December 21, 2014

Accumulated Stuff. Guilty, this is a Haul Post

For the past few months I've been good in keeping myself away from ordering and shopping cosmetics (though I keep on buying clothes to replace my old ones and succulents).  From now on, I'll tell myself that it's not yet my schedule to haul or shop instead of shopping ban which is less harsher to the ears which makes me think that I'm not restricting myself but more like I have more time to think and research the things that I like to have/buy.

Weather is gloomy which I like but not my photos because it makes them blurry.  Whatever, here's my recent accumulated things.


Ecotools Fresh and Flawless Complexion Brush Set
Lucky me, I guess immediately who my secret santa is and immediately told her that I don't want things that I can't use.  I initially wanted a book but saw this set from Bon Marche and commanded (I'm horrible, I know) her to order this instead because I need some brushes.

Sunkissed Duo Eyeshadows
I'm not familiar with the brand and I'm not sure where my sister got these but heck they are free.  I have one before; which I dropped and tried to put them together using the techniques I found in youtube but didn't work (oh youtube, your a mess), and it has a good quality and color and hopefully these two are good two.

Ellana Mineral Blush
My sister got this for free when she ordered a lot of Ellana stuff online and gave it to me because it's more suitable for the color of my skin.  Hooray for sister and freebies!


IOPE Air Cushion XP C21
I'm familiar with this brand since it keeps on appearing whenever I search for best skincare product in Korea back in the middle of the year and have been recently popular because of the the bb cushion which Michelle Phan mentioned in one of her videos.  Air cushion have been all over the net and seeing Pony using it so effortlessly, I decided to get the refill.  I didn't bother to get the container to save some money, thanks to behappywith me for the hassle free transaction.  Oh I also got a spare sponge for 50 pesos.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter
I got this for free when I bought a Revlon hair color.  I have no choice, it's free so I have to keep it hehehe.

Burt's Bees Lip Crayon  Hawaiian Smolder
My sister gave me one of her balm stain (Revlon Just Bitten Kissable to be specific) and I like it so I ordered something similar...but different lip crayon.  This one is more on the mauve side.


Human Heart Nature Night Cream and Overnight Elixir
Human Heart Nature had a great promo on the Overnight Elixir (reduced price and I got a 50ml sunflower oil) and because I'm not contented with just one I figured why not buy some other cheap stuff like the night cream and the massage oil (which is in the next photo).

IOPE Essential Tone and Wrinkle Care Eye Cream
This is the only cheap eye cream that i can find in the net that seems to work well.  Thanks again to behappywithme, I'm guessing she some memebox full of IOPE stuff and selling the items in her shop separately which is perfect for me!  I'm trying to resist to order the ampoule.

Biore Aqua Sunscreen Essence???
Forgot the exact name but this is one of the products that appeared when I search for a sunblock/sun cream that is popular in Japan and ask my sister to ask one of her officemate to buy it for me in Japan.  Banzai to travelers!


Konjac Cleansing Sponge
I keep on purchasing konjac sponge from The Landmark because they work and they are cheap, I just hope that the makers won't raise the price now that there are many youtubers raving about these sponges.

Human Heart Nature Rejuvenating Massage Oil
I'm now an oil convert because it moisturizes my skin without being to heavy and sweaty unlike lotions.  But I just don't use whatever kinds of oil...I go for something that is light like dry oil or those with coconut oil as a base.  This one though has sunflower oil and though sunflower oil is great for the skin I find the smell annoying not just on my skin but on my clothes as well because it linger even after wash which leads me to buy the next item.

Zenutrients Anti Cellulite Oil
Didn't buy this because of the Anti Cellulite part (it sound gimmicky to me) but because of the relaxing smell and feel it gave me when I used it last year so I got another bottle.  The other massage oil from Zenutrients are good to, so far my favorite is the eucalyptus and green tea.

