B.F.F

WHAT YOU NEED
- Dish soap/ shampoo, olive oil, a bowl and paper towels!

You can use dish or hand soap that is antibacterial to remove any bacteria and dirt on your brush. The olive oil is to condition the bristles on the brushes to prevent them from drying out. I usually mix two parts of dish soap to one part of olive oil to prevent my brushes from being too oily after washing.

Once you've gathered your ingredients and dirty brushes, we can begin!


1. Mix both ingredients into the bowl and stir it.
2. Start with your smallest brush, dip just the bristle into the mixture, then swirl the brush onto your palm to work out the dirt in your brush. I usually clean my powder and foundation brush the last.
3. Rinse your brush under your tap water to release out the dirt and cleansing mixture. Make sure the water that you squeeze out from the brush is clear after you've rinse it with water.
4. Use a cloth or paper towel to squeeze out the water from your brush and make sure to reshape your brush as you dry it. Dry it as much as possible with paper towels before you air-dry them.
Lay your brushes on a paper towel and leave it to dry overnight.
Elevate the end of your brushes to let the water flow out of your brushes. This will prevent the water from flowing into the brush which might loosen the bristles and cause them to fall out in future.

I'd recommend washing them every week if its for personal use. I personally wash them right after each use especially when I use it on other people to make sure it is hygienic.
I hope this this post helps to start getting you into the habit of cleaning your brushes more often!

xx Carmen

We all have days like these where we just feel so lazy so we rush through the process of removing our makeup without giving it a second thought.
Or, sometimes we are unsure of how to properly remove it, leading our skin to have breakouts, clogged pores, dull and unhealthy skin.

Remove Eye Makeup
Choose an oil based eye makeup remover to make it easier to remove stubborn waterproof mascara and eyeliner!  The one I usually use is a dual phase eye remover that consists of equal water and oil portions.
1. Shake the bottle to mix the oil and water equally, then saturate a cotton pad with the remover.
2. Gently press the cotton pad onto your eyelids for 10 seconds to let it dissolve your makeup.
3. Wipe the cotton pad across your eyelid, you can flip the cotton and reuse the other side again.
4. Repeat the process on our eyebrows as well.
- Do Not rub or tug at your eyelids.
- Avoid using cleansing wipes as it may not be so suitable especially for those with sensitive skin, it may be a little harsh for your eye area.
- Lightly dip a cotton bud into the remover to remove any leftover liner or mascara between your lashes.

Remove Face Makeup
There are different types of removers such as cleansing wipes, cleansing oil, cleansing water, cleansing milk/creams. Pick a cleanser that has makeup removal properties to ensure proper cleansing. Different skin types might need different types of cleanser, so make sure your remover is suitable you! 
2. Cleansing water - I've been using recently and it has been great for my skin. Cleansing water can remove light eye makeup and double up as a cleanser without leaving any sticky feeling. Just saturate your cotton pad and remove your makeup like how you would on your eye areas.
3. Cleansing milk/cream - Cleansing cream has a slightly thicker consistency compared to milk but they're both used the same way. Apply and massage it onto your entire face and rinse it off with water. Depending on brand, some just requires you to wipe off with a cotton pad.
4. Cleansing oil - Cleansing oil is able to remove all types of makeup including your eye makeup. Apply and massage into your skin and rinse off properly with water, you can even use it to remove your eye makeup which makes it very efficient. However, it may take awhile for you to get used to it and requires more rinsing time to ensure your face is totally clean.

Remove Lipstick
We tend to skip this step especially when our lipstick wears off at night. However sometimes we wear long lasting lipstick that stains our lips and doesn't wear of even after a long day.
Don't like oily lip makeup removers? Try using lip balm or Vaseline instead!
1. Apply a layer of lip balm or Vaseline.
2.Leave it on your lips for a few awhile then use a soft cloth or cotton bud to wipe it away, your lipstick will come off together.
3. Reapply another layer of lip balm to moisturize your lips.
I prefer this method as it does not leave my lips feeling oily unlike lip makeup removers.


I hope this post gives you more insight on how to properly remove your makeup, do make sure you rinse your face properly before you go through your skin care routine! Do click here if you're not sure on the proper steps for skin care :)

xx Carmen

Recently I've gotten quite a handful of new products through friends,contests and event and I'm hoping to get some reviews up soon since I've been going through my finals for the past few weeks.

