I honestly think that Beauty hasn’t had a better moment than now. It has never been easier to cop the latest in beauty trends and looks with online beauty shops making practically every imaginable makeup or skincare product so accessible. What’s even better are the many local beauty stores that offer amazingly affordable yet effective dupes to some of the biggest trending beauty products sold commercially.
My extensive perusal of the Instasphere has led me to one such discover: Skinline Essentials. It’s a small-scale online beauty store that offers all-natural and affordable versions of top trending skin care items. What really caught my attention was their extensive array of products sold! Skinline has everything from makeup removers, setting spray and face masks, to hand sanitizers and insect repellants! That’s a crazy wide selection of beauty products! All these are made from raw and natural materials, down to the plant and fruit extracts used. Their face and body scrubs are made from ground Arabica coffee, real oatmeal flakes, malunggay leaves and goat’s milk, and their rose water face mist and caffeine eye serum are all natural handmade infusions.
Aside from their, minimal, clean and Instagrammable packaging, another great plus about Skinline Essentials’ products is that they are all so very AFFORDABLE! Their make up setting spray and sea salt hair spray go for as low as only P150, while their face/skincare kits (which include about 5 travel-sized products) cost about P500. To show you how much of a real steal their items are, I thought I’d put them up against some of their high-end counterparts to see how they weigh in. Let’s start with:
Sea Salt Spray
Spend (Organix Sea Salt Spray): P500-P1,000
Save (Skinline Essentials): P100 (50ml) – P250 (250ml)
Unlike its high-end counterpart (I’ve tried the Organix Sea Salt spray) which feels like lowkey hairspray and makes my hair feel all wiry and stringy, I love how Skinline Essentials’ Sea Salt spray gives a more relaxed set of beach waves with a hold that lasts for hours. It gives my hair enough grit and volume so the curls stay put, without making my hair feel buhaghag.
Dry Shampoo
Spend (Lush “No Drought!” Dry Shampoo): P500-P1,000
Save (Skinline Essentials): P220
Now, this is another bomb dupe for the über trendy (and pricey!) dry shampoos sold at beauty boutiques. I’ve previously used baby powder as an alternative to dry shampoo since the ones sold at Lush (their No Drought! dry shampoo) start at P499, and Tony and Guy’s versions go for P1,000! Waayyyy too expensive! So glad to have come across Skinline’s version. Their dry shampoo is a fragrant mix of cocoa powder, arrow root powder and lavender essential oil. I like that it’s a nice chocolate brown color so it doesn’t appear too obvious when applied, and it instantly eliminates the grease and excess oils from day-old unwashed hair.
Facial Mask
Spend: P700-P2,000
Save (Skinline Essentials): P200
Face masks (especially those overnight spa masks which I never really understood) are becoming such a hit these days. And while I just couldn’t give in to the Origins Overnight Mask that’s priced at a whopping P2,000 (cringe!) I’ve found Skinline’s awesome dupes to work just as well. Skinline offers a wide range of facial masks for every skin concern, from whitening and clarifying, to anti-aging. I picked their Detox Facial Mask because it has Kaolin Clay and Activated Charcoal, which does wonders for ridding the face of dirt and excess oil.
Not my best photo, but just showing you how much I love this face mask! It doesn’t itch or dry my skin out after leaving it on for 10-15 minutes, on the contrary, the tea tree oil and shea butter in it left my face feeling super smooth and moisturized. Definitely not your usual face mask!
Make Up Setting Spray
Spend: P499-P1,000
Save (Skinline Essentials): P150
Another trending beauty item! I haven’t had any experience with more high-end setting sprays, and the one I’ve been meaning to try from L’Oréal cost P499 and was out of stock when I was about to purchase it, so this would be my first experience ever. I’m happy to say that this product did a fairly good job of keeping my makeup in place. It had a really nice powdery scent and gave my face a dewy finish. I used it for a wedding and despite being out and about for 3 hours, I noticed my make up remained surprisingly intact in all our photos!
