Kiehl's Surface Brightening Exfoliator

Kiehl's Surface Brightening Exfoliator

When I won Sophie of Beautynomics Minute Maid Contest way back in summer.. I got a Kiehl's gift cheque worth 5000 pesos. I actually had a hard time choosing the products to get. I am really in love with this exfoliator. If I am not mistaken this costs 1650 pesos at Kiehl's. I have been using it since April and the bottle is still half full. This is way better than St. Ive's Apricot Scrub.

Description:
Our high-performance, foaming exfoliator is formulated with micronized shells to dramatically improve surface texture by removing irregularities from skin and promoting a smoother and brighter skin surface. Combined with potent whitening actives of Plum Fruit and Botanical Extracts, as well as Ascorbyl Glucoside, this effective scrub helps remove dead and damaged surface skin cells and draws away surface melanin, helping to minimize dullness and boost cell turnover to promote and even and bright complexion.

 
As you all know I have super dry skin and I really wanted a product that can exfoliate my skin without causing to dry even more. It effectively smoothens the rough areas of my skin. My cheeks feels like a baby's butt!!hahaha I find this very gentle on skin. The small grains are not harsh at all compared to the St. Ive's Apricot Scrub which is a very abrasive exfoliator. I use it 2x a week. This has a nice citrus scent that does not trigger my allergic rhinitis at all. That is big plus point. 

It comes in pasty and gooey form. Just 2 pea sized amount will do. Add a a bit of water before lathering it on your damp skin.  This made my skin clearer. I have less break outs and my face smoother.

Close up of my cheek after using this exfoliator.

 A full picture of my face with my persian kitten.. hehe I have no make up at all.. YAY!! 

       Check out Minakichu's Blog here:

http://prettywittybitchyme.blogspot.com/2010/10/kiehls-brightening-exfoliator-and.html

She also reviewed this wonderful product. 

Cheap Thrills: Wet n' Wild and Tropez Lipsticks

(From Left to Right: Mauve Madnezz, Black Orchid, Mirage)


I bought these lipsticks for 50 pesos each on ebay.. The other one was free from the seller. Lately, I am into dark and purplish lipsticks. I just got tired of pinks and peaches.. (However, my ELF Lip stain in Fashionista will always be an exception.. )  These lipsticks are pigmented but they slid off my lips.. Its really weird especially when you tend to apply more of the product. They would go everywhere -- on my teeth, cheeks... in other words they are very messy to use.. :C I really love the shades though.. I could never bring them anywhere with fear that they will instantly melt and can never withstand humidity. I do not want a bag full of melted lipsticks!!!

Wet n Wild Lipstick in Dark Orchid
Nice dark brownish/ plum wine color. It looks so dark on the tube to the point of being scary. But do not be fooled, because this is a versatile shade. You can control the color by applying less if you want a natural just bitten lips or applying more for that vampy look.

Wet n Wild Lipstick in Mauve Madness
The color is BLAHHHHH!!!! The silver shimmers makes me look freaky!

Tropez Lipstick in Mirage
I love the purplish pink color. This is a very unique shade.. 

Will I buy again?? Never!!!!!!haha 

Purederm Package plus A Wonderful Blessing

Purederm Gift Pack

Hello!! Today is the start of my very short sem break. Imagine, only a week of being away from books and cases. I got my package from Purederm this morning. I was so excited to open it. It was in a beautiful black box with pink ribbons!! 

Here are the contents of the black box. Full of masks and a full sized BB cream!!WOW!!I am excited to try everything!!! 

I badly need this for my dry hair. 

I got two variants of Hydro Pure Gel Mask.

I wonder which one will I use first??hmm...

For the record, aside from having super dry skin.. I also have dry and course hands. Awww.. I hope this one will work for me. (crosses fingers) This and the foot mask are two products I am really curious to try..

