Simply Pretty Glitter and Shine Collection Mini Eyeliner

When sleep is but an illusion, brightly colored eyeliner can put a look together in a flash—not to mention brighten the eye area a great deal. If you’re trying not to look tired, I recommend bright eyeliner to distract from the bags and dark circles. Personally, I’ve not had so much courage to use it before now, since I believed I would look too silly. (Can you say ‘rave-ready’ or ‘teeny-bopper’?) Thank goodness I was a little more open-minded this month!

Weapon of choice is Avon’s Simply Pretty Glitter and Shine Collection Mini Eyeliner in Emerald. I was instantly attracted to this because of the oh-so-tiny size. Anything that’ll lessen the weight of my hefty bags are a welcome addition to my kikay kit. At the PHP 79 sale price (regular price is PHP 99), it was hard to refuse!

A mini that packs a punch

Ingredients

Given that 0.2g of product sounds like next-to-nothing,  I didn’t have any high expectations for the amount inside the little tube. When I opened it up and twisted to full-capacity, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the amount of eyeliner was quite long that it was more than half of the tube’s body. In short, they didn’t skimp just because the packaging was small. Good value-for-money.

Next to a tube of Clinique Longlast Glosswear

A fair amount of product inside

In an attempt to create an everyday, budget-friendly FOTD, I paired this with basic green eye shadow from Careline. The lipgloss for this look was Clinique’s Longlast Glosswear in Tenderheart.

Green eye, neutral lip

Time to get down to business: First thing you absolutely must know about this eyeliner is that it contains glitter. Not shimmer, but tiny pieces of GLITTER. (This has already been indicated in the name of the product, so take this literally.) If you hate glitter, this is just a big “NO” on so many levels because it has a lot of said glitter to the point that application means repeatedly going back and forth to achieve a noticeable effect. In my case, I used it on the upper and lower lashlines.

The longevity is good. I was out of the house from morning to night and the eyeliner was able to stay put the entire time. A word to the wise: avoid the waterline and the area near the tear ducts. I had no problems the first time I used this, but got some on the tear duct area the second time, so my eyes started to itch like crazy. That’s to be expected of glitter.

Out of sheer enthusiasm, I also decided to get the other two colors available which are Amethyst (a shimmery blue-violet, reminiscent of blueberry cheesecake topping) and Amber (a subtle, shimmery gold for a more neutral look).

Amber (L), Amethyst (R)

I’d give these (all colors of this eyeliner range) a 5/5 rating for having good value-for-money, long wear-time, and consistent quality with what the brochure describes. As for irritation from the glitter, it’s use-at-your-own-risk because it’s a glitter eyeliner, after all.

November 2013 Favorites

Is it getting chillier at all? I hardly even feel it! Either way, I get extremely enthusiastic about moisturizing this time of year. Here are my favorites this month:

1. Belo Essentials Skin Hydrating Whitening Facial Wash – Mild, pleasantly-scented, hypoallergenic, and non-drying. Gentle enough to use thrice-a-day if you like a midday refresh session. It’s good to have in your stash. (Read my full review here.)

2. Gluta-C Intense Whitening Alcohol-Free Whitening Toner – Despite the fact that the word “whitening” is used in every other phrase on the packaging, it removes leftover makeup gunk without causing the dreaded redness to my skin. It’s dermatologist tested and fairly inexpensive. A good deal. (Full review here. )

3. Nivea Baby Smoothy Cream – Another hypoallergenic product that makes my skin happy. I’m addicted to the newly-bathed baby scent! The texture is so mild and silky that I feel pampered every time I use this. (Click here for the full review.)

The common thread to these face products are the milder ingredients. I’ve been pushing for starting  the use of anti-aging formulas at a young age, but I realized that this is the time when youthful skin is still working to my favor, so I decided to pass on the clinical-strength ingredients this time. As for the rest of the collection:

4. Garnier Light Eye Roll-On – It’s for the lazy ones, so I love it!  The roll on applicator is such a cinch to use, while the formula feels cool on the little metal ball and dries non-sticky. Best for using under makeup and fits easily in any purse. This was made for the travel kit.

