Hair Evolution Across 2013

So! I just realized I was really erm adventurous with my hair color this year.

(I'm sorry but this post will be image heavy!)

January

So I started the year looking as so. My hair was still shoulder length and a normal light brown color.

February

I began February still with the same hair color but grew considerably. I put my hair into curls using the no heat sock bun method (in the left photo) during my birthday. 

Further into the month, I visited my sister's friend's salon: Straight Up. I had a temporary color for like P350, and it was in Mahogany Brown, as shown in the right photo. The color was very subtle, and the red shows when I get into a well-lit room or when I'm outside.

March 

By March, my hair had grown longer and the dye was starting to die down, fading beautifully into a chocolatey brown, but still reddish especially when hit by sunlight!

April

End of April was my wildest color yet. I wanted to try out Auburn and well-- 

BOOM. Scarlett Johansson hair. I was evidently ginger for a month. The color faded by the next month, though! Which is actually good. I loved being ginger but my roots were too loud for my liking.

May

By the end of May, my hair had been really long. Nearly like-- 1 inch away from my waist and since my hair was cut in just 1 length, it made the length more obvious. I needed a cut though since my ends were dry and getting tangled no matter how much conditioning I did.

So I went to Bench Fix after gym and told the guy to layer it. So he grabs a comb and it tangles immediately. He frowns. Shrugs. Grabs his scissors and he CHOPS off a whooping 6 inches. *sob* Well. I did say to layer it. Annnnd well short. My sister gaped at me when I walked out and despaired over the length lost.

June & July

Nothing was new during the whole of June and the first half of July. My hair just kept growing and my color stayed chocolate brown (the ginger-ness faded to the chocolate brown)

July-August

Mid July and well into August, my hair was this beautiful Ombre. I went to Reyes Haircutters (after lusting after tons of ombre pics, I went.) and asked Kris to dye it. And he's really good. It took a long time and it was expensive. I got in the salon around 3:30 and I stayed there till 7, and good thing my parents were out getting my aunt and uncle from the airport so I was able to just stick around.

It cost me over P3k to get the 2 colors. The top was a dark mahogany and the bottom was the 2nd blonde shade they had (I honestly wanted it to be lighter). 

September- October

My hair kept growing over Sept and October and I just retouched my roots in September.

Novermber

In November, I retouched my roots and I had a Keratin Blowout, still in Reyes haircutters. Kris gaped at the state of my hair when I walked in and he breathed a sigh of relief after the P2000 treatment and the root retouch because my hair looked really pretty.

I loved the first 2 weeks of the Keratin treatment. My hair was silky and straight no matter what I had and I thought it was going to last long. Well. You'll see in the next pic it didn't.

December

Okay. I loved my (no heat sock-bunned) curls here but honestly the state of my hair is horrible. 

The pic doesn't show my dark ash brown roots (there's more than an inch of dark ash brown there now). I need to do my roots. I am contemplating whether to just dye my hair brown again but that'll murder my hair.

I use up twice as much conditioner now because my hair is really fucking long (legit waist length now, just not too obvious coz my hair's layered). I have no plans to cut it. The gigantic L'oreal conditioner bottle is more than 3/4 empty after 2 weeks of using. (it normally takes me 1 month to empty it out.)

But I honestly felt disappointed with the Keratin Blowout coz it's supposed to last 6 months. And it's expensive! So why is my hair so disheveled when I wake up? Why is it that I have more baby hair than usual? My hair is still straight at times but my hair doesn't look alive at all!

What the fuck happened to my hair? D: It doesn't look too bad from afar but I look in the mirror and I scowl at my hair. I usually have the part of my hair on the left but I put it in the right because of so much baby hair in my part in the left. I probably need to get my hair revived by my sister's friend (they're not even as famous and professional as Reyes Haircutters but they do better work).

My sister's Keratin Blowout lasted more than 6 months and it only cost her less than P1k! I feel like I've been cheated.

For 2014, I need to fix my roots color and my hair's current state. The tips are really dry after the coloring and the scary growth in length. If anyone reads this and has any suggestions on what I should do about my hair, message me!

Make-up adventures for Oct to Nov '13

I haven't been able to buy a lot of make-up related stuff the past months :)) But I couldn't help post especially about the mascara.

SMOKY EYESHADOWS by H&M

I got this palette from my cousin who went on a trip to HK and Australia. 

The palette is in Smoky Brown. The shades don't have any particular names. When applied, it's actually really hard to make the colors evident. I used the eyeshadow brush from the Naked palette and swiped 3 times on my arm. Honestly, the picture makes the colors more pigmented. Irl, it's really really light.

ELF Contouring Blush & Bronzer

I think this palette's in Warm. It cost P250 in SM department store.  I loved using the shades for my makeup now. 

