Mesmer-EYES: EB Pro Total Effect Eyeshadow Palette Review!

October 12, 2018

My heart has always had a place for the neutral eyeshadow palettes.

I swear, if I were a rainbow, I'd consist of tan, cream, cocoa, taupe, black, bronze, copper...and champagne, ecru, sable...and terracotta, beige, brown...I'd go on and on with the neutrals.

But the basic-bordering-boring shades are infamous for many things just as much as they are famous for being reliable: many matte neutrals are chalky and dry while some shimmers just lose their sparkle once swatched.

While I rave about lippies a lot, I rarely speak about eyeshadows. It's just not something I'd splurge on unlike lippies since 1.) I have quite a number at home from relatives' pasalubongs 2.)I had that one phase in my highschool life where I hoarded eyeshadow palettes from the bangketa(which I should throw now btw) and 3.) It's not like eyebrow pencil or lippie because I can leave the face without the perfectly applied eyeshadow.

Saan ba mararating P300 mo?
But of course, I heard about the hype on this eyeshadow palette from Ever Bilena because reviews online say they're great. With P299 and probably a zillion half-decade old lead-infused eyeshadow palettes less in my arsenal, I have nothing to lose when I try it for myself diba?

 The packaging reminds me of a watercolor set. I LOVE IT! Whenever I do my eyeshadow, I always feel like a painter doing strokes on my eyes and this palette gives that feel even more! Irrelevant pero totoo!!!

The swatches for me don't make the shadows too promising. I tried applying it with a brush but it seems that the pigment fluffs away when I apply it on my arm. LUH! NASAYANG NA BA MONEYS KO? The swatches below are done with my fingers because it's the only preferred choice for now. *wink wink*



It's a mix of warm-toned matte and shimmer shades...and face powders CHAROT.

Upper Row (UR) shades L-R:
1: A matte cream shade. Perfect for brow highlight!
2: A shimmery off-white color. The shimmers are a little gritty but it's still smooth to swatch evenly.
3: IDK ANO TO?! SIGURO FACE POWDER? KITA MO BA?
4:  A warm toned brown shade which is a good transition color.
5: A smooth and glimmery copper


Middle row (MR) shades:
1: Another face powder spotted! But it it's a lil lighter.
2: Shade is similar to UR 1 shade but this has smoother shimmers.
3: A reddish medium brown shade which looks surprisingly light in the pan.
4: A rosy-rusty shimmer that is so gorge OMG
5: A neutral toned dark brown that looks patchy in the swatch but is gorge in the outer corners of the eyes.

Lower row (LR) shades:
1: HINDI TAYO MAGUGUTOM PA DAHIL MAY ISA PANG PULBO SHADE
2: It looks like nothing but this is actually a great crease shade!
3: Looks similar to the MR 3 shade but I like this better idk why
4: A deep neutral brown that is similar to MR 5 but is a wee bit lighter.
5: THE MOST MAGANDANG NEUTRAL SHIMMER! Looks warmer in person tho


Now, it's a different story when you put it on your lids. THESE SHADOWS ARE SURPRISINGLY EASY TO WORK WITH! While they are a little dusty, they don't produce so much fallout on my face. Both the mattes and shimmer shadows are also not patchy when you blend them.

I use a 99 peso eyeshadow primer I bought from the dollar store because life is hard to spend on more makeup. If you think the primer is what causes the longevity of the shadows, well, maybe? But I'll tell you that I used other eyeshadows with the primer and it's either they don't blend well or they don't last on my eyes.

Here are looks I created with the palette

Look number 1 is what I call "kalawang eyes." KALAWANG EYES *CLAP CLAP* THEY'RE WATCHING YOU! (Sorry, I'm a Hall and Oates fan, in case you didn't get the "Private Eyes" reference). Used UR 5 all over the lid and in the inner corners. UR 4 was my crease color. Dabbed UR 1 as brow higlight.

