when my father-in-law came back from overseas one time, i grabbed the airport-bought duty-free marc jacobs lola instead of the flora by gucci when both were presented to me to choose from as presents because the lola bottle trumps the flora bottle (btw, i received a bottle of flora by gucci last christmas. because my husband tipped my father-in-law about my wish list). i do admit that  that bottle is such a standout on the vanity and deserves a place next to something neo-baroque (in the form of a frame or candelabra), but as i think more about it, and i do understand how a lot of ladies adore the fragrance, the juice just was not my taste after all. not that i regret the choice, there have been a lot of instances when i found lola’s sophisticated sweetness the appropriate fragrance for, but… nevermind, you know what i mean.

now that i have satisfied the packaging ultra-visual in me, i’m going to avoid buying fragrances based on their looks. that didn’t stop me, though, from checking out oh, lola!, knowing that even if the juice isn’t all that, i’d still be tempted to buy it because the bottle would look terrific next to anything acrylic and feather-trimmed on my dresser.

i finally got the chance to check it out before christmas last year. you know what it smells like? the pink variant of those tiny fragrance beads we used to buy from street vendors. we called them “kisses”, right? was “kisses” a popular brand of those things or was that some pop-jargon among grade school girls? i wouldn’t remember. what i do remember is how they smell. and the pink variant smells like oh, lola!. did i mention that already?

no, really. do you remember those things?! we used to do stuff to make them multiply by asexual reproduction. remember those gullible times?

if you don’t know what i’m rambling on about nor remember how those things smelled, just think of any prominently berry-smelling fragrance and you’d most likely come very close to oh, lola!. yes, it’s an extremely pink perfume, and i find it quite average because it smells like the other dozen little girls’ fragrances in the beauty section of a pretty upscale drugstore. there’s nothing entirely original about it, nothing that would make me do a double take when i catch a whiff from a passing stranger. i think this will sell more in the tropical regions though. its opening is very sheer and sparkly, its heart a toned down floral and the drydown a pale vanilla. definitely more suitable for warmer climates than the original lola. if you didn’t like lola’s blatant floral-ness or thought it too mature for your taste, perhaps oh, lola! is for you.

as you can guess oh, lola! invariably reminds me of my childhood. particularly my pencil case and school bag, where i used to scatter those fragrance beads into. but while that smell takes me back to happier times, i won’t buy it. because i don’t want to be time warped into smelling like my pencil case nor my school bag.

although i was very tempted to buy it when i saw it on the sale section last christmas… oh, those translucent vinyl blossoms! what a sucker for packaging i am indeed!

image from musings of a muse.

when bell walked on stage during the x factor audition week, i simply thought here comes one sexy sonofa–. when he declared his age, along with the judges and audience, i blurted my own expletive in that collective “sonofa–”. i made my husband promise to be like leroy bell when he grows up.

bell turned 60 just before the judges’ houses audition. that’s six decades. he lived it up during the 70′s yet he’s still this sexy in the 2010′s?! he is one hot granddad.

before (1978):

after (2011):

he must have gone to ponce de leon’s florida, found the fountain of youth and never told anyone else about it.

it was a sad moment when he got eliminated this week. of course, i blame nicole scherzinger for her awful song choices. simon did say once in the competition “you have one of the best voices… i wish i was mentoring you,” exactly what my husband and myself have been thinking this whole time.

nevertheless, he’s a fantastic musician, just not too many people know about his achievements. he’s half of bell & james (as you can see above), the duo that produced three albums and numerous singles in the disco era, among them that working man’s anthem “livin’ it up, friday night”. do you even know that two of elton john’s biggest hits, “mama can’t buy you love” (for which he was nominated for a grammy) and “are you ready for love” were leroy bell’s? on top of that he also wrote songs for the legendary teddy pendergrass, lou rawls and james ingram. this year, he obviously wanted to make it as a solo artist, and what a very respectable thing he has done, to not let age be a hindrance to chasing his dreams. besides, he doesn’t even look and sound his age… so i do believe his age is not an issue at all. with him, it is indeed just a number.

