Makeup Madness: Up Close - Wet n Wild ColorIcon Eyeshadow in Sweet As Candy

Hello! I haven't played with makeup in a while so I did today. It's about time I got some makeup reviews on here again anyway. I'm starting off this comeback to makeup love with Wet n Wild's ColorIcon Eyeshadow Palette in Sweet As Candy, which was from my collective beauty haul back in December.

This blog will tell you that I'm a lipstick girl, and not an eyeshadow kind of girl. A lot of days, I just put base on and then swipe some color onto my lips, and I'm good to go. Eyeshadow for me is for days when I have the time and the energy to make an effort. This is why I haven't really invested much in eye makeup, but I do have some go-to drugstore eyeshadow palettes that I should really get more use out of.

The Product

I have three Wet n Wild ColorIcon Eyeshadow Trio Palettes in my makeup kit, and they're definitely on my must-use-more-before-they-expire list. I like them because they have great color combinations and they make eyeshadow application easy. Each handy palette comes with three eyeshadow shades, marked Eyelid, Crease, and Eyebrow. Like the Wet n Wild site says, it takes the guesswork out of eyeshadow application. It's easy. I already used one of the palettes before -- Walking On Eggshells -- in a look post. [See A Neutral Experiment, and A Neutral Experiment Products.] My most recent Trio acquisition is Sweet As Candy, because I realized I didn't have sweet, pink eyeshadow.

What drew me to it is how girly the color combination is. It's for those times when I want a break from neutrals, but I still don't want strong eyes. 

Random Cravings: Binondo Treats

Exploring Binondo was a blast, and we got to take home a few treats from the Chinese pastry shops in the area to boot. This post is all about those treats, which we are actually planning on coming back for soon. Our stash ran out within a couple of days -- well, we got some for family too, we didn't keep everything we bought -- but it was all just so good. Here's a rundown.

Custard Hopia from Eng Bee Tin
I had no idea this existed until my friends opened the cooler at Eng Bee Tin and I saw hopia packets labeled custard and ube. Hopia is a sweet filled pastry. There are a ton of varieties and fillings, but the custard one is new to me, and let me tell you, it was insanely addictive. The husband and I just loved the cold custard filling. It kind of reminded us Camiguin's pastel, but with softer pastry.

Beauty Barrage: Pomegranate Showers

We're certainly feeling the heat here in the tropics now, and I feel like taking a shower ten times a day! It's super hot, which makes it a good time for me to talk about some shower gels I've been loving. 

Pomegranate shower things have become permanent fixtures in my bathroom. I've never seen an actual pomegranate, but I like pomegranate bath stuff. I normally go for citrus shower gels, but when I stumbled upon these pomegranate products, I was surprised that the fragrance was to my liking. Though technically a berry, the pomegranate's fruity scent is also somewhat citrusy, so I guess that's what it is.  

Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Nourishing Smoothing Body Wash in Pomegranate + Rice, Marks and Spencer Warm Pomegranate Shower Gel with Added Moisturizer

Home Base: The Life Domestic - Our First Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary yesterday! We seriously don't know where the time went. Our anniversary fell on an awkward day this year though. It came on a Monday right at the tail end of Holy Week. My family usually just stays home to reflect and have a bit of quiet time on those days. We also didn't want to celebrate with the Easter crowd, and then we started having car trouble over the weekend. After all that, we decided to just restaurant-hop in the city and enjoy our favorite places. One year and counting!

The day started with a long and leisurely brunch at Cafe 1771 in El Pueblo. We sat at Whimsy -- the cute, bright, and utterly charming cafe area of the restaurant.

Fashion Candy: My Wedding Dress and Shoes

Hi! I've been busy lately just trying to finish our wedding documentation on our wedding blog, That Happy Day, before our anniversary comes up. (Yes, it has taken so long!) My most recent posts there have been about my wedding dress and shoes, so this is another "when worlds collide" post. I'm sharing a bit of it here, but please head on over to That Happy Day for all the happy details and more pictures. 

Dress by Edwin Uy
Shoes from Vivienne Westwood + Melissa via Geleia

Trippin': Exploring Binondo, Manila's Chinatown - Church, Crystal-shopping, The Wai Ying Experience, and Bakery-hopping [The Cityscapes Series]

Last week, April 9 was a holiday (Araw ng Kagitingan), so my friends and I took the opportunity to have an urban adventure in Binondo. It is the country's Chinatown, and is actually the oldest Chinatown in the world, dating back to 1594. A lot of ethnic Chinese live there, and it is a place brimming with awesome and unusual food, as well as unique stores with great prices.

My friend Cielo -- who is part-Chinese and knows the area well -- thought up and organized the entire thing. Our former officemates Verns and Luis joined us, along with my husband Aleq. (The last time I was in Binondo was actually with the same group of people plus our other former officemates, and that was years ago.) It was a fun day exploring a part of Manila that I don't know well. Here's the story.

Binondo

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Retro Blue

I have retro blue nails this week, thanks to the nail polish that my friend Sheva got me during a stopover in Thailand (on her way to India). It's an old skool kind of blue, but it's bright enough for summer.

It's Maybelline Color Show Nail Lacquer in Shocking Seas. It really doesn't remind me of the sea in any way. It's more of the kind of blue that you find in old porcelain teacups or china, that sort of thing. It is shocking in the sense that it's a really attention-grabbing bright blue though.

Purse Peek 040814

Summer is making me break out all my colorful stuff, and for weeks now I've been using my orange Cole Vintage satchel. My bag is a lot different these days because of the change in seasons, so it was definitely time for a "What's In My Bag?" post. Here we go.

What's in my orange Cole Vintage satchel?

Makeup Madness: Up Close - Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous

Summer's here! I will probably keep saying that until the rainy season comes because I love this season! The heat is horrific, as usual, but everything else about this season makes me happy -- the sunshine, the ice cream, the bright colors... I can go on and on. This season also means I can wear orange lip color 24/7. It gets me in the mood for sheer but bright makeup, and there's no better time than now to have orange lips.

In the Lipstick Tag, I mentioned the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous a few times. That's because it has taken the place of what used to be my everyday orange lipstick -- Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti. I use it at least a couple of times a week, and I'm using it even more these days because it's summer, but I never wrote about it here. Finally, here's a proper post on it.

The Product

This lipstick comes in a retractable crayon form. It makes application fun, and packs quite a bit of product in the tube. It's supposed to be a moisturizing and softening balm with color that applies as a stain.

Food Trip: Maple - First Visit

I've been curious about Maple since it opened in Shangri-la's new East Wing. I've heard that it's owned by the same people who own Pancake House, which I have loved for years and years -- only, it's an upscale version of the all-day breakfast place. The day came two weeks ago, when a friend suggested we have dinner there. Well, it was an interesting experience. Read on.

THE VIBE

Maple's a cute, homey place. It has a country sort of feel to it, but polished and not as casual as Pancake House. When we were there (a weeknight), it wasn't crowded at all. In fact, it was just me and my friends plus two other tables.

View of the restaurant from our table