A Shelter for My Gems: Suesh Makeup Traincase

Hi lovelies! How's your valentine's? This year my heart's really happy because I received pre-valentines day gifts from my husband. First, it's a Lacoste polo shirt in dark plum and I love pairing it with burgundy plum eyes. My FOTD for this particular look will be up for my next blog post. Second, it was a surprise. A few weeks ago my husband and I were talking about something when suddenly he says he has a surprise and it's gonna be a valentine's day gift. It was actually a tough and busy week for me coz I have a few makeup gigs (you know it's prom season) then I'll be attending an alumni homecoming and a dinner party with my elementary-highschool alma mater, in which my family will be having our dance numberand we'll be awarded as Outstanding Family. Since I won't have time on heart's day, my hubby told me we'll go to Alabang Town Center and buy "it" before those busy activities I mentioned earlier. On our way to Alabang I was so excited and giddy I kept asking him to give me clues. I told him if it'll be from a makeup store he should tell me immediately coz I hate deciding under pressure. He just laughed and I got anxious.

When we get to Alabang Town Center I saw Suesh store from a far. My eyes went big coz I remember I used to frequently visit their multiply site coz I want to buy their brushes.

Suesh has been known to produce high quality makeup brushes for a cheaper price. Used to be sold online, it has its own store now at Alabang Town Center, Greenhills, Trinoma and Market!Market!. Now they also have their own cosmetics line that I'm dying to try soon. We went inside and my husband was actually taking the lead and though he's holding my hands he's like pulling me to hurry up and enter the store. While staring at the brushes he immediately said "Can you see that? (pointing on the shelf) That's my gift for you. Pick any color you want." What I saw from the shelf were big makeup traincases. My mind went blank and the first thing I said was "No. I think I don't like it"...

It's not that I don't really like it, I just couldn't believe what was actually happening, still not sinking in and flustered and couldn't decide. He said "No we really have to buy it, you need that for your makeup gigs this week, you have to organize your stuff". The sales assistant was laughing at us. Little did I know, my hubby has visited the store many times, inquiring about those traincases so they seem to know each other already. He even know the price. I just said "Give me some time. Let's eat first so I could think." Oh yes we ate steak! Then my mind's still flying, thinking if I really need it, trying to figure out if it'll be a good or bad decision if I get it.. Or is it really necessary?

He then starts to brainwash my already confused brain. He said I could fill those traincases with new makeups and brushes, and it'll add up angst on my makeup career and make me feel like a better makeup artist. He really insists. I'm just not used to this kind of situation, that I'm getting something expensive and I'm not the one who's paying for it. Yes I always buy stuffs for myself and I've never asked anyone to buy them from me. Whenever I want something I never ask for help from anyone, even from my parents. I should work hard for it. Getting something in an easy way is new to me.

look at that black big traincase on the first layer of that shelf, it's gonna be mine! :)

meet my generous manager, my husband Francis.

After weighing things down and even thinking about the pros's and cons, I said "Ok let's get it". So we get back to the store and I told him I want the black traincase. It's big, and of course I'm picking black coz it's my favorite color.

Upon opening, it has three layers then a separate container for brushes. There's also a shoulder strap and a bigger compartment for bigger palettes. It's made of synthetic leather with visible studs. The materials used looks very durable. There's also a lock at the top, and a key. I won't lock it, or should I say I have no plans of locking it in. I might have trouble opening it in the future and I don't want to take risks.

Just when I thought I have lesser makeup collection now from accidentally losing some it, some has been stolen, some were borrowed and never returned, some were now inside my cousins' kikay kit, I was still able to fill my big traincase!

On the first layer it's for my lip products. Several lipsticks and lip glosses, a few lip liners.

Second layer's for my eyeshadows and eyeliners. Third layer's for powder and cream foundations and a few cheek products. At the bottom is where I'm keeping my big eyeshadow palettes from Sugar Skull Cosmetics and Sephora.

At the side there's a container for my makeup brushes, hair products and makeup remover.

To clean it I just need to wipe it with a tissue and a makeup remover or makeup brush cleaner that is oil free. There's a strong scent of the synthetic leather too.

I'm now in love with it. It really helped me a lot during my makeup gig. It made everything seemed easier, and my clients and their parents were even amazed by what's inside it.

I also received personal messages saying it suits me, or should I say the design of the traincase is definitely so me.

I used it the next day for my makeup gigs, and I've been actually using it for five days straight! Though it's heavy I love the feeling of carrying everything with me. It's like I have everything I need in one simple case. 

