Aca-rtehan

Aca-artehan: Current faves

Disclaimer: I am not in any way an expert on these things, nor do I 100% know what I am talking about. Ako po’y isang pawang consumer lamang who wants to share my experiences re products that I recently discovered for fellow noobs like me- thus, my new blog series – Aca-artehan

So here goes!

As I said, I’m still a beginner when it comes to make-up or skin care products or any self-care items and I’m still in the process of discovering what really works for me. Unending trial and error parin ako hanggang ngayon mga besh! Fortunately, I found some products na naka hiyangan ko na but I’m still on that route of trying things out. My main goal is to achieve the AWE (affordable, works for me, easily accessible) factor. Oh di ba may pa acronym ang lola nyo!

Ang haba na ng intro ko, eto napo yung current faves ko!

1. L’oreal Bonjour Nudista BB Cream (£9.99)

I was looking for a beri beri light funda for use at work para di naman ako mukang pang beaucon or di rin ako mukhang haggard and I stumbled into this bb cream instead. It’s so lightweight so mukha ka lang fresh pero pakak padin yung glow. A little also goes a long way din since di ko pa ubos up to now (2+ months) and I’ve been using it everyday at work.

2. L’oreal Infallible Total Cover (£9.99)

I’ve finished my current funda (Revlon Colour stay) and thought of trying this one since I’ve heard a lot of raves and good reviews. I’ve used this on our trip to Barcelona and it was just w-o-w! Girl, sobrang inet sa Barca that time and in fairness, kahit pawisan, hindi nahulas ang funda ni girl! Nag hiking pako pero plakado padin siya after 2 hours na umaakyat sa rurok.

3. The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Stain (£8)

I’ve replaced my benefit tint for this cause it basically does the job but mas malayong cheapangga siya so pasok sa aking criteria.

4. Benefit Bad Gal Bang Mascara (£10.50)

Again, I only use mascara on special ganaps and I was just curious how this one works kase gusto ko ma-achieve yung mukhang naka falsies. As expected for benefit, may kamahalan siya and for a newbie like me medyo messy to apply at the start pero it does give me the sasampalin kita with my pilik mata look. Winner!

5. Nyx Lip Lingerie in Lipli (£7)

I used to wear really bright red lipchook kasi feeling ko dala na niya lahat pero parang as I age bet ko yung mga neutral or discrete lang, pabebe lang ganern so far, I am loving this! It’s not drying as most matte lipsticks and ganda lang ng lapat niya

6. L’oreal Infallible 24H matte powder (£5.99)

Since na-confirm ko na oily talaga ang pez ko, I learned na locking the funda with a powder is really important. Oh dba may natutunan ako?! Again, I’ve been so hiyang with the Benefit powder I didn’t want to switch but I wanted to find a cheap dupe and so far, this is working for me! It’s also compact so easy to bring and comes with mirror and foam applicator.

7. Benefit Hoola bronzer (£10.63)

I wanted to experiment how to contour since sobrang jubiz na ng face ko so I gave this a try. So far it’s so easy to use and di siyang super galit na galit na shade. I bought the mini so it’s perfect for when you travel and sakto yung brush for the face.

8. Mario Badescu facial spray (£7)

I’ve been using this for quite some time now pero I don’t know why I’m only writing about this now. Anyway, this has been a staple in my kit and I make sure I have one for the house and one in my bag. Pag tamad2 si girl, I use it as my moisturizer; it also works as a primer, finishing spray and pag feel mo lang to look refreshed and hydrated, spray ka lang at mabubura lahat ng problema mo sa buhay, char!

Since it’s lapot season, of course ayaw mong maki uso sa mga umaalingasaw na amoy araw sa tabe-tabe. These are currently my go-to scents:

9. Victoria’s Secret in Turquoise Waves ($20)

Inuubos ko lang yung extra dollars ko when I bought this sa airport. I just liked the packaging so kinuha na agad ni girl and the smell kind of grew on me. Medjo coconut-y.

10. The White Musk in Green (£8.50)

This is my actual favourite. I normally buy the purple one but I thought of trying this out kasi summer vibe yung green and I’ve stocked it ever since. I looove the scent, parang mix of fruity and sweet pero not too intense that will throw you off. Plus, super mura pa!

11. Moschino in I love, love (£19.95)

This was actually a gift and I normally use it for mejo special na lakad. Long lasting din yung smell and you only need to spray on the usual points and youre good to go!

Aca-rtehan, Blabbermouth

Aca-artehan: My Skincare routine (eh ano bang alam ko?)

