My Very First Nail Art : Pink Flower Design

   After a long break I finally found time to blog again yey! like what I've said on my last post I will practice doing a nail art so last tuesday since we don't have classes I grabbed the free time to play with my nails and video it. :) I tried a lot of nail art that I saw on youtube but I failed , they seem very easy but in fact they are really difficult especially if it's your first time to do it so what I did is to think of a concept that is very easy to do and I know that I can do. After an hour I finally decided what design to do and it's a flower nail art! yaay! 

1. Cover the skin around your nails with a scotch tape.
2. Apply a base coat to protect your natural nails.
3. Apply a layer of white nail polish and let it dry.
4. After drying the first coat, apply the second coat of white polish to make it look opaque.
5. Apply a dark pink color or any color that you want as a background
6. get a toothpick or a dotting tool (better) and  using a light pink polish form a three petal shape on the corner of your nail.
7. use a green color and form the leaves atop the pink petals
8. dot a dark pink color on the very corner of your nail to form the center of the flower
9. apply a topcoat to protect the design
10 done!

products used:
LA Colors base coat
La Colors Pink
Sweet Cherry Polish white base coat
Sweet Cherry transparent top coat
Oh My Golly in First Kiss
Oh My Golly in Mojito

OMG(Oh My Golly) Nail Colors : affordable nail polish

     I was in SM Manila Department Store and looking for an oil blotting paper when I saw the rack full of nail polishes. I came closer to see the colors clearly and my attention was focused on this OMG(Oh My Golly) brand of polish. I examine the colors and picked which I like the most, initially I planned to buy just one bottle but I end up buying 4 bottles because I fell in love with 4 colors and can't leave the place without buying all of them, luckily they are affordable! one bottle cost me Php 18 only. :)

    When I got home  a question popped out in my head - What am I going to do with these 4 nail polishes? Can I use them all at the same time? Then I instantly answered them, I am going to practice nail art with these 4 colors! :) Yes that's a great idea! I want to learn how to do a nail art since I was in high school but for some reason I haven't practiced doing it. I watched some nail art tutorials in Youtube and I was amazed with all of them, but one thing I noticed is that most nail enthusiasts use expensive but undoubtedly great quality polishes in doing their nail art. Before I thought of buying them too since those are what they're using but I instantly abolish the idea and told myself-yoohooo YOU.ARE.JUST.A.BEGINNER! yes I am a beginner and it's not wise to use polish that is worth a big fortune for a practice so I can live with my OMG for now.

This is how OMG nail polish looks like when painted on the nails:

I love this color, this is the one which is currently painted on my nails.

This one is an attention catcher!

Oooops the polish is kinda messy sorry for that, but this one is lovely it's perfect for those who wants a light but girly color on their nails.

This one is trendy.

  The polish has a glossy finish and just like any other polish it has a strong irritating scent but anyways I still love it and I can't wait to use it for practice! :D

   

My Beauty haul

    I was arranging my things and putting it to my vanity box last night and I was surprised to find out that I have accumulated a lot of products again hahahaha... Oh my this means I spent a lot again without noticing it! :( Anyways since I bought it all I cannot do something about it but to blog.

  Of course my Asian Secrets products! If I remember it correctly these are the first products that I bought from this haul. I bought these last August 16 and I'm still not done with my green Bengkoang soap actually the soap is still big to think that it's been a month since I started using it, Wow right? If you wanna know more about asian secrets just visit my last post about it here Asian Secret Review.

  James Cooper Compact Cream Foundation is such a great find though I've been reading a lot of blog post that it has a sister brand called Pinkie Swear which offers the same quality products but a lot cheaper than jazzy collection. Well it's hard to read those posts when I am actually refraining myself on buying things now that I had spent a lot. Here is the link about this foundation James Cooper foundation Review.

This product is the only one that sets my curls really well unlike mousse this one holds my curls until I wash it! I am yet to write a review about this one.

