Hi everyone,

Steve Jobs, the king of minimalism
I bow down to his awesomeness as I'm not there yet!

After years of being a beauty blogger, I have to admit I'm becoming a minimalist. Now, these two concepts usually don't mesh. After all, being a beauty blogger means having drawers and drawers and a room full of makeup that rivals the beauty department at Barney's. Well, once upon a time in a different land, I did have a makeup closet. But that feels so far away already.

Now, living in Vietnam has one thing when it comes to makeup: the lack of drugstore makeup. Even Maybelline and L'Oreal are expensive here. But who am I to complain? When I look at the pricing of makeup in the UK and the rest of Europe, a $12 bottle of foundation sounds like a steal.

This leaves me to a certain state or sparseness in my makeup drawer. Although I feel sad at the lack of having new toys, I do have to admit my makeup routine has been faster. I know what to use, where to get, and how to get them fast. There's no longer moments when I have to debate which brown I need to use, the MAC one, NYX one or (insert brand name here) one. Now, the choices are less, which leaves me more time to apply makeup than before.

On top of that, I just got a new brush set and I'm happy about it. There's something about having all your brushes laid out in a brush roll and saving time. Before, I used to fumble around just to find one brush. Now, I know where it is and I know how to use it. I am going to blog about this brush set soon and believe me, you'll definitely need it in your life.

In order to be a minimalist makeup lover, here are what you need:

1. A storage system: although I almost busted my back last year to work on this system, it was worth it. Now, I can't go back to storing everything in a bin anymore. That makes finding stuff hell. This system, or any non-bin, non-bag system, works great in saving me time.
2. Core products: the essential items you use everytime you apply makeup are your core products. They are primers, foundations (liquid, solid, gel, powder, etc), finishing powder, brow pencils, eyeliners, mascaras, brushes. You should store them separately and within arm's reach so you can get them as fast as you can.
3. Star products: these are your colored products like eye shadows, blushes and lipsticks. Sooner or later, you'll realize you use one more than the others. With these star products, you should put them in prime spots within their own categories/groups.
4. The will to weed out products you don't use: Expired products? Throw them away. Bad formula? Either throw or give away. Unsuitable products to your skin/hair type? Give away. You'll be surprised of how much more space you are going to have once these products are out of the way.

That's all for today, folks. I hope you'll have more time to work on your makeup this year.

With love,

Dao xoxo

P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

I hope you guys are doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I spent my Black Friday in bed going through loops at Coastal Scents website. Two hours later and I could not even fit in my order. Que horrible! In the end, a friend came to my rescue and CP the things I wanted for me, phew!

Lately, I have been obsessed with this new find: Makeup Academy, have you heard of it? Apparently, it's like a better version of Eyes Lips Face (ELF) in U.K with products ranging from 1-5 pounds! I read the reviews, saw the swatches and then decided it's worth my salt. On top of that, once in a while, they offer a discount with free shipping!

After doing a lot of research, I found these items receive lots of rave from the internet. In case you want to make a haul from MUA, here is the short list:

• Palettes: Heaven and Earth and Undressed. At 4 pounds a pop, these palettes are perfect dupes of Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 palettes for a fraction of the price. They go even cheaper when purchased in a sale event.
• Lipsticks: 16 shades, a pound a pop, pigmented but not dried out? Srsly, this is a makeup addict's dream came true. Even when you buy all 16 shades, they're still cheaper than a high-end lipstick.
• Blushers: they have a couple of options when it comes to blushes but I found the 1-pound blushers to be just as good.
• Brushes: they just came out with makeup brushes and from the look, I can tell these brushes are similar to ELF Studio but (probably) with better quality. Also, they have a stippling brush that looks like MAC 188.

It's hard not to go crazy when you browse MUA Store website. The products look good and from the internet searches, they also have good quality. On top of that, MUA has international shipping at reasonable price. This is something ELF no longer does and as much as I love ELF, I can no longer support it. But MUA is a different story. I have never heard a complaint of tardy shipping ever. And did I say their products are good? Seriously, British people, what are you doing? Why do you make us love you so?

