MAC "To the Beach" pages and cover / Vivi 2010.07

First of all, I got a formspring account: http://www.formspring.me/cosme411 You can ask me (almost) anything you are curious about there. ^^* It is also linked permanently in the right column.

And now onto the entry. I really like japanese magazines! There are many reasons... I was once asked if I like them, because I want to look like the models (asian), which is NOT the case. ;) I am 100% happy with my caucasian features. ;) I can appreciate beauty of all races and colors though, but it doesn't mean I hate on mine - a problem so common among young people nowadays. : /

Anywhoo, if you were wondering, I like japanese magazines because:

1) the fashion is ADORABLEEEEE and the page layout is packed full of coordinates, but easy to navigate - there is much more content than in western magazines!

2) the makeup and fashion advice is MUCH MORE detailed, which is great! It often irks me, how in western magazines they show only before and after face and you are left to guess how to draw the lines and apply everything with a few lackluster sentences (>_>?) Pointless!

3) each magazine has a distinct and unique style, which makes it easy to be inspired in the style YOU like. If you like colorful young gyaru style, go for EGG or Ranzuki, if you prefer celeb-style get Vivi or JELLY, if you like koakuma and sexy styles, Happie nuts and Ageha is for you. And for the most casual and toned down, but trendy gal fashion, get BLENDA or Scawaii. The variety is amazing! :D

4) they are just full of "KAWAII", cuteness overload, just looking at them makes me feel happier ^^*

This is the most recent cover of Vivi magazine (2010.07) So many models on the cover - my favourite is Marie! There is a super cute layout on MAC's To The Beach collection (Japan always gets MAC collections very late). I love how they photographed the cosmetics! The shell on the cover casts a shadow on the pans... adorable~ And speaking of TTB, I don't really want anything from this collection except the green eyeshadow, called Sweet and Punchy. Will I get it??? We'll see. So that's all and enjoy the scans!

BTW, today I wore fake lashes for the first time in forever! Of course I didn't have time to apply them in the morning, but I used my Hello Kitty fake lashes case and took DUO glue with me. At home I cut up one pair of simple cross-type into 2 pieces and then at work glued on one half to each eye. It is a very natural and subtle effect (you probably wouldn't be able to tell I'm wearing fake lashes), but it makes me feel so much better. And lashes are like kind of a shield. Make me feel stronger and happier. Who cares about trouble and stress. My fake lashes will blow it all away! ;) (or so I hope)

`Canmake cream cheek` swatches (#1 and #4)

It`s the swatches and pre-review time for Canmake cream blushes! ;D (It`s a pre-review, because I got just got them and we`ll see if I use them a lot and like them.) So lets get down to the business, photos and my notes.

Canmake Cream Blush #1 and #4

Desk lamp at night, the plastic wrap (for safety) has cute heart deco. It claims　ポッと発色　ツヤツヤほっぺ♡　とろけてさらさら仕上げ, which is bright color (shows well on skin), shiny cheeks & it melts and creates a smooth finish. I would say all of this is true - it`s a cream cheek blush with little and rather subtle sparkling glitter in it (though the orange one had more of those, the pink one less), and after application it feels like it turns into a powder, so it looks smooth and shiny at the same time. ^^* Well done. I think it could be applied with a brush too, for  a more even color.

Desk lamp at night, click on the photo and see the glitter.

Bright daylight on a winter morning (colors are a bit washed out), vitamin orange is really orange xD and the pink is a bit peachy baby pink. Adorbs! 

On fingers - see it`s pretty pigmented, but it blends out well, don`t worry. ^^

Swatched on my wrist. The colors are a little bit washed out because of the bright cold daylight. It could be blended out more for  a more delicate effect, but I wanted the swatches to show on camera. They are pretty pigmented, and I guess younger japanese girls love it - they are all about a dolly look, they apply lots of baby pink blush to the very center of their cheeks. (A super nice girl working at Chika Ikkai club in Osaka for example.) Of course this is not suitable for work, but it`s popular among younger girls. ^^

And same swatches with a flash! See how sparkly they are? Personally I like sparkly shiny makeup, so I don`t mind, but if you are a 100% matte type of girl I guess you wouldn`t like the orange - it has more glitter. You would maybe like the pink. But if you don`t mind shine on your cheeks, you`d love these. Again, you could blend them more, use less, for a more subtle effect, those are just swatches, I think I would apply less on my cheeks anyway.

Overall, I`m excited to play with it! :DD Sparkly ans cute, just looking at it makes me smile. ^^* I am wearing the orange one right now and it does not look crazy on cheeks, it`s very delicate and super cute, I think it would look amazing on women of color and tanned skin, but I`m pretty pale and it looks cute. If you wanted you could of course apply it all opaque and extra carrot xD but generally it is really useable and so cheap too. ;D It really melts into skin and looks natral and healthy. Loves it. :3
It`s cheap and cute, I think I might buy other colors too and/or backups for those colors. :D It seems like a perfect product for summer, to just throw in your bag and go anywhere with it :D


BTW, Tsubasa Matsuwaka produced a brand called Candy Doll, and their new products for this spring are orange blush and warm peach beige highlighter, the difference is her orange blush is powder blush and I don`t think it`s that shiny. They put up instructions about where to apply the blush and here they are:

And she recommends to just pat the blush in the center of your cheeks. I still need to experiment and find my favorite way to apply it of course. ^^* There is also a very helpful page in latest Ray magazine on applying blush different for specific colors, which I LOVED so much I had to share it with you all:

I think this is soooooooo helpful, will definitely listen to this good advice! ☆ 

Hope the swatches were helpful and tell me your current blush and how you apply it! 

(BTW, I am thinking of getting Sigma face set makeup brushes! Need more!)