K-Beauty Haul!~ (Tony Moly, Etude House)

K-beauty is annoyingly hard to come by in the UK. I mean, there is some about, but when I think k-beauty I think about two brands in particular: Tony Moly and Etude House. Ever seen any of that stuff here? Nope! But you know where does (just about) have it?! Malaysia! And guess where I spent my summer…? Okay I’ll just stop now… xD

As you can see, I didn’t really buy a lot, as even though stuff in Malaysia is notoriously wayyy cheaper than the UK, make-up (in my experience) isn’t. But still, it’s much cheaper than a) buying online from and paying insane shipping and import, or b) going to South Korea and buying the stuff in person, so yeah. 

Panda’s Dream So Cool Eye Stick Serum

SOS Care Pink Clay Therapy Pack

Brightening White Colour Clay Therapy Pack

Tony Moly has some of the cutest packaging I’ve ever seen and every time I see their stuff I wanna buy something random just because it’s so damn cute. Saying that though, their skin care apparently is pretty great. Their Panda’s Dream So Cool Eye Stick for example, besides being freaking adorable, actually works quite nicely for puffy under-eyes and is also pretty damn soothing during hay fever season in particular! And as for the clay therapy packs, well… my face is having major issues at the moment and could use some help. PLUS, have you seen the packaging?! So simple but oh my gah, I was sold as soon as I saw it! <3

Matte Chic Lip Lacquer in RD302 Seulgi Burgundy

Dear My Lips-Talk Case in #16 and #18

Dear My Glass Tinting Lips-Talk in GR701

Ahh, the Etude House stuff was super on-a-whim purchasing. For example, the Matte Chic Lip Lacquer I’d seen be talked about on YouTube, so I know there’s some hype surrounding it, but what made me choose to buy it? Embarrassingly, the fact that it’s a Red Velvet collab colour. And I guess I like like, two of their songs? Ha, random, I know, but that kind of spurred me on to just giving in and buying it. Plus, the colour is very nice!

[feat. RevolutionxEmily 'The Wants' palette + Etude House Matte Chic Lip Lacquer in Seulgi Burgundy]

As for the other lip things… to be honest, I was entirely sold on the idea of being able to customise your lip colour and case to the point where you can even get engraving done as a complimentary service, like so:

(oh my gah how cool is that?!?!??)

Pretty damn cool, right?? I thought so too!! ;D

So that’s all the k-beauty products I bought this time! I did want to buy some sheet masks as well, but in the end didn’t see the point as, like I said, this stuff isn’t easy (or even possible?) to find in the UK, so I’d end up with like, a week of nice skin and then never again? Eh, can’t be bothered, maybe next time if I can afford to buy in bulk!

BONUS: Also I spent so much at the Etude House store that they gave me some skin care freebies! Yay! =D

-Philippa. x

Note: Ah. So, I just got reminded that you can get Tony Moly at Selfriges... but like, that hardly counts, right? Personally I think that it's so expensive there that you might as well fly to France and just get it from Sephora! xP

*more excited squeals* ... (#Revolution x The Emily Edit)~

Words cannot describe how excited I was when one of my favourite YouTubers announced that not only was she releasing a collab palette, but that it would be with one of the most affordable and, thank goodness for us UK folks, accessible make-up brands out there, Makeup Revolution! Congrats Emily! I'm so happy for you!

The Emily Edit 'The Wants' palette - £15 - available from Superdrug and Makeup Revolution

The launch of this actually happened while I was on holiday so I couldn't get to it as quickly as I would have liked, and while is was a bit of a bummer that I had to wait a bit to buy this as the initial release sold out basically immediately, I'm super glad for Emily that her palettes (this is one of two) were so well received and that the launch was such a success! And just to go a wee bit off-topic here, as you can see, this palette isn't my usual cup of tea, but I jumped to buy it anyway as if there's someone I feel I can trust to make a palette with genuine and honest care and that just works, it's Emily.