…uuuhhhmmm…

i was supposed to talk about anti-aging and healthy living here, but i got carried away talking about leroy bell. i wonder if he had any invasive procedures done to restore his youth? or if he has a daily regimen to maintain his looks? ok, i’ll stop talking about him now.

i guess i’ll talk about specific products next time because when i scrolled up my post and found this to be mostly about bell and x factor, i think it would be a great disrespect to suddenly slap on photos of facial creams and sunblock.

anyhow, here are my realistic resolutions:

1. i will build the skincare and haircare habits now. moisturize in the morning and night, sunblock everyday. gentle shampoo daily, no hair-damaging chemicals or appliances. i know i should have started this in my early to mid-20′s, starting early is one of the best things you can offer your skin, but there is no use crying over spilled milk here. so if you are in your 20′s reading this, you can dismiss everything else i say in this whole blog but not this one: start your anti-aging regimen now and be faithful to it. trust me.
2. i will sleep more. to me, this is even more important than resolution no. 1. back in the metro, 6 hours was my standard sleeping length. 5 hours during hell months. i was lucky to get 7 in, so forget about 8. then in 2009, when we moved to this resort town and i was caught in between jobs, 8-9 hours of sleep every night became a reality. and my skin was at its best in a decade even without skin creams and procedures. people started asking me what the secret was and i always reply that it’s no secret: just get enough sleep every night.
3. i will drink a lot of water everyday. as it is debatable what the adequate number of glasses to drink per day is, i’ll just stick to what we’ve been taught since grade school. eight glasses a day.
4. i will reduce my intake of junk food. i said reduce, not eliminate. i did say these are realistic resolutions, right? so chips and soda limited only during movie nights, which is once or twice a week, depending on work schedule. as it stands now, we are able to drop into fastfood chains only once in about three weeks. compared to nearly everyday back in manila where we were too lazy to cook and it was too convenient to call for delivery, this is a vast improvement.
5. i will walk further distances. this is the most realistic i can promise as the exercise i will steadfastly stick to. less escalators, more stairs. whenever i have to take the bus, i will to walk to the next bus stop, not the nearest one from where i come. when weather permits, i will go to outside lunch places rather than the cafeteria (the nearest of which is about 200 meters away from the gate, going up a slope). i could have said gym and/or run everyday, but that would be a lie. i could do that occasionally, i guess. hey, i just got a free gym membership from a resort!
6. i will do something creative everyday. maybe choreograph a dance routine for later use. sing old songs in new keys. produce a mix on my husband’s dj software. write short stories again. finally sew my daughter a new dress from this fabric i bought ages ago. make pasta sauce from scratch. anything. i already draw everyday, thus the illustrations in the blog. challenging myself to do creative things keeps me motivated and makes me feel young. cheesy? you try it.
7. i will stimulate my mind. i will solve math equations, play puzzles, read books, anything… every once in a while, i will try to learn something new. of course, my new job will provide a whole host of things to develop and think about, but i want my head to also work on things that i love outside of work.
8. i will do something that inspires me everyday. listen to my fight songs. read my favorite authors. watch deeply profound indie documentaries. browse through striking pictures from books. be relevant!
9. i will not sweat the small stuff. — i can only try my best to not let petty things get on my nerves. i’m a worrywart. but i promise to do my best.

now all i need to do is keep this up for the next three decades. scout’s honor.

bell & james album cover photos from bentleyfunk.

i find myself illustrating more and more hair these days. i mean bigger and bigger. i think my frustration is battling to let loose. i want big moving waves that bounce with every step i take. tresses that take a life of their own whenever i nod my head.

