Catrice Cosmetics Strobing Duo Highlighter

Hello loves!

Since the time I was convinced how much strobing can improve my makeup by giving me a youthful glow, I've been consistently using it whenever I apply my makeup. I actually have quite a number of highlighters, and as much as I want to limit them down and maybe give some away to friends, I can't. They are just too gorgeous!!!

Here's one that I love to use lately...

Catrice Cosmetics Strobing Duo Highlighter

This is PhP 499.00. Unfortunately, this is limited edition and it's probably not available anymore. I wish I knew about this earlier so I could have blogged about it sooner. :(

The shade is C01 Strobing Surpreme (Supreme?)

Further info from the website:

Light-reflecting shimmer powder

Perfectly aligned shades

For flattering highlights on the face and neckline

Reflections. The fine powder contains light-reflecting pigments to set accents on the face and neckline. The perfectly aligned shades in champagne and rosé-apricot flatter light and dark skin types and guarantee a radiant look.

It looks simple but I really appreciate how minimalist it is. I like the texture and that you can see it through the clear plastic compact. It doesn't come with a mirror nor an applicator, but I don't really mind it.

The highlighter has two tones. Majority of it is a champagne-like color while the other has a pinkish, sort of a light pinky peach rose, tone.

Here are the swatches. The one on the left is the pinkish one, the middle is the champagne, while the one at the far right is when mixed together.

I like it the best when combined. The product looks sheer when used with a brush and gives a very natural glow. If you like more visible highlight, you can use a sponge or your fingers.

Check out how it looks on me...

Left is my cheek without highlight while the right one has the product on.

See that beautiful highlights? It gives that instant youthful glow on our face! 

I like that this product is buildable and it's also not powdery. It glides smoothly on your cheek and can last around 5 hours before I need to reapply (mostly because of my oily skin and had to blot which leads to some of my makeup getting removed). It's a really awesome product and you get a lot of it with such an affordable price. Also, let's not forget that Catrice doesn't test on animals! ;)

And that's all for the Catrice Cosmetics Strobing Duo Highlighter!

What's your favorite daily highlighter?

Cheers,

DAWN

Catrice Blush Artist Shading Palette in 10 BronzÉclat

Hello dearies!

When Liz went to the Beauty Backstage Event last January, she brought home some products that we decided to divide amongst ourselves to try out and review. One of the thing I got is this product...

Catrice Blush Artist Shading Palette

The price is PhP 499.00.

If you're not yet familiar with Catrice, it's a brand first launched in Germany which promises to give us high quality products at reasonable prices. It also promises to update their collection and even give us limited-editions products to keep us makeup lovers watching out for more.

I haven't tried much of their products yet but I'm really curious to find out more, especially since I've been reading many good reviews about them. But for now, let me share my thoughts on this particular palette.

Here's the product description from the packaging (click to enlarge):

Info from the website:

For natural colour accents & highlights

Three harmonious shades

Longlasting powder texture

BALANCED TRIO

The palettes offer three harmonious shades each to set highlights and create natural colour accents. The fine powder textures are longlasting and blend softly.

INGREDIENTS:

MICA, TALC, NYLON-12, DIMETHICONE, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, OCTYLDODECANOL, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE-2, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, CETYL DIMETHICONE, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, ALUMINA, SILICA, TIN OXIDE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, MAY CONTAIN: CI 73360 (RED 30 LAKE), CI 75470 (CARMINE), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE).

UND/AND 

MICA, TALC, NYLON-12, DIMETHICONE, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, OCTYLDODECANOL, SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE-2, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, CETYL DIMETHICONE, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, ALUMINA, SILICA, TIN OXIDE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, CI 73360 (RED 30 LAKE), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE).

The packaging is simple. It's transparent so you get to see the shade you're getting. I like the fonts it used so that even if the design is minimal, it gives a sleek and clean impression.

This is one of the three shades of which this palette is available. I find this the best in terms of which one flatters my skin the most. 

Check out the swatches above. There's an old rose-ish-bronze color, a peach with gold shimmers, and a frosted light pink shade. Even though they are swatched apart, I can see how great they blend together to create a gradient effect.

I use them separately. The darkest one would be placed where I usually put my contour on the cheeks. The middle one is where I usually place my blush, while the lightest one is my highlight! 

See how it works on my skin

It instantly adds an instant glow to my skin and I just love the peachy pink color that it gives. It's pigmentation is pretty decent that you can just build the color however you like. It's also non-chalky, actually it's quite smooth!

I really like it to be honest, I don't see anything negative about it because it delivers a beautiful color and highlight, it's affordable, and it didn't irritate my skin. I just make sure that I blot my oily skin so that it doesn't fade away within the day. What's good about it is I don't feel hesitant to apply and apply because it will last a long while, and if I did run out, I could just buy again because it's so within my budget. :)

And that's my short review of the Catrice Blush Artist Shading Palette! What are your thoughts on this one? Do you have any products from the brand that you can recommend? :)

Cheers,
DAWN

Beauty Backstage: European Brand Shopping Galore!

Hello ladies,

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to be part of Beauty Backstage at White Space Manila. This was a shopping party featuring brands distributed in the Philippines by Bhagi's International.

