SkinFood Cacao Hand Balm

Hello guys!

Okay. So I think I've mentioned a few times that I don't like the taste of chocolate... especially the sour aftertaste it leaves in my mouth (I'm talking about the choco bars and cakes... I'm okay with drinking it because it's less... fudgy and thick). BUT that doesn't mean I don't like how it smells. There's something about the smell of chocolate that is somehow comforting, especially the scent of the tsokolate or the local chocolate drink here in the Philippines. I associate it with getting a treat when we eat out or when I'm out-of-town on a vacation because I almost always order a cup of that when we have breakfast on a Filipino-themed restaurant (And yes, I don't drink coffee daily. I drink tea more often actually.).

Now, I get to smell the sweet aroma of chocolate without having to eat it every morning with this product...

SkinFood Cacao Hand Balm

A friend of mine, Tellie, gave it to me a few months back and it has been in my office desk since. :D

Since it's in a tub, I try my best to remember to wash my hands before I use this. The good thing is that when I wash my hands, I feel like my hands are too squeaky clean so I want to moisturize it. Haha! 

The product looks nice on the desk. The packaging is a small tub and the design of the label is pretty cute.

The product is quite thick... and a bit waxy. It takes time to be absorbed by the skin so there will surely be instances that it will get to the stuff that I've touched. But I don't mind. The important thing is that my hands feel moisturized and that they smell soooo good. The scent is not that heavy cocoa smell... it's just the right amount of chocolotey scent that I like. I can't describe it much but I recommend you to go check out a SkinFood counter and check how awesome this product smells like!

See how thick it is?

It's really a good product to hydrate my hands and I only need a small amount to cover both hands so this 50g tub will last me a long while. I draw, paint, and do other kinds of artworks with my hands and they get tired and get exposed to various chemicals, not to mention stuff for nail art too, so they tend to feel dry especially the cuticle part. This hand balm definitely helps a lot in keeping my hands soft and smooth! I just love it! :D

And that's all for the SkinFood Cacao Hand Balm! What scent does your current hand cream have?


Cheers,
DAWN

Review : Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in Deep Black

Hey loves!

Don't you just love it when you accidentally discover an HG potential product? This happened to me when I first tried this product...

Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in Deep Black

This was a gift from a friend but this is also available in the Philippines for PhP 800.00.

I've been a fan of some eyeliners from different Japanese brands. Whenever friends ask me what eyeliners they should buy, I almost always say to check out Japanese brands first because the ones I've tried so far have the qualities I like in my eyeliners—very black and long-lasting.

So when my friend went to Japan for business, I asked her to buy me some eyeliners since I know they are sold cheaper there. She bought me one from four brands and one of them is from Dolly Wink. She told me she bought this (even though she isn't into makeup very much) because she kept getting requests to buy this from friends and they tell her that this product is really, REALLY GOOD! 

Unfortunately, I can't read the product description on the packaging. All I know about Dolly Wink is that it is a makeup brand that specializes on eye makeup. So I googled and here's a product description from Pinky Paradise:

Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner III Deep Black

Produced by Tsubasa Masuwaka. Big, beautiful, doll-like eyes are guaranteed with this Liquid eyeliner. Ink brush type. Rich, deep black to dramatically highlight the eyes.

Product Details

Brand / Dolly Wink

Country of Origin / Japan

Deep and rich black - just a single slick looks like a double application. Dramatically highlight beautiful lines and flicks.

Outstanding resistance to water

Clings to the skin from the moment of application. Quick-drying and resistant to rubbing or running from sweat, water and tears. The colour won‘t fade over time, meaning your liner will stay bold and beautiful all day long.

Slim brush head

A slim brush head with good resistance allows you to create delicate or bold lines as you please.

Remove easily

A washable film-type formulation that‘s resistant to sweat and water, but dissolves away in warm water.

Contains honey extract

Enriched with honey extract to moisturize and gently care for the skin.

The packaging is pretty. It's the kind of pink that I like (somewhat near to peach). The gold font and ornament design gives a princessy vibe, which I also like. ;) I like the size (like an actual pen) because it's easy to carry, especially when travelling. 

