Chic Orchid FOTD

Hi everybody,

I'm so sorry for the delay, it's raining cats and dogs today! For today's post, I am going to put some of Formula D's eye shadows to work. With mineral makeup, seeing the swatch is one thing and getting them to work is another. I wore these eye shadows for more than 10 hours with rubbing my eyes and crying in between. At the end of the night (around midnight), they still looked vibrant.

The look.

I tried to look fierce but obviously it didn't work :)

What I used

Formula D Minerals Swatches

Hola!

El Gato Supremo was supposed to blog today but this morning, I found him outside sun bathing. I think he is aiming to play the Chesire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland 2" or something. He's been working out and getting tanner to look good. With this rate, he will be called Mr. Six Pack Abs instead of Mr. Belly :)

Do not disturb! I'm enjoying nature, yo!

 With Mr. Belly Gato Supremo out of commission, I guess I'd better share the swatches of the eye shadows and blushes available at my shop, Formula D Minerals.

Blue quad: Baby Blue, Something Blue, Midnight, and Cookie Monster

 My favorite of this quad is Cookie Monster. It is bright and cheerful, like our beloved Sesame Street monster who's not Elmo. Baby Blue is very cute and Something Blue is simply gorgeous. You can use Midnight as a liner color, too!

Multi-tasking to the Next Level!

Hi everybody!

Thank you for your kind words on the opening of my Etsy shop. I really appreciate it! Today, I've been busy with all things Formula D related: taking, cropping, and editing photos, writing item descriptions, sorting things out, and posting each and every single item on my store. On top of that, I am juggling between Blogger, Etsy, and Twitter.

 And guess what? I am not doing so well with multi-tasking! *bite nails...hard*

To the reader who suggested me to do swatches: it is in my agenda. Tomorrow, I am going to take a bunch of swatches on my body, probably from head to toes, label them, and upload to Etsy. I understand how difficult it is to get an accurate picture of the colors. My camera can go so far when it comes to capture colors and I find the best way is to film in direct sunlight.

About samples: I will definitely have samples for blushes, powder, and foundation. I thought about doing eyeshadow samples but Etsy has this listing charge of 20 cents per item plus 3.5% commission price. In order to see the sunlight and make some profits, I have to price a sample more than a dollar each. When you compare to the full price ($3.99), I guess you realize it's better to purchase the whole jar.

 Yes, that's the downside of dealing mineral makeup on Etsy. As much as I want to offer you 50 cent samples, I can't :( And I'm very sad! I may do a sample bundle though. We will see!

If you haven't seen my shop yet, it is right here :) If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me here, my email, twitter, or at Etsy.

This is the Nine, my favorite colors (click for a bigger picture!)

That's all for today, folks! Thanks for staying with me! Now, go watch Glee or something :)

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Introducing Formula D Minerals

Hi everybody,

I am so excited! Finally, after months of preparation, my Etsy shop finally opens! Ladies and gents, may I introduce Formula D Minerals!

The screen shot :)

If you read my cryptic post on Friday, you already had a peak at the eyeshadow collection. I posted the first 15 eye shadows today. For the first run, there will be 27 eye shadows, 4 blushes, and 1 powder. As time progresses, I will add more products to this line. And of course, I will add the rest of the products to my site tomorrow.

Shipping is relatively inexpensive: $2.00 if you purchase one item, and 25 cent each per additional item when shipped to U.S addresses. For international customers, it's $3.00 for the first item and 30 cent per additional item.

The eye shadows are priced at $3.99/item (that's a dollar cheaper than my planned price), the blushes are $6.99/item, and the powder is $8.99. (The powder is huge!) I am trying to make things in a reasonable price range so you guys can afford it while I don't go to the poor house :)

A Sneak Peak

Hi everybody,

I hope your Earth Week has gone well so far. I can't wait for the weekend! Today, I am going to do something I've never done before: I'm going to give you a peak of what I've been working for the past month.

Look at all those eye shadows! I won a giveaway!

Haha, just kidding! I didn't win any giveaways. But they do look lovely, right?

These are some bright colors

Earth Day FOTD

Hi everyone,

It's Earth Day today! I hope with reading this blog throughout the week, you've gathered some tips to make your life greener. It does not take a lot of efforts at all. A little change from everybody can accumulate to make a big difference in the environment.

