Last Song Syndrome: Full Swoon Mode

I've said it before and I'll say it again: When I heard "Not Over You" on the radio for the first time, I honestly thought that Prince just came out with a new song.



The only thing more shocking than finding out that this is the first single from the new Gavin DeGraw album is learning that he co-wrote this with Ryan Tedder... though I will admit that all bets will be automatically off as soon as Prince decides to do his own version anyway.

But really, it's good - as in "stop the car, I need to finish this" good - which I rarely do for many of the songs played on my local indie-music station, and even less so for songs that are so blatantly "poppy." This makes me feel like I'm 18 again... and who doesn't want that?

Face Time

An update on "the procedure": My face is actually healing quite nicely - not a lot of scabbing now, but I still need to put cream on to get the remaining red marks under control. Still trying to stay away from the sun, though (not that hard to do with typhoon season underway) and makeup - apart from a little lip gloss - won't be an option just yet.

Other than that, I'm actually back at work: my actual job has started up again with less stress (finally), my fiction-writing hobby is more manageable, and even my blogging is now up and running with a vengeance.

So, since I'm back on my feet (but not with my usual face), I've decided to share a few YouTube makeup tutorials with you.

The Case for The Basics: Your Dermatologist

The story started back in mid-April, when I went to the friendly neighborhood dermatologist's office to get myself a facial for the first time. My skin had been bothering me a lot in the last few years, but - healthcare expenses being what they are - I decided that this would be a good time for me to get checked at The Derma.

Right away the assistants knew that something was horribly, terribly wrong with my skin.

The signs of sun damage, while not entirely visible, were manifesting in gross and disgusting ways. My skin was getting rough, and the spots that I thought were sties in my undereye area were, in fact, a manifestation of something more insidious.

I can't go into much detail here, because I know that there are medical terms here in the Philippines that are always questioned Stateside... but I do know that our family has a history of invisible, age-related benign growths that practically have to be burned and/or lasered off before they start spreading all over the body.

That's what prompted me to get an estimate for the procedure from the dermatologist herself, right before I was due to leave for New Zealand. She concluded that the growths have already started spreading around my face, especially in the under-eye area. It wasn't urgent - in fact, she wasn't taking any patients until June - but I knew that I had to have this done when I got back, just so I could get it out of the way.

Finally, I got the "procedure" done yesterday, and... well, details after the jump.

(Warning: The rest of this entry is not for the faint of heart. Proceed to read at your own risk. Also, we do not recommend reading the hot-guy sections of this blog after the jump, for the same about-to-be-obvious reasons.)

Bang On

Right before I left for Auckland, my Mom handed me her round brush and a bottle of Finesse hair spray, telling me to curl my hair under because my hair looked limp and flat. Since that moment, I'd resolved that I would remedy that situation in any way possible.

Unfortunately, "any way possible" was not possible in the Southern Hemisphere, where I spent most of my time in New Zealand with hat head. Things were a lot better in Sydney, since I was able to use a blowdryer and shine serum (and a visit to Bondi Beach) to their best advantage... but it still did not give me the desired touchable, bouncy look.

Since I still wanted to volumize my hair without pulling my shoulders out by blowdrying it on my own with a round brush, I went for the next best thing: A curling iron.



This is the look that I'm currently trying to master with my existing curling iron (part of the Rowenta Imagin8 set) - the only difference being that I use the smaller iron because my bangs are much shorter and finer. I still need practice, to be honest, but it's definitely a step towards de-frumpifying myself for the coming months.

Pictures of this experiment are forthcoming.

Domesticity Retail Mini-Roundup: The Most Wanted Shoes in Metro Manila

The sales clerk at Payless Shoes in Festival Supermall was totally not kidding.

She told me that these shoes used to come in every color - not just purple, but black, blue, and red - but eventually they sold out at every single branch. Then Payless brought it back again, by popular demand, and it sold out so quickly that buyers at the SM Megamall branch were practically fighting over the last few pairs. Agawan po, ma'm, she said, conjuring up images of women snatching shoes out of each other's clutches.

And, she also added, this was the last pair in my size.

Payless, people. Not Prada, not YSL, not Marc Jacobs, not even Kenneth Cole. Payless.

I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. PhP 1,150 for a pair of purple stiletto platforms that are destined to drive my parents crazy, just for the impracticality alone.

The saleslady asked me if the local shoe merchants have tried to make their own version of these babies. I told her, sadly, "No."

Domesticity Retail Mini-Roundup: A Preview

The long national nightmare is over: After four months of pining and yearning, I have finally managed to land my personal version of these dream shoes at my local Payless store.

More about them - and why they're considered the most wanted shoes in the Philippines - in an upcoming post.

In other news: Meimei finally gets a curling iron. Also another post for another day, since the pictures aren't exactly what we'd call "flattering" right now.

Domesticity Moments: Queenstown, NZ

For those remaining readers of Domesticity whom I have not alienated after that last entry about The Hotness and Captain Tightpants, I give you... one of the less-sexy photos taken of myself during this whole entire trip.

Breakdown, from the feet up: Running shoes by Reebok (now totalled, RIP); men's jeans by Levis; Gore-Tex parka by The North Face; scarf and hat from an NZ chain store that had them in sale (2 for NZ$10). The green suitcase is mine, and the red one belongs to my cousin JuniorMei.

I look like I'm going snowboarding here, but let's face it: Queenstown at this time of year is cold. As in, bone-chilling, sweater-layering, cannot-be-cured-by-a-Starbucks-hot-cocoa cold. (The Hotness was never an option, but even if he was... hello, still colder than a deep-freeze.) It may be warm and toasty in the hotel room - warm enough to convince you to ditch that parka - but step outside and you'll be forced to run in and throw on the bulkiest layer in your wardrobe. The only thing missing here is an awesome pair of gloves, which sucks because I still don't know how to shop for 'em.

But seriously: This is what one gets when one travels to a resort town that's practically a stone's throw away from Antarctica. 



So how does one cope with cold weather like this - besides copious amounts of hot tea, throat lozenges, and an awesome pair of gloves?