Bedazz Stippling Brush
Posted on: 6th of February 2010 | Under: Fashion & Beauty

One perk of having a sister who has her own line of makeup brushes, is being able to get freebies. Well actually, nothing comes free for her (booo! =P), so I only got the free brushes in exchange for the multiply layout design of Bedazz. =P

My favorite from her line of brushes is the Stippling Brush:

Made of goat hair (the black part) and synthetic hair (white part), its bristles are quite dense, without compromising its softness (it’s amazingly soft!). It’s great for achieving an “airbrushed” look when applying liquid or cream foundation. In addition, I also use it to apply mineral foundation and blush, both of which generate promising results too!

I’m not too familiar with the MAC 187 Duo Fibre Stippling Brush, but I reckon this is pretty much a great alternative. At only Php700 (around USD14),  it’s so much more affordable! If we were talking about special deals of the day, I’d say that this definitely tops all deals out there! Plus, unlike some of the other affordable brushes in the market, this brush does not bleed black dye when washing AT ALL! I no longer have to worry about staining my towels when laying them out to dry after washing. I just love it! :)

So, if any of you makeup junkies are looking for a good, yet affordable alternative to other expensive stippling brushes out there, I highly suggest that you guys try the Bedazz Stippling Brush. It won’t disappoint! :)

Blog Redesign
Posted on: 4th of February 2010 | Under: Artsy Pantsy

After almost three years, my “Dance Like No One’s Watching” layout has finally retired. Yes I know, it was about time, right?

This new layout is right in tune with the changes that are about to happen in my life.  Like my anticipation for those wonderful changes, I’m just as ecstatic to see this design finally up and running.

All graphics and images used on this layout were designed entirely by me. Most of the images were recycled from my previous moleskine paintings, while the vector images were made using VectorDesigner.

To be honest, I actually finished the main layout design early last year (almost nine months ago, to be exact!). But I only had the time to fix everything up this week. The fiance also helped me code the layout into a working Wordpress theme and patiently addressed errors that I kept on making while editing small details. I think it’s about time that I refresh my knowledge (or maybe take an online course/online degree) on HTML and CSS. It seems that I now know very little about coding. =P

Anyway, please excuse any broken links, if there are any. All the major parts of the blog should be working fine now, but there are still a few areas that I haven’t finished tweaking.

Mattress Shopping
Posted on: 1st of February 2010 | Under: Life & Love

We generally spend a third of our lives in bed. To be honest, I enjoy sleeping just as much as I love art, reading and eating. I am one of those people who can literally spend an entire day snuggled under my covers. However, getting a good rest doesn’t really come that easily, especially when you don’t have the perfect mattress to pair it with.

The fiancé and I have been suffering from back aches and poor sleep for the past couple of weeks. The foam mattress that comes with our flat had already worn out its lifespan. It was sagging in all corners, and since we also have a leather bed frame, having a foam mattress made it a little too warm (even with the air-conditioner on full blast!) to sleep. It felt like we had heated mattress pads installed in our beds, it wasn’t even funny! So, we finally quit putting off buying a new mattress for our own sake.

We initially wanted the same Ikea sprung mattress we bought for JR’s old single sized bed almost three years ago. But considering that we don’t really live in our own place and that our housing is somewhat temporary, we figured it would be better to scout for a more affordable alternative.

After searching online, I found www.beds.sg, an online store that carries affordable beds and mattresses. Now, I normally wouldn’t entertain the thought of buying a mattress without seeing and trying the actual product, but seeing the number of positive feedback on the site and the numerous blogs boasting about their products and service, JR and I agreed to try it out.

The Wasaly Luxury Mattress caught our attention. With over 360+ positive reviews, we knew it was already a winner even if we hadn’t even tried the actual mattress for ourselves. For only SGD150 (about Php4,900+ or USD106), complete with free delivery, we quickly made our online order with just a few clicks. Aside from the convenient ordering process, another advantage is its payment option. Unlike most online shops, payment for beds.sg orders are not done online (yes, no credit card details needed!).  Instead, cash or check payments are more than acceptable upon delivery.

Delivery of our mattress was scheduled between four to five in the afternoon last Friday (less than forty-eight hours after we made our online order!). The delivery crew ran a bit late, and from my own experience with deliveries in my old job in Manila I know there are a million and one unforeseen circumstances that can happen during delivery, so I wasn’t the least bit peeved at the delay. Instead, I just called customer service to find out about the tentative time of delivery. The lady I spoke to was more than gracious and helpful to call me back to let me know the delivery status, and after another call from the actual delivery crew, our mattress finally arrived.

We’re happy to report that our new mattress does not disappoint. No more back aches! It’s not too firm, nor is it too soft. Every night has definitely been a good night’s sleep for both of us. The only down side is that it’s more difficult to get out of bed every single morning! =P

Our new Wasaly Luxury Mattress was certainly worth every cent. :)

Web Design: Bedazz!
Posted on: 26th of January 2010 | Under: Artsy Pantsy, Geek Talk

It has been over ten years since my first love affair with web design. The first few years of that decade was spent enthusiastically designing different layouts (and searching for secure online backups at the same time) for personal websites and blogs I maintained all over the internet. However, the last half saw very little creative juices output on my my part, not necessarily due to the lack of spark plug juices (although, I did seem to run out of ideas for a while), but more of the fact that I had become more active in my offline life.

I enjoy spending more time in “the real world” but every once in a while, I do miss sitting in front of the monitor wracking my brain for hours until I came up with layouts to suit my liking.

Since my sister was planning to launch a Multiply site for her very own set of makeup brushes, Bedazz, I took the opportunity and volunteered to help her design the whole site from start to finish.

I quickly staged a late-night photo shoot, with my sister as the model. Our very own living room was turned into a makeshift studio, with one of our table lamps used as soft lighting.

My sister posing with one of her brushes.

We then had a quick product shoot the following afternoon in our garage, using the sun’s natural light.

Bedazz Stippling Brush

And with all the graphics and images ready, I spent several hours designing and fiddling with template codes.

The outcome?

A simple Black and White layout with just a few embellishments here and there.

Bedazz Header.

I took more time tweaking with codes than in designing the actual layout. My knowledge and skill in HTML and CSS has decided to fail me. Well I’m not really surprised, considering that it has in fact been years since I last fiddled around with code. =P

Anyway, do check out the multiply site. :)

Bedazz currently has three makeup brushes in its line, with several others in the testing stage. I’m not being biased, but the brushes are really nice! Mix good quality with affordable prices (only Php700 or around USD14 for a full-sized stippling brush!), it sure is a great deal!