For today's FOTD, I did a blue-green eye makeup look that reminds me of the river, forest, and ocean. I use the Sephora Pure palette as it has both blush and eye shadow. The colors are basically pressed pigments in an eco-friendly bamboo case. On top of that, it only costs $15 for 7 colors! I bought it last year when Sephora had a 20% sale and I didn't regret making the purchase at all. The colors are very soft and pigmented.

Earth Day FOTD

Stuff I used: Sephora Pure palette, Bare Canvas paint pot, foundation and finishing powder, L'Oreal HiP cream liner in Eggplant, L'Oreal Voluminous carbon black mascara, various brushes, Yes to Carrots lip tint in Coral shimmer and lip gloss in Playful Nude

EcoTools Eye Brush Set: Eco-Chic and Fabulous!

Hi everybody,

When it comes to environmentally friendly and reliable brushes, EcoTools get the gold star. Since I bought the EcoTools 6-piece eye brush set, I haven't touched my other eye brushes. I know, somewhere in my makeup drawer, a MAC brush is crying.

EcoTools 6-piece bamboo eye brush set

The set costs $7.99 USD but the day I purchased, I also got a $3 store coupon so it cost me less than a dollar a brush. I know, it is difficult to find a reliable brush that's made of recycled aluminum, synthetic taklon, and bamboo handle for $5, let alone the whole set for the same price. I guess I am just lucky.

Belly at Large: The Bag Exchange Program

Yo! What's up my home girls? Dao's not here today, she has to attend a memorial service which leaves yours truly in charge. Yay!

Before she left, Dao said, "Belly, don't make a mess, ok? And don't watch movies until I come home."

Whatevs, woman! I'm in charge now. So the first order of action is to rub my fur all over the carpet. And on her sitting mat, I leave extra fur for Dao to enjoy. Belly: 1- Dao: 0, big smile kitties!

Then, I found this movie "he's just not that into you", watched it and felt asleep.

I heart ScaJo, I dreamed of Scarlett Johansson to feed me yummy cat food ^.^

Oh, snap! I overslept! I need to write something before the mamarazzi comes home. I don't want her to dodge my cat food. She just upgraded it to something tuna and salmon and I don't want to eat that chicken flavor cardboard thing ever again! Quick, quick, quick, Belly! Think of something!

Aha, here it is! The Bag Exchange Program from Target

Basically, you send 5 plastic bags to Terracycle in an envelope made out of that page of circulation and Target will email you a 1-dollar off coupon to buy a reusable bag in the future. Cool, huh?

So I found 5 Target shopping bags, folded them, tapped the sides of the ad to make an envelope...

...wrote Dao's name and email address so they'll send me the coupon for my new bag. It's hard work for a cat, y'all!

I got scotch tape all over my paws! I hope the mamarazzi will not keep the new bag because I want it for my cat food shopping/expedition. But I have to rely on her info since I don't have an email address. I'm a cat, remember?

For more information on Earth Day at Target, click here. This is hella cool and I hope you'll take advantage of it.

Love, peace, and tuna fish*,
Mr. Belly

*only eco-friendly tuna fish, and eat sparingly because some certain tuna species are in the verge of extinction.


P.S: If you like my blog (not Dao's anymore, I'm in charge for the day), please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Welcome to Earth Week!

Hi everybody,

I'm so excited! This week is Earth Week and as a former environmental science student, I can't help but feel gleeful. Last year, I wanted to do the whole spread for the week but things came up and I could not do it. To make up for lost time, this year we're celebrating Earth Week here and My Makeup Blog will bring you tips and tricks to stay eco-chic :) (hey, it rhymed!) Also, Mr. Belly is going to contribute an article. I can't wait to see what that cat comes up with.

Since I became an environmental science student, I found myself being more and more mindful with what I discard to the environment. We only have one Earth as a home and if we exhausted all resources, there would be nothing left for the next generation. And there would be no home. Today, I am going to tell you a couple of things I do around my place that cost me next to nothing while maintaining a clean home.


1. The plastic bags

When it comes to bringing bags with me to the grocery store, I am one of the most forgetful person. As a result, my apartment was clogged with plastic bags. Don't get me wrong, I don't throw them away unless they're dirty. Instead, I use them to line my trash cans and get an extra use out of it. However, there are still a lot of them and they take up space.

Then, one day it dawned to me that I can still store them and save space at the same time. Also, I get to reuse another item that I usually throw away: the empty tissue box!

I take an empty tissue box, fold the plastic bags as tiny as possible...

...and stuff them into the tissue box.

