BESTOWED UPON BY THE LIPSTICK GODS

F L A T L A Y

- Nothing like luxurious gold packagings to make a girl's day. -

Hey!

After my last post on red lipstick, I got a couple of questions from some fabulous friends on what lipstick did the Lipstick Gods bless upon me at the magical warehouse sale, what blue liner I used to achieve the look on the left. Well, the photo on the left isn't very clear, I recommend you click click click to view the original post *nudge nudge*.

As you can guess, all the products I used can be found on the flatlay in this post, with the three main products shown in the next couple of pictures below: MAC Pearlizer Sheer Pigment - Good As Gold (lids and highlights - discontinued), YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain - 09 Rouge Laque and MAC Pigment - Steel Blue (liner).  The products are pretty straight forward, except the blue liner I suppose - dip them liner brush in mixing medium, dip in pigment and you're good to go! Internet University has provided us with a long list of recommended mixing mediums - from contact lense solution, primer spray etc but I decided to go simple with just water, kinda like painting.

When I was younger, I loved painting - we had an entire wall filled with paintings by my siblings and I, and I guess that's how I gotten into makeup art, however that's a story for another time yeah.

I really want to tell you about finding my holy grail lip product in a warehouse sale, all beaten up, sitting in the bottom of a box of unwanted goods. Back in Melbourne, we drove an hour into the suburbs for the highly anticipated L'Oreal warehouse sale to hopefully snag some great bargains - I admit, I went late in the noon because I wasn't hyped up after being left disappointed

multiple times by the Heat Cosmetics warehouse sales. Boy was I wrong, products galore and we were greeted by a massive hoard of zombie-like women snatching up $2 lipsticks like there was no tomorrow.

When I arrived at the warehouse, a portion of the good stuff were gone but there were still some awesome stuff to get the heart rate soaring. I decided to rummage through the YSL pile just for fun and right at the very bottom of a lonely box filled with beaten up YSL packagings, I found this bright red product staring right at me. By random luck, I found this YSL Glossy Stain and it was love at first sight. I was clueless on the texture, durability etc but I had to have it! This, coming from someone who never buys a beauty product without prior research, was a huge leap of faith - and a very foreign feeling. I know there are consumers who think similarly and makeupalley's our go to place for a quick fix.

I also managed to pick up a bunch of other products I was eager to try, at a highly discounted price. I was a very happy camper that day. Nothing like luxurious gold packagings to make a girl's day.

Speaking of flatlay, I mentioned I couldn't flatlay to save lives in a previous post a while back but I refused to give up. I created a flatlay moodboard of my favourite designs, gathered as much inspiration as I could from them and just experimented with the design. I think they came out much better than my previous proper flatlay attempt and I'll keep on practicing.

Every practice is a learning process.

❤

M.May

ADELAIDE ROAD TRIPPING

T R A V E L

- Snapshots from the car. -

Hey Adelaide.

When it comes to travelling, I'm really lucky because the bf and I enjoy the same travel style - laid back local adventures. As much as one's tempted to create the perfect jam packed holiday itinerary to see every sight and sound, we much prefer to highlight a couple of places to visit for the day then explore what the journey had to offer along the way.

Adelaide was an absolute perfect road trip destination. Great drive, great scenery and great people. I do want to highlight the great people part because honestly after a couple of years in Melbourne, I have to say that many people way out in the suburbs are not a fan of 'outsiders' and I have had my fair share of discrimination. Adelaide, on the other hand, was so warm and welcoming - never a hint of discrimination and chock full of honest friendly conversations wherever we went. Adelaide, you guys are perfect.

Above are a couple of my favourite shots, mainly taken from the car, on our drive to Barossa Valley - vineyard galore. The bf's quite a wine fanatic and we could not pass up on visiting some of our favourite wineries - with Jacob's Creek and Peter Lehman being the most scenic and friendliest of them all.

I have to bring your attention to the second last picture above of this crazily vivid sunset - no, it was not photoshopped and yes, that was what the sunset looked like. It was my first time seeing such a surreal sunset - the colours were so rich and dare I say, like a fairytale? I mean, I've seen some great sunsets from Melbourne, but this takes the cake. I wish we stopped for better pictures but we were gunning on arriving at our destination before it got too dark.

Unfortunately, we did not arrive at our destination before nightfall because as soon as we drove into civilisation, we realised that one of us left our phone in Peter Lehman on the picnic table. Cue panic attack! Driving in the dark back to the winery on a bumpy road, being the only car for miles, knowing that finding help would be difficult - really does show how we've been accustomed to the comforts of civilisation. Thank goodness for the 'Find iPhone' app, we found the poor phone sitting in pitch darkness with nothing but the stars for light.

That, is an adventure we will not be forgetting anytime soon.

Adelaide, we'll see you in a little while.

❤

M.May

THE RED LIPS

B E A U T Y

- The camera loves red lips, and you will love those red lips too. -

Ah. The classic red lips.

The red lips are almost synonym with the little black dress, ask most people what the perfect LBD accessory is, and you'd often get 'red lips' as your answer. The perfect red lips screams femininity, sophistication and boldness, often portrayed on iconic unique women such as Angelina Jolie, Marylin Monroe, Dita Von Teese and my ultimate favourite, Kpop star and the ultimate queen - CL. Sure, they look pretty darn good with lipstick that doesn't scream 'look at me!!' from a mile away, but with red lips, they stand out in pictures and the camera loves them red lips.

