It takes quite a process for me to look like this.

Sometimes I would get comments like, “You’re a natural beauty!”, and flattered I may be with these types of comments, I’d always reply so honestly with something along the lines of “Oh no! I owe it all to make-up! My eyeliner and circle lenses can be seen from a mile away.” I never fail to admit I look absolutely different without make-up on, but even if it doesn’t bother me much to go out without all this (i.e. if I’m exercising or going out for a late night snack), I still like playing with make-up purely out of love for dollying myself up, more than just looking presentable to other people. <3

Make-up is my favorite complement to my outfits. I love how it makes me feel complete, even if I’m not curling my hair, piling on any accessories or wearing sky-high heels. Changing the color of my eyeshadow, the direction of my eyeliner wing, my lip color etc. can already create so much difference on my face. This is why I look different when I do my own make-up and when other people do it for events and publications. Make-up does wonders, I tell you!

I never want to pretend and say I’m not wearing any make-up in my photos and then fish for compliments about my “natural beauty”… unless I’m really not wearing any make-up. In this case, I must pat myself on the back for probably doing something good to my skin/body to fool people into thinking I’ve layers of make-up on. While I’ll never resort to anything drastic like plastic surgery, I really do make an effort to enhance my features by using a lot of products. If I wake-up and my double eyelids have temporarily disappeared, I’ll even use double eyelid tape. 

Here are my favorite products as of this writing. 

P.S. People react differently to products. While these might work perfectly on me, your skin might be more suited to something better!

Base: Lovefille Nude Face Veil, CANMAKE Milky Moist Base, Candy Doll Makeup Base

Nude Face Veil has the same kind of transparency and consistency as Smashbox’s primer, which I used to really initially like until I broke out like crazy some time 2-3 years ago. I use this when I feel like I won’t have time to touch up my make-up the whole day. 

The Milky Moise Base is something I use on days when I just feel like going out with minimal amounts of make-up. I always pair this with my Ettusais BB Cream (picture below) because both of them are very light and perfect for that no make-up look.

Candy Doll’s Makeup Base is my default base. My foundation glides on so well after.

Foundation: Candy Doll loose powder, Ettusais BB mineral cream, Revlon PhotoReady 005 Natural Beige liquid foundation and 020 Light/Medium powder

On light make-up days, I pair the BB cream and the Candy Doll loose powder. On heavy make-up days, I pair the Revlon PhotoReady liquid foundation and the powder.

On very confused days, I use 1 layer of Revlon PhotoReady under 1 layer of Ettusais BB cream, and 1 layer of Revlon PhotoReady powder with hints of Candy Doll loose powder.

I’m actually an in-between PhotoReady 004 and 005 but it would be such a waste to have to buy two all the time so I just settled for the 005 since I get darker March-June anyway. I’m on my 3rd bottle now and I super swear by this foundation! Of course, this is all because I have dry skin. A lot of make-up artists I know and some make-up gurus on YouTube prefer the coverage of Revlon’s ColorStay line, which is more suitable for oily skin.

I used to be a faithful BB cream user until I realized how most of them made me look a little gray…? And then I discovered Ettusais BB Cream which does not have a white/gray cast at all. Plus points since it’s also available in 3 different shades compared to the usual one-color-fits-all type of thing.

Eyelids: CANMAKE Perfect Brown Eyes Palette, Majolica Majorca GD886 Jeweling Eyes Palette, tokidoki x Sephora Sandy in the City palette, Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion, Topshop gold eyeshadow, Dolly Wink gold cream eyeshadow

All very neutral colors since I fail at applying eyeshadow. Normally I would just use one color for my lids and one color to highlight my brow bone. 

And yes, everything is glittery so it won’t look too obvious if I make a mistake. :)

Eyes: Garnier Light BB Eye Roll-on, Heavy Rotation blonde eyebrow mascara, Dolly Wink (otona) blonde eyebrow pencil, Dolly Wink black liquid eyeliner, Palty Glitter pencil eyeliner in black and silver, Majolica Majorca Lash Enamel Glamour Neo mascara, Dolly Wink volume mascara

Most of these products I’ve already shown in my past make-up tutorials.

