Product Review: Rimmel London Blushes - Apricot, Berry, & Sienna

Today, I am going to review Rimmel blushes. I only have 3 shades though - Apricot, Berry, & Sienna. I first had Apricot and found it really nice, better than Maybelline blushes in my opinion, so Apricot was followed by Sienna and the latest one is Berry. I'll let you know why I bought one after the other.

But first, let me show you some photos though I was not able to capture the true colour of the blushes. I'm telling you, these photos do not give justice to the blushes as they are prettier in real life. I'll just let the swatches speak for themselves. :P




Individual Description (in my eyes):
1. Apricot - A peachy-orange blush with shimmer that gives you a very healthy glow when applied right.
2. Berry - Not in any way a berry shade for me. When I see berry, I think of NARS Crazed and other shades in that colour family. This is somewhat a rosy mauve with a hint of pink in it.
3. Sienna - A pale rose-pink shade.

What I like:
- The price. You get value for money as this has good quality, IMO.
- Colour is buildable. It goes on sheer but can be layered for more dramatic cheeks.
- Unscented. My nose loves it. :P
- Has very fine shimmers that goes unnoticeable on your skin after some time.
- Lasting power is pretty decent. 2-3 hours on my oily skin, not so bad at all.
- Pigmentation is just right. Not as pigmented as NARS blushes but not as sheer as other drugstore blushes.
- Contains 5g of product and for PHP65, that's awesome.

What I don't like:
- The fact that it is not locally available and have to search online to find one.
- The compact is quite hard to work with. I ended up scratching a small portion of Apricot with my nail when I first opened it. I now have to be extra careful in opening it and it is such a pain.

Overall rating: 3.5/5
Will I buy again? Yes, but only if there is a shade I like. I am eye-ing Santa Rose. :P

Swatches

Top - Bottom: Berry, Apricot, Sienna

These are now officially my favorite drugstore blushes! :P

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Mascara Fever + Skin MD Samples + Styli-Style + Rimmel

Heya everyone! For the Nth time, I am telling you I am on a mascara phase. So lemme show you the mascaras I have acquired for the past 2-3 weeks.

The latest additions to my mini mascara family

Maybelline The Colossal Mascara (back-up) & Covergirl Lash Blast

Stila Major Lash Mascara (Thanks, Chel, for supporting me on my mascara phase. :P)

Skin MD Face, Hand, & Body Shielding Lotion Samples

I will review Skin MD Shielding Lotion later. This is gonna be good. ;)

Styli-Style Flat Liners 24 + Line & Blend

Styli-Style Flat Liners + Line & Blend

Rimmel Blush in Berry

Swatch

So these are the stuff I have acquired over the past couple of weeks. Not much, I know. :P


Happy weekend, everyone! :P

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Blush: Chanel Tweed Corail - I Want! :P

Here is another Chanel blush that I am lemming for. See how gorgeous it is?

Actual product (picture taken from www.coloruza.com)

I want! I want! I want! :P

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Help! Greens or Purples?

Help me decide which one works better. Green eyeshadows or purple ones?

Greens

Purples

I exaggerated the winged line on my eyes. The purple one wasn't really done yet. Too bad I can't really capture the true color of the eyeshadows.

Whaddaya think? Any help or opinion will be much appreciated. I have a party to attend to and the dress code is all black so I want to sort of liven up my face with eyeshadow. Thanks! :P

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Blush: SanSan Krisanne Coral Collection Shimmer Blush - Sunrise Walk

I met up with my mom at the grocery earlier and she is such a slowpoke that I had to walk around the mall for more than an hour waiting for her to get there. Hehe. I saw an HBC branch. I don't really like HBC stores to be honest, I don't know why. I really don't feel comfortable entering their stores for some reason so earlier was like the 3rd time I've ever gone inside their store. So I was just checking out the products and something caught my eye. The turquoise-colored box is really cute so I checked out what's inside and to my surprise, it is a really pretty blush which reminds me of Estee Lauder Peach Nuance blush. Here it is. :P





I promise it is prettier than what you see on the pictures! There are three colors on one compact. Peach, pink, and gold. I never really expected to see something gorgeous at HBC. I usually ignore Sansan products but this is a really great find. It has subtle and very fine shimmers in it and it is really pretty. The best part is that I got it on sale for PHP145! Great, eh?

