I’m not that big on mouthwash because the stuff tastes awful. You know it’s true! Maybe it’s just me but using most mouthwashes these days is equivalent to mild torture - it stings your mouth and leaves it with a burning sensation for a while after you spit it out. That’s not really something I want to subject myself to on a regular basis.

I do however still use mouthwash every now and then, particularly when I want my breath to be fresher for a few more hours. It’s really useful when I’m going to a meeting or an event where I need to be at my most confident.

Still, I know, I know, we should all use mouthwash everyday. It goes beyond giving us fresh breath - it also helps with preventing plaque build-up and tooth decay. It’s just one of those unpleasant things you have to live with I guess...but not really. It seems that I’m not the only one with ~issues~ so Swish swooped down to solve the problem!

There are three neat things that sets Swish apart from other mouthwashes that I’ve tried before.

1. Swish is super fun to gargle, so I can actually swish it around for a good 30 seconds (and more!) without wanting to throw it up. It’s because these mouthwashes don’t have any alcohol content.

Blemish-prone women on a budget, rejoice! Now there's no need to save up for MAC, Makeup Forever, or Cinema Secrets concealers with a cheap substitute in town: the Revlon PhotoReady Concealer (P725).

This concealer is THE BOMB. It's highly pigmented, almost opaque, creamy, and has pretty good staying power in our humid weather. The best part really is the P725 price tag. Even with a quality similar to high-end concealers, the price is still friendly to those who are always looking for more affordable alternatives to expensive brands.

What I love about the product

• Medium to heavy coverage in a couple of swipes. 
• Didn't break me out - always a major plus. I was worried that it will but my fears were for naught. It's fragrance and paraben-free.

Friday fun day! Hope everyone is feeling perky and happy. As for me I feel like Marvin the Paranoid Android, dour and in a perpetual funk. A new book and a movie should fix me up quick.

Anyway, I just want to share a couple of FOTDs I wore this week. They're neutrals because I wore them to meetings; their main difference really is the color story. One is predominantly peach while the other is coral-y. Lately, these are my favorite themes since I find that they brighten up my face instantly. So if you're yellow-toned, you must try peach or coral makeup (if you haven't yet!) with gold eyes. Always a winner combo!

Face: MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer, Revlon Photoready Compact Foundation, Jane Iredale mineral foundation

Cheeks: Yves Rocher Bronzer and Shimmer Powder Duo (matte side to contour), In2It Waterproof Blush Set in Sentiment

A couple of weeks ago, French skincare brand Yves Rocher invited me to their official launch at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. I didn't know quite what to expect because the invite requested me to proceed to a suite instead of a function room or restaurant where events are usually held. Well, I'm always up for something new!

The Luzon Suite was transformed into a foot spa and makeup paradise surrounded by Yves Rocher's products. There was a makeup artist who was only eager to give everyone a makeover, and an attendant who did an excellent job at giving a foot scrub, massage, and pedicure. I like that the atmosphere was very relaxed and intimate. The whole afternoon was also very educational as I got to learn more about the 50-year old French household name.

Getting a foot spa!

Yves Rocher was one of the first, if not the first, to produce beauty products consistently sourced from botanical ingredients. They did it waaay before it was trendy to be green, organic, natural, and animal cruelty-free! Each product is created with as little harmful chemicals and preservatives as possible, and are inspired by a particular plant in mind.

Face products

YR's best-selling product, Elixir 7.9 (P990)

All the ingredients are planted, harvested, and manufactured in Yves Rocher's farm in the village of La Gacilly, in France. Yves Rocher, the founder, was a small-time businessman in rural La Gacilly.

I planned to talk about the Dear Me BB Cream and the powder Pact in one post, but it's too long and I have too many pictures. So I decided to do it in two parts! This time, I'll be reviewing the Tony Moly Dear Me Petit Cotton Pact (P348).

This powder compact is pretty nice since it blots oil without giving any coverage. If you love the Majolica Majorca Pressed Pore Cover but found it too expensive or too matte, this compact by Tony Moly is a great substitute.

What I like about the product

• Very soft, satiny texture. The powder is well-milled and not chalky at all! The texture sort of reminds me of the waaay expensive Guerlain Meteorites.
• This translucent powder has no coverage, which makes it perfect for retouching. It can work with any skintone.

You'll remember that I really liked the Tony Moly Baby Doll BB Foundation, so I was looking forward to try other BB creams from the brand. I just waited until my pimples cleared up before trying the Tony Moly Dear Me Petite Cotton BB Cream (P348). I was super relieved when I didn't break out again! I think I'm hiyang with Tony Moly face products, thank goodness.

Anyway, the Dear Me BB Cream has a few interesting things to offer, enough that you may want to check it out for yourself.

