I fell in love with Beauty Bar in college. There was a big shiny branch in Robinson's Ermita, right in front of my university. I swear I would spend hours every week just looking at their stuff! Yeah it was a little embarrassing, seeing as I rarely bought anything, but I couldn't stay away. It was my special place at a time when I was just discovering the colorful world of beauty.

When I talk about myself from all those years ago (well, barely three years ago) it's like I'm talking about an entirely different person. Today these opportunities are open to me and sometimes, it's hard to believe that's it's all because I blogged. I feel giddy that one of my favorite stores invited me to visit their new branch. I feel good that if I want anything from the store, I can buy it without batting an eyelash.

I'm not bragging ha, I'm just looking back with a twinge of pride that I've come this far. :) Anyway! You can now find Beauty Bar in Bonifacio High Street, on top of Muji. The place is breathtaking - it's well-lit, spacious, and luxurious-looking. There's even a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in one corner, which spills out to an al fresco area that looks over to Serendra. Do I sniff a new hangout place?

The best kind of eyeshadow palette is one where you can choose all the colors yourself. Agree/ agree? I've been collecting MAC eyeshadows in the 15-pan palette, but I haven't completed it yet considering it costs roughly P16,000 all things considered. I also have a Shu Uemura customizeable palette (one of my faves!) but it costs around P4,000 for a four-color case. Not too bad if you don't mind investing, but if you're a student on a budget, that can be unrealistic.

So when I was a student, guess what I got for myself? Artdeco eyeshadows! I think I had six of them back then. Since I was too cheap to buy the magnetic palette, I kept them in a small tin case that used to house chocolates. What can I say - when you're saving, you have to improvise!

That's not to say that Artdeco eyeshadows are cheap ha. They're still pricey at P350 each, with the palette selling for P450 (four slots, if I remember correctly).

To be honest, I don't actually spend a lot of money on makeup. I've been running this blog for four years, and in that time a lot of brands have come to support it by sending free stuff my way. I'm very thankful because this allows me to write regularly and of course discover products that I will keep on using waaay after I finish my first tube or jar.

That's why it's a big deal (for me) whenever I buy any beauty-related product. I may not need it per se - not at this point in my collection - but it must be so good that I just gottahaveit. My best seal of approval comes with personal purchases. If I bought it, then it must be worth the money.

One of my recent beauty purchases is the Studio Makeup Pro Shadow Shading Brush (P745 from Beauty Bar). I first saw it in an event and promptly fell in love. It looks like a MAC brush I've been seeing around but it's much more affordable, so I just went ahead and got it!

I have many other similar brushes but I like it because it looks professional with its the sleek black handle and sturdy-looking silver ferrule.

I can't think about ArtDeco makeup without being nostalgic. I first discovered it when I was a poor college student somewhere in Padre Faura. I was just starting my blog then and didn't have that much money to build my makeup collection. I didn't want to buy the usual drugstore fodder because I wanted to invest in the good stuff, but I couldn't afford the high end brands either. 

ArtDeco, a cosmetics brand from Germany, was my best solution. The products felt consistently high-end, but the price was quite affordable. Most of the items were less than P600; the face makeup topped at around P1,200. I remember that I bought the foundation, eyeshadows, concealer, blush, and lip gloss before! They were worth all the saving I had to do. :P

Makeup wonderland

So, I hope you understand why I'm super psyched that ArtDeco is back in the Philippines. I was bummed when they left two years ago, but now the brand is back with the complete line at the same affordable prices. I was actually expecting that ArtDeco would be more expensive since Beauty Bar (of SSI) brought them in but that's not the case.

Here's a mini-tour of the ArtDeco stand in Beauty Bar, Greenbelt 5!

The eyeshadows are to die for! The're only P350 each too.

Why do you need to "set" makeup? If you like using cream/ liquid foundation or concealers, it pays to make sure that they won't slide off when you sweat or oil up. Think of wet makeup as if it were, er, pizza dough. It's malleable and easy to form in a shape you desire. Once you're done working on it though, you need to dust it with liberal amounts of flour to keep it in that shape and prevent it from sticking everywhere.

Likewise, to protect the makeup's integrity, you need to set it with a final layer of powder that will absorb our bodily excretions as they come. Gross but it happens, so be prepared!

Currently, I love using the Smashbox Photo Set Pressed Powder (P1,550). It's a winner in keeping oil at bay, plus it never looks makeup-y. It has an invisible finish that smoothens and evens out skin. As it promises in the press materials, it blurs imperfections too!

What I love about the product

• Keeps me oil-free for a good four to five hours even in humid weather, even if I'm using it on top of liquid foundation.
• Has a light coverage that minimizes imperfections such as pores, uneven patches of skin, wrinkles and light blemishes. It can be used alone, on top of concealer, or as a finishing powder.

The last time I've used Smashbox was waaay back in 2009. Hoping to remedy that with some of the new products from the brand! Here's a quick peek plus a bit of info about these beauties.

Smashbox Studio Skin 15-Hour Wear Hydrating Foundation (P2,100) - Blurs imperfections using light diffusing spheres and delivers natural-looking, buildable medium-to-full coverage while keeping skin hydrated and shine-free all day.

Smashbox Photo Finish Luminizing Foundation Primer (P2,050) - This formula delivers the perfect amount of luminosity to the skin while also extending the wear of foundation and filling in lines and pores.

Exciting news! Beauty Bar, the Philippines' closest thing to Sephora, is now selling online. Brands like Burt's Bees, Smashbox, Styli-Style, Youngblood, Prestige, etc. can now be purchased directly from Beauty Bar's online store. Neat huh? 

I like that the prices are prominently displayed, with clear pictures of the product one can zoom in. I also appreciate the feature on top ten best sellers in front; very useful for those who come just to browse. Lastly, I like that the online store pretty much has everything a walk-in Beauty Bar store has. The selection is pretty comprehensive!

Of course, the shipping is door-to-door, so this saves us busy gals from having to go out of our way to visit Beauty Bar. This is also good news for those who live in the provinces.

Now on to the cons.