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Giveaway: Laura Mercier Flawless Face Classics Set

This week has been ROUGH. Motherhood's been kicking my arse up and down and all around. I figured that I should post something, and who doesn't love a giveaway? Up for grabs is another makeup set from Sephora. I received this 6-piece, limited edition set by trading in 500 points with the intention of using it as a giveaway item (after seeing how popular Laura Mercier was with my last giveaway) — take a look! The Laura Mercier Flawless Face Classics Set includes: Invisible Loose Setting Powder (0.03 oz) Fan Powder Brush Lip Glace in Rose (0.1 oz) Foundation Primer (0.25 oz) Flawless Skin Face Polish (0.4 oz) Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Nude (0.5 oz) To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use...

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Giveaway: Sephora VIB Celebration Bag 2013

Last month, when my Sephora VIB status was renewed, the cashier surprised me with a VIB Celebration Bag. Did you know this is an annual thing? Because I didn't. (And I don't remember receiving a bag last year.) Anyway, because I already have too many beauty products — and because I know y'all love giveaways — I've decided to pass this along to a reader. This year's VIB Celebration Bag comes with mixed reviews, the main complaint being that not everyone is receiving the same items. Some VIBs are receiving replacement products while others are straight-out missing an item or two from their bags! I ended up in the latter camp: my bag was missing the L'Occitane hand creme. I did, however, receive all the other...

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Goofing Around with Cymera [Plasticizing Myself]

Over the weekend, my friend Carol posted “before” and “after” photos of herself using the smartphone photo app Cymera. Unlike most western photo editing apps, this Asian app (I’m pretty sure it originated in Korea, since its homepage is hosted by Cyworld) allows you to make numerous beauty edits, many of which are obviously catered for the Asian standards of beauty: large eyes, slim face, and clear, smooth skin, just to name a few.

cymera

Everyone — including myself — who commented on the photos said that she looks better in the “before” version. I added that apps like these must have contributed to the increase of ulzzang‘s (the second definition’s the most accurate) in the recent years.

Nonetheless, I was intrigued. I knew that apps like Cymera existed, and that they are quite popular in Asia. (Xiaxue openly admits to using apps like this to “photoshop” herself before posting them online.) However, I had never tried one out for myself. What’s more, Cymera has an English interface and is readily available in the Google Play Store and iTunes!

Here’s my first try at using Cymera. The effects I used were: Big Eyes, Slim (makes your face slimmer), Makeup (false lashes and blush), and Cover Spots (makes your face clearer and smoother).

cymera_before_after

Three New Product Raves

It's funny, because although Google Analytics tells me that the majority of my visitors are male, I get tons more comments from the fairer sex. (I guess commenting on blog posts is a form of social media, in which women are more likely to engage?) And I always get positive feedback on my beauty posts. So I've decided to cater to the more vocal readers of this blog by sharing with y'all some new — well, at least to me — beauty products I've been digging lately. :-) The best part? Two of the three are "dupes," or less expensive versions of high-end products. In fact, they have actually REPLACED former HG products of mine! First up is the Milani Infinite Liquid Eyeliner. Long-time readers...

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