Defined: Etude House Drawing Eyebrows in #1

Personally, I have thick and uneven brows and I do have an almost uni-brows. It took me years to finally "master" shaping and defining my brows and right now, I am here to share one of the eyebrow products that I usually use.

This is just the refill, I am too embarrassed to show the actual retractable pencil because it's too old and the print has rubbed off.

This is Etude House's Drawing Eyebrows in #1 (dark brown). I've been using this for almost 2 years and I really like how it defines my brows.

The triangular shape makes it easier for me to fill in the sparse area in my brows specially the tail end. I like that it's retractable, making it more convenient and no product will be wasted due to sharpening. It glides on well and it's really pigmented. It's so pigmented that you should apply it with a light hand. I also like the fact that it's not too waxy.  There's actually nothing that I don't like about this product.

So here is before and after using this eyebrow pencil.

Oh, one more thing. It looks natural on my brows. I am actually not a fan of overly defined brows, it looks fake to me.

So there you have it. I hope you find this helpful. Thanks for reading!

Lined and Defined: Aloha Color Art Pen by Etude House

Aloha! I thought that was the BEST greeting I had to do since the next post I will be doing is about Etude House's Aloha Color Art Pen.

Too bad I don't have the box with me anymore for me to share with you what it claims to do but from what I remember, the SA told me that this is a water-proof and smudge proof liner and can be used for body art.

Got this over the internet

 They have four shades- brown, violet, blue and green. And I decided to pick number 2 which is the violet one.

Overview

• It has a felt tip which I thought was really good. I've had this liner for months now and as you can see it's still in good shape.
• Very pigmented. So pigmented it doesn't show up a violet on my eyes. It almost looked like black.
• It reminds me of a permanent marker actually.
• And because it's felt tip, you can created a very thin line over your lash line or with a heavier hand, a thick line. I'm going to insert pictures to show you how it looks like on the eyes.

A quick swatch.

So now I am going to show you how it looks like on my eyes.

Please excuse the brows ^^

Here's a thin line created using the liner. As you can see, the felt tip-although not that flexible, made the tail of the line really thin.

 Now this is the thick line created using Aloha liner. As you can see, it doesn't look very much like violet on the eyes, which for me isn't really a bad thing.

If you are wondering if it really is water-proof, I would say yes. Yes, this is waterproof and it pretty much lasted all day on my lids, no transferring. About the "smudge proof" claim, you have to wait for it to dry first and once it's dry it will be smudge proof.

That will be all for now. Thanks for reading this post and I hope to talk to you guys soon. Bye!

Top 5 lipstick

I know my makeup collection isn't that huge and my lipstick collection isn't either. Still, If I am going somewhere and I only have to bring five (5) lipsticks with me these are the lipstick I'm going to pick.

These are the five lipstick I pick and I am going to show you each one of them.

This first lipstick I am showing you guys is from Avon and this shade is Juicy Pomegranate in the Ultra Moisture Rich line.

Overview:

• This is a sheer pink toned lipstick which I enjoy because it's perfect for everyday use.
• Really moisturizing it's almost like a tinted lip balm.
• What I really like about this lipstick is the scent. It has this fruity juicy scent which I really love smelling.
• It glides on easily, no dragging whatsoever.

The far left is my bare lips

 Next is Revlon Superlustrous lipstick in Sandalwood Beige which I have already blogged about. It's just one of my favorite lipstick and I enjoy how it looks on me.

I got this lipstick from the Philippines and this is by Shawill, shade is in 02.

Overview:

• It's a neutral dark lipstick, almost brown.
• Very creamy and not drying.
• It's unscented.
• Easy to apply. 

 Next is my favorite matte red lipstick and this is by Revlon, the shade is In the Red.

Overview

• I love that although it's matte, it's not drying.
• It is easy to apply, no dragging.
• This doesn't leave a patchy appearance on my lips even if I have worn this all day.
•  The color is flattering on my olive toned skin.

During the first quarter of 2012, I have developed an obsession with dark purple lipsticks mainly because of MAC's Up the Amp. So when I saw this lipstick at Makeup Hub by Naturele Collezione, I decided to buy it. This is Miners Cosmetics Lip color lipstick in Icon. And I have a review on this lipstick here on my blog.

I really don't care how dark it looks, I actually love the darkness of it.

There you have it. My Top 5 lipstick. I hope you enjoy this post and talk to you soon! BYE!

Tinted: Nature Republic Stain Girl's Tint

I have blogged about Tony Tints and Dear Darling Tints. Now, I am going to blog another pair of tints from another Korean brand, Nature Republic.

