QUICK POST: Daily Skin Care

Just a quick and random post from my Instagram account:

Introducing my daily skin care products. I've been using them since I was in college.

Daily #skincare products.

A photo posted by VitaminCEE (@yourstrulyceedotcom) on Sep 24, 2015 at 4:15am PDT

I have recently bought these to replace my empty bottles of scrub and astringent. I use these after taking a bath in the morning and after washing up in the evening.

What I love about Garnier is that it's not as harsh as other facial scrub and astringent yet it works just as the same. I love the fact that one of it's main ingredient is to whiten and tone your face.

I would like to hear from you! What is your daily skin care product? How often do you use them?

Comment down your thoughts below!

Previous Post:

EVENT: Anime Fiesta ADZU 2014

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MAKEUP: My usual makeup base products

New in cosplay? Can't figure out makeup?

Now let me enlighten you with my makeup style!

I am not claiming that I am the best. makeup artist in town. I am just sharing my makeup base routine every time I prepare for a cosplay gig. A lot of people have asked me about this so I have decided to write a short post about it.

This is not a tutorial. If you don't know how to apply makeup, makeup base etc... Visit youtube for simple video tutorials.

Comparison between my cosplay makeup from the first convention I attended to last year's PB shoot.

So first, let me list the products I apply for my base. I have watched numerous youtube tutorial videos and read a lot of makeup blogs before constructing my base combination. I have been using this method for quite some time and I think it is safe to say that I have improved a lot compared to the first few times I attempted to wear makeup. And I have received a lot of positive comments on how pretty my makeup was during the last con I attended.

Products that I use for my base:

Regardless of Makeup Brand:

Mosturizer

To protect my face from the long term effects of applying makeup.
Face Primer

For long-lasting hold.
Eye Concealer

Because I have dark circles under my eyes that don't disappear.
BB Cream + Liquid Foundation

I mix the two. BB Cream to cover up imperfections on my face and Foundation to create a clean canvas for coloring later.
Face Powder

To give that matte finish after the BBCream+Foundation application.
Eyelid Primer

To make my eyeshadow last long.

I won't be talking about brands here since this isn't a product review post. Instead, I am going to discuss the pros and cons of this method that I have observed after using it a lot of times:

Cons:

A few things I encountered while using this combination

You need a considerable amount of budget if you want to follow my makeup base routine.

You can buy the products one by one. Let your wallet breath in between purchases. :D

Some of these products were bought online. Try browsing ZALORA's makeup section if they have some of these products available.

You need to learn on how to correctly apply these products to be able to get the best results.

Don't worry. Youtube will help you on that. I might write a post about makeup application soon.

It takes a lot of time to apply everything. Sometimes, you need to wait for a few minutes in-between layer application for better coverage.

At first, it will be difficult ti apply all those layers but in time, you will learn how to apply them swiftly but surely.

A few gigs ago, makeup would take about 1-2 hours of my prep time. Nowadays, makeup only takes me less than an hour to apply.

You need to try out a few brands to find the right ones suitable to your skin type, complexion, etc.

My advice is to buy the smallest pack available and try it out first.

Pros:

What I observed after practicing on how to properly apply these products and trying it out during my cosplay gigs.

Longer lasting makeup.

You won't get scared that your face will run after sweating a lot of times during a lengthy event.

Minimal maintenance is needed.

All you need is is to carefully dab tissue on your sweaty or oily areas, brush a little powder and voila! The makeup stays on your face.

Better canvas for your eyeshadow, contouring and blush-on.

I noticed that I was able to apply the colors well after applying this base routine, compared to applying colors on bare skin.

Good cosplay makeup gives you a confidence boost.

I received favorable comments on my cosplay during my last cosplay event. My mom even commented on how good my makeup was, considering I didn't have any formal workshop on how to apply it. I think it's because of the good base that I applied.

It covers up blemishes and imperfections really well.

I have an imperfect face. I have scars and huge pores too but this routine covers them up and I am so happy about that.

Although for me this is the best routine that I have ever did, I still need to improve it further. I want a stronger, longer lasting base for long events such as a con or a long photo shoot. And there are minor imperfections I want to correct but then, I don't want to just add any other layer to solve my problem. I fear that my face will become all too light compared to my normal complexion!

