L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagen Mascara: Lashes Fantastic!

Hi everybody,

How are you doing today? Lately, my makeup obsession is mascaras: only last week, I've bought two tubes of mascaras for the rainy days. Or so I thought. Once I purchased a tube of mascara, the temptation to open it is high. These mascara tubes just scream, "Open me! Let me out!" and I could not help myself, I had to open L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagen Mascara. This is L'Oreal latest mascara which goes pretty much unadvertised as far as I'm aware (the one that gets more air time is Double Extend.)

L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagen mascara in Blackest Black (~$7 USD at Walmart)

The price of Extra-Volume Collagen (EVC for short) mascara flanks between the famous Voluminous (~$6USD) and Telescopic (~8USD). Although I love Voluminous very much, I am not very much into Telescopic since I need more volume than length for my lashes. Therefore, I was more than thrilled to see EVC on sale and guess what? It's by Voluminous, meaning it is a volumizing mascara but this time around, EVC provides "12 times more impact instantly." Say what? With all the mascara fervor boiling inside of me, I decided to nab one tube and proudly marched to the cashier (with a 2 dollar coupon.) Although my intention is to save it for a rainy day, I decided to try the EVC out the moment I get home. "12 times more impact" finally got into me, I guess.

The tube right out of the box*

First of all, what's up with L'Oreal to name this mascara "Extra-Volume Collagen"? It's such a mouth-full, don't you think? "Voluminous" and "Telescopic" are more memorable. If you want to go more than one word, "Lash Exact" or "Lash Stiletto" are also fine. But "Extra-Volume Collagen"? I feel like I were about to get a lip implant or something! The name does not sound very mascara-friendly.

The EVC tube is huge, which makes me think if L'Oreal decided to jump into the mascara big league of Cover Girl Lash Blast and Maybelline the Collosal Volum' Express. To answer my suspect, the mascara wand is as huge as the tube:

The mascara compared to my eye: it is almost as big as my eye!

The brush is indented at the middle which is kind of similar to that of Rimmel Sexy Lash mascara. However, it is not the plastic wand like that of LashBlast or Sexy Lash but the regular nylon one. It seems like L'Oreal took a step back on their mascara wands: Telescopic is the only one that has the plastic wand in L'Oreal mascara lineup. The wand, for three days, felt very awkward as it is really big for my eyes. Its claim is to grab each and every lash but since it is so big, there is not too much room for me to physically wiggle it around. After the third try, I finally got a hold of it and now EVC and I are buddies :)

Now, for the show and tell: let me get my pictures do the talking on how well this mascara works.

My bare nekkid lashes (boo!)
I decided to take all the pictures in this angle to show some lashes

After 1 coat of mascara, the lashes look darker but not really impressive

After 2 coats, see the difference? Lashes also start clumping a little bit.

After 3 coats, see the length and volume?

If you compare the last picture to the nekkid lash picture, you will notice some lashes did curl upward. During the whole process, I did not curl my lashes even one time. This is the unadvertised result and I am very excited. EVC claims to have no clumps, flakes, or smudges and I was determined to find out.

• No clumps: from the pictures, you can see lashes were not separated well, so this mascara does clump a little bit. However, it is not because of the material but of how this mascara is physically constructed. The opening where the wand comes in and out is bigger than usual and therefore, does not do a good job to remove excess mascara. After blotting out the excess material from the wand, this clumping issue was eliminated.
• No flakes: I wore it for 12 straight hours in very hot and humid condition. Before removing my eye makeup, I studied my lashes and saw no smudges. It is not even waterproof!
• No smudges: not even once did I see even a tiny hint of raccoon eyes during my 12hr testing period. This mascara is amazing!
  

Unlike other mascaras that require a certain period to thicken up, EVC is really thick right from the beginning. It holds the curls very well: after 12 hours, my lashes still zoom upward and I still look fresh. This does not happen that often, the two mascaras that did the same thing to me are Volum' Express and Cover Girl Professional volumizing mascara (~$4USD at Walmart, the cheapest mascara out there!) While Volum' Express smudges and Professional does not volumize that well, EVC seems to have it all: length, volume, and curl. What it does not have are (a) a catchier name, (b) a better design, and (c) a better wand. Other than that, I can't complain: this mascara is really high drama fabulous! Compared to Voluminous, ECV is a lot easier to remove with water and soap (or eye makeup remover.)

(*) explained: all the time when I opened the EVC, its black and shiny look reminds me of one thing: a pocket vibrator! There are some vibes out there that conceal as a lipstick or a mascara to get its owner out of embarassing searches at the airport. The EVC mascara seriously resembles one of those, I'm not kidding!

If you love a mascara that volumizes, lengthens, and curls your lashes, L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagen mascara is for you. If you love L'Oreal Voluminous, this one is definitely for you: it does fix the heaviness of Voluminous and adds some curls to your lashes. I think I can leave my lash curlers alone for a while.

That's all, folks! I hope you have a good day and as always, stay gorgeous!

