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.

Hauling and nail-painting fun!

First of all, this is me taking the time to tell everyone that it's going to be tough for me to be around until Tuesday--I'll be intensely busy due to schoolwork. But I'll still be around commenting and stuff, so you won't miss me too much. I love reading your blogs and I don't want to miss anything!

Anyway, guess what came in the mail!! This sent out around 20th of April and I got it yesterday. I was totally expecting to have to wait for a month so I am definitely happy with the shipping. :)

My Makeup Masala/Makeup Mix Shop haul. :D

Anyway like I said I'm doing the 10 pan project, but this doesn't count because I bought this in April. Hehe. The contents:

Top to bottom, left to right: NYX round l/g in real nude, LA Colors Art Deco nail art pens black and white; LA colors metallic e/s in fabulous, NYX loose pearl e/s in baby pink, mink and lime; LA colors metallic e/s in mesmerize, Jesse's Girl loose e/s in troublemaker, Jesse's Girl bejewelled quad

I also got a free sample of Makeup Masala mineral e/s in Agni, and a promo card thingie for a free NYX product under $5 for my next purchase of $30+. Let me just say I really love MakeupMasala, really really smooth transaction, and great customer relations. :) 

I have swaaaatchesssss!

Flash pic overexposed--sorry

1. Jesse's Girl loose eyeshadow in Troublemaker (blue/green duochrome)

2. MakeupMasala minerals e/s in Agni 

3. NYX loose pearl e/s in baby pink

4. NYX loose pearl e/s in lime

5. NYX loose pearl e/s in mink

First of all, let me say that I just love the Jesse's girl e/s and the MM Agni e/s. They are so pigmented--I just used a tiny tiny bit, and wow. :) When I have money, I'll be buying more of Jesse's Girl stuff, and I'll be giving MM minerals a shot. I like their colors. I can't say anything about staying power and the like, but when I have time to play around with makeup I'll definitely see how things work out, so I'll have a mini-review up for that.

LA Colors palettes in Fabulous and Mesmerized

Now I know my swatches suck--I'm sorry about that, but I know someone who has better swatches.

Sofeeah of Sofeeah's Brighter Days has swatches of all the LA colors palettes. http://sofeeahh.blogspot.com/2009/05/la-colors-swatch-crazy.html

These are so very very pigmented, I like them! Very blendable, too. Good quality for cheap.

The Jesse's Girl Bejeweled Quad.

I love it. Really pigmented too. It'll be really great for every day when I go to school. And the case is just so pretty. And there's a handy mirror in it too. :D I think this will be the quad I'll stuff into my bag if I need to go somewhere. :D

While I was swatching, I was playing with my little brother EJ...and I just had to annoy him by smearing my 'girly stuff' as he called it on his face. Here he is with e/s all over. LOL. He looked bruised when I was done.

Moving on, I got NYX l/g in real nude, so I tried it on...and lol. It was barely visible on my lips b/c welllll, it was kinda the shade of my lips. Not exactly, but yeah. But I definitely like it. More shine than I would normally wear, but nice nonetheless. 

Here. My lips without the l/g

My lips with it. It's not really obvious without flash, but yeah. I love it. I wore it to school today! :)

That ends my haul post. Technically I have another minihaul that I bought today, but it doesn't count when it's for a mother's day gift. :) Speaking of mother's day gifts, Noi has made a list of stuff that you can check out to give as presents for your mom on mother's day (as it will be mother's day on May 10 in the Philippines). Check the list out, here is part 1 and part 2.

 

Moving on! I was supposed to post my Monday "nail-do" but I kinda forgot to...well really I was mostly busy so I didn't get the chance to. Here it is! It's not perfect at all, but see--what I did is I just used an old eyeliner brush since I had no other options. Lol.

And today I did my nails again because I got my new pretty nail art pens. :D

It's so much tougher than I thought, but I'm improving! :) :) The stupid camera didn't pick up on the glitter.

I used my LA Colors nail polishes, and to be honest, I barely had any trouble applying it like my other polishes. Certainly better than local brands. :) Filipina bloggers: if you wanna know, LA Colors is located at USave@99 at Farmer's Plaza Cubao. Not completely stocked but...better than nothing.

