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Maxine Marcelino

Beauty, Reviews, Tips

Review: Benefit Bella bamba

03/12/2013

11 Comments

I’ve always been a fan of Benefit boxed powders. The first Benefit boxed powder that I’ve purchased is Coralista which is a cult favorite. My second Benefit boxed powder is the Benefit 10 which is a bronzer and highlighter duo. Bellebamba was released quite a while ago and I heard that it was just a better version of Coralista which is why it took me a long time to finally decide to purchase it and try it out for myself.

Product

This blush promises not to be the traditional blush and it’s supposed to be a 3d watermelon blush (I don’t know how it’s a 3D blush) with gold shimmer.

What I Love

Improvements

I love that they finally changed their packaging. The old benefit boxed powders come with a detachable lid while this new and improved boxed powder now comes with a flip-top cover that stays shut using a magnet.

I also like that the blush it comes with is a bit softer than the traditional brush/applicator that came with the old boxed powders. The brush is now also shaped in a way that improves blush application. I used to just chuck out the old brushes because they were pretty much useless to me and my normal blush brushes were a lot better. Although I still prefer using my old brushes but i’m willing to use the brush that came with this boxed powder in case of emergencies.

Shade and Product

The initial swatch of this product got me scared because this product is LOADED with shimmer. However, it settles on my skin perfectly after I blended it using a fluffy brush. The watermelon pink shade is also divine and makes me look flushed in a nice way. I think that Benefit was able to balance out the shimmer perfectly by packing in tons of pigment into the product as well. It is also very finely milled just like my other two benefit boxed powders. This also has a huge amount of product with 0.28 oz. A typical MAC blush contains 0.21 oz. This costs 1800 a piece. :)

What I don’t Like

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this blush! :)

Tips

A lot of fake Benefit products have been popping up. To verify their authenticity, flip the product on it’s back and you should be able to peel off a sticker attached on the product.

Also, like I said, this blush is highly pigmented and has lots of shimmer. If you’re a type of girl who’s scared of shimmer, start by patting this gently onto your cheeks. You may then build up the color as you wish. :)

Recommendations

I LOOVE this blush and I recommend this to both fair skinned and olive skinned girls! I think it’s a very wearable shade. The pinkish side of the blush makes it perfect for fair skinned girls while the gold shimmer makes it suitable to olive skinned girls as well.

What are your favorite benefit boxed powders? :) Let me now in your comments below! <3

xoxo,

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Reviews

Review: Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm

03/08/2013

9 Comments

I’ve been hearing about the Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm from beauty bloggers all over the net. As I went to my local drugstore, I found out that the local Maybelline counters unfortunately carry a different version of the Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm. The ones that are sold in the US are supposed to be tinted while the ones sold here are barely tinted.

Product

The product is a lip balm in form of a stick with a packaging that is made out of plastic. It claims to last up to 8 hours and to rejuvenate the lips in one week. It contains the essence of centella which is an herb that has been used in China, India, and Indonesia for thousands of years. The essence of centella is supposed to be able to let the product reduce fine lines, increase elasticity, and increase suppleness.

I purchased my Maybelline Bably Lips lip balm in smoothing cherry.

What I Love:

I like how the graphics of the tube makes the lip balm look so young and fun! The youthful packaging really makes the whole product look very appealing. It smoothens my lips to a certain extent. I also like that it comes in 4 different flavours. All of which have really catchy names such as: smoothing cherry, energizing orange, anti-oxidant berry, and relieving menthol. This lip balm is also very affordable at PHP79 a pop!

What I don’t like:

Although it significantly moisturizes my lips, I feel like other lip balms have done a better job at moisturizing my lips. It did not really last all day on my lips but I don’t really mind reapplying. I’m also not a big fan of the scent/taste of this lip balm but this is a very minor complaint on my part. Lastly, the flavor did not really taste anything like the typical cherry flavored candies or lip products that I’m used to. haha!

