Wow.

What a year, this year.

2018 is the year I grew so much, and all I can do is marvel and be thankful.


My 2018 highlights include: being introduced to One Ok Rock • meeting Adam J. Kurtz • undergoing a myomectomy and having 11 myomas removed • going on a two month-long break from work • watching and hearing John Legend perform live • turning 32 • getting invited to the Richprime office and seeing the most number of Barbies I have ever seen in my lifetime • going to a jazz concert • ARC Public Relations, Inc. being acquired by MullenLowe Philippines and becoming reintroduced as MullenLowe MARC • celebrating our third anniversary • moving out of my parents' house again and moving closer to my office • losing my Lolo Julian • celebrating my 6th year in PR • going to Cebu for the first time • finally putting up Krissyfied Makes •

I shed so many tears, but the joys far outweigh the sad things. Most importantly, I am the most me that I have ever been, if that makes sense. It is never too late to become my own person, and 2018 is a great year as any to do that. I am grateful.

I have been wanting to switch to a menstrual cup for some time now because of couple of reasons: I'd like to help lessen my waste and at the same time save money by eliminating the need for disposable pads and tampons. Also, ever since I had a myomectomy I became more conscious of my reproductive health, and I have heard horror stories about raw materials used in sanitary napkins that can't be good down there. My friend Alex is a new menstrual cup advocate and influenced my decision to finally go for it. 

When I chanced upon the Anytime Menstrual Cup being offered on sale in BeautyMNL, I decided to go ahead and purchase one. It took me a while to decide on the size to get and I had to answer an online quiz to see what is best for me (although it wasn't that helpful because I don't know how to check if I have a high cervix) but I needn't worry about that because only Size 2 was available, LOL. Anyway, the description says Size 2 is for women 30 and above, so I thought I'll just take my chance since it's being sold at half the original price. I bit the bullet, bought it, and patiently waited.

My package arrived after two days.

It's pretty straightforward: inside the box you get the medical grade silicone menstrual cup sealed in a plastic bag, an instruction manual, and a pouch for safe-keeping. I'm not entirely sure if there's a difference in the size between this and Size 1 as I didn't see a photo nor infographic comparing the two, or if Size 1 is a bit thinner and softer, but I found the mouth of the menstrual cup I got to be thicker than the ones used in online tutorials, and looked a bit more difficult to fold.

I couldn't delay it any longer; it was getting late, I'm on the 3rd day of my period, and I needed to get on it. It's currently past midnight but I'm so psyched I don't think I would be able to sleep before writing about this. Indulge me and let me give you a blow-by-blow account of the past hour.

22:45 - I started boiling water to sterilize my menstrual cup with.
22:50 - I put my menstrual cup on the boiling water and let it sterilize for five minutes.
23:00 - As per the instructions in the video, I washed the cup with a mild cleanser and warm water.
23:03 - Stripped down to just my bra in the shower, I went to work. I squatted, tried the U-shaped fold and... Nothing happened.
23:25 - I tried squatting on the floor, I tried sitting on the toilet, I tried standing up, I tried many different kinds of folds, still nothing happened. It was getting a bit bloody. I started praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Roman goddess Venus.
23:30 - I shouted through the bathroom door for my boyfriend to bring me a mirror. Maybe it would be better if I could see?
23:45 - The bra has come off at this point. I could see in the mirror and I still couldn't do it. There were instances when I could put it halfway in but I would feel my muscles tense and I couldn't put the rest of it in anymore, and it HURT. I started remembering previous fights my boyfriend and I had. I started seeing patterns on the bathroom tiles I have never noticed before. I started getting anxious about the coming year as well as the choices I have made in life that brought me here, to this specific moment, and tears may or may not have fallen. I prayed to St. Anthony de Padua and all the other angels and saints.
23:51 - The spirit is willing but the body is weak. Squatting on the floor, feeling frustrated and alone with just my menstrual cup in a 7-shaped fold as company, I got ready to give up but for the heck of it I tried again and I swear without thinking about it I started to stand up and : POP : I wasn't holding the 7-shaped menstrual cup anymore? Instead I am seeing just the stem jutting out. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT BECAUSE I WAS SO AMAZED?

And that is how I was able to put my menstrual cup in after just 51 minutes.

You think that was difficult? You should have been there when I tried using a tampon for the first time. I literally had people on the other side of the bathroom door shouting encouragements at me. Yes. It was during a beauty event out of town and I suddenly got my period but thankfully I brought a tampon with me because I brought my swimsuit that day and I really wanted to take a dip.

