This might be old-ish news to you if you're an avid follower of beauty news but - yay! Canmake Tokyo, one of the top drugstore brands in Japan, is finally here in the Philippines. They've had an online counter over at Glamourbox for a few months now, but it's only recently that they set up a brick and mortar location in Glorietta 2, inside Somera.

When I went to Tokyo and Hong Kong last year, every beauty drug store I visited had Canmake. It's impossible to miss: the bright pink logo and collaterals, the cute little princess-themed makeup. And the price! It's very affordable. I'm happy to report that the prices here are almost the same as abroad, with the product selling for as low as P390 and at most, P680 (for the BB cream/bases). 

Ever since I saw makeup master Jigs Mayuga use a mixing palette and spatula at a workshop, I knew I NEEDED those things in my life. I'm not a makeup artist, right, but I love tinkering with makeup and having tools make the process more simple and enjoyable. I'm grateful to Sol of Digital Traincase, who generously gave me a MONDA Studio Mixing Palette (P520) and Spatula (P490) last Christmas!

Before we move forward, can I just say that Sol is one of those people I've been following for maybe half a decade now, even before her store became famous in the PH. She used to blog before, did you know that? She was passionate about nail polishes if I remember correctly. She has since channeled that passion into being one of the top (if not the top) online beauty retailers in the country, but she's still as nice and approachable as before.

I totally did not expect anything from her last Christmas. I didn't make parinig or anything - the package just suddenly arrived on my doorstep. She said it's to thank me for my support through the years, but IDK, it's not like I did a lot. I just love her brand of service and her constant eye out for new amazing things to bring here.

ANYWAY, end of cheese. Here's my review of these MONDA tools! 

I'll start with the palette. I think that if you love liquid and cream products, a mixing palette like this is indispensable. It allows you to customize wet foundations, concealers, blushes, illuminators, eyeliner, eyeshadow and lipstick etc. easily without wasting any product. Since it's made of stainless steel, you can warm the makeup with a touch of your hand under it. 

I've always believed that when robots or artificial intelligence evolve beyond human capabilities, they would not go Terminator on us. They would most likely be either benign, even altruistic towards humans, or would simply leave us and move on to the next plane of existence. Another possibility just occured to me: they can combine their capabilities with our species, becoming a hybrid of organic and metal/plastic/silicone etc. (My thinking is distinctly Asimovian.)

This is what was running through my head after watching Her. It's a movie about a man falling in love with his operating system. Did I get teary eyed? A little bit. But their love story didn't interest me so much as the moral and practical implications of the premise. Why are letter writers rich in the future? What makes a human, human? Is romantic love less real when shared with 641 other people? Where did the OSs go? 

In any case, watch Her. It's a good film.

Moving along! I want to quickly show you what's inside the January-February BDJ Box. I got this last Thursday! I like how it contains a LOT of stuff that I can actually use. My favorites would be the Ellana Lip & Cheek Gel (of course, lol), Beauty Bright Soap (reviewed it and loved it!), the free Brow Construction from Browhaus (my HG brow salon), and the Revlon nail art polish. 

Hmm, I just realized, I like the stuff I've already tried. I should probably be more adventurous and go for the other samples/vouchers! Check 'em out here.

Quick post! I just wanna pop in to say hello, and happy holidays to you all. ^_^ Hope you're having a grand time so far! I'll be having a staycation with my family in a hotel here in Fort, then probably veg and watch cable TV until tomorrow. All I want is a chill and fun time with my loved ones.

Before I leave, thought I'd show you something I got for myself this Christmas. I think that the best gifts are the ones that you actually purchase for yourself, because no one knows what you want better than you do, right? That being said I finally got something I've been looking for a long time: a pouch wallet.

I'm not that picky with brands when it comes to wallets which is why mine always looks kawawa. But in my defense I really want something where I can jam my cash and coins without thinking, where there's space for my cards. I haven't found something like it in stores - that is, until I saw this pouch from Rabeanco in SM Aura.

It is absolutely perfect.

You know what (and this is just an observation, not a complaint) having a beauty blog and getting sent a lot of free stuff takes all the fun out of makeup shopping. Whenever I see something that makes me go "oooh-I-want-that-looks pretty-awesome!", that enthusiasm is quickly followed by a dour practicality "But-I-have-like-twenty-of-those". 

Every so often I do buy something because I feel that I absolutely need it and don't have something like it yet. However, it ends up getting buried by all the other products that I still need to start using and reviewing. I told you. It's sometimes not at all fun to be a beauty blogger.

Image credit: muza-chan.net

That's why when I went to Japan a few weeks back, I only grabbed three beauty products for myself. These were things I felt I needed at that time. Besides, they were inexpensive so it'd be totes fine if I don't use them often or like them at all. :P

I stopped by Matsumoto Kiyoshi in Akihabara to look for some pabili and to check out the drugstore beauty stuff (of course). Here's what I got!