WAHH!!I am wondering how am I going to make a review about this without showing off my ugly feet.. hehe

And lastly, a full sized bb cream. Thumbs up for SPF30++

**Purederm Products are available at Watsons. Reviews of these products SOON!!

I also received a wonderful blessing last night. I was in school with bf and other law school friends till almost 12 midnight waiting for the results. Guess what?? I passed all my subjects last semester!!WHeeewwwww... This is an advance birthday gift from God! Thank you Lord!! Last semester was by far the hardest and emotionally draining I ever had in law school. I was really on the brink of depression. I was almost losing it. I cried for almost three weeks in fear of not graduating. I never thought I could survived. I am just sad that some of my friends will not graduate in 2011. I will be blogging less next sem until the bar exams. Another semester to go. With God's help, I can.  I really want this so bad. 

Ad majorem Dei gloriam
 

Filipina Makeup Gurus in Youtube

When I am stressed with law school, all I do is watch youtube gurus apply their makeup on. And it makes me so relaxed. I can watch Michelle Phan's videos over and over again. Remember when I made a post before asking you if you know of any filipina makeup gurus on youtube? Well, I found a lot. And I am loving them so much. :D

First is Noe of COLORismyweapon:

She's so pretty!!!! I love the fact that even if she loves Michelle Phan, she does not copy or imitate all her videos. This is one of my favorite looks that she made. :D

Next is Haidee of bloominglovely1:

She is so gorgeous!!! She looks like a model in my opinion. I am envious of her face structure her chin, jaw line and her cheek bones!! I love this video.. Her opening pictures are like lifted from a high end makeup advertisement!!

Another is Emafe of Pinkiericegurl:

She is so cute!! I love her videos because she also uses a lot of local products.

And of course Becky of Missbecky0207:

When I found out that she has a youtube channel, I immediately subscribed!!I love all her tips in her videos which are very precise and useful.

Lastly the ever funny and lovely Jarmaine of Jlovesmac:

I chose this video because it was her first voice over thingy and it was hilarious!! She is very witty and sexy!! Sometimes, I just watched her videos to have a good laugh. Boring is absolutely not her middle name. Her entrance or opening song is just stuck in my head!!LOL No joke.. hehe 

Please share with me your favorite Makeup Gurus in Youtube. Have a nice day everyone. :D
 

Review: Fashion 21 Perfect Stick in Almond

I was anticipating the demise of my elianto cream concealer which until now is still subsisting.. There is still 25% of the product and I am really eager to get it replaced.I saw pursebuzz's video with regard choosing the right shade of concealer and my elianto concealer looks lighter on my skin especially on pictures!!  I thought of buying a darker shade of concealer.Then, I saw this concealer which is locally available. 

The concealer is really creamy but not that moist compared to elianto's. This dries to an almost powder finish. I have really dry skin and this concealer tends to highlight it. This costs 160 pesos if I am not mistaken or something below 200 pesos. For its cheap price you cannot go wrong since it contains a lot of product. Imagine this is 11.5 grams. 

The shade perfectly suits my NC37 skin tone(medium yellow skin tone). It looks so natural on my skin. I am not fond of its scent though. This has a fairly medium coverage but make sure not to overdo the application because it cakes easily. You can also use this as a makeup base. I tried it but it really does not work on my dry skin.

It really does the job of concealing my under eyes. Sadly, this does not work for me. Still in search for a nice yellow concealer.. Perhaps, I will try Deep 03 shade of Elianto. 

Avon Dual Ended Lipstick and Lipgloss in Rose Shine /Rose Quartz

Hi everyone. I was browsing the Avon Brochure and I wanted a nice pinky rose lipstick and this one is on sale. 199 is its introductory price. I bought one just because it was dual ended.. 2 for the price of one. :D 

I was really disheartened when I got my order. It was not the shade that I wanted. It looked so different from the brochure.  Avon brochure is really deceiving when it comes to shades of makeup. I always ended up getting disappointed. Although this was not the shade that I wanted, I love the colors when used. This is the gloss part and as you can see it is quite shimmery. Nice glimmer on the lips with not too much sparkle. What I also love about this gloss is that it is quite pigmented. I can actually use this one alone. The shade is absolutely refreshing. It looks like a nice coral rose. 

