All posts filed under: Miscellaneous

5 Things Friday: My Favorite Multi-Purpose Products

Published by

On the spotlight for today’s 5 Things Friday are some of my favorite multi-purpose products. They’re basically things you can use for more than one thing. There’s just something awesome about being able to use one thing many different ways. For the makeup bits, here are two products that can be used for the cheeks, the lips, and the eyes: the Addiction Cheek Stick and the OCC Creme Colour Concentrate. I haven’t tried the BECCA Beach Tint on my eyes, but it’s a great lip and cheek product, too. All three remain steadfast favorites in my makeup swamp. Next up, I’ve got bareMinerals Liner Shadow, which I actually primarily use on my eyebrows. It’s a great deep matte brown for both liner and shadow, too. Last but not the least, my tin of the cult favorite Smith’s Rosebud Salve. What can’t this little pot do? I don’t like it as a lip moisturizer, but I use it on dry, irritated spots and my gross cuticles. I have read many other different uses (i.e. hair wax? …

BNT Girls Collaboration: SNSD Mr Mr Makeup (Seohyun)

Published by

Before my batch of BNT Girls (possibly) disbands, we thought we’d cook up a makeup collaboration featuring looks from SNSD/Girls Generation’s new video for the song, Mr Mr! You can watch the video here: We each picked a girl who wore a makeup look we wanted to recreate! I’m not sure what time the other girls are planning to post their looks, so I’ll just add the links as they come. 🙂 Anyway, I did this look back when I still had long hair! I was picking between Yuri and Seohyun, but Seohyun had the look I wanted to recreate the most: (It took me a while to remember their names, haha. I’m not a big fan of K-Pop, but that’s only because I don’t know where to start. But that’s another story.) I never would have thought to pair purple eye makeup with a red lip; that just seems to cross over to super bold territory for me. Still, I persevered.

Makeup Inventory: Addiction Cheek Sticks

Published by

Presenting… my latest iteration of my Addiction Cheek Stick inventory. These are possibly some of my favorite makeup bits ever, and I’m trying really hard not to buy everything from the range. If you aren’t familiar, Cheek Sticks are multi-purpose products by Japanese brand, Addiction by Ayako. Ayako was a makeup artist that worked closely with François Nars (of NARS, duh), which probably explains a lot of the brand’s aesthetic direction. Cheek Sticks can be used on the cheeks, lips, and even eyes (though they are not crease-free). In a span of a year, I have amassed five different shades, all of which I love. From lightest to darkest, I have African Sunset, Tea Rose, Rose Bar (my newest one!), Revenge (my first one!), and Suspicious. They are swatched in the same order below: The most versatile one, in my opinion, is Rose Bar, though I am able to use Revenge pretty much anywhere also. It’s just a less agreeable color than Rose Bar. Tea Rose was a fast favorite and was in rotation for …

Recent Obsessions: SPF in Lip Products

Published by

When I was traveling around, I noticed that my lips would get more sore and chapped than they usually were. I attributed it to the cold, but also to sun exposure. I also saw quite a bit of lip products all around Japan that boasted of SPF. I didn’t want sun damage and the lips are a part of our body that we often forget to protect, which is why I picked up a few here and there. Except for the Dior Addict Lip Glow, I bought everything in the photo on that trip. I have two lip products by Ettusais, the Lip Essence N Stick (SPF 10) and the Lip Essence with hypergloss oil (SPF 18 PA++). From MUJI, I have the Medicated Lip Cream (SPF 12) and a tinted balm of sorts (SPF 13 PA++). I’ve been making it a habit to wear these under my lip products, which makes me feel less paranoid about their exposure to the sun. They’re all easy to reapply on-the-go, too. Follow me: Bloglovin' • Twitter • …

Unboxing: BDJ Box for April 2014*

Published by

On Saturday morning, I woke up to a super surprise from the BDJ Box team! They sweetly sent me April’s massive box to try out. BDJ Box is one of the country’s leading subscription boxes for beauty-lovers. I think they probably have the best record for hitting home runs with their boxes, in terms of both value and excitement. If you’re a subscriber, you’ve probably already seen—and loved—the stuff inside, but if you’re a speculator, check out this unboxing post to see what you missed this round. Pixy is an Indonesian makeup brand that’s new to the Philippine market. Its tagline, Truly Asian Beauty drives straight to the point of their brand—products that are especially formulated for Asian skin.

My Spring/Summer Makeup Base

Published by

Most days, I like to keep it light already, but as the hotter weather rolls around, cutting down products becomes serious business. Before I broiled in the heat of the sun, I used to be able to just go out in concealer and a finishing powder, but the sun’s rays have a way of bringing out SPF-induced paranoia. My priority is great sun protection for the face. I picked this up in Japan—the Suncut Water in UV Protect Essence—but it’s essentially a water-based face sunscreen with SPF 50+ PA++++. It dries down really well, which is great because I hate feeling gunky in the summer heat. That’s my spring skin care tip, too—don’t forget the sunscreen! I go in with my concealer (NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger), which I set with a powder (Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder in Refresh). The problem with the sunscreen is that it leaves the skin a little greasy-looking. That’s when I go in with a light layer of mineral foundation (Ellana Minerals Loose Foundation …

Traveling: What I Brought Along vs. What I Should Have Brought Instead

Published by

I have always been an overpacker. As a child, I would tote incredibly heavy bags filled with shit I didn’t need. I used to carry a DSLR, a laptop, and all my books and notebooks to school as a college freshman. Over time, I’ve learned to take only the essentials with me (usually), and on my last trip to Japan, which happened about two weeks ago, I thought I did a great job of streamlining everything—at least, when it came to my makeup bits. I didn’t want to deal with a proper base, so aside from my moisturizer, I brought along the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (review), which I’ve been setting with the Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder (review). I’ve also got a small bottle of the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer (review) and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette (review) for the rest of my face. For eyes, I’ve got my MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork, the NARS NARSissist Eyeshadow Palette (review), and the Le Métier de Beauté Anamorphic Lash Mascara …