Surprising finds! :D

Hi y'all! Sorry didn't get to post much lately due to problems with my laptop. Still having trouble but I'm managing to do something about it. Anyways, I paid Landmark Makati a visit last Monday as I haven't been there for a while. It's always a treat to visit Landmark as you never know what bargains you could find. I was looking for the In2It eyebrow powder because I wanted to give it a try (and will review soon ;D) since it's out of stock at SM Bacoor when I checked last Sunday. On my way to the counter to pay for my purchase, I decided to browse around the nail polish area for a while to see if there are any new colors available and still am on the look out for some nail art pens. Then, I almost went Gaga to see these:

Nail art tools! :D

Guess I don't have to go online to buy nail art brush and dotting tools! Another great thing about this is that compared to those being sold online, they're dirt cheap! The brush cost P39.95 a piece and the dotting tool for P69.95 what a bargain.

The nail art brush tip is so thin. I can't wait to try it out!

The dotting tool have double ends with two ball sizes

I always enjoy going to Landmark as I never fail to find something that would pick into my curious mind and to have seen this is such a thrill. Still no luck on the nail art pens though but I'm still hoping I'll chance upon them one of these days as I'm getting wary of buying online lately because I'm so anxious to get the item! :D Anyways, if you know anything lemme know and oh, you also into nail art? share some tips, I'm happy to hear them. :D





Hi, this is me. Nice to meet you. :D

It is the lenten season once again and a very good time to meditate and reflect. Holy week may not be complete for some people without going to their favorite vacation spots but for me, it's not always complete without reflecting on some spiritual enrichment.

I didn't start blogging just because I wanted to share my favorite beauty products with you guys but I also wanted to meet new people and reach out to you no matter where in the world you are. I don't only want my readers to learn tips and tricks everytime they visit my site, but to take with them a piece of me in the process. So for you guys who have just tuned in to my channel, I'd like to introduce myself. The curious cat's birth name is Angeli. It would have been Bruna or Bruha if not for my mom (seriously!). My dad wanted to name me and my sister either of the two names mentioned  but luckily when the nurse went inside my mom's hospital room my dad was not around so she gave us our name. I lost my mom when I was 19 years old to a heart ailment and I miss her each and every day. She died a little shortly after my lolo died. One of the things I wish I had the chance to do was say goodbye to her before she was taken away from us. Sadly, we were going through a very rough time financially back then so she was the only one who could board a plane to go to Bohol to my lolo's wake. She had that heart ailment since she was a kid and was aggravated due to stress and lack of proper sleep during the wake and she was hospitalized. It went downhill from there. My sister and I were very close to mom so losing her is losing a big piece of our whole being. I still cry thinking about her and there is not a day that passes by that I wish she's still here and all three of us girls would bond over girl stuff. I think I got my interest in makeup from my mom. I remember she had this red tool box that contained all her cosmetics and she would be the one to do our makeup for every special occasion in our lives. Now, I have the same tool box only in black. It brings a smile to my face each time I look at it and reminds me of my mom. I'm still saving up to buy an actual train case, something I know my mom would have also wanted. I'm aiming to become a makeup artist in the future and that I will do for both of us. I want to celebrate my mom's life by living through her lessons each and every day. 

I'm also a scientist in the kitchen meaning, I love doing little experiments here and there another bond I shared with my mom. She passed on to me her trade secrets and I promise to pass it on to future generations. Music is another thing my family shared. My mom trained me earlier on by letting me practice "One Moment in Time" over and over again at our neighbor's karaoke system. She was my biggest fan.

She passed on to me not only a single pearl necklace but a whole jewelry store full that I hope to impart on other people as well. Plant a seed so she'd always be alive. :D

A favorite picture of me and my mom. I miss her everyday.

So there you go, my name's Angeli, also known as the curious zealot it's nice to meet you! I hope this lent, you'd also take some time out from your long vacation to reflect on your spirituality and your life. Have a great day! :D

Interesting Finds: Tahong Chips (Green Mussel chips)

I've been seeing this package ever since it first came out but never paid much attention. I saw signages of "fresh tahong chips" plastered along the highways of Cavite and being the sucker for weird and innovative food finds, I thought to myself " wow! Tahong in chips form, interesting..." but never did get the chance to stop and buy myself a pack. Only during the Clayfest 2011 event (review about it here) that me and this interesting find came face-to-face with each other at my favorite health food store in Cubao Expo. Usually when I'm there I'd always make it a point to drop by the store and purchase a couple of my favorite tofu chips but this caught my eye instead so I finally bought one to satiate my curious taste buds.

