The Truth

For all you Menudo/Ricky Martin fans out there, click here.

Out For the Weekend

Hi ladies! We'll be flying off to Iligan today to attend MB's sister's wedding. Meanwhile, amuse yourselves by browsing through the Archives or watching the funny videos that I've uploaded over the months. 

If you're planning a trip to the beach with your family, check out my food blog, 240 baons + 365 meals, for great baon (packed lunch) ideas. You can also plan your Holy Week menu by using the recipes in the archive. I suggest using the Japanese inspired meals. I'll also be posting some packing tips when I get back plus pics of our vacation.  Happy weekend!

You Are Responsible, Yes?

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Wish Lip Balm Trio

This cute lip balm key chain comes in a set with the Wish Magic Lip and Cheek Tint. It costs P109 at Watsons or Beauty by SM.

You know how crazy I am about lip balms. I can say that this is a good buy especially because you can use this to reinforce the color of the Wish Magic Lip and Cheek Tint. If you want very pink lips, use the one on the far left before applying the lip tint. You can use the orange one as a top coat. Meanwhile, you can use the light pink one as a base if you don't want too pink lips. The flavors correspond to the colors. I think the dark pink one is cherry and the light pink is strawberry. They taste kinda the same to me. Apply using your fingers or using a lip brush. 

The only thing that I don't like about this is the packaging. It's hard to open. It chips my nail polish off. I probably won't repurchase as I still have a lot of lip balms and lipsticks to finish. = ) It's fun to buy makeup but you have to be practical too, you know.

Wish Magic Lip and Cheek Tint

This was a gift. I never liked lip and cheek tints. I tried the one from Herbench back when I was a teenager but when I got older, I just didn't like it anymore. Since this was a gift and I've been experimenting with makeup a lot lately, I eagerly tried it out. 

It's magic because it turns into a bright pink once you swipe it on your lips. Look:

This is just one swipe each on the upper and lower lips. I made the mistake of swiping too much on my first try and ended up with very pink lips. I never apply lipstick without applying lip balm first. To get the right shade of pink using Wish Lip and Cheek Tint, apply lip balm on lips first. I use my Ilog Maria Lip Balm. I then apply this using a lip brush in small amounts. When dry, I top it with my Maybelline lip balm (review coming).

I use this during the weekend because I don't like putting too much makeup on. I want my face to breathe. Pink lips is all I need plus a face powder and I'm ready to go do my shopping errands. 

I'll never use this on my cheeks though. 

It lasts the whole day even after eating. That's how much staying power this thing has! You can remove it with the Aquazorb Fingertip Towel though. Just rub gently. To make the color pop in the middle of the day, just apply lip balm. 

This comes in a set and costs P109 at Watson's and Beauty by SM. 

Etude House Surprise Stick Concealer

This is a long overdue post. I really like this concealer. It's one of the best that I have right now. It costs P198 at Etude House. 

Excuse the pic. The focus should be on the concealer and not my nail!

I think the only thing that I don't like about this is the amount of concealer inside the tube. It's more than the one on the picture, obviously but I still find it to be too little. I think I have to hoard these as going to Megamall is such a pain. 

It's gentle on my uber sensitive skin. So far, it's the only concealer in my vanity that is able to conceal all my spots from zits caused by steroids. It's also great to use as an eyeshadow primer, as described in my previous posts. See Cathy's Prom Makeup. It blends well into my skin. It's also great to use with Ellana mineral concealers. It stays on the whole day on normal skin. It's creamy and very easy to blend. I use my fingers to blend. 

Here's the swatch:

I'm definitely going to buy more when I go back to Etude House!

Hitler Responds to the iPad

Victoria Natural Herbal Laundry Powder

At last! It's Friday! And with the weekend comes doing the laundry. Am I right? We do our laundry once a week, on Saturdays. It's best if you wait for a full load to save on water and soap. 

