REVIEW: SASAtinnie Ultimate Deep Repair Wheat Protein Hair Mask

Ahh, hair hair, locks of lust and glamour. Yet, they don't come easy. Beauty always has a price. ;) Review time my beauties (and hunks)! Today, it's gonna be on a hair, which I rarely do [since I can be a lil lazy bum when it comes to hair care sometimes lol but hey, gotta start somewhere ;)] Today's star is the SASAtinnieUltimate Deep Repair Wheat Protein Hair Mask [what a mouthful!]. For all those who don't deal much with Asian cosmetics, the brand SASA is something like an Asian Sephora, carrying TONS AND TONS of many different brands from various countries of the world, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, USA, you name it, it's there. I like to pop in there once in awhile to catch up on some Asian cosmetics and beauty, especially considering that there is one situated so insanely near my house. And ever so often, I manage to exit with a little gem or two much to my delight AND guilt. Lol. This happened too with this cool hair mask, as it was on clearance SGD$2 [?????!!!!!!!!!!!!]. Of course, I had my doubts seeing the price difference [i believe it was $7.90? Don't quote me on that] but oh what the heck! I might as well try it since I was going start my 'be better to my hair' resolution. I'm no stranger to hair mask for I've tried quite a couple which were really good but discipline was the one that got me down all the time.

Okay, so the product comes in a simple conventional squeeze-tube-type format which I am all for. Easy, simple, convenient. Check. The smell of the product [it comes out as a white opaque cream btw] is nice and pleasant, nothing overpowering or repulsive. Its scent reminds me of a faint pleasant honey and oats scent, which I really like. This little baby promises Moisture, Shine and Deep Repair. Now, I have very long [pass my chest area; at the end of where my ribcage ends] with super dry ends. [sigh]. So, naturally, I was curious to know what this product was going to do for my hair. So in the shower, after the usual shampoo, I slathered this on, concentrating on my ends. [I sometimes skip conditioner when I use a hair mask, but of course that's just me. Up to you! ;)]. Waited for a minute or two before rinsing it off. OOOOO. Even as I was going through my hair with this, I could feel it smoothening my hair and feeling a little more 'moisturised'. NICE. Talk about moisture surge. After my hair dried and having combed once through, I could feel my hair being softer and smoother which of course made me ecstatic. Also, the fact that it cost me two bucks for such a nice product made me just over the moon. For the price, this is definitely a steal. I wouldn't say it is the most revolutionary product on the market but hey if it can make my hair smell good AND smooth and much less dry than it is [believe me, it is DRY.], I am definitely all for it! [FYI, after two weeks of buying this, I saw it still on offer but in a different SASA branch than the first one I went to, I immediately bought five more bottles. SUCH A GEM FOR THE PRICE. GOTTA LOVE IT.]

Do I love it?: For the price and the quality it delivers, oh yea!
Would I repurchase?: I think I just might [if I ever make it through the six tubes I own].
Grade: A-

What are some of the products that you love to use for your luscious locks? ;)

Stay happy and healthy, rapunzels!

REVIEW: Daiso Eyeshadow Palettes

Happy Thursday everyone!! It's Thursday already????! When did that even happen! I still feel like it's a Monday or Tuesday at most. Is it me or did the months of 2013 go by even faster than ever before? Crazy Ride everyone, crazy ride but anyway! Yay for putting up another review haha! Was cramming for a quiz for tomorrow but wanted to stretch my legs and do something a little different from my work today so hence what better way to do that than to type enjoyably about beauty? (IKR) Who's with me??!! *raises hands*awkward cricket chirp* ok moving on...

