Happy New Year (and my New Year's Resolution)!

Happy New Year Everyone! It's a new year and it's time to make improvements on our lives. I've come up with a New Year's Resolution and that is to spend less especially on food! I've been eating more frequently and in more expensive places this past year (partly because of my sister's influence) which explains my big weight gain this past year :( Awww... I've also been spending a lot on drinks! I'll try to just get water during my meals out to avoid extra sugar intake. Well, I hope it goes well for me.

Anyway, I'm adding a poll to this blog. I'd also like to know, what would you like to see more of in this blog? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave me a comment!

Epilators Anyone?

I recently tried my friend's new Braun Epilator which her husband bought her from the Middle East. It was my first time to try epilating. At first I was scared because of the rolling head, but when my friend tried it on my legs, the pain was actually tolerable and the vibrations of the epilator makes you a bit numb from the pain. Although it was a bit time-consuming, it's actually effective. I'm thinking of buying one in place of having my legs waxed in a salon, which is more costly. But i'm not sure what are the good epilator brands out there, although I was satisfied with the Braun Silk Epil.

What are your thoughts on epilators? Can anyone give me some recommendations?

First Impressions: Skin Hour Revitaleyes Eye Balm

photo taken from skinhour.multiply.com

Product description:
An unscented eye balm applied under the eye during the night to diminish puffiness, firm skin and reduce lines. It also lightens dark circles and moisturizes the most sensitive area of the eye.

Ingredients:
Organic beeswax, sweet almond oil, apricot seed oil, coconut stearate, collagen, vitamin k, calendula extract, vitamin e, grapefruit extract and orris root extract

Being a full-time student and a working only part time, I can't afford really expensive eye creams, so I'm on the lookout for an affordable eye cream that delivers.

I bought this during the Mineral Makeup Weekend because of good reviews. I've been using it for around a week now. My first impression is that the product is quite greasy because of the oils so I recommend that this should only be applied at night. Well, that's what it says in the product description, too. It's quite rich and doesn't feel light on the skin, being a balm and not a cream. However, after applying it for a few days straight, I noticed that my eye area is really moisturized! The texture has changed. My undereye area is smoother. I haven't noticed if any of my lines have been reduced since I've only been using this for a week. I also can't tell if it has diminished the puffiness of my eyes because I've been sleeping late lately. I'll have to use this for a longer period of time to see what happens.

The best thing about this product, though, is that it's organic! As you can see, there are no preservatives. All the ingredients are beneficial to the skin. And it's only P100! Very affordable. For its price, it's a very good product. As I wrote earlier, I still have to see regarding it's effects on lines, dark circles and puffiness, but it's a terrific moisturizer. My eye area has never looked better.

10 Cheap Ways for Younger, Healthier Skin

Okay, I'm no beauty expert but I'd just like to share these tips with you. Some of you might think, duh! but actually, because these tips are really common sense that we forget to do these. You won't get the best results out of expensive face creams and procedures if you don't do these very basic tips:

1. Keep your skin hydrated inside and out. To keep your skin hydrated from the inside, drink lots of water (the recommended number of glasses is 8). To keep your skin hydrated from the outside, use moisturizer. Despite my extremely oily face, I still use moisturizer at night to prevent my face from looking shiny. The key is to find the right type of moisturizer for your skin type. Also, on hot days, I spritz my face midday with a facial mist to keep my skin hydrated.

2. Take vitamins and other antioxidants regularly. There are a lot of inexpensive vitamin brands out there. Good food supplements help our bodies stay in working order. Antioxidants fight free radicals which cause damage to our bodies and of course, our skin. Free radicals, of course, are one of the aging factors. For healthy skin, a basic and important vitamin to take is Vitamin E. For those with oily skin like me, there are water-soluble forms of Vitamin E out in the market.

3. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. The best source of nutrients are still the natural way, through fruits and vegetables. Remember in grade school? Our teachers taught us the 3 types of food: Go, Grow and Glow. Fruits and vegetables are Glow foods. Reduce your intake of processed foods.

