Year: 2014

Music Festival Carry-Ons: For Lolas

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Lola means “grandmother”in Filipino, which is pretty much an accurate descriptor of my whole entire being true self. This lola went to a music festival called Wanderland a few days ago and this is what this lola brought along. The “beauty” bits, at least. Lord knows I brought PRICKLY HEAT POWDER and WET WIPES, because like I said, my true self is a lola. Pressed powder & oil blotting sheets to battle the oilies. SPF’d lip balm for sun protection & lip moisture. A cute lip color—my current favorite!—for cuteness. Cheek tint for extra cuteness. Sunscreen* for uselessness because we didn’t even go until the sun was about to set. An expensive misting of water, because you never know when you’re going to need that, what with the heat of the world these days and all. The funny thing is that I didn’t even use any of this stuff I brought with me. Because I was too busy being a fake lola and having fun, well way into the night! I want to know: What …

Short Hair, I Kinda Care

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You don’t see a lot of hair posts here, but that’s just because I used to be so meh about my hair that I didn’t even bother. At all. I brushed through my hair maybe once a month. And you must know, I have a lot of hair. Or had, I guess. I chopped most of it off in April. I used to just pull my hair up in a top knot, a bun, or a ponytail if I needed to “style” it. It turns out, short hair really is more high maintenance. Go me. (I do feel more like myself with this haircut, though, so I am willing to suffer the consequences.) Ahem. These are my “styling tools,” so to speak. They are more like my arsenal for “Hope You Still Look Passably Decent By Noon!” hair. I have thick, stubborn hair, so I just have to face the facts that I cannot wield it. None of us can. It has no other master. …However, here are some of the things I’ve been using …

Nosy Beauty Vol. 29: Sasha

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Hey, Internet. I’ve been having a bit of an issue getting a hold of people to feature here on Nosy Beauty, so for the meantime, I’m going to post a new entry (hopefully) every other Friday now, as opposed to every single Saturday, which I used to do before its inevitable, temporary demise. Anyway, this week, I’ve got Sasha of Go for Garbo, one of my favorite new beauty blogs, and also reader/writer of my favorite book blog: Other Sashas. Enjoy! • Hello, Carina’s corner of the Internet! My name is Sasha Martinez, and I write for a living. I’m also a gangly, awkward nerdface with a belated but nonetheless ardent fascination with makeup, helped along by ch-ch-ch-changes brought on by a belated and horrifically tedious skincare regimen. I guess this fascination came to a head when I found myself keeping a dedicated pocket notebook just for makeup thoughts—partly tracking my use of products, partly a skincare diary, mostly arguments with myself re buying two eye palettes in one go, yadda. And then I was …

Unboxing: BDJ Box May 2014*

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Hi everyone! I’m back from a (sorta) beach trip, which I hope explains the absence. I have been quite busy and then I jumped into a holiday, so. I guess that means I left y’all here. Ah! I was met with the BDJ Box for May 2014* when I got home from Puerto Galera. Thank you, BDJ Box Team! It was a sweet surprise. 🙂 For the past few months, we’ve been getting so much makeup, I didn’t know if I could handle any more of it (a lie), but I was so happy to see what we got for this month (not a lie)! May 2014’s theme is Summer Radiance. I think it’s kind of a stretch, since I got a strange, albeit great, mishmash of products. I think they all serve their own purpose, theme or no theme. The first most noticeable full-size item is the too cool for school Pumpkin Sleeping Pack (Php 689, 100ml). I’m not quite sure how to use it, but it’s an overnight treatment that’s supposed to make …

Face Off: NARS Ita Kabuki Brush vs. Illamasqua Blush Up Brush

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This fun post was brought to you by a NARS SA that gave me the wrong thing (as I previously mentioned here). I was going to buy the NARS Yachiyo brush because it applied blush really beautifully, but the SA gave me this flat brush called the NARS Ita Kabuki brush, which became really famez after YT gurus kept using it as a contour brush. I already had a similar flat brush, the Illamasqua Blush-Up Brush, so I was a bit miffed by this mistake, but I also wanted to see if this was as good as everyone thought it was. I don’t really contour much, so I didn’t have much use for this, but IDK. I have a weird relationship with stuff, I guess. Here’s what they look like, structurally. The Ita brush is comprised of a rubbery matte plank that forks into two planks that sandwich the bristles (the ferrule is black). The Blush Up brush is a bit fan-like but super dense with a shiny black ferrule and handle. Comparing the bristles, …

FOTD: #YSProm

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I’ve been extremely busy lately and my queue of posts ran out before I could write more posts (heh), so I hope you guys don’t mind a Face of the Day! I wore this to #YSProm, which is basically Young Star’s 18th Birthday! You can see (a bit) more pictures here. It looks simple—and it is!—but I did spend quite a bit of time making my base look nice~ I was so happy that I didn’t have to put SPF on my face because it was a night event. Thank tha lawddd. I only put up with SPF because I don’t want to burn under the sun. What I Wore: Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Ginger), bareMinerals Original Foundation (Medium Beige), BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector (Opal), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (Mood Light), & Other Stories Eyebrow Pencil (Bouclé Greige), The Body Shop Brow & Liner Kit (02), MAC Paint Pot (Painterly), NARS And God Created the Woman Palette, Sasa Perfect Shape Gel Eyeliner (01 Velvet Black), Happy Skin Eye Am Here to …

Boys Don’t Cry

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Say hello to Boys Don’t Cry—another kinda impulse, kinda not buy from NARS. I’ve been eyeing this blush since the collection came out, aka Summer 2013, aka almost an entire year if not more. I remember falling in love with it online and swatching it every time I pass by NARS, just because I didn’t need any more blush. Especially not 13g more blush… But, what can I say? I got caught at a weak moment. This is a limited edition blush, so I’m not even sure if it’s still available since it did come out a year ago. The SA claimed that this was the last piece they had in stock (Rustan’s Makati), but she also gave me the wrong brush, so I don’t know if I believe her. More on that later. Boys Don’t Cry is a “High Voltage Blush” and is described as a “pink grapefruit” shade. It is quite a reddish coral with a bit of gold overspray (just at the top, for design). It is also so freaking pretty. In …