Gotta Love: Happy Skin Cosmetics Lippies

I'm sure a lot of make up fans in the country already heard about Happy Skin Cosmetics.  It is the brain child of Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez and Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, both known in their own industries.  Who wouldn't trust these two when it comes to beauty, right?  

I decided to check them out and they already have a website up.  Based on the info, this is a beauty product that also cares for your skin.  That got me because I easily break out when using a new product.  I was sold and bought some lippies, foundation, and concealer.

I instantly fell in love with their lippies!  I love how they easily glide on your lips, maybe due to the Shea Butter, and is heavily pigmented.  A little goes a long way.  It also lasts the whole day so you just need few touch ups.  Because it is like a jumbo crayon, application is a breeze.  And oh, I forgot to mention the line is called Shut Up and Kiss Me.  That would definitely get your attention.

I already have three colors.  The other shades are too light for my preference.  These have been my go to lipsticks almost everyday and I'm excited to share with you the photos.

PS: Super gasgas na yung top kakagamit ko.  Hehehe.

This red one is called My First Time.  What I love about this shade is that it is just the right amount of red to be worn everyday.  Not to dark and not to bright either.  

Again, I'm not a fan of light colored lipsticks so I got Girls Night Out.  It's a lovely shade of plum.  And true to it's name, it's perfect for party time with the girls as it gives your lips a bit of omph and vamp.  I usually use it when I want to feel extra glamorous or just want to pump up my outfit.

Valentine Kiss is the newest one.  It is a limited-edition shade, which was a collaboration with Kris Aquino, inspired by her favorite pink color.  I was actually surprised I liked this pink shade.  It's so girly and sweet!  Perfect when wearing pretty doll dresses.

So there you have it!  A local brand that I think will fill up my make up drawer.  Can't wait for their summer collection which launched today!!!  OMG!!! Payday, come earlier please.

Happy Skin Cosmetics is available at Plains and Prints boutiques, Rustan's, and Beauty Bar (also at Beauty Bar online).

Gotta Love: Ingga Sandals

The end of March usually signals the start of the summer in the country.  Although it has been drizzling in the last couple of days, it's never too early to start planning for the warm, or should I say, hot days to come.  Summer = sandals season!

I remembered my friend posted this interesting DIY sandals in Instagram and decided to check it out.  It's called Ingga Sandals.  And you know me, I love anything DIY!  I was supposed to order one last year but at that time, they ran out of my size.  Last week, I revisited their page and a day after my payment, got my sandals.  Weeee!

When ordering, you will receive the sole plus three pairs of ties of your preference.  I ordered two extra ties at 60 pesos each (because I can't choose of which three to get).  You will also receive instructions on their basic designs but you can let your artistic side out.  You can mix and match the ties, wrap it around your feet any way you want to.  The possibilities are endless!

(c) KM Cunanan

I tried several of the designs and placed a spin on one of the basic ones.  Please forgive my ugly feet but I was really proud of myself for the cute designs I tried.  Hihihi!

For sure, your sandals will be perfect for your next summer getaway.  Don't forget to pair it with an awesome dress, shorts, even bikinis!  Happy designing girls!

Our Perfect Day!

Hi brides and grooms to be out there!  As promised in my previous post, I will be writing about our wedding suppliers.  I'm also excited to share that almost all of our suppliers have a connection with us in one way or another.  I guess we were just meant to be :)

Church:

For the church, our first choice was Santisimo Rosario Parish Church in UST, being that both of us were Thomasians.  It was not an easy feat booking UST as we have to wait for the school calendar to open.  We actually booked a back up church, just in case our date would not get approved.  Thank God that after months of waiting, our request was approved and we are finally booked!

Besides the church being meaningful for us, I also liked that it has a long aisle (Who wouldn't want a long one, right?).  It is also air conditioned so no sweaty problems!

