want to wear it. But why spend your time doing it when foundation does the job anyway?

1. adjustable shade

This is where i find most of the problem. I have NC30, and basically nearly all BB cream cannot cater for my skin tone. The only bb cream that can ‘adjust’ to my skintone are L’egere Red tube, Missha Shade 23, Nanoce. The rest, bin!
For fairskin you probably ok with most of the bb cream exist. For me.. I’m afraid that bb cream needs to go.

5.        coverage and texture
again, this varies from brand to brand. Some provides light/featherlike (Begin My Pride, jadilla J, L’egere) coverage, and some with extreme coverage (Missha). We tend to think if BB cream is ‘1’product, the coverage etc should be similar from brand to brand. Oh no, very wrong.
Firstly, you need to require new skill to apply bb cream. You use a pea size and fingers to apply. Secondly, you need to wait until it adjust to your skintone before you do anything. All in all, too much fuff and not liking the idea.

All in all, do I recommend BB cream to anyone? Yes. if you have some skin treatment and need some gentle foundation. Yes to those who want light coverage.

i travel lots and can only pack 1 foundation, so since no idea how bb Cream will perform in each country, it is safer to pack foundation only.

(this entry is written by macjournal.. what do you think?)

Foundation comparison: Revlon, maybelline and Lancome

Foundation comparison review! Maybelline pure mineral, revlon colorstay and Lancome ColorIdeal

So, I'm back from frankfurt and after my university enrolment (the 10 ^th time), I was told no matter what I must submit by April 2010. That's around 300 words per day to complete my dessertation and editing by April. Did I say arghhh very loudly?

Anyway, before I forgot I want to do a foundation comparison. I have been on a foundation crazy since I came back from France because none of my foundation I had works on me anymore. I got a touch darker and plus the previous foundation doesn't match perfectly. I'll do a follow up post on my thought about BB cream after 1 year.

So our contestant for this review are:

Maybelline Pure mineral in Sand 30 (Price: £7.50 / USD 12 )

Revlon Colorstay in 320 Natural tan (Price: £11.15 / USD 18)

Lancome ColorIdeal Shade 30 (Price: £26 / USD 41)

All of these are perfect match except with Revlon Colorstay which is just a little bit dark, will explain later.

I rather do a comparison but not a descriptive review, if you want a detail review, please leave a comment!

Texture/Coverage (Light to heavy):

light: Maybelline

normal: lancome

heavy: revlon

Long Lasting (not so to very long lasting):

Maybelline (not so)

lancome (ok)

revlon (very!!)

Colour match to NC30 (not so to it match perfectly)

Above from left: Revlon, Lancome, Maybelline

Revlon comes out a bit dark, but lancome and maybelline are perfect match

The problem with Revlon is that it comes with two different skintype, Combination/Oily, and normal/dry. I got Combination/Oily because I might use in Hong kong and its best just in case. However, not all drugstore stock all foundation, and when I found the one which stock everything (The biggest boots on oxford street) and compare, combination has a yellow tone compare to Normal. So if you are reading and is yellow tone no matter your skintype is get COMBINATION/OILY, it is yellow toned!

Bottle design:

Revlon (bad)

lancome (ok.. but..)

maybelline (no complaint)

Why lancome doesn't come first? It is a glass bottle and not easy to travel and carry. We all need to pick the bottle up sometime and take it with you right?

Revlon is worst, it doesn't come with a pump meaning you need to pour....

My reason to buy in:

Lancome

I bougth this first when I was walking down the street with S looking for a food mixer. However it was too expensive, and reading Cosmetic candy review on Lancome Teint Idole, I want to buy the same. If anyone follow cosmetic candy, she's a NC35 so for me it's a good reference :)

Went into boots originally want to buy Revlon, decided £11 was too expensive but still walk into the Lancome counter thinking it would only cost 16.. when the very very cute male SA tried it on me with colorstay, he declared it is perfect match and I fell for him. When I took out my card to pay then I realised it cost a bloody £26.

However, my pretty SA told me it should change with my skin. I know it'll become lighter someday but not outside the NC30 bracket, this foundation can stay with me for a while

Other than the expensive price tag, i'm not satisfy with its coverage. Remember I tried shu uemura before? I thought this will give me the same effect (hello! £26) but no... it has the same coverage with my Nanoce and I totally regretted buying this even it is a perfect match.

Maybelline

Bought this in airport and it is a perfect match. I always wanted to try mineral foundation (based on Beauty spot review). Mineral foundation I thought might be a bit like bB cream, it changes colour to match your skintone (correct me if i'm wrong), but when I try it and verified by S, it is perfect match.

Problem is it is light coverage, and I need to learn how to apply this with finger (sponger is bad.. very bad... it absorb everything) and comparable to L'egere bb cream, very light coverage. But indeed it gives a better looking skin and better for your skin!

What makes me buy for it? It is only 7 quid darling.

Revlon Colorstay

Ok, those who follow my twitter will know I actually bought the shade 340 to start with, and not happy with being tanned and oxidate during the day (making me look like a tanned monkey), I went back and successfully got a lighter shade.

What I love is it is very reasonable price, yet it is extremely long lasting. I recommend this to anyone who is starting to use foundation and want to skip concealer. Seriously, I don't really use concealer but it is very thick as well.

