I'd never heard of Barielle before I visited Piandre Salon  but it was there that I was introduced to the nail polish topcoat that I now...

Review: Barielle Instant Liquid Nail Hardener

8:25 PM Joanna C. 0 Comments

I'd never heard of Barielle before I visited Piandre Salon but it was there that I was introduced to the nail polish topcoat that I now swear by. Having a beautiful manicure chip on the second day is maddening, so I recommend this for anyone seeking to extend the life of any nail polish when applied.




Barielle Instant Liquid Nail Hardener is recommended for weak, brittle nails. I don't have that problem, but I do get yellowing sometimes when I wear nail polishes for too long. When I use this as a topcoat, this not only prevents yellowing, but makes nail polishes last for five days without chipping. That's for someone who does a lot of typing, so five days of banging fingernails on a keyboard is a lot to put up with for any topcoat.

This works well with all nail polish brands I've tried. You can use it to touch up shine, and definitely also on its own if you need to strengthen your nails. I was told Barielle is safe to use for pregnant or breastfeeding women. The bottle on this says it's formaldehyde free and dibutyl-phtahlate free, for those who are concerned about a lot of chemicals in nail care products.

It is pricey for P550 at Piandre, especially for someone like me who refuses to spend more than P200 for a single bottle of nail polish. However, I have seen Barielle in Hong Kong. You can get it for less in discount beauty stores like Sasa and Bonjour.

The power of social media has me lemming after beauty products I otherwise would never have heard of. One of the ones I kept seeing on Insta...

Nivea Men post shave balm as primer

1:40 PM Joanna C. 0 Comments

The power of social media has me lemming after beauty products I otherwise would never have heard of. One of the ones I kept seeing on Instagram and YouTube is using the Nivea post shave balm as primer. Naturally, I also bought this online; I got mine from @kissandtell_ph on Instagram.


There are different varieties, but the particular one I have is the Cooling Post Shave Balm for Sensitive Skin.

It just looks like a moisturizer, white with a quite watery consistency. It absorbs immediately into the skin and gives the slightest cooling sensation. I used this on top of my daily sunblock and it was not at all sticky or heavy.

I noticed immediately that my foundation applied more smoothly with this. To test this balm, I specifically picked one that tends to get streaky upon application if my skin is not well moisturized. With the balm, it applied super smoothly. My skin looked "naturally" smooth and flawless, like I wasn't wearing foundation at all. 

This is not really a product for oil control, but more to help your makeup glide on more smoothly and last longer. 

I do have two concerns with this product, though. First is that the mouth of the jar is wide, so you have to be careful when tipping out just a small amount. I think a smaller hole would make it a lot easier to manage. Second, the fragrance! The smell is so manly and lasts so long, I could still smell it on my skin four hours after application. I'm not sensitive to fragrances in beauty products, but this one definitely stood out to me in the wrong way, so I would recommend looking for an unscented variety if it is available.

Despite those two cons, I am still happy I got my hands on this, and will definitely use it regularly. You only need maybe a 25-centavo size amount of product (I know that sounds awkward, but you know what I mean) so this 100ml bottle will last a while! I think it's only $6 or $7 in US drugstores.

I became intrigued by the RCMA No Color Powder after Kathleen Lights raved about it on her YouTube channel. It took a while to find it, but ...

Review: RCMA No Color Powder

8:32 PM Joanna C. 0 Comments

I became intrigued by the RCMA No Color Powder after Kathleen Lights raved about it on her YouTube channel. It took a while to find it, but a friend finally referred me to someone who sells it in the Philippines.




RCMA apparently stands for Research Council of Makeup Artists, which the label further says was established in 1963. The packaging is very plain and reminds me of condiment shakers. I have nothing against plain packaging, but I do wish the holes were smaller to make dispensing less messy.

The product itself is white, but lends no pigment when applied, and no white cast, which is always a good thing. I am not sure how this would look on dark skin, but it disappeared on my NC25-30 skin after blending. It looks natural and does not have a flat matte finish. The powder is finely milled, somewhere in between Laura Mercier translucent powder and Ben Nye loose powder.

I wore this powder for 15 hours in 32-degree weather, on a day that I had forgotten to bring my powder compact. I did still get oily, but it was manageable with just two oil control films. There was no caking, and I had less creasing in my eye area than usual after such a long day. 

If you are looking for a colorless powder for setting and oil control, this is a good one to try. At 3 ounces for a bottle, this will last a long time since you don't need much per use.

I bought this for P850 at dtcmakeup.com, where I was very pleased by the customer service; my order arrived a day after payment!
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