preview: Graftobian HD glamour creme foundation

Finally! Ive been waiting for this for almost a week :P.. take a look at the newest member of my makeup stash :D

Graftobian HD Glamour Creme Foundation

This is my 2nd HD foundie, my first was Hera HD foundie which I ordered from a Multiply seller. I actually have high hopes for this, I read rave reviews from various MUA that this delivers very well and looks good on both photographs and real life. I am about to find out if the claims are true. Read on for the preview ;)

The shade I got is Vixen, I am a little in between NC20-25 in MAC and I think the shade match is pretty much spot on! I was a little shocked when I first saw it, I wasn't expecting it to be this small:O. Here's a photo of the Graftobian dish side by side with my MAC MSF for comparison~

too small for a foundation right? it looks more like a concealer because of how small the dish is :P

but when I opened it, I was happy to see that it's full to the brim!

swatched for about 2x, it's very creamy and pigmented

see how it covers the veins on my hand? I hope it does the same on my acne spots :)

HD :D

It's very pigmented, you can easily go full coverage with this. It covers like no other foundation in my stash, and for that you can also use this as a concealer. You only need a tiny bit if you want a sheerer coverage. It is very buildable and easy to spread on because of its consistency. The finish dries to a matte. I read that it is best applied with a damp sponge, preferably a damp Beauty Blender sponge :P. Maybe Ill try it first with an ordinary sponge. Im not sure if Im ready to buy the Beauty Blender yet because of the hefty price tag :O.

I tried blotting it with a tissue and some foundation transferred :( I haven't tried setting it with a powder yet but I will do update once I get to wear it a couple of times. I can see myself loving this foundation because of the buildable coverage, the flawless finish it gives and how it photographs. (this is just based on the swatches I did above). I am hoping that this would be my HG HD :)

added infos:

Graftobian HD creme foundation also comes in a palette in warm, neutral and cool tone, they have like 5 shades in each palette. You can check out Graftobian's site for the shades.

for Filipina beauties who like to try this, I purchased mine @ sis Steph's website:

http://hdmakeup.multiply.com/

thanks for reading, Happy New Year!!

Peace & Love for us all in the coming years!

just for fun~Nail Arts♥ 2

I feel like my love for nail arts is growing. I tried lots of times to do this myself but I just cant seem to perfect this :( So I just have them done :) My friend did all my nail arts here and I keep telling her that she has such a real talent for this! Here are some of the photos of "her" works ^_^

remember this from Super Mario Bros? 1up (^^,)

cupcakes, anyone? makes me want to lick my fingers everytime :)

I am mighty proud of her, thanks Hannah (^,<) ♥ xxx

Happy Holidays!

I know this greeting of mine is kinda late for Christmas but as they say, it's better late than never! So to all my fellow bloggers out there Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!

I was a little busy for the past few weeks buying presents for my family. I didnt have nuff time to buy myself a gift :( But it doesnt matter as long as they are happy :). A lot has happened this year, some were great but there were also very sad moments for me. Im very thankful to God for all the blessings He has given me this year and I am hoping for a better year next year, hopefully with my bf as my hubby :)

I hope we all have a better year next year, more blessings for us all!

Peace & Love to ya'll♥

the HG list part 1

Hello everyone, I would like to share to you the list of my HG beauty items. Ive been collecting makeup for more than 2 years now and Ive tried lots of products, sadly most of them didnt work for me. I am always on the lookout for a new beauty product as I am always hoping that I would find my HG. For over 2 years of searching, I can now say that I found my HGs (for now) not all of them are perfect but I can say that all of them address my needs and they perform quite well according to my expectations.

I would start with my base:

My HG moisturizer would be Cetaphil Lotion

I only use this during the cold, dry months. I have very oily skin so I only use this whenever I get dry patches on my jaw line and on the skin around my mouth which happens a lot when I am under hydroquinone. It moisturizes my skin the whole day without adding oil to my already oily face. It is very light on the face too! I love this :)

~♥~~♥~~♥~

For sunblock, I love my Neutrogena SPF 50

Way back, 2 years ago I never cared about sunblocks. Baaaadd.. I know TT_TT, I should've cared more. It is now one of the most important part of my skin care, I never go out without it ;) Since Im also using hydroquinone for my acne, sunblock is really a must for me. I love this particular sunblock because I love how light it is on the face, the high spf (SPF 50), very easy to find since this is available locally, and no white cast in pictures! can you just say LOVE?

~♥~~♥~~♥~

For Primer, YSL Matt Touch TOPS my list!!

