Colour me cute!

 Because someone on Reddit asked for them, here are - from top to bottom - swatches comparing Nyx Born to Glow foundation in Pale, Nyx Can't Stop Won't Stop Concealer in Pale, and Artdeco Camouflage Cream in the lightest color (which I think is 13, but the box only says 2...) Pic one is outside in direct sunlight, pic 2 was taken in my windowless bathroom.

 I know I have not posted anything in years, because I was busy and because I started mostly exchanging beauty information with people on Reddit, but this seemed like the easiest format for this sunscreen comparison. For those who are new here, or have forgotten who I am (I wouldn't blame you), I am very pale (I wear Pale in Nyx) with a neutral undertone, but a lot of redness in my face, while my neck is more olive-toned. (I match foundation to my neck, not my chest, because I don't often expose the latter. for various reasons.) Green-toned sunscreens have intrigued me from the moment I first saw one - after all, I wear sunscreen every day, so why not use it to color-correct? Turns out, it's not that easy. Most of us know by now that sunscreen needs to be applied in generous amounts to actually protect us, but some of the sunscreens I tested made that pretty hard. If I applied too much at once, they got patchy and streaky , but if I tried to apply them in two or three layer...

Last month, I finally went back to Japan after quite some time, and of course bought a lot of beauty products. (Thank you, Qatar Airways, for your generous 30 kg allowance! I can even forgive the slightly rude and overly perfumed flight attendants for that.) Compared to the last time I lived in Japan and blogged here, my focus is more on skincare, haircare and lip products than colourful eyeshadows and nail stuff. An old favourite of mine makes a reappearance as well, though. Here's everything I bought (except for a peach-scented lipbalm that doesn't do much for my lips - I forgot to take it out of my bag): From left to right, back to front (I have bigger pictures if anyone wants to see them): Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil refill: I have used up several bottles of this, and now finally bought a refill instead of a new bottle (they don't sell refills at Sasa) Mutenka Cleansing Milk because I like skincare without unnecessary additives, especially if all you do i...

Well, actually I've been wearing OPI's Teenage Dream since Friday two weeks ago. That's why it looks kind of grown out. ^^; This week, I decided I would use Last Friday Night on the tips and create some sort of gradient effect. It reminds me of dusk, what do you think? The colours are more accurate in the second picture, but the first one shows the glitter effect better. <3 OPI nail polishes are top quality, they dry fast and last very long my nails at least. Like any other glitter polish, however, after a while they look a bit duller than they did freshly applied. I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say. ^^; These two are my only OPI fullsizes at the moment. The others I own are a set of 5 minis, including one very pretty red I have no idea what it's called. >.< OPI is expensive in Germany, and I have enough nail polishes here to justify not making a bulk order on the internet. I did, however, fall in love with Teenage Dream w...

And the happier post I promised comes right away! As I said, I've been at home a lot lately, but I did go out to get my hair cut, so here is a picture I took of my new do today: This picture is fairly accurate in terms of colour, I dare say, so please excuse my stupid expression. ^^; I used: Kate High Cover Powder Foundation in Bright-up Color no name eyebrow powder Majolica Majorca Shadow Customize in WT963 all over, GR185 in the crease and the outer lower lashline and BR784 to lightly tightline Majolica Majorca Lash Gorgeous Wing Neo (of course) Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compact in #11 Rose Fairy, which has quickly become my favourite blush, but doesn't really show up in this picture Coffret d'or Full Styling Rouge (Glow) in RS-244, which is my favourite MLBB lipstick (and sadly discontinued >.<), which is a tad darker in real life It feels a little weird to be wearing a full face of make-up again after several weeks of being almost bare-faced with only B...

Sorry for the long absence. I wasn't in the mood for blogging, and even if I had been, I stayed mostly at home with no make-up on, caring for my sick cat who passed away a week ago. If you don't like to read about people's pets, I'm sorry, but let me post one picture of her:    I got her when I was 7, and the almost 16 years we've been together are the longest friendship I've ever had. As you can probably imagine, I miss her like crazy, but I know she's in heaven now and a lot happier than here.  I promise I will post a "real" entry right after this.

Sorry for the silence on this blog, but life got in the way. My cat is sick, so if someone wants to include her in their evening prayers, we'd appreciate that! I was tagged by the lovely shelynx from Der Blasse Schimmer , which is a word play on the saying, "I don't have the faintest idea" - "ich habe keinen blassen Schimmer" in German, and the fact that "blass" means pale. I always enjoy reading blogs by other pale ladys because as you know, I don't stick out much from the wall behind me. xD (I'm no wallflower, however, and like my bright colours.) Anyway, she tagged me on the topic of beauty , so I am going to write a little something about my views on beauty. Do share yours if you feel like it!  Before I start, these are the rules: Mention the blogger who tagged you and link to their blog Write 8 things about you related to the topic chosen by that blogger Tag eight people Tell those eight people about it. Make up your own top...

Sasa offers free worldwide shipping for orders over 29$ and expedited shipping for only 8$ this week! I just ordered some things, including my first Softymo Cleansing Oil for only 6$ something.

Sorry, folks, still working on that thesis. >___< Recently, on a German beauty blog I follow, someone mentioned a spelling mistake the blogger makes a lot, and pretty much every other comment was about how this one person who dared to highlight the mistake should stop caring so much or just open a spelling blog instead. I don't think that a typo is the end of the world, but I do like to read blogs that are as mistake-free as possible, and I would definitely appreciate it if you pointed out any mistakes to me, especially since I'm writing this blog in a language that's not my native one. So while I agree that a mistake is not a big deal, I don't think we should go and attack someone who points one out in a nice way. This also made me think how some beauty bloggers are totally meticulous about their eye make-up or foundation routine, but don't care about spelling or grammar all that much. Why can't we put a little effort into both? It's a way of s...

