It was a different experience for me last weekend, for instead of going out with my girlfriends, grabbing dinner or watching a movie, I attended an event for Beautynomics. Of course, how could I pass up when the Belo Medical Group asks you to attend their event? In half a heartbeat, it was a yes!

There’s too much to tell because I believe I had a total blast during this event, but let me break this down :

Going to Belo Med, and Dr. Hayden at First Sight

First, I was late! ( my bad! ). My eyes widened as I climbed up the stairs to see Dr. Hayden Kho sitting there, talking to the bloggers. Starstruck madness, TV does not do him justice x a million times! He was discussing Belo Med’s services that included Rhinoplasty ( fixing the nose ), Thermage ( very good for anti-aging and resurfacing ), tummy tucks, laser treatments, and beyond. I was actually enjoying his talk because even I like people who talk like they love their craft so much that they talk about it casually amidst the jargons injected in the conversations that made it easier to understand. I was able to learn that Belo Med diligently does their homework in outsourcing the latest in technologies related to the skin. I’m very impressed.

Dr. Vicki Belo’s Awesome Vibes
As Dr. Hayden was discussing on how Belo Med started, Dr. Vicky Belo, the founder and owner of Belo Medical Group breezed in, and I must admit that I was overwhelmed with the air of confidence in her. Her aura was very vibrant, energetic, and good. She seemed like a woman very happy with herself, and all fulfilled. She started talking about her childhood, telling us how she was branded ugly and fat, struggling to study dermatology, studying abroad for specializations, dealing with negative press, and rising above it all. She told the bloggers that she resolved to stop caring about what other people think, as long as she gets to help people in letting them know that such modern technology is existing in the country. I was very very inspired with her talk that I think I shed a tear with her story, as it was very similar to mine.

She also clarified that contrary to the common perception, 80% of Belo Medical’s services are non-surgical.

Cornering Dr. Hayden
After a few questions from the bloggers ( regarding their foundation, Ike and Nena Belo Foundation, and Belo Essentials, which are the mass version with the beneficial ingredients included ), we were allowed to roam around and try the treatments. With that, Phoebe and I decided to corner Dr. Hayden for some questions, beauty-curious as we are!

Turns out that acne is just inevitable, with all the pollution, stress, hormones, and stuff, but Dr. Hayden tells us that this can be controlled at least, suggesting the Rays of Inara, that can control oily skin, acne, and give some anti-aging treatment to the skin by controlled wavelengths of light. Dr. Hayden also mentioned keeping an eye for the ingredient hyaluronic acid in your beauty products, that would keep skin hydrated, and can retain moisture on the skin as well. ( Nu Skin Moisture Mist has this that’s why I’ve been using it ever since! )

Roaming Around the Beauty Wonderland

Okay, so it was time to check out the technology that Belo Med prides itself with. I was able to sneak in some rooms and check out several services.

This one’s the tool used for the Powerpeel. It’s a more advanced version of the Diamond Peel that uses crystals to slough of old skin, giving way to the new.

This one’s the Rays of Inara. Beneficial wavelengths of light giving some benefit to the skin such as anti-aging, anti-acne, or anti-oiliness depending on the need of the client.

This one’s Visia. I was so not ready for my closeup! This machine lets you see your skin in macro mode and see all your imperfections, and things you have to work on. I’d be able to face this when I’m alone, not in a crowd! Hahaha! But really, it lets you see what’s wrong with your skin, scientifically, in front of you and the dermatologist in charge will let you know what treatments or products are needed to cure your skin condition.

Well, while walking around and looking for “the treatment” that I’d love to try , AJ and I stumbled in Tenor, a non-invasive, non-surgical firming treatment ( be it the thighs, the butt, tummy, arms, or face ), so we went in and took the plunge!

Me, asking them to firm my arms. Haven’t been exercising, my arms are flabby.

AJ, asking to firm up his face.

Phoebe, with the arms.

The procedure starts with applying either Glycerin or Baby Oil to the part you want to be firm or toned. Then, the laser gun-like tool is used to massage that certain part, and it feels warmer and warmer, which was pretty tolerable. A session costs around 7,000 php for the arms, 8,000 for the tummy, and it would take around 4 sessions to see results, for firmer and more toned body parts. I totally loved it!

A millimeter of scar in the face, is like a kilometer of scar in the heart.

The bloggers capped the night by enjoying dinner with Dr. Hayden at Packo’s Grill. Overall, I had such a good time during the event, but I must say that what struck me the most is the talk that Dr. Vicki Belo did. I was near tears with her story because it was very similar to mine.

Way back in highschool, I was very optimistic and ready to face the world. Of course, I could not deny my hormones that I had acne ( and still have it now, though controlled ). I remember crushing on someone, and telling my friend about it. Then, my friend who is also a friend of this guy casually asks if the guy knew me, and the guy asks, “Oh, her, the one with lots of pimples?”

