Review: ELF 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette

100 colors in one palette? Isn't that awesome? I think I have every color I'll ever need for every makeup look with ELF 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette. 

This convenient makeup collection for your eyes allows you to be your own makeup artist whenever, wherever. A great value for any makeup lover!

Packaging and Price: The eye shadows are housed in a clear plastic packaging which comes with a small square mirror and 2 sponge tip applicators. I don't think the palette is suited for travel because it doesn't look sturdy at all. I think the price is 899.75php. Very affordable considering the number of the eye shadows you'll get.

I got this palette from winning ELF's raffle a couple of months ago. See my post about it here.

Colors: I love how the colors are neatly arranged! I don't have any difficulty during makeup application as they are arranged properly into their color scheme. My favorites are the browns, blues and greens! The palette has matte, shimmer, satin and marble finish eye shadows. Are you intrigued with the marble e/s as much as I am? 

Pigmentation, Application and Staying Power: The pigmentation of the eye shadows differ depending on their finish and color. Shimmer finish eye shadows have better pigmentation over matte ones. Some of the eye shadows are chalky and prone to fall outs. In my opinion, using a primer or a base color is a must for the eye shadow to stay longer and show its true color.

Swatches: I applied a creamy white eyeliner as base upon swatching some of my favorite colors from the palette. The colors show up better with primer or base underneath. Using a primer helps eye shadow adhere and last longer too.

When worn: Here are some of the looks I created using the palette.

What I like:

• Super affordable considering the number of colors you'll get
• Great color selection. It has every color you'll ever need!
• Perfect palette to play with. I highly recommend this palette to makeup beginners like me!
• Widely available on ELF counters at SM Department Stores/Watsons/Landmark

What I don't like:

• Packaging looks cheap
• Some eye shadows are poorly pigmented
• Without primer, staying power is short

Rating:

8/10

Despite the poor pigmentation and staying power of some eye shadows, I still love this palette very much. I gave it an 8/10 because it's very affordable. I think this palette is perfect to play around with. Every makeup look you could think of can be created with this palette. Also, a good primer can easily resolve the pigmentation and staying power issue of this palette.

Where to get:

800-900php (not sure about the price) at ELF counters located at SM Department Stores/ Watsons/Landmark

Review: Excel Paris Lip Cream

Good evening ladies! Here's a review of my Excel Paris lip creams. I bought #510 (coral) several months back while #502 (fuschia pink) was given by my dear friend (thanks Drei!). Despite all of the reviews about the product being like a paint, I still bought one. The color #510 looks so pretty on the bottle. Perfect coral shade! Is the product really worth trying out? Scroll down and find out!

It has a doe-foot shaped applicator for easy and precise application.

I was impressed with its pigmentation upon swatching. I achieved that color in just one swipe. It dried up instantly. Very matte and dry finish. Once it dries up, there's no way you can remove it with your hands alone. It's really hard to remove even with soap and water. You need to rub it several times before you get the color out of your hand. It lives up to its 24 hour lasting claim.

I was able to swatch other shades through my friend. She has plenty of Excel Paris lip creams. Shade 502, 503 and 507 looks just the same. I can't tell which is which from my hand swatch. 

Lip swatches:

The formulation is terribly drying. It gives off an absolutely dry and matte finish. It may look good on the pictures but not in person! It's like paint applied on the lips. 502 is of a fuschia pink color. It is slightly darker with NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Addis Ababa which I reviewed here.

510 appears to be neon coral  (is there such color? hahaha) when applied. It's overly bright. I think this shade cannot be worn on a broad daylight unless you want people staring at you. It also appears drier than 502.

When worn:

If you remember, I used 510 in my 500 Peso Makeup Challenge.

What I like about it:

• Color. I love how the color is so accurate and pigmented. What you see in the bottle is what you get. 
• Looks great on pictures. Because of its nice color pigmentation, it definitely appears great on pictures! 
• Cheap. I bought mine for only 35php. Online stores have it for 35-50php each.

