Review: Concealers

Pimple here, pimple there, pimple everywhere. Sigh. Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma.

Can you relate to this?  No? I mean with the air so polluted, (almost all) foods processed and full of preservatives, deadlines to meet (stress), and not to mention our monthly visits coming? If not, then you are one of the blessed few who haven’t experienced what most of us have.

But hey! Every problem got its own solution, right? So don’t lose hope just yet. ;) Whilst we can lessen the chance of getting pimples in many ways, we can’t totally avoid them. So when you have a big event to attend to, or a date with your, ehrm, crush, or you just wanna look flawless every day, don’t fret, you can always rely on the mighty concealer.

So today, I will be making a review of a few concealers that I have used and can recommend.

Best for: Dark spots, pimple scars, dark circles:

1.  MAC Studio Finish Concealer- This I absolutely love! It’s thick but smooth consistency helps conceal dark spots and scars evenly. You only need very little to cover them up and it’s easy to blend. Be cautious though as it may cake if you put too much. And, it is more costly than the others. But needing only a little every application, it will definitely go a long way.

2. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer- Yep, it's not their concealer, but it works as impressively! It acts like a foundation and concealer as one which is a double plus for me. It saves you time and gives you the matte finish you are looking for. This is best for combination skin types. Their concealer (Secret Camouflage) works good too, but I'd prefer this because I can use it as a foundation as well. Savvy!

3. Mary Kay Liquid Concealer- I find this very affordable (Php420) and nifty. It also has a thick consistency which covers scars quickly and thoroughly. Unlike Mac, I haven’t experienced caking from it. It is also best used for dark under eye circles as it is a creamy liquid and can thus be easily spread.  But in the Philippines, they only offer two shades, Ivory and Beige, which is a bit of a downer because they’re mostly light for the natural Filipina's skin tone.

Best for: Active pimple spots

1. Yves Rocher Tea Tree Concealer- A must for those who have active pimples. It contains Tea Tree extract which is known for its anti-bacterial property. So while having that flawless finish, your pimples are also being treated. I like how its texture is mousse-like and how it is just enough to hide away impurities. It can be compared to Mary Kay’s but it’s better because it supposedly kills bacteria on the spots. It’s not so expensive either, Php600+. and it already gives you a treatment and a concealing effect.

2. The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Concealer- Like Yves’ product, it helps treat pimples while masking their appearance. However, it has a light coverage compared to Yves’, so you will have to use a little more. For only, Php675, the quality lives up to its price.

I have tried others but these are what I can recommend that’s both quality- and price-wise. I may add more to the list when I have time. My top pick among the 4 is actually Yve’s simply because it does not only quickly and smoothly conceal our pimples but it also heals them. Mac is best only if you have the money to spare and if you don’t have active pimples. Mary Kay is your choice if you’re on a tight budget. And well, The Body Shop is best for light and almost-healed pimples. They’re all actually nice; you just gotta get the one that’s best suited for your needs.

I hope this helped!:) If there are any review requests, just comment below and I’ll try my best to give the product a try.  Also, my next review will be about the best Foundations I’ve used. Until then!:) 

P.S.= This is a super late upload. I got so busy and I haven't even organized the pictures I took for this review yet. Will post asap. :D

Great Sale Bazaar: You lose some, you gain some

Last Saturday, May 3, 2014, my partner, Kai, and I (Style Strutter CDO) participated at a bazaar which was held at Ababu Persian Kitchen beside Tita Fannie's XU. It was organized by the beautiful and humble Ms. Bling. It was participated by other online and preloved sellers. As online sellers, bazaars are a great place for us to display our products, meet new customers, and even get to know other online sellers.

(c) Kai

It was full of getting-to-know-you's, fun, eating (Ababu serves yumyum Persian cuisines at very affordable prices!!!), and shopping. Yes, even if our sole purpose there was to sell, we can't help ourselves but buy from other sellers. I bought from them and they also bought items from me. teehee. I think we spent as much as we sold. :)) Or that's just me. HAHAHA

And with that, here's what emptied my wallet that day:

4 blouses (wasn't able to take a pic with the other one bec Mom wore it yesterday :D), 2 shorts, and 13 cute washi tapes!
My picks were from Ms. Ana Marfori, Lauren Go, and Marj Limbonhai's closet sale :)

I bought spaghetti tops with sheer and soft clothes, and shorts because the summer heat is scorching hot! 3 of it are my pre-Mother's day gift to my mummeh. But she doesn't know that so as not to spoil that I have a surprise gift for her on the special day itself. Also, all clothes were preloved, but most of them were not used (impulsively bought by the sellers. Whooops! I share their sentiments on that HAHA). Almost all preloved clothes were sold for Php200 and below, except for dresses which were mostly Php200 above. Thrift shopping was at its best!

XX1, Mags, F21

The Washi tapes are to die for!!! When I saw them, I was like this little kid who found Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I've been looking for a CDO-based online shop that sells these kind of designs of washis and finally, my search is over <3 and at a good Php70-100/each, it was all worth it! Thank you, Marj!:)

Washi tapes from @artstrings (Marj & Lauren)

I also wanna say thank you  to Ms. Bling for the place. To Ton2, for helping us set up. For my help, cousins, boyfie, and even Sasa-mae, I am deeply indebted to you guys for watching over the place when Kai and I had to leave. To all co-sellers, it was really great meeting you, gorgeous ladies! And even when we sold similar stuff, there was really no competition. We helped each other sell our products and there was good camaraderie. Thumbs up to all of us!:)
And to all our customers, we hope our goodies made you smile as you had us do ;)

Bazaars are really fun and it's a great place to shop especially when you're in a tight budget. Last Saturday was actually the second bazaar that was held at Ababu. We are hoping for a third one on May 17, and we do hope to see you all there. So save up and get ready to shop, dine, and have a good time with your friends! ;)

Broken Hearts: An inspirational message

I was browsing through my last year's posts and I realized that I was not able to publish all the "Holy Hour" introductions. So here's another one. I hope that it will still continue to inspire people. :) Happy Blessed Sunday!

