I Won The Beauty Junkee's 5th Ultra Super Mega Giveaway!!!

I rarely join contests online since I'm never lucky enough to win. I even tried to join a blog giveaway wherein the grand prize was an Ipad Air but obviously I didn't win, not even the gift pack consolation prizes (boo!). The first time I won something online was when I became The Beauty Junkee's Commenter of the Month for March. It was such a happy moment for me as I totally wasn't expecting to be picked. Ms. Martha's a very nice beauty blogger who really cherishes her loyal readers. I wanted to meet her personally and get the chance to share stories with her.

Finally met Ms. Martha when I picked up my beauty bag (she's so pretty!)

Fast forward to April, Ms. Martha posted her 5th year anniversary giveaway mechanics. I'm really a sucker for beauty products, and all her prizes were mostly great products from famous beauty brands so I couldn't resist not joining this super generous giveaway. There were a lot of mechanics to follow but I knew that winning this would be super worth it. I allotted 2 hours of my time to finish all of the said mechanics. 

One of the mechanics was to answer this question: What's your most favorite post by The Beauty Junkee? I thought long and hard for the answer as Ms. Martha really has a lot of articles worth reading. After much thought, below is my winning answer to her question. 

My favorite post by The Beauty Junkee would be the Fan Mail Fridays: My Rule When It Comes to Splurging on Material Pleasures. This post really had a big impact on me because I’ve been becoming a bit of a shopaholic lately. After reading your post, it suddenly hit me that I must not forget to save a big portion of what I have earned. This is why your advice, which is the 50/50 Rule, is such a great help for me. I must really thank you Ms. Martha for sharing your financial tips with us. The main purpose why I read your blog is because of your beauty tips and knowledge, but knowing that I also get to read useful life knowledge on how to handle money matters and other topics that help us take better care of our health and body, is more reason for me to be a loyal supporter of your blog. Happy 5th anniversary and more power to The Beauty Junkee!!!

The winners were announced early this June and I wasn't really expecting anything as there were about 300 people who joined and there can only be 12 winners. That's why I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that my name was also included in the list. My heart was pounding wildly the whole time afterwards. I won Beauty Bag 6 which is really great because most the products are stuff that I can use for myself. I also shared some of the prizes to my family members as well. 

I met Ms. Martha last June 22 at High Street's Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. It was great as I got to know her more and I even met the other giveaway winners, and some of them are also bloggers as well. Even Ms. Martha's family and cousin Ruth was there who was super adorable and entertained us the whole time. Ms. Martha really is super nice, and she even treated us to a drink from Coffee Bean (talk about generous!). She's really a beauty blogger to be admired and I'm glad that I found her blog.

Ms. Martha's cousin Ruth (she calls herself Mini Martha sooo cute!)

Here are pics with my fellow winners! Just grabbed these pics from their IG accounts as I wasn't able to take a picture using my camera wahh.

Photo grabbed from Marjorie's IG account

Photo grabbed from becomingsleek's IG account

Here's a breakdown of the prizes that I won. Click Read More to see the items!

Happy Skin's Peppermint Eye Am Here to Stay 24h Gel Pencil Eyeliner

I had been eyeing Happy Skin's Peppermint eyeliner for about a month now ever since its launch. I have always wanted an eyeliner in mint green color but cannot find the exact shade in brands being sold here in Manila. It was a nice surprise for me when Happy Skin suddenly came out with an eyeliner in this color. You would assume that I immediately bought this eyeliner while jumping with glee, credit card in hand to the counter. Well no, that is totally not what happened. What went down was one look at the price made me have second thoughts. Could I possibly spend P499 for an eyeliner in a color that I might not even get to use everyday? I decided to just hold on spending for what might yet be another impulse purchase on my end. 

Okay, after one month of indecisiveness, I finally caved in and bought the darned mint green eyeliner. Well, I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I would always try it on whenever I would pass by a Beauty Bar store. What's the use of stalking it when I can have one for myself right?

I just bought this eyeliner the other day and I can sincerely say that I love it to bits! Here are my thoughts on this wonderful product:

Packaging The eyeliner is a retractable pencil type of product. This is totally convenient as there is no need to sharpen the liner from time to time. As compared to other brands, the pencil is a bit longer than normal. This also means that there is a bit more product here as there is 0.5g of product compared to other brands that only have 0.28g.

