saying goodbye to falsies

I think it's about time for me to write a whole post about my lashes. 

I always get asked whether I'm wearing falsies or not. It's gotten to a point wherein even my guy friends step closer to actually touch (and almost poke) my lashes. There are days when I do wear party lashes but lately I can't be bothered to spend too much time on my makeup, even when I'm attending an event that's late at night. Lash glue can also be bothersome to contact lens wearers like me, since I can blink and glue can transfer to my lenses when it hasn't dried yet. That means I have to wash them thoroughly in the middle of my makeup ritual, or worse, I have to get a new pair if they've already dried up since it can coat the lenses and make everything a blurry mess.

(without any trace of eye makeup, just some tinted moisturizer from Laura Mercier)

I discovered RapidLash last December 2011 during my trip to Hong Kong. I've heard about other lash growth serums but they've always been too pricey for me. A mandatory trip to Sasa (it's like their Watson's in Hong Kong) caused me to grab 2 tubes out of impulse since my mom was paying for my beauty loot. I Googled some before and after photos and the results looked impressive. As with any beauty product I thought I'd have to wait about a month to see results.

Two weeks into using the product I noticed that my lashes were thicker/fuller. Fast forward two months and I'm already seeing dramatic results, and that's when people started noticing my lashes. I only apply them at night and I make sure to coat my lashes after applying it to the roots. I also place them on the bald spots of my brows.

photos WITHOUT eye makeup & mascara:

Compared to other Asian girls I think my lashes are relatively longer, but the strands are quite thin since I always wear mascara and sometimes a few strands get pulled out because of the tackiness of the glue. When you're coming home from a night out the last thing you're looking forward to is that tedious process of removing every trace of product on your face, especially if you use waterproof makeup. No matter how careful I am, some lashes get sacrificed and I used to just shrug it off since I could always resort to thick, fake lashes. 

I've tried using 2 other lash growth serums when I ran out of RapidLash (none of our stores carry them in Manila), but those nasty formulas only left my eyes teary and red after every application. They didn't make my lashes longer or thicker. I had to endure three months of those random brands until I decided to ask my friends from America purchase new tubes online so they could bring them back for me. I'm down to my last tube but I'm expecting new supplies after Christmas. My mom used RapidLash for about 4 months, too. She has the shortest lashes I've ever seen but RL really worked for her as well. She's just too lazy to stay with it so she's given me all of her tubes. More for me, yay! 

with 2 coats of Revlon's GrowLuscious mascara:

Since my first RapidLash purchase I've also stuck to Revlon's GrowLuscious mascara. People can't confirm the effectivity of their lash growth benefits but it does a great job in plumping up and lengthening my lashes. It's my new favorite drugstore mascara since I hate waterproof formulas and Revlon carries non-waterproof versions of this in blackest black. I can also feel that it strengthens my lashes. My friends were also impressed with this mascara and they've all bought the same one after my recommendation. 

I am hoping that our stores will start carrying RapidLash tubes soon. I've found local resellers online but I don't want to pay the extra Php 500 for each tube, plus I don't want to end up buying fake formulas! I like that it's not the priciest one in the market but it really works. If you have a friend or relative who's visiting Hong Kong or America, let them buy you at least two tubes! Thicker lashes really open up your eyes, and I love that I don't have to glue on false lashes now. Don't bother telling me to get extensions- those are the worst. I've seen my friends' lids going bald cos their real lashes end up falling off with the extensions! Opt for the lash serums and thank me later. :) 

face: Laura Mercier oil-free tinted moisturizer + Chanel's Purete Mat pressed powder

brows: K-Palette 24 Hour Real Lasting Eyebrow Liner + MAC eyeshadow in Espresso + MAC brow set in Beguile 

eyes:  black gel liner from MAC + Revlon's Grow Luscious mascara

lips: Russian Red by MAC 

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double the fun

It's been a long time since I've done a multiplicity edit on Photoshop and I thought it would be fun to combine my portraits for this entry... As I reviewed the shots I noticed that he duality of my personality was reflected in them-- I captured the same amount of static & motion pics. 

My uptight self hatin' on my crazy side.

I know I should know myself well enough by now but even I can't figure out why I'm such a bipolar creature. I guess it's fine as long as I know which to switch on when I work and play. All that matters is that I am REAL. As cynical as I may sound, I can spot fake people from a mile away and this is why I only choose to hang out with a few, and if possible, I stay in seclusion. 

Okay, enough about this self-assessment nonsense...

Might've delighted in the fact that I discovered taking photos against my perforated shades proved to be effective (for portraits). During the day they allow just the perfect amount of light to creep in for backlit shots. For the images below I used my huge floor lamp and built-in flash for lighting. I can also eliminate the shadows by disabling the flash & setting aside the lamp but I wanted them for these photos. Sometimes shadows are good. 

Perfect white background, yes!

What I wore to lead worship today. Happy that I got to sing my thanks to the Lord for passing the board! I will forever be in disbelief. I know I deserve it but I felt like I abused my lucky streak just a wee bit... 

men's shirt from Team Manila, boots from Charles & Keith, glasses from Uniqlo 

Maybe I should hold off spending on some decent equipment (background + stand + lighting) for now. This simple setup should suffice until I get a bigger place OR til I decide to give photography another go...

Hope you all had a great Sunday!

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Parisian bloggers pictorial party

JL was beside me while I was having my hair done. I instantly noticed that her shoes were from DAS. 

The shoot was catered by Bizu. NOMS.

With Stacy. I absolutely love her hair colour.

The top I used for the photo shoot's actually a dress, but I wanted more color in the outfit since they specified a summer look so tucked it in my orange skirt. 

The lights at Elite Manila kept changing so I'm guessing the bloggers also had a hard time readjusting their camera settings (like me, hehe). But it was so cool and they played really good, upbeat tunes which kept everyone alive! 

The Body Love twinsies that I adore

Aside from the shoes, we each got to take home one bag from their collection!

This is the other pair I chose for the photo shoot

Met Valerie that day and her blog stays true to its name.. She really is a quiet girl.... and a really talented artist!!!

The last one to arrive before I left the studio was none other than... 

Lissa! 

Had a short (but very informative/juicy) chat with her before leaving. She had just arrived from her workshop with David so I'm amazed that she still made it to the shoot!

we had our makeup done by the MaxFactor team

Can you tell that I really loved this hairstyle on me? I need to buy a curling rod and learn how to recreate this look ASAP. I've never owned any hairstyling tools in my entire life... Wish me luck!

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CLICK HERE to find out how to vote for me! 

Will give out Php 10,000 worth of SM GCs + Php 10,000 worth of Parisian GCs to my followers if I win! You can vote up to 3x a day :) 

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