Get Glowy Skin :)

Hey guys!

So this is a really quick way to help your skin appear radiant and healthy!
All you need is a good highlighter/luminizer/illuminator :)

Few examples: YSL Radiant Touch, MAC Mineralize Skin Finish, Benefit High Beam,Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder.

Now, I haven't used all of the ones I listed, I've only tried them, but I don't own all of them.

The ones I do own are Benefit High Beam and MAC MSF.





Out of the two, I prefer MAC MSF. The reason being... I think when it comes to highlighter, it's best to use powder rather than liquid, cuz the liquid formula can ruin your makeup. At least for me, the benefit high beam totally sabotages my makeup when I wear mineral foundation.

I really do recommend MAC MSF... the effect is immediate, it is so sheer and sheen and gives you a beautiful glow, I love it =)

Here's a map of where you should highlight your skin:



I know, hahahah. The pink part is where you should highlight if you want glowy skin... on your cheek bones, and down the middle of your nose. The blue parts are just extra parts you can highlight to make your features stand out (in case you can't understand my map, it's the top of your brows, under your brow bone/arch of your brow, and your cupid's bow).  For the blue parts it's perfectly fine to use your eyeshadow to do the job, for the pink parts I won 't recommend doing so... I've tried and it didn't work that well XD unless if your eyeshadow is super sheer and has a nice sheen.



That's it! I know it's very basic, but it's really nice and handy =)

Thanks for reading, xoxo

<3 Frances

Japanese Inspired Makeup #2

Hello hello! =) How's everybody doing?!
Here comes the second Japanese look... my Japanese looks are similar because they're all trying to achieve the same effect... just showing different variations. The good news is... the techniques are basically the same XD

First, I applied primer for smoother foundation application. I used Bare Escentuals bareVitamins Prime Time to prime my face, and Bare Escentuals bareVitamins Prime Time Eyelid Primer to prime my lids.

(technically I applied foundation first before I primed my lids)

Then I used my MAKE UP FOREVER HD foundation in #115



So this time, with eyeshadow, I used "Muchness" for my lid color, and I used a little bit of both "Midnight Tea Party" and "Chessur" for outer eye corner. I also smudged a little of eye shadow onto the lower lash line. Also, I used white shimmery eyeshadow to highlight my inner corners.

Next, I lined my eyes. Here's the map =)




The red part is the map for black eyeliner. I used eyeliner to map out how I wanted to place my lower lashes, which is the blue part. For this, I used a bronze eyeliner ("Bronze" from Smudgepot, Stila), and just very lightly draw it out. Notice how I sort of drag the line more vertically down, then curve the line toward the inner corner of my eye in a flat line. This helps give the illusion of bigger eyes =) Use it light hand cuz we don't want the eyeliner to show too much, but do darken/thicken the outer corner as demonstrated in this picture. Then I take that bronze eyeliner again and trace the purple part on the map. This makes your pupil look rounder. *The reason why I chose bronze not black is because black tends to weigh our lids down.* Black should be avoided when you're working on areas closer to your inner corners (especially if you have the same eye shape/eyelids as mine!)  Don't forget to rim your waterline with white eyeliner! And... define your eyebrows! XD

So now it's time to apply our falsies =D

For upper lashes I'm using "Black-Glamour 974A" from New York Color (can be found at local drugstore).


I don't think it really matters what kind of upper lashes you get... there are so many good ones out there so just pick your favorite =)

For bottom lashes I'm using MAC lash #40 (again.. not posted on website for some reason).


Those lashes I had to fix them too... it's always hard to find the perfect lashes, but it's cool we can always try to work with them =)

Here's a picture to help:


You'd notice all the hairs on these lashes are of same length... we don't want that. Lashes closer to the inner corner should always be the shortest, then gradually fan out, increasing in length. Since the length of these lashes (not the hair length) are perfect for the length of my eyes, I just snap off the first bundle of hairs, like the ones circled in the picture (#1). Then I trimmed the next three bundles of hairs (bundles? lol sorry can't think of a better way to describe!) Lengths are indicated in the picture (#2). So now you have progressively shorter lashes toward the inner corner of your eyes =D (you could try to hold the un-manipulated lashes in front of your eyes to see how awkward and weird they are if the lashes in the inner corner are the same length as the outer...)

