Creating an Album Cover Illustration - 제주바람 '어쩌면 아티스트'

Hi everyone!

As the last few posts were all beauty-themed, I wanted to shake things up a little with this album jacket illustration I did for the Korean indie singer '어쩌면 아티스트', which translates roughly to 'Maybe an Artist'...! (She surely is one, though!)

The song is called 'Jejubaram', which means 'Wind of Jeju'. As I live on that very island, I was all the happier to create the illustration! It's the perfect music for peaceful traveling (on Jeju or anywhere else), so if you're curious, you can give the song a listen here:

'Jejubaram - Jeju Wind' by Maybe An Artist on iTunes

'Jejubaram - Jeju Wind' by Maybe an Artist on Soribada (only a quick sample there, but hey, for free! ;)

K-Indie is a genre I love listening to on long days in the Cafe, and Maybe An Artist does sing in that lovely, laid-back style I personally really enjoy.

As for the illustration itself:

Jeju Island is famous for its 'Gyul', aka mandarins, oranges and clementines in all kinds of variations. They range from walnut-sized to roughly the size of a large grapefruit and come in all kinds of flavor variations, too! The song's lyrics evoke the scent of mandarins carried by the wind, so the choice of a mandarin tree motive was quite simple! (though we did some other sketches first...)

Some quick studies done during inktober (while traveling to the south of Jeju with my parents) were the basis for the mandarin trees, as well as some pictures I took.

The album illustration was then made with a light pencil drawing as a base, on which I layered watercolors. I didn't want to make the colors too saturated, going for a more 'milky' look. You can have a look at my watercolor collection here - I mostly used Cobalt Green mixed with Cobalt Blue, both giving a slightly muted color. For the mandarins themselves Scarlet Lake, Neapel Yellow and Cadmium Yellow were mixed, and some additional shadows added with Burnt Sienna.

The little sketch I did previously has now been hurled at Photoshop to form this mess:

As I'm currently preparing a lot of little printing projects (stickers, postcards, hand mirrors...) I'll maybe use it as some sort of background pattern. We'll see!

Something like this. Looks kind of christmas-y already, doesn't it?? (...panic!)

I loved working on this simple illustration and hopefully more is to come! As for now, I hope you'll check out 'Maybe An Artist's Instagram or Maybe An Artist's Facebook - she's a lovely person, talented person and deserves more attention! :D


More illustration projects will follow! I'm in the middle of several commissions, some of them spanning months already, and can't wait to share!

Have a lovely weekend and thanks for reading!

Korean Autumn Days Makeup - Innisfree Real Fluid Rouge in #8 Review

I'm on a review roll!

This one is for a new discovery: The 'Real Fluid Rouge' liquid lipstick by innisfree, re-launched just about a week ago. It was love at first sight! I've been using this color every day because it's just so versatile and fits the warm Jeju autumn days perfectly.

Find it. :D
These mini illustrations are for a sticker set I'm planning to print soon. Autumn version up first!

As I've said, the Real Fluid Rouge line was re-launched this October. There was a previous launch (with different colors and product texture) last spring during my several months long no-buy phase, so that kinda passed me by. All the more love to give now!

The Real Fluid Rouge is a liquid lipstick product (since last spring, a variety of other Korean brands have launched their own versions of liquid lipsticks. Etude House comes to mind.) and it's available in 12 different shades.

I got shade number 8, a slightly muted pink color. 분홍 사과꽃 한 잎, which translates into something like 'One petal of a pink apple tree flower'. Soft pinks have a tendency to make me look kind of dead, so I was happy to find upon swatching that this had just the right amount of color in it to look neither nude-ish nor like a hot-pink. I absolutely love it! It goes well with nearly everything - an otherwise bare (sunscreen) face, natural makeup or even light smokey eyes. It's the perfect pink for me, seriously.

The texture is hard to describe: A thick liquid that seems sticky upon applying but settles into a nice lipstick-like texture. It reminds me of the Mellow Lipstick line with its buttery finish. I haven't loved a texture and finish this much since those lipsticks came out - you go, innisfree! Take all my money!

