Origami Dress

I'm a girl who likes to keep things classy: from the way I dress to the way I present myself through actions and words, respecting myself as well as respecting others. In terms of the way I dress, I would say that I'm more on the conservative side - happy to show some arm and leg but not wanting to let anything 'hang out' or else I'd feel too exposed. 

I was on a hunt for a dress for my second cousin's wedding which was last month and I came across the perfect dress that suited my style - it was classy, elegant with flattering cuts in the right places and a colour that I felt would bring out the warmth of my skin tone. Thankfully Glue Store came to the rescue as I browsed their range of dresses and came across an eye-catching number from Finders Keepers. For those who don't know, Finders Keepers is an Australian fashion label which provides on-trend collections of prints, shapes and textures for casual daywear to sophisticated evening looks. 

My darling mother in the background :)

 

 

 

 

The dress that I chose was the Finders Keepers Billy Jean Origami Detail Dress in Peach* and its origami-like fold on the chest was what drew me to this style and also its high halter-style neckline. I'm usually either wearing strapless, spaghetti-strap or one-shoulder dresses so having this sort of neckline style meant that I didn't need to do any adjusting or be wary of unwanted exposure.

 

(Excuse my terrible hair, curling irons hate me)

 

I'm not one to wear many crop tops or anything that exposes my non-existent/hidden abs but it's certainly a trend nowadays and I can't say that I dislike it - actually I don't mind it really! Thank goodness the small triangular cutout only exposes a small portion of the abdominal area just above my belly button and not any more than that, phew.

Mandatory bathroom selfie

 

I like how the dress has a split at the front, it makes it different from other dresses and it complements the triangular cutout. I paired the dress with some nude heels as I felt that black or any other colour would clash with the dress. Playing it safe is always a good option :)

 

I loved the whole fine dining experience of the wedding reception, in fact I've always liked formal dining experiences but of course as a student, I can rarely and barely afford to dine at high-class restaurants! So I get very excited when I hear about relatives' weddings and their locations/catering choice, hehe.

So on the day I was pleased with my outfit, displeased with my hair (I really need to work on this!) and pleased with my makeup look. Even for glam events I still like to keep it rather natural-looking with neutral shades for my eyeshadow and a pinky-red shade of lipstick. I decided to wear circle lenses and false lashes to enhance my eyes in a subtle way. I realised that in the two photos of myself above, my lenses are barely noticeable which to me is a good thing. I don't opt for the crazy/unnatural-looking lenses as I only intend to slightly lighten and enlarge my eyes (though I've been told that my natural irises resemble dark circle lenses).

The lenses that I wore to the wedding were the GEO Berry Holic Brown CM954* from Pinky Paradise which are more of a hazel brown and I think they're the perfect colour for that subtle lightening of my eyes. They're really comfortable too and I've worn them a few times.

They have a green tinge to them and appear lighter under brighter day lighting, as seen on the left

What I love about coloured lenses is that you can actually see my pupils! The Berry Holic range include 3-tone lenses which blend in extremely well for eyes that are as dark as mine.

They look great under night lighting too

 

From browsing through Finders Keepers' Instagram account, I noticed that Aussie model Jessica Gomes has worn this dress and it looks amazing on her. But seriously, what doesn't look amazing on her??

Who wore it better? Just kidding, obviously her.

Anyway, I'm not sure when will be the next time I attend a formal event and get the chance to dress all fancy but I am surely looking forward to doing this sort of thing all over again! Any excuse to dress up is always desirable, hehe :P

Questjen for you:

Do you have any exciting events coming up?

With Christmas on its way (as if it's already December) and New Year's, I'm sure most of us will be celebrating with friends/family and attending work functions and parties. That's why it's called the festive season :)

FOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN'

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER 

*NEW* FOLLOW ME ON SNAPCHAT (not a direct link, just my username)

Disclaimer: Products marked with a * were sent for consideration purposes. This is not a sponsored post, no monetary compensation has been provided, nor am I affiliated with any of the companies mentioned. Links are not affiliate links. All opinions stated by me are 100% honest and are free from bias. See more at http://www.questjen.com/p/disclaimer.html for full disclaimer.

