I know that prints are du jour for the season. The crazier they are, the better! However, I'm really not that into colorful prints; I don't like to look to distracting. I feel more in sync with myself (and my style) when everything matches harmoniously. 

Hence, this outfit and makeup combination. :)

Miss J dress / Ferretti pumps and bag/ Pinkbox headband / Parfois bangle

Yellow and gray was the theme of the day, from my eyes down to my shoes. Someone said somewhere that matching your whole look is a fashion crime but whatever! This is what I feel good in, so this is what I'm wearing.

I feel at my best in shift dresses and soft makeup. I like to try new things, of course, but I always come back to this combination when I want to feel pretty and confident. I guess I can call this my trademark style!

Forever 21 dress/ Aldo bag/ Charles & Keith heels/ Pinkbox earrings and ring/ Snaps the pomeranian

So, my advice to young women is this: keep a shift dress (or ten!) on hand for whenever you want to look all poised and ladylike. SM carries SO MANY nice shifts, but I also like rummaging in Celine and Forever 21. Take this draped shift for example - it's one of my best finds.

Yes, contrary to popular belief, Forever 21 also carries a lot of classy stuff. :P Anyway, here's the makeup I wore with it! I decided to go with soft eyes - meaning no harsh lines or too thick lashes.

When I saw this skirt at Ever New, I just knew I will have it. It's so flattering on the waist, hips, and legs! Lord knows how difficult it is to find pieces like this for my body type. Anyway, I finally got the chance to wear it yesterday to an event in Makati Shangri-La.

SM top/ Ever New skirt/ Marc by Marc Jacobs hobo bag/ Ferretti shoes/ Pinkbox bangles and ring/ Avon necklace

As for the makeup, I wouldn't say that this is one of my favorite looks. I just wanted to try a different blue-green eye combination with an MLBB lip.

Scenario: It's a busy weekend and you're out with your friends during the day, maybe for coffee and a bit of shopping. Afterwards you plan to go to a romantic dinner with your special someone (kilig!). However, you don't want to fuss around with changing your makeup since you're in a hurry! What do you do? Simple! Wear a different lipstick and add lots of smudged eyeliner!

I'm going to show you a step-by-step tutorial on how I did these looks, but first I want to share my thoughts on the new Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk Lipsticks (which I'm using here). They're pretty good and costs only P478 locally! The colors are vibrant and opaque, with a smoothing and moisturizing effect on the lips. 

They come in several in-demand shades like Breathless Pink (hot pink), Love Pink (baby pink), Worrisome Beige (nude), Excited Orange, Thrilling Red, and Bashful Coral. The packaging is a cute princess pink color with a metallic ribbon accent.

Pretty, yes? So! Here are two looks using these Etude House lippies, and a guide on how I did them. They're super simple and fun, promise.

I've worn this dress and this eyeshadow look before, but I think it's the added little details that make them new. I don't have a bottomless closet, you know, so a girl has to reinvent her things every so often!

Topshop coverup / Forever 21 dress / Pinkbox bangle / SM necklace / t0nic heels

I wore this outfit to the Charriol event last week at Skye. It was a rather wet afternoon so I threw on this coverup and stable glittery heels. Yeah, I don't want to fall on my face, what with all those slippery pavements I have to navigate. My mantra: look good, but be practical.

Anywhoo, here are the details for the makeup! I created this grape eyeshadow look with the help of an Ever Bilena Mousse Eyeshadow. It's pretty awesome. I've never done purple as crazy as this before.

Face: Lancome Teint Miracle, MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer, Clinique Airbrush Concealer (for eye bags), Bobbi Brown mineral foundation to set

When I was younger, I used to buy clothes because I had to, I just had to. There was this feeling that the more I had the more fashionable I am. Predictably, I ended up getting stuck with crappy clothes that I only used a few times before feeling ridiculous in them. You know what I'm saying? I wasted a lot of money because I gave most of my old clothes away.

So now I try not to buy clothes and shoes unless I feel I can't live without them, unless I can't see myself wearing them for at least a year. I'm still a bargain hunter at heart, but if a really nice (although pricey = more than P1,000) piece comes along that I just can't let go of, well, I won't.

This blue Bayo dress is one of those purchases. Like my other new blue dress, it was a love at first sight thing for me. Never mind that I don't have the arms and shoulders to pull it off - I like it, I feel nice in it so to hell with the self-conscious bitch inside. :P

I wore this electric blue maxi with a white crochet necklace and bangle from Pinkbox. My official summer tote is this hot pink woven one from Ferretti so I pair it with everything!

