My Daily Makeup Must-Haves

Makeup application can be quite overwhelming sometimes. There's just so much to apply - primer, concealer, liquid foundation, contour and highlighting powder, eyebrow pencil/powder, lipstick, lip liner, blush on, eye shadow and the list goes on. You may have a lot of makeup products in your stash but only a handful makes it to your daily must-have list.

As for me, I only have seven. Yes, seven! Quite a few compared to the first time I got hooked in makeup when I wanted to pile up everything on my face. :p As time went by, I learned to simplify my makeup routine. Less is more! Below are my current makeup must-haves which is dominated by Pixy. 

1) Foundation | Pixy UV Whitening Two Way Cake in Honey Beige - light to medium coverage, 3-4 hours staying power, perfectly matches my skin tone. Review here.

2) Eyebrows | IN2IT Eyebrow Powder - The best eyebrow product for me because it has three shades. You can go from light to dark. The product also doubles as a contour powder.

3) Eyebrows | Etude House Easy Brow Pencil in #2 - I'm already on my third pencil which is enough evidence that I really love this product. It's got the perfect light brown shade for me.

4) Eyeliner | Milani Eye Tech Extreme - Long lasting, pigmented, fine felt tip. It's the closest eyeliner I've got to the famous K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner for a fraction of the price. Availability is the only downside of this product. It's only available online. See my review & comparison here

5) Eyeliner | Pixy Eye Liner - I use this to line my lower lash line. It is pigmented and easy to apply but it fades and smudges after a few hours.

6) Blush-on | Pixy Blush-on in Carnation Bloom 06 - Peach/coral shade with micro shimmers. No need for highlighters!

7) Lipstick | Pixy Lasting Matte Lipstick in Pink Smoothie - Peachy pink shade with matte finish. It goes on creamy when applied but dries matte.

Swatches from left to right: Pixy foundation, Pixy blush-on, Etude House brow pencil, In2it brow powder (lightest shade), Milani eyeliner, Pixy eyeliner and Pixy lipstick 

Aaand here's how I look like using my daily makeup must-haves. I'm loving peach/coral shade lately because of the soft, girly look it creates. I'd probably stick to my must-haves for a while because they're great finds! Affordable products that deliver great quality. I hope Pixy becomes available on local stores soon. Pixy, an Indonesian makeup brand using Japanese technology & ingredients was first introduced by BDJ Box in the Philippines. Read more about it here. 

So, there goes my daily must haves! 

What are yours? Let me know by commenting down below. I would love to hear from you!

"For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." - Philippians 2:13

Goodnight and God bless!

Look: Enchanting Blue & Silver Christmas

Exactly 6 hours and 32 minutes until Christmas! Have you decided what makeup look are you going to wear for the Christmas Eve? Not that I'm wearing this kind of makeup later. We're actually spending the Christmas Eve at our house so I won't be putting on any makeup except for brow makeup, of course!

This is my entry for Product Arena by Celline08's Holiday's Contest/Giveaway. Join now if you haven't and get a chance to win a lot of products.

I decided to stay away from the usual green, red or gold color combinations and make something unique by combining blue and silver. My color inspiration is a silver Christmas tree with blue balls I saw at the mall  several weeks ago. I think the color combination is striking!

I used a warm shade of pink for my lips to match with my blue eyes (NYX SMLC in San Paulo). So festive! I think this look is great for evening events/parties. Now, if you really want to stand out from the crowd or if you are attending a party with futuristic theme, you could easily tweak the look by applying the same silver eye shadow on your lips!

Lipgloss + DollFace Silver Eye Shadow

Lakas maka-outer space!

Vanity ng lola moh

Pink or Silver? Say hello to my sister at the back!

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Remember, God is the reason for the season!

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." - Luke 2:10

God bless!

Look: Christmas Time!

5 days to go before Christmas! How are you enjoying the Holiday season, so far? I am maximizing my jobless, bum life, stress-free days as I am about to join the workforce first thing next year! Anyway, here's my interpretation of a Dainty Holiday - Dainty MD's Makeup and Nail art Contest. 

By joining the contest, I'll be able to practice both of the things I love doing - makeup and nailart! It is my first time to do a makeup look with a complementary nail design. Great idea, Ms. Angela!

Green will always be one of the colors of Christmas. It is my favorite color too, next to yellow, of course! I created a subtle smokey eye makeup that is perfect for Christmas dinners/parties! Since the eye makeup is already enough statement, I chose a nude lip color to keep the focus on the eyes.

Products used: Nichido Foundation Stick, L'oreal True Match Powder, Mememe Sunbeam, Ever Bilena Cheek Blush, Ever Bilena Color Pencil, Mememe Ocean Eyes Create The Look Pack, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in London

I decide to create a green and black gradient nail design to match my eye makeup. I didn't use a sponge this time. I just used the brush that came with the black nail polish. Gradient is as easy as 1-2-3!

Takpan ang big nose!

Match ba? What do you think of the entire nail and makeup combination? Let me hear your thoughts by commenting down below! I would love to hear from you <3

Merry Christmas!

God bless!

Look: The Evil Witch

I am inspired to create a wearable Halloween makeup look few days ago and here's the result! This makeup look is far from the scary, gruesome makeup looks for Halloween like my Walking Dead Makeup Look. This one is very wearable and can pass off as a nighttime or even party look.

