e.l.f. Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder: A Review

I am a big fan of bronzers and have been using it since I started to learn about make-up. Cause of my NC 40 skin, bronzers, for me, look more natural than pink or coral blushes. Every time I find my holy grail bronzer it gets discontinued (sad). I've used bronzers from Penshoppe (that I stocked up twice and when I returned to buy one more, they said the product got pulled out for re-packaging and never came back) and Max Factor's bronzer which was also discontinued.

What I don't like about bronzers is that they are often shimmery - it's as if you've taken a pack of glitters and applied it all over your face. It speeds up my oiling process since I get oily skin after 5 hours. Nevertheless, I still use shimmery bronzers as an alternative to blush. I don't contour my face as most people would do with bronzers, as I have a relatively smaller face than most people plus I don't know how to properly contour. Maybe I'm using the wrong make-up brush or I just need more practice.

Since my Max Factor bronzer is consumed, I started to look for alternatives and two products caught my eye - Body Shop's Bronzing Powder which will be featured on the next post and e.l.f.'s Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder.

Images are from Google. Will promise to take more pictures, doesn't matter if I use my phone's blurry camera or my SLR lol. This retails for more or less PHP 250.00 and can be found at local drugstores (Watson's, SM Department stores).

Colors are not as pigmented as I hoped it to be - it's much lighter in person. I can't seem to make out the colors on my skin (or is it because I am too dark?). I became oily and shiny roughly about an hour and it just didn't feel right on my skin. This is not all about criticizing e.l.f. products, but I think this particular bronzer and blush duo didn't seem to make the cut for me. I love their make-up brushes though - affordable and quality is okay.

What I really want to try is NARS Highlighting Bronzing Blush Duo in Orgasm/Laguna but it's hella expensive. You can find e.l.f.'s and NARS' review here. Side note - I've learned so much from this blogger, Karen, who is also a Pinay living in the U.S. You can click here to view Karen's blog and her reviews on other notable products.

So what happened to my e.l.f. Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder, you ask? I gave it to my office mate who's as keen on make-up as I am (she said she didn't mind even if I used it once, the important factor here is it's FREE lol).

So far I'm loving Body Shop's Bronzing Powder, but would you know any more matte bronzers that are of good quality? :)

And We're Back! @ Dasol, Pangasinan (Summer Outing # 2)

About the same time last week, my office mates and I were feeling excited on our then upcoming trip. Remember my first post? Le Boyfie and I went to Dasol, Pangasinan for some R & R. I wanted to go back and so I brought my friends with me (and of course Le Boyfie too).

Manila last week was partly cloudy with scattered rains and so I thought I wouldn't be seeing Mr. Sunshine on our trip, but it was the exact opposite. Blue skies with no hint of clouds greeted us as we arrived in the municipality of Dasol from a 6-hour bus ride. We immediately went to the wet market to buy some crabs (for brunch) and marshmallows and hot dogs for the bonfire that we are to set up.

 

 Yum! PHP 300 for 1 kilo, while in Manila it's roughly PHP 300 each (as in per crab).

 "Lapu-lapu" fresh out of the sea.

"Dilis", yummers! Cooked by Nanay Precy :)

Let's eat!

I have a couple of places that I haven't been to, so we had island hopping immediately after lunch.

From the shore, you need to swim a bit further for you to get to the swings. Swings are attached on the tree above.

Payong-payong Island. This "bahay kubo" is situated on a large rock.

Bonfire at night. Ah.. this is the life!

Lyka - a first timer on roasting marshmallows through bonfire.

 Le Boyfie, myself, officemates (Lyka, Hazel and her friend Lorraine).

The first time I went here, it was like love at first sight! This is, without a doubt, the best place for me to go to every summer. Far, yes - it took us approximately 7 hours (6 hours by bus and an hour more by boat). But good places such as these are not easy to reach, right? I told Nanay Precy that we'll surely come back next year.

Para-para-paradise  ♪ ♪ ♪

Finally It's Friday!

Well that was fast - it's Friday once again! Or was it made faster since Wednesday was a holiday? Anyhooo.. Since I was in the office 2 hours early, I decided to play with make-up and create a subtle, simple, office-appropriate eye make-up. For the past 5 years I have been watching make-up tutorials on Youtube and those make-up gurus make it seem pretty easy to apply and blend eye shadows.

I have been trying on some shadows for a couple of months and since brown is suitable for everyday eye make-up, I decided to buy one from Etude House. I have oily-combination skin (mostly oily, don't get fooled by the "combination" lol) so eye shadows tend to crease in my eye lids after 5 or so hours. To prevent creasing, I used Ellana Minerals Eye Primer.

Photo from Google. I forgot to take a picture of my own primer he he.

These are the products that I used for today's eye make-up:

 

Brown eye shadow from Etude House.

Black liquid eye liner from IN2IT.

Final look. Sorry for the quality of the photos since I only used my phone's camera. I'll upload clear photos on my next posts.

Have you noticed the brown shadow? I just placed it on the crease so it wont be as dark. The trick is to blend~ blend~ blend~ so as not to have harsh lines. I'm not into loud colors (pinks, greens, etc) but now I'm trying to experiment and see what colors would suit me best. Earth colors go well with my dark skin tone so I decided to try on brown for now plus it matches with everything. I'm planning on buying Naked Palette, the only one stopping me is the fact that it's expensive lol. And oh, the Urban Decay Primer Potion! It's a must-have for me, so maybe in a month or two I'll be sporting shadows from the Naked Palette. As of now, I'm content with this one shadow from Etude House.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend :)

Bobbie Matte Nail Polish Top Coat and Other Things

I know a month has passed since my last post. I have so many things to write about but I just don't know how to express it. Pretty exhausting month for me, with deadlines (work-wise) and summer outings here and there, or is it because of the Manila heat?

Well anyway, to start off, I have recently discovered this amazing top coat from Bobbie which turns your glossy polishes into matte! Introducing this very affordable product that retails for PHP 34.25 and is readily available in your local drugstores (Watsons, SM Department Store, Mercury Drug).

Image from Google

Since yesterday was a holiday and I didn't go to work, my friends and I did our own nails. I had mine in blue, my two other friends had pink and turquoise.

Ombre from left to right! :)

I dunno if you could notice it but it's not as glossy as your regular polish. These photos does not do justice to my nails and looks way better in person. Matte, for me, as in nail polishes and make-up, is cleaner looking than glossy / shimmery ones.

Image from Google. LA Colors Ombre set.

On another note, since it's Summer, I've decided to slowly start my diet and get back to my normal 120 pounds. My officemate and I stocked up on some salami, wheat bread, cheese and tomatoes which we eat every lunch. 

Salami was currently in the microwave when I took a picture of my nearly done sandwich. Wheat bread and tomatoes on cheese. Yum!

After lunch, I had my usual cup of tea. Tea leaves are rarely seen in Manila, this one was bought as "pasalubong" from China.

Isn't it obvious from this post that I like the color blue? Lol

One more day to go 'til weekend. Weee~