theNotice

I hope you’re okay with blush porn, because I am SWAMPED.

March 18, 2009

4 Comments

Aura Science blushes – the smaller case on the left is their eyeshadow compct, for comparison. Made in Japan, they contain .21oz/6g of products, which is quite a bit!

Gleaming Nude. How gorgeous is this?!

I find that the darker of the two (Rose Nude) is too warm for me, and the lighter (Gleaming Nude), though a gorgeous plummy satin in the pan, is too sheer. I’ll probably end up using them mostly for layering, but this is by no means a bad thing!! They’re gorgeous in their own way, and offer a luxe, luminous sheen.

Rose Nude.

Aaand Gleaming Nude, again.
The brushes were… well, a great brush-with-product doesn’t exist.

Gleaming -> Rose

Tags: /Aura Science, Cheeks, Product Photos, Product Swatches

4 Comments

Colour Ready breakdown!

March 16, 2009

Rae Chen

9 Comments

So you got to see the final product on Saturday, as well as a “transformation” of my eye to a Colour Ready-esque eye. And now? Well, I promised a step-by-step breakdown… so here it is!

Materials
Assorted
MAC Studio Finish concealer in W10 (disc)
TBS Camomile Makeup Remover
Water, in a spritzer bottle, to dampen brushes
A mirror!
AS Dark Brown brow powder
AS Brow Set… gel… thingy…

Eyes
UDPP
MAC Hazel creme liner (disc)
Senna Glo Green e/s
Senna Snow e/s
Senna Blue Note e/s
Imju Fiberwing mascara
Rimmel Lycra Lash mascara
Lash curler
Jordana Quickiner in Tahetian Blue e/l
GOSH Pretty Petrol e/l
L’Oreal HIP Creme Liner in Black? Noir? I don’t know. But it’s black.
MAC So There Jade e/l

Brushes
Random assorted ones. The ones with the brown ferrules are Aura Science, the black one that will be used for the Hazel liner is a Senna brush, the liner brush is from Costal Scents, the mini brush is adesign, and the white headed one is MAC’s 217, which is LOVE. As is the AS with the small, domed tip (kinda like the tiny super-soft super-dense lovechild of the 217 and the 219. We shall call it the 218! … just kidding. Sorta.)

Man, that was a longwinded paragraph!!
Workstation – my mirror, on books, natural sunlight, and a tripod! Plus a mess… I took this at the end, and left any used products on my table, so that I didn’t miss any!

1. Prime and conceal. You’ll need super-flawless skin for this look, so I skipped over foundation and used concealer instead for a perfect, albeit heavy, base. Make sure you’re using a brilliant primer, as your colours need to be BOLD!
2. Use a clean brush and push it into your crease.
3. Create dots where your crease is. An automatic or very blunt pencil works wonderfully for this, as you have to “push in” to some extent ot find your crease! Hold the fold you made in step 2 and “insert” the pencil. Repeat.
4. Next, I “connected the dots” with my GOSH liner, as it was too dark and the previous liner was too light. Notice how I switched subjects, from “you” to “me? Yah… this wasn’t a real step, per se, just a step I added because I wasn’t happy with what was going on up there. Whoo!
5. Blend. Smaller brush = smaller line!

6. Create a base, from your lashine to the blue line. I’ll be layering another liner on top of this, because I wasn’t happy with the shade or finish… or anything like that…
7. Blot on the second base – MAC Hazel creme liner – so that you don’t “wipe off” the first.
8. Blend the two base layers.
9. Layer a green eyeshadow on top. The only one I had was Senna “Glo Green”, which was a little too dusty and shimmery (okay, it was TOTALLY OFF) but as I said – I don’t really wear green, so it was the only option!
10. Blue line time! Take a small brush (I probably would have been better off with a pencil brush, or even a clean lip brush) and layer a dark blue on top of the line you made earlier. Smudge.

11. White -> inner corner and brow bone. Matte, if possible, and white-white! This is where I took “creative measures”, aka “improvised because I don’t have any matte whites”. I used a combination of W10 concealer, Senna Snow, and Lancome Créme Lusre if I remember correctly…
12. Set and fill brows. Not in that order.
13. Line your upper lashline. It should follow your entire eye, but be much thicker on the outer edge! Gently wing, but not noticably – just so that you don’t have a sudden harsh ending. The “wing” should follow your natural line and taper.
14. Line the lower lashline, fading out as you move away from your lashes. If you have a very pink/red waterline, you could go over it with a white pencil right now!
It would be really hard to insert the photo at this point, as there are… 14? above this point, so click here to see what my line looked like on a closed eye! (Fellow bloggers using… Blogger… you get what I mean!)

