Beauty Barrage: Up Close - Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer

This is an extremely happy post because my favorite moisturizer and I are back together! My last tube of the Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer expired this month, but for some reason I couldn't find it anywhere! I went to Pure Beauty, which is my go-to shop for it, but both of the Serendra and Alabang stores as well as their online shop didn't have it. I've been to several beauty stores the past couple of months looking for it, and it was nowhere to be found. The online stores I buy from didn't have it either.

I messaged my friends and asked them to let me know if they saw it anywhere. After a month, my friend Cielo found it at S&R! (Thank you so much Cie!) It's a huge relief because I really love it and I don't really feel like doing the trial-and-error thing with moisturizer again. My skin responds with forehead bumps whenever it doesn't like products, and since I've been repairing it from dryness lately, I didn't want to give it more problems.

I know this seems a little over-the-top that I'm so thrilled but discovering this moisturizer really changed my outlook on skincare. Seeing the difference it made on my skin made me want to take care of my skin more. I've talked about it in some posts before (check out Cold Weather Friends and Muji and Aveeno Loot), but I realized I have never done a full review of it. Ladies (and gentlemen), here is my story on this moisturizer.

For the Boy: An Introduction + Suits 101 with Bonobos

Happy Friday! It's an interesting day because I'm starting a new blog series called For the Boy. It will be made up of entries that will mostly be about men's style, but can also be about anything guys like, from toys and accessories to grooming products and such.

It all started with an email from men's clothing brand Bonobos, and I thought, why not? I always keep up with men's fashion, not just because I love fashion (you know I do) but the husband keeps tabs on men's fashion as well. We have email conversations about clothes and whatnot, I have a Pinterest board on men's fashion that I show him from time to time, and we both pay attention to Tumblr and Instagram posts by GQ (check out this post from them on Bonobos). I've featured him in a bunch of Clothes Spin entries here too! You can count on A to contribute some guest posts to this series in the future.

If you have a guy in your life, this series will hopefully give you some inspiration on style suggestions for him, as well as gift ideas. If you're a guy, then you might find this series interesting, as it is all about you!

Oh hello

My first For the Boy post is all about suits, featuring the Bonobos Spring 2014 Suit Collection. It was such great timing because A just posted today about the suit that he wore at our wedding. [Head on over to our wedding blog, That Happy Day, to read it.] Quite a few of our friends are getting married soon as well. Gents, you might want to check this out for your suits, as well as for your entourage attire.

Black tie

Bonobos' VP of Design Dwight Fenton sent over some suit tips and tricks for a great fit:

• Fit is the most important detail for a suit. Marry that with classic color options and quality fabric, and you have a great-looking versatile suit for every occasion. 
• Fit starts with the shoulders: The jacket should grab your shoulders snugly but not be overly tight. if the shoulders fit, pretty much anything could be adjusted.
• Length matters: To determine the appropriate length, you should be able to cup the bottom of the suit with your arms by your side.
• Show some shirt: A flexible but general rule of thumb is to have a quarter-inch of your shirt cuff showing. If you're wearing a heavier cuff, like a French cuff, you may want to show off a little more.   

It's all about the fit!

The Bonobos Spring 2014 Suit Collection piqued our interest immediately because it's an attractive, modern line, and yet it also has some classic and timeless pieces. There's a lot of range in this collection. There's a variety of cuts, designs, material, and fit. There are suits for the conservative guy (done in a contemporary cut), for the regular stylish guy, and for the loud, adventurous, out-of-the-box guy. They also came out with some fun, colorful neckties, bow ties, and pocket squares (which A and I have a soft spot for), that would be terrific for warm weather affairs.

  Color is good!

The husband is sitting beside me while I'm finishing up this post, and he's loving that I'm geeking out over suits right now. Here's the rest of the look book, after the cut.

Bookworming: Doctor Who - Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell

I've been going through books like mad lately, and the last one I finished is Doctor Who: Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell. I'm a Whovian, so when I saw this book at Fully Booked, I knew I had to have it for my Doctor Who collection.

This book is a part of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary collection, where each Doctor has his own book. Ten (played by David Tennant), is my Doctor, so picking a book among the eleven books was a no-brainer. I was a bit hesitant because the plot involved Donna Noble, the Doctor's companion that never quite made it to my list of favorites, but that little detail was easily overlooked. This is a novel about the Tenth Doctor, and I wasn't going to let it slip by.

Clothes Spin: Color Play [Throwback Thursday]

Hello! I haven't posted a Throwback Thursday entry in a while, so I decided to do one today. I haven't been taking any recent outfit posts or even done a post on Instagram OOTDs, so this is a reminder for me to catch up with those soon.

My husband and mine's anniversary is coming up and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today, so I'm posting about a dress I wore during our post-wedding staycation last year. This frock is a little schizophrenic like me -- half of it is colorful, and half of it is black.

Color-block Joey Samson for Human dress, orange watch and black sandals from Cotton On 

Makeup Madness: The Great Lipstick Destashing Project

Ever since the Lipstick Tag I've been meaning to do this post. I recently faced the daunting task of trimming down my lip color collection, and I talked about it a little bit in that entry.

How many lipsticks do you own?
I currently have 32 lip products (including balms, creams, scrubs, and gloss) in my makeup stash. I think it's a pretty well-rounded collection. I have enough to keep me from being bored, but I also don't have too many that I don't get around to using it all. I just let go of 32 though, so before yesterday, I had 64. I realized that it was too much for me, heh.

I've been a lippie addict for as long as I can remember, but after a while, I felt like I had too many products just sitting around not being used. I love lipstick for the pop of color it brings to my face and its ability to transform a look, but it's no good when they're just sitting in my makeup collection, looking pretty. I got rid of 32 tubes/tubs/palettes because I have either used them up, or they have expired, or they simply weren't good to begin with.

 Destashed!

I'm not going to let them go without talking about them though. Some of them were well-loved, while some have been languishing in my makeup box for a while, pitifully ignored. I figured I'd post a rundown of everything, and what I think of them. Check out lip stuff from Fresh and Lush to Etude House and Forever 21. I've included mini-reviews as well as some swatches.

Beauty Barrage: Up Close - The Body Shop Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream

Remember my post on my cold weather friends? The Body Shop Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream was one of the products I talked about in that entry, and I promised to post a full review after a couple of weeks of use. Well guess what? It has been about two months since I started using it, and it's time to share my thoughts.

Bookworming: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Awhile back I was complaining on Twitter about how I couldn't find The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan anywhere. It's Book 1 of the Heroes of Olympus series, which is a spin-off of the Percy Jackson series. It was really weird how every bookstore I went to had all the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books (even all the books of the Kane Chronicles, which is the author's other series), but this one book was nowhere to be found! When I inquired at Fully Booked High Street they even told me that they had one last copy but somebody bought it a few hours before I arrived. Talk about tough luck! I eventually found it in faraway Fully Booked Alabang. Crazy.

Yes!

I started reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series last year. I didn't know if I would like it so I got the e-books first, but the story hooked me in almost immediately. I lost a ton of sleep for a few days, reading all five books one after the other. I have always loved Greek Mythology, so these books are so perfect for me. 

The first series was so good I felt like Percy Jackson and the other demigods' stories didn't have to end after five books. I'm glad the author thought the same and went on to create the Heroes of Olympus series. The adventure begins again with The Lost Hero, yay! I decided not to get the e-books this time around and start building my Riordan library and get the actual books.