A taste of Wild Organics

Wild Organics is proudly Philippine-made! Made in Palawan, Philippines specifically. From the Wild Organics website: 'Our ingredients grow wild in the forested area of The Garden’s Secret - an organic farm in Palawan - enabling us to use only the freshest, homegrown ingredients prepared for you without any artificial preservatives.' Oooh. I had to try them!

But the stores selling them were a bit far from where I live...orders can be made via telephone, or email, I believe, but I was too lazy to call or email. Earlier this week though I happened to be at the Market!Market! Mall and there's a wonderful little store there called EcoMarket. It's a small space, but it's right at the entrance- it'd be hard to miss. They sell a number of natural and organic brands, most of which are very affordable. I got a bunch of stuff for my daughter, which we had run out of, and for myself, a few Wild Organics items.


I got two bars of soap: Cocomilk & Honey, and Bayabas or Guava (couldn't find a photo of this one). Cocomilk is for skin smoothening, and also recommended for hair conditioning, as an aid in detoxification, for use as an antiseptic, and for use on children's skin. Bayabas, on the other hand, is for skin healing- for use on an itchy scalp, for irritated skin, for fresh scars, and can also be used as genital wash.

Now, I've only been using these for a few days, but I'm ready to say that I like them. A lot!

I cut the Cocomilk & Honey soap into smaller bars and used those on my daughter and me. My 9-month old baby girl has some patches of healing eczema, and her skin overall tends to be a bit dry. Her skin is noticeably softer after using this soap a few times. Her eczema, since it's healing already, is no longer inflamed or very red in color, but some of the patches are still kind of rough- I believe it's best to use soap on her that is, most important of all, mild, and secondly, it should be moisturizing and soothing. And the Cocomilk soap is pretty much all those! I also tried it on my own dry skin, and it helps moisturize me. Very creamy when lathered, and I don't detect any scent to it at all. Which is just perfect for me right now as my skin is irritated.

I chose the Bayabas soap because my scalp has been itching like crazy, and I was starting to get desperate! I really like the healing powers of bayabas, so I automatically wanted to try this soap. I did try a soap shampoo bar a few years back, it made my hair sticky and disgusting, so I was wary of using this on my hair. I let it lather on my hands (take care to use just a little) and massaged that only onto my scalp, and used my everyday shampoo on the rest of my hair. Afterwards, when my hair was dry, there was no stickiness, not even a trace of greasiness. The itchy feeling was alleviated and the hair at the top of my head was nice and soft.


The other item I got is the Pocket Healer. Now this is interesting, it's supposedly a multi-tasking healing balm, a remedy for insect bites, skin itch, colds, toothaches, and a lot more (just click the photo to enlarge and see ingredents and usage), even pimples! Ah, I wish I had this when hubby and I got sick. These days my nose is runny when I wake up, so I apply this, it feels kinda like vicks but it doesn't smell as strong or as medicine-y. It's in a very handy size, and I'll be using this on all of us, will have to report later on its efficacy when I've used it in more situations. The SA said told me it's one of their best-sellers, I grabbed the last one on the shelf.

The bars of soap are only P125 each, while the Pocket Healer is around P130. Visit their site to find out more. Wild Organics also has a showroom in Makati, and their products are available at EcoMarket as I've mentioned, and maybe at the Echostore at Serendra? I took the product photos from their website, since I'm already using my stuff :)

Take it to the Beach!

The last few weeks have been pretty rough, and I'm in need of a makeover! Feel like I'm starting to look old, yikes! I've decided to enter Ms. Yaya's Take it to the Beach contest for a 'lil bit of fun :) This is the first 'look' contest I've ever joined, and I'll probably not win, hehe, but hey it perked up my mood and gave me a chance to play with my mmu and pigment samples.


My inspiration photo is of a sunset that I took a couple of years ago, while on a vacation at a beach in Anilao, Batangas. Oh, is the inspirational photo supposed to be of a certain look? :)


I used Glittersniffer's eyeshadow in 24k (pictures can be clicked to enlarge).


Tried the different settings on my camera.





I'm sweaty (you can actually see the beads of sweat on my face) and flushed in these pictures 'cause I went to the upper floor of our house where it's really sunny- and really hot!


Items used:

Tools - Bare Naturals' Kabuki brush
Adorned With Grace's Ingenue Large Dual Fiber brush
ELF Studio Complexion brush
Everyday Minerals Everyday eyeshadow brush
EcoTools Eye Blending brush
EcoTools Eyeliner brush

Face - Beautiful Girl Minerals Foundation in Medium Warm
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Translucent

Cheeks - Aromaleigh Illuminating Perle Powder in Afterglow
Lumiere blush in Apricot

Lips - Silk Naturals Organic Lipgloss in Breathless
Fyrinnae Lip Luster in Kitty Ears

Eyes (in order of use) - The All Natural Face's Vegan Eyeyshadow Primer
The All Natural Face's Snow White Eyeshadow
Glittersniffer's 24k Eyeshadow
Beautiful Girl Minerals Multi Purpose Powder in New Moon
Glittersniffer's Blow Eyeshadow
Aromaleigh Pure Drama Eyeliner in Copper
My Minerals Bath and Body Brow Fix (clear) for brows & lashes

And there you have it. I still have a long way to go with e/s application. Ms. Yaya's contest is open 'til July 24, 2009 :)

A non-makeup related, all about me blog

I reeeeeally hate getting sick! I can't take proper care of my daughter or do anything when I'm sick. I was at the nearby hospital's emergency room on Saturday because of a bad asthma attack. I seldom get attacks now, but stress can really get to me.