Some of the chips were ginormous!

Some food blogs I read from found it bland and is no better tasting that of the shing-a-ling (familiar with this snack?) so I was really surprised to find out I like this stuff! By the way, I love munching on shing-a-ling . :D It's very tasty but for some I think, they may find this a little overpowering and smells so much like the sea (or malangsa?) but what do you expect it is after all TAHONG(green mussel) chips. Inside the packaging you could find a little plastic sauce container with some vinegar inside ( don't worry, the vinegar is sealed in plastic to avoid spillage) for some who prefers to dip this like you would do a chicharon (pork cracklings).

I liked this so much I could finish off a whole 100g. bag. But be careful though, based on the nutritional information at the back, it's crazy high in sodium like unbelievably high! a 100g. bag packs about 540mg of sodium...that's a lot! So make sure to share this with someone and load up on water while eating to flush out all that salt.

I also found out that it is an original Caviteno innovation and they manufacture this in Bacoor but SM Bacoor sells this at a higher price tag which is crazy! A 100g. I purchased at Cubao Expo for P50 and at SM Bacoor I found the same size selling for P60?!WTF! Not cool! I'm still looking for a local store in Cavite that sells this directly so I'd know where to buy when I get the craving. :D

So have you got an interesting foodie discover lately? Please share it with us!





Product Review: The Face Shop Nail Base Coat

The very first base coat I tried was the Caronia Nail Hardener and Base coat because i needed to toughen my weak nails. Everyone I know remember my nails to be "pudpod" and at one point it even became my trademark. I remember when my lip balm recipe was featured in Just G.'s newsletter my friends would not believe I did the demo. Not until they saw a shot of my finger that they were convinced it was me (some friends!hahaha..). So when I decided to grow them out they were so thin that I could literally bend them down but thankful they were not brittle to have broken off, that would just hurt pretty bad :D

When I finished off the entire bottle of nail hardener and my nail regain its strength, I felt it was time for me to try out other brands. Since I love my Top Coat from The Face Shop so much, I became interested to pair it off with their Base Coat.

The Face Shop Nail Base Coat

Price: P95 (approx. $2) 11ml

Place bought: The Face Shop SM Megamall

Ingredients: Ethyl acetate, Butyl acetate, Camphor, Industrial Nitrocellulose, Tosylamide Formaldehyde Resin, Benfone #27, Titanium dioxide (Cl-7781), Tocopheryl acetate,tydrolyzed Hydrolyzed Soy protein.

Unlike the Caronia Base coat which is clear, TFS Base coat has a pinkish hue I guess to give your nails a nice healthy pinkish glow before nail polish application. I used this on my sunflower nail art and after exactly 7 days this is what my nails looked like:

See the tips? There were minimal chipping on the tips



 and the nail art is still very much intact.

Even the pinkie which is usually the first to chip shows no major damage. Mind you I'm no princess I scrubbed pots and pans with this nails.

Pros:

• Affordable at only P95 a piece it'll last you a long time especially if you don't regularly change your nail polish color.
• Dries quickly and rather thin.
• Has a pinkish hue.
• Brush are okay. It fans out wide enough to evenly distribute the product.

Cons:

•  One thing that bothered me about this is the smell it could come off too strong.
• Functions just as a base coat if you want a nail hardener you'd have top buy that separately and add on another layer which could be time consuming.

I guess the top coat and the base coat worked well together and I'm lovin' this at the moment so I'll stick with this until I finish off the whole bottle. What's your favorite nail base coat you could recommend? :D

Rants: Globe Broadband

DSL light off again!Tsk!

Is it just me or am I not alone when I say that Globe Broadband sucks? Well, atleast based on experience, it does! I think we probably have this as our ISP for about 5 years already and it's still giving us reasons to fumigate. And yes, as I write this blog entry I'm using Sun Broadband wireless because guess what? Globe is down yet uh-gain! (eyes rolling). We've already grown tired of calling customer service because we're far too familiar already with the routine: Have you tried switching the modem off for atleast 10 minutes? Have you checked if all cables are properly connected? Could I put you on hold to check if there are major line repair going on in your area? Geez, how many times should you ask these questions? But after putting you on hold forever it would still boil down to having a technician come to your house for a check up. I'm not sure if our connection has already developed a mind of its own but everytime a technician is scheduled to swing by, it behaves itself and down again the day after!

