Review: Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

Have you ever wanted something so much that when you finally got it the thrill actually went away? Well, this happened to me with the Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch. I forgot about this until I watched Marlena's (of makeupgeek.com) video tutorial of her face routine. I dug out my pot and started using it for the past week. Wow. I finally remembered why I wanted to have this primer. It really does make a great base for make up. My not-so-great skin looked so much better. Pores and laugh lines are minimized. I so regret not asking my friend who recently took a vacation from the US and my brother who just arrived today from Concord, CA to buy me a full sized pot. Our local Clarins counter sells this at php 2,600 (~$50) compared this to the US price of $29. Sigh...


The picture in the middle compares the Clarins primer with the Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel. The texture of the Clarins ISPT is creamier and has a pale pink color while that of the Monistat is more fluid and clear in color.




I'm not sure if you can see the difference between the two but both products minimized the lines on my hand. In my perception, The Clarins primer almost made the lines disappear while the Monistat just visibly reduced the lines.

On the face, they both feel a bit heavy. But it goes away after awhile. My foundation over the Clarins primer lasted at least 8 hours on my face. Will I repurchase? Oh yes, definitely, even if it's overpriced here in the Philippines.

Review: Clarins Instant Light Perfecting Lip Perfector

I thought all lip glosses are the same. So when I bought the Clarin's Beauty Perfectors Kit, I thought I didn't need another lip gloss. Not that I have a lot of lip gloss, it's just that I don't like them turning funky before I have the chance to finish the bottle/tube.

Nonetheless, curiosity got the better of me so I opened the tube of Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 00 Rose Shimmer to try.

From the Clarins website:


A melting gel with a deliciously sweet flavor and 3D shimmer, for luscious, smooth, shiny lips and a natural-coloured, luminous smile. It nourishes, repairs and protects lips to leave them incredibly beautiful. Day by day they are more kissable and simply irresistible.

Active ingredients:
Extracts of Shea Butter, Wild Mango and Olive perhydrosqualene leave lips supple and well-moisturized. Derivatives of Vitamins A and E reinforce the repairing action and protect against free radicals.

At first squeeze, out oozed this pink shiny gloss. Pink on my hand? Yeah, yeah. But on my lips, it looked great. It wasn't as sticky as I thought. It's a bit sheer but can throw its weight on top of lipstick. I mean this tough pink can meld with the lipstick shade underneath to not just lighten but add some personality. This gloss even smelled good like vanilla and honey. Yummy! Oh and did it somehow improved the looks of my lips? You know I think it did in a subtle but nice way. It's now my favorite lip gloss.

Dreamworld MMU

Look what came in the mail yesterday!

My friend Nikki Z of Not Just Minerals asked if I wanted to order from Dreamworld together.



So I said yes and ordered the following foundation samples in full coverage Luna.

Pinga, deep peach with yellow undertones
Nete, yellow with beige undertones
Damona, yellow with warm undertones
Pele, yellow with deep peach undertones
Amenti, yellow with olive undertones

As you can see from the photo above, they all have some sort of yellow mixed in. I know that I have yellow undertones but that I also know that I am not solely yellow. Ever since I have discovered mineral make up, I have focused more on finding the right shade of foundation for me. DreamWorld is great because they offer many different foundation shades - a total of 107 shades. Whew! That's a lot. I took a gamble and tried the yellows with the different undertones. My tan has faded and suddenly I realize that I am actually a light medium shade - sort of, maybe lighter? I'm not an expert so I'm not sure.

The samples also differed in quantity. Amenti and Pele looked liked 1/4 tsp samples, Damona and Nete seemed like it contained 1/2 tsp of product. Pinga was a generous 1 tsp sample, filling my tiny pink jars almost to the brim.

So far I tried Pinga on one side of my face and Damona on the other and both seems very similar. Both look like half a shade ligther than my face but after awhile it seems to match the shade of my face. My face though does not match my neck. Derma treatments has caused my face to be lighter with some pinkish and beige undertones. The coverage is ok. It covers most of the broken capillaries on my face although a few still shows through. I don't really mind.

Nikki also threw in a glistening lipgloss and her own finishing powder mix. Yay, thanks Nikki!

Essie Spa Manicure and Pedicure at the Nail Spa

At the newly renovated Nail Spa in Shangri-la Mall, I had the chance to try the Essie Spa Manicure and Pedicure. It's basically a hand and foot spa using Essie products with a hydrating mask.

