Highlighter Collection (Top highlighter picks)

     Hey friends! I'm back to share with you my mini highlighter collection! Highlighters are a craze in the makeup world and we all know why. At one point, we hoard highlighters, right? They give radiance, glow, and life. They complete any makeup look. They are like the frosting to your cupcake. The market offers a whole lot of highlighters from drugstore to high end and it is really up to you which one you prefer.

Highlighter heaven!

Aren't they pretty?

     These are my individual highlighters, I did not include those who belong to a palette. Although my collection is still growing, I'm happy to say that they are all amazeballs. Let's keep in mind the "Quality over quantity" principle in all aspects, makeup or not!

    

Your everyday bet!

    

  1. Essence Pure Nude Highlighter in 10 Be My Highlight. 

Yes, this drugstore baby beats the pricier ones! This is the highlight that I reach for everyday. It gives a subtle glow that isn't shimmery or glittery. It blends flawlessly on the skin and is so easy to apply using a fan brush.  This is made in Poland and you get 0.22 oz/ 6.5g. 

Cult's favorite!

2. The Balm's Mary-Lou Manizer. 

This is a cult's favorite and mine as well. This is the first highlighter that I've splurged on. I love the light champagne shade that suits my fair skintone. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. Like Essence Pure Nude, this is easy to apply and can easily be picked up by the fan brush. It translates very well to the highest points of your face giving you a beautiful glow. It is made in the USA and has 0.3 oz/ 8.5 g.

Such beauty!

3. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Champagne Splits in Pamplemousse and Prosecco Pop. 

Becca's highlighters and blushes are the bomb! They are crazy pigmented and would give you that highlight visible to the moon! I especially love the shade Pamplemousse as blush (coral - pink) since it instantly brightens my face. It also lasts long! I love Prosecco pop as well, it is a pale gold highlight. It contains 0.28 oz/ 7.95 g.

4. Wet n Wild Fergie Highlighter in Hollywood Boulevard/ Boozy Brunch. 

Wet n Wild changed this highlighter's name into Boozy Brunch but the product is exactly the same as Hollywood Boulevard (an earlier release). This is said to be a dupe for Becca's Champagne Pop. I cannot really confirm since I don't have Champagne Pop, but this one is a beautiful gold shade with tiny hint of pink! It's so pretty! The formula is amazing as well! It is buttery soft and pigmented! This one is the biggest of all my highlighters since it contains 0.4 oz / 11.3 g! Can you believe it? This will last a lifetime!

5. ELF Baked Blush in Pinktastic. 

This drugstore product is so popular! I consider it already a cult's favorite. If you are on a budget pick something from WnW or ELF, they would surely do the highlighting job. This one is a beautiful champagne highlight with hint of pink. Not as fine as the others, but still does the job! I tried a hack I saw from Youtube comments, that you should scrape the first layer of this product to get the best pigmentation. I did it, and it did made a difference! The first layer was kind of hard and the shimmer didn't translate very well, but when scraped it did looked amazing! This has 0.18 oz/ 5.2 g.

Over all, I am extremely pleased with my modest highlighter collection. 

They deliver what they are supposed to do and give me the glow that I want. 

Although most are on the budget side, they are of great quality and at par with high end ones.

Thank you so much for reading!

See you on my next one!

Love lots,

Johara

Best of Beauty 2016 (Eyes) PH

     Happy holidays beautiful people! We are now on the last installment of my Best in Beauty 2016. For this category, we will focus more on eye products( including brows and lashes) that made it to my list this year. Again, most are drugstore products from the Philippines while the rest are international brands. Shall we start?

10. The Faceshop Eyebrow Pencils. Whether retractable or not, this Korean brand surely knows how to make great eyebrow products! They are not overly creamy nor waxy, thus you can easily control the application. The product looks natural when applied and it is long-lasting. I really like the retractable one since you don't have to sharpen it, plus there is a spoolie on the other end! These are perfect and convenient for travelling. 

Left: retractable eyebrow pencil, Right: regular eyebrow pencil

9. Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palettes. If you are just starting with makeup and want to try an eyeshadow palette, get the ones from Sleek. They have a nice selection of shades, affordable, and pigmented. They are great for creating different eye looks from day to night!

Oh so special palette

8. Nichido's Tinted Brow Gel. This brow gel is unlike the others I've tried before. It does set the eyebrows in place, but it doesn't make your brows stiff or hard. I hate when brow gels would do that. It makes the eyebrows look weird. With this brow gel, it gives a natural looking brows, and yes, it's tinted so you can pick a shade that would best suit your hair color.

Nichido brow gel with some of my favorites

7. Pink Sugar's Eye Candy Eyeshadow Palette in EC-02. Another favorite eyeshadow palette from the drugstore is from Pink Sugar. This is so buttery, pigmented, and the shades are perfect for everyday. This palette even reminds me of Viseart's Minx palette.

