When I was younger, I couldn't leave the house without a watch. I felt naked. In the last few years though I managed to wean myself out of my watch-wearing ways. It doesn't make that much sense to wear a watch (for time-checking purposes that is) if you always have a cellphone in your purse or pocket!

So yes, it's been a while. Still, watches can be worn as accessories, especially if they're handsome like this Avon men's watch.

Thanks for the well wishes, guys, I am feeling much better now. I have a horrible croaky voice though...not cool because I need to be at my best tomorrow. Good lord. This week will be crazy, again.

Anyway! I just wanted to talk about the Snoe White Beauty Bar (P139), particularly the Exfoliating Oatmeal Beauty Bar. It's what I've been using in the shower lately since it's pretty good. Let me tell you why!

• Has this nice oatmeal yogurt scent that's very relaxing. Doesn't smell too chemical.
• Incredibly sudsy and slinky.

You knew this was coming, right? I did a list of my top foundations, lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, and now, eyeliners! Eyeliners come in three major forms - cream pencil, liquid, and gel. It's not a question so much of what is the best eyeliner out there. It's more on what is the best eyeliner that fits your needs?

If you're always in a rush and want a soft, natural line, go for pencil liners. If you want sharp cat-eye lines, go for liquid. If you're a pro and want your eyeliner to be immaculate and easily controled (using your preferred brush), go for gel liners. No brainer!

And so, here are my favorite eyeliners. I use them depending on the look I'm going for and how much time I have to dress up my eyes. ;) PS - my all-time favorite eyeliner is the MAC Fluidline, but I didn't include it here because I simply wanted to share other eyeliner finds.

The Kanebo Kate Gel Eyeliner is a nice dupe of the MAC Fluidline, at almost half the price for P660. It's too creamy and skids a little, but who cares as long as it doesn't budge and delivers a solid black line in one swipe?

I love the Majolica Majorca Perfect Automatic Liner. It has an excellent brush that gives me this perfect, precise line everytime, and it doesn't smudge on me all day.

I am so sick today. -_- Was trying to write a proper blog post but couldn't bring myself to concentrate. Anyway, Kira will be sharing her review for now!

Who suffers from an extra active t-zone? I do! And although I know that there's no product can permanently make pores disappear (they say it's virtually impossible since we're born with it!), I am still on the lookout for pore minimizing solutions no matter how temporary or pricey they may be.

It was timely that Liz asked me to review this little product as I've been battling with big pores on my nose and and oily complexion (blame it on stress and this schizo weather we're having). It's called Z-Pore (P1,600)!

Z-Pore™ combines special silicone polymers and optical diffusers to instantly reduce the look of pores and provide a soft matte finish to the skin. This water-, sweat-, and humidity-resistant formula lasts all day."

What it is:

A lightweight, nude-colored cream that resembles the consistency of mousse cream.

How to use it:

After my usual skin care regimen (wash+tone+moisturize), I just apply small dots of the GSL Z-pore on my problem areas -- my forehead, nose, chin and the cheeks near my nose.

I've been hearing a lot of great things about Sleek MakeUP, especially about the blushes and eyeshadow palettes. The brand offers high-quality cosmetics at really good prices (less than P600 locally) so it's definitely something to keep an eye out for if you're looking to try something new.

Sleek MakeUP doesn't have a brick and mortar store in the Philippines, but you can visit Digital Traincase to see some selections. 

Anyway! Last December, I was in a violently purple/ plum mood. I've been looking for a kickass purple lipstick but couldn't find one that fits my exact specifications. I want the shade to be dark and deep and opaque, but I don't want it to look too goth nor too shockingly bright. Difficult? A little. But I found what I needed from DT's new stocks of Sleek True Color Lipstick (P450). 

Quality-wise, the True Color Lipstick is okay.

Hay, I keep making FOTDs but I keep not posting them! I am back to my neutral streak since these days I only go out of the house to work; there's hardly any opportunity to play with eyeshadows. Nonetheless, I thought I'd show you a simple peachy  gold look I did last Friday. I really enjoyed wearing this one.

