More To Mica - Life & Fashion Theme Update

Althea January Loot

• April Skin Magic Snow Cushion 2.0 - P940 (Sale from 1,310)
• April Skin Magic Stone Black - P310 (Sale from 1,150)
• Missha Soft Blending Stick Blusher | Mud Brown - P520 (Sale from 720)
• Missha Soft Blending Stick Blusher | Sugar Glam - P520 (Sale from 720)

The wonders of beautiful makeup packaging. The moment I saw the pale old rose bullet shaped lipstick online, I was like 'I've got to have one of those!'. They look so high quality and sells for $13-14. I knew it wouldn't be easy to get one since Mellow Cosmetics isn't available in the Philippines and shipping would be expensive, my heart was broken. Thankfully my Tita Nina had a trip to US, she was able to bring home these babies to me. Hurray!

A little background on Mellow Cosmetics. It's a New Zealand owned company. They offer a range of creamy matte lipstick, liquid lip paints, powder blushes, palettes and eyeliners. One reason to love brand? There products are cruelty free, vegan and paraben free.



The Creamy Matte Lipsticks are available in 10 colors but I don't have the budget to buy all 10 so I'll have to settle with 2 shades. To help me choose which shade to get I skimmed through a few blogs and vlogs but it actually made things harder, at least that got me on Shaanxo's channel where I discovered the Liquid Lip Paints from Mellow Cosmetics, Since I haven't tried any lip paints yet I decided to get two shades of those as well.

CREAMY MATTE LIPSTICKS

Look at these pretty things! The shades I got are Posh & Nude. As I've said earlier the lipstick is packaged in a pale old rose bullet shaped with a touch of gold similar to MAC lipsticks. The logo of Mellow Cosmetics, which made the lipstick look luxurious, is carved in the lipstick as seen in photo below.

LIQUID LIP PAINTS

Liquid lip paints are also available in 10 stunning shades. New York & Tehran are the ones I have. The packaging comes in a glass like tube with a gold cap, kind of reminds me of Colour Pop's ultra matte liquid lipsticks.

SWATCHES

I only swatched  Posh & New York and not the two others (Nude & Tehran) for practicality sake. I don't go out often so I just don't want these lippies to expire. I even have a few more lippies to try (if you've seen my althea haul) so yeah.. #GirlProblems, Haha.

But I forgot which one I had opened for the shoot, apparently it was Nude and not Posh. The one I swatched and put on my lips for this blogpost was Nude but it should have been Posh. Oh well. Goodness me.

ON THE LIPS

Bare lips. It's not very noticeable in photo but my lips was in a dry situation that day. I was worried the lipstick might not come out nicely.

Creamy Matte Lipstick | Posh

On my lips is the Creamy Matte in shade Posh. This shade is very similar to the color of my lips. Perfect for creating my no-makeup kind of look. I love it. It's pointed angle shape makes it easy & clean to apply. The stick seems pretty firm & solid, makes me think it could actually hold it's pointed shape forever. I hope...

Liquid Lip Paint | New York

On my lips is the Creamy Matte in shade New York. This one is more of a wine red/bordeaux color. I've never tried any dark shade of lipstick before because I'm more inclined to orangey/coral-ish colors, good thing I did or else I'd never discover know how beautiful my lips look with a dark shade of lipstick.



Since I didn't swatch Nude & Tehran I grabbed these images for Mellow Cosmetics site so you can at least see how the other two looks.



I'm loving Mellow Cosmetics, both lipsticks & lip paints are of quality and true to their claim of having a highly pigmented, none drying & moisturizing finish. Remember that I kind of had dry lips before I applied both lip products. Even though the lipstick is matte it didn't feel drying on my already dried lips and it actually made my lips softer & moisturized. It's also very weightless, like you didn't even put anything on. Same goes with the lip paint, I'm surprised with how my lips felt soft with it on. Although there were a little patches, it isn't too noticeable upfront.

Is it long-lasting? The brand claims their lip products are long-wearing and I attest to that. I've worn both creamy matt lipsticks & liquid lip stains, and both of them were still vibrant as the first application. Although, it did take a little beating were a small area on the lower lip had been wiped off but not completely, aside from that everything else is still intact. And my lips didn't felt dry at all.

Is it kiss-proof? The brand didn't mention anything about their lip products being kiss-proof. But based on my experience the lipsticks doesn't transfer once the lipstick had set and dried or if it transfers it's very minimal unlike the previous lipsticks I had that colors the cup pink/orange/red all over. Lol



I'm really happy I discovered these lippies and got to try them out. I am praying that Mellow Cosmetics would eventually grow bigger and rich the Philippines shores. I want more of these!

