(artificial light)

Finding the MACRO button makes all the difference... Palette on these pics is the small cardboard Freestyle palette from TKB Trading, $4.5 a piece, fits 9 pans (26mm).

(daylight)

Pressing

Pressing pigments is fun. Loads of fun! I've been doing it last week, 4-6 colors at a time, too tired to make the entire batch at once. After all I have over 100 pigments to press - I do not even have enough pans for them all. And the palette can comfortably fit only 28 of them. It looks so neat with the partition, I do not have the heart to pull it out - without it the palette could fit 40 colors.

Pressing is easy, most pigments do your bidding without any fuss. Just remember to go easy on the pressing medium! Less is more... because more will just end up as oily goo.

Stuff you need for pressing:

• pigments
• pans
• pressing tile or suitable coin
• pressing medium
• hairpin or toothpick
• pipet 
• syringe
• high % alcochol
• kitchen paper
• if have weak hands, a pressing tool
• rubber gloves (it's a messy job)
• eventually: a palette would also be nice.

Lift some pigment onto the pan, drop 1-2 drops of pressing binder (I use TKB Trading's MyMix Clear Pressing Medium and a pipet) in the pan (get the pans with a pressing tile or two, do not bother with the press packs, those special handles are not comfortable), sprinkle some alcohol (80% vodka from a syringe, anyone?) until the pigment is wet (more wet then  the "liquid sand" consistency, make it into nice goo - easier to mix this way). Place kitchen paper over the pan, place the pressing tile nicely on top and press down. Excess liquid will be immediately sucked out by the paper tissue, repeat pressing with a fresh dry tissue and lay the fresh eyeshadow out to dry for 12-24 hrs. Done.

Now, the unpressable baddies are the sparkly colors. 24K Gold is unpressable, needs some mixing medium in a powder form too, liquid mixing medium alone will not work. All you are left with is some very greasy looking glitter... Other colors behaving this way are Storm and Limerick.

For some reason I cannot comprehend, WinterRose and Brown Coco are also acting up and seem to have difficulties staying pressed... as soon as I touch the pigment with my brush it tries to leave the pan, all of it. It just crumbles out of the pan. Blackest Black matte tone also dried up in a funny way, showing little cracks on the surface. Metallics on the other hand press like a dream... So do the MyMix colors I recently acquired. 

MyMix Clear Pressing Medium is mostly silicones, not good  for some people. You do not have to use it, it's also possible to use fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil  or some other oil for pressing but the downside is - those might go rancid in a year or so, jojoba a little sooner... Solution would be adding a small amount of preservatives but then what's the point of the entire DIY business? Same stuff is available in any store, already pressed and nicely packaged.

PS! The Irish Eyes Collection had two colors that bled whilst pressing (colorant dissolved in alcohol): Dublin and Lucky Green. They bled blue. Next to them is the unpressable glimmering Limerick.

Picture supposedly says more then a thousand words...

Missing on the pic are blush TKB's Mulberry, mascara and lipstick ELF's Cool Coral.

Champagne is HG material, a flesh-toned highlighter, blends very well. Bronze Fine all over lid and Blackstar Red in the crease.

Lumene Natural Code liquid foundation in Vanilla

Finally tried out my sample of Lumene Natural Code liquid foundation in Vanilla a genereous saleslady provided me with. Pale people, rejoice! Not too yellow, not too orange - perfect light neutral beige. It's on the sheer side and does not appear mask-like - it's totally opposite, very natural looking. Used E.L.F's foundation brush for application, worked like a charm. Here's a nice before-after picture of the foundation:

The foundation was applied with no primer, just some jojoba oil as moisturizer and it started to wear off by afternoon. 

On the eyes I used Champagne on the brow-bone, Peach on the lid and Moon Stone on the crease today. Subtle, again.

And here's a pic of all the stuff used. Mulberry was used on the cheeks.

