The New Elizbeth Arden Eight Hour All-Over Miracle OIL + An Impulse Buy My Grandmother Would Be Proud of

I love, love, love the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream. I professed that love in a post I put up a couple of years ago and have been through several tubes of the stuff since. I was about to restock mine at Boots when I got sucked into trying out the shiny and *new* Eight Hour All-Over Miracle OIL, instead.The oil (priced at £29.00 for 100mL) is the newest addition to the vast Eight Hour line and is a multi-purpose dry oil that you can use on your face, hair, and all over your body. As it is a dry oil, it is meant to sink in much faster than its heavier sister, the Eight Hour Cream. It smells nothing like the cream (this is slightly floral, the cream slightly medicinal — the original scent at least) and it pretty much behaves nothing like the cream. I thought I would be able to replace the cream with this, but that just isn’t the case.

I only found exactly one use for this multi-purpose oil in my life: as a hair oil. I can’t use it on my face because the scent irritates my skin and as a hand cream, it doesn’t last long. In fact, my hands felt a lot drier when I was using the oil. Weird. Anyway, it’s saving grace is that it’s a damn good hair oil. I still need a new Eight Hour Cream though!

Right, on to more positive things!I also got sucked into buying a new foundation that day. There was some promo that knocked £7 off any Elizabeth Arden base, so I picked out the Flawless Finish Perfectly Satin 24 Hr Foundation (£28.00), which is a medium coverage, oil-free, and low SPF base that’s great for combo-oily skin types.

Posted by Mariana

Handbag Staples: Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream & Res-Q Ointment

Burt’s Bees has a lot of hand care options for just one brand (see here) and I’ve actually had the chance to try out most of them. I’ve never really liked the ones in tubes much for some reason, but the Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (650.00 Php / 6.49 GBP) is something that I’ve had for a while and like to take around with me when I carry smaller handbags.

Recently, I received the Res-Q Ointment (650.00 Php / 6.49 GBP) as part of an outdoors-themed Christmas set and although it isn’t described as a product just for the hands (it’s more like a multi-use healing balm — will explain more below), I like to use it on my hands because my terrible habit of biting the skin around my nails leaves me with little wounds.

I use the Cuticle Cream and the Res-Q ointment almost interchangeably these days, but they are technically not the same product. Let’s have a look at both of them:

Posted by Mariana

Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Hepburn Honey

I’ve been living in London for some four months now. I’m having a great time, and one of the things I’ve learned to do to help keep things that way is to not always convert item prices into Pesos in my head. 1 GBP is some 68 PHP, so even a lipstick from Boots that’s only around 6 or 7 GBP isn’t actually as cheap as it might seem to be. Maybe I’m just used to thinking of things in US Dollars (slightly lower change rate) or I just haven’t gotten used to thinking of things in a different currency… in any case, I find that I helps to just not do the conversions before I buy things (unless I’m making a huge purchase, which is rarely the case — all I buy is food and more warmers because it’s freezing here). I’m happier that way.

And so it was that on the day I decided to finally go and buy something from Charlotte Tilbury, I forked over my 23 GBP without much thought– happily, even. It took me ages to pick anything from the brand precisely because I knew it wasn’t cheap, but that didn’t make the realisation that this is a 1,500 PHP lipstick any less painful. Haha. Don’t get me wrong — this little tube is worth it (to me). I just don’t normally go for high end lipsticks because all my favourites tend to be from the drugstore anyway. I do think though that because I have been buying a lot less product lately (this is relative to my former self, so I still buy lots compared to most) — and because this is related to me finally knowing exactly what works for me (i.e. I have become boring) — that I can more safely spend a little more on a luxury product. Oooor maybe I’m justifying my purchase. It is a very pretty purchase, no? The K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipsticks are Charlotte’s signature range, “curated with modern and classic icons in mind.” I have the shade Hepburn Honey, which is a lovely peachy nude –totally up my alley. The formula for these is supposed to keep your lips looking plump, protect them from the sun, and wear comfortably without bleeding out of the lip line.

You have to give it to Charlotte: you are totally purchasing an experience when you shop her line. Browsing the store was immensely fun and you sort of take that memory home with you, aside from having a beautiful product to hold and love, too.

Posted by Mariana

Making The Switch: Getting To Know My Menstrual Cup

One of the very first things I did when I arrived in London was hop on to Amazon to order a menstrual cup. If you haven’t heard of menstrual cups before, they are essentially these small silicone cups that fit into the vagina and function to collect your monthly period. It’s similar to a tampon in the sense that it is inserted into the body, but the similarities end there. Menstrual cups are reusable (usually up to two years) and they do not dry up and irritate your vaginal area like tampons tend to do. If you’re interested in reading more about menstrual cups in general, Google is your friend.

So, why switch over to menstrual cups? Well, to answer that I think we need to have a short discussion about the other two methods of “period collection” most women are familiar with: tampons and sanitary pads.

I never really used and liked tampons because they are uncomfortable and just generally strange contraptions. Sanitary pads on the other hand tend to be seen as (ironically) the less sanitary option, plus they produce a lot of waste because they need to be changed so often. Tampons need to be changed out less often but they are still single-use products and they can cause irritation in the body because they sit inside you. They are useful when you need to go for a swim while on your period, though. Pads and tampons are probably the two most common products associated with periods, but there are also cloth pads that function exactly like disposable sanitary pads but can be washed, making them more environmentally friendly — but still very much of a hassle for the user.

