Review: Orly Won't Chip

I bought this because of the good reviews. I really want my nail polish to last long, and I read that this is the way to go.

Let me run through the pros and cons.

PROS

• It really makes a difference with your nail polish life. With this as my top coat and Orly Bonder as my base coat, my nail polish can be chip free for a week! And to think that I wash dishes and sometimes scratch my skin.

CONS

• This has a clumping problem for me (and some people also). After a few swipes, the application is no longer smooth so you have to close it and shake it before continuing to apply it.
• If you put even little more than what is necessary, it bubbles.

So what is the final verdict? Would i buy this again?

The answer is no. Unless I can find away to get rid of this bubbling problem, I'm trying other top coats.

Soap Opera Mini Haul

I got two scrubs from Soap Opera today. The one on the left is the Power Whitening Scrub. This is my second tub already. This tub is supposedly good for three months if used twice a week on the whole body. I'm not quite sure how long it lasted on me. It's a little pricey for a body scrub at P500 (around $10), but I like how it's not so harsh, it leaves my skin moisturized and the smell is not bad either! Regarding the whitening effect, I'm not sure if it makes any difference since I'm always out in the sun anyway!


The scrub on the right is the Small Wonder Daily Cleansing Facial Scrub. I asked the sales lady and she told me that the active ingredient is Vitamin A (so it's actually retinol). This will be my first retinol product so I have to see how it goes. This little scrub costs P275 (around $5.50). I hope this will help my face stay clear all the time as well as brighten it up!

Ask Me Whats Seminar for a Cause Photos

Yesterday was Nikki's Ask Me Whats Seminar for a Cause. As I have posted before, all the proceeds will be used to help Judith's hospital bills. I'm so proud of Nikki for doing this! She's using her talent to help others!

The attendees (aside from me) were Gale (galelovescolors), Rhea (did I spell your name right?), Shen (shensaddiction) and Nina. Also present were the hubbies! Keith (Nikki's hubby) and Nap (Rhea's hubby).

Here are some photos from the workshop. I'm sorry I wasn't able to take any more.

These are pictures of Nikki working it! She did a great job on all of us. I love the smokey look she did on Gale!

Here's a pic of me wearing nothing but foundation and eye makeup. My eye makeup looks brown on picture (because of bad lighting). Yeah, I'm no photographer. In person, it's really pretty! It was a combination of fuchsia, gold and black. Nikki showed us how to draw eyelids. It's really useful for me since I'm very single-lidded.

One more perk I got from this workshop is that I got to try on different products that I've been curious about. These include Smashbox Photo Light Primer, Urban Decay Primer Potion, MAC Painterly (c/o Gale), Urban Decay Eyeshadows, Urban Decay 24/7 liners, Stila Smudgepots and and Paul and Joe Eyeliner.

Here is what I found: the Smashbox Primer is good for controlling the oilies, but for now I think I'll stick to my primers since I have a lot left and Smashbox is pricey. The products in my eyes were amazing! I have really oily lids and I can't get anything to stay put but with UDPP in my left eye and MAC Painterly on the other, my eye makeup stayed put! After 9 hours, my eyeshadow was perfectly intact on both eyes. The Stila Smudgepots (which was on my upper lashline) stayed perfectly in my left eye but in my right eye, it creased a teensy weensy bit. It was almost invisible though. As of now I can't blame the MAC Painterly because my right eye is slightly more single-lidded than my left eye, so things really have a harder time staying put on my right eye than on my left. I have to try both UDPP and MAC Painterly one more time (on both eyes) to really see which one works better for me. On my lower lashline, Nikki used a Black Paul and Joe eyeliner for the outer 3/4 of my eye and then Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Yeyo (white) for the inner 1/4. She earlier told me that Urban Decay 24/7 smudged on her waterline so it was probably going to smudge on me too. She recommended that Paul and Joe might be a better choice. However, I checked my makeup 9 hours later (I intentionally left it that long to see how they perform) and found that the Paul and Joe eyeliner was almost completely gone while the Urban Decay liner stayed put! No smudging. What a surprise. The opposite thing happened with Nikki and I! I've already been lemming for Stila smudgepots and Urban Decay 24/7 even before this, but after what happened, I really want it! At the end of the day, I felt sorry about taking my makeup off because of the excellent staying power. I love it!