Sabi nung tita kong kawork kanina, “Amira, you’re glowing.” Siyempre, naniwala naman ako kaagad. Kasi sa bawat araw na pagkikita namin (5 days a week) for almost a year, ngayon lang niya pinuri yung pagmumukha ko. Malamang kabisado na niya yung itchura ko saka kung ilang pieces yung pores ko sa nose so I’m sure, something has really changed within me. Char! Akala ko tapos na yung topic, tapos after a while, nagtanong na si Madame. “Did you start using anything?”. Gusto kong sabihin na “I woke up like this” pero dahil tita nga, I’m sure di niya magegets yun. So ayun, napalaban nanaman yung English ko.

“Tell me your routine and what products you normally use”. Jusko, demanding din itong si Tita. So biniro ko na, “okay fine I’ll explain it to you but you have to remember that my English has a time limit and expires in the next 30 minutes.” Natawa siya. Lagi kong linya yan sa mga ka-work ko so akala nila it’s just banter. Di nila alam reality pala.

Bago ko sinimulan, nagpa backstory muna si ate girl. I used to hate skin care routines and/or putting anything on my face when I was younger. Luckily, my face cooperated and would normally give me 1.5 pieces of pimples everytime I’m about to have my period. Promise. For some reason, hiyang yung balat ko sa boiling temperature of Tuguegarao. But when I moved to UK (arrived during winter season), my skin was shookt! Nagadjust ang lola. The worst was there was a point na nag Edsa people power and mga pimpolette sa fez ko. Lurkey. So I had to do something. Take note, my skin is not perfect and I have yet to achieve yang kutis porcelanang paandar pero nakakahappy na madaming trial and error ang naganap until I finally found what was working for me. Baka guni guni ko lang yung effect ng mga gamit ko pero tumalab naman sakin so keri!

1. Facial Wash/Cleanser: Garnier 3-in-1 Charcoal Wash/Scrub/Mask (£4.99 but bought it for £3.29 at Superdrug)

Sabi nga nila, the first step to a happy and healthy looking skin is finding the right cleanser. Sabon lang dati, sapat nako. Pero nung nagkaroon ng rally sa face ko, kinailangan ko ng matinding pademolition so nagbasa basa ako, kelangan daw talaga ng proper facial cleanser para todo aksyon. My go to product range is body shop (Alternate ang Vit. E and Tea Tree range) pero I’ve discovered this recently and it worked well with my skin plus, mura lang siya. And since tamad din ako mag apply ng kung anik anik sa pez, this pretty much covers my major concerns: blackheads and impurities (taray may pa impurities nang nalalaman). So panalo!

2. Toner: Wonder Pore from Etude House (£5-6)

I didn’t really get the point of toners and I thought keri na ng simpleng hugas hugas lang. Since I got more and more interested in skin care, I understood why this is necessary lalo na for my skin which is combination + large pores + acne prone (at the time). The usual, I started with Body shop’s toners but it made me breakout more. So I stopped, then when we went home sa Pinas, I thought of hoarding korean products and ito siya! Bought for only 400 php (£5-6) for this size and sulit na sulit na siya! I started using this last December and so far I think I could make it last till April. In terms effect, well effect siya sakin. Anjan parin yung pores ko pero there’s noticeable improvement.

3. Moisturiser: Body Shop’s Vitamin C range (£16) / Simple moisturiser (£2-3)

I’ve thrived on moisturisers for the last 4 years. Sabi ko nga, dito lang ako natuto sa UK gumamit ng mga ganitey. I remember the time na I was so clueless about skin care and what not, halos every week ako magpalit. The first one na nakahiyangan ko was Body Shop’s Vitamin E Sorbet which I did use for a while until one of the ate’s in the store forced me to switch to this! It smells so good, is lightweight and feeling lang glowing and fresh!

At dahil nakahiyangan ko na siya, I tried to find something I could use during summer and luckily, meron siyang version na with SPF which costs £15. Mas thicker lang siya in consistency pero pak parin. What I normally do is I try to buy every month ng stock pero mabenta tong product na to so may times na out of stock siya.

If sa kamalas malasan naubusan man ako ng stock, I use Simple’s Light moisturiser kasi bukod sa friend siya ng skin ko, murang mura din siya mga besh (£2-3 for 125mls). So pag tag hirap din ang lola niyo, this is my go to alternative hahahha.

4. Serum

I started using this when I had breakouts. As in lahat ng may tea-tree (Tea tree scrub, toner, serum, and spot treatment) willing na akong ilagay sa pez! Out of everything, ito yung tinuloy tuloy kong gamitin. Apparently, serums have high concentrations of active ingredients that can penetrate deeply into the skin which makes it more effective.

