Wednesday, January 30, 2013

January 2013 Haul (Glory of New York, Revlon, BYS, Yves Rocher, Peripera, Belo Essentials, Moringa O2, Hello Kitty!!!)


Hi everyone!

It's already the second to the last day of January today! Seems like just yesterday when I was too busy preparing for NYE! Whew! Anyway, let me share with you my first ever haul for 2013. It's a mix of skin care products and cosmetics, as usual! But you're going to see new products here, so, let's get it on!


1. Belo Essentials Day Cover Whitening Vitamin Cream with SPF 15 (50ml)
Price: Around P185.00 from Mercury Drug

Last December, I bought the 20ml, the one in the small squeeze-tube packaging. I liked it because it glides on smoothly on the skin, doesn't have a greasy finish, contains SPF and your skin can really benefit from the ingredients. That's why when I ran out of my first tube, I decided to buy the full size that comes in a jar. Another reason why I tried this is because I love the Belo Essentials Night Therapy Whitening Vitamin Cream which I recently wrote a review here. Review for this one coming soon!



2. Moringa O2 Malunggay Herbal Facial Toner (100ml)
Price: P87.00 from SM Hypermarket

 I was in search for a new toner to try next after emptying two full size bottles of the Belo Essentials toner. It was a good toner  but I thought that there's just something missing. So, when I went to the Supermarket earlier this month, I went over the skin care section to find a new toner and this Moringa O2 Malunggay Herbal Facial Toner caught my attention because of the word malunggay. I read the ingredients and the benefits and I was sold. It's affordable so, why not try it! After a couple of weeks of usage, I can really say that I'm in love with it! Review soon! :)


3. BYS Concealer in Light (12ml)
Price: P199.00 from SMNE Watsons

The reason why I bought this is because of its consistency. When I swatch it on the back of my hands, I thought it's thick and heavy-duty and looks really promising. However, when I tried it to conceal my imperfections on my face, I found out that it dries up very quickly that you will really have a hard time blending it. I'm still figuring out how to use it properly or if it's just the way it is. Review soon!



4. Yves Rocher Lip Balm in Strawberry Flavor
Price: P80.00 (sale) from Yves Rocher at SMNE

I honestly don't know why I bought this! Haha! I still have my The Body Shop lip balm and Nanny Rose's Queen Bee lip balm but still, I purchased this. Maybe because it was on sale from P200 to P80 only plus it's Yves Rocher! Haha! But seriously, when I walked out from Yves Rocher after paying for this, I was confused why the heck did I bought this one! Haha! :) Anyway, it's all good! I love its scent!



5. Peripera My Skin Pact SPF30 PA++
Free, received it as a gift!

Our Korean friend came to visit us here in the Philippines and he gave us a few pasalubong from Korea! One of those is this Peripera compact powder. The one in the compact actually belongs to my Mom and mine is the one in the refill. Haha! I just wanted to show you how the compact looks like. Yes, the compact powder comes with a refill already. Review soon! :)



6. Peripera My Color Lips lipstick in No.15
Free as well!

This is also one of the pasalubong we received from our Korean friend. I am absolutely in love with its packaging because it's very fancy and girly. I haven't tried it out yet. Review soon!



7. Glory of New York Cosmetics
From Glory of New York Philippines

Awesome lipsticks and eyebrow/eye pencils from Glory of New York - Philippines! Review for these products soon! BTW, the lipsticks are awesome! :)



8. Revlon Products from Stuff N' Shop
Visit Stuff N' Shop on Facebook or add them here

* Revlon PhotoReady Airbrush foundation in Nude
* Revlon Beyond Natural Defining Mascara
* Revlon Beyond Natural Smoothing Primer

Watch out for the reviews soon! :)



9. Hello Kitty Studs!
Free, gifts from my nieces!

My nieces from Tagaytay paid us a visit here in Quezon City and they gave me two pairs of Hello Kitty earrings! I love it and they even got two of my most favorite colors ever! :) Thanks, babies!




That's all of it! I promised you a lot of reviews for most of the products mentioned here and I am going to keep my promise so please stay tuned. :) Talk soon!


Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)
-ivsc-

Monday, January 28, 2013

Review: ORYSPA Rice Bran Rejuvenating Oil with Jojoba and Green Tea Neroli Oil



Nothing beats the feeling of being pampered and relaxed! I love having full body massage especially when both my body and mind are stressed from a lot of things. The feeling is just heavenly. For me, a body massage will not be completely satisfying if the body/massage oil is not good. I love body oils that can really help relax and pamper me and my skin. I usually go for oils that have minty feel and scent! Minty oil plus a good body massage is equal to CLOUD NINE!

