My Makeup Bags (Work Bag, Fun Bag & Cosplay Bag)

My makeup bags are constant companions that I make sure to bring along with me where ever I go. They're the main reasons why I can never simply carry a tiny purse that can only contain a credit card and some cash, I use bags that are so big that I could probably fit an entire kitchen sink in nd most of the time, my makeup bags take up about 1/4 of the available space.

My makeup bags are split into 3 varying versions, depending on the activity of the day. I also tend to pack them the day before or after I've applied my makeup, just to ensure that my lashes don't end up flying off or to touch up my lip gloss and stuff. So Let's take a closer look at them:     

This ws my old makeup bag which I got from the Cher brand mook bout 2 years back. It's certainly been through alot as the colour was a much brighter blue, the inner lining is also starting to tear, so I knew it was time to move onto another bag  

This is the fun/play bag, tthe one I take out when I'm shopping and stuff. The bag is Cecil Mcbee and it usually contains things to simply touch up for the day:

lash case with glue (case from Muji)

Gatsby oil absorbant facial wipes

Lip gloss (current favourite is from Elf brand)

Lipstick (current favourite is this limited edition shade from Anna Sui)

Palgangtong Loose powder

Pocket mirror (Gift from Steph from the Egg Store in Japan)

This is my Marc by Marc Jacobs work bag, which usually contains my entire kit for my basic neutral makeup as I've overslept a few times and had to apply my makeup on the run. This bag is good to simply grab and go and I can apply everything within 10 minutes flat. This bag usually contains:

Covermark cream concealer

Gatsby oil absorbant facial paper

Cezanne powder foundation

Sephora highlighter/under-eye concealer

Kate brow mascara

Heroine Make Impact frame & Curl mascara

Sana Super Quick eyeliner

Majolica Majorca Blood On lip & cheek tint

Korres lip balm stick

Elf lipgloss

Palgangtong loose powder

Mini Burberry Brit perfume

makeup remover stick (was a non branded $2 lucky find)

Pocket mirror from Egg Store

My last makeup bag or should I say bags, are these Anna Sui bags that contain everything I could possibly need for my cosplay. The larger bag is A4 in size so it's pretty roomy

The smaller bag usually contains my base items like primer, foundation and stuff. I try not to bring it along to minimise the amount of stuff I bring to events or shoots but sometimes I wind up short on time to apply my base makeup. The larger bag contains everything I will need for the cosplay look for the day including bronzer, highlighter, eyelid tape, an assortment of eyeshadows that change depending on the character I'm doing and an assortment of makeup brushes. I also make sure I bring along my handy Franc franc mirror and sandwich it between the bag to make sure it doesn't break during transportation.

 As you can see, I try to minimise the amount of things I bring along with the exception of my cosplay bag. From the above pictures, you could probably see what are my current makeup essentials haha.

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On a personal note, I've quit my job. I won't go into details as there were a variety of reasons that made me choose to leave, but as people say, when one door closes another opens. So I'm looking forward to moving onto bigger and brighter things in my life. I feel like 2013 is a year of change for me, so far I'm trying to maintain my happy notes jar (I put in little notes of what things that made me happy on a daily basis) and now I'm trying The Secret method of reaffirmation and telling the Universe what I want by writing it 10 times a day. I know it sounds bit out there but there's no harm trying and I find it useful in reminding myself on what is my current goal.

So let's just see where life takes me 

Personal Outfits (Split Personalities)

Been seriously deprived of a social life recently and it sucks the most when your school conveniently decides to hold a test on Sunday, I mean who does that? (My school, apparently...) But I took it as a opportunity to finally do my old gyaru-influenced style of makeup as I was gonna meet the Bf after the test.

Lately, I've come to realise that my dressing/ makeup style has split neatly into 2 distinct styles. One is of course the old gyaru style with the circle lens, thicker foundation, pink blush & heavily shadowed & lined eyes, complete with both top and bottom fake lashes. Naturally, the clothes are louder, more revealing and just simply over-the-top and trendy with super high heels. Of course, you can't have over-the-top style without big curly hair right?

My other style is more of a casual, laidback style with non-enlarging lens, less foundation, peach-pink blush, light sweep of eyeshadow and copious amounts of mascara. The clothes are relaxed & comfortable & mostly paired with flats and simple hair that's mostly flat-ironed or tied back.

