Practical Charm

If any of you have ever noticed before, every season, Dior will release a special edition makeup palette that is available in limited quantities. I personally am particularly sensitive to the release of these beautifully packaged collectibles and I must comment that I am most impressed with the latest Spring Palette by Dior.

Absolutely love it. For the past seasons, they have usually been releasing a palette full of assorted eyeshadows and lip glosses but I love this one cause it has all the basic needs for a long lasting makeup.

Drool over the packaging ladies, its a compact magnetic case wrapped in white leather. Although available in 2 sets, I chose 'Peachy Adventure' as it had the dark eyeshadow perfect for amplfying and lining eyes, a not so plumpy but pouty lip colour and the most natural brush.

The other one would be more suited towards those who want more emphasis on their pouts with a deeper tone of fuschia for gloss and purple eyeshadow with a bright pink flush for cheeks.

You'll need to check it out yourself at the Dior counters. Retailing at RM169 (Duty free and out of duty free) A must collect for every Dior fan like me

A while back I've mentioned that April and I started Practical Charm with two purposes. One was of course to chronicle and record our buys and shopping wishlists. So far it's working okay and I'm really flattered to know that we've got the support from many people.

The other purpose was for both of us to earn some EXTRA MONEY.

Oh yes, we're rolling into that same category of money hungry Malaysian bloggers, but we're bordering at admitting that our sole purpose for blogging is to earn cash. But when you're paying over 300 USD a year just to maintain your online presence, you need some money to sustain it. And it is kind of silly to fork that out from our pockets, especially when they're not deep enough, yeah?

So here it is. Our first registration with a pay-as-you-blog website. It's the same mechanism that's so popular across the sphere. They send you a review opportunity, you think if you wanna take it up, you take it up, you write a passage of about 75 words or more on that review… and YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIE about liking or not liking the product.

That's what Practical Charm is about anyway. We write them real, and so far you only read about things we like… I haven't started to bash up my hated products and shopping malls yet… but those things are coming in the way.

Of course, because Practical Charm is still a toddler barely out of infancy, we're infants when it comes to blogging for payments. And Blogsvertise don't pay much to newbies just yet, but this will do. Young blogs like Practical Charm probably will be put under probation, and if this post allows our blog to join the blogsvertise network, we'll probably be paid a minimal amount of money.

THere's more to come. We're hopeful. And yes, this is a sponsored post.

It's a darn well known fact that spices were regarded as a precious item of barter in the centuries of exploration due to it's flavour enhancing properties. But I also believe that spices have great body regulating and muscle relaxant qualities.

I have been using ginger infused products to calm my muscles after a long hard day's work, and after a shoppung trip with Minishorts, I stumbled upon a jar filled with Cinnammon Soap at a Harnn Natural Home Spa's branch in Bangsar One.

It's fresh ground cinnamon scent is good enough to give you a tantric sense of relaxation. Filled with itty bits of grains to exfoilate the skin it sends tiny sears of warm sensations inbetween my muscles and joints that makes me feel all relaxed and internally massaged after my bath.

Total relaxation and rejuvenation in a fresh bar.

Product : Cinnammon Soap by Harrn Natural Home Spa
Price : RM12.00
Application : Best used for achy muscles and joints
Shelf Life : 1 1/2 years
One bottle : With a loofah you can spare one soap to last you for a good month!
Tips: There are only two outlets for Harnn as of current that I know of, 1 Utama's new wing and Bangsar One.

Lancome Pommette. The creme de la creme of all cream blushers (at least, that's what I believe-lah). For the packaging, and the awesome colour, and the au naturale look it leaves the user with.

As advertised on the Lancome site:

IRL (In-Real-Life), this is what it looks like:

Coral Paresse, or the colour available from the counters, is just right for Chinese Asian skin tones, like mine. I got my Pommette for RM35 at a warehouse sale over a year ago, and even with everyday use, there's still plenty left. Just a swipe over its creamy texture is enough for one cheek, and it leaves with a soft, healthy pink glow. You won't look like you're wearing make-up, it leaves you more with a look that tells people that you've been stocking up on nutritious soups for the past 15 years!

The look:

When I'm done with this pan, I'm not going to wait for the next warehouse sale. That's how great the pommette is!

I've been meaning to get a good concealer forever (can't you tell?). Been searching high and low,
and ran through several brands, from those off the counter ones, from one of those warehouse sales (where I got myself my Bobbi Brown Corrector/Concealer mini-pan) and even from the net (where I got the Realness of Concealness from Benefit).

I was cleaning up after my workout the other day when I saw this woman with lots of freckles on her face using this shiny wand to dot away her freckles. And they literally disappeared before my eyes, so amazing was the magic wand. A quick look at the brand and I saw it, 'DIOR'.

So I've been thinking about getting the Dior concealer wand, and remembering that the brand equates luxury and luxury equates price… but I finally gave in last week. I got this pen at the local Now Everyone Can Buy duty-free outlet at the domestic boarding area in KLIA.

The product's name: DIOR SKINFLASH

Calling itself, a 'Radiance Booster Pen', the concealer wand promises to bring light to all areas that require brightening, including your undereye areas, line-areas (around the lips, above the forehead, around the brows and eye-shadow make-up area).

The effects. Check out how Skinflash brightens up my eye-area:

Before:

After:

Honest to God, I didn't use Photoshop at all, hence the milia seeds (kill me already). Can you tell that I love Skinflash?

Product : Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen (i.e. concealer/corrector two-in-one)
Price : RM115 duty-free
Application : Twist pen-tip and dab on necessary places to cover up, and brighten up
Shelf Life : 1 1/2 years
One bottle : Not sure yet, depending on frequency I guess, this will probably last me 6 months?
Tips: If you have someone traveling through KLIA, get him/her to do some shopping for you, with-duty prices can go up to 15%-25% higher than this price!