Humpdate and HeartKristel's ELF Collection Giveaway

I've been meaning to post this since last weekend and the week's almost finished again. ^^

Here are some stuff I picked up during the weekend: (Sorry if you can't make them out)

Top:

*  Asian Secrets Lulur Whitening Scrub- repurchased this many time. Loves it!
*  iWhite Bath Soap- I''ve used almost all the iWhite products over the years, so I couldn't pass this up. Comes with a free Whitening pack sachet.
*  Single Eye Shadows (latest obsession)- Ever Bilena Advance in Goldenrod (at 40% off) and Fashion 21 (forgot the shade numbers but one is purply and the other is off white-y. =)
*  Sponge Cola CD-a freebie for buying Coca-Cola products. (I don't even have a CD player anymore!)
* Maxipeel Facial Wash- something I go back to using from time to time.

Bottom:

* Lolane Pixel Hair Color in Dark Golden Blonde-my current hair color =)
* Used Book: Creating Fairy Garden Scents- super interesting. More on this soon.
* Striped pink and white turban from Saizen- I use this at home to keep my hair out of my face. It's super soft and comfy. I love it to bits.
* Fashion 21  Aqualicious Lisptick in Little Mermaid
* Nichido eyebrow pencil in Dark Brown
* Brown eyebrow pencil from Saizen
* Marionnaud retractable face brush

Have you used any of this stuff?  What did you think of them?

I will post swatches of the makeup stuff in the future, so please check back soon. 

 

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Heart Kristel's ELF Collection Giveaway

click the image for details.

Thanks HeartKristel!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the week. =))

At Last! Saizen Charcoal Mask

Charcoal is an amazing thing. For centuries, it has been used for purification purposes. Activated charcoal is used to treat mild poisoning, and I remember when I was young, we used to always put blocks of charcoal inside the refrigerator to remove the odor from various food.

The Charcoal Mask from Saizen (or Daiso to the rest of the world) is a much-raved about product around my part of the world. It's effectivity as a beauty product, combined with its affordable price has made it a hit indeed.

However, since this product is so popular and can only be bought from one place, acquiring a tube was a huge challenge for me. The store was always out of stock whenever I dropped by. To be honest, I was quite frustrated, because I can understand not being able to buy something a bit expensive right away. But something as affordable as a Saizen item? It drove me pretty crazy. I had to have it.

Anyway, I'd been trying to content myself with other products from their charcoal line, because they were pretty interesting, too. So far, I've tried the bar soap, nose pore strips, cleansing cream and facial cleansing foam. They were all pretty nice, too.

I had a bit of luck last week. I went to Saizen not expecting it to be available but to purchase whatever I found interesting. (Yup, it's that kind of place.)

Lo and behold:

I didn't let this golden opportunity pass me by. I immediately bought a bunch, even though I didn't have any experience using it. Who knows when they'll have it again, right? I was thinking even if this product turned out to be not to my liking, I can always give them away. I have been buying little bits and pieces for stocking stuffers as early as now, anyway. Ha-ha.

I was able to try it last weekend, and I likey! After using it, my face became noticeably clearer and brighter. Another thing I like about it is that, when it dries, it really is dry. I mean, like a bone. Its texture became like that of rice paper, which makes it really easy to peel off. Other peel-off masks I've tried stay soft and gummy when dry. So it's hard to remove completely, and the little bits that get left behind are actually the hardest to pick of. It can even hurt.

Hmm... cons? It hurts like the dickens to remove if you get it in your hair. Watch out for that. It's enough to make someone as bushy (LOL) as me cry.

Also, it's hard to come by, but you can get in touch with the store so that they can inform you when it's available. Some of the girls even reserve their tubes beforehand. As for me, Saizen is literally a stone's throw away from where I work and I don't mind checking in every now and then. Because finding it by chance is kinda like winning the lottery for me.

And some impulse buys can be really rewarding, too. Like this lipgloss.

Saizen Lipgloss in Pink Lame'

I love it so much. Light-colored glosses don't show up that well on me, but I really like the pay-off using this one. And the glitters are so fine, the color looks really natural when worn. I also love that it is flavor and fragrance-free. It doesn't bother me at all when I have it on.

I also dropped by HBC that day, since I was already there anyway. I wanted to try their Vitamin C Serum. It must have been my lucky day because this was another product that was usually out of stuck, but they had it. I also bought San-San Nail Polish in Cloudy Gray. It's pretty.