Victoria has been around for some time but it's only recently that I discovered this detergent. It has won numerous international awards. It's very environment friendly. As a matter of fact, you can use the soapy (used) water to water your plants. That's how 'natural' this product is. I love how our clothes smell when they're dry. Actually, I love how the room smells where the clothes are hung to dry. Even if you have some unpleasant smelling things in the room, the natural smell of Victoria is not overpowered. Your clothes will not absorb the unpleasant smell. 

This costs P152.25 at Landmark Makati. It's a bit more pricey than Tide powder which I used before but it's well worth it. I don't follow the directions at the back of the carton in terms of how much soap you have to put per load. I find it too wasteful. I just  trust my instinct. One box lasts for 3-4 weeks in my house.

I always develop rashes after taking a bath. I've changed soaps and shampoos numerous times to no avail. When we used Victoria the rashes stopped. It was the detergent! I never thought that it was the detergent that was causing all the rashes. So now I can really say that this is natural and sensitive skin friendly.

And did I mention that it's proudly made in the Philippines? Buy now!

ELF Healthy Glow Bronzing Powders

These are the first bronzers that I've ever bought/tried. I'm glad I was not disappointed. Aside from being affordable at P129.75, they last for quite a while too plus they're gentle on my skin. 

Here's Luminance:

I actually use this as a highlighter. I apply this on my temples, going in to my cheekbones. Here's the swatch:

I love how it gives me a healthy glow when blended together with a blush.

Here's Sun Kissed:

I use this on the hollows of my cheeks. To find that spot, suck your lips in. The hollow space that forms on both sides of your face is the place where you should brush this on. Be sure to blend. You don't want 2 odd lines on your face. You can also pull this up to your temples then apply Luminance.

Here's the swatch:

The one on the upper part is Luminance. A little goes a long way with these products. Be sure to pat your brush lightly on the bronzers. They're highly pigmented. 

I really love these products. I use them everyday for contouring and highlighting. I also used then on Cathy's prom face which you can see here.

Wish Magic Lip Tint Set

Just a quick 'thank you' post to my very dear friend Ms. A. This was her birthday gift for me. I actually didn't realize that this was a birthday gift until days after my actual birthday. Why? First, I forgot that it was going to be my birthday the following day. She gave this to me on a Friday. Second, she's sweet like that. When she sees tchotchke that she likes or something that reminds her of someone, she will buy it and give it to that person even if there's no occasion. Isn't that sweet? So anyway, I think it was a week after she gave this to me and I was taking a bath and it suddenly hit me that this was her birthday gift. Am I crazy or what?? She's probably going to laugh at me when she reads this post.

So I want to say thank you to Ms. A for the gift and for being such a great friend, one of the best that I've ever had. Love you!

Reviews to follow very soon!

Will Ferrell Meets His Landlord

The Landlord from Will Ferrell

Aquazorb Fingertip Towel

Finally, I was able to use my Aquazorb Fingertip Towel. This costs around 110-150. I can't remember the exact price but I bought it at Powerplant. Please be wary of imitations. I've read in some blogs that this only costs three for P100 and they come in much smaller sizes but are still called fingertip towels. I asked the sales attendant if this is the smallest size that they have and she said yes. So be careful of fakes. 

This is quite big for a fingertip towel:

Why they call it a fingertip towel is beyond me. It's roughly the size of two face towels. It comes in different vibrant colors that you would have a hard time choosing. I bought only one because I wanted to try it out first.

I used this to wipe off my Wish lip tint which is sooooo hard to remove. More on that later. I also used this to remove my Maybelline mascara and my HB eye liner. I have yet to use this to remove my Fashion 21 liquid liner but I'm guessing it will do the job quite nicely. Remember to just add water.

The towel is not rough at all. It's gentle on my skin and is very absorbent. It also helped slough off the dry skin on my lips. I didn't get any rashes nor sore spots due to rubbing. I dumped this in the machine to wash and air dried it. No stains, no makeup left and it's still soft. 

I just had an idea. I'm going to use this with my Ellana lip scrub. My stubborn dry lips will probably yield to their combined powers. Haha!

