Yes guys, just when you thought my Japan travel is done, oh nope we are just in the middle! Hahahaha!

Beautiful Yokohama 👏 (Photo from Imman)

Aside from Tokyo proper, we ventured somewhere a little calmer compared to all the craziness of Tokyo, and that was Yokohama. Yokohama is 1 hour away from Tokyo via train. But before we really went there, we first head to this park which is...

Which is a bummer, because I was excited to see blooms that day! But oh well, we move on. Oh and I saw these:



Not sure if all train stations in Tokyo has this lovely little corner where you can try out this stamp, but I hope they all do! This is perfect for those who do Bu-Jo 👌

Anyhoo, rather than get sad and mushy about not getting into this pretty park, we proceed to Setagaya for some magical lunch, but first...






A quick look at the nearby Village Vanguard, where I spotted a new flavor of one of my favorite Japanese cookies, Country Ma'am. P.S., to those in Japan now, can you get me a pack of Country Ma'am cookies? I'll pay when you get back hahahaha!

I handcarried this in the airplane on our flight back home wahahahaha!

After wrecking havoc in Magic Spice (because we wolfed down to the very last morsel of food in our plates), we have finally reached the chill town of Yokohama. Unlike the busy streets of Tokyo, people are relatively chiller here. It somehow reminds me of Fukuoka's Marinoa Outlet, but that's probably because of the huge ferris wheels they both have. But before we proceed to the Yokohama Landmark tower, we head first to the Queen's Square mall to buy some knick knacks at Tokyo Hands, and Flying Tiger.

One random night I got bored that I decided to filter out and finally cleaned my email. Lo and behold, I saw an email about this website that give a lot of people the chance to try out a product, then they can do a review about it. Rather than mind other people's business, I decided to try out and see my luck if I'll get chosen as one of the reviewers for this!

👌👌👌👌👌

...and yes, with that let us now proceed with the review of the Maybelline Made For All lipstick 💄💄💄

Photo from Huda Beauty website HERE

The Maybelline Made for All Lipstick is available in 7 different shades that are meant to flatter ANY skintone. Upon filling up the questionnaire from the Try and Review website, they let you choose what shade you'd like to try out. Since I don't really like wearing dark red, or very strong colors on my lips, I decided to be a bit of a risk-taker and tried out the Plum For Me color numero 388.

1. PACKAGING
The packaging of this lipstick is pretty similar to other solid form lippies of Maybelline, like the Color Sensation line. This could be both a pro and a con, pro being it creates a consistent image for this kind of lipstick for Maybelline, while the con is this Made for All lipstick line might drown in a sea of Color Sensation, Powder Mattes, and etc., which in that case how will we ladies be able to differentiate this particular line from the others? As for the strength of the packaging, given that I am an extremely clumsy fella, I have dropped this for a solid 5 times since I received this package last May 7 (currently writing this May 13), and so far no cracks or any signs of giving up ☝


2. CONTENTS
What I like about majority of Maybelline's cosmetics is that they have a lot of product in their packaging. By the looks of this tube, I can see this will last a good 3 to 4 months of daily use. Your Php 299 will definitely go a looong way with this bad boy 👌

3. SMELL
Another thing that I have noticed with Maybelline's recent lines of lippies are they smell better than other drugstore lipstick brands that are currently available in the market. Just like the Super Stay Ink liquid lipstick, this smells like candy, but not the fruity overwhelmingly sickly sweet kind. In fact this reminds me of a milky kind of candy, though it still have hints of the usual waxy smell, but it is tolerable and it is much better than BYS' lippies, which smells like Crayola and plastic-not a pleasant combination 🙊


4. PIGMENTATION
I tried swatching this first on on my wrist (as seen on the photo above), and weirdly enough it looks sheen and glossy. Sure, this is not a matte lipstick, but this isn't a lip gloss either. Sure, you can see that with just one swipe you'll see the color pay-off, however I have noticed upon application on my lips, you need to have atleast two full coats to really see how plum it is. Not sure if this will apply to lighter lips, but for someone with dark lips, it takes two swipes of this lipstick to evenly cover the color to my lips.

