This Year's Semi-Obligatory V-Day Entry

So: Valentine's Day.

Five years ago, I wrote this entry to my Unnamed Prospective Valentine - which did not get anyone's attention, and perhaps for good reason. (Bear in mind that this happened in the early days of Teh Internets, when Facebook was just a "killer app" and beauty bloggers were not always obligated to post pictures of themselves.) A few great romantic moments have come and gone since then, but this sentiment remains:

I guess you might have gotten the memo by now that I've stopped waiting for you to come around, have you? It's not that I don't believe that you exist - come on, you're talking to a girl that still believes in Santa Claus[...] it's just that - well, let's face it, neither one of us is getting any younger, and a single girl's gotta start managing her expectations. 

Granted, that hasn't stopped me from doing a lot of stupid things in the name of love (and/or lust), and neither has it stopped me from wondering if I'm doomed to be judged as a neurotic old maid for the rest of my life. Still, the sentiment still stands, and - despite all my doubts, as much as it hurts - I must soldier on.

Which brings me back to the concept of Big, Scary Things.

Randomesticity: Things on My Mind Right Now

Above: I wholeheartedly agree with Coco Martin. Brown sugar in your coffee = yummy! 

- The Manila-based Female Network wants to know: Which celebrity would be your perfect Valentine? This explains why I have that Nescafe ad in this entry... but it's not limited to Filipino celebrities, either! (Hee.)

- Some good news: The stye that I wrote about in this entry turned out to be an eyelid zit that finally - FINALLY - went away this week. Good thing it did, too, because it looks like I should start playing around with eye makeup again to go with the Glosswatch entries.

- More quick updates. Work: not driving me nuts any more. Diet: doing great. Exercise: still getting there, but at least I've started with my walks around the neighborhood again. Hair: finally growing out; got a trim to get the split ends out of the way; had to use dandruff shampoo the other day to tamp down the scalp itch.

- Right now, I'm in the middle of planning a major trip for my upcoming school break... and as much as I don't want to jinx it by giving away too many details, I will go ahead and say that, if all plans push through, I will be spending autumn in the Southern Hemisphere! That's a lot of excitement to deal with here. Wondering what the rest of this madness will bring? Hmmm...

- I am also haunted by these shoes. I can't explain it; all I know is that I spotted their doppelgangers at the Payless Shoe Store (yes, we now have Payless) in Festival Supermall, and the only thing that stood between me and them was my lack of cash. Oh, sweet perfection! Maybe I'll write about them, too!

Merry Christmas from Domesticity!

Insert inevitable joke about cats and shiny things here. (Photo taken at Resorts World Manila.)

Domesticity will be taking a short but overdue Christmas break in order to enjoy the holidays as much as possible before returning with more fun entries and beauty goodies for sharing.

In the meantime, please feel free to check out the Polyvore Mini-Editor feature on this blog to put together your own Polyvore collages for viewing! (I might even throw in more Polyvore stuff before the year ends, as well.)

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings from Domesticity!

Last Song Syndrome: For the Holidays

A few more songs that are guaranteed NOT to drive you nuts whenever you hear them:

Holidays With an Extra Punch

This holiday look from Smashbox intrigues me. 

Taken as a screencap from my email account. 

Here's how to achieve it, from the Smashbox website: 

Apropos of nothing, this is the second time I've mentioned a lip product named "Maple" in this blog. Hm.

Compare this to the "holiday" looks sweeping the Philippine press these days, using examples from Preview magazine: 

November 2010: Cristine Reyes, looking very much like a cross between Maggie Cheung and a cleaned-up Amy Winehouse (not a bad thing, let's face it)

December 2010: Model/ designer/ makeup artist/ reality show darling (and current national girlcrush) Solenn Heussaff;  check out a list of colors and techniques used here

There really is nothing wrong with all three looks, to be honest; mileage always varies when it comes to makeup, so there's no universal rule saying that everyone should only adopt Trend X, Y, or Z in any case. 