The pen's brush has a very fine tip and the bristles are smooth so it can create thin lines, which are great for the cat eye look (for the flick part). It's not too soft that it bends but it's just right to let it glide easily when being applied. I love how it feels and I think its applicator is the best quality among all the pen-type eyeliners I have used so far.

Here's a closeup of the pen.

And here are swatches.

See how thin you can make the lines? And each line is really deep black and I got these with just one stroke. You can make the lines even darker if you layer them. I do realize that when I use very shimmery eyeshadows that it kind of gathers them which makes the blackness of the liner less black and more shimmery. But when I use matte or shadows with little shimmer, then everything's okay, it's still beautifully black.

I don't know why but I've read reviews that it's hard to make clean lines because it goes within the lines of your skin. But as you can see in my swatches, I can create my lines cleanly. I haven't experience any runny situation when I use this. The consistency is just right for me. The tips I can give you to keep the finish deep black and not watery is to shake the product before use and if not in-use, store it with the tip facing downwards (similar with the idea of how you store a fountain pen). :)

And how strong is the lasting power of this product? Check out how it stayed on after I did some tests:

When rubbed by my hand

When rubbed by dry tissue
There's slight fading.

When rubbed with wet wipes

It was easily removed with wet wipes as you can see in the pic above. I can see the "washable film-type" quality. It can stay on my oily lids without being removed or smudged all day, but when I removed it with my makeup remover or a simple wet wipe, it gets removed without difficulty. Awesome, right? I dunno how that works but that's an awesome combination when it comes to eyeliners—long-lasting but easy to remove!

Check out how I apply the eyeliner on the photos below:

I can easily create that flick within seconds. Plus, I don't have to wait a long time for it to dry. I apply and after probably 5-10 seconds, I can open my eyes normally. This is definitely one of the easiest eyeliners to use and I'm an instant fan the first time I tried it!

To summarize my review:

What I LIKE:
- It really is deep black
- Can create thin lines with the very fine tip
- Easy to use and apply
- Lovely packaging
- Very long-lasting—can stay on my oily lids all day
- Can easily be removed with makeup remover/wet wipes
- Locally available
- Somewhat affordable
- Dries quickly after application


What I DON'T LIKE:
- Shimmers from very shimmery eyeshadows gather on the film-like quality of the product making it look less black

Would I recommend? Hells-to-the-yeah! I love this product! It stays on my oily lids even under the hot weather or even when I walked under the rain!

And that is my review of the Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in Deep Black! What do you think of this product? What other products from this brand do you like/want to try?


Cheers,
DAWN

ARTDECO Eyeshadow in Matt Rosy Starling

Hello dears!

A little update about what's going on with my life: I got a new phone!

My old phone was broken last week while I was buying groceries. It fell while I was... carrying cans of mushrooms. On the outside, it looks okay—no scratches at all, but unfortunately, it was the phone's LCD that got broken... That phone was three years old anyway and it was performing poorly and I was already thinking of buying a new one... so yeah, I got a new one! Yay!

Although I'm happy with my new purchase, I'm still sad that I lost some of the pictures I took when I went to ManilArt 2015. I really regret that I didn't sync my phone to my iCloud or Dropbox then. And I also lost some pics that I took for the blog. Oh well.

Anyway, I'll get over the pictures someday...

For now, here's a swatch post again of a recent purchase I made...

ARTDECO Eyeshadow in Matt Rosy Starling

As usual, I bought this on sale at Beauty Bar. I got it for PhP 175.00. Original price was PhP 350.00.

I love this shade. The sort of light nude pink color with a matte finish. I love that color for my lippies, I love them more as eyeshadows!

It's pretty much close to the other ARTDECO mono eyeshadow I bought, the 345 Glam Beige Rose, except that this one is paler and not shimmery.

Info from the website:

Eyeshadow Matt

Powder eyeshadows in matt, natural colors: Thanks to their new, particularly smooth and silky quality, the matt colors adhere perfectly to the eyelid and can be applied especially even. The brown shades are ideally suited for the accentuation of the eyebrows.

Remove the clear cover from the eyeshadow and arrange as desired in the magnetic box. Apply the required shade with the eyeshadow applicator or brush. The eyeshadows can be combined individually and can be stored in the practical refillable magnetic beauty boxes.

