The First Three Steps for Makeup Beginners

Hi there!

To anyone building their make-up kit, you can do it!  Lol.  This is in relation to my recent post where I helped out my sister buy a few items for her makeup kit.  These simple steps would probably be best:

  1. Don't buy anything just yet!  Have a look see first in the department store or the makeup shops.  See what catches your attention and take note of them on your phone.  You can ask the sales ladies if you could take photos.  These days they'd even like it when you do, right?  Know what you have and what you need.  Try knowing what you'd use everyday.
  2. As soon as you go home, read the reviews.  With everyone on the internet, there's bound to be a review of that product that caught your attention.  There are actually a lot of beauty blogs out there.  You'd be surprised at how reviews could go really well for a product or really bad.  It may not mean that a product is good for you if it's good for one person.  She might have a different skin type from you, different preference from you, and other factors.  Personally, the blogs I check out most are local because they know how it is here in the Philippines.  The international blogs would show you though of what's coming.  Better yet, ask your friends!  They might have tried the product or might let you try it out.  
  3. Buy what you set out for.  Sometimes, because of you reading a few reviews, you'd eventually know of other products you'd like to try out.  You'd find your browser full of tabs on different reviews, different products.  Personally, I would save some blog posts / reviews on Evernote for faster reference.  You'd never know when you'd want to get back to them.  If something's limited edition, then you might give it a thought.  But, buy those you planned to buy first.  Check your budget.  
To those who have some sort of addiction with make-up, you are not alone!  :)  I'm proud to say though that I'm making progress limiting my purchases and revisiting old purchases, especially now that I'm posting more frequently.  

Next post would be about my go-to blogs for product reviews and favorite "beauty gurus" on Youtube.

I know the steps are simple but they're tips I wish I knew then.  It would save you money and time.  Also, it would save you from extreme disappointment. :) 
Beauty
Share:

Make-up Shopping with Sister (Php 1,500 budget!)

My sister, who I fondly call Sonya-shin, asked me a few weeks ago to help her build her make-up kit.  Well, this is a career I would want to pursue.  Lol.  Florence Sison, Professional Shopper.  Not bad!  Hihihi.  You think I'm kidding, but I'm serious. :)

So here's how it went.  We bought her "basics" the last SM Aura sale, same time I bought some of my August buys.  She had liquid foundation already and a lipstick.  So, I opted for her to get powder foundation, a blush, concealer, and a brow product.  I didn't think it was going to be that hard until we were already looking around.


The difficulty wasn't even with the budget, it was with the many options you had to choose from.  Obviously, I wanted the budget to lean more towards the powder cause that's something she'd use everyday.  That's what we went for first.
Beauty
Share:

The Brow Series: Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Pencil, Easy Eyebrow Pencil, Color My Brows and ELF Treat and Tame

So here's the last of the brow series for now. :)  In the past month I've wrote the following posts:
Today, I'm writing about the Etude House Easy Brow Pencil, Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil, Etude House Color My Brows Tint, and the ELF Eyebrow Treat and Tame.  So, its going to be quite a long post. :)
Beauty
Share:

The Beauty Wishlist 2014

September is here!  And here in the Philippines, Christmas starts early.

One day, I decided to go over some apps on my iPad.  One of my favorite apps to open, especially during downtime, is Polyvore.  I really like how easily you could make a collage of things, not only clothes.  So, I went ahead and made a "beauty wishlist".  I believe the prices listed below are prices converted from US dollars.

Beauty Wishlist



Vegan makeup brush, 3,340 PHP / Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer, 2,460 PHP / Yves Saint Laurent lipstick, 1,530 PHP / Nars cosmetic, 840 PHP / Maybelline concealer, 435 PHP / Tarte blush, 1,135 PHP / Mac cosmetic, 1,230 PHP / Charlotte Tilbury lips makeup, 1,665 PHP / Anastasia Beverly Hills eye makeup, 915 PHP / Mac cosmetic, 1,050 PHP / SEPHORA COLLECTION Embossed Traincase – Black Faux Croc, 4,805 PHP

 Well, I don't expect to buy or receive all of these.  Also, the list is not even all of it.  I'll probably come up with another collage, one that would probably have the Nars Sheer Glow and MAC Cream Cup to name a few.  Lol.  Why is makeup so damn addicting?

 Another addicting this is Polyvore, definitely.  So, expect to see more of these and maybe check out my other "fashion" pegs here. :)
Beauty
Share:

August 2014 Purchases & Mini Reviews

August was quite a long month for me.  I was in transition mode from being a working girl to student once again.  To top that, I moved cities by the end of the month.  But, as usual, this has not stopped me from trying out new products.  I must resist next time, I really must.  Somehow, I have justifications for these purchases!


It started out with me wanting to find a sort of serum or primer for the lashes in attempt to have healthier lashes.  I apply mascara almost everyday and I started feeling bad for them.  There weren't much options when it came to brands.  Etude House was actually the only one that had an option.
Beauty
Share:

The Brow Series: Elf Eyebrow Kit & In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Color

Hi there!  Just a quick life update: I just transferred to BGC (from Baguio City) to continue my studies here in Manila.  Thus, the slowness in posting.  I don't want to promise anything, even to myself, but this September will hopefully be a better month.