OR! better yet, curls shaped like the edges of puzzle pieces that twine in and out as lazy doodles do.

i think that would look like parker posey’s in real life. did you see her at the project runway season 1 finale? in my dream of dreams, that’s my signature style. including the sunglasses.

i never understood all this media attention to straight hair. and i’m not saying that in a you-wish-for-whatever-you-don’t-have sort of way. is it not a well known fact that flat hair makes one look old and weary?

ok, fine.

straight hair ≠ flat hair. at least not all the time.

if you have straight hair that’s thick and lustrous and healthy and… uh, thick, that’s awesome. that’s like naomi campbell’s signature look that makes you not want to mess with her (even if you were completely oblivious of her cellphone-hurling tantrum).

anyway.

i had my hair done in ring-shaped curls back in 2009. it eventually ended in a disaster, but it was fabulous while it lasted.

i’ve never been a fan of marc jacobs’ ads, i certainly wasn’t of dakota’s first appearance promoting this designer in 2006 (because the images kind of disturbed me in several unmentionable ways).

for the oh, lola! campaign, i’m not as creeped out anymore, eventhough it is quite subliminally provocative, because 1) dakota is already of major age, and 2) she is wearing my favorite piece from marc’s 2011 resort collection.

as for the product it promotes, we’re only down to judging the bottle since the juice won’t make its grand entrance on counters until july this year. but the bottle alone makes me want to have it, isn’t that just very immature of me? i happen to have the original lola and while i do love the smell, i don’t love it enough to make me choose it over flora by gucci when both of them as gifts were presented to me to choose from (right now, i have a strong hankering for flora by gucci, this would most likely be my next fragrance purchase. or love, chloe? too many to choose from. but that’s besides the point). in short, i picked lola for the plain and simple reason that it would look fabulous on my dresser.

oh, lola! takes after the original. it’s the same shape and the same vinyl flower on the cap, only this time the designer used pink in varying degrees. i love that the vinyl flower is transparent; after all, i do have this certain something for transparent plastic stuff used in unexpected ways…

for ideas on how it smells like, check out the ed’s notes in fragrantica, where several users have voted on it despite not having even smelled it. i guess they were assessing based on the bottle and the blurb alone. like, oh what the heck.

photos from fragrantica and huffington post.

i love smelling and remembering. memories jolted by olfactory stimuli seem sharper and more vivid to me than those involving sights or sounds. this, after all, has grounds in science.

therefore, it goes without saying that i am crazy about fragrances. and that a number of them are very close to me since they are invariably linked to certain memories. the most notable of these commercially available memory triggers is lacoste pour femme.

although my first bottles of perfume were clinique happy and estee lauder pleasures, pasalubong from balikbayan relatives, lacoste pour femme happens to be the first i bought with my own money, so that idea alone gives me a sense of independence and, well, the feeling of possessing so-called disposable income back when i was single and gullible. plus the laughable circumstances surrounding how i got my first two bottles of it are so attached to messy experiences and relationships, it reminds me of how long i have come and the trials i had to surmount to get to this point. it also brings me back to those days when good friends gather in dimly lit cafe corners, melting into couches, profoundly wasting time. melodramatic? that’s what scents do to me.

of course, it also helps that the scent is simply fabulous. the first time i took a whiff of it, the very word that came to my mind was fascinating. i find this smell hard to classify… even the story behind it in its campaign is completely different from the feelings it evokes in me. they say “A free spirit, the Lacoste woman aspires to be swept away, and acts on impulse. Authentic, open-minded, captivating, a bit wild, she’ll try anything once, and she knows how to take advantage of the surprises life can offer!”

to me it’s a very comfortable scent, so comfortable there were nights i wore it to bed. at the same time, i find it spontaneous, but not wild nor impulsive as they market it to be. it’s soft, warm and elegant, something you would love to wrap yourself in, like cashmere. it’s got that simple and natural sophistication to it, something lady-like but not sweet and cloying. it gives you that creamy kind of feeling you get when you dip your fingers in bath foam because it’s so clean and tender. despite that, it’s not a very serious scent, though it’s more “fun-loving” than “party animal”.

top notes: jamaican pepper, purple freesia

heart notes: white heliotrope, iranian jasmine, hibiscus blossom, bulagarian rose, ambrette seed

base notes: himalayan cedar wood, “velvety skin”, sandalwood, incense

its first tv ad strikes me more…

…than the last.