Every woman has her beauty that she can further enhance with skincare & makeup, it's a woman's secret. There's a ton of beauty brands for us to try and to find which products work best for our skin type but there aren't as many online makeup stores for us to shop at here in the Philippines. One of which is BeautyMNL.com, a go-to beauty destination, with over 300+ brands, for all things beauty.



For someone like me who's work is home-based I don't get to go out as often. Browsing online had actually become a hobby. I'm greatly thankful for websites like BeautyMNL to keep me stocked with my beauty supplies without having to go to the mall.



After months of just browsing through their page (hoping I could one day make a purchase) I finally got the chance to try shopping at BeautyMNL. I've always wanted to shop at BeautyMNL but I was loaded with chores & pending posts so I didn't had the chance. Good thing I was contacted by Erika to try out and test the site. Now I have my reason to check it out. Lol.

SHOPPING WITH BEAUTYMNL

Personally, I like the look of the site. It's pretty straight-forward and easy to browse through. Plus they have this similar feature where you can read feedback and review from other buyers who have tried specific product you are looking to buy. I also like that they have a detailed description & how to use on the product page. All the details - product description, how-to, brand description, reviews etc., are all in one page (same with mobile) which is really nice. Sorry I'm a web & graphic designer so... I talk about the technicals.

Payment

Payments through Paypal, Credit Card via Paypal,  Bank Deposit & Online Bank Deposit (BDO, BPI, Metrobank) and Cash-On-Delivery (COD) is accepted. For more info on payment modes click here.

Credits

What are BeautyMNL credits? Credits are accumulated points which can be used as payment for your orders at BeautyMNL. Although credits will only work with Paypal transactions. Still awesome right! Credits are earned from the product reviews you've submitted. For more info about BeautyMNL credits click here.

Shipping

About shipping. They guarantee next day shipping with Metro Manila addresses. I can't assure that since I had my package sent to Laguna. So it took a while but they mentioned it would take 5 to 7 working days for the rest of the Philippines. Ugh, the downside of not living in Metro Manila... Oh well. Hahaha.

Here's how it went. I placed my order early morning of January 11. Two days later January 13, I got an email saying my package is with the courier and is en route to the given address. My package arrived six days after order was placed. That's fine since they didn't make me wait longer than 7 days but I was 'atat' and wanted to get my goodies sooner. Haha. Also, the delivery guy called me, he was in our village already but he needed help with finding our house.

MY BEAUTYMNL HAUL

Or should I say mini haul? Since we've only got a total of five products but anyway... Here's a list of what I got from BeautyMNL.

• It's Real Squeeze Tea Tree Mask , Innisfree P65.00
• It's Real Squeeze Bija Mask, Innisfree P65.00
• Holy Moly Snail Mask , COSRX P150.00 [Bought on sale for P135.00]
• 2-in-1 Gift Set: Baby Blues + Gel Top Coat, Solique P380.00
• Pro-Artist Precision Eyeliner Brush , W7 P199.00

OVERALL SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

I'm very happy with the websites ease of use & the shopping process. I had no problems whatsoever. The products were pack in a resealable packaging. My orders came in tact nothing was damaged. I will definitely shop again at BeautyMNL for my beauty needs. I do recommend trying this go-to beauty destination out specially, if you live in the metro, if you still haven't.

BLOOM & BEAUTY BY YOU

Before I end this post. I'd like to invite you to check out BeautyMNL's in-house magazine - Bloom.  You can browse through several articles about Makeup, Beauty, Celeb's and the like. Here's one article I enjoyed reading: 6 Beauty Secrets We've Learned from the Japanese.

Beauty by You is a place dedicated for product reviews. Here you can easily search for comments and feedback from users of a certain product. The page also has a categorization of which product is rated best, most waistlisted and has the best bargain, Recently reviewed products can also be viewed on the page.
That's it beautiful ladies! Don't forget to check the site out!

I was finally able to share my beloved haul from Althea. They were a buzz when they opened their online store in the Philippines. But if you've haven't heard of it make sure to check the site now, they've got plenty of k-beauty products: Visit Althea (but please finish my write up first). This post is actually mega overdue. I bought this at Althea like months back. Yep! This was last year but I feel that these pretty lip tints still deserves to be shared.




Althea is a cyber shopping destination for K-Beauty products. Brands like Skinfood, Etude House, Holika Holika, Missha, The Face Shop, Too Cool For School can be purchased at Althea. Plus we get to try other beauty brands from korea that we haven't heard of before.



