Review: Rimmel Stay Matte Primer

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer
PHP 400 at Love Manila

I have combination-severely oily skin, thanks both to my parents' genes and to my polycystic ovaries. So no matter how drying and oil-free my skincare products are, my face will still be oily and acne-prone particularly on the T-Zone. And the weird part is, there's really dry patches of skin mixed in between. 

Base makeup becomes a challenge both in applying it and in making it stay put. And despite being contraindicated for my skin type, I still prefer cream/liquid type of base makeup, as I find them easier to work with and delivers a more natural finish. So unless the makeup is oil-free (like the Revlon Colorstay), there is a big chance that oil will seep through my makeup in a nick of time. 

The answer to my problem came when I found out about primers. 

My first primer was Etude House Dr. Oil Solution Dual Primer. My cousin gave it to me when I was in college and I really felt the difference in terms of ease in applying makeup, blurring of pores, and oil control. Now I had an event to attend to so I felt the need to purchase a primer again, but now I realized that they really don't come in cheap. 

That is, until I saw Rimmel Stay Matte Primer.

Follow me on Bloglovin'!

I wish I had met Bloglovin way earlier. Everytime I browse thru my favorite blogs, my browser is clogged with tabs it gets confusing sometimes!

Bloglovin' is a feed site where you can follow blogs, whether it's from Blogspot, Wordpress, or even those that have custom domains. I think it's similar to Pinterest, but have blogs as feeds instead of pictures. So it simplifies the way you follow and discover blogs! And they have an app for iOS and Android, so this is really a heaven-sent tool!

I have just signed up, so...Follow, follow me! Use the Bloglovin' widget found at the sidebar of this page, or simply search "The Girly Medic" on Bloglovin'.♡♡♡

Stay girly!

Kat

FOTD x BEAUTY FIX: Get Pretty with Pencils!

In my review on the Etude House's Drawing Eyebrow Pencil, I featured an eyebrow pencil that was too red on me I only used it on my brows twice. I only bought it out of panic as I haven't brought with me any brow-defining product when I went home one weekend, and there was no Etude House store in sight. I was reluctant to throw it away, and thanks to Pony, I had a crazy idea.

So if you're like me and did the mistake of buying a brow pencil that looked off or an eye pencil for tightlining but gave you panda eyes or any makeup pencil that you ended up not using, read on for one crazy (but fun) tutorial! ;)

ALL ABOUT BROWS Series: Review on Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil

Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil
PHP 148 at Etude House Robinson's Place Manila

To end my first-ever blog series, "All About Brows", I would like to post a review on a brow product that I have been using for more than 2 years. This is hands down, my "holy grail" (HG) product for defining brows: the Etude House Drawing Eye Brow Pencil.

FOTD: Retro in Red

Why am I covering 1/2 of my face? Read on to find out. :p

I like transforming myself. Making myself look good makes me feel good so I always turn to makeup whenever I'm stressed, which happens almost everyday. But aside from school, church and occasional trips to the mall, there is really not that much occasion for me to wear them. I'm such a loser, I know. :))

That did not stop me from playing with makeup though. I always take pictures after every makeup play session - some of them I upload when I feel brave enough to show it - but I save a lot of them in a folder on my phone. Seeing them from time to time makes me feel accomplished on how much I have learned.

ALL ABOUT BROWS Series: REVIEW on NYX Brow Gel in Brunette

NYX Eye Brow Gel in Brunette
PHP 400 at Love Manila

When the various online makeup stores that I was following on FB started posting preorders for the NYX Brow Gel, a lot of makeup lovers went gaga over it! After all, it was a brow product in a very different form, and even I got curious with this brow-in-a-watercolor-tube.

ALL ABOUT BROWS Series: How I fill my brows

A number of my friends compliment my brows and they even asked me how I did it. Of course I thought it was just a casual question, so I never answered them in detail. The only time that I answered it in a detailed manner was when a total stranger asked me about it. 

