WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? + EVERYTHING NYX

So like every other 20-something girl in the world, I had the amazing idea that I would write a blog about the stuff I love (makeup, clothes, food, more makeup; y'know). 

So I managed to keep that up for an amazing four posts! Probably a personal best. :')

Yesterday while I was sat having my afternoon brew, contemplating life (this is a daily occurrence when you're unemployed). What a good opportunity to kick-start this blog thing again! 

So a little catch up before we begin, as the last time I was here I was in Tokyo! 
- I spent 3 months in South Korea, it was great! 
- I then spent a month in Tokyo
- Then went to Cyprus to magically find a job, they don't do Brand Management yet, and unfortunately; I don't speak Greek! 
- After two months of looking for a job with no luck, I went back to the UK and got a temporary job at Boots. (I advise anybody i know not to do that, it was ridiculously bad). 
- During this time my boyfriend and I decided that we were going to go back to Korea, for good! 

So now, I am back in Cyprus waiting to go to Korea; with not much to do but to drink tea, read books and use makeup! Dreamy.

Now I will go into talking about NYX, a brand I only started being aware of when i was in Korea, I don't recall ever seeing it in the UK, although I did live in the middle of nowhere.

NYX was founded by Toni Ko in 1999, Los Angeles. However the brand has since been bought by L'oreal. 

So I'll get into it now, let's talk lip products. 

BUTTER LIPSTICK
I picked up two of these while I was in Japan, from what I can remember they were about 800¥ which is about £4.50. The shades I have are Fireball, which is an orangey-red and Little Suzie a pink. The butter lipsticks are quite sheer in colour, however you can build them to get the shade you like the most. Sometimes I will put on a small amount just for a pop of colour and they are so moisturising that they can act as a lip balm!

MATTE LIPSTICK
I love these! So i first got a striking red for Christmas time, 'Bloody Mary' it was SO good. I say was.. it's been misplaced. I can only imagine it was a tasty treat for my dog who find makeup to be the tastiest snack. After I realised the red was missing I went for a more day time wear, following the Kylie Jenner 'kult' I bought 'Natural' which is just a lovely natural lip shade, however slightly darker than my natural lip shade. Once its set it stays put for a long time, and leaves a pretty lip pattern over my Starbucks cup ;) So highly pigmented, I would like one in every colour please!

SOFT MATTE LIP CREAM
I know I said I loved the matte lipstick, but I also LOVE these. I have the shade 'Milan' its a pink-natural. Sometimes if I'm wanting more of a pink shade I will wear a pinker lip liner under. It comes in a lip gloss style tube with a similar applicator. This lip cream goes on looking smooth and a little glossy but once applied it dries into a perfect matte finish. I actually just convinced myself to go and buy more!

Moving onto products for the face. 

NYX HD EYESHADOW BASE
So I have always used Urban Decays Primer Potion, and I love it. I was devastated to find that it had exploded during my last flight. As they don't sell Urban Decay here in Cyprus I had to find an alternative, and fast! Knowing my growing love for NYX I decided to walk down to their stand in my local Beautyline, they had a few options to choose from, however i chose this one as it looked the most similar to my skin tone. It was €8 and I'm not that impressed with it, I mean, i still use it; but its just not Urban Decays Primer Potion. I feel like it doesn't last very long causing the pigment in my eye shadows to not last as long. A few days ago I also saw that my eye shadow had creased in the middle, it was not a good look. If anybody can recommend me a good eye shadow base available in Cyprus, please let me know!  

NYX MATTE BRONZER
This was a recent purchase after serverly hitting pan on my Urban Decay bronzer, it was time for a change. I was really looking for MAC's Matte Bronze, but Cyprus being Cyprus, they didn't have it. So in Beautyline again (I pretty much go there on a daily basis) I saw NYX's Mate Bronzer, they had 5 colours, for different skin tones, being very pale myself I chose the lighter. It's quite similar to MAC's Matte Bronze but a faction of the price! (I think it was €11) It's pigment is good, and it lasts all day on my skin. It comes in a small compact with a mirror which it quite useful! All in all, I am quite happy with this purchase. 

Well after months of silence, I've given this mammoth blog post! I hope you managed to get through it! I know there was a lot of text. It's time to get back on track, my next post will be up in a few days so keep your eyes peeled! 