What I love about the product

• Good for oily and sweaty skin! It's creamy but it dries up quickly when you apply it - and stays that way. It's more or less water resistant, and it also doesn't melt in a goopy mess even under the midday heat. Perfect for the schizophrenic Manila weather, if I do say so myself.
• Great coverage. It covers light blemishes and eyebags pretty darn well. Actually, I think it's an excellent undereye concealer.

Ferretti Shoes just came out with six new designs at the online store! I love that the shoes have this childlike quality about them - like they're the sort of things little girls would actually wear, except that they're the grown up versions. Oh, we also have new accessories up. Now these are on the badass spectrum, all black beads and glinting metal. Excellent contrast, don't you think?

These are my top pics. I like bright shoes right now, especially ones in primary colors. That's the trend, aside from the usual blacks and neutrals.

Electric Pumps (also comes in purple!)

T-strap Wedges (comes in black too)

At this point I can probably fill a small bath tub with body lotion. I'm not complaining though as long as the lotions I get to try are good ones, such as the latest Avon Skin So Soft Lotion in Signature Silk Resplenishing Body Lotion (P290).

Signature Silk is non-greasy, gets absorbed quickly, and smells good - as with most Avon Skin So Soft lotions. It has a subtle floral fruity scent (do I detect a hint of watermelon?) that's quite soft and pleasant.

You know, outside of my job and this blog, I don't have much of a social life. Sometimes I mind so I end up going out, shopping and eating a fancy meal by myself - come to think of it that's rather counterintuitive, no? I just get more bothered. But sometimes, like today, I'd rather just stay home and apply myself to quieter pursuits. It's more fulfilling and ultimately less painful on my wallet lol.

I got two new books from Fully Booked the other day: One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell and Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King.

With One Fifth Avenue, I was looking for the usual chic lit stuff: witty if not funny, romantic, a little slapstick, escapist to the core. But the book comes off as a pretentious commentary on the lives of the rich and famous in New York.

It's time to put a little perspective to all the reviews I've been posting! Starting this September, I'll be sharing my top 10 best finds for the month. These are the products that I've been using heavily, the kind of stuff that I don't mind purchasing when they run out (ceteris paribus - all things remaining constant). In other words, these are the things I can swear by.

Here goes!

The Sebamed Liquid Face & Body Wash is a total savior. Don't get me wrong, I still use my Clinique Liquid Facial Soap (Oily Skin Formula). But since my skin is really, REALLY dry lately due to the acne serums I've been using, I need to use a more moisturizing facial wash that doesn't completely strip my face of oil. That's where Sebamed comes in. I love it with all my heart.

I've been using the Clinique Derma White City Block Anti-Pollution SPF40 PA+++ since May but given that I only wrote about it yesterday, it's included in my September list. It's awesome. Read the review!

The Estee Lauder Idealist Cooling Eye Illuminator conceals and heals. When I stopped using it for a week, my eyes hated me! 

I promised I'd show you what I took home from Sebago, and here it is! It's rather predictable of me really, but I fell in love with the Felucca Lace design (P3,999) when I saw it on the shop window waaay before Sebago invited me to drop by. I really wanted to get the Yellow one, but unfortunately their smallest available size, 6, is rather large on me. So I got the Denim Blue version in size 5.

I regretted it at first. Size five felt too small; it was an effort to walk in them. However, I knew that Sebago shoes loosened and softened over time (they're 100% leather), so I just broke them in by walking short distances before finally wearing them out. Now they're super comfortable and hug my feet nicely!

Product samples will be the death - and/or financial bankruptcy - of me! I fell in love with many a Clinique product just because I tried one of their devious sample sizes. You think, "Oh, I like what I'm using already, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a gander at this new tester size I have." Before you know it, boom, you're buying a product worth 2 gs. 

At least, you already know that it's totally worth it.

So that's how I discovered the Clinique Derma White City Block Anti-Pollution SPF40 PA+++ (P2,045). I got a sample of it from one of Clinique's gift pouches, not really expecting that it would be The Sunblock. There are other City Block versions available, but I find that they break me out so I never got around to buying them. Not the Derma White though. This works so well on my skin and I've been using this since May!

What I love about the product

• Has SPF40 PA+++, so it offers pretty good sun protection.
• NO BREAKOUTS. I don't know what's up with sunblocks, but most of them give me pimples - if not immediately, they do eventually.

I'm a lipstick person at heart so you may have noticed that I don't wear much lip gloss. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a few good ones just in case I need an extra "boost" on my lips. Lipsticks may deliver the color, but glosses instantly add a plumping effect because they reflect light.

Photo courtesy of Yves Rocher

One of the latest glosses I came across is the Yves Rocher Plumping Sheer Gloss in 06 Fraise. It's a delicious-smelling lipgloss that comes in a classy (albeit large) tube with a brush applicator.

What I love about the product

• Lip glosses are notorious for being drying, but this one is quite moisturizing. I don't need to wear lip balm underneath. It doesn't dry up for hours.
• As promised, it does make lips look plumper, but almost all lip glosses do that so it's cool.
• I really like the brush. It makes the gloss easier to apply, especially on top of lipstick!

