I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on glam fashion make-up at Center for Aesthetic Studies yesterday. CAS is where a lot of renowned make-up artists like Jigs Mayuga of L'oreal Philippines graduated from. A 4-hour workshop costs about P2.1k pesos, and they offer a full certification course on make-up artistry.

It was a great experience. CAS has a full staff of very knowledgeable and experienced instructors for both hair and make-up, and the school itself is well-equipped. They have a multimedia projector and whiteboard for their lectures and they have mirrors on almost all the walls so you can practice what you've learned. You have to bring your own cosmetics and model though.

Our instructor yesterday was Ms. Jennie Delica, who does make-up and training for Avon Philippines and other companies. She was a very clear and effective teacher and she had me doing smoky eyes and nude lips after about an hour. CAS is very particular about hygeine and would really train you to clean all your brushes and tools thoroughly on a regular basis. CAS also offers workshops on self make-up.

CAS is great for an exercise in creativity, self-enrichment, and maybe even an option for an alternative career.

Center for Aesthetic Studies
2/F Franck Provost Bldg., 120 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air Village, Makati City
897-0383

I am not a fan of Shu Uemura Sweet Lip Gloss.

It's sticky, which makes application a pain. Just about the only good thing about is the sweet candy smell and taste. Although the colors are bright and pretty they are not so obvious when actually applied. If your lips are dry, then tough luck because you can't apply it straight on because it's going to make a mess of the dry flakes of skin of your dry lips. Your lips will have to be in good condition for it to give you a wet, glossy finish.

My little girl loves the sweet candy smell and taste though...

I love Kiehl's products in general, but I'd have to say that this particular one doesn't deliver what it promises (the label is pictured on the right).

Yes, it's gentle... but it's so gentle that it takes a lot of product and repeated applications before it can do the job of removing your eye make-up. Eye shadows are no problem, it's the eyeliner and mascara that Kiehl's Supremely Gentle Eye Makeup Remover has trouble with. It takes me at least 2 cotton buds per eye soaked in this to completely remove eyeliner (whereas it takes only one bud with Shu Uemura's Cleansing Oil), and countless more buds (say 5-6 per eye) to remove water-resistant (not waterproof) mascara. After the cotton buds, you'd have to use a cotton ball over your entire eye area to make sure everything is off. I used Shu Uemura's Cleansing Oil and it took two cotton buds and a single cotton ball do rid my eye area of ALL make-up.

This is not to say that it doesn't have its uses. I find it really efficient in taking make-up off the rest of your face... but then that's not really what it's for.

I'm not really fond of mascara. I have naturally dark and thick lashes so I don't deem it as something indispensable. I also have a traumatic experience with waterproof mascara. During a Good Housekeeping event I was lucky enough to be made up by Jigs Mayuga who used L'oreal's latest waterproof mascara on me -- and it was almost impossible to remove afterwards! It took me hours of dipping cotton buds in eye makeup remover and running them over my lashes repeatedly until my eyes were stinging and red before I was rid of it.

Shu Uemura Fiber Xtension Lengthening Mascara is incredibly lightweight, easy to apply, and clump-free. It's feels like you're not wearing any mascara at all (my lashes always feel heavy when I use mascara but not with this!) and yet you can see its eye-enhancing effect. It comes in basic black and other fun shades like bronze, blue, and green. It's not a pain to remove either, it comes off with a cotton ball and eye makeup remover in a jiffy.

This really is the best mascara I've ever used.

I had my Girlfriend Magazine Beauty Makeover at Traffic Salon last night, and Lord knows I really needed it having been stuck with the same ponytail for the last 3-4 years. I wanted a change.

Anyways I submitted myself to chief stylist Nikki Bacay of Traffic Salon and gave him free reign on my hair. I admit I felt scared when he started chopping off long strands of hair but what the hell, I was really sick of having my hair rebonded for several hours only to have the wavy roots grow back after a few months. I postively abhor the wavy-root-straight-ends look, ewww. And so I just ended up tying everything back into a ponytail.

Nikki wanted to work with what I had, which is good, so he gave me a super layered cut which works with the waves -- I didn't think it was possible I swear. He also colored and highlighted my hair in about 3-4 different shades using Schwarzkopf products. Wheee! I was a new creature! I love it. So easy light and easy to maintain. Too bad I forgot my camera. I'll just post the pics from the Dec-Jan issue of Girlfriend some time later.

Oh and another thing I loved was meeting the staff! They are such a nice group of people -- even head honcho Gina Abuyuan was there, talk about hands-on! I met Gina, Nikki, Diona, Janis, and Bev so they are no longer just names on the mag but actual people I know. I just hope Girlfriend comes out on time by 2007. I hate having to wait until the third week of the month just to get a copy.