The Current Lip Wardrobe

As the title says. on the lips at the moment. This is pretty much what I've been slathering on my lips for the past few weeks and are the current residents of my makeup bag. So let's do some re-introductions and swatches.

Happy Skin Face the World Air Serum Foundation

It's my second foundation purchase in two years. I rarely buy foundations now since I have quite a few in rotation but thanks to product expiration dates I can do a bit of foundation shopping. Both my long time reliable favorites, the Estee Lauder Double Wear and Makeup Forever HD Foundation (Old version) are now nearly going past their use by date and are now less than half empty. I'm currently patting myself on the back for these accomplishments. So as it is I was in the market for new formulas, consistencies and this was Happy Skin's release for my curiosity.  

Price: P1299

Happy Skin Glam Squad Contour & Color Review

Back from a little blogging break from causes brought to you by lack of a good internet connection. And today's product review is one of the latest offerings from Happy Skin and their Glam Squad collection with a collaboration from the makeup artists of local celebrities. So I guess I'm ready for my closeup.

Price: P1399

Description:

The Happy Skin Glam Squad Contour & Color is a marriage of two professional must-haves that chisel and color the face: an easy-to-blend taupe contour and a warm rosy-coral blush with a satin finish. Both long-lasting yet pigmented, it gives you the perfect celebrity-like sculpted face and fresh glow to bring out your features.

Availability: Buy here or at Happy Skin Counters Nationwide

Content: 3.5g contour + 3g blush

Happy Skin Work It, Girl! Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie Duo

I think I'm down with that disease every beauty obsessed girl has been infected with for the past couple of years. I call it The MLBB Browny Pinky Mauvey Lipstick Syndrome. We are convinced that we have found the "one" until a new incarnation unveils itself and we are in love once again. And I can proudly say that I think 4 lipsticks in my possession might look similar but have subtle differences in the amount of brown, pink or mauve. And yet the search still goes on and with much glee Happy Skin has released more offerings.

Price: P1099 When bought as a duo, P599 individually

Availability: Happy Skin Stores and www.happyskincosmetics.com

Description:

Beauty Bar collaborates with the country's favorite skin-caring makeup brand, Happy Skin, to empower women with working girl-friendly beauty tools. With Happy Skin X Beauty Bar, make beauty work for you! This Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie is sure to help you make that lip-smackin' statement.

Swipe on a powerful espresso color and kick butt with Wonder Woman.

Show the world you're Slaying It! with a commanding terracotta brown hue.

Highly pigmented and moisture-packed, these lippies glide on irresistibly smooth and leave behind a rich, creamy pout that's way tempting to kiss. Let your lips say it all and work it, girl!

The Lip Collection

It's been ages since the last post so I suppose I'll have to make up for that with a more heavy composition. And I can say with confidence that this was the most time consuming roundup but certainly the least boring. And I think that as a makeup enthusiast, lipsticks are definitely that beauty product that you can really say that "Before I knew it I had 20." It seems that every few months or weeks that the number balloons.

So I have about 25 lipsticks but not all are in active rotation, sadly. And I think I have a couple here that are nearing their limit at 2 years old. But besides that, I'm pretty happy with my collection, they're like a family. And I sadly ran out of the Etude House Lip liners, a short-lived romance but nothing a visit to Etude House can change. No lip balms here as I only have one, as listed in my Skincare Routine 2015 post, I only have the Nivea Lip Butter in raspberry. So without further ado, meet the family!

Happy Skin Eye Need a Miracle Corrector

I have literally been needing a miracle since I started working. I found that my normal concealer just was not up to the challenge of all-nighters. But I found support in this corrector, which at first I thought was unnecessary for me before, but now, my routine can't live without it.

Price: P799

Content: 10ml

Description:

Fatigue under the eyes, scars, age spots, freckles, varicose & spider veins, bruises, and birthmarks. There are some blemishes you can conceal, but some imperfections are for life... Unless you hide them with a corrector, the secret tool that neutralizes bluish undertones and makes our little flaws disappear! This hydrating corrective make-up provides ultimate covering power but gives the finish and feel of lightweight make-up. It has a rich, buildable formula that miraculously melts into the skin. Its salmon hue corrects and covers all types of skin imperfections from minor flaws to major discolorations.

This corrector is specially formulated with Japanese tea extract that moisturizes and fights puffiness. It's also infused with Hyaluronic Acid, a miracle ingredient that increases hydration, instantly smoothening surface imperfections. Its self-adjusting shade provides undetectable coverage across all skin tones.

