Night Time Skin Care Routine

This is my 'glycolic acid' night time skin care routine. The products used are from the brand Pixi by Petra. The active ingredient is 5% glycolic acid.

Glycolic acid is an AHA which is a chemical exfoliant. This helps in removing impurities as well as sloughing off the dead skin cells.

This video demonstrates how I use the products and also my feedback on each item.

Hope you enjoy watching =) Thank you!

Music: https://www.bensound.com

Pet Friendly Hotel in Tagaytay

This is a room and hotel tour of Eco Hotel Tagaytay. We spent our wedding anniversary in Tagaytay and we chose this hotel because of the price and location. It is also an eco-friendly and pet-friendly hotel. Guests are welcome to bring along their pets. They also have a resident dog named Blue . We enjoyed our stay here. And did I mention guests get to have a complimentary glass of wine each night? =) This is NOT a sponsored video.

Tagaytay Getaway

We spent our 9th wedding anniversary at Tagaytay. This video was on our 2nd day there. We went to Ayala Serin Mall for lunch and then had coffee at Starbucks Twin Lakes.

Highlighters In My Kit

  I have in this video the highlighters or illuminators in my kit.  These are used on my clients and on myself as well.  It consists of liquids, cream and powders that give a subtle glow to the skin.

Please continue reading to see the swatches.

Mother's Day Makeup Tutorial

  It's been a year since I last posted here.  I've been quite busy plus got some pretty rough months last year that I never got the chance to blog or at least got inspired to do something wonderful.

  Anyway, I'm trying to get my regular self back and found it quite timely as it is Mother's Day this weekend.  My Mom loves getting her makeup done especially by me =)  And we filmed a makeup tutorial in celebration of this special occasion.  Please give my video a thumbs up, subscribe to my YouTube channel and share the love and/or my video  =)  

  Read on to see the list of products used in this video.

  P.S. I am a freelance hair and makeup artist based in Metro Manila, Philippines.  For inquiries, please send me an email at makeupbyanna888@gmail.com.

Simple Makeup for a Beauty Portrait

  Had a fun beauty portrait session with my youngest sister.  I did a simple makeup on her and just had her hair on a low ponytail.  This was a one-light setup using a large continuous LED light octagonal softbox and a reflector.  We chose a blank wall in our living room for the background.  Good thing it is white although the paint is not matte.  But it's okay, it adds a bit of texture and interest to the image.

  Read on to see how the images turned out. =)

Beauty Stash Show and Tell: Brush Cleaners

  Hi there =)  For today's post, I decided to do a quick video on the different brush cleaners that I use.  I got a couple that I take with me during gigs to allow for quick cleaning in between clients.  And the other two are more for deep cleaning my brushes at home.  The first two brush cleaners are very effective in cleaning and disinfecting my brushes.  However, I prefer to deep clean with castile soaps to restore the softness of my brushes.  

For more information on the products featured please read on.

Bridal Hair and Makeup for Juvi

  Last April 18, 2015 I had an opportunity to do a bridal hair and makeup on a client, Juvi, who found me via OLX.  She opted for airbrush makeup since the ceremony was at 2pm.  And that was a very hot and humid Saturday btw!

  Here is how she looked like straight out of the shower.  I requested for her not to use hair conditioner to prepare her hair for styling.  If you'd  like to see the final look please read on. =)

        

Airbrush Makeup and Half Updo for Katrina

  It's been quite a while since I last posted an entry here and for the most part I have been very busy with work.  Aside from that I have been getting more freelance hair and makeup jobs during the weekends.  So, yay! =)

  Earlier this year I have given my niece a makeover and if you want to see how it went please continue reading.  =) 

Before the makeover

Roll-N-Go Cosmetic Bag, Home For My Brushes

  There's no such thing as too many brushes for a makeup enthusiast let alone an aspiring makeup artist.  =P  Since I've started amassing all of these makeup and tools my biggest dilemma have always been where to store them.  Sure enough I have tried brush rolls and brush canisters.  But I always end up exceeding their capacity.  =P  Good thing I came across this Instagram store selling Divisoria items and saw they were carrying Roll-N-Go cosmetic bags.  I forgot the name of the store but I remember I got my Roll-N-Go for around PhP 250 only!!!  I know they go much higher than that price at other stores so I grabbed the chance to buy from them.

June 2014 Sigma Discount Code Alert!!!

  Now is the time to stock up on your favorite Sigma products or get your hands on their latest items.  Use discount code JUNE10 at Sigma Beauty valid from June 1-30.  Take advantage of the $10 off a $100 purchase or more sitewide.