First, my hands and feet were soaked in warm bubbly water. The Essie soak had a lovely scent that brought me to visualize being in a sunny beach like Boracay. I couldn't really identify the scent and I didn't bother to ask lest my fantasy be disturbed. To continue with my Boracay-esque fantasy, my arms and legs were scrubbed thoroughly. This was a finely grained scrub reminiscent of the white sands of Boracay (hey it's my fantasy). It's not as finely grained as a facial scrub like Clinique's 7 Day Scrub (super good), but a good body scrub nonetheless. It's not a scrub for sissies and the therapists (technicians?) didn't have to scrub hard and long to exfoliate my skin. It had the same scent as the soak but don't worry, I didn't imagine rolling around in the Boracay sand - OA na yon!

A greenish clay-like mask was then applied on all the extremities and was left to do its magic while my nails were thoroughly cleaned and prepared for polish. Therapists Rose and Leona listened and cleaned my nails within my boundaries (cutting cuticles on the fingernails were not allowed except for toenails). After rinsing all the mask, my arms and legs were given a massage. It was supposed to be 15 minutes for the arms and 20 minutes for the legs but I didn't time it. Finally, the polish proper included applying a base coat, two coats of polish (I chose to have: a single coat of a beige-y sheer polish from MAC with an Essie sheer pink polish on top), and a top coat. I wanted to try the pink over beige look which I read from a magazine. The results were ok, maybe I should've chosen a slightly more opaque beige topped with the sheer pink polish for that pinkish beige effect (which I could actually just find in one bottle I suppose but gusto ko eh ;p ).

Over all, I was happy with the service. I loved the scrub the most as I now have super soft and smooth arms and legs. The massage though was ok as I have a theory that the best hand and foot massages are still from the 'massage' spas as opposed to the nail centers' massages. I also don't relax while I have my nails done. I am hypervigilant when it comes to pedicures since I developed an ingrown toe nail after a pedicure from one of the branches of a popular chain of beauty salons.

The Nail Spa still has the best manicure and pedicure in my opinion. It is their specialty and the ambience coupled with the skill of the nail therapists do make it a luxurious experience (hence the equally luxurious price). Also, I love the Essie top coat as it keeps my nails looking shiny and new even if it's more than a week (bad I know, don't let the polish stay too long ladies to keep your nails from turning yellow). They also have a wide range of top polish brands from the lates collections to choose from aside from Essie - MAC, OPI, Orly, China Glaze, Shu Uemura, Chanel, etc. I saw a lot of black, orange, and purples - maybe next time!

For more information and menu of services please visit nailspa.com.ph
(for some reason, I can't figure out how to create a link in the reviews section of multiply)


THE NAIL SPA
5/f Shangri-La Plaza
Edsa corner Shaw Blvd.
Mandaluyong City
6874991 or 6877011

PS. Forgot to let you know that since the Essie Spa Manicure and Pedicure are part of the range of premium services offered at the Nail Spa, you get a free basic nail care kit which includes a nail file and an orange stick.

Labello Sun Vs Nivea Lip Care Sun

I first read about Labello many years ago at one of the fashion magazines. The author claimed that she would hoard sticks of Labello lip balm each time she would go to Europe. So when I finally had two lip balms in the regular blue and the sun with spf 25, I was so happy. It is unlike any other balms I have tried. It seems to melt on my lips as I put it on. It was not sticky or waxy like regular chapsticks.


So when I finished my blue Labello, I started using the sun variant in its yellow case. As you can see from the photo above, the print is fading and the balm is almost gone. I was looking for a substitute when I discovered that its German manufacturer Beiersdorf is the same company that makes Nivea Lip Care. All this time, Labello's equivalent has been in my country for maybe more than 10 years! I had tried its lip products years ago but I don't remember if it had impressed me. So I decided to buy Nivea Lip Care in Sun with SPF 30 as back up when my Labello has finally bid goodbyes to my lips.
Here is the sun care variants of both Labello and Nivea Lip Care. Packaged in a white base with different shades of yellow caps, the balm's color and consistency is obviously different. Nivea has a yellowish balm while Labello has a translucent white color. The scent of both is a bit familiar. The texture of Nivea is less smooth and is firmer than Labello and doesn't melt on the lips like Labello's. Perhaps the company has adjusted its formula for tropical countries, as the Labello lip balm quickly softens in hot temperatures. Nonetheless, Nivea's lip care has improved (compared to the lip balm I tried years ago) as it softly glides on my lips unlike other balms like Burt's Bees which needs some pressure to apply. What a relief! I'm glad to have found a substitute to my Labello. I checked on the web and a stick of Labello is around $7-8 which is more expensive than Nivea Lip Care (around $2). I can't wait to try the other versions including goodnight kiss to moisturize the lips during sleep.