I was not expecting to get a very dark lipstick. This was really different from the brochure. An absolute opposite from the pink rose that the model is wearing on the brochure. When I saw this I was quite thrilled and intimidated at the same time. I am really into dark lipstick right now but not quite sure if I can make it work on me. I am really getting tired of my usual pink and peach lippies. Then,I instantly remembered Imortal's actress, Maricar Reyes sporting that ruby lips. (I love that show!!hehe) On the lips, It looks really lovely and sophisticated. It does not look shocking at all.

Lipgloss/Lipstick

Very nice noh?? The lipstick looks like a nice frosted rose or cherry shade. I love it.

With gloss. The gloss actually lessens the dark color of the lipstick and makes it look perfect for daytime.

I love this lipstick. I can use it for daytime or night time look. :D The scent is really yummy and quite sweet.

i bet you get a lot of hater comments. do you?

haha none.. you made me laugh.. and if ever there are hate comments i will be nonchalant about it!!!! :p

Ask me anything

So, I got this question on formspring which made me giddy.. LOL How much are you betting dear?? hehe I have not received any hate comments or anything.. I love blogspot. Everyone in blogger is so nice and respectful unlike other sites. And if ever there are hate comments, there is the DELETE BUTTON I can instantly click.  :D    

Negativity is garbage to the soul. 
                                                                                                                               -Dux April

ELF Lemmings

Have you seen these new palette from ELF? My jaw literally dropped when I saw them. I was lemming for the 88 pc matte palette for the longest time but I want these ELF palettes more!!! I think ELF is one of the best drugstore brands out there. When they came out with studioline, I knew this brand will be one of my fave. With cheap price but quality like that of high end ones. Who will not love ELF??:D 

(All pictures from ELF website)

    ELF Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette  

Limited Edition

Can you believe that this palette only costs 10$??wow!!! i so want this more than ever and with 100 shades in it what more can you ask for. The sad part.. It is out of stock.. 

       ELF Studio Endless Eyes Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette 

        This palette is for only 5$ and the colors look awesome. Aren't they??Judging from the photo, it seems a mixture of shimmery and atte shadows all in one palette. This consists of 32 shades.

This is their 5 pc. bamboo brush set very similar to that ecotools. This costs 15$..

Defining Eye Brush
This looks perfect for contouring and for a dollar??! All I can say is wow!!

ELF Eye Transformer
Convert your shadows into brand new shades with these four opalescent shadows. Wear alone, under, over or in combination with your other makeup. The opal tones transform your dark color into a new shimmering hue.
(from ELF website)


This product looks so interesting. For only 3$ you can transform the colors of your eye shadows. Yay. Just imagine how many looks you could create even with a single palette!!

This is the absolute surprise of all. If only I knew that ELF will be releasing a stippling brush, I would not have bought Lumiere's. Oh my.. a stippling brush for only 3$.. I will not dare resist!

A brush cleaner for 3 $. I am in dire need of this. I have never own a brush cleaner.. hehe Talk about washing my brushes almost everyday. :D

Their eyeliner brush looks promising as well for only a dollar!! 

Lastly, this super cute and dainty wedges for only a dollar!!

I wish someone would pool orders again for ELF!! I want these stuffs so badly!!

Myra E Pressed Powder

Myra E Pressed Powder 

Hypoallergenic

SPF 15

10 gr.

If you are on a tight budget and in the look out for a nice pressed powder, i suggest that you try myra e's pressed powder. This only cost 139.00 pesos and I absolutely love this powder. It feels so silky when applied and has a decent light coverage.The finish and coverage of this powder is very much like Mac's select sheer pressed powder. I have one in the wrong shade (NC40) i look way too orange.. eww. I use this as a finishing powder when i use bb creams because the latter are way too light for my medium skin tone. This powder blends beautifully on my skin. I love the fact that natural shade neutralizes my skintone. I do not look too yellow when I use this.. LOL. It has this sweet subtle scent.  The sponge that comes with it is very gentle on the skin but really looks cheap and crappy. Nonetheless, this product is really good. :D

On this photo i used the myra e pressed powder on top of pure beauty soothing bb cream.

