Lookbook.nu Look: Planning My Escape

"As a girl, you see the world as a giant candy store filled with sweet candy and such. But one day, you look around and you see a prison and you're on death row. You wanna run or scream or cry, but something's locking you up. Are the other folks cows chewing cud until the hour comes when their heads roll? Or are they just keeping quiet like you, planning their escape?"

- Justine, The Good Girl

I feel the angry pessimist in me slowly but surely making a comeback...

Before I go even more emo, here's what I wore for my Tribal Dance look for Maybelline, as blogged here:

tribal dress from J'Adore La Mode Shop

black leather jacket from Bangkok

black boots from CeCe

gold angel wing earring from The Little Things She Needs

black studded cuff bracelet from House of Luxe

black sex bands from Bangkok

Since I used to be an extreme pessimist, I guess it makes sense that a small glimpse of light in my life instantly makes me feel giddy. After that, however, strange thoughts get into my head just as instantly and I start over-thinking again:

Is fate trying to say something and am I supposed to listen?

Am I missing the secret message in front of me?

Should I take this chance? Could it be my last?

If I don't, will I just die with unlived life flowing through my veins?

Yeah, I'm emo. But at least I embrace it.

I know I promised a giveaway, but I don't wanna ruin this emo ranty post with excitement and fun, so I'll write a separate blog post for it next time. Watch out for it!

Do You Dare? Part 2.

If you have already read my first Do You Dare? blog post, you should already know what this post is about. If you haven't read the post, then here is a recap:

Basically, back in June, I received an email from Maybelline New York to be one of their Dare girls. So, at the end of that month, sleepless-and-very-excited-me went to UP Diliman with the also-sleepless-but-not-as-excited-babydaddy, who promised to take my BTS shots during the shoot.

After getting my makeup done for my first look, though, the babydaddy fell asleep on one of the tables and I didn't have the heart to wake him to take my BTS photos. Therefore, I had none. Fortunately, he woke up before my shots for the second look were taken, though, so here are some BTS photos of that:

Changing into boots for my second look!

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to wear for this look. I'm not really the tribal print type of girl, so this is the only tribal piece of clothing that I actually have in my closet (thank God I had one!).

On that same note, I didn't want to try and be something I was not, so I tried to put some sort of rocker-ish edgy spin to it. What do you think? :s

Also, I don't mean to sound diva-ish here, but I hated what they did to my hair coz I hate my ears and tying it back definitely drew much more attention to it. Ergh.

Fortunately, I loved my photographer (Lee Caces) sooo much, I forgot all about my petty bad vibes pretty quickly. I think I fell in love with him coz he was wearing a Star Wars shirt. Yes, I definitely fell in love with him coz he was wearing a Star Wars shirt. :p

Plus, he and Gela Francisco - Gela's the one who chose me for the shoot! :) - were very accommodating, nice, funny and easy to get along with. It was like shooting with friends. Loved them to bits!

Also, this is no exaggeration, but Lee got things done sooo quickly. I think we finished each layout in just 10 minutes. Can we shoot again soon, please? :D

When it was time to shoot for the accessories, Lee said, "Just think of this as an outfit shot!" Haha. Easy peasy!

The babydaddy was also able to take some shots of them shooting fashion blogger Aileen Belmonte who was part of the Bohemian part of the shoot. I'm actually reeeeeally glad that I saw her after I took my Bohemian shots. Otherwise, I would never have gotten out of the bathroom. I felt so inferior after seeing her. Lol. Seriously.

Check out her complete look here.

For my second look on the Maybelline page, I was extremely surprised to see that I was on the front page thingamajiggy during the first week of it being up! :D Check it out:

(Yes, I screen-shotted it. Haha.)

Visit the Maybelline Philippines website to see all of the Bohemian looks!

See my complete Tribal Dance feature here.

Thanks again to Gela and Lee for being so awesome! I really hope I get to work with you guys again soon! And of course thank you to Maybelline for this awesome opportunity.

Now, who wants a Maybelline giveaway? :) I'll be having one in my next blog post, so stay tuned!!!

Women Can Shop at SM Men's, Too!

