Behind the Scenes with the Misa Sisters

I had the wonderful chance of doing Marquis' makeup again recently. If you read this post, you'll remember that I first met her and worked with her a couple of months back for a fun shoot at a friend's house. However, this time around, I got to meet and do the makeup of her sister, Iya too! A shoot was held for portfolio update purposes and as always, my forever brilliant partner in fashion, Anina was the photographer.

I don't have a copy of the final photos yet but I'd like to share with you the BTS photos and with these, I'm sure you'd get a glimpse of the beautiful Misa siblings!

Prepping the skin

Iya helps out with the hair

Time for makeup change

The photographer waiting for the
makeup to finish

Meet Mateo, the adorable nephew of Iya and Marquis!
Look at that uber cute smile!!!

Of course I had to take a photo with him!

Fierce fashion duo (HAHAHA :P)

MUA and photog with the models
(photo taken by Anina's incredibly supportive bf, Nico!)

Sneak peek!!! Look at those gorgeous smiles!

Will post final photos the moment I get them! =)

P.S.
If you fancy the necklace that I was wearing for this shoot, please do check out Wear Mauve for stylish and chic accessories! Please LIKE their page too!

xo,

Fin

Benefit Cosmetics In Manila!

Word is going around, most rampantly in the blogosphere, that Benefit Cosmetics is indeed coming to Manila... SOON! (insert squeals and cartwheels in excitement here)

If you have read my post on my trip to Seoul, you'd recall how I did not let my trip pass without visiting the Benefit counter and purchasing an item from them. Having a penchant for all things sweet and girly, it really does not come as a surprise why I love Benefit! Apart from their fantastic products, no one could ever really beat their unique and attractive packaging and store layouts. I still can't believe Coralista, They're Real, Bathina and Girl Meets Pearl will all actually be easy to purchase soon!


According to word that has been going around, they will be opening a store in Makati; not exactly sure where in Makati though. I am also wondering if they will be opening a counter/kiosk type or an actual store. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that prices aren't steep just like those from some online resellers here (but you can't really blame them because taxes and shipping fees can be ridiculously expensive).


If you want to be updated with the latest news on their store opening, just Like this page on Facebook!

xo,
Fin

Romantic Luxe

I started this year taking makeup classes and told myself that this year will be all about fueling this passion. It just gives me even more delight being able to fuel this passion with dear friends who are equally passionate with their craft. Proof of this is actually the highlight of this entry...


One lovely Friday afternoon, Anina, Donna and I did a shoot together. It was kind of last minute, really. We were just texting each other Tuesday night and then before we knew it everything was set! Donna, who is a freelance fashion stylist was quick to conceptualize an overall theme and then rummage through her closet to come up with fabulous looks. On the other hand, my photographer friend, Anina was in charge of booking a studio where our shoot was to be held. Meanwhile, I tasked myself to look for a hairstylist that could pull off the peg that I researched. It was quite difficult to get a hairstylist at the last minute but luckily, my other freelance fashion stylist friends Tin and Iris agreed to do it. As for the model, we couldn't have been more fortunate to have Dindi of PMAP agree to join our little project.


And so everything being set, we all met at the studio and immediately started doing our respective tasks. Makeup, of course, was the first thing to be done along with the hair while Donna laid out all the clothes on a rack and Anina started positioning the lights and doing test shots. 


As requested by Dindi, the first look was just a natural look to update and add to her beauty profile.

For the next look, I decided to do a soft smoky brown on the eyes to match the overall theme of the clothes and paired this with pale/pinkish nude lips.

Of course, I would also like to show you the outfit spreads to highlight the clothes. Donna calls the overall theme, 'Romantic Luxe'. The florals and embroidery give the looks that overall elegant feel.

