Shop Day

Had a great day shopping yesterday! Too bad the Zara sale didn't start yesterday when hubby and I scheduled a trip to the mall but maybe this weekend I get to one (but there's gonna be a huge crowd for sure).

FOTD:


FOTD
Sweetscents Hide-A-Pore powder in Med-Dark
MMBB Liquid foundation in Med-Dark Beige
AL Coquille in Nectarine on cheeks and undereye area
Joppa Finishing Silk in Medium
Blush:
EDM Best Friends blush
Lumiere Bare Beauty silk Radiance on top of blush
Lips:
SN lipgloss in Berry Nice (too bright pink/red for my liking)

Eyes:
SN Sleep In A Jar all over id
Lumiere Bare Beauty silk radiance swept all over lid (what's left on the blush brush)




************


First time I shopped for myself and "wasting" such a pretty big amount in stores, too.
But I did score some pretty good finds and got other stuff I needed.

From MANGO mid-year sale I got a pair of black embroidered skinny jeans originally around $90 down to $40, and 2 shirts with Disney prints both originally $22 each down to $12 each. Other stuff I got were Lush Tea Tree Toner (my 3rd bottle, or is it 4th?) and Carmex Strawberry lip balm (both not on sale), Marks & Spencer undies (not on sale) and a pair of slip-on flats (not on sale).

I hope I get to score some more this weekend, Ha ha. I'm gonna get broke soon enough, hmmp.

Oh, we also went to an Ice Cream Bar recommended by some of my friends after shopping. The food was really good but a bit expensive (esp. the ice cream).


Hubby had the Chunky Chicken Sandwich. It was delicious and very filling. The chips that came with it were the best part since they were very, very good! It was in-store made so I couldn't order some for takeout :-(


Chunky Chicken

I had the Soft-Serve Yogurt with mangoes and cornflakes. A guilt-free dish that was really yummy!


yogurt

DD had the Berry Ballistic- with peaches, strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and ice cream. It was huge but she only ate the wafer stick and cherry on top and a bit of ice cream bec. she said she was still full from another ice cream she ate earlier. Guess who ate this whole thing? ME !!! I was so full I couldn't move.


Berry

But they were all so yummy. We didn't eat dinner anymore after this.

Sweetscents pigment swatches, Blusche brush

Here are the swatches of the Sweetscents pigments I got a few weeks ago:
I took the photos near a window in bright afternoon sunlight (day after the storm), all swatched dry, no base.


indoor, no flash

Top and bottom pics, L-R:
Beach Bum, Majestic, Orchids & Diamonds, Innocense (blush), Emeralds & Diamonds


indoor, with flash

******************



indoor, no flash

Top & Bottom pics, L-R:
Amaretto liner, Blackstar Red, Explore, Burgundy Sparkle, Eggplant Matte, Cobalt Blue Shimmer, Painted Desert, Sage Matte, Neon Yellow, City Lites, Arctic Blue


indoor, with flash

I really like the pigments in the first 2 sets of photos. City Lights is like glitter. Really griitty and I got it all over my hands and table. Arctic Blue is like a color shifter but also very pretty. When applied it's white but move it around and you can see the blue hue.

* * * * * * * * *

Last weekend I ordered a Powder brush from Canadian company Blusche Minerals since it was inexpensive and I needed another one after my DD played with the one I was using.

I paid on Friday thru Gcash (e-money thru cellphone), it was shipped Monday and I got the brush today, Tuesday! Monica has really good CS. Also, her relatives here handle the local customers so shipping is very fast with our local couriers (1-2 days) even if the orders are received in Canada.



powder brush

It's synthetic and really soft. The white bristles are also cool. At least I'll know if it needs cleaning right away LOL!

