Review: Miss Dior eau de parfum and Starting a Perfume Collection

For Christmas I've started collecting perfumes. I've pretty much tested all the great ones available on my island. The first one I got is this little lady.

The Importance of Perfume

Perfume is important. I've only recently learnt this fact as for the majority of my life I've been extremely allergic to perfumes. People would buy me perfume for Christmas and I'd smile, say thanks then never wear it. I later threw them in the trash because I knew I'd never be able to wear them (sorry Flower by Kenzo and Ralph by Ralph Lauren).

But lately, for whatever reason, my allergies have calmed down* and now I've found that I can wear perfume again! And I finally understand why it's a big deal.

Frankly speaking, perfume can change one's entire life. Find out how it did it for me beneath the cut!

Review: Tropical Paradise by Free Spirits Cosmetics

Tropical Sunrise by Free Spirits

I promised I'd do a review once I found the perfect orange lipstick and now that I have, here it is!

Some background: Free Spirits Cosmetics is a new but expanding make up line created by Leandra Goodridge, a Barbadian entrepreneur who is also a make up artist.

Now to the review!

Orange Lipstick Lessons

Recently I've been very interested in orange lipstick. But I worried about how I could pull it off because I know it can be a tough colour for dark skin tones to pull off. However, I believed there must be a way. So I went hunting for tutorials on orange lipstick for dark skin tones and I found this gem by Emmy Vargas!

I just wanted to share it because it was a great help to me. I especially liked the lip liners she recc'ed. I'm definitely gonna purchase nutmeg from my local NYX store.
After I try a few orange lipsticks myself and determine for myself the best way to wear them, I'll do a post about it! Please anticipate.

A Few of My Favourite Rihanna Looks

If you've been following this blog for awhile you know I'm a huge Rihanna fan. I don't just love her music, I love her fashion sense and overall representation and branding too. And its because you can never anticipate what Rihanna will do next. Just like you can't predict her tweets, or when her next album is going to drop, you also have no idea what look she's going to try next because she always keeps it fresh!

Unlike another popstar who only wears white, red or gold, Rihanna is truly fearless and willing to try anything at least once. So here are a few of my many favourite Rihanna outfits!

From left: Rihanna attends the Edun fashion show in September 2014 in a white suit without a blouse underneath in order to display the tattoo she got in memory of her late grandmother Gran-Gran Dolly. She pairs it with a sexy body chain and left her makeup and hair simple and understated in order not to take attention away from the beautiful suit and tattoo!

Middle: Rihanna alights from a vehicle sometime in 2013 wearing a Kenzo t-shirt and matching orange high waist trousers. This particular outfit is notable to me because Rihanna manages to pull off something I would never risk: an all-orange outfit. There are some fashion risks I'm unwilling to take but then I see Rihanna breaking fashion rules and taking crazy risks like this and it makes me wonder if I can too!

Top right: The now infamous transparent dress has definitely reserved a place in fashion history. Apart from its transparency, this custom-made Adam Selman dress is notable because each of those shimmering flashes on that dress are actually real Swarovski crystals!

Bottom right: I've spoken about this outfit at length here! Once again, I'm so impressed that she was brave enough to wear a tux as it's normally associated with men. The small touches to feminize it, such as the exaggerated poofed-up shoulders and tapered trouser hem were also appreciated. And you can't go wrong with Dolce & Gabbana, baby!

Fashion and Makeup Moodboard: September edition

Lately I've been thinking about see-through stretchy tops, high waist pencil skirts, too much gold jewellery, and late 80's/early 90's hairstyles.

Makeup-wise I've been thinking a lot about pasting on thick eyeliner in crazy colours-but only on the top lid!-,wearing fuchsia lipstick, and piling on excess blush. 

Fashion: Top 3 Best Revenge Outfits of All Time

1. Princess Diana's sexy LBD

Source: Real Simple

The year was 1994 and Princess Diana was already bethrothed to an unfaithful man. Even worse, this unfaithful husband-to-be was also the Prince of Wales so the humiliation must have been great on her part. In her first official appearance after Prince Charles publicly admitted to infidelity Princess Diana seemed determined to make the headlines about her instead of him. And boy did she! 20 years later this outfit has become legend and is referred to as the "Revenge Dress". Four for you Princess Di!

2. Rihanna's Tuxedo

Soure: Celeb Wohoo

I'm always shocked when noted fashion experts make a list of Rihanna's best looks and leave out this outfit. There should be a law against it because it is iconic, legendary and noteworthy for so many reasons! Before we get to the revenge bit, lets talk about the fashion/sartorial worth of this tux. This isn't just any tuxedo, its Dolce & Gabbana, custom fitted to perfection. The huge poofy sleeves and high heels essentially say, "Stay away. Don't touch me, I'm too fierce." And then she accessorized with black gloves and wore strong black, winged eyeliner to further emphasize how strong and bad ass she is.

Now lets talk about why its so important. This was Rihanna's first red carpet events in months after news of the horrific domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of ex Chris Brown broke. A tuxedo of course, is an outfit normally associated with men. That she wore it as her post-abuse debut basically represented her strength and her desire to be tough. In other words, she doesn't plan to be anyone's punching bag in the future. Of course since then she dated CB a few times but we didn't see any bruises and they broke up soon after anyway.She's not perfect but it's a process.