Reception:

Wedding preps and reception were held at Cocoon Boutique Hotel.  I stumbled upon them via Deal Grocer.  It got me interested as it was a fairly new hotel (you know me, I don't like anything mainstream).  It was not that big, only about 50 rooms if I remember correctly.  But oh my, they are not short on luxury and quality.  I super loved the one bedroom suite; it was big enough to accommodate my suppliers.  The bathroom was even bigger than my room back home.

Their function room can hold a maximum of 200 guests for comfortable seating, which was perfect for us because we were only aiming for about 160 guests.  At first I was really nervous about their food as we did not do a food tasting before booking them.  I've heard some hotels are not known for their food.  But we were not disappointed.  The food was superb, especially the baked salmon.  Our guests were raving about it!  Perfect food and venue: check!

Invitations:

Impress Prints was one of the only two suppliers I booked during a wedding fair.  I really loved the samples that they presented during the fair, and their minimum number of prints met our needs.  After paying the deposit, we did our discussion mostly via email but Ms. Jennifer was kind enough to meet us to finalize all the details, explaining to us the different kinds of paper and the effects it will have on the ink.  She sent us different samples so we can decide on the best colors to use.  After a few months of back and forth discussions, we finally got the invites.  I chose a design that is simple but timeless.  I want to be able to look back at these in 10 years and not hurl at myself from choosing a design because that was the trend.

(c) Osep and Mimi Photography

Make Up:

This one's crucial!  After all, your make up artist should be able to bring out your inner beauty.  I booked Makeup by Lian Capili at a wedding fair.  What got my attention was the long line of girls waiting to get their trial.  I did a quick search and found her Facebook page.  The first photo I saw: Jesse Mendiola!  Whoa!  She did Jesse's make up for a magazine and other artists for a fashion show.  Besides brides, Lian also did a whole lot of print ads.  Needless to say, I was sold.

Our first (physical) meeting was actually at the day of my prenup shoot.  I just loved Lian!  We chatted for a while and it seemed like we have known each other already.  She was so easy to work with.  She easily got the look that I wanted.  She has the lightest hand.  When my make up was done, I felt and looked blooming :)

Nathan was my hair stylist and was part of Lian's team. He was so chatty; made me laugh the whole time.  I loved all of the looks he made for me during the prenup and during the actual wedding.  They really brought out the best in me.

Photographer:
This was one of the suppliers which really took a lot of time and research before we booked.  I was really keen on how the photos are presented.  I didn't want to much editing, too much sepia or other filters.  Which made Osep and Mimi Photography perfect for me.  I instantly fell in love with their photos.  It was very natural and the colors are bright.  Hindi ko talaga bet yung mashadong madrama.  But that's just me :P

We got to meet Osep several times to discuss the details of our wedding as well as the prenup pictorial.  He was very helpful and suggested a lot of good ideas.  They were very easy to work with, which I'm really thankful for because I get awkward infront of the camera.  Buti na lang, magaling magdirect si Osep.  Made us look effortless with our poses.

And our connection?  He was a Thomasian himself, one batch lower than us!  He said he was excited to shoot at UST as it will be his first time to cover a wedding there.  Here's the onsite video he presented during the reception.

Videographer:
I really can't remember how I got to J Franco Digital Films' page but I'm glad I did.  Loved the quality of their work and their packages met the budget we allocated.  We met with Fritz before the wedding and he provided a lot of good insights not only on the delivery of the videos but also for the wedding preps that we were doing.  Too bad he was sick during the actual day of the wedding.  He could have been reunited with my mother-in-law, who was his officemate before (small world, right?).  But his back up Rence and the rest of the team did a great job with the coverage and the SDE.  Click here to view the video.

Wedding Gown:
Ranier was recommended to us by one of our ninangs.  He was her good friend and actually made her wedding gown before!  He was previously based abroad but came back to the country and established Aviad Couture.  

I met with Ranier and showed him the bridal gown peg that I wanted.  He said he loved it himself and the rest was history!  He designed all of the gowns of my entourage and was very hands on with every fitting.  Initially, I did not want any bead work with my gown, only embroidery but he suggested we place a bit.  Boy, my gown was perfect!  It fit me like a glove and the bead work he did really brought out the beauty of the dress.  Thank you so much Ranier!  I felt like I was a princess.