I love little white dresses, but they don't love me back. You see white is such an unforgiving color on less proportioned body types like mine. It can highlight bulges that no one even knows existed and make the body look much wider than it actually is. That's why I *try* to avoid white outfits, just to be safe!

Well, knowing all that, I still buy white dresses just because. They are so fresh to look at. There's something about wearing white that speaks elegance, clazz, and how good you are in kung fuing your way out of a ketchup stain. Fine, wine stain.

Hi guys! I just want to share a look that I'm particularly proud of, mainly because I haven't done anything like it before. It was inspired by the dress I wore and since I was going to a party I thought I'd be more adventurous. I had so much fun with this look!  

Celine dress / Parfois heels / Pinkbox necklace and bangle / Marc by Marc Jacobs hobo bag

So! I concocted a blue, green, and brown eye, matched by MLBB lips so as not to overdo things. I lined my lower lids heavily with brown eyeshadow and connected it to the extended eye shape. I listed the details and the eyeshadow diagram below. :D

Face: Lancome Teint Miracle, Cinema Secrets Concealer, Clinique powder foundation to set

What's your favorite milk tea place? Mine is Happy Lemon! I love their Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese. I can drink that stuff everyday, and for a while a did, hence the weight gain. It's kinda evil of them to open a branch in Bonifacio Hight Street since now I can drop by anytime...like maybe after writing this post? Lol.

Photo grabbed from Foodspotting

Oh but why am I even babbling about this! I just want to share a pink and brown look I wore last Saturday. What I love about it is that everything is very soft and all the colors just sort of blend together. It's quite ladylike but there's also that fun factor because of the pink eyeshadow!

Face: Cinema Secrets Foundation Kit, Clinique Perfectly Real compact foundation

I didn't have access to the internet yesterday so I wasn't able to blog. Ugh! I complain a lot about how difficult and desensitizing it is to blog everyday, but when I fail to do it, I feel incomplete. Anyhow I'm back and I have a couple of interesting things to share.

Joana, Mikha, and moi. Project Vanity readers are all pretty, I swear. 

Last Tuesday night I had the chance to meet my two Commenters of the Month, Joana and Mikha. These girls are really sweet, and so kikay! I really enjoyed chatting with them. I wish we had all night to hang out, but the Meg party was just next door and I also scheduled to meet some friends there. 

So yes, that explains the bongga smoky eye. I don't do this on a regular basis because I rarely go out to evening parties (and even then a red or dark lip is quicker and cleaner to do!), but the event was at Skye so I wanted something that would stand out.

I haven't been able to indulge myself with makeup since I'm quite in a rush lately. There are so many looks I want to try, but I simply don't have to time to sit down and do them right now! :( I usually just have a basic face on, the quickest I can do while still looking presentable. Thank god for bright lipsticks.

My lipstick-of-the-moment is Colour Collection's Paradise Pink. It's a great summer pink in my book!

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation, Cinema Secrets Concealer, Clinique loose powder, Shu Uemura eyebrow pencil in Walnut Brown, Majolica Majorca Perfect Automatic Liner, Avon SuperMagnify Mascara, NARS Laguna Bronzer, NARS blush in Super Orgasm

Easy peasy. As for the rest of the look, here are some blurry photos! Sorry about that. I didn't get my camera to properly focus. I wore this yesterday to the office then to a facial. I thought it was going to rain hard so I wore jeans, but it didn't, so what the hey it's still a great pair of jeans. :P

Forever 21 blazer | SM top/ Levi's jeans | Ferretti wedges | Pinkbox leather bracelet | Avon watch

I was crazy about green these past couple of weeks, but now I am feeling an orange mood coming up. You must think weirdly of me, going on and on about colors no? But one thing that defines me is my affinity with colors. I love colors, moreso when it comes to using them to express myself and improve my mood. Even my dog comes in a great color (red sable!). 

So! This is the look I wore last Thursday to a couple of casual meetings. The star color is green, of course, with touches of tan and bronze on my face and outfit. The bright pink bag is just a pretty afterthought.

Redhead dress/ SM belt/ Parfois bag/ Pinkbox bangle/ Adora earrings/ Charles & Keith shoes

The makeup looks quite bare, since I went for a nude lip, bronze cheeks, and a simple green-gold eye makeup.

