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

FOTD

i miss you all ladies (and gents :D)
too busy obviously. i owe you a lot of "cuento" i know. will be doing that soon.
meanwhile an FOTD. yes! i tried my stila all doll'd up palette for the first time yesterday. i used the violet and teal shades. and i have also used it on top of my benefit lemon aid.
good news is, i think i have found a workup so the lemon aid wont crease on me. plain ol' (and cheap) mineral veil!. yay!


i used:
banana boat sunblock spray
maybelline foundation whose name i dont care to remember as i got it for free and besides it's too runny i dont care to use i ever again
translucent mineral veil
vmv flush blush in cabana cutie
benefit lemon aid topped with mineral translucent veil (the veil did the magic and stopped lemon aid to crease. so happy.)
stila all doll'd up palette - violet and teal
stila smudgepot - violet glitters
maybelline long extreme double stretch mascara


again, missed you all. will be doing rounds of blog lovin now. see you on your blogs :D

be glorious,
R

just acquired + FOTD

been feeling low the past few days and lemme tell you the music below isnt related to what i've been feeling.
i am now feeling a little better and in the coming week we shall see what is up next in my life. :D
for now i wanna show you what i got recently..

you can see there a:
maybelline age rewind corrector makeup (which i havent figured out if it's a foundation or a concealer)
yes! my benefit lemon aid which you know i have already tested on a previous post
stila all doll'd up palette from the barbie collection
a marionnaud eyebrow and lash brush
a cuticle scissors to be used as brow scissors
an atomizer cuz i shall be "concocting" my own mixing medium

we've all been bombarded with swatches and inside look but let us admire the packaging one more time.. cute. my niece is envious :D

went out to a salon and i looked like this..

used:
rosehip oil all over the face, great product for an instant glow and lift on your skin i tell you!
revlon photoready in shell cuz it's spf27 and i dont wanna wear separate sunblock earlier. lazy!
maybelline dream mousse bronzer, forgot the shade sorry
dior lip liner as eyebrow pencil, yea i know! crayzay
dollface gel liner, black
brown and pink dior eyeshadows

that's a very quick post but im soon gonna be showing photos (and giving review) of my recent salon visit.


be glorious,
R

feelin low :(

feelin low.. if you dont fancy tlc and swv then skip this post and check out my benefit lemon aid review








be glorious,
R

in FOCUS: benefit lemon aid for a VIBRANT EYE MAKEUP

so i broke up with udpp after realizing it is the reason behind the muted colors of my eye makeup. as im into intense colors, wearable or not, i started looking around for something that will enhance the vibrancy of my eye pigments. i looked into foiling and using mixing mediums as well but i had to find something to put on my lids too.

too faced shadow insurance, the all natural face eye primer, kryolan eye primer, urban decay primer potion in eden (since i love yellowed lids) came to my mind.

decided to get benefit lemon aid as i love benefit cosmetics & their witty labeling.

see here.. (excuse the bare face, clumsy eyebrows & lack of lid space)

these are UNBLENDED pigments
i didnt use anything except benefit lemon aid on the "clouded" eye,
the other lid is without any primer.
used the sometimes powdery dollface 88 palette. this is matte as i love matte shadows.
matte = solid colors

notice that some pigments have already fallen off from the lid without lemon aid?

i find that lemon aid "hugs" the pigments allowing it to properly get concentrated on the area where you slapped it on, hence lesser fall offs

removes easily with jojoba oil and a wad of cotton too :D

OOOPS!
not so fast! benefit lemon aid also creases big time. within an hour of putting it on! so a lid primer is still needed.

yea i know.. all of a sudden most of you who placed a mental note to get their hands on benefit lemon aid asap decides to throw off the idea within minutes.

pretty reasonable. who wants an extra step in their already tedious eye makeup routine anyway? i dont mind though. still sticking with my lemon aid and find a lid primer or some other way to prevent creasing as im much much much in love with rich colors than i hate creasing.

p.s. udpp eden cant replace lemon aid, google a comparison and you'll know. so any idea what primer i should partner with lemon aid?

be glorious,
R