I know you saw the photo, but don’t jump on it just yet, I knowwwwwwww… my heart leaped in the same way when I saw these in Watsons a few days ago thinking they might be like really good drugstore matte lipsticks. I don’t slam products needlessly, but I do need to tell the truth. Don’t get me wrong, I love Maybelline products, especially their eye stuff…but this time, this time FOR THE FIRST TIME, frankly I actually want a refund. I feel totally misled.

So far, exciting, right…

The short swatches are one swipe, the long swatches were my best effort to get them solidly opaque after like 4-5 swipes…when I saw pigment separating that’s when I knew something was wrong. Sheer mattes that aren’t quite matte?! Plus, why don’t these build? Not all of them were complete flops, one sort of stood out, but I’ll save the best for last and begin with the ugh…hard to say, but really the worst one. I had high hopes for this orange. Whatever you do do not get MAT3, that’s this one

A heavy handed swipe on the lower lip, I’m not kidding. What the hey. It doesn’t even register bright orange, it comes on like a lip butter with less sheen.

Um, see pigment separating and settling into my lip creases? Le sigh, I was heavy handed with this orange and I even had concealer over my lips to help the bright shade it should have been…awful that orange is. It’s more like LOWrange.

MAT5 above is a pink toned rouge, way better pigment than the orange, but tell me…does THAT look matte to you? Plus the shade doesn’t feel BOLD it’s quite mehmeh. Mom says it seems as if they may have mislabeled these or the lipsticks went to the wrong labeling batch (BOLD MATTE??!).

Last but finally not the least, bolder and more matte (still not matte enough though) is MAT1, a slightly cool but also slightly coral pop of pink that is not too bright for MAC NC30-35 skintones to use. It strongly reminds me of MAC Pink Nouveau or even a slightly less bright Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent. I have a feeling THIS ONE would have registered completely matte in a drier country. I also purchased a more orange red hoping it would be a Lady Danger dupe but it wasn’t matte. That one was a lovely color kinda like Revlon’s Classic Fire and Ice but because it wasn’t matte I passed it on to my Lola who absolutely loved it, she didn’t mind that it wasn’t matte. I have no idea why the quality throughout the range is so inconsistent. Maybelline, I still love your brand to bits, especially the mascaras and gel liners but next time you label a range BOLD MATTE what I expect for my money is BOLD MATTE. These retail for PHp399.00 from Watsons and wherever Maybelline counters are sold in pharmacies and department stores nationwide. If you see these in store DEMAND for a tester before you decide on getting any of them. Did any of you jump on these ending up as frustrated as me or did I just get dealt a bad batch?

A possibly good enough or equally fantastic dupe for Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap  is available locally.  It was Anna of the YouTube channel Vivianna Does Makeup who mentioned using that to shampoo her brushes.  Liquid castile soaps for some reason, no derogatory angle meant, paint the picture of Amish origin for me which is a good thing.  They’re supposed to be 100% natural, completely free of nasties, and reliable cleansing multitaskers…not just for yourself…but oh yeah for your STUFF as well as an all around cleaner.  The way liquid castile soap is used is it’s to be diluted 1 part product to 4 parts water (a smaller part diluted is recommended when for yourself). I picked up these 2 variants of Dr. Woods Shea Vision Castile soap just  a few days ago from Healthy Options for ergh, how much…need to double check if Php275 or Php375, I’ll edit it in.  What I like about the Shea Vision castile soaps of Dr. Woods is they’ll strip the dirt and grime but rehydrate or moisturize non-greasily with glycerin and shea butter.   I got the peppermint scented one to match my J&C Spot Cleaning Solution which is also minty and I got the milder fragrance free baby formula just in case.  The baby fragrance-free formula is practically the same make, just without Peppermint Oil, and is a little less viscuous and more gloopy but works just as well.  The baby variant would also be wonderful if used as a substitute for detergent on intimate apparel like your delicates if you’re the sort that gets skin reactions to laundry detergent.  What I love is that these lather nicely even if they’re free of parabens, pthalates and sulfates.

 

INGREDIENTS: Purified Water, Saponified Coconut, Hemp, and Olive oils (w/ retained glycerin), organic shea butter, Vitamin E, (Peppermint Oil), Sea salt, Citric Acid, and Rosemary Extract. (Certified Organic by Ecocert S.A.)

For my makeup brushes I measured 2 overflowing caps of product diluted in 1 cup of water.  That 1 cup solution was good enough to clean about 10-12 powder and foundation brushes, the biggest tools which use up the most solution.  They rinse clean and when they dry what’s important is my brushes feel like they did when I first bought them.  To find out how I wash my brushes read my brush cleansing post here and just substitute this solution for the Joy solution and use the same method.  I use olive oil to clean my tiny lip and eyeliner brushes.   I’d been looking for a good makeup brush deep cleansing alternative that was more suited for facial brushes in contrast to dishwashing detergent like Joy Antibac (some people mind when they find out brushes were cleansed with detergent) and this range by Dr. Woods seemed to tick all the checkboxes.  Earlier, I used this to clean something other than makeup brushes.  Epic proof fail in the sense that I didn’t take a before shot of how grimy these two pouches looked already before I washed them, but believe me when I say it did the job well and they smelt so nicely of fresh peppermint when I held the dry pouches to my nose.

Today I used 4 caps of the Peppermint Castile soap in about less than a liter of water in a small wash bowl to soak my beansprout illustrated pouches which were due for a wash.  What I like about this for my utility pouches is Dr. Woods soap will remove any dirt but it won’t bleach the natural canvas of my pouches and it won’t fade the illustrations either.  I soaked these for about 2 hours then after I gently rinsed and hand wrung them of excess water then used a hairdryer to get them dry.  To check these out look them up at your local Healthy Options boutique.  This Liquid Castile soap stuff is therapeutic to work with because it’s so gentle and I now actually am mentally making a list of more stuff to clean…aha, I have one more brush set that needs work (rubs palms with glee).

