Going Natural Part 2: Bath and Body

One of my last posts was about my move to natural beauty products. I started off with makeup, and today, I'll be talking about bath and body stuff. Like I mentioned in my last Life Update, I'm currently pregnant, which made me switch to things that don't have too many chemicals in them just to limit what goes into my body at this point in time. Here go the deets!

Going Natural Part 1: Makeup

Hello there! Yes, I'm alive. I just haven't been blogging because of circumstances beyond my control, but I'll save that for another post. For now, I'm going to try to take this one step at a time and get back into the swing of things.

So what have I been up to lately? Obsessions-wise, I've been into a ton of things as usual, but I thought I'd start with makeup. I've recently made the move to start using only natural products. It's been quite the adjustment, to be honest -- I can't just go for any makeup that catches my fancy anymore. I've also found that a lot of natural products have very herbal or very floral flavors and scents, and I'm a citrus and musk kind of girl. I'm not sure this will last forever, considering I have yet to become completely comfortable with this, but for now, I feel that it's the healthier choice for me. This is mainly because at the moment, I'm trying to limit contact with chemicals as much as possible.

Now, this the first time I've consciously tried to find natural products. I've been haunting the beauty aisles the past months, taking note of what's out there. I noticed that a lot of them are pretty pricey, and I've decided that for now, while I'm still trying things out, I won't be splurging much until I've done my research, and until I've gotten to know what I like and what I don't like. I think it's also important to note that I know about greenwashing, but there aren't a ton of natural products available in the Philippines, so for now, I'm just going with the most natural products I can find. Not all of them are 100% natural or organic, but I feel that they're at least better ingredients-wise than regular cosmetics.

I'm also trying not to put on too much makeup these days, so I just went for the bare essentials. A little powder on my skin, a little color on my face, and I'm good to go. I might still have to find me some BB cream, and maybe an eyebrow pencil. Here's a rundown of my current arsenal of natural makeup.

Beauty Loot: Bringing Back Summer

It's July, and we've had a bit of rain here and there, which means that the rainy season is just around the corner. We haven't seen a single storm though (thank goodness), and I'm actually still in denial that summer is pretty much over. In fact, I'm so in denial that I'm actually using a couple of very summery products right now. I found them recently, and I adore them so much I use them everyday.

Beauty Loot: Mini Makeup Haul from the UK

Hey friends! This is a quick post to talk about some very cool makeup from the UK that I got recently. My friend Sheva went to Europe and I asked her to get me a few items that I've been wanting but aren't available here. I can't wait to try these! Here's the loot:

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Last weekend, I noticed that my bag was surprisingly light. I was actually toting around a bunch of things I don't normally carry around with me. I had to do a lot of waiting that weekend (at the salon, at the dentist), so I made sure I had stuff to help me while away the time. Despite that though, my bag also turned out to be really pared down. I'm the kind of person who would put my entire house in my bag, so I thought my purse that particular day was worth documenting. Besides, I haven't done a "What's In My Bag?" post in over a year (last one as April last year). It's about time I posted one again.

What's in my black H&M bag?

Beauty Loot: Drugstore Stuff I've Been Liking

Hey there! This is just a quick post (it seems a lot of my blog entries these days are "quick posts" heh) about new drugstore finds that I've been using and liking. I haven't been using these products a long time so I don't have much to say about them yet, but just consider this as a first impressions kind of thing. Here we go.

Beauty Loot: Lush Favorites + Holiday Releases

I said in my Stuff I've Been Using post that I was saving my recent Lush loot for another day. Well today is that day!

My love for Lush goes back to the early 2000s, which is a long time to like something. However, I never found out about Lush sales until Nikki of Forgivain told me about them. It seems that they almost always have something at 50% off. Now I'm on the lookout when I go to a Lush store. Here's my recent loot:

 Sorry I took this pic with my phone. I was too lazy to pull out my camera.

Beauty Loot: Stuff I've Been Using

Since it has been a while since I've been blogging regularly, I thought I'd do a post on stuff I've been using. I haven't really been buying much makeup -- I've just been trying to use up my current stash, but every now and then, something catches my eye and I get it. All my recent loot has been drugstore stuff, actually. Here's the list, and what I think of them.

Beauty Fun: Mosquitoes Away with Aromaflage

My blood is sweet. Yep, you read that right. That's what people tell me whenever I'm being devoured by mosquitoes, which are the insects that I hate the most in the entire world. Everywhere I go I'm usually the first one or the only one to get bitten. Whenever a mosquito's around it will come and find me for sure. I even got dengue fever in high school when it was still a virus that nobody knew anything about and H-fever was the only known mosquito-related disease. People laugh it off and tell me my blood is sweet, but it's not funny when I'm always wishing I could fumigate everything -- or myself, for that matter.