"Grey Matter" Makeup Look | Blog Collaboration

This is my first blog collaboration post and the idea came about from my blogger friend Hana where we've both come up with our own makeup looks. I needed some ideas for a name and she helped me name this one 'Grey Matter'. Here's the look that I've created:

Excuse the hair frizz

The inspiration for my look came from one of Hana's shawls. The initial idea was the incorporate similar-coloured shawls into our looks by wearing it but seeing as I own none, I instead decided to create a look to complement the colours and patterns on her shawl, as though I were wearing it.

Seeing as there were many colours and patterns going on with the shawl with contrasts of dark and light, I decided to keep my look fairly neutral with a slight pop of colour to my eyes. With the crimson and berry tones in the shawl, I chose a berry-shaded lipstick to pair the look as well as blending in a berry eyeshadow colour.

I'm getting better at filing in my brows - practice makes perfect!

The look reminds me a lot of the ELES Berry Crush look that I did last year except I've used grey/taupe shades and a hint of blue. I swept the same berry-toned blush over my cheeks and contoured with my Benefit HOOLA Bronzer. Below are the products that I used:

FACE

Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation in 030 Sand (Reviewed HERE)

Benefit HOOLA Bronzer (Featured HERE)

ELES Mineral Blush in Mixed Berries (Featured HERE)

EYES

Australis Eyeshadow Primer

Models Prefer Day to Night SHADOWS Palette (Reviewed HERE)

SAVVY Liquid Eyeliner in Navy Blue

The Face Shop Lovely Me:Ex Make Me Star Waterproof Gel Liner in Indigo Blue (Featured HERE)

Dolly Wink Eyelash Glue (Featured HERE) 

Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Dark (Featured HERE)

Red Earth Brow Kit (Featured HERE)

DAISO False Lashes

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mega Volume Mascara (Let me know if you'd like a review!)

LIPS

Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick in 31

TOOLS

Shiseido Eyelash Curler (Featured HERE)

L-R: Sigma Brushes x3, Manicare Brush, EcoTools Brush, Bella Brush, Real Techniques Brush x2, Bella Brush

I used three shades from the Day to Night SHADOWS palette (which looks strikingly similar to Urban Decay's Naked 1 palette but we've already established this long ago). Apologies for all of the noise in the photo, photography and photo editing are still not my strengths. Anyway, I've indicated with arrows which colours I used. I started off with 'Hot Date' (third arrow) as my base taupe colour, then used the crimson shade 'Overachiever' (middle arrow) on the centre of my eyelids to make my eyes pop. For the outer corners of my eyelid, I used 'Co-worker' (first arrow) and blended this into my eyelid's crease. I blended the colours in to create a subtle smokey look.

I really wanted to add a touch of blue to the look so I decided that the best way to do this without blending it in with the rest of my eyeshadow was to use it as a lower lash line colour. I used the shade circled on my 88 Shimmer Palette above and ta-da, I was happy with the colour combinations.

Used a blue liquid eyeliner for my upper lash line and added mascara and falsies - look complete!

I got a bit of an 80s-90s vibe from the shawl as it looked a little retro so I found that my colour combinations matched well with the retro-ness of the accessory. Using blue eyeshadow and eyeliner already brings back memories from the past!

Definitely suitable for daytime wear!

Now in comparison to Hana's look, this is completely different! I think it's awesome how we went about this differently and created looks that aren't like each other's. That is simply the joy of applying makeup and playing around with it - we each have our own interpretations and that shows how individual and unique we really are when it comes to all sorts of things, including being creative. Take a look at how amazing her makeup look is:

So on point and stunning!

Seeing Hana's look after doing mine makes me think 'wow, I should've done that' haha but nonetheless I had fun with what I did and keep it fairly winter-themed and subtle. Hana's the pro here, the makeup artist so big claps for her gorgeous look! I think my next makeup look should be a vibrant one though, what do you reckon?

Anyway, now that you've had a preview of Hana's look, I definitely suggest that you go and check it out and leave some love on her blog as well!

Questjen to you:

How do you like your eye makeup - vibrant or subtle?

Both is great depending on the occasion however I never wear a lot of makeup so subtle is the way to go for me!

FOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN'

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @THEQUESTJEN

First Impressions: Models Prefer SHADOWS Palettes (UD Naked Dupes?)