SO, here's a sneak peek on some makeup haul and prizes I've won over this few weeks!
It's been an exciting few weeks with all these new products and I really can't wait to test it out and share my thoughts on it with you girls :)

1. Tie your hair up into a single ponytail. Split the ponytail into two equal sections, top and bottom.
2. Take a rubberband, tie the top section of your hair approximately 1-2 inches from the first rubberband.
3. Split the top section into half as shown, you'll want to pull the bottom section through the hole.
4. Pull out the bottom section through the hole.
5. The bottom hair will now be on top.
6. Take a rubberband, now tie the new hair section that is on top. Repeat the process of pulling the bottom braid through the hole on the top section of your hair and tie a rubberband.
7. When you reach the end of your ponytail,just tie both the hair section together. You can loosen the side of the hair to create a messy braid look!

I'm hoping to start some makeup tutorials/tips real soon! Been juggling with some work, assignments and finals revision this past month so it's been tough. Also, I will be sharing reviews on some makeup haul that I got recently, really excited to start on it after my finals next month!

XX Carmen

Do you find yourself constantly checking out your lips and reapplying it when you're out?

Wearing bold lip colours can be tricky especially when you don't want to be checking out your lipstick every hour. As a makeup artist, how do I make my client's lipstick last all night especially with bold red lips?
Here are a few simple steps that works really well without having to reapply your lipstick throughout the night!

Tools needed:
Lipstick, powder brush, translucent powder.

Apply lip balm at lest ten minutes before you apply your lipstick to let your lips soak in the moisture. I like to apply my lip balm as early as possible to let my lips fully absorb the moisture because it surely makes a difference when I have my lipstick on after that. Applying lip balm right before your lipstick will leave a funny texture on your lips which isn't what you want.

1. Use a lip liner to trace the shape of your lip.
2. Apply your lipstick onto your lips! To fill in certain gaps that you might have left out, smile and reapply on your lips.
You can either apply it straight on or with a lip brush, whichever you prefer.
3. Take a piece of tissue and lightly blot your lipstick to remove any excess colour that you might have over applied on your lips.
4. Take a small powder brush and apply translucent loose or pressed powder on your lips. This will help to set and seal the lipstick onto your lips and mattify it.
*Try not to apply too much powder or else it will dry out your lips.
 You can apply on another thin layer of lipstick and you're done!

Step out and wear that bold lip with confidence!

xx Carmen

In celebrating their 100th year anniversary, Maybelline had a Look Of Today makeup competition and both of us were selected as the top 100 finalist!
The event was held on 15 May 2015 at Mid Valley and we thought we would share our experience on our first event together!



Our simple red lip makeup for the day!



We were a little disappointed as the event started an hour later as mentioned, we had no seats so we were just standing by the table. Well, at least they had some finger food and drinks to keep us occupied!



Maybelline had a runway to showcase the different looks that has evolved from the 1920's to the 2000's which was the highlight of the event. It's amazing to see how much has changed in a 100 years from makeup to hairdo to clothing. Personally the both of us has a favourite era!

 MJ loves the 1920's flapper girl love with dark kohled eyeshadow and cupid bow lips.The model rocked the look with her high cheek bone. 
Carmen's a big fan of the 1940's pin up look with the bright red lip and pin up curls which makes a huge beauty statement.



Every finalist that attended the event was given a goodie bag by Maybelline with all these inside! 4 of Maybelline's best sellers, a Maybelline cosmetic pouch and a RM50 voucher form Zalora!

Huge thanks to Uber for sponsoring us to Midvalley and back home, as well as Maybelline for this opportunity!

Our next post will be up real soon! Stay tuned!

People have always been asking "how do you trim and shape your brows? how come I can never seem to trim it nicely? how do I know where to begin? how do I find my arch??" etc etc.
Hence, I've decided to share with you how to trim and shape your own natural eyebrows!

TOOLS NEEDED
-Razor, Spoolie Brush(Mascara wand), cuticle scissors.
I will be showing you how to trim with a razor because not everyone can stand the pain of plucking their eyebrows (don't worry, I feel your pain!)




xx Carmen