[SWATCHES] BH Cosmetics Eye Shadow Pro (TKQQGWK4WKSX)

I decided to buy the 15 Colors Customized Palette of BH Cosmetics Eye Shadow Pro during one of their sales after seeing them featured in some videos. Today, they actually have a 40% off their palettes which come in 6 or 15 and you can choose between warm (W), cool (C), and metallic (M) colors. They come in matte (M) and shimmery (S) variations.

To do a quick review:
- These are very pigmented.
- Kind of chalky sometimes and will have fallout.
- The shimmery variation is much more pigmented than the matte.

My swatches have no base underneath and they are taken with flash.

TKQQGWK4WKSX

[REVIEW & SWATCHES] Revlon High Dimension Eyeliner

I recently found these Revlon High Dimension Eyeliner in my local cosmetic outlet for the price of $1.99. They are unfortunately discontinued which renders this review useless but you can probably get them at eBay, Amazon, or any cosmetic warehouses/outlets around your area.

I bought the shades 06 Gold Flash and 02 Steel Flash. These eyeliners are very soft, creamy and pigmented. The have a metallic sheen to them which adds drama, a subtle glitz and glamor to the eyes. These are absolutely fantastic on the lower and upper lashline and I love how Gold Flash looks on the inner corner of my eye. I do not recommend these on the waterline even though they are perfect for it because when I did that, it burned my eyes and felt like I got soap in them.. I`m not sure if my products are just old or possibly defective. I wouldn`t hold that against them because they are perfect as bases. They blend very easily. Another downside is that they aren`t long lasting. If you don`t set them, they will crease or smudge. Overall, I do recommend these products if you can get a hold of them.

[BLOG] Shopping Break

I need to stop spending for my future's sake. Right now, every time there is a sale and I feel like taking advantage of it by buying unnecessary things. I often try to reason with myself. It has worked out so far with cosmetics. Now I have to do that with clothes.

I have so many products to finish. Right now, I'm worried about lip and liquid and cream face products. I can't take the risk of letting them expire and become useless to me.. I go through lipstick phases where I'll use a few lipsticks so much that a big chunk of them will be gone but not completely. We'll see how I do this Christmas.

Currently, I'm aiming to finish this Avon lipstick which has this lip balm texture to it. The pigment is sheer and it feels so soft, creamy and sweet on the lips. It never feels heavy no matter how many times I reapply or layer it on. I love it. I'm also hoping to go through my No. 7 mousse foundation. I'm going to do a review of that because this is one of my favourite foundations. :D

[REVIEW] Mario Badescu Products

This review is based on the samples I received. I made my boyfriend and my brother sign up for them too so I can receive more amount of the same products as well. Also, my brother made a purchase later on and with each purchase, you receive 3 more samples.  If you want your free samples, simply go to their website, sign up, do the skin type quiz and in a day or two, you will receive an email offering you sample-sized products which are absolutely free.

(IMAGES TAKEN FROM MARIOBADESCU.COM)

1. Orange Cleansing Soap

This is a facial cleanser with a creamy lotion-like texture to it. It does not bubble up when lathered on the face and because of that, it actually is very gentle. However, I didn't feel like my face was getting thoroughly cleansed since I am so used to more abrasive and very refreshing cleansers. It smelled refreshing and true to its name like oranges which I wasn't a big fan of. If you're somebody who doesn't really use makeup or barely uses it with sensitive and dry skin, I recommend this. Also, some people might have a problem with the fact that it contains propylparaben and urea.

2. Cucumber Cleansing Lotion

When I received my samples, this is one of the products that finished too soon for me (despite having 2 sample bottles). This is a cucumber astringent which means that unlike a toner, it contains alcohol. It smells more like alcohol than cucumber in my opinion. Despite the fact that it contains alcohol, it isn't drying at all. It feels very refreshing and soothing. However, it dries quickly when placed in a cotton ball so it needs to be applied right away. Because of this, sometimes, you have too put a lot more than you should in the cotton pad. Thus using up the product a lot more. I recommend this for people with oily skin.

3. Flower & Tonic Mask

I love this product! I will repurchase when I run out of it. I don't really know how to describe this but I love how my skin feels after I wash it off. It has a distinct smell that I cannot describe. Some people say it smells flowery but I disagree. It's not exactly pleasant but not exactly terrible either. My skin doesn't feel stripped of moisture when I use this. It feels clean, moisturized and refreshed. Sometimes, I don't even need moisturizer after using this.

4. Collagen Moisturizer

This moisturizer is decent. It's very light yet moisturizing and the moisture does last without making you oily. It's not exactly special or anything to me to fork $22 on. It has a light scent that is barely there. It also contains propylparaben and alcohol. The collagen is an added bonus. I don't recommend this because I feel like there are better moisturizers for better prices without the harmful ingredients..