Now... Tah-dah! here's what we have =)



Repeat the same for the other one. Then just follow the map your drew out with your bronze eyeliner, this should make the application of bottom lashes so much easier! :P

For the rest of my face, I used "Gerbera" from Stila Convertible Color (makes you look young!) for blush, and Viva Glam GaGa lipstick for lips, finishing off with a little bit of Victoria Secret gloss.



Viva Glam GaGa is a gorgeous bubble gum pink =) If you don't have this, anything that's baby pink or bubble gum pink will do.

Here are more pictures for this look =)


(Sorry if my poses make you want to throw up... XD)



(WTF?! My hand seriously looks like chicken feet!)





Again... thanks for reading! This is very long I know >__< hope you guys liked it!!!

Have a beautiful day and good luck if you're trying this out :D

<3 Frances

Japanese Inspired Makeup #1

Hi there! :D

So I'm sure a lot of ppl have heard of Ulzzang makeup... but what exactly is it?
Here's Wikipedia definition for you XD haha good ol' Wiki!!!

"Ulzzang is a popular South Korean term literally meaning, 'best face,' or 'good-looking.'
(Funnily I always thought it's a Japanese term... I always thought it's the same thing as Gyaru. Does anyone know the difference??????)

Characteristics:
All Ulzzangs share similar features such as big eyes " the main focus" or concept of the look(as in doll eyes with long eye lashes and cute anime characteristics), small nose, fair skin, etc. Circle lenses are known to be popular with most ulzzang.

This is such a Japanese definition!!! To me at least, I wonder if this trend started in Korea and is made big in Japan???? Or is it just a mistake on Wiki???? I'm very curious.

Anyways off the topic. Here we go! :)

This look is all about eyelashes, so prepare a pair of upper lashes and bottom lashes =)

For upper lashes I'm using these from Sephora.

Sorry if they look battered... I've had these for SOOO long that I'm amazed they still work!

For bottom lashes I'm using MAC 39.

For some reason those lashes aren't listed on the MAC website, and they weren't on display at my local MAC store. I had to ask them if they carry any bottom lashes and they unraveled these babies for me =D


they're supposed to be longer... those are already trimmed down. I trimmed the hairs so the look is more wearable =)

The trick to trimming eyelashes is... patience!!!! It's like cutting your bangs... you fix it piece by piece...hair by hair. When you cut your hair you don't just grab a big chunk and cut them all at once; eyelashes are the same =) My advice would be to hold your scissors vertically (just like how you would with your bangs!) and cut the lashes hair by hair. Be patient and don't rush!!! I'd also recommend practicing on some cheap/unwanted lashes before you go to the real thing.



The other key component to this look would be rimming your waterline with white pencil (I used "Fascinating from MAC Eye Khol). This really brightens up your eyes and makes your eyes bigger!

Eyeliner-wise, here's a map of how I did mine (please excuse my drawing XD)



For this look it's all about emphasizing the innocent, puppy-eye look, so be sure to drag your eyeliner all the way to the corner of your eye to pull down your eye shape, if that makes sense?

I will write more about eyeliner later =)

And after I applied my lower lashes, I took my eyeliner and very lightly go under the falsies to darken the outer corner a little bit, to add more depth and dimension =)

As for eye shadow... I didn't wear much as you can see... I just applied "White Rabbit" from Urban Decay's Alice In Wonderland palette all over my lid and put some greys on the outer corner. You can see in this look eyeshadow doesn't really matter because you can't really see it anyways through your fake lashes. But I do recommend using white, shimmery eyeshadow to really brighten up the eyes ;)

... Don't forget to define your eyebrows too!

And that's really it! Really simple huh?