What I don't like about it:

• Finish. It looks like paint when applied. Poster paint.
• Hard to remove. It's such a pain to remove! 
• No list of ingredients. It might be harmful to your lips!
• Smell. It has a faint weird scent. Paint?

Gladly, Jenny of Pretty Thrifty shared how to solve the several issues about this lip product. She suggested using a lipstick of the same color underneath the lip cream. Others suggested using a lip balm but I find Jenny's advice more effective. Thanks sis! Read about her review here.

Aside from its uberly matte finish, its strong staying power is another problem. I've learned a trick from Ms. Martha of The Beauty Junkee on how to remove strong lip stains particularly red lipsticks. Applying lip balm or petroleum jelly on top of the lip cream surprisingly does the trick! It comes off on a tissue paper easily with lip balm/petroleum jelly on top.

Rating:

4/10

I do not recommend this product because it might contain ingredients that might be harmful to the lips. Its incredibly cheap price is questionable. You only have a single pair of lips. Better take care of it!

Where to get: 3 for 100php at Chic Cosmetics Manila

Have you tried Excel Paris Lip Creams? Any thoughts about this product? I would love to hear from you!

Have you joined my First Thank You Giveaway ? Join now!

Have a happy weekend! 

God bless!

Love, Iya

Look: Leopard Print Makeup

Hello guys! I'm happy to be blogging again! School kept me so busy. I couldn't find time to edit pictures and post anything here. Glad to be back! Here is a makeup look inspired by a friend (Hello, Camille Cabrera!). I saw her picture wearing a leopard print eye makeup through Instagram. I thought she used eye shadow stickers at first. I was surprised that she did it manually.

And so I was inspired to recreate her look. If I could draw leopard prints on my nails, maybe I could do it on my lids too! I finally tried my ELF 100-Piece Eye Shadow Palette I won from ELF's giveaway. I used a shimmery gray/silver eye shadow all over my lids up to my brow bone. I'm quite impressed with the color pay-off! I used my HengFang eye liner to draw random circles and dots. HengFang liquid eye liner is  a great product with an incredibly cheap price! Only 30-35php!

I used Nichido Waterproof eyeliner in black as lip color and topped it off with a black eye shadow to give it a matte effect. I patted a silver eye shadow on the center of my lips to give depth and shine to my lips.

I didn't apply any blush so the focus will be on the eyes and lips. I just contoured my cheeks and nose using Ever Bilena's blusher in Earth.

I totally enjoyed doing this makeup look especially using an eye liner to color my lips. I might do another version again! 

Have you tried any animal-print make up looks yet? What do you think about this look? I would love to hear your thoughts! :)

God bless!

September Lovin: 500 Peso Makeup Challenge

Hi guys! If you have been reading my recent posts, you are most likely aware of the collaboration I participated in with Michelle of All About Being Glam and Michelle of Micmic's Corner. If you want to know more about our challenge, please read September Lovin: Intro. By the way, this is the second leg of our challenge. Our first challenge is Disney Inspired Makeup Look. Check out my Disney Inspired Look *Jasmine*. 

I assume that you're all familiar with the 500 Makeup Challenge since a lot of beauty bloggers have done this already. One is supposed to create a makeup look of choice using makeup products that would not exceed 500 pesos. Brushes not included! Doing this is actually challenging yet fun! I wanted to buy products that I'd still be able to use after the challenge.

Here are my picks!

#1 Foundation -San San Two Way Cake in #2|100php

I've tried this product before and I can say that it's good enough for the price. My shade is only available in refill version so I got it right away for only 100php!

#2 Eyebrow pencil - Ever Bilena Eye Pencil in Brown| 95php

I've always loved Ever Bilena's Eye Pencils! Creamy and easy to work with. I used this to fill in my brows and to contour my nose. Yay for multi-functional products!

