Excursion from beauty stuff... my new hobby: Carving stamps! =D

Don't worry, this will be an off-topic post but I am not turning LP into a crafts blog... I am not a very crafty/artistic person except when it comes to paint my face or to draw with pastels =)

However recently I really got into the stamp carving thing...and even I am still far away from being a good carver I like most of the stamps that come out. They surely look handmade but most are usable!

As with many things in (my) life it's the Japanese who produce the best quality tools for this new hobby of mine. I got German carving blocks and they were just crappy! Usually most stuff from Germany is great quality but the carving blocks were not. I think it might be because stamp carving (as a hobby for normal people) has no tradition here in Europe.

My favorite tools are all from Seed (Horunabi).


Basically what you need is:

-a cutting board

-Various carving knives (well, some carve with a normal exacto knife but I am not good enough for that yet!)


-rubber blocks (there are various ones...normal density for all sorts of designs or higher density ones for more intricate patterns)


-tracing paper

-pencil (2B or HB works well!)


-a pattern/design you want to carve


-a stamp pad to test your stamp


As you see I have 2 pattern books from Japan. Also each of the rubber blocks comes with a sheet with designs and some sheets of tracing paper.

I tried various carving blocks and must say I like the thicker ones (about 1.2 cm) better than the thin ones (like the one in the pic below which I used for the Sunbonnet Sue stamp here).
I like how the Japanese rubber blocks have a very smooth colored top layer so when you carve you see the contours better.

The first step is preparing the tools. Draw the design you want either freehand or copy any design you want on transparent paper.


Turn around the transparent paper and place it on the rubber. Scratch the paper so the design transfers to the stamp. If you want to carve a name it's easy this way as you can draw the design in the normal writing direction, when you turn it around it will be a mirror-image which, when stamped, will be back to the normal direction (sounds dumb but sometimes my English is really sucky!).


Then cut away the piece with the design from the rubber block.


First start carving around the contours. The best is resting the knife and turning the rubber block so the line gets smoother and more even.


I use finer knives (the one with the royal and light blue handles) for small details and the wide round one (with the green handle) for cutting away big pieces, especially on the outer parts of the stamp


The one with the wooden handle is my favorite one for cutting the contours.

This is the final stamp. When I stamped it the first time I noticed that it needed some more cleaning up but the result is ok =D
I am no way a pro but I am getting there slowly (you should have seen my first stamp =X )


I got all my tools from Japankawaiiya on Etsy. She has some stuff listed but she can also order (I am waiting for 8 more carving blocks from her =D)


I first got the set of 3 knives but the one with 5 is so worth it as it has the finer knives that are great for more intricate designs.

Oh, this is a stamp I did, too:
Click
=D

Xmas 2009: Jill Stuart Sweetness Collection 2009

Ok ok...I caved! I had made up my mind 100% that I would NOT need the JS Xmas coffret this year! I got all the previous kits, partly at super duper overpriced rates (the very first however was kindly picked up by my friend Iris from Rouge Deluxe and her fabulous mom!).


My strength started to weaken quickly though so I gave in and the kit was mine and delivered within a week after it was released in Hong Kong.
The retail price of this is 7875 Yen (approx. US$89 at the current exchange rate) which is not that much considering how much cute stuff you get in this kit.
I got mine from Bobodave for about US$93 & shipping which is not too bad I think. Facial-Shop had it for US$99.90 but the 5 sets instantly sold out.


Generally getting hold of the JS Xmas collections is very hard, in Japan it's a craze with sets sold out within some hours after the release.

The Sweetness Collection 2009 consists of:
-Mix Face Powder Compact in 101 Marshmallow Puffy (8g)
-Jelly Eye Color N in 103 Snow Parfait (6g)
-Jelly Lip Gloss in 101 Sugar Kiss (9g)
-Nail Lacquer N in 106 Romantic Macaron (6ml)
-Emery Board
-Face Brush
-Nail Art Stickers & greeting card (the back of the nail art stickers)
-Pouch


All comes presented in a pretty pink box, however mine arrived a bit smashed.

The pouch the other things come in is really gorgeous. It's very frilly and a bit too much honestly...but it's cute!
If you like lace, satin and frills then this is perfect for you =D
It looks really like a cream cake!


-Mix Face Powder Compact:
This is certainly the star product of the kit. This comes in a compact similar to the Mix Blushes. Instead of an attached charm there is a cute ribbon dangling from the case. Also there is a lace print around the center part.


The Mix Face Powder is consisting of 4 pastel colors (white, pink, peach and lavender) covered with a white powder lace dusting. This will wipe off instantly though!


I think it's mainly meant as a highlighter however I can wear it as a regular face powder, too. It really makes my skin look smooth and even with a very light shimmer (the shimmer bits in the powder are very small). The texture is silky and smooth and I'd definitely say this is a great quality product. I am afraid of using it too much as I don't want to hit pan on this lol!


The included brush is very soft and makes a nice addition to the powder.

-Jelly Eye Color N:
I have a love/hate relationship with the Jelly Eye Colors (N). Either they are really pretty or they are rather useless aka too sheer and glittery. Unfortunately the Snow Parfait color falls in the latter category. It's nearly clear but just leaves glittes which is just not a look I like.


When used as a base it just makes my eyeshadow more glittery which I like neither.