September 2012 Introduction:

Loving is breaking a part of ourselves and giving it to those that we love—may it be our families, friends or that one special person, or an organization, a community, country, or others.  It entails taking the risk to allow one to either make or break us. And when one decides to do the latter, we are shattered and torn to pieces. We hurt and cry, feeling that the pain is endless. But sometimes, we have to be broken in order to be shared and become whole again. However, more often than not, we do not realize this and therefore question God why He makes us feel this intense heartache. Everything happens for a reason, they say, so we question Him again and ask, “Why?”

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” We crushed God’s heart when He had to give up Jesus. Yet He willingly did so for one reason only—He loves us. God’s broken heart is mended every time we ask for forgiveness and by the love that we give back to Him. In the same light, that part of us that was taken away will be filled up again by other people, or better yet, by God’s love.

It is not by chance that we have loved and have been broken. Perhaps it is God’s will because He wants us to experience the deeper meaning of love. Being broken allows us to move forward and give ourselves a new light and a greater perspective.

We gather tonight and pray for those who have been broken, that they may be able to find God’s love and feel complete again. The presider for this mass is Fr. ______ of the Society of Jesus.

DIY: Nautical Nail Art Stick-on

Nautical Nails

Hello! :) I will be writing the details on how to beautify your nails using our Nail Art Stick-ons.

(Check out @stylestruttercdo on Instagram for more designs and prices).

Equipment:

- Nail art stick-on

-Small scissors

-Nail file

-Nail cuticle trimmer

-Bowl of water

-Basic polish (I prefer white for this purpose but you can use any, depending on your nail art design)

-Nail polish top coat

STEP 1: Coat your nails with your preferred base color. Let it dry.

STEP 2: Cut out a nail figure from the nail art stick-on strip. Then dip into the bowl of water for a good 10-15 seconds (2a), or as long as you notice that a thin designed film can slip out from the white sort of crayon paper. (2b)

(2a)

(2b)

STEP 3: Place on top of a fingernail and then press lightly so as to let the water seep out.

STEP 4: Cut out the excess film using the cuticle trimmer. You can ask someone to do this for you to hasten the process, but if you're alone and you've got time to lose then you can do it on your own, there's a reason why this is entitled as a DIY ;D

Alternative: You can also cut them to the shape and size of your fingernail before dipping the into the water.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of me trimming them because I was doing all these by myself, and there's no way I could take a picture of my hand with my other hand pressing the camera, it would require three hands. hihi

STEP 5: Do the other nails and tidy them up using a nail file. Coat with a clear glaze to seal them up. And viola! You've got your own salon-pampered nails!:)

Hope you enjoyed!:)

Again, for more designs, kindly visit our page on Instagram or Facebook (not so active there :D)

*Sorry for the blurred photos. Light wasn't that good, had to hurry, tried my best. :D

Wind blew me over but brought me back home

HELLOOOOO!!!! Wow, it's good to be back, writing at once what's in my head, pausing for a while, contemplating, and writing again. It's been a year since my last post. And that's mainly because of: 1. I had to focus (ehrm, at least tried to) on my nursing review for the NLE, and 2. No wait, I don't have #2, just reason #1. Out from that break, I, thank God, passed the exam and can now call myself a Registered Nurse. On the other side of the news, I. AM. UNEMPLOYED. Many would argue, saying I have all those monkey-businesses that I tend to. But hey, it's not gonna suffice me until I grow, say, older. But still, they're keeping me busy. So yes, if you've got time, kindly visit my Instagram online shops: @iusemarykay for Mary Kay, Coach, Instax items; and @stylestruttercdo for clothes, accessories and nail art stuff.

Okay, so since there's no way I'll be writing about the stuff that happened over the past year, I'll start with the events that happened most recently.

Ultra Winds Mountain Resort

This place is awesome. A great location to relax and enjoy nature and the city's view. And yes, giving honor to it's name, it is pretty windy up there, which kinda gives off it's relaxing aura. It's geographically not part of CDO anymore, it lies on one of the mountains of Bukidnon. But from Buena Oro, you can travel there for only a good 15-20 minutes. They also serve good food. I believe the place is not entirely finished but it is already pretty nice there.

Here are some photos I took when I went there last Maundy Thursday with my highschool buddies, Angeli, Arlo, and Angeli's bf, Gab (who is Singer Noel Cabangon's son).

Onward & upward <3

View from up there

Standing at the upper resto, this is what you'll see. They have like a big patio where one can enjoy nature.

One of their sets where once can sit, enjoy, and relax.

Tried their Grilled chicken with blue cheese. It was yummy :)

 I decided to go for a simple and classic look. Wore my super comfy  red palazzo pants, from Instafab, and a black tank top from F21. I preferred the color combination because, it was, after all, a Maundy Thursday. Embellished it with a vintage belt from I-don't-remember-where-I-got-it and ta-daaah~~

So this is it for tonight. I hope I can maintain my blogging now (as if I have constant readers. HAHA)  Sayounara!