Happy Christmas!

Just a message to wish you all a very merry Christmas

^_^

For some reason I don't seem to be harbouring many festive feelings this year, but nonetheless I will enjoy spending an entire day with family and eating endless amounts of food :D

Have a good one!

Jia

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Lavshuca Melting Eyes Eyeshadow Palette in BR-01 Review

I'm slowly making my way through my Hong Kong beauty stash and am happy to be able to share another review with you ^^

Today's review, as the title already mentions, is on the Lavshuca palette I picked up.

Like most girls, a palette of neutrals is vitally important for everyday looks and I am no different.

I have several palettes where the main colour scheme is, boringly put, brown. But then again who would have thought that the colour none of us liked as children would become a much loved favourite as we grow up.

Ok onto the review!

STATS

A simple palette containing four shades perfect to creating a pretty everyday eye make up, also perfect for use with gyaru make up. The palette contains a cream, honey-brown, taupe and chocolate brown shade, all of which are shimmery.

Under natural lighting

Under flash

PACKAGING

I absolutely adore the packaging of this palette. The metallic cover, font and decoration at the corners helps the palette to look subtly princessy without being too over the top. I also love how the prism effect on the lid make the shadows look like jewels. However I do find the packaging to feel a little less sturdy than I would like it to be.

While the lid is clear, the bottom part of the palette is of a deep burgundy colour, adding slightly to the regal feel. The shadows are packed closely together with little extra room between and around the shadows, and there is a small compartment enough for one applicator. The product itself comes with a small double ended applicator; both ends are sponges and are differently sized for ease of application.

RATING: 4/5

QUALITY

These shadows are amazingly soft and buttery but hardly have any fallout. They apply like a dream with fingers, sponge tips or brushes and blend well. Pigmentation is also very good, as you can see on the finger swatches, but do need a little layering into order to achieve the full intensity.

I love how the four shades have got me covered on every level, the lightest shades can be used as a highlight or base whereas the darker shades can be used to shade, contour and line my eyes. I know every other palette with a gradation of shades can do the same thing, but the shimmer particles in this palette add a hint of pretty glimmer to my lids without being too  harsh or difficult to blend.

RATING: 5/5

Swatches! (Under flash)

PRICING
I picked up this palette for 98 HKD, which is roughly around £8. Most drugstore palettes in England cost around the same price but I would say this palette is more worth the price.
RATING: 5/5

LONGEVITY
These shadows last well on my lower lids without a primer, but as usual I require a primer for my upper lids.
RATING: 4/5


I would definitely repurchase this palette if I ever manage to use it all up, I really enjoy its buttery soft texture and softly enhancing properties. It's a definite recommendation from me, but if you want to try something different to brown shades, pick up 0R-1 instead. It comes with a soft shimmery orange shade that looks amazing for brightening the eye.

Jia
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Baking Attempts

It's been a while since I've done any posts like these! I love to bake but don't do it very often, for some reason baking always takes me AGES. Also I think my oven needs calibrating, but I cannot be bothered to get an oven thermometer for now.

Anyway here's what I've made recently, and they were both for the other half.

For our anniversary, I decided to make him unicorn poop cookies! I saw a lady make a tutorial on Youtube for these and they looked so amazing that I had to try them out! I did have to make a few modifications to the recipe though due to a different supply of ingredients but they still turned out great ^^ They're such an unhealthy snack but once in a while won't hurt eh? XD


I stuck the silver balls in before baking and they were baked for a little too long...hence the slightly mashed and melted appearance. This is why I need to calibrate my oven, if the temperature is actually correct I wouldn't have to guess baking times to make sure I don't accidentally give food poisoning to people eating my cookies!

If you want to make these too, click this link here :)

For his birthday I made him snickerdoodles! I wanted to make something Ice King related but didn't have enough time to plan it properly so chose something much more simple in the end. I gained success with this as he LOVED them! I think it was more the cinnamon coating than my efforts XD Snickerdoodles don't actually look very appetising but they are so freaking delicious! Their small size makes it really easy to eat one after another after another....after another and another XD The recipe for these was from  blog I randomly found, click here for the recipe ^^

Jia

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Parado Eyeshadow Palette in PK-01 Review

Today's review is on an eyeshadow palette I picked up in Hong Kong.

I'd never heard of Parado before and decided to give it a go because 1) it was on offer for $58 down from $140 and 2) it came with a free blusher (which ended up in my sister's stash).

STATS
A Japanese brand produces an eyeshadow palette containing a pale cream shade with pink undertones, a light peach-pink shade, a hot pink fuchsia shade and a dark grey-purple.

Under flash

Under daylight

 PACKAGING

It comes in a sturdy feeling plastic case, with a cute polka dot design on the lid with a heart revealing a peek of the shadows inside. The palette is sort of large in my opinion, considering it only contains four shadows and one applicator. The applicator is double ended, one side a white sponge, the other a soft brush. I can't comment on how well the applicator works but I think they would do a decent job. The little compartment for the applicator seems a little wide though for just one applicator.