You can use my makeup base method and modify one or two products to your liking. This can act as a guide for you to create your own layering. I had so much difficulty with makeup the first time I chose cosplay as a hobby so I hope this will help you a lot.

Just don't use this routine for your everyday makeup. Too much layering applied everyday will ruin your skin in time!

Thank you for reading and let me know on the comment box if this worked for you!

My previous makeup post:

REVIEW: SampleRoom.com Colour Collection HD Lipstick (Pink Berry)

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REVIEW: SampleRoom.com Colour Collection HD Lipstick (Pink Berry)

Hey lovies! So I would like to share my first lipstick review that I got last week.

The Colour Collection HD Lipstick was a free sample that I got from Sample Room.

"Sample Room is a sampling site that banks on the power of free product sampling. It is an online community that changes your beauty-shopping pattern; and an interactive community where your opinions matter and where all beauty lovers are valued."

-- Sample Room About 

The lipstick was in bubble wrap, placed inside a brown paper bag bearing the logo's name, line and website.

So after choosing a product from their catalog, I paid for the shipping and waited for the arrival. I got it and tried it for a few days to be able to write a good review.

Colour Collection HD Lipstick (Pink Berry)

The Sample Room had specific guidelines on how to review their products, which was actually good for first time users like me. I was able to construct a proper review after following the simple but precise guidelines listed by the website.

Photo of the lipstick with flash.

Product details:

Colour Collection HD Lipstick (Pink Berry)

Indulge in high definition make up!

A 3-in-1 lip color: decadent color, lip plumping and unforgettable shine.

Radiant color shine projected in hi-definition.

Moisture rich for comfortable feel.

A serum infused formula hydrates lips on every application.

Definition improves, day after day for youthful, beautiful lips.

Full Size: 4g

Price: PHP 399

Sample Size: 1 pc. 4g (full-sized)

Without flash, window light.

I am a big fan of matte lipstick, especially in pink shade because I love wearing pink lipstick everyday but I tend to avoid bright, light pink shade because I feel that this does not suit my skin tone.

Swatches:

Natural Light

With flash

So after trying it on for a few days, I was able to write short review of the product as seen on Sample Room's website.

Photos of me wearing the lipstick:

Comparison of no lipstick upper lip and with lipstick lower lip.

Full lips with Colour Collection HD Lipstick in Pink Berry

Overall, I can say that I had a very nice experience with my first Sample Room product. It was very easy getting the sample, paying for the shipping and reviewing the product. Sample Room had specific guidelines in writing a product review, which was very helpful for newbies like me. I was lucky I got a good product compatible to my skin.

Colour Collection HD Lipstick in Pink Berry is a good product. It was my first time to encounter this brand of makeup but it was not a disappointment on my part. I would love to try other products offered by this brand, especially other colors by this line of lipsticks.

Thank you for reading my post and stay tuned for my next makeup review!

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Shopping out of town + Hatah Hatah Shop Feature

When I go on vacation out of town, I really make sure that I get to shop in one of the malls of that particular city. Here in my place, Zamboanga City, we don't have big malls with several famous shops. Heck, we only have one Otaku store that sells a limited variety of anime goodies. That's the reason why I go gaga over mall shopping and I really can't miss visiting even a small mall to buy the things I usually can't find locally.

The 3 types of shop that I always visit are:

1. Otaku/Anime/Cosplay shop
2. Makeup store   
3. Bookstore

Usually, while visiting these shops, I splurge a lot on things that I want and need. And well, spending a lot does not make me feel guilty as I rarely do this. I usually save up enough money before going on vacation so that I can buy those things I've been looking for.

One example is my vacation last week. I accompanied my mom to her business trip to Cagayan de Oro City and I lived with my cousins there. I really love visiting the city because of it's simplicity, it's wide variety of shopping malls and it's cheap public transportation fees.

So after hanging out with my aunt and cousin, they took me to the mall to do some quick shopping. And I bought a few things with my hard-earned money from selling floral accessories over at Fabric Flowers By Cee.

