Cheap nail polishes!!!

Hey ladies, I went to Walgreens the other day to buy some toiletries and I came across a girl who was looking for a red lipstick for herself. She started asking me questions on which red lipstick would look good on her, etc, etc. Anyway, to make the long story short, we just started talking and sharing different cosmetic likes and dislikes and then she asked me if I could add her on FB, and I told her about my YouTube channel and all that good stuff. She was a pretty nice girl. She has to be because her name is Alison! (my daughter's name is Allison too in case you didn't know.) 


So anyway, she commented on some nail polishes on one of the racks and said that they were really good nail polishes for only $.99 and that she's had them on for a few days and they haven't chipped on her yet! They're called Sinful Colors Professional. So I figured, okay, well, they're only .99cents so if I didn't like them, it's not like I wasted a lot of money on them. So I bought these:

From left to right: nail junkie, mint apple and a top shine coat.

This is how they looked on my nails: 

I actually really liked the color I chose and I love the glitters I put on top of the mint apple. It turned out nice in my opinion. The only con is that the consistency is really watery so you have to apply 2-3 coats to get that opaque look. The top shine coat was also watery but it's okay since it's clear anyway. In terms of chipping, I must say, I've had it on since I bought it, which was on Monday and I haven't had any chips on my nails yet. Mind you, I've been washing the dishes lately without gloves on. Usually, when I put on a nail polish and wash my hands, the nail polish would chip the same day and it's very annoying. So when my nail polish didn't chip after washing dishes with no gloves on for 3 days now, I was impressed! Alison was right! It's a pretty good nail polish for its cheap price! So you guys check it out if you're interested in them. I bought mine at Walgreens so I don't know if they have them at other stores. 

Anyway, hope you guys had a wonderful Valentine's day yesterday like I did. : )

My husband and I on Valentine's day.

Annoying dark circles.

Hi ladies! Are you one of many who has a problem with under eye dark circles? Well, you are not alone, that's actually one of my biggest problems when it comes to my skin, but how did we get it in the first place? There are many reasons why some of us have dark circles. One, it could be in your genes, meaning it runs in your family. Two, lack of sleep. Lack of sleep can make your skin appear pale, which makes the blood vessels under your skin appear more visible giving  the appearance of dark circles. Three, malnutrition, eating fatty foods, salty foods, spicy foods and dehydration. 


So okay, how do we treat it? As far as I'm concern, there's probably cosmetic treatments out there, I'm not sure, but most of us cannot afford it. So what do we do? We turn to the quick remedy of camouflaging it with a concealer! Now the only problem you'll be facing is choosing the best one to conceal your under eye dark circles. 


Tips on a good concealer and how to apply it:


1. Get a concealer that is one shade lighter or the same shade as your skin tone. Never get anything too light because you don't want to look like these celebrities who made that mistake!

Not cute right?

2. Get a salmon-based concealer rather than yellow because salmon based concealer can camouflage better than if you were using a yellow base. A great salmon-based concealer that I also own is the Eve Pearl salmon concealer. This concealer is a little on the pricey side. It's a whooping $35! I know, I know, but it does the job as you can see on my before and after picture below using this product. 

My shade is medium

The left side is with Eve Pearl's concealer and the right side is without. See the difference?

3. Look for a concealer that is creamy, something that blends smoothly. Make sure when applying the concealer you have to tap softly until it blends with your skin. Never rub your concealer in.

Tap on the product, not rub.

4. Do not get a concealer that is too thick or cakey because this actually accentuates the fine lines under your eyes.

5. Get a concealer that is long lasting so that you won't have to reapply your concealer throughout the day.

6. When using a concealer, you also need to set the concealer with a translucent powder so that it stays and won't budge. Do not forget this step when using a concealer. 

7. Consider the price also. Make sure it's affordable to you and I know that there are drug store concealers that are cheap and does the job, just like the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer I own. It costs about $9. 

This concealer is also long-lasting and doesn't accentuates your fine lines. This is the concealer I'm using at the moment and loving it. My shade is medium.

There's also the camo quad from www.coastalscents.com which has 4 shades in one. 

This is also a good concealer because if one shade does not match your skin perfectly, you can mix and match till you get  your desired color. This costs $7.95 and my shade is medium. 

Another great concealer that is not drug store and a little on the expensive side is the Amazing Cosmetics concealer from Sephora.

This is a great concealer because it's highly pigmented, glides on smoothly and it's waterproof. A little goes a long way with this concealer because it's so concentrated. The only con is that it's so expensive! The full size which is 0.5 oz. costs $42! And the smaller size (0.2 oz) costs $28. However, it will last  you for a very long time since you literally use very little product at a time. 