Texture As stated in the description, this product is a gel pencil eyeliner. Most gel eyeliners are normally housed in a small round container wherein you would have to use a brush to apply the product to the eyelids. In this case, it's already in pencil form which is quite innovative. You still get the consistency and long wearing effects of a gel liner but it's now easier to use for application. Texture of this product is creamy and it easily dries up in a matter of seconds just as you let it set properly. The color is also very vibrant and applies evenly on the eyelids.

Swatch at the back of my hand

Longevity When it comes to the long-wearing effect of the product, does it really stay true to its description of being a 24hr gel pencil eyeliner? Well, this color is a little hard to pull off when put on top of the eyelids so I put it on my waterline to make my eyes look brighter. However, it didn't stay too long when put on the waterline as it faded away after only 2hrs of wear. So instead, I just put it on my outer lash line as it has the same effect anyway, and it makes the color much more noticeable as well. This way, the color gets to stay on for a longer time. I observed that the color starts to look a bit faded after 5 hours so I just retouch with the eyeliner. 

Applied on my outer lash line

Waterproof? This product is also waterproof as I tested it in running water after I did a swatch at the back of my hand. It's not totally smudge proof though as the color did fade away a little when I accidentally rubbed my eyes.

There you have it, a full-on review of my new favorite eyeliner. It really does brighten my eyes and I do receive a lot of compliments when I have it on. You should try it out as well to see the effect!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balms in Hibiscus and Pink Blossom Reviews

As stated in my earlier post, I got a free Tinted Lip Balm in the shade Hibiscus from Burt's Bees for attending their workshop. This is actually my second shade from their tinted lip balm line coz I already have the Pink Blossom shade 2 years ago as a gift from my cousin. I would be reviewing both of these shades in this post so that it would be easier to see the comparison between the two colors.

The Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm costs P650 each, and there are 9 shades of this product. It's a moisturizing lip balm with a hint of color when applied. This is a very good dual purpose product for gals who have dry lips and are not keen on applying lipstick. This product really helps hydrate the lips while giving it a small burst of color.

Hibiscus The shade of this lip balm is a reddish brown color, somewhat like the shade of Revlon Adore, except that this is on the sheerer side. Even though the color is sheer, it still shows up on my lips. I really love this shade as colors like these really suits my lips. My lips are highly pigmented and I'm so glad that the color shows up well.

Pink Blossom The shade of this lip balm is a light pink color, and it's also quite sheer as well. Applied on my lips, I can't really tell that there is much difference from my natural lip color as my lips are highly pigmented. It does moisturize my lips well, and I consider this as one of my MLBB shades.

What I think of both products:

Texture Application of the tinted lip balm is easy as the texture is smooth and creamy. It does feel hydrating on the lips and it keeps my lips moisturized for a good few hours. I just need to retouch if the lip balm wears off after about 3 hours on me. 

Pigmentation Color is quite sheer, but the hint of color is still noticeable on the lips. The color does stay on the lips if I don't eat or drink. I tried eating with the lip balm on and it got totally wiped off afterwards. Good thing that the ingredients are natural so I'm not worried if I get to intake some of the product.

Taste For the Hibiscus shade, there is no discernible taste at all which is what I prefer for the lip products I use. For the Pink Blossom shade, there is a weird plastic taste which I totally hate. It stays on for quite a while on the lips as well. I am not sure if all the Pink Blossom shades are like this, but it might be because the one I got was manufactured earlier. I'm not sure but maybe the current ones do not have this plastic taste anymore.

Below are swatches of both products on my lips so that you can compare. I am totally in love with Hibiscus and might be using this color more often nowadays.

Swatch of Hibiscus

Swatch of Pink Blossom

Top: Pink Blossom, Bottom: Hibiscus

Hope this product review helps you in choosing the right shade of lip balm. Till the next review!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Lavender Eyeliner: Essence Kajal Pencil in Everybody's Darling

Lately, I've been hooked on the music app Spotify. It's really cool that I can get to make my own playlist, and there are lots of different music genres to choose from. There are even songs that range from OPM to Korean to Chinese. It's like an all-in music application that any music lover would enjoy. You do need the internet to be able to play the songs if you download the app for free, but if you purchase Spotify Premium for about P130, then you will be able to play the songs even when you're offline. Nice right?