So below is the swatch:

It's pigmented but I was hoping that it will have a lighter color. I find that it is close to my skin's color.

On my lids, it's color blended on my skin. It looks really close to my skin's color so it's barely noticeable even with an eyeshadow primer underneath. I wanted a lighter, creamier shade, but I think this is still a nice base shade for a simple, everyday look.

And that's all for the ARTDECO Eyeshadow Glam in Matt Rosy Starling. What do you think of this eyeshadow? :)

Cheers,
DAWN

Bobbie Cosmetics Poof! Concealer

Hey dears!

Having acne-prone skin made me rely on heavy-coveraged concealers when I want my skin to look flawless. I love Laura Mercier's Secret Comouflage, but it's quite expensive. Since I put makeup on whenever I go out, which is like everyday because of work, I'd like to find a more affordable concealer that I can use everyday. That is why I usually go around the beauty section of department stores to find one.

So when I was at SM Manila's beauty section, I swatched some concealers from various brands and found this very cheap one...

Bobbie Cosmetics Poof! Concealer

I bought it for only PhP 100.00!

I was swatching the tester and thought that it had good coverage... and when the SA told me how much it was worth, I thought, "Nice! I guess it wouldn't hurt the wallet so I guess I could just get one so I can try this out."

So I did bought one and now I'll share my review on this product...

The product's claims are the following:

1. Conceals and sets in one portable kit

2. Blends easily to instantly cover and brighten dark spots and discoloration

3. Enriched with antioxidant, Vitamins C & E that help repair, soothe & brighten skin

I chose the #02 shade which is like the medium shade and the closest to my skin tone. #01 is the lightest while #03 is the darkest.

Concealer looks very much like MAC's concealer pot packaging except that it's pink and metallic. 

It comes with a small mirror in a separate compartment. I hardly use it but it may come in handy when I travel. I could easily bring this product with me in my kikay kit because it is small and intact.

Here's a swatch. See how thick the coverage is? It's also pretty close to my tone. My face is a little darker than my arm so it looks more natural when I apply it on my face.

Below are photos on how it works on selected areas of my face:

This is a shot of my eye area without makeup. I have dark undereyes and eyebags.

With the product on. I used my fingers in applying this but I sometimes also use a concealer brush (fingers are easier though).

The concealer helped getting rid of the dark area of my undereyes although I find the finish looking dry...?

Now this is a shot of my cheek. See that reddish acne mark on the slightly center-bottom left area...

...this is what it looks like when I apply the product on it.

It effectively covered the redness of the acne! Although I need to use other concealers and correctors on some of the darker acne scars that I have.

I do think it has the heavy coverage I want in a concealer but I just find it a bit dry. It's so dry that the finish looks cakey at times. Another thing I noticed is that it melts off easily on my oily skin, so once I get shiny, I'll have to reapply again. :( 

I recommend that you use this to cover up blemishes but for undereyes, go for a lighter kind of concealer, like a liquid one, because the consistency of this one is quite thick.

To summarize:

What I LIKE:

- VERY Affordable at PhP 100.00

- Locally available

- Easy to carry packaging (with mirror too)

- Heavy coverage

- Easy to use

What I DON'T LIKE:

- It's dry

- Might look cakey

- Doesn't stay long on my oily skin

Would I buy again? No. I guess the cons I found are important for me so I might skip it. I still recommend this to those who are on a budget with better skin condition than I do (those who only have a handful of zits to cover).

And those are my thoughts regarding the Bobbie Cosmetics Poof! Concealer! What do you think of this product? Can you recommend some concealers with high coverage for me to try?

Cheers,
DAWN

EOTD: Purple is love.

Good evening ladies,

I've been obsessing on the color purple for sometime and had wanted to try dying my hair purple during my board examinations... well, I did (btw) but that DIY hair color was a big failure, I'll probably try to post that sometime when I actually achieve the purple hair that I want. But for now, I'm settling with a couple of other purple stuff.

So here is one of Rica's gifts to me from some time ago, Sephora Crayon Jumbo liner, I have them in purple and metallic blue. Dawn has them as well in gold and green and she's done some marvelous review of the collection here.

