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Travel Essentials


i just find it good sense to have a suitcase or an overnight bag at least always packed and ready even though i have no immediate plans of travelling. i guess that's just one of the top rules in the jetsetters' code, to be ready to leave in a moment's notice.i have a matching shoulder bag with my overnight case which i aquired a couple of years back which i unfortunately left in manila. :( i will post pictures next time! :D

here goes my list i hope you guys find it useful! :

Toiletries:

· Shampoo - i use lush's bath and hair gel in its travel size, so taht eliminates the need for a separate soap container that just takes up space
· Hair smoothing serum
· Facial cleanser and/or scrub
· Moisturizer = Doubles as lotion
· Petroleum jelly -a small jar of petroleum jelly is very handy. with all its other uses, i basically use it as a lip moisturizer and something to soothe blisters when i travel.

· Baking Soda - has A LOT of uses! i found out about this a few years back and ive been keeping it in my traveling toiletry bag ever since! :P
o An alternative toothpaste - Wet your brush, dip in baking soda, polish away stains. makes your mouth feel amazingly clean, a hard thing to come by on the road.
o An alternative deodorant - Left your favorite de-funkifier at home? Pat on a little baking soda. It doesn’t stop sweat but it does work for stopping odors.
o An alternative facial scrub - It’s gentle, lightly exfoliating, and leaves skin squeaky clean. Just make sure to rinse really well and use a good moisturizer afterwards.
o A shoe de-funker - If you walk a lot when you travel, you know your shoes can smell awfully funky in the mornings. Before bed, sprinkle a little baking soda in your shoes to keep them clean-smelling.
o A hair de-gooper - Hair feeling a little grungy? Pour a little baking soda in your hands as you’re shampooing and work it through well. L et it sit on your hair for about 5 minutes. Rinse well and condition well. Your hair will feel “clarified” and clean.
§ Pretty useful innit?

· Antiperspirant - or good ol' deo
· Ladies’ safety razor - As every one knows, am not one of the hairiest women in the world, so I don’t really need this.
· Travel toothbrush and toothpaste
· Cologne/perfume
· Sunblock lotion for body and sunblock gel for face
· Mosquito repellant - keeps the dengue mosquito away!
· A small jar of Baby powder
· A clean wash cloth
· Styptic pen - Helps close nicks and small cuts. unfortunately, it's not available here.. :(
· Adhesive bandages - otherwise known as band-aids
· Clean contact lens case and travel sized bottle of saline solution
· Pair of tweezers
· Emery board
· A travel sized bottle of pain reliever
· A tiny bottle of clear nail polish
· A few days worth of vitamins
· Hair elastics and bobby pins in your hair color

Luggage musthaves, no matter where your destination is:

· Two pairs of SPARE underwear
· Medium-sized towel - I know most hotels/resort gives you a supply of towel, but I just find comfort in knowing I have my own just in case..
· One pair of socks - Ya never know when ur tootsies will get cold
· Three tampons/ sanitary napkin - Just in case
· Extra pair of sunnies in hard case
· A few safety pins - I usually keep a stash in the inside zipper of my luggage.. just in case
· Make Up Essentials (foundies, shadow, etc)
· Gorillapod - camera tripod
· Chargers for ipod/celfone camera, etc - It really sucks when ur tech supply runs out of juice so I suggest you buy spare chargers now and keep it in your luggage. As a dormer, I find this to be really useful.
· a pair of jammies
· a decent light weigh dress that can pass off as a cocktail dress for more formal impromptu events and as a beach cover up or a day dress. will post pictures of a few examples soon! :P
· a sensible, light closed shoes - crocs prima works best for me but im pretty sure there are a lot of other substitute. what is important is it must be light enough and comfy enough to travel distances with.
· 2 Scarves - i love love love scarves. i rarely ever travel without them. they're just very handy. you can use is as a halter top, a sarong, an extra bag, a spare dress, somethng to ease the cold. i cannot stress this enough. scarves are very useful when travelling. :P

i know this sounds a lot, but once you've gotten the hang of finding travel sized things and mastered the art of packing, you'd be surprised at how many you can pack yet appearing to be traveling light! :D

what are your travelling essentials?




