I found out about the Ben Nye Banana Powder when I was taking up my certificate course in make-up at MUD. My teacher, Ms. Georginna Desuasido recommended the Ben Nye Luxury Banana Powder as a nice finishing powder. I decided to try it out. Right about the time that I bought my bottle, I started noticing that the product was selling like hot cakes on my Facebook and Instagram feed. I decided to check it out and I found this photo:

OH MY GOSH. I found a lot of images online but I think that this is the best photo that could explain why the Ben Nye Banan powder is so popular right now! I’m pretty sure both Kim K fans and haters who will see this photo is most likely going to buy themselves a bottle of this “miracle” powder. Scroll down to hear my thoughts on the product! :)

Product

The product is a yellow based translucent powder that is housed in a clear plastic white bottle/jar. It doesn’t look like the usual setting powder that you are used to seeing because there is nothing glamorous about its packaging. I’m not really complaining about the packaging because I think the packaging adds to it’s no non-sense charm though. The Ben-Nye luxury powder coms in different shades but the most famous shade is in Banana.

What I love:

• Don’t be intimidated by the yellow tinted powder because it actually blends very nicely into the skin. The yellow tint allows the face to look healthy unlike some powders that leave a white cast on the face.

• I have some oily spots on my face and this powder sets those oily spots so well that it can keep my face from being oily for more than 8 hours.
• The powder itself is so finely milled. It feels like a luxury powder indeed.
• I noticed that the luxury powders that are being sold online are so expensive! I was able to buy my bottle of the Banana Luxury Powder (1.5 oz.) at Pure Beauty (Serendra) for only php 500.
• I’m quite satisfied with the amount of powder that I have for the price of php 500. My Laura Mercier Loose Translucent powder costs around PHP1800 and only has around 1 oz worth of product.

• Initially, I was about to deliver bad reviews on this product because I didn’t feel like the powder highlighted my face at all. The photo of Kim K. above shows how superbly this powder highlights the face. I refused to be disappointed in this product and I finally thought of a logical explanation to make myself feel better. The powder was able to highlight Kim K’s face so nicely because she has darker skin than me. It didn’t do any highlighting for me because it blends in with my skin tone so well! My conclusion is that this powder can work for both fair skinned and colored women. It can be a setting powder for fair skinned women. It can be a highlighter AND setting powder for the morenas.
• I can imagine that a lot of people complain about the packaging. I think that it’s packaged in that way because the manufacturer of the powder initially had make up artists in mind when they packaged the product. It can also explain why the packaging has a “no fuss and non non-sense” vibe. As an aspiring makeup artist, I appreciate the packaging because I can easily pour a bit of powder onto a tissue or a plate and apply. I like it for its hygienic purposes. :)

Swatches

Final Thoughts

I really like this powder and would consider repurchasing. This is a good setting powder for both fair skinned women and morenas. This wouldn’t much highlighting for fair skinned women though. It best used as a highlighter on morenas. :) I like it because it an affordable luxury powder and it does it’s job impeccably. :)

That’s it for now! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the comments below! <3

I know, I’m late. This new product I’m reviewing has been impressing one beauty blogger after the other. I bought this last April during my Hong Kong Trip but I only decided to open it last week. I have a tooon of unopened makeup items because I have too much makeup and I can’t finish them all. :( Anyway I finally decided to try out it out last week when I was looking for something new product to try. I find the greatest pleasure in trying out new cosmetics! :)

I was really excited when I found out that K-Palette released a pencil version of their liquid liner because the K-palette liquid liner has always been a star in my makeup kit. The K-Palette 1-Day Tattoo Real Lasting Eye Pencil is a retractable eyeliner pencil that that comes in 2 shades: super black and deep brown. I’ve always been a fan of black eyeliners so I chose to purchase this in super black.

What I love:

I love that this eyeliner is retractable. I don’t have to deal with having to bring a sharpener in my kit to sharpen it or worrying that it will run out when I choose not to bring a sharpener in my kit. The bottom-line is that this pencil is super convenient to bring around. It’s very creamy and does not tug on my eyelids. The skin around our eyes is very delicate so it’s important to find products that apply easily and that doesn’t irritate our eyes. It’s so soft and creamy that it is highly recommended to only reveal 2mm worth of the pencil when applying it because it can break easily.  The shade is also very opaque. I can say that it IS a true black. One swipe on your lids does the job well. After a couple of uses, the tip of the pencil can be sharp enough to create flicks. I also observed that it didn’t budge when I tried to rub the swatch on my hand.

the flicks i made with the pencil 

after exposing it to running water.. I rubbed the swatches and they did not budge

What I noticed:

I don’t really have oily lids but I noticed that it started to smudge and transfer to my lids after a few hours of wearing it when I applied it on my bare lids. This has been a problem of mine with quite a number of eye pencils so I already know what to do in order to make eyeliner stay on my lids. I just apply a primer and make sure that it dries and then I apply powder on my lids to make sure the primer stay put. After doing this, I found that the K-Palette eye pencil stayed on my lids all throughout the day without budging. I think that the pigment transfers easily onto the lids because it’s sooo creamy.