RATING: 4/5

QUALITY

The quality of these shadows is actually quite good. I find them soft, buttery and blendable, although the darkest shade can be a little chalky. My favourite shades are the two lightest ones, they contain a lovely amount of shimmer and are great for highlighting your eyes. The hot pink shade also has a great texture but unfortunately I don't think I'll have many uses for it, hot pink just isn't one of my go-to shades XD I have found the shadows to actually be covered with a layer of shimmer that disappears once you've swatched them, revealing that the shadows have more of a satin finish but still have a nice amount of shimmer. Pigmentation of these shadows is light but buildable, something I prefer as I easier to control the intensity of the shadows.
RATING: 4/5

Swtaches under flash

LONGEVITY

Without a primer, these shadows manage to last all day with a little fading on my lower lids.

I have to use a primer when I use shadow on my upper lids though otherwise my overlapping eyelids will never allow any eyeshadow to last beyond an hour. With a primer, the shadows can also last all day with only a little fading on my upper lids.

RATING: 3.5/5

PRICING

For $58, the palette is an absolute bargain! I don't think I would have purchased it for the full price though considering the brand was unknown to me.

RATING: 5/5 (at bargain price)

Overall, I would definitely recommend this palette to anyone who wishes to add a pink-based palette to their collection. I'm very glad I bought this as I very rarely wore pink eye make up before I bought this, but now I find pink a very sweet shade to wear.

Thank you for dropping by!
Jia
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1 Day Acuvue Define Lenses in Natural Shine Review

I'd known about these lenses for some time thanks to Youtube videos from Hong Kong beauty gurus and have always been intruiged by them, they have been specially created to enhance dark eyes, which is probably why these lenses are only for sale in Hong Kong and Macau (but what about the rest of Asia? o.O)

There are three different designs: Accent, Vivid and Natural Shine, as shown below.

Accent and Vivid were the first designs to appear, followed by Natural Shine (the most popular according to the optician). I also purchased the Vivid style, which I shall review later.

 The lenses come in a card box, shown above, each box containing 30 lenses. 

 The diameter is 14.2, but it definitely does not have the enlargement effect of circle lenses with diameter 14.0. The base curve is 8.5, something you should definitely take into consideration, I will explain later.

The box also has a picture of the lens design printed on it, it definitely looks more interesting than the lens in real life.

The lenses come in blister packs like these, convenient for travelling, just like all 1-day lenses.

So do I like these lenses? 

Let's take a closer look.

 It's not a very clear picture but you can see the main design of the lens. Apart from the grey, there is also a spiky, light yellow-brown ring that sits on the spokes of the grey ring. The brown ring is actually a lot less noticeable compared to the picture on the box, and the real lens is lacking the dark grey limbal ring found on the box design.

Here I have the lenses on both eyes. The effect is very natural, the lenses add a soft grey ring around your irises, gently helping to define them. The brown ring is not visible at all on my eyes. 

Although the enlargement is not very noticeable, I actually really like the effect these lenses impart. They definitely make my eyes look more dolly and sweet, and according to my boyfriend, my eyes 'look like marbles in a good way'. His exact words. Whatever floats your boat, eh?

You can see the 'marble' effect more clearly in the above picture. The grey ring blends very well with my brown eyes, and actually looks as though my eyes are naturally like that.

However of course there is a small downfall. The actual lens design in quite a narrow ring, so if your iris is naturally quite small, the ring may reveal some sclera. When taking pictures, the lenses don't actually cover my iris entirely, as you can see above. However in reality, I don't seem to have to this problem (although I don't constantly look at myself in the mirror).

I took the lens out of my left eye to compare the size difference. The enlargement is noticeable when you compare both eyes, but when you have both lenses in, most people won't realise that you're wearing lenses. 

When it comes to the design and effect it gives, I am a big fan of these lenses. I do love wearing my circle lenses but sometimes it's nice to wear something more simple and a little less adventurous.

These lenses are also the most comfortable lenses I have tried, I can wear them for around 12 hours without my eyes feeling tired or dry. They are really soft, much softer than your usual circle lenses, but not so soft to the point where they're flimsy and nearly impossible to insert onto your eye.

However, I do have my problems with these lenses unfortunately :(

I have astigmatism in both eyes and usually I don't have any problems with my circle lenses but I do with these lenses. This is where the base curve comes into play. My circle lenses have a base curve of 8.6 or 8.7, but as these are 8.5, they don't fit my eye correctly. My vision throughout the day fluctuates from being relatively clear to blurry. Most of the time, these lenses are fine to wear, I managed to watch a movie with these lenses without any problems, probably because there's always so much going on I don't spot any anomalies with my vision. The main problems arise when I concentrate on one area for too long, such as reading a menu. The lenses like to move a little and disrupt my vision, not exactly fun T_T
I can't quite understand why this problem arose though as I read that differences of 1mm shouldn't be too much of a problem.

My overall verdict?
Design: 2.5/5 - Nothing that interesting.
Effect: 5/5 - I really love the effect these lenses give.
Enlargement: 2/5 - nothing drastic but enough to make your eyes twinkle.
Comfort: 3/5 - the softness of these lenses is amazing but the occasional blurriness I experience is rather annoying. 

I would definitely recommend these lenses to anyone who wishes to try something natural looking yet can add something special to your eyes; I would also say these lenses are suitable for absolutely any occasion.
Please do take the base curve in to account though.

I purchased these lenses from an opticians in Hong Kong for 220HKD a box.

Thanks for reading!
Hope you found it useful :)

Jia
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