5. Ceramide Eye Gel

This is a moisturizing and refreshing eye gel that you can put in the refrigerator to boost its cooling effect. It's very lightweight as well. This is the product that has lasted me the most since I only need a little bit. However, it feels like it doesn't get absorbed in my skin and it just sits on top of it. In addition, this also contains propylparaben.. I just wished it did more for me. Not recommended for anybody.

6. Drying Cream

I'll be very frank with this product. I hate this. I have never encountered a product that has made my skin worse. I have no idea if it was because of the way I applied it or whatever but I gave this product many tries and that maybe, it would get worse before it got better but it didn't. My very few and mild breakouts turned cystic. I usually get whiteheads that go away for a few days but when I was using this, cystic pimples started surfacing. Even my actual small zits became bigger. This didn't make it better in any way possible. The redness was there. The size got bigger instead of smaller. The smell is terrible because it is sulfur. I have no idea if I am just allergic to sulfur but I am scared of it. Some people might have better luck with this product. Also, I highly suggest using a clean cotton bud to apply it to prevent contamination. Don't confuse this with their popular Drying Lotion which I haven't tried. I do not recommend this at all due to my personal reaction to it.

7. A.H.A. & Ceramide Moisturizer

Like I said about the other moisturizer, this isn't anything special and I doubt I am getting the AHA (alpha hydroxy acids) benefits of it because BHA (beta hydroxy acids) need to be in the right pH to work. It does feel refreshing on the face but it isn't as moisturizing as the Collagen Moisturizer. It contains alcohol and both methylparaben and propylparaben.

[HAUL] Rimmel, Maybelline, Lush

LUSH Colour Supplement in Dark Yellow
My current foundation has long expired and since it's liquid, I am not taking any risks so I went in Lush and asked for their foundation and the woman said they don't sell foundations. I felt really embarrassed because I didn't know exactly what it was called since I heard of it from somebody else. She then led me to where these Colour Supplements are and they come in Light Yellow, Dark Yellow, Light Pink, and Dark Pink. She told me that they have ingredients to help with redness. I didn't really care much since it was an impulsive buy. She also said it looks better with moisturizer. I am hoping that this little bottle (20 g) will be worth the purchase.

MAYBELLINE Dream Mousse Bronzer in 20 Sun Glow
This was on sale for $4.99 at my local drugstore. Since I love their Dream Mousse Concealer so much, maybe I'll like this too.

RIMMEL Waterproof Sexy Curves Full Volume & Curve Mascara in 001 Black
I'm not big on mascaras. I usually forget them because no matter what product it is, whether waterproof or not, they always smudge beneath my eyes when I blink. I have no idea why. I try to blot and mattify that area with powder but it keeps happening. Anyway, I am currently more conservative when it comes to mascaras. To me, they only clean up my eye looks. I realized that my lashes don't need help in thickness or length department. The real problem is keeping my curl. My lashes are incredibly straight with my crease-less eyes and after I curl them with my lash curler, they often get dragged down by mascara. We'll see how good this is.

[TIPS] How To Avoid & Improve Your Acne

These tips are for those who get mild to moderate acne since I cannot guarantee that it will completely heal somebody who has cystic acne (I will make another guide for those who have it).

1. Do not wear makeup so often or avoid wearing it altogether until your skin has cleared up. As tempted as you are to cover up the redness and the blemishes, letting your skin breathe is the best way to go as it prevents clogging up your pores even more.

2. Avoid touching your face. Try not to obsess picking at your bumps or constantly using your hands to contact your face to prevent further swelling. Your hands get really dirty easily even if you have just sanitized or washed your hands, bacteria can lurk their way there without your awareness.

3. Disinfect your things. I never used to get acne around my chin and lower cheek area but ever since I started talking on the phone until I fall asleep on it, I would breakout every other day on the side that came in contact with the phone. I started using alcohol to clean the surface of my cellphone. It's a good idea to disinfect the other things that you use often such as your mouse and keyboard even if they do not touch your face directly (especially if you're the type to rest your face on your hands often).

4. Change your pillow cases and bedsheets in a consistent manner. You are probably not aware of the dead skin cells, the bacteria, oils, and dust mites lurking while you sleep. Not only that but some people drool on the fabrics they sleep on. Eww. I mean try to change them before they even start getting smelly!

5. Keep your hair out of your face. I broke out way more when I had short bangs that poked my face. If you do not wash your hair daily, it's really good to pull your hair back to avoid irritating and itching your skin as well as keeping bacteria way.

6. Make sure you cleanse your skin well. Some of you probably think that rubbing the cleanser on your skin will produce more discomfort and stress for your acne but it's a good idea to make sure you massage the cleanser well to get the dirt out especially when you wear makeup everyday. Do you not just apply the cleanser on your skin while you sit and wait for it to do the work (because it won't). You have to learn to gently scrub to get in there. If you have cystic acne, it's a good idea to avoid too much friction and abrasiveness so avoid having too much things to remove on your face (eg. makeup).

