The Makeup Show New York

Hi everyone! Sorry for another hiatus! A lot has happened last week, and one of them is booking a trip to NYC for the Makeup Show! In all honesty, I never really planned on going, but as it turns out, my good friend from high school is going (Hello Cathee!) , as she is going to be with one of the exhibitors there, then I realized I have a couple mileage points from my last trip, an aunt who has been asking me to go see and stay with her, and of course, it being in NYC, which has been on my bucket list to go travel to! So all together, it was the perfect time to go! It was the most spontaneous thing I ever did- deciding overnight and booking my flight within a week! I have to admit, I'm pretty excited because I feel liberated doing this, haha! 


But anyways, THE MAKEUP SHOW.


The Makeup show (www.makeupshow.com) is a show, exhibit or fair, that are joined by top industry artists and companies, where they present their newest products, seminars, forums and workshops. Now there's so much products that I wanna see, and get, since there were so many great pro products there that I haven't even tried yet. Products from Graftobian, Crown Brushes, Enkore Makeup, Model in a Bottle, and Cinema Secrets. I'm also going to see if I'm going to get some good discounts on some products and if I do, I will probably get some--if they're pretty reasonable. Probably some from Benefit, Dermalogica, Make Up For Ever, Mario Badescu, NARS, Stila and OCC. Oh, my poor wallet! I have a bad feeling that I'm going to be on a makeup coma for sure! 


If you guys are planning on going, I hope to see you all there! Let's go hauling together!:)


As for videos, I know it looks like I'm slacking, but iMovie has not been so helpful. Any suggestion for an app I can use as easy as this one? Without it freezing?!  Any suggestions would be highly appreciated! 


I have already finalized my video for the MAC Pro Products, but I'm still debating whether or not I should make a video talking about the actual workshop itself, but I don't want to bore anyone to death. Hmm.. it would mean 10 minutes tops on tips, advices and regarding the experience I had during that day. 


I shall upload the video very soon and get back on making more videos and blogs before I leave this Friday!


For now, check the link above and let me know if you guys are going, I would love to see you all there.:)




Love,
Pinai Kikay <3

The Perfect Face

Read on below about "The Women with the Perfect Face" and how to achieve her advice on it! 






So I stumbled upon this video on Yahoo! this morning:
(click on the link below:)

'The Women with the Perfect Face"

It's regarding a young woman in UK who's considered to have the 'perfect face'. I thought at first that it was all a hype..until I clicked on the video and saw it myself.

Symmetrically, her face IS perfect. Both sides of her face, well, were indeed symmetrical. Last time I heard, it was Elizabeth Hurley (Yes, Hugh Grant, you were too wasted to let this one go) who had that perfect standard of beauty due to having a high degree of symmetry. 

But what caught my eyes too was her SKIN. Indeed she has such good skin, I could say its perfect! So maybe she had a little blush over here and there, but I can tell she only needed so little makeup when they interviewed her (yes, I can tell). I can't argue with the fact they called her face perfect. She's absolutely gorgeous! 

Her advice? Drink lots of water and eat lots of fruits! I know it sounds cliche, but its true.

As we all know, water hydrates our skin and keeps it at glow. But what I learned last week at the workshop, is that makeup adheres better with water than oil, and if your face is hydrated and plump, the better that makeup works for you. It also washes away toxins in our body and helps flush it out.

And as for fruits, here are the 5 best fruits for healthy skin:

1. Kiwi and Pomegranate: Consumption and application of Kiwi fruit helps ensure healthy, clear, beautiful skin. Kiwis are rich in pectin and fiber, which strengthen digestion. They also may prevent wrinkles and blemishes.  Pomegranates are also superb for overall skin health. This red fruit is power-packed with antioxidants which fight against free radicals, control acne, and prevent wrinkles.

 

2. Papaya and Peach: Papaya is a natural exfoliating tonic. It leaves your skin spotless with its high vitamin A content.With moisture rich peaches, you can say goodbye to dry skin. You can happily bypass moisturizing creams if you include peaches in your diet.

 

3. Lemon and Berries: Consuming citrus fruits helps guarantee clear skin.  If you want clear skin, choose citrus fruits such as oranges, mandarins, or the trusty old lemon! Lemons are rich in vitamin C, which is great for the skin. Berries are as packed in antioxidants as fruits. Strawberries, Cranberries, Bilberries, or Blueberries are all great for overall health. The antioxidants in these berries can work wonders for rejuvenating your skin.