3. Kris' all black ensemble

Source: Hormones1106

Kris left international South Korean/Chinese boy band EXO in the most shocking way possible. Even before his own company knew it was being sued, a Chinese media outlet released news of the lawsuit to the world in the middle of the day in China. Total pandemonium ensued because the group was coming off of a high in 2013 due to the success of Growl so no one expected a member would leave the group so quickly.

By the time Kris finally returned to Beijing, China after shooting a movie for over a month in Prague, he had been called everything from a betrayer to a disappointment to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. This is the outfit he wore when he arrived in Beijing. It's as though he was pretending to be the Voldemort they called him with his nose hidden away from view under a mask and robed in black from head to foot. Clearly he's having fun with the villified image the media has constructed around him!


I've noticed that all 3 outfits are all black or mostly all-black (Di's white choker was a nice contrast to the rest of her outfit) and which makes me think black is the color of revenge! 

Deciphering MUA Speak at the Make Up Counter

Disclaimer: cr: Phil Hilkifer according to Creative Commons terms of use

"It's buildable"

 What it means:
It's not very rich or pigmented and you need a lot of it to actually cover imperfections.

"After the demonstration, you can purchase a product" 

What it means:
You are not getting any products free after your makeover. We are not the MAC counter.

"Just... keep blending till it matches your face" 

What it means:
That product does not match your face. Do not buy it.

"Take a sample and try it for yourself" 

What it means:
The product sells itself. (This is a good sign.)

Top 5 Make up Mistakes to Avoid

photo credit: nikisgroove

5. Not understanding what eyebrow shape best suits your face.

I'll confess that I'm still figuring out how to shape my eyebrows to compliment my face best. But I've found that it's foolproof to follow your eyebrows' natural shape and just keep the area around it clean and well-tweezed. Pro-tip: use concealer around your brows in order to hide any stray hairs that are growing out again!

4. Choosing the wrong foundation

This goes a lot further than choosing the wrong shade (though that can also be a nightmare). If you have oily skin, its wise to avoid stick foundations as they tend to be quite waxy after a few hours. Try a powder foundation instead.
If you have very dry skin, avoid powder foundations and try a stick foundation or a liquid foundation.
    Also, remember that you ideally want to have at least two foundation options. One with SPF, for outdoors (trips to town, picnics, etc.) when you know you will be in the sun. And one without SPF, which can be worn for indoor night time events, when you know you will be taking pictures. This is advisable because SPF can give an awful flashback in photos, and you will look grey!

3. Not blending out concealer, and ending up with a white halo from under eye to cheek to ear.

I've spoken on my dislike of concealer before here, and while I maintain that it should be avoided if possible, its necessary if you want to achieve that perfect flawless complexion. Even when I layer on my foundation, my strong under eye circles are still apparent, and if I'm going out on a date or out with the girls, I don't want to look like a raccoon!
  Enter concealer. Choose a concealer only one to two shades lighter than your skin tone. Concealers with an orange-y base tend to look more natural. Concealer is one product that can't be blended enough. Just blend, blend, blend and keep blending, till it matches the rest of your face. And then make sure you set it with a powder that is the same complexion as the rest of your face!

2. Not matching your neck with your made-up face

Remember to bring the foundation and powder down to your neck so you look like one even complexion.
And don't neglect your ears, and chest if you are wearing something low-cut!

1. Falling asleep in Make-up

Basically, you should only do this if you want to wake up looking ten years older. The make-up seeps into the creases of your face, giving you harsher fine lines around your eyes and mouth.
  However, I've found that falling asleep with eyeliner and eyeshadow still on is truly to best way to get the perfect smoky eye. However, the accentuated fine lines just weren't worth it!

Make up Tip for Cakey Foundation

Finally, a solution to cakey make-up! Previously I had complained that one of my biggest issues with foundation is that it is too heavy for our climate, and that it also gives the face an undesirable cake effect. Well now, I've found the answer to this problem in a video by one of my favourite youtubers, Wayne Goss!

To summarise the video below, Wayne Goss basically advises us that after priming, use a mineral foundation and then a liquid foundation, blend, and voila! no cakey face! I had no idea it could be that simple!

Maybe I'll retire my trusty BB cream and try this instead! At least for a night out with friends, because neither my e.l.f mineral foundation nor my Estee Lauder liquid foundation have enough SPF in them for me to risk this look during the day.

Who are some of your favourite make up youtubers?

Make Up Confessions

Disclaimer: cr. Hina according to Creative Commons terms of use

1. I can't pull off black lipstick but I'm forever liking pics of girls who can.

2. I dislike concealer so I usually just use more foundation on my problem areas and blend, blend, blend!

3. I'm so over matte red lipstick. I'm all about shiny fuchsia in 2014.

4. I always put on too much powder but I can't seem to help myself

5. I apply blush on my cheekbones and not the apples of my cheeks because if I put in on my cheeks it drags my face down and makes me look wayyy older.

New Products

Hi! I'm back with a new post of some make-up products I've tried recently.

Over the first quarter of the year I purchased some new make-up products. The following is divided into the products I recommend and products that were horrid.