Lemming for...

Benefit Coralista!


Okay, I know it's been around for about a year now, but I don't know, I just noticed it now! The story behind this particular lemming:

This afternoon I ventured all the way to Makati (I live hours away) to get my little girl's medicine. I commuted and took the bus and a cab...I actually wanted to take the car but that's what I get for being too lazy to renew my license. Anyway, sorry I digress, after I got the medicine from Medical Plaza Makati, I again looked for a cab. I waited and tried to hail cab after cab but no success. I didn't want to wait anymore so I thought, hey I could just walk to Glorietta (this is the nearest mall). Ooh, even though I was entirely unfamiliar with the area I thought I had the greatest idea.

So I walked and walked and walked, and walked! Damn, it was far. I was sweating like a pig. I kept hoping I'd see Glorietta soon, and after walking more and more, I finally did! YAY!!! Upon entering the mall. I headed straight to the nearest bathroom and cleaned up. Looked at myself in the mirror...surprisingly decent! And I had the loveliest flush on my cheeks from the exercise. I loved the color of this natural flush.

I tried to remember if I had any blush with a similar color, and even though I've never tried it, Benefit Coralista came to mind.

I still love my mineral blushes but I'm also looking into collecting pressed blushes. Always been a lipstick girl, but lately, I find that I have a thing for blushes. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and get Coraista now though because I have loads and loads of mineral blushes (many samples, some full sized) that I haven't really used, some I haven't even touched!

So my question to you is, what do you think of the Benefit Coralista blush? Have you tried it? Should I buy it? :)

Aromaleigh butterfly hunt

Some of you probably already know about this, but for those who don't, Aromaleigh has this great daily contest :) Miss K posts photos of pretty butterflies each day on her blog, and in order to win you'd just have to find that photo (it appears in the exact same size) on the Aromaleigh website. Here is the most recently posted butterfly:


Miss K has been giving away different Aromaleigh products as prizes. Take note though, that you can only win up to three times. I've already won twice so I'll be picking the last one I join carefully. It's such a fun contest! And once you get the hang of finding the butterfly, it gets really easy. There are 16 more hunts remaining. This is open to both local and international readers. Good luck with the butterfly hunt!

Besides the contest, I really like the new changes Aromaleigh has announced lately- like being able to choose the three free samples that come along with every order, and having their makeup brushes, among other products, included in items for international shipping. Yay! I read about the updates on Miss K's blog, which is a great read with lots of inspirational photos too.

Speaking of contests (and winning them), I received something yesterday that gave me much needed cheering-up! It's from another great blog (for Filipinas), Kikay Exchange! I'd like to take photos first though, so will post about that soon :)

New from Bare Naturals - Mineral Liquid Lipstick & more Eye Pigment colors

I'm into exploring local mmu products nowadays, and revisited an old favorite: Bare Naturals. They've been coming up with so many new items lately! The newest of which is their Mineral Liquid Lipstick:


Enriched with Vitamin E, avocado oil, shea butter, and emu oil, it's supposed to keep lips moist, and provide natural-looking color. This shade is called Glamor, which is described as a Pink coral with hint of coral and silver iridiscence. This is a flirty, pretty color. I like it a lot!

Here it is on my lips:


I'm wearing it here as I normally would, using just a sheer layer. It's glossy but not overly glossy or shimmery even. Apply heavier layers (it has a wand applicator) and the color becomes almost opaque- hence its being called a 'liquid' lipstick. It also smells nice, like strawberries with a hint of mint! And definitely more moisturizing than your typical lipgloss or lipstick. It's available for only Php 215 or around $4.50. This'll last me a long time but I'd like to get another color...I think Fame which is a raspberry color or Power, which looks like a lovely peach. Swatches are available on the website.

Bare Naturals also has new Eye Pigment colors. I only ordered a few samples (these are available in sample baggies at Php 40 and the full size at Php 135), but Lami, the owner, generously included a bunch of other baggies and one in the fullsize 5g jar. Yay!


I was glad that the fullsize color I received was Dark Night, which is a matte black. I have no black eyeshadows and I've also been looking to get more matte shades. I also have lots of shimmery e/s but nearly no matte ones. I'll be using this to line my eyes and when I want to try more dramatic looks.