Though this is great to remove stubborn makeup, I wouldn't recommend that you use this product alone for makeup removal. There will still be some spots that you will miss and therefore, a makeup remover is still recommended. I wouldn't recommend too much rubbing on the facial area, especially the eye area. This is also great to use after washing your face because it's very gentle on the skin. 

Will I repurchase? Maybe when I run out of my Etude House makeup remover. 

Eclipse - The Official Trailer 2010

Happy Monday everyone!

Lady E's Vanity

I ran across a few pictures of a vanity in a blog the other day. So I thought I'd take a picture of mine and post it here. I think my vanity is interesting enough to have its own space.

I love my books as much as I love my makeup and I thought my vanity would look better with the books mixed in. I also needed the book space. I have too many books! These are some of my favorites. I love Jostein Gaarder, Paulo Coelho, Umberto Eco and Sophie Kinsella. I also have a few other authors that I like but I have yet to buy their books. I promised myself I will set aside some time this year to read 12 books. I already finished 2. I still have 3 here to go. So that means I only need to buy 7. I put the Twilight books there because they're black. They go nicely with my black Fashion 21 palette and my Etude House Beauty Box. 

The little guy is actually a mini flashlight. It's quite bright for its size. That's the Hello Kitty baby wipes that I talked about in a previous post. I just ordered this huge shampoo from Human Heart Nature. Read my review here. I'm just waiting for my other bottle to run out and then I'll transfer this to the bathroom.

In the middle is my lipstick/lip balm organizer which I saved from my broken Caboodles organizer. It also houses my eye liners, concealer and mascara. I used to put my brushes, scissors and eyelash curlers here until I bought that stand from Etude House.  

Those are my earrings, mostly made by me. Next is my Bible. And on the far right is my necklace and bracelet tree. Most of the accessories are also made by me. If you want to buy any of my original, one-of-a-kind pieces, look me up in ebay. We are manilathriftstyle. They are mostly made from plastic, Indian and semi-precious beads. The prices are very affordable. 

Oh, I almost forgot. That's my Zen mp3 player on top of the books. Yes, I use an old school player because it's cheap and it suits me just fine. The speaker, I bought at Anson's for only Php150. It folds into a cube and is powered by 4 AAA batteries. The red and fuchsia look nice together.

The rest of my makeup, I keep in the drawer. On the right side is a cabinet connected to the vanity which houses my lotions, perfume, colognes, etc. It has a full length mirror on the other side. 

I wanna see your vanity! Send me a link to your blog or Facebook and I'll feature it here. Just be sure to write a few things about yourself and about your vanity. 

Fashion 21 Eyeshadow Trio

This has got to be the eyeshadow combo that I've gotten the most compliments with. The first time I used this, my officemates immediately noticed. One of them actually said that my eyes looked "fierce." That's a nice compliment isn't it? Even the guys noticed that there was something different with my eyes. They said my eyes were "twinkling" Haha!

There's a reason why this product won the Cosmo Beauty Awards.

These are the shades that I picked because I wanted an everyday look. There are other trios to choose from. This costs a little less than Php200. Quite affordable for such an amazing product. 

It doesn't hurt my eyes, no rashes or irritations. It stays on the whole day as long you don't rub your eyes too often. It's also great if you apply primer first. I don't have one so I used my Etude House concealer to set this. 

The pigmentation is nice. Just a few swipes will do the trick. The dark one is great for the crease and the outer V of the eyes. The white one is great to use for highlights. I also sometimes dab this on the middle of my lids. I use the nude one as a base. Or you can play around with the colors. 

Here are the swatches:

This looks great with a black or brown eye liner and especially looks great if you make a small wing at the end of your eyes. Great for an everyday, office look.

You can buy this at Beauty by SM. 

Handsome Men's Club

If you're having an 'effin time in the office, watch this. It seriously cracked me up.

