Review: Illamasqua Skin Base

I've been using this lovely product for over a month now and I believe it is reasonable to share my experience on my blog. The foundation was inspired by Asian BB creams and received great reviews since its release on the 23rd of June 2011. I bought my own bottle at the Glasgow counter a week later but I've tried the product beforehand in Beak St. during the Clown Event. If you want to know more about BB creams and how Illamasqua  crafted a foundation based on this growing Asian trend then please check out this link: http://illamasqua.blogspot.com/2011/06/skin-baseinspired-by-bb-creams.html

A Quick Update!

So I’m packing my makeup kit for a photo shoot tomorrow at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh with Richard Boa. I tried to pack everything that I think I might need on a large PVC bag and failed miserably at it. I did managed to get most of the stuffs in but I had to put my cotton wools, sponges, q-tips, facial wipes, tissues, makeup removers and Beauty So Clean (cosmetic sanitizer) on a different bag! So I deep-cleaned by brushes tonight and sanitized my MAC brush belt for tomorrow’s job. Technically I have another photographer lined up after this but it isn’t fully confirmed yet. So let’s hope I hear more from her *fingers-crossed*

FOTD featuring Coastal Scents Products!

I arrived from work this afternoon and guess what's waiting for me? *drum roll* My Coastal Scents parcel! Yay! I don't think I have to expound on how impressed I am considering that I ordered the item last Friday. How the hell is it possible that I can order something from US on a weekend and get it on the next working day while I have to wait between 3-5 working days from a UK retailer? Don't you just love irony? ;)

First Affair with Coastal Scents

After years of having to read and watch reviews of Coastal Scents products, today, I decided to take the plunge and buy some of my June makeup haul from them. If they turned out to be pretty good then I will add them to my makeup kit. I won't be using products that I don't like and won't use on myself to clients but that's just me.  

Basically, Coastal Scents is a US based company selling affordable cosmetics. Their palettes are quite generic and you probably saw some of them sold under a different name/brand (i.e. BHCosmetics). Anyway, here’s a quick rundown on the things I bought from today. If I don’t get possessed by a sloth demon* after receiving the items, then I will attempt to write a review.

Worst Online Shopping Experience So Far...

Disclaimer: This is going to be a part rant/part review of my experience with a website called shopeezee.co.uk . It's going to be long!

I have been looking for sites to buy my makeup case/trolley from for quite a while now. My initial choice was Yazmo.com to begin with because of the great review it received from various YT gurus. Unfortunately, the store is based in the US and shipping towards the UK is going to be steep. So I began searching the web and found shopeezee.co.uk. I instantly fell in love with one of the trolleys they were selling (a pink tartan one, sort of) and ordered it on the 30^th of May 2011. I opted for the next day delivery which incurred an additional £4.99 on the price. Tuesday came and I waited patiently until the 5pm but no trolley arrived. Great! So much for the next day delivery huh. *rollseyes* I phoned the site’s customer’s service the following day and inquired about my order. The guy I was talking said he’d find out what happened to it, asked my number and told me he’d phone me back. You’d think they have a system to track each orders status considering that they use “Order Ids” on their invoice huh? I am starting to be skeptical about this transaction. After a few hours I received an email from a so-called “Jason Naga” (who’d turn out to be the blasted owner of the site). He said the trolley was damaged by their “courier” and was returned. The trolley I ordered wouldn’t be in stock until 2-3 days. He asked me if I want him to send a different colour and I refused. Like, duh!?! If I wanted a different colour I would have ordered it in the first place, wouldn’t I? Besides, they should have informed me ASAP about the nature of the delay instead of waiting for me to pester them on the phone. And you know what else I discovered? I checked the link for the trolley after they sent me the email and there wasn't any indication on the page that it is out of stock. (Webstore 101: You ought to have a live feed of product/stock availability on your site. ALWAYS!)

Talent Rocks Fashion Show

Models backstage at the Talent Rocks Fashion Show

Last week, I traveled down to London to assist the lovely Nicci Jackson on Talent Rocks Fashion show. In a way, the event became a reunion for the April Advanced students plus we met Alex (yay!) who ended up going w/ me on the Illamasqua clown event the following day. 

We had to recreate Nicci's look on the models. There were eight of us and we had 2  models each. We used Mac Strobe Cream and Face & Body foundation to create a dewy skin, a Sleek palette to create a dark gunmetal smoky eyes, Urban Decay E/S in Virgin to highlight, Kryolan Derma Palette to conceal, a bright pink blusher & matte pink lipstick from Illamasqua. Unfortunately, I cannot provide the exact names of the Illamasqua products because they faded off from the packaging (I hope the brand works on that soon).