There’s no doubt about it, Urban Decay’s Alice in Wonderland is by far the prettiest and most photogenic make-up I’ve ever laid eyes on it’s so pretty I want to live inside it! But first things first, I’m not about to make a review or a tutorial because I know nothing about applying make-up I don’t know why I’m even buying make-up to begin with.

(But okay, I’m lying, I do know a thing or two about applying make-up, I kinda enjoy coloring my face with it, and I do know that Urban Decay has got the best eyeshadow palettes out there. As a matter of fact, I’ve been using UD’s Sustainable Shadow Box as my daily ‘shadow for months now and it has not failed me EVER. And now I’m just happy to give that good ol’ thing a break, Alice saves the day.)

So I’ll just take photos instead. Because Alice is pretty. And these are the kinda stuff I’d like to adorn my blog with.

Also, I know that I’m one of the few lucky ones in Manila who get to have Alice ahead of everyone else, so yeah, this is just me making you girls die of envy. *insert evil grin here*

OAN, if you want real, credible, useful reviews and swatches, head over to Liz and Lauren‘s blogs, they’re actually the ones responsible for my ongoing love affair with Alice in Wonderland. (Thank you, ladies, for inviting me and Mara to order with you.)

• Review & Swatches: Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows by Lauren
• Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland by Liz

Now please please please take me out to coffee so I get an excuse to leave the house and wear make-up.

For someone who works at home and does not need make-up on a daily basis (and who doesn’t know how to apply make-up, LOL), I spend an awful lot on cosmetics, especially within the last couple of months. In the past two weeks alone, I have splurged on trips to Beauty Bar, SM Department Store and Rustan’s, as well as tried some items from Mineraux. Now I’m left with a bunch of makeup, some of which should be enough to sustain me for the next couple months, some I just wanted to try and test but didn’t work, a couple I don’t need at all.

Here are the items from my recent make-up sprees that I’m going to keep: (1) MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 in NC35 (edited: selling this now) (2) MAC Holiday Collection’s 6 Sorceress Eye Shadows (looove it!), (3) Smashbox Eyelights in Smokebox, (4) Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Foundation Primer, (5) L’oreal Mattifying Minerals Finishing Loose Powder in Natural 01, (6) L’oreal Mineral Blusher, (7) L’oreal Telescopic Clean Mascara, and (8) In2it 2-Way Foundation SPF 25 in Warm Beige.

Just thought I’d share, so you’ll somehow understand why I need to do this blog sale. Lol. I mean, come on, do the Math. :D

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I bought a body form for TheDreamerie last month coz I initially thought I was doing this whole online boutique thing solo and without a resident model to work with. But now that I’m working with a partner, we both agreed to use real people as models in our product shoots.

I’m sure I’ll still have a use for this mannequin in the future. But for now, I play dress up in my spare time, much like playing with a life-size doll. Hence the mannequin’s name, Barbie. (Yes, I name stuff, deal with it.)

Here’s my own live version of Polyvore. ;)

I abhorred purple my whole life (because it reminds me of Barney), until recently. I’d like to think of it as Xaris‘ crazy addiction with anything purple rubbing on me. Now, I’m crazy about the color too! Not all hues of purple though. I don’t like flashy neon purples. Instead I like the deep shade of plum. (And you know how much I like it with blue.)

Today I put on Barbie these girly colors of pink and plum, balanced out with some yellow gold, bronze and brown.

Knitted muffler from Zara; Brown leather belt from Petit Monde; Purple faux leather purse from Fold and Hung; Floral printed skirt from *ehem* TheDreamerie *ehem*, thrifted

I’m addicted to skirts that are worn as tube dresses.

Also, I’m addicted to skirts and dresses with pretty patterns and fabrics, that even though I don’t like the cut, or it’s too long for my liking, I’d still get it off the rack because I can’t stand turning my back on something so pretty. (Is there some cure to this form of obsession?)

Other than the lovely fabric, there are a lot of things you can do with this skirt so I thought it was worth stocking it up in the shop. It’s garterized and has draw strings, which makes it wearable as a tube dress, or a skirt that falls up to mid-calf, or a high-waisted skirt. And you can just imagine the many colors you can mix and match with this skirt’s pretty floral print!

It reminds me of Reese Witherspoon when she was Melanie Smooter in Sweet Home Alabama. She went back to her home town wearing a black-and-white floral printed mid-calf skirt, a plain black off-shoulder top, and black pointed knee high leather boots. Ahh, I totally digged the Southern look.

How about you? What’s your latest obsession? :)

The other day, Feanne posted this lovely photo of herself wearing this vintage rose-pattered long-sleeved top she purchased from the first collection of dresses in the shop. :)

Later on, I found an outtake in her tumblr account:

Isn’t she pretty? :)

Pay her a visit, you won’t regret it, she’s a brilliant artist: Site | Tumblr | Deviantart

It has been a blast since TheDreamerie was launched three weeks ago. I admit that venturing into something that would generate extra income was among the major reasons why the idea of putting up an online store came to fruition (not to mention finding an outlet for my unavoidable impulsive shopping sprees, but that goes without saying). However, I realized as I went about finding clothes and dresses to put up in the shop that the real profit in this business, more than the money, is meeting new people and finding items that would inspire others to express themselves through their clothing.

Is it so weird that I’ve developed a certain attachment to the clothes we put up in the shop? Ahhh, especially after naming them as if they’re our children! Conversations like, “Have you sent out Fiona to Liz already?” or “This dress looks like Seraphim to me.” or “Yay, someone is getting Janice!” are normal everyday YM exchange between me and Marian, as if we talk about real people and not clothes. I guess what I’m trying to say is, more than the thrill of shopping and being surrounded by pretty vintage clothes, I’ve grown to love the idea of finding these dresses someone to take care of them.

Such is how I felt when I saw Feanne’s self portraits. It made my heart swell with joy knowing that this rose-patterned long-sleeved top, which used to be hanging in some unnoticed rack in the corner of a thrift store in some old building in the city, which I later named “Old Rose”, is now in good hands.

I thought seeing these photos was the sweetest thing that happened that day.

Thanks, Feanne. If I knew you before, I would’ve named that vintage top after you. :)

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Meanwhile, we recently launched our Third Collection over at TheDreamerie.Com. Do drop by, you might find something you like. :)

So I went birthday gift-shopping for R last week. It’s a long delayed post, but I really wanted to post this one because I’m curious to find out what gifts you girls give your boyfriends, boy-friends, and/or brothers on special occasions. I once said that women are easy to find gifts for but I mostly said that in comparison to finding gifts for men.

Guess what’s in the box?

I mean, sure, one can always disagree that it’s a challenge finding men the perfect gifts. There are a lot of items you can wrap to give to the men in your life depending on budget — from as simple as necktie, socks, baseball cap, mug, t-shirt, fountain pen, to as lavish as an expensive watch or an iPod or a gadget he happens to be googling or checking out in gadget stores whenever he gets a chance — I can name a few. But I wanted to deviate from the normal gift-giving and find something special that Rico will both need and want (and no, he doesn’t need more gadgets.)

Having gone through all the clothes boutiques in the mall still unsatisfied with the shirts I got, I found myself in probably the only store left that I haven’t looked in: the hardware store. And there, in some quiet corner where people don’t often go to, I found the perfect gift.

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