OILY!

My OILY skin is making me so miserable!
Tried several products in the past that has not worked for me,
some even made my skin worse.

These past few weeks, I have been soooo into beauty blogs and vlogs!
I have found some useful tips from several bloggers/vloggers I have been following.

Let me tell you what I use for my super OILY skin at the moment. Some products seem to work wonders for my skin.
Please note though that I didn't get paid to write about the products I will list down below.

Facial wash & scrub:

I use Let's Face it Liquid soap which I bought at 250 pesos. Let's face it is a well known spa/beauty shop
that offers a complete line of skin care treatments, dermatology services and cosmetic surgery procedures.
They have over 68 branches here in the Philippines so it won't really be hard for you to find them.
I have been using this liquid soap [100 ml] for 2 months now. I use it twice daily.

What I particularly like about this liquid soap is that it is mild and gentle to my skin & at the same time,
I can feel that it cleans my skin really well. It is a thick clear gel that foams richly when used.
I can actually say that the acne flare ups I often have before were lessened when I started using this liquid soap.

I also use St.Yves Green tea facial scrub two times a week.I bought this for only 189 pesos at Watsons - SM Cubao
& I have only been using this for a week [two times this week to be exact] but I am already loving it.
I particularly love the soft scent this scrub has! So refreshing!
Plus this scrub has so many fine grains that you can actually feel it is doing a great job exfoliating
your skin. I do not want to be overly impressed yet as I need to observe how this will improve my skin in the
weeks to come.

Additional Skin Care:

Etude House Happy Tea time cleaning cream --- helps remove make up; I find this a little too thick when applied regardless
if you use a small amount. But this seems be OK and it does a fair job in removing the make up from my face. I
still wash my face with liquid soap afterwards. This is at 198 pesos [200 ml]

Human Nature Balancing Toner -- citrus/ 99 pesos [100 ml]

Packaging says 100% NO harmful chemicals & claims to keep oil under control. I always use this after washing my face.
I love the citrus-y smell and it also helps remove the extra make up that the cleansing cream and soap failed to wipe out.
Good thing about this toner is doesn't dry out my skin.However, it doesn't do much oil control either, at least for me. Nevertheless, I still see it improved my skin [far better than much more expensive toners I used in the past!] and I am religiously applying it to my skin [2x daily].

Make up

Funny as I only started wearing make up! I used to hate the heavy feeling make up brings to my skin whenever I use
some. But then lately, I find it ok to try and wear make up. It's mainly due to the vlogs I have been following
in youtube these past few weeks[some are listed below for your reference].

So few weeks into following make up gurus in youtube and blogs.. I found myself buying some make up hoping it will
make me look better! haha

I have to be very choosy when it comes to cosmetics because I am overly prone to break outs. I had to read blogs and reviews
from people who also have oily skin such as mine & I finally decided to try out the items below:

Quick FX Primer --- 89 pesos from Watsons

They say I need to use a primer to prep my skin for make up and to create a smooth base where my make up can adhere to.
With this primer, I would say YES to creating a smooth base for putting on make up. However, it doesn't really keep my make up intact the whole day as it claims. I was advised by a friend to use smashbox primer instead but I find it too expensive.
Still thinking about it.

Covergirl CLEAN for sensitive skin foundation

This one doesn't really work well for me. It is a liquid foundation that claims to treat your pimples too.
Light coverage. Tends to make my skin more oily. I will switch to a new one soon.
It works well for my mom though! she has an oily combination skin. This foundation also holds up for 3 hours when used..
by my mom! haha

Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder

I bought one just yesterday so really not sure if it will work for me. But I have read many beauty bloggers raving about this product saying this does a great job mattifying their skin.
It is a setting powder [loose] that is advised to be used after applying your foundation.
This is a bit expensive though, 499 pesos for 1.5oz. I bought mine from Purebeauty trinoma branch but this is also
available in most online shops. I hope this one will work for me.

Lipstick

I have 2 favorites -- Mary Kay's Sunset and L'oreal's coloure rich [shade 315/true red]. They are both highly pigmented but
L'oreal has a more powerful staying power.