It does a decent job at moisturizing, too, and fades prettily (loosing the glossy effect first) over several hours. Neither transferproof nor staining, but still not that much of a high-maintenance product as it's easy to reapply without messing up the previous layer.

The packaging is super prettyyy. Seriously. It's much bigger than I imagined but looks sleek and elegant. From the outside, the shade looks a bit cooler than the actual product on my lips.

As I've been wearing it every day, I thought I'd show you my daily makeup look recently. Keep in mind that my makeup skills are non-existant, though. I SUCK at eye makeup and literally everything that's not foundation. Applying my makeup next to a small window in an otherwise dark room with a propped-up hand mirror certainly doesn't help. But anyway, it's what works for me on most days, and on all other days I can just give up and relie on my fringe to at least cover up my eyebrows...

The products I've used most often recently.

There's my old (...three years and counting) 'Choco Eyebrow Powder Cake' from Skinfood. I just can't bother to buy a new one, as my brow game is a loosing battle anyway. It works just fine, the shades fit, and I still haven't used it all up. It also smells like chocolate, seriously!

For eyeliner I love the Mamonde Soft Melting Liner in black. It's precise, doesn't smudge, doesn't drag and doesn't irritate my eyes. Mostly I just use this to tight-line my eyes.

(Mamonde is a secret love of mine anyway, taking second place behind Innisfree. It's not a really well known brand internationally, but I've loved every product I've tried so far!)

... which is evident in my current foundation choice, too. I've replaced my Iope cushion with a Mamonde 'Moisture Mask Cushion' refill. That's what I love about cushion cases - buy one, then put in whatever refill you currently have. Korean brands do seem to want me to buy more cases, though, as they're releasing special edition cases left and right. This is one of the reasons I want to print some stickers - at least I can decorate my basic cushion cases myself! Hah!

I chose a darker shade than usual for this one: #21 Peach Beige.

I look like a ghost most of the time, but with this on I actually look like I've seen the sun in recent months while still looking natural overall. Also tricked my parents into thinking I wasn't too pale this time around.

It's a very moisturizing cushion foundation and perfect for autumn. I still prefer my (ghostly white) Innisfree 'Ampoule Intense Cushion' in #13, though, as it applies more thinly (less coverage, but nicer finish) and I personally prefer the color.

As for eyes, if I actually make the effort, I'm using these two Mineral Single Shadows by (take a guess) Innisfree.

One is new, one is old. Again, take a guess.

The 'Fondant au Chocolat' shade is pure love in an eye shadow pan. Buttery, matte and just such a pretty warm brown. Innisfree came out with these new versions of their Mineral Single Shadows so during the sale event, I quickly grabbed this one. It's #9 of their 'matte' line.

The other, beige color (#22 of the old Mineral Shadow lineup, though after the recent relaunch it seems to be the #3 of their 'matte' line) has been used extensively over the last year. It's the perfect base shade for me, a matte yellow brown slightly darker than my skintone. I can also use it for shading, though I'm mostly too lazy for contouring of any kind...

That's it.
Like I said, I'm terrible at makeup despite loving it. For some reason, drawing skills don't translate into makeup skills.

Also, sorry for taking pictures with a messy fringe like that. *crawls into hole because awkward*

So bored. So, so bored. :'D
Instead of a resting bitch face I've got the resting bored face.

See what I mean with the muted pink but still-not-pale-pink-or-nude-pink? It gives just the right amount of color without being over-powering. And it's shiny without being all gooey like a lip gloss. I really love everything about this.

Also visible: Putting on slightly darker, yellow-ish foundation on the face without blending towards the neck. Well done.

Fringe will never do what I want it to do...

I really love everything about this product! I'll definitely go and buy at least one more shade of this range - maybe the red one (#6) or a coral shade (#3). The texture is so good I'd take any color, really.

You can have a look at the shade selection available here. Nearly every shade is named after some form of 'apple' color, like 'apple juice'. Doesn't the red one look gorgeous?

Thanks for reading! Say 'hi' to Hedwig the cat! :D

What are your favorite products for autumn? 

Did you try the spring version of the Real Fluid Rouge lipsticks? 