I got like five lip products from Althea. I would love to get more but I'm sure I would end up leaving the others to expire because I don't really go out as often and I'm also on a budget so these ones are just perfect for me. First is these two Velvet Moist lip tints from ONSAEMEEIN in shades #02 Berry Red & #04 Acoustic Coral. I've never heard of this brand I just digged the packaging/bottle of the lip tint (and thought it would look pretty in flat lays, LOL) that's why I added it to the cart.



Next is the Fresh Fruit Lip & Cheek Trio from Skinfood. I needed a blush so I thought of trying this one out. I also thought that I could make use of this for days when I don't feel like putting much makeup on and I can bring it with me for touch ups since it's small and very 'travel-friendly'. I got the trio shade #5 Fruit Mix.



Lastly are these Liptone Get It Tints from Tony Moly. Oh gosh... The packaging is so so so pretty!! I dunno it coule be just me but that's hella pretty! I really love it and I hope I'd love the actual product too. Like I want to use them forever. Its perfect for a graphic designers kikay kit. Haha. The shades I have are #02 Coral Ming & #03 Play Orange.



I'm really happy with my purchase from Althea. The transaction was easy and the shipping was actually faster than expected. I live in the province so my package arrived 7 days later but according to Althea's site I would receive my package much later. So thumbs up.



Here's a summary of my Althea haul & the price for each:

1. Liptone Get It Tint [Coral Ming] - P390

Hey there loves! I'm sure you've heard about this eyebrow product from KPalette, the Lasting 2-Way Eyebrow. These were praised and raved by several beauty bloggers and makeup junkies. Got me wanting to try it as well. I've been using this fantastic eyebrow shader for the past couple months.




I've got two shades of three 101 light brown & 102 natural brown. I think the other shade - 103 is grayish brown.




The pointed liquid brush tip makes it easy to draw natural looking hairs in some gaps and bald areas of the brow. At first, it was difficult for me to line my brows using the liquid brush tip as I was used to lining my brows with a pencil liner. The brush tip requires precision and steady arms. Finally got it after a few strokes.



A powdered sponge tip can be found at the bottom of the liner to help give more depth in shading the eyebrows. Just between you and me... I use the sponge tip to contour my nose too sometimes, it's shape just makes it easy to line the brows and nose too.




Did a swatch on my hand. Fat stroke is the powder and the thin stroke is the liner. I think the light brown looks actually darker than the natural brown. Or more like the light brown seems to have a green tone while the natural brown had a reddish tone. Also, the powder seems to have less staying power than the liquid. When I smudge them in my hands the powder tends to disappear on application but if I leave the powder to dry it stays longer on the skin.



Overall. I am fond of KPalette's Lasting 2Way Eyebrow both the powder and the liquid. I like how it helps me have a more natural looking brows compared to how I line my brows with a pencil liner. It lasts all day for me too. I've used this for about 4-5 times per week and I was able to use it for more than a month, that's a win. The downside is it takes a while to master and it requires a few strokes back and forth to tint which takes time.

Tip: Store it lengthwise with the powder on top and liquid top facing bottom so it doesn't dry as quick.



There is a pencil version of this one I believe. Which I think is a bit cheaper than the liquid. I am planning to get try those after these run out. Also, I think Kpalette came out with a 3-way pencil version with pencil, powder & spoolie in one. Tempting!

KPalette products are available on Beauty Bar, Zalora and select Watsons store.

KPalette Lasting 2Way Eybrow Php 895.00 Appx

Trivia. The last time I had a concealer in my makeup kit was when I was in high school. That's about 6 or more years of 'no-concealer-life'. The only time I've had concealer on my face was when I am prettified by a professional makeup artist. Yes, I know I know. I'm super duper late with the concealer department.

I am just grateful and happy that after years of 'no-concealer life'... my makeup kit finally includes a concealer and it's from K-Palette, a Japanese cosmetic brand that gained several positive feedback from different bloggers and people who have tried the products.
K-Palette Okuma Cover Control Concealer is available in 3 different shades.

• Type 01 (Red Package): Natural Beige, best suited to conceal light dark circles
• Type 02 (Yellow Package): Yellow Beige, works wonderfully to cover dark circles caused by pigmentation or skin dullness
• Type 03 (Blue Package): Orange Beige, conceal dark circles caused by poor blood circulation. 

I didn't get the shade Natural Beige (Type 01) so I'll only be reviewing Type 02 & 03.