Get Kylie Jenner's Lips without the Bruises

It has been an on-going debate in the internet world whether or not Kylie Jenner has had lip injections after drastically going from thin to a fat, juicy kisser. The trend has recently irked people across the globe to try the #kyliejennerchallenge. The challenge is pretty simple: use a shot glass, a bottle cap or whatever is narrow and hollow and use it as a suction that will apparently cause your lips to swell. Many have failed, causing the perimeter around their lips left bruised. Some had it worse.

As a Kylie Jenner fan myself, I Googled way too long ago the possibilities of how America`s modern sweetheart made her puckers ala Angelina Jolie after denying that she had gone under the knife.

I, of course, have to try it myself. Without further ado, my #kyliejennerchallenge:

My Bioessence Experience

 Not everyone gets the privilege to be pampered by one of the Philippines` top beauty and wellness spa, Bioessence and I consider myself very, very lucky. Today, I visited one of their branches to experience their Beauty Break (basic) Facial.

What The Fug Happened?!

HAPPY 100TH POST TO ME!

1. We just celebrated our 15th month anniversary and this is by far my favorite picture of us. Swagtastic. // 2. Guess what the color palette of that day was? I'm also loving my new deck of cards. // 3. Blade and chalice; yin and yang. Life needs balance but love, above all, is everything. // 4. Spent my day frolicking around BF Parañaque with my clique. The photo diary needs to be posted, asap. // 5. Latest sunnies to add to my collection! Thanks Banggood! // 6. Black Friday ootd // 7. My basic outfit for the days I feel lazy to think. // 8. Zark's Burgers at BF Par!! This burger is called the Jawbreaker. 3 patties, spam, cheese, bacon.. DAMN. Told you I need to post the photo diary soon! // 9. My daily makeup hehe so fancyyy

To tell you frankly, I have been feeling uninspired lately. Days and nights of staring at my computer screen having mental blocks are becoming frequent. I know I have copious amounts of backlogs to post and I feel genuinely disappointed that my promise to myself  of posting at least once a week isn`t going as planned. Yup, the so-called "writer`s block" is happening to me. 

On the other hand, I'`ll be at the Blogapalooza 2014 this Saturday, October 11th at SM Aura, BGC! So to my Philippine-based readers and co-bloggers, I hope to see you there! What's happening with your life these days? x

Follow me on Instagram @jiaachacruz for more updates and let me know if you want me to follow back! ;)

NET-A-PORTER HAUL

 Forever thanking Sugar for Spike for giving me a gift card for Net-A-Porter! So what can you do with $500? Make the most out of it! Picking out stuff to purchase was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I almost literally cried out of frustration because everything on Net-A-Porter was, for me, a closet life need.

[GIVEAWAY CLOSED] SUGAR FOR SPIKE x URBAN DECAY



I am pleased to announce that I am having my first giveaway courtesy of Sugar For Spike in cooperation with Urban Decay!

Sugar For Spike is a brand-new online shop based in Singapore and to celebrate their launch, they are giving away $100 worth of Urban Decay vouchers each to 5 lucky winners! Enticing, huh? Mechanics under the cut!

ONE FINE DAY | VBA AND LIEBSTERS

Heaps of gratitude to Danielle of Midnight Blues for awarding me with the Versatile Blog Award and a Liebster Award, and to Rikki of Young Modern Invaders  for awarding me with another Liebster!! My blog is just 4 months old and I must say that I`m proud of what my blog has already achieved, no matter how small it may be. I`ve gained a handful of friends through this blog and I wish to share this with you. (Please have the patience of scrolling down through this post as I am trying my best for this post not be boring.)

Now, I`ve compressed the 2 awards in this post — the Versatile Blog Award (VBA) and the Liebster Award. They both have different rules and I will try my best to make everything clear.

Rules for both awards are simple as giving credit to the one who awarded you, answering the questions (VBA – 7 things about yourself; Liebster – 11 questions provided by awarder), nominating another set of 11 bloggers, creating your own 11 questions to be answered by the ones you tagged, and notifying your nominees.