Update:

You can find the illustration motive from this blog post

as stickers in my Etsy Shop~

REVIEW: Aritaum Color Lasting Tint in #13 THE RED ONE

Hello, I'm back with a review - for a product I'd introduced once before and recently got my hands on another color! It's the Color Lasting Tint by Aritaum in the shade aptly named 'The Red'. How red is it? How long lasting is it? Let's have a look!

(That has to be the cheesiest blog post introduction I've written so far...)

First off, EXCUSES:

My parents were visiting me here on Jeju, Korea, which is why I haven't been posting in a while. 

Also, they kind of attacked Innisfree stores for presents (even my grandmothers use Korean skincare by now haha...) which was my excuse for buying way too much stuff.

So of course I tagged along and gave recommendations and used my customer card to reduce prices and collect points and whatnot... which escalated into hauling literally EVERYTHING I'd had my eyes on over the past year. I've got so many new products that just reviewing them on a weekly basis would fill this blog for the next few months, though that could get quite one-sided and boring.

This Color Lasting Tint was an impulse buy from before though.

I was in the mood for something really red and noticed that I actually don't own anything that isn't either orange or pink. I wanted something easily wearable during the day, something long-lasting that doesn't require touch-ups and as the Fuchsia shade of the Color Lasting Tint that I reviewed last time was blindingly pigmented as well as nearly indistructible on my lips, I decided to play it safe and choose something from the same line. 

As shade #13 is actually named 'The Red' it seemed perfect. 

Same packaging as before, with the sleek long black tube, the appropriatly red details and the very convenient doe-foot applicator. As with the Fuchsia one, this applicator really works well for pigmented lip tints, it just makes the application and blending easy, even for a clutz like me.

It picks up the perfect amount of product for one full layer, which in the case of this shade is already enough for a really bright and intense color! I've tried to put another layer on top, and the color blends in nice and evenly while building up the pigmentation. 

I tried to keep the lip swatch as true to how the color looks in reality as I could. It does have the SLIGHTEST cool undertone once the shine goes away (which is after one or two hours) though for some strange reason it looks warmer when first applied. 

On the lip swatch, the top lip was 'tapped' on with my finger, so there's no shine and you can see the underlying berry-hue. The bottom lip was a full-on layer of color applied with the doe-foot applicator, and the shine looks a bit more orange, right? The overall effect is a nice red that could suit both warm and cool skintones as the differences are so subtle. It really suits my skin, being bright red while neither looking too vampy nor artificial.

It's a bit more evident here in the swatches on my hand: Freshly applied it's a bright, slightly warm red, while after blending and rubbing and drying (...it is crazy long-lasting at that stage) it gets pinkish.

Speaking of long-lasting and fading, I do like this shade less than the Fuchsia one when it comes to its lasting power. The stain is there and stays there alright, but it has a tendency to cling to chapped spots and the inner parts of my lips, giving off an effect similar to what I get after drinking red wine. It's not too bad, and if you don't have chapped lips (who doesn't? seriously??) it might not concern you at all. As I wanted something that lasts me through the day without touch-ups, I was a bit disappointed though. 

After about three hours, it looked like this. It's not too evident in the photo, but it settled in patches and in lines, too. Can be saved easily by reapplying something like tinted lip balm on top of it. I actually loved it when applied as a base underneath other lipsticks - just tapping on a bit of the tint for a red hue, then put whatever less long-lasting product on top. Works well with coral or pink lipsticks! The tint doesn't settle into lines and patches when it's applied thinly like that...

As for a full-on picture for comparison:

THE RED is ... red! Very bright! I really love how it doesn't go too dark despite being so pigmented. 

For reference (if you want to compare your skintone or something) I was wearing the Iope Air Cushion XP in the 22 shade that has shimmer in it - I got talked into buying that by the sales assistant last year. She insisted that it would be a better match than the more yellow-toned, darker shades. After using it several times I have to disagree: It's way too pink for my skin (look at my neck for comparison...) and it has actual shimmery particles in it, which I hate with a passion. The finish is gorgeous though, so I use it anyway sometimes. 

The crux of that little story and the whole review:

The #13 Color Lasting Tint "The Red" shade goes well with both the cool-toned pink-ish Iope Air Cushion, my other one (Innisfree #13) and my bare skin/sunscreen. It's really versatile! 

