Hard Candy Glamoflauge

It’s been around since forever. Like every “Makeup Collection” videos I’ve seen has this. It says it’s a “heavy duty concealer” and boy, do I need that! have a lot of acne spots to cover. Plus this is said to be a dupe for Kat Von D. I wouldn’t know never had it. But real deal maker here is the name 😀 GLAMOFLAUGE… how cute and clever ^^

swatch

What I Like:

• Nice packaging
• Excellent coverage
• Little goes a long way…this tube wld probably last me a loooooooooooooong time

What I Don’t Like:

• Not available locally
• has a funky smell…like rust (??)
• has gray undertone

blended

So I wanted this for a long time but unfortunately I’m not loving this as much as I thought I would be. I mean it’s OK I’m just not liking the grey undertone. Actually I never understood gray undertones. Why? What’s it for? Who would like gray undertones?? If you know, please comment below ^^ Some say this can be too thick but when I first got this, it’s not thick at all. On the contrary it was quite oily so I thought then that this product is pooh! but somehow after a month of using this, the formulation seems to get better ^^ I also find this most effective when I pat on it instead of rubbing. I know you should be patting your concealer  specially under the eye but I’m just too lazy. It’s more time consuming…rubbing is faster 😛

It also comes with this mini…as in mini concealer pencil which I do like. I just don’t know where can I use it since it’s so tiny 😛

Do you have this in your makeup stash?? please let me know what you think about it ^^

-Rhen

FAKE UDPP + WWZ

Counterfeit Urban Decay Primer Potion…it’s everywhere!! Got mine at some random bazaar. I got curious since I have the original one so I thought it’s going to be a great  post to write a comparison of some sort. so read on if you want to know what I think about this faker ^^

 

This is in EDEN. They only have this plus I heard this is the closest one to the original…compared to SIN that is.

unfortunately, I haven’t owned one in this packaging. I only have the original one which as far as I know has no counterfeit version yet. So packaging wise I can not give an accurate comparison. So I just took another picture (back) so comment below for “irregularities” in this type of packaging..

all I can say is that the inscriptions are spot on…word for word..complete with trademarks and all. So now we go to the actual product…

 I did not find any difference. Performance, formulation it didn’t irritate me in any way. Honestly, I was happy and was even convinced that this would actually work and that I would definitely repurchase in short, I was satisfied. Well at least for the first 2 months cause after that it just changed formulation for i-dont-know-what-reason! It became runny and liquid-y all of a sudden (which you can actually notice in the pic above). I didn’t left it out in a hot place. It was just where it has always been. well not anymore because I have long tossed it in the garbage.

So there, unfortunately this ended up not so informative afterall because I really can’t offer any useful tips spotting a fake one. You can tell the difference a couple of months after using it. I got this around Php300  so rather than getting this, I highly advise you get the Etude House one or the ELF one. Those are Php200+ and Php 100+. I also have both and they are awesome I tell you.

Please let me know if you want me to do more of these ^^

-=***=-

World War Z! one word…EXHAUSTING… in a good way 🙂 loads of action and suspense that I actually find the movie too ‘fast phased’ like a lot of stuff needs to be further explained. So right after the movie…on to the nearest bookstore I went and grabbed the book ^^

First time ever I bought the book after seeing the movie cause it’s usually the other way around for me. Or I just don’t buy the book at all because reading is actually a luxury for me. It’s something I love doing but just cannot find time for it. But this looks Ok…not too thick and not too short as well. Plus I just started reading and with the way Max Brooks wrote this, I think I’ll finish this in no time ^^ let me know if you want a book review.

I wouldn’t dwell so much on the movie since it’s pretty late and I really should be hitting the bed. Just go see WWZ if you haven’t ^^

-Rhen

Battle: Lip Balms EOS x Carmex x Burt’s Bees

ALOHA! haven’t done this in while..and I missed it! sorry it may seem such a boring item to compare to but lip balms are just my favorite! and I don’t think I need to stress why cause everybody uses these…even the non-beauty junkies who just want a smooth non-chapped lips. I have a lot of lip balms but I picked these 3 first because I think they are the most popular globally, agree?? so without further a do here’s my super lame table…

	EOS	Carmex	Burt’s Bees
conditioning	1	3	2
scent	1	3	2
taste	1	3	2
price	Php250	Php 50	Php300
availability	3	1	2
greasy-ness	2	3	1
staying power	3	1	2
variants	2	1	3

Conditioning: I give this to EOS. I like that it’s really moisturizing and it’s not just a “moisture” that just sits on top of your lips to temporarily cover the dryness. It’s a tough call actually between EOS and Burt’s Bees on most categories.

Scent: specially this Summer Fruit one..smells tutti fruity BUT I know others prefer unscented ones so you might prefer the other 2 but me…I like the fruity scent ^^

Taste: so the smell actually goes with the smell. It’s really sweet. My hubby tasted it when he kissed me one time while I have this on (..-.-..) –*blush probably too much info– and I did (slightly) mentioned this in one of my post.