So here it is when applied (above) and after it's smudged (below). Definitely, easy to glide and high color pay-out.

So I went with neutral colored lids and just thick purple line. I was actually trying to copy a make-up look by Lisa Eldridge.

Here is the youtube video for that tutorial.

Here's how mine turned out... 

So do you think I got it? I do believe I'm quite off but I do love this look and I guess I'll keep practicing it until I get it.

If you got colored liners, you can try going for this as well, it doesn't really need to be purple. Anyway, go and change up your regular barely there look with some of your favourite color.

Cheers,

LIZ

Napoleon Perdis Lip Gloss in Pink

Hello dearies!

It's been a cool gloomy day in Manila. I hope you guys are dry and safe inside your homes today and during the weekend. I also hope that your loved ones living in the northern part of the country are all safe. The recent typhoon was stronger than expected. :(

Since our work was suspended today, I do have time to blog. I'll be sharing a quick swatch post of a lipgloss my sister gave me.

Napoleon Perdis Lipgloss in Pink

It's my first product from the brand. I'm not familiar with it to be honest and while I was searching for this product's info, I can't find the exact one. I saw their different lipgloss collections but I can't find this particular one. I can't find the shade "Pink" anywhere.

This is, as you can see on the photo above, is a deluxe-sized product that is not for resale. I bet this is a part of a makeup set my sister bought. I haven't confirmed it yet though. lol

Anyway, I'm loving the tube design. I like the brand's logo design and the simplicity of the tube. I also like that I have this travel-size product that easily fits in my kikay kit. 

The applicator is a brush type that makes applying easy. One dip is enough for one lip. 

I also love the sweet scent of this lipgloss. It's like a mix of cotton candy and bubble gum. Too bad that it doesn't taste like it. Or maybe it's good so that I don't just lick it off. Haha!

The creamy texture is a bit sticky though but I don't mind it.

I like this color. It's not really just pink in my opinion. It's too light and soft... I think it's sort of like carnation pink.

And that's how it looks on my lips.

The translucent finish is just enough to cover my lips with this soft pink color. It looks so fun and simple. An easy pick when I want to go out with a soft, simple, feminine look.

So what do you think of the Napoleon Perdis Lip Gloss in Pink?


Cheers,
DAWN

Essence Ticket to Paradise Long-Lasting Eyeshadow in Tropical Heat

Hey dearies!

When it comes to makeup, I can control myself from splurging money if the product is expensive but I know that it's really, really good. I guess I got that from my mom who is very thrifty and would rather find a more affordable version even if the quality isn't as good. What I can't help control myself from doing is buying really, really affordable things that are on sale (I like great deals) even though I have no idea if it's good. Haha!

That's the case with this product...

Essence Ticket to Paradise Long-Lasting Eyeshadow

I was able to get it for a super low price of...

PhP 75.00!!! 
They were on sale that day and I just thought that that's such an awesome deal. I remembered their Essence Stay All Day Long Lasting Eyeshadow, which I love so much, was around PhP 200.00 so if this product's original price was somewhere near that, then this is definitely a steal!

The shade I got is 03 Tropical Heat.

I chose it, besides that it's the only shade left available, because it's gold and it can be easily paired with many lipstick shades and create various makeup looks. It would also be a good makeup base for powder shadows which is something I do with the brand's All Day Long Lasting Eyeshadows.

Here's a swatch on my arm.

And how it looks like alone on my lids.

The shade is wearable and can pass as an everyday eye makeup look. And yes, it can be an eyeshadow base as well. The warm color won't affect your powder shadow if its pigmented. This can actually accentuate the color more. Unfortunately, this one is not as long lasting as their All Day Long Lasting Eyeshadows. My eyeshadow creases when my lids get really oily.

But for a PhP 75.00, I still think I got my money's worth... Haha! But this is not something I really like just because it creases on my lids. But when I use it on friends with dry-normal skin, then it can last the whole day. :P

What do you think of the Essence Ticket to Paradise Long-Lasting Eyeshadow in Tropical Heat? Do you have any recent hugely discounted purchases?


Cheers,
DAWN