Pick-Ups & Deliveries: Haul No. 70

Happy Halloween! Halloween means it's the end of October, which means it's time for my October haul post.

Shu Uemura x Super Mario Bros. Cleansing Oil Shampoo
Shu Uemura x Super Mario Bros. Skin Perfector Makeup Refresher Mist in Sakura and Yuzu
Shu Uemura x Super Mario Bros. Invincible Superstar Premium Curler
Shu Uemura x Super Mario Bros. Rouge Unlimited Sheer Shine Lipstick in Saved Peach and Stage Cleared
Shu Uemura revealed their holiday collection a couple months ago, and when I found out that it was a collaboration with Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., my inner '80s child sprang to life and I knew I had to get my hands on it, if only for nostalgia's sake. Luckily, there were products included in the collection that I had long wanted to try out from Shu Uemura, including the Cleansing Oil Shampoo, and the Skin Perfector Makeup Refresher Mists in Sakura and Yuzu. I also got my favourite eyelash curler (it comes with a medallion chain of the iconic Super Mario Bros. gold star!) because my old one is getting quite worn. The only makeup items I bought from this collection are the two shades of Rouge Unlimited Sheer Shine Lipstick in Saved Peach and Stage Cleared — the only makeup products that I would actually use (hard pass to cushion blushes and coloured eye pencils) and didn't already have a hundred dupes for (like every red matte lipstick ever made, or this boring face palette).
Tatcha Balanced Pore Perfecting Water Gel and The Water Cream
Drunk Elephant B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel and TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum
Volition Turmeric Brightening Polish
Sephora had their Friends & Family sale this month, for which my friend Chelsea kindly gave me a coupon for, so I decided to stock up on some skincare. I got a couple of Tatcha moisturizers — The Water Gel, which I love for day, and the more nutrient-rich The Water Cream, which I will use as my night cream — and two Drunk Elephant serums that I've been wanting to try for a while: the B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel for a boost of hydration in the day, and the TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum to help with texture and skintone at night (I'm gonna see if I like it better than Lauder's Advanced Night Repair). I also picked up a tube of Turmeric Brightening Polish from a new indie beauty brand called Volition, who creates all of their products based on real consumer suggestions. They've gotten nothing but rave reviews across the board, so if I end up loving this exfoliator, I'll definitely try out some of their other products.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Sugar Glow Kit
Becca Après Ski Glow Face Palette
NARS x Man Ray Overexposed Glow Highlighter
NARS Audacious Lipsticks in Dayle and Vibeke
Obviously, I picked up a few makeup items, too, because it would've been silly not to take advantage of a 20% discount. So I got two new face palettes — the Anastasia Beverly Hills Sugar Glow Kit because you know I cannot resist any of their highlighting palettes, plus Becca's gorgeous new Après Ski Face Palette — and a few NARS items: the beautiful new Overexposed Glow Highlighter from their Man Ray holiday collaboration, and two of the online exclusive Audacious Lipsticks in Dayle (a mauve pink) and Vibeke (a peachy nude). I also took the opportunity to pick up another 100 ml bottle of my favourite Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum 'cause I go through it like water. Of course, Sephora's VIB sale is coming up this week as well... Fuck. No, I need to control myself. This is getting out of hand.
MAC Liptensity Lipsticks
MAC Liptensity Lip Pencils
MAC Snow Ball Opalescent Face Powders
MAC Snow Ball Extra Dimension Eyeshadows
MAC Snow Ball Eye Compacts
At the beginning of October, MAC came out with their new Liptensity range (my favourite lipstick formula from MAC) as well as the new Liptensity Lip Pencils (probably my new favourite lip liner formula, actually), so I grabbed all of those. And then two weeks later, their annual holiday collection launched — and it's by far my favourite holiday collection they've ever released. Everything about it, from the packaging to the colour story to the textures and formulas, is stunning. I got my hands on all of my must-haves; my reviews and swatches of all of them are up already (you can find them here: Opalescent Face Powders, Extra Dimension Eyeshadows, Eye Compacts in Rose Gold and Gold). I just wonder how they'll out-do themselves next year.
Quay Australia x Desi Perkins High Key Sunglasses
Quay Australia Genesis Sunglasses
I randomly got some new sunglasses from Quay Australia. I feel like sunglasses are an accessory that I didn't really get into until this year — I always had a pair for driving, but I'd just wear that one pair for years and never care to try on any others — but once I discovered Quay Australia, I was hooked. They are luxe but also affordable, and come out with some fantastic styles that fit my massive round head perfectly. Designer brands like Dior and Gucci don't fit nearly as well on me as Quay, and they're four to five times more expensive. So I got another pair of the Desi Perkins High Key sunglasses in the new olive/gold style (my old ones got completely squashed in my bag when I went to NYC in May and I haven't been able to get them to the same fit as before — they sit slightly crooked on my face no matter how I adjust the arms or nose pads), and a pair of the Genesis sunglasses in tortoiseshell with rose gold lenses because I love the oversized square shape and they were on sale for $39 from $60. I mean, if I'm gonna pay for shipping, anyway, I might as well get a second pair...
Apple 2017 MacBook Pro
On that note, October has actually become the most expensive month this year because my old 2011 MacBook Pro finally died a week ago. I was watching a YouTube video one night and the screen just went completely black and the sound went totally distorted (it was pretty scary, actually; I thought it was some supernatural shit happening 'cause this had never happened to me before). And then when it rebooted on its own, the monitor was completely discoloured and pixellated. And no matter how many times I restarted it, it wouldn't get past the startup loading screen. I went to get it looked at the next day, and as it turns out, the model of my MacBook Pro was one that they had recalled many years ago. Except the coverage to get it fixed by Apple ran out last December.
Long story short, I got a new MacBook Pro. I was planning on getting one next year because my old one was running very slowly and would take minutes just to load a single program. It still worked fine so I just kept using it, but it was getting tedious. So I saw this system failure as the world's way of telling me it was time to get a new computer. I very specifically did not want the new MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar because it only comes with Thunderbolt ports, which means I'd have to buy adapters for almost everything, including USB. (A USB! Something that should be universal!) I don't care how fancy it is or how cool it looks; the Touch Bar and Touch ID are completely unnecessary and I cannot justify a starting price of $3,699 (my minimum requirements are a 15-inch screen with 512GB storage) when it doesn't even include basic necessities. So I got the model that came out just before the stupid Touch ID ones, which includes all the standard, universal ports. No regrets, because I'm totally in love with my new laptop. But this unexpected expenditure means I really can't do any extraneous shopping for the rest of the year. 