Thanks for reading, I hope you found some of this useful. Do you like NYX? What are your favourite products by them? Let me know!

ASIAN BEAUTY SECRETS

So recently I made the move from Busan, South Korea to Tokyo, Japan! The differences are incredible, but still one thing remains - Asians have amazing skin. How they do it, I'm not 100% sure; but here are some tips and tricks I've learned about since being in Asia.  

FOOD:
"You are what you eat" quite literally. The good food that you eat, is also great for your skin! In fact I've seen many beauty products infused with foods like green tea, ginseng, seaweed and even kimchi. Seaweed in particular, it contains so many vitamins and actually is quite a tasty snack. You'd be surprised how readily available it is over in the UK too. Try introducing pure green tea into your diet, matcha has the most benefits. 

MOISTURE:
Face Spritz's everywhere! Just woken up? Spritz. Just brushed your teeth? Spritz. Just gotten off the metro? Spritz. Break time at School/University/Work? Spritz. Just had lunch? Spritz. I'm not even exaggerating, moisturising is a very important step in Asian skincare. I often find that in restaurant or hotel bathrooms they have a face spritz available for you to use.  

SPF:
Asians almost fear the sun! In Korea families would go to the beach covered up from head to toe, even if they went swimming in the sea, they would be fully dressed. Walking down the street even if its cloudy women cover up with umbrellas and several layers of clothes. Those UV rays will not penetrate!! Also the minimum SPF I could find was SPF35 which in the UK is quite high. May I also add, it was particularly hard to find 35, most shops only stocked 50 or 75.  

THE DOUBLE CLEANSE: 
I know in all of the beauty magazines in the UK over cleansing your face is bad as it strips away all of the natural oils and messes with the ph balance of your skin. However this method is something I've used for years without knowing the Asian roots! Removing your make-up with an oil or balm, and then washing your face a second time to purify the skin. The roots behind this practise stem from Geisha days, where women would wear thick white foundation which would be extremely difficult to remove - only possible by using an oil cleanser. Then to help cleanse the skin a second cleanser would be used. I personally use the Camomile Cleansing Balm from The Body Shop  then the Blemish Zero Foam Bubble Cleanser by The Face Shop. 

  

THE SAEM

So in South Korea, if a shop closes down the very next day there will be builders there transforming it into something new. 

My boyfriend and I were walking down one of the main streets in the area that we live in and this new shop had popped up, we didn't even know the old one had closed down that's how quick the transformation was! 

Anyway, this shop is called THE SAEM, and when new places open in Korea they have a 'GRAND OPEN EVENT' no kidding, every single one of them, they have big flower arrangements outside of their place, and a girl dressed in a skimpy outfit speaking on a microphone usually handing out free stuff. ~ I'm always suckered by the free stuff!

So I go into the shop not really having any high hopes, shops are much a like in Korea however having a slight thing for nail polish I noticed they had a few pastel shades in their 'UV/LED' range, my eyes were drawn to lilac and for 3,000₩ you can't really go wrong. Also with a free face mask thrown in for good measure.

First impressions:
Colour - Nice rich, creamy lilac. The colour shows well when applied to the nail.
Brush - The brush is ok, I personally would prefer it a little thicker for an easy application but this is definitely not the worst brush I've come across. 
Consistency - The polish is nice and thick, one coat would be fine, I applied two however because I prefer the look of two coats. 
Chip-ability - I'm on day two after doing the washing up, showering and shopping and there is no budging yet, I will keep you updated! 

I've not yet found a UV light for me to test it's UV claims but as soon as I do, you'll be the first to know! 

DR JART+ CTRL-A REVIEW

So skincare is something I battle with on a daily basis, as I'm sure a few of you will agree, its just a never ending battle! However recently, since being in South Korea I've stumbled across this brand, Dr Jart. 

It started out I needed a new moisturiser because mine was running low, so for ages I browsed all of the different ones available, and trust, there are A LOT available. Dr Jart+ Ctrl-A line really caught my eye, its designed specifically to clear up skin and prevent breakouts. After also reading that it has loads of other benefits, I was sold and I bought it right away. Even better, the moisturiser I bought had a sample size of their 'Liquid Foam' cleanser and 'Clarifying Toner'.

