I have to say, one of my favorite past time is shopping. Even better? Shopping online! I mean, what better way to spend idle time, right? So imagine my glee when one of my favorite online shop chose me to give their site a test run! What a great excuse to go shopping! Before I get carried away with any more of these exclamation points, let me go ahead and show you the stuff I got from BeautyMNL (I've also provided you with a link in case you are interested in purchasing the same things I got):
I will also be posting my reviews on some of these products so watch out for those. BeautyMNL has become one of my favorite go-to site for my beauty purchases simply because of the convenience it provides to consumers like me (aside from your beauty faves being a click away, BeautyMNL also offer next day delivery and COD payment). I also love the fact that they carry products from a multitude of brands both international and local, and if you're into organic products (like I somewhat am), then even greater news! They carry those as well! Sometimes though you have to act fast as products can get sold out very quickly, but no worries if the product you're eyeing happens to be sold out. Just click the "waitlist" button and you'll be notified when that product is back in stock! Awesome, right?
Even as I'm writing this and linking the products I got, I find myself constantly wandering around the site looking for my next purchases so I guess I should warn you to proceed with caution; shopping on BeautyMNL's site can be very addicting! Ciao for now and don't say I didn't warn you ;) P.S. Like taking selfies (I know I do!)? Well, guess what? BeautyMNL has a #selfieMNL contest going on! Join now and get a chance to win a Printster polaroid of your pretty face and a PHP200 BeautyMNL GC! Just click here for the complete details. Good luck, ladies!
I have been wanting to try this product out ever since I first saw it on BeautyMNL, but I was also feeling a bit hesitant because I already have really curly hair and figured there's not much point in me buying the Beach Born Sea Salt Spray so it stayed on my basket for weeks until one night, when I was roaming around BF Ruins (Good Shepherd's Bazaar) with my brother and husband, I came across a store that sells cute swimwear (Ekai) and my eyes eventually landed on this product which was sitting pretty on a little basket in front of the store.
I shelled out PhP 180 for this 100mL Beach Born Sea Salt Spray bottle and I regret NOTHING.
I needed something that would tame my curls because when I let my hair air dry, it can't help but expand and become as fluffy as a poodle's hair (quick fact: I used to be called "poodle" in grade school by some pesky boys from my class because of my poofy hair) and I'm happy to say that this product does the trick.
First off, it doesn't really smell like anything so that's good. What I normally do after a shower is dry my hair with a towel and when it's not too wet anymore, I just spray it liberally all over my hair, making sure that the front part (the hair that frames my face) gets a good amount of spritz and then I twist them backwards just so they don't get frizzy. I also bring all of my hair in front (I bend my head upside down) and spray it all over to add a "lift" to my hair because as much as I want tamed curls, I do not want my hair to end up looking limp and flat.
It also says on the back that the Beach Born Sea Salt Spray can be used as a dry shampoo, but if you're curly like me, I wouldn't really recommend doing so because from my personal experience, my hair got really crunchy and hard and I can't even comb my hands through my hair. It was pretty uncomfortable since I felt like I haven't washed my hair for days (when in fact, I only skipped a day of washing my hair). It could also be that I sprayed a lot of the product onto my hair, but whatever. I'm not using this as a dry shampoo again. I will always prefer using this after a nice shower :)
Watch my YouTube video review of the Beach Born Sea Salt Spray and if you like it, give it a thumbs up! Also, don't forget to subscribe to my channel <3
Hi, guys! I have another beauty review for you and I feel like it's taken me a long time to put this up. Anyway, so I was running out of BB cream and thought to try out a new one and since I like Korean BB creams, I decided on Holika Holika, a brand that I have never heard of until this year. Holika Holika has a lot of BB cream products you can choose from and I guess one of their most popular is the Aqua Petit Jelly BB Cream, but I decided to try something a bit newer.
The great thing about the Holika Holika Sweet Cotton Pore Cover BB is that you get good coverage with a pea-size amount. That is if you're using your fingertips to apply this all over your face. Since I applied mine with a Nippon Pro Blend sponge, I had to use a bit more than just a pea-size amount.
I have never used a blending sponge to apply foundations and/or BB creams before therefore it felt a bit awkward to me applying the Holika Holika Sweet Cotton Pore Cover BB cream with my Nippon Pro Blend sponge, but I think I went about it the right way. The sponge helped me spread/blend the product evenly on my face and I sort of felt cleaner using the sponge than when I use my fingers (of course you have to always make sure that the sponge or whatever applicator you're using is clean)
I skipped applying face powder or finishing powder just so you guys could see the result after a couple of hours of wearing the product.