Haha just kidding folks, but anyway, I enjoy beauty, fashion and lifestyle and enjoy writing about them even more. As a self-proclaimed fanatic of all these things, I am always on the hunt for new prey MUAHAHA at any brand, any place and any time. This post in particular, beauty. Now I love my Sephora and Sasa [some of my second homes other than the supermarket] but Daiso is another place I like to pop into sometimes to hunt for interesting trinklets and bargains. Everything in this snazzy place is SGD$2! Cups, lunchboxes, food, tea bags, stationary and the list goes on....until it hits MAKEUP. Ok I know, I know, I can sense the horror in some when they hear abt the price of the makeup being $2. I don't blame them. We sometimes can't shake the perception of the dollar-to-quality correlation sometimes. Personally for me, I honestly am abit iffy about this when it comes to things I put on my face in terms of makeup and powder especially if I can't pull up many reviews about it on the Net. Personally for me, skincare and skin maintenance is an important aspect so I tend to be a little more careful about the foundations, powders, blush, etc that I buy for my sensitive skin but hey! I love my E.L.F etc too! Eyeshadows, however, I definitely don't entirely eat into that correlation. In my endeavor of trying eyeshadows after eyeshadows, mascara after mascara, eyeliners after eyeliners, I have definitely seen some bad boys from the least of expected places. Who says more inexpensive eyeshadows/ eyeliners/ primers can't get the job done? Nothing makes me feel more awesome beauty wise, when someone compliments my eye look and thinks that I'm adorning crazy expensive when I'm actually used a inexpensive but great quality product to feel like a million bucks! >:)

I always wanted to give Daiso makeup a whirl but somehow never got around to really stop at the makeup aisle to really go into full-on makeup junkie analysis mode like I always do at Sephora or drugstores. But that makeup junkie got activated when I saw Christine (Xteeener on Youtube) sporting some really nice Daiso makeup on her eyes, I knew I had to give them a try. So popped into Daiso and browsed the eyeshadows, hoping to find some that might peak my interest. Believe me I did. Daiso does carry not just one particualr brand of eyeshadow but rather, quite a few models and types. I did notice however, that most of them are with shimmer or glitter in them, varying in intensity and amount of shimmer and glitter though. [Although I did recently manage to pick up one that had some nice mattes in it and that was a rare find actually.] After debating amongst the interesting selection, I finally managed to force myself to only leave with two even though I had a good six of them at least in my hands lol. #achievementunlocked #didntgothatcrazy

Left: Twilight palette, Right: Bronze

Of course, I picked the neutrals to try first, seeing as I'm a neutral lover most of the time. So what better way to test the quality of the product? They came in a few types of colour schemes but I decided to get the two which I would see myself wearing the most in order to test the product fully [aka being able to wear them more frequently]. The palettes are nice and small in a good way with pans that are of decent size. The eyeshadows of these palettes have all shimmery/glittery finishes so for matte lovers.these may not be your cup of tea. However, Daiso does sometimes carry those with some matte eyeshadows in them, so do not fret! I actually really like the colour schemes of these palettes. I have quite a number of eyeshadow palettes big and small but not many of them are of these schemes so they are something a little different for me in a good way!

The Twilight Palette

The Twilight Palette

The Twilight palette [swatches without any primer]

First with the Twilight palette. Is it weird that I keep thinking of Bella and Edward for some strange reason? Ok, ok, focus lol. I was personally really surprised at how pigmented they were when I swatched them with my fingertips, as you can see from the photos. I didn't even have to use much force to swatch them either. Are they the smoothest eyeshadows I have ever come across? No. But are they smooth considering their price point? Yes. Out of the Twilight palette, I was really impressed especially by the warm brown and beautiful peach shades. Love the peach in the crease and the warmth of the brown just pulls the look together. The lighter shades are just lovely for the inner corners and lids to brighten up the look [although I tend to mix the peach and light champagne together for my lid shade]. As I mentioned earlier, these shades do have a little glitter in them, so fall out tends to be inevitable. However, they aren't crazy enough to where you look like a crazy disco ball either. Not too shabby, I must say!

