P is for Passion: Getting the Perfect Pink Pout!

Tools of the Trade
(Top to bottom: San San Lip Color Duo in Pink Pout, The Body Shop 10 Lip Liner Shade: Pink Brown, San San Moisture Lip Glow in Pink Berry Margarita)

As someone with caramel-colored skin, I've always been envious of girls who could just slick on all the loveliest shades of pink lipstick. It's a pretty hard color to pull off for my skin tone, and I'm always in search of the next Perfect Pink shade. :)

So far, this seems to be the winning combination to a pretty pink pout!

As everyone knows, lip liner goes first. I lined the outside with the Body Shop's pink brown liner and then very lightly filled in my upper and lower lips. (This base would be the reason why the resulting pink matches my skin tone better than just any baby pink lipstick would.)

San San's lip glow went on next, mixing in with Body Shop's pink brown and lightening it up. (Controlling how much lip glow you use determines how pink your lips look. TBS lip liner is such a neutral shade that it pretty much just serves as your base.)


The last step is to slick on some of that yummy San San lip color duo in Pink Pout (I used the lighter half), and voila! You've got the perfect pink lips that you've always wanted!

Alternately, using the hot pink side of the color duo gloss ends up in a more fuchsia finish. I still haven't figured out a way to pull *that* color off, but I'll let you know when I do, lol. :P

HBC's Year End Sale: Best Beauty Buys and Coral Collection Review!

It's the Christmas season again, and HBC celebrates the end of 2009 by giving their customers a chance to partake of the HBC Tatak Exclusibo sale! As a proudly Philippine brand, HBC has been known for their affordable hair and beauty products that are tailor-made to Filipino skin.

Their big annual sale will be running from November 30 to December 8, wherever HBC branches can be found. (This is a pretty easy find, since they have 200 branches across the nation!)

I was given the chance to check out and purchase some their items ahead of schedule, and here are my personal favs from their beauty lines:

"The Coral Collection"
L to R: Face Illuminator in Nude Beach, Shimmer Blush in Sunrise Walk, Eyecolor Wave in Golden Seashore, Moisture Lip Glow in Pink Berry Margarita

"Eyeshadow Trios"
Palettes 1, 2, and 3

I also tried out the following products: Age Defense Liquid Eyeliner (in brown), Age Defense Long Wearing Mascara (in shade 02), Waterproof Eyeliner pen (in brown), Kohl Eyeliner (in brown), and Creamy Matte Lipstick in Nude Brown.

I tested out the entire coral collection plus the Age Defense line of eye products, and the results are below:

After putting on my regular foundation, I dusted on some of the Coral Collection Face Illuminator under my eyes, on the bridge of my nose, and on my forehead. I followed it up with sweeps of the shimmer blush (it goes on pinker than it looks), and dabbed pale peach eyecolor wave on the balls of my lids. I followed-up with the pink eyecolor wave on the creases of my eyes, and the result was a lovely shade of pinky-peach. :D The moisture lip glow slid on like a dream, and it didn't feel sticky at all. The resulting color was a delicate pink gloss.

I then moved on the age defense line, using the brown liquid eyeliner to line my upper lids. This was difficult! The brush was very hard (presumably to give you more control), and the liquid took forever to dry and promptly smudged! :( (See photo above). I used the Kohl eyeliner to fill in my brows (this was all right; it even came with a smudger on the other end), and the age defense long-wearing mascara on my upper lashes. I didn't like the long-wearing mascara because it didn't really thicken my lashes much (just turned them brown), so I guess I'd recommend this for ladies who just want brown lashes. :D

All in all, I give the Coral Collection a thumbs-up! If you're looking to buy something from the HBC sale, I'd recommend trying this or the Eyeshadow Trios and the San San Creamy Matte Lipsticks. (The nude brown lipstick was *divine*! Such a perfect shade for my skintone. :D)

If you're interested in trying out some HBC products for yourselves (albeit the ALLUE teen line and the OHM Men's Care line), my boy and I are running a small giveaway at our review site YesNoMeh.com. Join now and get a chance to win either an HBC Beauty Pack, or and HBC Grooming pack! :D

Exploring Glitz and 4U2: First Look at the Impressionist Eyeshadow Palette

Glitz Purple Mascara and 4U2 Professional Makeup Palette in "Impressionist"

Don't you just love Watson's? I went to the Eastwood branch looking for some some strepsils and ended up with a new eyeshadow palette and some mascara! (I usually go with browns and blacks with my mascara, so I'm happy to report that I'm being adventurous with this new shade).

