The Expat Chick DIY: Make Up Brush Holder and Multifunction Jars

Hi Guys,

Do you like to burn candles and wondering what to do with the left over jars? Ya exactly, me too! I've been thinking what I wanna do with my leftover jars and come up with this makeup brush holder (which I really really need) and this multi function jars you can use for storing candies, accessories, cotton pads or anything you want..So here it is, enjoy!

Here are the items you need:

1. My left over jars are from Slatkin & Co candles (Bath&Body Works candles), they come with the stainless steel lid (you can use whatever candle jars you have)
2. Crystal Beads bought from Art Friend ($11.90)
3. Super Glue ($3.40)
4. Scissors 
5. For the cute decoration, choose anything you like..this later on will function as the handle of your multifunction jar.

Step by step how to:

1. Once your candles' wicks reach the ends normally there will still be a little bit of wax left, to remove them easily for me the best method is to freeze 'em so that we can easily crack the wax later on. Pop them in the fridge for 2 days (the more the better) or at least  overnight. 

2. After a day or 2 in the fridge, pop them out. Take your scissors and stab them in the middle of the wax (image no.1), then open the scissors up (image no.2) and stab 'em on the sides of the wax. Move the scissors a bit and pull the wax out (image no.3). This is where the period of time the jars in the fridge counts..the more them in there, the more easier to do this..If your wax is really stubborn and won't come up when you pull, just crack and break them using the scissors. Then you can remove it from the jar. 

2b. Don't throw the leftover wax away, keep them in a plastic bag because you can still burn them in aromatherapy pot..

2c. If you find that your wick is still stuck in the bottom after all the wax are out, no worries just use the tip of the scissors to scrap it out..should be pretty easy..

3. Peel off all the labels, after the freezing this should be pretty easy as well..

4. Give the jars a wash (if sticky residue is stubborn, don't worry!)

5. For stubborn sticky residue, use cotton pad with some nail polish remover to wipe them off..

6. For the brush holder, pour in the crystal beads about half to three quarters of the jar..

7. For the multifunction jar, clean the stainless steel lids with soap and damp cloth. Stop here if you think the lid and clean jar is functional enough, you can use it to store anything you like. But I want to make it pretty by adding cute decoration on top, I choose this bamboo shoot Sonny Angel (click here for overloaded cuteness), glue the feet and hold it in place for a few minutes..It looks cute and function as a handle so opening and closing the jars is much easier..

And that is all! So easy and cheap but it is really satisfying and make me super happy to reuse, repurpose and diy things that is not just useful but also look pretty on my vanity..

Before (Look how sad my brushes look, yup I use towel to lay them around)

After! So pretty and now my brushes are happily organized!

Here are my angels enjoying the leftover wax burning on my pot :)

Hope you guys enjoy this post! Ciao!

Wanted Fuschia!

Hi Guys..

I've been really in a hunt for a pretty fuschia/hot pink lipstick and I did go to various cosmetics counters to swatch the colors only to find myself chicken out the last minute and decide to walk away..This other voice in my head goes like "you'll never wear it..it'll end up in the bottom of your makeup bag like your russian red lipstick!" or "guurll your skin is too yellow-y for fuschia, you'll look funny!" oh and my favorite "bitch please you wouldn't dare to pull out hot pink lips look!" Well I think she's right I dont really feel like the girl who can pull bright lipstick for everyday but I really want to tryyyyy it..soo here it is a quick post of bright lips to encourage me and show you guys how really fun and pretty fuschia lips are..

 

 

Hehe I'm not exactly angmoh (eurasian) so here proof asian can do fuschia/bright lip too!

Damn gurl, it's Song Hye Gyo leh she can wear blue lipstick and still look hot!

One of my fave beauty guru Jen

Images via tumblr

 SO mental note to myself (and you too if you want to try this), the key to this bright lip is a simple eyemakeup (or even bare eyes) and other makeup on the skin should be kept to a minimum. The only main focus is the bright lips

 so that your face doesn't look like a coloring book lol..

My choice of fuschia are these two

Left: Maybelline Vivids Lipstick in Hot Pink S$14.30
Right: MAC Candy Yum Yum S$29

Maybe I'm going to brace myself (chill gurl, it's only lipstick) this weekend and just pick up the maybelline one since it doesn't cost a bomb and I tried it before it's matte and the consistency is really good too, will post my pic with my fuschia lips next to Song Hye Gyo when I finally bought mine hehehehe..

Ciao! (Oh and yesssss it's finally Friday!)













New in, Nothing out..

Hi Guys,

I went a little bit cray with online shopping last week (no worries all are wallet friendly and discount savvy) and purchase all these stuff (except for the earrings, it's a gift from my bff..how cute is the birds? So precious with that turqoise feathers at the bottom). Okay, let's jump in and start my first haul post lol..

Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes

(from top-bottom: Buffing brush, detailer brush, pointed foundation brush and contour brush)

This brushes are made by Samantha Chapman, one of the Pixiwoo girls (if you don't know who they are find out here). I've been looking  for an affordable, high quality and versatile brush set for so long and from the hype these brushes get, I think I made the right choice. I get mine here! 

My favorite of the four is the buffing brush, it's so perfect for foundation/bb creams. Very easy to use, effortless to blend and the bristles are so soft (actually all of them are so soft). They're synthetic, they didn't shed and from what I read they're also easy to clean and dry really fast. Oh, and they come in a black sleek pouch that can double up as a stand to put all the brush on your vanity. So handy!

Real Techniques Stippling Brush and Sleek Blush Palette in Lace

I ordered this stippling brush because I don't have this type of brush before. This brush is so multifunctional, it's good for blending foundation and perfect for cream blush and highlighter. The size of brush is not too fat so it can give a more precise application especially when applying cream blusher (nobody want to have the clown cheeks, right?).  

I'm really excited about this blush palette when I'm ordering, to me the colors are so pretty and perfect for daily use, so wearable and for only S$20 for 3 colors I think it's a good buy, yes? However, in real life the palette look pretty much crazy bright and all three colors look almost orange, but I tried it on today and absolutely loving it! 

The left is a mix between coral and peach, one sweep is peach, two sweep is coral. The middle one reminds me of Nars Orgasm, perfect peach pink glow. The right one (although it look really scary) actually appears like a medium (depends on how you blend it) pink flush you have after doing 50 pushups!

 Sleek Eyeshadow Palletes in Au Naturel (top) and Storm (bottom) 

I can't decide between this two palettes so I thought why not get both, so when Luxola had their 2 hours special 15%discount last week I jumped in and bought these for great deal plus free delivery! They are neutral for everyday, each come in 12 colors combo in shimmer and matte for an easy everyday eyes to smokey eyes..I dare to say the shimmer colors are quite pigmented and have a very good color pay off but the matte colors to me they're too chalky and not so pigmented. Here's the color swatches for you :)

As you can see here, the shimmer colors are quite pigmented but the matte colors are disappointing..

Overall for the price, 37$ for 2sets plus the 15% discount, I think it's a good buy. The packaging is sleek in matt black compact with big mirror in it so it's really handy especially for traveling.

That's all for my first makeup haul, hope you enjoy and find this helpful! 

Ciao!