Anyway, my only regret is that I didn't get to try on the Coastal Scents Gel Liners. It slipped my mind. Oh well, next time.

Nikki, thanks for the fun and educational seminar. I'm sure Judith and her family really appreciate what you're doing.

Shopping Day!

This is my loot from today's shopping trip. Today was a free day for me and I had every intention of going to Rustan's Shangri-La to check out MAC Fluidline (since I've started searching for my HG eye liner) but I got sidetracked to different places and I ended up getting Prestige brushes #102 and #103 (it's already P325 each from the previous prices of P200+ only). Next time, I want to get #104. I also bought Godiva Vitamin C Serum (I've been using this for a long time now and I promise to review this one of these days) and Covergirl Brow and Eye Maker. I bought this because I'm looking for an affordable brow product so I searched MUA and the reviews were favorable so I decided to try this out.

Regarding the Prestige brushes, I'm concerned about their quality control. Each brush really looks very different from one another. They weren't consistent so I really had to inspect each stock one by one and choose which I think is the best among the lot, especially when it came to #104 (which I haven't bought yet). If you try going to Beauty Bar in Robinson's Galleria, the difference with each #104 brush is so big, I got confused what that brush was actually for. It was only when I went to Beauty Bar Podium where the #104 brushes were more uniform that I finally saw what it was supposed to look like.

Anyway, I saw Cinderella's big sale and saw some simple gowns at around 60% off. How could I resist? Being a performer, I always have to have a ready stock of evening wear so I bought two! There goes my budget for MAC Fluidline. I never even made it to Shangri-La. I guess MAC Fluidline will have to wait!

My Dreamworld Minerals Loot!

Here is a picture of my loot during the Dreamworld Minerals Christmas sale. A full size jar of Amenti foundation in Luna formulation, a full size jar of Creme toppings in Butterscotch (with clay and silica), a mini jar of of butter illumination powder, and a sample size of lavender illumination powder.

I'm a little sad because the Amenti foundation I got is a tad lighter than the Amenti sample I have. It looks like the new batch of foundations are indeed a tad lighter than it used to be. But it's not that light for me so I can still use it.

At first I was surprised that there was no freebie, but my order actually came with a gift certificate! They gave me a code which I can use any time during the year, but it wasn't mentioned what promo/freebie/discount I can get if I use that gift certificate.

Well, that's all for now!

My Favorite Oil Control Products

I've mentioned so many times that my face is such and oil mine! So I thought I'd share my favorite products to keep oil at bay.

First, here are my favorite oil control film products. I prefer film to paper, since film is much more absorbent. The Clean and Clear yellow paper is one of my favorites because it has SPF 20. Perfect for retouching your sunscreen throughout the day. This is P120 (around $2.40) for 50 sheets. Gatsby Oil Control Film is the cheapest that I have found in the market. It's only P90 (less than $2) for 70 sheets. Before I used to buy Rustan's Essences Oil Control Film which was cheap at P50 ($1) for 50 sheets but this was phased out by Rustan's. I wonder why.

This is the most heavy duty primer I've used so far. This is the ever famous Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel. However, I can't use this everyday since I get whiteheads. But this really helps control oiliness.

Here are my favorite mineral finishing powders when it comes to oil control. In order from left to right: Lauress Fantastic Finish (old formulation), Ellana Sheer Velvet High Definition Powder, Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder. Good old silica powder is also an inexpensive way to control oiliness.

For those who aren't into mineral makeup or other loose powder forms, there's also MAC Blot. This is more expensive than anything else I've shown in this entry.

