Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Hi everyone,

It's Christmas Eve in my neck of the woods and I am still banging up a couple more pages for some articles that I write for F-Fashion. I'm not complaining, I love what I do. However, since Christmas is not a national holiday here, I don't have time off. Therefore, it's going to be work, work, work until the end of the year.

Anyway, I digress.

This year has been such a wonderful year so far. I've had so many opportunities to collaborate with great editors in various magazines and interview so many wonderful people as well. On top of that, the blog is going well, although I wish to have a bit more time to blog more often. Also, I did complete one round of P90X and next year, I am going to do at least 1 more round.

With that...



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Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara is Crazy Good!

Hi everyone,

This turns out to be a Maybelline kind of week as I have 3 products I would like to review. I don't know since when did this makeup line has become good but I remember the old days when all I could afford were Maybelline mascaras. Full and Soft waterproof mascaras to be exact. While they were really cheap back then (less than 3 bucks circa 2003!), those Maybelline mascaras smudged!

Since I came to Vietnam, I haven't purchased a single mascara. I depended on friends and relatives to supply me with mascaras and I use them as sparingly as possible. My friend Christine from MacNunu took pity of my demise and sent me a care package full of makeup! She included The Falsies Volum' Express waterproof mascara and Lash Stiletto for me...



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Baby My Lips with Maybelline Baby Lips

Hi everyone,

Not so long ago, I ran into an interesting situation: my lips were dry to the point it was painful to eat. Despite slathering all the balms and sticks and stuff on my lips, they remained cracked and dry. I was desperate so I decided to go shopping for something to sooth those chapped lips of mine. Lucky me, not only did Maybelline had a sale, I received Baby Lips as a gift with purchase as well!


The one I got is called Anti-Oxidant Berry, which is the Asian name of Quenched in the good old U.S of A. Anti-Oxidant Berry/Quenched is a clear balm that smells like blueberry. I do notice the difference in packaging in the Asian version as it looks more like a Chapstick than a lipstick with a bigger and longer cap.


 The...



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A Tiny Guide on MAC Mineralize Products for the Allergic

Hi everyone,

I have this weird unrequited love with MAC Mineralize products: I love them but I can't use them. After trying and owning Northern Lights, my first mineralize skin finish, for 3 days, I realized there was no way this relationship could work. Northern Lights was a LE product that was pigmented enough to be used as a blush. I could illuminate my cheeks like no other. But after a couple of minutes on my skin, I started feeling some tingling sensations.

I didn't know I am allergic to bismuth oxychloride. It turns out to be a somewhat common contact allergy caused by makeup. And for some reasons, some MAC mineralize products contain this ingredient but you have to look very closely in the "May Contain" section to spot...



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Have You Met MUA?

Hi everyone,

I hope you guys are doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I spent my Black Friday in bed going through loops at Coastal Scents website. Two hours later and I could not even fit in my order. Que horrible! In the end, a friend came to my rescue and CP the things I wanted for me, phew!


Lately, I have been obsessed with this new find: Makeup Academy, have you heard of it? Apparently, it's like a better version of Eyes Lips Face (ELF) in U.K with products ranging from 1-5 pounds! I read the reviews, saw the swatches and then decided it's worth my salt. On top of that, once in a while, they offer a discount with free shipping!

After doing a lot of research, I found these items receive lots of...



This is just a taste of what's going on in my site. To read the full post, please click the title of this post to visit My Makeup Blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone,

First of all, I would like to say "Happy Thanksgiving!" to all my readers. I have been away from the U.S for 2 Thanksgivings now and I truly miss it. Looking back, this has been an amazing year to me. I got to cross out most of the things in my wish list and I got to travel to amazing places and meet amazing people as well. Needless to say, I am very happy.

On top of that, having this blog and getting a chance to interact with my readers have been wonderful as always. I can't help reflecting back on the days when I just opened this blog and how far I've come. It's a bit of a melodramatic cliché but it's true.

I would like to thank you, my readers, for all of your support. Also, props to the companies that sent products my...



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Bling Eyes FOTD

Hi everyone,

I've wanted to put rhinestones around my eyes since forever. Yet, every time I tried it, the rhinestones did not seem to stick. I gave up but the dream did not die. Last week, I went to the cosmetic shop near my house just to browse and saw some flat-back rhinestones used to decorate nails. I bought a small pack, went home and gleefully glued a couple of them on the area underneath my lower lash line. To my surprise, the rhinestones held up really well, which prompted me to do a look and bling up my eyes!

