December Playlist

It's that time of year étrangers: the sweaters, hot chocolates, and cold weather are here to stay. And what more is there to do than whip up that hot drink and chill with your favorite book with some awesome tracks in the background. Enjoy and Happy Holidays everyone!

A Team - Ed Sheeran

Skinny Love - Birdy

Cold December - Matt Costa
Rivers And Roads - The Head and the Heart

Breathe Me - Sia

Lullaby - Mantra Feat. Linda Oliveri
Baby It's Cold Outside - Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel
Your Cloud - Tori Amos
Blood - The Middle East

Tutorial: Simple Steps For Vintage Effect On Photos

Whenever i see edited photos on the internet, i always think to myself that they take a lot of effort and time. Boy, was i wrong! They're fairly easy to do and satisfying as well since you don't have to 'cheat' to make your photos look great.:)

For the photo above, i used Paint.NET. It's free, and has the same basic capabilities of Photoshop minus the bulk. You can download the software here.

Open up the image like so, and duplicate the layer in Layers>Duplicate Layer. Next, go to Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast and change the Brightness to 25 or so.

Next adjust the Saturation in Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Pick the shade you want by playing with the values, for this picture i adjusted the Saturation to 90 for that slightly faded look.

For the last part, add a new Layer on the Layers tab. Select the paint bucket icon on the Tools and pick a color from the shade of orange or pink and fill the picture with that color.

Next, go to Layer>Layer Properties and adjust the opacity to the right amount of color.

And voila! You're done.:)

My Guilty Pleasure: Notebooks!!!

Usually, many girls' guilty pleasures include makeup, bags, shoes, or clothes. I am not saying i don't find any interest in any of those mentioned above (because i do), but i have always had a soft spot for beautiful books and notebooks ever since i was a kid.

Lo and behold my collection!

Blame it on anime, or just the love of cartoons and art. I have been doodling and sketching ever since goodness-knows-when. It's a healthy but frustrating habit, since i am a bit obsessive-compulsive when it comes to my drawings.

My favorite one of the lot has to be the Moleskine my boyfriend gave me for my birthday this year. He knows i've been eyeing every Moleskine stand i get to see in bookstores so he decided to buy me one himself. Yup, he's very sweet.:)

For those who are in a budget or want to give your artist friend a gift this Christmas, i promise you won't regret buying Yeah Notebooks. My previous doodles have always been done on this notebook because they always have those non-ruled ones on eggshell colored paper, like the ones used in Moleskine. It works great with Uni Pin drawing pens too!

Ok that's about it for the random post. Have a happy weekend etranger!

In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Colour Review

Almost all magazines have said the same thing: brows make a difference. A LOT. Which is why i asked my sister for advice as to what was a good product. Surprisingly, she didn't offer a high-end one but something you usually see in department stores: In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Colour.

This makeup won't hurt your wallet as it just costs Php 300. It comes in 3 different shades which you can blend to your liking.

 I have seriously bony fingers.o__o

Here's a close-up look of the kit. For soft touches, it's best to blend 1 and 2 shades together. For a more defined look, use 3 in the blending process. :) It's also advisable you purchase a natural-haired eyebrow brush  for better blending because the one included in the kit are synthetic and rough. Make sure your brows are also groomed (or at least pluck those annoying stray hairs to make it look clean).

I tried this kit during a wedding and the weather was very hot and humid. Thankfully this baby lasted all night! It didn't look unnatural because the colours and pigmentation aren't strong as you can see from the swatches below.

Overall, i am very satisfied with my sister's advice! To sum it up, here's why i like this brow kit:

• It's affordable. 'Nuff said.
• The packaging came with a mirror and a brush which you can use for touch-ups (if you need any).
• It comes in 3 shades which you can blend to your liking.
• The colours are soft, which means it doesn't look unnatural (with the proper blending of course).
• It lasted all day! Hot and humid and it didn't buldge, disappear or smear around my brows.

And here's the only thing i didn't like:

• The brush. Although it's good for those touch-ups, the bristles are rough. I prefer using a softer brush for blending.

Enjoy and thanks for tuning in!♥