This corrector comes in a light orange-y peach shade, though it is light, it's honestly not light enough for my skin tone, I find that it is a touch too dark for my under eye circles, in a sense it does not have a brightening effect, hence I would not wear it alone, but with with a brightening concealer. My under eyes are not bluish but it does have a dark browny tone. Which I find the corrector comes in handy for. Happy Skin has a tendency of making one for all skin tone products, which can be a fail at times for more specifically contrasted skin tones, either too light or too dark skin tones, I find that they might suit medium skin tones more. This corrector I find is more suited to medium skintones that can fully appreciate it's corrective appeal. 

But I quite like the formula of this as it's moisturizing, thin and blendable. Ideal for the undereye area. I'm not so sure for other flaws on the face, but I prefer this only on my under eye area. 

No under eye concealer

With Corrector, unblended

With corrector, blended

With a concealer on top of corrector, unblended

Close up of only corrector under eyes

With Concealer on top of corrector, blended

Overall, a nice product, more affordable than the Bobbi Brown corrector or Erase Paste but does its job well. Still on the hunt for a more solid corrector that's affordable though.

Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie Beauty In Bloom Duo in Bride to Be and Hold My Hand

And we are now officially half way into 2015, school's back and the rainy season has come. So many things happen simultaneously in June. And what else happens in June? Wedding season. Ever heard of a June bride? June is actually the most popular month for weddings, And that's the first thing that came to mind when Happy Skin launched the Beauty in Bloom collection. 

Price: P1099

Description:

Nature is the ultimate beauty queen. Unleash the beauty from within and blossom into your most beautiful with the prettiest, natural lippie hues!

Celebrate a healthy honey-toned glow and rekindle the warmth of love with Hold My Hand.

Be luminous and natural all at once and channel the pink rosy radiance of a Bride-to-Be.

This Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me moisturizing lippie is sure to help you make that smackin' statement. This lip-loving moisture stick is loaded with Shea butter and collagen to get fans to line up for a taste of those supple, hydrated, and ultra-kissable lips. High-pigmented, moisture-packed, this lippie glides on irresistibly smooth (without the stickiness!) and leaves behind a rich, creamy pout that's way tempting to kiss.

This collection release is a tad different for Happy Skin since they usually release lippies in threes going on with a theme of a pink, a red and a nude-y shade. But this time it's a natural pink duo. Which I am loving at the moment. I think with each collection they release a new lippie they get more and more moisturizing and refined. I find I don't even need lip balm before putting these on since I

Bare Lips

 Excuse my bare lips, looking as pale as ever. How I envy girls with naturally healthy, reddish lips.

Bride to Be

Bride to Be, a name that sends wedding bells to my ears, I'm wondering how many brides will actually be putting this shade on their wedding day, since it's such a natural warm pink that screams naturally pretty on lips. Great for everyday or for a special event. Matches well with heavy eye looks or just mascara. It's more wearable than Just say yes as it is a touch warmer and darker to the point that it has a mauve tinge to it.

Hold My Hand

Hold my Hand is a louder and warmer, leaning-to-red-pink-but-not-quite shade. Something you can sport when you want to keep things simple but still focused on your lips. Really gives back life to your face especially when you feel that your look lacks warmth.

No doubt Happy has done it again with these lippies, Definitely two lovely colors that deserve a place in your makeup bag as old reliable natural lip colors.

Happy Skin All Eyes On Hue Eyeshadow Palette

If you've read my previous posts, this palette was a gift, so I basically received this on March. I don't post  lot of eye shadow palette reviews, mostly due to the fact that I don't have many of them. I think I only have around 4? But lugging around giant palettes like the UD Naked palette would be such a pain right? So a compact everyday neutral shadow palette like this would be great for the girl on the go!

Price: P1299

Availability: Happy Skin Counters Nationwide

Description:

Their "Look Cheat sheets"

from L-R Oatmeal, Biscuit, Hazelnut, Espresso

The palette comes with four shades, three on the shimmery side, one on the matte side. All are very finely milled and velvety to touch but nonetheless pigmented. 

Oatmeal is a shimmery off white which is fine and lovely on its own on the lids as it gives a light sheen and light. Great for the inner corner as well. In fact , this is my most used shade of the bunch if you see it in it's current form.

Biscuit is a matte pink which is not too pigmented, more like a watercolor effect pink. Quite sheer to give just hints of color on the eyes.

Hazelnut is a nice shimmery warm brown perfect for a more defined look on the eyes.

Espresso is a deep shimmery taupe-y violet.good for the lash lines to add extra definition in lieu of eyeliner.