Which leads us to the next point: Who says we have to stick closely to the script when it comes to beauty? Maybe you do want to wear sparkly eyeshadow with the flashiest gown in your closet, or maybe you're the kind of person who could pull off a smoky monochromatic mauve with your office-to-party outfit. That doesn't mean you can't shake it up a bit. Maybe you should start with a monochromatic face and add a bit of black eyeliner. Or take the same black eyeliner and pair it with some bronzer and/or shocking pink lips for a little walk on the wild side. 

(Aside: I wouldn't be surprised if Santa handed the perpetually naughty Cristine Reyes a tube of  Nicki Minaj's Pink 4 Friday lipstick from MAC; she could probably pull it off, too.) 

Either way, this should teach us that we can all afford to be a little more adventurous when it comes to fabulousness during this prime party season. Cheers! 

Video Style Moments: The Holiday Edition

Remember when Mariah Carey used to be such a sweetheart?

I still hold the opinion that this is the best video that Mariah ever made, because the clip really matches the retro feel of the song. (The local supermarket has been playing her Christmas album on an endless loop lately, in fact, and it's actually quite good. Her version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is epic.) True, her hair and makeup people didn't have their collective acts together during this time - and I blame Tommy Mottola for that - but the combination of the dress and the go-go boots here is actually cute, not sleazy.

Happy holidays, everyone! Domesticity will be (thankfully) returning to its regular posting schedule as soon as December rolls around this week. :)

Because It's Never Too Early to Plan for the Holidays...

Two entries ago, I mentioned that I wanted this on my gift list:

(Buxom City Slickers holiday set, $39 at Sephora.) 

And because I tend to have a wandering eye when it comes to these things, I thought I could put this on my wish list too. 

(MAC 5 Sassy Neutral Lassies, $29.50; screenshot from MACcosmetics.com) 

That, however, does not compare to some of the things that I actually do want: 

Jillian, you affectionate little meanie, you. I'm already getting 30 Day Shred from Scribey, so this would be a nice addition to my stash of workout videos. 

Also:

OMG BRITISH LAW AND ORDER OMG OMG OMG!!! 

Corny-sounding, I know, but you're looking at the person who will deliberately watch old Law and Order reruns whenever they're on. (But only the first three seasons, though, especially the ones where Chris Noth was still quite hot.) While people may scoff at the UK edition ripping off scripts and plots wholesale from the first few seasons of Law and Order: Original Recipe, I personally think it's a reminder of why the original series was so great in the first place. 

And then: 

OMG MARTIN FREEMAN OMG OMG OMG!!!!!

A friend from NaNoWriMo Philippines recommended this series to me; apparently it has become quite a popular torrent download, which is weird because Filipinos don't always lean much towards the Anglophilic end of the TV spectrum unless it involves Mr. Bean. Also, it has been a while since Mr. Freeman has appeared on my radar - especially after last year's constant marathon of Hot Fuzz - so I'm pretty optimistic about how he does in the Watson role here. 

(Benedict Cumberbatch, on the other hand, will always be on my good side, especially since I'm used to watching him run around frantically in The Last Enemy. I wouldn't worry about his career just yet, is what I'm saying.) 

...Santa? 

The Case for the Shout-Out

We interrupt our usual schedule of off-blog lesson planning, NaNoWriting, and other distractions for some breaking news.

Be In Style has just featured Domesticity in their Best of the Web series, which runs every two weeks with a running theme. This week's theme is "first impressions," and here's an excerpt from their entry 

The blog’s “Video Style Moments” entertain readers while subtly encouraging us to exercise our aesthetic muscles.  Keep an eye out for the microcosm moments where editor Meimei posts thoughtful moments from her life.

Sweet! Once again, many thanks to the staff at Be In Style for the awesome feature story. :)

Also, for those of you who have just found this site, a few pieces of worthy beauty moments...

First, a Face for The Moment.