It's not kahel! It's like, a brassy bronzy coppery shade

On my cheeks, lips, and the Victoria's Secret Runway 2018: "Kelsey" from Colourette.

Here's what I look like 16 hours later. It's pretty obvious how haggard and tired I am PERO PALABAN ETONG SI EVER BILENA. To think the day I wore this look, it was so hot and I had so much long commutes in between. The liner in my bottom lashes and the under shadow have faded but look! My eye look elsewhere is still pak!

On my lips: EB Lip and Cheek Tint in Toast of New York

Look number 2 is a bit more classic. Peg ko is bridal makeup kasi I'm literally married to my job! But nonethless, this is my fave look I made with the EB palette because it's neutral yet dreamy. I used UR 2 all over my lid and added a little of LR 5 to make it a lil beigey than white. The crease shade was a mix of LR 2 and MR 5. Used UR 1 again as brow highlight.

"Oh! I didn't know you were there!" Pose for the camera and those people in politics na walang kwenta.



 
This is me 15 hours later. Concealer has faded but the eyeshadow? Still decent with no fading BUT a little oxidation in the brown shade. Noticed it got darker compared to how it first was in the morning.

Wearing Colourette "Lola" on my lips, because the color and name is so me.

Look #3 is done using the darker matte browns in the pallette. I wanted a dark brown and matte smoky eye and boy, na-achieve! For me, brown smokey eyes are trickier than black because it's hard for me to find a rich matte brown eyeshadow that piles on nicely. I tried to achieve the look by even using brow powders (lol) but it just never looked the way I wanted it to be. Used LR 4 over my lids and deepened it a little with MR 5, which was also used as my crease color. MR 1 is used on my brows and also to clean and blend the edges of the crease color.


My putik-colored eyes. 
  
The all-matte look was the most disappointing in wear time of all the looks. On the left pic, I wore the look for 7 hours but the it started to look patchy na! If you look even closely, it even got creasey. Regardless of those, it still look generally decent and the eye look still stayed pretty until 10th hour mark (right pic).



I like also that the some of the powders make a great contour powder for the noseline! My nose looks immediately slimmer. What I did was used what was left from my crease brush and use a tiny Beauty Blender meant for my concealer to blend it a little so the color looks less harsh.

Taray ng noseline ni ate gurl! Parang retoke!
Look #4 is done using the rosy rust color. Tried to see if it applied well over a wetter texture and I came out pleasantly surprised! Color I used on my eyes and lips was Colourette Colortint in Coco and added a layer of the metallic eyeshadow on my eyes.

Not even Eyemo can take Red Eyes this intense CHAROT

Rose colored eyes, literally! Not hypothtically kasi mahirap magmahal sa panahong nagmamahal! (6.7% inflation I'm lookin at u)


OVERALL, GURLS AND BOIS, YOU NEED THE EB PRO TOTAL EFFECT SHADOW IN YOUR LIFE

It's literally what you need in a lover: strong, consistent, attractive! And di nang-aaway kasi di siya tao lol!

It's also cruelty-free! Yay! Unlike fuckboys who are cruel af lol char!

I hope EB will come out with another palette with mostly cooler toned shades with matte taupe and mushroom shades and maybe a shimmery old gold, pewter, and gunmetal? *crosses fingers*



These shadows are exclusively available in Robinsons Department Stores. Apparently, SM doesn't have it all for you pala! 


Teacher Gill: A Life-Changing Experience (Practicum/Practice Teaching in the Real World)

October 06, 2018




It's been more than a year since I first stepped into the grounds of my practicum site as Teacher Gill. For Teacher's Day, I just want to look back at one of the most life-changing experiences for me: that time I was a teacher for a whole term.

My practicum did not only give me this Action Research thesis but tons of life lessons as well.