It wasn't immediately A+ perfect, though. I had to poke around for a bit because I felt it was still folded inside and hasn't completely assumed the proper shape of a menstrual cup, which proved to be challenging because yikes, I haven't trimmed my nails for more than a week. (Note to self: clip nails tomorrow.) After a few minutes poking around and adjusting, I believe it is now secure and firmly in place. I still wore a liner though, just on my first time of using it, in case I didn't put it correctly and I get leaks.

Additional trivia that I don't think will be of use to you: I know the menstrual cup can't get lost inside me but I still needed to check the stem a couple of times and ensure I can easily pull it out, heh.

I believe I would purchase another one, in Size 1, to see if it's the better fit for me. But right now I can say that it hasn't even been three hours yet but I think I am now the newest menstrual cup convert and advocate! Hooray to not needing disposable feminine pads again!

It is half past 1 AM and I shall go to sleep soundly knowing I was able to succeed in the mission I set for myself.

Are you a menstrual cup convert? How was your experience? OR are you looking to switch to a menstrual cup? Let me know how it goes! Good luck!

Most days I strive to be a responsible, tick-all-the-items-in-my-checklist, can-do-anything super woman, but sometimes I just want to make like Cleopatra and bathe in milk the whole day. Aside from being pricey, it's also impractical because I don't have a tub. I reached a compromise with Althea's new exclusive product, the Milk Peel Cream Mask.

Give your skin a big gulp of hydration with the refreshing peeling powers of Althea's Milk Peel Cream Mask! Containing both AHA and BHA extracts, this gentle but effective exfoliator transforms from a clay to a whipped cream lather, whisking away dead skin cells to prevent flakiness. It’s also formulated with casein protein from milk to revitalize and moisturize the skin. The result is radiantly smooth, healthy skin that's bouncy to the touch!

• Its active ingredients are AHA and BHA which help to peel off dead skin cells for smoother skin.
• It contains Casein Protein (milk) to provide moisture and help the skin to stay moisturised all day.
• It has a soft clay-like texture that bubbles up when massaged on damp skin to deeply cleanse the pores.
• It is cruelty-free!

I like using the Milk Peel Cream Mask especially after a long and crazy day at work. The scent instatnly relaxes me, and the way the clay texture transforms to a whipped cream lather just feels so luxurious and indulgent.


I also love how smooth my skin feels after. I will definitely repurchase. :) Get yours here.

I have been trying to think of an appropriate Christmas-themed blog post but I hadn't had any luck until I received Josh Radnor's latest Museletter in my inbox. You may know him as an actor in the TV series Rise, or from writing, directing, and starring in indies Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts, or as a Broadway actor, or as a musician. But to me and a lot of other people, Josh Radnor is best known as portraying Ted Mosby in my favorite TV show How I Met Your Mother. I have always liked his tweets and have always found his Museletters insightful. This latest one, with the same title as this blog post, struck a nerve and I thought I should share a long excerpt with you.


Aging is equal parts bitter and sweet. You want kids to grow up, surely, for their voices to change and their clothes to get too small. It's evidence of health, of nature following its proper course. But its also evidence of loss: loss of youth, loss of innocence. There’s just something undeniably sad about the passage of time.

Though I've never done it myself there's apparently a Buddhist meditation centered on death, on doing a deep dive into your own impermanence. Rather than crippling us with fear, the meditation is designed to bring death out from the shadows and us more deeply into the present. We think we’re cheating death somehow by banishing it to the back of our minds, but denying death tends to close us off, to make us more frightened and overly-cautious. I can’t help but think we’d be healthier as a society if we weren’t so death-denying, if we didn’t hide away our elders and engage in quite so much youth worship. Keeping death at the front of our minds can liberate us to be more acutely alive.

Bruce Springsteen had a line in his Broadway show (which I was fortunate enough to catch in the last week of its run, but you can watch it on Netflix which I highly recommend you do, it’s terrific) where he said something about ‘awakening from the youthful dream of immortality.’ For me it happened when I hit forty. I couldn’t conceive of how I got there but there I was. And then I had some friends who died very suddenly these last few years and this seemingly endless thing began to feel very finite indeed.

Because here’s the truth of it: In the grand scope of universal cosmic time, eighty, ninety years is the snap of a finger. We’re here for just a moment, truly. I have that feeling sometimes on vacations. Like at the start of the vacation you can already sense its ending. The end is baked into the experience. That’s what life is starting to feel like to me. Endings, everywhere I turn. And that awareness brings with it a necessary reckoning: What am I to do with the time I have here? How best to fill my days?

