HQCD Fancy Alice necklace

Here is one of my all time favorite necklaces, He Qi Crystal Design's Fancy Alice necklace!   Lisa has a whole series of Alice necklaces, which were inspired by Alice from Twilight.   I was so happy to snag this one because Lisa used a 18mm Fancy Cut Swarovski Crystal AB heart, which has many, many more facets than regular Swarovski hearts.  To be honest, I'm still debating which I like more, this necklace or my Super Nova necklace in Heliotrope.  I love them equally but I wear this one a lot more often because it's glamorous in an understated way rather than in-your-face dazzling.

This is another necklace I quite awhile ago so I have no pictures of the packaging but I remember getting quite a few beauty product samples with it.  It came boxed and had a little pocket of candy too :) Now onto this little beauty~

ahhhhhhhhh....so shiny~

It has a AB coating so the crystal glitters blue and yellow, mostly yellow when against my skin ^_^  It's got so many facets on it - I love it!  The crystal is really beautiful...it's really hard to capture on camera but look how shiny it is in even in dim light.

LT: no flash. RT: flash.

Look how many facets there are!  In sunlight, little pinpoints of light from this crystal bounce around the room. It's really very eye catching!  There are glints of blue, yellow, orange and white~  I really like the figaro chain and the antique style link.  It's classic, elegant and so versatile...you can wear it with anything really, I actually like wearing it best casually.

 Here you can see the crystal reflecting a cool icy blue~

A final close up...

Sorry for the extraneous pics ^^;;

HQCD Butterfly Origami Earrings

This was my first He Qi Crystal Designs purchase - the HQCD Signature Origami Earrings!  I don't have any pictures of the packaging since I bought these over a year ago :(  I didn't think I'd have  a blog (well, not one not filled with terribly written emo poetry ;) ) back then.  In any case, I've purchased from her many times since and her packaging is always good.  She's changed her packaging style several times, the last time I checked she was using lovely white boxes filled with cotton with a customized HQCD sticker-thingie.  She had also put lovely gold ribbons on the boxes and included candy and her business cards.  I remember once she was giving away handmade beauty products with purchases and I got hooked on a number of Etsy stores (but that's for another post :P).  So yeah, she gave out generous samples of handmade soaps and makeup as well. I haven't bought anything since her new no-shipping prices but I'm sure her packaging is still just fine :) Lisa, owner of HQCD, also keeps a blog where she frequently posts codes for various freebies, mini sales and hosts giveaways.

Anyway - onto the earrings!  I actually bought 4 of these in various colors as gifts to my friends but I kept one for myself ^_^  I loved the unique design and bright green color.  The paper butterfly is stiff and very light.  Sometimes I find the earrings don't hang exactly straight (you can see that in the pics below) but that's to be expected considering the handmade nature and odd shape.  Overall, it's one of my favorite earrings to wear with casual outfits because it's so unique.

As you can see the sterling silver hook and wire is tarnishing a bit.  It's not too bad considering it's been several months but I think I would prefer rhodium in the future.  But I didn't know about rhodium back then and sterling silver is quality material.   FYI Lisa also includes little care cards that tell you how to remove the tarnish on sterling silver and keep your Swarovski gems shiny~ My preference for rhodium is really just because I'm too bloody lazy to polish anything.  In any case, the most important part - the delicate paper butterfly - is still in perfect condition and the little bicones are still sparkley. It's beautifully crafted and surprisingly sturdy.

I got the cloth rose in Korea at the street market near Busan University.   It was an unbelievable W3000, which is ~$2.50.  I just couldn't resist!  Sadly, it's beautifully made but utterly impractical for work  ^_^ So this pic was a perfect excuse to put that baby in my hair for once~ Butterflies and flowers go together yeah :D?

I just wanted to review these because they are my favorite earrings among all the HQCD jewelry I have ^_^

I am wearing...
Face:
Skinfood Mushroom BBcream
Paul & Joe Finishing Powder in 001 Natural

Eyes:
Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Liner in Black 
Missha The Style Shining Stick Eyes in WH01, a pearly white

Lips:
Etude House Orgel Light in Coral Shine (07)
Etude House Dear Darling Gloss in Pink Split (#18)