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As I was packing, thought I'd show you some of my travel essentials - stuff I always bring with me whenever I travel.
I try to get travel size products as they don't take up much space in my toiletry bag. I almost never bring my makeup unless if it's a trip back to Sydney or any other party-central cities in the world for work or play. I try to keep it as simple as possible because trying to fit a big fat toiletry bag in an equally big fat luggage is not fun!
essentials
1. Sunblock of at least SPF 25. I normally use SPF 30 for beach bound holidays and never stinge on slathering on before leaving the hotel room, even on a gloomy day. I don't mind turning darker, but I don't want any excuse to get skin cancer! My family has cancer history so I am always very aware. Preventing is better that cure. Though that tube of sunblock has seen better days. eew. I'll buy a new one tomorrow at the airport...
2. Baby oil. I normally use it at night. I have super dry skin and if I don't have any kind of lotion or oil at night, I'll wake up with "war wounds" from scratching...
3. Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. If baby oil doesn't work, this almost always does. Just can't stand it's uber greasiness.4. Baby shampoo. I'm @nal about shampoos! Hotel shampoos turn my hair into straws so I prefer using a gentle shampoo on holiday. Baby shampoo does the trick. Makes my hair feel and look normal!
5. Lip balm. 6. Facial sunblock. I never ever use regular sunblock on my face. No, no no! Or else, pimples galore!! I like this facial sunblock from MaryKay. It has an SPF 25 and is non-greasy. Good facial sunblocks are hard to find, so this one's a keeper.
7. Eye cream. Been using this Eucerin Q-10 anti-wrinke eye cream. It's OK, not so thick but moisturises my under eye areas quite nicely. As for wrinkles... they're not goin' anywhere. Oh well!! But must have eye cream.
8. Eyelash curler. Yes, I haven't been updating much. Yes, I was unwell. But I'm still vain!!
new essentials everyday
Now that my body is stretching in different directions, I had to add these babies to minimise stretch marks. I do not want to have the world map on my ass!!
1. Clarins Body Treatment Oil - Firming and Toning, for pregnant ladies or those battling with stretch marks. At RM172 a pop, this was strongly recommended by my facial lady. I love the smell, not too strong, mild enough not to linger on and clash with your perfume. The oil is not too runny, and absorbs really fast. I use this in the morning after shower. 2. Chicco Mama Donna anti-stretch mark cream. I bought this first, because in the earlier days of my pregnancy, I could smell everything and that would make me sick! This has no smell, it's non-greasy and the cream absorbs easily into the skin. I use this at night after shower.
3. Organic Aid Vitamin E Cream. I use this as an all-over body cream as it has no smell. It's thick, takes a little bit more time to absorb but is not greasy. I had to give away The Body Shop's Body Butter as I was super sensitive to smell. Plus, it was getting too greasy for my liking. My low tolerance to smell has improved but I still stick to no/light fragrant products, just in case if my pregnancy hormones decide to act up again...
Liquid products are nicely tucked in a ziplock bag. Nothing worse than a spill!
All in my toiletry bag, and off I go!
See you in a week!!xoxo,
PUSSpuss.inheels@yahoo.com
I was not as enthusiastic about this lot as I was with all my other purchases. I bought these at different times, somewhere between July and August. I've not bought one single cosmetic product since! Overtime, things change, priorities change and makeup seemed unimportant anymore. Before the hormones took over, whenever I received a package, I'd rip it open. With these, I threw them on the table and left them unopened for weeks! When I finally did, I had almost forgotten what I had bought!! 
I remember wanting that Ecotools foundation brush so badly (because I was bitten by the Ecotools-bug) but when I got it, I was like, "mehhh..." I didn't take it out from its packaging for weeks and it was left on my vanity table collecting dust. Same went for the ELF Studio products. As you can see, they're still intact in their packaging.
I've only tried the Everyday Minerals sample stuff I bought. I got "Buttered Tan" foundation in semi matte, matte, and intensive since that shade fits like a glove. I liked the blush in Game Show a pretty red-mauvey shade, and "Pearl Pick me up" is great as a highlighter. I went on a limp and ordered a sample of "in the garden" a mineral taupe-brownish eyeshadow shade. Very pretty and very unique but as it is, eyeshadows with me have fallen off my radar! So I have yet to try it. This is also my first mineral eyeshadow and I am somewhat curious how it applies.As you can see, I have a lot of stuff to play with and review. Make sure you check back in for those, k.