But anyway, on to the swatches:

As I mentioned earlier, the colour selection isn't really what I would naturally gravitate towards and so kinda scares me a bit, but there are definitely some shades that I'm super excited to play with and who knows? Maybe I'll even be inspired enough to experiment a bit? =D

Ugh. As you can probably tell, I haven't really been having any great skin days lately... but for the sake of this post, I sucked it up and took some try-on pics anyway! This was my first time trying out this palette and unsurprisingly I went straight for the purples! And the fact that it turned out fairly decently is another plus for the palette!

  
(shades featured: 'the cream' [brow highlight], 'prayer' and 'apartment' [crease], 'belle violet' and 'cheer' [lid], 'family' [lower lash line])

In the past I've been perfectly happy with the Makeup Revolution eyeshadows that I've purchased and so far I'm not disappointed in the slightest with how this palette is performing. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that I'm actually a little bit impressed by how high-end the whole palette feels! Everything was easy to blend (great for when you're rushing your makeup like i did...), went on nice and opaque and just performed well in general, so another well done and good job to Emily!

So I guess overall I'd say that this palette is worth going for for the number of shades and the quality of the eyeshadows at such a great price point, plus, the HUGE mirror included (which i'm sure i've already put many fingerprints all over) and you get to support a really awesome and special lady whilst looking fabulous doing so. So what are you waiting for? Go grab it before it sells out again! ;D

-Philippa. x

PS.: goes without saying, but if you haven't already, go check out emily on youtube for honest make up reviews, fotd inspo and super heart-warming family vlogs.
PPS.: obvs not sponsored. ha. i wish. =P
PPPS.: oh yeah, forgot to mention as well, loving how chic the packaging is! trés classy! 

Behind the scenes, she's such a tease... (bloopers!)~

Like the title suggests, consider this a behind-the-scenes / teaser / blooper reel for an upcoming post.

So, today is my birthday (yay me! i'm old!) and to mark the occasion falling on a Sunday (what is supposed to be my usual upload day) I was going to make an extra special post, BUT, turns out I was a little ambitious and it's not quite ready yet, SO, instead, here are some blooper pics from the shoot!

What. In. The. Heck. Oh em gee sooo cringe! Why am I showing these on the internet?! xP

... and an actual behind-the-scenes pic in which you can barely see the make-up look I did for the shoot. Thanks, front camera.

Okay, so not really very telling, particularly interesting, or a lot to go by, but hey, I wanted to make a post on my birthday, so boom!, mission accomplished! And yes, there were a LOT more bloopers I could have posted, but... I'm already so embarrassed over these, I don't think I could handle the shame of showing any others, so yeah... you can just imagine how bad those were...

Until next week!! ^^

-Philippa. x

*insert excited squeals*... (KvD's MetalMatte palette!)~

I'm pretty sure I mentioned a while back that I was sooo lusting after this palette, and guess what... I FINALLY HAVE IT! OMG HOORAY!! xD*

It feels almost pointless talking about this palette now, seeing as how it has long since been discontinued due to it being a limited edition piece, but I'm gonna talk about it anyway, as a) it's awesome and I'm so excited to finally have it, b) it might help give a little insight into Kat's other eyeshadow palettes, and c) it technically might still exist?!

The MetalMatte palette was originally released via Sephora sometime late last year and reached the UK a couple of months later (i think around december maybe?). It was briefly available via Debenhams, but is no longer on sale online, though I will say, I have seen the palette still in their flagship store on Oxford Street recently...

The palette retailed at £50 and if you have a look at the size (thus, the macbook air for scale) and the amount of product you get in this thing, you'll see that it was actually quite the bargain! 

Beautiful, isn't it?**

As you can see, on the top is a row of Kat's Metal Crush eyeshadows (pretty sure this selection is exclusive to the palette, but other individual colours are available at debenhams!) and the bottom consists of matte shadows, hence, the palette's name. While I haven't played around with this palette very much, I will say from swatching previously in-store, swatching randomly over the last week and having tried it out for the first time earlier today... wow, this palette is flipping amazing!

