Remembering My First Nail Art. Watcha Think?? (Picture Heavy)

I found some pictures of my very first nail art in my computer and thought, why did I took a picture of this?...very amateur....then I remembered I was so proud with my very first nail art that I took a picture of it as a remembrance of my so called "victory". LOL!!

 
Anyway, it's still nice to remember how I did this...and it amazes me that I could do a simple nail art on my puny, little nails...I'm not blessed with strong, long nails.

Here's my first nail art.

Sorry for the picture quality. This nail art was inspired by Bubzbeauty on youtube. It's quite simple. Try it out!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2010!

Review: Skin Food Rice Mask Wash Off

Product: Skin Food Rice Mask Wash Off

Latest Price: depends on where you buy it (online seller or malls). I got this as a free sample.

Pros:
- I love this because I use this as an exfoliator and mask at the same time.
- makes your skin soft and hydrated after use.
- Good for sensitive skin and combination - oily skin (because I have a sensitive, combination skin)
- the free sample could be used 3-4 times depending on the frequency of use. - a little amount goes a long way kaya medyo matipid..hehehe!

Cons:
- quite expensive for a mask lalo na pag binili mo sa mall. double ang price nila dun..mas mura sa reputable online seller kasi direct from korea nila kinukuha.

Will I buy Again: Oh yes!!!! kelangan ko muna magipon kaya wait ka lang dyan..pero sure yun bibili talaga ako next time.

Ratings: 5 out of 5 stars!!!

Review: Elianto Shimmer Shadows (in Apricot and Soft Purple)

Product: Elianto Shimmer Shadows (in Apricot and Soft Purple)

Price: regular price is P119 each, but I got it on "sale" for P119 buy one get one free.

Pros:
- has an "ok" color payoff.
- it comes in a quite big pan.. a bit similar sized to MAC eyeshadows.

Cons: - you have to buy an empty palette to put the eyeshadows in.
- this 2 eyeshadows in particular doesn't have any shimmer in it. I wonder why they categorize these 2 as "shimmer" eyeshadows..It's comes out matte even if I have applied a mixing medium. No shimmer..
- it looks a bit chalky when swatched.

Will I buy Again:
- I don't think so..I'm not impressed with their color range and the quality is not consistent compared to their other shimmer shadows that I've already bought from them. If they will improve their formulation then I'll buy again.

Ratings: 2 out of 5 stars!

Review: Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer #2

I've recently heard that Etude House already has a store here in the Philippines! (^_^) They opened just this December in SM Megamall. I just hope they would open another branch in SM Northedsa so that it's not too far from my place..(^_^)

Anyway, I just bought a few items because I already purchased some Korean beauty products online before I've found out that Etude House has already opened a store here in the Philippines..Yes, I know I'm quite late with the news.

I've only purchased 3 items which I will be reviewing one by one.

This first item is the Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer #2

Price: P298.00 (affordable compared to the mall prices of TheFaceShop, Skinfood and Missha)

Pros:
- it is creamy, but not cakey at all.
- it doesn't feel heavy on the skin.
- it blends really well.
- doesn't emphasize the fine lines under your eyes.
- it is surprisingly affordable.
- it has a "perfumy" smell that doesn't really bother me. In my opinion, it actually smells good and the good news is, it did not gave me allergies because I have sensitive skin.
- I also have an acidic type of skin (meaning all the products that I apply will turn dark on my skin as soon as the product is already blended in with my skin tone), but this concealer stayed true to its color thankfully and hid my Maja (major) ginormous dark circles..it's almost comparable to a black eye..I'm not even kidding ya!

Cons:
- it only comes in 2 shades, the #1 is the lighter shade and the #2 is the darker shade.
- quite small...I like cute packagings w/ good quality product, but I would love it if it had more quantity (meaning more product) inside the packaging.
-none so far!

SO.....I did a road test on my left undereye circle with the concealer and my right eye with nothin'...before I show you may picture, please read the note below.

Note:
- I did not use any product besides the concealer.
- I did this road test at nighttime (i'm nocturnal)
- Sorry for the poor picture quality. I'm not a huge fan of expensive HD cameras and I'm not planning to buy one.
- I know my skin is not perfect. You don't have to tell me something that I don't already know. I'm not blind.

So here it is:

As you can see, there's a significant difference between the 2.

- My left eye, is brighter than my right eye.
- My dark circles has diminished drastically and it is obvious just by looking at the shadows beside the bridge of my nose.
- Left eye looks more awake and smoother too.

Rating:
5 out of 5 stars

Will I buy again?
Definitely!

Review: Kinepin Eyeliner and Eyebrow Pencil Sharpener

Product: Kinepin Pencil Sharpener

Price: more or less than Php 20.00

I don't like to waste money on just a pencil sharpener. So I've found this! and It does the same job like other expensive sharpeners I've seen out there.

Pro:
- the blade is really sharp.
- I don't have to chill my eyeliner pencils and lipliner in the fridge. I can sharpen my pencils straight away!
- it already has 2 openings that fit small and jumbo pencils.
- it also comes with a plastic "stick" located on the middle of the sharpener for easy cleaning of eyeliner or lipliner residues that stick to the sharpener.
-very, very affordable.

Cons:
-nothing!

Will I buy Again:
- if the blade is already useless (which will take forever to get it dull) then I will buy again and again!

Rating:
5 out of 5 stars

Review: Himalya Herbals Acne-n-Pimple Cream

Product: Himalaya Herbals Acne-n-Pimple Cream

Latest Price: P200 something..I already forgot the exact price because I've been using this product for a few months now.

It claims to:
- control acne and pimples. Keeps skin soft.
- Silk cotton tree, with its astringent and cooling properties, controls acne and pimples and prevents future breakouts.
- Five-leaved chaste tree reduces skin inflammation. -Aloe Vera heals and softens the skin.

