All posts tagged: beauty

Drugstore Finds: Maybelline Refined Wine Lipstick

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This is going to be a super quick post, as I’m in the middle of a frillion different things, but when my sister brought home this lipstick, I couldn’t not post about it! Last Sunday, she’d been eyeing a rich purple-y lipstick she swatched on herself, but didn’t end up getting it. I guess she was haunted by it because when she got home from getting her tennis racket gutted at the mall, she also came home with this! Refined Wine is part of Maybelline’s limited edition collection, The Jewels by Color Sensational. The Jewels features eight jewel-toned lipsticks that I can’t help but feel are perfect for the holidays. They also have a moisturizing aspect to them, due to the honey nectar in their formulation. She tried it out, loved it, and told me to give it a shot. Neither of us had really ventured out of the reds, pinks, and peaches in terms of lipsticks, so I was glad to oblige. Refined Wine is such a perfect name for this shade, a rich, …

Blush Crush: NARS Sin

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I’ve been a huge fan of NARS ever since I got a pan of Orgasm, arguably their most famous blush. I loved the peach-pink golden shimmer, even though it swatched super sparkly under the weird yellow lights of the NARS counter in Rustans Makati. I thought I didn’t need another blush in my life, but then as beauty nuts know, it’s so easy to switch obsessions on parts of the face. When I started this beauty blog, I couldn’t get enough of eyeshadow palettes. Before that, all I looked at was lipstick. Now, I find myself wandering into the uncharted territory of my face’s middle-regions, aka my cheeks! I got a mineral blush from Revlon (which I’ve yet to review), but it wasn’t enough to sate my rather special needs. I wanted a subtle plum that still warmed my face and brought a pretty glow to it. I didn’t want a harsh blush, but I still wanted the oddly pretty flush of pinched cheeks. I think I’ve met my match with NARS Sin. Like Orgasm, …

theBalm’s Nude ‘Tude Eyeshadow Palette

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A few months ago, I helped fill up a Balikbayan box with Sarie and my brother, Luis. At that point, I was not into makeup a lot, but I had started exploring by then. One of the items that caught my eye was theBalm’s Nude ‘Tude Eyeshadow Palette. I didn’t really bother surveying other palettes, since I didn’t think I would ever venture into the world of shimmery shadows. It’s why I opted for this palette, instead of the beauty nut staple, Urban Decay’s Naked. (You are going to be wrong at least one more time in your life, Carina.) Nude ‘Tude swatches on my arm. I have a bad habit of starting a row in the middle of my arm, leaving no room for the next row of swatches. Nude ‘Tude contains twelve shadows, covering the delicate parts of six pin-up girls. I mentioned before how I liked it when palette colors have individual names. Included in this palette are: Sassy: a frosted white Snobby: a sheer, shimmery yellow Stubborn:a pale shimmery pinkish peach …

Make That Face: A Tutorial for a Warm & Colorful Neutral Eye

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STEP ONE: MAC Paint Pot Rubenesque all over lid, apply with fingers. Paint Pots are kind of like cream shadows, but they dry to a shimmery, creaseless finish. They are a good alternative to primer. Since my look will be a bit warmer, I enlisted the help of Rubenesque instead of my usual Etude House Proof 10 or Benefit Lemon Aid as my peachy gold base. STEP TWO: bareMinerals Ready 2.0 The Scenic Route (white) in the center of the lid, apply with MAC 239. The lighter shade from one of my favorite eyeshadow duos, Breathtaking, is described as a “golden snowflake” color. It registers white but has a beautiful golden sheen when applied to the skin. I’m looking for a nice gradation so I patted a bit of this lighter shade onto the center of my lid. It’s a bit less orange than Rubenesque. STEP THREE: bareMinerals Ready 2.0 The Scenic Route (green) in the outer corner—apply with Marionnaud Pointy Brush—and crease—apply with MAC 217. The other half of The Scenic Route, Spectacular, is …

Drugstore Finds: Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter

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Every time I explore the vast world of beauty blogging, I chance upon random things that people seem to always rave about. One such thing is the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter. (Sidenote: Between purchasing two Revlon Lip Butters and writing this, I have actually encountered another brand of lip butter—Korres! So now, what I’m wondering is who came up with it first? Also, is it a “thing,” like lipstick or lip gloss is a “thing,” or is it a “thing” like NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencils are a “thing”? Another thing: is lip butters the proper plural form?) Last Sunday, the Revlon counter was on sale, so my sister and I were picking out products. She had been looking for “Pink in the Afternoon,” which is apparently a Hepburn shade from Breakfast at Tiffany’s or something like that. And I was just nosing around and looking for a lip butter because I’d seen someone on YouTube rave about it. Lip Butter is sort of a lipstick balm, an in betweener in the land of tinted …

October Favorites

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Maybe kind of late, but still helpful, I think. There’s not a lot I can say about my October favorites, because while I did hoard towards the end of the month, I only got to use most of them extensively in November, pre-makeup ban*. Here are a few stand-outs that I have loved last month. 1. Guerlain Écrin 4 Coueleurs Eyeshadow in Turandot (Reviewed here) Turandot is part of Guerlain’s Holiday 2012 collection. It’s a “Écrin 4 Coueleurs Eyeshadow,” which is just a fancy way of saying “eyeshadow quad.” How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Actually, it’s not all that complicated. It’s an upstanding palette, with a very warm and neutral overall look, but all the individual shades are still quite different from each other. There’s a pretty shimmery goldenrod, a rust-rose satin pink, a matte deep mauve, and a shimmery dark grey-brown, all rolled into one delicious pocket-sized wonder, mmm. How happy am I that this isn’t limited edition? Very. 2. Bronzer No specific brand—just the wonder of bronzer in …

MLBB Find: NARS Lipstick in Pago Pago

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Ever since I got my first NARS sheer lipstick (Vendanges! ♥) about a year or so ago, I meant to go back for another. It took me a while, huh? I remember learning about Pago Pago from fleurdeforce‘s YouTube video and vowed to look for it the next time I found myself at a NARS counter. NARS Pago Pago is named after the capital of American Samoa. It’s a somewhat frosty coral pink neutral and is part of NARS Sheer Lipstick line. There’s not a lot I can say in terms of pigmentation, but I do think it brightens up my lips in a really great way. NARS describes it as a “shimmering pink,” which is pretty accurate. I bought this without swatching it, because it was the last tube at the NARS counter, where they had no testers for it anymore. It’s not a limited edition shade (it was introduced in the Fall 2011 collection, I believe), so I don’t know why I didn’t just make myself wait for a restock. But, because I …