Happiness with....VMV Hypoallergenics

It's been a while since the last time I fiddled with my skin care regimen.  I noticed that I tend to get oily in some areas, but also dry in some patches of my skin.  Since my last flare up and visit to the dermatologist, I've been more careful in what I apply to my skin...be it skin care products or cosmetics.  I haven't really had any big problems so far, but I still need to rely on the steroids that my dermatologist prescribed to me when my skin gets really red and irritated from time to time.

I've basically switched most of my cosmetic products and I've become more conscious in reading the labels on the box.  I've also tried to minimize the number of products that I used daily so as not to exhaust my skin.  I think I've already figured out some of the products that do irritate and aggravate my skin.

And after several trials and errors, I think I've found my go to brand!  It's VMV Hypoallergenics.  I was quite surprised that this brand is actually made in the Philippines! Their packaging is top notch, the stores are well lit and well laid out and their products are even better!  I can't quite stop raving about their products to my relatives.  I'd recommend it to anyone who would listen.

So far I've used their Armada Face Cover SPF 45 (as daily suncreen),  Armada Baby 50+ (sunscreen for the kids), Creamy Rich Intensive Moisture Milk for Dry Skin (my daily moisturizer when my skin is feeling extra dry), and Red Better Daily Therapy Moisturizer (as my alternate moisturizer when my skin is getting red).  I love them all!

And to add to my skin care regimen, I got their newest BB Cream called Skintangible "Faint"ation Skin Refining Non-Makeup with SPF 30.  It gives a nice glow to my skin, and the coverage is quite light.  I have to set it with powder though coz I tried skipping this step once and this oxidized on my oily skin.  So I use this more as primer underneath my powder foundation.  It gives my skin a nice glow.

 Yesterday, while shopping at Powerplant Mall, I walked into their store with no intention of buying anything, but did some serious damage to my credit card again.  All their lipsticks and lipglosses were 50% off!  How could I resist?  I also had to get their Skin Bloom Blush, which recently won Best Blush for 2012 at Prevention Magazine.  I also wanted to get their liquid foundation to cover up my cheeks, which tend to get redder from irritation and rosacea, but they were out of stock.  Their skin specialist recommended me to try their care package instead for Rosacea.  This contained the following products (from their site):  

RED BETTER SPOT CORRECTOR 8G:

A uniquely non-drying acne balm made specifically for rosacea-related acne papules and pustules.

RED BETTER FLARE UP BALM 25G:

The star of our Red Better Redness + Inflammation Calming system, this steroid-free salve boasts some of the latest, gentlest and effective technology to soothe away—sans steroids—various inflammations. 25g

ARMADA POST-PROCEDURE BARRIER CREAM 50+ 10G:

Opaque, ultra-gentle barrier cream and physical sun + light screen for ultra-sensitive or recovering skin.

GRANDMA MINNIE'S THE BIG, BRAVE BOO-BOO BALM:

Monolaurin is a coconut-derived, gentle-yet- powerful disinfectant, antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral + antiprotozoal. Clinically proven as effective as 70% isopropyl alcohol + topical treatments at killing micro-organisms. Ouchlessly and lickety-split quickly helps treat infections that can occur in skin damaged by eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, herpes, wounds, cuts, grazes, insect bites, minor burns etc.

They all look very promising to me.  The Barrier Cream alone covered up the redness from my cheeks this morning since it had a greenish tint to it.  No need for thick concealers to cover up!  Yey!

This seriously sounds like an advertisement from VMV...but NO!  All products were purchased by yours truly.  This is how happy I am with this brand.  It's truly world class.

All their products are also now available online through http://www.vmvhypoallergenics.com.ph/.

Have a good day!

I'll Miss You Cous...

Last week, my family lost a special girl.  It was so sudden, so unexpected, and I guess that's why it hurts more.  

