Where's Your Jacket?

                     

I'm a Hawai'i girl, but I can't tell you how much I love love love the cold weather. I fell in love with it when I experienced my first Winter in Stuttgart, Germany. I can't explain the feeling I had when I noticed the cold rain turning into hardened drops of slush falling on my head, then after a minute of wonder looking at the sky, finding those slushy chunks (I could make into shaved ice with some strawberry li hing mui syrup... Mm mm), transform into light fluffy ice crystals - suddenly descending in slow motion, lightly landing on my face of discovery and excitement. If I close my eyes I can be transported back to that moment reliving every sensation. I marvel at the work of God when I think of that LIFE experience.

Thus my love for winter wear was born. I can be in Summer Hot Hawai'i or anywhere in the world and I will always have a winter jacket close by just in case. (I can hear my Filipino mother in my head right now asking, "where's your jacket?") You have to be Filipino to understand. Hah! 

When the sun sets in Wai'anae - the Westside of Oahu, where I was raised, the nippy salty breeze takes over and I get to wear my fury friend again.😊 #syntheticfur #btw #winterweardontcare

My Human Barbie Doll

Hello Lovelies,

Today was very special because my baby cousin, Ci came over. Remember the girl I wrote about in my second blog, with the Angelina Jolie lips? Well, this is her. 

Ci is my baby cousin but in my reality, she's my baby sister. We've been through childhood together... lipsyncs to Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover" was one of our fave activities, sleepovers, family dramas, holidays, boyfriends, banquets, food cravings, proms, break-ups, manfriends, weddings (MOH's), babies (my labor and pushing for 4 hours! "Wake up, Ci! Here comes another contraction! Hold my leg!" TMI? lol!), etc, etc, etc...

One of my favorite things I used to do when we were kids was put make-up on Ci - my human Barbie. Yes, I'm obsessed with Barbie! I think I stopped playing with her when I was 14. But that's a story for another time... 

When Ci came over our house in Waianae Valley, I would always experiment with her looks. I'd put make-up on her, do her hair, then take pictures of my masterpiece. 

I was her make-up artist and hair dresser from her very first Waianae Intermediate banquet to her wedding day! I'm so honored. 

So, here I was thinking about what my next look will be for this week's blog and I come across this pic...

All these trailers are airing about the Boy Next Door starring J.Lo and I saw this one interview with her looking amazing.

I loved it!

As I was prepping to do this look for myself, I get a text from Ci: On my way. 

She came over and I asked her to come join me while I do this J.Lo look. As I was putting on my foundation, I looked at Ci and I lit up like I did when we were kids. "My human Barbie!" I was like, "forget about me, let's do your make-up for your party tonight!"

She agreed to it like always. (My ever submissive beauty specimen... mwah ah ah ah ah! "Let's see what we can do with you now, my precious...")

She already had a base on so I decided I would contour her face with foundation.

I used Cover FX foundation to Contour: 

Highlight: 2 shades lighter on her center forehead, nose bridge, under her eyes and chin.

Contour: 2 shades darker to sculpt her face. I lined the hollows of her cheeks, side of her forehead, temples and jawline.

Then I blended it all together with my fingers and a foundation brush. 

Concealer: Bare Mineral's Well Rested

Eyebrows: Anastasia's Brow Wiz in Dark Brown and clear gel.

I just followed the natural direction of her brows and defined her arch a bit.

Eyes: I used a white frosty shadow all over the lid, then a white matte shadow to tone down the shimmer. I used Urban Decay Naked's beige color over the whole lid again, then the taupe shadow to define the crease of the lid. 

Eyeliner: The Face Shop liquid Eyeliner on the top. I used light short strokes to create a clean winged look. For the bottom lash line, I used a small angled brush and applied MAC's Cork to give a hint of definition. It also is great to use shadow instead of eyeliner for those with oily skin.

Mascara: Butterfly Effects by Loreal

Bronzer: BB bronzer by Physician's Formula

Blush: Mary Kay's Spice

Lips: Sephora's lipliner in Red and MAC's Russian Red lipstick. I added just a touch of concealer to the center of her lips to make the lips pop!

Highlighting powder: I used a hint of Dior highlighting powder above her brows, her cheeks, bridge of her nose, above her upper lip and chin.

To finish: I did a light sweep of Rimmel's Stay Matte all over her face to set the look.

Voilà! Bongga!

I bet you Ci would snag the boy next door, if there was a boy who lived next door to her. Actually, she did catch the boy next to her work desk with her smokin' hot looks and her wonderful everything.