I can't find anything bad to say about this primer really! I never looked for another primer since I get to try this!! I actually got this during a bazaar and I got 2 of this for very low prices, I think 600 pesos apiece(US$13-14).This is heaven sent for me! I love its texture, my face feels so matte & silky whenever I apply this. It makes my face a perfect canvass for foundation. Whatever foundation I wear with this goes on smoothly and blends easily with my skin. It prolongs the wear of my foundation and helps making it look fresh even after a few hours. I find that it works extremely well with my Dior Extreme Foundie (which is my HG as well). My makeup last the whole day despite the humid weather, I only need to blot for a few times but that's just my skin's fault since Im uber oily! It looks fresh again after blotting (no kidding!). It has a bonus SPF 12 too! What more can I ask for? I feel so lucky to have found this :)I have two colors, yellow and pale blue. I honestly don't find any difference between them. It says in the packaging that pale blue would give brightness to your face while the yellow one would even out your skin tone.

(im sorry I didnt do a swatch, Im saving every bit of this as Im afraid I would run out :()

~♥~~♥~~♥~

For Concealer, it's MAC Studio Finish

I have several concealers in my stash(Oleary Covermark, Cinema Secrets, Artdeco, James Cooper). This is my favorite among them because it's very pigmented, you only need a little tiny bit and it will cover/erase your spots like magic! I only need to set it with powder and it will last the whole day :)There's just one thing I kinda hate about this- it's VERY yellow!! The shade I got is NW25,the SA told me that since Im warm/yellow toned I should get the NW since it will counteract the redness of my pimple scars. My fault also since I swatched this myself in the counter,I should've go out under natural light to see if the shade really match me :( But I still love this since this is the most lasting among my concealers and despite the wrong shade, I still find this very good in concealing. The consistency is quite hard and not so creamy which I like since it tends to stick more to my face. I dont use this on my undereye area since my Dior extreme Fit does the job of covering my dark circles very well. I only use this to cover my acne scars.

~♥~~♥~~♥~

For foundation, it's definitely Dior Forever Extreme Fit

I am a foundation junkie, I love to try different kinds of foundations may it be low-end or high-end. My favorite/go-to foundation as of the moment is Dior Forever Extreme Fit. I just love how it feels on my skin, it provides great coverage without the feeling of being heavy at all! What I really love about this is that it doesnt transfer! dont you just hate it when you blot and some of your foundation just transfer to the tissue? Dior Forever wont do that :) It has pretty good oil-control, & last the whole day on my very oily face, EXTREME WEAR indeed!! The best thing of all is that it looks so natural you dont look like you have a makeup on! :) Oh! It comes with a pump too and has added SPF on!

~♥~~♥~~♥~

For my loose powder it's a tie between NARS & Guerlain Les Voilette

Why NARS?
This is my very first colored loose powder, I have it in shade Eden. It is a good setting powder, it sets my foundation quite perfectly. I googled reviews before I bought this and most of them said that it will give you that "soft-focus" effect. Well, I have not seen much of that raved effect but I do love how it settles on my face. It's quite powdery upon application but after a while it does sets beautifully. It's poor in controlling oil but when I do oil up I don't end up looking like an oil slick but just dewy and glowy.

ooh, it comes with a velour puff too :)

it has that mesh-like sifter which I find quite useless

Ive been using this for more than a year already, but I still have so many left! You get a lot of powder for the price :)

Why Guerlain?

I tried many loose powder before this, I actually bought this because of the very luxurious packaging ;). I never thought I would like the powder this much! It is very finely milled, it settles & blends with my skin beautifully upon application. No more powdery look with this one! I always get the glow I wanted when I apply this. It smells like "violets", just like the Meteorites balls. (see my first post for full review, photos and swatches)

~♥~~♥~~♥~

For my finishing powder it's YAY! for Guerlain Meteorites in Mythic

I've had this for more than a year now, it's hella expensive but I love it!! I always use this when I feel like my foundation is too matte, it adds a certain glow/appeal to my complexion. It does have very tiny glitters when you look at it more closely but you wouldn't notice it once it's applied on the face.

looks like candies no? this is the prettiest thing in my makeup stash!

~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~~♥~

a review: Nars Sex Appeal

Nars Sex Appeal

I bought this one despite the mixed reviews, and boy am I glad I did!! Nars Sex Appeal is L-O-V-E!! It gives me "the glow", brightens up my face, and it makes my skin look flawless (haha, I know Im a bit overreacting coz my skin is far from being flawless) even Robbie (one of my favorite NARS SA) said so. I think this is the perfect blush for me because the color is so subtle you can never overdo it!! It's a light peach blush with a hint of pink in it. You have to swipe this blush for like 3-5 times on your cheeks to get some color (thats how subtle this blush is). It's quite unusual for NARS since most of their blushes are uber pigmented, you just need one swirl of your brush and your good to go. I had a hard time swatching this, I swatched this heavily for about 5 times on my arm to make the color appear. Here are samples of the swatches:

It appears baby pink here, but on my cheeks, it's a beautiful pale peach!

