Last Saturday was one of the best days of my life. I don't know how else to describe it or what else to say, just that I'm so happy that you guys came out to see me! We had about seventy guests in all, so the Beauty Bar in Bonifacio High Street was full of stylish and beautiful girls with perfect eyebrows (yihee) that day.

The venue started filling up by 2pm. Guests claimed their free The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf drinks and nommed on cupcakes from Spoonful of Sugar (thanks Patti for the yummy red velvets!). At 3pm, Karrots Nazareno of Live Love Lolz stepped up to host the program. Did you know that she has stage fright? Yet she agreed to host PVE! She's one of the few people I'm happy to call my friend. <3

I demonstrated how to achieve a quick but high-impact look on Den (she works with me and she's awesome - anyway). It's light and fun enough for day, but it can also be worn at night.

At 25 I think that my style has sort of "settled down". Well it wasn't that crazy to begin with but now that I know what works for me, I don't experiment so much anymore. I like pastels, dainty colors mostly, and a healthy mix of neutrals to keep everything grounded. As for silhouettes, I know to make my shoulders look narrow, to bare my collarbone, and create a waist where it's almost non-existent.

These are things I learned over the course of years! I wish there was someone to tell me about it earlier. I could have saved a lot of time, money, and grief over ill-fitting clothes. 

Remember my fashion battle plan? I've been keeping true to it! Here's something I wore the afternoon of the Magnum event. I was there to check out the preparations so I just wore a casual outfit that's easy to move around in. 

Fresh flowers

A lot of readers have requested me to do a meet and greet in the past, and I want to do one too because - what else - I want to meet you! Some of you guys have been reading this blog since the beginning, and you can't believe how much I'm choking up just thinking about that. It's been five years of vanity, of learning, and sharing how we could be better women both inside and out. Half a decade, huh? I want to do something special to celebrate that with you guys.

I've been thinking how to do this for quite a while, and I finally figured it out. What if I did it in one of my favorite places in the world, with some of my favorite beauty brands? And that's when my brain went ding ding ding! Haha. Presenting, the Project Vanity: Five Years of Vanity Event!

It will be held at Beauty Bar Bonifacio High Street (on top of Muji) on March 9, 2-4pm and will be co-sponsored by K-Palette, Fairydrops, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and of course Beauty Bar. It will be a fun afternoon of mingling with other beauty enthusiasts, coffee, and freebies! I will be doing a demonstration showing a quick but high-impact everyday look, and of course I'll be doing a Q&A on all your beauty concerns. It's like Ask Liz! live and on crack. ;)

I was thinking, if only I could get past February then I can relax and laugh all the way to the bank. But my March is starting to fill up with more events to organize, more work to accomplish. I thought it wasn't possible to get this busy! The only times I get to eat is if I'm at a meeting! Aw. (Now if only all my meetings were in a vegan resto or something, I won't have to worry about my waistline.)

Someone asked me how I'm still able to blog even with everything on my plate. I have thought about leaving Project Vanity for a while, just until work eases up a little.

It's been over a year since Benefit landed on our shores. Between then and now, oodles of makeovers, cool contests, beautiful eyebrows, and flawless poreless faces have rained down in Manila! I really love this brand, from the cheeky packaging down to the quality of the products. It's rare that I get a miss whenever I try something new from Benefit.

To celebrate its first year in Manila, Benefit held a small event for the press last December 15. The brand also took the opportunity to share its latest lip and cheek product, Fine One One, and a campaign with our local celebs. Stars like Ruffa Gutierrez, Christine Reyes, Alyanna Martinez, Bianca Valerio, Phoem Baranda, and Maggie Wilson got to pose as Benefits iconic characters. You'll see the photos later. ;)

Here are snaps of the event and the 411 on Fine One One!

Bianca Valerio was the lovely host that day

Krstn.com EIC Trixie Reyna, I, and Nikki of Askmewhats

Last Thursday, our friends from Smart gave me the best Christmas present EVER. I'm still so giddy because I thought they were kidding up to the minute that they handed it to me! A few months ago they asked, "Liz do you want an iPhone 5?" And I was like, "Seriously? Er okay sure."

All along I thought that they would send over a loaner or something haha. They were exceedingly kind to give me nothing less but the best phone out there - the iPhone 5! Yes it's finally here, and at crazy affordable prices with Smart. More on that later.

I was at the grand launch in Republiq last Thursday night to join the countdown for the iPhone 5. I finally got to really hang out with Lia, who I always chat with over on Twitter, and her husband Artie. Sisters Vern and Verniece were also there to join the fun.

When I give gifts, I make sure it's something the other person will really use and appreciate. What's the point otherwise? Gifts are meant to be enjoyed by the other party and not just an obligation one must selfishly fulfill. :D Still, a good gift doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. I mean it's great if you can afford to treat everyone you love but that's not always possible! The good news is that there are brands like Zen Zest that come up with great products that are shockingly affordable.

