I remember a time when I was little and my parents used to give me magic capsules to play with from the US. They were little pills that you threw into warm water and they’d pop in the water and grow into animal-shaped sponges. I recall being beside my 4 yr-old self with glee and I was quite excited to identify as fast as I could what animal each pill turned into. This fragrant gift-shaped holiday bath bomb by LUSH called Golden Wonder reminded me of that time and has just rekindled the delight I once had for bathtime magic in an actual bathtub. Golden Wonder also has a cute holiday feature, try shaking it to hear small bits knocking about inside that are part of the bath surprise (if you don’t hear anything don’t fret, it just means it got stuck), an action plainly in tribute of how curious kids shake their gifts under the tree.
LUSH Golden Wonder holiday bath bomb Php275.00, KEY INGREDIENTS: Sweet orange oil, cognac oil, and lime oil. Contains edible gold lustre and soluble gold paper stars.
“This isn’t a bath – this is an event ! We loved this ballistic so much, we decided to put one of our most popular perfumes in it, so that lots of people will enjoy bathing in it. Long standing customers will recognise the smell of Snowshowers shower jelly. “
Please note that it was not this sunny in the bathroom today in fact it was quite overcast outside. I had to color balance this just to brighten it up, and the video demo at the end of this had to be shot on vivid setting otherwise you would have hardly seen the colors because it was such a grey day. It’s important to note that in my experience I realized a LUSH bath bomb will not completely cleanse you because they’re different from the LUSH Bubble bars which are actually soaps you crumble and run in the bath. fOR bath bombs, you fill your tub, drop these in and WATCH, you can choose to watch it happen around you in the bath or wait for it to finish before stepping in. Bath ballistics by LUSH aka bath bombs provide a visual aromatherapy experience for tub time, kinda like tub fireworks…visual splendor, no deafening bang.
It’s supposed to be covered in soluble gold lustre but the one I got lost most of the sheen probably from sitting in the boutique for too long. Now, if you’ve got a Golden Wonder bath bomb of your own and still want to be surprised by what it does READ NO FURTHER and leave the blog now LOL. Because next up is what happens once you drop it into the tub. Read more to see find out what this Golden Wonder bath bomb does and watch the demo video after.
Could not resist posting this. I gifted the girl cousins who come after me with the Love wire bracelet I blogged abouta few posts back…and behind my back with love they volted in on Instagram.
Note this, practically all of these girls blog so I’m linking to them for your reading pleasure and simply because as the eldest ate of 29 cousins I’m super proud and love them to bits. One of the cousins who I also gave a Love wire bracelet to who is not in the photo is Stella, a budding young lady whose hand is not here but I’ll include a link to her blog as well ‘coz quite frankly…practically everything in it is amazing, and I can guarantee, considering she’s only almost 14, that you will be floored. All these young women will make you sick with smiles and positivity with their musings, joy, and faithful insights and they’ll practically drag the happy out of you so I encourage you guys to give their pages a visit. Merry Christmas!! I pray most of you spent Christmas with your families as I did. Today was such an awesome Christmas…I’ll be coming up with something special using the footage I took today. Hopefully I can squeeze it in before New Year.
Hi, everyone! To put it bluntly I just can’t sleep and later I won’t have the time nor peace of mind to post anything for you…in fact none of you may have a moment to yourselves to even be reading this post on this very day, but just in case some of you do have spare minutes I’ve left a little film for you to watch.
There are many traditional views on the birth of Jesus but digging deeper into the Bible has revealed some incidental aspects that may change many things about the Nativity story as most of you know it, but there’s nothing to be fearful of because these details will never change the things that matter most about the beginning of the greatest story ever told. I invite you to watch this lovely entertaining, informative and yet heartfelt video “Retooning the Nativity.” As Emma Thompson had to confirm with her lobster bedecked daughter in the movie Love Actually, “So there was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?”. Merry Christmas!
These aren’t new if you’ve followed my Instagram feed, but since the stream is getting such good feedback I figured I’d put it centerstage. Because I’ve not really prepared and gone out to buy giftwrapper this Christmas I’ve decided to make use of paper taking up space at home, like fashion magazines. In this case I’m working a lot using pages from an older issue of W magazine which is known for being a uniquely enlarged size. I cut and crafted Ferragamo inspired bows from standard glossy magazines for an accent finish instead of faffing around with ribbon this year.