Makeup and Beauty Blog: Monday Poll, Vol. 499

This week's Monday Poll:

1. What would no one guess about you? That I went to an all-girls private school for nine years.
   
   
2. Your thoughts on purple eye makeup? Love it! It's one of the most flattering colours across all skintones and undertones. Everyone can look good in purple, and it makes all eye colours pop.
   
   
3. What gets you up in the morning? When I have work, an alarm clock and a good cup of coffee (been loving Kicking Horse's Three Sisters medium roast recently!). If I don't have work, then I just automatically wake up when my brain and body are rested enough. (But I still have that cup of coffee.)
   
   
4. I think one should always be __________. Kind and compassionate. There's enough hate in the world.
   
   
5. Something you just started doing that's making your life better? Flossing (with the most bougie of dental floss, Cocofloss)! It's improving my oral hygiene which I'm hoping means I can deter going to the dentist, so it's gotta be making my life better.

Sunday Video Love: ...Ready For It?

I don't care how much people are hating on her right now. I'm still into this new don't-give-a-fuck Taylor Swift.

Friday Five: October 6 Through 10

This week's Friday Five:

1. The first week of October is National Customer Service Week in the United States and Kenya. Where have you received especially good customer service? There's a Moxie's by my work that I go to with one of my colleagues once a week for dinner, and there's a server there named Darren that always goes above and beyond for us, since the first time he's served us. He always asks how our day is going, makes friendly banter, asks how our food is and what he can do to make our experience better. He knows our food and drink orders by heart and always offers us dessert on him, and we're always too full so we always decline, but he always offers it. We always request to sit in his section now; it's the best continuous service I've ever had.
   
   
2. The second Saturday in October was National Tree-Planting Day in Mongolia. When did you last do anything resembling tree-planting? Um... I think I was maybe 14 or 15, and I had gotten a "plant in a can" as a gift. So I planted it, and it grew for like, two weeks. And then it died. I haven't gotten into planting since.
   
   
3. October 4 was World Animal Day (the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals). What's an obscure animal you know a thing or two about? Sea pigs are found in the coldest and deepest parts of the ocean, as far as 3.7 miles under the ocean surface. They are deposit feeders that obtain their food by scouring deep sea mud for decaying plant or animal particles. When threatened, they will defend themselves by firing their intestines and organs through their butts, which are also their mouths.
   
   
4. October 6 was National Poetry Day in Ireland and the United Kingdom. What's a line of poetry that springs to mind now that you're thinking about poetry? "Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments. Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds / Or bends with the remover to remove." (From Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare, the only poem that I have ever had to memorize. I was in detention in Grade 9, and it was an English teacher overseeing it, and she said we couldn't leave until we memorized it and dictated it back to her. It's been 16 years and I still remember it.)
   
   
5. What's in your pocket? A lighter.
   
   

MAC Snow Ball: Snow Ball Gold Eye Compact

Last Thursday, MAC launched the first part of their annual holiday collection called Snow Ball: "Find your rhythm and light up the night in cool frost and high-chrome shine. We've got all the bling you'll ever need to make everyone go star-struck. Be the sleighbelle of the ball, dancing until morning, feeling alive, reveling in the new generation. See you on the dance floor." The Snow Ball holiday collection sees the launch of 15 new and limited edition sets, including two eyeshadow palettes, which are described as "a unique rendition of the smoky eye drenches lids in six wintry frosted and lustrous shades. Each compact includes two shades of our special Dazzleshadow formula and comes with a double-ended brush." The Gold Eye Compact is housed in "foiled gold metallic packaging" with a clear plastic box featuring a gold geometric snowflake design. Each Snow Ball Eye Compact contains a total of 7.28 grams of product, and retails for $35.50. 
Frosted Fizz, Dazzle the Night Away, Spun from Gold, Evening Light, Well Past Midnight, and Cinder
Frosted Fizz, Dazzle the Night Away, Spun from Gold, Evening Light, Well Past Midnight, and Cinder

Frosted Fizz is a light-medium cool wheat beige with a pearlized sheen in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and more pearlized than Omega, lighter and cooler than Patina, and lighter and cooler than Wedge.

