GILTY Pleasures Weekly Blog Tour: Vol 3, 2010

Hi everybody,

Happy weekend! I hope all is going well for you. As you already know, I am a member of the GILTY Pleasures weekly blog tour. Every week, we compile a list of our A-game posts for your own perusal. To be a member of this tour, all you need to do are post frequently and know a little bit about HTML codes. If you are interested, please let me know. I enjoy being a part of this web tour tremendously and hope you will take this invitation and be a part of this tour as well.

Alison of the Advice Sisters featured a post about an innovation for single travelers on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian EPIC, a cruise ship unlike any other sailing today and launching in the Summer of 2010

Lisa of Bridalease is Eco-friendly with some suggestions for both brides and grooms.

Ageless Elaine's Secret Make-up Tip Are you over 35?Now don't you look radiant, healthy, and glowing?

Don't forget to enter The Informed Makeup Maven's Valentine's Day giveaway featuring MAC, Kevyn Aucoin, Napoleon Perdis, Stila and Revlon.

Dao from My Makeup Blog found her new HG lip balm: ChapStick Fresh Effects

Gio from Beautiful With Brains talks about natural preservatives in beauty products.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!



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Thank You!

Hi everybody,

Thank you for all of your comments and support on yesterday's post. My friend McNunu told me they still have not reply her email and whenever she called Sephora, the phone rang and then got hung up. This is not the level of customer service Sephora was known for. Also, I am not the only person who received used item. An anonymous reader also said her lip glosses were opened, which is truly heinous. It is very hard to tell if they are used or not once the glosses and mascaras are opened.

Today, there won't be a new post because a friend of mine is really sick. She has been in and out of the hospital since new year and since her family is not around, friends are taking care of her. My mind right now is very far from writing a happy and cheerful post and I hope you understand. In the mean time, please feel free to explore My Makeup Blog archive. There are almost 400 posts in here and I believe some of them you may have missed.

Have a blessed day!



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From Sephora Without Love: Used, Cracked, and Broken

Hi everybody,

As I get older, it takes much more energy to make me all worked up. When it comes to makeup, I have never had a temper tantrum. After all, it's just makeup and what's the point of throwing a seemingly yummy eyeshadow palette across the room because the pigmentation sucks? However, recently I almost lost it with Sephora on that 20% off sale at the end of last year.

My friend La Nunu Doll and I decided to do a combined order in order to use that 20% off coupon and get free shipping at the same time. La Nunu lives across the border and the DuWop Peacock palette costs an arm and a leg at her local Sephora. With the coupon and discounted price at American Sephora, she thought it was a good idea to do a custom purchase with me. After some clicks later, the order went through and after new year, a man in brown knocked loudly on the door and handed me a padded envelope.

From then on, things started to get stranger and stranger.

1. Sephora usually ships their stuff in boxes with tons of tissue papers. This time around, I received a padded envelope without a nick of wrapping paper whatsoever.

2. The palette looked really odd: it did not have any shrink wraps or anything. Usually, palettes from Sephora have some kind of boxes. The DuWop palette got nada!

3. This:

Yes, a dent at a corner of the palette.

Now, that's strange!

Brush Up with Everyday Minerals Long Handled Kabuki

Rise and shine, my lovelies!

As a makeup addict, in no particular order the top 3 favorite products on my list are mascaras, brushes, and palettes. As you may have witnessed, I have a lot of brushes (30+ and counting!) When Everyday Minerals (EDM) revamped their brush line by making only synthetic brushes with renewable bamboo handles, I was thrilled. However, I barely order from the internet for a year or two now and they remain in my wish list.

Everyday Minerals Long Handled Kabuki  ($10 USD)

When the kind EDM representative sent me a package of stuff to review, she included a long handled kabuki brush and I was very thrilled. The LHK is EDM's top selling brush for a very long time. Whenever EDM had a sale, that brush and the flat top are usually sold out first.

So, how good is this brush? Does it live up to its reputation? Jump to find out more!

Pampering Your Puckers with Chapstick Fresh Effects

Hi everybody,

Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a restful and meaningful Monday. This winter has been cruelly cold to me. On top of that, I had a cold at the very beginning of the year and during that time, my lips were extremely chapped. Lucky me, I was armed with the new Chapstick Fresh Effect and not only I breathed easier, my lips stayed moist.

Chapstick Fresh Effects

Top-bottom: Refreshing Mandarin and Invigorating Green Tea Mint

After reviewing Chapstick True Shimmer, I did an exit survey and they asked me what would I want the next Chapstick to be. My answer was "an all-natural lip balm with physical sunscreen." Well, I got half of my wishes: Chapstick Fresh Effects consists of natural moisturizing ingredients such as  sunflower seed oil, jojoba, coconut oil, shea butter, mango seed buter, olive oil, avocado oil, soybean lipids, and raspberry seed oil.