(apologies for the funny lighting; i didn't have a lot of time and the sun was playing games with me!!)

The eyeshadows are super pigmented, easy to blend, and so far seem to be pretty long-wearing (i'm writing this after having worn these shadows for about 10 hours), and the selection covers so much ground that it feels nearly impossible to choose which colours to play with first!

Honestly, it might be early days, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say, if you love eyeshadow and happen upon this palette, don't hesitate, just snap it up immediately! And if this palette really is gone for good and never to be seen again, no worries, as KvD does have other palettes available that are (apparently) just as amazing! Goodness knows that I should be satisfied now that I have this bad boy, but silly me, I'm still chasing after the Shade and Light quad in 'Sage' too!! Help!

Philippa. x

*in case you're wondering, btw, i bought this via sephora.my and had family send this over, as it was released a little later there so i had a little more time to snag it, SO, might be worth checking other international sephoras...?

**and might i also add that this thing is not light?! those are not some half-filled pans!

Review? Zoeva Cosmetics~

… well, sort of. As mentioned in my eyeshadow palettes post (from like a million years ago…), I really wanted to get some Zoeva palettes to add to my collection, and so I did! However, I sadly haven’t really had many occasions to test these lovelies out so can’t really give a fair review, BUT, will show some swatches and a brief rundown on my opinions so far on the palettes and all that jazz… so yeah!

Zoeva En Taupe palette - £17.50 / £18.00 - available from the Zoeva website and Beauty Bay respectively

The first palette I got my hands on was the En Taupe palette. It’s a very light, cool-tone, almost girly palette (at least in my opinion) and I like it for really subtle, everyday semi-smokey looks. I was a bit unsure about whether or not to get this palette at first, as it’s cute, but didn’t really stand out to me, but I’m so glad I did, as out of the three it’s definitely the one I use the most! The matte transition colours are very soft and easy to build up and the metallics are really buttery and pigmented, so yes, very happy with this one.

Zoeva Mixed Metals palette - £17.50 / £18.00 - available from the Zoeva website and Beauty Bay respectively

I fell in love with this palette as soon as I saw the swatches online as OHMYGAH the pigmentation is amazing! I will say, I definitely use this palette the least as it is all metallics, apart from that black eyeshadow which is matte, so unless I have time on my hands, I don’t really use this much as it requires me to pull shadows from other palettes too. I can say first-hand though, that the pigmentation is wonderful and this is my go-to palette for big pops of colour.

Zoeva Smoky palette - £17.50 / 18.00 - available from the Zoeva website and Beauty Bay respectively

This is the palette that first really caught my eye (as who doesn’t love a good smokey palette?!), but I was hesitant to buy as, really, did I really need another smokey palette? And the answer was yes, I did! It is a mostly matte palette, which is already a win for me, but in particular I love that slightly metallic dark olive green colour which really did seal the deal for me. As it is the newest of the three for me, I really haven’t used it at all, but let me tell you I am excited to and will definitely do so as soon as any somewhat relevant occasion arises!

… and that’s everything! Like I said, while I haven’t used these palettes that much yet, I am so far loving what I’m touching and seeing and if nothing else I do LOVE the packaging (even if there is no mirror included) as it is very lightweight, easy to identify at a glance and easy to travel with!

Right, so that concludes another post! As always, sorry for the long gaps, I just suck like that I guess! xP

Philippa. x

Miss A Mini Haul! (and review?)~

Being as poor as I am, I don’t get to shop all that often. So instead I choose to live vicariously through others on YouTube posting their many haul videos and THUS, I discovered the gem that is shopmissa.com!

(sorry for the rubbish glare in the pic, but i really wanted to show off what little packaging i had left and there is next-to-no lighting in my room so flash was sadly a must!)

