Review : Tony Moly Baby Doll Pot Concealer

I’ve been using this concealer for about two months now and I really like it so I figured I should make a short review on it. Before this I used Cover Girl’s Trublend Concealer, which I also liked, but when I ran out earlier this year I decided I wanted to try something new.

My parents bought this for me when they went to Korea a few months ago because this concealer is always out of stock whenever I check out the Tony Moly branch in Megamall. (I don’t know if it’s because it’s that popular or I just have terrible timing.) I’m not sure how much it was in Korea, but I think it costs about P250 here in the Philippines.

This is the first pot concealer I’ve tried so I won’t be able to compare it to other brands, but I can tell you that I’m pretty happy with it. It has great coverage and it’s very creamy. I normally use a concealer brush to apply it, but fingers work fine too. It’s quite thick so you only need a little bit to cover up dark circles and acne scars. Just make sure to set it with powder afterwards to avoid fading throughout the day.

I think the packaging is very nice too. It’s simple, small and handy. The transparent bottom part is made of plastic, but not the flimsy kind. Some people don’t like that it comes in a pot because of sanitary issues, but as long as you use a clean brush (or clean fingers), it should be fine. I actually prefer this kind of packaging to the ones that come in a tube with the sponge-tip applicators because I feel that it’s more hygienic.

Nail Art : Halloween Marble

Happy Halloween! I miss the days when I used to look forward to this holiday because of the costumes and the candy. My sister and I are too old for that now, which sucks because we loved dressing up. These days we normally spend Halloween visiting cemeteries to avoid the November 1 crowd.

Anyway, this is what my nails look like this week. Dry marble Halloween-inspired nails. Tutorial can be found HERE

Nail art tutorial : Dry marble nails

First attempt at dry marbling

I’ve always wanted marble nails, but water marbling just seems like such a messy process so I’ve been a bit hesitant to try it. Then, a couple months ago, I saw this tutorial on dry marbling. It sounds a lot less messier so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t able to take that many pictures of my first attempt since I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, so the following pictures were taken when I did my sister’s nails the next day.

To do this, you need the following:

Nail polish of your choice (2-3 colors will work best I think), a plastic bag (we used a ziplock bag) and some sort of stick to drag the colors together (you can use a toothpick or something, I just removed the cotton part of a q-tip)

So the first step would be to just pour some nail polish on to the plastic bag:

Spread it around a bit using the brush:

Don’t spread it too thin though. Or else you’ll have trouble peeling it off later.

Continue doing this for the other colors:

Then the fun part: Take your stick and drag it around to create a marble effect:

Your final pattern will depend on how to drag the nail polish around. I would suggest not mixing them too much because it will end up looking murky.

If you’re not happy with how it turns out, you can always add more nail polish:

Scatter some drops around and mix again.

After this, just let the whole thing dry for a couple of hours. Once it’s completely dry, you can start cutting it up and putting it on your nails. For this you’ll just need scissors and some nail polish of any color:

(I probably should have used smaller scissors, but this worked too XD)

Very slowly peel the dried nail polish off the plastic:

Then cut up a tiny bit and fit it over your nail to see how it looks:

Cut it so that it fits your nail (this is the most boring part).

Then apply some polish to your nail:

After that, just put the piece that you’ve cut up earlier on top of the wet nail polish. Clean it up a bit and that’s it :D

Ta dah! Marble nails :D

It takes a while to do, so I would suggest doing this on days when you have some free time. Or if you want, you can prepare the marble the night before, leave it to dry and cut it up the next day.

I should also mention that this will use up quite a bit of your nail polish, especially if you make a thick layer, but the results last a long time so I think it’s okay. Mine lasted 3 weeks with very minimal chipping. It probably would have lasted longer but I decided to re-do them anyway since my nails had grown so much so there was a huge gap between the nail polish and my cuticle.

Hope you found this helpful! :D

Review : Lorys Hair Cream

If you read my blog you would know that I get my hair straightened about once a year. While it does make my hair smoother and more manageable, the procedure has its downside. The chemicals cause the ends of my hair to become very dry and brittle. Because of this, it tends to frizz up if I don’t style it after washing. And the fact that I dye my hair regularly doesn’t really do anything to improve its condition.

