Shopping from the US just got easier with myMallBox! What is myMallBox? It is a package forwarding company that helps ship American products to international users.

I first discovered myMallBox around mid February 2017, since they sent me an invitation email to try out their service. I then checked their website to see what it was about and how it works. I tried a similar service before, but I was just not too happy about it, that's why I didn't bother looking for another alternative. myMallBox team gave me some credits to my account, just so I can try out their service and so I did.

Since I initially just wanted to try out their service, I did not go crazy with my purchase. I wanted to get a feel of how they process things and to my surprise, it was fairly easy and hassle free.

I went ahead and proceed with signing up on the myMallBox website. Once done I received an email asking me to verify my email address. Along with that email was my very own US mailing address. I then went ahead and visited the Shop Miss A website where I bought makeup tools. I then checked out and just entered the US mailing address that myMallBox provided me. After a week, I received a notification from myMallbox that they received my package from Miss A.


Once the items arrived at the myMallBox warehouse, I logged in to my account and checked the items under "My Packages" tab. I then changed the declared amount for each item (which I am able to, it's super cool!). I am then given two options, whether to choose Consolidate or Repack my items.

Consolidation is combining multiple packages in to one box, so you can ship your items together and save money. Repacking is packing your items from one single package into a smaller box or bubble mailer. This may reduce shipping costs if the original box is too large for the product it contains.

Since I only had one package, I chose to repack. I waited for about a day or two then logged back in to my account and found that my orders have been repacked. I then proceed with checkout, there is an option whether to choose DHL or USPS, I went ahead and chose DHL and paid $31 via paypal.

On March 9, 2017 I received an email notification together with my DHL Expresse Package Tracking number from myMallBox that my package is on its way. On March 13, my package was delivered at my doorstep. There were no extra charges or fees which is awesome!


Overall, my experience was fantastic and I am truly impressed with their service. It's definitely, easy, hassle free, and a lot cheaper compared to other package forwarding companies. Also, I'd like to note that your packages can stay as long as 90 days on their warehouse, so you will definitely have enough time to consolidate your packages if you plan on buying from different websites.

So if you are interested in buying products from the US and would like to try the myMallBox service, you can use my referral link HERE and get $5 credited to your account once you sign up.

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

How to make your face makeup look flawless? is the question I get asked very so often by my friends and colleagues. So, I finally had time to share with you my favorite products to use to achieve a natural looking, flawless face makeup.

But first, let me tell you that having great skin is the key to a flawless looking makeup. I have been taking care of my skin which made it easier for me to find makeup products the work well for my combination skin type.

I first discovered Laura Mercier products a couple of years ago (2015) when a fellow beauty addict posted on Instagram saying how much she loved the Laura Mercier Foundation. And it was perfect timing that I was looking for a lightweight liquid foundation with light to medium coverage. So, I went to the Rustan's Beauty Section in Ayala Center Cebu and bought my very first product from Laura Mercier. Then the rest was history...


Step 1 After my regular skin care routine, I first apply the Laura Mercier Primer. I just use a pea sized amount then pat it all over my face focusing on the T-Zone area.

It's their regular foundation primer as shown in the photo above. I really love this Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, because it has a watery gel-like texture that gets absorbed on my skin easily. In addition to that, it is mild and it hydrates my skin, making my skin look smooth. I would recommend this primer for those with Dry to Combination Skin. If you are looking for a silicone based primer, then this is not for you.


Step 2 I then apply the Laura Mercier Foundation, I chose the Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide liquid foundation in the shade DUSK (I am in the shade NC35 for MAC). I prefer to apply this foundation with my fingers rather than a brush or sponge since it looks more even and smooth that way.

So far, this Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluid is my favorite liquid foundation to date. Despite being very lightweight and thin in texture, a little goes a long way with this foundation since it has excellent coverage. Which is the reason why I seldom use a concealer when I use this foundation. It dries to velvety matte finish, that sometimes I don't even set it with a powder anymore. It lasts the whole day on me especially if paired with the primer. I also noticed that the longer it stays, the more it blends on my skin.


Step 3 I then set the T-Zone area of my face with a little bit of powder. I use the Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Foundation Powder in 05. I just dust a bit of powder in the center part of my forehead, above my eyebrows, under-eye area, sides of my nose then my chin.

What I love about this powder is it's oil control. It really keeps the oil at bay especially in the T-Zone area of my face. It lasts long that I only ever need to retouch once or twice throughout the day. Also, the powder is very finely milled, making it feel really soft and smooth. The packaging is really sleek and elegant. I also like that it has it's own compartment for the sponge. The only downside to this powder is the amount of product is contains. Which is very little compared to my Mac powder.


