Hada Labo BB Moist Cream: Review

Hi everyone! This is my last post for the year and it's just going to be a full review on a Japanese BB Cream called Hada Labo BB Moist Cream with SPF 32 and PA+++. It's a 45g product made in Japan. I asked my family to buy it for me when they visited Japan earlier this year and I only got to use this product around late 2012 or something but I've been using it ever since (definitely more than 3 months). This serves as my everyday makeup base and I am more than ready to give a review on the product.

I have already posted a BB Cream overview video over at my youtube channel and you can check it out to see the actual color and how it applies. I also talked about the product in a bit so if you just want a quick overview of the product then you can just watch that instead of reading this whole post and save some time. Here, however, is my full review of the product.

a pump would've been nicer but this one's okay too

So I want to talk about the product in terms of its color, consistency, coverage, finish, lasting power and long-term effects.

COLOR:
I really love its color. It's a pretty good match with my medium skin tone. It doesn't have a grey undertone and doesn't oxidize to a darker shade even after applying it for some time. Once applied, this bb cream brightens and evens out my skin tone.

CONSISTENCY:
This bb cream does NOT feel sticky at all. I have oily acne prone skin and I hate face products that feel sticky/oily. This bb cream definitely receives a thumbs up in this area. The feel is almost watery but still has creamy properties. It's also easy to blend which is a plus for me. I just use my fingers to spread this bb evenly. I find that it's the best way to apply it as opposed to using a foundation brush or a flat top kabuki brush.

COVERAGE:
It doesn't offer much coverage, in my opinion. Some people might say this has medium coverage but I'm not really sure about that. I think it gives a light to slightly medium coverage. It's quite buildable but not too much cause I find that layering this products makes it look a bit cakey, if not done correctly. You definitely should layer this up by applying thin layers at a time. You might need your trusty concealer if you have a lot of blemishes and dark spots to cover.

FINISH:
I'd have to say the finish is what I like most about this bb cream. It has the best finish ever. It has a slight dewy effect but not over the top so oily skinned people like me can still pull it off. It makes your skin look glowy and healthy. Just don't forget to set this with powder on areas that you oil up the most like your t-zones 'cause this bb cream tends to oil up after 4 hours or so.

LASTING POWER:
Although this bb cream doesn't last for that long, I don't mind. It lasts for about 4 hours tops in an air conditioned environment without melting. I have never tried applying primer though. I don't make it a habit to apply primer everyday so I'm sorry if I can't comment on that area.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS:
Not only do I have very oily skin, but I also have sensitive acne prone skin. This bb cream, however, has never broken me out. And even when I do have break outs, this bb cream has never irritated my spots and all that. I have observed no significant change (on my skin- in general) after using this product for months.

This BB cream is definitely one of my favorite BB creams and I highly recommend that you guys try it out. When I first started using this, my family and friends commented on how livelier I looked.

I'm not sure if I still missed out on anything but if you have questions, just comment down below and I'd be more than willing to answer your questions. That's all for now. Thank you so much for staying and supporting me this year. Happy New Year everyone! God Bless us all!

Review: Nichido Juicy Lips in Raspberry Float

Hi guys! So I'm back from Singapore. I'm not sure if you've read my previous post where I talk about planning to go to Singapore. But anyway, here I am back fresh from Singapore. Now I originally wanted to do a makeup travel bag post but I'm still thinking about whether I should do one or not. Anyway, I'll be going ahead with the review of this product so do continue reading.

Nichido Juicy Lips in Raspberry Float has been my everyday lip color for about 2 months before. It's a pretty corally pink color that's really wearable and perfect for everyday use. The color practically brightens up the face without overdoing it and goes well with  neutral-colored makeup (which I usually use for everyday).

swatch

 on lips. forgive that one strand of hair that got caught.

So yeah, I love that I can use this for everyday. It's cheap, roughly 80-90 pesos, definitely under 100PHP. ^^ The only down side is that it is not that moisturizing so you may want to put on your lip balm first prior to applying this. I used to use my Nivea lip balm to prep for this but you may use whatever moisturizing lip balm you like. Also, the staying power is not that long so you may want to keep this in your handy dandy makeup bad for touch ups. But other than those minor details, this product is fine. All in all, I like this product. As I've said, I've used it for about 2 months straight as everyday lip color. Try it and share your honest opinions on the product. ^^

Swatch: Tony Moly Nail Polish in PP05 (Lilac)

Hi guys! Here's a swatch of the nail polish I was wearing a few days ago. This is actually one of my favorites. It was given to me as a present from my best friend. I love it's finish. It's not matte, frosty nor glittery. It's more of satin.

 with flash

no flash

I was in a hurry when I painted my nails. Didn't do proper manicure. Sorry. :p

Another thing I love about this polish is that it can go without top coat. I actually prefer this without the top coat because of the really nice finish.

