Integrate GY905

Integrate is another drugstore product line from Shiseido and available in Asia. I got this new Integrate GY905 from a gal on ebay who shipped from Taiwan. The cost of this is $19. I thought the pricing is alright. In TW, it costs NTD $390 at retail, so roughly $12. Exchange rate is pretty bad now with the weak US dollar, so you really have to do the research in order to get a good deal. The whole product line contains 9 different color palettes; 5 colors in each palette and the packaging is pretty cute. The product contains 3.5g of eye shadows, which is not a lot. But it will take a long time to see the pan, at least for me. I like the pigmentation and the shimmer in this palette. NARS eye shadow primer is a must on my eye lids now as it holds up everything. So, honestly I don't know how well it stays up without the primer. But I read from some of the Chinese blogs and they commented the staying power is pretty good. Another thing is its sponge tip applicator is pretty high quality. I really like this palette coz it's rare to find a nice gray shimmery eye shadow that stays. I'm also eyeing on BR 701 but will wait until my return to Asia in a few months.

Here's a swatch. Isn't that pretty?

Hello Kitty Nails

I got some Konad nail stamping stuffs awhile ago. Wanna do a Hello Kitty nail after seeing this video. Anyways, the nail plate was a pain to use. Have to practice before start applying onto your nail. The gurus made this nail stamping task so effortless. Oh well, here's my first try. Still room to improve to get all the images stamped to the nails.

1. Base Coat: OPI
2. Two coats of China Glaze Tempest
3. Stamp Hello Kitty on to my nails using Konad Special Nail Polish. I got the GCOCL A02 plate somewhere on the internet. Painted the bows into red. I used the OPI Ohare & Nails Look Great! Wish I have yellow to paint her nose. :(
4. Added a few nail stickers
5. Top Coat: 2 coats of Seche Vite

Purple Nails

I was planning to paint a golden nail design but then I saw my purple nail polishes... so, I changed my mind. The above are the nail polishes I used to paint on my nails. After base coat (I use nailtiques nail protein), put a coat of light purple. Here I used Majolica Majorca VI 112.

 Then used OPI Do You Lilac It and painted mid way to the tip.

I then added China Glaze Spontaneous to the tip.

Because I wanted to diffuse the lines between each color, I used a sheer shimmery color from OPI called Dazzle Me.

Last thing to do was to put on a top coat, here I used Seche Vite Top Coat. Makes my nails last longer and shiny.

Light Pale Pinkish Nails

Occasionally some people would ask me where I got my nails done. It's all DIY coz I like to play with my nails. I used to just change the color, then gradually learned to draw some stuffs on it.

This nail looks simple yet elegant. I've used 5 nail polishes to complete the look.

• Base Coat: OPI
• 2nd coat all over the nail: Essie Mademoiselle
• Paint half of the nail from the middle to the tip: OPI Princess Rule!
• Another coat from the middle to the tip: Sinful Colors UFO
• Add nail stickers
• Top Coat: Seche Vite

OPI - Tickle My France-y

I wear nude color nail polish once in awhile but not all of them look good on my fingers. It either doesn't match my hands or make my fingers look darker. OPI Tickle My France-y looks alright with my hands. Here's the bottle:

I painted 2 coats of the nail polish and added some nail stickers. I think the color looks a bit darker in person. Didn't take this with flash though. For top coat, I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

HadaLabo Gakujyun Moisturizing Cream

A friend of mine sent me a HadaLabo gakujyun moisturizing cream. HadaLabo is one of top Japanese drugstore brands and their products are good for moisturizing. My friend has the same sensitive dry skin as me and said it's working well on her skin, so I give it a try. Packaging is pretty simple. Nothing fancy and the price is very affordable, around $13. It doesn't contain any fragrance or mineral oil, so which is a plus. This can be purchased via Sasa in case you wonder where to get it.

This moisturizing cream is quite light and moisturizing. However, with the weather here in the US, it's probably not enough when use alone. I put a serum before using this and works pretty well.

Dior Eye Essentials Set

A good friend of mine got me the Dior Eye Essentials set for my birthday. So generous of her!! It comes with a notebook, a sample size Diorshow mascara, and an eye shadow palette. Here's the box:

The box contains the Dior 5 Colour Designer Eye Shadow Palette in 508 and the Dior Diorshow mascara:

Here's the back of the eye shadow palette with ingredients and instructions on how to put it on. One thing to notice is that this palette is made in Japan instead of France. Either way is cool coz personally I own a lot of Japanese cosmetics products.

Inside the box, the shadows come with a velvet case cover as their usual packaging and a colored written instruction in different languages.

Here's the case for the palette. I only own one other eye shadow palette from Dior and the case looks different. Anyways, I kinda like the CD logo hidden as the background.

Once you open it up, a plastic film showing what each compartment is.

Took a picture with flash. Notice the top right hand corner color is very shimmery. I love. I love.

Here's a swatch of each color without flash and in natural light. Keys are in reference to the plastic film as shown earlier:

The texture is very silky and smooth; different than the other Dior palette I have which feels relatively dry. #5 is a gel liner and it glides on well. I can't say much about staying power because with my oily lid, I always use an eyeshadow primer to make the eye shadows stay longer. I use NARS eye shadow primer and stayed all day. This palette probably is good for folks with lighter skin tone. Looks pretty natural because most colors blend in with my face.