Happy holidays! :D

Just wanted to pop in to greet everyone- happy holidays! Merry Christmas and looking forward to the new year!

Ida :)

Sweet giveaway (and sale) from Soap n' Sorbet :)

I've been lemming quite badly for Tokyomilk products. I would love to receive any Tokyomilk product for christmas! What a coincidence it was when I found out recently about a website that ships them internationally- www.soapnsorbet.com. And not only that, Soap n' Sorbet currently has a grand opening sale going on, where you can get 10% off any item in the shop upon registering. To top it all off, they're having a giveaway (details at the bottom of this post!)

I'm a total sucker for unique, vintagey, beautiful packaging. If you browse the other items on Soap n' Sorbet you'll find all sorts of pretty things, like these:


Tokyomilk Dead Sexy Parfum


Tokyomilk Let Them Eat Cake Lip Balm


Love + Toast Honey Coconut Hand Cream


Steam Cream Felicity
*All photos from www.soapnsorbet.com.

Sigh...I'm sorely tempted to get these but I'm trying to avoid making any further purchases for myself as we haven't even started shopping for presents yet!

But here's the good news: Soap n' Sorbet is holding a giveaway for one Tokyomilk Parfum (if you win you can choose among the 9 different scents available on the site)!

How to join:

1. Register at the Soap n' Sorbet website.
2. Help spread the word about them and email your friends with a link to their site, www.soapnsorbet.com, to introduce them to this lovely new online shop.
3. CC or forward Soap n' Sorbet this email at contact@sopansorbet.com
4. The more friends you invite, the better your chance.

Good luck and you can also email them if you have any questions :)

I haven't abandoned my blog :)

Just wanted to pop in and say that! I didn't feel much like blogging the past few weeks but now I do feel like it and wanted to post photos and stuff, but I'm having trouble transferring photos into this laptop. It's my hubby's and his previous one was replaced a second time, this time with a newer model- Sony Vaio VPCCW16FG.

The memory card from my digicam won't fit in anywhere on it and I'm frustrated. In case anyone reading is familiar with the laptop model, please help? I find it inconvenient to have out go out and find a cord for transferring photos.

It is already December but I don't feel that holiday feeling yet. We haven't done any shopping for presents yet, but tomorrow I'm getting my Dad one cause it's his birthday. I'm enjoying looking at the holiday collections from various makeup brands...Meow's Merry Mayhem collection has pretty funny names :)

I wish I'd start feeling all christmasy already.

Garden of Wisdom spree?

I'm planning on ordering some skincare items from Garden of Wisdom (aka my favorite all-natural skincare company), and just want to ask if any other Philippine residents would like to join me?

I think it'd be great to pool orders if you'd only like to try a few items, since the minimum for international shipping is $13- this is a USPS Priority Mail Flat rate envelope with a weight limit of 4 lbs. I've ordered from them 3 or 4 times now, and usually receive my Garden of Wisdom package in around 2 weeks. Their products are affordable and if you're gonna be trying them for the first time, I suggest getting the sample sizes. Those last me months, really.

Garden of Wisdom is one of my fave indie skincare companies ever. I have posted about them in the past but realize that I haven't done any reviews for their products (yet). I'd recommend checking out their forum if you're new to this brand and want to try them.

Let me know if you're interested by leaving a comment or emailing me at idalorena@gmail.com. :)

P.S. I wanted to share the GoW products that I use in my everyday skincare routine since they work well for me (I have dry, sensitive, acne-prone skin):

Anti Pop Up Blemish Gel - do you have certain areas on your face on which pimples just keep coming back? Like for me, it used to be on my temples and the sides of my face. I apply the Anti Pop Up Blemish Gel on these areas and it keeps the stubborn pimples from coming back in that area. I also put this on existing zits to reduce swelling and redness.

Coconut Cream - works great for me as spot treatment. I dab this on the zits that I get and it helps so well woth drying up the zit and reducing it in size. I've read that Manuka Honey is an alternative and I'd like to try that also.

Banana Hydrating Mist - I spray this on before moisturizer if my face feels dry. Also when I feel like applying mmu wet.

Super Hydrating Gel or Blue Mallow HA Serum I use alternately, my face feels hydrated and smooth after this.

Winter Balm - I use this as night cream. It's emollient and does have a balm-like texture to it, pleasant scent as well. Moisturizes me very well, I think it's great for dry skin.

Eye Majik Cream (waxless) - when I apply this on my undereyes, it leaves the skin there with this tightening and firming sensation that I find really cool 'cause it feels like it's working, hehe. This moisturizes my undereyes well but did nothing for my dark circles. I think the fine lines have been reduced a bit since I started using this, but the changes are not very dramatic.

Heather Blossom Cleanser - I think this is the mildest cleaner I've ever tried, so I really like that. It does not irritate my sensitive skin at all, and it's also non-drying. Removes dirt well, doesn't smell too nice but it doesn't bother me.

Exfo lotion - I don't use this on my face (it's really not for facial use) or use it everyday, but I just wanted to say that this is one amazing product. I use it on my very dry, and recently rough and flaky legs. I use it like a regular lotion and the day after, my legs are peeling, but they don't feel tight or dry. After I scrub my legs in the shower, I slather on my usual rich lotion and my skin feels softer than they have ever felt. I swear, it's amazing!