Sheilah was my aunt's 2nd child.  We weren't as close as other cousins were, but I still remember her as the little girl playing with all of her siblings.  She was very quiet, very poised and very loving.  I only saw her during family gatherings like our grandma's party or Christmas parties.  And the last time we had a long talk was before she was planning to leave for Singapore and she wanted to ask for some tips about the place, as I worked there for a couple of years before, too.  But she was very mature and ready for the move, so I knew she would be fine.

She was  supposed to come home for her wedding last December 18th, and I was really looking forward to seeing her in her beautiful gown.  She even got my boy to be one of her ring bearers.  But a few weeks before she was about to come home, she got really sick, and never recovered. 

She was a good friend, a loyal fiance, but I knew her best as a loving sister and daughter.  From her friends, I also gather that she had a strong faith in God.  She definitely left a void in our hearts.   

We'll miss you Sheilah Marie.  Rest in peace and watch over us while you enjoy God's Heaven.  

Happiness with...my latest beauty finds

I seldom blog about my beauty discoveries as I'm fairly new with my love affair with make-up.  But these two items below are really amazing and are worth writing home about!

First is Body Shop's Extra Virgin Mineral Compact Foundation in Natural Vanilla (202).  I'm already on my second compact.  It comes with a synthetic brush for application.  It's very creamy in consistency, easy to apply and very natural in finish.  No chalky appearance here.  Coverage is sheer to medium, so I'm able to cover the redness (rosacea) in my skin.  Best of all, I didn't break out in this.  Package says it has SPF 15, but I still apply sunscreen below this to be sure.  Staying power is also good.  It can last the whole day for me, with just some application of pressed powder in the middle of the day.   

Body Shop's Compact Foundation

Now this second one is my latest find...and it's pure L-O-V-E.  I've never heard of this brand before, but while walking around Powerplant Mall, I passed by The Beauty Bar and saw their new window poster on Koh Gen Doh.  I'm a very curious person, so off I went to scour the internet and do a little research on the brand.  It's actually a Japanese brand and you can visit their website here. The science behind the foundation is the use of deep sea waters which include minerals and nutrients that are easily absorbed by the skin.  You can read more about it here.

Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation

After reading all the glowing reviews on the Aqua Foundation, I took the plunge and splurged on this holy bottle.  It's Php 2750 at The Beauty Bar, which really sounds so indulgent, but I just couldn't resist.  There's only 4 shades available at the moment, and I picked BE-1 for my skin tone.  It comes in a beautiful glass pump bottle, which I really like.  Coverage for the Aqua Foundation is sheer to light.  But by golly, it's like my skin but sooo much better!  I get a dewy, glowy, but not oily finish when I wear this.  It also feels very lightweight on my skin.  Staying power is good, it can last me the whole day with very minimal touch ups/powdering.  Mind you, I have oily and sensitive skin.  Since I've only had this for a couple of week, I'm not sure yet if it will break me out.  But so far, so good.  


After this experience, I'm looking at trying out their Cleansing Water as a makeup remover as I've read some good reviews on it as well.  


Have a great weekend!

Review: Suesh

I recently landed on a website of Suesh Singapore and inquired about purchasing a set of their makeup brushes. I was lucky enough to be forwarded to their Manila showroom and website @ suesh.com. After browsing through the site, I found out that they offered makeup workshops every Saturdays and I quickly signed up so that I can avail of their discounts when I purchase their brushes.

My workshop was scheduled last September 4th, and I am happy that I signed up for it. The workshop is held at Suesh's showroom along Wilson Street (which is really near where I lived) and usually held on Saturdays. I know they also have a morning session, but I was able to squeeze into their afternoon session from 1:00pm - 4:00pm.

Anyways, on that particular day, I was really excited and left work at about 12:30pm after having my lunch at Starbucks. I was only surprised by the traffic along Wilson Street so I arrived about 5 minutes late into the workshop. When I went into the showroom, I was pleasantly surprised by the decor of the place. It was really small, but filled with little knick-knacks and makeup products, from brushes to sponges to makeups to cases. It was like entering into a woman's beauty boudoir. They also cater to a lot of professional makeup artists (well, this is based on the customers I saw who dropped by to purchase bags and luggages of makeup tools). And in the center was the heart of the showroom, a table where workshops are usually held for a group of 5-6 people.