The products I used for the rest of my face... MAKE UP FOREVER HD Foundation in #115 (this foundation is slightly paler than my skin tone...  but this look does work better on paler complexion. Just don't forget to apply some on your neck too if the color difference is too much). Translucent Loose Powder in 06 from Estelle Lauder. But really... any setting powder/loose powder you own will do =)  NARS "orgasm" for blush, and Dior lipstick in #355 (not sure if they still have it, but any rosy pink will work).

I hope this helps someone in some way! Good luck =)

PS: If you have color /circle lenses, go ahead and pop them in =) I'm not wearing any cuz I don't know how T__T I've tried soo many times but my eyes just won't budge!!! Aghh!!


More pictures:





you can see the eyes better in this pic lol



Posing contributes a lot to the Ulzzang look too :P supposedly the innocent look... *vomits*



I photoshopped this pic... adjusted the exposure and other things a little. You can see how the white eyeliner really makes your eyes stand out.

Thanks for reading again and have a wonderful day!!!

<3 Frances

Night-out look...

So I was going through my old pictures and I came across this...



This is a night out look I did a while ago...

Can't remember the detail XD
But I do remember that I was wearing my Stila Convertible Marigold blush (the bronzing duo) and MAC's "Funshine" from the Slimshine Lipstick collection on my lips... topped off with "Smile" from Dazzleglass =)




It's the lipstick on the left. I've been really into coral/orange-ish colors ;)



I put this pic up cuz I thought the color in real life looks wayyy different from the swatch posted on MAC website.

I think I might as well post my outfit for that night :P



I wore a long tanktop under a leather jacket (long tanktop is the key!!). I chose Mickey Mouse because I want to tone down the sexiness brought by the leather jacket XD but of course you can always wear something more sexy and sophisticated under.



I love these pants! Look it even has chains on it!!! howwww cuuuuuuuuuute >////< I seldom wear things like this... but I love the loud colors... it's a very bold statement and I think it's perfect with the leather jacket. The pants are skinny on the bottom part and have zippers. And believe it or not it actually made my legs look long and skinny... but of course without heels this cannot be achieved XD

I would totally complete this outfit by wearing these kind of heels...



The whole thing just looks super sexy >_< unfortunately these heels hurt the crap out of my feet (unless I want to spend a lot and invest on a good pair) so I didn't buy any... Instead I wore my Charlotte Rousse leopard print heels

(leather jacket, tanktop, heels are all from Forever 21)



Those didn't do so well either =__= by the end of the night I could barely walk... I don't think I'll ever shop for cheap heels again, especially not at Charlotte Rousse.

I don't have any full lengths pics taken that night :( POO. But I did try to take some pics with my webcam! :D





This was the best I could get lol... don't know why I was pulling on the chains?????????!?!?!?!?!??? O_o


Lastly... a closer pic of my makeup =)



Thanks for reading!!! :)

<3 Frances

Makeup brushes too scratchy?

Hello =)

So I'm not sure if some of you have had this experience before...

Sometimes when you use your eyeshadow brush, it just feels too rough and scratches your eyelid and really hurts?

That happened to me before and also happened to my friends who I was applying makeup on, so I'm pretty sure it's not me being overly sensitive, it's the quality of the brush. And the brushes in question are actually not some of the cheap brushes either-- they're my MAC 219 pencil brush and 217 blending brush =( which is very frustrating considering the amount of money I paid for them, the quality should be so much better (even my StudioTools and Sonia Kashuk brushes are softer and they're 1/3 of the price).

Anyways, I found a little trick that helped =D

All you need is a nail file lol! And make sure it's the rougher kind (you can even use a sand paper if you wish). And you just take your brush and brush it back and forth on the nail file. Brush your lid to see if it's still rough/where it is rough, and just keep doing it until the scratchy bristles are filed off =) Don't forget to wash your brush after you're done!

I'd like to say don't worry if this is gonna ruin your brush... because my brushes still perform the way they are, and my 219 actually hasn't bothered me anymore =) 217 sometimes still scratch a little but it's definitely softer now.

Hope this trick helps some of you =)

<3 Frances