If you want to get technical, the fragrance is a white woody oriental scent that has top notes of Calabrian bergamot, violet leaves, and lotus blossom. This is what makes the initial whiff very refreshing. The middle notes consist of woody aromas like white woods, sandalwood, and cashmere wood, which give Bulgari Man that warm touch. Its top notes have hints of white honey and musk, which tie the sophisticated scent into one super sexy scent (at least I think so) that’s perfect for your better half.

PS It doesn’t hurt that hunky Clive Owen is the fragrance’s face. I can imagine getting a whiff of him wearing nothing but Bulgari Man.

In my attempt to save on a mani pedi today (actually my favorite home service I DO NAILS was closed today), I painted my own nails with two shades from Orly’s ‘Tis The Season collection. I painted the base with Candy Cane (a deliciously apple red shade), then topped the tips with slivers of Glitz and Glamour (a deep gold shimmer).

Because I’ve been so spoiled with I DO NAILS’ great service, I haven’t painted my own nails in months. So when I did my own nails this evening, gasp, my nails look like they were painted by a two-year old monkey. They looked so bad that I didn’t bother taking a photo to post here (plus, I left my camera with my nieces over the weekend). Anyway, I liked the color combination, so I’ll repeat this in the morning when I have better lighting conditions, less New Year alcohol in my system, and well, I DO NAILS will finally be open.

Happy New Year, everybody! Have a sparkling year ahead!

Orly Tis The Season (P349.75 per bottle) is available at Marionnaud, First Aid Greenbelt, PCX (Rockwell, Ermita, Alabang Town Center), Watsons (Greenbelt 5, Ayala Cebu), Beauty by SM (Makati, Megamall, Fairview), Landmark-Trinoma, Caswell-Massey and Robinsons Department Store Ermita

Punctuality. I Do Nails proprietor Monica Maceda makes sure her staff gets to you 15 minutes before your schedule. She schedules appointments with enough allowance for travel and traffic, that way you don’t sit around and wait forever (which has happened quite a number of times with other home services).

Great service. The staff are well-trained (backed up by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA), and quietly carry out their business carefully and professionally, so you don’t have to worry about them pouring out their sob story about a cheating husband or rebellious child.

Added extras. The I Do Nails technicians set up a special lounge chair that has the perfect height so you can prop your feet up comfortably on their foot stool without straining your knees. Your forearms can rest perfectly on the arm rests, too. I realized how important this kind of chair was on their second visit. I said I could manage with the living room chair (pictured here), which wasn’t as comfy as their seat. And if you’re the type to bob your head from side to side when you fall asleep (and believe me, with their light touch, you will fall asleep!), you can use the provided neck rest to keep your head in place.

I especially like their refreshing cucumber mask—cool patches that they set on your eyes to rejuvenate the blood flow in that area.

Ice eyes, baby. Their cucumber patches are stored in a chiller.

Nifty little nail chart. I don’t know about you, but when nail technicians plop a heavy basket full of nail polish bottles on my lap, I don’t want to pick up each bottle and inspect the color. It doesn’t help that I’m paranoid that I’ll knock the basket off my lap and send the bottles crashing to the floor. So when I was handed their nail polish swatch, I could instantly visualize how the shade would look on my nails.

Pocket-friendly prices. The treatments range from P90 (a quickie manicure) to P600 (the Paraffin Dip: soak + your choice of organic or non-organic scrub + Paraffin + shape + massage + paint; and the Happy Weekend Package: soak + shape + massage + paint + spa for hands and feet)—very affordable rates, especially since they use O.P.I. products.

I was never one to be addicted to manis and pedis and could go for weeks without a treatment, but these guys are close to changing my mind.

Book an appointment with I Do Nails at (02) 635-2654; (02) 502-9099; (0917) 5315365; Idonailshomeservice@yahoo.com

Tatcha way u-huh-u-huh I like it!

A few weeks ago I went on a four-day surf trip that left me with a glorious tan. The upside: I don’t have to wear concealer under my eyes (my dark skin has caught up with my dark under eyes), and all I need is a swipe of blush and a bit of lip gloss to look polished. The downside: my skin has gotten oily, leaving me with a film of grease (not the John Travolta kind) on my face.

I’ve been keeping a pack of TATCHA Aburatorigami on my dresser for the past weeks, and finally remembered to use it two days ago. What’s a TATCHA,  you ask? The Aburatogami is a Japanese oil-blotting paper which was discovered hundreds of years ago by Japanese artisans who would hammer gold into ultra thin pieces. A special handmade paper was wrapped to protect the gold, and in the process this paper was made very fine, thus producing the very first form of Aburatogami. By some serendipitous process, the Japanese discovered that this paper was very oil-absorbent, and soon after that, Kabuki actors started using it to touch up their cakey stage makeup without fear of smearing off. Pretty soon Geishas got wind of it, and this became their beauty secret to keeping their skin fine and oil-free.

Many kinds of oil-blotting brands have surfaced, one of which is the TATCHA Aburatogami (P595, Beauty Bar) A package contains 30 pieces of natural, fragrance- and oil-free sheets. Each sheet has a few gold flecks—proof of its gold leaf workshop origins.

My skin is far from that of a Geisha’s, but blotting my oily, sweat-laden face with this 95-mm square leaflet is enough to get me looking naturally fresh and dewy. Now my pack of Tatcha is no longer on my dresser; I take it with me wherever I go.

And because I’m not a fan of flimsy-looking plastic shavers (give me a sturdy, silver, hi-tech looking gadget that looks like it can chop your head off), I let those three Schick shavers collect dust on my bathroom shelf.