I never, ever, ever forgot that. I was simply reduced to someone with pimples.

It’s true what Dr. Vicki said, a millimeter of scar in the face is like a kilometer of scar in the heart. I never forgot about what he said, felt bad about myself, and started shying away from school activities whereas I was so active in performing during my grade school days.

Time passed, and I was able to gain my self esteem back by obsessing about beauty, that led me where I am today, passionately giving advice to girls out there on how to look their best, keeping their self esteem up, because I never ever want anyone to feel the hurt and self esteem crush that I have experienced way back. I’ve risen above it all, by studying and experimenting about beauty products, studying makeup artistry, anything that would help people look their best. My skin’s still far from perfect right now, I’m still saving up for a Fraxel/Pixel treatment to get rid of my scars permanently, but I don’t think that I will still be branded as “the girl with lots of pimples.” now. I can definitely relate to Dr. Vicki Belo’s experience, that I am inspired to go on and do my own thing in making people feel good about themselves. I thank Dr. Vicki Belo for inspiring us with her talk. I know some people can view us beauty writers as shallow and superficial, but the underlying reason for us having beauty blogs up is not brainwashing people with how people must look to be branded as beautiful, but to be able to salvage self esteem, because in this world, as Dr. Vicki Belo believes, is that beauty is instinctive. We need to look our best to feel best, to be able to get rid of those self esteem issues and just do what we must do.

Credit : photos of me and Phoebe by Jayvee Fernandez

I’ve put up a temporary site for my makeup works, and I’m slowly building my portfolio. I hope you’d add me up at Multiply! Yesterday, I did makeup for my sister’s photoshoot, and here are some photos :

Well, there! I’ve got a long long way to go, but I am definitely not giving up on my dream. I love what I do, it’s absolutely exhilarating doing makeup. I hope to be able to show you guys more of my work in the future!

P.S. Just sharing a proud moment : remember this picture?

Photographer Randy Tamayo submitted this to Digital Photographer Philippines, and this final exam entry of mine made it to the Beauty Issue of the magazine! Total happiness!

Take care everyone!

Some pictures,

(sources say they even had to secure permits esp. for this wineglass performance)

I’m speechless with all this glam!

Source: Belo Medical Group

Kidding aside, I am feverishly lemming for these babies from Stila. Stila has the best trios on earth, and my contouring set is just plain love that I seriously want more.

Well, here goes!

Totally. I’m obsessed with grays now and I want them ASAP ! It’s a bit challenging to blend them, though.

Again, totally. I love, love neutral colors. You can wear them for the day or totally smoke them up. This will take anyone places, muy versatile!

Black will always be the classic smoky eye. Pewter is totally the new black, as well! Gosh.

It also didn’t help that the packaging’s just too adorable.

My mind’s going fastforward to December already! So tata! ( kidding )

How do you like my new lemming?

I am going to confess about my naivete with pencil eyeliners in this entry.

Way back, I preferred liquid eyeliners. My preferred liquid eyeliner was mineral eyeliner ( in whatever color I fancy ), plus a drop of Bare Escentuals Weather Everything Liner Sealer. Twas perfect. Did not budge a bit. Even when I swim, it stays on my lids, and it only comes off when I use facial wash on my face!

Then came makeup school. It’s actually the first time that I’ve learned that you apply eyeliner at the inner rims of your eyes! So there, the idea that pencil eyeliners are needed came to mind because it is just a bit disturbing to imagine liquid eyeliner or something too darn permanent and drying to applied on the inner rims! haha! With my very very oily lids, and face, for that matter, I immediately asked for the most waterproof and smudge-proof eyeliners : I got both MAC Powerpoint and Artdeco Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner. I’ve different thoughts about the two, so here goes :

MAC Powerpoint
Majority of my hauls from my makeup school were from MAC Cosmetics. Not only were they affordable ( well , a bit higher than consumer brands, but a bit more affordable than luxury brands ) , I also consider them to have the best cosmetics that perform really, really well. I got MAC Powerpoint during day 1, when I was shopping with Brigitte and Les. I was really really hoping that it would be the answer to my oily-skinned problems that pencil eyeliners smudge on my lids and undereyes that make me look like a beat-up panda, so I giddily tried it first.

Turned out that MAC Powerpoint did not glide on my lids ( near the lashline ) as easily and smoothly as Artdeco Pencil Eyeliner. The journey was a bit rough, and if ever it did smudge, it wouldn’t be the “creamy” smudge, but it would be the “ashy” smudge wherein miniscule bits of eyeliner would be found on the undereyes. That happened the first time my friend and I tried MAC Powerpoint. After that, it barely happened. Makeup applied on my models with this appeared to perform well, maybe it’s because they don’t have impossibly oily skin like mine.

