Joppa & AwG swatches

I got my recent sample orders from Joppa and Adorned with Grace minerals.  I have a full size of Joppa full coverage foundation in Medium #3 but noticed that it would turn slightly pink whenever I wore it.  Good thing Joppa came up with a new shade in #2.5 which has a more yellow undertone.  

I've tried it and it does look better with no pink tones in it.  

Here's a swatch comparing the 2:

    

no flash, in natural light

with flash, in natural light

Medium #3 does look a bit more beige while #2.5 has more yellow.  Now I can get my full size before their free shipping ends next week (March 5).

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Adorned with Grace

I have heard so many positive reviews on this relatively new mmu company that I gave in and got some samples to try.  I haven't tried them on my face yet though as I'm still re-sampling Joppa.  Anyway, here are swatches of the foundations I did on white paper, applied dry:

Not sure which one would match me but they all look similar with very slight degrees of darkness.

Haul

My recent haul which I just got this week:

Joppa samples of their new shade Medium #2.5 plus freebies (inbaggies).

Adorned with Grace samples of foundations and powders.  Francesca was kind enough to add samples of e/s and blushes.   The packaging is so cute and the baggies were vacuum sealed.

wrapper

vacuum sealed samples

foundations in Hope 3.8 and 4.2 and Grace 4.0 and 4.2

Celestial and Divine powders

blushes (oops, I forgot to take a photo of the Marvelous e/s)

From my friend E. of Beauty Society, a skin care company: 

skin care samples

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Will post individual posts on them soon.

Ghirardelli brownies

Not beauty related...

My DD convinced me to make her a batch of brownies because she was crying for some from Goldilocks. I promised her I'd make some so I did last night.

Being the lazy me who hates cooking or going anywhere near a stove (I have a fear of fire), baking is the only thing I would do aside from the occasional pasta dishes I cook. I used a box of Ghirardelli brownie walnut mix we've had for ages and added in some more walnuts I found in my mom's tupperware of mixed nuts.

And here's the final product after 38 minutes at 325C.












She's excited to bring some to share in school today.

Shopaholic and OPI

Sorry I haven't updated my blog in a while.  Life got busy :-)

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I watched the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic last week.  I wasn't expecting to like it from what I've seen from the trailer.  It was different from the books in a lot of ways (the accent and the setting) but similar in others (characters and basic plot).

  

If you haven't read the book, you'll still enjoy and understand the movie on its own.  Isla Fisher fit the role of Becky Bloomwood although I would have preferred it if she retained her British accent as in the book.  Also, she keeps reminding me of Amy Adams from the Disney movie Enchanted.  Hugh Dancy as Luke Brandon was eye-candy (much better than Rob Pattinson IMO but there is a similarity).  

The movie is a feel-good one yet there is a good message you can get from it;  simple life lessons we all need to remember.  If you haven't seen it yet you can still catch it showing in theaters now.

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After the movie, I went around the mall and got a few things.  I've heard before that OPI was locally available now at Rustan's Essences and being the nail polish addict that I am, I decided to check it out.  Indeed it was available plus the different nail treatments too.  The shades though were more of the classic ones with a sprinkling of very few shades from current collections.  I only got myself OPI Lincoln Park After Dark using my FSP points so I got it for free!  Each bottle costs P395 (around $8).  A bit expensive than getting it from 8ty8beauty or Head2Toe even with shipping. Since I'm still waiting for a few bottles I got from a spree I settled for just 1 shade for now.

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, with flash

I love OPI (and China Glaze) polishes because they dry easily, aren't too runny nor too thick and have a wide variety of shades to choose from.  The newer collections are also Big 3 free.

Here's a swatch I did of Lincoln Park After Dark, no top coat, 2 coats:

 

no flash, natural light 

with flash, indoor

A very pretty dark purple color.  Two coats show it's purple hue while adding more makes it lean towards black although when light hits it you will see that it isn't black.

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My current nail polish collection.  Mostly Zoyas, China Glaze, OPI, 1 Essie and Elianto.  I threw or gave away all other brands when I cleaned up my stash a few weeks ago so this is what is left of it. Some shades are with my mom (the light and sheer ones).  When the new ones come in, I need a bigger box.

CS Contour & Blush Palette

This has been on my lemming list since I saw this on the Coastal Scents website last year. A few weeks ago I pre-ordered it from a local re-seller since it is cheaper than ordering directly. The shipping fee alone is $15.25 just for this palette.

