Collective haul + new daily staples

It's not new news that I disappear then re-appear on my beauty blog every now and then. Sorry, again... and hi. :)

I haven't been able to splurge as much as I'd like to lately, but I've managed to buy total must-haves, except maybe the VS lip gloss since I'm not a big fan of lip gloss. It was on sale for $1.75 during their semi-annual sale.

Victoria Secret lip gloss in Ms. Mojita $7.00 - I wanted to give lip gloss another go, and since this was only $1.75, it wasn't heartbreaking. I can stand using lip gloss indoors, but I don't like it outdoors where my hair blows all over my face. I end up licking off this lip gloss because it smells so yummy. It doesn't taste as it smells, but it doesn't taste nasty.

Chapstick in green tea mint $3.99 - One day I was "craving" for that minty feeling on my lips and so I got my fix at Walgreens and bought this lip moisturizer. I've been using it everyday because I love it! Alternatively, I have other moisturizers that I love: MAC lip conditioner SPF 15, Rosebud Perfume Co. strawberry lip balm, and Ole Henriksen African red tea lip salvation.

MAC pro long wear concealer in NC42 $16.50 - MAC pro long wear is the best foundation and concealer at the MAC store suitable for my oily skin. I use this concealer to cover my dark circles as well as attempt to highlight my face, but I need more practice on that. I apply this with my Revlon crease brush, it's like a mini MAC 224 brush, sort of. Sometimes I skip concealer and just go straight to foundation.

Make Up For Ever HD foundation in 153 $40.00 - This is the most expensive cosmetic product I've bought so far, and it was worth it. I don't use foundation everyday, so this will last me a long time. I think I'm a closer match to 173, but I got 153 because I apply just a sheer layer of foundation to my face to give me a brighter complexion since my neck gets lighter than my face. I'm a number of shades all over my body, but I can't avoid how much the sun hits my face. The consistency seems thin, but it has good coverage. I love it because I have oily skin so that's a plus. Also, I could never find the right shade of department store foundation elsewhere besides at MAC, so that's why I got this too. It's a notable foundation as well as more affordable compared to other higher-end brands that I'm not willing to splurge on. This is a great buy. I've stopped reaching out for my MAC studio fix and pro long wear foundation. Then again, I've stopped reaching out for them because it takes too much effort to get to because I've packed a bunch of stuff on top of my train case.

Eco Tools bamboo finishing kabuki $6.99 - Eco Tools brushes are famous for being soft, and this one doesn't beg to differ. It's a typical stippling brush, but just softer and I got this mainly for travel purposes. Cheap and effective, love it.

MAC paint pot in quite natural $16.50 - I use this on my eyebrows in place of an eyebrow pencil ever since I colored my hair brown. Then I apply dark brown eyeshadow to make it darker since the paint pot is just a brown, not light, not dark. This product lasts forever. I've been using it everyday for two months now and barely made a hole in it.

Bobbi brown gel liner in black ink $21.00 - My beloved Smashbox gel liner has been nearing the end of its lifestyle so I decided to try out a new one. My eyelids are extremely oily and it does a good job at staying put when the weather's not too humid here. However, summer's been humid here in Hawaii, so I use some UDPP to make it last longer. Sometimes I give into the hype (not that it's a bad thing) and buy things that are being raved about, but I tend to take a while to buy it. I like this eye liner, but I think Smashbox's gel liner is better for me.

Bdellium Tools studio brush #957 (travel-sized) $15.00 - I've always wanted a brush like this and so I got it. It's a very pretty brush and my current favorite brush to apply and buff foundation and powder to my face.

Tweezerman Tweezerette tweezer $7.00 - This tweezer grips onto hairs really good. I haven't tried the original Tweezerman tweezers so I don't know how they compare. However, I have a hard time tweezing my super thin and super short hairs with this tweezer but I blame my hairs more than I blame the tweezer. I'll probably look more into the Tweezerman pointed tweezer for my next tweezer purchase. (I've never used the word tweeze so much before!) Switzerland is the best place for steel tools! ;)

LOTD: mash up/review of Borghese, Jordana, Coty, Rimmel (LONG POST!)

So for the past many months that I haven't been blogging, my make up collection has been expanding (but that's not new!). Part of my collection is a bunch of Jordana color effects eye shadows as well as a set of Borghese brushes from Costco. They're great make up buys since the eye shadow retails for $1.69 at my local CVS and the ten-piece brush set for $23.99.