My only problem with this is that when you twist the bottom part of the pencil to get more product out, it wouldn’t. I guess mine’s faulty, and I had to sharpen it.

If you are wondering if MAC Powerpoint found a cult follower in me, I’d say I’m not sure. I’ll be explaining that in the conclusion, so please wait! haha!

Artdeco Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner
My teacher RB Chanco loves this so much, as she exclaims, “the best!”, and that was the reason that I have acquired this for me and personal use. Of course, during makeup school, your models are your friends and you haven’t really exhausted using your makeup school haul to other people but with really good friends and just a few of them so it was alright to have some thin line between personal use and model-use ( up til graduation, of course ! ) .

Artdeco Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner proved to be a charmer as it glides like silk when applied on the lids and the inner rims of the eyes, unlike the Powerpoint wherein you have to really go back and forth the inner rims to achieve a really dark color, Artdeco gives color on the inner rims quickly! But as smooth as it is, it still smudged on me. Now, you must think I am a horrible monster made of grease.

To conclude, let me first say this. Artdeco started to smudge on my eyes after at least 3-4 hours, while Powerpoint, at around 4-5 hours. Not much difference, huh? The smudging with Powerpoint was more minimal though, because it had no kohl-eyeliner qualities at all , unlike Artdeco’s which is about 1/3 or halfway in being a kohl eyeliner ( kohl eyeliners smudge so easily because they glide like butter and they’re creamier than the usual eyeliners in pencil form ).

To sum up, no doubt, these two brands , Artdeco and MAC Cosmetics make the best waterproof pencil eyeliners, that they were able to stay on my skin with the least amount of smudging as compared with my other experiences ( even with a luxury brand that claimed it was waterproof? would you believe that? ) . I already know for a fact that my skin is an oil mine and the only thing that would work on me are liquid eyeliners that are horribly waterproof ( paging Blinc, Fashion 21 and BE Liner Sealer ),and I would have to experience some “smudge” to be able to use eyeliner on the inner rims of my eyes, which effect I so love! ( totally makes the eyes look sultrier ). If I’m going to choose which I’ll be repurchasing - I’ll be getting the MAC Powerpoint for me, and Artdeco for my clients and models. MAC Powerpoint for the best staying power so far on me, and Artdeco for great performance plus added waterproof qualities that can stand normal, rational skin. Haha!

I’m totally confident that these two products will work well on normal to slightly/moderately oily skin. Dust with setting powder for more oil control.

That explains why I’ve been using my Q-tips and eye makeup remover lately. Whenever I wash my face, the eyeliner remnants go to my undereyes and I have to gently ( yes, very gently ) use a Q-tip to wipe them off. Too much waterproof stuff on my eyes, but really, I shouldn’t complain. I’m getting the look that I want!

The commercial itself is controversial already. Eva Mendes flashing apparently “too much skin”? ( Read article here )

I don’t think I was ever turned off by any Calvin Klein fragrance. I think I love every single release they had, and what’s good is that they don’t release new things quickly!

The description of the new scent is,

sultry • addictive • exotic

Secret Obsession is an intoxicating floral oriental fragrance weaving together forbidden fruits, exotic flowers and a sultry wood signature for a provocative and addictive sexiness.

I’m actually sold. Hahaha! I love how it sounds and I’m hoping there’s no freesia there!

I’m definitely on the lookout for Calvin Klein Secret Obsession. It isn’t going to be launched until fall, but Macy’s is holding a preorder right now. Any takers?

Read on, and tell me what you think!

But on a long-ago trip to Puerto Galera, I discovered a cheap and easy way to have your back exfoliated. You see, the popular Filipino tourist destination known for its sulit offerings for beach goers features “freelance” massueses who give full-body massages for as low as 250 bucks ( around $ 4-5 usd ).

Now since they do massages on the beach, it’s inevitable that some sand will get on you as they work to rub the burdens of your body. My masseuse was apologetic about this, but I really didn’t mind. The sand rubbing on my back strangely felt satisfying.

All I know is that next time I’m going to the beach, I’m paying for a massage on the fine white sand!

Your thoughts, my ladies?

Believe me when I say that MAC Cosmetics’ Cult of Cherry is THE collection to anticipate for, and I recommend all girls to stop thinking when this arrives to our shores and just get them.

My must-have pics for the collection are three.

1. The palettes. I have the Tempting Palette with me, whose shads include ( l-r, t-b ) Next to Nothing, Tempting, Sharp, and Dark Edge. I tried the palette last weekend, and for a neutrals lover like me, I think these shades just look too daunting on the palette, but glide on as wearable colors when applied on the lids! I used Sharp on my inner lid, Tempting on my outer lid, Dark Edge on my outer V and crease, and Next to Nothing to highlight. Turned out pretty well. The other palettes from the Cult of Cherry collection look pretty interesting as well. Check them out over at the Swiper’s lair. ( omg I made her sound like a vampayrrrr )

2. The lipsticks. The lipstick to get is Cerise. It’s a skintone lip color that strikes me as nude, but it is just dazzling! It is glossy, so it’s nude-glossy! Makes my lips look moisturized, wet ( but not lipgloss-wet ) but looking all natural. Very pretty everyday shade.