What do you think?

My Life: The Clean Up + EOTD

Do you guys have any idea on what's inside this plastic bag? Take a guess! ^^

 Well, if you guessed old makeup, then you're right. (You probably got it from the title of this post. Hehe!) Anyway, I finally went through my makeup stash and threw away old makeup. I don't know if it's just me but I had a hard time doing this. It's like I always tell myself I'm gonna clean my stuff up but never get to do it. Now I'm on vacation leave and I have no reason not to do it so yeah, I was finally able to do it.

Here's a peek of all the stuff I threw away. Haha.

Oh, and I originally wanted to film a nice pink makeup tutorial but while editing last night, I had second  thoughts. I'm not sure, should I continue to post the tutorial for this?

Review: Pure Beauty Soothing BB Cream

Hi guys! It's been quite a while. No excuses. Just pure laziness on my part. Sorry about that. I'm not even sure if people are still interested in my posts. Haha. But anyway, I'm back with another review but before that, I would just like to share that I'm on vacation leave. Yay! I'll be on leave until November 24, if I'm not mistaken. ^^ I don't have a lot of plans prepared except for my Singapore trip on November 18-21. So yeah, have you guys been to Singapore? I'll be going with my mom and I would appreciate any suggestions on places we should go visit.

So enough rambling, here's my review on this BB cream. I bought this BB cream at Watsons in SM Makati for only PHP 149.00. Pretty cheap, huh? Pure Beauty is a Korean brand, by the way. If you're looking for a cheap BB cream that's locally available, you may want to check this product out. Anyway, I've used it for quite a while but eventually had to give it to my sister because it works better for dry to combination skin. I have really oily skin so I opted to give this to my sister, who in my opinion has combination skin.

no flash

My experience with the product was not so bad considering it wasn't made for my skin type. It doesn't have heavy coverage but if you have good skin to begin with, then you don't have to worry about that. Also, once you apply it onto your skin, there's this cooling effect (which I loooovvveee). The smell is pretty much mint (which I also love) and the consistency is okay.

semi-blended to give you an idea of the consistency

blended

The bb cream in itself is pretty easy to blend. At first the color seemed grayish to me. I was afraid it wouldn't match my skin tone but after blending it out, it matched my skin tone pretty well. Another good thing about this bb cream is that it is moisturizing.

All in all, this was a great product and I think this is worth it. Do let me know once you've tried it.

Product Feature: AcneCare

A few weeks back, I got an e-mail asking me to do a product feature on AcneCare. Truth be told, I haven't heard anything about the product before so I wasn't sure if I should accept the offer or not. In the end, I agreed to do the feature and they gave me the products right away. I've started using the product for 3 days already and so far, I cannot give you a review on its effect. One thing's for sure though- I'm not allergic to the product.

In the coming weeks, I will be updating you regarding its effect on me and eventually come up with a full review on the product. Rest assured, even though I got the product for free, I will be sharing with you my honest opinions on the product so do watch for that. For now, I would just like to introduce the product itself.

So you might want to ask, "What is AcneCare"? Good question. AcneCare is the first oral pill for acne in the Philippines. What makes it so revolutionary is not just its form but also its contents. AcneCare combines three potent skin medicine to bring you: Acne3 Complex.

Acne3 Complex:

Lactoferrin is naturally produced by the body as part of its immune mechanism. The highest concentration can be found in mother’s first milk or colostrum. Lactoferrin has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-allergic and even anti-cancer properties. Increasing the amount of Lactoferrin in your diet targets the causes of acne from the inside: no bacteria, no virus, no allergies. You only get smooth, baby soft skin.

LinumLife is extracted from flax, a plant rich in lignans. When ingested, LinumLife is converted into our body’s own lignans which controls the level of the male hormone testosterone. Lower levels of testosterone mean less sebum or oil on the skin surface.

Zinc, when taken orally, increases the body’s production of collagen, boosts the immune system and controls the levels of male hormones. Zinc helps repair broken skin, controls premature aging, prevents breakouts and lessens oil-production.

These are the three key ingredients to a smooth, spot-less and acne-free skin that is protected and maintained from within the body. Take advantage of the wonders that your own body can do for your skin. Add a healthy dose of AcneCare to your diet for truly healthy, beautiful and glowing skin.

Like them on facebook: www.facebook.com/acnecarebeauty

Or you can find AcneCare in the following merchants: Mercury Drugstores and Watsons Drugstores

THEFACESHOP Wrinkle Stop Abyssine Eye Cream: Review

Out of all THEFACESHOP products I've tried, Wrinkle Stop Abyssine Eye Cream has got to be my favorite. I have double eyebags. And when I say double, I mean I have 2 eyebags in one eye (I have a bag under my eyebag). Whether I get complete (8-hour) sleep or not, people kept asking me if I actually did sleep the night before. People would usually say, "Natulog ka ba?" ("Did you sleep?") or "Matulog ka nga..." (Please sleep..."). It has been such a pain to manage. Previously, I used Pure Beauty's Super Brightening Eye Gel but it was not enough.

While roaming around THEFACESHOP store in Megamall, I saw this eye cream and asked the sales lady to introduce the product to me. I was hesitant at first because I didn't know what to expect from THEFACESHOP. I haven't tried their skin care products before. Considering the amount I had to pay for the product (this is priced at PHP995 compared to the PHP200+ eye gel I used to use), I had to think about it for quite some time. In the end, the sales lady convinced me to try the product out. Now, I am happy to say that I made the right choice. Let me take this chance to say that I am not a frequent visitor of that said branch since I usually shop around Makati but I have to say that the staff in Megamall are really approachable and knowledgeable with their products. I enjoyed shopping at that particular branch. :)

After a few weeks of using the product (day and night), my bags have improved tremendously. They did not disappear completely but it has greatly improved to the point that nobody comments about how I needed to sleep some more and such. Also, my close friends have noticed that the bags seemed to shrink and that it seemed brighter. I don't have photos to share but trust me on this. This eye cream is great! I have finished one container already and I already bought my 2nd one.

Pros:

- available locally

- helps diminish eye bags

- helps brighten dark circles

- good under eye moisturizer

- one container is good for 6 months or so (that's why PHP995 is actually a pretty good deal)

- nice consistency (not sticky at all)

Cons:

- jar type container (not a big deal. you just have to get yourself a spatula to get the product for hygienic purposes.)

All in all, this product is SUPER WORTH IT. I highly recommend that you guys try it.

T.N. Dickinson's Witch Hazel Astringent: Review

Earlier this year, I've had trouble with major breakouts. I couldn't control them no matter how religious I was with my commercial regimen that I had to go seek consult with a professional. I had go to Flawless every 2 weeks to get my acne control facial and check-up. As a result, I now have a full regimen prescribed by my dermatologist (Very effective, by the way. I will post about this routine in the future.) But there's one thing I couldn't bear to take off from my previous regimen and that is my T.N. Dickinson Witch Hazel Astringent.

I initially bought this because I saw xteener using it and I wanted to try it out for myself. After trying it out, I'd have to say this is a really good product. (I've finished this bottle already, btw.) But since I already have my dermatologist prescribed regimen, I tried taking it off the list of my routine. However, whenever I tried to wean myself off the product, new breakouts start to form. That is why I decided to go on with the product as my first step, before my prescribed regimen. This proved to be a very good combination because I only get breakouts whenever I'm too stressed with work or whenever it's my time of the month.

Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:
- effectively removes excess dirt and makeup after cleansing
- does not dry skin
- available locally
- prevents future breakouts
- helps heal existing mild acne

Cons:
- smell (needs getting used to)

Overall, this product is WORTH IT and I highly suggest you guys try it out.

Human Nature Sunflower Beauty Oil

The truth about me is that I really love products that have more than one purpose. Facial wash that can also be used as mask? I like it. Eyeliner that can be used as base? I like it. I'm that kind of person. Now if you're like me, then you have to read this.

What I'm about to share with you guys is a product called Sunflower Beauty Oil from Human Nature. This product has a lot of uses. Here are some of its uses taken from their website:

• Softens and gives you lighter-looking underarm
• Helps lighten dark under eye circles
• Helps lighten darks spots and pimple marks
• Moisturizes under eye area
• Helps prevent and diminish the appearance of stretch marks
• Softens feet soles, knees and elbows
• Removes stubborn makeup
• Can be used as overall body moisturizer
• Moisturizes dry hair ends
• Softens cuticles
• De-frizzes hair
• Adds shine to dull hair
• Helps relieve itching and inflammation caused by insect bites
• Nourishes and conditions eyelashes
• Lightens dark lips
• Soothes skin after shaving
• Relieves itchy scalp
• Helps soothe sunburn
• Smoothens skin from shaving
• Helps soothe rashes

Now I haven't tried the product for all those purposes but I did use this as a facial moisturizer, make-up remover, underarm whitening and undereye oil. What can I say? I am impressed with the product as it is. Not only is it cheap, it works! I highly recommend that you guys get one of these.