The workshop I attended was headed by Suzzane Tan, who is the chief makeup artist for Kanebo. She was very nice in answering all of our questions and very accommodating in looking over our work. The workshop was very hands-on so we got the chance to paint our own faces. There was an introductory "lesson" on basic skin care and brush care, before we moved on to how we can put on makeup for both daytime and night time. Too bad I wasn't able to take pictures of my 2 looks but I enjoyed myself a lot. I learned a lot. I learned that it shouldn't be that hard to care for our skin. We really do need to moisturize and apply sunscreen everyday. It also gave me the confidence to apply makeup on myself and I realized that I can be more adventurous in experimenting with different looks and bolder colors. And finally, I realize the owning a good set of makeup brushes does make a difference with the way you put on your makeup!

I got the 12 piece Purple Edition for my Suesh makeup brushes and it includes the following:

1. Powder Brush 
2. Blush Brush 
3. Foundation brush 
4. Big eyeshadow brush 
5. Small eyeshadow brush 
6. Eye definer brush 
7. Bullet brush 
8. Thick eyeliner brush 
9. Lipbrush 
10. Thin eyeliner brush 
11. Mascara brush 
12. Brow comb + the pouch 

As you can see the set is already complete for any amateur makeup users and relatively inexpensive. I am very happy with my purchase, as the bristles are really soft and no itchiness for me here. The brushes don't shed as well and handles really well.

Since I became a fan, I've moved on to purchasing other products from them and so far, I'm very pleased with them. Here's what I've gotten from them:

• Professional Makeup Remover - no cloudy vision and really takes out my make-up, even mascara. 
• Eyelash Curler "Curl-lash" - even better than Shu's and only P300, enough said 
• Kabuki Brush with holder - super soft bristles, good for applying powder and sometimes blush 
• Parian Spirit - the best brush cleaner I've ever gotten. I used to just use shampoo or alcohol on my brushes, but after doing this to my new set of brushes and I dipped them into this cleaner, more makeup came off and it dried really fast. They say it will also make your brushes last longer. 

Anyway, that's all for now...keep on SUESH-ing! 

Review: Haircut by Mr. Shin of Beauty Brick

Got a haircut last week from Mr. Shin of Beauty Brick Hair Art Studio.  The place was recommended by a cousin because it was near our office.  It was also one of the Korean salons featured on Spot.ph. (See article below).

The place was very artsy and kitschy, with minimal decor.  Staff was courteous and pleasant.  But more importantly, I loved my new haircut by Mr. Shin.  I wasn't ready to let go of my long locks, but Mr. Shin made it so much lighter and it also looks shinier.  I can do more stuff with my hair now in terms of styling.  Maybe next time when I'm ready to go shorter, I will ask Mr. Shin to do a funkier 'do for me.  But for now, I'm H-A-P-P-Y!

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~From Spot.ph~

Beauty Brick Hair Art Studio
Address: Unit 103 Doña Consolacion Bldg., 122 Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati City
Contact: 473-5108; 0917-5200044
Operating Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily

Go for: Haircuts by salon manager Shin, P600

Why We Liked It: Shin can shape your strands and give you a cut that suits your face shape and personality. If you want something a bit more edgy and Korean pop-ish, he’ll willingly oblige and pull it off with pizzazz. But, if you want something more conservative and easy-to-maintain, he can also take your locks to the next level of gorgeous—as if you had a mini makeover.

What Else To Try: Gals who want straight hair can try their version of rebonding called the Magic Perm, which starts at P3,000. But, be willing to listen to Shin’s urging if he says a perm will suit your hair and look better on you. For those with dry, damaged hair, try the Clinic Perm, P1,900 for medium-length strands, which starts with a treatment followed by a traditional perm.