 

4. Apple and Banana: Apples win hands down because of their toning capabilities. You can achieve perfectly toned and conditioned skin if you eat apples. Apples are also rich in pectin – the starch essential in driving away acne! Bananas contain emolliating natural fats and complex proteins to smooth and soften your skin.

 

5. Fresh Vegetables: The fiber content in vegetables helps increase the flow of chemical amylase enzymes in the body, enhancing the digestive process. Proper digestion promises clear and healthy skin with no harmful preservatives clogging up your system.
 

I'm a firm believer that if you make a habit out of drinking water and eating fruits regularly, your skin will naturally shine through! Also, make a habit out of making sure you take all makeup off before hitting the sack (I know I'm guilty of it sometimes, but I'm really trying!), washing it off, putting moisturizer on (and sun screen during the day), and get loads of zzzzzzz's. 

Do you have any tips (skin care products, habits) on making your skin supple? Leave a comment below and share!:)

Love,

Pinai Kikay <3

How to: Golden Teal Ombre Nails

Hi guys! Finally, video is up!:) This tutorial shows you how to do golden teal ombre nails. It's pretty quick and easy!

But before anything else, I just wanna give a shout out to those from the Philippines, South Korea, Russia, Canada, Singapore, Germany and UAE who has been reading this! Thank you all so much! I just discovered earlier one of the features of this blog, that you can actually see where your 'audience' are from, and how many times this has been viewed! 275 in a matter of 2 weeks! Thanks guys, wasn't really expecting anything since I haven't really told a lot of people about this so thanks! I might just do a lil give away soon.:)


So, this is the first official video I have ever made,so please excuse my lack of shooting and editing skills. I'm honestly not the techie kind, unfortunately.:( But I promise I'll do better next time, but what I lack in making mind-boggling videos, I make up for its content.:) 


Here it goes, and happy viewing!:)

(I'm kind of embarrassed of how the thumbnail on this looks. HAHA. Oh well, cant really do anything about it!)






Here's what you all need (or what I've used):
(You can replace teal too with black, and I think it'll come out as gorgeous as well!)
OPI "Fly"
Ulta Nail Lacquer "High Roller"
Any base and top Coat


Makeup worn in this video:
Eyes:
Urban Decay's 15th Anniversary palette in "Deep End" and "Evidence"
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Smashbox Brow Powder in "Brunette"
MAC's fluidline in "Blacktrack"
Fiberwig


Face:
Smashbox Foundation Primer in "Adjust"
Makeup Forever Foundation
MAC Studio Fix Powder
NARS Bronzing Powder in "Laguna"
Smashbox Blush Rush in "Chiffon"
Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in "Powder Pink"


Lips:
Smashbox Lip Liner in "Cafe latte"
Estee Lauder Lip gloss in "Brazen Beauty"




Check back soon for more videos & how-to's! Comments and suggestions are highly welcomed!:)




Love,
Pinai Kikay <3

How To Wear/ Review: MAC's "Budding Love" lipstick from the CHEN MAN COLLECTION

Hi loves! Sorry for yet again another late post. Been caught up with lots of filming and analyzations over product reviews! Also, I'm in the process of learning how to perfect my skills with Dinair Airbrush Makeup! I got the compressor the other day, but I have yet to learn the RIGHT way on how to do it. It's easy but I have to make sure I can do a full how-to video on it when I'm finally perfect. 

Anyways, on to my point of blog!


MAC recently had the CHEN MAN collection out, but out of all the collection, the only thing that striked me the most was their "Budding Love Lipstick". It was  lilac (somewhat pinkish) in color and has a lustre finish. I fell in love with it, as it is very hard to find a purple based lipstick that can compromise with my yellow skin tone. If I'd go any darker, I would look a tad off. This is somewhat a first for me since I always stick with neutral colored lipsticks and they're usually in pink and nude shades. But I still considered having this since Neons and out of the norm colors (coral,tangerine, lilac, purple) are in now! 


Finish wise, I'm somewhat disappointed as it tends to seat on the crevices of my lips and can be streaky when I applied. I had to be meticulous in applying so I used MAC's lip brush (MAC 316).TIP: To make this lipstick 'adhere' better on your lips, use MAC's Prep + Prime Lip OR just apply foundation/ concealer prior to applying the lipstick.


HOW TO WEAR IT: I wanted to  be somewhat daring and make this wearable (considering the color leans to more purple than pink) but still looking au natural. So, what I did was used a pink liner, which is the NYX 836 DOLLY PINK (only $3.50!! What a steal!) 