Since I didn't do the look for myself, I decided to do a nude look and focus on my lashes. I did a messy hairdo with pulled back bangs away from my face...

Sexy Sleeves: Here I just wore a comfortable red cotton dress with beautiful lace-capped sleeves. I got it from Ross!

Ci, Thank you for being the best real life Barbie doll a girl could ask for! I am so blessed to have you in my life. Together, we'll always be young. #SGFL

With aloha, SS

VIP Aloha Friday!

Happy Aloha Friday!!!

I woke up this morning feeling like I was on top of the world! It's funny because my daughter went to bed late... around 11 p.m. and then she woke up at 4 a.m.! Still, I felt an enormous amount of gratitude for life and God and all things possible! Maybe it's all the endorphins flowing through me because I finally organized our room. Everything is in its right place...clothes, accessories, make-up, etc... I love to label things so you could say I got too excited and went label crazy... hehe! 

As I was winding down last night after the princessa went to bed, I looked up some make-up ideas on my IG. I came across über beauty Adriana Lima's pictures and I noticed all these Victoria's Secret models look so natural and stunning. I decided to research their make-up artist and I saw a common style with all the goddess' make-up. It's very natural, soft, and glowing. 

Here I attempted to create a similar look...

Today's Make-up Inspiration: Adriana Lima

To get a flawless look, I used all Loreal products:

Age Perfect Day Lotion

Moisture Blur

Lumi Foundation in W3 - 2 pumps only. Use very little!

Concealer: For my designer eyebags, I used Hourglass and Bare Mineral's Well Rested

Eyes: Rihanna's Phresh Out Deluxe Pearl Fusion Shadow by MAC - a gift from Julius from last xmas? my birthday? wait... hmm...

hehe! Thanks Juju! This mama memory loss has got me trippin'!

I used the darker color at the outer corner of the lid and used the gold color in the inner corner of my lid. 

I used the lightest color right on the brow bone and at the inner corners of my eyes. Then I used a Taupe color in the crease of my lid to blend all the colors together. 

Liner: I used a black liquid liner for the top of the lash line and used a shimmery brown shadow to define the lower lash line. 

Mascara: Loreal's Butterfly Effects in Black. I love this Mascara! Apply to top and bottom lashes. 

Brows: I lightly defined my eyebrows with Anastasia's Brow Wiz in Dark Brown and clear brow gel.

Contour: Nars Paloma - A gift for my 3rd Annual 33rd Birthday from my sistah, E! Anastasia's contour kit was out of stock at the time so she got me this aaaand it works just as great!

Blush: Mary Kay in Sunny Spice

Highlight: Dior's Shimmer Powder in Amber Diamond. I just added a bit to my cheekbones, nose bridge and above the brows. 

Lips: nude lipliner and Covergirl's Darling

No face powder today to give a natural dewy look.

Hair: Used my Instyler to get healthy, shiny looking locks. 

Voilà! 

(did I do ok? lol)

Sexy Sleeves V.I.P.

Today, I  decided to wear my VIP t-shirt from Express (a gift from my sweet redhead voice student, Kristi) and my Levi's jeans with a belt. I threw on a grey camouflage open Cardi to cover my arms and it came out "perfs." I put on some black wedge platforms and I was ready to go! So simple but effective!

My darlings, if you have a very hectic schedule with work or children or both (like me), making time to look your best is a game changer in how you approach the day. I must admit, it takes more time and effort, but it really does make one feel like a

 Very. Important. Person. 

"Wake-up...

Say a prayer...

and Hustle" with your Sexy Sleeves! 

~Russell Simmons (I added the last part=)

With aloha, SS

"Bangarang" New Year!!!

bangarang : The ultimate in excellence. Better than cool, rad or awesome. Saved for very special occasions. Word first used in the movie "Hook".

Happy New Year lovelies! I hope you all had an amazing 2014 and wish you the most fulfilling 2015! 

As I woke to 2015, I suddenly had the urge and vision to have #bangs . I looked up a few looks and decided to go with the very popular fringe bangs. Or some call it "long bangs straight cut." I did a 20 minute research, and voilá! 

Now that my hair is back to dark(compliments of @beautybywinn), I absolutely love how this new do contrasts against my light Mocha skin. #Kayumangi

Thanks to google, youtube and pinterest, I was able to do it myself with fabulous salon results and saved me a lot of $$$! 