7. Use a good face cleanser. You do not need to blow your money to get an effective cleanser. You just need one that gets everything off. Also, be wary of the ingredients. Avoid fragrance and alcohol because they do not work well with sensitive skin.

8. Include BHA (beta hydroxy acid) in your routine. Beta hydroxy acid helps with exfoliating your skin. I know scrubs do that but most BHA topical creams do not need friction as you just leave it on and it causes your skin to peel. A popular BHA that we often see is salicylic acid. It's enough to get one in 1%-2% concentration because something stronger can over dry and irritate your skin. Also, take note of the fact that BHA only is effective at a pH 3 to pH 4. If your cleanser or cream has salicylic acid and it doesn't seem to do what it's supposed to do then keep in mind that you're not allergic to it (if you're allergic to aspirin, do not use BHA), that you're letting your skin absorb it, and that it's at a pH of 3-4. (Source)

9. Watching our diet and of course, drinking lots of water. Stuffing ourselves with natural foods that are filled with vitamins and nutrients will really benefit us. If your internal system is working will, it will reflect on our external surface self. Include vitamin A, C, D and of course, antioxidants in your diet. Avoid junk. Drink 8+ glasses of water each day. It keeps our body regulated by flushing our toxins out and hydrating us. It will maintain your body's natural moisture so you don't overproduce it on your eyes (to prevent puffy and dark eyes) and your skin (to prevent an oilier face). Try it and you will see and feel a difference.

10. Keeping your face balanced. We all have different skin types: oily, dry, sensitive, acne prone, combination and it's really important to get to know how your own skin works because what works for others does not always work for you even if you do fall in the same category as them. Our body has a balancing system. If an area is harmed or distressed, the body quickly works on that to heal and calm it down. The same applies with our faces.We all have our hormones and as much as we want to blame everything for our skin condition, hormones are the direct cause of our acne. We all function differently and that's why we get envious if somebody doesn't break out despite the crap they eat or do to their face. It's because of their hormones. The foods and the environment aren't the direct causal factors of acne. They just correlate with our hormones. This does not mean that you should completely do whatever the heck you want and not expect it to do harm to your body but at any case, they do affect your hormones and hormones affect your overall biological function. So do your best to keeping your body balanced. I mean people automatically think oil=acne but it's actually the overproduction of oils (due to hormones) that causes it. What will not do you good is you completely strip away the moisture out of yourself by not drinking water and using products that dehydrate your skin because your hormones will respond to produce more oils. So if you have oily skin, try to use a light moisturizer and not go insane with drying products. If you have dry skin, find ways to moisturize your skin because if your skin dries out even more, overproduction of oils will occur and we all know what that means. (Source)

Good luck. I hope that you learned something.

[TIPS] How To Prevent Dry/Chapped Lips

1. Do not lick your lips. Sometimes, it's a habit that we do to moisturize our lips when they feel dry in case there is no balm in hand or we do it as automatic emotional response to anxiety. However tempted you are, try to be conscious of those situations and not do it because not only will it make it dryer but constant licking can cause a rash on your upper lip and broken skin on the corners of your lips.

2. Do not peel or pull any loose dead skin. I tend to do this because I'm very obsessive when something is off and when I'm anxious, I tend to fiddle around. Anyway, it will just cause you to bleed and it hurts. It will not at all cure the dryness but just add on irritation.

3. Do not over use your lip balms and glosses. As much as you can, try to keep the product on your lips without over applying every hour. For some reason, I stopped lip products for years and I have not had a problem with chapped lips until now that I'm obsessing over lip products again. Maybe my lips get used to the moisture and it stops the natural moisture from coming.

4. Exfoliate at least once a week. Take good old extra virgin olive oil and granulated sugar to create a paste. Loosen and soften the dry lips on your lips by letting Vaseline or oil soak in for 5 mins - 10mins. Once it's absorbed, scrub the EVOO sugar paste gently on your lips until all the nastiness is off.

5. Product awareness is key. Check the ingredients and see if you're allergic to anything that you're putting on your lips. Avoid alcohol since it will just contribute to your lips drying.

6. Make sure you're getting your vitamins and water. Not just for our lips but for our entire body. We get our moisture from natural oils and I cannot stress enough how important our diet plays with our skin and body.

