Joyous FOTD

Hi everybody,

Starting from last weekend, since the temperature went down a bit, I felt more positive and found myself laughing and smiling for no reason, as if all the burdens and fogginess in my life just vanished. While I tried to be as upbeat and cheerful while I blog, in real life things are a lot messier. Therefore, smiling because I want to smile and laughing because I want to laugh are good things. With cheerful mood comes cheerful makeup and recently, I did a Christmasy  look in October. Come to think of it, I don't wear red lipstick that much in the house, let alone outside. But that day, I decked myself down and man, I felt great!

Joyous FOTD

Eyes

Open eye

Semi closed eye

• MAC Rubenesque paint pot as eyeshadow base
• L'Oreal eye pigment applied all over the lid with EcoTools eyeshadow brush. The eye pigment was discontinued a long time ago and I doubt if I can still get it. The color is rustic gold with some olive pigments. MAC Old Gold may be used as a substitute.
• Dark brown eyeshadow from NYX Perpetual trio on the outer v and to the crease, applied with MAC 217.
• Gosh eye pigment in Pineapple to the inner corner of the eyes, applied with EcoTools eyeshadow brush. (Thank you, Gio for the pigment!)
• MAC Warming Trend from Cool Heat LE as highlighter, applied with MAC 217.
• Revlon ColorStay liquid pen eyeliner to line the lash. I winged it out a bit to get the cat eyes look.
• 2 coats of L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara to the lashes.

Cheeks

• Physicians Formula Organic Wear blush and bronzer in Light Bronzer/Light Ginger: Light Ginger was used as a blush and Light Bronzer as a contouring powder. Both shades were applied with MAC 168 brush.
• For extra shimmer, I applied Adorned with Grace mineral shimmer blush in Glamorous with my favorite StudioTools dual fibre brush.

Lips

• I lined my lips with Rimmel London Exaggerate automatic lip liner in Red Diva,
• Then, I applied NYC Retro Red to my lips with a lip liner brush.

 Since it was so cold, I wore a hooded long cardigan and put the hood on

I'm no Little Red Riding Hood, more of Big Black Riding Hood with a zit :)

And why my wink looked so evil?

To me, this look is versatile: you can change the lipstick to something brown or neutral for a daytime look. If you want a more vampy look, just edge on some dark raspberry lipsticks and call it a day (or night!)

What do you think? Give me some feedback, feedback, ok?

One more thing: I didn't realize the new Windows 7 is coming out today. Are you going to upgrade your operation system?

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Vaseline Sheer Infusion Body Lotion: Alligator Skin Be Gone!

Hi everybody,

Since last weekend, the weather in my neck of the wood took a big nose dive: from 85 degrees Fahrenheit in Friday evening to chilly 54 degrees in Saturday afternoon! Overnight, I went from wearing slinky t-shirt to layering everything I could get my hands on. In a sense, I practice the "wearing everything" technique that Joey Tribbiani from "Friends" did. While I get a break from the heat and humidity in mid October, cold weather comes with its own woe: crackly, scaly alligator skin. Every year, I want to turn the Earth upside down to find the perfect moisturizer for my body. You know, the one that add just enough amount of moisture without leaving a film on my skin. This year, I may even come close to having a break for this problem.

All hail...

...the new Vaseline Sheer Infusion body lotion!

Recently, I got an opportunity to try the new Vaseline Sheer Infusion with Stratys-3 body lotion. The last time I used a Vaseline Intensive care product was a really long time ago and my favorite one was the cucumber scented one. While the old Vaseline products are cheaper and more available, they are petroleum based products. Hence, they tend to sit on top of my skin and make them feel filmy. I've been looking high and low for a body lotion that does not make me feel that way but they either are under or over moisturized. Being let down so many times, I did not think Vaseline Sheer Infusion would be that much different from the other guys.

However, the claim of having "light, silky" skin is very tempting.

So I took a plunge and opened up a bottle.

The three ingredients that make a difference in the new Vaseline body lotion are:

• Glycerol quad: a quadratic effect of glycerin to moisturize the top layer of stratum corneum (surface skin);
• Glycerin: a natural humectant that moisturizes the core layer of stratum corneum;
• Hydroxy ethyl urea: a small sized synthetic molecule that is able to penetrate to lower layers of the stratum corneum. Like glycerin, HEU also has moisturizing property.

