Updates + Teaser + Big Thanks!

Yes, I'm out of the loop once again. I keep telling myself to take at least an hour off of my 24hours to update my blog, but since things have just gotten crazier and even more stressful at the workplace (what's new, eh?), no amount of pushing seems to work anymore. I have so much to write about --- product reviews, FOTDs, NOTDs, shoots, etc. --- but I always seem to never have enough time for all the things I have to do. Sometimes I feel as though I've bitten off more than I can chew.

Now before I continue to rant about how busy and stressed I have been, I'd much rather talk about what my beloved and I have been up to as of late.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my beloved is a budding photographer and he's currently building his portfolio by, of course, doing various shoots. While I may be his favorite model (I sure hope so!), he also does shoots with other ladies who want to play models for a day. I don't always get to do his models' makeup as I'm always at work during his shoots, but I do help him out as well when I can.

If you want to be a model for a day, you can drop him a line at his online portfolio by clicking here.

But for now, I'll leave you with a photo from one of the sets that my beloved and I did together just recently. Makeup was done by yours truly.


Before I end this quick post, I'd like to give a huge shout out to all my lovely 200 followers. I may not know you all personally, but your comments and messages are among the sweetest ones I have ever received. Your support means so much to me and to my little space in cyberworld. Again, my heartfelt thanks goes to everyone who reads and/or follows Practical Vanity.

FOTD: A Not So Typical Valentine's Day Look

Of all the eye shadows in my Glamour Revolution Palette, Label Whore is my most favorite, not because of the name but because of its uniqueness. The base color is reddish-brown with some beautiful specks of fine green glitter/shimmer. I'm not sure if my description gives a clear picture of the color coz Label Whore's too complicatedly gorgeous to describe with words. To give you a better picture of Label Whore, check out the swatch below. You can also read my two cents on the Glamour Revolution Palette here.

Label Whore is the sixth (6th) from the left.

And because I'm gaga over Label Whore, I decided to use it [again] to create a smokey eye makeup for Valentine's Day. I was very happy with how my eye makeup turned out to be, but my lips lacked gloss and luster despite topping my lipstick with one of my go-to lip glosses.

The photos below were taken on a day when my migraine was at its worst, which accounts for the very few photos I have in this post. Though my beloved took a good number of shots, only these three seemed decent enough to be shared. Excuse the first two for being somewhat provocative (I reckon it comes with using the eyeshadow); they're just among the few that gave justice to how gorgeous Label Whore is.

Smooches to all of my followers and frequent readers. Happy Valentine's Day to all!

FOTD: Homegrown

Thank God it's Friday! It's the day we all wait for; the last day of the work week. For a lot of people, Fridays mark the beginning of a lethargic weekend. For others, it's the start of endless partying and happy time. Unfortunately for me, I won't be curling up in bed this weekend coz I'll be out with my beloved to celebrate our nth anniversary. It's a good thing, I guess, since both of us have been terribly stressed and tired from work. In fact, it's one of the many reasons why my postings are a bit erratic as of late. I have so much to write about --- product reviews, FOTDs, hauls, etc. --- but STRESS has seem to have gotten the best of me and my time. I hope the next couple of weeks will be a little kinder to me. Oh wishful thinking.

Here's another FOTD/photoshoot that my beloved and I did exactly a week ago. What can I do? I'm his favorite model! Well, if I wasn't, I'd surely strangle him to death :)

My eye makeup was done using the Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. II.

Enjoy the photos.

If you click on the photo above, you'll discover that one of my two front teeth is stained by my lipstick.

This last one's manipulated on Photoshop.

FOTD: Something Purple

Just a little quickie before I get some shut eye and to make up for my absence from the blogosphere.

Since my beloved and I haven't been able to collaborate on shoots lately (blame our busy schedules for that), I asked him if he could take my photos before heading out to work one Friday. He happily obliged, of course.

I did my eye makeup bold and smokey-ish using Stiletto, one of my mineral eyeshadows from Bare Naturals, and a few other shades from my 88 Warm Palette. I kept my cheeks and lips toned down to let my eyes take center stage. My face was slightly contoured using Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzing Powder and highlighted using Etude House Secret Beam Highlighter.


To my beloved who's celebrating his birthday today, thank you for always snapping photos of me whenever I ask you and for putting up with my crap. Asheghetam.

