My 2018 Althea Christmas Wishlist

Hello loves!

Christmas is just around the corner and you know what that means—Christmas Shopping Spree!!!

I'm actually guilty of shopping a bit early and mostly online because the Manila traffic is even more horrible during the Christmas season and I don't want to be stuck in traffic for hours. I'm just so thankful that many online stores are available for us to browse and buy what we like. And speaking with online stores, one of my most frequently visited one is Althea! I do love my Korean beauty products and I've been browsing their website first even before I became an Althea Angel.

And now, I just browsed Althea and have my eyes glued on some of their products. So for today's post, let me share with you my Althea Wishlist this Christmas.

FOTD : Christmas Red

Hello loves!

Gonna share the makeup I wore during Christmas day.

It's not fancy or glamorous. It's actually one of the usual looks I wore, but I used products that are either new or haven't shared in the blog before.

I wore a vibrant, matte red lippie paired with nude eyeshadows and a bold winged liner. I added some shimmery neutral colors to add some glow on my face. 

So here are the products I used:

Here you'll see the products I used for my face.

You might be wondering why you're seeing too many foundations there. I actually mix the Lancome and TCFS to get the right shade (the Lancome one is too dark and I'm trying to finish it), while the Estee Lauder has the best coverage among my foundations, which I use around my jaw area where I most of my acne scars are at. I'm lazy to put concealer on each scar so I just spread the foundation there. Haha! :P

Above photo shows the products I used for my eyes and brows. I used my new Celeteque DermoCosmetics Eyeshadow Palette here and the finish is pretty good. A closeup of my eyes will be shown shortly. ;)

And to add colors for my cheeks and lips, I used the products above. The star of the look is my Ellana Cosmetics Lip in Luxe in Love is True! This is my current go-to matte red lipstick. :D

Anyway, I can put the list of products sometime soon. For now, you can comment below if you have questions. Haha!

So here's a closeup of the EOTD:

Neutral shades and a bold winged eyeliner to compliment the bold and vibrant red shade of my lips.

Here's how I looked a few seconds after i finished my makeup. 

 Most of the items I used are matte—my lipstick and eyeshadows. I even add powder on my face to keep it matte. I added some highlighter to add a youthful glow as you can see on the photos!

And that's my FOTD!

What makeup did you wear during Christmas day?

Cheers,

DAWN

Too Cool For School Morocco Ghassoul Foam Cleanser

Hey dears!

Some months ago, I was able to take home this cleanser when I covered a branch opening of Too Cool for School. This is one of the products I received...

Too Cool For School Morocco Ghassoul Foam Cleanser

The Morocco Ghassoul line of the brand is not a stranger to Liz and I. Liz actually did a short review of their cream pack and I also used the Rules of Pore Magic Pore Balm which is pretty much near the same line because it deals with large pore problems. :P

The 150 ml tube is PhP 519.00.

But before I go on to my short review, here's the product description from the website:

The caption is a little small but you can click the photo for a larger view... but since I'm trying to not be lazy, I'll just type it below. :P

Why we love it

Contains 5% Moroccan mud and deeply cleanses the skin without stripping off its natural moisture.

What else you need to know

- Pulverized Ghassoul grains deeply cleanses pores and exfoliates skin

- Recommended to people with oily and troubled skin

How to use it

1. Apply suitable amount on hands

2. Make lots of bubbles with your hands

3. Massage lightly on face

4. Rinse with water

Beauty Tip

Use Facial Washing Bubble Net to create more bubbles!

Additional details on the back of the tube:

I like the packaging. Besides pump bottles, I like my cleansers in easy-to-squeeze tubes. It's easy to dispense the product and I don't waste any of it because I can easily cut the tube out to get the little amount left inside when I'm about to finish it.

It is scented and it smells clean and pleasant. The product looks like a very pale beige shade that's thick and creamy. Only a little bit of product, maybe a pea size, is needed to wash the whole face. When you massage it, it lathers pretty good. It doesn't create much bubbles but it creates a creamy foam.

After I wash my face with this, my face feels very clean but not dry. It effectively removes the excess sebum from my oily skin but it doesn't strip it off with all of the natural oils, I believe. My skin still feels soft. It also effectively cleans my face from dirt, dead skin, and from the remaining makeup that might not have been completely removed by my makeup remover. I also didn't have any irritations nor breakouts when I use this, so yay!

I like this cleanser. I have nothing negative to say about it... well, I guess the price is a bit higher compared to the cleansers from other Korean skin brands, but I guess this is still within the price range that I am willing to spend my money on for skincare.

I guess that's about it for today's post!

Have you tried the Too Cool For School Morocco Ghassoul Foam Cleanser yet?

Cheers,

DAWN

Review: Too Cool For School Rules of Pore Magic Pore Balm

Hi loves!

Okay, so do any of you have this enlarged pores problem? I have that. And one of the things I look for in primers (or even why I use them) is to make them look smaller. So when I was browsing the Too Cool For School Kiosk in Glorietta 3 last May, I was "sales-talked" by their SA to buy this product...

Too Cool For School Rules of Pore Magic Pore Balm

I got it for PhP 715.00.

I usually do not fall easily for sales talks but the SA just has this super good skin and she told me she used this magic pore balm and a BB cream from the brand to make her skin look so flawless. Back then I only have 1 primer in my stash so a second one wouldn't hurt... so I bought it! :P

I've been using the product for the past few months and I would like to share my experience with it, but first, here's a product info from this online store—Korea Depart:

And the list of ingredients are on the package label:

On to the review...