Here's a swatch of Sex Appeal side by side with Nars DT,
I sometimes wear it over Nars DT :)

I think this would look good on ladies NC30 and below, I am NC20-25 in MAC and it looks just like a natural flush! I think you ladies would have to try it at the Nars counter to see what I mean *wink*

see that sheen just above my cheekbones? that's Copacabana!

:) see? it's peach!

aacckk!! I look greasy here! :P

the good:

this has a matte finish (i like!!)

gives you that pretty natural flush
looks absolutely natural

difficult to overdo

the bad:

the hefty price tag

you need several swipes for the color to show up thus easy to hit pan on

again, the Nars packaging

it doesnt last very long on my oily face :(

Will I repurchase?

a resounding YES!! :)

just to share, here's what Im wearing:

• YSL Matt Touch for my primer
• Guerlain Parure Gold 01 (its a sample I got)
• Guerlain Les Voilettes loose powder
• Nars Sex Appeal
• Nars Copacabana
• Fashion 21 for my eyeliner
• MAC Fascinating on waterline
• Geo Angel Brown for my lenses :D
• got no lipstick (im not a fan of glosses, balms and lipsticks) I just dont like how they feel on my lips, makes me want to lick my my lips everytime :[ I use lipstains instead :)

Peace & Love♥

a review: Nars Nico~

It's been on my wishlist for quite sometime now, and after some thoughts on whether to get it or not, I finally bit the bullet and dragged myself to the nearest department store :P

NARS Nico

I am a fan of the not-so-matte but dewy & glowy kind of look :) I mean, who wouldnt want that? That's the reason why I always look for products that will give me that kind of effect. I am used to wearing liquid foundations and I always set them with powder either pressed or loose, and I sometimes get that very matte/powdery/dull look that I hate. It looks very unnatural, like Im wearing too much powder (eek!). This started my love for highlighters/luminizers. I just couldnt live without them, I especially love my Nars Copacabana, as it gives me the most natural sheen.

I came across Nars Nico while I was checking out some Nars blushes.. I was a little confused coz it looks just like a pressed powder and yet it is placed among other Nars blushes. I tried googling for reviews and found out that many women actually use this as their setting powder. Some even said that it gives the same effect as the Guerlain Meteorites Balls, so with that I was sold!! :P After debating (still) with myself, if I still need this (I already have Guerlain Meteorites in Mythic). I decided to just let the boyfie do the decision making for me :D I was hoping (I think, LOL) that he will kill my lemming for this, but since the boyfie spoils me so much, he just gave me the "go" signal :) (Im spoiled rotten like that, I know :()

So without further ado, here's some swatches and my INITIAL thoughts on Nars Nico~

It wasnt Love at first swatched I tell you, I find Nico a bit powdery like a regular pressed powder, and it's not finely milled either. You have to blend it well to get that sheen. It is much more subtle as a highlighter than Nars Albatross, I find Albatross very shimmery and can look fake if not blended well. I tried dusting this on my whole face and I can say that it does give a certain appeal/dimension to your complexion, but nothing that would amaze me :( Guerlain wins in this category and I guess it would forever hold that spot for me :)

I think this is very good for touch-ups, since I really dont like the idea of toting my Guerlain balls with me everytime I go out. This would also look great as a setting powder for concealer on the undereye area :) All in all, I like this but wouldnt recommend this to everyone. This is just my initial review as I only used it once, I used a cheap, local brush to apply this.. maybe it's in the brush noh?

the good:

nice subtle sheen

can be a dupe for Guerlain meteorites for that ethereal glow

compact

multi-purpose!

-finishing/setting powder for that lovely glow

-eyeshadow base

-setting powder for concealer {instantly brightens up the undereye area, bye bye dark circles!!)

-subtle/very natural highlight for browbones cheekbones, nosebridge, cupid's bow

-you can also use this for blending/taming pigmented blush

the bad:

it hurts in the pocket

a little powdery/not finely milled

you can use it as a setting powder BUT dont expect oil-control coz there is NONE!

the classic black rubber case attracts powder & dust

Will I repurchase?

Maybe, if I ran out and if I have some extra moolah :) I think this is a good purchase since you can use it several ways :)

Peace & Love♥♥

just for fun~Nail Arts♥

too cute for words no?