yet another reason to love Ellana Minerals's Sheer Velvet Mineral Finishing Powder

hello loves! i have for you a short and sweet post for today. i bought my Ellana Minerals Sheer Velvet Mineral Finishing Powder (that's a mouthful, phew!) a few days ago and was amazed. tho it doesn't hold up the oil on my t-zone (only a bit) the way it absorbs oil (for touch-ups) and the texture of my skin after applying it is amah-zing! you can actually feel it when you swatch it on your hand. plus its translucent so it won't affect the color of your foundation or you can use it on other people as well. i'll stop raving about this since this isn't a review post.

a few months ago, i was lured to buy Skin Food's Black Bean Eye Line Pencil. how you ask? it was on sale and its on that 'buy one take one' promo. my only mistake was to not check online whether it was good or not. when i tried it on the back of my hand it seemed good, but when i got home and tried it no words can explain my disappointment. it smudges, it isn't waterproof, it doesn't even blend that well. but today, i tried a few eye makeup looks and i needed a good black line but don't have one, so i used the Skin Food one, even layered it with black eyeshadow, its slightly better but it still fades and smudges a little when i has the brilliant idea to set this with the Ella Minerals Finishing Powder. i tried it on the back on my hand first and i was like @.@ see photos below:

photo taken by me (sorry for the blurryness)

in the first swatch, the one the left is the Skin Food Eyeliner alone, the middle is the Skin Food Eyeliner with a black eyeshadow on top with the Ellana Minerals Finishing Powder, and the one on the right is the eyeliner with the black eyeshadow only. second photo is the smudge test, tho its not noticeable in the photo, the swatch with the EM Finishing Powder did smudge but its just a teeny tiny bit. (fyi, the reason the swatch with the black eyeshadow only seems more smudges than the one without is because color pay-off of the liner is also bad, so naturally the one with the black eyeshadow is darker) third photo is the waterproof test, and again the one with the EM Finishing Powder still held up!

now it is skeptical to put Finishing Powder on top of you eye makeup but remember that it is translucent therefore it will not affect the color of you eyeshadows. you can clearly (albeit blurry) see that it did not affect the swatches even tho its black. a light dusting of this on top will help your makeup stay on a bit longer!

so break out your i-regret-buying-you eyeliners and try this one out for yourself! :)

question of the day: how do you keep your makeup fresh throughout the day?  

frugal girl's guide: buying expensive cosmetic products

first post yeah!

ahem, "frugal girl's guide" is a series that i (hopefully) will be able to regularly do. basically as the title suggests (which i googled to be sure) its a guide on how money and/or anything else can be spent based on my personal experiences. for an instance, like today's post buying expensive products!

on to the post!

expensive means high end on my book, esp if its cosmetics products and more esp if its makeup. as expensive as it is one cannot deny that quality that high end brands can offer and other benefits it gives, so in reality its not really 'spending'. buuuuuut! spending is spending for a frugal like me. so, is there a thrifty way into spending on high end brands?

1. the spend vs save dilemma. a lot of high end beauty products have dupes, some are comparable with the high end versions some are not. but i say, if its good enough and if it works for you why not buy the cheaper one. a good search on the web can give you the best dupe for that MAC lipstick that you want

2. re-sellers. although MAC, MUFE, Bobbi Brown and other high end make-up brands are available here, you must admit that some of them are a bit more expensive to buy locally than in the US. while you can order them online or have a friend/relative/someone-you-know-but-not-really-close-with who lives abroad buy it for you, everyone (and i mean everyone, i've read blogs on the web on these) gets tempted to buy from sellers locally who offers these beloved brands on a lower price than the stores. and its a big NO-NO for me, why? most of the time the products they sell are FAKE! even when they say that they are original you can tell that they are fake. i'd rather dish out thousands of money to buy it locally than to save by buying a fake. (i have a strong belief of not buying any fake products, i'm better of with cheap than fake) tho, there are sellers that do sell authentic products, so buy at your on risk!

3. swapping. i'm not sure if this is available in the Philippines but if it is sign me up! its a great way of getting rid of those products that you bought but is the wrong shade/kind/color for you and exchange it for something that you would like. of course it is another do at your risk kinda thing at not everyone is truthful and hygienic.

4. SALE! oh, yes. everyone's favorite. i'm bad at this coz every time that there's a sale going on i always won't have money saved up :( its either i've spent it on something else or i'm just not in the saving mood. but this is a great time to purchase expensive items as some of them are on 30% discount (sometimes higher) or on bundles or promos.

TIPS:

- research! if you want or need a product so much, its best you do your research first! does it suit you? is it available locally? where can you buy it? and the most important question, how much is it? this would also give you options for other products and will give you time to ponder whether you really like it or not.

- always have extra money when buying whatever it is you want. prices may change through time or sometimes actual prices may differ from your research

- ask for help! tho i kinda hate SAs when i'm browsing in a store, i absolutely adore them when i'm choosing the right shade powder. SAs can help you find what it is that you want and what would suit you, besides they know the brand well enough that they can make you shopping much more easier. there's nothing more stressing than ending up with a NARS foundation that is a shade darker than you skin tone, right?

- have someone else buy them for you, FOR FREE! now, this only works if that someone is your parent or partner in life but if you can convince them and your not ashamed go ahead! having them give them to you as gift is good too. anything works (so long as its all legal *wink*), i don;t think there's anyone who doesn't like free stuff. (course, you have to show your gratitude properly, something like a lifetime of loyalty and good grades will work :D)

thank you for reading my blog, i hope that you love it (crossing my fingers here). and watch out for more frugal girl's guide and other posts on my blog. so come back or subscribe, either don't forget me *puppy dog eyes*

what's your frugal way when buying expensive products? <3