After reading hundreds of blogs, talking to local professionals, and pouring over professional sites about skincare I was steadily becoming a self-righteous “skinnie” (with sensitive skin) believing full well that I probably knew a lot ’til I came across these references and felt like I got my ear twisted. I watched the following two videos (which I will link in of course in the post), firstly about skincare products with the unsinkable Caroline Hirons and secondly a Part 1 ITG cleansing video intimately done with world renowned and accredited facialist Isabelle Bellis. First off, let’s hear some skin principles and recommended products. Please know you shouldn’t be pressured to get THESE exact products just listen to what you need to avoid (although we would get them all if we could in a heartbeat wouldn’t we?) Caroline Hirons, the revered skincare brand expert and editor of the Beautymouth.com lovingly pushed presents her product picks to Nic and Sam Chapman aka the pro MUA Pixiwoo sisters on their BodyTalkDaily YouTube channel

“Trained in over 100 brands and a globally qualified advanced facialist.
Developed bespoke facials and trained teams internationally for top brands in the UK, USA and Far East. Now working as a Consultant to brands and retailers in the Beauty Industry. Advises brands on the route into market, where they should be selling and why and puts brands into those retailers.” – Beautymouth.com

To watch the full Skincare video with Caroline Hirons and Pixiwoo click here or check the embedded video here.

I was quite taken in by the conversation myself…most especially at the beginning when Caroline presented her favorite cleansing balm of all time (so far), the Emma Hardie Natural Lift and Sculpt Moringa (Malunggay to us) Cleansing Balm. It feels like a million skin experts and a half are raving about this. It’s one of those non-mainstream products that sends a flock of birds exploding from the trees when you mention the name, so many people now just, gradually since a few years ago, are singing its praises online.

“French born Epidermologist, MLD and Holistic nutritionist Isabelle Bellis has had very comprehensive and unique experiences in the beauty industry. Miss Bellis has a passion for wellness and a deep understanding of the complexity of the skin. She received professional training in France, Switzerland and Germany acquiring the best treatment techniques with world–renowned skin biologists and naturopaths. Isabelle had the opportunity and the privilege to meet and train with Joelle Ciocco, a world-renowned biochemist with 35 years of experience in the field of personalized skin care. Joelle Ciocco taught Miss Bellis the Epidermologue Method®, based on a scientific analysis of the skin which is premised on the fact that everyone’s skin has its own genetic history, life and oxidative stresses.”

The skincare brand Joelle Ciocco is what Sofia Coppola uses and that’s what got my attention first hand when I first played the video, the lovely cabinet filled with Joelle Ciocco skincare. Here Isabelle charmingly and soft-spokenly demonstrates the simple way to cleanse and it really only involves 3 steps…she doesn’t focus too much on the products and their names, it’s all about the method.

1. THERMAL WATER

2. CLEANSE, 3. SWIM (circular upward massage)

4. TONE

I like how straightforward and disarming Isabelle is about it, with her charmingly used English and all and I like how uncomplicated it is. To watch the ITG video featuring Isabelle Bellis’ cleansing method click here. It seems ITG has yet to put up a Part 2 video which probably includes her moisturizer and nourish steps following this cleansing regimen. Doesn’t it feel like you’ve just experienced a mental skincare overhaul? Have any of these videos shattered your perceptions on some aspects of skincare? I still think it’s good to consult with your dermatologist before making any drastic changes but it’s safe to say that these two lady skincare powerhouses only offer and recommend the best.

I don’t vote based on how sure I am that it will affect turnout…not even because of my confidence in system but because I can and it’s the honorable thing to do as a Filipino citizen.

Rings by ALDO

God carries my vote.

Just wanted to share with you a Mother’s Day pick and what I did with it   This was more of a side gift for Mom, my main gift was a bag.  I spotted this chic bamboo tabletop mirror in the window display of Make Room…I was walking fast and took several steps back.  It caught my eye and it just happened to be on sale at 25% off from Php595, so it ended up beig just Php446.00.  This isn’t my main gift and I decided to use it creatively to present the more expensive gift. For that purpose in itself the price was okay and I knew this was good because now I want one, too LOL. Prices on mother’s day gifts don’t matter by the way, that’s relative to where we are all at. What matters is you give straight from the heart and give her something you know will brighten her day.

The mirrror comes in a box with 3 parts that are really easy to assemble, the bamboo base, the stainless stem and the mirror with the joint behind it which you screw or twist onto the stem.  If you’re wondering about the lipsticks I used to personalize it just for today I used the Maybelline ColorSensational lipsticks I blogged about a few weeks ago…easily wiped off with tissue.

You’ll need a simple screwdriver to attach the base to the stem, I did it myself.  I personally think it would have been nicer as an oval or better yet a circle but it still looks great.  You can adjust the tilt and rotate it left or right! You may have to spritz the joint with WD40 though to make it move easier. Anyhoo enough material talk for now, it’s time to let our mom indulge in our hugs and kisses plus time, prayer, and attention. I pray God blesses each of your moms and don’t forget to make them feel special not just today but everyday. If you are a Mom, I praise you today…if you feel you aren’t a good one, recognize it but don’t dwell on it, your children don’t just need you deep inside they want you in their lives. Begin today! We’re all works in progress, just don’t wave the WIP flag. God loves you! Have a joyful day!