The Faux Undercut, Rebel Sans the Buzz – As Seen in Vogue UK

If you havent the heart to shave it but want to try a current, hot off the runway hairstyle this is a beautiful option from p.284 of Vogue UK’s April issue. 

Take a section of hair just above the nape and braid upwards, try different kinds of braids, just till they join the rest of the hair in a neater style.

Summerization – Stuff I’ve been using almost everyday now

The heat is on!  I’ve been wanting to do this post for a few days now, but the lazy summer mood got to me.  One or two of these items are new but I’ve been using them practically everyday since I got it, and two of the items are almost empty.

From left (reviewed items in bold): 1. Shikai Natural Color Care Shampoo, 2. Maybelline VolumExpress HyperCurl Waterproof Mascara, 3. The Body Shop Banana Conditioner, 4. BeFine Gentle Cleanser, 5. Shiseido Sun Protection Liquid Foundation, 6. Bioderma Sensibio H2O, 7.  Nivea Smoothy Cream calming moisturizer, 8. Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour Cream, 9. MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural baked/pressed powder in shade MEDIUM. (dapat ginawa ko nang 10 para nicer, pero these were the only ones that were top of mind at the moment)

1. Shikai Natural Color Care Shampoo – I picked this up at S&R, I forget now whether it was Fort or Alabang, but both outlets should have it.  It’s about Php500 and I like that it’s a natural lathering, UV shielding color care formula with a light scent and with an ingredients list that isn’t as long as your leg.  I’ll review it soon.  They also have a normal variant for untreated hair.

2. Maybelline VolumExpress HyperCurl Waterproof Mascara – I’ve reviewed this na in the past and I’m liking it even more now. It’s a great ALL-AROUND mascara that holds curl, isn’t too gloopy, doesn’t clump and gives just the right of volume without smudging.

3. The Body Shop Banana Conditioner   -  I LOVE THIS.  Basically, this is how good it is, it’s got that yummy tropical scent, if you like bananas and a bit of coconut, I don’t think there’s coconut but something in it smells similar.  It’s made my color-treated hair feel like untreated healthy hair.  So far I don’t get the “frizzy” dryness that usually accompanies colored hair and I’ve got bounce and shine.  Bananas in Pajamas, gotta give it to ‘em.  I use this every other day when shampooing.  I don’t shampoo everyday to let my hair and scalp be themselves for a bit, chemical-free at least for a day in between and also to avoid unnecessary hair-fall.  I’m also not a sweaty person so that’s not disgusting for me to have a non-shampoo day.  They’re on sale 50% off until April 26.

4. BeFine Gentle Cleanser – I had to switch over my facial cleanser months ago because my face was suddenly mildly rejecting the Clean & Clear foaming glycerin facial wash I’ve loved for years.  I think it just needed a break from unnatural chemicals.  So I picked up this BeFine Gentle Cleanser from Beauty Bar, which isn’t cheap at Php900 for 100ml but it lasted me a LONG time (2-3months) because of its economical pump.  It’s a paraben free, cruelty free cleanser made of mint, oats, rice and sugar.   It took some getting used to because of the minty scent on the face when lathering up, a bit like the scent of a good minty toothpaste, but there’s no annoying menthol cooling feel, don’t worry.  My skin feels light,  refreshed and ready for a little moisturizer and I don’t get the annoying itch after.

Read more to get the full post!

The Body Shop’s on a Summer Sale! – Half-Price Off Their World-Famous Banana Conditioner and More

I plunged into The Body Shop at Shangri-La Plaza Mall last night before the Nuffnang Hunger Games premiere (more on that in a bit haha) realizing that I hadn’t bought anything for myself from The Body Shop in years…yes, years.  The last thing I bought from them for myself was a pot of Strawberry Born Lippy balm  bout 3 years ago, which I lost for awhile and found again with just a few more uses left at the bottom of the pot and because I sealed it tightly it didn’t go bad at all.  They’ve got an ongoing sale till the end of March with some items marked down up to 50% off, like their world-famous Banana Conditioner (now with Community Trade Banana Puree), the all-time Body Shop bestseller which I happen to have never tried…till now.  This Banana Conditioner is talked about wherever there is a Body Shop boutique and that’s in hundreds of stores globally, they sell like hotcakes.  It regularly retails for about nearly Php600 but is now is marked down to under Php300.00 for 250ml of product until the end of March.

So how good is the Banana Conditioner?  I was concerned I wouldn’t find as good a replacement for my lovely Davines Love Conditioner which is now completely gone (because it’s “wunnerful” but too expensive), now I have.  It’s moisturizing but not heavy on the hair, I think that’s what makes it a winner, it imparts very believable (non-siliconey) softness and shine, the smoothness doesn’t feel synthetic.  The texture of the product isn’t as thick as the Davines Love Conditioner but it isn’t too runny either.