Ingredient list

To me, this body lotion is interesting: while it does have a silky and lightweight feeling, it does not seem to sink well into not-so-dry skin. My arms usually are the last place to crack and it took a while for the lotion to absorb. However, in areas that are dry like my legs, knees, elbows, and cuticles, the Vaseline Sheer Infusion just sink right in as if it is at home! For a very long time, my cuticles have been dry and itch like mad. I have a tendency to pick and peel the skin around my thumbs off when they feel itchy. However, after applying this new lotion, I see a change in my cuticles: they are softened up and become less itchy to a point that I don't feel like peeling them off anymore. Also, another positive thing is after washing my hands, the skin still feels soft and most times, I do not have the urge to re-moisturize my hands.

Vaseline Sheer Infusion body lotion comes in 3 different formulas:

• Mineral Renewal: contains minerals available in healthy skin and smells like the original Vaseline scent in the yellow bottle. In a sense, it smells kinda manly;
• Vitamin Burst: contains vitamins B5 and E, has citruscy scent. If you need to feel energized, this is for you;
• Botanical Blend: contains cypress and eucalyptus extracts. It reminds me of the cucumber Vaseline body lotion with a dash of baby powder. Out of the three, this is my favorite.

Currently, these body lotions are available at mass-market and drugstores in two sizes: 6.8 oz bottles (the ones I got) at $5.99 USD and 13.5 oz pumps at $8.99. While the prices are more expensive than those of the regular Vaseline Intensive Care, you do not need to use a lot to moisturize your body. I find a drop of lotion can moisturize my hand and I do not have to reapply as often. These body lotion do last longer.

While I am happy with Sheer Infusion, I can't help but notice methyl- and propylparaben being used as preservatives. I guess the perfect body lotion is still out there for me to find but for now, this one is here to stay.

My rating: A-, points taken off for having parabens as preservative.

For those who want to know more about this product, please visit Vaseline Sheer Infusion website. You can get a $1.50 USD coupon there as well.

Disclaimer: I received these new bottles of Vaseline Sheer Infusion body lotion from a PR representative. After giving them a try, I found them to perform well on my skin and hence, I wrote a review. The above review reflects my personal and unbiased experience and opinion to the products. I neither have any monetary gain or endorse this product in this review.

That's all, folks! Did you give Vaseline Sheer Infusion a try? What do you think about it? Comment, ok?

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How to Revive Your Mascara

Hello, lovely folks!

Some couple of days ago, while preparing to go out I realized my new L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara became clumpy. "Wait, what happened?" I said. "I got this thing about a month ago and do not use it that much. What's up, mascara?"

Right then and there, I had choices to make: I either could toss it or salvage it. To toss it could have been easy but the trouble I have to go through to get another one is just not worth it. "What if the next mascara I buy sucks?" I thought. Although this one is not perfect, I know how to work it. So I decided to salvage my dear ole mascara.

It's actually a simple process to revive an old (but not less than 3 month old*) mascara. You'll need these items:

Clumpy mascara, a glass or a mug, some hot water

Hot tap water works but it takes longer time. Usually, I put some water in a mug and nuke it in a microwave oven for a minute to get hot water. (That's how I get hot water for tea, people!)

Then dunk said mascara in the glass of hot water for 5 minutes.

If the material still looks clumpy, tighten the mascara and dunk it some more.

Tips:

• make sure the water does not pass the line between the tube and the cap, otherwise you'll have one soggy (and useless mascara);
• tighten the cap before you dunk!

The mascara was salvaged! I saved the mascara and about 10 dollars!

*More than 3 month old mascaras should be thrown away, unless you dig pinkeye (conjunctivitis.) Please use this trick only when your mascara is fairly new (mine is about 1 month old) and you really want to save it.

This is a money saving trick, folks! If you have other tricks to revive your mascara, please let me know. Also, if you have tried this trick, please share the result. I'd love to hear from you

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Because I Can...

Hi y'all, again!

I know the first post of the day is no way a post. It is a disclaimer! And I just hate to leave y'all reading a disclaimer instead of something cheerful. As you may know, I am a fan of "The Big Bang Theory" since the beginning of this show. I've got to give it to Sheldon (Jim Parsons) to deliver geeky jokes week after week after week. He even got his Emmy nomination this year (but did not win.)

Last week's episode was ridiculously funny and involved one hand trick. Raj, in the heat of debate with Sheldon, did this hand trick to show Sheldon that he was not the superior person:



The link is here, just in case embedding does not work.

Then, the next day on NCIS, Tony did the same thing to McGee! Seeing how it bugged the other guy who could not figure out the hand trick, I think this may be fun to learn. Ask and you may receive, search and you may find. And found it I did :)





Simple, isn't it? Now, crickets, practice this hand trick and impress people the next time you have a gathering :)



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My Makeup Blog Disclosure

Hi everybody,

As I mentioned last week in this post, the FTC passed the regulation concerning endorsement and testimonials in advertising. While My Makeup Blog is still a small fry in the beauty blogsphere, I believe it is time to put a blog disclaimer up and act accordingly. As I mentioned in the above post, not a lot of things is going to change in my blog, except I have to disclose whether I receive free products to review or not.

