new bombay's got the best masala!

last week i partied w my best girlfriend tatz..

place is called new bombay. it is in greenbelt 2.

they serve the best chicken masala.
and the worst chicken curry.

i looked like this by the way.

we're a bit drunk..

she had beer (unbelievable how much beer this girl can drink)

i had whiskey, rhum and..

plenty of this.

fun, fun times..

be glorious,
R

finally was able to try the cracking nail polish, a bargain find: comfy shoes

i first saw cracking nail polish via thiamere's blog and i was so amazed by it. the possibilities are enormous. too bad i cant seem to find it in the malls or shops in my area.
today however i was surprised to find it on my regular nail salon's rack of imported and local nail polishes!
before i went to the nail salon, i was already thinking a lot about combining baby blue with gold. however the only blue cracking enamel they have is of glittery dark blue so i really had no choice. good thing the gold underneath is uber sparkly.
check out..

the color combo is classy isnt it?

notice that the cracks though are inconsistent? some nails have more cracks than the others. i guess the brand isnt that good (somethin that has a BK logo, didnt see any other markings on the bottle sorry), or maybe the nail tech is new in using the cracking so she hasnt developed a technique yet..

i went on a shoe shopping spree the other day and bought shoes for my daughters, my mom and myself. got this red wedgy pumps for 400pesos (less than 10usd!). was 800pesos.

it is from artwork, a local brand and the only reason i even went there is cuz somebody told me he got some flipflops from there and i went "thought they only sell shirts? might as well check when i pass by the shop". when i got there, this pair immediately caught my attention. they are so comfy!

im determined to lose weight so instead of tuna salad for evening snack, im having grapes. wish me luck!

this is where i's resting my hand when i's showing off the notd. my tania's play table that i recently got. cute eh?

be glorious,
R

fotd, notd and my new blunt cut bangs

what do you think of my bangs?

eversince i dyed my hair lighter, i's thinking whether to lighten my eyebrows as well but finding face hair bleach is so difficult so i keep putting it back. now that im sporting bangs again, i started thinking maybe there's too much going on in my face = bangs + brows darker than my hair.. so im again itching for eyebrow bleach.. what do you think girls?
is there too much going on in my face? do i need a lighter eyebrow shade?

and today im wearing this design. kinda reminds you a baby's bedroom right? it has a gold base, and with baby blue and baby pink designs. didnt use nail stickers or guides for this one.

the sleek brush tip of etude house's mini french made it possible for me to draw the random pink designs

hoping to go the re-opened mall nearby and get some inneresting stuff :D

be glorious,
R

notW: rosebuds

i can finally show you how my frankened nail polish looks like in vivo.

i wanted to do rosebud nails, hence the green and rose pink shades that i used. i dont have nail art pens or brushes however so this is not as i wanted it to look.

this took 2 days (or nights if you may) in the making lol..

NIGHT 1. first i coated my nails this frosted mint green polish from the face shop.. it must have taken 4 coatings for me to achieve the right opacity. that also explains why i had to do the design gradually, cuz it takes ages for 4 coatings to properly dry.



NIGHT 2. i had to french tip stickers from the face shop as guides.



and painted on the rose pinks (derived from 40percent sally hansen bamboo shoots, 40 percent the face shop red #2 and 20 percent the face shop gold). thankfully i only had to use 2 coats of this.


FINAL LOOK! tada! i know it's simple compared to gurus (like thiamere's designs and anastacia's too) but i've finally done something not plain & im glad! i'll do more inneresting stuff soon.




be glorious,
R

i missed all my sisters! FOTD, frankened nail polish, outfit of the day, new hair color, etc

so i have been away for sooooo long and i didnt even wanna check my blog for weeks for embarassment of not being able to update.
but finally im back and i just wanna show in a nutshell what i've been doing for the past few weeks (mostly had to nurse both my daughters who've been hospitalized but thank god it's ovah! they're well now and very happy)

attended a friends' house blessing

decided to switch back to loreal revitalift.. (yea i know i know.. no loyalty to vmv but hey, my face is getting a bit dry and had to rest from glycolic acid altogether)

"discovered" that bowls are useful as drying racks for makeup brushes heehee

frankened using my useless sally hansen bamboo shoot plus the face shop's cream red and glitter gold polishes (i shall be talking more of this soon)

took the kids for a walk (can you see i've gained weight? ugh!)
by the way im wearing a rather beautiful fuschia colored fringed top that i bought from thailand and paired it with a fuschia colored bottom of a shalwar kameez

been doing makeup of course

i was gonna try an indian look for this but got lazy in the midst. i rather look like my usual self.
(realized too what a mess my 4-month old highlights is..)

so i decided to have my hair colored :D

that's all for now. will be updating more and more hopefully.

be glorious,
R

notW + JUST ACQUIRED

had my manicure, pedicure and foot spa done at a local salon. i actually brought my camera to show you the place but it was a mess. last time i've been there was last year and while the place is small, it had been a pleasant enough at that time. they still have the same manicurists though and i can say their people is one of the best in the nail business. they are careful, gentle and precise.

im wearing sally hansen fuschia power. it is FUSCHIA with blue undertone that i dislike so much.. why put blue undertone in anything anyway? if someone wants blue, then we can choose blue outright!!!