Step 4 Lastly, I just add a little bit of highlight using the Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder in Highlight - 01. I just apply it on the high points of my face, on my cheek bone area, center of my nose and on my upper lip using my Sigma F35 Tapered Highlighter Brush.

This is my favorite Highlighter to date. I love that this gives me that natural looking highlight. Nothing too stark, just an effect of a healthy glowing skin. The glow lasts for about 4 hours on me before it starts to fade. But the glow is still noticeable at the end of the day. It has a really fine texture making it very easy to apply and blend, giving me a really smooth finish. It also comes in a sleek compact with mirror, which is a big plus for me.


Here is a photo of me wearing all the Laura Mercier products mentioned above. This pretty much sums everything up where Face Bases is concerned.

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

Hey ladies! after a month of being MIA (missing in action), I finally had time to sit on my computer and take care of this blog.  I really missed all of you and blogsphere. It just has been a really hectic February for me. Anyway, I'm back and hopefully I can post more regularly.

My friend went to Hong Kong around mid November last year (2016). I asked her to bring my Mac empties on her trip and have it exchanged for a mac lipstick in any MAC store she can find there. This is for the Back-to-Mac Program. Since we don't have a Back-to-Mac here in Philippines, I had to ask this favor to whoever is going abroad.

M·A·C accepts returns of its primary packaging through the Back-to-M·A·C Program. By returning six [6] M·A·C primary packaging containers to a M·A·C counter or M·A·C Cosmetics online, you’ll receive a free M·A·C lipstick of your choice as our thanks to you. Please note, Lipsticks provided at no charge cannot be returned or exchanged. M·A·C Select Back-to-M·A·C Expanded is only available in stores at this time. (Info taken from the Mac website)


Mac Lipstick in Mocha is described as Peachy yellow-brown shade. It comes in a Satin finish, which means it is Semi-matte with a hint of sheen to it. I particularly chose this shade because it looks great on medium skin tone.


This Mac Mocha Lipstics has been my everyday go-to lipstick since this shade just look great on my skin tone. It's a really great option for those with olive skin tone as well.


Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

Hey ladies, here's another round up review for you.  This time it is for concealers that I've been using in 2016. It is a mix of drugstore and high-end concealers for my under eye, occasional acne spots and as a highlight in some areas on my face.

Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer in Light. It comes with concealers in three different shades and one powder. I normally use this concealer to hide spots on my face and to cleanup my brows. It has excellent pigmentation, lightweight, creamy, and really smooth to apply. I also love to use the powder in this palette (bottom right) to set my under eye area. It's a versatile palette but not ideal for covering dark circles. It is more effective for covering imperfections on the face. You can view my in-depth review HERE.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger. This is the most expensive concealer I ever bought. I keep seeing all the beauty enthusiast rave about this product on social media sites, thus I caved and got myself one. And true enough, this lived up to the hype. A little goes a long way with this product since it is the most pigmented liquid concealer I have ever used. It has a very creamy texture, applies smoothly, excellent coverage, easy to blend, does not sit on fine lines and stays all day especially if set correctly with a powder.

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Medium. I bought this around November of 2016 because some bloggers mentioned that this was a good alternative for the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. When I tried this out for the first time, I noticed how easily it blended well on my skin. But it is in no way similar to the formulation of Nars. The Maybelline Fit Me Concealer has a much thinner texture and lesser coverage compared to Nars. I just liked this concealer because it blended really easily on my skin plus it is really affordable.


Here is a swatch between the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Medium VS Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger. If you notice, the Maybelline concealer has a bit more pink undertone to it while Nars has more yellow. When blended, you will definitely notice that Nars has superior coverage, does not settle on fine lines and dries into a matte finish, while the Maybelline has a thinner texture, less coverage and dries into a semi-matte finish.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles in Light. This variant is not available here in the Philippines, so I asked a friend to buy it for me in the US. I picked the wrong shade. I should have gone with Neutral but I still made it work for me. Since I use it to highlight certain areas of my face. This works as a really great under eye concealer and it really does what it is supposed to do.

I will be trying more concealers in the future but I will have to finish up these tubes before I buy new ones. However, I am definitely eyeing on the Tarte Double Duty Beauty Shape Tape Contour Concealer, since it has been raved by beauty gurus on Youtube.

Do let me know what your favorite concealers are.

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

I noticed that vampy lips has been trending for some time now and thought that this would be perfect for any makeup to look glammin'. So to start off, we need the perfect Face base for our makeup to last all night.


For the FACE base, let's start with the Becca Ever Matte Poreless Priming Perfector, to help prepare our skin with a smooth surface and make our makeup last longer. Then followed by the liquid foundation of your choice. I chose the Too Faced Born This Way in Natural Beige. Then apply concealer to brighten the under-eye area using the Burberry Sheer Concealer in Soft Beige. Then set the T-Zone area with a finishing power to remove any shine on the face as well as the under eye area to set the concealer, something similar to The Balm Sexy Mama translucent powder will work.


