Picked up some items(mostly e/s brushes) from Smoochiezz Flea Mart last weekend. Came back home & did some MAC blush comparison with the one I had at home. I've always purchased MAC from MAC counters. I wanted to compare the box it came in but I had none(just threw mine a week or so ago) so I went to MAC day after & bought a few more blush. & yes, I have a serious weakness for blushers from all brands & in all shades. So what did I find out? Lots about the packaging but I shall let pictures do the talking.

The print on the box on the right has rubbed off a little, looks like it was from water stains.

The label at the bottom is a sticker! MSF from MAC S'pore are also stickers but Blush are not. Maybe it was a batch to batch thing? Check your boxes if you have them & let me know what is on yours.

Again we are seeing stickers! Again those on my MSF are but not the new blush I picked up. These barcodes are printed on the box itself.

The label on the box at the bottom of pic is printed very lightly on.

The one on the right is not filled to the top of the pan. This again could be a batch to batch thing?

The quality of the label bottom of pot on the right looks cheap & rough. The fonts are marginally different. The etchings on the packaging itself says the same things BUT the fonts are not really the same.

The catch of the one on the right is sleeker in design, opens with a hard snap & locks with loud snap. Granted this could vary from piece to piece since it is a plastic piece.

This I thought was quite distinctive. See the lid at the top that joins to the centrepiece which acts as a mechanisom to aid opening & closing of the case? The gap is bigger. Next, see that dot on the centrepiece? The one on top is rough. The one at the bottom is smooth & finishing is sleek. IIRC that hole is a gate that pumps molten polymeric material into the mould during the moulding process of the packaging. It can be trimmed off when it is ejected out of the mould.  

So it could be a batch to batch difference? But so many distinctive characters off? & the very thing that pictures could not capture is the really mild powder pleasant scent of the MAC blush from MAC Cosmetics Singapore vs the crayon-y scent of the ones from Smoochiezz. The unique characteristics in the MAC Cosmetics packaging remains unique to all their blush & the unique characteristics in those from Smoochiezz remains unique throughout all their blush. Could they be rejects? Or are they just rip-offs? If I ask Smoochiezz on the variation, would they give me an answer? So what do you think?

I don't know if it's the holidays creeping in but I am madly in love with glittery nail colours. This is the duo that started it all, OPI Grape Set Match with a coat of Servin...Up Sparkle. Picked this set for a friend in HKG 2 months or so back & ended up with a set myself. It has since been in hibernation coz I was not sure about the purple. When I applied it, I thought it was tough to work this colour. A coat of the glitter & I loved what I see. The next day when I was out & about, the bright daylight just made the specks both big & small dance.

OPI Grape Set Match + OPI Servin...Up Sparkle(Indoors)

OPI Grape Set Match + OPI Servin...Up Sparkle(Daylight)

OPI Rally Pretty Pink(not quite a fan of this on its own, not quite pink, not quite rose gold) + OPI Teenage Dreams(Daylight)

OPI DS Mystery + OPI Servin_Up Sparkle(Daylight-this is ♥)

Illamasqua Viridian + OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air*(Indoor-I did 2 coats & I lke the busy-nessof sparkles in this)

*the glitters bits in these are similar to Serving...Up Sparkle & it's probably why I lovethis lots!)

OPI Glitzerland + China Glaze Twinkle Lights*(Indoor)

*this has red & green glitters amongst all the cold & it is another combo I really ♥!

OPI Glitzerland + China Glaze Twinkle lights(Daylight)

Essie Fair Game + OPI Gone Gonzo(Indoor)*

*this is not as dark IRL. I will try to get a picture in daylight if I can. 

♣ If you are following me on Instagram, you would have seen all these pictures & lots more already! ♣

My hair tends to have really dry ends no thanks to the frequent chemical treatments I subject it to. Lately I have been on a hunt  for hair masks/anything moisturizing & have ried a couple of them. I use them twice a week or so.

The whole tube is a little too much for 1 use. I use half for my few inches past shoulder length hair. This has a very strong Pantene scent to it which I am so not a fan of. I do live with it coz it makes my hair soft & smooth even a day or two or more post treatment. You can buy this at Watsons(think <$30 or much less?). This is made in Thailand for the Japanese market.

I am a litte biased coz I love this range & am using the shampoo which I love. This has no overly sweet or synthetic scent. This leaves hair really soft & manageable & easy to run your fingers through. Like Pantene, it leaves hair soft for days after masking. It does not leave hair with overpowering scent post rinse. But this is pricey. A mere 125ml is $50 or so with GST? You can find it @ salons, Icon Century Sq or Jeric Ho @ ION.

I alternate both now & have just started on yet another mask I found which I will review in a few more use.

Since I have been painting my nails a lot, base & top coats have become so important. Base to even out toes nails so it makes painting a breeze. I get ridges on my toe nails coz I tend to keep longer nails. Also what ever prevents yellowing is very much welcomes. Top coat esp quick dry are god sent. I do my nails at night & cannot sit to wait for nais to dry so quick dry formula are salvation. Here's my thoughts on a few I've tried.