Overall Recommendations

Although this lip balm should improve on the moisturizing department, I still like it overall.I believe that a girl can never have too many lip balms! I keep lip balms everywhere. I have a lip balm in my make up kit, my pencil case, my vanity, and other similar strategic places because I tend to mysteriously lose lip balms all the time. teehee!

I recommend this to those who are looking for flavored lip balms while I would not recommend this to those who get bothered with scents and flavors easily. I also would recommend this to those who have naturally hydrated lips. I think one of the reasons why this product did not work very well with my lips is because I have extremely dry and chapped lips.

This product isn’t a total bust and it’s still something that I’ll use. It’s not something I’ll repurchase though because I have tried others that have smoothened out my lips more effectively.

Do you have this product? What are your favorite lip balms? Do share them on the comments section below! :)
xoxo,

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Reviews, Tips

Review: Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara

03/07/2013

2 Comments

For the longest time, I’ve been loyal to my favorite mascara, the Majolica Majora Lash Expander Mascara. However, the beauty blogger in me pushes me to explore new products every so often. I’ve been hearing great things about the Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara and I just had to make sure that it was one of the things that I hauled during my recent trip to the US.

I’ve been using this for a week now and I noticed that the blue printed background has started to chip off.

Product

The packaging is made up of a plastic shiny material. It comes with a large brush designed to separate lashes. Given that it’s name has the word “voluminous” in it, it claims to be a volumizing mascara.

What I Love:

I have incredibly short lashes and this mascara does a superb job in lengthening my lashes! It’s formula is very lightweight and does not weight my lashes down. Some formulas tend to be too heavy and let my lashes droop. It also did not cause my lashes to clump. I like that the brush was able to effectively separate my lashes. Its formula also lets my lashes hold a curl very well and I was able to wear the mascara all day. Lastly, the mascara is waterproof but is fairly easy to remove.

What I don’t like:

While this mascara claims to be a volumizing mascara, it was not able to do much volumizing on my lashes.

Tips

make sure to curl those lashes!
swipe off the excess product on a tissue paper to prevent clumping
sweep the brush from the roots of your lashes til the tips of your lashes

Left: no mascara; Right: with mascara

Final Recommendations

Although it did not really volumize my lashes, I still really like this mascara. I’ve been using it every day! Like I said, I have really short lashes and this mascara makes my lashes look longer. It’s something I would buy again and I recommend this to girls who have really short lashes. However, if you’re looking for a volumizing mascara, this might not be for you.

Do you have this mascara? What mascara would you recommend for me to try out? I would love to hear from you!

xoxo

xoxo,

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LOTD

LOTD: Gold Triangles

02/24/2013

3 Comments

I never really abided by the term, “sunday dressing”. It’s not that I have anything against it. It’s just that I understand that point in having to dress differently on sundays. As long as I wear something descent, I don’t see anything wrong with wearing clothes that don’t fit the phrase “sunday dressing” :) Here’s what I wore to church today:

You might be wondering why all my outfit photos for today will be cropped from above my knee. My family members and my close friends know for a fact that I’m a total klutz. I am literally a walking disaster. I joined the recent Color Manila Nite Run last saturday for the 10k division. Less than 3k into the run, *BAM!*, I tripped. BOTH OF KNEES WERE SCRAPED. In my defense, we were running at night and my right foot went into a hole that fit my foot perfectly. I had the privilege of being the first person to be treated by the medics. HA HA. Although my injuries really hurt, my mini accident made the fun run so much more memorable! :)

Blazer from Nava || skirt from forever 21

necklace from Yhansy

bag from bubbles || gold bracelets from my grandma || casio watch || “believe” bracelet from a friend

xoxo,

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Events, FOTD, LOTD

LOTD: Under the Sea

02/20/2013

7 Comments

It’e been a while since I last posted an outfit post! Today I’ll be posting the outfit that i wore to the biggest party in the Ateneo, Shindig: Submerged. I was very busy prior to Shindig so I shopped for my entire outfit on the day of the event itself! I took the theme of the party to heart and this is what I came up with:

tube corset and skirt from Forever 21

Shoes from Michael Antonio

I SUPER LOVE THE DETAIL OF THIS SKIRT! I fell in love with it the moment I saw it! <3

Clutch from Ever New

I took “submerged” to a whole new level by incorporating different elements of the ocean into my outfit. My corset is made of sequins, My skirt reminds me of scallops, and my clutch looks like a shell! :)

earrings from forever 21

MY LOTD:

Since my entire look was already shining shimmering and splendid, i went for my go-to neutral eye-makeup look and paired it with a nude lip. I only contoured my cheeks; I did not put on blusher anymore. I felt like adding a blusher would over-do my look.