See I had to call an ambulance last week for my ailing grandfather, who's 84 years old. My parents weren't here so I was fully responsible for him, and I decided to bring him to the hospital around 1 AM, seemingly just in time. He was put into the intensive care unit. It was in a smallish hospital that I'd never been to, and our experience with their staff in the emergency room was just terrible, I was so angry but I had to keep myself in check. When I told my mom about it later on, she said 'Now you know the reality of how most Philippine hospitals are. Others are much much worse.' My lolo is still in the hospital now.

I had trouble sleeping when I got home, and many days after. My hubby left for a business trip that lasted nearly a week. I caught a nasty cold, which developed into a respiratory tract infection and the asthma attack. My cough sounds so awful and disgusting. Ugh. *End of rant. Hehe.

Sweet thiamere tagged me! Yay!

10 random things about me:


-My favorite TV series at the moment is Fringe. It's not fashion-related, or anything close to Gossip Girl (though I like that too). It's Fringe as in fringe science. Just awesome. I'm downloading all the episodes!

-I was allergic to shrimp and crab as a child, and eventually outgrew those allergies, but I still can't stand eating those two. All my family and friends love them and are always saying that it's no fun I won't eat them, so one time I forced myself to eat shrimp. And I threw up what I ate for the entire day! Eeew.


-I have a scar on my right eyebrow from a childhood accident. I've never attempted to mask it with makeup, but it's conveniently covered by my bangs or side-swept hair.

-I used to work at a call center for a well-known international bank, and we worked on eastern standard time, so my routine was kind of opposite for day and night. After work my co-workers and I would unwind by drinking and eating, so basically we were having beers when most people were having their breakfast!


-I named my daughter after Isabella, from Twilight. I got hooked on the Twilight saga during the early part of my pregnancy. I knew from the website that it had a solid fan base, but didn't guess that it'd be like a pop culture phenomenon when the movie would come out (still haven't seen the movie, haha)! We were decided on my daughter's first name but couldn't decide on her second name, so I chose Isabella.

-I haven't tasted any alcohol for about a year and a half. Ah, that sucks.


-Speaking of sucking...hehe, I'm still breastfeeding my nearly 9-month-old baby girl. Yay!

-I was 4 months pregnant on my wedding day and was worried that I'd faint during the ceremony. Haha. Thank goodness I didn't, everything went quite well.


-I've worn bangs nearly all my life 'cause I feel conscious of my wide forehead. But I grew them out last year 'cause it's so hot here and I was too lazy to style them. Above is a picture from college (about 3 years ago). So thin!

-I'm a crybaby! Whether I'm angry, sad, frustrated or watching a sappy movie, you won't have a hard time making me cry.

I tag anyone who has read all the way through here (thanks!) and would like to do this tag :) Had fun answering this one too :)

More Etsy Makeup: theallnaturalface and PUREnaturalMinerals

Yes, I have more makeup samples from Etsy and I want even more! Haha. I find that nearly all the Etsy makeup shops that I've come across, particularly those who sell mineral makeup, offer cheap international shipping, so it won't cost much to try and see if you'll like their products.
And as I've previously mentioned, they have very pleasant and accommodating sellers, which is always a plus :)



Here's what I ordered from theallnaturalface. It's a foundation sample kit that comes with a baby buffer brush, costs $7. I chose this kit 'cause I wanted the brush! Doesn't it look cute?


The baby buffer brush (synthetic)- it's described as kitten-soft on the site, which is just what it is! It's small, but very dense and applies foundation like a flat top would. I wish there were a bigger version, so I could cover my face with foundation more quickly. It doesn't shed or smell or anything.

The foundation sample kit I purchased was supposed to be 7 baggie samples only, but it came with about 20 of them! I'm enjoying trying to find my exact shade match. There's also an option to purchase only the foundation baggie samples, without the brush, at 7 samples for only $.20. Yes, 20 cents! The amounts in the baggies should last a number of uses. And then shipping is only $1.25.

The foundation gives medium to heavy coverage, finish I would say is semi-matte, and it did not make me itch nor breakout( please remember though that different products have different effects on everyone), yay! It lasted a fairly long time on me too. There are 49 shades to choose from. I'm a close match with Medium Beige Warmest but I've yet to try a number of other shades I got.


