Phoebe-Loves-Makeup Is Back!

Hi y'all!

Phoebe-Loves-Makeup is back in operation full throttle. It's better and will be including quick tips and tricks related to beauty and makeup in addition to hauls and reviews.

Follow to support and any feedback, comments and questions are appreciated. While you're at it, check out my new post on how to make your mineralized eyeshadow show up more vibrant here.

My First Experience Changing My Blog Design

Hi y'all! How do you like my blog's new look? I'm liking it a lot! If you follow me on twitter or if you are my friend on Facebook, you'd most probably known that I was unsure of which design to pick. These were my options at the time:

 Cosmetics Girl

I wanted this because it has cosmetics on it (I am after all, a makeup junkie) and it's pink! I wasn't in favor of the layout though because I'm used to my 3 equal column layout unlike this one.

Reading Books

I was thinking of getting this design because I am also a bookworm and this has a girl reading on it.. It's blue though so I didn't really feel like it reflects me for who I am and what I like.

Woman Talk

I wanted this one because it shows women having conversation (and we know when women come together, there are almost no off-limit topics even with those we just met!) and I do feel that my blog is about almost everything under the sun.

I was worried that something might go wrong so I experimented with my beauty blog that's been inactive since I've decided to do my beauty-related posts in this blog and it turned out okay. I then confidently tinkered with this blogs settings and guessed what? The templates kind of became awry.

For some reason I had 2 headers or 2 blog post body and I spent at least 3 hours trying to find a way to rectify the problem. The silver lining to the whole thing is that I have 'upgraded' from someone with zero knowledge with coded characters to someone who knows a little bit more than before.

On a side note I might start doing my beauty-related post in my other blog again. Last time I decided to just do it all in one blog. I've already changed the layout of that blog into the Cosmetic Girls' design which I think is very appropriate for what that blog is all about.

By the way, all the blog designs above are available here. However the one that I'm currently using now is by btemplates.com (search through Google please). I chose this because it's pink, it has a girl reading a book and the notebook page reflects how I am constantly writing on my notepad on any ideas that I may come up for this blog.

It's Sunday morning now and I'm getting sleepy so will see you in the next post. Cheers!

Phy Has A New Video...

Hi y'all...
I have a new video up on Youtube. Just an simple update vlog. Excuse the bland (read: unattractive) background, it is a rented room after all. Oh, and look our for the naughty runaway piece of paper in the background. Lol..

Check it out here...

Falling Apart And Dreaming The Day Away... And An Itchy Heart Post

It's been such a long time since I've blogged randomly. I've missed doing it but since the past two crazy weeks, I've been feeling tired. It's been a week now but I still feel it no matter how early I sleep. I feel exhausted all the same and I just can't bring myself to do much.


I'm guessing that this has something to do with my feelings of unfulfilled self-actualization. Feeling frustrated all the time, feeling slighted, looked down upon and misunderstood is not a place that I see myself being in. I am seriously asking myself this question: Should I stay or should I move on?


I don't want to make any big decisions rashly and prematurely. However, I'm not sure how long I can last feeling this dead inside. I feel so envious of those who get to follow their interest and dreams and make a successful career out of it.


I'm still searching what my calling is or my niche but I feel like I can't do that where I'm at. I'm always seem to be dreaming of  the day when I achieve 'enlightenment' in my career and take off to where I'm supposed to go.


I know, I know.. I feel that this is like, the 100th post of me moaning about this subject. Talk about a broken record huh?

So enough of this depressing topic. Let's move on to the fun part of this post which is Itchy heart which is basically what I am looking forward to buy or  at least which that I could buy.. So what has got me excited this time around?

MAC Surf Baby Summer Collection!

Surf Baby My Paradise Blush.. Gorgeous!

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Surf Baby Crushed Metallic Pigment Stacks.. I love the 1st one which is Summer Stash..

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Surf Baby Lipglass. I like the one on the far right which is Strange Potion which is a pink coral color

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Surf Baby Eyeshadow

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Surf Baby Lipstick.. Hibiscus, the second tube on the left looks beautiful...

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Surf Baby Eye Liner... 

