Make-Up Designory slashes price for their personal makeup classes this August!

At just P3,000, it's practically free! Sign up, sign up! Slots are limited!

I'd have loved up to sign for MUD's class but since it's only offered on Sundays, no can do. Sundays are family days!

You can get free--really free--makeup classes from Bobbi Brown makeup counters. It's just brisk five-minute pep classes. If you go every day, then hey!

But if you want a real class, you can get one but you'll have to buy P5,000 worth of Bobbi Brown products. Still a good deal if you compare it with MUD's. MUD's is 3K but no products. Bobbi Brown's comes with 5K worth of products and you can go to the counter anytime of the day, any day of the week. Plus, it's personalized and customized--just you and the makeup artist.

Will talk more about Bobbi Brown's classes in another post. For now, MUD's offer is a really great deal so enroll soonest!

Your first makeup kit: What should be in it

Mav Duran sent me this question:
I'm thinking of buying my first makeup set. What would you recommend I should buy first? I mean what are the essentials that I should be getting?

When choosing products for your first makeup kit (and forever afterwards!), there are just three things you need to know:

Set the base. 
Concealer hides a multitude of skin sins, foundation creates a smooth canvas to paint on and powder sets your foundation so that it won't melt and move around your face.

However, if you've been very good to your skin, you won't need to exhaust yourself on this first step. So the real first step is take care of your skin! Eat healthy, sleep well, have a good skincare regimen. If your skin is clear and glowing, you won't need to cover up your gorgeousness!

Add color.
Once you've set the base, the face can look flat and pale. Here's where color comes in. Color is really just needed on cheeks (for a pretty glow) and lips (for extra juiciness!). But since eyes are the oft-called windows to the soul, prettifying your peepers is a great idea.

Accentuate. 
This is simply adding structure to your face. Eyebrows must be defined, lashes curled and plumped, eyes lined  to make them pop. You can also use bronzer to contour cheekbones. These products are the dark products--blacks and browns--and are designed to ground your look.

So what do you need in your first makeup kit? Here's a basic list:
Base: concealer, foundation, powder
Color: eye shadow, blush, lipstick
Accents: eyebrow powder, mascara, eye liner

Yes, just nine products. That's the foundation of your makeup arsenal. Then once you become more confident, you can add these fun things: primer, correctors, highlighter, bronzer, lip gloss, fake lashes, and tons of various lip colors.

Here's what's in my makeup kit:
Base: La Mer concealer, La Mer foundation, La Mer powder, Lancome pressed powder, La Mer lip balm

Color: NARS blush in Orgasm, shu uemura eye shadow palette, Bobbi Brown eye and lip palette, lipsticks from Avon, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, Revlon, L'Oreal

Accents: ModelCo eyebrow kit, Lancome mascara, Stila eyeliner, Bobbi Brown bronzer

Hope that helped, Mav!

I'm baaaaaack, beauties!

I haven't blogged here since forever! Beauty blogging is hard, folks. I thought it would be easy, given how many products I get as the editor of OK! Philippines. But the beauty industry is beyond huge! Every week, there's a new product launch, a new innovation, a new technology, new stuff to review... and I just can't keep up. The products and press kits have made mini-mountains at my desk at work and at home. My bosses and my husband are complaining!!!

Here are just some of the lovely boxes I've been getting from...

Olay
the new Regenerist Cream

Lancome
Magnifique perfume and body lotion 
with a tiny tube of mascara

Bobbi Brown
lip glosses and an eye shadow palette
with a personalized pot of lip color

I have a lot more. You won't believe how many more I have--boxes and crates and cabinets of this fabulous stuff! I almost posted photos of my office and my overflowing product cabinet but I got embarrassed at my mess. So I'm finally going to blog about the stuff I've been getting--for the sake of my marriage and my job!

I do want to say that the beauty industry's been pretty exciting this 2010. So many new things for primping and prettification! So do visit this blog soon as I have a lot of things to tell you about--all of them beautiful!

Support Breast Cancer Awareness with beauty

My weekend had a lovely start when I checked out the World Pink event yesterday at Rustan's Makati. The pink-themed affair was sponsored by Estee Lauder Group of Companies so I was very excited to see not just Estee Lauder products but products and activities from their other brands as well (La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Clinique).

The focus of the event is our wellness. So women attendees, especially those from the I Can Serve Foundation, had a fun time learning to value their health. There were cooking demonstrations, yoga classes, makeup lessons, facials, skin consultations plus the yummiest hors d'oeuvres served by Intercontinental Hotel. And, did I forget to mention the fabulous freebies? We all got a little pouch with a fluffy towel, a Bobbi Brown lip-and-cheeks pot rouge and mini blush brush, and--of course!--a pink ribbon.

Healthy food need not be yucky, guests learn at the cooking demos.

Exercise is needed for complete wellness so guests gamely do yoga.

This lady has her skin professionally scrutinized by a Clinique expert.

Everyone gets pointers on how to look good!

Beauty writer Marie Calica gets a pampering session from La Mer.

A guest goes through a makeover at the Bobbi Brown counter.

Each guest brought home a pouch full of prettifiers

Raise awareness on breast cancer and care more for yourself and the women in your life by going to World Pink this weekend. You still have all of today and tomorrow to enjoy some pampering!

First photo details: With the Estee Lauder ladies and fellow editors. That's me at center in a white Kate Torralba dress featuring embroidered pink cherry blossoms, Bayo cardigan, Schu flats and Longchamp clutch.

How to do a smoky eye according to Bobbi Brown's Sebastien Tardif

What: Launch of book Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual
Where: Mag:Net Cafe, Bonifacio High Street
When: April 24, 2009

Bobbi Brown makeup artist Sebastien Tardif shows us how to do a simple smoky eye that anyone can do.

Step 1: Prep skin. Smoky eyes are dramatic so the rest of the face should be clean.

Step 2: Groom brows. Eyebrows frame and balance the face so never forget to groom brows! Sebastian used a stiff angled brush to apply brown eyeshadow on to the brows.

Step 3: Pat a black eyeshadow gel all over the lid, but only up to the crease. Beyond that, Sebastien says you'll look like a clown!

Step 4: Choose a color. Sebastien chose blue. Pat this gently over the black shadow. The result is a shimmering deep blue that has depth. Remember you can use any color you like but I think the darker shades are best (blue, purple, green, brown).

Step 5: Trace a thin line on lower lids with a black pencil. And apply mascara to open up those peepers!

Step 6: Use a lipstick shade that is close to your natural color. Sebastien's tip: Before applying lipstick, fluff powder on the sides of your lips to prevent color from bleeding to lines (in case you have them!).

Step 7: Finish with a peach blush on the apples of cheeks.

Voila! Simple smoky eyes in 7 steps! For more makeup tips and tricks, get a copy of the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro for Php 1,235 at Bobbi Brown makeup counters and Fully Booked.

The Beauty Writer