This picture is from more than a year ago, taken right before I was about to go out for speed-dating. This is actually more of an earthy-style look, with a lot of browns from Stila and a bit of bronzer to go along with the brown-and-orange theme I'm working with here. The whole night was a bust date-wise - remind me to tell you that story about Wow Guy and This Is Not a Job Interview Dude on this blog -  but I ended up hanging out with a bunch of super-cool girls with whom I ended up watching Star Trek with over the weekend. (Wish I'd met them earlier, before the whole move to the Philippines happened. Miss 'em.)

Second of all:

WANT. That's all. If ever, though. (Christmas?)

And third:

I'll admit to liking the mascara and the lipstick (well played!). Putting aside all speculations about Shakira's weight, the crazy wardrobe, and the rattiness of her hair, though: Am I the only person who goes around saying "DAHNCE... OR DIE!" at every random opportunity?

...Just me, then? Okay, then. 

Last Song Syndrome: Let's Not, and Say We Did

Shallow note: I'm not the only one who has noticed the awesomeness of the lead singer's color-blocked sweater in this video, right? Seriously, that is one cool sweater. Even if I don't like the way he's pushed the sleeves up to 3/4 length over his elbows.

In my defense, I've already heard this song on the radio dozens of times before, so it was inevitable that I would hunt down the lyrics and watch the video, which apparently explains... well, everything.

Which then leads us, in a way, to another explanation of why and how it ended up in the Halloween Spectacular:

And I wanna know what happened to your boyfriend
Cos he was looking at me like "woah...!"
Yeah right before the kitchen was a dustbowl
And tossing me the keys and I can't forget how
everything just coming through the windows
and half the street was under my nails
it's like we sitting in the Faraday cage,
when the lights all failed

And now everybody gotta go hungry
and everybody cover up their mouths
And I haven't seen the body count lately
but looking at your faces it
must have been bad - 


(...I'll stop here before we end up at Sandra Lee's house for dinner. *shudder*)

Domesticity Halloween Spectacular 2010

A note from Meimei: 
Now, here's a Halloween entry for you, chock full of shocking revelations and terrifying twists. Unfortunately, I had to put this entry under a break due to the sensitive nature of its contents - especially when you consider  that the bulk of this entry contains memos and documents retrieved from the offices of TLC Southeast Asia (and/or possibly hallucinated by yours truly during a Dairy Milk binge) which may prove to be extremely scandalous. If you have a low tolerance for scandal (and/or satire), proceed at your own risk...

Fun With Screengrabs

Dear Lush:

From this year's collection of Lush Christmas products. Drool. 

If I buy this lip balm, does that mean Bob Blumer will show up at my house and make out with me?

(Or at least tell me that he has created his own version of Razon's Halo-Halo using bananas poached in maple syrup. That would be awesome. And hot.)

And speaking of Lush:

This ad actually showed up on my blog a few days ago (thanks, Nuffnang) and immediately I thought, "Dang, they finally made a drugstore version of Coalface?" Mind, I've never washed my face with any kind of black carbon technology whatnots, but I did learn from reading Lush Times that the black stuff is often recommended for folks with oily skin. That's enough for me to buy the "cleansing impurities" angle, since I've seen a lot of girls out here with all sorts of acne problems regardless of skin color.

Now if only we could get the marketing monkeys to admit that they're only using the "whitening" angle to sell product that actually does nothing for pigmentation...

Happy Mother's Day, Everyone

Give your mom a break this weekend and treat her to something nice, for a change. :)

In the meantime, here's the seriously wacked-out video for Kelis' "Acapella" - one of the most moving and danceable songs about motherhood since Lauryn Hill's "To Zion."

Happy Easter 2010 from Domesticity!

Seriously, there's a cat in my back yard who looks exactly like these guys.

And also: LAMBS!

Credits: Lambs from BBC.co.uk; bunny photos taken from a forwarded email about pets who look like bunnies, and vice versa.