Anyway, that's all for my take on concealers. I hope I was a bit helpful. Take care!

Loreal's Infallible 24-hour Eye Shadow.

I was at Walmart last weekend and I was strolling around the makeup section and I came across the Loreal infallible eye shadows. I heard a lot of good reviews about this eye shadows from different makeup gurus so I wanted to try it for myself. I only bought one because I didn't want to buy a bunch of colors and end up not liking it and have that trouble of going back to Walmart to return it. (Walmart isn't close to where I live) So I bought one infallible eye shadow. It's the Amber Rush one. I figured if I didn't like it, it's neutral enough that I can just work with it instead of returning it. Boy, was I wrong! To my surprise, this eye shadow totally exceeded my expectation of what an eye shadow should be. The eye shadow is not your typical e/s, the infallible e/s are creamy to the touch and it glides on your lids like a dream. Also, the color is so beautiful and pigmented and you wouldn't know that this e/s was from a drugstore. I actually loved it! I was like, "man, I need to get more colors!" One eye shadow costs about $6.50 each  at Walmart but it could be more at other drugstores. I believe some stores sell them for buy one get one for 50% off so I'll be looking out for that also.


Here is the eye shadow I got: 

It looks glittery in the picture but it's actually just a touch of shimmer. 

Here is the swatch. It's like a metallic bronze color. 

Here it is applied on my eyes without a primer or any other e/s. I just applied it by itself. Such a gorgeous color. It's way better in person.

I would totally recommend this to a friend. They have about 12 shades and I'm thinking of getting four more colors. I'm loving this eye shadow right now. The only thing is, you really need to be careful on how you close the lid because if you don't close it tight enough, it might dry out the product inside. However, Loreal did include like a stopper on top of the eye shadow inside the container to prevent it from drying. So yes, I'll try to do a tutorial using this eye shadow with other eye shadows to see how good it blends with other colors. 

Okay guys! Thanks again for reading and have an awesome day!

Sigma's Dry n Shape for your brushes!

How do you take care of your makeup brushes? After washing all your brushes, where do you put them? Does it take forever for your brushes to dry? Well, worry no more. Sigma has this revolutionary Dry n Shape system where it lets the most dense brushes you own dry in just 4 to 6 hours. Guaranteed! 


For more details and to get your own, click on the link: http://www.sigmabeauty.com/Dry_n_Shape_System_p/ds01.htm?Click=99819

BB cream.

I love my foundation ladies, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I just want to look natural and not caked up. I'm sure most of you ladies can relate. 


Besides my tinted moisturizer, I also use my BB cream. I was actually surprised that I didn't include it in my foundation blog. Oh well, I'll be talking about it now. 


I've had this BB cream for almost a year now and I'm surprise I still have a substantial amount. I guess coz I only use it sparingly and I rarely go out anyway. So what is BB cream? Well, the first time I was curious about it, I researched on what it was and I came to find out that BB cream is actually a Blemish Balm cream. It was supposed to be used for healing laser skin surgery because of its skin-regenerating properties. This is mostly popular in Korea and later on expanded to Japan then South East Asia and has now quickly made its way to Europe and here in the US. 


BB creams are very natural when you have it on. The first time you put it on, it looks like it's way lighter than your actual skin tone but it will eventually oxidize into your skin and will blend with your skin tone. I like it because it provides a nice coverage but it won't clog your pores. It also covers my blemishes and the discoloration on my skin and it also has SPF for sun protection! The BB cream I have is whitening and it's anti-wrinkle and I love it!


There are tons of BB creams out there but here is my favorite BB cream:

I love how it has UV protecting SPF25 and it's wrinkle free!

The consistency of a BB cream is similar to a tinted moisturizer. It's not thick, it's just right and it's very light on the skin as well. It feels like you're not wearing any makeup at all.

The color seems lighter than my skin color but once I blend it into my face, it surprisingly just oxidizes and evens out my skin. 


Here is the before and after wearing a BB cream: 


Before: 

Do you see how my skin is not even? And it's showing some blemishes and some veins peaking out on the side of my mouth?


Now here is after applying BB cream: 

My skin tone has evened out and my skin looks lighter without being ghostly. It still looks natural and it doesn't look like I'm wearing any makeup. You could still see a teeny tiny bit of the veins but the difference from before and after is A-ma-zing! You can just use a little bit of concealer to completely cover that if you want. Love my BB cream. 


If you guys are planning to try one out. I got mine at www.pinkyparadise.com for about $22 but I'm sure you can find it at Amazon or Ebay for a cheaper price.


