o i officially past a quarter of a century = 25 years old and turned........... 26 year old last week.

I guess as I get older, I don't really fancy celebrating my birthday in big partying ways, just dinners and get-togethers with family and friends are good enough for me.

On my birthday itself, met my GFs for a buffet dinner at Pan Pacific Hotel, Global Kitchen (food was so-so only, but there was an OCBC 1-for-1 promotion going on, so it was a great deal).

They got me a small bouquet of flowers!

Was pleasantly surprised, totally didn't expect that. But I was also feeling abit awkward carrying the bouquet from City Hall to Pan Pacific.

Next up, birthday gifts!

We promised not to spend too much on birthday gifts for each other this year as we are saving up for a holiday next year :)

Makeup from Stage.... awwww!

The most aww-able factor was that, a few weeks ago, we were at Stage getting stuffs from the S$10 sale, the MUA showed me their upcoming holiday collection, I was oohhh-ahhh-ing at 1 of their eyeshadows palletes. But I have too many eyeshadows and they were under utilised, I resisted getting it. And they got it for me! Along with 2 eyeliners, 1 mascara and 1 nail polish. All of them came in a pretty red/black pouch too.

Another cute thing was, when they went to buy the eyeshadow palette, they could not remember which one was the one I liked, but the MUA that showed me the collection was there and she remembered! And told them which one it was.

The Stage eyeshadow palette in Gossip. With the colors Black, Maroon (though i personally think its more purplish den red, my favourite color out of the 5 and mainly what attracted me to this palette, with the combination of brown and black), Dark Green (more like slivery green), Brown and Beige (more like white shimmers).

The photos are rather true to color, and I find the names of the eyeshadow slightly inaccurate and misleading, but anyoldhow, its a pretty palette and I love it!

Stage eyeliners in Brown and Pewter Performance. Pewter Performance is a very unique and nice deep greenish blue with tiny flecks of glitters, I should have swatched it darker so that it would show up better.

I feel so blessed to have received all the other birthday gifts from family and friends. Its not the value of the gifts itself, but the heart and effort that went into picking and selecting a gift for me. Thank you! :)

___________________________________________________________________________________

I have 4 pan eyeshadow from Stila that I bought quite sometime back. And since then, I had been looking for a suitable pallete to house them in, I really like the colors and want to find a suitable home for them. They came in plastic clamshell holder which are a hassle to open and close everytime I use the eyeshadows. Also I am afraid that I am going to break them some day without a proper casing to protect them.

MAC palettes are not suitable as Stila eyeshadow pans are bigger than MAC eyeshadows pans. Stila sells empty trio or quad palettes but they are a lil pricey, locally or otherwise.

*image credits: amazon.com

I checked the Stila counter at Tangs (which btw is a small counter, I almost missed it) and it was retailing for S$30.00+/-, I didn't want to pay that much for an empty quad palette so I KIV-ed that, hoping to find something else suitable if not I might consider it.

Last week I went to Malaysia (JB) and went to Elianto to get a couple of nail polishes, and there I saw empty quad palettes for sale, the size seems more or less suitable for Stila eyeshadow pan and it was selling at RM15.00+/- which is around S$6.25.

And so I bought it home. That's how the exterior of the palette looks like, plain nothing fanciful.

It comes with a big mirror which is a plus and have tiny double sided tapes in the slots for the pans but I don't think they are effective at all. Beside the palette are my Stila eyeshadow pans waiting to go tho their new home!

I got some 3M sticky dots, which are basically just like glue dots and smeared it on the back of the eye shadow pan and popped it right itot the Elianto palette.

Woohoo! It fits! Not perfectly though, there is a tiny tiny gap between the eyeshadow pan and the edge of the palette but it is pretty secure and doesn't fall out even if I shake and flip it 360 degrees around.

Here's my Stila eyeshadow sitting happily in their new home!

___________________________________________________________________________________

I picked this up at Mustafa 1 day while my friends & I were midnight shopping there.

I saw 2 version of the baked blush, 1 of it is the one that Diana has reviewed about and am not sure if this is a new one?

It comes in a quite nice container and there are a few colors available, I randomly picked up this one as this has peachy tone to it, pigmentation is good and it is shimmery! Got to be careful when applying it to avoid looking like a disco ball :p

Also the blush compartment lifts up to reveal a small and lousy brush. Haha. I got this for S$6.80 or so, pardon my goldfish memory but its around that price range.

