Review: In2It Waterproof Eyeliner in Black

Who says only high end brands have great liners? Here's one of my all time favorite local eyeliner, In2It's Waterproof Eyeliner. Note though that this is different from its sister, In2It Gel Liner. The latter obviously being gel type, is more creamier and glides on more smoothly. I will have a separate review of the gel liner soon.

What I like best about this eyeliner is its pigmentation and how it glides on smoothly and easily on the lids. You will see on the swatch below how intense the pigmentation is with just one swipe of the liner. The formula is also creamy so it glides almost like butter on the lids. 

 

This eyeliner claims to be waterproof so I had to test it by rubbing it with water to check how "waterproof" this liner is. See the results below.

You will see above that In2It's Waterproof Eyeliner is not 100% waterproof. It did stay intact after 2 light rubs with water but already started smudging after the 5th rub. Technically of course, waterproof does not also equate as being "rub" proof. The "waterproof" claim means resistance against water splashes and water exposures. My rubbing it is just an  added step to test its resistance against both water and smudging.

Here below you will see the staying power of this liner on my lids. Prior to putting on eyeliner, i primed my lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance. 

 

By end of day (without any retouch), the liner stayed on my lids and retained about the same color intensity as when i applied it in the morning. Only the winged part on my outer lids smudged and wore off. This is already a pretty good feat for me since I have very oily lids. Note though that i primed my lids before applying eyeliner so i cannot conclude if this will also be the case for bare lids. 

In one occasion though, this liner gave me "panda eyes". It was really embarrassing because i did not even notice it until a friend told me. This happened one time when the weather was extremely humid and hot and i did not prime my lids. I learned my lesson, and I never did once experience "panda eyes" anymore. 

The Good

- relatively cheap (about P379.00+), compared with the high end brands

- excellent pigmentation

- creamy and glides on smoothly

- great staying power

- very easy to use with its twist style packaging (no sharpening needed!)

The Bad

- not 100% waterproof and smudge proof

- may cause panda eyes (if lids are very oily and not primed)

Final Thoughts

An excellent budget friendly eyeliner! Both staying power and pigmentation are really good.  I highly recommend this. 

 

Swatch Comparison: Ever Bilena Off Beat Pink Vs. MAC Pink Noveau

Here's Ever Bilena's Matte Lipstick in Off Beat Pink and MAC's Satin Lipstick in Pink Nouveau on the tube compared side by side.

From the tube, MAC Pink Nouveau looks more true pink while Off Beat Pink is more of a muted rose. When swatched, here's how they look:  

 

 

 

LEFT: Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Off Beat Pink, RIGHT: MAC Pink Nouveau

 

MAC Pink Nouveau seems darker because it has better pigmentation than Off Beat Pink. I needed to swipe Off Beat Pink a little bit more just to get a close to the color intensity of Pink Nouveau. Comparing the two, both look very close being in the same cool pink category. Major difference is in the obvious purple undertone of Pink Nouveau - Off Beat Pink shows no purple undertone at all.

What do i like better? In terms of color, Off Beat pink is definitely the winner. Having a skintone with olive undertones, purple and i don't go very well together. In terms of quality though, no question, MAC is the runaway winner. 

My final thoughts,

If you are looking for a close dupe of MAC Pink Nouveau, you may want to try out Off Beat Pink. It's not an exact dupe of MAC PN, but it's pretty close. You will find a more detailed review of Ever Bilena Off Beat Pink here and a detailed review of MAC Pink Nouveau here.

Review: Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Off Beat Pink

I love a really good quality lipstick. High end brands are expensive for a reason - better formulation, quality, pigmentation, staying power, texture, etc. But would you really spend P900++ for something that won't last the entire day anyway? This is where cheaper brands come in. Maybe it won't have the same amazing formula, pigmentation or staying power as the high end brands but will serve it's purpose well anyway- to put color on your lips.

So, here's a really pretty lipstick from a local brand, Ever Bilena. For only P145.00, it's really a steal. It's matte - which is not my favorite lipstick finish, but offers a really pretty pop of pink on your puckers.

Off Beat Pink is a true baby pink color. On my pigmented lips, it comes out as a bright, but soft and delicate looking pink.  The first time i tried it on, it was super dry it was very difficult to apply on the lips. You just need to warm it up a bit though by rubbing the tip with your fingers until it melts a little - then application will be much easier. This lipstick can be drying to the lips so make sure to exfoliate and apply lip balm before you put this on. 

Ever Bilena's Matte lipstick line comes in 12 different shades of nudes, pinks, browns and reds. I'm sure there's one color you'll love. 