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Surf Baby Nail Lacquer.. These two nail colors really does make me imagine the sun, coconut trees and beaches. Truly Summer colors!

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I can't wait for this collection to come to Malaysia shores.I'll need to save up money in preparation to buy the ones I LOVE from this collection.. 

Anyways, have a great weekend everyone. Until the next post, cheers!

Belated Makeup Monday: The Body Shop Shimmer Waves (Blush) Review

Another belated post. So sorry! I've been super tired the past week and exhaustion has been plaguing me until today. I just don't understand it. I'm determined to do a Makeup Monday post belated as it is.

So this post is going to be a review on The Body Shop's Shimmer Waves in 02 Blush. I had purchased this item last year but never really got around to really try it out. You see, prior to my makeup switch ups I have been the type to only use the things that I love.

The only time I'd use other products is at random, fall in love with them (or not) then start using those products instead. Now that I've had the chance to try this blush I am in love! Here's why:

I can run my blusher brush through the top part for a more prominent blush color or mix it all up for a more more subtle hue.




Each 'wave' can be used individually as an eyeshadow. Beautiful colors by the way.




The last portion at the bottom part makes a gorgeous highlighter.




It's a generous size.


The price of this baby of mine is either RM79.00 or RM89.00. I'm not absolutely sure because it's been a while but I'm kind of positive that it's the former.

I know it's a bit pricey but I personally think that's it's worth the investment because you're getting  at least 3 products in one. It saves space in your makeup bag too and very appropriate for those who love a natural look as the colors are soft. It's generous size ensures a high mileage or usage over cost.

I hope this is informative and helps you in making your makeup purchases. Until the next post, cheers!


Love,

Phy

Makeup Switch Up: 2nd week of March 2011

Hi y'all! Sorry for not having any updated for the past one week but I have been truly busy especially up to the 10th of this month and the past few days has been spent on recuperating. Anyway, here's another makeup switch up post. Enjoy!

Switched my makeup bag too this time...

I chose it because I can separate my brushes and makeup products..

MAC Fix+

Powder foundation by Makeup Forever Professional..

Surely this product needs no introduction.. Fave concealer ever!

My MAC Palette, L-R/T-B: All That Glitters, Mulch, Cork, Patina,

Woodwinked, Star Violet, Sumptuous Olive, Satin Taupe, Steamy, Contrast and Carbon.

She Who Dares Mineralize Eyeshadow

(Ltd Edt)

MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows, L-R: Sea and Sky, Play On Plums.

Ballet eyeshadow by Bobbi Brown

(Ltd Edt)

T-B: Maybelline Hyper Diamonds Liquid Liner, The Body Shop Eye Definer in Burnished Amber,

ZA Cutie Curl Mascara.

Green Smoke eyeshadow by MAC

Lip balm by TNS

MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow..

MAC Chatter-Box lipstick (sample)

Rimmel Pearl Glow Powder in 003 (used as a highlighter)

I don't think this needs any introduction either.. :)

Blusher by The Face Shop in BR802

Cremesheen Glass in Right Image..

All my makeup brushes... 

I know, I know.. There's a lot of MAC this time around.. What can I say, I love MAC. That is the only reason why I would spend my food money on them (I don't do that anymore.. Prioritize, prioritize..).. Since I've already bought them, it only makes sense for me to use them. Although I must say, I am content to just let them sit in my makeup storage to 'preserve' them. Weird, I know.

I did add other brands as well just to balance things out the best that I can. I must say that I am glad that I decided to do this personal 'project' of mine. It certainly helped in enabling me not to have the urge to go shopping especially for makeup. 

I've also discovered a lot of hidden gems in my stash, some of which I had hated and regretted buying but now am in love with. Will do a post on that soon insyaAllah... Until the next post. Cheers!

Belated Makeup Monday: The Body Shop Concealer Pencil.

Today’s Makeup Monday post is going to be a product review on The Body Shop’s Concealer Pencil. I had bought this around October last year and had never really used it. I had liked it when the girl at the store put it on me but when I arrived home and put it on, it looked really, really cakey and I hated it. I ended up tossing it to the bottom of my face makeup storage and forgot all about it.

