My Latest Makeup MUST-HAVES! :)

I love discovering and searching for new things to try when it comes to makeup. I edit my makeup must-haves at least once a year. Oftentimes when I discover something I like I stick to it and buy backup stocks in case they are discontinued. I am sharing with you some of my latest make-up staples all of which I've tried, tested and loved so much I already have backup supply! :)

1.YSL Rouge Volupté and YSL Rouge Volupté Shine Lipsticks- These offer great coverage, goes on smooth but feels so light, like butter! Another phenomenal product from YSL! Not for matte lipstick lovers but great for those who want glossy long-lasting luscious looking lips! The packaging makes this product so worth it, I just love looking at it!

I've tried other shades but I keep coming back to these two: Rouge Volupté Shine in Nude in Private and Rouge Volupté in Pink Caress. These are intensely pigmented, long-lasting, and contain comforting formula that leaves lips visibly smoother, plumper and more radiant. 

 2. Majolica Majorca's Brow and Lash Colorist- I am also a fan  of MAC's GIRL BOY Brow Set but lately I've been using this more often. Its a tad bit lighter and it doesn't have as much glitter as GIRL BOY. It stays on longer and it evens out my unruly thick brows! Majolica Majorca is a sister company of Shiseido, they have lots of great products worth trying! 

My current favorite brow product!

3. 1 DAY TATTOO REAL LASTING EYELINER-  These eye liners are the best!! They really do stay on and does not budge at all! I'm not an expert at applying eyeliner but the fine tip soft brush makes it easy for me to draw a fine line every time I use it. Unlike felt tip liners these remain pointed even if you use it over and over. I've tried SUPER BLACK and DEEP BROWN and I love them both!! :)

These eyeliners are wonderful! They stayput, are easy to use and also easy to remove! :)

4. Dior Blush Poudre Couleur & Lumiere- This Glowing Color Powder Blush is amazing! I have it in shade 821 Pinky Beige and it is the perfect shade for me. It looks really natural on me and when I use the highlight I feel I am lit from within! :) I love it because it's subtle and not too intense yet it stays on the whole day even if I have oily skin. It's a bit pricey but I've been using it for months and it still looks new! The brush that comes with the compact is terrible, just use your standard slanted blush brush and it's all good! :)

I use this to create a natural, healthy glow with a subtle sparkle! :)

5. K Palette Zero Kuma Cover Control Concealer in 02 Yellow Beige- Yes another eye concealer.. I know! This is a great under eye concealer but you need a little time, practice and patience to master it. I've learned I only need very little of it to conceal the appearance of puffiness, dark circles, and tiredness. Yellow Beige (02) is the shade I personally prefer for my own eye issues. It blends out fairly well and naturally without caking and creasing into my fine lines.

This is a VERY concentrated concealer so a little goes a long way because it's very pigmented! I can get a fair 12 hours without it fading, disappearing, or creasing into my eyes.

17 WEIRD Things I do as a MOTHER!

Ever since I had my boys my days have become pleasantly chaotic and surprisingly unpredictable. The past five years I have done weird things I never would have done before. Because of this I now realize I have truly becomea MOTHER! Read on...

1.Veegee  and I “pretend play” with the boys and we let loose and just be plain silly with them. This can be a great stress reliever, just being kids with our kids! Just make sure nobody sees you! :)  

Silly.. but very happy times spent with the boys! :)

2. When they have diaper rash I make sure to air out their skin and watch over them while they sleep without their diaper. I'd rub Calmoseptine on the affected area and turn on an extra fan aimed at their butts. This works for us and always heal most of their rashes over night! 

3. My husband and I always enjoy hearing the boys fart! Yes another simple pleasure that we cherish! Since they know we will laugh they now laugh with us! 

4. I can cut my sons fingernails and toenails in the dark while they sleep. With the use of my trusty led light and favorite kid's nail cutter. I can expertly cut and trim the nails of my boys in three to five minutes. It’s a new found talent!

My LED flashlight and favorite reliable nail cutter for kids! Very easy to use!! :)

5. I smell their heads, napes and armpits before they take a bath. They each have distinct scents only a mother could appreciate! :)

6. I watch them sleep. This is one of my simple joys in life!

7. I sometimes check if they are “really” breathing! SIDS ( Sudden Infant Death Syndrome )  freaked me out when I gave birth and it still haunts me now that the boys are bigger.

Sometimes they sleep too soundly that I need to make sure they are breathing. Paranoid.. I KNOW!!