Oops, my new brush went missing from the PC table. My DD ran off with it :-(

Lumiere Silk Radiances Swatches

Here are swatches of the Lumiere Silk Radiances as requested :-)
I have Medium skin tone (Medium Warm Lumiere Cashmere).



indoor, with flash



outdoor, no flash



outdoor, with flash

Bare Beauty is really pretty! Winter Silk looks white but it doesn't make my face look white when applied. Just a very slight glow/sheen.

Lumiere pkg.

Got my Lumiere package from the Surgery Sale.

I have the ff. in 20 gr jars: Cashmere foundation in Medium Warm, Silk Radiances in Nectar, Bare Skin and Winter Silk (back-up).


Lumiere

Just noticed that for this order all the jars have black, matte lids. Very much like the BE jars.


matte lid
Also the sifters inside are shallower which is good because in my last order, the sifters of the 20gr jars went in HALF-WAY in the jars. This made the jar only half-full yet they looked full bec. the product was up to the sifters.
Here's a comparison pic. Newer jar on the left, older jar on the right.


lumiere jars



new jar



older jar

Oh, and Lumiere doesn't give freebies unlike all other mmu companies.

Right now, Lumiere has a Summer Sale of fullsize items going on until the end of August.

Joppa Morning Dew

Today I tried out my sample of Joppa's Morning Dew foundation in the shade Grecian Gold. The shade is for those who wear Medium #3 in the FC or SC formula and it matched me quite well.

Photo in natural light, no flash:


Morning Dew in Grecian Gold

with flash:


Grecian Gold

The website says the Morning Dew formula "eliminates the need for a seperate bronzer by adding a golden glow with very natural color, giving your skin a beautiful radiance with superb coverage".

I didn't wear any primer nor blush with the foundation, just Joppa Finishing Silk in Mocha and SN lippie in Birthday Suit. The photo with flash was taken after 2 hours of sweating (because I walked my daughter to school and went back home under the scorching hot sun). It's coverage is the same as the FC formula for me but with a bit more color (not too bronze though) and very slight glow. Still very light on the face and I did not get all oily after a few hours.

This is making me want to purchase another fullsize. Please, please, I don't need another one...I still need to purchase my FS Lauress Minimalist and I am waiting for their sale, whenever that may be.

Joppa, why do you keep making such good foundations?

Father's Day FOTD

Belated Happy Father's Day to all your Dads and Hubbys :-)

Father's Day lunch FOTD:



FOTD
no primer
Sweetscents Hide-A-Pore in Medium/Dark
Joppa FC foundation in Medium #3
Joppa Fin. Silk in Medium and Rosey (final)
AL Coquille in Nectarine on cheeks and undereyes
blush: SN Tahiti Sweetie topped with Cargo blush in Tonga
Lips: SN Seedy
Eyes:
no primer
SN Unblush all over lid
Cargo Beach Blush in Echo Beach using the 2 darker strips of color as lid and highlight shades

** Surprisingly, the Cargo Beach Blush did not crease on my lids until night time considering the sweltering heat and NO EYE PRIMER!!! I guess it really is the mineral shadows that don't stay long on my lids.

****************
Got a tiny package today from Joppa:



Joppa
This is a sample kit in the following: Morning Dew foundation in Grecian Gold, Simple Radiance foundation in Khaki and Finishing Silk in Mocha. Freebie was Simple Radiance Amore.

I got another PO notice today which I'll get this week. That's probably my Lumiere order. I am still missing my Dreamworld package of FS items, darn! I am thinking it probably got lost.

Mail Day, FOTD

I love mail days. Friday last week I got 3 packages from Lisa (MMBB), Silk Naturals and Camellia Rose.

MMBB. These are the skincare samples Lisa sent me for being among the first ones to post on her blog awhile back. The samples are Anti-Aging Serum, AHA Cleanser and Bubbly pigment.

I've used up the AHA Cleanser the other day. The exfoliant in it was very gentle to the point that if you're used to facial scrubs (like me) it won't feel like it has scrubbed your skin. It also didn't fully remove the mmu I had on.