Price: Ok, these are estimates because I had these for a while. The EOS one is more accurate though because I just purchased a new one (Yay!)

Availability: Definitely Carmex! I’m sure you can find this at ANY lip balm rack in ANY drugstore here in the Philippines. Burt’s Bees you can find at Beauty Bar but I got mine on Ebay.

Greasy-ness: Carmex 😦 it’s like just a little more solid than petroleum jelly. On lips it feels almost the same. Burt’s Bees absolutely dominated (possitively) in this category. You really don’t feel anything and yet you feel your lips moisturized. And that’s the reason why Burt’s Bees is my favorite out of the 3 eventhough from the chart it looks like EOS had one most categories.

Staying Power: EOS just know I applied it around 11pm and it is almost 3am now and I can still feel it on my lips

Variants: I tried googling the exact number but I’m in the office and the access is pretty limited. Plus, eventhough you can find these here I’m pretty sure they do not sell ALL the variants but I’m sure that’s the ranking. I know Burt’s Bees even have tinted ones plus there was a Burt’s Bees boutique in Korea and I saw there’s A LOT of different Burt’s Bees variants and products there.

My personal pick is still Burt’s Bees and I did give that away already in the “Greasy-ness” category. Not to mention it is pretty handy than EOS ones and it has this slight minty-ness on it. Carmex in minty too but it can be too much for some (not me, I love minty lip products ^^) but the Burt’s Bees one is just right.

That’s it! hope this helps you in choosing your next lip balm! In the US, EOS seems to be more popular and I knew that because I saw a couple of celebrity pics using this….here are some..

this guy from Gossip Girl

and of course…

Mrs. Kanye West lol…

-Rhen

Skin79 Chiffon BB Mousse

 

Got this on my last day at Seoul…few hours before we leave for the airport. It was early Sunday morning I was not expecting to find anything actually. The large establishments at the main road we’re quiet very far from the lively Seoul nights but to my surprise, Myeongdong is actually BAU! 🙂 So I went in Skin79. I only tried BB creams from this brand so I was actually hoping to get something else like a blush..yeah, shopped so much still no blush 😛 The SA approached me and was kind enough to ask for my hand for a swatch so I did. To our horror, my hand was flake-y with dryness because it was freezing that morning. I was sooo embarrassed but the SA just smiled and suggested another product instead. it was the Chiffon BB Mouse ^^

What I Like:

• Really moisturizing
• super light weight! like your skin can breathe thru this
• doesn’t feel sticky on the skin
• nice packaging
• affordable

What I Don’t Like:

• not available in Skin79 counters here
• leaves white cast if not blended well
• like any mousse products, it’s kind of hard to control
• not buildable
• only 1 shade available

 

This is a light pump and is enough for the whole face. Kinda weird cause as you can see, it isn’t exactly of a mousse consistency. More of a bubble. They should’ve called it ‘Bubble BB Cream” instead. That could’ve been cooler and more unique. I like using a foundation brush for this.

True enough it was moisturizing not to mention it was on sale! Get this, OK…. I got 2 of this with a full size BB Cleanser for 32,000 KRW! How freakin’ awesome is that?! Not to mention even without buying anything yet they already give out loads of samples. I actually got 2 sets since they also gave hubby eventhough it’s pretty obvious he isn’t buying anything…he didn’t even came in the store! Super generous! Definitely The best bargain I had my whole trip. No picture for the cleanser because I am planning to do a separate review on it. That’s it for this review. If you happen to visit Seoul make sure you visit Skin79 for excellent bargains ^^

-Rhen

Clio Gel Liner & Brows + NBA Finals 2013

 

As if I didn’t have enough eyeliners already, when I got back from Korea, first makeup I bought was the Clio Gel Liner & Brows. I actually had my eyes on this from the beginning since I both run out of brow powder and gel liner. Gel liners are my favorite by the way.

What I Like:

• uber nice and slick packaging
• for the price of Php695, I think it’s worth it since you get a gel liner and a brow powder. Not to mention it also comes with a dual end applicator which is not that bad as well
• gel liner has good pigmentation
• no smudging

What I Don’t Like:

• staying power is not that great. It’s OK but I had better
• brow powder is not very pigmented

I got this in brown by the way. Since it’s still summer when I bought this and I am still in to this brown liner looks.

 so when you flipped the top, you will see the brow powder and it looks like this. It’s an ashy-dark brown color which is pretty universal. I have black hair and it looks fine. It also has this tiny mirror which is good too. better than nothing 🙂

so when you twist open the whole lid, you will see the gel liner..

as you can see. It’s really brown. If you are looking for that obviously brown eyeliner then this is for you. It also have some shimmers on it. Honestly, while I’m happy on how brown this is, it turned out that this type of brown doesn’t look very good on me. Probably because I already have brown eyes. I don’t know..I’m just not loving how it looks. So what I do is I top this with a dark matte eyeshadow. It does look better like that but I’ll keep on using this until I run out FAST! so I cld go back with using black ones.

so here is the brush. it has an angled end and a round pointy end. The bristles are not of best quality but the length of the brush is perfect…

and here’s the swatch. It looks a lot like the Dark Choco Gelpresso one. I swatched this using the brush that came with it.