I love the Zen Zest Holiday Sets because they're nicely packaged in a matte box and features products that were specially created just for this season. I'll talk more about them in a bit! For now I want to share lovely photos (from Chai) of the event I organized for Zen Zest last November. :D

We did a Diva-Off contest at Red Box in Greenbelt 5 one Saturday night. Why all the singing, you ask? Well bloggers usually go to sit down lunches and dinners. They're fun, but it can get too common and formal. I wanted to do an event where everyone can just sit back, eat a lot, and have a smashing time in a different setting. So, buffet diva-off it is!  

What is it they say? You don't look back on those nights you spent watching TV and liking stuff on Facebook. So if someone asks you to do something that sounds fun yet horribly inconvenient and unhealthy, just do it. Not all the time if you're really not the type but every once in a while is good for your sanity. These make for great stories to tell your grandchildren someday!

That said, last November 29 was epic. Ferretti and our blogger models helped break the world record for the most number of people in a catwalk! I believe 2,255 people walked that night, beating Turkey's 1,967 models at the Guiness Book of World Records. It was predictably a stressful event but everyone had their game face on. 

Murphy's Law

I was in Glorietta as early as 8:30am for the briefing and rehearsals. I limped most of the day because I stubbornly wore these new shoes that ended up giving me a centavo-sized wound on my left foot and minor ones on both feet.

I'm kind of embarrassed that I'm only writing about this now, considering I'm one of the people who made this much pink happen in one afternoon. Lol. It's certainly one of the most memorable events I've taken part of this year. Good food, good friends, and exciting new things always make for a fab soiree, after all!

The Pinkbox event last October 24 introduced amazing hair products that I'm sure you'll love - the Hair Donut and Hair Puff. I've already showed you how to use the hair puff to get an instant bouffant! The Hair Donut is for creating the famous sock bun with actually bothering with socks. It's made of an ultra-light foam that doesn't feel heavy and hot on the head, and makes these huge Korean buns a breeze even for hair noobs.

The thing that I've spent most of my waking hours on this past three weeks is finally happening tonight. As you know I'm working with Ferretti as their PR and marketing manager. Now that I mention it, I'll be two years with the brand this March! How time flies.

But anyway. Three weeks ago Ayala asked us if we want to participate in the launch of the new Glorietta wing. There will be a huge record-breaking fashion show with a target of 2,500 models to walk the runway. This will happen along Pasay Road / Arnaiz in Makati across the new Glorietta tonight, starting 6pm.

So we thought hey, sounds great! No problem! Then: let's get bloggers! And so a complicated logistic waltz was danced. The Ferretti models (50 of them, 20 are bloggers), will be walking tonight and I am thrilled. And anxious.

MAC's biggest collections always come during the holiday season. Their limited edition sets are legendary, and the holiday selections usually have an unforgettable theme. This 2012, we have Glamour Daze, which impersonates the aura of couture, the drama of the dressing room, and the glamour of getting ready to step out for the holidays. It's all about a soft color haze around the eyes and gilded skin matched with sweet lips.

There was a big party to celebrate this collection. Whitespace was positively bursting with celebrities, the press, and of course your usual beauty blogger gang. :P I really enjoyed the swingin' music and the general ambiance that was so artfully created with Glamour Daze installations and models clad in their pastel uniforms.

In the perfect world, I'd be in a beach right now sipping juice, smelling like a walking column of sunblock and loving it. But I don't drive, and I don't know anyone who would go with me without me having to pay for everything (hotel, air fare, etc.). So. It's a pipe dream, at least until I get around to finally putting my driver's license to good use.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had the chance to visit the Magniflex showroom along Connecticut Street in Greenhills. Now I know I don't blog about mattresses or furniture, but when you live in your own place then you know how crucial these details are. I wanted to see what Magniflex has to offer in case I want to get a new bed!

This is a wee bit late but I thought I'd share it anyway! As you know Estee Lauder has been celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness month for 20 years now. Last October 9, the brand lit up the Ayala Museum in pink to draw support for the cause. Our museum is just one of the numerous monuments and landmarks all over the world (such as the Empire State Building, Sydney Opera House, and Tower of Pisa) that has been illuminated in pink!

The past few weeks have been extra stressful because of the two events I've been working on for Pinkbox. They are finally over! Not to say that I had a horrible time, but everyone's nerves are understandably frayed. There's this intense pressure because it's our first time to do something of this scale. We had to be perfect. We had to be smooth.

Thankfully, everything turned out well!

Forever 21 shorts and blouse / Shoe Etiquette heels / Pinkbox headband, ring, bangle

Last Saturday, I hosted a meet & greet for sisters Vern and Verniece Enciso. You may have heard of them! They're only some of the prettiest, most popular fashion bloggers in the country. ;) They're so very Pinkbox so we thought we'd invite them to one of our stores to finally meet their fans. And oh what a fan base! More on that in a bit.