We humans are the only creatures that live with an awareness of our own mortality. Like with all things that knowledge can either liberate or imprison us. That night at Jeff and Melissa’s I felt strangely liberated. It began in earnest when my sister Melanie and I had a brief chat by the fireplace about our parent’s dying one day and us having to go through their house and sift through the minutiae of their lives. We got instantly sad and cut off the talk quickly, but right afterwards this thought descended and wouldn't let go of me:

My parents aren’t going to be here one day.
My parents are going to die.

Now this might seem a morbid thought to have invaded an otherwise festive Thanksgiving. But instead of it being a downer, it brought on a strange kind of euphoria. I began studying the contours of my dad’s face and listening to the melody of my mom’s laughter, features of their form and presence that will one day be merely memory. But for that night, I knew it. They're in excellent health, my parents, but one day - hopefully not for many years - they will be gone. I felt their absence acutely while simultaneously being freed up to enjoy their presence, focusing intensely on all that I loved about their human form so that I’d be able to recall it vividly years from now.

For one night, it felt like I was dropped inside of a dying world, invited into some scene from long ago, a kind of reverse déjà vu. I was able to partially mourn my parents’ deaths while they were still alive, certain that the memory of that evening would be with me always. It felt like a true gift, some sort of divine alarm blaring “This is happening. You are all together. It won’t always be this way. Be here. Drink it in. Love more courageously.”

I think we feel regret when we sense we weren’t as present with people during an experience as we know we could have been. I also think it has something to do with love and gratitude unexpressed. I don’t know why it’s so hard to tell the people we love that we love them, that we forgive them, that we hope they forgive us. That we are grateful.

All I know is that I was given this gift.
To be alive inside of a memory.
It was truly odd and terribly sad.
And also wonderful.
A lot like life.

There's a quote that goes, "At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outside to play together for the last time, and none of you knew it." I didn't know that our last Christmas with my Uncle Karl was the last Christmas we would ever have with him. Looking back, I wonder if I would prefer knowing. I guess not. But every day I live with the regret that I should have embraced him one last time.

Listened to his stories one last time.

Said goodbye one last time.

The sharp pain evolves into a dull ache, resurfacing when particular memories revisit, but grief never really goes away. There's really nothing I can do about it now, but I can move forward with the awareness that whatever I do or whoever I am with, I should make an effort to be present.

My boyfriend and I were mulling over what a year this year has been so far. What a year, this year.

I am grateful, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

To subscribe to Josh Radnor's Museletters, click here. Go here to read his past entries. Photo in this blog post was taken by myself using a Huawei P20 Pro.

Eleven days before Christmas! How are you coping with the holidaze?

If I would be asked for my heart's one true desire, I would say contentment with what I have. But since I am not there yet, I say GIVE ME ALL THE THINGS!

Just kidding. I don't really want ALL THE THINGS. I just want clear, glowing, younger-looking skin, and a few key pieces that would add a little bit more sparkle this season.

This is where Althea Korea comes in.


They have all the things to make this happen, and just look at that holiday-themed box I can reuse. ♡ Here is my Althea Korea wish list.



As I said in my review, this is now my favorite sunscreen so I need more: one for my parents' house, one in the condo, and one in my boyfriend's parents' house. Therefore, wish list!




I loved the MIssha Perfect Cover BB Cream and I am guessing I would love this one as well, only its in a cushion form. The combination of 5 Hyaluronic Acid, Adenosine, and Collagen is said to provide a moisturizing base and help create moist and elastic skin with the brand's special moisture glow.


I just love the colors here! I have a lot of eye shadow palettes I play with regularly but I don't have a coffee-themed palette yet, so this is perfect!


Velvety texture! Bright glitters! And the fact that this is in a giftable box makes my heart flutter with delight!


So yeah, it's either I get my wishes in this list or, I don't know, begin examining my personal habits like getting enough sleep and exercising? Heh.

How about you, what are your Christmas wishes? I do hope you get every thing on your list. ♡

I cannot believe this. In all the years that I have been carefully crafting and posting my Christmas wish lists the moment the clock strikes twelve to signal December 1, this is the very first time that I neglected to do so. And it's not like I only missed a week. I missed ELEVEN days! I cannot believe this.

I used to make really nice wish lists, too. I prepare them several days before December 1, making sure that my collages follow one cohesive theme per year. I spend so much time on them, never mind that I rarely get my wishes or I end up getting them for myself anyway.