Here is the result:


The makeup is the same as I did here, except I changed the lip color from bright pink to nude. I have to credit my success to the new eyelash glue that I bought recently. The wand makes...



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Must-Love Bags

Hi everybody,

When it comes to bags, you are going to see my anal-retentive self. I have to say I love bags but to go out and shop for one is a pain and a half for me. I remember going from one store to another and spending hours after hours just to look for an underarm bag to carry all my stuff. It got to a point that I would go by myself because going with friends means torturing them with my endless hours of trying on bags after bags after bags.

I'm this kind of person who has an idea of what I want when it comes to bags. But because fashion comes and goes, sometimes I can't get a bag that I suits my taste. For example, when those slouchy Balenciaga was popular a couple of years ago, all I wanted was something that looks like Tod's...



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The Amazing Korean Setting Perm

Hi everyone,

Long time no see. Yeah, I've been sick like a dog thanked to a viral infection. Last week, I could barely sit up but today I feel a lot better. Still a little bit of swelling and marks here and there but at least I no longer have fever. Yeah, roseola is a pain in the you-know-what and I'm glad to come at the tail end of it!

But alas, I digressed. About 2 weeks ago, right before I got sick, I went out to get my first hair perm ever! Well, technically, I got my first perm when I was a kid but for some reasons, my hair did not take the perm solution and I ended up having straight hair. This time around, the L'Oreal Professionnel salon near my place had a perm sale. What was supposed to be a $50 chemical process only cost...



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Channeling My Inner Diva (or How I Forgot Halloween!)

Hi everyone,

The other day, I drove around and noticed some costume sales. It took me a couple of red lights to realize Halloween is at the end of this month and I have done diddly squat to prepare for it. To think about it, I have been busier than ever. The only time I was this busy was when I wrote that thesis to push myself out of grad school. But even with that, I did remember about Halloween.

But I'm not complaining. More things for me to do mean more money coming in at the end of the year. It also means people trust me enough to give me things to do. Just to remember not so long ago I was bouncing from one interview to another without landing anything gives me a shudder.

In my head, I was planning to do a Halloween look...



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Concealer Tricks to Banish Raccoon Eyes

Hi everyone,

When I was in my 20s, I could stay up really late to study and still looked fresh in the morning. But only a few years into the 30s wonderland and here I am needing concealer like a calf needs milk! When I got a chance to interview James Molloy from MAC, one of his tips is to really conceal the dark circles under and around the eyes. He prefers to bring lights to a woman's face and I took his advice. A little bit of well-blended concealer can make you look wide awake and take years off your age. Trust me, I know!

Lately, I have found an effective way to conceal my raccoon eyes. It's not cakey and the products I use are not outrageously expensive (YSL Touche Eclat, I'm looking atcha!) If you have the same problem, I hope...



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One More Appearance

Hi everybody,

I guess I'm really lucky to become a beauty and health contributor to F-Fashion Magazine. Not so long ago, I bought an issue of that magazine, read it, and felt so good about it that I wish to write for it one day. Time passed, then one day I got a call from a friend who's now the beauty editor over there. We met and all of the sudden, I was writing my butt off!

F-Fashion is going through a revamp as their aspiration is to become one of the main fashion and beauty magazines in Vietnam. I think it has an advantage as it is in the same family with Fashion TV. I wrote stuff, submitted them, and waited anxiously for the magazine to come out.

I have to say it was an interesting experience. I've learned so much about beauty from...



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September-October Apperances

Hi everyone,

ELLE Vietnam has been kind to me. Not only did I get my articles published, I also got opportunities to interview cool people. They even invited me to their biannual fashion show for the Fall-Winter season. Here are the photos of my articles in their September and October issues.

ELLE Vietnam September issue
The cover girl is Vietnamese version of Tyra for Vietnam's Next Top Model
I had 1 article :)It's about vitamin A in skincare
I didn't notice they put it in the Health section. I guess I'm a Beauty and Health writer now :]
ELLE VN October edition
Apparently, Elle is going through a revamp and it shows
Each cover looks better than its predecessorGuess what? This is my first article on plastic surgeries
I wrote about Botox,...



This is just a taste of what's going on in my site. To read the full post, please click the title of this post to visit My Makeup Blog.