MAC Gaga, Cyndi, Ripe Peach, and Giveaway Prizes

Hello,  I know there's already been a bunch of posts, swatches, and reviews of the MAC Viva Glam Gaga and Cyndi lipsticks but I thought I'd share my 2 cents anyhow!

I have to give a special thanks to my dear friend  (aka personal shopper) Diane (Orange2LA) for grabbing these two lipsticks for me!  By the time I would of gotten off my lazy ass to go to the MAC store Gaga would have already been sold out.

I was actually very hesitant to get Gaga and initially just wanted Cyndi because I didn't think that Gaga would be flattering on me.  Luckily Diane convinced me otherwise and grabbed them both for me!  

My first impression of Gaga was like "woah this is a bright cotton candy pink, no way it's going to look good on my medium skin tone!".  Once I applied it on my lips it wasn't as over powering of a pink as I thought it would be.  The lipstick is a lustre finish and it actually goes on sheer but with a good amount of pigmentation.  This color is super buildable, so you can easy go lightly for a sheer pink shade or add more layers for a more bold look.

I'm so glad I got Gaga but sad at the same time that it's LE because it's by far one of my favorite pink lipsticks!   Why are all things good LE? I need a backup haha

Cyndi was definitely my first pick.  I already knew that this reddish coral shade would be flattering on me because this type of shade usually flatters all skin tones.  This is also a Lustre finish and the color reminds me of raspberries.   

I also adore the packaging of both lipsticks with the Signatures on them. 

Swatch of Gaga and Cyndi (I'm sure you can tell which one is which!)

Please excuse my super flaky lips, looks like time to do a lip scrub.  This is one layer of Gaga on my lips.  I love how cute the color looks, reminds me of the pink lips in Japanese Magazine girls.

Cyndi is gorgeous, it's the perfect berry stained lips!

Overall I am very happy with this purchase.  From my past experiences MAC lipsticks tend to be on the drying side for me but these two were surprisingly smooth.

When MAC Spring Forecast came out I also had my eyes on the Ombre Blushes.  I have a soft spot for mixed or gradient style blushes.  At first I wanted Azalea blossom but I realized I already have lots of pink tone blushes and not enough coral so I decided to get the Ripe Peach.

Of course with my luck these were all sold out by the time I decided to get them!  I ended up tweeting on twitter about my disappointed and Steph (Julu Jewelry) offered to check at the store near her for me since she was already going to  MAC.  And of course from the pictures you already know how it goes.... I got my grubby hands on them!  Thank you Steph!

These babies are huge, the same size as a MAC MSF Natural.  The color combination is gorgeous!  I have been using it daily ever since I got it. 

Here's a pic of me wearing it a few days ago.  This is actually the result of me swirling my brush around and mixing every color together.

Giveaway Prizes

I won the Alice in Wonderland Mini OPI Nail Polishes from Mayaari's Giveaway (http://xmayaarix.blogspot.com/).

All the colors are so pretty and fun!

She was so sweet to include yummy goodies and samples.

Hello Kitty Nail Filer, OMG so cute!

I played around with the colors and this is Thanks so Muchness layered with Mad as a Hatter.

I have also been on a green polish kick and this is one of my favorite greens, Go Green by Sally Hansen.

I guess I've been on a bit of a winning streak.  The funny thing is it happened the same time last year in February as well, where I won a few giveaways in a row!  But then after that for the rest of the year I won nothing hehe

I won Spider Lily's Giveaway (http://spiderlilyblog.blogspot.com) and received a bunch of adorable goodies.

These are so cute and dainty!  Please go check out her blog for more cute creations.

Thank you so much!!

Have a good rest of the week everyone :)

Review: Illamasqua Climax and Move

Hi, hope everyone is having a wonderful week.  The weather over here has been nice and sunny but it's suppose to rain again over the weekend (boo!).

I have been curious about Illamasqua lip products for awhile and finally managed to get my hands on them by swapping on MUA.  I got the lipstick in Climax and the Intense Lipgloss in Move.

I adore the packaging of the lipstick, it's black, square,and sleek.  Although it appears to be bulky it's not heavy at all.

Climax is a dusty rose color, sort of reminds me of NARS Dolce Vita.  I was very pleased with this color, it not too pale or too dark and very wearable for all skin tones.  

The color is also quite pigmented and shows up well on my lips.  The lipstick has a creamy texture and the staying power is decent if you are not constantly stuffing stuff in your mouth like me.

There is a faint waxy scent that is barely noticeable.  I would definitely purchase more in the future.

As for the lip gloss, I am not too fond of their packaging.  It comes in a slim tube with a plastic slanted applicator which looks cheap and messy to me.

Illamasqua offers 2 formulas of lip gloss:  Intense and Sheer.  I figured the Intense formula would be best for me since I have pigmented lips.

Swatch of the color on the left.  Move to me is a mauve-rose color which is gorgeous!  I really like the formula since it's very creamy and has very little stickiness (almost similar to NARS formula).

The one thing I dislike is the scent.  It has a very strong perfume scent (it doesn't smell bad, I just have a sensitive nose) that sticks to your lips.  Once I applied this gloss to my lips I couldn't help but get annoyed of the whiff of the smell from the gloss.  Just for that I don't think I will be purchasing any Illamasqua glosses in the future, but if you don't mind the smell then this is a great product!

Here is Climax on my lips, the picture doesn't do it justice!

Anyone own Ilamasqua lippies?