The Glitz and 4U2 brands are fairly new additions to the Watson's makeup counter, (Maybelline is nowhere to be found now!), and the saleslady said the brand was from Bel-Air, USA. The prices were reasonable enough, so I promptly picked out "Impressionist"-- the wildest palette (they also had "contemporary" and "modern", both with more muted shades).

"Impressionist" P994; Glitz Purple Mascara approx P250
(I can't remember the exact price!)

Since I was dying to try it out, I promptly broke out my eyeshadow brushes and proceeded to work on my lids. After the usual moisturizer and loose mineral powder routine, I brushed the corners, ball, and under the browbone areas of my lids with the silvery gray shade. I then dabbed a bit of gold (bottom row, third from left) onto the balls of my lids and right below the brown bone, following up with a liiiight application of the rust brown (bottom row, second from left) to outline the crease.

The result was such an interesting mix:


I then applied my maroon liquid eyeliner (from Elianto), followed by the Glitz purple mascara.

I followed it up with pinkish peach shades for both blush and lips, and then I was ready to go! I think daring eyes look good with more neutral cheeks and lips, and this was perfect for going out to a dinner date with my boy.

Everything on my face, lol.

1) Jergens Natural Glow Face Tinted Moisturizer
2) Ellana mineral powder in Machiatto
3) Ellana mineral blush in Fulfillment
4) 4U2 eyeshadow palette in Impressionist
5) Integrate eyebrow pencil in brown
6) Glitz mascara in purple
7) Elianto liquid eyeliner in maroon
8) in2it sheer shine lipstick in Bask (love love love this! also from Watson's and currently on sale! woohoo!)

It seems like a lot, but mineral makeup is L-O-V-E! You barely feel like you're wearing anything at all, and it doesn't irritate your skin or give you pimples. Coverage is still awesome, however, and it leaves you plenty of protection if you want to pile on the eyeshadow. :D

Vintage T's: Comfy Dress-Downs or Fashion Faux Passe?

As someone who takes great care in picking out her outfits by mixing and matching styles, I'm not the biggest fan of Vintage T's. They're usually worn with jeans and sneakers, and yeah, not a big fan of that, either.

There are some that are cute when worn with a skirt, trendy shorts, or maybe even a vest, but in general they're about as exciting as toenail clippings. See exhibit A:

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. They've got vintage-style T's for practically every hobby, culture, brand, fanbase, and country. Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts are flying off the shelves at various online stores as we speak!

And yes, there are even shirts for Bingo lovers. I've never played Bingo and I'm not sure I ever will below the age of 50 (or possibly 60), but I find myself wondering when you might actually wear these shirts. Would you wear them to the actual Bingo game? I mean, I'm assuming it's the same as going to a Poker game wearing an "I LOVE POKER" t-shirt, and that doesn't seem too feasible to me.

Bingo Fashion is perhaps not the most exciting trend to hit the vintage T aisle, and I doubt it will be the last. Still, with shirts of every kind sprouting out from everyone with MS Paint and a cafepress store, I guess it means that there's a huge market for stuff like this.

What do my fashion-loving readers think? Do you wear vintage T's? And if so, what do you pair it with?

Phone Chatting >> Internet Chatting

Remember the days when chatting was new and everyone wanted to do it? And then you'd happily spend the day talking to John/21/m and thinking how cute he was, until you accidentally (somehow) find out that you're actually talking to Mortimer/56/m who's married with four kids?

Well, with free live chat, that's not a problem anymore. You can still maintain the anonymity of an internet chat, though you've got the added bonus of listening to the other person's voice (which pretty much means that you can gauge if the gal you're talking to is indeed a twenty-something co-ed as opposed to a 60-year-old granny looking for some kicks).

Phone chatting allows you to leave anonymous phone intros (like a voiced personal AD, maybe?), which people can then reply to (also anonymously). They also have various age groups, from
teen chat to adult, and all age groups in between.

You can call in for live chatting also, and the best part is that the service is all completely free! So what are you waiting for? Head on down to Talk121 and start chatting! :D

Day and Night Looks Born from the HAZE Shoe Sale

As a woman who pretty much lives for shoe shopping, I had to physically restrain myself when I learned that HAZE in Eastwood Mall was having a 2-for-1 sale. They have really gorgeous, sexy heels on sale right now, some at 2 for P1399, others at 2 for P1999.

I tend to build outfits around the shoes that I purchase (rather than the other way around), and here are the two that I came up with to match my 2 new pairs of HAZE sandals. (One is white and the other is this scrumptious shade of plum.)