Human Nature Hydrating Creamy Wash
Gooey but definitely hydrating and cheaper than most of of the facial wash I used.  I'm not a fan of it's scent but it works like Physiogel and Cetaphil.


I also bought this Winter Wonderland Spray from ZenZest as recommended by my sister.  Abusing the broque shoes that I got from Payless and surprisingly, I bought a necklace from H&M which surprisingly again, I'm wearing on a weekly basis.  I'm not an accessory person but probably because I'm revolving around plain looking shirt, now look into the the accessory section of shops.

I wanted to add some of the tops that I got that looks really nice, but I don't know how to present them here (the last time I did it was a disaster).

Shop wisely.  Enjoy!

December 19, 2014

Shine Bright Baby!


Here are three of my make-ups that can make me shine bright like a diamond in a party (that is if I attend one).


Missha The Style Mono Touch Eyeshadow CBE1
This can be use in the inner corner to brighten the eyes or as a base or just wear it alone if you wanted something beige, creamy and a bit glitzy.  Got this because it has the Get It Beauty seal which means it's one of the best beauty product in Korea.  Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of glitzy or shimmery makeup so I don't use this but maybe this holiday season I can use it as a highlighter.

Clio Gelpresso Mini Bloody Sweet #13
This is a light pink color with a metallic finish that can be use as an eyeliner or as an eyeshadow.  This looks good in photos but I find some chunks of glitter when I apply this on my lids which makes me hate it.  I actually got this by mistake because I wanted a black eyeliner but the translation is just so bad that I got this instead.  Again, if you wanted to add some glitz or shimmer around your eyes, then this is for you.

3W Clinic Powder Transparent Pearl
Also known as Palgantong, this is in my must try list because of all the beautiful reviews plus this is use by a lot of makeup artist to the stars in Korea.  I got the transparent pearl because I only wanted a powder to set my makeup and this is could have been perfect because it is finely milled...but it has this tiny specks of glitters on it.  Seriously, I look like Edward Cullen when I first used this because my face shine like there's diamond on it when I'm under the sun and my niece said "you're so shiny!!!".  This can perfectly act as a highlighter though :)


Shining brightly lately?

December 17, 2014

Hada Labo and More


Here's the random review again but this time, some goodies are irresistible!

Zenutrients Massage Oils
I got the Eucalyptus and Peppermint and the Eucalyptus and Green Tea and I like the latter more than the former because it's more minty, more relaxing and it helps me breathe better.  These oils are not only good for massages but also for moisturizing the skin because of the coconut oil which is not greasy to use that I apply them even during daytime...good stuff I'm going to try other variants.

Watsons Green Tea Pore Minimizing Gel
If you wanted to try aloe gels for the longest time but don't want to spend 200 to 300 (around $4 to $5) pesos then this gel is a good option.  It has the same light moisturization and cooling effect for less than 100 pesos.  Not sure about the pore minimizing part because I only use this on my feet :)

The Body Shop Special Edition Blueberry
There's a thin line between this, having a childish blueberry smell with a blueberry smell that is good and okay to use in the body.  This has a thick consistency like the shea and moisturizes like the olive, not one of my favorites but for a change of smell to something almost toothy fruity is refreshing once in a while plus I got this for free, yihey!

Bath & Body Works Deep Cleansing Hand Soap
And Bath & Body Works is not joking because this hand soap have the power of deep cleansing.  The only problem is that it also washes away the moisture off my hands so I go gaga slathering lotions everytime I pee and you know what.

Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion
Hands down to this moisturizing toner, I really wish this is readily available in Watsons Philippines.  This softens my skin to the highest level!!! and really helps in refining and moisturizing my face.  The effect is shocking after just one night of use.  I can't give a full review though because I only use it for less than a month (got to try only around 1/8 of the bottle, thanks to a friend who let me have the remaining of this stuff).
 

Tried any of these?