Take care,
Your Makeup Blogger

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Butterfly EOTD

Hi ladies,

How are you doing today? Once in a while, I hit an experimentation stage when I just do 2,3 eye looks a day to see how things go. Owning the 88 matte palette from Coastal Scents allows me to experiment with different colors and today's post is about one good eye look. Since applying only eye makeup is faster than doing the whole face, I got more looks this way as well.

The reason I call this EOTD (eye of the day) look "Butterfly" is because it reminds me of some beautiful butterflies painted in some fairy tale cartoons like Cinderella or Peter Pan. Those butterflies are colorful, luminous, and fancy, which are hard to find in real life. With each movement, the butterfly creates a different array of colors and in this attempt, I decided to create that effect on my eyes and make this look wearable at the same time.

Here's the look with different shades of blue and green

The schematic is explained after the jump!

Type rest of the post here

The colors are numbered as located in the above picture

To get this look, you need 3 brushes: Coastal Scents synthetic eyeshadow brush (or your MAC 239), a blending brush, and a liner brush.

• Apply color #1 (a shimmery cobalt blue) to the inner corner of your eyes to 1/2 of your eyelid using the synthetic eyeshadow brush;
• Using the same brush, apply color #2 (a matte soft inky blue) to from the eye's outer corner to meet color #1, then blend the area in the middle together to create a seamless array of blue colors;
• Using the blending brush, contour color #3 (a fresh green) from the outer corner of your eyes to halfway through the crease;
• Pick up color #4 (a sunny yellow) and apply from inner corner of your eyes to meet color #3, then blend the middle area together to create a lighter green.
• Use color #5 (a light flesh tone color) to highlight with the blending brush;
• Finally, wet your liner brush, dip it to color #6 (a dark ink matte shadow) and line your eyes. Finish with two coats of mascara.

Closed eyes

Open eyes

Since my eyes are deep set, closed and open eyes look very different and I like the effect a lot. The eye shadows from this palette are very pigmented so a little goes a very long way. I find them to stain my skin quite a bit and I had to use an extra cotton pad with eye makeup remover to remove them.

That's all for today, ladies! I hope you enjoy this look. I think it is lovely and wearable. Also, it is very appropriate for spring and maybe early summer as well.

Take care and stay gorgeous,
Your Makeup Blogger

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Loving Touch See Thru Lip Colour from A Rose Romance Collection

Hi y'all!

How are you doing today? Last weekend, I went for a walk in the mall and bumped into the MAC kiosk at Dillard's. The local Dillard's has a counter inside of the store and a kiosk near the food court and my experience implicates the kiosk the place to be. The staff are friendlier and more helpful there than at the counter while the amount of products for sale is the same. MAC, as we all know, churns out limited editions faster than we can say "abracadabra". While my mind is still hung up on the Hello Kitty edition (hello?!), MAC now has a new color story called "A Rose Romance". After many moons of complaining how sucky mediocre the last many LEs have been, "A Rose Romance" looks like a more interesting and decent color story, how refreshing!

A Rose Romance collection poster
Courtesy Temptalia

After my stint with see thru lip colour from the Ungaro collection back in last summer, I developed my love of this type of makeup. Take it or leave it, see thru lip colours are long lasting and can look very fabulous with some glosses on top. So I was uber-thrilled to see three see thru lip colours on the lineup of this LE. They are: Loving Touch, Secret Crush, and Temp Tryst. After trying Temp Tryst, I realized it is way too dark for me. Secret Crush looks exactly the same as Not so Shy! from Ungaro. Which means Loving Touch is mine, mine, mine!

MAC See Thru Lip Colour in Loving Touch ($14 USD)

Swatch of (L-R) Not so Shy!, Secret Crush, and Loving Touch
(I did not swatch Temp Tryst as I was not interested)

Close up at the sponge tip applicator, the same type as in MAC lip glass.

Loving Touch is a very beautiful soft pink color that matches the natural color of my lips. It is cooling after application and lasts for a very long time. In fact, the swatch did not come off after I washed my hand. The MUA tried to explain to me that it is not a lip gloss about a hundred times (ok, I exaggerated, she said it maybe 4 times!) Then she refused to give me a sample of Circa Plum pigment and explained to me that it's not the store policy to give out samples for things you can try in store. (Maybe she was mad that I only bought one product? But later on when I went to pay, I saw Viva Glam VI and really wanted to buy but she rushed me!)

But that was not the most interesting part of the visit. After inspecting the tubes of see thru lip colours on the display, I asked her if they were full size. The conversation went like this:

Me: (holding a tube of see thru lip colour) Excuse me, is this full size?
MUA: (looked quite annoyed) Yes, it is.
Me: (spoke in slightly high pitched voice) Really? I remember my See Thru Lip Colour from Ungaro collection being the same size of the lip glass.
MUA: (now looked quite embarassing) I don't know, I think they reduce the size of the tube. I don't know why.
Me: That's cheap!
MUA: (looked half amused, half stunned) Do you want it or not?
Me: Ok, yeah.

The bottom line is: I am a sucker for MAC. Even though I know being cheaped out, I still ended up with a Loving Touch plus 15 dollars and some change lighter in my pocket. However, I did not do that without my own agenda. And here it is:

Trivia for you: The one on the left is a See Thru Lip Colour, so is the one on the right
The one on the left came from a limited edition, so was the one on the right
The one on the left costs me 14 dollars, so is the one on the right
Now, here's the question: which one is bigger?