4. Use sunblock. UV rays are one of the most damaging elements to our skin. A daily application of sunblock with at least SPF 30 is a must. Also, make sure your sunblock has both UVA and UVB protection. Aside from applying sunblock on your face and body, don't forget other areas such as eyes, ears and lips. I used to have a problem (and still slightly do) of having a darker eye area than the rest of my face because I place sunblock on my face but not in my eye area.

5. Use protective gear. When I mean gear, I'm not talking of boots, raincoats and stuff! I'm talking about caps, umbrellas and shades. When you're out in the sun, it benefits you to use other means of protection to supplement your sunblock. I'm known as the girl who always has an umbrella, rain or shine. Also, wearing shades during a hot day prevents squinting, which in turn, prevent lines.

6. Treat your eye area with care. Resist the urge to rub your eyes when they are itchy, as our delicate eye area is really prone to wrinkles. Also, put on eye makeup gently. Avoid tugging your skin.

7. Don't smoke. Everyone knows the damage smoking does to the body, and since our skin is the largest organ in our body, the effects of smoking are also very visible to our skin. Also, not smoking is no use if you're constantly exposed to second-hand smoke. Try to avoid places and situations with a lot of smoke.

8. Wash your face after being exposed to "the elements." When coming from a long, smoky and dusty commute home, I always wash my face right away to prevent further damage from the free radicals on my face.

9. Get lots of sleep. Your face shows if you had a restful sleep or not. Plus, a good night's sleep is preparation for the day ahead. Experts recommend 8 hours of sleep a day, but I find that I function my best after 9 hours of sleep. Of course, I don't always have the luxury of having that much sleep all the time.

10. Don't be stressed. Like the commercial says, "Stress can make you look and feel old." It's true!

and lastly, SMILE and stay happy! That's the best thing you can do to your skin.

Recent Hauls

Last Tuesday was our concert in Shangri-La Mall, so before our call time, I stopped by Nikki's (askmewhats) office to get one set of art pens from her. It was my first time to meet her and she was so nice! Of course, I admired her nail art which is lovely as usual. Anyway, I bought these art pens because I want to learn how to do my own nail art since going to salons to have it done is quite costly.

Here is a pic of my nail art pens:

There are 24 pens in all and she gave a nail dotting pen free.

Here's another look at my lovely nail art pens:

I can't wait to create my own nail art. Aside from these pens, I'll be purchasing other materials for my nail art.

Anyway, after I left Nikki's office, I went to Shangri-La Plaza. During our break, I went around the mall and lookie what I bought from Rustan's:

Another Orly nail polish in Catch the Bouquet. I also wanted to buy the Orly Spritz Dry but decided not to to save on expenses. However, it would turn out that I would regret not buying it because the next time I did my nails, the polish took forever to dry! I'll be buying the Spritz Dry one day, unless of course someone can recommend a good spray-on nail dryer.

Aside from my Orly nail polish, finally bought myself a Belle de Jour planner, which I've been lemming for since last month. This was the last copy in National Bookstore.

I was deciding between this and the Cosmo Date book. The Cosmo Date Book is only P200 (around $4) while the Belle de Jour is P598 (around $12). They're both really girly and have discount coupons, although the Belle de Jour has more. However, the reason why I decided to buy the Belle de Jour was because it had better binding and a hard cover while the Cosmo Date Book's cover was just made of thin cardboard. I felt that it wouldn't last the year if it was in my bag. It's good, though, if you plan to just leave it in your study/office desk. However, Belle de Jour is better if you plan to take this with you wherever you go like I do.

Regarding the coupons, I'm probably not going to be able to use most of them because most of the coupons are only good for regular-prized items. And I'm not the type who buys something regular-prized when it comes to clothes, bags and shoes. Although the coupons of BDJ are more than the ones from Cosmo, there are similar coupons though.

As for the Starbucks Planner, I don't plan to buy one in the next 10 years because it's really hard to gulp down 16 cups of expensive coffee in 2 months!

Anyway, I finally got home today and look what I found waiting for me: my Aromaleigh Haul! This haul was a pool order with Rebecca (newbietobeauty) and Micah (hoarder from GT). We ordered during the end of November sale.