Pros:

- cheap

- locally available

- multipurpose

- removes stubborn makeup

- lightens underarms and some scars (acne marks, etc.)

- does not break me out

- good for moisturizing at night

Cons:

- sticky (so you can't use it in the morning)

- did nothing for my undereye wrinkles

- smell

Bigen Silk Touch Cream Color in 5B Chocolate Brown: Review

I'm not sure if you guys noticed but I did cut and color my hair a little over a month ago. I used Bigen Slik Touch Hair Dye in Chocolate Brown 5B. Here's a little video of me unboxing the said product and showing you the stuff inside:

If there's one notable thing about its packaging, it's that it came with a brown pseudo-box. I call it pseudo-box because it's not the dye's real packaging. if you open the outer layer (box), you get another box in pink, which I'm supposing is the real packaging since when you hit google with "Bigen Chocolate Brown" you get this photo over here:

I'm not sure what the deal is with the pseudo-box thingy but I do like the pink packaging better since it looks more professional and the color seemed a lot closer to what I had after the coloring was done so I'm not really sure what the brown box's purpose was. Anyway, if you still don't get what I'm saying please watch the video above, okay?

So this dye claims to give hair silk-like shine and touch. It containes olive oil and vitamin E to make your hair shiny and healthy plus silk protein and ginseng for strength and vitality. And what do I think of the product? Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:
- cheap
- locally available
- color matches the one on the box (pink one)
- made my hair shiny and silky
- did NOT ruin my hair
- color is long lasting (i'm writing this one month after i dyed my hair)
- has an easy comb brush thingy


Cons:
- none!

And here's how it looks like 1 week after application:

(with flash)

(without flash)

Over all, I really like this product and I highly recommend this for other people to use. Just don't forget to color test 48 hours prior to use just to see if you're allergic or not. And even though it's not as expensive as the other brands, I still feel that the quality is quite good. They don't have much colors to choose from but not very limited. Try it and let me know what you think.

Belo Essentials Skin Care Set: Review

I guess a part of being a beauty blogger is taking the risk. Because I want to review different products for my readers, I tend to buy not-so-good stuff (and I only find that out once I already tried the product) from time to time. Sad to say, Belo Essentials Skin Care Set became a part of my 'disappointment list'. Why? I'll be going through that later. Let me tell you the story why I bought the product in the first place.

While looking for a good alternative to my usual skin care routine, I saw mixed reviews about the Belo Essentials. There were really good reviews and others were the other way around. Naturally, I became curious. I thought that if this product really worked for me, then I'd be able to have a skin care set that costs less and is easily accessible. And so, I bought the whole set (smaller packaging). I bought the face wash, toner, day and night cream. I was also able to try their lotion but I don't think I have a snapshot of the product, sadly.

Here's a little run down of what I think of each of the product:

FACE WASH:

This face wash has a really good chamomile scent (yay!). It does not lather so don't expect foams to appear while using this. It's not that easy to rinse off (at least from my perspective) but it does not leave your skin dry afterwards. Now, I expected not to feel clean after rinsing it off (because that's what I usually feel when I use products that do not lather) but I found that this is not the case with Belo Essentials. I felt clean. Not squeeky clean but I don't feel as though there were leftover oils and dirt inside my pores. As a matter of fact, this would have been a great product, had it not broken me out. Yes, you read it right. It broke me out! But I did not throw the product away so fast. I thought maybe this is the kind product wherein you get breakouts first then eventually makes your skin looking flawless. But then I already finished one small container and my face did not improve. So in conclusion, I believe that if you have oily (non-acne prone) skin, this would be a great product for you. It's good in controlling oil but not acne.

TONER:

It's weird that the back shot goes before the front shot. Oh well, not gonna fix it. xp

I don't have much to say about the product except for the fact that I like the scent. It's pretty much the same with the face wash. It did not help with breakouts but was so-so with oil control. I didn't see any significant changes with my skin after using this so I just eventually stopped using it.

DAY AND NIGHT CREAM:

I'd have to say I wasn't disappointed with these two. It's just that I wasn't impressed with them either. It was just so-so in terms of its consistency, scent and oil control. It did not break me out but it didn't help with existing ones as well. It took me quite a while to finish the whole thing but during that period of time, I didn't notice any pore tightening nor whitening effect.

I guess this just wasn't the product for me. But do remember that people have different skin types. In writing this review, I hope I could help some people decide if they'd want to get this skin care set but do keep in mind that my experience may vary from yours. What did not work for me, may work for you and vice-versa. I'm simply stating my own thoughts on the product.