My love for anything royal goes beyond the real world; it encompasses the fictitious world too! Not so long ago I featured The Selection Series here in my blog. I was swept off by the love story, and the gowns and palaces and the Prince. A friend (Hi Kara!) sent me a message and she said that if I enjoyed Kiera's Selection I might also enjoy Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen. I finished reading the book in less than 24 hours; maybe less than 12 hours actually. I couldn't put it down; not when I had no idea about what was going to happen next or what the plot was because I decided not to read any review beforehand. It was a complete leap of faith for me. Diving headfirst was suuuuuurely fun!

Red Queen//Victoria Aveyard

There were so many familiar elements in this story, so I didn't have to fumble around. To begin with, we have a kick ass girl for a protagonist. It is set in the near future (year 320 NE...the book offers no answers as to what NE stands for) in a place called the Kingdom of Norta. I guess Norta is still in planet Earth though, although I can imagine there has been some geopolitical changes over the years. The social status is divided into two: Silvers and Reds. The Silvers are the ruling class and they possess different superhuman abilities.  To name a few, there are telkies (use telekinesis), nymphs (control water), strongarms (superhuman strength), swifts (amazingly fast), greenys (can bend nature to their will), etc. The Reds in turn, since they do not have such abilities, have become enslaved.

(c)inspiredbybooks1.tumblr.com//victoriaaveyard.com

We have our protagonist Mare Molly Barrow, who is a Red from the Stilts. She thinks herself a no good and she picks pockets for a living. Her sister Gisa and her best friend Kilorn are both apprenticed so they don't have to go to war as soldiers when they turn 18. Three of her brothers are already fighting in the war and she is fated to follow the same path. In a twist of fate, her best friend looses his apprenticeship and in an effort to help him out, her sister also looses her prospects of an apprenticeship.  A distraught Mare goes to a local tavern and there she meets a boy named Cal. Despite trying to rob him of a coin, he acts kindly towards her and sympathizes with her life.

Things take a 360 for Mare on the next day when she is suddenly summoned to the Hall of the Sun (the palace) to serve the King himself. She arrives in time to witness the Queenstrial, an event where the Silver ladies of the different Houses show off their abilities in a bid to win the Prince's "heart" and in turn gets the chance to rule the kingdom someday at his side. She also finds out that the Cal she met at the tavern was actually the Crown Prince Tiberias the Seventh and heir to the Kingdom of Norta and the Burning Crown or yes, 'Cal' for short. She also sees the King Tiberias, Queen Elara (Cal's step-mum) and Cal's younger brother Maven. Cal, Maven and their father can control flame whilst Queen E can probe other's minds.

The last girl to present herself for the Queenstrial was Lady Evangeline of House Samos, a magnetron (controls metal). In her bid to show off, she tries to move the metal pipes and tips the boxes in the arena. Mare's life is endangered as she was inside one of those boxes and she takes a fall. Instead of just falling though, some sort of miracle happened. She produces a shield of lightning that cushions her fall; her uniform is singed but she was unharmed. She was seized by the sentinels and the vicious Queen Elara probes her mind and finds out that she is indeed a Red with Silver-like abilities. Evangeline is chosen as betrothed to Prince Cal and Mare is chosen for Prince Maven. Mare is given a new identity since King Tiberius couldn't stand to expose her as a Red who can call up a lightning. She became Lady  Mareena Titanos, long lost daughter of a former Silver general who died on the battlefront. She was "found and raised by Reds" and was unawares of who she was or what she was capable of until that fateful day at the arena. She earns the nickname "Lightning Girl".

That is what I have learned for sure upon finishing the book. At first I thought Cal was nice for helping Mare find a job at the palace. As the story was unfolding it didn't appear to me that he cared enough for the Reds or that he didn't intend to give them the equality and the better treatment that they craved for. Maven was different. He expressed his desire to help the Reds. He also wanted equality for them. He sympathized with the rebels and together with Mare, arranged for some of the rebel attacks to take place at the palace. Even so, Mare was still torn between the two, especially that Cal expressed his feelings towards her. He even helps Mare to go on a visit to the Stilts when she was homesick. On her visit she finds out that one of her brothers, Shade, who was fighting in the war had died.

Mare makes some friends (and enemies) at the palace; Lucas Samos her personal guard and Julian Jacos, one of her mentors, was kind to her. Julian especially warns Mare with this quote, in reference to Maven. Julian also discovers that Mare isn't the only Red in history to have Silver-like abilities. There have been others like her before but they have all been killed. There were also others like her who were still alive and are also in danger of being found and disposed by Silvers. Mare entrusts this info to Mavey (how cute!).