December 12, 2014

Towns, Boys and the Rye

I let go of 19 books including my beloved Harry Potter Series (I have a great attachment to the series since I read them when I needed some magic) simply because I don't have enough space to store them and I can't allot time to clean and reread them.  I'm demolishing my dream library, maybe I'll force myself to love reading via ebook or immediately give away a book to someone after reading.

I'm keeping some though: the ones that are unique and I keep on rereading and those that I haven't read yet.  Here are three of my recent reads.

sorry about the bed background
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Finally getting use to the style of Neil Gaiman.  The guy is a god in terms of mixing current times with folklore, myths and the like.  Anansi Boys focuses on these two brothers: (there's a twist here which is really great, I wish I could tell you) one who is more of the god who do as he pleases while the other one is more of a human who can't believe that he has a brother and that his father is a god.  The two brothers kind of define two usual human:  One is full of confidence and does everything he wants without thinking what others might think or if his actions are right or wrong while the other one just go the the everyday life flow when clearly there's more that life can offer to him (this hits me).

“The important thing about songs is that they're just like stories. They don't mean a damn unless there's people listenin' to them.”


Paper Towns, John Green
Another of John Green's creation which is more closer to me than The Fault in Our Stars because I can totally relate.  It's about this Marga who slowly became a mystery to his childhood friend, Quentin, as he try to find her trail when she left home.  People have different perspective and think of a person differently with what others think of that same person.  A person act and adopt to its environment, sometimes loosing its own character and letting others defining it, like a blank piece of paper letting anyone write that half or most of the time leads to being unorganized, unrecognized, messy and unwanted.

“I'm starting to realize that people lack good mirrors. It's so hard for anyone to show us how we look, & so hard for us to show anyone how we feel.”


the Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
Not all plans go according to plan be it by someone else for us or by us to ourselves.  Expectation too acts like that.

“I am always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.”



Depressing?  Well there's more to life than this blog.  Enjoy!

December 8, 2014

Quick Escape: Baguio

A change of scenery once in a while is good to refresh the mind and body.  Tired of work, I took the opportunity to go to another city for a quick escape.  I went to Baguio.


When I started using the food+adventure tag of this blog, my original plan was list all the places I visited, cost I incurred, food and resto where I ate and dined and directions but...it's not happening so I guess my adventure will be sort of like a photo diary and Baguio is known for flowers (and strawberry, ube, cold weather and taxi drivers who give change up to the last peso)!  Below are my favorite shots.





And there's cacti, succulents and beautiful plants too.


I also went to the public market which is the driest and cleanest I've been (ohhh Salcedo Market is an exception by the way) where we (I'm with my sister) bought fresh strawberries and ube and strawberry jam.  I got tempted to buy honey and vegetables too because it's cheap there, but I don't want to bring too much stuff back to Manila aside from the cactus and succulent I bought.


Raisin Bread from Baguio Country Club is the best and the Ube Jam from Good Shepherds is the yummiest.  Not much of a fan of strawberry jam but glad that we bought one that has lots of strawberry chunks on it.

And of course we went to Burnham Park to stroll and look at the colorful bicycle.


We passed by Casa Vallejo and went inside the coffee shop and bookstore adjacent to the hotel.



Casa Vallejo is a historical structure that survived World War II that is now in danger of being erased in the city's map.  It's sad that part of a history will be destroyed (hopefully not) for development.  Yes, it is not wrong to strive for growth and development but removing the charms of the place is like taking my childhood memories away breaking my identity into half.  While my photos above are beautiful with flowers, here's what Baguio look like from SM:

Baguio is now a polluted and disorganized city (in my eyes), the picture above looks like a landfill.  This saddens me since I have fond memories of Baguio when I was a little...the fresh smell of pine trees, the cold breeze, the fog and the clouds just above my head and the picturesque view of the mountains.


I believe it's not yet too late and there are concern citizens that are taking action in order to restore the charm of Baguio.  I'm praying for them.