I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH FALSIES! I was born with typical Asian lashes that are straight and long but very sparse. Sometimes mascara alone won’t cut it so I always turn to false eyelashes to make my eyes bigger and look less sleepy.

Most of the falsies I use are Asian brands because they come in these very affordable 5-in-1 packs so I don’t have to stock individually. I also prefer ones that fan out at the ends or those with small spaces in between, something that most Japanese brands like Dolly Wink, Diamond Lash and Luminous Change all carry.

Cheeks: Candy Doll Carrot Orange blush, NARS Orgasm, Revlon matte powder blush, Candy Doll Strawberry Pink blush

Orgasm was my default blush until I outgrew my peach blush phase. Now I’m more into deep, dolly pink shades. 

The Candy Doll Carrot Orange blush is my go-to summer blush. Looks great with a tan!

Lips: Lime Crime Cosmo Pop and Coquette, Revlon Color Burst Soft Nude, Revlon Super Lustrous Primrose, MAC Angel, Pink Nouveau, Freckletone, Shy Girl, Lavushca lipstick, Candy Doll Ramune Pink and Apricot Beige

I forgot to include my red lippies here, but I figured I don’t really use them often anyway! Most of my favorite lipsticks are nude, orange and pink. MAC Freckletone and Candy Doll Ramune Pink are usually my lip colors in my blog entries.

Since it would be impractical to bring all my make-up along when I go out, I normally just bring the essentials, which go into this Marc by Marc Jacobs x Sweet pouch that serves as my make-up bag.

Inside you can find: face powder + brush, liquid eyeliner, mascara, eyelash curler, 2 lipsticks, blush + brush, and eyelash glue if I know I’ll be wearing falsies for a long time. You’ll never what might happen to your lashes! I like using Candy Doll lash glue but a good alternative would be the one The Face Shop sells.

Cleansing/skincare: Shu Uemura cleansing oil, Aquamoist Collagen Moisture lotion (toner) and cream (moisturizer), Leyende Face Canvas Mango Butter moisturizer

I’m on my 3rd giant Shu Uemura cleansing oil bottle! This is the bottle I just use when I travel. I can never use anything else to remove my make-up. One giant bottle lasts me more than half a year so it’s all worth it.

If I’m not too lazy, I’d tone and moisturize after cleansing. I know I should do it everyday though. Make-up can only do so much (I am not as poreless as I seem to be, but it helps to always have a large aperture and good lighting when having your photos taken), so I take care of my skin in more natural ways since I tend to skip toning and moisturizing when I’m tired. Getting lots of sleep and drinking lots of water will always save your skin from pimples and blemishes. I’m quite lucky to have non acne-prone skin, thanks to my parents’ genes, but I still get a few little blemishes here and there whenever I forget to take care of myself.

Recently I’ve been exercising twice a week (for strength), and I’ve noticed how much better my no make-up face looks now compared to before. Sweat all the dirt out, wash your face properly, and be surprised that you actually have a natural glow.

Hair: Fuwarie hairstyling mist, Schwarzkopf Bonacure Color Save conditioner spray, Lucido designing whip, TRESemme hairspray, argan oil, Lucido designing lotion

Hair products for the hair vain. Most of these products I just use before or after I style my hair, for damage protection and for my curls to stay longer. I get OC when it comes to buying hairstyling products because I dislike the smell of most hairsprays. Good thing ProStyle and Lucido all have fruity scents!

After I went blonde, argan oil saved my hair. This bottle was just given to me by my hairstylist, but I plan to research more on where to get the best argan oil for cheap after I finish this.

Looking for haircare products specifically for blonde hair. Hit me up if you know anything!

Scents: Harajuku Lovers Baby, Clean Sweet Layer, Clean, Clean Shower Fresh, Clean Outdoor Shower Fresh

I’ve been a huge fan of CLEAN fragrances for a long time and even if I try so hard to find alternatives, I can’t. These are the only scents I can stand smelling on myself for long periods of time. Anything that’s floral, musky or fruity on my skin just tends to annoy me. It’s rather hard to find stocks of CLEAN but if you’re lucky, you can find them locally in Rustan’s. They’re also usually available in department stores abroad.