More pictures with my useful traincase. My cousins love to play with it.

 I would like to share with you my favorite pic, this was when we're attending an alumni homecoming and dinner, and we received an award as an Outstanding Family.

By the way, Suesh will be having their makeup workshop on 21st of February. They were inviting me but I'm still not sure yet, maybe soon I'll try to contact them. They offer basic makeup workshop, Advanced makeup, airbrush, hairstyling, haircutting and extensive makeup.

Hope y'all like my Feb post and there will be more soon on my draft!

Happy hearts day everyone and spread the love!

Sweet Screams: Monster High Spectra Vondergeist Inspired Makeup

Sigh. They're all growing up. Seeing them turn into young ladies make me think that I'm so old already. Yesterday my cousin Micah turned 11, and threw up a simple Monster High Themed party. I don't know what's with my family these days that we're into themed parties. It started on my son Draven's first birthday, then Jana's Frozen Themed party and now this. Unlike the first two birthdays I've mentioned this one isn't planned well, but then it was spiced up by the cake made by my aunt and a makeup for young girls inspired by the characters from Monster High. Since my aunt can easily make cakes into any character that you wish, we all now look forward to our birthdays. I'm still thinking what cake do I really want for my own 
birthday...

I'm a big Monster High fan and maybe if I'm still a bit younger I'll collect all the dolls and I will throw up a party with the same theme. Most of the dominant colors were fuschia pink, dark purple, royal blue, midnight blue and black. The ghouls were all uniquely created with one of a kind names inspired by spooky characters. I know Halloween's over and I was supposed to do the same makeup look for Hallow's eve but then I was too busy. Now that I'm given a chance to do it again I was really excited for Micah's birthday.

Taking all the colors for inspiration, here's my Spectra Vondergeist Inspired Makeup. It's actually hard to have those big doll eyes and I don't want to wear dolly lenses or too thick false eyelashes, so I just took all the colors that could possibly represent Spectra through my makeup creation. Atleast we have the same eyebrows and face shape.

Spectra is the daughter of ghosts. She can pass through walls and hear conversations in each classroom so she knows every latest gossip from Skull Shores. Her favorite color is purple and she has a best friend, her pet named Ferret Rhuen. She's my favorite from Monster High, and the others were as badass and as awesome as her.

A photo of my paraphernalia that day. We were at my grandma's terrace, a perfect place to hang out with young girls and do their makeup. I'm a young at heart and I get along well with younger generation. You can also say I'm still immature for my age, but it doesn't hurt if people or random strangers think you're only around 18 or 21. With my height and body build I can say kids these days were really bigger than me.

Another solo shot of my Spectra inspired makeup. Camera used was from iphone. We're supposed to use a DSLR camera from Canon but the memory card has been corrupted. The color payoff's still great in broad daylight. No false eyelashes used, and just a minor cheek contouring enough to be appropriate for a day makeup.

Products Used

FACE

NYX High Definition Foundation Primer

Estee Lauder Cyber White Liquid Foundation in Cool Beige

Origins Mineral Pressed Powder

Sugar Skull Cosmetics 10 Correct & Conceal Palette

EYES

Sugar Skull Cosmetics 120 Rainbow Palette

Sephora Custom Smokey Palette

Makeup Geek eyeshadow in Corrupt

Estee Lauder Lash Primer

Estee Lauder Sumptous Mascara

Nichido pencil eyeliner in Black

Etude House Code B gel eyeliner in Strong Black

CHEEKS

matte medium brown eyeshadow from Sugar Skull Cosmetics 120 rainbow Palette

for contouring cheeks

Mac Hello Kitty Powder Blush in Tippy

LIPS

Pati Dubroff Lip Tint in Violet

Wet n' Wild Megalast Lipstick in Pinkerbell

Lavender eyeshadow from Sephora Custom Smokey Palette

Here's me doing my cousin Carlyn's makeup, still having the inspirations taken from their chosen MH characters. There were more young girls who joined the fun, had their makeups applied and took hundreds of selfies using their latest gadgets. Kids these days were really far from the 90's kids..

The before and after shot

Carlyn chose Venus Mcflytrap and Micah chose Elissabat Hauntlywood

I chose Draculaura for my cousin Jana for the cute heart on her cheeks.

Frights, Camera, Action!

 

 The three of us: Micah, me and Carlyn. Jana's nowhere to be found once again.

With a poker face, my baby wants to say 'hi'!

January has been really good. Full of birthdays, parties and family get together.