I’ve tried going to the salon for special treatments to try and save my hair, but the effects don’t really last. It does the job for a while, but after a few weeks my hair goes back to being dry and brittle. Fortunately, most of the damage is contained in the bottom layers and ends of my hair so I can usually hide them, but I still don’t like the feeling of having unhealthy hair. I suppose I could visit the salon regularly and get the treatment every few weeks, but unfortunately I’m just a poor student and my allowance doesn’t really give me that option. Luckily I found Lorys Hair Treatment.

I’m not really good at introducing products so I stole this from their facebook page:

“Lorys Hair Cream is a product that is made in Brazil. It is an internationally recognized brand available in countries such as USA, UK, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and many more. Just recently Lorys has entered into the Philippines.
Lorys is made from all natural ingredients, which gives your hair a natural glow. It can be used as a conditioner or as a hot oil treatment. It is very simple to use even at the comfort of your own home. Lorys enhances the growth and density of your hair and restores its natural shine and softness.”

Lorys hair cream comes in many varieties (fruit cocktail, snake oil, shea butter, nutri sun gloss and duo chocolate), but I chose the Snake Oil because it’s meant for damaged and chemically treated hair, which is exactly what I have.

I’ve tried my fair share of DIY hair treatments before and I’ve come across some that are really good and some that don’t really do anything for my hair. Lorys is just one of many that I’ve tried which I liked. But what makes it really stand out from the others is its price. It’s incredibly inexpensive! I bought the 450g jar for only P185. They also have 1000g jars available for P349.75. This is so much cheaper compared to my other favorite hair treatment, the L’oreal Total Repair mask (which costs about P250 for the 200mL tub). I love the L’oreal hair mask as well but I normally just use it just on the ends of my hair (because that’s the part that’s most damaged) so I don’t finish the tub too quickly. Since Lorys is so much cheaper, I use it when I want to deep condition my entire head. I normally just apply it to my hair and leave it on for about 30 minutes (I use a shower cap) before rinsing. Sometimes I use it as a conditioner too.

What I like about it

• Makes my hair incredibly soft
• Smells wonderful
• Can be used as a conditioner or a hair treatment
• CHEAP!

What I don’t like:

• Nothing really. As far as hair treatments go, it’s pretty good.
• This isn’t really an issue for me, but some people don’t like the fact that this comes in a tub because it can be unsanitary (double dipping).

Will I repurchase?

Absolutely! I still have a lot left but once I finish it I’m definitely buying the 1000g jar

I should probably mention that Lorys hair cream doesn’t actually get rid of the damage on my hair, but it helps minimize it and provides extra nourishment. There isn’t really anything that can truly revive dead and damaged hair. The most anyone can do it treat it regularly to avoid further damage until it grows long enough to cut. I’ve already had a lot of length removed last year (for the same reason – damage brought about by rebonding) so I’m not really too pleased with the idea of chopping off more hair. I need to cut off about six inches if I want to get rid of the damage completely, which I refuse to do. I love long hair and I’m actually trying to grow my hair to reach my lower back. (I achieved this last year but I want to do it again.) So in the meantime, I’m just trying to keep my hair well conditioned until it reaches a point where I’m comfortable with cutting it.

Nail art tutorial : Glittery pink and purple gradient nails

(I meant to write this entry ages ago but I kept putting it off until I eventually forgot about it. I only remembered when my friend, Camille, asked me to do some gradient nail art for her the other day.)

This was my nail art about a month ago. I basically recreated my midnight sky gradient nails using pinks and purple. In that entry I promised I’d post a tutorial on how I did my gradient nails, so here goes:

The colors I used: African Plum (Chic), Burgundy Frost (Chic), Pink Opal (Chic) and silver glitter polish (Del Sol).

