Maybelline Hyper Diamonds in GY-1

Came across Maybelline Hyper Diamonds eyeshadow palette the other day and decided to give it a go as I have been searching for some much needed bling eyeshadow for partying purposes.

They have a wide array of colours (green, blue, red, etc)- you can check out this blog here by another south east asian blogger for all the selection cause today I'm going to talk about the one I  bought, which is the Black/White/Grey palette GY-1 (same one featured in the above poster).

As you can see from the swatches, they are pretty pigmented - not bad for a drugstore brand. The darker colours glide on better though. Colour #2 is the worst in terms of application. I think it's because the glitter bits are too rough, I had to rub my finger very hard against the pan to get some colour out, and then it doesn't really stick to your skin so well too. This particular colour also causes some heavy fallout - as I will soon show you.

As you can see below, it's really not bad. The dark colours #5 and #4 are pretty good, they go on quite well. They are very blend-able too. My only detracting comment is actually I realise the other 'in between' colours like #3 and #4 aren't really useful if you want to achieve the above look. I mean, they aren't totally useless but you can easily achieve this just using #5 and #1. But I guess they come in handy if you just want to use the greys (#3 & #4) on their own individually...

Finished result without primer (last pic on the right is with flash)

#2 looks the prettiest and has the most bling but the fall out is terrible:

You can see it even in such a low-res picture! I intended to use #2 on the lower waterline (for the wide-eyed effect thing) but the fallout was so bad that I didn't need to do it myself...they all just ended up there by itself... heh.

Maybelline Hyper Diamonds GY-1 can be purchased at all leading pharmacies in Msia. I forgot how much it costs but it should be about the MYR 20-30 range.

I have no comment on how long it can last as I have yet to really wear this for a night out. I'll report back on that when I get the chance to do so.

Pros: Cheap, reasonably pigmented, nice colour range

Cons: Terrible fallout

Repurchase? Yes for now. But only because it's cheap. I think I may be able to find better ones out there. We'll see.

Eucerin Dermato CLEAN Mild Cleansing Milk

Just bought Eucerin's Dermato CLEAN Mild Cleansing Milk for the first time. Tried this because it contains no mineral oil, and no parabens. The product description on the front label also said 'alcohol-free' but the ingredients did state that it contains Cetearyl Alcohol? Hmm... anyway...

It's a bit sticky but the consistency was ok enough for me to cleanse off with tissue/ cotton pad. Compared to what I have been using previously I think this one is better and way cheaper (I was previously using Lancome's Galatels Douceur Gentle Cleansing Fluid for Face and Eyes - NOT recommended). 

Sticky...

However the product description said 'Apply each morning and evening with cotton pad. Remove residue and tone with clarifying toner' indicating that you can use this as a normal dry cleanser. My two cents: please still follow up with normal cleanser! This cleansing milk may not contain mineral oil and all that and may seem less oily but you can still feel that it's quite sticky. I think it's quite necessary to wash your face after. Overall it's not bad for a drugstore brand. It's good for my sensitive skin too. Not that cheap though (normal cleansing milk retails in the range of MYR 20-25). This retails for MYR 39.90 at Watson's (currently promo price is 10% off at MYR 35.91).

Pros: Good for sensitive skin, non drying, no mineral oil/ parabens

Cons: Contains alcohol (?), Not THAT cheap for a drugstore brand

Repurchase? Maybe.

Jelly Fatt Coi Nails

China Glaze's Poinsettia.

Highlighter Nails

Looks like I highlighted my nails with pink Stabilo Highlighters! - with OPI's Guy Meets Gal-Veston.

Nail Du Jour #2

Essie's Limited Addiction

A very nice red that is actually a neutral red (can be warm or cool in base tone) depending on the light. Looks kinda warm in sunlight but can go well as a cool toned red too. Very gorgeous. My favourite.

Formula is opaque enough, don’t need that many coats, and two coats can last you for a long time! Also looks a bit jelly. Excellent on short nails. This is the first time I've bought any Essie colours, and I'm quite impressed.

Nail colour: Essie’s Limited Addiction

Got it from Nailfiesta.com for MYR 29.00.

