The Body Shop All-In-One Make-up Range

The Body Shop is all for enhancing the beauty in everyone - naturally. I love how their make-up are cruelty-free and how they incorporate Community Fair Trade ingredients with their every product. Here's a preview on the new All-In-One Multitasking Make-up range, which is makeup and skincare in one. Mark your calendars and get ready to do some serious skin-loving make-up shopping, as this range will hit the stores on August 10, 2012 (Friday).

Doing two things comes naturally to All-In-One.

Our iconic make-up collection delivers even coverage and cares for skin too. Thanks to ingredients like vitamin E and marula oil, this is make-up and skincare in one.

The Body Shop All-In-One BB Cream

The star product of this range is their new All-In-One BB Cream. This lightweight BB Cream provides 24-hour hydration with a color-adapting formula. The innovative formula has pigment-filled capsules that burst when applied to the skin, releasing the color inside. You will find your exact BB Cream match with this range, as it comes in light, medium, and dark shades.

This BB Cream comes off white (with soft, small beads) from the tube, but when applied and blended on the skin, it turns to your exact shade.

I love the smooth and undetectable finish of the All-In-One BB Cream!
 

The Body Shop All-In-One Concealer

A smooth, easy-to-blend concealer that effectively covers imperfections and dark shadows.

This cream-to-powder stick concealer comes in 5 new shades (00, 01, 02, 03, 04), all with a moisturizing core.

The Body Shop All-In-One Face Base

Foundation and powder in one. Gives a flawless-looking matte finish.

All-In-One Face Base now comes in 5 new shades as well. My shade from the existing All-In-One Face Base range was 02, and now, it's 035 (which is the lightest among the new shades). This chic makeup compact comes with a mirror and sponge, but I still prefer applying powder using a big, fluffy brush.

Are you all excited for the All-In-One Multitasking Make-up range?

Love,

Helen

Jewelmer Pearl Talk

I have yet to meet a woman who does not love pearls. They're beautiful and they always add a touch of class to one's look. Pearls can go with almost everything in your closet, from a white shirt and jeans combo, to the classic little black dress.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a Pearl Talk hosted by Jewelmer, the leading producer of exquisite and rare golden Palawan South Sea Pearls.

We were given a background on how Jewelmer creates their fine pearl jewelry. In the pristine waters of Palawan lie the pearl farm of Jewelmer. Every piece of jewelry is hand-crafted with French artistry and Filipino craftsmanship - a perfect mix that makes Jewelmer truly world-class.

I also learned about the interesting differences of the pearls you see in Greenhills compared to that of Jewelmer. The pearls you see in Greenhills are also real pearls, but they're freshwater pearls that are made from mussels. A single mussel can produce about 50 pearls in at least 6 months. Mussels can grow and survive in lakes and ponds - not necessarily clean bodies of water. The pearls from Jewelmer are classified as saltwater pearls, which are produced from oysters. These oysters undergo an extensive process for them to produce the most lustrous pearls:

(1) Grafting
A round bead carved out of freshwater shell from the Mississippi river is inserted to a mature oyster.


(2) Post-operation stage
The oysters will have to recover, and checked upon after 3 months. This process requires turning of the oysters from their cage (see below) to ensure total recovery.

(3) Cultivation period
Oysters are hand cleaned every 30 days, and their cages' depth are adjusted depending on temperature and food availability. Xray is also done to ensure that the oysters are well. I learned that the oysters are just like babies that need to be well-taken cared of for them to create the most beautiful pearls.

(4) Harvesting
After 2-3 years comes the magical moment for when the pearl is finally extracted from the oyster. Usually, the oysters can just product 1 pearl in their lifetime, because they'll be too weak to make a second one. But if the pearl is of gem quality, there is a possibility of second grafting.

Jewelmer uses only the top 3% of the harvest, hence, these are the best pearls in the world. Jewelmer, being the largest pearl producer in the world, supplies all the top international jewelry brands.

Golden Palawan South Sea Pearls

Philippine South Sea Pearls come in warm, natural colors such as gold, champagne, cream, rose, silver, blue, and white. The Golden Palawan South Sea Pearls are the rarest of all natural colors, which is produced by the gold-lipped Pinctada Maxima oyster.

Pinctada Maxima (Gold and silver-lipped oyster)

Black South Sea Pearls

Meanwhile, the beautiful black pearls are produced from the black-lipped Pinctada Margaritefera oyster, which can be found in Tahiti and French Polynesia.

Pinctada Margaritefera (Black-lipped oyster)

Every single piece is hand-crafted to perfection, using only the finest South Sea Pearls, diamonds, white gold and 18-carat gold (for the chains, hooks, etc).

This is the ultimate wishlist moment. Seeing these pearls inspire me to work hard and save up for these gems. They're a real investment that can be passed on as heirloom to future generations, as these pearls are timelessly beautiful.

 

See how these pearls instantly adds a touch of elegance and power to a simple black dress.

Of course, the day won't be complete without a picture with these lovely ladies! ♥

Thank you for the fun learning experience, Jewelmer. Truly, South Sea Pearls are rightfully called the national gem of the Philippines because of their innate beauty, orient, and luster. Now that's something to be proud of!

