FAVORITES: November

     Jesus. It's almost Christmas. To be honest though, I'm not quite feeling the holidays justtt yet. Once December (tomorrow) rears its head, I'm sure I'll be merrily singing carols every step of the way. This is the November edition of things I've been infatuated with (I have featured everything some items on my blog, except #2, 3, & 6):

1. CHANEL Tweed Fuchsia -  I have yet to capture a good swatch, I blame it on the crappy weather and lighting. Really. I've been using this quite a bit this month and the gold overlay is still visible, that's how pigmented the blusher is. It's disgustingly beautiful and I am really, really tempted to purchase another. Logical peeps would tell me it's not necessary. I'm not a logical person, so I don't think it applies...
2. MAC Tippy - Feature post, I promise. This came out last February in the Hello Kitty collection. I've used it many times and seriously, what the hell, it looks brand new. A cool, crisp bright pink. It's the perfect winter color.
3. MUFE HD Blush #5 (Nip Slip) -  Ha. Nip Slip. Sephora describes this as a neutral pink. I agree. I received a generous sample of this during a visit and I really am enjoying this product. I'm not a big fan of MUFE but this I will purchase in the full size once I've finished my sample. Post coming soon.
4. Korres Mango Lip Butter -  Since the weather has been crisp, my lips have definitely gotten a tad dry even though I inhale litres of water. I love this stuff. I'd eat it if I could.
5. CHANEL Rouge Allure in Impertinente - On the days where I need a more saturated shade, this is perfect. A plum with a hint of red and brown, it's natural but at the same time full of elegance. Which I am not. 
6. Starbucks Caramel Brulee Latte - I've been making my way through the Holiday menu and this is pure yum. Honestly, some of the drinks taste identical...meh. I still love the caramel bits they sprinkle on top. 

Looking at this list, I guess I've been veering toward pinks for my cheeks. Boring, I know. I hope everyone is doing well and I want to thank those who continue to stop by (if there are any ^_^). What are your favorites this month? Have you finished holiday shopping yet? =D.   

TOP 10: Villains

     There are many, many villains out there but I have managed to narrow it down to ten. I think villains are very interesting. Usually they're antagonists or foils to the protagonists but they can also be stand-alone. I'm not sadistic. Really.

1. Darth Vader (Star Wars) - Draped in a visage of black, with the recognizable breathy voice, Darth Vader is seriously evil. The fact that he is the father of Luke makes it even more screwed up. Having being tempted to the dark side, Vader eventually has salvation upon his death in Episode VI. He still rocks. 

Made me 'lawl' so hard when I first saw this.

2. Sephiroth (FFVII) - Him killing Aerith was enough to seal the deal for me. An iconic figure in the gaming world, Sephiroth remains as one of the most memorable villains. Although his motivation for his actions doesn't make any logical sense, I think his character design is strikingly beautiful. He's also extremely hard to beat in FFVII. For me anyway.  

3. Joker (Batman) -  Heath Ledger was absolutely enthralling and brilliant in The Dark Knight, his portrayal of the Joker was the highlight in my opinion. His passing was extremely unfortunate. Joker is sadistic, crazy and highly entertaining. Batman himself pales in comparison, I don't care much for his character. He's boring. 

4. Jack Torrance (The Shining) -  Mad writer gone even more mad, the book and movie freaked the hell out of me. An ex-alcoholic with a violent temper and tendencies make him one crazy tangled mess. This seems to be a common theme between villains...

5. The Evil Queen (Snow White) - I am not a fan of Disney. I have a list of reasons why but let me just say that I hated them when I was a kid and I hate them now. Hate is a strong word, dislike then. I had a wonderful childhood, thank you very much. Self-loving and envious of others' beauty, she's the type of woman I would loathe to become. I mean, we all can be self-loving and envious but the Evil Queen is the epitome. 

6. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs) - If you don't think a cannibalistic serial killer should be considered evil, I would assume that there's something slightly wrong with you. His entire history emphasizes the importance of childhood, I believe his obsession with cannibalism stems from the fact that his sister was murdered and cannibalized in front of him. Yeah. 

7. Voldemort (Harry Potter) - He killed Harry's parents. That's reason enough. Really though, his actions are seemingly childish and he is deathly afraid of his own mortality. I think he enjoys making people suffer and surely he does not care about others feelings. 

8. John Kramer a.k.a Jigsaw (Saw Series) - I really enjoyed the first movie...but it went downhill from there. Makes me wonder how crazy creative you have to be to come up with all the elaborate and sick traps. Anyway, Jigsaw is akin to God in a sense in the series. He sets these traps so that his victims 'will to live' can be tested. The heck.  