-Jelly Lip Gloss:
This is a pretty clear pink shimmer gloss. I love the texture of the Jelly Lip Glosses, they are one of the few squeeze-tube glosses I like as they have such a smooth nice texture.


The color is not outstanding, it's a nearly clear base with a pinkish tint infused with tons of fine silver and pink shimmer.

-Nail Lacquer N:
Jill Stuart makes great nailpolishes in my opinion. They always have a very pretty glossy finish and are rather long lasting on me (nothing really lasts that long on me anyway).\


The color 106 is a pretty creamy white color with a pink iridescence.

The emery board and nail stickers are cute, too!


All in all the collection is nice and I like it, especially the powder. I would have preferred another eye color but I am sure it would please a lot of ladies.

EOTD (VOV Castledew Shine Platinism) & LOTD (Lavshuca Rouge Essence Bar RD-2

I usually don't post EOTD (=eye of the day) or LOTD (=lips of the day) pics individually, I rather incorporate them in product reviews.
However I liked yesterday's look very much so I thought of posting it here:

VOV Castledew Diacut Eyes in Shine Platinism (dark purpley taupe, silvery metallic beige and flesh colors used), MM Lash Enamel Glamour Neo & base, Kate Supersharp BK and Kate Square Cut Liner in BK-1 (inner rims)


Lavshuca Rouge Essence Bar in RD-2 (and some random dark rose lipliner from Maquillage)

Bihada Ichizoku Hand & Foot Masks

I have seen these hand and foot mask packs from Etude House a while ago but they were too expensive given the estimated shipping costs on Gmarket were for 1.1kg each so I skipped them.

A short while ago I found Adambeauty listing some cute looking foot and hand mask packs from Bihada Ichizoku so I went ahead and ordered a few pieces of each.


Each package contains 2 steps: something like a glove/sock-shaped sheet mask drenched with moisture lotion for your hands/feet and a clear plastic glove/sock to cover it as a 2nd step. All of the contents are cut very wide so they should fit any foot/hand size.

I used both masks once already and really like how soft and smooth my hands/feet got. It's recommended to leave the masks on for about 10-15 minutes but I left them on for much longer I just put normal cotton socks over the plastic sock and left it on a few hours when I was staying at home anyway.
After removing the masks I just massage the remaining liquid in.


The smooth feeling isn't that long lasting so I can't really say that the moisture supply to my skin is lasting but for an instant boost of foot/hand care this is a nice product.


The masks will set you back US$6/each if you purchase them from Adambeauty. I haven't seen them elsewhere but chances are good you'd pay even more. These are definitely a splurge but for using these 2x a month or so they are definitely worth it.

Xmas 2009: Majolica Majorca Midnight Dresser palettes #11 & 22 and All Night Compact

To be honest the Majolica Majorca Xmas collection didn't look entirely appealing to me but I decided to pick up the goodies I was eyeing anyway just because MM has always been among my fave Japanese brands.


This year they released 2 new eye/lip palettes, a powder compact and a scented shimmer body cream. I skipped the body glitter as I knew I wouldn't use it at all but got the rest of the items.

The 2 Midnight Dresser palettes contain 2 lip glosses and 2 powder shadows/each.


What I greatly dislike about the palettes is the super cheap and flimsy cardboard packaging (the golden and silver sequins are only printed on btw!). The palettes look downright tacky and cheap to me. MM had cardboard palettes out for Xmas 2005 (or so) that came in nice heavy cardboard compacts. The edges were also finished whereas the new palettes are just cut off so I am sure the cardboard will be worn very easily.
Furthermore you cannot leave the palette open when you use it as the cover will always close.


There are no applicators included which is something I don't usually mind that much however when a palette contains lip glosses I prefer a small lip brush is included as I neither like to use my fingers nor do I have an individual lip brush so I always need to take one of my double-ended lipliners with a lipbrush on the other side with me.

The lip glosses are quite thick and gloppy so I am sure these will be finished very quickly if used just a few times. One gloss is clear with glitters whereas the other is colored.
The glosses are nothing special, they are on the sheer side and last decently.

The shadows are nice, the lighter color is sheerer with more glitter bits whereas the darker color has a better color payoff.
The darker color has more of a metallic finish.

The shadows are nice and all but all in all the palette is not worth purchasing in my opinion.

#11 Glamorous Makeup Dresser:
This palette features a red lips/smokey eye look. You get a clear glitter gloss, a sheer red gloss, a silver eyeshadow and a charcoal shadow/liner colors.


#12 Girly Makeup Dresser:
This is the plum/pink look. The glosses are clear with glitters and hot pink whereas the shadows are a pale pink and a deep plum color. The plum color is the only shadow from the 2 palettes that stands out somewhat.
I think I like this palette better than the other.


The All Night Compact comes in a cute red clear compact. The included puff looks sweet with the lace covering however for some reason it is much smaller than the powder so it looks a bit weird.


The powder is white with fine shimmer throughout. You can use this as a highlighter or finishing powder. However if you are in bright sunlight you might find the shimmer bits show up a bit too much.
For the dreary winter days we're facing here it's fine as a finishing powder.


The texture of the powder is silky and the finish is nice and even with fine shimmer. It doesn't come close to my beloved Powder Fantasia 24hrs though which has been replaced just this year. Thank God I still have a few refills of the original one around. I think I used up about 5 or 6 refills of the Powder Fantasia already!


The All Night Compact and eyeshadows aren't scented, the lip glosses carry a light fruity scent.