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FOTD: Vela

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I wore this look to a book launch and an exhibit, and I thought it was a good time to play around with makeup, aka Not an Office Look. I based it on this because I really wanted to wear a dark lip. Funnily enough, it led to a fun eye look, too. It’s not as ~fashion~ as the picture I based it off, but I think it’s quite nice!

FOTD-Vela-1

I haven’t been wearing a lot of blush lately. For this look, I just used a general combination of Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant Light, Dim Light, Incandescent Light and Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder in Medium for contour.

FOTD-Vela-Eyes

For the eye look, I mainly ran Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear through my crease, and sandwiched Oslo Cosmetics Vela patted in the center of my lid with Rouge Bunny Rouge Bejewelled Skylark. I ran a bit of Cocoa Bear on the lower lash line, too, and lined my upper lash line with a liquid liner.

FOTD-Vela-2

My (shoddily reapplied) lip color is ColourPop Matte Lippie Stix in Paramour.

FOTD-Vela-Header2

Products used:

— Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint (Medium)
— Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur (Medium)
— Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette
— K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyebrow Pencil (103)*
— Urban Decay Primer Potion
— Rouge Bunny Rouge Long-Lasting Eye Shadow (Bejewelled Skylark)
— Makeup Geek Matte Eyeshadow (Cocoa Bear)
— Oslo Cosmetics (Vela)
— K-Palette liquid liner (black)*
— Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder (Medium)
— ColourPop Lippie Stix (Paramour)

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.

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Coming Out of the Woodwork (plus, a giveaway)

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Before I discovered rings and lapel pins, my main accessories of choice were necklaces and some kind of wristwatch. I love how watches look, especially if they’re either a touch masculine or somewhat minimal. I’ve mainly been wearing a simple watch with a white face, tortoiseshell frame and leather strap from AÃRK Collective for the past few months, but I received a cute watch from JORD a few months ago.

JORD creates unique wood watches, with sustainability, efficiency, and experiential living in mind. Their website is pretty cool, too, where they share a lot of information about their watches, in case you’d like to get into the nitty gritty of the types of wood, movements, and glass they use to craft their watches.

JORD Wood Watch - Ely Natural Green 2

I currently have the JORD Ely in Green Sandalwood and Maple* which was named after a bunch of historic brick buildings in St. Louis called the Ely Walker Warehouse. I love the sort of patina-toned stain on my wood watch, although of course it’s not a stain, but a natural coloring.

JORD Ely Watch - Wrist

It’s extremely easy to wear and pair up with most things. A great feature of the watch is also its scratch-resistant mineral glass, which allows you to see the face clearly, and the fact that it’s splash proof. It’s got a deployment buckle with push buttons, as well as a date window for easy reference.

I love that it’s not too heavy, which is what I was expecting from a watch made of wood, but it’s got a nice heft to it, too.

Honestly, it’s a beautiful watch that’s fun, but not over-the-top or too casual. I think my only qualm is the date dial (it’s a bit hard to set up/change the date) and the silver accents, but that’s only a personal preference. My AARK Collective watch is still my favorite, but the JORD Ely is a great alternate watch to switch things up.

Thanks to JORD, I’m also giving away a $120 JORD E-Gift Certificate! They offer free shipping anywhere in the world. Enter here:
JORD Wood Watches Giveaway
ENTER HERE.

This contest is open to anyone who lives anywhere in the world (JORD ships free!), so you should try your luck and enter! JORD has a huge variety of watches available online. I myself have my eye on a few: Ely in Dark Sandalwood, Frankie in Ebony and Gold, and Fieldcrest in Dark Sandalwood.

JORDWatches-Fieldcrest, Frankie, Ely

And these are just a few models to choose from! Don’t forget to enter here. Contest ends in 9 days!

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples. This post contains tracking links.

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My Newest Concealer Trick

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This is such a simple thing that I don’t even know if it warrants a whole post, but let me indulge. Because it works really well. I’m not a full coverage foundation person. I don’t even know if I’m a medium coverage foundation person most days. I’ve been really liking spreading a thin layer of foundation or, more often, reverting to my Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint—a product notorious for “pointless” coverage. After using up my much-loved NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, I decided to dig through my stash and attempt at using up the concealers I do have instead of repurchasing. I’ve been using the Ellis Faas Concealer* which is another favorite formula, but I came across the Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur, which I’ve inexplicably stashed away after a love affair with the NARS RCC.

So, this concealer is amazing and pigmented, but it doesn’t go on as well as the NARS RCC, which has great pigmentation and enough slip to it that it doesn’t look cake-y, ever. I’ve never managed to perfect the hydrate-undereye-then-apply-concealer technique, so the next best thing was something I picked up from watching a video by chrissstttiiine.

I apply a bit of the concealer to the back of my hand add a drop or two of the Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint then go to town. I use it on blemishes, too. I mean, you can still see them, but like I said, I don’t mind a bit of imperfections peeking through.

FOTD-Vela-2

Then I just set everything with a light powder and call it a day. Anyway, I’m super excited about this because it renders most of my too-thick concealers, well… usable!

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.

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FOTD: Navy & Neutrals

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Another day, another FOTD. Here’s a largely neutral look that took way too much effort, probably, to achieve. I saw this look and wanted to recreate it, but I guess I needed to commit more, and also a super sparkly pale blue liner instead of all the neutral/rosy/dark ones I’ve got.

FOTD-Neutrals and Navy-Face3

FOTD-Neutrals and Navy-Face2

FOTD-Neutrals and Navy-Face1

My eyebrows are really uneven, huh? For my eyeshadow, I just used the ColourPop Super Shock Shadow in Just a Sip, which is my obsession as of late, then I lined my upper lid with 3CE Creamy Waterproof Eye Liner in #5 Moulin Rouge, which is a gorgeous sparkly navy. For my lower lash line, I just went with the Innisfree Gel Liner in 3 (I think). Other product info after the photo.