The other freebies I got: eyeshadows, an applicator, eyeshadow primer, mineral veil, and mineral glow (see thiamere's review on the e/s and e/s primer here). Such a generous seller :) Also, don't hesitate to inquire 'cause she replies to convos very promptly.


And here are my samples from PUREnaturalMinerals. I ordered from them during the yart sale, and found a $2 sample set consisting of samples of their 4 blushes, finishing powder, and finishing silk! With generous amounts for each baggie. Also got samples of 2 foundation shades for 50 cents.



I've only been able to try the blushes so far. I was very excited to try them since the colors looked so lovely! Sorry if these photos are dark by the way, I took them at a different time of the day compared to the other photos.


I did swatch them this morning though (photo can be clicked to enlarge, you can totally see my KP), and here they are left to right: Sweet Heart, Peachy Keen, Candy Sparkle, and Rose. Candy Sparkle is the only one with shimmers, the rest are matte blushes.

Color descriptions:
Sweet Heart - This Pink shade is perfect for all skin types. Adds a sweet pink rosie glow to your cheeks.
Peachy Keen - This light peach color will look great on light skin tones or anyone who wants to make there cheeks peachy keen!
Candy Sparkle - This light pink is full of sparkle. This will add sparkle and shimmer to your cheeks.
Rose - This dark red color looks great on any skin tone.

My favorite is Sweet Heart, which I think is a nice mix of pink and peach, and it gives me a nice, light flush of color...I'll definitely be getting a full size of this. Peachy Keen looks so pretty in the bag, but I can't get it to show up on my skin, since it's nearly the same color as me when blended in, I guess I'll try mixing something with it to make it darker. Candy Sparkle is pretty much how it's described, it's sparkly and I'd use it for nights out or for highlighting areas on my face. Rose is not a dark red for me, more like a light pink. Quite sheer, but pretty.

The blushes are not very pigmented, but I do like having the option to choose between heavily pigmented blushes (like Aromaleigh's) and lighter blushes, since I find that the latter is good for when I'm in a hurry, as I can't overapply them. They're also very natural looking even if worn outdoors on a hot, sunny day. Am also looking forward to trying the foundie samples, which have no undertones. Shipping is around $2 only. Excellent communication with seller as well.

Both orders also shipped out the very next day after I ordered...and they were small packages so they were brought directly to our house and I got them in just 1 week! :)

Update and Etsy makeup: glittersniffer (edited)

I know, I suck for not updating. Hehe. I start writing a blog but never seem to finish so I end up with a bunch of drafts which I just read again and now just want to delete. =P I was also planning to join blogger giveaways, but I think most of them have ended? I actually have an unfinished entry that I wrote for ketmany's giveaway- she had a nice idea for her giveaway, all you had to do was write about yourself, and I enjoyed reading all the entries I came across- but hers has ended too. Heehee.

Anyway, I've been experimenting more with eye makeup lately....I'm a complete newbie to this and it's kinda frustrating sometimes. I really need something to blur fine lines, help prevent creasing, and neutralize my reddish lids. Any suggestions? :)

I already received pretty much all the samples I ordered and wanna show them to you all. Here are my eyeshadow samples from Etsy's glittersniffer:





Top - Mobster, Zombie Girl, Redrum, Shwag
Bottom - Pink Pistol, 86, 24K, Blow
I swatched them all dry, with no base, and this photo was taken in natural light, and without flash.

*EDIT- It was bothering me that the above photo really didn't seem to do justice to how these colors actually look like, so I took more photos.



Still in the same order. Applied wet this time, for comparison. First pic taken without flash, second one with flash- they look pretty much the same though, probably cause it was real sunny out when I took these :)

They are very pigmented and even more awesome when applied wet! A only need a little bit for each application. glittersniffer has a nice collection of eyeshadows (categorized by color), super colorful eyeliners and mascaras, as well as glitter, an intense red lip paint, and solid perfumes. Lela, the owner, not only replies very promptly and accomodatingly to inquiries, she also shipped out my order on like, that very same day (I've had excellent experiences with all the Etsy sellers I've transacted with so far)!

About the sample baggies though, I do wish they came with labels. And that the regular sized eyeshadow came in a different container, like a sifter jar maybe. The regular sized e/s is small but filled to the brim with product, and it's a flip-top container, so each time I opened it I'd spill the powder. So I just transferred it to a jar.

I was excited to play with these when I got them, so here is my first attempt at an eotd (please be kind!). And please ignore my untidy brows...I also didn't use any colored base, just a clear eyeshadow primer, so you'll see the sunspot on my lid that I wish I didn't have...



I wanted to use red for some reason, so I used Redrum on my lids, Blow underneath everything and to highlight, 86 wetlined on my upper lashline, and 24k wetlined on my lower lashline. I realize I should've applied more of Redrum and applied it wet, so it would've shown up better in the photos :) It's more vibrant in person, and 24k is a winner! Love it.

So, would you like to try glittersniffer? Shipping is just $1.50, isn't that cool? :)