Jennifer Lopez-inspired makeup look

In celebration of Jenny from the block's 43rd birthday (which was three days ago), I'm dedicating this post to a look inspired by her. J.Lo always looks so amazing from head to toe, she is actually one of the main reasons why I look forward to watching American Idol! Her hair, makeup, and clothes on the show always look sooo perfect.

One of my favorite J.Lo looks of all time is her sexy, smoldering bronze goddess look. Her tanned glowing skin is just the perfect backdrop for a great smokey eye, strategically plazed bronzer, and pale lips.

Here's my interpretation of the look:

How To:

1. Face Prep (helps makeup last longer)

Celeteque gel moisturizer

L'oreal Base Magique Smoothing Primer

2. Face Products:

Applied Maybelline Aqua Gel Foundation in Sand all over face with foundation brush

Concealed small spots/minor discolorations with Coastal Scents camouflage pallette

Set with L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder

3. Eyes:

Prime lids with Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

Used Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette, applied pale gold shadow over entire eye

Used ELF's cream eyeshadow in Olive; used the bronze shade all over lids

From the 88 Warm palette again, used a yellow gold shade over the lids

Matte brown shadow for the outer V and crease of the eye

Lined upper lashes with ELF liquid liner in black

Lined lower lash line with Nichido Eye Pencil in Gold

Applied natural-looking but thick false eyelashes

4. Cheeks

Used a shimmery peach blush from the Coastal Scents 32 Palette

5. Lips

Ever Bilena Matte lipstick in Skin

then topped with a peachy gold lip color from Coastal Scents 32 lip palette

6. Hair

And of course, we can't forget one of the crucial parts of Jennifer's look- sexy, wavy hair! Apply mousse onto hair, place curlers, set with stronghold hairspray. Uncoil curlers after about 25-30 minutes (it's best to set the hair before doing the face so you'll finish everything at the same time) and just finger comb so you won't ruin the curls. 

Did you like the look? What are your other favorite J. Lo looks? :)

Model: JC Ann Sotelo

Photos by: Arvin Tonogbanua

Jason Burgos

Pictures of J.Lo: Google Images

Coastal Scents 26 Color Shadow Blush Combo Palette review + look

This was part of my Coastal Scents Haul and I must say this is my favorite of the bunch. This has a nice mix of neutrals and earth-toned shades, and a variety of finishes- matte, shimmer, and pearlescent shadows.

 

 

Pigmentation: 4/5 The shadows are great, but some blushes need several applications before the colors show up

Texture: 3/5 They apply well, but there are some that aren't easy to blend, especially if you've used primer. There are some shades though, like the gold one at the top, that go on sort of creamy. My only complaint is that some of the powders are too soft, they practically crumble if you're a bit heavy-handed in picking up color from the pan with the brush. I just have to be extra careful to prevent this from happening.

Lasting Power: 5/5 when used with primer (sorry girls haven't tried this yet without the primer)

Fall out: From my experience, no fall outs during application, but some colors tend to leave a mess on the pan when I swipe my brush across it

Where to Get: I got mine off the Coastal Scents website, but if you hate waiting and you want one now na, there are a lot of online shops that sell this palette.

You will like this if:

• You like neutrals, peaches, corals, and plums
• You like a variety of finishes
• You like doing classic makeup looks
• You want a palette that carries both eyeshadows and blushes
• You don't mind that it comes in a big container
• You're on a budget

You won't like this if:

• You like working with color (this has no blues, greens, or bright colors)
• You prefer single shadows/duos/trios/quads that come in smaller packaging
• You want a good highlight shade, which this palette sorely lacks!
• You can't stand the messy fallouts

For my Eye of the Day, I used 3 colors for the eyes (plum for the outer V and crease, gold and the peachy gold for the lid color and lower lashline) and for my cheeks, the plum blush.