FOTD-Neutrals and Navy-Eyes

Products Used:

— Kjaer Weis Cream Foundation (Just Sheer)
— ColourPop Super Shock Shadow (Just a Sip)
— 3CE Creamy Waterproof Eye Liner (#5 Moulin Rouge)
— Innisfree Gel Liner (3)
— K-Palette 24H Real Lasting 2Way Eyebrow Pencil (103)*
— Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder (Medium)
— ColourPop Blush (Aphrodisiac)
— ColourPop Highlighter (Butterfly Beach)
— ColourPop Ultra Matte Lip (Trap)

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.

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Scrub the Day Away

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I don’t remember the last time I’ve exclusively used bath soap, favoring shower gels and meshy bath sponges in the last couple of years. As such, I have an extensive array of shower gels (another story for another day). Washing away grime doesn’t feel quite complete without a little bit of exfoliation, either.

I received the Keekai Charcoal Sponge* in the mail a few weeks ago. I thought it would replace my regular mesh bath sponge, but it doesn’t give the same kind of cleansing grit that I like, so I use it after my normal/regular cleansing. If you don’t like too-rough exfoliation, this might be perfect for you. The charcoal sponge can be used alone or with your cleanser, as it’s a little hard to completely rinse away the cleanser from the sponge.

It’s gentle enough to use for the face, too (though I haven’t used it back on my face after using it on my body). The charcoal sponge is great to massage the skin to stimulate blood flow. (Activated) charcoal is also a popular skin care ingredient as it’s known to absorb toxins and draw out bacteria.

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples. Keekai Charcoal Sponge (Php 199) is available at Beauty Bar Trinoma, Greenbelt 5, SM Mall of Asia, Rockwell, and Central Square.

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FOTD: Thick Liner

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Just checking in: I’m still alive. So, last Friday, I was doing my makeup in the car and overdrew the liner on my left eye. If you’ve been around a while, you’d know that my lids aren’t exactly the same, in that the fold on them is different. This means that I either have to wear my eyeliner really, really thinly (and compensate with an outrageous wing) or go on full-thick liner, which I like to call “The Point of No Return.”

Anyway, despite what I thought was a disaster, I ended up liking how it looked. So here are the selfies.

Thick Eyeliner-1000px

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Products Used:

— Becca Resurfacing Primer
— Ellis Faas Concealer (S204)*
— Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Pressed Powder (Shade 2)
— K-Palette 24H Real Lasting 2Way Eyebrow Pencil (103)*
— ColourPop Blush (Aphrodisiac): used on eyes and cheeks
— K-Palette Essence in ShadowLiner (02 brown black x camel brown)*
— Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder (Medium)
— NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil (Bahama)

Guess what? My bangs were helpful, too!

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.

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Burt’s Bees Holiday 2015 Sets

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My go-to gifts for people whose wishlists I’m not privy to are books and holiday sets. I’m such a sucker for these, so imagine my delight when I came home to a bunch of Burt’s Bees Holiday Sets for 2015*. These didn’t come with any PR information, so I don’t even think they were expecting me to post anything—i.e. this post may or may not be helpful—but like I said. I’m a sucker for efficiency and gift sets—especially when they come so cutely packaged!

Beeswax Lip Balm and Moisturizing Lip Balm in Wild Cherry

BurtsBeesHoliday2015Sets-LipBalmStocking Stuffers

The beeswax lip balm (Php 325) is perhaps what Burt’s Bees is most well-known for. I’m a fan of these myself, as are the rest of my family, even my brother who is kind of wary of most “beauty” products. Everyone could use a bit of lip balm, though, right? The beeswax lip balm comes in a tin, too, which contains more product, but although this incarnation is not as physically appealing, I do prefer not having to dip my fingers in a lip balm tin.

The wild cherry lip balm (Php 495) is “made with rich cherry oil—cold pressed from cherry seed kernels—this balm’s sweet, natural flavor with just a hint of tartness will invigorate your senses and pamper your lips.”

These are nice options for gifts if you’re like me and like putting together little packages instead of getting one big gift.

Outdoor Adventures

BurtsBeesHoliday2015Sets - Outdoor Adventures

This is probably my favorite little kit out of everything. (It’s probably the cute little tin, but I like what’s inside, too.) I don’t know how much it retails for, but it’s got a tin of the Res-Q Ointment (Php 450), which is a soothing salve they’re also famous for, a tin of the Hand Salve (Php 650) for rough and dry hands, the Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm with Kokum Butter (Php 375), and two sample packets of the Intense Hydration Treatment Mask. This is basically a dry-skinned girl (aka me)’s best friend.

… I’m sorry, I still can’t over the cute little tin.

Bee Merry Mystery Giant Box

BurtsBeesHoliday2015Sets-Box

Again, no information—I think this might actually be a customizable box option—but I’ll break the box I got down for you. In it, there’s the Ultimate Care Hand Cream (Php 650), the Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream (Php 650), a tube of Lip Shine in Peachy (Php 595), a tube of Lip Gloss in Harvest Time (Php 750), a tub of Radiance Night Cream (Php 1,450), and lastly, a tub of Radiance Eye Cream (Php 1,450).

BurtsBeesHoliday2015Sets

That’s all, folks! I hope this post gave you ideas for your holiday list. I haven’t started on mine (oops), but perhaps I’ll pick a few of these up for safety… or for myself.

Burt’s Bees is available for purchase online at Burt’s Bees Philippines, Zalora, and Beauty Bar. As of the time of posting, Zalora is the only online retailer that carries holiday sets, though not the ones pictured here.

* Items marked with an asterisk are PR Samples.

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