July favorite - Invisible Zinc Environmental Skin Protector SPF 30

July is coming to an end and I can't wait to show you my favorite of the month - Invisible Zinc ESP Environmental Skin Protector SPF 30 (quite a mouthful, isn't it?)

It was completely unexpected - I bought this for my boyfriend who never wears a sunscreen. But as a beauty junkie who is still searching for her HG sunscreen, it's downright unforgivable not trying it out. So I gave it "a try", like everyday for two weeks, and I can now officially announce that I have finally found my HG sunscreen.

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Stash - Kate eyeshadows

As I am dangerously running out of storage space for my cosmetics, it's time to depot those bulky eyeshadow quads into palettes. To no one's surprise, there are so many products I couldn't remember buying. Here are some of those:

Kate Gradical Eyes S 

Keep reading for swatches and reviews

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My nail care routine Part 1

In my book of "History of Beauty Obsession", nail polish is the latest addition yet it is by far the most fast-growing one. I couldn't remember exactly what sparked off the addiction, all I could remember is my collection grew exponentially from less than 5 to a fully occupied Ikea Helmer cabinet. At the beginning, I found applying polish to be very frustrating - I could never get it dried evenly and shiny. With tons of practice and some very useful advices from the blogging world, I don't afraid to show my painted nails anymore.

In this post, I will show you how I shape my nail and how to apply nail polish. You will see some of my essential tools, favorite products and tips & tricks. If you are just starting to like nail polish and as lost as I was, I hope this post would help you out.

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How to choose a quality eyeshadow? Rae Morris' 'one wipe trick'

Here's a quick tip I read from Rae Morris' Makeup: The Ultimate Guide on how to test an eyeshadow at makeup counter.

1. Wipe over the eyeshadow once with a clean fingertip

2. Look at the intensity, if it is not as intense as it looks in the package, then don't waste your money on it. It will take you forever to build up that color on your eyes.

To test a deep metallic shadow, it takes one extra step. After the 'one wipe test', lightly dust your fingertip with a cotton bud to see what color your are left with. An inferior shadow will left you with the black only while all the rich color is on the cotton bud.

Have you ever bought any eyeshadow you regret buying simply because of its poor quality?

Makeup brush cleaning for less

Once or twice in a month, I always find myself starring at my makeup brushes, trying to make up some lame excuses so that I don't have to do the tedious work - cleaning some 20 makeup brushes. This is alway proved to be a waste of time, however, as I would just end up standing in front of the sink playing with water, bubble and brushes for an hour or so. How fun is that.

Cleaning brushes is something I care about a lot for 2 reasons. For one, I don't want to put germs on my face - my skin condition can get unstable at times, germ is the last thing I want to break me out. Another reason is that those brushes cost me a fortune, I would love them to last as long as they can. Some people may suggest using those fancy brush cleaners which also have a fancy price tag, with little research I found some cheap and convenient alternatives to brush cleaners. They work miracle - I have been using them on some of my brushes for several years now and they are still as good as new.

Let's get our hands wet and dirty after the jump

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My beauty library

This is going to be a very short post - I am super excited as my Amazon order has just arrived! I've been waiting forever, it took a whole month! The packaging was so crappy, my boyfriend even said the books looked like some second-handed ones.

Books I bought:

1. Style Eyes by Taylor Chang-Babaian

2. Asian Faces: The Essential Beauty and Makeup Guide for Asian Women by Taylor Chang-Babaian

3. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro by Bobbi Brown

4. Makeup: The Ultimate Guide by Rae Morris

5. Jemma Kidd Make-up Masterclass: Beauty Bible of Professional Techniques and Wearable Looks by Jemma Kidd

6. About Face: Amazing Transformations Using the Secrets of the Top Celebrity Makeup Artist by Scott Barnes

7. Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself by Francois Nars

I've been looking for these books in quite a few local bookstores but to no avail - most of these books are simply not available locally. A couple of them like the Bobbi Brown ones are easily found, if you are willing to pay 50% more than the price offered by Amazon, you can take them home right away. 

Anyway I'm just so glad they are finally mine and rest assure I will study them religiously. Check back soon and I will share with you guys whatever I find useful or interesting in these book. 

It's all started with ... ...

In case you stumble across this blog (poor you!), you may probably think "Well, this is just another beauty blog" and yes it is indeed. I don't know about you, but I have subscribed to tons of these beauty blogs out there to a point that I can just skim through the headings in my reader, pick one or two that interested me and read on.

But to me, this is about a huge transition in my life - I am working my way into the makeup artist world. I have enrolled in an intensive professional makeup class starting next month, feeling both excited and nervous. I really want to pull it off and I am prepared to work my ass off for that. It is going to be a challenging journey probably, and this blog will document every bit of it, both the goods and the bads. Let's get started.

The makeup school that I enrolled in provides all the cosmetics we need for class except we have to bring our own brushes. Despite the fact that I am a bit slack on my daily makeup routine, I am quite selective on makeup brushes. At the same time, I feel like I know nothing about what makes a good makeup brush. The brush I use everyday is a Hakuhodo powder brush - it is super soft and not scratchy at all! Soft or stiff, scratchy or not are the only qualities I can tell (well, maybe also whether it picks up a lot of product) from a brush. As ignorant as that, I think it is safer to get some affordable brushes to start with. With little research, Sigma seems to be my choice.

I bought 2 of their brush sets, the Complete Kit without brush roll ($79) and the Synthetic Face Kit ($42).

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