- June 1st, Triticum Vulgare; only because of the name.
- June 5th, Embryolisse Cleansing Bar, supposedly without soap. Yeah right. Most cleansers are soap, unless they are made out of oil.
- June 9th, Bismuth Oxychloride and why it causes breakouts, again a special request from Tanistates.
- June 12th, Naked Cosmetics Mineral Eyeshadow Cabernet Blush collection. Love it: vegan, animal testing and a great ingredientlist!
- June 15th, Castor oil. I just read recently in the newspaper that it might affect the Ep4 receptor and therefore works very good as a laxative.
- June 19th, O.C.C. Skin Primer. Tanistates asked about this favourite of Monique.
- June 22nd, Glycerin. I felt the need to explain Glycerin further.
- June 26th, Yaby Cake Liner. I was wondering why this product is so longlasting.
- June 29th, Cetearyl Alcohol, one of the most skin friendly alcohol.

And last, but with no means least, I wrote a guestpost for the dutch beautyblog Beautytreat.nl, about sustainable cosmetics and how to prevent miss-buys. If you are able to read dutch, you should read it. I quite like the post. If you don’t speak dutch, don’t worry, since I’m going to translate the post and re-post them on this blog in the near future.

And that was it for this month. Was is your favourite post?

Anyway, I now contribute to the PROMS blog twice-weekly, and for my non-PROMS readers I thought it would be nice to sum up the posts I wrote. First, because I hate repeating myself, second, I also hate the fact when I’m following two blogs; the second blogs copies the first one’s blogpost and re-posts it. And, last but with no means least, I think it would be easier for new readers if I categorize everything neatly so that certain information (parabens, silicones) can be found more easier.

Anyway, this months posts include:
- My introduction post – April 8th
- O.C.C. Liptar ingredients – April 10th
- Silicones – April 13th (I survived friday the 13th, by the way.)
- Embryolisse Cream Concentre & Lait Fluide – April 17th
- Parabens – April 20th
- Yaby Pearl Paints – April 24th
- Anti-oxidants – April 28th

For all the dutchies, happy queen’s day! I’ll be volunteering first aid today but I hope that I wont be that busy.

In the words of Yisell, a New York based makeup artist whose work I love/ admire, “Practice, practice… practice on everyone! This will not happen over night so patience is key. It takes YEARS to start getting constant work (took me 7 yrs). The jobs you want WILL come, I promise you. Just test anytime you can test, assist anytime you can and never give up. Even when it seems like its impossible, never give up.”

Photo/ styling is by Clarence Tan, model is Svletana from Carrie Models in Singapore, makeup and hair by Norah.

Talc, Mica, Mineral Oil, Kaolin, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Stearate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Lanolin, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, BHT. May contain: Mica and Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ultramarine Blue, Manganese Violet, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, Chrome Oxide Greens, Chrome Hydroxide Green, FD&C Red No.40 Al Lake, FD&C Yellow No.5 Al Lake, FD&C Blue No.1 Al Lake.

Did you also see that Mica and titanium dioxide are listed twice? (“Yes, it may contain mica, in fact, it is the second most used, but hey, we might forget them in some colours.” *rolls eyes*). But, I guess it is the mineral oil, kaolin, parabens and lanonlin the reason that I don’t buy the 88 palette.

I heard that Urban Decay is vegan, and although their palettes are to die for, it is not very handy having a lot of different bulky palettes even though they are pretty. Also, even if I depotted the palettes, I would end up having many replicates (or back ups), because a lot of eyeshadows are in more than one palette. The mono’s I find ugly. Perhaps I will try the “Naked” palette, because it is nice for everyday, neutral looks.

I am thinking about getting Yaby’s Something Bright to play with. I’m still in doubt about the Dramatically neutral palette, this depends on whether or not I will buy the Naked palette. I do think that Yaby’s Something Bright is much, much better than the 88 palette. Now I do know that the 88 palette is much cheaper than Yaby, but Yaby has more pigmentation and can be refilled.

What I do find sorry, is that Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) doesn’t have palettes or pressed eyeshadow at all. I would definetly try them out.

