healthy sunning

remember that Baz Luhrmann song "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"? we've all quite taken it to heart, with the growing number of sunscreen variants and makeup with SPF. but did you know that you need some exposure to get a healthy dose of vitamin D? here are some interesting and informative diagrams i found in my Lifehacker feed today.

review: human nature love minerals

Love Minerals collection: foundation, two blushes and sheer lip balm

i've been trying out some of the goodies i received from lizz's contest, but i gave most of them to my mom. the foundation cake shattered in two though, so i tried to "fix" it with some alcohol, as suggested by some bloggers.

contest alert: giveaways from aurora's nails and marie a la mode!

last christmas, i made quirky gift tags with a rather cheeky message:

it's true, ain't it?

future furniture planning

long weekend, yay! i finally got to visit my dentist (and have my brackets replaced) this morning. i'm sporting silver-colored bands which are less obvious and won't turn noticeably yellow, if at all. i really should go more regularly but her home clinic in pateros is not easy to get to.

just relaxing at home now, surfing the net and watching the PCCL games on tv (i'm rooting for those falcons!). i somehow ended up at the smart parenting website and my home-decorating itch started up all over again. how could i not with these beautiful, multi-functional pieces?

photo from the SP website

christmas is trickling in!

while we don't celebrate thanksgiving, i've had more than a few reasons to be extra thankful. with all the blog giveaways, i've been extremely lucky to be the recipient of two prizes. last week, an eyeshadow palette from khymm made its way to my tiny collection. with the arrival of today's package from lizz, it's my turn to spread the spirit of giving.

the Pose, Preen and Pamper prize!

do we have this here?

i haven't visited any of the korean cosmetic shops that have been slowly mushrooming around the city. heck, i have a skinfood product without having even seen any of its stores here. but i'm curious about Missha in particular because of what i saw here:

photo from Musings of A Muse

so, people who've made the pilgrimage to the Missha store in SM North Edsa, do we have this here? i'm smitten by its crayon-like type because it doesn't look as intimidating as Revlon's Just Bitten lip stain. :)

contest alert: emerald sparkled's eyeko polish giveaway!

oh, this cool! i didn't know Eyeko makes polish, too. i've only heard about this brand from some beauty bloggers who swear by their graffiti eyeliner pen (which i should look into because this dip-and-line thing is not working for a newbie like me).

deniz of emerald sparkled just finished with her 1000+ giveaway but eyeko offered to sponsor another one: 6 lovely polishes of your choice of shades! awesome!

see contest details here. eyeko has a limited number of choices but the colors are all quite pretty. :)

i recently asked deniz if she had any tutorials on how to apply polish neatly (i make such a mess!) and she referred me to a video made by another blogger, asami of nails by asami. i was browsing through her blog and she's done some really amazing nail art including this one of totoro, which is my favorite so far.

okie, i'm gonna go try my hand at painting my nails all proper-like now. :)

the i-need-sleep look

i've been pretty short on sleep these past two days. my insomnia doesn't usually bother me too much but i had to wake up (earlier than usual). made me think to use the time i spent in front of the mirror this morning should have gone to a few extra minutes of snooze but, it can be faked, right?

actually, i ended up sleeping through lunch and had just woken up here. eep, oilslick!

you've got mail

all the way from cebu

when i was a little girl, i made my papa play The Sound of Music on our Betamax player EVERY NIGHT. i would only agree to go to bed after the "So Long, Farewell" song had been played. the song about snowflakes, woolen mittens, copper kettles and crispy streudels didn't relate too well with my own list of favorite things (tropical country, hello!), except for one thing. (oops, two, counting the kittens.)

contest alert: emerald sparkled's giveaway

gorgeous! i particularly love the gold ones.

it's only recently that i realized how blogging connects people from all over the world. i've followed blogs by folks from other countries before, but like most readers, i didn't really get to interact with the writers. i'm not really the type to go about commenting on every post but i haven't missed reading any since i started using google reader.