5. Avon Skin So Soft Silky Moisture Ultra Moisturizing Body Lotion + Argan – Thick and rich but non-greasy, this lotion is ideal for chillier weather in a humid country, plus it’s soothing to put on. Not a big fan of the scent though. It smells like a revamped version of those old-fashioned lotions and creams  mom had.

6. Urban Rituelle Cotton Candy Lip Balm – It takes me forever  to finish a tin of lip balm. This contains a bunch of natural oils and some sunscreen, making it handy to have around any time of the year.

 

Sharing what I learned this month, please remember to go easy on your skin! It does get overwhelmed from the rainbow of beauty goods out there. Everyone should have a set of back-to-the-basics items in their loot for when it’s time to take a breather.

Belo Essentials Skin Hydrating Whitening Facial Wash

I’ve never been tempted to become “Belo-fied” before in my life, but my skin had been going through a crisis recently. Fine breakouts were showing up to the sides of my nose and there was also a noticeable redness. It got to the point that I was Googling what could have caused the irritation. Finally, I was feeling open-minded enough to try Dr. Vicky Belo’s for-mass-consumption range of beauty products.

To those who are unfamiliar with Vicky Belo’s work, you could say she is the Philippine equivalent of LA’s Dr. Lancer, dermatologist to the stars. That also means that her services come with a very hefty price tag, so I wasn’t much of a fan. On a girl’s day out, Eva (of Uvla Store fame) told me she used Belo Essentials Skin Hydrating Whitening Face Wash because she considered it similar in quality and effect to Neutrogena’s classic amber-colored cleanser. According to her, anything other than a clear gel type of cleanser made her prone to skin irritation.  The recommendation stuck with me until a week later, when I finally gave in and picked a tube up from a nearby Mercury Drug.

By Philippine market standards, this 100mL tube of PHP 120+ face wash is considered affordable. It’s a soap-free gel formula with a blue-green tint that’s also hypoallergenic and dermatologist tested (by Belo, duh!). There’s a mild scent that I consider clean and relaxing, if slightly feminine. It also promises to whiten in just 7 days because that’s a national obsession here.

The ingredients are so hard to read

Generally, when it comes to cleansing, people tend to believe that the more a face wash becomes sudsy, the more effective it is at stripping away impurities. Admittedly, even I feel the same way. Such is not the case with Belo. The gel has to be rubbed between wet hands thoroughly in order to produce only a slight lather. That’s why I tend to squeeze out two pea-sized drops versus the one pea-sized drop that usually does the trick with other brands of face wash that I’ve used.

Clear gel goo that looks blue-green inside the tube

My face feels clean and oil-free post-rinse. There’s a pleasant minty sensation equivalent to what PH Care Cool Wind does for the lady bits. (Hehe.) It’s non-drying because my face doesn’t feel tight afterwards and doesn’t re-grease any faster than usual. In short, it’s a good product worthy of the hype. Here I was thinking that making a mass-consumption line on Belo’s part was merely a ploy to sell generic, so-so products for slightly elevated prices because of her bold “Belo-fied” campaign. Well, I’m glad to have been proven wrong.

I’d give it a 5/5 rating for being affordable and oh-so-gentle on my abused skin. Don’t mind the just-okay packaging.

Avon Only Imagine… Eau de Parfum

I finally cracked and got myself an Avon perfume. The brand is very proud in claiming to be the number 1 scent retailer in the country. That’s enough to pique my interest. Right around the time they launched this new scent with Angel Locsin appearing as the face of Only Imagine…, I was sniffing around the rub-and-sniff page of the brochure and thought it smelled nice, very different from their usual scents (ehem, Sweet Honesty, ehem). That’s how I came to purchase a bottle. I was also gifted with a free tote bag, by the way. Purple, floral, nothing special.