Dazzle the Night Away is a light cool silvered champagne with silver glitter in a sparkling metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, slightly gritty texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer and more golden than She Sparkles, lighter and more sparkly than Retrospeck, and more glittery than Nylon.

Spun from Gold is a light-medium warm yellow champagne gold with gold glitter in a sparkling metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, slightly gritty texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and more sparkly than Goldmine, more silvered and more sparkly than Lemon Tart (Warm Neutral x 15), and lighter and more sparkly than Something's Fishy (Power Hungry).

Evening Light is a medium-deep gilded olive brown with gold pearl in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more brown than Sumptuous Olive, cooler and more olive than Tempting, and darker and more pearlized than Dangerously Elegant (Power Hungry).

Well Past Midnight is a dark neutral-cool muted black with silver and gold shimmer in a Lustre finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and warmer than Black Tied.

Cinder is a dark cool blackened charcoal in a Matte finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Prabal Gurung collection, and is limited edition. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker than Print, lighter than Carbon, and more muted than Typographic.

What I appreciate about this year's holiday eyeshadow palettes is that they are both neutral, well-curated, and widely flattering. In previous years, MAC came out with more colourful options and extraneous shades that looked pretty in the compacts, but intimidated a lot of consumers — it just takes that one hot pink or mustard yellow, even in a sea of neutrals, to put someone off getting a palette. This year, MAC focused on two colour waves, and made sure that they were both wearable for all skintones and could easily create full eye looks with a single palette. Six shadows per palette is just enough to offer a good variety of shades and finishes without being overwhelming, and I like that they included two shades of Dazzleshadow in each palette to give a festive pop of sparkle. (Note: Dazzleshadows go on more sheer and sparkly when used dry, and more opaque and metallic when used wet or on top of an eye base.) I'm also pleased to note that there are no real duds here; all the shadows perform well. They go on smoothly and evenly, have great pigmentation, and are easily blendable. Whichever one you choose, both palettes will create the perfect holiday party smoky eye.

MAC Snow Ball: Snow Ball Rose Gold Eye Compact

Last Thursday, MAC launched the first part of their annual holiday collection called Snow Ball: "Find your rhythm and light up the night in cool frost and high-chrome shine. We've got all the bling you'll ever need to make everyone go star-struck. Be the sleighbelle of the ball, dancing until morning, feeling alive, reveling in the new generation. See you on the dance floor." The Snow Ball holiday collection sees the launch of 15 new and limited edition sets, including two eyeshadow palettes, which are described as "a unique rendition of the smoky eye drenches lids in six wintry frosted and lustrous shades. Each compact includes two shades of our special Dazzleshadow formula and comes with a double-ended brush." The Rose Gold Eye Compact is housed in "cool crushed silver metallic packaging" with a clear plastic box featuring a gold geometric snowflake design. Each Snow Ball Eye Compact contains a total of 7.28 grams of product, and retails for $35.50. 
Winterlude, No Curfew, She Sparkles, Shiver of Delight, Budding Passion, and Drama in the Snow
Winterlude, No Curfew, She Sparkles, Shiver of Delight, Budding Passion, and Drama in the Snow

Winterlude is a light warm beige with a pearlized sheen in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer than Shroom, more pearlized than Brule, and more beige and more pearlized than Orb.

No Curfew is a medium warm pinked beige-brown in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is slightly more pinked than Wedge, lighter and cooler than Soft Brown, and more brown than Malt.

She Sparkles is a light warm pewter beige with silver and pink glitter in a sparkling metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft, slightly gritty texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer and more sparkly than Vex, lighter and more silver than Last Dance, and warmer and more silver than Sugared (Solar Glow x 9).

Shiver of Delight is a light-medium warm rose gold with copper glitter in a sparkling metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, slightly gritty texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer and more sparkly than Sweet Heat, lighter and more gold than Slow/Fast/Slow, and more rose than Honey Lust.

Budding Passion is a dark warm mahogany brown with a copper shimmer-sheen in a Frost finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and cooler than Antiqued, darker and cooler than Amorous Alloy, and darker and more reddened than Tempting.

Drama in the Snow is a deep-dark neutral blackened brown in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and warmer than Brun, darker and cooler than Embark, and slightly warmer than Dance in the Dark (Warm Neutral x 15).