The VBA requires for the awarded to post 7 things about his self. Here are mine:

1.       I`m pretty vocal about my thoughts. I`m not really afraid of saying what I want, even to my parents. Some people might not like my bluntness but I can`t help but say what`s on my mind. I make sure I won`t step on anyone`s feet though. I make sure the things I say are constructive criticism and not just careless judgments.

2.       I hate watching horror/thriller movies but I love reading within the genre. In fact, I don`t read novels that are not horror, thriller, or mystery-themed. Don`t get me wrong though, I love reading — just not those sissy rom-com novels that are popular these days.

3.       I`m very much clingy to my friends. I make it a point to check on them most of the time, if not every day. You can pretty much say #sepanx is written all over my face all day, errday.

4.       Oh! You can`t fool me with those magic tricks anymore. My boyfriend`s pretty good at magic now, well, cardistry (commonly known as card tricks) and the magic that used to amaze me before, gets me bored now. “Meh, I`ve seen that already. And I can do it too! See?” — my life

5.       Send me photos, videos, gifs of dogs all you want, I won`t mind. I love each and every single one of those cute, cuddly creatures!!

6.       lol but I used to do television commercials and shows when I was younger. I stopped though because I wasn`t feeling the life of being woken up at 3am on a weekday just because there was a taping.

7.       I don`t have a favorite color. I swear. Maybe it seems that black is my favorite but it really is not. I love it though, but I can`t say I have a favorite color because every color is beautiful. No shit. So when people ask me what my favorite color is, I first ask “for what?” because it all depends on what the color is being used for. Then and there I would decide which color suits that particular thing most.

Meanwhile, The Liebster Award requires the awarded to answer questions given by the awarder.

Here are Danielle`s questions:

When and how did you start blogging?
I started blogging back in 2009 using Tumblr. It originally was for personal use but laziness got to me and it just became a blog for reblogging mostly. Then December 27, 2013 (yes, I still remember the date)came and something inside me just wanted to start a serious blog and tada! Here it is. It`s currently 4 months now — and counting!

What thing/s will describe you the most?
Things? Well… Uh. Things? I can`t think of any particular object but I really like clothes and food and magazines. And dogs. And just really pretty, fancy-schmancy things. My answer is so not helpful, smh.

Who is/are the person/s you can't live without?
My mother, my best friends, and my boyfriend. And my dog, George.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
France, United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, Italy — YEAH OKAY EUROPE. The US. Brazil. JAPAN!! India and South Africa. Egypt too.

If there's a chance you'll have a power for one day, what would it be and what will you do with it?
Being an avid-reader of conspiracy theories, I cannot decide fully which power I would like to acquire even just for a day. If I base it on my fondness for the tv series Heroes, I will say phasing which is the ability of a mortal to pass through solid objects. But I`d really love to read people`s thoughts too!

Are you willing to do anything for someone you love? Why?
Eh, it depends lol but most probably that`s a yes. If it`s my mother we`re talking about, I`m willing to die just to save her.

Do you believe that even the most intelligent person can be fooled when it comes to love?
“Fooled” is such a strong word. I`m assuming most of our lives revolve around love. Love can be defined in many ways though. Love can also be towards your craft, or towards spiritual belief. Love doesn`t just mean being romantically in love with another person. Sometimes, all you need is love to get by. Without love, nothing is complete. (HAHAHAHA hello, Ms. Universe)

Describe your type of friend.
My type of friend would be someone who is willing to try new things with me and is someone whom I can talk to anything about with #nofilters. My best friend and I talk about anything you could imagine. That`s the friendship I want to keep: full of honesty and helluva fun.

What kind of music do you listen to?
I mostly listen to metal, pop punk, hardcore, hiphop, r&b and EDM. Exact opposites but I make it work.

Which will you prefer as gifts, material or written letters?
Written letters! Anything handmade is the perfect gift.

What is your favorite food?
Anything edible *wink kidding! I love lasagna, ice cream and peanuts with toasted garlic, yaaas. I also like dipping anything into ice cream like isaw (chicken intestines) HEHEHE they taste good, I swear.

