Just a heads up, this post is going to get real ranty. Please note that when I mentioned “Asian beauty stores”, I meant brick-and-mortar stores, not online Asian beauty stores based in Australia. Also, I wish I was able to photograph the Asian cosmetics stores in Melbourne that I walked past instead of having to use a stock photo. Unfortunately, all of the times I’ve either walked by or actually stepped into the stores, the sales assistants were watching me and my phone’s camera like a hawk. Bugger. Anyway, just Google “Asian cosmetics store [enter city name in Australia]” and you’ll know the shops that I mean.

When you read my beauty reviews on any Asian cosmetics brand that aren’t the bigwigs like SK-II or Shiseido that are easily available at departmental stores in Australia, you’ll know that I have, on many occasions, mentioned that you should get those beauty products online instead of nondescript Asian beauty stores here in Australia. In case you’re wondering if I have some sort of vendetta against these Asian beauty stores, I’ll set the record straight now.

Oh you bet I bloody do.

It didn’t start out that way. When I first moved to Australia early 2008, I was very excited to have access to many Western drugstore and high-end brands that I never could when I was living in Malaysia. At the same time, I was also disappointed to find that my access to Asian beauty brands like Kanebo, Kose and much more were suddenly extremely limited. I was delighted to find that there were Asian beauty stores in Chinatown and Asian suburbs like Box Hill, Glen Waverley, etc selling cute Asian cosmetics!

My excitement was very soon dashed when I discovered how expensive those Asian cosmetics were. I expected a markup in price but I couldn’t for the life of me pay at least a 300% markup when they didn’t cost that much in Asia. I soon learned about Australia’s high import taxes and while I still wasn’t happy about the ridiculous mark-up in prices, I reluctantly understood why these vendors had to do it.

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Even though I’ve been blogging for about a bajillion years now (okay if we have to get technical, 9 years), it might surprise you to know that 90% of that time, I don’t actually blog on the blogging platform I’m on. This means that whenever I whip up a blog post, it’s not written directly on WordPress.

I’m sorry, say what now?

Most bloggers I know blog directly on the blogging platform they’re on. Whether they’re using Blogger, WordPress, Squarespace or Tumblr, the content is written on the platform itself. Maybe it’s just me but while I adore WordPress and will use it till the day I stop blogging altogether, I really don’t like writing on the platform itself. The interface for the “Add New Post” irritates the heck out of me, especially if I’m using the Visual Text section instead of HTML. I much prefer writing on the HTML section but even so, all those buttons and links are terribly distracting.

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It’s been a while since I’ve been impressed with L’Oreal’s colour makeup. I like their bases, some of their mascaras and liquid eyeliners and their lippies are not bad. But when it comes to their colour makeup like eyeshadows and blushes, to be honest, they’ve been pretty meh. That was until I recently discovered a new blush of theirs – the Blush Sculpt Trio Contouring Blush.

Now this one, this one I like.

Personally, I’m not into face sculpting with contouring, highlighting and the like. I like the look on other people; me, eh not so much. So when I laid eyes on this blush, it wasn’t because I was looking for something to contour my face. The colours were right up my alley and since Chemist Warehouse was having a 50% off sale on all L’Oreal makeup, it’s pretty hard not to add this into my shopping basket. 😛

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