Box and bottle

As you can see, there’s a frilly abomination that “adorns” the one-size 50mL bottle. I read from the US Avon reviews that some girls chose to take it out for  practicality’s sake. I decided to do the same. After all, it’s trickier to hold on to a bottle with a big, frilly thing at the neck.

After I took out the decor, it looked classier.

The wide, curvy bottle shape and the gradient color design made me think of Estee Lauder’s Beyond Paradise in a far-off, this-must-smell-like-a-bouquet sense:

Colorful

Scent-wise, it’s the love child of Estee Lauder’s Pleasures (Only Imagine and Pleasures both evoke in me an image of a field of crisp flowers) and DKNY’s Be Delicious (apple). Floral, fruity, refreshing. The top note is an immediate burst of crisp apple that bends into a sweet-ish floral (violets, as the Avon brochures indicate), ending into a slightly powdery drydown. On a general note: It seems to me that most, if not all, Avon scents have a powdery scent base. It appears to be their signature.

I’ve been using this for over 3 weeks now and my biggest comment simply has to be about the lack of longevity on my skin. Frankly, I don’t blame Avon. I know that each person has a different body chemistry with a scent, so it’s hard to definitively say that it doesn’t last in general. On my clothes, it does. On me, nope, it’s gone within the hour. I have to tote the bottle around to re-spritz as needed.

Needless to say, I doubt I’ll be replenishing my supply once this runs out. I’ve come across scents out there that are cheaper and last longer. I’d give this a 4.5/5 because the scent is refined and may last longer on someone else. Just not on me.

A Hairy Mess Part 1

Of all the parts of me I make sure to moisturize/hydrate, the most neglected one has got to be my hair. Ask my friends and they’ll tell you that I’ve always had the crazy hair. So much so that I simply gave up on it and stuck to a perpetual ponytail for the last few years. This year, I decided to give it  another shot. Maybe there exists an enchanted formula that can tame the beast that is my mane. Besides, I was in the mood for hoarding beauty prods anyway, so why leave the hair hanging?

On impulse, I went to the grocery store and browsed through the selection of hair treatments. I chanced upon Cream Silk Anti Hairfall Perfection Intensive Treatment Mask (from what I remember, about PHP 220+) and opened the jar out of  curiosity. At first, the scent was overwhelming, a floral perfume that was too strong to ignore. I left but came back a few minutes later to give it another chance. Meh, okay, why not? At least it didn’t smell like chemical or medicine.

Cream Silk Anti-hairfall Perfection Intensive Treatment Mask

You get 160mL of product in each tub. Well, that’ll last me for a good, long time. I usually use these things only when I remember to. When I’m not too lazy, I’ll do the treatment once a week. The instructions indicate to leave on the product for just 5 minutes, but I choose to go the extra mile and encase my hair in a shower cap while taking my sweet time at 10 minutes to give it a “hot oil” treatment.

Instructions

Ingredients

The texture of the product is pleasant. It may look waxy when you first open the tub, but it’s more like immensely thick or rich conditioner. I apply it to the bottom half of my hair because I don’t appreciate an oily Professor Snape look.

Forgive the state it’s in. I’ve been clawing at it once-a-week for an entire month now

While I won’t bother with a Before/After photo for this entry, I will say that the treatment makes good on at least 1 count. Hair feels softer immediately after. The scent also fades to nothingness after I rinse out the treatment thoroughly. As I write this, I am periodically sniffing my hair and I’m getting next to nothing. (If you don’t like all your hair product scents mixing into a big mumbo-jumbe, then this one’s for you.) I’m not qualified to talk about anti-hairfall because I’m guessing that this claim is only valid if you use the entire Cream Silk Anti-hairfall range.

In general, most rinse-off hair treatments are the same in nature. They all promise to strengten/repair/soften hair, so the practical consumer will likely consider price and scent as more of a telling indication. This brand does the job properly, doesn’t leave a cloying scent, and rinses out well. I’d award it a 4/5 rating. You feel the immediate effects, and it’s a good at-home haircare maintenance program. While it’s not the cheapest, it is also not the most expensive.

 

“A Hairy Mess” Series To Be Continued….