R E D

Losing him was blue like I'd never known
Missing him was dark grey all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met
But loving him was red
Loving him was red


Lyrics from Taylor Swift's RED song. Uhm, yeah, because this post would be about her signature red lips that ignited me to sport it for almost all the time. But irrelevantly, the song is not about RED lips, so never mind that part :D 

So this is the finish look, from a picture I took from my facebook account, phone cam's a crap, so bear with me on this :)

With some filter, that's how it would look like. And upclose, will be this

I have always been convinced that matte is way sexier than glossy red lips. Pin-up look has been my obsession and my frustration at the same time. Well maybe because of my Asian monolid eyes that won't give me enough good canvas for a cat-like-Adele-eyes. Plus my egg-shaped-face that makes it more hard not to overdo. I am not a professional and I only have limited stuffs, reasons that I get frustrated on getting the perfect pin-up-look :) Now, enough of my whining. Let's get down to business :D

These are the things I use for this.

• Maybelline Line and Design Auto Lip Liner 105 red
• NARS  Pure Matte Lipstick in Terre de Feu
• Yves St Laurent Touche Eclat #2

1. Line your lips, but with me, i use my lipliner covering almost third on both upper and lower lips. Personally, i dont have the guts to sport a very archy lip bow curve, so i went for a subtle arch, which you could obviously tell from the close up pic. Do your thang! It is never a crime to not follow the rules, on make up! :D
2. Cover  it with your preferred red lip color, may it be bright or dark. I went for Terre de Feu which i personally recommend for a night out. 
3. Lastly, to heelp the color really stand out, glide few pumps of Touche Eclat on the corners of your lips. And with a concelaer brush, or your clean fingers, blend it away. 

And you're done! 

And now don't you just feel a little bit sexier? If not, then there's definitely a problem! :D

This is actually one of my favorite looks.

I hope you give it a try. :)

Xo,

Lei

SK-II stempower

Holah everbody! It has been awhile since my last post. Anyway, i have decided to share with you my next favorite skin care product. Of course, next to my holy grail, cellumination essence, which i have repurchased many many times :)

So here it is, SK-II's stempower.

Prior to this, i have been using the skin signature cream, but for what reason, i dont know why it's not available anyomre. For trial, I only bought 15g at Amazon japan for about 2000yen. So let me do some bits of review and comparisons for you. I am actually not an expert, i also havent tried a lot, so, everything is plainly based on my experience, so there you go! :)

• for those who want ONLY moisturizing effect, i think this is not for you. i just noticed some break outs on my forehead when i started using this. unlike the SC, gives perfect moisture to my face. I have read that stempower's main concern is for firming lines and sking tightening. I actually dont want firming products coz I love my face lines. Weird? :D 
• stempower has a somehow off-white color, while SC is uhm, milky white? Yeah, milky white it is! :)
• Smell? hmmm, i really cant tell the difference. they both smell good. for me the least.
• both good packaging. 

What else is there to discuss? Maybe, that's pretty much all of it. 

And about that dry forehead i told you, here's a proof

That is the best shot i could get, so yeah! excuse my red brows, just finished plucking! That forehead were a bit dewy when i was using SC.

Bottomline is, product is good, but will not repurchase.

Hope you give it a try, for we have different skin needs.

Xo,

Lei

Summer Days

So how do you manage summer? Pool, malls, beach?

How about in your own home? Turning up the a/c to max, which on my own experience , gives me headache, or even colds.

Here's how I freshen up my place during dry summer days.

Number One:Air Cleaner 

Yes, coz you dont wanna open your windows, just lets the dry air inside. I dont know why, but I find summer air a bit gnarly. Im just not a fan of its smell. Since you wont be having proper ventilation inside, might as well plug in that air cleaner and let it do it's work. 

Number Two: Humidifiers

SpongeBob Humidifier

Mr. No-Sleep Panda Humidifer

 They're not only for winter dry seasons, best buddy during summer too. I got these two at Donkihote, a discount chain store here in Japan. One's for my living are, and one's for my bedroom.

Number Four: Air Freshener Solution

Just a drop is definitely a go. You dont wanna pour a cap of it , let me tell you, these concentrated babies are the purest of puree concentrated mother hubbard! Unless you dont wanna suffocate yourself, better have less than more. :)

This is my set up :)

Hope you give this a try!

Xo, 

Lei

California King Bed Red

Just when I felt like giving up on us, 

You turned around and gave me one last touch

That made everything feel better

And even then my eyes got wetter

My favorite line of the song!

And there you have it, my CaliforniaKingBed inspired hair color. I just dont know why everytime I see a redhead, that song just pops up in my head. :) Here are the lists of what I used and did to achieve this magenta red.

I ordered this at Amazon Japan, 3 tubes for about 2,000yen. I wasnt able to order a seperate developer because it was later I realized that I needed one! So off I went to Matsumoto Kiyoshi, and bought a bleaching pack that came with a seperate developer. Im sorry for the nail polish on the left, didnt use those on my locks :) So here are the things you need:

• L'Oreal HiColor Highlights in Magenta
• 70ml developer
• protective gloves (mine came from the bleaching pack i bought)
• mixing bowl
• brush applicator
• shower cap
• old face towels
• hair clips for sectioning
• fine comb 
• petroleum jelly
• magazines to read while waiting! haha

I advise you not to wash your hair maybe a day or two before dyeing. Give it time for your scalp to produce natural oils to help keep your hair from TOTAL damage. As for me, I went two days without washing, then generously applied Macadamia Oil the morning pre-dyeing. For everyone who doesnt know, I have psoriasis, so I tend to have breakouts on my scalp, giving me patches of flakes that looks like dandruff when I dont moisturize. So for you normal people, maybe overnight and no macadamia oil will do :) Moving on, here are my procedures:

1. Apply petroleum jelly on your ears, forehead, and base of your skull to prevent your skin from irritating from the red dye. Then you could put your gloves on.
2. Mix your developer with a tube of your Magenta dye. Give it 5minutes to get that precise texture.
3. Section your hair starting from the back part of your lower head.
4. Be sure to comb your hair before applying your dye.
5. Work your way to the top of your roots. make sure to leave a quarter of your mixture.
6. Let it sit for 25minutes under a shower cap.
7. Re apply the remaining mixture on the mid section of your hair. You dont wanna over apply on your roots.
8. Let it sit for another 20minutes.
9. If you think it's still not red enough for you, you can always add another 5minutes, but if you feel like it's perfect, go ahead and work your way in the shower.
10. Rinse thouroughly with COLD water.
11. Let it air dry, beacuse red pigments tend to fade when heated. do not towel dry if you dont want them to drip on your towels. :)

And there you go. As far as my memory is concerned, that is most likely how I did it.

And this is how it turned out for me! :)

I hope you give this a try!

Xo,

Lei