So when I first heard of menstrual cups about a year ago, I was very much intrigued by them. A reusable product that’s sanitary, safe for the body, supposedly comfortable, and good for the environment? It sounded too good to be true! Especially since most women just put up with pads and tampons. I certainly never used them with any semblance of enthusiasm. If there exists an option that can ease the discomforts of monthly periods, I want to be using that for sure!

Posted by Mariana

Becoming

It is extremely easy, when you are young, to allow all the wrong things to define who you are. I suspect the same is true even for older people, but luckily I’m not quite old enough to confirm that. Then again, I’m 25. That’s old relative to some, isn’t it?

By now I “should” know certain things. Things like: what I want to be now that I’m grown up (because OMG I am grown up), where I stand on touchy issues (gay marriage, the migrant crisis, to be or not to be a Belieber), how I like to have my coffee (any self-respecting adult knows this, k), who I’m voting for in 2016 (yikes), and even who I want to spend the rest of my life with (double yikes).

I don’t have “answers” for more than half of those things. And I won’t waste time in making a rather obvious point here: Even if I had the answers, they wouldn’t define me. My opinions and desires count for a lot, but they don’t constitute my entire being. They are not (and will never be) static. I am not static.

What sucks is that society seeks — almost demands— certainty. Certainty makes others feel comfortable. It allows them to place you in the world. It’s an I know what you do therefore I know who you are way of thinking; grossly oversimplified of course, but you get what I mean.

Posted by Mariana

Meeting The Queen and Other General Updates From London

Hello! So —

I have been in London for just over a month now and I wish I could tell you guys that I’ve been doing loads of beauty-related things. The reality is that I’ve been busy getting used to just surviving here and adjusting to school. It’s all going great, but it’s been a bit hectic. Anyway, the highlight of my month was definitely beauty-related: I met THE Lisa Eldridge at a book signing event! It was crazy. Let me tell you all about it and I’ll fill you in on a few other, less important, things at the end — because really, what is more important than meeting Lisa Eldridge?

The Day I Met The Queen (Of Makeup)

Lisa hosted a signing for her new book, Face Paint: The Story of Makeup, at Hatchard’s in London. I made my way over to the book store right after my classes for the day ended and I was early so I milled around a bit before we were allowed to start queueing at 5pm.

Posted by Mariana

Introducing: Bioré’s Line Up of Makeup Removers

About a week or so before leaving Manila, a bundle of some of Bioré’s different types of makeup removers arrived on my doorstep. I was ecstatic because this ups the number of readily accessible cleansing oils and micellar waters in Manila (the most popular other brands being Shu Uemura for the cleansing oil and Bioderma for micellar cleansing water).

Bioré, if you are unfamiliar with the brand, is of Japanese origin. They are well-known for their sunblocks locally, but apparently their makeup removing products are best-sellers in Japan. I trust Japanese skin care almost by default (you really should never do this but if there’s any one country that knows its skincare it’s Japan, so…) and so I didn’t hesitate to dive in and test all of these products immediately.
The bundle I received included all three of Bioré’s makeup removing products: the Cleansing Oil (in the pump bottle and the two small travel bottles), the Micellar Cleansing Water, and the Cotton Sheets. There is also a 2-in-1 foaming Cleanser, but I unfortunately haven’t been able to try that out.

Posted by Mariana

I’m In London!

Hello, my friends! So sorry I failed to mention this sooner, but I’ve temporarily relocated to London. I planned to let you all know before leaving, but I waited too long and got caught up in preparations for my flight. Funnily enough, I had joked with a few blogger friends about a week before my flight that I would probably end up making the announcement from London — and here I am!

I will be here for a year working towards my MA in Comparative Literature. If you know me personally or if you have followed this blog for a long time, you’ll know that I studied literature back in college but moved on to law school right after graduation. Law did not turn out to be my cup of tea (and it took me three years to figure that out!) and so here I am trying to get back into the swing of things with one of my great loves (literature, in case that isn’t clear.)

Planning this move has been scary, exciting, and hectic all at once. I thought I would end up writing an intensely emotional post about it as I’ve done for all of my major life events thus far, but I suppose since I am already here the moment has passed and I’m just ready to dive in. This post, then, is essentially to let you know that I might not post as often. Or maybe I will, but the posts will no longer be about the Philippine beauty scene in particular. I was also thinking about getting into filming videos instead while I am here. We’ll see. Nothing will be set in stone until I’ve settled in properly.

So, there you have it. Now you know that I’m writing from London. Exciting times! Until the next post, here’s a draft of my new logo that I asked a few friends to design for me:

Posted by Mariana

Unwind at Posh Nails With A DETOX MANI-PEDI *

Who doesn’t like spending a relaxing afternoon at the nail salon? Seriously, even men find that they like to have a quick cleaning done if they can get themselves around to trying it out. I personally have a mani-pedi professionally done at least once a month and I will very often choose to have a foot spa thrown in with those basic services. It’s just a really great way to relax.

When Posh Nails asked me to come over and celebrate their 13th anniversary with them by trying out their DETOX Mani + Pedi, I was very happy to accept the invitation. I think it’s safe to assume that everyone is at least familiar with Posh Nails — they have so many branches and they have been around for over a decade. In a country where mani-pedi parlours abound like Starbucks stores, only a few can really withstand the test of time. During my visit, I was reminded why Posh Nails is one of those few.

Posted by Mariana

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