The real treasure about Miss A (particularly if you live in the US) is that everything, and I mean everything (well, sort of…) is $1! Oh my gah WHAT!? But that’s not all! According to the many review videos I have watched, the products, despite their unbelievable price point, are pretty damn decent too! Can this be true?! I decided to make a little purchase to find out for myself!

As you can see I only bought 5 items totalling at $5 (roughly £3.90) and at a glance they all look pretty promising…

AOA Scrubby Facial Cleansing Pad - $1 - available from Miss A (also available in other colours!)

AOA Brush Cleaning Egg - $1 - available from Miss A (also available in other colours!

AOA Hand Mirror - $1 - available from Miss A

While I haven't fully utilised these yet, I can say from at least playing around with the ‘tools’ (and by playing i mean touching and rubbing them…), the quality is really quite amazing for being so cheap - the hand mirror in particular - and while I have yet to use the face scrubby or the brush cleaner I have poked at more expensive equivalents in shops and these feel pretty darn comparable to those, especially the brush cleaner. One thing for sure is that they don't feel cheap.

AOA Wonder Metal Liquid Lipstick (in ‘Sleek’) - $1 - available from Miss A

AOA Wonder Matte Liquid Lipstick (in ‘Tease’) - $1 - available from Miss A

These beauties, however, I have already used and tested and they are the BOMB! Lame I used that terminology, but seriously, they’re great! I’m really sad I only bought two (and i will elaborate on why in a bit) but am really quite happy with the ones I did get so far. 

The metallic one is the slightly less awesome of the two, as it requires a little bit of work to get the coverage full and even, but is still a great colour, very metallic and does dry down completely matte! The other one however… ugh! I love it so much! The colour is absolutely gorgeous and despite looking more pink in the tube, once it fully dries down is more purplish in colour, which is right up my alley! The pigmentation and coverage is great, really easy to work with and again, this dries down matte and is completely budge-proof.

All in all, Miss A is one heck of a remarkable discovery and I am so happy to have found it! Not only are their products pretty darn decent*, but there’s tons of them too! From socks to hair accessories to brushes to individual eyeshadows, they have them all!

Now for the boring (but important) bit of this post. The reason I only bought 5 things, despite them all being so cheap and there being soooo much to choose from, is because of shipping. Miss A’s international shipping is a flat rate of £9.95, which is pretty fair for something coming from the US. But then there’s customs and sadly, the limit before having to pay customs (which in my experience so far has totalled in at between £8 and £25) is currently £15. However, that being said, I honestly don’t mind making a few small orders of just under £15 just avoid potentially painful and unpredictable customs charges, as in the end the value of everything, including postage, is still a really decent price. So yeah, just a bit of a warning for those of you looking into doing a bit of a shop with Miss A!

And on that note, I shall end this post! Hope you liked it and see you in like 4 months time when I next post! xD

Philippa. x

*Miss A carries their own brands AOA and a2o, as well as other brands like Elf, Kleancolor, LA Color, Beauty Treats, etc. Obviously the quality of the products will vary from brand to brand, but I only purchased from the AOA line, so my comments on how AMAZING everything is is, for now, exclusive to that line.

Let's Talk... Eyeshadow Palettes!~

Welcome to a new segment of my blog! For the life of me I’ve been struggling to maintain this thing and figured doing ‘Let’s Talk’ posts will help push me to write about stuff without necessarily needing to go pestering poor Ama for shoots or spending money for hauls!

So this is gonna be like a review-not-review where I basically talk about products I have…? Not really sure what else to say, but maybe it’ll inform you a little bit more about me, my spending habits, and maybe even give you ideas of stuff you might potentially like? Anywho…

Anyone who knows me well will know that lately I have been extra obsessed with eyeshadow palettes. Currently -and rather sadly- I only own a few, but I definitely have my eye on more, so watch this space I guess!?!*

For now, though, we’ll just talk about the ones I do have and I’ll give a little run down on value, quality, etc., and some swatches, so yeah, like I said, kind of like a review-but-not-review.