I paired a deep plum lip color with  a moss green eye shadow that is slightly winged out. I also used a black eye pencil to fill in my brows instead of the usual brown pencil. Can you notice how I drew my eyes thinly? I just think witches have thin, pointed brows that's why. I love the lipstick that I used for this makeup look. It's a matte plum color that's currently in at the moment. I'm not familiar with the brand (Elaino #32), though. I just found it from my mom's stash. 

What I'm wearing is actually a Gryffindor robe. I got this from a thrift shop for only 20php. It's a knee-length robe that has a hood and Gryffindor's logo. Harry Potter fan, represent!

These are the products I used to create my makeup look:

Beauty Cosmetics Brushes
Fanny Serrano Two Way Cake in Organza
L'oreal Tru Match Powder
Ever Bilena Eye Pencil in Brown
ELF Mechanical Eyelash Curler
Allue Pretty Cheeks in Peach Pie
Sleek iDivine Storm Palette
Lash Glue + False Eyelashes
Elaino Lipstick #32

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: Fall 2012 Makeup Look

The final part of September Lovin Collaboration with Michelle of All About Being Glam and Michelle of Micmic's Corner has finally come! Not that I'm looking forward to the end, I just cannot believe how time flies so fast. Just a few days away from October!

If you haven't checked the first, second and third part of this collaboration, please do so! September Lovin: Introduction, Disney Inspired Look and 500 Peso Makeup Challenge. We had a hard time thinking of what we should come up with for the last part. We settled for a Fall Makeup Look in the end because we thought it is very timely.

I did a little Google search about fall makeup looks. Among the makeup trends are mulberry/deep plum lip color and brown smokey eyes. I chose to do both.

Just a subtle brown smokey eye. The light washed out the true colors of my eye shadow. I used ELF trio palette (get the look set). I used the white eye shadow for the entire lid and the inner corners and a warm brown eye shadow for the outer v. I used my brown Ever Bilena eye pencil for my brows and that's it!

I used two different lipsticks for this makeup look. For the left picture, I used NYX round lipstick in Orange Soda which I had a hard time using. It's so creamy and settles on the lines of my lips. For the second picture, I used Avon Ultra Moisture Rich Lipstick in Jubilee Rose which has a deep plum shade. It is actually darker in person, the lighting altered the color again!

Looks like a bright purple shade, right?

To the Michelles:

Thank you for letting me join this collaboration. I really had a great time doing this challenge. I had a chance to do things that I wouldn't do out of my own initiative, the Disney Inspired Look for an instance. I was challenged to squeeze in making looks and meet deadlines as well. Nevertheless, I enjoyed! 

However, the fun is not the best part of this collaboration. Know what it is? It's the friendship I gained with you guys. We exchanged 2500+ messages over our Facebook chat. Andami no! This challenge pulled us closer. Yay! Thanks!

Looking forward for more collabs with you ladies!

Make sure to check out their versions as well!

Michelle of All about Being Glam

Michelle of Micmic's Corner

Have a good night!

God bless!

September Lovin: Disney Inspired Look *Jasmine*

Hey guys! Makeup challenge #1 for September Lovin Challenge with Michelle of All About Being Glam and Michelle of Micmic's Corner is Disney princess-inspired make up! If you want to know more about this month long challenge, read September Lovin: Intro. My choices were limited to black/brown haired princesses only because I don't own any colorful wigs nor I have Adobe Photoshop installed in my laptop.

The makeup look I created is very, very simple. I used a brown eye shadow over my lids and added a thick winged eye liner to create an illusion of bigger eyes. Princess Jasmine has big, almond-shaped eyes, right? I also added a thick pair of falsies for my eyes to appear even bigger and dramatic!

For the lips, I chose a plum shade that's not too dark. Clinique's A Different Grape is perfect for this look!

Since my makeup is super simple, I decided to dress up! I was able to gather all the things that I needed! I used my oversized green ring as a gem for the headpiece. The hair extension I bought years ago helped too!

More vanity shots..

And for a little surprise for the Michelles of this challenge, this video is for you! Heeeeeeheee. I think I internalized the Jasmine idea too much. *Note: Please tone down your speaker volume first!

Products used:

SanSan Matte Finish Liquid Foundation in 01

Max Factor Translucent Powder in 05

DollFace 88 Color Eye Shadow Palette

Ever Bilena Blusher in Earth

Shawill Blusher in Dreamy Rose

Clinique Lipstick in A Different Grape

Ever Bilena Eye Pencil in Brown

HengFang Eye Liner

Nichido Eye Pencil in Black

 Make sure to check out their versions as well:

Michelle of Micmic's Corner as Pocahontas:

Michelle of All About Being Glam as Ariel

Let me hear your thoughts about this makeup look! I would love to hear from you!

Have a good night!
Love,
Iya

Look: Office Girl

I have a quick make up look for tonight. I can't think of any title appropriate for this look. I did a subtle smokey eye using the Estee Lauder Quad I also used for my Mommy's Makeover. Here it is!

A simple, polished look is perfect for office days! You don't want anything too bright nor too dark. Don't give your office mates any reason to raise their brows but give them enough reason to stare for a while and compliment your makeup look!

I applied brown eye shadow all over my lids and used a moss green eye shadow for my outer v and crease area. I went through my usual contour and blush routine and applied a brownish pink lipstick.

I used Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Lipstick in Melt. My MLBB shade. This lip color is perfect for everyday use! I will blog about this lippie as soon as I have time. 

What do you think of this look? Would this pass off as an office look? Comment in your thoughts! I would love to hear from you!

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!

&hearts;
Iya