Ive tried other items but those are the standouts for me. I'm looking to try other stuff and restock on items I've run out of :)

Aromatherapy and Amu'in, courtesy of Askmewhats

Around a month ago, I won some goodies from Askmewhats.com. That was during the aftermath of typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy, which was quite a depressing period for me, so it was perfect timing to find out that I won a giveaway, since that cheered me up nicely! Nikki of Askmewhats (thank you!)was prompt in sending the items, and I was surprised that Xend (the courier used) resumed their services so soon after the storm and floods!


*Photo from the askmewhats website. I'm too lazy to take my own photos right now, hehe.

The giveaway was for an Amu'in gift pack. I'd read about Amu'in before and wanted to try their products so this was just wonderful. I'm into ethnic stuff and love the name- Amui'n is a tagalog word which means (from their website) 'to caress, to tame'. Lovely.

They follow the principles of Aromatherapy, which, before I read more about it, to me simply meant putting any fragrant oil on a burner. It was after I had my baby that I started to get more interested in Aromatherapy. I realized two things, one of which was that it's important to ensure that you use high-grade essential oils (which don't come very cheap), and this (an excerpt from the Amu'in website. In a really lazy mood at the moment):

'although most people have heard of or experienced aromatherapy they do not seem to realise that for aromatherapy to work the essential oils have to pass through the lungs or skin and into the blood stream i.e. they are entering the body.'

I tried pure Lavender essential oil first, which I tried to relax my then colicky newborn baby with. I would put a drop of it on my shirt, and though I'm not sure if it calmed my baby, it sure did relax this frazzled, panicking newbie mom.

So it's no suprise that my favorite item among the Amu'in goodies is from their Hulay (which means Relax) line, which uses a blend of lavender and ylang-ylang. I love the Hulay Body Mist. I don't think it's like most body sprays in the sense that it's not used primarily to smell good, but to feel good! It's not that the scent doesn't smell good, on the contrary, it's very good--clean, sweetish, mild, and does not smell exactly like lavender--but the scent isn't as long lasting as as typical body mists. There are instructions on the bottle to spray the mist on your face and body, then inhale the scent deeply to feel the relaxing effect. I use it as room and linen spray too. Even hubby likes this wonderful product.

I don't like the Sigla (Energy) Body Mist as much because the scent is stronger, and smells very citrusy, but the smell really does wake me up a bit and it freshens up the air nicely after one of baby's diaper changes. The Alaga (Soothe) Hand Sanitizer and Alaga Insect Repellant we both use regularly and they work well. They smell similar to the Sigla Body Mist, but slightly milder.

The pouch that came with these items is very plush and soft- great to know that it was made with through a traditional Ilocano process of weaving. My mom is an Ilocana! There was also a reusable small tote in the package, which isn't included in the photo.

I think these items will be great as stocking stuffers. I'd love to try their other products and their Gayuma (Romance) line of items! You can visit the Amu'in website here, and thank you again to Askmewhats for giving me an opportunity to try these!

A small blog sale

Hi! Please buy from my blog sale! :)
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Notes:
1. Sale is open for Philippine residents ('Cause shipping overseas would probably cost more than the products themselves?).
2. Items will be shipped through Xend Express, just add P50 for Metro Manila shipping, and for areas outside Metro Manila it's around P100- will compute exact amount.
3. Payment methods are Gcash and BDO bank deposit (for this option, must email me a scan or photo of the deposit receipt. Please bear with me as I don't have online access to this account nor do I get to check it often).
4. You can email me at idalorena@gmail.com if you'd like more information about any of the products, or buying them.

The items for sale (all photos can be enalarged by clicking):

ELF Studio Powder Blush in Tickled Pink. Swiped with blush brush 3-4 times. P100. *SOLD



This photo taken with flash.

This one without flash.

<><>NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha. Used about 5 times. P100. *SOLD

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NYX Round Lipstick in Cream. Tested once. P100. *SOLD




Everyday Minerals new and completely unused Foptic brush(P250) and Everyday Eyeshadow BrushP199). -Everyday Minerals 1g sample pots of Peach Concealer (85% left) and Back to School Blush (95% left) come for free with these 2 brushes, if you want them.*Both brushes SOLD




Venus and Mars Bliss of A Nymph Body Oil. 80% left. P99. You can learn more about this body oil here. *SOLD.



Maybelline Mineral Power Concealers in Medium shades - Sand (70% left), and Beige (90% left). P150 to get both. *SOLD




Also added:
Milk and Mixture Crumble (Moisturizing Body Scrub) in Blueberry Muffin, 300 grams. P100. This is barely used (about 90% of product remaining). I bought it around 2 months ago and it still smells the same- like butter and blueberries.*SOLD


Photo taken in our bathroom.

It's a big tub. :)

I washed my hands each time before dipping into the product.

P.S. One of my newly discovered beauty blogs (and I'm glad to have discovered it!), A Boquet of Beauty, is holding a giveaway for a gift certificate to be spent on your choice of either Aromaleigh or Fyrinnae (love them both). You can also join it by leaving a comment on her post. :)

Erzulie Cosmetics Mineral Concealer and Cream-to-powder Foundation

Let me start off by saying that Erzulie Cosmetics has great customer service! I ordered from them a couple of months ago, and only remembered to leave my feedback on Etsy much much later on. Through my Etsy feedback, I let them know that I liked the product I got, but was looking for something which gave more coverage, and that the concealer I got was too light for me (see this post). Rhonda of Erzulie Cosmetics almost immediately offered to send me a sample of their cream-to-powder foundation which she said gives heavier coverage, and a concealer in a darker shade of my choice. Yay!

