December 2013 Hit Listers

Hi! December has always been a crazy month for me because that's when most of the coolest bazaars in the planet come out, at least in my opinion. I had quite a hard time picking out the 10 awesome-est for the month of December but since there's always next month, I figured it wouldn't matter whichever made it to last month's list.

By the way, I'm currently trying to figure out Instagram (Please don't laugh at me ^^). My sister figured it'd be an effective way to at least let you guys know what's coming next in this blog. Give me at least 2 years and I'll be the bomb in Instagram-ming. Kidding.

Anyway, December was filled with quirky polishes and facial masks, but mostly polishes. Of course, there'd be the K-dramas which would be taking place of the "special nominees." (Was I the only one who felt crushed when The Heirs ended?).  Here goes nothing!

Special Hit Listers: Prime Minister and I; Empress Ki
-Well, y'all know how I feel about Korean dramas. I do follow a lot but I don't find each and every drama enjoyable. I started to watch these dramas in December and I'm hooked. I hope both shows end well because so far, I love both of them. For Prime Minister and I, I like it because it's funny and witty enough to make me hang on to every episode. I actually enjoy watching Yoona in this series the most. And despite the huge age gap, she actually has quite the chemistry with Lee Beom Soo. And come on. It's the prime minister and a paparazzo--in a marriage contract. It's awesome.

As for Empress Ki, well, I'd watch everything that Ha Ji Won is in, especially if she has a kick-ass role. It's a 50-episoder and all, and I kinda got caught in already about 5 episodes in, but I'm loving it. It's 5 episodes shy from the halfway mark but it's far from being a boring sageuk show. I hope it continues to be interesting because I normally don't last 50 episodes. ^^

koreandrama.org

koreandrama.org

1. Etude House Blending Sleeping Cream
-This is my first ever sleeping cream and I liked it. I like how it helps brighten my skin when I wash it off in the morning. Plus, it smells great...and, it looks totally cool. 

2. Dolly Wink Brow Mascara
-This is my current brow mascara. It's actually not the best that I've tried but it is the closest in terms of color. I have kind of a weird yelllow-ish orange-y red hair color and this suits me better than the other light colored brow mascaras. 

3. Skin Food Choco Powder Eyebrow Wood Pencil
-While my mom was looking at some polishes at Skin Food, I got talked into trying this one. Thank heavens it was on sale because it was quite pricey for a pencil. I like this because the other end is different. Most brow pens I've used have spoolies and this has a brush. ^^ 

4. Shiseido Baby Powder (Pressed; Medicated)
-When my skin starts to get crazy, I stop using tinted pressed powders just to give my skin a rest. But since I have oily skin and really can't be without a powder, I started looking for something mild enough to help me get through. I've read quite a lot about this baby powder but it was so darn hard to find. So when I got lucky and saw this at a bazaar, I bought it immediately. So far, I think it is helping--both with my skin issues and the oiliness issue. I don't think this is available in local Shiseido counters though. 

5. iWhite Korea Whitening Pack Peel-off Mask
-I've used a couple of peel off masks before and so far, I think iWhite has the best ones. This one I've tried recently. Though I don't think my skin has gotten any whiter, it helps make my skin feel really clean. It probably sucked out everything. ^^ 

6. Etude House Dear My Party Nails in Boom Boom Boom?
-I'm quite unsure with the Boom Boom name, but it is what it says on the cap. I normally hate glitter polishes because they're so much of a pain to remove, but when the glitters are this chunky and random and cool, I can't resist. It is a struggle to get all the glitter on. Patience Patience Patience. 

7. Etude House Play Nail in You are My Sunkissed Candy
- I did a review of this here. I really love the neon orange color. And because the color of this polish shows up so well, I can use it for gradated nails.

8. XOXO Minnie Etude House in Minnie Black Face
-Probably one of the best if not the best find of mine in December. It has officially become my favorite polish ever because it has Mickey/Minnie's face in it. 

9. Etude House Facial Pack Brush
-I usually use my hands when I put on cream masks but I find that it's quite unhygienic especially when they're in pots. This was given to me by my sister and it actually makes putting on masks a breeze and it's hygienic. 