And here's another question: Of the three products above, which of the two have the same size?
(L-R): Not so Shy! and Loving Touch see thru lip colours, Saucepot glitter gel liner

And now here are the answers: the old see thru lip colour is about twice as big as the new one, and the new one has the same size as the glitter gel liner. And if I am not wrong, I believe Loving Touch has the same size as the holiday LE lip glosses in the jar, which are a whole lot smaller than the regular size (and a whole lot cheaper per unit as well!) So here's a question for you Makeup Art Cosmetics: why do you sell sample size products at full size prices? Do you think we are unaware of what you've done? Also, with this economy, shrinking the sizes of your products as well as jacking up the price is not cool. You did it to pigments, we complaint. Now you do it to the see thru lip colours as well?!

Finally, it seems like MAC loves to label the same color with different names. Maybe when it comes to scanning the color in the NMR, there will be two slightly different spectrum but in my naked eyes, Not so Shy! and Secret Crush look identical. (MAC did it before with a LE lip glass called "Elle" which I happen to love, so yeah, I do hold umbridge!)

Loving Touch lip swatch by itself
Beautiful, ya?

Loving Touch with Sugar Trance on top, I really love that lip glass!

In my book, I go by this saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us." MAC hit me more than three strikes but I am still a sucker (but if you noticed, my MAC purchases have reduced significantly!) So MAC, if your people happen to read my blog, please I beg you: whatever you are doing DO NOT work! Shrinking product sizes, increasing the prices, and producing tons of sub-par LEs do not make us love you more. We KNOW! So please go back to the old MAC where the products were fun and interesting, the MUAs were knowledgeable and helpful, and the prices were a lot more reasonable*.

Wow, that's quite a rant and I may get some hate mails after this but to be honest with you, I do not hate Loving Touch as a color. As a product, yes, because I know it can be much bigger. The see thru lip colour formula is not as dense as lip glasses and evaporate a lot faster. I barely use my Not so Shy! but it's already 1/3 gone, which means Loving Touch will go much faster! So I am going to hit the drugstore and get me some Cover Girl lip stain. Words on the street say it's pretty good. So stay tuned for part 2: War of the Lip Stains!

That's all for today. I am sorry if I came out too strong today and I do appreciate your honest opinions. Please give me some comments, I'd love to hear from you.

Take care and stay gorgeous,
Your Makeup Blogger

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

Bodycology Sparkling Grapefruit Body Butter: Affordable Moisturizer

Hi everyone!

Happy Monday! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? It's really warm in my hood and learning my lesson from last week, I am guzzling water with gusto. Until recently, I do not suffer from dry skin. Unless it is winter and I turn on the heat, my body pretty much do not need that much moisturizers. A bottle of body moisturizer lasts me for a very long time and I have to admit that I buy collect them without giving so much use. It's a wasteful hobby that only benefits the companies but in the process, I figure out what my skin needs.

Body lotion, moisturizer, etc consist of two main components: fat and water. These two compounds do not mix (or immiscible as they say in chemistry class.) However, once you shake them hard and long enough, they emulsify for a moment before separating again. An emulsifier's job is to hold them apart and thus form a creamy mixture that we use to moisturize. Now, there are different types of fat you can use to make lotion. In the industry, petroleum products are common since they are cheap and available as gasoline by-products. Contrary to popular belief, a moisturizer's job is to keep moisture from escaping from your skin. Moisturizers that contains hyluronic acid or glycerin attract water in the air to keep your skin moist. However, petroleum-base products just lock water in your skin and sit on top of it. As a result, your skin may feel oily, grimy, and kind of unclean.

Among the petroleum-base moisturizers, La Mer perhaps is the most famous. While it does a good job as a moisturizer, petroleum-base lotion may exacerbate acne (and in my case, it is true!) So, for a long time, I could not get a lotion that my skin loves but once I figure out what moisturizer is, I decide to try something that does not contain petroleum products. My first try was Palmer's cocoa butter body lotion, which smells like chocolate and my skin really loves. It took me a while to finish that giant bottle but during that winter, my skin was so moist! After that, I mostly use whatever oil available at home to moisturize my body and while it was good, I crave for a good lotion.

Then came Bodycology, a brand that I swear to pass a thousand times when I went grocery shopping. Bodycology is a budget brand whose products sold at mass market stores such as Walmart and drugstores like Walgreens and CVS. The products are sold around $4 USD at generous sizes. In a sense, they are similar to Bath and Body Works but a lot cheaper. And maybe the product packages look so similar to BBW, I fail to notice them. Then one day I desperately needed a body lotion and my hunting ground Big Lots got a whole bunch of Bodycology stuff for cheap, so I scooped a jar of body butter up for $2.50.

Bodycology Sparkling Grapefruit Body Butter

The reason I needed a body lotion so badly was I had a heat rash on my shin that did not seem to go away without hydrocortisone. After doing some research, shea butter is a good natural moisturizer that heals rashes very well. A lot of people with eczema and other dry-skin related problems give glowing testimonies after using shea butter. I was so desperate that I wanted to buy a one-pound block of raw shea butter at Coastal Scents! (But then, how can I finish one pond of shea butter?!) In a sense, this Bodycology body butter product came at the right time: it does not contain petrolatum but 20% of pure shea butter, the same amount as that of a BBW body butter that's sold at $20!