Bare Lids

Tried the Red Carpet look

Excuse my horrendous brows at the moment. On the photo above I tried the runway look, which uses the shades: Oatmeal, Biscuit and Espresso. Oatmeal gives a nice highlight on the brow bone and the inner corner.

Left (Red Carpet), Right (Date Night)

On the photo above I tried the Date night look which uses a gradient of all the shades, if you'd think it would be too much, it is actually a very subtle eye look. For a more stark look Red carpet is definitely your game.

Date night on your Right

Date night is for a more dainty feel for well, date night. As it just gives definition.Nothing over the top.

Red Carpet on Both eyes

Me trying on the Red Carpet look

Overall this palette preformed well in terms of pigment and longevity without primer. But i would have personally preferred two mattes and two shimmery shades for it to be more versatile but I'm not complaining as shimmer shadows are great for on the go as they won't look too bad even when not blended properly. and by the way the shimmer is very fine, not stark chunks of sparkle and I've experienced little to no fall-out on my part too. But a mirror would have been helpful but since the cheat sheet is plastered in, I guess they wouldn't know where to put it. But the lighter colors are so workable I'd think you could get away with applying it sans miroir. 

Thanks for reading!

April Favorites

May already? It only felt like yesterday I was celebrating New year (well actually studying for boards). It still hasn't hit me that we're are nearly half a year done. And here we are with last month's favorites, which I've skipped for a month or two? I have received my first salary and bought some stuff you see here with my own money. It feels surreal. But on to the main dish.

A lot of pinks this month and I have just fallen in love with Preview magazine's April cover! Hot fuchsia pink for a change!

The Late Birthday Haul and Recent Purchases

Better late then never right?

Clearly this has been long overdue, and I have even posted reviews about some of the products posted on here, but I just love seeing collective haul posts.

My first purchases were bought on my birthday, three Happy Skin products, Happy Skin Shut Up and Kiss Me Lip and Cheek Mousse in Swept Off my Feet & Warm and Toasty and the Happy Skin All Eyes On Hue Eyeshadow Palette

Then a long interlude until I bought the sunscreens I've been eyeing for quite a while at Watson's, the Sunplay SPF 70  mist and my current favorite sunscreen he Sunkiller Super lasting Base SPF 50.

Then a moment of weakness with the Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur Cream and my first Beautymnl.com purchase with the VMV Hypoallergenics Re-everything cream, my current moisturizer. 

And the long-awaited arrival of my Tartelette palette and the Lorac Alter Ego Cheek Palette and lipstick. I actually still have a very long wishlist. Especially that my favorite brands just keep churning out new products. It will be quite wallet-scarring. Especially when I have to bite my lip for every skin care product I think I need.  But I think I won't be buying as much in the future since I want to use up products so I can buy more!

Happy Skin Shut Up and Kiss Me Lip and Cheek Mousse in Swept Off my Feet & Warm and Toasty

Last week, March 7, was my 21st birthday. So when a birthday comes there are usually gifts, I’ll be doing a what I got on my birthday post when my pre-ordered products have come. But first I’ll review these babies, which I have had on my wishlist since they first came out! But after much coaxing of friends and family I finally got both as gifts. I’m not very into shocking colors like red since I find they make my lips look small. So I didn't buy the third shade, a rich ruby red.

Price: P699

Availability: All Happy Skin counters

Content: 3g

Description:

I imagined that these were a more luxurious take on the NYX matte lip creams, which is right, From the applicators alone, they give a much more expensive feel. The applicators come in a fluffy doe foot the type that you'd see on fancy lip products, like YSL kiss et blush.

The packaging is so fun as well! Definitely a pop out in your kikay kit. But their not all for the looks, the product is very good. Just like the normal lipsticks, they are opaque and creamy. But think of this as the liquid form of the lipstick, but they last much longer due to the matte-ness. But not a dry matte, more like a moisturizing matte. Even if I had some dryness and flaking on my lips (Eww.) it did not emphasize such things. It just glides on like a dream on lips. And you can do well without any lipbalm.

SWATCHES

Warm and Toasty on Lips

Warm and Toasty is a lovely beige nude, giving that nothing on my lips but my good blood circulation! Perfect for complimenting heavy makeup looks or the perfect color to match a naked face makeup look. I love going for a flushed cheek and this nude color. When used for cheeks it is very subtle which is nice but it was so subtle it was difficult to catch on camera.

On cheeks

Swept off my Feet on Lips

Swept off my feet is a pretty and posh pink, It can go flirty and romantic or just a nice pop of color to an otherwise boring makeup look. I find that this is best used for cheeks as it is more visible as a blush. Great for travel when you don't want to to bring to many things with you and when you're in a rush, the formula is easy to blend so you can easily do this while commuting.