The sticker on the pot is really cute. Here is how my haul looked like:

Here is what I got, a FS of URFP in Peaches and Cream and 5 mini jars of Illuminating Perle Powders in Kindle, Tickle, Whisper, Splendor and Allure. The Perle Powders are so pretty! I wanted to get more actually but it was going to be too expensive already so I got these top 5 which I felt was going to be the most useful for me.

Anyway, that's my haul! Merry Christmas again!

Post-Christmas Lemmings!

I know I just finished my Christmas shopping but all this blog-hopping has left me lemming for some eye products!

Do I want the Aromaleigh Pure Drama Eyeliners (that I've been lemming for since I read Phoebe's blog)? They're really pretty.

photo taken from www.aromaleigh.com

Or the Coastal Scents Gel liners that I saw swatches of in another blog?

photo taken from www.coastalscents.com

Or both?

It's a good thing none of these two companies are on sale right now so my wallet can rest for a little while. I might decide to wait for a sale.

I'm also lemming for a brush belt/case and a train case. I use a toolbox, but my stuff can't fit there anymore. Regarding the brush belt/case, I don't know which one to buy. Can anyone recommend a good one?

Of course, I'm also starting to collect more nail products, which I'll post in the next few days.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Have a great day!

Hauls from AWG and Lumiere

My packages from Adorned with Grace (AWG) and Lumiere arrived a few days ago on the same day. At last I finally got my hands on them! I ordered a duo fiber brush (I read that it's the same one from SN) and the 15 samples for $12 dollars. Franchesca's shipping is really affordable. $2.00 only! One of the cheapest I've encountered.

Anyway, I opened the paper wrapping the duo fiber brush and found that this was tiny and I do mean TINEEEY! However, Aileen said that it's great for using glows so I hope this will work for me. I hurriedly washed it so I could start using it. Just so you could see how small this brush it i held it in my hand (which is small, by the way) for comparison:

Here are my samples. They were vacuum sealed. Anyway, since I've been busy these days, I didn't have time to open and sample them. I'll sample them on a later date and blog about it next time. Franchesca also gave a sample of her Celestial Silkening Powder.

Moving on, I also ordered from Lumiere during their November sale. It was sad because they were still selling these in vials during this time, so I paid a little extra for insurance in case they got damaged during shipment.

Here's how my package looked like:

Inside were three vials. One was a blush in Ditto "O" and two were finishing powders in Veena Silk Powder and Veena Veil.

I feel a little sad because I should have waited a little longer had I known that they were going to revert back to selling their minerals in jars. Oh well, at least I have something different in my makeup kit.

My EG Minerals Haul

Finally, the samples I ordered from EG arrived some time this week. When I opened the envelope, this is what was inside:

I ordered 2 sets of the Get Acquainted Kit plus some glows and an eyeliner. I got the Beautiful e/s as a freebie. The foundations I ordered were Jocelyn, Jeanne, Ria, Mia, De Anna and Jin. Jocelyn, Jeanne and Ria were too dark for me. De Anna is an okay match but my best matches are Jin and Mia. I honestly have a hard time deciding which is better because they're very close to each other and both of them suit my skintone well. I also ordered their HD powder, which is getting a lot of raves although some say it's the same as AL URFP in clear.

I ordered two blushes: South Pacific Dawn and Strawberries N Cream. I chose South Pacific Dawn because I saw it in Nikkiz' (notjustminerals) blog and it looked like a good color. When I swatched it, I was right. What a pretty color! It reminds me of Cory's Luminee blush. It's a peach-y shimmery shade. The blushes are very pigmented so a little will go a long way. The Strawberries N Cream is a light but bright pink. I reckon I can use it but in small amounts only. When I went to take a bath after swatching the blushes, I had a hard time scrubbing it off, so yeah, I had a feeling that it would stick to my skin really well.

Here are the swatches of the two blushes:

from left to right: South Pacific Dawn, Strawberries N Cream

That same day, since I was really excited, I used the EG products on my face right away. When I tried the South Pacific Dawn on my face, I liked the color even more. It looked really natural on my face.