What I appreciate about this year's holiday eyeshadow palettes is that they are both neutral, well-curated, and widely flattering. In previous years, MAC came out with more colourful options and extraneous shades that looked pretty in the compacts, but intimidated a lot of consumers — it just takes that one hot pink or mustard yellow, even in a sea of neutrals, to put someone off getting a palette. This year, MAC focused on two colour waves, and made sure that they were both wearable for all skintones and could easily create full eye looks with a single palette. Six shadows per palette is just enough to offer a good variety of shades and finishes without being overwhelming, and I like that they included two shades of Dazzleshadow in each palette to give a festive pop of sparkle. (Note: Dazzleshadows go on more sheer and sparkly when used dry, and more opaque and metallic when used wet or on top of an eye base.) I'm also pleased to note that there are no real duds here; all the shadows perform well. They go on smoothly and evenly, have great pigmentation, and are easily blendable. Whichever one you choose, both palettes will create the perfect holiday party smoky eye.

Makeup and Beauty Blog: Monday Poll, Vol. 498

This week's Monday Poll:

1. A beauty brand you're loyal to? I would have to say MAC. It's the first brand of makeup I ever used, and I've been using some variation of their products for over 15 years and been a collector for over nine (I think MAC x Fafi started it for me). To this day, most of my staple products (e.g. foundation powder, blotting powder, eyebrow pencil, mascara, etc.) are from MAC.
   
   
2. Describe your hair today using only emojis. 👀💩😬 
   
   
3. Have you bought any Halloween candy yet? Nah, I don't give out candy so I buy it on sale on November 1.
   
   
4. Something that made you happy today? I'm having a shitty day because I woke up with a sore throat and I could barely speak, so I called in sick to work and made a doctor's appointment. Except I have the old-school Ontario health card which is being phased out and most doctors don't accept them anymore so I had to go to my local ServiceOntario centre to register for a new health card. Of course, the new health cards require a photo and I look like complete shit today. (But I figure the only time I'll need to show my health card is at the doctor's or the hospital, and I wouldn't care what I look like in those scenarios, anyway.) On top of that, I was kindly reminded that my driver's licence is expiring soon (on my birthday), so I had to get that renewed and left $90 poorer. An hour later, I went to my doctor, and she said I probably have laryngitis so there's not much I can do except for drink lots of water and use my vocal chords as little as possible. I had to pay $20 for a doctor's note for work, and then got a new prescription ointment for my hand eczema so had to go to the pharmacy to get that. So nothing specifically made me happy today, but I did have a very productive day, which makes me very satisfied.
   
   
5. If I were to give you one piece of advice about beauty, it would be… Take care of your skin first because your makeup will only ever look as good as your skin.
   
   
6. BONUS: Would you rather 1) have someone tattoo your brows in a pitch black room, or 2) have to do all of your grocery shopping wearing nothing but scandalous lingerie for the next 12 months? I'd have to go with #2, except I don't really do all that much grocery shopping to begin with and you can order all your groceries online now, so there are many ways to actually avoid this situation. (Unless there's a stipulation that would require me to physically go into a grocery store at least once a week or something. And then I'd go to a grocery store that is at least two neighbourhoods from where I live and work.) But having someone tattoo my brows, let alone in a pitch black room? No, no, no. And it'd be a huge pain in the ass to cover up everyday. Hard pass.
   
   

Sunday Video Love: Mirage

Lindsey Stirling can do no wrong.

Saturday Nine: Voices Carry (1985)

This week's Saturday Nine:



This song was chosen because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Please share this link to The National Domestic Violence Hotline. Let's spread the word that there's help out there.

1. In this song, a woman is "hushed" by her lover. When were you last told to "keep it down?" I don't remember, honestly. I'm not that loud a person. I usually tell other people to keep it down. Or if I'm talking to a friend or colleague about something private or confidential in a more public area, I'll make note for both of us to keep it down.
   
   
2. Her lover tells her tears are something to hide. Researchers tell us that crying can be good for us, because by releasing emotional stress, it lessens physical stress on the cardiovascular system. Are you comfortable crying in front of other people? Not particularly. Can't remember the last time I cried in public. It's just a hot mess — smudged makeup everywhere, swollen eyes, puffy face, runny nose… No, thanks.
   
   
3. In this video, the woman makes a scene by speaking up in a theater. Today theater goers are more likely to be disturbed by a cell phone ringing or its screen illuminating. Are you careful to turn your phone off in the theater, church, etc.? I never turn off my phone anywhere, but it's always set on silent (with no vibration) — whether I'm at work or at home or out with friends — so it doesn't disturb or distract me or anyone else. (Even on a plane, I'll put my phone on Airplane Mode. But I'll never turn it off.)
   
   
4. When this group, 'Til Tuesday, was still struggling, Cyndi Lauper was already a star. Cyndi offered to record this song, which would have brought the group some fast cash, but only if they agreed not to record it themselves. Obviously they didn't take the deal. Tell us about a time you took a risk on yourself, and it paid off. When I applied to my current work position in February. I was actually quite content with where I was at that point; with the location I was at, the position I was in, the pay that I got, and the people I worked with. But I wanted to continue moving up, so I applied to a higher position at a brand new location that was going to have a brand new team. And I got it in April. It's been more stressful but also more rewarding, and I've learned more about the makeup industry and business operations than I ever have before. Plus, I also get a much higher salaried wage now. So it literally paid off.
   