8. I clean their ears, nose and teeth when they are in deep sleep! Yes I am an expert at this too! To make a child open his mouth while sleeping you just need to gently rub his jaw.

9. I give them “SPA BATHS” at least once a week. These are long baths where I clean every nook and cranny of their tiny bodies! This is the time when I check if they have insect bites, bruises and scratches. I thoroughly shampoo their hair and use conditioner after. A vain mom equals vain kids!!

Taken after one of our "SPA BATHS" they look sleepy!! :)

HOW I SIMPLIFIED MY LIFE

Sometimes life can be very overwhelming! As a wife, mother and a business owner I have to deal with a lot of things all at the same time.Over the years I've gathered a few tricks and tips I'd like to share with you, these are simple ways on how I feel I simplified my life.

 A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me a simple life is all about getting rid of the many useless things I do so I can spend more time with the people I love and do the things I cherish the most. Here it goes:

1. I had a towel rack installed inside our shower cubicle. This made fresh and dry towels available for anyone taking a bath. I no longer had to deal with a messy wet bathroom floor! Every time we stepped out of the shower we are already at least halfway dry.

A towel rack installed inside  our shower cubicle made my life so much simpler! :)

2. Invest in a fireproof vault or safe and have it installed by someone you trust. All important documents and valuables are kept inside the safe at all times. Make sure the vault is anchored or mounted to either concrete or wood floors and walls. Never let anyone know the combination. This gives me peace of mind when I am away from home. Really valuable items are still better off kept in the bank.

Having your own vault inside your home will give you peace of mind! Mount it on a concrete wall and never share the combination! :)

3. For home cooked meals we sometimes use the turbo broiler, pressure cooker and electric grill. This saves time and gives us a chance to try different dishes instead of just always cooking from the stove.

Excuse our tiny spring chicken hehe!! But really the turbo broiler, electric grill and pressure cooker made meal planning simpler for me!

4. Ask your household help to maintain a rolling grocery list and put it somewhere everybody can see. Ask them to write down whatever it is they need from the grocery. I bring this list with me when I am at the supermarket and it helps me know what I need to buy first. This list cuts my shopping time in half and helps me know which items we still have on hand.

Our TO BUY: list is always posted at the door of our refrigerator!

5. Backup your phone directory and save all important pictures and videos in one hard drive. If ever you lose your camera or phone at least you know you have a copy of all the important files, pictures and videos. This will save you a lot of heartache especially if the baby pictures of your kids are involved.

This external hard drive contains all our important files and memories!! :)

6. ONLINE BANKING!! This helped me save a lot of time and effort! Imagine having to go to the bank just to check if a buyer already paid or not. Online banking made things so much simpler for me. I can pay our bills, transfer money and pay for our credit card statement anytime online.

Online banking made life so much simpler for me as a mother and a business owner! I can check each transaction made online anytime, anywhere!

7. De-clutter at least twice a year. We may not notice it but we accumulate a lot of things over the years. If we don't learn to let go, keeping a lot of things we don't need can be very overwhelming! Weigh your options: you can donate; have a garage sale, or simply give away some of your things to people who really need them.

Bromance in Action!

Yes, bromance is very much alive in our household! A few days ago I was deleting pictures on my cell and I came across these pictures of Miguel and Jaime being sweet to each other. These pictures made me smile and I realized it's great that they have each other. As a mother I hope for Miguel to always be the Kuya that Jaime can depend on. For Jaime to be the little brother who will standby and always be there for his Kuya too.

I've witnessed so many sibling fall-outs, where squabbles seem to last a lifetime and brothers and sisters fall farther apart because of different issues and misunderstandings.We are continually surrounded by hatred and violence everyday. Nowadays the value of life seem to be underestimated. Because of this I always pray and hope that my sons will grow up knowing the importance of love, kindness and family. That blood will always be thicker than water! For them to know and understand that we will all stick together through the good and bad times. 

My single wish as the mother of these two adorable boys is for them to love each other this way forever! 

Miguel adores his brother! Yes they do fight just like any other kids but it is during these unguarded moments that I can truly sense their love for each other as brothers!

Kuya can be very sweet when he wants to be!

BROMANCE in ACTION! :)

Goodbye Wedge Sneakers!

Do you know the feeling of wanting something so much but then you postpone buying it for so long, you just lose interest?  This is exactly how I feel about WEDGE SNEAKERS! It's been months but I am still fascinated by them and whenever I see pictures of ladies wearing them on the web I still want to get a pair!

