Tony Moly Pink Beam Crystal Highlighter

Hi everyone!

Here again to feature a new make up item, just to get out of the skincare-centric posts my blog seems to be infested of lately :D

I'd like to introduce a product from one of the Korean beauty brandsTony Moly ,Pink Beam Crystal Highlighter.

It's straight-up just a simple highlighter enclosed in a pretty and shiny bottle. I have a couple swatches for you to view, but I have to point out one crazy thing, though. It is marketed and named as a PINK highlighter, but it's weird since when you blend it all in, there isn't really any pink pigment left. It turns white, like any normal highlighter, with just a really pretty sheen.

Swiped for swatching (not yet blended)

I don't want to say has glitter on it, since upon application and blending there's nothing glittery about it. And even if it has glitter, it's so fine that a couple of blending strokes wouldn't correct. Here is what the highlighter looks with 2-3 blending strokes:

It's not recommended to apply the product directly from the applicator to your skin, so just apply it on the back of your hand or something (sanitize first though!) so you'll have a lot less trouble balancing the highlight.

I really like this highlighter more on the fact that it's not powdery like other highlighters I've tested. My face is oily, but once my face is made up it's dry so this is a great addition for a really pretty dewy look! I'm not too keen on using powder highlighters, so do tell me what do you use! :)

That's all for today! Thank you so much for reading!

Purse Staples: Nyx Indian Pink and Thermal Water

Hi everyone!

I'm going start a series called Purse Staples. Starting...

RIGHT NOW! :D

In this installment, I will share with you the two staples from my purse that has never left my bag since the date I purchased it. These are just a few of the items that I carry with me wherever and whenever. Bear in mind though that I mainly carry "necessities" in my bag, well, I view them as leaning towards "necessities" than "for vanity's sake"!

1. First is my favorite lip color from Nyx, the Indian Pink round lipstick. I ran out of this earlier this year and was experimenting with local brands so I stopped wearing it for a while. Several weeks ago, I pooled a Nyx lipstick order along with my co-workers:

I made sure to get Indian Pink. Along with Electra, Pumpkin Pie, B25, Peony, Mars and another Indian Pink for my co-workers. I've already posted before that this specific shade is one of most worn, favorite lipstick.

2. Second is the Avene Eau Thermal. I had no idea previously what it would do since it's just water in a can... BUT! What's great about this is that it helps when your face is itchy, is dry or just needs a little spruce to look fresh. It may look small but it lasts for quite a while, and the spray system is great since it atomizes the water very finely so you really get a refreshing mist every spray. Unlike most atomizers that whisk water all over your hands...

I wish I can tell you the ingredients for this, but my can of Avene Eau Thermal is written in Japanese. This is from Jusco mall, so I guess it can't be helped... This may be similar to the Evian face spray. But I haven't tried that yet so I can't tell. But it's really just water.

That's all for my Purse Staples Part 1! Stay tuned for more :)))

Thanks again for dropping by and reading.

Skin Care Regimen Update

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Thought I'd share what's new with my daily/weekly skin care routine. I have been taking extra measures about using skincare products now, even more cautious than before. I've stopped using most of the old brands I used in my previous skin care routine. I have made a lot of discoveries along the way when it comes to drugstore brands (with a little Korean/Japanese products on the side of course!) and I'd like to think I learned a lot during those experimental times.

I'm currently following the Pond's Flawless White series. You may have heard of The Pond's Challenge; several of their products have found their way to me. Personally, I am not an advocate of artificial skin lightening at all, but I'm not one to judge anyone. If they want to, they can. I just think that we have to love the skin we have and just take care of it, and not alter it to make it appear something that it is not. I love my "golden" skin! Some call me morena, which is a skin color classification, but some people also told me that I look a bit more fair. Maybe it depends on whether I had a lot of time to go to the beach! For me, I just want to achieve a "golden, sun-kissed" color all over! I think the golden color suits me and highlights my facial and body structure well! :)


Here is my daily skin routine!

Face Wash - I use the Pond's Deep Whitening Facial Foam. This is a great face wash! I love its creaminess and the very light scrub particles in it! It leaves my face really clean but never dry. It smells wonderfully floral. I've about emptied my current tube, but I already purchased another one a week before.



As for the "Whitening" aspect, I am kind of glad it didn't work on me as much as it did for the other contestants of the Pond's Challenge. What it did is to even out my face and help lightened several freckles and spots, as well as the deep pimple scar on the left side of my face. It's not so much as whitening but brightening. I'm still in my natural skin color.


Face Moisturizer - This is an old staple in my bureau, the Skinfood Peach Sake Emulsion. My very oily face loves this refreshing, incredibly light moisturizer that makes the skin soft and moisturized. I apply it generously on my neck area and sparingly on my face. This also helps in applying foundation, as it helps even out the spread and glide.


My Skinfood Peach Sake has just run out. It's a very sad thing. It's good thought that Abreeza Mall in Davao has just been built a lot nearer to where I work, instead of me going all the way to the end of the city to get to the SM Skinfood stall.


