Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't win, they made a blunder in announcing the correct winner for Best Picture, and Christopher Nolan wasn't even nominated for his work in The Dark Knight. Nope, I'm still not over it.

Still, the 89th Academy Awards was as glitzy and glamorous as expected and I couldn't help but attempt to bring even a speck of it on my blog. What better (and easier) way to do just that than with lipsticks?

Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the new L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Gold Obsession Lipsticks.

I don't know until when the metallic lipstick trend will stay but color me obsessed. Straight from the runways of Paris Fashion Week, L'Oreal Makeup Designer/ Paris brings Color Riche Gold Obsession, an opulent collection of lipsticks infused with real 24-karat gold. Perfect for night-outs when you want to look extra bold or instantly sophisticated, or for days when you need to sparkle. Literally.

Color Riche Gold Obsession offers four sophisticated shades with real 24-karat gold that gives a metallic sheen and subtle dimension on the lips. Keep on reading for my swatches and review.

The new L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Gold Obsession Lipsticks are very, very pigmented. I actually only used one to two swipes in the photos above yet they yielded that much color. I also found them to be non-drying on my perennially dry lips but it's best to moisturize with lip balm before application just the same. The micro-shimmers in each lipstick can lend you the sparkle you need but if you want more, then a swipe of Le Gold does the trick. This shade can be worn in two ways: on top of another lipstick shade as a highlighter that creates subtle dimension, or all-out gold if you want your pout do all the talking. Pro-tip: Put Le Gold on just the center of your lips to add more dimension.


Longevity is also more than satisfactory. They stay on the lips even after eating and drinking so long as your food is not too oily. I used Rose Gold during our Penshoppe Capital event and it stayed on (without retouching!) long after the guests have purchased their #PenshoppePicks.

My favorite thing about the Color Riche Gold Obsession Lipsticks is that it adds an extra oomph in my look without looking tacky or costume-y. Give this lipstick line all the awards it deserves!

The new Color Riche Gold Obsession collection from L'Oreal Makeup Designer/ Paris is now available for only Php400 SRP per tube. Products are exclusively imported and distributed by L'Oreal Paris Philippines and are available in L'Oreal Paris makeup counters and official online retailers. For more information about Color Riche Gold Obsession, visit L'Oreal Paris Philippines' Facebook Page.

La La Land would be tough to beat I guess, but I really really really hope Lin-Manuel Miranda wins an Oscar on Monday just so he can grace us with another beautiful acceptance speech.

I mean, just listen to this:

One more time for people at the back:

Whenever I feel sad, I just watch my favorite acceptance speeches, cry, and immediately feel better again. Lin-Manuel's speech for Best Score at last year's Tony Awards is one of my top favorites.

The 89th Academy Awards is happening this Monday and you can catch the HBO Live Coverage starting at 8AM! If you're looking forward to the glitzy and glamorous side of it though, you can watch the E! Red Carpet coverage with hosts Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic as early as 6:30AM!


As a prelude to the Oscars, I got invited by SKY Cable to the #SKYTriviaNight with the theme Everything Oscars. It was held in Ludo Boardgame Bar and Cafe in Makati last Thursday night, in partnership with HBO, E!, and Geek Fight.

I actually wanted to cancel at first because I wasn't really in the mood to socialize, but decided to go for it when Niche asked me to be one of his teammates.

Good thing I did because WE WON!

Team Simply the Best! Birthday celebrator Thysz, Vinny, Niche, and me

Did you know that Simply the Best was HBO's first tagline? They have since changed it to It's not TV. It's HBO.

It's all or nothing/ go big or go home. The grand prize is P40,000 and we split it equally among the four of us. More budget for my upcoming trip!

What a nerve-wracking night. We weren't sure we were going to win because there was another team (composed of two members WTF??) who were really good! They were actually leading by one point by the end of the first half, but thankfully we brushed up on our knowledge about E! and HBO's shows.