This policy is valid from 19 October 2009

My Makeup Blog is a personal blog written and edited by Dao Lam. For questions about this blog, please contact makeupblog at gmail dot com.

To My Readers

Since the beginning of My Makeup Blog in June, 2008, I have been using this blog as a playground to express my love to makeup, skincare, and other beauty related topics as well as to interact with my readers (aka you guys.) Through this blog, I have learned more about makeup than ever and in the process, get a chance to voice my knowledge in this field to the world. 

Currently, I participate in Total Beauty's Sneak Peak and Beauty Choice's BeautyStar programs where I receive products to review in my blog. Occasionally, I receive offers from PR companies that send me samples and products to review. This practice has been going on in the magazine industry for a long time and recently, has extended to the blogging world. If they were not sent to me, these products may go below my radar and thus, I may not have a chance to discover them and share my thoughts about them to you. However, my opinions are not swayed by freebies. I do my best to test them out and give you my most honest opinions on them. With that in mind, I want to be fair about my reviewed products as well, by putting them in context so you can understand where they stand with other products I have seen before.

With all those said, there is one thing to keep in mind when it comes to reading my reviews: as much as I strive to write my most honest opinions and give you the best ideas of what the products are as well as how well they perform, the reviews reflect my own experience and opinions. As we are all different from each other, our experiences may not be the same even when we use the same product. Also, you are entitled to your own opinion as I am to mine.

Please keep in mind that my blog does not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. I am not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. If I claim to like or love a certain product, I believe it is up to my personal standards. believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Use of Photo Images

Occasionally, I need a photo from the Internet and get them via Google Images. If and when I do so, I always give proper credit to the persons or websites these pictures originated from. If you see your photo here and do not want me to use it, please email me with the link to the post and I am happy to remove it.

Also, please do not use my photos without my permission. Most pictures I took and use in this blog have watermarks and if you decide to use them after I grant you my permission, please do not remove the watermarks. They are my labor as I took time to take the pictures, edit, and watermark them.

Use of Content

Please refrain yourself from copying my content verbatim. Like my pictures, my content is my labor and I spend a lot of time to blog here. When you copy my blog post without quoting, you commit yourself to the most heinous crime in the world of writing: plagiarism. If you need to use my words in your post, please quote instead and give credit back to me.

To PR and Beauty Companies and Their Representatives

I really appreciate your consideration to me as a good fit to review your product. I always look forward to explore new makeup, skincare, and other beauty related products. If you choose to send them to me, I will test them out and if the products pass my own standards, I will review them here in my blog. Whether they are reviewed or not, once the products are sent to me, they are mine to keep as I find it not practical to return used items back to you.

Also, if you would like to give away products to my readers, please email me and let me know.

Any PR queries, please email me at makeupblog at gmail dot com. I will do my best to answer your emails as soon as I can.

As time changes, this disclosure may be revised if new implementations and regulations come along the way. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding products I review from this point forward. I will do my best to answer you.



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Beauty Literotica: Fine Beauty by Sam Fine

Hi everyone,

My local library has an interesting mix of books in makeup and beauty. I was happy to find some very great books such as “Face Forward” by Kevyn Aucoin and “Bobbi Brown Beauty Bible” by Bobbi Brown. Among them, I found Sam Fine’s book published in 1998 titled “Fine beauty: beauty basics and beyond for African-American women”. As I have been a fan of his blog, I was more than delighted to read this book. And let me tell you, it’s a fine book!

Fine Beauty: Beauty Basics and Beyond for African-American Women

Image courtesy Clutch Magazine

Sam Fine

This book is beautifully illustrated with a mix of black and white as well as color photos. It is divided into three main parts: makeup 101, makeovers, video and editorial portfolio. In makeup 101, Mr. Fine covered basic topics from foundation, brushes, to makeup application. It is written in a simple and easy to understand manner, which is suitable for beginners. In makeovers, he transformed ordinary women (and one man), including his mother, into sensational beauties. The genius of his makeup is to make the beauty routine functional, based on their lifestyles and jobs.

How to get a good foundation match

And here are some side-way pictures, courtesy of Picasa:

How to do your eyebrows

Beautiful lips

How does he do that?

And juicy lips, as well :)

(This I know how to do)

Fashion Forward makeover

This is a makeover he did on his mom

The before and after pictures are 180 degrees different!

