Warning, highly addictive–felt miniature craft

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Apparently children ‘play house’ to mimic their parents. So then I guess our natural affinity for life-like miniature foods must be based, at some level, on nostalgia for our childhood.

What ever the reason. Felt miniature crafting is hella fun!

I first encountered this while I was living in Japan. I saw a felt cake making ‘kit’ in the 100 yen store and almost wet myself right there in the store from the cuteness overload. It’s surprising that I stuck with this hobby because I am actually extremely sucky at sewing! But felt is the perfect medium for someone me because even if you make a mistake the end product is still incredibly cute!

A few months ago my friend Serra asked me to teach her how to make felt miniatures to make into rings. Since then I’ve begun replenishing my sewing supplies (I had to leave everything in Japan when I left). Unfortunately felt craft is really unheard of in Australia, so it’s been hard to find some really important colours. They usually come in gaudy primary and secondary colours. To make realistic miniatures you really need the tertiary colours. I think the colours most craft stores stock cater for people making mundane things like cushions or bags. To me this is a total waste, because felt is really perfect for making 3D figures.

Ok enough blab. Now for pictures!

Lime cheesecake

Coffee plunger and cup

It really plunges teehee!

Raisen sandwitch cookie

Berry biscuit cake

There were all made using patterns books I bought from Japan :)

Perfect brown eye shadow? Sponsored review - Ameli Cake Eye Shadow #217 Charcoal Brown from Vanity Box!

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A perfect brown eye shadow is probably one of the most important and also the most versatile item in your makeup toolbox. Ameli Cake Eye Shadow could just be…dare I say it…the one?

If you’ve never heard of Ameli, like me, the following blurb on the Vanity Box website says it all:

It is an online only business(lower product costs compared to store front retailers) and has only recently opened to end customers(2008), prior to that they only specialised in providing cosmetics for make up artists. They have been gaining immense popularity over the past 2 years, recently winning the best cosmetics site award(In Style Korean Magazine). Having reviewed their products, we feel that Ameli eyeshadows are an excellent buy as they have a range of colours similar to that only found in branded cosmetics and is of equally superb quality. Ameli’s products also come in a generous amount, i.e – their eyeshadows come in twice the amount of content compared to a majority of brands -  at affordable prices. You can read more about Ameli here.

When Vanity Box said they would send me some of their Ameli makeup for to review, I was sceptical. For makeup, I’ve always operated under the rule that price indicates quality (with exceptions when they come from Asia!). When I saw Vanity Box’s reasonable prices, I really didn’t expect the quality to be spectacular. But when they arrived, I fell in love with them immediately! I love the simple but cute packaging, and I’m a stickler for products that are wrapped in layers! I like the anticipation :)

The compact itself is super cute.

But enough about the packaging. What I really want to talk about is how great this product actually is! This is a seriously buildable eye shadow. Very pigmented and yet can can be blended or smeared to lighter tones if needed.

Here’s my look, using only Ameli eye shadow, liquid eyeliner and Licca False Lashes (I’m also wearing Ameli Shiny Cake Blusher, but more on that next time!)

 

• Highly pigmented and yet completely blend-able to various shades of barely there or full on deep brown
• Perfect for achieving a smoky-eye look
• One eye shadow can do it all – no need for a mid or light tone brown to create a gradation
• Due to the pigmentation, this could double as an eyeliner if applied with a damp eyeliner brush
• Matte with no glitter shimmer so versatile for day and night
• Generous portion, not that you’ll need it, as a little goes a very long way
• The price is a steal, on sale now at $10 each!

• More like powder eye shadow than pressed, so can be a bit messy if you don’t tap off your brush before application
• Size of compact is on the big side, about the same size as the Napoleon Colour Disk, so not really made purse friendly– but then I don’t really pack eye shadow in my bag anyway

I genuinely love this product and it’s already become one of my go-to items!

Stay tuned for my review of Ameli Shiny Cake Blushers and my 7 day coordination project with items form Vanity Box’s apparel range!

