KIKAY SI MARIA

Ever since I posted my Mini-makeup area here, I’ve been receiving questions about Krave Minerals Oil Eliminator and Skin Hydrator.  

 From Krave Minerals:

OIL ELIMINATOR and SKIN HYDRATOR with Pearl powder (mineral primer & finishing powder)

100% VEGAN & GLUTEN FREE

HYPOALLERGENIC

NON- COMEDOGENIC (won’t clog pores)

NON-ACNEGENIC (won’t cause acne break outs)

NANO PARTICLE FREE

We highly recommend Krave Minerale’s OIL ELIMINATOR and SKIN HYDRATOR not just for oily gals but for all make up users out there.

OIL ELIMINATOR and SKIN HYDRATOR is translucent so it won’t interfere with other mineral makeup colors you are wearing. Plus, it is specifically formulated to virtually erase the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles & large pores when applied.

SKIN BENEFICIAL KEY INGREDIENTS:

Our formula includes 2 of the healthiest ingredients:

1. PEARL POWDER that aids in healing, skin brightening, anti-wrinkling, and sun protection. It also exfoliates the skin and promotes new cell regeneration.

2. SODIUM HYALURONATE the world’s powerful skin hydrator which brings balance to your complexion & keeps your make up application fresh all day long.

APPLICATION:

Apply it before (as a make up primer) and after (as a finishing powder/veil) to control oil breakthrough all through out the day and for a long-wearing make up effect.

Ingredients: Silica,Pearl Powder, Aqua (Water), Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid)

PRICE:

15 gram jar P285

For online shopping, packaging is really important! Packaging becomes the customer’s first impression since the buyers cannot test the products yet; they simply judge the products on what they see. When I saw this product from the site, I honestly neglected it. Until one day I woke up and everyone was raving about it! Being a beauty blogger, I want to know what’s the rave all about?

And so I ordered to Katrina, the sexy and pretty owner of Krave Minerals, one Oil Eliminator and Skin Hydrator. Then she texted me that she can send one Oil Eliminator and Skin Hydrator for me for free! Isn’t she the nicest?

Packaging:

It comes in a simple yellow container with an applicator. The thing I hate about the packaging is that it is such a pain in the arse to open. If you already had this powder, I’m quite sure you will agree with me. But again…  everyone started from nothing , right? I still remember some mineral makeup I used before; they all started in this cheap-kind of packaging.  

This powder reminds me a lot of my Ellana High Definition Powder Primer which I had long long time ago. 

Ellana HD Definition powder primer and Krave Oil Eliminator and Skin Hydrator powders are finely milled.

I even remember the days when I hold my breath while applying Ellana HD powder primer because it sure does make me cough/sneeze whenever I inhaled some products in the air. However, I never had that experience with Krave Oil Eliminator … simple reason why I prefer Krave more than Ellana. (I was thinking of repurchasing Ellana for the sake of comparing them but I’m not yet sure).

I like that Krave does not contains nano particles which are somehow bad for health when inhaled. To those who don’t know what nano particles are, these are extremely small micronized particles ( about 1 x 10^-9 or 1 billionth of a meter). Some companies used nano particles in makeup according to this article  to produces a lustrous, smooth and glow-like finish to the skin and enhances the feel and appearance of the product itself however, pose a serious health risk when inhaled or absorbed into the body. When inhaled, nanoparticles can become imbedded into the walls of the lungs, making it impossible for the body to remove these foreign particles. Loose mineral make-up that includes nanoparticle form ingredients, therefore, can be a health risk, especially to those who suffer from bronchial conditions.

Krave Minerale Oil Eliminator and Skin hydrator comes in a white-translucent powder. It feels soft, smooth and flawless on skin.

What’s great about it is you can use it as primer and as finishing veil. In my case, I use it as finishing veil.

If you’re currently using a powder foundation, this can be a great primer and perfect for touch-ups.

If you’re into using liquid foundation, you may use this powder to set your foundation.

According to some bloggers, this product is amazing in oil control and making your makeup lasts longer. However, in my case, this product does not really make my makeup lasts the whole day during this time of the year.  The weather in the Philippines is just so freaking hot and everything I put in my face melt so easily. Do you remember my favorite “superb” Nyx HD primer which amazingly makes my makeup seriously stay the WHOOOOLLLLEEE Day (I did a review on December)? Guess what! It has no match for summer! Unless, you stay in air-conditioned room, this powder will melt easily on you. 

For me during summer, this product will best work as an Oil Eliminator (just like what the product name says!).  This is a perfect powder for touch-ups. I found out that during the middle of the day, when my foundation is already fading away and my skin is like an oil ready for frying eggs, this powder works wonderfully. It is very light on skin (unlike foundation) and instantly removes shine on my face. Although, it is white in color, this powder does not leave white-cast on my face unlike ordinary powders.