 

 

Orange Love: in2it Moisture Intense Lipstick in Juice

Got this on sale 2 months ago at Watson's, and I am loving it! This is the my 2nd orange lipstick; the first one I had was more on the conservative, peachy side; while this one is loud, pigmented, and just so out-there. Here's my review and lip swatch:

Shade: Juice (orange-red color)

Pigmentation: 4/5 (you need at least 2 coats to get a nice, opaque finish)

Moisturizing Effect: 5/5

Staying Power: 3/5 (comes off after a meal), intensity fades a bit after 3-4 hours of wear

Finish: Slightly glossy

Packaging: 5/5 Looks nice, plus product is securely held inside 

Price: Php 375

Where to Get: Watsons/department stores

You'll like this if:

• You like moisturizing formulas
• You want a slightly glossy finish
• You don't mind wearing attention-grabbing shades
• You like products with sleek packaging

You won't like this if:

• You're looking for a matte finish
• You prefer neutral shades
• You like products that come in girly/cutesy packaging

Have you tried other In2it lipsticks too? What other shades would you recommend? :)

June Favorites

So these are my favorites for the month of June. It's a mix of different products for the hair, face, eyes, lips and nails. I've tried all of these already and I love each and every one of them! I'll be doing individual reviews for some of these soon :)

My new favorite hot pink lipstick! 

• Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in 511B Nouveau Pink (Php 150, The Beauty Bureau)

Face

•  L'oreal Trumatch Superblendable pressed powder in Shell Beige (Php 450, What the F)
• Etude House Precious Mineral All Day Strong BB Cream #2 (samples at 3 for Php 100, Miss Loren's shop, Php 798 for the full size, Etude House)

Eyes. I love Wet n Wild products, great quality at super affordable prices.

•  Wet n Wild Color Icon trio in Walking on Eggshells (Php 260, The Beauty Bureau)
• Wet n Wild Creme Eyeliner in Black (Php 280, The Beauty Bureau)

Hair. Because I'm currently in the process of reviving my dead, frizzy hair.

• Ahglow Keratin Hair Reconstructor (Php 110, Hortaleza stores)- really great product. Will definitely do a separate post on this one
• Vitress Hair Polish (Php 29, grocery stores/drugstores)
• Wide tooth comb (Php 14, random downtown store)- the best type of comb to use on wet hair, because hair is most fragile when wet. This is such a steal at Php14! It costs a bit more in the mall.

Nails

• Skin Food Nail Vita in Mocha Gold (Php 150, Miss Loren)
• Skin Food Nail Vita in Iceberry (Php 150, Miss Loren)
• Random, no brand nail polish in a peachy nude shade (Php 28, Gaisano)

Real Women, Real Looks 2

For this post I'm featuring my gorgeous friend Nona (but we like calling her "Now-na" hehe). Nona's trademark look is her always perfectly-done kilay and nude lipstick, so for this look I wanted to do something different by incorporating color into her look. Nothing over the top though, just light purple shadow on her eyes and natural pink lips. So this was her final look:

Nona sans make up:

I also did a night look on her since we had plans for that night. I didn't remove the day make up; instead, I just layered gunmetal and black shadow to create this silver and black smoky eye look. For extra drama I added on a pair of super thick false eyelashes. I removed the pink lipstick and traded it in for a matte nude one.

Did you like her day and night looks? Drop me a line! 

:)

Real Women, Real Looks: Makeover #1

Hi girls! Welcome to my first installment of Real Women, Real Looks. I'm thinking of making this a regular feature on the blog, and I hope that I do have enough time (and willing victims lol) in the future so I could post more of these on a regular basis. So basically these are just simple makeovers I've done on my friends/relatives (a million thanks to them for being game enough to be my live makeup dolls, haha).

First up is my friend and colleague, V. She's pretty and has really gorgeous eyes, and for work she just usually does girly looks, opting for neutrals like soft pinks, browns, and nudes.

