FOTD: Long wear no makeup look

I hardly post any pictures of myself because I am highly self-conscious. But after yesterday, I guess it's time to try and post face of the day updates from time to time. ;)  My boyfriend and I attended a wedding in Laguna yesterday and considering how lazy I could get, I wanted something long wearing and yet natural looking for my face.  It's a wedding, after all.  Here it goes:

Without glasses. 

With glasses in my boyfriend's car. XD Need the glasses or I won't see properly!

Weddings in general make me use primers because I never know how humid it could get in the venue.  And I hate retouches because I end up spending so much time in the restroom. So here's a list of the products I used for this look:

Face: Benefit Porefessional primer, Benefit Girl Meets Pearl (I used them on my cheeks as volumer), Luview Aqua Essence bb cream (because I like how light it feels and it doesn't make my skin look reddish), Benefit Bella Bamba blush (my favorite!), Krave Minerale Oil Eliminator (my finishing powder), Nature Republic Oil Control Mist

Eyes: Krave Minerale concealer stick (for hiding dark circles), Etude House Drawing Eyebrow in brown, Etude House Proof 10 eye primer, Sephora makeup palette eyeshadows (I only used two shades), ELF liquid eyeliner (pen type in Coffee), NYX jumbo pencil in Milk, Maybelline Hypercurl VolumExpress mascara

Lips: Nanny Rose's lip balm + sunscreen, Etude House Look At My Lips in Paparazzi Coral

Sooo many products! But I just ended up removing excess oils from my face with oil control film and reapplying lipstick or at a later time (dinner and there were hardly any picture taking moments after the first part) Revlon's lip butter in peach parfait.  I am glad I decided to use primers today.  There was a time that it was a bit humid in the church but all was well in general. :D

Most of you who know me personally would be surprised at the pictures. I think that my face looks considerably smaller now compared to last year or even January this year. Oh and the fact that I hardly go and be girly. Lol. 

In other news, I am still losing weight despite my busy work sked, irregular exercise and less strict diet (because of my busy-ness). Nothing drastic but at least, I am still able to do something about my weight. Actually the corset top and skirt I wore yesterday were both quite loose on me, but I had to make do with the things I had at home. I think that I could now start trying on some size 16 and maybe some knitted or stretchy size 14 clothes. ;)  That's such great news for me because I used to wear size 18 and I think that some of my clothes were practically size 20.

So yeah, that's just it for now. I wanted to do a haul post but the images haven't been uploaded yet. Bad internet connection at home.

My Day to Day Makeup

I've posted about my daily skin care routine, which will be updated soon? Lol. I'm trying out the Tony Moly products that I just bought so there's a chance that I will be updating that soon.

Because I live far from the office, I try to use only a little amount of makeup just so I won't look like I am some strange creature. Or I don't even bother with makeup at all, save for tinted lip balm.  Lol. Anyway, here it goes:

What are these items?

1. Luview Aqua Essence BB Cream
2. Benefit Cha-Cha Tint
3. Laneige Snow Crystal Moisture in Tea Beige
4. Human Heart Nature Tinted Lip Balm in Island Kiss
5. Nichido Girls Night Out in white
6. K-Palette 24-hour eyeliner

I don't even bother with using brushes when it's part of my daily routine.  Why? It is inconvenient to wash brushes.  All of these products have the fuss-free factor when it comes to using them.

I don't bother using powder these days unless I think my face is insanely oily or if I feel that it is humid. I just use oil control film to let it absorb the oils on the surface of my skin.  Thankfully the Luview Aqua Essence bb cream doesn't add much oiliness to my face.  It doesn't have awesome oil control but at least it doesn't make it worse either and it's sheer. Something that I love for everyday use!

When it comes to my cheeks, Cha Cha Tint simply works! Just two small dots on each cheek and I spread them using my fingers. It's also ok on my lips if I want it pinkish with a hint of peach. For my eyes I normally just line the top lash line with my black eye liner pen. K-Palette 24 - hour eyeliner is the only one that really works for me. So far.  Oh and it dries quickly, something that I love about it! Unlike other liquid eyeliners that take forever to dry, I just close my eyes for a bit and it's dry.  The Nichido Girls Night Out in white is something that I use for my waterline and lower lash line.