9. The White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia) - The White Witch only appeared in some of the books (The Silver Chair is my favorite if you care to know) and she is absolutely beautiful. Cunning and prideful, she looks down on others as inferior. And she killed poor Aslan.  

10. Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) - I can't quite remember but I think there's a scene in the movie where he runs outside his apartment naked whilst chasing someone. I could be wrong. He loves pleasure (killing women mind you), he hallucinates and slowly loses his sanity. He's just all around crazy. The novel is much more graphic than the movie.     

From what I can tell, many villains have psychological issues of their own and are often complex. I'm no expert by any means and my memory fails me, so forgive me if my depictions are inaccurate or incorrect. Have any favorites?
P.S. I'll be MIA for the next few days, the lighting has been so atrocious here that I haven't been able to swatch. So, I hope to get some good shots over the weekend. Plus, this weekend is a little busy for me. Damn...I broke my posting streak =D. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 
 
Images: Courtesy of Google.com

LIPPIE: Rimmel Burgundy Lustre

     I was browsing the drugstore for a top coat when I came across this. I was strangely attracted to it for some reason. This is my only Rimmel lipstick, I'm quite fond of the color. 

     In the tube, it appears to be very dark and vamp. A berry plum with lovely pink-red shimmer, it sheers out once on the lips but can be layered to achieve a very intense look. Burgundy is an appropriate name, if this is what Burgundy looks like:

    Close enough. A tad more brown than purple.

     I swiped this lipstick 4x in the shots above, so it is sheer. The Moisture Renew formula is nice because it's shiny, emollient but very thin in texture. For those with non-flaky, non-peely lips. Sadly, this does dry out my lips after the first hour and the longevity of this lipstick isn't great. By the second hour, I was left with a mere hint of color. I have tried the Lasting Finish lipstick in Airy Fairy before (which is overrated) and loathed the formula. I felt as though I was painting myself with some thick varnish. 

    This lipstick does have a very heavy floral-esque fragrance which is too strong for my liking. It disappears after 10 minutes but the initial hit is intense. To me anyway. I bought this for dirt cheap, $3CAN when it was on sale. I like the color enough to buy it again and for the price, I shouldn't be complaining. If you are looking for a Holiday shade that isn't red, try this one out.

Product: Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick - $2.99-6.99CAN.

Image: Courtesy of Google.com

CHEEK: MAC Neo (Radioactive) Orange

     I featured Magenta Madness yesterday, today I am following up with Neo Orange. As the name implies, it is a Neon Orange...sorry for the redundancy =). The pictures do not do Neon Pigments justice, all of them are shockingly bright in real life. 

     For some reason, the photos show this as a slightly peachy orange. It's most definitely not. At least in the tub it isn't. The pigment in the tub in real life is very pink based. However, it pulls very peach on my skin, as you'll see in the swatches below (my hand is NC35 for reference). 

      If you are cool, the pink will definitely show up more on you than it does on me. I am quite warm. It looks patchy in the shots because I used a Q-tip to swatch but I assure you, I don't find these chalky at all and are very easy to blend. Again, a little goes an astoundingly long way. Sometimes I find it quite frightening to own such pigmented products...

     I think MAC makes some of the best pigments in the market and they are great multi-use products as well. All you need is some time and creativity! 

Product: MAC Pigment - $23.50CAN

CHEEK: MAC Magenta Madness Isn't All That Mad

     If you follow me on my blog, you'll know that I am a big fan of applying pigments as blush. Some pigments are gorgeous and I can't resist putting it on my cheeks! Today, I'll be showing you Magenta Madness - my favorite pigment.

    The color is washed out, it is much brighter and vivid in reality. It is a shocking bright fuchsia-magenta, that is completely shimmer free and matte. I know the texture looks powdery, and while it is, it applies so nicely onto the skin. I use the MAC 116 to tap some product on the lid, you only need a minuscule amount to get the impact of the color. 

     I layer this on top of cream products as well as powder products. It easily blends with other shades of pigment as well (I've mixed this and Neo Orange together before). The staying power is also impressive, it lasts all day and does not budge. I don't have noticeable pores on my cheeks, so I can't say whether or not this will enhance pores. I'm sure a primer or base will prevent this. I love experimenting with cheek colors, so if you have a pigment that you aren't too crazy about, try it on your cheeks! You'll be pleasantly surprised =D. 

P.S. If you haven't seen HP - DH Part 1, you're missing out on something epic. Minus the random semi-unnecessary scenes. 
P.S.S. If you haven't heard, NK and SK are fiddling together. If I say anymore, I'll just make myself look like an ignorant loser. I'll keep my opinions to myself...