Since I found out about Makeup Academy, I've had a big relief. Now, I can buy makeup at reasonable prices and have them ship to me as well. All I need is a new credit card and a lot of restraint to stop me from wiping out the whole store!

How about you? Have you met MUA?

With love,

Dao xoxo

P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

First of all, I would like to say "Happy Thanksgiving!" to all my readers. I have been away from the U.S for 2 Thanksgivings now and I truly miss it. Looking back, this has been an amazing year to me. I got to cross out most of the things in my wish list and I got to travel to amazing places and meet amazing people as well. Needless to say, I am very happy.

On top of that, having this blog and getting a chance to interact with my readers have been wonderful as always. I can't help reflecting back on the days when I just opened this blog and how far I've come. It's a bit of a melodramatic cliché but it's true.

I would like to thank you, my readers, for all of your support. Also, props to the companies that sent products my way for testing and reviewing purposes, despite the geographical challenge. Also, to the editors at Elle and F-Fashion magazines for believing in me and giving me a chance to do what I love. Last but not least, to the beauty experts I got to interview this year. You guys have been awesome and I got to learn sooo much from you.

So happy Thanksgiving to all. May you have a restful day!

With love,
Dao xoxo


P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everybody,

I guess I'm really lucky to become a beauty and health contributor to F-Fashion Magazine. Not so long ago, I bought an issue of that magazine, read it, and felt so good about it that I wish to write for it one day. Time passed, then one day I got a call from a friend who's now the beauty editor over there. We met and all of the sudden, I was writing my butt off!

F-Fashion is going through a revamp as their aspiration is to become one of the main fashion and beauty magazines in Vietnam. I think it has an advantage as it is in the same family with Fashion TV. I wrote stuff, submitted them, and waited anxiously for the magazine to come out.

I have to say it was an interesting experience. I've learned so much about beauty from the print industry standpoint after only 1 magazine issue. Here are some snapshots of the magazine and the articles I wrote:

Cover page
The cover girl is Vietnam's Next Top Model runner up in the first season

 As I mentioned earlier, I wrote quite a few pages in this issue. "Most Wanted" features products that I think deserved to be mentioned due to their own greatness. I picked UD Naked Skin, Lady Gaga Fame perfume, Cle de Peau Cheek Color Duo, Jungle Fever palette in the Carine Roitfeld x MAC collection, Illamasqua Magnetism lipstick and La Creme face cream.

"I See It First" features 2 looks from the runways with product recommendations from moi. I had the most fun scouting for looks :)

The first look I chose is the English Rose look
It's essentially the skin trend that's been going on lately

The second look is a liner-lip look
I love, love, love the look at the bottom right corner done by makeup artist Kabuki

I was not supposed to do Global Beauty News and this was srsly last minute work. I had to search like mad to come up with 5 news-worthy pieces of information on cosmetic representations, makeup collection launches, and new products.

 And guess what? As a True Blood fan, how could I not put Alexander Skarsgard on the news? I had to convince the editor that the ad is truly hot. She put the title like so: "Alexander Skarsgard and an uber hot commercial video clip!"

I had only 1 actual article to write in this issue and I co-written it with another person. It's about the Perricone anti-aging diet. I didn't remember writing that much but it ended up being a 3-page spread :)

Last but not least, here's the pinnacle of my beauty writing career so far: I was chosen as the blogger for their Beauty Blog section. I wrote about the on-going skin trend, which is essentially this blog entry without the collage. I have to say it was weird to see my face in a magazine. I'm not used to this, really.

So yeah, that's all about what's happening in my beauty writing life at the moment. I am very happy and thankful for this opportunity to contribute to F Fashion Magazine. It was a smooth and chaotic first month but this month is getting better. I wish F Fashion all the best to their relaunching effort.

With love,
Dao xxoo

P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

ELLE Vietnam has been kind to me. Not only did I get my articles published, I also got opportunities to interview cool people. They even invited me to their biannual fashion show for the Fall-Winter season. Here are the photos of my articles in their September and October issues.