The holidaze caught me hard that I completely lost track of the days. I didn't realize Christmas is two weeks away! Work has been eating up most of my time and energy and whatever I have left, I spread to my boyfriend, family, friends, and my business. Hopefully once the Q4 rush is over I can get some time to breathe before preparations for summer campaigns get underway.

Now even though I forgot about it doesn't mean Christmas can be shrugged under the carpet and forgotten until time convenient for me arises. I still need to get Christmas presents for my family and friends but now that I'm older and get to appreciate the finer points of technology, going to overcrowded malls and dealing with traffic jams and other harried holiday shoppers do not sound appealing to me. Thank God for online shopping, and thank God even more for I discovered a smarter way to shop and I am sharing it with you.

Presenting: Shopback with the app available on Android and iOS!

So what does Shopback do?

ShopBack takes all the things we love about online shopping: no lines, no crowds, and no closing hours, and making it even better. Thanks to ShopBack, every gift you buy gets you a gift in return!

Basically, it's a cashback platform, the smartest online shopping hack. But wait, what is cashback? Cashback is basically a rebate wherein you earn back a portion of every peso you spend. It’s a brilliant way to save on purchases because you get something back after.

See, I have had Shopback for less than a week but I already got Php 92.33 back! Both purchases are from Honestbee: chocolate cake and milk tea.

With ShopBack, you can earn as much as 25% cashback on every amount you spend. This is nothing like the “reward points” from conventional reward programs—you gain actual real cash that you can transfer straight to your bank account.

So what do you have to do and is it complicated? First of all, it's so easy. All you have to do is open Shopback, look for the shopping app or website you would like to shop in, and proceed as normal. It's like you're just adding an extra step before you proceed with the transaction.

Here's a fool-proof list of instructions:

The cashback should show up on your account once everything has been verified by Shopback.

And since I got to explore Sephora, I will go ahead and share my wish list/ to buy list, all from Fenty Beauty. Rihanna can take my money for all I care. Kidding. Not kidding.

FENTY BEAUTY Frosted Metal Lipstick 3-Piece Set (Limited Edition) in Snow Nights

FENTY BEAUTY Killawatt Foil Freestyle Highlighter Palette (Limited Edition)

FENTY BEAUTY Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer in Fu$$y

FENTY BEAUTY Stunna Lip Paint Longwear Fluid Lip Color in Unveil

I am so in love with my Stunna Lip Paint in Uncensored and TBH I am obsessed with Fenty Beauty's Instagram so seeing any (or all!) of these under my proverbial tree would blow my mind away!

If we're very very close and you feel in your heart that you would like to get one of these for me, I highly encourage you to process your transaction via Shopback. Same goes with all the other online shopping sites you frequent. A quick Search in Shopback gives you everything you need to know. AND! 12/12 Online Fever is coming up so download the app now or visit the website and keep your eyes peeled for great last minute holiday deals!

Have I convinced you to sign up yet? Use my referral link and get a Php 100 welcome bonus today!

I can go out of the house without a smidgen of makeup save for lip balm, but I can never go out without applying sunscreen. Every morning I walk two kilometers from the place I'm renting to my office in Makati, and it's very important to me that my skin is protected from the harmful rays of the sun. I actually prefer walking to the office barefaced and just do my makeup when I get to the office to prevent it from "melting"; I have gone to work sans filled eyebrows, lipstick, nor powder, even, but sunscreen is my non-negotiable.

When I received news about the Althea Petal Velvet Sunaway, I was intrigued but also a bit skeptic. You see I already have a grail sunscreen but since it's inherent in me as a beauty blogger to be excited about new products to road-test, of course I was also excited.


Aside from the new Althea Petal Velvet Sunaway, my Althea Angels package contained a super cool transparent holographic pouch I can use as a pencil case and three variants of the Althea Petal Velvet Powder, all from Althea's homegrown brand, exclusive only to Althea Korea.

Shield your skin from the sun's rays and give it some petal protection with Althea's Petal Velvet Sunaway! Ultra lightweight, this invisible sunscreen is formulated with Damask rose extracts, ensuring that your skin stays fresh and hydrated throughout the day without any streakiness or a white cast. It has an SPF of 50+ and PA++++, so your skin'll be kept protected all day. As part of the Petal Velvet line, it also contains micro-powder particles that give you a smooth, petal-like complexion.

