a hoarder's blog

This is my very small restrained haul from Barneys.com which had free international shipping recently. Thanks to the makeup-blogette for the heads up on this on Instagram! I was sort of on a budget and ended up with only two items: Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill 21 Obsidian Grey and Nars single eyeshadow in Lhasa. I wanted to get the ETK in Obsidian Black as well, but by the time I had made my final decision on what to buy, it was OOS. Too bad for me, but good for my wallet. I also had a YSL Glossy Stain in Corail Fauve in my basket, but didn't order it in the end. Maybe next time.

Have not used the ETK yet, but I am really really loving Lhasa. It is a very pretty taupey shade, great to use as a wash of colour all over the lid on any occasion. This is my first nars eyeshadow single and I was amused by how small it was. I have a few duos which are the same size as the blush, and I found this one so small and cute.

MAC Tres Cheek is a collection of six powder blushers and the one I bought is called Modern Mandarin (described as a red-orange with a satin finish). It has good pigmentation as compared to some of the others I swatched which didn't show up too well on my skin. I

These days I don't go crazy over blushes as I used to, which is a good thing really.

Some blushes in the same colour family that I found in my stash!

(click for bigger swatch pic)

I went to Bangkok for a very short break last week. I left on Thursday and came back on Saturday. The main order of business was to attend my cousin's wedding and that took the whole of Friday. My schedule was really cramped. I only had some time to walk around on my first day and last day there. I made a quick trip to Central World, a really big mall much like ION/Vivocity, which houses Isetan and Zen departmental stores. (Central World was previously known as World Trade Center but was set on fire in 2010 during the anti-government riots that happened in Thailand).

I CP-ed some Suqqu from Isetan but didn't get anything for myself there. Zen dept store had just re-opened and it was nice to see beauty counters like MUFE, Smashbox, The Balm, nars amongst the usual fare of Chanel, Dior, Biotherm, Shu etc that we have in Singapore. However, time was precious and I didn't have time to browse much since I was in a hurry. With only about a couple of hours to spare before leaving for the airport, I also wanted to check out Platinum Fashion Mall which is across the road from Central World. I have heard quite a bit about Platinum and it would have been a crime not to take a look at the floors of clothes, shoes, bags that it has. Someone told me that it's like a blogshop heaven and indeed it almost is. Buy more pieces and get wholesale prices too. I ended up buying a dress, a shirt and 2 clutches.

Back to the point of this post. Where did I buy my nars from? Well, it was at the airport. I spotted a nars counter from afar and my feet immediately brought me there. Not that I had anything in mind to buy, but i just wanted to check out what they had. And this is what I left with: an eyeshadow duo in Kalahari and a Larger Than Life long-wear eyeliner in Madison Avenue.

I don't know why the 2 colours are looking so similar in the picture. The one on the right is definitely a darker shade than the one on the left.

Kalahari: Gold Confection/Sugared Cocoa. Super lovely neutral duo that instantly caught my eye on the display. I swatched it and I was like, I need to have this.

Swatches of Kalahari and Madison Ave:

Madison Avenue is a slate grey shade.

Comparison swatch of Nars Madison Avenue next to MAC Engraved and MAC Grey Utility.

The lady showed me the built-in sharpener that comes with the Larger Than Life pencil. Pretty nifty thing there.

All the goodies here were bought during sales, 20% or 25% off at different times and I wanted to receive everything before doing a collective haul entry.

So what do we have?

Everything unboxed:

Bronzer in Writhe (golden tan)

"Shape, define, tempt and tease. Illamasqua Bronzer contains crushed pearl powder, for a smooth, even finish that leaves skin begging to be caressed. Apply to face and body for a beautiful bronzed glow that will last until dawn."

This was on sale at 30% off in the Summer Shop. Very very fine powder and super glowy.

Another 3 blushes for my collection!

Thrust - Deep Magenta Pink

Nymph - Warm Candy Pink

Panic - Deep Cherry Red

The first pic is closer to how it looks like in real. The second pic brings out the "cherry" tone of the colour.