My problem is not all drugstore store the right shade for you and there's far too many to choose from. Someone is picky will say yah! Someone who is lazy like me who can only refer to MAC shade is nay.

A rough guide to Revlon is

1X0 = MAC 10-15

2X0 = MAC 20-25

3X0 = MAC 30-35

etc, I know I better suit a 310 shade but hey there's no stock and I run away with my tube of foundation since they're happy for me to refund it (it was completely sealed when I return it if anyone ask)

Conclusion:

DO NOT BUY LANCOME!! TOO EXPENSIVE -yes in capital

but do try Revlon if you can find your shade...

verdict: I'll use revlon for a whole day job and maybelline at night. Lancome is reserved for special day only.

Questions to readers: to buy or not to buy?

Questions to readers: to buy or not to buy?

I am now in frankfurt but not really going out to explore. I have too much to do, and my hotel room unlimited mini bar just KO. But since S told me I've been very good (for coming to frankfurt for him) he's allowing me to buy 1 thing. Clothing? Cosmetics? Bag whatever.

I finally bought a foundation which I'm very happy with. Maybelline Pure Mineral foundation. (My Revlon Colorstay which I bought just a few days ago was far too dark, I'll put it on blog sale very soon) so i'll definitely review that.

great foundation, with great colour match. (I am a NC30 definitely.. so I got 30 Sand)

got color shade 340, which is a bit dark and it oxidate during the day. I need to get the one which is 310 or lighter

So since I got this 1 and only one gift I can get, I want your opinion of what to get.

Should I get:

BeautyBlender

I want something to replace my IPSA sponge foundation, and I have been using that same sponge for over 4 years... I think it needs to retire very soon

Cath Kidston Stand up tote

I struggle even I have a million bag, but this bag has all the compartments so that you won't lose any keys/phones/essentials in the bag. It is very well organise and fit my Sony A200 DSLR

Or anything I should I get while in Germany? Any great skincare/makeup or just anything I should get?

My recent chaotic life

My recent chaotic life...

While I made the effort to blog nearly once a day (and thanks for all those who come here... I see numbers going up and up) I am chased by a grueling schedule.

1. I am leaving for frankfurt tomorrow for some work

2. I got a flu and PMS.. bad bad combination

3. I got a 4000 words deadline on the proceedings paper which I need to submit

4. 2 conference paper proposal to submit

5. Accounting all my income and expenses since 07 All coz of my laziness

All to end by 30 ^th sept. in 4 days..

did I do anything of these? no.. I think I'll be stuck in frankfurt working my arse out.

So I present you..

the cutest cat of all

Dao dao eating cupcakes..

My HG Foundation

My 2 cents on foundations

So it’s a summary post and sharing my view on foundation. If I ever want to go out and wear just 1 thing, it must be foundation.

I have funny skin, My left face is more scarred than right so I need some foundation to cover it up. I yet to find a perfect concealer yet (any suggestions welcome for both acne scar and under eye area) so foundation is important as ever.

That pic shows my current usable collection this is based on 1 thing only, shade!! Why wear the wrong shade? I rather pay and invest (just as I did this Sunday, splash on Lancome Color Ideal when I should stick with Revlon Color foundation) on the perfect foundation (and let that cute guy stroke my face hmmm)

So heres what good for different shades and when I use it (and I certainly hear S screaming, IT’S ALL JUST FOUNDATION.. AREN’T THEY THE SAME?)

Nanoce BB cream 02:

My best friend in BB Cream. It gives you coverage, SPF, what else you want to ask for? And suit my NC30 skin in near perfection (near.... near...)

My only problem with this is the smell, but it is totally bearable, and I have a second tube in stock as well.

Skinfood BB cream Mushroom 02

My 1 ^st bb cream, however it is too light on me now. I think it is more for NC25 or a light NC30. The texture is really thick and little goes a long way. I used this when I'm travelling.

Skinfood BB cream Aloe 02

My spare skinfood bb cream that is yet to be used. The colour looks fine and it has a runnier texture, and darker as well. Why i'm not using it? I'm waiting for my mushroom bb to hit the pan first

L’egere Shiny BB cream (Red tube)

I love this and now hate it. I love it as it is sheer and long lasting. I hate it coz it doesn't give a lot of coverage. I can use this on a good skin day, but on the days when I have bad skin (I.e PMS) then I need to skip it.

I have 2 tubes and will use it as a base rather than on its on

Maybelline angelfit W07

My HG at the moment. Perfect colour and very good coverage. However, it does not have SPF which doesn't bother me. I put on my Anessa sunscreen which is SPF 50 and it is not oily at all! I survive my HK trip using this and kept this until now.

Chanel Tinted moisturizer

On a quick shopping trip, I put this on and that's all. It is now in the right shade (sigh.. yes the SA is right, you get tanned in summer and you need something little bit darker) but the coverage is not good. This is my travel moisturisier which I probably take with me for my trip to frankfurt next week

Lancome Color Stay 03

My latest collection in the perfect shade for now. But, I won't reocmmend this as it is super expensive (26 GBP!!! I can buy at least 2 tubes of Angelfit) it has a bit of SPF (8) but not enough coverage. It does give a smooth surface. I should stick to my original choice of the full coverage in the lancome foundation collection.