January Wallet Damage

 Ahhh the first month of the year, and it calls for new makeup. And I knew I had to finally cross off somethings on my long long makeup wish list. Like things I can buy in stores right here in town.

I love Happy Skin, proudly a Filipino brand, and I am all for local support, hahaha and the quality is no joke. Though a bit pricey, rest assured no expense was spared for the creation of their quirky products. Actually I have a few more things I want to get from them, but my wallet isn't so forgiving so I'll get them in the near future. And I love the Balm, so I think I'll also be taking a look at more things in their selection.

Happy Skin Feeling Sculptacular Face Contour Kit (P1299) 

Happy Skin Shut Up and Kiss Me in Under the Sheets (P549) 

The Balm Instain Blush in Argyle (P895)

Expect reviews for these soon!

Snoe SABSTANCE High Intensity Blush in X8 Love Review

This is my first makeup product from Snoe, a local brand here in the Philippines, to be honest I didn't care for local brands since I was very much into Western and other Asian brands in the market, mostly because Snoe products are actually priced higher than these foreign brands. But I wanted to give it a try. And it was not a mistake starting with their blushes.

Price: P899

Description:

A woman of SABS-tance is a woman of power, a woman of positive influence and a woman of meaning! Express yourself with SABS-tance High Intensity Powder Blush which gives a burst of color that gives the cheeks a fresh and glowing look all day! Wear it alone or pair it with other Snoe blush-on products for a multi-dimensional effect.

Content: 8 g

Sabs Hernandez from The Makeup Maven, a professional makeup artist and blogger collaborated with Snoe to create her own line of blushes inspired from her most favorite shades and blushes in her collection.

And together they created these beautiful pigmented, semi matte blushes that are incredibly long wearing. It is very finely milled as well, soft powder packed with color, here, according to one swipe.

I chose X8 Love since it is a lovely lilac pink which I adore since it really gives a truly natural flushed pink cheek, which just makes you look so healthy plus I wanted a good dupe for Estee Lauder's Electric pink and Dior's rosy glow blush. And this is a fine alternative for those.

Only a tap is needed to give a healthy flush to the cheeks, and the scent is nice, for me, it's an extra point since I love nicely scented products. 

Without

Applied to cheek

This is just with one tap, I don't like to over do it since it is very pigmented. And I don't want to looked like I got slapped silly. 

I would love to buy more of these spectacular blushes since they have 8 g of product, quite a lot for a blush, it means it will last really long since you're using so little at a time.

I should say there is nothing bad about this blush at all, except for the packaging maybe, it could be classier? I mean to say this in the kindest way possible, though, yes pink is a very girly color, but I would have preferred a more subdued style. Maybe white or black? But those are just my personal preferences.

Hope you found this helpful, I for one will pick up more of these shades in he near future. Thanks for reading!

2014 Favorites: Skin Care

2014 has equally been as good to me in skincare, with new discoveries and trusted loyalty to some products that have been kind to me. This pretty much sums up my skin care routine as well which I rotate from time to time. But my basic routine is pretty much Cleanse, Tone, Moisturize and Treat.

Etude House Real Art Cleansing Oil - My Holy grail cleansing oil, removes all makeup thoroughly and quickly for nights and days when I just want to take it all off as quickly as possible, so I use oil for that. It has a nice fragrance and doesn't feel as thick as other cleansing oils I've tried. I'll definitely repurchase a refill in the near future.

Cleansing Research AHA cleanser -  Alpha hydroxy acids from fruits usually help clear up skin with exfoliation which increases skin renewal, This cleanser is packed with that and gives a good refreshed clean feeling as well especially after using cleansing oil. This is recommended for acne prone skin.

Etude House Every month Cleanser in 7 Aloe - I love this line of Etude Cleansers, it is so fun choosing variants, I had Green Tea before but I prefer Aloe more, due to its gel consistency and amazing scent which just relaxes me, I use this usually on mornings.

VMV Hypoallergenics Illuminants Face Body and Hand Lotion - Hyperpigmentation and acne go hand in hand, and to combat that I use this as my moisturizer to help. It has done improvement overtime and I wouldn't mind using this on scars on my body as well. It's quite multipurpose.