Swatch

I don't use brushes that come with blushes but this one is really cute.



See? It can be folded to make it a small angled blush brush. I can't stop looking at it because I can't believe this gorgeous thing is really cheap yet uh, gorgeous? :P

Anyway, I'll post the stuff inside the package I claimed at the PO and the recent buys before I once again go into a no-buy mode. :P

I hope you're all having a great week. I don't have work today (yey! I hate manic Mondays) and tomorrow! :P I will have work for only 3 days this week. :P

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Product Review: Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara

As I've previously mentioned, I am on a mascara phase lately. I think I have bought 4 tubes of mascaras over the past couple of weeks and I have just recently bought another 2 off eBay. I started to like mascaras as I notice the big difference it makes when I use one and when I don't. It instantly opens up my eyes and they look better with mascara and eyeliner on. I will do a review on all my mascaras soon but this one is worth the very first review. It would've been Fasio 3D Airtech but sadly, Rustan's stopped carrying the brand so I had to settle for what's locally available. But then this one is not available on all the Maybelline counters here, except for Duty Free. I think they have this, I'm just not sure if they still do. Going back, I am reviewing Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara in Glam Brown/Brownish Black.




What I like:
- It makes my lashes thicker and longer plus it adds a little volume to my lashes. Well, I'm not talking about super volume but more definition rather. My lashes are not short and are naturally curled to begin with but I like how it enhances my lashes.
- It is easy to remove. I can even use wet wipes to take the mascara off my lashes.
- The big, chunky brush helps separate the lashes.
- It holds the curl and stays put for hours without smudging and giving me raccoon eyes, given that this is the non-waterproof version.
- The volume-plumping formula contains collagen.
- No clumping even after 3 coats.
- The packaging is cute and so retro-ish for me.
- The price. This drugstore mascara works! I don't want to invest and pay a lot for something I need to ditch in 3 months so for the price and quality of this product, I am sold.

What I don't like:
- The rose scent of the collagen. I had to stay in front of the fan for a few minutes just to get rid of the scent.
- Not locally available. I just scored this on eBay.

Overall rating: 4.5/5 (I took .5 off the overall rating as I don't really dig the scent. It once gave me a headache.
Will I buy again? Definitely! I actually just bought another tube of this mascara as a back up.

See the chubby brush?

No mascara, just curled lashes.

With one coat of The Colossal.

Another shot.

A farther shot.

P.S. Sorry for the scar on my right eyebrow. I had stitches when I was a kid, I forgot to conceal it. And I know I have lines on my undereye. :(

Anyway, I will review another mascara this week. :)

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What African Black Soap did to my face and the Superhero Soap

Upon reading good reviews about the African Black Soap, I bought myself a trial size so I won't waste money if in case that product doesn't work for me. I guess I made a good decision of not buying a bigger one.

Lemme show you how the soap looks like again. It looks like poo to me.


Now I'll show you what happened to my skin after using the soap for barely 2 days. It's disgusting and frustrating.



That's by far the worst state my skin has ever been in. Now I'm really glad I purchased another bar of the derma soap that has been rescuing me from all those occasional break outs or whenever my skin is acting up.


It's cheap as it costs only 75 bucks. I've cut a portion of the soap and it was able to salvage my skin. The spots aren't completely gone but at least they are on their way to going Houdini!

Here's an update after using my superhero soap twice.



My skin looks better now. :P I only used In2It Oil Control Powder Foundation. You can still see some spots but they're no longer as bad as they were last night. I am happy! :P

And another reason to be happy. I received the free J&J miniature lotion this morning.


