NOTW: Silver Sand

Time flies so incredibly fast! It's already the start of the supposedly chilly -ber months here in the Philippine Islands, but surprisingly, the sun has been shining ever so brightly on our 7000+ islands. September is supposed to be a rainy/stormy month (not that I'm looking for it), but it seems as though it's summer all year 'round down here. While the rain does pour every now and then, the storms that have hit our country are not as disastrous as those in the past. There have been a few storms since the rainy season started in May, but none of them has caused much damage to the country except for flooded streets which are quite a usual scenario to Filipinos (except to me, though).

Time for subject change now.

I know I told you guys that I won't be able to post as much as I will be busier this month, but my conscience just won't let me let a day/week pass without posting at least one entry on my blog. So here I am, blogging whilst struggling to keep my eyes open at my desk in the office. I should be home right now resting, or out with my beloved shopping, but no, I'm stuck on my seat on a holiday. I'll try to make this post quick though, coz I have another one to write for you guys (that's to compensate for those days when I won't be found). For the meantime, I'd like to show you my NOTW. I paint my nails every week coz I can't stand looking at bare nails while I endlessly slam on my keyboard every single day.

Since my nails were getting a little too long, I decided to trim them a bit. I love growing my nails long, but sometimes, having long nails makes it hard for me to perform certain tasks. Plus, I end up scratching myself, especially when I'm in a rush. As for my nail varnish, I chose the shade called Silver Sand, which is a metallic taupe with a little more gray. This particular nail polish is from Caronia, a local brand of nail polishes, I believe.

I've had Silver Sand in my collection for quite some time, but never bothered to use it on my nails after swatching it the first time and being disappointed with the color. When I tried Silver Sand on one finger after purchasing, I wanted to hit my head on the wall for picking up such an unflattering hue. It didn't look pretty at first, but after a couple of months, I decided to shop in my stash and picked up Silver Sand the second time. It's not what I would usually wear on my tips and toes, since I'm more of a red and purple nail polish user; but Silver Sand is another classy and sophisticated hue that's perfect for one's tips.

*the shade looks more brown in the photos*

FOTD: Royal Purple + Quick Update + Shout Out

Hi everyone! Who would've thought I'd be able to up 18posts in one month? It's definitely not at par with other bloggers who post at least one entry per day; but for someone as busy as I, it is already an accomplishment. However, you probably won't be hearing much from me in the coming weeks coz I will be a million times busier from tomorrow till the end of September.The reason is that our company will be going through changes in the coming weeks, and it is my job to implement these. Prior to implementing the changes, I, together with our company's IT personnel, will be busy preparing for these changes by working on Sundays. If I could have it any other way, I wouldn't go and work on a Sunday since weekends are my only days of rest and also because Sunday is the Lord's day; however, this is the only time I and our IT personnel can work, as he is busy with grad school on Saturdays. As you can see, I pretty much have no choice but to slave myself to get things done. Hence, expect scarce posts for September.

But before I go missing in action for short while, I'll leave you all with another smokey eye look that I did sometime last week. I believe this was from Tuesday; I just didn't bother posting it coz I was much more enthralled by my smokey blues and big hair which I sported the day after I did this purple smokey look.

Why Royal Purple? Because Purple is the color of royalty

Subtley smoked eyes paired with nude pink lips

I always pucker up but I never seem to get it right

As you can tell, I wasn't a happy camper that day. My migraine was killing me

Forced smile

One last thing my beautiful sisters, if there's any of you who work in the Ortigas area (or if you know any), would you be kind enough to drop me a line at sweetytish@yahoo.com? I am currently doing a study and need as much respondents for my survey as I can gather. This paperwork is due on the 12th. Thanks in advance lovelies!

FOTD: Smokey Blues + Big Wavy Hair

While I was doing my makeup this morning, I realized that I've been unintentionally doing smokey eye looks since Monday. I initially thought of recreating and adding a twist to the smokey white/silver/black combo that I did on Monday, but I changed my mind and decided to play with other colors. I didn't take pictures of my FOTD on Monday coz I was in a rush when I did it. Besides, I don't think it turned out quite well. On Tuesday, I did a smokey purple look to match the dress that I wore to work. I know smokey eyes are for a night out, but because I don't work in a very conservative environment despite being a manager, I have a lot of freedom to do whatever I want with my eyes. Nobody says nothing about my eyes. I even get compliments on how I do them!