Love,
Helen

Love Your Body Loves Green

The Body Shop takes pride in their core values, and protecting the environment is a huge part of it. Aside from initiating Community Fair Trade and making use of recycled materials for their packaging, the newest thrust of The Body Shop is for everyone to "go green" with regards to their Love Your Body membership programme. Plastic cards will be switched to virtual cards, which you can access on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch instead. (Non-iPhone users need not worry, as an Android version will be launched in a few months.)

PVC is the most used material for membership, loyalty, or credit cards. On average 36 grams of CO2 is generated for every plastic card produced. Globally, over 10 billion plastic cards are produced every year for marketing purposes. Hence, 50 million kilograms of plastic waste and 200,000 tons of CO2 emissions are generated. To counter the CO2 effects of card production, we need at least 9.2 million trees.

Now, it's time to cut the use of plastic and go digital.

Both New and Existing members can avail.

Could be accessed on an iPad, iTouch, or iPhone 3G/4s.

The Perkd App is like a virtual card wallet, where you can conveniently access your Love Your Body card and add other cards, too!
 

The beauty of this technology is that once you have the app installed in your gadget, you can just have your virtual card's barcode scanned (just like your regular plastic card) with every transaction to earn/use points. No more bringing and/or losing your membership cards!
 

I have gone green. You should too!
 

The Body Shop Philippines is the first in the Philippines and the first-ever The Body Shop market in the Asia-Pacific region to use this technology that enables members convenient access to the rewards programme anytime/anywhere (with an iPad, iTouch, or iPhone 3G/4s).
 

Visit The Body Shop SM Mall of Asia now and inquire about the digital membership!

Love,
Helen

Human Nature Natural Feminine Wash in Chamomile Cool

Human Nature's Natural Feminine Wash has been a bathroom staple in our household. One trial-sized product was all it took, and I've repurchased and used up 3 big bottles since then! All the while, I thought on how perfect it would be for such a mild feminine wash to have a mentholated variant, and now here it is! It's the new variant of Human Nature Natural Feminine Wash in Chamomile Cool.

Human Nature Natural Feminine Wash in Chamomile Cool (P159.75)

Switch to nature’s gentle touch with our pH balanced, clinically tested feminine wash. It has soothing aloe vera and chamomile, cleansing agents from coconut, as well as natural preservatives from rice and anise for a fresher, cleaner and more confident you.

Ingredients:

I love how it's almost just like the Chamomile Fresh variant that I used to love, but made even better. It's gentle, non-irritating, and non-drying, with a super fresh, cool sensation. In short, it's perfect. I call it my "secret" to freshness, but it's no secret anymore since I already said it here. Seriously, if you're a fan of minty feminine washes, do make the switch from chemical clean to natural clean with this one.

Love,

Helen

Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring in Gold Blonde

About 2 months ago, I colored my hair Wine Red using Etude House's Bubble Hair Coloring. The fiery red shade lasted only less than a week because it washed off every time I bathed, so I was left with a warm brown hue. While I liked how it looked like (even if I felt ripped off), I got bored with my hair color again, so I decided to dye it again using Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring in Gold Blonde.

Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring in Gold Blonde (P398.00)

 

The first time I saw this in store, I hesitated because the yellow hair in the box looked scary. But then I realized that it was IMPOSSIBLE for my naturally dark hair to have that same result, so I went back the next day and bought it.

 

This time, the box had descriptions and instructions written in English. This is very helpful (and necessary), because their previous shades had everything (from the box to the instruction leaflet) written in Korean.

 

One reason why I keep buying this hair coloring kit is because it's so easy to use! It's a shampoo-type hair color where you'd just lather the foam all over your hair, unlike cream type ones that require combing and sectioning, plus brushing on the color per section. That's hard work.

The kit contains the following:

Hair Coloring | Oxidizer | Silky Perfumed Conditioner | Vinyl Gown & Gloves

Before:

 

After:

Under natural light

 

Under natural light

Under natural light

Under natural light

Indoors (no flash)

 

Indoors (with flash)

Tips:

1. Shampoo (and don't condition) your hair the day before plan to color your hair.
2. Don't wash or wet your hair prior to applying this product.
3. Follow instructions, leave it on for 30 minutes (or up to 40 minutes if you like), but not more than that. The skin on the sides of my neck felt a little itchy so I had to remove the mixture in 30 minutes flat.
4. Rinse with cool water (since hot water opens up the hair's cuticles and loosens the color pigments from your hair, hence resulting in brassy color).
5. The top and front part of my hair always ended up lighter than the back part whenever I use the Bubble Hair Coloring, so maybe you can start at the back (especially the area near the nape) then go upwards towards the roots.
6. Use sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner for maintenance. (Human Nature has nice and affordable sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners.) Even some shampoos that are marked as "color preserving" (like Pantene) has sulfates as their main ingredients, so read the label and choose wisely.

So far, I am pleased with the results! It may not be blonde, but it's light brown. Another new shade that was released last June was Mocha Pink, which is also priced at P398.00.

Have you tried these new shades of Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring? Do let me know about the results!

Love,

Helen

PS. Also read my reviews on Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring in Natural Brown and Wine Red.