MMBB


Camellia Rose. I got the 1 oz. Bye Bye Zit Cream and Jen included a heart-shaped bar of Green Tea Shea Soap.



Camellia Rose

Silk Naturals. I got samples of Tahiti Sweetie and Love Lure plus lippies in Seedy and Capricious (included was a freebie pigment in Haze).



SN

Here are swatches of the SN lippies:



with flash
Capricious on the Left, Seedy on the Right.



no flash

I love Seedy! It looks like Clinique's Black Honey Almost Lipstick and since it's SN's lipgloss, it's moisturising. The texture of the Demi-Gloss wasn't as moisturising though. It dried out my lips a bit but I liked the color since it is my first bright coral lippie shade. My next orders from SN would definitely be from the lipgloss/lipstick category and I'd skip the Demi Glosses unless they were made more moisturising.

The past 3 days I've been using my Buff'd sample in Buff and I've noticed a few bumps on my face. I hope I'm not really allergic to it coz it has a really nice finish with pretty good oil control although I am not fully convinced to get myself a FS because I want Lauress more.

I've also been using Sweetscent's Hide-A-Pore in Medium Dark and it does really make you look airbrushed! I might get myself a full-size of this when Sweetscents reopens. The sample shade given to me was Medium Dark but the ones available on the site are Light, Medium and Dark. Hmmm...is this a new shade or did Joan just mix this up for sampling?

FOTD today (I watched Kung Fu Panda):



Buff'd Buff

Camellia Rose V2.0 Primer
Sweetscents Hide-A-Pore Medium Dark
Buff'd foundation in Buff
Sweetscents Translucent Mineral Veil
Blush: SN Tahiti Sweetie topped with Valerie Beauty Passion blush
Joppa Finishing SIlk in Medium
Lips: SN Demi Gloss in Capricious
Eyes: EDM Raw Sugar


SN's Tahiti Sweetie is a really good bronzer for me. Applied lightly it can be used as a contour powder but can be used in place of blush. This warrants a fullsize!

How Sweet It Is...

Got my Sweetscents order today plus 3 PO notices which I'll get tomorrow. The Sweetscents stuff was delivered straight to the house. The 3 notices, I'm thinking, could be from Dreamworld, MMBB and SN. I hope I'm right coz the other 3 packages I'm waiting for from Joppa, Camellia Rose and Lumiere were just sent last week so that's not them.
I only ordered the Green Tea Night Rejuvination Powder in 1 oz. bag ($15) and Joan gave me a ton of free samples. I couldn't believe it. It's like I ordered her sampler pack but I didn't. I think there's 18 baggies here and the choices were some of the ones I had in mind of getting before.

What I ordered:


Green Tea Rejuvination Powder

The freebies included:


freebies
Top picture:
L-R, top row: City Lights, Burgundy Sparkle, Explore, Cobalt Blue Shimmer, Eggplant Matte
L-R, bottom row: Painted Dessert, Orchids & Diamonds, Majestic, Beach Bum, Innocense



freebies
Top picture:
L-R, top row: Sage Matte, Arctic Blue, Amaretto Coffee Beans Matte, Blackstar Red
L-R, bottom row: Translucent MV, Emeralds & Diamonds, Hide-A-Pore Med-Dark, Neon Yellow

Fabulous, isn't it? I don't know what I'm going to do with all these pigments LOL!

Health Post

We went to the the hospital yesterday for a number of reasons:
1. My daughter's well-child check-up before school starts in 2 weeks.
2. Hubby has to meet a senior consultant coz he'll be leaving for the US and my hubby will take-over for him.
3.Hubby has a scheduled stress test.

So, my DD and I went over to the Pedia's for her check-up (she gained a couple of pounds, grew taller). I also asked if they have this year's new Flu Vaccine available. They had it so I had my daughter get a shot. Better to be protected since pre-schools, I think, are one of the places kids get diseases. DD was good up to the part she got the shot (as expected) but she got over it quickly I suppose. She was never a cry baby even when she was younger getting her vaccines. We're also lucky because she rarely gets sick. If she does it's just a 1 day cold or 2-3 day cough once or 2x a year at the most that doesn't really require any medication.