First, I painted my nails using the African Plum shade:

Then I applied some Burgundy Frost to about 3/4th of each nail, starting from the tips:

Since I didn’t use a sponge, I created the “gradient” effect by wiggling and dabbing the nail polish brush where the pink and purple meet. It’s very messy at the moment, but it will look better once the glitter is applied.

Early birthday loot : Korean Makeup (Tony Moly, Etude House, Missha)

I was originally going to call this entry “Pasalubong from Korea III”, but since most of these are birthday presents, I decided to just call it my birthday loot XD

My parents went to Korea again for another workshop and they asked Ezra and me what we wanted for pasalubong. We normally ask for just one of two items (one from each of them), but my mom told me that since my birthday was coming up, I might as well make a list of all the stuff I want. Booyakah! It just so happened that I was at Tony Moly for the first time a few weeks ago and I found a bunch of stuff I liked. I didn’t have that much cash to spare at the time so I walked out without buying anything. This turned out to be a good thing after all because I ended up getting these items without having to pay for them. I love birthdays XD

The Tony Moly products came in this adorable paper bag with Joong Ki and Ga In

From L-R : Cotton pads (freebie), Simply Style Makeup Eraser pen (one for Ezra and me), Tomatox Magic White Massage Pack (Ezra and I both got one of these too), Baby Doll Pot Concealer, Baby Doll BB Foundation, Peach anti-aging hand cream and a Vitamin face mask (freebie).

Nail art : Glittery mint + plum tips

My nails from about a month ago. The glitter, mint and white nail polish are both from Etude House and the plum is from Chic. I used scotch tape to help me get those nice straight lines.

Nail art : Midnight sky (gradient)

My first attempt at gradient nails :)

I just realized that my last nail art post was over 3 months ago. I haven’t really had time to do anything fancy with my nails the past few months since I’ve been really busy with school stuff. Besides, I didn’t want to waste my time making beautiful nail art, only to ruin them a few days later while doing experiments for my thesis.

Anyway, I’ve had a bit more free time the past few weeks, so I’ve been able to play around with some of my nail stuff again.

This was my nail art a few weeks ago, around mid-July.

I love how they turned out. I wanted to use black and blue for this, but my black nail polish has dried up, so I used Ezra’s deep plum one. It’s really dark though, it looks black in the picture, doesn’t it? It can pass for black in person too if you don’t look too closely, especially if you apply more layers. I applied that one first, then added the blue nail polish on top, focusing on the tips. Then I used silver glitter nail polish on top of that to make it more sparkly.

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take pictures after each step. This was my first attempt at gradient nails and I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. I’ll be doing something similar to my nails again soon, I’ll make sure to take pictures of the process this time :)

Hair update: straight once again

(This entry is about a month late, but I’ve been so busy the past few weeks that I haven’t had time to write a proper blog entry.) It’s been really hot and humid here in the Philippines the past couple of months, not really the perfect condition for maintaining long hair. The heat dries out my hair and the humidity causes it to frizz terribly. It’s been annoying me lately, so I decided to do something about it. 

The last time I had my hair rebonded it got damaged severely. I had to get about 6 inches of it chopped off! I didn’t really enjoy losing that much length, so I was a bit hesitant to have it done again this year. I tried using different products to help me maintain my hair, and they helped in a way, but it still wasn’t enough. Finally, I decided that rebonding would still be the easiest option. 

I booked an appointment with Ate Cecil in Metrohair last month for a rebonding session. I consulted with her first to check if my hair could withstand more chemicals after being so damaged from last year. She said it would definitely cause more damage, but with proper maintenance, it should go back to normal again. Naturally, my hair got fried once again. Luckily it was only at the ends. I used a bunch of different products to try to revive it, but nothing really worked. 

After a month of being frustrated at my dead ends, I went back to Metrohair to ask Ate Cecil for a trim. She didn’t want to take that much length off since she likes my hair long, so she meticulously picked out the damaged regions and trimmed only those. Then she suggested some hair treatment thing that would supposedly revive the remaining damaged sections (since she couldn’t get them all). I didn’t believe her at first, having spent a month using every deep conditioner I could get my hands on to try to revive my hair, I didn’t think it was possible. But I figured I should at least let her try once. The whole thing took about 2 hours and cost much more than what I would have liked, but it was worth it in the end. I was amazed at how healthy my hair was again~ I didn’t really think it was possible, but the fried ends are barely noticeable now, and my hair is so much softer. I just hope it lasts for more than just a few days/shampoos so I can get my money’s worth.

