Parfois (par-fwa) is a Portuguese brand that just opened shop in Manila last year. I remember checking it out in Glorietta 4 then, but I had the impression that it was too expensive for my budget. The store definitely looked swanky and intimidating! But what do you know, the accessories are actually quite affordable. All of them, even the elaborate ones, are less than P1,000, with an average price of P380 to P600+. That's about the same price range as Forever 21 or SM accessories.

I'm really glad that Parfois invited me to be their blogger stylist of the day last Friday. It was my first time to assist customers in a store and I must admit, it's exhausting! Nonetheless, meeting everyone was a real treat; I was impressed by the diversity of Parfois customers. There were students, yuppies, working moms, and even grand old ladies with white hair. I guess this diversity speaks for the kind of items you can find in the store - timeless, versatile pieces that can be worn by anyone regardless of age.

Thrifted sequined dress/ Muji stockings/ Charles & Keith oxford heels

...I actually don't know what I was going for in this look. I do know that I loved the delicate, twinkling blue sequins of the dress so I had to put it on at least once in my life! I wore it to low tea at the Manila Peninsula with blogger friends. Elizabeth Arden hosted the event since they wanted to introduce their latest perfume called Pretty Hot. I'll post a detailed review of that scent soon, but in the meantime, here are a few more snaps of that idyllic afternoon!

Those chocolates are TDF!

I told myself I won't get seduced by the hype of the 2011 royal wedding, but I couldn't help it! Watch the YouTube stream here, right on the official channel of the British wedding.

Here are some scaps I took:

This post is a little late, but that's only because I was waiting for the second Clinique Party attendees to write about our private event. I thought it would be fun to narrate what happened using their own words! 

Photos from Kari

The cute-as-a-button Kari was the first girl to come in. She narrates, "I decided to go ahead with the skin consultation and makeover while waiting for everyone else. Dindin, one of the Clinique consultants, helped me go through a comprehensive skin test and patiently explained the reasons for each of my skin problems...[she] gave me tips on how to keep those skin concerns in check, which basically boiled down to: 1.) exfoliation and 2.) sun protection. My dry-combination skin (type 2) needed regular but gentle exfoliation to scrub old skin cells away (which caused flaking) and sun protection to take care of the new ones that emerge."

The bubbly Angeli (who I met before) enjoyed meeting her fellow beauty enthusiasts. "Another best thing about Clinique party is that I had the opportunity to meet other beauty afficionados from different walks of life

While randomly browsing the Interwebs today, guess what I saw! A mega cute video of the Majolica Majorca Sugary Trap press launch! It was held at Bizu in Greenbelt, where we were surrounded with colorful macarons and cakes. Guests were also given icing, candy sprinkles, and sugar dust to use in designing our own cookies and cupcakes. It was the perfect setting for such a sweet collection from Majo.

Watch the video to see pictures of that beautiful Thursday afternoon.

Everyone also got personalized macarons with their name on it. Of course, we also received products from the latest collection. I've been using these delectable cosmetics lately and oh boy, they are such a treat.

I came with no expectations during the last Clinique Party, but I have to say I was impressed by all the readers who went. They looked gorgeous! I would like to claim that it's because of the tireless efforts of this blog (hihi) but I'd be fooling myself. Good-looking women are that way because they're confident about themselves and their daily sartorial or beauty choices. Beauty has always been in how you perceive and value YOU.

To everyone going to my Clinique Party tomorrow, I'm excited to meet all of you! Look good ha, but no pressure. :P Here are the outfits of the readers who went to the first round:

Kira in her cute modern boheme outfit

That's Marbbie looking electric! Color blocking wtf!

The French-Japanese cosmetic brand, Paul & Joe, has been in the Philippines for four years now. It seems only yesterday when I first heard about it. I was still in college then, and I would read so many raves about their foundation (which is really good btw)! Fast-forward to four years and the brand has grown stronger, releasing new collections every month or so.

