Hey Guys!

I wanted to share something with you! I’m about to embark on the purchase of a new digi cam in April. I’ve been using my trusty Kodak and Sony for ages and I thought I needed something with a bit more meat. After carefully consulting with my digital camera guru, Vanessa, I decided to go with a Canon. She had recommend two solid models and after a bit of thought I decided to wait a little while and go with the Canon Powershot SD1100 which is releasing in April. I seriously don’t need another digital camera as I have plenty in the “digital graveyard” in my closet where all old technology goes to rest (mice, keyboards, cameras, printers, my commadore 64, my Apple Lisa, etc…etc..). It appears, like the geek I am, that I develop emotional attachments to hardware and have a hard time throwing it away!

This particular model of the Canon looks very good. This is actually more a purchase for you guys then for me. I wanted something that would take high quality images of cosmetics, good bright photos of swatches, and close up shots. My old camera does ok with these things but I could definately use an upgrade! I normally avoid swatching because my camera takes such crummy shots and the colors appear wrong so hopefully the Canon will solve this problem and we’ll end up with some good true to color swatch pictures.

Anyway!

Thought I’d share and tell you to be on the look out for better pictures coming to a blog near you very soon! I think this will be extremely beneficial when your unable to purchase Japanese cosmetics at retail. The jacked up prices don’t give you an option to make a mistake with color if you know what I mean. So if you end up shelling out cash for Japanese Collections you’ll at least have the tools you need (my swatches and photos) to make proper color selections when purchasing!

Most of you know that a majority of my Japanese cosmetics are purchased at retail cost. I have a few friends that live in Japan and they get me what I need and I do the same for them. But when you’re purchasing online prices have a tendency to rise from $5-$10 USD or more!

A few other changes are also coming your way shortly….

Good changes I hope.

A new adventure awaits readers of Musings of a Muse some of which I think might be exciting!

I’m working on my own forum very soon so you’ll have a place to chat to fellow readers, swap cosmetics, chat about brands, etc…..

There are many, many makeup forums around but I thought Musings of a Muse deserved it’s own forum! So it shall be very soon! I’ve wanted to do this for a long time but I just haven’t had the time but know it’s in the works!

After much thought and consideration I’ve decided to start podcasting some of my posts. This should be live very soon depending on how much time I have to do it. Now you’ll not only have the opportunity to read my posts but you’ll also be able to listen to me babble about a collection, share my thoughts and opinions, and just do my normal giggle ummmm routine! Brace yourself while I try to remove the giggles and the “ummm’s” from my vocabulary!

I’ve wanted to do this for a while and I thought it would be a fun and unique way to make my posts even more interesting!

I think that’s about it for now! I hope you’ll find all these new additions as exciting as I do!

Thanks to my old and new readers because this can’t be possible without each of you!

Update: Camera is on the way! Amazon.com had listed it’s release April 15 but thanks to Taryn for showing the Muse it was available on Best Buy! So we’ll now have quality images soon! I hope it works well in low light situations and such! We shall see!

Cheers Taryn! Thanks for helping a Muse out 😉

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This idea came to me today when I was talking to our little Cookie, Lilan, from the Daily Cookie. We were chatting back and fourth and she had mentioned she and her boyfriend had done a series of pictures using Bior� products last week. Honestly, guys, I begged and pleaded with our Cookie to please post these pictures and how much of a contribution this would be to the beauty blogging world! I tried! I really did! Let’s hope my hard work pays off and we get to see Lil and the boyfriend doing their review of Bior� shortly!

For now I decided I needed my own pampering. It’s been a long, hard day at work so I decided to treat my skin nice!

Pajama Party Provisions

As you may have noticed I’m on a budget beauty buying cycle lately and one item that I believe gives alot of bang for my buck is Bior�. It’s one of the very select few brands from a drugstore that I trust and have found to actually work. Quite a few products in the line I love and I’m particularly in lust with what I can get from Japan in regards to Bior�. Seriously have you seen Japan Bior� products? Everything is all pink and sweet looking!