I'm in Shade 04

If you are my friend on Facebook, you would know that I had made a pledge not to make unnecessary purchases and makeup is definitely, definitely something unnecessary for me to buy since I have a lot already.  I was going through my face makeup storage for my weekly rotations when I saw it and remembered that I had it.

I decided to break away from my favourite MAC concealer and give this one a ‘second chance’ so to speak. Boy, am I surprised and glad that I did because it worked better than I remembered it to be the first time I tried it myself.

To be honest this is supposed to be used on my freckles but I tried it under my eyes and although the colour is a bit off, it wasn’t that bad at all. Setting it with a powder that matches my skin solved that problem though.

Since it’s a pencil form and not a liquid or cream concealer, it did drag a bit on my skin but I find it easier to use when I warm up the tip with my ring finger before applying it under my eye. That’s because the heat from my finger kinds of ‘melt’ it a bit to become creamy in texture and easier to blend.

It comes in a few shades and is priced at around RM40++. You’d also need the sharpener for this baby so don’t forget that. So I guess that’s all for this week’s Makeup Monday posts. If you have any review requests or questions feel free to leave a comment in the comment box below. Cheers!

"French-fy" Your Eating Habits (FYEH): Bite 1

This series is going to be about changing the way we eat and look at eating right, losing weight and being healthy in a whole new light by following the ways of the French women as promised in this post. These tips and tricks are adopted from the book 'French Women Don’t Get Fat' by Mireille Guiliano.

This is not to say that no French women are fat. There are a few exceptions but the majority of them are svelte even those in their 'Golden Years'. Normally, I would have jumped straight to the ‘how?’ of changing our eating habits.

In this case however, I feel compelled to start at the introduction of this book because it tells us why what we're doing now is not working and I think knowing the 'why?' of things are as important, if not more important than knowing the 'how?'.

Statistics show that the prevalence of obesity among Malaysian adults increased by a staggering 250% over a 10-year period from 1996 while the number of overweight has increased by 70%.
The National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2006 showed that two out of every five adults or 43%, were either overweight or obese and an alarming situation where the number of obese adults had more than tripled over a decade, from 4% in 1996 to 14% in 2006.
Besides that, about 38% of youngsters aged between 12 and 18 were classified as overweight.
A recent survey involving 10,000 students showed that 24% of those aged between six and 12 were either overweight or obese.

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Diet books are the best-selling books in the market, each featuring new and radical diet plans with charts and tables telling us how much we should weigh based on only our heights and how much more calories red apples have over green apples. There can never be enough of them, yet one just has to ask one’s self, if these plans are working then why are the numbers of obesity still rising?

The answer is pretty simple. These extreme plans are unsustainable. Before you embark on the next diet craze or trend (yes, it is a trend), ask yourself if you’d be able to do said plan for the rest of your life. Would you be able to not eat rice for the rest of your life? Ditto living with having just a glass of high-protein shake for breakfast and dinner or drinking vegetable soup for lunch?

“But they work!” you cry. “I lost 10KGs in 2 weeks!” Yeah, but look what happens once you stop. The weight will pile back on with a vengance, you get disheartened and depressed which in turn makes you eat more (emotional eating anyone?). You think that you’re hopeless at dieting and you don’t deserve to be thin because you can’t keep up with your Zone/Pyramid/calorie counting plan.

News flash! You are not alone. Nobody, and I mean nobody is able to keep up with these plans (yes, not even celebrities) because they go against nature. One plan also conflicts with another. This plan says fat is bad and to avoid it like the Plague while the other say fats are okay, carbs are the bad guys.

So forget about everything that you have learned all these while about health and nutrition and let’s start over. This change is going to be in four phases:

Phase 1: A Wake-Up Call

This is a three week inventory of meals to get a clear view on what we’re consuming.

Phase 2: Recasting

This is a 3 month process where we will identify and suspend our food “offenders” and be introduced to the portion sizes and food diversity practiced by French women. It’s not going to be a diet boot camp, just a time for our bodies to adjust and “reset”. Discipline is needed but there is also flexibility.

Phase 3: Stabilization

After achieving our personal equilibrium, in thus stage we will be incorporating everything we like to eat in proper amounts.