It doesn't look over the top during the day, as there are no dark/burgundy undertones, and the shiny finish makes it look summery! 

The lasting power is, as mentioned, long, though it stains differently in dry patches which doesn't look too pretty in the long run. 

Still looking for the perfect red (I may have found some in my recent hoarding of Innisfree products!) but this one is a nice base color and can look great on its own when properly taken care of!

As always, thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon for more illustrations (I've finished another project~) and whatever review I feel like next. If you're curious about certain products (lips? foundations? skincare?), tell me in the comments! Also, if you have any recommendations for a true red lip tint, I'm all ears! Thank you!

What's in my Bag - An illustrated guide

I love looking at 'What's in my Bag' posts. In order to do my own, I turned my frumpy second-hand mess inside out and was faced by long-lost receipts, hair clips and tissues.

So I decided to leave all those nastier things be and just do an illustration based on the more presentable objects I carry along with me.

Well, that's quite a lot. Let's break it down!

BARE SURVIVAL:

What I need to leave the house without being a human catastrophe. Keys (I've got a cute, huge stuffed animal horse key chain so it's easy to find...), phone with an extra battery because I'm just that bad at charging, some money and a little case for my identification card/Korean visum, bank cards and the like.

By some magic there's always at least one hair clip and hair tie to be found, too!

FOR A BIT LONGER TRIPS:

Of course, a sketchbook or notebook is a must! I always regret whenever I leave it at home... an unnecessary large amount of pens and pencils compliments the sketchbook.
I found something really nice recently here in Korea: Protective caps to put on pencils! They don't only save the pencil from breaking over and over again, but protect my hands from being stabbed everytime I rummage through my bag.

Then there's some hand sanitizer in a small size (Nature Republic makes them with all kinds of scents - I currently use the Aloe one.) and a facial mist. The mist is kinda optional, but especially on hot days where my face feels like its melting, it's a life saver! I bought some at Innisfree when they had a 1+1 sale last spring, and will do so again next time! Also helps when taming my fringe in the humid weather.

MAKEUP:

On to the good stuff!

I try to be organised with my makeup as a form of counterattack against the pencils littered everywhere.
I love small pouches (smaller than my hand) to just seperate stuff and protect lipsticks from opening and breaking. The left one in black and white is made from a thin material (selfmade :D) and it's where I put stuff like cushion foundations to protect them from getting scratches or leaking.
The one on the right is even smaller and made from thicker material - a gift from my grandmother. It's the perfect lenght for lipsticks and keeps them from breaking no matter what I do.

Like I said, the bigger pouch contains a cushion on most days. I often do my makeup in the car if I'm late, and it's also perfect for touch-ups.
I actually own more 'cushions' than actual cushion cases - some of them are interchangeable, so I buy refills and switch them out according to seasons and mood. The cases I own are from Iope and Innisfree (Waterglow and the good old Melting Mineral Foundation, which isn't a cushion, but works just fine as a case for them) and inside those? I mostly don't remember. :'D

I'll make a cushion overview/review post soon, though!

On hot days, the Innisfree No-Sebum Powder is my steady companion. It's a transparent mineral powder that absorbs oil and sets makeup. It can also function as an emergency dry shampoo of sorts as it makes flat, sweaty (urgs) hair fluffier!

On days where I really got my shit together, one might even find an eyeshadow here. I've accumulated quite a lot of the Innisfree Mineral Single Shadows in superbasic brown hues and rotate those with my Aritaum Mono Eyes in 'Earth'.

LIPSTICKS!

As going out often includes some sort of eating or drinking, too, I need to bring something along for reapplying whatever I slapped on in the morning.
My current favorites for this early fall (ok, it IS fall technically, but my Swiss brain just doesn't associate the season with 25 degrees and sunshine, so... late summer?) are red shades.

The Innisfree Cream Mellow Lipstick in #8 (the name translates to something like Moistful, Dewy, Watery Red?) is a very flattering color that's surprisingly easy to wear for a red lipstick! I'll do a review for this one soon, too! (...I've got too much stuff.)