However, his talent does not simply stop at makeovers. The last part of “Fine Beauty” can be recognized as a part of his portfolio where he showcases his body of work in video and magazine-style editorials. Mr. Fine probably has worked with all major African-American divas and models, including Tyra Banks, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, Iman, Veronica Webb, and Naomi Campbell. I bet a lot of makeup artists out there would drool over this portfolio: it is really gorgeous!

Tyra Banks for Pepsi commercial

Vanessa Williams in "Colors of the Wind" music video

Iman

Notice the writings on the left side of the picture: it's his actual handwriting! I thought it was some computer font but Sam Fine has good calligraphy.

Ms. Patti LaBelle

...and Ms. Naomi Campbell

While having all the wonderful accomplishments in his career as a makeup artist, Mr. Fine remains humble and credited his success to having “fine friends”. The last part of his book is about his life story of how he became Sam Fine, the makeup artist extraordinaire. Whoever said, “If you want to know me, look at my friends” must be right. Mr. Fine has associated himself with the best in the industry, including Lloyd Boston, Matthew Jordan Smith, and Mikki Taylor.

To me, this book is part information, part inspiration - leaning more toward the second part. If you look for basic makeup tips, it probably does not offer enough coverage for you. However, this book serves wonderfully as a supplement reading material. While I am not African-American, I find ‘Fine Beauty” to be refreshing and informative. Now, I can answer more questions that my friends have, even I do not look like them.

Currently, "Fine Beauty" is out of print and if you are lucky, you may find it at your local library. For those who don't, you can view a part of his work at his blog, aptly named "Fine Blog" :)

That's all for today, ladies. I hope you'll have a good fine weekend!

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Bloggers be Aware: FTC Passed the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Hi everybody,

Everyday, it makes my day to find out how you find my blog to be informative and fun. I hope my posts lighten up your workday and if you find them useful, that is a bonus. However, sometimes there are other issues out there that directly affect some of us and today I would like to use this time to make you aware of it.

During summer, there was a buzz about the new Federal Trade Commission to regulate endorsements and testimonials in advertising. It came in the most unconventional way to me and at the time, the person who voiced his opinion probably misunderstood the scope of implementation of this new FTC regulation (click here to read what I said regarding this issue.) Needless to say, I have been following this issue for a while and recently, this new regulation did get passed and is going to be implemented starting December 1st, 2009 (click here for the full document.)

The document is 81 page long and it boils down to two big issues: (1) disclosure of  any financial gains from bloggers and (2) liability between bloggers, companies that provide materials to them and the public. For the first issue, if a blog failed to comply, it will get some warnings and may even get fined. For the second part, this is actually a good mean to weed out blogs that publish faulty information, such as blogs that promote diet pills with outrageous results (lose 10 lbs in 1 week, anyone?)

So, what will affect "My Makeup Blog"?

For starter, let me reiterate this point to you: I do not blog for money. Since I started writing here at the end of June, 2008, I have never get any offers to promote any product in exchange of any types of monetary gain. Until recently, all products I reviewed were purchased from my own pocket and I reviewed them at my own time. Then as this blog progressed, I received some invitations from companies to review their products as they see my blog as a good fit. However, that does not mean I put in the good words even when their products do not live up to the standard. Like you, I am also a consumer and I do appreciate honest opinions. When I get a chance to voice mine, I make sure to portray the products in a truthful and fair manner. I would never say a foundation that costs a dollar is as good as a Chanel foundation. It may be the best one dollar foundation on Earth but it's not Chanel.

Also, soon you will see a disclosure clause somewhere at the front page of "My Makeup Blog". This is to protect me and my blog from future dispute with the authority because frankly, I make next to nothing from this blog. The ads I run here are Google ads and they pay me money per thousand visitors and per click. With this economy, the rate is really low and honestly, MMB makes pennies a day in ad money. Also, as they are Google ads, I have no control over the contents but they seem to coordinate well with my contents, at least at this point.

If you have heard or read somewhere that bloggers do make money when they plug in products for companies, at least you know I am not one of them. From the beginning, it is my policy not to accept money when I review products, as it leads to other problems in the future. Now, there are some bloggers who do make good livings from their websites but you can really count them on your fingers. Most of us who blog do have jobs or are in school, like myself. I understand blogging is an uncharted territory with a lot of money involved and now the government is tapping on that source.

Beside putting up a disclaimer in the near future, essentially there will not be a lot of changes within "My Makeup Blog." I will write here as long as I can, and as long as I still love makeup. Being a blogger, I get to meet a lot of wonderful people from different parts of the U.S as well as the world. Also, everyday I get a chance to practice my prose and as a result, writing comes a lot more easier these days.