Makeup Haul

I think i bought too many lippies. Don't you think? :)

What I love about visiting Watsons is the helpful staff that mans almost every makeup stand in the store. They are really friendly and helpful when I visit the shop and they almost always interact to their customers about the makeup products that are available. They aren't one of those annoying kind of sales staff - the ones that watch you like a hawk when you browse each product.

(I rarely encounter friendly staff in the local stores here in Zamboanga City and when I sometimes browse products from department stores, the staff almost always watch you like a vulture... ready to attack once you pick an item. I don't like that at all!)

I got amused by the black lipstick available. I think this would be a perfect product for a Halloween Party makeup! :) I bought a couple of lip balms for my girlfriends. And I found a matte pink lipstick for everyday use. I will definitely make an in-depth video blog on these products!

Plus - I found this leg makeup from Nichido. Perfect for your imperfect legs! (I tend to cosplay characters in sailor fuku and I admit I have imperfect legs. I hope this will cover those leg scars and uneven skin tone.)

Otaku Goodies!

Whoopsie~! I wasn't able to notice that my feet got into the frame. Ignore them! LOL

I can't really miss visiting an otaku shop whenever I am shopping at Centrio Ayala. So I visited Comic Alley!

After being recently addicted to FREE!, I bought my very own Iwatobi High School Swim Club jacket! This will make me feel like I belong to the swim team. LOL

Then even tho I don't really need one, I wasn't able to resist buying the Arabian FREE! mouse pad.

I got a bit disappointed when I discovered that they only have about three merchs of Dangan Ronpa The Animation. *sob* One was a Monokuma bear (I have that already). The other was a Monokuma cosplay hoodie (I am planning to cosplay Junko, not Monokuma! LOL). So I ended up buying the Principal's Office key for that I decided to give to a friend. I hope this friend likes it! :)

Iwatobi High School Swim Club Member Jacket

Because of the time constraints, I wasn't able to visit National Bookstore for a book or two. Sigh. Maybe that's the reason why I had a dream of shopping for books last night! LOL. The books are haunting me!

Extra! Extra! Extra!

Before I got out of town last week, I ordered a couple of shirts from my favorite hat shop 

Hatah Hatah!

What I ordered? No surprise here: Iwatobi Swim Club's Secret Shirt!

Forgive the crumpled shirt. I just took it out from the courier's receptacle. ^_^

Why is it called the 'secret shirt'? Well, you have to watch the first season to know the answer! LOL

Anyway, I contacted Jayne of Hatah Hatah to order shirts for me and for a friend and she replied immediately and the transaction went smoothly. She even gave me a big discount! Such a wonderful person! The shirts I got are really good in quality and it fits nicely. I am so happy of my purchase and for sure I will be ordering again from them in the future! 5/5 shopping experience!

Iwatobi HSSC's secret shirt :)

I admit that I don't really shop frequently... but when I do, I tend to spend a lot! LOL. I always shop when I go on out of town vacations and I usually buy stuff that aren't found in the local stores. The other thing that I love about shopping out of town is the fact that the customer service is better than most of the shops here in the city. The sales staff are very nice when it comes to helping customers and they are attentive to the needs of those people who visit their establishments. It may not be always perfect but it's much better. I hope customer service of the malls here in Zambo will slowly improve in the future.

What do you love to buy when you go out of town? Comment down your answers!

PS:
I never thought this post will be this long! LOL Thank you for reading!



ONGOING GIVEAWAY

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Makeup haul ready for review!!

Heyy guys! So during my Nursing Licensure exam review, I didn't totally leave my obsessions including my love for makeup. During those months, even though I was not able to post anything here.. I still kept my obsession alive by buying and collecting makeup.

I am planning to do a review on these soon, maybe on a video blog or a post. <3 I will review two products sponsored by KKCenterHK. (Which I have a 15% off coupon code for my readers: yourstrulyceeevent15off) 

For now, here are the makeup products that I collected during my review days.

These are the products sent to me by KKCenterHK for review:

Remember my CUICU Violet eyeshadow review? Well I chose another shade of eyeshadow from this brand for my Miku Hatsune cosplay. I really love this eyeshadow!

This one is a blush palette (Do you call it a palette when there are two colors in one case? I am such a noob)
The colors on this product are cream and brown. Can't wait to use this for contouring. 