When I chose BSE-ENG as my first course in DLSU, I would never thought in a million years that it would lead me to teaching. First, I seem more blinded by the ENG part(especially with the Literature and Linguistics majors offered)more than the BSE part. Second, I was slated to go to the Journalism-MassCom route already opened for me in other universities had my opportunity in DLSU not came up.

Little did I know some years later, I would experience probably the most taxing yet rewarding part of my college life.

If I were to summarize my best experiences in college prior to my practicum, I'd say it would be taking some of the most unique courses with the best professors or research trips to other universities' libraries or even the Happy Thursdays in Taft and Katip. So far, this practicum, which funny enough happened in  my last term in DLSU, was the most memorable of all college memories. I don't know any other experience of my college life that has made me open my eyes more 'til this.

I realize that I learned so much within a term more than I learned my entire stay in DLSU. Prior to practicum, they'd teach us theories and strategies and other things a teacher must know. It's a different ball park once you enter the actual teaching world. As much as all of the knowledge I learned in my Professional Education subjects taught me, many times I felt clueless.There are things that aren't taught in school that a budding teacher will have to learn and experience in his/her practicum.


Photo taken last year during Teacher's Day. Doesn't the quote fully embody what a teacher really is?<3 td="">

One of the things that hit close to me was learning what my students go through personally. My students know I'm pretty strict with my rubric for grading essays, but little did they know I find myself relating to their essays despite some technical difficulties. I learned so much of my students who are going through a lot emotionally. There were students who tell me through their essays about their depression. suicidal tendencies, and anxieties.

It's something that breaks my heart to this day, especially when I had one student who took her life. It made me feel I could've done more as an educator who also is going through so much herself.

In my own way, I give advice to my students. It warms my heart that I have students who trust me when they share about their stories, from their crushes to their family life! After all, I myself came from a broken home and also have my fair share of crushes!


In checking their essays, I give personal and constructive advice!


Another thing I really loved about my practicum is that it helped me heal. Last year, I was going through so much. I have to admit that there were times during my practicum, especially during the first few weeks, I excused myself out of the class just to cry in the girls' bathroom. I would think "Am I strong enough for this?" because I have to face these kids everyday and try to be a strong role model. I guess I survived and having a good but professional relationship with my students has helped me learn that there was more to life than just dwell on my ongoing pain.

I learned to show my brave face to my students. They themselves are going through a lot and while they didn't have to know what I'm going through, I have to show that it's never alright to give myself an excuse to wilt or show I'm in pain.

One of the gifts my students gave me was this first aid kit HAHAHAHA witty

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was patience. Of course, you deal with students who are noisy or slow learners but you try not to make it irk you. Instead, you do what you can to improve. I think this patience is still something that I bring with me to this day, because not only do I learn to look at situations in a different perspective but also learn how to turn it for the best.

DI PA UWIAN NAGSITAYUAN NA KAYO!

My favorite moments in my practicum were seeing how immensely creative and talented my students were! They're so clever in so many ways, from simple learning outputs to their Speech Choir in which I witnessed them invest their hearts and efforts on. I admire my students so much for all of this because it reminded me of Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory. My students all excel in many things and it need not to be studies only.

I recall having a really magulo student who admitted he can't keep up with his more difficult subjects but when he wrote poetry? My gosh! I also recall another student who is really shy and quiet but when she writes, her imagination is really out of this world. I could go on and on with each of my students and their amazing talents!

It makes me beam as a teacher because I know my students will do great in the future.


Lowkey wished my student's work was turned into a series hihi


IKA NGA, INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY COMES IN ALL FORMS!!!

Lastly, I learned that it takes teamwork to become an effective teacher. I really wouldn't have survived my practicum without some of my awesome blockmates and friends, who are all now teachers! While the students I taught impacted me so much in my life, my fellow practice teachers have also helped me become the educator I became today.

With the people who also made my life as Teacher Gill very special!!!

Happy Teacher's Day to all the educators out there! Whether practicing or not! All of us are teachers to someone in some way.