Maternity

Photo by: Patrick Ligot

Hair & Makeup, Outfit & Accessories: Me 

Thank you Kuya Pat for the amazing photos! 

My Sweet Little Angel: Anastasia Celestine Montero

Words are powerless to express how happy and blessed I am.

First of all, I'd like to thank God for giving me my sweet little angel, Anastasia Celestine. She's the most adorable creature that I've ever seen. Being a mother is truly hard, but seeing your child smile instantly takes you to cloud nine. I felt like I've become wiser since I become a mother. I know there's still a lot more wonderful stuff to learn about motherhood. So yea, goodluck on my journey on becoming a super mom. (*＾▽＾)／

Now that I have a family of my own, I'm thanking God for giving me such a wonderful family members to start up with. A loving husband/father, without him I don't know what my purpose in life is. An adorable baby, she's my inspiration to do my very best on becoming a better person. And a cute wife/mother, yours truly lol (*≧▽≦) 

What can I ask for? It already seems perfect to me. God is really good. Despite all the troubles I made, still God is too kind to give me all that I have now. I am eternally grateful for God's amazing gifts. I promise to treasure these gifts. Starting up a family is definitely not easy peasy. There will be lots of challenges, but I promise to do my very best. I promise to be strong for my family. 

But for now, I'll be a proud mom and share photos of how adorable my little angel is!! 

Photo by: Joseph Ortega Photography

Outfits & Accessories made by yours truly

Special thanks to Rainne Ortega

Super thanks to the Ortega family for our Baby Anastasia's newborn shoot!

She's the cutest! You know where she got it from. Eheeeeemmmm ˓( ु∎௰∎ू )՞

It really is true. Once you become a mother, it's not about you anymore. You are no longer the center of your own universe. Being a mother is about being selfless.

Swatches & Review: L.A. Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss

"Attack of the liquid lipsticks" is a blockbuster that's been on show since last year. It was about 2 or 3 years ago when I first saw it - Limecrime Velvetines. Naturally, I was intrigued. After all, it was something new and exciting. But alas, I didn't purchase any 'cause I thought they were too expensive, and to be honest, I was a bit skeptical too; it was during the time when there were a ton of issues circulating online about Limecrime, and I wasn't aware of other, more affordable brands who carried the product. Today, almost every brand has released their own liquid lipstick line: from drugstores to high-end makeup brands! I don't think it will be just another fad, that's for sure!

Looking for "a" liquid lipsticks was the problem back then. But now, looking for "the" liquid lipstick is! If you've been following my blog, you'd notice that I've been hoarding a lot of makeup recently. Now, I'm on my journey in looking for holy grail of liquid lipsticks. Today, I'll be doing a series of reviews for different brands that I've tried. 

Here's my take on the LA Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss.

I bought them about 3 months ago, and I've been taking them out for a spin to see if it's a hit or miss. So if you wanna know my thoughts about them then please keep reading :) 

Description from their website:

http://www.lagirlusa.com/matte-pigment-gloss-3411.html

COLOR SELECTION: 

These babies are hands down the best when it comes to their color selections. I'm in love with their gorgeous color shades. That's mainly the reason why I ended up buying 13 shades out of the 16 they offer! 

LONGEVITY: 

These are incredibly long lasting! They managed to stay on my lips even after eating and drinking. Although they do tend to wear off a bit when you eat oily food. But that's pretty much the norm for liquid lipsticks. To date, I haven't heard of any brand that are effective against all that oil and grease.

PIGMENTATION:

Some shades will give you an instant opaque color with just one swipe. But some will tend to be streaky and uneven - so you have to apply a second coat.

HOW IT FEELS ON THE LIPS:

I would say that every matte liquid lipsticks out there will dry out your lips and these babies are no exception. Standard stuff. So if you can't stand the dryness on your lips, then maybe liquid lipsticks aren't for you, as it would suck the moisture out of your lips to keep them matte. This will also cling to dry patches. You'll see what I'm talking about when we get to my lip swatch photos. So I'd suggest that you moisturize and exfoliate your lips well before using lip products like these as they will emphasize the cracks and lines on your lips especially with the lighter colors. They also feel tacky or sticky on the lips. Like when you press your lips together they feel like they will glue together. But the consistency seem to change with every color type. Some are less tacky than others. Timeless is the tackiest shade for me. However, I found this one more comfortable to wear than Colourpop and LA Splash. It feels quite thick on the lips, but not as thick as LA Splash and Colourpop. 

