A Must for Working Woman: Mary Kay Custom Compact

I'm always sold whenever I see a compact that's completely filled with everything I need on my face, and it doesn't matter whether they're expensive or not as long as the color palette inside it were from my favorite shades and hues. If a certain compact is filled with just eye and cheek colors, I might give it a second thought since I always want it to come with a lip color. If it has it, then there goes my hard earned money.

For years I've had 5 travel palettes and I love them. Every time I get busy with school and work I always reach for easy to bring compacts that carries all the essentials. I'm not a travel junkie until I reached my late 20's, and now my need for a sleek all in one compact has become inevitable. I need a purse-friendly palette that shouldn't be bigger than the my hands. Christian Dior Travel Kit is the bomb alright, coz it's Dior, but it's too big to be travel friendly for me plus the shades weren't really my type. Yes I'm a fan of colorful and creative eye shadows but not for my everyday use, or work-appropriate. It's my least favorite, except it has the Dior show mascara.

The makeup palette that made me dream of having another one, and the better one.
This limited edition Christian Dior Travel Studio Kit has everything!
Unfortunately I really don't dig the eye and lip colors.

Finally, the compact that I've been eyeing on since 2011 is now in front of me, and I would like to share with you how happy I am! It's actually expensive so it took years for me to have the guts to purchase it, I should thank myself for being Mary Kay's beauty consultant. I paid it for half of its original price.

 

It's so sleek and everything that I need in my daily busy life is here in one small magnetic compact. No more lipstick falling out from my makeup bag, or too many single eye shadow pots that I couldn't even put together, and no more makeup brushes with long handles that are also complicated to bring with me. You can choose from three empty again I repeat EMPTY magnetic palettes, a smaller one that can fit three eye colors, one cheek color and applicators. everything that's inside it were sold separately, and if you fill it with the eye shadow and cheek color of your choice plus brushes and your fave lippie, it'll cost 3,085 pesos.. a little less expensive than Dior Travel Kit. Later I'll give you an idea on how each of them costs.

There are three available empty compacts and I chose the small one that has a room for a lipstick. A space for a lippie? Definitely yes, it made me weak! Since I have the chance to customize everything, I get too excited to build my very own compact.

For the choice of eye colors/palettes this one is the bloodiest. It has to be three and one eye color costs 330 pesos already. Multiply it by three and it's already 990 pesos. There's another available one that costs 700 pesos and holds 4 eye shadow palette but the gold/bronze hues that I want isn't available. The shades I picked were Gold Cost which is a pale gold color that can also act as a highlighter, Amber Blaze which is an orangey gold color and French toast which is a bronze-taupe color. They're all shimmery neutrals and very pigmented.

For my cheek color it has to be my holy grail mineral blush from Mary Kay, and the shade's name's Shy. It's actually the prettiest blush powder I've owned. Labeled as a dupe for the cult's fave and best selling blush of all time Orgasm blush by Nars, it's a gorgeous pinky peach cheek powder blush with golden sheen to it. It gives a natiural looking flush then the gold shimmer acts as illuminator/highlighter for your cheek bones. A big plus is that it's a universal flatterer.

Swatches of the mineral eye colors, cheek color and the true dimensions lipstick.

My brain splits into two as I tried to decide whether to get the True Dimensions lipstick in silver tube (850 pesos) or the signature lipstick in black tube (750 pesos). When my sales director told me that True Dimensions Lipstick helps to plump up the lips and cure cracks and wrinkles, I was sold.

I chose Magenta.Chill. and to my dismay it's too glossy.. I'm not a fan of shimmery glossy glittery lips so I might replace this one soon, however it's a beautiful lip color that smells like a certain flower. Not a rose exactly, there's a strong floral note and a bit overwhelming for me. One thing that it's helpful was when I rode the bus with my husband and I cringe upon smelling the air freshener. I put the lippie on and I kept on smelling it the whole trip. Yes you got it right I need to pout so my upper lip will touch the tip of my nose!

The brush applicators were pretty decent yet they're not synthetic animal hair. For 50 pesos and 80 pesos they''re not a bad catch at all. Besides they all fit perfectly on the space provided for either brushes or more makeups.

When sold separately this is how it all looks like, and this is how you begin putting them together. They're all secured in a thick plastic casing, though if you prefer to just buy them alone without the magnetic palette they're not fall-proof and breakage-proof... Just like what happened to my first mineral Shy blush.

