At the age of 5, I had my first set of girl's "kikay" kit: a strawberry flavored lipgloss, a baby pink blush, a bottle of perfumed talc and Avon Little Blossom cologne given by my mom. I've been very much exposed to girly stuff and vanity since I was a kid. I was raised by my grandparents but my mom would come back once in a year from abroad with packages full of trendy clothes and health & beauty products. My mom and my grandma have one thing in common: the love for fashion and cosmetics; and so as the only girl in the family, I have learned early the meaning of beauty and fashion because of these two most influential women in my life.
During my school days, I was very active in extra currricular activities such as singing contests, dance contests, oratorical and declamation contests, quiz bees and art contests. I would always get invites from people both from my school and our church to participate in either a dance number or do a solo/duet. Because of these activities, I had to invest on clothes, costumes, shoes and make-up. So by the age of 13, I already know how to achieve the "smoky eyes" look.
I remember back in highschool, I was already so conscious of my makeup brands. My teachers were kinda jealous knowing I have imported makeups of different varieties compared to the makeups they keep in their "kikay" kit. My bestfriend, Mita had always been my make-up buddy as she also had all these good brands in her kit. We would share and sometimes exchange makeups during our breaks. I loved her underwater mascara which her elder sis from Japan had given her (we couldn't find the same product here). She loved my Cover Girl clear mascara as she would use that to groom her eye brows. We were so vain back in highschool and adored all the girly stuff we see from movies, Clueless and Romy and Michele.
I spent college with Mita at the same university and we found ourselves becoming very much experimental with makeup and fashion. She began to love sexy but mysterious look while I began to love the rock n roll princess or alternative look. I was never fond of black lipsticks though, so instead I used something like matte plum or just pale matte beige to achieve the look I wanted. Occasionally, I would use lipstick with a light orange tint if I wanted to look more feminine.
As I started working, I realized I have to buy more makeup bags or something that would organize my growing number of makeup products. So I bought several makeup bags to organize my collection. One bag was for nude and mauve colors (more corporate look), the second one was for parties (colorful shades), the third one was for dating (soft girly colors and pinks). If I'm not mistaken, I spent almost 3 hours organizing my stuff, thinking which one goes to which bag.
I think when you start loving makeup, you will love it for the rest of your life. When you get to like lipsticks, you will definitely buy more lipsticks (sometimes even if it means over stocking them in your make up bag, lol). So since I love them all, I bought my 88 shimmer palette from Coastal Scents on top of my eyeshadow quads from several brands. I had also given away some of my makeups to my friends since the birth of mineral makeups. I have been purchasing Japanese and Korean brands too as they are now becoming more popular in the market.
Because of my love for makeup, I have been into makeup business for the past 3 years. My customers are my colleagues who are also enjoying the way I apply makeup to them. I enjoy making ladies feel and look beautiful and because of my passion for beauty and makeup I am able to put smiles on their faces.
One thing I have been thinking of... I wanna be a professional makeup artist. I should have taken that course back in college! Sigh. I know it's never too late for dreams to come true. When it happens, I will be posting all the beautiful smiles of my clients here.