Latest Purchases

I'm asked all the time about my latest purchases. Lately, there hasn't been much to discuss. I'm trying to save for a fabulous birthday present to myself, coming up next month, and also for, well, let's just say goals.

On Saturday, I went for my hair appointment, which I felt like canceling, due to a cold I caught the day before. However, my hairdresser doesn't actually mind having sick clients, and I'd already canceled 2 times before this appointment. And I needed to have my roots retouched-bad! I love being a redhead, albeit an unnatural one. I'm a proud Filipina-American, so I'm not cursing my naturally black hair, but my fiery dramatic personality fits that of a redhead stereotype so well! Here are the results of my fresh red color:

I can't believe I've been putting off buying the Maroon 5 CD, It Won't Be Soon Before Long. For a long time, I kept thinking, I'll buy it later. During my long commute to work and back home and the long workday, I found myself turning up the radio whenever a song from this CD came on. Well, it's about time I got it then. So now that I decide I want it, it's hard to find. Overstock.com ran out, and the multiple Target, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart stores I've visited didn't have it. I finally searched on Fry's Electronics website, and I found that a store about 13 miles away had one left. Yesterday, despite my cold and feeling s*itty, I headed there. I mean, what else to do on a Sunday afternoon? Right away, I ripped open the plastic and played it in the car: "6 foot tall, came without a warning, so I had to shoot him dead, he won't come around here anymore, come around here, I don't feel so bad"...OK, enough. I love Adam Levine!

Fashion's Night Out LA-9/8/11

Going into the East Coast trip, I knew that I had to make a choice: 1) Spend minimally, then spend as I normally would upon returning home (moderately, with the occasional splurge) or 2) Splurge, then spend minimally for the next couple of months after returning home. I chose #2. And being that I was in New York for a few days longer than planned, all the more I need to really stick it out. So far, I've been good. Other than the once-daily lunchtime meal (yes, I can cook, but I really need my time away from the office) that's always under $10, all I'd spent was $18.99, on a car wash.

I nearly stayed home during FNO, but the invitation sent to me by Christian Louboutin was too convincing. So on Thursday night, I stepped out in my brand-new batik python No Prives and headed to West Hollywood. I arrived a little early, so on my way, I stopped into Maxfield. Maxfield is a very Gothic-looking boutique. With as many mentions as they get in the major fashion rags, you'd think they'd be much bigger than they are, but the boutique is actually quite small. No matter, though. They carry the most cutting-edge labels, like Givenchy and Stella McCartney. Their clientele is major. The sales associate with whom I spoke told me many of the store's clients were in New York for the "real" FNO. We had a chuckle about that, agreeing that there are just some things that NY has on LA, and fashion is one of them. Let's not start another argument here. I still think LA is a great city and is better than NY in some ways. For example, the weather and entertainment is unbeatable in LA. Anyway, temptation struck, in the form of a dress by Dries van Noten (image is from nymag.com). I've seen his dresses before, in Barneys, but I never tried them, thinking they were too funky for my taste. I almost wish I didn't put this one on...because now I want it! There are so many occasions for which this dress could be worn, and it fit me perfectly! I had to pass...just had to. Luckily, by the time I took the dress off, it was time to head to CL, which was a 5-minute walk away (but on this night, it took me 10 minutes, with the shoes LOL).

The party at CL was awesome! They served Grey Goose cocktails and delicious snacks, including grilled cheese! They do love their customers, and we all got cool gifts from Frederic Fekkai and Make Up For Ever. After spending some time in CL, I headed to Chanel on Robertson, where they served champagne. I made a beeline straight for the nail polish counter, where I picked up the 3 colors of the Les Jeans collection. While I was examining the colors, I look to my left to see their nail polish model: a tall dark-haired young lady, who was none other than Kendall Jenner! After I got my polish, packed up in my first-ever Chanel shopping bag with white camellia ornament, I wandered around the store. It's a beautiful boutique, with an outdoor sitting area, so very LA.

