The Roundup - 2018 Q2 Beauty and Skincare Haul
And here we are, the second quarter is over. Look at how fast time flies. This quarter has been my worst. It’s really shocking to see how much I’ve splurged this time. However, when I look at my makeup collection now, I do feel content about it. Me buying makeup has always been about filling gaps, and so far, the gaps look pretty filled up. I don’t think I’ll be purchasing anything makeup related in the next months unless something limited edition catches my eye.
Makeup
Asian Beauty
This quarter, I’ve decided to embrace more natural, glowy Asian-inspired daily makeup. I couldn’t resist trying some cult favorites.
First of let’s start with Clio Kill Black Waterproof Pen Liner in Black and the famous Peripera Ink The Velvet in 05 Inktude Rose. I got these during Clio’s 30% off sale. The pen liner is so-so, but I am in love with this tint! I’ll probably write a separate review when I have the time.
I also got **The Saem Cover Perfection Tip Concealer SPF28 PA++ in #1.5 Natural Beige and #02 Rich Beige. I wasn’t sure which shade to get, so I got two, one for brightening and one for spot concealing. These concealers are full-coverage. I only use three dots of 1.5 to brighten up my under eye area. I ordered these online last April, but The Saem is now available locally, and I’d like to see what else they can offer.
This next one is probably one of my favorite purchases this quarter: Etude House Personal Color Palette in Cool Tone Eyes. Warm tone palettes have been all the rage recently, but there’s something about warm tone palettes that I absolutely hate: all the peach tones, the oranges and the browns that look straight-up orange. They just clash with my skin tone. This palette features a lot of muted pinks and purples as well as some neutrals.
I honestly don’t know where to place this, and since these are local, they must belong in this category. I got the Suesh Liquid Corrector in Green to mix in with my orange and peachy foundations. I recently found out that I have olive-toned instead of warm-toned skin, and now I need to make my yellow leaning to peach foundations.
A local beauty item that’s getting all the rave is the Skin Genie Lip and Cheek Stain Alive! in Creamy Peach. I don’t really like water tints because I have dark lips, but I wanted to try this out for the popular “drunk blush look.” I still haven’t achieved it, yet.
Western
Let’s start with drugstore purchases:
I got a few items from Wet n Wild Beauty: the Photofocus Foundation in Soft Beige (P399), the Megaglo Contouring Face Palette in Dulce de Leche (P349), Color Icon Blusher in Mellow Wine (P199) and the best ABH Modern Renaissance dupe, ColorIcon Palette in Rose in the Air (P349).
Again, I ordered these online before The SM Store and Watsons started stocking these. The prices I wrote down above are the prices in store, these are even cheaper than the online sellers like BeautyMNL. I’m so happy this brand is now locally available because these products are so good even if they are really affordable.
I actually really enjoyed the Photofocus Foundation and used it every day for a month before I noticed that it was peach. Got me thinking that I was olive, and then I stocked up on some olive-friendly foundations: Bourjois Paris Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in 52 Vanilla and the Revlon Color Stay Foundation for Combination/Oily in 150 Buff Beige. Bourjois is only available online, but the Revlon one is available in The SM Store and Watsons.
Next are a few items that I forgot to take some photos of. Sorry.
I got another cool-toned palette, the Essence Cosmetics All About Roses Palette. I got this recently and hadn’t played around with it well, but I think it complements the Wet n Wild Rose in the Air Palette. I really don’t like using the orange shades in there, and these have enough purples and dark browns as well as some shimmers to add to it.
And to round up the drugstore haul, I have two concealers: NYX Dark Circle Concealer in Light and Catrice Cosmetics Liquid Camouflage Concealer in 020 Light Beige. I used the NYX one for about a month together with my Colourpop concealers. It worked well to cover up my dark circles. But when I started using The Saem’s concealers, they were so full coverage that those were enough. I still use this when I have extremely dark circles. I haven’t played around with the Catrice one yet. This shade is in between The Saem 1.5 and 02.
Moving on to mid-range and high-end products. I have discovered a terrible weakness: limited edition items in pretty packaging.
Exhibit A: Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Limited Edition Face Palette was released in 2016. This palette features 3 mineral blushes: Rose Spritz, Amaretto, and Pamplemousse. It also has two best-selling highlighter shades: Champagne Pop and Prosecco Pop. Honestly, both highlighters and Amaretto are so worth it. I cannot live without these.
I purchased this on a whim in Carousell. It popped up in my Dashboard, and I just had to offer for it. The seller said there were 20 offers and I was the first one. Jackpot!
Exhibit B: Tarte Clay Play Face Shaping Palette Vol 1 has been discontinued in favor of Vol 2. This palette contains 12 Amazonian Clay matte eyeshadows that can multitask for brows as well as bronzer and contour. The palette is divided into three sections: neutral, cool and warm. These are the perfect matte shades to complement any eyeshadow palette. I was actually debating on getting this vs. the Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette, and this one won easily.
Exhibit C: theBalm In theBalm of Your Hand® Greatest Hits Volume 2 Palette. I’ve always been a sucker for theBalm’s packaging because of its vintage appeal. When I saw this, I knew I just had to grab it. I think it’s the perfect way to sample all of their products. This includes 4 eyeshadows, the Mary-Lou Manizer highlighter, Bahama Mama bronzer, Down Boy blush, Frat Boy blush and Houndstooth Instain blush. This looks like the perfect travel palette because all the products are multi-tasking.