Here are Rikki`s questions:

Which superhero would you most want to be?

I really like Poison Ivy. She`s too damn hot.

If you found yourself in a battle to the death, which supernatural creature would you prefer to fight: a. vampire, b. zombie, c. werewolf?

Probably a zombie? Just double tap that mofo and it`s dead..

If your life was a movie, which would it be?

Ha, I don`t really know but it`s either Almost Famous, Mean Girls or Coach Carter. Or The Devil Wears Prada.

Favourite book?
Hard to choose between Dan Brown and Dean Koontz`s works but I have to say Songof Kali by Dan Simmons hehe *peace!

Would you rather be rich or famous?

I`d rather be rich. Fame can be a 15-minute, one-hit-wonder thing but money, when handled wisely, could go a long way.

It’s movie night, what flick do you choose: Pretty Woman, Fight Club or Halloween?

A tie between Fight Club and Halloween.

Favourite brand of make-up?

Smashbox! From their foundations to their eyeliners to their primers, Smashbox hasn`t failed me yet.

Favourite actor/actress and why?

Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp and well, Leo DiCaprio. I love love love Cate Blanchett too. They`re all masters of their craft. Need I say more?

Favourite TV show?

Skins. I wrote about that here. 

 Favourite line from a movie?

“..And my axe!” —Gimli

Jeans or dresses?

Dresses! The ratio of me wearing a dress over jeans is 6:2

HEAR YE, HEAR YE

Wynne of WynnePrasetyo

Cielo of TheGirl Behind The Pen

Cha of Queenof Black

Chezka of STYLE.CHE

Althea of T[]EAPOT

Sara of IndustrialBarbie

Jannine of Dressupdolly

Bettina of Bouquetof Clumsy Words

Yani of AsNowhere As I could Be

Andrea of Collars& Bones

Guen of DollifiedDreams

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU

Why do you blog?

Where do you see yourself 5-10 years from now?

If you could choose another person to manage your blog, who would it be and why?

Who is/are your style icons/life heroes?

What`s so great about 2013?

If the world is literally coming to end tomorrow, what would you do for your remaining 24 hours?

I`m giving you a one-way ticket to anywhere in the world. Where would you go?

If you could wear only one color for the rest of your life, from head to toe, what color is it and why?

Which do you prefer: lots of acquaintances or a very few but great friends?

What is #1 on your bucket list?

Top 3 artists you could listen to anytime?

On the other hand, I chopped off about 5-6 inches of my hair. I was hesitant although I`ve been thinking about chopping my mermaid hair off as it was getting heavier and I was starting to get bored of my same old hairstyle. Keeping long locks while living in a humid country was really frustrating and I`m glad my hair has more ventilation now. I`ve been getting compliments too, so I think I`ll be keeping my hair like this for quite some time ;)

As for my outfit, the dress is already in a bold shade of purple so I opted to keep the rest of my outfit in black. My fedora also complements my short `do, don`t you think?

Much love, 

Jia

SEXY IS A STATE OF MIND

As a woman nearing her twenties, used to be overweight, is a self-confessed bookworm, and was bullied throughout high school, I couldn`t agree more with this article. Hey, confidence is really sexy and I have to say every lady should know this.

I really am appalled when I hear my friends say they`re not pretty, sexy, hot or beautiful enough for the guy they like, the clothes they want and/or —believe me or not— their friends. The harsh truth is that we all can`t help but compare ourselves to other people but let me tell you that it isn`t healthy when you always do. Comparing is unavoidable but it really isn`t necessary because we all are different human beings. We have, know, and do things that other people don`t and they have things that we don`t. You may say that life is “unfair” just because someone has what you don`t. Hey, why don`t we all just look at the good things we have and stop frowning at someone`s Instagram feed just because they recently went shopping and is having the “best weekend ever!! ♥ ☺” at this beach? My point is, we all have our highs and lows and whatever they are, it is what makes us unique. So what if you don`t have a thigh gap? So what if you failed math class this semester? So what if the guy you`ve been eyeing isn`t really talking to you? Learn from your experiences and mistakes. We can`t always get what we want but there is always a time for everything. If you feel so bad about yourself, you can always work with it. Make changes only because you`re doing it for yourself; not because you don`t want people to look at you like this or that. Do everything for yourself first and the rest will follow. Don`t get me wrong though, giving your all to anyone or anything isn`t really bad. Just know your limits. Do it because it`s your choice and not because you feel like you are obliged.