This is a cooling eye gel from the Body Shop. The reason why I bought it is because I want a relaxing eye gel for my tired eyes from not sleeping completely every night and it's on sale! From Php 395 they cut it into Php 195 but instead of saving Php 200 I think I got robbed by  Php 195 because I am not satisfied with the product. It is supposed to relax my, well it does but for a very short period of time! the effect didn't last and the skin around my eyes feels really tight.

These are Watsons Olive hand cream I bought it for Php 69 and it's buy one take one. The product softens my hand but it smells foul! It has a strong leafy scent which I guess comes from its main ingredient - olive.

This product is now a staple for me I use it everyday and night and over my pink lipstick :) here is my review on it Baby Lips Pink Glow.

I am supposed to buy the superfilm mascara but the SA told me that it is for volumizing only but I am looking for 2 in 1 -volumizing and lengthening. She recommended me the falsies and I bought it. :) 

Lastly I bought earrings, these are from wellmason near Quiapo Church they cost below Php 40. There are a lot of design there that you can buy for a minimal price compared to earrings from the malls. 

Finally I'm done presenting you my beauty haul, I hope you like it! :)

Maybelline Baby Lips Pink Glow

        Recently Maybelline released their new lip balm called Baby Lips Pink Glow which is an innovative version of the original Baby Lips. This new lip balm gives our lips a surprising nice tint of pink that is really subtle and perfect for everyday use. 

This is the packaging of Pink Glow it is the same with the Baby Lips' packaging the only difference is that it has a word GLOW on it, the design of the lip balm sticks are the same too but I gotta say that of all this one struck my eyes the most because of the good color combination of pink and gray.

  The lipbalm is colorless but you'll be surprised when you glide it on your lips! Based on the product description it has a color-blooming technology that reacts with the unique lips chemistry to reveal a perfect pink glow so I have made a lip swatch to show you how this colorless lippie paints my lips of subtle pink. 

   The first one shows my bare lips you may notice that it's pale and dry but when I glide the Baby Lips Pink Glow on it it showed a tint of pink  and it was moisturized making it look supple and smooth unlike the first photo. Aside from the color wonder that it makes on my lips I love it's flavor too, it is mixed berry it smells really yummy!

 I tested the promise of the product that it will give an 8 hour moisture so before I went to sleep I apply it on my lips, by the way it's already 1:00am by that time (yeah i know it's too late but I can't help it! it's TGIF). The next day when I woke up it's already 10:00am I grabbed the mirror near me and examine my lips, my inner goddess jumped when she saw that it still has a shade of pink! well it's not as bright as when I applied it last night, it is a faint pink color. On the moisture side, well it is a bit damp unlike my dry every morning lips when I don't use lip balms before I sleep and it still feels soft to think that I slept for 9 hours :). I guess the competency of this product is too much for a price of 99 pesos but it's fine who doesn't want a cheap but good product right? So girls better try this one it's worth every penny.

Just a tip, if you want a deep pink color then you may choose to glide it more than 2 times on your lips. 

James Cooper Compact Cream Foundation Review

                  I've been seeing James Cooper stall in Watsons for years ago and my first impression about this brand is that it is a high end one and the products cost a lot so I'm ignoring it for a long time because of the thought that I can't afford it but I was wrong! When I am in search for a good foundation I noticed in a female social networking site that this James Cooper Compact Cream Foundation has a lot of raves and girls are even saying that it is really worth it because it doesn't cost much and when I read that I was like "What doesn't cost much? for real?" and I continued to scan the page full of reviews for it and I spotted the figures 550 ohh my! only if I know that the product doesn't cost thousand plus then I should have bought it long time ago! I feel stupid for not inquiring about the prices before. :| 

Anyways this is the packaging of the foundation it looks matte and cheap nothing fancy about it.

              But the case of the cream foundation itself is really good, it looks classy, it is small, it is easy to carry and it contains 20g WOW this is quite a lot for a cream foundation! And even the sales assistant told me that it can lasts up to 5 months  I jumped when I heard that whoo! 

             I got the shade CF-005 actually I am thorn between this and 03 but I noticed that 03 darkens after few minutes and of course I don't wanna look like I am dipped into mud because my face will be really dark with this shade so I give up the thought of choosing 03 and choose 05 instead.  