Pictures explain it all:

My gyaru-inspired look

Top: Glad News

Stockings: Can't remember

Shoes: Gal Star

Leopard bag: Jimmy Choo

Beanie: Maison Gilfy

Thicker makeup consisting of:

Face:

Primer: Biore Sunscreen

Concealer: Sana pore putty & Canmake liquid concealer

Foundation: RMK Cream foundation & Majolica Majorca Powder foundation

Eyebrow: Kate eyebrow mascara & Canmake eyebrow pencil

Blush: Canmake cream blush & Candydoll pink Blush

Highlighter: Candydoll purple highlighter

Bronzer: Bahama Mama

Loose Powder: Palgantong

Concealer (to contour my nose): Shu Uemura duo pencil concealer

Eyes:

Primer: Urban Decay Primer

Eyeshadow: White & gold Majolica Majorca single shadows & Dior 5 colour palette (brown shade only)

Eyeliner: Heroine make liquid eyeliner & Sana slanted eyeliner

mascara: heroine make Curl & Volume mascara

Upper Lash: Daiso

Lower Lash: Dollywink No.5

Lips:

Lipstick: Estee Lauder

Lipgloss: E.L.F.

Example of my laidback style:

White dress: Bought in Macau

Denim shirt: Series

Engineer boots: random shop in Bugis Street

Bag: gift from fashion event

Feather clip: Diva

Finally jumped on the feather-in-hair trend. I've been wanting to get one earlier but I've always only found earrings (I don't have pierced ears) & nowhere sold earcuffs without breaking my budget. I finally chanced upon this hair pin & bought it instantly, I love it as an additional accessory that's subtle but definitely adds an interesting twist.

Makeup:

Face:

primer: Biore Sunscreen

Concealer: Sana Pore Putty & Canmake Liquid concealer

Foundation: Majolica majorca powder foundation

Blush: Canmake cream blush & Majolica Majorca peach blush

highlighter: candydoll purple highlighter

Bronzer: Bahama Mama

Eyebrow: Kate eyebrow mascara & Canmake eyebrow pencil

Loose powder: Palgantong

Concealer (to contour my nose): Shu Uemura duo pencil concealer

Eyes:

Eyeshadow: White & gold Majolica Majorca single shadow

Eyeliner: heroine Make liquid liner & Sana slanted eyeliner

Mascara: Heroine make Long & Curl, Heroine make Volume & Curl, Heroine Make Impact frame & Curl, Too Faced Lashgasm & Maybelline Hello Kitty Volum' Express (Yes I layer them like mad, I love my lashes too much)

Lips:

Lipstick: Anna Sui

Lipgloss: Majolica Majorca

I know after sifting through the list of makeup products, it doesn't seem like that much of a difference in terms of the base. But trust me, the effect is completely different and its definitely alot thicker.

I'm so glad that I've actually managed to allow the 2 parts of my clothing personality to co-exist, with one hand wanting to be loud, different from the crowd and all dolled up while the other wanting a more relaxed, simpler and comfortable look. Unfortunately, my wardrobe is the poor casualty from the long and tedious period of trying to balance both sides. So I need to sift through it soon and start purging unwanted stuff from there.

What about you? Do you have mixed personalities in your wardrobe too?

Personal Outfit 70 (Sis's Birthday Gift)

Went out for abit the day before to get my sister's birthday present and to spend some time with the bf. I haven't dressed up for quite awhile so I thought I would treat myself by dolling up but since I haven't gotten some new clothes in awhile, I had to throw on a rough outfit with what I had on hand.

Outfit:

Pussy bow shirt: Osmose

Tiered floral skirt: Nichii

Belt: Taobao

Over knee socks: Cosmode

Nude loafers: itti & otto

Hair bow: Salvation army

Bag: Mety Darmali

My hair has kindda faded out to a light honey/caramel blonde which I love alot, I personally think it looks alot better then before! Did a simple plait hairdo and added a slight wave to the ends of my hair that day. Nothing fancy.

The bag is by an incredible designer who named the brand after herself. Most of her pieces tend to be one-off designs and every single piece is sewn and beaded by hand, my mom and I fell in love with her incredible works of art and have since amassed a collection of her whimsical bags. It's hard to capture the beauty of her bags in a picture but you can admire more of her other works at: www.metydarmali.com

The bag in full detail, her signature is the 'I "heart" Me' beading, she has it on all her bags and for her larger, rectangular bags, there's always one side that has ribbon threaded through in a corset-style.

After sifting through my wardrobe, I've realised that my mom and I (my mom mostly) have collected a ton of bags that are all crazily fun and unique and sadly, they've been shut away for quite awhile. I plan to dig them out and start putting them to use, and considering makeup and clothes are rather toned down lately in gyaru fashion, perhaps its time these beautiful bags get their chance in the spotlight.

I'll definitely show more of them in time to come!