   
5. 'Til Tuesday's lead singer, Aimee Mann, went to Open High School in Richmond, Virginia. This charter high school is dedicated to helping students become "self-determined thinkers and learners." Do you recall your high school as permissive or regimented? Totally regimented. I went to an all-girls' private school. There was very little freedom there. Even our courses were strictly academic. The most "liberal" course I took back then was art and photography — the only subjects I loved and truly excelled at.
   
   
6. Aimee has been on the road through 2017 and, like most artists, sells tour merchandise. Her line includes reusable tote bags. Do you bring your own bag to the grocery store? As bad as it is, I never remember to bring reusable bags with me.
   
   
7. Aimee has tried her hand at acting and appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. From Dracula to Barnabas Collins to Lestat, vampires are a popular culture staple (especially in October). What do you suppose accounts for their enduring popularity? I think it's because vampires in modern-day literature have the most human-like traits and sensitivities while still being monstrous or animalistic at the core. They have characteristics that a lot of people want to have: sexy, charismatic, seductive, wildly attractive, intelligence, maturity. They also possess super-human abilites like speed, agility, and immortality that make them incredibly powerful and dangerous, but there's this vulnerability to them that makes us empathetic to them. There's this constant battle of good vs. evil or right vs. wrong going on in their heads, and it's fascinating to see which one they'll choose or how they'll fight their instincts. And I won't even get into the whole fangs + oral fixation aspect of vampires.
   
   
8. In 1985, when this song was popular, Bruce Springsteen was at the top of the charts with Born in the USA. A massive commercial success, Born in the USA has sold more than 15,000,000 copies in the United States alone. Is it in your collection? Nope.
   
   
9. Random question: In which race would you do better — the Iditarod, with sled dogs in Nome, or speeding in a car at 200+ mph at the Indianapolis 500? I'm gonna say Indianapolis 500 because I like driving and speeding, and I know nothing of sled dogs.

Friday Five: More (and more) Questions About Buildings and Food

This week's Friday Five:

1. What's the best layered food? Definitely pizza, followed very closely by burgers.
   
   
   Tartufata pizza with black truffle, taleggio, and fruilano cheese, and porcini and shiitake mushrooms from 255 by Alta Rossa
   
   Shack Stack from Shake Shack
   
2. What's the best rolled food? Maki sushi.
   
   
   Diablo Roll and Salmon Lover's Roll from Markham Sushi
   
   Kiu Signature Lobster Maki from Kiu
   
3. What's the most recent cuisine you've tried for the first time from an ethnicity not your own? I genuinely can't remember the last time I tried a new cuisine for the first time. But I did try Spanish tapas for the first time last November. It wasn't my first time having Spanish food, but it was my first time eating in that style.
   
   
4. What's a food that scares you? Anything with insects.
   
   
5. What's something you eat solely because it's good for you? Plain steamed vegetables, especially Chinese varieties, like gai lan or choy sum. In the right dishes or with the right sauces, they can be pretty tasty, but they're tedious to eat on their own.
   
   

MAC Snow Ball: Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Frostwinked, Delicate Drift, Stylishly Merry, It's Snowing, and Starry, Starry Nights

Today, MAC launched the first part of their annual holiday collection called Snow Ball: "Find your rhythm and light up the night in cool frost and high-chrome shine. We've got all the bling you'll ever need to make everyone go star-struck. Be the sleighbelle of the ball, dancing until morning, feeling alive, reveling in the new generation. See you on the dance floor." Each year, MAC releases a colour collection of individual items for a single colour story along with a slew of value sets. 

The Snow Ball colour collection sees the launch of 16 new and limited edition products, including five shades of Extra Dimension Eyeshadow, which is described as "a modern hybrid formula that combines the smoothness of a cream, the blendability of a liquid and the finish of a powder with long-wearing colour and prismatic reflections. Its creamy, silky, near-fluid formula creates luminous, well-defined eyes in finishes from sheer crystallized light to stunning metallic." They are housed in "cool crushed champagne metallic" packaging with clear plastic boxes featuring a gold geometric snowflake design. The eyeshadow itself is embossed with a snowflake design. Each Extra Dimension Eyeshadow contains a total of 1.3 grams of product, and retails for $26. These are not redeemable as a free product in the Back to MAC recycling program.
Clockwise from left: Frostwinked, Delicate Drift, Stylishly Merry, It's Snowing, and Starry, Starry Nights
In daylight: Frostwinked, Delicate Drift, Stylishly Merry, It's Snowing, and Starry, Starry Nights
In direct light: Frostwinked, Delicate Drift, Stylishly Merry, It's Snowing, and Starry, Starry Nights

Frostwinked is a pale cool white with a silvery mint pearl in a shimmering metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and more silver than Vex, more silver and more metallic than White Frost, and lighter and cooler than She Sparkles.