As you can see, I’m pretty hooked on palettes, because I hate to store mono’s. I have to get a basket for it and I have to search every morning. No, not for me.

But, this wasn’t “My wishlist of palettes”, but this is actually a sunday thought so I would like to hear what you think about palettes. Vote below at the poll, or share your thoughts below.

I might have overspend 2011, so I decided to go easy(?!) this year and buy only stuff that is on my wishlist. 2011 was crazy. 2010 was crazy. I think 2012 will be the year of reflection, and spiritual growth (hippie!). I want to buy less, and enjoy more the stuff that I have. But still, I want some products. Some are very likely to buy to replace finished items (for instance, mascara), some are long time lemmings (Liptars!).

So, what’s on my wishlist?

Will buy on short term stuff:
- Lush No Drought dry shampoo (ran out)
- Lush R&B Moisturizer (if I could use this product as hair serum and if I ran out of serum)
- Mascara (three month rule – probably not going to be the one above from Sisley. Waaaaaay to expensive!)
- Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eyepencils, after I checked the ingredients. I did hear they were vegan.

When I have some money left:
- Liptars:
* Feathered (White)
* Tarred (Black)
* Vintage (Burgundy)
* Interlace, Trick, Cha cha, Memento, Hush or Tone (Nude)
* Femme (Pink)
* Lo-Fi (Mintgreen), to use as a concealer or so.
- Nailpolish (KOH!)
* Dark blue (KOH Blue universe?)
* Red
* White
* Black
* (Dark)Green
* Purple
* Nude

Brand specific stuff after I finished some categories of stuff:
- Yes to
- Hoe overleef ik?
- Greenland
- Gamila Secret
- Lush (yeah, call me a Lush junkie):
* Lush Ultrabalm
* Lush Ultrabland
* Lush Toothy tab
* Lush Masks: catastrophe cosmetic and oatfix
* Lush serum Full of Grace
* Lush enchanted eye cream
* Lush Tonertabs: Vit e, vit c
* Lush Eau Roma
* Lush dream wash (shower smoothie)
* Lush Glorious mud
* Lush Whoosh
* Lush Mange too
* Lush bodylotions: dream cream, sympathy for the skin, creme anglaise
* Lush aromaco and aromarant (deo’s)
* Lush colour supplements
* Lush jasmin & henna fluff ease
* Lush Floating island
* Gorilla perfumes miniset
* Lush Snowglobe (if I want some soap next christmas)

Other and random stuff
- Kruitvat Pure & Nature Anti-age eye cream (http://www.beautyfreaksz.nl/?p=2715)
- Royal & Langnickel Silk Pro set (12 pieces, synthetic).
- Yaby So Bright and Dramatically Neutral eyeshadow palettes
- MUFE Flash Colour or Kryolan supracolor (if it is not tested on animals, and the ingredients are ok).
- Loose pigments/Glitters (Scaredy Cat?)
- Large rectangular clothing mirror
- Inheritance-cycle by Christopher Paolini

Photocredits
Mascara: By Tom
Liptars: Vampy Varnish
Photocollage:
* KOH Polishes: Witoxicity
* Yes To: Earth Friendly Beauty
* Greenland: Greenland
* Gamila Secret: Gamila Secret
* Lush: Nurchamiel + Beauty

I FINALLY got my Yaby Pearl Paints Palette and my Yaby Dramatically Neutral Palette.  I actually got them a few weeks ago but wanted to use them and make sure I could give a thorough, well thought out review.  I guess I was also a little too excited and couldnt get my thoughts together at first.

In the first lets talk about the dramatically neutral palette.  No matter how many times I have been told yaby is designed to lighten your kit and the shadow palettes are small etc etc,Nothing prepared me for how small.The actual palette  is  a little less then half the size of my 120 palette, the eyeshadows are smaller then a dime. The palette case is  clean and white and has a large mirror finished mixing palette on the back, its meant for mixing first and foremost not for looking in while touching up which is why it is a little warped.