The Good

- this is a really pretty pink color

- cheap at only P145.00

- pretty good lasting power

- no weird, plasticky-lipstick smell

The Bad

- drying to the lips

- accentuates dry, chapped lips

- not very pigmented (for this particular color)

Final Thoughts

For a P145 lipstick, Ever Bilena's Matte Lipstick in Off Beat Pink is pretty decent. It's a pretty pink color with pretty good staying power. Will I buy again? Sure. Will I try other colors? I definitely will! Can't wait to try out Scarlet. 

Review I NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Light Brown and Taupe

I am not blessed with thick eyebrows. I personally think i have the sparsest, thinnest eyebrows in the world. Without eyebrow makeup, i'd look like an alien. No Joke. This is why i never leave the house without my eyebrows made up. It's just too scary.

For the longest time now i have been very loyal to MAC Browset in Beguille and In2It's eyebrow cake powder. They're my eyebrows bestfriend. I got NYX's Auto Eyebrow Pencil because they were cheap (P175 only) and the colors seemed pretty in online swatches.  

NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Light Brown is a scary color for me. It's just too yellow and looks very fake on my eyebrows.

 

NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Taupe looks very pretty when swatched. Unfortunately though the color was just too light for my eyebrows, and it was difficult to make it show up on my brows. I had to rub them in real hard to make the color show.

Here's Taupe and Light Brown swatched side by side. The pencil by the way has a brush on one end  which is useful for brushing your brows in place. It's twist-type so you don't have to worry about the hassle of sharpening. It's really very easy to use.

Left: Taupe, Right: Light Brown

Product Specs

Create flawless arches with this eyebrow pencil, a blend of vegetable, coconut and soy bean oil that guarantees a fluid application and sensational color. Use the built-in brush to blend color and style your eyebrows to perfection. Available in 8 shades (Light Brown, Auburn, Medium Brown, Brown, Dark Brown, Taupe, Charcoal, Black) 

Available for P175.00 at Nyx Wholesale PH. (They're the cheapest!) 

The Good 

- they're really cheap

- very convenient and easy to use

The Bad 

- both colors Light Brown and Taupe did not suit me well

- Taupe does not have very good color payoff. I had to rub the pencil real hard to make the color show

- Average lasting power, about half a day

Overall Thoughts

I really wanted to like this product. But sadly, it just didn't work for me. I think i was just unfortunate to have chosen the wrong color, I should have gone with something darker. Damn those online swatches. Will i purchase again? No. But i'll be happy to receive this as a gift, in another color of course. Should you try this out? Considering the price, you should. But be careful in choosing the color though.

Review: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus

What the Label Says

A luxurios domed face powder with minerals, slowly baked to provide a dimensional yet natural-matte finish. Provides perfect low coverage. Use to set or fix foundation, or as a touch-up throughout the day.

Net Weight:

10 grams

Price:

P 1,680.00 / $27

Coverage: 

Sheer-Medium
Goes on sheer when applied using a brush but offers more coverage when applied with a sponge. 

Finish: 

Satin, almost matte. Leaves skin looking flawless and smooth yet natural looking.

This one is one of my 2011 favorites. This works great as a powder over bare skin with concealer or to set foundation. The shade Medium Plus is a dead match with my NC35 skin tone (with olive undertones). The price is a bit steep for a finishing powder, so I leave it up to you to decide whether this is a must buy or not. It's a great product and i really love it and it's been a staple in my daily makeup kit, but I am not over the moon ecstatic about it as I am with most MAC makeup. What i really really love about this powder though is how it instantly evens out my skin tone and makes it look almost flawless yet still look very natural looking - as if you do not have makeup on.

The Good
- great as a finishing powder to set foundation. 
- excellent over bb cream or tinted moisturuzer. gives a flawless yet natural looking skin. 
- evens out skintone
- lightweight
- does not cake
- product lasts a long time (been using this for 2 months and i am not seeing any dents in the dome yet)
- no breakouts (at least for me)
- great for touchups


The Bad
- EXPENSIVE(!)
- does nothing to control oiliness (i have combination skin)
- i hate that the packaging has no mirror


Overall Thoughts
This product will be great for people already blessed with good skin or for those with very minimal blemishes. Just a dab of concealer, bb cream or tinted moisturizer, then set with this, and you're good to go. You'll look flawless without looking fake at all. It feels so light it's as if you do not have any makeup on. It's the best natural looking powder i have ever tried. Here's me with no makeup,  concealer or foundation on, just my Aveeno Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and set with MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural. 