Here's the tutorial that helped me the most:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECkWlCUtJhs

Note: I bought a quality grade scissors from Longs/CVS. Unlike the instructor's super duper steel enhanced, X-men, fancy pantsy hair cutterer, mine did the job just fine.  

This look is inspired by my favorite feel good tv show, New Girl. Now when I look at my hair, I'll think of something hilarious on the show. Laughter heals the soul. 

Now this is what I call starting the New Year with a BANG! :-D

With aloha,
SS


p.s. Comment below if you feel inspired or feel free to tag me to your bangin' results IG: #looksexysleevesgirl

Glowing Skin

Wherever I go, I always get asked about my skin. To be honest, I have the most simple and basic skin routine. I mean I don't just wash my face with soap and water, but I don't layer my face with products either. Believe me, I've tried it and it's really uncomfortable and itchy! I have fallen asleep with a full face of make-up (a definite NO! NO!), but who's perfect and who has the energy when you have a full time job and a toddler running around?! 

When I do have the energy (most of the time), here's what I do...

Here I am at the end of the day with no make-up.

Fact: I have combination skin

Waterproof mascara remover:

I take off my eye make-up with Lancome's BiFacil remover. There are a lot of waterproof removers out there but I think this is the best one and it has a lovely rose scent. mmmm! aaah!

 I take my make up off with a good cleansing oil by Philosophy. I started using cleansing oil after every Festival of the Lion King Show. Whether it was make-up of friend of Nala or friend of Rafiki, my Ponds cleansing oil took it all off! Unfortunately, Ponds cleansing oil was only sold in Hong Kong, where I lived during my year long stint, but not in Hawaii. Philosophy is more expensive but it's worth it. I saw at Sephora that Josie Maran also has a cleansing oil but I haven't tried it yet. 

If my make up is really thick, I follow with any cleansing foam - any drugstore brand should suffice. I like to use Estée Lauder's Perfectly Clean. 

Clarisonic:

Yes, I have one. I use it from time to time. I'm on the fence with exfoliating cleansers/gadgets. The first time I used an exfoliator, my pores were really visible. I feel like it cleanses your skin but I think it stretches open the pores as well. The subject is debatable. Nevertheless, I keep exfoliating to a minimum. (This is pertaining to any bead cleansers, and cleansing brushes.)

Toner? I use a vitamin C toner from the Face Shop. I rarely use it but if I feel I'm really oily or hormonal, I go ahead and use it. 

Oil: 

While my skin is still damp I apply extra virgin Olive Oil (yes right out of the kitchen). My mama has beautiful skin. She only uses olive oil. She taught me that it really feeds and protects the skin. The smell is not the best so you can make your own scented Olive Oil moisturizer. All you have to do is go to your nearest organic food store like Down to Earth. They have a bunch or flower scented oils. Pick your favorite and add a drop or two to your olive oil bottle. You can pick up little bottle containers from Walmart or local drugstore. If you don't want the hassle of making your own, go to Sephora and buy Josie Maran Argan oil. Same thing but $$$.

Moisturizers:

I alternate between moisturizers. Right now I'm loving Lancôme's multivitamin moisturzer. I kinda love Estee Lauder's moisturizers as well. "Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool. Loving you both is breaking all the rules." That's song from the 70's I think. Lol!

Water and Sunscreen:

Water and Sunscreen! I drink plenty of water and I've been wearing  Sunscreen since I was 12 years old. Thanks mama! I use it all the time, even on stage for protection from the hot lights. Neutrogena makes awesome sunscreens. Forget $$$ brands. It's never too late to start but the earlier, the better! 

And here is the Big Kahuna Secret to awesome, glowing skin! Ready?!

My skin glows when my spirit is happy. A positive attitude and the love that comes from God really helps me shine. The goodness and light from within is what permeates to the surface. 

With aloha, SS

Pearl Girl

Pearls are my absolute favorite classy/clean accessory! I especially favor baroque pearls. I find that the perfectly rounded pearl necklace is a little lacking in character, but I do have them for sentimental purposes (a gift from my tita), that I shall wear on very special occasions. The pearl neclace I'm wearing is my fave and represents how I feel in life - "Find beauty in the imperfect." Not a day goes by where I don't get compliments on them. 

This is the make-up look I did for our Filipiniana Americana Fashion and Art Show in Honolulu.