Liquid Metal in Enrapture (Molten Bronze), also 30% in the Summer Shop

Swatches:

This is just one swipe of Panic! It's so bloody intense and pigmented.

And a little comparison between Illamasqua Panic and nars Exhibit A, both reddish matte blushes.

They don't look the same at all. Panic has more pink in it and Exhibit A has more orange, even though the latter is officially described as a Brilliant Red.

Swatches:

Again, only one swipe of Panic and like 3 swipes of Exhibit A.

Toxic duo box. Love the illustrations.

Woohoo! My first Illamasqua nail polishes!! Exciting for me cos I've always wanted to try them out but always found them a tad bit expensive (U.P: £13.50 each). I finally decided to take the plunge and go for the Toxic Duo in Radium & Stagnate during a 20% sale and it came down to £16.80 after discount. Force was on sale at 30% in the Summer Shop.

Swatches:

Force - Deep Electric Blue

Looks darker in real, almost a blurple. Couldn't pick up the colour with my camera. This could be a one coater if you like to apply your polish thick. If you apply a second coat, be careful of uneven layers because it has a tendency to settle fast as the formula is quite thick.

Radium - Acidic lime, shimmer finish

Applied a bit streaky, but a second or third coat will cover the streaks and bald spots. I have nothing like this in my collection and I think it will attract a lot of attention if I wear this to work because it is so bright.

Stagnate - Grey Mauve

Lovely application, had no problem at all and once again, could be a one coater if you apply thickly, but two coats will bring out the intensity and depth of the colour.

Hope you liked the swatches! :)

I've been trying all morning to get the colour right on these pics, but hmm, they look like they photographed the same (especially sin and kiss which are both plum colours). Anyway, hope you enjoy the swatches.

I bought Beg and Sin off sg_beauty, so they're second-hand. Upon examining them, Beg was only slightly used and Sin looked like new. There were no marks or signs of use on its surface. Such a good deal!

• Beg - Dusky rose pink
• Sin - Deep violet plum

The next four were bought online with the help of Farah (http://chocfull.onsugar.com/) during a recent sale. Expose, Kiss and Unrequited were going at 25% off, and Rumour was 50% off. I love SALES!

• Expose - Soft terracotta
• Kiss - Deep rose plum

• Rumour - Pale pinky beige
• Unrequited - Soft baby pink

Swatches on inner arm:

And just for fun, I pulled out some of my more orangy colours for comparison swatches.

OK I'm sorry to be posting so many hauls. You must think I've gone crazy to be hauling like there's no tomorrow. But no, I didn't buy all of this at the same time. I'm just really really backlogged on my posts and this is just an entry for me to keep track.

Urban Decay NYC Book Of Shadows Vol III needs no introduction. Got it at 20% off from a beauty.com spree.

Nars Rajasthan duo, also 20% off at beauty.com

Sleek Bad Girl palette

MAC A Tartan Tale powder blush in My Highland Honey and Her Blooming Cheek

MAC Pearlglide eyeliner in Black Swan and Lord It Up

Viva Glam Lipglass in Gaga and Cyndi

MAC Venomous Villains powder blush in Darkly My Dear

MAC Venomous Villains beauty powder in Briar Rose and Her Own Devices

So many new stuff in my stash..I think I'm kinda done hauling for a while. Please don't tempt me anymore.

So I mentioned 2 more hauls from my trip to Taipei and Hong Kong. Well, here they are! Looking at your comments in the previous entry, some of you guessed right! Yes I bought me some NARS! Totally unexpected actually. I didn't think I'd have time to drop by SOGO, but as fate would have it, one night, we travelled to some place to have beef and dumpling noodles and there was a SOGO nearby. OK, wait, rewind that. I think I should put it another way: we had planned to go eat at this small noodle shop which is just behind SOGO (alight at Zhongxiao Fuxing train station), and if there was still time, I wanted to drop by SOGO, even if just for a little while, to swatch nars' new blush Sex Appeal. Upon coming out of the station, I was so surprised to see crowds of people hanging around outside. I didn't know what was happening, but I thought to myself, there MUST be some kind of sale going on. I started getting excited and couldn't wait to get dinner over and done with. So later on after dinner, we walked to SOGO and I was overwhelmed by the crowd inside as well. From the entrance itself, there were promoters shoving pamphlets into my face, and others approaching me to ask me whether I wanted to check out this and that brand. It was insane! I did one round with the hubs looking around everywhere in amazement, and then he decided to give up and told me to meet him at a later time. Haha! So after that, I was on my own wandering about. I must have done a few rounds collecting pamphlets and looking at the deals that were being offered.