Harajuku Lovers’ Limited Edition (not the normal one) Baby perfume is the only other perfume variant I can stand. It comes with a super cute doll (which matches the rest of my pink room), serving another purpose as decoration.

I’m partial to very fresh soap-y scents that make me smell like a baby or like I just got out of the shower. What kind of perfume do you like?

So many beauty products, and I’m still not bankrupt yet? My BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard lets me budget properly since I can load whatever amount I like and I’d be forced to stop impulse buying when it runs out, especially when I’m abroad. This card works just fine in these other countries as well, just as long as they accept MasterCard.

You won’t get billed for your purchases like a credit card and you won’t have to link your card to an existing savings account like a debit card. So ideal for shopaholics who don’t like carrying lots of cash with them since you can treat your My ePrepaid MasterCard as a wallet of sorts.

Not only are the products I use only found in stores abroad like Sasa and Sephora, but they’re also sold in a lot of online stores that specialize in Asian beauty products. If online shopping was as easy as applying for a card, loading it, using it to pay, reloading it and using it over and over again, then I’m sure more people will be able to experience these products that aren’t available locally. This card also supports PayPal so just imagine all the online shopping you can do.

Interested? Click on the banner on my sidebar for more information and for application. I’ve already used mine a number of times! My recent purchase was a pair of cat eye sunglasses in time for summer. :)

Sponsored post.

Got rid of my blonde hair. Bleaching my hair the first time a few months ago was worth it, after seeing the results today. My hairstylist gave me a gray dye swatch earlier, and I wanted to get rid of the blonde so passionately that I didn’t even bother asking him about specifics. “I just want ash.”, and ash I really got.

What do you think?

There’s always something about dyeing hair that makes me feel like a brand new person again.

(Romwe pink blazer, Just G floral top, ViVi x MURUA detachable collar)

Halloween’s just around the corner, and for those who aren’t the type to go all out on grand costume parties, here’s a lulzy idea on who you can go as - your best friend! In my case, it’s oh-so-bubbly Crissey who loves everything cute, pink and sparkly!

For the record, she has also tried to dress up as me countless times in the past, but hasn’t really tried imitating my make-up style to complete her transformations! I’ve spent so much time with her all these years and nothing has changed when it comes to her taste in make-up. There always has to be white glitters! I tend to gravitate towards black liquid and pencil eyeliner, but Crissey is all about looking like an innocent little girl by using a lot of pink and white! Her recent entry made me so inspired to create a “Crissey” look of my own:

Step 1: Prime your eyelids! I’m using Urban Decay’s Primer Potion. This prevents your eye make-up from creasing or smearing. It also makes the color of your eyeshadow pop out more!

Random note - I didn’t get my eyebrows bleached because my brows aren’t too dark and thick anyway! I just use the Kiss Me HEAVY ROTATION Coloring Eyebrow Mascara in 01 Light Ash that I got from Sasa last summer (because even back then I was already set on going blonde!) to make my brows this color.

Step 2: Apply pink eyeshadow all over your lids. I’m using the pink in Catwalk Cosmetics’ make-up palette (more info about this here).

Step 3: Apply white eyeshadow on the inner corners and blend it with the pink. I’m using the silver-white eyeshadow from Catwalk Cosmetics. This is to create the illusion of brighter, more animated eyes.

Step 4: I’m using Dolly Wink’s liquid eyeliner to create a defined wing. Normally, people would wing their eyeliner upwards, but I like winging my liner downwards for a more dolly look!

Step 5: The most important step in creating the fresh “Crissey” look. I’m using Palty Glitter Pencil Eyeliner (in silver) for my waterline to make my eyes look bigger and more awake!

Step 6: Apply mascara on your top and bottom eyelashes. I’m using Majolica Majorca’s Lash Enamel Glamour Neo mascara which is my all-time favorite!