this is what my hand was resting when i took the photos.
this beautiful purse is HANDMADE and gifted to me by my very good friend lyza.. love you sis!
i would take orders in her behalf if not that she is tied up with orders from the states and from my sister to (who is planning to offer it to her ever-growing clients).
nevertheless, you may leave a comment if you like it :D

be glorious,
R

just acquired + out and about at the spa

due to emotional and physical stress, i have been aiming to have an alone time maybe out of the country. i have been planning on going from the moment my little daughter turned 5 months, but she's 10 months now and i still havent gone. im honestly scared leaving my 2 kids behind even for just a few days (even if friends are telling me i deserve a break from everything to keep my sanity. yes! sanity.) now, i find myself still feeling too scared to leave and honestly thought maybe i should just go out of town to relax for a couple of days. guess what? still chickened of the idea with the kids not having mommy beside them at night. so i thought i'd just go for some retail therapy to unwind.

in the mall, i find another little problem. you see, we are staying for a few days in my mom's house in the city (plan is leaving the kids there while i go away for a few days but since i didnt leave im also here :P) and so i brought clothes enough for only 2 days so i will be forced to go shopping for new clothes. yes yes, for the longest time i have lost the desire to shop for clothes and i thought being stuck with nothing to wear i will be forced to buy. the little problem is, i still dont feel like shopping. nothing is enticing enough for me to even get inside a single boutique. i just decided straight away to go to the spa since from the bottom of my heart i know any solo travel is in my distant future. at least going to the spa will relax my tired self.

it is called THE SPA and i bought the volcanic rock massage.

of course i used the wet facilities first. this is the cold bath and beside it is the hot bath
had a steam bath too, unfortunately the sauna is still unavailable when i was there (it is available only for limited time due to safety reasons)

then lounged for a while drinking sri lankan tea while waiting for my service

the volcanic rock massage is an executive service at Php 1,500 (35 usd) and so i got my own room. it took 75 minutes and indeed relaxed my muscles.

the massage itself, before the use of the volcanic rocks are disappointingly mediocre and i thought i should have had shiatsu instead cuz they give the best shiatsu at the spa. when the masseuse started pressing the hot rocks to my body though, it went better. it was relaxing and i fell asleep. i think stroking massage always does that while those that use point pressure such as shiatsu always gives a feeling of more energy. i left the spa still feeling groggy but somewhat light-footed.

i looked around hoping to find clothes but nothing caught my fancy so i just bought an assortment of stuff. i was on the way to the face shop to get a nail polish base but to my delight i found a newly-opened accesorize. of course i had to check it out too.

so i got a nail polish base from the face shop Php 95 (2 usd) and a rice soap too Php 255 (5 usd)
and from accesorize a bunny mask for my daughter. it was on 70% off so i only had to shell out Php 69 (less than 2usd!)

lingerie as accesories? why not! these are also from accesorize and prized at Php 450 each (about 10 usd)

the best acquisition of all! ecotools? NO! it is a Naya brush set
(looks identical to ecotools doesnt it?)
and i got it for FREE

cuz i bought a pair of NAYA sandals by naturalizer, Php 5,990 (130 usd)
comfortable enough to be used while im carrying a baby (or two) around

i myself am wondering what is so special about the NAYA line, and found this description on the shoe box

and these pair of boots? on SALE at Php 2,295 (a little over 50usd) and since these are naturalizers, i will brave the mall with them soon

i still didnt have my holiday but at least i feel a lot more relaxed. after all, i have 2 new pairs of shoes to wear, just no clothes. haha.

images of the spa facilities are borrowed from The Spa website.

be glorious,
R

fotd

i love greens and blues on my eyes!

i have a bit more time so i got the chance to read on my kevyn aucoin's books. he creates simplified looks using a little bit of makeup but all his looks turn out so amazing and beautiful. im wearing plenty of eye color here but not much else.




benefit lemon aid
different hues of blues and greens from my dollface 88 palette
stila tinted moisturizer in shade 01
light dusting of dior pressed powder


be glorious,
R

FOTD (a very tired face) + korean food night out

posting an FOTD (if you can call it that) but mostly just showing you how im looking these days.

MAC prep + prime skin
revlon photoready in shell
benefit coralista
pink eyeshadow from stila all doll'd up
gold shimmer eyeshadow
black gel liner from dollface cosmetics
AND NO LIPSTICK AS USUAL :)

we had new korean acquaintances who are very nice people and tonight they treated us for korean dinner.







lots of love,
MAKI

im baaaaaaaaaackk.. (i hope)

i missed all of you guys!

these past few weeks have been crazy.. i owe you an update and let me just list what i've been doing that kept me away from blogging:

- i was preparing for my eldest's birthday party

- a typhoon hit manila and the surrounding areas that we had power outage for 18 hours straight! then sporadic power outages thereafter.

- me and my kids moved.unplanned. and so the party never happened. now living in a very strange province outside the metro.

- the kids and myself got sick. we are still all sick until now. allergy due to the new environment.

yea yea im not giving any details cuz i've been blue and i really didnt wanna blog cuz there arent any excitement going on but i realize the more i keep away from blogging the more depressed i get.

im sharing some photos for your enjoyment. we are still adjusting to the new environment and until then i wont be able to post makeup related stuff.

cake from mama

cake from papa

my kids w my brother in law

the eldest in a carousel ride

in an inflatable playground

riding a cart

im not exactly miss little ray of sunshine but im hoping hoping to go visit your blogs one by one cuz i know i shall get a lot of entertainment and fun by doing so. :D

be glorious,

R