Sleek but Au Naturel

Obviously I cannot get enough of neutral palettes, so it was only natural to add Sleek's Au Naturel to my cart whilst checking out from LipstickRepublic.  

When it came to opening this up, I was a little disappointed by the fact that there wasn't any cross-hatch embossing on the shadows, which I was really looking forward to for some reason... It made the palette look more 'expensive' to me.  Without the embossing.. it just looks a little too much like the MUA palettes; just with better packaging.  

If you own any MUA palettes, the Sleek ones are exactly the same in pretty much all aspects from the size, shape, and thickness; the only difference there is between the two would be the packaging material.  MUA houses their palettes with a clear plastic lid and no mirror, whereas the Sleek ones have a solid matte black lid, with a large mirror.  The latter feels more sturdy and can withstand some roughage, but I just know the MUA one would end up with cracks if I'm not careful with it.  

Yogurt Tinting

From time to time, I go through phases where I'd go nuts and purchase a bunch of korean makeup.  I got my hands on these two during one of those phases- from Gmarket.  In short, Gmarket is basically a korean ebay, but all the items you buy from various sellers are sent to the Gmarket headquarters and packaged altogether in one parcel to be sent out to you.  The shipping is by kg, and the price has increased quite dramatically compared a few years back, when I purchased this.

Getting Back to Basics

Jumping on the bandwagon I decided to purchase the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette earlier on the year. It contains 6 shades of which 5 are matte and 1 is satin. My reasoning behind buying this was that it's a great everyday neutral palette. Sometimes I'm a bit overwhelmed by glittery eyeshadows and find it hard to "tone" it down for such everyday wear so I thought matte shades would be the answer to my problem! After trialling this product for a couple of months and not being so "wowed" at first sight, I have learned to love this palette :)

Shower meets Lotion

I'm sure many of y'all feel the same way about moisturising your body: it's tedious! I generally don't moisturise after showering because I'd like to believe that body washes has some sort of moisturising properties, and also because I don't like waiting around til the moisturiser has "dried".  

Upon seeing the Nivea In-Shower Rich Body Lotion being advertised in the Priceline catalogues, I was immediately sucked in and purchased during the week of release.  Fast forward a few weeks from purchase date, and I was still using it religiously as part of my shower routine.  The instructions at the back are fairly simple- just to apply this all over after using body wash, and then wash off!  It honestly saves so much time compared to rubbing the lotion in, and yay, theres no drying time :)

I usually like to let the product "sink in" for a minute or two, and then rise off.  The main thing I like about this was that it leaves your skin moisturised, not having to wait for the product to sink into the skin, and not having to deal with the sticky feeling afterwards. 

Finding the One

SOOO I've just found my one and only HG mascara. 

Let me introduce you to the Majolica Majorca: Lash Expander Edge Meister. This mascara claims to lengthen and strengthen, enhancing elasticity and preventing damage as well as being water resistant and anti-sweat (thats a new one). This mascara differentiates itself with its 4mm length liquid fibres and double ended brush head. If you're unfamiliar, Majolica Majorca is an Asian drugstore line under the well known Shiseido. You may have heard of this brand before as their mascaras are quite popular by youtubers and bloggers alike - and for good reason.

Proof over Potion

I first heard about this product being mentioned and used by youtube guru's in their monthly favourites and scattered in their GRWM videos, and we purchased this without a second thought.  This Proof10 eye primer by Etude House works great in enhancing the longevity of shadows and prevents creasing on the oiliest lids.

Putting it simply; I feel like this is a great dupe over the coveted Urban Decay Primer Potion.  I have tested this out on numerous occasions where one eye would be primed with this, and the other with the UDPP, and around the 10 hour mark, both still held up equally as well as each other.

The UDPP to me feels a little drying, as it seems to accentuate this teeny dry area of my inner corners, and I tend to often make the mistake of putting too much on, which then usually causes me to have trouble blending shadows properly. The formula of Proof10, however, is more emollient and thinner in consistency, blends in more easily, and even if you do make the mistake of using too much- it's still good!