I like how the brushes have a label for usage, although most of the time brushes are indeed versatile. 

Included are:

Round foundation brush

Duo-fiber blending brush

Angled eye contour brush

Eye powder fluff brush

Concealer brush

Domed smudge brush

Eyeshadow brush

Angled eye/brow brush

Powder kabuki brush

Products used
Foundation: Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in 420 warm sand set with Coty airspun loose face powder in translucent
Concealer: Kat Von D concealer in almond
Lips: Jordana lipstick in mauve
Eyeshadow base: Too Faced shadow insurance and MAC paint pot in painterly
*Eyelashes: Falsies from eBay
Eyeliner: Stila smudge pot in black.
Blush and contour: MAC blush in blunt

Eyeshadows - all Jordana
Mauve my way
Gunmetal
Ms. brown
High maintenance
Creamy vanilla
Total blackout
Pretty peach

Brows
Wnw eye brow pencil in charcoal
Jordana color effects eye shadow in total black out

*Eyelashes: I personally don't like the eyelashes that I got. They're a boxed set of like a dozen lashes. They're too heavy for my single eyelids, so I wouldn't wear them out. I've used them for many of my past looks but just for the added dramatic look.


REVIEWS
Borghese brush set: Overall they're all great brushes. Some shed during the initial uses, but that's expected and it stops. The duo-fiber blending brush is practically a smaller version of E.L.F.'s stippling brush, of which you all should know by now is a highly-raved product although I haven't done a review of it. The eyeshadow brush and eye powder fluff brush were pretty big but still useable for blending. The powder kabuki brush is also HUGE! This is a total must for all you make-up lovers. Think of it as buying ten brushes for the price of one at Sephora, Nordstrom, or MAC! =)

Jordana color effects eyeshadow: Some are hits and some are misses so you don't necessarily get what you pay for. My favorite is total blackout and creamy vanilla, I guess because those are the colors that I use in almost every palette for personal use. I do believe that having a good eye shadow primer applied to your eye prior to usage is very important! It's VERY, VERY, VERY important, emphasis on very. I love UDPP and Too faced shadow insurance topped off with MAC paint pots. Try it out, you'll love it! And a little goes a long way!

Coty airspun loose face powder foundation in translucent: Great, great, great powder for setting foundation since it's very finely milled, and cheap! I've got oily and problematic skin, and this doesn't break me out so it's love. <3

Rimmel match perfection foundation in warm sand: It's a great drugstore foundation. A bit sheer so if you're looking for medium-heavy coverage this isn't for you. This type of foundation is my "everyday" foundation for when I go to work or school, meaning when I don't want to use my expensive foundations or don't have much time to put on make up I'll turn to this. It's hard to find a drugstore foundation that's the least bit closest to my skin color, but this one seems to blend in well even though it may be a tad bit light for me. I like going lighter rather than darker anyway.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts:

• Comparison of Borghese duo-fiber blending brush and E.L.F.'s stippling brush
• Swatches of Jordana color effects eye shadows

Phew, now that was a mouthful. I hope you all have a great Mother's Day weekend!

Haul: Nov. 21 - nail polish, make up, lip conditioners

Behold, this must be my real first haul :) Most of which were bargained for (details throughout this post). Most products were bought on a whim and all were purchased in a span of 2 weeks. Sometimes I forgot to mention products that I buy on a weekly basis because sometimes I just forget that it even exists, lol. 

On a side note, I've begun to utilize iPhoto just for the sake of importing pictures from my memory card since it automatically puts them into a folder by its date. Then, I transfer by dragging the folders into other folders in my external hard drive because that's really where I archive anything and everything... it's my baby; it's my life! 

Well before I start talking about other things, I hope you enjoy. :) 

Color Club nail polishes

• Who are you wearing? 
• High society
• Best dressed list
• Charity ball
• Uptown girl
• She's sooo glam
• Ms. socialite

I bought these at Ross for $7.99, that'd be about a dollar plus tax for each so it was very much a steal. Fortunately this was the last one there, unless they restocked on it after I left. One thing that I don't like about these packs (this is my third Color Club pack) but then again it doesn't even matter to me is the fact that the nail polish bottles don't have labels of their color names on them. I'm really not the type to remember each and every name for color, so I don't care for it. It just sucks because I can't refer to the color for fellow bloggers to indulge upon.

