REVIEW: PERSONI U.S.A. in NUDE LIPSTICK

Hey everyone! As promised, I'm gonna do a review on Personi USA in Nude lipstick.

The color is nude alright but it's very matte. Super dry. If you ask me, you can't wear it alone or else your lips would display cracks on it. I would recommend partnering it with a creamy lip gloss because super shine glosses would only make the lipstick "melt" on it. The nude color won't be visible anymore thus it's all shine that you can see. It's not pretty when you're aiming for a nude lips look.

swatch

I'm wearing the lippies alone but it failed to show the cracks that I was telling you about. :(

Any nude color lipstick you'd like to suggest? I would love to try them too!

-gelzzz

REVIEW: NYX LIP GLOSS IN NATURAL

The first lip gloss that I purchased that's American brand ( haha ) is Nyx Lip Gloss in Natural. I have a preference of wearing neutral colors on my lips on an ordinary day ( maybe I'm not BOLD enough to fancy killer reds).

At that time, I was seeking for a nude lip gloss to match my newly acquired Personi U.S.A. lipstick in Nude ( i will also be doing a review on this). If you can see at the top photo ( one in the bottle), it appears nude; the very sense that I got convinced to buy it. But when I received it, it actually looked mauve in color (refer at the swatch). Lighting and photo quality does make a difference huh? 

I was getting lightly disappointed because I expected a more nude color but when I tried it on top of Personi, I think it looked okay. The two colors blends well. In fairness to Nyx, this gloss is really creamy, pigmented and doesn't bleed on the lips. The smell of the gloss is lemonish which kind of reminded me of a car aircon freshener. 

In summary, Nyx Lip Gloss is of quality, long-wearing and affordable. 

-gelzzz

BLACK PEARL SOAP REVIEW

Well,I have been into organics lately. Why? I'm trying to cut the amount of chemicals that my body has been bombarded with. I guess you want to think about that too.^_^

Anyway, I was able to purchase this organic soap that I saw during one of my online stuff huntings seven months ago. The wife of my teacher was also raving about it so I decided to check it out. My first purchase of Cyleina's many variants was Black Pearl which they claim as the best seller. It comes with a black box as a packaging and the soap itself is colored black.

BP soap

Black Pearl has the following content:

Collagen supports a smooth, radiant, elastic, and well hydrated skin to slow down the wrinkle formation.
Licorice has anti-bacterial and natural lightening complex for clean and fairer skin.
Arbutin gently exfoliates dead skin cells and inhibit melanin production for softer and glowing skin.
Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant which protects the skin against damage with moisturizing complex for healthy supple skin.

It promises to lighten dark spots caused by sun exposure and pimple scars
. It is effective in lightening dark underarms and inner thighs caused by imbalanced hormones, chemical burns from deodorants
 and delays wrinkle formation with its collagen content.- source 

I instantly fell in love with the soap from the first use because of the menthol content. It makes you feel refreshed right after showering and it also helps alleviate the hotness all day long! You may feel a bit stingy on the face after a few uses but that's okay; I was told by the seller that it sometimes happens and if it does, just wash it off. The remedy for that is to refrain from letting the soap stay long on your face because it is more sensitive than the other parts of the body (skin). You may also experience micro peeling which is a prelude to your desired whiteness of the skin. Don't worry because it's not really visible.

This is me a few years ago

This is the new me (with my wacko hubby); the photo was taken a few months back.

Never mind the pose though. LOL

I honestly don't have much problem with my skin but I wanted to have a fairer complexion. The soap also smells good (mild sweet scent) and it can last until a month or so with 2-4 times usage each day.Black Pearl Supreme (100g) is for sale at 125php (approx. 3 USD) but for resellers they might have slight changes with the pricing. You know, they have to consider the shipping cost and it's a business. 

P.S.

I have a routine that I follow with regards to using my Cyleina products. I use the Black Pearl on day time and   I use my other favorites alternately in the evenings, which are the following: 

Kojic Soap 

               ( For: Whitening, blemishes, wrinkles, sunburnt skin, anti-oxidant, pimples/acne)

Oats and Honey

             ( For:  skin smoothening, cleanser, tightens pores, sensitive skin, anti-oxidant, dry skin)

Or basically just any variant that I have with me. I am so in love with the products that I have a lot of those in stock. These products are Proudly Pinoy-made! 

-Gelzzz

A LITTLE TREAT FROM MS. KHYMM

Ms. Khymm is giving away a gorgeous 88 metal eyeshadow palette as a way of celebrating her and her daughter's birthday this month. I really want to win this baby! You can join the contest too! :) Check it out here.