Pictures! 

(These were taken before getting my hair trimmed and treated, so the ends are a bit dead looking)

Brinky don’t kill me~ (She hates it when I make pa-cute poses like this, wahaha)

I haven’t gotten around to taking pictures of myself after my hair cut and treatment (which I only had done the other day) but there really isn’t that much difference in appearance. My hair looks pretty much the same, just healthier and a bit shinier.

Nail art : 1 UP mushroom (Super Mario Brothers)

This was inspired by Brinks' green and white nails last week.  I found them really cute so I decided to try them on myself.  She suggested that I add the little mushroom heads on the thumb too :)

Nail Art : Gold stickers

Decided to use these gold nail art stickers I purchased from Etude House a while ago.

The dots on my left thumb are pretty messed up. It was the first one I decorated, so I was still unsure about the design I wanted, and it ended up looking weird.

I used my black nail polish, white nail art pen and gold nail stickers for this (all from Etude House of course XD)

Dark Mahogany Brown

Darkened my hair again a few weeks ago.   The old dye was starting to fade and the roots were starting to show, so I had to do something about.

I used Revlon Colorsilk in Dark Mahogany Brown this time:

Before coloring:

I dyed my hair medium brown last December, but it  faded to a light brown after a few months

Pasalubong from Korea II

Gifts from my parents who arrived this morning from a 3-day workshop in Korea:

My sister and I asked for some Korean make up products but my parents couldn't find a mall near the workshop venue,  so they ended up having to get them from the Duty Free  at the airport.

My sister got the Precious Mineral BB Cream from Etude house and some samples of the Collagen Moistfull Massage (whatever that is).

A late Christmas present : Braun Silk-Epil Soft Perfection Epilator

Finally it arrived!  My sister's Christmas gift to me.  I've been waiting for it for months~

I've been looking for an epilator for a while now, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be that popular here in the Philippines.  There are only a few places where you can get them, and they can be a bit pricey.  When I told my friend Kat back in December about epilators and how I wanted one, she got really excited and emailed her brother in Pennsylvania to order two and include it in their next balikbayan box.   My sister agreed to pay for since she couldn't think of a Christmas present for me.  And now, after about 3 months, it's finally here!

For those who aren't familiar with epilators, it's basically an electronic tweezer.  Except instead of pulling the hair out one at a time, an epilator can grab onto multiple hairs and pull them out at the same time.  A bit similar to waxing.

Yes, it sounds painful, and it sorta is I suppose.  But once you get used to it, it's actually not that big a deal.  Some even find the pain quite enjoyable.  My sister described it as a numbing yet soothing kind of pain.  (The first time she tried it, however, she was literally screaming as each hair was pulled out.)  It helps if you've experienced waxing or plucking before.

The model Kat and I got was the Braun Silk-Epil Soft Perfection.   I was hoping to get the one in pink since green isn't really my thing.  But then again, it does the job so I shouldn't complain.

It comes with a removable massaging attachment that's supposed to help reduce (or numb) the pain.  I like using it for when I remove the hair on my underarms, but it tickles when I use it on my legs so I take it out.  The metal things you see are the rotating tweezer heads. The machine sounds (and looks) scary when you turn it on at first but I got used to it.  The first time I turned it on, I stared at the rotating heads for a while before finally getting the courage to use it XD

The epilator also comes with a power cord and a cleaning brush.   The manual tells me to dip the brush in rubbing alcohol and use it to remove the hair stuck on the epilator after each use.  You can also detach the head from the body and wash it.  