The brand celebrated its fourth birthday here by throwing an intimate afternoon party for the press in Lusso, Greenbelt 5. A lot of prizes were given away with the grand prize being P20,000 worth of Paul & Joe products! *whistles* The girl who won that is sooo lucky! Anyway, here are the photos:

Clinique Philippines was happy with how the first party for Project Vanity friends and readers turned out. So, upon insistent public demand (humor me) we have decided to throw a Clinique party again!

Who is this party for?

• It's exclusive only to Project Vanity readers
• Girls (and boys too) who want to experience what Clinique has to offer
• People who want to make new beauty addict friends!

What's going to happen?

• You'll get a Clinique skin consultation. Are you oily, dry, combination? What products will best work for your skin type?

Last Saturday, I hosted a Clinique Party for my friends and readers. It was an afternoon of beauty consultations, kikay talks, and discovery. Mira, the Marketing Manager of Clinique, said she thought that everyone knew each other. I guess that's a compliment to everyone, because most of them met each other only for the first time!

I think everybody had fun because the event was so chill yet very informative. Clinique has its own beauty system - philosophy, if I may call it - that's been consistent since it was founded in the 60's. The core of the brand is the skin consultation where a Clinique expert determines your skin type and prescribes products for your personalized 3-step skincare system.

Aside from the 3-Step System, Clinique has the half face makeup demo. This is perfect for beginners who want to learn how to apply cosmetics on themselves. The Clinique consultant does half a face of makeup and then teaches you how to duplicate it. Neat right?

Here are more photos!

If you know your local fashion ABCs, then you should know who Bianca Valerio is. Aside from being fashionable and multi-talented (she's a makeup artist, TV and events host, and model, among other things), Bianca sets herself apart by being intelligent and incredibly frank. She's honest where other celebrities would play coy. Example: when asked where she got her jacket, Bianca said, "From Hong Kong! It's only P500!" If she said it was from Chanel, we would have believed it.

Bianca has a knack for looking expensive from head to toe, but this girl is a bargain hunter at heart. Her "designer" bag? From a tiangge. Her accessories are only a couple of hundred pesos from Bangkok. Thus, it's no surprise that she agreed to be Colour Collection's Chief Makeup Artist considering her passion for spotting great, affordable finds that work.

I'm sure a lot of girls are wondering what Colour Collection is by now. It's Tupperware's makeup brand! Who would've thought that the plastic container giant dabbles in makeup?

Clinique contacted me last week and asked if I'm interested in holding a Clinique party for Project Vanity readers. What a cute question - of course I am! As you know, I am crazy about the Clinique Moisture Surge and Clinique makeup. I would like you, dear reader, to try Clinique for yourself with no pressure to buy.

If you've always been curious about Clinique but never got around to trying it, going to my party is the best time. ;) Clinique agreed to lower the minimum purchase for their Clinique Bonus Time promo exclusively for Project Vanity readers. Instead of P3,900 worth of products, you only need to spend P3,000 to receive this gift.*

Last week, I had the pleasure of being a guest for Net 25's morning show called Homepage. I talked about the fashion trends for 2011 and, needless to say, I had so much fun. The hosts, especially Ivy, were super nice and accommodating. There was no room to be shy! Of course, the researchers Steph (who invited me) and Blueberry (yes that's her name!) made sure that I felt welcome. It definitely made my trip from The Fort to far away Quezon City worth it.

This is my third time to be on TV. I think I'm getting the hang of it, lol. The first two times were embarrassingly awkward. Anyway, here's a photo diary of what transpired last Wednesday!

The last event I organized in 2010 was for a brand that's very dear to my heart. I invited beauty and fashion bloggers to experience the Asian Secrets lulur body scrub the best possible way - why, in a spa, of course! You'll remember that I really enjoyed my time at Qiwellness in Salcedo Village, so I managed to hook up the two brands for this relaxing event.

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Happy bloggers!

It was a very casual get-together as bloggers lounged in the soft white chairs of Qiwellness. I just gave them a short introduction about how lulur is part of an ancient Indonesian beautifying ritual for brides.

I have terrible memory, which is one of the reasons I started keeping notebook diaries, and then eventually, blogs. I want to be able to remember the things I've done and thought. However, since I stopped personal blogging, I only have what little this beauty blog has on my personal life.