Delicate Drift is a light-medium warm peachy pink with a golden peach duochrome pearl in a shimmering metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more peach than Last Dance, brighter and more pink than Sweet Heat, and lighter and more peach than Slow/Fast/Slow.

Stylishly Merry is a medium warm reddish pink with a greenish gold duochrome pearl in a shimmering metallic finish. (Note: This is a completely different shade than the original Stylishly Merry Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in the permanent range.) This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and more duochrome than Let's Roll, more golden and more duochrome than Last Dance, and more pink and more duochrome than I Like 2 Watch. 

It's Snowing is a medium warm muted rose pink with a silvery mauve pearl in a shimmering metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and more pink than Smoky Mauve, warmer and more metallic than Swish, and cooler and more pink than Sweet Heat. 

Starry, Starry Nights is a deep-dark cool muted black with a silver pearl in a shimmering metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a lightweight, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is softer and more metallic than Black Tied, and more sparkly and more metallic than Carbon.

Snow Ball might just be my favourite MAC holiday collection to date. They killed it with the packaging, colours, wearability, and textures this year, and these Extra Dimension Eyeshadows are my personal must-haves from this collection. If you're not familiar with Extra Dimension Eyeshadows, they're ultra-smooth, ultra-silky, very pigmented, and incredibly metallic. In my opinion, it's one of MAC's most stand-out formulas, and it's my favourite MAC eyeshadow formulation to date. These shades actually remind me of Dazzleshadows with their multi-dimensional sparkles, but have the smooth texture and metallic finish that we expect from Extra Dimension Eyeshadows. In general, the five shades released in Snow Ball are widely-flattering across all skintones from light to dark. Frostwinked makes for a bright, festive accent colour; Delicate Drift, Stylishly Merry, and It's Snowing are gorgeous as one-sweep shades on their own or as lid shades grounded with matte shadows in the crease for a more dimensional look; and Starry, Starry Nights is perfect for a softly shimmering smoky eye this holiday season. The most notable colour here is Stylishly Merry, which looks like melted duochrome foil. It is stunning and I haven't seen anything like it before. (Again, please note that the Stylishly Merry from Snow Ball is a completely different shade from the original Stylishly Merry in the permanent range, which is a fuchsia purple.) For fans of sparkly and metallic shadows, these are definite must-haves — whether you're in a holiday party mood or not.

MAC Snow Ball: Opalescent Face Powder in Happy Go Dazzlingly and Here Comes Joy

Today, MAC launched the first part of their annual holiday collection called Snow Ball: "Find your rhythm and light up the night in cool frost and high-chrome shine. We've got all the bling you'll ever need to make everyone go star-struck. Be the sleighbelle of the ball, dancing until morning, feeling alive, reveling in the new generation. See you on the dance floor." Each year, MAC releases a colour collection of individual items for a single colour story along with a slew of value sets. 

The Snow Ball colour collection sees the launch of 16 new and limited edition products, including two shades of Opalescent Face Powder, which is described as "a powder that transforms cheeks into pearly orbs that light up the night. Adds the perfect high-impact shimmering glow to skin." They are housed in "cool crushed champagne metallic" mirrored compacts with clear plastic boxes featuring a gold geometric snowflake design. The powder itself is embossed with a snowflake design. Each Opalescent Face Powder contains a total of 10 grams of product, and retails for $38. 
Happy Go Dazzlingly and Here Comes Joy
In daylight: Happy Go Dazzlingly and Here Comes Joy
In direct light: Happy Go Dazzlingly and Here Comes Joy

Happy Go Dazzlingly is a light-medium warm golden champagne in a shimmery opalescent finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more yellow and more muted than Oh, Darling!, darker and more yellow than Double-Gleam, and lighter and more yellow than Global Glow.

Here Comes Joy is a medium warm gilded peach in a shimmery opalescent finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more peach than Beaming Blush, more peach than Global Glow, and warmer and more peach than Superb.

Snow Ball might just be my favourite MAC holiday collection to date. They killed it with the packaging, colours, wearability, and textures this year. The Opalescent Face Powders offer a smoother illumination than Mineralize Skinfinish and are less metallic than Extra Dimension Skinfinish (which will be launching in holiday face kits on November 2), but what sets this formula apart is actually the texture. For those who don't like that weightless, baked texture of MSF or EDSF, the Opalescent Face Powders have that soft, finely-milled texture of Anastasia Beverly Hills' Glow Kits or Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfectors. Both shades are pigmented with full colour pay-off, apply smoothly and evenly, and blend out beautifully. As highlighters, Happy Go Dazzlingly will suit light-medium to dark skintones, and Here Comes Joy will suit medium to deep-dark skintones, but both shades here are definitely geared towards warmer undertones. On that note, these are surprisingly unique compared to the highlighters in MAC's permanent range in both colour and texture, so they are definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a new pretty highlighter for this holiday season (they have snowflakes on them!) or you're just a highlighter fiend like me.

