TOPAZ HORIZON

I rarely attend events now because I'm so pregnant and I don't like being stuck in traffic, so I appreciate events that are scheduled in the morning. I'm fresh and happy and relaxed, then I have the rest of the day to enjoy! When Polish beauty brand Inglot held a brunch at the Early Bird Breakfast Club for beauty editors and beauty bloggers a few weeks ago, I just had to go!

Inglot launched here in Manila late last year, with a store at Glorietta 5. Now they wanted us to share with you ladies their summer collection. It's real purty!

Model Jasmine Maierhoffer showcases the summer collection that makeup artist Mickey See painted on her face. As you can see, the summer colors are all about pretty pinks, flawless skin and freshness!

Here are the new colors of the Bright'N'Matte lipsticks. The colors you see on the tube are the colors you'll see swiped on your lips. Yes, the purple is really purple! I have never ever tried purple lipstick before. I shoulda given it a go!

Here are the HD Illuminizing Powders, with premium silicons powders for perfect for a matte and smooth finish, but your face won't look flat because of the diamond dust (meaning you can use it to highlight). I do need highlighter. I used to use highlighter—I'd dust it on my brow bone, the tops of my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose, my collarbones. I wasn't able to try this one either, though! I was too busy chatting up fellow bloggers! Oops!

Thank goodness I was able to take home a blush from the new Fusion Blush and Illuminator collection! I love blushes. They make me look less ghostly and more rosy, healthy, young, pretty. Just a little bit and I have color already! What I especially love about this blush is the illuminating part (that's the smaller, lighter part).

Then, for the girl with the sparkly personality, these nail polishes from the Pro Perfection Sparkling Nail Art Enamel! Ang haba ng pangalan! I'm a boring nail polish girl—I have a ton of pinks and beiges (ridiculous amounts really), although I do have a few bottles of reds and golds and blues. But these glitter polishes look perfect for a night of summer fun.

And now for pictures of moi at the brunch! 
I haven't cut and colored my hair yet! I'm with my friend, Tara Cabullo, who blogs at Chronicles of Vanity.

With Pauline Lim of Inglot (in white) and PR consultant Martha Sta. Barbara who blogs at The Beauty Junkee.

Find out more about Inglot's summer collection at their store in Glorietta 5, Ayala Center, Makati, or at the Inglot Philippines Facebook page. Have a colorful summer!

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I was at a lunch hosted by P&G Beauty at Manila Polo Club. They were celebrating Women's Month (yes, March is Women's Month!). It was a small party for magazine editors, newspaper journalists, editors of lifestyle websites, and then there was little old blogger me.

I haven't been attending events the whole of 2013 (save for a few blog advertiser events because, well, I had to attend those!). It was my first year to be a stay-at-home mom and a full-time blogger. I tried working as a freelance writer and newspaper columnist, too, but, boy, I realized I can't juggle too many things after all. Something's bound to suffer, and I've since accepted that I am happier and more effective if I just slooooow down and just relish my awesome life! It won't be this slow forever (I doubt I'll be a housewife all my life) so I will enjoy this phase while it lasts.

(But it was still kinda nice to see old friends again!)
Big perk of being pregnant? Everyone wants to give up their chair for you, so that's how I ended up sitting between P&G's Country Communications Leader Clint Navales and super host Issa Litton.

The lunch was P&G's way of picking the brains of the media, especially the women of media who create media for women. P&G said they did a nationwide survey of Filipinas from all socio-economic backgrounds and found these surprising beliefs:

• Women believe that men should still get the higher paying job. In fact, between a man and a woman with the same intelligence and credentials, women think the job should still go to the man. WHY? Because men are the breadwinners so they should get more opportunities and more money.
• Women also think that, for the same job, it's okay for men to earn more than women, and to get promoted faster. WHY? Same reason as above.
• Women use beauty products not to attract and keep men, but to hide their age. WHY? Because young girls want to appear older while mature women want to stay looking, I dunno, 25 maybe! Just reinforces the issue that women are ashamed of their age!
• Men are hired and promoted for their potential, women for their experience. WHY? Women need to prove they can do the job. Men just need to show up.

There were actually more but I'm reeling. I am in total shock. It's the 21st century and the Philippines is a modern country but apparently our beliefs are still medieval.

I am living in a bubble.

Dear readers, I don't think we women should subjugate men. Neither do I think women are the superior sex. I just believe that we should be given the same opportunities, the same rights, the same accolades, the same encouragement and support, the same appreciation. I'm lucky to be married to a feminist who encouraged me to pursue my ambitions and then respected my choice to be a full-time mom when I decided on that. He never put me down or put me in my place or told me I can't do things because I'm a woman. I hope all men can be like my Vince and all women can have a dad or husband or mentor or friend like Vince!

