Lavshuca Summer Gradually Compact

Winter is here, so of course I pulled out the 2008's Lavshuca Summer Gradually Compact :P I don't know what kept me from using these for so long, but I finally got around to them and have been playing with the different colors in the past few months starting in the fall. And you know what's strange, I think these 2 palettes are actually great for the fall/winter and I've no remorse wearing these colors right now!

Compact 01 - Shiny Sandy Beach


Compact 02 - Windy Aqua Beach


There were 2 Summer Gradually compacts: Compact 01 - Shiny Sandy Beach (warm) and Compact 02 - Windy Aqua Beach (cool). Both came in decorated plastic packaging, while the cases themselves were thin brushed-aluminum with "Lavshuca" engraved on top. The cases had 2 applicators each but included no mirrors.



The eye shadows are more or less good quality, blendable, pigmented, and have different finishes! The far left shadow is the most shimmery, the far right is a matte base shadow, and the four in between are either pearly shimmery or semi-metallic.



While there are a few shortcomings, in general these compacts are pretty awesome and versatile with different looks and color combos, depends on how you want to mix and match. Yes, so you probably have read the same raves from many other reviews, but aside from a couple of exceptions I'm afraid I can't disagree :P

Compact 01 - Shiny Sandy Beach


From left to right:
- Sparkling gold: shimmer, very sheer. Provides a very sparkly translucent wash of gold. This shadow is not as smooth as the rest because it is packed with almost-chunky (but not glittery) shimmers. Some people didn't like this color (along with its silver counterpart in Compact 02) too much precisely because of the thicker shimmers. Some even complained of fall-outs, although I have yet to experience any. In fact, this is probably my favorite color out of the bunch since I love super shimmery (but not glittery) and sheer eye shadows. Whenever I'm lazy, which is probably most of the time, these are the only colors I would wear. They would freshen up my face and make my eyes pop without much effort :)
- Orangey copper: semi-metallic, high intensity. Very pigmented and as far as I can tell from swatching, it's warm enough to not turn me green, and no, not with envy. Cooler oranges, yellows, and greens tend to make my skin appear greenish and me sickly. But I, erhh..., still haven't tried this color yet. Color-shy here, sorry. We'll be acquainted one of these days, this color and I.
- Ivory: shimmer, very sheer. This is supposed to be the highlight color for use on the brow bones and line the inner corners of the eyes. I like this color and use it a whole lot, but unfortunately this is the only shadow in the compact that caked up! There was a tad of disappointment here, but in the end that didn't stop my regular usage.


From left to right:
- Cappuccino brown: shimmer, medium intensity. It appears to be a light taupe but don't be fooled. The shadow itself it a few shades darker than it looks, turning out to be a warm cappuccino brown that makes a nice crease shade.
- Chocolate: shimmer, high intensity. Again, this color is also trying to deceive you by appearing like a harmless light beige-brown but turns out to be dark and pigmented enough for use as a liner. Also, it looks warmer that it actually is, as it turns a cooler milk chocolate brown on my skin.
- Nude beige: matte, very sheer. So this color is supposed to act as a base and even out my lids in preparation for the other colors. Sadly, it doesn't work so well with me. In the swatch, it appears to be just a tad darker than the back of my hand, and you would think that with some blending, it will be fine. The problem is my face has a more pinkish tone in comparison to my hands, so this color turns my eyes muddy and dirty. Ick.


Compact 02 - Windy Aqua Beach


From left to right:
- Silver: shimmer, very sheer. Same as above, this provides a translucent wash of silver, but is rougher than the rest of the eye shadows. But just as its gold counterpart in Compact 01, it's also my favorite of the bunch.
- Mint green: shimmer, low intensity. This is a very pretty pastel mint that's semi-pearly. This color also did not turn me green.
- Champagne: shimmer, very sheer. This color also gets lots of use from me and, surprise surprise, has the same caking problem as the ivory one above. May be it's the formula? Anyway, again this minor set back didn't stop me from using it all the freakin' time.


From left to right:
- Pool Blue: semi-metallic, high intensity. For some reason, this seemingly pretty peacock blue turns a bright pool blue on me! I want the peacock blue, damn it!
- Denim: shimmer, high intensity. Looks like an ink blue but turns out to be denim. This as the liner color and the silver as wash is a perfect paring for lazy ol' me!
- Nude brown: matte, very sheer. This one is worse than its nude beige counterpart - it's actually warmer, and therefore gives me the sunken eyes look. Yikes!


I usually prefer warmer colors, but I think Compact 02 is actually more neutral than it looks. I know it was supposed to be "cool", but it would not have worked too well with my very warm skin tone if it was that cool. Anyway, for this reason, I find myself reaching for Compact 02 much more often than Compact 01. I guess I'm gradually and slowly learning the ways of the blues (and greens too).