What will set most people off though is the price. P 1,680 for 10grams of product is a very steep price for a finishing/face powder. If price is a major concern for you, then you can skip this product. I'm sure you'll find other alternatives (maybe not as good, but probably close) to this. But if price is not an issue for you, then go ahead and try this out. 

You will like this if: 

- you are not price conscious

- you already have good skin and do not need a heavy coverage foundation

- you do not like wearing "heavy" makeup on your face

You will not like this if: 

- you are price conscious

- you want a heavy coverage foundation

- you have oily skin. this will not control the oilies at all

Do you have this? What are your thoughts? 

Review: NYX Round Lipstick - Iconic & Perfect

It's no secret that I'm crazy about NYX Round Lipsticks. They're really cheap, offers a pretty decent quality and come in a whole lotta colors.

I already did a review about the quality of NYX lipsticks here so I will discuss more about the color in this post. 

Here's NYX Round Lipstick in Iconic. This is one of NYX's newer shades. On stick it looks rosey with a hint of brown. When swatched it looks more light pink. I like how it looks on my pigmented lips, because it sorts of neutralizes the color and gives off a natural looking lips with a hint of pink. Iconic is very creamy. So creamy that the stick easily breaks when pushed too hard on the lips. On very hot days, this lipstick melts like crazy.

NYX Round Lipstick in Perfect is brown with a very slight hint of pink. On my lips it gives a very neutral brown look. The color suits me very well. It doesn't wash out and is not too dark brown either that i look like an old hag. Compared with Iconic above, Perfect has a better consistency. Not to creamy for it to easily break and melt.

 

 

Overall, these are two great colors perfect for everyday use and for work. Iconic would probably suit most skintones while Perfect would be best for morena ladies.  Here's Iconic & Perfect swatched side by side. 

LEFT: ICONIC, RIGHT: PERFECT

My 2011 Makeup & Skincare Favorites

I know this is a pretty delayed post since it's almost mid-January and I'm only blogging about last year's favorites now. But hey, better late than never right? 

So friends, here is my obligatory list of makeup and skincare favorites for the year that was (in no particular order):

Revlon Colorstay Makeup w/ Softlex for Oily Skin in 310 Warm Golden
I am not very fond of liquid foundation. I just can't bear the sticky heavy feeling on my skin. Aside from this, my foundation matching attempts have all been big failures - they were either too yellow, too beige, etc. Save for this. This one here is my HG foundation. The shade 310 Warm Golden matches my skintone (NC35, Olive undertones) perfectly. And i mean PERFECTLY. It gives me just the right coverage I need (medium), and feels so light on the skin. 






Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream #27 Honey Beige
From the time I started a relationship with BB Creams 2 years ago, Missha Perfect Cover was the only brand i found a match with. The consistency, coverage and formulation suited me perfectly. Due to it's very limited shade though, i had to settle with shade #23 which was, albeit 2 tones lighter than my skintone, the closest to my skin color. Thank God for the new shade #27 they introduced this year, i finally found a great match for my NC35 skin. Read about their new shade here. 











Missha BB Boomer
The one and only makeup base that i use and have been using for the past 2 years. Find out more about this here.














Skinfood Milk Shake Point Remover
The only makeup remover use. I love that it's moisturizing but really removes even very stubborn makeup very well. Know more about this here.










ELF Two Way Cake Foundation in Rosy Beige
This one is my favorite powder foundation. I like this even more than my MAC Studio Fix Powder+Foundation. It's cheap but offers really good quality. Excellent coverage! I made a review of this here. 













MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus
My go to finishing powder for 2011. Probably the only finishing powder i used last year. Medium Plus is a perfect match for me(NC35)










MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Springsheen
 This one is one of my most abused blushes in 2011. It's great for giving that sort-of bronzed look. I raved about this blush here.  

Benefit Bella Bamba
This blush is heaven! This will probably be on my favorites list year after year after year. It's a very versatile blush that will look good on any skintone, and will great any time of the day. Gives your face an instant brightening, glowing effect. Find out how much i loved it here. 

  

 
Laura Mercier Illuminating Powder in Candlelight  
My favorite highlighter of the year! I love that the color is champagne (and not white) so it gives a more natural look and that the glitters are not too chunky you end up looking like a disco ball. Made a review of this here. 









Sleek Blush in Rosegold 
Love Love Love! The color is much like NARS Super Orgasm & Benefit Bella Bamba but this has it's own character too. Added to this, you get so much product for only P450 which makes it such a steal! Read here why i love this blush to bits.









MAC Browset in Beguille
This one i almost always use in tandem with In2It Eyebrow Powder to keep the brows from straying. I sometimes use this alone during days when I'm too tired to do a full-on makeup on my brows. Read more about this here.
