Here is a look at the haul I brought home which I will show to you by brand as you read on. 

The brands consisted of European and US drugstore brands, most of which can be found at Watsons.  So let's start off with my dream-country-to-travel-to, Italy.

Deborah Milano is an Italian cosmetics and skin care market. It promises an array of innovative, top-quality cosmetics and skin care at an affordable price. Their most popular product is the Absolute Lasting Liquid Lipstick which I made sure to secure in my shopping bag. Their foundations are also highly reviewed and it was a struggle choosing what foundation to buy.

I ultimately ended up choosing their Perfect & Natural Foundation Natural Look in 03 which is 0% silicone, mineral oil, parbens, and acrylates.

Deborah Milano's products are the most pricey of the brands in the event with prices ranging from 300 to 800 pesos.

Next stop is Germany, where two brands hail from.

The first of the two is Essence and is the one I am more familiar with. I've tried some of their blushes before - those owned by Dawn. However, since I was in need of a new lip liner and Liz Lanuzo of Project Vanity recommended theirs, I went and got their nude lip liner to try out.

Here's a fun fact that I learned about Essence, they invest more on their product quality than any ad campaign. This is one way that they are able to delivery high quality low priced products. True enough, they are one of the lowest priced items in the event with a price range of 100 to 500 pesos.

I also got their I Love Stage Eyeshadow base and this beautiful Mosaic Blush. It's a little orangey-peach in color - which at some point I am hoping that I don't already have.

Another fun fact, all Essence products are not tested on animals. So feel guilt-free to splurge on their items!

Next is Catrice.

Catrice's make up line can be called as the runway dupes, in the sense that they take the runway trend of make-up as the base for their product development and then from there, the innovate formulas and textures from high quality ingredients. They boast of a large choice of colors which covers both trendy and classic shades.

They also regularly release limited make-up collections per year so you'll always find something new from them. 

Yesterday, their "featured" products were the  highlighting palettes, the cream bronzer and highlighter compact, strobing duo and such. However, since I think I already have too much bronzers, I skipped out on buying it.

Catrice is mid-range at 200 to 500 pesos.

Last stop on our European based brands is Il Salone Milano.

This is a hair care and hair color brand. They actually have 27 hair color products to choose from BUT there are only 6 of them available in the country; and if my memory is any good, those are:  Dark Blonde, Light Blonde, Burgundy Red, Dark Copper, Light Caramel Brunette and Light Chocolate Brunette. If I ever get one color wrong do tell me. I'm just generally sad that they do not have Blue Black available in the country.

Also, they have a spray leave-in that is perfect for colored hair but I'm not sure if it's available in the country as well.

Now we head on to Turkey with their number 1 make-up brand Flormar.

It's being number 1 isn't only in Turkey though, as you can see in my picture of their booth below, they were the first ones to get most of their items sold out. All of their liquid foundations were just gone in a few minutes to an hour.

And since I didn't want to lose out, I grabbed one of their matte foundations before somebody else takes it. I was also fortunate enough to get the last piece of loose powder in 04 which according to the sales representative, is not really the tester. Well, I just really wanted it and when she opened the lid, it did look pretty untouched so I just went for it.

Since I was "gaya gaya" and Helen of Lucky Citrine got a lipstick, I also got one. Anyway, it's in a shade I've always wanted to try so win-win. Their prices also range at 200 to 800 pesos.

Now we cross the ocean and go straight to USA.

Jordana, in comparison to the previous brands, is relatively young at 25 years in the business. They're a family-owned, LA based brand which offers value-priced cosmetics.

Their best selling product is the Sweet Dream Matte Liquid Lip Color in Tiramisu. Actually, Jordana was our first stop during that day and so we were able to secure a Tiramisu shade before everyone else. 

Since I wasn't familiar with the brand yet I decided to just go with their tube 2-in-1 concealer foundation. The good thing about this, according to their sales lady, this has yellow tone in it and is perfect for us Asian ladies so I don't really need to fret that much if the color I got was a little lighter.

The final stop is the perfumes section. The perfumes were from Joe of London  and Romantic Collection.

I chose the blue one since it smelled the lightest. There were also two fragrance mist from this brand which to me smelled like jelly-ace. :)

Joe of London had several scents available during the event like: Sage, Lily, Creme Noir, Orangey, and Lime Mousse to name a few. I really wanted to get Sage since it smelled powdered down and soft but I guess I share the same taste with a lot of the other attendees that's why it sold out quick.

Also aside from playing around the booths and getting busy shopping, there are also other activities set-up; for example, this make-up session and the nail atelier. I guess people were just too busy shopping to think of getting their nails done. :)

Now, I'd just like to share that Helen, Kaycee of KikaysiKat, and I were really early birds. It was nice seeing Helen again after so long. 

I was also equally happy to meet Kaycee and her purple hair! Ah, I think we kind of bonded over our mutual like of purple color in our hair. Hers however has such a pretty fade out... kind of inggit inside. :)

Anyway, that's it for this post. Do wait for the reviews of the products.

Hope you enjoyed this short trip around the "world" stalls.

Cheers,

LIZ