Pink Sugar EC-02 eyeshadow palette

6. Maybelline's Fashion Brow. This is my favorite eyebrow palette as of the moment. There is a tinted wax that helps in shaping or outlining the brows. The free angled brush actually works! It keeps the brow hairs in place. There are two brow powders to set the wax, the lighter shade is also perfect for nose contour. The powders can also be used as eyeshadow if you want. :)

Eyebrows are life!

5. Makeup Revolution's Flawless Matte Eyeshadow palette. If you haven't heard the news yet, Makeup Revolution makes great yet affordable makeup. They have a wide variety of blush palettes, eyeshadow palettes, and whatnot. Their eyeshadow palettes are amazing. This one in Flawless Matte is what you need if you love matte eyeshadows. They are silky and easy to blend, and pigmented too. They are perfect transition shades, or to mix with your shimmery palettes.

All matte goodness from MUR Flawless Matte palette!

4. Fashion 21's Liquid Eyeliner. This eyeliner is more clingy than your boyfriend. This stay puts the whole day, until you decide that you want to remove it. It is super duper black and easy to apply. It has a thin brush applicator for precise lining of your lash line. This is water-resistant, smudge-proof, and budge-proof. This can only be removed by a micellar water or an oil-based remover.

Trusty liquid liner

3. Maybelline's Lash Sensational mascara. Personally, Maybelline mascaras are the best from the drugstore! They are affordable, yet would give you beautiful lashes. I am not comfortable with false lashes, so I would opt for mascaras. Lash Sensational is my everyday mascara. It lengthens, volumizes, and holds the curl of  my lashes. Unlike other mascaras that weigh down the lashes, this one is light weight.

Back-ups of my Lash Sensational

2. Zoeva's Eyeshadow palettes. Zoeva is one of those brands that although affordable would give you great quality products. Their eyeshadow palettes are swoon-worthy. My favorite is definitely Naturally Yours since I can use all shades for everyday. There is no single shade that I cannot pull off! The shade selections are perfect for school or work and the quality is AMAZING! You don't have to exert effort in blending since they blend like a dream!

1. Juvia's Place Nubian palette. My favorite purchase this year! Juvia's Place just startled us with their Egyptian-inspired palettes. And who can ignore them when Nikkie Tutorials raved about them? They are buttery soft, pigmented, and this Nubian palette is any eyeshadow junkies' dream. The Nubian palette is compact, thus it is travel-friendly. All shades are wearable and perfect for everyday!

Close up, if you aren't convinced yet!

Definitely No.1!

Review: Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder

     Ever since "baking" became a craze in the makeup world loose face powder received a whole lot of attention. Thus, the search for the best loose powder began. I emptied my first jar of Nichido Final Powder in Ivory Glow and I was curious to try Coty Airspun Loose Powder. Coty was raved by a lot of Youtubers so I decided to give it a try and see what the hype is all about.

     I bought mine from an online store since this product is not available in the Philippines. I got it for P480 from @girllabph on IG. Other sellers would sell this for P500-550.

Shade: Translucent Extra Coverage

It claims that, "featuring an exclusive Microspun formula where loose powder particles are spun and swirled until they reach a cloudlike softness. This ultra smooth powder hides tiny lines, wrinkles, and blemishes, and gives a new softness to your skin. Use to set make-up or as foundation. Long lasting. Dermatologically tested". It is made in China.

First Impression: IT IS HUGE! It has 2.3 oz or 65 g! Although this is pricier than other local loose powder (Nichido/Innisfree), this contains way more product.

size comparison with other loose powder

The powder is ultra fine and yes, it has a strong scent. Personally, I love the scent (it's not too grandma-like, as what they would say; it reminds me of Enchanteur perfumed talc), it fades after a couple of minutes. The powder sets the foundation beautifully especially the undereye area. 

It doesn't crease or cake up. It is indeed LONG-LASTING.💪This will stay put until the end of the day and will keep you looking fresh all day long.

Since I have Combination-Oily skin, my nose area(only) oils up after 5 hours, I just blotted it and it's all good. I like that this keeps my blush, contour, and highlight (it fades a bit) intact.

The powder has 8 variants: Suntan, Fragrance-free, Rosey Beige, Naturally Neutral, Translucent, Honey Beige, Muted Beige, and Translucent Extra Coverage.

My shade is Translucent Extra Coverage and I love how this doesn't affect my foundation, yet would give me a good matte coverage. This is perfect for people with oily and combination-oily skin.

Over all, I am impressed with this powder. It executes very well what it claims to do. I like that you get a lot of product for a fair price. This is indeed a must-have for baking!

Have you tried this powder? What are your thoughts? Share down below!

Thank you so much for reading!

See you on my next post!

Love lots,

Johara