We always forget how tiny these bags are when they are folded. A tissue box like above can store 30-40 folded bags. Usually, I fill it up with bags until one is full and store it in my car. That way, whenever I need a bag, I can have as many as I want within arm's reach.

Review: PureDerm Cucumber Collagen Mask

Hi everyone,

I've been into cloth masks a lot lately. My friends McNunu and Sooji gave me some masks to try and they really hooked me up on these masks.

PureDerm Cucumber Collagen Mask, a gift from Sooji

To be honest, I'm plain lazy. Using the regular clay mask from the tube is hard work for me: I have to spread the goo on my face, wait for it to dry, clean it out, clean the sink, and apply moisturizer. If that's not hard work, I don't know what it is. The cloth mask, on the other hand, is a one-stop solution. I only need to pop open the pack, get the mask out, slap it on my face, chillax for half an hour, take it off, and go to bed. In most case, I don't even need to rinse. In the morning, I wake up, wash my face, and voila, my skin glows like J.Lo!

I tore open the pack and out came this sheet. It looked like something Freddy would like to wear :)

Natural FOTD

Hello everyone,

Once upon a time, a male friend of mine and I had this interesting conversation about women and makeup. According to him, all women who wear colorful makeup do not appreciate their natural beauty.

"What's up with all those colors on their faces? They look like clowns! I prefer my woman to look natural, without makeup, full stop!" he decried.

I stared at him with my mouth hung open. Then, I slowly said, "Dude, do I wear makeup?"

He studied my face for about a minute and said "No, you look pretty. I like you this way."

I said, "Look closer, dude. Look closer! Do I wear makeup?"

And he gave me the same answer.

I hated to break the dude's heart but I did wear a crap load of makeup that day: foundation, blush, eyeshadow, lipstick, and mascara. He didn't see it not because he was blind that day but the truth is, men do not really care about what you put on your face as long as they're neutral. And I happened to wear neutral makeup that day.

And the poor dude's opinion was not only his. After many conversations with male friends, colleagues, and relatives*, I came to two realizations: (a) men do prefer their ladies to look good (and that's why my dad put up with my mom's 2 hour primping routine before the party), and (b) they are selfish beings who hate other men gawking at their ladies. Therefore, the no-makeup makeup look works great in the eyes of the men. You look polished but not overly done. In their eyes, you are still the girl next door but you look better. Who do not want that?

My natural look

Believe me, I wish to look like this when I wake up everyday. Recently, my skin looks a lot better so I don't use foundation that much. Applying neutral makeup is a lot of fun because you can't mess up at all. I use NYX Champagne and Caviar for this look and it works great.

Belly at Large: Be a Poser

Hello girlfriends,

What's up? Belly's here with a new post. Thank you for commenting on my post last week. It boosted my self-esteem and earned me a new cat food. It's something from Purina. Dao said it's good for me because it has salmon but I don't like it. Me gustaria el atún, por favor! (Translation is at the end of the post for those no habla español.)

Oh, thank you for calling me el gato supremo. Me gustaria the new title, too! Just keep calling me el gato supremo, ok? Don't stop calling me that, you know I'm handsome (smile).

Well, today's post is about you. It's also about me. Before I retired from the modeling industry, I used to model cat food and stuff. If you see a stripped tabby in a box of cat food, chances are it's me. I'm the Derek Zoolander of the feline modeling world. But I'm better than him: I have more than one look.

You know who has more than one look? Tyra Banks!

La Tyra and a few of her poses. Screen shot from an article in New York Times.

Like La Tyra, I also practice my poses in front of the camera like mad. And as we all know, practice makes perfect. Here are a few of my poses captured by the human handler-slash-paparazzi. She's no Richard Avedon or Patrick Demarchelier so bare with me, ok?

The Demure

Tilt yo' chin down and look dreamy to a land far, far away. There you have it! You'll look demure. This is good for cover of a magazine of a book. You don't want to look fierce when you do The Demure, kitten!

Makeup Lesson: Cat Eyes with Gel Eyeliner

Hey y'all!

 How are you doing today? This morning, I woke up with very sad news: a friend, colleague, and neighbor of mine just passed away. My initial reaction was to curl in bed and cry until I couldn't cry anymore. However, the more I thought about it, the less likely I would do so. My friend was one of a few friends who read my blog. I would not think she'd like me not to blog today because of her. So this blog entry is in her memory and for our friendship.
-----

In my last post on "Makeup Lesson", some of you requested a tutorial on gel eyeliner and it took me a while to do it. Gel eyeliner was the last territory in makeup that I conquered. Since the first day I wore gel liner (documented here), it had always been a constant struggle to line my eyes with gel liner properly. Recently, the cat eyed look has become popular, thanks to celebrities like Rihanna and Beyonce. Once you master the art of lining your eyes with pencil liner, gel lining can be quite painless. It is a bit different but once you master it, gel liner can be a lot of fun.