I swatched the other colors I received and labelled them on the following photo. Please click to enlarge:


I like both the shimmery and matte ones. I especially like Twilight and Urban (how many brown eyeshadows can a girl have?) , and Mod because I'm a sucker for gold and bronzey shades, as well as Soldier because I also love green e/s. Cosmo is really nice too, I don't think I have an e/s color like this one.

I'll also be trying Bare Naturals' BB creams, probably today, will post about that soon!

Kreativ Blogger Award

I received a blogger award from Shobe of Your Little Beauty Bag and Gale, of My Wonderful World of Colors! :D



To accept this award do the following:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

7 things about me that MIGHT (i said might) be interesting...

1. When I was in college, sometimes I would go 3 days with absolutely no sleep. As in I would be awake for 72 hours straight!
2. My palms are super super lined so they have a weird texture to them. When hubby and I were still boyfriend-girlfriend, I believe I let him kiss me first before letting him hold my hands haha.
3. Before my daughter came along, my sort of baby was a cocker spaniel named Twinky, who followed me everywhere around the house, and slept in my room. My room filled up with dog fleas and smelled very much like dog but I didn't care...
4. Right now, I have only 2 pairs of jeans that fit.
5. I can eat an entire bar of chocolate (my faves are Lindt, Symphony, and Cadbury Topdeck yummm) in one sitting.
6. I think all 5 of the piercings on my ear have closed up. I don't recall the last time I put earrings in all of them at the same time.
7. I've never had chicken pox? Hehe.

I pass this award to (some of of whom have probably been nominated already =P) :

Gem
Louie
Twinsouls888
Shen
Michelle
Lisa Kate
Dreamer0703

Fyrinnae haul, and thoughts

My order from Fyrinnae is finally here! It took 8 days before it was shipped, as Fyrinnae prefers to make fresh batches of products, and I had no problems with the processing time (which is always displayed on the webste) anyway. It was the postal system that was slow, it took a whole month to reach me!

I'm glad to report too, that since my post office rant, I've claimed 4 packages (which came in pairs) from them, and all were completely unopened. What a relief! I'm waiting for a bunch more, and after I receive those I think I'll lay off ordering internationally for a while. Sad for me. Happy for my credit card. Harhar.

Here are my new Fyrinnae eyeshadows (photos can be enlarged by clicking):


Upper row, left to right - Leif, Tamarin, Marshmallow Puffs, Polar Bear.
Bottom row, left to right - Blue-footed Booby, Rapunzel Had Extensions, Cookie Dough, Koala (my freebie).

Color descriptions:

Leif - Brilliant shimmery green with pale copper sparkle.
Tamarin - Matte peach, leaning torward a soft light orange
Marshmallow Puffs - Satiny white, no sparkle
Polar Bear - White-gold, shimmery and soft
Blue-footed Booby - a pale, soft neutral sage green with a slight satiny finish
Rapunzel Had Extensions - Stunning golden pink-peach
Cookie Dough - Satiny light taupe
Koala - A medium rosy taupe, this shade has a satin finish.

Swatched dry, picture taken with flash:


I switched the two rows...
Upper row, left to right - Blue-footed Booby, Rapunzel Had Extensions, Cookie Dough, Koala.
Bottom row, left to right - Leif, Tamarin, Marshmallow Puffs, Polar Bear.

I'm sorry that the colors didn't show up so well. They are so, so much more vibrant in actual, especially Leif! It's a vivid, striking green. My favorite though is Rapunzel Had Extensions. It looks like a simple peach color in the jar, but once applied, wow! It's like this iridescent, golden light-peach color. I also love Polar Bear, a beautiful subtle gold shade with shimmers. It is just SO pretty. And I know it'll look even more striking on darker skintones. All of these shades are very wearable during the day. I haven't tried applying them wet.

Also got samples of two of their Glow Blushes.


Hypnotize and Enrapture Glow Blushes.


They have just a little shimmer to them, Enrapture has nearly none, but I wouldn't call them matte. They have a satiny, sort of pearlescent finish, and do provide a nice glow to my cheeks. Hypnotize is a light dusty-peach, while Enrapture is a dusty rose pink.

