Munchkin DIAPER CHANGE ORGANISER

Living in Hong Kong, plus living with a little one; means that I have to compromise with spacious living style.  I have to be clever about storage spaces and ideas.  Thanks to Munchkin Diaper Change Organiser, it has made things tidier and more convenient for me.

This hanging organiser has 8 compartments which you can put all things baby related in.  The idea is for you to hang it by the side or the end of your nappy changing unit.  In my case, I don't quite have the luxury to have a separate nappy changing table so I hang this on my little one's cot, underneath his changing board.

I love the compartment where I can put almost 50 pieces of nappies in, so that I don't need to worry about it at least for a whole week before starting to refill them (again).  Other compartments I put stuff that I need to reach for daily for my little one, such as body cream, baby wipes, cotton pads, nasal spray, sudocream, etc.  

The only downside is that even though the material is quite sturdy, if you put too much or too heavy stuff in each compartment, they tend to weigh the whole unit up and hence it looks like it's about to collapse.  So I am cautious with how much stuff I 'stuff' in this organiser.

How do you organise your nappy changing station?  Are you using a better system?  Please share!

IT'S A BLUSHER DUPE

Above: Soap and Glory.  Below: Burberry

By now you should know all too well that I'm a blusher addict.  My goal is to own blusher by every single makeup brand that I can get, possible.

Recently, as I switch up my blushers to my everyday makeup drawer.  I noticed that two blushers that stand out to me that could be a dupe!

Burberry Beauty Fresh Glow Blusher in Pink Peony No. 2. comes in a rather cute and chic, dark silvery packaging.  It looks so mini that it's perfect to throw in your handbag and for travelling.  The colour in the tube comes in quite a pretty bright pink.  However when it swatches on the hand, the colour hardly becomes visible, but as a very pale pink; nothing like how it looks on the tube.  Saying that, you can really build up the colour from pale, to light, to a lightly flustered pop of pink on your cheeks.  I love wearing it when I have a dark smokey eye makeup going on or on days when I just want a touch of pale pink on my cheeks.  Using the fingers to apply this gives you only an OKAY result by that I meant you are just going to waste your time on this because it's never going to provide you the intensity of colour you want.  However, using a stippling brush gives you an air-brush finish of a blusher.  If you are normally a heavy-handed makeup lady, then you are not going to be worried about this as this will not cause any problem at all.  This blusher really is a weird one as everyone seems to love products that are pigmented rather than gives you no colour pay off, but this one is for those who like those 'no makeup makeup' routine kind of gal.  If you want something quite out there and only wants to pay under £10, then the dupe of this blusher (see below) will be what's in for you.

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Blusher in Berry Jam is a bright fuchsia pink.  It looks like such a spring appropriate blusher colour.  It comes in a tube form, in quite a chubby tube which makes the packaging looks so cute; and it's one of the reasons why I was attracted to buy it! One swipe of this gives you a highly pigmented colour.  The formula is slightly on the drying side though, it almost dries as a powder finish.  I must say it's not an easy to blend product which I've tried using my fingers and a stippling brush.  It's so pigmented that the colour stays so well that made it almost impossible to blend.  For that reason, I am rather disappointed with it......

Two blushers, one high end, one drugstore.  One is hardly pigmented, the other just screams pink, bright pink.  I let you choose.....

L'OREAL COLOUR RICHE EYE PRIMER BASE

You might think, 'what ugly looking product you are showing us today?'.  Also, it's almost used up that you just cannot tell what this product is, can you?

Well, lemme tell ya; today I'm coming at you with the L'Oreal Colour Riche Eye Primer Base.  I picked this up at Boots early last year and it's gone from strength and strength that it's not long until I will have to say auf wiedershen to this extremely well loved eye primer base.

I love this so much for a number of reasons, firstly it's so easy to use, it's really easy to blend because of its very creamy texture.  It comes in a pencil form so a couple of sweep of this directly to the eye lids, using your ring finger, a few blending/ dabbing then the product is blended beautifully onto the eye lids.  I do prefer this formula than the liquidy type of eye primer product as I find those a little messy to blend sometimes.

It has a slight beige tint to it, so it helps to even out any discolouration of the eye lids slightly.  It does the job perfectly, too by holding eye shadows in place.  Whether it be powder form or cream eye shadow which does not crease at all.  Eyeliners are also not budged either with the help of this eye primer base.

It's just a perfect, sweep, blend; eye primer base and you are ready for putting on eye makeup.  £5.99 is also completely affordable with such high quality elements that are absolutely comparable, if not better than other high end eye primer base.

Are you an eye primer user?  What's your favourite eye primer base?

THE BROW GAME

I'm never quite a fill-in-those-brows kind of gals, so it does come in a surprise that I'm actually writing this post all dedicated about brows!

Recently, I seem to enjoy filling in my brows a lot more than before and I feel more confident about it, and noticed more of a difference the before and after.