After using both for a week, morning and night I decided I needed to buy the toner, it actually worked miracles. For the first few days I just noticed my skin felt smoother. After five days I noticed that I had no spots. I said it, no spots! I was actually amazed. Also the liquid foam cleanser is so good in the mornings, it smells like menthol and it really feels like its breaking down all of the oil and residue on your skin. 

I also knew that I wanted a new BB cream as my Urban Decay ~ Naked is running low so I looked up many reviews of the Dr Jart+ Ctrl-A BB cream and of course, everybody was raving about it. I had previously tested it in a shop so I knew the colour was a good match. So I bought that too. I ordered them online as the BB cream is hard to get hold of in shops due to popularity and when the parcel arrived there were so many free samples! 

Who can say no to free stuff? (Not me, that's for sure, I'm a sucker when it comes to free samples). 
- A box of Derma cotton pads
- Dermaclear Micro Water
- Some blackhead removing nose strips
- More samples of Toner and Cleanser 
- Soothing Moisturiser sample
- 'Spot Out' sample
- Drying Spot correcter sample

Dr Jart+ Crtl-A BB cream (30,000₩) - It's a little thicker than Urban Decays Naked Beauty Balm, I guess this is because its a line created to deal with spots, so the coverage is good. It definitely evens out my skin tone and makes the appearance of my face seem smooth. Its lasting power is good, however after applying in the morning, by the evening my face is looking a little oily, so I just blot away the oil and add a little face powder and its good as new. The BB cream contains SPF 30 which is good for the summer time, particularly while its beach season here in South Korea! It's good for sensitive skin and I just think its great that while its doing all of this it contains ingredients which are also helping your skin recover. 

Dr Jart+ Ctrl-A range, has a massive yes from me! I plan to stock up before I leave Korea. 
If you're not in Korea, you can purchase Dr Jart+ from Sephora in the USA, or Boots in the UK. There are several different ranges available, including: V7 (a vitamin range), ACNE-X, Most Moist, Pore Medic, Renewalist as well as a men's range.  

It really impresses me that Dr Jart is a brand made up of dermatologists that actually care to treat the skin rather than covering it up and making it worse. 

FASHION FINDS

So I'm not sure if you know this or not, but South Korea is the place for shopping. Once you've gotten used to the currency conversion rate and you don't feel like you're spending THOUSANDS (cause you're not, its mere pounds!) 

Some things I've picked up in July ~ 

ZARA Booties

Granted it's waaaay too hot to be wearing these at the moment, even so, I just couldn't resist. It was just too perfect, allow me to set the scene for you. So I walk into Zara, after seeing these boots several times but my size never being available. I walk in there, not hopeful to even see these boots as it had been a few weeks since my last visit. I browse for a while and low and behold the boots are there, the last pair, and what size are they? THE PERFECT FIT. You think that's good, to top it off they were on sale for 29,000₩ (£15/$30) which I think is pretty damn good. Unfortunately they don't have them on the website, so I can't share them with you guys.

ZARA and LAP

This is a pretty little outfit for night time. I picked up this lovely double layered chiffon shirt in Zara in Hong Kong! (It's becoming clear how much I shop at Zara....) It's a mint shade with a white scalloped collar. I really appreciate the double layer of chiffon over the top as it makes the bra non-visible! As for the bottoms, they are from a brand called LAP or Los Angeles Project, which is a Korean brand, and as I'm aware its only available in South Korea. They have some really good stuff so I will link their website: http://www.lapkorea.com ~ If you're ever in South Korea, check them out! They're all over Shinsegae and Lotte. What do you know? This outfit goes perfectly with the black booties! 

Throwing a little bit of Korea into my style. I've been here for over two months now, it was always going to happen. I picked up this t-shirt in a little boutique in Busan, Raybee, if anybody is based here. Its a simple grey tee with 'Seoul' written on the front, although its mix of Korean Hangul and romanised characters. And on the back, there's more! I like this t-shirt, it's very casual yet when I'm back in Europe it will be very unique. As well as a great reminder of my time here! Besides, one can never have too many graphic tee's. Seoul-tee....get it?! Haha, awful. It's quite long so I plan to wear it with some skinnies or leggings, and my classic Dr. Martens (when I'm re-united with them ♥) 


Let me know what you've picked up in July ~


I hope you've enjoyed reading my first post, keep up to date for more. Next I will be writing about Korean cosmetics!