Exhibit D: Benefit Cosmetics The Blush Bunch Hoola Matte Bronzer and Galifornia Blush. I seriously considered buying the Blush Bar “Cheeks on Pointe” Blush & Bronzer Palette (Limited Edition) which contains Hoola and five blushes including Galifornia. But I didn’t want to invest in 5 full-sized face products without knowing if I liked any of it. These are “Fun Size” and contains 0.05 oz of Galifornia and 0.09 oz Hoola Matte Bronzer. These are so tiny and portable, again good for traveling!
High-end makeup is expensive. For someone who has a hard time using up products, sample and travel sizes are the way to go. I wanted to try out an illuminating primer, so I got a sample of Becca Cosmetics First Light Priming Filter Instant Complexion Refresh. For an extra dewy look, I got the MAC Cosmetics Snow Ball Prep + Prime Fix+ Holiday Set. This set contains 3 scents in the travel-sized packaging: coconut, rose, and lavender. I am in love with this as well, it makes my makeup just lay nicely and blend well together. I’ve almost used up the coconut scent. I plan on keeping these bottles because the mist is so fine!
Skincare and Hair
If I went haywire on cosmetics, I was a little laid-back on skincare. I bought staple products the previous quarter, and I just added a few items.
I’ve already reviewed these two skincare items from Bobbi Brown: the Hydrating Face Cream and the Hydrating Eye Cream. I’m almost out of the moisturizer that I’m freaking out internally.
I ordered a few more items from The Ordinary. I got the Glycolic Acid 70% Toning Solution to help clear out milia under my eyes. I use this as an acid toner too and alternate it with the LA 5% + HA 2% serum. For my under eyes, I got the Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG in the hopes that it will brighten and depuff it.
I’ve been having problems with toners lately. I found the Hydrating from Human Heart Nature really irritating. It stings every time I used it to the point that it actually hurts. So I ordered the Nourishing Toner (no photo) because this is for sensitive skin (which I do not have). Sadly, this also stung.
Then I ordered the Hada Labo Gokujyun Premium Lotion and OMG, this is heaven-sent! It’s so hydrating and not irritating at all. However, the formula is too thick and doesn’t absorb as fast, so I’m thinking of using this as an HA serum. So, yep, I currently do not have a hydrating toner.
For hair, I got the Two Tone Treatment Hair Color in Forest Green which I reviewed here{target:”_blank}
Tools
I also took a back seat in purchasing makeup tools. I also did not take photos because these are currently dirty. I purchased a few brushes from Miniso, the Beauty Queen Pro Fine Powder Brush and the Makeup Master Multifunctional Angled Contour Brush. I also got Wet n Wild Crease Brush. I tried out a few brush cleaners that are locally available from Suesh and Nippon Cosmetics.
I also scored some Wild Peach Cosmetics Magnetic Palette from a destash. Empty palettes are really good for storing single shadows. I also depotted some powders with bulky packaging into it.
Here’s a breakdown of ALL the items:
| Brand | Item |
|---|---|
| Clio | Kill Black Waterproof Pen Liner in Black |
| Peripera | Ink The Velvet in 05 Inktude Rose - read review here |
| The Saem | Cover Perfection Tip Concealer SPF28 PA++ in #1.5 Natural Beige |
| The Saem | Cover Perfection Tip Concealer SPF28 PA++ in #02 Rich Beige |
| Etude House | Personal Color Palette in Cool Tone Eyes |
| Skin Genie | Photofocus Foundation in Soft Beige |
| Wet n Wild Beauty | Megaglo Contouring Face Palette in Dulce de Leche |
| Wet n Wild Beauty | Color Icon Blusher in Mellow Wine |
| Wet n Wild Beauty | ColorIcon Palette in Rose in the Air |
| Bourjois Paris | Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in 52 Vanilla |
| Revlon | Color Stay Foundation for Combination/Oily in 150 Buff |
| Essence Cosmetics | All About Roses Palette |
| NYX Cosmetics | Dark Circle Corrector in Light |
| Catrice Cosmetics | Liquid Camouflage Concealer in 020 Light Beige |
| Tarte Cosmetics | Clay Play Face Palette Vol 1 |
| Becca Cosmetics x Jaclyn Hill | Champagne Collection Limited Edition Face Palette |
| theBalm | In the Balm of Your Hands Greatest Hits Collection Vol 2 |
| MAC Cosmetics | Snow Ball Prep + Prime Fix+ Holiday Set |
| Becca Cosmetics | First Light Priming Filter Instant Complexion Refresh |
| Bobbi Brown Cosmetics | Hydrating Face Cream - read review here |
| Bobbi Brown Cosmetics | Hydrating Eye Cream - read review here |
| The Ordinary | Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution |
| The Ordinary | Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG |
| Human Heart Nature | Nourishing Toner |
| Hada Labo | Gokujyun Premium Lotion |
| Etude House | Two Tone Treatment Hair Color in Forest Green - read review here |
| Miniso | Beauty Queen Pro Fine Powder Brush |
| Miniso | Makeup Master Multifunctional Angled Contour Brush |
| Wet n Wild Beauty | Crease Brush |
| Wild Peach | Magnetic Palettes |
| Suesh | Brush Shampoo |
| Nippon Esthetic | Cosmetic Sanitizer |
What are your hauls from April to June? Let’s discuss in the comments below, I’d love to know your recent purchases as well! Are you as crazy as I am?