In2It Eyebrow Cake Powder
This one i cannot afford to have none in my makeup stash. I have tried other more expensive eyebrow powders but somehow I always fall back to In2It. One of the best local makeup products ever. 


 







Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus
My ultimate mascara. No clumps and lumps and extends my very short lashes making them look like i have falsies on. Wrote about how great this is here.

Milani Lipstick in Rose Hip
My first ever bright and loud pink lipstick! I am not very adventurous and daring when it comes to makeup, but this one just looks so pretty it was so hard to resist. And it's very pretty indeed! It takes a bit of getting used to though, and you might get occasional stares here and there.  But overall, this is one bright pink lipstick that matches my NC35 skin tone. I wrote about this lipstick here.  






NYX Round Lipstick in Fig
This here is my ultimate favorite NYX Round Lipstick. The color is absolutely love! It's the perfect wearable pink. Minus points on the formulation though because it's just super creamy, it has a tendency to break off from the tube and melt. This has become a staple in my makeup kit, i'm on my 3rd tube already.  

Aveeno Positevly Radiant Tinted Moisturer 
The only tinted moisturizer that worked on me. My favorite so far. It's offers just enough moisturizing and coverage that i need. Check it out here.

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque 
My go to masque during bad skin days, like when it's that time of the month. Also works great as a spot on treatment for pimples. Find out what i like about this here.

Beauche Skin Care Set 
This one really helped clear out my skin. Last May, i had a terrible breakout episode due to a makeup product that i was allergic to. I  panicked when realized i was having a major acne breakout episode as i normally do not get pimples. This was recommended to me by a friend and it worked wonders on my skin. I do not regularly use this though, i just finish a set good for the entire month and then give my skin a break for 2-3 months. Disclaimer: What works for me may not work for you. 

 

Happy New Year, Happy New Blog Look!

To usher in the new year, I have completely revamped my entire site's layout. I had initially availed of the service of a really cool blog designer but the transaction did not push through because she had to temporarily put a halt to her blog designing business due to some urgent family matters. 


So with not much of a choice left, i had to muster whatever techie juices i had in my brain (which is not a lot) to somehow tweak the coding in my template and get the look i like. Thank God for Google i was lead to numerous websites that offered help in customizing a blog design. 

Of course much has to be done with the overall look of the site. I would still need to change the fonts, font sizing, layout, and add a few more widgets here and there. But for now, this is all my very limited html coding skills allows me to do and i would say i'm pretty much satisfied with how everything turned out (especially the signature i have added in all of my posts). Too bad though i completely forgot to capture a screenshot of my old blog's look for comparison. It would have been a great before and after transformation. 


Let me end this post by wishing all you lovelies... 

 

Merry Christmas Dinner!

Let me start this post with a Christmas greeting...

These past few days, I have been very busy preparing a Christmas dinner menu for 3 adults - me, the husband, my mom-in-law. For the past 4 years, every Christmas dinner menu is planned weeks in advance and prepared 2-3 days ahead. Yes, I am that OC. Since the days leading to Christmas eve was pretty busy for me, what with our company's Annual Strategic Planning, Business Review and Christmas Party all happening in one jam packed week, i had less time than the usual in preparing our Christmas dinner. 

Since i cook everything from scratch and am a bit OC when cooking, I personally handle the grocery shopping myself as i tend to scrutinize every ingredient that goes in the food i cook. Guess how stressful grocery shopping is 2 days before Christmas eve? VERY STRESSFUL. So anyhow, here is my final Christmas dinner menu for three: 

MAIN

Baked Ribs

Roasted Rosemary Lemon Butter Chicken 

Bakes Mussels

Lasagna

DESSERT 

No Bake Blueberry Cheescake

Fruit Salad 

I normally don't cook a lot of variety during Christmas, I tend to do this during New Year instead. So two days before Christmas, i had all my ingredients ready, save for the mussels which i wanted to buy on the morning of the 24th to make sure it's really fresh. Unfortunately though, i could not find any mussels AT ALL the morning of the 24th. I went to 2 wet markets and 3 grocery stores, and found NONE. Weird, all the mussels in Cebu must have decided to take a leave on this particular day. So, here's my Christmas dinner, sans the Baked Mussels. 

Here's my lasagna swimming in sauce and cheese. I know it doesn't look appealing, but this is how the husband likes his lasagna- very saucy, creamy and cheesy. 

My baked ribs that i am very proud of. It's so tender and yummy! I marinated the meat 2 days prior, and slow baked it in the oven for 4 hours. yep, that long.