Before and after. I added some natural-looking falsies to finish the whole look since I made this tutorial with wearing Crissey’s signature glasses in mind.

It was so much fun to do this, especially since I only normally use brown, gold and other neutral shades for my eyes. I know Crissey would cry buckets first before trying this tutorial out - I remember she would always end up tearing up whenever someone would try to line her eyes, but I still hope she likes this and hope that this can also inspire you to try pink and white eyeshadow combinations out!

Special thanks to Japanese Candy for my Geo Princess Mimi Apple Green lenses. <3

Before anything else, I apologize for all the mirror shots!

Last photo I took of myself before I went blonde.

Finally gave in to bleaching my hair after years of contemplation. I’m sure, at one point in time, if you’ve seen me in person or have spent a lot of time with me outside the Internet, we’ve already had some sort of “Gosh, your hair is so light!” + “Oh yeah? Thanks, but it’s not light enough for me!” conversation.

I have a collection of blonde wigs in different lengths to temporarily satisfy my frustrations, but nothing beats having actual blonde hair!

I was luckily born with naturally straight, fine, thick-ish Asian-black hair (My mom has fine, straight hair while my dad has the typical thick, straight Chinese hair). I managed to put up with it until highschool, but I totes had a dyeing spree once I reached college. I gradually lightened my hair through the years without bleaching, mostly because I was so afraid of the damage bleaching entailed. I’ve always had a fascination with light hair ever since I could remember, really. My chronic bitch face paired with my natural black hair never meshed well together (had that “snob appeal” formula down pat), and I found it way more interesting to experiment with make-up and different hairstyles with lighter hair.

Throughout college I almost never took care of my then-super-long hair properly - I would only use random brands to wash and condition my hair, and I would curl and style it without heat-protecting products. This went on until early this year… until I decided to cut 5 inches off my hair all at once. The ends of my hair looked so damaged that I couldn’t go out without having to curl them (thus, damaging my hair even more) or putting my hair up in a bun to hide the ends.

I guess hair care was something I took for granted, because when I still had virgin hair, I never had to comb or condition so often because my hair was so naturally healthy and dead-straight. Sadly, it took a toll on my hair in the long run. :(

After cutting my hair last May, I became keen on starting anew. I took care of my hair obsessively by using the right products and having regular hair treatments. Even if my hair dye was relatively lighter than my college color, my hair has never been healthier in years.

Perfect time to go blonde, I thought. And so I finally went for it!

Can’t believe I subjected my hair to this purple gunk you see right here. :) Funny that the bleach didn’t sting my scalp at all! And to think I was deathly afraid moments before they applied it to my hair. They were saying that it was good that I had years of dye experience before subjecting myself to bleach because during the whole process, I didn’t seem too surprised with the smell and the sensation of it all.

What a sight! Five people were working on my hair simultaneously to get an even color. They advised against bleaching your own hair, because they said it would be immensely risky (harsh chemicals and all) and some parts of your hair might end up lighter than the others depending on the time of application. But then again, sometimes that’s just what some people exactly want.

After washing the bleach off, I ended up with this:

Even if I know a lot of people settle for this kind of blonde, I found it so awkward on me. Nice color for Halloween though. I think I could go as Sailor Moon with this yellow.

BRB, off to find a sailor outfit.

And so they proceeded with applying tone-on-tone coloration to kill the intense yellow. I didn’t want to subject my hair to so many things at once so I’ll probably have to go to the salon again for a permanent hair dye once the toner washes off.

My hair looked a little green for a while, but I’m happy I ended up with something a little less intense:

Me with the lovely people at Indigo Salon which you can find along Temple Drive, near White Plains and Corinthian Hills. Jun Sollano (second from left) has been cutting and dyeing my hair for years now. He’s been sponsoring all my haircuts because apparently a lot of my readers have been requesting for him ever since I placed him on my FAQ page! Aww, sweet!

