Elf Complexion Perfection

I wanted to try a powder that would help out with my oil slick and shine and have been hearing a good amount of reviews about Elf's Complexion Perfection. It's pretty much this pan of silky powder which has 4 squares in it. There's a pale yellow, mint green, baby blue, and baby pink color. You can use them individually to color correct. For example, use the mint green to cancel out redness. Or you could swirl all the colors together and just even out your skin tone and mattify your skin.

I've been grabbing for this everyday and I really do think that it helps to even out the skin tone and mattify my skin. The product description says that it's pretty sheer in color, but applying too much can definitely wash you out. I have a light skin tone so I haven't had problems with it washing me out, but for tanned or darker skin tones, you may want to use a light hand to prevent that from happening. I typically use this after my moisturizer and before any makeup. But I've been noticing that I will just use this alone just as powder for the entire day. I'm trying to figure out if my Everyday Minerals is causing me to become oily and so far, it seems to be a a factor.

So for $3, this is a great product. It comes with a good amount of product, 13.5 grams, and it comes in a "NARS like" packaging with it's matte black case and a nice sized mirror. I just wish it had come with a puff inside because I can't really take it and use it without taking a regular sized powder brush. I'm probably going to have to invest in the EcoTools travel kabuki.

24th B-day

I had a pretty nice birthday this year and that's all I wanted! I'm not a crazy birthday celebrator so having a nice lunch with my family was just perfect. We went to Red Robin and had a feast! I got some money and gift cards to Sephora and Starbucks. My cousins know me well :) At night, we had a little celebration for my birthday and the Pacquiao vs. Cotto boxing fight. I don't know why but I love to watch boxing matches and it makes it even better to watch when a fellow Filipino is fighting. Pacquiao is an amazing boxer and he always looks like he's in his element and enjoying it. That match was super intense to watch and my heart was fluttering like crazy! Good thing he won though!

Then on Sunday, we went to my Grandma's house to celebrate again. My Grandma is too cute! She's 79 years old & can't really use her left arm/hand and still cooks me food! Such a sweet woman. I really had a good time just chatting up with her and asking her questions of her life. She has been dreaming about my Grandpa who passed away several years ago and they are such cute dreams. The first one was on his birthday and she dreamt that my Grandpa was asking her to kiss him, but she said she couldn't because she would trip or something (she uses a cane/walker that's why). Then on their wedding anniversary this year, she dreamt that they were on the bed, but he asked her to put a banig ( a Filipino hard blanket) down on the ground so they could sleep and be happy together there ;) and she ended up yelling his name out loud and waking up my aunt. My aunt then wakes my Grandma and says "Mom, dad is dead, why are you calling his name?" My Grandma had a pretty bad health scare earlier this year and we really thought we were going to lose her, so I've been really trying to get to know her on a different level and enjoy her company while she's still healthy. She's such a comedian!

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer Tinted Moisturizer

I was beginning to get super oily half way through the day and I was getting frustrated. I've just been using my Everyday Minerals Foundation and even with primer, I was still an oil slick at the end of the day. I've been wanting to try a tinted moisturizer for a really long time now because it's almost fool-proof. So I went to the drugstore and found the Neutrogena Tinted moisturizer and decided to give it a go. The first time I wore it, I wore it alone with no powder to set it. It felt really light and gave enough color without being too heavy looking. By the end of the day, I wasn't as oily so I really liked that. Then I decided to use my Everyday Minerals foundation/powder over it to set it and I'm liking the results. My face isn't really that oily anymore and not very shiny by the end of the day. Hopefully I'll keep getting the same results!

So I've been working for almost a month now, it will be exactly a month on November 8th. I'm really liking it! I've learned a lot and at this point, they are giving me projects with minimal supervision. An assistant project manager sat down with me for about an hour and a half last month to teach me how to prepare a certain document. Of course, it was way too much information to retain but my notes are really helping. So these past 2 days, I've been working non-stop on the document and finally finished all the parts that I could. I'm just waiting on these 2 technical reports that other consulting firms are working on. I have been popping into the project manager's office once or twice a day to ask for help on some topics and he's super nice and helpful. I'll hopefully finish with this document next week, if not by tomorrow. Talk about an accomplishment! The job's pretty fun though because I like to research and write anyways. That's my update on work! :)

Flirt! Cosmetics

Stay tuned for my Flirt! Cosmetics package that I won from Makeup For Life's Contest Giveaway. I got a UPS postcard telling me that I need to go to the actual store to pick it up because there was some mix up with my address, so I'm going to pick it up after work tomorrow. I'm so excited to see the products!!!