Grapefruit extract is an interesting fragrance. Like other citrus notes, grapefruit energizes you and makes you feel cheerful. (Some of the aromatherapy products that label to make you feel more optimistic do contain grapefruit extracts.) Moreover, people who smells grapefruit fragrance perceives the wearer to be younger than her age! How great is that? Not only do you feel more positive, you also look younger in other people's eyes when you wear grapefruit note.

In my own experience, Bodycology grapefruit body butter is fabulous. After the initial application, my skin calmed down a lot and I felt more energized. After three days, the rash healed completely. I only use very little amount of body butter to moisturize my body as it is very concentrated. This body butter is great as a hand moisturizer as well. My cuticles feel a lot better with it. So far, nothing strange happens to my skin and it does not feel over-moisturized either. All that for $2.50!

America's Next Top Teddy Bear Model!
Smile with yo eyez!

My teddy bear Bibi decided to make a cameo on my blog before going for some grooming (ie, being inside a pillowcase for some washin' and dryin'!) This was the best picture of his photoshoot, in the other ones he looked cranky beyond words!


(Ok, I should stop watching America's Next Top Model! This is too much, haha!)

Ingredients: water, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), glyceryl stearate and PEG-100 stearate, cetearyl alcohol and polysorbate 60, cetyl alcohol, Helianthus anuus (sunflower) seed oil, fragrance, cyclomethicone, propylene glycol, Theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), retinyl palmitate (vitamin A), carbomer, disodium EDTA, triethanolamine, DMDM hydantoin, red 40, yellow 60.

I am very surprised that Bodycology does not use parabens as preservatives. More and more drugstore products are gearing towards paraben-free these days. In some cases, they are as good as the high end versions with much cheaper price tags.


I wish you a wonderful week ahead. If you feel down, sprit a bit of grapefruit oil as a pick me up and your day will feel much better. Also, grapefruit oil is caffeine free!


Take care and stay gorgeous,
Your Makeup Blogger


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My Makeup Blog's Guide to Making California Rolls

Hi ladies,

Happy Friday! I hope the week has gone well for you. Lately, I've been craving sushi a whole lot and it is hard to find decent sushi at decent price in my town. Also, it takes more than a roll of sushi to quench my craving so I set my foot out to make my own stuff. With the lack of sushi-grade salmon or tuna in the market, I decided to roll up some California rolls and call it a good day. Believe it or not, making sushi is not that difficult once you get the basics nailed down.

And while you're wondering why we have this post today because this is a beauty blog, the reason is I do believe in the benefit of eating well. Of all the types of sushi, California rolls are low in fat but contain good fat, packed with vegetables, and if done right, are low in calories. Also, it does not cost much to make some decent California rolls.

Ingredients:

• sushi rice: cook 3 cups of sushi rice; while rice is cooking, combined 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt. When rice is done cooking, combined the vinegar mixture with rice in a big bowl and wait for it to cool.
• roasted seaweeds (nori);
  
• 1 medium avocado, sliced into wedges;
• 1 cucumber, remove seeds, and slice into strips: you do not want too thick or too thin slices;
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into strips;
• imitation crab meat sticks or cooked shrimps;
• 2 eggs beaten together to make an omelet, then sliced;
  
• optional: light mayonnaise mixed with wasabi. I prefer them separately because I eat more wasabi than mayo but that's just my preference;
• sesame seeds to season.

The nori brand I use is called Tokyo Sushihane and it's pretty good.
It's ~$2 for 10 sheets

Step 1: using a spoon, spread sushi rice on top of nori, leave 1/2 inch at the end.
You can sprinkle sesame seeds if you like it.
You need a sushi mat to help you roll, it's around 3 dollars and you can find in most Asian stores.

Step 2: add all the toppings as followed:
a stripe of wasabi+mayo, cucumber, carrot sticks, egg and avocado slices, and shrimps.

Step 3: use the mat as a guide to roll, apply some pressure but not too much. You don't want your sushi roll to break!

The roll should look like this after step 3

Step 4: cutting the roll into pieces

This step is the hardest one of the whole sushi-making process. In order to cut the perfect pieces, you need to have a very sharp knife. Since sushi rice tends to stick to the knife, having a piece of paper towel and a bowl of vinegar water to rinse the knife is necessary. Just add some vinegar to water and dip your knife in the bowl between slices.

To cut the roll, first you cut it in half, then cut into 6 pieces for the small roll. Discard the ends whatever way you like (mine is to the stomach!)

The end result should look like this

Serve your sushi with some pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce. Fresh sushi tastes a whole lot better than those sold at the grocery store. I am sure they taste better as well! After you are familiar to the rolling and cutting part, you can advance to the more expensive fish cuts or eels. If you have friends over, arranging a sushi station is also fun as it perks up people's creativity.

That's all, folks! I hope you'll have a great weekend and go ahead, make some sushi!