For this particular look, I used Cosmo, a metallic navy blue pigment, on the outer corner and crease. Cosmo is one of the mineral pigments I got from Bare Naturals. It's a very pretty shade that's perfect in doing smokey eyes. Then I used a royal blue shade from my 96palette and applied it on the center of my lids leaving the inner 1/3 of my eyes. I also blended the royal blue shade to Cosmo while packing the color on my lid. For the inner corner, I used a matte grayish/lilac-ky eyeshadow from the Covergirl Quad in Urban Basics. Blend all the colors together. After blending, I patted a bit of a silver eyeshadow just on the ball of my eyes. Then I used a black eyeshadow from my NYX Trio Eyeshadow in Ceramic to deepen the crease and outer V. To soften the edges, I applied a pale blue shade just above the crease. For highlight, I used a pale peach shade from the 96palette. (I pretty much use the same stuff on my face all the time, except that I opted for a different shade and formulation for my foundation today. Also, I put a bit of a pinky-peach blush just for a little more color)

And here's the final look! (I posted a lot of pictures)

Taken without flash by the window. I look so freaking pale.

As for my hair, I'm been getting really bored with it coz it's just too straight. I've tried curling it twice or thrice in the past two weeks, but my hair would straighten out in less than 30minutes, even with hairspray. I'm so frustrated and pissed coz I can't seem to do anything with my hair. Straight hair is fine if I want to look prim and polished, but it's not all the time that I want to look like an innocent young girl. Sometimes I want my hair messy and curly just because it makes me feel sexier; but messing my hair requires more effort on my part so I usually just leave my hair straight as it is on days when I don't feel like stressing out myself. On my last attempt of curling my hair, I did a really tight french braid before crashing last night, and loosed it right before I left for work. My hair looked amazing for the first half hour, and then... bam! Straight hair again. I think I really will have my hair permed pretty soon. The beloved has been telling me to have my hair permed since I started complaining on how stubborn my hair is that it won't let me do anything to it.

Anyway, here are the photos!

I took off my braids and, voila! Instant big hair a la Victoria's Secret!

I was simply camwhoring

This one's blurry coz my hands were shaking.

My favorite shot of all. I could totally use this as a profile photo.

The question is, to perm or not to perm? What do you think ladies?

NOTW: Pink Lilac

I frequently paint my nails but I have never posted an NOTD/NOTW or however other beauty bloggers call posts that are all about our nails and nail polishes. I've taken some photos of my nails for NOTW posts but never bothered to post them. This is going to be my first post on nails, and I'll try to follow this up with future posts. I don't do nail arts although I could. I did once, but because I don't have the luxury of time to keep doing it regularly, I haven't done another design since my first try. As much as I love nail art, it requires a much longer time compared to just painting your nails with one solid color. Ah... Sad.

I have tons of nail polishes but most of them are reds, purples, browns and bronzes. I bought a few neon shades recently but I haven't gotten around to playing with them yet. I stick to darker hues coz they make my skin tone much fairer. Pastels are okay, but they bore me. I also don't spend much on nail polishes coz I always use a base coat prior to painting my nails. Inexpensive local polishes are okay, although it's usually a hit and miss with them.


Here's the shade that I'm sporting this week. It's called Pink Licac and it closely resembles my NYX round lipsticks in Thalia and Perfect and even B52, although a little bit more muted than that. It's a rare occasion for me to be wearing pastels and pinks on my tips and toes since I wear reds and dark purples almost all the time; however, since I was getting a little bored with reds, I decided to try a different hue, and this is what I picked. I was choosing between this and another pink one that's more of a fuschia shade, but because I wasn't feeling very adventurous that day, I opted for a paler hue.

I don't regret painting my nails with this shade coz I think that it has made my tips and toes look more sophiscated which is very different from the sultry and vampy nails that I often wear. In my opinion, it looks quite creamy (in the second picture) and would probably be more suited for ladies with fair to light medium skin tones.

The consistency of the nail polish is okay. It's not runny and doesn't look streaky when applied on the nails. It does, however, take ages to dry. Another thing to note is that it hasn't chipped or faded on me since I put it on on Sunday. Not bad for a local nail polish, eh?



Thanks for reading everyone!

