Gorilla Perfumes at LUSH: The Smell of Weather Turning and Tuca Tuca

I am woefully behind the pack when it comes to Gorilla Perfumes at LUSH, and with a tidy reputation for innovation and wearability that doesn't break the bank, I'm glad I got the opportunity to test a few. The scents below are my two favorites, but there are plenty of good ones left to review another day.

The Smell of Weather Turning
This is quite a remarkable fragrance that I have become rather addicted to. It is the kind of scent that would turn my head if I caught someone else's sillage whooshing on by. Initially, the camphorous blast of mint (and I think there is likely eucalyptus here as well) almost feels like too much, and then the other notes start creeping in to join the fray. The subtle sweetness of beeswax and hay (two extremely weak spots of mine) that lies just beneath the surface at every stage of wear is my favorite part. Because of the camphor effect, the oakwood comes across as a different type of wood- like cedar or hinoki- something with bite. Does it smell like weather turning? I don't know. Not where I live, anyway. Does is smell damn good? Yup. And at only 20 bucks a pop for a 10ml slim atomizer, it's a bona-fide steal. If you're looking for a new perfume that is literal and earthy and surreal and strange all at once, The Smell of Weather Turning is your man.

Notes: Oakwood, hay, beeswax, nettle, English peppermint, mint and Roman Chamomile

Final verdict: At $19.95 a pop for a slim 10ml atomizer, it's worth buying just to experience its oddness, but soon enough, you'll be spraying and sniffing with your most incredulous expression plastered across your face. Better and heaps more interesting than many perfumes that cost 5 times as much. A must-try.

Tuca Tuca
Apparently this fragrance is named after a song and a dance craze, but since I'm not familiar with it at all, I'll spare you any pithy references. I thought this would be very sweet and feminine on me, but it's got some impressive weirdness going on, and as I see it, weirdness in perfume can't be feminine or masculine, weird is just weird. There is a touch of fruity tartness (strawberry?) that is not listed in the notes list, but it's there. This is a pretty versatile, utterly wearable scent that would make a great "don't think, just spray" perfume to use just before you head out the door. The violet leaf accord lends a nice, chewy fixative for the base, and that spicy sweetness underneath is very persistent and long-lasting. So, we have chewy, spicy, sweet and weird-- what does that sound like? Cardamom cake from Ann Sathers? I'll go with that.

Notes: vanilla, sandalwood, vetiver, violet leaf, ylang ylang


Final verdict: Fun, interesting, rather joyful. Once again, the price is even-right-er at $10.95 for a 10ml slim atomizer.

[samples were sent to me by the company for my consideration]

Majolica Majorca Jewelling Eyes Lavender Sugar and Candy Apple

Here are more pics of the Majolica Majorca limited edition Jewelling Eyes palettes (1575yen) in #66 Lavender Sugar and #77 Ringoame (Candy Apple) due out on 21 July in Japan. The UNI Style Fit pens (for the Psychedelicious collection) recently also arrived at Kinokuniya in Singapore, so don't miss out on those if you're a Majolica fan!

Maybelline Hello Kitty Volume Express Hyper Curl Waterproof

Maybelline has released another limited edition Hello Kitty Volume Express Hyper Curl Waterproof mascara (1260yen) in Japan. It holds the curl of lashes for up to 18 hours and enhances volume by three times. Not sure if this will be released elsewhere in Asia but it's cute!

Fuijifilm Lunamer Skincare

Following on the success of its Astalift skincare line, Fujifilm will next launch Lunamer on 25 July in Japan. Targeted at ladies in their 20s and 30s, the skincare line is formulated with "clear nano Vitamin E", which is tocotrienol (a form of Vitamin E) stabilised at 60 nanometers, and nano Vitamin A. Its "clear and charge" approach is aimed at clearing up skin damage and restoring hydration and radiance. Some of the products carry a citrus scent. The brand name is a combination of "lunar" and "mer" to convey the radiance of the moon and the self-renewal ability of the sea.

