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

Hairstylist, Renz Pangilinan and Smile Editor-in-chief, Tara Sering help prep Mica for a shot.

Hair and Makeup Team!  Holler back!!  Renz Pangilinan and yours truly below

We actually had a group shot with the entire Smile crew who flew in from Singapore!  I’ll update this post with it once I have it.  It was super nostalgic for me to be shooting inside U.P., it brought back so many memories of cool breezy mornings, IKOT jeeps rumbling by, leaves falling on my hair as I walked to and fro from class buildings and I was thrilled that I was able to have taho and eat with the gang at Chocolate Kiss before calling it a day!

I was thrilled to get a call-back to do Gary Valenciano’s makeup (twitter: @GaryValenciano1) for a second shoot, though the photos of him in this post are my shots from the first one.  I knew through and through that even though I was given the opportunity to do his makeup that I might not get a second chance unless I did the job noticeably well and to his liking.  We’re only talking about one of the biggest celebrity perfectionists I’ve ever known and if Gary V. doesn’t approve of something even in the slightest manner you will know it and begin muttering your full name back to yourself.  To make matters worse his newly engaged son, Paolo, my BFF cousin, scared me the night before and said “Yea, you’d better do it good, he knows how to do his own makeup and he has his own way of doing it, so he’ll really be watching how you do it.”  The day came and I tried not to think too much, the main man began having his hair done by his staple hair expert, Tony & Guy senior, Nelson.  I began swatching shades I planned to use on the big GEE VEE who was in that moment brooding over his music downloads.  I approached him to swipe a shade of foundation across his jawline and as I made contact he let out a sudden “ARAY! (ouch)…”.  As I left the planet for a nanosecond he let out a healthy snigger “HEHEHEHE!  Sorry, just keeding…”.  Totally mean and advantageous I tell you, LOL.  I faked stabbing him in the eye afterwards for revenge.  Ay, caramba!  Here he is, folks, made-up and unharmed.

To my delight I found out from his road manager that shortly after our first shoot they were being instructed by him to purchase the exact base color products I used (MUD products) so he could use the same shades when he does his own makeup on international tours.  Then I got called back  for the second shoot which is such an encouraging thing because I enjoy and love working with him.  On board the second project I took the opportunity to ask what this well-loved tube was among his things and he spilled the beans, that it was his favorite moisturizer…obviously.  You can like totally tell because it’s just…always there.

KIEHL’S Centella Recovery Skin-Salve

KEY INGREDIENTS:  Honey, Aloe, and Tiger Herb (Centella) which contains alkaloids and minerals that are beneficial in the treatment of a host of ailments. It has antibacterial, anti-psoriatic, and wound-healing properties. The Tiger Herb plant is sought out by wounded tigers in the wild who rub against it for its healing properties. (Yeahhh, Tito Gary yerr a tigerr…)

• Alcohol Free for Sensitive Skin
• PH balanced and lightweight
• Leaves skin feeling comforted and gently moisturised

I actually handed him a small container of my own moisturizer first, he began applying a bit of that but then he had to have a look around his stuff for what was familiar and well-loved, which was exactly this.  Kiehl’s Derma Solutions Centella Recovery Skin Salve, with Tiger Herb and Aloe Vera.  It’s got no-frills packaging which guys certainly would prefer and that neutral simplicity just shouts “THIS WORKS”.  More than anything it’s really soothing and comforting. I asked GV about the tube and he goes “Ohh yeahh, I like this,” he says, “I actually use it BEFORE shaving not after just so it feels better, and I always have it.”  Guys normally never elaborate more than that about skincare unless it was something that raised them or their dog from the dead, so the fact that he said it actually already says a lot.  He added “You gave me your moisturizer first, I started using it, but I was really looking for mine because I like it.  You wanna what?   Take a picture of it?  Huh? (LOL)  Okay, why??”  Because, Mr. Pure Energy, that’s just how I roll.

BHLDN.com is a European bridal site that offers editorial picks on everything bridal for your wedding day, kind of like an online “bridalzine” if that is a word.  My cousin Paolo Valenciano’s fiancee, Sam, messaged me this morning encouraging me to do video tutorials inspired by these ones she saw on BHLDN which actually stands for BEHOLDEN from the Dutch word “to keep” or “preserve”.  I’ll embed the Romantic video look below, but you’ll have to check the rest on BHLDN.COM or directly at these links which are the Lady look, Bohemian look, and the Muse look.

Sam worked with me on my first studio folio shots as a makeup artist and actually helped launch my professional career and next year she’s getting married to Paolo <3.  I wanted to share these with you because these simple hair and makeup how-tos by BHLDN are nothing short of exquisite.  Note to those who’d like to follow these looks, no foundation was used apparently in most of them, just skincare, a bit of unmentioned concealer maybe and pressed powder, I’ll include the list of products they used as shared on their site.

I was sent a lovely package by Splash Corporation last week, a funky pink and zebra striped box containing the complete cuticle coat and hair polish ranges of Vitress.  It was oh so very timely to have been sent this since I recently cut my hair very short.  My hair isn’t by nature unruly but for the first time I found myself in need of some finishing or styling products to set it in place.

CUTICLE COAT
Smoothens dry, dull and hard-to-manage hair

• Gives hair glossy shine
• Enriched with moisturizers to nourish hair
• Style straight or curly
• Dermatologist tested Safe and Effective
• Net wt. 30ml

Comes in 3 unique variants:
1. Heat Protect-with Thermo-Shield Complex that protects hair from styling stress
2. Instant Relax-with Vita-Relax Technology that helps flatten curly, wavy hair for that relaxed look
3. Hair Repair-with Hydro-Restore System that resists the ill-effects of hair coloring, perming and other hair treatments.