V's before shot. She's broken out a bit on the cheek area (Stress Drilon sa work) and has dark undereye circles. To remedy this, I used a lightweight, water-based foundation (Maybelline Aqua Gel Foundation in Natural Beige) applied it with a wedge sponge for sheer coverage. I spot concealed the red bumps (refer to this post for a detailed how-to) and dabbed a bit of concealer on the undereye area.

I wanted to try something a little different from her usual look, so I did bold red lips. To balance it out, I did her eyes as well, applying soft pale gold eyeshadow on the lids and lightly shaded the crease with matte brown shadow. 

To add a little bit of drama, I used black liquid eyeliner and winged it out a bit on the ends. Then, I curled her lashes and applied 1 coat of black mascara. I also filled in her brows with dark brown brow powder.

To give her a warm, healthy glow, I applied a warm pink blush on the apples of her cheeks with a big, soft brush.

Detail shot of eyes, without eyeliner

So this is it for the first post in this series! This would work as a great day to night look (but if you're uncomfortable with such a bold lip color for day, try subdued shades of red or pink as a substitute). Did I do a good job of prettifying V? :)

L'oreal Base Magique Transforming Smoothing Primer

Last December, L'oreal had a sale on ALL of their products (25% discount) and I thought it would be the best time to try out their newest face primer, the L'oreal Base Magique Transforming Smoothing Primer. 


So essentially, what a primer does for you is that it preps skin for make up application. It's supposed to reduce/mask the appearance of large pores and fine lines so your make up looks totally flawless. It pretty much serves the same purpose as a paint primer, smoothing out any rough surface na hindi keri ng liha before laying on the paint.


I've been using this for a few months already and I can't really bring myself to say that I love this. I like it, but it isn't exactly Holy Grail material. I think there are other better options out there.

Product Claims:

Smoothness you can touch, transformation you can see, even up close!

New Base Magique Transforming Smoothing Primer instantly smoothes pores and creates an even surface, so that you get a more flawless make-up result that lasts.

The silky, lightweight formula glides onto skin and minimises the look of pores and fine lines to transform your skin surface.

What I Like:

• Keeps oilies away
• Can make a bad foundation formula last all day
• Also improves staying power of anything else you put on your face
• Doesn't cake under makeup
• Makes skin look like it's glowing from within
• Didn't break me out

What I don't like:

• Unhygienic packaging (wish this came in a tube!)
• Doesn't cover up and reduce the appearance of fine lines and large pores that well :|
• A bit difficult to spread, you have to warm up the product first with your fingertips before applying, because if you don't it ends up looking patchy.
• It made foundation application a bit difficult too (especially if the formulation dries up fast) so you have to be really quick when blending it out
• This is not the best product if you're always in a hurry or you don't have the patience to figure out the best way to apply it

Would I repurchase?
Maybe not. As soon as I finish this jar, I'm trying out a different brand. 


Where to get:
At L'oreal counters at Watsons or department stores, Php 945 for a 15 ml jar (but since I got mine on sale, it was only around Php 700+)


Have you tried out this primer already? What can you say about it? :)

Mila Kunis-inspired brown smokey eyes

This make up look is inspired by another one of my girl crushes, ze uber-hot and gorgeous Mila Kunis! I loved her as Jackie in that 70's show, and she's great in the silver screen as well, in Black Swan and Friends with Benefits.

Mila has really gorgeous eyes and in most of her make up looks, this is the feature that she plays up. This particular look is inspired by a Cosmo magazine cover she has done last February 2011.

This is a brown smokey eye with mattes and slight shimmers; the entire lid is light-colored and shading/contouring was done only on the outer V and crease.

For my interpretation of this look, I used:

Flesh-toned eyeshadow (matte)

Pale peach shadow (shimmer)

Brown eyeshadow (shimmer)

Dark brown eyeshadow (matte)

ELF liquid liner in black

Etude House Baby Volume false eyelashes

Estee Lauder Magnascopic mascara

Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Pencil in Brown

1. Put concealer all over eye area as base, then apply the peach-colored shadow on lids only (upper lashline to crease)

2. I used an ultra fine liner brush to create a "cat's eye" outline on the outer V with the brown eyeshadow. Shade the crease area also to create depth.