Charm Holiday Brush Set

I know this post is a bit late. But let me give you my 2-cents worth. This is my first makeup brush set. I'm not fond of eye shadows before. My regular makeup routine is foundation + blush + lip balm + lipstick. Then out the door. If you've been following my blog, you'd know that I recently purchased a few makeup palettes. You can read about them here and here. And with new palettes, comes new and proper brushes. 

This set costs only Php950 plus Php70 shipping within Metro Manila. 

From left to right:

Powder brush

Blush brush

Crease blending brush

Eyeshadow brush

Concealer brush

Pointed liner brush

Angled brow liner brush

Lip brush

I like the powder brush but not as much as my Ellana kabuki brush. It doesn't give enough coverage plus it's not as soft as Ellana's. But I still use this everyday to apply my mineral foundation so that I wouldn't have to get my makeup kit out of my bag. Just control your application as sometimes the product gets concentrated on only one area. And be sure to swirl and tap.

The blush brush is great for the apples of my cheek. I also use this to apply bronzer on the sides of my face up to my temples, on the bridge of my nose and my cheek bones.

I usually bring the crease blending brush to the office. The size is just right for my makeup kit. It's really nice to use on my crease. It distributes the eye shadow evenly and doesn't hurt my skin. It also highlights that outside V.

The eyeshadow brush is another great tool. I also bring this to the office for quick touch-ups. The size is just right for my eyes. 

I use the concealer brush to apply, what else? Concealer! It's great to use with the Ellana mineral concealers. It's small enough and gentle enough for the sensitive under eye area. 

Hmmm.. I don't use the pointed liner brush much. I think I've used this only a couple of times to apply some shadow in my inner eye and waterline.

The angled brush is something I would recommend to newbies. It helps me a lot with my eye liners. I used it to smudge the liquid liner I applied on Cathy's lids. I use it to smudge and define my eye liner everyday. It's also a nice tool to make that wing at the end of the eye. I also use it to "fix" my eyebrows to fill in some spaces.

I think the lip brush is the only thing that I don't like in this bunch. I still use it though. In my opinion, it's too thin. I'd love to have more coverage especially because I use this to apply my Ilog Maria lip balm. It's such a hassle to spend so much time applying lip balm or lipstick. 

It comes in a pouch like this:

My pouch is quite dirty as I just finished playing with the brushes when I took this photo. The brushes are placed inside while you can put some small things in the zippered section.

Another thing that I don't like about this transaction was the Php70 shipping charge. Xend only charges P50 for Metro Manila deliveries. Maybe the extra P20 was for insurance? I sure hope so. 

Anyway, this is a good buy especially for a newbie like me. I'm currently lemming and waiting for this.  It will probably be out in the middle of the year or before Christmas. It's quite expensive though. Anyway, if you want the Charm Holiday Brush Set, you can purchase it here. 

Ellana Lip Scrub

Because I work in a very cold environment, my lips tend to dry up. That explains this. I use this product once a week to gently slough off dry skin cells on my lips. This is in vanilla. Other flavors include strawberry and cucumber melon. 

It tastes like sugar and feels like sugar. I don't know what else they put in it to make it a lip scrub. I haven't tried this in the bath. I just wipe it off with some wet wipes. It makes my lips soft but it doesn't last. I think I have to do this again during the middle of the week to retain their softness. Is that advisable?

This is my first time to try a lip scrub. If any of you have an HG lip scrub, I would really appreciate the help. I would like to try out other lip scrubs. I just don't want to use sugar, you know. I actually find this product too sweet already. Using sugar or a regular toothbrush just wouldn't cut it. 

This costs Php150 and you can purchase it here.

E.L.F. Natural Radiance Blusher

I absolutely adore this blusher. It's not harsh on my skin and it stays long. It's cheap too! Only P129.75 at Beauty by SM. I've been slowly trying out the e.l.f. products and so far I find them great. No single complaint with this product. 