I've had this Rajo Laurel x Plains & Prints shift dress for quite a long while now, but this is the first time I'm showing it here. Odd, because I wear it all the time! At least thrice a month, methinks. It's the perfect frock for meetings, but it's also something you can dress up for cocktails or even something casual.

Plains & Prints dress/ Ferretti wedges/ Nine West Bag/ Pinkbox earrings/ Avon ring

Yeah I know I can't pose to save my life, but I hope you get the idea. :) I see many, many happy years with this particular piece.

Anyway, here's the makeup I wore with it. I thought I'd feature this lovely eyeshadow palette from VMV Hypoallergenics called Morning After - it's the perfect duo for a light smoky eye that can be worn during the day.

Like I promised yesterday, I wore red lipstick when I went out. I was feeling a bit adventurous so I put on bright purple eyeshadow along with it too! I've seen this look in a lot of magazines before, so I thought why the hell not. It actually works but you really have to be 100% confident about it.

As for the outfit, it was super hot and sunny yesterday so I dressed with maximum comfort and cheeriness in mind. I also wore my new Charles & Keith heels, which I got on sale.

Thrifted knit top/ Forever 21 skirt/ SM belt/ Pinkbox necklace/ Avon bracelet and ring/ Charles & Keith heels

Can I just say, my diet is working! Didn't eat carbs for a week, then now I'm incorporating vegetables and fruits. The weight loss is quick, although I really have to start exercising again. For strength. 

Now, for the makeup!

I was in a meeting yesterday with someone I've come to consider as a friend, so the look is more laid-back than what I would usually wear to work stuff. I just took out two of my old thrifted items - a lace skirt and a knit/chiffon top - and a NYX eyeshadow palette from Digital Traincase that I haven't used yet.

Thrifted lace skirt and chiffon top/ Primo belt/ Avon watch and bag/ Pinkbox bangle/ t0nic wedges

NYX Eyeshadow Palette in TS08 (Spring Leaf, Lime Green, Green Tea)

I think I've worn a similar green eyeshadow look like this before, but this time I paired it with a cheery pink lip.

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

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

"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

Yesterday I was at Makati Shangri-La for a one-on-one interview with Maggie and Annie Ford-Danielson, the global brand ambassadors of Benefit. It was such at treat! The girls we're sweet and approachable, so I felt comfortable asking them questions. I'm still working on the story so stay tuned!

Phone cam, hence the quality. Also caught in mid-blink. Hay.

Anyway, I wore a dress from Vestito, which I've had since December. I just never figured out a way to wear it without looking like a wedding sponsor (the matron kind) but I finally got a brilliant idea. What if I tied it with a lace ribbon? My shape came out and the dress fell nicely. Success.

Vestito dress / Ferretti necklace and shoes / Pinkbox bangle

Simple but chic, I think. As for my makeup I did a light smoky eye with my Bobbi Brown Tortoise Shell Palette in Sand and a loud like with Sleek True Color Lipstick in Mystic.

Face: Lancome Teint Miracle foundation, Cinema Secrets concealer, Smashbox Photo Set Pressed Powder, Guerlain Meteorites

I am 24 today. After all that drama about my age earlier, I just don't care anymore! Lol. This morning I was dour, but then I walked the dog and the weather was so nice - who can be dour on a nice day? So yeah I'm quite happy on my birthday, thanks to everyone who wished me one.

So. I just want to show a look I did last Saturday. It's not groundbreaking but there are two things that are *new* to me here: using the Shu Uemura eyeshadow in Soft Gold with MAC Amber Lights - they are made for each other! - and then this new lipstick I got which I will keep a secret for now. Okay fine. It's from Colour Collection!

Face: Cinema Secrets concealer, Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Mineral Makeup, Smashbox Photo Set Pressed Powder, Cinema Secrets makeup sealant

I woke up early today, before sunset, and walked my dog. It always puts me in a contemplative mood. I was remembering a conversation with someone about makeup. She asked, why do you love makeup? I said, I love collecting them. I love having them. But that's a stupid answer, isn't it?

I had the whole weekend to think about that. Hehe. And here's my answer: I love makeup because it helps me enhance the things I love most about myself. I love it because I think of it as a toy, to play around and just have smashing fun with. That's it, really.

Anyway, I just want to share a look I wore last Friday!

Face: MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer, Colorescience pressed mineral foundation