Fall/Winter Facial Skincare and Makeup Trends

Feel amazing in your skin.
Since summer has ended, some are a little down about their fading sun-kissed tan and not at all looking forward to the pale, ashy and pasty skin that the colder weather brings. Instead of booking tanning appointments or purchasing tanning lotions to bring some colour on yourself, try to renew and rejuvenate your skin. A brighter and glowing face does not require the sun. Exfoliate once or twice a week and moisturize well. The sun is still there despite the temperature change so protect with a broad SPF on expose areas. Don't pack on too much face makeup. If you need coverage, use a tinted moisturizer or mix a bit of foundation in your favourite moisturizer or settle with just concealer. It's best to let your skin heal. Focus on natural-looking blushes and highlight to enhance the skin and not mask it. Aim to have flushed cheeks from the cold temperatures. Skin is the number one priority regardless of the season.

Take your pick: smoldering eyes or bold lips?
Just because your coverage and face makeup is minimal, it doesn't mean that you won't be able to play with colours. A bright complexion really brings out the eyes and the lips. For the eyes, plums, golds, dark neutrals, coppers, olive green, and turquoise are the best fall colours if you want the bold look. Have fun with it and aim for a smokey effect. Do not forget to use a really precise eyeliner and mascara to make others draw their gaze at you directly in the eye! If you're like me and prefer to be minimalist in eye makeup, then the lips are your focus. Just choose a darker range of pink, red or orange when picking your shade. The most popular right now are wines, plums, berry shades and burnt orange lips. Remember that you should only pick one or the other and never both at the same time. If you opt for the eyes, find a nude pink or just wear a clear lip balm or lip gloss. If you want those vampy or fall lips, a neutral eyeshadow color or just plain eyeliner and mascara will do the trick.

[DIY] Create your own bold fall lip colour.

Got a spare black lipstick from last year's Halloween that you probably won't ever use again? Before you throw that out, I'll show you a way to incorporate it in your everyday makeup to create one of fall's most popular trend: dark, vampy and bold lips. These wine, plum, and berry colours can accentuate your complexion and facial features if worn correctly. Instead of ignoring your go-to summer lipsticks to make way for your new purchase of a vampy colour for fall, here is a fun way to save money and experiment to find the perfect colour for you.

Materials:

A dark lipstick (black, purple, or blue)

 A bright lipstick or a shade that you don't like (frosty or pale colours work well)

 A lip brush

I have an NYX Round Lipstick in 530 Penelope which looks like this:

It doesn't look good on the lips because it isn't as rich as I personally would like for my lips which results in not being able to cover the pigment on my lips and their creases well. Instead of never wearing it again, I decided to experiment and mix it with some fun and bright colors.

So this is what I did:

 

A: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in 013 Smoked Peach (Matte Finish)
B: NYC Ultra Last Lipwear in 417B Flirty
C: Milani Color Perfect Lipstick in 07 Rose Hip
D: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Fire & Ice (Creme Finish)

E: Avon Slick Tint for Lips in Glossy Wine

What I do is apply a generous amount of my chosen lipstick and then I take a lip brush to apply the black lipstick on the lips and blending it well. Although it isn't very practical in convenience, you can definitely control the shade with the amount you put and you save money without going through the hassle of buying a lipstick. Happy mixing. :D

[REVIEW & SWATCHES] Wet N Wild Silk Finish Lipstick

Review:
As I have stated, I am addicted to lipsticks. Since I am very cheap, I tend to splurge on the ones that are inexpensive or are on sale. These Wet N Wild Silk Finish Lipsticks are $1.57 at my local Walmart. Since they are cheap, the saying 'you get what you pay for' does apply in terms of staying power. However, they will surprise you. They are decently pigmented and they aren't drying. Even if they won't last the entire day, they don't come off within 2-3 hours either (unless you're going to eat a big meal). Mine stays in decent condition if I dab it on my lips (tapping or dabbing motion) before applying it completely (sliding motion) and blotting it well even without a liner or setting my lips around the edges. I think the colour selection is great and I will probably purchase more that are appropriate for the season since they are really inexpensive. If you are somebody who likes bold and dramatic lipsticks or if you are starting with makeup for yourself (not on clients), I recommend these since they are super fun especially for the price. In Canada, I think they can be found in Zellers and Walmart. If you are in the U.S. please refer to their website.

Swatch Guide:
521A Fuchsia with Blue Pearl: This is very true to its name. It has a blue undertone (great for skin with cool undertones). It's a bright fuchsia with blue shimmer that will brighten up your complexion and make some facial features pop.

552A Just Garnet: If you swatch this on a fair skin, it will look very similar to 521A but on actual lips, it's a lot closer to red than pink. It's a deep berry colour that's almost like wine with red shimmer. Perfect for fall for vampy lips trend!

502A Dark Pink Frost: I always take a risk with these shades. Since there were no samples to see how the swatches look, I never know if the colour will wash me out due to the frosty finish. This colour is cross between a nude pink and a hint of purple. It isn't as frosty as I thought and it doesn't look pale. It has gold shimmer and I think it's subtle way to upgrade a nude look.