What I love about these powders is that they come out as sheer, so they don't compromise your makeup. I've tried a lot of oil control powders (non-mineral) which look like a mask, and worse, as I keep on reapplying it throughout the day, it cakes. There is nothing worse than a face that looks cakey that screams, "Yes I TRIED to put on makeup!" Tried being the key word.

Remember, if you are looking for a product with good oil control, the following ingredients would be most suitable: silica, kaolin clay, silk powder, rice powder.

I'd like to try on Avon Magix Skin Protector SPF 20 because of Nikkiz' (notjustminerals) rave, but it's not available in the Philippines. For now, I'll just have to do with these.

What about you? Is there a good oil control product you'd like to recommend?

Testing out AWG foundation

This is really long overdue. Because of a lot of raves, I bought samples of AWG (Adorned with Grace) foundation. It's been with me since December last year but I wasn't able even open up my samples and find my match. Well I finally did, and I'm a Hope 3.8! My lament is that the sample is not very generous. However, I just got them at $12 for 15 samples which is already inexpensive.

AWG seems to be a very forgiving brand since their shades are so wearable. I find that I can also use Faith 4.0 and Faith 4.2.

I roadtested their foundation and here's how it looked like (my blush seemed to come off very light in the picture):

FACE

• Bare Naturals S5 Primer
• Sweetscents Hide-a-Pore in Medium
• Ellana Sheer Velvet Finishing Powder in White Chocolate Mocha
• AWG foundation in Hope 3.8
• Joppa Dewy Finishing Silk in Sheer

EYES

• Lunasol Brow Styling Mascara in Brown
• Monave Lidwash in Buttercup
• Ellana Undereye Concealer in Awake

CHEEKS

• Ellana Blush in Happiness
• Aromaleigh Illuminating Perle Powder in Whisper

LIPS

• Silk Naturals Lip Gloss in Breathless

BTW, please pardon the damp hair. I had just taken a bath and my hair takes a long time to dry.

The foundation had a creamy, matte (but not flat) finish with heavy coverage. With a primer, plus the sandwich method (which I do for all my foundations) this lasted on my face the whole day.

I also have a sample of their Divine Oil-control Powder, which is supposed to be divine! LOL. I haven't tried it yet but I'll try it soon and see how it goes.

Review: Leyende Face Canvas

photo taken from leyende.multiply.com

Product Description:

Mango butter from India serves as the base for this deliciously non-greasy moisturizer. Perfect for tropical or cold weather, Face Canvas locks moisture in and stays put along with your make-up.

With organic bearberry extract. And now with added carrot extract!



After a reeeeaaaally long wait I finally got my order from Leyende. I got the face canvas as part of the holiday gift set that they have so what I have is a mini size instead of the full size. I've been using it for a week now, and so far, my really oil-mine, acne prone skin hasn't broken out yet.

Let me give a rundown on the pros and cons with this product:

PROS

• It's oil-free.
  
• It's non-greasy and doesn't leave a heavy feeling on the skin, making it perfect for me to use during daytime.
• It's easily absorbed by the skin.
• It's organic! 'Nuff said.
• It has bearberry extract which is supposed to help with skin lightening. This might be a con for some people, but it's a pro for me since I'm always under the heat of the sun. I have to maintain my color somehow! Of course, I haven't seen noticed any difference yet since I've only been using it for a week.
• It somehow helps control the oiliness of my skin.
• The fragrance is mild and smells yummy. This might be a con for people who prefer their products to be fragrance-free.
  

CONS

• It's in a tub, so it's not very hygienic.
• At P450 for 60 g, it's a tad pricey for a local product.
• Although some people say that it's also a good makeup base (but it's marketed as a moisturizer), I find that its texture is not very makeup base-y so I still put a primer after. Although, it's not their fault because it's not being marketed as a primer.
  
• This has no SPF, so it's still a must to use sunblock.
  

Would I buy this again? Yes! Unless I find something better.