All posts filed under: Personal

Growing with vs. outgrowing makeup

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It seems a little absurd to me when I realise that my obsession with — or even just consumption of — makeup began about 10 or so years ago. I came out as a lesbian*, was depressed but undiagnosed, with a freelance career that was good on paper, but gave me no routine or stability. Blogging about makeup was one of the things that helped me feel sane. It was a distraction of the best kind, even though it may have led to several impulse purchases and an undeniable overconsumption, the realisation of which led me to kind of let go of engaging in the beauty community. But, still, my stint in beauty blogging helped anchor me to the world so that I did not topple over the edge of my sadness. I look at makeup and beauty through a vastly different lens now, but I don’t even think I recognised it as a life line at the time. Blogging about beauty was just one of the things I could do where I had nothing …

Making space for makeup

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Hello. I’ve been meaning to make a comeback on this little slice of the Internet for a while now, but I think I kept getting stuck on the why. It made little sense to resurrect a space that was dedicated to makeup and beauty when I had slowly been, in a way, weaning myself off of it over the last couple of years. Which isn’t to say that I’ve stopped consuming or using beauty-adjacent products… I’ve just reined in the monster, so to speak. I moved to London to pursue a masters degree in late 2017, bringing along some key items, with full intention on moving back home once the programme finished in 2019. Well, I’m still here, and the collection I’ve amassed is back home in Manila. At some point, I did a “big” clear out, and I intended to bring some more of them back here, but I haven’t been able to leave the U.K. since late 2019. Anyway, my point is, I have so much crap and I can’t use them. Which …

Softly, again

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Uh, hi. You might (?) remember me from years ago when I wrote a lot about beauty. Likely in a curious, albeit misguided way. I locked this account away at some point for various reasons I don’t feel like getting into now, but the beauty bug. It has bitten me once again. Not in quite the same way, and certainly, the first initial sting never left me completely. But, I was over it for a while (it felt too consuming, if you can believe that), and now I’m not. So, hi. I’m in the process of cleaning up house here, but I wanted to just say hi, a bit. I guess? I don’t know. This all feels very strange… First thing to get out of the way is that I’ve moved continents on account of school. So, I don’t have a lot of makeup with me and I don’t plan on accumulating a lot more (although I did a spot of shopping here and there, of course). I look like this now: While I was …

A couple of FOTDs and a hi!

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Long time, no see. I don’t know if you remember me (haha), but hi! I haven’t been around because… I haven’t been buying new stuff and I guess I went through (am going through?) a few crises at the moment that don’t leave me much time for beauty pursuits. I’m making an effort again, though. Because it turns out that I actually really like doing this. So, hi! Again. So, I guess I wanted to say that yes, I’ve been wearing makeup still though not as much as I used to, and no, I haven’t been taking care of my skin as well as I ought to, maybe. I’m working on it, though, do not judge. I’ve been wearing a few staples lately, though, namely the Urban Decay Naked 3 and the shu uemura ME medium brown 885 mainly, for eyeshadow. I’ve also been going to town with winged liner. I like it! For this look, I wore my OCC Cosmetic Colour Pencil in Lydia, but I took this after I got home from dinner …

A Blogging Break (Kinda, Not Really)

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Hey all! As some of you may have noticed, I haven’t been replying to a lot of the comments in a timely manner. I’ve also fallen off checking my fave blogs lately. Some time late last year (or I should say, just this December), I started a bit of my goal setting for 2015 and like a lot of people, I had grand plans to make my year better than the last.

Happy New Year

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Hey everyone! Happy new year. 🙂 I’m going to go back into the swing of things. The holidays really threw me for a loop. I have an irrational fear of being unproductive but at the same time, the holidays really exist to get together with friends and family and to spend time with them. So no more to feeling guilty! We had a family photo (my dad’s side/extendeds) and it’s kind of funny but I kept going back to old faves and reliables. Here’s a not-so-great photo of me, my sister, and our dog, Noah, that I nicked from her Instagram account: I’m wearing Ellis Faas Skin Veil in S104L*, Ellis Faas Concealer in S204*, LMdB Eye Brightening and Setting Powder in Refresh, NYX Blush in Taupe, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette (Dim, Incandescent, and Radiant Light), NARS And God Created the Woman Palette (Alhambra and Galapagos), K-Palette 1Day Magic Liquid Eyeliner*, Nature Republic By Flower Auto Eyebrow in 2, NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bahama, and FALSIES. :0 I’m wearing Red Cherry Lashes …

On not giving a shit:

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When I first got into makeup, I didn’t think it would make me think this hard. I know that’s kinda funny, but it’s true. I’ve had many episodes of what felt like existential crises, all thanks to something that most people would deem frivolous and shallow. And OK, maybe these personal observations and this “”inner turmoil”” are pretty petty in the grand scheme of things… but even deeming that shallow is part of what brings about this line of questioning. Let me explain: Makeup and beauty have always been linked to vanity even if we, as beauty lovers and enthusiasts, know that that’s not always the case. Still, this outside judgement somehow makes me feel guilty, sometimes, even about just merely liking makeup. One of my earliest posts, Makeup Raves from the Unlikeliest, kind of delves into that incongruity of my apparent personality and this sudden interest in makeup. There is a stigma attached to makeup that automatically stamps people who are into it as rilly, rilly shallow and ditzy people. Then, I feel really …