My lips are dry but at least they don't crack anymore. It's because I learned to use lip balm (or lip cream) before going to bed at night.  When I feel a bit lazy I just use Human Nature's lip balm in Island Kiss because it has this nice orangey tint to it.  Kinda like applying lip tint and lip gloss at the same time. It's in a stick form too so it's very convenient.  As for days when I feel like wearing lipstick, I usually end up getting the Laneige Snow Crystal Moisture in tea beige.  It's even more natural looking on my lips compared to The Face Shop's Black Label in #7. :)  I don't even use lip balm before applying the Laneige lippie sometimes and it's ok. My lips don't dry up! XD

Some of you might say that I should work with my eyes! Especially the eyebrows.  Because I am rather lazy at making sure that my eyebrows look the same, I skip it. And eyeshadow? Gosh. I am so new to this. But I do use additional eye makeup products when I have the time.  They are as follows:

• A - Luview Gleam Full Mascara
• B - Etude House Drawing Eyebrow #1
• C - Tony Moly Crystal Eye Decoration #8 (I think)

I've been using the Maybelline Hypercurl Mascara but I find the Luview one prettier on my lashes.  And as far as eyebrows go, using pencil is easy.  Maybe when I run out of this product I will get an eyebrow kit. ;)  Why did I pick Tony Moly's Crystal Eye Decoration? It's convenient and I like the shimmer-level.

There you go.  These things are not always in my kikay/beauty kit by the way.  I usually leave most of them at home because I don't see the need to retouch except for my lipstick or tinted lip balm.

What's your makeup like during weekdays? :)

What's Your Daily Skin Care Routine? Here is Mine

I suppose everyone of us has a skin care routine that we follow everyday.  I've become conscious of how harassed and haggard I looked some time last year and I think that the daily commute and all the grime in Manila were factors.  My friend Renee got me started with Etude House's Mini Size U kit but I have run out of that so I am now on a different routine.  Erika Jjang posted her routine and here's mine.  This is my updated routine.

Morning Routine (pre-makeup stuff that I do):

1. Wash off the sleeping pack from the night before with plain water.
2. Wash my face with oatmeal soap.
3. Tone with Etude House Wonder Pore Freshener.
4. Apply eye cream around my eyes.
5. Apply Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion to moisturize my face. (My review of this product is here.)
6. Apply Clinique Derma White sunblock. I only got mine in a trial size thanks to the wonderful Kikay Trekkie/Marge Tan.  (You could also read about this via Liz of Project Vanity. She has a review of this product on her blog.)
7. Apply Human Heart Nature lip balm in Watermelon on my lips to prevent them from drying.

Sometimes I change things up a bit by using Human Nature 100% Natural Purifying Scrub or Human Nature   Super-Fruits & Black Rice Facial Scrub after washing my face. But I don't always do this. At most, it will be done twice a week or maybe thrice.

As for the emulsion and sunblock -- both products are just great on me! I don't get very oily with them.  I only use a pea-sized amount of the emulsion.  One of my friends says that it's still a bit heavy on the skin for her but I think it's less sticky compared to other moisturizers out there.  And it's been more than a month of continuous use and no breakouts for me. (Yay!) And the sunblock -- I wish I could really afford to buy an entire tube of this!  But in case I really think it's too pricey, there's always Biore's sun cream to try one day.

Evening Routine:

1. Remove makeup with Human Nature Sunflower Cleansing Oil. (Used to be done with Human Nature Sunflower Beauty Oil.)
2. Cleanse my face with oatmeal soap.
3. * Massage Nature Republic Homemade Recipe Pack in Kelp.  Wash it off with lukewarm water after 15 minutes.
4. ** Apply Skin Food Peppermint Pore Diet mask on my face. Peel it off after 15 minutes.
5. Tone my face with Etude House Wonder Pore Freshener. (Such a wonderful product! Will review this later on.)
6. *** Massage my face with Tony Moly Clean Dew Lemon Seed Massage Cream and wipe off the cream afterwards.  Why bother massaging your face? Watch what Bubz has to say about skin care routines.
7. Apply eye cream around my eyes.
8. Apply The Face Shop's Lovelyme:Ex Lip Care Cream in Vitamin.  Got the tip from Geek Girl Manila. Same principle, different product line.
9. Apply Nature Republic Lavender Sleeping Pack.

That's a whole lot of stuff, right? Well, #s 3, 4 and 5 are not done everyday.  #3 and #4 are done twice a week, one after the other. Or if I am lazy, I do #3 one night and #4 the following night. #6 is done once a week, preferably when I am not doing #3 and #4.  But sometimes when I do #6, I don't use the sleeping pack anymore because I find the massage cream quite moisturizing as it is.