So next time if anyone is at Mustafa, check out the cosmetic section, there might just be some interesting finds.

___________________________________________________________________________________

My haul from Sephora F&F sale a couple weeks back.

I got mainly MUFE products as I have been wanting to try them for a looong time, no better time/motivation den sales!

I got the Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation, HD Microperfecting Primer, & Super Matte Loose Powder.

I got all 3 of them for around S$122, after discount and including shipping, I'd say its a pretty good bargain. I think the Mat Velvet+ foundation and HD Primer retails in Singapore for S$65+/- each, not sure abount the retail price for the loose powder though.

So here are my thoughts on them:

I have used different combinations of the products on different days, Mat Velvet+ foundation with HD primer, without HD primer, Mat Velvet+ with the Matte loose powder, without the Matte Loose powder.

Today for example, I used the HD Primer with Mat Velvet+ foundation and set it with my Maybelline dream matte powder, and from 8am till now 5pm+, my face shows no sign of oilies, and when I touch it with my fingers, I can feel that its not as oily as it used to be at around the same time (8 hours mark)

MUFE Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation

From sephora.com:

What it is: A shine controlling, oil-free, water-resistant, complete coverage liquid foundation.

What it is formulated to: Hides imperfections, evens out skin tone, and mattifies with a non-oily, perfectly powdered finish. The result is flawless and lasts for hours.

What else you need to know: Although this foundation provides full coverage, the end result is completely adjustable to fit your needs - a little goes a long way.

The Mat+ Velvet foundation is throughly what it claims, it keeps my face matte! The consistency of the foundation is somewhere in between that of Clinique Superfit (watery) and BB Creams (thick almost close to cream-like). Its not too watery but not too thick so it is still very easy to blend. Coverage-wise, definitely better then Clinique Superfit and I’d say its medium to high coverage. Even though coverage is good, it does not cake on me with all the oilies and everything.

MUFE HD Microperfecting Primer

I got the HD primer in No. 5 Blue, it is supposed to add radiance to fair skin and reduces minor imperfections. I was deciding between blue, pink or neutral and since I have not tried it over the counter I simply had no idea which one would be suitable for me, in the end I just decided randomly, but it was a good decision made.

From sephora.com:

What it is: A lightweight, oil-free complexion corrector that enhances the skin's texture and primes the skin for makeup application.

What it does: HD Microperfecting Primer deeply nourishes, moisturizes, and softens the skin, creating a glowing effect. Creates a protective layer on the skin allowing foundation to glide on easily and last longer.

After using it for a few days, I realised I do like the HD primer. It really does brighten up my skin, a little, not dramatically different and help my foundation to stay on longer. It does what a primer is supposed to do and on top of it, brighten my complexion.

The only thing I dislike about the HD primer would be that there is a slight sticky feeling on my face after it is just applied, but after it set, probably about 1 min, my face is as smooth as after applying any other kind of primers (namely monistat chafting gel & Boots No.7 mattifying makeup base).

MUFE Super Matte Loose Powder

From sephora.com:

Super Matte Loose Powder provides a light, silky veil that is the perfect matte finish for your foundation. The texture is so smooth you can also apply it directly onto the skin. Perfect for all skin types, even very dry skin.

I was shocked when I got the loose powder, the container is 2/3 filled with powder, hmmm… I am not sure if I got a defect piece or maybe the container is just too big and they don’t fill the powder to the brim. The stiffer was sealed properly though. I thought about weighing it but was too lazy and didn’t want to create a mess.

Anyoldhow, that aside, I am quite pleased with the powder, keeps my face matte for a long time, its finely milled and I apply it using the “press-and-roll” method that Wayne Goss & Sophia demonstrated.

If I have to choose between getting either 1 of the 3 items, it would be the Mat velvet+ foundation!

*gosh, its a lengthy post and I am rambling as usual T_T

___________________________________________________________________________________

I will be placing the orders tomorrow night after final consolidation, so far with all the orders I have got, shipping is S$1.03 per item, yay!

For those who are interested in the spree, please email me your orders ASAP so that payment can be done latest by tomorrow night and den I will be placing the order.