So I bought the following products to complete my basic makeup kit. Been wanting to buy these for sometime now. Finally I have them in my collection! (PS: I love ELF products. They're affordable and safe.)

Waterproof mascara because I was totally not satisfied with the mascara that I bought. I hope I will get good results from this.

Blending eye brush for awesome eyeshadow application. :)

Face Primer for a lasting makeup. Sweating my makeup won't be much of a problem from now on! I hope this product gives out good results.

Well this one is not really for plucking my eyebrows, instead I will use them for applying eyelashes. <3 

Eye primer so that my eye shadows will last longer than usual. 

So that's it!! I am so ready for my cosplay comeback this coming Feb 25. We have a scheduled shoot on that holiday so watch out for it!

Thank you for reading. <3

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Anarchy Panty Wig and Makeup Trial

Hey guys! So I wanted to try on a few makeup styles before my guest appearance on the promotional walk/ramp of the Otaku Attaku AdZU cosplay event inside the AdZU campus. This makeup took me almost an hour to put on because of all the experimenting that I did with my products. At least now (after doing this trial), I know what to apply on the day of the promo walk.

Another reason for this trial is to find the perfect makeup combination for my upcoming Anarchy Panty cosplay shoot with my partner Bea as Stocking in a hotel downtown.

Anyway, here are some of the self-captured shots that I took after I did the makeup. Sorry for the low quality photos!

Styled Anarchy Panty wig by yours truly! I made an ahoge by tying a few strands of the wig on top of my head using rubber bands. Then I trimmed one long "bang" and sprayed on lots of hairspray to group this portion of fibers together. I also spiked the wig fibers on top and on the rest of the wig using the same hairspray.

I think I need to soften the pink eyeshadow next time. Or maybe I just need to blend it in more.
Panty's eyeshadow in the series is pink, so I tried doing pink smokey eyes effect on my lids.

For my eyebrows, I used yellow eyeshadow to match the wig color.

Then I used fake lashes to achieve pretty anime-like eyes. For my lips, I used AVON in nude shade first then L.A. Colors Lilac Frost for the second coat. This combination gave a light shade of pink for my lips.

So I am pretty much satisfied with this makeup trial. It's evident on the number of self-captured shots I took after finishing the makeup. LOL 

So that's it for this post! I would love to hear your opinions on this comment. I want to improve this look in any way. Comment your suggestions down below! 

PS:

This is the official promotional poster for the upcoming AdZU cosplay event on July 29! I will be appearing as a guest cosplayer on that day. I can't wait!

Source
Poster by Bee

Ada Wong Makeup Trial

Hey guys! So I got this request to do Ada Wong because according to a friend, I kind of looked like one of those girls online who already cosplayed her. I did not find any similarities at first but still I pushed on with the makeup trial because my friends encouraged me to do it. That's what I love about my friends. They support my cosplaying hobby. ^_^

I love Ada from the Resident Evil movie. That fight scene with the axeman was nice. I can't believe a woman can still move like that while wearing a long dress. Bad-ass while looking all sexy!

Anyway...
This was my reference photo for the trial.
(These photos are from Google)

Look at that body!! 

So after studying her photos, I came up with this look. (These are self-captured photos. Nobody was home to take photos of me.)

I used a red top that I own, a black lace and a wristband for this trial. LOL

I noticed that the Li Bingbing, the actress of Ada Wong from Resident Evil: Retribution wore visible eyeliner. Her eyebrows are visible too, in contrast to my very thin... almost invisible eyebrows. :D

So I applied thick eyeliner above and a thin line of brown pencil eyeliner below. 

I also shaped my eyebrows using brown eyeliner. This was my mistake. I should have used black instead.

I noticed that she also wore orange lip color from the photo, so to achieve this, I wore nude lipstick plus red orange lip gloss. I think it's still too light, so maybe I'll apply more next time.

I got a lot of positive feedback from this trial! Some of my friends on facebook commented that I do look like Ada Wong and I should pursue this cosplay.

Thanks guys! Maybe I will! I am planning to play the game to understand Ada Wong more. I think I need to study her moves to achieve a great cosplay!

Thank you for reading!

BTW

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