During one of the fittings. I actually got teary eyed the first time I saw my gown's embroidery.

The front of the gown

Photobooth/Bridal Car
Clickers Photo Bar is owned by my sister's boyfriend so I'm biased with them.  Hahaha!  But if you really want quality prints, which do not fade even years after, go and get them!  They also offer bridal car services for very affordable prices.

Music
I wanted a live ensemble for the reception.  It was my hubby who found RSVP Strings.  They are a group of very talented musicians.  Our contact, sir Roberto Tarang actually played for the orchestra of Phantom of the Opera last year and was able to get in Wicked!.  But what impressed us the most was that they were able to play back up for Lea Salonga in one function.  Sold!   

We opted to get a trio of keyboard, violin, and flute for the reception.  They played our entrance music (Darth Vader theme!!!) and all the classic love songs of Martin Nievera (my fave) and Gary V (hubby's fave) while dinner is going on.  They also played for the father-daughter dance.  Needless to say, we were very satisfied with their services.

Bridal/Entourage Bouquets
I got a flyer of Angel of Hearts from a bridal fair but did not book them there since I have yet to do a research on their services at that time.  I've read a lot of positive feedback from past couples and decided to check them out.  I went to Dangwa where their main office was located and booked them there after seeing their sample work.  Ate Cheryl asked me to email pegs of the flower arrangements that I wanted and went back there last November to do a mock up.  It was done within minutes of finalizing the flowers I wanted to use!  Ang galing!  The flowers turned out great.  I never thought that combining different colors of carnations and paper roses would be so beautiful.

Mock up of the entourage flowers

I did not see a mock up of my bridal bouquet before the wedding.  I just told Ate Cheryl that I wanted all white flowers with green berries as accent.  I loved how it turned out!  She used really good quality Ecuadorian roses (those really big ones).  It was so fresh and pretty, but boy was it heavy!  Hahaha!  Too bad they just wilted after a few days :(  Thank goodness for this beautiful picture.

(c) Osep and Mimi Photography

They also do event styling for churches and reception.

Wedding Cake
Our cake was a gift from our ninang.  Her friend Ms. Mina of Mina's Kitchen makes the most delicious cakes.  I've tried her products before when my Tita brought some samples home. 

I really do not have any preference for a wedding cake.  Ms. Mina recommended that we go for butter cream frosting instead of fondant because it tasted better if I'm not very particular about the design.  I agreed since we will be serving the cake at the reception.  I just asked her if she could pattern the design after our wedding invitations.

The cake was so yummy!  As in!  It was so moist and the frosting complemented the bread.  Dessert heaven!  Even our guests were raving about the cake.  

For any inquiries, send me an email so I can give her contact details.

Besides the cake, my cousin who owns MRS Sweets also provided red velvet cupcakes.  Sa sobrang sarap, muntik na maubos ng suppliers ko during lunch time at hindi man lang ako nakakain.  Hahaha!  Good thing we were able to save some which we gave out to the early bird guests.  As for me, I ordered a dozen for myself after the wedding.  YUMMY!!!

I also ordered cookies from her which I gave out as thank you to my suppliers.

(c) MRS Sweets

Event Coordination
Tin Aguda of Events by Tin, was hubby's previous officemate.  I love Tin!  She is so easy to get along with.  At our first meeting we instantly clicked.  Even though we only got her on-the-day service, she constantly checked up on us during the whole wedding preparations.  She made sure that we get all the details that we needed.  She shared a checklist so we would not forget anything.  She also helped us conceptualize the reception program.

The whole wedding day was hassle free.  Tin was on top of all the activities and was running the show.  She made me feel relaxed and I was able to enjoy the day.  Thanks Tin!

Whew!!! This is one long post.  This made me miss planning my wedding even more.  Yes, I miss the stress and decision making of it all.  I enjoyed every moment of it, though not as much as our special day.  Hihihi!  