New Toys for the Big Girl

So I'm getting myself a new phone. I should've done so ages ago since my phone has been slowly breaking down on me since February this year (there were a few things back then that kept me from purchasing a new one). As much as I love my K750i (yes, ancient, I know), there were times when I just wanted to set my phone flying high outside the window onto the first bin it sees. Why? First, my phone had shut off on its own a number of times, clearing it of some important stuff I had stored in it. Then the joystick started acting up. It could no longer be used to scroll up and down. The keys got stuck, and my phone froze every few minutes. Though using it was a bitch (pardon), I stuck with it coz it was such a pain to part ways with my beloved Sony Ericsson which I've had for nearly three years. Then again, all things come to an end... and so had my relationship with my phone. Well, almost.

I haven't gotten myself a new toy just yet, but I already have my eyes on a few models that could perhaps serve me for another 3years or so. But before I let you in on what tops my list, allow me to tell you what I look for in a phone.

• A decent camera - Despite owning two pretty decent digital cameras, I don't tote either of them with me all the time coz I hate stuffing my purse with so much junk. I already have a lot of crap in my purse, and having another gadget occupy a bit of space will only make my purse heavier and more stuffed than it already is. I don't really need a 5MP or 10MP camera phone for snapping noteworthy shots; just a decent camera for taking random snaps.

• A decent music player - Walkman phone or not, it doesn't matter. Since I recently just got an 80G iPod video (which I have yet to load with junk), I'm really not after a phone with superb sounds and a video player. Of course, a crappy music player is a big NO-NO. I don't really need a video player on my phone. I probably won't be using it anyway.

• Size enough for a kid's hand - I want my phone to be slim, sleek and classy. Bulky phones are not my thing. My hands are too tiny to be holding a 6x4 smart phone. I'd love to own a smart phone (better yet, a Blackberry), but a lot of the smart phones that I see are way to huge for my liking, and my hands.

• Usability - I want a simple uncomplicated phone. As much as possible, I want it "user-friendly." I guess it will depend on its interface, eh?

• Loaded with cool features - It would be nice if my phone had other options for typing/texting --- Qwerty, handwriting (using a stylus, of course), or a standard keypad. Notes and other cool stuff would also be great additions. WLAN or 3G is something I wish my phone would have. While these are not necessities, I think finding a phone with all these cool features would be great to prevent the inner consumerist in me/us to keep looking or a phone with more features.

• A big memory - It doesn't matter if the internal memory of my new phone is small as long as it can be expanded up to 8Gig.

I don't know if this is too much for you, but for me, these are things I wish to have in my new phone, and I'm pretty sure I can get one for less than $400.

Here are the phone models that top my list.

1. Sony Ericsson G900 I've been a Sony Ericsson fan since my brother got his P(?) years ago. It was the sky blue SE smart phone that was all the rage back then. When I got my K750i in 2006, I fell in love with SE even more. I believed their phones to be the best ones out there, until their other models failed the expectations of many in 2008. Bugs here and there, and some other technical issues.

This one's a pretty cool phone. Touch screen, 5MP camera, business card scanner, handwriting recognition, WLAN and 3G, and StickyNotes are some of its cool features. Price? It's between $250 and $270. Not bad eh?

2. LG Cookie (LG KP500)I saw this cool phone yesterday while I was looking for the LG KC550 (not sure). Actually, the SA handed me this phone when I asked for something else. It's not that bad a phone, to be honest; however, this one's got no WLAN and 3G, and it's got a 3MP camera only. For something that's priced between $208 and $229, this probably won't make the cut.

3. Samsung PrestonThis one was recommended by one of my people at work. It's a pretty cool phone, that's a little better than the LG Cookie. It still lacks WLAN, but at least it's 3G capable, and just like the Cookie, this one carries a 3MP camera as well. I believe this one's being sold at just about the same price as the G900.

4. Nokia 5800I'm not a big fan of Nokia. Their phones are okay, but I feel like they get "phased out" far quicker than other phones. Also, I kinda got turned off a long time ago for reasons I can no longer remember.

Anyway, I've read quite a handful of positive reviews on this one, and I think it's worth the try. I've also gotten around to playing with it a bit since my coworker (the one who recommended the LG Cookie) is a proud owner of the Nokia5800. She's in love with her phone, I'd have to say.

