Giorgio Armani Haul

After having heard so many rave reviews on the Giorgio Armani foundations, I finally caved in and purchased a few. I opted for the lasting silk one that has SPF 20 in shades 4 and 5 so that I can mix and match depending on season.



Before moving to Korea, I must admit I was all about the tan! I honestly thought that it couldn't be all that bad for you. But, after living in Korea for about a year and a half, I have to say that most Koreans have pristine skin. No pores, no wrinkles until they're quite old. I pondered on why it was that the average westerner compared to a Korean (of the same age) looked significantly older and had more prominent wrinkles at an early age. Answer: not many Korean ladies smoke, but most of all: they avoid the sun! Lucky for Koreans, avoiding the sun allows them to maintain gorgeous skin, but they already have an amazing complexion. As for me: I get white and pasty and I feel it just looks gross. White skin doesn't look that bad if it's completely even and has a nice yellowish base. But me: pink base...ugghhh!! But I don't want worse wrinkles than I already have any earlier!



So sunscreen it has been. Before, I used to feel like sunscreens were really heavy on my skin and felt greasy...but it just took some time to adjust really. I just slap it on right away after showering, before putting on makeup. By allowing it time to sink in, it doesn't feel as heavy as before. My all time favorite spf cream is the MAC prep and prime spf 50. IT'S THE BEST! But it's actually quite expensive considering that it's only 30ml/1oz. I use it, but not as frequently because of the price. I finished a few months ago an Aveeno spf 30 suncreen for face which had over 100ml and it was less than 12$. That, I must say, was a great value because you got about 3 times the size of the MAC one for about a third of the cost! Plus, it didn't irritate my skin unlike the Clinique City Block one, which feels was too heavy on my skin.



I must say I have seen a significant difference in my skin since I first experimented with sunscreens. It's now a lot more even, smooth and I'm one step closer to achieving a great complexion :) Mind you, after only going to the beach once here in Australia, I get brown spots on my forehead even with 4 applications of sunscreen in 2 hours! The sun here is rediculously strong!



Back to the foundations: I love Armani products! They are such great quality. Although the price was steep at 67,000 wons (approx 70$CAD). They are quite worth it. The application is smooth and it does leave my skin "glowy" and not pasty/plasticky from heavy foundations. They are slightly runny, but in a good way. As for the coverage, it is great! I would say it's a medium foundation, not cacky, but not too sheer. Perfect for me!



Now onto something that I loved in Korea: samples. The Korean way is to give samples to customers after EVERY SINGLE PURCHASE!! I love that! I spend so much money on beauty products that I love to be rewarded with samples. Most times, if I try it and I like it, I will buy it! But I have to say that many counters in Canada are super super cheap and never hand out anything. If they do, they have to make you feel like you're super special! Most times, they are given samples to give out, but the ladies are so cheap they usually keep them for themselves. Enough ranting! It's just something that really annoys me!



With this Armani purchase I got a bunch of samples and I really loved them. I actually tried out the new Armani perfume for ladies and I love it!



Question: Are you like me and will buy products just to get the gift with purchases :) haha?

Chanel Makeup and Skincare

About two months ago, before I left Korea to move to Australia, I started realizing that there were some things I would maybe miss. Things I would not be able to get ever again (as I don't plan on living there again). So, on my way out, I picked up a few makeup and skin care items. I found this Chanel palette as well as a face wash and toner that I had tried as samples and had really enjoyed. I honestly think that many of Chanel's product are over priced and over rated. But the skin care products I really enjoyed. The cleasing lotion smells really nice and works really well. Their toners are "nanolotions". I can't exactly figure out what that is, but it picks up so much extra dirt that most toners wouldn't. I'm not quite sure what the pricing is everywhere for these products, but in Korea the facewash was about 60$CAD and the toner was about 65$CAD. Expensive, I know...but I like them!

As far as the palette, that was not a planned purchase. The saleslady told me it was a limited edition Chanel palette (80$) solely available with the Galleria chain in Korea. So, yes, I got suckered in. It must have been for sale in other places in the world....but in Korea it was only available at that one department store, so I picked it up. It's a really nice palette that includes 2 brow colours and 4 neutral eyeshadows. Colour is great, but sometimes I'm a bit of a wuss and it just seems to clash with my skin tone when I get too adventurous. Unfortunately, I tend to stick to neutrals. However, FilthyGorgeousMakeup's tutorials have been great to get me to experiment with colour. She's excellent with colour - and puts it in a way that's quite classic, yet stylish. I have yet to use this palette as I'm on a project 10 pan at the moment. But, when I do I will let you know how it goes :)

If you haven't subsribed to FilthyGorgeousMakeup, you should check her out:

http://www.youtube.com/user/filthygorgeousmakeup

Question: What is your recent impulse shopping splurge?

How I got addicted to blogs and youtube

Let's introduce myself first: my name is Nancy - and yes I'm a beauty product addict! I think it stems back to age seven when I caused an uproar in my village by getting caught sporting bright fushia lipstick with blue eyeshadow. My mom and grandma couldn't do anything else but laugh at me. I think I paraded around town, PROUD --pretty much all day! But hey, I thought it was hot! I'm not exactly sure what attracted me to makeup at such a young age. To be honest, it may have been the vast array of colours. Instead of finger painting on a piece of paper in class, I could now sneak through my grandma's makeup and paint my face. It was thrilling going through someone's makeup bag. It was fun. It made me happy. 19 years later: it still does. But I'm glad to say my skills are a little more refined as are my colour choices.

While on a "teaching in Asia" stint, I started realizing that not everyone likes the same things in makeup. And, brands don't sell the same products everywhere in the world (to my frustration)! Also, they were priced rediculously inflated prices just about everywhere I travelled. I kept comparing to my usual Canadian/American prices--realizing how much I was getting ripped off. Also, because in Korea a tan was seen a "dirty" they did not really sell bronzers and normal shades of foundations/powders (they prefer whitening their skin, not my thing, but oh well!) so I decided to look at Canadian or American online sites that could ship to my house in Canada (my mom would then forward those products to me.

Oh now these sites, how horrible were the colour swatches. I had so much difficulty trying to find an exact shade. On my computer, it looked like a gorgeous shade of pink; on my friend's computer, it was an awful shade of fushia! Because I didn't want to waste my money on inappropriate shades, I decided to google products I was interested in purchasing. Then, something came up on youtube videos. Lollipop26, TheCurrentCustom, Chefcaffy, Kizz101 FilthyGorgeousMakeup amongst a few-had all those products. Through their videos, I was able to see what the shades actually looked like. But better, they gave actual reviews on them, which I loved! Saved me from wasting hundreds of dollars on awful products. I then found my holygrail and a "sport" that would take on quite a bit of my spare time: watching online makeup videos and reading blogs. I think it's quite interesting finding out about new products from everywhere around the world and finding out what works for some and not for others. Beauty product companies always make claims to sell. That is, afterall, the core of their business: to sell! But we, as consumers, work quite hard for our cash and like to get our money's worth. So this is the best way, in my opinion, to get honest opinions, from real people.

After watching these videos and reading these blogs, I have decided to join in on the fun and tell you all what works for me--and what doesn't! Along the way, I'll introduce myself properly and take you through my travels....as that is addiction number two!

I hope you are all well xx
Question: What are your addictions?