My Little Corner ♥

6:56 AM
Every since school started, blogging or even surfing online has been an impossibility. However, when stress builds up and I need to stop myself from burning out even before half the semester is gone, I allow myself to cruise along the beauty trends and topics. It's really enjoyable I must say. I know people think beauty is shallow and overrated. However, being able to find some joy in the small things is important. No matter how small, no matter how trivial-- these things are needed. (Not to say I have plenty of BIG things to find GREAT joy in as well :))

Anyway, I spend most of my days in the library now. It's not as torturous as it sounds. It's actually pretty fun (NO REALLY)! To make my little space in the library, I've made a little beauty corner for myself. I have more beauty stuffies in my bag, but to put them on display too would have been a bit too much. So, I just put the essentials right on my desk. They are my absolute MUST-HAVES and products I've repurchased several times.

So, here it is!


I've got my Reve de Miel lip balm by Nuxe, L'Occitane Hand Sanitizing Gel, Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream, and a Starbucks Mint. 

I can't say enough about these products (except the Mint). I love them, and I think they are one of the beauty essentials you need on your desk space. 

What are some that you keep on your desk or workspace? 

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NOTD: Illamasqua "Alarm" Nail Polish

7:53 PM
I received this Illamasqua nail polish in the August Glossybox. I had never used an Illamasqua nail polish before, but I have to say, I am more than impressed! I love it!   Especially this crazy fiery red. I have to say that I am nowhere near the kind of person that loves to wear colors this crazy red. Red seems hard to swallow compared to other colors, I'm not quite sure why. Well, I think one of the reasons why is because red can either go from classy to cheap in the slightest tonal change.


That being said, I don't know what it is about this color, but I love it so much! The color is just so crazy beautiful. I actually have this one my toes as well. It doesn't chip as much as Dior's nail polishes, but doesn't last as long as Butter nails. It's somewhere in between. One coat is enough but two can make it better. Color is true to the bottle as you can get. The texture of it, beautiful.


Now, what's the difference between the two pictures?
Absolutely nothing :) Just loving all the red, that's all!
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Awesome August Glossybox

6:23 AM
This month's Glossybox has got to be my favorite box thus far. It was packed with everything that I WOULD REALLY USE. The theme of this month was "Pure Luxury" and oh boy it is!

The first thing I loved about this month was that the box actually came in the right month! It was always a day or two later than when it should arrive, but this time, it came so super early!

That being said, look what was in my box!


I'm going to list them in the order of how much I love them:
  1. Illamasqua Nail Polish in "Alarm" 
  2. Ellis Faas Creamy Lips
  3. Touch in Sol "Feel Like Honey Moon Skin Base"
  4. Ole Henriksen "Truth Serum"
  5. Biolage "Exquisite Replenishing Treatment"




Seriously, can you see why I'm so in love with this nail polish?! Look at the color! It's this perfect ginger coral color, a color that I've never owned before. The quality is amazing as well! I really can't say enough good things about this one.

Next excitement was this goody good. It's a matte lip cream and I've seen this at Space NK stores before but never bought it. Hence, I was thrilled to see it in the box! The packaging is awesome, and it's Ellis Faas, ya know? :)  One downfall... the color... It is the darkest of any color I've seen and I don't know how or when to wear such a color! I think I'll have to find who is much darker than me or loves to wear strangely dark colors! 


The next is this oh so famous Ole Henriksen serum. It's a Collagen booster, something all ladies are looking for. My sister saw this and immediately took it for herself. I excused her "stealing" because she is older, and what's not to like about some collagen boosting action on your face? But really, I think it's good for all ages. It's full of vitamin C, which is good I believe for recovering skin and such. Again, loved that I got this one.


This a made-in-Korea brand and I can just tell by the cute packaging! It's a moisturizer and makeup base all in one. This is so exciting to try, especially since I've been a bit obsessed over primers recently! I'm hoping this does more than just give a "feel like honey moon" skin, but keeps makeup on for long... Anyway, I'm definitely going to try it... in fact TODAY!


I don't think I've ever seen a Glossybox without some sample of hair or rather. This is an oil to replenish your hair... I guess? You put it on wet or dry hair and you can use it much like say Moroccan oil or, I also use the Nuxe multipurpose dry oil. 


I thought I'd also show you their bonus/offer they also had in the box. That's always nice :)


So all in all, my favorite Glossy so far. If you've never heard of them before, you can go over to their website www.glossybox.com and check them out! They've only started to sell in the US (originally a UK beauty box). I've watched so many UK beauty gurus online, and I've been jealous since and am so happy they're in the US. (Started subscribing since the start :))
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Gray-Purple Eyeshadows!!! MAC Shale vs. NARS Ondine

4:29 AM
I am in love with this new eyeshadow from MAC. It is the moonlight purple-silver that can both be used by itself over your entire lid, at the inner or outer corners of your eyes. (Inner meaning the inner part of the shading chrome). I haven't heard this shade "Shale" being talked about much, but in my search for any kind of MAC eyeshadow, I came in contemplation with "Hoodwinked" and this one. I seemed to have owned way too many gold/brown shades, so I went for this shade, that I only had one that was slightly similar to this one (which I will get to later)


MAC eyeshadows are one of the best pigmented and textured eyeshadows. They blend so easily with other colors, and they remain its true and prominent color on the eyelid as well as in the box!


I'm comparing this with what seems to be pretty identical color, the NARS "Ondine". I have a swatch of it in the picture below. The left is "Ondine" and the right is "Shale".  