Then I finished off with a pinkish, with a hint of lilac, colored lipgloss from Tarte. Now I don't know the exact name for the Tarte lipgloss because it was from their previous Holiday Collection, but what I found to be the closest to it is from their permanent collection Tarte's Rise and Shine lipgloss in Pink. It comes off sheer so it doesn't really wash the color of the lipstick altogether.

 Altogether, this is the finished look:

(Left: Under fluorescent lights; Right: Regular flash from my iPhone)

Something subtle and wearable!

Lastly, I would love to mention that I give their packaging a 10 out of 10! I have never seen them having slipcovers on their packaging from their previous collections, so this was pretty rare. Not to mention, it was really pretty and so I kept it.:) "Budding Love" is limited-edition so grab it while there are still some left at the stores! I'm pretty sure you'd love it as much as I did!:)

Come check back soon for more reviews and videos up really soon! Leave a comment and share your thoughts!:)

Love,

Pinai Kikay <3

Miami, MAC PRO, Inglot, Lush, Haul, Wishtrend & More!!

Hi! I'm back! Sorry it's been days since my last post, but I just got back from my mini vacay in Miami (well, sort of). As some of you may know, part of the reason why I went this weekend was to attend MAC Pro's Bridal Makeup Workshop. All in all, it was FANTABOLOUS!

I cannot begin to describe how amazing that experience was! The duration of the workshop was 2 hours, but it felt so short! It's true what they say, that when you're having fun, time flies!

I learned so much that I cannot wait to do my first video, and share all what I've learned! Victor, the senior makeup artist for MAC is sooo wonderful & talented, that I wish he could forever be my mentor! I learned the technicalities of applying makeup, and his tips and tricks of the trade. Oh, and did I mention, that he's soooo down-to-earth, despite the fact that he has worked internationally, and has worked with a handful of celebrities, including being Missy Elliot's personal MUA?! AMAZING!

I promise I'll do a video soon and share all what I've learned, and show what goodies I picked up!:) I think I'm so overly excited, that I'm about to spill the good stuff already!;)


Also, I did a little bit of haul, including ones from INGLOT (another professional makeup brand), LUSH (my secret obsession), ALDO accessories, and I'm waiting for my package from WISHTREND, which I cannot wait for, to try out their skincare products, since I've heard so much about them! Check them out their website at www.wishtrend.com. 

For now, I gotta get some shut eye, since the BIG BOSS (Regional manager) is coming tomorrow to visit work (uh-oh). Wish me luck! I'm just about to meet her for the first time. :O


Video soon my loves!:) And here's a little sneak peak of what's next on my blog (detailed blog about the workshop):

Love,
Pinai Kikay

How to: Keep Red Hair From Fading

For the past year and a half, I've been sporting red hair, and had to admit, maintenance wasn't easy. Red hair is known for being the fastest hair color to fade. And unfortunately, it's not pretty at all when it does. It turns orange or yellow in between, and does not gradually do so.

(Being a redhead for almost 2 yrs! Biggest picture shows my current state of hair. Upper right, my first time dyeing it red, then second one shows a brighter shade midyear of last year. Last one shows how bright it is under sunlight and how much my hair has grown since then!)




I asked several girls, on how they keep their hair color fresh without dyeing, and most girls answered either a) they do not wash their hair for days to weeks end or b)they use dry shampoo.


Now to be honest, I don't have a problem with girls not washing their hair for days, as I know it customary for a lot of people to do that, and you're not even supposed to, as it will dry out your hair. But from someone who grew up in Asia, I JUST HAD TO wash it everyday! Twice a day even! It's so hot and humid in the Philippines, just the thought of not washing it makes my scalp itchy! I hate oil, product and smoke buildup on my hair !


Luckily, I found my holy grail of a product/s from Aveda!

Aveda's Madder Root Conditioner and Shampoo

(Left: Conditioner. Right: Shampoo)

I've been using it every day for almost two years and has enhanced my red hair all through out. What I do is shampoo every other day, and use the conditioner daily. What it does is it enhances red (and brown) shades of hair. It actually has the color in it already, and it just deposits more red to your color. Now it doesn't color correct and/or makes your hair red automatically , unless you already have red shade or tints of it on yours. Like if you have black hair, it won't turn you into a redhead like that. But what I've noticed is that, when I dyed my hair Dark Red Violet during wintertime, after using it a couple of weeks, it grabbed more to the red part of it, and it showed through. My hair turned into a brighter version of it. 

Nonetheless, these are the perfect combo in dealing with red hair! I have never went back to the salon to get the whole hair retouched, unless i need to get my roots dyed (I have natural jet black hair). 