When Applied

Final Thoughts

The K-Palette 1-Day Tattoo Real Lasting Eye Pencil is a pencil that really performs well. It’s everything that a superb eyeliner pencil is supposed to be. However, If I had to choose only one between the K-Palette eye pencil and the K-Palette liquid eyeliner, I’d probably go for the liquid eyeliner. The liquid liner is much more precise, and stays on longer. I think the pencil is useful, still because it can be used for tight-lining which is something the liquid liner can’t do. It can also be applied on the water line (just make sure you set it with powder). It costs PHP705 in the Beauty Bar. It’s a bit more expensive than drugstore products and is almost half the price of high end pencils. Overall, this pencil is fabulous and does the job of lining the eyes, tight-lining, and lining the waterline.

That’s it for now! What have you tried from K-Palette? I would love to hear about your experiences with K-Palette’s  products! :) Comment below and do share. <3

xoxo,

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I haven’t been using gel liners until recently because I remember them having a really short shelf life which is why I was discouraged from buying them for quite some time.

The other day, I was shopping for some basic cosmetics on a rush at Watsons and came across the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner and I decided to give it a try in black 01. They claim for it to have a “new improved formula, more intense, upto 36 hours lasting, smudgeproof and waterproof“.

I had the first Maybelline LAsting Drama Gel Liner but I already tossed it out because it dried up already.

What I love about the product:

• The formulation is wonderful! The gel liner is so smooth, creamy and easy to apply.
• Pigmentation is excellent. It comes out as a true black. It didn’t have a gloss of any sort.
• It comes with a small flat dome-shaped brush. The brush is small enough to line on small asian eye like mine but I feel like it could appreciate the brush more if it was an angled brush just because it would be easier to wing out my eyeliner with one. The brush is also stiff enough to create lines.
• Nonetheless, the brush is useful because it is long enough to fit my hand and allows me to comfortably line my eyes.
• The packaging is so much better in my opinion! The old one had screw type lid as well but the lid itself is so much different from the old one. The new and improved lid suits my taste a lot more.
• It’s very affordable! It’s about 500 pesos give or take.

What I don’t like:

• As much as I wanted this to last, it started to smudge throughout the middle of the day. I has semi raccoon like eyes by the end of the day. (You can still make this work by patting on some black eyeshadow on your eyeliner to make sure it stays in place though! :) )

Hi guys!

I’m back with another review on a bronzer called Bahama Mama by the Balm. My favorite bronzer, NARS Laguna broke when I dropped it during one of my makeup gig. <////3 So I brought out a new bronzer from my stash of unused makeup! It was a gift from my uncle and his wife on my 18th birthday (thanks auntie Javi and uncle sean! :) ).

Product

The product is a magnetic compact made out of cardboard and is encased in another cardboard with the same print and design of the actual product. You simply slide out the compact out of the thin cardboard case. The design is so lovely! The Balm always comes out with products with the prettiest designs! :)

What I Love

The bronzer is matte bronzer which I LOOOVE. It has an ever so subtle sheen to it but has no chunky shimmer whatsoever which is something I look for in my bronzers. Shimmery bronzers tend to not be able to do the job of contouring. This is because the shimmer further enhances the part that you want to hide via contouring.  It doesn’t look orangey when applied as well. It suits my skin tone nicely. :) The product is very finely milled and you can see that it really has excellent quality and is really easy to blend. I was very loyal to my Nars Laguna bronzer but this Bahama Mama bronzer by The Balm is soo good that I don’t feel so bad about losing my Laguna bronzer. It’s everything I want in a bronzer. <3

What I don’t like

I have no complaints about this bronzer! :)

Swatches

the bronzer did not show up so much in the camaera but it really looks nice in person! <3

Final Tips and Recommendations

I likes using this with my flat top brush from Sonia Kashuk. I use the side to draw a line on my cheekbone then i use the flat top side of the brush to blend everything out.

I really love this bronzer and I can totally see it becoming a regular product in my makeup kit. I highly recommend this to those who like using matte bronzers. For those who don’t, this is definitely worth a try!! :)

whats’s your favorite bronzer? :)

xoxo,

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