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Product Focus: Pill/tablet boxes as palettes!

i have been using pillboxes as makeup storage for about two years now. i got these particular pillboxes from the my aunt's clinic (hanging out in the hospital sure has its perks) but i think most pillboxes are available in all leading groceries and drugstores.



storing makeup, especially the cream types in pill/tablet boxes is very handy, especially when travelling. i first did that when i read in one of the makeup forums that mixing pigment with petroleum jelly would make a pretty good lip balm/lip gloss. so when one of my eyeshadow palettes broke, i took the brown and pink, mixed it in several hues and i was able to come up
with quite a good range of colors. also, i mixed a liquid foundation that was too light for me with petroleum jelly, and i was able to get a good nude lips shade.

sorry for the crappy picture above. i swear, it's the flash that's making it look too greasy, in reality it just gives you a moisturized lip look. it almost has a lipbalm-y look.
these are the ones i mixed with an eyeshadow and a blush that cracked. plus, the one i mixed with a liquid foundation

the next batch i did, the very first one was just a darker shaded foundation for nude lips as well, but i took it up a notch. i mixed cayenne powder with it to make an instant plumper (got the idea from jing of girlwithglassesjing). i also mixed careline's loose eyeshadow in mestiza white and vanilla white with petroleum jelly to get that nice shimmery-balmy look, also i mixed careline's plum loose shadow with mestiza white and petroleum jelly, and careline's mestiza white alone wiht petrokeum jelly.
(L-R) Careline's plum loose shadow with mestiza white, careline's vanilla white with mestiza white, careline's mestiza white, and a dark liquid foundation with cayenne powder.


then, i had some lipsticks that is a bit drying for me so i scooped them out of their cases, took a huge spoon and a candle, placed the lipstick and some petroleum jelly on the spoon and melted it over the candle. it gives a nice glossy look. dont ask me for the lipstick shades, i've forgotten 'em already! sorry..

i only have three shades here cuz i only scooped out two lipsticks and mixed them together in one batch. i am still contemplating on what shade to put on the empty slot. right now a mineral blush is stored there.



finally, i had to travel last summer and i didnt really feel like bringing three huge tubes of creme foundation and and a bronzer so i used a clean plastic knife to cut portions off it and make my own home-made foundation and concealer palettes

upper left: my foundation shade which doubles as blemish concealer, upper right: my under-eye concealer, lower right: a shimmerry bronzer, lower left: a darker cream foundation for contour.

there you have it, my home-made palettes! this works best for cream cosmetics. i doubt it would hold up if you put liquids in it or runny cosmetics cuz it's not exactly leak proof. also i would not recommend storing loose cosmetics in it (the way i did) cuz it just tends to create a whole lotta mess. i'm just temporarily storing my loose blush there until i decide on what to do with it. i might mix it withn petroleum also.

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getting to know each other tag

tagged by stockpiled! (angie) and girl with glasses (jing). :P

i tag all of my followers!

Create a New Blog Post, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to Know Each Other!", then tag as many people as you like :)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5.30 a lotta early for me!

2. How do you like your steak? well done

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? the proposal, with somebody i soo do not want to propose! :P

4. What is your favorite TV show? friends, charmed, boston legal and sex and the city. yea.. all discontinued

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? New York! :P or prolly wet london.. tokyo too or hk.. yea.. am a city girl through and through.. wouldnt trade manila for the world tho! :)

6. What did you have for breakfast? pan de sal with quesong puti

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Japanese.. some italian too! :P nothing beats pinoy cuisine tho

8. What foods do you dislike? lemme think.. ahh hate hate hate sour foods. hate hate hate fish on soup..

9. Favorite place to eat? DAMPA! hmn. where else.. oh, i love love love chocolate kiss and banapple.. tomas morato area mostly..

10. Favorite dressing? vinaigrette.. good 'ol mayo will do too! or honey mustard.. really i'm not that fussy.. as long as there's a dressing i'm good

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? i don't drive anymore.. :P i used to drive an adventure. i would love to drive a 1964 volkswagon. yea, i'm not too fussy with cars

12. What are your favorite clothes? ooh.. i love love love shorts.. or dresses. im in love with dresses right now.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? hongkong to see mikael! australia to see tishan, and malibu to visit kath, rye and andy.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? optimism all the way. half full

15. Where would you want to retire? beautiful baguio sounds appealing to me. or maybe somewhere as laid back such as LA or australia.