10. Holika Holika Blending Brush
-I own a couple of blending brushes but I wanted to have this one because it's big and fluffy. It's awfully too big for my eyes but it is perfect as a contouring brush and a setting brush. It was given to me by my sister last Christmas. ^^ 

 So, that was it for the Hit Listers. ^^ Hope you had a great weekend. Cheerio!

Holika Holika Pore Sea Stem Cover Balm

Hey guys! A few weeks after Holika Holika opened its first branch in the Philippines, I decided to check it out just to see if there was anything that I'd actually be interested in trying.

The first balm I've ever tried was Lioele's Rich Pore Balm. I thought about buying the full-sized one then realized I should probably look for a cheaper alternative since the one from Lioele is over a thousand bucks. 

This cover balm retails for 485.00 Php for a 20g tub. It's of the same consistency with the one from Lioele-- almost a pasty non-oily balm. According to the SA, this can actually improve the skin's texture and the size of pores.

The Verdict:

I actually love this balm just as I loved the one from Lioele. It's not as expensive but it works just as well. It makes the skin feel velvety smooth and it helps in oil control. This actually allows me to blot at lunch time and not right after I step into the office. It covers a lot of my small pores-- kind of like those under the eye area--but not the big ones. Application of foundation and everything else is a breeze. It can also be used as a finishing balm because of its powdery texture.

Since it's a cover balm, it can be used for target application, say around the T-zone area. But if you want to use it on your entire face, you can opt to mix it with your moisturizer. I see a lot of Korean MUAs doing this. ^^ Just get a small amount of balm and about a pump of your moisturizer and proceed with application. ^^

This balm is awesome because it's not that expensive considering the amount of product you'd need to cover your entire face. I actually just run my fingers through (which is not very hygienic) and dab the product onto my nose, forehead, and cheeks.

This is probably one product I'd bring with me all the time. It's very versatile and just what I need to help with my oiliness. The oil control only lasts for about 4 hours or so but it's awesome all the same.

Have you tried a cover balm before? Lemme know. Cheerio!

August 2013 Hit Listers

Hey! It's time for another list of Hit Listers. ^^ As I've mentioned a few times, August was quite a busy month for me, so most of these things have been my go-to items, especially during my overnight stays. 

So without further ado, my August hit listers! ^^

asianwiki.com

asianwiki.com

1. Master's Sun and Who Are You? (2013)
-I'd probably be okay losing sleep but I can't miss my K-dramas. Right now, I'm watching two I-see-ghosts dramas.

Master's Sun is the latest Hong Sisters' drama which I absolutely love. The Hong Sisters are well-known for their dramas Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, You're Beautiful, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, The Greatest Love/Best Love, and Big. I'd say that they probably make the coolest rom-coms I've ever watched. Master's Sun is horror-com about Gong-sil, played by Best Love's Gong Hyo-jin, a woman who can see ghosts. The drama got me hooked because not only is it funny but the plot has many witty twists as well. So Ji Sub is awesome here, too who is her ghost repellant who dislikes her. The ghosts here are pretty scary but I just can't get past Gong Hyo-jin's ridiculously huge eye bags and not laugh. She takes on many jobs and well, loses a whole lot of sleep because of the ghosts keeping her up.

Who Are You? (2013) is also a ghost drama but it takes on a more serious tone. So E-Hyun plays Shi-on, a detective who founds herself working for the Lost and Found Section of the police department after being in a coma for six years with absolutely no idea of what had happened. But she did take on a gift of seeing ghosts as she goes through the stuff in the lost and found section. Playing her partner is the non-ghost believer Gun Woo, played by 2PM's Ok Taecyeon. The main story arc though of this series is about the death of Shi-on's boyfriend,  Hyung Joon (played by Kim Jae Wook), who was killed in the line of duty six years ago.

2. Holika Holika Pore Sea Stem Cell Cover Balm
-Ever since I've tried the sample of Lioele's Rich Pore Balm, I've been on the search for something that has the same effect but with a lighter price tag. I've been loving this balm so far. It creates a perfect canvass and at the same time, helps with sebum control.