Sooo, I have midterm orals for PolSci on Monday, and long exams on Tuesday..and crappppp I am so stressed! Wish me luck, girls, because omg, I don't even know how I can study for everything on time. :(

Have a good weekend, girls! Pamper your mothers this coming Sunday/Mother's Day! :)

ETA; I read from Temptalia's blog that Stila is BACK!! http://www.temptalia.com/welcome-back-stila#more-7983

Tagged, and Haul! :D

Rules: Take a picture of yourself RIGHT now. No primping or preparing. Just snap a picture. Load the picture onto your blog. Tag some people to play.

Whit tagged me for this. Sorry you have to see me like this, ladies. Hehe. This is me on my bed after getting home from school and hauling.

I don't normally wear makeup to school, just sunblock.

No makeup. Eep!

I tag:

Gia, Noi, Cheysser, Crystal

Anyway, today I was mostly distracted in class. It was Gia's fault, telling me that there were OPI polishes available at Rustan's Gateway. :/ Lol! So I went to Gateway and ended up checking out Farmer's Plaza first, because I remembered that Noi found LA Colors stuff there. I ended up picking up three nail polishes there--Solar Gold, Red Carnation and Party pink. On my way home I passed by Watson's, mostly because I was looking for sifter jars but I couldn't find any...and then I realized that I needed moisturizer. I ended up getting more than I needed. Lol!

Top row L-R: St. Ives' Mineral Clay Firming Masque, Garnier Light eye roll-on, Celeteque waterbased/oil free moisturizer

Bottom row L-R: L.A. Colors NP in Party pink, solar gold and red carnation

Swatches:

I was going to do my nails in party pink, but I got frustrated cause I kept knocking my hands into things and ruining my drying nails. Pff. So just painted my nails in colorless NP. :/

Short post today, hehe. Still letting my face rest from makeup because I'm in the middle of another one of my big breakouts. Sigh.  Tonight I'll start back on my usual skin regimen, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be back on track. :) I think I'll be going to bed early tonight, I know my skin needs it.

Hauling, malling, laughing!

Sorry for the totally lame-o title. But...that was basically what happened today! Lol. Last Thursday, Gia told me that she was going to TriNoma/The Block and of course, since these were malls so close by to my house (I practically live thereabouts!) I immediately told her that I wanted to go with her. And so we decided we would meet up at Elianto Trinoma on Saturday...but then, she told me she couldn't go!! Lol, I was so disappointed, I even stopped making what I was making (I was sewing her something so I could give her a pressie :[). My high school friend, Kat, said she was free on Saturday so I made plans with her, but then she cancelled last minute...so for a while I had no plans for today. Pff...then Gia told me she could go again! :D Sad though, I still hadn't bothered to finish what I was sewing (Sorry Gia~ next time!).

Anyway, I left the house wearing makeup...and got home barely wearing any. Lol! Wow, it's just really difficult to wear makeup during summer. I sweat everything off! Not to mention, I'm just so oily. :( It's odd, when I wear make up I am oilier than when I don't. Any of you have any idea why? Do you think it's because of the products I use? I used The Face Shop makeup primer in green (the cheap-o one), Ellana minerals intense cover foundation in hazelnut latte and finishing powder in espresso con panna. Both are supposed to help with oiliness...doesn't really work for me.

Here was my sad FOTD (oh, I got to play with my 28 palette for this one), taken when I got home. My skin was shiny and there were no traces of blush leftover whatsoever! Haha.

Do you like my neutral look? I think I'm gonna love my 28 palette for my school days. ;] Well, when I feel like wearing makeup anyway. Also, if you notice, only my lids didn't get oily. I love Art Deco eyeshadow base--kept everything on my eyelids. :D:D

I had so much fun with Gia today, it was really a great day. We just bonded over makeup and cosmetics in general. We met up at Elianto Trinoma (and I was late! :( I haaaate being late), then went straight to G-lish since some of their items were half-off. I had been looking around on the G-lish website before and I had decided I wanted to try some of their e/s and a blush maybe. I ended up buying two Gelato Eyes Cream for 60php each (that's just a little over $1). I was actually kind of surprised that it was sort of a creamy consistency--I mean, I tried using a brush with it earlier and it hardly picked up much...looks like it's more for finger application.