Makeup and Beauty Blog: Monday Poll, Vol. 497

This week's Monday Poll:

1. You've been kidnapped (!), and the last person you saw on TV is trying to rescue you. Who is it? Stephen Colbert. You know, I don't mind. I don't mind at all.
   
   
2. Describe your life right now in one word. Hectic!
   
   
3. How do you think you'd do if you answered "Yes" to every question anyone asked you this week? Hmm... Either become murderous or be murdered?
   
   
4. Tea or coffee with your scone? Tea, a good orange pekoe. I usually go for coffee, but when I eat sweet foods or desserts, I prefer tea.
   
   
5. If you could try a new hair style today, and it would be done by the world's greatest hair stylist, what would you do? A side-parted 'lob' that's just past my shoulders, and shorter in the back. And if I could get it coloured, too, I'd do an indigo-to-turquoise ombre.

Sunday Video Love: Fake Happy, Ain't It Fun, and Everywhere

I went to see Paramore at Massey Hall on Friday. It was my sixth time seeing them live since 2005, and it's been this incredible journey seeing them grow as people and musicians, together and separately; through thick and thin, drama and apathy. But this might have been my favourite show yet. The energy was just different: more vibrant, more buoyant, more authentic, maybe because After Laughter was such a great catharsis for them and there's just so much more transparency between them and the public and their fans.

I took a ton of videos that night (a minute or two of favourite songs to post on Instagram, you know), but here are the three songs I recorded in full:




The first one is "Fake Happy," my favourite song off of After Laughter. The second one is "Ain't It Fun" from their self-titled record — their biggest and highest-peaking single to date that won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2015. And finally, the third one is "Everywhere," a Fleetwood Mac cover on their set list for Tour Two. It's not the first time I've heard them covering Fleetwood Mac (they've used "Landslide" as the outro to "In the Mourning"), but it is the first time I've actually seen/heard them play a full cover song at a show, and they absolutely killed it.

Also, can I just say, Hayley has got some real sassy dance moves.

Saturday Nine: Chattanooga Choo-Choo (1941)

This week's Saturday Nine:

1. Chattanooga is Tennessee's fourth largest city. Have you ever visited Tennessee? If so, where did you go and what did you see? I've never been to Tennessee, but I really want to go to Nashville someday.
   
   
2. Since Glenn Miller's recording of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" was awarded the first-ever gold record, we're going to devote the next questions to your firsts. What was the first award or accolade you ever won? I won my school's art award at my Grade 6 graduation.
   
   
3. Which was the first social media site that you posted to? LiveJournal in 2002. But if blogging platforms don't count, then it was MySpace in 2003.
   
   
4. Where did you go on your first plane ride? Orlando, Florida, in 1989. My parents took us to Disneyworld.
   
   
5. Tell us about your first cell phone. A Nokia 8210 in 1999. I had one with a blue cover. My dad got one for me "for emergencies" because that's when I started taking public transportation by myself. I didn't do anything with it except call my parents and play Snake.
   
   
6. Tell us about your first tattoo: Where is it on your body? Where did you have it done? What does it depict? A dove on my left forearm. I got it done at New Tribe Tattoo in 2005.
   
   
7. How old were you when you had your first piercing? I think I was about 11 or 12. I got my ears pierced.
   
   
8. What had you been drinking the first time you suffered a hangover? I've never had a hangover because my body doesn't metabolize alcohol normally — I sweat it out and then I'm sober again. But the first time I drank excessively was with vodka.
   
   
9. Was your first ticket for parking or was it a moving violation? It was actually for speeding. I was doing 80 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. It was like, two weeks after I got my first car. My dad took my car away for three months after that.

Friday Five: Dear Old Golden Rule Days

This week's Friday Five:

1. When did you last raise your hand to be called upon, to get someone's attention, or in response to a "how many of you…" question? Or heck, for any reason at all? This afternoon, to get the bill after having dim sum with my dad. It's just a normal thing to raise your hand to get attention from servers at Chinese restaurants.
   
   
2. When did you last have to do anything akin to homework? During my work's training updates, we have to think of answers to whatever questions the trainers are asking and write them down in our workbooks. So, in August.
   
   
3. When did you and your friends last go outside to play? Umm... I went to The Ex with my friend Ronsee in August. We spent most of our time eating in the Food Building, but I mean, we walked down the midway (which is outside!) and watched other people play games... Does that count?
   
   
4. How's your penmanship nowadays? Pretty good. At work, I write a lot of notes, memos, product recommendations, appointment bookings, etc. by hand, so I still get a lot of practice. It's a little more hurried than when I was in school, but it's still clear, neat, and elegant (if I do say so myself). I get a lot of compliments on my penmanship, especially from older ladies, maybe because they think I'm younger than I really am and "kids these days don't write by hand anymore."
   
   
5. Among stuff you periodically eat, what reminds you most of your lunches in the school cafeteria? Chicken fingers and fries.
   