ELLE Vietnam September issue
The cover girl is Vietnamese version of Tyra for Vietnam's Next Top Model
I had 1 article :)

It's about vitamin A in skincare
I didn't notice they put it in the Health section. I guess I'm a Beauty and Health writer now :]

ELLE VN October edition
Apparently, Elle is going through a revamp and it shows
Each cover looks better than its predecessor

Guess what? This is my first article on plastic surgeries
I wrote about Botox, rhinoplasty (nose job), and breast implants

The artwork was done by the Art Editor
I felt so honor!

It's a 3-page spread and I hardly had any corrections :)

A closer look at the illustration
I don't know if the Art Director reads my blog or not but I just want to say
THANK YOU!
You made my article look better than it already did

Interview-wise, I got to talk to 3 people: James Molloy the day after the Trend Presentation (he's the sweetest!), Manolis Sevastopoulous and Ocea Ferber for Elle F/W 2012 Fashion Show. All of them are so passionate and they made me feel a lot more energized after I interviewed them. On top of that, I had a lot of fun and learned so much from them, too!

Last but not least, here are a couple of very blurry pictures that I took from Elle F/W 2012 Fashion Show. I was sitting in the 2nd row, btw (had to elbow a couple of people to get there!)

There were 2 ice blocks at the middle of the runway

The word ELLE made out of transparent plastic at the back of the stage
I was sitting very close to the stage, btw
(Some guy's big head managed to get into the picture, gah!)

A very famous model wearing some really beautiful clothes
Sorry guys, that's how I talk about clothes these days. Or any day, really!

I think I took pictures of the first collection by Elise Kim before I realized there was not enough light for me to take decent photos. Instead, I enjoyed watching the rest of the show and went home happy!

I wanted to go backstage to take a look at the hair and makeup but I didn't get a backstage pass. Both Manolis and Ocea wanted me to see them that day but oh well, there's always next time! Next time, ELLE, please let me in. I have a D-SLR now, I can take pictures for you! </end shameless plugging>

That's all for now, folks! Thanks for tuning in and support me through all these years!

Love,
Dao xxoo

P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

Not so long ago, I received an email asking me whether I would want to be a tester for a company that produces and sells unique shape wear that can shape and correct my posture. As a writer, I spend countless hours everyday on a computer. As a result, my back kinda hunches over and sometimes when I'm stressed out, I can see my shoulders inching closer and closer to my ears!

So I took the offer, filled in a questionnaire, took some pictures, and waited. A couple of weeks later, I received an announcement from the post office to go and pick up a package. Upon reading my questionnaire and evaluating the pictures, the kind folks from Braologie sent me a bra, a mini vest, and a long leg panty for me to try. I did and I love these products very much. The bra and mini vest keep my back straight while the long leg panty is a shape wear that lifts up my bum :)

Because I love the products so much, Braologie decided to extend the invitation to 3 of my readers, regardless of where you are in the world. Since this company is yet to launch, they need people to test out products and send them feedback. The process was quick and painless to me and I hope you will sign up for this.

Here's how:

1. Make sure you are already a follower via Google Friend Connect (box on the right side), email, or Twitter.
2. In the comment section, write "I want to try Braologie!" and give me your name + email address in the appropriate boxes
3. Only the first 3 people who replies count. It's a first come, first serve basis so hurry up!

That's it! I hope you'll sign up to try Braologie. Also, please "Like" Braologie on Facebook to learn more tips about lingerie fitting.

Here are a couple of pictures of the products so you can get the idea:

Body suit

Bra and mini vest

Girdle

Long Leg Body Suit (side view)

Long Leg Body Suit (front view)

That's all for today, kind folks! Please sign up to try Braologie, ok?

With lots of Friday love,
Dao xxoo

P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

First of all, can I have a few seconds to plug My Makeup Blog's latest giveaway? Yes, the natural online skincare company Skintritious is sponsoring 2 products for a giveaway. Please click here to join if you haven't already done so!

Lately, I have developed a habit to experiment with my makeup at around the midnight mark. The latest session was rather fun as I got to play with my liquid eyeliner. On the left side (your right), I did a geometric eyeliner and the right side (your left), I did a twin tail liner with a twist. I kept the rest of the face simple.