I just feel these shoes are so great to look at if they are worn by other ladies but they just seem too much for me. Every time I try on a pair I always end up not buying them. Is it because I'm in my thirties or is it because I rarely wear kicks?  It seems that most of the women wearing these sneakers have super long and slim legs! I'm afraid if I wear them I will look like an elf!

Nonetheless, do checkout the pictures below and see how cool these Wedge Sneakers can be!!

Due to the hidden wedge, these sneakers will make your legs look a little longer and leaner than if you were wearing flat shoes. They look so comfy too!

Super stylish!!

They can make simple outfits look so COOL!

50 REASONS WHY I LOVE MY HUSBAND :)

I've written so much about my sons on my blog, I realized I haven't written much about the person who gave them to me. My husband Veegee!

Veegee and I have known each other for 19 years! I met him during our freshman year in college. He seemed like the cocky guy from Ateneo and I didn't want anything to do with him at first. But before I knew it he was friends with my friends, offering to bring all of us home and asking if we wanted to go anywhere after school. We had a very long and eventful courtship that eventually led to a happy marriage. Maybe someday I'll write about our love story here. 

The reasons I've listed below are just simple things he does for me and the family that make us all realize we are lucky to have him! 

50 REASONS WHY I LOVE MY HUSBAND VEEGEE:

1. He loves being a Father and he really makes an effort to take care of the boys. When Yaya is already sleeping he is the designated "pwet" washer! 
2. Since we've been together I've never had to peel my shrimps and crabs he does this for me every time no matter where we are.
3. He provides for all our needs and wants, he always puts my wants and needs above his own.
4. He is loyal, honest and trustworthy and he knows the repercussion of his actions. I've never doubted his faithfulness to me and our marriage and not once did he ever give me a reason to doubt him.
5. He tries his best to help me out in everything I want to do and pursue, it was him who really gave me the courage to push through with TINY TOTS . Even if at first I didn't have an idea of what it is I was doing. He is my personal cheer leader, he has faith in me and in what I can achieve.
6. He has a great sense of humor and he can always make me laugh.
7. He understands my moods and know the right things to say when I am down.
8. He knows exactly what I'm thinking even if I don't say a word, we can also communicate just by looking at each other.
9.  He believes in me and accepts me for who I am and I've never felt he compared me to anyone else.
10. He Believes in the power of prayer and he has strong faith in God.
11. He takes part in all our family activities  and accepts my whole family the way they are.
12.  His love for me hasn't changed, he is an amazing lover and he can be very sweet and romantic when he wants to be.
13.  He still takes me out on dates.
14.  He values family above all else, he would often say that our kids mean the world to him.

Beauty Products I Won't Repurchase!

I love beauty products! I am always willing to try something new and I am always hoping to discover something that I can use over and over and still love. In my eagerness to find products that perform and work well for me, I've stumbled upon those that truly failed and did not do anything for me. The products I will feature in this post are products I bought, tried and did not love. This is only based on my personal experience. I might have gotten an old stock or maybe something went wrong with how I used the product so please no judgments. :)

So here it goes, the beauty products I will NEVER REPURCHASE and REGRET BUYING are:

ST. IVES MAKE-UP REMOVER and CLEANSER and ST. IVES APRICOT CLEANSER- The make-up remover simply did not work! It smelled like rotten plastic and did not remove my make-up at all. It felt heavy, thick and I did not feel  clean and fresh after I use it. The Apricot cleanser was terrible too, it has soft beads that did not exfoliate my skin in any way and again the product smelled weird and it left a thick film on top of my skin. I don't understand what went wrong with St. Ives and these products as I've been using their Apricot Scrub for over 15 years and I totally love it.

Celeteque Anti-Wrinkle Ultra Hydrating Cleansing Oil- This works well if you plan to use it just to remove eye make-up, but it is not so great used on the entire face. Also not great used as an all night leave on moisturizer which they suggest. When I tried this I woke up with a very oily face, the product just sat on top of my face and was not absorbed at all.

Etude House Color My Brows- This was simply terrible! I was only able to use it for around 15 times and it dried up! I was hoping to find a dupe for my MAC Girl Boy Brow Set and this is definitely not it! It's not long-wearing and it made my brows look fake and stiff! Never again....

Skin Doctors EYETUCK Anti-bag technology- This I bought on a whim even if it wasn't cheap, and I truly truly regret purchasing it. I was interested in the scientific claims presented by the manufacturers and it failed me big time! I did not see any difference in my eye area at all even if I used it exactly as they suggested. I don't even have"major" eye bags!! I was hoping it could help with the puffiness of my eyes but it absolutely made no difference. This product is a total waste.