Here it is now:


Case is matte black.



The palettes are huge!



See how big it is in relation to my hand. I think each is as big as my palm (and my hands are pretty big).



I did some swatches so just follow the numbers. I swatched them all dry with no base. All the pigments are matte which is essential to contouring and highlighting because they have to look natural (and not shiny). They're not powdery or chalky when I swiped them on my finger.




with flash:



no flash:


The shade #2 does not show up on my skin tone because it has the exact same shade.

You can check out the videos on the Coastal Scents website or You Tube. I still need to learn and figure out how to use this palette on myself. I am so excited to start!

Bare Naturals Dollface Cheenee Blush

Got this in the mail the other day from Bare Naturals.

It's a sample of their mineral blush in Dollface Cheenee which gives a soft cherry blush glow.

no flash


with flash


swatch with flash

The blush is pigmented and a little bit of powder does give color on my medium skin. Tried it out this weekend as seen on the FOTD:




(It was very hot last Sunday so excuse my oily-looking face)

Everything I used is exactly the same as previous post.

UGloGirl foundation in Butter Pecan
Dreamworld Creme Topping in Cocoa

Cheeks:
Eyeko Tinted Cream on cheeks
Bare Naturals blush in Dollface Cheenee on top of Eyeko tinted cream

Lips:
Avon Glazewear liquid lip color in Darling Pink

Belated V-Day post

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's day (whether you celebrate it or not)!

I don't really celebrate this day by going out on a date (with hubs) since traffic is terrible on this day of hearts. Hubby just gives me flowers or food :-). This particular day fell on a Saturday and hubby has work so he gave me a box of chocolates ahead of time.







As you can see, a few pieces are already missing because my little girl opened it way ahead of me as soon as she saw her dad carrying the box. Anyway, they were so good!

Spent the morning at the Salcedo Market in Makati City with my parents and DD. There were so many people (of different nationalities) and so much food from different nations. We bought different varieties for take out for our lunch at home. The pasta I got was to die for! Sorry, no food pics because there really was no time to get photos since we were so famished by the time we got home that the food was gone before you can say Poof!

My DD had a fun time playing at the park there and it was like a mini United Nations with kids from different countries.





the park in it's Valentine glory


FOTD:



UGloGirl foundation in Butter Pecan
Dreamworld Creme Topping in Cocoa

Cheeks:
Eyeko Tinted Cream on cheeks
Bare Naturals mineral blush in Dollface Cheenee on top of Eyeko Tinted Cream

Lips:
Avon Glazewear Liquid Lip Color in Darling Pink (probably gone in the photo)

**gosh, my hair looks red in sunlight!

Cut, Color, other stuff

Weeks ago I had a haircut and I got a short one. Yesterday, I colored my own hair using Revlon Colorsilk in #33 Dark Soft Brown to cover my gray hair - yikes! I have a lot...it's genetic :-(

It doesn't look good when it's not blow dried but I guess it's always like that. It just looks good when coming from the salon (esp. since my hair is wavy). Last time I colored my hair was more than 1 year ago and I don't remember what shade of Colorsilk I used.

Looking at this photo I'm not sure if my hair looks like this under the sun but I hope not. Maybe it's just the effect of the camera's flash. Important thing is - NO GRAY HAIR!

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Been playing around with some of my EG Minerals eye shadow samples.

I used Too Shy on the lid and Fruit of the Vine Cabernet on the crease. I applied them dry and with no base. They are both shimmery and I got shimmer fall out on my cheeks. They also seem sheer and I applied a lot but they did not come out well in the photos. I guess I should have used a base.

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Today I am using EG Minerals shadow in The Rainbow from the Illusion collection. It appears white in the bag but once applied and hit by light you can see the color, in this case it's Amber (says the website). I tried to get a picture but because my camera is crappy, I can't take a photo of it at all. The color won't come out in the picture.

I am trying to put on eyeshadow everyday now just so i could use all my samples - I have more than 200 colors!!! Even if I am just here at home, I'll try to put on even just 1 shade. Most of the time I don't get to use eye shadows when I go out because I am always in a hurry. Only just enough time to put on foundation and blush (the lippie I put on in the car).

