Here’s an overview of mostly skin care and a couple of makeup bits I’ve emptied recently:

Xbrow eyelash serum

I may be saddest of all about using every last drop of this lash serum. From the same maker of Xlash, which almosut doubled my lash thickness and added 50% in length, this was the brow serum that really worked to thicken my eyebrows. It has unfortunately become too expensive to import this from the U.K. so it is no longer distributed in the Philippines. 

The Body Shop lip and cheek tint

The OG lip and cheek tint that I have been using since high school, since its rollerball packaging days. It’s still the perfect tint in terms of color and wearability for me, but it is quite pricey and there are tons of Korean and local options now that are more affordable and very similar in wear and application. 

Aritaum Style Pop brow mascara

I bought this quite a while ago from Dara Beauty, but it took a long time for me to use up because I liked to bring it while traveling since it’s so small. It’s a good brow gel as the spoolie gives good control without depositing too much product. I would repurchase. 

Missha Green Tea lip and eye makeup remover

This is the second Missha lip and eye makeup remover I’ve emptied. It’s the best that I’ve used and works better for me than some expensive high end removers I’ve tried for taking off the most long wearing lipsticks and waterproof eyeliners. It doesn’t leave an oily film and doesn’t sting at all. You’d think that would be a basic requirement for something made for your eyes and lips, but I’ve encountered eye makeup removers that sting if you get it into your eye. 

Neostrata Refine oily skin solution with 8 AHA

AHA stands for alpha hydroxy acid, which was amazing at refining my skin texture and smoothing out my pores. I got this as a sample from Bodyworx Medical Spa, and made sure to use it sparingly when I found out that a full size bottle costs more than P2,000! 

Clinique All About Eyes Rich eye cream

It also took me a long time to go through this because I’d use it for travel. It’s a good nighttime eye cream especially for cooler climes, but the full size is quite pricey. I’d rather spend money on my HG Origins eye cream because that’s been the best for fading my dark circles. 

L’Oreal micellar water

This is a good micellar water that’s available in most department stores and Watsons. I honestly felt no difference from the much more expensive Bioderma. I would repurchase, but I still have other Korean micellar waters in my stash to use up. 

Neutrogena Deep Clean foaming cleanser

If you’re wondering why this has Chinese characters on it, I bought this in Hong Kong. I don’t know if the formulation has been improved or adjusted for the Philippines, but this cleanser did not deep clean my skin. Even if I had used makeup remover before this, I would still get traces of makeup on my cotton pad when I followed with toner, meaning it hadn’t done well melting off and washing off the remnants of my makeup. 

Human Nature Nourishing facial wash

I received this from PR and I like to use it as morning facial wash when I’m traveling since it’s a gentle cleanser with a nice (not sweetly artificial) scent. I think this is a good cleanser for normal skin, but may not be potent enough to thoroughly wash off makeup if like me, you wear BB cream / foundation and powder most of the time. 

Party Fever (top) and (Very Berry) bottom

They come in plastic sky blue and baby pink ombre tubes, which I think is really pretty and better than expected for such an affordable lipstick. The only down side is the plastic stains quite easily, so if you’re not careful, the lipstick is going to stain it. 

Although the colors appear quite dark and vampy in the tube, Very Berry is a medium red while Party Fever is a toned-down magenta. Both of them apply very smoothly with good pigmentation and have a powdery matte finish that isn’t drying. Because they are not too bright, I find them wearable enough for daytime and even at the office. 

Both shades last around a similar amount of time on me, but I noticed that Party Fever transfers noticeably more than Very Berry. It definitely stained my coffee cup, and it’d be a good idea to wipe it off first before changing out of your office blouse or uniform.

Overall, I am pleasantly impressed with these. You can buy them in Penshoppe stores or penshoppe.com.