I heart seafood. :)

Hello guys! Thought I'd update you all with some random pictures I took on my birthday weekend. I definitely had fun during my stay here and I'll already be back in my city by tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday. I don't know how to make that sound more sincere but seriously, it feels wonderful to have such sweet blogger friends from different parts of the world. :)

On my birthday I went out for lunch with my parents and my sister. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the food, but I did take several pictures around the restaurant. It was such a hot, sunny day so I didn't wear a lot of makeup or anything. I had to squint all the time, lol.

I have the cutest sister! She just started a blog, by the way. :)

Some pictures I took around my town...

this is an outdoor cafetaria :)









guess what, this is where I went to high school. ;)

Then at the evening we went hunting for glorious food again. Since my town is famous for its seafood, we decided to stop by a small seafood restaurant. I ordered myself some shrimps and crabs. They were so amazingly delish (and cheap)!





Each plate cost only about 5 to 6 US dollars. I'm not kidding you. In Java I don't think it can be that cheap, and even the crab wouldn't be this huge. The dish called Kepiting Asam Manis in Indonesian, it's sweet and spicy.




This one is Udang Saus Mentega or Margarine Sauced Fried Shrimp (I think, lol). So yummy.




Grilled fish. :)
They're called Baronang fish in Indonesia. You're supposed to eat it with the chili sauce. :D


After having dinner we drove by the town center. It turned out that there was a night fair going on, so we stopped by to meet the town fellas. I bumped into a lot of my ex-schoolmates. There were a few people I know who already got married and had babies.

Anyways, it sort of annoyed me when people come up and ask when I'll be next. You know, "settling down" and stuff. Why does everyone have to ask that question? Obviously we don't always know when things going to happen! It'll happen when it happens, right? I'm still young anyway! :P



It is exceptionally hard to take pictures at night with this camera, so please excuse the blurriness!











Hmm I think this is supposed to be the Titanic? Lol.

Well, that's pretty much all I can share for now. I can't wait to get back to Yogyakarta (I already miss my kitty cat Aslan so much!) and go out on Sunday afternoon with my boyfriend. Oh and I've been working out like crazy over here! I mean, it's so quiet and the air is still so fresh, it would be a waste if I don't use the opportunity to jog more in the morning. I don't know if I can maintain this workout schedule once I got back to my city, probably not! Haha. Maybe I should start going to the gym or something. But damn I'm too lazy. Hahaha.

A simple FOTD & OOTD to end this post...

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed the post! :)

What's in My Makeup Bag?

Since I am now on the go, I figured it’d be fun to share what makeup items I brought with me. Even though the weather can get cold and rainy, most of the time it is usually hot and humid in my hometown. I normally wouldn’t want to cake up my face when the weather is nasty, but I still need to bring my makeup in case I need to look presentable while wandering around the town. ;)


I brought two cases with me. All my makeup are stored in the black, stripey case. And in the pink canvas one, I got my brushes, false lashes, and sponges.


Initially, I wanted to pack my brushes in my brush roll, but it was simply too big. I thought the brush roll would take too much space in my luggage, so I decided to leave it. Do you bring a lot of brushes with you when you travel? I have to, just to be on the safe side. One time I forgot to bring my eye makeup brushes when I was traveling to Jakarta (oops!) and so I had to use those tiny sponges to apply my eye makeup. Lol. I didn’t enjoy the experience.

Face

- Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel which I use as primer. I don't wear it every day, only when I feel like it.

- MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation SPF 15. I put a pea sized amount (a really small one!) on the back of my hand, mix it with my moisturizer, and apply it with my fingers. This provides me enough coverage to even out my skintone and leaves my face looking dewy. After I set it up with powder the dewiness effect is gone, though. :(

- MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural. I love this stuff, to the point where I might declare it as my HG powder. As I’ve observed it, it makes my face look flawless in pictures, AND it doesn't look cakey. I usually buff it with my Everyday Minerals kabuki brush for a natural look.

- NARS Albatross highlighter. Browbone, cupid bow, cheekbones… it’s so versatile, I just have to bring it with me!

- NYX Concealer in Jar. I wouldn’t wear it everyday here because it would melt, but this makes a great everyday eyeshadow base for a natural look.

- Revlon blemish concealer. Will review this soon :)

- Milani Powder Bronzer. When I'm too lazy to put on some blush, I'd wear this bronzer after my foundation routine to create some dimension on my face.

- Maybelline Clearsmooth Powder. It has SPF 18. It mattifies and it's lightweight, so I use it for touchups. It doesn’t hold up well, though. I bought it on a whim the other day because I ran out of my ELF translucent powder.

- MAC blush in Sunbasque. My HG blush, enough said. :)

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Soft Plum. Perfect blush in this weather because it looks so natural on me like I’m not wearing any makeup, just a hint of color on my cheeks. If only it would last longer on my face, though.