This is the face of someone who just won P10,000 in cash

You can win, too! Join HBO's contest and you can get the chance to win a trip to catch next year's Oscars® Red Carpet 'live' in Hollywood. Live! In the flesh! It's inclusive of Exclusive Red Carpet spectator tickets and Oscars® viewing party, round-trip airfare to Los Angeles, 5D4N hotel accommodation, VIP Theme Park Tour, and a helicopter tour of the breathtaking Californian coastline! Sounds enticing? View the mechanics here.

I'm so excited! I wish I could watch the live telecast but it's going to be a busy work-week for me so I'll catch the Primetime Encore at 8:05PM instead. I'll be following the #LIVEonSKY hashtag on Twitter, though!

How about you, who are your best bets to win the coveted awards?

I went to the dress rehearsal of Don Quixote by Ballet Manila not knowing what to expect. I don't remember it being discussed in any of my classes so I walked in to Aliw Theater with no background information. All I know is that because it's Ballet Manila, then it is worth checking out.


AND IT IS.

Happening on February 24 and 25, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. and on February 26, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at Aliw Theater, Don Quixote is known in the ballet world as one of the most technically challenging pieces ever created, with some of the choreography raising the already high international standards when it first premiered in 1869 at the Tsar's Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg. It is especially known for its compulsory quick and strong movements, high vertical takeoffs, one arm lifts, quick fouettes, quadruple pirouettes, and Kitri’s signature move, the Plisetskaya head-kick. 

Don Quixote is the closing act for Ballet Manila’s 21st performance season. Set in Spain, the story tells the tale of Don Quixote, who decides to become a knight and embark on a journey to find Lady Dulcinea, a lover that he has only made up in his head. The ballet places special focus on the love story between Kitri and Basilio, a pair he encounters during his adventures. The production combines great acrobatic feats, lively music, colorful sets and costumes, and a lot of comedic elements. Specially for this run, Ballet Manila will bring in Kremlin Ballet Theater star and principal danseur, Mikhail Martynyuk, to play Basilio.

I was enthralled not only by the ballerinas and danseurs (Katherine Barkman and Rudy de Dios danced the lead roles in the tech rehearsal I watched) but also by the colorful costumes.


I hope you can take the time to catch Don Quixote by Ballet Manila!

Hello, we are Ana and Krissy. We've been friends for 10 years now.

Our hobbies include blogging, arts and crafts, reading, getting together at least once a year for our annual catch-up date, and watching reunion concerts. (Eraserheads, Hanson, The Cranberries, Vertical Horizon, and Sugar Ray, among others.) Yesterday, The Moffatts was added to that list.

My Saturdays are usually reserved for my boyfriend but we made separate plans for yesterday because I spent the whole day with Ana. 

First, we spent the afternoon learning Basic Baybayin from Sir Leo Castro of Sanghabi at Craft MNL's studio.


Aside from teaching us how to read and write in Basic Baybayin, he also gave us a crash course on linguistics, world history, and the origins of the alphabet and other forms of writing. He also showed us his prized copies of books written in Baybayin.




Baybayin really looks intimidating especially if you think about how difficult it would be for someone in our age to learn a new language, much less read and write it, but it's actually pretty easy. For one, it only uses 17 symbols, and interpretations of each only change when you add something to the characters.


Sir Leo gave us some exercises to test what we have learned and I'm so happy because I got the hang of it quickly enough.

This is my name in Baybayin:


Our language is so beautiful and our history so colorful, and I'm thankful for people like Sir Leo and organizations like Sanghabi for working hard to make sure our local heritage is kept alive and not forgotten.

I love attending workshops (I learned how to carve stamps in a Craft MNL workshop at their old studio) and I'm so glad I got to go to another one again. I'm such a big nerd so the prospect of learning something new tickles me, what more if that experience is shared with a good friend.

Making new friends on top of that is just a bonus. This is Belle, and she's studying to become a preschool teacher.

After the class, Ana and I braved the EDSA traffic to go to Araneta Coliseum for The Moffatts' Farewell Tour!