With love,
Your Makeup Blogger

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My Hair Secrets, Out!

Hi everybody,

How are you today? Boy oh boy, it's getting hot in here! Is the weather also warm in your place? I feel a bit like summer, minus the humidity which is bad for the hair. Talking about hair, finally it comes down to this: today I out my hair secrets. Ever since I started this blog, the only hair product I've ever reviewed is Aveda Phomollient styling foam. It's not like I am not interested in my hair, it's just I do not use a lot of hair products. My haircare routine is quite streamlined, actually. Also, whenever I get a hair product that I like, the manufacturer decided to discontinue it.

Once in a while, somebody would ask me how I get my hair to be so straight and shiny. It's hard to explain that's how my hair is because people would not believe me. Most times, people think I hide my hair secret weapons from them. The FAQs are:

• What brand of shampoo/conditioner do you use?
• Do you flat iron your hair?
• Do you straighten your hair?
• What kind of hair serum do you use?
• Do you gloss your hair?
• Do you dye your hair?
• Where did you do your highlights? They look so...natural!

Look, folks! I do not keep any hair secrets from you and as much as I want to tell you I use 101 products to make my hair look so luscious and shiny, I don't! So for once and for all, let me tell you the secrets and let us be done with it. Genetically, my hair is born the way it is with the straightness and the chocolate hue. I do not color or highlight my hair. I do not use gloss or shine serum either, they make my hair look oily. I do not flat iron or straighten my hair at all. In fact, I prefer minimal heat.

My hair care routine consists of two products: a shampoo and a conditioner. Once in a while, whenever I feel the hair need some oomph, I add Phomollient styling foam before blow drying it. My blow dryer is 7.5 years old and it is not a T3. Recently, I got a ceramic tourmaline brush for cheap and that allows me to blow dry faster.

"So Dao, what are names of shampoo and conditioner you use?" you may ask.

I chuckle and unveil the secrets to you. Ready? Dove and Aveda!

1. The secret shampoo: Dove Intense Damage Therapy Shampoo

Just in case you're wondering how it looks like, it's the blue bottle

I bought this family size bottle from Sam's club for a bit less than 7 dollars. It's 1.2 liters and going to last me for a while. Dove really got me hooked on their products: they sent me shampoo and conditioner samples of the discontinued Pro-Age and my hair behaved a lot better.

It was during last summer that my hair got really dry. The good people from Aveda recommended me to buy their moisturizing products which cost a lot of money. After using the Pro-Age shampoo, my hair restored its luster. On top of that, it got more volume. The thread of straight hair is not frizz, it's flatness. Dove shampoos provide volume even when it's humid outside. After Pro-Age became extinct and I used up my bottle, I decided to buy Intense Therapy and fully expected it not to perform as well as Pro-Age. Guess what? It works really well!

The claims
(Do not sound like what my hair needs at all, but I cannot be too sure!)

The ingredients
It's a paraben-free product that comes from the drugstore

Obviously, Dove shampoos are not sulfate-free yet (the only drugstore brand out there is L'Oreal.) It cleans well without stripping all the oil or leaving my hair with too much moisture. This shampoo is just right for me! Also, this makes a great brush cleanser.


Price: $3.50-4.00 for the regular 12 fl. oz size at grocery and drugstores, $7.00 for the 40 fl. oz (1.2L) family size at wholesale stores.

My rating: A+ for the effort to remove parabens from the ingredient list.

2. The secret conditioner: Aveda Brilliant Conditioner

Aveda Brilliant Conditioner ($18 USD for 6.7 fl. oz)

Unlike my shampoo, this conditioner does not come as economical. At 18 dollars, it is not the most expensive conditioner in the market. I almost declined to buy it but then (a) I do not use that much conditioner so a tube does last me a long time and (b) life is too short to use sucky conditioners! So right then and there at Aveda Institute, I shelled out my 18 bucks plus tax for this baby, fully expected it to suck. (Again, the way it goes in my head is expect things to suck first, then prove it otherwise. It's better and "healthier" than going the other way, I guess!)

First of all, Brilliant smells great! Its fragrance comes from Aveda's Pure-fume aroma with jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, and other pure flower extracts. The ylang-ylang note is more pronounced than the others and it is very sensual. Everytime I wash my hair, I feel like being in a spa! Now, this conditioner is intended for textured and treated hair but my straight hair just loves it. After years of dealing with under or over moisturizing conditioner, it is refreshing to use something that's just right. (I think I sound like Goldilocks here!) Also, Brilliant lives up to its name: my hair does look a whole lot shinier since started using it.

Ingredients: Aqueous extract of Anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower, Calendula officinalis, Aloe barbadensis leaf, Camellia oleifera leaf extract, glycerin, cetearyl alcohol, dipalmitoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate, behetrimonium methosulfate, cetyl dimethicone, Limnathes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, dicaprylyl maleate, Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, Orbignya oleifera (Babassu) seed oil, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) extract, Avena sativa (oat) kernel extract, Oryzanol, tocopherol, distearyldimonium chloride, centrimonium chloride, cetyl hydroxyethylcellulose, fragrance, limonene, eygenol, linalool, hydroxycitronella, geraniol, citronellol, maltodextrin, sodium gluconate, phenoxyethanol.
Source: ccoconut, palm, rapeseed, silica, mixed plant, plant fiber, rice bran, and corn

My rating: A+, it's also a paraben-free product.

