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

A Rainy Wednesday Shoot

Hello! Please excuse me as I am still on my backlog of posts. :) Last June, my friends and I decided to do a shoot at my friend Nica's house. There were no serious plans or preparations whatsoever, everything was just for fun! Our model was the pretty Marquis Misa whom I got to know through my friend Joni. It was my first time to meet her and she's really nice! I'm thankful that she trusted me to do her makeup that day and that she agreed even if it was just for fun.


Here are some of the photos. The photographer was my very talented friend, Anina Rubio! She was assisted by our new found friend, Kevin Cayuca.

The first look was just a natural, 'no makeup' makeup look!

I just enhanced Marquis' already beautiful face.

The second look was inspired by a page from one of Rae Morris's books called 'Beautiful Eyes'.

In the book, she did a winged eye makeup using different shades of blue eyeshadow.

I decided to focus on aqua and since my friend happened to have a sheer aqua scarf

lying around in her house, we decided to play with it. It made the perfect accessory indeed!

The light was too strong. Looking at this photo, I realized I should have 
darkened her eyeshadow and eyelinerto bring more intensity and emphasis. 
This is how we makeup artists learn! We criticize our own work. :)

Below, are some BTS shots. It's always fun when you're working with friends!

Photographer and MUA with no makeup!!!!

 Look who graced us with their presence! It's my beautiful goddaughter, Sjöfn!

Of course, accompanied by her hot momma, Paola!

 It was nice working with you, Marquis! Thank you!

Eating time!

Korea Makeup Haul

As promised, I'm here to give a bit of a closer look at the beauty products I got from my Seoul trip last April. 


Collectively, here's a photo of the stuff I got:

Let's start with the eyeshadows. 


I got an eyeshadow palette from Holika Holika because I was instantly attracted to its colors. You won't get much with a swipe of a finger but it's pretty workable if you apply generously.

Holika Holika Eyeshadow palette

Another eyeshadow palette that I got was from Shiseido's line called Integrate. It's a monochrome of purple with a shimmer and non-shimmer highlighter. Isn't the heart detail so cute? =)

Shiseido Integrate Eyeshadow Palette

For some reason, I got so curious with cream shadows so I got a bunch from different stores like Nature's Republic, Holika Holika and this other store's name escapes me at the moment (forgetful me, as usual!)

Cream shadow pots from Nature's Republic
- These are pigmented but slightly sticky so blending is a bit tricky (hey that rhymes!)

Mini cream shadow pans from a store whose name I forget
- For me, these serve more as highlighters since I mostly just see shimmer

Cream shadow from Holika Holika

- I love how it's brilliantly packaged because it comes with a mini eyeliner at the tip!

I forgot to take a photo with the covers removed but above, a photo of the swatches

can be seen for color reference. While these shadows were uniquely packaged, I find

myself disappointed at these the most because they're too creamy and they crease easily.  

The liner that comes with it is fairly easy to apply, glides smoothly but is not long-wearing

and waterproof.

Now, let's take a look at the mascara I got from Holika Holika.

Holika Holika Magic Pole Mascara
- These work great on my lashes! The way you apply it is to comb
your lashes first with the thin tube-like end then afterwards comb it
again with the ball-like end to add length and drama!

I only have a black gel liner and when I saw that Face Shop carries a brown gel liner that's really cheap, I had to get one!

The Face Shop Gel Liner in Brown
- For the price, I think this is okay already. It's not as smooth as
the Bobbi Brown gel liner but with the right brush, this will work fine.

Korea is very much known for BB creams and there are SO MANY brands and types to choose from. It's overwhelming! So I decided to consider packaging as a factor (apart from quality and finish on my skin of course).

Holika Holika Roller BB Cream
- I just love this! Well, more of the packaging I guess. I just roll
this on my skin to apply and I get an instant facial massage
in the process too! The finish is a bit velvety matte on my skin
and I wouldn't use it for days when the weather is cool because
I find that my skin dries easily even if I apply moisturizer underneath.
No need to worry if the roller sponge wears out because you can
get the refill pack and just change it anytime.

At the Holika store, the primer was strategically placed beside the roller BB. On display, they make it seem like the two are the perfect pair and so I decided to check out the primer as well (yes, I'm easily swayed by such strategic store displays!)

Holika Holika Silky Veil Primer
- The name speaks for itself. It really does feel like silk on
skin when applied!

From the Shiseido Integrate line, I decided to purchase the Aqua Label foundation aside from the eyeshadow palette which was shown earlier.

Shiseido Aqua Label Foundation
- For someone who has dry skin like me, this is very much ideal.
It gives me a dewy look and feel, which I love.

Skin Food in Korea carries a lot of good makeup that we sadly don't have here. Take for example this lipstick called Vita Tok.

Skin Food Vita Tok Lipstick
- When I tried this on, I knew I had to have it! It's a nice
and bright shade of fuschia pink that instantly pops
up your look especially when you're not wearing
blush or eyeshadow. Downside with this one is that
it's not long-wearing and you have to re-apply every
so often.

It's not like I wear a lot of lip gloss so I do not quite understand how I got myself into buying this Face Shop lip palette. :p

The Face Shop Lip Palette
- This is a sheer gloss palette that gives my otherwise dull
and pale lips a bit of color. It's not too pigmented and
long-wearing though.

A stippling brush is often a makeup artist's best friend! You can use it to apply liquid or cream foundation as well as cream blush to achieve that airbrushed look. Sometimes, I believe, you can use it with powder type products as well.

Holika Holika Stippling Brush
- I have only been able to use this with powder blush and it works
fine so far. I have yet to try it with cream and liquid-based
products as I find the bristles too soft and not as stiff as the
MAC 187 or as dense as the MAC 130

With all the makeup I got, of course I had to look into some products that remove makeup too! 

Holika Holika Magic Salt Deep Cleansing Tissue
- Wish I got more packs of this! Cheaper than the one I use
from Neutrogena but removes makeup just as easily.
Of course, I still use a toner after I wash my face to make
sure dirt and makeup residues are removed.

Holika Holika Orangeade Facial Foam
- Because I have always loved the
scent of oranges, it was a must to buy this!
It literally smells like a freshly squeezed orange!

Moving on to the non-Korean brands... I've been hearing raves about Benefit's Coralista blush for so long! It isn't available here and while a lot of stores sell it online, I wanted to try it on my face first before actually buying it. As for the lippies, I just got the Russian Red and Pink Nouveau from MAC because it's ALWAYS out of stock here.

Benefit Coralista Blush
- This is the BEST blush that I have tried so far. I always go
for peachy pink shades when getting a blush and I swear
this one is the perfect peachy pink shade for me!
It has this special type of shimmer that gives a glowing/
3D effect and not a glittery effect that most shimmer
blushes give.

MAC Russian Red and Pink Nouveau

Makeup shopping in Seoul has made a dent on my.. erm, rather, my dad's wallet but even if that is the case, it's still such a happy feeling getting all these new beauty products! Koreans really are big on beauty, however, I just noticed that Korean makeup in general are too shimmery/glittery. It looks good on their skin type but it might not be the case for all other Asian skin types/complexions. But, oh! The great part about going in and out of cosmetic stores in Korea is you get a lot of free samples! I was able to collect quite a bunch! ;)

'Til my next haul!

xoxo,

Fin