When blended properly, the bronzer doesn't look awkward. One thing I noticed about the product though is that I get reeeeally oily when I put it on for a long time. The shades fade about 2-3 hours into wearing in normal Philippine weather. So aside from it not lasting, it made me have a breakout. I got tons of pimples especially at the sides of my face. I normally don't get pimples on cheeks but when I applied this I had pimples on BOTH sides. So um I don't really recommend this product.

Foundation brush from Landmark

I am actually not sure if it's called a foundation brush or a stippling brush but these brushes from Landmark are really cheap and really really good quality. This one's P150. 

Kabuki Brush

It's also from Landmark and it's P140. I like the quality of the stippling brush and the angled foundation brush compared to this one though. The bristles feel stiffer.

Maybelline Rocket Volum Express

This one normally cost P400 but I got it during the Watson's sale for P280!!!

Okay I'm excited about this because of the length ohmygod. The Maybelline falsies waterproof ones I got are nice yes, but are not lengthening. The Max Factor ones I love yes because the formula creates smoother looks than Maybelline. The Clump Free Max Factor one us still my favorite in terms of formula but in terms of defining and lengthening, this wins. 

Left side has 1 coat of mascara and the right is bare.

I tried from 2 different frontal cameras (my S2's and my iPhone's).

It's messier to apply this mascara compared to Max Factor but the lengthening effect of this one is just too awesome for me that I couldn't help but love the product. Maybe I'm overestimating the product for the moment but hey right now I'm loving it.

Colored Contacts 2

So my previous post had Flex Wear: Colors in Amethyst. I recently paid a visit to EO again. (Yes, I admit I seem to be obsessed with these things these days.)

So tada~

So I wore them yesterday when my friends came over.

Grade:

My pair is at -5.75 at the left, -5.25 at the right (amped up from my normal glasses grade) as always

Brand, Color, Size

The lens are Flex Wear Radiance II: Sea Blue. The pair's tricolored: black in the outer, sea blue, then light brown in the center. The size is just 14mm too.

Price:

It cost P720, good for 6 months, unlike the previous ones Flex Wear: Colors in Amethyst which are only good for 3 months.  

Quality:

Unlike the FW: Colors, I think the lens are a bit thicker and they don't fold up as much, and aren't as soft. They also dry up fast after 2-3 hours of wearing, I already itch to put eyedrops.

So as usual I took photos using 2 different cameras.

Photobooth:

Before:

After:

Phone Camera: Back

Before:

After:

It's more visible now, compared to the colors. if you visit EO's website, the color swatches they have seem to be accurate. The Colors line is more natural looking. The Radiance II one has brighter colors. 

If only the other doll contact lenses had grades I would've bought them. They're gorgeous bright colors huhuhu.

Colored Contacts

Okay so my most recent obsession is colored contacts. 

Why? I've been sick of putting on makeup and it's barely noticeable because of my glasses. Okay, I love my glasses because everything seems so HD and it's durable and it's still alive no matter how many times I drop it and hit my face somewhere. (It's Tag Heuer and the frames cost 27k and the pair of custom lens are 5k so they HAVE to be durable.) But um it fogs up and expensive as fuck and I need to change the lens and frame every now and then so it's a waste of money.

So, because of the very recent hardcore shopping with sis and her need of buying new contacts coz her glasses broke, I ended up buying my own pair. 

We dropped by Seen (3F SM The Block. I think it's a variation of Executive Optical). They have variations of contacts from 3months colored to 6 months and prices range from 350 to a little over 800 I think. They even carry those Doll-like lenses but the grades are limited I think? My eye grade is higher than normal so..

Anyway what I like about this is their contacts station has all the stuff they carry and you can try the colors out. I didn't want to try coz I had makeup on and I don't want to try on the ones with no grade D:

Anyway the people there were kind enough to check my glass grade and convert it to contacts grade. The doctor told me that my grade won't be exact coz I was only getting the cosmetic lens, not the toric ones where you can add the astigmatism (but that will cost more and I'll have to ask them to make it in my grade and yeah hassle and ouch wallet).

So! Tada~ 

Grade:

My pair is at -5.75 at the left, -5.25 at the right (amped up from my normal glasses grade) 

Brand, Color, Size

The lens are Flex Wear Colors: Amethyst. The pair's tricolored: black in the outer, amethyst, then light brown in the center. The size is just 14mm @-) Initially I thought it was 14.5 but then it had no effect in making my eyes bigger.

Price:

It cost P350. but with the 145ml lens solution, it's P540. 

Quality:

After 3 days of wearing them, I noticed they tend to fold up, unlike the toric contacts I got before from Tamesis Clinic. They're really soft compared to my old ones. 

Also, I noticed these feel better than my old ones. the old ones feel like orbs in your eyes and I just wanna cry all the time because they irritate the eyes. These new ones feel better.