I don`t really believe that being sexy is all about your physical being. Sexy is a state of mind. The media portray skinny girls as the idea of beauty yet we all know we have something to feel good for. The only problem is that we are scared of judgments to be made by people who only know you through Facebook. We are so afraid to just be ourselves just because people may not like what we post and not hit the “Like” button. Remember, the number of likes on your photo does not determine who you are.

Popularity is not everything (it can actually be stressful). I remember starting my first blog solely because everyone had a Tumblr. It didn`t last long due to the fact that it wasn`t mainly my passion yet. Time passes and I believe I had received my calling. Keeping a blog is a bit tough, but now I do it because I want to. And I quote Gurkin from the movie Sydney White: “[Peoplespunisher.com] is not about being read; it`s about being written.” I always keep that in mind. Your passion isn`t always determined by how much attention you get from it but it should be how you execute it. Again, everything will follow.

I guess you`re wondering why I talked about blogging? I did because it`s my thing. It`s what makes me happy. It`s what makes me confident and sexy. It`s what I use to reach out to people. Ladies, and gentlemen if you`re reading this, always know that what you got is what you got yet there is always room for improvement but never, ever lose yourself. What media says what beauty is may not be beauty for you so keep it that way. We all have our quirks. Life ain`t easy but it`s worth helluva living. As Drake said, “Everybody dies but not everybody lives,” and living yours would be the sexiest thing you can do.

Are you OC enough?

If you think your makeup would last a lifetime, then you may have to think twice. 

Let`s have a run down on what you need to know about makeup and its shelf life, shall we?

MASCARA
Shelf life: 3 months

• Instead of pumping, swirl wand to keep air out that may cause bacteria. 

LIPSTICK

Shelf life: 24 months

• Ditch when dry.

LIPGLOSS

Shelf life: 18 months

• Ditch when consistency turns tacky and produces unusual odor.

BLUSH, POWDER

Shelf life: 12-18 months

• Toss when they start cracking on their own.

FOUNDATION, CONCEALER

Shelf life: 6-12 months

• Liquid foundation should be trashed when the liquid separates into layers.

• Cream foundation shouldn`t be kept if it starts having discolouration, is dry and when you see it having separate layers. 

• Powder or Cake foundation should not be kept if it starts cracking on its own. Moisture from your face should keep it in tact.

NAIL POLISH

Shelf life: 12-24 months

• Toss when they harden or when consistency becomes too thick. You can extend shelf life through the use of thinner, although it makes the lacquer easier to chip.

Tip: Shake polish bottle from time to time to even out consistency and to prevent it from drying.

LOOSE SPONGES

Shelf life: One-time use

• Usually just for one-time use but if desired, should be thoroughly washed and dried weekly. Toss if sponge starts to chip.

PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP BRUSHES

Shelf life: Lifetime

• Professional brushes could be kept forever and should be washed with brush cleaners, if not daily, at least once a week.

Ever asked yourself, "Where`s the expiration date on this?". Well, honey, if you notice a number-alphabet combination on the lid, for example "12 M", it means that product is to be used for 12 Months after it has been opened. 

Makeup, as it is used on your face, should be taken good care of. Expired makeup and unsanitized makeup tools may cause serious problems to your health and neither of us want that, right? I hope I helped you on this one!

Much love,

Jia

Photos courtesy of Google

Hello, 2014!

What`s a better way to spend the first day of the year than to spend it with yourself? Having a movie marathon while doing my mani`s and pedi`s was out of the plan but it actually turned out really well!

Legally Blonde 2 / Romeo + Juliet / nail lacquers from The Face Shop.

How about you? How did you spend the first day of 2014?

Much love,

Jia