This review is sponsored by Vanity Box (http://vanitybox.com.au). They are based in Australia (yay!), but they ship internationally as well! They are still quite new, having only been around since 2010, but with their amazing products, excellent customer service and super fast shipping, I can tell they are going to be the next big thing. But there’s definitely something special about this retailer that gives them an edge against other more established online stores. Unlike some Asian fashion retailers, Vanity Box doesn’t ‘cattle drive’ their stock. You get a feeling from the effort they put into their well built website and excellent product descriptions that they are passionate about everything they sell. Also I might mention that the store owner is a dear!

This description on their website:

Beginning in mid 2010, Vanity Box is an online boutique store focusing on chic and trendy Korean fashion wear and Korean cosmetics. At Vanity Box, we aim to provide a pleasant shopping experience. Our motto is to provide quality yet affordable products without compromising our service. Vanity Box is the only foreign supplier of Ameli cosmetics, a new contender in the Korean market with a strong following online.

Cheap Thrills Thursday!

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Cheap Thrills purchases to take the edge off my shopping addiction!

Cuff from Sports girl on on sale at $5!

 

Dear Antler ring from Ebay for 76c on bid! : O

Ring from Equip $3

 

Hand crafted false lower lashes from ebay $2.75 each

 

180 piece Fimo Cane Nail Art Slices from ebay $1

Review–Licca Eyelashes: Sweet type

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I love reviewing obscure products that I’ve never heard of before. When I saw this for sale from my favourite Ebay seller, alphabeautyuk, I just couldn’t resist.

Licca-chan enjoys the same popularity in Japan’s as Barbie in western countries. She’s been around since the 1960’s and is a cult Japanese toy. Recently they even came out with a hugely popular arcade came. But I never heard about Licca-chan coming out with her own makeup range. As far as I know, she only has out a range of false eyelashes.

You get one pair of lashes and an ‘eyelash case’, which is just a pretty generic sliding tin box that usually packages mints.

The eyelash case is actually the main reason I bought this product. The super cute design really sucked me in. Actually when choosing which lash design to get, I just chose the eyelash case design I like best.

While it’s a good size for keeping lashes, due to this case not being air tight by any means, you couldn’t keep any small lashes in this, as they would just fall through the cap between the case and the lid. I’m currently using this tin to hold hair clips!

I bought these lashes on a whim, and I just assumed they would be cheap and horrible. But the appearance of this falsie is very deceiving. On first inspection of the lashes in the packaging, it looks like a pretty generic plastic mold type like other cheap lashes. But when I removed the lashes from the package, I was really surprised how flexible the spine was. Applying this eyelash was so easy because of this. When I removed the lashes later, I had a closer look and realized that this wasn’t a mold type at all. There are actually individual clumps mounted on a clear resin base, very similar to the way Dolly Wink No.6 ‘Baby Cute’ is mounted.

So how do they look?

Fricken fantastic! I actually really love these lashes. They allow you to effortlessly create the long defined lash look. The effect is probably similar to Dolly Wink No.1, but I would go so far as to say that Licca Eyelash Sweet is better.

• Attractive design, great for achieving the long defined lashes look
• Spine is extremely flexible, making application extremely easy.
• Light weight and very comfortable when on
• Due to the way the fibers are mounted, this is quite a durable eyelash. The individual clumps don’t move at all, and are firmly secured.
• While quality is not as high as other leading brands, they look fantastic on.

• Only comes with one pair, so possibly not great value at $10.95 each.
• ‘Eyelash case’, though very cute, is not very suitable for carrying lashes, which just fall out through the gaps.
• The quality is not as high as other leading brands. The fibers are synthetic and tends to look plastic-y.
• Not aimed at creating volume

I’m looking forward to trying the other styles in this range!

You can buy these from ebay here. So far I haven’t seen these sold anywhere else.

Outfit of the day–no fear of birds

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I’ve always shad a thing for birds. To me they epitomize everything pleasant and beautiful in the world – flight; freedom; beauty; music; innocence.... So I find myself collecting things with bird motifs. I feel like they say a lot about me, or at least my aesthetic. 

Wearing: Scarf from Sportsgirl; Top and shirt – Thrifted; Shorts from JayJay’s, Bag from Typo, Mimco Tatto Brogues

Earlier this week my favourite Futurama episode was on tv, Band-aid. That’s the one where Bender teams up with Beck and tour the world, with Fry and the rest of the gang following Bender’s band around the world in a shag van, living up the 60’s groupie lifestyle. I know it’s lame (!) but this outfit is inspired by that episode!

