Delightful Illusions

          Project Makeup Low Buy is challenge I have imposed on myself that I should do this year. This project aims to control my makeup purchases per month and save money. I committed to purchase 2 makeup products at most per month; I excluded mascara because I only buy 1 at a time. I promised to show all the products I bought and give reviews. 

             February was the month where I purchased 4 makeup products. Pretty bad, huh? I did not feel bad at all because I knew that I needed the products I bought. An office mate of mine asked me to do her makeup for the department's anniversary celebration, which was held last February 19. Knowing that I need to buy some things, I decided to break my own rules and went on a shopping spree. I picked up a black liquid eyeliner because I didn't have one; I picked up a soft brown brow liner shade because I didn't have any either. Anyways, if you are interested to know the products I bought and my thoughts about them, just keep on reading.

          I had this eyeliner before, like 6 years ago, and I loved it. I got the brown one during my college days; I remember this liquid eyeliner being easy to use and lasting all day long. I needed a good eyeliner for my office mate who asked me to do her makeup for an event. I used this on her mono lids and they liked the look on her. She is the type of girl who doesn't wear any makeup, not even lipstick. 

          Pigmentation is on its highest level -- vivid at one swipe. It has the typical felt tip applicator which kind of hard to control, on my part at least. The I really love about this product is the longevity. This stays all throughout the day; it doesn't smear and transfer. If you are looking for a good liquid liner that is affordable, get this one. It costs only Php 100. :)

Cherimoya is a makeup brand that I have never heard before. I saw these liners before, I got curious, I almost bought it, but I didn't. Then, just this February, I went back to the store Branded For Less and finally decided to try this one. I was in need of good lip liner and I thought that this product might work. Since I have been working on a dark berry lipstick for my project pan, I decided to pick this shade in Mahogany -- a deep mauve-brown color. 

          This has a creamy, thick consistency with a nice pigmentation. It feels thick on my lips, not smooth to apply on, and leaves small chunks of product. I think it pretty blends well with the Clinique Different Lipstick in A Different Grape, which is currently on my project pan. Defined lips is what I see when I use this product. I like that seals my lipstick on place. I wouldn't say that I don't like this because I still haven't tried using this on my eyes. It's nice liner though. 

          I'm not sure if that's the name of the product because it wasn't stated on the packaging. Annoying, eh? I bought this product for the spoolie brush that it came with. I have been meaning to buy a spoolie for my brows, so when I saw this I immediately bought this. I also needed a brown brow liner for my office mate; I didn't think she would jump into my strong brow game. 

          This has a soft touch on my brows; it's not dramatic nor pigmented. I like this when I feel like I need a more natural looking brows without the effort. I need to swipe a couple of times to see a color. The slanted shape is not good for defining although it's slim. This lasts a long time when worn alone. This is a perfect product for on-the-go moments. I recommend checking this one out.

         Those are the makeup products I bought on February. I have mentioned that I bought 4 items but I have only shown 3. The other product has its own post; it's the First Impressions Review: Careline Oil Control Liquid Makeup. If you have any request for an in-depth review on any of these products, please let me know. I would really appreciate it. I will post my March products as soon as I have tried all the products I bought. Thank you so much stopping by. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I hope you are having a great day. Stay safe. 

          Hey, guys! How are you? I've got  pretty much long vacation from work starting todqy until Sunday because we are celebrating the Holy Week. It's spiritual practice of Roman Catholics, and other religions who believe in this season , where we observe fasting and abstinence. You might see posts from this blog more often now; I have already finished my subjects for my master's degree and I have just to take my Comprehensive Exam in August in order to proceed to my thesis. This is such a relief for me, guys. I have been working so hard for the last three years; having a work on weekdays and going to school on Saturdays was so hard I almost gave up. Anyways, I will sharing with you a nail art that I have came up with last month. February is the season of proms in the Philippines; I was supposed to post last month but I wasn't able to. If you are interested on how I achieved this design, just keep on reading.

          I was inspired by the Bobbie Royal Caviar Collection in Gorgeous Princess. It was a nail set with a shimmery black nail polish with multi-colored caviar pearls. I believe these came out way back in 2014 and I'm not sure if you can still get them on the market. I was curious as to why a princess would wear a black nail polish? Typically, princesses are loaded with pink and purple clothes and other things, right? How could this set represent a "gorgeous princess"?  A princess in black sounds so gothic. Haha! ☺ I thought that this set was perfect for a masquerade-themed party; I just have to add some jewels and decorations to make it look more alluring. I have decided to mimic a crown for this design.

          Clean nails are happy nails. Clean your nails first before heading to a nail art session. Put some glue around your nails, making sure not touch the nail itself. This will ruin your nail design once you remove the glue on the later part. Why should we put glue? So that it will be easier to clean the mess after you're done putting your nail polish. Let it dry for a while so it won't mix with the nail polish.

You will be needing these items for the design:

          This is the closer look of the caviar pearls. A combination of blue, green and pink pearls is kinda cute, eh? 😉

To achieve the nail design, follow these simple steps:

          This is the nail design I came up with. What do you think of this? If you'll remake this, please tag me on Instagram so I could see your creation. It looks hard to do, but it's super easy. It doesn't a professional skill to do this design. Just choose the right items and you'll end into something amazing. 😃

          If you enjoyed this tutorial, share this post to others. Please let me know your thoughts, requests, and suggestions by leaving a comment down below. I hope you liked this nail art. Thank you so much for stoppig by and reading this post. I will talk to you again. Have a nice day. Stay safe. ❤❤

          Hey, guys! I know, I know. I have for too long, I'm sorry. Work and practicum (for Graduate School) have almost killed me, made me sick, due to a busy schedule. This is the 4th week that I'm working on weekends and I'm starting to feel lazy. Have you ever felt like that? Haha! Anyways, I will be talking about the updates of my Products I Want To Use Up in 2016 Challenge. I started this project last January; I promised that to give updates every two months. 

