I'm Back! [+Tutorial]

WOW. It's been so long since I last posted (in October!), and I feel so out of it. I've just been so busy with school, and couldn't find the time or inspiration to play with makeup. For a few months I barely even touched my stash, except for my daily face powder+lippie combination. Haha. But now that I'm back I realize just how much I miss blogging and makeup in general. I also miss reading blogs, which I now have promised myself to devote at least half an hour to every night.

Many things have changed since I last posted in October. For one, I've gotten a lot more health conscious and I've been exercising more, and because of this I've gotten rid of, or am in the process of getting rid of several health problems I've been having for a while now. Not only that, I feel much more energetic, and my change in diet (aka change in lifestyle) has allowed me to keep my skin a lot less oily and almost completely blemish free! Of course, this was with the help of a dermatologist, but at the same time I know that my current eating habits are very helpful to maintaining the smooth skin I've managed to achieve.

I've changed my bedroom around, moved furniture and whatnot, and I now have a desk by the window which would be perfect to do my makeup on (finally, even light!).

My friend Sam and I are working on something that we hope to finish soon. I'll give you more details on that later.

But for now, how about an FOTD and a tutorial for it? I've completely missed doing this, it's crazy! Haha. For today, I wanted to try using L'oreal's British Red lipstick, so I decided to do a pin up look.

I started with a cleansed and moisturized face. I concealed my undereye circles and put on Maybelline's Clear Smooth face powder (yes, no foundation) for light coverage. I moisturized my lips with Nivea (3-in-1) Pinkish Boost lip care


Items used:
FACE Celeteque Moisturizer, ELF Studio undereye concealer/highlighter, Ellana Minerals concealer in Smile
CHEEKS Shawill blush in #01 (used very sparingly), Physician's Formula pears of perfection bronzer
EYES ELF Studio eye primer, NYX ultra pearl mania in Mink, Jesse's Girl quads 432A-2 and 432A-3, ELF eyeliner in coffee, MAC Zoomlash, Jordana kohl eyeliner in silver
LIPS Nivea Lip Care 3-in-1 pinkish boost, L'oreal lipstick in British Red




It's optional that you use eye primer, but I prefer to use it so I primed my eyes first. Then, with the a fluffy angled eyeshadow brush (pictured above), pick up NYX ultra pearl mania in Mink (color 1) and pat onto eyelids going just above the crease. Build to desired intensity like in the picture below.

Use a small fluffy domed brush (pictured above) to deposit color 2 (a matte brown) onto crease, buffing and blending carefully in order to achieve an effect like pictured below. Don't forget to bring the color lightly toward the inner corner of the eye.

Above: Use a fluffy eyeshadow brush (I used ELF's eyeshadow brush, the one that sells for $1 each) and pick up your highlight color (color 3). I used a soft/pale gold. Sweep the highlight color generously under the brow bone and apply to the inner corner of the eyes to achieve an 'awake' look. Blend into dark brown color on crease.

Line your eyes with your choice of eyeliner. I used ELF's eyeliner in Coffee--it's hardly visible in this picture so using EcoTool's angled brush I picked up some of color 4 (a shimmery brown)

and I went over the line I made with ELF's eyeliner in Coffee, so now it will stay put better, not to mention look more prominent. I did the same thing (ELF's eyeliner in Coffee + Color 4) on my lower lid.

Fill in your eyebrows and apply mascara to your upper and lower lashes, and we're done!

If you feel like looking more fresh-faced, leave it at this. But because I wanted to try the L'oreal lipstick in British Red, I just put some on. And that's the finished look!

More pictures:

I think L'oreal's British Red is gorgeous. I'm not so sure about how it looks on me, but for those who are a fan of red lippies, I think this is a definite must-have! I might review it sometime soon.

I guess that's all for today. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. :)

So how is everyone? I miss you all!

Ube Keso inspired EOTD + Tutorial

Ube keso is a delicacy here in my country. I can't exactly explain what it is, but it's really yummy (although not exactly a favorite of mine). But while I was at the mall earlier today, I saw a picture of this while I was passing by a fast food place and decided that I needed to do a look with purple and yellow in it. It's a pretty color combination, after all! It oddly enough works with eyeshadow, too. So I decided I'd do a tutorial as well.

**** After some research I found out that ube is purple yam. :) (and of course, keso is cheese). Here is a wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ube

For this EOTD/FOTD, I used mostly Shawill products (if you recall I featured Shawill on my blog recently).