Lõpuks ometi on müügile tulnud piisavalt hele jumestustoode! Lumene Natural Code Vanilla ei ole oranž ega kollane vaid mõnusalt neutraalne helebeež. Võimalik, et see sobib nii suurepäraselt vaid seetõttu, et see suhteliselt vähekattev on, sulandub hästi loomulikku nahatooni. Koostis on suhteliselt vedel ja ei püsi eriti palju kauem peal kui mu mineraalpuudrid. Nahatooni ühtlustajana hea asi aga kindlasti vajab peitekreemi ning meigialuskreemi alla.
Mis puutub selle stuffi looduslikkusesse siis Lumene kodulehel koostisosadest juttu pole. On vaid väike nupuke selle kohta, kuidas toode looduslikku teeleheekstrakti sisaldab ja seetõttu eriti kasulik on.
Järgmisena püüan kätte saada Goshi heledaima, mida on ka väidetud "tõesti väga heleda" olevat.
PS! If one looks real hard, it's possible to see my first ever pressed pigment on the photo - Peach.

PPS! For Pale too: not so perfect, actually...

Tiny TKB haul arrived

Parcel from TKB Trading at last reached me. Since I took lots of different samples of serecites (EDM has made me angry enough for me to start learning how to mix my own from scratch), there's not much to show you about this haul. I'll introduce the golden jojoba oil, MyMix pressing binder and Freestyle palette later in a separate post dedicated to the art of pressing piggies.
But I did order 3 interesting new pigment mixes from TKB Trading's MyMix section (ready to press-mixtures). Very warmly recommend Champagne, a super natural highlighter with very, very tiny - almost invisible sparkle, and Peach, which is a perfect nude color for me (albeit a bit difficult to use - seems to have very low pigmentation). Mulberry is a very natural matte color for a blush but when applied on my crease I look as if have cried all night...

Windowshopping

Something I saw at Home&You on Saturday...

Must. Work. Harder...

Although... now that I think of it, the drawers seem kind of small.
And I'd really rather prefer mahogany.

(Sour grapes)

Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet

One of my eBay purchases made in August has just reached me, most sellers who only auction 1-2 personal things do not feel comfortable shipping outside their own country so I have to use friends who happen to live or visit there - delivery takes it's time. Thank you, Weesuzie86, for selling me your bottle!

I have been eyeing SJP's Covet for a long time now - the very conflicting reviews that have been written about it (Now Smell This, MakeupAlley, Fragrantica, Basenotes, The Scented Salamander, Blogdorf Goodman) drew my attention to it - and after having it for a while, I'm definitely a "lover" (funniest of the reviews went like this: A woodland elf eats a Hershey's Bliss Dark Chocolate bar and then farts on a fern). I started to pay more attention to this scent when it was labelled as one of the best celebrity scents ever made (for I always thought they're all sickly sweet monstrosities) and good enough to compete with niche fragrances.

I have a problem with most perfumes - most of them turn nauseatingly sweet on me (for instance the insanely popular Versace's Bright Chrystal reacts godawfully with my body chemistry) and some even cause headaches (especially those fresh melony-cucumbery smells). I think it's only smart when I therefore turn to scents, that most people find either controversial or just plain hate.

Covet was released in 2007 and as far as I know, has been discontinued. It was something that SJP herself orchestrated and Coty brought to life. I'll test it some more and if I like it a lot, I'll get one more as backup. It's still possible to get it from eBay and some other discounter-type stores, much cheaper than the original price - mind you.

Perfume is an 50 ml EDP and has been a little used. Color is pleasant woody yellowy green and the bottle looks quite sophisticated if one will just forget about the (plastic floral shaped) cap. To my nose  it resembles more a masculine scent, it's very fresh at first, fresh, a bit bitter and murky. In time it changes into something very warm and natural on my skin, I cannot smell it myself,  it blends with my body's natural scent and seems to become a part of me. So far I really really like it. Very wearable.





PS! The other perfume I have been sniffing a lot lately is D&G's Le Bateleur 1. Seems like a perfect fresh day scent for me. The universally popular and beloved L'Imperatrice 3 is to sweet, again :S. L'Amoureaux 6 the worst, gaggingly saccharine. La Lune 18 was weak and had no character.
All I have to do is look around for a while until Le Bateleur gets discounted :) or, get it as a Christmas present for "him".

PPS! added July 2011: Covet is definitely not my  winter perfume - turned nasty on dry skin. But during the summer's heatwawe it's a different perfume altogether. SJP is told to like "body odor" kind of scents and this one is marvellous when the weather is hot and skin gets moist. This perfume needs sweat, blood and guts to reveal it's full potential!