Enjoy your weekend!
xoxo,
PUSSpuss.inheels@yahoo.com
Dear Puss, Do you really hate all high end brands? I hardly ever see any on your blog. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you feature drugstore brands as I can't afford to splurge on expensive cosmetics, but I'm wondering if you've used high end brands other than Mac? Do you have favourites? Layla B.Hey Layla!
Thanks for writing in. First and foremost, I dislike using the word "hate". It's too strong of a word. Plus, regardless of the brand, "hate" is such a dirty word to use for makeup, methinks!
No, I don't dislike all high end brands! I just can't stomach paying the extra 60% (?) on packaging and marketing!! I also think high end brands are of better quality is a myth! If you're a smart consumer, you'd know you don't have to pay so much for "quality". I've used high end makeup for most of my radio career. That was how I learned what I liked and didn't as I did tons of shoots. I'm not one to just make a sweeping statement on how I don't like this brand and that without even trying. When I say I don't like a product, more often than not, I've already used/tried it, not once, not twice, but usually more than that.I still have favourites from the higher price range although I have to admit I've been more or less distracted by the funner side of drugstore makeup. That's another reason why I am not keen on high end brands - I find most of them boring.
Some of the high end products I still adore:Lips
Lancome Juicy Tubes.
Lancome Juicy Tubes: Raisin. Mangue. Myrtille.
At one point, I practically had every colour possible. Some people despise the ultra stickiness of these babies, but I love them! They are long lasting, especially when I use them for shows under bright lights and long hours. The colours are adorable, not too pigmented but not too sheer either, they make your lips look ... well... juicy! I used most of the tubes til the last drop, and now I'm left with these and a couple more in sample sizes. However, I am not too crazy over the packaging as I much prefer the traditional bottle with sponge-tip applicator anyday.
Estee Lauder Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipsticks.
EsteeLauder Lipsticks: Almond. Caramel Toffee. Vanilla Truffle. Gloss in White Chocolate.
Eyes
Shu Uemura single eye shadows.
Shu depotted single shadows.
They are also easier to depot, and so I bought an empty quad and stuck all 4 Shu shadows I own into a quad. I had to stop at 4, because I couldn't justify paying RM80 a pop (back then). In my eyes, I think Shu makes some of the best shadows in the market.
Lancome quads.
Lancome GWP quads.
YSL Touche Eclat highliter pen.
Face
Mac Studio Tech.
This was my go-to foundation when I had events to attend and shows to host. It's such a great product! This water-base medium to heavy coverage foundation is cooling to the touch and glides over skin. This is the perfect foundation when you have flashbulbs going off in your face. There's no white mask effect, the foundation makes me look flawless in pictures without looking over made up. Even in real life, your skin will look smooth and beautiful with this. It comes with a sponge but I use this with a flat foundation brush for a clean, streak-free finish.
There you have it!
Have an awesome day, y'all!xoxo,PUSS
puss.inheels@yahoo.com
Since I have such a *huge* makeup collection, I thought it would be great, at every end of the month, to list down 5 things I enjoyed using in that month. I get new products at least once a month, so some are new, some are old stuff tucked away which I have re-discovered. Enjoy!
August has been one ver-ry weird month.
For starters, I had forgotten that it's the end of the month as I always list down 5 makeup things that I liked. End of the month? Is it just me or the month just flew by??Man!
I've been doing quite a bit of run around, thank Gawd the heatwave is over, and although I don't quite like driving in the rain, it sure hell beats baking in the car! There just seemed to be so many things to do, and I'm barely catching up! Not looking forward to September either. Eid is in the 3rd week of this month, have not gotten much ready, plus I loathe the whole visit-family routine. Maybe I'll skip that this year. I've never been much of a family-person. Family get-togethers are so boring!
Anyhoo.
Here are my 5 favourite makeup stuff in August, in no particular order:
1. Revlon Cream Blush in First Blush. 
I'm not big on cream blushes as I find them a lil' too messy to use. I have a couple of NYX Cream Blushes - they're OK, wee bit too pigmented for my liking that I find it hard to control. I seriously don't know why I got this, but I'm glad I did! Revlon Cream Blush is nothing like the NYX's cream blushes. This is not as gooey, a tad bit drier in texture compared to NYX's and not so crazy pigmented. It's so easy to blend and you can top up as you please without looking like a clown. The shade First Blush looks fierce in the pan but goes on very natural on the cheeks. This makes me look like I just came back from the gym (minus the sweat and disheveled hair!). The pop-out mirror is a little useless to me, but if you need to have some blush on the go, I guess it'll come in handy!
2. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer in DARK (old packaging).