This will be the finished look:

For this, I used the following:

FACE Celeteque Moisturizer, The Face Shop primer in green (used for red spots only), Ellana Minerals concealer in Smile, MAC Studio Fix in NC35, Mineraux foundation and Mineraux neutral mineral veil

CHEEKS ELF bronzer in warm tan, ELF illuminizer (I forgot what it's called), Shawill blush

EYES Art Deco eyeshadow base, Shawill palette #1, Dollface Cosmetics 28 neutral palette, ELF transparent brow gel/mascara, ELF eye brightening pencil eyeliner in coffee, Maybelline eyeliner in black, Maybelline Volum' Express Cat Eyes mascara

LIPS PAC lipstick in misty brown, Shawill lip gloss

We will be using colors (in order) 9, 3, 12, 7

If you desire, start by priming your eyelids to make your eyeshadow more vibrant, and to prevent it from creasing or fading. For this step, I used Art Deco eyeshadow base.

For the next step, take your favorite eyeshadow brush (I used elianto's angled eyeshadow brush) and get color 9, applying a wash all over the eyelids.


Then, using the same brush, pick up color 3 and place on outer corner, blending into yellow and bringing it inwards around the crease and socket.

Taking color 12 with a crease brush or a small domed brush for precise application (I used Sembem/Life & Companion's crease brush), apply over outer v and bring into crease, concentrating color on the outer corner. Blend blend blend!


Using the same brush, get color 7 and apply as a highlight on inner corners. If desired, get an eyeshadow brush and pick up some of color 4, layering over the purple in order to create a better gradient effect.

For the next step I used my Dollface Cosmetics palette (28 neutral). I used color 2C, taking a fluffy eyeshadow brush to apply as highlight under my eyebrow, blending into purple color.

For eyeliner, I took a thin, stiff-bristled brush (I was using an EcoTools brush), taking some of color 12 from the Shawill palette and using it to line my upper eyelids. I used the same brush to apply color 9 and 3 on my lower eyelids, letting them meet in the middle. I lined my waterline with Maybelline eyeliner in black.

Curled lashes and applied mascara on upper/lower lashes...and we're done! :D

The finished look:









Tada! I hope you liked my tutorial! :D

Oh and.. of course, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THIAMERE!!

Haul + PAC eyeshadow palette review

Hey again! Wow, I've sorta been busy lately so I've had to put this post off over and over. I'd also been hit with the exhaustion bug, even though I've been sleeping the right amount of hours lately. I guess it's sort of the stress? Oh well. Thankfully I have a long weekend this week. Today I had no classes, and I caught wind of a sale at SM North Edsa (for you ladies who can get there, sale is 20% off on all (sometimes on selected) items at the cosmetics department, but mallwide it's up to 50% off through July 31-Aug2) and my parents and I decided to hit the mall to see what was on sale.

I originally thought, oh hey I should try the Revlon foundation since I've been hearing so much good stuff about it, but..sigh. It wasn't on sale! :/ So I instead went around and decided to get backups for the stuff I usually use, and then a few items here and there. Here's my happy little haul:

L-R: cutlery container (for brushes, I have some coming in the mail from Makeup Masala :D the thing is fugly i know but its temporary until I can find a decent one), ELF eyelash curler spare, ELF clear mascara, Vo5 mousse for curly hair, Maybelline Eyestudio vivid and smooth eyeliner, Maybelline lip and eye makeup remover backup, Tea Tree oil from Zen Zest, Maybelline volum express cat eyes mascara backup (HG!!), Fashion 21 dip liner

My brushes in the new container they'd live in...it looks so empty right nowwww. DX

Oh! I have a bit of good news for ladies in the Philippines. ELF is bringing their Studio line in, and it should be here by late August or early September. Isn't that awesome? :D

So, anyway, I have a review for you all. I shoulda posted it a while ago but as I said things came up so...here it is now!

I have had this PAC perfect finish pearly eyeshadow palette (whew, mouthful!) in February 2009 to do my cousin's makeup for her prom. I couldn't find a good kind of red, until I dropped by PAC. I was hesitant too cause I knew them for their expensive prices and I wasn't aware back then that buying quality was better. Thankfully I had my friend with me and she convinced me to buy it (partly cause it was on sale and would come with a free bag :D). I am SO glad that I did. This palette, to be honest, started my full-blown addiction to makeup.

Packaging is matte, sturdy and sleek

Palette picture with flash -- pans are HUGE

Without flash

Finger swatches with flash, very accurate picture of the colors

Look at that. Very pigmented, right? Well look at this picture:

This is the picture of my fingers AFTER I swiped the swatches onto my arm. I grabbed a small amount of shadow from the palette. Just one-two swirls on the pan.

Flash on top, no flash on bottom. One swipe on arm. (Please ignore the eyeliner swatches)

The eyeshadows are so pigmented there is barely any difference between the side with no base (left) and the side with the base (right). For the record I used UDPP for these swatches.

I love so many things about this palette.