You can see that they are in fact pretty different, more obvious when you see it in life than in pictures. The "Ondine" is a warmer brownier purple, whereas the "Shale" is a gray purple that has its own complexities-- which is what I like about it! I prefer MAC's "Shale" over Nars "Ondine" (which I still love) for several reasons. One, is that though I'm not sure you can tell by pictures, the pigmentation of the MAC was much, much denser than the Nars. I'm not speaking in all of the MAC and NARS eyeshadows, just these two in particular. Also, the color payoff of the MAC is so much prettier on skin than is the shade of Ondine. Texture wise, I have to say, the MAC "Shale" is creamier (it's a satin finish) than the Ondine, which can feel slightly "powdery" in comparison!


What I also love about it is that grayish eyeshadows can end up looking really dusty or "dirty" on the eyelids. There are colors that can be hard to digest, and I was afraid that when swatched it might look pretty, but on my eyelids, it'd look "dirty". But it doesn't! It's just as pretty as a swatch as it is on the eyes! (I don't know if I could speak for all skin tones, but for the light/medium yellow undertones, this'll work!)

It's also very buildable as mentioned before. One sweep across the eyelid can do if you want to use that as a base. But if you want to build it as a shadow at the outer corners, you just have to pack it on and blend it in. The color intensifies. In different lightings, it'll look gray, silver, and/or purple!
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NYX Lip Creams!!!!! (Xtreme and Soft Matte)

5:46 PM
NYX lip creams are amazing! I bought these lip creams a few weeks ago and I wanted to try them out for a bit of time until I can write a full review on it. (And, as a side note, my life has been so super busy with academic work that I could not find the time to sit down, take pictures, and blog!)



I have two kinds. The most recent "lip creams" are the Soft Matte Lip Cream that are both, soft and matte. They have this rich buttery scent to it (like the butterscotch candies, have you ever tried those?) which some people may like, but I'm not a particular fan of food/candy smelling beauty products.

Now for those who haven't heard of lip creams from NYX, basically, they are these cool amazing rich luxurious lipstick kind lipgloss kind of lip stain that quote, "It's not lipstick, nor is it gloss. It's like nothing you've experienced before. It's liquid lipstick that goes on with silky but looks soft matte." That embodies essentially everything that it is.


They have beautiful shades, and they are literally cream on your lips. They go on smoothly and dry without any icky stains, peels, or whatnot. The color wear is truly long-lasting, unless you rub it off or wipe it off! The colors I got were Xtreme Nude Peach Fuzz, Soft Matte San Paulo, Soft Matte Antwerp, Soft Matte Milan.


The previous edition of these soft matte lip creams were the Xtreme lip cream, which does not have the butterscotch candy scent, but more of a crayon-like smell. (Eh.) Whereas the soft matte has almost a matte tattoo like finish to it, the Xtreme one has a glossy finish. It is a bit stickier than the matte since it seems to sway more to the lipgloss kind. However, nothing compared to real lip glosses out there.

Again, all I can say are good things about them. They are also super affordable, if I am correct, $5.99 each. NYX doesn't seem to be available in just any kind of drugstore or beauty store. I know ULTA sells them, but you might have to do some search to find where they actually sell them.

Not all ridiculously expensive products are good. Likewise, not all cheap affordable products are bad! This is definitely amazing. Love the content, love the shades, and definitely love the wear.
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Forget the Purchases, LOVE the Freebies!

1:21 PM


I've never encountered someone writing a full blogpost or video about SAMPLE/FREE products. But even if no one has, I shall on this very post! Ever since I've tried out monthly beauty subscription boxes, I've understood the value of sample/travel size products. I mean, paying ten to twenty plus dollars for a monthly box can be a lot when you aren't happy with each product you get each month. Anyway, recently... as in about a month ago, I made some purchases of Jemma Kidd products online at SpaceNK. For those of you who aren't familiar with SpaceNK, it's basically a London-based beauty store that sells selective beauty/hair products. For those of you who follow my blog and such will know that I've been obsessed with the UK due to loving a few UK beauty gurus in particular. That being said, some of the products you see in SpaceNK may be available elsewhere too.

But then there's the element of their services and how selectively they choose which brands to carry in their stores. Anyway, like I was saying before, I had made a purchase online. Unfortunately, a few of the products I ordered got sent wrong and so I had to do the whole business of returning and things like that. It took about three weeks for the right products to finally come to my door!

But holy moly! Even before seeing the products I purchased wrapped nicely in the box, my eye caught a bag FULL of travel/sample size products. Heck, I didn't even bother checking if the order was correctly sent. I started ravaging through the small shopping bag, seeing everything they had sent me for free!

So then excited as I was, I thought I'd film a short video showing you guys what they had sent me to try out. It was about five months of beauty subscription boxes sent in ONE shopping bag! In one sight, I forgot all about the delay in getting the right products and immediately fell in love with SpaceNK again!

You'll see that the products I was sent were things that I had been dying to try, brands I've heard of for quite some time, but was holding back from buying. My thoughts about these products will be updated shortly :)

NOTE: Please note that this is a special case. Just in case you're entering SpaceNK thinking you'd receive this bag of goodies, note this was only once! However, their services are amazing. Visit their website to see a list of products they carry online and in stores! Store is great for US peeps because they carry UK brands hard to find here!
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Life Update #1 FACES of MAKEUP

8:49 PM
I opened a new blog  to post (reblog) some of the few inspirational makeup looks I find online! I guess it's more for a personal use, to give me ideas about how to do makeup and things like that :)

I haven't been blogging much due to the pressures of studying and other life work! But I shall get to posting something soon!

Meanwhile, take a look at my new blog. It's full of beautiful faces with beautiful makeup.
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