Viva Woman

Wanna spoil your mum on this coming Mother’s Day?  Then check out these five online stores running Mother’s Day handmade jewelry specials: 

- 40% Off Selected Exquisite Handmade Jewelry From Sanz Designs
- Unique Mother’s Day Jewelry Set From Novica
- The Succulent Wife Jewelry With Free shipping Over $50
- 20% Off Wishgiving Jewelry With Promo Code MOM08 Till May 5
- Georgie Designs Mother’s Day Jewelry Gift Ideas

Many of the handmade jewelry are beautiful and your mum will look lovely in them!

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My best friend is running a promotion on her handmade jewelry and is currently offering up to 40% discount off her necklaces, bracelets and earrings which are made from semi-precious stones with gold-filled or silver components.  This beautiful labodorite and pink garnet in Thai 925 silver is an example of her exquisite handiwork.

Check out her promotion at Sanz Designs and send her an email at foosusan@singnet.com.sg if you’re interested.   Shipping is free within Singapore and for international orders, please add an additional $5.

Mother’s Day is coming soon isn’t it?

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Here’s my weekly feature on fashion and accessories and today, I introduce a new online store Cococesa which carries a range of apparel plus fashion accessories like bags, jewelry and sunglasses.  

The sunglasses, which are 100% genuine rhinestone with 400UV ultra violet protection are going for below US$5!   And the prices of their fashion bags start from just US$39.99.  And the best part for you?  50% off storewide when you use this special coupon code 50VIVA during checkout.   International shipping is also available.

Happy weekend shopping!

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Last month, I mentioned Ferro Cosmetics Mineral Makeup and I said I’ll be reviewing the products as well as bringing my readers an exclusive promo.  Well, here it is!  Just for the readers of Viva Woman, Ferro Cosmetics is offerring FREE international shipping on orders US$75 or more, plus US$5 off purchases over US$40.  If you’re located in US, you already get free shipping on purchases over $49 but you can still benefit from the $5 discount. Just use promo code VIVA200 during checkout. 

And here are my reviews on Ferro Cosmetics mineral foundation, mineral veil, mineral glow and mineral eyeshadow. 

Mineral foundation that last all day
Ferro Cosmetics offers two types of mineral foundation; the Radiance Foundation and the Ultimate Foundation.  I really love the Radiance Foundation!  While it is said to offer sheer-to-medium coverage, I find that it gives my face good enough coverage for a natural-looking, radiant glow.  In fact, my face, which is combination type, still looks good with just a slight sheen around my cheeks after a full day, despite our warm weather now.  This picture shows how I look with Radiance Foundation in Light Beige R-2 after wearing it for 6 hours.  Please note that I did not apply concealer to my face, except for the undereye area and I did not apply any blusher or veil either.

The best thing I like about Ferro Cosmetics’ Mineral Foundation is that the shades I see on their websites — Pale Honey, Light Biege and Honey Creme which match my fair skin tone — actually work precisely for me.  I don’t need to order a shade up, unlike some of the other brands of mineral foundations like EM, Lumiere and Alima I’ve tried.  I’m not going to dissect the ingredient list but I believe it’s because Ferro Cosmetics mineral foundations have concentrated minerals for the coverage and that’s why their shades can match exactly.

And maybe it’s for this reason that the Ultimate Foundation doesn’t work as well for me as it contains more minerals than the Radiance Foundation with pearl and pure silk powder to give matte, full-coverage.  So when I put this on using the same amount I usually use, I get a darker tone even for the same shade although I concede it does give me better coverage overall.  If I want to stick to this, I have to remember to layer less to get a more desirable effect.

Because of the health concerns surrounding inhaling Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) in nano particle form in powdered mineral makeup, I asked Krissy Ferro, who is the founder of Ferro Cosmetics about their position on this and here is what she said:

“About nano-particles, we don’t use them. Micronized particles are extremely small, however they are absorbed into the body like anything else we put on our skin.  We do use micronized titanium dioxide in our darker shades of Ultimate Foundation because it offers more sun protection and allows the darker pigments to show without being cakey and heavy.”

Matt mineral veil
I tried Sheer Matt, Nude Matt and Rose Matt Mineral Veil and I have to say Sheer works best for me.  Nude somehow gives me a darker tone.  But I’m happy with Radiance Foundation on its own and usually do not to brush on anymore veil afterwards.  The picture you see above also did not include any mineral veil.

3-in-1 mineral glow
Ferro Cosmetics’ Glow are great because they’re 3-in-1!  You can use them as a bronzer, a blush or an eyeshadow.  I like the Glow Baby Glow most because it’s great as as a warm blush for me.  I’ve got Spring Kiss too but since it is darker, I can use it as an eyeshadow base.

Delicious mineral eye candy
I tried Ferro Cosmetics Pearl Eye Candy which offers a beautiful sheen.  I’m in love with Sage, a very fresh dose of subtle green which is great for my skin tone and it works great with Emerald Smoke which I use for crease contouring or as an eyeliner.   Sapphire Smoke is a very deep blue and works well as an eyeliner but I wish they offer a pale blue to match. 

But whichever color you pick, you have to order at least one of their eye candies.  Their packaging is so cute and they come with sifter which means, no mess and no wastage!  I also noticed that their pigments are really concentrated and I just need to use a little each time.  So it’s true what they say, that a little goes a long way!

Summary
If you’re into mineral makeup, you want to try this line to see for yourself the difference with some of the others in the market.  Their foundation formulations are pretty concentrated and yields a good finishing.   And because they are more concentrated, you don’t have to layer too much of it to achieve sufficient coverage.  But you’ll need to find out for yourself if Ultimate works for you, or like me, Radiance is better.  You can always try their mini foundation kit which comes in fully labeled 5 gram jars with a sifter.  I’m using those now and they actually last awhile.

Application techniques
Before I go, I leave you with a link to videos that Krissy Ferro has put up to demonstrate how to put on mineral makeup.  Even though I’ve used mineral makeup for nine months now, I’ve learnt something new, which is to start out by applying foundation on the jawline first and work your way in so as to avoid an overdose of powder on the cheeks.  Additionally, I’ve also discovered on my own that I shouldn’t be using the brush in a circular motion around my face, but rather buff it downwards so as not to push the pigments into my pores and accentuating them in the process.

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