The other star of the moment is by the brand Mamonde, the Creamy Tint Color Balm Intense Velvet in Red. What a long name. It's a chubby little pencil that applies velvety-matte (the Cream Mellow Lipstick has a glossy finish at first), stays on forever and the color is a nice toned-down, slightly brownish red which ACTUALLY MANAGES TO MAKE ME LOOK LIKE A GROWN UP.

Then, my staple reddish Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm by Aritaum so that I don't need a mirror if I want to reapply something. It works well on top of faded red lipsticks of all kind, blends them out of liplines where they may have transferred and moisturizes, of course.

As for mirror I carry a really small square mirror that I bought on my very first trip to Korea years ago in Seoul. It's got a little silk pouch to put it into and is the cutest thing ever.


That's it! What do you carry in your bag? Are you more organised or chaotic? (it's a fine line to walk...)

REVIEW: Espoir No Wear S - Favorite Korean Lipsticks

This review pf the Espoir No Wear S Lipstick in 'Jealousy' is part of a series because my love for coral lipsticks lead to quite the collection.

Drew this when I still thought I could put several lipsticks of one shade into one single post...
So naive.

I really wanted to do some quick reviews and swatches of ALL my Korean lipsticks in one big blog post. Then, looking at all the stuff I've hoarded, I decided to split it up into color groups - the leader in numbers being the coral-orange camp.

Looking at all the images I had for just ONE of the lipsticks, I gave up on that idea and will be doing these one by one like a sane person. :'D

So my favorite shade goes first! It's part of the No Wear S line and the color is called 'Jealousy'.

'Jealousy' is the orange shade on the very right.
Image source and collection overview on Espoir's official site.

Espoir has some of the widest color selections I've seen on the Korean market and I'd had my eyes on like ten of them for a while. When the limited collection called 'Pastel Punch' came around in Spring 2015, I finally caved and got my first 'middle range'-y priced lipstick. At 19,000\ it clocked in at more than double the price than any other lipstick I've bought in Korea. So, of course, I had high expectations for this!

Espoir 'Pastel Punch' Collection Packaging

The packaging is sleek and adorable. The matte plastic feels high quality, is light enough to carry around and robust enough to not be endangered by the mess that is the interior of my bag.

Superficial as I am, the color was what caught my eye first, though! It's the most gorgeous shade of pastel lavender, reminding me of macarons for some reason.

The shade's name is printed on the bottom.

A really nice touch is the mint colored ring only visible when the lipstick cap is removed. (prettyyy.....)

The cap itself is magnetic and it feels so luxurious to open it and snap it back on! Love the packaging overall, as you can see.

Everything is just so pretty!!

The shade is a coral, I THINK. Seriously, I'm so unsure about what to call it. It's coral leaning to orange one moment, and when I move into slightly different light, it's more pink.

I mean, look at this:

Pink?

... orange??

I literally moved my hand ten centimeters and angled it a tad differently and it went from a warm pink (?) to a pastelly orange (???) and I don't understand colors at all.

Maybe I should just describe it as a bright pastel coral and leave it at that.

There's some embossing going on~

The lipstick line of Espoir that goes under the 'No Wear' tag is said to be a 'Retouch Free', 'Weight Free' and 'Smudge Free' formulation. The 'S' stands for Semi-Matte and it's a creamy, moisturizing formula with a slight sheen that dries to more of a matte after some time. All three shades of their Pastel Punch Collection fall under that category, and even if this specific shade is now maybe hard to find, the same citeria apply to the rest of the No Wear S group.

Let's take it apart by that.

Smudge Free: It actually doesn't transfer, except for when it moves into the liplines, then it will transfer a bit when drinking, for example.
I went to the beach and swimming and even diving with this on, and it was still left as a nice corally hue after all that. It doesn't stain, though, just fades very slowly (and not always prettily).

Weight Free: It does feel nice, velvety and light on the lips. Despite drying into a nearly matte finish, it feels creamy when applied. I like the feel of it, if it weren't for the sticking-to-dry-patches factor, which brings me to:

Retouch Free: Ahaha, nope. This is high maintenance. It sticks to everything that's not perfect and sinks into lines. Being smudge-proof makes it hard to retouch, too, as it's difficult to dab away the previously applied layer before re-applying.

When I want to wear this, I need to do lip scrubbing, lip balming and re-apply at least once during the course of the day.