This is why when an email from Aromaflage landed in my inbox, my interest was piqued immediately. I've tried a lot of anti-mosquito sprays and lotions but I've never found one that I was fully satisfied with. The ones I tried in the past either felt weird (my skin felt sticky, thick, and the like), or smelled weird (the repellent component was obvious). Of course I have an arsenal of anti-dengue sprays and even the good old katol (mosquito coils) in my house as well, but I am still bothered by random mosquitoes who have escaped the fumes, and the ones outdoors when I step out of the house.

Aromaflage is pretty much the answer to my wishes. It's not a spray or a lotion -- it's a botanical fragrance and insect repellent in one. It has the light feel of perfume so it doesn't feel heavy or sticky on the skin, and it also has the scent of a perfume so it doesn't have the chemical smell that insect repellent gives off.

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - The Fault in our Stars Nails

It's just another manic-ure Monday. I don't "wish it were a Sunday" though because it's Game of Thrones night and I'm rushing this post so I could watch with the hubby!

Anyway, today's manicure is a bit special because I saw The Fault in our Stars last Saturday. I loved the book by John Green and I couldn't wait to see the movie. I'm so glad A has a crush on Shailene Woodley because of Divergent, so he was totally willing to see it with me. I'm going to do a post on the movie itself soon so I'll just focus on what this entry is about. 

That, my friends, is Hazel Grace Lancaster's nail polish. Augustus Waters described it as an almost black dark blue. "But her hand was still her hand, still warm and the nails painted this almost black dark blue and I just held her hand and imagine the world without us and for about one second I was a good enough person to hope she died so she would never know that I was going, too." 

When I first saw Hazel's nail polish I immediately thought, hey, I have nail polish that's just like that! It's NYX Advanced Salon Formula nail polish in Royal Blue. Why it did not occur to me when I was reading the book a long time ago, I have no idea. And so, this happened today. 

Makeup Madness: Up Close - Tanya Burr Lip Gloss and Nail Polish

When my friend asked me if I wanted her to buy stuff for me in London, Tanya Burr Cosmetics immediately came to mind. Tanya Burr was one of the first YouTube beauty gurus that I started watching, and her new makeup line was something I really wanted to try. The thing is, it's only available in select stores in the UK. I can't get it here in the Philippines, so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on some of her stuff. Thank you so much Sheva!

Tanya Burr makeup is really pretty and girly. There are a lot of pinks and nudes in the collection, and I liked that because I don't have enough pinks and nudes in my life. I decided to go for one lip gloss and one nail polish so I could try something from each of Tanya Burr's two product lines. I chose the Afternoon Tea lip gloss and the Bright and Early nail polish. (Aren't the names adorable?) Here's what I think of them. [Warning: Long review up ahead!]

Bright and Early + Afternoon Tea

Makeup Madness: My Summer Base

It is already starting to rain, which means summer will be ending in no time. I predict that we will have a few more hot days though, so until then, I'll be making the most out of the makeup base I've been using all summer.

When summer hit, I had to change bases quickly. I don't wear too much makeup in the summer because it feels stuffy and it just melts off my face. I wanted a light base with SPF that I could just dab on and pair with a swipe of eyeliner or eyeshadow plus a dash of lipstick. Luckily, I chanced upon a good combination of products. These were a part of my Summer Beauty post, but I figured these warranted a proper TLDR, makeup geek-out entry too.

L'Oreal True Match Skin Idealizing BB Cream, Essence Mattifying Compact Powder, Elf Professional Total Face Brush 

Beauty Barrage: Summer Beauty - Products for the Hot Hot Heat

A lot of the world is just getting their first taste of spring, but here in the tropics where there are only two seasons, we're smack dab in the middle of an insanely hot summer. When the heat started coming in, I knew some of my makeup and beauty products wouldn't cut it anymore. I always have to change up what I'm using when the seasons change. Just as I have my cold weather friends, I have my summer stash with products that I can rely on to keep up with the scorching temperatures. Most of these are travel-sized because I like the convenience of getting to throw them into a purse, a beach bag or a travel bag whenever a summer event comes up. I got it all down in one post, but brace yourself! It's a long list.

Makeup Madness: Up Close - Wet n Wild ColorIcon Eyeshadow in Sweet As Candy

Hello! I haven't played with makeup in a while so I did today. It's about time I got some makeup reviews on here again anyway. I'm starting off this comeback to makeup love with Wet n Wild's ColorIcon Eyeshadow Palette in Sweet As Candy, which was from my collective beauty haul back in December.