I also use mascara at times, blusher, lip gloss on top of my lipstick, brow pencil and an eye liner.
I don't have that much make up brushes and I often use a beauty blender to apply make up.
Beauty blender is a make up sponge applicator which helps give you that flawless finish.
So much better than using your fingers which can often leave streaks which are often very visible.

Below are some of my favorite blogs

saytiocoartillero.blogspot.com
shensaddiction.com
colorismyweapon.blogspot.com

Youtube:

Itsjudytime
Itsjudyslife
Jaaackjack
Shebby Liquette

Diabetes?!

My husband has convinced me to have myself checked up last night as I have fever aside from clogged nose.
The doctor then asked me to have my urine and blood tested for bacteria.
At first, I was like -- really? just because of colds, I need to have take those tests?
I was actually thinking she is just asking me to do that to make the most out of my health card
BUT I was wrong and I ended up thanking the doctor for asking me to take those tests.

Why?

Because I found out I may have diabetes!

My urine has traces of protein and glucose [++++]

I was advised to take fbs [fasting blood sugar] test but I had to fast for 8 to 10 hours prior the test.
I was supposed to take it this morning but I had to drink my meds and had to drink water at 3am
so there is no way I can take the fbs test. They also have a cut off and you can take that test only up to 10am.
Well anyway, I need to take that test one of these days. Also need to work on my diet!

I CANNOT have diabetes :(

I am too young to have that but since it is a consequence I have to pay for eating too much...
gotta do something to make sure it won't get worse [regardless if I tested positive or not]

Battling with my love for food will really be a challenge.

I love cooking, I love eating, I love food... need I say more?

But this is something serious..
I really HAVE to step up and start working out aside from watching my diet.

It will all boil down to self discipline which I lack!

Good luck to me...

What's in my bag?

It's been years since my last blog and I have decided to create a new one for no specific reason :P
I've been thinking of what to blog about and finally decided to blog about what's in my bag!
yey!

People would always ask me what's in my bag as it is always uber heavy! haha
Probably because the girl scout in me would always tell me to bring as much stuff as I can whenever I go out.
It is like something might go wrong if I forget to bring some of my stuff.

Moving on, the collage above shows some of the things I have inside my bag daily..
lower right pic shows my yellow bag which was given to me by my mom.. {thanks mama!}
and inside my bag.. I got two smaller bags -- the blue one for my make up & the black one serves as a mini organizer for
all other stuff like my packets for primer, moisturizer etc.
Just above that pic, you can see my umbrella.. which i can't leave the house without! :D
On the left side is my perfume... I don't always bring this one though. Sometimes, I just bring a cologne with me instead of a perfume.
On the upper part of the collage, are my lotion, wallet and hand sanitizer.

The second collage are the pictures of things inside my blue bag {the make up bag I mentioned earlier}
Well, I don't really wear that much make up but lately, I have been watching make up gurus in youtube & I
am trying to learn. I wasn't fond of putting on make up before as I tend to have break outs. However, their videos and Vlogs seem so convincing that I actually wanna try it! {let me list out the youtube make up gurus I follow on another blog}
My biggest problem is that I have this oily combination skin and it is really hard for me to find a make up that won't really be so sticky when applied and something that will really last for hours. {I'll talk about my make up routine and what works for my oily skin on another blog --- hoping it will help those with oily skin like me}

In the collage above, starting from the upper left pic, you can see my Quick FX packets of primer [yellow], pimple eraser [orange] and tinted moisturizer [pink] -- these are very affordable and I like them as they are so handy!
Right next to that pic are my blushes -- I have 2 from art deco, I have these for a while since I was not really putting on make up before.. I bought them when I was in Doha.. I have #28 which is the light shade of pink, and I have a darker shade too which is #30... then I also have this orange blush on from face shop which I just bought here in the Philippines. I tried this orange blush because my mom told me I should try orange as it seems to fit my complexion.
Then I have Vitress for my hair, I have my BB cream from Faceshop, Maybelline's pure foundation mineral powder, lip stick,
my make up brushes -- I only got two, I have a mascara which I don't really use that much [just don't like that heavy feeling on my eyes] and my Kimidoll mirror..

Aside from those things in the two pictures above, I also always have my IDs, a prayer book, and my phone inside my bag.

Well, basically just everything I need to go through the day!