Question: Do You Invest in Eye Creams?

If there's one beauty product that I believe in investing in, it would be eye cream. There are so many beauty products and procedures to help fight skin aging, but when the lines are around the eyes, it becomes so much harder to reverse the aging process. Why? First of all, you can't exfoliate your eye area the same way you exfoliate your face. The eye area is just too sensitive. Instead, we fight fine lines by piling on moisture, antioxidants, etc.

I started using using eye creams around 2-3 years ago. During that time, I was still in college and I definitely couldn't afford to buy expensive eye creams, so I definitely used cheaper alternatives. I'm still young, so the lines on my eyes are pretty fine. It could have been finer, though, had it not been for the years that I tugged my eyes to get my contact lens in my eye (yes, folks, get contact lenses with a small diameter so that you won't have to tug your eye so much to get them in). I began to get really conscious about the lines under my eye.

My first venture into expensive eye creams was when my mom gifted me with a jar of Clinique Repairwear Intensive Eye Cream. Since I don't really need "intensive" repair, I alternated this with a cheaper eye cream from Garnier. That way the Clinique would just serve as a preventive measure for more lines as opposed to a treatment for lots of lines.

After I finished the whole jar, I started using a sample of Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream (which I got when I purchased something from Bobbi Brown).

There was a list of ingredients on the back. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw what it contained--there were so many antioxidants and moisturizing ingredients. The best part is that next to water, the second main ingredient was squalene before silicone. I always check the ingredients of beauty products before I buy them, and what I noticed with most drugstore eye creams is that, one: after water, the second main ingredient is some form of silicone, and two: there are many forms of silicone present in the eye cream. Silicone will help smooth out the eyes temporarily, but it really won't solve the underlying problem. Don't get me wrong, even the expensive eye creams have a lot of silicone present, but they have a lot more beneficial ingredients than drugstore eye creams. Drugstore eye creams can be enough when you're young, but more mature women might need something stronger. Nevertheless, if you have the budget to invest in an eye cream, I really suggest you do so. After all, prevention is better than cure.

I'm really not rich enough to pay for expensive beauty products. So I'd like to thank my mom for giving me my previous eye cream, I'd like to thank Bobbi Brown for the sample of eye cream which I'm using right now, and I'd like to thank Clinique for gifting me with two jars of eye cream. Hmmm... If only someone else would sponsor my next eye cream *winks* 

What are your thoughts?

Have a nice day!

Summer Lemmings!

How is everyone! I'm sorry for being MIA, but my power adaptor died so I've been without a laptop for some time. I just recently purchased a new one, and along with other expenses: my derma bill, a new swimsuit, a replacement for my broken palette, another makeup book and paying off my credit card bill, I went flat broke in two days! *sniff* That doesn't stop me from lemming for stuff, though. So here's my lemming list so far this summer:

Crocs Rio Wedges

 There are very few Crocs shoes that catch my eye, and these wedges are one of them. They're so much comfier than other wedges, 'nuff said.

Hair extensions

As someone who works in the beauty industry, I really need different colors of hair extensions!

Summer dresses from Get Laud

I'm not very brand conscious when it comes to my clothes. I don't own anything from Get Laud, but their catalog looks very enticing. I really need dresses for everyday. People who see me often know that I rarely wear long pants. I wear mostly shorts and dresses and I absolutely need more!

Yikes! I need more money! LOL What about you? Have you any summer lemmings? I'd love to know what they are!

Product Review: Love Minerals Tinted Lip Balm (by Human Heart Nature)

Hello everyone! And so the review of Human Heart Nature products continue. Today, I'm reviewing the tinted lip balm from Love Minerals, the mineral makeup line by Human Heart Nature. 

I tried to make the picture clear, but my camera is having problems so it's quite hard to see the Love Minerals logo. 

Anyway, I bought this lip balm together with my peppermint lip balm and other stuff from HHN. So how did it fair? Read on to find out.