Few months ago, I found an oil that is not minty but almost has the same effect. I found the Oryspa Rice Bran Rejuvenating Oil. It doesn't contain any peppermint nor has a minty scent but it has this cooling effect which at the same time can make you feel warm. It's unexplainable... even its scent! It doesn't have a minty scent but it has the same sensation of a peppermint whenever I smell it. I hope you'll understand. Haha!

All products from Oryspa are made of Rice Bran oil, hence the name Oryspa because the scientific name for rice bran oil is Oryza sativa. Rice bran oil are also used as a natural beauty treatment since it contains over 100 known vitamins, minerals and antioxidants (according to Wikipedia). Oryspa Rice Bran Rejuvenating Oil contains Jojoba Oil and Green Tea Neroli Oil.

Jojoba oil is used as an additive to different cosmetics, hair and skin care products such as lipsticks, shampoos, cleansers, lotion, etc. It is used for skin acne, chapped skin, sunburn and psoriasis. It is also used to help soothe unclog hair follicles so it is a good product to use for the regrowth of the hair.

Green tea is not only good for the health but is also good for your skin. It is an antioxidant as well and it helps in the rejuvenation of old skin cells. Neroli Oil comes from the blossom of the bitter orange tree which has an aromatic but soft scent. It is widely used in perfumery. It's nontoxic, nonirritant, and nonsensitizing (according to Wikipedia).

So, all in all, this rejuvenating oil from Oryspa is an amazing product because of its benefits. Not to mention the feeling and sensation that you'll get when you use it and its soft aromatic scent. It says on the bottle that you can put a few drops of the oil in your bath water or apply it to your skin after a bath. I always go for the latter. Right after taking a bath when my skin is still damp, I immediately massage the Oryspa Rejuvenating Oil onto my skin (whole body) because oil is best absorbed when your skin is still damp. Talk about total moisturization! However, I usually use this oil only at night time after freshening up and before going to bed. This can give you that warm feeling and considering the weather here in the Philippines during the day, I think it's not best to use it at day time. BUT at night, it's heaven when you use it! You'll sleep soundly and you'll definitely feel relaxed and rejuvenated! :-D

You can also use it for reflexology and shiatsu massages. I had the masseuse use the Oryspa Rejuvenating Oil one time when I had a full body massage and everything was just perfect! It is definitely a stress and pain relief oil.

Another good thing about this is it's not greasy when you apply it. No sticky feeling. It's absorbed by the skin but still a little slippery but not sticky/greasy. I sometimes use it as a makeup remover because the owner of the Oryspa at SM North Edsa told me she also uses it as a makeup remover. So, she gave me an idea and I tried to use it as a makeup remover and it did a good job in removing my makeup.

I bought this for around P240 (forgot the exact amount!!!) from the Oryspa stall at SM North Edsa. It's located in front of Kangaroo Jack near the escalator, 2nd floor.

Try it, it's good! :D


Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)
-ivsc-

Review: Belo Essentials Night Therapy Whitening Vitaming Cream


I've been using the Belo Essentials Night Therapy Whitening Vitamin Cream for two months now and I think that amount of time is already enough to write a review about the said product.

You know how much I love the Snoe S Skin Stem Cell Sunblock Cream. It's what I use as moisturizer for both day and night. I've been using that for about 4 months already and I thought of switching to another product for a while since I think my skin is getting immunized to it already. I always do that for my skin care routine. Not just for my moisturizers but as well as for my facial cleansers and toners. Every 3 to 4 months, I switch products then go back to the product that I've loved before. Our skin changes over time so we need to change our skin care regime regularly.

Anyway, after religiously using my favorite Snoe S Skin Stem Cell Sunblock Cream for 4 months, I decided to try new moisturizers. On the day when I finally ran out of my Snoe S Skin Sunblock cream, I didn't have the time to visit the mall to purchase new moisturizers. I thought "Darn! I don't have a night cream to use! Nooooo!" It's a good thing that my Father asked us to go to the nearby Mercury Drug to buy midnight snacks! When we got there, they all looked for snacks and I immediately went over to the skin care section. I was looking for a night cream and the Belo Essentials line caught my attention. I still have my toner that time and I was thinking of buying my new day cream the next day at the mall so I just bought a night cream so that I can already moisturize my skin that night. I grabbed the Belo Essentials Night Therapy Whitening Vitamin Cream. I bought the full size jar that contains 50g of the product. The one in the tube that contains 20g of the product wasn't available that time so I had no choice but to buy the full size even though I was just going to try it out for the first time.

