A Lazy Person's Sugar Scrub for Dry Lips

December weather has been drying up my lips badly. I've increased my water intake and lip balm application to help combat some of it, but I still end up having to exfoliate dead skin nightly. I normally use my toothbrush to exfoliate every few days, but having to do it EVERY day kind of hurts. :|

A guest post on one of my favorite blogs wrote about a less painless and much easier way to exfoliate lips. None of that fancy schmancy extra-virgin-olive-oil-mixed-with-unspeakably-frilly-things shit, just plain old (pot) lip balm and sugar.

The "recipe" called for a smooth, non-sticky lip balm, and I felt like using something citrusy, so I used this:

The Body Shop Born Lippy Satsuma Shimmer Lip Balm

Refined sugar was also one of the ingredients, but the kitchen was out of that. I've found that brown sugar works just as well too.

Anyway, all you do is put some lip balm on your finger, dip that finger into the sugar, then scrub gently onto your lips. Simple, painless and delicious!

(Images copyright The Body Shop and veer.com)

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint in #1 Red

Merry Christmas!

Price: P328.00
Location Bought: Etude House SM Megamall
Date Bought: December 20, 2009

Packaging: very simple tube with a doe-foot applicator. Definitely function over form.

Side Note: Contrary to what "TINT" may suggest, I believe this is a product meant for the lips ONLY. Nothing on the packaging says it's also suited for cheeks.

Color: a warm cherry red

Pigmentation: VERY VERY VERY VERY STRONG. Seriously. Look at it on my hand below.

It's still there even after I've tissued it off!

Actual Usage: dries to a lightweight, non-drying finish that makes you look like you've just eaten Lipps Candy. I love it!

It looks even more amazing under gloss! (Here I used TBS Merry Cranberry.)

And just like my hand, it stays even after I've tissued it off!

The Ultimate Test: since this product's lasting power seems to be really strong, I tested to see if it would last all throughout Christmas Eve and Noche Buena. Here it is before going to Christmas Eve mass.

(NOTE: pictures from this point on were taken using a cellphone)

And here it is before Noche Buena.

After Noche Buena (with A LOT of eating and drinking and mouth wiping, mind you), it faded slightly, but still looks practically the same!

Unbelievable lasting power, definitely HG material.

The Body Shop Body Butter in Pink Grapefruit

This was an early Christmas present from one of my aunts. It came with a matching shower gel, but since I don't like using shower gels - they don't make me feel as clean as soap can LOL - I gave it to my sister.

My old body butter is still going strong, but Pink Grapefruit is pretty good too. Smells just like grapefruits (aka pomelos), which I love to snack on with a sprinkling of rock salt!

Etude House Lovely Cookie Blusher #2

Price: P328.00

Location Bought: Etude House SM Megamall

Date Bought: December 20, 2009

Packaging: the blush is housed in a VERY GIRLY domed  plastic container with an EVEN GIRLIER puff inside. The plastic feels durable and professional.

Side Story: Remember my brother who wouldn't go near the store? I showed him the uber girly puff and he totally freaked out. I quote, "P*TA, anong KABAKLAAN YAAAN?! May kinalbo ka bang rabbit?!" LOL!

Color: medium pink, actually quite similar to the blush found in the herbench Dainty Lass palette, but without the shimmers

Pigmentation: VERY WEAK, doesn't show up well on my hand, not even on my finger

Actual Usage: gives a very light just-flushed appearance to my cheeks, which I actually like. Doesn't photograph well just like ELF Candid Coral, though.

Great for real life, terrible for photo ops.

Etude House mini-haul

Etude House's SM Megamall branch (Bldg A, near Toy Kingdom) opened today and I went to have a look. I really only intended to LOOK, but I ended up buying some stuff! And why is that?

I am VERY HAPPY to report that Etude House's local prices are extremely reasonable, perhaps even more so than The Face Shop and Elianto. Take that, Skin Food!

Isn't their store packaging super girly? The WHOLE store is super girly, actually. My brother, who I was with at the time, wouldn't even go NEAR it!

These are what I bought, all for only the grand total of P900.00. (Try taking that amount to Skin Food and see how little you can get hahaha! But don't get me wrong, I still love Skin Food, not just its overly jacked-up local prices!)

