Author: Carina

Growing with vs. outgrowing makeup

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It seems a little absurd to me when I realise that my obsession with — or even just consumption of — makeup began about 10 or so years ago. I came out as a lesbian*, was depressed but undiagnosed, with a freelance career that was good on paper, but gave me no routine or stability. Blogging about makeup was one of the things that helped me feel sane. It was a distraction of the best kind, even though it may have led to several impulse purchases and an undeniable overconsumption, the realisation of which led me to kind of let go of engaging in the beauty community. But, still, my stint in beauty blogging helped anchor me to the world so that I did not topple over the edge of my sadness. I look at makeup and beauty through a vastly different lens now, but I don’t even think I recognised it as a life line at the time. Blogging about beauty was just one of the things I could do where I had nothing …

Making space for makeup

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Hello. I’ve been meaning to make a comeback on this little slice of the Internet for a while now, but I think I kept getting stuck on the why. It made little sense to resurrect a space that was dedicated to makeup and beauty when I had slowly been, in a way, weaning myself off of it over the last couple of years. Which isn’t to say that I’ve stopped consuming or using beauty-adjacent products… I’ve just reined in the monster, so to speak. I moved to London to pursue a masters degree in late 2017, bringing along some key items, with full intention on moving back home once the programme finished in 2019. Well, I’m still here, and the collection I’ve amassed is back home in Manila. At some point, I did a “big” clear out, and I intended to bring some more of them back here, but I haven’t been able to leave the U.K. since late 2019. Anyway, my point is, I have so much crap and I can’t use them. Which …

Barely any base: BECCA Backlight Priming Filter

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So, a few days ago, I led a customer into a fitting room and she took the time to pause and tell me that my skin looked really great. Obviously, I beamed… some more, ha. I’ve been too lazy to wear any type of base, especially during the summer when my skin went very tan and nothing I had matched me. Anyway, I thought I’d share the base combo I was wearing that day, since I did wear something new that I felt helped give me a little facelift. I picked up a travel size of the BECCA Backlight Priming Filter at SpaceNK¹ for… uh, reasons. I think I wanted a bit more glowy-ness, but having tried the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector (in Opal!), I wanted something more subtle. I figured that “primer” meant it was meant to use under makeup or alone (I was right — but yes, I could have read the instructions). The product is much more watery than the Shimmering Skin Perfector, and I don’t have mine with me at the …

FOTD: Here comes the sun

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So, after a long hiatus from mixing it up and dressing up and making myself reach for non-offensive “everyday” makeup, I’ve lately been making a bit of extra effort to, in my opinion, “look nice.” This particular look was brought about by a suggestion from my housemate, Ale, for me to wear yellow eyeshadow because I had become particularly tan. (Thank you, English summer?) The days have grown significantly colder, so these are sort of last-ditch attempts at bringing a bit of summer sun with me, I think. I’ve worn yellow eyeshadow before (see: 1, 2, 3), but funny how the overall effect differs with just a change of lip (or, in this case…  haircut, and uh… everything else). (RE: the title and potentially coming across as crass or doing something in poor taste… I know that it’s very rainy in Metro Manila right now, and I hope everyone’s doing more or less okay.) The eye look’s pretty simple: cool, reddish mid-tone brown in the crease with a warmer terracotta brown on the outer crease …

Tales from the top shelf: skin care update

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Hello, friends. Today, we talk about skin care. Contrary to how I titled this post, I don’t actually reach for the top shelf when it comes to skin care (off to a great start, aren’t I?) — if it works, it works. I do enjoy trying new things, though I’ve scaled back the trying a lot. These are the skin care things currently in my rotation, in case you want to try new things, too. A caveat: I don’t currently have the best skin situation, though I can say that these have more or less taken care of my skin, under the stress of moving and changing temperatures, among other things. (I’m moving in a few weeks, and I thought it would be nice (lol) to say ‘hi’ from my current student halls bathroom. I have an ensuite — hallelujah.) On my very tiny shelf, I’ve got: micellar water and a face wash from the drugstore — nothing to write home about; they get the job done! I also have a face scrub in the …

Softly, again

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Uh, hi. You might (?) remember me from years ago when I wrote a lot about beauty. Likely in a curious, albeit misguided way. I locked this account away at some point for various reasons I don’t feel like getting into now, but the beauty bug. It has bitten me once again. Not in quite the same way, and certainly, the first initial sting never left me completely. But, I was over it for a while (it felt too consuming, if you can believe that), and now I’m not. So, hi. I’m in the process of cleaning up house here, but I wanted to just say hi, a bit. I guess? I don’t know. This all feels very strange… First thing to get out of the way is that I’ve moved continents on account of school. So, I don’t have a lot of makeup with me and I don’t plan on accumulating a lot more (although I did a spot of shopping here and there, of course). I look like this now: While I was …

FOTD: Hello, Rome

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Hiya, I finally managed to take good photos of my makeup before it got too dark out! I’ve been feeling pretty bored and repetitive, so I ~tried~ to play with my eye makeup this time around. Still neutrals, though, but I cracked open my Makeup Revolution I Heart Chocolate palette* (a supposed dupe for the TooFaced Chocolate Bar palette) and tbh, I’m still quite impressed by it. Realized, too, that I haven’t posted any looks using this palette. Face & Cheeks Rediscovered my y.e.t. Cosmetics Fill It Up Primer… And I kind of don’t like how it ended up working with my makeup. My initial review of it was kind of glowing, lol. But maybe it’s the face oil I used. For this look, I used MAKE Soft Focus Foundation, powdered down with Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Pressed Powder. I used Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder for my contour, and am wearing a beautiful MAC blush (!) called Breezy, which I got from Laura as a gift. 🙂 Eyes & Lips Eyebrows courtesy …