This is a color test of the fourth nail polish in that line of Color Club nail polishes. The no-flash picture is more true to its color but I couldn't get a good picture of it due to the dim lighting that I currently have. The consistency is pretty alright and typical: 2-3 coats of nail polish. I needed 3 with this application because with just 2 it turned out orange. After all it's a brown with an orange undertone. I love this color, it's sort of but not really comparable to a nail polish color that came out with MAC's Tartan themed products. 

 

Sinful Colors nail polishes 

($1.99 each at Walgreens)

• Nail junkie
• Hottie
• Pinky glitter

Sally Hansen nail polishes

($5 for both on a bogo sale at Walgreens)

• Disco ball
• Purple pizzazz

All that glitters ain't gold...

I've been falling in fancy with things that glitter lately, and news on the block is that they're in this holiday season (when are they never?). All of these colors contain glitter and are perfect for a top color on top a base color for a cool effect because the colors you see are quite sheer and translucent, except for the last one which has more of its own color. I'm not sure when I'll get to give them all a test drive but I can reckon that it won't be in quite a while... lol. 

Korres lip butter glaze

($24 for a 3-pack at Sephora)

• Jasmine
• Pomegranate
• Raspberry

My favorite lip product ever is Korres' lip butter in pomegranate because of it's subtle color when applied on my lips. I purchased the pack at Sephora because it was a holiday special unknowing if they were going to be available for single purchase after that. Having to use my finger or find a lip applicator to use my original lip butter was too much of a hassle for me. I like squeeze tubes better and so I used my logic that told me it was a win-win situation... lol... help me. 

Aquafina lip balms ($5.99 for a 3 pack with a bonus lip oil)

I'm not sure where the other lip balm and lip oil is... lol. I have a habit of losing lip balms which is why I often buy more, and more, and more for assurance that I'll always have one or some. :) 

Next of the mash up is dedicated to my eyes.

Actually most of these prices are an estimation because I can't give you the exact amount because I don't know where my receipts are.

MAC paint pot in bare canvas ($16)

Paula Dorf eyeshadow primer in deep ($12)

The Balm batter up ($22)

Prestige eyeshadow in onyx ($2.50) 

Wet n' Wild eyeshadows

($1 each, originally $1.99 each but I had some coupons)

• Sugar
• Lagoon
• Penny
• Envy
• Kitten

Revlon contour shadow brush ($5.99 each but one was 50% off, bogo ftw! from Walgreens) I love these brushes. They're really good drugstore brushes, not too soft and not too stiff, perfect for the crease area and for blending.

Revlon precision lash adhesive ($4.99 at CVS) I love this lash adhesive. I swear that I have the worst luck with squeeze tubes because of my butter fingers that can never give a consistent amount on the whole lash... but this is love... for me at least because of my eyes. Prior to purchasing this, I had got to a cancer fundraiser and my falsies hadn't been applied at its best manner so I was forced to take them off because I forgot to bring the glue with me and in turn forced to look for a better, more reliable adhesive. 

Bobbi Brown lip balm ($18 at Bobbi Brown) This just caught my eye... just another lip balm for my collection. 

What's in your make up bag?

I was at work today and decided, instead of putting on make up, why don't I blog about what I have in my make up bag? This is pretty much what I carry in my make up bag on a daily basis, obviously more than needed because I tend to keep stuffing things in, even if they're in there already, but you know what they say "better safe than sorry." On the bright side, they're not heavy, like carrying around an extra textbook around school. Incidentally, these are some of my favorite make up products EVER. I tend to gear away from high-end cosmetics because they're pricey and so if I drop, break, or lose them while I'm on a go, I won't be too much at a lost although I do carry around some of them. 

Well, I hope you enjoy. Please do share what's in your current make up bag as well. :)

By the way, I'm decided to keep my pictures at this size (width at 640 pixels). I'll have to edit my html coding for my blog to better your experience on this site. Simply click on the picture (because they're currently cut off, I believe). I changed my layout, it's still simple (just the way I like it).

1. Make up bag - LeSportsac

I just took this from my mom. I think LeSportsac bags are too pricey for my price range, but their designs are always eye catching and flattering.