Last Tuesday however, as I was about to shave my legs in the shower, I found my trusty razor had reached the end of its life span. So I fished out the mint green Schick shaver from the shelf and cynically used that instead. Three days later the skin on my gams felt like they were still newly shaved, and only two days later did I start to feel a hint of leg hair growing. And they weren’t the sharp stubbly kind; they felt like fine sand grains on the surface of my legs. Looks like I’m sticking to Schick.

I had her paint my nails with two coats of Essie in Fed Up, one of my favorite shades because it gives my digits a fresh-looking finish. Wheng and I were admiring her work when she suggested “Ma’am lalong gaganda yan pag nilagyan natin ng French tip.” Because of my rock climbing, I have stubby fingers and I keep my nails short, so I wasn’t crazy about having her swipe a half moon on the tips of my nails (my last French tip was more a 3/4 moon than a half moon). But Wheng convinced me that she could make the tips look real, so I allowed her to do her light little swooshes on my finger nails. She kept the tip of the brush (short bristles are better than long for more control, she says) very close to the edge of my nail, to the point of painting the skin on my fingers. Then she cleaned them up any excess with polish remover. Minutes later she presented my new and improved digits which looked longer and more feminine. And because she gave me such a wonderful French tip, I gladly gave her a big tip.

Massage By Us San Juan, Mandaluyong Branch 392-6437; 0917-84RELAX

A smash hit: Smashbox's Camera Ready Full Coverage Concealer

My girlfriends and I were exchanging beauty secrets at a Baby Shower earlier today when a friend of mine pulled out her latest makeup purchase, a stylish black tube from Smashbox.

As a beauty editor, I’ve road tested concealers in all shapes and forms, so I figured this little stick was the same as the rest. Until I twisted the tube, swiped a bit of the stuff on the back of my hand (to warm up the product), picked it up with my ring finger, and tapped it under my eyes.

The product felt very light and not cakey at all, and it went on my skin effortlessly. When I didn’t think the product was covering my dark circles enough, all I needed was to add a little more, building it up and stopping until I noticed my imperfections were, like Jack Johnson crooned, gone going gone.

I turned to my girlfriends and they all agreed—my dark circles were a thing of the past! Four hours later, the makeup hasn’t caked or creased, and I still look like I’ve had a full night’s sleep. My next step: sprint to Beauty Bar to get my hands on this nifty little stick.

Try on a new lipstick shade helps you get out of a beauty funk.

You know how you have bouts of beauty-related neglect? Like when you don’t feel like plucking your brows for three days, then you think “I could do without it for a couple more.” Then another seven days pass by and you look at yourself in the mirror and find a cro magnon staring back at you. How about when keep your nail polish on even when the one nail has started to chip. “I spent a fortune on my manicure, might as well keep this on for a few more days,” you tell yourself. One and a half weeks later your poor nails look you’ve scraped them against concrete. It’s called neglect.

I realized how much I’ve been ignoring this blog when one of my star students in barre3 class sweetly reprimanded “you haven’t been updating your blog!” Gulp. It hit me. I had been putting off blogging for over a month because of this and that (working on the current issue of Runner’s World Philippines, doing makeovers for Sisters On Style—a project my sisters and I are working on [more on this in the future!], writing for Women’s Health, teaching barre3, doing makeup for weddings and magazines, running, climbing, and so much more.

I wear many hats/play different roles, but being a beauty coach is one of my favorite duties because I help women (and men, too) learn how to feel better about themselves. Another reason I love my job: Sharing beauty secrets. One of my secrets in getting out of a rut: trying on a new lipstick shade. It changes my look instantly and perks me up instantly.

Tell me, what’s your secret to getting out of a beauty rut?

The skin on my feet grew so thick because of training for my first ultramarathon (an ultramarathon is a foot race above 50 Km). For four months I ran on mixed road and trail terrains twice during the week, and back to back on weekends to prepare for The Northface 100 Km race which was held in Baguio last weekend. (Incidentally, HAPPY ONE WEEK ANNIVERSARY!! My race companions and I crossed the finish line of the TNF 100 around this time last Sunday.)

Checking the damage after the race

All those hours training as well as running/walking/climbing on race day (it took my running buddies and I over 29 hours to finish) caused the skin on my feet to get pretty thick (thankfully, not cracked). I needed the thick skin on race day to protect me from blisters. Now that it’s over, however, I can finally file my skin down to original form.

Before I got overzealous with my foot filer last night, I had a more ideal set up the day before: a basin filled with warm water and a mix of two relaxing treatments: Hot Pink Tease Exotic Coconut Epsom Salt Scrub (unfortunately this is no longer available at Hot Pink Lingerie, so generic Epsom Salts will do) and Earth Therapeutics Tea Tree Oil Foot Soak (P675, The Beauty Bar). I placed my feet in this heavenly concoction and leaned back on my couch. Minutes later I took I took my Pedro Ceramic Callus Rasp (P750, Zwilling J.A. Henckels) and gently filed my wet feet. I then rinsed off the solution, wiped my feet dry and massaged a generous amount of Clarins Foot Beauty Treatment Cream (P1,650, Rustan’s) all over my pampered tootsies.

Right now I’m wearing Carrie-d Away (P325), a natural shade with just a whisper of color. It’s the perfect polish to make my fingers look longer and more graceful, which is the effect I want to get when I do my ballet stretches in the barre3 classes I teach. My normally stubby-looking digits (thanks to climbing) look as refined as a ballerina’s in this fresh shade.

Polish up your act with the Manhattan Collection from Dashing Diva

You’ll love the other shades, like Charlotte’s Wedding (a sweet cream color with shimmer), DD MC Miranda’s Law (a red orange color reminiscent of the fiery lawyer’s locks), Limo Service (fashionable jet black) and so much more.

The Manhattan Collection is available at Dashing Diva in Beauty Bar. For more information visit beautybar.com.ph