What you need: an eyeliner brush, a concealer brush, a concealer or eye makeup primer, and a gel liner

While I have 3 slanted eyeliner brushes, the one I constantly use came from Coastal Scents. It is a bit smaller and thicker than the MAC 266, which makes it better to apply a thicker line. Before I discovered paint pots, I used to apply eye concealer to the lashes as an eyeshadow primer. The CoverGirl and Olay corrector I use feels like a creme. While the lasting power is not comparable to paint pot, it is an all-in-one product I can use. Plus, the corrector shade is similar to MAC Soft Ochre paint pot.

The Other Foundation

Hi everyone,

We all know how important foundation is in makeup. The right foundation will make your face look like a perfect piece of blank canvas ready to be painted by Picasso.

Yes, we're talkin' 'bout les brassiers, sisters!

When it comes to clothing, your underwear is your foundation. Yesterday, I went to Kohl's for a quick browse and they had a bra sale. I ended up getting two new bras for myself. When I came home, I realized they were in different sizes. However, both fit me very well. This experience inspired me to write some tips about bra fitting because 80%-95% of women are wearing the wrong bra sizes. I hope you're not one of them and please continue reading for the tips.

I Got Makeup

Hello everyone,

Mr. Belly is jealous, very jealous. You see, I got makeup and he didn't. And the last time I check, el gato supremo (yes, he makes me address him like that!) still complained about his chicken cat food diet.

I've been blessed with good friends and good makeup. And I'm very honored and thankful, as well. Last month, I received two packages that filled my little heart with joy.

Package 1: from Tammy

Choke-full of makeup!

Yes, I was the winner of Tummy Cake's first giveaway. She sent the whole package from Canadaland and I was surprised at how many things I got. She gave me Miss Dior Cherie body lotion, a quad and a mascara from Lancome, a Dior Show sample mascara, a Bi-Facil sample, an assortment of face creme and cleanser samples, and best of all...My Beauty Diary masks!

Since la McNunu hooked me up with these masks, I've become a mask addict. The MBD masks are seriously good. I'm so thankful that Tammy included a box of Aloe Vera masks and 2 Black Pearl masks.

Thank you, Tammy for your generosity. If you haven't read her blog, please check it out: Tummy Cake.

E.L.F. Eyelash Curler: One-Dollar Wonder

In the land of One-Dollar Wonder, E.L.F is King!

Seriously, a dollar these days doesn't carry you that far. Even the Dollar Menu at McDonald's doesn't taste the same anymore (I mean the food, not the menu itself!) However, if you have a dollar to spare, please spend it on e-e-e-E.L.F instead of on a-a-a-alcohol. The more I get into Eyes Lips Face, the more I realize this brand ain't that bad: the products are decent and the prices are low. And most importantly, I can get some regular E.L.F products at Dollar General, thanks to a tip from one reader. The Studio products are still not available at my local Target, by the way.

Eyes Lips Face eyelash curler

The shining beacon of E.L.F is its one-dollar eyelash curler. My dear friend Alienman gave it to me as a Christmas present and I've used it ever since. Once upon a time, I fancied Shu Uemura eyelash curler but Alienman thwarted it right away. She told me not to waste my money on Shu, who does not sell replacement curler pads, and spend it on E.L.F instead. To convince me, she sent it to me during Christmas. I've used it ever since. End of story.

This is a mechanical eyelash curler, yo!

Belly at Large: How to Have Good Photos

Yo, home girls!

Yo so Belly, gato supremo. Repeat after me, "gato supremo, gato supremo, gato supremo!" Ok, good. You are such nice kitties! Here's your cat treat.

Ahem, although I'm not Chairman Meow (and I know the guy, he's a friend of Fidel Catstro), I believe a lil' bit of cat worship doesn't hurt anybody. After all, Dog God put us on Earth for human to worship, right? Right? So, please feel free to pamper me and for the thousandth time, Dao, please do not feed me chicken flavored cat food. It tastes like cardboard, can you believe she still feeds me that after all of my complaints here? Anyways, thanks to her and her cat food, I lost weight without going to Jenny Craig.