Here's to another year of blogging! Welcoming the new year (I know I'm a month late with this ahh!) with a beauty post to take me and my readers back to where this blog first started in 2010, as a beauty blog. It's what I feel most comfortable blogging about since it's been an interest of mine for 5+ years and the online beauty community is amazing (shoutout to the lovely ABBM girls and to all my fellow blogger friends).

I have to thank the online beauty community for allowing me to find out about these very inexpensive palettes that look very similar to another brand's eyeshadow palettes... a brand that we all should know because nearly everyone's been talking about them...

Do these ring a bell?

These go by the brand 'Models Prefer' which is only available at Australia's leading cosmetics and skincare store, Priceline. All I can say about this brand is that their products are affordable and the quality is questionable. It's very hit-and-miss so you can't expect a lot from it.

Let's take a closer look at these eyeshadow palettes and how they remind me of a certain brand, which goes by the name of 'Urban Decay' - of course I'm talking about their Naked palettes!

Box packaging of the palettes

The reason why I grabbed both of these variations was because to me they looked most similar to Urban Decay Naked palettes number 1 and 3. 'Day to Night' reminds me of the original Naked palette and 'Nude' reminds me of the latest Naked palette released. Since I own neither of the Urban Decay palettes, I'm unable to carry out any sort of comparison test but what I can do is share my first impressions of these eyeshadows. Could they be a substitute for the more pricier palettes? We shall see...

Models Prefer Nude Palette
RRP $10 AUD

Here's an 'unboxing'/opening of the palette video showing the 12 colours:

L-R: Bare, Naked, Afterglow, Flushed, Nude, Glow, Taupe, Golden, Rich, Burnished, Hazel, Cocoa

As shown, these eyeshadows are looking very chalky and not the most pigmented, especially the lighter colours that are barely showing up on my arm. Although they glide on smoothly across the skin, there's lots of fallout which could really interfere with the application of these eyeshadows. The colours are great for neutral looks but quality-wise they aren't anything special.

Credit: Urban Decay

When comparing these with the colours of the Urban Decay Naked3 palette, they are somewhat similar due to them being neutral colours but this Models Prefer palette is definitely not a dupe as the Naked3 consists of softer, pink shades.

Models Prefer Day To Night Palette

RRP $10 AUD

Again this is the 'unboxing'/opening of the palette and close-up of the 12 colours:

L-R: Deadline, Voicemail, Overtime, Workaholic, Co Worker, Overachiever, Coffee Break, After Hours, Hot Date, Happy Hour, Down Time, Night Time

Once again these eyeshadows are unsurprisingly chalky which makes the swatches inconsistent and lacking in pigmentation. It's a pity because these eyeshadows feel almost as smooth as velvet but just come off as too powdery for my liking, as seen on my finger swatch. 

Credit: Urban Decay

The colours in the Day To Night palette are quite similar to the colours in the original Urban Decay Naked palette however I feel that the colours in the Naked palette are a lot more distinct and versatile. I wouldn't say that the Models Prefer palette is a substitute for the Naked palette but I do see it as a good way to become familiar with the shades of the Naked palette if for some reason, you happen to be on the fence about purchasing it. Those palettes don't sell for cheap!

The Models Prefer palettes have a similar double-ended brush inside with a blending brush end and an eyeshadow brush end:

In terms of Models Prefer product hits and misses, brushes are a hit for me. They do the job well, are soft and have minimal shedding.

Final thoughts:

I can't say that I'm impressed at all about the quality of these eyeshadows and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much from these $10 palettes anyway. I've used Models Prefer palettes and have purchased them in previous years and it's a real shame that there hasn't been any improvements. Although the palettes themselves felt quite sturdy, the overall product didn't make me feel as though the $10 a pop was well-spent because it seemed much cheaper than that. Pigmentation and consistency were the biggest let-downs followed by the design of the case (flimsy, difficult to open at times) and the mirror which was a very thin, bendy material not made from a proper/hard glass. The only thing that I found okay was the double-sided brush. And I'd give points for the names given to the eyeshadows as they follow a theme. I wouldn't encourage or discourage anyone to purchase these.

Just to reiterate, these are my first impressions and for that reason I haven't been able to do a full, in-depth review. If anyone's interested in finding out more about these palettes, I have one to giveaway! I bought a third palette as a giveaway prize on my blog, seeing as I haven't done a giveaway in a really long time and since it's the new year (my first post of 2015 - apologies for my irregular updates!) I thought why not :)

This is to show that I have 3 palettes - 2 opened and 1 brand new on the left

The palette that I'll be giving away is the Day To Night palette and I'll be drawing a random winner in two weeks (February 14)! A very easy giveaway to enter - just comment below and you're in the draw! If you can also provide an answer to this post's questjen, that would be fab :)

Questjen for you:

What's your favourite eyeshadow palette?