Pretty packaging!

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and More!

Hi everybody,

Source

Happy MLK Day! This day, I am grateful for all of the opportunities I've had as a result of Dr. King's actions and perseverance to bring equality to everybody, regardless their races and background. Also, I am grateful for this long weekend that I am enjoying very much!

To support to MLK Day, please go to this website.

Also, the kind folks from Skin MD Natural are hosting a giveaway on their website. I reviewed their product and hosted a giveaway before (click here to read the review.) If were not a lucky winner during my giveaway, this is a bigger and better one for you.

Want to know more about it? Jump!

GILTY Pleasures Weekly Blog Tour: Vol. 2, 2010

Hi everybody,

In the light of the recent earthquake in Haiti, I kindly request everybody who read this blog to extend your kindness to the people in Haiti who are struggled with this natural disaster. You see, when I started this blog, I put the tag line "Makeup, Skincare, and Beyond", hoping to cover many other things that are deeper than skin deep. Beauty is from the inside as well as the outside. You don't have to fly to Port au Prince to help the earthquake victims. Technology makes thing easier for us to keep in touch and as a blogger, I firmly believe in the power of social media.

It is so easy to donate money to this cause, you guys. With your cell phone and one (or many) text messages, you can donate money to the Haitian earthquake victims. For those who have relatives and family members living there, my heart goes out for you.

The organizations below are credible and you can donate as little as 5 dollars. Yes, for 5 dollars you barely get a meal at McDonald's these days. Yet, it can bring some relief to the people in Haiti. It may sound like it's not a lot but the power of the people is amazing.

YELE HAITI EARTHQUAKE FUND
Donate on www.yele.org
Text YELE to 501501 to donate $5 via your cell phone

AMERICAN RED CROSS
Text “HAITI” to “90999″ to make a $10 donation.
2025 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(800) REDCROSS (800-257-7575)
www.redcross.org

SALVATION ARMY CANADA

Canadians text “HAITI” to 45678 to donate $5.00 to The Salvation Army Haiti relief effort from any Rogers Wireless or Bell Mobility phone.

More links of organizations are coming up next. Also, the GILTY Pleasures Blog Tour is after the jump!

Come Exercise with Me: 30 Day Shred

Hi everybody,

How are you doing? "New year, new you", that's what people say when it comes to fitness and exercise. Yet, a lot of people got frustrated and belly up after a month or two after New Year's day. Without any shame, I have to admit I was one of them: every year, I marked the calendar and made resolution to lose x amount of weight. Yet, by March 15th, I found myself being a couch potato again.

While my level of fitness and makeup prowess were the same around the time I started blogging, I have to admit I am getting a lot better at taking care of myself in the skincare and makeup department. The only plausible reason for this is I blog almost every day about beauty and makeup. Hence, I got absorbed to this world and have become better in this part of my life.

I guess I can do the same with exercise, right? Right? Guys, are you still there?

So, this time around I want to make 2010 a beautiful year for all of us by extending an invitation to exercise with me. Of course, the ladies at NB and I already formed our own support group but I would love my readers to join me as well. The exercise DVD I chose is "30 Day Shred" by Jillian Michaels

Source

Wanna join me? Read more after the jump!

Got Tea Bags? Use Them on Your Eyes

Hello my lovely readers,

What's up? How's it going? Now, when I look back at the months of November and December, 2009, I still feel cold chill running through my spine. The crazy late hours I spent slaving over that thesis was unbelievable! From the grace of God, I pulled through and was able to defend my thesis.

During that time, the thing that kept me sane was makeup. Stop snickering, I am serious! When I felt stressed out, I went to the bathroom and put some makeup on my face. It took about half an hour but during that time, at least I did not freak out over some statistics I did not finish (as well as the possibility to delay my defense to another semester! It was scary, I can tell you that!)

Then, one day this happened:

Hola, mis bellas!

I can't remember what triggered this moment but the two tea bags over the eyes did help. I guess finally it became too much and I decided to shove everything aside, brew myself a cup of tea (double dose, no less!), and use the tea bags to de-puff my under eye areas.

Did it work? Jump to find out!

Be Chic with Everyday Minerals Blushes in Snuggle and DVR Saturday

Hi everybody,

The last time I purchased any full size item at Everyday Minerals (EDM) was in 2007. It was before EDM redesigned all their packages and nixed the mini-sized items, which I miss tremendously. Back then, little did I know that one day I would (a) have a makeup blog, and (b) be resourceful enough for EDM to contact me to do reviews.