 

Prices:
Mary Kay Custom Compact (unfilled) - 695 pesos
Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color - 330 pesos each
Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color - 420 each
Mary Kay Brush Applicator for eyes - 50 pesos
Mary Kay Brush Applicator for cheeks - 80 pesos
Mary Kay True Dimensions Lipstick - 850 pesos

Here's my MOTD using the eye & cheek colors plus the glossy true dimensions lippie. It look good though and i love it. On my face I used Mary Kay Time Wise Matte Foundation in Beige 02 mixed with Naturactor Coverface Foundartion in 150, the I used the rest of the colors inside the palette.

You can buy these at beautybymarykay and if you've been linked to this online store through my blog you can avail a 5% discount to each product.

What I didn't expect is my Mac bullet just perfectly fits it! Look! It won't even fall off!

I hope y'all liked this post and little review about Mary Kay's Custom Palette. It's definitely a working woman/busy woman must have since it carries everything and very handy. Now that I'm too busy with work and other sidelines plus unexpected travels and sleep overs, this is all I need. Now I need to buy a new Mac lipstick coz I need another new lippie of good quality since I always talk to clients and I always hang out with my team mates and bosses. That lippie sitting there is none other than Mac Flamingo lipstick.

Have to go now ladies! This weekend's going to be really busy once again, please wait for more blog post! Ciao~!

 

Beauty Bound Asia Manila

Hello Lovelies! Things are getting pretty crazy right now and I'm actually tired most of the time. Reason behind this is that I've got a new job as a Property Specialist, met my first sale within 10 days of starting with the company and now I'm juggling work, family and vanity.

My week has been pretty hectic but then I still can say I'm too lucky to attend the much awaited and coveted Beauty Bound Asia.

BUT FIRST! MY SIDE OF THE STORY

I'm so stupid.. I know.. for not knowing what this competition is all about. This past few weeks my makeup buddy and friend Sheena has been telling me about it since she joined Beauty Bound Asia competition in Taiwan. She told me the mechanics and asked me if I want to join since she can invite a friend, and that lucky friend happened to be me! At first I immediately said yes, coz I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, then conflict came as my team with my new job has planned more activities and guest events even on weekeds to meet the sales quota for the month of September. Though Sheena told me the details I haven't fully absorbed it since I'm always tired and sleepy whenever I get home. I have an energetic toddler to attend to, and at night til dawn I usually chat with clients working overseas.

Finally, I learned that Beauty Bound Asia is a competition sponsored by SK-II and they're looking for the next Beauty Creator just like Michelle Phan, and the winner of Beauty Bound Asia will receive more than US$10,000 worth of prizes, including beauty products, an all-expense paid trip to Tokyo and New York, and exclusive money-can’t-buy opportunities to learn and collaborate with some of the world’s top creators!

Anyway going back, Sheena asked me to make an "about me" video as an entry, and though I'm so excited for it, I'm still thinking until now when will be the best time to make it. She told me to prepare for the workshop this coming 19th, and unfortunately there's another activity for work.

That Saturday morning I got up, fixed my hubby's needs coz he has to work, and I get back to sleep. I have an itinerary that day that still relates to work, then Sheena sent me a message around 1pm that I'm one of the semi finalist! I was like, wait, what??

I checked my email and I found out that there's a mandatory workshop that day and it'll start in a hour!!!

I was like "what should I do?" We didn't know it'll be on 5th, Sheena thought it'll be on 19th just like what is scheduled in Taiwan. I actually don't know what to do and can't even decide. Sheena's like an angel whispering to my ears to go get dressed and get your $500 worth of goodies!

Good thing I already took a shower, so I immediately get dressed and put as little makeup as possible, got no time coz I need to get there in an hour. Sadly I left home at exactly 2pm, and surely the event's already starting. To make things worse, the travel time from Cavite to Makati (due to bad traffic) takes about an hour and a half or two.. So I just kept calm and told myself I'll just get the freebies, and it'll be until seven, I still can make it.

ARRIVING AND OBSERVING

When I arrived at the event which is in Axon Green Sun Hotel in Makati, everyone's already inside. When I went to the registration I asked the people in charge there if I'm already too late and the pretty nice girl said I just arrived on time, it's just starting! Then she gave me Bai water, gave my ID which has my name on it (I'm in the New Friend category) and I really saw my name there, they're really expecting every possible semi finalist that they've emailed!

As soon as I got inside I looked around, the place is dark and elegant. I saw the buffet table, saw the girls watching as the host Miss Nicole Anderson's about to introduce the guest speaker: Miss Tu Nguyen from Singapore. She's one of the managers of Youtube.