All these products are available locally.  It's just that I lost the packaging of my oatmeal soap. ~_~ I will ask my friend about that because she gave it to me.  My skin care routine basically consists of stuff that help me deal with my oily face, large pores and dry lips.   If you're wondering why I use two different lip care products at night and during the day, it's because The Face Shop's Lip Cream is a little sticky but sometimes even if I forget to use lip balm during the day, my lips don't crack. That's something that I really like.

If you will notice, I didn't write anything about using pore strips for my nose anymore. It's because the Kelp Pack does help if you use it regularly. ^_^ A review will also come later. I am just so glad I bought this product when Nature Republic opened their SM Fairview boutique last year.

Out of all the products in this post, only the following were not bought with my own money:

1. oatmeal soap (this was a Christmas present from my friend)
2. Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion (courtesy of Aubrey of Benefit Cosmetics Philippines)
3. eye cream (something I am currently testing for one of my favorite brands)

Nature Republic, Etude House,  Skin Food, Tony Moly and The Face Shop are all Korean brands and you could find all of them in SM North.  Benefit is an American brand and they currently have one boutique in Greenbelt 5, but I think they're going to open shops/counters in other malls soon enough.  Human Nature is a local brand which you could buy online, in Beauty Bar or Rustan's supermarkets.

Some of these brands have Facebook pages or accounts, so feel free to add them so you could learn more about their products.

• Etude House
• Tony Moly
• Nature Republic
• The Face Shop
• Human Nature
• Benefit Cosmetics

If you've got questions about these products I mentioned, feel free to comment.  You may also ask other fans of these brands on Facebook.  At least you will get different opinions and others could also share their personal testimonies about these products.  After all, what works for me, might not work for you.

What's your skin care routine? ^_^ I'd love to hear your tips too.

Review: Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion

Disclaimer: I got this from the Benefit Bloggers' Sneak Peek. I wasn't paid to do a review but I just want to share my experience with this product.


I was at the Benefit Cosmetics Philippines Bloggers' Sneak Peek last November 2011 and I was able to swatch this product. Mamita and Aubrey were sharing their experience with this product so I wanted to try it myself. Thankfully, they gave me one that day. :) It was so good on my hand and I know it will feel right on my face.

Packaging: 4/5 
I love the shape of the bottle because it's just so cute. And it has a pump too! No need to dip my hand in a jar or use a spatula. It's so easy to use.  I give it only a 4 because I am afraid of breaking it. And well, it's not travel-friendly that way.  Otherwise, it's fine.

Texture: 5/5
I like how lotion-like it feels instead of the usual day cream. :)  I don't like sticky creams and lotions. This is just right for me, especially when I use only two pumps worth of product for my face and neck. It spreads easily enough. And it's not sticky.

How Easily It Is Absorbed: 4/5
If you put a thin layer, it will be absorbed after a couple of minutes. But if you make a mistake, it will take quite a while.

Moisturizing Effect: 5/5
I've been using the Garnier Oil Clear Brightening Scrub more often these days and to deal with how dry my skin feels sometimes, I've been more diligent in applying this emulsion. It just works for me. And no pimples too!

Oiliness/Greasiness factor: 4/5
I have yet to observe it a bit more but more often than not, I don't feel greasiness on my face.  That's a good thing.  But there are days when I do. It might be related to hormones though.

Scent: 5/5
I like the scent of this product. So clean and refreshing. I can't properly describe it though.

Price: 3/5
I guess it's a bit pricey for a product.  But it does work for me.  I might consider purchasing it if I really can't find a good emulsion for me.

Average: 4.2/5


Fairly good, right? Well, considering all those things mentioned earlier, yeah.

Other Notes:


My friend mentioned to me that she has this too but apparently it's a stickier form of the product. Plus the bottle didn't have a pump so it was harder for her to take the product out of the bottle. I guess that Benefit did improve their packaging.

During the time I started using this, there were days when I'd get pimples and itchiness and I was afraid that it was the product that was causing it. But I think I was getting the pimples and itchiness because of Physiogel, a cleanser from Stiefel.  (I really don't like using it nowadays because it reacts weirdly on my skin!)  Every time I'd stop using Physiogel, the itchiness and pimples don't come out. So yeah, it's not the emulsion.

My skin is oily so I was really concerned about my face turning greasy with this.  The swatch on my arm was good. And I got convinced that afternoon that it's one of the must-have's from Benefit.  I think I am right. Lol. I can't help but love using this product on my face!

There are days when I skip this in the mornings. Why? Because I find some bb creams to be very moisturizing. Sometimes I get pimples because of the other products.