Pomegranate & Raspberry Home Spray ingredients

From The Body Shop homepage the description:

Redcurrant, pomegranate - Provide the initial scent of the fragrance
Raspberry, blackberry - Are the dominant notes of the fragrance
Guava, coconut - Tend to linger for longer than the other notes

Now the actual ingredients:

Water (Solvent/Diluent), PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil (Emulsifier), Dipropylene Glycol (Humectant), Polysorbate 20 (Emulsifier), Trideceth-7 (Emulsifier), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Fragrance (Fragrance - this should be "nature" cosmetics, what is this fragrance? is it synthetic?), Honey (Natural Additive), p-Anisic Acid (pH Modifier), Hexyl Cinnamal (Fragrance Ingredient), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil (Essential Oil), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Illicium Verum (Star Anise) Oil ( Skin Conditioning Agent), Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Bud Extract (Skin-Conditioning Agent)

So in effect: honey, lemonpeels, star anise and blackcurrant buds (and the last two as skin conditioning agents?)... hmmm... Where's the pomegranate? Not that I particularily mind, the smell itself is good... Has been in use for a week now, since the scent disappears quickly and needs to be applied and reapplied, the perfume will not last long.

Are perfume makers excused from exactly listing all the ingredients?

PS! It's September 27 now and there's a special offer in my mailbox: all room scents are now discounted, from 188 kr to 144 kr, and if one has client card, that's another 10% off (methinks). Offer's on until October 17th.

Shopping!

I have very important guests coming over so I made a tiny splurge and invested in The Body Shop's Pomegranate and Raspberry home and linen spray. Might be slightly too sweet but I like it :). TBS has a 20% off at the moment. But even still - it's so much cheaper elsewhere, i.e. UK. Goes for £6 in UK but full price in Estonia is almost £10.

Also bought Dr.Hauschka's tester of their light version of the Rose Day Cream. My skin is acting up lately and probably needs little pampering. The small 5 gr tube will last me a month (55 kr) and is a good size for traveling.

The little jar on the left is a liquid foundation from Lumene's Natural Code series that was said to be very light: Vanilla. Since I cant really spot the place on my arm where I swatched it, I guess it's true :). The saleslady got really carried away and I think there's 4-7 uses in the little jar. I only asked for one... Thank you :)

I think I also saw some note there stating that this (seasonal product) is so cheap (109 kr if I remember correctly) only because it's being discontinued :S.

And here's an EOTD too, using TKB's Radiant Gold in inner corners, Grape Parfait in outer corners, Hilite Gold in the middle of the lid, also used for blending the purple outwards from the crease and to cover the eye liner pencil. Foundation was Archetype Cosmetics' Yellow Beige in level 1 (it worked miracles today, trust me on this...). EDM's Pearl Sunlight is under the eyes and on the browbones, very light mascara application because it's rainy today - trying to minimize potential pandaness :D.

 Today I used Dr. Scheller's moisturizer instead of the usual jojoba oil and I did not let it set enough... foundation looks a bit heavy.

The Body Shopil on 20% ale 9.-11. septembrini, meigitoodetele on ale veel isegi 30%, kasutasin juhust ja hankisin endale magusalõhnalise multifuntktsionaalse kodulõhna. Kanepi-kätekreemi austajad peaksid samuti kärmelt sammud poe poole seadma ;).

Nahk on viimasest kuust saati kaunis jube, vaatasin sellele vahelduseks ka midagi kallist ja kompleksset: Hauschka kerge roosikreemi (Hauschka testreid müüakse nii 45-55 kr tk, nt Stockmannis ja Kaubamajas), loodetavasti läheb lööve varsti alla :S.

Kõige vasakpoolsem totsik pildil on täidetud Lumene Natural Code heledaima jumestuskreemiga Vanilla, mis, üllatus-üllatus - ongi hele! Vähemalt oma käel ma küll seda kohta ei erista, kuhu kreemi kandsin :). Müüja läks mulle testrit andes veidi hoogu ja pani päris palju toodet. Ainuke tõrvatilk meepotis tundub olevat asjaolu, et Natural Code sari võib peatselt tootmisest maha minna - jumestuskreem oli 109 kr peale alla hinnatud, halb märk... 