15. Smudge the remaining bit of product into your blue line for a bit of emphasis and a “crisper” line.

16. Curl lashes (my curler? $1.50 at Daiso. It’s a dream for Asian monolids!)

17. A couple coats of Rimmel Lycra Lash for length, volume, and “glamourous lashes”…

18. A coat or two of Imju Fiberwing – I want ’em long and slightly clumped, and this is great at that! Put the lash comb down, girl! It will not be needed.
note: Rimmel Lycra + Imju Fiberwing +”pushing method” (see below) = HOLY FRIGGIN’ GRAIL lashes!

19. Finally, push your lashes when they’re still damp. By “push”, I mean “push them as if they were springs, and hold until dry.” Why? Well, I find it’s the best way to get a gorgeous, even curl, post-mascara! You just lightly push the ends to curl the lashes and hold for 5-10 seconds.

Done!

Tags: /Aura Science, Eyes, GOSH, Indie brands, MAC, Senna, Tutorials

9 Comments

A colourful surprise!

March 14, 2009

Rae Chen

8 Comments

It’s Saturday night around 9:00. I never post at this time unless I’m super-excited – sure, this is when I write posts, but I almost always schedule them for the next morning.

What’s all the hubbub, then? I finally got off my lazy ass and tried out the Colour Ready promo!
I’m not going to caption this, but the following video is a transformation of my rendition into the promo photo (I was bored, and photoshop was just begging to be used). It’s just 17 seconds, so click! That’s probably less than the time you’ll spend blowing your nose.

Colour Ready transformation from Rae C on Vimeo.

To see what I came up with, just scroll down! I did make a bunch of changes, seeing as I don’t have a white-white (yes, I have hilights, and shimmers, and sheens, but no matte whites) or any bright colours. So, it’s a lot darker, and the arches are different – I have monolids, people! What did you expect?

Enjoy!

note: there’ll be a step-by-step breakdown tomorrow or the next day, so keep your eyes peeled!

Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Eyes, Indie brands, MAC, Senna, Videos

8 Comments

Introducing, you.

March 13, 2009

Rae Chen

7 Comments

I know this is kinda a cop-out on Friday’s YOU, but I’d like to get to know you guys a little better! It’s a meme-esque thing, but in the comments. I know I’ll probably get a low turnout for this one *glare* because it takes more then two minutes *keeps glaring* but I encourage all of you that comment as well as all of you that are just lurkers to fill this one out!

Copy, paste, and fill out the following in comments!

1. Your name.
2. Why are you here?
3. Why do you wear makeup, if you do?
4. Location and age
5. What are you listening to and reading right now?

And as for me?

1. Your name.
Duh, Rae. My sister calls me Bayer, or Yar. (The transformation was something like this, and has spanned the years since we were old enough to talk: Rae —> Ray-bay —> Bay —> Bayer —>Yar-bay-yar [“but now it’s even! You can read the syllables backwards and it’ll sound the same!” was her excuse] —> Yar.) She also likes to pun that I’m the maker of Asprin (as it’s owned by the Bayer drug company)
Yes.
We are geeks.

2. Why are you here?
Because I have no self control and compulsively blog. Geeze, I thought we went over this one already!

3. Why do you wear makeup, if you do?
Because I love it. It’s not because I think I’m ugly or because I’m insecure – I love makeup. I like the long brush strokes, the precise concealing, the desperate hunt for the Holy Grail product. I love how you can take a beautiful canvas and enhance it. I love how you can make someone else realize that they’re beautiful – something you’ve seen all along, but something they’ve ignored because no one’s ever made them look in the mirror, pick out their favorite feature, and play it up.
I did my sister’s makeup the other day and she exclaimed “Wow, Yar! I’m actually… pretty when I’m not tired-looking!” She’s always been a hardcore-student, sleeping little and staying up late to study. She doesn’t believe me, but she’s one of the most gorgeous people I know.

4. Location and age
Canada, bitches! Under eighteen.

5. What are you listening to and reading right now?
Dido’s Safe Trip Home and Rainer Maria’s Catastrophe have been waking me up for the past few weeks – I’ve set my stereo to wake me up with music from my CD, and let it play as I put on my face in the morning. Depending on what kind of day I had the day before, I’ll switch one for the other. They’re both wonderful and I haven’t listened to much else in weeks!
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, for English.