Yes, I have two different shades again. And I don't know why I didn't bother to buy the other one. Well, let's just start shall we?

Different shades have different designs on their packaging which I thought was so cute.

Overview:

• It comes in a short wand with a doe foot applicator.
• The packaging is a tiny plastic bottle.
• The consistency is very liquidy.
• It's really easy to blend but pat to blend, don't do circular motion. Because if you use circular motion to blend it out, you might end up rubbing it off of your face because it's really liquidy.
• It doesn't stay on for a long time.
• In my experience of using them, they didn't actually stained my cheeks.
• This has a very strong cherry scent which sometimes reminds me of a cherry flavored medicine I used to drink when I was still a kid.

Stain Girl's Tint 02

This is in 02. It's a very sheer pink toned tint which unfortunately doesn't show up as much. The color is very faint which some other people might like.

Stain Girl's Tint 01

 The shade in 01 is a peachy pink toned tint which is actually the first one I got out of these two. I actually prefer this one over the other because it looks more flattering on me.

See how sheer it is?

Will I repurchase? I don't think so. Not because I'm not in the Philippines right now but because I don't find this worth repurchasing. I would rather go for Etude House's tints or Tony Moly's.

That will be all. Thank you for reading. Bye!

Sealed and Concealed: Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer

I have a really bad case of under eye dark circles. Although I never find nor consider it as a problem, I still want to find something to minimize it's obviousness. I knew concealer will help but it took me years to convince myself to try one because I made myself believe that there is nothing that can hide these dark circles.

So I tried ELF's cheapest concealer which unfortunately didn't work and didn't actually do anything on my dark circles (nagsayang lang ako ng P129.75). It was very sheer and... yeah, there's no 'AND' it was really SHEER. I throw it out and continued my quest to find the concealer that will help hide my eyebags.

And I have to admit, after that failure I almost gave up thinking that there is really nothing the makeup world can offer for my dark circles. But then, during the time I was strolling around Etude House, I found their concealer which is the Surprise Essence Concealer. Why it is called 'Essence Concealer' I don't know. 

But before buying it, I did a little research first coz I don't want to waste my money on something that doesn't actually work well at least on me. After reading some blog posts and watching reviews about this on YouTube, I have finally got myself one and the shade I bought is in number 2.

Overview:

• It comes in a plastic tube very much similar to a lipgloss packaging.
• It has a wand and a doe foot applicator.
• The consistency is quite thick. At least this one is thicker than the ELF one.
• Blends easily.
• I have to set this with powder because it creases under my eyes.
• This pretty much lasted at least 5 hrs.

And now, I will show you the coverage it gives.

Please say 'Hi' to my bare eyes with matching dark circles.

So here I dot three small dots (?) to cover the entire under eye area.

And here it is blended out. Three dots was too much so I ended up covering even my entire eyelids.

Here is a quick comparison. I hope you can see but the other eye has the concealer on, but the other doesn't. Can you guess which is which? :)

And I wanted to show you guys that this concealer is actually buildable.

So again, i dotted three dots.

So here is my under eye with two application of the concealer.

The eye on your left is the one with just one application of the concealer and the other one on your right is the one with two. Can you see the difference? I really hope you can.

Coverage wise, I think it did a pretty good job. I can see how it conceals my  dark circles very well. I haven't tried to use this to conceal any redness nor blemishes though. 

So if it's your first time to use concealer, I really suggest you check this out on Etude House. I just don't remember how much this costs but all I know is that this is not more than P300. If you find this one to be a bit too pricey, I think you might want to check Ever Bilena or Careline counters. Hey, never under estimate Local Philippine brand cosmetics. :)
 

That will be all, thanks for reading!

Skin Care Series feat. Wonder Pore Freshner by Etude House

It's summertime here in New York, and I am telling you it's hotter here than in the Philippines. It is so hot that it made my face oilier than everr. Good thing that I brought some goodies from home.

And the 'goodie' that I am talking about is Etude House's Wonder Pore Freshner.

I've bought this baby when I was still in the Philippines and I've always wanted to have this.  This is their 250ml bottle and it came out around a week right before I was about to leave. It came out just on time and it's a good thing they come up with a relatively smaller bottle because initially they only have 500ml which costs around P700++. They do sell a spray bottle for P98 but I find it really inconvenient. That's why I chose the 250ml bottle instead.

Before I have bought this, I got a chance to try it first. I got a sample size of it during the time they were doing a gift with purchase thing where, when you spent a certain amount in a single receipt, there's a free item added. And I'm glad that I tried it first before buying the actual product.