The phone's pretty cool. Fully touch screen, 3.2MP camera, with some other cool features I can't seem to name. You have to forgive me as I'm pretty dumb when it comes to gadgets, honestly. At $312, I'm torn between getting this one or the G900. My heart still belongs to Sony Ericsson, but a part of me is screaming for the Nokia5800. If you've tried/owned any of these phones or know of a better one, would you be kind enough to leave your thoughts in the comment box? Your suggestions would surely be of great help to me at this time.

On another hand, I will be having my hands on an iPod in two days. Truth be told, I've never owned one coz I never deemed it necessary since I have a pretty decent Walkman phone (my brother tweaked my phone a bit) which I used to use to play my songs. But since the beloved bought a new iPod with a much bigger memory (120Gig), he thought it best to hand down his 80Gig iPod to me. So in about two days, I will be once again diving in a music-filled world.

So yes, the big girl is getting herself some pretty cool toys other than makeup!

Tata for now!

*all photos were taken from various websites on the internet*

Another Award

Here's another award from the very deep Abby of Breathing Space (waves!). This award is called the Meme Award. I'm not sure what this implies but I'll go ahead with the rules of acceptance.

Rules of acceptance:
1) Acknowledge the person who sent you the award.
2) Nominate 7 other blogs.
3) Share your 7 personality traits so we can get to know you better.

1. Perfectionist

I’m barely ever satisfied with the things I do, be it writing, make up application, etc., which explains I frequently edit or alter everything that I do. I’m not proud to be a perfectionist coz I’m very much aware that nothing in this world is and could be perfect, which is why I struggle to break free from my Utopia. I have to snap back to reality and realize that things can not be and never be how I wish they would be --- perfect.

2. Workaholic

   

I work 8-10hours a day, five times a week, including holidays. We do not observe Philippine holidays except for New Year, and some religious ones like Christmas, Holy Week and All Saints’ Day. Other than these holidays, I slave in the office together with my thirty something people. And if that’s not enough, I work even when I’m sick. It’s not that I have to, but the fact that I don’t have an assistant sort of compels me to work regardless of the situation.

I also can’t sleep or rest when I know there’s something that has to be done or completed. If I have to skip meals or pull an all-nighter to finish the task, I would. That’s how workaholic I can get sometimes. I rarely put off things, unless it’s something not as imp

ortant or relevant.

Another proof is that I cannot sit still and do nothing. I detest being idle even when I’m sick. I have to have something to do, whether it be work, or in this case, blogging.

3. Headstrong

   

My mom frequently recounts how my dad wasn’t able to convince me to drink juice when I wanted water. I was probably four or something at that time. Mom said I was too stubborn to give in because my dad wouldn’t get me the water that I asked for.

When I know what I want, nobody can convince or persuade me to go for something else other than what I want. I mean what I say and say what I mean. If I say no, I mean it, and no amount of persuasion can make me say yes.

4. Reticent

Contrary to what some people think, I am a very shy and reserved person. I may share some stuff to people at certain times but it takes me a quite while to do so. I also usually keep my comments to myself coz people usually misinterpret what I say and/or ignore what I say.

5. Introvert

   

I love the peacefulness of being alone. Matter of fact, I usually spend my entire 9 or 10 hours in the office alone at my desk, except when someone comes along and decides to shatter my aloneness.

When I attend a party or a big event, I may either discreetly look for someone I know or stay in one corner and watch from there. I don’t usually mingle; I just keep to myself.

6. Sensitive

   

I get affected easily by things that happen around me. I withdraw from something when I’m scolded.

7. Boring

   

By now, you may have already guessed that I’m not the most outgoing person on this planet. I don’t party, I barely go out to have fun, I very rarely travel, I don’t dance, etc. Point in case: the beloved calls me killjoy. He decided to give me his iPod so I’d be “a little bit more appreciative of music” (his exact words). Just some clarification: I listen to music, except that most of what I listen to are songs from the past (think Frankie and the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald, etc), classic tunes, some jazz, bossa nova, ballads and just a bit of R&B. I do listen to some alternative songs occasionally. He, on the other hand, has tons of hip hop and other danceable tunes on his newly purchased 120GB iPod.

Also, my writing is plain and boring. It needs a little kick, a little bit of spunk, a little bit of flavor. I guess my personality reflects in my writing, eh?