I took a deep breath when I bought this simply because it's Maybelline. But this proved to be a real winner! I bought this in DARK, and when I received it, I thought this looks too dark. The shade is more of a peach shade which works incredibly well in counter-acting my dark-blue under eye circles. The texture's not too thick, so it's so easy to blend and doesn't settle in my fine lines. Hellalujah!
3. jane Oil-free Bronzing Powder in Sunkissed Bronzed.
Well, whaddya know? I am so in love with this bronzer!! It is a matte bronzer, which I love because they're easier to work with and more versatile in my opinion. It's a lovely natural colour that can do just about everything - contour, naturally altering your natural shade to give you that subtle warm look, giving you that healthy dose of colour to the face, and this doesn't make you look orange! It's not dark at all, and you build it up as you like. I love using this as a contour (as I am blessed with big cheeks on a round face!), and as an all over bronzer. Great stuff!
4. Essence of Beauty Deluxe Duo brushes.
These came in a pack of three, but I only like these 2. The top is a Foundation and Concealer duo. I don't normally use flat conventional foundation brushes for my liquid foundation, but I love using this with my MAC Studio Fix Powder or with my MAC Studio Tech, and blending in concealers. The bristles are dense and so so soft! It feels so nice against my skin. The bottom is Blush & Powder duo. The angled blush brush is densely packed and does an awesome job at contouring. It picks up enough contour shade and it fits nicely in the hollows my cheeks. The powder side is a little small for powder so I use it to dust mineral powder concealer under the eye area. You can get Essence of Beauty Deluxe Duo Set (comes with 3 duos) from cvs.com.
5. ELF Mineral Eye shadow Primer.
One the newbies from eyeslipsface.com, this is a fantastic shadow primer for only $3. This primer is gentle, doesn't dry out my poor lids, and keeps shadows in place and fresh all day long. I have no trouble with creasing or fading, as this holds up pretty well. The only complain I have is the stink that comes with the product. This stuff makes me gag, but it does such a fabulous job at keeping my shadows vibrant and crease-free, I hold my breath whenever I decide to use this! Great (cheaper) alternative for the pricier UDPP and TFSI.
August faves.
I finally found a couple of products from Maybelline that I really really like. This brand has been a hit and miss for me, more misses than hits to be honest! I took a chance getting these two concealers: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer in Dark and Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Concealer in Beige Medium 2-4. Thank Gawd they worked!
Concealers are so ingrain in my makeup routine that when I leave them out, I feel naked almost! I have deep set eyes so bags and circles are part of the package. My battle with dark circles go way back, but lately, I've been fortunate not to have such severe circles anymore! But they're still there! My collection of eye concealers are as obscene as my lip glosses because they are an essential part of my routine, even if it's just a mascara-and-lip balm-day.
Prior to this, I've been super happy with Loreal True Match Super Blendable Concealer. It's opaque enough to cover and light enough not to settle into my fine lines. That's another concern of mine - fine lines. Creamy concealers like NYX Concealer in a Jar and MAC Studio Finish concealers tend to dry out my under eye area, and highlight my under eye problems instead of concealing them, especially the fine lines. So my best option these days is to stick to liquid concealers, which may be thinner but are more forgiving.Maybelline Instant Age Rewind in Dark is my favourite between the two. I lucked out with the shade as I wasn't sure if this would suit me. But it does! It looked dark in the tube at first but when I applied it, it covered my circles like a blanket!
The shade is more peach in colour, which counteracts with my bluish dark circles effectively! The texture is thin and runny which makes it easy to blend and seemed gentler on my parched under eye area. This doesn't settle into my fine lines but it doesn't last as long as I had hoped for. Still, I think this is a pretty darn good concealer! 
This is the old packaging which is easier to handle than the new one which comes in a mascara-like tube. It has a nozzle to dispense the product which is hygienic, and gives good control over the amount you squirt out. Also, I got this for a steal - less than 5 bucks!
Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Concealer in Beige Medium 2-4 is another drugstore concealer you should try if your in the market for one. This shade fits my NC40-42 skin tone almost like a glove! The texture is not as thin as the Age Rewind concealer, but this doesn't cover dark circles as good. You need a couple of applications for that. This concealer is not drying, but it doesn't last. I've tried this on my blemishes and it doesn't irritate them. 
The packaging has a doe-foot applicator which makes for easy application and this spreads and blends easily. This concealer also doesn't settle into fine lines. Since it's gentle enough, I normally prefer using this on my blemishes.
Mind you, these are not heavy-duty concealers so if you have a severe case of dark circles, you might want to skip these and give the creamy ones a try.