I didn't want to wear anything elaborate since the venue was in SM Southmall (biggest Pinkbox store) and I had to carry lots of stuff going there. Hence, just the shorts and the blouse. On most days you'll find me in different variations of this fuss-free template. It's easy, it's comfy, and it flatters me.

People ask me why I didn't become a makeup artist. Well, for many years I didn't think it was a good fit. I was just happy doing makeup on myself, writing about it, growing this website. Recently though I've seriously considered going for it. I was supposed to do makeup for a couple of bridesmaids last month, but that was the weekend Snaps was horribly sick so of course I couldn't leave him. I was so excited about that gig! It just wasn't meant to be.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Shiseido invited the press to a makeup workshop conducted by their Regional Training Manager for Asia, Angela Boh.

Angela demonstrated Shiseido's 2012 Autumn/Winter collection which features the Radiant Lifting Foundation - a new foundation that takes the reflective properties of light into play to create an illuminated base, the Camellia Compact – a soft, velvety highlighter and blush compact, and the Lacquer Rouge Collection which has intense liquid lipstick shades for Fall.

Shiseido Camellia Compact - highlighter, blush, and contour in one

She also showed us how to apply makeup the Shiseido way.

Great news! Aside from Greenbelt 5 and Rustan's Shangri-La, you can now get your Benefit fix in Rustan's Makati. It's a boutique, not a counter, which for me makes the shopping experience so much better.

The new and shiny pink store

Aubrey Bautista, Benefit's Brand Manager, with event host Isabel Roces

Here are photos of the launch. I unfortunately was not able to make it (boohoo), which makes me sad, because everyone looks like they had a blast! Anyway aside from the new store, watch out for the new Benefit kits: three for the face and three for lips and cheeks. You'll love 'em if you love Benefit's clever palettes. ;)

This is where I start talking about some of the events that I've attended these past few weeks. This blog doesn't exist in a vacuum after all! :P One of the parties I've been to lately is the launch of the reformulated Kerastase Chroma Captive Line. It was held at The Goose Station in The Fort, where the dreamy Chef Rob Pengson prepared a special three-course meal for the guests.

Here are pictures and information about Chroma Captive (must-try if you have colored hair)!

Chef Rob 

Sophie, me, Rowena, Nikki, Kim, and Jen. Always nice to see everyone!

A couple of weeks ago I had the honor of being one of the panelists at Unilab's Social Media Summit. The topic I participated in, along with Kris of OC Mom in Manila (who runs her own marketing consultancy firm) and Dr. Narciso Tapia of CebuMD, is blogging. 

For the panel discussion –  Your online BFF: Blogger Friend or Foe?  Partnering with bloggers as message advocates 

Unilab thought that it would be great to invite bloggers who are also in marketing and PR to get useful insights on how to work with online influencers. We were asked questions like blogger integrity, how to approach bloggers, what motivates bloggers to work with brands, and so on.

It was fun! I'm passionate about blogging and the community. No - I am in love with it.

Yesterday I attended the MAC AW12 Trends Presentation at the Mind Museum in The Fort. James Molloy, MAC's Director of Makeup Artisty for the Asia-Pacific Region, visited the country to talk about the latest trends in cosmetics. It's not new for brands to have makeup artists do a demo in an event, but I have to admit that I'm usually bored when this happens. There isn't a lot to learn from them especially when they insist on talking about the same old techniques.

Or maybe I'm just jaded. James Molloy, however, was incredibly inspiring. It was in the way he talked about makeup, the way he moved as he did the models' faces. He's enjoying himself and looked happy just talking about what's new in the makeup world! I really loved how he discussed the inspiration behind the four new looks that MAC has come up for the autumn-winter 2012 season.

There is a sense, a story if you may, behind each look. The first one that James demonstrated is Sense + Sensibility.

The gorgeous model in her to die for dress

Sense + Sensibility is "all about timeless classics done in a modern way - these are elements of makeup that never go out of fashion but simply get reinvented." That's the full brow, the red lip, subtle neutrals, and of course matte skin.

Men should be more invested in a proper skincare routine. Not for the sake of vanity, mind you, but for the future of their skin! A simple cleanse and moisturize routine today can make a huge difference in say, twenty years from now; their skin will maintain a more elastic texture with less wrinkles at the very least.

Anyway, when LAB SERIES, a premium skincare brand for men, asked the press to bring a male +1 I immediately thought of one friend: Osmond! I'm sure he'll be receptive to the idea of investing in skin care. Besides, I haven't seen him in ages. Reuniting for the love of skincare was an excellent idea.

So here's what happened. He got a high-tech skin analysis that determined his skin type and condition. Unlike other skincare brands where analysis is based on a Q&A format (it is subjective), the Lab Series analysis is objective using a sensor specifically calibrated for male skin. Cool eh? It only took a few minutes.

Osmond was found to have fairly good skin already, with a bit of oiliness around the t-zone and dryness in the cheek area. The skincare specialists recommended that he use the basic cleanser (Multi-Action Face Wash, for all skin types) and exfoliator (Invigorating Face Scrub) to maintain his skin.