If you don’t have time to fill this out now, this is when I encourage you to bookmark it and do it later. I moderate all comments, so even if you fill it out in a month, I’ll still get to read it!

Tags: /YOU

7 Comments

Worth your weight in gold?

March 9, 2009

Rae Chen

10 Comments

What it is: Benefit Gilded, a jumbo pencil which they call an eyeliner, but in reality is much more than that!

Price and packaging: At $20 per pencil, it’s not the cheapest thing out there – but in comparison, it’s definitely not obscenely priced. Yes, you’ll need a new sharpener for this, but I love the chubbiness! It makes it quite versitile, and yet because it’s a pencil and not a pot or something along those lines, it’s easy to keep clean and carry around (not to mention, it’s light! I love a heavy, luxe-feeling glass jar as much as the next girl, but I loathe carrying them around.)

Texture: don’t let the pencil form fool you – this feels dreamily creamy (that’s right, I said it) and very smooth. It glides on nicely for a flawless application!Lids: This might not work well for oilier-lidded gals, but has a ton of eye uses. You can use it as a thick gold liner, or layer it under a matte shadow to give some shimmer (this is the one that worries me – I haven’t tried it for more than an hour, so it may crease!). If you want a super-subtle eye, just smudge on a touch of this on its own, as a cream shadow! (again, I’m not sure of the staying power. It definitely does crease, though) You can also use this as a highlighter for the inner corners or your brow bone, but be sure to use it sparingly.

Cheeks: Used sparingly, this makes a great gold highlighter – just dot on and smudge, with your finger or a clean, fluffy, large eye brush. I’d recommend it for warmer ladies, though. I hate to be redundant, stating well-known facts, but I must say it: wamer tones tend to look better with golds, and cooler tones (like me!) tend to look better in silver. It isn’t super-warm, though, so most neutral/cool ladies could work this almost as well.

Lips: On well-moisturised lips, this can be a lippie on its own, just colour in your lips and go. Personally, I don’t love this one alone on my lips, but I’m absolutely positive that some ladies could rock this! Layer it under any matte or sheer lipstick for a gorgeous fine glitter (no chunky buisness here!) to give it a sophisticated edge, or dab a tiny bit in the middle of your lip over a stain and blend well for the 3-D effect, like you would with a shimmery gloss, but without the stickiness and with more staying power.

The verdict? If you have $20 to spend and you’re on the neutral/warm side, this was made for you. If you’re neutral/cool, or just plain out cool, I’d see it in person first – I’m not saying that you won’t love it, I’m just saying there’s a (TINY) possibility that it won’t work as well for you. Don’t think of this as a $20 eyeliner, think of it as a $20 CCB/multiple/highlighter. Becase, to be honest, that’s what it is!
Lastly, I have to say it: my product photo and swatches are a TON more accurate than those on Sephora and benefitcosmetics.com. If in doubt, check it out in person, but I promise – these are spot-on! The photos on Sephora and Benefit are much too light and peachy, so don’t be fooled!

Edit: want to see Benefit Gilded layered under a sheer wine-coloured lipstick? Check it out here!

Tags: /Benefit, Cheeks, Eyes, Lips, Other, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches

10 Comments

Contest winner!

March 8, 2009

Rae Chen

3 Comments

So I finally got my act together and threw the names into a randomizer to make the draw. The result? (I’m not going to pot the WHOLE list here, just the first bit!

Congratulations, Joan!! I’ve sent a confirmation email your way, so be sure to reply to that – I’d hate to ship this parcel to the wrong address!

Thanks to everyone else for participating, but thank you especially to those who sent stories to theNotice! I hope you don’t mind, but I’m putting your warm fuzzies up for everyone to enjoy. I know that some of these are personal, so if you’d like it taken down, feel free to send me an email or even just leave a comment. But, if not, I hope we can all enjoy them!

From Laura

Best husband on earth.

After a much-needed long weekend with my family, celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving (my favourite holiday!) in Ontario, I arrived back home on Monday night and went to work Tuesday morning. My Lyme disease was flaring up from the 6 hour drive home, making me achy and sore. Not only did I have built-up email, and several projects to revise, but I was required to attend a lengthy meeting at lunchtime…a meeting that went long, deprived me of my lunch, and accomplished nothing.

I was definitely feeling blue as I clunked up the stairs to my floor and my cubicle.

