Throwback: A Snapshot of May

I can't believe I've abandoned my blog for close to two months, this is so not me! Every year when May and June comes around, it ends up being jam-packed with so much happening at once, it is absolutely insane. I thought I'd share some photos of things from the last 31+ days and be a little creative with it by describing each one with the letter 'M' for May. There may be a bit of a crossover with things from April but as long as I can come with an 'M' word for it, I'll include it :)

1. Modelling

I got to be part of a wedding photoshoot as a bride and this has been the most exciting and biggest photoshoot I've done to date! My favourite one so far too. I do TFP shots which I've spoken about here and the theme for this shoot was autumn/vintage bride. Although I don't plan on getting married any time soon or having a autumn or vintage-style wedding myself, it was interesting to see how the makeup and hair was going to turn out on all the models (myself, groom, flower girl, page boy, celebrant) as well as the outfits and props used. Here are some of my favourite photos from the shoot:

(I'm not engaged yet guys hehe)

MUA/Hair: Celeste Wong

Photographer: Captura Photography (Hannah Grant)

2. Meet-ups

Despite all of the busy-ness, it's always great to make time to catch up with good friends over brunch/lunch, dinner and/or dessert.

Brunch at Nano cafe (it was so good) and burgers at Schnit House

Tried out the newly opened Malaysian restaurant, Papparich

Dessert and earl grey tea at Spats

3. MAC

I purchased my first ever MAC product and based on my last lippie love post, it should be obvious that I am indeed obsessed with purchasing new lipstick so of course adding a new lipstick to my collection was a no-brainer. I'm absolutely loving the shade 'Craving' from the Amplified Creamsheen range as a slightly bold but suitable for everyday wear look as I've been wearing both to work and for outings. I love my berry shades, especially for the colder weather and I find it to be the most flattering for my skin tone.

I wore the lipstick to a 21st birthday party

4. Mother's Day

I gave my mum some nice things for Mother's Day and I'm glad she liked them all. I got her a cute card, a nice box of chocolates, a sample of her favourite perfume (she's planning on getting the full size through duty-free when she goes overseas later in the year), a MAC lipstick (after she heard how great mine was) and an Urban Rituelle Caramella Sweet Petites gift set*.

Of course I peeled off the sticker before giving this to my mum hehe

This is the MAC Amplified shade called 'Fast Play' which is a very neutral colour. My mum loves it!

5. Multivitamins

I ended up catching a cold during May which wasn't pleasant at all when I had many uni assessments to complete. Thankfully I was able to overcome this cold within a week after taking these particular multivitamins which I highly recommend to anyone who is currently fighting a cold.

These were half price as well which was a bonus!

6. My birthday

I am a May baby :D Now I can relate to Taylor Swift's song. Not only am I feeling twenty-two but I am twenty-two. Here's a selfie that I took before my night out:

Wearing my new coat from Forever New (birthday gift from the bf) and the GEO Nudy Golden Blue circle lenses

7. Minions

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-na-na hehe. I was able to find these limited edition banana-flavoured tictacs and to be honest I'm not a huge fan of banana-flavoured confectionery but I couldn't go past getting these because they're so cute :P Does anyone know when the Minions movie is going to be released? I'll definitely give it a watch!

8. Mimco

Being a Mimcollective member means that you get $30 to use when your birthday rolls around so I decided to use this on a new pair of rose gold studs which I adore so much. The quality of Mimco jewellery is exceptional and I haven't had any bad reactions to any of their studs. I thought about getting another pouch but I thought it'd be more practical to get more jewellery pieces rather than more pouches or bags. So thanks Mimco!

9. Melbourne

From the 22nd of May (my birthday) to the 24th of May, I went on a short trip over the weekend to Melbourne accompanied by my boyfriend and we stayed in the gorgeous 5-star hotel the Grand Hyatt overlooking the city and although it was pricey, it was definitely worth it and if we wanted to make the most of this trip then we decided to go all-out!

Amazing view of the city from the hotel room

Loved visiting H&M

Managed to make a stop at the Cat Cafe! I made a friend =^.^=

Simply stunning

10. Melody

Last but certainly not least, my long-time friend blogger friend Melody sent me a lovely birthday surprise! I love how she included some edible goodies as well as some useful beauty products. Thanks so much girlie!