Pro:
- in just a week or less, depending on how severe or big your pimple is, your pimple will really heal.
- it really left my skin soft especially in the morning. -it has organic ingredients. -it doesn't dry the skin.
- it really reduces the redness and inflammation overnight.

Con:
- I can't use this 2x a day even if the instructions indicates it. It's because the "cream" is more like a paste that hardens like a mask...you'll look silly walking around public with mini paste-like appearance on your face. I've already tried it and people gave me weird looks..not that I care...hahahaha!
- It doesn't heal pimple scars.
- it's a bit oily when used on a very warm day. so it is really recommended to use it only at night.
-it has a weird smell, but I'm not really bothered with it.

Will I buy again?
- maybe, but I want to try other spot treatment pimple cream or gel before I'll buy this again.

Ratings:
- 4 out of 5 stars

Review: SkinFood Mushroom Multi-Care BB Cream w/ SPF 20 PA+ in #2 (updated)

This is my first bb cream. I bought this long before I was blogging and bb creams were not even popular here in the Philippines.

Product: SkinFood Mushroom Multi-Care BB Cream w/ SPF 20 PA+ in #2

(sorry, for the poor quality pic. This is a very old photo when my bb cream was still brand new)

Price: 

P1,550 sa mall!! very expensive!! nabutas talaga ang wallet ko nun!!! hindi pa kasi ako nakahanap ng online seller nun e. =D

Smell:

-has a fresh, clean w/ a subtle herbal-like scent to it that I like.

Color:

- more like a beige with peachy undertones which really helps in making the skin appear brighter.

Comment: 

First of all, I have a normal to combination, sensitive skin nowadays. I don't want to use whitening products anymore because I like my medium to dark colored skin so whitening properties of a product is not a concern for me, but I really sweat a lot even if I'm not moving that much.

Pros:

- did not cause breakouts

- I like this product because it's not heavy or sticky on your skin.

- it doesn't melt even in a very hot day like today (summertime)

- it doesn't cake..it gives a very sheer - medium coverage

- evens out and brightens my skin making me look less tired.

- it doesn't make your face oily during midday. (for me, at least)

- you only have to use a very very very small amount of product for the entire face and neck.

Cons:
- doesn't really help in treating pimples. (but I really don't expect any bb cream to heal pimples)

- expensive when you purchase it in the store. Better to purchase one online.

Swatch:

Natural light:

unblended

partially blended (notice the scar on the upper right corner of the back of my hand)

blended, but it has not settled on my skin yet, but after a few mins. it will blend with my skintone. You can see some brightening effect on the appearance on the back of my hand already. (notice that the scar is not that noticeable anymore. (^_^))

Review: Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #23 (updated)

I think almost all people know what is a bb cream and the benefits of using it so I'll go straight to what I think about this particular product.

As you (readers) know, I still like the Skinfood Mushroom bb cream than the Missha Perfect cover one because the Skinfood one "brightens" my skin making me look less tired. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this product to people. This is still a good quality bb cream for me.

(sorry for the poor picture quality...this is a very old photo when my Missha was brand new.)

Price: 

depends on which seller you bought it from. I bought it online for P800, I think...I bought this long before this Missha Perfect Cover BB cream is booming here in the Philippines.

Smell:

a bit like baby powder of some sort. It doesn't bother me at all.

Color:

- more like beige with a bit of greyish undertone to it. me not likey, because sometimes, this can make you look a bit ashy.

Pros:

- good oil control if I use it with the Missha BB Boomer.

- did not give me breakouts.

- it helped heal my new inflammed pimple before it got worse.

- evens out my skintone.
- sheer to medium coverage.

Cons:

- can look ashy sometimes.
-can be sticky if you put on too much.

- didn't BRIGHTEN up my skin...When I say BRIGHTEN, I don't mean to whiten. What I mean about BRIGHTEN is that the product should make me look healthy looking like I've had enough sleep. After applying this to my face and let it set for a few minutes, my face still looked a bit tired.

- I hate the "pump" style. I don't get why people say that bb creams should come with a "pump" style tube... I've 3 reasons (so far) as to why:

1.] you waste more product w/ a pump than w/ a normal squeeze tube especially when you've almost used up all the product. how can you pump the remaining product in it? You can't squeeze it out ya know. So you'd end up cutting the packaging into 2 (because the pump is permanently attached to the tube) and transfer the remaining product to another container which is really annoying to do.

While w/ a squeeze tube, you can squeeze the life of that tube like a toothpaste and when you cut the tube into 2, you can see that there is not much left in the product because you squeezed it already like there's no tomorrow.

2.] People say that it is more "sanitary" using a pump than with a squeeze tube. Um, don't you think it still the same thing? You still use your finger or tissue to wipe off the tip of the pump and squeeze tube. If you say you don't touch the tip of the pump then you're not that observant. How can you clean the excess product that came out of the pump without wiping it? If you don't wipe it and let it be, don't you think it's more unsanitary and gross just by looking at a messed up packaging with product smeared inside the transparent cap?

3.] WHAT IF the pump is stuck and the product can't come out? I've experienced this kind of dilemma many times and the last time it happened to me, the product is still almost brand new and unused...talk about me being so pissed of...

Swatch:

unblended

partially blended. It looks a bit ashy...

blended, it evens out my skin nicely.

Will I Buy Again: 

I'm still thinking about it...there are still more bb creams to try...Right now, I'm interested in purchasing the MISSHA CHOBOYANG BB CREAM which has a matte finish...I've tested it in the missha store already...and it looks promising!

Me...the Newbie

Just testing my new account before I start blogging about anything under the sun. I was inspired by my friend Aya (a.k.a Poorita Pashionistah) to try blogging here. So here I am! lol!