Well, that concludes my blog for today. Hope this was informational for you ladies. Bye for now!


By the way, I'm in the process of editing my next tutorial so watch out for it on my YouTube channel: sharongregorio. Thanks!

Foundations that I love!

Are you in the hunt for the best foundation for you out there? I'm definitely one of many who is. Ever since I tried using foundation, I've been in the hunt to find a good quality, perfect match, non-greasy, not cakey foundation for me. I've purchased several foundations out there, from high-end to drugstore foundations. There are some hits and misses but I found my holy grail for liquid foundations, powder foundations and stick foundation. Ladies, these are the ones that work for me so it may work different on your skin. We all have different skin types, mine is normal if you guys are curious. 

Anyway, let me talk about the  foundations I've purchased over time and the ones I love.

Foundations I've purchased over time: (If you're a makeup lover, this may be too little of a collection.)

From left to right (top): Katie B stick foundation, MUFE's HD foundation, Lancome's Oscillation mineral foundation, Lancome's Teint Idole Ultra, Maybelline's Super Stay liquid foundation, Revlon's Color Stay, Sonia Kashuk's tinted moisturizer

From left to right (bottom): Chanel's Double Perfection matte powder, Eve Pearl's dual foundation, Everyday Mineral's mineral foundation, Rawmineral's mineral foundation and MAC's studio fix

High-end liquid foundations I love:

1. MUFE HD foundation (medium to full coverage) $40 - I love, love this foundation. It's very light weight on the skin and it glides on so smoothly and easily. It's oil-free! It's not cakey at all. It feels like you have nothing on but still covers your blemishes. This foundation just makes you look flawless! Especially when you pair it with the MUFE's HD powder (its that white loose powder). It stays on all day without having to touch up. I love, love this foundation. My shade is 128. They have 25 shades available.


2. Lancome's Teint Idole ultra foundation (full coverage) $44 - I just recently purchased this foundation because I've been curious to try out Lancome's foundations. I heard they are really good quality foundations and people are raving about this one particular one on YouTube. So I decided to finally buy it and I'm so glad I did! This foundation is thee best I've tried so far. It claims to be a "14-hour ultra-resistant makeup with divine comfort" and it's just that! I couldn't believe how light it feels on my face and how it stayed on all day. I usually retouch with a powder during the day but when I had this on, I didn't even put on a single touch of powder on my face. Yah, that's a big deal to me because I really like the matte look. So I would totally recommend this to a friend because I love the finish. It's just amazing! My shade is Bisque 6 (W) and it's a perfect match!


Drugstore liquid foundations I love:

1. Maybelline's Super Stay foundation (medium coverage) $10.99 - I got this about a few months ago and I must say, it's a pretty good foundation for a drugstore product. I don't usually buy my foundations from drugstores just because I've had such bad experiences with them in the past. However, after reading and watching reviews about this product. I decided to try it out. It claims to be a 24-hour wear, and that it doesn't transfer to your clothing which is great because that's just not cute ladies. The first time I tried it, I liked it but not in love with it. It does cover up most of the blemishes but you would need to apply a concealer to cover some blemishes that the foundation didn't cover completely. I would wear this if I wasn't really going anywhere special. It is long wear so that's a plus too. The only downside is that you may not find your perfect shade with just one shade. Sometimes you have to buy two shades to mix together to get the perfect shade. Nevertheless, it's a great foundation for its price! My shade is True Beige but it's a little too light so I mix it with something darker. 


2. Revlon's ColorStay normal/dry skin with SPF 15 (medium to full coverage) $12.99 - This is another great drugstore foundation because not only is it lightweight, but it claims to stay for 16 hours. This is also oil-free. It is medium to full coverage. You can build up the coverage by adding more. But just like the Maybelline's SuperStay, sometimes you won't be lucky just getting one shade to match perfectly with your skin so you might have to buy two shades to mix together. Overall though, this is a great drugstore foundation if you don't want to buy the high-end ones and you're just beginning to wear foundation. The shade I bought is Natural Tan and surprisingly, it matches with my skin perfectly!


Powder foundations I love:

1. MAC's studio fix (full coverage) $27.00 - I've been using this foundation for like forever now. I think this was the first foundation I ever purchased when I started wearing makeup. I always go back to this foundation no matter what foundations I may come across throughout the years because this has never failed me. It is a full coverage powder foundation and it really does cover all my blemishes and it makes my face look flawless. It's easy to put on and it's long wear so it stays on for a very long time. I would definitely recommend this foundation and it's cheaper than other high-end foundations out there I've tried. However, if you're living in a humid weather place, this foundation may not be best for you because it can get a little cakey and it might melt off your face throughout the day. I learned this lesson when I used this in the Philippines. My face totally melted! lol. That's so not cute at all. So yah, not a good foundation if you live in a hot weather country. Unless you're just going to be in an air-conditioned office all day. Lol. My shade is C4.