***Disclosure: I am a Sigma affiliate.

October Discount Code Alert!!!

  Use discount code FALL2013 at Sigma Beauty valid from the 1st of October until the 31st.  Take advantage of the 10% discount to get their latest brushes and limited edition makeup.  =)

***Disclosure: I am a Sigma Affiliate 

Unboxing: Tokyo Love Soap

  If you love Japanese beauty products chances are you might be familiar with this particular brand of soap.  I've been seeing these in Instagram for the last few weeks but paid no attention.  Until I got curious and went online to learn more about Tokyo Love Soap (I will refer to the brand as TLS in this post).  These soaps are manufactured by Happy Price Co. Ltd. in Japan.  There seem to be four permanent variants available and luckily buytokyolovesoap.com.ph sent me samples of each for review which I'll do in a later post.    
   

Top left to right: TLS Premium, TLS Medicated

Bottome left to right: TLS Original, TLS Pure Girls 

  The back of each box looks like this and everything is in Japanese except for the "Made in Japan" printed at the bottom =P

Tools: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

  Having hooded eyelids and stick-straight lashes make it a necessity for me to curl them each time I do my makeup.  But I've always used the cheaper eyelash curlers found at the mall.  I know nothing compares to Shu Uemura's iconic eyelash curler but I just don't see the point of spending that much cash on this particular item.  That is until I found an online seller who retails this item for only PhP 750 (mall price: PhP 1000+).  And it was very timely that my other eyelash curler just won't curl my lashes anymore even if I changed the pads. =(     

        

EOTD: Using Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister Eyeshadow

  So, I was checking out my makeup palettes hoping to get some inspiration and I noticed my Urban Decay I ♥ NY palette.  I barely touched it and the only eyeshadow I was using from this one is the matte black. =P  I love the colors but the shimmer can sometimes be too over the top.  Then I noticed this purple on the lower right hand corner and it's just so pretty I gotta use it.  =)

      

Discount Code Alert!

  Sigma is giving a 10% off for purchases from September 1 to 30.  Use code LJW2013.  Happy shopping!  =)

***Disclosure: I am a Sigma Affiliate

EOTD: Using Clinique Strawberry Fudge Eyeshadow Duo

  Today's EOTD is inspired by this eyeshadow palette from Clinique in Strawberry Fudge.  I've had this palette for ages but I haven't really used it until now.  Actually, eyeshadow duos are alien to me as I've learned to do eyes using at least three eyeshadows.  But because this palette is so unique and pretty I can't just ignore it forever =P

  The palette contains a shimmery golden pink (left) and a shimmery brownish plum (right) eyeshadow.  Pigmentation is quite good but it fades and creases on my oily lids.  This can be easily remedied by using an eyeshadow primer and a cream base to make the colors stand out.         

Clinique Eyeshadow Duo in Strawberry Fudge

Really, really, really bad skin =(

WARNING: The following image might gross you out!!!

  Growing up with almost clear skin, adult acne came as a shock to me.  I did not suffer the wrath of acne until last year when I suddenly got plagued with cystic acne.  I know something is wrong with my hormones and stuff so I scoured the internet for answers.  While I resort to the internet, I highly suggest you check with your dermatologist.  I'm just sharing my experience and this post should not be treated as an expert opinion.

  I have here a snapshot of my left cheek.  As you can see, I don't have any active cystic acne at the moment but I have a lot of dark acne scars.  I'm too ashamed of my skin that I watermarked my image using a font color similar to my skin tone =(  Being used to having clear skin in previous years, I tried to get rid of acne by picking on them which is a big no no!!!  Sometimes I find myself picking on my skin when I'm stressed and just realized it became a habit... a bad one =(

So, where have I been?

  Writing this post after 10 months of being MIA feels like the first time all over again.  My apologies for not updating my blog for so long.  I can think of a thousand excuses for not doing blog posts but to sum it up... life just happened.

  No, I did not have a "writer's block".  I've just been very busy procrastinating =P  Kidding aside, I just found it difficult to juggle between household chores, taking care of our dogs, WORK, BUSINESS and JUICING.  Yes, I did say business =P  I've started selling online mainly cosmetics and I've also started juicing for better health.

Happy 3rd Anniversary House of Flair!

  House of Flair is turning 3 this September and to celebrate they will launch a promo starting on Monday, September 24, 2012.

 For more details, please visit http://houseofflair.multiply.com.  Thank you! =) xoxo