Holiday Gift Guide, Part 2: Pinoy Holiday Gifts

Apologies for the lag time; I've been preoccupied with some stuff relating to my new job in January (spoiler alert!) and now I have to prepare for BroMei's upcoming visit to the Hacienda this week. On to the entry currently in progress...

Mmmm, puto bumbong! (from ClickTheCity.com)

Unfortunately for us, you will not find any puto bumbong, or any other holiday treat from the Philippines, in this entry. That's because we're turning our attention to our Filipino friends and relatives overseas, who are either terribly homesick or at least curious about the big to-do about anything Pinoy-related. There has been a significant increase in product quality for many "Pinoy" products in the last few years - be it products from Philippine companies, or goods created by Filipinos for the international market - so now's a good time to check 'em out.

(Disclaimer: No samples were provided by the manufacturers for this story. Yep, not even the manufacturers of puto bumbong... darnit!)

For the glamazon Pinay: While the Filipino fashion press continues to rave about our countrymen conquering the global market (Monique Lhuillier, Rafe Totengco, Bea Valdes, etc.), not much has been written about makeup-artist-to-the-stars Mally Roncal. Leaving aside any theories about ethnicity and aesthetic taste here, I think that part of the reason why she's been slept on in the local press is because her eponymous line, Mally Beauty, has yet to be made available locally... or at least legally, through an actual brick-and-mortar Manila retail outlet. Until that happens, though, let me save everyone the trouble of going through QVC by providing some Amazon Associates links to a few Pinay-friendly Mally products.



As an extra bonus, here's Mally extolling the virtues of a quintessential Filipino favorite: Jufran Banana Sauce! (From one Pinay to another, Mal: Jufran has always been considered "ghetto ketchup" in this household! Bless.)

For the glamazon Pinay, TFC edition: As tacky as it would be for me to suggest a "skin whitener" in this blog, I have to throw some love to the celebrity-endorsed Belo Essentials skincare line. For one thing, I have a (non-Filipino) friend who's super-impressed by the moisturizers in this line, which were developed by celebrity dermatologist Dr. Vicki Belo and her BeloMed team.* Then there's the Smoothening Whitening Bar, which recently got kudos from Preview's Best of Beauty awards for being an excellent exfoliating soap for the shower. I won't recommend these products for their original purpose of "whitening" (unless you really want to look like Sammy Sosa - and, seriously, no) but I can recommend it for evening out pigmentation issues on most Filipino and Asian complexions.



*And as of November of this year, the Belo Med team no longer includes this guy. FINALLY.

For the nationalist Pinay: You've got your Pilipinas shirts and national-hero wallets... so why not show more love for your country with some Pinoy-lovin' bath products? This is where the Human Heart Nature brand comes in: their organic ingredients are sourced from the Philippines, including plants and herbs grown by Gawad Kalinga residents in community gardens. (No surprise, given that the folks behind the brand are the daughters of GK founder Tony Meloto.) The current Human Heart Nature online store ships mostly to the Philippines (with international shipping via FedEx for an additional fee), so those of you who are interested in the line can start with the Christmas bundles, which feature sets for everything from lip balm and body butter to insect repellant and hand sanitizer.

For the spa-loving Pinay: Another emerging Filipino brand, Leyende Organics, works in a similar vein as Human Heart Nature: biodegradable, sulfate-free organic products for hair and skin, produced as part of livelihood projects to benefit members of the community - in this case, single mothers and disadvantaged women. In Leyende's case, however, these efforts translate to the production of gorgeously packaged, spa-worthy products with cheeky names like Mother Butter lotion (with cocoa butter) and Cool Hand Soup hand sanitizer. The current Leyende online store ships mostly within the Philippines (check here for brick-and-mortar outlets that carry the line) but international customers can purchase gift packs from Filgifts.com - saving transplanted folks lots of dough on shipping, packaging, handling, and individual pricing for certain products. Awesome. :)

And, on that note, we shall conclude this year's edition of the Domesticity Holiday Gift Guide. Will be back soon after Christmas with a proposed entry on how to tastefully recycle one's Christmas gifts. Toodle-oo for now... and hope you have a blessed, beautiful, and thoroughly happy Christmas holiday season!

