Muchas Gracias Gracia!!!

** Peace Gracie for calling you Gracia! I tried so hard to think of a Spanish translation hahaha **


I have kept in touch with the Glitz-y and Glamorously Gracie for months. We found ourselves chatting about anything that we could think of and just laugh our asses off!!! (trust me, you don't want to know what we talk about lol) I felt so comfortable talking to her as she's a true person...anyways, this is not about rubbing elbows but all I want to say, again and again that blogging is the most wonderful thing that happened to me because I've been chatting with people from all parts of the world and learn so much from them and nurtured friendship with a lot of my fellow bloggers and readers (you gals know who you are)

I have NEVER expected anything but friendship!

But people can be super generous!

I got a surprise package this lazy Friday morning.... I can't guess the handwriting as it was typewritten, I tried guessing who's it from, but no return address... (I felt so stupid coz I should have seen the stamp on the upper right side --- but you can't blame someone who just woke up right? lol)

The funny thing is, I am usually impatient when it comes to packages and I would usually open it up at once! But today is different, I played a mini game and took a shower, had breakfast (took my time) but all these time going crazy guessing who's it from! LOL I should just have opened it right? Can't blame a girl for being.....weird? hahaha (You don't have the right to agree! :P)

I kinda remembered Gracie telling me an Advance Christmas gift she will be sending me, but I would never thought of it as this one as she sent it to me just last Thursday! Oh well, I did a good guess though coz when I opened up the envelope...here's what greeted me....

I can see the wonderful design!!!
I think I may be right!

I can't believe this! I am finally owning my OWN Urban Decay Palette. We don't have Urban Decay here in the Philippines so reading this from other bloggers and just looking and staring at their photos, and this time, I am touching it!!! I am in HEAVEN! Well Make-Up Heaven!

Gracie is so sweet because she told me this palette reminded her of ME because of the lovely pop up butterflies! Girl!!! I can't help but blame you because I am starting to look like I've lost a couple of screws as I kept on flipping this palette....as many times as I blink!

You have to admit, it does look pretty huh?
BUT WAIT!!!!
There's MORE!

The Urban Decay Box Of Shadows includes
16 e/s
2 brushes
and 1 UDPP! (great for traveling!)

my new travel size UDPP

The size of the brushes on my hand

The Mini blending brush

The Mini Eyeshadow Brush

Time for swatches!
All of these are swatched 2x
NO Base

(WITH FLASH)



(WITHOUT FLASH)

1st Row (L-R) Perversion, Last Call, Grifter, Mayhem
2nd Row (L-R) Baked, Smog, Sidecar, Gridlock
3rd Row (L-R) Shakedown, Roach, Scandal, Midnight Cowboy
4th Row (L-R) Goddess, Shattered, Absinthe, Protest

Gracie , dear Samantha, my ate!
Thanks so much for the early Christmas present!
(You know that you don't have to!)
You know that I'd rather have you coming back home and us meeting each other!
Again, thanks for being so sweet and generous and thought of me when you bought this!
I'll always think of you when I use this! MUWAH :X

An EOTD coming up with this palette! (Here's a teaser) Will explain more on the next post!!! Check back please!

For you, Gracie Girl!

Nail Art Tutorial : "Space Aged Purples"

Ohh it's been some time since I last posted my nail art tutorial! I am excited to do nail art as much as I can but as most "nail art" enthusiast out there, it gets to be frustrating at times to think of designs! I know a lot of you think that doing your own nails is hard...trust me ...IF I can Do it, you gals definitely can!!!!

You know why?

I'm not good at drawings!
I have shaky hands
I can NEVER draw a straight line...
And I always do everything IMPERFECT!
So to you gals out there who wanted to try this, I would say GO AHEAD!
You'll be surprised at how good it all comes out! :D
Or if it isn't nice, it can still make you happy!

Ok, let me cut the speech short LOL
I've chosen another color, I call this the SPACE Age Purple because it isn't the usual purple that's too dark, but it isn't too light either, it is very "Teenage-y"!

Step 1:

I've used Caress Nail Polish in Purple!
They came out with all the cool colors like hot pink, orange, greens and purples!
I applied 3 coat of this, YES 3 coat to show up the color!

Step 2:

Do a French tip. Feel free to choose any color that you think would work well on purples. I've chosen white. You can try pinks, greens etc...

It'll look like this!
If you look closer, the French Tip ain't perfect.
Again, WHO CARES? :D

Step 3:

Using a light pink nail art pen, create dots irregularly or uniformly, whatever you want. I've drawn a design on the photo for reference.

Step 4:

I always wanted the thumb nail to be a bit different. Aside from the dots on Step 3 above, I've added a big flower, again using needle to extend the flower to create a more natural petal. Then put "irregular sized" dots all over the nail.

Step 5:

I've always wanted the "bud" to pop, I've used a yellow art pen and formed a big dot.

Step 6:

Continue creating colors by dotting the yellow pen on the space between the pink dots

Step 7:

Since we're all about colors, I added another dark green dots on more spaces between the pink dots!

Step 8:

Check back your hands and see what's missing. I wanted to add more sparkle to my nail art, so using the Art Deco Sparkly Silver polish (Thanks Aly) on top of the white french tip

Step 9:

Wait for a couple of minutes for the nail art to dry, top it with a clear nail polish to protect your nail art design.

Introducing...
Space Age Purples!