OK, so I splurged just a little. At least I contributed to the cause of FNO, which was to revitalize the economy by having fun with fashion ;)

On the Prowl for More Christian Louboutin

What's with the corny title? "On the prowl"? What animal would you think of? How about a leopard? I was on the prowl for a while, but gave up. I was lurking on tpf one day, then I happened to come across some info: the leopard Madame Butterfly pump was being reissued! I jumped on it immediately, even prepaying for them, which I never do...but this is an exception. The reissued version is darker than the original, as you may be able to see from the photo on the right, which is of actress Jamie Chung sporting them (photo came from http://celebrityfasion.onsugar.com/).

Also, notice anything else from my modeling pics? OK, I'll tell you. My legs and feet are slightly darker than before (check out the side-by-side comparison with the photo of me in my Chloe sandals, which I bought back in Feb.). That's courtesy of Jergens Natural Glow. I'd seen the ads for them and decided to finally pick it up after seeing tubes of them on a display shelf at Wal-Mart last night. I'm gearing up for summer--I'm determined to wear skirts and dresses this year!

Killer Manicure...at an Affordable Price!

At the suggestion of my sister, we headed to CVS today. She wanted to pick up a set of Sally Hansen Salon Effects. She was wearing a set of them today, in the "Skinny Jeans" color, and it looked awesome. Since CVS Extra Care card customers also got an extra $3 off $10 cosmetics purchases, I picked some up, too. I got 4 sets for $30, including sales tax! It's so much cheaper than getting a Minx Nails manicure at a salon, which can cost you upwards of $65 (although I have to admit that Minx has more variety in design). And it's very doable at home! I tried them for the first time, and within minutes, I figured it out. See the results in the pic on the left.

And Mom's doing well. Her surgery was finished in less than an hour, and she is up and about like she normally is. She didn't even need her pain meds! Yay, Mom!

Bad-A$z

I had a particularly rough Friday (yesterday). I nearly cried, as I always do when I find that the loyalty I give to my friends isn't returned. Late that afternoon, I just suddenly had this urge to get a mani/pedi. Fortunately, there's a nail salon by my house that does a quick, yet thorough job for just $20, so I ended up there. I was settled on black (to go with my mood), but then saw this gorgeous deep slightly shimmery burgundy. The sticker on the OPI bottle that has the color name was peeled off, so I can't be sure, but I believe I've had this color before and it's called "Midnight in Moscow".

I was still feeling rotten today, so as I settled into my Saturday night routine of watching "48 Hours Mystery" (I see absolutely no point in celebrating the weekend in Hollywood with the crowds and receiving bad service in restaurants on these nights), I decided to play with my new babies, my Christian Louboutin black Clou Noeud platforms, with the 150 mm heel. I normally wear a 38.5 in CL slingbacks, but these are a 39. They're actually doable, but I put some gel pads that I picked up at Walgreens inside them just to make them fit a little better, and they do. I hate to reveal the sources of my purchases publicly, but I got these on sale! I had been told by a very rude Christian Louboutin Miami staff member that they sold out more than 3 months ago (I'm NEVER buying anything from there-he was sooooo rude in the way he spoke to me), but they turned up somewhere else, and now they're mine! I put them on today and posed with them (I even did the pose inspired by Lovely&Amazing from tpf), and I just felt so bad-a$z wearing them, even in my $4 sweatpants purchased from KMart LOL.

Ah, the transformations made possible through the simple action of putting on a shoe...

the 2011 Holiday guide of Guitar World (former Playboy model/ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner/reality TV star/Las Vegas performer Holly Madison wears my shoes!)

Chanel Nail Polish, the Ultimate Filler During My Self-Imposed Ban

After a shoe purchase made for me via a friend who traveled to Asia (arriving this weekend!), I decided to refrain from buying any big ticket items for 3 months, starting 8/4/10. Technically, I could make as many of those purchases as I want this week, but decided to start early (unless something really catches my eye in Las Vegas, where I'll be from 8/1/10 to 8/4/10).