Don't let anything hold you back, ladies!


Let's celebrate Women's Month by destroying the boundaries and beliefs that hold us back!

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Now that I'm a stay-at-home wife and mom, I get invited to events that promote stuff like cooking, crafts-making, safety while driving, and basically stuff that are worlds away from the fashion and beauty events I used to attend.

I like this new phase. At the start, I found it very weird but now I find it fascinating! There's a whole wide world of fab events for wives and moms! And I don't need to put full-on makeup and blow dry my hair and wear excruciatingly high heels!

One such event I recently checked out was Anchor Home Chef Final Night. Yes, it was like a reality show that picked out the best recipes that reinvented ordinary food and used the Anchor product line. I didn't even know there was a contest like this! Had I known, I'd have totally joined! I'm kinda good in the kitchen so I think I have a fighting chance. Actually, I am very good in the kitchen. That's one of the reasons Vince married me!
But... after I tasted the winning recipe, I must admit the winner deserved the top Anchor Home Chef prize. But wait wait wait. I'm getting way ahead of my story! Here's the whole Anchor product showcase. I thought they only had milk, butter and cheese slices! There's cream cheese, culinary cream, and whipping cream, too!

I've known, used and loved Anchor butter for years and years. I remember my Mama singing the jingle when she'd serve sugar-sprinkled creamy butter on hot pan de sal for breakfast long, long ago. "Fresh Anchor butter!" I can hear her now and all I can think of is bright, happy mornings. Mama loved butter!

Anyway, the Anchor Home Chef campaign is all about promoting creativity in the kitchen. By using Anchor's premium products, men and women can create dishes using ordinary ingredients and make them ultra fabulous! I believe that, too!

There was wine...

... and cheese. But no one was really wining and cheesing because Anchor started the evening with a contest for all the guests. We were all asked to make a cake in a jar!

This bibingka cake was seriously amazing. At first, I thought it was going to be so-so but the sweetness of the butter cake and the saltiness of the salted egg cream cheese topped with the delicate nuttiness of the roasted coconut buttercream was divine. Divine!

Yes, Iñigo and I ate the cake. So we didn't get to participate in the contest! That bibingka cake was too good. I wanted to ask for more actually. I just got shy.

Here I am with hot mommy Jackie Go of Go! Jackie Go! and her baby Juro. He's busy munching on carrots. I don't know what my Iñigo was looking at. But this table was right beside the chefs' table so maybe Iñigo was looking at the chefs.

In theory, my column in the Manila Bulletin comes out every Friday (did you get yesterday's paper???). In practice, heaven knows when it actually gets published haha. It really depends on the news and the ads. Say, if something really amazing happens (it's always amazing, never tragic, since my column is in the fashion section), then my column gets bumped off. Same thing happens when a big ad comes along.
This is from our photo shoot of celebrity stylist Alyanna Martinez. The column came out in the January 31 edition. You can read it online here. Funny because the title of the piece is "Style & Beauty Authority" but online it says "Beauty & Authority." Wonder what happened there.

This is for my feature on Cristina Gomez, the elegant and refined social editor of Lifestyle Asia magazine. She is sophistication personified! Her shoot was fun and comfortable since we did the shoot at her brother's house. Iñigo had a lot of fun there. This feature isn't out yet so do watch for it!

Nope, I'm not watching the new Spidey movie. I don't think the moviegoers will appreciate me sneaking a 7-week-old infant in the theater. Yep, my baby boy breastfeeds like crazy and so we're semi-permanently attached.

I wanted to watch it not because of the story (seriously, did it really need a retelling?) but because of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Here's why:

Patty and I like our men long and lean!

Oh well. Anyway, I just distracted myself with this fantabulous magazine:

To the amazing and super talented staff, you did one hell of a great job with this issue! Your gorgeous editor-in-chief (who, FYI to the mag's readers, was on maternity leave when this issue was produced) is very proud.

Hmm. I'm kinda feeling like I want Emma's hair here. But I'm 35 so maybe I'm too old for that look haha

I hope you guys grab a copy of the July issue of OK! magazine. You'll love it just as much as I did!

This is a post script of sorts to my Sony Vaio story. Vince and I were invited to the Sony Vaio launch last Tuesday and I was excited to go since Vince very rarely attends events. I was pretty keyed up to dress pretty for him and go on a "date." (I know I'm silly!)

Anyway, as party invitations are wont to do these days, Sony's invite said to come in elegant black. Everyone complied with the black part. As for the elegant bit? That's another story. I was a bit disconcerted--it looked like a funeral. Having just watched Michael Jackson's memorial the week before, it gave me the chills.I do want to say that my husband--in a crisp black long-sleeved Zara button-down shirt, slim black Levi's and sleek leather boots--looked quite yummy (sorry for the terrible photo!). Lesson here then is if you must wear a dour hue, make sure it's perfectly tailored and made of quality cloth.