It works if I wear it on a vacation or a lazy day in the city when I have time to retouch, but not so much when running errands or working.

Maybe because of that, this color makes me feel like I'm on a vacation even when I'm not - it's my go-to shade for when I feel like I want to spend some time on myself, haha. Also, it forces me to do lip scrubs, which could be seen as a plus, I guess.

I wrote at the very beginning of this post that it's my favorite shade of lipstick. Not my favorite lipstick, or favorite formulation - but the color saves it all for me.

I'm pale and sometimes my beloved orange shades make me look kind of sickly. Pink shades, on the other hand, rarely suit my mood - they tend to make me look even paler and younger. (strange problems I have...)

This is the perfect in between. It's cool-toned enough to fit my skintone, but there's the orange hue to it that I love. It's eye-catching if applied on the full lips because it's a quite bright and unique shade, but it can be toned-down (just dabbing it on in one layer) to suit heavier eye-makeup. I rarely do much with my eyes, so I depend on lip colors to do the heavy lifting.

From far away, the dry patches aren't even visible. Victory!!

All in all, this is such a mixed bag, but I love it anyway!

I love the color, the pigmentation, the semi-matte finish, the gorgeous packaging, the slightly sweet scent, the long-lasting qualities and that it doesn't transfer. I've found ways to work around the the downsides of this lipstick - mainly to moisturize and accept that no-one but myself actually will look at my lips that closely to even notice the dry patches.
Maybe those would be more visible with a darker shade, though, so I'm kinda hesitant about trying another shade from the same line.

Espoir's No Wear lipsticks also come in a confusing amount of different versions, like their basic, first 'No-Wear' line, then the 'No Wear Glam' and 'No Wear Touch' (which are shiny and more like a balm respectively), 'No Wear G' for glam/glossy, 'M' for matte, and newly their 'Lustre' line which looks very moisturizing. As mentioned before, Espoir's color selection is HUGE, ranging from the typical pinks and reds to nudes, oranges, purple and everything in between.

Will have to do some in-store swatching!

So, if you're looking for some special shade that requires a bit of work but is worth the effort, have a look around!

Update 2016: You can find some of my makeup illustrations in form of stickers and prints in my Etsy Shop :D

August Favorites : Korean Makeup for the Sick and Tired

SUMMER'S GONE.

No, seriously, here I am, proud owner of glittery summer edition eyeshadows and bold coral lipsticks but the world tells me to stop and reconsider.

Before I get lost in comfortable autumn clothes and colors, here's a look back at my August favorites!

My Korean Makeup Picks for August

Where July was a month with some free days (my brother visiting me in Korea, a lull in pressing deadlines and gorgeous weather calling from outside) that had me use my spare time to actually dress and groom, August was on the dull side beauty-wise.

I'm really trying with photography. :'D

Most of the time was spent at my desk working, and as it was hot and humid and I was lazy, I didn't even move my stuff into the Cafe (our house consists of a private part and a public Bistro/Coffeeshop/Bar). The only reasons I had to apply any sort of makeup was when I helped out in the Cafe or took the bicycle to visit friends. My August favorites are thus: The most fool-proof, simple, lazy Korean beauty products I own.

Innisfree CC Color Control 'Real Skin CC Cream SPF 30 PA++' 

CC cream is my go-to solution when I want something more than just sun protection, but don't want to bother with actual coverage. I use this CC cream by Innisfree since last year, and I love it. Duh.

Out of the pump it's a thick, white cream, but when spread and slightly massaged into the skin it changes into a shade that just slightly evens out and brightens the skin. I usually use half a pump for my entire face, layering under my eyes to cover my dark circles.

This is maybe a quarter pump? 

This CC cream gives the skin an overall even look and some sun protection while looking completely natural. At the end of the day, there's no blocked pores and it's even calming on red spots. For me, it's more like skin care, and I have no bad conscience leaving it on until late hours while working.

Though, I repeat, it doesn't really provide coverage.