3. Nail color in Illegal Purple. Girls who love black but want some dimension to the color will totally dig this. A very classy, yet edgy color. Blackened purple. I’m bringing this on my next mani-pedi sesh.

The verdict is out! It’s worth saving up for the Cult of Cherry Collection!

Update: ( August 15, 2008 ) Here’s an attempt to photograph my Cult of Cherry eyes. Please bear with me as I am struggling with my camera ( I have been, for the longest time, that I just can’t seem to take good pictures of my FOTDs and EOTDs! ).

The Sharp looks daunting on the palette, but for warm skin tones, it totally works. It morphed into some shade of gold on my lids, that is! It didn’t even look a bit shocking.

Emm….take a look at my nail polish collection. I don’t even want to look at it because it would be prohibiting my practical mind to buy some more, which I do once in a while. ( Howelse am I going to finish all those bottles? If I had ten pairs of hands, maybe! ) I just love collecting nail polish. I know, they dry up in time, and they’re not the best investments, but I like having them around just in case, by whim, I would want a nice mani-pedi, as I always bring my own bottles with me.

That takes into account on how discriminating I am with nail polish. Since high school, I’ve tried alot of brands, got to love some, and hate some. There are even well-priced nail polish brands that are so thin in consistency when dried on the nails that they chip so easily, and there are nail polish that take more than a gazillion years to dry. There are also some nail polish that thicken in consistency pretty quick that you would have no use for them after your third use, no matter how much you break your fingers to seal the bottles tightly. It’s a frustration, but once you find really good brands that dry quickly, and perform great, you’ll never look back. I’ve been ordering brands not only found here but also from abroad, but of course I’m not a member of the Chanel nail polish cult yet! Too damaging to the wallet!

Way back , way back, Sally Hansen was one of the first nail polish brands that I’ve tried. I remember being so determined to save up for a Sally Hansen French Manicure Set when I was in highschool fourth year. I also bought myself some as time went by, but I somewhat looked for something better because the drying period was pretty long and they thickened pretty easily. This was the Hard as Nails formula from 7 years ago, up til 2-3 years ago.

Fast forward to now, I decided to give Sally Hansen a chance on my nails because of the raves my pal the Swiper gave. I think that they have reformulated, as they have added “Xtreme Wear” to their product variant that it better live up to. Haha! Aside from reformulating the product quality, they have also let go of the Big 3 ( potentially harmful chemicals found in nail polish ) that are DBP, Toluene or Free Formaldehyde.

I have Red Brick ( a very Sharon Stone red ) and Black Out with me , but since my nails are pretty short, and are being “groomed” to grow nicely long again, I wanted something sheer to have a reason to wear nail polish, and actually grow my nails long! I picked up Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Bamboo Shoot, a very pretty sheer milky white shade.

First of all, the applicator is still as thin as the normal Sally Hansen nail polish, but a bit, bit thicker. The first color goes very sheer and almost a cloudy clear shade, and becomes more “transluscent” and semi-opaque on the second coat. Drying period has drastically improved, and the color payoff is really pretty. Very much like the famed Essie pastels, I would want to buy more Xtreme Wear pastels as of the moment!

As for streaking ( a common problem with sheers and whites ) , from my experience, there was streaking, but it was very minimal. The color smoothens out on the second coat. I wonder if my nail technician would be able to perfect this application on me, I am most curious because I’m not exactly an expert in applying nail polish - somehow, when I apply it not so evenly, I manage to experience a perfect mani-pedi from them! So I’m surely bringing this with me on my next manicure session because it’s such a lovely shade.

Staying power? Oh, this is such a revelation. Of course, we need a good base coat and top coat ( I used Poshe ), but one has to take into consideration also the quality of the colored polish. In my past experience, there are brands that chip quite easily or separate from the nail beds with one scratch, and I would have to say that Xtreme Wear is indeed extreme wear! The formula strikes to me as thick and “rubbery” ( as per Phoebe ) as it dries, so even if I wanted to “purposely chip” them, I would be having difficulty. They stayed a good 4-5 days on me as I did my normal stuff, and only chipped when I really forced to open something with my nails ( I know, sorry! ). Even if that one nail chipped, it didnt cause for the whole layer of polished to be removed altogether and still remained intact. Quite impressive.

Honestly, I didn’t quite expect this experience with Sally Hansen, but I have to say that I will never ignore a Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in the mall, ever. It’s made of good stuff. I’m a convert!

Happy shopping!