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[Big Flirt Thickening Mascara in #05 Violet Vixen]

[Glamourazzi Exteme Lip Lacquer in #12 Va-Va-Voom]

[Dreamy Eyes Eyeshadows in #20 Glamourazzi and #24 Aquavite]

[Swatches; Left: Glamourazzi, Right: Aquavite]

[Peek-A-Blush Sheer Powder Cheek Color #21 Pink Tutu]

My initial reaction is that the products are super pigmented and the packaging is really cute. I like the sleek black packaging! I'm going to try the products when I go out tonight so I'll let you know how everything works out. I'm excited for the purple mascara!

loving october

we had such nice weather today! it was pretty cold this morning but this afternoon, i swear i really fell in love with san diego all over again. i have been taking 20 minute walks during my lunch time and i have a good time because i get to see a lot of things. i see a lot of cool buildings, lots and lots of airplanes, and the bay. it's a good way to get myself out of the office and get some fresh air. i love this fall weather. i wish it could be like this everyday! it's warm enough to still wear flip flops, but cool enough to layer up on scarves and cardigans.

I got some new boots from Charlotte Russe that i picked up last week during the buy one shoe regular price, get the 2nd one for $10. i got some black boots while my sis got some cool "Daria" boots as we would like to call them. i haven't been able to wear them quite yet but i'm super excited just thinking about it.

anyways i had the cramps pretty bad this week. i really wanted to leave work early yesterday because i couldn't take it, but i have only been there a couple of weeks and i don't want them to have a bad impression of me so i decided to stay and suffer. i finally called the doctor's to go in for an appointment because i can't take suffering like this every month and it affecting my life. i have tried remedies such as heating pads, taking tylenol, midol, pamprin, and even exercising daily but those haven't really helped much. they seriously help for like 5 minutes but then the pain comes back. i really hope nothing is wrong with me. i guess i'll see what happens when i go see my doctor tomorrow.

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Natural

So as promised, here is my personal review on the NYX Rouge cream blush in shade CB02- Natural. I went into a makeup store 20 minutes from my house because it's the only place I knew that sold NYX at a good price. I went in there knowing I wanted to buy a powder blush but after swatching the cream blushes, I ended up liking how it applied and how light it felt on. There were some gorgeous colors and these things are super pigmented so a little goes a long way. I was about to buy a brighter pink, but opted to get something more natural looking, and how perfect is it that the shade is called Natural.

I apply the blush with my Studio Tools duo fiber brush and it works great to pick up just the right amount of product. You could definitely use your fingers to apply and blend, but I don't really like the idea of dipping my fingers into the pot and getting it "dirty." If you do use your fingers, make sure to not press too hard because the product is quite soft and you could easily dent it.

The staying power is pretty good too. I usually have problems with my blushes fading and/or wearing off by the middle or end of the day, but this really held up for me. The color stayed pretty true as well. The main reason why I bought this blush was because I wanted something that would stay the same color throughout the day. My Everyday Minerals blushes tend to turn orange after a few hours which bugs me because I want a pink blush to stay pink, not turn orange.

Also, I don't know if this alone caused me to break out. I did notice some redness and/or red spots on my cheeks after wearing it twice. Mineral oil is an ingredient in this so I'm thinking that it may have caused it. This blush is still on my "trial" period so we'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks or so.

[Top: Blush was swiped, Bottom: Blush was blended with my fingers]

small update

I started my new job this past Thursday and it was a pretty great day. I'm so excited to be a part of their team and I honestly feel like I'm at the right place. I can't wait to get into the more challenging tasks and really learn all the processes. Everyone at the office is super nice and welcoming. I'm really loving it so far :)

As for updates...I'll try to keep up with them! I know I should be doing more than one per week but I still have to adjust with less "free" time. I'm thinking that the next post will be on the NYX cream blush in Natural. So stay tuned for that one this week.