To my readers and followers, thank you for taking the time to browse through my blog and for leaving comments. Your support and comments are very much appreciated. Good night everyone

Beloved's Work

Hi everyone. Just thought I'd share my beloved's latest work. We took headshots yesterday using a new technique that he learned in class.


On a plain white background, this photo reminds me of a billboard for Ponds, minus the huge red (fake) zit.

On to my eye makeup. I used about three or four different blues from my UD BOS Vol II. and Warm Palette, lined my upper lashline with a black liquid liner, my waterline with UD Zero, and my lower lashline with Oil Slick. On my cheeks is Too Faced La Vie En Rose Blush, my go-to blush as of late. *EDIT: My lips are freaking dry in this photo. You'd notice that if you click on the photo. I didn't bother to moisturize my lips coz he told me to leave my puckers as they were. I guess he didn't see how disgustingly dry my lips look without lip balm. Can photoshop fix that? haha!*

What do you think? Cool or what?

Snaps: Party Girl

Yes, I've been pretty good at updating my blog despite a lot of unpleasant circumstances that have to be dealt with. I've been terribly busy and physically burned out as of late as I am doing the job of three people, again, but I can't neglect my blog just because of that. My brain may be nearly dead (pardon the slips and typos if there be any), but blogging helps me relax a little bit. I won't say so much in this post as I just thought of sharing these pictures with you. These were taken about a month ago, the week after the Yuletide Souk Bazaar at Rockwell perhaps. This gorgeous sequined dress was purchased from the same bazaar. My beloved saw this dress while I was pestering Jamie (love you, Jamie!) at her booth, and he immediately fell in love with it. I was more interested in a few bandage dresses that I spotted at a booth, but my beloved wasn't as crazy with those as he was with this dress. I haven't worn this dress to a night out, but for my beloved, I did.

Adding a vintage touch to a photo always makes it more beautiful than it already is

My arm(s) look unusually long in this photo. I wonder why and how that came to be so

All these legwork made my knees quiver terribly

I surely can knock out Manny with my arms

Trying to do the "reflection pose;" wasn't a success, obviously

I was, well, smelling...

I had to hold my breath to keep my tummy from making an unsightly appearance

You might get sick of seeing my face this month, and I hope I won't lose any followers because of that ;) See you all again soon!

Snaps: In the Sun

Hey there my lovely ladies! I know I should be finishing up my review on the Too Faced Glamour Revolution Kit tonight but I'm a bit lazy to write a liturgy, so... I'll just leave you with another set of photos my beloved and I took a couple of weeks ago. I was supposed to post these right after the shoot but my beloved said he'll have to watermark all of them, which apparently, he hasn't done till now.

This shot was taken while I was goofing around by the pool. I think it looks cute, and I look very happy.

On Face:
Bare Naturals S5 Skin Perfecting Primer
Innisfree Troublecare BB Cream
Skinfood Dark Circle Concealer Cream Shade2
Skinfood Dark Circle Powder
Everyday Minerals Foundation in Light Medium
MUFE HD Powder
ELF Studio Blush in Peachy Keen
MAC Matte Bronzing Powder (for contouring and all over color)


On Eyes (Gold and Black eye makeup)
ELF Mineral Eye Primer
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean
Bare Naturals Pigment in Mod
NYX Eyeshadow Trio in Ceramic
Fashion21 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Black
Revlon Colorstay Automatic Pencil Eyeliner in Black
L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara

On Lips
Maui Lip balm
NYX Round Lipstick in Perfect
Smashbox Reflection High Shine Lipgloss

This was by the shade, near the barbecue grill. haha

I just had to throw this one in here. There's nothing spectacular about this shot except... my shoes. Man, I love 'em. Don't they look hott?!

Outfit Breakdown
Top: Dorothy Perkins
Mini Skirt: Topshop
Shoes: Paprika
Earrings: Bought at the Eastwood Bazaar
Ring: from St. Francis Square

Exposed, but I kinda like it still. Yes, this is how my hair looks like under the sun. My hair color's a bit strange. It's Chocolate Brown from the roots to like half of the entire length; the other half is a deep auburn shade. I also have some natural light brown highlights around my face.

Thanks for visiting my blog! I promise I'll have my review up tomorrow.