Went with hubby when he had his stress test. My daughter had fun watching him and the other patients at the Heart Station. She was so fascinated by the 2D-Echo machine and kept asking questions about it, the heart, etc. She even made up her own version of the heart sound with actions. While hubby was having his test, I thought I might as well get an ECG myself since I was already there. So I asked the head tech and in less than 10 minutes I was done with my ECG. The IM resident was there so I had her read the strip which was normal so far. However, my BP at 120/80 (which was my usual BP) was now considered Pre-Hypertensive!

Oh, boy, I was shocked and a bit upset about this. Turns out the international guidelines for this have been lowered because there has been an increase in incidence of strokes and MI (heart attacks) in 20-40 y/o. Well, for my age (mid-30's) I'm still protected (lower risk) from heart attack until menopause (and all women for that matter).

Hubby's was another matter. He reached the upper levels of the stress test but his feet already hurt so had to stop (too much tennis last Sunday). At the peak of the test his BP was 180/90. Now this really is alarming. He and I didn't want to dwell on the consequences yet until we get the official results of the stress test. We both have histories of hypertension in our families so we were at risk. I just didn't thnk it would be this early. Hubby's BP at rest or with slight physical extertion bordered on the Stage 1 Hypertensive level. We'll both get our blood exams done this weekend probably for complete work-up before checking with a cardiologist next week. At least we'll have all diagnostics done to show him.

It's scary thinking of what might happen that I'd rather not. Right now, we need to change our eating habits to more healthy food and I need to be more active. Ugh, I hate exercise. I'll see what I can do about that. I'd rather go on hikes but I can't do that everyday living in the city. Not every weekend also because gas prices are now sky high and hiking places are far away.

****BIG SIGH****
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Because of the morning's events, we went out and ate our favorite food at Dencio's LOL! We had Calamares, Krispy Kangkong and Crispy Sisig, of course. Plus watermelon and iced tea shakes, YUM! Hubby left DD and me at the mall since it was scorching hot outside and he went to his clinic.

We 2 gals ended up shopping. I got a bottle of the toner I use since it's running low, Mario Badescu Special Cucumber Lotion (lots of freebies included). I also got bottles of shampoo & conditioner to try out. I was comparing prices when I got home and turns out I got these cheaper here than drugstore.com.


Herbal Essences Drama Queen Conditioner
This is a light hair conditioner which I prefer. Heavier ones weigh my hair down and I prefer those for once a week usage. I've tried this one out and I like it. It smells so good too.



L'Oreal Elseve Nutri-Gloss Shampoo
I think this is marketed as Vive Pro in North America. It is Elseve in Asia but still with Eva Longoria as the model. I've used it once and it's okay so far, left my hair really shiny.

Olay Complete Defense SPF 30, Sensitive Skin
Well, this one's just a back-up bottle for the one I bought a month ago. I didn't know it would be hard to find this particular variant here and I only saw this in the 2 Watson's branches I bought them from. It wasn't available anywhere else, even in high-end department stores. I saw this at drugstore.com retailing for $14.99 (Php675) but I got it only for Php399 or around $8-9 retail price. What a steal! And I thought I wouldn't be able to find it again and would have to resort to forwarding companies where I have to pay shipping and buyer's fees LOL! This bottle even came with a free Pantene Conditioner in a big tube. I didn't know it was on promo, good thing my mom uses Pantene so I gave it to her.

My DD bought DVD's of her beloved kiddie shows so we were both happy. (Not to mention the shopping I did last Sunday. I bought 4 tank tops, Goody StayPut pack of 4 headbands and 2 PSP games).

The shopping therapy made me feel better. I hope next week's blood tests turn out okay for both hubby and myself. Will update.