Here is the Progress Mineral Concealer in Medium:

It's made of all-natural ingredients, is non-comedogenic, comes in a tube, and costs $6. The medium shade is just right for my skintone. It's got a creamy feel, and is easy to apply. I use my ring finger and tap it on lightly on my undereyes, then set it with mineral powder concealer. This is not sheer, and covers my dark undereye circles, but not completely. At first it seems to leave a bit of a greyish cast on my undereyes which is typical of many concealers, but the good thing about this one is it kind of adjusts to my skintone after a short while and the greyish cast just goes away. I really liked that about it.

The lasting power in our very hot, humid weather was good, it fades after about 4-5 hours, but I'm glad it doesn't leave the concealed areas shiny like the Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer. I like the feel of it on my dry undereyes, and it didn't settle much in the fine lines on my eye area, only a bit in the inner corners of my undereye where most of the fine lines are. It also didn't cause any irritation to my skin.

Overall, I like this concealer. I've been using it a lot lately! The finish is quite natural and I would repurchase this, and also get myself their color correcting concealers, most especially green (for the red areas on the sides of my nose), and yellow (to experiment on my undereyes again).

Here are before and after shots of my undereyes, by the way, I'm not sure they're gonna be of much help but I'll post them anyways...

Before photo. It's a little blurry- taken in natural light, with no flash, in the late afternoon. Whoa! You can really see how bad my dark circles are here.

And after. The lighting is different becaue by this time, there was no more sun outside. My skin looks shiny because of the flash.

I also tried the Cream-to-powder mineral foundation:

*Photo from the Erzulie Cosmetics website.

I received a sample of this foundation in Medium Light. It is also all-natural and non-comedogenic like the concealer, and is on sale at $14. This shade is too light for me, though I find that the difference is only very noticeable in photos. In actual I thought it looked all right but would still prefer a darker shade.

My first thought after putting this on is that it didn't really 'turn' to powder. The finish was not matte nor did it have a powdery feel as I was expecting, instead the finish was dewy. Now this is no problem for me since right now, my skin is very dry and dull, so I actually prefer a cream or liquid foundation with a dewy finish, but if you're looking for foundation with a matte/dry finish, this is not it.

It could be that our hot weather affects the product and the outcome, but I've used this a number of times now and the finish is always the same. It retains its cream form and doesn't really become powdery. It doesn't feel greasy though, and I love that it feels so lightweight.

I like it for my dry skin, and as long as my skin is properly moisturized before application, this doesn't emphasize any flaky areas. I'm not sure how it would do for oilier skin types in our hot weather though.

Regarding coverage, it definitely has fuller coverage than their Flawless Finish Clarifying Liquid Foundation. It evens out my skintone very nicely and covers blemishes well. I like this foundation's coverage a lot. I also find it easy to blend (I use a sponge) and apply. No itchies or breakouts either! I will definitely purchase the full-sized product, perhaps in the medium shade or even darker.

Have you tried any products from Erzulie Cosmetics?

A soap that saved me from bacne (yuck)

Yeah, I know, it's disgusting. Bacne started for me around puberty, then flared on and off, and when I turned to natural bath and skincare products, I resolved to find a solution to it. For some of you who have the same problem, you might want to try Venus and Mars' Javanese Lulur Soap.

(Photo taken from the Venus and Mars website)

I purchased this soap via the Venus and Mars (a local seller) website many months ago simply because I liked the product name. I've always longed to experience a Javanese Lulur treatment so this prodcut sounded really good to me.

The ingredients of this soap are: emu oil, tea tree essential oil, turmeric, tea tree leaves, shea butter, arbutin, calamansi, papain, olive oil and coconut oil, mango.

I have sensitive skin so I tested the soap on my arms first, and when no adverse reaction occured, I lathered it all over my back. I noticed that there was a stinging sensation on my skin, especially if I waited too long before washing it off. But it didn't make me itch, nor did it leave rashes, so I continued using it. It had a very mild scent which to me smelled kind of like oatmeal.

After using it everyday on my back for less than a week, I noticed that my bacne was miraculously drying up! I was really surprised. I noticed though, that while it dried the pimples, it also left the skin on my back rather dry, so after bathing I applied a few drops of emu oil on my back, then a bit of lotion. I followed this routine and it improved my back very noticeably. I loved the results.

I remember that I had some zits on my face at that time, so I tried using it on my face as well. This for me turned out to be a no-no because it didn't help with the pimples on my face and dried my face up terribly. I haven't and won't use it on my face again, and definitely prefer my liquid facial washes. I use this soap on my back only.

The skin on my back cleared up entirely at one point so I didn't get myself any more bars of Javanese Lulur, but recently I started getting zits on my back again. So it's back to the Javanese Lulur soap for me and it's improving my skin again just like before. I don't want my skin to become 'immune' to this product though, so I'm still searching for more natural products that will work just as well and which I can use with this alternately.

I don't know if I sound like an ad, but just to let you know, I'm not affiliated with Venus and Mars - I'm just one of their regular customers. Do also keep in mind that products don't have the same effects on every individual, so I cannot guarantee that this would have the same effect on anyone else, but if you suffer from bacne, I highly recommed that you give it a try! It's pretty cheap too at P100 or P195 depending on the size of the bar.

Lauress mineral foundation and other samples

I've heard many raves about Lauress's mineral foundation, so I was very excited to try them when I received my samples.

Their foundation comes in loose powder form and is available in 3 formulations- Minimalist, which contains only 4 or 5 ingredients and is recommended for sensitive, normal to oily skin, Elemental, which contains an antioxidant called Lauroyl Lysine and is suitable for normal to dry skin, and Ethereal, which is supposed to give the heaviest coverage out of the 3 formulations, has a glowing finish, and is okay for all skin types.