Face: Lancome Teint Miracle liquid foundation, MAC Studio Sculpt conceaer (blemishes), Clinique Airbrush Concealer (undereyes), Clinique Blended Face Powder in Invisible bend (loose powder to set)

Cheeks: Benefit Hervana Bush, NARS Laguna Bronzer

I feel a little apologetic writing this because almost all of my best finds last month teeter on the expensive side (those are what I've been receiving from brands lately). They truly are worth it though, if the specific product fits your skin and lifestyle needs that is! This January I hope to try unforgettable mid-priced products to share with you guys, so hold on to your seats for that.

In the meantime,here's a list of my top 10 favorite finds last December!

The Benefit Brow Zings is currently my favorite eyebrow product. They sculpt and define my eyebrows, giving them this dark tint that I normally won't go for but looks great on me anyway.

Safe for work and perfect for fun, the Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Pink is a lipstick shade that wiill never go out of style. It's one of those colors that works for all skintones.

The Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil is the best makeup remover out there because it's not just a makeup remover - it's also a pretty awesome skincare product.

Many of my relatives wonder why I choose to stay in the Philippines when I could have looked for other opportunities abroad. Call it the University of the Philippines brainwashing (lol) but I would like to live and die here! Ask me again in ten years - I might change my mind - but right now I'm happy where I am and I can't see any reason for me to leave the country indefinitely.

The new Department of Tourism slogan courtesy of BBDO-Guerrero

I would LOVE to travel more, sure, but I want to stay here. I love the Philippines. For serious. It's beautiful, but more importantly, it's a free country.

I have a little secret: I've been using the Benefit Hervana Blush (P1,600) exclusively since I got it some three weeks back. Yes, I haven't been using any other blush! Why? Because it's the kind of shade that goes with everything, and I mean everything.

Let me explain. The thing with blushes is, you have to match them with the lipstick you're wearing - if you have a peach shade on, you have to wear a peach blush. If you have a pink lip, then wear a pink blush. This is not a strict rule ha but it simply looks better when your lips and cheeks match; it's more flattering to your skintone that way!

Benefit Hervana is awesome because it straddles the fine line between peach and pink and so matches all lip colors you can throw at it. That's just one of its many fine points though. ;)

What I love about the product

• Hervana is a gorgeous, flattering shade. It's a pink-mauve-peach that should go with fair to medium-dark skintones.  
• Great staying power! Lasts on my cheeks all day even through the heat, sweat, and oil. I have oily combination skin, btw.

Last Christmas, Tony Moly Philippines sent over a sweet package containing some products and this handy dandy cosmetics kit. I really like it because it's the perfect size for putting in a full face's worth of makeup, plus it has a neat section for brushes!

I first heard about Purse Podium when a friend retweeted a link to its Facebook page. It was quite the serendipitous moment because I was Googling for designer bags at that time! What are the odds. :P Anyway, I scoured through the Purse Podium site for the perfect bag for me, one that fit my size and budget, and I chanced upon the Marc by Marc Twisted Q Riz Hobo in a sort of bronze/gold color.

At first I wasn't too sure about the color since it may be difficult to pair up with my outfits, but my fears were baseless. Like a gold necklace or bronze bangle, the bag goes with (more or less) everything!

Good Monday morning to you! Say hi to Nikki, who shall be talking about the latest L'Oreal foundation to hit the Philippines!

I’m a BB cream fan and I have been using BB creams for a while now, mainly because they are the most economic choice for me. Not only do they cover blemishes and make your skin dewy and delightful but they also offer additional perks like sunscreen and whitening (I’m not really big on whitening but hey, why not).

However, as my life is pretty hectic and demanding (and I have yet to master the art of time management), I’ve been searching for a better form of foundation because BB creams, like liquid foundation, can be a little time consuming and tedious to use. Musing on that thought, I realized that powder foundation is the easiest foundation to apply. I swear, we women go through so much to get perfect skin, but as Liz puts it, “You can call it vanity but I call it survival”. 