anyhoo, some blog-hopping led me to Deniz's Emerald Sparkled blog. i wonder if my name is like the french version of hers? she's the first person i (sorta) know from Turkey, which i think is pretty awesome. i'd always liked the idea of having friends from other cultures, only to realize we aren't that much different after all. :) <let's all join hands and sing "it's a small world after all", lol>

are you in the pink of health?

this is an article i wrote for The Medical City' patient magazine. click on the photos to enlarge. :)

cleaning up

finally, a blog theme that works perfectly!

i had to change the design because the typefaces kept getting mixed up and i really don't feel like going through xml with a fine-toothed comb (i'm not THAT web savvy). pity though, i liked the retro feel of the previous design. at least the new one relates better to my blog name.

now, to figure out web font embedding.

here's my current LSS to keep you amused:

put some vodka on it!

disclaimer: this post is NOT dedicated to a certain vodka-tonic-loving friend of mine who blogs for this website. though it may prove beneficial to her just the same.

contest alert: all made up's christmas giveaway

here's another generous giveaway from Joy of All Made Up (Belfast, UK): Too Faced Pixie Pin-ups eye collection, TF Shadow Insurance, Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara, Urban Decay loose pigment in Graffiti, MUA eyeshadow in shade 4, Urban Decay matte eyeshadow in Electric, MUA eyeshadow in shade 11, Too Faced Diamond lip gloss in Lilac, Urban Decay lip stick in Indecent, Urban Decay Ultraglide lip gloss in O, Collection 2000 Hot Lights lip gloss in Star, and Collection 2000 blush in Bashful. <phew! that's a lot!>

it's so girly and pretty! there should be a fairy flitting about here.

contest alert: click and makeup's giveaway!

i discovered this blog earlier while clicking around from another blog. owner Kat O (from London) wanted to celebrate her 150 followers count with some gorgeous giveaways, and by the time i checked, the number had already spiked to 322! well, i couldn't resist these myself.

EXTREMELY generous, don't you think?

no, really?

i enjoy reading online: it's click after click of all the information you want (but not ever actually need). i'm just a wannabe techie-geek but i recently taught a friend a few tricks for using the google chrome browser. among all the cool extensions to make web surfing easier, i'm particularly fond of the ones i use to manage the many blogs i follow. considering how sporadic blogging can be (particularly my own), here's a better way to checking blogs for updates:

contest alert: phoebe's sweet november giveaways

wow, it's been one contest after the other in the beauty blog world! i'm not complaining, of course; i still have my fingers crossed in the hopes of winning something. :)

the latest fairy godmother of prettifying goodies is phoebe, the blogger who actually convinced me to try skinfood's salmon corrector because of this post. she also provided links to other reviews so i felt i was making a very informed purchasing decision! as it turns out, i can no longer leave my apartment without dabbing a bit on.

goodie bag #5: shampoo & conditioner set for oily hair from The Body Shop + hand cream from Mineral Flowers + Charm kabuki brush + apple Lip Ice

the art of being thankful

today is the 27th wedding anniversary of my parents. there are no celebrations, though, the way we haven't celebrated in the past 13 years. it feels odd, given that one half of the couple has not been with us for a long time. i don't mean to post a sob-story so early in this blog's lifetime but it only seems fitting to pay tribute.

while surfing the net a few weeks back, i came upon liz b's contest for human nature giveaways. to join, one had to write a post on what they were most thankful for. while i knew right off the bat what (who) i wanted to write about, it took me awhile to put my thoughts together and when i greeted my mom this morning, i finally understood what it was that i was really thankful for. so, this post (also) serves as my entry to i draw for a living's october giveaway.

contest alert: shopcoholic's birthday giveaway

wow, so many october celebrants! and here i am, still working on my entry for another contest. :(

88 metallic eyeshadows palette!

i'm giddy! reminds me of the thrill from a new set of paints or box of colors that i used to get as a child. now, we have grown up toys to play with! i've been intending on adding to my e/s collection (i have less than 10 and they're all neutral, haha) and this would make such a lovely addition. it's only recently that i understood why my mom had such a collection of eyeshadows, lol.