Just this morning, we had enough and reluctantly called customer service again only to be put on hold by a tech support representative for 18 minutes! I was furious! How many subscribers does Globe have? 15? 16 million? And how many from that number do you think is happy with their service? I hope somebody starts taking "real" action already (not something out of a manual) or else it's the end of the road for this ISP. Hmmm...anything good you could recommend?

Cat on the Loose: Clinique Party Part Deux! :D

Due to the major success of Project Vanity's first Clinique Party, a second one had to be done.  I was one of the readers who were kicking themselves for not being able to come to the first one and practically hounded Liz's blog for any news of a part two! Hahaha...

Anyways, this was my first time attending one of Liz's events (though I've already met her before when I won one of her giveaways) and I was pretty excited. Just like the first one, it was held at the Clinique counter inside Rustan's Makati.  I could vaguely recall my first encounter with the brand back in college when my tita would send over lipsticks from overseas. Back then, I wasn't much into makeup yet so I rarely pay attention to the brand but I remember I would use it everyday until the tube ran out. So coming to this event was more of a proper re-introduction for me to Clinique :D

Clinique's 3-Step System

Each of us were first treated to a skin consultation to determine our skin types and which Clinique products would best suit to target our concerns.

The consultant assigned to me was Ms. Malou Gagarin, which in my opinion, was pretty and very nice (too bad I was not able to take a picture with her as I was too pre-occupied with her skin questions :>). I battled really bad skincare habits way back and is practically paying for it now. My main concern was oiliness and aging especially around the eye area. Clinique will help you customize a 3-Step skin care system to help you target your skin concerns by first helping you classify which skin type you fall in. Skin type 1 is classified as very dry, Skin type 2 is for dry combination skin, Skin type 3 is for combination oily and Skin type 4 is oily.  I was really expecting to be a number 4 (wouldn't it have been cooler if I could say in a very cinematic voice "I am number 4" and possess some cool powers hahaha...but that's for another topic :D) but I was surprised when Ms. Malou told me that I have Combination oily skin. She reccomended the Liquid Facial soap oily skin formula, clarifying lotion no. 3, and the dramatically different moisturizing gel to be used accordingly in that order. Then I asked her what would she recommend for the lines around my eyes and she recommended the Repairwear intensive eye cream. After my consultation, she gave me samples of these products to try at home. These are the samples I got:

Then we were treated to a makeover session by their professional makeup artists.

My MUA for the day was Ms. Vannie (That's her btw, her back to the camera working on a fellow reader). She taught me a couple of makeup tips especially when grooming my eyebrows. She did the whole shebang: eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick, something I've never done before. Usually I'd do my eyes and lips only no blush or the lips and blush only but never the whole face so this was something new for me. One thing I really liked though was the lipstick she used on me which I think is in Berry Blush. I found myself having soft lips even after I was on the ride home already it was very moisturizing I might have to come back soon to buy me a tube of that  lipstick :D

Wands are for wizards, for MUAs, these are their ultimate weapon! :D

Liz and a "made up" version of me..haha!! :D

Yummy snacks we're also served at the event from Bizu. My favorites were the carrot cake, cheesecake, and the salmon canape ;D

Another best thing about Clinique party is that I had the opportunity to meet other beauty afficionados from different walks of life all bound together by our love for kikay stuff. The girls were all so beautiful and looked so put together. I have to admit, I was never the big fashionista but I'm getting there hehehe... Everyone was wearing cute shoes to match and with heels! I felt like such a midget with my flats. :D

I also recognized Ms. Mara David from Avon whom I had the pleasure of meeting when I won Avon's UMR Lipstick contest :D

All in all I really had a blast. Thank you to Ms. Liz Lanuzo of Project Vanity for giving another set of her readers a chance to experience this brand and to Clinique's Marketing Manager Ms. Mira for giving us girls a fun time! What can I say, GIRLS+BEAUTY+FOOD=GREAT TIME! :D

Product Review: Purederm 3 in 1 Beauty Pearl BB Cream

I have not jumped in the BB Cream wagon just yet. I guess because I'm so comfortable using my mineral powders everytime I go out. But when I won the Purederm Pearl BB Cream from Project Vanity's giveaway, I know I had to give BB Creams a chance.