I was this close to buying a Rouge Coco Shine, and I've always wanted the Mademoiselle fragrance, but recently, I've found out that Coco Chanel not only wasn't particularly against the nazis, she also promoted tanning. Well, thank you, Ms. Chanel, for all those people who feel like coming up to me and telling me to go out and tan a little or asking if I don't any friends to take me out of the house sometimes.

... possibly when I'm done with my thesis, I have to place an order here: http://salenail.com/index.php Although I find it a bit hard to order colours only based on online swatches. And I'm not doing crazy colours and nail designs very often these days. Lately, I've become more of a neutral eye make-up and reddish/rosey lipstick kind of person, it seems. They just suit me better, and they're definitely much more work-appropriate.

Specifically, a neutral rosey pink. (Although to those people who tend to think of warmer shades like the Japanese PK ones, I should probably say a cool-neutral pink.) It should look like the very first picture here on A Touch of Blusher . Any suggestions? If possible, Japanese (and not completely matte, although also not glittery or -ugh- frosty) lipsticks, although I'm afraid with such a specific wish, I'll probably have to venture into different brands, maybe even MAC.

I haven't even managed to pick up one of the new nail polishes yet, and the #700 eye colour is still on my wishlist, too, but this: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/hsiaobao/11570694 Torn between 100 and 300 at the moment, and you?

... whose face has a different colour from the neck? To be more precise, my face is pink-toned (there's probably also some redness, but the skin itself is rather cool-toned, too), whereas my neck is more neutral-to-yellow. If I put on yellow make-up, though, it looks weird, too. Plus, my hair is a warm golden-brown, which clashes with my face quite nicely, and I have not yet managed to get rid of the warm hues. Very, very strange. :/

What do you think? Yeah? Nay?

Happy New Year! I hope this will be a good year for you and for me. Speaking of me, the deadline for my graduation is coming closer, and I will be absent from this blog for a little while. (You can still email me if you need me for anything!) Maybe it's a good time to take a break, seeing as my skin hated the holidays (fat and sugary food + the cold I just have to catch as soon as I get a few days off) and is looking quite bad at the moment. Just in time, I have received quite a lot of Avène skincare samples from the Cleanance series which I will be trying out (my Clinique set ran out and my La Roche-Posay Toleriane fluid is also quite empty - the Effaclar Duo I just bought can wait) - despite the hiatus, I shall update quickly if I see any results. I do worry about it being drying, as I don't have oily, but combination-dry and sensitive acne-prone skin, but I guess Clean-Ac should help with that. So, I hope you'll all be well! See you soon, Julia

Seriously, this is the first time I've been to the salon this year. Oo My hair had gotten pretty long (about bra-level-length xD) and I felt like cutting it all off. So here: None of these is very accurate colour-wise. ^^; Also sporting: Everyday Minerals Matte Foundation in Fair Neutral Paul&Joe Duo Eye Gloss in #04 Bourgeoisie, Majolica Majorca Creamy Pencil Liner in brown and Lash Gorgeous Wing Mascara Lavshuca Star Glow Rouge in RS-2 (which is darker in real life, a very nice berry colour)

I just placed my first Sasa.com order! They are offering free expedited shipping til the 19th if you buy products for $49 or more, and the Jill Stuart Blush Compact in #11 Rose Fairy was $44, so I ordered an SK-II sample with it. Paid €39 in the end, which isn't bad at all. :) (Usually, Sasa.com only ships for free (and standard shipping, not expedited) if you order for over $100, and while I could totally find enough stuff I want *cough*, my bank account will not agree with me then.) I wonder if it will be here before Christmas, so I can wear it with my new eye jelly I got this week (#10 Vintage Decor) and which I love. <3

I just got my first blog award from the dear CamiKatze, a fellow blogger from Berlin. I totally didn't expect this, so now is my time to say a huge THANK YOU and to give out seven blog awards in return! But first of all, let me say a few words about CamiKatze's blog " VANITAS ". Unfortunately, it is in German only, but I think it is worth using google translator or similar means for international visitors, because it is full of interesting reviews (about Asian cosmetics, too) from a very honest yet sweet blogger. (I love our long conversations about literature and the world! Yes, we don't just talk about make-up. xD) The seven blogs I'd like to hand this award on to are: VANITAS (right back at you! XP) Lotus Palace (which I must visit every day) My Women Stuff  Rouge Deluxe A Touch of Blusher Of Toys and Tokyo Beauty Box

And here I bring you the swatches of all foundations I own, which I promised like half a year ago? This is as accurate as my camera was willing to get. (I know it looks shadey and dark, but this was the only photo with accurate contrast, the lighter ones also made the foundation seem too light and actually match my skintone. In fact, the contrast is even bigger in reality, and I got a little shock when I looked at my arm.) From left to right: Kate High Coverage Liquid Foundation (Bright-up Color) Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in #51 Astor Matitude HD in ... there's no colour ID written on my bottle, but the lightest colour there is Maybelline Pure Make-up in Porcelaine Ivory BRTC Blemish Recover Balm Holika Holika Petite Watery BB Cream Take a look at this picture (click to enlarge): See what I mean? As you can see, only the Kate actually matches my skin - and that is the one that has almost zero coverage (despite its name. ^^;) Bourjois is a bit too dark...