The line includes a Brightener (3675yen, 100ml), Clear Cleansing Oil (1995yen, 120ml), Lotion (in moist and light variations, 2310yen 140ml), Emulsion I/II (2520yen, 100ml), Cream (3360yen, 30g), and UV Protector SPF40 PA++ (2625yen, 30g).

Esprique Fall 2012

Esprique will release the following new base makeup products on 21 August in Japan:

1. Moist Make Up Base SPF25 PA++ (30g): Hydrating primer that contains hyaluronic acid and collage and pore-concealing "super flat powder".

2. Foundation Brush

3. Foundation Case 12 AW (LE)

4. Forming Beauty Pact UV (Lasting) Limited Kit II: Includes Forming Beauty Pact UV (Lasting) Foundation, Moist Make Up Base (4ml), Flat Control Base UV (4g), sponge, face soap (20g). Available in 3 shades.

FeelUnique Promo Codes

FeelUnique.com is currently offering the following promotional codes from Monday 25th June until Midnight BST Sunday 1st July 2012. The codes exclude Stila, Gatineau, Mary Cohr, ghd, Ole Henriksen; Lily Lolo, and each code can be used once per customer. They offer free international shipping but some products can only be shipped to certain countries. I've ordered twice from them and both transactions went very smoothly.

Nails Inc Picadilly Arcade Nail Jewellery

Nails Inc Picadilly Arcade is one of four new shades introduced this spring as part of the Nail Jewellery Line, which contain hand cut glitter that dazzle like precious stones.

The formula runs slightly thick but it lays down the glitter particles more generously than other glitter nail polishes that I've tried. With just one coat, my nails were covered in a sparkling dense mesh of glitter, although there were a couple of spots that required touch-ups.


I applied one coat of Addiction Jewel Beetle before applying Picadilly Arcade, and topping off with Dior Top Coat. The glitter is a mix of hexagonal pieces and smaller round pieces. They do feel gritty to touch so I added another two coats of Canmake Gel Volume Top Coat for a smoother finish.

The vibrant emerald is full of sparkly goodness, like a blinged-up version of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle on steroids. I expect that it will be a pain to remove but until then, I'm enjoying its lively gem-like shininess.



Picadilly Arcade is available for £11 on Beautybay.com (which ships internationally for free from the UK) and for US$9.50 on Sephora.com in the US. Despite being a British brand, the retail price in the UK is bizarrely almost twice that in the US.

Weekly Photo Challenge - Bodycare Edition

This week's photo meme started by Yumeko is about bodycare so here goes!

1. Body Wash

I'm close to finishing Philosophy Tinsel Town, which was a holiday release, and moving on to their Bubbly next. A couple of times a week, I use either Lush Rub Rub Rub or Sana Esteny Salt Wash. The blue crystals of Rub Rub Rub always reminds me of Icee (like 7-Eleven Slurpee) from my childhood.

Esteny Salt Wash is a charcoal and salt scrub that gives invigorating exfoliating action. I found this last year at Sasa in Singapore for $20.90. It retails in Japan for 1050yen for 250g.

2. Skin Moisturizer

Even in the summer, the skin on my legs still get very dry, so I've been using the Body Shop Spa Wisdom Morocco Argan Oil & Orange Blossom Body Souffle, L'Occitane Delice des Fleurs Rose & Violette Body Milk and Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Body Cream. These absorb quickly without making my skin feel greasy.

3. Hair treatment / Conditioner

For my dry, colored hair, I recently started using L'Oreal EverPure Shampoo and Vichy Dercos Mineral Soft shampoo. EverPure lathers up surprisingly well, despite being sulfate-free and leaves my hair tangle-free. For taming the frizz and flyaways, I've been relying on Percy & Reed Finishing Polish and L'Oreal Elseve Liss-Intense Serum.

4. Perfume

Recently, I've been rotating through Jo Malone Plum Blossom, Jo Loves Pomelo, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess and Taylor Swift Wonderstruck. Pomelo is my favourite of the lot, for its sparkling freshness. Plum Blossom is a gentle sweet floral that does not last that long on me. Bronze Goddess has a relaxing beach vacation vibe.