So that’s my review. I’m not totally loving this so I won’t repurchase. Sorry if this review is kind of messed up. I am actually posting from the office and I’m really want to do this post before I jump off to another meeting..Arrgh!

—

And so it has come to San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat for 2013 NBA finals ^^

They say Spurs is such a boring team but I’m actually looking forward to this match up. I just remembered the game last November when Heat defeated the Spurs by just 5 pts. Nothing surprising right? Wrong! because Spurs actually played using only their 2nd streamers^^ No Duncan, No Parker, No Ginobili…..NO STARTING LINEUP! Popovich got fined actually  but you get my point right? If Spurs could pull the same thing to this upcoming finals…are we seeing a possible sweep??

btw. I am No bandwagon of either team, ok? I’m just thinking here:P

-Rhen

Banilla Co. Eyedol Mascara in Lucy

At first I thought “what an odd name…why not “Eyedoll” then just now it sinked…Eyedol as in Idol..heh, pretty clever. Anyways I did say on my post here that I just recently used up my then mascara. so now I am using this for roughly a week. When I was at the Banilla Co. store I was actually looking at the volumizing one but the SA suggested I get this lengthening one so I did ^^

i just love this kind of pop art…

What I Like:

• doesn’t clump
• very nice packaging
• no distinguishable scent
• does lengthen lashes a BIT…nothing dramatic
• the applicator is great for lower lash as well

What I Don’t Like

• smudges a little
• really poor job in holding curls
• not available locally
• a bit pricey, 12000 krw. I know this was on sale I just can’t remember if that’s the orig or sale price…i do hope its the former ^^

overall I’m not crazy about this mascara. I really hate that it does a poor job holding my curls. Like after a couple of hours I could feel my outer end lashes sticking to my lower lashes…really irritating. I will not repurchase this.

-Rhen

Clio Gelpresso Mini

I was shopping for eyeliners at Clio counters in SM and as if I haven’t burning so much cash already, the SA was swatching me these retractable pencil liners called Gelpresso. I was super impressed with the quality and all. Although I am a true Neutral Girl, I trully find the electric purples and blues fascinating. I was asking if they have a set since I really can’t decide which colors to get but the SA told me they do not. So I just let it pass since the damned thing costs Php400+ anyways.

Fast forward a couple of weeks I am in Myeongdong Seoul one chilly night. Shopping my heart out. I glanced upon my newly discovered brand, Clio of course I checked it out right away ^^

I was actually looking for face products or some goodies on sale. Guess what? they don’t have either. I was about to leave the shop and right there on what looks like piles of randomness, this baby appears 🙂

 

It is a Clio Gelpresso Mini set @.@. Exactly what I was looking for and better cause it’s “mini”s. Let’s face it… I wouldn’t bother getting full size because I rarely use up my COLORED pencils.

 

So it comes in a tin can packaging and I got me, 5 lovely shades:

• No.1 Beige Shine
• No.2 Golden Khaki
• No.3 Star Purple
• No.4 Dark Choco
• No.5 Golden Black

It didn’t have a blue one, but that’s OK 🙂 I’m still happy

You get this much product

 

What I Like:

• doesn’t smudge
• lovely colors and pigmentation
• cute packaging
• waterproof

What I Don’t Like:

• not available locally
• very expensive on it’s own
• tough to remove. Just use an oil based makeup remover

 

Overall I am loving these pencils.  Got them for 16000 Krw which is not bad considering you get 5 pencils. My favorite is the beige one. Love lining my waterline with it.

swatches in order

Oh and it does remind me a lot of this cute Colored Pencils I got from Daiso loong time ago…

-Rhen

Clio Hitch Eye-King Mascara

Again Clio coming up with cool names ^^ So aside from eyeliners I decided to get a mascara as well. They had 2 kinds. 1 is lengthening which is in chrome blue color and I got the volumizing one ^^

What I Like:

• Waterproof
• No smudging
• absolutely no clumping
• it does volumize lashes

What I Don’t Like:

• Pricey. Php695
• It has the rubbery smell but it’s not that strong so I guess that’s not too bad
• It’s not very black. It looks like a dark charcoal gray but it doesn’t really matter when applied
• like any other waterproof mascara, this is tough to remove

 

By the time I am posting this, it just hit it’s 3mos shelf life but the formulation is still the same and is good as new ^^ Although it does have a lot of ‘con’ I am enjoying this mascara. I wouldn’t repurchase it though because it is expensive. If you are looking for a good waterproof mascara I suggest you check it out and I’m sure you’ll like this 🙂

-Rhen