The climax brings us to the middle of a rebel attack and in the midst of the chaos, Mare asks Cal to choose between being with her (and her rebel inclination) or waging war against the rebels. This is also the part where Maven shows his true color. All his efforts to help the rebels were for a show. He was just as vicious as his mum. Together with their other allies, they have perfectly orchestrated the downfall of King Tib himself, as well as his heir Prince Cal. Maven takes the crown for himself and tries to get rid of his brother and Mare.

Mare and Cal escapes, but it was a close call. They end up at the rebel's lair.


And I end up with my disappointment for even thinking that Maven was better than Cal. Big LOL. And I was like...this ending totally sucks. I know that there is a book two but this cannot be ending, it's just too sad. Voila! There was indeed a saving grace at the end. Mare's brother Shade, whom we all thought was dead, was actually alive. Just like Mare, he also has an ability - he's a teleporter and his enemies couldn't catch him because he, well, just vanishes out of thin air.

Words of wisdome from Prince Maven Calore. How nice. (c)themazegvardian.tumblr.com

"Say no to dry and sticky hair that leaves you feeling conscious. Feel confident with hair that’s so magaan-soft, you’ll love to flip it.

Experience how it feels with Palmolive Naturals Intensive Moisture Shampoo – now with a new advanced formula. Combining the best of nature with science, it gently cleanses and moisturizes hair leaving it magaan-soft."

Price/Size: Palmolive Naturals Intensive Moisture Cream Conditioner - Php 95.20/180 mL Palmolive Naturals Intensive Moisture Shampoo - Php 96.50/180 mL

Ingredients of the Palmolive Naturals Conditioner.

Ingredients of the Palmolive Naturals Shampoo.

Full-sized samples from SkinWhite! Woot woot!

Ingredients of SkinWhite Classic Whitening Lotion Light Feel Technology SPF 10. Price/Size: Php 72.00/100 mL

Ingredients of the SkinWhite Advanced Whitening Lotion. Price/Size: Php 123.50/100 mL

Feel the texture, based on the photo. LOL.

We're in the year 2016 - that's three years after Yolanda ravaged the Philippines. We all know about how much of a deluge it was. So many lives lost. Too much destruction. I remember when the storm died down and I and my family went out of our home (what's left of it) and saw for the first time the unspeakable damage that Yolanda brought. "How do we rise up from something like this?", I thought. And we didn't even have the worst brunt. The Taclobanons and the residents other coastal towns in Leyte and Samar had it worse.

My home at San Diego, Burauen, Leyte a few hours after Yolanda left.

Lamp and electrical posts were down. A few weeks later, my sister and I took the time to touch the tops of the posts. Hey, it's a bragging right, being able to touch the top of the post, albeit a fallen one. ;)

Spot the big white clouds at the end of the road. There's going to be a great weather tomorrow. But how do we get to tomorrow with all of these? And how we dreaded the coming of the night. Photo taken on the afternoon of November 8, 2013.

My energetic grandma surveys the destruction. My brother may just be thinking about what we will be having for dinner. Wait, what?! We actually forgot about breakfast and lunch.

My high school, the Burauen Comprehensive National High School.

The Burauen Comprehensive National High School, days after Yolanda.

The Burauen North Central School, days after Yolanda.

Must have been taken by my father, somewhere in the Palo area.

My momma's school, the Burauen National High School.

The Burauen National High School,  days after Yolanda.

"We's havin'  a great weather", that's why my kid and my younger brother were relaxing on the floor. But remember....

...we still had no roofing.

We've come a long way from November 2013. We've risen up from the ashes. But I think we still have a long way to go. There is the issue of Climate Change and how it mainly affects us. 

This is in remembrance to all of those whose lives were lost. This is also in gratitude to those  who made great sacrifices to help their fellowmen.

Tin adds the finishing touch to our tree. December 2013

I grabbed this lippie a long time ago. Honestly I can't remember when, LOL. So I guess it's about time that I make a review. These photos were also taken using my camera phone waaaaaaaay back so the quality isn't that good. Apologies for that. But anyway, hewego!

Product Name/Shade: Human Heart Nature Mineral ColorCreme Lipstick in Passion Candy

Regular Price: Php 325.00// Member Price: Php 276.25

Where I Got It: www.humanheartnature.com

Vivid color. Luscious moisture. One rich lipstick.

Time to let your natural beauty dazzle with this luxurious fusion of cocoa butter, sunflower seed oil, passion fruit seed oil, and natural vitamin E that melts onto your lips for an exquisite, creamy glide.

My Take

Ingredients. It's a white box but just got a bit dirty haha.

Swatched on the back of my hand.

The lipstick came with a little leaflet that contained some infos and tips about lipsticks and application.