One polish from their Petit Darling Nails line (pink handle, P48.00 - yes, ONLY P48.00!), two polishes from their Petit Darling Nails - High Beam line (metallic purple handle, P98.00 each), their much-raved about Fresh Cherry Tint in Red (P328.00), and their Lovely Cookie Blusher in shade #2 (P328.00).

Here's what the blush looks like opened:

And I'm pretty sure most of you Korean makeup fans are familiar with the FCT's appearance:

I didn't browse around their Skin Care section as I was in a rush, but if these prices I mentioned are any indication, their popular skin products are bound to be cheap too!

Reviews of the tint and blush coming soon! (Check out The Nail Polish Ninja for swatches of the three polishes too!)

Please note that since the store is very new, the staff is still very inexperienced. The SAs are kind, but don't expect them to be able to answer your questions. Hopefully they will get better as time passes.

e.l.f. Studio Line Blush in Candid Coral

So much for staying on schedule. This was supposed to be Friday's post but then the Lantern Parade happened, and then I had to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, so yeah...

Price: P250
Location Bought: Landmark Trinoma
Approximate Date Bought: last week

Packaging: very cheap feeling plastic that scratches easily (if you look closely you can see that mine already has scratches), pan tends to get covered in loose powder particles very easily (see pic after the next). The product fits neatly into my palm though, which I like.

Color: peachy-pink with gold shimmers that aren't noticeable in the pan. From what I can tell this looks quite like NARS Orgasm, but since I don't have that, I can't confirm. (Maybe after Christmas I'll be able to? Hahaha)

Pigmentation: barely any color at all on my hand (but the shimmer is definitely there), shows up more on my finger

Actual Usage: er, can you see it? In person this gives a really nice, soft glow... not that you can tell in the pictures. :(

Great for everyday neutral looks, but doesn't photograph well.

G-lish Eyeshadow Trio

Trying out a new posting format. This one's quicker to do and won't let posting fall behind schedule so much... I hope.

Price: P100, originally P250 but it was on sale
Location of Purchase: G-lish Trinoma
Approximate Date of Purchase: late last month

Colors: "spring" colors - a medium pink, a sky blue and a forest green.

All have slight shimmers in the pan.

Pigmentation: when primed, they appear to have good color intensity; no shimmers are visible

Actual Usage: product doesn't really show up on the lids even with primer, although shimmers become more evident

Great for daytime, although pigmentation is misleading.

The Body Shop eyeshadow in Golden Khaki

I was originally looking for a mid-priced taupe eyeshadow, but this was the closest thing I got. (LOL, not that I'm complaining.)

This is my first time trying The Body Shop's eyeshadows, and from the packaging to the pigmentation, they certainly don't disappoint.

Golden Khaki is a lightly frosted khaki color reminiscent of boys' school pants. (Apologies for the strange analogy, the color really does remind me of schoolboy pants! :P)

NOTE: Fluorescent lighting is the reason why my hand color looks different from the next two pictures.

The color is perfect as a base color to go along with other eyeshadow shades.

I also like wearing it alone for a polished, natural look.

The Body Shop lip balm in Merry Cranberry

I wasn't really supposed to buy this, but the adorable packaging got me! I am weak against the powers of marketing! X_X

Have TBS' Christmas lip balms always been packaged like this? It's the first time I've encountered them with festively decorated domed metal lids.

Merry Cranberry has a slight reddish tint to it which doesn't really show up on the lips.

Instead, it transmutes to the lovely moisturizing shine TBS lip balms are known for. It smells insanely yummy too!

(Black Velvet Apricot also smells amazing, but I like berry-based smells better. Don't ever get Nutmeg and Vanilla though - it smells like really old candles! Blech!)

Reese's Lip Balm

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are my absolute favorite kind of chocolate! Will lip balm flavored just like it be my favorite too?

This peanut buttery balm is made by Lotta Luv, a company specializing in lip products flavored like Hershey's Kisses, Snapple drinks and Tootsie Rolls, among other things.

The balm honestly tastes more chocolatey than peanut buttery to me, although it smells pretty close to an actual Reese's.

It gives lips a finish similar to Nivea's Velvet Rose.

I'm not a big fan of lip balms that give matte finishes like this, but I admire the effort Lotta Luv put into making its lip balm as close as possible to its chocolate inspiration.

Now if only I could get my hands on their absolutely freaky Cheetos lip balm... >:D