As I was saying I had a long day at work so facial time! Yay!

AWWWWWWWWWWWW the Muse is exhausted after her hard day at work! Her eyeshadow is smudged, her foundation is fading, her lipstick is long gone but her PJ’s sure do match! The Muse is such a chic girl isn’t she?

I’m a bit lazy and I’m really not in the mood for my full blown facial regime of removing my makeup but have no fear Bior� Daily Cleaning Cloths are here!

YAY!

Seriously, I think we all fall into a bit of a funk some nights and aren’t too interested in spending alot of time removing our makeup! Especially when we just want to turn the lights off and go to bed! Daily Cleaning Clothes make that possible! Each cloth is pre-moistened with a cleaning solution that doesn’t have to be washed off. Wipe it across your face a few times and it’ll pretty much remove everything from your face. As you know I wear some bold shades of eyeshadow and this removes them without a problem! Although it doesn’t do that good a job on waterproof mascara but seriously neither do MAC cleaning clothes so honestly that’s not the fault of the cloth that’s just the formula of your mascara!

Two clothes later and my face was happy, refreshed, and clean!

After I got all that gunk off my face I needed a seriously good scrubbing down. The winter weather is harsh and my skin is suffering from some serious dryness, flakes and all! Gross! Sooooooo I got me some Bior� Unclogging Scrub and scrubbed my way into nirvana. This is the first time I’ve used this particular scrub and I must say it’s quite good. It does a fab job of removing flaky skin from my forehead and given time I imagine this will clear up the blackheads on my nose as well. If you’re acne prone this contains salicylic acid to clear up any nasties you have keeping house on your face! It was a good scrub and did a great job smoothing out my face but I found it to be a bit drying. That could be because it’s an acne treatment. If you’re oily this may very well be a god sent for you as it’s liable to dry up any oily bits on your face!

The formula contains little microbeads! See ’em? It also has a very fresh smell!

Now it was time for a bit of a facial! I adore Bior� self-heating mask! So good! This is seriously a fab mask! If you’ve never used this before you have to try it at least once! It’s a one minute facial that you rub into your skin and as you rub it heats and fells so warm and cozy and lovely! It exfloliates the skin while detoxing it and removing any yuck that might be lurking in your pores plus it’s good if your skin is oily! This feels wonderful in the Winter but I love using it in the Summer to combat oil on my forehead!

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And since I love you guys so much I’m of course including photos of me wearing the mask…you’ll probably find some use to blackmail me with them later…..

Scary Muse! BOO!

Of course after all this I had to go the extra yard and attack the blackheads hanging out on my nose! What better way to do that then with a Deep Cleaning Pore Strip? Pore Strips are God’s gift to humanity. I’ve seriously never found a better product to remove blackheads. I scrub, and scrub, and scrub and I have seriously little success removing the blackheads from my nose that have taken up residence, built a condo, and have settled in with the kids. They stay there and never leave. Unless I go to a Spa and extract these chances are no product, expensive or inexpensive, will get these buggers to move up and out! However, I’ve had pretty good success it getting a nice cleanup using Bior� Deep Cleaning Nose Strips! Plus I like looking at the strip after it’s been on my nose 8 minutes…is that morbid? Sorry too much info there! In all seriousness I really do have an excellent success rate with these. I’m not saying they get deeply embedded blackheads but they do a bloody good job of getting about 75% of mine and my nose looks alot less like a porcupine after use!

Yes, yes I know you want pics! More blackmail material coming right up!