   

MAC Liptensity Lip Pencil in Fresh Clay, Honey Pecan, Toast and Butter, Double Fudge, Fire Roasted, Dionysus, All Dressed Up, Habanero, Art District, Cut Ruby, Marsala, Royally Flushed, Pressed Blooms, Enoki, Galaxy Grey, Hellebore, and Stallion

Last Thursday, MAC released their extension collection for Liptensity, which sees the launch of nine new shades of Liptensity Lipstick, six re-promoted shades of Liptensity Lipstick, and 18 new shades of Liptensity Lip Pencil. Liptensity Lip Pencil, a brand new formula, is described as "a vivid lip liner with a slanted, chiseled tip and creamy high-frequency colour." There are 18 new shades of Liptensity Lip Pencil (of which 17 will be reviewed here; I accidentally left out La Sultana), and all of them will be permanent. Like MAC's other lip pencil formulas, the Liptensity Lip Pencils are scent- and taste-free. Each Liptensity Lip Pencil is housed in a plastic colour-coded mechanical tube, contains a total of 0.35 grams of product, and retails for $25. 
Fresh Clay, Honey Pecan, Toast and Butter, Double Fudge, Fire Roasted, and Dionysus
Fresh Clay, Honey Pecan, Toast and Butter, Double Fudge, Fire Roasted, and Dionysus

Fresh Clay is a medium warm rosy brown in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter than Soar, more brown than Edge to Edge, and darker and more pink than Staunchly Stylish.

Honey Pecan is a light-medium warm brown beige in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more brown than Oh Honey!, warmer than Stripdown, and darker and more brown than Subculture.

Toast and Butter is a medium-dark warm caramel brown in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more brown than Spice, slightly darker and more brown than Nice 'N' Spicy, darker and more brown than Boldly Bare.

Double Fudge is a dark warm chocolate brown in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is similar to Chestnut and Bittersweet. 

Fire Roasted is a medium-deep warm crimson red in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker and cooler than Auburn, darker than Brick, and brighter and more red than Burgundy. 

Dionysus is a medium-deep cool burgundy red in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly darker and cooler than Fire Roasted, lighter and more red than Ms. Diva, and brighter and more red than Burgundy.

All Dressed Up, Habanero, Art District, Cut Ruby, Marsala, and Royally Flushed
All Dressed Up, Habanero, Art District, Cut Ruby, Marsala, and Royally Flushed

All Dressed Up is a medium-dark neutral vibrant red in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is warmer than Cherry, lighter and cooler than Fire Roasted, and brighter than He Said, She Said.

Habanero is a medium-dark warm vibrant reddened orange in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker than What a Blast!, darker and more reddened than Voltage, and brighter and more orange than High Energy.

Art District is a medium warm muted coral pink in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and warmer than In Anticipation, lighter and more coral than Pressed Blooms, and more muted and more pink than Fruit Cocktail.

Cut Ruby is a medium-dark warm vibrant fuchsia pink in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is warmer than More to Love, darker and warmer than Candy Yum-Yum, and lighter and warmer than Marsala.

Marsala is a medium-deep cool berry in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker and cooler than More to Love, darker than Royally Flushed, and slightly darker than Nightingale.

Royally Flushed is a medium-dark cool magenta in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more pink than Beet, lighter than Marsala, and more pink than Trust in Red.

Pressed Blooms, Enoki, Galaxy Grey, Hellebore, and Stallion
Pressed Blooms, Enoki, Galaxy Grey, Hellebore, and Stallion

Pressed Blooms is a medium neutral muted rose pink in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is similar to Edge to Edge, more pink than Fresh Clay, and cooler and more muted than In Anticipation.

Enoki is a medium cool grey mauve in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is warmer and more brown than Galaxy Grey, lighter and more mauve than Stone, and lighter and more grey than Whirl.

Galaxy Grey is a medium cool greyed lavender in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is cooler and more purple than Enoki, and lighter and warmer than Galaxy Grey Liptensity Lipstick.

Hellebore is a dark cool berry purple in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and more pink than Nightmoth, more purple than Vino, and brighter than Currant.

Stallion is a deep-dark neutral soft black in a matte finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. There is nothing similar to this in MAC's permanent lip pencil range.

If you were a fan of MAC's discontinued Cremestick Liners, then you will welcome the new retractable Liptensity Lip Pencils with open arms. These are MAC's creamiest pencils to date and glide on smooth like butter — no skipping or bunching up on the lips, which the Pro Longwear Lip Pencils are prone to doing. They actually stay smooth and non-drying after setting and throughout wear time unlike the other two formulas by MAC. They're ultra-pigmented with incredible colour pay-off, and the whole range is consistent in texture and finish. They're not waterproof, but they don't easily smudge, and they're actually quite long-wearing — about five to eight hours (less for lighter shades, more for darker or brighter shades). The chiseled tip allows for easy precision and the slanted edge makes it effortless to fill in the whole lip with colour. The only downside is that because these are mechanical, it contains significantly less product compared to MAC's other two formulas (0.35 g vs. 1.2 g for Pro Longwear Lip Pencil and 1.45 g for the original Lip Pencil) for the same amount of money. It's a give and take, but I genuinely think this is MAC's most superior formula to date — and many shades here fill in the gap that was previously in their lip pencil range.