CLIO Kill Brow Tattoo Pen

Eyebrows. Oh, what a struggle they can be. On days I get them right, I most definitely will just be sitting at my desk without anyone to appreciate them. On days I don't get them right.... well, that's what a fringe is for. *covers frantically*

A 'tattoo' eyebrow pen is perfect for me. The one by Clio (kinda strangely named 'Kill Brow' which gives me serious 'Kill Bill' feels) actually stays visible all through the NEXT day, too, and it's just overall convenient as it's waterproof, sweatproof (fringe...), life-proof and whatever else. I got this one during an online sale and am happy with the shade #1 I picked, a very neutral, cool-toned brown.

Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm #1

Tinted Lipbalms. I hated those back in Switzerland, where I only ever used the Labello ones. They melted, the strawberry scent threw me off and the color stayed on for about the time it took me to apply.

But I've been reaching for this rose shade of the Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm by Aritaum a lot. It's a gorgeous color, a my-lips-but-better shade for me, it stays on reasonably long for a lipbalm, is moisturizing and has sturdy packaging.

It's really a color that can do no wrong, even if applied messily without a mirror. I also use it on days when I applied lipstick or liptint to, after a few hours have gone by, freshen up the left-over color. It also works as a moisturizer on top of more drying lip products.

Just a very versatile, no-nonsense lip product.

Innisfree Vivid Tint Rouge in #9

An all-time favorit of mine is this Vivid Tint Rouge by Innisfree. I actually bought this back when I still lived in Switzerland and had to order online (ahaha good old times) and it was my very first Korean purchase.

.............. which puts a kind of disgusting age of four years on this baby. I should really throw it out - but on the other hand, neither texture nor scent seem to have changed at all, so I kind of just want to use it all up.

I own it in the shade #9, 민들레꽃 코랄 / Dandelion Coral. It's quite long-lasting, but has a much more natural look to it than the Aritaum Color Lasting Tint I reviewed last time. Its pigmentation is lower in comparison but the shade works really well for an everyday look.

Right: Innisfree Vivid Tint Rouge in #9 Dandelion Coral
Left: Aritaum Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm in #1

Left: Innisfree Vivid Tint Rouge in #9 Dandelion Coral
Right: Aritaum Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm in #1

Just this summer Innisfree revamped the Vivid Tint Rouge line, so when I repurchase (which I will) I'll be really curious to see how the new ones compare to the old formulations! I'm a bit scared that the colors will be too bright - I love how the shade I own looks so natural on my lips. I'd say either #1 or #2 would be the closest fit to my old-version #9. The new packaging does look neat, though!

Official Swatches of the new version. Found here.

That's it already for the makeup products!

Another reason why I wasn't experimenting all that much during August was a seafood-allergy-incident. I just don't feel like putting even a hint of foundation or color on my face if touching the skin around my jaw/mouth hurts and is bumpy.

I did prevent the worst from happening all over my face after accidentally eating noodle soup that had clams in it by massaging it all away, but I was mostly feeling blah for a week anyway.

This comic strip is old but still oh so relevant. I'll never learn. Never.

As far as book/tv/movie/anything favorites go...

I worked on a 'Science Fiction' (ok, mostly Romance? I don't even know.) story for the better part of the last two years. During that time, I really tried to avoid the genre to not be influenced left and right. 

Now though? I've got a whole to-watch-to-read list with the title 'Sci Fi Party' on top.

My favorit audiobook during August was 'Leviathan Wakes', the first book of 'The Expanse' series. I picked it up because it will be adapted for television and I like to read first, watch later. 

Despite not really liking the main viewpoint character of this series (I'm already deep into book two by now) I LOVED the descriptions. Seriously. Twenty hours of someone talking about space and gravity and survival? I'll listen with starry eyes.

A good, suspenseful and escalating plot kinda helped, too. Also, space zombies.

Some late-night sketching of Kara Thrace 'Starbuck' and Sharon Valerii 'Boomer'.
Need to add Laura Roslin for my favorite BSG ladies, though.

Also, I'm currently rewatching all of Battlestar Galactica. All-time favorite series and characters and everything. 

When re-watching something while drawing that I've previously watched while drawing, it's like puzzle pieces are being put together. I look up at different parts and feel like I've never even seen this show before. :'D

ON THAT STRANGE geeky note, that's my August favorites! What's yours? How fast did August blow by??

  

Also, I'm growing watermelons. Look at my precious baby.