Lips

I brought three glosses and four lipsticks. I don't know if that's a lot of lippies to bring with you when you travel, but that's just the right amount for me. In the gloss department, there's NYX Mega Shine lipgloss in Sugar Pie, Revlon Superlustrous lipgloss in Nude Lustre (my favorite!), and Clinique Longlast Glosswear in Cabana Crush. As for the lipsticks, I brought Revlon Matte in Pink Pout, Rimmel Moisture Renew in Nude Delight, MAC Fanfare (Cremesheen), and Maybelline Moisture Extreme in Natural Nude.

Eyes

No need to paint my eyelids with fancy colors here. I only packed natural-colored eyeshadows. My Too Faced Natural Eye Palette comes in very handy! I've been using it A LOT. The rest of the shadows are Thevi matte eyeshadow #250, Milani eyeshadow in Java Bean, and L'oreal Hip Duo in Lively.

These are THE essentials. I don't know what I'm gonna do without these peeps here. From left to right;
- Maybelline Volum Express Hypercurl Mascara, this holds my curl very well! I'm utterly impressed. Not really volumizing, but I still love it.

- Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero, I'd apply it with a brush to get a more natural-looking line... not, you know, striky.

- Oriflame Stylo Liquid Liner in Black, when I want a more precised lining, I'd use this liquid liner. It works alright, not the best one outthere but it doesn't sting my eyes like Revlon Colorstay does.

- Kao eyelashes curler, it's a great tool!! I've never used Shu Uemura's so I can't really compare, but this is definitely a lot better than Revlon's. Kao is a Japanese brand.

- Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, HG stuff. I got my travel size from buying the Book of Shadows vol II.

- Stila Smudge Pot in Bronze, this as primer + Milani Java Bean eyeshadow = great everyday smokey look that compliments my skintone. Will show you some other time. :)

- and ELF eyebrow kit in Dark.



Other essentials:
- Body Shop Born Lippy Lipbalm in Satsuma Shimmer. I almost use this up! It has a rather citrusy scent that my boyfriend despises, but I myself like it. One of my favorite lipbalms ever. :)

- Lucas Papaw Ointment. If you live in Australia and you haven't tried this stuff, you're missing out a great product! This works great for chapped lips, cracked skin, what have you. It also works wonder for insect bites. No kidding. I once got bitten buy a huge red ant (it was on my bed, I dunno how it got there) and I put it on the rash immediately, just under an hour the itchiness and redness had gone away. Love this!

- Oriflame SPF 30 sunscreen. I don't like this since it's pretty sticky, I'm just trying to use it up.

And that's pretty much it! Believe it or not, I usually bring MORE stuff with me, but now I'm just too lazy and I want to travel as light as possible (lol, some people might respond, "THIS is light?").

Do you bring your whole makeup kit when you have to travel for a week or so? Or do you just bring the necessities? :)

Howdy!

Just a quick update to let you all know what I've been up to. :)

I’m currently out of town visiting my family and unfortunately, here I don’t have a 24 hour internet connection like in my own place. I’m afraid my posting will get even more erratic for the next two weeks, but I’ll see what I can do.

Here's an FOTD from yesterday. My hometown is located in one of the most humid areas in the country, so I didn't bring a lot of makeup with me. I normally would just buff my face with MAC MSF Natural and a bit of finishing powder to control shine. Maybe I'll show you what's in my makeup bag next time, that'd be fun. :)

FACE

- MAC MSF Natural
- Maybelline Clearsmooth Powder
- MAC Sunbasque blush

EYES
- Stila Smudgepot in Bronze
- Too Faced eyeshadow in Cocoa Puff
- Too faced eyeshadow in Velvet Revolver
- Nars Albatross for browbone highlight
- Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero
- Maybelline Hypercurl mascara
- ELF dramatic eyelashes kit

LIPS
- Revlon matte lipstick in Pink Pout
- Clinique gloss in Cabana Crush

I'm getting a bit darker because I've been out a lot. MSF Natural in Medium Deep matches me nicely but I wish it was less umm.. orange? I've also been contemplating to get a light to medium coverage foundation because now I don't need as much coverage as I used to. I'm thinking either MAC tinted moisturizer or their face&body foundation... any recommendations?

Anyways, my 22nd birthday is coming up! Woah, time sure flies by so fast! It's on the 24th of July, in case you're wondering. ;)

I don't think there'd be an extravagant celebration, just me and my family.

What have you all been doing? I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. :)

I think blogger just ate my comments. :(

I woke up this morning to 6 new comments on my latest post but after I clicked the "publish" button, they all disappeared. So I tried posting myself a comment. It worked. It looks a-okay from the popped-up commenting page, but my comment STILL doesn't appear under the blogpost section.

Strange.


I thought I clicked the "reject" button instead of the "publish" one, but nah. I checked my email and there they are. All the 6 comments were certainly got published because I received the notifications from Blogger about them. I only receive such notification if I already published the comments. So that rules out the probability of accidentally clicking the reject button.

I'm giving blogger 24 hours to solve this problem. I guess there is something wrong with their software today, a slight case of nervous breakdown perhaps. If my comments are still gone bye bye till tomorrow, then I'll install an independent commenting system on my blog.