Finally to finish off my little skincare party Bior� Pore Minimizing Lightweight Moisturizer. This is new for me. I normally don’t stray from my current moisturizer but I was generally curious about this as it has an SPF 15. Honestly, as I get older I’ve been caring about having an SPF in my moisturizer and this is very light and silky and perfect for day wear. I’m not sure how much it reduced the appearance of my pores because I honestly have tiny pores anyway but in regards to the formula I’m pretty impressed. I travel alot and I love going on cruises and such and this would make an excellent daily moisturizer when out in the heat. It’s silky, smooth, and very light weight plus it has SPF. When you’re in a humid climate that’s about everything you’d want in a moisturizer! Plus it’s cheap as day old chips price wise! What’s not to love? I’m too set in my ways to change it for my current moisturizer but as a backup when going on Holiday this will definately make an appearance in my traincase!

And finally here she is the Muse fresh faced, makeup less and simply Bior� clean! Wasn’t that fun? I work my 30 years good don’t I? Teehee!

Do you use Bior�?

Love it?

Favorite products?

Tell your Muse all about it!

Check out the full Bior� line up by clicking here!

Be sure to see the new Mandarin Blossom Pore Strips!

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I just blogged MAC Fafi not so long ago but it feels like ages since we last discussed MAC doesn’t it? It does however deserve to be mentioned that I’m enjoying how well MAC is doing with releases lately. They are spaced apart very nicely and I’m not seeing a huge flow of releases as we did last year. We seriously were borderline 3 collections a month or something last year and it was a bit too much for me to keep up with! But it’s been almost a month since Fafi’s release now and I’m liking the jive of MAC spacing it’s releases apart! I hope they keep it up!

MAC has two new Collections up and available for purchase at the moment one of which I’ll most definately be overindulging in myself! Obviously you can guess which one right?

Beauty Powder Blush!

I’ve heard so many rave reviews about the Beauty Powder Blushes and I’m definately picking up a few for myself!

The newest color story consists of eight beauty powders and two brushes.

I heart MAC Beauty Powders anyway and the idea of a pigmented beauty powder really thrills me. Most of the Beauty Powders I have either have a healthy dose of shimmer or are a matte color. Both of which are best used for highlighting! These new Beauty Powders are more pigmented so you can honestly get away with wearing them as a blush I’d say!

The colors appear very vibrant and bold so using them alone or to beef up your favorite blush will make the a cool multitasking tool to have in your beauty arsenal!

I’m currently lemming Joyous, Sweetness, and Serenely!

Each powder is $17.50 USD which is about a $3 difference from the standard MAC Blush. I believe these are about the same size as a MAC Blush as well and not the bigger compacts that some Beauty Powders have been known to come in!

I’m loving the look of the MAC 169 as well since it appears the perfect tool for application!

Honestly, I’m really wanting a few of these!

Want ’em?

Loving these?

Getting any?

Tell the Muse!

9 Comments

MAC’s newest color story, Strobe, is up and available at MAC if you’re interested!

Strobe is actually a color story that’s somewhat near and dear to my heart because it contains the Tinted Lip Conditioner Sticks.

A little history…..

My first venture into MAC was during the Sweetie Cake release and at the time they had offered Lip Conditioner Sticks and I had purchased one in the color pink resort. It had become a true favorite of mine and I toted it around everywhere. I’ve had to replace it three times since purchasing it by seeking it out on E-bay and paying way above retail for it.

My faithful friend, Pink Resort!

When MAC released Strobe I was over the moon at the prospect of getting my hands on new Lip Conditioners. I know a few people have ranted that they are sheer and just not worth the price and such but for me they are gold. I really love the natural look they give plus the moisturizing benefit alone is well worth the cost.

As you can see the packaging differs slightly from the previous release of lip conditioners! I’m really liking the new packaging which is on the right hand side!

I must admit that this year’s releases aren’t nearly as pigmented as my Pink Resort but I’m still loving the colors and the formula!

Strobe Current, Strobe Rays, and Strobe Kiss

If you’re a big lover of smoothing your lips down with balms, chapstick, or just one for loving a very smooth, moisturizing lip treatment this may very well be what you seek! I seriously have a bad habit of not touching up lipstick and gloss so I throw one of these in my purse for quick touch ups. They make my lips feel great plus I’m not completely bare lipped!