BEHIND THE SCENES Vitress TVC with Solenn Heussaff

HAIR POLISH
Light, non-greasy hairstyling cream

• Tame frizz and smoothens down fly-away hair without the sticky feeling
• Deeply penetrates each layer of hair strand for intense moisturization
• Leaves a glossy, silky shine hair
• Dermatologist tested Safe and Effective in 50ml and 100ml tubes

I prefer to use the Cuticle Coat “serum” for normal days, if I want to look more “slick” and don’t want as much lift from my roots I’ll probably try the Hair Polish to add a bit of weight.  Usually, I pick up the Instant Relax Cuticle Coat variant, squeeze out a drop, and briskly rub it together between my palms before smoothing my hair over with my hands.  Read more to get the full review on Vitress Cuticle Coat and see another special behind the scenes video with Mark Nicdao and Solenn Heussaff.

This photo was taken just a  few minutes earlier, I shampooed my hair an hour ago and it is now 90% dry and here yes, I have applied Vitress Instant Relax cuticle coat.  The hair in this photo otherwise would have looked quite fluffy.

The lighting wasn’t cooperating today, sorry.  You all know how a lot of us hate how our hair looks when it’s newly washed, well recently I haven’t been sharing the same feelings of frustration because of my new haircut and with a little help from Vitress.  Vitress Cuticle Coat performs the simple function of taming some of those baby hairs or the random minority that won’t go with the group especially after your hair just dried off.  I also like the cuticle coat bottle with the rounded clear cap, it feels more “futuristic” LOL and did I mention Vitress smells wonderful?

Vitress Cuticle Coat comes in two bottle sizes, 30ml (Php73) and 20ml (Php47), the Hair Polish comes in 50ml (Php31) and 100 ml (Php50) and these are available wherever Splash Corporation personal care products are sold in local department stores nationwide.  I may not be able to do Solenn’s signature hair flip but I am lovin’ how polished and sophisticated I look with my new do!  Here’s a behind the scenes video of last year’s Vitress print shoot with Solenn Heussaff shot by Mark Nicdao and MUA Robbie Piñera.  This video is a year old but a real treat for beauty readers to see .  Splash Corporation also wanted me to share with you guys Solenn’s Vitress viral video which can be found at this link.  I preferred to embed the behind the scenes video because of course there’s more makeup and styling involved here .  Vitress also has an active Facebook page at www.facebook.com/vitress

*Sponsored Post

I was asked by my childhood friend, Carissa, if I could do makeup for her first major video project for Weareveryday Manila.  They put out an online “videozine” for the style site featuring four of the Philippines’ popular “stylista” bloggers and their style picks for the seasonal transition from Summer-Fall.  It was a small but very inspiring jumpstart shoot project sponsored by Forever 21 that took place one month ago.  They were just opting for a light made up look with strong brows…not really a “no make-up” look…you know, just needed to give them that PRETTY obvious blogger polish.

“WearEveryday Manila is an online fashion magazine that highlights readily available merchandise and translates runway/ celebrity fashion trends into everyday wearable ensembles. Wear everyday. Fashion everyday.“

HAIRSTYLIST – Renz Pangilinan, for bookings 09153727262

It was quite fun to do this shoot and my hairstylist for the day, Renz Pangilinan (parang pinsan lang lol…but we’re not “related”), and I got up at the crack of dawn to get these bloggers ready!  Step into a stream of behind the scenes photos, a combination of some of my own pics and other shots provided by “Isa” and her super hardworking team.

First blogger up was the lovely Lissa Kahayon of LissaKahayon.com.  I won’t be writing here in detail what I did with regards to makeup per blogger, because WearEveryday Manila and I are planning something separate with that in mind .  So just enjoy the photo blast.

Base and brows go first…Lissa has a pretty, gently tan complexion.

Next up was pretty Cheyser Pedregosa of  www.thewalkingrecessionista.com.  Cheyser has a sweet face and a smile that lights up the room.

Blogger number 3 is shoe savvy Vern Enciso of www.vernenciso.com, augh, camera caught me at a blink.  Vern’s look is elegantly Asian and her beautiful pale skin was a great canvas for a clean, natural, look.

Our last major style blogger, Camille Co of the blog ItsCamilleCo.com got a bit caught up due to transportation problems on the way to the shoot but she made it just in time, in the “flashiest of flashes”.  It was quite an honor to be entrusted with doing her makeup.  Camille has wonderfully clear skin and applying her base was extremely easy and quick.

My favorite clothing ensemble from what all four of them were wearing was what Cheyser was wearing.  I’m usually partial to pullovers and knits in neutral earthy colors.

Of course, after hair and makeup the bloggers were free to run off to the powder room and make any minor “adjustments” that pleased them to suit their look, whether using their own lipstick or adding a bit more bronzer or powder.  If ever they did, that personal touch tied the whole look together in addition to the fact that they styled themselves choosing from a rack bursting with lovely clothing and accessory pieces by Forever 21.  Watch the Summer-Fall 2012 videozine we shot on that day right here!  To learn more about the WearEveryday Manila fashion online project go to Weareveryday.ph OR  Like the WearEveryday Manila Facebook page.