And a PO notice. I am assuming that in the package is the sample kit from SkinMD that I will be reviewing pretty soon.


My mom will pick it up tomorrow. I am excited. Plus I will receive my loots which means more make up for me! :P

Have a great week ahead, everyone! :)




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Product Review: NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Glow

This is my first ever NYX cream blush. Thanks again to Sol. Most of my blushes are in powder form because I didn't really know how to use cream blushes back then. But now that I am armed with good stippling brushes, applying cream blushes is now a piece of cake. So I am now going to review NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Glow.



What I like:
- A very pretty bubblegum pink with somewhat blue undertones.
- Blendable. Since this blush is very creamy, it is easy to make it blend with your skin.
- Pigmented. I like how I only need a little amount of product for the color to show. I have to very lightly dab my stippling brush and it already gets enough product. Sometimes, I even get too much for one cheek so you have to really use a light hand in application.
- Thanks to local resellers, it is now locally available.
- Price is not bad considering the good quality and the amount of product you get. Prices range from PHP360-PHP400. If it goes beyond that range, it is overpriced. Get this for only PHP360 here.
- It looks natural especially when blended well with the skin.
- I think this can be used on the lips as well. I have tried it and it works. ;)



What I don't like:
- Since it is too creamy, be careful in dipping your fingers in it as you might get waaaay too much product than what you really need. I made that mistake when I first used my finger to make a swatch. See the crater-like dip on the photo above?

Tip: Best used with a stippling brush to get a more natural glow on the cheeks.

Overall rating: 4.5/5.
Will I buy again? Yes! But I want a different shade. I want Red Cheek and Natural and the hot pink one.

See how pretty it is?



Ta! have a great weekend, everyone! :P




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African Black Soap + Mascaras and a Blush

Here is my recent mini haul for the week. I'm sort of in a mascara phase right now, after hoarding blushes last year and I have purchased 2 tubes of mascaras - 1 Maybelline Lash Stylist in Soft Black and the other one is Rimmel Extra Super Lash in Black Black. Both have good reviews at MUA but I'll just see for myself if good reviews are worth adding for both. The other one is another small blush compact from Rimmel. I really liked Rimmel Apricot and the only other shade available on eBay is Sienna so I bought one. I also bought one gluta and obagi-infused soap which I have tried before and works really well and I forgot to include it when I took the photo below. And the weird looking thing is the African Black Soap.



I've read a lot of good reviews on the African Black Soap so I decided to check out my go-to shopping website - eBay. :P I saw a few listings for the African Black Soap and I purchased one that only has 50g for trial. Hopefully, if it works well for me, I will purchase more of it and be my HG facial soap/cleanser. So far so good.


See how it looks like? It sort of reminds me of a weird-looking chocolate chip cookie and it is soft. I only need to pinch just a tiny portion of it which is enough for my entire neck and face. It lathers easily too. I am really excited to see the results of this soap and see if this will indeed deliver as my skin's acting up again. I will make a comprehensive review on this soap in a few weeks' time.

Oh, there will be one more mascara added to my mascara purchases. Ooops, make that 2 as I just purchased one from a fellow girltalker. I am itching to try the Imju Fiberwig Mascara but it can probably wait. I have opened 2 mascaras so once I receive my Maybelline Colossal, I may need to have my mom hide it where I can't find it in 3 months. I need to ditch my Maybelline Hypercurl mascara by the end of the month. :( Then I have to throw away the 2 other tubes by mid-April which means that that's the only time I can open my Colossal and the best part is I can finally purchase a fiberwig mascara. Have I mentioned that I am in a mascara phase right now? :P

Anyway, I am excited for the loots I am to receive by next week. See yah! :P

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Product Review: Alba Botanica TerraTints - Blaze & Bloom

As most of you know by now, I also love tinted lip balms next to blushes. I want something that moisturizes my lips while adding a hint of color so I don't have to wear lipsticks at all. I have tried a couple of brands but my HG so far is MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Gentle Coral which I have reviewed a couple of weeks back. Now, I am going to review Alba Botanica TerraTints. I only have 2 shades - Blaze and Bloom.