TRANSFER-PROOF?

Definitely a yes! Just give it a minute to set and once it completely dries, it won't transfer. Although it might feel a bit sticky when you touch it, but trust me it doesn't transfer.

SMUDGE-PROOF?

Here's a smudge test for you guys:

This is what I got after HARD smudging

amazing right!!?

I layered too much and I was not sure if it already dried completely when I did the test. But really, it's not that bad considering that I smudged them hard. You're not gonna smudge your lips that hard anyway. Therefore I conclude that, yes, it is smudge proof on the lips. 

WATERPROOF?

Yes, it is waterproof. 

But how bout when smudged after putting it on water?

Please excuse my silly cat in the background.

Some shades already wore off. But then again, I smudged them hard and you're not gonna do that on your lips. So basically, you cannot remove these on your lips using water. 

HOW TO REMOVE:

I use coconut oil, or petroleum jelly on removing them. Just a few drops of coconut oil or petroleum jelly on a piece of tissue, then swipe it on the lips and voila - you're done. Do not attempt to remove it with water. You'll just hurt yourself from rubbing and it would only paint tracks all over your face. 

PACKAGING:

It's in a glass tube packaging and it comes with a wand / doe-foot applicator. The applicator is not like what most liquid lipstick have, which are the pointed and slanted ones. The applicator is round and it works perfectly fine on me.

PRICE:

It's very affordable! This is the lowest-priced liquid lipstick that I own. It's only 5 USD / 230 PHP. But I purchased mine for only 200 PHP! I got them from Radium888 at Shopee Philippines app. The price point is very good for its quality. 

VERDICT:

I really like how long lasting it is and the colors are gorgeous! Plus, they're so affordable. Compared to LA Splash and Colourpop, they're the absolute go-to piece in my collection because I found them more comfortable to wear. These are good for matte liquid lipsticks lovers out there who don't mind that dry feeling. Personally, I don't mind it as long as the color is gorgeous on me! So if you're like me then you'll definitely like this one. Here's my overall rate for the products :)

COLOR SELECTION: ★★★★☆

LONGEVITY: ★★★★☆

PIGMENTATION: ★★★☆☆

HOW IT FEELS ON THE LIPS: ★★★☆☆

TRANSFER-PROOF: ★★★★☆

SMUDGE-PROOF: ★★★☆☆

WATER-PROOF: ★★★★☆

PACKAGING: ★★★☆☆

PRICE: ★★★★★

OVERALL RATING: 3.5

WOULD I REPURCHASE? 

Yes! 

Now let's see some swatches!

*Please note that sometimes colours would look different on different lip color and skin color. So I opted to also do a swatch on a blank white paper so you'll see the raw color of them. I'm MAC NC20-NC25 for your reference :) 

Fantasy - a light peachy coral pink. Perfect for summer! This is actually my favorite shade but I also found this the driest of them all. It feels uncomfortable on the lips but like I said, I'm still gonna wear this because the shade is gorgeous! I'm still keeping an eye out for another brand that has the same color as this one though. *looks at Jeffree Star's 7 14.

Dreamy - is a nude color with mauve undertone to it. Love this shade! 

Fleur - is a nude coral-salmon brown. Gorgeous shade! I'm so in love with this one. I use this shade the most! But yea, as you can see on my lip swatch if your lips is dry like mine then it will emphasize the cracks, dry patches of your lips.

Bazaar - a deep rosey pink. Also one of my favorites. The formula of this is smoother than the others.

Playful - a bright pink shade. Kinda patchy.

Tulle - a bright magenta pink. This is like the Barbie pink lipstick shade! 

Timeless - a pinkish mauve shade. Tackiest shade.

Stunner - a vibrant cool purple. It's the Barney purple shade! This one is kinda patchy.

Instinct - a deep true orange shade

Obsess - a warm red with orange undertone shade

Frisky - a cool toned cherry red shade

Secret - a deep wine-crimson red. Also one of the smoothest formula! 

Rebel - is a burgundy red shade.

Also here's an arm swatch for you guys!

And that's it for my review about LA Girl Matte Pigment Gloss. Now let me share my makeup look hehe~ 

Eyeliner on fleek~ I really love how my eye makeup turned out. And look at that highlight~ I'm head over heels in love with my Becca Champagne Pop! I'm obsessed with it.