2. Chanel's Double Perfection powder with SPF 10 (light to medium coverage) $50 - This is a little pricey for a powder foundation but it's Chanel so I guess you're paying for the name. However, you get what you pay for right? Yes, so I believe it's worth the $50 because this powder is amazing! It's a matte finish and it's very lightweight. It's very long-lasting. It claims to have "light-reflecting pigments" which "minimizes the appearance of lines, resulting in a naturally radiant, even complexion." The first time I wore this, my Mom complimented my skin. She said I have flawless skin and was asking what I was doing? I was going to lie and say, "just having more sleep", lol. But couldn't do it, so I told her I was using the Chanel double perfection powder. She was amazed. So yes, i definitely would purchase this again, if I have the money. haha! But definitely would recommend to anyone who is looking for just a medium coverage without having that heavy feeling on your face. My shade is Sun Beige.


My favorite stick foundation:

Katie B. stick foundation with SPF 8 (full coverage) $24 - I love, love this stick foundation. The reason why is that it covers blemishes so well that it can also double as a concealer. This is a cream foundation and I love using cream foundations during the winter time because my skin tends to be a little dry so using this foundation hydrates my skin. I love the packaging too, it's a titanium twist and small enough to carry around in my purse. The application is quite easy, you just streak it on your face and just blend it with your fingers or a brush. It also contains Aloe Vera extract, hydrating beeswax, protecting antioxidants Vitamins A, C and E and SPF 8 for sun protection of course. It's also hypoallergenic so it's ideal for someone with sensitive skin. You can purchase this product at www.katiebcosmetics.com if you want to try it. You can also just order the sample size for only $4.99 to try it out at home first before purchasing the full size. My shade is G500.


My favorite tinted moisturizer:

Sonia Kashuk's radiant tinted moisturizer with SPF 15 ($12.99) - This is actually my first time trying out a tinted moisturizer just coz I really don't care for tinted moisturizers that much. But I wanted something for everyday use. Something that's not a full coverage foundation but something that's just going to even out my skin. So I was in search of a good tinted moisturizer and this one had the most good reviews so I bought it. I really like this tinted moisturizer because it's not too greasy on the face. It's very lightweight and it just evens out my skin. This is ideal if you're just running an errand without wanting to look all caked up! I love how it also has spf for sun protection. So if you are someone who has beautiful skin and does not need a lot of coverage and would just like to even out your skin tone, this is great for you. My shade is Tan. 


Well, I hope I was able to help you a little bit on what foundations are good out there. Again, we all have different skin types so what works for me may not work for you. This is basically my own opinion on the products that work well for me. : )


Another thing, a good brush also helps apply these foundations with ease. My favorite foundation brush at the moment is the 
Sigma flat top kabuki brush - F80

or the round top synthetic kabuki - F82

You can purchase these brushes here: http://www.sigmabeauty.com/?Click=99819

My new favorite highlighter! OMG!

So after church today, my son and I stopped by TJ Maxx to see if I can find new shoes for him. Anyway, while I was walking around the store, of course, my feet directed me to the beauty area. Go figure. Hahaha! So as I was looking around, I saw a bag full of 'The Balm' beauty products! Then in that bag, I saw the "Mary-Lou-Manizer" highlighter! I was sold right there! But when I saw that it came with a nail polish, a lip gloss and a small kabuki brush for only...... are you ready? $18!!!! Oh my goodness! I grabbed that kit right away and went ahead and bought it! I mean, if you guys are familiar with The Balm products, the Mary-Lou-Manizer itself is already $24, but to get 3 more products for $18? I WAS SOLD!

Here are the products:

This is the kit. Isn't this the cutest thing? The packaging is so cute.

My favorite highlighter at the moment!

It looks dark in this picture but trust me, it's a nice goldish color in person.

Here is the swatch of the highlighter. It's soooo gorgeous!!!

 Small kabuki

 The shade is "cocoa my coconut" and it seriously smells like cocoa! I love this lip gloss because it also has mint in it, so it's refreshing when you put it on.

Nail polish in shade Princess.. It's a light bronze color.

I will do a tutorial soon using the "Mary-Lou-Manizer" highlighter so watch out for it!

Overall, I love most of the products in the kit.  I mean I purchased the kit mainly for the highlighter but it's nice to know that the other products are good quality as well.