They look like this:

Do you not love the holo effect? And the name is so cute!

And you can stack them up like this! It think this is a nice feature.

I have swatches!

They're sooo shimmery. Well, I can't really describe it..they're just SHINY.

I'm going to do a review on those later on. :)

Moving on, I also bought a blush from G-lish, from the Patrick Rosas line. It was half-off, so from originally 350php I got it for 175php (roughly a little less than $4).

I'll also be doing a review on this one

Swatches:

I also bought an Elianto gel eyeliner brush. I tried it out and it is just amazing! Just the right control, right stiffness of the bristles... When I first tried using gel eyeliner I couldn't manage because the brush I had was too soft. Now I can apply it just like that (*snap* hehe). I took a quickie picture, so here it is:

I love the shadow play in this picture, which is why I didn't crop it.

My next purchase is a Kabuki brush from Nu Yu minerals. It's supposed to have been made from rabbit hair (poor rabbits!!). I couldn't resist getting it, it was on sale for 280php (a little less than $6) and it was so soooft I had to get it! I washed it today, too--no shedding whatsoever. I'm so glad I found this brush, it'll be a perfect (hopefully) replacement for my Elianto powder brush. By the way, Nu Yu minerals is in SM North Edsa, just by The Surplus Shop close to the department store entrance. I only really liked their brushes (just the buki, baby buki, and full size buffer brush just like Ellana's) and maybe their jumbo lip pencils. Their MMU was kinda...meh.

This is the brush (I put extra big pictures cause I loooove how floofy it is):

Those hairs were just long, I cut them down to size

And for the last part of my haul, I went to the PAC counter at SM North Edsa (the SA knows me already! Lol. She's practically all :D whenever I'm there, cause I can never leave without getting anything :[). I got me some white eyeliner because I've been wanting some for a while (review later), and my first ever lipstick. Well, my first ever lipstick that I've bought for myself. Both items were 399php each (lipstick was on sale, originally 499), around $8.

Let me just say, I love PAC's packaging! Except for the lipstick case, it's matte and is easily scratchable. :( But I love that the stuff comes in boxes.

I love this lipstick! It's so creamy, it just glides~. It's so easy to apply, and it just stays on. And the shade is perrrfect, like my lips but better perfect. I'm definitely gonna wear this every time I go out. Worth the moolah! I think I'm gonna get my mom one of these in a pinkish shade for mother's day.

Quick swatch--sorry forgot to take no-flash swatch

That's basically it for my haul! Gia also gave me something today, which made me feel even worse about not having anything to give her. T_T 

Pure glycerin (YAY!! Been looking around for thisss), Body Shop shower gel (I think, have to recheck) and falsies. She is just the sweetest. :D

And before I end this post, I of course have to post up a pic of Gia and me outside The Block. I'm gonna steal it from Gia because my Canon camera ran out of battery as I was getting the picture onto my laptop. Wth. And I don't have a card reader.

Look at my giddy smile! Lol.

All in all I had a really good day today, even if I had a headache through half of it, and a cold that's on it's last leg. I really had fun! :)

How about you, how did you spend your day? ^_^

I'm a little bit disappointed.

So I realized that I should check around for sales... And I thought I'd check out the NYX site.

I always like looking at their sale items, but then I browsed around the site and found out that they don't ship internationally. THIS SUCKS, because I want to try NYX products, and...well... the sales are so good (From 70-90% off!)! Oh well, at least I'll get to save my money, right? And I was halfway through checkout, too. :(

But for those who are interested and have the means, NYX has an April sale (valid from April 10-30). Here's what's on sale:

 

 

 

And you can shop around here.

I'm sad, but I'll have my NYX! Someday~

To console myself, I did something bad. Haha. I went shopping online (for the first time) on MakeupMasala.com because I read so much good feedback about Toma and her shop before. I really hope I have a good experience with her too, and I hope she stocks up other stuff! I just dropped $21.23 on stuff, and--free shipping, so yay! I'm so excited about the stuff I got. You'll find out what soon, I hope.

What about you, what've you been shopping around for lately? :)