Closeup of the product

The product is a white balm... well, it's transparent when applied. It has a mild minty-herby scent but it's so mild you can barely smell it when you apply it on skin.

It comes with a sponge applicator... that's not so useful... well, I don't like using it... I rather use a foundation brush or my fingers.

Here's how the product looks like when swatched on my hand. See, it's transparent. It feels very silky and smooth. It doesn't feel heavy either.

I posted how it looks when applied on my cheeks (where my pores on my face are largest). Check them out below:

Bare skin

With the product

With BB Cream

With powder on top

With the rest of my makeup.

I use the product after I applied toner and moisturizer and before I apply my foundation/BB cream and color on my face. I apply on the T-Zone and the cheeks and the skin near the nose. As you can see on the photos above, it slightly helped in minimizing my pores. I was expecting more but at least there is a difference, especially on the sides of my nose. Although I think the loose powder made the appearance of my pores smaller better. :P

But I can't deny that my face do look smooth after I apply the rest of my makeup! ;)

It keeps my makeup in-place well but there are days when I experience some caking. Although I am not entirely sure if it's because of this or the BB cream + powder combo because I don't get that when I use Smashbox primer. It does help with the oil control! 

Overall, I am not so fond with the product but I don't hate it. I guess I just expected better... and I guess the SA just has super good skin. Haha!

Anyway, here's a summary of my review:

What I LIKE:
- Can help makeup stay in-place
- Locally available
- Price is okay
- Mildly scented
- Silky smooth
- Cute packaging
- Slight oil control
- Feels light on skin

What I DON'T LIKE:
- I expected that it minimize my pores more
- The sponge it comes with isn't so good
- I still experience some caking

Would I repurchase? I think not. This is not the best one I've used and I would love to try more pore minimizing primers. :)

And that is my review. What do you guys think of the Too Cool For School Rules of Pore Magic Pore Balm?


Cheers,
DAWN

Too Cool For School Creamy Glow Pen in Warm Cocoa

Hello peaches!

I'm sharing a swatch post of this product that I got as a gift-with-purchase when I bought something from Too Cool For School a few weeks ago...

Too Cool For School Creamy Glow Pen in Warm Cocoa

I got this for free because the brand had a promo wherein you can get this gloss if you purchase something amounting to at least PhP 500.00 at their newest branch which is in Glorietta 3. Check out my post about this HERE.

The shade is Warm Cocoa. I like that it's nude because you can never have enough nude lip colors. Although, I think getting the right nude lip color is still kinda tricky but not as tricky as finding the right red shade... Gah! Anyway, this is a warm caramel chocolate color.

It's housed in this pen-brush type packaging.

Applying would be easy because of the soft brush bristles.

Although I don't really prefer this kind of lip gloss packaging because I tend to pump it a lot and get too much of the product out.

So here are the swatches:

on my hand

on the lips

It's a nice color and it's quite pigmented. The warm shade compliments my warm complexion. The gloss is a bit sticky but just a little bit. It's not bothersome at all. And it doesn't bleed much on the lines of my lips. 

Does it smell like chocolate? Unfortunately for the chocolate lovers out there, it does not. But it smells a little sweet... like a mild cupcake icing. I actually prefer that since I'm not a fan of chocolates. Haha!

So what do you think of Too Cool For School's Creamy Glow Pen in Warm Cocoa? Would you wear this nude shade or do you prefer cool-toned nudes?

Cheers,

DAWN

Too Cool For School is Now at Glorietta 3!

Hello loves!

I'm very excited to announce that the cool and quirky Korean makeup brand, Too Cool For School, is now available in Glorietta 3! Yaaaayyy! They opened their sixth store last May 29, 2015 and I hope that they'll open more soon. 

I was so happy when I heard about this news because I rarely visit the other malls where their other branches are at (SM North, SM MoA, SM Megamall, SM Southmall, and BF Parañaque). I frequent Makati more I guess (even though I live in the city of Manila which is half a hour to a full hour drive depending on the heaviness of traffic).

Anyway, if you wish to visit Too Cool For School's Glorietta branch, it's actually a mall kiosk located at the ground floor of Glorietta 3, just in front of Lacoste Footwear, Terranova, and Steve Madden.

It's pretty easy to find because the quirky design of the brand is very noticeable along with the very original package design of the products. (I'm such a fan of their product designs)

Quoting the brand's Marketing Associate, this branch will "carry the newest beauty products, quality skin care items, and cool beauty tools & accessories. This includes the ever creative Too Cool Lines; Anke, Mc Girly, Dinoplatz, Check, ZA, Rules, and Art Class."

They celebrated the branch's opening last May 29th with a huge sale! All of the products you see below were at 25% off.

And if you were able to purchase products amounting to Php 500.00, you can get a Too Cool For School Creamy Glow Pen as a freebie! The deal was super awesome because one lipgloss is worth Php 500+! But this was only applicable in the Glorietta branch and only 20 lucky buyers can avail this... and I was one of them, I was the 16th person to get the freebie!

I got it when I purchase their Magic Pore Balm! Yayyy! I super love the shade of the gloss because it's nude and very wearable. I'll post a swatch post soon.

Unfortunately, the sale and the lipgloss deal was only until last Sunday, May 31st. I hope some of you were able to avail this awesome deal. :)

And thanks to Too Cool For School for these items. Liz and I are fans of their Morocco Ghassoul line so I love that the cleanser is included. The tumbler is super cute and I use it everyday at work for my morning coffee! :)

So do drop by the newest branch of Too Cool For School and enjoy their lovely products.  :D

Cheers,

DAWN