First let me start by saying that this has peppermint in it so it will give your lips a minty feeling which doesn't last long. People who don't like mint will have a problem with this but I don't so I love it! I find that the color is long-lasting for a lip balm. I still have a good amount of color on my lip after eating. It also has good moisturizing power :)

Here's a pic of my lips without anything:

Here's a picture of my lips after swiping on some tinted lip balm:

It gives a slightly coral-rust sheen on my lips.

So here are the pros and cons:

PROS

• It's P69.75 for an organic, tinted lip balm! Need I say more?
• Tint has good lasting power
• Has a minty feeling (which might be a con for some but for me it's a pro)

CONS

• Only one shade available. I really wish they'd release more shades in the future but I don't think they will since they also have a line of lipsticks.

The verdict? I'm really glad that there is a tinted lip product that is very, very affordable and good for my lips :) I'll surely buy again!

Tips for DIY French Nails Newbies

Hello everyone! In case you don't know, I love getting french tips! Sadly, though, having a manicure in a nail salon every week is just too darn costly. And I'm no pro in doing it myself so I settle for doing solid colored nails instead. Recently, I got bored and decided to try french tips out for myself, which I haven't done so in a very long time. So I'd like to share a few tips on how to DIY french tips for the first time. That way you can use your salon money for something else instead :)

• File your nails in a square shape instead of round. That way, you can use regular scotch tape (which draw on straight) or magic tape as a guide instead of french tip guides that can cost a pretty penny. On your thumb, though, you'll still have to create a bit of a curve after you remove the tame.
• You can use only one piece of tape for both hands so you don't waste any tape. In my case, I just keep switching the tape from one side to another.
• If you're really not confident with your nail polish skills, you can skip putting a base coat and a base color and just go to straight to painting the tips. After all, a french manicure normally means using a natural nail color. It also saves time since you don't have to wait for the nail polish to dry completely before sticking scotch tape to your nails.
• Still not confident about painting your own tips? Use a glittery/shimmery polish instead. Glittery polishes are more forgiving than white matte polishes.
• Finish off with a clear top coat.

So there you have it, easy-peazy french tips. In my case, I just filed my nails to a square-ish shape, used scotch tape as a guide to paint my nails with a holographic polish, clean away the excess polish with a cotton bud dipped in acetone, then finish off with a clear top coat! I was done in no time! And here is the end result:

Polishes used: China Glaze Sexagon, Caronia clear polish

Not bad for DIY if I do say so myself :)

Product Review: Human Heart Nature Exfoliating Facial Scrub Super Fruits and Black Rice Grain

Hello everyone! I know I've been reviewing a lot of Human Heart Nature products lately. I've raved about their peppermint lip balm and their intensive hair mask. I've gotten hooked to their products because they're organic products that are very, very affordable. Human Heart Nature is one of the lowest priced brands of organic products in the market. So did I like this product, too? Keep reading and find out.

The appearance reminds me a lot of St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Since the beads are from black rice, some people might find that these beads are too harsh for the face, so scrub lightly. After I wash this off, my face doesn't feel squeaky clean like most products, instead it feels more moisturized similar to the feeling of washing off cleansing oil. This is because this scrub contains virgin coconut oil, sunflower oil and a little bit of ylang-ylang oil. Although the presence of these oils could cause breakouts for people with very oily skin (like myself), I haven't experienced any adverse reactions so far. However, don't take my word for it since I only use this once a week because I already use a chemical exfoliant everyday. 

What I don't like about it? It's the smell. I've tried my friend's day moisturizer (also from Human Heart Nature) and the smell is similar to this. It smells like old beauty products :P

PROS

• Very affordable. I can't remember the exact price that I paid but it's definitely no more than P100 for 50 ml.
• It's organic so no harmful chemicals!

CONS

• Like all products with oils, it's not impossible to break out with this.
• I am not fond of the smell at all.

The verdict: I'm not sure if I will buy this again, because the smell bothers me. Nevertheless, this is still worth trying since I believe that scrubs need not be expensive since we just wash them off anyway :)

Test Your Skin's Age

I recently came upon a quiz to determine the age of our skin. It was like a jolt to me that I should be taking better care of my skin! So I went online to find more skin tests and I thought I'd share them:

The Pinch Test (test your skin's elasticity)

How Old is Your Skin

Another quiz for people from the age of 27 to 81

Try taking some of these tests. Tell me what you think!