Have you been painting your own nails lately???
Give it a try! :D
I know some did and they loved the resuilts! :D

Shanghai Trip Part 2

Hey gals!!! Thanks for enjoying my Shanghai Trip stories :) As promised, here's more stories and photos!!!! Well you'll definitely see a lot of food here! Street food to be particular as Shanghai is full of yummy and weird food at the same time! :D

A lot of you asked about Stinky Tofu, lol For those who don't know, Stinky Tofu or "Chou Doufu" are fermented tofu, it's called Stinky but for Chinese, it doesn't mean negative, it connotes Fragrance...and it's like the fruit durian, it stinks but it tastes yummy (according to Stinky Tofu lovers lol)

For those who wondered how it tastes like, Keith the hubby did taste it and he said it doesn't taste bad, and he's still alive and kicking! Meaning, it's clean and there's no report on sickness or death! LOL now I'm talking nonsense.

Let me continue my Shanghai Trip! :D

As I said, my dad had a hard time walking far so we tend to sit as much as we can. We enjoyed sitting her for some great music from a bar :D

And here's Keith having fun being a "King Kong" lol

We went to YuYuan, it's a place where you see a lot of stalls selling Chinese souvenirs Love love love the lights and architecture!




See how lovely it is? We walked so far to reach this place But worth it! Dad didn't come with us, for health reasons



Some lanterns and stalls selling t-shirts, mobile phone charms, etc...



And when you're in China, you have to be good with haggling! I haggled so hard that I became friends with the seller! LOL She's ready for her own pose! :P
Remember: Whatever price they give, start haggling as low as 30% of the given amount ;) trust me, it works!



I've seen this Cartoon everywhere in Shanghai!
This is their icon for the Shanghai Expo 2010!



And of course, with such lovely place, it's the best time to pose with my lovey! Night time at the Shanghai Times Square!



Now Now, let's go to our favorite posts...
The food posts! I have stuffed myself the whole trip!
I won't even start with the meals (That would be another post)

Food on Sticks from Convenience Store! They have it on stick with Chinese characters written on it to know what you're eating :D

They have it on Spicy Sauce, Curry Sauce and Regular Sauce! Plus...Chinese Sausages Yum!



And let's go to the Food Fair I've seen!
I am lucky to have seen this food fair as I was told it doesn't happen everyday!

Some meat on the stick! LOL Doesn't look like BBQ Pork to me!

And here's a stall selling dried stuffs!
Dried beef, Dried pork, Dried Fish and Squid!
I did tasted a lot of these and bought a couple !



The yummy meat balls!
Keith's favorite! He had 2 orders of this!

Here's what you get for an order!

And here's a closer look!
Fish ball with meat inside YUM
Definitely freshly made!



A weird meat bun with straw!
I haven't tried this, I am so full!
Too bad I didn't have the chance to try this!

Samurai Balls!
Another Favorite!

Took a shot of this guy hitting on this pastry!
Not sure what he is making!
But looks like he needed energy to do this!

Seafood popsicle!

Since we were still in Shanghai AFTER the Chinese Holidays! Lesser crowd and people for the last day! This famous Fried Dumpling was jampacked a couple of days ago! I got so intrigued I have to try them!

I'm Glad I Did!

A bit oily but it's freshly made!
Very delicious!
You have to be careful in biting them though as there's so much sauce inside the bun!



What's a lovely way to end the trip?
We had a lovelyl walk around the area!
The weather on the last day was a bit gloomy and cool!
I'm definitely going to miss Shanghai and my Bro!

Watch out for more food adventure in Shanghai!
Definitely a city worth checking out!

Askmewhats Makeover : Bridal Look

Two brides-to-be wanted a very subtle bridal look for their wedding! Armed with clear skin and simplicity in mind, I've done a very subtle bridal look that enhances their natural beauty!

Note: No falsies are attached
With only a couple of minutes to spare, Pam wanted a very simple look that hides her bags, and brighten up her eyes.

Pam has a naturally good and healthy skin. I've concentrated on balancing her skin tone and making her eyes brighter and bigger.

Products Used ---

Face

• Paul & Joe Cream Foundation
• Paul & Joe Powder Foundation No. 3
• NYX Concealer in a Jar Beige
• Maybelline Blush in Rose

Eyes

• Lancome e/s in Silver
• Lancome e/s in White
• Paul & Joe Eyeliner in Black
• Paul & Joe eyebrow pencil no. 2
• Fasio Mascara in Black

Lips

• Kiehl's No. 1 Lipbalm
• NYX Round Lipstick in Tea Rose
• Clinique Lip Gloss

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Liza on the other hand has concern on make-up. She had her make-up done in the past but she's ended up with bad allergies. I've been careful with her make-up and checked on her once in awhile if she feels any irritation or itchiness. Thank God there isn't any!

Liza also has naturally healthy skin and finding the right MMU Foundation shade for her isn't bad. I've mixed a couple of my Everyday Minerals Foundation to match her skintone. I mixed Golden Light and Fairly Neutral Light together. For her eyes, I didn't go overboard as I would like her to use falsies to enhance her eyes rather than strong eye make-up (sorry no falsies here)

Products Used ---

Face

• Everyday Minerals in Golden Light and Fairly Neutral Light (3/4 Golden Light, 1/4 Fairly Neutral Light)
• Paul & Joe Powder Foundation no. 3
• NYX Concealer in a Jar Medium
• Thevi e/s in Pink as Blush

Eyes

• Thevi triple split e/s
• Maybelline Eyeliner in Black
• Paul & Joe Curly Mascara in Black

Lips

• Kiehl's No. 1 Lip balm
• NYX Round Lipstick in Christie
• Clinique Lip Plumper

I love doing makeover!
Makes me happy to see people happy with results!
Thanks to everyone for enjoying my Shanghai Trip posts,
I will be writing more with more photos...
hang in there pretties!