As my beauty guru and close friend, I told Liz about my predicament and she told me to try L’Oreal’s White Perfect Pearl Duo Powder Foundation (P995 / P795 refill only). I was really excited to use it because the packaging was really cute and it came with a highlighter too!

Hand sanitizers are a dime a dozen these days, but have you come across one that's is dispensed as a foam and turns into a light lotion? I don't think so! That's what makes the Snoe Fizzy Clean Hand Sanitizer line relatively unique. It cleans hands while moisturizing them at the same time. It's a little sticky at first, but once it dries, the stickiness disappears.

I like the green tea scent - it's subtle and a little sweet, like herbal candy. Packaging-wise, it's basic and a bit haphazard, but for hand sanitizer, who minds?

This might sound a little melodramatic but Bedhead Tigi / Davines changed my life. That is, my "mane life". I seriously never knew that my hair can look this good! As in. Wow. It's just air dried ha, then left it in a bun. After an hour I got hair like this:

It's not shampoo commercial hair but I just LOVE the curl definition. I used the Bed Head Tigi Styleshots Hi-Def Curls Shampoo and Conditioner and the Davines Love/ Serum Moisturizing Curl Enhancing Serum. Kick ass combination. Pricy but damn it, I can't say no.

Anyway, Davines / Bed Head kindly sent me a package containing some cool stuff. The shampoo and conditioner smells gorgeous, and the eyeshadow palette - who knew they had makeup?

The Charm Essentials Pretty in Pink Vegan Brush Set (P2,500) is not your normal brush set. What sets it apart from the multitudes of other sets out there is the carefully designed brushes that are also multi-purpose. A slanted mini-flat top brush, a fluffy highlighter brush, and a fine smudge brush are just some of its more distinctive charms. Pun intended!

What makes it more interesting is the fact that the brushes perform really well even with what should be a handicap - they're made of synthetic fiber, not animal hair. The former is amazing at picking up cream and liquid makeup but normally not so good at working with powder. In these Charm brushes though, the vegan hair does the job of picking up and applying makeup wonderfully, no matter if it's a powder or liquid.

It was very difficult to narrow down my favorite eyeshadow palettes because there are so many great ones that I use regularly. But for the sake of curation, I just picked five palettes that I use the most. They're the kind of palettes that I wear without thinking, especially when I'm in a hurry! You'll notice a lot of neutrals going on there but believe me, they're quite different from one another.

Sigma Flare Eyeshadow Palette. Didn't like this so much initially, but it has the best purple eyeshadows I've ever had! They look great on me so I overlook the chalky formula. The eyeshadows are still pigmented anyway.

Bobbi Brown Tortoise Shell Palette in Sand. This is my foolproof palette - I can never go wrong wearing this. The eyeshadows are have a soft-focus finish so they don't take much effort to apply and correct. This is my favorite when I'm off to work stuff.

Jen Gerodias-Diaz was driving when she spotted a factory that manufactured soaps. She was looking for gifts to give to her friends that Christmas, so she thought of handing out personalized soaps. “They loved it!” she said. That’s when her mind started churning out ideas for what would be one of the rising beauty brands right now: Snoe Beauty Inc.

Running a business isn’t new to Jen. She already owns several pawn shops and gas stations but she wanted to indulge her kikay side this time. With the help of her sister-in-law, Gen Enriquez-Gerodias, the tag team conceptualized Snoe (pronounced as sno-wee).

I've been googling 2012 trends like crazy lately - for work as well as for personal use. I came across some makeup looks that I find interesting and wearable enough to wear here so I want to share them with you! I'm sure you must already be bored with your usual looks (as am I) so listen up.

Bright pops of color. Bright colors will never really go away - it's just a matter of which color is on trend. For this year it seems that there will be a lot of yellows, aquas, and pinks for summer. I like this exaggerated cat-eye shape with yellow eyeliner on top. The pink lips and lapis nail polish adds to that festive yet utterly sophisticated theme.

The "London Look". Sullen and aloof, Londoners have that untouchable yet polished look down to a science. The hair is a little mussed, with deep-socketed eyes and barely tinted lips.