So, when we got home, I quickly cleansed and toned my face since it's getting pretty late already. Then I used my newly bought night cream from Belo Essentials and you know what? I loved it!

Product Name: BELO ESSENTIALS NIGHT THERAPY WHITENING VITAMIN CREAM
Price: *to be updated, I forgot the exact amount!*

It comes in a sleek white jar with metallic blue lining on the edge of the lid. The blue color indicates that it is their night cream because the one with the pink lining and pink lettering is the day cream. 



It comes with a blue spatula which is a plus factor because with that, you don't have to dip your fingers directly into the product when you use it. It's very hygienic. However, don't forget to clean the spatula after using it because putting it back in the jar after using without cleaning it will just defeat the purpose.



The jar also has a stopper to avoid the cream from spilling or transferring onto the bottom of the lid so there will be no problem even if you accidentally drop it or when you put it in your bag when you travel. Another plus factor.



Even though I usually don't care about the packaging of a product, this jar is just absolutely awesome for me. It definitely is a super plus factor when you look at the product in general.


CONSISTENCY

The cream is thin, almost like a thin gel. When you look at the product, it's white but when you rub it or spread it, it becomes translucent then later on, it will blend onto your skin leaving NO white cast at all.




Other than its packaging, what I love about this most is the product itself. I just love its texture and consistency. Night creams are usually greasy and some are thick in consistency. The Belo Essentials Night Therapy Whitening Vitamin Cream feels light on the skin and it blends perfectly on the skin. It's not dewy nor greasy, and it has a matte finish without the dry feeling. Even though it dries up matte, you can still feel that your skin is moisturized and supple. After applying it, it's like you have nothing on your face at all. When I massage it on my skin, it feels good because of its gel-like consistency. It feels refreshing as you massage it on your face and as you buff it against your skin, it will be absorbed by the skin eventually and dry up without the sticky/greasy feel.



Notice that my face looks matte in the photo above but definitely doesn't look dry. That was taken after applying the night cream.


BENEFITS

The Belo Essentials Night Therapy Whitening Vitamin Cream contains Glutathione, Kojic Acid, and Gigawhite. All of these products can help whiten your skin. The Glutathione is the Mother of all antioxidants and both the Kojic Acid and Gigawhite not only lighten your skin but they help in correcting the discoloration of the skin and lighten the appearance of age spots. So, this product is a good one! It also contains skin vitamins that provides overnight moisture and radiance (as written on its box). The combination of the glutathione, kojic acid, gigawhite and the skin vitamins is called the DermWhite PLUS (by the Belo Medical Group).

Belo Essentials claims that this night cream lightens the skin safely in as little as 7 days with its DermWhite PLUS but it did not work in just 7 days... at least for me. However, my skin lightened since I started using it (after about three weeks of usage) but I just want to make sure that I was also using the other products from the Belo Essentials skin care line since December. As of the moment, the only Belo Essentials I'm using are this night cream and their day cover. The facial cleanser that I'm using is also a whitening product from another brand, as well as my current toner. Anyway, I still think that this night cream helped in lightening my skin even more. Around the second week of November, my skin darkened a little. My skin already lightened many months ago since I started using my Hollywood Style Whitening Face Wash but I stopped using it already and I got exposed a lot under the Sun since I go to school 5 times a week. The Snoe S Skin Stem Cell Sunblock Cream helped but still, the Sun darkened my skin a little. Thanks to my current skin care products, my skin color is slowly whitening again like before! :)


Anyway, I will definitely repurchase this night cream. It has a good consistency, good texture, sleek and hygienic packaging, and of course, awesome benefits for your skin! I forgot to mention that it smells really nice, too. Classic Belo Essentials scent. Also, it's affordable and not difficult to find. It's available at all leading department stores nationwide and at your nearby grocery marts and drugstores.

Have you tried this already? If not yet, will you give it a try? :) Talk soon!


Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)
-ivsc-

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Angry Birds Makeup Series: Part IV - Blue Birds

PART IV - BLUE BIRDS








Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)
-ivsc-

Black and White Bow Tie Eyes


My friend's daughter, Jessica, shared a photo of an eye makeup on my Facebook timeline and she asked me if I could re-create the eye makeup. Unfortunately, I can't find the photo anymore. :-( I don't even know who created that eye makeup. Anyway, credits to her! :)

So, the eye makeup is the same except it doesn't look the same! Haha! I mean, the original one is cleaner and the lines are smoother. Anyway, here's what I have created:

*Please excuse the messy and unruly eyebrow. I'm trying to grow back the hairs.*






PRODUCTS USED:

Black: 
Maybelline Lasting Drama by Eyestudio Gel Eyeliner
NYX Single Eye Shadow in Black
Ever Bilena Color Pencil in Black

White:
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
White eye shadow from the NYX Nude On Nude Palette

Brown:
Medium brown eye shadow from the Fashion 21 Color Set palette


I hope you liked it! :)





Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)
-ivsc-

Friday, January 18, 2013

Review: Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening


I used to ignore local cosmetic brands because I have this mentality that cosmetics made locally are not really worth my money. Although they are affordable, I still think it's not worth buying them. However, when I started exploring and trying different makeup brands, eventually I realized that not all local cosmetics are that bad. In fact, some of the local products are really good! There's the Ever Bilena Matte Lipsticks, Fanny Serrano Two Way Powders, Eye shadows from different local brands such as Fashion 21, Ever Bilena, Careline, and many more! As time goes by, I started to discover more and more good-quality local products! Some are a little expensive but most of those products are pretty affordable.

Other than discovering good-quality local products, I also noticed that BB Creams are getting more and more popular. The market for BB creams is getting hotter and hotter! Whenever I visit malls and drugstores, I always see BB creams from different cosmetic brands! Fanny Serrano and Ever Bilena are just two of the local cosmetic brands who recently released their very own BB creams. The first that I bought was the one from Ever Bilena... well, because it's cheaper! :)

To tell you honestly, I wasn't really that excited when I found out that Ever Bilena finally have BB creams. Well, for one thing, the packaging or the design of the said product is not really attractive for me. I thought it looks a little cheap. However, we should all keep in mind the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover". I'm guilty! I judged the product based on how it looks like but when I finally tried it out, I buried the hatchet between me and the appearance of the EB BB Cream! I'm not saying that it's the best BB cream out there because I haven't tried other BB creams, especially the ones from the high-end brands. All I'm saying is that I love this BB cream because it works perfectly on me and I like how it looks on me.




Product Name:  Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening
Shade: Oriental
Price: P 195.00
*bought from Mercury Drug (Sangandaan)*

I was actually skeptic at first to buy it because like what I've said, I thought the product appearance looks cheap. But when I watched one of Say Artillero's videos where she used this BB cream and mentioned she surprisingly likes it, I decided why not try it. I noticed din kasi in her video that when she applied it on her face, it looks good. So, I finally bought it and tried it out and like Say, I surprisingly like it, too!!!

The Ever Bilena BB Cream is available in two variants. The whitening and the anti-wrinkle one. I was actually planning to buy the anti-wrinkle one but it turns out that the shade doesn't match my skin color and the undertone is a little too ashy or beige for me. Unfortunately, there's only 1 shade available for each variants --- Natural for the anti-wrinkle and Oriental for the whitening one. So, I picked up the whitening BB cream and I was immediately sold by its shade and its texture.



The shade Oriental has a yellow undertone which is perfect for Asian skin. However, it's a little too yellow BUT it's not a big deal since when you buff it on your skin, it will blend perfectly. I personally like how it looks on me. It's just like my second skin. It has a creamy texture but it's not too thick. It dries demi-matte which I absolutely like because I'm not really into foundations and BB creams with dewy finish. If you have a normal to dry skin, I think it's okay even without setting it with powder. In my case, since I have oily-combination skin and I don't like having dewy skin, I still set it with powder.

Here's my Review+Demo for the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening:



The Ever Bilena BB Cream comes in a squeeze tube packaging which is great because you can control the amount of product that you're going to use.



It contains 50ml of the product which I think will last for about 4-5 months. You don't really need a lot of the product when you use it because a little goes a long way. If you have watched the video above, you'll see that a tiny amount of the product is enough to cover my entire face.

The coverage is light to medium. It's buildable --- another thing that I like about it. However, it cannot fully conceal pimples, blemishes and other dark spots on my face. It can conceal though the redness of my skin and my dark under eye circles so, it's still okay. If you have a naturally flawless skin, this will look awesome on you! (Unless the shade doesn't match you skin color.) This BB cream doesn't have SPF but Ever Bilena claims that this product will protect your skin from the harmful rays of the Sun.