To inspire you more. ^_^

Good luck to all of us!

Ciao!

-Gelzzz

SKINTONE AND UNDERTONE 101

Gone are the days when make up artists would use one shade of foundation to every face they've laid their hands on. With advanced research nowadays, it's a sin for us to be committing the same mistake in the past with regards to proper choice and application of make up.

In order to have the perfect foundation and correct blending of colors in make up, there are two things that we need to consider; skintone and undertone. Skintone is the one that can be readily seen by the naked eye and changes color on certain circumstances (i.e. sunburn, bleaching, tanning) while the undertone remains unchanged all throughout. Undertone is the "shadow" of the skin and can only be determined on certain methods which I will be sharing in a little while.

TYPES OF SKINTONE:

• Pink (Light)- If you are very fair, burn before you tan and your skin has pink undertone.
• Yellow (Light or Medium)- Beige or yellow undertone. Caucasian, Asian and Light Mixed Race would usually fall on this category.
• Olive (Medium)- Meditteranean, Latino, a- Fair skinned African American, or dark mixed- race
• Brown (Dark)- dark skin color. African- American, deep complexioned- Indian are under this category.

UNDERTONE

• Warm- yellow or red skintone. (i.e. ivory, peach, golden brown, beige, coppery, or deep golden brown). These people usually have hazel, brown or amber eye colors. 
• Cool- Skintone that are rosy-pink, rosy-beige, dark olive, dark brown or ebony. These people usually have black, blue and green eye colors.

DETERMINING UNDERTONE

All you need is to look at the vein under you wrist ; if your veins are mostly green, you have WARM undertone; if your veins are mostly blue, you have COOL undertone. 

Another trick is to hold a piece of white paper under your hand. Look carefully at your skin. If you see a yellowish cast, you have warm undertones, and if you see a bluish you have cool tones. 

RECOMMENDED COLORS 

These are the best colors to wear may it be on your eye shadow or your clothing.

• Warm Undertone- "earth tones” like yellows, oranges, browns, yellowish greens and orange based reds
• Cool Undertone- “jewel tones” like blues, greens, pinks and purples

Blush and lip colors:

• Warm Undertone- tangy peach, bronzers, light apricots, tomato reds, earthen or terracota reds and coppers
• Cool Undertone- raspberry reds, plums, rosy pinks, pastel pinks and honeys

So, this is it for our Skin tone and Undertone 101. I hope I have helped you in anyway erasing the confusion that you might have about these topics. Should there be any clarifications, just comment below.

Catch ya later!

-gelzzz

RIMMEL LONDON STAY MATTE CLARIFYING MATTE FOUNDATION REVIEW

I was scouting for a good foundation three months ago when I stumbled on this product-- Rimmel London Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation. The name sounded nice and professional so I hit up on some reviews I could find on the net. Most of the reviews were ranging from okay to good with regards to the performance of the product. I got a little bit overly ecstatic to try it out myself so I spent some time to look for the cheapest price offer; I found myself transacting with a power seller from Ebay! Philippines mnm091201. Her price was 300php (6-7 USD) compared to others selling it from 380php-500php; the cheapest I could find.


Let's go hear the product's promise; it promises shine-free formula that leaves your skin looking flawless and fresh for 12 hours. With this have been said, I expected 12 hours without retouching. I was disappointed because it turned out that I still had to do a lot of retouching and powdering all through out the day to keep myself looking matte. The consistency of the foundation is thin which I personally didn't like. As mentioned in my previous blog, I am oily-skinned type and I live in the Philippines ( Where it's sunny everyday- Rachel Berry of Glee). I prefer having a matte-finish than having a dewy one so I am in a desperate move to find a perfect foundation for me.

I expected a lot from this product but it didn't meet it. I guess this is just formulated for people living in cold areas or countries. If Rimmel London wanted to penetrate the Asian market, it should come up with a formula that's really made up for a humid/ hot country.I got myself the Classic Beige number 201 which is a little bit dark for my skin color.  Price-wise, I think this product is on the average side.

-gelzzz

REVIEW: ELLANA MINERAL MAKE UP

Hey everyone! How's it going for you today? My day totally sucked! I had to stay at home because of the ugly weather ( thanks to Super Typhoon Megi) and i'm sick. I literally sound like a barking dog with a runny nose. Whew!