See you all for another colorful February post. Today's really cold I should be taking a shower now or else, I might endure a chilly water and suffer hypothermia. Adios!! :)

Imaginary Snowflakes on a Sunny Day: Frozen Themed Party and a Makeup to Match

Time flies swiftly and here goes my little cousin who turns seven a few days ago.
I could still vividly remember how small she was at the nursery and held her in my arms and I even bottle fed her for her first milk. She's growing fast and she's turning into a beautiful young lady. Last year I did Frozen's Elsa Inspired Makeup on her. Still a Frozen movie fanatic, she wants a simple celebration on her birthday with of course having a Frozen inspired theme. Here's her cake made by my Aunt Judith. She also did the Mickey Mouse Themed cake on my son's first birthday.

A 7 year old girl shouldn't be actually wearing makeup but she really wants to have her face done, even her dad agrees to glam her up on her big day. Since she's too young I just want a vibrant, fresh makeup look for her with glitters and shimmers, I even added glitters to her hair so she doesn't need to get a blonde wig just to be like Elsa. I've seen a lot of young girls getting a blonde wig, and I don't think it's cute...

Just like the last time, it's so hard to do her makeup. She asks a lot of question and couldn't keep still and stay on her seat for more than five minutes. It's like every two minutes she has to stand up, and check if her classmates have arrived. I have to nag her and call her name several times. Her hair and makeup was supposed to be done for just 20 minutes, but it took us an hour!

and she's about to sneak again.. going towards the direction of the door...

Here's the final result for Jana's sheer glittery Elsa Inspired FOTD and OOTD: Fresh and youthful

Products Used

FACE

Nyx High Definition Primer

Jazzy Collections Cream Foundation applied sheerly with a flat top brush

F21 two way powder foundation

Sugar Skull Cosmetics 10 Correct and Conceal palette

EYES

Sugar Skull Cosmetics 88 Earth Palette (gold and shimmery vanilla)

Etude House Tear Powder in Crystal Gold Tear

Estee Lauder Lash Primer

Avon Extralast Mascara in Black

Revlon eyelash curler

CHEEKS

Mac Hello Kitty Powder Blush in Tippy

Etude House Tear Powder in Crystal Gold Tear

LIPS

Wet n' Wild Mega Last Lipstick in Pinkerbell

City Color Lip Lush Crayon

I don't have a solo picture of her and more pictures of how's the makeup applied on her face. Why? coz I couldn't find her after doing her hair and makeup. She's running around, playing with kids, and running again. I don't want to chase her coz I'll just get tired of it, she won't stop for sure.

I did the same look for myself and replaced the lip products with my favorite Mac Please Me lipstick. Here's my selfie. Sorry but I don't always carry digital cameras or dslr's with me. I have no time for those, and even no space in my bag. Just a good camera phone will do for me, and of course now's the era of smartphones that are meant for good selfies.

A zoomed out version: Just a wash of eye colour, pink lips and glowing cheeks

Zoomed in: Glitters! Shimmers!

I'm afraid I'm falling in love again with shimmers, glitters and gold... Should I say goodbye to matte eyeshadows? But I've just bought two matte Makeup Geek eyeshadows... let me think for a while! Well then, It's currently 3am here and I gotta hit the sack! Thanks for reading ladies! Adios!

Ever Bilena Cosmetics Review and Swatches

My first blog post for 2015! How's your new year lovelies? Is it dazzling yet? Time for a fresh start and organize our thoughts, goals and everything! 

I really hope I could live up with my resolution for this year on buying cheaper makeups. I've always been tagged as a girl who loves high end products. I want to prove everyone that they're wrong. It's not that I only love high ends, it just so happened that I buy those used in some tutorials or famous makeup gurus and beauty bloggers that I know, since they're proven and tested to be good, effective and can work wonders. I remember buying Cosmopolitan magazines when I was high school just to wait whenever they have their beauty awards coz they'll pick up all products from skincare to makeups and accessories that are worth every penny and where most people who have tried it and swears by it. It actually saves me from trial and error and definitely saves money. Now that there's internet I just only have to access those trusted websites from my favorite beauty bloggers and vloggers, or female forums and everything I need and every questions that I have were automatically answered.

I know there are always dupe for every popular high end goods, and I'm still in search for them. For me if a certain product does the trick then why bother to spend more? Wet n' wild, Nyx, Rimmel, Coastal Scents and Elf were popular drugstore brands that have dupes for Mac Cosmetics, Nars, and more. Now I'll be reviewing a local brand in the Philippines named Ever Bilena. It has been around since 1983 and has claimed to provide world class beauty products to Filipinas. As far as I remember it was around 2005 to 2006 when they've upgraded their products and some reminds me of Mac Cosmetic's packaging for their makeup line and some reminds me of Victoria's Secret Body Mist for their perfume line's packaging.