3. Fill in the outer V outline with the dark brown color. Blend as you go along. Don't apply any dark shadows onto the lids

4. At this point, eyes should look a little like this. Don't forget to highlight the browbone with the peach shadow as well :)

5. Fill in and define brows, line upper lashline with black liquid liner, and apply black pencil liner onto the waterline. With the fine liner brush, apply brown eyeshadow onto lower lashline

6. Apply false eyelashes, and mascara onto lower lashes.

 

That's it! Brown smokey eyes are so versatile, it can go from day to night and shades like these are easy to find (try Elf's eyeshadow quad in Butternut for this look). This would work on a variety of eye shapes too, from deep set to chinita eyes.

I know I don't look like Mila, pero na achieve din ba yung eyes? What other looks would you like to see? :)

Elf Studio Correcting Concealer Review

Lack of sleep is something that's not good for everybody. I'm not an eyebag person, but I get something much worse when I don't get enough sleep- dark circles. I look like a zombie with hollowed out eyes, the picture of Stress Drilon herself. 

My secret weapons and best friends to looking alive and awake after pulling an all-nighter are undereye creams, gels, and concealers. I was checking out the Elf counter and I saw this and decided to get one. I liked that it was a color correcting palette with 4 shades in a nice, sleek packaging that already comes with a tiny mirror and a brush.

But I guess the adage do not judge a book by its cover applies to make up as well, because although I love the way it looks, the product itself was disappointing!

What I like:

• Packaging
• I like the color-correcting concept, too bad it failed to deliver
• I found the green most useful of the 4 because it did manage to neutralize redness, but be sure to top it off with a different brand of concealer if you want maximum results
• I made use of the other 3 shades as highlighters or eyeshadow bases

What I don't like:

• Poor concealing job
• Sheer, waxy consistency
• Creases under the eyes

Would I repurchase? 

No

Where to Get?

If in case you do want to try this out (who knows, it might work better on you. Just ask the sales assistant if you could try a sample), get this for Php 249 at Elf counters at Watsons or department stores

Make Up 101: Anatomy of the Eye

Today, I was talking to a friend about make up. She's really attractive with gorgeous facial features, but doesn't wear any make up at all. She gets kind of overwhelmed with all the products and tools and colors but she's interested to learn just the basics. She already has the stuff she needs (for eye make up) but she doesn't know where to start. Our conversation inspired me do a post about "eye anatomy" for make up application, since this is not the first time I hear other people complain that they could never do even the simplest of eye looks.

I've done eye make up tutorials here and I use some "technical" terms like crease, outer V, etc but I never bothered to explain what exactly they mean. So to get you started, here are the basic parts of the eye for make up application:

1. Browbone- the area just below the brows. This is where you highlight with pale/light colored shadows.
2. Lid- the entire fleshy area in between the crease and the upper lashline; usually where you apply your base color
3. Crease- found in between the browbone and the lid, the part of the eye where it "creases". This is where you apply darker shadows to create depth in the eyes
4. Outer V- the outer corner of the eye. Color is applied in a sideways V shape to create an even more dramatic look. Black and other dark colors are best for this part to give the illusion of larger eyes.
5. Inner corner- or tear ducts; white/shimmery colors are best for this area to brighten up the eyes

6. Upper lashline- on the eyelid, where your lashes are. This is the part where you apply liner (all forms) and false eyelashes

7. Lower lashline- on the lower part of the eye, holds your lower lashes. 

8. Waterline- this is actually inside the lower lashline. It's that fleshy, moist inner line leading towards the inner corner. To make eyes look wide awake, try lining this part with a white or flesh-colored pencil. To make eyes look more defined and dramatic, use a black kohl or pencil liner.

Hope this was helpful to all make up newbies out there! :)