Here's an FOTD using EG foundation, HD powder and blush:

FACE:

• Bare Naturals S5 Primer
• Sweetscents Hide-a-pore in Medium
• EG Youthful Glow Formula Foundation in Jin
• EG High Definition Powder

EYES:

• Monave Lid Wash in Buttercup
• Ellana Awake Undereye Concealer

CHEEKS:

• South Pacific Dawn

LIPS:

• Ellana Liquid Lip Color in Allure

*EDIT: The EG foundation i'm wearing is in Youthful Glow, not in Cover Me.*

Coming from the MMU weekend

I finally came home from the MMU weekend. I got a free loot bag. Here is what was inside: Samples of PA foundation in Yukon Gold Rush (which looks too light for me), Monave Blush in Buff Apricot, Illuminizer in Radiant, Bare Beauty Face Color in Gold, Bare Beauty Mineral Veil and Emu Oil Lotion from Blusche.

As for my own loot, I got a Blusche Powder Brush (ang lakas ng powers magconvince ni Grace kasi e) for P200 only (around $4) and I got another Emu Oil Lotion as a freebie. From Beauty and Minerals, I got a Charm Stippling Brush (finally!) and a Monave Blush trio in Seashell, Neutral Pink and Autumn. Thanks Sophie for agreeing to mix and match the blushes. I also got free samples of Ivy (nice green color) and glow. I also bought Skin Hour Revitaleyes Eye Balm because of Gale's good review. Hopefully it will work for me.

I met a lot of new faces today, beauty bloggers and GTalkers. Thanks guys!

Cute Dogs

Yesterday, during our concert in Bonifacio High Street (Christmas Fusion), I stumbled upon cute dogs lazing around in the sidewalks. So many people were taking pictures of these UBER cute dogs.

Here was my favorite:


I stroked his hair, and it was as soft as a stuffed toy's hair. I wanted to take him home.



Here's a picture of him with another cute dog.

Here was another cute dog they were with.

Awww....

MMU Weekend: 1 more day to go!

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE GRAND
MINERAL MAKEUP WEEKEND!

When: December 20 and 21, 2008 (10am-6pm)
Where: Greenmeadows Clubhouse
(inside Greenmeadows Xmas Rush Bazaar)

After the huge success of last year's Mineral Make-Up Weekend, we are bringing back the much-awaited event this week!

The Mineral Make-Up Weekend brings together different mineral makeup brands in one venue to celebrate mineral makeup and create more awareness about it. Six brands will be joining, and as a treat, FREE SAMPLES will be given away to all pre-registered visitors, as well as free makeovers and skin consultations.

Moreover, talks will be held by skin specialists, makeup artists, and
MMU brand owners as they showcase their strengths and advantages,
and show us how to create simple yet stunning day and night looks.

FREEBIE ALERT!
We are giving away 300 FREE mineral makeup lootbags,
worth Php500 each!!! Each loot bag contains product samples from all the participating brands. Plus a free mirror if you come on Saturday!

To avail of your free loot bag, here's what you need to do:
1. Post about this event, together with the banner, and a link back to this site on your multiply blog or blogspot. (Just copy the text above until this part - procedure on how to avail of free loot bags, then include a link at the bottom.)
2. Send your blog entry URL together with your full name, address, and mobile number to claudbaron@yahoo.com, with subject: MMU Weekend. Also, please indicate if you are a mineral makeup user or newbie.
3. Only one free loot bag per blog, per person. Sorry, but we cannot accept submissions for your friends.
4. To claim your free loot bag, simply attend the event and present a valid picture ID at the MMU Room Registration area.

for more information about this, go to http://eventions.multiply.com/photos/album/72/#

Two More Days to Go Till the MMU Bazaar

Yey! The MMU bazaar is finally drawing near. I recommend going there if you're a newbie on MMU but it's still worth going to for MMU addicts like me. I missed the one last year but I'm not gonna miss it this year!

For those of you who don't know yet, the bazaar will be held in Greenmeadows on Dec. 20-21. Different MMU brands will be participating. I won't be able to go on the 20th but I'll be there on the 21st. See you!