They're not lying about the "smooth, petal-like complexion" because that was the first thing I noticed when I tried this product. It feels so light on the skin, even lighter than the suncreen I was used to. It have also noticed that my skin feels smoother after applying this on my face, and I feel it can also prep my skin for makeup. I also find my skin gets less oily with this sunscreen on.

I guess the key ingredients also help the Petal Velvet Sunaway's skincare properties:

• Damask rose extract - Deeply hydrating; soothes irritations, leaving the skin feeling healthy
• Geranium oil - Gives the skin a radiant boost and heals acne

Here is the complete list of ingredients:


The powdery floral scent is also a plus for me, but might be an issue for those who are sensitive to fragrance. The scent dissipates after a couple of minutes, though.


I have been using the Althea Petal Velvet Sunaway as my sunscreen every day since I got it, and I will gladly repurchase once this runs out. I should order soon because as I said, I use sunscreen every day and I need to have backups.


You can purchase the new Althea Petal Velvet Sunaway from Althea Korea for only Php 480 OR pair it with your choice of Petal Velvet Powder to get 10% off.

Always wanted to try but never got to buy? For a limited time you can also get FREE SHIPPING on all ALTHEA Exclusives with CODE: PBSHIP.

Happy shopping! Happy protecting your skin from the sun!

I love themed events because I enjoy conceptualizing my outfit and props as well as the long and meticulous process of sourcing each piece to make sure they match my vision.

When the Dolls Tattler Philippines (the doll community I belong to) announced a Disney-themed holiday event back in July, I thought of dressing up as Kida [from Atlantis] because I wanted to put my platinum wig I bought impulsively to use. I gave up after a month though because my love for sugary snacks forfeited my right to reveal my midriff. Heh. The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland rescued me. 

TA-DA!

I made my own rabbit nose using watercolor paper, peach watercolor, and a black Sharpie. I also did my own makeup. The biggest challenge was making sure my wig stays in place because I have long and super thick hair but there's nothing that a ton of clear elastics, bobby pins, and two wig caps can't manage.

Full House! I'm in great company with Team Alice in Wonderland ♡

The party was held in Manila Ocean Park last night and it was indeed a star-studded affair! Everyone in the Disney world who's anyone was there.

Cinderella

Jasmine

Ariel

Elsa

Four lucky raffle winners went home with each of these four gorgeous dolls with hand-painted faces and hand-crafted dresses!

Mad Hatter's tea party with special guests

Cruella de Vil and Dalmatians

The Incredibles and Edna Mode

Snow White and the seven dwarves, Prince Charming, and the Evil Queen disguised as an old hag

The Evil Queen, the Huntsman, and the Magic Mirror

I grabbed this photo from the group's Facebook cover photo. See, everyone brought their A-game!

I'm so happy I got to share this with J! We're lucky and thankful that he has a Disney-Marvel costume lying around as he was given free entrance to the event when one of the original attendees had to cancel at the last minute. :) By the way, if you're on the lookout for Spider-Man costumes, check out his shop Spandex Hero!

Everyone had nothing but praises to the group admins and moderators who organized the whole event; the venue provided the perfect backdrop for the guests and their dolls, the food was great, the program and event hosts Alan and Matt were never boring—everything was well-thought-out!

Aaand the gifts. Oh wow. The gifts were overflowing, thanks to the generosity of Miss Mary Rose who is the founder of the group!

Aside from the loot bag filled with tokens from Miss Mary Rose's travels around the world, everyone went home with his/ her own event doll ♡

And the raffle! Earlier that night I told my boyfriend I wish I win the Wonder Woman doll because I already have Hippolyta and Antiope. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would take home something much better! I am not that lucky when it comes to raffle draws so I was very surprised that I won the Grand Prize!


I got an Integrity Toys doll, a The Industry™ Style Lab Tulabelle True™ Nude Doll.


She is so beautiful! My very first Integrity Toys doll. ♥


Fortunate to have a partner who indulges my hobbies and whims and goes all out in support. Hee. #blessed

I am not as active in the doll community as I would have liked because of all the many different things going on in my life, but I am very thankful for Dolls Tattler Philippines, the admins, its members, and the friends I gained through this group! Collectors supporting collectors. I love it.

Now I'm super excited to dig through my Barbie closet to look for clothes for my Tulabelle, but before that here's an outtake from last night:


I look like a mom running after her kid who's busy buzzing around the playground HAHA! Unboxed my 28-inch Madeline Hatter doll yesterday for this event and she really looked like my child.

This is the best hobby-related event I have attended so far. I am looking forward to going to more!