You may have noticed that some of the recent reviews have crappy pictures. It's a sore spot for me lately, ugh. I tinkered with my camera's settings but I didn't notice how shitty the product shots are until I started post-processing them.

I can't stand grainy, blurry pictures on my website. However, I don't have time to shoot them again because (1) the items have been used, (2) scattered around the house and (3) THERE'S A LOT OF THEM. So. Please bear with me while I finish off the last two batches of pictures. I hope you can squint when you look at them.

Feels good to vent!

Moving forward. Here's the latest local development from one of my fave eyeliner brands: Eye of Horus recently launched a bigger selection of products and more retail locations! You can now find EoH in a few Snoe Beauty branches aside from the online store of Glamourbox.

The new products include some eyeshadow palettes, a liquid eyeliner (which I will review separately), and new colors of their best-selling pencil eyeliner. I love it and have already done a full review, so now I'll just show you pictures and swatches of two awesome new shades!

Okay, you know I love colored eyeliner as a quick way to get some color onto my lids, but I know that you're not yet completely sold on the idea. One way to ease yourself into bright shades would be applying subdued, yet beautiful eyeliners that flash a certain way in the right light.

When I was very young, I wanted to be a rock star. I'd spend most of my time learning to play the guitar and writing songs. I would dream about going on stage and rocking my heart out to the adulation of millions, wearing slashed tights and distressed leather jackets. It all sounded so awesome in my head. But like all of my adolescent aspirations, it went up in a cloud of smoky black eyeshadow. With a few glitters in it for good measure. :P

Anyhoo, today I want to show you the latest collection from Korean brand Too Cool For School. Glam Rock is inspired by the rock star culture, with emphasis on dramatic eyes and blanked out lips. I have a few items from TCFS here and a quick review of each. :) Let me know what you think!

I'll start with a lip color - the Glam Rock Smoky Nudy Lip Color in Satin Beige. This is a creamy lipstick that needs to be layered at least twice to get the same opacity as the swatch below. I don't mind, since most lipsticks need to be layered anyway and it doesn't take much effort. However, if you have pigmented lips then this won't cover everything. It can look a tad streaky since it only offers medium coverage.

Staying power is average, at three hours. I would recommend wearing a lip balm first since the matte texture can be drying.

Occupying my mind right now, other than work, is Yolanda and Napoles. But there is a time and place for everything. I just don't feel like talking about heavy current events here because this blog is where I go to indulge the makeup lover in me. Perhaps it is the same for you. So let's keep it a happy fluffy place!

Soooo. If you watch YouTube makeup tutorials I'm sure you notice many gurus double-lining their eyes with a liquid liner than a pencil eyeliner in a similar color. I must admit that this has baffled me for years, I mean, why on earth would one do something like that, twice? I thought it was pointless.

As I discovered recently, however, it's not. Layering eyeliners with different formulas gives my lash line the darkest, most opaque effect I've ever seen!

The big beauty trend this year is bright and bold eyeliner. The eyes are mostly left naked except for that intensely colored line - thick, thin, geometric, it's all in style as long as the liner is in a jewel or matte neon tone! I really enjoyed this particular trend, as you can see in my past FOTDs. It's easy to do and works well with pretty much any outfit I wear.

One eyeliner that stood out to me recently is the Clinique Quickliner For Eyes Intense (P1,100). This, I believe, is another reformulated version of a Clinique staple. I haven't tried the old one so I can't compare; I can tell you though that this one is quite good, with such a buttery smooth texture, intense color payoff, and good staying power!

The Quickliner is meant to be smudged for that undone rockstar look (it comes with a soft smudger tip), but it's sooo creamy that it can be used as a cream eyeshadow by itself. I also love to use this as a base for my 5-minute smoky eyes technique, since it sets solid after a few minutes.

This eyeliner doesn't budge for about five hours, after which I notice minor smudging. It's acceptable, and easy enough to clean with tissue. 

Freelancing is fun, but there is a huge BUT. It requires me work, more hours, more frustration. Then, come payment time, it's extra drama for everyone involved in processing the money. I used to be timid when demanding what is owed to me, but I'm all done with that nonsense. I have no time to play nice when someone, say, haven't paid me for eleven months.

When will I ever learn.

But on to more positive things! One of the most-recommended eyeliners out there is the Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink (P1,000+). I've been hearing about this for years now, back when I had just started getting into makeup and was looking to invest in a gel eyeliner. I ended up with the MAC Fluidline (a product that's been my HG for a long time), but I'm glad to get the chance to try this Bobbi Brown one!

Black Ink is a matte, opaque black eyeliner that glides on smoothly without being overly wet. That's what some people actually don't like about the MAC Fluidline - it's so creamy that it ends up skidding all over the lids if not applied carefully. The BB liner has a slightly harder, waxier texture that allows for more control, no matter what brush you use.

Aaaaand I'm back. I've been a little distracted lately since I'm preparing for the launch of one of my clients this month - it's a cosmetics brand that many of us know and love. It's going to be awesome! Of course, lol. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the brand is still affordable, but better than ever.

Enough with the teasin'. You'll find out what it is soon enough! ;) This week, I'll be talking about some of the eyeliners that came my way, plus a technique I've been doing when wearing eyeliner lately. I'll start off with a new find: the Maybelline Hyper Sharp Liner (P399).

If you've been reading this blog long enough, you know that my HG eyeliner is the K-Palette Real Lasting Liner. It's simply the best when it comes to getting a precise line and staying put ALL freakin' day with zero smudging. But it's about P800, an amount that some people might find a bit expensive. It's actually cheaper by a hundred bucks now but yeah if you want to save a little but still get almost the same quality, then you must try the the Maybelline Hyper Sharp eyeliner!

This has the same bendy brush as K-Palette, which makes it a joy to paint over my lash line. I hate stiff eyeliner pens; hate is a strong word but there it is!

Kohl eyeliner makes our eyes more dramatic and intense, but the sad fact is that most of them simply are too creamy to stay in place. That's just the nature of the formula - the creamier, more emollient a product is, the less wear-time you get out of it. 

So who wants to wear eyeliner that looks great for only two hours? Not a lot of people, I imagine. But they're still pretty to look at, especially the Revlon Photoready Kajal Intense Eyeliner + Brightener (P525). 

The formula is very smooth and creamy, while the finish has a satiny opaqueness to it. Some colors are immediately solid, but I find that the lighter ones need to be layered on to get maximum color pay off. I can live with that.