There are two types of brow pencils which I have really been enjoying using lately.  Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil by hourglass in soft brunette was one that I bought based on all the hypes.  When I first bought it, I didn't like it purely because I have chosen a wrong shade, a tad too dark for me.  However, lately I have rediscovered the usage of it, and have mastered the skill of using it I think.  This one definitely helps to 'sculpt' the brows with its slanted tip, but cautious though; if you are a heavy handed makeup wearer, you really have to be careful with it.  A little and light-handed go a very long way.  A few soft stroke here and there will do me some nice and firm brows as mine are quite full anyway.  Afterwards, I would just use the brush at the other end to brush them through softly so that they are not that harsh.

What has really surprised me with filling in my brows is my recent favourite, by terry Eyebrow Liner.  I like the fine nip and the soft brown colour.  Because it's so fine, if you are a careless eyebrow filler, it doesn't cause that much of a scene.  I think this is a great product for both full and slightly sparse eye brows girls as you can take time to fill in your brows either way or just fill them in coarsely.  The end result is a lot softer compared to using Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil.  It really depends on what look I'm wearing that day.  If I want a more framed look that I would definitely go for the sculpting pencil, but if I want a more casual look then the by terry eyebrow liner is perfect.

What eyebrow pencils do you use to fill in your brows?

MOMMY EDIT: WHAT'S IN MY ERGO CARRIER ZIPPED POCKET?

Ever since becoming a mom, my daily essential is all about quick, efficient; in another word; a capsule of everything is how I live these days.

Today, I would like to invite you to take a look at what I keep inside my Ergo Baby Carrier front pouch.  The Ergo baby carrier that I use is from the Original Collection, I do like it and all the features that go with it.

I like the front pouch that comes with as it makes life very convenience.  I always make sure I keep the following items:

A bib and a muslin cloth - it's great when your LO (little one) is (always) dribbling and when you are feeding, you can just take a bib out so quickly from the pouch.

Wet wipes and sanitising gel - these are just great to sanitise mommy's hands any time.  Taking care of baby is also about hygiene, too.  You just don't want to pass on any unnecessary dirt from your hands to his mouth.  The wet wipes are just great if you want to wipe clean your LO's hands.  Mine is a little obsessive thumb sucker so I'm constantly (regularly) cleaning his hands whenever it's possible.

House Keys and Cardholder/ Purse - My purse for keeping in the pouch is a very simple one and it comes in a cardholder form - I can keep my absolute necessary cards, some cash and coins which I can use and dig into handy.  House Keys are great to keep  in the pouch for easy access when you leave and go back home!  You don't want to be standing in front of your house door searching for your keys, do you?

Lipgloss - Now, this is a vitally important item, and the only beauty item I keep here, handy.  This lipgloss by Laura Mercier is just great, an easy pink that goes with any makeup look that you might be wearing that day.  There's no need to change it up, it's just there for any day time occasions - PERFECT!

Do you use an Ergo carrier?  Or is the baby carrier that you are currently loving one that with a pouch that you also keep a few things or two in there?  I want to know!

HOW LASHY CAN I GET?

Back in the days when I was still a high school student, and way before I became so obsessed about makeup; I was searching for the perfect mascara for my short, and straight eye lashes.  I have (kind of) come to terms with the fact that my lashes can only be enhanced so much with the help with some products.  May be eventually I will choose to go for an eyelash extension treatment but for the time being, I just need to live with what I have and rely on products that can give those tiny eye lashes a bit of a lift.

In the past, I went all out to curl and heat up my lashes a bit before applying products, you can view here for my eyelash routine.

These days, I've skipped the step of heating my lashes up just to save my precious time but I still continue curling them and applying a lash maximiser (essentially a base coat for lashes, similar to the Subversion Lash Primer by Urban Decay) by Kate; which I continue to love and have repurchased for more than 3 times now.  It does offer some kind of magical result - lengthening (quite a bit) and curling (a little tiny bit), essentially it provides a better hold for the lashes for mascara to be better coated to lashes.

I then usually need two types of mascara - volumising or lengthening plus a curling one.

I have been using My Little Beauty's Mascara Soin Et Volume which I got from my little paris box for a good 3-4 months and I really am loving how much volume and a little of of length that it gives my lashes.  It's a traditional kind of brush, by that I mean it doesn't have any fibre nor is it a curled shape wand.  The formula leans towards on the dry side which is brilliant in helping the products to coat on to each and every lash in my opinion.  It's great for building up the lashy type of lashes and I don't have problem with it smudging all over which is always welcome!

Okay, so volume is sorted, what about the curl?  I find that curling is the most difficult bit.  I've come across mascaras in the past that does a pretty good job in making those straight lashes curled up but it often lacks the ability to hold the curl.  Although I'm still testing out this Long and Curl Mascara by heroine make, I'm fairly satisfied with the result so far.  I mean, it doesn't give me the butterfly style fan out lashes but it does manage to make my lashes hold up fairly well at least for a good 4-5 hours. They are of a Japanese brand so I expected it to fit my type of lashes a bit more.  You do need to apply more than 2 coats at least to give you a more visible result but that's what I find with most mascaras, it takes time to build that volume/ length and curl up.

So.... I guess I'm happy with the lash combo so far but the search continues.....

I would be more than welcome to receive any product recommendations on mascaras for girls like me who have short and straight lashes!