16. Favorite time of day? midnight!

17. Where were you born? makati medical center

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? basketball! let's go archers, let's go

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? idk

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? idk

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? i'd love to see everyone's insights

22. Bird watcher? not too big on nature.. sorry.. i told you i'm a city girl through and through

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? definitely a night person!

24. Do you have any pets? i used to have a pet ant.. :P i'm not allowed to have pets cuz of the asthma

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? yes!! will be performing on wednesday with the gang at house of runes, and bookfair's coming up which is ALWAYS good. i kind of have this bookfair "pilgrimage" i'm on my third year now.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? i wanted to be a nun! :P seriously tho, ever sincve i was little i wanted to be a lawyer..

27. What is your best childhood memory? i have a lot.. ive had the best of memories as far as childhood goes

28. Are you a cat or dog person? i HATE cats (sorry) so imma say dogs

29. Are you married? Nope. not in a long long time. no plans at all.

30. Always wear your seat belt? only if i dont trust the driver (ehem at pj and gabby!!)

31. Been in a car accident? yes. i was driving. that's why i dont drive anymore

32. Any pet peeves? wrong grammar, nonsensical text messages, backstabbing people.. and i dont like the gay lingo at all... i also don't like making lait or chismis about other people

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? CHEESE! i know, boring much.


34. Favorite Flower? stargazers and lilies.. :D

35. Favorite ice cream? butter pecan and pistachio

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? burger king.. only because they have onion rings and the best mayo ever. oh, and free wi-fi! :D

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? i didnt. :P

38. From whom did you get your last email? tishan.. begging me to visit him in australia, even if he had to pay for the plane. i simply do not have the time.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? marionnaud, bayo, watsons, nine west. i've very cheap thrills. except for bags.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? will be doing something spontaneous soon! but it's a secret

41. Like your job? yes.. :P

42. Broccoli? yummy yummy yummy!

43. What was your favorite vacation? super takas weekend with jt at bali.. :P

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? tita jo and lem lem

45. What are you listening to right now? aiza seguerra.. damn she's good!

46. What is your favorite color? green!

47. How many tattoos do you have? just one.. secret! :P

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? all my followers but i think most of them did this already

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 12:38

50. Coffee drinker? oh yes.

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Product Focus: Careline Eyeshadow Powders


i have careline loose shadows in several colors but i decided to make a review on vanilla white

le price:
they're no mac pigments, but for 80 bucks (pesos) a pop, they aint so bad.

le experience:
they're very pigmented too! i have several individual ones and i have duos, and i love them! i just use a good base so that it sticks. being loose and all, it tends to fall out fast, but with a sticky base (i use my white gel liner most of the time) it works fantastic!
this review however is for the individual ones, more specifically, it's for the vanilla white variant.

it has so many uses. most of the time, i use it as a highlighter for the brow bone, the cheekbone and sometimes even the cupid's bow (upper lip area).

most of the time, i mix it with a liquid foundation or even a tinted moisturizer and i'm good to go. i did this mostly last summer, when it's too hot to put on makeup and i just want to put a little coverage and to even out my skin tone. it gives me that subtle glow, and it gives me a kind-of MAC strobe cream look, minus the pinkish tinge, which is okay for me. it doesnt come off as too shiny, oily look, but it just gives my face a certain pop.

i also mix it with careline's mestiza white loose shadow and petroleum jelly and it's my instant lip balm which i use on bare lips and i'm good to go. sometimes i put it on top of a lipstick and it doubles as a great lipgloss. useful, innit? (pics to follow, i left my pre-made one in manila)

you have to watch out for the crappy packaging tho. the bottom part unsticks like 9 out of 10 times and it leaves a serious mess in my trunk, which i hate. i saw the salesladies at watson's festival use a trusty scotch tape to keep it in place, but i dont use scotch tapes, so i used my invisible tape (sticks better, in my opinion)


le verdict:
i find it too oppressive that mac pigments are always, always out of stock here, so i make do with the next alternative.
i give this product 3.5 lipsticks.
i took points off because of its crappy packaging and limited color options.

oh and i bought sunnies! yay me! i know, i look like a bug, but i love love it.



