All posts tagged: beauty

Unboxing: Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP September and October 2014

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I’ve been running behind on unboxing posts for the Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP, a monthly subscription box for the brand. (Not that anyone looks forward to these, amirite?) They are on their second year of the program, and I’ve got to admit that it just keeps getting better! For a subscription program that requires subscribers to pay upfront for the entire year, expectations are understandably high. Luckily, we’ve been getting awesome products (see other unboxing posts here), the only hitch being their sometimes slow and inadequate responses to customer service queries. For September, the second month of the sub as shipments start getting mailed out in August, the product is the Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Complexe, a tinted base that provides “sheer natural-looking coverage for instant smoothing and perfecting.” It can be used as a standalone (very sheer!) foundation or as a luminous base under other foundations.

Preview: new in the mail

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Occasionally, I’m lucky enough to receive some products from companies to try and test out for you guys. (And for me, too. Hehe.) This is a selection of the items I got in the mail since arriving back home, a.k.a. my backlog. I’ll be hopefully reviewing some of them in the days to come. 🙂 So, this is kind of a haul, but I hate it when people include gifts or PR samples in their “hauls,” so this isn’t technically a haul. You know what I mean. From the always-fun Korean brand, Too Cool for School, I received 3 of their new bestsellers: the Kiss Time Ice Beam (a moisturizing lip gloss with a “dual jelly system” that ensures vivid color expressions and gives the illusion of a lipstick, Php 435), the Max in Pocket (pocket-sized lip balm for always vital and moist lips, Php 605), and the Smoky Nude Lip (a soft nude lipstick to show off dark smoky makeup, Php 715). They have a new kiosk at SM Megamall Fashion Hall, so be …

bareminerals degrees of dazzling

One Week bareMinerals Degrees of Dazzling: 7 Looks

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I haven’t quite been able to keep up with my One Week series, mostly because I’ve been enjoying rotating my old and new products. I figured that I had to get around to using some of my sets and palettes that I haven’t been touching eventually. Here are a couple of looks that I came up with using my bareMinerals Degrees of Dazzling set (reviewed here). This came out last Christmas/holiday, so I don’t know if this is annoying that I’m posting about it. I don’t know, I pretty much believe that you can recreate most looks with whatever you have. (Which is probably a bit weird coming from a self-confessed hoarder, but you must admit that I do have a point.) Ahem. I picked this “palette” to work with because I wanted to explore and play a bit more with colors, and my goal is to use at least 3/4 or 15 of the 20 shades in this collection. Unlike my previous One Week series posts, I chose to go the full week and …

Sample Stash Sunday: Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick Set

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I was going to publish this post next Sunday, but I figured it might be useful for people who wanted to get this set during the Sephora VIB sale this week. OK, so I was eyeing Lovecraft from the new Kat Von D Studded Kiss range, but when I was about to buy it, I spotted a minis set with 9 shades that included Lovecraft, so I thought I’d give it a go. The Studded Kiss Lipstick range wasn’t really met with the best reviews—basically failing at their “an innovative lipstick that coats lips with bold color,10-hour wear, and luxe comfort” claims—so I’m not sure what possessed me to get this, but $39 for nine shades didn’t seem like a bad deal to me. Here’s how much product you get when you extend the bullet: The selection of shades is pretty decent, representing quite a good amount of shades of the range. From left to right: Countess (matte hot orange red), Agatha (matte pale peach nude), Adora (metallic golden red), Sexer (iridescent fluorescent pink), Wonderchilde …

Nailing it with Navy

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My relationship with nail polish oscillates so much between love and hate, we could probably star in a romcom. My small hands (short fingers!) with miniscule nails and nail polish are often a match made somewhere nasty. Call me babyfingers—ewwww. After much trial and error though, I figured out that a) I am not very adventurous when it comes to nail polish shades, b) but I won’t stand by a suckiness in formula, and c) the Seche Vite top coat is a godsend. It is the turning point in my love-hate tale that finally turns it into a romance.

Quickie: Sonia Kashuk Eye Palette in Precious Gems

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Sonia Kashuk was one of the drugstore brands I was most looking forward to trying when I went to the States. Unfortunately, none of the items I wanted to try out—except for the cream bronzer, which I decided I didn’t need more of—were in stock at the places I went to… so I picked this palette up instead, thinking it was a good move to stray away from my usual neutrals. Unfortunately (again), the Sonia Kashuk Precious Gems Eye Palette is not the best representation of the brand. The six-pan palette features jewel tones, of which the green was best performing, imparting color without much effort. I can’t say the same for the others. For the swatches below, I kind of mangled the palette and applied them on my arm really heavily. My palette now resembles an ice cube tray of colorful molten lava. Swatched, L-R: Green, Blue, Red, Gold, Purple, Brown — these aren’t the color names, FYI.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

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After hastily swatching the palette—running on a 5-minute before meeting back up with everyone deadline!—I went directly to the counter, patiently waiting to pay for this beauty. The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette features 3 Ambient Lighting Blushes, one of which is limited edition and only available in this palette. I have big love for the Ambient Lighting range by Hourglass, so picking this up was kind of a no-brainer. I resisted getting any of the blushes when they first came out, stubbornly insisting that they were nothing special and I could live without them. And then I caved and my best friend had to be my mule. I picked Diffused Heat and was blown away because it was just so stunning. The Ambient Lighting Blushes have pigment marbled into the famed Ambient Lighting Powders, aimed to create a “seamless, soft-focus, and multidimensional color.”