What's been on my nails lately..

Hola, bellas!

Just wanted to show you what I've been wearing on my nails lately! Been a suuuper busy CNY week swatching many colours from a new indie brand I'm reviewing, called F4 Polish! Have you heard about them? Handmade by 3 lovely sisters from USA, these polishes caught my eye while I was etsy-window-shopping! So far, I'm pretty impressed and more or less set on bringing these babies into Singapore to be stocked at BSF!! :D

"Fruity pebbles with sprinkles"

This is "Fruity pebbles with sprinkles" again but with "Blue jean night" on the thumb.

"Blue jean night" actually GLOWS in the dark. I went to bed with this polish on and saw it glowing a fierce bright green and was SUPER enthralled!! :D it looks amazing on it's own in the light as well.. reminds me of expensive blue china porcelain. "Fruity pebbles with sprinkles" is a creamy white base with multicoloured flakes and micro matte glitters. YUMMY!! but the micro matte glitters were kinda all stuck at one corner of the bottle. I think i'd prefer this one without the sprinkles. I think they have one without sprinkles, so yep... may bring THAT one in instead!

"Pinkadoodle" alternating with "Squeenky"

I LOVE PINKADOODLE. Its such a unique mix of glitters, not to mention the base itself is already a unique purply-pink with TEEENSY tiny tiny dark pink micro flakes in it! IT'S GORGEOUS!!!!! It also has a much better formula than "squeenky" i don't know why! i love squeenky in the bottle, but somehow I just had difficulty applying it nicely on my nails! oh wellos. Squeenky is a white cream base with pink, blue and silver star glitters!

"Strawberry smoothie" and accent nail "Chocolate cherry" over OPI "over the taupe"

Strawberry smoothie is BEAUTIFUL and a dream to apply. It's a pink cream with teensy tiny hot pink micro flakes which glimmer gold-green as you turn your nails from side to side! Not evident in my sad low-quality iphone photo, but TRUST MEH. IT'S A BEAUT. 

Chocolate cherry looked meh in the bottle at first, but when I applied it over OPI " Over the taupe" I literally stopped and stared for a good 10 seconds. STUNNING!!!! Really reminds me of chocolate. MMMM. I love how there are some tiny glitters in it that sparkle on the nail too. 

I think all these food names are so cute! Especially when the polish truly resembles the food item. I'm a food science undergraduate, so food holds a special place in my heart!! haha! 

"Mint chocolate chip" 

Another food name! I think this has got to be my faveee. I can't get over how much it looks like mint chocolate chip ice cream on my nails! Soooo edible. IF ONLY. And the mint colour is gorgeous as well!! Formula was totally easy to work with too. The tiny chocolate micro glitters also glint and sparkle slightly as you tilt your nail. Nice touch!! :D

And now... I've saved the best mani I've done for last.. 

"Bobbie Blue" over OPI "What's with the cattitude?"

BOBBIE BLUE. This baby is a clear base jam packed with blue and turquoise glitters! There's shimmery turquoise/blue micro glitters, turquoise and blue round/hex glitters, and my favorite of the lot- big bright blue (of what appears to be) satin/matte-finish glitter chunks!!! L-O-V-E. I really love how this combination turned out too! However, of course some fishing had to be done to get all the wonderful bright blue chunks to be at the tip of my nails. But it wasn't that difficult! I mean, if a messy person like me can do it, I think anyone can! Hahaha. Wondering what other colours I could pair this with. Probably almost anything! I tried this over a dark maroon using a nail wheel, and it looked stunning as well. Very happy with this one! :)

~

Well, that's all the swatches I have to show you so far! I've swatched many of the other samples that the lovely sisters of F4 Polish sent me, but only on the nail wheel and my pictures aren't that great anyway so didnt put them up here on the blog! But these few swatches already show how amazing F4 Polishes are!!! They're beautiful, UNIQUE, handmade, 3-free and overall easy formula to work with! F4 Polish currently does not ship internationally, but local girls here in Singapore can expect to see them at Beauty So Fly very soon. :) 

Speaking of shipping, I'm thinking of establishing shipping across ASIA soon. I'm not that in a hurry for worldwide international shipping just yet, because I still have one more semester to go (august - december) and I need to put in my best effort for that last stretch!!! Can't afford to be too distracted. If you're wondering what I'm doing NOW, well I'm actually doing my Industrial Attachment (all Food science year 3 students have to do a compulsory internship in semester 2) so I'm kinda like "working"! Which gives me a little bit more free time to run BSF! Less stress from exams, hw, etc.. y'know? Internship will end on 30th April, then comes my 3 month long holiday before my final semester!! yayyy.