To be honest I'm not that big on eyeshadow but I am thinking of investing in a good quality, basic/netural eyeshadow palette like the Urban Decay Naked Basics, a Lorac Pro Palette or a Too Faced one! Keen to hear any suggestions/recommendations :D

FOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN'

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @THEQUESTJEN

Disclaimer: Products were purchased with my own money. This is not a sponsored post with any monetary compensation, nor am I affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post. All opinions stated by me are 100% honest and are free from bias. For full disclaimer, see http://www.questjen.com/p/disclaimer.html

10 Beauty Products I Can and Cannot Finish

With brighter days now that it's spring time over here, I feel more motivated to clean out my drawers and tidy up my room to help liven up the atmosphere while the sun shines through. It's no wonder they call it 'spring clean'! Cleaning my drawers allowed me to find all sorts of items that I had forgotten about and also made me realise how often I use the makeup and skincare products that I have. In these past couple of months I was able to finish a number of products and I had thought about writing another 'empties' post but why do that when I can do something a little different... talk about the products that I know I can finish and those that I just cannot!   Let's start with the 10 items that I can finish, and here's proof:  

Not all 10 items shown, only my recent empties - more can be seen in my previous empties post

1. Liquid eyeliner Easy peasy Japanese-y! Liquid eyeliners are my one true love. I tend to feel incomplete without that single line above my top lashes - the one thing that I think makes the most difference compared to not wearing any makeup. Happy to go without the rest but liquid eyeliner, I need youuuuu, and lots of you. I finish these off really quickly, not only because I use them almost daily but because the pen ones only have around 6 mL.   2. Eye makeup removers and wipes Without these in my life, would I even bother applying makeup? Using regular face cleansers aren't enough when it comes to removing waterproof eye makeup for instance. I need the good stuff that gently and effectively removes all traces of makeup. I've gone through bottles and packets of these and I'm always keen to stock up whenever there are sales. Besides using facial wipes to remove my face makeup, I use them to spot-clean my brushes too.   3. Cotton pads, tips To assist with the removal of makeup, of course. They're also great for fixing up any mistakes :)   4. Lip balms I apply lip balm at least 3-4 times a day, and times that the amount of days in a year... yep that's how much I use lip balm - basically, a lot. It's as though my lips depend on it because a day without lip balm = chaos. I get dry, cracked, flaky lips, a nightmare for some. I don't have a favourite brand but I generally stock up on Maybelline Baby Lips and Nivea ones.   5. Body lotion, hand cream For someone who has dry skin, moisturising creams are a godsend. Need I say more? I feel so uneasy when my hands, elbows, knees feel drier than a desert. I guess everyone would but even that feeling I get after drying my hands from washing them makes me feel uncomfortable unless I apply hand cream straight away. Weird, right?   6. Foundation and BB Cream Medium-coverage ones especially! A big confidence booster when my blemishes are covered to a point where it doesn't look too obvious or caked-on. I've gone through a couple in my lifetime and the ones I have now are starting to finish up too.   7. Concealer These typically come in small tubes and when there are plenty of blemishes to cover, it's all gone before I know it.   8. Face and body wash The only way to really remove dirt within the skin and exfoliate is to use face and body wash. When they're used daily, I can't see how they CAN'T be finished.   9. Shampoo and Conditioner Reasons why I can finish these products: Water on its own won't cut it, the greasiness will still prevail. Conditioner keeps my hair in top condition :D   10. Perfume and deodorant I'm aware that it can be quite rare for people to finish a bottle of perfume but trust me, it's possible. As seen in my empties post, I finished a 50mL bottle of perfume and I have gone through many aerosol cans of deodorant. Not because I stink (or maybe I do *sniffs*), it's because I was once obsessed with spraying on lots of deodorant as a teenager. It made me feel cool and grown-up, okay.     Now moving onto the ones that I cannot, let me show you my current collection of each:  