What I like:
- Both are pigmented and you get a lot of color with just one swipe.
- The price. If I remember it right, each tube costs PHP135 or PHP139.
- Locally available at Healthy Options.
- Has a minty feel to it which led me to believe that it is moisturizing and hydrating my lips as well.

What I don't like:
- I feel it is not as moisturizing as it should be. My lips feel a bit dry after an hour upon application.
- I don't dig the minty scent which reminds me of Chapstick Mint which I never liked. Blech!
- It doesn't feel smooth while gliding on my lips.

Overall rating: 3/5
Will I buy again? No. I am happy with my MAC TLC. I am off to try a different TLC shade.

The swatches:

These are good for on the go-touch ups like if you don't have time to check yourself out in the mirror. But I am mastering the art of applying TLC without the mirror so I am cool with it.

I hope you're all having a great week so far. :P

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More Make Up + Eyeshadow Attempt

I am excited to share the latest stuff I have purchased and received over the past couple of weeks. First, let me start with the Christmas gifts I have received from 2 BI Squad girls from Girltalk.

Quoting Martha, the BI Squad is a group of hopeless spendaholics who can't get enough of make- up even though they tell themselves that they already have more than enough. Much worse, their disease rubs on everyone else in Girltalk!:p

These are from Lelila and BabyjapnurseRN.



The heart-shaped box is from japjap and it is filled with fillers. I didn't know there were fillers inside so when I opened it, I was sitting right in front of the terminator fan and all of them were blown on my face. It was like snow. Hehe. The one with the cute green wrapper is from Sol. Both had sweet notes which I won't show here.

The contents:
- NYX Rouge Creme Blush in Glow
- NYX Frappucino
- Prestige Perfectly Matte Translucent Powder
- a cute little Hello Kitty charm

From Japjap

From Sol

One evening last week, I was ranting at girltalk about the scent of my NYX Frappucino. I thought it smelt plastic-y and hair perming solution-like so we assumed what I received is an old stock. And that's why I received a NYX Frappucino from Sol. But then that's how NYX lippies smell like. And everyone else thought it was a soapy scent. So after realizing that all NYX lippies smell that way, I went ahead and ordered a NYX lipstick from Sol. I got Tea Rose.



It's so pretty though it is not really an MLBB for me. I find it a little too pink but I like it. I am going to order another one pretty soon - B52.

So here are all the make up stuff I got and bought at the start of 2010.


There are 2 blushes I got - Rimmel Apricot blush and Beauty Trends Blush Duo.

The swatches:

Left: NYX Tea Rose
Top to Bottom: NYX Rogue Creme Blush in Glow, Rimmel Apricot Blush, Beauty Trends Blush Duo

Anyway, there are 2 nearby branches of Watson's in our place so I decided to pay one branch a visit. There is also an HBC store a couple of steps aways from Watson's so I dropped by as well though I never really go to HBC. I went home with these.


I am not really sure why I purchased the Hortaleza Pearl Soap as I have never tried any of their products but I couldn't resist the "Pearl" label so I grabbed one.

And when I got home, I washed my face and it seems promising though I am quite iffy about the scent.We'll see if that will fit as an effective yet inexpensive product. The skinwhite face cream powder is nice. :P Then I made an attempt to apply eyeshadow. I used my Milani Glimmer Stripes in Berry Glimmer. Here is my poor attempt as someone who doesn't wear eyeshadow.

Pardon the undereye.

I couldn't capture the true colour but I promise the colours look pretty that even our helper said it looks pretty when she saw it. But I am still a beginner when it comes to applying e/s on my own eyes. I can very well appy e/s on other people but on me, I am just plain hopeless. Gah!

The stuff I used on my face:

I used NYX Tea Rose on the lips.

By the way, whaddaya think of this earring?

Ta! ;)

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