When I stepped into my cube, I was surprised to see this HUGE brown and green box literally covering my desk. It was from a florist, but I couldn’t tell who or why from looking at it. I checked the label because I thought it must be a mistake.

I opened the box to find a vase with a bouquet of a dozen roses in different colours AND a box of chocolates AND a note from my husband of 7 months.
He wrote that he knew how much I missed my family, and how stressful work is after a holiday, and he just wanted to let me know he loved me and was glad I married him.

I cried.

Later I found out that he’d ordered the flowers weeks before.

From Ahn

My fuzzy story would be about my daughter who is 5. On Friday (the day before Valentine’s), she made me a card. On the card, she wrote “Happy Valentine’s Day, mommy and daddy”. I guess that was what the teacher told the kids to write in general. It’s just that in our case, her dad is no longer living with us. Putting him and me in 1 card would mean one of us could have the card and the other couldn’t. So I asked her whether she wanted me to send it to her dad. She went ahead and erased the words “and daddy” on the card and gave it back to me. She said “I made it for you, but evevyone else put daddy on their cards, so I did too”. It was hard to describe how I felt at the time. Of course I was touched that she made it for me, but I felt sad for her, as she can’t have both of her parents together so we could share a card. Divorce is bitter, but she and I manage to make the best of our lives.

From Qin

3 weeks ago, I was thinking to myself that I have not seen a rainbows for years and years. I kind of wishes that I could see one.
Then a few days ago, there was a heavy downpour in Singapore. And somehow, there is a double rainbow across the sky and a kind lady actually pointed it out to me, otherwise I would not have seen it! It totally made me day and make me as happy as a kid who got a new toy :D

From The Caravan

The first thing I think of is my dog. Sounds cliche, but he is both literally and figuratively warm and fuzzy.
Lst night when I was sick and sleeping on the couch, he came up and nuzzled his big golden-retriever head into my side and made little tender cries, as to say “mommy are you ok? I hope you feel better soon!”
He’s just the sweetest most sensitive creature I’ve met on this earth and I’m so lucky to call him my baby boy!
I think all dogs are angels from the heavens!

From FB

My warm fuzzy story was when I was in the convenience store the other day, about to stuff my face all alone at home with chips, pop and chocolate and a 7-year old girl in front was buying 2 chocolate bars.

She had enough money to buy it, but she kept hemming and hawing at the counter for some reason.

We couldn’t figure out why but she kept insisting that she wanted change back and wouldn’t have any if she bought 2.

Finally, she told the lady to put back the one chocolate bar, paid for one, and put all of the money of the 2nd chocolate bar she could have had into a charity box that the owners had put up to collect money for homeless kids.

It was so freaking cute that the owner of the store gave her the second chocolate bar for free.

So, what did she win?

A sample of Lancome Magnifique
Some spatulas and a five gram jar, for mixing her own lip balm, storing some moisturiser, or anything else she can think of!
A sample of Costal Scents‘ Silica Spheres, my HG loose setting powder.
A Philosophy Frozen Lemon Custard gloss, used once on a q-tip. I can’t stand scents (I always eat them off my lips!) but I definitely wanted someone (who hopefully has more self-control than I) to get to enjoy this, because it smells delicious!!!
A pack of pointed q-tips. These are heaven for correcting tiny makeup slips.
A clean, sharpened Bobbi Brown lipliner – the colour is very universal, but I found two of them in the traincase!
Samples of Kinerase’s peptide treatment and Smashbox Photo Finish. Though I don’t like the latter for myself, it’s my go-to for anyone else. Why? Its consistency is perfect for anyone with skin that is normal, slightly oily, or slightly dry. It’s just that mine is very dry! For super-oily skin, though, reach for Photo Finish Light.
And lastly, a Smashbox Cream Eye Liner in Putty. I fell in love with this at first swatch, and was thrilled to find another! I stroked the top with a clean art brush to make sure it was still moist (in anguish the whole time for marring the surface, and most certainly crying inside) and it was! This is the one that inspired the giveaway – I had to spread the love for this!

Enjoy the goodies, Joan!

Tags: /Uncategorized

3 Comments

A couple photos for your Saturday

March 7, 2009

Rae Chen

4 Comments

Contest extended until tomorrow morning. Why? Well, I’m hoping that the following photo of your prize will tempt you into sending me your warm fuzzy stories!

Also, it’s snowing outside. Not a light, lovely snow, but the kind of “snowing” where you expect some sort of Yeti to come walking up your driveway.