I will never forget that incident. I went to the school clinic that day because of dry cough, and after the nurse took my history and blood pressure, she told me:  "Alam mo, 'di ko mapigilang mapatingin sa kilay mo. Pano mo nagawa 'yan? (You know, I can't stop myself from looking at your brows. How do you do that?" That was like, the best compliment, ever! Hahaha.

Taken while I was waiting for the doctor, still recovering from the shock of having to answer the nurse's question. Hahaha.

I did try to tell it to her in as detailed and as clear as I could, but well, let's say that this is my definitive answer to her (and my friends') question. 

FOTD: Sweet Pastels

N.B. That's Fanny Serrano E/S in Frosty Chic. My bad. 0:)

With makeup, I had an on and off relationship. When it was too busy in school I’d just ditch ‘em. When I could not work with the makeup that I got, I’d ditch ‘em.

And then in college I took baby steps. I started with mineral makeup powders (hello, Ellana) plus tinted lipbalm, then progressed to bb creams and lip tints. On my college graduation, I did my own makeup, which is composed of BB cream, lip and cheek tint, a sparkly gold eyeshadow, and mascara. Looking back, that is actually my everyday makeup now…and more. Hahaha.

My makeup kit grew exponentially as I learned more about blushes and bases and smokey eyes and Korean style of makeup. I watched too many Pony’s Diary and Get It Beauty episodes on Channel M for the past three years.  And I’ve read too much makeup tutorials.

School starts at 7 AM everyday, so there is a need for my look to be quick and easy to do yet I want it to be detailed. I usually become a bit more detailed on my eye makeup, because as Lisa Eldridge said, drawing the attention to the eyes would draw attention away from my flawed areas.

But don’t worry, for this makeup look is no rocket science. What I like about doing this is that it does not require expertise in eyeliner since everything is smudged, because when I'm in a hurry, precision is one of my worst traits..

ALL ABOUT BROWS Series: REVIEW on Browhaus Lucky Chinatown

I can't remember when I first started to mess around with my brows. Maybe it was in my Senior Prom, because when I was a Junior my Dad was inside the salon when I was being made up, and he stopped the beautician from shaving my brows at that time. (Way to go, Pops. Hahaha.)

Even after that, I didn't get to care about how they looked or how they were shaped. I didn't even give a hoot if my brows looked like that of a caveman, like this:

Sometime in 2012, when I was growing my brow after
neighborhood beautician shaved it waaaaay too thin. :/

 But in the recent years, the more that I learn about make up, the more that I got conscious with my brows. But then I just I wanted them to be neat, so off I went to neighborhood brow salons and soon I sported brows that were dangerously thin, or too arched, or not pantay (symmetrical) and I never knew the difference. Hahaha.

My (recent) brow history. The best looking of the bunch, (Mar 2014 photo)
was all thanks to Benefit Brow Bar. After that I tried Cara Delevingne's caterpillar brows. :))

Then one fine August day, I noticed that something that was terribly wrong with my brows - one was arched way up high, while the other lay flat. I don't know when it started to happen, but the last time I had my brows threaded was at Bench Fix before my classes started last July.

Right brow was flatter and fatter compared to my left brow,
which had a really defined arch. Also, my left brow is shorter than the right. Got too tweezer-happy, I guess.

At first I didn't mind it because on most days I wear my hair down and so my flat right brow would be mostly out of sight. So I gave my brows time to grow and hopefully find one salon that can fix this anomaly.

The Girly Medic Says Hi!

Yesterday at a brow salon while I was filling up their feedback sheet the lady behind the counter asked me: "Are you a blogger?". To which it took me 3 seconds to reply.

Yes I do maintain a blog and it was born out of love of writing and a whole lot of raging teenage hormones. Ergo, that blog was like diary to me. *insert shy, nervous laugh here.*  I would love to post my kikay musings and all,.but to place them alongside my emotional rants would make them quite out of place doesn't it?

So I thought about it the whole night and well, why not make another blog? I know and revered a handful of beauty bloggers and while I think I'd be nowhere as good as them, I think I have something to share to you. A view of things,  a product review cannot be relied on a single blogger after all, so might as well share what I know. Who knows, I might become a blessing to others through this blog. 0:)

So let the girly adventures commence! :)