I found these two concealers with cheaper price tags at brigettesboutique.com.
Thanks for dropping by my blog. Have a good one! xoxo,puss.inheels@yahoo.com
I don't do FOTDs or EOTDs, but I thought I'd pick one look from the week that I liked and list down the products I used in Makeup of the Week.
This week has been one long, boring week, as far as makeup goes. I wasn't as adventurous as I normally am, and stuck to the bare basics (or minimum).
I really like the ELF Studio Eyeliner & Shadow Stick. The first one I bought was in green/moss. I was quite impressed by it, I put in for 2 more orders: brown/basic and black/smoke.
ELF Studio Eyeliner & Shadow Stick in Brown/Basic.
I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance prior to the shadow as I know it'll crease almost immediately. Then I set the shadow with translucent loose powder. The shadow and liner lasted a good 4 hours on my lids that way, before I found minor creasing in my inner eyelids. This is such a simple and fuss-free way to dress up the eyes without having to deal with so many eyeshadow colours!
Face
Foundation: Wet n' Wild Ultimate Sheer Tinted Moisturiser in Sun Kissed.
Powder: Everyday Minerals Kaolin Finishing Powder in Soft Bronze to set foundation.
Concealer: Maybelliner Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Concealer in Beige Medium 2-4 for undereye circles.
Cheeks
Bronzer: ELF Studio Cool Bronzer to contour.
Blush: Milani Mineral Blush in Mai Tai.
Eyes
Primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance (not in picture).
Eyes: ELF Studio Eyeliner & Shadow Stick in Brown/Basic - Shadow stick all over lids, Eyeliner in crease, blend, Eyeliner to line; NYC Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder in Translucent to set eyeshadow.
Mascara: Maybelline Define A Lash in Very Black.
Brows: Wet n' Wild Brow Kohl Liner in Taupe.Lips
Lips: NYX Tinted Lip Spa in Hush.
This seemed boring but it worked! Great for days when you do want to look a little more than just mascara and lipstick/gloss/lip balm!
Have a great weekend!
xoxo,puss.inheels@yahoo.com
How sleek are these babies?!
These are 2 out of 3 new bronzers newly introduced in the ELF Studio lineup, and I quickly snatched these 2 before they went out of stock! The 3 new bronzers come in Golden, Warm and Cool, and with my warm, tan skin tone, it would have been a natural pick to get Golden and Warm. But I got Cool and Warm instead.
I initially wanted just the Cool bronzer as it was the only one which is matte. Golden is very shimmery and Warm does have a little shimmer in it. Since I don't carry shimmer well, naturally, the Cool bronzer was my choice.
Cool bronzer.
The warm bronzer has a different story. I think this is the biggest hit among the 3. The warm bronzer has more gold undertones but surprisingly has less shimmer than I thought. It definitely is not matte, but does carry a little shimmer, though not enough to make me look like a grease ball. 
Warm bronzer.
The bronzers, as with the other products, come in sleek black plastic packaging with a huge mirror on the cover. There's a lot of product in the pan, and I was also delighted to find out that the powder is firmly pressed, unlike ELF's regular 1-dollar Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder, where you'd get powder everywhere the moment you dip your brush in! The Studio ones are better made.
For the price you pay, this is a pretty good quality product! The ELF Studio bronzers retail for $3 each at eyeslipsface.com.
Thanks for dropping in!
xoxo,puss.inheels@yahoo.com
So, I thought I'd amuse myself and get one these lip glosses from Coastal Scents.com.
To be honest, I wasn't really wowed by the product but yeah, I was curious. Coastal Scents' Smacks lip glosses come in a variety of shades and it was almost impossible to choose one as the pictures didn't really show the true colours.
*image from coastalscents.com*
Let's start with the positives first. I liked the brush applicator any day. It applies the gloss better and more evenly onto my lips. No clumps, no mess, pretty easy, pretty smooth.
I liked the colour! Mega Mauve was almost an exact match to my natural lip colour. It even made my lips looked better, even though it is not a pigmented gloss!
Buuuuut! Overall, I am not impressed at all with this lip gloss.
The size is tiny! Granted I probably won't use up the stuff anytime soon, but this looked like a sample than the real thing.
I didn't quite like the formula of the gloss either. Too runny, a little too sheer, not sticky enough enough for me so the gloss lasted for about half an hour on my lips before just leaving a dull sheen. I like my glosses a little stickier, like MAC's Lipsglass or Lancome Juicy Tubes, as the shine is better and they last longer. This, I hate to say, is your typical cheapo gloss. Heck, I've even tried cheaper glosses perform better than this!! 