The Bronze Palette

The Bronze Palette

The Bronze Palette [swatched without a primer]

The Bronze palette is something a little bit different for me as I don't own many palette that look like that. Sure, by themselves they don't look all that different from their counterparts but together they do look a little different in their own light. The white and golden bronze shades really blew me away. Look at how pigmented the white is in the photos! Very nice. White, in my opinion, is one of the hardest shades to get right in terms of pigmentation and colour pay-off. Thus, imagine my surprise to see it showing up so nicely on my fingers and lids. Bronze is one of my favourite eyeshadow shades. So GORGEOUS. The bronze in this palette is no different. Very nice pay-off and pretty smooth I must say. The eyeshadows can sometimes prove to be a little chalky but nothing that is unworkable or out of the ordinary. Again, these shades have a shimmer finish and has slightly less glitter in them than those of the Twilight palette. So still, do be mindful of that in terms of fall-out potential lol.

Now, longevity of these palette seems pretty nice and I had no problems with fading or smudging of these eyeshadows through the days which I wore them. I generally prefer mattes over shimmer/glitter so to bring the shimmer intensity down, I tend to use a fluffier brush with them and give a sweep over my lids. LOVE THE EFFECT for that these eyeshadows give me when I do this. Love the looks that these palettes can offer and kinda enjoying using them. What makes me even more excited is knowing the price point of these. YESSSSSS another gem found! However, I have to be mindful of the glitter fall out that happens when I don't tap off access pick-up. Overall, for $2, these are great. I definitely am going to be on a lookout for more palettes from Daiso! This just goes to show that you don't always have to make your wallet weep just to get quality out of your products [although the occasional splurge isn't all that bad either ;)]

Do I like them?: yea!
Would I repurchase them?: Maybe in other colours
Grade:: B+

What are some other inexpensive beauty gems would you guys recommend? ;)

Stay happy, healthy and always hunting [for random beauty gem] guys!

REVIEW: CATRICE GLAMAZONA

Woohoo!! Finally!! Another Review moment! How has things been for all you beauties? Things have been supppper dupppper hectic for me but I am so psyched about doing this review [and a few others XD]. Nothing is more relaxing than sitting in my chair and writing about the things I love in life with a soothing cuppa green tea~ahhhhhhh #thisisthelife. Okay enough blabbering, crazy lady [i know whatcha thinkin' oh yea ;)] and get on with the review!!!!

This collection makes me so excited! Catrice. Another German drugstore brand [with the likes of Essence] that gets me all excited and giggling like a silly schoolgirl. This brand not only offers great price but great quality too! How could I possibly resist anything they come out with. I remember going in full-hoarder mode when I was in Germany during my homestay, being so sad that they weren't available back where I came from. [This pretty much also contributed to my crazy overweight baggage in the end, oops.] Imagine how excited I was when I saw it in one of the drugstores back home a year later [*picture me running around a football field likka player who had just scored a winning goal* not a pretty sight YIKES]. Catrice has great things in their permanent range, which I have yet to completely try out all of its amazing products BUT this collection made me so excited with the beautiful pictures and enticing products up on offer.

 Such a cool collection. Fierce looking models, edgy colours, what's not to like?! PLUS ANIMAL PRINTS. AHHHHHHHH ok SOLD. Just take mah money already people! The packaging itself was enough to make me stop, look and buy. Don't you just love it when a drugstore brand takes extra effort to make their products look amazing besides their already good quality and price point? Well, I know I do. I realllly had to hold myself back from getting everything in this line. haha seriously, the animal prints are my favourite. After standing there toying with all these beauties, I decided to grab just the lippies, the liquid top coat and the blushes [and run to the check out before I changed my mind and bought every single thing there]. Let me just say, Catrice has got this collection down to a T. The colour concept is just brilliant. The neutrals are edgy yet wearable and the pops of colours are just bold, lusty and to simply die for. Bold, Rich and Brilliant.