PROS

• Huge pans, very generous amount of eyeshadow (I would guess 7g-10g). A lot bigger than MAC eyeshadow pans
• Very very pigmented
• A little goes a long way
• Great texture, easy to blend -- Very blendable in fact
• Sleek packaging, seems very durable
• Long-wearing and doesn't fade
• Fair price 2000php (reg price) or a little over 40USD
• Very versatile - can be used as eyeshadow or eyeliner, can be applied wet or dry (although it is very pigmented even when dry)
• Great for bright looks, theater jobs, photoshoots etc
• Using the right brushes, very minimum fall out

CONS

• Slight smell in palette strong at first but goes away after some time (that or I grew to like it LOL)
• Can get messy sometimes
• Due to pan size, e/s can break a bit easily when dropped or accidentally scraped
• Not available worldwide (although I hear this is available in New York), and website is in Indonesian
• Color combinations can be difficult
• Can be difficult to remove because it is so pigmented
• Can be difficult to get correct or 'just right' amount of eyeshadow with the brush (texture of eyeshadow makes it stick to brushes really easily)
• It's supposed to be a 'pearl' finish palette but most are just shimmer. In fact it's a mix between VERY shimmery, slightly shimmery, and one matte shade (brown--slightly less pigmented than other shades too). To PAC's credit, the blue/green duochrome does have a pearl finish.

TIPS

• Take a very minimal amount on your brush and just build the color up to get desired shade
• Wear base to avoid creasing if your eyelids are very oily
• Have a good makeup remover handy
• Take care not to drop the palette

I will definitely repurchase this palette!

To be quite honest I love this palette so much that I use it every chance I have, even if I have my Coastal Scents 88 palette. It got me pretty much in love with the brand and I just wish they would come out with more colors (although perhaps they have more colors and they're just not available here) and get their site translated into English.

If you could get your hands on this palette and have some extra money on you I definitely suggest you get it, you'll be as satisfied as I am. PAC also has another palette (I think matte shades), and a blush palette. The prices can seem a bit steep sometimes [to people like me lol] but just wait for a sale, and it'll be very worth it. Check out their other products too, great value for money (but stay away from the lipstick if you tend to have chapped lips).

Their website: http://www.pacbeauty.com/
As far as I know, PAC is available in SM North Edsa and TriNoma.

Pink Day/Night look tutorial + NOTW

I know, I know, I'm on a look/tutorial roll lately!! Hehe, I can't help it, I've been deprived of my time to play with makeup since school has been keeping me busy. Lately though I've become more of my slacker self...which is bad, but I've never been the type to be exceptional. xD Yes, I'm lazy. But I'm working on it! LOL.

So today I have a couple of things to post about. First of all, I have another tutorial for a day look or night out look, done using pinks (Since I've been neglecting my pink shadows). x.x Here is the look:

I think this look can be worn day or night. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Lately I've been focusing more on wearable looks, I guess the more 'fun' looks are just for when I play around or when I join contests.

TUTORIAL:

As usual, first step is optional. Prime your eyelids if desired, today I used Art Deco Eyeshadow Base.

For the next step, grab your favorite eyeshadow brush and NYX loose pearl eyeshadow in baby pink (or a similar color). Pat and sweep onto eyelids.

Then take a crease brush and a hot pink color, I'm using Makeup Masala Minerals eyeshadow in Agni (thank you Toma!). Pat/sweep this color onto crease, sweeping inwards into the inner corner.

Using the same crease brush, take some black eyeshadow (I'm using PAC black) and with it define the outer V and crease, blending well into the crease and above the crease. Don't want any harsh lines!

To highlight under the brow and in the inner corners, get a wider/thicker eyeshadow brush and use a color similar to the one I used below (I used my Coastal Scents 28 Neutral Palette):

Lastly, line your eyes and apply mascara. You can also fill in your brows if it's part of your routine (I hadn't yet in the following images).

The other products I used are: Celeteque facial moisturizer as base, Mineraux mineral foundation in warm medium-tan (you can view their products here http://mineraux.com.ph/) and Ellana oil absorbing finishing powder in espresso con panna. On my cheeks is Mineraux raspberry blush (if I remember correctly) and on my lips is Revlon matte lipstick in Mauve It Over (and clear gloss on top of it). I contoured my cheeks with Physician's Formula bronzer, and I used coastal scents gel eyeliner in true black to line my eyes (ELF brightening eyeliner in black for lower lashline). The mascara I used is Maybelline volum express cat eyes mascara.

The final look:

Artsy picture! :D

That's it for the tutorial! :) I hope you liked it.

The next thing I wanna show you is...

I finally had the time to do my nails! I bought a new shade of Bobbie nail polish (local brand) in Snow Glitz, and it is a really nice platinum silver glitter. It took me three coats to get it opaque, but application was a breeze (as it seems most of their polishes are easy-ish to apply). So I did my nails in Snow Glitz and stamped a design over it.

Thank you for reading! Hope you had/have a good day. :)