MAKEUPBOX 1st Birthday Giveaway!!!

Get Interviewed and Win Beauty Goodies in the "10 Things About You" Project.

MAKEUPBOX has been up for almost a year now, and I've had so much fun discovering and rediscovering beauty products and trends, as well as pushing myself to challenge my beauty boundaries (hul-lo, false eyelashes).

What with close to a thousand people following my posts on TUMBLR and Blogspot, I feel it's time to start showcasing some of you.


Instructions 

• Copy and answer the 10 questions below.
• Include a picture of yourself, and no one else, in the post - you can embed it from an online link (please don't upload a 1200 px wallpaper of yourself, but we would also like the picture to be large enough for easy viewing)
• Click the "SUBMISSIONS" link at the top of MAKEUPBOX's TUMBLR homepage when you have all your answers and fire away! (Please do not submit a post in the Message Me" page. Those will be deleted!)
• If you are following me on Blogger rather than TUMBLR, do state that in your introduction! This will allow me to do a quick verification before entering you in the giveaway.
• If you want to delete or withdraw a post you've submitted, drop me a message and let me know anytime. Your entry into the contest will be considered forfeit once removed.
• You can opt to amend your post once, but repeat changes will not be entertained.
• Above comment notwithstanding, do kindly try your best to use discernible English. If I am not able to understand what you are typing, I'm afraid I will not be able to publish it for others to read.

Winning Criteria
I'm looking for wit, heart, charm, humor... (sounds like a Lonely Hearts advert...) Well, just be your lovely selves.

• I will post* submissions as they come along (depending on the response, I may post about 1-2 a week from now until end of Feb).
• If response is overwhelming, I will pick the more outstanding posts for posting. Once posted, you are automatically in the running for the prize.
• At the end of 29 Feb, GMT+8, I will pick and announce a winner, and message you privately to ask for your postage details.

*Do note I may amend the title slightly for some consistency before posting. I will as far as possible not touch the contents within the interview itself.


A Note on Etiquette:
(Well most of you already know this...) To make things pleasant for everyone, please kindly abide by the following, or else your submission will not be posted.

• No obvious advertising and link-outs to sales, products, your own giveaways, etc. (You can include a link by way of a general introduction about you and your interest or work.) 
• To readers: When viewing posts, please download or fill in anything on link-outs at your own discretion. I will do a basic check before publishing submissions, but neither I nor Tumblr can be held responsible for any loss of information or encounters with malware and phishing sites, etc should you choose to click on links.
• No rude or racially/sexually/generally offensive content will be published.
• Please don't spam me with repeat posts. As you will not be able to view or amend your post once it's submitted into my dashboard, please do a draft offline before submission so you can do all the necessary edits ahead of time.

The Prize:
It's still growing. I have a few choice "cult" items being thrown in. I'm trying to make sure it's an "international" package so that regardless of where the winner is from, there will be items that you might find hard to access.
The rule of thumb is quality, so I'm not restricting it to high/low-end items:

• I Nuovi Metallogy eyeshadow - shade to be confirmed (a favorite of Camille Gramer's makeup artist)
• Majolica Majorca Mascara in Black
• Barry M 146 Dolly Pink Lip Paint
• Wet n Wild Coloricon Palette in Greed - a staple palette for me!
• etc... (still looking for 1 more... will probably keep this one a mystery!)

[Please copy the below questions and fill it in with your responses!]
The 10 Questions:
- Begin by giving us a very brief 1-2 liner describing yourself, what you do, general interest, etc.
- Please insert a picture of your lovely self!
1. How would you describe your makeup style? (i.e. classic 40's pin-up, etc.)
2. Lipstick or Lipgloss? Mascara or false lashes?
3. You are late for a hot date and you have not done your face. You have space for only 3 items in your purse and these are...
4. What is your biggest beauty challenge/hurdle? (e.g. applying blush without looking like a clown... applying liquid liner...etc)
5. What beauty product do you have way too many of?
6. What are your beauty pet peeves? (List 1-3.)
7. Who is/are your favorite beauty icon(s)?
8. What beauty product do you regret buying in the past half year? (List 1-3; hopefully you don't have too many...)
9. What (1-3) items is/are on your current Beauty Wishlist?
10. If you were an animal/creature, you would probably be a...

Applying lip balm constantly retards your lips' ability to produce new cells?

We all know the skin on our lips is different from the skin on the rest of our body. However, according to thebeautybrains.com, applying too much lip balm on your lips retards new cell production as your body is not receiving enough signals to stimulate normal levels of turnover.

The main culprits cited are petrolatum (that's most lip balms out there) and beeswax (hello, lipsticks) because they are the most effective barriers from the environment.

(Source: methodsofhealing.com)

Of course, you should not be rushing out to snap up all those "organic" lip protectants. I don't see any studies that show that using petrolatum and beeswax products will impact your lip cell renewal more than other lip care products. The writer is, as far as I am concerned, only stating that those 2 ingredients are some of the most effective moisture barriers, and theoretically, might have the biggest impact on cell turnover.

Also, the rest of your face apparently does not react the way your lips do, so you SHOULD still moisturize or at least wear sunblock.

Read more about it at:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2006/05/16/are-you-addicted-to-lip-balm/

---

Personally, I first started using lip balms when I was 11 and got massively chapped and cracked lips during a trip to the dryer parts of Western Australia. I probably began regular balm usage from about 17, after I started wearing lipsticks, and since then I can't go ANYWHERE without something on my lips.

It's definitely not psychological, as my lips will get very tight, sensitive and uncomfortable very quickly, and licking or rubbing them excessively will almost always guarantee rashes and raw redness.

On one hand, I would like to dispute this claim about lip balms retarding cell renewal, but now that I think back on it, my lips weren't always this parched and sensitive until I started wearing lip products regularly.

Well, I might do an experiment (more in later posts) and try to slowly wean myself off lip balms to see if my lips get less wimpy, but honestly I'm not sure how much help it would make considering I use lipstick almost daily.

Still, it's worth a shot probably!

New Eyeshadow Storage

Smiggle is an Aussie stationery store, and I love how bright and cheery everything is. I'm not about to throw out all my document folders and pen holders just for them, but I couldn't resist getting two of these beautiful three-tiered stackable tins for organising and storing my eyeshadows in.

They come in black, green, silver, white, fuchsia, aqua, blue, deep purple (and I think yellow but I may be wrong). Of course, I HAD to pick the fuchsia and aqua!

They are not too large, but they can just about fit all my individual eyeshadows and some of the smaller palettes.

 Above, aqua-blue Smiggle tin containing 

Pink Smiggle tin containing gel liners, cream bases, and paints.

Each tier comes with a flat lid cap (see pink stack in top picture) which fits snugly but is not too hard to remove, so you can even use the top of each tin as a separate surface for placing products if you need more separation.

Very neat.