It is much easier to blend compared to ordinary powders.

 Another cool thing about this product is that it makes my face look matte (removes shine) but not totally flat. It has a slight sheen to it making your face look brighter.

Overall, I highly recommend it to all makeup users. It does a great job in preparing your skin for makeup application by making your skin soft and smooth and also a great powder to sets your makeup.

This product would be much more amazing if it will be in a nicer packaging with a mirror for touch-ups. If Krave could recreate this product in a compact powder (just like Mally’s beauty Evercolor Poreless Face Defender), this would definitely be an HG material for everybody.

PROS

CONS

Giveaway link HERE.

To all Sponsors, thank you so much for your generous sponsorship! This wouldn’t be possible without your help. Hope you would still support my blog after this giveaway! :)

To Ana and Andy, thank you girls for collaborating with me!

And ofcourse, to all 425 participants (8437 entries)! Thank you thank you thank you! 

I couldn’t say thank you enough!

Now to the winners,

3RD WINNER

 2ND WINNER

1ST WINNER

 There are two girls who gained the most number of entries (155 entries) namely:

Crystal Mizune and Joanne Olaes

I’ve checked all their entries and all entries are valid! (which makes this even harder for me)

The winner who will get the chance to choose which of the packages she likes is:

Choosing the first winner is the hardest part of this contest for me since I’ve seen all their efforts (especially with several IP addresses, they probably used different computers just to make their entries valid for a day) during the contest. Choosing only one winner  SERIOUSLY breaks my heart. T.T I keep praying that Crystal would win the 2nd or 3rd place. Unfortunately, fruit machine did not picked her name T.T Anyway, I’d still like to give credit to Crystal Mizune for all her efforts. Thank you so much, sis! 

To those who did not win this giveaway, don’t worry there’s always next time. In fact, I have a new giveaway (although, not as bongga as this!), please don’t forget to join!

You should invest in good foundation above anything else in your makeup kit. But price doesn’t always guarantee best quality, right? (although, it’s applicable most of the time).

According to some bloggers and other users, Fanny Serrano is a good dupe for Mac Studio Fix Foundation. Being a curious blogger, I decided to try them out and see if FS will be a good dupe for Mac Studio Fix Foundation.

I started using Fanny Serrano back in my early years in college. I used to love it but then I suddenly stopped using it because I found a good and cheap alternative to it and it was Elf foundation in Beige. As years passed by, I became more curious with other foundation and decided to try them out.

Recently, I’ve been hearing great reviews about Fanny Serrano two-way cake foundation. Since it was long time ago since I last had it, I repurchased it to test it out and to see if it’s really a good dupe for Mac Studio fix foundation.

Packaging:

Mac Studio fix foundation has a nice simple looking packaging. Black is a great color because it’s classic! It goes with all ages and for any occasions. 

It has a mirror and a separate compartment for sponge. The sponge included in mac has a nice quality for makeup application although, it was a bit thinner than I expected. Nevertheless, it was a soft sponge.

Fanny Serrano is totally different from Mac studio fix. They opted for a clear plastic with a logo label on top. 

The mirror is located under the foundation which I find a little inconvenient during application. Like Mac, it has a separate compartment for sponge. The sponge included has a good quality too and applies the makeup evenly on skin

 Price:

Mac is (again!) overpriced here at Php 1,700 while FS foundation priced at Php 399  (which is quite affordable for foundation). Both have a net weight of 15g.

Shades:

I saw this shade reference from http://aestheticallysavvy.blogspot.com

I’m NC30 at Mac and Organza (has more yellow tone) in FS. I was surprised with the S.A in Fanny Serrano booth because she gave me an exact shade of foundation for my skin. Usually, I don’t trust S.A is malls. Good job for that!

Anyway, the shade is almost close to each other though FS has more yellow-undertone than Mac.

 (Left: Mac, right: FS)

 Application, finish, Coverage and staying power:

-I tried swirling my Beauty Cosmetics foundation brush onto the powders (like 4-5x maybe)

And here is the result!Tada!

The FS foundation is pretty powdery and goes everywhere in the container.

-Mac studio fix foundation feels smoother on skin than Fanny Serrano.

-Both offers full coverage but Mac offers a better coverage than fanny Serrano.

-On my skin, both blend perfectly well. However, fanny Serrano looks flat on face while Mac brightens up my skin.

-Both FS and Mac help control oil, however, Mac stays longer and much better in keeping oils at bay.

I’m not a huge Mac cosmetics person. But I honestly think that in any aspect I mentioned above, Mac is still a lot better. Yes, both offers full coverage but it doesn’t mean they’re a good dupe. One of the biggest differences of Mac from FS is the oil control. Mac is just amazing in oil control and FS is just so average. 