Moving on to the product for review, it's the Essence Kajal Pencil in Everybody's Darling. This is an eye pencil in a very pretty lavender shade. I just bought this product on a whim during one of my trips to the Essence counter. I was buying their retractable eyeliner when I caught sight of this eye pencil's lovely color. The price is super affordable at P79 so I immediately picked this up.

What do I think of this product?

Before purchasing this, I just did a swatch of the product at the back of my hand and it was the color that prompted me to buy it. I kind of regretted not giving it a trial run on my eyelids. The product is easily removed when accidentally wiped by the hands. It's not smudge-proof or waterproof at all. 

Application is easy though as a few swipes really makes the color come out. Also, if you're really really careful in trying not to hit your eyes once this is applied, it does last quite a few hours. For those with oily lids, this product might not be for you as this is prone to smudging.

Will I repurchase?

I don't think so as I would like something more long-lasting and won't budge when applied. The price point is quite affordable though and I don't feel super bad that I bought something not of high quality. For the price, I can do with the overall quality of the product.

Tip when applying

Apply it over black eyeliner. In the below photo, Everybody's Darling is applied on top of Majolica Majorca's Pearl Black Perfect Automatic Liner.

There you go! Maybe you've been looking for a lavender eyeliner all this time. I hope this post helped!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Revlon's Kiss Me Coral Super Lustrous Lipstick: Fiery Coral for Summer

Starting this year, the Super Lustrous Lipstick line of Revlon has cut their prices down by a hundred bucks. So instead of P450, you just have to pay P350 for a lipstick. That's really great news as the formula for this line really suits my lips. I went to the Revlon counter to check out the different shades so that I could purchase a coral shade. Coral has been my go-to shade this summer, and I wanted to add another one to my collection.

I kinda got sidetracked with all the wonderful shades and it was hard to choose. I also tried on the popular shades like Really Red and Cherries in the Snow, but in the end I still went with a coral shade. I really wanted to get the shade Coralberry but unluckily the Revlon counter I went to didn't have that shade. I finally decided on getting Kiss Me Coral instead which I don't think is a super popular shade, but it's no big deal as what's important is that the shade suits me.

Here's what I think of this lipstick:

Color Kiss Me Coral is an orange-red shade and the orange color is more dominant than the red. I believe that I made the right choice as I already have many red shades, and coral is definitely the color I'm keen on wearing right now.

Packaging I like that the packaging is plain black with gold in the middle as it looks quite luxe for the price. It's also helpful that there's a transparent area on top so that you can see the shade that you are looking for immediately. 

Texture The Kiss Me Coral shade is under the creme variant of the Super Lustrous line, and as the name suggests, this shade does have a creamy texture. This is a good thing as the color easily transfers to the lips, and it applies evenly as well so there's no patchy areas on the lips.

Pigmentation This shade has good color payoff, and one or two swipes can really bring out the color. The color stays on the lips for a good 4 to 5 hours. Once I start eating or drinking, then the color starts to fade easily and I would need to retouch immediately.

This is such a lovely color, it's definitely one of my go-to colors lately. It would be great if you get to try out colors like these as well.

Hope you found this post useful!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Majolica Majorca Perfect Automatic Liner in Hot Blooded Red (RD303) from the Eye Hunter Collection

Majolica Majorca has just launched its Chapter 40 Eye Hunter Spring 2014 Collection of products last March. Included in the collection are 2 new colors of Honey Pump Glosses, 1 new eyeliner called Line Hunter, and 2 limited edition Perfect Automatic Liners in the colors Hot Blooded Red and Cool & Calm Violet. What really piqued my interest were the Perfect Automatic Liners because of the lovely colors. If you've been following my blog, you would know that I'm addicted to eyeliners. The red shade is something that has to go into my collection as it's a really unique color.

Photo grabbed from Majo's FB page

Photo grabbed from Majo's FB page

Price The Perfect Automatic Liners cost P750 for 1.3ml of product. I observed that there was a recent price increase so the price went up from P695. Last March, they were having a promo of less P100 for every purchase of P400 worth of products, so I took the opportunity to buy the Hot Blooded Red shade while there was still a promo. I was able to get it at P650. There are a bunch of new promos out this April, so just click here to see what's on sale.