I got 3 foundation samples, one for each formula, in different shades.
Top row - Elemental foundation in Pure Yellow, Ethereal foundation in Pure Gold, Minimalist foundation in Fresh Gold, Luminesce powder in Lustrous. Bottom - Matte blushes in True Love and Perky, and my freebie, Pearl Light eyeshadow in Serene.

Regarding the foundation colors, I find that I have to mix Pure Yellow and Pure Gold (with more Pure Gold in the mix) to match my skintone. The difference between Pure Yellow and Pure Gold is that Pure Yellow has a lot more yellow tones in it than Pure Gold does, and I find it to be a shade lighter.

I think Lauress's foundation really is worth raving about! Finding the right formulation depends on your skin type. Mine is sensitive and dry and I love the Minimalist and Elemental formulas.

Minimalist feels light as air, and did not make my face itch even after I started sweating. It has a matte finish, and I was pretty surprised that it didn't make my skin feel dry and tight like most matte foundations do. I'm satisfied with its coverage, which can be light to heavy depending on application. I also like that it doesn't make my t-zone look shiny in photos.

Elemental is also lightweight, and feels creamy while being applied. This did not make me itch either. It has the same coverage as Minimalist, made my skin feel silky, and really didn't dry my skin out at all. I think they're right to recommend this to people with skin that tends to be dry.

The Ethereal formula I don't like so much because it made my skin itchy once I went out in our hot weather. I 'm not sure what ingredient in it I reacted to, perhaps it was the Boron Nitride? Its finish was also a bit shiny for my taste. I think it offers just the same coverage as the 2 other formulas.

I adore the True Love blush which on me is a cool, soft pink. Perky blush is a bit darker and is described as a dusky rose. The Luminesce powder is for creating a soft and natural glow. I don't find it shimmery or sparkly, and I think it's okay, though I would like it to be more 'glowy'. I like to use it as a finishing powder. Lustrous is a soft tan color which is actually darker than my actual skintone, I use it when my foundation seems a bit light. My freebie eyeshadow, Serene (soft, dusky mauve), is lovely- a subtle color and easy to blend.

If you'd like to try their products, now is probably a good time since Lauress currently has their powders on a 10%-20% off sale. I also ordered during a sale and my order was shipped in about 2 days. International shipping cost about $3. Love how they shrink-wrap everything too, so that nothing spills!

Looks like everyone had a great halloween :) Me, I spent it in the province with my family and in-laws the whole long weekend and I missed being online terribly!

Mineral makeup to play with, and mutiny.

I've still technically not broken my no makeup-buy since I've only been getting myself the littlest things here and there. No major purchases, or hauls, at all. It's pretty difficult but I'll live :)

I alleviated my hunger for mmu by a bit through my purchase from Pammy's Blog Sale for a Cause (all proceeds went towards their outreach program, awesome).


The lot of samples (transferred into jars) and a fullsize EDM blush cost only P100 or about $2. The samples were of blushes, eyeshadows, and a few of foundation, from Monave, Cory Cosmetics, Silk Naturals, Dreamworld Minerals, Meow, Buff'd, and some others.

A pretty good, and cheap way to sample from various brands (some of which were my first time to try), IMO. I've only tinkered with the two blushes from Cory Cosmetics - Cosmo Pink and Promise - and I really like the colors. The goods came with a kind thank you note from Pammy. Thank you as well!

I put a new button on the sidebar (right under the Followers box):


I've been keeping up with all the news but I'm not sure how to express how I feel about the issue just yet, just that I support uniqueness and creativity! Do click the button on the side bar if you'd like to know more (I'm pretty clueless about html and don't know how to make the image above a link), or visit these great blogs: Fresco Phyrra, Sparkle is my Crack, and Lipsticks & Lightsabers.

A 'natural' beauty tip. For the lips.

By natural I mean using natural ingredients. I know that there are countless tips out there on using natural ingredients, such as things that you can actually find in your kitchen (bananas, avocadoes, sugar, to name a few) for beauty rituals, and it's rather fun to try them, but do be careful. Definitely do a patch test first! I for one now know that, although I like honey, my skin does not like it.

But I do want to share a tip that I've been incorporating into my routine for many weeks now. I only used two ingredients for it: emu oil and unrefined shea butter. I purchased my emu oil from Barenaturals, a local seller (also available from Garden of Wisdom who ships worldwide), and the unrefined shea butter from Coastalscents (available locally at Botany Works).

I thought of using them when my lips swelled up from allergies. Eeew, yes, I know. After the swelling went down the texture of my lips became very rough, I hated the feeling of rubbing my lips together! I thought of trying emu oil on them since I use emu oil for any insect bites or minor skin irritations that I and my daughter get. Unrefined shea butter I usually rub on my heels, to keep them soft, and on my daughter's eczema.

I just got a small dab of the emu oil and applied it all over my lips. Surprisingly it didn't feel yucky. Then I grabbed a small amount as well of the unrefined shea butter and put it all over my lips also. And after about 2 days my lips were even soften than before they swelled up, I swear! The emu oil and shea butter are gone from my lips after less than an hour, but I continue to feel the moisturizing, softening effect hours later. I now do this when I wake up in the morning, after baths, and after kissing hubby goodnight. It's just super! And if you decide to try this tip, I do hope it works just as well for you!