While I've been trying a lot of makeup products, especially mineral makeup, Everyday Minerals blushes hold a dear place in my heart (click here for my first review of EDM and a chance to see how I looked way back in 2008!) The blushes probably are the best products at EDM since they are very pigmented and pretty. A kind representative sent me two colors to play: Snuggle and DVR Saturday.

The redesigned package

I kind of miss the brown lid with the old bull's eye logo

...but I definitely do not miss the old lid!

You can turn it while saying "Open Sesame!" and...

...it's opened

See, it's mess free!

Gifts from My Secret Santa

Hi everybody,

After recovering from the cold, I now have a habit of putting a exclamation mark at the end of every sentence I wrote! (<- like that!) Yes, that's quite annoying to the readers but I can't explain how happy I am to be well again. While taking a peak at my photo archive, I realized I did not post anything about what I got for Christmas. This holiday season is kind of strange to me: while I've grown accustomed to not receiving any gifts during Christmas, I am still looking forward to receiving something. The solution? A Secret Santa gift swap at NoBrainer*

Gifts from the Secret Santa

Art Deco Eyeshadow Base Trumps All!

Hi everybody,

How are you doing? I hope everybody are fine and dandy...like me! The cold that aggravated me last week is finally (and very slowly) leaving my system, yay! Now, I can focus and write properly again. For those who have followed me throughout the years, you know how fond I am of MAC paint pots as primers. These products are must-haves for those who have oily eyelids (like me!)

Some months ago, Gio from Beautiful with Brains and I did a makeup swap (details documented here) and she sent me a small pot of Art Deco eyeshadow base. From the moment I tried it until now, I cannot stop using it. As a result, my MAC paint pots and even my new UDPP Sin are being neglected. Yes, this eyeshadow base trumps all!

Art Deco eyeshadow base

Net weight: 5 grams

The texture is a but mousse-y to me

It becomes invisible after applied to the eyelid.

GILTY Pleasures Blog Tour: Vol 1, 2010

Hi everybody,

How are you doing? As much as I've tried to stay positive by repeating "It's getting warmer tomorrow!", the weather has been throwing everybody a curve ball. This morning, I woke up to find a freezing bowl of water in the front door (the bowl of water is for the neighborhood cat I've been feeding.) Today is supposed to be the coldest day of the year (so far) and the highest temperature is in mid-thirties. If you convert to degree Celcius, it is around 1-2 degrees. Scary, huh?

New year, new GILTY Pleasures blog tour for everybody. This time around, we have a new member and I am very happy to contribute to this web tour, in sickness and in health. I hope you'll have a toasty weekend. Cheers to warmer weather in the near future!

Alison of The Advice Sisters shares a must-have you will want to splurge on, especially if you've been (very, very) good ---and frugal!
Le Metier de Beaute!

Lisa of Bridalease is wishing all newly engaged couples a great first start on this journey.

Ageless Elaine wonders New Year's Resolution? First Impressions

Dao from My Makeup Blog shares some tips to banish dry skin this winter.

Gio from Beautiful With Brains reviews Barry M Blusher.

Missy Varner sunbotanicals Aromatherapy moisturizing sunscreenp>



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Banishing Dry Skin This Winter

Hi everyone,

How are you doing? I'm still sick, by the way, but today I can breath a bit better and cough a lot less. Until I got sick, I did not notice how dry the skin on my body has become. Come to think of it, we are pretty much diligent when it comes to apply moisturizer on our faces. However, we seem to neglect the rest of the body. While taking a steamy hot shower to help decongesting my nose, I thought about this issue a lot and came up with a list of things you can do to your body. I am going to break it down in key areas and solutions for them, too. See, even when I am sick, I am still nice to y'all!

1. Face and neck:

As I mentioned earlier, we all moisturize our faces diligently. However, what works in summer may not work that well in winter anymore. The dry air and constant exposure to indoor heat can suck all the moisture out of the air. So, if you have been using a face lotion, it is time to switch to a richer cream. For me, since I have break out prone skin, I choose to apply my face lotion twice.

Also, please do not forget your neck! Yes, it may seem strange and slimy at first to apply a cold, wet solution to your neck but this will pay off. Your neck is the part of your body that supports your head and it ages as well. By moisturizing your neck, you make sure the neck and face age evenly.

Update from Blogging Land

Hi everybody,

What's going on? Do you enjoy the new year so far?

Guess what? Yours truly is coming up with a cold! It is very horrible and right now I feel like this:

The last couple of days, the weather has been freezing cold in the Sunshine State and after braving it, I got a cold! It is so annoying and I miss blogging so much. Oh well, I'll be back after feeling better.

Take care and stay warm, everybody!



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Happy New Year 2010 from My Makeup Blog!

From My Makeup Blog

Wishing you a successful and wonderful year ahead

May 2010 brings you more joy and cheers than ever before!

Picture source
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