For plainly wrapped gifts using brown paper bags, construction paper, or undyed handmade paper I purchased these cutely illustrated sticky tapes from National bookstore to accent them, about Php60 or Php70 per roll. Yes, I am still wrapping and so are a lot of people out there and the other batch that will be giving their Christmas gifts on New Year. Hope this post inspires you all to get creative for the ones you love, we can be economical but still do it with flair. Merry Christmas, everyone!!
I was actually having a chat with myself when the holiday season came rolling in and concluded that I’m finally over eyeshadow palettes. Nothing new popping up in new brand collections seemed interesting except for perhaps the “pocket-able” Urban Decay Naked Basics palette which I thought was genius save for one important fact, they didn’t throw in a matte taupe shade or shades you can alternate for brows (brow shades make any palette an instant win). I was Christmas shopping the other day at Rustans Shangrila Mall with Mom and finally got a much needed alone moment without her (so I could shop for her, which I did) but you know being joyfully alone during the Christmas season in a Rustan’s beauty hall can ultimately lead you to some awesome discoveries for yourself…like over at the Stila counter for example.
The Stila In The Know eyeshadow palette would make a pretty gift for a beauty enthusiast, a beauty blogger, or a makeup professional with a budding bridal makeup career which involves a nearly neverending use of neutral matte eyeshadows (which are also ideal for mature clients). I personally think that Stila is the next best brand to Urban Decay you can actually get here locally that reflects the same sort of young urban “it” vibe and there’s something more silky and creamy about their award-winning powder eyeshadow formulas. Another in the series of palettes they began releasing, like the “NaturalEyes” palette I blogged about, the In the Know eyeshadow palette comes with 10 pigmented matte shades, 6 of which are nearly identical to the Urban Decay Basics offering which includes a matte black, Ebony.
Oh, lest I forget (actually editing this in after having already published the post) the palette, just like the Naturaleyes one also comes with a Stila Smudgestick, a blendable waterproof automatic eyeliner in a lovely, rich deep grey shade called “halfmoon”.
The In the Know palette has won me over because unlike the UD Basics set this set also has a rust shade called Fire, a grey called Smoke, a vanilla shade called Air, and *drumroll* a very wearable taupe called Rain. The light and darker coffee-like browns included are also slightly more ashy than the ones in the UD Basics palette, thus making this work for brows as well. At Rustans, the Stila In The Know palette costs Php1750…just so you know locally there isn’t too big of a price hike in comparison to the price on the Stila website where it costs about US$39 which is just under Php1650. The great thing about this Stila palette is this one unlike the “Naturaleyes” palette last year, this has got a mirror…and that proves I think that they revised packaging based on consumer feedback.
What are the makings of what beauty-zapped people call a “holy grail” foundation? I’m talking about good, solid medium to full coverage foundations here, the types that “wow” you upon application, not a tinted moisturizer, or BB and CC Creams even which tend to slide off center into new categories. We are in a completely new era when it comes to makeup and skincare formulations. New and delightful finishes and textures pop up left and right and in different densities, too. However there’s no denying that the rise of THIN, light, runny bases with great coverage is upon us. We can already mention forerunners like Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid Foundation, or more recently now pretty popular, Givenchy Airy Light (Mattisime) Mat Radiance foundation…the one Ruth Crilly of AModelRecommends currently praises repeatedly. The demand for weightless, comfortable base formulas that cover as well as benefit the skin grows daily. It’s great to know that Shiseido, a brand we can get locally, have their own version. This is the undoubted first cousin of the Sun Protection Foundation which I love for daytime but can’t use often at night due to high SPF. It’s time for this other lovely base to step into the limelight…here on the blog. There won’t be much lecturing in between (I’ve obviously done it in advance) so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Here I unveil the light but smooth coverage that the Shiseido Perfect Refining foundation gives (with a light dusting of powder over T-zone, no concealer). Behold the requisite dramatic photo, highlighting its texture…Shiseido inspired obviously. Don’t let the black-and-whiteness of this first image throw you off. I just couldn’t resist getting all editorial about this, don’t you just wanna slap me now?
SHADE: O20 “Natural Light Ochre”, LOCAL PRICE: US$38.50, approx Php1650-Php1700 for 30ml, NON-COMEDOGENIC : SPF 24 (SPF factor seems to vary by location, UK has SPF 15/17, Mom got this in Japan) Shake before use. Comes in 18 shades in B-Beige, O-Ochre, and I-Neutral tones.