For other swatches please go to http://nailfiesta.ecwid.com/product?2431376

Shinju Pearls

I'm not really a pearl person as not everyone can pull off the pearl necklace look. No doubt it's a classic accessory but this look is also a fine line between classiness and old fashioned. I always feel like it's kinda like a 'mom's/ old lady accessory and you need some serious elegance to ensure you look good in it. I'm not one of those people, but Shinju Pearls has come up with some excellent designs that can look quite trendy and could help you work some classic feel into our modern trends I think. 

This particular pearl necklace I bought is very versatile. It comes with an external clasp that you can  use to wear it in various ways.

External Clasp

Worn as a long necklace

Worn as a short necklace/ choker

Twisted variation of long

Twisted variation of the choker look

The colour is quite versatile too. Can go with black and warm and cool colours. They have other colours on sale too. But most are mainly white or peach coloured ones.

The pearls upclose

Not bad, right? It's currently being sold with a 'value buy' promotion in Isetan for MYR99.00. You can also check them out online here. I recommend going to Isetan though, cause they have many other designs on display. The salesperson also told me that the 'value buy' isn't really so 'valuable' because normal price is the same too. Besides, they can order if they run out of stock, so, you don't need to hurry to catch the so-called value buy promo.

The Original Salon Shaper

As part of my recent obsession with manicures, I decided to try out the Salon Shaper.

So as you can see the device comes with a pouch, an 'instruction guide', and the 5 attachment tips.

The instruction guide - which is only a piece of paper - is quite useless. And also it missed out information on one of the heads (The Diamond Tip).

However, you don't really need it because it's pretty easy to use; just stick the attachments into the top of the device and press the pink button on its side. It makes a whirring sound which is kinda scary. Reminds me of the dentist.

The five nail shaping attachments:  

L-R:

• Diamond Tip - Remove Dead Skin & Calluses
• Grinding Barrel -Smooth Thick Nails & Rippled Surfaces
• Small Grinding Cone- Shape Cuticles & Nail Edges
• Soft Felt Cone- For Polish Emery Tip Shape, Scult &Trim
• Flat Emery Head - Shape Nails & to give them a Smooth Edge 

The five attachments are not very good. The Diamond Tip doesn't really remove dead skin and calluses for me, I think its surface area is too small and it's also not rough enough to effectively file away hardened dead skin. The Grinding Barrel does work - however - it's difficult to control and you can EASILY grind away your whole nail to your flesh. I'm not joking. I think the main problem is that the motor spins too quickly, hence making it quite difficult to control! That's some serious nail grinding - you could end up with a very uneven nail surface, or even worse: paper thin nails if you are not careful with that.The Small Grinding Cone doesn't work too. I think the problem is the same with the Diamond Tip - not rough enough. The Soft Felt Cone also failed as well. You might think it would act as a nail buffer right? Because the cone feels kinda soft and cotton-ish. WRONG. Does not happen that way. It just glides over your nails, does nothing.

As for the Flat Emery Head, it works.. too well! It's rough enough to really grind stuff away, and the same problem is with the Grinding Barrel. I kinda grind my nails into some weird shapes and then I needed to grind over that so I keep grinding more and more till I have hardly any nails left! Same comment: Motor is too fast with this one. *Shakes head*.

In a desperate attempt to squeeze some use out of this,  I played around with it and ended up using the Diamond tip to shape nails - I think it works better because the surface isn't SO ROUGH, hence making it easier to control as it grinds away your nail slower. And also the Flat Emery Head can be used to grind away calluses because it's like SANDPAPER. Works best on the nasty ones on your toes! The rest of the attachments: fail. So, ok la, 2 out of 5 still can be used for its unintended purposes. At least I found some use for it.

In conclusion, this product isn't for just anyone. I think it can be useful but it's freaking hard to use! It really requires A LOT of skill to use this to shape your nails using these heads actually. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who isn't so good with their hands or you'd end up with screwed up nails like me:

Screwed up nails after using SS

Notice my thumb and my first finger? Anyway to be fair, the sellers really did not promise fireworks and rockets so I think my expectations were unjustifiably high. Also, I do keep short nails, so that might be one of the reasons that i @#$^-ed up? I might revisit this in the future.

Verdict: * out of ***** stars. Better stick to a old fashioned file and buffer. Or if you have cash, go and just book a manicure.

The Original Salon Shaper retails for MYR30.00 from Supermodel's Secret.