I was such a fan when I was in sixth grade until my highschool freshman year but when I first heard about them having a concert I was all "meh" about it. It wasn't until Thursday night when I asked Ana if there's any chance she would like to watch after our class and she said yes that I felt giddy about it! I listened to their old songs on Spotify during my commute and, well, even though I still know the lyrics by heart, their songs felt a little bit "too young" for me.

Judging from the Hanson reunion concert we weren't expecting too many people to come to the show but whoah, Araneta was full! Good on ya, boys! Seriously, the concert felt like a reunion of the kids who grew up watching MTV! It was amazing.


It didn't actually feel like a reunion concert seeing as how only 10 out of the 22 songs they played are from the old albums but oh man, I felt like a high school girl all over again.

I got home past midnight tired and sleepy but with spirits high from our cultured and concert date. Loved, loved, loved this day. Thanks, Ana! 'Til our next!

My boyfriend is not the romantic type.

He's not big on grand gestures, he thinks Valentine's Day is overrated, he doesn't like flowers, and sometimes he loses track of dates and forgets monthsaries. This proves to be challenging for me at times because I'm a cliché. I'm all about the hearts and cheese, fam.

I acknowledge that his love language differs from mine and I have enough self-awareness to recognize when I'm being irrational so I have learned to manage my expectations.

And so when he does something out of the ordinary, these gestures are completely unexpected and doubly appreciated.

Yesterday, just a little after I gave up and accepted the fact that we wouldn't be celebrating Valentine's Day together, he surprised me in the office with flowers and took me out on a romantic date at The Wholesome Table (where we technically had our first ever date before watching Owl City's concert back in 2015).



I had a Yakitori Bowl and a Wholesome Mojito while he had a Grass Fed Beef Burger and a Be Strong smoothie.





I miss Aria Cucina Italiana (the Italian restaurant that used to occupy this space, also by the same owners) and their Rucola e pinoli Pizza but I like The Wholesome Table more not only because it's prettier, but because the food don't make me feel blah even after indulging myself. Only the good stuff, indeed. Service is also A+. I only have fond memories in this place (aside from being the venue of our first date, this is also where my boss talked to me about my raise, hee) and I wish I could afford to eat here more often. As it stands this is more like a "special occasion" resto for me, and I think that's okay because at least its novelty won't be lost on me.

One of the best parts of the evening was seeing my favorite server Juvy again after so long. I didn't see her the last time I ate there so I thought she has already transferred to another job.


I was so pleased that she still remembers me. All this time I was thinking she only calls me "Miss Gorgeous" because she doesn't really know my name and just calls every random customer that, but she called me by my first name when she saw me! She also gave us chocolates.


This is my favorite Valentine's Day so far, made even more special by my Love and his romantic gesture. I know he scoffs at this Hallmark holiday but he still made the effort of waking up extra early so he can get off work earlier than usual and brave the fake holiday traffic to get to BGC where I work. ♥




I love you, bb. My heart is yours.

Lost. A sea of cars.

We got into a car accident this morning. Another car bumped into the van I was riding (on my side, no less!) but thank the gods of traffic jams, we hardly felt the impact. Our driver settled things with the driver of the other car and we were back on the road in no time. 

I don't even want to think of the other scenarios that could have happened. Instead I'm here, thankful that we didn't suffer even a single scratch from that incident.

So, yeah, hello everyone. I'm alive and well.

Drowning in lists and to do's.

We're preparing for three major events and a minor one scheduled this month, the first of which is happening tomorrow. I am drowning in lists of people I need to coordinate with, invite, and press information I need to collate and disseminate. 

Sometimes I wonder why I choose this lifestyle, why I willingly go through all this stress that a career in PR brings. But then I talk to and connect with a lot of people and know their individual stories, and I am reminded why.

Inhale. Exhale. Wink.

Challenges notwithstanding, I am grateful I have hardworking and inspiring bosses, supportive officemates-turned-friends, and a Love that, with a single hug, makes me feel like I'm home.

Wink.