Holiday Gift Guide 2009, Part 1

Evidence above to the contrary (that would be The Eraserheads, BTW), you will not find any fruitcake in this year's holiday gift guide. Nor will you find any of your typical Christmas-basket giveaways like scented candles, wine, or any other gift that you can find from everyone else's basket. What you will find, however, are some excellent gift-giving finds, beauty-related and otherwise.*

*Disclaimer: Some items in this entry are marked with links via Amazon Associates, where indicated. No press samples were furnished by the manufacturers for any of the products mentioned.

For the new moms: Apart from The Scribes, this year has been a particularly fecund one for most of my friends, who have been blessed with their own long-awaited bundles of joy. Since I'm one of those silly auntie-types who enjoy spoiling other people's children, I like to buy high-quality baby toiletries - it's my way of saving mommies the hassle of buying baby bath stuff in case the little one develops an allergy or any other aversion to the usual drugstore swag. Some of the cute new lines I've seen in the market include The Body Shop's Buriti Baby and the Grandma Minnie's line from Pinoy brand VMV Hypoallergenics (pictured at right) - both of which work exceptionally well for moms, as well.

Also, because I can't resist product names that get to the point, there's always this American classic:

You read that right, folks: One whole pound of Butt Paste. If this doesn't change your life, I don't know what else will.

For your lovely hosts and hostesses: Inevitably you will find at least one person on your gifting list who will end up camping out in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning up. You can, of course, offer up an edible gift... or you can also lend a hand in the kitchen by offering up some festive cleaning supplies. Fruits and Passion, for example, offers up the Cucina line of kitchen staples with planet-friendly ingredients; their dishwashing liquids look like bubble baths for plates. F&P products are easily available in the Philippines (among other international locations) and online in North America, but you can also go the budget-friendly route with Method Home (gotta love the gorgeous bottles!) and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day (like Kiehl's for your kitchen!) - all of which come with equally unexpected scents to go with the cheery packaging.

Coming up next: The best gifts for your transplanted Filipino friends.

The Meimei Wishlist

Dear Santa Claus:

I understand that you're probably tired of me asking you for the same things year and after year, always wondering why you haven't given them to me. Well, I'm going to give you a bit of a break on that front. For one thing, I've been talking to God lately, and He already told me that He's going to take care of the whole career/lovelife stuff that I've been asking for every year, so you can breathe easy. Second of all, I'd also like to funnel my DVD and book requests through my regular wish list on Amazon:

What can I say, HTML is totally my friend.

This leaves us with a few more wishes that I'd also like to share with my readership, if you don't mind. (Note to readers: I'm sharing these because I know you could use some nice gift ideas for you and your loved ones, too! And you gotta agree, these are some of the best for the year.) So, where do we begin?

- An iPod. Specifically, the iPod Nano - okay, so I could take or leave the new video-camera function, but for once I'd like to have a player that I can sync up with my growing iTunes library on my laptop. That includes the podcasts from FitMusic and Motion Traxx, which I'd like to take with me on my walks... and those could easily turn into runs, promise! Throw in a bunch of iTunes gift cards and we're golden.

- A full size bottle of Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. I'm saying this because the sample I got from SisMei last Christmas is almost finished - yep, that's what Philippine humidity has done for my makeup routine, and for once I'd like to leave the house with a non-melted face. Come to think of it, Smashbox just came out with the appropriately-named Smashbox WISH For A Flawless Complexion set, which has the full-sized PFP and its travel-sized buddy! Excellent.

- Any brush set from Sonia Kashuk - the more brushes, the better. The Twist of Fate brush set looks pretty nice; the Brushed to Perfection one looks equally practical.