That's all for today, folks! I hope your day is going well and as always, stay gorgeous!

Love,
Your Makeup Blogger

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Happy Earth Day!

Hi everybody,

How are you doing? I haven't been around for the last two days because I was under the weather. On Monday morning, I woke up with the biggest headache ever! That day the weather decided to do a full 180 degree on me and it was really hot. I obviously did not feel the heat so early in the morning and also did not drink enough fluid ended up being dehydrated. So for the last two days, I guzzled down water like a fountain and now I feel a whole lot better. So kids, drink your water and spike it with some juice to make it taste better.


Today is Earth Day and everywhere this week is celebrating Earth Week. For the last two years (or since 2007 State of the Union address) environmental issues have been in focus. Although Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970, the media and press only dedicate to it more diligently for the last few years. Being a person rummaging in the environmental field, I am more than glad to see Earth Day being widely recognized like this.

Initially, I wanted to do a whole FOTD for Earth Day but for some reasons, the pictures did not come out as sharp as I hope but there's always a plan B. So here it is:

10 Practical Environmentally Friendly Beauty Tips

1. Do reuse your empty containers
After finishing a bottle of toner, I usually keep the empty bottle if it is in good shape and does not require a lot of cleaning to be ready for its next task. Believe it or not, sometimes you wish you did not throw that jar/bottle away because you desperately need it to store something, then ended up going to the store to buy a container that costs an arm and a leg! That's ridiculous so keep the containers for future use.

2. Do recycle the empties as well
Sometimes you end up with so many of them that you wish to get rid of the empty bottles and jar (and you can!) However, plastic containers can take up to 5 million years to decompose, we don't live that long to see our trash turn to dust, folks! So please bring them to your nearest recycle facility, some of which even exchange your recycle for cash. (A former colleague of mine funded her marathon trip that way: registration fee, plane ticket, room and board and all!) Sometimes college campuses have recycle containers that you can dump your unwanted recyclable stuff there. For makeup empties, some companies even reward you for bringing back the empty vessels:

• MAC has the famous Back2MAC program when six empty containers can exchange for a lipstick, lip gloss, or eye shadow at MAC Pro Stores, or a lipstick at department store counters;
• Origins gives you a sample for any empty makeup/skincare/body care bottle you bring, regardless the brand.

3. Do buy the largest volume item, if possible
When you go shopping for detergent, soap, etc, you notice the stores stock up different sizes of the same item. Some stores like Walmart or Target also do the price per unit calculation for you and usually, the bigger the volume the cheaper the unit price. So if your place has space, please buy the biggest item of its kind and here are the reasons:

• Obviously, for stuff like soap, detergent, and dish washing liquid, you will use every single drop of it until the very end and it makes sense to get it as cheap as possible. Buying the largest volume item saves you money in the long run;
• Also, buying the biggest item saves you multiple trips to the store to get replacement items once you run out of material. That also reduces your carbon footprint and saves you gas, cha-ching, baby!
• It does not take a lot more to make the bigger container than the smaller one. By buying the biggest container, you reduce the use of plastics, carbon footprint, and save money at the same time.

4. Do buy refills
If you like to wash your hands with liquid soap that's dispensed from the pump, this is for you. After your initial purchase of a bottle of liquid hand soap, you can refill the empty bottle with its refill material. Most brands offer refillable materials in a big container for cheap and if you do not mind the matchy-ness of the container and refill material, this way saves you a whole lot of money to buy new bottles of liquid hand soap. Also, you reduce the amount of waste emitted. If you have a big house with many residents, buying refills eventually saves you a lot of money since people wash their hands a lot. Some of the refills are packed in big plastic packs instead of bottles which require more material to make. So if you can find them, the packs are more environmentally friendly purchases than the bottles.

5. Do swap and trade your makeup stash
For those who are familiar with Makeup Alley, the place is a swap heaven! Often times, you get items that you thought you love but end up at the bottom of your stash. Before you are contemplated to toss it, you may check out Makeup Alley to see if anybody are interested in your item. You may get something you like out of this type of exchange. This way, you have an opportunity to get rid of something you do not use as much and get a new item you may use more for the cost of some stamps.

I have to admit that I am not so fond of MUA swaps but since becoming a makeup/beauty blogger, I did swap with some fellow bloggers and one reader (hi Leslian!) Swapping is a lot of fun and can get addictive, let me forewarn you!

6. Do raid a stash and let your stash be raided
When I was a college freshman, I often raided my aunt and cousin's makeup stash. My aunt is a Clinique GWP shopper and so is my cousin. They rack up a whole lot of those GWP items that they do not use at all. GWP is an intricate issue: you may get one or two items you love but the rest, most times are lipsticks, may go to trash. So whenever I came, the lovely aunt and cousin were really willing to offload said lipsticks and sometimes blushes to me, along with the GWP bags. Some of my favorite colors from Clinique came from the stash raiding events and Clinique does get a customer out of me. Really, stash raiding is a win-win-win solution: the raider get stuff, the raidee get to let go of stuff, the company get to have a new customer. Everybody's happy!