Personal Outfit 61 (Twin Coordinate & Night Out with Steph)

Met Steph on Friday for some drinks with her and some friends. After one guy left, we went off to sing karaoke till bout 5 the next morning. Had alot of fun with her despite the drunken antics of her friend and getting yelled at by my parents for coming home so late.

So outfits:

Oversized knit top: Forever 21

Leopard Scarf: This Fashion

Shorts (hidden): Can't remember

Stockings: Anna Sui

Knee High Boots: Taobao

Bag: Chanel

If you're wondering what's so special about the stockings, that's because I wore them back to front, because I felt like there was too much details if I wore the lace-up design on the front. I bought them awhile back, but been too chicken and unsure how to coordinate it to wear it out.

Steph and I, with our twin coordinates. We both wore oversized knit tops, stockings and boots and even carried our Chanel bags. We also matched our contacts by wearing green ones and she wore her Navana wig to match my hair length. It was really nice when 2 ladies came up, chatted abit and complimented our bags.

A close up pic

We actually exchanged our knit tops because the one I had ordered from Taobao was so long, it reached my knees, whereas Steph's was so short it barely reached her belly button. But considering our difference in heights, our knits fitted each other perfectly haha!

I think Taobao knits hate me, the white knit that I wore in my previous outfit post was supposed to be cropped but it ended up too large again. Luckily this time it looked just like an oversized knit on me so I guess its okay, though the outfits I had previously planned had to be scrapped. Totally sucked!

Oh, Steph and I also took some purikura, so I'm waiting for her to scan them and I'll show them here once I get them. We'll definitely have moore twin coordinates up our sleeves so do check back!

Check out her outfit at her blog: http://zombie-hero.blogspot.com/

Autumn/ Winter Trends by Edge*s Vol. 9

I know this is kindda old news, especially when others such as Mitsu have already pretty much listed out their fall/winter predictions awhile ago. However, I find its best to wait until magazines actually start picking up the trends because more or less, they would have sifted thru the numerous options and found ways to start building multiple looks around a few key items and trends.

So here are the key trends according to Edge*s magazine:

Military

Been pretty popular in Spring/Summer and still going strong in Fall/Winter. The classic blazer is also back so I guess it's time for me to get mine out of the closet.

Animal & Nordic Prints

The key prints this year are but of course, Nordic and Animal. I doubt the appeal of animal rpints would ever be lost on the Japanese, however with Nordic, its best to be careful with it as it's easy to end up looking like a bad christmas themed grandma-esque knit instead of a fashion forward print.

Fur

Another trend that will always be popular with the Japanese, and that is fur. This year's version is oversized, to the point of overwhelming most petite frames.

Bags

Bags are big once again, and the most popular ones are adorned with fur, fringe or stud detailings. Of course, one can never go wrong with a classic oversized black bag.

Hats

As Mitsu predicted, hats are gaining popularity with bowlers and fedoras at the forefront of the trend. Other suggestions include newsboy caps and can-can hats in felt.

Scarves (or as they put it, Scarfs)
Animal, ethnic, tie dye and nordic prints are popular patterns and the classic long retangular shape is suggested.

So with these key trends being suggested, I can now proceed to rifle through my wardrobe to see what I have and draw up a shopping list. However a mini trend which I suspect may crop up is what I'm calling the 'furry tail' trend, as I've seen a few staff-chans wearing it and it's appeared in various catalogues and of cause Tsubasa is shown here rocking it:

I find it a pretty cute way to jazz up a simple outfit, as it adds alittle fun and brings up the outfit to a whole other level. So that's on top of my current must-gets list!

What's your current must-get?

Spring Bag & Shoe Trends

The boots for spring are mostly cowboy boots in mostly brown or tan with a few blac exceptions, some include studs, mesh or fringe detailing.

Trends for sandals include clogs, wedges soles, flower patterns in the fabric, ribbon detailing and the new gladiator which is less romanesque.

For pumos, you should look out for studs, ribbon details, patent materials and animal prints.

Even the humble and comfy ballet flats have trends which are studs, ribbon, spangles and Bijoux (or bejewelled)

Straw bags are big this season especially, Ethnic desings, knitted versions, spangles and bags with plenty of colour.

The shoulder bags is still popular (which is good news for people who randomly dump their stuff into their bags, like me), important factors include, large sizes, chain straps, studs and fringe detailing.

If you prefer a smaller handbag, details to look for include, bags made from canvas and leather materials and flower and stripe designs.

Sweet Magazine created a special feature that higlighted some of the key bag and shoe trends for this Spring/Summer season, so if you're planning to buy that new bag or pair of shoes for this season, the pictures show some of the key trends that you need to look out for.