So yep, my international window-shoppers from countries in Asia can expect to be free from just window-shopping on BSF's instagram and start purchasing! yay! I'll most probably set a reasonable flat rate so don't worry, It won't go by weight! 

Alrighty then, thanks for reading thus far! Have a great week ahead everyone!

xx

Grace.

My Favourite Liquid Foundation!

Hello, ladies!

Today I want to talk about a foundation that I've recently come to love.. it's the Laura Mercier Silk creme foundation! It's formulated for oily skin and contains no SPF. :) My colour for this foundation is "Medium Ivory".

    

 

 The back says: 

"The ultimate in flawless natural coverage. Silk creme foundation is a beautiful, light-diffusing formula offering advanced light-reflecting properties which cause fine lines and wrinkles to optically vanish. Laura created an innovative foundation that delivers flawless, buildable coverage in a long-wearing rich hydrating base."

Let me just start off by saying: I LOVE THIS FOUNDATION!!!

 Now, I'm a girl with imperfect skin (an understatement!). I started suffering from acne at a young age (with much teasing from my childish classmates at that time), and several outbreaks here and there over the recent years have left me with ugly dark red marks on my cheeks, some on my forehead and chin too. Hence, I am always on the hunt for the best foundation that has great coverage, and suits my oily acne-prone skin. 

I've tried many foundations.. but mostly drugstore brands. As we all know, foundation is probably the priciest item amongst all other makeup products, nomatter what brand you buy. Being a broke student, guardian and watsons were my go-to stores for my foundation fix since I figured I'd probably have to repurchase foundation more often than other makeup products (because I wear foundation almost every time I go out). 

Previously, I was using Revlon colorstay (which has GREAT coverage btw) but it got too heavy for daily use. I tried mixing it with moisturizer but i still wasn't satisfied. Then, I started using BB cream from a korean brand "Odbo". It lasted me for a long time, and whilst I liked the light feeling on my skin, it just wasn't doing it for me in flash photography. I had to hunt for a new 0 SPF foundation, pronto!

I've heard and read raves about the Laura Mercier silk creme foundation on youtube and beauty blogs for a long time now, so I finally decided to take the plunge and get it! Thankfully, some friends had given me a $100 Sephora Voucher for my birthday and I used it to purchase this baby :') It was $68 for one 35ml tube. I think they only have one size, which is actually a pretty small tube in my opinion. At first, you may be a bit put off by how small it is. BUT LET ME TELL YOU... you only need a TEEEENSY tiny amount to cover your entire face!! NO KIDDING!! I think this foundation will last me close to a year. I will now show a photo of how much I usually squeeze out:

 

 See how little? Sometimes I use a bit more to build up extra coverage! Also, note how the creme spreads on my skin. So matte and smooth! :D


Coverage & Texture
The coverage of this foundation is medium to FULL coverage! Best of all, it gives no shine whatsoever and goes on smooth, creamy, and non-watery . A little goes a reeeeally long way! It evened out my complexion effortlessly and was easily applied with fingers. You may use a sponge or brush if you like, but i usually do my makeup in a hurry every morning (can't wake up early for nuts..) so no time!! What I do is that I squeeze out a pea-sized amount on the back of my hand and use my finger to dab dots around my face, starting with my forehead, then blending out. Then I move on to dotting under my eyes and cheeks and blending out, etc. There was also no noticeable smell unlike the Revlon colorstay liquid foundation, which can smell a little like paint at times.