By the way, have you noticed my beautiful new banner and template? They're courtesy of dulcette, whose payment will be in the form of makeup items. Cool, yes?
Her blog is pretty new, so let's welcome her to the beautyblogging community :)

I am so happy that our daughter's first birthday party turned out quite nicely and that she enjoyed it. My weekend was memorable and happy. How was yours? And do you have any natural or homemade beauty rituals that work well for you? Share!

Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer

Tried this in my quest of finding my HG undereye concealer.

Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer ingredients:

Water/Aqua, Cyclopentasiloxane, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Glycerin, Sorbitan Isostearate, Propylene Glycol, Titanium Dioxide, Ozokerite, Phenoxyethanol, Magnesium Sulfate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Methylparaben, Acrylates Copolymer, Alumina, Butylparaben, Aluminum Hydroxide, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Calcium Pantetheine Sulfonate, Tocopherol, Dextran Sulfate, Silica, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, May Contain (+/-): CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77499, CI 77492, CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), Mica.

I have the two shades they have for medium skintones- Sand and Beige. I purchased Sand first, from a fellow forum member, but found it too light for me. Still I was curious if this concealer would work for me so I got the next darker shade, Beige, from drugstore.com.

Swatches: top - Sand; bottom - Beige.

Blended a bit. Top - Sand; bottom - Beige.

Just so you know, I only used this on my eye area, so I can't say how they do with covering up blemishes. Also, I have serious dark circles and a number of fine lines around my eyes. I applied these on my undereyes as well as on my lids which are a reddish/pinkish color. Then I set it with mineral concealer powder.

What I like about it:

-It felt creamy upon application, and lightweight once on.

-It's unscented and did not irritate the ultra-sensitive skin around my eyes.

-Blends easily.

-Evened out the color on my lids.

-Doesn't settle too much in the fine lines on my undereyes (settled a bit in the lines in the inner corners of my eyes. Really have a lot of them for someone in her 20's!)

-Affordable price.

What I don't like about it:

-It's not very sheer, but didn't completely cover my severe dark circles. Better suited for people with not very dark undereye circles.

-I wish they had more color options. Sand has yellow undertones but was too light for my skin. Beige was more my match but I wish it had more yellow tones to it- as the name implies, it has beige, and pink undertones.

-It was okay when the weather was cooler, but when I used this out on a typical hot day in Manila, it pretty much melted off me. My lids and undereyes became really shiny after a while.

Overall, it's okay for the price. It just doesn't work for me with my super dark circles and the scorching Manila heat, so I won't be repurchasing. Will blog about other concealers soon!

Yay, I have IDs and glittersniffer Solid Perfumes :)

Photo taken in my daughter's play area, heehee. I finally have 2 valid primary IDs under my married name! Yay! I know that's pretty boring but I'm just so glad I can drive again without the fear of being caught driving without a license. Harhar. And I can do my business at the bank. It took me 2 days to renew my driving license because of trouble with the traffic police, whew. And here's a boring tip for any fellow pinoys who need a primary form of identification and want to get one fast: get a Postal ID. It's a quick process and relatively easy.

On to the beauty-related stuff. Solid Perfumes from glittersniffer! Glittersniffer sells eyeshadows (some of which I've tried), but she also has solid perfumes which are supposedly best-sellers.

The packaging of these were recently changed from small tin pots to twist up tubes, and the remaining stock in the old packaging were put on sale, for just $5 per mystery grab bag of 5 scents. I ordered this last month. I thought this was a great way to try her solid perfumes, so I was pretty game with getting surprise scents. Here's what I received:

Chardonnay, German Chocolate Cake, Almond, Dirt, and Hippy Guy.

Scent descriptions lifted from the glittersniffer site:

CHARDONNAY - Think dining in your favorite swanky restaurant with a big round glass of smooth Chardonnay. Is it happy hour yet?

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE Need I say more here? Oh, I will just for fun! Our German Chocolate Cake scent isn't a fancy title- it smells JUST like the real thing! Who would have thought that we could REAL German Chocolate, melting butter, pure sweet sugar, fresh coconuts, hand ground pecans, and put it into a bottle! So, none the less, it's our biggest bottle of scent!

ALMOND - Top notes of almond, mixed with sugary sweetness and roasted to perfection.

DIRT - This scent is one that everybody seems to be extremely intrigued by and thus remained in our scent collection for some time now. This really smells like brand new, fresh out of the bag, dark and rich potting soil. Nuffin' else on earth.

HIPPY GUY - Hippy guy is a scent just for the guys. It's rich, musky, woodsy without being overbearing and would probably be most tasteful for the older crowd.

Chardonnay smells girly, and smells a lot like strawberries, I really like it.

German chocolate cake smells very much like milk chocolate, with a hint of nuts and coconut- yummy and the scent makes me hungry!

Almond smells simple but good, smells like almonds and chocolate. I've used this one the most.

Dirt is interesting. I find that it smells exactly how it's described above. It doesn't stink. An earthy smell that I find I can wear.

Hippy Guy is eeew. It smells like a perfume that's years old or something.

I like 4 out of 5 of the solid perfumes I got, not bad! Oh I also received a free sample of Lime which smells lovely! As well as Silk Sheets eyeshadow which is a nice brown color (haven't tried it yet). I can see why the solid perfumes are best-sellers. I will definitely purchase again. Currently the only listing is for 12 scents of your choice for $24. When my no-buy ends I will be choosing my scents :) Plus her shipping is only $2 to anywhere, how great is that?