 Overview:

• It's really refreshing
• It doesn't leave a sticky feeling.
• It's almost unscented.
• It does a great job on removing dirt and excess oils.
•  Great for summer.

There's a lot of things that this product claims to do like maintaining the pH balance of you skin, Minimize pore size and something about keeping the elasticity of the pores which honestly, I don't really care much. As long as it refreshes, moisturizes and doesn't break my skin out, I'm fine with that.

See the dirt? It's from my face. I know it looks so gross.

The primary reason that I'm using this product is because it's refreshing but I also noticed that it does help control the oils that my face is producing.

I hope you find this helpful and Thank you for reading!

Tinted: Etude House Dear Darling Tints

Continuing my venture to try different kinds of tints, here I am once again sharing two from collection. These are some of my first tints purchased and the first Korean brand I've ever owned. They are Dear Darling Tints from Etude House.

General Overview

• The packaging comes in a plastic tube, which reminds me of a lipgloss packaging
• The cap is really cute. It has this girly details perfect for a princess.
• It comes in a wand, and a doe foot applicator.
• The consistency is thick, very much gel like.
• Pigmentation is awesome.
• Staying power is good. It stays for a really long time. 
• These are easy to blend and it doesn't dry that fast.
• It doesn't leave a patch on the cheeks.

Okay let's talk about them separately shall we?

Dear Darling Tint #03

(L) swiped swatch; (R) blended out. I hope you see the color.

So the first tint that I got is this orangey one which is in number 03, I know they do have names but apparently, the labels on this are in Korean. This is the first one that I got because I thought since I am morena, I thought this will look good on me, and I was not wrong. It did look good and it looks natural. It was so good that I went back to Etude House and get another tube and this time I chose a pink one.

Dear Darling Tint #01

(L) swiped swatch; (R) blended out

And this is what I got. I chose the pink one just to try it out and usually when I try something out I end up regretting it, but this time I didn't. I loved the effect it gave on my cheeks. It made my face looked healthy. You know the flush of color you'll have when you just finished a routine exercise? That's the kind of flush I've always had whenever I use this color.

I don't normally recommend things to people but this one is a must try. It is affordable, it costs 198php and Etude House in the Philippines is actually located in every mall. At least SM malls but I've seen Etude House in Festival Mall too.

So if you are new to tints, and you want to try some, these are good to start with. Like what I've said, they do stay long and they smell like candy. That I personally like.

Just a quick comparison of the two tints.

Thank you for reading!

Tinted: Tony Moly TONY TINTS

During my college days, it has always been one of my frustrations to own a blush that stays on for an entire 12 hours. My class starts from 7am and ends at 7pm so having a blush that will last that long was a heaven sent to me. But I can't seem to find one.

Luckily, my friend introduced me to cheek stains by Ever Bilena and I found that it lasted pretty much the entire day even if it was hot and humid. And so, from that day on I was on a quest to search for the tints and stains that the market may offer. I've tried several ones and I'm really excited to share these two of my great finds.

They are by a Korean brand, Tony Moly and these are their Tony Tints.

General Over view:

• Standard plastic tube
• Has wand and a doe foot applicator
• The consistency is not too liquidy but not gel-like.
• A little goes a long way
• Has to be blended right a way cause it dries pretty fast
• You might want to dilute it water because it's really pigmented.
• Lasts a really long time on the cheeks and really stains
• It has a scent that is actually tolerable, well at least I can tolerate it.

Red Apple is the first that I got. This one is really red, as in bloody red. I suggest that if you're going to use this, you might want to dilute it with water coz this may turn your cheeks crazy red like you've just been slapped so hard. If I am going for a red lip look, I actually use this to stain my lips and then I apply my red lipstick on. You may also use this alone because it's just amazingly pigmented.

This how the wand looks like. As you can see, it's insanely red for a tint.

(L) swiped swatch; (R) Blended out. Can you see the pigmentation?

I really enjoyed Red Apple so much that's why I decided to pick the other shade which is Cherry Pink. If you swatch Cherry Pink, it may show off to be a little to dark to be called 'pink' and to me it almost looked like deep magenta. But if you blend it, the pinkness of it comes out and it will give you that natural flush to your cheeks like it came from with in.

The applicator

See how it doesn't show as pink when swatched and how it is pink when blended out?

If you are a tint junkie like I am, you can get these at any Tony Moly branch on SM malls. They are 198php.

So I guess that will be all for these tints. I will update this post and add some pictures of me wearing them so that you will be able to see how they actually look like when worn.

Thank you so much for reading, talk to you soon! Bye :)