I first went to the nars counter to do some swatching. Saw the sheer glow foundation and asked someone to match my shade. A male BA recommended me Santa Fe which I must say matched me pretty well. But I didn't buy it then and walked on. I stopped by Laura Mercier where a rather attractive male BA attended to me. Asked him about loose powder etc, but after all the explanation, he didn't quite convince me to buy from him. haha. Too bad! I also checked out the MUFE counter, but nobody paid any attention to me. Bah! So I kept on walking around and ended up at nars once again. Swatched Sex Appeal and it didn't show up on my hand at all. Someone must have seen the frown on my face and this time round, a female BA approached me. I had seen her looking at me from the corner of my eye, and she eventually did come nearer to ask me if I needed help. So I asked for a match for sheer glow once more. She matched me to Ceylan. I told her that just now, I was matched to Santa Fe. She said that it would also suit me, but as it is pinker, it would make my face more "red", while Ceylan would lighten up my skintone cos of the yellow undertone. She asked me to trust her recommendation. How could I argue with that? And so she introduced me to the offer they had for the sheer glow foundation. Here's the snapshot from the pamphlet. You get a skin milk cleanser, a sheer glow foundation and a loose powder for TWD3350. I admit I didn't go into the details of how much each costs individually and whether it would make sense to buy the set there and then. I was all set to get it since I was there at the sale and all. And if all other reasons fail, there's always the "But-I'm-holiday" tagline!

Loose powder in Eden

Sheer Glow in Ceylan. Bummer! It doesn't come with a pump!

And oh did anybody notice an extra item in the first pic? Well I bought a blush called Crazed. I really thought I didn't have it in my stash and I remembered not ever seeing it online on beauty.com or narscosmetics.com. I remembered well.

This was not part of the set, but there was still a discount on it (10% I think).

And a free gift: a mirror!

My second big buy on this trip is from...KATE SPADE. Another unexpected buy this time at Citygate Outlets in Hong Kong. Went in to have a look and oops came out with this. I tried on the canvas version first, then the sales lady told me that it also came in the full leather version and that it cost slightly more only. So I sat there, not really wanting to buy, but also wanting to buy, that kinda feeling. The hubs was like, just get it if you like it. So be it. Maybe he was just tired of waiting...

The paper bag:

The interior and bottom of the bag:

And the bag in full glory! Sorry to disappoint, but it's a boring black bag. But I like bags that will go with anything I wear. It still smells of new leather. I love the smell! I haven't used it yet. Same goes for all the nars above. I do take a while to unpack. LOL!

Hope you enjoyed this entry. :)

Met up with some onsugarettes on Saturday at our usual spot to collect some spree items. So we have nail polish from a Transdesign spree organised by Gwen, nars items from a nars spree by Michelle, and eyeko polishes from an impromptu twitter spree by Sophia.

Transdesign

First off, here are the new shades that I'm adding to my collection. The colours here appear slightly brighter/washed out than what they truly look like because of the sunlight.

All from China Glaze for this group pic.

Top row, L-R: Prize Winning Mare, Golden Spurs, Designer Satin, Mom's Chiffon, Unplugged, Cords

Bottom row, L-R: Stella, Skate Night, Far Out, Stroll.

All from Color Club for this group pic.

Top row, L-R: Best Dressed List, Electronica, Groove Thang, Love 'Em Leave 'Em, Ms Socialite

Bottom row, L-R: Pucci-licious, Uptown Girl, Who Are You Wearing?, Positively Posh, Soft As Cashmere, Snakeskin

I went a bit ooh-aah when I pulled out Electronica, Love 'Em Leave 'Em and Snakeskin from the box. They look so gorgeous!