So that pretty much sums up my month of May where I also squeezed in full-time uni, study and part-time work (I currently have two jobs) which explains my absence from the blogosphere. Once my exams are over I intend to have at least a few posts to share in July before the new semester starts.

Questjen for you:

Has anything exciting happened to you lately?

I wonder how everyone's been - sadly these days I haven't had much of a chance to read through my Twitter and Facebook feeds so I wonder if I've missed out on any exciting news!

Keep me posted and I shall do the same :)

FOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN'

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @THEQUESTJEN

Disclaimer: Product/s marked with a * have been provided for consideration with no obligation to share or review. This is not a sponsored post, nor am I affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this post.

Review: Models Prefer Starter Face Brush Set + Tutorial

Hello, I'm going to be doing a little review on a brush set which I bought recently from Priceline. The brand is called 'Models Prefer' which is a brand that is only seen in Priceline and is Australian. I've owned a palette from them and I must say, the quality wasn't good. It's worth the money but it really can't be compared to drugstore makeup :/ I noticed that their eyeshadows have low pigmentation and feel quite chalky. Although their palettes are around $5 each, I really don't think I'll be purchasing Models Prefer eye makeup again.

I had a glance at their section in Priceline and I noticed that they now have a range of brush sets. A starter eye and face brush set. The eye brush set consists of about 6 brushes and was on sale for $7.95. It tempted me but I realised that I already had all the eye brushes that this Models Prefer set was offering. Their Starter Face Brush set attracted me though and I purchased it straight away. On sale for $9.95 was a set of 4 face brushes - concealer, foundation, angled blush and powder.

Lovely gold pouch, it looks like a purse. This would be ideal for travelling

- Instructions on the left, perfect for beginners

- Extra protection on the brush heads

- Magnetic button on the inside to close

They look quite professional with the wrapping around the brushes

The angled blush and the powder brushes have brush guards :)

The names on the brushes is really helpful for beginners :)

I am totally sold about the appearance of these brushes. It doesn't seem as though they have been clumsily designed or packaged and for the price, it's pretty good. I know that they may have used cheap plastic but usually one brush of any other brand costs $10+ dollars so having 4 of these for that price isn't bad at all.

My main reason for purchasing this brush set was to find a replacement or an alternative foundation brush for my Ecotools one. I've had the Ecotools one for almost half a year and the quality is wearing off. The brush was really good at the start but now it's no good with applying foundation...

L-R: Ecotools and Models Prefer

My Ecotools brush hairs have gone poofy and fluffy!

So not what it's meant to be like :(

I bent the hairs of both brushes and the Ecotools one stayed in that position :/

It's starting to look more like a blush brush instead of a foundation brush

Currently my Ecotools brush is streaking on me like crazy! It leaves all these lines on my face and it doesn't smooth out my foundation properly. Thank goodness I found a cheaper and possibly long-term replacement foundation brush :) It does the job well

Models Prefer Foundation Brush: 5/5

I really hope that the quality doesn't wear out like my Ecotools, but I won't be surprised if it does. I've only spot-cleaned it (using a moist towel) and I haven't seen any shedding of hair.

I don't normally use concealer but I still wanted to have a concealer brush, just to add to my brush collection. I'm glad that I could find a cheap concealer brush that is quite dense and does the job well. I actually tested this out with a concealer and also with my foundation. Instead of using concealer, I also like to use a bit of foundation with the concealer brush to cover up any blemishes. My foundation has really good coverage and when I don't feel the need to pack on foundation, I can just use a bit of it as concealer!

This is the tallest brush in the set, I don't know why they aren't all the same height...

Models Prefer Concealer Brush: 5/5

The hairs are dense but not too dense to make it hard for concealer to be applied on my face. Again, this has only been spot-cleaned however, there was still no shedding of hair.

Now with the angle blush brush, I can compare its quality with my Sigma angle blush brush which I reviewed here.

Sigma is the white-haired one, Models Prefer is the black-haired one

They both have the brush hair guard to help hold the hairs in place after use and washes.

The Sigma one is tighter, thus better at maintaining the shape of hairs on the brush

The Models Prefer brush is taller

The hairs on both look very similar but they're quite different

I'm not surprised that the Sigma angle blush brush has much softer hairs than the Models Prefer one. We all know that Sigma has high-quality brushes and cannot be defeated by cheaper brushes! The Models Prefer brush hairs aren't too scratchy but aren't too soft either. I think that after a wash or so, the hairs will become rough and will shed.

