Thursday, February 10, 2011

Glossed!

If you are a beauty enthusiast, then Into The Gloss (or ITG for short) is your Holy Grail of sites! Super slick and stylish, with no baduy beauty products or reviews EVER! It's just like candy for the eyes, and lips, and cheeks, basta you know what I mean.

Grace of Divasoria was so inspired, she had this brill idea of asking "cool Pinays" to share their kikay secrets. When she asked me, I happily said yes, of course! I may be "low maintenance" but I am totally into skincare. Want to read about my tried and tested beauty prods? Check out her post here. Oh! And you should visit her site often because my feature is just the first of a series! Fun!

Meanwhile, here's a version with more pics!

I was never a make-up girl. My mom’s idea of beauty is of the Parisian sort – natural, no fuss, simple. So I grew up with that sort of aesthetic. But as we all know with the French, there’s a bit of work involved in getting that “natural, effortless” look.


My beauty routine goes like this. In the mornings, I wash my face with Cetaphil or Hada Labo facial cleanser (I interchange, depending on my mood), tone with La Mer The Tonic, and slap on La Mer SPF 30 UV Protecting Fluid. That’s pretty much it. Ever since we moved to Singapore, I’ve been going out sans make up. The humidity is such a downer, I feel like the less stuff I put on my face, the better.

Back when we were living in the States, I used Crème de La Mer, because my skin would get so dry, it was the only thing that was able to keep it from flaking. These days, I hardly use it, sometimes at night, and only when I remember. It’s just too rich and too thick for tropical weather. I have Dr. Perricone’s Cold Plasma on my shelf, it’s like some sort of wonder product for girls my age, but I am trying to use my remaining lotions and creams first.

So, on days when my face feels a bit tight, I use Hada Labo’s Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion. I love Hada Labo, it’s a Japanese skincare line that is so much cheaper than SK-II. I still love SK-II though. I used the full line before, but now I just use their foundations. Because when I feel like putting on make-up, it still feels like you don’t have make-up on. I am just using up my last remaining SK-II Perfect Radiance Powder Foundation, then I’m shifting to their Skin Signature Cream-In Foundation. Their beauty consultant told me if I use the latter, I don’t even have to top it with loose powder, it’s great coverage as it is. Let’s see!


For my cheeks, I use Shiseido Accentuating Color Stick in S2 Peach Flush. I used to want to make my cheeks look super rosy, but now that I’m older, I prefer a subtler, more natural sort of blush. For my lips, I don’t do lipsticks. I am more of a lip balm, gloss kind of girl. I use Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 (the best for windburn or just generally parched lips), Lancome Juicy Tubes (I have a stash thanks to my cousin Brenda who works at L’Oreal) and MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Fuchsia Fix (got it because it was the shade used by the girl behind the MAC counter at Saks, and it just looked so natural!).


For brows, I have it shaped at Browhaus. Highly recommended by all my friends, so I just took their advice. I actually miss Novi at Hairworks in Makati. She was the best brow groomer I ever had. When it comes to lashes, I think curled lashes are enough to make one’s eyes look pretty. I use a Shu Eumura lash curler, and I love Lancome’s Oscillating Mascara, it just makes mascara application so much easier. I bought a lash serum at Browhaus, but have yet to use it. Teen Vogue’s Eva Chen swears by this stuff, I better open that box soon.


Unlike the French who seem to make the rolled out of bed look extremely sexy, I prefer to go out looking well scrubbed. And nothing does well scrubbed better than Safeguard soap. I won’t argue with “kills 99.99% of germs”. Yeah, I am OC like that. For my hair, I use Santa Maria Novella Iris Liquid Shampoo and I switch it up with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration (because I love how it smells). Between days when I don’t shampoo, I use Oscar Blandi Dry Shampoo (a carryover from my ge lai days, hey if it was good enough to use for almost 30 days straight, it is great for in between days). Now, when it comes to moisturizing, I like Jao Goe Oil. It’s all natural and made up of 28 plant and fruit oils and butters. It just melts onto the skin!


For scents, I like Jo Malone’s Nectarine Blossom & Honey. It has that warm, fruity smell to it, I love how it lingers in my clothes even with just two spritzes. I once dropped a bottle and broke it, splashing our bath mat with it. Even if we’ve washed that mat so many times it still envelopes the room with the scent. Yummy! The Dior scent was a gift from my MIL, and the Tartine is Berry’s.


I like dark nails. I used to go all black, but now I want more sophisticated colors. I like Chanel not just because the colors are gorgeous, but also because they don’t make my nails turn yellow, if you know what I mean. But I am guilty of going grunge with my nails. With the demands of my daily life, I don’t get to maintain them. Chipped polish, hay. But at least they’re Chanel, haha.

- as told to divasoria

5 comments:

Shar said...

I just had to comment on this post, Christine because I can sooo relate with everything! I'm super low maintenance when it comes to makeup but stock up on so much skin care products!! Looove Hada labo and I totally agree with you about Safeguard. I laughed at the kills 99.9% germs part because that's what I also tell myself :) Found so many beauty prods I also use in this post, that it looks like I'm just peeking into my vanity cabinet. I actually just used Particuliere and Paradoxal on my nails last Sunday and had to take them out just this morning because they were chipped na!! Having them redone ASAP.

A Loopy Life said...

I've been wanting to try SK-II for a while now, and you just might have convinced me!

cd_mfo said...

@Shar Cute! Great minds think alike and buy the same products nga Shar! Hahaha!

@A Loopy Life Yes, I love SK-II! Must try it! =)

Katrya Kyla said...

The Gel de La Mer is great for humid/tropical weather! It makes your skin feel like you didn't use product at all. My skin has the weirdest reactions to weather changes and that moisturizer is the only product I've found that saves it. You should try it! :)

cd_mfo said...

Oh yes! I've tried that before, I may still have one of their itty bitty samples from past purchases lying around somewhere. Will try that again here in Singapore! Thanks for the reminder Kyla! =)

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