Packaging All Perfect Automatic Liners have the same type of gold color pen packaging. It's just these two new limited edition eyeliners that are housed in a dark purple color pen packaging instead of gold. As usual, the eyeliners are totally sealed when new to prevent any spill out and to avoid the eyeliner to dry out prematurely. You may check out my review of the Perfect Automatic Liner in BK920 from last year. To start using this product, take off the seals first and start twisting the bottom to let the product out.

Sealed inside the packaging

Product sealed at the front and back

Product ready for use

Color This is a bright strawberry red shade that will really make your eyes look more alive. When worn on the lids, I observed that the color looks a little bit reddish pink. It's such a pretty color!

Swatch at the back of my hand

Application The texture of this eyeliner is really watery which makes it twice harder to use than a regular liquid eyeliner. Lots of practice is needed to get the right amount of product on the lids, unless you're already a total pro at applying eyeliner. I do about two clicks of the product, then I apply it to my lids in one swipe. The tip is to swipe in only one direction. Do not swipe the eyeliner back and forth. Twist two more times if the product is insufficient. Don't overdo the twisting part as too much product may come out. It does take a few seconds for this to dry so don't open your eyes immediately after application. Good news is, once it's dry, it won't budge at all.

RD303 applied on the lids with brown eyeshadow

Longevity Once applied on the lids, this can withstand water and sweat. It's smudge proof too, but of course there's a limit to its greatness as well. If worn on the lids for more than 10 hours, then rubbing the product on the lids will cause the product to dissolve to flakes. Well, that means it can be removed without makeup remover, but I do suggest using a makeup remover for easier removal.

What do I think of the product? I totally love this because red is such a unique shade. It is quite hard to pull off the color though as it's really obvious when on the lids and people will really notice. Well, I'm not really conscious about that and I like to pair it up with eyeshadow colors that match. 

How about you, what do you think of this shade? Will you be able to pull off shades like these? Do share your thoughts! :)

Ciao!

Kat <3

It's Officially Summer!!! Turn Up the Heat with the Limited Edition Lippie Summer Collection from Happy Skin

Whew it's so HOT lately that it's so hard to concentrate on doing anything. Turning on the air conditioner every night has become a must, if not I'll be waking up all sweaty. Despite all these, I'm still thinking of turning up the heat! No I'm not crazy guys, I'm talking about the Turn Up the Heat Limited Edition Lippie Summer Collection from Happy Skin! These babies were just officially launched yesterday, and I coincidentally also just bought it yesterday from Beauty Bar. 

Photo grabbed from Happy Skin's FB page

This is my first purchase from Happy Skin, which is a local brand from the Philippines and the brainchild of beauty partners Jacque Yuengtian-Gutierrez and Rissa Mananquil-Trillo. I have heard lots of good things about this brand, but have never really checked out their items in any of the counters. The first time I did so was yesterday, and I can't believe I immediately fell in love with their newly launched summer collection lippies. These are limited edition by the way so better hurry if you want to grab hold of these products.

Turn the Heat Up Limited Edition Lippie Summer Collection includes 3 wonderful lippies inside the box. These are the Shut Up and Kiss Me Lippies in Summer Crush, Sunset Kiss, and The Morning After. These are my descriptions of the 3 shades:

Summer Crush is a lovely bright flirty pink shade.

Sunset Kiss is a fiery red orange shade. It's more red on the lips with a hint of orange.

The Morning After is a nude light lavender pink (mauve) shade. It can be an MLBB shade for some.

Let's take a look at my review of these lippies:

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Lionfish Review

I wanted the Stila eyeliner set very badly last Christmas as it was part of their holiday collection and it costs a great deal cheaper than buying an individual eyeliner stick. I just wasn't too confident on wearing colored eyeliners that time so I decided to pass on it. I'm really regretting it now as they're all sold out, and I don't know where to purchase them. Ohh well, at least I was able to get my hands on one of the eyeliners in the set. My friend bought the set, but she sold me the Lionfish shade yay!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Lionfish

Color Stila is really known for their colored eyeliners. Lionfish is a dark chocolate brown shade with brown glitters. It's really pretty and I think that the glitters sets this shade apart from the other normal brown eyeliners.

