[Review] theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer AKA "The Lumanizer"

Hi guys!

I think it's about time for me to introduce you to my current favorite highlighter (I wanted to say 'ever' but I'm not ready to settle just yet :P). So yeah, I didn't come up with many FOTD entries lately so you probably never noticed this highlighter in my blog. But I really am in love with theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer. Umm.. before you say anything about the name, let me just say that I've never been a fan of theBalm punny names myself, but it comes in a package. So I'll just take it as it is.

theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer is a compact highlighter. I'm not good at describing color but I'll take it as champagne color with warm undertone. The texture, OH THE TEXTURE!! Seriously it's finely milled, so soft and when I touch it, it feels moist on my fingers. The application is super easy with no crumbly mess. A little bit goes a really long way and with the amount of the product, I don't even know when will I ever finished this. Not that I ever finished up a makeup product before, but just bear with me.

The result is nothing but satisfactory. It blends very well on my skin and really compliments my skintone. Nothing frosty, as it subtly  reflects on my complexion the way sunlight reflects on water (the fact that I just described it like that is a sign that I've been reading too many Cassandra Clare's), if you know what I mean. One thing I have to point out about this highlighter that it is very pigmented. You might not notice it unless you're under certain lighting. But the best advice I could give you would be, "Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there." So, stop piling up! Otherwise you'd leave the house looking like Photoshop filter gone wrong. Take time to check on your complexion under appropriate lighting. Or if you're too lazy, just don't apply the highlighter more than two layers.

Below is my FOTD wearing  Mary-Lou Manizer under bright sunlight. As I said, the highlight is very noticeable. I personally love the result. I've been using my Real Techniques Contour Brush fro their Core Collection and it does the job very well.

theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer retails for $24.

[Review] theBalm Meet Matt(e)

 

Hi everyone!

I’m sorry for being MIA for so long. Let me fill you in with some updates. I have finally reached the end of my co-ass (or internship, you might say). Yay! There will still be another test on May, held by government. And if I passed the test, I will officially be a doctor. But at least, the hardest part is now over.

Anyhoo, have you Meet Matt(e)?

Give it up to theBalm for their weird (or funny?) product names with pun intended. The palette, as you can see, has picture of a guy in front of it. I assume he is Matt. It’s kinda funny that when I tried to take pictures of the product, the camera kept focusing on that guy in the cover. The packaging is a sleek, compact carton board with magnetic shut that reminds me a lot of some stila palettes. Inside there are nine eyeshadow and a dual ended tiny eyeshadow brush. The name of the individual eyeshadows is another pun. There are nine different Matts in various races, like Matt Chung, Matt Batali or Matt McDonald. Yeah, I think it’s kinda ridiculous if I posted an FOTD entry and listed Matt Smith, Matt Gallagher and Matt Ramirez as products used. Oh well.. Not that I’m against it, it just feels kinda weird, that’s all.

 However, I sing a totally different tune when it comes to the quality of these eyeshadows. I wasn’t so surprised with the intense pigmentation as theBalm eyeshadows are famous for that. The colors show up so easily but you can adjust it if you want less pigmentation, say when you apply colors on the crease. Awesome! It’s the smooth consistency that amazed me. I really didn’t expect it from a matte eyeshadow. I always a little bit permissive when it comes to matte eyeshadow. For all I know, matte eyeshadow tends to apply a little bit chalky and powdery but I found none of those problems with this palette. Make sure you tap the excess products before applying the eyeshadow, and you’re safe from eyeshadow fall out on application. Double awesomeness!

The color selection is great as well. I love how most of these eyeshadows have neutral undertone so it works for everyone. It even has two highlight colors, Matt Smith as warm beige-based highlight and Matt Chung as pink based highlight. Matt Gallagher and Matt Patel are my two most favorite crease colors. While the other colors are great to darkened the outer corner of the eye.

Of course, the dream when buying a makeup palette would be to have one palette that covers all the colors you need from base, crease, highlight to definition. But as you can see all colors in this palette are mostly dark colors. Now except for the browns, the colors in the palette don’t really coordinate with each other. Matt Ramirez, Matt McDonald and Matt Batali are great for definition color, especially when you go smoky. Matt Patel, Matt Gallagher, Matt Horowitz and Matt Schilling are great for crease. I rarely apply medium to dark eyeshadow on my lid, but if you like, Matt Schilling and Mat Horowitz could be your options. But in my opinion, with nine eyeshadows available, there is not enough color gradation to play with. Now this is not a problem with me because the reason I bought this palette at the first place is to get many matte colors in one palette at once. I already have enough eyeshadows in various colors and finishing, other than matte. And I hope this palette will complete my eyeshadow collection. Still, I don’t think this is the kind of palette that can be used alone. If you are still building your makeup collection, I’d suggest to postpone purchasing this palette and collect other palettes that have more colors combination and different finishing first. But if you have enough shimmery/glittery/satiny eyeshadows in your collection, then this palette would be a great addition.

