NiceLadiesThings

I remember seeing an ad on  a fashion magazine of a powder foundation that stays put on your face for 12 hours and makes it flawless and oil free - that was years ago and I think it was a Shiseido brand which an average earner like me wouldn't be able to afford unless I save up for it. But since make-up is really not my choice of a splurge I had to live with drugstore brands - mediocre powders and foundations and of course, my oil control sheets.

My face is like an oil factory - I have big pores and super oily skin. I got this from my mom who has a very oily skin too. Though I've heard that people with oily skin are lucky because of the fact that it helps keep wrinkles at bay I still envy women with matte oil free skin (dry type?). They do not have to deal with applying a lot of powder or foundation to hide that ugly oil or shine - they do not have to worry after a few minutes or hours after applying make-up if they still look fresh or already shiny (sigh). So when L'oreal came up with their product Mat Magique powder back in 2014 I was intrigued because of its  low price at Php400! Then Maybelline came up with their own oil free 12hour foundation too and that one was way cheaper but that is another story.



Anyway here's the description of the product according to its box:

L'OREAL MAT MAGIQUE IN G1 VANILLA IVORY

If you have a very oily skin like mine, then chances are you will only be disappointed with this powder.
It didn't last me 12 hours! 2 hours and I am already a bit shiny with this one. Another 2 hours and I can already feel the oil if touch my face. I still love it, though. I love the shade of the powder and how soft it is. I use this on top of L'oreal's true match foundation in G3 Gold Vanilla and they're a perfect match. I like that I can easily tap it on my face after I apply my foundation and my pores are instantly gone as well as the shine too. After an hour or two, I would use an oil blotting film to remove shine and oil, and then I'd look fresh again.



The compact is surprisingly light - as I am used to IN2It and ZA's compacts which are quite long and very glossy. It is stubby but it is cute. The back of the compact is made of transparent matte plastic but it is still smooth to the touch which is nice - it is curved and hollowed - which I think is better so the powder won't break if you drop the compact.

Beside Maybelline's White Superfresh

Matt Magique in G1, Maybelline White Superfresh in 02 Nude Beige

Overall, I still like this powder because it is very soft and finely milled. After using it all up, I would probably try L'oreal's Infallible Pro Matte 16H powder next. This is priced at P400 and I got it for only P320 which is not bad. Last January, I remember this powder was even on sale at 50% for P200 and P150 for the refill! If I catch it on sale at that price, I will of course buy one again :-)

I remember being a fan of eyebrow pencils, probably about 4 or 5 years ago? With limited funds when it comes to make-up, I just couldn't find the right one for me - I always end up with harsh looking brows and most of the time - uneven brows. I have always wondered how celebrities get their perfect brows and why they looked brushed. Until I stumbled upon my first kit at The Body Shop which is my HG but it is expensive at P1,000+ per compact that has only 2 shades -so I then moved on and used Fanny Serrano's eyebrow kit, which I think I bought for only P350 for 4 shades in a compact, and I used this for quite sometime - about 2 years.

Looking at reviews online of other brow powder kits - a lot of people are raving about ELF's eyebrow kit, even comparing and saying its a dupe to the expensive Anastasia Beverly Hills eyebrow products.
I got curious so I bought one at SM, I got it for a fair price of P250 (this was I think P280 but I got it on sale). Only the dark shade was available which I thought was perfect for me.



No I haven't used this that much - the 2nd photo was the result of my little girl dropping my cosmetic bag and this is what happened, the powder broke so I had to throw away the loose ones.

When I first tried this, I was very disappointed. My eyebrows looked harsh and reddish and very ugly.
I regretted buying it and I forgot about it - until one day I decided to give it another shot. I realized the trick with regards to its application: use very minimal wax powder because it is very pigmented. Then using the compact's brush, the bigger end is not that thick but soft enough to apply the lighter powder by tapping it on the inner part or thicker part of your brows and it creates that natural thick eyebrow look. The other good thing about this compact is - your eyebrows won't budge under humid weather and minimal perspiration and face oiliness. Overall this is a very good buy and I am planning on buying the medium shade too - I only wish that the mirror is bigger so that putting this on and making even eyebrows would be a breeze.

Next, Avon finally came up with their own eyebrow kit, although it is not cheap for P350 - I got mine on sale for P239. 


I have to be honest that I used mine only about twice. I can say for now that the product was okay.
I was surprised that the compact was small because it is housed in the same compact that Avon uses for their quad shadows and blushes. Those were big. Look at them side by side:

Quad compact shadow on the left, and the tiny cute one on the right is the brow compact.

Avon's perfect eyebrow kit in soft brown T102

I went for the Soft Brown shade because I have recently colored my hair dark brown. The other one is Deep Brown which is more of a darker or near black color. I would probably edit this and try using this one more often so I can tell you if this is great. It's all L'oreal's fault - I got excited with their Brow Artist Genius Kit. From P400 I got it on sale for P200. Avon can't beat that price!

One more thing - I didn't like this compact's brush. Come on Avon, do you really think you can actually use this brush? It is a double ended brush but the bristles are made of thick nylon, both of them! - not skin friendly. I have thin eyebrows so using this brush would hurt my skin. So, prepare to use your own slanted brush for this one.


Okay, so L'oreal posted on facebook that for 3 days their Genius eyebrow kit will be on sale at P200 (original retail is P400). On the day of the sale, I went to SM Fairview to buy mine and I am indeed lucky I got one! Most customers were complaining that the product was out of stock in all branches. Anyway, this is indeed a good buy. This is what I am using right now:



The compact is tiny and light. It is not glossy and heavy and expensive looking but it doesn't look cheap too.
I love that it has a large mirror so you wouldn't really need a separate bigger mirror when you are applying this especially if you are on the go and applying your make-up in the car.


The lighter chocolate brown on the left is the wax, and unlike Elf's kit, this one is just perfect - its consistency is quite oilier that if you apply it you really wouldn't see any color on your brows not until after you apply the powder on the right, its darker brown shade is the best because even if you apply a lot it wouldn't look that strong or harsh.

The double ended brush is consisted of a spoolie and a slanted brush, very usable! The spoolie is great when you need to comb your eyebrows to eliminate the excess powder and create that natural looking brows!
Overall for now L'oreal's kit is my HG - I would try Maybelline's soon or Nyx's. Will post pictures soon for each one of these and I promise to give Avon a chance too! :-)