Lip Lustre in Type A and Inks Liquid Eyeliner in Flattery Will Get You Everywhere:


I got another Lip Lustre, this time a red because I realized that I don't have any red lippies. Type A's color is described as a rich, shimmery garnet red, which I found to be true. It's got a metallic finish to it, and when applied heavily looks just like the picture below, but I find that I can still wear this shade during the day as long as I apply it sheer, and top it off with gloss.

The Inks Liquid Eyeliner in Flattery Will Get You Everwhere is described as a deep cool brown/pewter shade on the site. I wouldn't call it a cool brown, but yeah it's a pewter shade (this is a type of metal). It's not as dull as it appears in the photo below, it looks much more alive in person. I like the color because oftentimes I'm not as precise in applying black liquid eyeliner as I want to be, and it ends up a bit thicker than I want. I also find black liquid liner a bit too dramatic for daytime, so this shade is fun and just right for me. Too bad though, 'cause this has no staying power on my lids. I didn't use primer when I used it though, I'm gonna try it again.

Lip Lustre Type A and Inks Liquid Eyeliner FWGYE swatched:



I really like my haul and I think Fyrinnae products are worth the wait. What do you think about Fyrinnae products?

Tags and an award :)

I like doing blogger tags- hey, they're fun! And I like receiving blogger awards even more. It makes me smile :)

First tag is a photo tag, from the lovely Michelle of Lipstick Rules.

The Rules...

1. Open your first photo folder.
2.Scroll down to the tenth photo.
3. Post that photo on your blog and tell us the story behind it...
4. Tag 5 or more other people to do the same!

Oh I wish the 10th photo in that folder was cute as Michelle's (hers is a photo of her daughter and son together). I wish it were a photo of of my daughter...well here it is:


Taken in 2007, from my old phone's camera (this is why it's blurry). That's me in the green shirt, and beside me is my friend Irish. This was when we stayed over at the Edsa Shangrila Hotel. We only stayed a few days. I remember that I liked their buffet, but that it was expensive. Hehe. Irish was my team mate at work that time...looking at this photo makes me miss the friends I'd made there, I wish the entire gang had been with us.

The me in that photo is sooooooo different from who I am now. I lived solely for myself! And my work was basically for supporting my vices. I was terribly impulsive, and at times, reckless! Oh man...I was also much thinner. LOL.


Next tag: 6 Things that make me happy. From the wonderful twinsouls of Beauty Inside and Out and sweetie Elsa, of Everyday is a blessing.

Here are 6 things that make me happy:

1. Going on dates with hubby
2. Seeing our daughter Laia grow each day
3. When my friends tell me they love me
4. When I'm happy with my makeup application
5. Good food (I love eating out, and my dad's, mom-in-law's, and hubby's cooking) and my fave foods (chocolate!)
6. Playing with our pet dogs- we have three, and I'm trying to get Laia not to be afraid of them :)


Then, a blogger award given by the always pretty Shobe of Your little Beauty Bag. Thank you Shobe :)

Rules of acceptance:

1) Acknowledge the person who sent you the award.
2) Nominate 7 other blogs.
3) Share your 7 personality traits so we can get to know you better.

Ok, here goes...

-I'm a shy person. I don't usually initiate conversations but if you start one with me I can be quite talkative. I also do not like public speaking- like giving speeches or toasts and stuff like that. I don't like being the center of attention.
-I'm fiercely loyal. Yes, I swear. I'll do pretty much anything for the ones I love. Anything!
-When I find something that I really like, be it a book, food, hobby, I'll explore all aspects of it and do it or have more of it until I get sick of it. Addictive much?
-I tend to be more critical of the people whom I'm close to. I wish I weren't like that.
-I'm a night owl.
-I'm anti-climactic. I guess I don't like surprises. They kinda scare me sometimes.
-I can be lazy at times. I just need someone or something to motivate me, and when that happens I can be very efficient :)

If you've read all the way here, and have not done one or any of these tags yet, I tag YOU!!! :D

Adorned with grace grab bag, and post office rant

Something I got from Adorned with Grace last week- a $3 grab bag :) These are discontinued or 'oops' colors intended for warmer skin tones. I chose the one with colors suitable for use on the eyes, cheeks, and face. It contained loads of baggies! There's a lot of neutrals, and the colors which can be used as blush look much more shimmery than the regular shimmer blushes, but I think I can work with them. Will definitely be playing with these.