Now, I want to capture the year that was in one post, just for posterity, you see. I mentioned earlier that 2010 was an awesome year for me. I had so, so much fun! Let's do a review, shall we?

Press Mentions

April. I was given a half-page feature on The Philippine Star! I talked about (what else) blogging. My mind was blown. I still keep a copy of this page in a special folder, lol.

Hola! How's your long weekend? Me I didn't do much except shop, eat, read and watch fantasy movies. It's cool. I spent it with my family. 

At the Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules classroom!

So! I'd like to tell you what's new at Bobbi Brown. They recently launched the Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules Book and a Face Palette to go with the theme. The book is about makeup for teens and young twenty-somethings, so that's something you should own if you want to learn new techniques on the best possible makeup for your age and features. Of course, it also features Bobbi Brown's philosophy not only on beauty, but motherhood as well. 

pictures from Temptalia.com

The Beauty Rules Face Palette ($45, around P3,000 locally) is created for girls who are just starting to use makeup. It has the colors you would need for a natural day to an evening party look, and the makeup is formulated in such a way that you don't need to use a lot of tools. In fact, the makeup artists recommend using your fingers! Bobbi Brown Singapore makeup artist Cecilia Tay demonstrated how to pull it off to the press:

My mom is my best friend - that is, in a mother-daughter sort of way. I don't tell her everything about my life (I wonder how many daughters actually do) but she manages to know me better than everyone else. I'd like to think that's a two way thing!

So when Clean & Clear contacted me about having a date with my BFF at the Mall of Asia, I immediately asked my mom to go. MOA is our favorite mall, and we haven't really hung out by ourselves for some time. Off we went!

Open the image to zoom

We were asked to do eight fashion/beauty-themed things and use the Clean & Clear BFF 8 Date app on Facebook to document our adventures. We didn't get too creative as my mom was fashionably late for the start of the event (two hours, lol) so I thought that we should just chill and do the things that we usually do when we hang out. And they are:

1. Visiting our favorite personal care store, Watsons. This is always, always our first stop when we go to the mall.

2. Taking outfit photos. Yay! 

I've just finished a marathon publishing session over at the Beauty & Fashion section of thePOC.net. I've been at it for the last three hours, sifting through designers and grammatical errors (which are thankfully few). I leave the rest to the proofreaders, should I have missed anything! Next week should be the last week of our PFW S/S 11 coverage. Head on over to see what we've got so far.

Anyway, while looking through the shows, I must say that I am completely underwhelmed. Nothing stands out. In fact, some of the clothes are verging on the ridiculous. I'd like to say that most of the designers tried their best to showcase their skills (like last time), but this season, it seems like a lot of them have toned it down. Is it because most of the shows are sponsored by big brands who are naturally conservative and specific about what they want and don't want on the runway? 

I am trying hard to find the fashion in these:

"Philippine flag pinata." I quote one of my writers.

So unique and fashion-forward

La Mer is a brand that is famous for luxury skincare that many celebrities and magazines swear by. Its beginnings are the stuff of legends: a NASA aerospace physicist, Dr. Max Huber, worked for 12 long years to heal the scars he got from fuel rocket burns. After experimenting with sea kelp and bio-fermentation, he formulated the world-renowned Miracle Broth, which is supposed to help "sooth, nourish, and renew the skin". Read the interesting article of Time Magazine on it and you'll also find out why it's so expensive. ;)

Now, La Mer recently launched the newest member of the brand's skincare family called The Eye Balm Intense. It's a luxe eye cream that comes with a silver-tipped applicator to enhance micro-stimulation. It is supposed to turn back the hands of time, and it better, since it is $145 per half an ounce! That's P6,090 converted, sans taxes when sold here in the Philippines.

I've had the pleasure of using this cream these past two weeks. Here are my impressions!

What I love about the product

• Dramatically reduced the puffiness of my eyes. This has always been a big problem, especially during mornings after waking up. 
• Slightly reduced the appearance of my fine lines.
• Feels immediately cool and soothing when applied.