I'm not the type of girl who would wear menswear. Heck, I wouldn't even be able to pull off blazers to save my life. Men's watches, on the other hand... mmmm... :)

Anyway, there are also other men's clothing items that I would love to wear every single day if I could, such as men's jackets and shirts. So, imagine my delight when I discovered the following three stores inside SM Makati's department store not too long ago:

Markus

Markus would be my go-to brand for men's jackets. If you follow me on Twitter or have been following my blog for a while, you should know that I love borrowing and wearing jackets and cardigans from my guy friends. Well, if they had jackets from Markus, they would never get them back from me - that's for sure.

Here are two of my favorite Markus jackets:

The brown jacket is a definite must-have for me because it reminds me of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Inception". It actually costs less than Php2,000, so I will definitely be going back for it soon!

Tee Culture

I've always had a thing for witty slogan shirts. In fact, witty slogan shirts were my go-to shirts when I lived in Bangkok. Case in point:

"You're at the top of my to-do list."

"This shirt would look great on your floor."

Well, isn't this a sexy picture of me... Lol.

My love for witty slogan shirts never really faded, so Tee Culture was a real gold mine for me. They even had superhero boxers!!! No Captain America ones, though. :(

Here are some of my favorite slogan shirts from Tee Culture:

 

Aside from witty slogan tees, I also love men's t-shirts, in general, mostly coz they're comfy and they're fun to DIY. Men's Club at SM Department Store had some awesome ones that I liked:

Although not as many as Tee Culture, Men's Club had some witty slogan t-shirts, too:

After checking out the different stores, I decided to be vain for a bit:

Mirror shots with Verge! :)

And then Verge decided to dress me up in some of my favorite SM Men's clothes. Here's what we came up with:

The awesome brown jacket from Markus!

And a witty slogan t-shirt from Tee Culture!

What do you think? :)

This just proves that SM Men's isn't just for men as its name implies. Even short girls like me can pull off their items with ease! The best part is that they don't just look great, but are super affordable, too! I can't wait to make that Markus jacket mine! RAWR.

If you like what you see, don't forget to like SM Mens Fashion on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for updates! :)

Are you a girl who love's men's clothing, too? Where do you shop for men's clothes? Do share! :)

BuyTrends: Your One-Stop Shop for Fashion

What do you do to unwind and clear your head after a long, busy and stressful day? Personally, I like to listen to music, watch "Mad Men", text my boyfriend and *excuse me for being so materialistic* online-shop.

I have to say it, though: buying pretty things online that I don't usually see when I'm walking around the mall gives me this sheer sense of utter satisfaction. And it helps that I can get all of my shopping done online with just a few simple clicks.

In this blog post, I thought I'd incorporate all of the other things that I like to do to unwind and clear my head while shopping at BuyTrends, my new favorite online haven for all things fashionable. :)

I like to listen to music.

Rock music has always been my lifesaver. This pretty much explains my taste in clothes, in general. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not much of a girly girl and I always wear something studded, spiked or black in color whenever I go out.

While browsing through BuyTrends, though, I came across this girly dress that I surprisingly want to buy:

Sweet Ruffle Music Symbol Print Dress

To tone down its girliness, I'd prolly wear it with these spikey black pumps, though, which are TO DIE FOR!!!

Punk Spike Back Platform High Heels

I like to watch "Mad Men".

If you don't watch "Mad Men", then you are seriously missing half of your life. Anyway, "Mad Men" is set in the 1960s where men ruled the world, cigarettes could be smoked anywhere (no exaggerations!) and women slept around.

The men also wear sexy suits, which I was reminded of when I saw this cute pair of shoes on BuyTrends:

Vintage Color Splicing Brogue Women Shoes

Since I can't really pull off the kind of polka dot dresses that were reminiscent of the 60s, though, I think a more modern take on polka dots like this would be a better choice for me:

Sweetie Dotted Chiffon Pleated A-Line Dress with Long-Sleeve Cape

I like to text my boyfriend.

If you follow me on Twitter, you should know that I'm the cheesiest woman alive at the moment. So, it only makes sense that I check out couple's outfits online every now and then, if only just for kicks. :p

Contrary to popular belief, although Gerd and I have taken a few couple's outfit shots (I've blogged about one of them here), we don't make it a point to be too couple-y. However, I found this utterly cute:

Classic Stripy Couple's Sweater

Tee hee! And OMG, look at this:

Summer Cartoon Bear Color Patchwork Couple's Pajama Set

Haha. I know the chances of me getting Gerd to dress up like that with me are next to nil, but hey, the pajamas are super cute and it won't be too cheesy if we wear them separately (me in my condo and him at home and then Skype!!!), right? :p

These are just some of the things that caught my fancy on BuyTrends lately. I'm still in the process of browsing their site. They currently have a sale ongoing of up to 80% off, so I'm making the most if it! Don't forget to check it out yourself and tell me which items you love, too! :)

Lookbook.nu Look: Who Would I Be?