Product: MAC Pigment - $23.50CAN 

FOOD: Yummy Chocolate

     I'm a little lazy this Monday morning, so this will have to fill the void =). I'm not a huge chocolate person. Says the person who demolished a bag of Mini Rolos at the movies this past weekend. I'm really not. When I do have a craving though, I usually go for these guys. People say that cravings eventually disappear if you wait long enough...I disagree. If my craving is strong enough, I have no hesitation giving in to them.

      I like these because they have very few ingredients, all of which you can actually pronounce. Butter Biscuit is my favorite of the two photographed above. It's sweet but the biscuit cuts through the sweetness just enough.  Chocolate snobs may sneer upon my choice of chocolate but it tastes good. You can view a partially violated piece below:

      They come in packets with 16 little squares forming a large square. I buy these at Denninger's, an amazing store, that is literally a 2 minute walk away. One of the perks of living close to a very busy intersection =). What is/are your favorite(s)? 

Product: Ritter Sport Chocolate - $1.99CAN each, multiple varieties

LIPPIE: MAC Gave Me A Strange Potion...

     I know I said that MAC is getting too used to recycling and that I was getting a tad bored with their recent collections. I let myself wait a couple of months to see if I changed my mind on this item. Of course, I caved in. I was very surprised that this was still in stock, from what I heard this particular gloss sold out in a matter of hours in the U.S. 

     I do love the name, I find it very fitting for the Evil Queen. However, what I do not care for is the packaging. I know people have complained about the packaging but Disney probably had a firm hold on how they wanted MAC to display the products. Guess they don't like change too much. I am personally not a big fan of Disney so I could care less. I must say though...she's looking pretty angst driven on the tube. Disgruntled even.  This I can handle, the other images for the rest of the Villains were just plain fugly.

WTF you looking at?! (Are those pixels I see?!).

     In the tube, it is a very peach and pink based coral. It's not the most unique shade, but this is now one of my favorite glosses. This is saying a lot because I dislike MAC lipglasses... a lot. They're so damn sticky, they make my lips peel, and I end up eating my hair for dinner sometimes because it attracts everything. The texture of this gloss is a little less tacky and more creamy, therefore it does not make my lips peel! I get about 4.5 hours of wear with this alone. 

      It's hard for me to find a peach shade that actually looks peach when worn. This is the perfect peach on my lips. I have also worn this over CHANEL Rouge Allure lipstick in Confidentielle, it was divine. Some people have stated that this is shimmer-free, to which I disagree. The silvery-frost sheen seen in the tube comes from the fine silver shimmers in the gloss. It's not frosty on my lips at all.  The pigmentation is great, I only need a dab to get semi-opaque coverage on my medium pigmented lips (this can easily be completely opaque). 

      I previously owned Fold and Tuck from the Pret-A-Papier collection, that was too orange. I also had Perennial High Style from the Give Me Liberty of London collection, but that was too pink. This is so flattering against my skin, and I already have a back-up. If you want this and if you can still find this, don't hesitate! Have a Happy Sunday!

Product: MAC Lipglass - $18.50CAN ($17.50 normally, $1 increase for this collection).  

LIPPIE: Estee Lauder GWP Lipsticks

     I hope everyone is having a good start to their weekend, I know I am =D! Me and my mom always try to buy skincare during GWP events because 99% of the time, they contain mini versions of the skincare products we use. I never paid attention to the lipsticks before just because most of the time, they were colors that were truly unappealing to me. These two however, are nice:

      I've only tried one Estee Lauder lipstick before, the Pure Color Gloss Stick. By name, it really isn't a lipstick. It's more of a gloss with some color. So I have nothing to compare these to within their lipstick line because I've never tried them. 

L to R: Nectarine, Autumn

      The shot above is accurate, you can also see the specks of shimmer throughout the lipstick. Nectarine is a bright coral-peach with gold shimmers, Autumn is a deep bronzed berry also with gold shimmers. I think these colors are great for the Holidays, they are rich and pigmented. I was also surprised at how smooth they went on since they look so dense in the tube. The shimmers are abundant but aren't too noticeable when worn, the finish is slightly shiny. 

  L to R: Nectarine, Autumn in direct sunlight.

     The downfall with these lipsticks is that they do dry my lips out after about an hour of wear. Even with a layer of lip balm underneath, after the 3rd hour my lips were starting to peel. I experimented by applying some gloss on top, this seemed to help seal in some moisture. I get about 4 hours of wear with these lipsticks, they stain as well. Another thing that bothered me was the fact that the shimmers migrate slightly past the lip line. The disco ball mouth is not hot. Trust me. 

