Nature Republic Opens at SM Fairview

Last Friday, I went for the first time in my life at SM Fairview to witness the unveiling the third store of Nature Republic, a Korean skin care and makeup brand, here in the Philippines. This is definitely exciting for me since it's the first time I'm going to encounter this brand. I'm always on the lookout for good skin care and makeup brands that are quite affordable and suitable for our climate and also suitable for Asian skin.

Nature Republic's color palette speaks for itself. The fresh green and white colors of the store plus immaculately clean white light setting makes me feel like I stepped inside a forest or woodland lit by Mother Nature herself.

The makeup line had the staple materials for the trademark Korean cat-eye looks we see in K-pop stars. First up were the lip products for shiny, plump lips.

The colors were sheer and even the brights looked like a candy ice pop stain on the lips. But they were pretty nevertheless.

The Passion & Rose lipstick is a pretty rose-scented lipstick with its tip shaped like a rosebud waiting to bloom. It's pretty affordable too at Php665

Lipliners were a steal at Php170. They're retractable (meaning no sharpening) and glide on our kissers without scratching them. They even come with a built-in brush so we could blend it in like lipsticks. From the swatches, I like #5, which is a neutral pink my-lips-but-better-and-brighter look. I used this on the fashion show I did a while ago and no model complained about that annoying scratch a dull pencil gives. The color payoff was bright but still natural and they didn't look like they needed blood transfusion any moment now. How much does this cost? Php170. For someone who's scared to plunk big money for a pencil, It was a smile for me.

Eyes weren't neglected by their ranges of eyeliner, mascara, and lipsticks. I have yet to try the eyeliner but seeing the affordability and how easy it was to use the eyebrow pencils, I ended up hoarding some.

For those who love mask sheets, Nature Republic has them in almost every... uhm... flavor/scent.

But if you're confused on what to buy, they do some sorta personal shopping for you by picking out their bestselling products. The bestselling product is the Soothing and Moisture Gel (Php220), which is a quick-absorbing moisturizer that's perfect for hot climates. It could be used as a hair moisturizer too or as a cooling relief to sunburnt skin.

I did mention that this SM Fairview store is the third store here in the Philippines. The two other branches are in SM North and also at Festival Supermall in Alabang. There are plans to open more branches in central areas as well.

Congratulations Nature Republic on your new store!

Surviving Summer At The Olay Natural White Healthy Fainess Launch

Hello Summer, how do you fare? The sun is shining, (friendly and safe) bodies of water (i.e. calm beaches and swimming pools) are inviting, and the mercury's rising up the thermometer as school's out and hemlines get shorter. Isn't it time to just have fun? Summer gets my body going in the right amounts. I spend a great deal of my mornings sunning by the pool and taking a morning dip as part of my strengthening exercises. As my boots make way for flip flops and I tuck my coats and cardigans at the back of my closet making way for the tank tops and shorts, it just dawned to me that we do need to take care of that part in our bodies that get exposed all the time, which is our skin.

In just the nick of time, I received an invitation for an event that's in time for summer and this time, Olay, a skin care brand I totally swear by has come up with another line for girls who would like, well the lighter things in life in a healthy and safe way. Naturally, we all live in a culture that's obsessed with fair skin. There are others in the spectrum who love our natural golden color, like myself. Sometimes though, sun worshippers like me do tend to get in tanning accidents and walking around the concrete jungle that is our own city sometimes get us a bit of uneven skin. For example, the dark forearms but pasty white chest. It's like, you're tan, but not the right and even tan we want. So even if we want to bare it all in those sexy skirts, we still can't because of the uneven patches of skin color.

Last week, Olay launched the Natural White Healthy Fairness Bar, a moisturizing soap bar that could be a bathtime companion when we want a bit of evening out of the skin so it would be so much easier flaunting the skin. The event was held at the SM Makati activity center. As we've been familiar with the face moisturizers that came out last year that takes care of our faces from blotchiness, we now have something to take care of the rest of our skin. Aside from that, the event also introduced their ambassador, actress and celebrity endorser Kim Chiu.

This soap contains the same Vitamin C technology used in the facial creams, so it's not bleaching and burning our skin. As Kim says, it doesn't turn your skin really, really white. It just brings out your natural fairness. I was told before that the lightest our skin could get is the inside of our forearms, as that part gets less exposed. So (sigh of relief) we get results that are natural and fit for our skin tones, so nothing pasty or unhealthy here too. Besides, Vitamin C is good for the skin!

Aside from introducing this new product, the event shows us all how to maximize our summer time from experts who know how it's all done. Tim Yap gave tips on how to get noticed in parties and shindigs to avoid another wallflower moment while wedding photographer Pat Dy also gave tips on how to pose so our one million and one summertime photos are flattering for our figures. To put together summer outfits, celebrity stylist Ana Kalaw gives tips and tricks on how to look our best during summer.

Tip #1 was to experiment on jewel tones like sapphire, emerald, and ruby colors. So it's all about bright colors to get noticed. Hmmm... come to think of it, she does make a point. A pretty ruffled fuchsia top gets you noticed more than a gray maxi dress. Don't get me wrong though, I love gray. Hmmm... maybe I'll pair that with a jewel-toned statement bag too.

Jeans, check! Turquoise flowy top, check! Even with minimal or clean makeup, Natasha didn't look like a wallflower in this getup.