Lavshuca Cheek Color Select Part II

Yes, what an odd time to wear orange blush (it's snowing and sleeting outside right now for goodness's sake), but I've using my Lavshuca Cheek Color Select in OR-1 anyway :)



Actually, this blush turned out to be not so bad, given the nasty weather I'm getting. Whenever it gets gray here, my skin turns ashy too and this actually brought me back from the dead. I thought it would turn up orange or peachy on my skin, but it didn't. It didn't give me sun kissed cheeks either, just a tiny bit of fleshy and natural color that wasn't pink or peach.


Yes, that means it was sheer, but not as sheer as PK-1, plus it didn't have the highlighting factor PK-1 does. Mean while, RD-1 would make me look like I'm trying too hard. So yeah, even though it sounds strange, OR-1 is just about perfect for me right now!

From top to bottom:
- Off white with shimmers
- Pale peach with shimmers
- Pumpkin with shimmers
- Buttery yellow with shimmers
- Bright mandarin orange with few shimmers, almost matte. It brighter than appears in the picture below (taken with insufficient lighting, sorry!).


See my previous Lavshuca Cheek Color Select post.

Happy December!

I was having another busy day at work minding my own business and my colleague stopped by my desk with a white package, "This is yours." She said, putting it on my desk.

I was mystified, since I did not expect anything to come in the mail today. At the upper right hand corner of the package, it says, "Mask," so I thought it was the stage masks I had ordered for a client. Then I flipped the package and read the from-address and saw Singapore - heeeeeyyy, I know that name!

So I tore into it, of course, although nicely, with a pair of scissors. Inside was another envelope with pink hearts in silver circle. "Merry Christmas" and smiley face was hand-written on it in black marker. I gasped, speechless.

My girlie friend Cacaopack over at Beauty Unfolds took me by complete surprise - look at what she sent me! How sweet and lovely is she?



Nooooo wayyyyyy, for me?!?

Inside the envelop was these wonderful items she knew I'd totally appreciate:
- 3 Etude House Moistful Sheet Masks (try these chilled on a summer day!)
- A Watsons Bird's Nest Essence Facial Mask (better hide this quick cause my mum will probably fight me for it!)
- A SkinFood Carrot Collagen Eye Sheet (will try these and review ASAP!)
- A pretty purple gift box with ribbons and bows, inside of which is necklace with my initial, filled with a pearly drop!



Thank you, thank you, thank you, Clarissa! You didn't just make my day, girlfriend, you made my MONTH!!! What a way to start December, and you bet I'll be laughing all the way!

*hugs and kisses*

Lavshuca Loose Powder Foundation

This Lavshuca Loose Powder Foundation is almost ancient, being discontinued at least 3 (or 4? or 5?) years ago and is currently in its third incarnation with the brand by the name of Lavshuca Finish Powder.



But I use it anyway :) So far so good. My skin hasn't scream bloody murder yet, but if you got your hands on one, proceed at your own risk. I tend to be less squeamish with a loose powder product, especially when I kept it sealed and unopened until its very first use several days ago. However, this lack of concerns does not apply to anything else.

Soap Crazy Part III (Picture Heavy!)

My soap saga continues.

Anderson Soap Company

I finally tried Dennis's Soaps in a Jar after eyeing them for so long. They were good, absolutely gentle to my skin and I really loved how they didn't leave me with the slightest bit of dry or itchiness. However, just my humble opinion, but I thought they were also very impractical. Yes, they were soap, but I had to open up the jars and dig my fingers in. I do have other gels and creams in jars which require me to use my fingers for application, but mind you I always wash my hands prior to applying any skincare products. Given these were soaps in jars, and reaching for soap meant I needed a wash to begin with! So I really prefer NOT to dig my dirty fingers in any jar, soap jars included. Ick.

Anyway, I used these soaps as a body wash to minimize the ick factor as my hands are always decently clean coming into the shower. Still, I think I prefer my body soaps in easily dispensable packaging. For hand soaps, bars work just fine since I lather them up in running hot water. Another thing I wasn't really thrilled about with these Soaps in a Jar was their texture. They're supposed to be a "fluffy whip," but they were more like a waxy and thick cake icing, definitely not fluffy. These didn't lather well either. To get a good lather I'd have to put a ton onto the puff, which made these go through 2 jars in record time. I think I won't repurchase these again and will stick to the bar soaps next time.

- Lemon Meringue Soap in a Jar: smelled so freaking yummy, just like the real lemon cookies! It smelled so convincingly real that before shower time every night, hubby would get up and say, "Time to go rub some lemon cookies all over my body!" LOL!




- Cherry Blossom Soap in a Jar: this one smelled okay, although nothing like Cherry Blossom and more like Cherry Laffy Taffy. Waaaaaaay too strong and tangy. I think both hubby and I liked the Lemon Meringue scent better.




- Peppermint Lime Oatmeal Exfoliating Soap: This one smelled really nice, but the scent faded very quickly. Not enough peppermint oil, may be? I couldn't detect the lime at all. Also, I've beginning to notice a base fragrance for all of Dennis's soap bars. Don't get me wrong, this base fragrance is very nice, but unless he differentiate each bar enough, the top note is too weak and all his soaps end up smelling the same after some use.