 Wear-time

The wear-time of this foundation was impressive. It can last me one full working day, with just minor touchups using my compact powder foundation at the end of the day! Of course, because of my oily skin, I usually use an oil blotter sheet in the afternoon to keep the shine at bay, and to prevent the foundation from becoming an oil cake haha. BTW, because this foundation is 0 SPF, I'd recommend to put a thin layer of sunscreen on your face before applying your foundation. :)

Here's how the nib of the tube looks like! It's a bit messy because I had just used it lol. Anway, it's not difficult to squeeze out at all, just the right amount will ooze out if you don't squeeze too forcefully. (Psst: Like my nail polish colour? Hehe. It's by a new brand that Beauty So Fly exclusively carries, called "Mint Polish"! The colour is called "Sweet Liberty", a fierce neon red! check it out HERE. ) :)

Also, note that it tells you to "SHAKE WELL" on the cap. And might I add, PLEASE DO shake well every time you use this foundation! A few times it slipped my mind, and when I squeezed out my foundation, out came a separation of creme and transparent liquid (presumably water because it did not feel oily). That's the only precaution I have for this foundation!

Overall, I'm really happy with this foundation so far. I'd say it's worth the $64! It's Laura Mercier after all.. haha. I'm thinking of getting their foundation primer too! Ah, the woes of an oily-complexion...

What do you girls think of this foundation? Have you tried it before? Let me know in the comments! :)

xx

Grace.

Price: $68 for 35ml tube

Where: Sephora

Colour range: good!

Rating : 4.5/5 

I finally got NAKED!

....OKAY it's not what you think! I'm really talking about..

Yes! The Urban Decay NAKED BASICS Palette! 

 Thanks to my man who got it for me as a belated christmas gift last week! Whoo hoo!! What a beaut. 6 wearable matte shades, totally useful to add to my makeup stash! Here are the colours from left to right:

1. Venus (creamy white colour, pearl finish)
2. Foxy (pale yellow/beige matte)
3. Walk of Shame (light pinky-nude matte)
4. Naked 2 (rosy-taupe matte)
5. Faint (warm chocolate brown matte)
6. Crave (black matte)

Yay!!!! Thank you dear :)

I've already used it full-out once, creating a neutral smokey eye look for D's cousin's wedding. It was just PERFFFF. I love it! It's got everything a girl could need for a quick and simple neutral look, and can take you from day to night! 

I've also been using "Faint", the dark chocolate brown, as an everyday eyebrow colour to fill in my brows! It works just as great as the dark brown shadow from my Mabelline "natural smokes" quad (purchased from australia) which I used prior to "Faint". yayyy, I love products which are versatile! :) 

I may do a quick picture post on the various ways I used Naked Basics, once D lends me his Canon camera!! :) 

Okay, it's about 12:39am now. GOING TO SLEEP!!!! Nights!

x Grace.

p.s Happy 27th Birthday to D today!! :-*

Hola!

Hi!

This space used to be Beauty So Fly's original online store site. However, we've since moved to a .com (www.beautysofly.com) around May last year, so I'm taking over this blogspot site to post about my life and mostly about beauty/fashion related things! :) 

Anyway, more about me:

I've known since young that God gave me a passion for art. This passion slowly became beauty-related and I realized I really appreciate makeup artistry and fashion. This spurred me on to create my online store back in January 2011, together with one of my long-time best friends, Elizabeth Goh. And here we are today, importing reputed international and indie nail polish brands from all over the world, and (hopefully!) soon, cosmetic brands as well! Our Apparel side of the store is taking a little back step for now, as we are putting in more energy into our recent nail polish brand research and investments! But I really hope to pick it up in the near future, as my passion for fashion is still very much alive! :)

Purple makeup look I did for one of our models, K. 

Purple makeup look I did for one of our models, K. 

Simple Prom makeup I did for my other best friend, Liz Teh.

Simple Prom makeup I did for my other best friend, Liz Teh.

Blue smokey look I did for our other model, A.

One of BSF's photoshoots with model A. I do the makeup for every shoot :)

Oh, and I used to have blonde hair. Wanna see?

The above pic was snapped from my photobooth on my macbook. hahaha.

This is me now! Except currently my hair is a bit darker than this picture. In this pic you can see that I've put on some weight (compared to previous photo) from my Costa Rica summer program trip in 2012 (June-July) so now I'm like chubbierrrr. But oh wells! 

Alrighty then, watch this space for (exciting? haha) updates and random makeup/fashion musings!

Be sure to "Like" BSF (Beauty So Fly) on Fb and follow us on twitter and instagram as well! Links are at the side bar :) You can also follow me on twitter and instagram, I've made the links available as well.

Ciao, bellas!

x Grace.

VISIT WWW.BEAUTYSOFLY.COM TODAY!