I’ll start with the cheaper palettes first; here we have Makeup Revolution’s ‘Iconic 3’ palette:

Makeup Revolution Redemption Palette (in Iconic 3) - £4 - available from TAM Beauty or Superdrug

Apparently this is a dupe for Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette, but what do I know? Visually, I guess you could say they are pretty similar, but I’ve never tried Urban Decay eyeshadows beyond swatching, so meh, guess you gotta go find out yourself? Regardless, this palette is a steal at £4 and the quality is pretty amazing for such a low price! Definitely one of my favourite colour selections with its pinks and browns, very romantic!

Also from Makeup Revolution, I have the ‘Give Them Nightmares’ palette:

Makeup Revolution Salvation Palette (in Give Them Nightmares) - £6 (currently on sale for £4!) - available from TAM Beauty

Value-for-money-wise, the Salvation palettes appear to be on top; a lot of shades for very little money. However, the quality does stumble and vary a little because of that, though not in an overly disappointing way. Most shimmers are amazingly pigmented, most mattes are a little sheer and there can be a fair bit of fallout, but like I said, price-wise, it’s all good. And as for this palette in particular, the colour selection is just soooo me and soooo Halloween! So awesome!!

Next up, we have a palette from Sleek:

Sleek Makeup i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette (in Bad Girl) - £8.99 - available from Sleek or Boots

This is the ‘Bad Girl’ palette and just like with the previous palette, the colour selection for this is just on point! Very, very me, or at least how I like to see myself, but that’s neither here nor there! Sleek eyeshadows, as far as I know from endless swatching, are some of the better quality eyeshadows available from the ‘drugstore’ and it’s definitely a brand I see myself buying more from in the future.** This palette definitely does it's brand justice with the colours all being super pigmented and easy to blend. The only ‘eh’ I’d have to say, is that the amount of shimmer is insaaaane and it goes everywhere, though maybe that’s not really a bad thing…? Still LOVING it though!!

Now for my newest palette, which is the ‘Northern Lights’ palette from Cargo:

Cargo Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palette (in Northern Lights) - £35 - (no longer available)

This palette, I had to buy off Depop, as it’s actually from their 2014 holiday collection. However, I love the theme of this palette and upon finding it at a bargain price, just had to have it! The colour selection is not really one I’d normally go for, but there are definitely some colours I’m glad to now have within my reach. Despite the higher pricing, I don’t really feel like this blows my mind with how much better it is than my cheaper palettes, because really, it’s okay, but not phenomenal. I dunno, maybe I just need to play around with it more? We’ll see…

And lastly, my precious baby, my Tartelette In Bloom palette!

Tarte Tartelette In Bloom (Tartelette 2) palette - £35.40 - available from QVC

I mentioned this in my recent beauty haul post, and now that I have actually played around with it a bit can happily report that this thing is LIFE. It is the perfect everyday palette for me and I am just sooooo chuffed that this wasn’t a waste of money! Definitely worth the price; the quality is great and the colours are wonderful for so many different looks and skin tones… and did I mention it smells great too?!? I love this so much! <3

So those are all my palettes (so far, ehem…); I don’t know what it is about eyeshadow palettes, but I just can’t stop wanting more! I’m becoming somewhat an addict, I think… oh dear!

Hope you enjoyed reading my first ‘Let’s Talk’ post (sorry it was a little wordy!) and I hope you’ll be looking forward to future ones!

Philippa. x

*zoeva palettes! lusting after them, will definitely be adding them to the collection soon! and the kat von d ones! particularly metal/matte and innerstellar, such beautiful shades! so much want!!

**i know they’re hard to find now, at least in-stores, but check out sleek’s ‘goodnight sweetheart’ palette! that thing is soooo gorgeous!!