Ann's Beauty Choice: January Favourites

January Favourites

Molton Brown - Naran Ji liquid hand wash

$39 AUD purchased from David Jones

A gentle pH balanced soapless cleanser that disinfects (contains natural bactericides) whilst protects the hands from dryness and irritation at the same time. The first time I tried this at work, I was in love with the smell! Later on I was told that the Molton Brown Naran Ji range is very well known in the hospitality industry around the world and is particularly favoured by celebrity chefs, chef hat restaurants, and many five-star hotels and spas. No wonder it smelt so luxurious! The scent is citrus based and infused with the sweet smell of orange oil and grapefruit-seed extract. Not only does this hand wash smell divine, but it also gets rid of any stubborn stains and cooking/eating smells on your hand. It's also very conditioning.

Molton Brown - Naran Ji hand lotion

$39 AUD purchased from David Jones

Apart from the pleasant luxurious scent, I love how the hand lotion is non-greasy and has a light-weight formula that is easily absorbed and very hydrating at the same time. When absorbed, it leaves your hands feeling velvety soft and expictbly smooth. Although this hand lotion is a bit pricey, I find that a little bit goes a long way - all you really need is one small pump for each use and it's enough for both of your hands.

Annick Goutal - Petite Cherie Eau de Parfum Spray

100ml - $250 AUD purchased from David Jones

Love the unique packaging and scent. To describe the scent - beautiful, lightly floral, peachy, pear, fresh, clean, soapy aroma, subtle sweetness, feminine, refreshing, sophisticated, girly, innocent. Perfect for day time wear.

Sigma Synthetic Precision Kit - 5 Brushes

$65 AUD purchased from sigma.com

I was really impressed with all these brushes.

All of these brushes are:

- super handy (they all have really good use/very multifunctional)

- good quality (no shedding of brush hairs and maintains good shape)

- dense (making it easy to control and allowing precise application)

- saves product (doesn't absorb so much of your product)

- works especially well for concealing

According to Sigma, these brushes were developed to mimic your fingertips when applying on makeup on the most sensitive and precise areas of your face. They're also made up of special fibres that are designed to apply powder, cream, and liquid products without absorption into the bristles.

P82 - Precision Round

This round brush is meant to replicate your fingertips so it works wonderfully when applying eye primer or concealing the more rounded areas of your face such as your brow bone, under eye area, or sides of your nose.

P88- Precision Flat Angled

The flat angle allows precise application for the harder to reach areas on the face such as the eyes or nose areas. I always use this brush for concealing under my eye area. Works perfectly!

P80 - Precision Flat

This one has to be one of my favourites. It is such a good brush for stippling concealer on the any area, especially on stubborn acne marks or dark spots. I find it extremely effective for covering pimples. It makes such a big difference in terms of covering pimples compared to using your fingers or any other brushes/sponges.

P84 - Precision Angled

This brush works great for concealing underneath the eyes, hollows of the cheek, and sides of the nose. However I use this brush mainly for contouring, especially when applying contour colour on the sides of my nose.

P86 - Precision Tapered

Perfect shape for applying concealer around the mouth to create more defined lips. Also really good for applying concealer under the eyes (right underneath the lash line) or on the bottom/sides of the nose.

Kate Eyebrow Pencil BR-4

($6.25 AUD sasa.com)

This superfine 1.5mm eyebrow pencil is not too soft/pigmented in colour (but rather hard) which allows precise application and less room for mistakes. You can create softer more natural looking brows by using light-medium pressure or more defined and darker looking eyebrows by applying a little bit more pressure. It is really so easy to control!

Kate Eyeshadow Palette - Real Create Eyes BR-1

($19.70 AUD ebay.com.au)

For those of you that haven't heard of Kate, Kate is a very well known budget cosmetic brand in Japan available in Japanese drugstores. Kate eyeshadow palettes are well known for their ability to enhance asian eyes and deeply contour them by using a blend of different textured eyeshadows (e.g. light/neutral colours, warm toned colours, deep monotone colours, soft sheen/shimmer colours) together.

The palette I got is a 5-shade eyeshadow palette and when used correctly, will subtlely make the eyes pop/give more definition (the concept: using the different textures together will create deeper/more contoured eyes).

These colours compliment each other very well and are quite pigmented but I would still say you have to use an eye primer underneath. You can use it for a subtle every day look or you can build it up for a night time more glamourised look. Overall, I'm very happy with this eyeshadow palette and currently using it every day for work.

Swatches of Kate eyeshadow palette

left: natural lighting

right: with flash

Below is a everyday look tutorial using this palette

Quick Everyday Eyes Tutorial using the Kate Eyeshadow Palette:

1) Using a small angular brush, apply the white gel shadow on the top and bottom inner corner of the eye (and rub in with fingers).

2) Using a small fluffy brush, apply the light brown colour from the middle to the outer corner of the eyelid.

3) Using a small tapered brush, apply the darker brown (very well pigmented dark brown colour) on the very outer corner of the eye, creating a side ways 'V' shape. Apply to bottom of eyes too.