#3 Blush On - Allue Pretty Cheeks in Peach Pie| 75php

I always go for peach/orange/brownish blush for my cheek color. Pink blushes don't suit me! I'm quite impressed with this product for its price. I might put up a review for this one!

#4 Eyeliner - Generic/brandless eye liner| 30php

I think this eyeliner is of the same quality as HengFang liquid eyeliners. Smudge proof and easy to apply! I'm impressed! I didn't get any pricey eyeliner because I'm still at my learning stage in lining my eyes. I have a love-hate relationship with eye liners.

#5 Eye shadow - Qianyu Shimmer Palette| 55php

When it comes to cheap eye shadows from China, I go for Qianyu because for its superb pigmentation! What I don't like about this eye shadow is it has too much shimmer making it difficult to blend.

#6 Lipstick - Excel Paris Matte Lip Cream # 510| 35php

Really gorgeous shade. If not for its super strong staying power, I'd love this. 

The total cost of the products I bought is *drumrolls........390php! Yes that cheap! 

And for my makeup look, I came up with something that can be worn from day to night! 

I used the off white eye shadow from the Qianyu palette all over my lids and applied a little brown eye shadow on my outer v. Very subtle, right? To make my eye makeup a little interesting, I added a wing tip eyeliner! 

And because I think I nailed the eye liner this time, I'll add an extra picture! I'm such a failure in lining my eyes, this is a rare moment! Haha!

I chose a vibrant lip color that I think would suit both day and night makeup looks. Would you agree? I love love love this gorgeous peachy/orangey shade!

So far, I'm quite pleased with my purchases. I believe I can still use the products mentioned above even after this challenge. A makeup look need not be expensive, right?

Please check out their posts as well!

Michelle of Micmic's Corner 500 Makeup Challenge

Michelle of All About Being Glam's 500 Makeup Challenge

What do you think of my picks? Have you tried this challenge? I would love to hear your thoughts!

God bless!

Love, 

Iya

Look: Golden Goddess

I finally tried the palette I bought last July. It's a 15 color shimmer eye shadow palette which I included in my July Haul. I bought it because I just wanted to have something to play with. I love the colors so much. I bought  this palette for only 100 pesos. Super pigmented and blendable!

A total of 15 colors housed in fairly big pans (bigger than a 5-peso coin). I'm happy with this palette! It has a shimmery overspray which goes off after you swipe off the first layer. The true color of the eye shadow is slightly lighter with what you see in the pan.

 More about my look!

Sorry for the uneven lighting, the other half of my face is exposed to natural lighting hence the slight difference in color. Look at my brows!

I used the teal eye shadow (on the topmost, rightmost pan) for the inner corners. Gold eye shadow on the crease area and brow bone and the black eye shadow on the outer v. I didn't use any primer or base on my eyes. That's how pigmented these shadows are. 

I made the eyeliner extra thick because I want my look to be really dramatic. Okay, I know. I'm always a failure in lining eyes. It almost always ruins the whole look. But I ain't giving up! I should practice, practice, practice!

And for something out of the ordinary, I paired it with golden lips! I used the same gold eye shadow I used on my eyes. Cool, huh? It is my first time to use an eye shadow as a lip color. I've seen other beauty bloggers do this and so I tried. Now, I want to try other colors too!

While I was camwhoring and trying out different effects on my phone, I was awed by the HDR effect (i'm using camera360 app) that's why I'm sharing extra pictures with you!

Golden lips intensified!

What do you think of this look? Would you wear an eye shadow as a lipstick too? I would love to hear your comments!

Have a good night!
God bless!

♥
Iya

What's inside my kikay kit?

  

Hello there! I will be sharing with you today my kikay kit. No matter how un-girly/boyish a girl is, I believe there's some sort of kikay item in her bag, probably a powder, comb, or lip balm. Every girl needs one! Whatever ends up in one's kit depends solely on her!