Models Prefer Angle Blush Brush: 3/5

-1 for hair quality

-1 for shedding

Now finally onto the fourth brush. I can't compare this brush with any other because this is my first powder brush. And what a shame, I don't use powders on my face :| But judging by the hairs, it feels exactly the same as the angle blush brush. I'm also going to give it the same score based on that.

Models Prefer Powder Brush: 3/5

-1 for hair quality

-1 for shedding

The only positive thing that I can say about the angle blush and powder brushes is that they pick up a lot of product on the brush because the hairs aren't that soft. One swipe of blush or powder would be enough and this will help save me from running out of products too soon.

So overall, I have some mixed feelings on this brush set. It's definitely a brush set that is suitable for beginners and also suitable for someone who has an interest in makeup. It could even be good for a gift. The only worthy brushes of use are the foundation and concealer brushes and I'm likely to pass on the angle blush and powder brushes. As a replacement for my foundation brush and for me to just have a concealer brush that I'd be glad to pick up and use, it was worth it. I could have bought a brand new Ecotools foundation brush for the same price as this set but I didn't want to risk going through the same problem again.

I think I'll be sticking to my Sigma angle blush brush and maybe use the Models Prefer one when I've been too lazy to wash the Sigma one x] That probably won't happen but if something goes wrong with my Sigma one, the Models Prefer brush will be the replacement.

Models Prefer Starter Face Brush Set: 8/10

-1 for the hairs of two not-so-good brushes (angle blush and powder)

-1 for the shedding of hair

So that's it for the review! I will now leave you now with a tutorial video of which I used 3 of the 4 brushes. I filmed this last night, hope you like it.

Since these brushes are aimed at beginners, I thought I'd do a little beginners guide to applying makeup and doing REALLY quick smokey eyes with neutral colours such as golds and browns, using my palette and lashes from Daiso. Sorry there's no talking, I do however have a few captions here and there for instructions. Also, it's been sped-up so that it's not so dragged on, and to show you really how quick and easy it is to achieve this look!

I remember Tam requested me to do a tutorial because she wasn't sure how to apply eyeshadow. I was going to do it for my Park Bom Inspired Look but that's a little outdated now haha.

Oh and excuse the crappy, yellow lighting :/ And also how pixelated it is... Windows Movie Maker decreases the quality after I publish the video :(

Tutorial: Neutral Smokey Eyes

Products Used (in order):

Australis Face Primer

Models Prefer Starter Face Brush Set

Revlon ColorStay Velvet Creme Makeup in 020 Natural Tan

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer in #53

White Face Sponge

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Daiso Eyeshadow Palette (Shine Colour Eyes)

Australis Mineral Eyeshadow Contouring Brush

Eyeshadow Brush

Sigma Blending E25 Brush

NYX Eye/Brow Pencil in 901 Black

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner Pencil in 071 Pure White

Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner in Charcoal

QVS Eyelash Curler

Laneige High Perm Curling Mascara

Daiso Criss-Cross Lashes in #3

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Airy Fairy

Pupa Velvety Baked Blush in 04

Face of Australia Kabuki Brush

Please let me know if I should do something like this again or if you have any requests/suggestions :)

OOTD - Dressing for an Interview

Hey guys! So I'm feeling a lot more stress-free now. If you follow me on Twitter (which quite a number of my blog followers do, hello!), you'd know that I've been stressing in the last couple of days, including today. Today I got my school results and score D: I'll reveal more about that later.

Yesterday I had an interview for a university course that I was interested in. Not all university courses require an interview to be accepted but since this course is so competitive, an interview was required. It's the Bachelor of Oral Health. I've actually had my mind set on this for quite some time.

The interview in my opinion went well but I had no idea of what they'd be expecting as answers for their questions. It went for about 20 minutes but I felt that it went much quicker than that! I don't find out whether I'm successful or not until next month. Keep those fingers crossed for me!