Foundation: Double Wear in Tawny by Estee Lauder. This foundation dries really quick so I apply moisturizer before I apply it, allowing the foundation to spread evenly and smoother.
Concealer: Bare Minerals' Well Rested
For my eyes: I chose shades of sunset gold for my lids, with taupe and brown for my creases, and a pearl cream highlight. 
Brows: I used Anastasia's Brow Wiz in dark brown and Brow Gel in Chocolate for my brows. Perversion Black eyeliner from Urban Decay.
Bronzer Contouring: Physicians Formula BB Bronzer, Blush: Milani's Baked Blush in Bellissimo Bronze
Lip color: Benefit's Lady's Choice. 

This look really brightens my face and can give me a really flawless look. It's quite universal and compliments any color I wear, including lipstick.

Sexy Sleeves:
I found this beautiful red cotton open cardigan, with a lace back www.papayaclothing.com. I just threw it over a tube top dress and I was pre-fashion show ready.

With aloha, SS

Rita Hayworth

So, I have a quick minute to share what I think is my best body feature to show off in my modest life. It is my FACE!!! That's right! Madonna sang, not sang, but SAAAANG it best in her song "Vogue" in 1990, when she mentioned many fashion icons in the song - she saaaang that "Rita Hayworth gave good face." I couldn't agree more! I used to sing those words over and over again with the song and I wondered what that meant as a budding teenager. Does that tell you my age? Ugh...yes! Oh well, age is beautiful because you are wiser (side note). How do you "give good face?" Well, let's take a look at this goddess, shall we!?...

Get the picture?!!! Daaaang! Isn't that sexy? I mean she is not showing one ounce of skin except for her exquisite face! 

Ok, let's break this down Ladies and Gents...

1. Her face is clean! 

2. Her hair is too... I'm just kidding. I don't know but it appears to be clean and well kept. She always pulls her hair away from her face. Trust me girls. 

I know this is cool...kinda....

But this is way better, don't you think?...

3. Her brows are clean. Back then, the thinner eyebrow was very in and it matches many people, but clean natural brows have been the Victoria's Secret, Anne Hathaway, Sofia Vergara, Salma Hayek trend going on for about a decade.

You can decide. I do prefer natural eyebrows.

4. Natural make-up. Ladies, I am a show performer and I have to pack the Barbie make-up on all the time, but TRUST ME... In the daytime, less is more. 

A. I love using a tinted moisturizer with SPF 20 or higher. I particularly love Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer! If you like more coverage, a nice foundation with sunscreen is great too. For those crazy pimples that are dark (I call them Stacys, yes I named my pimples Stacy), I use bare minerals to spot cover or I use my favorite pencil concealer from Shiseido. 

B. Tinted moisturizer is not enough to cover my designer mama eye bags, so I use a concealer over the moisturizer and blend blend blend. I use any kind concealer... cheap, expensive...they all work. Just get the right color! 1 or 2 shades lighter than your skin. And blend well with a concealer brush or fingertips. My favorite eye bag lifting secret is "Well Rested" by Bare Minerals. 

C. I don't think blush is always necessary but you can use powder or cream blush or believe it or not...lipstick!

D. Bronzer is optional as well but it does give a little definition and contouring. 

E. My love - Mascara, mascara, mascara! I am not a fan of falsies but I do use them for performances. Otherwise I love Loreal and Christian Dior Waterproof mascara! I just use a good quality curl lash because I have straight lashes. God blessed the girls with naturally curly lashes!

F. I like to use urban decay or maybelline eyeliner pencil for a little definition on the top lash and my waterline.

G. Lips - well, I don't have them Angelina lips but I have great lipliners so I just trace my lipline and give my lips some color with a lip stain or pink/rose lipstick, so I don't "look dead" (as my mama would say). For those of you who don't like lipstick, my cousin Ciress loves to use all kinds of lip balms to make her lips kissable and soft always. She has Angelina lips! Lucky girl!

5. Fashion - I love the covered shoulders and the deep V neckline and for some ladies like me, I don't have a long neck and this style gives the illusion of a longer neck. If the V is too deep you can add a tube top or tank. 

A. Accessory - I love the brooch pin in the Rita's second picture. It just adds so much with so little. For teens or young adults, a scarf or a piece of jewelry can make this look really modern and trendy!

What I truly love about Rita is that she has her chin up always, ready to face the world. Rita's energy and attitude is captivating. Her most effective weapon? Her smile. When I see someone smile... I mean, it's the most beautiful thing! Even if you don't have teeth. That one's for my one year old daughter!

So really, ladies...and gents! Do you really need to bare any body parts to be sexy, if you give good face? I think not! =)