Rave: Human Heart Nature Intensive Hair Mask

I'm starting to get hooked into Human Heart Nature. I raved about their lip balm a little earlier. Now I'm going to talk about their Intensive Hair Mask with Avocado and Gugo Bark. I have this in Rosemary scent. I've actually had this for a while but I've been ignoring it. Recently, I've started using it frequently since it's organic and won't last long. I'm glad I did because I love it!

I tried taking pictures of the ingredients but there's something wrong with my camera so I can't. I can say though that there are no parabens, and no silicone! That's something that most commercial conditioners and hair treatments have. It's what makes the hair soft. This hair mask has none of those. It only has a lot of natural ingredients like oils and extracts. It also gives my hair a minty feeling which I love. I leave it on for 15-30 minutes. Normally, I don't leave anything on my hair for more than one minute because I'm very prone to hairfall. Normally, if I use at-home hair treatments, I tend to have a lot of hairfall. With this hair mask, however, I have almost no hairfall. Around 3 strands of hair at the most!

After I rinse the mask off, my hair is not as easy to comb as commercial conditioners and shampoos. I guess the difference is because of the silicone. However, once my hair dries, I find that it's very soft. My damaged hair (from rebonding and coloring) becomes much more manageable. It also leaves my hair more "bagsak" than commercial hair treatments. I think because there's no silicone coating my hair.

The best thing about it? I bought mine for P90. It has around 50g which is very reasonable. I think that HHN has increased the price of this, but only by around P10 or so. For sure, I'll be getting the 200g tub next time!

No Beauty Blogging for Now

I'm not going to blog about beauty this weekend, since right now everyone is very concerned about the situation in Japan. What's happening there right now really saddens me, so I will be signing off for the weekend.

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NARS Blush in Gina

NARS Gina doesn't get as much attention as other NARS blushes like Orgasm or Deep Throat. However, if you're looking for a neutral-orangey blush, you might want to try this one.

Altough it looks more terracotta in the picture, it's actually a neutral orange with a hint of pink. It's very matte; absolutely no shimmer.

Here's an FOTD of me wearing NARS Gina. Not at all pink or peachy. Use with a light hand for gals who are fair-toned to medium-toned.

Do you own this blush? What do you think? Do share!

My Most Favorite Lip Balm to Date: Human Heart Nature Lip Balm

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I've been MIA again. Things have been really busy. Anyway, I'd like to share with you a great find! Actually, it was my sister who bought this. She told me to try it and I fell in love!

Human Heart Nature Lip Balm in Peppermint

I love the minty feeling from the peppermint oil! I put this on before I sleep and when I wake up the next day it really makes a difference the next day! My lips are much more moisturized. Three days of using this and my lips are really in tip-top shape!

Plus, it's organic! No chemicals there, just a lot of ingredients that are good for you. See the ingredients for yourself:

The picture is a little dark, but as you can see, no parabens, petroleum, mineral oil, etc!

And the best part, it only costed me P55! The regular price is P65 but it's on promo right now. Nevertheless, P65 is still very, very affordable!

I'm really loving this that I bought one for myself already!

Product Review: Clinique Take the Day Off Makeup Remover

I received this as a gift from my mom a while back but I haven't been using it since I still had some Elianto Cleansing Oil which I've been using. Now that it's almost empty, I started using this and boy, have I been missing out! Even the most stubborn liquid eyeliner and the most waterproof mascara comes off easily with this. It's my first time to own a makeup remover that's made up of two parts (one oil-based and one water-based that you have to shake for them to mix) much like the ones from Loreal, Maybelline, etc. I like how it doesn't feel oily and it doesn't hurt my sensitive eyes.

The downside? Only that's it's expensive. That's the only reason why I might not buy this product. I might try something similar. 

Remember, though, I am a firm believer in using a good makeup remover! We don't want to rub rub rub our eyes and get wrinkles!