Anyhow, I am doing a make up review today. This is my first time doing it people so please bear with me. LOL. I recently got my Ellana Mineral Make up order and samples from here. You can opt to get the SAMPLES FOR FREE, but you have to pay the shipping which is 112php  (probably around 3 USD) for Philippine-based orders. In my case, I was able to place my order first then i found out I can actually request for samples. I was very happy when Ms. Coney Avellana (owner of Ellana Minerals) agreed to still give the samples and send those together with my orders. Yipee!!!!

Now, it's review time! I bought  the following:

Sheer Velvet Mineral Powder Primer

(4g 270php/ 6 USD)

I have been a wacko searching over the internet, shopping around in our place, asking from people about a primer which is of good quality but in a lesser price. Philippines is such a humid place and keeping up with the hotness is such a hard work for the make up we put on our face. When I found out about the wonders of putting on a primer, I was eager to go hunt for it. I was a little skeptical with this primer at first but I decided to go for it anyway. I'm just glad I did! It's very easy to apply on the face, it makes skin a lot smoother and I noticed that my make up stayed longer.

French Vanilla Latte Intense Coverage Mineral Powder

(1g 100php/ 2 USD)

I was a little bit disappointed with this because it made my skin looked darker than my actual skin color. I don't take the blame on Ellana because I was the one who made a mistake picking out the color. I thought I am a warm undertone when actually I'm a cold under toned. But quality-wise, it served its purpose well. It gave a good coverage. You know, coverage coverage. :)

Almond Coffee Cream Oil- Absorbing Mineral Finishing Powder

( 1g 100php/ 2 USD)

It was okay with my skin after a few minutes of application but I noticed my face becoming oily after an hour so I had to dust off some of this again.

Innocence Cover It Up Mineral Color Corrector

( 1g 100php/ 2 USD)

This is another "for keeps" for me because I have a few red spots on areas around my nose and this covered those "uglies" quite well. 

Strawberry Kiss Lip Scrub

( 3g 150php/ 3 USD)

I am loving this product because I used to have dry lips which would usually give me flakes. Urggghh. What I do with this is that, it serves as a pre-lipistick base. I scrub on a generous amount on my lips, blot it off with a tissue paper then apply my lippies or glossies. If you're not the typical "lippy" or "glossy" girl, this can still give justice to your everyday make up routine.

samples

MY FINAL VERDICT:

I am happy with most of the products that I bought from Ellana Mineral Make Up. Most of them lived up to its promise at a much lower cost. As for those products that didn't make me happy, it doesn't mean that they're not good. It just didn't work out for me. I am naturally an oily-skinned person plus the hotness and humidity, I think I need a product that can withstand those factors. I know there are a lot of high-end imported make up products on the market but for someone who is on a tight budget and still want to look good and presentable, I definitely would recommend Ellana Mineral Make Up. Plus, it's healthy for the skin because of the mineral content found on the products.

Have you tried Ellana Mineral Make Up? How did you find it?

-gelzzz

Oh, Typhoon Megi/Juan!!!

Hey everyone! I stayed at home today because I'm sick ( runny nose, cough, congested-sounding voice.. you name it!) while the rest of the family took off to stroll around a mall. I spent the rest of the day just sleeping in my bed but my journey to Dreamland was cut short because I heard a really loud "bang!!!" a.k.a. thunder and it rained hard. It wasn't just a one or two-time strike of the thunder because it was soon followed by multiples of it!  


You probably have heard about the Super typhoon threatening to enter the Philippines (Where it's sunny everyday- Rachel Berry of Glee) as of the moment. Here's an excerpt of the report from Yahoo! News and i quote, " With maximum winds of 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour near the centre and gusts of up to 195 kilometres per hour, Megi was approaching the northeastern side of the country's main island of Luzon.

It is expected to make landfall over the northern province of Cagayan by Monday, and as of Sunday morning it was 630 kilometres east of the province", unquote.

Philippine National Police and volunteer rescue units practice search and rescue operation Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010 along Pinacanauan river in Ilagan township, Isabela province in northern Philippines in anticipation of typhoon "Megi" 

It's Sunday here in the Philippines as I am writing this blog and we already had a glimpse of what Typhoon Megi has stored for us. I can still reminisce the crisp, loud and scary thunder this afternoon. It was 4pm when I woke up but it appeared to be 7pm already! 

Waking up in a dark room, rain outside and roaring thunder--- HORROR FILMS!!!

Kiddin' aside, I wish Typhoon Megi would never landfall tomorrow and would just disappear! Melt! Dissolve! 

So how did it go for you today? Please share to us your experience especially if you're from the Philippines and had the same thing with mine (you know, the thunder and stuff. LOL) 

-gelzzz