it’s hard to find similar scents to this one (some salespersons say it’s powdery, some floral-woodsy… but really it’s nothing like other perfumes that belong to those categories), and i suppose that’s one of the reasons i am irresistibly drawn to it.

anyway, we moved to fiji in 2009 and one of the biggest advantages here is that all perfumes, my fetish du jour, are priced more reasonably than anywhere else. the unfortunate thing is lacoste fragrances are not available here. when i asked my husband to scour brisbane and the sunshine coast in australia the last time he was there, he sadly informed me that he couldn’t manage to find lacoste fragrances there either. i asked another person in new zealand who had no luck there too. does that mean lacoste fragrances are rare in this part of the world?

so i finally bought one from ebay and had it handcarried from the philippines by someone coming back to fiji. i was as thrilled as a little birthday girl tearing off the bubble wrap and opening the carton. when i lifted the bottle from its box, i heaved an involuntary sigh and pressed it to my cheek. it was like meeting an old friend.

according to the blurb, it’s a foundation that offers two finishes: dewy with a wet sponge and matte with a dry sponge.

i may have dry skin, but i’ve never been a fan of cream foundations for several reasons. i found the task of blending it into an even finish an arduous task for just the first step of make-up (a good primer would have helped solve this predicament, but i’m one of those medium-maintenance makeup junkies who think primer isn’t crucial enough to make it to a daily routine). a couple of hours into the day allows it settle into the tell-tale creases around my eyes and sides of my mouth, even if those hours were spent sweat-free in an air-conditioned office. and it cakes around certain spots after some time, making my face look blotchy.

but when i saw moisture mist’s new display area in the town shop some weeks ago, i got the opportunity to test it and let my doubts take a back seat. here’s why: 1) the foundation is powdery to the touch, which is relevant to a powder foundation loyalist; it feels like a cross between the brand’s best-selling beauty cake and translucent powder, 2) of their six shades, one accurately matched my skin tone (which is more than i can say for those brands claiming they are specially made for asian skin! i’m not even part kiwi!) , 3) it has spf 18, higher than the usual spf 10-15 in powders, and 4) it comes in a red and gold package that is very similar in form and function to the shiseido ones i love.

shiseido compact foundations

after two weeks of using it, my verdict is: i like it very much. not love it like i do my stalwart go-to, max factor facefinity. in the absence of the latter, moisture mist compact foundation makes a good runner-up, though still can’t tell whether i would call it a suitable substitute. i have only used it with a dry sponge, so i won’t be a good resource for its dewy finish alter-ego.

pros:

• good sun protection
• easier to blend and apply than most other creams i’ve tried
• doesn’t streak even after a day in the sun
• doesn’t cake even at the end of an eight-hour shift
• resistant to oil and sweat
• blends very well with my cream concealer

cons:

• offers only up to medium coverage (this one’s kind of a huge deal to me)
• for other skin types, might require loose powder on top to seal

would i repurchase? depends on how i like moisture mist beauty cake and moisture mist powdery foundation, my likely next purchases respectively. seeing that the compact foundation delivers, i suddenly can’t wait to put its cousins to the test. so here’s holding my breath until then.

moisture mist compact foundation available online for about nz$41.00 (us$31.00). here in fiji, it is exclusively sold by proud’s.

and there’s nothing like dreaming of material things to stroke the superficial soul. good thing i didn’t apply for a credit card here. for the sake of my mental health, i most likely wouldn’t.

love, chloe edp

napoleon perdis color disc and eye dust

two-tone g-shock cockpit series

tapered square toe flats

another pair of tapered square toe flats in a different color

more eyelet dresses

pandora stackable rings

canon eos 50d

sony vaio signature collection in gold

random-colored bike with white wall tires

glass chandelier for the little girl's room

another chandelier for the living room

scents are such amazing things. some can get you refreshed and make you relax. some can energize and even seduce. so what are so many women still doing waiting for special occasions to wear fragrance? any day is a perfect day to smell good!