For the last look, since the outfit had darker hues than the previous ones, I decided to change the makeup a bit by making the lips red to magnify the romantic feel. I think it suits the embroidered blazer really well. What do you think? =)

Model: Dindi De Leon

Photography: Anina Rubio

Styling: Donna Gonzales Lim

Makeup: Finella Manuel

Hair: Iris Balares and Tin Ledesma

This post wouldn't be complete without me sharing with you the BTS photos! 

I had such an awesome team that day! Kudos to everyone!

And to the support group as well!

xo,

Fin

Sweet Charity

I was lucky to be part of the Makeup Forever Pro team again yesterday. We did the makeup for the play entitled, "Sweet Charity." It was my first time to do stage makeup and it was a different kind of learning experience indeed! The key tips I learned were:  a) pile on the foundation  b) go heavy on the contour c) intensify eye makeup as much as possible; all of these are key tips because onstage, under those bright lights, probably around 30-50% off the makeup gets washed out. The eye makeup was really our focal point since the play is set in the 60's. The peg for the looks were Twiggy and Sophia Loren, big hair and double winged liner for the eyes.

Sweet Charity is brought to us by 9 Works Theatrical and Nikki Gil stars as Charity Hope Valentine, the lead character. In 1969, when it was made into a movie, Shirley Maclaine played this role and in 2004, Christina Applegate debuted on broadway playing this role as well and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2005.

Simply put, Sweet Charity is a story about a highly optimistic but gullible girl who, despite working as a dance hostess, never ceases to search for true love and always finds herself giving her love to the wrong man. When fate gets her trapped in an elevator, she meets a man named Oscar whom she falls in love with and asks to marry her. However, towards the end when Oscar gets clouded by issues of purity (given Charity's work background), he backs out from the engagement and their relationship is ended, leaving Charity more heartbroken than ever. With the help of Charity's friends at the dance joint, Charity soon gets back on her feet again and begins to live a life happily ever after, full of hope. 

When I got home yesterday and was about to transfer my photos from my memory card to my laptop, I shockingly find that all of the photos I took from backstage and the actual play were all gone!!! :( I don't know how it happened but now I have no more photos. I only have 1 semi-blurry photo from my phone and another one with our makeup team for the day which I grabbed from my fellow makeup artist friend, Jinkee. 

a scene from the play

with the Makeup Forever team

Hope you can watch and support this funny musical! Nikki Gil plays her role excellently and the rest of the cast are spectacular too!

SoFA Graduation Show

Makeup Forever sponsored the School of Fashion and the Arts Graduation Show last Friday, July 29 which was held at The Manansala, Rockwell. Being a graduate of Makeup Forever, I was very fortunate to be part of their Pro Team that did the makeup of the models who walked  the runway wearing the designs of very talented SoFA students.


The peg for the female models was intense bridal eyes (meaning heavy brown) and neutral lips. For the male models, the peg was a rockstar look; intense smoky black eyes with glossy/wet-like lids and defined contour on the cheeks.

Ready to work!!!

I worked with 2 female models and did the retouching of 1 male model.

Model: Agnes Dizon

Model: Blenda Ariola

Model: Carlo
(I redid his smokey eyes. Made it more
intense and glossy)

A couple of photos from rehearsals.

Here are actual photos of the female models during the fashion show. Couldn't find a photo of the male model though.

 Photographed by Konrad Ong

Photographed by Konrad Ong

 Photographed by Konrad Ong

 Photographed by Konrad Ong

Photographed by Konrad Ong

Some backstage photos taken by my camera with the day's Pro Team. So glad to meet new friends who were fellow MUFE graduates!

MUAs at work! (too bad I didn't have my 'at work' photo)

Also, bumped into old friends from high school and college.

Mads Constantino

My high school seatmate who works as an admin

for SoFA. She's camera shy! Too bad we did

not have a photo together!

The fabulous Nica Mendez,
daughter of Jessie Mendez
Their team did the hairstyling for
all of the models and some SoFA
admin members.

After doing makeup, saw my kabarkada

Mica Agdamag who was there to

watch the show