Recently released in Singapore at Sephora, Wonderstruck is a gift from a very kind friend. It has very sweet notes of raspberry and peach. The antique charms are a nice whimsical touch. At least the bottle looks like an original design, unlike the shameless ripoff by Justin Bieber's Someday (of Marc Jacobs Lola) and Selena Gomez's eponymous fragrance (of the lips from the Guerlain Rouge Automatic ad).

5. Other body care items you use

It's not as sweltering here as Singapore yet but buildings in Switzerland are usually not equipped with air conditioners, so you can imagine how stuffy it gets. I'm trying to be more diligent in applying sunblock with the Biotherm Lait Solaire SPF50 but like most sunscreen lotions, it makes my skin feel slightly greasy. To help cool down, I've been relying on L'Occitane's new Angelica Hydration face mist and Paul & Joe Shimmering Body Lotion G.

If you would like to join in the fun, just leave a comment on Yumeko's post and here with a link to your blog post, and I'll be sure to check it out!

Addiction Eye Lacquer WP Swimming Pool and Black Swan

For this summer, Addiction debuted a new Eye Lacquer WP (2625yen, 7g) as part of the Lady of the Lake collection. Available in nine shades, these waterproof, fragrance-free liquid eyeshadows have a lacquer-like glossy shine and contain rose centifolia extract. I had high hopes for these as Visee Aqua Shining Eyes and Beaute de Kose Eye Fantasist were my favourite cream eyeshadows that have since been discontinued. All three brands are owned by Kose.

The sleek black tubes have a colored strip near the bottom to indicate the shade.

The shade name is also printed on the sticker at one end but in tiny font that is not the easiest to read. These contain 7g each, same as the Eye Fantasists of yore. Six shades are swatched in this MakeupAlley post, along with several other Addiction products.


The slanted doe-foot sponge applicator is pretty easy to control and pulls out of the tube well-coated with the liquid eyeshadow.

The Eye Lacquers turned out to be fabulously well-pigmented, much more so than Eye Fantasists. A tiny dab goes a lot way and so it's best to dot just a tiny bit on the eyelids, blend and then work up to your desired intensity. There is sufficient time for blending before these dry down completely.

The pic above shows the swatches as freshly applied from just the tip of the sponge applicator while the pics below show the swatches progressively blended out. Both Swimming Pool and Black Swan contain silver shimmer, with Swimming Pool being more intensely shimmery than Black Swan. Under direct sunlight, these have a lively starry sparkle. Black Swan looks like liquid black tar when first applied, but when sheered out, it becomes more of a greyed charcoal .


Worn without any primer underneath, the Eye Lacquers last well through more than eight hours of wear, although there is some minor creasing. I've been using my fingertip to smudge and blend the Eye Lacquers, but a brush is probably better for achieving a more precise application at the inner and outer corners, as well as for the lower eyelid.

My usual way of wearing these is to apply the Eye Lacquer from the upper lashline to the crease, and apply a pearly white powder eyeshadow over the browbone area and lower lashline, plus a medium tone shade in the crease.



Below is the look done with Swimming Pool. The lacquers are truly waterproof and did not budge at all when I ran the swatches on my arm under water and then rubbed them with my finger. Nevertheless, they are easy to remove with eye makeup remover or cleansing oil.


While I do like the two Eye Lacquers that I purchased, I probably won't buy any more as I'm saving up for the new powder eyeshadows, eyeliners and brushes coming out in the fall. Hope this review has been helpful!

the new brows.

after my last "comeback" a few readers have noticed that my brows look different now, so i planned to share my new brow routine and some mini reviews regarding this topic.
here is my former brow tutorial - click! - my philosophy about them still remained the same: rather thick and bushy, not to draw beyond the outlines too much and a natural shape.
however, i have added an extra step to my routine which i think makes them look more sharp but natural at the same time, thus i want to share it with you.
i managed to grow my brows (as previously intended) more straight and much less arched than before, i still need to work on the length. i admit that it's much straighter than i initially wanted, but as i embraced the korean "ulzzang" look since last winter, i aimed for the very straight and quite thick brow. i find that it gives me a softer look, brighter and more youthful.

this is how my brows were last year, medium thickness, quite arched, for my taste too short at the front.