You must have a signature scent the same way you have a signature piece of jewelry or lipstick. It just completes your whole look by taking it up to another sensory level! It's true that people may not remember what you wore but they WILL remember how you smelled like, which is why perfumes are a must in every woman's closet. 

Now, I've tried quite a number of scents for this blog - from cheap to high-end, from light to heavy - but there is only one scent that I keep going back to: the DKNY Be Delicious. It's a radiant, fun and feminine scent while still managing to be very sensible...just like me, in my mind. When I want something sweeter, I always go for the DKNY Delicious Candy Apples in Sweet Caramel. 

So now you know my history with DKNY, you'll understand why I'm totally gaga for their latest fragrance, the DKNY Golden Delicious (P3,100/50ml and P4,200/100ml).

Scent. I would describe Golden Delicious as a beautiful, warm scent that blossoms as it dries down and melts on your skin. Like all Be Delicious scents, its very feminine without being smothery and overly cloying; sensual without being oversexed and obvious.

At last, something new from one of my favorite brands, Colour Collection! I know some folks have been having trouble tracking down a Tupperware dealer in search of their excellent Color Intense Lipsticks, but I tell you, it's worth it. And now there's something else to pine after with the release of the Mineral Cosmetics Line and Age-defying BB Cream.

First off, I doubt that the makeup is actually 100% mineral - BUT there are no parabens or fragrance involved in the making of this line, and they also threw in some soothing ingredients like aloe vera, green tea, shea butter, and jojoba oil. The lipsticks are mostly made of oils, waxes, pigments, and silicates, so they can pass off as mineral makeup.

The powder makeup is mostly mica, talc, zinc, pigments, and chemical binders. So not entirely mineral makeup but they do have less irritants than the usual makeup. IMHO, that's a good job already because so many companies who got into the mineral makeup bandwagon are FAR from actually being MMU.

On to the collection!

They released five new shades of Mineral Lipsticks with SPF15: Plumberry, Creamy Coral, Satin Shell, Brick Rose, Smooth Wine. They're all pigmented and delightully loud!

It's been a while since I talked about mascara here, eh? This time I want you to meet Revlon's newest called the Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara (price TBA). It will be available starting next month, so this is sort of like a first look for all you mascara fans out there.

I really liked its predecessor, the Revlon Grow Luscious Fabulash so naturally I was curious about what this mascara can do! To start off, the main difference between the two is the wand. The Plumping Mascara has a smaller wand with an edge that tapers off, making it easier to maneuver around the lashes compared to Fabulash.

Formula-wise, they're very similar, except that Fabulash adds a bit more length.

Finish and texture. The Plumping Mascara delivers thick, black lashes in one coat. The formula is goopy so you don't have to layer so much to get vavoom lashes, but if you want something really dramatic, two coats will do the job.

Mineral here, organic there. That has been the trend in beauty for the past few years, but these days it's more of a given than an optional thing for brands. I mentioned before that I'm not completely sold on 100% natural beauty products simply because they're either ineffectual or, if the quality is good, the price can be prohibitive. Nonetheless, there is one brand that has sucessfully battled this dilemma by being somewhere in between - Human Heart Nature.

The HHN Mineral Eyeshadow Palette in Enchanted Evening (P275) is the first makeup I've tried from the brand. The packaging is pretty and the price is friendly, but is the quality competitive?

What I like about the product

• It doesn't have the usual tacky shade selection. The lilac, dusky violet, and gray purple are sophisticated shades that I didn't expect in a P275 palette. They will work with fair to morena skintones.
• Well-milled and not chalky at all. I like the silky texture.

It's been a while since I did an outfit post here. Between then and now I've quietly hoarded dresses as if there's no tomorrow. It's about time really. I don't like my clothes anymore.

Anyway! As you can see I'm still in a tan mood. The dress was a genius find from Forever 21; it works sooo well with my body type! What's nice is that it's like an LBD, it can be worn different ways with the right shoes and accessories. It's like a blank canvas one can play with.  

Forever 21 dress/ Parfois heels and ring/ Ferretti necklace/ Pink Box bangle 

It's been over two weeks since I got the Obagi Blue Peel. It's a memorable experience because it was my first ever TCA peel, but it's also a little life-changing in the sense that I've re-evaluated how I view skincare and beauty in general.

Anyway, the results were very good - the peel took away the lighter blemishes and left only faint marks where the darkest and biggest blemishes used to be. I broke out afterwards, but I hear that it's part of the purging process as the newly resurfaced skin adjusts. Also, I had my period at that time, so the pimples were really on a roll. I'm continuing with my acne medication (I'll write a separate post about it) and I'll let you know how that goes in a week or so.

Let's track back, shall we?

Day 6: So close 

By day 6, most of the old skin has already fallen away, leaving only two big chunks on the sides of my cheeks. The skin is still fresh but drying very quickly.