No, Ellana is not a girl — not even a person. Ellana is a proudy Philippine made brand of mineral cosmetics owned by the lovely and super nice Miss Coney. Somehow, it feels like Ellana is a long-lost friend that I’ve reunited with, after I abandoned her last year. I first got into Ellana right after I jumped into the MMU bandwagon. Ellana was pretty new then, and being a local brand, I was really curious. My friend and ex-colleague Ayumi became a reseller for the brand and I got a few items from her: Caramel Latte Premium Blend Foundation, Toffee Mocha Premium Blend Foundation, Espresso Con Panna translucent finishing powder, an Ellana kabuki brush and First Kiss lip gloss.
Out of all those items, I am only using Espresso Con Panna until now. The kabuki brush became too stiff that it was no longer comfortable using it on my face. Toffee Mocha was too dark, Caramel Latte turns dark — eventhough I am not acidic. The lip gloss was what I hated the most because it was so sticky. If my hair flies to my face, it will stick to my lips because of this gloss.
Fast forward to 09: Ellana reformulated some products, added a lot of new products and put up a jazzy website. When I visited their site again, I know I just have to get some items! The new products looked really great, and the reviews have been nothing but helpful. Last week, I got the following stuff from a reseller: Sensual Moisture Lip Color, Lip Treatment in Vanilla Bean, Lip Scrub in Vanilla Bean & Lip/Cheek Tint in Ruby.
The initial judgment: I loved everything I ordered!! That day I got my package, I had a terrible case of chapped lips — my lips were peeling and I was making it worse by pulling the damned skin off so my lips would start bleeding. I know, stupid. So anyway, when I got my lip scrub, I started applying it to my lips. I was at my desk at work, and didn’t care who saw me. I must have sprinkled some of the sugar scrub on my keyboard, not sure. Also, I must have scrubbed my lips at least 5 times in 20 minutes. I was that addicted to the scrub.
After scrubbing, my lips felt really smooth — of course, I still had my lip “wounds”. But overall, the skin was a lot better, less cracking and more moisturized. After the scrub, I put on a generous amount of lip treatment. It’s colorless, and has a minty smell. The vanilla part was just really subtle. After only 2-3 days, I already noticed a big improvement on my lips. Now, a week later, my dry and cracked lips have completely healed, thanks to this Ellana tandem. 🙂
Now, on to that Moisturizing Lip Color — when I first opened the jar, I was shocked at how dark the color was. I thought I’d never use that ever, because it is too vampire for me. But when I tried it on, it went on really sheer and light. The color was light red wine with a bit of shimmer. I topped it the the Lip Treatment for extra staying power. Again, make-up kit staple candidate. Maybe I should get duplicate items to leave at work? 😀
The last item I roadtested was the cheek tint. I admit I am not the most skillful when applying cheek tints. I only buy them because, well,
I think tints are cute. Again, lame. But actually, I love my Cherry Cheek Tint from Bath and Body Desserts, and when I heard that Ellana made their own tint, I just had to get it. I am not too happy that the Ellana tint did not have a cap for the bottle. To lock the pump and prevent accidental product spillage, you have to rotate the pump a bit so the “guards” are locked against each other. Still, I prefer a cap. That’s about the only negative thing I can say about the cheek tint, because I love the color payoff of this one. It appears too red in the bottle but is actually very sheer and natural.
Because I don’t know much about makeup, I am not sure how much tint I should be using without ending up like a clown. So I try to use the smallest amount of product as possible. However, by midday, the color is almost gone. I might have to ask around about how to make this tint last at least 7-8 hours.
Overall, I am very happy with my recent reunion with Ellana — the products are very affordable, readily available and proudly Pinoy made! I’m going back to Ellana! 🙂