Then let's move on to the EYES and Brows. For the brows, I'm pretty straight forward, I normally just use an eyebrow pencil like the Benefit Cosmetics Precisely, My Brow Pencil in Medium. As I find it easier to shape and fill-in my brows that way. For the eyes, I honestly seldom use an eye primer specially if the eye shadow has great quality. So for this look, I would use the ZOEVA Caramel Melange Palette, since it contains both shimmer and matte eye shadows than can achieve Jaclyn's eye makeup. Then I would use the Sephora Collection 24hr Felt Liner in Intense Black to line my upper lash line. I prefer to skip mascara if wanted to use false eyelashes like the Lavie Lash Wildflower Collection in Snowdrop. That should do it for me.


To add a little dimension to my face, I would use the Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Bronzer to contour the hollows of my cheeks, forehead and jawline area. Then I apply blush slightly above the apples of my cheeks and highlight using the Becca Jaclyn Hill Collection Champagne Splits Shimmering Skin Perfector Mineral Blush Champagne pop - Flowerchild. Then finish the look with the The Balm Meet Matte Hughes in Adoring on my lips.

Do let me know if you like this kind of look and share with me what kind of looks you want to achieve this holiday season, I'd love to check out what you ladies prefer.

Shop more make-up products on Sephora PH here!

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

TGIF! Hey ladies, I recently rummaged through my beauty stash and realised I had enough Mac products to complete a full face makeup. So, I decided to wear this look to work. hehe

It was a bit gloomy that day since the clouds were dark and looked like it was about to rain. So, I wanted a look that is a bit dewy, fresh and work appropriate.

So, let's start off with the face Base.  After my usual morning skin care routine. I first applied a thin layer of Mac Strobe Cream, which would serve as my moisturiser and primer at the same time. This will help give out that dewy effect I wanted to achieve. Then followed by the Mac Studio Sculpt Foundation in NC30. This foundation is a bit thick and has full coverage, so I only applied a pea-sized amount, focused on the centre of my face using a damp sponge.

Once done, I added a bit more foundation to my under-eye area to serve as my concealer. I then set my under-eye area with the Mac Studio Fix Powder in NC35 and dusted a little bit of powder on my T-Zone area as well.

For my Brows, I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade in Dark Brown (not in photo) to fill-in and shape my brows then finished it with the Mac Brow Set in Beguile.

For my Eyes, I started with the crease color using the Mac Powder Blush in Harmony. Then applied the Mac Mineralize Eyeshadow Duo in This and That. I applied that champagne colour all over my lids and used the cream colour on my brow bone area. I decided to skip eyeliner and just applied the Mac Opulash Optimum Black Mascara to define my lashes.

For my Cheeks, I used the Mac Powder Blush in Harmony. 

Lastly for my Lips, I used the Mac Matte Lipstick in Whirl.


So, that is it. Clean, fresh and work appropriate.

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

Hey ladies! I've missed you all. I have something new for you. I have been wanting to do a one brand makeup for a while and finally got the time to play with my makeup.

I dug in my makeup stash and realised that I had a lot of products from Mary Kay, enough to do a full face makeup using all Mary Kay products.

They have always been a brand that I admired, because of the great quality and affordable price they offer. Plus their packaging is always so elegant, chic and sturdy as well.


So I'll start with letting you know the products I used for my face.

After my usual morning skin care routine, I started my makeup base with the Mary Kay Foundation Primer with SPF 15, followed by the Mary Kay Timewise Matte Wear liquid foundation. I mixed the shades Beige 4 and Ivory 2 to get the closest colour to my skin. Then I used the the Mary Kay concealer to do a little bit of spot concealing as well as to lighten my under eye area. To set my T-zone and under eye area, I used the Mary Kay Translucent Powder.

For my brows, I used the Mary Kay Brow Definer pencil in Brunette. This one applies smoothly and blends easily, so it's handy for a quick brow fix.

For my eyes, I went for the really simple day time makeup. I used the Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color in Hazelnut for my crease area, Sweet Cream for my brow bone, Amber Blaze for my lids, a hint of Espresso for my outer v and lower lash line, I also wet my angled brush and used Espresso to line my upper lash line. Then used Crystaline for my inner corner.

I then defined my upper and lower lashes using the Mary Kay Lash Love Waterproof Mascara. To contour my nose I used the Hazelnut eyeshadow, then I used Crystaline to highlight the bridge of my nose and high points of my cheeks.