For those na matigas ang ulo and would still wear black (like me!!!!) let's not fret because black is still okay, and in fact, a classic. However, it's time to spruce up the black with a bit of texture so it's not flat and blah. Take this cue from Melissa, who wore a black bodycon dress with sequin details.

The shimmer adds a bit of dimension on the photograph, so it's not one chunk of black. As I stare at the sea of black outfits in my closet, I wonder how to spruce them. Hmmm.... silver accessories maybe, just for dimension, or a statement necklace or belt perhaps?

Of course summer staples are swimwear and accessories, and Ana shows how to wear two-piece swimwear depending on the body shape.

Shades are summer's best friends - they shield the eyes from harmful UV rays and prevent the fine lines and wrinkles caused by squinting. Another bonus is they hide bags from sleepless nights. They also make us look chic even if we're not wearing makeup. Don't these three look so very Charlie's Angels?

If anyone finds the pieces familiar, these clothes come from everyone's favorite clothing line Forever 21. By the way, they'll be opening in a few days in SM Makati so whoop-de-do from yours truly, who's guilty of a weekly shopping trip in the SM Megamall store. :)

Olay Natural White Healthy Fairness Bars are already available in supermarkets, drugstores, and department stores. They cost Php 45.00 for a 90 g bar. I'm sure you'd love the yummy scent as it pampers our skin. As of the moment, the unopened bars smell really nice and clean, I'm tempted to use them on my sponges and brushes too, but of course, my skin comes first! :)

MAC Philippines Brings in Venomous Villains

Remember when I blogged about the newest and fiercest MAC collection there is? I'm talking about Venomous Villains of course, and I'm glad that it has arrived at our shores (hey it rhymes!) one store at a time.

Last Saturday, the MAC flagship store in Glorietta was first to release the collection. The entire store was decked in the likenesses of Evil Queen, Dr. Facilier, Maleficent, and Cruella De Vil and fans and makeup addicts were there to get their makeovers done and get their dose of venom(ous villains).

I arrived around 12:30 p.m. since I came from Intramuros. I was really excited and despite my lack of sleep, I needed to be very energized and makeup energizes me!


Choose which villain you love. Eeeeee!!!!! I suddenly spot Heartless, one of the two VV babies I'm eyeing on.

MAC artists are busy, busy, busy!

It was so cute that there are four MAC counters here in Manila and each counter would represent the four Disney villains. For the Makati counter, we had Cruella De Vil, with matching music plays. Check out the fabulosa setup.
Cruella is so fasyon I swear! Skintight black dress and mink coat rarrr! Customers could actually don the Cruella costume hanging there and channel the fur-loving socialite to get the Venomous Villain thing going. They could even have their Polaroids taken and take the picture home with them. I actually did! Yay!

MAC Artists are always fierce, and here, they are fiercer than fierce.
Jarwin and Lynn. Check out the cool platinum bleach hair of Jarwin and the smokey eyes. Rarrr!
Jarwin, Lynn, and Kang. Isn't that fur coat love? I soooo love it. If only we didn't live in a hot, tropical country where wearing fur (faux or real) would be too impossible. Dija all see Kang's trademark red lippie? She's currently sporting Heartless.

With the ever-so-adorable GeeVee, who's celebrating his birthday.

Now how do we use these lovely lovely lovely makeup? That's why a makeup workshop had to be conducted by MAC Training Manager Owen Sarmiento and MAC Product Specialist Mikee Raymundo.

Here's Owen doing a demo on the model. He did smokey cat's eyes in a cool neutral scheme with nude lips.

I just had to take a picture of the model's boots. Heehee.Tadaaa! I love it! And check out the wing, that's effortlessly pantay.

I was glad I was able to purchase my lipstick in Heartless, of course since I'm such a fan of red. Heartless is a cherry red lipstick in an Amplified finish. It glided on quite smoothly on my lips. Personally, I would use this on top of Russian Red or Ruby Woo to give it a bit of shine and dimension but it looks great too when used on its own.
Heartless Cruella bonding with my Fafi. Venomous Villains cost a tad more than the non-collection item. This lipstick is worth around Php 1,000 and normally, MAC lipsticks are Php 950. But it's okay. It's pretty.

Swatch

Heartless on lips. If you want to wear red but lips are dry, this cushy amplified lipstick could be just for you.
Should I now say, "Kiss me, I'm heartless?" I'm still on the lookout for the Magically Cool Powder, which I've heard great reviews on from the artists. I'll try out going dewy and glowy this time since I'm usually matte.

As I'm typing this, there's a storm up ahead and I sure hope everyone's safe. So far, Metro Manila is spared from ill damages. Let's all hope and pray that it stays this way and the storm exits safely. Take care!

MAC Launches its Spring Colour Collection here in Manila

Come to Rustans Makati on March 13, 2010. Launch of MAC's Spring Colour Collection.

Workshop for FREE!!!!! from 1pm to 2pm. Complimentary Spring Colour Makeover available the whole day.

Definitely a yes for me. I'm guesting today and it's gonna be lots of fun. I'll tell you more about it when I get back. Time to grab my black outfits. :)

If you see me, do say hi. :)

Tokyo Kamon Girls: Coming this July 2009

Lookie lookie lookie what's coming this July 2009 aside from the rain of course:

Me *hearts* the train case, which I'm eyeing on (drool! now owning one brings me to these dilemmas: It's white and I need total 411 to keep it that immaculately clean and how to bring that to LA), the portable brush set with the Tokyo Kamon Girls and the bottles of cleansing oil. Talk about ultimate cutenesses!