I love the color of their packaging, don't you?

That's it for now. Oh! I've joined the bandwagon. Here's a shot of me with the mask on, just in time for Halloween.

Boo!

See you later!

Back-to-Basics

Weekend's here at last! stopped by the mall last night to pick up a few things:

Not really haul-ish. Just some bare necessities.

NOTE: It has come to my attention that I know next to nothing about makeup, so I decided to take a step back and take on this new fascination with beauty products one day at a time. Like I have to rehabilitate my skin first, because good skin is better than the best foundie out there. Baby steps, right?

From the department store:

iWhite's Skincare Line

I was a big fan of the iWhite line back in college. When I started working I kinda experimented with other brands (may K na kasi ako magtaray nu'n) and never found my way back. Until last night.

What are they:
Blue Tube: Moisturizer. I love this stuff. It's light and non- greasy, and I love the way it smells.
Purple: Facial Wash. It smells really good, too. (It reminds me of Paris Hilton Just Me after you've sprayed it on for a while.)
Peach: Whitening Face Cream. Can be used as makeup base. It's very light and non-greasy, too. I use it as sunscreen (SPF 15) on ordinary, not too sunny days when I stay indoors most of the time.

I'm kinda sad that the lotion (Yellow) has been discontinued. Because it's one of the few lotions I can stand to leave on my skin. But I don't like lotion in general. I use the Face cream on my exposed parts (limbs) instead.

Maybelline Perfect Concealer

Also bought concealer. Because I need one! Badly!

DOVE White

I really like the yellow variant of Dove beauty soaps because it smells really good and makes me feel good during bath time, but I have literally drawn blood from over-exfoliation and scrubbing, (OCD) so I had to go for the gentler, more moisturizing kind.

Which made me want to kick myself after getting this at HBC.

Body Recipe Exfoliating Bar w/ Goat's Milk from HBC

Couldn't help it. I went there to check out the San-San brushes because of the posts on Jing's (Girl With Glasses) and the Chipipay blog. They were all out. *wags finger accusingly* Which one of you did it?

By the way, they're on sale until today, I think.

Also got some stuff at Saizen!

Have you been to Saizen? At PHP 85 (2 USD, give or take) a pop, you can afford to go a little crazy there.

Cute oil-blotting sheets


Nose pore strips

(6 sheets for PHP 85. Haven't tried it, but if it works, then it's a steal. Because Bench's is like PHP 20 ++ last time I got some. the Biore strip was already about PHP 40, if I'm not mistaken)

Half-type falsies. Yeah, made an exception to my self-imposed back to basics rule. Because it's CUTE!

Double Eyelid glue

Rules were made to be broken, right? And a similar item sells for about PHP 400 on eBay. So yeah, I got one. Because I never could turn down a bargain. Ha-ha.

Nail polish drying spray.

Also a good buy at that price.

Shirt for Maddy.

Because dog clothes are really expensive everywhere else. Most of her clothes cost more than some of mine. Ha-ha. Material's good, too.

Fat plastic knitting needles

Craft-y things are also things I like to buy.Because I've always wanted to learn to knit. (Anyone know where I can buy wool in the Phils.? I want to spin my own yarn, too.)

Earlier this week, before I laid down the basics only for now rule, I couldn't wait until payday to get new makeup, so I bought some really affordable ones. (I have low EQ, plus I am Ilocano. So sue me.)

DISCLAIMER: I'm joking. I am really Ilocano because both of my parents are. I was born and raised in the Metro, but ethnic stereotyping=BAD. Some of the most generous people I know are Ilocano. Like my Dad. XD

I also told myself then that I would not but overly expensive makeup until I knew what to do with it. (I told myself the same thing about buying jewelry supplies. I would only buy higher quality ones, after practicing and improving my skills, hehe.)

Anyway, I got these:

NICHIDO Girl's Night Out Pencil in Thin Mints.

I wanted green eye makeup.

This AIDO eyeshadow palette that was on sale.

Pretty colors.

FASHION 21 Lip Gloss

It came with free lipgloss from Fashion 21. The lipgloss smelled funny so I didn't want to use it. I wouldn't even give it away. Real shame. I really liked the color.

ELF Plumping lipgloss in Baby Doll

I wanted a lip plumper. I don't think this did jack to plump up my lips, but I like the flavor, and the color, so not bad for the price.

Have a good weekend, everyone!