Edited to add: Sarah of I Heart Cosmetics and Maui of Makeup, Rants, Musings and More both have pretty awesome Halloween giveaways going on! Visit here to join Sarah's giveaway, and here to join Maui's :)

Sticking to my no-makeup buy

Our laptop's already been fixed, yay! But I'm currently updating using my hubby's new work laptop...I love that it's white. Anyway, my no-makeup buy, yes, I've resolved to stick to it. I looked up the date on the entry where I said that I was longer lemming for any beauty product, and it was September 28. And now, not even a month later, all my lemmings are very much back.

What I'm really, really tempted by are 2 sales - Lauress's sale, with everything at 35% off (only a few days left!), and Sephora's upcoming sale with all items at 20% off (happening on Oct 19 I believe). Both such good deals! And just in time because I tried Lauress's foundation this week and loved it, and I've been lemming for Benefit Coralista for what seems like the longest time. And not to mention the mmu companies coming out with all these great Halloween collections...

But ah, my beauty budget is terribly low right now, what with my daughter's very first birthday party coming up. At first I proposed that we three just celebrate by going out of town, to somewhere we've never been before, but I realized...it's not just we three, it's we and our family and our friends. See, my pregnancy was unplanned, and we were not prepared for it. But we got so, so much help along the way. And we are thankful, and will be celebrating with all the wonderful people who have helped us.

So I resolve to stick to my no-buy! My goal is until December. Good thing I got my packages today...I'll have things to play with. And when I watch the news...did you know that another typhoon hit our country and that the northern provinces were badly hit? More casualties, and more people now without homes and going hungry. I still feel like I'm going to cry everytime I watch the news.

It's about realizations and priorities, I guess. I'm keeping myself busy in the meantime- I was in the process of renewing my driver's license and I was already done with my drug test and all, when suddenly, they tell me that I have a record for a traffic violation that happened in 2007 and I have to get clearance for it all the way in MMDA Guadalupe, which is hours away from our home! So I commute all the way to there today only to find out that it was actually some other person's (a complete stranger) violation which somehow showed up on my record. Jeez. BUT I was told to still come back tomorrow and pay a fine (a small fine, but still). My husband said that was totally unreasonable, that they wasted my time, and I should've thrown a fit, but honestly, I was too weary to argue with the MMDA people. Oops, I'm getting off track and ranting now, but fellow Pinoys, you probably know what I'm talking about. Totally third world :)

So how 'bout you, how long did your longest no-buy last? Inspire me with your answers, please? :)

On hiatus until laptop gets fixed

Hi everyone! Thank you to those who still visit my blog, although there aren't much new (beauty-related) posts. Appreciate it!

Our laptop contracted a stupid virus which corrupted my downloaded episodes of Glee and Fringe, stopped Mozilla from running, and caused the system to become reeeeally slow. I still have my mom's laptop (which I'm using right now) but it has a slow system also and a terrible keyboard, so it's an effort to use it. I can still check email or surf once or twice a day, but blogging will be difficult with a system this annoyingly slow.

I'll still be reading your blogs though, as this is one of my stress-relievers, but please excuse me if I don't leave a comment- as I mentioned, it's hard to type on here. In the meantime, I find that without the laptop, I'm getting a lot more things done! We're looking forward to my daughter's fast-approaching first birthday party, and my hubby has asked me to start putting things together.

I've also been on a succesful no-makeup buy since typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy hit the Philippines, and have realized that giving to others makes me happier as compared to the 'high' of obtaining a beauty item that I've been lusting after. Going after my lemmings entertains me for a while but doesn't really satisfy me. But I find that giving to those in need provides me with a sense of fulfillment and truly makes me happy :)

I URGE you to help

I know I only blog once a week but the devastating effects of typhoon Ondoy on my fellow Filipinos is something I feel strongly about. The flood didn't go near our house but it destroyed so, so many others! I feel lucky and blessed and gave my daughter many extra hugs today. I was finally able to contact my aunt in Marikina and she says they're okay. I shall visit them soon!

I watched the news today for less than an hour and heard first-hand stories from victims which were so tragic and moving. My hubby and I had to go out to buy my medicine and through the car radio we learned that a landslide had occurred in Rizal which killed many families. Whole families trapped under tons of mud and rock. I had checked the link I had posted earlier to see where the nearest drop-off for donations to our home was and it turns out that the concierge at Alabang Town Center is accepting them so that's where we went.

There were about 20 other names on the list I signed there and I was glad. I was feeling tired so I didn't go through our full bodega and just got this sack of clothes I have up for an online garage sale and went through the clothes in our closets. We filled three bags but I know this is not enough. I'll go back tomorrow. I actually want to donate food which is what the victims primarily need right now but I don't think I can go grocery shopping. I looked through TXTPower's site and they do seem legit. I think they are the only ones accepting PayPal donations (all donations forwarded to the Red Cross). I really think that donating P100 will help, or even $1!

I have lost any sort of lemming for any beauty product right now. It just doesn't feel fair to me to buy makeup. I still browse through beauty blogs though! I'm sorry if it seems as if I'm trying to make anyone feel guilty- I'm not. I just want to share how I feel. On the bright side, I saw photos online of many people buying loads and loads of relief goods, which really brought tears to my eyes. Sorry, I can't help being emotional!

I urge you to visit the TXTPower site as they make it very convenient to donate, from your home, from anywhere in the world (using PayPal), with only a few clicks. They accept donations through (posting this again):

-Paypal (magbayanihan@yahoo.com.ph or click this link)
-Gcash (0917-9751092)
-SmartMoney (5577-5144-1866-7103)

You can also inquire with your local Red Cross, or visit this link to check where the nearest drop-off point for donations in your area is, and other information on how to help.