Snaps: Boxed

I can't believe that I haven't blogged for 5days (post about Gem's giveaway not counted since I just copied the contents from her blog. this has also been in my drafts since Wednesday... so). Blogging has been a somewhat stress reliever for me, but I had to take a break from it for a short while to spend time with my beloved who just flew off half past noon today to go home to LA. His plane should touch down in about an hour, Philippine time. I have to say that I miss him already. By now, I should already be used to him flying every six months, but I really just can't fight my tears at least 48hours before he takes off. In fact, I did cry a bit yesterday and today. It's a good thing he didn't pack his stuff in front of me like he had done in his past trips. If he had done so, I would've cried a whole lot more than I did.

My beloved will be back in the country after 11days, that is, on the 29th of the same month. Yes, he'll only be gone for roughly two weeks and I cannot wait till he comes back. Life's not as fun when he's not around, so I've already started my countdown to his return in the country. But let me tell you a little something. There's one more reason why I wish he was back in Manila aside from me missing him terribly. Can you guess? Well, he's bringing me a whole lotta stuff. I didn't give him a list of the things that I want him to grab for me (I honestly never give him any list whenever he goes home to LA. I tell him a few things that I want/need and he gets those for me. Plus, he adds a whole bunch of stuff I don't even ask for) coz he knows what I like and what looks good on me. I did give him a list, however, of makeup items that are sought after and saleable in the country. Yes, you read that right. I and my beloved will be selling makeup that we Filipinas have difficulty getting our hands on. This was actually his brainchild, and I backed up his idea and helped him pick out the items. I suggested NYX (of course), and a few other drugstore brands that make good quality makeup items (I'm all for practicality as my blog name implies). I'll keep you in suspense for now, but do watch out for my announcement when he arrives at the end of the month.

For the meantime, here's the last photoshoot that my beloved and I did just a week ago (there's a few more shots that I didn't include in this post coz they were shot by the stairs. This is by far the most challenging shoot that I've done with him and I guess you'd be able to tell why just by looking at the snaps. While the box is spacious enough for two average sized individuals to sit comfortably in, bending and squeezing your entire body in it to get good shots isn't the most fun and comfortable thing to do especially when you're wearing a miniskirt. But then again, I did this for my beloved who's currently finding his way in the photography scene (he just got himself two lenses that professional photographers use when they take photos during fashion shows) and my support goes out to him. Do take note that none of these photos were post-processed. All are raw and untouched by the infamous Adobe Photoshop.

A quick breakdown of my outfit.
Top - bought from St. Francis Square (Php250; about $5)
Miniskirt - Top Shop (yey! I finally have one!) I can't remember exactly how much this one costs, but I think it was around Php1,399 (about $29)
Gladiator Sandals - People are People (original price was Php1,400 and I got it at half the price; about $14, discounted)

Makeup:
I did a simple gold and black eye makeup look. I can't remember what gold eyeshadow I used for my eyes, but I'm guessing it's either Jet Setter or Mod from Bare Naturals. I lined my upper and lower lashlines and waterlines with black eyeliner and wore a pair of falsies from Ellise for a bit of drama. To give my face a pretty glow, I used Bare Naturals' Prettiest Pinky Peach Mineral Blush which was my go-to blush last week (I've been roadtesting ELF's Peachy Keen blush for the entire week). For sexy puckers, I applied NYX Round Lipstick in Snow White (my favorite red lippie as of now) with a lip brush for precise application and topped it off with Clinique's Superbalm Moisturizing Lip Gloss.




I know these are some unusual sexy photos of me (I don't go out like this), but it's all for my beloved. We'll be doing a lot more shoots when he gets back with his two new lenses but I won't be posing for him anymore. I'll be his makeup artist, hairstylist, assistant, costume designer and whatever he needs me to be. We already have a couple of guinea pigs to help out so you guys won't be seeing much of me and my "not me" photos here on blogger.

I have a few more things to say but my eyes are hurting badly. Gotta give them a few minutes break before I check on my beloved.

That's gonna be it for tonight ladies. Do watch out for a bunch of reviews and possible FOTDs and OOTDs in the coming days/weeks. I also have a few announcements to make in just a short while. Keep posted!

Enjoy the weekend beautiful ladies!