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Aaaand links to the various online sellers that I purchased accessories from: http://fabrichild.multiply.com, http://theroyaltyshop.multiply.com, and http://xreations.multiply.com

Happy shopping ladies! I just love sales. :D

Internet Shopping: Where to Go and What to Buy

As someone who spends 75% of every waking moment online and in front of the computer, I've had to get seriously creative with my shopping time. If one gets a paltry hour free for lunch, it tends to be difficult to run to the store for, say, that new pair of shoes you totally need to get or that awesome dress you saw in the window.

Internet shopping has become more and more popular due to the working girl's need to multi-task, and here are my favourite online destinations to browse and buy.

Some awesome ebay finds from powerseller Isabel226

Ebay.ph - This probably doesn't need any sort've intro, but ebay.ph is the #1 place to go for all your shopping needs. Looking for a sexy red dress? A pair of purple heels? A new cellphone? Ebay has got it all. I personally love to browse Ebay because of all of the great clothing bargains that can be found there, and I'm happy to say that after 70+ transactions, I've never been scammed by any sellers there. (Just be careful to buy from high-ranked sellers and you'll be okay.)

Ukay Manila dresses

UkayManila.com - Their website is currently down so this leads to their multiply site mirror. Lauren and Liz specialize in shopping at ukay-ukay stores, cleaning up the dresses, and reselling them to us at reasonable prices. It sure beats having to sift through racks and racks of clothing at ukay-ukay stores, and I for one am happy to have someone pick out the best ones for me to look at. The only problem is that they have pretty limited sizes and stocks, so it's an online battle to get the dresses you want. Lol.

One of Lucky Doll's less racy offerings

LuckyDollStore.com - I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of Luckydollstore by now, as it's the best place to get sexy lingerie, corsets, bathing suits, costumes, fishnet stockings, and all sorts of intimate apparel. They also sell "toys for the big girls" (wink wink, nudge nudge), which is pretty much the only place where you can get things like that. (This album is viewable only to contacts, though. ;)) I think that the reason this store is so successful is because women in this country are generally shy about buying sexy lingerie, and that being able to do so in the privacy of their own homes (without having to pay exorbitant customs fees) is an awesome thing.


Listia.com - Consider this a follow-up to my last post about this little gem of a site, but I just finished my first "purchase" through Listia! I got these sexy little croc boots for a measly 20 credits plus the cost of shipping, and now all that's left is to wait for the gorgeous things to arrive. I wish more people from the Philippines would sign up and put their stuff up, because the cost of shipping from the US is pretty damned high. Lol. Anyway, the process is simple: you put your stuff up, people pay "credits" for them, and then you can "spend" your credits on other things on the site. The kicker is that you get 300 credits right off the bat when you sign up and list something (anything, really), and you can spend them however you like. As this is my first transaction with the site (I just finished paypaling the shipping fee to the seller), I'll let you all know how it turns out. :)

What are you fave online shopping destinations? Post 'em below and share! :D

Holy Crap, An Ebay For Free Stuff??

Now I really *have* seen it all. Listia.com is like an Ebay, except for free stuff. If another man's trash is another man's treasure, then this is the place for you.

Auction here: http://www.listia.com/auction/15063

This skirt, for example, is going for 100 credits with free shipping to the US (you pay for shipping if it's outside the US). You get 300 credits free when you sign up and list something, so this little baby could be yours for the paltry sum of a shipping fee! :D This is like a barter-type of Ebay, where you give away your things in order to get credits, and you can spend the credits that you get on whatever you want.

As a certified shopaholic, I've got a ton of stuff that needs letting go off in the back of my closet. And wouldn't it be awesome if I replenished my library whilst getting rid of some old books that I never read? The possibilities are endless. :D

You should join me on Listia to get 300 free credits plus a bonus gift here: http://listia.com/signup/11719

Remember, if you use that link, you get an extra 50 credits on top of the original 300. :D What are you waiting for? List now! :D

JIV Manila Presents: Otherworldly Journeys

JIV Manila's 6th Public Show, "Otherworldly Journeys" will be at the Mag:net Café, Bonifacio High Street from November 5 to 29, 2009. See new works by old and new JIV Manila artists! The opening is at 5pm onwards.

Featuring art by: Alain Austria, Liezl Buenaventura, Joel Caballero, Lito Casaje, Jeremy Malcampo, Juno Parungao

Check out JIV Manila's website here.