Deal Alert - Avon Supershock Mascara

Avon Supershock Mascara $8.50 on sale for $4.99! Fantastic deal for a great mascara. Avon says it can give you super fat lashes, up to 12x more volume. I don’t know if it made my lashes that thick (12 times thicker….pshaw, that’s way too exaggerated), but it did a quite impressive job. You just need to put on a few more coats. The rubber comb-like wand keeps them clump-free. Definitely worth the 5 bucks.

Get a boatload of e.l.f products

Still hunting for great Mother’s Day gifts? For those of us on a budget but really want to get some fun makeup that costs so little for moms (especially the young moms that have no time for themselves), I can’t recommend e.l.f. cosmetics’s products enough. It’s been a while since I last ordered from their site. Now it seems they have expanded their lines quite a bit ever since. I just ordered some of my favorite old faithfuls and some new additions that I’m dying to try. Literally a basket full for less than $20! And I’m going to give some to my mom to play with.

NEW Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF Box Set of 5 $5. One of my all-time favorite lip gloss with SPF 15. They are non-sticky and super sheer, gorgeous easy-to-wear shades, nice fruity scent, plus sufficient sun protection. What’s not to love?

Blush Set $5. I really like these Natural Radiance Blushers, Shy, Glow, Coy, and Flushed. They have a very smooth texture that applies evenly and imparts sheer color with a soft glow for a soft shine finish . The soft blending brush is great, too.

Nail Polish $1. e.l.f’s new nail polish in the neat drip bottle. The chip resistant shield gives long lasting nail color with high shine. It’s even got Vitamin E for stronger healthier nails. Talk about getting the bang for your buck! I’m going to get the Berry Pink, Nude, and Light Red shades to try.

Shimmering Facial Whip $1, these shimmery highlighting creams are great for cheeks, eyes, or lips. Fairly easy to blend because it’s non-sticky and non-greasy, and the sheen is subtle if you blend it in really well.

Mineral Starter Kits $20. Everybody’s doing a mineral makeup line nowadays, e.l.f’s not being left behind. I have heard many good things about this kit. Some reviews even say this is comparable to the premium brand mineral lines. The price is considerably less, it’s worth a try. The kit includes Mineral Foundation-SPF 15, Mineral Concealer-SPF 15, Mineral Blush, Total Face Brush, Blush Brush, and Canvas Case.

Bath Sets $15, e.l.f’s new body care line. I’m getting the Vanilla Coconut and Cucumber Melon sets for my mom, two of her favorite scents. Each set includes body lotion, hand soap, hand cream, bath gel, and body butter.

Ask Petite Chou - How to keep lashes curled longer

Dear Ma Petite Chou,

I have really straight and short lashes. I do my damnedest to curl them, but then as soon as I put on mascara, they come back down. It’s like the weight of the mascara’s too heavy or something. Do you know any tricks on how to keeping lashes nice and curled?

love,
Wishing for longer curly lashes

Being Asian I have stick-straight lashes too. And they are, like the hair on my head, very stubborn to manipulate. I use a heated lash curler because it can make the lashes curl up really high and stay curled much longer. I use Sephora Brand Professional Heated Lash Curler Professional Mini Heated Lash Curler. Blinc Heated Eyelash Curler is also excellent according to my friend T. With a regular ol’ curler, I’d have to squeeze really hard and sometimes pull out my precious lashes, not pleasant. For the mascara, I go for the ones that are light-weight. Some mascaras are quite waxy and heavy. They can weigh down the lashes. I find the ones that aim for volume can be too heavy. But I still want volume, so that’s a hard balance to strike. You really have to try different ones and find your favorite.

I’m quite liking Benefit Cosmetics Get Bent Mascara ($19) right now. I love the angled brush, makes it easy to get to the lashes at the corner of eye. And the mascara does make the lashes curl up quite nicely. One thing I do though that we’ve been told that we aren’t supposed to do is use my curler after I put on mascara, especially in the middle of the day when I want to re-enforce the curl. With a regular curler you might want to be careful with it because mascara-ed lashes can be brittle, you don’t want to break them off. But with the heated curler, I think it’s totally okay. I haven’t had an “accident” yet

Benefit Ultimate Mom’s Giveaway

Darlings, you can treat your mom to a great escape by entering the Mom’s Ultimate Giveaway at BenefitCosmetics.com!! 1 Grand Prize Winner will be randomly chosen to receive a prize package worth $524.95! 10 Runners Up will win Mommy Track’d’s Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer. Entries will be accepted through May 10th. I hope the package has all these yummy goodies and more. Enter now!