I grew up with The Body Shop brand, one of my first ever teen makeup items was their blood red, liquid lip and cheek tints (I went through 2 or 3 tubes), that was the only makeup item I was freely allowed to wear well into college then I graduated to mascara.  Mom didn’t want me concerning myself with regular makeup other than lip balm/tints until my last year in high school or even heels till my junior and senior years.  I could play with my makeup gifts (I had lots of Clinique and Estee Lauder samples)  on our makeup holidays but otherwise she had a quick eye and kept my face in check so I was never unnecessarily overdone, one or two times I was asked to wash some off and reset if I primped myself too much.  She never wanted me to look older than how old I really was.  I guess it paid off, because she’s not checking anymore and I still look young, hahaha!  I appreciated that maternal consciousness though, even my friend Charlotte of Lipglossiping, one of UK’s top bloggers says she tells her daughter Leila that mommy’s makeup helps in becoming more colorful, not in becoming more beautiful, and she refers to her makeup with Leila as “mommy’s colors”.

INGREDIENTS: Water, Banana Fruit (Community Trade Banana Puree), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Lecithin, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, Sodium Hydroxide, Ascorbic Acid, Yellow 5, Yellow 6

I’ve used the Banana Conditioner today and I truly believe I’ve found my Davines substitute in this Banana Conditioner and I think I ought to get another 2 bottles for myself before the March sale ends because gee, it’s been around forever why’d I only try it now?!  I was hoping the Watson’s Pure Beauty Treatment Conditioner would be my substitute for the Davines, it was very good but it fell short for me in the more natural type of softness and volume boost departments.  The summery, tropical smell of bananas tipped with vanilla (that’s what it smells like) is very, very, very yummy but not heady or intoxicating. It might make someone want to kiss your head and sniff in the process.  I also got myself a Chocomania set (new arrival) and Strawberry Body Butter at the sale.  If you’ve been thinking of paying any Body Shop boutique a visit, the best time actually would be now.  They are also currently qualifying people for reward card memberships with a minimum purchase amount, I made sure I got mine.

♥ Earn rewards on your purchases – ♥ 5 points for every Php100 spent  ♥ Bonus rewards of at least Php120.00 voucher for every Php2700 spent.

♥ Divine Discounts – exclusive to members

♥ Invitations to member-only events

♥ Be the first to know about the latest news and product launches

♥ A special birthday treat – one time 20% discount on regular priced products during your birthday month

If you spend a minimum of Php1,500.00 at the sale you qualify for a Body Shop members’ rewards card.  What’s pretty cool is aside from the other privileges you also get a one-time 20% discount during your birthday month.  My birthday is forthcoming next month, yey!  As for my Banana Conditioner…I need to stock up for now.

Some Kind of a Quick FOTD – The Makeup Artist slash Wedding Guest

It’s been awhile since I’ve liked a photo of myself enough to make it my profile picture on almost every social media platform I use, that’s because I’m often too lazy to fix my own hair, which is a weakness on my part.  Photos like these are often unplanned, not premeditated, and quite spontaneous.  At a second wedding I did in Batangas last week I brought my freelance hairstylist for the day with me, Tricia Hermosura, who does part time hairstyling to mix it up a bit on the job end.  She’s got an eye for the pretty I can tell ya’ and even though she thinks she’s not yet “that experienced” I’m tellin’ ya I can spot hot talent the way I spot stray hairs in  TVC, ergo quite quickly.

After doing makeup for yet another bride, her maid of honor, and the mothers I was left with just enough time to spare to fix myself.  I did a photography friendly natural look and asked Tricia for some help with my hair.  Here’s my lovely hairstylist Tricia who’s actually a very good advertising pillar of her craft, she looks gorgeous on the job!

When we caught up with the ceremony I pulled a fresh flower from the wedding aisle pot next to me and stuck it behind my ear (an observing secondary sponsor lady from afar even gave me a thumbs up to my surprise LOL!), I then fixed the camera settings, then asked Tricia to take a photo.  Sometimes great photos don’t take an arm and a leg to set up, it’s all about the moment and sometimes it just happens, you just have to be there, Care Bear.  Would you like to know what products I used to create my look?  Natural looks can be deceiving, they photograph like there weren’t many products used but in truth natural looks that improve a dull appearance and render flawlessly on camera are often the most painstaking to create.  Let me know if you want a list

TIGI Bed Head Foxy Curls Contour Cream – A Sweet Way to sorta Scrunch it Up

I told a friend when I first saw this hair contour product that it looked like if I rubbed it a genie just might ascend from the bottle.  Yea, I know, they usually come from magic lamps…not bottles (except in Christina Aguilera’s song), kaya pala my friend never got what I was trying to say, hahahaha.  It has something to do with the shape of it.  I’m also wearing the most excessively sold knit shirt on the face of…Singapore, I spotted 3 girls wearing this already so far, one in SG and two here in the Philippines and it super annoys me because I thought I was “special” LOL.