I sat calmly, saw cameras everywhere... I'm surrounded by pretty girls. Some were girls I just met for the first time, and boy! their makeups were so flawlessly applied. Their hair's nicely done, in different shades from blonde to blonde ombre, to colorful ombres..some tied up their hair, some curled it, some have it straightened. They're the famous bloggers and vloggers for sure, and I gotta check their faces first..

OMG MOMENT

When I looked on my left, I saw Ana Patricia Victorino! I was like OMG it's her. She's sitting next to Rai Contawi. When I looked on my right I saw Shebby Liquete (I'm a big fan of Shebbychic!) infront of me sits Kristine of RealAsianBeauty and to stun me more, I saw another pretty lady from far right smiling, it's Say Tioco Artillero (another fan girl here!) What a day!!! I'm inside a room filled with my favorite people on Youtube.

Now I realized why of all the days I wore tons of makeup, why I didn't wear much today?

I felt ugly though. Then I listened to Miss Tu and we had our 20 minute break. That's when I went to the restroom and planned to put makeup on.

so this is how I basically look that day.

When I looked at the mirror I thought I didn't look bad at all, besides my light makeup just made me look simple, so I just swirled mineral powder and a flat top brush on my face and put on again my Mac Flamingo lipstick... and I found myself standing next to Shebby. It's awkward! Should I say "Hi!" or ? so I just looked at her, I don't know what to say..

yes that girl who's caught just walking behind me is Kristine of RealAsianBeauty

the next pretty girl behind me is none other than Ana Patricia

THE AGENDA

The whole activity was about guiding the beauty enthusiasts and introducing us to the world of vlogging in the correct way. It was also mentioned how to monetize from your Youtube account, optimizing and growing an audience, what to do and what's not... I was so convinced to start up my own channel

THE WORLD OF VLOGGING

It's fun I know, and I'm so encouraged and now I'm determined to start vlogging though for sure it won't be soon.It takes commitment. Most of my friends and relatives have all been pushing me to start my own channel and do tutorials, and I've heard it all since 2008, but I just ended up blogging my heart out. With blogging, I can do it on my free time. There's too much effort for me when it comes to filming and editing, not to mention the fear of copyright issues with music.

The three judges for the said event were Say, Ana Patricia and Kristine of RealAsianBeauty. There was an interview with Miss Tu about how they start up with their channels, a few advice and tips and even how to deal with haters.

The event ended at around 6:30 pm, and I get the chance to have my picture taken with my favorite vloggers. First I went beside Ana Patricia, though there were so many girls already surrounding her doing their public vlog. After successfully having a picture with Ana, though it's blurred, I went straight to Shebby. She's so nice, she asked for my name coz she already saw me earlier. we had a picture, a bit blurry too. Then the girls were too busy with their groups so I went straight to Say. She's a darling and I must say the friendliest. She asked for my name, had a picture together and this time it's bright and focused. I told her I'm new to this and I haven't vlogged, no friends either and she's like "then I'm your friend now!" and hugged me! I was so happy I'm such a fan girl. She even asked me about the interview they had (she must be nervous) and I told her she looked the most real and most humorous, which is really true coz she cracks me up while she was sharing her experiences.

Finally! With Ana Patricia Victorino

With my fave Shebby Liquete (Shebbychic)

With my fave Lindsay Tioco Artillero

With my new friend/makeup buddy Shiela Zarraga

It was a great day, a good event, I met a new friend and she's Sheila Zarraga (so young and pretty). We even ate together, had a good talk and I really hope we could hang out once again, she's fun to be with!
I went home with a big bag of goodies which says "Do not open until you're ready to film!"

Of course the more they say DO NOT, the more I WILL OPEN IT. I think it's pretty ok to share what's inside it now since some have already opened theirs and submitted their entry. The contents will be part of the "Unboxing" challenge, and what's inside is a very expensive/luxurious Skincare brand  SK-II. (will review about it next time)

 I'm still not sure yet if I can actually compete and join, let's see this week if I can find time, film 3 videos and edit it.. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But then if not, then I'll just wait for the right time. I'm not in a hurry.

As soon as I reached home I checked out the IG accounts of the pretty ladies I've met from the event and did a follow spree. It feels so nice to be surrounded by people on the same field as you and of the same interest as if they're your tribe. I hope my friend Sheena will also make it in Taiwan and become Asia's Next Beauty Creator. I promise I'll follow suit but by next year, maybe. I want to be fully equipped! Coz once I start there's no turning back. :)

Good luck to the Semi Finalists and I hope to see you all again soon, and this time I'll be friendlier and less awkward! Much love and kisses!!