Raves and Rants

Okay. Let me start off to say that this day did not go very well. This morning, at 10 am, I went to a branch of my bank to deposit money for my debit card because I want to order some MMU from Dreamworld before the end of their sale this December 20. So, went I went to the bank, I got a number which was No. 22. The teller called out No. 14. 35 minutes later, the teller was still stuck at No. 16! It was taking more than 35 minutes to accomodate 3 people! And since I was still no. 22, how long would it have taken before they called out my name? An extra 1 hour and 30 minutes? We have other things to do besides wait in a bank. I just sighed and left the bank. This is not the first time it's happened to me. I don't understand why this bank is so popular when it has such crappy service. I've had numerous experiences already. I think it's time to start looking for a different bank.

The sad thing is that this might be my only day available to go to the bank. I might not be able to order from Dreamworld anymore before the sale ends :(

Well, aside from that, I went to buy wrapping paper from National Bookstore in Robinson's Galleria yesterday. It said that there were 6 rolls of paper for 39.75. I bought the paper, and to my shock when I was wrapping my gifts a while ago, I only found 3 rolls of paper! They are mislabeling their items. I got really pissed.

It's a good thing I got a few goodies.

My friend, the one that I brought along to the Ellana showroom (in a previous blog entry), went back by herself to buy some stuff. I asked her to buy me a full size of their Sheer Velvet HD Powder in White Chocolate Mocha which I previously raved about in a previous blog entry. Yey! It's very affordable for P380 and has a generous amount. They also have a new paper bag design.

Here's a pic:


Anyway, today I accompanied two of my friends to buy gifts in Trinoma and I couldn't resist getting a bottle of Orly Bonder. Now I have a base coat to go with my Orly Won't Chip!

My Coastal Scents Palettes

Okay, first of all, I'd like to apologize for not being able to blog so much. December is my busiest month of the year, with all the Christmas concerts. Well, at least that means I have more money to spend on makeup and skincare! Just kidding. I'll really try to blog more often this coming January.

Anyway, moving on, I received my Coastal Scents 88 palette (the original one, not the shimmer). I promise that this is THE LAST eyeshadow palette that I will buy since I already have all the other palettes that I want. My only lament is that I wished that I bought all of my palettes together instead of buying them one-by-one so I would have saved P200 (around $4) extra on shipping.

Here's a pic of the 88 palette (left) side-by-side with the 88 shimmer palette (right):

As you can see, the shimer palette is indeed more shimmery. I read that the original palette is supposed to have matte and frost shadows, but actually, some of the shadows from the original palette are also shimmery. There are actually a few pans in the palette that are exactly the same as the one in the shimmer palette. Like they said, the 88 original palette is a little more pigmented than the shimmer palette, but I like the shimmer palette nonetheless because I like shimmer! Can you blame me?

So now, here is my family of Coastal Scents palettes:

from left to right: 88 palette, 88 shimmer palette, 28 neutral palette

The next day, I had to play with my new palette so here's a day look I made. Please forgive my messy hair. It was still wet when I shot the picture.

FACE:
Bare Naturals S5 Primer
Milan Minerals Oil at Bay
Ellana Sheer Velvet HD Powder in White Chocolate
Dreamworld Foundation Luna formulation in Themis
Joppa Dewy Finishing Silk in Sheer

EYES:
Monave Versatile Mineral Powder in Semi-matte Beige as base
Coastal Scents 88 palette 8th column, 1st row on lids
Coastal Scents 88 palette 10th column, 6th row on crease
Coasta Scents 88 palette 1st column, 3rd row as highlighter

CHEEKS:
Ellana blush in Heaven

LIPS:
Ellana liquid lip color in Allure

TAGGED: 16 Things About Me

Deal: once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with sixteen random things, facts, habits or goals about you. at the end choose ten people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. don’t forget to leave them a comment (“you’re it”) and to read your blog. you can’t tag the person who tagged you.

THANKS AIKA for tagging Me!