My Wonderful World of Colors: Mineral Makeup (MMU) 101

My Wonderful World of Colors: Mineral Makeup (MMU) 101

Gale from the beauty blog called My Wonderful World of Colors created a wonderful post for those who are just discovering Mineral Makeup like I am. Please click the link and learn.
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The first time I heard of MMUs was Philosophy's the Supernatural Airbrushed Makeup. I had wanted to try it but it was priced at around Php 2,600 (about $50+) and I didn't want to spend that much on some powder. The next brand I discovered was ID Bare Escentuals but since it wasn't available I didn't really think much about it. Although I did look it up online and at the time, I couldn't understand why everything from the primer, foundation, to the setting veil were all in powdered form.

I only got to know what mineral makeup is when I started browsing and reading through beauty blogs. From what I've read, MMUs are good even for those with problematic, acne-prone, and sensitive skin as it has no preservatives and additive chemicals. That's not all, MMU has its own application process or as I call it "MMU ritual". It also calls for a dense brush such as a kabuki or flat top brush. You then just "buff" it on instead of merely brushing it onto the face.

I have tried Monave and Lauress but my face itched. So I rested my face and stopped using them. I tried Lauress MMU today over a primer (Monistat anti-chafing gel that a lot of girls are using) and so far no itch. Maybe a primer is really all I need to be able to use MMUs. I'm still on a search for the right MMU for me that would not cause a reaction and perform just as well with or without a primer.

I Want!

This and this....


Check out other school shirts here.

Clarins Instant Beauty Perfectors Starter Kit

My recent fascination with make up has made me realize that I am not as young as I think I am. For instance, I noticed that I have more lines around my eye area and that I have a laugh line on the left side of my face that stays even if I am not smiling. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that there is a foundation primer that minimizes pores and reduces lines on the face - Clarins' Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch. I wanted to have it at once but I hesitated to buy it as our local department store was selling it for about Php 2,600 (about $50 at the current exchange rate). Compared to the online rate of $28 at the Clarins website, I think it is too much considering that similarly priced Clarins products (based on their website) are priced lower. I guess these smart local distributors know that ISPT is a wonderful product that really works. So I decided to take my time before deciding to buy it here or ordering online.




While visiting our local Clarins counter, today I was glad to see my favorite SA. I wanted to know more about another product from Clarins' Instant Beauty Perfectors line when she informed me that they have a travel set of the IBPs on sale. My eyes widened when I recognized the set from their website. With the 40% discount, the sale price would be about $30- the same price it is sold at their online store (without shipping fees). Plus, they were giving away their new single colour eyeshadow as a GWP. Yay! I didn't mind purchasing the travel sizes as I wanted to try them first before buying full sizes. I didn't want to spend so much and then break out later.



The cute silver purse contained travel sizes of the following:
Instant smooth perfecting touch,
Instant light complexion perfector,
Instant light natural lip perfector,
Instant light perfecting touch,
Wonder volume mascara.



Freebie (GWP) : Full size single eye colour in 04 Lovely Rose.

I will do reviews once I have tried them all.

Rx for beauty

True story: My dermatologist friend's prescription for me included Bloom powder blush in Rosebud, Lancome Juicy Tube, Clinique 7-Day Scrub, new haircut and color, and red wine (that's another story) along with my acne regimen. That was three years ago. I bought everything except the lip gloss. The acne regimen used with the scrub definitely worked. My skin was clearing for the first time in years. I had my long hair cut into layers and had it lightened. I began to use blush on top of my face powder even if I found it too light on me. It was a refreshing change.


A year later, my mom passes away and suddenly I had the urge to perm my hair. It was a bad perm paired with a copperish hair color that I had to live with for 8 months. The curls were too tight and my hair became very dry from these two treatments. I was so focused on grieving that I couldn't decide what to do with my hair - have it straightened? cut? I also became lazy to use my acne products thus my skin began to break out again.


Few months ago, my dermatologist friend created a new regimen for my acne problem and gave me new beauty advice. Somehow it sunk in and my interest in beauty has been renewed. I do feel that I look better and I feel better about myself.


This blog is here to document this journey to beauty. Although I am a great believer in many forms of therapy and prayer, I also believe that caring for one's physical self is just part of caring for one's soul.