I think this would be good to throw in your handbag, as it it is small in size, and can be used for touch-up and such, but if you prefer glosses that go the extra mile without having to re-apply every 10 minutes, you may be disappointed with this.
Me, I'm just glad I didn't go nuts and buy a whole lot of shades. Thank Gawd I was sensible enough to just get one for a try-out.
Coastal Scents Smacks lip glosses retail for $2.95 on Coastalscents.com. xoxo,puss.inheels@yahoo.com
Don't knock the cheap stuff because chances are they're the ones that will knock your socks off. I learned that a long time ago, when I used to scoff at folks buying up Wet n' Wild and/or other cheap brands. I remember Wet n'Wild from way back in college where I would buy up their 99 cents eyeliner pencils in multiple colours. They were hard and of poor quality, but hell, they were cheap. Plus I was a college student in a far-away land, I had to save up for a jar of Creme de LaMer from Saks 5th Avenue, which didn't leave me with much! Those were the days ...
Today, Wet n' Wild is still cheap, but have survived amongst a sea of other cheapo brands. They've stepped up their game, still sellin' them for dirt cheap through ugly-@s$ packaging, but the stuff inside will make you go "Hoooooooooooo m'Gaaaaaaaaawd!!"
I don't have a ton of Wet n' Wild stuff, but the ones I do have, have yet to disappoint me. I enjoy using them, and enjoy it more that I don't have to sell my left arm for a product that delivers. These babies are cheap, but they work expensive, ya know?! I was so reluctant to get their 8-colour palette Ultimate Expression Eyes. Not because they're not good, but there are 8 colours in one palette. Anything more than 5 colours in a palette will confuse the heck out of me, so how am I going to use 8 colours???
For $4.99 a piece, you get 8 highly pigmented colours. So let me get to the usual questions asked when it's cheap:
No they're not chalky at all.
No they're not hard, in fact they're darn silky.
No you don't get fall outs.
No they're not hard to blend.
No they do not smell.No they don't fade after an hour, but like any shadow, drugstore or high end, you can make them last even longer when you use a good eye primer underneath.
No they do not make your lids go dark because they're cheap. *excuse me while I roll my eyes*. Use a good remover to take off eye make up, then your lids won't darken overtime!
No you won't get cooties because they are cheap. *lemme roll my eyes again*
Yes they come in the ugliest packaging, but so what! They are freakin' awesome!!I started out getting this plum/purple-ish pallete called Paradise Cove.
Wet n' Wild Ultimate Expressions in Paradise Cove.
Third's time a charm with this palette!
Wet n' Wild Ultimate Expressions in Sand Castle.
Both times, my order shattered in the mail, and no thanks to drugstore.com's atrocious packing skills, I nearly gave up on the idea of owning this palette. I consoled myself saying it's a bronze/gold/natural palette, and I am not a fan of natural colours. This is called Sand Castle and it has a little more shimmery fillers than the other palettes. The colours can be quite frosty but super-pigmented. I didn't get "true" natural colours, thank Gawd! This palette is far from boring.But yes, this palette is just as gorgeous, and as silky, although I suspect, softer and more fragile as it shattered on me twice before! I finally lucked out with Nonpareilboutique.com which started carrying Wet n' Wild products and they are much better at packing their stuff! My Sand Castle finally came to me in one beautiful piece!
Cute feature with these palettes, the mirror slides out at the bottom!
I initially though this was one cheap gimmick, but the mirror proved to be quite useful when I am applying my eye shadow!
These come in 3 colours - I have 2 as you can see. The other one is a more of a green/blue palette, not so shimmery, but the colours are still very pretty.
They retail for $4.99, if your buying online, you can find these at drugstore.com (bad packing!) and nonpareilboutique.com. *Don't get these confuse with the cream shadow palette - they look similar, but I hear the cream palettes suck big time!*
Have a great day!xoxo,puss.inheels@yahoo.com
1. Sunblock of at least SPF 25. I normally use SPF 30 for beach bound holidays and never stinge on slathering on before leaving the hotel room, even on a gloomy day. I don't mind turning darker, but I don't want any excuse to get skin cancer! My family has cancer history so I am always very aware. Preventing is better that cure. Though that tube of sunblock has seen better days. eew. I'll buy a new one tomorrow at the airport...
Now that my body is stretching in different directions, I had to add these babies to minimise stretch marks. I do not want to have the world map on my ass!!
All in my toiletry bag, and off I go!