VMV Hypoallergenics Superskin 3 Toner Monolaurin + Mandelic Acid - This is a toner which treats acne.

Derma E Scar Gel - I use this to speed up the healing process of acne scars and other injuries on my body as it contains Allantoin which improves wound healing.

Nature Republic Aqua Peeling Gel - I exfoliate about once a week, sometimes with a scrub but I prefer these gommage peeling gels more, It is so interesting to see dead skin just rolling off your face (not a good mental image) however very satisfying to see gunk just get removed. I would repurchase if I can find a seller.

Sunplay Watery Sunscreen - In lieu of the pricey Biore sunscreen, I decided to use a more budget friendly and easily sourced sunscreen which I can just find in department stores. This is quite affordable, no horrid sunscreen smell and has a very thin consistency. This is the consistency which makes me want to put on SPF everyday,

Thanks for reading!  If you have any recommendations for skin care please do share in the comments below~!

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Review

I used to have 10 concealers in my collection, different consistencies, brands and coverage. Now I have narrowed it to 4, but the main ones I use are only really 2, One for blemishes and another for under eye circles. This is one of them, but I use this for blemishes.

Price: P1650 (from online seller) 

2014 Favorites: Makeup

Finally back and free to blog, I've recently passed the Pharmacist Licensure Exam and am totally ecstatic to be back to do activities I love, and blogging is one of them. And starting off 2015 with 2014 Favorites.

It's always been hard to choose my favorite things, since variety and diversity of products are so rampant. But after careful consideration and indecisiveness here are my top picks of 2014, in no particular order since they all belong in different categories.

Real Techniques Nic's Picks Collection, easily one my best purchases this year, spending good money on quality brushes is never a bad idea, and has easily made applying makeup much more satisfying, and that means that I'll be purchasing more makeup brushes in the future.

The Balm Nude Tude Palette - My first official Eyeshadow palette and not a disappointment in the least, richly pigmented and wearable colors, And I bought mine for a good price.

Happy Skin Shut Up and Kiss me Lippies - I love supporting local brands, though my collection says otherwise ,so I'm so happy that Happy Skin is a home grown brand with great quality products. And their lipsticks, great colors for Filipinas ranging from light pink to tawny mauves and dangerous reds. I believe I'll see myself collecting more and more of their products.

Mary Kay HD Powder - Translucent powder is a must for me, but most of the time they are severely overpriced for such little product, but this is just right, 11 g for P800. It does have some shimmer but a subdued one. I love this for flash photography paired with the MUFE HD Foundation.

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzer - I have had an aversion for bronzers, but 2014 was the year for cheeks, my collection of bronzers and blushes have considerably increased and I could never be happier.

. 

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara - I've never cared for mascara until I saw how much of a difference it can make, 2014 was truly a year of new and renewed opinions, This mascara just intensifies what little lashes I have, but I would love a Waterproof version (Which there is) but I have not been able to get a hold of it.

Etude House Face Designing brightener - Loved time and time again, not too shimmery but has a refined glow not a crushed glitter on the face at all!

Jazzy Collection Brow Gel - An inconvenience to dying your hair is needing to match your brows, not all worry about this, but I do since it looks just to unnatural in my eyes, the hair and brow color must be at least in the same color family. So I was on the look for a good brow gel and this local product was quite a pleasant surprise. I'd repurchase again and again!

MUFE HD Foundation - My go to foundation when flash photography is employed. It just makes you look flawless and glowing on camera, A foundation I personally though was over hyped, but it fulfills its promise of being HD on and off camera, Not to mention good riddance to the ghostly pale face on photos.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer - Hype is the first word that comes to mind since almost every Youtuber I subscribe to has featured and loved this product to bits, a little impulse brought me this baby. And yes the Hype is real. High coverage with a creamy and thick consistency, but blendable and does not accentuate dry spots like healing acne. A reliable concealer indeed.

Snoe SABSTANCE Blush - Another local brand which I am getting into. though a bit pricey at times, they spare no expense for quality, this blush is extremely pigmented.Smells pleasant and is packed with tons of skin loving ingredients. Planning to purchase more of the colors in the near future.