More about the typhoon and donatins: I just read a recent post from Jbreezy about donating which can be found here. Thebaghag has photos of Manila from airplane window view up on her blog. And Mabuhaygirl keeps it positive documenting good deeds.

Help for victims of typhoon Ondoy

I didn't immediately realize the extent of the damage caused by the typhoon, because when it hit us on Saturday, there was minimal flooding in our area and none at all in our village. We didn't have any TV because the electricity went out for hours and I was caught up in worrying about my husband.

Then later that night when I went online I saw the photos (here are some from Sush's blog or you can google), and the following morning we watched the news and I was shocked. I mean, these are places that I've all been to, places I used to pass by everyday at one point, and places where my family and friends lived nearby. I saw a footage caught on video of people on a roof that was caught in a river in San Mateo, Rizal, it was horrifying. And when I saw photos of Marikina (a flood-prone area in Manila), I got nervous about my cousins, aunts, and uncles who we were supposed to visit there on Saturday. I've been unable to contact them since the storm hit, but my dad said he was able to talk to my aunt and they're okay though their houses were flooded.

Can you imagine your entire makeup collection, or actually your entire bedroom submerged in a flood? Everything you worked hard for- gone. Or the entire village in a deep flood and getting stuck on your rooftop (some with their month-old babies) for 24 hours with no food or water? This is what happened (and is still happening, I think some people haven't even been rescued!) to a lot of Filipinos. I even heard a call for rescue on TV from a woman who was in labor, stuck on her roof in the rain. But the worst is that people lost their loved ones in the floods, and some are still missing. My prayers go out to everyone who was affected by the typhoon.

If you would like to give much needed donations, or volunteer, here is a useful link on how to do it. For those who are staying at home like me, TXTPower.org is organizing a fund drive which will be forwarded to Red Cross and they accept donations through:

-Paypal (magbayanihan@yahoo.com.ph or click this link)
-Gcash (0917-9751092)
-SmartMoney (5577-5144-1866-7103)

You can also call your local Red Cross (people from the USA included) to inquire how you can help.

Typing warm and toasty in bed - I hope you are too.

Hi everyone! Just popping in on my almost dead blog. Hehe. Anyway, Glee. I've come across a number of posts on this new TV show lately. I'm not really one to follow fads, but I happened to catch an episode 'cause someone left the TV on that channel...and I was so surprisingly charmed by this show! It really cracks me up. I love the singing. And the dancing. And pretty much everything. If you like musicals, or broadway, or music in general, you might like watching Glee. I am downloading the fourth and latest episode as I type this :)

I really also hope that all my fellow Philippine residents are okay. There's currently a typhoon over here and the floods are terrible. The electricity went out for 4-5 hours this afternoon but I'm glad there's not much flooding in our area. I was worried about my husband because he got stuck waiting in traffic and gasoline stations for about 8 hours. Yes, 8 hours. The floods on the highways got so bad that no one could pass through! But hubby got home safely, thank God. His friend from work is sleeping over because his house was flooded in entirely so he has no place to stay. Poor guy. I am worried about my relatives who live in Marikina. Lord, please make the storm go away soon!

Would you still like to see my little Etsy find? :) It's from For Strange Women. This shop sells perfume oils, lip balms, and adornments.


Great packaging. Pretty fast TAT also, around just 2 days. Cheap shipping too. I got a lip balm and perfume oils. Here's the lip balm:





Absinthe lip balm. Unique flavor, eh? There's no actual absinthe in it, but it is naturally flavored with anise star essential oil like Absinthe is. It's a light green color in the tube but goes on colorless. I use this alternately with my Aromaleigh lip balm. They are both wonderfully moisturizing and glide smoothly on the lips. But this one definitely has a different flavor. And I like that it's different.

The flavor is hard for me to describe (I've never tatsed absinthe), but I find it so familiar...it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't quite remember what this is similar to! It is sweet at times. I like it a lot. It's not too strong or mild, it's just right. There are other flavors on the shop that I want to try (Poison Ivy). I will keep repurchasing this each time I run out.


I also purchased a sample set of some of their perfume oils. This was my first time to use perfume oils. I almost never wear perfume 'cause it makes me sneeze, hehe. These I find to be much milder than regular perfumes. One time I used up like 1/3 of one vial but my husband still couldn't smell it on me, although I clearly could. They don't make me sneeze or give me a headache or anything.

Like the lip balm, these are uniquely scented. They are also made with all-natural ingredients. I recall seeing a number of pure essential oils on the ingredients list. The sample set I got contained these 3 scents: Jaded, Moss and Ivy, and Sweet Androgyny.

Sweet Androgyny is so aptly named. Sniff it straight from the vial and it smells like a man's perfume. But on my skin it almost turns sweet. Almost musky. I know I'll wear this when I feel sexy. I think this is my fave out of the three. I also like Moss and Ivy though, I find it to be earthy, warm, but fresh, and sweet too. Jaded is very floral and feminine. It doesn't smell exactly like it, but it brings the Sampaguita flower to my mind...which always reminds me of church. I don't care much for this one.