BaseCoat

Ecrinal - I did not appreciate this while I was using it. I had high hopes in preventing yellowing nails but this did not do much(or so I thought). Till I changed base coat, did I then realise how non yellowing this is. This however really smoothen out nails & makes nail painting a breeze. This imparts a light nude shade, more intense if you do 2 coats. I just do 1 mostly. Halfway through the bottle, it gets thickish but it was still easy to apply.

Poshe - When I switched to this, I started to see how much yellower my nails get. Also ridges on toe nails are not smoothen that it got quite a bitch to apply nail polish. But over time my nails start to *accidentally chip* a lot less. Also with constant use, the formula remains watery & it dries pretty fast upon application too.

I guess you cannot have everything in a base coat. I would continue to use both.

Top Coats - I  cannot live without quick dry top coats. Coz I like to get nails done as quickly as I can. Sitting still really ain't my forte & accidenally bumping nails drives me batty.

Seche Vite -This give a really shiny finish. I love love love it! But this do make nails chip really fast. I wash my hands & pry stuff a whole lot so it does not help. Also the formula thicken so much halfway down the bottle. I was too lazy to hunt a thinner so I end up dumping it. @_@ But on my recent trip to HKG I picked up another bottle of this. I just love the high gloss it imparts.

Poshe - This is thinner in formula & it is not as shiny. But it makes the formula last a whole lot longer before it thickens. 2/3rd into the bottle & I started to hv trouble using it. If I do even strokes, it will still be do-able. I recently drop in thinner, a good 9 drops & it finally thin out. This also resists chipping so a great plus point. Oh the shape of the bottle makes balancing this on the bed a breeze. I can even paint my nails on the bed easily with this LOL!  

I would alternate both top coats but Poshe is my preferred choice!

I love this shade. It is a blue grey with shots of lavender. The shade is so hard to capture esp the lavender notes. The shade is apparent IRL esp under daylight. If you are familiar with Balenciaga shades, this is IMO a cross between Nuage & Ardoise.

I have been trying our OPI Shatter despite me being clumsy with my left hand. It is not all that hard to achieve the shatter but some are gunkier than others. So far am totally loving the red shatter. The Silver shatter has tonnes of glittery bits that is quite a pain to remove.

Things to note

• Ensure your nail col is dry or dry-ish.
• Do not paint too thick a shatter layer(would be gunky/not shatter properly).
• Paint a top coat over it coz the shatter dries off matte-ish.

OPI Red Shatter over Illamasqua Wayward(traffic stopping yellow)

♥ I don't only love the Red Shatter, I love this cheery taxicab yelllow & esp like this combo.

OPI Silver Shatter over Illamasqua Obsess

♥ Illamasqua Obsess is a bright crazy Magenta with shocking Fuchsia notes. It dries off fuchsia on first coat, almost opaque but turns a nice purplish pink on a second coat. I was hoping this to be creamy shiny gel-ish finish but it was kinda matte looking. I am not hot over this combo but lots of colleagues love this combo. They especially like how the silver looks almost taupe-ish from some angles. I think it's coz of the Magenta base.

Having read so much about the launch of Color Atelier, I had to check them out myself. I ended up with these choice of colours!

Color Club - for a person with 2 left hand, I really love their brushes. They are wide & yet they are not thick so it makes application a breeze. Uptown Girls looks as bright as my Balenciaga Magenta bag but when applied, it is quite a tame shade IMO. I did not like it in the bottle, like it better painted on nails. Give me a Hint is a nice dusky purple which is a wearable shade but my favourite is High society, the perfect Nude I was always looking for.

Chanel Paradoxal - Had this on most of last week! Used t ohate their small brushes which makes nail painting laborios but I actually thought it was quite a breeze to pain these on & the colours lasted for 5 days before I started to see obvious chips.

You've probably seen these colours everywhere in blogs. I love all the shades & they do seem to work well together! Only grouse, did OPI change their brushes? I have been buying OPI on & off & always thought their brushes were OK but those on these colours seem really thick & was such a mess to work with.

I only realized I chose too many purples when I opened my package. I was going by brands & happily adding the polish to carts. But as I try them, I've already found some favourites.

I dont know how corals would work on me but I love the typical dark shades I chose. Have only tried Alter Ego which is a glittery taupe purple shade & so far, I am loving it!

2 mini set I picked up, cannot wait to try those glittery polishes!

No thanks to FREE Intl Shipping, I made this order. I was a huge Dandelion fan so I had to pick it up. I wanted to try Bella Bamba which was creating a huge buzz for a while & since I was at it, I might as well pick up all the colours I like. Since I got my package, I have only used thrrrob which is such a pretty pink!

The lone OPI is Strangers Tides which came on the same day. It was a replacement to a nail polish order I made locally which went a lil wrong.