  

theBalm Meet Matt(e) retails for $34.50 and is available at theBalm website. I purchased mine via my online seller while theBalm was having Friends and Family Sale.

How I Highlight My Face

Hi guys!

This post is going to be about highlighting. At least, this is how I do highlighting. Most of the times I do highlight and contour, even though I don't do harsh contour. Just a little bit to cut my chubby cheeks and to shape my nose, since nose could look a bit flat in picture. However when I don't have enough time, I'd pick highlighting over contouring. It's always easier to accentuate rather than hiding you features.

How I do highlighting is based on video tutorial by Wayne Goss. His technique is more advance and he also include contouring in his tutorial. Click here if you want to watch his. The 'triangle' technique under the eyes is not new though, Kandee Johnson also has a video about it before Wayne posted it. Of course like so many makeup techniques, I learned it and then shaped in a way that feels comfortable for me.

What I use is my MUFE Lift Concealer and Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush (or any paddle foundation brush will do). Sometimes I want extra shimmer so I add my theBalm Mary Lou-Manizer highlighter.

1. I always do highlighting after my foundation. Now, the general rule of thumb is “Cream to cream (or liquid); Powder to powder.” The bottom line is, you want to apply all of your powder products after you apply your liquid or cream products.

2. The area I work on first is my undereye, as it is the widest area. Using my foundation brush, I start by creating the frame of the triangle and then fill it. As you can see in the picture, I draw the line starting from the inner part of my eyes all the way on the side of my nose. Another line goes from my inner corner of the eyes all the way to the temple. And then draw another line to connect those two lines.

3. I also add the concealer on other areas that I want to highlight. Like in between my brows, halfway down my nose, on my cupid’s bow and under my lips (marked in white dots). I don’t apply the concealer all over the center part of my forehead as it will give the illusion of wider forehead. As well as on my nose, I don’t drag it all the way to the tip to avoid my nose looking bigger (since I don't do contour here) and oily. The concealer might look a bit too harsh but I give it time to set while I do my eyes. The pink area is where I apply my blush.

4. As you can see after I did my eyes, the area under my eyes doesn’t look as harsh as before yet the highlight effect still noticeable. This is the step where I apply my powder. But I usually just powder the center part of my face and dust a tiny layer of powder on the undereye area to keep the highlight effect.

5. As the final step, as I said, I add shimmery highlighter to bring out the area even more. Add lipstick of your choice and you're done!
   

Other products I used
Chanel Mat Lumiere Foundation
Ben Nye Banana Visage Poudre
MAC Powder Blush 'My Highland Honey'

MAC Eyeshadow 'Cork'
Stila Smudge Pot 'Cobalt'
YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres no.9

FOTD: Balmbini Face

Hi guys!

This is an FOTD I came up with last week. I was playing with my theBalm Balmbini Palette that I purchased on my last holiday. There's a face chart on the back of the packaging, I thought I'll just give it a go. I found I really fancy makeup charts on some makeup packaging lately. I feel like it spoils me, in a way I don't have to think about what color I should use and where to put. Anyway, in this FOTD, I used all theBalm products in the palette.

This is how the makeup chart looks like.

A little bit about Balmbini palette, it literally is a definition of 'Babies of theBalm' as written on the packaging. All the products inside, for all I know, are the best of theBalm. At least there are so many products in this palette that I wanted to try initially, and I was thinking about purchasing each of the products individually. Thank God they made this palette. Imagine how much money I saved up by just buying this palette alone! theBalm is really in right now. Feels like everybody raved about this brand, so this palette is a great introduction to so many theBalm products. I haven't played with this palette that much that I don't think I can come up with a review post yet. But my initial thought about this palette is, I'm so glad I decided to purchase this!

Close up of the eye. My liquid liner is a bit messy here and I have my reason, which I'll tell you soon.

I followed the face chart exactly, so you can see what products I was wearing from the picture above. I used only one eyeshadow on my lid, which is something I rarely do. But it looked good enough, in my opinion. The color 'Insane Jane' is already beautiful on it's own. Who says makeup has to be complicated?

'Read My Lips' lipstick is a pinky red color, which is not really my cup of tea. I prefer a warm deep red. So in this look, I applied just a sheer amount of the lipstick and then layered it with 'Wanted' gloss. I believe all the products in this palette are available in permanent collectionm yet I looked at theBalm website and couldn't find both the lipstick and the gloss. But then again, these two don't really impressed me anyway, so I don't really care.

Other products that I used in this look are
On Face:
Graftobian HD Creme Foundation 'Desert Sand'
Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Finishing Powder
Bobbi Brown Corrector 'Peach'
MUFE Lift Concealer '3'

On eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion 'Eden'
My eyebrows set
MUFE Aqua Eyes'1L'
Bourjois Liner Clubbing 'Absolute Black'
L'oreal Volume Shocking Mascara