But enough about me. Today, yours truly gato supremo will show you how to have good photos. As we all know, I'm blessed with good genes. People says I look like Cat Pitt crossed with George Maine Cooney. I do agree. I'm very good looking. That's why the ladies love me. My nickname is LLCoolCat. Got it?

But that doesn't mean I look good all the time. You should have seen me when I just woke up. Or when I have wet fur. Or when I'm hungry. I guess you get the picture. Not pretty. And I make sure the human handler/ paparazzi doesn't take pictures of me during those moments. Or any moment at all. But alas, I'm handsome and I'm famous, they can't help themselves.

But again, not all about moi. We're here to transform you into some photo vixens. Believe it or not, it's not hard to do. I dug up my archive from Dao's computer and realized one thing: it's all about the angle. Once you got it pat down, you're set for life!

See what I mean? Not my angle!

Neutrogena Love

Hi everyone,

After so many years of having oily skin, this year my skin did a 180 degree switcharoo. Not only does it become less oily, it also becomes more sensitive. On top of that, I still have zits. I know, suck for me, right? The bad part of this is all the stuff I used in the past are shelved for now because not only do they not work, they also irritate my skin. I guess it's what happens when you have more than 1 skin problem to take care of.

The whole dry and sensitive skin is very new for me but guess what? Some of the things I didn't use are working extremely well for me now. Recently, I realize I've been using these two products everyday and so far, my skin is clear, moist and calm. What else can I ask for?

1. Neutrogena Deep Clean facial cleanser

Neutrogena Deep Clean facial cleanser

This face wash is probably as old as time. I've seen this yellow bottle for a very long time in all drugstores, mass market stores, and wholesale shopping places such as Sam's Club and Costco. It is so old that people assume it's not that good. However, many celebrities and beauty editors use it and they don't tell you. But if you search their bathrooms, chances are you're going to bump into Neutrogena Deep Clean.

I bought this product last year, before the dry skin outbreak of 2010 occurred. At that time, my sebaceous glands were still working vigorously and although this product is formulated for oily skin, it didn't cut through my grease. Also, at that time my moisturizer was probably still water and my skin was oily (just kidding about the water part but the oily part was true!)

Fast-forward to the coldest days of '01 and my skin turned into Sahara desert with lots of zits. I tried a ton of different cleansers and each and every single time, my skin got worse. So I pulled this bottle out of the shelf and voila, my skin got a whole lot better. Not only did it not dry my skin, the salicylic acid in this formula also helps clear up the zits. Since salicylic acid is not listed as an active ingredient, my guess its concentration is less than 0.5%. However, the formula is great: it is sulfate, petroleum, and paraben free. Most importantly, you can get it at drugstore for around 7 dollars!

Ingredients (from drugstore.com): Water, Sodium C14 16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium C12 15 Pareth 15 Sulfonate, Salicylic Acid, Linoleamidopropyl PG Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Disodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, FD&C Yellow 5, FD&C Red 40, Fragrance

Sand in My Shoes

Hi everybody,

What's up? Did you miss me? I hope you've been doing fine for the past two weeks. Yeah, I haven't been blogging for 2 weeks, y'all! Truth be told, all of the sudden I didn't feel like writing anything. Words that I wrote became meaningless and ridiculous. If that wasn't writer's block, I don't know what it is *smile*

How was your Easter? Mine was so good that I still have sand in my shoes. This is the first Easter ever that I was by myself. On top of that, most places closed on Easter so I told myself, "What the heck, I'll make good use of this time. Alone or not!"

Since I came to Florida, I always wanted to go to the beach. However, my hood is as landlocked as it can be so good luck with strolling to the beach during lunch hour. The nearest beach is St. George Island, which is about 2 hours drive away. For years, my friends and I have planned to go there for a day but always, things came up at the last minute. But mostly, I didn't want to drive.

Yesterday, I almost didn't go. But something inside of me told me I'd better do it or else. I was really a compulsive last minute decision. I had a print out of the direction, a bottle of water, my bag, and some cash. But before I headed to the road, this was what happened:

As if the set of Twilight was outside my door! So foggy!

And then this character came and asked for food. I gave him his usual chicken and he meowed "Gimme More" to me.

The whole trip, I encountered more fog and mists. When I crossed a six-mile bridge from the main land to St. George Island, I felt like driving in the clouds. It was so beautiful, yet scary at the same time since I could not see my surrounding.

When I arrived at the beach, it looked like this:

Yes, more fog!