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(Got that line from Doubt manga.)

Meep. So my sister already divulged my recent shenanigans in her LJ so I’ll just come out and confess: YES. I spent 36K on beauty products (majority of them I have no idea how to use) in two weeks.  Blame it on my determination to cure my skin allergy.  Masakit sha noh! Well, I’m cured, thanks to Clarins facial treatment and their super effective Repair Serum. Now all I have to get rid of are the stress-induced pimples.  Origins Spot Remover is doing a pretty good job at it.

In any case, I’ve contacted my cousin Mother Plucker and Kikay Queen Raissa over YM and even came over yesterday so that I could sort out the stuff I bought.  She taught me how to use the Metallic Yellow Shu Uemura eyeshadow. Again, I was thinking of giving this to my sister Alex because I bought it on impulse and then decided I didn’t know what to do with it.  Anyhoo, my discussion with my cousin narrowed everything down to: cleanse, tone, moisturize.

I didn’t even know that you needed to tone. I just knew that I should’ve moisturized at an earlier age (I began at 27, which is pretty late).  I also asked Raissa what else I needed because I don’t want to put too much gook on my face.  I hate routines and knowing that, I’d probably forget to use cream X or cream Y when I go about the morning ritual. 

Anyhoo, with SDA building being so far from my place, that means I spend 20 minutes walking underneath the sweltering heat. Sun damage is your skin’s number one enemy.  I’m trying to look for a product that has everything in one application so that I don’t have to do too many things in the morning and put too many stuff on my face.  In the meantime, here’s the ritual for those who want to start taking care of their skin.  There are stuff like these for men, too. Just visit the 5th floor of Rustan’s.

Evening
Cleanse: Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil
Tone: Origins Light Years Ahead Toner
Moisturize: Origins A Perfect World Anti-oxidant Moisturizer with White Tea and Origins Eye Doctor

Morning
Cleanse: Likas Papaya (Hahahahaha! My sister swears that this beats out her pimples!)
Tone: Origins Light Years Ahead Toner
Sun Block: VMV Armada Face and Body Shield with SPF60

Protectives
Foundation: Clarins Extra-Firming Foundation with SPF8.
It acts as my semi-moisturizer. It’s already hot in the morning so you don’t really need to moisturize. Your skin will hydrate all by itself, provided you also drink lots of water (which I don’t). The key is not to put too much stuff on your skin during the day because the hot weather will open up your pores and they might end up clogged. Got this tip from Rowena and my mom.

Eyeshadow: Shu Uemura NEW Pressed Eyeshadows.
I normally use two earth colors and cover that up with Shu foundation so I don’t look heavily made up. Got this tip from Barbi Chan’s article.

Concealer: Clarins Instant Light Perfecting Touch.
It has a built-in brush that I find too small, but it helps in giving me just the right amount.  I’m not the type to actually use a concealer, but I found that this brightens up my face even on an especially gloomy day.

Eyeliner: Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in Metallic Black.
The old Shu drawing pencil I had was in brownish black.  I never liked using black because it came out too strong.  I just needed eyebrows.
But I tried this one just out of curiosity and I find myself hooked.  It’s not very strong, and like the rest of Shu’s drawing pencil, it glides like a dream.

Lashes: Shu Uemura Precise Volume Waterproof Mascara and Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler.
I already have long and curly, but thin, lashes to begin with. But putting mascara made a difference because I felt like my lashes just fell over my eyes. Very distracting. So I suppose the curler was there to keep the hair out of my eyes for when they become heavy with mascara coat.  I cried the few times I tried curling my lashes, though. XD Rowena says that I should shift to water resistant mascara instead of waterproof because my lashes may just fall off while I’m trying to remove waterproof mascara.

Cheek Color: Shu Uemura Color Mousse in Air Bronze (Limited Edition).
I love the fact that it doesn’t look so unnaturally pink.  I hate that.  I don’t like looking like I had my cheeks pinched till they’re swollen.  I have naturally rosy cheeks, but the natural rosy colors are not in the right location (translation: not contour-friendly) so I re-adjust the coloring with this.

Lips: I don’t wear lipstick. I just use balms or glosses.  Right now I’m using Nivea’s lip gloss, but that’s going to change once Kiehl’s opens in Greenbelt 5 in October.  I need more SPF to protect my lips from the sun.

Whew!  And all these began with my paranoia over skin cancer and sun overdose.  The important thing is that I chose products that are very very light and not makeup-ey. In fact, you’d hardly notice these protectives are all over my skin.  Heck, it was funny when Mike Mariano, a photographer colleague who’s very keen on details, asked me if I ever wore make-up.  Nge!!!

aggieness wrote on Jun 10, ’07 *mangha* O_o;;;

skysenshi wrote on Jun 10, ’07 aggieness said *mangha* O_o;;; bakit naman? XD hahahaha! oh, btw, raissa told me she wants to try out prestige brushes kasi the one she’s using is really good. i mentioned you were into prestige.

aggieness wrote on Jun 10, ’07 hehe ok I’m lost now… when you say prestige, that’s a brand now? 🙂 Kasi apparently, there is a prestige category of cosmetics, and that’s what I have…

skysenshi wrote on Jun 10, ’07 aggieness said hehe ok I’m lost now… when you say prestige, that’s a brand now? 🙂 Kasi apparently, there is a prestige category of cosmetics, and that’s what I have… di ba prestige yung brand? XD kasi apparently they have cosmetics and brushes