What to do in the meantime? Find a worthy splurge. There are so many, but one I particularly enjoy buying is Chanel nail polish. I picked up Nouvelle Vague a few weeks ago and loved it--it's too bad they were sold out by the time I caught on. I got the last bottle from Neiman Marcus Topanga.

Yesterday, as I was reading Allure, I came across an article in the magazine devoted to the cult following of Chanel nail polish, which is where I learned about Paradoxal (see pic above and to the right-sorry it's sideways, I don't know how to fix it). It's a gorgeous dark purple, featured in the new campaign. So after work today, I went back to Neiman Marcus Topanga and saw that it was gone. I hurried across the mall to Macy's, where they had 3 bottles remaining. I snatched up 2 and was talked into also buying Inimitable mascara. It's actually the answer to my problems-long lashes that just need to be separated! No wonder my friend MK loves it!

"I Decided I Was Beautiful"

The February 2010 issue of Harper's Bazaar features an article on Gabourey Sidibe, the actress who stars in the movie Precious. This movie is about a teenager who has been sexually abused by her father. The movie got great reviews, but besides that, what much of the media has focused on is the fact that Sidibe is overweight.

So this article talked about how confident she was, despite her weight and the fact that in Hollywood, there is so much pressure to be thin. One of the things she said in the article was that people often ask her how she can be so confident. She answers by saying that the confidence came from within, and that it started when she just one day decided that she was beautiful. So instead of moaning about her weight, she wore makeup and clothes that made her feel pretty.

Today, I decided to do as Sidibe does. Instead of wearing my usual scrubs, I put on my black V-neck James Perse T-shirt and new Joe's jeans. The T-shirt's neckline is flattering, and it's also sooooo comfy. The jeans are of the perfect blue wash, and I had them hemmed to my specifications. And the outfit was completed with my Christian Louboutin studded Very Prives :) Though the T-shirt wasn't revealing, it was form-fitting enough that everyone could see my real shape, which is sort of on the curvy side. For just a second, I thought that I shouldn't have worn it. But I decided quickly to take a cue from Sidibe and just embrace it. Living in LA, it seems like every woman but me wears a size 0, and I feel huge standing next to these women in line at Coffee Bean or at the next table in restaurants (particularly in Hollywood or Beverly Hills).

It's great to be healthy, but why waste time wishing for someone else's body? Where is it written that you have to weigh 80 lb to be happy? I can't wear mini-skirts, but so what? My legs aren't my best feature, but my boobs are pretty fantastic ;) I can wear a T-shirt and jeans and still be sexy (and I truly believe I was today).

The Louboutin Manicure

When I saw the Louboutin manicure mentioned on The Purse Forum, I decided that I wanted to try it. Here's a description of it: http://www.fashionista.com/2007/04/louboutin_gets_nailed.php. It's basically a manicure with a twist: red nail polish underneath the nail plates. I am a fan of Christian Louboutin, love having manicured nails, and am actually able to grow long nails, so why not?!

I had several bottles of red nail polish in my medicine cabinet, so I was set on that. However, I had just one bottle of black nail polish, OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. Since I hadn't used it in some time, I brushed a couple of nails with it and decided it was too purple. I had been wanting Chanel Black Satin for some time and just got a $100 Neiman Marcus InCircle gift card (their reward for me spending too much money there!), so I headed to my nearest Neiman Marcus (which is only a 10-minute drive from my house--extremely dangerous!). I picked up Black Satin (after browing the shoe department and talking with my favorite Neiman Marcus sales associate, of course) and headed home.

I brushed Essie Fishnet Stockings underneath my nail plates, then brushed Black Satin on the tops of my nail plates. I didn't want to have polish going into my nail beds, so I just did the very tips.

The results are shown here, along with my studded Very Prive shoe. Now, I'm not a beautician by any means. It might've turned out better if I used a different red or a different black. Also, if I grew my nails out longer or got acrylics, it might've looked better. But that's a no can-do for me. I can't have acrylics at work, plus I think they'd be too overwhelming for my little hands (not to mention the potential for fungus and infections, yuck!). My creation didn't turn out exactly like the picture or what I thought it'd look, but at least I tried.