Gerd had a talk last week and he said that blogs shouldn't have ranty posts in them. Do you agree with him? Well, whether you do or not, this outfit post is going to be a ranty post. I'm a rebel like that. :p

Let me start by asking you a question: are you happy with how you look?

It amazes me how many girls hate the way that they look. Every day, I read some gorgeous girl tweet about how fat she feels or I talk to a friend who complains about her "big legs". Heck, I even read tweets from guys who complain about how bad their eyebags have become or that they're "too skinny".

To be honest, I'm not happy with how I look, either. I don't like how my ears are so... Dumbo. I don't like my bipolar skin. I hate how my stomach feels and acts like jello most of the time and how my hair gets really oily after just one day of no-shampoo-ing. I hate the fact that I bit my nails as a kid and that my teeth aren't as straight as they were right after I had my braces removed and having no boobs and - breeeeeathe. I could go on and on and on here, but I won't.

Let me bore you with an outfit post instead. Here's what I wore to the Surf aromatherapy fabric conditioner launch a few months ago:

silver starfish cuff bracelet from Blue Vanilla

black and white striped bandage skirt from Forever 21

black boots from CeCe

black fedora hat from Bangkok

studded wolf top from Copper

Like I said earlier, I'm not happy with how I look, but I deal with it. How? I just look in the mirror and I tell myself I look alright. I think I look alright. I think, therefore I am. For some added confidence, I just give myself a lil boost with the clothes and the makeup that I wear.

I know it's easier said than done, but learn to love yourself. I'm not happy with how I look, but this is how God made me, so this is how I'll be. :) Besides, who would I be if I didn't look the way I did? (I know that was a rhetorical question, but I'd like to think I'd be Taylor Momsen... :p)

So, how do you deal with your insecurities? Tips are always welcome! :)

Surf Fabric Conditioner: Now with Aromatherapy

Yes, you read that right. Surf's latest line of fabric conditioners comes with aromatherapy. But I'll get to that later.

When Fuentes Manila invited me to the launch of Surf's new fabric conditioners a few months ago, I was intrigued because they mentioned that we would be getting spa services and treatments at the launch.

Before going, I racked my head trying to figure out what spa services and treatments had to do with fabric conditioner. But when I got to Aracama at the Fort for the launch, all of the questions in my head automatically vanished because this is what we were greeted by:

Brochures of various spas to visit.

Free hand massages, which Jacky and Catch were clearly enjoying, as you can see.

Head massages, which Verge and Lorenz were clearly enjoying, as you can see.

And back massages, which I sadly wasn't able to enjoy coz I was wearing a skirt that day. :( I hate being unprepared! Lol. (Outfit post next time!)

After the epic massages, we went on to have dinner while waiting for the program to start. When it did, we were presented with the latest line of Surf fabric conditioners along with this epic television commercial, which is hands down the best TVC I had seen in a very long while:

It's so simple, yet it's so witty and gets the message across in a heartbeat. EPIC. Just by watching this commercial, you will already know full well what Surf currently has to offer.

In case you need me to break it down for you anyway, here we go: Surf's new aromatherapy fabric conditioners can relax, energize and purify you as it has essential oils in it that are known to be very therapeutic.

With the new Surf aromatherapy fabric conditioners, you won't just end up with clothes that are soft and smell great, but you can enjoy a relaxing and therapeutic experience every time you do the laundry with them, too. (They actually smell so good, I contemplated turning them into condo fresheners. #truth)

They also had a raffle after the event, and I am proud to say that we all went home with a prize that night (except Verge LOL). The "loot bags" were unforgettable, too:

Jacob carrying two "loot bags".

Epic night! Haha.

The Surf aromatherapy fabric conditioners come in three variants: relaxing, energizing and purifying - and they come in 800ml bottles and pouches, 360ml pouches and 25ml sachets.

Don't forget to like Surf Philippines on Facebook! :)