First off, what are BB Creams? BB Creams. also known as Blemish Balms or Blemish Base was originally formulated in Germany to help laser surgery patients protect, soothe and refine highly sensitive skin while providing light coverage for post-laser scars, acne and other blemishes. It is only when Korean celebrities started using BB Creams that it had gained so much popularity. It provides natural-looking skin coverage with skin-regenerating properties. It also comes in different formulation depending on your skin needs there are that have whitening properties, anti-aging and anti-acne. Some use it even as a primer or if tinted, as a replacement for your usual liquid foundation. Most BB Creams also doubles as suncreen as it has also SPF. One thing I noticed though, unlike liquid foundations available in the market, tinted BB Creams have limited shades to choose from. They are usually available in one single shade, two at the most which make it difficult for people with darker skin color to wear.

At the back of the box it says:
Purederm 3 in 1 Beauty Pearl BB Cream protects and moisturizes your skin with the three multi-functions such as UV protection, glittering effect and skin conditioning. With UV protection effects of SPF27, PA++, it blocks UV A, B ray while glittering pearl powder keeps your skin fresh & clean by controlling sebum. Various natural extracts and combined herbal tea extracts protect your damaged skin and brighten skin tone.

The packaging is in tube form which makes it hygienic and easy for you to get the product out. The spout is sealed to ensure the product's freshness and the packaging is pink! Very girly.. :D

I squirted a pea-size amount at the back of my hand to show you how the actual product looks





Carefully blend in the BB Cream until it gets absorbed by your skin. You can use a sponge if you're applying it on somebody else but in this case I prefer to use my fingers. If not blended well, you'll notice it's a bit too light for me (I used flash here, btw). But you can always top it off with powders that are slightly darker than your skin tone if you find this a little light for you.

Properly applied, it blended well with my skin tone and using flash you'll also notice the glittering effect Purederm was talking about.

I haven't been using this religiously so I can't vouch for it's skin conditioning effect just yet but here are my observations so far:

Pros

• Packaging is in tube form. Comes in handy especially when you're trying to get to the last remains of the product.
• Has SPF 27 so you no longer have to put on a separate product for sun protection.
• Not that as expensive as compared to other BB Creams and is easily available locally (you don't have to go online to buy it).
• You only need to apply a small amount to cover the whole face so a 30ml tube will probably last you for quite some time.

Cons

• Only comes in one shade.
• Glittering effect may not be for oily-skinned individuals as it may make skin look oilier. Glitters may also show in photographs.
• This may look a bit ashy for people with acidic skin type and if not blended properly onto skin.

Price: Although got mine free I think it retails for P699 for a 30ml tube.

Place it could be bought: Any Watson's outlet.

Are you into BB Creams? which works best for you? :D





Sunny Side Up Nail Art

Okay, I was so floored by how much you guys liked my previous sunflower inspired nail art that I wanted to share with you the very first one I did which started the whole summer theme. This was also in line with my first review of Etude House VIPgirl Petite Darling Nails GR605.  I did this nail art after the review :D Also, I wanted another way to make use of the french manicure guide I bought at Etude as well and here's what I came up with.

First, I used the guide to easily create the quarter round shape of a sun peeking from the corner

Then I painted the inside with a yellow nail polish.

I let the polish dry for a minute before pulling the sticker off and this is how it looked like. Sorry for the blurry shot! :D

Then I painted on some curvy rays around the edge to resemble a sun slightly peeking through my nails.

That would have been it but then I wanted to add some more flair and paint the middle of the sun with gold glitters so that when the actual sun hit the nails it would glow. I used one by Caronia named Golden Sun

Here's a shot of my nails with the Glare of the sun shining upon it ( I love drama!) :D

Top it off with your favorite top coat to make the nail art last longer and that's that!

 Are you guys all geared up for the summer? :D

A Take On the Classic

Classic Beauty never fades. That's why I always get starstruck whenever I watch those black and white films. I'm entranced by how sophisticated the girls looked. Their lovely curls never seem out of place and don't get me started on their makeup! Oh, those lips! I've always wanted to wear those really dark red lipsticks that sort of reminds you of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor (this list could go on and on and on... :D) but I was always shy and never liked drawing attention to myself and sporting really red lips won't help! Hahaha.. But that was back then. Now, I feel like I'm ready to go out with my red lippies on and just channel in Ms. Hepburn! :D When my cousin sent me a bunch of lipstick from Dubai, one shade caught my attention (you'll know what I'm talking about here) and I've been itching to get the chance to wear it ever since. Also, I've been watching Burlesque on my ipod over and over again so I'm really in the mood for the classics. So, I whipped out my lipsticks and decided to create a classic look I'm planning to do in an upcoming event atleast for now, I'd like to show you how it looks (with matching emote/posing like that of the old hollywood glamour shots..hehehe).