Strobe is definately something you might want to check out! I’m pretty curious about the cream which promises to revive and refresh dull, tired skin!

Strobe is available now at MAC!

Want anything from this color collection?

Love lip conditioners?

Tell the Muse!

9 Comments

I’m very, very wary of trying new skincare items. I’m sort of stuck in my normal routine rut and since it works so well for me it’s very rare I try anything else on my face. I’m a Lushie for life as you probably already know from reading my blog. If you’re not familiar with my daily skincare routine click over here for the details.

I’ve been happily testing out two of Kiehl’s skincare products last week which were the Ultra Facial Cleaner and the Ultra Facial Toner.

The first thing that shocked me about Kiehl’s was that it’s affordable skincare. Seriously how often can you find affordable skincare that works? Tis a rare occurrence for me!

I normally take my makeup off with one of three products that I use. Lush Ultra Bland for hardcore makeup that’s tough to get off (liquid eyeliner, heavy eyemakeup etc…), Kose Airy Whip (for lighter makeup removal! This is sadly not available in the US.), and Philosophy Purity (I use this daily for all types of makeup).

All of the above products work fantastic for me so there isn’t any reason for me to change however I’m vaguely surprised, with being so picky the way I am, that I really enjoyed using Kiehl’s Facial Cleaner for the past week. I’ve been using this from Monday until Sunday evening and I must say it works a treat and I’m considering adding it to my current skincare routine!

For some reason I get a weird feeling of “you missed a spot” when using Philosophy Purity. I normally use this daily, more so then my other cleansers and it always leaves me feeling like maybe I didn’t get off everything that was on my face. However, I felt truly, deeply cleansed with Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser. Even looking in the mirror after cleansing, my face looked really refreshed!

A little of this goes a long way as it’s a thick gel that foams up for a good deep clean. The cleanser is good for all skin types. At the moment my skin chooses to be dry because of the cold winter weather. It’s quite a gentle wash that is not drying to my skin! Believe me I’m already dry enough if I used anything that was drying I’d definately know!

I ended up wandering over to Kiehl’s website as using the cleanser had made me curious about the rest of the line and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the cleanser is $17.50USD for 5oz! I thought for sure something that worked this good would be $30-$40!

All in all I was very pleased with the Ultra Facial Cleanser! Well done Kiehl’s it’s on the Muse’s list for repurchase as soon as I get through the sample!

I also got my hands on the Ultra Facial Toner but this sadly wasn’t as wonderful as the cleanser. This is a very thick toner in comparison to my normal toner. I normally use Lush’s Tea Tree Oil (for oily days) or Breath of Fresh Air (for dryer days). My toner choices are very light and are spray on where as the Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Toner is a thicker formula that’s meant to be swiped on with a cotton ball! The formula is comparable to Guerlain’s Issima Success Model Smoothing Toner, the texture for me is spot on the same as the Guerlain but the Kiehl’s has a nice price tag! Happy Days! I really liked the consistency of this toner and it felt wonderfully cool and moisturizing when I swiped it on. Sadly, it dried me out a bit. This is for all skin types but for me it was a bit drying. I felt like my skin was very tight minutes after applying it. I used it for seven days straight just to see if I’d see an improvement but sadly nothing changed. I’d highly recommend this if you’re oily because it may very well dry your skin up a bit. My Asian readers that suffer from oily skin and humid weather (my lovely Singaporean readers) may find this an excellent toner for your skin! I think I’ll try this again in the Summer when my forehead decides to become a mirror!

Again, the price is very nice on this! $15USD gets you 8.4oz! That’s a great price and a great size! Total props for an interesting formula and texture but I can’t recommend this for people with dry skin! You might want to avoid it as I experienced further drying when using it.

Overall, the new lineup in the skincare collection is most definately interesting! For further information about the new additions to Kiehl’s Skincare click here!

Have you tried any of Kiehl’s Skincare?

Love it?

Favorite product?

Speak to the Muse!

19 Comments