If you want really pink cheeks, you have to swipe this on for about three times. I use this almost everyday and here's the shade that I get:

Actually, this is even thicker. I just swipe the product on twice for a natural glow. It lasts until lunchtime in an airconditioned office. It will probably slide off easily on oily skin. I use this together with my e.l.f bronzer which I will show you in a bit. It makes your cheeks stand out with the subtle shimmer. This shade is Coy by the way. Aptly named if I say so myself because it's just right. 

The container is small and convenient to bring along everywhere especially in my tiny makeup kit. It also doesn't spill and the blush container doesn't slide off easily. It locks in place once you close it. The first time I tried the tester, I kept trying to open the container like a normal blush/powder container. I didn't know that you had to slide it out. Haha!

This is one of the 2 blushers that I used on Cathy. In case you missed that post, click here. 

Cathy's Prom Hair Plus Product Review

This is the fourth post on my cousin's prom look. This is Cathy's before hair. I used this product for her at-home treatment:

This is her wet hair after soaking in the product for 20-30 minutes. I can't tell how long exactly. I took a bath while waiting. 

To use, just apply on wet hair after shampooing. Leave for at least 15 minutes under a shower cap. Cathy's hair is naturally wavy with some big curls. Her hair is rather limp in the photo above.

Here's her hair after air drying:

Less buhaghag and the strands are more manageable. The curls are also much defined now.

I told her that if she weren't going to the prom, she could go out like this. I just combed her hair with a wide-toothed comb and allowed it to dry without doing anything. 

I also used this product once, about 2 weeks ago. I love it! It didn't ruin my curls and didn't give me allergies considering the time it stayed on my hair. It's gentle enough for my permed hair and sensitive skin.  It's hard to rinse out though. You need to spend at least 5 minutes under the shower (depending on hair length) to get all the product out. I also love the cool, tingling sensation it leaves my scalp. Cathy also felt "cold" after her shower. The scent is nice. Just about right for a hair spa treatment. This costs only P79.75 at Watsons! And how much does a hair spa at a salon cost?

For her prom hair, I curled her hair using my curling iron. I then applied some Monea Curling Lotion and Vitress hair gloss. I then gathered the top portion of her hair then teased it to give it a bump. I used a brush similar to the ones they use at salons when blow drying your hair. I pinned the back using large Goody bobby pins. I then twisted her hair on her left side to the direction of her bangs. Pinned them in place with smaller bobby pins.  I twisted the lower section of hair too, just under the first twist. The flower is actually sewn on an elastic so I just tied it to her hair and pinned the safety pin (attached to the flower) to one of the bobby pins. I did the same twisting to the right side of her hair excluding the flower pin. 

I also put some hair spray for the finishing touch just so the bump won't get ruined. I also applied a little bit of Bench Fix It Sooo Polished Shine wax for those hair strands that are makulit. 

I guess that wraps up my prom adventure posts. I'll be writing a post on the other products that I used on her soon. 

Cosmopolitan Magazine Feb and March Issues For Sale!

Hi girls! I'm selling my February and March issues of Cosmo. The March issue still has the inserts. They're both in good condition especially the March issue which arrived only yesterday. Pay only P150 for the two issues plus  FREE SHIPPING within Metro Manila if you buy them from now until Tuesday only. I accept gcash, bdo deposit and paypal. Email me at manilathriftstyle@gmail.com if you're interested. 

Cathy's Prom Face

This is a continuation of my previous post about my cousin's prom makeup. For her face, I used The Face Shop make up base and liquid foundation. I then applied Surprise Stick Concealer from Etude House on her blemishes. I also used this concealer as an eyeshadow base because I don't have an eye shadow primer.  For her under eye area and on the sides of her nose, I applied Ellana Mineral Concealer in Awake. I then dusted some mineral foundation, also from Ellana, in cafe mocha on the rest of her face, neck and decolletage. I also used the TFS makeup base and liquid foundation on her neck, decolletage and back.  

