When I was very young, my mother gave me art materials for Christmas. She included boxes of pencils, oil pastels, and water colors along with fresh paper. That was the most memorable gift I've ever received in my life. My mother didn't just give me stuff - she gave me possibilities, the means by which I can explore whatever talents I might have. I don't remember asking for art materials but she figured out I would love them.

Until this day, getting a box full of colors make me feel disproportionately happy. I collect paints and colors in different mediums for my art hobby and I also love getting palettes and pots of makeup. Who knew a fairly inexpensive Christmas present would define who I am today? (That, and books). I would be a different person had I never received it.

Anyway, the introspection is brought to you by this press kit from Maybelline! I was at the launch of the brand's latest cream color, the Color Tattoo Eyeshadow (P375), yesterday. You'll remember that I reviewed and loved them last year so I'm pleased that they're finally here! These are excellent long-wearing and uber pigmented eyeshadows that don't even require a primer - or brush, for that matter.

I won't go into detail describing these as I've already posted a review. All you need to know is that if you don't have one (or three), you better run and shop. This is a cream eyeshadow that definitely deserves your hard-earned money. They're easy to work with, they're pigmented and come in beautiful colors, plus they stay on all day with very mineral creasing (if at all). Oh and did I mention they're quite affordable? They're selling for P375 each locally!

I highly recommend getting Barely Branded (a metallic warm beige) and Bad To The Bronze (rich, warm bronze) to start your collection with. These are shades you can use everyday. Later on you can move on to the more exciting colors, which you can use not only as eyeshadows, but as eyeliners too.

Here are the swatches!

Lip glosses have come a long way from being sheer, gluey, and generally annoying. With new ingredients and technology, even the most affordable brand can come up with a gloss worth switching up your lipsticks for. I thought I'd talk about some of the interesting glosses I have this week. I'll begin with the most intriguing of them all: the Maybelline Lip Polish (P350).

I believe this came out in the Philippines recently. It's popular with YouTube vloggers, and is known as "Color Elixir" in other parts of the world. What makes this special is how it mixes the high-shine glassiness of lip gloss, pigmentation of an average lipstick, and the moisture of lip balm. All that without being sticky!

Think of a lipstick with a very wet texture and that's pretty much how the Maybelline Lip Polish feels like when freshly applied. It'll dry up in an hour and will become tacky then, but I love how that dried-up layer of color sticks on my lips. It feels almost like one of those long-wearing lipsticks that hardens and sets.

Charming. The gloss mold is lipstick-shaped.

And this is fairly long-wearing, for a gloss.

The runaway favorite from the latest cosmetics brand to hit Manila is the Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie (P499). I think that us girls are just naturally thrilled about crayon-type lip colors (part nostalgia, part insta-fun), but it's not just that. The seven colors available are all crazy gorgeous and super pigmented - each one was obviously chosen with a  lot of thought. From sunny corals to a seductive plum purple, Happy Skin has something for the color-loving you!

So let's get down to it! Shut Up & Kiss Me has a creamy texture and a nice opacity with just one layer. Two is enough to get a solid blanket of color! Staying power is pretty good at four to five hours; there's also a stain left even after I eat and drink. It's the kind of lipstick that's perfect for those who like bold colors but don't like to retouch or apply balm all the time. It is a little moisturizing, indeed, although I prefer to use a layer of balm underneath first.

The formula has no scent and no taste. It also doesn't flake when it dries. The lippies' finish look like a creme to me, but they become decidedly matte after an hour or so!

Girls Night Out is a stunning purple red that could be a dupe of the famous MAC Rebel. I noticed that it changes color as I wear it; the first hour, it looks like a plummy fuchsia red.

You are not required to wear bright, cheery colors during summer - but wouldn't it feel so much better if you do? More colorful outfits or makeup just feels so right for the season. It's the time of the year (at least here in the Philippines) when trees are in full bloom and families congregate in their favorite summer destinations. The mood is generally happy and relaxed, so colors are just a natural response to the season.

I've been wearing a lot of neutrals in the past few months but now that summer is here I try to wear colorful eyeshadows and lipsticks again. I find that I am quite attracted to green right now, so I bought green shoes, had my nails done in green, and got a mint belt. It's only natural that I'm taken with green eyeshadows this time.

Thus, this Paul & Joe Eye Color in Picnic (004) from their Parasol Collection is my eyeshadow-of-the-moment!

What I love about this product

• The green and combination is quite wearable. It has an iridescent finish, which makes the eyes pop beautifully as the sun hits the lids. Very flattering on the skin!
• Lovely Paul & Joe packaging, as always. 

When you Google for NYX Round Lipsticks you will find that two of the most popular shades are Thalia and Tea Rose. Every makeup enthusiast worth her salt has these shades in her arsenal! They're cheap, plus they're extremely flattering on most skin tones. The swatches were very tempting so I decided to snag these lipsticks when Carefree Shopper's next shipment came in.

Thalia and Tea Rose. They look the same in the picture, but Tea Rose looks a lot pinker in person. Swatches up ahead!

I love palettes. I love how the colors are neatly arranged in rows and columns, glittering and pretty. I love how they give me lots of choices when I take them on a trip. I love how cheaper they are than buying individual pans of eyeshadows! I can go on all day but you get the drift.

The set with a full-sized Primer Potion costs $39

My current palette love is the Urban Decay Ammo Shadowbox. It was released to celebrate the brand's 10th anniversary and contains ten of their best-selling eyeshadow shades in coordinating duos. I've been wanting to get my hands on this for the longest time but since I got the Book of Shadows II, I decided to put it off. However, when some of my friends decided to order the Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows, I couldn't miss the chance! I just had to get the Ammo.

The product images from the Urban Decay site does no justice to the gorgeous colors of this palette. Its hard to catch the nuances of each shade on photos so you just have to take my word for it. Each eyeshadow is extremely pigmented and silky, just as what you'd expect from a good brand like Urban Decay. Chopper, Mauwi Wowie, and Grifter are rather gritty because of the glitter, but they go on smoothly nonetheless. Just be careful of the fallout.