There's something about completing your makeup look with bold red lips, bringing it to the next level and making it seem like you spent hours upon hours to achieve, when in reality you probably spent more time trying to get those darn falsies to behave than anything else in your makeup routine. My favourite night out accessory (not that I have such a thriving night life) is a bold red lip - you spend hours and hours on the perfect cut crease, the sexiest smokiest eye you've ever achieved or the most Kardashian-esque sculpted cheekbones in the world, only to have it magically disappear when you step into the dim lights of the bar or club. Take a photo? Sure, your makeup gets washed out like #Iwokeuplikethis but no, we didn't go through that much pain to not have our makeup show up! Ah, bring forth those red lips and you will glow like nobody's business in pictures. The camera loves red lips, and you will love those red lips too.

There's a million YouTube videos and articles on how to select the right red lipstick - cool tone, warm tone, blue based, orange based, pink based - it's rocket science. I'd say, it doesn't matter because it's just lipstick, it'll wipe off. Pick the colour that you fall in love with because when you feel like it's the one, it's probably the one. I really can't say that I red through the whole 'Red Lipstick Text Book' before purchasing the lipstick I have on in the pictures above, I was at a makeup warehouse sale and I saw it sitting right at the bottom of a massive beaten up pile - I picked it up and fell in love. It was fate and I thank the lipstick Gods. Keep a lookout for this magical lipstick in my next post, along with some other items used to achieve the look above.

Alas, ensuring that your red lips lasts all day - that's a whole different volume of the textbook that I have yet to experiment with. But let me give you a tip - long wearing liquid lipsticks. 'nuff said.

When you know it's going to be a fabulous day, give them red lips a go.

❤

M.May

SIDELAY, not FLATLAY

F L A T L A Y

- Because I can't flatlay to save lives. -

Hey.

For the longest time I can remember, I've been really loving the whole 'flatlay' trend that's seems to be all the rage on Instagram. My main inspiration's from Margaret, and I personally see her as the queen of flatlays. She does the neatest, and most symmetric flaylays I've seen, and it pleases me immensely. I love the vibrancy, the details and the controlled havoc from flaylays, it overwhelms your creative senses in just one picture, just like having the greatest high tea dessert platter served to you and your brain simply cannot process all the beauty and yumminess that's being presented before you. It's a sensory overload, but in the most inspiring way ever.

Flatlays aside, what you saw was a selection of Karla's jewellery stash that she brought to KL. We had the leisure of spending some time together and while she was repacking her overflowing luggage, I invited myself into her jewellery pouch, poured its contents out, and proceeded in attempting a flatlay at 1am. My favourite items fished out from her pouch is the 3 Disney Couture bracelets and the one that has me particularly smitten is the Pocahontas one with Meeko, Flit and a turquoise acorn. I can safely say I'm in love with Disney Couture, and I'm gonna nourish the child in me by adding a whole bunch of Disney jewellery into my wishlist.

I attempted to flatlay in the middle of the night, I realised I can't flatlay to save lives. It didn't turn out as I've envisioned it and it didn't feel right, you know? Sometimes things go smoothly and turn out perfect, and sometimes, you realise your flatlays just look... flat. Bleh. So I did what felt natural to me and realised I liked the images taken from the side better than from directly above. Hence, the 'sidelay' was born. Time to hashtag this, pronto. #sidelay

I hope you enjoyed this photo set and inspired you to rummage through your friend's jewellery collection.

❤

M.May

HEY BLOG.

P H O T O G R A P H Y

Hello there.

My name's M.May, you can just call me May, and welcome to my blog.

Today's my birthday, I thought to myself, why not give life to my new blog today. So, happy birthday blog!

I'm Malaysian, a Masters of Finance graduate from Melbourne and a beauty lover. I spent 6 years in Melbourne and my time in Melbourne was where I polished my makeup skills by attending YouTube University, coupled with countless hours of reading beauty blog research papers. I have yet to graduate from YouTube University, but I intend to pursue my Ph.D. I think I'm doing alright in classes, so I sometimes conduct tutorials too.

Melbourne was awesome and I agree that it's the world's most liveable city. The weather's crazy, the people's crazy, the beaches are prefect, the food's out of this world and coffee snobs conquer the street. I love every bit of it!

Right now, I'm back in KL and I'm adjusting back into the heat and rain that KL most graciously showers us with everyday. I'm looking forward to my time back in KL and I will be sharing snippets of my journey on this blog.

I used to run a beauty blog since 2011 and met many great people. Beauty blogging has taught me a great deal of life skills and I'm thankful that I've embarked on the journey of beauty blogging. I would link you to my old blog, but maybe not right now.

I could continue blogging on my old blog, but I wanted to start new. It's a great place for me to look back and see my younger self, what type of layout and colours I liked and also what I wrote about. Somehow, I felt like I left my blog in a state where I didn't feel like coming back, it just feels that way. Beauty blogging was fun, but I gave myself a schedule and expectations that I couldn't keep up with and it really taught me a lesson.

Lighten up. It's ok.

I currently have no solid plans on what to include in my blog, I just want to post my photography here, for them to get a bit of loving. I'm also learning to lighten up, post whatever, whenever I liked and not freak out when thing's aren't exactly how I envisioned them.

Thank you for popping by, and I hope this blog will grow into the fine young lady that I hope it'll be.

❤
M.May