So, prior to this post, I wrote about two other brow products I use - the BCL Browlash EX and the MAC Brow Set in Beguile in this post.  This is the second of maybe three or four installments of the "brow series" I'm doing on the blog.  You can refer to the earlier post for a reference of the natural state of my brows.


This post features two quite comparable products compared to last post which had complementary products.  And yes, sorry for the very dirty, beat up cosmetics we have here.  I've had the products for a while now.  First up is the Elf Brow Kit (approx. Php 250).  I'm not entirely sure of the shade because I purchased this last year but did not really use it right away because I couldn't let go of my In2It Brow Kit.  But it has a sticker on the back that says #30123.  Second is the In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Color (approx. Php 299).  The website doesn't do much in my opinion, but there are a LOT of reviews on this product, which is what let me to the product.  Both products can be purchased in Watsons.


Its easier to compare these two side by side.  They both have similar packaging and they both have those small plastic brushes that no one uses.  The obvious difference though is the Elf one has a gel / wax product.  The brush included in the kit is double-ended for you to be able to apply the wax first then set with the powder.  The thing is, I'm not so comfortable applying the wax and then topping it with the powder, because, as I explained in my previous post, I would almost always use a brow set like MAC or Etude.  As for the powder, it was okay.  Its funny how the dark wax side applies sheer and lighter than how it looks like in the pan and the powder actually applies darker.


I prefer the powder of In2It better in terms of shade, consistency, and staying power.  The In2It, as you would see has three shades options that you could probably mix to form colors in between the colors available.  Also, the Elf is quite powdery while the In2It seems more intact.  This may contribute to their respective staying power and In2It's claim in being waterproof, which I actually believe is true.  Again, in my case, my brows are quite full but with some sparse patches, which is why using a light shade is not so hard for me.  But I do think that the In2It is a better over-all. :)


Once again, I hope you find this useful for the next time you go brow product shopping! :)
Beauty
Share:

The Brow Series: BCL Browlash EX & Mac Beguile

One thing that I think I have a lot of products of are brow products, next to lip products.  I don't know why but after having had cellophane in my hair (the one with color, I'm not sure which color though), its been lighter than my actual hair color ever since as if I had my hair colored.  And I've been trying to match my brows as a result.  So, instead a quite lengthy post, I'm going to break it down and do it one by one and maybe summarize once I've shown everything.

This is the current state of my brows, untouched.  Basically, they're thick and dark, but quite unruly. 


Like I mentioned in my previous post, I usually go for the Elf Brow Set and the MAC brow set in Beguile.  Here, I used the BCL 24H Browlash Ex Water Strong W Eyebrow in Natural Brown, a double ended brow product with a liquid liner of some sort in one end and a pencil on the other.  In the photo, I did not use the liquid liner as the shade is quite light for me and I do have difficulty controlling it.  You can't blend it like the pencil once you've used it.  If I had lighter brows I think it would be just fine though in filling in sparse areas.  Sometimes though I'd go ahead with this side of the product and make the outlines precise.  
Beauty
Share:

Face Of The Day (FOTD) 1: The Usual

Everyone on the internet probably knows the acronym OOTD (Outfit Of The Day).  Well, among beauty people on the internet, there exists such thing as the FOTD - Face Of The Day.  And I decided to give it a go.  Though, due to some events this was my FOTD... yesterday.  Lol.

I decided to post a look that I usually go for on a daily basis, which is minimal and barely there (I guess, compared to my other looks).  The main face base product I'd use is a powder foundation because it takes me a whole 5 minutes or more just to put liquid foundation on.  I'd skip bronzer, any contouring product, and even highlighter and go for blush right away.  The most time is taken up when I start doing my brows, even though I have sufficient brows already.  I love eye shadow, liner and all that jazz, but when I'm in a hurry to get out of the door, I usually skip it and go straight to mascara.  To top it all off, I'll go for a suits-everything lip, which I have quite a few options of.
Beauty
Share:

Brand Spotlight: Happy Skin

Admittedly, I first knew about Happy Skin through Kris TV, Kris Aquino's local television show that focuses on lifestyle.  One day last year, I believe during the Christmas season, she featured some shops online and offline that sold products that could make great gifts.  One of them was Happy Skin, a local cosmetics company.  The brand caught up quite fast due to its great packaging and the value you get.


The makeup junkie in me tried to restrain upon seeing a counter of Happy Skin in the only Plains and Prints shop in Baguio.  I purchased a tube of the Eye Need a Miracle concealer (PhP 699) as I needed concealer that time.  See what they did there!  The brand does a lot of puns, which definitely helps with their marketing.  They have a Benefit feel to them, actually.  The concealer, though, comes in only one shade which is Butter.  I think its a good match for my under eyes as I tend to go for a lighter concealer for that area.  It doesn't do much for my eye bags, which I don't think will ever go away (sad...), but it does brighten up the area in an instant.  If you're my shade or lighter, you might appreciate this.  Check out my photos below to see me wearing this.  Note: I do have baggy bags; double eye bags I even say.



Butter 01

That time also, my makeup artist friend, Krizia, raved about the Shut Up and Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippies.  As tempted as I was, I didn't go for it until this year when Happy Skin released a set of three lippies for Summer 2014.  They called it the Turn Up The Heat Limited Edition Summer Collection (Box of 3) (PhP 1,249), which I mentioned in my previous blog post.  Right of the bat, I liked the lippies, especially The Morning After.




Beauty
Share:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)