Taken before applying Laura Mercier setting powder over T-Zone
I first heard about this foundation by UK YouTube Beauty Guru fleurdeforce. Look at that awesome foundation match and meet my reluctant twin…I asked her to pose for the “before” photo and we switched shirts after (Ripley’s Believe it Or Not). It says on the box and paper insert that the foundation is supposed to be a semi-matte finish and it actually really is semi-matte the first time I tried it which was last week. I first tried it in an air-conditioned room which made the air drier and made all the difference. The only reason why I look a bit more dewy here is I’ve been moisturizing like crazy for the past 3-4 days to avoid getting “snowflakes” around my nose using overnight moisturizer and day moisturizer. That extra hydration slash radiance made the difference underneath the foundation so that’s why I mentioned earlier that a light dusting of pressed powder over the T-zone was in order for today.
After setting powder application over T-zone.
What actually truly MAKES this a holy grail product for me is the exact color, texture, and the fact that unless I’ve had an awful night in there’s practically no need for concealer in my case. I now take back almost every time in the past that I said I had a great base match, now THIS shade, O20 Natural Light Ochre, is a spot on match which really made me laugh out loud and almost jump through the roof when mom arrived and I tried it because I wasn’t even in Japan with her when she got this for me. I actually searched the product online checked out the shades, crossed my fingers and picked O20 which happened to be perfect. Mom was sweet to say nothing is by coincidence and she said “You have an artist’s eye and God helped you choose the exact one.” I’m safe in saying that nearly none of you will disagree with me on the subject of color. I wouldn’t recommend this for those with oily combination skin because you’d have to bat the shine away throughout the day with pressed powder but I do highly recommend it for normal sensitive/dry combination skin because it’s smooth, hydrating (but not greasy) and comfortable to wear. It’s in quite a dinky little black bottle and resembles an obese USB stick and contains 30ml of this marvelous product which is a standard amount for high-end foundations. Do you think I have a winner here? I most certainly do. Follow Shiseido Philippines’ Facebook Page for more updates and information.
Mom brought home these cute, dinky size nail polishes by CANMAKE in Japan. The lot of them don’t fail in spreading that bit of holiday glitz and cheer and make great stocking fillers. A few are sheer but build up well when layered but others like my sparkly blue jeans shade (yes, mine I say) are opaque from the first stroke. They’re from what I know pretty inexpensive, convert from ¥378 each (Php converts to approx. half the amount).
Mom got these from an IICOT outlet at a train station in Osaka but CANMAKE cosmetics is also available at Matsumoto Kiyoshi which is the Japanese equivalent of Watsons to us or Sasa and Bourjois in Hong Kong. She said you’ll find Matsumoto Kiyoshi, that familiar blue and yellow store, probably like after every 50 to a 100 steps and at almost every urban corner in Japan. More goodies from the land of the rising sun coming up, and soon, also fresh from Japan…the unveiling of my current holy grail foundation for 2012!
SAMPLEROOMIES!! Better be quick…I won’t give you too much to read because Sampleroom PH just uploaded new stock samples from brands like Shiseido, Laneige, and Davines. When I took this screenshot, the full size Davines Hair and Body balm going for 80 SR points had 20 samples, last I looked there were 18, and there’s even a small travel size pot of the Laneige Sleeping Pack overnight moisturizer, but I have that already. If you’re in for a top facial cleanser there’s none better than the Shiseido one…it’s my favorite, so I got that. Merry Christmas! If you haven’t spent those SR points, go get any of these here at Sampleroom PHnow or click on the image below to go there!! Don’t forget to log in or create a Sampleroom account…better hurry!!
If you love hunting through European skincare, as I do, you certainly would have heard of Avene’s range…with its powerful yet gentle sun protection formulas and hydrating mild cleansers. This cult drugstore brand for sensitive skin, until recently, was only available from drugstores abroad in Hong Kong or Singapore. It’s mentioned by the like of makeup artists like the UK’s one and only Lisa Eldridge (you knew I was going to say that name) and one of my aunts mentioned before that she was quite dependent on it. While I’m not quite sure which products from the range they brought in…checking from FB it looks like they brought in most of them.
They launched here at the end of November just shortly after Black Friday abroad but I didn’t hear about it either…a toast to ye old turtle now, aka yours truly. To acquire some Avene goodness you only need look in the Mercury Drugstores at either Shangrila Mall Edsa G/f, Glorietta 3 G/f, or Trinoma G/f! That is if they still have stock on hand. I’m sorry this update is 2 weeks late. I’ve not been a local feed reader lately. I’m really just not the sort with a feed I.V. plugged into me. However keep yourself up to date on all things Avene in the local scene by liking the Avene Philippines Facebook page here.
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