3. Celeteque Acne Solutions Oil Control Toner
-While on a one-month break from my Neutrogena Set, I decided to give this Celeteque toner a try. With a couple of weeks in usage, I could say that this really does help in drying up pimples.

4. Too Cool for School After School BB Foundation Lunch Box (Matte)
- I actually really like this BB cream, one because it has a super-matte finish which I like and because it has SPF and is travel-sized. I brought this with me during my all-nighters at work.

5. It's Skin Mini Tint Gloss in Mango 
- When I saw Its Skin's stall in SM North Edsa, I just freaked out. I didn't realize that another Korean beauty store opened this year. I immediately grabbed this and I actually love it. I usually stay away from glosses because I commute but I'll gladly make an exemption for this one because it leaves a tint on your lips. Review to follow. ^^

6. Careline Easy Mascara in Blue
-There is something really cool about blue mascara. It just gives a really nice effect on the lashes. Although this mascara is any-proof ^^, I love it just because. ^^

7. Careline Easy Mascara in Brown
-While I'm contemplating on which brow setting mascara to purchase, I decided to try if this one from Careline would do the trick and it does the trick. It's a bit dark that what I would usually use but it works. ^^

8. Gold Eyelash Curler from Saizen
-This one is just another run-of-the-mill eyelash curler but it's gold! It looks so classy and it works just as well as any other eyelash curler. The only difference being is that it looks great to display.

9. Bobbie Kaleidoscope Polish in Lemon Souffle
-This color changing polish is the coolest nail polish I've tried so far. I wish the color changed a lot more often but I still like the fact that the color does change. Now, I don't have to worry about changing nail colors very often.

visitflanders.co.uk

whatsgoodattraderjoes.com

10. Speculoos
-I felt very lucky to have finally tried the famous Speculoos cookies and Speculoos Cookie Butter when someone brought them over at the office. It was even more delicious than I thought. The only way I know how to describe it is that it tastes like Christmas Gingerbread cookies. I'd gladly eat it by itself on my own if only it wasn't so expensive. 

So what made your August happy? Lemme know. Cheerio!

Look What I Bought: Holika Holika's First Philippine Branch

Hey guys! I know. -_- I owe you guys a ton of entries. It just felt like I've been working for more than 12 hours every day, then just going straight to sleep these past few days. But now that I got to go home early *evil laugh*, I figured I'd start sorting through the stuff I needed to get off the "to-be-posted" bin. ^^

So, about a couple of days ago, my family decided to go to SM Fairview. We used to live so near there but now, it's probably one of the farthest malls from our place. These past few days, when I hear SM Fairview, I think of Holika Holika. I was no stranger to the opening of their very first branch here in the Philippines and I swore I was gonna go check it out. Forgive the Korean fan in me. So right after work, we braved the traffic and went to SM Fairview.

Here's a couple of stuff I picked up, just to give you a sneak of what would probably be put up for reviews on the coming weeks. ^^

I actually had a lot in my cute purple jelly shopping basket but since my wallet was wailing of pain and literal emptiness *haha,* I just ended up buying a filler/moisturizing balm and apple mint tea mask for myself, a facial foam and sweet milk tea mask for my sister, and a feet peeling set for my mom. My mom loves this set. This is her first from Holika Holika. She has tried the one from Tony Moly. I think she finished three boxes of that one. ^^

The cute purple butterfly pen and moisturizer samples are freebies. Too bad they don't have a membership card yet. They don't come in a paper bag but an eco-bag. ^^

P.S. My sister stole a few air kisses from Jung Il Woo's (49 Days, Take Care of The Young Lady, Flower Boy Ramyun Shop) standee.  I just had to say that. ^^ Park Shin Hye (He's/You're Beautiful, You've Fallen for Me/Heartstrings, Flower Boy Next Door) is also an endorser.

BTW, if you're all about purple, you'd love Holika Holika.

I'm definitely coming back for the polishes and the lippies so I hope they'd have a branch much nearer to my place. Anyways. Cheerio!