PA Deep Gold & MAC MSF Duo

Tried both of these products again but together this time:
Pure Anada Deep Gold foundation topped with MAC New View MSF Duo in Medium Dark/ Natural & Shimmer:


no flash


with flash

Lips: MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner SPF 15 in Petting Pink <----I love this, better than all other lipbalms I've tried (Carmex, Blistex, Kiehl's, Chapstick, Burt's Bees and CO Bigelow - with the latter 2, both of which I had allergic reactions to). It just leaves the lips so soft even when the balm is gone and the smell is vanilla-ish which I like. I think I might get another pot in a different shade and a clear one.



I applied the MSF Duo using the Lumiere fiber optic brush. It looks good when applied but it has no oil control for me. I still had to apply another finishing powder later on when I noticed shine on my T-Zone. I tried this on yesterday and I noticed a few bumps around my nose, mouth and cheek area. An overnight application of Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask made them disappear this morning. I've never tried MAC foundation or powders before this. I'm still giving MAC another shot today and hopefully no more breakouts coz I think my skin is still adjusting to its ingredients. When I first tried it on a few days ago I wanted to get a back-up right away but now I don't think so. I'll just get the mineralize blushes instead and other stuff that's not FP or foundation. I guess my face still likes MMU more!!! Hurray for mmu!



The Pure Anada foundation was applied with a flat-top in 1 layer dry then spritzed with toner. I like the coverage of this one although I need a good finishing powder to control oil. I'm still using this though :-)

The photos look good huh? You can't see the big zit mark on my right cheek coz I've erased it using the Picnik program! If only I could use this in real life then I'd be one happy gal.

MAC New View

Today, my MAC New View MSF arrived. One of my friends had a spree and I joined in. I'm still waiting for another item but I'm not sure when it's gonna be available.

I don't really buy MAC bec. I am scared to break-out from it and I am already content with my MMU. Also I can't justify getting addicted to it coz it's way out of my budget. If I earn my own money then this would not be a problem for me. (I just don't like using hubby's money for less-essential things like expensive make-up). This is probably a rare splurge on my part since I really want to try it out. I do have very few other MAC items though (some given by my mom).

MAC New View MSF in Medium Dark/ Natural with Shimmer:

MAC New View

Medium Dark/Natural with Shimmer

swatch

The thing is, I am a bit apprehensive to try it out on my face. Once I get the courage to do so I'll post photos. Oh, what do I use to put this on my face? A brush?

Help!

Finally, A Pure Anada Match

I found my Pure Anada match after a few weeks (or is it a month?) of trying on different samples. Candace of Pure Anada kindly sent me generous samples of her new shades for Asians since a lot of those with the same skin tone as mine couldn't find one. They now have the right amount of yellow needed that was lacking in the regular shade available from Pure Anada. I got Medium Gold and Deep Gold, both of which are tentative names as indicated in the jars.

First here are some swatches:

with flash

With Medium Gold on:

with flash

no flash

Depth is good but it is a bit light on me.

With a mix of Medium Gold and Deep Gold 50-50:

with flash

no flash

I can use this mix since it melded well with my skin after a while but I like the next one better. I am also wearing the AVON Glazewear in Teddy Bear which I won recently.

With Deep Gold on:

no flash
with flash

Sorry, these 2 pics didn't turn out well coz it became cloudy. In person though this matched me better, no mixing needed too.

I like the Pure Anada foundations coz of their medium-heavy coverage. No itching and lasts the whole day for me-- I've been wearing the foundation since this morning and it's still present after 8 hours. I do look a bit shiny but that's because I do not have any primer nor finishing powder on. I even forgot to put on any moisturizer and sunscreen (bad, bad).

I've emailed Candace about my match and also asked if she could make darker shades in this range for those darker than me. Also, I wouldn't have a match if I get more tan (summer shade). I hope she does.

Mail Day!

Another round of packages came today.

Toma of Makeup Masala sent me my prize for being one of the winners of her recent contest:

I won an AVON Glazewear liquid lipcolor in Teddy Bear.  She kindly included other freebies with the package.

                      

Avon glazewear in Teddy Bear

Here's what it looks like on me -------->

The gloss is only very slightly sticky and smells good (like chocolate?) and doesn't leave my lips dry.  It's opaque, a liquid lipstick and can stand on it's own. 