          Of all the project pans I have done, this is by far the successful one, even though I'm just doing this for two months. I am actually using the products involved constantly; I am determined to finish what I have started this fine. My progress will be seen on the pictures you will see in a moment. If you are interested on my update, just keep on reading. :)

          The following products are replacements for the original items included on this challenge. My IN2IT Supreme Eyeliner was accidentally broken because I dropped it last last week. I didn't feel right in claiming that I have finished it so I picked up another item. Then, the Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color is actually gone bad; it's stiff and hard to use up. I picked another powder blush in replacement. 

Elf Studio Blush in Tickled Pink - This is the replacement for the Mary Kay blush. As you can see, I've already hit the pan; this was included on my last project pan challenge. I love this pink blush. It has glitters on it, but is barely visible on the skin. I might use this one up before the year ends. I not sure. Haha! :)

Maybelline Clear Smooth All-In-One Pressed Powder in Nude Beige - This is the replacement of the IN2IT eyeliner. I have this powder since last year and I have used a good amount of this product. This is the best powder for oily skin and it doesn't do what it claims. It's a decent powder for setting my face though. I'm quite sure that I can finish it up this year. 

          This concludes my update. I think that I'm doing a great job on this challenge this year. I'm now focused and determine to do my projects now. I'm hoping to have a greater job towards my next update. The next one will be on May, so stay tuned for that. 

           Are you doing beauty projects too? How is your experience so far? If you are interested on my next update, just follow this blog to keep you in touch. Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I'll talk to you soon. Have a great day. Stay safe. Love you all!

          Shade 2: I can see a wider dent on this shadow, comparing to my introduction post, as shown in the picture above. It's a pretty gold shade, but it has a lot of glitter fallout. This is a nice topping on my neutral shadows. I'll use this shade as my lid color on for a week straight so I could hit the pan faster.

          Shade 7: There's not a lot of progress on this beautiful teal-cerulean blue shadow. I don't use this a lot because I think it's inappropriate for the office. I use this sometimes to top my eyeliner on my lash line to give a nice accent. I think I will use this a lot during  the Summer season.

          Shade 8: I have already hit pan on this brown shade so I don't use this much these days. As I have said, I need to focus on the other eye shadows. 

          Careline is a local beauty brand selling makeup items, colognes and some other related products which targets the teenage girls. I think the philosophy of this brand to provide fresh looking makeup for the young ones. I appreciate the brand for its simplicity; a simple makeup look is what a teenager needs. ;) 

              I'm currently doing a challenge, the Project Makeup Low Buy 2016, which aims to minimize my accumulation of makeup products for 2016 as I have been uncontrollable last year. I am allowing myself to buy a maximum of 2 makeup items per month and do a review on them. :) Last Monday, as I was roaming around at the grocery, I browsed on the makeup displays that they have. I came across this Careline Oil Control Liquid Make-up which pretty much look like a liquid foundation. The main reason I bought this was because it claims to be "oil-control" makeup; I have an oily skin and need of light foundation for everyday use so I got this. I have actually saved this one for a "First Impressions" review type of post because I wanted to share with you what will be my experience in trying this product for the first time. If you are interested, just keep on reading. :)

          We should actually see what composes this products before I tell you my experience. Looking above, you could tell that this has Dimethicone, Talc, and Parabens; harsh chemicals that causes harm on the skin and health in general which could be found on most makeup products. Uh uh, that's not good, especially for teens. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

          Now, let's see what this product claims. It claims to be absorbing excess oil all through the day and has a light weight texture. That sounds good, right? A light weight makeup that absorbs oil; a 2-in1 product for only Php 90! Have you noticed that little opened jar which has 24M on it? That indicates how long this product will stay fresh after you have opened it. 24 months isn't bad at all, eh?

          The nicest thing about this product is the tube packaging with cupcake decorations on the outside. This is one of the most hygienic and neatest type of packaging on my opinion. 

          I attended my class at the Graduate School today and I decided to try this product today. I have applied this product alone on my face because I wanted to see if this will really absorb the oil all through out the day even without setting it with a powder. The smell is okay though; it has that kind of light sweet vanilla scent. 

          6:50 AM: I have just finished applying makeup on my face. I still have to eat so I don't have lipstick on these first two pictures yet. We can see here that this just barely covered my under eye dark circles and pores. I didn't set this with a powder, as I have a while ago, and it has a little bit of moisture going on my face which I didn't like at all. It made me feel uncomfortable.

            10:25 AM: I was already back at home because my professor just updated us with the changes on her course requirements. I think I only stayed on the school for like an hour. Haha! Anyways, I have taken another selfie when I got home. You can see some shine peeking through, including those blemishes. My face felt so greasy again. I mean, I have only touched up almost two hours ago and here comes the uncomfortable feeling again. I washed my face after I took this picture because I didn't want this on my face anymore. 

               That was my experience on the first try of this product. I cannot tell yet if this isn't worth the money or not; I still need to use this a few times more before I can give you my verdict. I can tell you pros and cons though;

PROS: