I seriously can't count just how many times I've worn this old rose secretary blouse. I've had it for two years now, I think? It goes with so many of my skirts and pants, makes my arms and tummy look thin because of its billowiness, and the color is just romantic. 

Btw, I finally found a spot in our place where I can take outfit photos. It is such a relief. I always make an effort to dress up to work and event stuff, but I never get to take photos because I'm too shy to ask other people to take my shot in public. At least here I won't feel as self-conscious.

Thrifted blouse/ Forever 21 suede shorts/ Pinkbox bangle/ Avon watch and ring/ Pill shoes/ Nine West bag

I wore this to a model go-see at the Pinkbox headquarters. I just went for a casual, soft look - not too dressed up as it's a Saturday after all! The makeup was also subdued and harmonized with the color story.

Face: Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation, Cinema Secrets concealer, set with Clinique Perfectly Real powder foundation

I've been using the Love/Serum Moisturizing Curl Enhancing Serum (P1,203) from Davines for more than a month now. As you could have guessed from my initial review, I absolutely love it! Its a gift to frizzy, messy curly hair like mine.

This serum defines my curls without making them stiff and sticky, although I have to admit, the initial texture and smell is quite unpleasant. It smells off but thankfully the smell dissipates as soon as it dries.

Out of the tons of foldable flats out in the market, which one should you choose? They're all comfortable and relatively durable in spite of their bendy properties. They all look pretty good too - good enough to wear by themselves instead of just first aid for high heel-caused sore feet. I think there are two things you should look for: how thick and springy the sole is and how convenient the pouch is.

Yes, the pouch matters. So much. I hate having to jam the foldable flats inside a too-small pouch while touching the dirty soles, and I also dislike having to bring a separate bag for my high heels. Thankfully, Cocorose London has got the perfect pouch for both their foldable flats and my heels!

The pouch is very roomy and fits the flats with no trouble. It also comes with a detachable satin bag for the shoes. How cool is that?

Oh but why am I just raving about the pouch? Check out the foldable flats, they are lovely.

The other day, some random troll on Twitter said that beauty bloggers like Shen, Sophie, Nikki, and I shouldn't be beauty blogging because we're not pretty. I forget the exact wording since I immediately blocked the account. I'm not even irritated or anything - I just rolled my eyes. That particular Twitter account was set up solely to troll celebrities like Solen Heussaf and the Magalona sisters. 

Anyway. The comment reminded me of a conversation I had with other people over on Twitter some months back. A well-known fashion blogger commented that most beauty bloggers don't have the looks to be actually doing it. Again, I'm not offended, but the comment did hit a chord since it misunderstood the essence of what I do.

I replied to her and said that the point of beauty blogging is to demonstrate how average women can look better than they already do.

It's been a month since I started using the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Concentrate. And how was it? Amazing, really. It helped my skin get that nice glow and smoothness, feats that few other products can do consistently. Unfortunately, I had breakouts in between from trying out new products, so I feel that the ANR hasn't given me its best shot yet. 

Here are my pics and weekly reviews! Check them out to compare.

"Random thought: I think you could totally pull off the 20s/flapper girl style," said Shelly over on Twitter. I thought it was a marvelous idea! I love that particular era - the drama, the rebellion, the style. I think I would fit right in there, what with my face shape and body type too!

Anyway, I started Googling for flapper looks after I read the comment. I saw the usual heavy smoky eyes and dark red lips, trademarks of that decade, but then I spotted this image of Doris Kenyon on the front page of Photo Play. Instead of the usual dark makeup, here's a true-blue 20s gal with orange all over.

I thought, hey I can do that! So I did it. :)

It's not an exact copy, but I stayed true to the orange lips and blush. The eyes were done in a matte brown, subtly smoked out and rimmed along the lower lids. I ought to have used a brown eyeliner instead of black, but I guess a thin black eyeliner also works. Here's the list of  products I used!

Face: Cinema Secrets Foundation Palette in #2, Clinique translucent loose powder to set

Concealers and foundations rank high in my list of beauty must-haves because I am prone to pimples and their unfortunate progeny - blemishes. Why else would I wear so much makeup if not to cover them up? Thankfully my blemishes are less bothersome now thanks to a consistently good skincare routine, but I still have a few left over. Recently I am letting the Cinema Secrets Foundation Palette #2 (P1,998) handle them.

This palette is quite expensive, but it is literally everything you need for your face if you're looking for full coverage. It's an all-in-one palette, which makes the price tag look cheap compared to buying separate products for your face base.

It's a great palette, and here's why!

What I love about the product

• It's as opaque as you get, but the texture is surprisingly thin! It adheres like second skin and covers even the darkest blemishes.
• Different shades allow for different functions. It has a blemish concealer shade (I use a slightly lightened #607-19), undereye concealer (#603-21, a beige salmon), and of course all the colors can be used as foundation (I either use a mix of #605-61 and #606-26 or just #602-65). So it's all-in-one face makeup, basically. I think it's a better buy than the single-color pans.

I think that a lot of Filipinas are wary of highlighting and illuminating products because these might make them look oilier than they already are. It's not like the weather is forgiving, no? Which may be why there's that semi-obsession with a matte face devoid of anything that remotely glows.

But I think that's an awful way to go about face makeup. Faking a glow is the best thing you can do for your face - it makes your skin look healthier, more natural, just a subtle leap ahead of ordinary and blah. Ever heard of the Benefit Watt's Up! Highlighter (P1,600)?

Before anything else, I would like to apologize for yet another Benefit rave. The brand gave me a bunch of stuff for free so you might think I am biased - but I get a bunch of stuff for free and I don't rave about all of them. So. With that out of the way, let's proceed to the review!

 What I LOVE about the product:

• This cream-to-powder higlighter is the perfect champagne shade that works with my skintone, plus it has no visible sparkles!

I am extremely lazy when it comes to applying false eyelashes. I can also never get it right, but I think it's because of lack of practice! However, Sophie makes it easy for lazy daisies like me to wear falsies without committing too much time to it by introducing her 3S Pre-Glued False Eyelashes (P250 from Beauty and Minerals). 

This stuff is so easy to use. You just remove the lashes from the base, cut the excess (if it's too big for your eyes), then apply it to the roots of your lashes with your fingers or a tweezer. It's idiot-proof. According to Sophie, you can use the lashes around two times before the adhesive loses its stickiness. She's right, I did use these twice and they won't stick anymore.

Announcement of Week 2 winners! I also have good news. :) Since it's Valentine's Day today, there will be a special draw for those who will register today. There will be 14 winners for the Valentine's Draw - yes, 14! The Valentine's gift will also have 14 items in total.

Before we get to that, here are the winners as drawn for the second week of February!

Valentine's Day is a day away and I'm sure a lot of you are wondering (well I at least I am)...why should you care? Excellent question. It pressures couples into making grand gestures of love on a pre-determined day, and singles just get to feel like crap. I love love. I am in a five-year old relationship. But I dread scheduled stresss.

Be that as it may, Valentine's Day has its uses. It's another excuse to dress up and go have a fun date with your special other or friends, even. So, I thought I'd do a post on beauty tips to keep in mind for the day of love! Take note that they are specifically for a romantic date with smooshing and what else in mind. ;) Consider these as reminders.

Prep time

1. Wax. Depilate. Shave. Say adios to the mustachio and the leg fluff. You want to be smooth and silky all over! I know it's so much work and you think he won't notice anyway but honey, he will. I like using Veet wax strips and depilator creams.

The winner for last January is Aidisan. She has commented on almost, well, everything! She has also been reading this blog since last year so I want to say thank you. :)

And now, for the February gift!

I am giving away a Concealer Kit from Cinema Secrets. It has five shades that you can mix and match to get your perfect concealer and foundation shade.

My heart always skips a beat whenever I get a package from Avon. They send a lot, but there's always something new that I get excited to share with you guys. This time, it's the new Avon Ultra Moisture Rich Rose Lipstick (P199 intro price).

What's the difference between the UMR Rose and the original one? This collection is done exclusively in ten rose shades - from baby pinks to a deep almost black red - and has a wonderful sweet vanilla rose scent to show for it. The black tube also has a shiny pink band around it, versus the silver of the normal UMRs.