Here's what Ever Bilena has to say about their Advance BB Cream:

A whitening, foundation and moisturizing cream all rolled into one! EB Advance BB Cream Whitening provides a flawless coverage while concealing blemishes and dark spots and protecting it from the harmful rays of the sun. With the help of its potent moisturizers such as Shea Butter and Vitamin E, it richly moisturizes your skin to make it soft and smooth.


Yes, this BB Cream is almost like a foundation already because of its texture and the flawless coverage that it gives. However, like what I've said, it cannot fully conceal my blemishes and dark spots. I agree that it is moisturizing because it leaves my skin smooth and supple. It doesn't cake and it doesn't feel heavy on the skin. It has a good coverage but it feels light.

Here are photos of before and after:



BARE FACE

APPLIED THE EB ADVANCE BB CREAM ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY FACE

Like what I've said, it's a little yellow but don't worry because it will eventually blend well on your skin as you keep on buffing it against your skin. Look at the photo below. It blended well on my skin.


MY FACE WITH EB ADVANCE BB CREAM 

As you can see, I have a lot of blemishes and I even have an active pimple in the photo. I really chose this time to take photos for my review to show how it works and how well it could conceal my pimples and blemishes. Based on the photo above, my blemishes are still peeking through especially my pimple. But as you can see, it concealed the redness of my skin and it lightened my dark under eye circles.


WITH EB ADVANCE BB CREAM SET WITH POWDER

After setting it with powder, my face looks flawless except for the pimple bump!


WITH COMPLETE MAKEUP ON



Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos after about two-five hours. I was at school and I totally forgot about it. My bad, sorry! So when I got home, I took photos before removing my makeup. The photos below were taken after a total of 9 hours.



Mind you, this is how my face looks like without retouching at all! I didn't even use an oil blotting paper. It's obvious in the photo that my face is already a little oily as well as my lower lash lines but I think that's because I'm wearing eyeglasses. The redness around my nose is showing already but my makeup did not fade out completely. I still look presentable! Hahah! Again, this photo was taken after 9 hours from application of the EB Advance BB Cream.



After 2 hours from application, my face still looks great! After 2-3 hours, I usually get oily on my t-zone area already but my makeup still looks awesome. That's why I love this product so much! It's affordable, the coverage is enough to conceal the redness of my skin, dark under eye circles and minor imperfections plus the staying power is pretty good as you can see in the photos above. After observing and seeing its quality and how it works on me, this has become my everyday and go-to foundation. The coverage is comparable to the Maybelline BB Cream and the 4U2 Forever Liquid Foundation but if I have to choose, I will definitely choose the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening just because it is the perfect shade for my skin color.

I've mentioned that this BB cream is perfect for Asian skin but that's only if you have fair-medium skin color. If you have deeper skin color and you are kayumanggi, then this BB cream is too light for you.

I also want to add that I didn't buy this because it's a whitening product. I don't really care if it will lighten my skin color because my skin care products are already mostly whitening products. Like what I've said in my video, if the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Anti-Wrinkle is available in the shade Oriental, I will choose that over the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening because I'm now planning to start using anti-aging products because I'm starting to see fine lines on my face and I am only 23 for pete's sake! :-(

I guess the downside about this product, other than it cannot fully conceal my blemishes and pimples, is that it contains Paraben which, they say, can cause breast cancer. :-/ However, Cosmetic Ingredient Review examined Parabens in 1984 and 2005 and they concluded in both times that parabens at low levels are not really a concern. The answer though to the questions about Parabens are not yet final but they say that Methyl- and Ethyl-Paraben is safe as regulated (according to the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Products).


SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

I recommend this product to the ladies out there who wants an affordable foundation that is light on the skin but provides a good coverage and can be used as an everyday foundation --- I'm talking about students and working girls. BUT that's if you're willing to use products with Parabens in it. Listen, I know they say it's bad for the health but like what I've mentioned above, low levels of parabens found in personal care products are not really a concern. I checked the products that I use on a daily basis and I found out that the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream whitening is the only product that contains Paraben from my everyday makeup stash. Whew!

If you are willing to try out this product, I suggest using your fingers for application. I've tried applying it with a foundation brush, a stippling brush, a flat top brush, and  my fingers. So far, the best for me is applying it with my fingers because it gives the most even, smooth, and natural finish. :)

Let me guys know what you want me to review next and if you have any questions, just leave it as a comment below. Talk soon!


Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)
-ivsc-