So during the time I was reviewing this, I didn't go anywhere. I just stayed home and did my regular house chores (washing clothes and dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc.). By around 8pm (I applied the BB cream at around 4-4:30 pm), I could see that the Holika Holika Sweet Cotton Pore Cover BB was still on my face, meaning it didn't completely wash out or faded, but I did also notice that my T-zone got a little bit oily which is only normal especially when you don't apply finishing powder on top of it and you don't retouch (with pressed powder) or use blotting paper.
Overall, I really like this BB cream and might consider repurchasing in the future.
As I've previously mentioned, I enjoyed using the Nippon Pro Blend sponge because it was quite soft and it made applying the BB cream easy. Plus, I felt like I wasn't putting germs on my face since I didn't have to use my fingers (and of course, the sponge was clean). I think that the Pro Blend Sponge Cleaner did a good job with cleaning my sponge since it didn't take me more than a few squeezes of the sponge before the makeup stain completely disappeared (although not from the sponge, I'm afraid) and all that was left was clear water. What I didn't like about the cleaner though is that it was difficult to get the product out from the bottle. Like squeezing the bottle won't do you much good. You have to continuously shake it down to get the product out and onto the sponge. I hope they have a pump for the bigger one (I saw on their site that their 100 ml bottle is the same as this little one) for easier use.
Here's my video review of the Holika Holika Sweet Cotton Pore Cover BB cream and the Nippon Pro Blend Sponge and Sponge Cleaner:
Just like many other people out there, I have a lot to be conscious about when it comes to my appearance; my teeth, my eyes, especially my eyebrows! I have sparse eyebrows so it's quite understandable why an eyebrow pencil, powder, gel, heck even temporary tattoo(!) is a definite must-have in my makeup bag.
Okay, so about that temporary eyebrow tattoo. It's something I have just recently found out about and the thought of saving time everyday getting ready appealed to me. Enter Etude House Tint My Brows Gel.
I've been hearing stuff about this particular product and thought, why not give it a go? So to the Etude House store I went and purchased their Tint My Brows Gel. I was both nervous and excited as the day came to finally try it out (a day where I had nowhere to be, but at home, safe from the inquisitive eyes of people).
So this is what it says on the back:
Directions:
1. After trimming the eyebrows without applying skincare product or makeup, apply a liberal
amount according to the desired shape of the eyebrow. (Apply a liberal amount to remove the pack easily.)
2. Dry for at least 2 hours. For stronger coloration, apply before going to bed at night and remove the next morning.
3. After drying completely, remove slowly starting from the tail of the eyebrow. (Do not remove the pack forcibly since it may pull out the eyebrow.)
4. Do not use a cleansing product (product with detergency) or apply force on the eyebrow area within 24 hours of using the product.
Beauty TIPs:
1. If skin is too oily or it has lots of dead skin cells, tidy up the eyebrow and surrounding skin before applying the pack to ensure good coloring.
2. If you make a mistake in drawing, correct or wipe clean with cotton swab or clean tissue before it completely dries out.
I got even more nervous when I saw the gooey consistency of this product, but I sucked it up (no, not the product) and proceeded to apply it onto my eyebrows.
To be honest, I wasn't very satisfied with my application since it looked to me uneven and I want my brows to be even. However, I found out that it wasn't that bad. Sure, the left brow looked a bit thicker than I would've wanted it to look, but it's nothing that I can't live with.
Peeling it off was surprisingly easy. Not much eyebrow hair got snagged and the end result looked actually good.
Okay, to be totally honest with you guys, I redid the whole process after three days because I felt like I made a mistake the first time I applied this Tint My Brows Gel. So on the first try, after a couple of minutes of peeling it off (and having this photo taken), I got bothered by the bits and pieces of leftover peeling stuck on my eyebrow hair so I stupidly went to get a piece of cotton, wet it a bit, and wiped off the leftover peelings with it. I guess you shouldn't do that because it left my eyebrows looking greenish and just plain weird. I had the misfortune of having to go out after that (because I needed to meet my brother at the mall) and while I was browsing through the makeup department, I swear all the saleslady I came across was suggesting eyebrow products. I'm guessing it was THAT obvious that my eyebrows were in a state of despair.