And here's my Roasted Rosemary Lemon Butter Chicken that i marinated in rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, Kikkoman, and lemon  for 2 days. I then roasted it in the turbo broiler together with lots of whole onions, butter and baby potatoes. Very simple but very delish!

Here's my no bake blueberry cheescake made of crushed graham, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream cheese, all purpose cream, evaporated milk, gelatin and blueberry filling. It took me 3 tries to perfect the overall look of the cake. I am satisfied with the taste, but there's more work to do on the look of the cake though. 

Overall, i am very happy with my Christmas menu and how they all tasted in the end. The husband and mom-in-law loved it so much. The ultimate satisfaction of cooking is seeing your loved ones happily enjoying the food you prepared. Guess what my secret ingredient is in all my cooking? LOVE. lots of it! 

Merry Christmas everyone!  And a Prosperous New Year! 

P.S.

Here's my tentative menu for New Year's Eve: 

MAIN

Baked Creamy Carbonara

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Kebabs

Chilli Prawns

Garlic Butter Crabs

Hamonada

DESSERT

Mango Creme Pie

Oreo Cake

Lecha Flan

What was your Christmas dinner? What's your menu plans for New Year? 

♥ blushbaby

Getting pretty curls with Babyliss Heated Rollers

Thanks to Babyliss, i am now able to get the perfect curls i want in an instant. For weeks now i have been seriously contemplating getting a digital perm but have been taken aback for the following reasons: First, it will cost me P4,000 at Tony & Jacky (the only salon i can trust with a digital perm) which is pretty steep. Second, digital perming is sort of permanent (they say it lasts about 8 months - 1 year), which means i cannot just decide to have straight hair anytime i want to. And third, having curly hair is pretty high maintenance, you cannot just shower and leave it on to dry. A digitally permed hair needs to be styled and pampered with a whole lotta products to keep the curls looking pretty. So, in the end, i decided to forgo digital perming for now.

I am so happy to have bought Babyliss because it gives me beautifully curled hair anytime i want to. I searched high and low for this heated rollers because it was sold out in all Watson's branches and in SM Department store. I had to let an employee of ours in Manila buy this for me in Anson's Appliance Center (they only had 2 left). For P2,200.00, you get the following: 

The box contains: 

- 8 large rollers

- 6 medium rollers

- 6 small rollers

- 20 clips & 1 styling comb

- instruction manual

- adaptor

How to use?

1. Plug the device and let it heat up for 30 mins. Make sure all the rollers are in place during heating up. 

2. After 30 mins and once the rollers are hot enough, you can now start using them. 

3. I start by putting on a bit of mousse in my hair. Not too much though because putting on too much product will weigh down your hair and prevent it from holding a curl longer. 

4. After applying mousse, you can now start putting on the heated rollers on your hair section by section. It only takes me 5 minutes to completely put rollers on my hair. 

 6. Leave the rollers on for 15 minutes if you want tighter curls, leave it on for a lesser time if you want looser curls. 

I get this result if i leave the rollers on for 15 minutes. 

I get looser curls if i leave them on for 10 minutes: 

Pretty neat huh? What i love about these rollers is that they give you that perfect hollywood, beach-like curls. And they're so easy to use. This is also great for the multi-taskers because you can use the waiting time to apply makeup while waiting for the curls to set.

PROS
- easy to use
- allows you to do other things (like put on makeup), while waiting for the curls to set
- gives pretty curls - beach wave or tight curls
- great for use during special occasions, parties, or just about anytime you feel like getting a curl 


CONS
- curls don't stay on as long as i want to. maximum the curls stay on me is 4 hours, even with hairspray. 
- a bit pricey
- this is difficult to find here in the Philippines

TIPS 
- Don't wash your hair the day you'd like to curl them. Wash them the night before. Squeeky clean hair will not hold curls very well. 
- Don't apply too much mousse on your hair prior to putting on the rollers. Too much mousse will weigh down your hair and prevent curls from holding.


FINAL THOUGHTS
I love this! This is so easy to use and produces really pretty curls (than a curling iron). It only takes me 5 minutes to put on the rollers, and 10-15 minutes to wait for the curls to set. I use this waiting time to put on my makeup. 


I need to find a way though to make the curls last longer. Even with hairspray, the curls stay on me only for a maximum of 4 hrs. I've been doing a lot of research and found that there are numerous hairspray and styling mousse specifically made for curls produced from curling irons and hot rollers. Hopefully with constant experimentation, i get to find a curling process that will make my curls last longer. 


What curling products do you use? 


♥ blushbaby