Face Sunblock - Got started on a light sun blocking cream just this summer. It's painful to have sunburns and get dark freckles. I'd like my skin nice and golden and even, and I think this Pond's Blemish Prevention UV Cream does what it says exactly! It's lightweight although it leaves my skin really oily, but I think I need something that doesn't make me oil so much... I believe I need to replace this!!!
Night Cream - This is the culprit for the skin clearing aspect of my entire regime. It has made my skin overall brighter and amazingly clearer. Pond's Re-Brightening Night Treatment is a medium-thick cream that glides on so smoothly when applied. The floral scent is nice and calming. There's about 20% left on the big tub so I purchased another one last week as well. What I like most about this is the softness that it brings in the morning.

The product does not leave an ugly "white-cast" despite the cream having a white color, but it is like a thick, clear moisturizer. Upon spreading on the face, it feels non-comedogenic and my face felt softer, clearer somehow upon a week of usage. I don't think this is for sensitive skin though, since it's pretty thick. My face is not White after using this...! Which I love! It just brightened my face wonderfully, like I had a good nights sleep! (Even if I didn't)

All in all I love this product very much, and coincidentally, so does MszJackieChu, one of my favorite YouTube personalities! Click below to take you to her Pond's Flawless White review!



Have you tried the products above? Some people have bad experiences with some Pond's products but for me I find it perfect! :)

Thank you for reading.

I Stopped Using Shisedo Tsubaki

I've been using Shiseido Tsubaki since mid-2009 when my sister bought it for me. See my post about Shiseido Tsubaki Damage Repair here. Ever since then I have loved it to bits! It lives up to the hype because it smells delicious like a Camelia flower, and it makes your hair super silky and simply soft and manageable.

I love using Tsubaki and getting that silky-soft feeling once my hair dries. It's so nice to run through my hair and feel like I have the fluffiest hair in the world. It is great too because a Tsubaki set lasts you for a good while. The shampoo I use as a daily hair wash, the conditioner probably at most thrice a week, and the head spa tube I use once every two weeks since it's similar to a deep conditioning agent.

It has repaired and revived plenty of dry and overly treated hair all over the world. Some swear by it to death, and although I heard that the price of the set is overly jacked up in some countries, there are still some people who look for it eagerly. Even here in the Philippines, we have a local mall that sells Shiseido Tsubaki for like P700 ($20) for each of the bottles since it did not come in a set. For the three it would have been P2,100 ($60) and that is like super pricey as far as everyday haircare products go.

Some really try to shell out around that amount for the promise of healthy hair. Even for me, I used it for close to two years and got pretty good results. But now I kind of feel something weird after several hours of using it. I guess too much of a good thing is bad, too. There is a downside for me when I use Tsubaki, I guess in the long run it is really too rich for my hair.

Recent observation : Once the clock strikes 6-8 hours after my hair has dried, I am suddenly transformed into a hair greaseball!!! My hair clumps in all the wrong ways and my hair gets heavy from being too oily. To think I work in a cool environment, 8 hours of airconditioning until work ends. It's not even humid at night when I go home from work, but the heavy feeling in my hair persists.

I recently switched to a local shampoo brand that is less moisturizing and not as rich as Shiseido Tsubaki, and I found that I don't have as heavy hair as before. I am less oily! I guess it's the product build-up of Tsubaki. I think I am going to rest my hair a bit and cleanse it. I do plan on continuing in the distant future until my hair can breathe again LOL XD

My sister still uses Tsubaki, but it's only because unline me who has normal hair, hers is colored and has already multiple treatements. She needs all the Camelia oil nutrients she can get. Tsubaki has been very good to us, I just need a couple of months of rest and I will resume again!

Thank you for reading! :)

My Surprise Gifts for the Week

Hi Everyone!

I would like to introduce my NEW best friend, Cattle-brie! Hehe, funny name, eh? She was given to me as a surprise gift by Greencross last week.

I've developed a weird affinity for Rilakkuma since last year, and recently I have grown to love this San-X soft toy character more than any thing! Other San-X / Sanrio softs ain't got nothing on this kawaii-blank-face-kuma XD I love Rilakkuma more than Hello Kitty or other popular soft-toy icons.

I didn't have the money to buy Rilakkuma merchandise from stores, so I just go to the San-X website and save pictures from there. The only thing I have are a bunch of Rilakkuma pictures on a folder in my computer =______=

But now.... I have Cattle-brie! Rilakkuma in a cow costume! IT'S SO KAWAII I'M GONNA ROLL OVER AND DIE :)


SO FREAKING CUDDLY. And yeah, the name is derived from a character in the Forgotten Realms saga by R.A. Salvatore that I am into. I know, it's a bit nerdy, yeah, but the word play is so apt... CATTLE-brie because Rilakkuma is wearing a cow costume! Get it?! XD Oww, I'm too dorky for words. :(

Cattle-brie has also an alarm clock! Greencross and I are sticklers for punctuality. Burden of proof: Out of the 20 people in the team, we're two of the remaining three team members without any blemishes in our Perfect Attendance records. OH YEAH. :))


I did not at all think that I could have a Rilakkuma stuffed toy! I can't believe he went ahead and ordered this. I mean, he didn't have to but just the mere thought of it you know... it's so touching to have someone who surprises you with something, most especially when you've had a really bad week.

And I got Cattle-brie among many other things ^____^I had a special foot spa AND back massage for me, omg! What boy does that nowadays? Seriously. It was so fun to get "pampered" all of a sudden maybe I can return the favor sometime.

I had a big grin all day from my surprise gifts! ^______________^

Thanks for reading!