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update again and buy ban over

The perfect way to start the morning goddessella style
(and a little preview of my new baby, harlowe!)

good morning everyone! i woke up feeling energized at 6:30 am today even though i had a terrible night last night. my head aches are getting really bad that i can't function at all when i'm having one of those episodes.. :(

but it's all good now1 i'm good, just a bit pressed for time cuz i have midterm exams all through this week and i haven't studied a thing.. oh noes. i am actually here at krispy kreme studying.

i just wanna let you guys know that my buy ban is officially over! yay! was able to snag harlowe! my limited edition old rose colored msi wind netbook. i am in love.

oh, and this uber cutie little baby boy blew kisses at me a while ago and i fell for it bigtime! i am in love.

how was your day?

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something from paulo cuelho

tell your heart that the fear of getting hurt is more painful than the act of getting hurt itself

i received that message from him straight via twitter waay back and i'm typing it from memory so im not sure if it's a direct quote but it's pretty close. this has been my mantra for a while now and i just wanted to share it with you guys.

til next post

ciao bbs! :D
xxoo
ella
makeupjunkie

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Cheater, Cheater!

my cheat haul.

yea. i know i told you guys i would not be hauling for about 8 weeks cuz im actually saving money for a new netbook with at least a bigger screen, but i can justify my haul, i promise!

first, i bought a MAC Mineralize Skin Finish cuz i really really am lemming for one for so long now and everytime i try to buy one, it's always out of stock. well, now that i really am trying not to buy, like a devil's temptation, there it was selling like pancakes.. so i had to get one before it gets out of stock again.... and i love love love it! no regrets at all!

second, i bought another fanny serrano concealer in walnut cuz i lost mine. i travel back and forth between manila and laguna weekly and with all the packing and traveling, you just lose stuff. i really am dependent on this concealer so dont sue me! :D

finally, ive been wanting to get this nichido palette cuz it's so cheap and i could just put it in my travel case or my kikay kit and forget about it, then when emergency strikes, it's there! :D i like the neutral/earth colors too!

so there you have it, my cheat haul. :D

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Mac Technique Workshop



last sunday, i was invited by marionnaud, mall of asia to attend a mac technique workshop. the workshop was spearheaded by owen, and he was actually very good but he didnt say anything i didnt already know from watching youtube videos and reading makeup forums. also, i had to run out before it ended cuz i had to meet a friend somewhere else. the workshop was supposed to be from 2-4 pm, but it started at around 3pm na.

they had loot bags for us as well which contained a loofah and a 200 peso gift check that you could use with a 25oo single receipt purchase. also, they gave out a nail grooming kit for every single receipt purchase which i was able to get with a mac mineralized skin finish natural. i am particularly happy with this cuz ive been lemming for an msf natural for so long now!

the food was good too! they got the pastries from delifrance so it's yummy!

owen was actually very informative, giving us the history of MAC, and sharing with us cool tips and tricks. i know, i know. ive said that you could prolly hear all those tips and tricks online but it's nice to see it live in action. too bad i had to run out early. but these are the things i learned:
(i didnt actually take notes so i'm only writing from memory)

  • always start with a clean canvass (face) which made me want the strobe cream! too bad im not allowed to wear a moisturizer just yet
  • use proper tone correctors in concealing: salmon colors counter acts with the bluish undertones (especially under the eyes), green counter acts with red, and purple counter acts with yellow
  • MAC studio fix compact is made to be applied dry. we are not supposed to use it wet cuz that'll just break the compact. if you really need to apply it wet then scrape off a few products and put it in a separate dish or container and then wet it.
  • instead of retouching with powder immediately, blot with tissue first to remove the oil and prevent clogging of pores
  • you could still wear a lively colored shadow (i.e. purple) to work/school just use a light hand in applying. that way you are not constricted to merely using neutrals
  • after applying your blush, dust some powder over it, that way, it will seem as if you are blushing from with in
  • moisturize lips before actual gloss/lipstick application. it helps to use a lip conditioner.

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things in perspective

hey bbs.. i'm so busy with school work, like seriously. i just hurdled my first midterm exam this week and it was just hard.. i even rattled some of my barrister friends for wills and succession answers that started a whole barrage of debates from them. :D

also, ive been appointed editor-in-chief for the newsletter, so ive been revising and editing and lay-outing the past two weeks or so..

poetry performance. house of runes was a blast!! see you guys again next month! yay

but this blog is not about boring school work

it's about putting my makeup life in perspective
and these are the things i wish to achieve before i die(how morbid)

1. take a makeup class for pros
2. have my own makeup line
3. have a makeup award

i know, a bit ambitious but that's what i hope to achieve..
a girl can dream, right?

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