Finally, TheBluePurse.com!

Hey friends!

Finally, this website looks like how I have always wanted it to look. It has been quite a long journey, spanning two years, actually. I bought the domain name back in 2011, with the intention of having a separate blog for my interests. I have been blogging since 2002, first on Livejournal, and then eventually on Tumblr, but I then felt the need to keep the Livejournal strictly personal, and the Tumblr strictly for short, random posts. I wanted a place for my many obsessions and I wanted it to be a full-fledged blog. Thus, TheBluePurse.com came to fruition.

Now content wasn't a problem, because that's my forte. Brief history: I've been a print and online magazine person since the start of my career. However, I needed a lot of help with other things, so a few thank yous are in order.

The first person I turned to was my online friend Chrissie aka Kaoko of Kingdom Cow, who I met up with a couple of times to obsess about bento. I bugged her to no end about domain names and hosting in those early days when I was still considering a new blog. Thank you Kao!

I also scouted around for a bit, trying to decide if I wanted hosting and checking if there were good, affordable options. I asked my former officemate Reynard a ton of questions time and again about it, until I came up with a decision. Thank you Nerd!

Then I went to my former officemate Dweky for initial web development help. I may have known about websites a long time ago, but by the time I was contemplating this site, my skills have rusted to the point of no return. He helped me set up the site, from the domain down to embedding. He also helped me with the template of my wedding blog at the same time. Thank you Dwek!

My friend Cielo also helped me out with some search engine-friendly tips. I haven't been able to fully pick her brain about it yet, but I've already started implementing the few things she has advised me on. Thank you Cie!

Next was web design. I have quite a few web designer friends but they were all really busy. Eventually I decided not to be a hassle to them and to look for professional services instead. I stumbled upon Cla of Pixel & Ink, and saw that she was doing graphic design work now. She has actually been an online acquaintance through Kaoko since the Livejournal days, so I got in touch with her, and thankfully, she remembered me. I enlisted her help (and business) officially, and then things started rolling. I have to say that Cla is just awesome. We were done after a couple of drafts and a few minor tweaks, and I only gave her a brief summary of what the site's about and a vague idea of what I wanted -- a header that was minimalist but pretty. Then I sent her pics of my stuff and she came up with this lovely-looking thing. She was very proactive, sending me mock-ups so I could see how things would look, and even made me sidebar images to go with my header. She was also very accommodating with my requests and was helpful when I had questions. Plus she was patient when I got busy with my wedding and took a long time replying to her emails. At the end of it all, I was very surprised that The Blue Purse turned out to be so me, and it's all thanks to her. I thought I'd put this out there in case anyone comes looking on the web, thinking about getting her services. Thank you Cla!

Of course my last thank you would be to my wonderful husband Aleq, who always encourages me to pursue my interests and always looks out for my happiness. He has been very supportive throughout this whole process. Thank you bubub!

p.s. A big thank you also to all my friends (especially Sheva and Alex) who have been supportive of The Blue Purse, even during its initial stages. You peeps rock!

Now that's done, here we go.  

Beauty Barrage: Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber Collection in Make U Smile + OPI Dating a Royal [Throwback Thursday]

Since Throwback Thursday has taken over the Internet, I decided to do it for the blog. I've tried a bunch of products way before I made this blog, so I thought it would be fun to take a look back on the ones I really liked. Some of them  may not be available anymore, but I still have and use some the products, and these blast from the pasts can serve as inspiration for colors or looks to try in the future. The trick would be to find alternatives/dupes for them.

Let's start off this back to the future thing with nail polish. Here's a look at the Make U Smile shade from Nicole by OPI's Justin Bieber One Less Lonely Girl collection and OPI's Dating a Royal, which is still available at the OPI website.

Toy Nerdiness: Toy Con 2013

June 14 and 15 was all about toys! I went on the first day with my friend Jaja and her friend KC (Aleq told me to go and find my sonic screwdriver before it was gone), and then I went on the second day with hubby Aleq so he could experience it too. It was a blast! Here go the pics.

Somebody looking for the AllSpark?

Aleq and I found it. 

First purchase of the first day 

Makeup Madness: Up Close - Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon

In a past life (a very recent one, heh), I used to do beauty product reviews (among other things). It was the best job ever, since I got products to try out for free and write about them to boot. However, it was also what it was - a job. I sometimes got entire collections of products and I had to swatch them and try them all. I had to give everything that passed through my desk a fair chance.

Now though, I can do whatever I want, yay! I can just talk at length and rant and rave about one product at a time or acquire just one lipstick out of an entire line because it's the only one I want. I don't have to worry about not being too technical (cold, warm skintones and all that jazz). I can choose to write about all the components of a single look, or buy and talk about an entire collection if I want to.