I'm slightly short of 5 feet :( sad I know...
I'm a flute major
I also play piano
I like STAR TREK
I will have my graduation recital this coming March 2009
I want to play with the Asian Youth Orchestra
I was a lot more introverted when I was in high school
My favorite dish is sinigang
I love stuffed toys!
Most people's first impression about me is that I look "masungit"
I'm a pack rat
When I go online, after checking my mail, the next thing I look at is the Beauty Bazaar in GirlTalk
I'm not an impulsive shopper. I do a lot of thinking before I buy something
I'd rather spend money on something I want than on something I need
I get really angry when my ballpens don't write
People get very surprised when they find out that I'm the eldest of 4 children because I don't act like one (according to them)

I'm tagging: Shasta, Gale, Jamie, Khymm, Shen and everyone else who hasn't been tagged.

Nail Haul and Nail Art

Yesterday, I went to Landmark Trinoma to do some shopping and I got my first ever imported nail polish haul! I wanted to get a good top coat or base coat for myself so after taking a long time to decide, i got myself Orly Won't Chip. I also got an Orly Nail Lacquer in Witch's Blue for my sister. I'm sure she's going to like it. Total wallet damage: P714 (around $14.28, I know! Orly is so expensive here!)

Next time, I want Orly Bonder so I can also have a good base coat.

Anyway, since I was so excited to use my Orly Won't Chip, I got myself a manicure in Princess Nails and Spa once again. Here's how it turned out:

Yes, I know it's similar to my first nail art but I'm a really dainty person at heart and I still haven't gotten past the flowery theme. At least now, I'm using a deeper shade of pink (I normally like a very nude shade of pink). This color is OPI but I wasn't able to take a good look at the name of the shade since there was something else blocking my view.

Well, that's it for now. I have a lot of work to do!

.

Spend vs. Save

Spend: Silk Naturals lip gloss in Damsel ($.4.25 + shipping)
Save: Ellana liquid lip color in Precious (P150, around $3)

During my trip to the Ellana showroom, i tried a lot of their lippies (being addicted to them) and I noticed that one of their colors looked a lot like my SN lip gloss in Damsel. So I took out a piece of tissue and swatched them, and guess what? I was right! It's the same color!

Here's a swatch of SN lip gloss in Damsel:

Damsel isn't as popular as SN's other lip glosses such as Birthday Suit and Rare Berry, but this is one of my favorites. It's a bright but sheer pink that I think is very "young."

What are the differences between the two? First, SN lip glosses aren't really very glossy, so the Ellana is much glossier. Second, the Ellana has peppermint extract so there's a cooling sensation when you apply it. Third, the SN Damsel is more moisturizing and has excellent staying power! I haven't encountered an MMU lippie more long lasting than SN.

Of course, I didn't buy the Ellana lippie because I don't need two glosses of the same color :P

Watching Hairspray the Musical

First of all, I'd like to apologize for not having a picture for this entry. I was supposed to take a picture of myself beside the poster but since I was running late, it slipped my mind.

I watched Hairspray at the Aliw Theater last Sunday, November 30. It was staged by Atlantis Productions. We were in the 2nd to the last row yet the view was still good.

The first thing I noticed when the show started was that the sound system was bad. It was shrill and the voices were a little garbled. Tsk tsk. It was an effort to listen to the whole show.

Anyway, moving on, the cast was wonderful; good voices and good acting. I'd like to note Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (Velma) who once again showed her versatility, and Michael de Mesa (Edna) who stole the show even in a fat suit. He (or his female character) was undoubtedly the funniest one that night. The voice of the night, however, was Dulce (Motormouth). I didn't even know who she was before that night but wow! Her solo received the loudest applause for the night. A little nit picks though, Madel Ching, who plays the lead role of Tracy needs to work more on enunciating her works. Tim Espinosa, who plays Tracy's love interest Link, needs to work on his vocals in general.

The cast had really high energy and there were a lot of upbeat dance sequences. The audience was really enjoying that night. The cast was really appreciated.

Although the musical of the year for me is still Avenue Q (also by Atlantis Productions) mainly because the show had better material to begin with, production-wise and more importantly, cast-wise, Hairspray is a good, fun show.