1. Lipstick/gloss/pencil  

  Impossible to finish any of these no matter how hard I try. Actually to be honest, I've hardly tried. I'm reaching for lip balms these days, tinted lip balms to be more precise. My mum on the other hand doesn't use lip balm as she never has dry lips! Hence she's able to go through many tubes of lipstick. There was a phase where I was really into using lipglosses and then that died out. Everything else I just use occasionally since none of the above help with my dry lips :( I don't think I have that many lip products but it's not like my collection is getting any smaller (and I kinda want it to so I can feel less guilty about buying more).     2. Blush  

  I've never hit pan on any of them let alone finish any! Plus I rarely use blush due to my naturally flushed cheeks. Only on special occasions and photos for my blog. Whenever I do though, I only sweep a tiny bit. The blushes themselves are pretty to look at and have photogenic packaging (that Physicians Formula heart one in particular!) and as a result of my lack of use, they ain't going anywhere. Looks like they're stuck in my drawers unless I decide to give them away or something.     3. Pressed or translucent powder and bronzer  

  I know many girls out there rely on face powders to set their makeup however I'm the complete opposite. With dry skin that's prone to flaking, I don't feel the need for powder, in fact I find that powder tends to enhance my dry areas and so I'd rather use a setting spray or blotting sheets when my face needs mattifying. For contouring I use the bronzers and contour palette and just like blushes, I sweep a very small amount. My bad for not showing a picture of them all opened - I swear they'd all look pretty close to brand new. Best example is that Rimmel Bronzer with a clear lid that still has the star pattern on the pan.     4. Pencil eyeliner and brow pencil/products  

  Close to impossible for me to finish these, I can use the same ones for decades. Sharpening them decreases their size a little but no matter how much I use them, I can't seem to make them decrease to a size that deems them unusable or 'finished'. Same thing goes to my colouring pencils that I used as a child, which I still have by the way.     5. Nail polish  

  They dry up on me before I get the chance to finish the whole bottle. And besides, the brush applicator doesn't even reach the bottom for you to finish entirely. I can chuck out old ones and replace them with new ones but to be completely done with a bottle of nail polish? Uh...     6. Eyeshadow  

  Ah eyeshadow, another photogenic beauty product that I seldom use. I'm always so tempted to buy new ones for their pretty packaging/colours whenever I go shopping and then when I think about my collection, temptation is no where to be found. I haven't hit pan on any eyeshadows and I haven't finished any single one let alone a duo, a quad or a palette. Don't even get me started on my 88 shadow palette that I've had for years... which almost looks brand new.    Just this week I bought more eyeshadow palettes... what. What happened to no temptation, Jen?

... Yeah about that... review to come!

  7. Hair spritz and serums

 

  You can only spray so much out of a x mL bottle. For me, getting through one bottle takes forever, same with serums where you only need a couple of pumps of product. It's unfortunate that I get lazy using these sometimes :/     8. Primers for face, eyeshadow and lashes  

  Don't know why these are never-ending for me when I use them ALL THE TIME! I've had a backup eyeshadow primer for a few years now... and I'm no where near the end of my current one. I forgot to include my lip primer in the above photo, whoops.     9. Mascara  

  I have never finished a whole tube of mascara. Yes, the formula goes funky or dried up but there's still product on the wand which can be used, thus doesn't technically count as being finished... you know what I mean?     10. Many packet items i.e. samples and face masks  

These are just my samples. I have about the same amount of face masks

  Samples and face masks themselves are easy to finish but I can't finish many samples and face masks, like when I have an overload of them! Sometimes I'm too scared to use samples for my face 'cause there's no expiry/manufacture date on them which isn't helpful for knowing how old or new they are! I have really sensitive skin too and to me it's not worth taking the risk. Same with using face masks where I could get an allergic reaction from them anytime. The only difference here is that they have a manufacture and expiry date which I tend to forget about anyway. There are times where I feel like putting on a sheet mask so I go to look for them in my drawers, then I see that many of them have already past their expiry date! It feels like such a waste when I have to chuck them out :(   So, now that you've seen what I can and cannot finish, I'd like to ask you a questjen or two:

Which beauty products can you finish? 

Which can't you finish?

I wonder if there's anything similar or different~

FOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN'

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @THEQUESTJEN

Disclaimer: Most products were purchased with my own money, some were provided or gifted. This is not a sponsored post, nor am I affiliated with any of the companies in this post.