but how to shop for scents? if you are one of the many customers who can’t seem to decide on any particular fragrance until the assistant is fossilized, here are a few guidelines i learned on how to enhance your skills in choosing perfume:

1. determine your signature scent

choose according to your personality: are you active and athletic? are you sweet and sassy? are you feminine and romantic? are you alluring and sultry? are you daring and adventurous? choose according to occasion: is it for daily wear? for weekend getaways? for formal date nights?

fragrances are divided into four groups: fresh (clean with citrus and green characteristics), floral (very feminine featuring, as the name suggests, flowers like jasmine, iris, etc.), oriental (exotic like spice and amber) and woody (warm featuring aromatic scents like cinnamon and patchouli and, of course, woodsy smells like cedar and pine).

so if you are the romantic type, most likely you’d be drawn to floral. if you are seductive, try oriental. if you like comfortable smells, then perhaps woody. if you are laid-back, go for fresh.

2. take your time testing

one thing i notice about shoppers is they feel so harried and intimidated when a gang of salespersons flock around them armed with testers that they just sniff quickly from bottles, turn then go. so here’s one of my most important tips: don’t be intimidated. countless times have i told them that i would like to shop in peace and this has worked without a hitch so far. you see, to appreciate scents, you need to test them, not just take a whiff from the bottle, so do linger around the counter as long as you can.

what i usually do is test as much as my nose and the coffee beans can handle on testing strips. then i narrow them down to three or four scents to apply on my skin (aside from the wrists, you can also use the insides of your elbows so the fragrances don’t mix). and i don’t buy on the spot. i go around the department store or even go home without locking down on a choice. this way, i can find out which one smells best after a few hours on my skin and even sniff out which one lasts the longest. once i have decided on one, i go back for the bottle. because i take time, fragrances have never caused me buyer’s remorse, ever.

3. select your formula and quantity

you also have to consider the intensity and the duration with which you mean to wear your perfume. are you the type who spritzes frequently throughout the day? do you need one that will last the entire evening for a party? here are the concentrations from highest to lowest: parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne. there’s also solid perfume, one that is solidified in beeswax.

then determine how often you intend to wear it as this will help you decide how big a bottle you ought to get. fragrance, once opened, will normally last up to 18 months stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

4. don’t be afraid to experiment

try to look beyond the endorsements and that cute little bottle (honestly though, i am a sucker for attractive packaging). don’t limit yourself to mainstream brands. there are a lot of fantastic niche brands you would miss if you don’t dare yourself to step out of your comfort zone.

as for me, here are my favorite scents (and their ads that i love!):

chloe eau de parfum

marc jacobs daisy

marc jacobs lola

lacoste pour femme

lacoste inspiration

estee lauder pleasures

images from chandlerburr, impactlab, sophie’s realm, perfume 100.

1. the quiff

seen on the runways of oscar de la renta, max mara and l.a.m.b. among others, the new quiff, an exaggerated height that challenges elvis presley’s hair to a battle of blow-outs, is the new updo. take it from the many celebs who have embraced this hairstyle. it has redefined our use of holding products.

2. the precision-cut bob

short, straight, glossy. severe, if you will. but always sophisticated. so sophisticated, anna wintour wears her hair no other way but in a precision bob. quite a demanding hairstyle though: it asks much from one’s face shape, but if the blunt cut with heavy bangs isn’t to your liking, there are other ways to make it meet your needs. perhaps a little texture, minimal layers or longer, side-swept bangs. even some curve on both sides to embrace your jaw will make the ‘do frame your face nicely.

3. long free-flowing waves

in contrast to the precision bob in every way: from length to texture to everything else. long hair became more natural with waves that tumbled freely down one’s shoulders. cut in layers to provide body, with or without bangs. overall, requires less maintenance than the big ringlets nor the strictly straight hair of some seasons ago.