growing out the arch back to a straight line was the hardest part of this project (plus realising that my face is a lot more asymmetrical than i supposed - that's what made it even harder). after many years of plucking underneath the arch to get a neat curve, the hairs don't want to grow back anymore, especially not in the right directions - i'm actually still in the process to get more fullness in this area.
i have to admit that, contradictive to my previous statements, i went and trimmed my brows. they grew so stubborn and messy that i was pissed off enough to let the scissors speak. well, it did look very very weird, i disliked it. but i still trim the too long hairs at the very start since i prefer to brush this part upwards now rather than sideways like before.

so this is what i do:


step1

here you can see my bare brows, at the moment the left side is a lot nicer than the right, but i feel like this changes periodically (about once a year it will turn the opposite way).
you can see the hairs are still quite sparse where formerly the arch of the brow was and how they grow quite messily in this area. here i just try to brush them into nice shape and clear the ground and the hairs from excess foundation and powder with a simple spooley wand (#1 in the top pic)

just with foundation on - i think my face looks quite "undone" with naked brows, i find nice brows make such a difference even though everything else is left bare.

step2

now i'd use brow powder or a brow pencil to have a base shading. these days i favour the Shu Uemura Hard Formula Brow Pencil in 02 Seal Brown when it comes to pencil form (will review it later), but more often i use a brow powder.

my brush of choice is the Louise Young L31 Angled Brow Sable (#3 in top picture). it's densely packed, evenly shaped and has a nice flexibility that still lets you get the right curve even though it's moderately firm. picks up the product nicely and dispenses it evenly. i never pay much attention to brow brushes, but am slightly intrigued to try out the Chikuhodo Z6 or a RMK one...

MAC Copperplate - MAC Omega

as brow powder, i alternate between two MAC eyeshadows: Copperplate for a distinct look or Omega for a softer, warmer brow. i much prefer the Matte² texture of Copperplate, Omega is quite hard and has very poor pay off - can you recommend a similar lightish colour from another brand with a bettter quality?

swatched: MAC Copperplate - MAC Omega

today we're working with Copperplate (#2 in top pic): i start at the outer 2/3 of the bottom line and fill in the desired shape and prepare the sharp tail that my natural brows don't have. i would concentrate the saturation in this outer area and only gradually shade in the front for a more authentic appearance. then go over the brow with the spooley again or a MAC 219/medium stiff pencil brush to smudge the colour evenly into the skin.

if i'm in a rush, i could leave it at that, it already looks much neater than without any shape at all.

step3

key product in this step is a liquid brow pen, i was inspired by the fabulous Lisa Eldridge who often uses the SUQQU Brow Pen. the one it have is a cheaper and more widely available alternative: the K-Palette 1 Day Tattoo Real Lasting Eyebrow (#4 in top pic).

i chose shade 02 Grayish Brown, i think it's darker and more ashy than shade 01. i'd recommend the ashier colour for people with undyed natural black hair. this pen contains liquid ink and has a brush tip which is wide and flat. the synthetic fibres are dense and stiff. the brush tip creates very fine lines of a diluted dark taupe colour. i use it with a light hand in short and fine strokes to create the illusion of brow hairs where there are none. needs some practicing, but it's better to only draw in fine "hairs" than to cover the whole brow shape in a solid colour with these pens since you want to fake a full natural brow and not a tattooed one!
i especially like that the ink is very light and the tip is so precise, it delivers a much more natural result than the darker, more intense liquid versions (for example by Gosh or Anastasia etc.) or classic brow pencils. the staying power is phenomenal, even on my quite oily summer skin it looks just like freshly applied even after the whole day.
you can find this on ebay, it costs about 20$ with shipping. i've been using mine for over 6 months now and it still goes strong.

i'd concentrate my strokes on the sparse areas and where my brow hairs are too thin, that's on the arch area and in the front. it adds more structure and definition to my brows compared to just powder alone.

step4

to round it up i use a coloured brow gel. i use one by P2, it's a back up of a discontinued product. my brows are so stubborn that i rather want to enhance the existing brow hairs (especially at the front) than to glue them into a particular shape.
here is the final result:

bare brows vs. done brows