For other bloggers who want to know more about this issue, Carleen from Beauty and Fashion Tech wrote a wonderful guide to implement this new FTC regulation. For me, I will do my best to keep this blog moving forward in both content and outlook.

Are you still awake? I'm glad you are with me and although this is not very exciting, it's an important issue. Please come back tomorrow because it's going to be Beauty Literotica time again!



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Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne: Paris Light

Hi everybody,

If I got to choose where I want to live and money were not a problem, I would choose to vivre à Paris. For some reasons, the City of Lights perks my interest and I for once would like to live there and eat cheese and croissant from a small platter (*smile*). However, the current currency exchange rate between the dollar and euro plus swine flu plus living expense say otherwise.

And then out of the bloom, I got a bottle of YSL Parisienne to play with. Talking about making my day, right? Before Parisienne, the only YSL perfume I have is "L'Homme", the male fragrance released in 2006. "L'Homme" is a very beautifully crafted perfume and sometimes when the temperature drops, I find myself applying a drop of it on my wrists.

Parisienne was crafted by Sophia Grosjman, the nose of the original YSL Paris, and Sophie Labbé. It is described as an "grand floral perfume with woody structure, luminous even in its mystery." This perfume, according to its creators, is "the perfume of ultra-femininty, warmed by the touch of the man who embraced her."  Kate Moss, a Londoner, was chosen as the face of YSL Parisienne.

"You were not born in Paris but Paris adopts you...

...because you know how to love, how to live"

YSL Parisienne

The bottle

YSL Parisienne composition:

• Top notes: vinyl, cranberry, blackberry
• Heart notes: Damas rose, violet, peony
• Base notes: patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, and musk

 This perfume is really soft: in order to smell it, you need to be very near the person who wears it. On me, it opens up like a bouquet of flower that mixed with fruits. While the creators described the top notes as having a glossy, vinyl effect, it feels more sunny and cheerful on me as first. The berry notes are very pronounced and bright, I could not help but smile when I first tried Parisienne. About an hour later, the mysterious factor starts to kick in as patchouli and vetiver becomes more pronounced. I did not detect the heart notes or sandalwood and musk at all. Although this perfume smells like a whisper, the lasting power is not so bad as it lasts a whole day for me. Being an unobtrusive fragrance, it grows on me while not giving me a headache. I even wore it more than three times in a row, which is a record for perfumes.

Look what I found!

YSL Parisienne in Marie Claire, October '09 issue

If you've seen the original YSL Paris, you will notice how familiar Parisienne is. The light lavender multi-faceted glass bottle also reminds me of Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb. To some, Parisienne is not strong enough or provocative enough. However, to others who prefer their perfume not to precede their reputation, this perfume is perfect. To me, this is a nice perfume for daytime as it is feminine, mysterious, and soft. However, those whose body chemistry does not bind well with vetiver, patchouli, musk, and sandalwood (the base notes), you may skip this.

Price: $39 USD for 1.0 oz, $65 USD for 1.6 oz, and $85 USD for 3.0 oz at Yves Saint Laurent website or Sephora.

My rating: A

That's all for today, folks! What do you think about YSL Parisienne? Have you tried it? Would you like to try it? Comment, ok?

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Dear M.A.C...

Dear M.A.C,

Just a while ago, I went to your website to take a peek at your new limited edition collections and gawk at the beautiful promotional photos. While I did that, I wonder how I can super-size my bank account to match with your ever growing LEs. I have to admit, some of your most recent releases do intrigue me, until this one caught my eyes:

Yup, I'm talking about your new Zoom Fast Black Lash promo picture. You see, I'm a mascara addict and I always look for the next best thing that promises to make my lashes to look longer, lusher, and darker. So, it was my nature to stare, gawk, and covet...until I saw something strange in the picture. By the way, it took me about 10 seconds...

...to notice the model's real lashes sticking out!

Really, M.A.C? Really? You put false lashes on a model to do a promo for a mascara? I know the drugstore mascara people have done it for a while but at least their people use photoshop to clean up the obvious oops. But this is way too obvious, man!

So while my homies beauty blogger friends rave about this new mascara, your promo pic puts me off. Now, how can I tell how well your product works? And while I'm at it, the current price of M.A.C mascara is 13 bucks a pop, nice! Just some years back when I started to fall for you, a Benjamin got me 10 of those babies. (That's 10 dollars per mascara, for those who have no clue what "a Benjamin" is.)

And if a girl can guess, I'd say your model wore a pair of number 7 lashes. Is it correct?

Thank you, M.A.C, for giving all of us a lot of makeup inspirations. However, next time please use photoshop, m'kay?

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