FOTD: First Impressions

2:53 PM Unknown 1 Comments

Happy new year everyone!

Just like that, another year has started.  Last year, I've posted only 13 posts, a few posts less than my posts in 2014.  I'm really lagging behind from what I hoped to achieve in terms of consistency.  As much as I love posting here, there's always been a struggle to balance out school, chores, and social gatherings.  The blog was my go to if I had free time.

This year, I'm really hoping to keep up and at least post once a week. So, I'm going to get on with it with this photo-heavy post of my first impressions / face-of-the-day of a few "drugstore" products.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this somewhere, but in the Philippines, we don't really call brands such as Maybelline, L'Oreal, and Revlon as "drugstore" (I think). Sure, you can get them from Watsons, which may be considered a drugstore, but they're available in department stores too.  Sometimes, they're mixed in with some of the high-end makeup and skincare as well.

If you know me, you'd know I follow some beauty "gurus" on Youtube and they would talk about makeup from the "drugstore".  Some of them are actually not available in the Philippines.  Now that I've had the chance to go on vacation in the States, I finally get to try some of them.

"Drugstore" Haul! :)

Let me tell you, seeing a whole aisle of beauty products was overwhelming.  I didn't know where to start.  Luckily, the place where I got this was pretty stocked, so I didn't have a problem finding some things.  The others really run out of the "holy grail" / cult favorite drugstore beauty products.

So, here's how I started out. I've just applied my everyday moisturizer.



Then, I started with the cushion foundation.  I was really excited about the L'Oreal True Match Lumi Cushion Foundation, because I've been wanting a BB cushion pact for a while now.  Several Korean makeup houses have them and it seems like a staple for them.  I was glad to see L'Oreal have it since I'm a fan of their foundations anyway.  I'll probably have another post for this product to provide more details.



First impressions-wise, I liked it! It's so easy to use! The sponge nicely gets product from the compact and distributes.  I got the W3 shade or Nude Beige.  As I said, I'll get into detail in another post.

Next up, concealer.  I picked up the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles.  This seemed like a huge thing in the States back in 2014 or even earlier.  I'm glad I finally got to try it.  The sponge tip is really interesting cause it sort of creates a soft focus unlike if a concealer would be directly applied to the undereye.  All you have to do is blend it out just a little bit. Not bad considering concealers don't really remove the puffiness of my eye bags.  I went with the second to the lightest shade which was Light 120.  I thought this was going to be too light for me, but it was just alright after blending.



After a few minutes of letting the foundation and concealer set it, I powdered with the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 020 Nude Beige.  I was hoping for more coverage from this, but I guess it did okay.  It's a good thing I got my shade right.  I just think it was not as easy to pick up product with my brush compared to my powder foundation.  I have yet to test this out in humid Manila. But it toned down that glow or me looking oily since I had moisturizer and a glow-y base (L'Oreal's LUMI line).



After, I do my brows, which is a two step process.  I don't have any new brow products, unfortunately, but at the moment, I think I'm actually fine with the available brow products in the Philippines.  Here I used the Face Shop's Design My Eyebrow in 02 Dark Brown and the Maybelline Fashion Brow in No. 5 Dark Brown, which I mentioned here before.



I did my eyes after.  I just used the Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yogurt all over the lid.  I have the Milk version, which is just a white, so I kind of knew how it would turn out.  I have a feeling that the Yogurt shade will be quite versatile so I picked it up.



Since I know my lids tend to oil up regardless of how cold it is, I patted on some of the lid shade of the Wet and Wild Color Icon Collection Eyeshadow Trio, Walking on Eggshells.



I used the L'Oreal Super Liner Ultra Sharp, which I mentioned here.  Then used my existing Maybelline Falsies Mascara.  I bought a back-up because they're a little bit cheaper in the States. Although, there's a new version of it I'd like to try.





We're getting there, people! Just a little bit more. Lol.

Time for the new L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Contour Palette.  I got 813 Light.  This one didn't exactly blow my socks off, but hopefully I'll get a hang of it. The brush it comes with has a different shape to it, but I used my Real Techniques brush.



Next up was one of the first things I looked for, the Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso.  This was nice. I usually go for pink blushes, but occasionally put on Maybelline's Cheeky Glow Blush in Creamy Cinnamon which I mentioned here.  The Milani Blush is definitely more glowy and quite pigmented too. I can see it acting as a highlighter for darker tones.  This is probably my favorite from the haul since I'm a sucker for blushes and anything glow-y.



Lastly, for the lips, I tried Rimmel's Lasting Finish by Kate Moss in 08.  I was a little underwhelmed by this in terms of shade. It was a normal pink, that actually matched the color of my lips. I'll probably reach for this if I want a "my lips but better" shade. But it wasn't drying and stayed on for a good amount of time for a relatively affordable lipstick.



And there we go. This was my usual look during that vacation. I'd usually just skip the eye makeup.



If you go back to my photo without makeup, you'd see how the makeup helped even out my skin and make it a little bit more alive. Lol. I hope you enjoyed this!

Taken with an iPhone 6s Plus