This was my first formal interview so you could imagine how nervous I was before going into it. On Twitter I revealed what I was planning to wear to the interview and now I'm going to share the outfit of the day :) I wasn't too sure what to wear for the interview because people who had interviews the day before said that they saw people wearing casual clothes like shorts, jeans and t-shirts. My mum made me wear more of a corporate outfit to make me look more professional and serious about wanting to do the course. I'm really glad that I did dress this way because the other girls at the interview did too and dressed similarly to me :]

So, here is my outfit of the day:

- Silky silver singlet

- Black Skirt

- Black cardigan

- Gold flats

I wish I wore skin-coloured stockings...

I kept it really simple and didn't wear any jangly bracelets or necklaces - just a watch and a pair of earrings. I kept my hair down, even though maybe I should have pinned it up :/

Singlet tucked into the high-waisted skirt

I thought that maybe the singlet would reveal too much skin so I left the cardigan on during the interview

I decided to apply just a bit of makeup, to make it seem as though I put in effort to make myself look nice for the interview.

- Revlon ColorStay Velvet Creme Makeup in Natural Tan

- Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer

- Urban Decay Primer Potion

- Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadows in Hazel

- NYX Black Eyeliner

- Rimmel Soft Kohl White Eyeliner

- Pupa Blush

- Pupa Lipstick

- Majolica Majorca Mascara

- Australis Makeup Finishing Spritz *NEW*

- Sigma Blending Brush

- Models Prefer Face Brush Set *NEW*

(*NEW* means that this was my first time using those products and they were recently purchased :) I think I might do a review on them)

The eyeshadow is almost invisible or hardly noticeable. Again, kept it very simple and light and used neutral colours. Only lined my waterline, curled my lashes, applied mascara and a hint of blush with a neutral pink lippie.

Used the two lightest shades

So I felt so relieved after the interview and now I have to wait until January to find out whether or not I have been accepted. I am really hoping that I will! Especially as a way to make up for my result today. I wouldn't say my result was bad but it could have been better - heard of so many better scores but the good thing is that it is high enough for me to get into the university courses that I have applied for ^_^ Just going to hope for the best~!

Now that my stress levels have decreased once again, I will blog regularly from now on, perhaps even daily :)

Shopping Bargains - Haul

Hey :) So I went shopping on Sunday with my mum and I managed to pick up quite a few nice things. The main purpose for shopping was to use my brother's $100 Westfield XS Gift Card that he won. Sounds a little strange but my brother hardly ever goes shopping so the card really had no use to him. He said that there's nothing to buy o_o Uhh... it's the total opposite for me! Is it common for guys to not like shopping? Hmm, but I reckon my boyfriend is fine with shopping. He may not go as often as I do but he did go shopping with me in town last year for Christmas :D

Here's the card and I'm covering my face because I'm still a bit sunburnt :( See this post if you have no idea

Face is still a pink :(

It matches my pyjamas though x]

Blah my hair is so messy ;[

How to reduce the appearance of sunburn or get rid of it altogether? I know I could use foundation and concealer but I want it to be gone, not covered up!

My brother had the card since October 2009 and these gift cards last for a year. It's almost the end of September 2010... approaching October 2010 this week so... if it weren't for my mum and I, it would have been left unused! D: As a self-confessed shopaholic, having a gift card of that amount is would be one of the awesomest things ever. If it were mine it would have been used in a flash! I remember how my mum kept pestering my brother to use the card but he kept saying that he will. Turns out he never used it and when he did try, the shops that he went to wouldn't approve it. Fail. That specific card is not accepted in stores that use a different card called the Coles Myer Gift Card.

Both my mum and I love shopping so we were happy to use the abandoned gift card. It was all fine and dandy until my brother said that my mum had to pay him back for using the card -__- My mum gave him $90 as she had thought that the card does not compensate for the same amount in cash however, he wasn't happy with getting $10 less T___T" He then turned to me and asked for $10, which I actually didn't have =/ I only had $5 so that was all I gave him. GRR I still reckon he shouldn't have gotten anything! The card was going to be left unused, hmph.

These are my receipts from the day lol

Haha they're all so long - because of the eftpos gift card being used for the transactions, not because I bought so much!

I still like to think that the card being almost expired had nothing to do with my mum and I going shopping on Sunday. The start of the school holidays on Monday (the next day) so that's my reason for going :) And snatching up the bargains before all the school holiday people :D

It was great and I'm so pleased with my purchases, as I stated on my Twitter that day haha. My mum told me that sales are always happening around the September/October school holidays, and I reckon she's right about that. I managed to buy many things which added up to be less than the $100 gift card ^__^ But of course, it was all used up until there was only 10 cents left on it!