So I tried it out again, this time I was careful not to make my eyebrows look too thick and I definitely did not try wiping the excess peel-off with wet cotton. Needless to say, the result was better the second time around. Below are a series of photos I took for 4 consecutive days just so you guys can see and compare. By the way, if you want to know how my eyebrows look sans makeup, please watch the YouTube video review I did on this (which I will also paste at the end of this post).
And then here are days 5 to 7:
I don't know if you can see much difference from Day 4 up to Day 7. I did notice that the tint on the tail end part of my eyebrows completely faded whereas the tint on the part of my eyebrows near the inner corners of my eyes did stay up to today, my 7th day, albeit barely noticeable (but upon closer look, you can tell). Overall, I am quite satisfied with this product and if like me, you have sparse eyebrows, you can reapply the tint after 4 days because after that, it's not going to be really noticeable anymore.
What I did when I saw some parts of the tint fading is just fill in those parts where the tint has already faded. It still saves you time getting ready.
So that's my review of the Etude House Tint My Brows Gel and I'm giving it 3.5 stars (I mean, it's not exactly their fault I have barely there brows, right?) and would consider repurchasing.
If you guys want me to review specific products, do let me know on the comment box. I'd be more than happy to oblige :)
Okay, so this post is looong overdue and I should've done it earlier, but things (crazy things, one of which I consider a wonderful crazy blessing) happened. Okay, so let me backup a bit.
Remember how I raved about the Megan Purifying Nose Pore Strips? Well, I also sent Lifestrong Marketing Inc. an email to commend them on such an awesome product and they were kind enough to send a bag of samples my way. It definitely felt like an early Christmas treat!
I did a video (my first for this blog) on it and even took loads of photos. Being the first-timer that I am, I tried to edit the video on iMovie, but for some reason, iMovie won't show the video on the Photos file. There were some photos that I have, but none of them were of the video I took. So I looked it up on the internet to see if I could "fix" things and then POOF! It became Coco Crunch! lol, I kid. Seriously though, ALL my photos AND videos are now lost in oblivion. I'm currently using the OS X El Capitan and it has this Photos app, right? I somehow tinkered with it and created a new file/folder without any of the photos I have and when I went back to the original file/folder, everything was gone. Like it just refreshed to a totally blank folder. SO, if any of you can help me, I would REALLY totally appreciate it.
That said, I had no choice but to create a new video. This time sans my face. Just the products and my voice in the background.
And here are some of the short reviews I have about the products:
Megan Hair Spa Nourishing & Straightening
I normally stay away from products that has the word "straightening" since I'm naturally curly and prefer to stay that way, but I made an exception for this one. It doesn't really straighten your hair as far as I can tell (or maybe it would be a bit impossible to straighten naturally curly hair with just a conditioner or DIY hair spa?), but it does make my hair really smooth and silky. It tamed my otherwise wild hair and I guess that should count for something, right? Plus, it smells so good. Another good thing about this product is that one packet is good for 2 to 3 uses depending on the length of your hair and I have long hair that reaches down to my waist, and I was able to use it 3 or 4 times. Yeah, I have thin hair. All that poof and volume is just an illusion created by the curls. But yeah, if it worked well for me, imagine how effective it will be on straight hair.
Pretty Secret Ginseng Black Detox Mask
This one has a funky smell that I'm guessing you'll eventually get used to. It's very soothing to the skin and after leaving it on for about 20 minutes, it felt kinda sticky even when I had massaged the remaining essence/residue on my face. Not a deal-breaker though especially since your face feels totally moisturized afterwards and you've nothing else better to do anyway except catch up on some shows on Netflix or something.
Pretty Secret Charcoal Black Detox Mask
This one is pretty much like the Ginseng face mask, but the smell is more pleasing. Slimy to touch and a little sticky, but cool and soothing to the skin. You also don't have to wash off the remaining residue though you may find that it takes a bit long for it to dry off so you'll definitely want to clear up your schedule for this or opt to apply the mask before going to bed.
Kustie Cherry Blossom Shower & Bath Gel
This is such a fun bath gel! It smells so good and the tiny flower petals inside are such a delight to look at and touch. I've only used this a couple of times therefore I cannot yet say whether the "lightening + brightening" claim on the bottle is indeed true. Aaand I'm already as pale as can be so I don't know if this can get me even fairer though I'd rather not look like I have lost all the blood in me. Lightening and Brightening or not, it wouldn't hurt to have such a fun bath product in your bathroom!