That title sure is a mouthful! Ha ha!. I decided to hit two birds with one stone today. Or two stories in one blog post would be more like it. :) We went to the beach this weekend, and the weather was really fine. And the sun could literally burn you.  I suddenly remembered (silly me!) that I had this almost unused Belo SunExpert Ultra Gentle Spay SPF 50 and figured out that this day was the perfect time to use it. I mean, I had no other options because I just consumed all my other  sunblocks. (^,^)

The Deets

Full Size: 140ml//Price: PHP 539.75

"Belo’s very first kid-friendly product. Belo SunExpert Ultragentle Sheer Spray SPF50 and PA+++ is specially formulated sunscreen that is gentle enough for kids yet effective and strong enough to protect everyone in the family. Its ultragentle formulation provides effective broad-spectrum protection against harmful UV rays. Its Cell Protect® formula strengthens the skin’s defense system and actively prevents accelerated premature skin aging.

Belo SunExpert Ultragentle Sheer Spray SPF50 and PA+++ is hypoallergenic, dermatologist- tested,and paraben-free. It is also non-sticky and quick-drying, and works immediately upon application."

Hiyah! Another package from Sample Room arrived on my doorstep and as always, I am pleased to try 'em out. So here's my loot! 

Gluta-C with Kojic Plus+ Body Lotion SPF30

What makes Gluta-C KOJIC PLUS+ different?

It has 4x Skin whitening action from Glutathione, Vitamin C, Kojic Acid and Azelaoyl Diglycinate, achieving whitening from 4 different angles and ensuring greater efficacy. Together, Gluta-C KOJIC PLUS+ achieves a more holistic skin whitening regimen.

BENEFITS:

-4X Skin Whitening – combination of Glutathione, Vitamin C, Kojic Acid and Azelaoyl Diglycinate

-With SPF30

-Moisturizing

-Revitalizing and Smoothening

-3X more anti-oxidants (to help reduce toxins)

The deets plus ingredients of Gluta-C Body Lotion

The Gluta-C Body Lotion as applied on my skin.

Gluta-C Face and Body Powder//Size: 40g //Price: Php 74.75

The deets and ingredients of Gluta-C Face and Body Powder

Powder

e.l.f Mineral Infused Primer - Brightening Lavender

Price: Php 350.00

Where I Got It: Pre-ordered from the US thru www.makeupinboxph.com

Here are the deets about this product taken from www.elfcosmetics.com:

Transform your face into a flawless and smooth canvas with the Mineral Infused Face Primer. Developed to combat against excess oil, flaky dryness, enlarged pores and fine lines. This clear multipurpose skin primer will prepare your skin so makeup goes on evenly for a long-lasting satin finish.

Features a new and improved air pump! For best results, you may need to pump the component several times before product dispenses.

Recommended uses:

Tone Adjusting Green is ideal for minimizing redness and correcting blotchy skin.
Brightening Lavender is ideal for uneven skin tones and to brighten dull or yellow tones.
Radiant Glow (contains shimmer) is ideal for creating a luminizing effect on dark spots and uneven skin tones.

Now before I actually grabbed this primer, I researched for some reviews about it and I found this one from the Paula's Choice webpage. The Beautypedia team gave it a five star rating so I figured I should give it a go.

My Take

I picked the Brightening Lavender variant because, 'why not?!'. LOL. My skin was feeling dull and I thought I should get something to make my skin look bright. So there. It comes in this opaque glass bottle with a nice pump which allows you to dispense just the right amount of product. By that I mean small amount of product, because a little goes a long way. This lavender-hued primer goes smoothly on the face and the skin just feels silky. It has a faint floral-plasticky scent (is there such a thing? hihi) that fades almost immediately upon application.

The color correction thing- I dunno about that but I didn't see any particular change on my face. However, I did get some compliments from my office mates. They told me that my face looked smooooooooooth, and I don't get a lot of compliments these days, so that is enough to make me so happy.

My skin is on the oily side and there's really no oil-control properties for this one. So at the end of the day, I can see shininess on my face especially on my T-zone. But it's not an icky kind of shiny that makes me ugly- I look like I'm glowing; a dewy kind of glow and I'm happy with it.

Here's a little swatch of the product on my forearm and it just looks (and feels) smooth.

XO,

Carissa

Primer - e.l.f. Mineral Infused Primer in Brightening Lavender

Base - Olay CC Cream SPF 15 in Medium Shade

Powder - Human Nature Pressed Mineral Foundation in Honey

Eyebrow/Eyeshadow - BYS 8 Neutral Matte Eyeshadow Palette

Mascara - Maybelline Hypercurl Volum' Express Mascara

Blush/Highlight - BYS Contour and Highlight Kit

Lips - Burt's Bees Lip Gloss in Sunny Day

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