JANNIEOLOGY: Makeup By Aila Apolo

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EnCara BB Creams!

If you've been following me for a time, you'll remember that I posted about receiving my very own EnCara BB Cream that was made popular by some beauty bloggers. I've been so excited to share my review of this product with you guys so let's get started...

Setting powder - freebies for my orders. <3

Official EnCara BB Cream pamphlet.

Sleek packaging.

Matte body, satin-like finish twist cap.

I have been using this product for over two weeks and I think I can finally give my two cents about it.

Shipping / Shop Packaging : ★★★★☆

I purchased my EnCara BB cream online and received it two days after she shipped it. It was wrapped in a thick layer of bubble wrap but I didn't particularly like the paper tape that was used to wrap it. I found it a bit messy. But that's a very minor thing that doesn't necessarily ruin the product itself. A official pamphlet for the EnCara BB cream was included and also included a couple of freebies.

Pricing : ★★★★★

The EnCara BB cream is usually sold at P999 but I got it at P499 pesos. And that's a FULL SIZED tube... Compared to other BB creams, the price is GREAT! I mean, where can you find a legitimately nice BB cream for only P499? It's definitely more pocket friendly in my opinion.

Design / Product Packaging : ★★★★★

The product comes in a sleek semi-matte finish tube container that's housed in a silver paper-cardboard type packaging with details printed. The tube itself one of those squeeze tube type containers that don't really make a mess unless you squeeze too hard. I like the fact that the opening is at the bottom of the tube so that, by law of gravity, all the product flows down. You see, there's less wastage of product with packaging like this. I also like that it comes with a screw top cover instead of a flip top one. That way there are lesser chances of "accidents".

Scent / Color / Coverage / Etc... : ★★★☆☆

In the two weeks that I have used EnCara BB Cream here are some little details that I have to say. Taking into consideration its scent, I'd say that this product has a very faint scent that I can compare to some sort of floral scent. It's not nauseating in any sense and for someone like me that's very sensitive to scents, it is quite tolerable. The downside is that I'm very acidic to begin with and over a period of time people who come in close contact with my face tell me that it gives of a mix a floral scent with a hint of mild plastic. *eeep!*

As for the color of this BB cream, I'd say this is geared towards people like me that have a yellow undertone. I fall under the NC35-40 category, in other brands I'm a medium beige, true beige, oriental and nude beige. I'd have to say that compared to other BB creams that I've tried in the past, this one has to be the one that comes the closest to matching my skin tone. I have yet to completely play around with it and get my technique on applying it to a perfection but this has by far the best over all look on my face in terms of BB cream. Most BB creams leave me with a ghastly gray-white cast and I look horrible in photos but EnCara is a different story. It looks better in photos than my other BB creams. I can't say that it won't end up looking a bit white, because in some photos that have extremely bright flash and lighting, there is a soft hint of that white cast on my face BUT it's still a whole lot better than other BB creams that leave me looking like death's bride. I also find it working a whole lot better as concealer (gives a highlight effect on the under eye area) , and mixed in with a tiny bit of my regular foundation. It also works great as a thin layer of makeup base before you apply your regular foundation on top of a dried layer of EnCara BB cream. It seems to have kept my oilies at bay!

The coverage of this BB cream is medium to full (depending on how many layers you've applied). It is very buildable and since it blends so well, you really won't have to exert much effort in buffing it into your skin. It has a great consistency, not too runny nor too thick. It's just right for those who like applying face products with their hands. It also works great when used with a stippling brush, flat top brush and even a paddle shaped foundation brush. I have also tried using "beauty blenders" (read : beauty sponges etc) and it does tend to "suck" up much more product than I'd like to so I wouldn't really recommend that.

Overall : ★★★★☆

Overall I'd like to keep using this product. Play around with a lot more and try to get my technique in applying it down to a T. I like it a lot because of its yellow undertone, its consistency, its non irritating smell, its coverage and of course its affordability. Plus I haven't broken out of this particular BB cream. I'd recommend it to those who don't like to wear full coverage foundations on a daily basis, and to those BB cream fans that are looking for more affordable BB cream. EnCara is proving to be a very nice product and its popularity is steadily gaining top place in the hearts of a lot of other beauty bloggers and makeup enthusiasts. I see a bright future for this BB cream. Definitely worth 4/5 stars. Would have given it a perfect score if it weren't for the "cast" trouble I still slightly experience.

Now onto more photos plus a surprise for all of you at the end...

Fits right in the palm of my hand.
For reference, I wear size 6.5 sterile gloves (when I do "nurse" duties).

Sealed for your protection & to guarantee it's brand new.

Swatch.

Blended out...

Now onto the exciting part... The GIVEAWAY! I will be giving away 1 brand new tube of EnCara BB Cream to 1 lucky reader. This giveaway is open to PHILIPPINE BASED readers only. You must be at least 18 years old to join. For MINORS, please be sure you have parental consent to join because I will be needing shipping details in case you win. This giveaway starts today, June 14, 2012 & will end on July 15, 2012. I will be announcing the winner shortly after and will be posting it on most of my media sites. Please take note that I will not email the winner. So please make sure to keep checking back if you are the lucky winner. Now go ahead and finish the tasks on the rafflecopter app.

ADDITIONAL POINTS : I will also be giving a special "referrer" prize. I will base the winner on the number of people who claimed that you are their referrer to this particular giveaway. So remember to instruct them to include your name on the comments as their referrer! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck everyone!

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My first encounter with the BB cream phase was at 19 years old (take note I'm 21 now). My first ever BB cream was the Ecorre "artist" BB cream which worked splendidly on me but after 1 tube at P950 + shipping, I gave up and tried to look for other BB creams to try out.

Fast forward to when I was 20. I had stumbled upon more Korean BB creams like the ones from Missha (that broke me out horribly), Skin79 (that had an ugly gray-white cast), Skinfood (which cost me $$$ again) and even some from Maybelline which matched me better than the rest but still had pretty bad staying power and coverage.

Now at 21 years old, I had given up on BB cream and decided it's something to be left to the Koreans of really really intensely fair girls who had almost perfect skin and didn't need much coverage. It seemed to me that BB cream wasn't for someone like me who bordered on the combi-oily skin type and was stuck between NC35-NC40 at times. No, BB cream wasn't for me... Or so I thought!

About a week ago I was browsing thru YouTube when I stumbled upon an update that one of my favorite gurus had uploaded a new video. Ate NOE of Colorismyweapon has played a huge role in my love for makeup alongside other Filipina makeup gurus. One of the things I learned from Ate Noe is how to fill in my brows and I still get a lot of compliments on them! *wink* Now going back to her video... It was a review (+giveaway) on this BB cream that was sent to her by Ate Aila.

The BB cream happens to be the Encara Perfect Cover Blemish Balm. While watching Ate Noe's video, I was just astounded at the actual product so I went ahead to read more about it on her blog post. I kept thinking that a product that great must cost a lot but lo and behold...

Miss Aila's page banner.

Ate Aila is selling it for only P499. I knew I just had to try this out. Even with shipping it still cost a lot less than other Korean BB creams I tried in the past.

Well I received my BB cream a few days ago and have been using it since. I'll reserve an in depth review for when I've been using it for at least 2 weeks so watch out for it. For now, I'll leave you guys with a few product photos...