Everyday Minerals - for me a "finito"

I believe my EDM haul from June is the last I'll ever make.

copied from EDM homepage

EDM has changed it's homepage (as usual - twice a year or so) but since I'm visiting the homepage during  America's sleeptime, I got some glimpses as to what is to come. It got me a little nervous and I continued digging. Remember the $50 SCK? Good... Now also say goodbye to the  45% discount that was yours if your order contained more then 12 items.

EDM is setting up a network of national and international resellers, they will get the 45%-55% off while you and I are expected to buy from them. To use this discount you have to become an (international)reseller and for that you have to have a company with a functioning store (webstore or a physical one) and make the initial purchase of $2200 (!).

I think they will not receive much love... Here are international reseller policy and conditions.

 And here's the current list of resellers I found:

Poland www.kosmetyki-mineralne.com
Ukraine www.mineralcosmetics.com.ua
Norway www.coverbrands.no

 Thailand   www.em-th.com

Hong Kong www.myprincessyoyo.com

Singapore www.naturaworks.com

China www.everydayminerals.com.cn

U.S.A. www.tonywalker.com

EDM used to be the cheapest MMU provider and they carry decent brushes - that's why I bought from them, thats why I told my friends to try them. Now - they are no longer the most affordable ones, the 25% discount they offer if the deal consists of more then 6 items, just about covers the VAT I have to pay to the customs officer.

copied from EDM homepage

An idea for cheapos like me:

The free starter kit remains (instead of 4 it's now again made up by 5 small jars). I guess it could substitute the powder - you just buy a small tester kit, pour it all in your old EDM jar and use it like that - should be a pretty cheap option (I found 3-4 colors of the same group to suite me quite well). After all the foundi testers are all in 5 gr per volume jars and  the big jar was 25 gr per volume. $4,6 for a full sized foundi, anyone? No shipping costs either!

If you are interested, then here's a link to a forum thread discussing this recent and rather unexpected policy change.

Kokkuvõte: EDMi 45% soodukas on läinud. Odavatest võimalustest on ainsana veel jäänud tasuta testritekomplekt, mille eest peab vaid saatmiskulu maksma. Alles on jäänud 25% off pakkumine kui ostad üle 6 asja aga see katab vaevu käibemaksu, mida nii suure ostu pealt tollile maksma pead. Rääkimata 100-kroonisest lõivust Eesti Postile.

I'm on a roll - entering Mindy's giveaway too

Küll küllale liiga ei tee - võtame ette ka selle võimaluse, seal pole kusagil märgitud, et "international" ei sobi. Mindy blogi on mu jaoks kaunis tundmatu, selle juurde viis mind link säärasest blogist nagu Silhouette Screams, kelle viide Cullenite bukkakele kirjeldamaks laupigmenti tipnes kuvari puhtakspühkimisega (üldiselt on tal väga värvilised meigid ja kirjutab samuti, khm, värvikalt).

Giveaway leiab aset blogis nimega Painted ja mind tõmbas magnetina ligi pakutav 4-auguline palett, kuhu (juhhei!) mahuksid sisse ka 26mm lauvärvipannid. Kommi vastu pole ka midagi, nagu ka vannipommide ning ilusate kirevate pulbrite vastu. Mindy on loosimise päevaks valinud 18. septembri. Mis muud kui pöidlaid hoidma!

About Mindy's giveaway which is featured in her blog named Painted. Picture is also from her blog. See you there :)

Blix's mainly Aromaleigh huge international giveaway

See on üks viiest loosi minevast komplektist

Samuti tahaks osa võtta Glitter Is My Crack blogi tohutu pirakast peamiselt Aromaleigh pigmendiloosist. Giveaway's on lausa 5 erinevat auhinda ja osaleda saavad kõik soovijad. Aromaleigh pigmente pole mu kollektsioonis grammigi ja kuigi firmast endast nagu eriti ei hooligi, oleks uusi toone alati tore proovida (Aromaleigh oli üks esimesi suuremaid MMU indie tootjaid, kuulsus oli sellel firmal hea, nüüdseks on ta tegevuse lõpetanud). 

Lauvärv ning huuled
toon-toonis
juuksekaunistusega :)

Blogipidaja on sihuke kergelt gooti ja müüb Etsy's ka sulgedest kraesid, boasid jms stuffi. Mul võib valesti meeles olla aga minu meelest müüs mingil hetkel ka ehteid. Meigid on väga  värvilised ja tagasihoidlikkus pole voorus :D. Fotodel kasutatud ehted on samuti omaette klass. Ma avastasin ta siis, kui otsisin TKB Tradingu pigmentide pilte - ta on üks väheseid kes neid ka kasutab, enamus lihtsalt ostab neid kokku ja siis jätab nurka seisma.