If you're not into floral scents or if you don't like how pure essential oils smell, you might not like these. But if you're looking for something unique, earthy, naturally made, mild and pleasant, try out these perfume oils from For Strange Women. My descriptions of the scents kinda suck, but there are longer ones for each scent on their website which you can check out :)

Mineral Liquid Foundation from Erzulie Cosmetics, Small Eco Market Haul, and Blogger Award :)

First off, thank you much to beautiful bloggers Ems and Mia for this:


Yay! I am passing it on to all the beautiful followers of my blog. Go ahead and post it on your blog! :)

I've been using Erzulie Cosmetics' Mineral Makeup Flawless Finish Clarifying Liquid Foundation (whew! That was long) in the Medium shade for a few weeks now. It is non-comedogenic, supposed to be fragrance-free, and is made of these all-natural ingredients:

Distilled Water, sorbitol, emulsifying wax, squalane, naturaguard, vitamin E, shea butter, aloe oil, jojoba oil, candelilla wax, lecithin, non gmo corn starch, mineral blend, zinc oxide, lactic acid, iron oxides, grapefruit seed extract.

I found it through Etsy and asked Rhonda, the store owner, for the product ingredients. She also recommended the Medium shade for me. I chose to get just a sample, for only $3 (full-size costs $13), it's in a 5 gram jar:


It looks a bit hard here, but the consistency is actually very much like whipped cream! Very easy to blend (I apply it with the ELF Studio Powder brush). It's quite gentle to my skin- no breakouts or itchies caused. It feels nice on too. Moisturizing, but doesn't feel oily or overly sticky on my face. It's supposed to be fragrance-free, but I find that there's a faint, pleasant scent to it.

I was afraid the color would be too dark for me when I saw it in the jar, but upon application, it blended well into my skintone. Finish is kinda dewy, and staying power, for me, is awesome. This can withstand the hot weather in Manila. But as for the coverage, I find it too sheer. It's really more like a tinted moisturizer. It makes for a nice primer for my mmu though, and it would've been even better if it had SPF in it. If you're looking for a tinted moisturizer with all-natural ingredients that is gentle to the skin, you should give this product a try. But as for me, I prefer a liquid mineral foundation with fuller coverage. On with the search!

I also got their Light Progress Mineral Concealer:



Unfortunately, upon opening the cap, I already knew it was many shades too light for my skin. Confirmed with doing a swatch. So I can't shed much thought on it since I'm unable to use it. Here are its ingredients though:

jojoba oil,evening primrose oil,beeswax,shea butter,candellila wax, carnauba wax, vitamin e, squalane, non gmo cornstarch, mineral blend, grapefruit seed extract, iron oxides.

And on to my little haul...I went to the Eco Market stall again yesterday and grabbed some items which I had run out of.


I forgot to bring my own shopping bag. Theirs is so cute :)


Human heart Nature shampoo (my everyday shampoo), Human heart Nature makeup remover (I used up my bottle), three Wild Organics soap bars, and Wild Organics Pocket Healer.

I've posted about the Wild Organics products before.


We used up the 2 soaps I previously bought (Cocomilk and Bayabas) and I really like them. The Cocomilk & Honey bar is for my 11-month-old daughter- this helps moisturize her skin and is so mild, and the Bayabas (guava) soap is for me. I love the Bayabas soap because it helps keep my bacne at bay, but doesn't dry out the skin on the rest of my body. It doesn't help with my dandruff though! I wanted to try the other variants and the SA recommended Sari-saring Halaman (assorted plants). I got another Pocker Healer 'cause my mom nicked the one I had, hehe. It gives her comfort when her sinusitis acts up. I like to bring the Pocket Healer with me everytime we leave the house, to apply on anyone's (including baby's) skin itchies, and for when we get headaches and colds. No effect on muscle pains though.

And lastly, something for my little girl:


Man, how time flies. I can't believe she's turning one year old next month! It seems like it was only yesterday that she was a colicky newborn.

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tints - Pretty!

I'm on a roll with the non-mmu posts! Haha. I must admit I've been trying more traditional makeup lately. For base makeup though, it's gotta be mmu. Otherwise, I will break out, I'm pretty sure because this is what happened the last few days. But for blush, eyeshadow, and lately, lippies, I love color so I love trying new things.

Like the Etude House Fresh Cherry Tints, in #2 Pink and #1 Red:



I saw these on one of my favorite beauty blogs (ABS- sooooo much eye candy here) months and months ago and was totally lemming for them, so it was a wonderful coincidence that Claudia had a few of these left as overstock from her last pre-order, which I missed. She was selling them at a reasonable price too, at PhP 340 each or around $7, so not like the ones up on ebay! Of course I grabbed them quickly. Here are swatches:


Looks and feels creamy upon application.


I smudged them with my finger. They're semi-dry here and look a bit like gloss...


Here's what the tints look like once dry, which doesn't take too long to happen.

A tip: exfoliate lips well and moisturize before using lip stains! This is why I didn't post a photo of the Fresh Cherry tints on my lips. But if applied on well-conditioned lips, these look lovely. Gives a real pretty pop of color! They stain very well, and staying power, for me, is excellent. I have to rub them off with a wet tissue to get the color off completely! Like with the last photo, I tried rubbing the swatch off my wrist with my shirt, but it would not budge. LOL.

They do make my lips dry though, like most lip stains do, but my lips are naturally pretty dry. I love putting a gloss over these, which solves that problem and lets me customize the color. I love both colors but if I had to choose between the two it'd be #2 Pink, which is a lighter color. And I like using these as cheek tints even more. These give me a subtle, beautiful flush of color. And I can blend them easily.

These also smell nice. I think they're supposed to smell like cherries, but to me they smell just like jellyace, a local brand of jelly candy. Yum!

I wish we had Etude House here like we do The Face Shop. Etude House products seem so much fun and girly. I'll definitely be trying more Asian brand cosmetics :)