Yet Another Ellana Make-up Raid

You will always go back to products that gave you great and positive results. These brands will carve their names on your go-to list, sans the countless choices you have in the market. Ellana make ups made it on my top list. Their products are simply worth your money and definitely something that your face would really befriend. So it is not surprising that one Friday night, I stormed their little space in SM Makati to buy my sweet love foundation. I raved about this product here.

I thought I was only hunting my hazelnut latte foundation when, as usual, I ended up buying some more stuff! Here's what I get with a brief and concise review:

Smile Concealer. This is my first time to purchase a concealer since I am not a huge user of this one. Luckily, I don't suffer the zombie-like effect of eyebags so concealer does not really play an important role in my beauty routine. BUT, I do have this annoying zits in my face which could be a result of my alternating facial wash (which I should stop!) and spotting a concealer at their stall made me decide to try them. This made me happier because I could now use my long forgotten concealer brush. Zits now concealed!

Another purchase was the High Definition (HD) Primer in White Chocolate. This one they claim to blend with all skin types. The finest texture and white color give an impression that it was made from the highest quality. This is best for a finishing touch, as pointed out by the attending sales lady. But I do use this as a primer just as what the name suggests and at the same time a finishing powder. This primer combined with the foundation above deliver a very good result but beware when you use BB cream as your first step. I once did a BB cream, HD primer, foundation, and another round of DH primer and the result was a too white face! I might have applied too much BB cream, or maybe too much primer, or both. But one thing is for sure, it was a bad idea!

I felt bad though that they do not sell individual foundation and eyeshadow brushes to replenish my brush kit from their brand but nevertheless, this Ellana magazine slash cheat sheet made me feel better again. I tell you, it is something that you have to have at hand when you want to make your make up done the right way. How to apply blushes for round face? heart-shaped? small face? They do have an answer!!!

Product Review: Ellana Mineral Make Ups

Ellana mineral make-ups. I personally think the owner behind this product has a revolutionary mind. I love the idea that she comes head to head with foreign brands with three most distinct winner factors: affordability, quality, and very good customer service. These factors make up a promising business venture.

Let me get down to their products and services. Ellana offers a FREE sample for each individual who are interested to try out their products! You can get it from here.

Ellana encourages that their clients to go to their office so that they can take a look at your skin undertone. One make up tip that I learned from them is that in order to know the best foundation shade for us, one should look into our undertones.  There are warm, cool, and olive undertones. Each has a corresponding foundation shade.

I have warm undertone so my Ellana make up artist recommended the hazelnut latte. Matched with Ellana Foundation brush, the loose mineral foundation glides smoothly on my face. The effect was so natural looking and it was just very flawless. I love how it finishes in my face! The good thing about this one is that you can buy them for as little as 100 php! Yes, 100 php for a mineral make up - how cool is that? :)

Just like the other mineral make ups, I just find it less efficient in applying them because of the very reason that they are loose. The tiny powder forming on your clothes just makes it more time-consuming whenever you apply them. So I do use this if I have ample time to play around. But if I am so tight up, I use my VMV compact powder since I can easily apply it even if I am inside a car.

Dainty is a pale reddish brown frost

Inspiration is more of golden beige frost

Next stop are the multi-purpose mineral powder. Why multi-purpose? It is because you can use them as an eyeshadow, a blush, and can even be blended on your lip glosses! Now, this is much, much cooler! What I like about these two shades are basically the effect they give on your eyes and lips. I have used Dainty as a blush but I can't seem to picture out Inspiration as a blush. For me, it is a bit brighter to be used as such. Both give you a very natural look and just shimmers at the right amount. It is best to wear the shades during daytime.

Just like Liz, I also find it hard to get the right amount of lip gloss during my furst few tries with this tube. The worse feeling is when they gush out of the tube giving you a total mess. I learned then that rotating it twice at 360 degrees would give you the right amoun of gloss that you need. Lush lip gloss is now my lip's found friend. The minty feeling makes it distinctive of the other glosses. Lush is best combined with Dainty powder. The duo exudes a sexier lips even on a day time.