The general opinion is black is a safe color (or non-color) and fashion magazines always tell you to have a little black dress in your closet. While this is true, black can also make its wearer look miserable and common so the lesson here is to choose a style that brings out your best qualities--the shape of your body, for example. One of my favorite LBDs is this H&M number, which I debuted on the colorful set of Juicy. It hugs me in all the right places so even though I'm stick thin, the dress makes me look like I have boobies and an ass!Black can also enhance the color of your skin. Yes, a deep rich black looks marvelous on most skin types--depending on the cloth, my skin looks very white or creamy with a deep black. Some blacks are grayish (makes me look sallow), bluish (makes me look deathly pale) or brownish (makes my skin look dirty). Put the cloth against your face to find out which black suits you. Also, since black is very somber, embellishments like beads, sequins, embroidery or prints can cheer it up.

Oh, and as you can see from above and below pics, another way to make black less serious is to expose skin. Lots of it! The seriousness of the color balances whatever you'd want to show off--be it cleavage, arms, back or legs.
At the Sony event, I wore my Jill Stuart dress with a full skirt and a delicate print of pale pink flowers. Here's a better photo (taken when Nikki and I were guests at Lucy Torres's show The Sweet Life):
It does not look funereal at all. Nikki also makes black festive with a spangly collar and a short hem. Wilma meanwhile chose a dress in silk chiffon making her look soft and feminine.

Wearing black isn't as basic as the fashion mags would have you believe. But there's no need to despair. Just keep in mind the following: cut and tailoring, cloth quality, style. And if this just frustrates you, well, I always believe a bright smile makes black less grave.

Want to learn more about wearing black? Look to Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston. Both women have elevated wearing black to an art. Now if only their taste in men could improve...

Photo by Alisa Anton from https://stocksnap.io/

(Note: This entry contains old posts from my former blog.)

MARRIAGE MATTERS
07/27/2005 09:35:53 PM

What a strange weekend I had. I was talking to Mama and Papa. The conversation inevitably turned to marriage plans—or rather the lack thereof. I know I'm 28, and for some unfortunate people, that age is ancient. I ought to be married and having babies by now. How funny really. I cannot stress enough that I am unlike many women—I have other ambitions.

I am not anti-marriage at all. I do believe in it. I totally respect that it is a sacred institution, a contract you do not go into lightly. And therefore, I have no romantic notions of it. While most girls dreamed of how they would look on their wedding day, I—at a very early age—had a startlingly clear concept of marriage: It is a life of complete and selfless service. So the gown, flowers and all of course had to be gorgeous and perfect! It's the last day you'll ever truly be your own true self. The rest of your life will be in servitude to your husband, your children and your now two families. Not that that's a bad thing, okay? A life of service can actually be filled with meaning. But do I have to rush into that?

Most of my early life, I had been taught to be a wife. I learned to cook, to clean, to wash and iron and mend clothes, to walk and sit and behave like a good wife should. Those skills are useful especially when you're living on your own. But back in the days, I resented the lessons so much (especially since I also had to actually serve everyone in the family—that's 10 of us. So you can understand that I'm quite tired of all this serving business). These skill were taught—not for my OWN benefit, but for the benefit of my future husband. 

It's hardly inspiring really, being told that I have to be beautiful all the time, and to be polite and pleasant, and charming and efficient, and dutiful, obedient and submissive—for an unknown MAN. I think parents should instruct all those things (which I believe are good) to their daughters and tell them it's for their own good, not because a man will benefit from such qualities one day. Parang bonus na lang yun, diba?

I do want to get married one day far off in the distant future. When I'm ready to serve. When I'm ready to lay down my life for people. When I'm ready to love—in all the true and deep and selfless sense of that word.

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ALL ABOUT VINCE
09/08/2005 10:30:31 AM

I'm in love. I would never have thought it can actually happen in real life but after six years five months and three days, I look at Vince and realize I'm still crazy about this guy!

Now, it's not been a bed of roses all those six years. We've fought. And then we've fought badly. But we talk and talk and talk till it's okay and then it's wonderful again. Well, even when we fight or during the bad times, it was never of utter despair because we knew we were going to work things out anyway. We have never ever broken up. It is never a prerogative. Will Smith was once asked why his marriage was so intact and he said, "There is no Plan B." He said that signing a prenuptial, thinking of divorce, preparing for a life without your significant other is Plan B. And when you have a Plan B, there's no way you're going to work hard to make Plan A work. Sensible man, this Will Smith. So is Vince.

That's one of the things I love about Vince. He's smart and very very logical. In all our time together, I have never felt bored with him. He always has something interesting to say. He's always poking around for something new to know and he's always encouraging me in my self-improvement pursuits. Like my French classes.