After getting over this initial shock, I began to experiment and play.  I purchased (or rather asked my wonderful bf to purchase for my birthday) the dramatically neutral palette chiefly for the fact, as much fun as bright colors are neutral colors are your staple and you will use them for plenty more then half the work you do.  Remember when I say neutral I definitely don’t mean boring, this yaby palette is packed with gorgeous browns, sparkling bronzes, and some bright shimmering silvers and blues.  The only disappointment for me was the purples, which are quite dark, and very matte.

Now the best part. The shadows are pigmented! Really pigmented, and they show true to color on camera, everything from my dinky digital camera to big professional cameras with lights and all that good studio stuff. I used them on a recent photoshoot for an actresses head shots and they sure looked amazing.  I will post those pictures when I get them so you can see for yourself.

All in all I think it was a worthy buy, if i get the something brights I am pretty sure I would never have to buy another eyeshadow again because with all three yaby palettes I would be covered.  The little buttons of shadow are small, but so pigmented and wonderful I need to use less, plus they arent breaking my back with extra weight in my kit.

I would buy again.

Now for what the public wants:

Swatches and photos

Ps. I am only using the 120 palette for measurement I AM NOT saying the 120 palette and the yaby palette are any way alike or that the 120 palette is anywhere near the quality of the yaby palette.

PPS. Pearl Paints review NEXT

Are you getting bored of these yet? I recently brought 8 more pearl paints.. I only have 10 more till I’ve got the entire collection of pearl paints! It’s quite a weird thing for me to say, as I’m so not used to coming near to owning all a brands eyeshadow. These are the ones I wasn’t really gonna get, but I’m so glad I did! Neon Grape, Sea Turtle and Amethyst River are all beautiful, and colours that I don’t usually wear, the rest are quite basic colours and weren’t really colours I had really seen before, but they are all quite useful to have to hand.

Swatchy time?

TO SEE SWATCHES OF THE ENTIRE SET OF PEARL PAINTS CLICK HERE.

You should check it out:  http://www.jcinstitute.com/blog/profiles/what_i_crave_for_my_kit__yaby_cosmetics

Thanks to Liz Yu for creating such a wonderful line, and thanks to Sarah Murray at the Honey Mustard for spreading the word.

Next I am tackling Lip Tars! I recently got four colors in the mail. Look out f0r reviews and swatches.

If you are looking for a good concealer

I use:

Drugstore Brand – Revlon Colorstay blemish concealer

Professional – Make up for ever HD concealer

Other good brands:

Drugstore – Physicians Formula, Maybelline Age Renewing concealer

Professional – Graftobian Corrector Palette, Yaby Concealer Palette, Ysl Radiant Touch

Yaby was created by a professional make-up artist, Liz Yu, when she was trying to condense her kit into a small, yet extremely effective and efficient workable kit. Many professional cosmetics come in full size bottles and containers, meaning that make-up artists have to lug heavy products or decanter the products into smaller pots. It also manes that make-up artists often have products go “off” as they haven’t used them all. Therefore they waste time depotting and also waste unused product and money on a colour they very rarely use.

Yaby is fantastic as it is very cost effective, especially for such a highly pigmented professional product. All products come in small pans, tubes or palette, meaning you are less likely to have any waste. Liquid foundations come in small tubes, which aren’t completely full, allowing the user to create a custom blend directly in the tube. the fact the pans and tubes are smaller means you use far less space in your kit. All Yaby products are packed full of pigment and you only need the smallest amount to make an impact.

I LOVE the cream foundations and concealers. They come in small pans that can be placed into a freestyle palette (either one of Yabys or the Z Palette) and you only need the smallest amount to cover blemishes and even out skin tone. I also adore the eyeshadows. They are rich in colour, soft, easy to blend and look amazing on camera and in real life. If you use them with a damp brush the colour pops and looks phenomenal!

As Yaby is a Canadian invention, it isnt widely available here in the UK. However, you can purchase the majority of the products from www.themakeupartistboutique.com and if you are an industry professional email them and you will be able to get a fantastic 20% discount!!

I am ordering my products from Eyes Lips Face today! I have heard that they always have these crazy discount codes so I snooped around the internet a bit and discovered this one!

50% off lots of up to 15 dollars with the code : WINNERELF
Or 60% off site wide with code: SIXTY
I used the sixty code and got 23 dollars off!