7. Do buy fair trade products
Fair trading is an interesting aspect of commerce: when the buyers pay a fair amount of money to the farmers for their products, the farmers have more resources to care for their land and the environment benefits out of it. Now, you may pay a bit more for your skin/body care products but in the long run we all benefit. Since the soil is better taken care of, soil erosion is less severe. After all, our lands and water are things we value a lot as most of the things that sustain us come from them.

8. Do reduce your water usage
This probably is the oldest point from the environmental conservation textbook: take a shower, not a bath. This way you reduce half of the water consumption per session and if you pay for your water bill, that's a lot of moolah you save. The water bill does not only counts for the amount of water you use but also for the same amount that you dispose. Often times, the cost to dispose you water waste is a lot higher than that of your clean water. So less water used, less water waste, and less money to pay. But if you have to indulge yourself with a bath, schedule it once in a while so it feels special for you.

9. Do use biodegradable face wipes
Although I am not a big fan of face wipes, sometimes I need one of them to remove my makeup fast so I can go to sleep. Although there are many different types and brands of face wipes out there, a handful of them are made from biodegradable materials. Often times, we have no clue of the fate of the products we just used. Non-biodegradable used face wipes end up as trash on your landfills that takes a very long time to degrade while biodegradable wipes break down fast and do not accumulate in the environment. It's not only an environmental decision but also a humane decision: you probably have walked through a landfill before, you have reacted to the odor and the sight, now think of the people who have to live next to it the next time you go out to buy your face wipes. (Everyday Minerals have really good biodegradable face wipes for $2.50 a pack!)

10. Do buy organic lip balms
Although I am a fan of saving money, there are some certain products I decide to go organic for my own sake and lip balm is one of them. Since we do ingest a bit (or a lot) of our lip stuff whether we're conscious of the action or not, whatever comes with the lip balms may end up inside our bodies. Organic products are free of pesticides and since my research is related to pesticides, I can say some new evidence of long term pesticide exposure at trace level to human health is disturbing. Beside pesticides, organic balms also do not contain synthetic fragrance and dyes which can aggravate your skin.

Now, before you think yours truly is a tree hugger, I am not! These environmentally friendly tips stem from my wish to save money. In the process, I figured out it actually saves me money to be green. As much as I care for the planet, most times my wallet does the talking. And once the realization was made, the rest was easy! You too, can go green without sacrificing your greens. And you can start then greening process with your makeup stash and the bathroom.

That's all for today, ladies! I hope you're having a wonderful Earth Day. As always, stay gorgeous!

With green love,
Your Makeup Blogger

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Another Award!

Hi everybody!

How are you doing today? I've got some good news for y'all: the fabulous Ms. Kia from Yummy411 just handed me a Sexy Blogger Award! How cool is that? Thank you so much Ms. Yummy, you are so kind!


The rule is simple: List 5 things that are sexy about yourself and then tag 5...

1. My lips are nice, they are the part of my face that I spend less time applying makeup;
2. My skin: it's been behaving well lately and I think good skin is really sexy;
3. My smile: I smile like my mom so there's a plus for that;
4. My dancing and cooking during the weekend: I like to crank up the music when I cook to get some fun and cardio exercises at the same time;
5. My way of saving money: saving money is sexy, don't you agree? (I know it's a lame one but I ran out of G-rated items to say :p)

Now, if I haven't tagged you before or you haven't done this tag then... TAG, you're it! Yeah, fabulous one, you're now a sexy blogger! Please go ahead and spread the sexiness across the internet!

But wait, we're not done yet! Sephora is having a 15% off discount until April 21st when you use this code: BD2T9CB5. Or you can click here to print out the coupon before going to a Sephora store. It's for Beauty Insiders only so go ahead and apply for it! The service is free and you get a gift on your birthday as well.That's all for today, ladies! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend and as always, stay gorgeous!

With love,
Your Makeup Blogger

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A Case on Skin Toner

Hi everyone!

How are you today? I hope another wonderful day is waiting for you to conquer. For me, the topic of the day is toner. I have to admit that I used to have apprehension on the use of toner. Unlike other beauty bloggers, my skincare routine is quite simple: wash and moisturize, that’s it! There’s nothing in between the two-step system, nothing, nada!

To the old me, toner was kind of useless: it is watery and does not do anything to your face. Let’s see: face wash cleans your face and moisturizer keeps your face, well, moisturize. What does toner really do, anyways? Most times, it feels fresh on the skin but when one uses toner, one also wastes a cotton ball. Me, being stingy, refuse to use toner because of those reasons: I don’t want to waste money on cotton balls and useless watery stuff that does not do anything to my face.

It went like that for years! After I finished a set of ProActiv years ago, I decided not to buy toner anymore. But once in a while, I relapsed. It does take a lot of time for me to finish a bottle of toner. If I got a skincare set with cleanser, toner, and moisturizer, you betcha the toner would be the last to go.

Image from Viva Woman

So, why the change of heart?

