Massage Blues

If political candidates are stressed over the May 13 elections, I am stressed over my next store opening set this May 16/17 :o  

It's the usual stress, so it's not something my team can't handle.  Stress is always part of life.  You just gotta go with the flow :)  Right now, I am dreaming of massages, which I will surely get to have after the store (Forever 21) opens :D

Luckily, hubby and I were able to squeeze a massage appointment last week at Ki by Neo Day Spa in Wilson St., Greenhills.  Neo Spa is one of my fave establishments. 

 

Beauty Blowout!

Calling all makeup mavens, check out this sale ;)

Celebrating in Style

Facial Care Centre (FCC) celebrated its 30^th anniversary with a lovely sit-down dinner at The Peninsula Manila.  Loyal clients, media guests and Manila’s prettiest ladies were present for the swank festivities. 

What does one wear to functions like these?  

Here are some style tips from FCC’s image endorsers:

Agot Isidro is in a casual luxe look with this leopard-printed mini dress, 
which proves that black and gold are still a no-fail combination.

Amina Aranaz-Alunan gets playful in her fire engine red gown 
by accessorizing it with an oversized animal-printed clutch.

 

Cherie Gil adds sparkles with a brooch and rhinestone-encrusted peep toe heels.

Dawn Zulueta is in a shimmering bronze number that highlighted her smooth skin.

 

G Toengi picks this peplum dress (which is very on trend) 
in a goddess color combination of jade green and gold.

 

Patty Betita amps up her blue jersey top with a sequined pencil-cut skirt.

Rima Ostwani goes for a full fringe dress in a gradient color scheme
—a perfect match to her porcelain and classic features.

 

Shalani Soledad-Romulo wears a blushing pink cocktail dress 
that accentuated her glowing skin.

 

Have you noticed that all of them have such beautiful skin?
I should make it a point to visit FCC before I go back to work ;)

Call Facial Care Centre at 892-SKIN (7546) and reward your skin today.

Thank You, F21 Partners :D

Been munching on Chef Tony's popcorn :D Yum!

I got to meet some talented and very nice peeps from the food industry, thanks to our Makati launch.  Chef Tony's was gracious enough to give us popcorns to bring home :D  Hubby loves them so much!

I passed by SM Department Store Beauty Section to check out their redemption booth.

We also gave out coupons to F21 Makati customers who reached a minimum spend of P3,000 and P5,000.  Imagine all these goodies and more!

Plus, Majolica Majorca (a younger line of Shiseido) also gave out lip gloss to the first few hundred F21 Makati customers. So nice of them ;)

Thank you to all our partners for your support :D

Presko Baby

It's summer all right, and kids like little J are raring to play—outdoors!  Good thing, there's Johnson's Baby products to keep him fresh all day long.  

Little J and I were invited to Johnson's Baby Presko Play event, but apparently, little J is too young to enjoy the activities prepared by the team.  But we still stayed for a few minutes to see what Johnson's prepared for that afternoon.

Selecta chocolate drinks were served—yummy!

You can have your photo taken for free, if you buy P60 worth of Johnson's products.  Not bad!

Left little J and our nanny to eat at Trellis, which was right across the event.  We always bring a bag of his toys to keep him pre-occupied.

Thanks to Azkals, football has been a trending topic, with kids learning to play the sport.  Futkal is one of those groups that are helping these kids get into the sport.  I kinda like the concept, wherein you can play football anywhere, even on the street.  Hence the name Futkal (football = Fut; kalye = street).  Here are the Futkaleros, ready to teach the kids how to play football:

Can't wait for little J to start "training" on his fave sport ;)

What I'm wearing: Loose cropped top; denim shorts, sequined floral oxfords.  All from Forever 21.
Thanks for the invite, J&J team :)

A New Hue

With my line of "work," trying out new products and services is part of the job.  But if I had a choice, Louis Kee is the person I run to for my hair needs.  So, in preparation for our Makati opening, I had my hair colored last weekend—I had more-than-six-inch re-growth already ewwww...

It can't be seen much in this photo, but my hair has already turned a dull shade of brown :o

Louis Kee (in photo) shared that the trend for Spring is violets/purples/lavender.  I was elated to find out that I'll be trying something "new" and not the usual browns, golds and reds.  It's been a while since I got highlights, so I was pretty much excited to see the final results ;)

His team gave me a hair spa as well to keep my locks moisturized and vibrant.  Here's the result :D 

Here's another photo of me taken last Wednesday when I met up with DJ Chopper of Magic 89.9 at the store.  My hair looks raven black here, with subtle highlights of lavender brown; but when light reflects on my locks, it looks purplish brown (as seen in photo above)—loves it!   Thank you again, Louis :D

Stressful month for me, but it's also very exciting!  A few more weeks to go before we open Forever 21 Makati.  Fight! ;)