Packaging This product is housed in a mechanical pencil type of stick. Do take note that this is not retractable, and once you twist it up, it won't twist back down anymore. I kind of made the mistake of twisting it up too much and thank goodness I could still put the cap back on even with the longer stick so as not to waste any product.

Photo of the product

Price This Lionfish shade costs P750 for an individual stick. I got this for only P350 since I bought this from my friend who purchased the 5-pc set worth P1,750.

Application The texture of this eyeliner stick is really creamy so it's quite easy to apply on the lids. Normally,I just do one to two swipes and it has good color payoff already. Do wait a few seconds for it to completely dry out after applying it on the lids. 

Lionfish with brown glitters

Longevity True to its name, it really is a smudge-proof and waterproof eyeliner. I can wear this the whole day without it smudging on my lids. I've also tried testing it by doing a swatch at the back of my hand, and it really stays on even when soaked in water. Try not to rub your eyes hard though or it will result in minimal fading.

Applied on the lids

So that's it for the Lionfish review. I would really love to purchase other colors of Stila eyeliners as well. I do hope they sell another set soon for I'll surely purchase it right away.

Ciao!

Kat <3

Coral Love for Summer: Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Lipstick in OR520

I have always leaned towards pink shades ever since I knew how to apply lipsticks. If I look in my lipstick stash, there's an abundance of pink lipsticks compared to other colors. Lately though, I'm starting to gravitate towards coral lippies. Just in time for summer! Coral is such a lovely color for summer because most of its shades look really natural on the lips. You can always wear it to your out of town trips or beach outings. You won't look too made up either. 

How did I start becoming addicted to coral lipsticks anyway? It was New Year's Eve when I dropped by Rustan's to do some last minute shopping. Shu Uemura was on sale and I decided to check it out. I actually find their products really expensive, but for my love of Japanese cosmetics, I still decided to take a look at their counter. I wasn't really drawn to any of their products in particular, but I did notice their lipsticks because of the creative packaging. I started doing swatches on the back of my hand, and I realized that I did not have a coral shade in my stash yet. On a whim, even without trying it on my lips, I bought the Rouge Unlimited in OR520. It was one of my crazy impulsive shopaholic days.

Box of Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited

Price Regular price is P1195, but I got it at 30% off so I only paid P836.50. I figured that Shu Uemura rarely gives out discounts, so I guess this price is already worth it.

Packaging This product is housed in a semi see-through lipstick case. You can see the color of the lipstick at the top so it's easy to pick a shade if you have many colors of this product. In the pictures, this may seem to look cheap because of the plastic packaging, but in reality it's actually very luxe, and the plastic is quite thick and the lipstick does have some weight to it. It's really something that you'll be proud of taking out of your bag.

Rouge Unlimited OR520 lipstick

Close-up Shot of Rouge Unlimited OR520

Color OR520 is actually a very light coral shade. It's totally different from the swatch on the back of my hand to the color that came out when applied on my lips. On my hand, it came out a bright coral orange. However, on my lips, it's more subdued and looks like a light coral shade. I consider it my MLBB shade as it looks really natural on me, and I'm sure that this would suit any skintone. I kinda felt disappointed at first, and I wanted to kick myself for not trying it out before purchasing. My lips are very pigmented, and I prefer lipsticks with colors that really show up. In the end, this has become one of my favorite lippies as I realize that I can wear it everyday and it brightens my face instantly. It's not too obvious that I have lipstick on when I wear this, but the overall brightening effect it does makes it one of my go-to lipsticks.

Swatched at the back of my hand

Texture This lipstick is very creamy, and glides on smoothly on my lips. I do one to two swipes normally. I swipe three times if I want to have more color payoff. Just make sure that your lips are not dry before applying this lipstick as this has a tendency to clump on dry skin, and may even settle into fine lines. It's best to exfoliate your lips first before application. 

Bare lips

Rouge Unlimited OR520 applied on lips

Verdict I'm totally in love with this product! I am now a certified coral lippie lover after purchasing this. I would totally recommend this to those who are looking for their MLBB shades as it's perfect for everyday wear. 

Hope you guys liked this post. Any Shu Uemura lipstick lovers out there? What colors have you tried and would recommend as well?

Ciao!

Kat <3