It lasts longer than most glosses which stay on for an hour or so.  It's probably due to the slight stickiness that makes it stay on the lips longer.  It really is a very pretty color, pinky-brown. 

From Vely (Thank you!), sample of Pure Anada in Golden Harvest and other samples she included:

                      

samples

From Candace of Pure Anada.  She sent me samples of 2 of the new shades she formulated for Asian skin tones in Medium Gold and Deep Gold.  I still have to test tomorrow which one is my shade.

                      

Pure Anada

From Lure Beauty:

This was from a panic buying moment, my order on the left photo and the freebies on the right photo.

Joyce's Lumiere order also came in today.  I also received an SMS from a friend that my MAC order came and she'll send it to me this week.  I got the New View MSF in Medium-Dark and a MSF in Pleasantry.  The Lustre Twins lippie I ordered was out of stock :-(

My Dreamworld isn't here yet but I haven't received a shipping notice so it probably hasn't shipped out yet.  My Jessie's Girl order isn't here either and that shipped way ahead of all those I got today.  I think they send it out in a box so that's probably the cause of delay (hopefully).  Another one I'm waiting for is my small sample order from Aromaleigh.  

Will do reviews of some other stuff and post them up soon.  Hope you all have Happy Mail Days too.

Purely Cosmetics

This is another brand I'm trying out right now.  When I read from The Mineral Makeup Blog that the company would come out with smaller sample sizes I decided to try it out.   Originally, their sample sizes are in filled 3 gr jars that cost $5 each or a sample kit of $12 for 3 shades in 5 gr jars.  Pretty expensive IMO compared with other mmu companies.  After the owner read the comments in the blog, she came up with Econo packs of 3 baggies for $5 but shipping to my end of the world was $8 ++.  I mean, really...does it cost this much to ship 3 tiny baggies of samples that could be placed in a small white envelope?

I didn't order right away but a week or so ago the company had a 1 day free shipping sale for the owner's birthday so I placed my order for the 3 samples.

I got my Purely Cosmetics samples yesterday.   The postage cost only $1 ++ as seen on the envelope (where do the $8 ++ go to?) and the baggies were in a medium sized white envelope.  There were only 3 really tiny baggies inside with maybe a little less than 1/4 tsp in it (I measured it when I made my mix).  

                      

Purely Cosmetics

I got the shades Olive Beige, Maria and Cornsilk in the Pure Mineral Formula for normal to oily skin.  They have another formula - Skin Smoothing Formula for dry to normal skin.  You also have an option to add silk to any foundation shade you want.

                      

PC Swatches

I tried out the shades yesterday.  They are creamy on the skin with heavy coverage but feels light.  It covers imperfections well with no need for a concealer.  This reminds me so much of Monave (my first HG foundation) but this feels lighter.  It doesn't look matte on the skin but it's not glowy either.  Good thing I didn't itch with the formula.  I have this on now and it's been 5 hours.  It still looks good but I do have shine showing on my T-zone.  I didn't use a primer, just my mix of Meow's Oil Control powder and Milan's Oil at Bay (these 2 don't control my oilies well).   I'll try another finishing powder next time coz my face is an oil slick right now.

Here's when I was finding my match.  Unfortunately, the foundation has a white cast in photos.

With Maria on. L with flash, R w/o flash.  This looks too light for me.

With Olive Beige on. L with flash, R w/o flash.  Depth was okay but it needed a bit more yellow.

I just swiped Cornsilk on my cheek coz it looked dark when I did my swatches.  It was dark for me so I didn't try a full face on anymore.  

I made a 50-50 mix of Maria and Cornsilk and this is what matches me best.  L with flash, R w/o flash.

You also don't notice much the huge zit on my right cheek (derma time tomorrow) coz it was covered fairly well with the foundation.

Is this FS worthy? 

Not sure.  I need to do more testing coz I don't like the oil slick on my face right now.  I don't know if it's from the finishing powder, the foundation or the weather which is soooo humid right now.  I do like how it looks so photogenic and how well it covers scars and stuff on the face.

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

I received my Dreamworld order this week too.  My full size of Amenti in Luna formula.  This came with a free Chancy lipgloss tube.

                      

DW Amenti

I compared this with my previous Amenti sample and the FS looks a bit lighter ( I forgot to take a pic).  This also looks like my Hebe + Themis mix (or maybe a bit lighter too).  How frustrating!