For her cheeks, I used e.l.f. blusher in coy and TFS blusher in BR803. I also used e.l.f bronzers in sun kissed and luminance. For her lips, I applied Human Heart Nature lip balm in peppermint  just because I'm a lip balm addict.  I then applied Avon lipstick in coral berry which is a nice neutral shade and Maybelline Water Shine Collagen Shimmer in BP21.  Because I chose dramatic eye colors for her, I opted for a more muted cheeks and lips. 

Next, I'll tell you all about her hair.

Cathy's Prom

Meet Cathy, my "almost 16" cousin who had her prom on my birthday. I sacrificed a day of celebrating to be her slave for the day. As with her older sister, I also prepped her from head to foot for her prom. We, her ate and I, were on a tight budget. Her dress and shoes were only bought the day before the prom. They totaled P1200. That was her sister's share. Mine was the prepping/prettifying bit. Instead of sending her to the salon, I gave her a hair spa, foot spa, manicure and pedicure. I did her hair and makeup. I also lent her the bag and shawl and gave her some colored gloss for touch ups. She only had a face  powder in her paper bag when she arrived Saturday morning. I gave her some supplies to put in her bag such as band aids (for paltos because of the new shoes), Whisper and oil blotting papers. Yeah, it was a red day for her. How awful is that?

I will break this down into several posts as one will not suffice. It will be too long and you might stop reading in the middle.

Here's how she looked like after:

Sorry for the very bright background. My room was too bright and I couldn't find the perfect camera setting. 

Let's start with her eyes.  I used my Avon True Color Eyeshadow Quad in Candy Sweets. I wanted to give her a fun, youthful look evoking fairies and candy clouds that's why I chose this look. After all, you only get to be young once. Or maybe I'm still in denial that my cousin is almost 16. I took care of her when she was still a baby up until she was about 8 or 9.

I also used my Fashion 21 Color Set. I'm telling you, this palette is so sulit! I used 9 different eye shadow shades for her eyes - 3 blues, 4 lavender/purple and 2 pinks.

Let's start with the blues. I used aqua as a base then patted ES#40 from the palette on top. I then used ES#33 on her inner corners and water line. For the purple, I used Taffy from Avon as a base. Then I patted some Dear Darling ES in lavender for that shimmer effect. For her crease, I used ES#45 and for the outer 'V' I applied ES#32. I extended ES#32 to her outer lower lid. For the pinks, I used Sunrise from Avon and ES#9 on top and the lower lid. 

I used the Fashion 21 Dipliner in black to line her lids and then applied some HB black liner. I smudged this with my Charm angled brush. I also used this brush to define the wings.

Here's another shot with her eyes open and using another camera setting. 

The colors are more vibrant and alive in person. As I've said, my room was too bright and I couldn't find the right camera setting. But you get the idea. I just curled her eyelashes using my Face Shop curler and Fanny Serrano small curler for the outer and inner lashes. I then applied my Maybelline mascara. I wanted to use falsies but I wasn't able to buy a proper glue for it. Meaning, the e.l.f. glue was a piece of crap. But I think her lashes turned out pretty well without that. Don't you think so?

She didn't look this red in person. It's just my camera. I'll show you what products I used for the rest of her face in my next post. 

Fashion 21 Dipliner in Black

I bought this liquid eyeliner for my cousin to use on her prom makeup. I tried this on myself while playing with my Fashion 21 palette. You have to wait for a while for the product to fully dry before opening your eyes. Otherwise, you'll end up with double lines or black splotches on your eye area.  

The applicator is sturdy enough for my shaky, newbie hands. I was able to apply this without any problems on my cuz' eyelids. As with all liquid eyeliners, be extra careful. I only had a tiny problem with making a wing at the end of the lid. Maybe because I'm still new at this. I'll be able to master that with more practice. Any volunteers? Hehe... So what I did was, I used my Herbench black eyeliner pencil then smudged/defined the lines and the wing with my Charm angled brow liner brush. I'll show you the results soon.

No allergies from this product whatsoever.

The Fashion 21 Dipliner in Black cost P100 (I think) at Beauty by SM.