First, the Liquid Top Coat. HOW COOL IS THIS?????!!! When I saw this, I knew I had to get it. Granted, I am more of the matte eye look kinda girl but I sometimes don't mind the shimmer and glitter for the fun of it to spruce up any look. Right of the bat, this baby reminded me exactly of the LORAC liquid lustre that various youtube beauty gurus such as emilynoel83 and xsparkage have gushed about. SO COOL. I know, I know, I won't be exactly using this day and night and as often that I would want to, but hey, it is something different and hard to find, especially where I am living. Plus, a makeup junkie can never have to much makeup right? ;D

In natural daylight

In natural daylight

In natural daylight

 As you can see from my hand swatch and awkward eye shots [heehee], this liquid top coat sure is pretty! You want the glamorous shimmer and glitter? You got it. The product comes separated within the bottle so be sure to shake it up well and good before using it. It comes in a dropper style packaging and the bottle is glass and the quality of the packaging is great. Sturdy and classy. You only need a TEENY TINY BIT f this to get it to show. To show you guys how it really looks, I just took some of it and dabbed it on my eyeliner only lid. It would be AMAZING over any eyelook with the eyeshadows and all and is pretty easy to remove when you want to without going all over your face. Really really nice! I would say *dupe alert* as an alternative to the lorac liquid lustre!

01 I'm A Survivor

01 I'm A Survivor

02 I Got The Flower!

02 I Got The Flower!

The blushes were the first too get me in this collection. OMG. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! So beautiful! Everything about them made me hyperventilate. The packaging is cute with the prints #suckerforprints, the imprints on the blushes were cute AND the colours are just PHENOMENAL.Bold bright colours that are just to die for. The pigmentation on these blushes are seriously amazing for the price especially, all you need is a dab for each cheek. I love these kinds of colours for blushes. When blended right, they just give you that amazing out-of-the-cold flushed look. So pretty, perfect for those experiencing Fall and Winter now. But hey, who's to say those in the tropical climates countries [such as myself] can't enjoy these fabulous beauties too? I am floored by these blushes and just cannot get enough of them! I'm A Survivor is a matte bright red with a slight orange lean to it and reminds me so much of the ever-so-famous NARS Exhibit A. Crazy, bright and beautiful. Definitely one of my favourite blushes in my entire collection. I Got The Flower is a pretty matte pink with a muted mauvish lean and is somewhat different from your average blush. Again, so pigmented and pretty and not like anything else I have in my blush collection. These blushes are definitely winners for me!!

Now, *sigh*, once again, the crazy lipstick lady strikes again. Debate on whether to get the lippies or not was definitely the most difficult one for me. Given that I have TONS of lippies [believe me when I say TONS, it's almost illegal], it would be technically not a good idea to not get these. BUUUUUUUUUUUT oh what the heck, I just want them!! Yup there it is, another cave-in moment for me. These colours are me-colours so I just simply could'nt resist the temptation. Boy, am I glad I got them! Lovely colours, I gotta say with the bold red and the more wearable berry-rose.

Swatches in natural daylight Top: I Got The Flower!, Bottom: I'm A Survivor

In natural daylight:  I Got The Flower!

In natural daylight: I'm A Survivor

 See what I mean? These lippies are the jumbo-pencil style type lipsticks and deliver great colour. Very smooth on the lips and give a nice shine to the lips as you can see. LOVE THESE. And to think I almost walked away without them *GASP* I can definitely see myself busting these out to wear pretty often and am enjoying every single moment of them. Those of you lippy sisters [and bros] out there, you gotta get yourself some of this.

Overall, Catrice has really done a great job with this collection. Colour concept? Tick. Quality? Tick Affordability: Tick again. I definitely highly recommend the blushes and lippies as they are my favourites out of the whole collection. Though I personally passed on the nail lacquers and eyeshadows, swatching them down at the store showed great promise. The nail lacquers especially are amazing. Such gorgeous colours! Any nail junkie might just wanna grab them all! As for the eyeshadows, they were really promising too with good colour payoff and lovely colours. I would definitely want at least one piece from this wild sexy jungle-themed collection anytime!

*For those living in Singapore, Catrice Cosmetics can be found at selected Guardian (and Guardian Plus) stores (such as Ngee Ann City, Paragon and Vivocity)

Anyone else loving this wild and sassy collection? ;)

Stay wild, sexy and free, everyone! RAWR ;)