TIGI Bed Head’s local PR team send me a bottle of this Foxy Curls Contour Cream to try, thank you so much.  I really need to be slightly more on my toes when it comes to my hair.

I decided to do this really cheesy pose for the post simply because of how infectious the shirt is.  I won’t even hesitate to say there’s a style outbreak of shirts like this and I can’t let go of that fact until now.  Julia is feeling generic LOL.  Read more to see how this makes my hair look in the full post

Sweet Summer Retweet Blog Anniversary Giveaway – BlessMyBag turns 2 on March 25!

My, my we’ve got lots of giveaways happening this year.  Make way for another one then, my Summer Retweet NATIONWIDE Giveaway (hehe, get it…retreat/retweet, *cough).  This coming March 25 it will be BlessMyBag’s 2nd Anniversary since my first Lanolips Review in 2010 which was even still on Blogger at the time.  Wow, it’s still pretty hard to believe the blog has come this far from whence it came.  God is truly awesome since the blog is my baby as a professional makeup artist who officially does TV Commercial shoots now.  I’d also like to do this as a thank you to all my lovely readers without whom the blog would not be where it is today.

ROW 1 (L-R):Max Factor Age Elixir (4) samples (Natural 50, Beige 55), Lip Ice Flavored Lip Balms w SPF (Grape Blackcurrant, Apple, and Lemon), Etude House Foundation Brush and Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation sample NEW and boxed (shade Champagne – medium fair, one shade dark for me)

ROW 2 (L-R):White Tea Aloe Shampoo & Conditoner (Westin Hotel Malaysia), A’postrophe Tweezer and Nail Clipper, Haus of Gloi Eggnoggin Bubbling Scrub and Parkin Pumpkin Butter (Expiry in bout 1 year, I opened them to check they still smell awesome)

Read More to see close-up photos of the prizes and learn how to join this giveaway.  Mechanics at the bottom of the post.  Please, please don’t rush and read the mechanics thoroughly .

Sofia Coppola’s Beauty Picks via Vanity Fair – Plus, Sneak Peek at her Beauty Cabinet

I’m thrilled my mom gave me the newest March Issue of Vanity Fair.  I wasn’t as interested in the cover as what I found out was inside.  There amidst the glitzy, “glam-my” features was a well-rounded feature on Sofia Coppola’s favorites in life, part of which was a list of her current beauty picks or essentials.  I hand traced and cut her photo from the internet, this is the exact photo in the magazine, then diligently searched for every beauty item listed.  In the magazine feature there were no pictures of the beauty products, but here I made a little collage of all those items I found online to show you that came out looking like this.

SOFIA COPPOLA’S Beauty Picks as of March 2012

“LIPSTICK: Chanel, MASCARA: Clinique Lash Power, SHAMPOO: Louis Licari, MOISTURIZER : Joelle Ciocco Reserves Nutritives Gentle Revitalizer, HAIR STYLING PRODUCT: Eclat Naturel, Leonor Greyl, PERFUME: Fracas, TOOTHPASTE: Elmex, SOAP: Soap and Paper Factory, NAIL POLISH: n/a, buffed, EXERCISE: Walking, HAIRCUT: Orlo.” - p.86, VANITY FAIR, March 2012 Issue

A SNEAK PEEK AT SOFIA’S COSMETIC CUBBY (via iwanttobeacoppola.com)

For a list of the COMPLETE items in this cabinet read the blog post on this image by iwanttobeacoppola.com

My goodness, someone’s a beauty bug just like me!  My wrists kind of hurt from all the tracing and editing for the first image, i even cut out the gaps in her hair sections.  Nice to see it all together, noh?   The only thing I’ve tried among her current favorites is the Elmex toothpaste when I was in Germany.  It’s not an overly SWEET or menthol toothpaste but it’s really gentle on the gums and does the job credibly (they even have an AM and PM pair of toothpastes, for morning and evening).  The last time I featured my fave muse for style inspiration she was singing the Filipino National Anthem as a little girl to her dad, Director Francis Ford Coppola.

Ash Wednesday – A Year’s Wait in Regrowth

Last Wednesday I finally went for the recommendation of my cousin’s girlfriend and dyed my hair dark ash blonde, which is a cooler brown with a lesser  tendency to go brassy or orange, there still is a bit of warmth because of my natural hair but I’m glad my hair is no longer reddish brown.