2. Eyelash curler - Earth Therapeutics

This is a decent eyelash curler, but I do want to try out Shiseido’s eyelash curler soon.

3. Concealer - MAC Studio Finish Concealer SPF 35 in NC42

I actually use this concealer to highlight my brow bone and to fix up my eyebrows on the bottom since it has quite thick consistency. I would also use this under my eye bags prior to putting on foundation. 

4. Lip butter - Korres in pomegranate

I love this! It adds the perfect touch of pink on my lips and moisturizers well. What I hate about this product is when I’m on the go and I have to put my finger in and its size gets in the way. Otherwise I just use a lip brush.

5. Bobby pins

These are just a must. I never know when my bangs are going to get in the way whether it’s because of the wind in the car or from having to look down at a book or write notes for school.

6. Mirror - Sephora (with gift card purchase)

I love this mirror for its slimness and when you open it, you get a great sized mirror. Great for on the go make up application. 

7. Tweezer - La Cross

8. Tweezer - Elf Professional

9. Tweezer - Earth Therapeutics

Sometimes when I pluck eyebrows I get tired of just using one, and so from time to time during the process I alternate tweezers. I don’t really have a favorite but these all get the job done. I do want to try the tweezers from tweezerman though.

10. Angled liner brush - Salon Collection (Walgreens)

11. Angled liner brush - MAC 266

12. Angled liner brush - Sephora 

I didn’t realize I have so many angled brushes in my make up bag, I use them all for applying my eyebrows. My favorite would have to be MAC 266. Sometimes I use the Sephora one for gel liner since it’s super thin.

13. Bent liner brush - Sonia Kashuk

I use this to apply gel liner and it’s fantastic!

14. Concealer brush - fake MAC 194

I just use whatever concealer brush I have to apply concealer to my brow bone and to correct my eyebrows. I actually got a fake MAC brush set from my Aunty who didn’t know anything about genuine MAC products, but it’s okay, I use the contour brush for contour and it’s great as well. The others just suck. 

15. Brow pencil - WNW in charcoal

16. Brow pencil - MAC eye brows crayon in velvetone

I apply this brow product containing wax onto my eyebrows before finishing it off with eyebrow powder to make it last longer. 

17. Eyeliner pencil - Prestige total intensity eyeliner in deepest black

This eyeliner is great for my waterline because it applies smoothly and easily. However, not many eyeliner products stay on my waterline for some reason and neither does this one. 

18. Eyeliner pencil - Revlon colorstay eyeliner in black

This eyeliner seems to last the longest on my waterline. The color is quite intense too so I like it for dramatic purposes. 

19. Eyeliner pen - Jordana fabuliner in black

This is actually my sisters. It’s a great eyeliner pen, the first one I’ve tried and I really, really like it. I hope I can get my hands on one soon. 

20. Liquid eyeliner - Loreal lineur intense in black

Great liquid eyeliner for my oily lids, it stays put all day. 

21. Mascara - Maybelline falsies in black

This is one of the best drugstore mascaras I’ve tried because it actually holds my curl up as well as adding length and a bit of volume. Love!

22. Lip moisturizer - Olay Henriksen fresh lips

Total waste of $15 because it feels exactly like Carmex, but I still use so my money doesn’t go to waste. 

23. Gel eyeliner - Smashbox gel liner in black

This is the best gel liner I’ve tried so far that doesn’t smudge or come off with my oily lids. It sets pretty fast too. 

24. Brow corrector - Make Up Forever eyebrow corrector in dark brown 

I hardly use this because it calls for a perfect application since it’s of liquid consistency. It really creates a pencil-like eyebrow look for me. Then again, all of my eyebrow looks look pencil-like. 

25. Eyeshadow (used for eyebrows) - Jordana e/s in black

Self-explanatory. Cheap so I love it. 

26. Lip balm - Blistex Lip Tone

This adds a bit of a pink color to my lips. I don’t like the taste though. :( 

27. Lip balm - softlips beeswax

This is similar to Burt’s Bees, except it’s consistency is thinner but with the same minty sensation. I like this one more than Burt’s Bees because I have a habit of puckering up my lips and it gives me a better feel when I pucker up. 

28. Oil blotters - Clean & Clear oil control film

Self-explanatory.