some kind-a gorgeous an amazing foundation faker, $26. This cream-to-powder formula means silky, even perfection for your complexion. So translucent, it’s THE finish for most skin tones. It’s an instant “beauty boost” any time of day!

benetint $28, gives lips and cheeks a rosy glow.

spring ‘08 creaseless cream shadow/liners $18. 3 new shades for spring. They’re sterling pink, brushed copper and rose metal, designed to flatter all skin tones in a smudge-proof cream. Use them to line, shade & contour your eyes.

boi-ing
an industrial strength concealer, $18. Say good-bye to circles and shadows around your eyes with boi-ing concealer. The industrial strength concealer camouflages those pesky “problems” without creasing, smudging, or wearing off.

BADgal lash mascara for the biggest, baddest lashes, $19.

CARGO PlantLove Botanical Lipstick

Everybody’s jumping on the “green” bandwagon, Cargo’s not staying behind either. Celebs such as Evangeline Lily, Lindsay Lohan, Mariska Hargitay and many more have gotten together to design the CARGO PlantLove™ Botanical Lipstick ($20). What’s so green about this lipstick? The pretty flowery tube is made out of corn! I didn’t know corn could be made to look and feel like plastic, pretty neat. And the outer carton is made of flower paper embedded with real flower seeds. Simply moisten, plant, and wait for a bouquet of wild flowers to grow! How fun is that?! The best part about this lipstick is that they donate 2 dollars from every sale to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. All the shades are gorgeous, and the texture is super silky, can be great conditioners for your lips, everything that you expect from CARGO. So if you’d like to amuse yourself, look good and do good, pick one up today

Benefit lyin’ eyes concealer

Benefit lyin’ eyes is officially my favorite concealer. The click-pen with a soft built-in brush keeps the application non-messy and convenient. The texture is so smooth it goes on like second skin, so much more elegant than many other cakey kinds. I put it under my eyes and I see smooth complexion and nothing else. Everybody will think that’s your natural skin. Now that really befits the name, right? Although if you are looking to cover some serious blemishes (I have a big honky-dorky pimple on my chin right now), this baby won’t be able to help much.  Anyway, it’s great for under the eyes.  Get it at BenefitCosmetics.com. $18.00 on sale for $13.50.

TGIF everybody Don’t forget to enter my new giveaway, a pair of 18K Gold Plated Sakura Earrings by Kipepeo if you haven’t!

All about flowers at Avon

I went over to Avon’s website for a quick peek, it is positively spring-infused. Flower by Cynthia Rowley Eau de Parfum Spray ($30) just came out. I tried a sample from my mom’s Avon lady friend. Whoo, it smells soooooo pretty! It is so refreshing and totally reminds me that spring-like weather is just around the corner (as soon as all this snow starts melting!). It was as if I had a big bouquet of flowers on my desk the whole day.   Love the bottle too.  So cute!  I’m not a big perfume wearer, but I told my mom I loved it so if she orders it I’ll totally accept it as a gift, lol.  They are also giving away this pretty floral patterned Umbrella by Cynthia Rowley for Avon when you get the fragrance. Yippee! I’ll be skipping under the umbrella in the spring rain.

And I’m totally being tempted by the flowery home accents too!

And check out these adorable Flower Placemats $9.99 for set of 4.

Flower Pitcher and Tumblers Set $24.99

Spring Flower Pillow $14.99

Apply green eyeshadow perfectly

Anybody love green eyeshadow? I do. I’ve been practicing applying it. I love that smoky eye-popping effect. But if you aren’t careful, you know what’s going to happen. I was so glad to see InStyle demonstrating it on one of my favorite actresses, Olivia Wilde. And I had an “ah-ha!” moment after reading this: “The deeper your skin tone, the darker the green should be: rich emerald for dark skin, light kelly or seafoam for paler complexions. The color is right “if it doesn’t disappear into your skin or look like it’s sitting on the surface,” says Lobell, who opted for Urban Decay Loose Pigments Eye Shadow in Graffiti on Wilde. ” Ah-ha! So if I have medium skin tone like Olivia’s, I shouldn’t wear bright pale green shadows huh? I really love the bronze-y green shadow on her, really suites her complexion. And you can achieve the smokey-eye with green shadows too.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Girls, this is the one secret weapon you’ll want to keep in your makeup case. When your friends are clamoring to the washroom to touch up their makeup, you won’t have to because the color of your eyeshadow stays true, un-smudged, and crease-free thanks to Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion ($16). This base is invisible on your eyelids, lets the eyeshadow go on totally smooth and easy to blend. It’s especially great for smokey eyes ’cause we all hate it when it starts off looking great but a couple hours into the night the smokey eye somehow turn into the dirty eye, right? No problem here