What I have in here is a gift from my cousin Nikki. She works in PAL Express (Philippine Airlines) and as a part of her training they were provided with some information regarding personality development, grooming and proper application of makeup. She said they had their own table filled with cosmetics, sponsored by Ever Bilena for them to try and she found out some products were really good and friendly for her sensitive skin. Since I share that skin sensitivity with her (blame our genes), I'm now a believer that Ever Bilena's products were safe and non comedogenic.

Ever Bilena Pro Flawless Foundation

First up she introduced to me the Pro Flawless liquid foundation in Beige. That time I ran out of my holy grail foundie Jazzy Collections cream foundation and we had to go somewhere, so I grabbed her bottle of foundie and tried it. It's gel-like for me, and when applied on skin it reminds me of Maybelline's aqua smooth gel foundation's consistency. It's actually sheer and the coverage is buildable. Once it oxidizes on your skin the color doesn't change, skin's not oily. It's just dewy. However, it couldn't cover all the flaws that I have like blemishes, broken capillaries, visible veins and freckles. I still need a cream concealer then top it off with a powder. I only use it as a tinted moisturizer, coz It's moisturizing for me and I don't know if it really helped heal up the existing pimples I had, but it didn't aggravate the existing ones either, and the next day the bumps were gone. The sweet vanilla scent is also good, not overwhelming. Unfortunately you can't control the amount of foundation you would get from the pump bottle, which is a thumbs down for me. Just one pump and you'll get too much. It's unhygienic to put it back and a total waste if I just wipe the excess off with a tissue. My verdict: This foundation is good for those who wants lighter and sheer coverage. Not for me, I always want full coverage foundations.

Ever Bilena Pro Lipliner in Red

It's about time to let my holy grail red lippie Mac Russian Red take a good rest coz I've found its cheap dupe. I'm actually using it as a lipstick so I filled my lips with it and it lasts the whole day. It still couldn't beat up the pigmentation, staying power and consistency of Mac lippies, but the orange-red tint and just bitten stain is good enough, and even after eating there's still a reddish stain on my lips. My cousin Nikki bought four of it coz she likes it that much! She uses it for work by the way.

Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Offbeat Pink

I'm proud to announce that I've found a dupe for my favorite lippie. It's a good everyday lipstick and comes pretty close to Mac please me. Most local muas were using it and it's one of the most raved product from Ever Bilena. This is actually the third time I have it and I noticed a change from its shade. First time I bought it was 2011 and it was a light baby pink color. The second and third time somehow becomes bright pink with a peachy tinge to it. I use it every time I go out now and it stays on my lips for a long time. 

However since it's matte it emphasizes the cracks, dryness and fine lines of my lips. Though it stays for a long time it leaves a white mark on my inner lower lip like I didn't lick it, it's not good though... My verdict: I actually love it, now that it's a brighter pink. I just have to moisturize my lips prior to using it, and to prevent that white mark on my inner lower lip I guess I just have to reapply it on and wipe the prior application with a tissue. By the way, I noticed that this lippie looks better to those with tanned skin or to those with morena skin tone.

Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Mauvey

I'm actually expecting mauve lips but then it's like a nude lipstick in a purplish pink base, it reminds me of my Revlon Pink Pout Lipstick. It'll look great when paired with smokey eyes, but I'm actually disappointed on how it made me look so pale, and it's not for an everyday wear. 

Maybe it's not the right shade of nude lippie that goes well with my skintone, and I think I still have to top it off with a pinky lip gloss. When my friend Gladinette posted her selfie on Facebook using it, it looks so pretty on her! She paired it with the blush palette and eyeshadow palette she got from Sugar Skull Cosmetics. Sigh.. My Verdict: Disappointed but I will still definitely use it and it's my second tube by the way. I'll use it in the future if I have to go for a smokey eyes on a night out.

Swatches on my hand:

More products I would like to purchase from Ever Bilena:

Since I'm a lipstick girl, I still would love to try more matte lipsticks in Viva, Skin and there's one with my name on it, Cherish.

This isn't a paid advertisement from Ever Bilena or a sponsored post. I got them as gifts and my cousin paid for it.

There you go, my first post! What's your favorite product from Ever Bilena? I hope I could make more haul and reviews for local cosmetics and drugstore makeups for this year. Gotta earn more first! Thanks for reading!