                      

comparison

Here's Chancy:

                      

Chancy gloss

In the tube it looks dark brown.  Same with the swatch:

On the lips it is very sheer and really doesn't look that far from my own lips' color.  I am wearing Chancy in the MARIA photos.

                      

with Chancy

The gloss is not sticky and I'm not sure if I can detect a slight vanilla-ish scent.  Maybe it's really faint and there is no taste to the gloss too.  It stays on for an hour or so like most glosses do so you have to reapply often.

There goes another testing day for me.  Still waiting for my other packages.  

Gym Chronicles

Okay, so I've been going to the gym for exactly 1 month now. Mostly weight-training with cardio (treadmill or elliptical for warm-up and warm-down) since they say you lose more weight or tone the body with free weights.

So far I think I've lost 2 lbs.? I'm not sure coz I wasn't paying attention to the scale, LOL! But what I'm really sure of is that my jeans fit looser now at the thigh area. Yeah, I have very chunky thighs, hips and legs, unfortunately all hereditary :-(

I'm not so much after the weight loss now that I think of it. Once I turn my fat into muscle I'll probably stay the same weight or a bit heavier since muscle is heavier than fat.

I go to the gym 2-3 x a week but I do Pilates in between gym days at home with my DVD. I think that's what made my thighs more leaner. I also feel so much stronger now. I added a local product called Fit & Right which is a juice drink (in Pineapple, Apple or Four Seasons flavors) that has L-Carnitine (a fat burner) which I drink 3x a day. It makes me full enough after or before a meal that I don't crave for junk food during the day. I love my junk food (potato chips or other carbo-loaded stuff) but I am not craving for it now. I still eat the same meals but in a lesser amount bec. I do feel full.

Well, I hope this goes on. I've been splurging lately on gym stuff. I bought a couple of Dri-fit tops and Nike Dri-fit lightweight training gloves today and a few other stuff. Better put them into good use.

The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt

I've been reading entries from different blogs about The White Hat with good reviews and this made me real curious about it. I do like yogurt since I know how good it is for our health (and keeping the weight down while eating your dessert!).




On a trip to Mall of Asia last weekend I persuaded my DH to check it out with me. We got the regular sized cups with 2 toppings each. One had Green Tea jelly and Ube jelly (both chosen by my daughter) and the other had Sesame Mochi and Cereals with Almonds.


Green Tea jelly & Ube jelly

Sesame Mochi & Cereals with Almonds


The taste of the yogurt is similar to the flavored (or unflavored) yogurt bought in groceries-- a bit sour but not off-putting. My daughter and hubby both liked it especially the toppings chosen. I loved the Sesame Mochi the best. They all blended well with the yogurt taste.



What's good is that they have 21 choices of toppings from fresh fruit to cheesecake to chocolate. Your choice to mix and match. Plus the different sizes of cups to order. The regular sized one is enough for light eaters like us. It fills us up yet it feels light. Yeah, maybe I could do with a large one next time (or 2 regular ones to try different toppings).


My DD loving her yogurt.


I hope they branch out to nearer locations though. The Mall of Asia is a bit far from where I am located. Do give it a try next time you go to MOA.

ARTDECO eyeshadow base

After almost a year of trying to get my hands on this, I finally got one today!
Everytime I ask at the m/u counters if they have the base it's always out of stock. This thing sells out so fast that as soon as they have deliveries they fly right off the shelves.
By sheer luck I asked at the right time when they just had a delivery so here it is:


artdeco




e/s base




swatched on my finger

ARTDECO is a German cosmetics company. This e/s base is in a tiny pot, flesh-toned and has a slight citrusy scent (or is it just me?). Unfortunately they've increased their prices. I got it for Php 490 or around $10 US.
It's creamy and dries fast so you have to spread it right away. I haven't tested it on my eyes yet but I will soon. I hope this is as good or better than UDPP which works the best for me.

***************
FOTD for today. Took this photo when we got home, 7 hours after application:


fotd

Sweetscents Hide-A-Pore in Medium-Dark as primer
Buff'd in Buff (original formula)
Aromaleigh Pure Concealer #5 on marks on cheeks
DW Butterscotch Creme Topping
Aromaleigh Coquille Powder in Nectarine beneath eyes and on cheeks
DW Blushing Werewolf blush
Dayna's Minerals Violet Vesper Glow on top of blush
Aromaleigh lipstick in Perfect

Eyes:
SN Unblush all over lids
Lumiere Silkies in Blush on lid
MAD Cocoa on crease