I used the Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Strawberry Cream on my cheeks for that subtle flush. Then for my lips I used the Mary Kay Creme Lipstick in Pink Melon. I only applied a really thin layer, just enough for my lips to have some color. (but I mixed it with another lipstick though)


I then set my makeup with the Mary Kay Makeup Finishing Spray by Skindinavia. It helped my makeup last longer and blend to my skin, making it look smooth and flawless.

Let me know on the comments below what products you have tried from Mary Kay.

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

Hey ladies, it's time for a mascara round up! I'm trying to use up all 5 tubes of mascara the I currently have in rotation before I decide to buy another one. So it's high time to share my thoughts on these.

I've started using a couple of these mascaras late last year, so some of them are almost empty.  I know that mascaras should be replaced every 3 to 6 months for hygienic purposes. But I continue to use them anyway. I just don't like throwing them out when they still work well. However, I only keep them for up to 8 months before I toss it out.


First up is the Laura Geller GlamLash Dramatic Volumizing Mascara. I got this together with the Sparkling Rose Collection which my friend gave me. This one's actually my fave among the bunch. Too bad this is not available locally though.

What I like about it...
- it coats my lashes evenly
- it is build-able and does not clump up
- lengthens and thickens my lashes well after about two coats
- does not smudge, does not flake, and lasts all day long
- the lash applicator is slim which I prefer, since it helps with getting in to the roots of the lashes especially when applying mascara in the lower lash line.
- easy to remove even with my water-based makeup remover

Definitely give this a go if you chance upon this online or in-store if you are in the US.


Next is the Mac Extended Play Gigablack Lash Mascara. This is the only mascara I have repurchased among the bunch. In terms of formulation I don't really like it that much. However, this is the thinnest mascara applicator I can find and it's perfect for me.

What I like about it...
- has a really thin and fine applicator which is awesome for really reaching the roots of the lashes, especially the lower lashes.
- holds up my lashes really well and does not make my lashes droop
- does not clump and separates my lashes well
- it lengthens and gives volume to my lashes
- smudgeproof and waterproof
- easy to remove with any makeup remover

The only thing I really don't like about this mascara is, it flakes! If only, this mascara didn't flake after a few hours of wearing, this would have been on HG status. (sigh) And it's a bit expensive too for what it is, bought this for around Php1,200. I would be truly grateful if you girls can recommend another mascara that has a thin applicator similar to this one.


Next is the Missha The Style 4D Mascara. I got this mascara earlier this year when I first ordered from Althea last February. I honestly didn't expect to like this mascara but I did!

What I like about it...
- super affordable, I got this for only Php190 pesos from the Althea website
- has a long, thin and slender applicator, which makes it very easy to apply
- separates my lashes well and does not clump
- lengthens and volumizes well
- waterproof, but tends to smudge after 8 hours of use, which isn't really bad at all
- does not flake
- easy to remove

I really love this as an everyday mascara. Would definitely recommend to everyone.


Next is the Mac Opulash Optimium Black Mascara. This is first mascara from Mac I every tried and it's also the biggest tube among the bunch. I do like the formulation of the Opulash.

What I like about it...
- gives excellent volume to my lashes
- easy work with even with multiple coats
- separates and lengthens my lashes very well
- smudge proof and does not flake
- has a thicker applicator which helps with adding volume, but I can't use it properly on my lower lashes since it tends to get messy
- very easy to remove even with just warm water

This does not hold the curl of my lashes very well though. Also, you'll need to get used to applying this quickly to your lashes since it tends to dry up faster. However, if you want volume and length, then you'll absolutely love the Mac Opulash Mascara.


Lastly, there's the Rucy's Vanity Gleamy Lavish Waterproof Mascara. I started using this recently and I can say it's a good everyday mascara.

What I like about it...
- very affordable at only Php180 from their website
- coats and separates lashes well
- waterproof and does not flake
- lasts all day without smudging
- did not irritate my eyes
- easy to remove

This does not lengthen nor volumize my lashes but it does a good job of coating my lashes and making it appear more black.  I would recommend this mascara those who already have naturally long lashes. If you are looking for length and volume, this is not for you.

Phew! that was rather long. But I tried my best not to be so chatty in this post. hahaha
I would like know your mascara recommendations, that would be awesome.

Until next time.

Cheerios!
***Hollie***

Happy New Year!  It's that time of the year again, where you get to find out what my most used makeup products are. I know you probably have seen some of these items featured on my blog before, which goes to show how much I love them. I won't dilly dally and I'll just get on with it...

I have seen the Laura Geller Makeup brand on popular online retail shops for years so I have always been curious about it. I finally had the chance to try out some of their products when a friend flew in from the US and gifted me with this Laura Geller Sparkling Rose Festive Makeup Collection...

Not sure if you remember but I posted about this lip palette early this year and some of you might have seen this on my Instagram posts. So, I think it's high time that you know more about the Mac Pro Lip Palette in 6 Editorial Reds.