On cheeks

To sum it up: Velvet on lips. Hopefully they come out with more colors in the future as I personally enjoy such multifunctional products and love taking them around in my makeup bag for touch ups.

January Favorites

A tad late and repetitive as all the products on my January Wallet Damage post are featured, and some old things that I have been loving again.

• The Balm Instain Blush in Argyle - A lovely fresh pink that looks absolutely rosy on fair skin, 
• Happy Skin Shut Up and Kiss me Lippie in Under the Sheets - My current go to nude/ tawny lip
• Happy Skin Feeling Sculptacular Contour kit - A great got-to-go bronzer-highlighter duo
• Etude House Drawing Show eyeliner in Brown - My very first proper eyeliner and I just had to get brown because it felt more forgiving than black.
• Maybelline Rocket Mascara - One very easy, no fuss mascara
• Mary Kay Makeup Finishing Spray - Finally, makeup spray that actually works for me.
• Etude House Play Nail polish in #26 - The perfect, are-you-wearing-nail-polish-or-not, pinky healthy nail color, basically, it's an absolute go to when I prefer my nails to look clean but healthy as well. 

• Derma E Scar Gel - Brilliant for acne wounds to accelerate healing
• Alba Organics Acne Toner - Contains salicylic acid and overall great for my acne-prone skin

Happy Skin Feeling Sculptacular Face Contour Kit Review

My beauty concept first came from Korea, so I was very into that, no blush no bronzer feels, only the minimum: base makeup and lips. But after much coaxing from my favorite YouTube beauty gurus, I changed my focus, and decided last year, it was time for a change. And I've actually started lusting for this product since the summer of last year, but I was putting it off for so long since I convinced myself I didn't need it and it was quite pricey for the amount of product, but here I am now in 2015 and I caved, good reviews from bloggers and numerous features on magazines, Instagram, etc, and I finally gave in.

Price: P1299

Description: Look ten pounds lighter with Happy Skin Feeling Sculptacular Contouring Kit! Featuring an easy-to-blend contour and highlighting powder, this sculpts the face, chisels the nose, and defines the cheeks achieving modelesque perfection. No surgery needed.

Content: Highlighter - 3g + Bronzer - 3g

It comes with a helpful little guide for beginners on what to put where and how much to put it on. The powders are finely milled and very smooth to touch, good pigmentation but not too overpowering which can be intimidating for makeup novices. I tend to use bronzer only under my cheekbones and the sides of my nose  for extra definition. And the highlighter on my nose to make it more prominent as well as under my eyes for a brighter look. 

I have a round face with full cheeks.  I am alright with this, it can look to big on camera. So that's where Contouring and highlighting lend a helping hand. You've probably heard about the purpose of contouring for thousands of times, so no use of me reiterating it here. I'll just show you what it can do hihi.

Face with only base

As you can see, my face is just a round surface. No dimension at all.

Applied lightly on nose bridge and under cheekbones

You can already see the definition with a light application of bronzer. Use according to your skin tone, over do it and you might look like a muddy mess. 

Applied the Highlighter and sculpted my features more

Whoa where did I get those cheekbones and that nose bridge? I must have gotten instant plastic surgery! Or is it the power of makeup? Yes it is girl, yes it is.

Front view of finished face

This kit did not disappoint me, but so far Happy skin has not yet disappointed me overall as I see myself purchasing more and more of their products in the future. Its size is great for travel, the quality of the product is impeccable. Although others have commented on the highlighter being too white which in my case I liked since it looked quite subtle but perhaps we can expect them to broaden their undertones and shades to cater to other complexions in the future?

I'd recommend this to contouring newbies or junkies out there who need a reliable product that's travel friendly. It does exactly what it does, sculpts and highlights but one must remember the golden rule of contouring: BLEND BLEND BLEND, although the formula is easy to blend with a light stroke of a fluffy brush, always remember to double check any clearly rough or sharp edges. 

Overall I find no wrong in this palette except for the fact that the content of the bronzer is too small for me, I tend to use bronzer generously, so I feel that I'll run out of it soon, if they came out with a larger pan of it I'd gladly purchase in a heartbeat! But in the mean time, I wouldn't mind repurchasing this either.

Thank you for reading!

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!

November Favorites

This is my first favorites post! I couldn't do this before since I had the same favorites over and over again. But I decided this time is nice time to put this up, since I have some new stuff I've been over the moon for and rediscovering some old faves.