Eyeko

My first eyeko polishes! This is the "Must Haves" set that includes 5 limited edition shades: POSH, TEA ROSE, CORAL, PETITE and VAMPIRA. This set is a buy 5 for the price of 4. Sweet deal.

nars

The only time I actually buy nars is when it's on sale! It's also the best time, don't you think? These were bought during a recent 18% off promo.

I wanted to get both eyeshadow duos from the Fall 2010 collection, but only managed to get Tzarine as Rajasthan went OOS. I'm very happy nonetheless.

Tzarine duo eyeshadow: "Love, sex and power. Russia’s empresses had it all. Inspired by royalty, the Eyeshadow Duo pairs the majesty of platinum gold infused with silver reflections with a bold, steel grey. Swipe and shadow along the upper lid or smudge along the lower. Positively regal."

This is a limited edition blush for Fall 2010, nars Douceur: "A soft pink-brown hue imparts a honeyed brown kiss of innocence on cheeks. Exclusive for Fall, the powder is laser etched with our logo. Use to contour the cheek or warm forehead, jaw line and nose"

The imprint is so unique and pretty. I don't know if I can bear seeing it disappear with usage. Haha.

This second blush I got is called Desire and it's from the permanent line. It's described as cotton candy pink which to me would be like a light, toned-down pink, but in real life it's a much brighter pink.

Oh and this is another blush that I got a while back in June or July. Took pics and swatched it, but didn't post...until now.

Thanks for looking!

These nars blushers were recently bought on a beauty.com spree when they had a 20% off  discount (YAY for discounts!) and I'm gonna post some swatches today. You will find that I didn't swatch Exhibit A. That's cos I'm planning on giving it as a present to a friend. Exhibit A is sooooo red in the pan, it's scary. I'm not sure I could handle it on my cheeks! Anyways, if you missed part one of the nars swatchfest, click here.

Ok onto the pics! L-R: Exhibit A, Nico, Angelika, Madly, Dolce Vita

Group pic with flash:

Group pic without flash:

1. Exhibit A (brilliant red) - it's a deeper red in real. like brick red!

2. Angelika (cotton candy with gold particles) - a bit like Mata Hari but with gold shimmers.

3. Dolce Vita (Dusty Rose)

4. Madly (Seashell pink) - looks like it suffered quite a bit during the mailing and handling process, but it didn't get smashed up or anything, just shaken up. lol.

5. Nico (Natural Glow)

I must admit that my lust for nars blushers is slowly dying, probably cos I have enough of them to last me a lifetime now. I still have 2 more on my wishlist though: Amour and Desire.

I finally met up with icefrost (michelle) on Saturday  to collect my spree items from her, namely from the MAC Pret-A-Papier, Drugstore.com and Beauty.com sprees. I think all these were ordered in May and I was patiently waiting for them to arrive since then. Almost didn't get Instant Chic blush because it was OOS on the website after a while, but thank goodness for Gwen who managed to order extras when it was back in stock. :)

Ok what you see in the pic from L-R clockwise:

• nars blushes in Angelika, Dolce Vita, Madly, Nico and Exhibit A (20% off at Beauty.com)
• MAC Art Supplies pearlglide in Petrol Blue, MAC Pret-A-Papier blushes (Garb and Instant Chic) and eyeshadows (Cut To Fit and Tissueweight)
• Drugstore.com items: Neutrogena anti-residue shampoo (used to be available locally, but can't seem to find them anywhere now, anybody knows??), Revlon ColorBurst lipstick in Carnation (don't think we have this shade on our shelves here) and Revlon PhotoReady foundation in Medium Beige (not sure if this is the correct shade for me, spent some time googling and doing research on what would match me best, *cross fingers*)
• Orly in Wild Wisteria (bought from Gwen)

Thank you Michelle and Gwen for taking care of the spree items. :) *hugs*