- Dress sneakers. Not stilettos (okay, not right now - see next entry), and not running shoes (because mine are still good), but some Chuck Taylor-esque sneaks that I can wear around town... and especially to the places where open toes are verboten. I'm currently checking out the Superga Torino (left) and the Cartwheel by Simple.... though, to be honest with you, I'm a tad more partial to Simples because their sizing has always been super-forgiving for my feet.

- And while we're at it, a near-bottomless supply of good insoles - especially if it means that I can continue wearing the cute shoes that I already have in my arsenal right now.

- Any of the fragrances from the D&G Anthology: Right now I'm partial towards 18 (La Lune) or 10 (La Roue de la Fortune), which sound like they'd be great for my weather.

- A little bit of everything from my favorite Fall/Holiday collections from this year, to wit:

• MAC: From the Style Black collection - Greasepaint Stick in Black, Mineralize e/s in Gilt by Association, Nail Polish in Baby Goth Girl (which I am so trying to recreate with the drugstore nailpolish here); from Magic Mirth and Mischief - Dazzleglass in Phiff!; from Baroque Boudoir (pictured above) - oh, who am I fooling here? I want EVERYTHING.
  
• Shiseido: The Alexander Wang collection, hands down! Or, to be more specific, the eyeshadow and lipstick used in the Japanese TV ad with Anna Tsuchiya.
  
• Urban Decay: The Urban Decay 24/7 Super Stash - because, well, hello eyeliner!
  
• BeneFit: The Benefit Cosmetics Celebutante kit, because the colors look like they could all work wonders on me.
  

- A much-needed shopping vacation in Hong Kong or Singapore. Yep, it's been a while since I've been to HK and SG... and as much as I want to visit Bangkok, too, it doesn't look like the political sitch over there is going to work out any time soon. Besides, I'd like to know how much they've changed since my last few visits during my teens... and if I can make it to either of their shopping holidays, I'm gonna be so pumped.

- A much-needed vacation, period. Okay, scratch that - my post-HNL down time here in the Hacienda counts as a vacation. Seriously, though, I've got a long list of places that I want to visit while I'm on this side of the planet, so I'd like to find the time - and the necessary wherewithal - to get those trips on my calendar this year.

- A better blogging strategy. In fact, I'd like to start posting on a schedule, too... but first I must find inspiration, and then I will find time.

- A car I can drive. It'll be a matter of months before that Philippine driver's license finally makes it onto my hands, thanks to all the practice I'm getting with my Dad's SUV. (Sorry about giving up on stick, Santa, but you understand.) We can talk about specifications later, but for now I'm looking at something midsize, fuel-efficient, and easy to take out on long hauls.

- And, of course, The Usual: peace on earth, good will to all, an end to all forms of poverty, and a bottomless supply of love and laughter for everyone, especially for the ones I love the most. Hugs and cookies help a lot, too. :)

When Every Day is Halloween

Above: Freddie "Batman" Roach and Manny Pacquiao, putting the fear of God into Miguel Cotto.

(Posted in several boxing forums and on Photobucket.)

Last week was the kind of week where every single day turned out to be Halloween: dog drama, Aunt Flo, too much sleep, not enough good TV*... and then, the typhoon that damn-near ruined everything, from hanging out with Bakeks to visiting our dearly departed at the cemetery on Halloween morning. (Thankfully, this one went by mercifully quick.)

Because the week was already packed to the gills, I missed out on dressing up for Halloween... but that didn't mean that I had no costume in mind.

Thanks to Taaz, I have decided that I am so going to dress up as Karma for next year.


*Which reminds me: whoever programmed this to be shown in chopped-up hour-long chunks should be punished. I mean, hello - Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in charisma-killing wigs? And the teenaged, acne-ridden Rafe Spall - as Tim-sized as possible, before he lost all the pudge - nearly matching them at every step? Not fair, people.

Happy Easter 2009!

Because nothing says "Easter!" like LAMBS!

And also:

Presidential Puppy-to-be Bo, courtesy of whitehouse.gov.