* Louis Kee salon is located at the ground floor of One McKinley Place, 5th Avenue corner 25th Street, The Fort, Bonifacio, Taguig. For inquiries and appointments, call 856-3388 and 856-4848. It also has a branch in 59 Connecticut St., North East, Greenhills San Juan. Telephone number: 721-4848

In Metro's Feb issue

Yes, we're featured in the February issue of Metro, with Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales on the cover.  Although I've worked in the publishing industry for quite some time, it feels different this time.  I've always been behind the camera—interviewing people and producing the magazine.  This time, I was being featured!  How the tables have turned ;)

Check out these pages.  Thanks to fellow brand ambassador, Phoebe, for the photos ;)

So, I hope you can grab a copy of Metro and read all about how much we love Neutrogena and about the 2-weekend-getaway activities that Neutrogena planned for us, and more ;)

Just Wanted to Share My "Kiligs" ;)

We finally got the official photos and video links from the Neutrogena team earlier this week.  Check them out ;)

Before the show started...

Group pic with the people behind Neutrogena

What I wore: gradient polo dress by Yako Reyes, platform booties from Forever 21, and U-boat watch


And a solo shot of me :D  Can't wait for the photos from the photo shoot ;)

Here are two video links of what happened during our 2-weekend getaway:

Thank you again, Neutrogena, for the lovely getaway ;)
If you want to know more about Neutrogena's Fine Fairness line, click on this link.

Officially Launched ;)

I was at Watsons, SM Makati yesterday afternoon for Neutrogena's Start the Year Light campaign launch. There was a photo exhibit of us, eight ambassadors :D

I'm really honored and excited to be part of this group: full of lovely and empowered women :) Special thanks to Hannah of Flaircandy for the photo below:

Thank you also to two of my bestest buddies (KY and Sherry) for being there at the event :D

Childhood friends are really the best ;)

See You Tomorrow? :)

Big day tomorrow :)  

I've attended a lot of events, most especially with my last job as editor-in-chief, and as a fashion/beauty columnist.  But this Neutrogena event is different, since I am part of it.  I'm really excited, and I've invited my childhood friends to join me as my guests.  If you happen to be in the area, do say hi :)

Patty-cakes!

As mentioned in my previous post, I am part of the 8 Key Opinion Leaders of Neutrogena, along with Patty Laurel.  I got to spend the entire day with the 7 other pretty ladies, and shared corny jokes with Patty—which was something we used to do back then when she was part of my staff in Pink magazine...

Yeah, we're corny like that!  Haha... I won't share the jokes here, they have to be verbally delivered with confidence for you to laugh at them ;)


Please read my other blog entry and Neutrogena Fine Fairness facebook fan page for more details of my trip and the product line :D

Happy at Watsons

What do you buy with P10,000 at Watsons?  A LOT!  

Here's hubby carrying five bags full of Watsons loot.  Yipee!

To find out what we bought, click on this link.

Represent!

Neutrogena has invited me to be one of their 8 brand ambassadors :D  Together with Neutrogena, we will help you, our readers, kick off 2011 with an illuminating aura, and a fresh and radiant face to match! 

I invite you to join us in this journey by joining Neutrogena's facebook fan page.  We each have our own mini page, where you can read more about our discoveries as we share them with you.  Feel free to ask away: we would love to hear from you and help you start the year "light."

Little J's 1st Engagement Party

Close Up White Now threw an engagement party last Monday at the Rigodon Ballroom of Manila Peninsula Hotel for my cousin Ian King and Joey Mead, along with designer Rosanna Ocampo and Marco Rodriguez.

My schoolmate from St. Jude Catholic School, Tim Yap, and our wedding host, JM Rodriguez, were the hosts for the night:

How apt that Tim was the bridge for Ian (in Joey Samson) and Joey (in Rajo Laurel).

While JM served as the connection to Rosanna and Marco

Food was delicious!  Music was even better, as provided by hubby's schoolmate from Xavier, Mars Miranda (who was also my schoolmate back in college)

I was caught off guard in this photo, but I just wanted to share with you what I wore that night—a dress by Ronaldo Arnaldo :)  I love his choice of pastels and the whimsical yet very demure design :D  As for my makeup, I was too lazy to get all dolled up, which lead me to using this bright fuchsia gloss from M.A.C. called Magnetique.  It's the quickest way to look all made up ;)  Oh, and I was wearing my wedding shoes (lucite wedges) custom-made by Figlia ;)

And guess who we brought to the party? Little J! :D

Joey hung out with us for a while before we headed home :)

It was indeed a magical night for the two couples and the guests. I love the set-up, and the AVP CloseUp White Now made for them.  Watching them talk about their partners made me feel how much I appreciate hubby and little J :D  Thank you for inviting us to celebrate this romantic evening with you both, cuz Ian and Joey!


Will post more photos in my other blog next week :)