Too Faced Beauty Brooches

Too Faced Beauty Brooches $28.50 $21.38. Yes, these are cameo brooches that you can wear filled with shimmering lip gloss suspends from each safety pin-esque brooch embellished with funky, retro charms. How cute and ingenious is that? There is more and more makeup in pretty jewelry-like packages on the market. One of these days we are going to give all our jewelry the double duty, definitely a fun idea

An anti-sebum and sweat-proof powder!

Ahh I think I may have found the perfect powder foundation for my oily skin! Behold the new shu uemura Powder Foundation ($32.50). The magical ingredients derived from the deap sea are anti-sebum and sweat-proof. It totally soaks up the oil but doesn’t leave the skin chalky. On the contrary, it gives that healthy glow that we all love so much, and it’s especially difficult for us oily-skinned girls to achieve (right?) because that glowy look usually ends up looking greasy after a couple of hours. The color stays true all day, which means less touch-up too. I know it’s still cold now we don’t have to worry about sweating yet. But I’m sure when the hot weather comes, I imagine this one is going to be a god-send! And on top of that, it has SPF 20! It has everything I want in a powder foundation. The only thing that I don’t like is the sleek black compact that it comes in is sold separately for $12.50. Boo! As if the powder isn’t pricey enough.

My new favorite store - StrawberryNET.com

On the weekend I went to Toronto’s Pacific Mall (North America’s biggest Chinese mall. Anybody from Toronto? Raise your hand :). I freaking love that mall, I can spend a whole afternoon there. With some vendors you can even haggle the prices ;). You can find all the popular skincare brands from Asia there. I splurged on some Kose products. Kose is so immensely popular in Asia, and its toner is one of the most highly demanded skin-brightening products. My cousins all sear by it. I got this Kose Medicated Sekkisei for $65. Then I went on StrawberryNET.com and it’s only $45! Now I know where to check first before going to the stores. StrawberryNET.com’s awesome. Their prices are really competitive, up to 50% off all skincare, cosmetics, and fragrances’ retail prices. And they offer FREE SHIPPING worldwide! So it’s great to try out brands that aren’t available in your area or if they are, they are probably marked up ridiculously in stores. If you become a new customer this month you can get a FREE Lancome lip color with any purchase over $25!

A Gift from e.l.f. for St. Patrick’s Day‏

e.l.f. cosmetics is giving you this Pot O’ Gold due eyeshadow for free with purchase. Just use the code EGLUCCO. I gotta say the color looks yummy! I love green eyeshadow, if you have dark eyes like mine, green eyeshadow can really make them pop.

Too Faced Galaxy Glam Eye Shadows

I’m sure so far you’ve seen those “crazy” makeup from Sephora’s Beauty As Art selections. The colors of the eyes and lips are at their most vibrant as I’ve seen in a long time. My favorite look is the Impressionist eyes. “From eggplant to violet to burgundy, purple lids are spring’s most avant-garde trend. On the runways, purples were given an Impressionist flare; different tones and textures were layered for a shimmering, Water Lilly-like effect. This approach may seem dramatic, but it’s actually quite wearable. The light, shiny highlighters will soften the darker purples—start out bold, and take the color down with highlighter till you reach your perfect degree of purple haze.” And the eye shadow that I find most intriguing is the Too Faced Galaxy Glam Eye Shadows ($19.50). That is the most innovative presentation of an eye shadow I have ever seen. Doesn’t it look like a mini galaxy captured by a magical ball? The colors go way beyond your standard smokey eye shadow. Your eyes will look like they have a million little stars twinkling around them. If you want to experiment a different dramatic look on a Friday night, these will be perfect.

TheBalm Two-Timer Mascara

I have another fantastic mascara to add to my favorite mascaras list. And with this one, it’s like you get two mascaras in one — TheBalm Two-Timer Mascara ($19). You get different looks depending on which end you use. The side with the weird-looking brush, LASHALOT, deposits a lot of mascara on your lashes to make them incredibly fuller and fluffier without clumping. It’s really a dramatic look. The other side, FINETUNE, has softer bristles to define the lashes. It lengthens and separates, creating lashes that fan out and appear longer. My lashes need both wands. But if you find yourself liking one wand more than the other, you can just switch the tubes because both wands fit in both tubes if one starts to run out. How neat!