It. Is. SNOWING. (And has not stopped since the photo was taken about an hour ago.)

And finally!

I told you I had a freckle in my eye.

Tags: /Other, Photoshop and photos

4 Comments

I hit a wall, but here are the rewards of my guilt trip.

March 4, 2009

Rae Chen

5 Comments

A video, which is STAYING UP! I was having a bad face day, so it’s lips-only, but I’m sure you’ll get over it :P

It’s only two minutes, so you can definitely bear with me through this. The concept can be applied to any bold colour that you’re afraid to wear – balm, conceal, apply, smudge, and gloss! I like to rub my lips together post-gloss to take away the ‘plastic’-y finish, and instead get a healthy, wearable sheen. But hey – if you like super glossy lips, keep ’em glossy!

Enjoy!
(Yes, it’s double-speed for most of it)

Hot pink lips? Yes please! from Rae C on Vimeo.

Music: Plum – Motion (god, I haven’t listened to that since sometime last year. But it’s perfect for this tut!)

Materials:

MAC Magenta lip pencil
MAC Pink Fuchsia lip pencil
MAC Studio Finish concealer in W10 (disc.)

(Magenta VS Pink Fuchsia – Magenta on left)

Victoria’s Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine (review)
Vaseline (in my Altoids container!)
The Body Shop mini brushes – lip and eye

Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Lips, MAC, Makeup looks: colour, Tutorials, Videos

5 Comments

I’m too tired for a review, but have these pretty pictures instead!

March 3, 2009

Rae Chen

2 Comments

Natio blusher in Peach Glow from Suzie.

Very sheer, shimmery apricot-peach. I’m not a fan of it as an all-over blush, as I prefer matte berries and pinks, but I do quite like this as a shimmery overlayer or hilight when doing others’ faces!

Tags: /Cheeks, Product Photos, Product Swatches

2 Comments

The solution to a Monday morning

March 2, 2009

Rae Chen

4 Comments

What it is: Boot’s No.7 Radiant Glow concealer (which for some reason is called “Instant Radiance” back in the UK, though it’s still Radiant Glow in the US)
Packaging: I love the easy-to-use pen! The brush tip is soft soft, even for my super-sensitive skin, and I could get away with blending only with the tip and my fingers, if I had to. Two clicks of the pen is enough for my undereye circles, and even if I get too much, it doesn’t matter – the cap goes on tightly and keeps the tip from drying out, so any excess product can just be used later! Plus, it’s easy to throw this light little pen into my purse for on-the-go touchups (though I rarely need them, with this concealer).
The colour: This only comes in two shades, this one (II) and shade I, which is substantially pinker. It’s sheer enough to be versitile, but I highly doubt this would work for a dark-skinned beauty.

Crappy swatch: (darn you, lightbulb! Don’t worry, I’ve changed bulbs, but there are a few dark photos like this one)
Its claims:
“No7 Instant Radiance Concealer enables you to look like you’ve had a great night’s sleep, even when you haven’t! With No7’s magic wand, this clever concealer works wonders under your eyes, reducing the appearance of dark circles and puffiness.

Light-reflecting particles brighten your skin, leaving it looking healthy and refreshed.

Hypo-allergenic

Fragrance free”

Does it live up to them? Yes! It doesn’t irritate my skin, conceals those dark circles, and is blissfully fragrance-free. I know it says it has light-reflecting particles, and usually that’s marketing bullshit for “giant-ass glitter”, but I honestly had no idea it was supposed to glitter until just now, as I read that! It does its job without being obvious.

Finish: Not waterproof, thank goodness, but it stays on all day. The finish is very natural, even moreso than my mineral and other liquid concealers! Not at all sticky or shiny, it’s almost impossible to tell if I have this on – except I look like I got five hours more sleep than I actually managed, of course!

Price: Steep, for a “drugstore” buy, at $18CAD, but No.7 often goes on 15% off sale. It’s crazy-symbol12.50 for the Brits (I have no idea what alt combination to use to get that, and I’m not going to bother finding it! Ha!), and $12.99 in the US. Boots maybe a little hard for some to find, though, as this mid-range product is only sold at Shopper’s Drug Mart (Canada), Boots (UK), and Target (US).

The verdict? Hard to find and a little pricey, but this is worth it! I use this every day, and would definitely recommend it for anyone who’s looking for a natural-looking way to banish those undereye circles. Because of the limited shade range, though, make sure to swatch it in-store to see if it’s right for you!

Tags: /Base, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches

4 Comments