BAD Wedding Makeup


~WARNING: negative post containing photos of just my face~

My makeup was the only thing I cared about during wedding planning- aside from my dress of course. I have worked as a makeup artist for shoots back in college but I never called myself a professional. I made sure that my work was always clean and flawless in photos. IT NEVER MELTED. I have worked with dozens of makeup artists for different shoots, mostly in Manila and some in Cebu, and my makeup never melted even under the heat of the painful Cebu sun. I posed under the sun for hours for a photo on a yacht and got sunburned the next day! But my makeup was amazing even in iPhone photos. 

Now this deserves a post, not only because of the level of unprofessionalism, but because I still can't believe in the lack of skill of this makeup artist I chose...For the day I planned and spent my own money on. The day I chose to document on video and photo. The day I walked down the aisle with a frown on my face.


This was how the makeup looked up close on that first photo. It had already started to melt. I HAD NO IDEA, because I was busy the entire time and I just discovered this when my photographer handed me RAW photos last month. 


The makeup artist is behind me, "retouching" my makeup and fixing my hair. She did not attempt to fix my makeup at this point. I snapped this iPhone photo and put aside my phone, but I should've zoomed in...

I could've complained at this point but I was in a rush to take more photos and I forgot to zoom in and take a look at my face up close! I trusted her with my face (who wouldn't with the amount of money she charged + her flawless Instagram page?! ). Wrong move. LOOK AT THAT DETACHED EYELASH TOO. 


I was in the bridal car on our way to the church when I asked our assistant for a mirror and discovered the cakey mess that was on my face.


To make the long story short, I was frowning the entire time in our church videos- even during my walk down the aisle. Nobody knew what was going on except Darie and my coordinator, Tisha. They were both calling this makeup artist left and right (including Tisha's husband) because I needed my face fixed. No ANSWER. I couldn't accept that my guests had better makeup than me. And I COULD'VE DONE MY MAKEUP. I know my face, I have a makeup kit in my bag somewhere, but we had no time (late for church by minutes) and I left my bag at the hotel.

*EDIT: I slept a good 5.5 hours before my wedding and everyone knows this. I sleep at most 6 hours a day because that's just how I function. I was up by 6 AM because our agreement was to start makeup by 7. This didn't happen, it started at around 9 for me and I was left to wait and eat a platter of fruit while time was being wasted. This is to debunk her claims that I ruined my own makeup because of sleeplessness... Ha! 

She was also supposed to do my mom's makeup as part of the package but SHE DISAPPEARED. A makeup artist named Suzaine did her face and totally redid my makeup before our reception. Suzaine literally saved my face. 

Why is it a big deal? Every girl dreams of having the perfect day. I never did, my whole fam is anti-wedding (practical reasons and introverted reasons LOL) but I planned for this thing for months and envisioned a decent look/outfit. We did a successful makeup test days before. She also came in an hour an a half late and doubled the amount of foundation and primer on my wedding day. I knew it couldn't be a perfect event, and as much of a control freak that I am, I accepted that. BUT THIS MAKEUP ARTIST DISAPPEARED. She didn't take our calls, and finally she calls me around 7:30 PM (my reception started at 8 PM) saying that she was "stuck in traffic" and that what happened was "out of her control". Seriously?! She never arrived after that phone call, by the way. Never heard from her after that. 

The other reason why I was enraged was because I found out that she quadruple booked me! I talked to 3 other friends who claimed that she also said yes to them during my wedding date but never showed up. Her assistants did their makeup. She fooled me and she fooled my friends.

I have no problems against double-booking. Just make sure you do a good job, say goodbye properly and be honest with your clients! Don't butcher the bride's face, take no accountability and disappear. 

I'm tired of typing, I'm tired of this negativity. This post is here to help out other people planning on hiring her. This post was made to help other brides so they may be cautious of who they're hiring. DO NOT TRUST INSTAGRAM PORTFOLIOS. That is a highlight reel. Talk to those she's worked with and you will discover some more horror stories like mine.  

No thanks to my original makeup artist, E.D. 

And thank you to Suzaine for saving my face just in time for our reception:


MAC Studio Face & Body was used for my face later on which lasted the whole night even when I was sweating and dancing! Water-based makeup is the way to go.


The party was  A BLAST and I can't wait for our photos!!!