Recent photo when we went to Tagaytay last Sunday for mom and dad's anniversary:

I used:
Avon Magix Face Perfector
Dreamworld foundation in Amenti Luna
Dreamworld Creme Topping in Cocoa
AL URFP in Translucent

Blush:
Lumiere Ditto "O"
Lumiere Be True Silk Radiance on top of blush

Lips:
Eyeko Strawberry Fat Balm

Eye shadow:
None

My Minerals Bath & Body Bright Eyed

Just rediscovered my sample of My Minerals Bath & Body (MMBB) in Bright Eyed. I think Lisa of MMBB gave this to me in one of my orders.

It is a matte yellow powder that can be used as a highlighter when applied as a shadow to make eyes bright and "awake" or it can be used on the under eyes. The website says it can also be used to adjust foundation shades.

I used it on my under eyes where I have a bit of dark circles and it did wonders!

Applied dry using a concealer brush, with flash:

BEFORE:



AFTER:



Great huh? I just used the Bright Eyed and nothing else.

Stila Lip Glaze Stick

I got this last year as a GWP (gift with purchase) and was planning on selling it. The other day I started reading reviews about it on Makeup Alley and was surprised that it got very high ratings. Well, I guess it's stuck with me now because I'm keeping it.

This is the Stila Lip Glaze Stick in Blackberry.



Website states:

"Available in the same flavors and hues as our popular stila lip glazes, these pencil-like sticks come in the same rich, moisturizing formula that your lips love. A high level of pearl in each shade has upped the shimmer factor for a luminous pout. Sharpener not included."

This particular shade in Blackberry was surprising to me. I never used it since I got it because it looked so dark. After reading the reviews that said it looked like a dupe for Clinique's Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, I became curious. Clinique's Black Honey has been on my lemming list since way back when a classmate of mine had it.

I took it out from where I stored it and tried it on. It does apply sheer and soft on the lips with a berry color that isn't dark at all. There was very fine gold shimmer that made the shade look much more pretty. It isn't sticky and can be layered to make it look darker when needed. Oh, yes! This is definitely a keeper.

(photo with flash)



(without flash)


See the fine gold shimmer (click on the photo so you can see it)? I applied it lightly on my lips that's why it doesn't look so dark.

Just wished it had a sharpener included because it is in pencil form. I think it retails for $16.50 in the Stila website and Sephora or wherever Stila is available (unfortunately it isn't available in the Philippines). Lucky me, I got it free :-)

Lumiere EOTD

**I'm not an expert in makeup application, more so on e/s application so please bear with me. I'm just learning.

I tried out my new Lumiere shadows the other day and here's what I came up with. All 3 applied dry with no base.


Products used:

Honey Brown from lash line to crease
Peppermint Patti on crease
Foliage on upper lashline







All photos taken with flash and as you can see the pigments applied vibrantly since flash usually washes out the colors. I really like honey brown (looks gold in the photo).

Need to practice some more and pair them with other shades.

Lumiere Swatches

Swatches of my Lumiere pigments, all swatched dry, no base:

Indoor light with flash


Shades:

1. Be True Silk Radiance
2. Island Sands Silk Radiance
3. Natural Radiance AOFC
4. Gleeful Silk Radiance
5. Cherry Blossom Silk Blush
6. Ditto "O" mineral blush
7. Honey Brown shimmer e/s
8. Foliage shimmer e/s
9. Peppermint Patti glitz e/s

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Cherry Blossom isn't as dark as I initially thought it would be so I only got a trial size, which is good. Both Be True and Gleeful would stand alone, for me, as a blush since they are both pigmented and darker colored radiances. Ditto 'O' does look so pretty. It was done as a dupe for NARS Orgasm blush and since I don't have the latter, I can't compare.

I love the e/s colors I chose and I know they would coordinate well with each other. They're not too shimmery and with a light hand can be used for everyday looks. Applied foiled, these would stand out as all Lumiere shadows do.

Regarding the vials, those for the trial size/small size ones for shadows, I kinda like. My small shadow brushes can fit into the opening or I could just get the powder sticking to the inner lid. Those for the blushes/radiances, however, I have to transfer a small amount into the mixing bowl. Good thing my mmu drawers can fit these vials standing up so no problems for me regarding storage.

The Medium sized swirly bowl I got is too small to fit my large powder brushes. I should have gotten the Large size too. The Medium is slightly bigger than a 10 gr. jar for comparison but much smaller than a 20 gm jar.

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Other views of the swatches:

No flash, near window, cloudy



With flash, near window, cloudy