    I won't be purchasing these in the regular packaging because I simply don't think they're worth the $30 for something that makes my lips peel. I am interested in the Pure Color Crystal lipsticks though...
P.S. The BOGO promotion that Starbucks is currently holding ends tomorrow! For those who aren't aware, it is buy one get one free Holiday drinks from 2-5pm. My mom loves the Caramel Brulee Latte. Grab a friend and go get yours =D. 
 

Product: Estee Lauder Pure Color Long Lasting lipstick - $30CAN. The lipsticks here were included in a GWP.  

TOP 10: Literature & Art

      I am not good at math or sciences. In fact, I hate math. Chemistry is the only subject I can do. I guess this goes against the typical Asian stereotype...unfortunately not all Asians are good at math ok? I excel in Art, Music and English. I'm sure that this is not even worth bragging about =_=. I had to think long and hard about the items to include in this post because frankly, there are too many and I feel as though they all deserve a mention. I am by no means, a literature connoisseur or aficionado. I`m just a reader. From when I was about 9 years old up until the beginning of university, I loved going to libraries. I browsed for hours and at the end of every trip I would have a truckload of books. Some of them were probably inappropriate for my age, mind you ^_^. Now? I scarcely read books because I tend to read in bulk. If I start reading a book, I'll end up reading 10 books and then none for a year! >_>. Anyways...

1. The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald (1925) - I first read this in Grade 9 for an English assignment. It's a short novel, around 200 pages or so. It's considered a literary classic, I loved this novel for the complexity and depth of the characters. Every character had a purpose and meaning, there were no 'fillers'. A central theme is the fabled 'American Dream'. 

2. Lord of the Flies, William Golding (1954) - Yet another novel I read for an English assignment. Caught on yet? =D. If I were to sum up this novel with one word it would be 'disturbing'. Throw a bunch of male students on a desolate isolated island and watch them slowly drain themselves of their own sanity. It's truly disturbing on different levels. For some reason, it reminds me of Battle Royale, the film. 

3. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (1953) -  I was introduced to this by my sister because she needed to read it for school. Technically, I stole it from her...minor details. I had to re-read certain parts in this book in order to decipher what it was really trying to say. On the surface, it portrays a dystopian universe but there is a significantly deeper meaning underneath it. Loved this. 

4. Beowulf, Unknown (very, very old ancient) - This isn't a novel, it's an epic poem but it I still included this because this piece really intrigued me. As I read this, the lines came to life and you're thrust into the world of a hero. There is a movie counterpart with Angelina Jolie in it but that was absolutely horrendous. 

5. Idoru, William Gibson (1996) - This is actually the second part of a trilogy, but I liked this one the most. If I were to categorize this, it would be sci-fi-cyberpunk. It is centered around an Idoru, a virtual reality star that is loved by Japan. 'Idols' are huge in Asian countries, and this novel reminded me of the chaotic and sometimes blurred reality that some fans have. The main character is also a piece of work himself. 

6. It, Stephen King (1986) - One of the longest books I have ever read, this sucker is over 1000 pages. The novel is a huge compilation of themes and characters, there are just so many elements evident within the pages but they are all related. Stephen King is by far, my favorite horror author - he does it so well (no pun intended). Highly recommended.  

7. Harry Potter (thewholedamnseries),  J. K. Rowling (1997-2007) - Come on, who doesn't like this series? I'd be completely lying to myself if I said I did not thoroughly enjoy these books. They are captivating and fun to read. Once I finished the first book, I knew I was in trouble. 

8. Gustav Klimt - An Austrian painter of the late 1800s, I was given a glimpse of his work in the anime Elfen Lied. The opening sequence was inspired by Klimt's Art Noveau pieces such as "The Kiss". His art is rich in color and the lines are so elegant, fluid like water. 

9. Yoshitaka Amano - The mastermind behind the artwork for Vampire Hunter D and the Final Fantasy series (plus many others!). I love looking at his illustrations, they are all so beautiful, fantastical and detailed. If I'm not mistaken, I can see a bit of Klimt's work rubbing off within his creations as well.

10. Aya Takano - Man, her artwork cracks me up sometimes. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but I appreciate it nonetheless. The art is quirky, fun and often shocking at times because some of the girls are often nude. You can also find her artwork in her collaboration with Shu Uemura, the Abracadabra Fantasy 2010 holiday collection. The pieces are adorable! 

      I`d love to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). My boyfriend refuses to go because he considers art boring and that he "could do the same thing, just splatter paint around". =_='. 
      I have read most of the items I have listed above more than once because I truly enjoy them. I should keep up with books, I know there's plenty of good reads out there. Twilight excluded. 
      What books do you enjoy reading? =D.

Images: Courtesy of Google.com