*PS: Comment moderation is off now. So if you decide to post a comment on this post, your comment will instantly get published. If it doesn't, then it's Blogger's fault. Not mine. :P


*** UPDATE JULY 6, 2010 @ 11:13 PM ***
I think Blogger has finally figured things out. The commenting system is now back to normal. Hopefully it'll never happen again. Honestly though, I'm still considering of using an independent commenting system like Disqus or Intense Debate on my blog. I've always thought those commenting systems are better anyway, since they will enable me to reply each comment I got directly.

FOTD: Oceany Look

This is totally random but I'm happy that the front layer of my hair is finally over-the-chin long now. I've had side-swept bangs since high school and I miss NOT having it. I always adore that Jennifer Aniston-ish hairdo but it took me a while to grow my bangs out. Usually I'm always tempted to trim it before the bangs got this long.


I don't know if anyone noticed but I haven't posted any colorful look for a while. I got no fancy excuse whatsoever (not even weather excuse because it's not THAT hot here in where I live) but I've just been enjoying my Too Faced The Natural Eye Palette so much. I usually just put the nude color (Heaven) all over my lids with a bit of the taupe color (Velvet Revolver) on the crease, apply eyeliner+falsies, and call it a day. It doesn't even take me more than 10 minutes to do the whole thing.

FACE
- Monistat chafing gel as primer
- Revlon Blemish Concealer in Medium
- MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 in NC37
- MAC MSF Natural in Medium Deep
- NARS Albatross
- Pop Beauty pale pink blush from Sara palette

EYES
- ELF mineral eyeshadow primer
- NYX I dream of St. Lucia palette
- NYX Jazz Night palette
-Milani single e/s in Garden Mist
- Revlon colorstay liquid liner in Black
- Maybelline Volum' Express mascara
- Elise fake lashes #6401

LIPS
-Urban Decay lip pencil in Zero
- NYX mega shine lipgloss in Sugar Pie
- LA Girl lipstick in Secret Admirer (swatch can be found here)

I'm pretty satisfied with how this look turned out. Unfortunately though, the lid color creased within 20 minutes. I don't know if it's the eyeshadow base or the eyeshadow itself that sucks, but this totally bugged me. I'm going to test out wearing the same eyeshadow color next time with UDPP and if that solves my problem, then we'll know the answer. :P

left: Jazz Night, right: I Dream of St.Lucia:

color placement chart:

I went to the salon supplier store the other day to buy a jar of hair mask. I will do a post on the product along with several other products that I use on my hair. I also picked up two pairs of Elise fake lashes on the store and here's the one I wore on the above look. I really like this pair a lot, it looks dramatic without looking too fake.


One last picture to wrap up the post...


Thank you for reading and happy 4th of July for American readers. :)

Lip Swatches: NYX Mega Shine Lipglosses

I'm sorry about the formspring answers that accidentally got published in my blog. I've turned off the blogger connecting widget so it won't ever happen again. But if you still want to take a look on those answers, you could go to my formspring profile. They're all there.

So anyways.
I thought I'd post some swatches of my newly acquired NYX Mega Shine Lipglosses. I got them in Crystal Soda, Sugar Pie, and Tanned.


The last time I bought a NYX lipgloss was almost 2 years ago. I've heard about the Mega Shine glosses being redesigned (and reformulated I guess?) and yesss the newer packaging is cuter and sleeker looking (I like the bow design on top of the cap). But I'm sad to report that I'm not really impressed with the new formula of the gloss. First of all, the cherry scent is just overpowering. The old formula wasn't this smelly, I swear! And second, two of the three glosses I bought end up being too sheer for my liking. Hmm. What's up with this? My first two Mega Shine glosses were decent in pigmentation!

Cute bow design~ :)

The first swatch is Crystal Soda. In the tube it's like a peachy pink colored gloss with golden shimmers. On my lips it goes on very sheer; it looks like I'm just wearing a super shimmery glossy stuff on my lips - no color whatsoever. But the shimmers are pretty and they don't look too tacky. I would only wear it on top of lipstick though.



Tanned is a beige-y brown color with no shimmers (or cream finish, should I say?). It goes on very sheer too, but not as sheer as Crystal Soda. I expected it to be more pigmented and brown, but it turns out nudey beige on my lips. It's great on top of a nude lipstick though. If you have the NYX round lipstick in Circe and you find it too pale, this would be a nice gloss to top off the lipstick with, just to add a little more color.



Ugh. Sugar Pie looks scary on me when worn alone. I guess this would be more suitable for lighter-skinned ladies. BUT, out of the 3 glosses I bought, this one is the most pigmented. The color of the gloss fades before 2 hours though, so that sucks. I can still wear it on top of (or even under) medium pink lipsticks so it's not completely useless for me either. This gloss has tiny shimmer particles that are not too visible.


I guess that's about it. Overall, I think these glosses are okay. I'm not big on them but I don't detest them either.

Have you tried NYX Mega Shine Lipglosses? What do you think about them?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!