5. Mask

I haven’t heard of this before until my hubby bought it to help treat his acne problems. So nakisabit kang ako and I’m impressed! My skin feels healthier, clean and parang nag stretch din siya. It’s available in Amazon, around £10 (for this size roughly 20 quid for the bigger one)pero sulit na sya cause more or kess you’ll need just 1 spoon plus apple cider and youre good to go!

I’m no expert, and I consider myself a noob sa mga ganito and also I don’t have the perfect skin but what’s important is if it works for you, then bongga! If not, edi on to the next one davah!? May nabasa din ako from somewhere saying if you’ve already found what suits you, stick to it. Mga beauty gurus jan, is that chrew? I’m still learning a lot so penge din ng tips!

PS. Padaan din ng pagmumuka ko charooooot

Aca-rtehan

Babble Friday

It’s Friday. So what’s good?

We plus friends had a movienight/ sleepover last night. We watched Don’t Breathe and as the title goes, we literally held our breath throughout the movie. It was my day off the next day but the rest of the guys were off to work at half 7 so I was pretty much awake since 6 watching them prepare for work.

Unlike my usual day off routine (which meant staying in and do nothing), I had a full schedule today.

First Agenda: GP Appointment

I may have caught the flu a few weeks back and I have been coughing non stop ever since. I called in sick at work for 4 days, then decided to go back (thinking I could) but for obvious audible reasons, I still wasn’t well enough. I tried to keep myself together to finish my Wednesday shift but I was howling so loud they had no choice but to send me home so I won’t desterelise everything I go near to. As I am in my second week being sick, I decided to go and see the GP. Masabe lang.

I already anticipated what would happen- A N T I B I O T I C S. But, I just wanted to reassure myself that this is not something I should be worried about. (Aside from the cough and colds, I couldn’t eat. And if I eat, I’ll just puke it all out because of the cough. So yep, not worried.) It’s just the normal flu blah blah blah. My appointment was 1120H but I left the house with 10mins. to spare. The walk from the house to the clinic was 11mins. so I was a tad late. Waited, waited then bam it was my turn! Now here is the slightly embarassing part- I do not like wearing bras. So, since I thought this is just a quick check up, why bother? Well, I should’ve cause I had no choice but to expose them babies during the chest auscultation. Buti nalang gurlash si ateh.

As I expected, she prescibed antibiotics. She also recommended taking my inhalers regularly since there is a chance that this is my asthma creeping in. She also recommended that I always wear a bra, charot.

Second Agenda: Dentist

Everything that involves a dentist here is quite expensive. So, when I had this chance for a free consultation, who am I not to avail it yeah? So far, so good. All my queries answered. Mouth examined. I was praying really hard the whole time that my throat cooperates and not cough for at least 20minutes and thank God it listened.

I had a problem with my wisdom tooth growing earlier this year which caused me pain and swelling but all is going well so far.

Third Agenda: Kilay

I admit this is peer pressure. My kilay used to be the least of my problems (or I just didn’t care lol). But in the age of “eyebrows on fleek”, I need to step up. I would describe my kilay as bushy. Back in highschool when I had my lame attempt of being kikay, my Mom tried the tweezers but I just couldn’t bear the pain! Ang shaket beh! So, I opted for the shave technique but it was such a hassle. It needed to be groomed often and I suck so bad on shaping and keeping them symmetrical. So, I just got tired and kept them the way they originally were. Then, when I moved here in England, I wanted to rekindle my relationship with them again so I tried shaving. Then I even tried waxing which worked for me for prolly a year but it was a bit expensive for my taste (£8 every 2 weeks). Just lately, I ventured into threading (which I was dreading btw coz most said it’s a pain) and it worked wonders! Hahahaha! I’m happy I tried it despite my extra emotional first time. ( I cried beh.!). I go every 3weeks or a month and it’s much cheaper than the wax.

Fourth Agenda: Moisturiser

I have never used anything on my face until I moved here in the UK. And since then, I have yet to find the perfect moisturiser that really works for me, until a month ago when I tried the Body Shop’s Vit. E sorbet facial moisturiser.

It smells really good, and is so light on the skin. Plus, it feels so refreshing and cool when you apply it (they say you can store it in the fridge for a much cooler effect). I personally think it is borderline pricey but I’m happy with how it works on my skin so I don’t really mind. But do watch out cause TBS often has sales just like today, I was able to cop this item for only £7.

Taaaa!

Posting this on a Saturday coz I just realized I didn’t publish it yesterday. Anyway, taaaa!