All posts filed under: Personal

Makeup No-Buy Update: One Month Mark

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One month ago, I put myself on a Makeup No-Buy, and this is just a little update to let you know how I was doing. 🙂 So far, I’ve only purchased two things with points from a loyalty card: — e.l.f. Liquid Eyeliner — essence Stay All-Day Long-Lasting Eyeshadow in Glammy Goes To… I’ve also received two gifts from my aunt: — BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal — BECCA Beach Tint in Guava And, that’s about it! Skincare things and clothes don’t count, though, and I’m beginning to think I should have a spending ban altogether. Le sigh. All in all, I think I’ve been doing pretty good, though.

Project Pan: Going Cruelty-Free

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Project 10 Pan was created by lollipop26 on YouTube as a way for her to purposefully use up 10 items in her collection that are near to being used up, before buying any more makeup. Since I am on a No Buy until the end of November, and am trying to go cruelty-free, I think this is the perfect opportunity to do just this. I’ll start with 10 items from companies that test on animals. I’m quite happy as I had a bit of trouble finding these items in my collection, as a lot of them are cruelty-free. 🙂 Also, I’m concentrating on the items that have been in my collection for a long time as opposed to items that I’ve nearly used up. I was thinking of adding the Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum in here, but I am rationing it, as I will not be repurchasing it until Revlon revises its animal testing policy. Anyway, here are the items I’ve picked out: L’Oreal Lucent Magique Liquid Foundation (G5 Gold Shell) — This …

Cruelty-Free Update!

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Hello! If you remember, I made a personal pledge to cut down on cruelty-free cosmetics about a month ago. You can read that here. So, here’s an update! Mainly, I received a shitload of MAC Cosmetics that I ordered prior to the cruelty-free pledge. Technically, MAC Cosmetics don’t test on animals, unless required by law. My friend Laura explained it to me. Basically, MAC themselves don’t test on animals. But, for countries like China who require animal testing for cosmetics to be sold there, they authorize animal testing in that country. There’s still animal testing involved, but it’s not as bad as thought. I really hope they can eliminate all of this testing, because they’re a company who started out cruelty-free. Aside from that, I caved only once since then, I think. I bought three Maybelline Color Whispers from an online shop. Was it worth it? Not really, although, I do really like them. I feel sad when I think about the bunnies, though, so that’s really my motivation to keep away from non-CF brands. …

Makeup No-Buy

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Yeesh. So. This was bound to happen. The previous makeup bans I’ve had were kinda laughable, just because I gave myself wiggle room to get some items, but no more! I have to be tough on myself if I want my savings to stay intact. I’ve been thinking of a makeup no-buy for a while now, but the dilly-dallying was caused by me, trying to squeeze in as much makeup purchases before I announced my decision to be more conscious of my spending habits. Well, that’s not very smart. I realized, as I was filling up my Nordstrom shopping cart with quite a few items, that this was not healthy and I didn’t want to be that kind of person. So I walked away from my cart, and sat down to write this post after I surveyed my current makeup stash. I didn’t even feel bad, exiting the screen. So, the rules are pretty simple: no buying of makeup until the end of November. I was thinking of lifting it in time for my birthday, …

A Rather Sizeable MAC Haul

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You’ve been warned. OK, so I don’t have a lot of MAC products. Before this haul, I had three lipsticks, two non-neutral eyeshadows (Amber Lights and Trax), a lipgloss, a pearlmatte powder, a paint pot, and two brushes. I never go into MAC stores here because looking for colors stresses me out. However, when Laura, a friend of mine from Canada-land, told me that she could help me out by picking out colors and products (at least in terms of color makeup and brushes) she liked, I couldn’t say no—especially not to help and cheaper cosmetics. ETA: MAC has a considerable (almost 50%) markup here in the Philippines. To illustrate, the lipsticks are $15 each or about Php 617, but they’re being sold in Manila at Php 1,000 or $24.32. I don’t think they even sell the eyeshadow refill pans here, so instead of paying $12 or Php 493 per color (refill pan), I have to pay Php 1000 or $24.32 per color, even though I’m going to have to depot it anyway. It doesn’t …

My Personal Cruelty-Free Pledge, Or a Step Towards It

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I have been a regular makeup user only for about six months, but I’ve been burdened by the issue of animal testing and what it means to me as a consumer and—what I’d like to think—me as a responsible human being. I know it happens outside of the beauty industry as well, but I think a large part of why I feel bad is because beauty products are, at the root of it, pretty unnecessary to the general public. We beauty lovers use products because it is enjoyable and it makes us happy. It’s not necessarily a necessity, though I’m sure there are special cases, so I can’t be at peace knowing that a bunny or a hamster suffered so I could be itch- and allergy-free, wearing a lipstick or a foundation. Because of this burden, I have assessed my current collection and divided the brands into several categories, which you can see here. If I can amend anything on the list, please feel free to let me know. 🙂 A large part of why …

A Cult(ure) of White

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This weekend, I received BDJ’s April Box, and was disheartened to see that most of the items were aimed at skin whitening. It’s probably harsh and callous to say, but it felt like a KKK theme instead of an “Oh, So Fresh!” box. It’s not that it’s really a surprise at this point. I’m aware that a large part of the Philippine population want to be whiter. It doesn’t mean that it frustrates me any less. I understand it from the business point of view… People want to be whiter, so companies want to sell them something they will buy. Already frustrated with the box chock-full of whitening products, I was further saddened by a trip to the mall the next day. I had to pick up a few things (i.e. a hairdryer, cotton buds, wipes, sun block) and was constantly peddled whitening lotions and creams. Every corner I turned, I was offered some kind of whitening product. I had just come back after one day at the beach and am sporting a slight tan …