4. the shabby bun

taking cue from ballerinas, the hair bun for everyday is less tightly pulled back, creating a look that is beautifully unkempt. though for more formal occasions, a slick well-made bun is still preferred. one of the most popular hairstyles for brides for many years now, this timeless look will likely last for a couple more seasons.

or for more dressy occasions:

like clothes, hairstyles also come and go. unlike clothes, it is tough to experiment with trendy hairstyles. to make sure the ‘do you are dying to try wouldn’t make you regret that trip to the salon, drop by hairfinder’s hair imaging section. register, upload your photo and try on over a thousand hairstyles and hair color without risking your real tresses! and it’s just fun to do!

photos from hairfinder.

when we moved to fiji, one of the things i had to adjust to was how most people took haircut for granted. not to say that people took their hair in general for granted. in fact, many of them obsess over it: they dye, highlight, perm, fix into cornrows, braids, dreadlocks more frequently than i know pinays do. but haircut in particular doesn’t seem as big a deal as what i am more accustomed to.

so if i can’t find the time to experiment with different hair stylists, i decided, what the heck, might as well jump into the bandwagon. besides, this is the immediate solution to my hair’s volume problem. a good old fashioned perm. and i mean not digital.

it looked great blown out and was a very fascinating novelty to me for the first two weeks. by the end of the first month, the curls started to show signs of unraveling. eventually, my naturally straight hair started to show at the roots. that’s when i started covering up with hats. good thing i have become a hat person moving to fiji, otherwise, i would have resented wearing headgear all the time.

by the end of the second month, my hair already badly needed fixing. it was either have it curled again or straightened to its old self. i decided to buy large curlers and a home perming lotion to see whether we could do this ourselves. apparently, we couldn’t. the result: my hair went back to its original straightness. and the worst part is it’s even limper than the most limp it has been in the past! i didn’t even know this was possible… how can you surpass a superlative?

but wait, this is the worst part: the roots where the curls ended were severely damaged! as my hair grew out, you can see a very clear demarcation between where the formula wreaked havoc and where my natural hair begins.

most people in fiji said they don’t notice… either a) they are being kind to me, b) they are not used to assessing hair or c) the rest of my hair look unhealthy, the damaged part just blends in. but when i got back to manila, jill, who picked me up from the airport, immediately noticed the difference. i was in permanent bad hair day mode.

the band aid solution was some repair treatment at home. it did wonders making the damaged portion look less noticeable, but there is nothing it could do about my hair’s stubborn lifelessness.

so i went to cris in basement salon. professional hair stylist that he is, he quickly noticed that there was something the matter with my hair. he told me there is no treatment that can fix it (oh the sadness), so i decided to just cut my hair short and let the flat parts grow out until i can chop them off. i can hardly wait.

but here was his challenge that day: create a cut that will provide body and structure to hair that refuses to live.

bob #1

since the bangs won’t sweep to the sides anymore the way they used to, he just gave me fringes that all drop to my eyebrows. he has this way of notching bangs that make them look wispy yet full. this is something i’ve been trying to describe to other stylists, but i don’t think they understand what i’m trying to say.

i couldn’t have him cut much because i was m.o.h. at a wedding and wanted something that can still be styled. he recommended something shorter because with the current state of my hair some rebellious parts would stick out. i appreciate him explaining the shortcomings of the style i wanted yet not insisting, letting me have my way in the end; nonetheless, i said i would come back after the wedding so he can cut my hair the way he thought was best. he angled the bob to give it some shape, but not too much.

the result: a moderately angled long bob with some layer.

bob #2

after the wedding, i was ready for a shorter ‘do. i gave cris free rein on what to do with it, i just wanted most of the aberrant parts gone.

cris spent a lot longer on my hair this time. aside from the usual layer and notching that i am used to, he skimmed an electric razor along the edges to create an illusion of volume.

the result: a slightly tapered chin-length bob with soft edges.

i like it so much, i think i’m going to stick to the bob even when my healthy hair grows back.

i’m glad i have a hair stylist i could trust. hope you have one too!