Megan's Giveaway Prize

I won Megan's Giveaway.  I started following her blog after meeting her randomly in the blogtv chat room while Lindah, and Linda were hosting!  She has an amazing blog and is such a sweetheart.

http://meganeiland.blogspot.com/

The prize was a MAC Fresh Cut Palette!  I was so tempted to get these when they came out but some how decided to pass on them so I was so excited to have won one.  I love the colors they do remind me of a fresh bouquet of roses.

Thank you Megan, xoxo!

Sweet Package

Lisa of He Qi Designs was so sweet enough to send me some of her handmade caramels to taste!  She said that this was her first attempt but they taste so heavenly!

Champagne Love

Julie of Pop Champagne was so thoughtful to send me a love package just because I gave her a few little extras when she purchased from my blog sale last year.  You really didn't have to gorgeous, but thank you so much!

Swap with Kalai (http://rose-tint.blogspot.com/)

I did a little mini swap with Kalai since she was curious to try the MUFE Aqua Eyeliner and I had one that I don't really use since it smudges on me.  

The box she decorated is so cute, I need to get my hands on some deco tape, my packages are always so boring!

She included a sweet note along with a cute bunny key chain!

The only thing I requested was the GOSH Darling lipstick, the rest of the items were extras she included.

I have always been so curious to try this lipstick out after hearing multiple raves about it.  The lipstick itself is a super pale beige color.  On my lips it makes me look sorta dead but I think this could be cute if I top it off with a colorful gloss or use it as a lip concealer.

Thank you so much Kalai! xoxo

Pasta!

Has anyone seen this Kdrama yet?  After being addicted to You're Beautiful I have yet to find a Kdrama to be hooked on.  I started watching a few episodes of Pasta not too long ago and I have to say it's pretty entertaining but definitely not addicting material.  One of the main reasons it's not truly addicting to me is that I don't find the main characters too attractive (they are ok just not swoon and drool over material haha).  One of my favorite things about this series is the food!  I love food themed series/dramas because I just love food in general!  I am not a good cook but I am a good eater.

Description:

"Pasta" covers the dreams and success of a young woman who aspires to become an elite chef at Mamma Mia restaurant.

Seo Yoo Kyung started her career as a third ranked chef assistant at Mamma Mia restaurant. She eventually works her way up to become a chef.

Choi Hyun Wook is the top chef at Mamma Mia restaurant. He studied the culinary arts in Italy and started out as a chef assistant at a hotel in Sicily. Hyun Wook eventually worked his way up to become the most widely recognized Italian chef in Korea.

After watching a few eps of this series I suddenly had crazy cravings for pasta.  The main girl attempts to perfect her olive oil garlic pasta cooking technique to match the taste of the main guy who is the chef.  So in one of the episodes she is constantly cooking and tasting the pasta which made me want some!

So later on that night I came home and attempted my own garlic and oil pasta.

 This isn't the one I made but it looked similar to this.  The ingredients were fairly simple:  Olive oil, garlic, parsley, spaghetti, salt and pepper!  It was surprisingly delicious and definitely one of my favorite things to make now since it requires little time in the kitchen.

Anyone watch any good Kdramas lately?

Ok off to fold laundry, then vacuum, then maybe organize make up if I'm not too lazy.

Til next time....toodles!

Secret Valentine and Tummy Love Weekend

Hi beauties!  Happy be-lated Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year to everyone.  I hope the year of the Tiger will bring everyone much happiness and success.

I had a nice weekend filled with lots of good food and company.

My Secret Valentine

I participated in a Secret Valentine that was put together by the lovely Diana.  My Secret Valentine package arrived fairly early and it was really tough to not open it and save it until Valentine's Day!

My Secret Valentine was Betty of Imomoko!

She got me a super adorable Valentine's Day Card

Yummy chocolate masks and bath salts!

L'egere B12 lip cream and some face & neck cream samples

Opera My Lash Mascara

L'egere mineral blush

Face wash samples

Thanks so much Betty, I love everything!  Also special thanks to Diana for hosting this it was so much fun.

Tummy Love

The bf took me out to dinner on Friday night, we both ordered flat iron steaks.

On Saturday we were suppose to go to the LA Food Festival and meet up with Kalmo and her bf but the line was insanely long that we decided to skip it!  We all decided to go grab some lunch in Little Tokyo instead.

That's my bf eating takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), I was going to take a picture  but he beat me to it and already started taking a bite!  It's so yummy I wish we had a place near by that served it.

Ramen with pork bone broth, sooooo good!

Japanese fried rice on the side

Sesame spinach, crunchy and delicious

After that we just shopped around Little Tokyo for awhile and actually ended up spending most of the day together.  There's actually more food involved but later on in the day I got lazy with the camera and stopped taking pics.   It was so much fun hanging out with Kalmo and both our bfs get along perfectly so we don't have to worry about them while we chat up about make up and girly things.

On Valentine's Day my bf took me out for some breakfast!

Mmmm.. mmmm.. this is even making me hungry!

We went shopping at the mall for a bit and grabbed lunch there

I heart macaroons

For dinner we decided to cook something together.  We made bacon wrapped scallops with spicy mayo dip.

Boiled crab with garlic butter sauce.... drools

Romulan Ale Drink, a play on the drink from Star Trek.  Ingredients include: Blue Curacao, Vodka, Sparkling Water, and Lemon Lime Soda.

Store bought Creme Brulee for dessert, it was heavenly!

My tummy was so happy and full I actually ended up falling asleep shortly after.

Hope your weekend was filled with lots of love and yummy foods as well!