And finally, they dry up fast. After 2-3 hours of wearing, i feel they're really dry despite blinking a lot. I carry the solution around and use it as eye drops.

So! How does it look when worn? 

Thing I noticed with the pair is when put on, they blend with the eye color, unlike some others that cost more but the colors pop. Or perhaps my eyes are just too brown so the colors don't show. When I wear them, I don't see too much of a difference. 

Below are photos taken by two different cameras, same lighting.

Macbook Air Photobooth camera:

Before:

 After:

Samsung S2 back camera:

(I'M SORRY I LOOK HORRIBLE :)) This is the best that I can do. Prepare for slowly zooming in on my eyes. And my shittons of freckles.)

Before:

  After:

It's barely visible from afar, and even close up. Sucks really. 

Over-all it's okay. Wearable, somewhat comfy, and it's very cheap. But I'd like to get contacts that are more visible. I plan on looking for Freshlook contacts soon or something else idk. 

Makeup Adventures May to September '13

Wow okay so I'm actually running away from responsibility right now :)) I have 3 important tests and a paper to make for next week but I really couldn't be arsed to study.

So! I've been stressed for quite some time due to Quarter Life Crisis (as I have started to affectionally call. It's generally wondering if I'm choosing the right path for life after college, and if Economics is what I really want) and well school stuff in general. Since fashion is my form of relaxation, I've been letting all my stress out through makeup and dressing up during the weekends. 

My school outfits are a catastrophe though. I keep on wanting to wear cotton-y and comfy stuff and that eliminates half of my closet (since this half is made of chiffon and typical sheer F21 stuff) and 1/4 is long-sleeves and too warm to wear. I look horrible these days :)) I hope that changes soon and I get the opportunity to find clothes despite the academics load.

So anyway, moving on! Since I cope by using makeup, I've been adding more stuff to my makeup collection.

RCMA No-Color Powder

I've only been able to use this a handful of times and it does set the makeup nicely! My cameras have horrible quality and cannot capture the effect. I bought this for P700 at Pop Culture, 2nd Fr Trinoma. (And last I dropped by Pop Culture also has the Banana powder thing and I'm getting curious :)).)

I have acquired a lot of lipsticks over the past few months. Let us start from right to left (top to bottom on the swatch)

Maybelline Color Sensational 255 Touch of Toffee

I like the color of this lipgloss. It's very nude and it smells very fruity. Of course, staying power isn't too long, especially when you eat and drink. This was given to me by one of my aunts.

Nyx Butter Gloss 12 Cherry Pie

I got this from Pop Culture again for P280. This smells really good = u = I love the dark red color. I haven't used it for a whole day yet so I cannot say if it has a good staying power but I feel it doesn't since it easily wipes with my makeup wipes.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss 110

I got this in Pop Culture also for P300. Love the packaging so much (especially the crown on the top). I love love LOVE the color it's a really bright pink-red. It has a matte finish that doesn't look too awkward when worn (my Revlon matte lipstick looks awkward when worn and is very drying). This Rimmel one is a bit drying compared to my other lipsticks. It smells a bit lipstick-y.

Color Riche 377 Perfect Red

This one's a bit pricier compared to what I'm used too. P625for a lipstick. It's a bright firetruck red and it takes two swipes to get a really opaque color. It's a bit drying and smells of typical lipstick scent. I wore this one day when we were shopping, and I shopped for 4 hours, and it didn't wear off before eating. After eating though it looked awkward since half of it was normal lip color :))

Maybelline Color Sensational 045 Pink Me Up

I got it for P400 in Landmark. It's more like the Revlon Colorburst lipstick! It's not drying to my lips and it lasts around 3-4 hours without eating. It's a lovely dark pink color, good for everyday looks. Also it doesn't smell too much like typical lipsticks and smells good in comparison to the Rimmel and L'oreal one.

Etude House Oh~ m'Eye Line

So! I forgot how much this costs but I'm pretty sure it's in Etude House's website. I love this eyeliner and it's my substitute for the Drawing Show liner. It lasts just as long (around 5-6 hours even with sweating!). What I noticed though it takes long to dry after putting on but oh well!

Max Factor Clump Defy by False Lash Effect: Black

I'm actually not sure if I've already done a review on this one.

So! I was running out of my natural look MF mascara when I replaced it with the Maybelline mascara, but I wasn't too satisfied with the performance so I replaced it with this and I love it! P745, yes VERY pricey for a mascara, as always, but I love it. It doesn't clump, no matter the layers I put on. It lasts long, as usual! (This is why I keep buying Max Factor mascaras. Expensive but they perform well, in my opinion. And they don't smell bad!)

Watsons Deep Cleansing Facial Wipes

I really do not remember how much this costs but I love using them so much! I used to use another brand from Watsons that I got for 99 each but it performed poorly. These ones work really great though. Usually it takes me a long time to get the makeup off my face but these work like a charm.