This blog will tell you that I'm a lipstick girl, and not an eyeshadow kind of girl. A lot of days, I just put base on and then swipe some color onto my lips, and I'm good to go. Eyeshadow for me is for days when I have the time and the energy to make an effort. This is why I haven't really invested much in eye makeup, but I do have some go-to drugstore eyeshadow palettes that I should really get more use out of.

The Product

I have three Wet n Wild ColorIcon Eyeshadow Trio Palettes in my makeup kit, and they're definitely on my must-use-more-before-they-expire list. I like them because they have great color combinations and they make eyeshadow application easy. Each handy palette comes with three eyeshadow shades, marked Eyelid, Crease, and Eyebrow. Like the Wet n Wild site says, it takes the guesswork out of eyeshadow application. It's easy. I already used one of the palettes before -- Walking On Eggshells -- in a look post. [See A Neutral Experiment, and A Neutral Experiment Products.] My most recent Trio acquisition is Sweet As Candy, because I realized I didn't have sweet, pink eyeshadow.

What drew me to it is how girly the color combination is. It's for those times when I want a break from neutrals, but I still don't want strong eyes. 

Fashion Candy: My Wedding Dress and Shoes

Hi! I've been busy lately just trying to finish our wedding documentation on our wedding blog, That Happy Day, before our anniversary comes up. (Yes, it has taken so long!) My most recent posts there have been about my wedding dress and shoes, so this is another "when worlds collide" post. I'm sharing a bit of it here, but please head on over to That Happy Day for all the happy details and more pictures. 

Dress by Edwin Uy
Shoes from Vivienne Westwood + Melissa via Geleia

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Retro Blue

I have retro blue nails this week, thanks to the nail polish that my friend Sheva got me during a stopover in Thailand (on her way to India). It's an old skool kind of blue, but it's bright enough for summer.

It's Maybelline Color Show Nail Lacquer in Shocking Seas. It really doesn't remind me of the sea in any way. It's more of the kind of blue that you find in old porcelain teacups or china, that sort of thing. It is shocking in the sense that it's a really attention-grabbing bright blue though.

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Summer is making me break out all my colorful stuff, and for weeks now I've been using my orange Cole Vintage satchel. My bag is a lot different these days because of the change in seasons, so it was definitely time for a "What's In My Bag?" post. Here we go.

What's in my orange Cole Vintage satchel?

Makeup Madness: Up Close - Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous

Summer's here! I will probably keep saying that until the rainy season comes because I love this season! The heat is horrific, as usual, but everything else about this season makes me happy -- the sunshine, the ice cream, the bright colors... I can go on and on. This season also means I can wear orange lip color 24/7. It gets me in the mood for sheer but bright makeup, and there's no better time than now to have orange lips.

In the Lipstick Tag, I mentioned the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous a few times. That's because it has taken the place of what used to be my everyday orange lipstick -- Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti. I use it at least a couple of times a week, and I'm using it even more these days because it's summer, but I never wrote about it here. Finally, here's a proper post on it.

The Product

This lipstick comes in a retractable crayon form. It makes application fun, and packs quite a bit of product in the tube. It's supposed to be a moisturizing and softening balm with color that applies as a stain.

Beauty Barrage: Up Close - Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer

This is an extremely happy post because my favorite moisturizer and I are back together! My last tube of the Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer expired this month, but for some reason I couldn't find it anywhere! I went to Pure Beauty, which is my go-to shop for it, but both of the Serendra and Alabang stores as well as their online shop didn't have it. I've been to several beauty stores the past couple of months looking for it, and it was nowhere to be found. The online stores I buy from didn't have it either.

I messaged my friends and asked them to let me know if they saw it anywhere. After a month, my friend Cielo found it at S&R! (Thank you so much Cie!) It's a huge relief because I really love it and I don't really feel like doing the trial-and-error thing with moisturizer again. My skin responds with forehead bumps whenever it doesn't like products, and since I've been repairing it from dryness lately, I didn't want to give it more problems.

I know this seems a little over-the-top that I'm so thrilled but discovering this moisturizer really changed my outlook on skincare. Seeing the difference it made on my skin made me want to take care of my skin more. I've talked about it in some posts before (check out Cold Weather Friends and Muji and Aveeno Loot), but I realized I have never done a full review of it. Ladies (and gentlemen), here is my story on this moisturizer.

Clothes Spin: Color Play [Throwback Thursday]

Hello! I haven't posted a Throwback Thursday entry in a while, so I decided to do one today. I haven't been taking any recent outfit posts or even done a post on Instagram OOTDs, so this is a reminder for me to catch up with those soon.

My husband and mine's anniversary is coming up and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today, so I'm posting about a dress I wore during our post-wedding staycation last year. This frock is a little schizophrenic like me -- half of it is colorful, and half of it is black.

Color-block Joey Samson for Human dress, orange watch and black sandals from Cotton On