Use it well, I have no Idea when it runs out

*Fun Fact* Liz Yu the creator of Yaby said the Eyes Lips Face basic eyeshadow brush was the Ideal brush for her Eyeshadows*

Yaby was made by Canadian Make up artist Liz Yu, make up made for artists by artists.  Not only was it made to reduce the ridiculous amount of makeup containers ending up in our landfills every year, it was created for the easy diy palettes and to lighten the load of your make up kit.

The eyeshadows, which I’ve been drooling over for months (and will continue drooling over until my birthday) are highly pigmented and come in every color you could want.  You can buy premade palettes of 40 starting at 110$ for the basic eyeshadows which come in neturals and brights, or a mixed palette of pearl paints and basic eyeshadows for 120$, or the pearl paint palette which gives you every pearl paint there is for 136$.

If thats too pricey for you,  you can buy an empty eyeshadow palette for around 18$ and start adding to your collection slowly, each basic eyeshadow costs 2.75$ and  pearl paints cost 3.55$ they both come in refill pans of 15.55 mm in diameter.

Everywhere I look Yaby is getting outstanding reviews from esteemed make up artists.  Highly pigmented eye shadows, revolutionary creamy powder pearl paints, at affordable prices.

You will have to wait until october for my review on these guys, but prepare for me to rave like a lunatic for weeks after I recieve them.

http://www.yabycosmetics.com/

TO SEE SWATCHES OF THE ENTIRE SET OF PEARL PAINTS CLICK HERE.

I’m not going to do another review on these, as my thoughts are pretty much the exact same as my last post, but I do have two little gripes to get off my chest, which have only now became apparent:

1. I’m about 13 pans away from filling up the palette, and since I placed my eyeshadows in, I’ve noticed that I’ve damaged a lot of the shadows if I try to get them out, which I do quite a bit as I like to reorder them! It isn’t really the damaging that annoys me though; it’s more the fact that because the eyeshadows are so soft, you damage them quite a bit, leading to big chunks floating around in the palette – that don’t seem to ever come out.
2. Again, as I’m filling the palette up, I don’t seem to be able to clean around the pans anymore.. this wouldn’t annoy me so much if there wasn’t so much loose product floating around, but there is, and it’s a white palette. Not a very good combination, and those who are OCD about cleanliness in palettes may find it to be a little too much. If this is you, I’d recommend using something like a Z palette, or buying the “Freestyle palette” from Yaby.

Anyway.. rant over. Swatches anyone?

My Picks: Pink Diamond, Antique, Baby Grass, Purple Iris, Dragon Fruit and Butterfly Blue.

Photo: Jeff Chen
Makeup & Hair: Joanna Koh using Yaby Cosmetics
Models: Margeret & Pem (Mannequin), Jen Polce (Phantom)

I was(AM!) so excited to share this gorgeous photograph we shot 2 days ago that I bugged Jeff Chen, the photographer, to send me the photo ASAP!

We shot a few more images for my bridal makeup lookbook that I can’t wait to post up here, featuring these 3 models, Margeret, Pem & Jen.

Till then!

Anyways, so there I am in my room one day getting ready and I had this thought of “what if I….” and I mixed the two together.  And am I happy with the result?  Yeah I have to say I am.  I use one pump of the Bobbi Brown and one smallish squirt of the Yaby and the colour is much better.  The texture of the Yaby liquid is slightly thicker than the Bobbi Brown but it doesn’t feel heavy.  I have been topping off this with Beverley K’s Pressed Powder in Maple (which btw, is my new favourite product!!)  as I am going for the slightly tanned look, instead of “Damn that girl needs some sun” -( yes even brown girls, well me anyway get off colour hahah), this sets my makeup nicely.

I am still on the shiny side though which is the down side but now mainly on my t-zone….

The doctors have finally agreed to put me on roaccutane to see if it helps my skin, so I will let you know how that goes.  I’m sorta scared cos the more I read about the stuff online, the more it makes me paranoid!!!!  And I am dreading the bad before good stage, I better get flawless skin!  But even before taking the stuff, my skin has improved….