Shopping with my mum really prevents me from purchasing any beauty/make-up products x) She says I don't need it and it's better to buy clothes (lasts longer I suppose). I ended up buying clothing, a pair of shoes and jewellery which I am really happy about. I need a bit of a break from buying make-up since I have used up a lot of my pocket money on that :S I feel so broke now haha...

Cotton On

2 cardigans for $30

Actually, the lady at the counter mistakenly made these 2 for $15 LOL yes, it's like I bought 1 and got 1 free! Hahaha

I decided to get a coral one to liven up some of my outfits since most of my cardigans and jackets are dark, except for my cream-coloured one shown in this post. These are really thin which is good for Spring/Autumn to wear over a singlet.

Cotton On

2 Shirts for $15

I like how the sleeves are 3/4 and the black shirt's design at the back. Looks like a bow shape. I like bows. The white spotty shirt was the last one left at Cotton On and I like how it's puffy at the shoulders. It's nicer than something plain :)

Jayjays

2 for $15

Seems like the '2 for $15' sale is common within clothes shops! I like the t-shirt on the left :) It says 'Femme Fatale' which I believe is French but I have no idea what it means :[ Hmm... does anyone know French here? What does Femme Fatale mean? I hope it's nothing bad :S

If it is something bad then I could always cover it up xD

Just joking x] Showing how this particular cardigan looks like when worn over a top. Again it's very thin and I like the style. Nothing like I've seen before.

What really captured me about this top was the pink sequined lace on the girl's dress :) I'm a fan of lace and for me lace screams out elegance and elegance is pure bliss.

So pretty!

It looks like some black beads are missing but that's just the style

Strandbags

$24

Not bad for $24 ay? I really needed a new hand bag but nothing too big. For me this is the perfect size and it was on sale from $40 :) I love the style of it and I especially love how there are so many zip compartments :D At the front there are 4! Inside there are plenty too hehe.

Equip

$5 and under sale (on selected items)

3 items for $15

Sparkly :) Big fan of beaded, crystal, jewel and charm bracelets

I love it when jewellery goes on sale for as low as $5 a piece! I already have a good amount of necklaces and earrings (since they're one size fits all) so I picked up some lovely bracelets that were able to fit nicely around my wrist :) You probably don't know this but I have a very small wrist and also thin fingers so it's always hard for me to find bracelets that can comfortably wrap around my wrist and not move around too much. With rings, even the small sized rings are big for me :( So I usually opt for the kiddie jewellery, even though they're more childish :/ If not I have to wear a more tightly-fitted ring over it to prevent it from slipping off.

I have quite a few adjustable rings and chained bracelets where the hook can attach to a tighter loop of the chain however, that doesn't look as nice when there's a bit of it dangling out. With these ones I can wear them without having any worries, yay!

My mum bought a pack of 3 earrings for $5 but I don't have a picture :P

Last but not least:

Rubi Shoes

$10

After reading Tezza's post of her bargain buys and her $5 Rubi heels, I couldn't resist not going there ;D Not living in the same city as Tezza is a bummer as I was not able to get the bargain as good as hers but in the end, I did purchase something ^.^

These were the last pair there and my mum found them!

Shiny gold =]

Short heels

Perfect for the Summer, weeeee~

Shopping is so fun and I love getting new things. Thankfully my purse was unaffected as I didn't spend a single cent, all thanks to mummy dearest

♥

I hope everyone's had a nice start to the week despite it being a Monday. Great for people on holiday though because it has just started!

I'll leave you now with an NOTD using Bourjois Nail Enamel in 56 and 61 and nail art stickers

Right hand

Left hand (had to use a different nail art design)

Darker pink (56) used on the nail

Lighter pink (61) for the tips

Looks a little clumsy and messy :(

First time using nail stickers

I am clearly a nail art noob! Haha

I can't exactly show a FOTD due to my sunburn but here's a polaroid that was taken last Friday at school with my friend

Case of deja vu from the first pic? Hehe

I want a polaroid camera :)

I'll blog again very soon! Hopefully my face's sunburn will clear up in a matter of days. Take care y'all

xo Jennifer