Clarification, it doesn’t mean that people who are telling that they’re good dupe are not telling the truth. Each person is different, like what I always say. In additional, I’ve tried other foundation that is, for me, a much better dupe for Mac Studio fix foundation. Remember my in2it foundation? It’s the closest dupe that I could think of in terms of oil control and coverage. For me, Mac and in2it foundation are the best dupe! But no matter how great the product is, if it’s not for you… it’s not for you. Unfortunately, both (in2it and mac) broke me out so badly. If you have sensitive skin like mine, I don’t recommend Mac studio fix foundation nor in2it. Then, at that point, you may try FS because I find it a little skin-friendly than the other two products mentioned. However, I cannot guarantee you 100% no breakout with FS since I broke out with FS too. But not as bad as my skin with Mac studio fix foundation.

Hope you gained something from this post! 

Everything I said above were based on my own honest experience and opinion.

Thank you and keep voting on my page what reviews would you like to see next on my blog! 

Have you tried Fanny Serrano two way cake foundation? Share your thoughts too!

Until then! 

Appreciate, do not hate! 

Do you have a magical lipstick? You know, during those times when you feel ugly, you just pull it out of your kit, apply it on your lips and magically prettify you? Well, I have! Hihi. ;p

At first, I was sceptical whether to purchase it or not. People says Pink Nouveau is drying on lips and does not work well on all skin tone. Gawd! Who likes wasting money, right? But when I saw Noe’s video sporting this fabulous lipstick, I knew I had to get it!

Pink Nouveau is described by Mac cosmetics as “Bright Pink” (duh!) shade. A makeup blogger would describe the color as (because I call myself a “makeup blogger” LOL) a cool-toned pink lipstick or Barbie pink with a good dose of purple. However, if I were not a makeup blogger and just a simple human being who’s not into makeup, I would simply describe the color as a red-violet-shade lipstick. As simple as that. Period! LOL! Do I make any sense? Well, if not. No worries! I provided a swatch for you!

 Packaging:

Because Mac is expensive (and freaking overpriced here!) We deserved good quality of not only lipstick but also the packaging, right? The mac comes in a bullet-like packaging which is simple, professional-looking and somehow travel-friendly because of the size.

Once you removed the cap, you will see another “MAC” logo printed on the body of the lipstick which reminds me  that “IT’S MAC!” LOL. According to Mac experts, the printed Mac is one test to see whether you got an authentic Mac or not. If there’s no printed logo, then it’s fake. If after some time and the printed logo fades away, then congratulations! You got yourself a fake mac! hehe. Although, there are other tons of things you have to inspect to know if your Mac is fake or not. I won’t be discussing it all since I-am-no-Mac-expert! Just search on google—- the brain we never had (as they say!)

At the bottom of the Lipstick are the following: Finish of the lipstick (for Pink Nouveau: it must be in Satin!), name of the shade and lastly the date your lipstick was produced.

The first letter stands for the batch number of the product.  A for first batch. B is second and so on.

The second is a number/letter that stands for the month it was manufactured. 

1 - January 

2 - February

3 - March

4 - April

5 - May

6 - June

7 - July

8 - August

9 - September

A - October

B - November

C - December

(if you have a D on the second letter, congratulations again! It might be fake)

The third is the year it was manufactured. Mine is zero which stands for 2010. 

So to sum up, the date my lipstick was manufactured was 1st batch of March 2010. 

Therefore, the code written at the bottom of your lipstick should match the one written on the box

Mac Pink Nouveau has Satin finish. It glides smoothly on my lips with good color payoff. Since it’s in Satin finish, it tends to be drying on lips especially after few hours of wearing it.  Therefore, applying lip balm before is a must.  Mac lipsticks are famous for its mild vanilla scent.

Commercial: When I was new to this makeup world, I’m not familiar with satin, creme, amplified, lustre etc- finishes. I’m only familiar with 2 kinds of finishes: the Matte (are those without shimmers) and Frost (with shimmers). And so, in my first few lipstick posts, I told you that my favorite kinds of finish for lipsticks are matte. But then, as I get to know lipsticks more, I realized how much I hate matte (no-shine) finishes as they’re super drying on my lips. The finishes that I’m referring a year back then were Satin and Crème finishes.  Matte like what I’ve said before has no shine to it, just a flat color. Satin, on the other hand, is a semi-matte. It’s has a sheen to it but not so glossy. Crème finishes are shiny and very creamy. So basically, Satin is in between Matte and crème finish. Other finishes include frost, lustre, dazzle, and glaze.

Staying Power: I normally would wear it a little longer than most typical lipsticks. It stays probably 4-5 hours (or more, if you don’t eat your lipsticks LOL) on me. 

Overall, I highly recommend this shade and lipstick. It’s okay to spend sometimes. After all, it is worth every single cent! 

As usual, pictures are provided at the end of this post! Enjoy!

Until then! 

Appreciate, do not hate!

Love lots!

Lastly, a lip swatch from google image. credit to the owner.