I winged my eyeliner to match all the drama. Just minimal makeup and contouring to make the bone structure stand out in black and white.

And with some photoshop magic, I was transported back to the classics! :D

Are you also a sucker for old Hollywood drama? ;D

Product Review: Suesh eyeshadow Travel Brush

Hmmmm...what's in the bag? I guess the title of this post was a dead giveaway already. Just this year I've taken up interest in applying eyeshadows. Although I don't usually apply them goin' out everyday, I'd experiment at home from natural to glamour ones. I just had one major problem..I did not own a single eyeshadow brush. When brushes are concerned, there's one brand that immediately pops into my mind--Suesh. I've bought a lip brush from them last year and I absolutely loved it. I guess brushes are their specialty so whenever I'm looking into buying a makeup brush I always consider this brand simply because it performs and is reasonably priced.

Suesh Eyeshadow Travel brush

Price: P200 (approx. $5) + shipping fee

Place bought: Online through http://suesh.multiply.com

Length: 108 mm
Hair: Premium Goat
Handle: Birch wood in Off White

To show you it's actual size, it can actually fit in the palm of my hand! :D

The bristles are so soft..

and because this is made from natural hair, I wanted to see if it could pick up a good amount of makeup (natural hairs are known to pick up more color than synthetic ones) and it did not fail me.

Now for the cons. I did however find that the hairs of the brush could get easily stained just because they are white. Same goes for the handle I'm afraid it may become yellowish through time (but that I still have yet to see).

Also, when I washed the brush for the first time, there were some unruly hairs that stuck out as I tried to shape the bristles to retain its form while drying.

One single hair fell out when I washed it the first time and none for the succeeding washes which impressed me so much. All in all, the cons for me were only minimal and is tolerable. As I love brushes that are easy to tote around and does not take so much space, this is a winner for me! I'm already planning on buying the rest from their travel line but then I wanted to try the 5-piece brush set...hmmm...still contemplating. :D So what is your favorite eyeshadow brush? Please do share it with us!

Sunflower inspired Nail Art

I wasn't able to write a post for a while basically because I was preoccupied with a lot of things. Last weekend I did my Niece's makeup for her graduation. this is my first attempt to even do makeup for somebody else. Here's what she looked like..

I don't know if you can see it but I opted for her to have just a natural looking makeup since she is still young and it is after all a graduation not prom. She liked it so much she even kept it the whole day even after she changed into her house clothes.

The rest of the weekend I felt lazy because it's just too darn hot outside! I was at home looking for something to do and I remembered I still had 1 bottle of nail polish from Etude House I need to try. It is the Etude House Petit Darling Nails in PP03. I bought it for P48 at their branch at SM Megamall.

The first nail polish I tried from Etude I really liked because it was quite pigmented. So I guess I kind of expected this to be too. But...(yep here comes the but part) the consistency of this one is a bit too thin for my liking. It took me 3 coats of the nail polish to completely cover the nails underneath.

1st coat

2nd coat

See my thumb? the second coating failed to cover some spots.

I guess I've set the bar too high from the last one. But I sort of  like expected this in a way because last Wednesday I did pass by Etude again to look for a lemon yellow nail polish and I asked the Sales person what was the difference of this from the ones with the dark handles. And yes, she did say it goes on thinner. Well, atleast now I know which ones to buy for my next visit ( I'm lemming for the HD nail polishes that I had to try next! :D). Anyways, I was in the mood for some weekend nail art session after I painted all my nails with this shade. I sported the minty green shade from EH and added a sun art to one corner for a whole week so it was time to change things up but I wanted to stick to the summer theme so I opted to try and draw a sunflower on top of this base color.

I first dotted a glittery bronze nail shade on one corner and added in my reference point for the petals.

and from those lines I carefully drew in little petals using the sassy nail polish that has a nail art brush

This is the closest I could do since I'm still on the look out to buy me some proper nail art pens and tools :))



after completing all the petals and set it dry a little bit, I drew a white border on one side with again, the sassy nail polish ( I have this in yellow, black, and white) and a small line in the middle of each petal. I added a couple of trailing dots for drama hahaha...

then to resemble the center of a sunflower, I put a couple of small black dots on top of the glittery bronze nail polish. And that's it! I just let it dry out completely and topped it off with my favorite Top coat from the Face Shop to seal the nail art.

Voila!!

I had difficulty drawing with the left hand but I managed to do it!! :D Do you have some design tips you can share with me? Or do you know where I could buy the dual tip nail art pens? Please share it with me :D (seriously I need it..hehehe )