So I'm starting off the makeup madness with a rave about my newest lipstick - Revlon's Colorburst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon. It's one of the four new colors that Revlon released for the summer (along with Juicy Papaya, Sorbet, and Pink Lemonade) and I've been on the lookout for it ever since I found out about the new colors from YouTube's Missglamorazzi. When they finally arrived in the country, I took a look at the four shades and still decided on Wild Watermelon. I've recently had my fill of orange lipsticks so I've been looking for a red one for regular days. I couldn't wait to try it, so I don't have any decent pics of the lipstick in its just-unwrapped glory. I just took a couple of hurried pics in the car before putting it on.

Makeup Madness: A Neutral Experiment Products

Hi! I haven't updated in a while, but that's because I'm working with somebody on the design for this site, among other things. I remembered just now though, that I never talked about the products I used in A Neutral Experiment. I promised I would ramble on in detail about the products, and I will, just not today. For now, here's a quick rundown of the main stuff I used in that look for those who want to know.

Dior Addict lipstick in Beige Casual
This is my favorite my-lips-but-better lipstick.

Origins Liquid Lip Color Duo in Pink Sands and Sangria Shimmer
I used the Pink Sands tip only for the look. This gloss provided a bit of shine to the natural, neutral color from the Dior lipstick.
 


Wet n Wild Eyeshadow Palette in Walking on Eggshells
This is one of my favorite everyday palettes!It just gives a natural, no-makeup look.

Shoe Love: Nike Dunk Sky Hi Mesh in Total Crimson/Bright Mango

I got me some Nike Dunk Sky Hi Mesh wedge sneakers in Total Crimson/Bright Mango! I love them to bits. They were a completely unexpected find, but in a way, this purchase was expected too. Here's why.

I've always been a sneaker girl. When I was a kid, my favorite shoes were blue Mighty Kids, white World Balance high-tops, and Converse dinosaur Chuck Taylors. When I grew up, I got into flats, heels, wedges, boots, and other kinds of shoes, but I still had sneakers. I would troop to the annual Converse sale every year with friends just because it was fun to snag something from there (like these blue lace-less slip-ons and these white rainbow low-tops. Some really pretty Pony sneakers once served as a bonding moment for me and my close friend Emz. And my then-boyfriend now husband and I once gave each other classic black high-top Chucks for our anniversary. I also have a pair of pretty pink Keds that I wear very rarely and cannot find a pic of because of reasons.

What I am not though, is a collector. I'm way into other aspects of fashion - like clothes and shoes and accessories and makeup and bags to - to commit to just sneakers. This is why, aside from the Nike Sister One trainers that I use for the gym, I don't have other Nike sneakers - or Adidas, New Balance, Reebok, etc. for that matter. I figured that had to change, but my rock sensibilities always drew me to Chucks. 

One night however, the husband and I were walking aimlessly around Mall of Asia killing time before the Aerosmith concert when we happened upon the Nike store. He always checks it when he can (like me he is also a sneaker lover but not a collector) so that night was no exception. He didn't find anything he liked though, but I saw these really bright wedge sneakers! 

Now, I really like wedge sneakers. I thought original Isabel Marant ones were fabulous, and back during my stint as the editorial director of a fashion website, I wrote about them tremendously, as well as the first alternatives that popped up. Check out the articles after the jump.

Game On: Lego Lord of the Rings for the DS Lite

Finished Lego Lord of the Rings yesterday! Got it last weekend at DataBlitz Paseo Sta. Rosa. I saw a lot of reviews online that rated it low but I also saw a lot of forums where players discussed how they disagreed with the reviews. 

I loved it. Of course I love anything Lord of the Rings and I even have the Gandalf Arrives Lego Set, so I must admit that I'm severely biased about this. It is simply such a fun game to play! It's fairly easy, though I did have to look up a couple of hints online for some areas where I couldn't figure out what to do. When it gets hard it can get quite annoying, but I've tried games where I could barely finish the game due to the level of difficulty and I hate those. This game only took me three days to finish, and I didn't even go on addict mode and lost sleep and time over it. I like that it wasn't that kind of game.

In story mode, you get to play as everyone in the Fellowship of the Ring. Each character has a specific skill set that you need to utilize to get through certain areas. The character switching can be pretty irritating at times especially on boss levels (watch out for the one of Legolas and Aragorn vs. the Watcher in the Water at the Mines of Moria) but I got the hang of it eventually. Disclaimer: I'm not the best gamer ever so I do think someone with better skills can have an easier time of it. Of course there was Lego-building action throughout the game, which added a totally different dimension to it so it isn't just straightforward RPG.

I also really enjoyed the humor! Lord of the Rings has a real serious story, but the game creators inserted some fun snippets in the cut-scenes in between all the serious stuff from the movie. [Spoiler alert!] The opening scene alone where Galadriel was talking about the nine rings of power was funny - one of the kings dropped the ring and tried to get it back with his foot! The characters also show off their newly leveled-up skills with a bit of comedy -- Aragorn got nicked by his sword Anduril, Gandalf couldn't get his staff out of the ground, etc. 

I do wish the game was a little bit longer, and that there was more stuff to do to get through levels. I've seen the YouTube walkthroughs for the PC/Playstation/Xbox versions and they look a lot more awesome. But hey, this is a DS game, and it did manage to entertain me from start to finish.