Finally, I can say goodbye to shaving.  I really hate how it irritates my skin.  Plus it's messy and I hate how quickly the hair grows back.  Waxing is a bit better, but it takes too much time to do and can be a bit expensive.  I've also tried depilatory creams, but I'm not a big fan of them either (too messy and they smell terrible!)  Epilating is so much better!  The only thing I don't like about it is the ingrown hairs (which I sometimes get when I shave or wax as well).   I've only had my epilator for a few days but I can already tell you that I love it :)

Ukay once more

Remember the ukay shop near my apartment I was talking about a few weeks ago? I was feeling a bit stressed out again yesterday so I decided to drop by for some retail therapy on my way home. I was pleased to discover that they were having a sale. Blouses and dresses were priced at P50 each, some boleros and sleeveless tops went for P20 and skirts were being sold for just P10. Whoa~

(In my last entry I mentioned that the clothes there were more expensive compared to other ukay places, but it turns out that it was because they had new arrivals that day.)

I only planned on buying 1 or 2 blouses, but I ended up walking out with 8 items - all for P370, can you believe it~  The last time I went there I bought 6 items for P900, tsk.

I love all the pieces I got. A couple of items are a bit too big so I'll have to ask Lola to alter them for me when I go back to LB this weekend.  (I love that my grandma is retired dressmaker :D)

Anyway, here's my ukay haul from last night:

2 dresses, 4 blouses, 1 bolero and 1 cardigan. My favorites are the striped pink button down shirt and the flowy white/cream dress on the left. I originally bought the white dress for my sister, but when I tried it on at home (I couldn't fit the items in the shop since there was no one to hold my bag for me again), I ended up loving it so I'm keeping it for myself, mwahaha. (Sorry Ez. You can have the white dress/blouse in the far right instead, hihi.)

I  love ukay shopping :)

Retail Therapy : My ukay haul

I've been feeling extremely stressed the past few weeks (thanks to my thesis, problem sets, take home exams and oral presentations) so I've been itching to go shopping and reward myself with some nice things. Our lab meeting was cancelled yesterday, so I was able to go home earlier than usual. On my way home, I stopped by this small ukay ukay near my apartment. It's been there for a while now, and I've always been tempted go in, but I've never had the chance to until last night.

I didn't really expect to buy anything since I merely wanted to look at the stuff they had for sale, but I ended up leaving with 6 items. The shop was small but they had a lot of nice stuff. I was a bit disappointed to find that their price range is a bit more on the expensive side compared to other ukay ukays I've been to though (but this could be because they had a lot of new arrivals last night).  So even though I found a lot of stuff that I liked (I had about 12 items in my hands at one time - there were so many cute clothes), I put some of them back to avoid over spending. But I did end up buying some pieces I really liked.

Here's what I walked out with:

2 skirts (I love the brown one)

Nail art : Black hearts, white dots

(Belated) Happy Valentine's Day :D Here's a nail art I designed for the occasion:

To do this, I first painted my nails black:

My black nail polish is starting to dry up. It's getting streaky and not as shiny as it used to be T__T

Then I painted the tips pink:

For a cleaner line, I used tape as a guide. It did the job, but it left a bunch of sticky residue on my nails after I peeled it off.  I had to wash my hands a couple of times to get it off.   To avoid this, maybe you could try sticking the tape on some fabric first before sticking them on your nails? (I dunno, I haven't tried this either, I just thought it might work. I'll try it next time I do something like this.)

Nail Art : Strawberry Nails

My nail art from way back in November. I never had the chance to upload it until now :)

I’ve been meaning to try something like this ever since I saw something similar posted on Tumblr. It was pretty simple to do, but I had a hard time with the dots (as usual).

First I painted my nails red:

Then I stuck some French Manicure tip guide stickers (from Etude House) near the tips:

(You can also use regular magic tape if you want. I tried it once before and it works okay I guess.)

Added green nail polish to the tips:

(The French tip guide stickers help you get a neater line. Some people can do French tips without using a guide, but my hands are extremely shaky so I need to use them.)

Ta-dah! Perfect tips (almost)

Finally I used my white nail art pen to add the dots:

The result: Pretty strawberry nails <3