Review–Princess Mimi Café Series–Café Latte Brown

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Being quite a conservative circle lens wearer, I was yet to venture into the realm of novelty lens designs. The Princess Mimi Café series is probably quite a tame choice. While being ingeniously based on various café themes, the series is still aimed to look rather natural, coming in various tones of plausible eye colours of grey, brown and…red? I decided to try the Princess Mimi Café Latte, as it is the lightest brown of the series.

Just before I go into a detailed review of these lenses, I should give a mention to the lovely people at EyecadyLens.com, who sponsored this review. Even though I wasn’t a paying customer, their communication was excellent, keeping me updated at all times about shipping etc. The indicative arrival date was within 10-17 business days. The package arrived 8 days after their email :). The free contact lens case is much appreciated!

Now to the lenses. Like other Princess Mimi lenses, the design of the Café latte is intricate and very pretty. The pigment is semi translucent. I really wish they were opaque like the Bambi series so that they would show up more dramatically. But you know what? These really look like two cups of café latte!

To demonstrate, I asked my boyfriend to make me a café latte :). 

• Colour: Yellow-Brown
• Size: 15.0mm
• Water content: 38% - 42%
• Usage: 1 year disposable

So here’s how the lens looks in indoor light. Because this is a very translucent lens, and I have very black eyes, the design unfortunately doesn’t show up that clearly. In fact I think the effect is very similar to Geo Super Nudy Brown.

Because the lens is translucent, you’ll get the much sought after ‘halo effect’, where the lens overshoots your iris.

And here’s how the lenses look in natural light. The design shows up much better, and look almost sparkly.

In terms of comfort, I always make sure I’ve worn the lenses a few time before writing a review. I had a similar experience with these lenses as with the Mimi Sesame Grey. The first time I put these on they were really uncomfortable, and made my eyes feel very dry. However, the next day when I tried to wear this again, it was perfect. I wore them for about 6 hours and even forgot they were there. However each other time I’ve worn these the degree of comfort really varied! I’m not sure why this is the case with the Princess Mimi lenses.

• Very pretty design – makes your eyes look sparkly
• Still quite natural looking
• At 15.0mm, great enlarging effect
• Generally comfortable

• Transparent, so the design doesn’t show up against dark eyes. Then again, you can’t really see the design on the model in the promo pic, so it’s possible this was the intended effect
• Not as comfortable as other lenses I have tried

Over all, I think this is a really fun lens ideal for both those who like novel designs and those who just want a natural looking brown lens.

You can buy this lens and many many others at eyecandylens.com. Use promo code “CLOSETVOYAGE” for a free gift with your purchase!

Tutorial–Ayumi Hamasaki inspired makeup look

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I’ve always loved Ayu’s makeup. I decided to do a makeup look inspired by her photos on the cover of her 2007 album Best 2 Black. Just a warning though, Ayu’s look isn’t for everyone – it certainly isn’t for me! But it’s still a lot of fun recreating it! The key to this look is very black eyeliner drawn close to the eye, and natural but super long false upper and lower lashes.

First is eyebrows. You want them defined and lightened brows. I used Kose Cosmagic Visual Upbrow and a brown eyeliner.

Next is eye shadow and eyeliner. You don’t need much eye shadow as this look is mostly about the defined lines. Just use a mid tone to contour under your eye socket bone. Then with a black eyeliner, line all around your eye, creating a long wing on the outer edge. Make sure the eyeliner is very close. With a white liner, highlight your tear line.

Then apply a lengthening mascara. You want super long lashes for this look.

Apply natural false lower lashes at the base of your own lashes. Try to get them as close as you can. I’m using Dolly Wink No.8 Pure Little.

Ayu’s upper lashes are feathery on the inner corners and voluminous on the outer corners. So first apply feathery natural looking upper false lashes, then cut the end off thick false lashes, layering this over the top.

Finally, get nude lips by applying concealer to your lips and then topping off with a super shiny lip gloss.

And there you have it. Like I said, this look is probably too ‘rock’ for me, but it’s fun to do!