I also got a few samples of their 2009 Summer Limited Edition Eyecolors...I wish I'd gotten all colors! They are so pretty and wearable.



Left to right - Chivalrous, Classy, Sagacious, Confident, Clever. Swatches of the rest of the Summer collection can be found at their blog.

I'm also happy to say that I'm done color-matching with Adorned with Grace- I previously thought I found my match with Hope 4.2, but it is actually Hope 3.8, which is a shade lighter. Yay!

And here is something from another package that I collected along with the AwG one. It's from Makeup Masala.


Don't they look so sad and lonely? I suspect that the package was tampered with, as only 4 out of supposed to be 11 items were inside! What's missing are: 2 more bottles of nail polish, 2 L.A. Girl eye pencils, a NYX jumbo lip pencil, a bent eyeliner brush, and EctoTools bamboo 6 mini brushes (btw I already took the elf polish out of their packaging). Sigh. I know Toma would have informed me if the other items were out of stock.

This has never happened before, and I was always satisfied with my post office since they always delivered my packages quite fast, directly to my doorstep, and whenever I went there the post office ladies were very nice to me. When I received a post office notification card which turned out to be for the AwG package, I went to the PO and asked if there were any other packages that arrived for me. As usual, the lady at the counter was nice and motherly, and looked inside to check. She came out waving a package victoriously, calling out to happily tell me that yes, there was another one. It was the Makeup Masala package, and I was just happy that it wasn't lost, so I thanked her, and got out of there.

It was only much later that I opened it, and I was so surprised that those were the only contents. I examined the package and curiously it didn't have any dates marked on it, as all the others do. It was sent a month ago, btw. And I didn't notice earlier but the end of it was heavily taped. I wish they'd left me the brushes instead of the nail polish, I was really looking forward to using those!

And now still no other packages or anything, and I still have several in transit. Why'd they suddenly decide to mess with my stuff?

My everyday lip balm

I love lip balms ♥ My lips need them, for they are perpetually dry, and I like to make sure they're soft each time my hubby kisses me. Heehee. Lipsticks, lip glosses, and other lip colors are also easier to apply and look better on lips that aren't chapped. Here's the lip balm that I've been using everyday:


Aromaleigh's Aromatherapy Lip Balm

Ingredients: Prunis dulcis Oil, Apis mellifera (Beeswax), Butyrospermun parkii (Shea) Butter, Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Limnanthes alba (Meadowfoam) Oil, Oenothers biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Persea americana (Avocado) Butter, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Rosa mosqueta (Rosehip) Oil, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe) Oil, Fragrance.

Available in 16 yummy scents too! I have Delicate Vanilla Bean, but I gotta say first, that it's not the scent which really made me love this- it's the texture! It just totally glides on my lips, it feels so creamy! Not at all waxy, or hard, like other lip balms I've tried. It's moisturizing, and doesn't feel greasy or heavy on my lips. I especially like to use this when I wake up in the morning, and right before I go to bed at night. Definitely keeps my lips soft. I think this'd be great for sensitive lips too.

Regarding the scent, it's quite faint, which is just fine by me. It's a warm scent, which to me smells a bit like nuts, and maybe a hint of vanilla. I know I've blogged before about finding my HG lip balm, but the scent of that lip balm, though okay with me, bothered hubby and even my sister. Aromaleigh's does smell nicer, and works just as well. There's no taste to it either, which is just what I prefer.

The Aromaleigh Aromatherapy Lip Balm can be ordered online at the Aromaleigh website, for only $4.85, BUT it's currently included in their weekly sale and right now is at 25% off, priced $3.64. Just check the site for more info, but let me tell you before you click that link, if you like pigments, mmu, or color, there's gonna be loads of goodies there for you!

*Photo taken from the Aromaleigh website.