5. FORMULATION
Obviously this lipstick isn't matte, instead it's more of a satin creamy type. I had no problem applying this on my lips, since it's pretty creamy, it glides like a butter on my lips sans any tugging; Unlike butter, this doesn't crumble or slush easily- but of course, unlike crayola this isn't that solid, so pleeeease lock this up away from the kiddies. ALSO, I find this easy to blend, since I usually only bring one make-up product with me for touch-ups, usually a multi-purpose item like lip and cheek tint, I tried using this on my cheeks as well. Lo and behold, this plum color gave me a flushed 'drunken' look, not bad, but I don't think Maybelline wants us to use this as a blush hahaha! 🤔

6. STAYING POWER
Oh boy, this one's a problem since it reminded me why I don't use dark colored lipsticks. After applying this color on my lips, it immediately triggered my anxiety; Anxious that I might transfer my lipcolor to everything I hold dear! To give this some slack, mattes are more known to be transfer-proof, but I think they can push this one further and do something about it.

Excuse the face, please focus on the lipcolor.

SUMMARY
Let me do a rundown of my reviews with an old fashioned Pros and Cons:

PROS
1. SUPER MOISTURIZING! I didn't use a lip balm prior to applying this lippie, but the formulation of this lipstick still locked in the moisture, which made my lips soft for quite a while.
2. PIGMENTED! When I tried doing a swatch on my wrist, at first I thought it's too glossy sheen, but when I swiped it on my lips it was more of a satin finish, no specs of glitter.
3. Creamy candy-like smell.
4. The amount of product in each tube can last you for a long time. Unlike other lipsticks, this one doesn't give you a 'bitin' feeling. I think 1 tube can last you a good 3 to 4 months even if you use it everyday- including the re-touches!
5. The product is easy to apply, since the consistency is pretty creamy but not too soft that it'll crumble. I did not experience any tugging shen I spread out the color all over my lips.
6. Easy to blend. I know it is not really advisable to use lippies for other makeup purposes, but I tried using this one as a cheek tint, and whooooa! The Plum for all gave me this fresh glowy flushed look when I smeared it all over my cheeks. So I suppose this is a good 'must have' in every bag that I use in the daily.
7. The packaging appears to be sturdy. I dropped my lipstick, and in fairness the casing did not break. Pretty nifty for clumsy gals like me.

CONS
1. It's hard to cover the inner lip part, or like the 'waterline' of the lips with this. I understand that this is a satin-y cream consistency so the color may not be as 'sticky' as mattes, but it sure would be lovelier to have this kind of lipstick that can also cover the 'waterline' part.
2. As much as I love the pigmentation, I do hate how this is not a transfer proof lippie. It kind of reminded me why I hate wearing dark lipsticks, because if it isn't transfer proof I end up transfering my lipcolor everywhere... don't ask me how, I don't know hahaha!
3.limited shades. Although the claim that it will fit all skin tones, I still feel that they could have pushed for more colors. It would have been nicer if they added some deeper brown colors (which is lovely for both dark and fair skinned ladies), or even nude shades with some old rose flair.
4. Sure it is pigmented, but I feel that you must do 2 swipes to fully get the expected color-especially for girls with dark lips.

Not really a con, but more of a suggestion:
1. It would be nice if the lipstick, aside from being moisturizing, it also provides spf and sunprotection :)

AND THAT'S IT! Thanks to Try and Review for this! For those who are interested in trying and reviewing products, check out their website HERE

Love Always 😍,

Nicole

Dear my future child,

Today is May 13, 2019 which means it is election day, particularly for a new set of senators, local government leaders, and a partylist. Given that election usually falls on May, it falls on one of the hottest days of summer, and summer in The Philippines is often unbearable. But no matter how hot and sticky it may feel to go out, fall in line for hours, and be crammed into tiny 'precincts', do not lose the will to do your civic duty.

Yes, it's not just a right, but it is both a privilege and a duty to vote for the future leaders of our nation. This freedom to choose you are enjoying is the result of our brave countrymen's sacrifices, so you better do something wise about it, hence to vote for the right people who will champion what will be beneficial for the whole nation. Vote for those who value honesty, hardwork, and compassion, do not be lured by those who give out promises that are just too good to be true, most often than not those tend to be just empty promises. Vote for someone who uses their voice for people in our society who don't have voiced 

Should the future, the present you are living, isn't as good as what we are fighting for right now, please don't be apathetic and think that nothing good will ever happen. Do not lose hope. Goodness will always prevail, but it still needs work, grit, perserverance, courage, and hope for it to happen. So please, my dear, go and vote. Your vote matters, I'll just be here to guide you.

I love you.

Sincerely,

Your mom circa 2019.

If I win the lottery the first thing I'd do, aside from collect my winnings of course, is to go to the nearest bookstore and buy ALL the books my heart desires-and my heart desires A LOT! But even if I haven't won the lottery (yet ☝), I was able to feel like a million bucks when I have purchased amazing titles from the last National Bookstore Warehouse Sale *woot woot*

Books are investments, and no, I don't have a problem 🙅