That's another thing I love about Vince. He's so secure and mature and supportive. He has no qualms about my wearing sexy clothes, dyeing my hair crazy colors, going out all night with people he doesn't know... He has never ever told me I can't do anything. He encourages me to state my opinions all the time, he encourages me to make friends, he loves hearing about my adventures without him, he respects my need to be alone, he understands my need to be unmarried and my fear of becoming a mother. He lets me be who I am. He just doesn't like green eyeshadow on me! Now—aside from the eyeshadow comment—the ability of a man to allow his woman to be who she is and to do what she wants speaks volumes about that man's capability to trust and respect his woman and himself.

A secure and confident man is hell of a lot sexy.


And sexiness is something I also love about Vince. Looking at him—quiet, slim, and so docile-looking—sex may be the last thing on your mind. But when I look at him or think about him, that's the first thing on my mind! And how can I not think about spending 24/7 wrapped around this man? This man who is so passionate and eager to please and sweet and romantic and funny and naughty and amazingly smart and an endless source of surprise?

Yup, that's Vince and more. A whole lot more. I'll never find someone like him. I'm deeply, madly, incredibly, tenderly, passionately in love with him. Hence, I'm looking forward to forever with this man.

COMMENT:
Justinne
09/10/2005 08:35:11 AM
Woohoo! There's two of us now. Thought I was the only one very much in love in this world. =P
But really, I'm so happy for you (and Vince, too). Always stay happy and in love, Franz dear!

Liz
09/29/2005 05:45:50 PM
Awwww...you're very lucky, but at the same time, Vince is very lucky to have you :-) One day, I hope I'll have that special someone too :-) But enough about me....Happy for you! :-)

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BLESSINGS GALORE!
11/16/2005 10:52:32 AM

I had a very interesting evening today. The editors of T3, Total Girl and OK! were invited to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Promenade Greenhills. We learned how tea is made, the various types, the nuances in flavor, plus we got to sample their wonderful teas, breads and dishes. Man, I didn't even know cafés served real GOOD food! Well, they don't; that's why I can't stand those places. Then we had this evening at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and my eyes were opened! Grabe, sarap! Vince and I were absolutely stunned at the tea they served. We have been tea drinkers for years but tonight, we are ashamed to call ourselves that. How can we be fans of tea and NOT KNOW what we learned and tasted tonight? Now we understand why the tea at supermarkets were reasonably priced—they taste awful compared to CBTL. There's no going back for us now!

This is one of the reasons why I love my job. I get to meet lots of people, learn new things, go to new places, and eat so well! For FREE!

Just recently, Lucy Torres taught us how to select cheeses for entertaining; I had a fantastic dinner (made my toes curl and my eyes roll in their sockets!) at the Manila Pen while I watched a fashion show; had a delightful afternoon with Audrey Tan and Rep. Miguel Zubiri talking about love and weddings; got to eat a whole meal made of the ingredients of Euphoria, a new perfume from CK (it was a fragrant experience, I must say); and was practically given a shopping spree by Debenhams (which I spent on mama, papa and Vince). That's just recently. I could go on and on about the many wonderful things I get to see and eat and do every month!

Growing up, I didn't have much. While I felt there was a world of experiences out there, I was always told I had enough, that I'm blessed, that I shouldn't look for more. Well, now experiencing all these things for free... NOW I can say I'm REALLY blessed!

It's amazing how the world is so full of beautiful things. Delightful things! Whenever I taste a treat like a delectable cheese platter served with dry wine and fruit, I am overwhelmed at how God can create such wonders and how He has given people the talent to put together these awesome dishes and how He has given me the senses to experience them. I mean, when the flavors hit your tongue, the smells, the textures, the gorgeous colors of the food... that's when you know how it really feels to be alive! I feel the same way when I go see a fashion show with beautiful clothes and design, or when I meet people who are so talented and driven to use their life for some good, or when I get products that work like magic because they make me look fabulous almost instantly, or when I go to places and I see how breathtaking the world really is. I mean, how can you NOT believe there is a God when you get to experience all these wonderful things?

Makes me wonder why my parents insisted that we remain poor to be holy. WHY?! How can you appreciate life and God when you're miserable?

COMMENT:
Justinne
11/16/2005 05:50:18 PM
Amen! God is really amazing. I just love Him!!!
Anyway, una muna, let me greet you a happy belated birthday. :D Pangalawa, paumanhin po at hindi ako nakapagparamdam nung huling uwi ko. :P Promise, I will contact you pag-uwi namin sa December. I hope you won't be too busy, though. Pero kahit pa busy ka, kailangang magkita tayo. Miss na kita e. :) Muahz!

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