People kept asking me since about August last year why I wasn’t recoloring my hair promptly, which I had first colored in April.  The regrowth at the roots had begun to show, although subtle coz my natural hair is super dark brown it was obvious coz I had golden highlights. This was my hair BEFORE I ever had it colored.

Ay, sorry…sumobra yung drag ko sa BEFORE timeline LOL. Well, the answer to why I delayed recoloring is I was still suffering from drastic hairfall, an overspill reaction after resigning from my hectic job last, last year. I had it before I colored it and it still wouldnt let up. After using a revitalizing serum for bout a month which has lessened my hairfall (yes, review soon) I started saving photos of Asian girls with ash blonde hair to show the hairstylist what I wanted to achieve.

Right now I’m also deciding whether I should return in a week to add tonal highlights (not streaks…or strips). I found this lovely random photo of an Asian girl who had lighter ash blonde tones added to her dark ash blonde hair.

Uber lovely however, I dont think I’ll ever go this light with my highlights, coz my skin is not as fair. What do you think, should I go for tonal highlights or leave it as is? By the way, sorry I can’t disclose who did my hair, it was a friend’s tip and she made me promise not to announce it to everyone since his talent was her “find” hehe, all I’ll say is the stylist is new, young, and very good at what he does and it isn’t a super high end salon. I’m a promise keeper so this is all I can share, I’m very happy with the results.

That Watsons Pure Beauty Treatment Hair Conditioner – The Acclaimed Shiseido Tsubaki Dupe Returns

Apparently, I missed out on the hype 8 months prior.  This was a Metro-wide phenomenon as far as I know.  Several beauty bloggers went a bit crazy over the discovery, after the Watson’s Beauty Lab event last year, that this Php199.00 Watsons Pure Beauty Treatment Conditioner was a great  department store dupe for Shiseido’s Tsubaki Damage Care Conditioner, I’m presuming they meant that one based on research.  Then to the dismay of the Conditioner’s hugely excited fanbase due to the spread of the hype the Pure Beauty hair care range sold out and it disappeared from shelves completely for several months.  Watsons did not replenish its stock of the line, until suddenly 3 days ago, my friend Kira of kira-ramirez.com made a discovery at Mall of Asia, Pure Beauty Hair Care had silently returned.  She was so happy she bought 3 bottles on the spot (ooh, a happy camper!), and ahem, a day later I did, too.  I got one bottle for mom and two for me .

The funny story behind Kira’s announcement is when we were together with other bloggers at an event a few days ago they all began talking about the awesome Conditioner that was. The conditioner is known for containing Camellia Seed Oil from Japan.  However, to make it clear the conditioner is NOT from Watsons Japan, it is made in Korea.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH IT:  The Pure Beauty Treatment conditioner is great also because although it isn’t an organic product it is Paraben-Free and SLS free (although the Pure Beauty shampoo in the silver bottle does contain SLS).  This is a white, smooth fluffy cream, which is your typical conditioner texture, and it smooths over the hair really quickly.  It’s got quite a silky kind of slip as you work it through your strands, if you call that “working” at all.  It’s not quite as hydrating and curl defining as the Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner which is still at the top of my Conditioner list (although I can’t purchase), but this Pure Beauty one definitely gives your hair that silky smooth shine and some definition.  The smell is a powdery, warm, slightly musky type.  I actually prefer brighter fresher scents when it comes to bath and body but I still consider it a pleasant scent.  It doesn’t give tons lot of volume and bounce but it doesn’t make my hair limp at all.  Overall I think this would be an EXCELLENT shampoo for girls with straight hair and wavy hair, for girls with extremely curly hair you may want to use a more hydrating shampoo before using this.

It was a consensus of yearning and in my case a protest of the hype that I missed out on.  I kept repeating myself “Isn’t there any chance they’ll bring it back?” and Kira shrugged her shoulders but said “Sana, I really wish they would.  When you go to Singapore, Julia, kukulitin kita, baka you can get for me…”.  Happy for my blogger friends and for myself that our conversation about it was heard out in the universe  and we were blessed as a result with the return of this well-loved product.  Who says God doesn’t listen in on girl talk?   I told Kira “Hey, maybe we should gather again and start talking about phased out products,” LOL.

High Hair Reigns at the 54th Grammys – Turn Up the Volume with a Big Tease

Shake your tail-comb and whip out that mousse!  It’s time to max out the volume!

Photos from: justjared.com & temptalia.com

Clockwise: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and Alicia Keys

High hair reigns supreme with some of the Grammy’s biggest red carpet arrivals.  Rockabilly dos raided the red carpet left and right from both men and women in the scene.  Still watching the Grammy’s right now and Adele’s ’bout to sing, so I’ll keep this short.  Whose high hair scores highly with you?