             This is my swatch of the foundation as you can see it is a bit lighter than my hand but it's okey 'cause my face color is lighter than my body :D I only managed to swatch it on my hand but I am going to post a photo wearing this foundation soon. It has a great coverage so I use it as a concealer too it covers my pimple marks really well yaay! It is very buildable and doesn't cake and most importantly it does not give me pimples! I find it weird when I am applying it on my face because it feels matte but later on it will feel creamy and looks dewy so if you want a dewy look then you may choose not to apply powder just watch out because it tends to get oily after hours but if you want a flawless look then you have to put a good setting powder. 

Asian Secrets Lulur Whitening Scrubs and Bengkoang Soap: An Intial Review

    I know all of us want a glowing and soft skin that's why we use body moisturizer everyday but doing that without scrubbing your skin would mean spending money just to moisturize dead skin! We should always consider body scrubbing as part of our beauty regimen, exfoliating will allow moisturizer to fully penetrate our skin thus leaving it soft and nourished. 

            When I saw Asian Secrets on the market I smelled the three variants and I think the scent of the green one is the nicest but I think it's strong so I choose the purple one. I have read many comments saying that they can't stand the smell of the purple variant but for me it smells fine and not too strong. 
         
           Base from the packaging, In the royal palaces of Java, Indonesia Lulur is intended for bride-to-be in order to beautify, smoothen and whiten her skin before the wedding day. So I think it is really a must try , imagine Indonesian princesses are using it to beautify themselves! wow this product is royal!  

        I am morena and I love it, I am not really into whitening products but I have parts of my body which are darker than the rest like my elbow! aghh! So I think of trying this product, maybe this is all I need to get my skin even. I've been using it for two weeks now and I have to admit that this product WOWed me! It really does what it promised, after using it my skin feels really smooth and smells really nice. Oh I am thinking of using it everyday (some does) but I am quite worried that I'm may be over exfoliating which is not good because the skin will be more susceptible to damage from UV rays, so I am using it twice a week for my whole body and every other day for my dark areas. Well the product suggests to use it on the armpits but I don't! why? because I remembered Dra. Vicky Belo said on her interview in Salamat Dok that the underarm should be left alone meaning don't scrub it because the skin there is really sensitive, scrubbing it might make the discoloration worse. 

       
    Aside from the Lulur body scrub Asian Secrets has now the soap variant named Bengkoang Soap! By the way Bengkoang in Filipino is Singkamas. Bengkoang is also a widely popular whitening ingredient in Indonesia based on the package it can be found in the islands of Sumatra and Java whoaa Java is blessed with natural beauty products! As you can see above the soap has two types the green and the orange, well the two are both for whitening but they differ from the additional ingredient on it. 

           The green Bengkoang Soap contains Olive Oil to moisturize the skin and protect it form dryness while the orange one has Betel Extract which serves as an antiseptic, it gives extra protection from germs that can cause body odor. As of now I have only tried  the Green one and I'm looking forward on trying the Orange one and compare the two.

             That is how the soap looks like yeah I know it has a weird shape and the asian secret is carved on it but it smells nice and doesn't melt easily. I noticed when I rub it on my skin that it has some beads on it, I guess it is Lulur hmm maybe not, maybe it something else... I don't know hahaha! The Lulur body Scrub and this Bengkoang soap is really a great combination, lulur does a great exfoliation while this soap is great in moisturizing so after you walked out of the bathroom and dry yourself you will feel rejuvenated I promised that! 

           Final words: These products do an amazing job considering that it's not pricey at all, the Lulur body scrub big tub (250g) costs Php130 while the small tub (135g) costs 80 (only the green one is available in small tub the others are not), the Bengkoang soap costs Php 70. Just a few tip on using the soap after rubbing it all over your body don't wash it immediately leave it for few minutes this will make your skin softer after you wash. For now I can only rave about its moisturizing effect on the skin, and of course I am realistic! I know the whitening effect will take time to be realized I'll post the final review when I see it!  hmmm.. how I wish they have lotion too so that it is already a complete rejuvenating package! That would be all Thank you for reading! :)