Hopefully, my supplier review helped a bride-to-be out there.  If you have any more questions, please feel free to shoot me an email.  I would gladly be of help! :)

Enjoy wedding preps!

I'm Back and Now a Missus!

It feels good to be back!  Finally found some time to visit my blog and write again.  I've been extremely preoccupied with a lot of things in the last few months like wedding planning.  Yes, I got married!  Wohoo!  Still can't believe it really happened.  The day was such a blur, a really happy one at that.  I was on cloud nine the whole day.  Thank goodness for the photos and videos, I get to relive the day again and again.

While a lot of people would say that wedding planning is a nightmare, I enjoyed every moment of it.  Maybe I'm just girly like that.  I had this idea in my head, and I was just glad that it unfolded as the months pass by.  Thank goodness my hubby was into the planning as much as I was and helped with the supplier hunting.

I has such joy planning my wedding that I just have to share my learnings with all the brides-to-be out there.  So bear with me as I write this post and hope I could help in one way or another.

1. Set Your Budget

This would probably be the most important part of your planning.  Do not only plan for your overall budget, but break it down into how much you will spend for each of your suppliers.  Your budget will be your anchor; it will keep you grounded and prevent you from spending all your money in one supplier.

2. Guest List Rules

For me, this was the hardest one to finalize.  There were a lot of questions to be answered.  Who should we invite?  Should we include all relatives and officemates?  Baka naman magtampo si ganito kung di kasama.  And the list goes on and on.  However, what helped us trim the list down is to establish a rule.  For us, we only invited those people that we have a direct relationship with.  People who we know we will still be able to talk to in the near future.  This is one factor that made our wedding special.  We know that the people who attended the wedding loves us and cares for us and we love them a whole back!

3. Research Suppliers 

A lot of known suppliers are there for a reason.  They have provided quality products over the years.  Tried and tested.  However, with popularity comes high prices.  If you can afford it, by all means, go and get them.  But for us who were working on a budget, a lot of our suppliers were booked by researching.  And you wouldn't believe how many talented photographers, videographers, and florists are out there.  We researched first by going to wedding fairs, collecting a lot of flyers.  We also relied to blogs and wedding websites until we found the suppliers whose work we really like.

And oh, do not book suppliers in wedding fairs just because they offer competitive prices.  Remember my tip, fall in love with their work and you won't be disappointed..  You don't want to go wasting your money on reservation fees.

4. Define Non-negotiables

With all the details that you have to finish, once in a while your inner bridezilla is bound to come out.  That's why you have to define your non negotiables early on so you can let go of other details.  For us it is important to have good photos and videos.  After all, at the end of the day, those photos and videos are all you're going to have to look back to.  So we tried as much as we can to get the photograhers and videographers that we really like.  We adjusted the budget allocated for them a bit.

5. Haggle

There's no harm in trying!  Don't be intimidated with the initial price list your suppliers will present you.  Of course, they will always give you the one with higher price for profit.  But do not be afraid to customize packages or ask for a lower price.  We got a lot of discounts because of my hubby's haggling skills.  Yes, he haggles waaaaay better than me.

6. Personalize 

This is the most fun part!  Adding personal touches and DIY to your wedding preps.  I did my entourage's boutonnieres, props for the reception games, and ring and arrhae pillows.  I had so much fun doing everything!  It was a good outlet to practice my artistic skills :P  Here's a photo.  Yeah, I'm proud of my work!

Copyright: KM Cunanan

Our emcees were also our brother and sister. Who knew us better than them, right? We got good feedback from our guests about our reception program because of those two.  Everybody was laughing and having a good time.  They were relaxed and felt included.  So if you can get someone who can do that for you, I recommend doing so.  And it saves you a lot of money from getting professional emcees.

There you have it!  Hopefully, these will be very helpful in your wedding preparations.  Share with me your thoughts by commenting below :)

PS: Suppliers review in my next post.