The verdict:

The same Ellana Make Up Brush Set, I highly recommend the products to the beauties who seek for an affordable yet very high quality products and gearing for a less harmful type of make up!

Product Review: Ellana Make Up Brushes

I never believed that one should invest on those make up brushes. I thought they are just a waste of money and once the make up product is good, it will definitely be good onto your face. My theory was proven wrong when I had the opportunity to go to Ellana Store at Quezon City. They had that so-called "make-over" thing and that was the time I experienced make-up brush that loves my face. And so without any thought, I grabbed a set of their make-up brushes along with my other purchases (to be reviewed on my next entry!).

These five sticks made up the brush set I got from Ellana. Boy, they are just so gorgeous! Priced at 850 php, it is already very reasonable to get these stuff. The unbelievably soft and gentle glide on your face makes it a run-away winner. And yes, these are not animal hairs (it's a gross revelation for me to know that some are animal hairs! nyay!). I am not an animal lover so it's just gross for me to know that there can be other brushes made of animal hairs!

First stop is the buffer brush which is specially used to apply your foundation. It is a dome-shaped brush making it easier to distribute the loose powder in your face and getting a flawless and well-polished finish. It is also easy to tap off excess powder so as not to make your face like a star in a ghost film. :D

The next brush is the "blush brush". I only knew that you need an angled brush in order to get a smooth and nicely tapped blush on your cheeks. This will definitely save you from a someone-punch-you-with-a-strawberry-jam blush-on look. Because of its seemingly diagonal shape, it distributes evenly the blush powder down to your cheek bone.

On the left is the eyeshadow brush and honestly, I am not sure if the one on the right is the eye contour or the concealer brush! Apologies, I was too excited to buy the set so I forgot to ask them what was it. :D Anyhow, the eyeshadow brush is serving its purpose too well. Because it is relatively small and the hairs are fine with a gradient effect making it easier to apply the eyeshadow thinly and without messing up with the eye liner and the crease area.

I am more convince that the other brush is the eye contour brush as I am using this to apply a different shade on my crease area. It is fuller and wider as compared to the eyeshadow brush understandably because we have wider crease area than the eye lid. I love how the crease shade combines smoothly with my eye lid shade. :)

One drawback of these two is that the hairs are not secured tightly on the handle which gives an irritating feeling everytime you glide them over on your eyes. Some hair strands would loosen out that you need to push them back from time to time. Worse, sometimes you have no choice but to take them out.

I have not much to say about the last member of the set as there is nothing special about it. It's the tool to actually tame your brows and I seldom grip this tool in my hand.

The verdict:
I am a renewed believer of the importance of make up brushes. Invest into it for a more meaningful and enjoyable experience with your make ups! Ellana make up brush set is a good buy except for the drawbacks I mentioned above. Personally, I should have not bought the last member as I find it rather useless, unless there is really a special purpose to it that I don't know. Pardon me for my ignorance. :D But in totality, this is a good buy for me!

For more Ellana brushes, check out their site.

Make Up Trial #1

In my quest for a rather fruitful long weekend despite the annoying first day of my "red alert", I managed to spend less than an hour of my Sunday afternoon playing up with my make up kit!

I am not a photographer so bear with me on the photo I took. It seems like the make up is not evident. I tried getting a dinner-get-together look and I believed I got it in person. The photo speaks otherwise, it denotes a barely-there look instead. LOL! And yes, apologies for an oily skin. :D

On Face:

• Avon Fresh Radiance Make UP Base in Pink GLow
• Ellana Perfect Blend Mineral Foundation with Macadamia Nut Oil and Silk Powder
• Maybelline Pure Mineral Blush in Original Rose

On Eyes:

• Stila Smudge Pot in Bronze
• Ellana in Dainty Shade
• Nichido Mascara

On Lips:

• The Face Shop Lip Balm
• NYX in Tea Rose

In an objective evaluation, the look achieved a classy aura which really fit my taste. Not bold, not pale. Just perfectly blended!