The seven lucky ladies are: (drumroll)

Golden of One Proud Mom, One Proud Wife
Shobe of Your Little Beauty Bag
Louie of I'm Uber Feminine
Jing of Girl With Glasses
Amy of Amy Naree
Ida of Naturals and Minerals
Donna of My Lucid Intervals



*all photos taken from the internet*

Double Trouble

Nope, this is not what you think it is. I just can't think of a catchy title for my post today.

Since I'm way behind doing tags and posting awards, I thought it would be good to kill two birds with one stone while I'm grilling (yet again) in the office.

The first!

The adorable Nicole gave me this award a few weeks ago and it's only now that I had the chance to post it on my blog and pass it to equally beautiful and talented ladies. Thanks Nikkidoodle!

I'm passing award to the seven lovely ladies:

1. Shobe of Your Little Beauty Bag
- Shobe's cute in her own little way and I just adore how spontaneous and carefree she seems to be.

2. Dana of My Simple Randomness
- Dana actually found me on blogger. She left me a message on my Cbox saying how much she likes my eyebrows. Haha! She's so sweet and adorable. She always reads my posts (I think) and never fails to leave me a comment. I just love this girl!

3. Louise of I'm Uber Feminine
- I used to drool over Louie's FOTDs until I finally left her a comment. It actually all started from one simple comment and the rest was history.

4. Abby of Breathing Space
- Abby's musings are always a breath of fresh air. As much as I love make up and fashion, I enjoy reading something different at certain times. Her blog is one of those that I read, no matter how long her posts are.

5. Becks of Hedonist
- Becks has this humor I can't seem to describe and an honesty that borders sarcasm. Haha! Too cute!

6. Golden of One Proud Mom, One Proud Wife
- Golden's so sweet and friendly. I just adore her.

7. Becky of Embrace Your Imperfections
- Ah! This girl's FOTDs are to die for. I especially love how she does smokey eyes.
NEXT STOP!!!

My Shobe gave me this award! Thanks Shobe dearest!

To accept this award do the following:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Here are seven (somewhat) interesting facts about me

1. Despite having a less than average Tagalog speaking skills, I managed to get good grades in my Filipino classes in high school, and Komunikasyon1 course in UP. How? My Filipino teacher in high school had a crush on me and he gave me grades in the line of 9 all the time. I won’t say I deserved those marks, but I did study hard to understand our lessons. On the other hand, I had someone help me with my papers for my Komunikasyon1 class. I did all the thinking and I did try to write my own sentences, but I had someone help me iron my sentences.

2. I know how to do household chores. I may seem like another Jessica Simpson or Paris Hilton (I’m sure you know how she was in her reality show, The Simple Life) in the sense that these girls know nothing else aside from prettifying themselves (one of the episode’s of Jess and her ex-hubby Nick’s defunct show on MTV, The Newlyweds, showed how stupid she can be that she can’t even make her bed), I do know how to cook, do the laundry, iron, etc. I just have no time to do these things now that I spend most of my waking hours in the workplace.

3. I don’t own any flats; the ones I had when I was younger have already been tossed in the bin. The reason behind this is that I cannot walk in flats; I lose my balance when I do.

4. I’m a stilettos girl. I love stilettos so much that I wear them every day. I find them so comfortable; I can even run in 4.5inch stilettos! The beloved tells me not to as I might twist my ankle or break a bone, but because I’m too stubborn, I still run in my favorite sky high heels.

5. I don’t like rice but I can gobble up 8 rolls (or makis as people call them) in one sitting especially if it’s my favorite Hot Shot Roll from Red Kimono.

6. I don’t like onions, garlic and bell peppers. If my food has so much of these, I dissect my food. I can’t stand how these taste coz they taste just oh so nasty. I only eat them when I eat pizza. Strange, I know.

7. I’m stingy! Hahaha! Even if I seem to spend a lot on everything that a girl drools for, I’m really stingy. I usually go overboard with my spending when I’m stressed.

Since I have to adhere to the rules, I'll pass this award to the seven lucky ladies:

Nehs of Nehsai Loves "N"
The Toothfairy!
Shelley of Funkimonkee
Rosamond of Beari's Beauties
Puff of Oh Puffcake
Meii of Live.Laugh.&Love
Purple Strawberry of Blue Skies and Strawberry Pies



*all photos taken from the internet except the Hot Shot Roll*