The shampoo is $31.50 and the conditioner is $18.00. Honestly, I find that for the quality of both, it's very well worth it. The shampoo itself I've had for almost a year now and I still have a lot of it left. As for the shampoo, ever since I became a red head, I've only bought 4 bottles in a span of almost 2 years. Not bad right?! Especially the fact that it's organic too!:)

You can get this at all Aveda stores, or most hair salons that are Aveda affiliated. Also you can buy it at www.aveda.com.





Leave your comments and thoughts below! And if you happen to know any alternative in keeping your red hair from fading, share it as well! I would love to know!:)


Love,
Pinai Kikay

How to: Ombre Nails

One of the latest craze this year is anything and everything OMBRE ,which means "shaded or graduated in tone", can be seen anything from hair, to makeup, to nails. When done right, it looks phenomenal. It should start from dark to light. The graduation of color should be noticed obviously, and not liked it just skipped from one color to another. One trick to do it, is to stick with one shade's family color. 

Here is one tutorial on how to do OMBRE NAILS.

Today I decided to do PINK.

What I used:

Sephora by OPI in "It's all about me"

OPI in "Pink Friday" (From Nicki Minaj's line)

Essie luxeffects in "A Cut Above"

Any base coat and top coat

Steps: 

1) Apply base coat to nails. 

2) Next, apply OPI's "Pink Friday" on the top 3/4 of your nails, like this:

Don't worry if it's not perfect. It should actually supposed to look like that, like  it graduated from your natural nail color, to pastel pink.  No need for  second coat, just make sure they're all evenly coated.

3) Using OPI's "It's all about me", apply it in the same motion following your nail growth. Cover 1/4 of you top nail, and make sure you apply light to heavy, meaning concentrate more on the very tip itself. 

4)Then when it's almost dry and not too tacky, apply Essie's "A Cut Above". Go beyond past the first color we applied, leaving only 1/4 of our natural nail uncovered. Make sure the glitter-part of the nail polish covers it all.

5) Before applying the top coat, which is the final step, make sure that the glittered nail polish has adhered to the nail already, otherwise when you apply the top coat, it will drag the glitters everywhere. Make sure its dry or almost dry.

And there you go! End results:

Now you can use any color wish, as long as the 2 shades of color you're going to choose are close and/or 1-2 shades lighter/darker. 

If you wish to see a video on how to do this, leave a comment below! Any comments, suggestions and tip are welcome! Make sure you check back for more tips, tricks, reviews or more!

Love, 

pinai kikay

HI everyone! Welcome to my first official blog! (Finally, after what seemed like forever!)


ABOUT ME:


I'm a 25-year old Pinay (and partly Chinese) that's been residing here in the U.S for the past couple of years. What started out to be a simple curiosity towards anything beauty, turned out to be one of passions. I'm a self taught make-up artist, who started working for Sephora, then worked my way towards being a counter manager and beauty ambassador for Smashbox Cosmetics.  Also, I'm currently a Cosmetology student, and has plans of attending CAMMUA, to learn extensively about makeup.


WHAT MAKES THIS SITE DIFFERENT FROM THE REST:


With thousands of beauty bloggers (and Vloggers) out there, what makes me different from the rest?!


First off, I promise, no wait--I SWEAR, I'll give my most honest review regarding any products that I will review on, including THE CONS. I won't sugarcoat. I won't be biased, and I just won't stick with one line of products. I also will include products, not only from the US, but from ASIA as well. 


I understand that most of my readers resides in the Philippines & Korea (HI!), so I would do reviews as much as I can get my hands on every makeup, skin care, hair & nail products possible that are available there. 


I am not sponsored in any way possible, and all products are from my own money, blood, sweat and tears. I won't limit myself to just high-end products, but from drugstore kinds as well.


I'll share my tricks of the trade from all that I learned, and will learn, from MAC PRO makeup shops attended, hair styles and tips from school, crazy fun nail arts I'v bonded with my crazy, yet, creative nail tech friends, trendy fashion hauls and  real time 'progress reports' on any skincare line.


And if I have time, even Movie review, since I'm a movie junkie myself.;)


HUGE THANKS:


And before hitting off, I would just like to say a BIG THANK YOU, for each and everyone who supported me, and pushed me through, in making this. What started out as a hobby doing reviews on FACEBOOK, has now gone to this. Thank you to all those who inspired me.:) I wouldn't have started this if it wasn't for everyone's idea.:)


And as a return , I promise I won't let you guys down.:)