I really like how this last minute look turned out! :)

Some photos I grabbed from the party:

xoxo,

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Beauty, Works

Shindig 2013: Submerged Photoshoot

02/19/2013

Review part 2: Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk Lipstick

02/16/2013

2 Comments

Earlier this year I posted a review on the Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk Lipstick in Be101. Today i will be posting a review on the PK001. You may find my review for BE101 here. As you can see, the codes of the lippies are very different and the boxes they came in were different as well. However, after using both lippies for quite some time now, they seem to have the same casing, formula–everything.

The Product

Its just like any other lipstick enclosed in a plastic case. It doesn’t say in the box how much the actual weight of the product is but its net weight (weight including the packaging) is 3.4g. A MAC lipstick’s net weight is twice of this Etude House Lipstick. I don’t mind though because its cost is around half of a mac lipstick’s: PHP 478

What I Love:

The packaging is very cute.
PK001 is a cutesy barbie/fuscha pink shade with a blue undertone!
The color is very buildable. Although the shade from the tube does not come out right away, you may pile on more layers of the lippie to get the desired intensity of the shade.
The heart carving on the lipstick is divine! The carving reminds me of some high-end lipsticks like Burberry which have carvings as well.

It’s incredibly moisturizing on my lips.

What I don’t like:

I noticed that the whole product feels very light and it’s casing doesn’t feel as sturdy as other lipsticks.
It doesn’t last as long as other lipsticks as well. It lasted around 3-4 hours on me.

Swatches

Overall Recommendations

I really like this lipstick. However, I find that it doesn’t suit me very much because of my super light hair color. I think this would look best on people with dark brown or black hair. This is a really nice and affordable barbie pink lip color and i recommend it to those who want to try a barbie pink lippie. :)

Beauty, Reviews

Product Rave: The Face Shop Design My Eyebrow Lovely Me:ex

02/12/2013

7 Comments

Hello lovelies!

I still haven’t gotten over my obsession with eyebrow products and I am back with a SUPER AFFORDABLE and efficient eyebrow pencil! I used to buy items from The Face Shop when I was in high school but I have not been able to re-visit the shop until recently. I was able to buy two eyebrow products, cotton pads, face masks, and demi lashes during my recent trip to The Face Shop. Today I want to talk about the stand out product of my mini haul: The Face Shop Design My Eyebrow from their Lovely Me:ex line.

Product

The product is an eyebrow pencil with two sides: one side containing a retractable eyebrow liner and another side containing a spooley brush. It comes in a plastic case.

What I love:

The brow pencil comes with a retractable angled liner which is perfect for shaping the brows.
The shape of the eyeliner gets the job done in a matter of seconds.
The spooley brush is INCREDIBLY useful. It’s perfect for blending out harsh lines.
The shade (04 brown) blends in perfectly onto my brows.
The pencil comes in 5 different colors: 01 gray brown, 02 dark brown, 03 black brown, 04 brown, 05 black brown.
The pencil is super affordable at PHP225 a piece!!! :)

What I don’t like:

NONE.

When worn:

bare eyebrows

me wearing the lovely me:ex design my eyebrow

Final Recommendations

This has got to be a holy grail product because it matches my hair color perfectly and because it’s VERY AFFORDABLE! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this product and I’m so glad I took a chance and bought it out of impulse. HA HA! I recommend this to every girl out there. This product does not disappoint! It’s so easy to use and if perfect for girls who are always on the go. :)

xoxo,

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