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.

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.

Illamasqua Counter Launch + Products

[May have some issues viewing this post on Google Chrome - use other browsers]

Last month Myer (high-end department store) finally launched its first Illamasqua counter in Adelaide as part of the store's beauty hall makeover and I was delighted to be invited to its opening. I was really excited to get a chance to swatch and play around with Illamasqua products as I've heard such wonderful comments about the brand and high-quality pigments.

In case you aren't aware of this brand, Illamasqua is all about being bold and daring, allowing people to express themselves with a different attitude, a darker side or an alter ego, with products to suit every individual.

This wasn't like any ordinary blogger-meets-brand meet - I didn't see the other bloggers as we each had one-on-one appointments with the newly announced Australian ambassador, Frances Cutri. Frances gave me a tour of the new stall and introduced the different products that Illamasqua has to offer.

On the table: Summer 2014 collection (it's not summer in Aus but this is a worldwide launch)

And complementary cupcakes :)

*Swatches of new products*

L-R: Velvet Blushers x2, and Matte Lip Liquid in Forbidden, Exotic and Surrender

Did you know that Illamasqua also have their own perfume/cologne? And guess what - it's unisex!

A scent fit for a male and a female called 'Freak' and the bottle has a snail design on it. Frances asked me if I knew why a snail was used as the image and I told her that I had no idea. She told me that it's used because many snails don't have a gender (they have both male and female organs), which makes it a perfect image for this perfume/cologne, because it isn't gender-specific.

A screen playing Illamasqua makeup videos

 These lashes are maaad fancy!

 Ridiculously pigmented eyeshadows

Such a broad range of lippie colours - don't think I'll ever be able to pull off green lips!

It was lovely getting to know more about the Illamasqua brand and meeting the friendly counter people and of course, Frances who flew in from Sydney for the day. I was handed a goodie bag and it was completely unexpected, because I was already overjoyed over the fact that I had the opportunity to visit the stall and have this one-on-one! Here's what was in it:

I also got these 'Skin Base Mixers' which help to give the perfect contoured look. I followed the instructions provided and applied them on my face. It looked really messy but after applying them, a layer of foundation goes over it all so it subtly sculpts the face from underneath. Clever, hey?

Left: Applied Skin Base Mixers

Right: After applying foundation on top

It looks as though it's given me a 'facelift' in the slightest way possible, and I don't have to worry about any harsh lines unlike using powdered contour shades over foundation. It requires more effort when applying these Skin Base Mixers because there are 4 different cream-textures to blend into particular areas. In my opinion, the effort is worth it as it makes my face appear more 3-D and gives my face some colour and depth in the right places i.e. the hollows of my cheeks and the sides of my nose. With additional contouring with powder on top of this, I can add even more definition to my face! I've got to try that next time :)

Wearing the Velvet Blusher, Cream Pigment and Intense Lipgloss

I reckon the White Skin Base Mixer gave my face more of a glow too!

My eyes, cheeks and lips have different variations of purple and it sort of gives off a gradient effect from top to bottom which I quite like. It's funny how I used to only wear purple on my eyelids and nowhere else but now I'm comfortable with wearing it on my cheeks and on my lips. The creamy/velvet eyeshadow pigment and blusher were really easy to blend and it must've been because texturally, they're fantastic. The stand-out product for me was definitely the lipgloss because of its pigmentation (it's literally like paint), and I love the brush applicator which gives me more control as opposed to a sponge applicator.

It looks lilac under this lighting but in person it's darker

I also tried out the Colouring Pencil and to be honest, I'm not great with lining my lips but I gave it my best shot. I found that this lip pencil glided on very smoothly with maximum pigmentation and minimal tugging. 

 I need to practise my outlining. Looks alright from afar but up-close, nope.

A purple and red look? Hmm...

Purple and red is an 'unusual' combination, so they say, and the colour wheel will show that purple and red should not be combined. Though lots of people beg to differ, saying that purple and red makes an edgy combination and is bound to turn heads. I personally wouldn't put them together, but it's not like I find it distasteful - if you like it, go for it. Red is a colour that I rarely used on my face and I'm hardly brave enough to sport a red lippie.

I am thrilled that an Illamasqua counter exists in my city at last and it was a lot of fun playing around with the products, especially and quite unexpectedly, the Skin Base Mixers which I wasn't too sure about using at first. I had never thought about the idea of contouring before wearing foundation and now I feel that it's a crucial step to add to my makeup routine! It was crazy at first seeing my face look dramatically sculpted but once the foundation was applied over it, I was pleased with the results. To me my face has always lacked definition with my flat eyes and flat nose so having these Skin Base Mixers can help accentuate my features. Thanks Illamasqua!

Questjen of the week:

Pick one - red lips or purple lips?

They're both cool tones and since I suit warm tones better, these colours aren't really for me... but if I had to pick one, it'd be purple. And I guess I'm also a little bias since I like the colour purple more than red, just saying!

Disclaimer: Products were 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. All opinions are stated by me are 100% honest with no bias. See more at: http://www.questjen.com/p/disclaimer.html for full disclaimer.

Follow @thequestjen