Phase 4: The Rest of Our Life

We will be at our target weight, achieved our personal equilibrium and are in tune with our body and preferences.

Notice that I say “we” here? That’s because I am currently doing this sustainable plan and I invite you to join me on my journey. I really recommend following this program as close as you can and not jump straight to Phase 2 like I (smarty pants that I am) initially did. I was doing okay for the first 10 days until my healthy-eating routine started to come apart at the seams.

I realized then how important Phase 1 was because it enables us to see where and what our food vices are. Only by knowing this can we avoid the same pitfalls when we move on to Phase 2. I’m the laziest person when it comes to keeping tract of anything and so I bought myself a nice notebook to keep me motivated. I was tempted to buy a cute pen to go with it too but none suited my fancy.

Will be updating my progress so stay tuned. Cheers! 

Phy's Work Related Pet Peeves

During the past 3 months of Traffic summons-related discounts, I have been getting more and more customers coming to the counter. The past few weeks have been CRAZY busy and hectic with the discounts coming to an end on the 28th February only to be forwarded until the 10th March 2011 (still sore over that).

When you get almost if not over a 100 customers everyday, you're bound to meet 'special' people with colorful personalities and the talent to piss even the most saintly of Saints off. I have developed a few pet peeves because of these people and here are some of them:

People who give me a whole page full of car numbers to check and then walk away without paying anything.

People who write down a car number to check and then just when I thought we were done they ask me to check another car.. And another.. And another.. Why don't just write it all down in a list in one go?

People who VERBALLY ask me to check 2 cars at once. I only have 1 computer and non-photographic memory so give it to me one by one will ya'?

People who ask the why, where and when then argue with me that they've never done the deed so why were they fined? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? I'M NOT THE ONE WHO FINED YOU!

People who kick up a fuss over an RM30 fine. Kalo sudah parking tidak betul tu bayar jak la... Don't waste my time. 

People who shove their I/C, cash or summons across the counter only for it to land on the floor under my table among the tangle of wires. My clothes were not made for crawling.

People who ask for more than the 50% discount given. You ungrateful prat.

People who come to the counter banging their fists and throwing their weight around.

People think they can argue their way out of paying for summons by incessantly arguing or coaxing for more discount and selfishly holding up the line. Either you pay or move aside and let others pay yo'.

People who pay their summons that are worth hundreds... in RM1 bills.. Yup, you'd be surprised at the number of people who are retarded that way.

 People who treat me like an agony aunt. This may sound mean but if you don't have the money to pay then don't park haphazardly,  don't drive when you don't have a driver's license and basically don't commit traffic related offences.

Those who can't seem to grasp the concept of 'Lunch Hour'.

I think there are others but these are just some of those that I can think of off the top of my head. Will do a second part if I remember more. Until the next post. Cheers! 

Makeup Switch Up: 1st week of March 2011

It's Makeup Switch Up time! Let's jump into it..

 Stila tinted moisturiser in Dark

 Revlon face primer..

The Body Shop concealer pencil in 04 

 Bobbi Brown face powder

 MAC Paintpot in Rubenesque

MAC Paintpot in Dangerous Cuvee (Ltd Edt) 

Mary Kay eye primer.. 

 The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in 02 Blush

MAC Caviar Dreams eyeshadow palette (Ltd Edt)

MAC Superslick liquid liner (Ltd Edt)  

L-R: Revlon Colorburst lipstick in Peach, SimplySiti lipstick in Ku Mahu  

 T-B: The Body Shop Liquid Lip Color in 02

The Body Shop Hot Brights Lips and Cheeks in 02  (Ltd Edt)

MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow in Odd Couple 

MAC eyeshadow in Ricepaper 

TNS Honeysuckle and Strawberry lipbalm.. 

(I think that's what the flavor is, the name's rubbed off the packaging)

MAC eye khol in I Get No Kick (Ltd Edt) 

Eyeshadows from The Body Shop 

The Body Shop eyeshadows..

The selection for this week is a bit larger simply because I wanted more options to choose from and if I wanted to go with it for up to two weeks straight I won't be left for wanting. Until the next post, Cheers!