First of all, let me say that I’m being influenced by some really great people. May blogged about her reunion with toner and how great her skin felt, which made me very curious. Then I read this article that Yoshiko Roth, the creator of Juara skincare, wrote about why East Asians prefer water scents. All of the sudden, toner made sense to me. Here’s an excerpt of the article that can be found here:

In Japan for example, the term “mizumizushii” is used to describe beauty and refers to the qualities “youthful”, “fresh”, “watery” and “supple”. When spelled with Japanese characters (Kanji), mizumizushii literally means “water-water-like”. Specifically, mizumizushii-looking skin is skin that looks plump and supple with the water (i.e. hydration) contained in it. Having mizumizushii-looking skin represents one of the highest beauty ideals in Japan and not surprisingly, it is directly connected to water. There is a deep reverence of water in Japan and other East Asian cultures, which can be observed in their bathing rituals, the popularity of koi-ponds, as well as the beauty products. Toner/ beauty waters are considered essential in East Asian skincare rituals to saturate skin with pure hydration before applying a moisturizer. Moisturizers, even those for very dry skin, usually have a lotion-like, watery-fresh texture, rather than that of a thick cream.

See, since my teen years, I started developing worshipping on the skin of Japanese women. They somehow manage to have the most pristine skin in the world and regardless the amount of money I spent at various Japanese skincare companies, I could not get that glowing poreless skin. It’s like I’m chasing after a mirage that’s called the perfect Japanese skin. After reading Yoshiko’s article, I eagerly picked up that bottle of Sephora toner that I bought a while back. Guess what? My skin has been behaving much better now!

However, not anything labeled toner would pass my gate. I do have some criteria on toners:

1. Alcohol free: alcohol does dry out the skin and strip away the skin’s natural oil. You want to remove extra dirt but retain moisture in your skin.

2. Natural ingredients are welcome: I love aloe vera, vegetable glycerin, and rose water in my toner. Aloe vera and glycerin are natural moisturizer while rose water smells nice.

3. Paraben-free: although the jury is still out there regarding parabens, most companies formulate their products with paraben-free preservatives. Although this is not a strictly-enforced criterion, I try to avoid buying products with parabens as much as possible.

A variety of Thayer's Witch Hazel Toner

So, what’s available in the market that’s alcohol free, paraben free, and contains natural ingredients? Turns out Thayer’s have some new witch-hazel astringent products that fit my criteria. The products are in big bottles that priced around 9 dollars at most health food stores. I had no idea the brand has so many formulas! However, before getting myself a new bottle of Thayer’s I need to finish my Sephora toner first!

One more thing: once I started using toner again, I realize that I use less moisturizer now. I guess Yoshiko is right: toner is needed to attain mizumizushii.

Now, my question to you is: do you use toner and what is your favorite brand? I want to know all about it so feel free to dish in the comment section.

Take care and stay gorgeous,
Your Makeup Blogger

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She's a Doll FOTD

Hi ladies,

Lately I've been in a FOTD streak. Since most of the time I'm at home writing my thesis, things can get boring pretty quickly. To jazz things up, I decided to take a break to play with my makeup once in a while. And whenever a look came out pretty, I took some pictures and keep them aside. The color choice varies from day to day but recently, I've been swinging more on nature's rarest pigments: blue. Needless to say, I have so many blue eye shadows that this summer I can actually save a lot of money from buying new eye colors.

Some of the stuff I used in this FOTD have already been discontinued or are LEs but I believe you can find some substitution.

The ingredients

The look is actually inspired by traditional dolls although I'm no doll myself!
Find out how to get the look after the jump :)

Eyes

• Using Coastal Scents synthetic eye brush, I applied Napoleon Perdis loose pigment #29;
• Then using Sonia Kashuk blending brush, I applied NYX Space Blue pearl mania on the outer corner into 2/3 of the eyes;
• Using the same brush, I carefully filled in the inner 1/3 of the eyes with Follow the Sun from The She Space;
• I highlighted my eyes with EDM Wet Sand blush using the same blending brush.
• The eyes were lined with Hot Teal liner from Victoria's Secret and several coats of mascara were applied.

Semi-close eye


Closed eye

Cheeks: using my fluffy slanted blush brush, I applied several layers of my favorite Maybelline pink blush.


Lips:


The lips are interesting as I used 3 different products with different texture to create a doll-like pout:

• First, I applied MAC Plink! lipstick all over the lips;
• Then I carefully applied Not so Shy! see thru lip color in heart shapes at the center of the upper and lower lips;
• Finally, I topped it off with Elle lip glass and got a very dolly pout. Elle is a LE a couple of years ago and I believe is very similar to Snow Girl lip glass.

Other stats: AwG oil control primer, foundation in Grace 3.5; Silk Naturals perfecting powder ; CoverGirl Professional Super Thick Lash mascara.

How to look like a 16 year-old when you're not: make your face look rounder by clamping your lips together!

Peace, y'all!

This look is really bright and I guess is appropriate for fun party events. I don't think it's appropriate to wear to see your in-laws though, please don't take that risk!


That's all for the day, ladies! Happy hump day and have a fabulous rest of the week. As usual, stay gorgeous!


With love,
Your Makeup Blogger

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