Also, did you notice a difference on my skin? In the first picture, I only patted a layer of powder, which evidently did not give enough coverage whatsoever. So, I had to apply a bit of mineral foundation and retook the pictures. Et voila! The second batch came out a whole lot better!

And guess what happened during this experimental time? I ran out of eyelash glue!

I was planning to stick a pair of lashes on my eyes but alas, the eyelash glues I had were either dry or runny! I had to throw them away and use multiple layers of mascara on my eyes. But surprisingly, the lack of false lashes worked well for this look (haha!) By not having a lash line full of falsies, the focus is on the awesome eyeliners, not on the false eyelashes.

The next day, I went out and stock up on eyelash glue and falsies, which I am going to show you guys preeeety soon!

Ciao bellas,
Dao xoxo

P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Hi everyone,

First of all, have you joined my latest giveaway sponsored by Skintritious yet?

Lately, I have seen a couple of pictures and YouTube videos with claims of doing "the new smokey eyes." We all know this technique is very popular, especially now with the recent launch of MAC x Carine Roitfeld. However, people tend to confuse smokey eyes with its cousin, the cut the crease technique. And I don't blame them! On certain eyes, these two can look eerily similar until the wearer closes her eyes, of course!

The purpose of this post is no other than to distinguish these two techniques. In the past, I already wrote posts with detailed explanations on how to create smokey eyes as well as how to cut the crease. It's safe to spend a couple of minutes to click through these links before we move on :)

• Smokey eyes: my first tutorial on the smokey eyes and another one that's a bit easier to create, all from 2008!
• Cut the crease: the first FOTD with instructions (not quite a tutorial but it's not that bad!) and Jessie J inspired makeup using this technique with orange and brown.

The thing about smokey eyes and cut the crease is you don't have to use black or nudes to create them. In fact, they don't relate to a color family at all. They are just techniques. However, people tend to think of black as the color for smokey eyes and nudes as the color group for cut the crease. Therefore, I decided to use these techniques on my eyes using a different color family altogether: blue. With cut the crease, I added a pop of pink for drama :)

Colors I used:
First row: MAC C-shock, Pink Blossoms pigment by the same name company,  Steamy
Second row: Cool Heat, Warming Trend, Flashtrack

Brushes I used: (L-R) MAC 217, ELF eyeshading brush, EcoTools slanted eyelining brush

And now, for the fun part: which technique was used on which eye?

Of course, this is easy to tell since it is a close up. But how about this?

A little bit harder, yeah? I guess this is where people makes mistake in distinguishing the techniques, especially when the model has deep set monolid eyes like mine. But once you take a closer look at the close or semi-close eyes, the distinctions are more palpable:

Let's see:

This is a blue smokey eyes look. You expect to see a gradient with the darkest color closer to the eyelashes and the lightest color blended upward and outward to the eyebrows.

The only brush I use for this look is MAC 217 blending brush. In fact, I think it's the only brush you are going to need for smokey eyes.

And this is a cutting the crease technique using blue and pink:

Because I wanted to emphasize the technique, the cut was a lot deeper into the inside of the eye and a lot less blended. For the other looks I did in the past, I blended the line a lot more and emphasized the darkest color on the outer-v area.

I used the angle liner to cut, the slanted eyeshading brush to add more color to the crease line, and the blending brush (MAC 217) to blend. In the past, my cutting the crease brush trifecta used to be MAC 266 (angle liner), MAC 219 (pencil brush), and MAC 217 (blending.) But I found the first two to be ineffective for this technique and the ones I am using now are much, much better.

To me, smokey eyes are more seamless and romantic than cutting the crease eyes. You can do it quite haphazardly and it still comes out right, as long as you blend the colors together. Cutting the crease requires more control but the result is a much, much more emphasized and dramatic look that smokey eyes do not have. Both techniques require practice but once you get a hold of them, the results are lovely.

Oh, btw, I took the pictures at around midnight. Hence, the bad lightning and my face was duller than butter!

That's all for now, y'all! Have fun!

Love,
Dao xoxo


P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!