Review: Ecotools 5pc. Brush Set

I bought this brush set on a whim to replace my lumiere brush which my aunt wanted badly which I gave it her. Left with no blush brush, I decided to look for a brush. I wanted to buy another kabuki but on the other hand I am in need of a fluffy blending brush too and a concealer brush. It is as if the heaven and earth collided (LOL) when I chanced upon this brush set on a multiply site. I saw this brush set before but I nonchalantly never took note of it. I wanted the barenaturals brush set more with the stippling, foundation brush, concealer, and blending brush..vut since I already have a foundation and stippling brush I crossed this out on my list. They also have a dupe for this one too but it costs a couple of hundreds more. Honestly, I am not into buying brush sets except if that set contains brushes that i still do not have. I hate redundancy even in makeup. I try to steer away from products which gives me this same effect if I already own one. It is an utter waste of money.. right? You must always equate vanity with practicality.. but of course there are exceptional circumstances. :D

So, i bought this for only 650 pesos exclusive of shipping.. :D Nice right?  I was actually comparing it with other sellers and she sells it with the best reasonable price..here is the site:http://rukia0814.multiply.com/

Oh,, she does pre orders too.. I was thinking of joining one soon.. 

I never had high hopes for this brush until I received it. Talk about eco friendly, this lives up to its name. The resealable plastic is really useful. I still place the brushes in it to prevent it from catching dirt.
Here is a short note from http://www.parispresents.com about this brush set.
   • 4 high-quality brushes inside a natural cotton & hemp linen bag
• Soft, cruelty-free bristles
• Natural & recycled materials

This earth-friendly brush set is packed with the 4 high-quality brushes you need to look beautiful. And, it shows respect for the planet:
• Bamboo handle has a low impact on the earth’s resources as it is a highly sustainable plant.
• Synthetic taklon bristles are 100% cruelty free.
• Sleek ferrule is made from recycled aluminum.
• Cosmetic case is made from natural cotton and hemp

HOW TO USE:

Mineral Powder Brush
• Apply powder or mineral foundation all over face in a circular, buffing motion and work inward towards nose.

Concealer Brush

• Use with liquid or mineral powder concealer for more coverage on blemishes and under eyes.

Eye Shading Brush

• Expertly cut to apply and blend powder eye shadows.

Baby Kabuki

• Buff powder over areas that need more coverage. 

This is the baby kabuki brush. This is not really dense for heavy powder application but enough for blush application and for finishing touches too. I love the fact that its size can be easily slipped into my kikay kit. I can bring it anywhere. :D I never really bring brushes when going to school or somewhere else because they eat almost half or 1/4 of the space of my makeup kit! 

The bristles are really soft. I washed it many times now and it did not shed nor bled. This is my favorite brush in the set. 

I wanted to buy a fluffy blending brush since time immemorial. I saw one from coastal scents being sold on ebay too for 300 pesos.. Then the mathematician/kuripot (haha) in me started computing that this brush will only cost 175 pesos if I buy this set. That actually trigerred me to press the send the order form button. hehe This brush is soft and fluffy. The size is actually big for your eyes. Some may find it a minus point but I actually love it. Perfect for blending eyeshadows. 

This is my list favorite in the set. The brush is not dense and I find it quite flimsy.  I try using it in contouring my cheeks but it was an epic fail. Wit all the bronzer going everywhere. This is good in applying blushes and dusting luminizers. 

The concealer brush is almost the same with my sonia kashuk double ended brush set. It sometimes prick me though. It has a different texture compared with the other brushes. The size is actually nice because it can easily cover my under eyes with few swipes. 

The cosmetic case looks so clean and natural.
 Perfect for traveling but I think it would easily get dirty. 

The bamboo handles except for the kabuki looks so neat and sturdy too! If you are a makeup enthusiast who is just staring to collect brushes,, consider buying this set. :D Will i but this again?? NO!!!  I want to try this brush set from kirkland  borghese (am i correct?)