- Pure Romance Soap: like the Peppermint Lime bars above, this soap smelled really really nice in the shrink wrap, but as soon as I use it, its fragrance faded immediately, leaving only the base scent behind, which made it smell just like any other soaps Dennis makes. So yeah, this bar was a bit of a disappointment, especially since I had high hopes for it.








- Fresh Linen Soap: now THIS is more like it! I think this is a duplicate of Estee Lauder's Pure White Linen, but this one smelled good in the shrink wrap and even better after use! In fact, it scented my entire sink area! Wow! I will definitely buy more of these bars, especially when my mum is a huge fan of the Estee Lauder perfume. She'll definitely appreciate these soaps!








Heathen's Hearth

Okay, I thinking I'm getting disenchanted with Heathen's Hearth's goat's milk soaps. Without fail, these soaps would fall apart and disintegrate into a slimy, gooey mess after about half way through each bar. At first I thought it was just because of the summer usage and the soaps didn't get a chance to dry up properly and melted in the heat and humidity. But even now, it's dry as the damn desert in my apartment and they still fell apart! Perhaps it's the goat's milk base that's not up to par. I'm going to have to look into getting my goat's milk soaps else where. I gave them a very thorough trial to come to this conclusion. I went through how many bars now? And I still have a gazillion bars left to use, so I think I'm being pretty fair. For now, I'll continue to put up with them until I run out. Then it is goodbye. Goodbye. GOODBYE.

- Strawberry Cheesecake Natural Glycerin & Goat's Milk Soap: before I grew frustrated with Heathen's Heart's soaps and their melty inclination, in my premature enthusiasm I gave this bar to a friend who has a sweet tooth. I hope she liked it :X Man, it makes me feel terrible to give someone something I later realized wasn't too great after all. Not to mention it makes me look bad. Grr...




- Lavender Natural Goat's Milk Soap: this bar went to my mum in law, who lives in a much much dryer place than I do, especially in the summer. I hope she made out okay with it. She said she liked all the soaps I sent her so...*crossing my fingers*




- Pina Colada Natural Glycerin & Goat's Milk Soap: this one went to mum in law too.






- Strawberries & Cream Goat's Milk Soap: I absolute hated this soap's scent. It didn't smell like strawberries and cream at all but more like strawberry chapstick! It had this weird waxy and chemically odor that I just couldn't stand!




See my previous posts:
- Soap Crazy
- Soap Crazy Part II

The Body Shop Strawberry Foaming Bath

I'm more of a shower person and baths aren't really my style, but since I like the strawberry fragrance from The Body Shop and it was on sale, so I thought I'd give this Strawberry Foaming Bath a try :)



I didn't use it in a bath. One day, I thought I'd put some on the puff to see what it will do, and surprisingly, it worked really well as a body wash! Definitely not the intended use, but it was even better as a body wash than the actual body washes like the Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel and the Wild Cherry Shower Gel, neither of which foamed very well! Odd, huh? So yeah, I use this Strawberry Foaming Bath as a body wash right now and I like it a lot!

And thanks to this experiment, now I'm curious about other Foaming Baths from The Body Shop. I might get some other ones and use them as body washes too :D Hey, if it works, why not!

O'slee Clear Spa Sleeping Mask

This is my very first O'slee product and I must say I'm liking Clear Spa Sleeping Mask a lot! I didn't know anything about the brand and I was reluctant to try but I'm very glad I gave it a chance. It didn't disappoint me and I reach for it most often out of all my sleeping packs.



It was packaged in a no-nonsense, straight forward box and jar, sealed for the confidence of reluctant users like me. And no, this time, the box was not suspiciously light. Phew.



What really really took me was the gel itself. I know this is totally silly and has nothing to do with the product's performance, but what beautiful clear turquoise gel! And it smelled nice too, a rose scent but relaxing, not over powering. I keep this jar chilled in my fridge and it just felt so good going on! As with all sleeping packs, I used only a little amount, but the few times I over applied I found that it absorbed completely and did not leave my skin sticky. This is probably the only the only sleeping pack that I could be a bit liberal with when it comes to application. Wow! Of course, keep in mind it's really dry right now where I am, which might have helped.



To be honest, this O'slee Clear Spa Sleeping Mask didn't give me any better results than the IsQueen ones, but I did notice that my skin wasn't as oily the next morning. Not that the IsQueen ones left me greasy or anything, just a glee of shine, but this O'slee one didn't even do that. So yeah, this is probably my most favorite sleeping pack right now and I like it even better than the Laneige Water Sleeping Pack! The Laneige one gets really sticky if I over apply and this O'slee one is more forgiving of my sloppiness.



I wholeheartedly recommend this sleeping pack. As for me, I'm rather intrigued with another item in the same line, the Clear Spa Eye Gel :)