Yesterday I saw an interesting article over on TechCrunch. It's about Mink, a 3D printer for cosmetics! It is at its very early stages, so early that the demo isn't even a real one but just a simulation, but I'm pretty excited about the concept. It can print your desired color on an eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, or foundation. The raw materials or substrates I assume will be purchased separately, but in the long run us women should be able to save quite a bit of money from buying makeup in stores.

What Mink promises to do is provide us the freedom to choose our own colors. Love that lipstick that blogger is wearing? What, it's from Chanel? No problem, just "grab" the color from your screen using a color picker and then print that color on a fresh blank lipstick. Et voila! No need to spend 40USD on a lippie.

Working with retail brands, I am aware that raw materials are so cheap that you'd cry knowing how much a product costs to make. Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to create your own makeup from your house? Perhaps you can even start a business out of it, yes?

This technology seeks to disrupt the cosmetics industry by placing the manufacturing and distribution process in the hands of anyone who can afford the 300USD 3D printer. However, it's not quite as simple as it sounds. 

The Pixy BDJ Exclusive Box just arrived in everyone's doorsteps last Saturday but there's already a lot of buzz around it. Why? Because it's filled to the brim with full-sized products! There are three lipsticks, three foundations, one blush, mascara, and eyeliner. Seriously, who wouldn't be happy to receive a full makeup kit for only P580? That's why BDJ Box is such an awesome service to subscribe to!

But wait, what is Pixy? It's a new drugstore brand set to arrive soon in the Philippines. It's huge in Indonesia with its Japanese-themed cosmetics and super affordable prices. Elsewhere, they are distributed by Mandom Beauty, a Tokyo-based company famous for products such as Gatsby, Bifesta, and Lucido-L, to name a few. 

Pixy's prices here range from P265 to around P500 only. It's not yet available anywhere in the PH at the moment, but it will be out in major drugstore chains soon. ;) So check it out then! In the meantime, consider this as the sneakiest of previews.

Are you ready to see what's inside?

The other day I visited a reputable aesthetic clinic somewhere in The Fort. They do almost everything there, from something as mundane as facials and waxing to more complex treatments like Ulthera (a skin tightening and lifting procedure that uses ultrasound) and cosmetic surgery. I dropped by to try my favorite facial, but before that I settled down to talk with the owner's daughter.

She said she has had Ulthera done on her face, and then showed me a picture with one side finished, mid-procedure. It was dramatically thinner! It was non-surgical too so my jaw almost dropped to the floor! She said she used to have a wide face, and it's probably the same procedure Kim Chiu had to achieve her now-pixie face. This treatment is meant to be done only once a year, and costs about P90,000 per session.

I tell you, I have never been as tempted to alter my face as I had been that time. Cosmetic procedures are more advanced so the pain and downtime are now minimal - the cost is manageable too, if your income is in the upper-middle bracket. It was tempting to try, whether or not the clinic generously offers an x-deal.

This reminds me of a post Regina Belmonte wrote on her Tumblr - it's not about cosmetic procedures per se, but it's related. Regina is Cosmopolitan Philippines' beauty editor-at-large and I believe also editor of The Philippine Star's YStyle Section.

Skinny bitches, feel free to contradict me. Because sometimes, I really, truly, honestly feel that the only reason I don’t have more going for me is that I’m not thin. And in my head, the reasonable half of my brain is like, “That’s stupid, Regina. Your worthiness isn’t dictated by your dress size,” but the less reasonable half still can’t help feeling that way anyway.

THIS. It was a nameless feeling before reading this post, but I feel this way sometimes too (note the operative word okay - sometimes).

This might be old-ish news to you if you're an avid follower of beauty news but - yay! Canmake Tokyo, one of the top drugstore brands in Japan, is finally here in the Philippines. They've had an online counter over at Glamourbox for a few months now, but it's only recently that they set up a brick and mortar location in Glorietta 2, inside Somera.

When I went to Tokyo and Hong Kong last year, every beauty drug store I visited had Canmake. It's impossible to miss: the bright pink logo and collaterals, the cute little princess-themed makeup. And the price! It's very affordable. I'm happy to report that the prices here are almost the same as abroad, with the product selling for as low as P390 and at most, P680 (for the BB cream/bases). 

Ever since I saw makeup master Jigs Mayuga use a mixing palette and spatula at a workshop, I knew I NEEDED those things in my life. I'm not a makeup artist, right, but I love tinkering with makeup and having tools make the process more simple and enjoyable. I'm grateful to Sol of Digital Traincase, who generously gave me a MONDA Studio Mixing Palette (P520) and Spatula (P490) last Christmas!

Before we move forward, can I just say that Sol is one of those people I've been following for maybe half a decade now, even before her store became famous in the PH. She used to blog before, did you know that? She was passionate about nail polishes if I remember correctly. She has since channeled that passion into being one of the top (if not the top) online beauty retailers in the country, but she's still as nice and approachable as before.

I totally did not expect anything from her last Christmas. I didn't make parinig or anything - the package just suddenly arrived on my doorstep. She said it's to thank me for my support through the years, but IDK, it's not like I did a lot. I just love her brand of service and her constant eye out for new amazing things to bring here.

ANYWAY, end of cheese. Here's my review of these MONDA tools! 

I'll start with the palette. I think that if you love liquid and cream products, a mixing palette like this is indispensable. It allows you to customize wet foundations, concealers, blushes, illuminators, eyeliner, eyeshadow and lipstick etc. easily without wasting any product. Since it's made of stainless steel, you can warm the makeup with a touch of your hand under it.