This is my zippered pouch made out of mesh which was given to me by my dear friend, Shaina. It has the attributes that I was looking for a kit - black, durable, easy to clean. I do not like a kit that is made up of cloth as it gets dirty easily. This requires little cleaning or none at all! Whenever there are makeup spills, I can just shake it off the material. I do not have a fear of getting this wet either as it's not absorbent. Thank you Shaina! This has been very useful to me. But but but, I think I'll be needing a bigger one! It's so full! I'll definitely buy the same kind, just bigger. This is available in SM Department Stores in different sizes.

Now for the contents!

. 

Fanny Serrano two-way cake in Organza (399php). There are lots of reviews and raves about this already. I leave it up to other beauty bloggers.The product is truthful to the reviews made by beauty bloggers, no kidding.

Top to bottom: ELF eye shadow brush, Marionnaud N°38 brush (slanted brush+spooly), white cheapo eyeliner, The Face Shop retractable lip brush, Nichido waterproof black eyeliner, Ever Original eyebrow pencil in brown and Ever Bilena eye pencil in brown. 

I house this pencils in a clear resealable plastic that came with my Marionnaud brush. I use the 2 Ever Bilena pencils to do my brows. I prefer pencils over brow powder/gel. So much easier to use.

Shawill Showcase Blusher in Dreamy Rose (99php). I am a fan of coral/peachy shades. I don't use pink blushers. Just doesn't suit me. This blush on is very pigmented, a little is enough to give you a pop of color! This will definitely last long. Very matipid.

Shawill Mono Eyeshadow (69php) #006 which I use for contouring. I think this is too dark for me. Like the blusher, this is also very pigmented!

Retractable Kabuki Brush (90php).Of course, my favorite brush! I love, love, love this! See my post here about this amazing brush. Note: This is not an authentic MAC brush, I got this from Divisoria (just when will I ever be able to afford a MAC product?)

Concealer (25php) You might laugh at me for having this product. Haha! This is really cheap. I'm not into concealer yet and I rarely use this. I use this in highlighting my nose line. 

Liquid eyeliner (20php) another cheapo product from China. It's just too cute! It works well too-great staying power! I just don't like its shiny finish. 

Maybelline Lash Stiletto (249php) Not so crazy about mascaras yet.

I love lipsticks! Of all kinds of makeup, I find myself addicted to lipsticks the most. I only have a few since I'm just new to the makeup craze. These are the ones I bring everyday.

Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Off Beat Pink (148php) I've heard and read that before, matte lipsticks from EB are only 125php. Too bad, I only discovered how great EB matte lipsticks are now. But, I can still say that this is still sulit for the price.

Also a matte lipstick from Ever Bilena. Scarlet is a nice shade of orangey-red! I haven't cleaned this up yet so, no picture! Haha

 In 2 it Moisture Intense Lipstick in Orange Juice (379php) As I have said, I love peach/coral/orange shades! This one is soooo orange and highly pigmented. I ♥ IT! Great staying power too. Kinda costly but definitely worth it.

Ever Bilena Pro Longwear Lipstick in Destiny (158php) Another lipstick from EB! This doesn't have a matte finish. Very moisturizing and long-lasting unlike the EB matte lipsticks. 

Swatches from L-R: In2it in Orange Juice, Ever Bilena Pro Longwear in Destiny, Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Scarlet and Off Beat Pink

Swatches from L-R: In2it in Orange Juice, Ever Bilena Pro Longwear in Destiny, Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Scarlet and Off Beat Pink

Sally Hansen Natural Shine Lip Gloss I'm not into lip gloss that's why I only have one. I love pairing this with my EB Off Beat Pink since it very drying. 

Last but definitely not the least, my HG lip balm from Burt's Bees (395php)! I looooooove this so much especially the after-gum feeling. So minty and cooling!

That's all for my Kikay Kit! 

God bless!

♥

Iya