Pangulasian Island by El Nido Resorts (Part 2)

[Read part 1 HERE]

This was the other restaurant in the resort. They served a mean breakfast buffet and my favorite dish, crab fat (talangka) pasta. Y U M.


We were ready to visit the small and big lagoons plus go snorkeling on our 2nd day! 


These shots are truly better on video- the water around here is the clearest I've ever seen and the reefs are just so alive and untouched! 


Residents of the island! El Nido Resorts takes pride in preserving the natural habitat of the animals so they can still roam freely after the new architectural elements are built on the outer parts of their islands. 


Another fave - spicy tuna!!!


A cassava and cake hybrid that we ordered 3 of during our stay.


Darie's meat pie
This will probably be my last food photo but that just proves how much we enjoyed their food during our stay! We spent about $700 on snacks, lunch and big dinners for 4 days. (breakfast comes free). We normally eat 5 meals a day so those big meals were pretty worth it. That's $175 a day which is the same amount Darie and I spend for a normal dinner out in New York so it wasn't bad at all for us. 


The typical set-up after a day of activities


The resort also had canopy villas which involved a couple of steps. They're pretty good since you're rewarded with a breathtaking view of the water from your room! Slightly cheaper and bit more work to get to compared to the beach villa. 


Snake Island and 2 caves for our 3rd day! All activities involved free boat rides to different areas surrounding the island.


A 5-minute hike for some views


My photos entering this cave weren't pretty. 


Favorite sunscreen to date, Suntegrity Natural Mineral Sunscreen for Body SPF 30 - an all-organic, vegan sunscreen that totally works! It's just thicker and leaves a white cast but I'd rather have that than spread bad chemicals on my body and leave them in the water for the fish to take in. Really, I recommend this stuff! 


The messy room before we left. We obviously had an indulgent 1.5-hour massage the night before. Massages cost $30-$50. Not bad! 


A jeepney pose before leaving the totally untouched El Nido Airport.


Back to Manila & reality.


Dying to go back to Pangulasian Island after this trip! I literally cried before leaving our beach villa- I miss the fish I greeted each morning and afternoon while snorkeling and kayaking just a few meters outside our room! What I loved most about the resort is that they emphasized how they carried out sustainable practices to preserve and improve the island and its ecosystem. They keep track of the fish they serve and never overfish, they use safe ingredients for their toiletries and laundry, encourage visitors to pick up trash and store non-biodegradable waste in the free bags to take them home, etc. It was the perfect getaway and I highly recommend this place to everyone! I wanna take the family with us next time. They have bigger villas with 6 rooms and I'm excited to be back with the rest of the fam! 


Pangulasian Island by El Nido Resorts (Part 1)


We needed time to de-stress after our wedding reception in Cebu so we planned a mini honeymoon (minimoon or #FakeHoneymoon) immediately after that. We wanted to book a place with good food, beautiful interiors and great service. A lot of people suggested Pangalusian Islands by El Nido Resorts (their newest one) so we took everyone's advice and set aside a 5-day trip after unloading our things in Manila.


El Nido Resorts owns the airline company we took to fly to Palawan and there were 2 other passengers with us in the cute plane. It was my first time flying a small propeller plane and it wasn't scary at all! They served snacks before boarding and the stewardess was really nice.



We took a private boat to get to the island.



Was a bit worried since we arrived to gloomy weather but the skies brightened up an hour after.



So beautiful!!!




We booked a beach villa with its own access to the beach!




Well I don't really need to describe the room... Beautiful modern nipa hut.



Service was truly excellent right from when we landed.



A view of the clear blue waters right by our bed.





The bar was stocked with drinks just a bit cheaper than New York City prices (each cocktail/gin soda in NYC will hold you back $15-17 without tax and tip).



Checking on the WiFi - it was fast but not NY fast. Ha!




The bath was literally half the size of my living area in the city.




Ready to take a dip!!! I've waited 2 years for a beach trip! AAAAHHH!!!



We chose to swim and skip the free activities on the first day.



Ready for dinner at 5!!!



View from the beach front restaurant/bar



Cute details by the bar



We chose to do the sunset hike up the highest peak of the island the next morning. It took us about 30 minutes to get there and it was a great workout.




Darie's mistake was wearing slides instead of sneakers! It was dark and rocky going uphill but nothing too strenuous. If you're used to hikes, it's a piece of cake.




Spotted a huge house (or resort?) across our island.







Bees!


Goofing around going downhill since it was safer when the sun was up!

[Read part 2 HERE]