But this is the most important thing: I think they reformulated! The lipsticks are creamier, more opaque, and more moisturizing than ever. They just glide on like a dream without the waxiness of normal lipsticks. Lastly, the annoying glitters are completely gone from this version of the UMR. Before, Avon lipsticks would always have at least two colors with chunky shimmer in each collection, but this time they are nowhere to be found!

And now, for our favorite part: the swatches. Thought I'd show a full face here so you can see how beautiful the shades are. The photos are a little saturated and blurry but in my defense I am still not used to the settings of my new camera. Hope you get the idea though!

French Lace Rose is a delicate nude shade that is brown-based with hints of pink

It's that time of the month again! Here are my favorite finds last month. There's quite a few lip products here, I noticed, but there's also a couple of skincare gems that I think I'll stick with.

Here you go!

The Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter is not perfect, but the beautiful color selection, texture, and packaging more than makes up for its shortcomings. It still is a pretty kickin' lip product!

Sleek MakeUP True Color Lipsticks are amazingly pigmented and the colors are just wow! They feel rather dry to me, but nothing lip balm can't fix. Mystic, a deep purple shade, is such a statement color.

Hear ye, hear ye! If you're a true-blue makeup enthusiast or a practicing professional, you must visit these upcoming beauty events. You'll get to revel in new products, techniques, and looks that I'm sure you can use for yourself and/or your clients.

Don't miss them!

What's happening: See Kanebo's new line of cosmetics, product preview, private sale and event only specials.

I know I promised to show Avon's Valenine's offering today, but I haven't done the swatches for the new lipsticks yet so that will have to wait tomorrow. Today I'll just be showing you some of the brand's new releases last January!

They have new variants of the uber-good Skin-So-Soft Lotion, plus body washes in that range. I love the body washes - they smell clean and girly without being overly drying. The jewelry, on the other hand, are in Avon's signature classic style. 

Here be photos and pricing info!

Skin-So-Soft Signature Silk Replenishing Hand & Body Lotion 250 ml. This body lotion works two ways to provide the most sensual, touchable skin. Price: Php 290.00

Sleek is the UK equivalent of NYX, and like NYX has gained popularity by offering affordable yet colorful and highly pigmented makeup. I first heard about it when raves of its eyeshadow palettes started circulating around the internet. Naturally I was curious, so I finally scored one for myself called the Sleek iDivine Eyeshadow Palette in Me, Myself, and Eye (P650 in Digital Traincase).

The short of it is, it's pretty good! The color selection doesn't make sense to me but I actually like it that way. I already have so many color coordinated palettes so at this point I'm just looking for unique, stand-out colors I don't have yet. Me, Myself, and Eye definitely has those.

What I love about the product

• Colors, hands down. Salt N' Peppermint, Primal Green, Lilac Allen, Supernova, and Blue Monday are memorable shades you can build a whole look on!

Remember those colorful rubber strings that were popular when we were kids? You can knot them into bracelets, necklaces, and what not. I remember they only cost P3-4 each. I wonder if they still sell that?

Anyway I was at the Pinkbox office the other day and spotted these shimmery shoe laces (P60 per pair) in a heap. My boss gave me a couple, and as soon as I got home I turned one into a braided bracelet.

If you ask me how I braided four strings into this, I wouldn't know what to say! It was pure instinct. :P

Worn with Pinkbox bangles

There's a lot of buzz surrounding a new foundation, the one called the Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Makeup ($34/ P1,900 locally). It sounds like the foundation to beat! It promises to feel like tinted moisturizer but with the coverage of foundation. It also has vitamins E and C combined with antioxidants to help brighten skin.

I just got mine yesterday after my meet-and-greet with Maggie and Annie, and I am so excited to use this in the next few days! It's not even out in the US yet, and in the Philippines, the target release is April.

What do I think about it? I was wowed the first time I used it, that's what! It has coverage but it lets my skin peek through. It doesn't look and feel like makeup at all, due to its very light, watery texture.

You better see it to believe it!

The shade I'm using, Petal, is two shades lighter than my actual skintone.