You can get products from….

Beverley Knight cosmetics at Selfridges or direct from site: www.kbybeverleyknightcosmetics.com

Yaby in the UK from the lovely girls at: www.themakeupartistboutique.com/

And Bobbi Brown at John Lewis, House of Fraser etc or www.bobbibrown.co.uk

Elsy’s hair design started with soft waves that were directed to one side to compliment her gorgeous one-strap dress. With her makeup, we wanted a matte-satin complexion and attained the look with Yaby cream foundation. And we created a smokey, budgeproof eye with Makeup Forever Waterproof Creme Liner. The lips needed to be accentuated and we used Mac‘s new Creamsheen Glass in LOUD & LOVELY to play off the beautiful bright pink dress.

Photographer James Chiu

]]> http://counterobsession.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/eotd-neutral-work-look/ Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:35:00 +0000 counterobsession http://counterobsession.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/eotd-neutral-work-look/ My first Eye of the Day post!  This was a super neutral look, brought to you by the Yaby Neutrals palette.  This is the first palette I break out on ANY job, and it always serves me well.  It’s much more than neutrals – the blues are amazing as well.  My only complaint is the small number of truly matte shades, which I need to use a lot for mature clients and bridal.

So this is how I looked today!

Now I count rows (R) top to bottom, and columns (C) left to right.  Try to keep up!
Base: didn’t use one.  I usually don’t if it’s a pretty natural look.
Colour wash:  R2C5 to just above crease
Brow highlight:  R1C5
Crease contour:  R4C7
Top Liner:  R5C1
Bottom Liner:  R4C7
Mascara:  Gorgeous Cosmetics Formula Five in Onyx Black

This is my ‘fallback’ look when I don’t have time to experiment and need to look polished in a hurry.  I’m usually running late so I like something that is quick and pretty foolproof.  Since I’ve already got my base on I just add blush and lip balm and I’m out the door.  Complicated looks are for weekends when I have more time!

I’ll try to be more adventurous next time  :)

What’s your ‘fallback’ look?

Ooooo another great stall I was excited to visit at IMATS was Yaby Cosmetics.

Yaby was created by makeup artist Liz Yu – who set up the company after trying to find countless ways to condense her kit and top up with affordable yet high quality products.

I have been reading reviews from other MUA’s and have been dying to get my hands on some of their products.  I was also interested in getting some foundation for myself for as you know, my mission with foundation is like the never ending quest!!

Another main reason for me to visit the stall is that makeup artist Monique Heijboer was going to be there helping out at the stand.  Monique has been amazingly helpful with giving me her insights on my work and helping me on my journey to push to be better as a makeup artist.   Sadly I didn’t get to see her on the day that I went

So my first thoughts when I approached the stand was – look at all the pretty colours!!  The palettes are so dinky and cute!  They are actually much smaller than I thought they would be which is great space-wise for your kit.

Liz was very down-to-earth and sweet!  She helped me find a liquid foundation for me to try.  I told her about my problem skin and the pain of finding a foundation and she said that it is quite difficult getting shades the right tone of yellow.  So she did a little test and the first colour she picked up was Pecan which was slightly dark BUT then she mixed it with the colour Buff and it worked to pull back some of the Pecan and create the perfect in between colour.  Brilliant!

The liquid foundations are oil-free and buildable to get the coverage you want.   The tubes come in travel sizes which is great for storage. The texture is smooth and light to touch.  I ended up getting two of the Pecan and of the Buff for myself as I know I can be abit happy when using foundation and at an affordable price why not?!

It would have been really easy for me to spend my whole paycheck at the stand but I was very good and just bought the foundation for myself, a pre-set cream foundation in yellow and one in pink and two freestyle palettes for me to play with   All of these come with mirrors included, bonus!

Will give a review on how I find the products soon, but til then enjoy some pics

Pecan & Buff

Pecan & Buff blended

Visit the Yaby site direct for more info on products:  http://www.yabycosmetics.com

You can order Yaby in the U.K here:  http://www.themakeupartistboutique.com/

or visit Monique’s store based in the Netherlands:  www.promakeupstore.com

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