Hetkel on loteriis osalejaid juba 106 niiet šansid pole eriti kiita... :S  12. septembril kuulutatakse võitjad välja.

About Blix's huge giveaway, check it out here. Pics from her blog.

Taking part of DieKriegerin's giveaway

DieKriegerin has accidentally overdone her shopping and is now generously offering the extra UDPP she bought as a gift to one of her readers. 

Üldiselt mul nendes giveaway'des eriti ei vea, ka seetõttu, et enamus neist on Ameerika-sisesed. Seekord aga kuna tegu Saksamaa blogijaga, saavad kõik EU maade elanikud osa võtta. Loodetavasti veab - Manhattan sai otsa ja olemasolevad ELFi silmameigialuskreemid pole eriti küünlaid väärt. Haisevad ka kui põrgulised. Tähtaeg on 18. september, osalemiseks tuleb giveaway'd promoda oma blogis ning postitada ka sellekohane teade DieKriegerin'i blogi kommentaaridesse.

Pic copied from DieKriegerin's post.

EOTD Pinky Blue

Skin has gone straight to hell since the last hormonal disbalance. My habit of scratching blemishes does not help at all either. So Archetype Cosmetics' foundation level 1 in Pink Beige had a minor miracle to preform this morning. I think it did well. Especially from afar one cannot really notice the unpleasant scarring on the cheek.

Colors used today are:

Foundi: Archetype Cosmetics' foundation level 1 in Pink Beige

Blush: TKB Trading's Gemma

Eyes: Echo all over lid, Foliage in the crease and Pink Crystal in inner corners.

Note to self: Echo has no coverage and only provides the blue sheen, does not suit Foliage at all. Pink Crystal hid Echo quite well, overall it looked good.

ELF's mineral eyeshadow primer, Lumene's mascara as always. Forgot to do the eyebrows, again. Actually, I like to have pale eyebrows... I've tried to paint the eyebrows and so far I've hated the look. I guess I might have used a color too dark. I do not fancy the shape either, have to change my brow sculptor - I looked a lot better with straight eyebrows, this person tries to make them arch all the time. Still, she only charges me 25 kr ($2;£1,5;1,5 EUR) for it, cant lament the cost.

Everyday Minerals'i ühishange

Plaanis on teha suurem (kokku kuni 2000-kroonine, üle selle ei võtaks ette)  Everyday Minerals-i haul. Kui soovid  ühineda me tellimusega, siis palun saada e-kiri oma nime, kontakttelefoni ning soovitud toodetega meiliaadressile liisk@hotmail.com.

Kuna kavatseme tellida koguses, mis on suurem kui 12 erinevat eset, saame tellimuselt 45% soodustust st et kõik tooted saame kätte 45% soodsamalt (sooduka alla ei käi testrikomplektid ning veel mõned asjad, sellest saab lugeda siit). Samas aga ületame kindlasti maksustamise miinimumpiiri (322 kr) ning peame ostult käibemaksu maksma ning ka tollilõivu Eesti Postile (ca 100kr).

Lisaks ei konverteeri Paypal dollareid eesti kroonideks just kõige soodsama kursi alusel, kindluse mõttes võiks tellimust koostades arvestada kursiga 1 USD-13 kr.

Paki saatmiskulud USAst Eestisse on üldjuhul olnud kas 1/4 või heal juhul 1/5 toodete endi maksumusest.

Ühe toote hinnaks seega tuleks:

Toote hind  x 1,25 (saatmiskulu) x 1,2 (käibemaks) x 13

Tõenäoline tellimuse esitamine jääb hiljemalt järgmise nädala lõppu (10. september või siis 20. september, kui piisavalt rahvast kokku ei saa) ja arvestades tollimist jms seonduvat, laekub pakk alles 3-4 nädalaga. Ma eelistaksin inimesi, kes asuvad Tallinnas, sest sooviksin kauba kätte anda kõigile ühekorraga (siis näevad ka teised ja saavad proovida).

Oled teretulnud!

Organizing a collective EDM haul.