March 19, 2013 - 12:09 pm
Hey, Ladies I want to meet YOU! Although I can’t meet ALL of you just yet here’s an opportunity for 10 of my blessed blog readers! I’ve only ever dreamed of having a meetup with you and I even prayed that it might be something exactly like this and it is kindly made possible by Shiseido. I almost called this a workshop but more truthfully this Saturday, March 23, 2012 from 3pm-5pm I’ll be demonstrating looks to 10 selected readers using “fantabulous” Shiseido products and will also be raffling off a Shiseido prize to 1 attendee! This photo isn’t from where exactly we’re going to have the session but you get the idea, it’s still Shiseido so you get the vibe. 
The workshop will be held at Shiseido in Alabang Town Center.
To be one of the 10 readers to attend exclusively please read the mechanics below and join.
To get a chance to WIN 1 of 10 “Shiseido passes” to my makeup session:
1. Simply Like the blog’s Facebook page, and Shiseido PH’s Facebook Page
2. Follow me and Shiseido PH on Twitter @blessmybag and @ShiseidoPH
3. Answer this question in 10 sentences or less in the comments below. Pls. comply with the 10 sentence max rule because I will be narrowing down for best selection. Feel free to answer in Tagalog if you express yourself better. The 10 most inspiring, clear answers (to me) will be selected. Here is the question to answer in less than 10 sentences in the comments below.
“What is your most favorite DIY (do it yourself) beauty routine and why?” (Example answer: getting my nails done with nail art because I enjoy getting creative)
DEADLINE for submission of entries before selection is this Friday, March 22 at 10:00 AM, winners will be announced that afternoon. Metro Manila Venue for the Shiseido Makeup Session by Blessmybag will be disclosed privately to the 10 selected winners. Schedule for the session is this Saturday, March 23, 2012 from 3pm-5pm
February 18, 2013 - 1:49 pm
Today’s post is over at the Sample Room Blog! There I lightly discuss tips on being believably fresh and photogenic during the daytime without overdoing it. It’s a great stream of tips for people who want to practice looking fresh during the day without putting on too much.
Makeup by Julia for a lighting workshop…
I also make mention of the actual products I used for the look done on myself there (not this one on the model because this is a studio look). Click on this image or here to proceed to the article .
January 22, 2013 - 12:59 pm
Beauty videos, to say the least, are all very engaging but sometimes silence and a wash of beautiful photos over some prose is golden. It’s equally relaxing to have a read through some of the most prolific beauty blogs online. By the way this is part 2 of the Lil’ Black Book of Beauty Pt.1 post I began first containing the channels I watch. I sometimes don’t have the time to download or wait for a full video to stream, so reading these blogs is the quickest way to stay updated. To save even more time I don’t always cart around my 17″ ASUS laptop (which baffles everyone who sees it) to read these. I have most of the blogs booted via RSS on my Android Pulse Reader app (available for Apple, too) which allows me to view all the blogs I choose by row and I can immediately scroll to see if there’s a new post or not because of thumbnails then I can read them via Pulse, too. This way I don’t waste precious time loading up each website /channel only to find some may not have an update. Also once you’ve loaded them you can read the posts offline if you’re on the go, great for traffic on certain days.
I have a Pulse page for blogs, local blogs, and a pulse page for YouTube channels. Many of them are British and reading through a ton of British blogs has actually improved my writing because no one writes English like the English…ahem. I do have a certain bias towards European beauty blogs simply because it’s the dead smack center of carefully developed luxury beauty brands using the freshest and best ingredients and also because they’ve banned over a thousand questionable chemicals for use in cosmetics (the U.S. have reportedly only banned 9?). Okay, enough blabber, click read more to see what are more or less my daily beauty reads.
December 15, 2012 - 11:47 pm
As a professional makeup artist I’m blessed to be able to work through the colorful spectrum of jobs available. In between the bread and butter of advertising I try and fit in bridal makeup whenever I can.
Gown by: Niño Dominic Angeles
Every time I nab a nuptial I learn or spot something new that inspires me and I’m glad Cookie & Charles had me on board for their big day.
Maid of Honor, Meryl and Bride, Cookie
Makeup by: Julia Arenas
I think about what many couples ought to bring home in planning for their big day. What Cookie & Charles did well is shedding off distractions that need not be part of the main event. These two kept it simple and while they had a small handful of chaotic moments they still focused on each other MORE (sorry no photo of the groom). This path of simplicity by no means diminishes the meaningful union, in fact I believe it strengthens it by nipping stress at the bud. Not that there are weddings without any form of stress, I just strongly believe it’s more ideal to keep unhealthy adrenalin at bay so you can have ultimate macro focus on what really matters, each other. In other words, less CAN be (not always is) more. I have the same approach when it comes to wedding makeup. While I am given the power to intensify the bride’s look to the nines and slap heavier layers on if it please me… I choose not to unless I’m asked to or given an exact photo peg I’m requested not to stray from. I try to make it just intense enough so that the camera picks up an obvious enhancement. I choose to work finely rather than heavily unless the bride’s preference requires me to. Thankfully in weddings this restrained but more intimate interpretation of bridal beauty has served me and my clients well so far. My main aim is to always make the bride refreshingly radiate rather than “transform” into someone they’re not. This mobile photo is certainly overexposed, light was way too harsh, (the makeup is much more defined and intense otherwise) but I quite like how happy Cookie looks here.
Hair: Tricia Hermosura
I have the groom in mind half the time as I do the bride’s makeup. I think of them cheek to cheek, forehead to forehead and all that cheese. There are small things I consider carefully that help this along. Like when I think thrice before using full strip eyelashes, instead I work with small demi segments or lash clusters, adding between the lashes where needed. Full strip lashes (the wrong ones anyway) can spell out F-A-L-S-E before you can say “lash”. They produce cosplay eyes that might fan the pastor out the window or bat your groom through the ground with a single blink. I’m highly imaginative so I think of a dozen possible perspectives on the bride’s makeup that help shape my interpretation of what would enhance her best. What’s most important to me is that the day’s leading lady looks like the best version of herself ever…pressingly familiar yet captivating. For bridal handiwork I’d much rather people see a very beautiful lady first before noticing the makeup. If you’d like to recommend me as a makeup artist for a friend or relative’s special day check out my work folio at juliamakesfaces.tumblr.com or email me at julia.arenas@gmail.com
November 14, 2012 - 12:46 pm
It’s great to gradually yet finally be doing magazine covers. The ones I’ve started with may not be among the style mag racks just yet but it’s so much fun to be working with bunches of different, wonderful people every time. For the shoot of Cebu Pacific’s Smile Magazine November issue, we had pro photographer Xander Angeles on board and I’d like to thank Smile Editor-in-Chief, Tara Sering, for having Renz and I as part of the team for the day. The brief was natural makeup for our talent, who happened to be a family friend of ours, Mica Javier. I didn’t know my aunts and uncles and her parents were friends ’til we started talking in the car…hilarious. The makeup requirement was pretty basic, polished and pretty, nothing OTT or intense. Mica focused all her pedal power on the pies de resistance of the day, a retro aqua fixie bike AKA the bike with no brakes.
We shot the cover by the Sunken Garden of my beloved alma mater, University of the Philipines, Diliman, in Quezon City. I don’t have my own copy of the magazine yet but I pulled this cover photo from the Smile website. Click Read more to see more of my behind the scenes photos
Rae (4)
Bea (3)
Beauty by Tellie (2)
Irene Fe Saren (2)
Issa (2)