Going blonde is such a life changer, especially now that I can’t apply make-up the same way as before. I could seriously go out with no make-up at all with darker hair, but I don’t know if I could still do that now without looking freakishly washed out. It’s fun in other ways though, like blue and gray contact lenses and baby pink make-up suit me better now!

To give you an idea, the box on the left is the toner that they used to make my hair shinier and less yellow. The green bottles are my new purchases to maintain my current color. Pureology is pretty much a miracle for people with dyed hair. <3

Inspirations for going blonde: Japanese gals Tsubasa Masuwaka, Chinatsu Wakatsuki, Nanase Kubo and K-pop idols CL from 2NE1, Nana from After School and GorJessica from SNSD. <3 (Not in collage: Hyuna from 4minute, Sunny and Hyoyeon from SNSD, Gyuri from Kara, Hyosung and Zinger from Secret, Nana Suzuki, Kana Nishino, Koda Kumi)

Kim Hyun Joong was in Manila last week! My lovely friends and I were invited to attend his press conference for The Face Shop last August 26, and I just had to say yes to this because I was a fan of Boys Over Flowers when it aired, and I rooted for Jihoo sunbae the whole time. That, plus I kind of follow K-pop too and Love Like This, Love Ya and Let Me Be The One were in my iPod’s K-pop playlist for a very long time.

A lot of people from the media asked questions about his make-up must-haves and whatnot. It still amazes me how make-up brands in Korea use male personalities for models. I remember going around the streets of Myeongdong and spotting the faces of 2PM, CN Blue, DBSK and Rain all endorsing beauty products pretty much everywhere. Only in Korea!

I couldn’t take closer pictures because I wasn’t there as a photographer, and the photos below are already the best ones in my camera… even if these absolutely do not give any justice to his glorious face. Perfect skin!

A hug for his biggest (and oldest!) fans. Look at that smile!

Bumped into fellow personal style bloggers Lissa, Tracy and Tin!

(Topshop top, Forever 21 leopard print skort and cross necklace, H&M blazer, Feet for a Queen wedge booties)

And of course, I went with my GGs. Coindientally, Shai and I both wore printed bottoms that day so we had to take a picture together!

Domz, Val, Marj, me and Shai. Thank you The Face Shop for inviting us to this event! ‘Til next time!

Tutus and socks from a store in Miramar, skirts from random stores in the streets, stripey blazer with matching shorts from a store in Prudential Center, brown blazer and corset dress from H&M, leggings from 5cm, white dress and furry cardigan from Liz Lisa, loose floral tops and ribbon belt from Cutie Little Fun, shoes all from Venilla Suite, Japanese beauty products (i.e. Dolly Wink, Candy Doll, etc.) from Sasa and Citysuper, and magazines from HMV and other bookstores.

Shopping is so much more fun when everything is 60%+ off!

Lime Crime is a NY/LA-based alternative fashion cosmetics line that specializes in high performance, bright cosmetics including eyeshadows, eye primers, and opaque lipsticks. Celebrities including Katy Perry, Taryn Manning, Jessie J, MIA, Kerli, and magazines such as Elle, Teen Vogue, Nylon, Marie Claire, Allure, etc. have all acknowledged the awesomeness that is Lime Crime. Erica R, who works for the brand’s publicity and social media, emailed me a few months ago telling me how they’re huge fans of my blog and how they want to send me their make-up. This was such a spaz-moment considering how I used to incessantly ogle at Doe Deere’s make-up tutorials for shoot inspirations back in high school. Thanks again for these wonderful gifts, Erica!

Marj would kill me for not choosing the crazier lipsticks, but I just had to give in to my pale lipstick obsession and get my hands on Cosmopop and Coquette. Cosmopop (first photo) is a pale orange that I absolutely love because it’s a fresh color that’s so hard to find in other make-up brands. Coquette (second photo) is a pale pink lipstick that I imagine would look perfect with heavy eye make-up. I also received Nymph, which is this adorable shimmery gold eyeshadow that works wonders as a brow bone and inner eye highlighter.

And how cute can the packaging get? Reminds me so much of my childhood and Lisa Frank!

Lazy Sunday with no gyaru make-up for once.